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the Bible, and Christianity
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Current
Billiard
Three-Fold Challenge
Contact
Billiard
billpenning@thebilliardpage.com
bill_penning@sil.org
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Why the Challenge
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The reason for this
challenge is very simple. I believe that the Bible makes it clear
that all believers are to be involved in the task of taking
God's message of salvation to the entire world. Not everyone is
called to the same part of the task; indeed, not everyone is even
called to anything related to work overseas. For many people, their
mission field is their own neighborhood, or perhaps their place of
work.
But I would challenge each and every
person to seriously ask God just exactly what He would have for
them to do in order to be part of the task. There was a time
when I would have laughed at the mere suggestion that I would
someday be a missionary. But God has a way of surprising us.
And as always, He knows best.
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Pray
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The easiest (and yet
sometimes the hardest!) thing to do is to pray. God loves prayer.
The devil hates prayer. That should be reason enough right there for
each of us to be on our knees as much and as often as possible.
"Except the Lord build the house, its builders labor in
vain." (Psalm 127:1, New International Version)
Neither I nor any other missionary in
the world can succeed without prayer. We could have enough financial
support for ten workers, yet without prayer it would be money thrown
away. We could be working with the friendliest group of people in
the world, yet without prayer not a single one will ever come to
Christ. We could have enough training to teach in seminary, yet
without prayer nobody will get the message.
So I challenge you: Pray for the
missionaries you know. Pray for evangelistic efforts in your own
town. On a personal note, please pray for me! I'm just as human as
anyone else, and just as much "standing in the need of
prayer."
If you wish to receive a regular
mailing from me with news about my work, please let me know. I'll be
glad to add you to my list. You can contact me electronically at bill_penning@sil.org.
For my regular mail address, please
see Current Billiard.
Please specify whether you want to
receive a regular mail letter or an electronic mailing, and if
electronic, please specify if you prefer Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word,
or plain text format.
Read more about Wycliffe
Prayer Opportunities.
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Give
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The next easiest thing to
do is to give. Most missions are supported by (tax deductible)
donations from individuals and churches, since our work of the
gospel is full time and we do not hold another, paying job. We trust
God to touch the hearts of those whom He has chosen to provide for
this work financially.
Everything we own comes from God.
Therefore, my challenge is: Pray and ask God if He would have you
give back to Him a portion of what He has provided for you,
specifically for the job of evangelizing the world. The
opportunities for such service are enormous.
On the personal side, Wycliffe is a
faith mission, and my work is also supported by individual
donations. If you feel God leading you to help support my job in
Brazil of providing computer support in Bible translation, you can
either contact me directly at the address in the previous section,
or you can go directly to Wycliffe's
On-line Giving Page.
My official name with Wycliffe is:
William Penning
My account number is: 232016
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Go |
Lastly, you may be interested in actually
going to the mission field yourself. The opportunities are more
numerous than I could even begin to list, ranging from going as a
member of a church, to going with an organization such as Wycliffe, to
even going as an independent. And the last time I checked, the only
continent where there were no missionary needs was Antarctica!
Missionaries come with an almost
endless list of skills, from personal evangelism to computer work to
aviation to accounting to… You probably get the picture. If you have
a skill, someone can use you somewhere. About the only legal job I can
think of that we definitely could not use is bartender.
The challenge here is simple: Pray and
see if God might be calling you to join the team. It may be in church
planting. It may be in Bible translation. It may be something
completely different. If you're a warm Christian body, there's a job
waiting somewhere.
Again, from the personal side I can
speak of the need in Wycliffe for translators, pilots, teachers,
accountants, computer specialists, graphic artists, maintenance
workers, etc. We need people for both short term and long term
commitments. If you think you might sense a calling, or if you are
merely interested in finding out more, read about Wycliffe's
Service Opportunities.
The fields are ripe for harvest.
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