God Has Gone Before Us: Botswana Fall 2013

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:8

     This scripture came alive as we entered Botswana. Every place we turned we could clearly see that the Lord had been working and we were honored to join His work there. Last year we met a young, small body of deaf believers in Southern Botswana; this year we met a thriving, large body of deaf believers who had changed spiritually to a degree that was visible physically. They anticipated time to learn God’s word, they go out and share God’s story and they come back to church with a few new friends in tow. We were able to spend several days encouraging the church and training on communicating the Gospel clearly and effectively.Our time at the church left us encouraged and excited for all that the Lord will do with these faithful believers in the coming year.

     After our time at the church, we traveled up North. We saw the Lord going before us in a different way. Up north we had formative contacts and no deaf church established. The Lord provided contacts for us and we were able to find two new schools for the deaf where we built relationships with the leaders of these schools. We also returned to the primary school in Maun that had become like home last year. We were burdened for the teachers as there were now only 2 teachers for all 7 grade levels. We continued to speak God’s promise over the place “do not be afraid or discouraged…He will neither fail nor abandon you.” By the end of our time there we saw the Lord developing understanding in the lives of the students, the teachers regaining a small glimmer of hope for their weary souls, and the team resting in the knowledge that we serve a God faithful to all his promises.

We pray that the church in Botswana would soon become a sending church. That they would go out to the far corners of their country, the countries around them and beyond. They have a commitment to God’s word, a insatiable hunger to know more and a humble posture as they share the good news. Please join us in praying for how we can be an encouragement and resource as this body begins to live out the great commission so that the Deaf worldwide may understand and receive God’s glorious grace.

(Post written by a School to the Nations Staff Member who led this outreach)

Stories from the Field: Seed, Sower, & Harvest

This post comes from a personal interview with an STN Outreach Team Member. 

Chris* and Mr. A struck up a conversation during a going-away party for Chris's team, who had spent their time in Asia working with students of all ages who wanted to learn English as a second language. This program, put into place by long-term missionaries, provided Mr. A with his first chance to hear the name of Jesus and plant the seed of salvation in his heart.

Mr. A lost his wife in a car accident several years ago, and his children are grown and some live in the U.S.. Like so many others in this particular Asian country, Mr. A's heart was wrapped up in Buddhism, hopelessness, and loneliness. Because the seed had been planted by the career missionaries, Chris nurtured it as he went to a deeper level in his communication with Mr. A that evening and for months over email after Chris returned home. Through their time of continued communication, Mr. A found that he clearly understood the purpose of Christ's death: the grace, mercy, hope, and freedom that he had never known came into view.  The Gospel showed Mr. A that he could not only have peace in this life but that he also has an eternal purpose.

 Through this time of personal discipleship, Mr. A finally surrendered to the hope and encouragement he had experienced. He surrendered to Christ. Mr. A is so full of joy, and he shares his new faith with his family. We share this harvest with those career missionaries, who planted the seed, and the local churches that will continue to disciple people like Mr. A. We share it with those who write literature and create films like the Jesus Film. We also share it with you, our partners and donors, who continually support efforts to bring the children of Christ back into His Kingdom. We thank you, and we know that we will all rejoice together in Heaven!

 ^"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" 1st Corinthians 1:30 & 31







*Name changed to maintain security and protection of our School to the Nations team member

Stories from the Field: Hunger for the Gospel

This post comes from a personal newsletter written by a STN Staff Member:
"As the team ventured to the outskirts of the African village, they stumbled upon the house of a passionate believer. His smile lit the courtyard as he poured out his joy to them. He told the story of how he rode his bicycle all through out the village, proclaiming his faith in Jesus Christ. 

Without a Bible, a pastor or a church building, the flame of Christ's love burned bright within him. He was no theologian, but he understood man's created purpose: to know Christ and to make Him known. The believer's sole source of strength and wisdom was the King; he poured his heart out and listened in the stillness of his garden.

The believer had a hunger for fellowship and the gospel. Some indigenous disciples spent the entire day with the believer teaching him the principles of church formation and spiritual growth. 
The next day, the team had the honor of giving the believer a solar radio that continuously plays the Gospel. He held that radio like his most treasured belonging and passion burned in his eyes as the radio began to speak the things he desired to know and share."

 "In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13 & 14

"... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8

Stories from the Field: Real Compassion

This post comes from a personal newsletter from a STN Staff Member. 

A lady from the village hobbled towards our camp with her husband. As she lifted her shirt, we could see that she suffered severe burns down the entire right side of her body. Our medical team began to uncover the damage and found that the wounds exceeded our capabilities. The team did all they could medically and shared the peace of Christ with the couple.

Nearby a group of believers met for discipleship. By divine appointment, our team leader had decided to share on the story of the Good Samaritan. As he shared and discussed how the church should respond to the needs of the hurting around them, he turned to see the woman who had come and called the church to be the “good Samaritan”. Out of their nothingness, the church pulled their resources to get the woman the treatment she needed. Overwhelmed by Christ’s story and the love she had experienced, her and her husband gave their life to Christ. 

Jesus asked "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

Luke 10 (NASB)

Rain In The Desert

As Tom* entered the village deep in the Sub-Sahara desert the reality of his surroundings caused his heart to beat faster. The eyes of the Kagoro people watched as his team's bus arrived and the village children greeted them with, "Tubabu! Tubabu!" (which means white person in their native tongue).  According to tribal customs he led the team to greet the elders of the village who then led them to the Chief. After the normal exchange of greetings, he discovered the extreme hardship that this village currently faced. 

Drought. 

For months it had not rained, and now in the middle of March still three months away from their rainy season the people had little hope of a refreshing rain anytime soon.  The anguish relayed in the conversations he had with the Chief about the drought spoke of a life seeped in folk Islam and Animism. Here was a village full of people who had no hope. 

"How can we pray for you and your village?" he asked the Chief. 

The Chief replied, "We know that you are followers of Jesus. We would also choose to follow Him if He could make it rain."

Struggling not with the question of could God make it rain, Tom stepped back spent time in prayer and asked the question, "Will God make it rain?" Amazingly enough earlier that morning as he was reading Scripture a verse in Psalms jumped out of his page, "May He come down like rain upon mown grass, like showers that water the Earth." 

Notes in his Bible found at Psalms 72:6 

With little faith, he and his team were in agreement that they would pray together and leave the results to God. They were challenged in a new way, would God send rain among the Kagoro? 

"God make it rain, please." 

Continuing on their travel to another unreached people group, Tom and his team traveled eight more hours to a remote village deeper in the Sub-Sahara to set up camp and sleep for the night. As he laid down to sleep he mentioned to his team, "I smell rain in the air," and it was the truth! He immediately began to wonder if it was just him wanting to believe or if God truly was sending rain. 

As he fell asleep Tom was awaken to the drops of rain, and not just a few drops but a full-on downpour. For fifteen minutes it rained, then stopped, then continued on for another fifteen minutes. 

God sent rain! Had the Kagoro, who were eight hours away, witnessed this miracle?

A year would pass before he was able to return to that Kagoro village. He spent the entire year praying for that village Chief, wondering if he remembered the miracle of rain and his promise to follow Jesus as a result. During that year in his own Bible study Tom came across Jeremiah 14:22, "Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in you, for You are the One who has done all these things." It was this verse that he shared with the Chief when he returned a year later. 

"Do you remember what you said to us on that day a year ago?" he asked the Chief. 

"Yes, I do," the Chief replied. 

"Did you witness the rain that day?" he continued to ask. 

"Yes, we did," the Chief again replied. 

An open door was created and before the team left that day new believers came to Christ and the village now has Christ followers among them for the first time. 

Just like rain brings life to dry ground, God's rain brought eternal life to those without hope among the Kagoro people! 

**If you'd like to hear more stories from the field subscribe to our blog and to our monthly newsletter. 

Email theabicopeland(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.**

*Name changed to maintain security and protection of our School to the Nations team member