Gospel Outreach workers in Bangladesh are grateful for the schools and churches built there by the McNeilus family. The workers are also grateful to the 1,000 Missionary Movement, started in the Philippines, which trains young people for volunteer missionary work. Babloo Hembrom, a GO worker, takes care of one of the McNeilus churches in the village of Pakortoli. McNeilus churches always have a schoolroom attached. Babloo is being assisted at the school with 1,000 Missionary Movement worker … [Read more...]
Louise Irene Rea
COLLEGE PLACE, Wash.—Louise Irene Rea, 83, a Gospel Outreach volunteer, died November 30 in College Place, Wash. Born in McMinnville, Oregon, Louise grew up on a farm. She graduated from Walla Walla College in 1951 and received her master’s degree from Central Washington State College. In 1952 she married Bill Rea. Louise was an active member of the Seattle Mountaineers and climbed most of the major peaks in the Northwest. After Gospel Outreach was started in the 1990s, a computer … [Read more...]
Run over
I was born in a dysfunctional family. My father and mother, after three years of living together, found out they were not compatible and went their separate ways. I was left with my grandmother, who was a Seventh-day Adventist. Years passed. I finished college and worked as a representative for a pharmaceutical company. I felt there was a vacuum in my life that I needed to fill, but I didn’t know what it was. One day I heard about the Sulads* program and decided to become a Sulads … [Read more...]
Falsely accused
My wife and I were assigned to a village in the thick jungle of Surigao in the northeastern tip of Mindanao. Thick forests are always a haven for the New People’s Army, a communist rebel group in the Philippines. NPA soldiers have seen the work we do educating the mountain people and respect the service we give to the poor. On the other hand, the government military group can be a challenge. They question why we operate in the woods and in red flag areas where the rebels rule. One time, … [Read more...]
Work expands in Bhutan
A decade ago, Gospel Outreach started a Bhutan-India border ministry with 10 workers. One person touched by the story of Jesus’ love after hearing about the Sabbath was Pema Khadullama. Pema had been raised a Buddhist in Bhutan. Eight times a Buddhist priest had declared him dead: five times from malaria, once with another illness, and twice after accidents. “Three times I was on the stretcher being carried to my grave when I awakened,” Pema says. “I know that God has a special … [Read more...]
Looking back, looking forward
I remember my father telling me as a lad how to track a bear. “As you follow the bear’s tracks, stop every so often. Look around, and see how close the bear is getting to you,” he said. I took that to mean that bears are curious, and they often will double back to discover what is following them. Looking back occasionally is good counsel for us personally as well as corporately. In 2002 Gospel Outreach was asked to help evangelize the Sunderban Islands. Some of you may remember … [Read more...]
‘We can’t just make anyone a Christian’
BANGLADESH—In 1947 two areas of land on the east and west of India became a separate country, Pakistan. Pakistan was founded predominantly as a Muslim country. Later East Pakistan became Bangladesh, which now advocates religious freedom for both Hindus and Christians. Isaac was born into a Muslim family, but nine years ago he became curious about Christians. One day he went to a Catholic church and talked with the gatekeeper. He gave his Muslim name and was told, “You can’t come inside … [Read more...]
Chief Tafido’s invitation
Datu Tafido, the fiercest warrior in the area, is the tribal leader of Slong. He carries a gun and tells stories of fights and illegal activities that have resulted in bloody conflicts. He sees to it that his subjects obey. With respect, I invited the chief to attend church and was surprised when he came, along with his gun. He sat and listened. He loved to see and hear his children sing and recite memory verses. He told me he had visited church regularly when other Sulads* teachers had been … [Read more...]