February 2016 Newsletter PDF

Feb16NLp1-title
Increasing the Outreach in Latin America

Through wonderful partnerships with dedicated distributors and coordinators, World Missionary Press is blessed to be a vehicle of God’s provision for major distribution networks which use WMP Scripture booklets extensively throughout Latin America. Many adamantly believe that their ministries would wither without the consistent supply of materials they receive. The joy of this partnership is never more poignant than seeing it bear fruit for God’s kingdom in the hearts of new believers.

 

p1aReaching to the Borders of Brazil and Beyond

Francisco R.—a major distributor of World Missionary Press materials in Brazil—reports that the faithfulness of volunteers carrying Scripture booklets to those in need has reaped a harvest of “hundreds of new souls who have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ given in every printed message received from WMP.”

Brazil’s needy Northeast was a ministry priority for Francisco last year, as he sent regular shipments to Fortaleza, capital city of Cerea—a state 2,000 miles from his home base in São Paulo and home to about 3 million people steeped in violence and witchcraft—where volunteers were “very zealous” to reach lost p1bsouls “in bus stations, hospitals and every place where people gather and are quiet, having time to read your precious booklets.”

Francisco also sends boxes of Spanish and Portuguese literature to Brazil’s borders to be carried into neighboring countries. Materials sometimes flow over more distant borders. The pastor of an Arabic church in Brazil has taken Scripture booklets and New Testaments to 15 Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa in his luggage. “He’s risking his life, but he’s okay,” says Francisco. “God has called him…. He was arrested once in Sudan, and he thought he was going to see the Lord, but …it was not [his] time. He was released.”

 

p2aFinding Salvation in Mexico

WMP national coordinator and Every Home for Christ director for Mexico Gloria L. shares testimonies of what God is doing in her country through use of Scripture booklets. A group of volunteers, determined to evangelize every jail in the nation of Mexico, was requested by authorities to share the gospel with some of the most dangerous criminals in a high-security jail in Ciudad Guadalupe “because they have witnessed how the Word of God can truly change the most black heart to a white heart as snow.” Gloria wrote, “Just to see the faces of men who once were sadistic and terribly bad, crying with repentance and going on their knees raising their hands worshiping their Savior, Jesus Christ—we can only praise the Lord for His grace, mercy, and compassion for many Mexicans who have lived in darkness but now have found salvation.”
In Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast, the pastor of a church which started thanks to the distribution of WMP literature wrote, “The Word of God is welcomed by people who desire to meet the Savior. We have seen that when evil abounds, the grace of God is shed, giving salvation to many who open their hearts. The enemy wants to stop us in many ways, but we have learned to overcome every obstacle in the name of the Lord…. In Christ we can do everything. We have distributed 11,500 booklets, reaching 1,000 households for the glory of God.”

One pastor saw much fruit through a summer Christian school. “Several children received Jesus through the lessons found in He Is Risen!” In addition, “There is nothing better for a congregation,” he wrote, “than to see the majority of its members go out one afternoon to evangelize. All are united in this outreach.”

Between June and September, 2015, Gloria’s team in Mexico distributed 1,608 boxes of WMP literature—about 800,000 Scripture booklets!

Gloria thanked WMP for a recent shipment and requested 5,500 more boxes. “The Lord is answering our prayers to get more and more workers in the field,” through the recommendation of their regular
volunteers and more contact with Christians through Facebook. Two container shipments—one 20-foot and one 40-foot—are now in production for distribution through partnership with EHC Mexico.

p2b

Ministry Doubles in Argentina

In spite of political, economic, and social crisis in Argentina, WMP volunteer coordinator and EHC director Rino B. saw house-to-house distribution and special ministries more than double during the past year. New strategies were used to increase the number and skills of volunteers, improve the ministry’s social media presence, and expand into neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay. He soon “discovered a serious problem!” The expansion depleted materials and greatly increased the need for “at least 3 million pieces of literature to cover the year p2c-prayer2016.”

Rino shared the touching story of Walter (right), now 42 years old, who has devoted his life to volunteer ministry with EHC. Walter was 8 years old when his beloved grandmother died. In her belongings he saw
an old, well-worn WMP booklet, Help From Above, which he began to read repeatedly. Through his reading he discovered that he could know Jesus as his personal Savior. He was 14 when he began to attend the church his grandmother had attended, was baptized, and committed to deliver literature received by the EHC office in Argentina. “During 28 years I’ve distributed thousands of tracts, and I have the privilege to guide the feet of Christ to hundreds or thousands peoples. So I am very happy.”

WMP is preparing a fresh 40-foot container of gospel literature to fuel Rino’s incredibly fruitful ministry.

 

p3a-GQForging Ahead in Chile in Spite of Fire and Flood

From Chile came a powerful account from Victor S.—WMP’s volunteer national coordinator and EHC national director—of thousands receiving gospel booklets in the midst of intense trial and of hearts being changed. In addition to monthly literature distribution throughout Chile, two special projects took place in 2015. The first involved a journey of 1,500 km to six cities, where 206,500 booklets were distributed and 2,119 responses to the gospel received. The second
project—1,990 km to the North—touched five cities with 127,000 booklets, resulting in 1,982 responses. During the team’s return trip, an unusual amount of rain in those cities caused flooding that killed hundreds. “Thank God we began our journey in time and were saved out of this tragedy.”

Two volcanic eruptions in the South and a massive earthquake in the North pushed EHC workers to forge ahead even more zealously in 2015. As part of a nationwide thrust to equip local churches with WMP literature, 765,900 Scripture portions were distributed to homes, hospitals, prisons, and streets throughout Chile.
Victor expressed deep gratefulness to God for WMP, “which has undoubtedly greatly blessed our country and each one of the people who have had the opportunity to receive a [booklet] in their hands. p4aMay the Lord continue expanding in you the vision and along with it, open more channels of blessing for the ministry and for all those working with such love and passion to manifest the Kingdom in our land.”

 

You Can Be Part of What God Is Doing!

Besides producing Spanish Scripture booklets, Bible studies, and New Testaments for new shipments for Mexico and Argentina, WMP is planning 20-ft containers for Peru, Costa Rica, and Cuba as well as five pallets (1,200 boxes) for Spain. You are invited to be involved in prayer, giving, or volunteering your time at the plant in New Paris, Indiana, as God puts it on your heart.

p4-UpcomFreightShipp4b   [You can impact Latin America. Every donated dollar puts 24 powerful Scripture booklets into the hands of Christians eager to share Gods Word with the people of their nation. An investment of $100 will touch the lives of 2,400 people; $1,000 will impact 24,000 people who need salvation.]

 

 

 

Meet the Team

p3bJoanna B.

Accounting Assistant

I was introduced to WMP in 2013, when a friend asked me to fill in for someone in their volunteer group who couldn’t be there. I loved it so much I begged them to let me keep coming, so I started volunteering two evenings a month.

I had been attending Huntington University, with a major in Accounting, but in November 2014 I began to feel very strongly that God wanted me to leave after the fall semester. I didn’t know why, but I was at peace that He had something else for me, so I started looking for a full-time job. I put my resume on several job-posting websites, and they would regularly send me e-mails with job opportunities in business/finance. One night I was reading one of those e-mails and I saw a listing for a finance position at WMP! I was so excited I could hardly sleep, and I prayed right away that God would help me get that job. From there things happened pretty quickly:  I called in the next day, got an application, interviewed, and a couple of weeks later I was hired!p4-ShipStatusReport

For almost a year I’ve been doing a variety of finance- related tasks, including helping to process payroll, preparing and sending checks to vendors, opening and processing donations, and preparing month-end adjustments and reports. The staff here is amazing, and it has been exciting getting to know them.

Outside of work, I enjoy playing (and sometimes writing) music on the piano and ukulele. I also love outdoors activities like camping, canoeing, hiking, and so on. Often I spend time with friends or family. When I’m actually at home, I usually have plenty of chores to keep me busy, but occasionally I find a few hours of blissful relaxation.

I am the youngest of eleven children and a proud aunt to four nieces and five nephews, with two more on the way. Growing up in a big family was a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! My dad was a pastor until 2013, when he was no longer able to preach due to a series of severe health issues. Most of my family lives in Indiana. We enjoy getting together for game nights, movie nights, or just to hang out.