2023 August

God Restores Our Broken Hearts

God Restores Our Broken Hearts

This year, the Holy Spirit convicted our hearts with the theme from Isaiah 54, “Expect Great Things!” As we embarked on our short term mission trip [STMT] to Peru, we were excited to see what God had in store for us. The missionaries visited 4 COJ churches and directed a 2-day VBS for a total of 200 COJ children. The first 3 churches were in Huancayo, a city in the Andes mountain at an altitude of 11,000 ft, and the last church was located in Satipo, a tropical city in the Amazon rainforest. During the 2-day VBS, we shared 4 main themes with the children, one being that God restores our broken hearts. Miraculously, on our last day, that theme came to fruition. This is the story of Araceli. She’s 6-years-old, and she loves to dance and sing praises. To our sadness, we found out that her mother passed away from COVID. As a result, her oldest sister named Susaly takes care of the family when the father is away from home. Their father works as a farmer so he leaves the home before the girls are awake, and comes home late sometimes if there is work. They live in a rented shed behind the church in Satipo (“Castillo Fuerte”). While our mission team was doing VBS, somehow Araceli’s father stayed home that day. A few of the missionaries, along with the pastor, visited his home. It was evident that he was still grieving the loss of his beloved wife, and he didn’t understand why she was taken away so early. However, when the missionaries shared the gospel, the Holy Spirit touched his heart, and he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. From that moment on, his face lit up, and he was filled with the joy and peace of Christ. God restored his broken heart and gave him a new hope. Immediately afterwards, he came out and served the church and the missionaries by cleaning, preparing coconut water, and helping out wherever he could. When we shared this good news with his children, Yuvaly, the second oldest daughter started to weep. This was the prayer that she had been waiting for to be answered. And God finally answered. As the Lord uses us to continue to support little Araceli and her family while on this earth, this family now has the hope of once again reuniting with their beloved mother in heaven, to praise the Lord day and night, forever and ever. It is our prayer that we will continue to witness and testify of God’s amazing goodness and grace to the ends of the earth.

Seed of Hope

In the summer of 2023, God sent a group of young missionaries to share the gospel to the poor and needy children in Juárez, Mexico. There was so much doubt and worry in my heart as to whether God really wanted us to go there - a place of darkness where drug cartels thrive and women and children are being sex trafficked. I pleaded with God; if this isn’t Your will, please close the door. But the Lord convicted me through His Word, “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!” (1 Samuel 12:16) So then, I did. I witnessed God work through the young missionaries. Regardless of their pasts, God chose all of them for this great task. In the face of darkness, the anointed next generation was full of joy, peace, and strength of Christ. They encountered Christ through His Word and were strengthened by His Word. After a long drive and crossing the border, we arrived at a small church by a mountain called, “¿Quién amará a los niños?” (Who will love the children?). Although the children had sadness in their eyes, they had the seed of hope as they laughed, played, worshiped, and heard the Gospel of Christ through the young missionaries. During our visitation, the pastor shared the story of a young girl named Sarah. She has two younger siblings, Serine and Abraham. Their father was involved in the darkness of Juárez and was killed. Their mother disappeared about a month ago after she asked the pastor to please take care of her three children as evil men were trying to kill her. As soon as we heard the story, we came together and prayed for Sarah’s family. We cried out loud, not only for the family, but for all the children in Juárez who are going through similar situations. On our way back home, we heard the good news that the 25-year-old mother of Sarah was found alive. She had been kidnapped, intoxicated, and sold as a prostitute. We praised God for His faithfulness in keeping this young mother alive and reuniting her with her children. We prayed that nothing in this world would ever place a finger on them again and that this young mother would be restored completely. The children of Juárez, including Sarah and her younger siblings, were grateful for their time with the young missionaries. When they hugged, I know it wasn’t just the missionaries they embraced, but Christ in them. The hope and love of Jesus were planted in these children. There were many testimonies of these young missionaries who had been impacted by the Spirit of Christ through these children, and it is an experience that they will never forget. But I know it will not end there. They are not missionaries just every summer on a road trip, but missionaries from the Lord 24/7 in their homes, with their families, with their friends, in the grocery stores, and on the streets. God continues to work, and I pray that they will continue to abide in Christ and have the boldness and confidence to share Jesus wherever they go.

A Widow’s Sight

God has a heart for the broken-hearted, the hurt, the blind, and the poor. And God has a great heart for 33-year-old Amudhaala Chantamma. Amudhaala was born blind, and growing up she depended on her parents to help her navigate through her small village. After she got married, she relied on her loving husband to fulfill this task, and once her two children were old enough to help, her 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter became their mother’s eyes. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, Amudhaala lost her husband and because they were unable to work to make any payments, they also lost their home. Devastated, Amudhaala did her best to keep her children in school while she tried to make any money; but soon Amudhaala and her children found themselves living on the streets without a father or any family around. The church community had compassion for Amudhaala so they worked together to provide a piece of land for them to live on; but without any funds to buy any building material, Amudhaala and her children are currently residing at a neighbor’s house. If God moves your heart to help provide for Amudhaala and her family, please reach out to HHK WMC to see how you can help at 303-757-0777 or at coj@coj.org.