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Opportunity In The Midst Of Disaster? |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Throughout the Bible, we
see plagues of locust that destroy everything. In Deuteronomy - God's promise
chapter of blessings and of curses - God is very clear on the curses for
turning away from Him: "You will sow much seed in the field but you
will harvest little, because locusts will devour it." (28:38) And,
"Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of
your land." (28:42) While Mali was never
"God's country", this is exactly what's happening there right now
(as well as in other West African countries). Even as I write these lines, I
cannot help the tears, as I've been burdened by this situation for weeks now.
And yesterday I received a plea from Mali that broke my heart. When the locust swarms
come, you find 10,000 locust on one square meter - imagine!!! In some parts
of the country, they have devoured everything. All people have is what they
harvest - but now the harvest is destroyed. No harvest means no food, nothing
to sell, and nothing to sow for the next harvest. No feed means a death
sentence. When a whole community loses everything, they have no means of
getting help and face starvation. These past few weeks I've
felt the stirring in my heart to go feed the hungry - with natural food as
well as spiritual food. The need is so urgent! All it takes it to load up a
car with bags of rice, take the Matthew video along, preach the gospel, pray
for the sick and hand out the food. And I can tell you that in the core of my
heart I'm convinced we will do it. I'm right now getting the equipment
together - all I still need is a projector. And of course the one thing
everything depends on - a car. Without a car, we cannot do anything. For that
reason I'm storming heaven to release the finances in the next two weeks
before I return to Mali. As mentioned, I received
an email from Mali yesterday. It was from Alassane, the school director. It
was written in big letters to underline the urgency. He informed me and
others that the village where he grew up is one of the affected ones where
people have lost everything, and that they are in danger of starvation. It
was a plea for help to save those people. What if that is also
God's door of opportunity? An opportunity not only to feed the hungry, but to
preach the gospel. Alassane is a devout Muslim, but facing that serious
situation I'm believing for them to give me the freedom to share. PLEASE pray for this
difficult situation, that God will be glorified and His kingdom advanced! For such a time as this! I'm very excited about
the things ahead, while at the same time being apprehensive because it's all
so big and I'm going back alone. However, I've kept in
touch with Simeon. He lost his job a month ago and is eager to "just
work for the Lord". There is also a piece of land we might use
temporarily to start "having church". But right now, my heart
is stirred for the hungry, and I'm praying I can make a difference and bring
the love of Christ! I need all of you to
stand with me and hold up my hands. Please pray for fruitful remaining weeks
in the US. May His kingdom spread in
Mali! In HIM, Claudia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tel. (+223) 220 0311 IMPORTANT: Don't write my name on the check, but add
a note that it's for me. In
Europe: Swift
code: BKAUTWW https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=office%40glorywebservices.com&item_name=Claudia+Wintoch&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD |