Dear Partners of Nexus

The Sending Church and the Missionary:

Zaka and Bella are grateful for the loving care of their mother church! Bella recently went for a check-up, which the doctor said showed she needed an operation—and her daughter Esther is just one month old.  So she’s been under pressure in body, soul, and spirit, in addition to the fatigue of long-term service in China.  They really need a renewal of their strength!

Zaka and Bella have a good relationship and communication with their Brazilian mother church.  All through the course of their overseas service, this couple has not tried to hide their weaknesses or difficulties.  So their pastor and elders decided to bring the family back to Brazil for the operation as well as for marriage and family counseling, rest, and recuperation before letting them continue their work in China.  To the best of their ability, Nexus Brazil and their mother church cooperated to supply Zaka and Bella’s medical, travel, and living costs.  We are so encouraged and comforted by this because it shows indeed the spirit of Nexus: building good communication lines and mutual support so that overseas service can be more fruitful.

Laos is also called “Banana City,” and Sister Tang came from the capital, Vientiane, to the border of Laos and Thailand to participate in a training seminar for Nexus coworkers.  Participants had come from four provinces, and each of the brothers and sisters in attendance had experiences of things they had given up for the Lord’s sake.  Some had had land confiscated or lands and houses burned, there were some whose children were not able to go to school, and even some who had been in prison.  Sister Tang’s younger brother, a pastor, was kidnapped thirteen years ago, with no news about him since—and for this reason his two sons have felt unable to put their trust in the Lord.  Through her tears Sister Tang pleaded for us to pray for her, for the salvation of her two nephews, and for her brother to be given heavenly power to meet the family again.  We laid hands on her and prayed for a miracle.

These pastors and church leaders are as spiritually hungry as those in China countryside churches in the 70’s and 80’s.  “As the deer pants for the waters,” so they hunger for the Lord in body, soul, and spirit.  Brother Tai has been working in Laos for more than five years, and has seen and experienced their distresses and the calling the Lord has placed among them.  He told us that the few meals they ate with us here at the seminar were “hundreds of times better” than what they ate back in their villages.

In 2017, Brother Tai has delivered the equivalent of about a 20-foot container of clothing and other things into the hands of evangelists, brothers, and sisters in Laos.  May the Lord continue to help him and his coworkers to complete the work entrusted to them by the Lord, to support these weak members of the Body of Christ with physical and spiritual supply!

Here we’d like to thank the South Africa team for coming from so far away, bringing God’s Word along with prayers and love into their midst!

Culture Center in the Levant – Sharing by a Member of October’s Visitation Team:

If anyone were to ask, “Where is God?” I could confidently say, “He is here, because I’ve seen His works with my own eyes!  May God bless Muhammad’s family and prepare a family in France just like the Culture Center here, and may He strengthen in them what they’ve learned here so they can follow the Lord closely!”

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)

Twelve-year-old Muhammad, was about to leave for France the next day with his family.  As usual after lunch there were lots of dishes, serving bowls, and pots to be washed; and after I finished eating I was about to go help do it.  I saw him there, already quietly washing dishes, and I suggested he go join the other young people and leave the dish washing to me.  But he shook his head, his plump little hands never stopping their work, and went right on washing.  Just then I recalled young people in China—and even myself—and felt ashamed.  But what touched me even more was that after all the pots, bowls, and plates had been washed and put away, and everyone else had left the kitchen, I saw Muhammad there, wiping the stove top and counters—such a lovely, diligent child—loving the Center as if it were his own home.  The coworkers told me that he was leaving the next day for France and just wanted to do a little more for the Center, to wash dishes for people he loved, to clean the kitchen one more time…

In my heart a voice cries out to God, “Lord, I thank You and praise You!” This place, no matter how you look at it, is filled with the love of Jesus.  If anyone should ask, “Where is God?” I can confidently say, “He is here; I’ve seen His works with my own eyes!  May God bless Muhammad’s family and prepare a family in France just like the Culture Center; may He strengthen in them what they’ve learned here and lead them to follow the Lord closely!”

Your Servant, Nexus Mission