One of the tasks I often had to do, as missions coordinator, is to try to extract a report from our missionaries on the field for our folk back home. And it is not easy.
Many of the missionaries sent out on the field are wonderful evangelists, and rightly they should be so. They love souls, they can teach and preach and tell the old, old story of the good news a hundred times a day and never tire of it.
Then they get back to their little apartment at the end of a long day, turn on the computer, and get ‘tongue-tied’ trying to type the first line of a report to the home church. Not easy for people who love to talk, but are not able to translate spoken words into the written language!
Well, reports are very necessary, because the brethren in the home church often wonder who is who in the mission field, who is where, and what are they doing. I lose track sometimes. What about them!
The brethren in the home church are the ones who support the missionaries with their love gifts and offerings. If they do not know who is who, who is where and what are they doing, would they have second thoughts about giving to a mission field or a worker they do not know about?
The brethren in the home church also desires to pray for our missionaries. Air cover for the soldiers on the field is so needful. Our missions board and our pastors and workers come together every single morning, without fail, for prayer. The ordinary church member also wants to pray, but often do not know who or what to pray for.
A pastor in the Philippines had been sending reports and photos regularly about his work. I haven’t had the privilege to meet Pastor Leo personally yet, but through these reports and photos, I know about his work among the poor, and his attempts at vermiculture as a means to support the poor.
The three or four typhoons in the past month had hit his town very badly, and the vivid pictures show so clearly the needs of the people there. His reports also gave glory to God despite the trials of the floods, as well as show the opportunities for gospel outreach in areas which used to be resistant.
I haven’t met Pastor Leo yet, but I know how to pray for him, and his work, because he took the time and the effort to send out reports despite his busy schedule.
Hey, if you are a missionary labouring somewhere unseen, unknown, how about a line or two to let us know you exist?
I remember the first time I saw the little purple flowers on the mountains in Tibet. They were soooo simply beautiful. And I thought, what a pity that no one but me may ever see these. And then I thought, maybe God makes beautiful things, not to make us happy, but for His own pleasure and because He just enjoys making and having beautiful creations.
This was about 4… Read More....
Dear Family and Friends,
As always, time goes by so quick. The spring semester flew by and now I am in the process of moving to a new city. After the whirlwind of activities over the last few months, I finally have a few minutes to catch my breath before summer camp starts so I thought I’d take a moment to update you on how He is working… Read More....
School has begun! I started teaching on Monday of this week. I am teaching in the English department of my school and am very excited to be working with my students. I have loved all my students from year one to now but because these kids are English majors their English is a little better so we can discuss more in-depth topics and get to know each other a little… Read More....
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