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Transcript:
Rev. Darren Herbold:
Hi Alliance Canada,
I trust your day is going well. Over here I’m freezing today and thus my CMA swag that’s keeping me warm while I keep getting excited for Spring to finally arrive. I want to share with you a few quick updates and then a story of what God is doing in the Middle East from some of our international workers.
We’re living in light of the reality on post-resurrection Sunday, and I am just constantly reminded of God’s power, his love, and his faithfulness.
While this is a busy season for us leading up to General Assembly, I want to take a moment and thank you again for your faithfulness to the mission. I’m so proud of our Alliance family, I’m grateful to the Lord for you, and I’m praying daily for you. I truly love being part of our Alliance church family across the country, and it is gift to be able to journey together.
Some quick updates as I mentioned.
Number one is The Women in Leadership Collective is hosting a webinar on May 21 at 9 am Pacific Time. It’s all about men and women flourishing in partnership. Mardi Dolfo-Smith and Mark Peters will be talking, and it would be great to check out. You can register for the event on the link below the video today.
Now General Assembly is coming up. We’re about 80 or so days away, depending on when you watch this video. It’s going to be a wonderful time of praying together, hearing stories of what God has been doing, asking God what he wants us to do next, and doing some important business work as we gather as a denomination. I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see all of you there. As a reminder, can I ask that you or that you would ask your church to commit to praying for Assembly? This is an important gathering for us and I just truly desire His Spirit to lead and guide us as I know you do, as well.
And now, a powerful story of God’s faithfulness in the Middle East.
VIDEO:
Ben:
These doors are not doors that we could open in and of ourselves. This is entirely God working for his kingdom glory.
Rachel:
We’ve just been available and God has just used us to be able to help those that are already doing his work.
Ben:
Hi, I'm Ben.
Rachel:
I'm Rachel.
Ben:
And we’re part of the Middle East team.
So, January of 2021 is when we deployed. But, in June of that year, there was a massive fire in one of the IDP camps just down the road from where we are. I happened to be on the road already and ran through with a bunch of young guys. And we were going between the tents trying to see if anyone was there. And then once we had determined that the camp was cleared as much as possible, we started breaking open water containers and throwing water. Over 260 tents were completely destroyed, and needed to be cleared out. Pretty horrific.
We happened to have a prayer meeting that night with one of the churches, and they were there right in the midst of it praying with us. They came and said, “How do we help? How do we support after that?” So, we had resources in place to be able to start with the restoration of the camp and the cleanup. And over the course of the time, I ended up project managing it and forming some relationships with camp management.
About May of this year, I got a phone call asking me to come into the office and they sat us down and said, “We really like what you’re doing. And we want to continue working with you further. So, we want you to have a permanent place within one of the camps here,” which was phenomenal.
The next day I hopped in the car with the woman that oversees all the camps, and the driver. She turned and looked at me at one point and she’s like, “Who do you know?” I was like, “What do you mean?” She’s like, “Do you know how long the waiting list is for this centre? Do you know how many proposals I have sitting on my desk of people that have intentions of working here, that have been fighting and clamouring for this space? You don’t have an organization. You don’t even have a proposal. So who do you know?” So I kind of chuckled and I said, “Well, that’s a longer story.”
Rachel:
Before we even arrived, we knew that some of that we had met was already running a centre within the city, offering trauma programming. She’s a counsellor. Her program has a three-to four-month waitlist, but she still knows there’s so many women that can’t put their name on the list because they’re in the camps. And so her heart has been to be inside the camp. And then when, in May, he was handed these keys, we just knew that this was God opening the door for our friend to expand her program. She said, “When I felt those keys in my hands, I just felt God answering my prayers and just like literally putting my dream in my hand.”
They see that she’s different. And they ask her why. And her answer is always because of God. And they’re like, “Well, we want to know more.” And she invites them to church.
Ben:
So, to cross even the threshold of the church is a pretty significant step and speaks to the relationships that she’s forming with these women. And it’s incredible.
Rachel:
We will never be able to have the same impact as a local person in their own culture. The local believers there while there’s a few, they’re grinding away for the sake of the kingdom day in, day out. Our desire is to give more leadership and more agency to those that are already doing the work. We want to come alongside.
Ben:
It’s our joy to be a bridge. Be a bridge between those that are passionate about seeing God’s kingdom come in fullness in Canada and bridging those into where we are here in the Middle East. So, as much as we can, we’re advocates or co-labourers, but there’s no need for us to be up front and leading. So, we just get to the joy of being able to tell the stories on their behalf.
Rev. Darren Herbold:
Who do you know? That question is so simple, yet profound and powerful. Ben and Rachel say that God is working for his Kingdom's Glory, and that they were just available to him; God used them to join with those who are already doing his work.
It’s beautiful to me that other people took notice of their sensitivity and receptiveness to the way the Spirit is working.
Friends, I want to glorify God to make Jesus more famous each day, but more than that, I want to be sensitive and aware of what God is doing around me, in the mundane and normal moments of life, so that I can join with him with other people so that other might notice and ask—who do you know. These are like Moses in Exodus 3 kind of moments.
And so, I am praying these days that we would be more and more on the lookout for where we can join with others where God is already at work. Maybe it’s something we’ve tried before, maybe it’s something we’ve never done before, or maybe it’s something that makes us nervous or even scares us slightly, or maybe it’s responding to the needs and situations around us just like Rachel and Ben. To respond in humility, helping where they can, helping for the sake of others, and the name of Jesus. God Bless you Alliance Canada, and I can’t wait to see you in July.