NEXT GENERATION LEADERSHIP
Even through waves of grief, a testimony of legacy has emerged.
As a parent, is there anything better than seeing your children make their faith their own? This is a prayer focus I have for my kids this year. Helping to build a strong, personal foundation of faith in God and His Word is the greatest gift we can leave behind to our children.
This September, I am reflecting on legacy. August 31 marks two years since my dad, the founder of World Compassion, went to be with the Lord. He never wanted World Compassion to stop with him. On mission, he fought hard to set this work up to continue on from generation to generation, impacting lives well beyond his lifetime. He prepared for this personally and financially, too.
Today, his passion and calling to reach restricted nations with the Gospel of Jesus lives on through you and me. It also lives on through indigenous staff members who have joined our team and are advancing the Kingdom in their country despite enormous risk and cultural pushback.
We’re even seeing the next generation rise up in Iraq to continue making a Kingdom impact!
For example, Pastor Ahmed and Sarah’s family, as well as their church, have been instrumental in leading people to Christ through our skills training programs and the mobile medical clinic. They literally serve hundreds of people every month!
Sarah led the skills training courses and cared for the women moving towards reestablishing a livelihood for themselves and their families.
Sarah’s daughter, Illiana, often joined her, ultimately developing a love for the ladies involved and passion for the programs just like her mom.
You can imagine the shock it was for all of us when Sarah suddenly passed away just four months ago. On top of the personal sadness for our friends, the question naturally arose: who will continue ministering to these women through the skills training programs?
Even through waves of grief, a testimony of legacy has emerged.
After years of serving alongside her mom, this legacy of faith has compelled 22-year- old Illiana to continue being a part of this amazing ministry that is restoring the lives of refugee women and introducing them to Christ! She is now helping to facilitate the skills training programs the way her mom did!
Following Illiana are even friends of hers who also want to be a part. The next generation that is stepping into the Kingdom legacy of those who have gone before them is multiplying in number! This is the fruit of empowering the local church in target nations.
STORIES FROM INSIDE THE TENT
Illiana’s faithfulness has put her in relationship with hundreds of incredible refugee women who are actively going through World Compassion’s sewing and cosmetology training programs.
Illiana shared, “One lady who participated in our sewing program last year continues to stay in touch with us. We continue to minister to her and help her practically.
Now, when we try to leave her tent to go and minister to other people, she just can’t stay behind. She comes to where we are working and stays there. She says, “I don’t want you to teach me anything or give me anything – I just want to be close to you.”
We were able to send some believers from our church to her house to pray a salvation prayer with her, and she accepted immediately!
She doesn’t have a husband, she doesn’t have a job, she doesn’t have anything… But God is amazing. She confesses every day, “God is protecting me. I’m being kept.”
It’s amazing how a single lady living in such a disastrous place can be thankful and rejoicing that God is with her all the time.
These are more than just programs. The women who teach the courses spend hours outside of class sharing meals with the ladies in their tents, praying with them, and showing them the way of Christ.
These programs help change women’s lives physically, but the door of ministry they open up is the most important part of it all. These programs empower people like Illiana to share the Gospel to transform their lives spiritually.
Illiana told us, “These Yazidis are very hungry and thirsty for the life that has been stolen from them. Every time we talk with them, they say, “We have nothing left.” So, they are willing to take anything we offer them. And they are seeing that what we are giving – it’s more than material, or food, or a skill. It’s a new life. It’s a living Word.”
Here, the legacy of my dad, the legacy of Illiana’s mom, and the legacy of our partners intersect. The outcome? An eternal legacy rewritten for each refugee who comes to know Christ.
REWRITING LEGACIES IN IRAQ
Through simple skills like sewing and cosmetology, 480 women this year will experience a more full life again, able to provide for their children and offer a service to their community – all while learning about a new life in Christ!
In addition, World Compassion helps send out a mobile medical clinic to reach nearly 1,000 people each month with quality medical care and an opportunity for prayer. In these remote and impoverished regions, the local church is meeting needs that otherwise might go unmet.
We’re also keeping the Gospel message alive in Iraq by providing small business grants to Christian families. After being decimated by war, these families and businesses often need just a small investment to breathe life back into their livelihoods. As a business takes off, these families are able to begin providing for themselves, rather than being dependent on aid organizations to survive. Perhaps most importantly, as the influence of these Christian families grows, it gives them a reason to stay in Iraq to continue the legacy of the Gospel there.
Each of these ministries is prayerfully aimed at rebuilding lives, restoring purpose, and rewriting legacies for those who are reached.
Skills Training Programs
You can give refugee women the skills they need to rebuild their lives and a sense of purpose once again!
Mobile Medical Clinic
You can restore health to refugees by sending out the mobile medical clinic to minister to thousands of refugees physically and spiritually!
Small Business Grants
You can kickstart hope in the lives of Christian families by providing small business capital for them to relaunch their business and keep the Gospel anchored in Iraq!
