Burning Bush Moment

Viktor Rózsa, Missionary, Hungary

What was your burning bush moment?

In Exodus 3:1-12, Moses met God in a mysterious way on Mount Horeb. The experience of the burning bush changed his life forever. The call on Moses' life required him to wrestle with God's mission. As he spent those years in the wilderness and learned about God, he was challenged to take his relationship with the God of his forefathers to the next level. Moses had to sacrifice his comfortable life of being a shepherd for 40 years in the wilderness, surrendering his life to a higher call so that God's mission could be fulfilled to His chosen people.

I clearly remember the burning bush moment of my life. Though it was not as mysterious as Moses' experience, it changed my life forever, too. While I was attending military high school, I gave my life to Christ through the ministry of missionaries in Hungary. At that time, I was set on a course of life that guaranteed a job, financial security, and a prestigious career in the Hungarian Air Force and ultimately in NATO. I was fine with being a Christian in the Hungarian Air Force. Little did I know when I gave my life to Christ that there would be a deeper call one day. 

My burning bush experience came between my junior and senior years of high school when I lived in Great Britain during the summer to improve my English language abilities. While I was there, God asked me to enter into full-time ministry. I struggled with sacrificing a future that I thought was the greatest thing on the face of the earth. I had to surrender to God's leading so that His call upon my life could be fulfilled for His purposes in His mission. At the time, surrendering my future career to God was hard. However, as I have followed Him in this deeper call for His mission, God has shown His faithfulness time after time. 

It was hard for Moses to process his call into God's mission, and I also had to face a very serious process of sacrifice and surrender to His call upon my life to serve Him in His mission in Hungary. However, when God calls someone, He makes a way. He is alongside that person the entire journey.

PRAY: Pray for Viktor and Kristen Rózsa, new missionaries to Hungary, as they return to the country this summer. They will be working to encourage and equip Hungarian churches to reach out to youth. 

Altars and Missions

Dr. Dan Schafer, President

Memories fade. Don’t you find that to be true? Once so vivid, the experiences of our past lose their sense of clarity and even their distinguishing marks of reality as time and distance take their toll. Like photo paper exposed to direct sunlight, the images imprinted on our minds steadily dissipate.

God understands better than any mortal the limited ability of the mind to remember—to recall the passion, details, emotions, and commitments that were made. He knows that without assistance, people are likely, over time, to forget what they have promised Him. For that reason, Scripture often records God’s request for His people to build altars to immortalize His interventions in their lives and their resulting promises.

In Genesis 35:1 (NASB), God asks Jacob to build an altar “to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” Undoubtedly, Jacob hadn’t forgotten that night when he wrestled with a heavenly being. However, the influence of that event on him had diminished over the intervening decades. God’s solution to Jacob’s fading memory—build an altar!

Whenever God chooses to reveal Himself to us in extraordinary ways, we feel as though we will never be separated from the awe of that experience. We make promises to Him in those moments that we expect to last a lifetime. But the God who knew the need of Jacob’s heart knows our needs also, and He advises us to build altars—lasting symbols that will permanently capture the story of His interface with us and retell that story as often as needed to keep us in touch with it.

God still calls people to His service, including service as missionaries. How often I hear of people who at one point in their lives had a clear, vivid encounter with God and heard His call but then never fully acted on it. Today, the memory of that encounter with God is nearly gone.

I also meet others who after 20, 30, or more years can give a clear account of how God called them into missionary service. The difference often lies in that they obediently built an altar to God. They immortalized that moment in their mind, and that immortalized memory—that altar—has served as the continual anchor through the joys and trials of a life spent serving God.

MORE: Does your spiritual memory need to be refreshed? Set aside time today to meditate on Genesis 35:1-15. God was commanding Jacob to return to a place where he had encountered God. Ask God to remind you of your own milestone moments.

Cynthia's War Room

Carolyn Wade, Missionary, Kenya

Have you seen the movie War Room about a woman who prays faithfully from her closet? My Kenyan friend Cynthia (name changed) was so inspired by that movie that she created a similar space in her own home. 

I first met Cynthia in 2011, when we met with several girls who wanted to leave the sex industry. She has continued ministering to them since that time. Cynthia has a missionary heart, encouraging and supporting widows and other needy people in her community. 

I knew the Holy Spirit was guiding me to mentor Cynthia. When she came to our first meeting in my home, she brought her oldest son, Joshua. This had not been anticipated! I knew we would discuss sensitive issues, so Joshua was sent to lunch with our worker while Cynthia and I talked. 

She was in crisis at the time. She and her children had been victims of physical and emotional abuse by the children’s father. The chief had given a letter of warning to the father, and Cynthia left the home with the four boys. She had been praying for a resolution in the family.

Cynthia related how the movie War Room had impacted her prayer life. She learned that there is power in secret prayer. This had been a strengthening spiritual experience for her in the midst of all the challenges.  

She had constructed a wardrobe in which to hang her clothes, and this wardrobe became her prayer closet. Each time she wanted to pray, she removed the clothes from the wardrobe and went inside to pray. She poured out her heart to the Lord about all that concerned her and her children during those precious moments of prayer. 

Joshua had been observing her going into the closet, and one day he asked to go in, too, saying that he had some things to talk to God about. Soon, all four boys were spending time in the closet praying to God. 

The family has since moved to a larger home, and Cynthia created a new space for prayer. This “closet” is a curtained-off area of her bedroom. She and the boys individually bring one request before the Lord and post it on the wall. When the Lord gives an answer, they mark the response. The answers to prayer are flowing!

• One day, Joshua went into the closet to thank the Lord for the cup of plain tea they were drinking. He told the Lord that he wanted to be grateful for the plain cup of tea, because surely the Lord had chosen to give their sugar to someone who needed it more. Joshua was trusting the Lord to supply for their needs. Soon after, there was a knock at the door. A woman handed Cynthia two kilos (about four and a half pounds) of sugar and a large bag of tea leaves. Later that day, three packets of milk were brought to the house. The answered prayer came about in the supply of all the ingredients needed for a proper cup of tea!

• Caleb, Cynthia’s second son, had broken his right arm playing soccer. Local physical therapy was causing extreme pain for him. Cynthia prayed over him, and the family was able to go to Tenwek Hospital to seek answers. The cast had been removed too quickly, and his arm was splinted for another 10 days to assist in healing. Caleb has to continue with daily exercises to bring back full range of motion to his right arm, but he will not need the painful therapy he had endured. 

• Cynthia has started a small shop selling produce, French fries, soap, and matches. We believe God is going to bless this business as she tithes. 

• All four boys are in school with fees paid by Cynthia. Joshua was chosen the leader for the Christian Union at his high school, leading devotions each Friday. This occurred even though he was late starting school, because the principal was amazed at how well Joshua knew the Bible. Cynthia has been teaching the boys from the Word of God for many years!

• Helping former sex workers earn clean money and discipling them are two of Cynthia’s goals. Recently, on her birthday, nine girls accepted Christ as their Savior and left the sex industry. Four of them are now washing clothes for other women, and Cynthia is working to encourage them all in their new lives.

A closet is certainly not required for God to answer prayer. However, Cynthia loves being alone with God in her prayer closet. It is also teaching her sons the value of prayer and that God does hear and answer.  

PRAY: Please pray for Cynthia, Joshua, Caleb, Shadrack, and Levi. Pray for spiritual growth, the provision of daily needs, blessings on Cynthia’s small business, and continued passion as Cynthia helps unreached girls who lack direction in life. May Cynthia’s life also inspire you to have a special prayer place where you regularly seek God’s face in faith. God is faithful, and He will answer your heart’s cry. Is He hearing from you? 

A Living Altar

Rachel Elwood, Director of Communications

In 1952, Queen Elizabeth came to the throne of Great Britain, Singin’ in the Rain was a hit film, gas was only 20 cents a gallon, and Beverly Lewis was appointed as a missionary to the Texas/Mexico Border field. In 2017, she is celebrating an astonishing 60 years of missionary service to five countries.

Beverly was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1929, and continued to call Portland home throughout her years in Latin America. Raised in a Christian family, Beverly was sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit at an early age and became interested in missions in high school when she heard a missionary from Bolivia speak and share a slide presentation. She attended Cascade College in Portland to major in education and minor in Spanish and history. She later earned a master’s degree in education from Azusa Pacific University (California) in 1983.

Beverly used her gift of teaching in every place she served, focusing on equipping church leaders. Her resume includes teaching at Taylor Institute on the Texas/Mexico border; teaching and serving in administration at Berea Bible Institute in Bolivia; and founding Wesley Evangelical Seminary, which later became part of Bolivian Evangelical University. In Argentina, where she spent most of the 1980s, Beverly designed a plan for training pastoral students, later doing a similar project in Paraguay.

In Bolivia, where she spent most of her years of service, she was also involved in radio ministry, working with the national church in preparing programs that were broadcast all over the country. She also trained Bolivians in camping ministries, producing one of many enduring legacies—today, thousands of children, young people, and adults enjoy camping ministries throughout Bolivia.

Beverly officially retired in 1995 and remained in the U.S. for five years to care for her mother. In 2000, she returned to Bolivia to teach at BEU. She wanted to do what she loved most—invest in young people in Latin America. Since 2009, she has been based in Paraguay, where she is the director at Wesley Bible Institute in Asunción, preparing leaders for World Gospel Church of Paraguay. After moving to the U.S. this summer, she will continue to teach theological classes online.

“I first responded to a mention in a slide that if someone doesn’t go to teach these people, they’ll not have the opportunity to learn,” Beverly said. “On each field, there has been an urgent need for a teacher; He opened the door for me to go. I love the promise of 2 Corinthians 9:8, ‘His grace abounds, and He generously provides what I need.’” 

ACT: What retirement? Even into her 80s, Beverly is active in Christian service. Are you in or approaching those “sunset” years? Pray that God will help you find ways to minister to others during your retirement.

Sacred Space in a School Infirmary

Christine Stanfield, Missionary, Uganda

We use milestones collected in our hearts and minds to construct altars of remembrance. Sometimes we find ourselves building them in a most unlikely place.

One morning while working at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, we were shocked to receive a phone call telling us our son, Chris, had a seizure in PE class at his boarding school. We quickly handed over duties, packed a bag, and started out on the long drive to be with Chris.

Upon arrival at the school infirmary, our hearts ached to see the many bumps and bruises and a cut from his fall against a wire fence and then down onto the ground. Chris was started on medication and needed to be monitored through the night. The nurse invited us to stay in the infirmary with him. After a late supper, we settled in for the night.

I was startled awake as my spirit cried vehemently within me, “I am so disappointed in you, God! I trusted you to protect my son. I am very disappointed!” God joined my heart-space conversation. “I can handle your disappointment, but I have a question for you. Do you trust Me?”

“I do trust You, but I am disappointed.”

“Do you trust Me?” I felt Him gently ask. 

“I think I trust You. Why do You ask? You know the answer better than I.”

“For what lies ahead for you and your family, for where I am leading you next, you MUST know if you trust Me. Do you trust Me?”

I invited God’s Spirit to reveal what was in my heart. I saw incomplete trust. “Oh, God, I do trust You. Increase my faith to trust You more. Holy Spirit, always remind me that I know I trust God. Whatever comes my way, I trust you, God.”

Suddenly, within that room, my heart space became sacred ground and a holy quiet filled my being. Using every bump on my son’s body as building stones, along with other mental stones from experiences past, I constructed an altar of remembrance in worship to God, whom I trust.

In the years since building that altar in the school infirmary, I have often gone to that sacred heart space to worship the God I trust. He was right. I needed to know that I know that I trust Him.

PRAY: What building stones can you gather from your memories and experiences to build an altar of remembrance to the Lord? Being intentional to remain aware of these moments will strengthen your faith, allowing you to take greater steps of trust in the Lord. 

The Two Altars

Nathan Metz, Missionary, Uganda

“That one is for the men. This for the women. Those two smaller ones, the children.”

Dusk was just minutes away, and we had a muddy van ride ahead; it was time to get going, you might say. I didn’t take time to soak in the vision to my right. We moved along the path through the marsh, returning the same way we’d wandered in about an hour ago. 

I saw the tarps the first time when they were on my left, but I thought nothing of them. They appeared to be covering rocks—flat on the top with little jars and vessels tucked in around the base. As a new missionary, I knew very little about this place, just enough to feel fear. I trusted our pastors—a couple Kenyans and a few Ugandans—assuming they knew what they were doing since they were acting like guides. 

They picked up the pace, so I followed suit. One turned to me as we scrambled back to our van, “Those altars, they are for sacrifice,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth while she glanced quickly over my shoulder back in the direction from which we had come. She then gathered her dress and turned with a small wave of the hand to keep me close.

Several years earlier, I stumbled across an altar of a very different kind. This altar has a story that began with a wedding. Floyd was a young man who waited nervously at the front of a small chapel in central Indiana. His fiancé, Alberta, stepped happily down the aisle in a beautiful white gown. 

Over 50 years later, a pew from that wedding chapel was strapped in the back of a red pickup while my father and I sketched out a plan to give the wood a second life. We kept the beautiful curves and notable features of the pew in plain view while thoughtfully piecing together something functional and strong. When finished, it looked like a kneeler...an altar. Its old pew shape still trimmed the sides and the top on the right and left. 

While we were building, we knelt together, holding the top before it was fastened while we marked and measured and tried to get the spacing and angle comfortably correct. We used strong door hinges underneath to keep it from buckling, and we supported the whole thing firmly against the floor with our attempt at hidden feet. It ended up at my house. I prayed there many times.

There is no mistaking the vast difference between these two altars—one meant for evil, another meant for good. However, with all their differences, I find the similarities quite fascinating. Both altars are cared for as designated, sacred places. Both are intended to connect humanity with the supernatural. In both cases, humans approach the altar with sincerity, most always confident and expectant. I suspect Elijah saw this, too, on Mount Carmel as he faced the prophets of Baal. Two altars—vast in difference, striking in similarity.

In my ministry, I desire to see the lost come to the altar and seek the Lord in prayer. Yet, there is a great work that must occur before any man or woman comes to the altar of God. Before we kneel at a new altar, we must leave the one we’ve been using. A battle over the soul begins every time a person kneels at the altar of God before they’ve left their other altars. In the marshes of Uganda, in the twilight of that memorable day, I realized that my work in missions was somewhere between two altars—the death and the second life.

PRAY: The chains that keep people from a life of freedom in Christ can be blatantly obvious or hidden and secret. Pray for Nathan and others involved in sharing this message of freedom, that the power of Jesus will reach past the barriers that keep people from Him. 

The Center

The Center (CA)

Lord, The Center is in need of more workers! We pray that workers will listen and respond to Your call to bring Christ to the inner city of Stockton, California. Please send people who are committed to stay and make an impact on young lives. Amen.

Lisa Margaron, Missionary, The Center (Stockton, CA)

SPECIFIC NEEDS

Volunteer

Missionary

Bible Club Teacher

Bilingual Family Ministries Coordinator

Bookkeeper

Children and Youth Ministry Leaders

Sports Ministries Leader

Technology and Social Media Coordinator

Kenya

O Lord, You came to seek and to save the lost in every corner of this world, including Kenya. Lord of the Harvest, we pray that You will call servant hearts to Kenya and that You will provide the wisdom to steward resources, skills, and energies strategically for Your kingdom. Amen.

Alene Burgert, Missionary, Kenya

SPECIFIC NEEDS

Volunteer

Missionary

Africa Gospel Church

 

 

Church Planter

Construction Supervisor

Health Outreach Coordinator

Urban Church Planter/Trainer

Video/TV Producer

Women in Crisis Counselor

Chogoria Hospital

 

 

Chaplain

Community Health Evangelist

Dentist

Internal Medicine Physician

Family Medicine Physician

General Surgeon

Nurse Educator

OB/GYN

Opthalmologist

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Pediatrician

Physician Assistant

Radiologist

Kaboson Pastors Training College

 

 

Lecturers in Theology, Counseling, and Bible

Kenya Highlands Evangelical University

 

 

Lecturer of Business Administration

Lecturer of New Testament Studies

Lecturer of Old Testament Studies

Lecturer of Psychology

Least of These

 

 

Nurse Practictioner

Olderkesi Development Project

 

 

Program Director

Tenwek Community Health

 

 

Administrative Assistant

Tenwek Hospital

 

 

Anesthesiologist

Cardiologist

Cardiothoracic Surgeon

Dentist

ENT Physician

Family Medicine Physicians

General Surgeon

GI Endoscopist

Guesthouse Host/Hostess

Intensivist

Internal Medicine Physician

OB/GYN

Oncologist

Ophthalmologist

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Pathologist

Pediatrician (neonatology or general)

Perfusionist

Radiologist

Registered Nurses

Urologist

Tenwek Hospital College of Health Sciences (Nursing Program)

 

 

Lecturers

Tenwek Hospital International School of Chaplaincy

 

 

Lecturers in Chaplaincy Studies

 

Director of Finance

Tenwek Missionary Kid Teachers(2)

Training Coordinator for Missionary Disciple Teams