I am excited for church this Sunday. Not just because we have the opportunity to freely come together to worship the Lord and lift His name up, but also because we’ll have opportunity to hear briefly from John, the field director for the country of Jordan, one of our missionary partners. As C&MA (our tribe) international workers, they are on their yearlong furlough to rest and reflect and also to tour and share about what they’re seeing the Lord do in Jordan.
John has amazing stories of how the Lord provided the resources to open the school in Amman and the work that’s been happening since. In case you aren’t aware, the Alliance Academy of Jordan (AAJ) is the only school in the area set up to teach (and minister) to kids with disabilities and it’s our pleasure as a church to sponsor four kids who are attending and are in the first grade this year.
The Lord is moving throughout the earth and partnering with Him through our church sponsored missionaries is one area where weekly tithe money goes. In fact, the area of missions is about 18-20% of our overall budget and we support folks overseas, as well as here in the NorCal region.
As the Lord moves, we know there is opposition to His plan and just yesterday we received an email from Spas and Christina in Bulgaria asking for prayer. Here’s how we as a church can specifically lift them up… "For reasons unknown to us, someone made slanderous accusations about the Family-Based Home. While they are wholly without foundation, a national television station ran a report on it, casting doubt on us at a national level. With Spas in the USA raising funds, this becomes even more complicated, as he is not here to speak in our defense, and as the press is commenting on his absence as a sign of guilt. Please pray that God will redeem this situation, using it for His glory, as well as for the good of the home, all of us ministering there and especially for the four kids the Lord has placed in our home."
You may be like me where your immediate response was to get mad, then I remembered that the Lord has called us to bless those to persecute us and to pray for them. I’m working on that and still praying the Lord thwarts the enemy’s plans. Please join me in praying for this situation, as well as for each of our missionaries as they seek to obey the calling the Lord has placed on their lives.
If you’d like to know more about the people and places we partner with, check out our webpage at http://www.ncchico.org/missions/.
Looking forward to being with you all you Sunday!