One of the most intriguing verses to me in the New Testament is found in Paul’s brief “P.S.” at the end of his Philippian Letter.  He says this: “All the saints greet you, especially those in Caesar’s household” (Phil. 4:22).  This provokes the obvious question: “How in the world did we get saints inside of Caesar’s household?” By Paul being arrested, that’s how. 

“…the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.” (Heb. 13:11-12)

Dear NDI Partner,

Easter is a time to be “outside the gate” of religion and society.  For me personally, it is not a time to be “in church.” While that is certainly a very appropriate way to celebrate Easter, it is not the primary place God has called me to.  That’s because the first Easter events did not take place within the boundaries of social society.  Nor did it take place within the gilded walls of religion.  As the verse above clearly reveals, Good Friday and Easter took place “…outside the city gate.”

Recently Patt and I had the privilege of teaching a Marriage Conference for the Wakefield Family Church, a predominantly African American Church located in Raleigh.  The Conference was held at the lovely water front Embassy Suites Hotel at Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach.  This wonderful church is led by Pastors Rodney & Valerie Frazier and Pastor Danny Peebles and his wife Monica. 

Dear NDI Partner,

One of the uniquenesses of Biblical relationships is the authentic empathy that we feel toward other brothers and sisters within the Body of Christ.  While we have a certain pathos and pity toward the plight of any hurting member of the human family, we have a more deep and personal empathy with family members who have experienced sorrow.  As the Bible says, we are to “…weep with those who weep”” (Rom. 12:15).

Dear Friend,

We hope the Lenten Series has been a blessing to you. However, J.L. Williams has had to temporarily discontinue writing this daily “Lenten Devotional” due to an unexpected trip to India for the funeral of the wife of one of our longest-standing national partnerships with Bishop Ezra Sargunam of the ECI. 

The rest of the series will be available sometime this year through the book by the same title, “The Passionate Christ.” Please refer to the website for information regarding the book release. We apologize for the premature cessation of this study and welcome any questions you may have. We thank you and trust that your passion for Him is ever-increasing!

New Directions International
Phone: 1-888-PRAY-NDI
Email:

“Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?” (James 2:5)

Dear NDI Partner,

Happy and Holy New Year in the love of the Lord Jesus!  I trust that you are off to a strong spiritual offense for 2008.  I heard someone say this week that the 3 greatest impacting factors for each of our lives are:  “The people we meet...the places we go...and the periodicals we read.” How true! 

“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands.  He has watched over your journey through this vast desert.  These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” (Deuteronomy 2:7)

Dear Friend & Partner,

I am writing this special blog entry on “New Years Eve” - which is also my 66th birthday.  By God’s grace, I have come to the end of another full and fruitful year of travel and ministry.  In the last 12 months of travel and ministry the Lord took me to Nepal, India, Hong Kong, Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Haiti and Andros, Freeport and Abaco in the Bahamas.  And I was in most of these countries more than once in 2007.  Also, when I was not out of country, I was traveling and speaking domestically.  So it has been a very busy year of travel and ministry for the Kingdom - all made possible by your prayers and partnership spiritually and financially.

For a number of years now I have spent the first part of December ministering somewhere in Africa.  It always helps me get into the real spirit of Christmas.  That’s because God is mightily at work on the African Continent—in spite of great problems like political corruption, poverty, tribalism, joblessness and AIDS.  The church is growing exponentially all over sub-Saharan Africa today.  Already the Twenty-First Century is being called the “African Century.” Some of the largest and fastest growing churches in the world are now in Africa.  And they are generally more evangelical, Biblically centered, Spirit-filled and socially conservative than their American or European counterpart.

A few days ago Patt and I were in Haiti for another event at the “Haiti White House,” or National Palace.  It was my third time to participate in these historic Christian gatherings in partnership with our long time friend, Pastor Chavannes Jeunes, and his lovely wife, Marie Lucie.  God sovereignly networked us together over 25 years ago—and we have enjoyed wonderful friendship and partnership since then.  Chavannes has now emerged as perhaps the single most well known and influential Christian leader in Haiti.  He is also the most widely known Haitian among the Diaspora in America, Canada, France and the Caribbean.  His Christian political party made many advances in the last elections on the local and national level.  And he came in number 3 in the Presidential elections, losing to incumbent Rene Preval.  It is my prayer and hope that he will be elected next time as the first evangelical Christian President in Haitian history!

The last entry in my Mission Journal was written by Patt and focused on Ethiopia—especially the Women’s Conference there.  I hope you were blessed and encouraged by it as you got a brief glimpse of what your prayers and support make possible. This entree of my Travel Journal focuses on our time in Yei, Sudan, after we left Ethiopia.  Here our focus was on the “Eden Keepers’ Farm” headed by our Sudanese partner, Dr. John Nyikako.  God sovereignly connected me with him several years ago when he was a refugee in Nairobi.