John T. Willis

Monday, July 27, 2009

Eternal Threads

God's Highland Church Family has a wonderful "problem." Ministries of all kinds are "bursting" everywhere in our family. Our 38 shepherds spend much of our time in our "shepherd meetings" praising, encouraging, and praying for our ministries. We are not statisticians, so I have no idea HOW MANY there are. We do not have time for THAT. We spend our time trying to SERVE OTHERS. Oh, our Lord taught us:
"Whoever wishes to become great amongyou must be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for all." (Mark 10:43-45).

ALL of our "minister" [our deacons--how many? who knows--100--150--200? who knows? who cares?] are "God starters" or "Holy Spirit starters" or "Jesus Christ starters." God gives us an opportunity to serve, and we "jump" at the opportunity.

One of our "God starters" is Linda Egle. For many years, Linda was a "flight attendant," often in charge of a flight, and often overseas. Linda learned of a great need in the world. Many girls and women throughout planet earth were "castaways." They had no money, they could not support their family, they could not get a job. And millions of these girls and women become "traffickers" of sex. THIS IS THE BIGGEST CRIMINAL BUSINESS IN THE WORLD. There are more people in slavery now than they EVER HAVE IN HISTORY of humanity!!!

Linda began praying and trying to figure out HOW to try to begin to "turn the tide." A few years ago, she "launched" into a project now called ETERNAL THREADS. This is a very SIMPLE and a very POWERFUL movement. Here is how it works.
1. Linda amasses cloth of all kinds and carries this or sends these to trustworthy people to sew and weave and manufacture cloth. She also supplies other types of materials. She makes purses and dresses and other kinds of garments. When the tsunami hit, she arranged for helpers to support fishermen to rebuild their humble businesses.
2. Linda supplies sewing machines and other types of instruments to get these types of works done.
3. Linda encourages churches and individuals to invest in this modest endeavor to enable girls and women throughout the world to "get on their feet," establish a small business, and sustain their families.

NOW, through Linda's efforts, this "ministry" is functioning in India [where Linda did her first work], Afghanistan, Thailand, and Nepal, and the work is "burgeoning" all over the place. One of our Christian sisters, Sue Garcia, now is full time on this staff. The problem is: we cannot keep up with all that is going on.

On 6 August, Ramesh Sapkota, a native in his country, will speak at he Hunter Welcome Center at ACU to explaining his work in anti-trafficking. This is a VERY DANGEROUS undertaking. "Traffickers" threaten Ramesh continually and severely, but he presses on by trust in God.

Some of our Christian family have been to at least some of these cites in these countries. We hope and pray that this effort will expand powerfully. We need prayers from God, funds, materials, trained people to enter into this kind of work, and continual encourage and support for Linda and Sue and their ministry.

Encourage Linda. Support this worldwide ministry, which is so important for the kingdom of God. Share your ideas and vision. Give me your thoughts.

John Willis

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