Indigenous Ministries

Indigenous Ministries

Beyond the Map

One Sponsor Letter + Refugee Kid = Beeeg Smile!

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Thank you for the letters! Keep ‘em coming! These pics are from April 15 as our team handed out letters to the kids from their sponsor in a refugee camp in Erbil.  Three smiles and one who was shy…that’s okay too! Please email a letter today (bonus: it’s free) to your child via Star to: sponsorships@indigenousministries.org. 

Update on the children now enrolled in Iraq:

Total # of refugee kids in the program:   486

# of  children sponsored:           275

 # of kids available for sponsorship:       211

Sponsor a child today online for $39/month

ANNUAL BACKPACK/SCHOOL UNIFORM CAMPAIGN BEGINS!

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On March 1st we begin raising funds so refugee children can receive a new backpack, school supplies and school uniform with shoes and socks.   For $65 (or any part of this you want to give) you can ensure a refugee child in Iraq and children in our program in Egypt attend school this fall. Go online and click Donate, and select “Backpacks/Uniforms for Refugee Children.” This makes a great AWANA, Sunday School or Vacation Bible School project. Thank you! Call Star, in the office, with any questions. 

Christmas in Egypt

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For our church plants in Egypt, this Christmas was a time to reach out with the love of Christ through food boxes. Dozens of families, including those in our child sponsorship program, received food and blankets and new clothing because of extra gifts many of you gave this Christmas. In addition, the kids enjoyed a Christmas party. 

  • Mina shows his new blanket
  • All the kids received new clothes
  • Meral enjoying her new coat
  • A widow receiving a food box

    Prayer requests:  for our team of two pastors and six women who work each week with the kids in our Child Sponsorship Program, pray for spiritual fruit in the children’s lives, pray for the families ability to move ahead economically.  Pray for the pastors and their personal times in the Word, for their marriages, for their children.  Pray for protection for the Church in Egypt. 

    Church Building for Egyptian Church Plant

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    Please be in prayer for one of our church plants in Egypt which has received permission from the Department of Security and the Federal Government to build a church building on land that has been purchased through gifts to Indigenous Ministries. The next steps will be to raise funding for the building.  Would you begin praying with us for this process as they identify the amount that will be?  Thank you.

    Ready to Engage in Sponsoring a Child?

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    We have children available in Egypt and refugee kids in Iraq and we’d love to have you engage in this wonderful opportunity.  For $39/month you can truly impact a life.  Call our office or visit our website to engage today. Questions? Give us a call at 719-302-3028.  Thank you!

    Egypt Child Sponsorships – September 2018 Update

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    Because of our Egypt Child Sponsors, our time in Egypt in September was a great success! On September 15, 76 pairs of feet bounded into the upstairs meeting room at a conference center in Upper Nile, Egypt. Chatter, laughter, and clamor filled the air as the children rearranged the chairs to sit next to their friends.

    I was filled with joy as I walked the room and personally met each child. Learning their names, shaking their hands, and seeing their smiling faces was such a privilege. This time with the kids, and the ability to help them day to day, is made possible by you, our wonderful sponsors, who have prayed and donated to bless your sponsored child! We shared a time in the Word, sang, made a craft, and passed out backpacks to each child.

    This time together was bit surreal for me. When we launched this program in 2015 with 6 sponsors and a whole lot of faith, although I knew the program would be a blessing to the widows and their children, I don’t think I fully understood how it would transform lives. After meeting with the kids, we met with our national team and Pastor Emad shared a few stories with us. I’d like to share one of them with you now.

    ‘Some months we give the children hygiene products in addition to the food bags. And one time I was going to visit one of our boys, Emad Samah, we’d been preparing toiletries to take to him – and as I was going, I saw him in the street and asked where he was going. He said he only had 3 Egyptian pounds left (about $0.20) and he was going to buy some soap. I told him not to go but to come back to the house with me because God has sent him a big bag of all these things, shampoo, shower gel, kitchen soap, and some other items for cleaning. And the boy said to me, “This is something sweet from God and brings joy to my heart.”’ – Brother Emad

    Thank you – you’ve made this possible for Emad, and for your sponsored child as well!

    Would you pray with us? We currently have 76 children enrolled in this program, but only 55 of them are sponsored. If you can think of others who care, like yourself, and hope to make a difference in these precious kids lives, please pass along this email to them. We need your help in providing hope for more children of widows in Upper Nile. If you’re willing to change a life with only $39 a month, give me a call at 719-302-3028 or click the button on the right “Sponsor a Child.”

    Love is Our Standard

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    The freedom to vote this month brought to mind the many incredible opportunities we have in America, especially with the backdrop of the LACK of these freedoms in places Indigenous Ministries has a presence. From freedom to worship, to express religious opinions (even if on Facebook), to carrying a gun or a Bible, America is still the greatest nation on the earth. Even with her many flaws, the truth is that refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants by the millions still look to our shores as the best sight they could ever lay eyes on.

    Understandably, many feel confusion on the subject of refugees and asylum seekers and many Christians struggle to respond with a Christ-like balance to what some describe as an “invasion.” What should our response be? Regardless of opinions, Scripture points us to Jesus’ radical life.

    The pharisee asking the question in the box, left, asked for the one greatest commandment. He felt safe in the answer he already knew. But he didn’t expect Jesus to insert personal responsibility into his answer. But Jesus didn’t even use pain as the standard, as the Law indicated, but he used love. He spoke of a very practical yet selfless love.

    Our love for God defines how we treat ourselves and our neighbors. The way we would want our families to be treated if they were thrust into refugee or asylum seeker status should be part of what defines our own values and actions. When we put ourselves in that other person’s shoes (or in a small wooden boat full of desperate refugees floating away from violence in Libya), God increases our love and faith to take even the smallest actions to enact that love to others.

    We aren’t called to love the whole world, God claimed that job in John 3:16, but we are called to love those in our path – be that literally next door, in town or across the seas. Good news: His box is big enough to deal with our inadequacies, prejudices and past failures.

    According to Jesus, love is our standard. A love that doesn’t deny ourselves or our neighbors, a love that takes actions springing from our values and convictions.

    This love is the change-agent that crosses all boundaries and barriers. It’s not guilt-based, but grace-based and let’s face it, loving God, ourselves and other people can be downright hard, and messy. Maybe that’s because it works.

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    “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

    Egypt Pastors’ Conference

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    This last month was amazing in our annual Pastor’s Conference as we gathered the pastors together for encouragement, times around the Word, and refreshment in relationships with the Lord and each other. Our lecturers included two of our dear pastors from the US, our pastor from Iraq, our lead for I.M. Egypt and myself. It was an incredible time and I believe that the Lord met with us in a fresh way. Men shared how much of an impact this time had in their lives and how they were refreshed in a great way.

    The theme was “God Looked for a Man.” It was precious as the teaching team poured out not only the teaching of Scriptures about God’s call, God’s heart and God’s equipping us to serve Him, but also their personal heartfelt experiences of feeling weak and yet experiencing God’s faithful strength. Too often we are weary and try our best to do what God wants in our service to Him, and yet sometimes we lose a close walk with the Lord with our busyness of serving. It was a time to reset the compass of our relationship with Christ.

    So many of the pastors came to the conference discouraged, dealing with pressures of ministry along with the pressures from Islamic and Catholic religions trying to shut down the evangelical ministries. At the end of the conference, we heard how refreshed they were through the teaching time, getting some rest, good food and time with their fellow servants.  Four young men who are looking to be part of ministry were there on our  invitation;  they are so looking forward to how the Lord will use them in the days ahead.

    As always, without you, dear ministry friends, this couldn’t have happened. God used you together to bring this about. These men need our continuing prayers…also especially keep in prayer two church plants that are deepening and growing their congregations in walking with the Lord. 

     

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    Middle East Child Sponsorship Programs

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    Egypt – On Sept 15, 76 pairs of feet bounded into a meeting room at a conference center in Upper Nile. Chatter, laughter, and clamor filled the air as children rearranged the chairs to sit next to their friends. I was filled with joy as I walked the room and personally met each child. Learning their name, shaking their hand, and seeing their smiling faces was such a privilege. We shared a time in the Word, with John, Dee, & myself able to encourage the kids, sang, made a craft, and passed out backpacks to each child. This time with the kids, and the ability to regularly help them, is made possible by our wonderful sponsors whose compassion in action is a daily bless to these precious kids! There are 21 children waiting for sponsors; would you be willing to stand in the gap and change a life? Send me an email at Sponsorships@IndigenousMinistries.org!

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    Egypt Child Sponsorship Program Update
    Kids in program 76
    Kids sponsored 55

    Backpack Central

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    School started this month in Iraq and our team has been furiously assembling hundreds of backpacks and buying school uniforms for the kids in our Refugee Child Sponsorship Program. A very special thank you to all who donated so these kids can go to school! Since we have kids coming into the program all year, this fund is always open for more donations.

    Actually we can’t think of a better example of how our team will use the van which is currently one of our fundraising projects.  Would you pray for our team there as they meet with kids and their families this month? Next month our US team will join them ministering in the refugee camps handing out food packets and more Refugee Trauma Kits. Visit our website to see pictures & videos of this distribution as we add updates.

    To sponsor a child in Iraq or Egypt for $39/month, please visit our website or call our office.

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    Iraq Child Sponsorship Program Update

    Refugee kids in program 300

    Kids sponsored 205