It has been pretty crazy around here…which isn’t unusual right before Jeff leaves on a mission, but a kidney stone wasn’t how we wanted to start the week. None the less, it’s how it started and not even a kidney stone can stop Jeff from his assignment. We’ve learned that if you just keep pressing on, the Lord will take care of every detail. Jeff was blessed with a whole row of seats to himself on his longest flight and no pain the entire way. If and when the stone passes, I’m fully trusting the Lord in His timing and provision. Sometimes complications and inconveniences aren’t reason enough to quit. Watch the Lord work when you persevere despite the circumstances.
When Jeff arrived, he handed Sanjeep about 20 water filters that they could give out as they were sharing the gospel. Sanjeep is just recovering from Typhoid that he contracted from dirty water when he was out visiting a village. He knows the importance of clean water, and these little filters are helping to save lives while we are busy sharing the Living Water that saves souls. Such a small, effective, and inexpensive gift to a family can be a life-changer. You can help provide these filters for $25, which includes the filter and all the tubing, and we provide the buckets. If you’d like to purchase one of these filter kits so we can distribute them in Nepal and Cuba, you can send a check to TREC and label it “water filter” or go to the website and designate your gift on the Donate Now page. All that information is at the bottom of the newsletter.
So, Jeff called me last night before heading up the mountain. We weren’t sure when he’d get the opportunity to call home again, and he was asking me about the newsletter and if I had any direction from the Lord on what to share. I told him I had a bible verse, but nothing else set in stone. He said, “ Look up that verse that says something about, ‘how will they know unless we go’…or something like that.” I knew exactly where the verse was because that’s the verse the Lord had given me. We both had a laugh and knew we were on the right track! Jeff said that verse was bouncing around in his head. He said he woke up in the middle of the night and the word “how” kept repeating over and over in his mind. How far would you go? How high would you climb? How much money would you spend? How much vacation time would you use? How much is too much of a sacrifice? How are we going to reach people with the gospel of Jesus unless these questions are answered and acted upon?
Honestly, I don’t know the answers to some of these questions, and I’m sure they are hitting you as hard as they hit me. I do know this: we can provide some avenue for you to get your faith dirty when the Lord calls you. We’d love for you to deliver those water filters yourself. We’d love to have you come share your God story with the hopeless. However we can help you be obedient, we want to help! Call Jeff at 334-303-2626, he’d love to hear how you answer his questions (but wait until he gets home on October 31). I’m going to leave you with a few pictures of Jeff Benefield and Jeff planning their TREC with Bijay and Bishal. Pray for them as they are up on the mountain. Pray for their health, altitude sickness, kidney stones, and whatever other health hazards there are and that many will come to know the Savior.
Love to you all,
Trudy
