Dear friends,
Returning from ministry in North Carolina last month I had two very precious weeks this month with my parents visiting from the UK. It was a treat for me, and we had a wonderful time even though mum is in much pain with Tri-geminal Neuralgia. TNG causes electric shock pain in the facial nerves. It’s often called the “suicide disease” due to the severity of pain. Mum is a great prayer intercessor for ministries around the world including Love UnVeiled and the Persecuted church. Both mum and dad, in their eighties are still serving the Lord in full time ministry pastoring in the UK and overseeing church plants in Gambia, West Africa. Please pray for God’s grace to carry them through this difficult time and for mum’s healing!
Sherry, Geneva and I traveled to NC on Sept 21 to encourage our NC Butterflies and join Butterfly leader Samantha at an event for her ministry Life Works. Life Works is making a difference to transform lives among the least of these – the broken, abused, and the poor in North Carolina.Our purpose attending the event was to help Samantha mobilize and raise awareness among churches in this “bible belt” area about the need for christian men and women to reach outside the church to mentor and disciple women and men coming out of jail, and those recovering from addictions and abuse. They desperately need the transforming love of Jesus, to know His word and find freedom in His Spirit. It takes mentors who are themselves equipped in the word, filled with compassion, and living in the Spirit, to be able to help others who are broken.
“I have been in church all my life” one of our mentors shared – “I led ministry and Bible studies. I was a good christian woman, serving in church several times a week – but I didn’t realize I was so hungry. When I started going through Love UnVeiled teaching, God unveiled His love and revealed His word in a whole new way. Jesus and His word have become SO SWEET to me! I had to be changed before I could help others!”
“Today I am 90 days clean!” This was the testimony of one recipient being mentored through LW/LUV. She meant clean from drugs! We were deeply moved by her courageous confession to the group. As I prayed for her she urged me “Pray for her too – she is 10 days away from being 90 days clean!” She was referring to the young woman next to her whose arms were covered in scars from drug abuse – This woman had tears pouring down her face as we prayed. I offered her a “Love Letter” from Jesus. The letter she picked was titled “love”. She wept again reading how much Jesus loves her and I wept with her. I love these precious women who remind me of the power of Jesus’ love and His blood to cleanse and set every one us free from our bondage and shame.
A Musl@m meets Jesus in North Carolina!
Another amazing testimony at the Life Works center was from a young Syrian refugee woman. She is a recent convert from Isl@m. She and her husband arrived in the US and came to NC about a year ago. A Musl@m friend brought her husband, also a musl@m, a Bible to show him why he should hate it and hate Christians. Her husband, took up the challenge and began to read the bible over several months. One day Jesus appeared to him in the room! So the man opened the Kor@n and the Bible next to each other, and asked Jesus which one was truth. Jesus reached out His hand and closed the Kor@n and said “You are finished with this story. Follow Me!”
Since that day, he has followed Jesus! He also introduced His wife to Jesus, the young woman I was talking to. They both now attend a church and are about to get married again and baptized in a Christian service. The young woman regularly attends a Love UnVeiled group at the Life Works center where she being discipled and growing in knowledge and love for Jesus!
I shared with women at the Center that evening, how Jesus has removed the veil so that we can have direct contact with God. The young Syrian woman was crying. She knew what I was talking about. Of all the women in the room, she understood how very precious it is to be able to enter God’s presence without a veil!
Oh that we would have that same appreciation of the freedom Jesus has given us by removing the veil so that we can boldly enter into God’s intimate presence!