Treasures in Heaven challenges us to invest for eternity. The brochure briefly outlines the urgent need to reach people in the 10/40 Window and tells how you can help support the work of Gospel Outreach in accomplishing this task.

Dawn West: Littlest Missionary tells the heart-touching story of a 4-year-old girl and her parents. They decided to help raise money for student missionaries in the Philippines. A serious health condition claimed Dawn’s life, but she left behind a legacy of love. You’ll be inspired and challenged by this story of selfless giving.

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Marilyn Weis was among the group of Gospel Outreach volunteers that recently received awards for service. Pictured left to right: Marvin Bischoff, Nathalie Bischoff, Vernon Weis, Marilyn Weis, Carol Pflugrad, Arnold Pflugrad, Nadine Reneau and Frank Stanyer.

How do we articulate appreciation for devoted service that has extended for more than a decade? With just words? Hardly adequate, even if we had an entire book. But to try to reduce our profound loss and thanks to just a few sentences—it’s just impossible to capture our feelings.

Marilyn came to us not skilled in accountancy, but full of love for the Lord and with great good sense. We often call it commonsense, but of all characteristics it really is most uncommon. Enthusiasm! Lots of that. Steady, balanced, thoughtful, careful, cheerful, exceedingly generous. All of the above, and very much more.

Our desks were just inches apart for that little time. How I wish it could have been much longer. But that’s what Gospel Outreach is about—sharing the good news that it can be very much longer—an eternity, in fact. So much of life is not behind us, but ahead. I can only hope that Marilyn and I can associate in some enterprise in the New Earth that will not experience any closing time.

My dad used to say, “You never miss the water until the well goes dry.” It’s true. How little we express appreciation for one another day by day, because we don’t expect things will ever change. But changes come. And we are left to pick up the pieces of our lives and go forward.

We will do that here, but it will be with a profound sense of loss, of loneliness, of matters being no longer right, and with a reduced capacity. Her humor, her laugh, her always putting matters in a good frame of reference—these will be so very much missed. We are diminished.

Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints. And in our eyes as well. Thank you for the wonderful help, Marilyn.

–Richard Madson, Vice President, Administration

On July 29, one of our dedicated volunteers passed to her rest. For many years Marilyn Weis worked with the business functions of Gospel Outreach. She was determined to do all that was necessary to make sure that donated funds to Gospel Outreach were used correctly. Thus, one of her many contributions was helping to develop working agreements with mission and conference officers in the countries across the 10/40 Window, as well as monitoring the expenditure of funds being used so far from Gospel Outreach headquarters.

In addition to her tireless hours and dedicated efforts in making sure all business activities were done well, her contribution to the development of proper management procedures was vital to the growth of Gospel Outreach. One of Marilyn’s many talents was her ability to express her feelings when major decisions needed to be made.

Marilyn was always there doing her job. She will really be missed by her fellow volunteers at Gospel Outreach, as well as by her many longtime friends.

–Cecil O. Roy, Chairman of the Board

Vernon and Marilyn Weis

Related link: In tribute to Marilyn Weis

Marilyn Weis, 80, a Gospel Outreach volunteer, died July 29, 2010, at a hospital in Walla Walla, Wash. She was born December 25, 1929, in Loma Linda, Calif., to Eno and Edith Allen Leinbaum.

She received a nursing degree at Loma Linda and a bachelor’s from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth.

On May 1, 1953, she and Vernon Weis married.

For three years she was director of nurses at Johnson County Memorial Hospital in Cleburn, Texas. She then served as school nurse in the area until her retirement.

Vernon and Marilyn moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1985, and to College Place, Wash., in 1996.

Marilyn enjoyed reading and knitting. Her role as a homemaker was important to her, and she loved helping others. She was a member of the Village Seventh-day Adventist Church in College Place, Wash.

Marilyn is survived by her husband, Vernon, and her sister, Marjorie Fellows.

Simply go to www.giving.goaim.org, and click on “Canadian Donations.”

Simply go to the Gospel Outreach Giving Center, and click on “Canadian Donations.” Donors will receive a tax deductible receipt.

If you would rather donate by credit card on a monthly basis, call (250) 545-2212, or send your information to:

Gospel Outreach Canada
P.O. Box 21024
Vernon, BC V1T 9T7

If your method of donation is via cheque, send it to the address above.

At this time, Gospel Outreach Canada (GOC) supports workers only in Africa. Tax laws do not allow GOC to send funds to any organization unless there first is an agreement with that organization. So please contact GOC before sending donations for any work other than Africa.

Worshipers in a Roma church gather to sing praises to God.

Many biblical passages testify that our God possesses unlimited power. But unlike earthly creatures who use power for selfish interests, the Bible describes the Lord as One who is mighty to save. In fact, the greatest display of divine power is seen when human lives are changed into the likeness of the Creator. Through the work of the Holy Spirit many people even today are being transformed. Gospel Outreach workers not only witness this change in the lives of the people to whom they minister, but they also are blessed to be a part of these experiences.

Kyustendil is located in southwest Bulgaria near the border with Macedonia. Much of this town is occupied by the Roma (Gypsy) population, making it the largest Roma settlement in this part of the world.

Several years ago when we visited this place, the people were in desperate need of food, money, education, medical attention and spiritual nourishment. Gospel Outreach and the local Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office worked to address a number of these needs. ADRA Austria also became involved in the project. The results are astounding.

During our last visit, instead of poverty we could see people providing for their daily needs. Instead of a lack of education, we saw children in school. Instead of a lack of medical attention, we saw clinics operated by volunteer medical personnel. Moreover, two large Seventh-day Adventist churches with lay pastors cared for the spiritual needs of the people.

After we participated in a church service with hundreds of believers present, we were catered a healthy and tasty meal prepared by a group of Roma sisters. They had just completed their cooking classes and were proud to see us enjoy the food they had made.

A surprise awaited us on Sabbath afternoon in a meeting with a large group of young people from this church. This is what they said to us:

“We have seen the great change that the Gospel has brought into the lives of our parents and families. Now we are reaching out to those who are not yet part of God’s kingdom. Could you give us some new ideas on how we could better reach other people in our community?”

We were deeply touched by these words. A group of young Roma people, so grateful for what God has done for them, was eager to take the good news to those still living in darkness.

One worker described the change in his life in the following way:

“I used to drink, smoke, cheat, steal and beat my wife every day. I neglected my family and my house. I did not care about my children. But after Christ came into my life all is different. Now I love my wife, I work hard every day, my children go to school, and I have nicely repaired the house in which we live. Thanks to God, I am a happy man.”

What a testimony. His words remind us of those written long ago by the apostle Paul, whose life too was changed: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"Ye are the light of the world."

During World War II a pilot was shot down while flying over a South Pacific island. He bailed out, and as he drifted down he wondered what kind of reception he might receive. Would there be cannibals?

Landing in rough terrain, he broke both his legs. The natives found him and carried him in a sheet back to the village. On the sheet he saw printed the name of a missionary society. Years before, a missionary had been in the area. Under his Christlike ministry the people of the island had become Christians.

When the pilot recovered, he walked to the cemetery where the missionary was buried. On the tombstone the natives had written:

“When he came there was no light. When he died there was no darkness.”

These words could be spoken in thousands of villages where Gospel Outreach workers have ministered. But there is much left to do. In India alone some 500,000 villages are unreached with the Gospel. And the people in numerous other villages in the 10/40 Window have never once heard of the full salvation provided by Jesus on the cross.

“Cannot we deny self that the wasting harvest might be gathered” (3T, p. 408). May we, each one, “do something for Christ, and do it now.”

Friends of Gospel Outreach first heard of Dawn West in mid-2005 when a newsletter insert told the story of the plucky 4-year-old girl. She was struggling to survive because of a serious congenital heart-lung defect.

As Dawn’s health worsened, doctors told the Wests that their daughter wouldn’t live long. DiGeorge syndrome, as Dawn’s condition was called in the medical community, was causing low blood oxygen levels. As a result, Dawn needed supplemental oxygen at all times.

Specialists recommended a heart-lung transplant. However, Dawn’s prognosis would be poor–even with a successful transplant. So the Wests made the extremely difficult choice not to have the procedure.

Dawn’s project

Despite the significant health issues they were facing, Dawn and her parents became interested in the Sulads* student missionary project in the Philippines. This project is partially funded by Gospel Outreach.

“I have a passion for spreading the gospel and wanted to instill that in my child,” says Dana, Dawn’s mother. “Suddenly it hit me. Why not have a living memorial for Dawn? Why not have Dawn be a missionary via other people?”

So Dana contacted Gospel Outreach, and “Dawn’s Sulads Project” was born. It would raise money for student missionary stipends, Bibles, a hydroelectric plant, school cafeteria and other needs in the Philippines. Dawn enthusiastically endorsed the idea.

The Wests mailed out fundraising letters, and Gospel Outreach spread the word too. Within months, more than $18,000 were donated.

There was even better news. Dawn’s health temporarily improved. By December 2005 she was strong enough to raise $200 by riding her tricycle in a trike-a-thon. She also sold Miracle at Lapangon–a book about the Sulads.

She would approach people, give them the book, and say, “You want to buy it? It’s for my Sulads.” Of course she didn’t understand numbers very well. When people would ask about the cost of the book, she’d say it was $100. People smiled,
but one lady gave the asking price!

Selfless giving

Despite her medical condition, Dawn would help others any way she could. For example, she would give away toys that made her happy because she wanted other children to be happy too.

“She used to tell us, ‘I love Jesus. That is why I love everybody,’” Dana recalls.

A legacy of love

The months went by, and Dawn’s condition took its toll on her body. On January 22, 2007, the West family headed to Orlando to be with Dawn’s grandmother. The family had a lovely evening.

Dawn insisted that her mother sing Michael Card’s Barocha. So Dana sang: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you. And give you peace, and give you peace, and give you peace forever.”

Dawn died at 2 a.m. the next morning, leaving behind a legacy of love that will not die, and an inspiration that will not cease.

In total, more than $40,000 have been given in tribute to her spirit and her witness for God.

*Sulads is a word in Manobo meaning “brother” or “sister.”

Thus far: Faruki’s influence and ministry spread across the country, but persecution followed. Faruki and his followers left their homeland to find a safe haven in a big city. There they studied a little black book full of truths about God and His holy day. Now we backtrack to tell another part of the story.

In a far-off place in Africa, there was a doctor who was known by his friends as Abed Majid. He and his family ran a clinic.

One day, many years ago, a man and his several wives and many children came to the clinic. One of the man’s wives was nearly dead. The kind doctor and his wife cared for her, trying their best to help her.

But they could not save her life.

Sequi, the little son of the dying woman, never forgot the kindness of this doctor and his family.

As time passed, unfortunate conditions in his country made it necessary for Sequi to flee from his home and live in a refugee camp. There he met some kind people, whom he soon learned were of the same faith as the doctor who had tried to save his mother’s life. If this faith could make people so kind, Sequi too wanted to have a part in it. He made a commitment to God and was baptized.

In search of a better life, Sequi traveled to another country to work and obtain an education. He enrolled in a language institute to learn English.

A shared faith

Before the first week of classes was over, Sequi timidly went to the teacher and said, “Sir, please forgive me, but I can’t come to class tomorrow.” Ahmed, the teacher, asked Sequi why he couldn’t come to class the next day. Sequi very nervously said that it was his holy day, and he could not study on that day.

Ahmed nearly fell over backward. He could not believe his ears. “You keep God’s holy day?”

“Yes,” Sequi said.

“Please don’t be nervous for I, also, keep God’s holy day,” Ahmed said. “Someone else comes to teach my class tomorrow.”

This time it was Sequi who was dumbfounded, wondering how it could be that his teacher kept God’s holy day.

Sequi and Ahmed became close friends. Sequi met Ahmed’s family, including his Uncle Faruki. Soon Sequi was studying with Ahmed, learning from the little black book.

About this time, Abed Majid, the kind doctor who had tried to save Sequi’s mother years before, decided to go to the city where Sequi lived to visit some old friends he had not seen for many years.

Abed no longer practiced medicine. He was now fulfilling his lifelong dream of teaching people about God. He explained things in a way that was meaningful and understandable to people.

Abed’s friends told him, “We have some people that we think you should meet.” So Abed spent the next week teaching Faruki’s group about what it means to be God’s end-time people. Twenty-two people made their decision to be baptized.

This group now numbers 90 people. Recently, I was there to encourage them and also learn from Faruki and his people. Faruki and his family told me the story that I’ve shared with you.

Jesus is coming sooner than we think

“You know,” Faruki said before I left, “if we had a place to worship, we would not only have the 20 people who were here today, or the 90 of us who are already believers, but there would be somewhere between 300 and 400 people.”

His last words to me were, “Isa [Jesus] is coming soon. Sooner than any one of us believes. We must hurry—hurry to the harvest before it is too late. Our people are ready. We just need a little help so that we can finish the work in our country.”

Thus far: Little Faruki is born in answer to a Muslim woman’s prayer to Jesus for a son. While still a child, Faruki has a dream about a man in white. His family scoffs at the dream, but 7-year-old Faruki travels across the desert to a city to meet the man. This man teaches him about love for people and love for God. Years pass, and Faruki tells others what he has learned.

Faruki’s ministry eventually spread across the country. His ideas were published in national papers, and he had followers from many different backgrounds. The evil one was not happy. People in power tried to make his life miserable, and also the lives of his followers.

Eventually the persecution became so great that Faruki and many of his closest followers had to leave their tribal homeland. They went to live in a big city. Although the persecution did not end there, at least they were safe for a while.

One day, a man dressed in black, who had heard about the spiritual journey of Faruki and his followers, came to visit them. He was intrigued that they believed people who followed Isa (Jesus) would be closer to God on the day of judgment.

The little black book

When Faruki’s wife saw this man, she could not take her eyes off something he had in his hand. It was a little black book. She kept asking herself why it looked so familiar. Then she remembered. Why, of course, she had seen it 35 years before in a dream. Yes, there must be something important in that book.

Soon the whole group was studying the little black book. They studied the lives of the great prophets of the book, and their faith grew deeper and deeper. But most importantly they studied the life of Isa. And many of them eventually made Isa the Lord of their lives.

The group had many questions. For example, why didn’t the man in black and all his people keep God’s holy day as was explained in his black book? The group sent their children to be taught about the little black book every week on the first day, but none of the adults went because they had already had their day of rest on the seventh day.

Fleeing persecution again

Once again persecution flared up and became even more intense than before. The local authorities did not respect their own laws about tolerance and respect. Several men were beaten, and one received 80 lashes until he dropped to the ground, nearly dead, because he would not renounce his belief in the little black book and the Man of that book.

The believers fled to yet another city where they hoped they would find peace and freedom to believe and worship. Once again, God provided for them, incredibly and beyond their wildest dreams. In the city, a good man heard of their plight. He was leaving the country to live somewhere else. He had a large compound. It was big enough for dozens of families to live together.

Here in the big city, the authorities offered some protection from persecution. But God was not yet done with the believers. He still had something more in store for them. But I am getting ahead of the story. I need to back up and tell another little story.

Continue to part 4

The day was hot and dusty, and he was thirsty because the water in his bottle had been used up. About halfway to his destination, he stopped at a village and looked for a hand pump to fill his bottle. He could not find one, so he knocked on the door of the nearest house.

The owner, Mr. Prem Singh, welcomed him into his home and brought a cold glass of water. They sat and talked in the shade.

“What is your work?” Prem Singh asked.

“I’m a Christian pastor living in Kesrisinghpur. We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth very soon to take His followers to heaven. We also worship on the day commanded by Christ in Scriptures: Saturday, the seventh day.”

“I have heard a little of Jesus Christ,” Prem Singh responded. “All I have heard is good. I would like to know more. Please come and visit me again when you come this way. We can talk.” Realizing that Prem Singh was just as thirsty for God as he had been for water, Kashmir Masih Gill determined to go back to help his new friend find Living Water.

A week later, Kashmir Masih Gill visited the family again, this time staying longer. As they became better acquainted, Prem Singh told Kashmir Masih Gill about a family problem.

“We have been asking God to give us peace, but instead our lives are getting more miserable every day. One of my sons, Karamjeet, who is 18 years of age, has been in bed sick for a long time. We believe he is possessed by an evil spirit. The doctors cannot help him. The holy men are not able to help him. He only gets worse. I don’t know what to do,” he said.

“Don’t give up,” Kashmir Masih Gill said. “If you can have faith in the living God, then we will pray for your son. The idols cannot help you. Only Jesus Christ can help your son. Are you willing to turn to Jesus for help?”

Prem Singh said he was willing, so they knelt and prayed that Karamjeet would be healed in the name of Jesus Christ, the true and living God. After prayer, Kashmir Masih Gill invited Prem Singh to come to church the next Saturday.

On Sabbath, Prem Singh and three other family members attended church and listened to the Word of God. The pastor invited the family to come to his house for lunch. There they prayed again for Karamjeet’s healing.

Kashmir Masih Gill visited the family often and continued to pray for the boy. One day he told Karamjeet, “You do not have an evil spirit any more. You are getting better every day. God will make you completely well.”

After three months of prayer, Karamjeet recovered fully and began to help his father on the farm.

When evangelistic meetings were held in the village of Chak 9G, Prem Singh, Karamjeet, and three other family members were among the 32 who decided to follow Jesus Christ.

This new congregation is now praying that God will help them build a church in their village where they can worship Him every Sabbath.