Missions

Is it a sin to buy a lottery ticket? What about making a bet at a casino – so long as it’s a budgeted amount of money and made responsibly? How about dropping a sports bet? Is it a sin to gamble?

Some people would argue there is nothing sinful about it. Recently, after posting on Facebook one of my editorials against the legalization of sports betting in the Tar Heel state, a woman said in the comments section: “I’ve never found any basis in the Bible to oppose gambling specifically, even though I have searched.” Another woman wrote, “Nowhere in the Bible does it say gambling is a sin — not one single sentence about gambling.”

Guess what? Those two women were right. One cannot show any place in Scripture where it directly says, “Thou shalt not gamble.” But is the matter that easily dismissed?

The late Dr. D. James Kennedy, a renowned Presbyterian minister, used to counter this argument in favor of gambling by explaining it’s also impossible to find in Scripture where it directly says, “Thou shalt not watch pornography.” Nevertheless, the Bible does talk about the sin of lust and advocates principles that would prohibit doing anything that would entertain, generate, or provide for the means and expression of lust.

The Bible also talks about the sin of covetousness. “Those who cannot see the connection between pornography and lust are not likely to see the connection between covetousness and gambling,” said Kennedy. “The truth is, however, that gambling is a form of the sin of covetousness.”

What is covetousness, one might ask? In short, covetousness is an inordinate desire for wealth and possessions or someone else’s possessions.

Rex Rogers, in his book Seducing America, rightly says there are only three ways to legitimately acquire property: 1. as a gift, 2. as a payment for labor, and 3. in fair exchange. Anything else is covetousness and gambling certainly doesn’t fit any of these criteria.

Covetousness is a violation of the 10th Commandment of God, “Thou shalt not covet …” (Exodus 20:17). Gambling flows from a spirit of avarice and greed. This is what makes it so exciting and addictive. It stirs up what is depraved in human nature and can make a person lose their way. Gambling is born of the burning desire for quick earthly riches.

Thus, the Scriptures provide strong warnings about covetousness. Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luke 12:15). The apostle Paul admonished, “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (I Timothy 6:9-10).

Many other principles in the Bible indict and condemn the practice of gambling:

• Love of one’s neighbor. Jesus commanded, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Gambling is predicated on the losses, pain, and suffering of one’s neighbor.
• Exploiting the poor and vulnerable. Gambling preys on the desperation of the poor. Based in Washington, D.C., Stop Predatory Gambling notes that “[s]tate governments concentrate lottery outlets in economically-distressed regions to entice more citizens from the lower rungs of the income ladder. Lotteries are pushing scratch tickets as high as $50 in low-income communities to citizens who earn a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour in those same states. It takes seven hours of work to lose it all on a $50 ticket.” The prophet Isaiah said, “The Lord brings this charge against the elders and leaders of his people. Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?” says the Lord God of hosts” (Isaiah 3:14).
• A strong work ethic. God has designed work as the proper means for humankind to supply their needs and provide for their loved ones. Gambling undermines the work ethic and touts the false hope of something for nothing. Genesis 3:19 makes it clear that from the beginning of time God ordered that mankind earn his bread by the “sweat of his brow” — meaning hard work. This principle is so important in the New Testament dispensation that II Thessalonians 3:10 reads, “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” Syndicated columnist George Will summarized it this way: “The more people believe in the importance of luck, chance, randomness, and fate, the less they believe in the importance of stern virtues such as industriousness, thrift, deferral of gratification, diligence, and studiousness.”

  There are numerous other ways gambling runs afoul of the Bible’s teachings. God requires good stewardship of one’s possessions. Jesus alluded to this in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Generally speaking, gambling is a waste of one’s resources that could have been put to good use. The games are rife with deception, concealing or misleading people about the odds. The Psalmist said the Lord would destroy those who tell lies, and he abhors those who deal treacherously (Psalm 5:10).

  

  Moreover, state-sanctioned gambling undermines the God-ordained purpose of government to suppress and judge evil (Romans 13:1-5). The state does just the opposite by allowing the citizenry to be fleeced and victimized by gambling.

   

   

  Its most unfortunate churches often promote gambling by using games of chance for charitable purposes. They say the end justifies the means. Gamblers sometimes rationalize making their bets by noting that churches have bingo games, raffles, etc. Churches, however, and Christians in general, should be setting the right example by not participating in any kinds of gambling. Of all those who should demonstrate that we should keep free from the love of money and be content with what God has provided (Hebrew 13:5), it’s the people of God.

  Indeed, the Bible may not say, “Thou shalt not gamble.” Still, God’s Word is filled with precepts and principles that unquestionably condemn the practice as sinful. It doesn’t matter whether the money wagered was deemed a responsible bet or not. When one gambles, it is a covetous act that is participatory and complicit in a baneful enterprise that shares in the guilt of many other sins.

   

  By Mark Creech, Op-ed Contributor
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The missionary journey can be a whirlwind of excitement. I quite remember the first time I went on a mission trip, I was so excited I could barely sleep- I thought of the people I would meet, I listened eagerly to all the stories of our leaders who had been on missions- the miraculous healings, the power demonstrations. I was pumped with excitement.

All the beautiful images I had painted in my head began to fade away within the first few days of arriving on the field when reality set in. The difficulties encountered on the mission field was not something I bargained for. Long hours of walking on dusty roads to preach the gospel to people who were not prepared to listen, sleeping on the floor in a poorly ventilated room. The worst part for me was carrying buckets of water on my head; my bucket was always empty – I was a Daddy’s girl. I was used to the water running from the taps and finer things in life.

I yearned for home, I withdrew from the rest of the team. I wondered if it was all worth it? would the people accept Christ? would they attend the crusades? Feelings of loneliness crept in.

Well, I never learnt how to carry water on my head, but I left the missions field with very valuable lessons.

Anybody who has spent time on a missions field would possibly identify with the feeling of loneliness and hopelessness which I had to contend with. Loneliness and depression are issues rarely discussed in the missionary community.

Missionaries are expected to be game-changers, bold, courageous, ever ready to rightly divide the word of God and cast out devils. How can the carriers of hope for a lost world feel lonely and depressed when so many are looking up to them for support and hope? But sadly, a lot of missionaries battle with these feelings of loneliness and depression.

Feelings of loneliness are very real amongst missionaries. Even Jesus had His moments of loneliness when He wanted to give up and He put in a request to be relieved of his duties. Without the knowledge of the flock( his disciples ), Jesus sent a letter(the prayer in Gethsemane) to the headquarters(the Father), asking to be relieved of His duties.

The prayer which Jesus prayed in the garden – #Father if it is thy will take this cup from me# was not the prayer of a happy man filled with excitement, it was the prayer of a man who was burdened, tired and lonely; it was the prayer of a man who was ready to give up.

But Jesus did not succumb to those feelings of loneliness by allowing them to become His reality. The same is true for every missionary, those feelings of loneliness and depression should not be your reality. Your reality is that you are not alone. Jesus told His disciples that He would be with them till the end( Matt 28:20). Jesus is with you and so are many others, cheering you on. Heb 12:22-24, tells us that we are surrounded by the Spirit of just men made perfect, an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and the church of the firstborn.

Jesus’s experience in the garden of Gethsemane teaches us the importance of prayer in dealing with these low moments. Jesus did not hide His feeling, He took it to the Lord in prayer. As he prayed, scripture makes us understand that angels came to comfort and strengthen Him ( Luke 22:43). Take your low moments, loneliness, depression etc to the Lord in prayer. Understand, that you do not have to fight these battles alone- The Lord is with you.

In my personal experience, I find that praying in the language of the Spirit lifts my spirit whenever I have felt depressed. It brings the presence of the Lord into my environment and with the Lord’s presence comes joy ( Ps 16:11). Praying in the Spirit allows God’s grace to become my strength so that I do not have to fight these battles by myself.

Praying in the Spirit allows the Holy Spirit to take over my mind and fill it with peace. I encourage you, whenever those feelings of depression and loneliness set in, invite the Holy Spirit into the battle by praying in the spirit and declaring the word of the Lord over your mind, your soul and your spirit. God has graciously given us His Holy Spirit to be our comforter and our guide. In moments when we feel alone, we need to draw near to Him and allow Him to comfort us and be our strength.

Let me end on this note- feelings of loneliness thrive when we remain in isolation. Notice that Jesus eventually came out of his place of isolation to commune with his disciples and to continue with the assignment. We must follow Jesus example. Whenever you start feeling depressed etc, don’t isolate yourself for long periods, come out and talk to people you can trust. The sense of community and having people around you can lift that burden of loneliness.

Written by: Adjoa Ago

Do you want to be part of what God is doing in this end times on the missions field? tonight at 6pm GMT/21:00 Moscow Time join this zoom link for the Global Gathering of Missionaries. click https://zoom.us/j/96824950598?pwd=aXRuSFUvMUM5N3FZQmpnOXBleHJMUT09  

Its an interactive session with Gods General for Missions. Come and be empowered. 

Public health expert Tyler VanderWeele, who coauthored the cover story for our November print issue, recently analyzed how four school categories—public, private, religious, and homeschool—might affect the long-term well-being of adolescents.

VanderWeele and his team at Harvard examined a large swath of data, collected over more than a decade, which tracked the development of 12,000 nurses’ children into their young adulthood. The longitudinal study surveyed social, physical, and mental health trends across the group—like substance abuse, anxiety/depression, community engagement, and sexual activity.

The team’s analysis was published recently in PLoS ONE, and some of their findings were surprising.

In comparing key health indicators, the researchers found little difference between the long-term well-being of adolescents who attended public school and those who went to private school. (All of the kids who participated were between the ages of 9-14 when the study began.)

“We didn’t go in having any clear expectations, but we certainly didn’t expect to find basically nothing—which is what we found,” VanderWeele said. “We found relatively little difference comparing public and private schools across a whole host of outcomes.”

There was, however, a noted difference between the kids who attended public school and those who were homeschooled.

“We found a lot of positive, beneficial outcomes of homeschooling,” VanderWeele said.

Their data showed that homeschooled kids were more likely to volunteer, forgive others, possess a sense of mission and purpose, and have notably fewer lifetime sexual partners.

Homeschoolers were also 51 percent more likely to frequently attend religious services into their young adulthood. “It is quite possible that a lot of homeschooling parents were religious or did this for religious reasons, but we unfortunately don’t have data on the content of the curriculum,” VanderWeele said.

The researchers found only one adverse effect of homeschooling: those children were 23 percent less likely to attain a college degree than public and private school kids (who had similar college completion rates in this sample). “This may point to the need [to] focus more on college preparedness,” VanderWeele commented.

Another surprise was how the public-school experience compared to private religious education. In the long list of health metrics, the team found only a marginal difference on a few outcomes—around 10–15 percent—between the kids who were sent to public school and those who attended schools with faith affiliations.

The kids who went to religious schools were marginally more likely to register to vote, less likely to be obese, and more likely to have fewer lifetime sexual partners by the time they became young adults.

On the other hand, they were slightly more likely to engage in binge drinking.

“It might be that some children feel they want to rebel if they’re going through religious schooling all of their life,” VanderWeele said. “We weren’t really able to determine why, but something like that could be the explanation.”

In adulthood church attendance, homeschooled students also came out ahead of others. The kids who went to faith-based schools were only slightly more likely to attend religious services as young adults than those who went to either secular private or public schools—and much less likely than those who were homeschooled. (Worth noting: The study did not look at faith retention among Christian students, only religious attendance among the whole group.)

Demographer Lyman Stone cautions not to interpret the results of this single study as proving a definitive causal link—to say, for instance, that homeschooling or religious schooling alone are direct causes of higher religious attendance—but to recognize that this data set is related by association.

“The link between religious schooling and adult religious service attendance—and probably homeschooling too—is causal. This study doesn’t show that it’s causal, but it is. And we know that from other studies,” Stone says, referencing older research that analyzed Catholic education in France and Islamic education.

“The environment that a child is exposed to does cause changes in their adult religious behaviors,” Stone says, and “the results [of this study] are consistent with that.”

Yet the differences between public and religious schools were much less than VanderWeele expected, based on trends he’d discovered in previous research using the same data set.

“Our prior work had indicated that religious service attendance during adolescence was really important and shaped health and well-being in all sorts of ways,” VanderWeele said. That conclusion still holds. “But the effects were much smaller with religious schooling, which was not exactly what we expected.”

“What we found was that religious service attendance makes a bigger difference than religious schooling,” he said. “Religious service attendance has beneficial effects across the different school types and has stronger effects than religious schooling.”

In other words, the kids who grew up attending church regularly rated far higher in overall well-being as young adults than those who went to a religious school but did not go to religious services during their formative years.

And while “the effect of religious schooling itself did not seem to dramatically differ comparing those who attended religious services versus not,” Vanderweele explained, “for those who went to both, religious service attendance in youth was clearly the more dominant force in shaping health and well-being, at least as this pertains to the data and experiences 20 years ago.”

In previous studies, VanderWeele had discovered that weekly service attendance in adulthood was associated with “about 30 percent reductions in all-cause mortality, 30 percent reduction to the incidence of depression, [and] fivefold reductions in suicides.”

Furthermore, “regular service attendance helps shield children from the ‘big three’ dangers of adolescence: depression, substance abuse, and premature sexual activity,” VanderWeele writes in his latest article for Christianity Today. “People who attended church as children are also more likely to grow up happy, to be forgiving, to have a sense of mission and purpose, and to volunteer.”

“So regardless of school type,” VanderWeele says, “it’s beneficial to go to religious services, both as an adolescent and as an adult.”

Source: Christianity Today

As a cross-cultural missionary focused on the 10/40 Window—the final frontier of missions efforts—I am always thinking about the misallocation of Christian giving. I say “misallocation” because the numbers are completely lopsided.

Here are a few numbers to think about:

• “Christians make up 33% of the world’s population, but receive 53% of the world’s annual income and spend 98% of it on themselves.” – Barrett and Johnson, 2001, 656
• “North American and European Christians spend $12.5 trillion on themselves and their families each year.” – Barrett and Johnson, 2001, 656
• “Only 0.1% of all Christian giving is directed toward mission efforts in the 38 most unevangelized countries in the world.” – Barrett and Johnson, 2001, 656
• “American Christians spend 95% of offerings on home-based ministry, 4.5% on cross-cultural efforts in already reached people groups, and .5% to reach the unreached.” – The Traveling Team
• “Christians’ annual income is $12.3 trillion. $213 billion is given to Christian causes. $11.4 billion is given to foreign missions, 87% of which goes to work being done among the already Christian, 12% goes to work among the evangelized non-Christians, 1% among the unevangelized.” – The Traveling Team

Do we really care about those missionaries?

I have spent a lot of time in some of the poorest of Asia’s villages over the last decade and a half with Within Reach Global. I have shared life and the gospel message in the huts and homes of people who have never heard the name of Jesus before.

It burns in my heart to see these communities reached with the love of Jesus, but apparently, bringing the hope of the Christian gospel to these people is simply not a major priority for Christians worldwide.

Foreign and indigenous missionaries in the unreached and unengaged world are being hung out to dry as they try to reach the people groups in the 10/40 Window. If they were fully funded, there is a great chance that we could finish the task of reaching the world for Jesus.

“In AD 100 there were 12 unreached people groups for every congregation of believers. Now there is 1 unreached people group for every 1000 congregations.” – Ralph Winter

But only a tiny percentage of Christian giving goes to reach the least reached people of the globe.

We tip our waitress 15% but we can’t even give God 10%?

On average, American church members give just 2.58% of their income with 25% giving nothing at all. Discovering for the first time that Christians are not giving at the level you may have thought can be depressing, but even at 2.58% it still adds up to over $103 billion given to American churches each year.

$103 billion dollars every single year is an incredible amount. It’s enough for the American church alone to eliminate the most extreme poverty in the world by many estimates.

So how is the money being spent? Here are the stats according to Empty Tomb, Inc.:

85% goes to Internal Operations:

• 50% to pay the salary of pastors and church staff.
• 22% to pay for upkeep and expansion of buildings.
• 13% for church expenses such as electricity and supplies.

15% goes to Outreach:

• 13% local ministry.
• 2% for overseas missions (both evangelistic and charitable).

“The Lord did not tell us to build beautiful churches, but to evangelize the world.” – Oswald J. Smith

In the end, if you only give to your local church, odds are that only 2% of 2.58%, or 0.05% of your income is going towards “preaching the gospel to every nation” and helping the “poorest of the poor” combined.

To put that in perspective, if you make $50,000 a year, that is only $25.80 per year that goes toward missions work—that is, IF you give toward Great Commission efforts among the unreached.

Of course, all of this depends on what church you attend and how much you give, but it’s a sobering statistic for sure. – Believers Resource

The epic fail of Church embezzlement.

And if the statistics of Christian giving do not impassion us already, compound the disaster with the epic fail of Church embezzlement:

• “Emboldened by lax procedures, trusted church treasurers are embezzling $16 billion every year out of church funds, but only 5% ever get found out.”
• “Annual church embezzlements by top custodians exceed the entire cost of all foreign missions worldwide.” – World Evangelization Research Center
• “Christians spend more on the annual audits of their churches and agencies ($810 million) than on all their workers in the non-Christian world.” – World Evangelization Research Center
• “Christians worldwide will commit more than $37 billion in church-related financial fraud during 2013. Compare that to the $33 billion churches are expected to spend on worldwide mission work this year.” – Center for the Study of Global Christianity

That may be a lot to swallow. Do you find it as incredulous as I do?

Partner with God to reach unreached people groups.

My question is this: Are we as believers truly interested in finishing the task of reaching the world for Christ, thus ushering in the end of the age? Do we truly want to partner with God in reaching every “people, tongue, tribe and nation” with the gospel to speed the return of Jesus as the blueprint of Matthew 24:14 describes?

Want to reach unreached people groups around the world? Connect with us

Source: Within Reach Global

Someone brought something to my attention recently. A young woman on our staff came across a talk, given by a pastor, on a church’s website. It was a clear case of pastoral plagiarism.

It was my talk.

He had delivered it, largely verbatim, from a manuscript purchased on the ChurchandCulture.org website. There was no verbal attribution ever given. Perhaps most egregious was his telling of my personal vignettes as if they were his own.

She dug into a few more, and found almost every talk for the last two-and-a-half years had been one of my talks.

I called him on the phone, and we talked about it. To his credit, he wasn’t defensive but repentant.

Then it happened again this week. Someone stumbled onto a talk on a church’s website, and it was one of my talks.

Again, almost completely verbatim.

This is serious.

A pastor of a large church in our city lost his job when one of the members of the church heard a talk on the radio by a well-known radio preacher. The pastor had given the same talk earlier that week in the church, without attribution. The member told an elder, the elder looked into the matter and discovered a pattern of plagiarism.

What are the “rules” of pastoral

plagiarism for communicators?

I’m not sure we know because they aren’t as spelled out as they are in the academic world. But I think we can—or at least should—agree to the following 10 commandments:

The Do’s and Don’ts of Pastoral Plagiarism

1. Do take inspiration from another person’s talks.
2. Do allow yourself to be informed by another person’s research.
3. Do feel free to quote another person, tell their story, use their outline and repeat memorable phrases with attribution.
4. Do buy mp3s and manuscripts of speakers to grow as a communicator as you listen to their style and structure.
5. Do borrow ideas for series from other speakers and churches.

But…

6. Don’t ever use another person’s creative outline without attribution.
7. Don’t ever use another person’s unique insights without attribution.
8. Don’t ever use another person’s stories without attribution, and never, ever go even farther and tell it is as if it happened to you.
9. Don’t justify plagiarism by trying to spiritualize it with “It’s all for the Kingdom” or “It’s not really theirs, because God gave it to them” kind of statements. That is true of everything, such as our property, yet God says, “Don’t steal.” That includes intellectual property, too.
10. Don’t let the abundance of online resources keep you from doing spadework on the Scriptures, exertion on the exegesis and prayer for the pulpit that makes for anointed talks.

In truth, there is little excuse for plagiarism. It’s so easy to give attribution in a flowing, natural way.

If you have listened to many of my talks, you know how common it is for me to start off a talk or series by saying, “My thinking has been informed on this by…” or “I’m indebted throughout today’s talk to…”

I’ve started many a sentence with, “Philip Yancey tells the story of…” “John Ortberg writes about this in a funny way…” “Andy Stanley talks about this in terms of…” or “C.S. Lewis once observed that…”

The point is that good communicators borrow material all the time.

But ethical ones let you know where they borrowed it.

Source: Churchleaders.com

Are you a kingdom worker serving on the missions field? This meeting is just for you so don’t miss out. Join on ZOOM and be equipped with the needed knowledge and grace to win more territories for the Lord. Its time for a Global Harvest and we must not delay! below is the link to the meeting on this Saturday, 29th of January 2022 at exactly 6pm GMT/9pm Moscow Time. The Speaker is a renowned Missionary who served in Ukraine, Madagascar and many other nations.

https://zoom.us/j/96824950598?pwd=aXRuSFUvMUM5N3FZQmpnOXBleHJMUT09

Zoom ID: 96824950598

Passcode: 936794

Join the Global meeting for an empowerment

When a pastor leaves church, we should ask that has happened. More than 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month. This staggering number includes some of the brightest, most inspiring pastors in the country. To prevent the continued flight of our pastors, we need to understand the cause of the problem. Though every situation is unique, the reasons pastors leave are often similar.

Common Reasons a Pastor Leaves Church

1. Discouragement.

   Complaints speak louder than compliments. You can receive 15 compliments and one complaint, and the complaint will stick. When you hear criticism and look out to see empty pews, it can be difficult to recognize the positive impact you’re making. The key is to remember: No matter how much negative you hear, you’re always doing 10 times more good. 

2. Failure.

   Many pastors have difficulty recognizing success. They compare themselves to other pastors and other ministries. Comparisons produce only two outcomes:

   (1) You think you’re better, which results in excessive pride,

   or (2) you feel like you don’t measure up, which creates a sense of failure.

   The key is not to compare, but to celebrate your successes. 

   

3. Loneliness.

   With so many people looking to pastors for guidance, it can be difficult for pastors to let their guards down. They don’t want to come across as less than perfect. They feel they can’t be transparent and vulnerable. That creates a sense of isolation. It’s important for pastors to find people they can open up and share their struggles with, instead of absorbing and isolating.

4. Moral Failure.

   The moral failures of pastors are magnified more than the average person. The key to avoiding moral failures is creating a system of risk prevention. When you meet with someone of the opposite sex: Let your spouse know, never meet behind closed doors and do not discuss relationship issues. For pornography, software is available to monitor or block Web activity.

5. Financial Pressure.

   Most ministries are nonprofits, so pastors are not compensated well. When you can’t fully provide the life you want for your family, it makes it hard to continue. Then you look at friends not in the ministry with big houses and nice cars. Pastors can relieve the pressure with better financial planning. Try following the 80-10-10 rule—10 percent to church, 10 percent to savings and 80 percent to live off.

Silvia Regina was known as the “Witch of Krakow” because she spent 14 years of her life living the drug life. But when she encountered the love of God, she decided to leave her former life behind. Now, she is graduating with a degree in mission, desiring to reach out to others who also need God’s love.

From drug addict to missionary

Silvia’s life was a rough one. At just 9-years-old, she started to live on the streets when her stepfather got drunk and attacked her mother. From there she joined a gang and got involved in a criminal life. When she was 18-years-old, she had just given birth to her daughter and then she got arrested and was put in prison for 25 years. Silvia recalled, “I got mad at the world.”

Silvia was 43-years-old when she was released from prison. Regardless, it did not change her behavior and she continued to participate in criminal activity.

She started working on a farm where they produce cocaine and became addicted. “This is how I spent 14 years of my life – using cracks, sleeping on the streets of Cracolandia (land of the crack), I became nothing. I was less than garbage,” she said.

But, Silvia’s life was about to change. One day, a missionary noticed Silvia on the streets. Fernanda Toyonaga was part of “Cristolandia” (land of Christ), a project that rescues drug addicts from the streets. 

“People were afraid of her, but I wasn’t,” Fernanda shared.

Silvia remembered her first time meeting Fernanda, “She came, gave me a hug, and told me that Jesus loved me. After Fernanda hugged me, she started visiting me very often.”

Fernanda’s representation of how God pursues us with love was what impacted Silvia the most and caused her to surrender to Christ.

Fernanda said, “People pass by and do not realize that there is someone who needs help. These people are lost and need to be reached.”

On November 28, 2020, Silvia graduated from a missionary training course at the Integrated Center for Education and Missions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

She said, “If it weren’t for the great love of God, I’d still be in sin. God restores lives. He gave me back everything that was mine. He gave me back my daughter, my grandchildren, my two brothers.”

Reference: Bibliatodo News