General Conference Women's Ministries Newsletter :  July 1999

Editorial. . .by Lynnetta Hamstra Associate Director, GCWM
Faith that Carries Me Through

Two little girls were overheard counting their pennies together. One said, "I have five cents." The other said, "I have ten cents." "No," said the first little girl, "you have just five cents, the same that I have." But the second child quickly replied, "My daddy said that when he came home tonight he would give me five cents, so I have ten cents."

The child's faith gave her proof of that which she did not yet see, and she counted it as being already hers because it had been promised by her father. So should we trust the promises of our Heavenly Father, and we, too, can count among our possessions the thing which He has promised to give us.

Unfortunately, in today's world there is not much that we have faith in. Families are splitting up, marriages are broken, promises go unfulfilled. There is nothing we can count on. Even as workers for our church's mission, we sometimes get discouraged when we don't see immediate outcomes.

The Bible doesn't tell us much about who Rahab was other than the fact that she was a prostitute.  We do, however, learn quite a bit about what she believed and what she did about her belief. Her words revealed her heart:

"For I know that the Lord has given this land to you... The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below" (Joshua 2:9, 11.) Now that's an incredible statement coming from the mouth of Rahab. She lived a morally bankrupt life in a morally bankrupt culture. She had never witnessed even one of God's miracles. She had never received even one of His promises or blessings. Yet, she wholeheartedly believed that He could perform miracles.  She wholeheartedly believed that His promises concerning the Israelites would come to pass.

Rahab is a model of faith for us for at least four reasons:

1. She took God at His word.
When God said the Israelites were to inhabit the land, Rahab considered it as good as done. She knew by protecting the spies she was committing treason but she did it believing that God would keep His word.

2. She went against the crowd.
While all the other residents of Jericho prepared to do battle with the Israelites, Rahab prepared to protect them. She believed God would do what He said He would do, so she was willing to turn her back on the life she'd led and the people she had lived among.

3. Rahab believed God and she did something about it.
Rahab's faith translated into tangible action. She hid the spies and then helped them escape. She believed God that's why she was willing to do what she could to further God's agenda, at the risk of putting her life on the line.

4. Rahab trusted God to take care of her.
How else could she have entrusted her very life into the hands of her enemies? She trusted the God whom the two spies served.

(Adapted from: Partow, Donna. Becoming A Vessel God Can Use. Bethany House Publishers, 1996.)

By placing the scarlet cord in her window, Rahab let the world know that she trusted God to take care of her. She knew the invasion was coming, yet, she didn't flee. What an incredible testimony to her faith.

So it should be with us. We can believe because He has promised. He has asked us to commit everything that we do to Him and He will be with us.

Last year, I was in Toronto, Canada, for some meetings. In the midst of the city of Toronto stands the CN tower. The tower stands 553 meters tall and boasts the most spectacular view of Toronto and its surrounding area.

One of the highlights of the tower is its glass floor. At 342 meters above the ground, there is an area of 23.8 square meters of solid glass. I went up there to see this famed glass floor. I stood there trying to build up the courage to step out onto the glass. Just looking down to the earth from up there tied my stomach into knots. Everything below was just tiny little specks of "something."

It was difficult to have faith in a floor made out of glass even when they assured me that it can hold the weight of 14 hippopotamus. But I finally did step out. The glass held my weight. And I didn't look down again.

So it is with the love of the Lord. When we step out in faith (not seeing, yet believing) into His arms, His strength will bear our weight and carry us through.

End

Southern Asia Division: The Southern Asia Tidings carried an almost full page story about Women's Ministries celebrating its centennial last year. It reported that Hepzibah Kore, Division Director and Sarla Devi and Winnifred Devaraj, Director and Associate Director of WM in the South India Union held meetings in Mysore, Madurai, Trivandrum, Trichur and Belgaum. In each place there was something special dramas representing SMI Henry or "Women Through the Years," special cakes, seminars, group discussions, and presentations on Bible women. In each place, the paper reports, women were enthusiastic and blessed as they understood more about Women's Ministries.

North American Division: The women of the Lake Union Conference were invited to a special weekend of evangelism training at Andrews University in May, and women came from every Conference in the Union. The sessions were organized by Cathy Sanches and her very efficient Pioneer Memorial Church WM committee. The presenters were Ardis Stenbakken from the General Conference; Carol Torres, President of the Black Hills School of Evangelism; Ione Richardson, Bible worker, author of Bible study lessons and retreat speaker. Several local women also presented personal experiences from working with Net '98.

The Ontario Conference held a women's leadership training in May, led by Conference and Union WM Director Jean Parchment. Ardis Stenbakken; Penny Wheeler, editor of Women of Spirit; Ginger Church, director of the Women's Outreach Center at the Review and Herald; and Glenda-mae Green, Assistant Vice President for Student Services at Andrews University were the principle speakers. Although the weekend was sponsored by Women's Ministries, it was open to any women in any leadership role in the churches.

The Record, the publication of the Southwestern Union, dedicated its May issue to "Women's Ministries Lifting up Jesus Christ in the home, church and community." The Union President wrote an editorial on how "Women make a difference in the church;" the Union Director, Carla Baker, had an editorial, and nine full pages told of Women's Ministries throughout the Union.

Trans-European Division: In the last issue of News from the World of Women's Ministries we mentioned a woman pastor, Dijana Daka, who had been missing in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and that she had been spotted on a television newscast. She has since made contact with the church and is staying in a church facility in Tirana, Albania. She says she did not want to leave Kosovo but "the bombings and shootings became really bad. Many dead bodies lay in the streets....It was during this time that I was told by Serbian troops to leave." The group went first to Macedonia but were turned back and sent to Albania. Once the current crisis is over, Daka says she plans to move back to Kosovo and continue her pastoral work. For now she is giving Bible studies and helping other refugees.