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t o M i s s i o n s W o r l d w i d e

Outpost Centers International F Monthly Newsletter 5.12 F December 2011

Beauty and Transformation

Ababy’s loud cry pierced through the humid air, interrupting the

volunteers’ happy chatter as they painted the half-wood, half-brick church.

“Let’s sing and see if we can get the baby to calm down,” suggested Jane, one of the workers.

After the group sang several hymns, the baby stopped wailing. This experience was one of many uplifting moments shared by participants on an OCI mission trip to Amazon Lifesavers Ministry, an OCI member in Brazil.

During two weeks in November, seven people served at several different projects that the ministry is involved with. One of the projects was a face-lift for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Giro, a poor community on the outskirts of Manaus.

Giro is an area where water arrives to the houses for only a few hours a day, where childhood prostitution is common, and where homes are made of broken-down wood and unfinished bricks. Using colors chosen by church members, the group spent four days working to bring beauty and transformation to the neighborhood as they painted the church a royal blue. As the last coat of paint was applied, a neighbor passed by and stated that he

This holiday season, give the gift of service by sponsoring a family member or friend to attend a future OCI mission trip. To learn more, visit the OCI website.outpostcenters.org/missiontrip

believed everyone in the neighborhood would now want to attend the church because the building was so beautiful.

In addition to the time spent in Giro, the participants also helped to replace a roof at an orphanage and traveled by boat to two remote villages in the jungle. Everyone involved received a huge spiritual blessing, including the full-time Amazon Lifesavers Ministry volunteers that hosted the group.

If you haven’t been on a mission trip yet, it is time you go! Don’t miss the opportunity to serve in another country and to share Christ’s transforming love with others!p

by Brad Mills, Amazon Lifesavers Ministry Director

Your Connection to Missions Worldwide newsletter is published monthly by Outpost Centers International. Please send all changes of address to: Your Connection, 5340 Layton Lane, Apison, TN 37302. Please include the old address along with the new. Tel: 423-236-5600. Fax: 423-236-5650. E-mail: connection@outpostcenters.org

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Prayer Poultice

I was so excited to go on my first mission trip! In July I spent three weeks in a

small village in Malatia, Solomon Islands, with a group of 10 students and staff from Eastward Missionary College.

During the first few days, I met two villagers who were suffering from headaches and nausea. I applied charcoal poultices and gave hot and cold footbaths.

While I cared for them, curious onlookers formed a crowd around me. Lenty, the village chief, also came to watch. He soon warmed up to me and told me about the pain and swelling in his feet and knees, as well as his inability to move his wrist.

I provided him with similar treatments, and the Lord used the simple

Find out more about Eastward Missionary College, located in Australia, on the ministry’s website.eastward.edu.au

It’s the most wonderful

time of the year. Out come

the decorations, wish lists,

and favorite family recipes.

Homes bask in the rich

smell of spices and evergreen.

Preparations for grand

gatherings consume mind

and wallet.

I recently stood in line

at a popular eatery. A man

in front of me complained

about his order, and after

speaking rudely to the waiter,

demanded a refund. You

might view his complaint

as a first world problem;

while much greater issues

plague people in developing

countries, his small

inconvenience bothered him.

During a time when we

give thanks, sometimes we

celebrate but forget to be

thankful. We focus on what

we lack rather than on what

God has blessed us with. This

holiday season, whether we

have much or little, let us be

grateful for the One who

gave His life for us.

“Thanks be to God for

His indescribable gift” (2

Corinthians 9:15, NKJV)!

thoughtsEDITOR’S

First World Problem

Cultivating CharacterRestore a Child seeks to feed hungry

children around the world; however, the ministry recently began supporting agricultural training initiatives in Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Tanzania. It is the team’s desire to also provide youth with the occupational skills needed to acquire their own resources, as well as to promote a stability of character. While growing vegetables helps meet a physical need, the ministry hopes these children will cultivate something more important; a relationship with Jesus.

by Joshua Corda, Eastward Missionary College Student

remedies to relieve the discomfort in Lenty’s feet and knees, allowing him to walk normally again. Soon he was using his wrist again to paddle his canoe and to work in the garden with his bush knife!

Chief Lenty became more open to spiritual conversations, and I believe the healing he experienced contributed to his positive response to the appeals made during our nightly Steps to Christ evangelistic series, which also set an example for the whole village.p

$5,000 will help Restore a Child support agricultural training in Indonesia (pictured above).restoreachild.org