Wednesday 12 Jun
Scott shares stories of God at work around the world.
Karim struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for more than a decade. Married with four children, he knew he needed to change his ways and was searching for hope. God’s Spirit placed our Malawi team member Jean-Claude in his life and a friendship developed.
Jean-Claude tells me that he prayed for almost a year for Karim to discover new life in Christ.
“Recently Karim came to find me at my house and told me he wanted to give his life to Jesus,” Jean-Claude shared.
“There has been such a big change in his life and there is great joy in Karim’s family. God is good!”
Another flourishing ministry in Malawi is the sewing training Joyce has been leading. There is high demand for the training, which opens the door to income generating opportunities for people living in impoverished communities.
A third group of students will finish their training in June, not only gaining new vocational skills but discovering a new sense of hope and dignity and hearing about the life-transforming love of Jesus.
Ibrahim, 21 years old, left school five years ago because of his poor financial situation. Last year he completed Joyce’s six-month sewing course. He now lives in Cape Town where he has found well-paid employment as a tailor and is able to send money to Malawi to support his family.
We give thanks for God’s mending work in individual lives, families, relationships and communities and the privilege we have – across the street and across the world – to share in God’s restorative vision as co-menders.
Our mending God is at work in Malawi and in Thailand – even when at first, we can’t see it!
Liz from on our Thailand team recently shared this story:
“Aunty Ja has been working with us for about five years now. She takes care of the House of Light Ministry building, our house and helps with the gardens between the two properties a few mornings a week. Over the years she has become more like family, and she affectionately refers to us as one of her relatives when she introduces us to someone new in our community.
She has shared hard stories about her life, and we’ve had opportunities to pray for her and with her. While she has never been completely resistant to hearing the Gospel, she would listen and then quickly remind us that she is Buddhist.
At some point in the past year, it felt like our relationship was a bit strained. When we took opportunities to go deeper, we were often met with short replies or hurried business to get her job done. In the past month I lamented to Glenn that it felt like maybe the door had closed with Ja.
Last week while Ja was dusting the bookshelves, shelves that she must have dusted hundreds of times over the years she noticed a book. It is called ‘The Book of Hope’, a chronological collection of Bible stories written in Thai and illustrated with Thai drawings. It was carefully written in a way that uses language that is culturally appropriate to a Thai Buddhist.
Ja picked up the book and approached Glenn and I and asked if it would be ok if she took it home as she really wanted to read the stories.
I must admit I was a little taken aback. Had I not just grieved that it felt like the door was closed and here she was, asking to know more? I then asked her if she would like to read a story together and then we can discuss it. She was quite excited about this, so she sat down and started reading the creation story out aloud then and there. We agreed to keep reading it together each week.
God is good. He is working even when we can’t see it!”
Yes, God is at work, bringing shalom to lives and communities – and we all get to play our part in his transformative vision. Thank you for your partnership in the good news of Jesus.
Let’s be praying for Karim, Ibrahim and Aunty Ja and their families – and our teams in Malawi and Thailand as they continue to faithfully serve as co-menders.
Grace and peace.
Scott
PS:
Please join me for our next UNITE prayer gathering on Tuesday 25 June. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together online from across the globe and around Australia to pray together. You can register at
www.baptistmissionaustralia.org/UNITE to receive Zoom link.
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