Do you feel thankful for the year 2020?
I asked myself this question as I look back at the year that has brought sorrow and loss, canceled plans, limited personal interactions and many other things we did not wish for.
We celebrated the start of 2020 as the year of clear vision, and I believe this is what it has been. Just not in the way we expected. The Lord speaks to us in different ways. Instead of heavenly visions and revelatory prophecies, He sometimes shakes up our reality to brush off the gilt and expose what has rotted underneath. The clear vision means to know what stands the test of trial – the institutions, the leaders, the foundations, and the relationships in our personal lives.
Though the trial of 2020 is not over, when it is, we will see clearly and possess the knowledge that will help us face the future with confidence.
So, the answer is yes – Helen and I are thankful. We are thankful for you and other WMA partners who have been by our side when carrying out the Great Commission seemed impossible. We are thankful for the doors the Lord miraculously opened, and even for the ones that were closed. His provision and protection were greater on the backdrop of uncertainty and chaos.
What we are the most thankful for is the vision the Lord has given us for the year 2021 – to break the silence. The enemy has tried to silence the church – he shut the doors of the buildings, he limited our movement and has raised loud and violent voices against the church. 2021 is the year of grace, mercy and favor upon the church and the significant year for the Great Commission.
We are excited to share with you the BIG NEWS on how the Lord has re-arranged our schedule to position World Missions Alliance strategically at the right place at the right time.
We celebrate with you a blessed season of gratitude and joy, and the preparation for the Great Harvest of 2021!
In Christ,
Chuck and Helen Todd
Mission Serbia 2020, in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, was marked by the miracles of healing. Though our medical team was highly qualified and equipped with medicine, the Lord chose to heal the patients by His divine touch. Especially in the Roma communities, devastated economically by the pandemic, we witnessed a dislocated shoulder and a paralyzed arm healed through just the laying of hands by the team members and prayers. In the church in Novi Sad, a new believer was healed of cancer! We got to share the Good News with the drug addicts in the rehabilitation center, minister to the homeless and encourage the local church. Pastor Bera, the senior pastor of the church in Novi Sad, the largest church in Serbia said that because there is less than 0.1 % Christians in Serbia, evangelism is one of the most important outreaches in his country. He was deeply thankful because World Missions Alliance was the only team that came to Serbia this year.
As a ministry we always seek God’s strategic timing to travel to a nation. This has been the key to opening the doors that have been previously closed. For the year 2021 the Lord has prompted us to add another mission trip to Israel August 24- September 3, 2021, a few days before the Feast of the Tabernacles. Our ministry and prayer during this time will be strategically important for the future of Israel.
Here is a word we have just received from our partners in Israel:
It is the olive harvest in Israel. We had very good rains last winter and the olives are bigger and juicier than last year. Everywhere in the olive groves there are people helping to bring in the harvest. Big sheets are laid on the ground under the trees. Then the tree gets shaken violently so that the fruit drop to the sheets below. All the fruit gets collected and taken to be processed. After the harvest the trees get pruned right down and all the cut branches lie in big heaps, looking very alive – but will not look like that for long. What a picture of the church! At the olive presses one can go and see the amazing process of getting the sought-after oil out of the olives as people bring their harvests. The olives are poured in one end and after passing through the cleaning- crushing- and filtering process, it produces the pure, golden, cold-pressed virgin olive oil poured out at the other end like liquid gold. We were at such a press one time while an old Druze couple were putting their harvest through the press. Sitting on chairs opposite the outlet, watching contently and proudly as their oil filled up gallon drum after gallon drum, I imagined that this would be something of the posture and satisfaction of our Heavenly Father as He sees the golden oil of a poured-out life that is bearing the good fruit of the Spirit of God!
This beautiful vision of the church as the olive harvest was followed with the plea for help – their congregation has been deeply affected by the Corona virus.
Our partner church in Israel has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the congregation are the elderly immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union whose already modest economic conditions greatly diminished in the recent months. Most of them have no family left to support them. We want to help our partner church to provide food and clothes for them this winter.
You have the opportunity to be a part of the “olive harvest” in Israel and minister “grace and supplication” to the people of Israel who are in great need.
Updated 2021 Mission Trip Schedule
REGIONAL CHAPTERS IN THE USA:
WMA family is growing rapidly. The more challenging the situation becomes around the world, the more Christians feel the call into the Great Commission. In 2021 we will open 3 regional chapters of World Missions Alliance in Washington, DC, Denver, CO and Cincinnati, OH. The regional chapters will build local communities of Christians who are passionate about the great Commission and will host monthly prayer meetings for everyone who wants to be more involved with WMA.
Meet our regional chapter leaders and let us know if you would like to get involved:
WASHINGTON D.C.
Ellen Yao
Ellen came to the States from South Korea when she was 6 years old. She has spent most of her life in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Currently, Ellen and her husband Matt are in seminary at Global Awakening. She believes Washington DC area is the perfect place to raise up more leaders to spread the love of God and to send more disciples out into all the nations.
CINCINNATI, OH
Christy Bacon
Christy Bacon was born in the Philippines and became a US citizen in 1985. She has recently retired from Boeing Corporation, attended Seattle Bible College and has been involved as a missionary with WMA since 2017. Christy is passionate about missions and intercessory prayer.
DENVER, CO
Anna Desmarais
A retired music teacher, she went on her first mission trip with WMA in 2016 and found it very rewarding. Since then she has been on 4 more mission trips and is now serving as a volunteer for WMA headquarters. She says: “Each time I go I see God working in others; while at the same time, He is drawing me closer to Him.”
WHY GREATER PURPOSE?
A heart for the harvest” is a life’s mission statement. It describes a very unique and specific person. It is a person who is in love with Jesus. A person whose knowledge of Christ surpasses intellect and reaches into the very depth of the soul. It is a person whose compassion for another human being mirrors the heart of Christ. It is a person who is willing to step into the unknown with a trust that he or she can be used by God for a greater good. It is a person who believes that his or her life matters in God’s plan for humanity.
