Trying to Get Back to Normal

Trying to Get Back to Normal, and Beyond
By Paul Shingledecker, Haiti
January–March 2012

No Haitian will ever forget January 12, 2010. Without a doubt, the 7.0-magnitude earthquake changed the little country forever.

But life goes on, and we must rebuild. WGM support staff member Sheryl Landis (Member Health) came to Radio Lumière to do posttraumatic stress disorder debriefing and told the staff, “Things will never be the same. You’ve lost homes, belongings, loved ones, and everything secure. But there is one thing I can promise you—you will find a new ‘normal.’ This upside-down world will finally come back together for you and you’ll feel comfortable in it again.”

One of the exciting things that has come out of the earthquake is a sense that “normal” is not enough. Haiti needs to build back better. At Radio Lumière, our friends and partners from other countries have responded by giving not only to keep Radio Lumière on the air, but also to make it stronger. We have projects to remodel studios, rebuild transmitter sites, and even to start a new station in a remote area.

GO: Can you help Haiti rebuild? Join a work team and build new, better homes in Haiti. To learn more, contact Bill Bucher at mwv@wgm.org.

Japan Crisis Fund Update

An excerpt from Japan Crisis Fund
By Kevin Zirkle, Japan
January–March 2012

Many things changed in Japan on March 11, 2011. With the triple disaster of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a tsunami that was over 30 feet high in many areas, and the damage at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant causing radiation to leak, Japan was no longer a place where safety was considered a given. People realized that life is more fragile and unpredictable than they thought it was.

In response to the disaster and the tremendous needs created by it, the Immanuel Church established a Disaster Relief Section. This group evaluates situations and channels funds to those with the most urgent needs. Because WGM works with the Immanuel Church in Japan, WGM decided to establish the Japan Crisis Fund and channel gifts to the Immanuel Church’s Disaster Relief Section.

The area affected by the earthquake and tsunami has been historically difficult to evangelize because people there are very traditional. Before this event, the church and Christians were considered as strangers in that area. Now that the church has worked so hard to help, people say that the church is no longer a stranger, but a friend. May people in this region come to know Jesus, the Friend who is closer than a brother.

PRAY: Pray for those living in the area worst affected by the crisis who now see the church as a friend. May they come to know Jesus through this tragedy.

Central America and Mexico

An excerpt from Regional Update: Central America and Mexico
By Terry Hawk, Regional Director of Central America and Mexico
January–March 2012

Honduras
Sixty-five years ago, the first WGM missionaries arrived in Comayagua, Honduras. They started the first Sunday School with just five little kids on the street. Recently, we attended a special celebration in Comayagua to thank God for the first evangelical church that was established in that city.

PRAY: Please join the WGM Honduras Field in offering praise for what God has done in the last 65 years of church planting.

El Salvador
After some problems with paperwork, interviewing hundreds of applicants for job positions, and purchasing all the needed equipment, David Hawk was able to open the new medical clinic in El Salvador on October 12, 2011. What a difference this new facility is going to make in the town of Jucuapa!

MORE: To learn more about the David V. King Medical Center in El Salvador, visit www.wgm.org/davidvking.

Mexico
God is moving His Church in the area surrounding the border of Mexico to a posture of repentance. Christians gathered in Mexico on the Nuevo Laredo side, and Christians in Laredo, Texas, gathered on the USA side and faced each other. They prayed for repentance, seeking God’s divine intervention in the crisis on the border with issues such as drugs, crime, and increased gang activity.

ACT: Perhaps God is moving you to repentance as well. Read Matthew 18:1, where God gives us a model for repentance.

Miracle of Provision

An excerpt from Miracle of Provision
By Lydia Allshouse, Mexico
January–March 2012

“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:8 NKJV)

Have you ever wondered what might happen in the future if you do something today? It might be a small thing in your eyes, but God can use that kind word, that prayer, that smile, or that gift to make a difference in someone’s life.

We had been looking for missionary housing in Irapuato for the Mexico Field but had not found anything that fit the budget. We had looked at big houses, small houses, and vacant lots, all in search of suitable missionary housing.

One day, out of the blue, WGM’s treasurer e-mailed me about an investment fund for Bible training in Mexico and wondered if I knew anything about it. I said, “No, but I would like to know. What can you tell me?”

When he e-mailed back, we were totally blown away. Someone had given a small investment with the express purpose of a Bible institute in Mexico! Over the past 40 years, this investment had grown to $120,000!

ACT: Approx-imately $25,000 is still needed to finish the theological training building. Will you financially partner with this ministry and offer a gift toward the needed funds for completion? Send your check to WGM at the address below with account number 21570-CALL on the memo line.

World Gospel Mission
Box 948
Marion, IN 46952-0948

A New Miracle at Tenwek

An excerpt from A New Miracle at Tenwek
By Linda Spriegel, Kenya
January–March 2012

In the book Miracle at Tenwek, an early missionary nurse tells of a patient who told her he had passed up other medical facilities to come to Tenwek Hospital because “the hands here are kind.” Since that time, Tenwek has become a major medical referral center in western Kenya. Thousands of patients regularly forego other hospitals to come to a place with a growing number of specialties and where they still receive compassionate care in Jesus’ name.

People connected with Tenwek have been praying for years for a computed tomography scanner, a machine that combines a series of X-ray views taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional images of body tissues. The steady increase in the sophistication of care offered at Tenwek in recent years has made it more important to have this level of technology. Could it really happen?

At the commissioning celebration, Dr. Mike Chupp challenged the staff to continue to make Tenwek Hospital a place where patients find kind hands. “A different CT scan, Christ’s Touch, is the great hope for Kenya, Africa, and the world.”

ACT: Pray that every patient who has a CT scan at Tenwek Hospital will truly experience Christ’s Touch.

MORE: The book Miracle at Tenwek is available through WGM for just $10 plus shipping. Contact Kristi Crisp at thecall@wgm.org.

Go: Jesus’ Last Command

An excerpt from: Go: Jesus’ Last Command
By Gianetta Wright, Volunteer, Texas/Mexico Border
January–March 2012

“I have never worked harder in my life,” one volunteer said at the end of a month on the mission field last winter. “Nor enjoyed it more.”

What do volunteers do on a mission field? They do the same things they do elsewhere, plus they often learn a new skill or two. Cooking, baking, plumbing, wiring, construction, roofing, repairing, painting, teaching, reading stories, making handcrafts, sewing, trimming trees, raking, mowing, cleaning, helping with computers, stuffing envelopes, decorating, building bookcases, installing shelves, monitoring a school playground—the opportunities are endless.

Where were you and what ministry did you miss?

Here’s what happened in 2011:

62 Missionary Volunteer Partners served on 10 different fields
33 Volunteers In Action participants served on 10 different fields
95 total volunteers served on WGM fields

Here are some service ideas you can do in 2012:

Serve as the host or hostess at a guesthouse on a field
Help with support services by serving as a field treasurer
Teach art, math, or other subjects at an international school