An excerpt from Connecting Partners to Ministry
By Kelly Hallahan, Uganda

April-June 2012

Social media is the new normal. If you’re not tweeting, blogging, or Facebooking, you’re missing out on some vital connections with this generation.

WGM Uganda has a variety of options for you if you want to stay connected with what God is doing here:

Prayer Room blog: www.247prayeruganda.blogspot.com

Twitter prayer request feed: 247PrayerUganda

Facebook community: WGM Uganda (your one-stop shop, linked to our blog and Twitter)

Keeping you, our prayer warriors, informed and connected is key for the success of God’s kingdom work here in Uganda.

The possibilities are endless for connecting with missionaries on a daily basis. Are you seizing the opportunities that are available? Can’t wait to connect with you!

Mission-Central.org: Living Your Story

An excerpt from Mission-Central.org: Living Your Story
By Rachel Elwood, Support Staff
April-June 2012

What’s your missions story? Do you come from a missions-minded church? Maybe you’ve been on a missions trip or two (or ten!), or you pour yourself into the kids who attend your church’s Wednesday night kids ministry. Or maybe you’ve just recently discovered this “missions thing” and what it means for believers to share their faith with their communities and the world.

But regardless of whether you’re a wide-eyed newbie or slightly cynical veteran like me (Come on, we’ve seen a lot!), we all share something in common: we truly want to know how God is moving in our world and where our place is in His work. We crave glimpses of hope that those who need Jesus are being reached. We want to know how we can get involved.

That’s why we created www.mission-central.org. On this multimedia blog, you can hear the voices of missionaries on the front lines of the Great Commission. Check out videos from all over, and learn creative ways to participate in missions. By using a variety of media, we want to show missions for what it is—not flashy or polished but real people doing real ministry to make a real impact.

ACT: Have ideas for podcasts or videos that you’d like to see on www.mission-central.org? E-mail Rachel at wgm@wgm.org with your feedback!

An excerpt from The World Still Needs Missionaries
Forming a network in Latin America for mobilization
By Don Moon, Special Assignment
April-June 2012

It is no surprise that the world still needs missionaries! But it may surprise you that God is calling people from Latin America to take the gospel to all the peoples of the world. As the church has grown and developed in Latin America, many have sensed God’s call to go, especially to the least-reached people groups of Asia and Africa.

Glenda and I feel compelled to respond to this challenge and multiply our efforts as missionaries through this new generation of missionaries. We are providing training and encouragement to help churches and missionary candidates respond to God’s call.

The first person on our list is Evangelina, a gifted young lady from Argentina who is serving in a local ministry but senses a call to serve in Asia.

ACT: Will you pray for Evangelina as she trusts God to open doors for her service? Pray also for Don and Glenda as they walk with her as she steps out in faith along with many others who will come forward to serve among the unreached peoples of the world.

Champions and Economics

An excerpt from Champions and Economics
A network of blessings
By Dennis Johnson, Mexico

April-June 2012

Recently Twana and I spent five weeks on the West Coast, mostly in Oregon, while forming our network of supporters. The West Coast has not been a priority region during most of our missionary career. In fact, the last time we were on the West Coast doing “deputation” was exactly 37 years ago! We remember that time well because it was our very first time to pull together a team of champions for our term of service in Bolivia, South America.

As we anticipated our time out West, our goal was to not spend more than we would receive. Our concerns were that lodging and meals are expensive, and the high cost of fuel could put a serious dent in our ministry account. So, we contacted some of our close friends who live out West to see if they could help us out, and this is where champions and economics took over. Just look what God did through them:

Champion couple #1 offered to keep us in their home in Oregon. This home was near all of the meetings and contacts we were able to set up. They not only provided housing for us for 23 days, but they also provided most of our meals when we were there for meal times.

Champion couple #2 invited us to spend the Easter weekend with them because that is not an easy time to have church meetings. What a joy to stay with this retired missionary couple in Washington!

Champion couple #3 provided housing and meals for the rest of our time in Oregon. The week we spent with them was a wonderful week of fellowship and sharing. Their generosity saved our ministry account another $800.

Champion #4 is a retired missionary who just happens to be outside of the United States doing ministry. However, she has a car that her brother in Portland keeps for her. When she found out we were going to be in the area, she quickly made arrangements for us to use her car for all of our travel needs while there. We put over 2,000 miles on her car and had only the expense of gasoline and an oil change that was due when we finished using it.

ACT: You can join Dennis and Twana’s network of champions, too. Help them minister to the lost in Mexico with a financial gift at www.wgm.org/dennisjohnson.

Times Have Changed

An excerpt from Times Have Changed
By Benji Jenkins, Papua New Guinea
April-June 2012

Six weeks to get a letter sent to the U.S. and then six weeks to get a reply back. Three months of waiting to hear a response from your newsletter. That’s how it used to be for missionaries in Papua New Guinea. I should know; I grew up there. Now 20 years later, I am back in PNG, and it still takes several weeks to get a letter to the U.S. and longer to get something back this way. But I can now send something to my family, friends, or supporters back in the U.S. and start getting responses two or three minutes later.

I use Facebook to stay connected with our ministry team. I know people use Facebook for many different reasons, but I see it as the perfect tool for keeping in close contact with those people who want to stay involved with our ministry.

Times have definitely changed since I was a kid here in PNG. I am really glad that I live and work in a time when I can have such close contact with those who pray for us and our ministry no matter what time zone we are living in.

ACT: Some things never change. The need for missionaries to serve with strong prayer support remains. To pray for WGM missionaries serving globally, request a prayer calendar at globallink@wgm.org or visit www.wgm.org/praycal.