Not Just a Coffee Table Prop

An excerpt from Not Just a Coffee Table Prop

How to make the most out of The Call
By Rachel Elwood, Support Staff
January-March 2013

If you’re like me, when a magazine comes to your home, you read through it quickly, looking for topics you’re interested in or writers you follow, and then you toss it on the coffee table.

But The Call isn’t just a magazine; it’s inspiration to be a more missions-active Christian. The Call can be a teaching tool. Here are a few suggestions for using it to introduce others to missions.

Social Networking: Did you read something that gave you new ideas on how to share Jesus with others? Post it in your Facebook status. The entire issue is online at www.wgm.org/call, so you can post a link to an entire article. Publicly sharing your passion for missions can have a significant impact on others.

Give It Away: After you’ve enjoyed reading The Call, why not pass it on? Give your copy to a friend or neighbor and help spread the message of the Great Commission. Need more copies? Contact us and we’ll send you additional copies at no cost to you.

Action Step Challenge: Get practical! Every article in every issue of The Call has an action step that relates to the story. That may be praying, giving a financial gift, studying a Bible passage, or doing a specific task, such as writing an encouraging note to someone who gets on your nerves. Get a group of friends together, such as your Sunday School class or Bible study group, and have each person select one action step to complete that week. The next time you meet, talk about your experiences. Prepare to be amazed at what one small group can do for the kingdom!

ACT: Can God use something as simple as a magazine to speak to someone’s heart? We sure think so! Renew your free subscription today or sign up a friend.

Make an Impact on Your Knees

An excerpt from Make an Impact on Your Knees

By Tracy Dubois, Support Staff
January-March 2013

Here is a list of prayer resources to help you pray for missions.

Daily Prayer. Lift up WGM missionaries, retirees, support staff members, and missionary/office kids each day. See who is on today’s prayer calendar at www.wgm.org/praycal. You can check back daily, print a copy each month, or print a copy of the entire year.

Weekly Prayer. Prayer Lifeline is a weekly e-mail sent straight to your inbox each Tuesday, highlighting current praises and requests from WGM missionaries and ministries around the world. View the Prayer Lifeline online and sign up for free at www.wgm.org/lifeline. You can also access a recording of Prayer Lifeline at 1.800.426.0846.

Monthly Prayer. The Best of the Story: Miraculous Answers to Prayer, written by WGM retiree Burnis Bushong, shares answers to prayer experienced by WGM missionaries, volunteers, staff members, board members, and national Christians. Subscribe for free at www.wgm.org/discovermissions to get an excerpt from the book delivered to your e-mail inbox each month.

Quarterly Prayer. The Call is designed to challenge you in your missions activity. You will be inspired to get involved through giving, praying, and serving. If you happen to be reading a friend’s copy right now, subscribe today or check out previous issues at www.wgm.org/callarchives.

From the four prayer resources mentioned in this article, choose the resource that best fits your practice and commit to making a prayer impact for missions.

Caring for The Least of These

An excerpt from Caring for The Least of These

By Robyn Moore, Kenya
January-March 2013

Being a part of the Africa Gospel Church Baby Center from its inception has been my delight. As partners, World Gospel Mission andAfrica Gospel Church Kenya knew the orphaned and abandoned in Kenya needed help and we asked the Lord, “Where do we start?” We were inspired to start a center that would be a place of rescue for abandoned infants and toddlers with the hope to then get them into forever Christian families. So we started with little more than a desire to help these precious little ones, following the Lord’s command to care for the orphans and abandoned little ones, the “least of these.”

How can you become a partner of AGC Baby Center?

Pray: Pray for the staff. Pray that the Lord will give them strength and wisdom as they care for the little ones. Pray for the babies. Many of the babies come to the center in desperate need. Too often their physical state is so fragile and their little bodies are in serious condition. Pray for the nurses on staff as they bring them back to a healthy life.

Go: The AGC Baby Center would love to have you visit. For those of you who love to hug and kiss babies, you will definitely have the opportunity! Check out www.wgm.org/teams.

Give: AGC Baby Center babies are like every other baby. They love milk. For the youngest babies, infant formula in cans has to be purchased. Because of the support of a local Kenyan company, the baby center is able to get the formula at the very reduced price of $5 per can. You can help put that satisfied smile on a baby’s face by helping purchase formula. Visitwww.wgm.org/formula.

The Least of These ministry is very close to my heart. Dr. Michael and Kay Johnson started this ministry to help street children, and now I am part of a team that is expanding this ministry into a wholistic healthcare and educational outreach. Our primary ministry is working with children’s homes, special needs schools, and abandoned baby centers in Nairobi, Kenya. God has brought together a vast and diverse team to help care for the “least of these”—orphaned and vulnerable children.

You can join the global Least of These support team by choosing one of the following options:

Pray: That the Least of These workers will stay healthy as they work in the unhealthy conditions in which these children live. Pray also that the children will see Christ in the workers with whom they interact and will come to know their Father in heaven.

Go: If you are interested in being a volunteer with Least of These, contact recruiting@wgm.org. Volunteers can bring peanut butter, toys, games, crayons, and a host of other goodies for these precious children.

Pass It On: If you know someone who may be interested in volunteering, please pass on this information or send them towww.wgm.org/leastofthese.

Inspirational Volunteers Needed

An excerpt from Inspirational Volunteers Needed

By Grace Yates, Volunteer
January-March 2013

Light University, the second-largest university in Burundi, opened in 2000. Over 3,000 students attend the evangelical university’s three campuses in the capital city of Bujumbura. The university is bilingual, with classes taught in both French and English. Light University offers degrees in theology, computer science, finance and accounting, marketing and management, law, communication and development, and audio visual communication.

Light University needs Christian professors or volunteers who can teach communications, computer science, law, and theology. It also needs a vice rector, who is the assistant to the dean. Professors would teach classes in their field, and the vice rector would assist the dean in managing the teaching schedule and contacting potential professors.

ACT: Learn more about the ministry positions available at Light University at www.wgm.org/go.

Paper Beads for Missions

An excerpt from Paper Beads for Missions

By Kayla Spencer, Volunteers In Action Participant
January-March 2013

I had the opportunity to visit Kenya as a Volunteers In Action participant in the summer of 2009. During my six weeks there, I worked with World Gospel Mission missionary Robyn Moore and the ministry the Least of These, as we cared for vulnerable children in Nairobi.

On one visit with Robyn to a children’s home, I met a tiny little boy named Samuel. He looked to be about 1 year old. As Robyn administered health checkups for the children, I had the opportunity to hold Samuel. He was wearing a thick sweater that covered his frail body. When I held him under his arms, I thought they might break off. He had looked decently healthy in appearance until that moment, but I realized then that this precious little boy was malnourished. That was my first experience with this kind of suffering.

As I held that precious child, God broke my heart. It was not one of those experiences like at a conference or camp where you have a “Jesus high” that lasts a couple weeks and then fades away. This is one of those experiences that completely changed my life.

After arriving home, God gave me an incredible idea as I looked down at the paper bead necklace I was wearing. It was a beautiful necklace with beads made of recycled magazine paper. I had purchased it from a street vendor in Kenya. I could use my money to buy paper bead necklaces that I could give as gifts for donations. I’ve now been selling necklaces for a few years. With each necklace, I ask for a $10 donation. The necklaces cost me $3, which leaves $7 per necklace to give to the ministry.

It has been incredible to see how God used my time in Kenya to have even greater impact on the ministry after I returned home. I love knowing that the money I am raising is helping such a good cause—helping little children like Samuel.

ACT: Partnering with a ministry is as easy as selling paper beads like Kayla has discovered. If God is calling you to raise funds for a missions need bigger than your “$100,” then The Great Co-Mission Catalog may be a good resource for you. Find your project at www.wgm.org/catalog.