By a worker in Africa
This month I’ve been telling the Joseph story in three parts to a group of handicapped men. Last week a religious teacher that I had met before walked by while I told the story. He was Friendly, but obviously not in agreement with my sharing. I saw him whisper something to one of the blind fellows that had showed unusual interest.
When I arrived this morning to finish the story it felt like a wet blanket was over everyone, Continue reading
From Jonathan, a worker in Africa
“Sadly, I have attended funerals of three students—very emotionally draining. One in particular, Monamu’s, was heart-breaking, as he literally died from an infection! He died on a dirty bed in a dirty hospital corridor. I traveled hours by public transport to his funeral. Continue reading
From a friend in the Middle East
“He waters the land from His upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of His work.” Psalm 104:13.
Rain is a wonderful thing. We have been waiting for it for months. The clouds have been growing and soaring by barrenly for weeks. Today, they were gathering, grey and suggestive, and the smell of rain in the air made my students crazy. Here, rain smells like dust: rainstorms stir up dust from the earth, and bring down all the dust suspended in the air, and so we smelled it and thought, “Rain!”. I suppose wet dust smells different from dry dust. Continue reading
By Karli, a WEC Trekker at Betel UK
With officially one week into the trip I still feel as though I just got here, but also as if I have lived here forever. Hopping in the car as a passenger on the left hand side is no longer foreign, and I have quickly adjusted to drinking tea at least 3 times a day (no complaints there). Continue reading
From a worker in Africa
I stopped to greet some important religious leaders who sat in the shade along the street. I had just asked if they would like to buy a scripture calendar when a Muslim religious teacher came up and told me to, “Get out of here NOW.” (Well, good morning to you, too, brother!) Continue reading
A blog post from Emily, a WEC Trekker
Dr Nancy Wood writing from Bunia:
On his recent trip, my husband [Dr. Philip Wood] spent one long evening repairing about nine holes in someone’s abdomen, and just as he was leaving to come home he dealt with a soldier who had wounds in his back and backside from a bomb. All of these injuries are evidence that there are elements of insecurity by those who live and create havoc right on the border of Congo near the foot of Mt Rwenzori. Here in the Bunia market we notice there is no rice from Oicha/Beni being sold, nor are there any lemons.
In Philip’s absence Dr Sami had his own patient with gunshot wounds to the chest and both thighs but none of the bullets went inside the patient.
By a Worker in Asia
“Come away with me. It’s not too late. I have a plan for you. It’s gonna be wild. It’s gonna be great. It’s gonna be full of Me.”
These words, by the band “Jesus Culture,” sum up our time here since we’ve returned to Asia. We have seen God do some amazing things, both in our lives, and in the lives of the people around us. We’ve seen healings. We’ve seen more people open to talking about God. We’ve sensed an excitement and joy among our friends that we’ve never experienced before.
So often we expect things to be how they’ve always been. We expect that God will work as He has before, that He will talk to us as He has before. But, since we’ve been back, we are learning to expect the unexpected. We are learning, in our hearts and not just our heads, that this God of the universe is so much bigger than we could ever imagine. As the song says, “It’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be full of Me!”
By Rob and Laura Evans, Mexico
Some of you will remember when our family went to Philadelphia, PA, for WEC’s three-month Candidate Orientation course in 2008. What a faith journey! Rob took a leave of absence from his job, our daughter, Hannah, was in the middle of her food allergy nightmare and recurring asthma attacks, we still weren’t sure what God wanted us to DO in missions, or convinced of where He wanted us to GO, and we didn’t know if WEC would actually accept us until AFTER the course was over. All we really knew for sure was that God was asking us to trust Him, and we wanted to obey.
Now we have the privilege of watching God move in the hearts of other families walking through the same process to become missionaries. We were privileged to mentor a Venezuelan couple working through their Candidate Orientation class―only this time in Mexico!
From a friend in the Middle East
The olives are all harvested and now it is pruning time. Jesus talks about pruning: “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be more fruitful” (John 15:2). I have always thought of that pruning in a very Western way—trim the branches a little, but not enough for most people to notice, and I’m not excited about getting pruned like that. So I’m a little in shock here. Once the pruners have worked down a row of our beautiful, luscious olive trees, there are more branches and leaves on the ground than left on the tree! Jesus was talking about vines, not olives, but I’ve heard vines are pruned even more dramatically. And that’s scary when I think that God prunes us sometimes. A host of verses come to my mind about God’s ways and wisdom and plans for us. So I am deciding again to trust God, because He does know what He’s doing with the pruning shears.
