The Matter of Creativity

An excerpt from...

The Matter of Creativity

By Hubert Harriman, President
July-September 2014


This drawing is the creative work of my little 4-year-old granddaughter Eliana. Shown from left to right in this family portrait are her mom, her little sister, her dad, herself, and, of course, Grandma and Grandpa. (Please note that I have hair. She can see the unseen!)

I share this with you because I want to speak to the matter of creativity. It’s a fascinating thing about us as human beings. We are creative beings. But it didn’t originate with us. It’s actually the very first thing we read about God: “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1). We have God-given creativity in us. Like my little granddaughter, it may not be perfected, but it’s in us—wanting to be discovered, developed, and declared.

I’m convinced that if God made us creative—like Himself—He wants to quicken that creativity in us, especially in relation to kingdom work. This is what Sarah and I have enjoyed the most in travels to WGM’s various fields—to see the divine creativity of our workers in relation to their divine cause. 

One of WGM’s values is “Creativity – We believe that innovation and initiative are necessary for building God’s kingdom.” Couple this with divine inspiration, and amazing things happen.
I like Eliana’s picture because it speaks of hope (winter is past; the sun is shining and the grass is growing). It speaks of joy (we’re all smiling). It speaks of love (we’re reaching out to each other). It speaks of community (we have each other). You and I both know that we work in a dark, hopeless world. But we’re not alone in this work. Together, may God use us to create His purpose in many, many lives, bringing the joy of divine color into this world again.


PRAY: Pray with WGM as to what God wants to do with the cause He has put on your heart. Where would He take this cause, beyond anything we ever imagined, if we did creative thinking with Him?

Prayer Calendar: July 13-19, 2014

Your missions prayer point inspired by The Call magazine for July 13-19 is: 

PRAY that the Tenwek Hospice team will lovingly communicate to their patients the eternal hope that can be found in Jesus Christ.

Learn more about various ministries at Tenwek here: www.wgm.org/kenya 

A Purpose for my Life

An excerpt from...

A Purpose for my Life

By Jorge Pinto, Board of Directors
July-September 2014

My older brother, Oscar, and I were born in El Salvador. Our father abandoned us, so our mother, Maria Herminia Pinto, had to make a living as a maid in order to support us. Around 1960 we returned to her native land of Honduras where she married Santos Tomas Sanchez. Sadly, both passed away. In 1964, my uncle Saul Gomez took us to El Sembrador, a school for poor children in Catacamas, Olancho. My brother and I were under the care of don Donaldo and doña Twana Hawk. I remained in El Sembrador school for many years. There I learned about work, study, and, above all, the Word of God.

Today I am happily married to my lovely wife, Marta Isabel. God has given us three children: Helga Ruth, Helga Esther, and Jorge. We have five grandchildren. I am a pastor and serve as president of the Evangelical Holiness Church of Honduras. I am also blessed to be president and founder of the Manuelito Project, an organization that rescues and educates the street children of my country. I am the president of La Agencia Misionera de Santidad Latino Americana, AMSLA (the Latin American Holiness Missionary Agency), which I am honored to represent on the Board of Directors of World Gospel Mission in Marion, Indiana.

Looking back, I understand that God has had a purpose for my life and that he has used people in my spiritual formation and calling to whom I am indebted. I am nothing more than an instrument in God’s hands. To Him be the glory.

As part of God’s creative design, He used the ministry of Escuela El Sembrador to shape the life of Jorge Pinto.

GIVE: Become a significant part in the future of more students like Jorge through the El Sembrador Sponsorship Program. A gift of $125 per month, or $1,500 per year, will provide a child with education and room and board for one year. Donations can be made to World Gospel Mission and sent to:

El Sembrador Sponsorship Program
World Gospel Mission
P.O. Box 948
Marion, IN 46952

Prayer Calendar: July 6-12, 2014

Your missions prayer point inspired by The Call this week is:

PRAISE God for the testimony of Jorge Pinto and other men who were educated at Escuela El Sembrador, and now serve the Lord in Honduras.

To read more about Jorge Pinto's testimony click here.

Pumpkins and Puppies

An excerpt from...

Pumpkins and Puppies

By Jon Steury, Regional Director of AfricaJuly-September 2014

My friend and colleague Adhanom Hidug serves with World Gospel Mission in South Sudan. He is from a small country in northeast Africa, but he has been living in Kenya for some time. Adhanom and his wife, Helen, were appointed as WGM’s first international missionaries last year.

In keeping with WGM’s central ministry focus—wholistic transformation—Adhanom’s ministry is wholistic, incorporating Community Health Evangelism, storytelling as a means of communicating the Bible, and relationship building to transform lives in the village where he lives in Aduel, South Sudan.

Missionaries who enter a new culture quickly realize that creativity is an important tool to discover the best way to share Jesus with the people where God has called them. As I read Adhanom’s recent ministry report, I was intrigued by how he had creatively shared Jesus in his village, using a pumpkin and his puppy! Here’s Adhanom:

Pumpkin: Many people here grow pumpkins for their leaves, but not as food. They give different reasons why they don’t want to eat them. Some say, “People will say that we are like hyenas if they know that we eat pumpkin.” Others would say that it is not tasty, or it doesn’t have many benefits, or they just don’t like it. Due to this, there are many pumpkins in the village farms just spoiling. I can get nice pumpkins at a very cheap price or even free of charge. One day I bought a small pumpkin, and as I was walking with it from the market, everybody’s eyes were on me because they believed I was going to eat a pumpkin. People began to speak to me because of the pumpkin. When I realized this, I decided to walk with it all around the market area and in some neighborhoods. Everyone wanted to know what I was going to do with the pumpkin. That opened an opportunity to talk to people. As a result, I was able to talk to more than 50 people about the nutritional values that God put in a pumpkin and how God gives us good gifts. I never thought that a pumpkin would bring me such a golden opportunity to get a “ready-to-talk-and-listen” audience.

Puppy: Yomdit is my puppy! She is named in the Dinka language according to her color. People in the village who don’t even know my name, know her name—even those who haven’t seen her. The pumpkin gave me a one-day opportunity, but Yomdit has given me several opportunities to talk to people easily. People want to know why I care much for a dog, and that gives me a good opportunity to talk to them, starting from the direction of the discussion they raise and taking them to the direction I want. Yomdit has started to learn a few things, and people are surprised to see her following my orders. Now because of her, people don’t even wait until I say, “Kudual,” which means “Hello” in Dinka. This is another way of getting an opportunity to talk to people that I never thought of.

Pray for Adhanom as he shares Jesus with people, using pumpkins, puppies, and other creative ways!

ACT: What ordinary things in front of you could easily open the door to share Jesus with others in your neighborhood? Got a puppy that needs a walk or maybe some cookies that could be shared?