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Thoughts From Rick Morgan and Wendell and Melanie Nofziger

Dear Friends,

Today, instead of passing along a thought from a published book, I wanted to offer two different “thoughts” from two personal friends presently ministering in other parts of the world. They attended my church in Honduras at some point between 1994-2005 (on occasions when they were not doing their mission work there). I still follow their ministries with a little bit of envy – just a little, not a sinful amount!


The first is by Rick Morgan. Rick now resides with his wife Kim in El Salvador and continues to minister throughout Latin America and Spain as a traveling Pastor/Evangelist/Encourager to pastors and churches. The second is by Wendell and Melanie Nofziger who serve with EMM (Eastern Mennonite Missions) mentoring and making disciples as they direct VidaNet (LifeNet) in Costa Rica. I enjoy getting their updates and pass these along as two notes/updates that inspired me. Enjoy.

“And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain…’ So, she went out and began to glean the fields… and found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz…” Ruth 2:2-3

“We often miss God's extraordinary purposes in our lives when we view His work through a purely "spiritual" or ethereal lens. The remarkable story of Ruth, called to be one of the matriarchs of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't begin with a “grand revelation,” or euphoric spiritual experience. It started simply with her making the decision to get up, go out, and get a job!



Sometimes, we overlook the divine in our lives because we're focused only on the spiritual, heavenly, or supernatural aspects of His calling on our lives. We so easily forget that God’s plan is often unveiled as we walk out the ordinary everyday decisions that we make in life.”


"Welcome Home"
“Late in the Vida220 training, after theological discussion, mission teaching, and character development, students take an hour to ask the Lord how he might use their life. With worship music in the background, they prayerfully draw a picture of the way they think that God might use them. In 2021, Sarah (from Belize) drew a picture of the continent of Africa with a nursing uniform, and shared that she believed God was calling her to be a nurse in Africa. We prayed and gave that dream to God. But at least to me, and perhaps her, it felt about as far-fetched as, "I'm going to live on the moon."



Sarah returned to VidaNet as a team leader and then in a staff role. She grew in leadership and character. And her vision of being a nurse in Africa stayed firm. Sarah is from the Garifuna tribe. Her ancestors (descendants of slave ship survivors whose ships went down in Caribbean waters) came from Africa. "I would like to take the gospel back to Africa to them," she explained.

Sarah has lost two siblings to death already and her precious parents have offered the others to be used by God in any way He determines. When Sarah returned to Belize, she served her family and local church. She applied with EMM and invited VidaNet to lead a mission course in her home community. Her local church raised more than their portion of her financial support… and in November 2024, she arrived in the Gambia! When she got to immigrations in the Gambia to join the EMM team there in this unreached area, the immigration officer looked at her name and announced, "Welcome home!"



Sarah reports that many of the foods and culture, at least on the surface, do feel like home. After language and culture learning, she hopes to go to nursing school there in Africa if God allows.”

Honoring friends who continue to give their lives to reach the lost and equip the saints, Pastor Jeff

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