Q: What made you want to go to Digoland? What was it that made you fall in love with the Digo?

Pastor Curt:
“Since ‘07 I have always wanted to return to Digoland especially after hearing Mark Grossmann tell me that I should come whenever possible given my testimony of persecution upon trusting and following Christ. Being forced to leave my home for a year right after my conversion resonates with Digo Muslims in terms of their family persecution. I look forward to sharing my testimony whenever the Lord gives me opportunity this summer.”

Danny:
“Going to Digoland in 2009 stretched me so much beyond what I had ever experienced. Not only did God become more real to me under the billions of visible stars every night, but also for the first time I looked into the eyes of people that have never before known hope. The Digo became precious to me at that point, when I could almost physically feel the longing for hope that was inside of them. Having the opportunity to return to the Digo this summer to see and dedicate Esther’s Well, a tangible display of God’s grace, really excites me. To be a part of God’s plan for the Digo and for His larger story of the whole earth’s redemption is truly a blessing. I have realized that wherever God calls me I will go.

Bethany:
“The reason I wanted to go to Kenya two summers ago was because I have been interested in missions for years and this was the first opportunity I had to go overseas. I thought God would give me a clear, definite answer as to where and what I would be doing with the rest of my life, but instead He told me to patiently wait on Him while I became more passionate about missions and the Digo people. I was gripped with compassion when I realized that the Digo have no hope physically because of AIDS, poverty, and other social problems, and also that they have no hope spiritually because they are entrenched in Islam and animism. When I realized this, God gave me a love for them that was based on His love for them and the fact that He has called many Digo to be his children. I am happy that God’s given me an opportunity to go back this summer and fall to continue to love on the Digo and to point them to Jesus as the One who can completely satisfy them and give them hope.”

Jonelle:
“I would have gone anywhere the Lord was directing me to…and still would. He has just laid them so deeply on my heart, can’t really explain one particular thing. Each day I was there I just did not want to leave and thought after coming home that feeling would wear off, but it never has! I think I just initially saw through that experience that we are not that different than anyone from another country. We are all made in His image and have been created by the same awesome God who they have not met yet, which has burdened me.”

Don’t forget the car wash and rummage sale to support the team is next Saturday, June 18, 8:00AM-4:00PM at the church office!

The chorus of that song shares how I feel about OGC and Digoland. It’s gonna take a lot to drag us away from Digoland. God’s placed us there in some fashion or other for nearly a decade, and I can’t see the situation changing anytime soon. Praise the Lord! He’s allowing us to be part of His great plan in Digoland!

As Pastor Curt shared last week, the Lord is on the move in Digoland! The well that OGC helped finance has been constructed and is abundantly producing clean water. Many people are already acknowledging it as a gift from God. What perfect timing for us to send a team! Let’s get them over there!

In two weeks, the team will be hosting a rummage sale and car wash at the church office. It will be entirely donations-based, with a goal of raising $4,500 to send the team back!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 18 from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Donations for the rummage sale are being accepted at the church office. You can also bring donations to church on Sunday, June 12, and give them to Jonelle Cyr. This is a great opportunity to support the team!

Let’s help send the team over to Digoland!

This past year Zane and I were challenged to set some core family values. After much discussion we decided on these five: loving God, forgiveness, generosity, thankfulness, and adventure. These values have already become guidelines for us as we set goals, make decisions, and discover God’s plan for our marriage and family. Though I could discuss each value in detail, I’d like to focus on generosity as we approach the new year. The following verse struck me today, and I highlighted the phrases that particularly jumped out.

1 John 3:16 says “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

At first reading, this verse reminded me of the verses about husbands laying down their lives for their wives. Someone once described to me that the easy perspective would be a husband’s requirment to jump in front of a bus for his wife. That’s a one-time laying-down-life event. The more challenging perspective is that a husband is required to daily lay down his life, or his selfish needs, for his family. Likewise, John is challenging us all – men and women – to sacrificially lay down our lives, our needs and luxuries, for our brothers.

And who are our brothers? I believe John is speaking of brothers in Christ. Therefore, this verse is not speaking about evangelism or outreach, but of internal ministry to each other.

John goes on to say in verses 17-18, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth (emphasis added).”

Verse 17 tells us specifically what John means by laying down our lives for our brothers: don’t hold back your world’s goods. I have been abundantly blessed with the world’s goods, yet I often find myself feeling like I don’t have enough, when I actually have more than enough. I’m guessing I’m not alone in this selfish mindset. God gives us financial blessings so that we can bless others. As we go into the new year and the Lord increases our standard of living, let’s be mindful as a church body to increase our standard of giving. Laying down our lives for our brothers means sacrificing personal luxury for the needs of our kingdom family.

My prayer for my family this coming year is that we will not close our hearts against a brother in need. If God opens my eyes to see a need–whether it be a verbal request or an unspoken need–I want to have an open heart for generosity to fill that need. There are endless opportunities for this, perhaps the most obvious being our support-raising missionaries. Let’s not just talk about loving, let’s do it in deed and in truth…and in giving.