World Mission is taking a team in March to help rebuild some homes and just encourage our friends and partners. If you are interested, please contact our office. 616-534-5689

Our recent disaster relief funds will pay for housing for a family who lost 2 daughters (read below). It is one of the saddest stories I have heard in my 13 years here at WM. Thanks for helping to make a difference. Please be in prayer for our friends who carry a very heavy load.

Blessings,
Greg

Its so heart wrenching to know that people dear to us suffers through sickness and whatever adverse circumstances after the typhoon Washi which plummeted our city villages. Thank you for your special concern for the flood victims such as one of the poorest family in our congregation, the Dalagan family who lost their two daughters. They are still living now in our sunday school room. The family had lost everything and being rescued ten hours after the flood. They were hit by debris and being tossed by the big waves in the middle of the ocean. They were floating including their boys in the middle of the sea in the darkest night till morning. Shaking and hungry and traumatized when they were rescued. Such a great difficult time to adjust in this kind difficult situation of losing their own children during that ravaging flood is only grace of God can sustain them. Please remember them in your prayers. Your gift will help them build a shanty to live and let them live a normal life again.

Thank you for keep praying for us here as well in the frontlines of the mission fields.Emma and I feel at times so stressed that we had a hard time swallowing our own food thinking of the families in our congregation suffering and in so much depression. I feel helpless and days I am crying to the Lord weeping how could I help my own brethren in the Lord.Oh Lord help us.

People are beginning to lose hope from the government as they are in agonizing asking for help due to the intense suffering. Some are taking suicides in some evacuation centers because aside from they lost their homes they lost their family members and it seems to them that no one cares.Depression is hanging really thick on the air. Please pray with us that God will use us to change the situation as we pray and make practical steps to help our brethren over here . Using the Word of God (Treasures) we want them have their focus on God and deviate from the present circumstances for we know that these present suffering is not worthy to be compared with glory of God that shall be revealed to us.
May God bless you richly.

in Christ’s service,
Alex and Emma

Kevin and Sherry serve together at Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, California. They are coauthors of Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You’ve Found, the Old Testament Challenge, and over fifty small group Bible study guides.

If the story ends here it is a tragedy! Here Peter is given a tremendous opportunity to follow in obedience and experience the fruit of that obedience but he INITIALLY misses out. Now, fast-forward to verse 11. Here we see the same Peter leaving everything to follow Jesus! This is an amazing turnaround. Who would have guessed?!! The obvious question is – what led to that change of heart?

The answer is that Peter quickly caught himself after uttering an initial excuse and correctly stated “because you say so, I will….” This is also in verse 5.

So, the moral of this story is that when Christ asks us to do something that might not make sense at the time, we must ultimately respond in obedience to get his best! His best for you and I is to give him everything. Once we do, our lives will be directed in the path that gives him maximum glory and honor. That is why we live on this earth, that is the kind of commitment it will take for us to reach the ends of the earth.

I am in, how about you?

We are passionate about seeing national leaders grow in their ministry skills. As they become more effective, the gospel impact increases. Here are some powerful quotes about leadership training.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates

‘Change is inevitable, growth is optional’ – John C Maxwell

‘To add growth, lead followers – to multiply, lead leaders’ – John C Maxwell

And finally a quote that summarizes WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.

“We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.” — Oswald J. Smith

According to professional researchers there are 2,053,206,000 unevangelized people in the world today.  Now for their dishearteneing forcast…………
In 2025 they estimate there will be 2,304,664,000 unevangelized people in the world!!  An INCREASE of over 250 million people!!!
It is vital for us to properly prioritize our resources so that this forcast does not become a reality.  The first step is for us to distinguish between an unevangelized person and a non-Christian.
There is no doubt, Scripture says that every soul is precious to the Lord!  “[God] who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:4)” The difference is that the unevangelized are not people who have heard and rejected the truth……..they are ones who have NEVER heard the truth for the first time!!
An unevangelized population segment–a country, province or people group–is one in which the majority of the population have not heard of Christ, Christianity and the Gospel, and have no access to the knowledge.  These people are the center of the bullseye for our ministry. We are consumed by a vision to see the Good News impact their lives!  We trust you will join us in this conviction.
Commit to pray for an unreached people group today.
Help us to send a Treasure into an unreached village.
Challenge your local church to get involved in ministry to the unevangelized.
Because HE died for us,

Greg

Despite all of the mission attention Kenya has received – arguably disproportionate to any other African nation – the northern boundaries remain largely unreached!

We are fixing our eyes upon people groups such as the Boran, Turkana, Pokot, Samburu and Gabbra. All of these precious people are less than 5% Christian with a majority having never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. That is approx 100,000 Christians out of 2 MILLION PEOPLE!  Please pray for our 3 teams going out in 2011 to share the gospel, distribute Treasures and minister alongside our network of national and missionary partners on the ground. Here is what one of them recently said about the opportunity to use the Treasure.

“We would like to praise God as World Mission, an organization local to Michigan, has offered to help us get audio Bibles for our people via a unit the call the Treasure. The majority of Gabra are illiterate and those few that can read have a hard time reading fluently. These Treasures would use the Borana version of the Bible as Gabra do not have a translated text but can understand Borana. We are very excited about this as it can increase our outreach potential to the many illiterate villages.”

Three weeks before Nate Saint was murdered by the very people (Auca Indians) he was attempting to share the gospel with, he made this journal entry.

“May God give us a new vision of His will concerning the lost and our responsibility. If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ.”

He specifically acknowledged that a ‘new vision’ would be instrumental in order to effectively impact the Auca Indians.  He, Jim Elliot and the rest of their team were determined to discover God’s plan versus their plan.  Big difference!!

I can relate in a small way with that process.  There is no cookie cutter approach to effectively sharing the gospel in locations where it has never been! It requires a divine strategy that is birthed through prayer.  The strategy given to us can be quickly summarized.

- God has called us to be focused upon those who have never heard!

- God has called us to use the Treasure as a tool to provide the Word of God to these unreached people!

- God has called us to partner and to use National Leaders!

- God has called us to identify compassion projects that compliment the Treasure!

AND

- God has called us to target VILLAGES which allows our resources to be maximized as they are combined together in consolidated geographic areas.

We believe in this vision!!!  The Lord has also confirmed it as hundreds of Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims have come to Christ and have engaged in discipleship patterns that are leading to beautiful growth in their new faith.

What ‘new vision’ is God calling you to?

Read 2Cor 4:4 – How do we remove the blinders from the people around us and to the fields we have been called allowing people to see the light of the gospel?

Together in the Harvest,

Greg

Regardless of how confused, discouraged or unsure you may feel today….there is hope!  As we submit ourselves to the authority of the Lord, our lives will recalibrate and properly focus.  You might be in desperate need of some counsel (teaching), training or even correction.  Regardless of where you are, the Word has the answer.

2Tim 3:16 “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

If those of us with knowledge of God have challenges and need direction, imagine the degree of desperation for those who have never heard the Good News?!! These precious people are ones Jesus died for but have no knowledge of that truth.

2 Cor 4:4  “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

They are blinded!  So, when we receive a testimony from the field (Philippines) of blind eyes being opened, we love to share it with you.  Hope you have a wonderful day!!!
Greg

“Pol Enlawan had a wonderful testimony of the power of God’s Word. As he listened to the Treasure Bible he experienced healing and recovery from health issues. Praise the Lord!

Some tribal pastors interviewed in Valencia told us that their ministry had been so blessed with this tool, the Treasure Bible, since most people they are ministering are non readers and people are so glad that they can listen the Bible through their heart language.”