Prayer Calendar: January 11-17, 2015

Your missions prayer point for this week inspired by the Jan/Feb/Mar 2015 Call is:

Pray for the physical safety of a missionary you know or support. 

PRAY: Do you pray regularly for the missionaries you partner with? World Gospel Mission and your missionaries appreciates your partnership through prayer.

Finding Hope in the Midst of Chaos

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By Bill Brower, Missionary, Ukraine
January-March 2015

When the Home of Hope Neighborhood Center in Berdyansk, Ukraine, was purchased and renovated years ago, we prayed—and many of you joined us in prayer—that it would be a place where people would find Jesus. At the time, we thought that meant English clubs, youth meetings, church services, and much more. All that has happened, but people are also finding Jesus there in a way that was completely unexpected to us.

With the conflict between Ukraine and Russia continuing to escalate in the east, refugees have been pouring into town. We’ve opened up the Home of Hope to house about 30 refugees. Before they moved in, everyone agreed to our house rules (such as no alcohol or smoking, and the gate is locked at 10 p.m.) and, so far, we’ve had no problems. The youth center is still open two nights a week, and refugee families have started coming to relax and play games together. What an incredible opportunity to share the love of Jesus!

Fortunately, we had a number of bunk beds in storage, and we provided bedding and linens for them. We also want to help with food costs, and we’d like to purchase a better washing machine. We don’t want to turn away anyone who is in need. We’re also partnering with a Ukrainian pastor who was granted an abandoned campground to house even more refugees. He named it the “City of Peace.”

We’ve been given so many opportunities to talk to people. They’re concerned about peace, and they’re walking in chaos. They want to know why I, as an American who could leave, am still here! It gives me a chance to tell them about why I’m still here—because God called us here, and until He tells us differently, we’re staying.

When people ask what we think about what’s going on, we say that God is in control and we have no choice but to trust Him. It’s been neat to see churches respond to the crisis with that same message: they are telling people to pray, pray, pray!

We never thought to pray, “Lord, send us refugees.” But He did it anyway, and we pray that the seeds of hope being planted in their lives will draw them to the Source of that hope.

GIVE: Donate to WGM Ukraine’s Samaritan’s Fund to help us feed, clothe, and care for refugees. Designate your gift to Ukraine Samaritan Fund #25470. These families are walking through some extremely difficult times, and we are privileged to care for them in any way we can.

Prayer Calendar: January 4-10, 2015

Happy New Year! Here is your missions prayer point for this week inspired by the Jan/Feb/Mar 2015 issue:

Pray that the church in Ukraine will demonstrate the peace and hope of Jesus Christ. 

Ukraine has seen it's share of unrest in 2014. WGM missionaries, while not at risk of being part of the violence, have found ways to share hope, peace, and love during this time. Read more about this outreach opportunity in Finding Hope in the Midst of Chaos.

The Blessing of Rice

THE CALL—January/February/March 2015

The Blessing of Rice

Benji Jenkins, Missionary, Papua New Guinea

The Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea is used to getting over 200 inches of rain each year. However, during July 2014, we received even heavier rains than usual. Fourteen inches of rain fell in just one week, and the rain continued for a couple of weeks after that. The rivers swelled and flooded over roads, gardens, houses, and churches. Some roads were so flooded people used canoes to cross to the other side. Houses and churches were completely under water. Gardens flooded, leaving people with no source of income or food.

The rain eventually slowed and the water went down, but a lot of people were left with no way to get food. The people of the Southern Highlands in PNG live off of what their gardens produce. Everything they eat comes from their gardens. They sell any extra produce at the market for a little bit of income. But due to the flood damage, the gardens couldn’t produce again for several months. The people searched everywhere for food.

Christians began praying for God to help them. One pastor said, “God heard our prayer and sent the mission to help us.”

World Gospel Mission responded to this need by immediately sending some money from the President’s Crisis Relief Fund to the missionaries in PNG who then worked with the Christian Union Church leaders to distribute it. In most areas, the money was used to buy rice, which each local church received to distribute. Many of the churches purchased more rice to add to the supplies and then passed it out to the community. As a result of this, many unbelievers are now starting to attend church.

The people of the Southern Highlands had a rough few months until their gardens started growing again. But as one pastor stated, “We are not going to starve. We will not have to eat the roots of the banana trees.” Across the province, people are praising God for the “blessing of the rice!”

Those who have generously given to the President’s Crisis Relief Fund have answered the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea. You can be the answer to prayer for those experiencing the next crisis.

GIVE

Answer the prayers of those in crisis by giving to the President’s Crisis Relief Fund. Give online at www.wgm.org/crisisrelief.  

Prayer Calendar: January 1-3, 2015

As we introduce a new year and a new issue let me introduce to you the first missions prayer point from The Call magazine in 2015:

JOIN your brothers and sisters in Papua New Guinea in praising God for “the blessing of the rice.” 

Why is rice a blessing in PNG? Read more about the terrible flood crisis that happened last year and consider joining the President's Crisis Relief crew to help others. Read: The Blessing of Rice