Don't Judge Too Quickly!

Ameriquest Mortgage Company has a brilliant advertising campaign. Each TV spot sets up an awkward situation: someone walking in naturally draws a wrong conclusion. Text appears on the screen: “don’t judge too quickly,” followed by: “we won’t”. That is an excellent reminder to everyone. Especially me.

Recently, I spoke at an event. Almost right away, I got a pretty good idea that a large number of the kids were pretty hard toward almost anything spiritual. One group of seven guys who hung together clearly communicated they were not the least bit interested in what was going on. Right then, I fired off an email to Kathy Gerber to get people praying more intensely and specifically for the weekend. This weekend was going to be a little like pushing a string.

Interestingly, though these guys would not even pretend to engage during worship, while I spoke, I would occasionally “catch” them paying attention. Saturday evening, I gave students an opportunity to surrender their lives to Jesus and not a single person indicated they had done so. I also invited students who had questions, or needed time to talk with God, to stay behind after the session. Some of the “church” kids stayed to talk and pray, which was pretty cool. The group of seven? Took off like they’d been shot out of a cannon as soon as they were dismissed. Like they hadn’t heard a single word.

Sunday morning after I spoke and communion was finished, one of the group of seven asked if we could talk. As the room emptied, he told me he had been thinking about the message from the previous night. He wanted to follow Jesus but he was afraid of what it might cost him. After we talked for about 45 minutes he announced, “I’m ready to follow Jesus.” We prayed and shared his first communion.

Thank you for the part you play in allowing me to travel and be a part of what God is doing in students’ lives. At times it may not look like much is happening, but remember: “Don’t Judge Too Quickly!” God is changing student’s lives; sometimes those we think might be the most unlikely!
(RC) Check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uin0PP90JRI to see one of the ads.

The Case of the Missing Case!

I am very pleased to say how grateful and changed I am after reading your book…. This is a must read for every woman that needs encouragement,” began the mysterious email from Tanzania. You may remember receiving an SOS prayer request last April while we were in South Africa about the disappearance of an entire case of books. Our South African distributor shipped the box to our hotel, which suspiciously disappeared before we ever saw it. Our hotel concierge’s sleuthing revealed the missing box of books “accidentally” went to Tanzania, with a woman lecturer who had been staying at our hotel in Johannesburg. Since our return from South Africa, I’ve often wondered, what does God have planned for those books? A few weeks ago I got my first clue. The email quote I shared is from a Tanzanian woman who works among politicians and judges of the East African Court of Justice. In our subsequent flurry of emails, I learned that this single mother bought my book in a Ugandan supermarket—right when she most needed its message.

After leaving a violent, 12-year marriage, she was struggling to pick up the pieces of a shattered self image. Quoting my own words back to me, she shared how she is learning to live a life of dignity and strength “even in circumstances that contradict your worth.”

I just knew there was more going on in the case of the missing case than we could see! Maybe the whole box of books went AWOL for the benefit of this one precious woman. Maybe there are other similar stories I may never hear; African women have such hard lives and so few resources. Straight Talk now has an opportunity to send 10 Smart Things books and course materials to Namibia with a vibrant and well-connected Christian woman leader.

You can help to resource and encourage Namibian women, please designate your gift Encourage African Women. (DC)

US Military Bases Embrace 10 Smart Things

Eighty per cent of military marriages end in divorce. No wonder.

Not only do spouses left behind—primarily women— endure the stress of separation, they live in constant fear for the safety of their loved ones. And that’s just for starters. Scraping by on low incomes, and cloistered on military bases, far from family and friends, their frequent moves prevent women left behind from getting to know each other.

Connecting these women to each other, to their community, and to God, is Pauletta Staley’s passion. This field director of Stonecroft® Ministries and her colleague called on CampPendleton in San Diego, California, 11 times before the chaplain finally agreed to see them. But their perseverance finally paid off. They spoke to a gathering of 70 US Marine Corps Family Readiness Officers (FRO) about offering 10 Smart Things to military wives on the base.

Not only did the FROs see value in 10 Smart Things for the Marine wives, they ordered copies for themselves. They asked Pauletta to return to the base one week later to present the course to 40 wives of Marines about to be deployed. As she gave a very brief overview of the ten things, women took notes, and 23 out of the 40 wives signed up for the course.

Overwhelmed, the chaplain complained to Pauletta, “How will I lead that many women?”

No problem; Pauletta and her Stonecroft® colleagues will be there to help. God has created an amazing partnership—placing 10 Smart Things in the hands of Stonecroft®—whose people have the passion, strategy and skill to use this tool effectively and creatively.

Pointing out the transient nature of military families, Pauletta believes that when God transforms the life of a woman through 10 Smart Things, she will take that tool with her to the next base and a new mission field will be planted with the gospel of Jesus.

God uses strategic partnerships. Your partnership with Straight Talk is now taking the gospel of Jesus, so simply expressed in 10 Smart Things, around the world via the United States military. Who but God could have come up with that strategy? (DC)