Category Archives: Missions

Reaching out to others.

Missions, Reviews

Book Review: A Company of Heroes

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A Company of Heroes

A Company of Heroes is Tim Keesee’s account of men and women who have taken their faith into the world and shared the love of God in phenomenal ways. It takes place in real time, so the reader becomes a traveling companion on streets across the globe. And the stories are current events, providing insights to the daily activities of our worldwide brothers and sisters.

“Tim Keesee is the founder and executive director of Frontline Missions International, which has served to advance the Gospel in some of the world’s most difficult places for over twenty-five years. He has traveled to more than ninety countries, reporting on the church from the former Iron Curtain countries to war-torn Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Keesee is also the executive producer and writer of the documentary film series, Dispatches from the Front.”

Often, we hold missionaries up to super-hero status. But Tim says heroes “don’t overanalyze or overestimate what can’t be done. Rather, they focus on what can be done- and do it.”

In Morocco, they receive thousands of requests for Bibles each year. And, it’s a lesson for all of us, there are people everywhere, even in countries we thought were closed to the gospel, who are hungry for God’s Word.

In China, Tim observed the ministrations of a support group for autistic children and their parents. He said, “I haven’t met any experts. The Christians here aren’t experts in helping autistic children, or counseling their parents, or in vocational training for the blind; but a person who is drowning can’t wait for a boat to be built to save him. These believers are just diving in, knowing that while they don’t have all the answers, they do have the ultimate answer – it’s the radical rescue work of the gospel!”

I love Tim’s heart for missions and the Word of God. He doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulty of the work, but emphasizes the need for workers. I dare you to pick up a copy of A Company of Heroes and walk away unchallenged. Tim’s call to join the battle shakes you to the core and provides ammo for your prayers. It’s a thrilling showcase of God’s grace!

Sally

Disclaimer: Crossway provided a complimentary copy of this book through the Blog Review Program.

“All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.” ~ Hudson Taylor

Missions, Writing

Eyeglasses, Readers, Sunglasses, Oh My!

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For our writing exercise, I asked my Writers Group to write for 15 minutes about what they saw. This is what I showed them:

Kim Earle said,

As if disposed

The tubs of glasses sit before me

Conversation ensues about their cleanliness

While my mind wanders to those

Who wait for the chance to see.

Elaine Weaver: Bins full of Hope

I looked into these bins full of eyeglasses that Sally had run through her dishwasher. They sparkled like the bright shining stars of the sky on a clear summer night. Way across the world was a mass of people waiting for the opportunity to have a pair and see clearly again – maybe for the first time in their lives! This was hope for something better in their lives, and that hope lay in these bins in her kitchen! But how to bring this hope to them has been a focus for several people for the last three years. A plan had to be made. Prayers were first! Money had to be raised. God had to place a desire in their hearts to pursue this mission. So, all this has been accomplished and in March of 2019 they will take these bins of hope and fly to Africa where hundreds of adults and children are waiting for their answer to prayer. Soon they will see their futures through unclouded lenses!

Julia Thompson,

I looked into three totes and found eyeglasses filling each one. Eyeglasses! – sparkling, clean lenses inside frames of copper, gold, silver, black and other “shades” of color. These gifts were going to be delivered to Uganda via a missionary trip.

For a while, I gazed at them – those sparkling, clean lenses looked empty. There were no eyes in them! I’ve seen photos of people from underdeveloped countries whose eyes bore the same emptiness. And the frames of various colors, so fragile.

So many different prescriptions, too. We all seem to see situations and people differently.

I thank God often for my actual sight. But I pray daily that He will let me put on His “eyeglasses,” so I can see others through His eyes. Then perhaps He could use me to fill the emptiness in the lenses and add strength to those weary frames.

Heidi Bogue:

Totes, totes and more totes

Whatever, wherever

Full or empty?

What treasures do they hold?

Now, now, don’t rely on the label,

Take a peek!

Be brave and see for yourself!

What do they hold?

A faucet from a sink?

A wink?

Careful! It may stink!

Now… settle down!

Do not fear!

Pop the lid and peek.

Do you see? Surely you do!

If not… reach in, grab a pair!

Is it clearer now, dear?

Why we are here

With totes, totes and more totes?

It’s not boats you need, or even coats.

Now, now… no more tears.

Pick your glasses; fit them to your ears

And celebrate with

Hip hip hooray cheers.

That is why we are here.

Becki James wrote,

“Oh, if I had eyes to see,” I solemnly thought to myself as I boarded the plane to a country I had never been to before. My own vision was perfect as a child. As I grew older, presbyopia set in, attaching a pair of bifocals forever to my face. The suitcases I carried now were filled with vision: eyeglasses, to be exact.

Vision is such a vast word. Our missionary team carried vision. How many individual lives would be changed by a single pair of eyeglasses? Vision… how many lives would be changed by the grace and compassion of God?

“Help me see, Lord,” I urgently breathed out.

“Help me to see these people with your eyes of love. Let me see your people with your perfect and pure eyes. Amen.”

Eyeglasses: oodles and oodles of eyeglasses. I never realized how much I take my sight for granted. People in third world countries don’t have access to eye care like we do. Eyes get infected, yet not treated. Eyesight deteriorates, yet no intervention given. They don’t have government programs to give aid, no social workers to come alongside. If there are no family members to help, then there is no help.

In eight weeks, our Uganda Team will depart from Buffalo with thousands, yes, thousands of eye glasses and an eye doctor. We’ll conduct eight eye clinics where people can have eyes tested with a focometer and a prescription matched. It’s a giant effort, but allows us to be the hands and feet of Jesus to bring sight to the blind and Good News to all.

People need a soft touch and a kind word. They need to know someone cares. Will you add us to your prayer list? Pray for endurance and a good sense of humor during the long clinic days. Pray for health, and rest for the travel. And pray for hearts to “see” the Gospel in action.

Sally

P.S. We will be blogging during the trip here.

Missions

Vision for Africa!

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What would life be like if you had blurry vision all of the time? It would be normal for you, because you never knew it could be any different. Suppose someone gave you a pair of glasses, and you could see for the first time? Would you be excited? You bet your eyesight, you would!

In 10 short months, our Uganda Mission Team will leave for Africa with a medical professional to lead Eye Clinics. There, we will measure for visual acuity and fit patients with prescriptions for sight. In a five step process, our team will evaluate different levels of eye health.

It reminds me of the story in Mark 8:22-25 where Jesus healed a blind man in stages. My NIV footnotes say this two-step process is indicative of our blindness: “Many persons with normal eyesight are spiritually blind.”

What has blinded me to Truth? Ego, pride, an independent spirit? I’m praying for new eyes to see the hand of God at work.

Did you know young adults in Third World Countries struggle with cataracts because of the intensity of the sun?

Would you do two things for us?

~ Pray for the Team traveling to Uganda March 3-16, 2018.

~ Collect glasses, readers & sunglasses & mail them to Busti Church of God 996 Forest Ave Ext. Jamestown NY 14701 before November 1 so that we have time to label the glasses with prescription strength.

Do you have extra eyeglasses laying around the house?

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Thank you for partnering with us!

To Uganda or Bust!!

Sally

Update:

This trip was postponed. The new date is March 16-29, 2019.
The process of getting the glasses ready is pretty extensive. So, we are done collecting glasses, but have room in the suitcase for more sunglasses. Sunglasses protect eyes against the harmful rays of the sun that cause cataracts!

Faith, Missions, Reviews

Book Review: Kisses from Katie

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNYJgDm2Gc4

 

This book is profoundly disturbing. And it shakes me to the core. Kisses from Katie is the story of a high school senior who travels to Uganda and subsequently invests her life in the people she meets there. Katie Davis says her life is not extraordinary, but she goes on to describe extraordinary ways the Lord shows up in desperate circumstances.

Katie Davis came with no formal training, no formal backing and no formal plan. She was compelled to get involved, and took the first step. She used her hands and feet to show God’s love in practical ways, and became known in an impoverished land as “Mommy.” Indeed, at age 18, she fed, schooled, applied medical help, housed and eventually adopted. Now, ten years later, Katie’s nonprofit has a Board of Directors, farming education to sustain life, food outreach, a self-sustaining vocational program and sponsors over 700 children.

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Katie says, “Jesus wrecked my life.”

I’ve run into that phrase before. It means she became uncomfortable with her comfortable life. And her words create discomfort with the way we’re doing things in Western society.

I am running from things that can destroy my soul: complacency, comfort and ignorance. ~ Katie Davis

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Katie found a paradox in Uganda: “amazing, breathtaking beauty juxtaposed against immense poverty and desolation.”

She says, “Materially speaking, the people who began to fill my life were the poorest I had ever met and yet they overflowed with the riches of the heart. They lived in houses of sticks or stones and mud; they slept on hard dirt floors. But they did not blame God for this or ask Him for more. They knew their circumstances were due to the brokenness of this world and they simply praised Jesus for keeping them alive through it all.”

Katie saw children dying from preventable diseases and knew she had to find help. She began to contact people in her hometown of Nashville, TN in search of those willing to come alongside her. She described the need, not as statistics, but as “people I know and love.”

Katie’s approach to her life and work in Uganda might be considered radical, even controversial. She gives to people who cannot repay. She helps those who should be able to help themselves. Yet, the message is an important one. We must get involved. When God’s people reach out to others, that love will transform people, one life at a time.

If you want to stay comfortable, don’t read this book. It gets under your skin. However, I challenge you to get your own copy and a pen. Highlight ideas, quotes and values. Let two worlds merge in your own heart as you seek how the Lord will lead you to be obedient, as a missionary, right where you are. And, in your imperfect, inadequate efforts to serve Him, you will find new release as you lean on Christ.

Sally


Missions

Out of Africa

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I still weep when I look at the pictures from Uganda. How can a trip to another continent render one so utterly speechless? Maybe it’s the culture shock, but, would you believe culture shock is harder coming back home? If you have running tap water in your house, you have more than most people in Third World countries. You are wealthy! 

If you have running tap water in your house, you are wealthy!

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One of the home visits we made was to a widow’s in Gulu. She takes care of her grandchildren because their parents, her children, have died of aids. Her home is a tiny mud hut with a thatch roof. Inside, she had a rocking chair and a fire pit. She was thrilled to invite us in, and brought a bench inside, just so she could host us in her home.
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There’s no welfare from the government in Africa. People survive off the land and the love of others who have compassion on them. We brought gifts of lotions, soap and shirts, and small toys for the children, as well as beans and rice. You would have thought she received great riches, her gratitude was so profound.
One organization that is making a difference in their lives is Children of Promise, a child sponsorship program of the Church of God. The program they developed for the widows is called TAPP, and is described this way,
“Tumaini Aids Prevention Program is a holistic social program that reaches out to those infected and affected with HIV & Aids. It provides training, Home Based Care, income generating projects, education and social support for a hopeful life which encompasses the entire community.
The Church of God child sponsorship office is located in the Kasubi area, in the city of Kampala, Uganda. As the office doors would open each morning, more and more families were showing up needing assistance. The need to care for families affected by HIV was overwhelming. Soon it was obvious that a separate program should be created. They called this program TAPP. ‘Tumaini’ is a Swahili word meaning ‘hope’ and became the vision of this program.”
We have long been associated with TAPP through the beautiful beads made by the widows. They create the beads with strips of paper rolled into tight balls and strung together, and this is one of the ways they support their families. Take a look at their work here.
Read more about our home visits here.
In his book, Something Beautiful For God, The Classic Account of Mother Teresa’s Journey into Compassion, Malcolm Muggeridge says this about encountering impoverished people:
Accompanying Mother Teresa… to the Home for the Dying, to the lepers and unwanted children, I found I went through three phases. The first was horror mixed with pity, the second compassion pure and simple, and the third, reaching far beyond compassion, something I had never experienced before – an awareness that these dying and derelict men and women, these lepers with stumps instead of hands, these unwanted children, were not pitiable, repulsive or forlorn, but rather dear and delightful; as it might be, friends of long standing, brothers and sisters. How is it to be explained – the very heart and mystery of the Christian faith? To soothe those battered old heads, to grasp those poor stumps, to take in one’s arms those children consigned to dustbins, because it is His head, as they are His stumps and His children, of whom He said that whosoever received one such child in His name received Him. (pp. 52-53)
Indeed, we met our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews in those huts. And we were blessed.
Sally

Originally published August 28, 2014 at sallyswords


Faith, Leadership, Missions, Reviews

Book Review: Possible by Stephan Bauman

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Possible
Does poverty, injustice and world suffering bother you? Get ready to be bothered more. Stephan Bauman has written, Possible: A Blueprint for Changing How We Change the World, with a look at the worst our generation has been offered. But Bauman also offers hope, by presenting a blueprint that will ignite a new approach to problem solving.

Bauman is the president and CEO of World Relief, who has lived with feet on the ground in developing countries struggling to fight AIDS, trafficking and factions. He says, “We owe it to subsequent generations to honestly ask ourselves if we are responsibly stewarding our moment in history.”

But what does it mean, to steward our moment? Bauman says we need to step up to use our skills and abilities to find solutions to the problems that plague our world today. He provides tools for groups to access what their unique contribution can be and invites all to lives of radical obedience marked by sacrificial love. He says the invitation of Jesus to be vulnerable is one way of accepting glorious grace into our lives.

Bauman says reformation begins with a complaint. When we care enough to get upset, then it can turn into prayer. Prayer galvanizes courage. Courage fosters commitment. And commitment becomes the foundation for action.

Bauman sends the clarion call to abandon narcissism, self-absorption and insecurity in order to take up a higher calling to pursue a relationship with God instead of addiction to ministry. Indeed, Bauman says our world’s problems are all relational. People will change when they experience a love that collides with their belief systems.

Possible is a compelling book. It awakens the call to more, by asking hard questions about character and motive. I believe this generation is ready for change, and this book helps us to see that change is Possible!

We know too much about suffering to ignore it any longer. ~ Stephan Bauman #Possible

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Sally

Disclaimer: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.
 

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Faith, In the News, Missions, Reviews

Book Review: Freedom’s Stand

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Freedoms Stand

What would it feel like to live in a Muslim country? J.M. Windle has captured the essence of a life that is ruled by Shariah Law and the cultural morays for women who are bartered like property. Freedom’s Stand is the story of a relief aid worker who clashes with an ancient society and with her own expectations of what it means to make a difference. As she strives to build relationships with women of Afghanistan, Amy Mallory is faced with her own inadequacies. The struggles of faith and humanity are real and believable. The reader gains understanding of how it feels to have daily language barriers in trying to communicate needs, and then feeling mistrusted in the process. The dilemmas reveal genuine soul-searching as characters insert their own beliefs about God’s involvement in the human element. And the storyline is an eye-opening look at the different forms justice takes, in the application of it around the world.

Who is J.M. Windle? Jeanette Windle grew up in South America as the daughter of missionaries. Her home included six countries and served as fuel for the imagination of a gifted storyteller. She shares about the details of research on her blog.

Why is it important to understand another culture?

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The world is becoming a smaller place; people move to other countries with job opportunities, and then find the challenges of being in another culture overwhelming. When we study the behavior of other people, even in the form of fiction, we better understand the methods they use to cope with daily life and survival in their lands. We are also seeing more about Shariah Law in our own country. The web brings news of laws being changed to accommodate our Muslim neighbors. How will that effect life in the USA? How will we respond to injustices around the globe? We can’t be vocal if we don’t invest in the learning process.

Grab a copy of Freedom’s Stand, and its prequel, Veiled Freedom, and immerse yourself in a riveting story that includes danger, romance and far away lands!

Note: I received this book as part of the Tyndale Rewards Program. I received no compensation for this review. Do you want to get free books too? Here’s my link.

Sally


Encouragement, Faith, Family, Holidays, Missions

Christmas Eve

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presents

The 24th is my favorite date in December. We’ve arrived home from the 11 pm Christmas Eve Service. The frenzy of the month is over. The kids have received their first present (new pajamas) and everyone has gone to bed. I have the moment to hold in my hands as I put the last of the bows on the packages and place them under the tree. There’s a serenity that fills the night. Another author captured it by saying, “Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

Funny, how the two stories have become so intertwined in American folklore; Santa and The Christ seem to get equal billing in our media. Only, Santa is portrayed as a living, breathing, jolly old soul.

And Jesus? He’s a lawn ornament, a plastic figurine with peeling paint.

Santa and The Savior have reversed roles!

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When did Santa and The Savior reverse roles? Now, we’re saving the North Pole, and Christmas magic, and telling kids, if we only believe, Santa will rescue our Christmas dreams. How do we help the world discover the One who really came to rescue us at Christmas?

A few weeks ago, Hubby and I attended a Steven Curtis Chapman Concert in Elmira, NY. As Steven Curtis Chapman shared a video about their program, Show Hope, he told us, “Some children do not want presents this Christmas. They want someone who will become their own forever family.”

These children have unfulfilled Christmas dreams. And here I am, with an abundance of presents under my Christmas tree. It’s difficult to reconcile the two worlds. We clash by what we do and don’t have. And it’s a stark reminder of our need for a Savior.

So, here I am, beneath my tree, remembering the carols sung less than an hour ago, of a baby in a manger. And angels bringing news of peace on earth. And wise men who recognize the Hope of the world.

Will you kneel before Him?

Will I?

Sally

Luke 2:1-20