God desires His Word to be paramount in our lives.  He is so insistent on His word governing our every moment that He actually commands us to “meditate on it day and night.”

However, all too often we allow the Bible to become commonplace.  While the stresses of time constraints, the noise of the world, and just the simple bustle of life gain our attention, the Bible sits on a shelf to collect dust.  Sometimes it seems that there just isn’t time in a day to spend in the Word.

However, in allowing this to happen we actually neglect the very power of God in our lives that we so desperately desire.  After all, the Bible says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, that He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:4-5)

In those moments when everything feels unbalanced and overwhelming, the answer is not more time or more money.  The answer is delighting yourself in the Lord; delighting in His word.  We neglect this as truth because  it’s just too simple an answer for such a complex world.

But have you ever actually stilled yourself and given God the focus and attention He desires?  Have you ever given Him that place of priority that He deserves?  When you did, did He not straighten everything out?  Of course He did!  His Word promises He will.

We take the Bible very much for granted.  However, there are still countries in the world that will not allow their people access to God’s true Word.  Out of an honest fear that the people will read and believe on the promises of the Bible, many governments have actually outlawed the Bible from entering their borders.

For over 30 years, Iranians have not had access to the Bible.  With strict law in place, there is not the freedom to read or hear the teaching of God in this country.  It has become a passion and burden for us to change this fact.  We feel it is our obligation to use every resource and ability available to get the Word of God into the hands of Iran’s people.

We have begun work and have watched God move on our behalf.  We received a story of an Iranian police officer commissioned to confiscate all Bibles in his area.  He stopped for one moment, opened the book, and read just one line from one page.  He said that there was an “explosion” in his heart.  He was so intrigued that he continued to read.  In only a couple of days, God’s Word had such an effect that the police officer gave his life to the Lord.

Our goal is to reach people just like this police officer -- to allow God to move through His Word and allow the people of Iran the same opportunity we have, to delight in God through His Word.  This is an opportunity to act.  For only $7.10, we will have a Bible printed and distributed into the hands of the Iranian people.  With your donation, you are ensuring that a man, a family, or maybe even an entire community has the opportunity to receive God’s Word for their lives.  Please pray for the work and people of Iran, and if you hold the desire, please give.

Our parting prayer and plea for you - do not allow the Bible to become ordinary.  Trust God that when you give Him priority and place, He will delight in you and bless every detail of your life.

God bless you and everything you put your hand to,

World Compassion

Recently I returned with our World Compassion team from Myanmar. Our objective was clear - visit with the pastors who we support in some of the most remote areas of the Irrawaddy Delta region and find out first hand how our Christmas gifts were received.

To paint a picture of the remote landscape and what is required to reach the unreached, we spent 8 hours on boat travelling to and from a house church. This was just one of many that we visited in three days. Overwhelming reports came back to us about how thankful thousands of Burmese people were to receive Christmas meals filled with fish, rice, and other food.

In one interview we met with a pastor who said something that ignited a spark in our team. We were nearly done with the interview, and I said, “It’s amazing; your church is almost full.”  People were coming in to get a seat for a service we had announced earlier. He quickly responded, “It may be almost full, but not everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit.” He went on to tell us that is the desire he has for his church.

It’s customary to encourage the believers in the churches when we visit.  One of our team members began teaching on the Holy Spirit, and their hunger was filled. It was an amazing sight - 16 people kneeling down while two pastors and our team laid hands on them and they were filled.

How can we acknowledge that what we are doing in Myanmar is helping? This same pastor whom we met with told us that the land his church is now built on was given to him by a Buddhist man who said something like, “I’m giving this land because Christians do charity work to help our people.”

God is really doing amazing things in the remote jungles of Myanmar where hearts are open and spirits are hungry.

Continue to believe that these signs will continue to follow. We know they will.

God bless you for your support.

Kevin - Director of Media

With its strong showing in yesterday's parliamentary elections, the National League for Democracy has taken important new ground as it pushes for true freedom for the people of Myanmar. The party's iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi has made a spectacular political comeback since her release on November 13, 2010 from a 15-year-long house arrest sentence.

After securing her new seat in the lower house of parliament along with 39 other members of her party, Suu Kyi announced, "This is not our triumph, this is a triumph of the people."

From 1962 to 2011, the country was ruled by an oppressive military regime. But since a new civilian government was installed this past year, Myanmar has made solid progress toward becoming a true democratic state.

What does this mean for the church? It means that we need to be ready for the possibility of explosive growth that could come with this new freedom.

With our support of 15 church planters in Myanmar, our evangelistic and humanitarian outreaches, along with the translation of our extensive discipleship training program into the Burmese language, God has placed World Compassion in a unique position to support powerful, sustained growth for the church in Myanmar.

Please continue to pray that religious freedom will come to the people of Myanmar soon, and that God will continue allow the democratic process to move forward in future elections without violence or interference from the military.

This is an exciting time to be sharing the gospel in Myanmar. We hope you think so too. We look forward to reporting how God works through you and World Compassion in the coming months.

There is a long history of division and hostility between Islam and Christianity, the two largest religions in the world.  9-11 brought this issue to the forefront again, and it continues to be a “hot topic” in the news and among a variety of religious circles.

The violence we see done in the name of Islam by radical Muslims around the world, especially when targeted towards Christians, has created a mindset of resentment, hatred and fear toward the Muslim people.

As for Christians….this is a great opportunity for the Body of Christ to truly represent Jesus on this earth today by walking in love toward Muslims.  Jesus loved and forgave those who persecuted Him.

As a matter of fact, God loved us while we were still sinners and sent His Son Jesus to die for us.  We must exemplify that love on the earth today…it’s needed!

It just may be as we share the radical love of Christ, the very person the Muslim people reject, that the love they experience will pierce their hearts and turn them to the one true living God.

To our flesh (or natural minds) it doesn’t make sense to view Muslim people this way but the message we are called to share is centered on one truth – love.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things; believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails!”

Islam is arguably one of the biggest global issues the world or at least the Church faces today so we need to get this right.  And the answer is Love!

We also know perfect love casts out fear.

There is a mindset change coming to the church as to how we perceive the Muslim people. We must move from being fearful to being bold in exampling the love of Christ.  We must view them through the eyes of God and His love.  As this mindset truly takes root throughout the Body of Christ, God can use us (and He wants to) to rescue the Muslim people from the deception of Islam.

Keep in mind Paul once persecuted and killed believers, but God showed Himself to Paul in a very real way and used Ananias to help him along (Read Acts 9).  I recently heard my dad say, “God is asking us to see the Muslim people as he asked Ananias to see Paul.”  It’s a great example of what God is asking of us today.

Although there are Muslims in this world that may want to persecute and even kill Christians, we must deny our flesh (fear, resentment, hatred), take up our cross and boldly go forward in sharing the love and true message of Jesus Christ with the Muslim people.

Why? Glad you asked.

Because God is (right now) rescuing Muslim people from the deception they are under in Islam, and similar to Paul in Acts 9, the scales of their spiritual eyes are falling away and they will see the truth in Jesus Christ.

It’s God fulfilling his promise to Abraham in Genesis 17.

God said in Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants (Abraham’s descendants include Ishmael and his lineage) after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you.”  It’s important to note that Muslims believe they are descendents of Ishmael.

Although Ishmael was the son of Hagar, the bondservant of Sarah (Abraham’s wife), God promised to bless Ishmael (Genesis 17:20)…yet in verse 21: “BUT my covenant I will establish with Isaac.”  We know that Jesus came from the lineage of Isaac.  He was the sacrificial lamb of the new covenant.

Where then is the “blessing” for the children of Ishmael?  One could argue they are blessed with the majority of the oil resources in the world but I don’t believe that’s all God has for them.

There are 1.7 billion Muslims on the earth today…God wants to welcome them into His covenant family he has created for all mankind.  I do not believe He is going to leave out the 1.7 billion Muslims on the earth today just as He didn’t leave out the Gentiles.

Traveling and working in Islamic countries, we’ve met people and have heard stories of Muslims having dreams and visions of Jesus leading ultimately to their conversion.

God is moving on the hearts of Muslim people, and He is looking for His Church (you and me) to be the Church He has called us to be.  We are to reach out to the Muslim people with the compassion of Christ.  As we do, the promise God made to Abraham to bless all of his descendents (including those from Ishmael) will be fulfilled.

The children of Ishmael will be grafted into the vine just as He used Paul to reach the Gentiles, grafting them into the vine.  It is God’s heart that none should perish.  Will all Muslims come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? I don’t know, but I do know a lot will. I want to be a part of working to see that happen, and I’d like to encourage you to do the same.

We received this email from one of our team members who recently helped translate our Story of Jesus booklet into the Uzbek language.

"We have printed 1,000 so far, and they are still being distributed. We gave some out at a small evangelistic outreach to kids and parents, both to those who received Christ and to those who did not. We have given them to local churches, and the pastors and members are handing them out as they have opportunity. It is a huge help when they see something about Jesus in their own language... it helps them see that Jesus is the God of the Uzbeks!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we look forward to working with you more in the future. God bless you!"

God is the God of All mankind, and we receive this by faith in Jesus Christ. Happy Thanksgiving week to all of you who help spread this message of Jesus to so many around the world.