God’s Word, Her Mission: Encouragement for Women Helping Build God’s Kingdom by Wycliffe Bible TranslatorsНамуна

Called to Community

Think of times you’ve enjoyed good food with even better company! It might be Friday night pizza with your small group, or donuts and coffee with dear friends. Maybe you have a favorite meal at your special date night spot with your husband or love to make pancakes with your kids on a lazy Saturday morning.

Acts 2 shows us that the people of the early Church knew how satisfying and uplifting it is to enjoy meals and fellowship as they praised God who “ … added to their number daily those who were being saved” (v. 47, NLT). We can let the Church’s example inspire us today.

Think about the way that God moved through the early Church; it’s proof that God designed us to be in relationship with one another. We weren’t meant to do life alone. Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT) urges us to “... think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Imagine how powerful it is when women gather together not just to enjoy food and fellowship but to be on mission — joining in God’s work around the world to accomplish His plans and purposes. We all bring different ideas, experiences and perspectives to the table.. While we are all so wonderfully different, Jesus longs for us to be unified — in our love for Him, our focus on Him and service to Him.

He prayed for His followers asking, “... that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:21-23, NIV).

You can intentionally follow and serve Jesus with joy and unity as you participate in supportive communities. You never have to serve alone because you can invite others to join you in what God is doing around the world!

Reflection:

• Who in your circle shares your heart for God’s Word? How can you partner together to make a difference?
• How are you living out Hebrews 10:24-25 in your life?
• What would it look like to practice unity within your own family, friend group, church or local community?

Story Spotlight:

God Spoke in Her Dreams: Selmira’s Transformation | Peru

Selmira was just a young teen when she married. Most girls of her culture marry even younger, but she asked to wait until after she finished primary school. She wanted to learn to read first. Selmira is part of the Napo Quechua community in Peru, a culture where shamanism and alcoholism are prevalent. Alcohol is a major part of every gathering or ceremony invoking spirits, which happen often. In most families, the drunkenness leads to violence. And when the men are too drunk to fish or work the fields, poverty prevails. Babies go hungry and are given alcohol to stop their crying and help them sleep.

Selmira believes that before she ever gave her life to Christ, God spoke to her in dreams. After those dreams, she started searching for a Bible she could understand. She heard about a workshop on sharing Bible stories in oral cultures like hers. There she met a Wycliffe translator named Christa. Selmira invited Christa and her ministry partner, Maritsa, to her village to help her learn more Bible stories. The more she learned about Scripture, the less she drank and the more she felt love and compassion for the people around her.

When Selmira first quit drinking, her husband threatened to leave her. “He wanted a wife who would go drinking with him,” she said. “But whenever he got drunk, I put my hand on him and prayed for him, and he got less and less drunk.”

When Selmira joined the Napo Quechua translation project, she met more Christians she could share her new life with. She drew strength and comfort from those relationships. But she also gets those things from God’s Word.

Discover how, after a lifetime of suffering, Selmira found new life in God's Word.