Pray for Beka in Burundi

Our friend Beka is in Africa for a couple of weeks and I'm sure she would appreciate all the prayers she can get.  She works as a journalist for One Mission Society in Greenwood, Indiana, and they have her on a journey to get a closer look at some of the ministries attached to OMS in Africa.

I got to know Beka when she joined our church's mission team to Haiti back in October.  We have thoroughly enjoyed getting better acquainted with her ever since.  She is a favorite of the whole family - especially The Princess (age 4)!

Anyway, a day or two ago, on her way to Africa, Beka had hardly left the Washington, D.C. airport before God pulled her into a conversation with a Muslim man on the airplane as they flew to Brussels.  Take a moment and read her account of that conversation.  And you might want to bookmark her page and check back over the next few days.  I am anticipating that Beka will have many more good stories to tell. 

Stories worth hearing.

Speaking of stories worth hearing, if you are encouraged by current stories of miraculous healing which sound as if they were ripped right out of the Bible, I encourage you to check out Matt and Stacey Ayars' blog.  They work with OMS at the Emmaus Seminary in Haiti (and I hope to have the privilege of working in some way with this Seminary once our family gets to Haiti long term).  Anyway, to fully appreciate this story, you need to be familiar with the back-story first from a couple of weeks ago about a small community gripped by voodoo - just 15 minutes walk from the Seminary - and the bold students who have sought to introduce those villagers to Jesus Christ.  Then catch up on what happened recently on a return visit.

These are stories that will bolster your faith.

UPDATE:  Shockingly, the woman died the next day.  From our limited human perspective, her death would certainly seem to cast doubt on the miraculous nature of her healing the previous day.  Lots of people are in turmoil over this sequence of events - in the village and at the seminary - and it remains to be seen what God will draw out of it all.  I will be curious to see how it plays out.