Witness - Spring 2021

Spring 2021 multiply.net

together that the world may know

Witness Embracing Our Collective Witness

Witness Spring 2021 Contents Editorial: Our Collective Witness.................... 2 Twenty Years with Team 2000........................4 Brought to Tears......................................................6 Touching Heaven Online..................................... 7

Our Collective Witness Editorial by Randy Friesen

The Fruit of Unfailing Love................................8 I Will Not Leave You as Orphans...................10 Sheep Without a Shepherd.............................. 12 Open to God.............................................................. 13 God Made Me Tuareg..........................................14

Staff Editor-in-Chief..............................Randy Friesen Managing Editor..................Mark J.H. Klassen Layout & Design..........................Darcy Scholes Illustration & Design..................... Colton Floris Writing & Prayer Mobilization.......Nikki White Media Director................................ Daniel Lichty Circulation & Administration.........Kyle Hendy

Contact 1.866.964.7627 For other contact information, see multiply.net Questions? Email witness@multiply.net If you would prefer not to receive a printed copy of Witness, please contact us today.

Offices 300-32040 Downes Road, Abbotsford, BC V4X 1X5 Canada 4867 E. Townsend Avenue, Fresno, CA 93727-5006 USA For other office locations, see multiply.net

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There are still almost two billion people living on the planet today that are considered unreached by the Gospel. Those people are found in more than 5000 distinct ethnic groups that are without a reproducing church among them. The majority of these groups are in places like North India, Central Asia and North Africa. Each has its own cultural identity and history, which can be both a challenge and an opportunity in mission.

The prophet Isaiah had a vision of the last days in which he saw people from among the nations saying, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord… He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths” (2:3). Isaiah saw people groups responding to the Gospel in community and learning God’s peacemaking ways. In that passage, Isaiah concludes with the challenge, “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (2:5). In other words, the people of God have a responsibility to live in the light of God’s truth so that others will be drawn to God’s kingdom—our collective witness is crucial.

When Jesus called his disciples to “Go, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18), he was speaking to a community about reaching other communities. Earlier, Jesus had sent them out on shortterm mission trips in teams, not as individuals. When he said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), he was using the plural for “you” meaning “you all.” Jesus was preparing a community of disciples to live on mission together.

There is both a “come” and a “go” expression of mission that involves community. We invite others to come with us to encounter God and to worship him, and we also go forth into the community to bring the Good News of Jesus to others.

Last week, one of our neighbors knocked on our back door. She is an elderly widow with a house full of adopted children and grandchildren. After a career in social work, she is now a caregiver for an expanding family that looks to her for stability. We talk often with her and we try to provide her a space to process the challenges that she faces. We talk and eat together while the children play. We have enjoyed watching her grow in her faith and dependence on the Lord.

She often asks for prayer, but this time she asked Marjorie and me whether we would host Sunday school for her grandchildren. For us, it was an example of being on mission together with our neighbors, within our neighborhood.

During COVID, in the face of prescribed isolation, even getting out to walk the dog has become an interactive adventure. Housebound people are starved for real conversations! As we step outside and interact with our neighbors, we’re suddenly having more great conversations than ever on sidewalks and driveways. We weren’t made to be alone—we were made for community!

The same goes for our mission experience with Jesus.

As we have been asked to refrain from larger in-person gatherings, has this influenced our commitment to the community of faith? We hear about creative ways that churches are still working at community, with online worship and preaching being augmented by online small groups. We are also finding that people from around the world are now online, and friends from Africa and Asia are joining online prayer and discipleship groups through the Internet. A friend of mine just recently told me about an online small group he is a part of with a church leader from Panama and another from Turkey. These are exciting new expressions of community.

How is our collective witness to the Gospel being affected by this pandemic? Some might say that our church experience is either validating or limiting our witness to the Gospel.

In the Early Church, this experience of a collective witness to the Gospel marked their remarkable growth both in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37) and then wherever the Gospel was lived and shared among the nations (Romans 15:2, Ephesians 2:22; 3:10). Paul’s understanding of the Church as a body and the bride of Christ describe various dimensions of our collective experience and witness as the Church.

It is one thing when all is well, and the community of faith is generous and loving, but what happens when we experience collective trauma? For many of us, the global pandemic has been traumatic, in particular for those who have experienced forced isolation and the sickness and death of loved ones. There are divisions among us, with some congregations and families advocating that we continue to gather, while others embrace the restrictions; some insist on masks, and some don’t. Globally, there are additional traumas. In some places, the Church is experiencing increased persecution for the Gospel. In other places, there is growing political violence. As an MB family, we are not immune to change and trauma. How we process these experiences together affects not only our relationships, but also our collective witness to the Gospel.

It takes courage to process our pain, extend forgiveness where appropriate, and even walk together with a limp.

The price of community is high, but when we consider the consequences to our collective witness, it’s a price worth paying.

Many churches around the world already live with a clear sense of mission, both locally and globally. However, we are being tested in this season like never before in our lifetime. My sense is that churches that have worked at being missional communities in the midst of the pandemic will re-gather with greater health than those who have only concentrated on their virtual services.

Let’s remember to focus on sharing the Gospel with others, reaching out to those in need, caring for the vulnerable, and working together to strengthen our collective witness.

The price of community is high, but when we consider the consequences to our collective witness, it’s a price worth paying.

In this edition of Witness, we are exploring our understanding of community in the midst of the challenges of a global pandemic.

As you may know by now, I have transitioned out of my leadership role with Multiply as of April 15, 2021, and so this is my last editorial. I am grateful for the privilege of serving this global community in mission together and now I invite your prayers for a new General Director. We have experienced God’s grace and unity over the past 120 years of mission work and there is much more the Lord has in store for us in the days ahead!

Twenty Years with Team 2000

By Karen Huebert-Sanchez | Thailand

It was autumn in Fresno, California, and the leaves outside were red like fire. I was teaching ninth grade English at Roosevelt High School, sitting at my desk enjoying the quiet during silent reading time.

All of a sudden, God downloaded a one-page proposal into my mind’s eye, and I frantically began to type it out. I addressed it to Harold Ens, who was the General Director of MBMSI (now Multiply). In the document, I boldly proposed that he bless me and my husband Ricky to form a team to go plant churches somewhere among the least reached. I asked if we could hand pick the team from our existing friends and design the scope of our ministry. We would all commit to a minimum ten-year term. I signed the proposal and, after work that day, I personally delivered it to Harold’s desk. The year was 1996.

When I was fifteen years old, God called me to serve overseas during a Keith Green Memorial Concert in Seattle, Washington. For Ricky, the call came during his college years when he was on a summer mission trip to the Panari Tribe in Venezuela. There in the jungle, God called him to be a missionary.

After we were married, we did some discipleship-inmission training with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) before we took an assignment as teachers and basketball coaches at an international school in Bangkok, Thailand.

We thought we’d teach during the day, study Thai in the evenings, and plant churches on the weekends. It was an ambitious vision. We were young and full of love for the unreached. But two things made this dream too much for us: first, learning Thai was much harder than we anticipated, and second, we needed a team—we were lonely and desperate for co-laborers to pray with, worship with, and plant churches together.

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Eventually, we moved back to Fresno where we attended Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary (now Fresno Pacific University). We started recruiting friends to return with us to Asia where we would make at least a ten-year commitment to planting churches. Many said they would pray for us and come visit us, but no one sensed the same call.

Carmen Ens was a close friend of ours in Fresno, with whom we had served as youth sponsors at Butler MB Church and co-led a Youth Mission International team to Venezuela. She was dating a guy from Kansas named Andy Owen. After they were married, we invited them to consider forming a team with us. We saw their love for Jesus and their passion to use their gifts. We started fasting and praying that they would join us.

We needed a team—we were lonely and desperate for co-laborers to pray with, worship with, and plant churches together.

Soon after, while Ricky and I were praying in our apartment one night, we sensed that God was prompting us to call Dave and Louise Sinclair-Peters in Canada. We had enjoyed their friendship and ministry partnership during the years that they had lived in Fresno. We thought they might be crazy enough to join us. On the phone, Ricky asked boldly, “Do you want to start a churchplanting movement in Thailand with us for ten years?”

Dave and Louise laughed. We asked them to pray about it. Later we found out that, after the call, they had said to

each other, “No way. Never!” But over the next month, they began to fast and pray.

In the meantime, we were overjoyed to receive word from Andy and Carmen who confirmed that God had called them to join us. Not long after, Dave and Louise also let us know that God had made it clear to them in a number of miraculous and prophetic ways that they were called to go.

It seemed incredulous, even impossible, but somehow God had put a team together.

On January 17, 2001, the three couples touched down in Bangkok, Thailand. We were full of faith and expected God to use us in dynamic ways immediately!

Instead, we moved to an isolated town called Lopburi where we began in earnest with language learning and cultural acquisition. Within weeks, we were homesick and overwhelmed with culture shock and the challenges of learning a tonal language. Ricky and our eldest daughter, Sierra, were hospitalized with Dengue Fever. I cried many tears and begged God to call us back home.

gifting in leading worship in Thai, Dave’s shepherd heart among college students, Louise’s pioneering work among the Burmese, and Ricky’s gifts of faith, celebration, and recruiting new missionaries. For me, I was blessed to have five of the highest caliber people I have ever met believe in me and spur me on to say yes to the dream God had given me to start an orphanage for HIV+ children.

By God’s grace, we persisted. In Lopburi, our team became our lifeline. We helped each other combat loneliness and discouragement. We celebrated birthdays and holidays together and spent powerful hours in worship and prayer.

We became a family. To this day, the eleven children on our team still refer to each other as cousins.

During the past two decades, we have seen God move in miraculous ways and we have experienced unspeakable joy. At other times, we have felt the weight of the spiritual darkness around us, and we have faced many overwhelming challenges. Yet our team relationships have continued to give us strength and purpose.

As a team, we sought God’s direction as to where he wanted us to move after language school. During one of our sessions in listening prayer, I remember hearing God speak the words to my heart, “city by the sea.” After some scouting trips to the eastern seaboard, God led us to a local pastor named Preecha, who invited our team to plant churches in a coastal city called Chonburi. “People are hungry for God here,” the pastor said. “It’ll be easy!”

Our team and our children are now spread all over the world, continuing to be disciples who make disciples. The Owens are moving to the USA for further ministry. Dave and Louise are back and forth between Myanmar and Thailand, and we are in Thailand and Cambodia. We all partner with national believers who are taking the ministry farther than we ever dreamed.

In Chonburi, we experienced the blessing of team. We saw Paul’s description of the fivefold ministry (in Ephesians 4) come to life before our eyes. Andy and Dave were gifted teachers and pastors. Carmen had gifts of prophecy and pastoring. Ricky, Louise and I were drawn to evangelism and pioneering ministries. As a team, we paid attention to how God had created us each with different gifts and we offered those gifts for the sake of the lost in Thailand. To our amazement, God began to use us to bring hope to Buddhists and Animists. They came to Jesus and found freedom from spiritual oppression and healing from past wounds.

Over the next few years of ministry, we saw each other blossom: Carmen’s tenacity and compassion, Andy’s

Our team friendships remain strong, and we still manage to spend holidays together and keep in touch through video calls where we laugh until we cry. The tears we share are in celebration of God’s faithfulness to us, not only in fruitful ministry but also in protecting and nurturing our friendships over these past twenty years.

GO LONG TERM Is God calling you to form or join a team with a long-term commitment to see nations reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? To speak with a Mission Mobilizer, call 1.888.866.6267, or go to multiply.net/long-term multiply.net | 5

Brought to Tears

By Mark J. H. Klassen | West Africa

Names have been changed for security reasons.

Almost twenty years ago, Youssef and his wife, Reyna, moved from the US back to Youssef’s home country in West Africa where they now live and serve. They have faithful global partners that support their ministry, but sometimes they feel the distance from them. In recent years, they have entered into partnership with the broader Mennonite Brethren family and with Multiply in particular. In addition, last year, Youssef and Reyna welcomed Kai and Denisa, a couple from Oklahoma, to serve alongside them as longterm workers with Multiply. There has been a growing sense of meaningful collaboration.

In late 2020, Youssef was asked to participate in one of Multiply’s Global Partnership Calls (now called One-Hour Mission Trips), which have featured different regions around the world where Multiply is serving. On these calls, global partners are invited to share about their ministries and their needs while others engage with them online and pray for them. The calls are just as much for the ministry partners around the world as they are for staff and supporting churches in North America.

because of gratitude. I have passion for the topics that were discussed, especially the need for unity in the Church, and I saw so much faith in the group that gathered online. By the end of the call, there was a puddle of tears on the floor beneath me.”

Kai and Denisa affirmed their ministry partner and host, “Youssef is passionate about unity in the body of Christ.

On that call, he sensed a real desire to be together and to work together for the kingdom. He was encouraged by a group of leaders who seemed to understand him and who have a passion for mission and for unity. He felt a strong connection with them. We’re excited for what God is going to do through all of us together in the future!”

During the call, Youssef was filled with emotion. Later, he confessed that he had not known what to expect from the online video call. However, when he looked at his computer screen and he saw all of the faces of people who were eager to hear from him and pray for him, he was brought to tears.

He had been aware of the partnership on paper, but to see the faces of so many people was powerful. For him, the community became visible.

After the call, back in West Africa, Kai and Denisa asked Youssef about his impression of the experience. “It was difficult,” Youssef said, “not because of anything bad, but 6 | witness

GO To join Multiply’s next One-Hour Mission Trip and get a window into what God is doing around the world, go to multiply.net/1-hour

Touching Heaven Online

By Nasser al’Qahtani and Mark J. H. Klassen | Middle East Names have been changed for security reasons.

Irfan has been a part of leading an online Arabic Bible School for years, but recently he adapted some of his learning and experience toward another creative idea.

With a sincere desire to reach more people with the Gospel, Irfan started offering online workshops that provided instruction on commonplace topics such as how to develop better communication skills, how to think critically, and even how to manage stress and anxiety. In the midst of a global pandemic, so many more people were at home and online with extra time on their hands. Many of them were also finding it very difficult to stay positive mentally and free from worry. Irfan set up the workshops so that anyone could join, and he quickly found that a broad spectrum of people were eager to participate.

“During COVID, people are so hungry for positive interaction.”

“In the past few months,” Irfan reported, “these workshops have really exploded in the best possible way! During COVID, people are so hungry for positive interaction.”

In the workshops, basic instruction was provided and then participants were invited to discuss with each other what they were learning and what solutions they saw for their problems. Most of the participants were Muslims, but Irfan has recruited many of his fellow followers of Jesus to join the classes as well, so that different perspectives would be shared and friendships would develop.

classmates,” said Irfan. “Many Muslims in this region have never met a follower of Christ, so these relationships have been very significant.”

Irfan estimated that 700 Muslim students have participated in the workshops during the first ten weeks they were offered, and many of those were building friendships with Christ-followers. As well, many of the participants were pursuing connections privately outside of the workshops, which was where deeper conversations were happening and the Gospel was being shared openly.

One Muslim participant said, “I feel a unique kind of peace during the workshops.” Another said of the facilitators, “It is as if they make us touch heaven during the class.”

Since the workshops have been growing, Irfan has reported no shortage of local partners. Churches are hearing about the success of the courses and offering to help.

Also, according to Irfan, more and more Muslims are promoting the workshops among their own people. Many are reporting that the help they receive is not only genuine, but is answering questions for which they have never heard answers before.

PRAY Please pray for the continued success of this creative ministry. Pray for Irfan, that God would give him wisdom as he oversees the workshops. Pray for strong friendships between participants and more opportunity for the Gospel to be proclaimed.

“Every class includes handpicked, mission-minded followers of Jesus who are eager to share their faith with their multiply.net | 7

The Fruit of Unfailing Love

By Eric Geddes | Mongolia There are two words that hang in a frame on the wall in the Baerg’s kitchen in northern Mongolia: Unfailing Love. During the past year, throughout a prolonged separation due to COVID, Robert and Marlene have held on to those words like a lifeline.

In late February 2020, Marlene traveled to Canada, expecting Robert to join her a couple of weeks later.

“In that short window,” she said, “the world changed.”

Due to the global pandemic, Robert was stuck at home in Mongolia, unable to leave, while Marlene was stuck in Canada, unable to return home. Initially, the couple thought their separation might be extended by a few weeks due to the travel restrictions. But weeks quickly turned into months.

Robert was not only without his wife in Mongolia, but he was without his two closest co-workers, Saikhnaa, the Baerg’s adopted daughter, and her husband,

Travis. They were on a visit to the US, and also dealing with restrictions.

Marlene was with their other children and grandchildren in Canada. According to her, it was a “huge gift” to be with them. Yet she also missed her husband.

However, both Robert and Marlene took the time apart to draw nearer to God. For Marlene, it meant slowing down in her daily life and listening more closely to Jesus. “There were so many small ways,” she said, “that God deepened my knowledge of his love.”

For Robert, 2020 had begun with the death of his mother. His time alone allowed him to reflect on the depth of his mother’s relationship with Jesus. “My Mom made a habit of always coming to Jesus in all situations,” Robert recalled.

Through this period of reflection, Robert was himself drawn into a deeper friendship with God. He also had more time to invest in the Trees of Life Center, the agricultural and community development project that the Baergs oversee. Realizing that he couldn’t possibly do all of the work himself, Robert focused on training two new workers on the tree farm. Although he was unsure about entrusting into their hands some of the more intricate work of grafting trees, Robert was amazed at how well the workers responded to the new responsibility, and how it elevated their engagement with the work. It was another clear sign of positive change in the midst of a difficult year.

In December 2020, Robert and Marlene were reunited after almost ten months of being apart. After all restrictions were navigated and quarantines were observed, the couple was finally together again. Despite the time apart, the couple felt like they had more common ground in God than they ever had before.

Of the lengthy unplanned separation, Robert said, “I see now how God was breaking into our routines and inviting us to slow down, to get more in tune with him.”

“For I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness” (Psalm 26:3).

“I see God everywhere in this past year,” said Robert.

“He was with us, and around us, and I see him calling us forward into the wonder of this new world before us.”

“I am truly thankful for the unfailing love of God in our marriage,” said Marlene. “That covenant of love sustained us through this long year of separation.”

Robert and Marlene Baerg live and serve in northern Mongolia where they oversee the Trees of Life Center. This ministry provides both discipleship and vocational training in permaculture for people in their area.

The Baergs seek to build holistic, Gospelcentered communities through agricultural development and the practice of radical hospitality. To learn more about their ministry or to contribute financially to Multiply’s work in Mongolia, go to multiply.net/mongolia

I Will Not Leave You as Orphans

By Nikki White | Ukraine

When Maxym and Anya Oliferovski first met John and Evelyn Wiens, missionaries with Multiply, they knew that they shared with them a calling to serve the brokenhearted. It was out of this calling that together they founded the New Hope Center in Zaporozhye.

“That was ten years ago,” said Max. “Today we are celebrating ten years of God’s faithfulness.”

“Our first burden was for the orphans,” Max went on.

“Children in the public orphanages age out of the system as teenagers. There is nothing for them to do, no future but the streets. We started a drop-in center in downtown Zaporozhye to give them a place where they could find community and hope.”

For two years, the Oliferovski and Wiens families provided a safe space for youth at risk. Teenagers would come for the hot meal, only to find themselves unexpectedly among friends. As this ministry grew, so did the vision. In 2012, the two couples launched a licensed dairy farm in the village of Nikolay Pole, and opened two group homes for aged-out orphans in Zaporozhye. Their goal was that these children would learn life skills and a means of supporting themselves.

“But it was we who learned the most,” Max said. “We learned about the incredible hardships faced by children who have not known the love of a mother or father. We learned how vital it was to provide a sense of family and belonging. We learned the importance of helping children in government orphanages to have good Christian friends.”

They learned what it was like to be orphans. Then, they themselves became orphaned.

Jesus told his disciples, “I will be with you and will not leave you as orphans.”

John 14:18 When John Wiens passed away in 2014, Max and Anya felt like children who had lost their father. There was comfort to be found in applying to themselves some of the very words of Scripture that had inspired them to care for orphans in the first place.

Maxym (left) with John Wiens at the New Hope Center in 2013

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Jesus told his disciples, “I will be with you and will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18). The team at New Hope Center held strongly to that promise and kept going.

It was a painful year, as in that same year the war in eastern Ukraine began, bringing violence, economic devastation and bleak despair to the populace. Continuing in ministry was hard, both financially and emotionally.

They had to stop the training program on the dairy farm, and they focused their efforts on providing other forms of vocational training for the orphans and youth at risk in Zaporozhye. These young people would need every advantage they could possibly give them, if they were to survive in Ukraine.

Max and Anya kept praying and asking God to give them a new vision and an expanded ministry focus, and to bless their dreams for the future. “God answered our prayers,” Max declared. “Our Spirit-led dreams became – DreamKIDZ!” In 2016, the Oliferovskis and their team launched this program, serving to reach families in crisis. In ministering to whole families, they hoped to prevent a generation of children from becoming orphaned themselves, through abandonment or neglect. God tremendously blessed this ministry, and within a year several families began to attend their Bible studies. They began to run summer camps with a Gospel focus, and in 2018 the first three people received Jesus and were baptized.

“It was in this way,” explained Max, “that our God’s Family Church was born.”

As the church grew, so did the need for training and resourcing. In 2019, they began hosting weekend renewal retreats for new Christians to allow them to experience God’s touch and healing. One year later, they were responding to requests to provide training for workers in the government social services, and for workers in Christian non-profit organizations. They felt privileged

to be sharing what God had taught them about helping families in crisis.

This year, they are celebrating. They look back with humble, grateful hearts on all that God has done for, and through, their ministry.

“It was God who provided us with the desire, vision, and opportunity to serve the brokenhearted.”

“It was God who provided us with the desire, vision, and opportunity to serve the brokenhearted,” Max acknowledged. “And it is our friends and partners,” he added, addressing those who have supported the New Hope Center, “who have provided the prayer and financial support to continue with this ministry. Together we have touched and healed so many lives, showing them the new hope they have in Jesus.”

GIVE Is God putting the brokenhearted of Ukraine on your heart? To learn more about the ministry of Maxym and Anya Oliferovski at the New Hope Center, go to multiply.net/ukraine To make a financial contribution to Multiply’s ministry in Ukraine, go to multiply.net/ukraine

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Sheep Without a Shepherd By a foreign worker in Myanmar

When I first learned of the military coup here in Myanmar, I felt fine. The situation was so unfamiliar to me that I hardly knew what to worry about. I just hoped that things would somehow transition without a lot of bloodshed and that we would all soon move on with life. Throughout the day, however, grief started to settle on me like a blanket of fog. There were no words to describe what I felt.

Later that day, I stepped out into our backyard to watch the setting sun. My neighbor waved, got up from her wooden swing and walked slowly over to our shared fence.

Seeing her face, I knew that there would be no small talk that evening. The conversation turned quickly to the coup.

“You know, all the other countries are moving on. But this is the fate of our nation. There is no hope for us.”

“This is our fate,” my neighbor said somberly. “You know, all the other countries are moving on. But this is the fate of our nation. There is no hope for us.”

Her words landed heavy on my heart. Just weeks before, I had spoken with this same woman about her two children who were living overseas. She hoped to go visit them 12 | witness

after the pandemic was over. She hoped her son would move back to Myanmar after finishing his degree. She talked about her retirement plans and reminisced about the excitement of the last election, describing how people had lined up, waiting for hours to cast their votes and, afterwards, to post a picture of their inked thumbs on social media. Now she had no such optimism. Standing there at the fence, she seemed defeated.

“Now, my children will never move back here,” she said heavily. “We have no hope. I ask the gods, ‘Why?’ We have some savings, but have you seen the countryside? People starve to death. I know exactly what it will be like; we had fifty-one years of this before. We are like stupid sheep.

They do whatever they want with us.”

As I listened, I recalled the words of Jesus about an enemy of the sheep who came to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). But Jesus promised that he would not abandon us to our own fate with the wolves and thieves of this world. As I shared these verses with my neighbor, I prayed that she and others here would experience Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

Please join us in praying for peace in Myanmar, so that the people of that country would be able to experience the life that Jesus intends for them. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Open to God

By Eric Geddes | Austria

In 1987, an energetic young couple from Canada arrived in Austria with a desire to serve God. It was their first longterm assignment, and they wondered how long it would be.

Now, in 2021, Richard and Hazel Funk are ready to retire after thirty-four years of ministry in Austria: thirty-four years of church planting, preaching, teaching, counseling, leading seminars and coming alongside leaders who needed some support and encouragement.

The couple originally met at Millar College of the Bible in Saskatchewan in 1969. Shortly after that, Richard went to Austria on his own to serve with Operation Mobilization (OM). Upon returning to Canada, he and Hazel were married and, as they both sensed a call to mission, they began to pray about returning to Austria together. Shortly thereafter, they embraced an opportunity with OM in Austria, but within two years they found themselves back in Canada. They loved their time overseas together, but it had not yet been time to stay long-term. Still, their hearts were open to the possibility of more.

A few years later, in 1985, they prayed specifically about a long-term opportunity overseas. The very next day, they received a call from MBMSI (now Multiply) explaining that the Austrian MB Conference had asked for them to return in order to help with church planting. Richard and Hazel landed in Austria in July 1987 and never looked back.

“We were inexperienced,” Richard said as he recalled their initial interview with the mission agency, “but we were ready to commit to the task of church planting. We told them we wouldn’t run from problems.” When asked specifically about their church planting strategy, Richard said he drew inspiration from Acts 4:13, and said, “I’m an ordinary man, a farmer’s son. I just want to live my life in such a manner that people take note that I have been with Jesus.”

As Hazel now looks back on more than three decades in Austria, she says, “We love many things about this

Richard and Hazel Funk are celebrating thirty-four years of church-planting ministry in Austria

country—the culture, the language, the people, the land. It became our home.”

When the couple returns to Canada this year, they will leave behind two of their grown children with their families and, of course, many loving friends and co-workers.

As for retirement, Richard and Hazel plan to take it slow for the first year. They realize that they need time to deal with culture shock as they adjust to their new context in Canada. Two more of their grown children and their families live in Canada, so the Funks plan to spend a lot of time with them. Hazel intends to start a Bible study in her new neighborhood. They both cherish the hope of going back to visit Austria in the years to come. However, mostly the Funks plan to wait on God for guidance. Like all those years ago, Hazel has said again, “We’re open!”

SERVE Are you open to God and to his calling on your life? If you are sensing a call to serve God overseas, let us know how we can help you. To speak with a Mission Mobilizer, call 1.888.866.6267, or go to multiply.net/serve

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God Made Me Tuareg

By Nikki White | North Africa

Names have been changed for security reasons.

“My name is Ansar, and I am Tuareg.”

Ansar belongs to a large ethnic group among the nomadic tribes of Berbers that live and trade across North and West Africa. He was born in Mali, in the city of Timbuktu, and grew up in Niger. As a Tuareg, he cherished his heritage among the Marabout tribes as warriors and royalty. As a Muslim, however, Ansar often felt conflicted.

“Where I am from, there is only Islam,” he said, “and there are many things necessary to get close to God. You must read and recite the Qu’ran in Arabic, pray only in Arabic.

But I did not know any Arabic. My mother tongue is Tamazight, and my traditional way of writing is Tifinagh.

Is it right, I wondered, that I should swap these for others, with the hope of becoming closer to God?” Islam offered other means to draw closer to God, but they were equally unattainable for Ansar. He had heard of a holy place called Mecca. He knew that a good Muslim must face only east, toward Mecca, when praying. He knew that a pilgrimage to Mecca was every Muslim’s aspiration.

“In Mecca, you can ask God for paradise, for money, and for health also,” Ansar said. “If someone was wealthy, and he was able to go to Mecca, it would fulfill his lifetime wishes.”

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Ansar, however, was not able to make such a pilgrimage.

“Still, I was sure I would remain in this religion,” he said. “I was sure that it was the only religion that led to God.” When Ansar was forty, he took a job and moved to Nigeria.

There he saw Christian church buildings for the first time.

With the doors open and full of worshipping believers, Ansar found this both attractive and alarming.

“Where I am from, there is only Islam, and there are many things necessary to get close to God.” “They were praising God,” said Ansar. “I thought they were having a good time, but I was told that this was an infidel mosque. I said to myself, ‘It is the devil’s place and God will be angry if I go there.’ So, I kept away.”

Six years later, Ansar changed jobs and moved to Libya.

While there, he became more disillusioned with Islam as the Imams chanted in a language that he did not understand. It felt meaningless. Before long, he gave up on religion altogether.

“I told my family that I had become an atheist,” he said, “and they were fine with my decision! This really surprised me.”

It wasn’t until some years later that Ansar heard about a local Christian church where members prayed in Tuareg.

Ansar realized that he did not have to change who he was in order to be closer to God. He was intrigued and decided to go and see for himself.

That Sunday morning, Ansar heard prayers spoken not only in Tuareg, but in Hausa, English, French, and even Spanish. He was astonished.

“I had never seen or heard anything like this,” Ansar confessed. “Here was a religion, not for this tribe or for that tribe, but for everyone. There was no tribe that owned all rights to this faith, excluding other people. No, no. This was a matter of the heart, between man and God. It was not about showing off to be noticed in public places. No, no. It was not about fasting and blowing a trumpet to be seen. No, no. It was about true faith, about a relationship between God and people, through Jesus.”

“I had never before heard this story” Ansar said. “Of course, it was a big surprise.”

Sitting in the service, Ansar realized that he did not have to change who he was in order to be closer to God. “I saw that I could stay a Tuareg, just as the Lord had created me, and still worship him. God created me, and God made me Tuareg. I could have faith as a Tuareg. That day, I had no doubt that I would put my trust in this Jesus.”

“Before, I would only like certain people, but hate others,” he explained. “Some were friends, others were enemies.

Now, I love everyone equally. Before, I did not know what to say when an Imam attacked me with questions about my faith. Now, it just affirms me in my faith. I point them to the Writings, the Torah, the Gospel, and to Jesus. Before, I would ask a Marabout tribesman to make an amulet so I would be healed of a sickness. No more. No, no, that’s idolatry. God is my healer. And before, I slept with a sword by my side to protect myself from enemies and evil spirits. Now, I sleep soundly, in peace, like a dog. No more nightmares, no fear.”

“I have an abundant life,” Ansar concluded, smiling. “God has revealed many things to me, and I thank the Lord.

I thank the Lord, right now, and always, for making me Tuareg, and for making me Christian.”

LEARN MORE This story of transformation was sourced from Multiply workers in Europe who are developing and distributing media resources for the least reached in North Africa and beyond. Please pray for their current initiative called StoryChannel that seeks to use video to reach Berberspeaking people groups in eight different countries across North Africa by telling stories like this one about individuals who have encountered Jesus and become his followers. To support this project financially, go to multiply.net/storychannel

Ansar was given a book about Jesus in his own language, and a New Testament in French. As he read and re-read the passages, he marveled at all that God had done for humankind. He couldn’t stop telling everyone about what he read. Finally, he went to his family to share about his decision to follow Jesus.

“They despised me!” he declared. “I couldn’t understand this. When I abandoned Islam and became an atheist, they were fine with that! But now that I had become a Christian, I was being rejected like a black sheep.”

Ansar’s family pushed him out of their home, and he sought refuge with a relative who, in turn, pushed him out. In a very short time, he moved three times. Despite the rejection, Ansar grew in his faith and was not bitter.

He saw only the many ways in which God was giving him grace and bringing transformation to his life. multiply.net | 15

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