September 2013

Dear Prayer Partners

We are now officially moved out and moved in.  But the process of shedding continues as we embrace a new lifestyle of simplicity. 

The character Nora Walker Hobbs in the musical Tommy sings:  “But what's it all worth? What's it all worth when my son is blind? He can't hear the music nor enjoy what I'm buying.”  Seen from the Christian perspective of eternity, her words take on a whole different meaning.  What’s it all worth?  As Paul said to the Philippians, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”  In fact, he counted them as dung in comparison to Christ and His cause.  Are we learning the same lesson?  In all humility, I hope we are.

Nathan C. Schaeffer once wrote, “At the close of life, the question will not be how much have you got, but how much have you given. Not how much have you won, but how much have you done. Not how much have you saved, but how much have you sacrificed. Not how much were you honored, but how much have you served.” 

As we rehearse the needs of the people we believe our Lord is calling us to serve, we are reminded again and again of how loosely we must hold onto our earthly treasures, whether they be material objects or our loved ones.  Many in the Gambela People’s Region have lost their livelihood, their possessions, their family members, their friends in a moment of terror.  The Sudanese government continues to persecute our brethren in the Nuba Mountain and Blue Nile districts and the refugees continue to fill the already overfull camps.  With nothing but a patch of land, a small hut, a few odds and ends they were able to carry, and the remaining members of their household, they exist from day to day. 

But things can be so different!  The Lord Jesus came that we might have life and have it in abundance.  Life, not stuff.  And this life is not only free, but it can also not be stolen away by anyone. 

Please pray for us as we continue to tell others about the work of the Vinedresser in that particular part of His vineyard.  Pray that He would raise up people who will be willing to invest in a heavenly portfolio by partnering with us in the work of the Gospel.

In Christ’s Service,

Johann & Louise