Throughout Scripture, the Word of God exhorts us to be doers of the Word (James 1.22), in that when we see the needs of others, we are to meet their needs in practical ways. Consider 1Jn 3.17: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” Jesus Christ has led this ministry to reach out to those in need; the poor, the fatherless, the orphan, to show the love of Christ in action and in truth. Under the leadership of Dr. Michael Hyodo, as benevolence department head, we have started dental clinics throughout the world and have visited the widows and the orphans in their affliction.
This picture was taken on February 21, 2004 at the Agape Children’s Home, a local orphanage in Accra, Ghana. The boy in Pastor Hansen’s left arm is a 2 year old orphan named Jeff. He and his two siblings were the children of the founder of the ministry which started the orphanage. Just a few months ago, the entire family was involved in a serious car crash, which took the lives of their parents. Now, Jeff and his brother and sister live in the orphanage, which his father founded. Pastor Hansen formed an instant bond with little Jeff and it was hard to let him go!
The need is so great in Ghana, Liberia, and throughout the world. Nearly every day we are establishing new relationships with individuals and ministries in the hopes of developing a network of people who have the same burden as you and I, which will enable us to do far more together than we could do alone. We also visited an orphanage run by Silke, a Christian missionary from Germany. Her love and burden for the orphans of Ghana was stirring and inspirational. Her mother was visiting from Germany, and Silke was deeply burdened because she had not accepted the Lord. The Holy Spirit ordained an opportunity for Dr. Mike to share the Lord with her, and she accepted Jesus that day! Silke was overjoyed and we know that the Lord and the angels were too.
It is all about letting the love of Christ fill you and then flow out of you. As Christians, we are to meet the needs of people as the Lord brings them to our path. I am reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan (Lk.10.30-37), who first let the compassion and love of Christ flow through him (v.33), then out of this compassion came practical love. Verses 34-35 describe how the Samaritan bandaged his wounds, poured oil and wine on them, transported him to an inn and paid for his stay until he was well. This is love beyond words, beyond ideas, beyond philosophies; it is love in action and in truth.
Dear partners in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your past support and faithfulness to this ministry. It is the consistency of monthly love offerings, which is the financial backbone for what we can do throughout the world. As we continue to visit nations this year, we desire to preach the Word, and pray for direction on how we can meet the daily needs of the destitute. I pray that each of you would consider joining the Tape or Video of the Month Partnership. For your monthly pledge of $25 or $100 respectively, we will send you a week of radio messages as a Tape of the Month Partner, or a week of television and radio messages as a Video of the Month Partner. Within both partnerships, we will continue to send you bimonthly pastoral articles, which will edify and encourage you in your walk with Christ.
As I write this letter to you, we are finishing a tremendous week of meetings in the nation of Liberia. The majority of these meetings have been private sessions with the top political leaders in the nation and many of the religious leaders. We have already gained permission to hold meetings of repentance in the national stadium. Look for a full report of these meetings in the next mailing. May the Lord richly bless you.
Pastor Ty Gulstrom - Assisting Rev. Jonathan Hansen