Joyreport Winter 2016

The Living Word Transforming Lives

Joyful Miracles,

HOPE-FILLED TRANSFORMATION Miraculous Healings in Myanmar:

A Paraplegic Church Planter:

Freed from Anger and Cancer:

12-Year-Old Girl Sees Father Give Up Alcohol:

Buddhist monk discovers Jesus’ power. Page 7.

After a tragic accident, a Latin American man preaches for God. Page 12.

Polish woman introduces family to Christ. Page 8. Freedom found through God’s teachings. Page 14.

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Our Mission: We are called by God to provide Scriptures and training worldwide, so that people prepared by the Holy Spirit will be brought into relationship with Christ and His Church. The Joy Report is published four times per year to inform you about what God is doing in the lives of individuals we support and about specific results of your gifts and prayers. Permission is granted to copy, re-publish and/or distribute the information in this issue as long as Bible League Canada is credited. Additional copies of this newsletter may be obtained by contacting us at 1.800.363.9673 or [email protected]

Bible League Canada is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a charitable organization, registration number 10822-2084RR0001

399 Main Street West Grimsby, ON, Canada L3M 1T1 1.800.363.9673 bibleleague.ca | [email protected]

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LETTER MINISTRY FROM NAME THE |PRESIDENT COUNTRY

Dear Friend, It’s often so easy for us to take for granted our easy access to God’s Living Word. Bibles are readily available to us whenever we need His teachings, leadings and inspiration. But for many of the communities that Bible League Canada serves, God’s Word is difficult to find. As I look back at this past year, I’m filled with hope and joy at the ways you have partnered with us to bring His Gospel to nations across the globe. And because of your faithful support, many people have experienced the most significant moment of their lives: Salvation in Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we have seen joyous, amazing miracles of healing, freedom from addiction, liberation from bitterness and so much more. In this Joy Report, we share with you some of the many miracles we’ve seen in places like Poland and India as people have been given Bibles, teachings and training. My prayer is that we continue to have your joyful partnership in the coming months and years to equip more and more people to seek God and His Kingdom as their first priority. Wishing you joy and miracles in your own life, Blessings,

Paul Richardson President, Bible League Canada

WINTER 2016

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4 JOY REPORT | COUNTRY MINISTRY UPDATE ON NAME AFRICA: THE WAR IN SOUTH SUDAN

Grace and her six children are

waiting for a miracle South Sudan and its people are in crisis. Over the past year, the number of refugees fleeing the war-torn cities of South Sudan have peaked to more than one million. BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

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Grace is one of these refugees.

She and her six children now live in a refugee camp in Uganda. “What I really need the most is resettlement,” Grace told us, “because here we are suffering and there is no help.” Whenever Grace thinks about her home country, she remembers all of the family members who died due to the spreading violence. “South Sudan is in bad situation,” she says, “and here we are suffering. We don’t even have the money to pay the school fees for our children. There is no help that is coming from South Sudan to us.” Grace’s children and the other children of South Sudan are paying the price. More than 800 schools have been bombed and more than half of the children in South Sudan now have no education. This is the highest rate in the entire world. This winter, Bible League Canada and our mission partners are on the ground in refugee camps in Uganda where the bulk of South Sudanese refugees are now living. We are striving to provide Raising Hope boxes to each and every child waiting in these camps. These boxes, provided in partnership with Gideons International Canada and EduDeo, provide a Bible and Biblical materials on peace and reconciliation, and support for the training of teachers who will guide the children through the materials.

Watch to Learn More About South Sudan The crisis in South Sudan continues. Visit BibleLeague.ca/TransformingSouthSudan to watch an interview with Darius, a ministry leader in South Sudan, as he shares his story with you.

To support the work of reaching out to South Sudanese children living in refugee camps, please give by completing and returning the enclosed form. Or you can donate online at BibleLeague.ca or by calling our Donor Relations Associate at 1.800.363.9673 WINTER 2016

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6 JOY REPORT PLEASE PRAY

Please Pray... 1.

Ask for God’s intervention on behalf of the children and families of South Sudan. Also lift up the country of South Sudan, that the Holy Spirit’s healing moves through the young nation.

2.

Pray for the many heroes of the Kingdom tirelessly working to start churches and Bible studies in Latin America, Asia and many other regions. Pray for courage and protection, as many of these men and women face resistance or even persecution.

3.

Pray for the many men and women around the world who need Christ’s miracle of salvation and healing. Pray for the moment that they first encounter Him, that they receive the support and resources that they need, and that they have the boldness to share His Gospel with their families and communities.

JOURNEY THROUG H FAITH WITH TELL ANYONE ABOUT JESUS!

This new title to the GodQuest series is all about the Great Commission. A great how-to guide for telling anyone about Jesus: your parents, your friends, your neighbours, those with other belief systems, etc. This series of booklets answer important questions we may have as we journey with Christ: G ET THESE BOOKLETS IN THE BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA ONLINE STORE AT GodQuest.ca TODAY! BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

QUESTIONS ET RÉPONSES: POUR COMMENCER

A French Translation of the English Q&A

G ROWING FAMILIES GOD’S WAY

Discover what God says to families through His Word about navigating the waters of parenting in its various forms, and growing in relationship with the Lord as a family.

Starting Out for French-speaking individuals. It takes the new believer from "What just happened?” to “What do I do now?” It deals with subjects like the Bible, prayer, finding a church home and telling someone else what has happened.

JOY REPORT 7 STARTING NEW CHURCHES: MINISTRY NAME SOUTH| EAST COUNTRY ASIA

MIRACULOUS HEALINGS

IN MYANMAR: Buddhist monk discovers Jesus’ power

Myint Nyan in Myanmar was brought up in a Buddhist family and taught to practise Buddhist religious teachings from childhood. At the same time, he saw how God did miracles for his Christian neighbours. One day, the Christian family next door ran out of food. The family prayed all morning. In the afternoon, as the mother walked to church, she found some money along the road and was able to buy rice and curry. The family saw this as the Lord’s answer to their prayers, but, from Myint Nyan’s Buddhist perspective, Nyan believed that it was the result of good karma from good deeds. When he turned 17, Nyan entered the monastery and was ordained as a novice monk. He stayed there for three years, obeying the rules, watching, and studying many religious books. “But all this labour produced no benefit to my soul,” Nyan remembers. He continued to feel the heavy burden of his sins and could not find any satisfaction. Finally, Nyan left the monastery and got married. “I had Christian friends who were helpful and cared for us,” Nyan tells. “I attended their small groups and studied the Word of God.” The Lord spoke to Nyan

through His Word and showed His love and goodness in many ways, but Nyan admits that he resisted God’s call as long as he could. But finally God’s unconditional love broke through. Last October, Myint Nyan started noticing a health issue that persisted for the next three months. He met with Lwin Zaw, his Christian small group leader, and talked about his health concern. Zaw told him that God is alive, real, and can heal today. Zaw quoted to him Psalm 103:3 NIV (“Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases”) and 1 Peter 2:24 NIV (“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”).“That moment, I decided to trust Jesus,” Nyan says. Zaw laid his hands on Nyan and prayed for healing. That evening, Nyan prayed and confessed his sins. The next day, he noticed immediately that his condition was gone. Nyan realized that the Lord had miraculously healed him. Shortly afterward, Nyan was baptized. “Today, the Bible is my food and I cannot live without it,” he says. “I saw miracles after miracles, back-to-back, in my life. My Jesus handled everything in my life.”

WINTER 2016

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8 JOY REPORT MINISTRY ADULT MINISTRY: NAME | COUNTRY EURASIA

Freed from Anger and Cancer:

POLISH WOMAN

INTRODUCES FAMILY

TO CHRIST Betsy’s heart was hardened toward God. Born in Poland to a Catholic family, she was raised with a healthy respect for both God and religion. But her husband’s alcohol abuse, the stress of raising five children, and having two sons leave the family to become Jehovah’s Witnesses had made her angry at God. “My image of God was that of someone who would divide and take away,” she tells us. Betsy resented God and believed He was responsible for orchestrating the many heartaches of what she saw as a wasted life. “After 20 years in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, my oldest son left its ranks,” Betsy says. “I began to notice changes in his life. He not only said he was happy, but I saw that it was true. My son visited me and talked to me about God, but in a completely different way than when he was a Jehovah’s Witness. He often said that God was good.” This was at odds with Betsy’s view of God. Yet, the more she talked with her son, the more her heart began to soften to the idea of a God of love, a God who answers prayers. Not long after Betsy’s reunion with her son, she faced her most impossible challenge yet – cancer. Lying in her hospital bed, Betsy prayed, “God, if You are there, please show me how to believe in You, because I have little life left.” Instantly, a weight was lifted and peace was restored. The cancer symptoms got better, then worse

BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

again, and then extremely bad. Betsy was bedridden, but she was not inactive. Betsy read everything she could get her hands on. First, she read Christian pamphlets, then the book of John – a gift from her son. She received a New Testament and, later, a full Bible. When her eyes began to fail, her son would read to her. When the pain of breaking bones and illness took over, Betsy lay in a hospice bed desperate to know God more and make Him known. Clinging to life and to God, Betsy prayed all day long for sick friends, for family members who didn’t know God, and for the opportunity to be baptized. Almost a year later, Betsy baffled doctors with a recovery. She has now been baptized and has helped to lead two of her other children to Christ. She is no longer angry, because now God is the strength of her heart. “Today, I’m 70 years old,” Betsy shares. “Although there have been many unpleasant events and moments in my life, I now actually see how the good Lord has led me through them. And more importantly, how He taught me so much, first about myself and then about Himself. For that I am, and I always will be, eternally grateful to my Father.”

JOY REPORT 9 CHILDREN’S MINISTRY: CANADA

JESUS AND JAPANESE COMICS: New ways for children to connect to Biblical truth Bible League Canada partners with One Hope Canada to provide Bible-based resources to children attending camps during the summer. This past summer, camps throughout Canada were able to provide kids from varied backgrounds with books that presented the Bible in the style of popular comics from Japan known as “manga.”

attention of visual books captured the se the w ho see to at ne med to bring “It was so their imaginations and see ed bb gra It s. kid city er and. I noticed some of our inn a way they could underst in s ing ch tea el ap ch times needing together some of the ng in the chapels, some usi foc e tim rd ha a d ha nga this with a few boys who find them deep into a ma t off to the side. I would jus ors do the e tsid ou ” to even be to connect to the truth. m this was the best way book, and for some of the

CT OR BO B CO OP ER , CA MP DI,RE BC MP CA LE HO PE BA Y BIB

“We had a staff mem ber comment this sum mer how he had a cam that was not at all inte per rested in the Bible or do ing Bible memorizatio The staff still wanted n. to get him plugged in to Scripture so they ga the camper a copy of ve Manga Messiah. The camper loved the book would hardly put it do and wn after it was given to him.”

BR AD WE BE R, CA MP KE NO SE E LA KE BI BL DI RE CT OR E CA MP, SK

s are “We find that often new believer Bible, overwhelmed by the size of the We especially children and youth. e and Bibl the introduce them to both e the wher the manga books and show them tless stories line up. We have had coun has kids tell us that the manga book er larg the of e helped them make sens story in the Bible.”

ROB HASE NBAN K, CAM P DIRE CTOR MAP LE SPRI NGS BIBL E CAM P, BC

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10 JOY REPORT PERSECUTED CHURCH: INDIA

A Girl and Her Courage:

A young Indian girl stands up for God

Vanita’s father struggled with alcoholism, an addiction that led him to spend all of the family’s money. This forced Vanita to drop out of school because her family could no longer afford her school fees. Vanita stayed at home, helping her mom with household chores. One day, as she was washing clothes outside, Vanita met a children’s Bible club leader. The leader invited her to attend the local club. Vanita begged her mom to let her attend … and she got permission! Vanita finished all her chores early and ran to the Bible club. She loved doing the motions to the songs, hearing stories and playing games. Vanita told her parents about the fun she had at the Bible club. But when she mentioned Jesus, her dad got very angry. He slapped her face and then beat her so badly she was covered in bruises. He warned Vanita never to attend the Bible club again. Vanita was heartbroken. But she and her mother prayed. They asked Jesus to transform Vanita’s father. And, miraculously, Vanita’s dad gave up alcohol. Vanita is back in school now. Not only her dad, but she and her whole family have received Jesus as their Saviour! There are many children like Vanita. It’s important to remember that it’s not just adults suffering for their faith — it’s children like Vanita, too. Please join us in praying for those around the world who are persecuted for following Jesus.

BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

JOY REPORT 11 | COUNTRY JOINT MINISTRY NAME PARTNER UPDATE

Mission Thrift Store in Chilliwack, BC

November 8, 2016 was a very special day at the Mission Thrift Store in Chilliwack, British Columbia. There was excitement in the air upon entering the store. We were greeted with a happy smile and offered coffee and cake by one of the volunteers. Jan Van Wijk is the board chair at the Mission Thrift Store in Chilliwack, BC. He was pleased to show all the work that has gone into giving the store a facelift and creating much needed work space for the volunteers. It was also a day set aside to share the new name for the store, formerly Bibles for Missions. Chilliwack is the location of the first store that opened in 1989 to support the ministry work of Bible League Canada. Twenty-seven years later, many of the same volunteers who began the first store are still dedicated to placing the Living Word of God into the hands of new believers through the Joint Ministry of BFM Foundation (Canada) and its 48 Mission Thrift Stores across Canada and Bible League Canada. These volunteers, both old and young, know that they are making a difference in the lives of men, women and children around the world. New name, same incredible mission!

WINTER 2016

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12 JOY REPORT STARTING NEW CHURCHES: LATIN AMERICA

A Paraplegic Church Planter : After a tragic accident, a Latin American man preaches for God BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

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Eduardo never had time to be involved in his church. This Christian man in Latin America let his work and other priorities take up all of his time. With his busy life, he never imagined how much his life would change in just one day: After a terrible traffic accident, Eduardo lost the use of his legs.

“I was so angry with God because I felt He had punished me and I didn’t want anything to do with the Church or Him,” Eduardo tells us. For two years Eduardo refused to turn to the Lord in his time of need. “God began to touch my life in new ways and to heal my heart,” Eduardo shares. “I finally decided to attend church once again.” For Eduardo and his family, it was not just a process of adapting to his new life but to also depend completely on the hand of God. Because of his condition, he did not have as much work and with five children, he was feeling the heavy weight of responsibility. Nevertheless, in his heart Eduardo knew his life had a purpose. But he wasn’t sure what that looked like. When they attended the church, the leaders invited Eduardo to participate in the church planter training with a Bible League Canada joint ministry partner. He began attending the training. “It didn’t matter to them that I was a paraplegic and the difficulties that would cause to getting the work done,” says Eduardo. Eduardo now lives in Carcelén Bajo, a community located north of Quito, Ecuador. The area has very

few resources and a lot of drug dealing. He has used what he learned in the Bible League Canada partner’s training to begin a Bible study. “Sometimes it is difficult to go visit people because it is not easy to move around,” says Eduardo. “The taxis sometimes don’t want to take me when they see me in a wheelchair, and taking the bus is even more complicated. But I always say it is difficult but not impossible to do the work God has called me to.” Eduardo is excited for the opportunity to share his experience with others, especially a group of drug addicts who have begun to attend his Bible study. “I still continue to ask God to work in my life and that His Word will continue working in me,” he says. “When I graduated as a church planter, I asked God to do with me what He needs to and to use my life in accordance to His purpose.” Eduardo continues to share the Word of God with passion and commitment. He knows God will put the people in his path who need to hear the gospel. “As God says, His work is not in vain and I believe Him because in these five years, we have seen how He has sustained us in every sense,” Eduardo reminisces.

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14 JOY JOY REPORT REPORT CHILDREN’S MINISTRY: INDIA

12-Year-Old Girl Sees Father Give Up Alcohol:

FREEDOM FOUND THROUGH GOD’S TEACHINGS BIBLE LEAGUE CANADA | BIBLELEAGUE.CA

JOY REPORT 15 | COUNTRY CHILDREN’S MINISTRY NAME MINISTRY: INDIA

Beksita’s dad was gone—and this Indian girl had a pretty good idea where he was. He liked to have parties, and he bought alcohol for all his friends. But all of his addictive spending affected their family. Before long, the family was deep in debt. They had to borrow money from friends and family just to have enough to eat each week. Beksita’s parents saw no way out—and they planned to commit suicide. But at this time, 12-year-old Beksita was invited to a Children’s Bible Club in her neighbourhood. She loved the songs, stories, and games! Beksita also learned about Jesus. She had never heard of such a loving God! Touched by the sacrifice Jesus made for her, Beksita received Him as her Saviour. She was filled with joy, but Beksita’s heart was still heavy for her parents, who were so deeply depressed and hopeless. She began to pray to Jesus, asking for His help. She prayed that her father would give up alcohol and work hard to get rid of the family’s debt. At home, Beksita told her mom and dad about Jesus—the God who loves everyone and cares for them, no matter if they are poor or rich. Beksita got her parents connected with a local pastor, and her parents poured out all their troubles to the pastor. The parents were comforted as the pastor prayed for them and shared the Gospel—and they felt hope that maybe their lives could change. Shortly afterward, Beksita’s prayers for her father were answered: he gave up alcohol and began to work harder to support his family. Little by little, the family’s financial situation began to improve. Beksita’s mom started going to church and is beginning to trust God.

Beksita’s family was one of the many families impacted by your generosity this past spring and summer. Today, Beksita asks for prayers that her parents come to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus. Please join us in praying for her parents, and the country of India. To support the work of introducing children in India to Jesus at Children's Bible Clubs, please give by completing and returning the enclosed form. Or you can donate online at BibleLeague.ca or by calling our Donor Relations Associate at 1.800.363.9673.

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A B L E S S I N G F O R YO U R D AY T H I S

Christmas1 S3eason Thank you for joyfully celebrating with us the ways your support has impacted families across the world. As a special thank you, we invite you to subscribe to

and experience God’s joy and teachings every morning. This gift is yours for free at BibleLeague.ca/resources/words-from-the-heart.

Words from the Heart is a daily e-devotional brought to you by Pastor Bob Beasley, Bible League Canada's Vice President of International Ministry. Each morning you will receive a daily verse, short reflection point, as well as a 3-minute podcast and written devotional. Subscribe to this free devotional: BibleLeague.ca/resources/words-from-the-heart We pray this e-devotional encourages your daily walk with God as you start your day with His Living Word.

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