Missions Work Amid COVID-19 | Interview w/David Witt (Episode 12)

this is atrisk Radio welcome to atrisk radio at risk radio is a show where we talk about the church at risk all over the globe my name is Mark Stafford I'm here with David Whit David Whit is a CEO of s so International covid-19 has hit the world and rre Havoc all over the globe now before we get into this subject and we want to talk about um covid-19 and God's perspective on sickness plague and disease but we also know that many of our listeners have greatly suffered from the effects of covid-19 and please know our heart goes out to you and we want you to know that you have our love and our prayers well we see God using plagues all throughout the Bible and we see God using plagues and sickness in the scripture every time we see it in the scripture there's always this one word that we can associate with it sovereignty that God is sovere even over some of these difficult things that we face and that's a consistent uh theme that we see throughout the scripture God's in control and he can even use something like covid-19 for our good and for his glory and we've seen evidence of this all over the world this time last year David we talked about having a 2020 vision for the year 2020 and honestly I thought we were just kind of being clever about that but we we're seriously looking for God's Clear Vision in 2020 for the future of s International naal we are always also looking at that for how we could really refine what we were doing and that God would give us Clarity for his purposes and vision for this ministry and how we communicate that to people but little did we know exactly what God had in store for 20120 I mean not exactly how we expected huh no you know Mark I I think back to January I mean who would have thought where we have been in this year and yet you know I I've really been meditating on the 2020 Vision that not only we were talking about but I think a lot of organizations and churches and you know I was thinking how would people describe that today and I think it depends on your perspective of what you've experienced what you've gone through this year and where you really are in your walk with the Lord too because this year has shaken every institution everybody and what I see I certainly see in my own life I've seen that God's word and his work in his word is solid and everything else has been shaken I mean the things that weren't you know on a strong Foundation have been shown to be weak and not working and and not giving peace and I think a lot of people have gone through that that I've talked to that they've seen boy what they're living their lives for what they thought were important uh just isn't as important anymore I mean even that movement towards people when to spend more time with their families and and so we've seen God's uh you know hand demonstrated certainly in this year and so I think it has been a year of clarity of 2020 Vision where we've cleared out the Clutter and now we could see really okay what remains what is God calling us to what is truth what I don't know what's your perspective on that have you seen that also Mark yeah I have seen that David and I've seen that as God has Stripped Away some things that we have just assume to be normal part of life uh We've assumed it's normal to go to the mall without wearing a mask we've assumed we can go to a restaurant we I've assumed that last year sales are going to be maybe uh you know that this year sales gonna be up from last year's sales there's just a lot of things that we that we assume and what we've seen is that everything's just been turned upside down this year and it's not just here in America um you know we complain about a lot about it here in America but we've seen it even more so impactful with some of our International brothers and sisters who are dealing with things that are really unimaginable to us and the seriousness that Co has caused in in their hearts and lives in in their everyday lives is incredible you know David I heard a story I was talking to their Hernandez's and they were talking about this incredible season they went through where they locked down their kids for I mean I think it was all but like an hour or 90 minutes a week if you were under 17 and you were discovered outside there was like this police state in their neighborhood and they turn you in I mean literally you could serve jail time in their neighborhood if you were outside of their home for more than 60 or 90 minutes a week I mean could you imagine a you know a five-year-old not being able to go out and play outside for more than 60 or 90 minutes I mean it's unimaginable it actually wasn't even 60 Minutes it was for four months kids legally could not go outside and neighbors were telling you know were calling in on other neighbors if they saw like the kid on the playground and the police could come and they were arresting and Bing Big fines and then putting in the paper just to keep everybody scared straight so yeah there's been a a huge reaction to this and so I think what this revealed is where people's Faith were and and the fear that so many people are living in and I think that's where we get our comfort then from the word of God here that we see in the word of God there's over 100 references to plagues and pestilence in the word of God people want to do a great word study the conclusion that's clear in the word of God is every time without exception when there was a plague or or a pestilence it came from God but what's beautiful what I want people to catch if you read it carefully it's always out of God's love because God hates the Brokenness he hates the pain and Mankind moving towards destruction so he sends a plague as a discipline for instance in Exodus 9:14 for this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people so that you may know that there is none like me in all the Earth so God returns people to a correct relationship with him so after we get from our back for our break Mark I think maybe we could talk even more about that yeah you know when we come back we'll talk more about how covid-19 has impacted on International brothers and sisters and maybe we will tell another story story or two we'll be back can you imagine trying to disciple a church with only one Bible this is Mark Stafford from at risk radio and our contacts in Venezuela are telling us incredible stories about people coming to know Jesus all the while pastors are missing Bibles for their people after receiving a Bible from our ministry one man said with tears in his eyes no one has ever given me such a beautiful gift at risk radio in our partnership with s International is working to bring 2 million Bibles into Venezuela for more information about how you can help go to atrisk radio.com welcome back to atrisk radio where we talk about leadership in the persecuted Church internationally my name is Mark Stafford and I'm here with David Whit CEO of s so International now we've been talking before the break about covid-19 and about how it's impacting uh those who are in the persecuted church and sometimes they're getting an impact that is far greater than what we faced here in America you know honestly David here in America we are facing things like having a little bit less work to do uh you know some businesses closing some people struggling with not finding a job and they we're having fights over whether not we should wear a mask I mean there's there's things that honestly seem like they're pretty light in comparison to what they're facing around the world um I remember a story that came out from India that they said if you were caught without a mask that they literally would begin to hurt people who were not wearing masks and so talk a little bit about how are our International contacts leading the church through the difficulties that they're facing as a result of covid-19 yeah well so many of our contacts have talked about that they never dreamed what a benefit and what a a move of righteousness would come out of this because we're working in the areas that people are resistant to the gospel they haven't heard the gospel and uh as of covid-19 you know from the news and the world's perspective fear dominated and everybody was predicting and talking about doom and destruction and economic chaos and social disorder and on and on and we've seen different levels of that and God's compassion is there and God's people for compassion is there so in the midst of this we have our contacts on the front lines there who for instance like in India gave away over 150,000 masks in North Africa they gave away thousands of masks they got the in North Africa they got the government's attention and one of the pastors there after the governor of the state came to the Christian min Ministry of Muslim background Believers you know people think about the context of that and thank them for the example they're setting in their community and the pastor of that particular sinner who again let me say is a Muslim background believer said to our director there he said say to I never in my life would imagine we'd had government officials coming and Thanking us for this work so we have seen our contexts talk about what the outpouring of God's spirit of people coming to Christ in the response directly you could connect to covid-19 and in the United States the encouragement Mark as these opportunities and needs Rose and and lives being impacted the body of Christ turned out to be incredibly generous this year one of the biggest years for uh the B Christ being generous so that we were able to channel These funds to these needs and now there's even greater opportunity that's happening at this very moment Mark so it's been amazing as you've looked in the right places what God has leveraged this crisis to be for people to be drawn together and to do the right thing yeah you know the sewing Ministry that we started alongside the church planting training in India and the church planting training in North Africa it was always hoped to be a platform that would be an Outreach be a micro business that would help to provide some funds for these ladies but also be a platform for outreach into these communities but again we would have never imagined how important that would become in 2020 I mean unbelievable to see how these ladies are able to take something as simple to sew as a mask and use that to make an impact in their entire region it's just an incredible story about how God has used the the faithfulness of those ladies to not just provide for themselves these micro businesses but also to be a platform to share the gospel alongside these Church planters that were training up by the dozens by the hundreds in some of our church planting schools and they're reaching Villages all over the place it's a heart of the ministry is church planting but at the same time to see that God is using every Avenue for the gospel Outreach is incredible yeah and I think Mark that's another leadership aspect that we can really highlight there is that God's leaders are Holy Spirit Le where they respond to the needs around them but they hear from God how to meet them when to meet them and so here's a need we started in 2012 for you women who were persecuted who are widows who didn't have a skill I mean they're very vulnerable class of people and they started meeting these needs and engaging them with a skill that they could be a witness and have a micro business in these little Villages well because they did that by faith God's multiplied it and sure and lo and behold when we do it God's way we're perfect they were set up for when this plague happen to be an immediate leader and have influence and a positive impact to their communities now no leader in our shrewd Minds can necessarily you know anticipate all that but God can't and that's where leadership multiplies most effectively when they're filled with the holy spirit filled with God's word and they begin to follow him by hearing and obeying his voice now if I remember right one of these sewing machines they're really they're kind of incredible machines uh they don't require any power they're pedal driven if I remember correct correctly they they cost what about a hundred bucks something like that so if somebody heard what we're talking about and they said hey you know I'd love to get involved with helping some of these ladies not only start a micro business but in this Outreach to their Villages and communities that we're seeing all the way up into some of the leadership levels in these communities How could somebody get involved in making sure that one of these ladies gets a new sewing machine yeah people want to go to atrisk Radio or directly to our website Spirit of mom.com they'll find links to get involved and even the specific project of sewing machines and then they they can buy their own sewing machine which will multiply for the rest of a Widow's life I mean many many years and these widows are praying literally for hundreds of Indians every month I mean it's just staggering the influence these women have they get on fire for Jesus they get on fire for loving others many times they're even sewing for needy other people not even charging it's just amazing the impact that these ladies have when they're giving a sewing machine and the love of Jesus uh so that's just a great way as people consider how they were impacted this year for covid-19 maybe that's a way that they can even be a blessing to others and pass that on and stand in solidarity with our family around the world yeah I love that and $100 help somebody start a business I mean there there are business people out there that think well that's an awfully small amount of money to pay to help somebody else provide for their family well kept up to date about what God's doing within the church at risk all over the world make sure you go to at risk radio and sign up for the newsletter we'll send you a print newsletter every month and it's got pictures and stories and ways that you can get involved with a church at risk I'm Mark Stafford and this is Ben atrisk radio you've been listening to atrisk radi for more go to atrisk radio.com atrisk radio is a production of s International [Music]