Tell Your Story

You all know how much I talk about my Jesus. Well, while reading some journal notes about my rehab days at Shepherd, I read about my weekend nurse, Teresa. We had a lot in common; we were both Christians, United Methodists, wives, mothers and registered nurses.

We talked about our faith and daily struggles. We talked about what God was doing in our lives and what we could do for others. Teresa assumed I knew the Bible well and called me her preacher.

That was the first time I shared my story. I’d only been studying the Bible and attending church regularly for eight months before my accident. I’d learned much in that short time. (Being married to a preacher helped.)

After years of low self-esteem, a poor self-image and worry about what people thought, I stepped out in faith and climbed on to my soapbox for JESUS.

When people ask questions about my appearance, I tell about my accident. When I catch someone staring, I smile and nod. If they’re close enough I say, “Hi.” Often shoppers near me hear a strange creaking and stop. I speak up, “It’s me. I have a ball bearing going out.” We laugh and the ice is broken. I ask anyone near me to set items I want to purchase on my table. Store cashiers carefully handle my credit card or cash and ask, “Is this OK?”

At each point, I see an opportunity to share what God has done and is doing in my life. Your opportunities are there. A sick child healed. The baptism of an elderly father. A mission trip full of miracles. Assisting the birth of a child. Volunteering at Vacation Bible School. Changing a tire.

“Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!” (Psalm 66:5 NIV).

In Christ,

Berta

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Raised From the Dead

As an LPN working in the critical care unit at a local hospital, I was in the final hour of a twelve-hour shift when I entered my last patient’s room. A "Do Not Resuscitate" sign was posted at the door. I had met several of her family members the evening before and appreciated their love for her.

Looking at the cardiac monitor I saw her heart rate decrease to zero. I listened to her heart and lungs for life-signs. There were none. Stepping out, I asked the unit secretary to call her family members in from the waiting room.

Back at her bedside I leaned over, placed my hand on her chest and spoke quietly to her lifeless form, "Your family is coming in and you know they would like to be with you to say goodbye." Gazing at the monitor, I watched her heart rhythm begin slowly. I laid my stethoscope on her chest and listened to her faint heartbeat while my own raced.

She was alive! And she lived long enough for her family to gather at her bedside and say goodbye to her.

Do such resurrections occur today? Yes. I am a witness. God on His throne reached down and used a young Christian to touch the soul of a dying woman.

Life is a precious gift. I know the Person who gives this gift. Do you know Him?

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

Loss, Loneliness and Leaving

My family in the Bottoms 1974

 I grew up in Meredosia, Illinois: Dosh—a small town of less than one thousand people. Dad sent Mom away when I was eleven. He was abusive and all my sisters and I had were each other. Our house burned to the ground that Christmas. A new house trailer replaced it, but we were on survival mode only. When our stepmother, Mary, and her four kids joined our family, we were isolated from the world we knew.

 

We moved to Arenzville—first into a trailer then an old farmhouse, then back to Dosh to the old Standard Oil gas station. Mary forced us to make and wear floor-length dresses and skirts every day. We didn’t play anymore. Then we moved to “the bottoms,” across the river in Brown County, where we lived in a converted school bus. I didn't continue in school, opting to work the land.

Winters were the hardest. No matter where I lived after Mom left, I was cold—I still can’t stand to be cold. I left the bottoms at seventeen and never went back there or to Dosh.

Through the advent of Facebook, I’ve reconnected with a few people in or from Dosh. When we talk, I feel a deep loss. I don’t remember things they say I did or we did together, and I missed that "coming-of-age" time with prom and other school activities. It seems my sisters and I weren't the only kids who suffered some type of abuse growing up there. As we share we are helping each other to heal.

Today Angela said, “Seriously, all of us know life can just suck, at times. But there is something in each of us that can overcome those times. I think Berta got an extra dose of the overcoming stuff... so... Super Powers is my answer.”

After lamenting about my despair and death wish, I realized I do have Super Power. I wrote:

“I didn’t know God knew me in the days I thought I was living in hell. Even after I made a profession of faith, I felt guilty. How could He love me? Didn’t He know how bad I was? Yes He did. It was my problem with self-deprecating guilt. When I quit hating myself and accepted His love and forgiveness, I forgave myself for doing what I’d done to myself, and others. God is my Super Power.”

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." And you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5 NIV).

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

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Planting Seeds

Looking back over my life, I see God’s hand in every day, even before I knew Him.

Though I had made a profession of faith in my twenty’s, I was far from Christ. I felt I was drowning in a sea of personal sin I didn’t dare share with my Christian friends.

Fear of their judgement scared me in to my own private hell.

Then I went to a retreat where I heard Christians talk about their sins and God’s forgiving heart. My shell shattered and I cried out to Him and found freedom in the love and forgiveness He held for me. I made a promise then, “I’m going to tell everyone I meet about Jesus.” And I did. Friends turned away and “perceived enemies” became brothers and sisters.

Eight months later an accident severed my spinal cord. I came home weak and weary six months and nine days after my injury. My power wheelchair had one true asset then—it reclined. I withdrew from life, laid back and hid behind veiled eyes. I refused to face my future.

The cost was high in body, mind and spirit, but God’s blessings are phenomenal. In His infinite wisdom, He prepared the way. Earl had served as a hospital chaplain on a reconstructive surgery floor where many of the patients had a spinal cord injury. In rehab, the staff taught us how to take care of me at home. According to them, I would live to within five years of my natural lifespan if I had something to look forward to and got out of the house routinely.

Earl took me on nearly every pastoral visit and preachers meeting he went to, but I just leaned back in my wheelchair with my eyes closed. He encouraged me to keep a journal and try teaching Sunday school. He loved me even when I failed.

As I filled those roles with study and preparation, I learned more than I taught. I read the story about how David sinned but was a man after God’s heart.* Job lost everything yet said, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.”** I began sharing my story of God’s faithfulness again and grew stronger in my faith each time. I wrote my brief story and passed it out as a tract to everyone who spoke to me.

While in a small group studying Steve Harper's Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition many years later, a friend pointed out my seemingly fearless sharing of my faith. I made light of it, “I just tell what God has done for me, but I’ve never led anyone to accept Christ.”

She said, “You may not have, but you have planted many seeds. You may never know until you get to heaven how many people are there because of your testimony.”

Those words have encouraged me to be bold as I tell my stories of His faithfulness to friends and strangers. Old and young. Churched and un-churched. In stores, in doctors offices or on the telephone with sales associates. Earl says, “Imagine that, Berta’s talking.”

Jesus tells us to make disciples. You too can plant and water to prepare hearts for God’s harvest. Trust Him and tell what He has done for you.

Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6 NRSV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

*Acts 13:22 KJV

**Job 13:15 KJV

Because Of a Wheelchair

It took years for me to adjust to my new life. Paralyzed from my shoulders down with minimal use of my arms, I sat in a large black power wheelchair and stood out in a crowd.  People stared and I often overheard them talking about me. “What’s she doing here?” “What does she want?” “She can’t sit there.”  Many said they were sorry I had to be in a wheelchair while still others yelled at me as if I couldn’t hear. Most people just walked around me. In my pain, I withdrew and hid behind veiled eyes.

Until one day, someone asked me to teach a Sunday school class. I didn’t want to do it, but God wouldn’t let me go. I accepted knowing He would be my strength. That single invitation gave me the courage to step out of my uncomfortable-comfort zone and speak up about the healing love of God’s presence in my life. My disability opened many doors for ministry; the wheelchair however, couldn’t go through all of them.

Buildings with narrow doorways, steps or other barriers set physical limits to my ministry while much of society continued to shun me. As I took a stand for Christ’s sacrifice “for the least of these” word of my ministry spread and I found I could be both a minister of the gospel and an advocate for persons with disabilities.

I prayed for healing from past hurts and God gave me an incredible ministry. God’s call may not be a “dream come true” but if you’ll accept it, He will bless you through it.

Father, it is my prayer that you would work through me, and use my disability to open doors and share your word everywhere I go.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are (disabled), but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta
 

God's Timing

Do you ever feel like God has forgotten you? Or forgotten a promise He made to you? I have. A few months before my injury I attended a spiritual gifts workshop. We filled out surveys then broke into small groups. My group determined my gift was “healing,” a repeated theme in my spiritual walk that I had ignored because everyone knew I was a nurse. That day I believed it and it scared me.

I talked to a friend who listened and prayed with me. When he got up to leave he said, “You have to be healed before you can heal.”

I didn’t understand. I wasn’t sick.

After my injury, I believed God would heal me instantly—so I could begin my healing ministry.

God’s timing is not our timing. It requires us to persevere in our trusting God. This may mean years of patience and longsuffering. What gives us strength to wait upon the Lord? We must focus on His promises and the fulfillment of them. We must be careful not to go before Him as Abraham and Sarah did (Genesis 16 NIV).

God will do His part but we are responsible to do ours. We must move in great faith, being ready to answer His call. Remember that acting in faith builds faith. God starts us with small things, and if He finds us trustworthy, He will give us authority over many things (Matthew 25:23).

There will be battles. Satan will try to steal our destinies. Trials and travail bring us to new levels in our walk with Christ. We must recognize our need for help, humble ourselves and ask for prayer, counsel, and encouragement.

Stand together with your brothers and sisters in Christ knowing He is with you carrying you when needed. He promises that He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

His timing may surprise you today.

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

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God's Plan

The New Year had come and I was driving to meet my Emmaus reunion group. The next thing I remember was my husband, Earl, telling me, “You were in an accident.” I’d been in the hospital for seven weeks with a spinal cord injury. Paralyzed and on a ventilator, I had little to look forward to.

After three months in ICU, Earl had me transferred to a rehabilitation hospital that focused on spinal cord injuries. I felt comfortable there, surrounded by others in wheelchairs with injuries like mine. Yet once at home, I felt lost. Who am I? A pastor’s wife? A mother? A nurse? I’d had those roles before the accident. 

“God, why did you let this happen?” I prayed. “I’m a Christian. I read my Bible. I go to Sunday school and Bible study.”

Rather than answer me directly, God spoke through the people of God.

The church we were serving, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, remodeled the parsonage, held fundraisers and gave me time to recuperate. The churches in our Conference, and people everywhere, who had heard about my accident, prayed and took up special offerings for us. Strangers visited, prayed with me and lay down checks. 

Each new appointment fell heavy on my heart. Another remodel and the pressure of learning new names to place with new faces overwhelmed me. But God blessed me as He gave me a ministry at each new church. 

At our second church, Maple Spring UMC, I tried my hands at teaching Sunday school. At the third, East Dyersburg UMC, I wrote for the church newsletter, taught Sunday school and started a telephone ministry with women who had difficulty getting to church. While serving our fourth church, Concord UMC, I added many areas of ministry within the local church, the district and the conference.

God’s love and the continued prayer and encouragement of you who are reading this carry me through the hard times. Today my life is everything I thought it couldn’t possibly be.

“Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare” (Psalm 40:5 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

Please take a moment to read about God's love for orphans and pray for the Flowers family as they move through the adoption process to bring their son home from El Salvador. www.facebook.com/Bringing.Carlos.home

http://afaithfulfather.com Follow Earl and I on our journey
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In The Wilderness

As I sat in my living room one afternoon, I could hear thunder roll nearby and see fat rain drops fall in bursts on my deck. It reminded me of early spring days living in the raw bottoms of central Illinois when I was sixteen. At that time, my family had spent several months living in a school bus, fishing and carrying water from McGee Creek and cooking fresh-killed game over open fires. With no end in sight, we tired of our meager diet and daily drudgery.

I asked my father, "Why do we have to live this way?” Our only agenda was day-to-day necessities. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Is this how life was for the Israelites in their years in the wilderness? From the beginning, they questioned and accused both God and Moses.

“As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Deuteronomy 14:10-12 NIV). “There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’”  (Numbers 21:5 NIV).

They couldn’t see past each moment, each day, or night. Their focus had been back in Egypt where they had memories of plenty to eat and drink.

My experience caused me to be angry with my father for many years, and my anger strangled my personal growth. I only recently understood the blessings God gave to me in the bottoms. He strengthened me in physical ability and endurance. I learned to observe, discern and adapt in order to survive. I became a vital member of a team—my family. Knowing that other members relied on me for what I could provide gave me a sense of belonging.

When I accepted Jesus as my Lord, He increased my spiritual strength through church attendance, Bible study, Sunday school, missions, and women’s ministry. I became a member of His team, called to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ alongside you.

“Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land" (Deuteronomy 8:6-7 NIV).

In Christian Love,

Berta

P.S. Would you please pray for the Flowers family as they move through the adoption process to bring their son home from El Salvador. www.facebook.com/Bringing.Carlos.home

His Intent

 

 

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" Job 13:15 KJV

 

Two weeks on bedrest after I had surgery to close a small pressure sore had passed slowly, and I expected good news from my surgeon.

 

On arrival in the clinic, a nurse looked at, measured and took a picture of the incision. “Well there are six sutures, but it looks like it doesn’t want to stick together.” My heart sank for a few minutes. Then, while talking to God, I knew I’d make it through whatever the doctor deemed necessary.

 

When he came in and looked at the incision, he agreed with the nurse. His solution: add four sutures. Before he spoke again I said, “Doc, do you think it would help if I stay in bed longer?” He said, “It would probably help.”

 

So back on bed rest for two more weeks, I read my devotion from “Joni and Friends.” It began:

 

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm." Ephesians 3:10

 

The powers and principalities, all the heavenly hosts and the dark rulers of the universe, millions of unseen beings are intensely interested to see just how "able" God is to sustain the weak and the weary.

 

Ephesians 3:10 tells us that God teaches the unseen world all about Himself, and He does it using you and me as His audio-visual aids. We are used of the Lord to show the universe how great, awesome, and wonderful God and His grace are.*

 

There’s more but you can see the power of God that changed my outlook yesterday. Reading this note from Joni opened my eyes again to God’s unchanging faithfulness.

 

Are you where God can use you to teach the unseen (and seen) world about His love, power, and grace?

 

In Christian Love,

Berta

 

*Taken from More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. www.joniandfriends.org

 

Heaven's Loss

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6 KJV).

Here we are at Advent again. We’re waiting and preparing for the birth of God's Son, the Christ Child. He gave up glory on His majestic throne to come to earth, fully man yet fully God. He was acknowledged as the Christ while still in a virgin’s womb.

Born in a stable. Laid in a manger. Serenaded by angels. Gifted by kings.

This wasn't the beginning for In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1 KJV).

Earl and I have a print by Ron DiCianni called “Heaven’s Loss.” Focusing on the Christ Child lying in a manger, an archangel leans over Him as to have one last look.

His humanity was for our sake. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10 KJV).

I am overwhelmed by Gods' goodness. Though I deserve nothing I have everything. In His mercy and grace and by His life, death, and resurrection I have eternal life without fear or guilt or shame.

My prayer is that you too know Him and His love.

In Christian Love,
Berta

He Loves Me

Before I met Jesus, I met Earl and I wasn’t happy to find out he was a Christian and a chaplain. As our relationship grew, some of my old ways fell away by thoughts of pleasing him. He never pushed religion; he just loved me. When he proposed, I would’ve married him that day. I made a profession of faith and was baptized before we married—because I thought a preacher’s wife should be baptized—but I brought a truckload of baggage into our marriage.

More than four difficult years later, I talked to Jesus about my sinful past. He healed my broken heart and I accepted His forgiveness. My life changed—for a few months. I prayed again and again for deliverance from sins and guilt I’d held on to. Then one day Earl said, “Berta, you’re in ICU. You had a wreck, and you’re paralyzed from your neck down.”

Though unable to do anything for myself, I continued to desire those now unattainable sins. As my body healed and my strength increased, I began to study and even teach God’s word. I learned many things:

• He didn’t cause my injury
• He didn’t rejoice in my injury
• He allowed my injury
• He sent His Son to redeem me
• He had a plan for my life
• He disciplines those He loves
• He loves me!

I pray for God’s strength and leading every day as He uses my physical disability to bring me through to the spiritual life he desires for me.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word...It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:67, 71).

In Christian Love,
Berta

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Bear One Another's Burdens...

When Earl married me, he adopted our daughter, Kari; and his father adopted me. We are family. This is a prime example of God’s family: If you belong to Jesus, and I belong to Jesus, you are my brother or sister. And family, I need you to pray.

 

 

I know you already pray for Earl and me, but I’m asking you today to pray specifically for our health. Most of you are aware of my pressure sore and the long battle we’ve been fighting to get it healed. During this battle, I have become physically weak, spiritually dry, and emotionally lonely.

 

I miss being with my small groups (United Methodist Women, Crosstalk Sunday school class, W.I.S.E. –Women’s Inspirational Study Experience—etc.) in fellowship and in ministry. Ministry that I believe God called me to. Likewise, this situation is affecting Earl.

 

I need healing prayer for my mind, body, soul and spirit. I’ve gone through deep valleys of depression, anger, and self-pity and I don’t want to go back there again. Sing God’s praise and pray for His strength to carry Earl and me through this trial that we may able to minister in His name.

 

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2 ESV).

 

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19 NIV).

 

Will you pray with me now? Father, we thank you for the gifts of family, fellowship, and Christian community where we can reach out in troubled times. Help us to live in Your love and grace; gifts we cannot earn because You give them freely. Thank You for the Blood that washes us white as snow and the salvation it represents. Send Your Holy Spirit to heal Your people. In Jesus name, Amen

 

In Christian Love,

Berta

My Hiding Place

I talk about my injury with people everywhere I go, and I hear this often: “You’re easy to talk to, but I don’t know what to say to most people in wheelchairs. They seem angry. How do you do so well?”

Honestly, I only do well sometimes. I have to face my enemies every day. I had just accepted the unconditional love and forgiveness Jesus offers eight months before I drove through an intersection and under a logging truck.

After coming home from rehabilitation at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA, I felt worthless. I refused help from everyone but my family. I sat day after day, and year after year, with my eyes closed. Sometimes I was asleep, but mostly I was hiding. I was ashamed of being an invalid and prayed God would take me home. I can’t describe the depth of my pain, guilt, depression, and frustration of facing life as a quadriplegic.

I can tell you, “God is good!” He uses people like you every day of my life to bless and minister to me. A Sunday school teacher invited me to teach once a month. The church secretary asked me to write for the newsletter. Friends asked questions and I began telling what God was doing in my life.

Do I believe Gods will for me is healing? Yes. Does that mean complete healing of my earthly body? I know I’ll have a glorified body in heaven, but today I have healing of my mind, my soul, and my spirit. I’m no longer “in-valid.” I’m a person—a wife, mother, sister, and friend—with a disability.

I pray my testimony blesses you. Though we may never meet here on earth, we are all sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus and heirs of the Kingdom of God.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 NIV.)

In Christian Love,
  Berta
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Sing To The Lord A New Song

My parents owned several small businesses when I was a little girl. At eight, I began helping in their candy store. “Yeah,” I thought, “chocolate and me, alone.” I worked my way up in the next business, a pool hall for teens. I served burgers, fries, and sodas while I learned how to shoot pool, dance to whatever was playing on our jukebox, and play pinball. By the time they had Don andfaith Barb’s café, I was working seven-days a week for tips. I grilled, fried, cooked, served and cleaned.

As a Navy corpsman, I again worked my way up. I improved my skills by putting all my effort into every task I was assigned. I continued to grow through becoming an LPN then an RN.

When I met Christ and sought His will in my life, I opened my heart to His teachings. Christian saints took me under their wings and by their example’s my faith increased. In Bible study, they patiently taught me to read and discern God’s word. I learned to talk to Him and listen for His “still, small voice.” I began looking for Him every day, in every way and you know what? He was always there.

When I have good days, or moments—He’s here. When I cry—He’s here. When my husband, daughter, sister or friend needs Him, we pray and He’s there. Don’t read this wrong, God isn’t a fixer. His Spirit is the comforter and guide.

Jesus words, “I will never leave you or forsake you” are true. But WE have the need to continue to grow in Christ all the days of our life. Pray to Him and listen. Worship Him. Sing psalms and praise Him. Read His word. Tell others what He’s doing in your life.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

Psalm 96 NIV

In Christian Love,
Berta

For The Children

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." (Psalm 68:5 NIV)

I had a visitor last week who had just returned from a mission trip to El Salvador. Before she left on the trip, she was anxious about flying. During our visit, she didn’t mention flying. She told me many stories about the orphaned children she met. Their zeal over receiving a stuffed animal or a bag of snacks brought her great joy.

But what brought tears to her eyes was one little four-year-old boy who sat on her knee and talked. Though they spoke different languages, they both knew love. As an orphan, he had known hardship and loneliness but he recognized and accepted her love without fear.

I have listened to the testimony of other missionaries. Love freely given seems to always be the cord that connects them to those whom Jesus loved. Whether in El Salvador, or the mission field where God has called you to minister, remember what Jesus said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35 NIV).

I asked my friend if she would go again. "Definitely—for the children."

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40 NIV).

Father of the orphaned, as you call us to minister to your children with love give us the courage to go to the mission fields you would send us. In Jesus name, Amen.

In Christian Love,

Berta