In this week’s #GreatCommission Recap… an opportunity to serve this summer, thoughts on sending church members out to plant churches, and a look at the locust swarm across East Africa.
An Eye on the Nations
Beginning sometime in late November, locust swarms of great magnitude began sweeping across East Africa. Reportedly, it’s the worst Desert Locust crisis in over 25 years for this area of the world. To make matters worse, many of the affected countries have also experienced heavy rainfall, depleting any food sources that were left.
These countries (Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and now South Sudan) depend greatly upon agricultural food supplies and already face normal, daily difficulties—many due to war, such as South Sudan who is now recovering from a Civil War. Now, they face a potential food crisis.
As believers, we can consider the story of God’s power over the locust plague in Exodus 10. He brought the plague to pass, but he also “changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea” and not a locust was left (Exodus 10:19). We can consider his power and his compassion, and we can cry out to him on behalf of those being affected by these swarms. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in these countries to seek the welfare of their countries by calling out to God, and let us pray with them for the Lord’s intervention.
To learn more about the locust swarms in East Africa, check out these other resources:
*Photo courtesy of IMB
This week’s articles:
Go: Leverage Your Summer in Maine
Fellow SEBTS students invite you to spend your summer doing workplace ministry. Learn about this great opportunity to live and work among international migrant workers in Maine.
The Pain, Promise and Joy of Sending
Will Jackson discusses the pain, promise and joy of sending church members to plant more churches.
We see on every page of the Bible God acting to bring about His purposes. If He wants His kingdom to expand rapidly in one city while halting the plans of man in another, so it will be. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases,” says Psalm 115 (ESV). Yet sometimes we find ourselves projecting our limitations upon God. If we send our best people, won’t our church collapse? Won’t our giving go down? Our baptism numbers?
Southeastern 5K 2020
The Southeastern 5K is only one week away! We’re getting excited and hope you are too. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can learn more and register here.
We could also still use some help on the day of the race. If 5Ks aren’t your thing but you’re interested in volunteering, you can sign up for a specific volunteer position here.
