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Stories From Around the World

You and God, Considering the Real Impact

YOU AND GOD – Two powerful words that describe how World Missionary Evangelism has been able to accomplish phenomenal works around the globe for well over fifty years.

Several decades ago, World Missionary Evangelism came into your homes through magazines, newsletters and radio to ask for your compassionate kindness in building a bigger Kingdom for GOD, and YOU answered the call.  YOU shared the vision. YOU prayerfully stood as a partner in reaching lost souls.  YOU reached into your pocket and gave unselfishly to save starving children, build churches, homes and schools, dig water wells, provide medical care for those who were dying and meet so many other areas of need.  Because of YOU and GOD, World Missionary Evangelism’s work has had longevity in a struggling economy where so many other worthy organizations have failed to survive.

We know this work belongs to GOD and without Him and YOU, our doors would have been closed many years ago.  GOD has big plans for this ministry, and we believe YOU will want to be a part of it.  In fact, we can’t do it without YOU.   Please consider how YOU can continue being a part of our World Missionary Evangelism family and the work GOD has placed upon our hearts.  Your endeavor to change lives here on earth will be richly rewarded in Heaven. I Corinthians 3:8 says, “Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”

We are significantly blessed to know YOU and pray YOU will once again be a part of the wonderful things GOD has in store for World Missionary Evangelism.

With a gracious heart, we thank you!


A Long Climb to Reach Souls

The ministry team started its journey from our base in Panyan for the village at Tabgao at 3:00 pm that day. By around 4:30 pm, we were already at the foot of the hill, then came a one and one half hour trip uphill and downhill to our mission church destination.

We were greeted by a pouring rain and chilly winds, so we took shelter in a little old parsonage with a leaking grass roof. We built a fire to keep warm and ate the dinner we had packed. We spent the night there before continuing the remainder of our journey the next morning. The rain continued to pour; but at 9:00 in the evening, Pastor Elvelita and some of the church people from the village made it to our location and provided us with thermos bottles of coffee and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. We sung praises and worshipped the Lord together thanking Him that His mercy endures forever. We then prayed for the rain to stop, drank coffee, ate the snacks and waited. Then, with no warning, the rain stopped.

After more prayer, we started uphill on the wet and slippery path aided by the local pastors and members of the flock. Some of those wonderful church members took care of our bags. And as we slowly moved up the steep hill, we often paused for breath. I must admit, due to our age, my wife and I are not mountain climbers, but we had such a strong desire to minister to these people that we would not give up. The group was praising God for every meter we gained and were always praying He would strengthen us for the rest of the journey. By 10:00 pm, we were on top of the hill to Tabgao. We rested for a while, sang praises to God and again started moving forward. Following a ridge, we went downhill and through another valley with a series of upwards humps and plains. We reached our desired destination at around 11:00 in the evening.

We embraced sleep the remainder of the night before awaking at dawn. The church was next door to our accommodations, and the members were already singing as we dressed. We ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by the church and then readied ourselves for the morning services.

Pastor Elvelita began the special service with singing and testimonies. The church was packed to capacity with more people worshipping outside the walls. The people were hungry for the Word of God and responded strongly to the altar call. In fact, the whole church, including those outside the walls, became an altar because there was no room for them at the front of the church! People were crying and weeping. Many dedicated their lives to serve God and to walk in His ways. Some were slain in the spirit. There was a mighty outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit!

There is such great potential for this mission church in Tabgao. I believe, in the very near future, it will continue to grow and become self-supporting and self-propagating. It is my heart’s desire to initiate major projects so that this church and community can jumpstart towards growth.

May God, our Jehovah Jireh, provide for the needs of His people here in this remote area. May He continue to bless WME and our precious partners. And in all of our actions, may His great name be glorified.


Now and Then; Then and Now

“For he says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored you:  Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  II Corinthians 6:2

“Now and then” is an English expression that is equivalent to “once in a while” or “every so often”.  It’s a casual kind of phrase that goes with a casual kind of attitude.  An equivalent French expression is, “Cumme ci, comme ça” which translates, “Like this, like that” or in other words the English “so-so” or maybe “easy come, easy go”.  “Blasé” is similar, meaning indifferent to pleasure or excitement due to excessive indulgence or enjoyment.   “Blasé” often goes with “roué” meaning an indifferent man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure.  In WWII vintage movies the role was often portrayed by George Sanders who played cads, cruel foils, and darkly drawn characters.  The movie “Rebecca” was a case in point as was “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. Amongst others, Sanders married and divorced Zsa Zsa Gabor and Magda Gabor. Playing such roles can be dangerous because the role can take over the man. It evidently did since Sander’s autobiography was titled “Memoirs of a Professional Cad”.  In later years he suffered from bewilderment and bouts of anger. He committed suicide in 1972 leaving a note which read, “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored.  I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool.  Good luck.”

Casual indifference is not an attitude that is permitted to Christians whether individually or collectively.  Being “blasé” is not cute and sophisticated, it’s deadly and demonic. Christians can lapse into this attitude toward others because they feel someone else will rise to an occasion, or because the need is overwhelming, or because the cry for help is so far away that it’s really not in their neighborhood, or because they don’t want to soil themselves in the cesspools of the world.

In WWII, General of the Army Douglas Macarthur sent out an appeal to the church in America to send missionaries to a defeated and demoralized Japan.  They were disillusioned of their emperor-centered national faith; they needed spiritual focus; they were searching.  This was a God given opportunity for the American church in a day when Christianity was not on the defensive from our media, judiciary, and bureaucracy.  To their shame, the American Church did nothing and the opportunity to win countless souls to Christ was lost.  The church was simply too entertainment centered and blasé.  How do we explain that to God on the Day of Judgment?  But, that was then and this is now!

Sixty some years later a new cry is being heard and newer and younger men and women of faith are responding to the tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan.  When I think of my nephew’s daughter rising to the cry of Japan, I shout “Amen!” to my nephew’s words, “What a girl.”  Bethany Cathcart lit a fire in Nara with several pastors now in full swing in the relief effort. One of this team, Pastor Minegishi, felt the jolt, heard the warning sirens, and believed although he saw no receding sea.  He rushed home for his wife and daughter and headed for higher ground.  Many others were not sure there would be a tsunami and were crushed in its path by the time they realized it was coming.  Japan is sending a Macedonian call to the church…”Come over and help us!”  Heed the call and get involved in one way or another.  Grab this opportunity but whatever you do, don’t hesitate and be swept away by a tsunami of indifference. The spiritual life you save may well be your own.     

Help those in Japan by Clicking Here

By John Cathcart
www.wme.org


WME in Japan

WME ANSWERING THE CALL TO HELP!
By John Cathcart – Pastor of Last Chance Chapel Helena, Montana

This is our opportunity to respond to Japan’s great hour of need. The earthquake was the largest in Japan’s recorded history, resulting in a series of tsunamis that have caused serious devastation in the eastern coastal regions where tens of thousands are unaccounted for, and hundreds of thousands are in dire need of our help.

The good news is that my daughter, Bethany, and son, John, are on the ground working with a pastor who is in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, about 36 miles south of the nuclear power plant.  I just received an email from Bethany reporting on her conversation with this dear pastor in need of our help!

Dad,

I talked to Pastor Akira on the phone this evening.  He has spent the day passing out food and supplies to shelters, senior homes, and all kinds of areas where people were stuck by the disaster.  He said people are desperate for food.  In one hospital of 500 patients, each patient was only allowed one rice ball a day.  He said when they brought   vegetable juice, pudding, yogurts and other food to give to the people they began to cry and said “you are the first that has come.”  He said they desperately need food, medicine, toilet paper, diapers for babies and senior citizens, water, and there’s a mental hospital that greatly needs medicine. 

We asked how we could help and his response was “we have been getting food and other needed supplies from the markets in our area but now the shelves are empty and we don’t know when more resources will come. We need people to bring resources from other areas of the country. The police have said that if people will bring vans and vehicles with food we will give them permission to travel the roads into this area.”

Love you, Bethany

Bethany is mobilizing a convoy of vehicles loaded with Christian workers and supplies to distribute with Pastor Akira who is on the ground in this devastated area of Japan.  Bethany is pleading for anyone in her area to lend vehicles for this emergency effort.  The team in Japan intends to get as much food, water, diapers, and blankets as they can purchase or have donated from local vendors and people in their area.  They are about 300 miles from the affected areas so please pray God will pour out His favor and blessing for Bethany and the team in the next 3 days as they prepare the convoy and supplies. 

WOULD YOU PLEASE HELP THE TEAM IN JAPAN FILL THESE VANS WITH FOOD, WATER AND OTHER SUPPLIES?

WME family we are pleading for your help and prayers for the safety of our children and these mighty warriors for Christ as they go into the danger zones to share not only emergency food relief but bring the light of God’s love and salvation to everyone they encounter.  We truly need your most generous gift as we reach out with the compassion of Jesus in this very dark hour.

You can quickly donate to WME – Japan Relief Effort by calling us toll free at  800-501-2851 or give online from our secure website at www.wme.org

God bless you as you give to this urgent crisis in Japan!


How can I go on?

By Joshua Dunham WME Missionary Partner – Thailand and Burma                          

 …give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…Isaiah 61:3 

The first thing I noticed about Orama was his big friendly smile.  As I watched him sing and praise the Lord I immediately sensed a deep peace and joy that is often not present in the faces of many people here.  My first thought was Orama is a young man, in his early twenties and probably hasn’t suffered as much as the other refugees.  Never judge a book by its cover was learned this day as I sat down to talk to Orama about his life in a refugee camp.  I will never forget his story.

Orama is a survivor of one of the worst natural disasters in Burma’s history.  Cyclone Nargis occurred two years ago and devastated Burma (Myanmar).  At least 138,000 people lost their lives with thousands more counted as “missing”. The nation is still trying to recover from the monumental devastation.

“I was visiting my parents on May 2, 2008, at about three o’clock in the evening heavy rain started. About an hour later the winds started slashing through our village. Strong trees were ripped up from the ground and the air was full of flying objects.  You could hear people crying out in the village but we knew it was too late for any of us to escape.  The water kept getting higher and before we could escape we were surrounded by water. A wave hit our house and destroyed everything.  It was so sudden there was no time to say anything to each other, all the family was immediately scattered.  I was alone and knew I was going to die.  I swam past a coconut tree and grabbed it and held tight. I couldn’t see anything around me.  All I could hear was the terrifying sounds of the cyclone. I knew no one could help me. I kept climbing higher up the tree and just held on for over eight hours.  My arms were aching but I knew I couldn’t let go.  In the morning I was still alive.  As soon as the winds died down, I started looking for my family.  I found no one, all of them were gone.  My wife and my son were dead. My parents, my elder sister and my brother were also gone.  Out of 25 family members, fifteen died and I never even saw their bodies again.  I can never get them back, they are gone.”

“I can’t explain how sad my heart is.  I have never seen death like this before. I remember crying and saying, “How can I go on? How can I live without them?”  The feeling that we can never meet again makes me terribly sad.  At first I couldn’t forget all these memories and the pain was unbearable.  I was lost and alone and felt there was no reason to live.  But God loves me so much that He sent me here to live in MaeLa Camp.  I believe God has a purpose for me here, He wanted me to recover from this bitterness in my life and now I am completely healed.  I have found peace in my heart and joy in my life.”

Orama is one of the native refugee Bible students WME is now sponsoring.  He leads worship in the camp church, composes new songs for worship, attends the Bible School and shares his faith in Christ with the refugees living in MaeLa.  He is a living testimony of God’s ability to save, heal and redeem. We are honored to serve and support Orama and many others committing their lives in service to the King of kings and Lord of Lords!

Click here to help those in the MaeLa Refugee Camp

     
                       

Hindu Temples, Muslim Mosques But Where is My House?

Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. Isaiah 56:7

Since 1972 WME of Bangladesh has developed and supported many ministry outreach programs throughout this country. With the support of our home office, World Missionary Evangelism, Inc. in Dallas, Texas, we currently support hundreds of orphan and abandoned children in our WME Children’s Homes, Tribal Village Programs and Schools. Our clinics provide medical care to those needing treatment but are to poor to pay.  Our efforts have also included projects which bring health and nutrition back to communities suffering from water-borne diseases, poor hygiene and lack of nutritional sustenance.  We also provide income generation through vegetable farms, fisheries and fruit orchards which help our efforts to help impoverished communities and provide for our outreach programs.  God has blessed this ministry for over 35 years and by God’s grace we will continue the vision God has directed us to accomplish.  As we go out doing good works and spreading the message of Christ to the lost and brokenhearted.

The Mission of Shalom is our church planting ministry and we are committed to training disciples who are and will be the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ in Bangladesh.  We mainly work among Hindu communities and tribal villages.  We have planted 15 Churches in different areas of Bangladesh.  Right now many of our congregations are conducting their church services in outdoor areas because they have no church building and the communities are too poor to purchase materials.  Most of the church members are common laborers, farmers and fishermen who work for hire and are barely able to provide food for their families.  Our desire is to assist the Christian church with funding for materials to build adequate church buildings. 

Hindu temples and Muslim Mosques are everywhere but the Christian Church (The House of the Living God) is in short supply in our country. We teach the people that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and they must have a personal relationship with Christ to be saved but it is still the longing of every believer to go to a physical church to pray and worship together.  This is the outward expression of our faith.

For us the Church building will be life centers for the people and future generations as we serve His kingdom together.  We must reach out to the families and teach the word of God.  We can also do so much more as we share family values, health and nutrition concerns and education for children which reinforce our commitment to bring a strong witness of Jesus Christ. 

Please pray for us as we exalt the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and build His House for all people. We need about $8000.00 dollars for each church.  Please consider helping us with this very important need. We thank you so much for the many years of support and pray God will bless WME and the many supporters who give their prayers and support to establish God’s kingdom purposes around the world.

Click here to help provide churches in Bangladesh.

                 


They Have Lost Everything but Their Faith

Refugee Women in Burma
They have lost everything but their faith.

The women in the Mae La refugee camp are sturdy. They know how to trek through a jungle and climb the side of a mountain, how to flee in the night and suffer thirst and hunger during the day. They have all had to abandon their homes and their relatives. Freedom and a new life are still a distant hope. For these women a “normal life” is a fantasy. Poverty is a daily, cruel taskmaster where water isn’t guaranteed and rice is precious. They carry these burdens as they hold their babies. They somehow endure with a tenacious, long-suffering spirit that conquers the tragedies of their lives.

What can we do? How can we change their futures? How can we give them the practical tools they need to change their environment? It turns out the answer isn’t that complicated.

With the help of WME we are building a Woman’s Center in the camp. It sets high on a hill. We’re equipping the facility with blackboards, chalk, desks and notebooks. We will use these tools to teach the women how to improve their quality of life. Qualified instructors will teach tailoring, weaving, nutrition and child raising. These are skills needed to cope in this harsh environment. The illiterate will learn how to read and write and young women will learn how to use computers. We are empowering the helpless, giving them the tools they need to hammer out a better life now and in the future.

Ma Sien Pah is one of the women who will study at the Women’s Center. She came into the camp with her husband and two children three months ago. I talked to her only days after her family had  trekked through the mountains to the camp. She spoke of holding babies for hours at a time and having no shelter in pouring rain. She told me of great hunger and fear. She is relieved and happy to be safe in the camp, but still worried about how she and her family are going to be able to survive.

“My neighbors are sharing their rice with me,” she said. “We are gathering the wood to build our home, but we need mosquito nets so our children will not get malaria. We must depend on the good hearts for even these small things.”

You and I are “the good hearts.” We have been so blessed by God’s grace. Now we have a chance to be the Good Samaritan who stopped on his journey and gave of his blessings to help one soul that had been shattered by the injustices of life.

When you partner with WME in these vital projects to feed, provide shelter and education for the discarded people of the earth, you are also partnering with God in the dream of His heart for His children around the world.

Read more on Burma


Time is Running Out For The Children of Haiti

Dear Mr. Beals and WME Staff,

I hope everyone is doing well there and getting ready for the holidays, but today I need to talk to you about a desperate situation in Haiti.

I have been sitting up nights worrying about our kids in Haiti and what we can do to get them out of their current situations. We must do something to relieve some of their daily misery and difficulties. Since the hurricane blew through this country the crowding problem has become unbearable for them. In fact, it is killing them!

Just in the last few days three of the children have died from the cholera outbreak. Two of our other boys were thrown into jail. Why? Because the boys were carrying an old used cell phone I had given them to notify me in case of a problem or emergency. The police decided the phone was stolen and since the boys had no identification, he arrested them and they were severely beaten. Ellie contracted cholera while in the jail and died last Tuesday. Alexson, his older brother, became so sick they released him. I sent him telephone numbers for transportation to a cholera treatment center, but I’ve heard nothing. I wonder if it is too late?

The only solution for most of the issues concerning these orphan children is to bring them to one central place where they will have access to everything needed to stay healthy and safe. Recently we received a modular prefab home. The unit was shipped on November 8, 2010. I don’t know how long it will take to get to Haiti or how long before it will be released to us. This home, along with a large, donated solar tent, should be a new beginning for our children. The solar energy and other resources available will enable the complex to be fairly independent, as well as a comfortable and safe home for the kids. We have contacted several relief organizations that have committed to drilling for clean water and the installation of sanitation filters and hygiene units. But we can’t do anything until we have land to build on. If we can acquire the property we will finally have a permanent home. This will be a place where the kids can live, go to school, attend church and receive medical care.

I have received an estimate regarding the land and the costs to purchase. So far the purchase price for the lot we need to accommodate the new home, large tent and other space required to meet the needs of the children is approximately $50,000.00 dollars.

I don’t know how much longer the children can hold on with the way things are now. It seems every week there is another tragedy they must deal with. And, in a repeat of what happened four years ago, due to the upcoming elections the police have started randomly executing the street kids. Please pray God will have mercy on these children and bring His compassion to them.

Thank you for the monthly support from WME to help us feed the children and share just a measure of hope and concern for their desperate needs. May God bless those who give so these precious children can survive such great injustice, persecution and pain.

Michael Brewer, RN
WME Missionary Partner in Haiti

Your special gift of any amount will help sustain these forgotten children with food and medical care. Their lives are literally in the balance between life and death. If you want to share in the purchase for land to build a Christian mission for the Haitian street children please call us toll free at 1-800-501-2851.


Feeding the Hungry in Nicaragua

On a recent mission trip to Nicaragua more than fifty people including World Missionary Evangelism staff members and a large group from Lakeshore Assembly of God of Rockwall, Texas spent 9 days on the ground living out Matthew 25:35-40.  Thanks to a great deal of planning and sacrifice these folks offered their time, money and prayers to the Lord and to serving the people of Nicaragua.

One of the highlights of the trip was to work along side our missionary partners Charles and Sarah Kaye.  Over the last several years they have established a wonderful mission called “EL Puente” The Bridge.  The mission is located in a tough area of Granada, Nicaragua known for its warring gangs, drugs and poverty.  Their ministry reaches out to drug addicts and alcoholics and those in rehabilitation programs.  Community bible study, prayer initiatives and sharing the message of Christ to the streets of their communities is their main purpose but compassionate outreach is also a very vital part of their ministry.  Feeding the hungry and ministering to the very poor who live in the city dump is also part of their weekly outreach.  These desperate families survive salvaging cans, plastic and other scraps to sell so their children might have food to eat.  Charles and his team go to the dumps weekly to bring food, compassion and the love of God to desperate families and children.  WME has been providing funds to help their ministry feed these despite souls and bring compassion to their broken lives.  There is much more we could do to bring medicines and other resources to help, many are sick or suffering from infection due to the contamination in the dump.  We witnessed several abandoned children with no other means except to hopefully survive this horrific life in the dump.

So much was accomplished on this mission outreach.  Several teams were dispersed to local churches and communities to conduct marriage conferences, children’s ministry, women’s ministry, street evangelism and also a special ministry time to inmates in prison.  Vision and medical clinics were also conducted in several areas as well.  Literally hundreds were treated for injuries and illness and all who came to the clinics received a bag of rice and oil as they were prayed over and blessed in the name of Jesus.

We witnessed miracle after miracle but we also came face to face with the lost and dying. We need your help to touch more lives in the New Year.  Your generous gift will help us continue to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and to share the Good News to the lost and hurting. Thanks for praying and thank you for partnering with World Missionary Evangelism!

 


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