Endurance
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” Romans 15:5
Life requires endurance.
We face hard things in life that require us to persevere. The Orality Institute 50-mile awareness and fundraiser bike ride requires stamina and so does the Grand Canyon hike in October. Reaching distant countries, memorizing God’s Word, and teaching people to training other people requires endurance. We know that we need to persist through challenges, but Romans 15:5 reminds us that God is the one that can give us endurance.
This year we have 15 participating in the bike ride from Emmaus Lutheran in Bloomington, to Chaska and back. The ride will include fun, fellowship, and the Orality Institute. It will help us raise vital funds for carrying out this ministry. This year there are three events: the first is the bike ride, the second is the motorcycle trip to the churches in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the third is the Grand Canyon hike. Each of these connect with different groups of people and together they will raise the awareness of how we are training people in Malawi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Together, we hope to raise $5000 to send four Ugandans to train in Malawi, $2,000 to print the second translated curriculum for Malawi, and $10,000 to introduce this training in Ethiopia in November. The bike ride has already raised $2100.
The Lord is the one that gives the endurance to face challenges in life and He is the one that provides for the work that He calls us to do. Our job is to continue looking to Him for strength and direction. May the Lord give you endurance in the challenges that you face as well.
Encouragement
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,… if any fellowship with the Spirit,… then make my joy complete.” Philippians 2:1-2
The motivation to face challenges comes from the effective results in the lives of people. This is a picture of one of the training groups that Watson N’gomba oversees in Malawi. Two of the ladies in this group talked about how the training has helped them know the Bible, to meditate on God’s Word, to do ministry, and to resist the temptation to do evil things.
Mama Nissi gave this testimony. “When I joined the orality training, I saw the evidence of the changed lives, lives which Christ had transformed. They taught the Word of God from what they knew in their minds. The Word transformed them and I wondered if the Word could transform me. I looked at myself and saw what a wretched woman I am; what I want to do, I do not do and what I do not want to do is what I do. As I surrendered to the Holy Spirit to do His work, people began to say that this training has really changed you.
I felt a burning desire to share God’s Word with as many people as possible.
We formed a serious prayer group and we have seen God answer prayer after payer. I started teaching and praying for each student by name. One time I had a class every day of the week and the Lord sent helpers. I loved the students above myself and paid the transport to go and teach them.
I was appointed as the Secretary for the Institute. God helped me to be faithful, obedient, work in humility, and to be available as needed. When Zones were introduced, I was appointed to oversee Zone C in Jinja. We chose a hard-working committee and led them in humility. I was given the opportunity to train in Malawi. When we reached there, there was true hunger for the Word of God! We have offered ourselves to be missionaries to various fields and we look to the Lord for help, and we see that He is using us.”
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