I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14 (NIV)
What is the biggest challenge you have ever had to face? Do you remember how it made you feel? Overcoming challenges can often be daunting. It can feel emotionally draining to persevere.
Mission workers are called by God to places and people to make Jesus known. It’s an exciting path but full of challenges. Pioneering new ground for the gospel is exhilarating. Being a light for Christ and seeing lives transformed by Jesus is so rewarding. But all of this is demanding. It requires years of adapting to new languages, cultures, and customs. There are times of exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed.
John* and Viv* have spent many years witnessing for Christ. They experienced a long period of poor health, along with many changes to their ministry and local church. They were completely worn out. They shared:
In the midst of all our turmoil, we took some time to rest, reflect and recharge emotionally and spiritually. We felt very well supported by the AWM-Pioneers member care team.
It was especially helpful to have someone to talk to about various resources
that best suited to our needs.
Your support encourages workers like John and Viv to keep pressing on. With help from AWM-Pioneers, they overcame the challenges they were facing and have launched back into a new season of ministry.
Can you encourage mission workers with a gift today?
Cross-cultural mission workers are a key part of God’s plan to take the gospel message to the lives and homes of people of the Arab world.
By helping to sustain mission workers in long-term ministry you are enabling Arab people to hear about God’s love for them. During a four-month sabbatical, Nigel* heard God’s voice afresh regarding the direction of his long-term ministry.
The extra time away to pray, meditate and worship without other usual pressures was spiritually and emotionally refreshing. Following his return to cross-cultural ministry, Nigel sensed the Lord lead him to have a spiritual conversation with a refugee called Rawiya*.
During a recent visit, Rawiya and I talked about how God Himself changes people’s hearts and makes them better people. I explained that we can receive forgiveness through Christ for the bad things we have done and then become better people by allowing God’s Spirit to work in us. May the Holy Spirit convict Rawiya of God’s love for her, His closeness every day and His desire for a relationship with her.
You play an essential part in helping mission workers like John, Viv and Nigel, persevere in their calling to ministry. Many other workers find themselves in challenging situations and are in need of your support today.
Your gift will help create opportunities for retreats, sabbaticals, trainings and debriefs. These help mission workers persevere and continue sharing God’s love.
You can give to this work by clicking this button and choosing I want to give to Our Latest Appeal.
Thank you for partnering with us in this way.
*Names changed to protect identities and library images used for illustrative purposes only.
