Reachout

MISSIONARY KIDS – A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN!

Erica Grace(September 14, 2016) Erica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, challenges us to understand and appreciate ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ of a missionary kid’s life.

The enthusiastic Sunday school teacher asked the class: ‘Who wants to be a missionary when they grow up?’

‘Ugh! Not me!’ I muttered under my breath.

You see, I was already a missionary kid (MK for short) and couldn’t see what all the hype was about being a missionary! At that time all I could see were the bad things.

The bad
Most MKs’ lives are full of constant upheaval. (more…)

THE WORLD IS NOT WORTHY OF THEM

Erica GraceAugust 5, 2016 – Erica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, challenges us to remember unsung Hebrews 11 type heroes!

Have you ever known people in the ministry that you felt didn’t receive their due recognition? Marie Monsen was one of those people.

Born in Sandviken, Norway in 1878, Marie became a school teacher. She went to China in 1901 initially to help the missionary couple sent there by her Lutheran church who needed a teacher for their children.

But because of the national unrest and turn of events in China, the missionaries left shortly after Marie arrived. The mission agency back in Norway didn’t have the funds to send for Marie as well, so she stayed back waiting for her ticket to arrive.

So many people needing help
Erica 0816a Meanwhile, people kept coming to the mission home looking for help but Marie (left) was the only one there.  She would rush out to see what the emergency was and would face squalid conditions of starving, sick children. She didn’t know what do, she felt helpless and overwhelmed. The situations she faced each day seemed insurmountable. Her only solution to every situation would be to pray. (more…)

MIDDLE EASTERN REFUGEE PRAYED TO UNKNOWN GOD TO CALM STORMY SEA – SHOCKED WHEN JESUS RESPONDED (July 19, 2016)

Mark Ellis newMark Ellis shares this reachout good news …

The chilly waters of the Aegean Sea reached the chest of Eshan (not real name) as he and a few other men attempted to launch an inflatable boat off the shores of western Turkey.

At 3:30 in the morning Eshan was hauled aboard the boat with 45 others seeking a new life in central Europe, according to a report by the JESUS Film Project.

Believing in an unknown Creator
Before this, Eshan had become disillusioned by the religion of his family and country. He still believed a Creator existed, but didn’t know his name. (more…)

FACING YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE? (July 18, 2016)

Erica GraceErica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, reminds us of a great truth!

Chris and I were nearly half way between two cities in Bolivia, Sucre and Cochabamba, when our worst nightmare came true.

Winding our way around the high Andes Mountains, on very narrow roads, we came face to face with a huge lumber truck, full beyond capacity. It was coming down the same narrow road at full speed!

It was as if Psalm 73:19 – ‘In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and – nightmare!’ – had become a reality! (more…)

THE JUSTIFICATION OF OUR EXISTENCE (June 15, 2016)

Ross WinchesterRoss Winchester challenges the church to passionately care for souls…

Irena Sendler. Perhaps still an unfamiliar name to some people, but this remarkable Polish woman defied the Nazis and saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto.

As a health worker, she sneaked children out between 1942 and 1943 to safe hiding places and found non-Jewish families to adopt them.

    (more…)

CAN YOU HEAR THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN? (June 14. 2016)

Erica Grace
Erica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, pulls no punches!

What do you think is the largest and most urgent mission field today?

Did you say Syria? Iraq? Iran?

What if I told you that by far the largest mission field today is one that is most easily overlooked: It’s the children! (more…)

WHEN IS MISSIONS NOT REALLY MISSIONS? (May 9, 2016)

Erica GraceErica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, cuts to the chase!

I find looking at churches’ bulletin boards and websites rather interesting, don’t you?

It’s quirky, I know, but I feel CBBs/websites say a lot about the church. If the board is full of out-of-date events and has been gathering dust for a long time, it tells me no one has captured the vision of this valuable tool. It can be the same with some church websites!

On the other hand I’ve seen some masterpieces too!

Missions involvement
But one thing I’m always looking for is their missions’ involvement. What is this church involved in outside their own building? (more…)

THE IDEAL MISSIONARY WIFE (Apr 10, 2016)

Erica GraceErica Grace, author and ex-missionary to South America, cuts to the chase!

Yet another letter in our mail box! This one was quite long but also interesting. The person involved seemed to know quite a lot about South America and was asking me detailed questions about our work and location in Chile.

Feeling a sense of thrill I decided to answer the letter right away, responding to each point that had been made and adding interesting details. The letter went to the mail right away (You may already realise this was decades ago – before emails!).

Two weeks later I received an answer to my letter, thanking me for the details and asking for more. Knowing that we would be posting our usual quarterly letter within a couple of weeks, I added his letter to the pile that would be answered at that time.

Ten days later I received a third letter from this gentleman. This time his letter was not polite at all. He wrote: ‘I would think that by now you would have had plenty of time to read my letter and respond. I don’t know what else is more important than keeping in touch with the people back home that support you there. I am so disappointed that you haven’t answered me yet. You really need to get your priorities right!’

Get my priorities right? Does this unmarried(!) man, thousands of miles away, have any idea what a missionary wife has to cope with, I wondered?  He must have had in his mind a picture of what he considered an ‘Ideal Missionary Wife’ – and his expectations were off base and unreal! (more…)

ENGAGING THE WORLD (Mar 8, 2016)

Erica GraceErica Grace, author and ex-missionary to South America, cuts to the chase!

A couple came to see my husband Chris and me to discuss a ‘disturbing’ trend in their church.

They said they were extremely worried their pastor had the wrong priorities: He was constantly raising money for missions and making donations to missions’ projects and such.

We kept waiting for the ‘problem’ to appear but the more they spoke the wider we smiled. Why? Well, to us it sounded that this couple’s church was a great one – so what was the problem? (more…)

WON’T YOU BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR, A GOOD SAMARITAN?

Ed Delph

Ed Delph shares another thought-provoker…

From time to time, most of us feel left out. We feel like misfits. Others seem so confident, so sure of themselves, ‘insiders’ who know the ropes, old hands in a club from which we are excluded.
So, what do we ‘outsiders’ do? We form clubs too.

‘Them’ and ‘us’
These clubs range from informal to formal. Here is at least one place where we are in and they are out. Identity or worth is achieved by excluding all but the chosen. The price that we pay for this is a reduction of reality, a shrinkage of life. (more…)