Giving to Missions
Well, the Foremans did such good work in North Africa, reaching out and helping whenever there was need in their community.
They didn’t walk in with Bibles and try to force everybody to believe—that would have gotten them killed—but they went in and helped wherever there was a need. As they developed relationships, they began to talk about Jesus with the people they had become friendly with. Some of them became Christians; others didn’t.
But the good work they did is really admirable, and it certainly inspired me in my own faith.
Reaching People Through Relationship and Service
After two years of this type of work, the Foremans returned home for a furlough. As they spent time in the USA, they experienced a kind of reverse culture shock.
They had been living in the desert with only what they needed to get by, and suddenly, back in the States, they had hot water for days, shops with anything you could ever dream of, churches on every corner, and of course, amazing technology. Emily says it was “a gluttonous buffet.”
The Power of Partnership in Missions
So they went about their community to try and raise some funds. Many people committed to sending money to help with the loans they were giving to small businesses in North Africa.
And then on page 63, Emily says: “Perhaps even more valuable was the spiritual and moral support they pledged, promising to pray for us on a daily basis. This was the beauty of raising our own support. It raised a lot more awareness and transformed distant donors into real partners in the journey.”
How You Can Make a Difference
So I wonder if you and I can be doing more for organisations like this who are doing good work overseas. Maybe you’ve got money that you can sow into such a cause so that they can keep reaching out in the name of Christ. Maybe you can partner with a group like this and send them supplies of some sort. Maybe you can pray on a daily basis for the people who are doing this work.
As Emily says in this book, the prayers were perhaps even more valuable than anything else. Or maybe you can go and do the same thing. Maybe God has placed a call on your life to go to a remote country where the Christian message isn’t known, and to give your life to pointing people to Jesus in these ways.
Either way, we can all make a difference. And so, even though there is a lot of need here in our own country—and of course there is—give to missionary organisations, pray for missionary organisations, because this mission is going forward. The more hands on deck, the more good we will be able to do.
Thanks for listening, friends. Have a terrific weekend. God bless.
In Russia one day, a missionary’s simple prayer for God to use him led to a powerful encounter on a train.