The Generosity of the Poor
Read: Luke 21:1-4 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us . . . if it is giving, then give generously. (Romans 12:6, 8 NIV) We were new missionaries, having lived among the Tzeltals only six months. Francisco Gomez, the Tzeltal pastor, had planned a six-week missionary trip to the […]
Feed My Sheep
Read: John 21:15-17 Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” . . . Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (v. 17 NIV) Francisco Gomez was a church elder in the mother Tzeltal church of Corralito. He was also a school teacher. The Tzeltal church had grown quickly, but there were still no ordained […]
Thanking God for Little Things
Read: Luke 17:11-19 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” (vv. 17-18 NIV) When we had recently arrived as missionaries to the Tzeltals in Chiapas, Mexico, a group of church leaders came to visit us on a hot, […]
June Prayer Guide 2021
IRAN — Please pray for our Iranian team member who goes by the name Ali. He has been recording voice-overs for our videos and other audio content. Ali was arrested in Iran during the month of May. He has since been able to escape the country as a refugee, but his family remains inside. Please […]
The Beginning of the Trail
Read: Psalm 138 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before “the gods” I will sing your praise. (v. 1 NIV) It was 1958. Sam, my future husband, was a third-year student at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, and I was finishing my last year in the same town at Hope College. […]
And So We Came to Rome
Read: Acts 28:11-31 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him. (v. 16) Paul’s fourth missionary journey was a wild one. As a result of having been blown off course by a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, Paul and his companions found themselves shipwrecked […]
Blessed Assurance
Read: Acts 27:1-11; 14-18; 21-25 An angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship . . . said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar.” (vv. 23-24) Last autumn, as mentioned earlier, my wife and I went on a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a beautiful […]
Powerful Testimony of a Changed Man
Read: Acts 26:1-18 I not only locked up many of the saints in prison . . . but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. (v. 10) The Roman governor Festus honestly didn’t know what to do with Paul. He had heard his story, but it seemed to him that […]
Paul Appeals to Caesar
Read: Acts 25:1-12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.” (v. 12) What a gift to the church was the apostle Paul! Thanks to his big vision, he would not back down. We saw earlier that he desired to go to Rome […]