Dear Friends of Nexus,

The Other Face of 6 Years War
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”(Habakkuk 3:17-18)

I remember those hard years–we were poor, in fact there wasn’t anything that we had enough of; but we felt so very blessed, and were full of zeal for the Lord. Now we have no lack of anything—but we don’t see Father’s blessings being poured out.

We remember the hard years
Is there really no blessing in Olive City? Food is in short supply, houses are bare, there’s no place to call home, fields are abandoned and barren, and what used to be a place overflowing with God’s blessings now has nothing left but scars of His curses! But…I will rejoice in the LORD!

Olive City cries, We thought we’d been forgotten by everyone! Nexus replies, The Church of China and the Body of Christ remember you!

The other face…
The other reality…
God is calling…
Olive City calls….

Sophia is a young Olive City lady who had to leave her house, her dreams, her country–everything she once had.
Finally, after five years, she was able to visit her hometown and see first-hand all the damage the war had done. During her difficult and distressing time at home, she couldn’t even say to herself “I’m home” because everything was different. Even worse, the faces that used to be happy and lively were now clouded by anger, anxiety, and death. Roads were now dangerous and difficult to maneuver through: none of them was recognizable and there were checkpoints and foreigners along the way. Buildings, most of which were empty, had been badly damaged. They looked sad and lonely. They had been burnt, along with all her happy memories. A realization struck her: “The old Olive City is gone! Never again will it be like it was!”

But then she suddenly noticed children playing in the street… people laughing, going about their daily lives… markets open for business… “The city is coming back! Life is appearing! Olive City is not what the news is showing!”
Sophia met with various families and asked them how they survived that horrible war. They answered, “We didn’t have a chance to leave. We hoped the war would end soon, but day by day we felt more and more insecure until we stopped caring and became too depressed even to think about all the realities of the war. We feel very lonely. Our menfolk’s involvement in the war made it worse.” Broken and wounded hearts need to be healed! God’s presence is needed!

Light in the Darkness – New Olive City
It’s easy to see that Olive City’s people need to find light in their darkness—they need to hear about God’s love! God has already prepared their hearts, churches are accessible, and many people even from Muslim backgrounds have become open-minded. Many agree to send their children to church, and the church knows how to accept them with open hearts and how to help them. The time of awakening is beginning!

We know that Harvest Time has come. We must prepare the workers—we must train them well and help them fulfill their calling from the Lord so that the “New Olive City” can be built according to His plan.

Please pray for us as we set up a new Nexus Society to answer the call for the “New Olive City”.
Pray for a 20-foot container preparation from Singapore to the Levant.

Sister Annie is temporarily saying goodbye:

Dear Nexus friends—Johnny, Candy, and family in the Lord: Peace to you all!

I thank God for the opportunity to serve hand in hand with you and to experience some of God’s amazing work!

Because I have chronic venous insufficiency, my circulation is not good, made worse by the fact that I worked as a nurse for several years and was constantly on my feet, so now I’ve had a problem with the veins in my legs for more than ten years. Now it’s in both legs, and it’s very serious in my left leg with both the great and small saphenous veins affected. Almost daily I have swelling and discomfort, and so I plan to have an operation at the end of August when my family has time to take care of me. I’ll need to rest and recover after the operation, so I’ve decided to stop full-time ministry for the time being. It’s been many years since I had a substantial amount of time to spend with my family, thank God, so this will be a good opportunity for that. Now I’ve arrived back home already.

I’m weak in every way. I often feel that God has favored me in ministry but that now I’m letting Him down. I expect to use this time to study and prepare myself more, to learn quietly and to pray.

Please pray for me! This is therapeutic, not radical, surgery; may the Lord heal me completely! May He prepare a suitable doctor and a suitable treatment plan; and may He comfort my parents, enable them to stop worrying, and trust in Him; and may He give me a good study plan during my recovery!

May God bless your ministry—give you ever-increasing strength and grace upon grace, and may He be glorified through it all!

Sister Annie

Nexus friends, volunteers, and coworkers all say a big “Thank you” to Sister Annie! May the Lord heal her; may He reward her for the past five years of her labor on behalf of Chinese missionaries!

Your servant

Nexus Mission