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Palm Reader |
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A lady in South Thailand sits on the sits on the sidewalk reading palms for a living. Her belief in the supernatural is characterized by superstitions, numbers, and dates. The notion of a personal God stands in stark contrast to her impersonal and inconsistent religion. But when God orchestrated a divine encounter with missionary Kevin Klassen, she learned that she could take a drink from the streams of living water and be satisfied.
When Kevin felt led to pray in a certain part of the city, he followed God's prompting and waited expectantly. Noticing the palm reader, he took the initiative to start a conversation. After learning a little bit about her, Kevin began sharing with the woman why he was in Thailand and his faith in Jesus Christ. But instead of continuing, he sought the Lord for wisdom for the next steps. He didn't want to give her facts; he wanted God to reveal himself to her in a powerful and personal way.
Kevin spoke to the woman with words from God's own heart: He knows her and He loves her. The Holy Spirit prompted Kevin to urge this woman to nourish her hunger by giving her money. Not her physical hunger, to buy food or drink, but her spiritual hunger, to purchase a bible - a tool that God would use to show her the path to true life.
Kevin could have given her a bible as a free gift, but he didn't. He knew she had a choice - that God was asking her to respond to His call and to understand His character. If there was a God who knew her and loved her, and if she was being invited to know Him too, then she had to make the decision to walk toward Him. As Kevin and the palm reader parted ways, she asked him for prayer - taking one solid step toward the stream of life.
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14
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Awa's Dream |
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Phil and Carol Bergen live in Burkina Faso, Africa where they are translating Scripture, training leaders and leading a church plant. Along with all this, they also lead Bible Studies. After her women's group finished one study, Carol decided to read through Matthew for the next study. Week two of the study focused on Matthew 2. This is where the story begins, in Carol's own words:
Does God still talk to people in dreams today? Read on! What happened during this past Thursday morning Bible Study was much more than I expected...
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Amazing Words |
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Depression. Just the word emits labouring sighs. In Japan, depression is widespread and suicide is horrifically common. Some 32,000 to 33,000 people commit suicide each year, 73% of whom are male. Laurence and Leona Hiebert, church planters in Japan, know many people experiencing this epidemic of hopelessness. A friend of theirs has four managers, two of which are in a mental hospital due to deep depression. One of Leona's ESL students shared how her husband witnessed a friend at his office trying to commit suicide at his desk.
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Transforming Success |
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Two local teenaged boys joined a ten-day cross-cultural missions training program last year, hosted by Trever and Joan Godard at the Matthew Training Centre in Guadalajara, Mexico. The teenagers were looking for an adventure and a good time. They succeeded at both, though not in ways they initially imagined. God led them in a journey within their hearts, where all real adventures truly begin.
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He Knows Me |
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John 4:25 The [Samaritan woman at the well] said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." 26Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." 28So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; is this not the Christ?" 30They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
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Thief Saved |
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Phil and Carol Bergen are part of a holistic church planting team in Burkina Faso. They are in the process of translating and publishing Scriptures for the Nanerige, a West African Seufo people. They are also daily choosing to be disciples of Christ by how they love others - especially those easily unloved.
Look in any travel guide and you will find warnings about pick-pockets in the big African city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Pick-pockets are rampant. Caucasians are rare. As Caucasians, the Bergens are noticed, even gawked at, wherever they go. This can be awkward at times, but it's down-right unnerving in a city where the art of pick-pocketing is a way of life for some. Yet, in the West African culture, pick-pockets are despised. If a pick-pocket is caught in the act, he is thought to be so despicable that the victim needs only to call out "Thief!" and the pick-pocket will be instantly beaten to death by those around.
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