A Table in the Wilderness

From a Christian missionary to Africa: A few months after we arrived in Liberia, our family ran out of money. We received nothing from home and used what remained to purchase food. We lived near a large village of about ten thousand people, called Bahn, where we bought most of our food. The women there sat near the center of the village with produce such as vegetables, fruit, and rice displayed on cloths in front of them. There was also a man in the village who sold meat. He usually sold goat meat, but occasionally he had deer or beef available. The meat hung in the open, covered with flies. We ate whatever the Africans ate, but we needed money to purchase it.

We soon used what little food we had on hand. It would have been easy for my wife and me to get discouraged as we had a family to feed, but we did not. We didn’t share our problem with the children. Also, due to WEC’s policy of not making financial appeals, we didn’t share our need with others. We simply prayed. We had seen God provide before. We wondered how He would provide food for us now—back in the jungle with no one knowing our need.

The prophet Elijah was also
fed, by ravens!

After we ate our last food, we prayed. My wife told the Lord that we needed meat, and she requested deer meat and rice. Well, before it was time to prepare the next meal, a little old lady who looked very poor came to our door with some rice rolled up in a piece of cloth. She said she felt she should bring it to us. Another old lady showed up with a piece of deer meat. Others brought vegetables, and we had enough for a very good meal. We thanked God for that meal and prayed for the next one. Before the next meal time, more villagers came with food, providing another good meal.

How long would this continue? Each month we expected funds from America, yet nothing came for four months. We didn’t write about it or tell anyone, including the other missionaries or the Africans. Every day for four months, Africans came with food. Many looked so poor—like they had very little themselves—but they gave to us in our need. They were God’s servants feeding us. We never missed a meal.

After four months, we received money to buy our own food. Immediately, Africans stopped bringing food. Never again did they bring food. God used them to spread a table before us in the wilderness. It was very humbling to accept food from people who looked so poor, but we knew it was God who sent them. We learned a tremendous lesson—our God can provide for us in any situation! He can do the same for you! Praise His holy Name!

(from WEC.Go Magazine, Fall 2011, excerpted from Bob McCauley, The Still Small Voice: A Journey in Listening)

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Pray for Suzan

Suzan is a young woman whose Muslim family angrily shouts at her and puts her down over every issue due to her faith in Jesus. She longs to be married to a faithful believer and have her own home. Pray that God will bring the right man into her life and rescue her from this daily barrage of persecution.

(based on a Christian prayer letter, September 2011)

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What you don't know CAN hurt you

From Christians in Venezuala: "When my friend was shot, dying instantly in her car, I began to ask questions. Why, for the past five years—at the same time of year—had a member of my friend’s church been murdered? I felt compelled to investigate my friend's death, believing the powers of darkness were at work. I sought counsel from a pastor knowledgeable in spiritual warfare. We drove around the church. To our amazement, each wall opposite the church displayed satanic graffiti symbols of death requiring blood. We were shocked at the overtness of this curse. We knew the area was flooded with Satanism and was hostile to the church, but now the attack was clear."

In Hosea 4:6 the Lord declares, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."

"We met with the pastor of the affected church. As we pointed out the symbols surrounding the building, he was amazed. His only words were, “I will never look at graffiti the same way again. I always thought it was senseless. I didn’t know it carried hidden messages.” After someone prayed aggressively in the name of Jesus Christ to break all death curses raised up against the church, the pattern of murders ended. It has now been seven years since the last related murder! Hallelujah to Jesus, the King of kings, who has given us the tools to overcome the enemy!"

(from WEC.Go Magazine, Fall 2011)

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Christian book impacts many students at a Muslim university

"From Adam to Jesus"

Engin Duran was amazed to learn that the young man had read his book Adem'den İsa'ya  (From Adam to Jesus). He explained that it was being passed around among students at his university.

Here is what it says on the back cover (translated to English):

"Who am I? Where do I come? Where will I go? What is the purpose of my life? Who created me? How do I recognize him? What should be my relationship with God? These and many other questions are questions that need to be answered and can not be ignored. The answers we will find not only affect our lives in this world, but also beyond this life. There is a single source where we can find these answers. It is the Bible, the Word of God, which is unchanged to this present day. This author of this book that you hold in your hands can tell you from his personal experience how he came to understand that the Bible is the Word of God. God is telling you this, ands want to point you to His will. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:16 that "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." The Bible explains how God showed himself to mankind in history, to people that put their trust in our Creator.

Pray that the book's message will have a powerful impact on many lives at this Muslim university. Also pray that God would encourage Engin Duran in his ministry.

(based on a Christian prayer letter, September 2011)

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Dino-Birds? Behinds too Bulky to Fly, Sorry...

A bird’s center of mass is toward the front, in between its wings. This is a crucial aerodynamic arrangement that enables in-flight control of balance and maneuvering. It is also one evidence that birds are not descended from dinosaurs. A dinosaur’s bulk was situated above its hind legs, and there is no fossil—let alone a series of fossils—showing that bulk gradually shifting forward. In fact, a creature with its mass centered in the middle would not yet be able to control itself in the air. It would also not be able to maneuver on the ground as well as its dinosaur peers. Surely, such an imaginary creature would have become food for its better-equipped companions, thus ending the whole evolutionary experiment.

Surely the great Creator deserves credit for His fantastic handiwork!

(for more, see Brian Thomas, Fit for Flight, Acts & Facts, Institute for Creation Research, August 2011)

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