Is It All Going To Be Worth It?

Finding value in letting go of expectations
By Brianna Wilcox

There is one word that petrifies many of us to the point of complacency—sacrifice. Fear drives us to ignore, hide, or run from what commitment, determination, and selflessness long to offer. We are so afraid of what we will lose that what we might potentially gain is but a fleeting thought. Unfortunately the “what ifs” in life take precedence over the joy of fulfilled dreams.

A year ago, when Chris (pictured with me above) came to volunteer at the organization I worked for in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, you could not have found two more different people. He is a boy. I’m a girl. He is 16-years old, and I am 25. He was painfully shy and quiet. I never meet a stranger and honestly, have trouble shushing my mouth. He loves computers and I find them quite alien. I was in charge of all the technical crew, which is ironic because I am one of the least gadget-wise people I know. Chris wanted to get involved, so he came to speak to me. As I was talking to him, he stared at my feet the whole time! He mumbled his way through our conversation, and as he left, I realized that I would have my work cut out for me. Month after month, as we worked together, I challenged him to reach out, make friends, and invest in a discipleship group.

By the end of this past August, Chris was the only person in Northern Ireland who remembered my birthday. He presented me with a card (which I treasure) and we spent half an hour reminiscing about the past year. We laughed as he recalled how I sat beside him until he was completely finished filling in a form to join a discipleship group. He quickly turned the conversation to a serious note and quietly said, “By the way, I never thanked you for that. Being a part of that group and learning more about the Lord was so new and exciting for me. Everyone says that I’m a different person. I don’t get it, but they say I have changed. I am signing up for the mentorship program this September. I’ve never had a Christian guy to talk about the Lord with. None of my friends are Christians. Thank you.”

Halfway through this year of service, I really questioned if I was making a difference. I tried to find a conclusion to that question based on the evidence around me. It was difficult for me to leave the people I love back home, a great job, and a church in which I was growing, in order to volunteer with Exodus Ministries. I wanted proof that all my sacrifice would be worth it. A few days into my search, the Lord showed me that I was trying to switch roles with Him. My job was purely to love others well for His glory. It was up to Him as to the effect that might have. It was selfishness that drove me to want to see the rewards of my labor. I told him that I would be faithful in my job and let Him carry on in His (as if He needed my permission)! How freeing that was.

Hearing how Chris had grown was by far the greatest birthday gift I have ever received. It was unnecessary, but beautiful to see the benefits of living a sacrificial life.

Peru Disaster Relief

The devastating earthquake of August 14th struck Peru, leveling cities and leaving thousands of families homeless. Thank you for your generosity toward our brothers and sisters in Peru as their country faces this tragedy. In less than six days, you completely filled a 40-foot container with supplies that were shipped to Peru on September 4th. After receiving over $120,000 in donations, we were able to purchase tents and blankets, and fill the container with the following items:

Tents -- 619
Cots -- 4
Air Mattresses -- 12
Blankets -- 1,079
Tarps -- 7
Towels -- 313
Sheets -- 39
Clothes -- 2,009 pieces
Shoes -- 1,200 pairs
Lantern/flashlights -- 19
Battery packages -- 10
Food items -- 392
Detergent -- 23
Sleeping Bags -- 8

Chuck and Sue Duby and Todd Sprinkel of Hope Force International stand in front of a full container just before the doors were closed. Hope Force oversaw the volunteer effort receiving donations throughout the week.

Fighting the Real Enemy

FSM team helps young man find his worth in Christ
By Keith Ellerd

This summer I had an amazing opportunity to help lead a group of 19 high school students on a trip to Peru. The highlight for me had to be meeting Enrique. He spoke some English and told me that he had seen me earlier that day when we performed a drama skit at his school. I asked him what he thought, and he said, “The skit was about Jesus. I used to be a Christian, but now I give glory to Satan.” I said, “In the skit that you saw this morning, Jesus died for those who are lost. Do you realize that was for you? Do you believe that you are that important to Him?” He shook his head no. I was able to talk with him for the next twenty minutes or so about God, Satan, redemption, love, prayer and religion. He said that he didn’t like religion and was real surprised when I told him that I didn’t like religion either. We were able to talk about relationship with Jesus as opposed to just living under religious rules and traditions.

I asked him to go home and ask God that if He were real, his heart would be made tender to who God is. For the next two days our team consistently prayed for Enrique.

On Saturday, Enrique and I continued our conversation and I asked him if he had prayed about God making his heart tender. He said that he did. I told him that the whole team had been praying for him for the last two days. He was happy when he heard that. I asked him what Satan offered him, and he couldn’t give me an answer. I told him that Satan was defeated, is the author of lies, and was deceiving him now. He listened intently and processed what I was telling him. I told him that God had a plan for his life. I told him that he was a natural leader, that his peers followed his leading. Rather than leading them down the wrong path, God was going to use his life to lead people towards Him.

He talked about being disappointed by Christians in his life—calling them hypocrites. That led to a great conversation on elevating people in your life to places they have no business being elevated to—that God is the only one who will never let us down. I asked him if I could pray for him, and he asked me if he had to close his eyes. I told him he didn’t. When we finished praying he committed to following Jesus.

The conference for the evening was just finishing up. Enrique and I walked over to where the band was playing. Though he was still a bit hesitant, it was so great to watch the students and other leaders embrace him. They loved him really well that night. It was an incredible privilege to be God’s hands and feet in Enrique’s life.

Finding the Next Step

By Fletcher F. Maynard III

At 29, I just left my career as a C.P.A at Ernst & Young, LLP where I have spent the last four years of my life in their assurance and advisory business services division. I am beginning the next chapter of my life this fall at Columbia International University’s seminary and school of missions.

As one might imagine, a career shift like this typically doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The fact that I sit here today is the culmination of many influences. However, it was my experience in Comas, Peru this past May with 14 of my wild-eyed Inversion friends that really started to accelerate this reality. While the “So What?” of that trip would inevitably mean different things for each of us who went, we all knew that our lives could not possibly be the same after that week in South America.

God didn’t show me the rest of my life—He just showed me the next step. I think that’s how He works much of the time. For me personally it meant getting my application finalized for a particular missions training institute with a least-reached church-planting group known as Christar. At this training institute I spent two intensive weeks learning about other world religions. The next step? Columbia International University. Their seminary and school of missions is highly regarded, and they offered a great degree for somebody with a secular background like myself.

I’m of the conviction that God uses short-term experiences like Peru, for instance, to open our eyes, to break and grip our hearts, and to even show us the next step. For some, that may mean shifting careers. For many others, it may mean just a renewed vision of how big God is and what He’s doing in other places around the world.

Not Our Family!

Escaping comfort of suburban life gives family a trip of a lifetime
By Eileen Griffin

God chose to take our family, and, despite our shortcomings and inexperience, use us to minister to His people in Comas, Peru. Our God had direct intention for every new friendship, every conversation, every nail pounded and every child hugged. I am so grateful God does not exclude the imperfect and slow learners. Our job as a family was to remain open to His will and follow His direction, even if in baby steps.

In Comas, I watched my children, Nicole and Taylor, reach out to young children, the sick and the elderly. Whether it was a soccer game or face painting or praying in homes, they shared Christ’s gospel message of love by both word and action. My husband, Bud, received the title of honorary “Peruvian.” He worked in sync with local countrymen building a small home from rubble. Probably more significant was the soul connection between men, despite a language barrier, connecting through Christ and His message of redemption.

People! The Griffin family just doesn’t do that kind of thing! Not out loud, anyway. I found myself riding in a crowded van through dirt covered hillside roads each evening. We were armed with our Bibles, prayers, and a bodyguard as we prepared to visit the sick and lonely. I just sat in a surreal frame of mind thinking, “I just don’t do this kind of thing.” But really, this is exactly what Christ has called me to do in the Gospels—to share the good news of Jesus Christ our Savior. Maybe God was calling our family to “live out loud”—to take a chance on Christ and share His message.

It was absolutely amazing to see Christ’s work in action in the hearts of people we met as strangers and came to know as brothers and sisters in Christ. I think I may sound like a religious fanatic, but I was simply a firsthand witness to God’s work in action. The fact that He took a handful of ordinary folks from Nashville and dispersed them in Peru along with a fairly solid language barrier, yet continued to work through us, is a miracle in itself.

Fellowship Team Leads Marriage Retreat In Russia

Healing and hope brought to struggling marriages
By Larry Kayser

Russia surprised me. I was surprised by the mix of beauty and darkness. By the monochrome colors of high rise apartments in Moscow. By the magnificent and ornate churches built in a country that for nearly a century denied the existence of God. By the old, hot, cramped and slightly scary Aeroflot jets that take you from Moscow to the far reaches of southwest Russia. By the old, yellow diesel van that carried us into the Caucus Mountains to a small town called Karachaevsk.

Russia is a land where divorce and alcoholism walk hand-in-hand. Many of the women who attended the family camp have experienced serious physical abuse at the hands of fathers, uncles, brothers or husbands. They have lived in an often cruel, male-dominated culture. I was told that if a man did not have another woman outside of his marriage that he was not respected, and in fact, was considered to be a weak man. Into this culture the Lord allowed our team to come and speak about the biblical picture of marriage.

Early in the week the men were critical, argumentative, and unteachable. There were frequent disagreements and arguing among the men themselves. But as each day came and went, we began to see God slowly open the men’s hearts.

When Friday arrived, approximately 20 couples gathered and we began to share with them the biblical picture of oneness in marriage. After a couple of hours of teaching and discussion we gave them their first assignment to work on as a couple. My wife Anne and I watched from the front of the room as couples began to look at each other, to speak honestly and gently with each other. We slowly noticed some tears that began to flow, but mainly we saw them trying to listen to one another. By day’s steps of growth, and new insights gained for nearly all of the couples. One woman, Nadia, realized for the first time, that they could speak of difficult things without fear, anger or shouting. Another surprise.

The next morning, Anne and I met with a local pastor and his wife. For several years they have labored leading a small church in Karachaevsk, a church that continues to try and grow in the stubborn, rocky soil of a community dominated by Islam. This young wife and mother cried as she spoke of her fear when her husband left their home, her fears that he would be arrested, beaten or killed by Muslim extremists. She spoke of her need to be heard and encouraged by her husband. He tenderly described their conversation from the night before. They talked of forgiveness and confession. They spoke of ways they could learn to love each other. Finally, this young pastor looked at us and told us in his best, broken English, “We have never spoken together in this way, my wife’s heart opened up to me for the first time. I understand what you are saying to me.”

Maybe that kind of love could become a pathway for Christ to be known in this often harsh, male-dominated Muslim world.

Out of Africa

Fellowship couple leads at African Marriage conference
By Dian Belbeck

We arrived in Africa eager to see what God was up to—how He would show Himself. We were ready to catch glimpses of His glory. And as is always true, He does not disappoint. Surprise, yes—but not disappoint. ALARM had scheduled a marriage conference in Nanyuki, a few hours from Nairobi, inviting pastors, their wives, and staff. Although the couples all live within a few miles of one another, they arrived with more than miles separating them in many cases.

The week spent sharing our lives with our fellow believers in Nanyuki was unforgettable. They described themselves as being baby birds, their mouths wide-open, hungry and wanting to be fed. Dan and I can close our eyes now and recall the faces of these newfound friends—family indeed. There is Danson, the young liaison pastor who would hardly leave Dan’s side. There is Lucy, his wife, pregnant with their second child, asking me to pray for her that to love her husband and his family (from another tribe), even when they shun her. There is a room full of small groups, learning how to be courageous enough to share hurts, anxieties, victories, and defeats—praying with and for each other. There is David, tearfully confessing that his teenage son was using drugs, asking how to love and encourage him while showing him the truth concerning his choices. There is a whole group of ladies, looking at pictures of our family, laughing at grandchildren’s shared antics and a son’s chocolate wedding cake. All these things happened in the context of God’s call for His people to build strong, biblical marriages—shored up and encouraged by fellow believers, endeavoring to live out the call to faith arm-in-arm.

When you see Dan and I on campus or around town we may look the same. But we are different, deep inside, because we have left a piece of our hearts in Africa. We bear testimony that our God delights in WOW-ing us, filling our lives, and causing us to live Beyond Belief!