Jeff Stanfield of World Gospel Mission says, “That plays a part of what we’re celebrating this year, is how God has brought us thus far and safely and it’s been through faith, through difficulties, struggles– but yet, he’s got a bigger plan for us, and we’re grateful.

“But we want to just recognize that in this celebration this year as a church and as a mission to celebrate what God has done, and even looking forward to what he wants to do through the church and through WGM.”

How WGM got started in Uganda

Stanfield explains how the thriving Africa Gospel Church in Kenya kick-started the ministry in Uganda.

“There was an expressed interest from our staff in Kenya and also some Ugandan nationals that were in Kenya at the time of beginning a church in Uganda. And in order for that church to happen across the border in Uganda, those individuals wanted WGM to come across with them and help them get started with the church.”

By the next year, they had established the first congregation of Africa Gospel Church in Uganda.
Today, Stanfield says, “The church has grown into its own and is now self-sufficient, registered with the government, self-governing.

“So WGM just continues to partner with them and also it helps to develop their leadership program, leadership development, [and] scholarship program for church leaders to attend higher education that will equip them better to lead the 120 or so congregations.”

In 2011, WGM turned over the churches to national leadership. WGM is now focused on equipping the pastors, especially those serving in rural areas who have full time jobs and less access to theological training. They developed a training program that can be implemented in these rural settings.

“It’s a three year program that equips the pastors in various disciplines as far as the pastor role requires—equipping them for a stronger, more effective ministry in our churches. And, in that, [it] has become a stronger church, churches have continued to grow.”

Transformational ministries

WGM is also involved in holistic ministries that Stanfield says they identify as transformational. There are three areas where they are training trainers to impact Uganda for the better.

One of these is Community Health Empowerment—this holistic approach focuses on spirituality but also the health and development of communities. It’s a program that addresses the full person. Stanfield says the term “empowerment” is even attracting local Muslims to interact with the program.

“Another facet of the transformational ministries is Women’s cycle of Life,” Stanfield says. “It’s a great program reaching out to women to help them know God’s plan for them as a woman in their community and their families.”

The final ministry, one that we’ve explored at length previously, is called Farming God’s Way. This is a method of farming with a scriptural foundation and biblical standards. It has spread rapidly across Africa and the rest of the world.
Stanfield says Farming God’s Way is “helping people understand that God created earth to be taken care of and so there are ways that we can take care of the earth through better farming methods. And again, this is a ministry that has a focus on spiritual training, as well (of course, bringing the biblical foundation of what God intends for creation and what farming should look like). But the physical payoff is incredible for Farming God’s way.”

Stanfield says this method has brought farmers a minimum of double the return of other methods.

“Those three areas of transformational ministries are powerful. And they’re bringing transformation in lives holistically in mind, body, spirit, and even the economic areas of their lives—empowering them to pay their school fees for their kids, empowering them to buy the things they need, but also demonstrating what caring for God’s creation can do.”

Because communities are changing through these ministries, bystanders are asking questions. And this has opened the door for people to share the Gospel with their neighbors.

Growing in ministry

There are a few ways that WGM is looking to expand in the coming years.

“The greatest area that we’re looking at for expansion as WGM, and even helping [the Africa Gospel Church] catch a vision for it as God directs, is to refugees. Uganda is kind of the epicenter of the refugee situation in all of Africa. And in the city of Kampala alone, about 30% of the population of 1.5 million are refugees—primarily from South Sudan and Congo. And so there’s a great need and we’re beginning to investigate that.

Also, he says, “We’re encouraging all our staff to look beyond the traditional and really looking at opportunities that we might have even in recruiting new staff into other areas like government, higher education, media, the arts. There’s an opportunity to have ministry in every sphere of influence in this nation.

“So we’re excited about the future. Our team is excited about what God has done and is doing, but also looking at how God wants to use us beyond where we’re at—to go farther out into the world around us.”

That might even mean forming a missionary sending base in Uganda to go into other parts of the world.

Challenges

But with the celebration, Stanfield also highlighted a couple of ongoing challenges for ministry and life in general in Uganda. First, he says that Uganda has a history of spiritual warfare unique to the nation.

“There is a darkness here that is a huge challenge. And of course, that causes so many other challenges and is manifested in little things but also big things.”

Another challenge is Uganda’s violent history: “There’s never really been a change in power that had been nonviolent.” Because of this, he says people are hesitant for change.

Even so, he says God has been faithful. They are celebrating the fact that there is a growing and effective church that has received government approval. They are also rejoicing in the gift of missionaries since the beginning.

Opportunity to be involved

If you’d like to be involved with the wonderful things that are happening at WGM, Stanfield says to start with asking God where he wants you to serve. And wherever God might call you, Stanfield says it’s all important: “It may be to pray. That’s doing the ministry. It may be to go. That will be doing the ministry. It may be giving. That is part of the ministry.”

Will you start by praying that the ministry will thrive, despite the unique challenges they face in Uganda? Ask God to guide them and provide for them as they pursue refugee ministry.

If you’d like to serve with WGM, click here.

If you’d like to walk with the ministry financially, click here.

World Gospel Mission partners with a ministry in Spain by sending missionaries to work at their community centers. This ministry is reaching out to those who are ignored at best and rejected and mistrusted at worst.

*Katie is a volunteer with the program. She says, “In our community centers, we offer services to immigrants, mostly coming from North Africa. We try to help with social and cultural integration through offering Spanish classes, English classes, and technology classes. We do educational support for children and teenagers.”

(Photo courtesy of Katie)

Most of the people they work with come from Morocco. But they also meet people from Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Middle East. Katie says the community center offers them something they usually won’t find anywhere else.

“I think a lot of them need to experience love and acceptance because as immigrants living in Europe, especially because they’re Muslim, I think they sense some rejection and have trouble really integrating into the culture.”

She says that the prevalence of terrorist attacks in Europe has not helped matters and there’s been a lot of pushback.

Art therapy leads to conversations

Recently, the center began offering art therapy. Many of the women who came to the center carry stories heavy with grief and trauma. Art therapy helps them share and process their experiences.

“The women come and we choose different mental and emotional health topics to discuss each week and do some kind of art or craft. And that has opened a lot of doors for women to share about their deep pain or struggles or trials. And then that really opens the door for us to share the love of God [and] even to be able to incorporate Jesus’ teaching into topics like anxiety, for example.”

This project, while deepening relationships and helping women heal, has opened the door to share more of God’s truth with the women. Katie shares the story of a woman from Syria to show how that happens.

(Photo courtesy of Katie)

“She’s been coming to our center and also coming to the art therapy and has just experienced the pain of watching her country kind of disintegrate and all the destruction that’s been going on there.”

Through the class, she was also able to share her grief of losing a family member to the war in Syria. Her level of openness allowed the workers to invite her to an Arabic church. Here, she learned about God, the Father. The exposure she’s had to the truths of Gospel has led her closer and closer to accepting Christ.

If you’d like to help out with this work, there are a couple of things you can do. First, pray. Ask God to use this outreach to help immigrants adjust to society, and to open their hearts to the Gospel. Pray for perseverance and energy for those who are reaching out.

Katie says often there are short-term mission teams who visit from all over the world. You can get more information on this by contacting World Gospel Mission here.

*Name changed for security.

(Photo courtesy of Angela Many)

Angela Many of World Gospel Mission and her husband have been serving at Tenwek since 2014. But Many has had a longer history with the hospital, which is a joint effort of World Gospel Mission and Africa Gospel Church. She says one of the most basic tools for the maternity department has been severely lacking for far too long.

“The birthing beds have been a need for many years. I actually did a rotation when I was a medical student in 2000 and the same birthing beds were being used then, and they looked old at that time. I think they’ve been in use for over 30 years.”

With time, she explains, the bed had regressed into “terrible” condition. And, there were only three of them — this for a hospital that oversees over 3,000 births a year.

“These beds were metal, they were rusted, they were broken. None of them had foot plates any longer.”

Old birthing bed. (Capture courtesy of Deab Cowles of Tenwek Hospital via Vimeo)

So when Many first stepped into the maternity ward in 2014, her heart sank. There were the exact same beds she saw several years earlier — all in one room, with only curtains between them.

“It just felt so cold, and old, and uncomfortable. So this project has been in the mind and heart of those of us who work in the maternity department for many years.”

Recently, God provided. Beds were donated from hospitals in the United States, and the old beds in Kenya are gone. So far, Tenwek has received three of the eight beds.

“They were met with great joy. There was a dedication ceremony as they were wheeled in. And there was singing and praying over them. Our vision, of course, is to have our Kenyan mamas who come into the hospital to have their babies to be able to be comfortable and have dignity with their delivery.”

There is still a lot of improvement that can happen in the maternity department. Many says they’d like to renovate so there is more privacy in the delivery area. They also want to be able to expand the project.

New beds en route to Tenwek. (Capture courtesy of Dean Cowles of Tenwek hospital via Vimeo)

“We’re starting with one thing at a time,” she says, “and the beds were a huge need and we’ve been very grateful for them.”

If you’d like to speed up this process of renovation and expansion, consider partnering with Tenwek Hospital. You can also help patients who cannot afford OB/GYN care at Tenwek through the Compassionate Care Fund. Click here for more information.

For more projects and background on Tenwek, click here. Finally, you can also give financially to support the Manys and the projects they are involved with at Tenwek. You can find their profile here.

See the video below to watch the old beds being taken out, and the new beds being delivered.

She says, “There have been strikes that have been affecting the health care in Kenya. There was a doctors’ strike in the beginning of the year that lasted 100 days. And now there’s currently a nurses’ strike that is going on.”

(Photo courtesy of the Manys)

These strikes follow another set of strikes which took place just last December. According to Reuters, they were due to a delayed fulfillment of pay increase after an agreement took place in 2013. Without nurses in many government hospitals, patients’ lives are at risk.

Tenwek Hospital is a joint effort of World Gospel Mission and Africa Gospel Church. Many says that while Tenwek Hospital’s staff has not gone on strike, the situation has impacted them along with the rest of the nation. Like other organizations still in full operation, the hospital has seen a stiff increase in people in need of medical help.

“Tenwek has been very busy. We’ve gotten a lot more patients because of other government facilities being closed because of the doctors’ and now the nurses’ strike,” Many says.

But with the influx of care needed, there has been a growth of opportunity to share the Gospel with more people. As we explained yesterday, the basic care at Tenwek involves a spiritual assessment.

Supporting Tenwek from afar

There are a couple of ways you can step into the situation to help support the care taking place at Tenwek. First, and most importantly, you can pray. Here’s what they need:

(Photo courtesy of the Manys)

“Prayer for the staff at Tenwek Hospital as they handle a much higher volume of patients coming in for care. Prayer for the Kenyan country that they can come to peace over some of the issues that are causing the strike, and that this will hopefully bring about changes that can improve health care in that country.

“Prayer for our staff that we can use this opportunity to reach even more people with the love of Jesus as people come to our hospital that might not otherwise come. And then prayer that we can be a light for the Gospel as we disciple our medical trainees and that they will have the strength, and wisdom, and passion to take that heart of a servant leader attitude as they go out into practice.”

Another way you can be involved in this is to go to Tenwek Hospital. Many says if you’re a specialist, you might be interested.

“We have a lot of short term physicians who travel to Kenya each year that really help us with our training programs, with workloads at the hospital.”

To learn more about how you can invest in Tenwek Hospital, click here.

As previously mentioned, Angela Many, an OBGYN, and her husband, a general surgeon, both work at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. This ministry is a joint effort of World Gospel Mission and Africa Gospel Church.

Many shared some of the biggest differences between working in medicine in the United States and as a missionary in Kenya. Truth be told, there are some disadvantages in Kenya.

(Photo courtesy of the Manys)

“We practice in an area with much fewer resources and [a] much higher poverty rate. This impacts the types of illnesses and diseases and injuries that we see and brings a definite challenge from the medical standpoint,” Many says.

Here, patients often have progressed further into their ailments than what they would have in the United States. And yet, there is a striking advantage of working in medicine in Kenya. That’s because they are able to share the Gospel openly. In fact, that’s part of the care everyone receives here.

“We take a spiritual history from our patients. We’re addressing not just their physical ailment or physical brokenness but also their spiritual brokenness. So, we’re able to directly address the whole person without having to tiptoe around it like you have to often here in an American medical practice.”

To assist in this, the hospital employs Kenyan Chaplains. Many says they have helped them communicate with the patients over the cultural and lingual divides while the couple continues to learn more about this part of the world and the people who live there.

“As missionaries, we’re there really equipping and empowering them to do the work of the Gospel. So, we are there under the African Gospel Church, really allowing them to expand their ministry.”

From small beginnings

This brings us to the discussion of Tenwek Hospital’s background. The hospital started as a single nurse dispensary in 1937. It wasn’t until sometime in the 50s that the first physician arrived to work on campus. Today, Tenwek is a 300-bed hospital. But as Many explains, it’s more than that.

(Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

“It is a Christian hospital. They work under the motto of, ‘We treat, Jesus heals.’ And that’s on a big, bright, yellow sign as you pull into the hospital grounds. And that truly does sum up the mindset of the hospital. It’s very openly Christian, it very openly gives the credit to Jesus for any of our true healing.”

In this way, medical services given at Tenwek are inseparable from sharing the Gospel and exemplifying the love of Jesus. Along with the spiritual record, patients have access to spiritual counseling, support from social workers and chaplains, and they are prayed with before surgeries.

Changing the face of health care in Kenya

The level of care in Tenwek hospital is not something staffers want contain in the building. Rather, this hospital also serves as a dedicated training hub.

(Photo courtesy of the Manys)

“So we have surgical residencies, family medicine residencies, we have Kenyan interns and medical students who rotate from government medical schools with us. So it’s really grown to have the ability to impact not just the patients who come for care, but also to impact the whole healthcare system.”

There is also a large nursing school in Tenwek. Many believes it brings the possibility of impacting an entire generation of health care providers.

“I feel like it really offers an alternative view of how to provide compassionate care in the name of Jesus than what you get through, say, a government training program or government hospital.”

Operating under compassion

Tenwek functions as a self-sustaining hospital, meaning they charge for their services in order to be independent of donor money. However, not everyone is able to afford these services.

(Photo courtesy of the Manys)

“The region where we live would be considered poor by most people’s standards in America,” Many says.

She says they care for people daily who, if they had to pay for the services received, would be bankrupt. That is why they have a Compassionate Care fund set up — to allow donors from all over the world to help those “who are orphaned, for those who are widowed, for those who truly are the neediest in our community.”

If you’d like to contribute to the Compassionate Care fund for the OBGYN department, click here. We’ve got a couple more stories coming from Tenwek so check back in soon!

Angela Many and her husband, Heath, were living a life that, at a glance, could be described as ideal. They met and got married in medical school — Heath is a general surgeon and Angela an OBGYN.

Angela Many shares their story of how God called them from a life of normalcy into something much more profound.

The Manys (Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission).

She says, “We were kind of following the normal flow of American life as two doctors. We started our family, started private practices, were settled in Knoxville, Tennessee, members of a wonderful community and a wonderful church. And, God kind of changed our trajectory in a major way.”

In 2014, they sold their house, left their practices and moved to Kenya.

Why, you might be wondering? Many says neither she nor her husband grew up with dreams of being a missionary overseas. And yet, at this point in their life, God was calling them to do just that.

After nine years of running private practices in the United States, the Manys felt that something was not right.

“It began more through the Holy Spirit kind of causing us to be increasingly uncomfortable with our very comfortable American lives,” Many explains.

So, for two years, the couple worked to discern what God was asking of them. The church they were at was very mission-focused. But on top of that, God sent people into their lives who inspired and challenged them.

It wasn’t long, Many says, before the Holy Spirit was asking them to ponder this question: “How were we really using our gifts, abilities, blessings for God’s Kingdom? Were we really using them for God’s Kingdom, or just for our own?”

When they couldn’t answer that in a satisfactory way, they started looking for ways they could apply their gifts to Kingdom work in a way that would glorify Christ.

Neither of them had seminary training. They had no preaching experience. Even so, God brought them to a place where they could put their unique skills to work.

(Photo by Heath and Angela Many)

“We became connected with the ministry at Tenwek Hospital where our primary role is training African doctors who have also a vision for service, and basically discipling them, helping them grow not just into skilled physicians but also into strong servant leaders who can then go into areas of East Africa where they can be even more effective leaders for Christ than we can.”

Tenwek Hospital is a joint ministry between World Gospel Mission and Africa Gospel Church. After three years there, the Many family is back in the states on their first home ministry assignment. They’ll be returning in just over a month to the work that has brought fulfillment and an abundance of blessing.

We’ll be sharing some more stories from Tenwek Hospital in days to come. But for now, can you please pray for the Manys as they prepare to head back to Kenya? Ask God to give them a smooth transition, and pray for strength, perseverance, and continued guidance in their lives.

To keep up with their journey in Kenya, or to help financially, visit their missionary profile, here.

“A lot of people sometimes don’t think of Japan when they’re thinking of missions because it’s a very highly industrialized, modern society — but it’s a very large, unreached people group. In fact, it’s the largest group in one country where missionaries are open to go.”

A Crisis of Spiritual Revival

Kevin and Becky Zirkle, World Gospel Mission’s Regional Directors over Asia, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Zirkle)

Kevin and Becky Zirkle are currently Regional Directors over Asia, Europe, and the Pacific Rim with World Gospel Mission. But the couple also served as full-time missionaries in Japan through WGM for 40 years.

Kevin Zirkle says the Japanese Church faces a lot of challenges, but not from persecution or the government. Rather, it faces challenges from a lack of spiritual revival within the country.

“Only one percent of the Japanese are Christian. The Church has kind of plateaued and they’re facing a serious shortage of pastors.”

He says the Church in Japan also has a hard time drawing in young people. “For a long time, young people didn’t see the Church as having any connection to their daily life. The Church has realized it’s failed on some areas in that way, so they’re trying to reach out to more young people.”

Sensitive to God’s Leading

When Kevin and Becky first started missions, Kevin was just a recent college graduate and the couple was looking to what God had next for them.

(Photo courtesy of Kevin and Becky Zirkle)

Becky Zirkle shares, “We heard of an opportunity that WGM had to send young people to the mission field for six to eight weeks in the summertime. They were specifically looking for someone to go to Japan to work with university student ministry. That’s what Kevin and I were both really interested in, although we had never considered a career in missions. We were just assuming it would be ministry here in the states. But we felt God leading us to go to Japan that summer in 1973.”

After that short-term mission trip to Japan with WGM, God wasn’t done. She says, “It was as a result of that summer that the Lord called us back to full-time career missions in Japan.”

When the Zirkles dove into full-time missions, the culture shock was a bit different. “We found the Church in Japan to be very formal, and some churches could be very conservative, which is a reflection of Japanese culture which can be a little formal and conservative,” says Kevin Zirkle. “But we found a very strong church that we worked with.

“The Church at that time was still growing. As we went into the 80s, Japan’s economy really took off and that affected the Church; it was a positive thing. There were a lot of new church plants and the Church was growing through the 80s.”

Reaching Japan’s Young People

Their biggest outreach while in Japan was a continuation of their short-term mission opportunity: ministering to university students. Kevin Zirkle led Bible studies on four campuses around Tokyo, and he says, interestingly enough, it wasn’t just Christian students who came to join the Bible studies.

“I found in the 1980s that a lot of students were really interested in English and learning English, so we were able to use that as a way to contact students and a point of interest. I had one student in the university who later told me that he had begun attending the Bible study, not because he was interested in the Bible, but because he wanted to learn English and speak with a native speaker, an American.

“It took about two years, but eventually that student became interested in the Bible more than English, and continued to study, and he eventually accepted Christ!”

The Harvest is Still Ripe

While the Lord has now called the Zirkles away from their full-time missions service overseas, they still visit Japan and encourage the current WGM missionaries there. In addition to university student ministry, current WGM missionaries work with children’s English classes and youth group ministries.

As the Lord prompts your heart, Becky Zirkle says there are several ways you can support and get involved with missions in Japan through WGM. “There’s always the need for financial support, and even more, a need for prayer support. But WGM has quite a few summer opportunities for not only students, but for adults as well to go to a mission field, to live with a missionary, and to do ministry.”

That short-term mission trip was exactly what God used to spur the Zirkles into the mission field. If you go, be sensitive to His leading and timing — whether it’s then to enter missions full-time, or to support and encourage those who do. Click here to check out WGM’s short-term internship and missions opportunities! 

(Photo courtesy of Kevin and Becky Zirkle)

“We are great supporters of that because that’s how God called us into career missions. So we feel like a short-term opportunity can play a vital part in a person’s life, even if they don’t return to the field as a missionary. Being overseas, serving the Lord that way changes you. They can go back to their home church then and really be a spokesperson for missions. Japan particularly can use young people in the summertime for various children’s ministries and youth camps that are present there.”

And one thing you can do right now is pray for the Church in Japan.

Kevin Zirkle asks, “Pray for more pastors, that the young people would sense the call to ministry, want to be involved, and be willing to step up and lead the Church. Also, pray that the Church would find ways to be relevant within its culture to be able to reach out to people.”

(Navajo Nation flag/Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

First Nation communities are small, and none is untouched by the phenomenon. The Centers For Disease Control says the risk increases when relationships with family, peers, and the community are weak or non-existent, or when a person faces unexpected and unsolvable problems.

Bill Bucher is the Program Coordinator for World Gospel Mission.  He’s got a heart for people living on the Navajo Reservation in Kirtland, New Mexico.  “There’s a lot of depression, a lot of addictions, and really, a lot of hopelessness.  When you introduce the concepts of the Gospel and of hope and of purpose in their life, it really seems to help turn that tide.”

(Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

The situation came to his attention a decade ago when one of the WGM workers started an after-school club in her home so her kids could get to know the neighborhood children.  She invited kids over after school for play, snacks, and a small Bible lesson.  Because she loved on the kids, word spread quickly and soon, the Neighborhood Club became a popular hang-out.

When the club outgrew her home, they found a larger space, but they knew they were going to have to make the temporary facility a more permanent one.  Bucher says, “So now, the project is going to be building a larger multipurpose ministry center, to not only handle the needs for all the kids coming, but also have it as an outreach for the entire community on the Navajo Reservation in Kirtland.”

Three days a week, children and youth meet for club in a stucco house called Kirtland Ministry Center or The Neighborhood House.  In addition to playing games and eating snacks, the kids are discipled through Bible lessons and Scripture memorization.  Generally, these kids come from non-Christian families who do not attend church.  Bucher asks, “What better place to start than with the kids in the home, that’s attractive to the families, the moms and dads, and then the entire community?”

(Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

Now, there’s a pastors group, a ladies group, and the local Chamber of Commerce that used Kirtland Ministry Center to meet, giving The Neighborhood House a widening reach.  Growth is a good thing, but the Kirtland Ministry Center needs more space, so a new project launched, with the help of an auxiliary group called Men With Vision.

Bucher explains, “Our motto is actually ‘Praying, practicing, and promoting missions’.”  This group is raising $40,000 this year to kick-start the building project.  “That will put up a pole building that’s going to be this multi-purpose community outreach building.  They’ll be able to have room for all the expanded activities: Bible studies, arts and crafts, [and] outreach.”

As you might imagine, there are a lot of logistics and planning that come into play with the construction of a building that large.  Bucher asks you to pray with him that “my plans match up with what God has in mind, as well.”  Plus, many hands make light work.  “We’ll probably start work teams this summer, probably after June is what we’re targeting,  and it’ll go all the way into 2018.”

Click here if you want more information on the Kirtland Ministry Project!

(Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

He and his wife, Joanna, and their kids arrived in northern Uganda about ten years ago to help with the national training committee for Uganda and South Sudan.

Coppedge says, “We had the opportunity to come alongside church leadership, pastors, Sunday school teachers, and do what we could to try to encourage, strengthen, and offer what teaching they felt would be helpful for both them and their churches.”

They both come from a highly academic, literate background and have their master’s degrees in theology. With this valuable training, they were confident about their role in Uganda. But things didn’t turn out quite how they thought.

“When we got there, we felt like we had lots of really good answers we were going to provide to our Ugandan pastor and friends’ questions. And kind of to our shame, we began to realize all the great answers we had, while valid and helpful in certain contexts, weren’t particularly relevant for the questions they were asking.”

Instead of giving up their ministry, they looked for a different approach. This search led them to orality — a verbal method of teaching and sharing the Gospel.

They first incorporated orality through a storytelling pilot program and it was very successful. So now Coppedge and his family are in Scotland where he is learning even more about orality.

He says it doesn’t replace literate means of teaching the Gospel and theology, or even training pastors. However, there are places where it is more effective. In other words, Coppedge says, God will utilize various communication methods for His Kingdom.

“God’s after […] what is the most effective way and what is the most fruitful way to engage people in ways they cannot just understand, but they can also obey what Jesus is saying.”

For Coppedge, there is another factor that makes orality such a fascinating and effective method of teaching, “…because we think it’s not only biblical, but we think it actually mirrors the communication approach God takes.”

While the Bible we have today is written, it is full of accounts of how God engaged His people verbally. The most obvious example is how Jesus communicated while He was on earth, or the way God spoke to His prophets.

As we’ve seen before, those who begin to learn about orality tend to be very passionate about it.

Coppedge says that’s because, “We’re rediscovering some of the joys, some of the effectiveness, but also some of the theology behind orality, and I think we see that modeled both in how God communicates and particularly how Jesus does.”

(Coppedge says that the arts can be used as a form of orality– even something as simple as henna tattoos)

Orality applies to so much more than telling stories within oral cultures. There are applications all over the globe. In fact, it’s a valuable tool for any believer. It is helpful for discipleship, leadership training, and for evangelism. So, if you want to check it out, Coppedge has some advice:

1. Research it. Learn more about orality by looking online or taking a class. There are various trainings around the United States: Simply the Story, and the International Orality Network are a couple examples.

2. Look for examples in the Bible. Coppedge challenges you to intentionally examine how God communicates with His people throughout Scripture. Think about how you can use those to witness.

3. Finally, he encourages you to try something new. In your small group or Bible study, for instance, try a new way of discussing your study topic — tell a story, sing a song.

In all these things, Coppedge says to ask God for guidance. Ask Him to show you how you can get involved and how He wants you to be sharing the Good News.

An example of orality

Coppedge brings to mind the story of Paul getting shipwrecked on the Island Malta (Acts 28). We know that the islanders are unusually kind to the guests, even though they are superstitious. It’s easy to skip over this part and get on with the passage when you’re reading it. But imagine telling the story to a group of friends, picturing the scene together. What would stick out? Would you find new application points you’d normally never catch?

“In that story, you have this picture of islanders showing hospitality, showing unusual kindness to the people that have washed up on their shores. And I’m just wondering, who are the people that maybe have washed up on our listener’s shores? And maybe that’s in a figurative sense, but also maybe in a very physical sense, thinking about all the diaspora, the migration, all the people movements of today. Who are the people that have washed up on our shores? And what would it look like, for just as those islanders showed hospitality to Paul and his team, what would it look like for us to show hospitality? And thinking, primarily, what would it look like to show communication hospitality?”

Supporting a missionary family

The Coppedges hope to return to Uganda eventually. But during this time in Scotland, will you pray for them? They have left an oral culture and gone to that of a highly literate one. They know God has them in the right place, but it’s been a difficult transition.

Additionally, they want to make an impact while they’re in Scotland. Please pray for guidance as they seek to meet the spiritual needs around them.

If you’d like to support these missionaries as they follow God’s lead, click here.

Choluteca, Honduras

(Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

Angie and her husband Larry have served as missionaries for 36 years in Honduras. For the last several years, they’ve worked in Choluteca, Honduras to establish education opportunities as well as churches. They’ve helped set up a vocational school as well as a Bible institute. These schools run under the belief that in order to affect true community transformation, education is necessary.

“Education is the key to everything we do, […] with a biblical worldview, basing everything we do on Scriptures and on teaching them about leading Christians lives.”

By sharing valuable information along with Gospel truth, World Gospel Mission has an incredible impact. Overholt says one of the most exciting things to see is preventative health education taught alongside Bible lessons.

A contact recently told her, “Because of the teaching they’ve had, there are people who have not been sick this year from the rains, the mosquitoes, causing malaria, dengue fever and everything, because they’ve been able to take better care of themselves.”

In addition to that news, they are seeing more people attend church and Sunday school classes, asking to know more about God — all because someone came to their door to talk to them about health.

But what about when people do get sick or injured?

Overholt along with her nursing mentors from Ohio State University discovered only about one-third of nurses in Honduras have their nursing degree. Usually, those nurses end up working in administration rather than interacting with the patients. That means the nurses on the floor of the hospital and in the communities are nurse’s aides. They only have about a year of nursing education.

The work in Choluteca includes helping the impoverished rebuild better houses. (Photo courtesy of Overholts)

“We came to the conclusion that out of the 8,100 nurses in Honduras, two-thirds of them are nurse’s aides who only have a ninth grade education,” Overholt explains.

In Honduras, students begin career training in high school. But when a nursing student starts working, they cannot finish high school. Overholt says there’s no opportunity for them to advance their careers or education. She wants to change that.

“Our goal was to try and somehow come up with a program to help the nurse’s aids go on to get more education so they would be better trained and better equipped to take care of patients better in the communities and in the hospital.”

For the next several years, the team began planning and consulting with health officials about what it would look like to create a whole new nursing program. Many people told them they couldn’t do it — that it would be too hard.

But they kept going, and God was right behind them.

Through a seemingly random connection, they were able to get a meeting with the Minister of Education of Honduras. He was thrilled with their plan, so much so that before the meeting was over, he began tweeting the President of Honduras to tell them they would soon have a new technical high school for nursing.

“They approved this project, and they want it to be so innovative that it is actually going to be the first high school where they’re adding extra, extended hours and it’s going to be a more intensive high school program than anyone else has.”

This February, not only will the students get to complete their high school education, but they’ll learn valuable skills in their vocation.

Choluteca School of Nursing

They are looking for a place to build. (Photo courtesy of World Gospel Mission)

For now, the program is starting small. They’re accepting 30 students under the age of 18 for this first year. They hope to expand this program in the following years to current nurse’s aides so they can finish high school.

Classes start soon — but there’s a lot that needs to happen in the meantime.

For starters, there are many financial costs. This includes running the school, student tuition, and supplies. Click here if you’d like to help support an area financially. In addition, check out their Amazon Wishlist here for library books.

The first year will be run out of their renovated clinic while they look for a property to buy and build on. That will bring up costs very quickly, but you can help support the Choluteca Nursing School here.

World Gospel Mission is also looking for volunteer work groups and collaboration from health authorities regarding their educational content. Contact them here if you think you could help.

This project isn’t just about one small school in Honduras. It’s about systematic change and spiritual transformation. With that in mind, can you pray? Ask God to guide them to the right piece of land for the school, and to provide all the pieces necessary for this to happen. Pray that the team working on this will be able to pull things together and create a quality education.

And finally, praise God! Overholt is trusting that He will continue to bring the right people into this story as they move forward.

“We’re so thankful [for] the way the Lord has opened up the doors. We could have never imagined this was the way it was going to go, and how God was going to work out the whole dream of having improvement in nursing care in Honduras.”