Who Needs Normal?

As Christ-Followers, We Must Expect More after COVID-19

By: Jim Shannon

For most of us, it is natural to long for a return to some form of normality following the disruptions of the last few months. Our lives have been turned upside down. Our daily rhythms have been shattered. But this thinking implies that the old “normal” was acceptable. As believers, can we really say this?

The old normal leaves over 3.1 billion people with little to no access to the gospel. Consider the following from the Barna Group1:

  • Only 2% of evangelical Christians regularly share their faith;
  • Only 18% of American Christians are familiar with the term “Great Commission”;
  • Successive generations of American young people identify as less religious than previous generations; and
  • 49% of American millennial evangelicals believe evangelism is wrong.

Is this the “normal” to which we long to return? We must expect more!

COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns have opened a door of opportunity for those who long to see the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14—“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” If history is any indication, God is preparing the spiritual soil for a great harvest. The early Church saw explosive growth following successive plagues in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The resulting expansion eclipsed even the work of the Apostle Paul in the 1st century and catapulted the Christian Church from a persecuted minority to the official religion of the Roman Empire. We are already seeing the signs of a new spiritual openness. Stories are pouring in from near and far. Friends and family who previously had no interest in discussing spiritual matters are eager to study the Bible. Others who were unavailable due to severe time constraints are now free to learn more about the claims of Christianity. The global Church is responding in love, with innumerable acts of kindness and service and untold numbers are turning to Jesus.

But, how long will this continue if we are satisfied with drifting back into “normal”?

Here are four key commitments that I believe we must embrace as followers of Jesus in order to join God in what He is doing now and in the coming days2:

1. Commitment #1 – Develop and maintain an extraordinary focus on prayer and fasting
If ever there was a person who could successfully minister to others in his own power, it would have been Jesus. However, He modeled something altogether different for us. He was consistently going off to be alone with the Father. Moreover, when His disciples were unable to cast out a particular demon in a young boy, Jesus told them in Mark 9:29 “…’This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.’” In other words, when you are facing this level of spiritual opposition, your only effective resource is prayer and fasting.

When I used to think of prayer and fasting, I equated it with a daily quiet time. And don’t get me wrong. That is important. But the kind of prayer and fasting I am talking about goes way beyond this. The daily quiet time is only the starting place.

A couple of years ago, some friends and I had been doing door-to-door evangelism in Dallas and we had gotten into the habit of doing two or three prayer walks around a neighborhood or apartment complex before we started knocking on doors. I believed our process was adequate for the task. Why then were the results so unsatisfactory? I asked one of the highly successful church planters in South Asia what they did when entering a new place. He replied, “We don’t enter a new place until we have prayer walked it for six months.” He also described to me all-night prayer sessions with his church leaders and month-long fasts. In fact, in January 2020, several hundred movement leaders from around the world fasted the entire month. They were asking God for two things: 1) That He would raise up indigenous leaders among every remaining unreached people group in the world and 2) that a church planting team would begin working in each of those people groups by the end of 2025.

If we want to change the world, we must humble ourselves and ask the one who can bring it about. In other words, instead of praying for the work, we must begin to look at prayer as an integral part of the work.

2. Commitment #2 – Develop a Biblical view and acceptance of sacrifice and suffering as an ordinary part of the Christian life
We all have a filter through which we evaluate our commitments. How much time will it take? How much will it cost? Will it be difficult? Will I enjoy it? Much of our concern is whether it will create “discomfort” for us or our loved ones. Jesus never gave His disciples any illusions about the fact that true discipleship requires sacrifice. Luke 9:23 tells us: “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Not the most appealing sales pitch I’ve ever heard.

In Luke 15:18-20a He tells His disciples – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…”

As followers of Christ we should expect persecution, hardship, and sacrifice. How then have we fallen into the deception that God’s blessing can be measured by our level of personal safety and material comfort? By doing so we position the voluntary relinquishment of those things as undesirable when everything in Scripture screams otherwise! In a sense we have spiritualized our materialism and by doing so have distorted it into a virtue.

If we would join God in what He is doing, we must cast off our “comfort filters” and be willing to embrace sacrifice and suffering.

3. Commitment #3 – Make obedience a priority
Jesus was big on obedience, wasn’t He? Not only did He practice it, but He expected it from those who would be His followers. In John 14:15 He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Seems pretty clear doesn’t it? James tells us in James 4:17 “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” I think we all understand and believe this. But if that’s the case, why does the church in America look so much like the world? For many of us, the pursuit of religion has become merely an intellectual pursuit. In this mindset, the accumulation of spiritual knowledge becomes an end in itself. We go to church, we hear a sermon, we get convicted, and by the end of lunch we have forgotten what the sermon was about. We have a vague understanding of the major doctrines of the faith but do they impact the way we live?

I will give you an example from my own life. I remember when I first read Luke 10 with a real effort to understand exactly what it meant. You know the story—Jesus sent His disciples out into the villages that He was intending to visit. He told them to go out two-by-two, take no money, no extra clothing or shoes, etc. etc. I remember scratching my head and wondering, “Why did He tell them to do it that way? It seems like a pretty flimsy plan.” I finally decided that He must have been teaching them dependence. “Oh, I get it. He wants us to be dependent on Him and on the power of the Holy Spirit.” I went away feeling good that God had revealed a new truth to me. I filed it away in my mind and didn’t do anything differently.

Now, compare that with a former Hindu friend of mine in South Asia who, as a new believer, read the same passage. What did he do? He gathered up some fellow new believers, they prayed about it, and felt the Lord was speaking to them. No one had yet taught them how to share their faith so they bought some evangelistic tracts in the local language, borrowed some bicycles, and set out—taking no money, no extra clothes, no extra shoes.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Nothing. We rode 90 kilometers, one-way. We went hungry a couple of nights, slept in the open a couple of nights, and handed out all of our tracts.”

“Did anyone come to Christ?”

“No.”

“So what did you do?”

“We did it again.”

They did it five times. That was nearly twenty years ago. If you ride with him now up that same road, there are over 700 churches that he has helped plant. Do you see the difference? My idea of obedience was theoretical, intellectual. His was literal.

Obedience is not optional if our desire is to finish the task.

4. Commitment #4 – Be intentional about evangelism and discipleship
The United States Marines have a saying—“Every Marine a rifleman.” What they mean by this is that no matter what other specialized role you may fill, first and foremost you are a rifleman. A similar statement can be made about followers of Christ—“Every disciple a disciple-maker.” In effect, this is simply a restatement of the long-held Protestant doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. We tend to give it lip service when it suits us but then choose to delegate to the “professionals” when it becomes inconvenient. In this paradigm, our commitment to evangelism can be met by simply inviting people to church to be evangelized by the specialists who have been trained (and paid) for this sort of thing. But the Apostle Paul, in 2 Cor. 5:17-20, informs the Corinthian congregation,

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.”

If this isn’t clear enough, listen to these chilling words from Christ Himself. In Matthew 12:30 He says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” He seems to be saying, “If you won’t be part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

Therefore, if we want to join God in what He is doing, we must reclaim our identity as His ambassadors and become highly intentional about evangelism and discipleship.

So, I ask you, what do you think would happen if we, collectively, were to embrace these four principles?
1) Develop and maintain an extraordinary focus on prayer and fasting.
2) Develop a Biblical view and acceptance of sacrifice and suffering as an ordinary part of the Christian life.
3) Make obedience a priority.
4) Be intentional about evangelism and discipleship.

God is doing an astonishing work in our own generation—even more so in recent days. And He is using those who have committed to live according to a radical pattern of obedience. Will you be prepared to make the necessary adjustments to join Him or are you more committed to getting back to normal?

If the former, we want to give you opportunities to live according to this radical pattern of obedience. Three of these opportunities are new initiatives from e3 Partners, including Virtual Trips, Live Second Groups and Bible Stories of Hope. Scroll down to learn more about each one.

1(The Barna Group is a US-based company, widely considered to be the leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture.)
2(These are based upon observations of successful movement leaders who are shepherding large, multiplying movements of disciples and churches—many in some of the most unreached parts of the world.)

Virtual Trips
Live Second Groups
Bible Stories of Hope
Virtual Trips
Live Second Groups
Bible Stories of Hope

Go on a Virtual Trip

e3’s virtual mission trips allow you to go and make disciples across the world through the use of digital media.
Learn More About Virtual Trips

Join a Live Second Group

e3’s online Christian community strategy connects you with other believers and provides you with Biblical content and coaching.
Learn More About Live Second Groups

Learn How You Can Share Bible Stories of Hope with Others

People are searching for hope right now, and as Christians, we have an opportunity to share the one true source of hope with them. This discovery Bible study series shows you a simple way to do that.
Watch the Series

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our aith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2

Is there such a thing as a senior missionary? We reckon it’s so as we’ve reached an age - when, how we’ve been able to strive, and where we’ve been able to thrive in the past has become increasingly problematic - though our passion and desire to trust and obey all Jesus commanded remains! 

As God’s adopted children, we love God, we love God’s family, and we love the whosoever’s He is calling to Himself. And as missionaries with e3 Partners Ministry since the late 1990's, we love serving Christ’s church, albeit, in deeply varied ways.

Initially, late 1990’s onwards, for almost ten (10) years our primary church planting ministry focus was both in South America (mainly Costa Rica) and in Russia. Later, as focus within the e3 Partners ministry began to change and evolve, e3 church planting missionaries (like ourselves) were encouraged to both facilitate “kingdom growth” beyond our taking short-term mission teams internationally and simple church planting (addition methodology). E3 Partners’ leadership began exhorting us to seek “in country” partnerships with our training and short-term teams modeling what Jesus modeled when on earth (MAWL) towards the hope that GOD-sized church planting movements begin indigenously (multiplicative methodology).

Look to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Rely upon the Holy Spirit! Go to where “God’s kingdom is not”, training and teaching those mission teams we lead to also train and teach by modeling, assisting, watching, lettering back (MAWL) what we’ve seen Jesus teach and model! In our souls we now deemed it most important to do the needful in reaching the hard to reach, the unengaged, the unreconciled, the troubled … peoples and tribes of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this, God now led us to primarily focus exclusively upon two (2) areas of the world: the "Horn of Africa" and the Asian sub-continent called “India".

The Horn of Africa, for us, meant focusing our church planting efforts in troubled Rwanda, a country torn apart by tribal genocide. Oh, how GOD worked in Rwanda! He invited us to join Him as He then favored our ministry there - 2005 to 2016 - as we saw 100’s, even 10’s of 100’s, of new churches planted … with Rwandans from every tribe making professions of faith before we sensed our church planting ministry there was completed; in that by 2016, God had raised up both incredibly gifted Rwandan Christian leaders and an impassioned e3 Community Transformation leadership team to carry on in Rwanda. 

India's mission went differently for us.  We heard and considered an e3 India Strategy Leader’s invitation to minister there beginning in 2004-2005. As we prayed, we learned India had over 5000 people groups or tribes, unreached and/or unengaged - almost one (1) billion people - a billion men, women, and children who’d never heard the name of Jesus!  Now traveling to India and experiencing this unimaginable lostness ... chaos seemingly everywhere ... we heard from the Lord to begin working there with the Banjara church (located in south central India) in hopes of reaching an unreached tribal group of 40 million people called the Banjara Gypsy. The next few years, while splitting our efforts between Rwanda, Africa and India, ministry to the Banjara tribal group led to a series of “run, stop, run, step back, walk, caution, …” all glory to God yet “traction” never quite realized.  

In 2011 God redirected (?!?) and ministry plans changed! A series of events led to our first assisting another e3 expedition team who’d canceled their plans to travel in another country now considered “too dangerous”. Needing a new location, they asked us if anyone could help them which led to our offering them a location we’d already prepared to receive our own e3 team … but later in the year. Now scrambling to find a site for our own team (expedition), we were offered a new ministry location which we subsequently accepted in the India state of Maharashtra with entirely different unreached people groups and an entirely different network of churches.

God, ever faithful, now orchestrated we now be introduced to a small church network of 14 churches comprised of about 1500 men and women who dreamed of reaching their surrounding villages and beyond with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fervent prayer warriors, blessed with biblical vision and faithfulness, these men and women were open to receiving, what was for them, new methodologies and trainings on how they might expand God’s kingdom. Together, we evangelized and discipled new believers according to what the Bible commanded and an e3 Partners' India strategy of multiplying churches through building coalitions. Over the next few years, it was evident that our LORD God had birthed a God-sized, church planting movement - to God be all the glory!

And the fruitful work in this part of India (now called the MSR) continues today but in 9 states rather than one. The strategy remains very much the same although e3 USA strategy leadership has changed so let’s update what’s gone on since late 2020 … what mission’s ministry looks like for Mary and I in 2023 … 

Since late 2020, I’ve (Mike) stepped away from fulltime MSR strategy and trip leadership; albeit, continuing to serve the MSR church planting movement in a number of small ways. Additionally, I have served as an occasional participant/trainer on 2021-23 virtual mission trips and am currently signed up to travel and participate on two (2) trips to India this November. Moreover, in 2020 I became actively involved with another e3 Partners Ministry (briefly mentioned earlier) mission called I Am Second (IAS).

Working a reduced work schedule, I minister as a voluntary coach for IAS as a responder, a discipleship facilitator, and as an IAS New Testament distributor. As a responder, this consists of my being asked to respond to those who request (through the I Am Second website) someone to talk to regarding their relationship (or lack of relationship) with Jesus Christ, their lack of discipleship, their lack of someone to talk to about Jesus, and/or their desire for fellowship with other Christians. This role often leads one to form and facilitate new I Am Second bible fellowships (or add inquirers to existing zoom and live fellowships) using discipleship methods used while on the field in discipleship themes such as Stories of Hope, Commands of Christ, studying through a gospel together, etc. Finally, as a distributor, I’ve been tasked to emphasize the “IAS discipleship opportunity” via the distribution of free IAS NTs (QR tagged) by installing and replenishing IAS New Testaments displays at varying distribution points in North Alabama.

During this period, Mary has actually increased her e3 mission activities! With the MSR strategy remaining very much the same, the e3 USA strategy leadership has changed. Today Mary Wagner oversees the North American e3 work in the MSR as one of two MSR e3 Strategy Coordinators working alongside our Indian partners to reach their population of over 500 million men, women, and children of 1000+ unreached and unengaged people groups. This she does while doing all she has always done!!! And in addition to her e3 MSR activities, Mary also serves as an IAS Second coach fielding I Am Second (IAS) gender specific requests for discipleship.

Thank you for the countless ways you have come alongside us for so many years! We move forward in faith, trusting the Lord to sustain us until we are called home!

 Mike and Mary

  • An Updated Past and Present Review of M&M's e3 Ministry!

    Posted a week ago

    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2

    Is there such a thing as a senior missionary? We reckon it’s so as we’ve reached an age - when, how we’ve been able to strive, and where we’ve been able to thrive in the past has become increasingly problematic - though our passion and desire to trust and obey all Jesus commanded remains! 

    As God’s adopted children, we love God, we love God’s family, and we love the whosoever’s He is calling to Himself. And as missionaries with e3 Partners Ministry since the late 1990's, we love serving Christ’s church, albeit, in deeply varied ways.

    Initially, late 1990’s onwards, for almost ten (10) years our primary church planting ministry focus was both in South America (mainly Costa Rica) and in Russia. Later, as focus within the e3 Partners ministry began to change and evolve, e3 church planting missionaries (like ourselves) were encouraged to both facilitate “kingdom growth” beyond our taking short-term mission teams internationally and simple church planting (addition methodology). E3 Partners’ leadership began exhorting us to seek “in country” partnerships with our training and short-term teams modeling what Jesus modeled when on earth (MAWL) towards the hope that GOD-sized church planting movements begin indigenously (multiplicative methodology).

    Look to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Rely upon the Holy Spirit! Go to where “God’s kingdom is not”, training and teaching those mission teams we lead to also train and teach by modeling, assisting, watching, lettering back (MAWL) what we’ve seen Jesus teach and model! In our souls we now deemed it most important to do the needful in reaching the hard to reach, the unengaged, the unreconciled, the troubled … peoples and tribes of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this, God now led us to primarily focus exclusively upon two (2) areas of the world: the "Horn of Africa" and the Asian sub-continent called “India".

    The Horn of Africa, for us, meant focusing our church planting efforts in troubled Rwanda, a country torn apart by tribal genocide. Oh, how GOD worked in Rwanda! He invited us to join Him as He then favored our ministry there - 2005 to 2016 - as we saw 100’s, even 10’s of 100’s, of new churches planted … with Rwandans from every tribe making professions of faith before we sensed our church planting ministry there was completed; in that by 2016, God had raised up both incredibly gifted Rwandan Christian leaders and an impassioned e3 Community Transformation leadership team to carry on in Rwanda.

    India's mission went differently for us.  We heard and considered an e3 India Strategy Leader’s invitation to minister there beginning in 2004-2005. As we prayed, we learned India had over 5000 people groups or tribes, unreached and/or unengaged - almost one (1) billion people - a billion men, women, and children who’d never heard the name of Jesus!  Now traveling to India and experiencing this unimaginable lostness ... chaos seemingly everywhere ... we heard from the Lord to begin working there with the Banjara church (located in south central India) in hopes of reaching an unreached tribal group of 40 million people called the Banjara Gypsy. The next few years, while splitting our efforts between Rwanda, Africa and India, ministry to the Banjara tribal group led to a series of “run, stop, run, step back, walk, caution, …” all glory to God yet “traction” never quite realized.  

    In 2011 God redirected (?!?) and ministry plans changed! A series of events led to our first assisting another e3 expedition team who’d canceled their plans to travel in another country now considered “too dangerous”. Needing a new location, they asked us if anyone could help them which led to our offering them a location we’d already prepared to receive our own e3 team … but later in the year. Now scrambling to find a site for our own team (expedition), we were offered a new ministry location which we subsequently accepted in the India state of Maharashtra with entirely different unreached people groups and an entirely different network of churches.

    God, ever faithful, now orchestrated we now be introduced to a small church network of 14 churches comprised of about 1500 men and women who dreamed of reaching their surrounding villages and beyond with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fervent prayer warriors, blessed with biblical vision and faithfulness, these men and women were open to receiving, what was for them, new methodologies and trainings on how they might expand God’s kingdom. Together, we evangelized and discipled new believers according to what the Bible commanded and an e3 Partners' India strategy of multiplying churches through building coalitions. Over the next few years, it was evident that our LORD God had birthed a God-sized, church planting movement - to God be all the glory!

    And the fruitful work in this part of India (now called the MSR) continues today but in 9 states rather than one. The strategy remains very much the same although e3 USA strategy leadership has changed so let’s update what’s gone on since late 2020 … what mission’s ministry looks like for Mary and I in 2023 …

    Since late 2020, I’ve (Mike) stepped away from fulltime MSR strategy and trip leadership; albeit, continuing to serve the MSR church planting movement in a number of small ways. Additionally, I have served as an occasional participant/trainer on 2021-23 virtual mission trips and am currently signed up to travel and participate on two (2) trips to India this November. Moreover, in 2020 I became actively involved with another e3 Partners Ministry (briefly mentioned earlier) mission called I Am Second (IAS).

    Working a reduced work schedule, I minister as a voluntary coach for IAS as a responder, a discipleship facilitator, and as an IAS New Testament distributor. As a responder, this consists of my being asked to respond to those who request (through the I Am Second website) someone to talk to regarding their relationship (or lack of relationship) with Jesus Christ, their lack of discipleship, their lack of someone to talk to about Jesus, and/or their desire for fellowship with other Christians. This role often leads one to form and facilitate new I Am Second bible fellowships (or add inquirers to existing zoom and live fellowships) using discipleship methods used while on the field in discipleship themes such as Stories of Hope, Commands of Christ, studying through a gospel together, etc. Finally, as a distributor, I’ve been tasked to emphasize the “IAS discipleship opportunity” via the distribution of free IAS NTs (QR tagged) by installing and replenishing IAS New Testaments displays at varying distribution points in North Alabama.

    During this period, Mary has actually increased her e3 mission activities! With the MSR strategy remaining very much the same, the e3 USA strategy leadership has changed. Today Mary Wagner oversees the North American e3 work in the MSR as one of two MSR e3 Strategy Coordinators working alongside our Indian partners to reach their population of over 500 million men, women, and children of 1000+ unreached and unengaged people groups. This she does while doing all she has always done!!! And in addition to her e3 MSR activities, Mary also serves as an IAS Second coach fielding I Am Second (IAS) gender specific requests for discipleship.

    Thank you for the countless ways you have come alongside us for so many years! We move forward in faith, trusting the Lord to sustain us until we are called home!

    Mike and Mary


    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • Happy New Year!

    Posted a week ago

    Happy New Year!

    2021 is coming to a close and we want to say thank you for partnering with us! God is at work, despite the difficult times we live in. 

    2022 is full of plans to go virtually and in person to India. Thank you for praying with us as we move forward in faith. trusting God in everything!

    May we commit our plans to the LORD; trust in Him, and trust that He will do it. (Psalm 37:5)

    Please let us know how we can pray specifically for you in 2022.

    Blessings and love from Mike and Mary!

    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • Quick Update!

    Posted a week ago

    Greetings!

    We have finally updated this page and wanted to share it with you!

    As you know, it's the aim of the Indian government to eliminate Christians and make it a Hindu nation. With the re-election of Prime Minister Modi, the intensity to achieve that goal has escalated.

    Because our goal is to advance GOD'S kingdom, we know the teams that "go" are a threat to the enemy and he will send out his demonic assassins to destroy us, sometimes silently without even realizing what is happening until it’s too late, if God does not intervene. We are thankful that God was with our team and He answered our prayers. Even if the outcome had been different, we know that He was with us and we are forever grateful!

    Due to the quick exit in July, we had to postpone the Women's Conference and cancel the third summer expedition team. It was disappointing for everyone, but we know God's ways are MUCH higher than our ways!

    God has worked it out for a team of three women to travel back to India on September 21st for the Women's Conference.  Please pray for the women that had to reschedule. It's not an easy task in India to arrange childcare, meals and transportation to a conference. Our prayer is that every woman scheduled to attend in July will be there in September! We will be sending a prayer calendar through the MSR prayer team soon. If you are not receiving the updates, please CLICK HERE to sign up.

    We are grateful for you ... our supporters and prayer warriors. Thank you for all you do to help advance God's Kingdom!

    Mike and Mary

    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • God's Grace and Marcy!

    Posted a week ago

    Beloved!

    With everything that is happening here and around the world, our mission is now more critical than ever! There is only one solution ... Jesus Christ!

    God always gives us reason to celebrate! We want to share some recent events in our lives that we are CELEBRATING God’s grace and mercy!

    God’s grace and mercy ... we bought a house! We have been renting a two-story townhouse from Mike’s brother for 13 years. We had a moving deadline of December, 2017 and God quickly provided us a one story home that wasn’t even for sale! Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” That about sums it up!

    How were we able to buy a house? We tried for years to purchase term (new) life insurance in order to be able to cancel old policies that had built up cash value. But life insurance companies rated us “poor risks” because of our life’s ministry and because of the dangerous places we travel to … Yet in God’s perfect timing, when Mike and I decided to both apply again for term life insurance, we found open doors! We were both not only approved but at extremely reasonable rates! With the freed up insurance cash and with a gift from Mike’s mother and the insurance cash, we were able to make a solid down payment on the house that enabled our purchasing the house with payments being even lower than our years of rent payments! Many of you have faithfully supported us financially and we thank you for your part in our being able to purchase a single story home! Thank you!

    We look forward to the new ministry God has in store for us in our new neighborhood. Our new address is 103 Crystal Pond Ct. / Madison, AL 35757

    God’s grace and mercy ... I (Mary) was traveling 65 miles per hour during rush hour on I-565 when a car entering the highway decided to move directly into the lane I occupied. The impact caused my car to “totter” and pushed me into the next lane. I remember looking in my rear view mirror and seeing a multitude of cars behind me as I tried to gain control and not flip over! I ended up about a quarter of a mile down the highway from the initial impact. I ran to the car that hit me and found a woman with THREE BABIES IN THE BACK SEAT. I immediately praised the Lord and gave the woman a hug. I have never been an amusement park kind of girl ... my experience was not exhilarating, but an opportunity to thank Him for everyone’s safety and a reminder to thank God for His grace and mercy! My car is totaled, but God has already promised us a “new” car!

    We are in the process of training 4 teams for India. Our trips are in November, December, January and February. We are thankful for each team member as we focus on spiritual preparation and spiritual warfare!

    Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. This has been a difficult year with many changes, but we know that God is in control!!!

    Blessings!

    Mike and Mary


    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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