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by Captain Mariam Rudd –
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, there to send out workers into his harvest field.”
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Today, the harvest is plentiful but the workers… are few. Currently, the Western Territory has 27 officers serving overseas–perhaps he has placed on your heart the need to say “YES, I’ll go–send me.”
Captain Sherry McWhorter has just returned from her overseas appointment in Moscow, Russia, where she has seen firsthand the work of young Salvation-ists who are ministering on the streets of Moscow. She shares: “Under the direction of the command youth officer, Capt. John Norton, young Salvationists in Moscow are taking to the streets. Every Friday evening teens gather near the Proletariat subway station and head out to train stations and the underground–where the homeless gather.
“For years, the Army has fed the homeless in the train stations and parks of this vast city. Now, the Army’s teens are trying to do a bit more. They are meeting with the people, talking about their needs, listening to the pleas for help and the fears and pain of these most disenfranchised of the masses of Russian poor.
“What does it take to make a difference in the life of a starving homeless person in Moscow–a women and child who have run away from the war in Chechnya; a man who always worked in a factory which is now closed; a family who lost their flat because they couldn’t pay rent; an old lady with no one to care for her? These young Salvationists bring bread; sometimes they might have warm gloves or hats. Most importantly, they offer a listening ear, a touch, a bit of love in a very bleak place. Does that make any difference? Yes, in intangible ways, in unknowable ways, in perhaps small and distant ways. But the offer of personal connection to ‘legal non-persons’ can be a gift of life.”
Remember the homeless of Moscow–and remember how these young Salvationists spend their Friday nights.
Captains Patrick and Kitty Granat, serving in Guben, Germany, ask that we continue to pray for their ministry. Patrick shares the following:
“Pray without ceasing–that’s what we practice daily. We also believe it’s because of your prayers, we are still here in Guben. The unfriendly attitude in the neighborhood still exists. Our young people have tried to put announcements up on the building, but the residents tear them down before reading what they say. We had a tent set up for some of the guests during the family congress. The tent was torn down the night before the guests arrived. Poison gas was sprayed inside one of the apartments where the mother lay in a coma. The children of this family have been in our programs at the corps. Now, they have moved away. Kitty and I have placed a sign near our front door, ‘God protect our home.’
“A Chinese man was arrested at the local store for presumed theft. He had no stolen goods, but since he didn’t speak German he was hauled away. Kitty came to his defense. She translated his Chinese into English. The English we translated into German, Now, the police have a better picture. But, according to German law, the man is guilty until proven innocent! He needs to pay for a lawyer in order to be freed. This is the sad reality of life in Guben. FOREIGNERS ARE NOT WANTED.
“We are from the hated enemy camp of the monster NATO forces which were always threatened to over-run Communist East Germany…It is difficult to be the ‘ugly Americans,’ when we only want to do good for the people.”
Lord protect the Granats as they love and serve your people.
THE HARVEST…YES, THE LABORERS ARE FEW…
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