Nations issue 2, 2014

NATIONS A PUBLICATION OF WORLD OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE 2, 2014

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

BUILDING A CULTURE OF PRAYER MINISTERING TO THE WHOLE CHILD MAKING DISCIPLES

WHAT IS OUR MESSAGE?

A NEW GENERATION CHOOSING TO WALK IN PURITY

BLESSING THE ‘NOTHING’ PEOPLE

A SPECIAL TYPHOON RELIEF REPORT

INSIDE

3.

DIRECTOR’S SAY INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR JOHN ELLIOTT EXPLAINS WHY WOI WANTS TO PURPOSELY BUILD A CULTURE OF PRAYER.

8.

12 KEYS FOR CHURCH GROWTH PART II OF BRUCE HILL’S SERIES ON HOW TO BUILD PREVAILING CHURCHES.

10.

BLESSING THE ‘NOTHING’ PEOPLE GRAHAME ORPIN REPORTS ON HOW WOI HAS BLESSED HUNDREDS OF FILIPINO FAMILIES IN THE WAKE OF TYPHOON HAIYAN.

14.

WHAT IS OUR MESSAGE? JO GRAHAM REMINDS US ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PREACHING JESUS CHRIST TO THE LOST.

21.

MINISTERING TO THE WHOLE CHILD PETER VAN DER WESTHUYZEN OUTLINES THE MANY WAYS WOI MINISTRIES ADDRESS THE WELLBEING OF CHILDREN.

23.

SNAPSHOT MYRIAM WAHR SHARES ON GOD’S GRACE IN HER LIFE AND NATURAL MEDICINES MINISTRY IN MOZAMBIQUE.

• Raising Leaders • Evangelism and Church Planting • All Nations Mobilisation • Children’s Ministry • Humanitarian Aid Singapore-based, International Director John Elliott heads an executive team of senior missionaries, pastors and business leaders. >> ON THE COVER: Dino and Joaquina. A new generation of young people doing it the right way.

ANGOCHE MOZAMBIQUE. Photo: Jo Graham

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NATIONS

• ISSUE 2, 2014

AUSTRALIA:

Grahame Orpin Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 5000, Sunshine Coast, MC Qld 4560 T: (617) 5476 1768 F: (617) 3319 8928 E: admin.au@world-outreach.com

CANADA:

Lynn Leroy (Office) PO Box 172 Lambeth Stn London, ON N6P 1R1 T: 519 680 3355 E: canada@world-outreach.com

HOLLAND:

Bill Molenkamp PO Box 2549 2002 RA, Haarlem T: (31 23) 526 5756 E: bill.molenkamp@world-outreach.com

MALAYSIA:

Au Yong Mun Heng PO Box 8541, Kelana Jaya 46792 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan T: (60 3) 7728 1914 E: malaysia@world-outreach.com

NEW ZEALAND:

Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 97230, Manukau 2241 T: (64 9) 263 5434 M: (64 21) 330 874 E: nz@world-outreach.com

SINGAPORE:

Tarn Ping Kueh (Office) Ghim Moh Post Office PO Box 048 Singapore 912732 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: singapore@world-outreach.com

SOUTH AFRICA:

Michiel Coetzee Lezelle Coetzee (Office) PO Box 11238 Riverwalk 2538 T: (27 18) 293 0965 M: (27 83) 462 2224 E: southafrica@world-outreach.com

OUR MISSION

World Outreach International is a multiracial fellowship of Christians and ministries that exists to impact Least Reached Peoples with the Good News of Jesus Christ through:

COUNTRY OFFICES

UNITED KINGDOM:

EDITOR: John Elliott PUBLICATION MANAGER: Janet Chan DESIGN: Donna Elliott EDITORIAL SUPPORT: Robin Merrill www.robinmerrill.com PRINTERS: Tone Ads, Singapore PERMIT No: MCI (P) 093/11/2013 PUBLISHERS: City Hub, #04-09 2 Kallang Avenue Singapore 339407 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: woi@world-outreach.com WOI follows recognised international standards and procedures for child safety.

Jon Hitchen (Office) BM Box 5265 London, WC1N 3XX T: +44(0) 203 642 4873 E: office@wouk.org W: www.wouk.org

USA:

Aaron Rudd 615 East Sego Lily Drive Sandy UT 84070 T: (1 801) 572 0211 ext.11 M: (1 801) 599 3370 E: usa@world-outreach.com 501 (c) 3 Tax Exemption Available

INTERNATIONAL OFFICE:

John Elliott (International Director) Ghim Moh Post Office PO Box 048 Singapore 912732 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: woi@world-outreach.com

FIELD MINISTRIES DIRECTOR: Peter Smith

EXECUTIVE MANAGER: Chia Shee Wai

HONORARY PRESIDENT:

Bill Molenkamp

INTERNATIONAL BOARD: Luke Chong Lorraine Dierck John Elliott Wilbur Farmilo Wayne Freeman Gary Levens Rob Reid

INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM: Chia Shee Wai Bambi Cataluna John Elliott Peter Smith Peter van der Westhuyzen Hendrik V

SOME YEARS BACK my leadership colleagues and I agreed that World Outreach International should purposely adopt a culture of prayer.

You might think this would be a fundamental part of what a mission organisation is about; however, when many churches worldwide struggle to get 10% of their members to a prayer meeting, you can be sure that the same busyness and whatever other excuses churchgoers have, can just as easily be used by mission workers.

FEATURE

It’s vitally important that we regularly dedicate quality time to seek the face of the Lord. We really can’t afford not to! Oswald Chambers says, “Prayer is not preparation for the work; it is the work!” A good reminder for God’s busy people! God wants intimacy with us.

We only gain intimacy with God by seeking Him with all our heart. It is easy to be busy doing things for the Lord but we need to be reminded He is more interested in our walk with Him and being intimate with us, than in the activities we do for Him. A sad thing is many people do things for God but don’t walk with Him – see Matthew 7:21–23.

Prayer also gives us a revelation of who we really are in the Lord. The following verse in Isaiah 30:15 has been a great blessing to me of late: “…in quietness and confidence shall be your strength…”

I was blessed when David McCracken (from Australia) shared on this verse recently, where he approached it backwards. He said,

When involved in any cross-cultural endeavours, one can face many obstacles on a regular basis, some of which can be overwhelming at times, causing anxiety, even loss of perspective.

“The word ‘strength’ in Hebrew means great force, power, victory. In our hearts we need to see Jesus not as a carpenter but as our victorious King, the triumphant One. Such strength comes out of confidence.

The word ‘confidence’ in Hebrew means security, belief, certitude, assurance. Belief in the power and conviction that God is trustworthy. Knowing who we are in Christ gives us this confidence. Such confidence not only empowers oneself but also those around us. ‘Quietness’ in Hebrew means take rest, be still, be undisturbed, be at peace. Lack of listening in prayer (to the Lord) can cause us to lose confidence and then strength. You cannot obey what you have not heard.”

When involved in any cross-cultural endeavours, one can face many obstacles on a regular basis, some of which can be overwhelming at times, causing anxiety, even loss of perspective.

When “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength” becomes a reality in one’s life and we know who

we are in Christ Jesus, then we don’t have the mind-set of leaving Him out of any equation or forgetting His promises or His faithfulness or turning to Him as a last resort. No, rather prayer and faith should well up in our hearts declaring the greatness and vast superiority of our victorious Saviour in the face of any challenge or obstacle before us.

The Holy Spirit is speaking to a number of us in WOI about expansion, growth, new initiatives, etc. No doubt, there will be challenges and obstacles ahead!

God won’t ask us to do something that He won’t empower us to do.

Empowerment comes out of listening to Him – as a result of prayer. It is our heart’s desire that out of obedience to His word spoken to us, WOI will only get involved in things He is showing us to do, for only the things He asks us to do for Him have any eternal value and fruitfulness.

Your prayer partnership in both the present and the future ministry of WOI is greatly appreciated. If you would also like to participate in our July and January “prayer and fasting” months, then email woi@world-outreach.com and we will gladly involve you.

John Elliott International Director

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THE WHOLE VILL AGE HAS COME TO CHRIST! Rodney and Juliet Munkhondya, MALAWI • Ministry leaders in evangelism and training church leaders. world-outreach.com/people/rodney-juliet-munkhondia

Pastor Gregory preached in a village called Kamzimbi. Among those who gave their life to Christ was the village Chief. In African Chewa tradition, a chief does not belong to any church due to their Nyau culture tradition, which is their “religion”; however, this Chief gladly became a follower of Christ and was delivered from the animistic practices he was deeply

involved in. The Chief is now involved in evangelism. He gives his testimony wherever he goes and his entire village has now received the Gospel. Praise the Lord!

>> Pastor Gregory (left) with Chief Kamzimbi (right).

STILL DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE David Khoza, SOUTH AFRICA • Ministry leader and principal of Soweto Bible College. world-outreach.com/people/david-doreen-khoza GOD IS STILL DOING the “impossible” today. Mrs Nancy Modiakgotlha had a brain tumour and was admitted to hospital. After a few months she was discharged as the doctors could not help her. She

became bedridden. A Christian relative decided to find a way to get her to church for prayer. They hired a car.

After the sermon, she was brought forward for prayer.

She was healed immediately. She went home walking unassisted. << Nancy Modiakgotlha.

A G R E AT E R P O W E R Joseph and Aimee Dayamba, BURKINA FASO • Ministry leaders in children’s evangelism and training. world-outreach.com/people/joseph-aimee-dayamba SALATA’S FATHER was a witch doctor who had dedicated her to the spirits.

He told her that no power could deliver her, not reckoning on the One who by His blood sets people free.

Salata was brought to us for prayer and

Jesus has set her completely free! As a result of seeing the remarkable change in their daughter, her parents have surrendered their lives to the Lord.

Salata is now a prayer leader in school. >> Selata (left) was dedicated to the spirits.

PEOPLE GROUP ADOPTION Chris and Nadine Brittain, KENYA • Ministry leaders involved in equipping church members and leaders. world-outreach.com/people/chris-nadine-brittain RECENTLY MORE THAN 50 members of a Pentecostal church in Nairobi (including the leadership team) went through the Kairos course and decided to adopt the Somali people! This was ratified during the Kairos graduation.

One of the speakers was a lady from

India who has come to Kenya as a missionary to the Somalis! Another congregation led by a Pastor Njuguna, a Kairos Head Facilitator, has adopted the Orma, another Muslim group in Kenya! << Chris (third from left) with the leadership team and a missionary to Somalis from India (second from right).

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THE LOVE OF CHRIST COMPELS US Colin and Jenny Ayling, Maziotela Ministries MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders of a holistic ministry. world-outreach.com/people/colin-jenny-ayling I LOVE TO ENJOY the majesty of God’s creation but how often I forget that the crowning achievement of God’s creation was man – created in the image of God. It can’t get more wonderful than that!

Right now Maziotela’s Village Mercy Programme is busy as many local families have exhausted their food supply and are facing daily hunger until the end of yet another hunger season. God is helping us not to just

see old widows or starving children but precious people made in the image of God. The exciting news is that many of the strongest Christians in local village churches are those who we have seen God save. He has saved their lives physically and even better, through Maziotela’s programmes these people have been reunited with their Creator, whose love for them is even better than life.

>> Colin (left) helping those facing another hunger season through Maziotela’s Mercy Programme.

T H E W O R K C O N T I N U E S T O E X PA N D Myriam Wahr, O Bom Samaritano MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leader of a holistic ministry to the rural poor. world-outreach.com/people/myriam-wahr RECENTLY OUR TEAM reviewed our work here in northern Mozambique in order to help us decide where to direct future resources. We will continue to prioritise training our 212 health care workers. We are teaching them how to prepare natural medicines to treat injuries and illnesses. Some of our workers do not yet know Jesus but we are seeing their hearts soften.

We also make house visits and some of our patients live in isolated villages. In 12 months our teams has helped treat 40,093 people, many of whom got to

hear about Jesus for the very first time!

We are currently caring for 787 orphans >> The Bible verse tracks in Makhua and in three regions.

Portuguese.

We provide them with food, medical care, housing, clothing and school materials. We also offer training programmes. We also have prison and radio ministries. We are also giving out MP3 players with the Gospel on them. Through all of these

efforts, we tell people of Jesus’ love and of the hope they can have in Him. We believe 2014 will be a year of new opportunities and open hearts.

>> Inauguration of a health care post.

W E D D I N G C E L E B R AT I O N S Paul and Sue Fosse, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders involved in training church planters. world-outreach.com/people/paul-sue-fosse IT IS A RARITY in Mozambique to have any legal document stating that you are married. Many folk here do not even know when they were born and don’t have a birth certificate or ID documents to prove they even exist. So who cares about a marriage certificate?

Many mothers have up to five children or more and each one will have a different father. Relationships are very

loose and commitment is a rare gem.

Each year Acts Church has a special marriage seminar. In order to enter, couples must provide their marriage certificate. They have encouraging teachings, good food and at our most recent one we had Holy Ghost revival.

At the end God was saying that marriage is a dance with each other

and keeping in step together is very important. The next thing the music was turned up and everyone was having a glorious time dancing with their spouses. It was very special and a huge encouragement to all. You have to live here to appreciate how amazing it really was!

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THE UNIMAGINABLE BECOMES REALITY Jo and Jenny Graham, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders involved in making disciples. world-outreach.com/people/jo-and-jenny-graham WHEN I FIRST SHARED God’s plan for marriage, that one man marry one woman and they stay faithful for life, our island people laughed! Such a thing was unimaginable. When girls reach puberty, they go through a ceremony that changes nice kids into voluptuous women. After that, they have many, many partners.

Since the Gospel has entered, however, the unimaginable has become reality and hundreds of de facto couples have married before the Lord. When people repent of their sins, after a little while they get married.

>> Jose and Mariamo.

young men; the girls struggled to follow Jesus. But in the last two years, we have made drastic changes in the “virgins’ ceremony” and have been making a way for our younger girls to choose to walk in purity.

>> The girls ceremony.

At the same time, we hadn’t seen any change among the single girls; our town youth group was almost entirely

>> Dino and Joaquina.

Now for the first time, we have wonderful godly girls who have completed the ceremony and are waiting well for the young man God has prepared. Young men are presenting to us the girl they believe God has prepared for them. They are walking in the light – and several “first-time” weddings are scheduled in the next few months.

>> Nuro and Amina.

ELECTRONIC GOSPEL Martin and Simone Schumann, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders involved in teaching and training disciples. world-outreach.com/people/martin-simone-schumann A DONATION FROM overseas made it possible for us to purchase many MP3 players. These machines have the Gospel in the Makhua language on them. Over a period of time, we have visited more than 40 villages and met the imams of the local mosques on each occasion. Not a single one of the clerics refused the electronic Gospel when offered to them. On the contrary, they were delighted and overjoyed! We

want to supply every single mosque in every coastal village with MP3 players.

Even people who cannot read can listen to the Gospel. Several people of Muslim background have come to faith in the Saviour already. The MP3 players are all solar powered so that even the people deep in the bush without electricity can hear the stories of the Gospel. This is indeed “Good News”!

>> Listening to the Gospel in their own language on MP3.

>> Brito and Dulce are radically changed.

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SHINING FOR JESUS Emmanuel and Martha Mulenga, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders involved in training, evangelism and church planting. world-outreach.com/people/emmanuel-martha-mulenga BRITO AND DULCE are among a number of people who recently have become followers of Jesus Christ. Brito comes from a Catholic background and Dulce from a Muslim one. He is an English teacher and also studies at a local university. One of our new disciples had been reaching out to him, inviting him to attend our fellowship meeting. One day Brito and

Dulce came and at the conclusion of the message, both of them gladly responded asking Jesus to become their Lord and Saviour. Since then they have not looked back and remain full of hunger and passion for the Lord, and for His presence in their lives. They are a radically changed couple and their very demeanour reflects this. >> Brito and Dulce are radically changed.

A B A B Y S AV E D B Y P R AY E R Inacio Tomero, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry team member involved in evangelism and church planting.

A BABY WAS DYING from malaria. He was in a great deal of pain. Then someone remembered that Jesus’ followers pray for the sick, so they went to our leader’s home and asked for prayer. My colleagues spent two hours praying over the baby. Then they saw signs of healing. They helped take the baby to hospital. By the time the sun came up, the baby was completely well.

Thank you Lord!

OPENING EYES Nathan and Sawsan Bassaly, EGYPT • Ministry leaders involved in teaching and training disciples. world-outreach.com/people/nathan-sawsan-bassaly WE RECENTLY SENT two ladies from our staff, Ragga and Afaf, to Kenya.

They joined 70 others from seven African nations. They shared about their ministry here in Egypt and they learned a lot from the experiences of the other delegates. They visited schools and shared with the children and also attended different churches where they

>> Ragga and Afaf pray with the Kenyan children.

had opportunity to teach the children.

Ragga and Afaf returned to Egypt very excited from their experience. They are now sharing what they learned with different groups in Egypt with the goals of mobilising churches and mission teams and opening the eyes of Egyptians believers to pray and intercede for other nations. Our desire

is to help churches in Egypt have a larger perspective of what God is doing and think not only for their own needs but to be aware of people in other nations who need the Lord.

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Part II FEATURE

In a previous issue of Nations, I proposed the first 6 of 12 keys I have discovered from my own observation, experience and research on how to grow prevailing churches.

7. EQUIP THE PEOPLE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY Equip the church through hands-on training to live their Christian lives and to serve in an area of gifting. Embrace the teaching of Ephesians 4:11–16, that one of our primary roles is to equip people to serve the Lord in and through His body. Establish courses that will accomplish this in systematic and practical ways.

8. INTENTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERS / DEVELOP AN INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUSTAIN GROWTH Develop pathways for the development of leaders and develop a structure that can facilitate future and accelerated growth. Initiate courses for emerging leaders. Train existing leaders. Hold regular leadership meetings for ministry, development and communication.

9. SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES FOR DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS IN THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY Provide specific ministries for the multifaceted groups within the church

and the surrounding community.

Prioritise youth and kids. Identify the social and cultural needs in your community; then seek to meet them.

Honour the aged. Wherever possible, engage in local schools.

(or ministry). Appoint a skilled and competent administrator as well as a skilled personal assistant (secretary).

Adopt best-practice approaches to HR and accounting. Promote the church and its central message.

10. DEVELOP FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND EXERCISE RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP Maximise the giving potential of the church; build the church’s financial base and administer the church’s finances with accountability and transparency. As senior leader, model a lifestyle of generosity and sacrifice. Foster a capacity to raise funds. Teach and preach annually on stewardship. Provide options for how people can give. Appoint a trustworthy church board, treasurer and accountability systems. Invest surplus funds wisely for the future.

12. ADEQUATE FACILITIES FOR GROWTH Provide the present and future congregation with the facilities necessary to deliver the various ministries and services. Ensure the facilities have: visibility, accessibility, suitable amenities, adequate parking and room to grow. It’s also necessary to have an effective PA, data projectors, screens and IT. Designate areas for children’s ministry and an office block.

Maintain websites and social media sites.

11. COMPETENT ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT Develop and maintain competent personnel and systems to administer and manage the operational side of the church

Keep building, keep believing and keep depending on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Bruce Hills International Leadership Development Director

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NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES Bruce Hills, AUSTRALIA • International Leadership Development Director, teaching, training and equipping leaders. world-outreach.com/people/bruce-hills IN LATE 2013 I visited three nations.

First, I went back to Egypt to conduct the first of many emerging leaders seminars. Over 120 young leaders from

>> Emerging leaders in Egypt.

across Egypt gathered for three days of teaching and training. It was so exciting to see a new generation of young Arab leaders rising with a passion to impact the Middle East. Second, from Cairo we flew to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to meet key leaders and conduct a mini-seminar to explore possibilities for 2014 and beyond. God opened a significant door there. Third, we flew to Nairobi to speak at the third and final year of the Kenyan Leaders of Leaders seminar. This is the largest seminar we run anywhere in the world. More than 150 attended. We graduated 30 who

had completed all three years. We’ll go back one more time to teach the 30 how they can take the material and spread it across East Africa.

>> Kenyan Leaders of Leaders graduation.

A TRANSFORMED MISSIONARY Menuo Keditsu, Generation Ministries INDIA • Ministry leader involved in discipling children for Jesus Christ. world-outreach.com/people/menuo-keditsu IN OUR FIRST outreach to the Hindu State of Tripura, a missionary teacher confessed he was so caught up with his academic responsibilities that he forgot his missionary spiritual responsibilities!

Humbly he learned what we taught on reaching children and adults for Christ.

Within one month he worked with a couple of others to share the Gospel in the neighbourhood and some 28 were led to the Lord and water baptised! << Menuo at a children’s outreach meeting.

BROM THE BARBER Kitbok Ryntathiang, INDIA • Ministry Leader involved in teaching, training and equipping leaders.

BROM WAS BORN into a Hindu family in a village where no one knew about Jesus. He grew up and built a life for himself. He had a good business as a barber. He was married and had a family. Yet, something kept nagging him.

He didn’t have peace within himself. He

looked to temples and mosques and he went on pilgrimages but nothing helped.

Nothing gave him the peace he craved.

Then he met someone who told him about the love of Jesus and on that day, Brom decided to follow Jesus. That was 16 months ago. Since then, Brom has

led 451 other Bengalis to Jesus. People come from different villages to get their hair cut and Brom gives them much more. Now Brom spends more time talking about Christ than he does about hair. Now we know why God made Brom a barber.

• ISSUE 2, 2014 •

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FEATURE

PHILIPPINES TYPHOON RECOVERY Grahame Orpin, AUSTRALIA • Emergency Relief Coordinator.

MORE THAN 200 HOUSES belonging to the Waray Waray people on Samar Island have been repaired or replaced thanks to donations from World Outreach International donors and partner organisations like Crest Malaysia. Subject to ongoing donations, we are confident this number will rise to around 500. Our approach is to “help the people help themselves”

donors for all the various ways we are assisting their recovery in three villages.

>> One of the 200 WOI repaired homes.

It is encouraging that our relief work in Marabut has been the means of opening hearts to Jesus. There are currently fewer Christians among these people than almost any other group in the Philippines (less than 1%). Please pray that the Waray Waray people will, in the coming months, also begin expressing their thanks to God for His overwhelming love for them.

i.e. We provide tools and materials for local men to do the actual repair and rebuilding. Chainsaws have been provided to mill the typhoon-downed coconut trees for new house posts and framing. New galvanized iron roofing is providing shelter and plywood walls are being installed.

In the local language, Waray Waray means “nothing”. They are a people with little sense of self-worth. They seldom if ever express gratitude, so it was a huge surprise to our team members when a tearful lady handed me a letter thanking us for rebuilding her house. Many more have been written by families saying thank you for the first time in their lives. The municipal officials have also written grateful thanks to WOI and their

Hundreds of people in Marabut township now have clean drinking water thanks to our partnership with CleanWater Australia and New Zealand and several Rotary Clubs in South East Queensland, Australia.

Long term livelihood projects are also underway, including replacing fishing boats and nets destroyed by the typhoon. Local boat builders are now hard at work. The boats complete with outboard motor cost about $1000 to replace depending on the size. We would be grateful for your prayerful consideration of this need.

>> Village children excited to have clean drinking water.

>> Local boat builders hard at work providing fishermen with a livelihood.

FRONTLINE FILES DAY 1

Janvier and Claudine Yokoinele • IVORY COAST

Thank you for supporting our partners in prayer!

DAY 6

Malcolm and Linda Bayliss • S-E ASIA

DAY 7

Kevin and Jeh Sie Chan • THAILAND

DAY 8

John and Mary Elliott • SINGAPORE

DAY 9

Allen and Charlotte Teal • NEW ZEALAND

Pray for the 7th Anniversary of the WOI school in Abidjan on June 21 and the 5th Teachers’Training programme to follow.This will bring French-speaking Christian teachers from all over the world, giving them the opportunity to meet staff and children. Pray for finances needed to host this celebration.

DAY 2

Donna Elliott • SINGAPORE

DAY 3

Max and Dorothy Chismon • PHILIPPINES

DAY 4

Ben and Rachel Brooks • S-E ASIA

DAY 5

Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit – This is my desire for the WOI communications department this year. Please pray that God would breathe on us so that the publications going out from international office would return with fruit for the Kingdom.

Please pray for our mobilisation efforts in Asia and Africa in particular. A mobilisation conference will be conducted in Ghana in July (15–17) and hubs for mobilisation are being established throughout the Philippines to provide vision and resources for churches to be involved in mission.

We are excited and blessed to help facilitate the Nations course in June. Pray for our family as we travel to Chiang Mai. Pray participants will gain a new/deeper revelation concerning God’s calling on their lives and how they are able to live out His purposes on the foreign field.

Rod and Lynley Talbot • SOUTH AFRICA

Pray for our CPM workshop in Mozambique this May. Rod is part of the training team for this evangelism tool.

Pray for John and Mary Elliott’s annual visit to South Africa. Remember Rod in prayer as he travels to West Africa in mid-June to review ministries and future plans of personnel there.

DAY 10

We value prayers as we lead the Nations Asia course from June–July in Thailand. For course participants, this is a time of expanding thinking patterns, facing new concepts and learning to apply concepts in their ministry.

Pray for health of all trainers and participants and an openness to the Holy Spirit.

Thank God for the healthy arrival of baby Emilyn. Pray for the right people to commit to teaching at our centre from July until December. Pray for good connections with our community and students, that hearts will be receptive. Cover our Thai team in prayer as they take on more management responsibility.

Thank you for your prayer. We have much travel before us to different WOI fields. Pray for safety, good health and divine appointments along the way. We also need to strengthen our communication department and are praying to find someone with graphic design skills. Pray that someone will be found soon.

This June and July we will be providing on-field member care for WOI personnel in Asia. Pray for safe travel, for our health and for encouraging meetings with the field workers. We are always aware that people are praying and grateful to those who support us in this way.

Neil Gillon • INDIA

I am running discipleship sessions with two couples in my neighbourhood using the Following Jesus programme by Jo Graham, which has recently been translated into Hindi. One of the couples I am discipling will disciple a couple who only speak Hindi.

Please pray for these two couples.

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DAY 11

Elisa D • THAILAND

DAY 12

Peter Blaze • AUSTRALIA

DAY 13

DAY 14

DAY 15

Pray for the opening of a Christian bookshop.

Our female youth ministry and prayer ministry are going through good changes while facing growth challenges. Pray that the government will grant me my volunteer visa when I apply in July. Pray that youth at Jump Church will be on fire for the Lord.

Pray for creativity, freshness, continued finance and revelation on our team (Peter, Jeremy, Gabriel) as we begin Gospel stories in our stop motion film. We need wisdom to know what to include and how to say it for maximum impact. Pray for our model maker team (Zain, Ebin, Jason) that they would find Christ.

DAY 16

DAY 17

Rahab Ministries • THAILAND

Roger and Vivienne Latham • AUSTRALIA

MC and Lezelle Coetzee • SOUTH AFRICA

Remember the Lesotho Bible School students in prayer and the new discipleship study group that has started in another village. Pray for the Swaziland ACE preschool that is being registered and pray that the Lord will use the WOI South Africa team to help mobilise the church in SA for cross-cultural service.

Please pray for: our method of evangelism to bar girls, so as to impact them most; the bar girls who have been working with us, that they be strengthened in faith and grow in Christ; and the Rahab leadership team and outreach teams, to have wisdom and hearts burdened for this ministry.

DAY 19

Rodney and Juliet Munkhondya • MALAWI

DAY 20

Mun Heng and Cecilia Au Yong • MALAYSIA

DAY 21

Pornchai Banchasawan • THAILAND

Ronny and Karin Robben • INDONESIA

We’re thankful for God’s perfect timing in sending new members to strengthen our team. Pray that we can all build good relationships with one another so as to be a good example to the unsaved Dayak tribal children we are caring for.

Peter and Jeannie Smith • NEW ZEALAND

FRONTLINE FILES

Praise God for new volunteers and for Anita and children, whom just got away from her pimp. Pray for funding for a social worker.

Pray for our Keep Going workshop. Pray for the prostitution legislation going through, that laws will address the problem of 270,000 women a year trafficked within the EU.

In the second week of July we are running a major indigenous “glory gathering” in a remote community. Our prayer is that this will be a catalyst for a major outpouring of God’s awesome love and power to the nation.

DAY 18

A gathering of key regional leaders is scheduled for June in Abidjan.The purpose is to consider how the Gospel could be spread more rapidly and effectively in the large, French-speaking region of West Africa. I will be facilitating this gathering. Pray that we will be clearly led by God in this critical matter.

Patricia Green • EUROPE

Mission mobilisation and leadership training is taking root here. Please pray for the effectiveness of the WOI leadership seminars planned for this year. Prayer is requested for the newly established Highridge Christian Academy, that it will be effective in its children’s ministry. Keep our country in prayer as we move toward national elections.

We believe it is time to focus our energies and gifts on engaging with LRPs in the India sub-continent region. We plan to take a short sabbatical before taking on a busy schedule in the second half of 2014. Pray for refreshing, reorientation of focus, clear direction and provision.

Pray for two families who accepted the Lord, that they will grow strong in their faith.

Pray for favour with the Hmong community leaders in helping solve a local land issue and pray that we will have wisdom as we wait on the Lord for our new church ministry centre building.

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DAY 22

Colin and Jenny Ayling • MOZAMBIQUE

DAY 23

Malcolm and Sandy Potter • THAILAND

DAY 24

Chris and Nadine Brittain • KENYA

DAY 25

DAY 26

We give thanks that our first village preschool has opened, in a Muslim village with no health or education facilities. Our great desire is to train more teams from village churches and then to help them open pre-schools in their villages. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for these Mozambican teams.

Please pray for 11 Baan Faa Mai (BFM) youth beginning tertiary studies and for the new intake of first year university girls from BFM as they transition into city life. Pray also for the BFM leaders ie. Pastor Prasert, Mam and Toon and ex-student Tawee, who will assist them.

Please pray that the mobilisation of the Kenyan church continues even as we go on home-leave this July – Oct. Pray for the opportunity to give extra responsibility to a growing team of Kairos Head Facilitators who are already demonstrating maturity and expertise in running courses and advancing the movement.

Chaiyot and Gail Wansong • THAILAND

Pray that the Thai church embrace God’s heart to reach LRPs in Thailand and beyond.

Pray for Thai Christians to grow in their understanding and practice of God’s mission, so that all people groups will hear of Jesus.

We are thrilled to have launched Thai Kairos 4th edition. Pray for open doors throughout Thailand.

Emmanuel and Martha Mulenga • MOZAMBIQUE

February 10–14, a group of senior WOI field leaders will meet in Singapore. We will be working through challenging issues around ways to better serve and resource our field workers to impact more LRPs and to do it more fruitfully. Prayers for God’s wisdom and guidance would be appreciated.

DAY 27

David and Penny Elliott • S-E ASIA

DAY 28

Andrew and Chris Low • MOZAMBIQUE

DAY 29

Thank the Lord for His blessing on our March marriage ceremony and the celebrations that followed. We plan to base ourselves in S-E Asia with discipleship ministry involvement in different Asian nations. We have other study/ministry options before us and would appreciate your prayers, for our married life and for the Lord’s direction for the future.

Life for the locals is tough with high unemployment and sickness. While we do what we can to assist families, we are also keen to have the Gospel message go hand in hand with any practical help we extend.

Pray for open hearts as we move and mix among the people.

Sukhen and Puspa Biswas • BANGLADESH

Generation Ministries Bangladesh has 15 camps scheduled this year. Arranging such programmes brings many challenges yet it is worth all the work when the children open their hearts to Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare each heart and pray for our team that we will know God’s strength.

DAY 30

DAY 31

Duncan and Lindie Ross • S-E ASIA

We have just started an exciting church planting multiplication training initiative among a local indigenous people group in a village that is within a 20km radius of 300 unreached villages. Pray that hearts will be open and that people will share Christ to others in neighbouring villages.

Paul and Sue Fosse • MOZAMBIQUE

After helping to facilitate the Nations course in South Africa, we are now back in Mozambique.

Pray as we now help organise a church planting training and spend time with other WOI ministry personnel to learn how WOI can better assist them. Pray for good health, safe travel and great interactions.

FRONTLINE FILES • ISSUE 2, 2014 •

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What is our message?

Jo Graham, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leader involved in making disciples. world-outreach.com/people/jo-and-jenny-graham

MY FIRST TASTE of missions was an outreach in Indonesia a few years ago.

While street witnessing, I overheard some of the local team sharing the amazing truths of Moses’ Tabernacle with a Muslim they met on the street. Is that our message?

FEATURE

I hear short termers, who have crossed the earth to “do missions”, share salvation testimonies without any clear message. They share an amazing healing story. Wonderful, but not enough for people without any Christian background to recognise Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Or, the atmosphere they felt in a meeting was so amazing that it somehow propelled them to the front.

And even though they can’t remember anything the preacher said, they wept and felt a great peace! Healing, peace of mind. Is that our message?

What DID the preacher say? What he said IS important. And what did Jesus tell US to say? What is our message?

First, JESUS is our message. In the gospels, He did

not present “justification by faith” as a Pauline doctrine. He presented Himself as the Messiah (Luke 19.9; John 4.26; 9.37). Come to me, He said! People fell at His feet, worshipped Him and were saved. Many of our young people are talking a lot about God and very little about Jesus. One of them, who had grown up in a Bible-believing family and church, confided that while visiting Mozambique, she had realised how important Jesus was. Her faith had just been in “God”. Like Philip, talking to the Ethiopian eunuch, we must preach Jesus, who saves the lost!

He sent the disciples out, saying, “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24.47). Would you do a little study? Follow those themes, repentance and forgiveness of sins, through the presentations of the Gospel in Acts. Forgiveness of sins – He is our Saviour who died in our place on the cross to set us free from sin.

Come to me, He said!

People fell at his feet, worshipped Him and were saved. Many of our young people are talking a lot about God and very little about Jesus.

Repentance – He is our Lord; He rose from the dead and bids us follow Him, a new master and a new allegiance in our lives. Start with Acts 2.38, 3.19 and 5.31!

To make disciples and multiply churches, preach forgiveness of sins and repentance; preach Jesus, our Saviour and Lord!

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HAPPINESS IS TRUSTING GOD Vijaya Chowdhuri, BANGLADESH Ministry leader who with her late husband Biswanath, founded Christian Discipleship Centre (CDC). world-outreach.com/people/vijaya-chowdhuri THE FOLLOWING IS A testimony of one of our Christian Discipleship Centre (CDC) graduates.

When I was in high school, I felt God’s call on my life. In 1999 my wife and I enrolled for training at CDC. After graduation I was offered a position as a mission evangelist and pastor for a Christian ministry. As time went on, a burden grew within me to focus my ministry on the local Muslim community. I did and in the first year we saw 18 people baptised. A year

later we helped plant five churches, all led by new believers. The Holy Spirit made it clear that we were to continue striving in this direction, so we resigned from our organisation in order to focus our efforts. As of this writing, we have helped to plant 45 churches. A number of these first generation churches have started other churches. We praise the Lord for all these new believers who have invited Jesus into their lives. We thank the Lord too for His faithfulness in providing for us.

>> These pastors are planting first generation churches among Muslims.

A G R E AT W I T N E S S No Pum, MYANMAR • Ministry leader involved in evangelism and church planting. world-outreach.com/people/no-pum TA TI IS DISABLED. When her father became a believer and was water baptised, his transformation was amazing. He became a dedicated follower of Jesus and a great witness for the Lord. He shared his faith with Ta Ti, who also asked Christ into her heart. She too wanted to be water baptised. Since her baptism, Ta Ti’s health has been gradually improving and her family is excited to see her newfound radiance.

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STUDENTS PRESENT GOSPEL TO CHILDREN Sam and Carol Soukotta, INDONESIA Ministry leaders who are the principals and founders of the Mt Hope foundation and Tawangmangu Bible College. world-outreach.com/people/sam-carol-soukotta THE TAWANGMANGU Bible College Muppet Team ministers to children in churches and schools. The muppet ministry gives churches an opportunity to invite unsaved children to hear the Gospel. Parents don’t see a muppet show as a religious event and if isn’t held in the church, the children are allowed to come. Often, the children will gather around whether the parents agree or not! So it is one way of getting the Gospel to the children and youth.

From testimonies we have heard, it is working. There are some who now

believe and are regular attendees of children’s church.

Life in the village is very different from life in the city. In the village, there is a lack of educational opportunities and parents don’t see education as a priority; therefore, village children do not get the same education as city children. We have capitalised on this and some of our students are going out on the weekends to give the village children extra classes. This allows them to connect with the children and the parents too.

>> The Tawangmangu Bible College Muppet Team.

N O T A C C E P T I N G T H E I N E V I TA B L E Jan-Willem and Marlinde Tamminga, INDONESIA Ministry leaders who are overseeing 180 children at the New Hope Ministries hostel in West Kalimantan. world-outreach.com/people/jan-willem-marlinde-tamminga beautiful young girl. Please pray with us that the Lord will help us get her a passport and that He will release finances to meet her needs. God has a great plan for this precious girl!

WHEN SCHOOL RECOMMENCED after holidays, 11-year-old Denak did not return from her jungle village.

We received word that there had been an accident and that she was still recovering. A month later we visited Denak and learned that she had broken her leg and could not walk. In such isolated villages there is no access to medical help and poor families like Denak’s would not be able to afford treatment even if it was available. In Denak’s case, they had planned to wait for her leg to heal even if the bones were not aligned, which would result in a lifelong limp. With her parents’ permission, we took Denak to hospital,

>> Denak shows Jan-Willem where the accident damaged her leg.

where we learned that in order to get the operation she needs, she will need to cross the border to East Malaysia.

We are committed to helping this

INSIGNIFICANT YET POWERFUL Robert and Eliana Mambu, INDONESIA • Ministry leaders involved in evangelism and literature ministry. world-outreach.com/people/robert-eliana-mambu LIFE IN CHRIST MAGAZINE (LIC) continues to provide teaching, encouragement and blessing wherever it goes. Weekly we receive notes telling us how blessed people are and asking for back copies. Many ask for LIC to be sent to friends elsewhere.

Literature ministry may seem less significant than other ministries, yet it can find its way to obscure and isolated villages as well as to homes of powerful and influential people. LIC continues to reach all spheres of society.

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INTRODUCING ‘FINAL NIGHT’ Rama and Sinta Jones, SOUTH EAST ASIA • Ministry leaders involved in training and cross-cultural communication. world-outreach.com/people/rama-sinta-jones RAMA AND SINTA JONES in Southeast Asia were pleased to recently launch their evangelistic film Final Night.

The film is available in one national language and six regional languages with more languages underway. Final Night’s compelling story of sacrifice, linked to the stories of the prophets, builds bridges between the Quran and the Bible and their respective communities.

Anyone interested in supporting further language versions in the region should contact Rama <rama.jones@worldoutreach.com>.

>> Scenes from the evangelistic film Final Night.

THANK GOD FOR BAAN FAA MAI Malcolm and Sandy Potter, THAILAND • Ministry leaders involved in training and caring for tribal children. world-outreach.com/people/malcolm-sandy-potter I THANK GOD for Baan Faa Mai because that is where I came to know Him. My family is not Christian; therefore, I’m glad that God brought me here where I learned about Him by listening to testimonies and reading the Bible. This helped me to understand and experience His great love. If I didn’t have God, my life would be troublesome. I thank the staff at BFM, who took good care of me and taught us about God’s unconditional

love. BFM is the best hostel that God could give me and He has blessed me in many other ways. Previously I didn’t study well but after knowing God, my grades improved and I felt calmer. BFM is the starting point of the best things in my life. I believe that God called me and that one day all my family will see God’s love. I believe that God hears all of my prayers. I hope that I will be able to serve God with the same love and mercy of the staff at BFM.

>> Baan Faa Mai is the best hostel God could have given me!

FOR ASIA

M I S S I O N E X P O S U R E T R I P S 2 014

GOD IS REAPING A RIPE HARVESTFIELD IN ASIA RIGHT NOW AND WE HAVE BEEN INVITED TO PLAY A PART. VIETNAM • MYANMAR • THAILAND • INDONESIA

Visit www.world-outreach.com for more information.

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STUDENTS PRESENT GOSPEL TO CHILDREN Chuenjit Mungaew, THAILAND • Ministry team member involved in ministry to boys and girls in remand homes.

RECENTLY, at the girls’ remand home, a girl started sharing her stories with me as we were ending our fellowship group. She has a daughter who is a few months old but because of how the baby was conceived, she rejects and tries to avoid her. I shared with her about God’s love and immediately, there was a change. Once she is home, she will return to love and care for her daughter. >> Chuenjit with her remand home girls fellowship in Bangkok.

GOOD NEWS! Daniel and Genevieve Nihill, THAILAND • Ministry team members involved in evangelism and church planting.

WE ARE PLANTING a church in our local area. Please pray that God would lead us and provide for us in this endeavour. Also, we recently went on a camp with the university that we outreach into and have made many new connections with the students there. Please pray that these relationships would grow and that God would touch the hearts of the students as we share the Gospel with them.

Finally on a personal note, Genevieve is pregnant and we will welcome our first child into the world in June!

>> Genevieve and Daniel involved with their campus outreach and student ministries.

FRUITFUL TESTIMONY Rahab Ministries is an outreach to evangelise and disciple women working in the red-light industry in Bangkok. world-outreach.com/our-projects/evangelism-church-planting/rahab-ministries-thailand THANK GOD for His protection during the ongoing political crisis in Thailand, especially for our safety as we are near the demonstrators’ base. We are grateful that we can come to work as usual.

Praise God for the outreach Christmas party held last December, which 20 bar girls and masseuses attended. A team from Thailand Pentecostal Seminary led the activities, a group from YWAM presented a mime show and one

>> The Rahab Christmas party where 20 bar girls came and heard about Christ.

ex-bar girl shared her testimony. Her experience with God was inspiring.

While working in the bar, she sought God and fervently pleaded for refuge.

Then God answered her prayer. She met her husband and left the bar. She now has a lovely family and owns a tourism business. Her testimony touched many hearts as tears were seen in their eyes. As a result, six women accepted Jesus Christ and are now following Him.

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DELIVERED FROM TORMENT John and Nok P, THAILAND • Ministry leaders heading up an evangelism and church planting ministry. world-outreach.com/people/john-nok-p FOR MORE THAN 20 years, Mali was a medium. Lately, she had been tormented by the devil and was in severe pain. She was grounded by the power of evil spirits that were using her body. She couldn’t even attend the funerals of her close relatives.

Whenever she attempted to leave home, something always happened, e.g. she became suddenly disabled and could not walk.

Then she heard about Jesus. Her niece, who was once a medium herself, shared with Mali about Christ. Mali’s niece told her that she had repented

and put her faith in Jesus and that she had been delivered from an evil spirit.

When Mali received Jesus, she too was delivered. Her health improved straightaway. She is now fully recovered.

She can travel and she is never afraid to do so. She has since led two other mediums to salvation. She has a burden for many of her friends who are being harassed by evil spirits. Her goal is to go and share the Gospel with all her friends and family members. >> Mali (left) has a burden for her friends who are being harassed by evil spirits.

SPREADING THE WORD John and Nok P, THAILAND So the word of the Lord was increased very greatly and was full of power. Acts 19:40 IN THE PROVINCE of Kanchanaburi more than 30 people have come to Christ in the past three months. Ms Nat led her three cousins to know Jesus. She taught them to know and experience the love of God. One of them is Ms Malee who was a spirit

>> Mali is baptised.

medium for 40 years. She had been very sickly and was suffering from many kinds of ailments: heart disease, hypertension and pain all over her body. Her backbone was >> Listening to a Bible story. twisted and her tailbone was protruding. Medication from the hospital did not help her at all. But after she came to Jesus, she was delivered from evil spirits and totally healed. Ms Malee led both her older and younger sisters to receive Jesus as their own Lord and Saviour. Nat has now started a church in a house at Kanjanaburi.

Please continue to pray for Mali as she shares with her medium friends, that many more will come to follow Jesus!

>> Worshipping in Thai culture.

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I S I T R E A L LY P O S S I B L E T O G O T O H E AV E N ?

Prasert Taksin, THAILAND • Ministry team member involved in evangelism and discipleship among Thai children. world-outreach.com/people/prasert-panyamangkong IN THAILAND there are still more than 5,000 villages without even one church – or one Christian. So None Feak village was very blessed when two believers from Chiang Rai moved there last year. My friend Mrs Lim couldn’t believe that not one of her None Feak village neighbours had ever heard the name of Jesus! What a big open door she had. So she invited me to visit her and run an English camp in the local school. The headmaster was very keen to have us and he gave us permission

One little girl was very interested – she asked me “Is it really possible to go to Heaven?” She was overjoyed to hear that Jesus is the way!

to tell the children the whole Gospel story. Over those three days, 114 children heard about Jesus and we visited their families in the evening.

>> Teaching Thai children about Jesus in None Feak village.

CHALLENGES AND JOYS IN THAIL AND Valerie Bateup, THAILAND • Ministry leader of the Good News Team that evangelises and disciples Thai children. world-outreach.com/people/val-bateup The Good News Team is church for thousands of Thai children who have no other way to learn about Jesus. As they do our correspondence lessons, children share how God’s Word is changing them:

Kandiya, age 12: Jesus’ love makes me happy. Now I want my parents to know Him too.

Roongthip, age 11: Now that I know God, I want to live so I make Him happy.

Kamonporn, age 7: Your lessons make me happy. Now I know Jesus is on my side.

Chanapa, age 10: We’re Buddhist but now I believe in Jesus because of His mercy and love.

>> Enrolling for lessons.

Please pray for God to bring solutions and peace to our land.

>> Learning alone.

Thanokkorn, age 12: My family and I are Buddhists. So is everyone in my community. There is not even one Christian. But I believe and trust in Jesus.

What should I do?

>> First time reading about Jesus.

BUT: Protests in Thailand mean postal services are not working and many children’s letters don’t get through.

>> Discovering with friends.

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Peter Van der Westhuyzen, NEW ZEALAND • Children’s Ministry Coordinator. world-outreach.com/people/peter-bev-van-der-westhuyzen FOR A CHILD TO develop fully, his or her needs must be met in a number of areas. Physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development is required.

These developmental areas are interconnected e.g. without the basic physical provision of reasonable food and shelter, it is extremely unlikely that a child will develop properly in other areas. Without the capacity to relate well to others, it is hard to relate to the Lord and grow spiritually.

FEATURE

World Outreach International has a range of ministries addressing these different aspects. It is not always possible to have a completely wellrounded programme, but in our various hostel ministries, all of these developmental areas are addressed.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. Many of our ministries have programmes like clinics and feeding programmes and in disaster relief situations, we do our best to specifically help children.

They often suffer the most and are the most vulnerable to death by disease or floods. Recently, after a church bombing

FOR A CHILD TO DEVELOP FULLY, HIS OR HER NEEDS MUST BE MET IN A NUMBER OF AREAS. PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IS REQUIRED. in Pakistan, WOI provided children with medicine and Christmas gifts of clothing. A Christian school destroyed by militants was given books, desks and equipment. A Philippines school damaged in a recent typhoon will be repaired.

MENTAL DEVELOPMENT. ACE Christian schools in Africa are linked with WOI ministries. In Vietnam children are sponsored to attend school. Hostels in Thailand, India and Indonesia provide or ensure schooling and extra tuition is provided where necessary.

EMOTIONAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT. Our training programmes for children’s workers

include elements of games, group discussions and fun times. For many kids these events are one of the few times they can relax and enjoy organised activities without the pressure of rigid discipline, or pressure to perform.

Courses on basic children’s counselling are offered.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. Evangelism and discipleship of children is a major focus of WOI. All our residential ministries emphasise this and children from these homes often end up in full-time ministry. Many of our ministries work closely and serve local churches in order to multiply the effect of their outreach ministries and weekby-week discipling programmes. In addition to culturally-appropriate basic materials in various languages, in-depth curriculums are published and provided to churches in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Middle East countries, Thailand and Cambodia. The future of the church lies with its children, and a leadership by people of lifelong faith and good character will make for a solid platform into the next generations.

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MYRIAM WAHR

One way I continue to see God’s miracles daily is through our vehicles.

Sometimes when I look at the bush roads, I wonder if we will ever make it through. The poor condition of the roads takes a big toll on our vehicles so that we often have problems with the tyres and sometimes even worse problems than that. The vehicles are really necessary for our ministry here and so it is always a problem when one does not work – or even two. I think a lot of missionaries on the field can appreciate that.

Myriam is a paediatric nurse from Germany and has worked in Mozambique since 2004. Her specialist areas include preventive medicine, first aid and a project aimed at feeding the homeless, especially children. Myriam founded the Mozambican association O Bom Samaritano in 2009, which supports the health system with natural medicine and trains local paramedics using teaching material from Anamed (Action Natural Medicine).

WHEN DID GOD CALL YOU TO MOZAMBIQUE AND HOW DID HE DO IT? I was always someone who was gripped by suspense-filled stories from the mission field. I wanted to be a missionary in Africa but sometimes I had doubts if that was really God’s will for my life.

Later on, a few prophetesses confirmed God’s mission calling on my life. I went to a discipleship school where we were taught how to hear the voice of God. One day, I prayed, “Where do you want me to go Lord?” God’s answer to me was Mozambique. Mozambique? I was not really sure if I had heard correctly but God sent me a confirmation. Two or three days later I was sent a magazine with the big, fat frontline – Mozambique.

I knew it really was God who had spoken!

WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE FROM THERE? I was so excited. I wanted to start immediately but there were no open doors at that time. There were a few problems that were concerning me, such as being a woman travelling alone in Africa. God knew about this and sent a married couple to accompany me.

Before I flew back to Germany, I gave all my Mozambican money away because you cannot take it into another country; however I didn’t know about the airport tax. You can imagine the awful situation I was in when I arrived at the counter without any money in the correct currency. What do you do in such a situation? I prayed a quick prayer and

God did not let me down. The person behind me paid for me!

I knew and still know God opened many doors. He wanted me to be in Mozambique.

COMMITTING TO FULL-TIME MINISTRY ALWAYS REQUIRES SACRIFICE. WHAT WAS A SACRIFICE FOR YOU? The biggest sacrifice was to leave my family. I have a very close relationship with them, especially with my parents.

I miss my church and having regular services as well. Another big challenge is being fully dependant on God – especially for finances. Human pride does not always make it easy to do that!

HOW DID GOD REWARD YOUR SACRIFICE? He gave me divine fulfilment. I believe that a person cannot reach a greater place of peace than by walking in the calling of God for their lives. He created every person with strengths and abilities for their special calling.

He also gave me favour: favour from the local authority that supports us, favour from my local team members and – this is the most important to me – His favour. I can see that God makes this project successful, not because of us or our work but because of His grace.

Every day is an adventure and I am pleased to say that I am a daughter of God who can take part in witnessing big and small miracles in so many situations.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MIRACLES YOU HAVE SEEN?

Every time we have had problems on the road, God has kept us safe and we have been able to get help quickly. Often there are wonderful people who came to our aid. I can see God’s solicitude in all of these situations.

I have seen miracles in the finances too.

For me personally, it is very important that God supplies enough finance for the ministry because this is a sign to me that I am still in the right place. He has not let me or the ministry down. He supports us – not too early, so my trust is often tested but not too late either. He keeps watch over His children.

I believe that a person cannot reach a greater place of peace than by walking in the calling of God for their lives.

HOW DID GOD SHOW HIS GRACE IN YOUR LIFE? I was a very shy child. In school I took longer to understand things than the other children my age. My teacher did not recognise that I needed another way to learn. In Germany, after four years, a teacher decides which school a child should go to next. My teacher did not see my potential and wanted to send me to a special school for handicapped children. But God helped me! He sent another teacher who helped me to learn more effectively so that I could attend a regular school. God chooses the smallest people to show His grace in their lives.

Everything I have accomplished is because of His grace. I am so glad to serve Him. If you would like to contact Myriam or support the work of O BOM SAMARITANO visit our website: world-outreach.com/ people/myriam-wahr

For more great missionary stories visit...

www.legacymagazine.org

• ISSUE 2 2014 •

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KIDS IN CRISIS VISUALISE IF YOU WILL Village One, an isolated rural region in northern Thailand where life is a continuous economic struggle and where children abound but have no opportunity locally to get an education. World Outreach International team members learned of this village and travelled there to meet with the elders to discuss ways to assist the children in getting an education. The discussion seemed to go well. The WOI team promised to return within a month with a proposal to help the children. On their return journey they discovered that during their absence, a man from Bangkok had visited and offered to employ 15 of the village children aged between 5–12 years in restaurants and other businesses in the city and promised that their monthly income would be sent back to the parents. This offer was too good to turn down and the parents had agreed to send their children away.

Try and visualise also Village Two, another rural community of 250 people whom WOI team members visited after hearing that two young girls were about to be sold by parents to become factory workers in Bangkok. The team members talked with the parents about letting their daughters go to live and be cared for in a WOI hostel where they will also have opportunity to get an education. As the girls climbed onto the back of the pick-up truck, three other girls in the village, who heard of their friends’ good fortune, ran out of their homes shouting, “take us too, take us too”. It was learnt that these three girls were about to be sold into Bangkok’s entertainment industry.

With the help of faithful ministry partners, WOI hostels in different countries have been able to rescue young vulnerable children at risk from being sold and lost in the sex and slavery industries. Hundreds of children have already been helped by WOI teams. With your help, WOI is making a difference; however, more can be done. More children can be rescued. More children can get a chance to get an education and begin to dream dreams of a better life. More children can come to know and experience the real love of God and His plan for their lives (Jeremiah 29:11).

For $50/£35 per month, WOI teams are able to love, care for, feed and clothe kids who were once in crisis and in so doing, give them hope and a future. Thank you for partnering with WOI in helping to make an even greater difference.

Donations can be made to: World Outreach

International and designated Kids in Crisis. Then forward to your nearest WOI office (listed on pg 2).

Donations can also be made via our website:

world-outreach.com If you wish to receive more information on any of these projects, please email woi@world-outreach.com. Thank you.