Dear WMF Friends and Family,
I am really excited to write to you! I'm not easily excitable, so this is pretty cool for me.
As I'm writing this, I'm crying out of happiness with a new burden for those that aren't following Jesus. I must confess that I have felt pretty fatalistic lately regarding how this world works and not seeing Jesus move in power to redeem His creation.
However, I just read two e-mails from Brook Birch, one of our staff members in Nepal, who has shared about a powerful encounter between Jesus and some of the boys living on the streets in the throws of drug addiction.
I AM BLOWN AWAY BY JESUS' LOVE FOR THESE YOUNG MEN. The encounter is similar to what Jackie Pullinger describes in her book Chasing the Dragon about heroin users in Hong Kong being freed instantaneously from drugs and being filled with the Holy Spirit. The boys went to church with Brook and other Word Made Flesh staff members. It was very unusual for them to have such a desire to go….seven of them!
The Nepali pastor, Ranjit, a former drug-user for 18 years, who was redeemed miraculously, talked about his own conversion and in a prayer kept saying in the service (I'm sure it was Jesus speaking through him) “Come to me, Come to me”. The boys listened wide eyed and at the end of the service, leapt up and rushed to the front of the church to accept Jesus.
In addition to this incredible blessing, I was also encouraged by my recent trip to Argentina and Brazil a few weeks ago. In particular, it was wonderful to see the fruit there of two Brazilian boys making life changes and hearing how their hearts are becoming more tender to Jesus.
Unfortunately, I don't even know if I mentioned this trip in an earlier e-mail; the time came quickly after office renovations and our board meeting. I appreciate being able to share with you now about my time in South America and trust that your continual prayers for me and for the entire Word Made Flesh community, were there.
I was able to travel to Argentina for a week and to Brazil for a week. Argentina is our newest field and Walter, Adriana, and Cora (their daughter) have started building relationships with children living on the streets in Buenos Aires. It is pleasure to see the great gifts given to Walter and Adriana to care for these kids. It is heart-warming to see the respect already given to Walter and Adriana and the joy on the kids' faces when they meet in the park or near the railroad tracks where they sleep. The ministry in Argentina is following the early pattern that was established in Peru, where relationships with the children are formed first and then exploration can take place regarding what kind of structure in ministry is helpful for more intensive care.
In Brazil, it was also a privilege to see Rich and Rebecca Nichols and Ben Miller as they form relationships with kids living on the streets in Rio. (Jenna Pashley, another Brazil staff member was in Peru at the time.) WMF staff are really encouraged by a recent change in the lives of two of the boys in Rio. One of the boy's given name is Michael Jackson and he has sold drugs on the streets in Rio. Strangely, at least to me, he hasn't used the drugs very much; he sells primarily to rich suburbanites in a dark and desperate part of Rio. I haven't met many drug dealers, but Michael Jackson threw out any stereotypes I might have had. He is one of the coolest, kindest people I have met.
However, this posture may suggest more about his recent transformation over the previous two months. Michael has started coming to church and his heart seems to be turning to Jesus. In the neighborhood where we met Michael, he was friends with everyone: every color of skin, every social group, every economic status: sharp-dressed business women, dirty kids living on the streets, and our gringo staff. I can imagine him as a leader in the church in Brazil. Please pray for him, that his life would be transformed, and he would sense how much Jesus loves him.
The staff in Argentina and Brazil were a testimony to me. I see them pouring their lives out, in the midst of difficult surroundings and I picture the disciples from the early Church. They are bringing the light of Jesus into some of the hardest places in the world.
I wanted to switch gears and even ask for prayer for my family. As you know, I come from a big family and some of my younger brothers and my sister don't appear to know Jesus. Besides the ministry with Word Made Flesh and my burden for those who are suffering around the world, there is also my burden for my brothers and sister. My brother Rob has started to read the Bible and should be released from prison in another month. I think we always have a tendency to be skeptical of real change in the people closest to us, and skeptical of people making changes when it seems that the change is predicated on a benefit they could/would receive. I really believe that Rob's desire to read the Word is real and I am hoping that his transformation will be as real as it was for those young men in Kathmandu.
By the time you read this, Thanksgiving will have passed and the Christmas season will be underway. I pray that this Christmas, there will be revival, as we celebrate our Savior's birth.
Jesus says “Come to me.” He says it to all of us.
“Come to me.”
Love, Brent