Austin Gardner

Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Godly people want to talk about things that edify, build up, encourage, and spiritually feed people. Fools die because they do not understand. They have refused to listen so that they have no wisdom.

What do you talk about? Do you use your words and conversations to encourage people to follow God and to grow? Do you use your words to help others?

What do you listen to? Fools die because they haven’t learned to fear God. They will not listen to truth.

How many are you helping grow spiritually?

source The Christian Post

Christian volunteers and foster parents at a Moroccan orphanage were forced to abandon dozens of children on Monday after they were accused of proselytizing.

Moroccan children are seen here with foster parents at Village of Hope. Authorities raided the children’s home on Monday, accusing them of proselytizing, and forced the parents and Christian volunteers to leave the country and abandon 33 children.

Moroccan authorities raided Village of Hope and said they were expelling the 20 workers and parents. The 33 children who were being cared for cried out “hysterically” for their foster parents as they were left behind.

“Watching the children be told by their parents that they had to leave, that they would maybe never see them again, is the most painful thing I have ever witnessed,” said Chris Broadbent of VoH.

Village of Hope registered with the Moroccan government in 2002 as an official Christian organization and received permission to talk about Christianity to the children in their care, according to Broadbent.

The North African country is a predominantly Muslim country where Christians make up only 1.1 percent of the population. The government restricts non-Islamic religious materials and proselytizing and monitors the activities of non-Muslim religious groups.

Also, it is only legal for Muslims to adopt children. Volunteers at Village of Hope were thus acting as foster parents, though the children considered them to be their parents, Broadbent noted.

For nearly ten years, VoH volunteers had been open about their faith to the authorities and were allowed to take in and foster abandoned children, who would otherwise be killed or placed in state-run “mega-orphanages,” the organization stated. Despite that, authorities accused them of trying to convert the children to Christianity and forced the foster parents to board a bus heading to the airport to leave the country.

The staff was told the order came from the new Minister of Justice for Morocco, Mohamed Naciri.

“Thirty-three children have just been abandoned again by the actions of the Moroccan state,” said Broadbent, who is originally from New Zealand. “These 33 children have never known another mother. Some of them have been here for 10 years, since the start of VoH.

“This is a shame and a disgrace to the leaders of Morocco.”

Days ahead of the raid, Broadbent, his wife and two young children were called out at midnight and interrogated for 2.5 hours, he told Voxy News.

Without being given any explanation for the purpose of the interrogation or of their rights, the Broadbents were asked such questions as how they came to know about VoH, how they were personally financed, what they did when they meet together in our Sunday morning services at VoH, and whether they were evangelizing, as reported by Voxy.

Logan Maurer, regional manager of persecution watchdog International Christian Concern, said Monday’s incident isn’t isolated. On Feb. 4, authorities raided a Christian meeting in Asmis, arresting 18 and deporting the lone foreigner. Since then five other foreign Christian workers have been expelled.

“This is indeed a shameful act by the Moroccan government, and especially poignant,” Maurer commented in a statement. “Lately Morocco has taken a tyrannical stance against Christians, forcibly deporting foreigners and bringing charges against the Moroccan nationals they associated with. This marks a swift and ominous change in Moroccan policy toward human rights; the world must pay attention.”

Broadbent, meanwhile, has appealed to the public for prayers.

Village of Hope near Ain Leuh was started by two Americans, Emmagene Coates and Ellen Doran, more than 50 years ago. The organization seeks to establish a home for orphaned and unwanted children up to the age of 18 years. Educational programs, vocational training, agricultural training, medical care, small business training and many other projects are offered to the children and the wider community. VoH is committed to provide a loving and caring community of families for children, offering security and hope and enabling them to be fully integrated into the larger Moroccan community.

See more on bcwe.org

A friend of ours is a missionary in Asia. His son is in great physical problems. Will you pray for him?

Dear Praying friends,

For those of you that do not know our youngest son Joshua has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia and is receiving chemotherapy treatments. The doctors say that the first four weeks are going to be very rough for little Joshua. He will be receiving heavy doses of chemotherapy as well blood transfusions, platelet transfusions and anti-infectious treatment.

We know the Lord will guide us through this valley. We have placed Joshua in his hands because we know the Lord will watch over him.

Thank you for all your prayers and concerns for little Joshua.

We will keep you updated on the latest.

Thanks Again

The F family

Proverbs 9:8-9 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Do you mock or do you learn? Are you wise or are you a jerk? The teacher, preacher, discipler gets a lesson here. If they are a scorner, bad attitude, mocker then they will only hate you when you try to teach them something.

If you teach a wise man he will want to learn. He will take it to heart and apply it to his life.

Which are you? Will you listen or do you already know everything?

Proverbs 8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it.

Wisdom is better than rubies. There is nothing you could want that would be as valuable as wisdom. How is it that we do not understand this truth? Men will work long hours, sacrifice themselves, their family, and everything else for “rubies” or money but will not have time for God and His wisdom.

Help me to focus on what is real value. Help me to understand what is really of value.

Celebration Sunday! from Andrew Pearson on Vimeo.

Great post by Philip Bassham

click here to see it

Proverbs 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

This strange woman will entice this young man and ruin his life. The wise man, Solomon, warns his son to listen to his wisdom. Dad simply doesn’t want to see his son hurt and ruined.

We would be wise to listen and understand that Satan uses sexual sin to destroy many good homes and lives. We do not want that for ourselves and so we should heed the warnings to not listen, not look, and not follow after this sin!

Kevin and Corli Hall are missionaries supported by Vision. They serve in South Africa. They are a most wonderful couple and God is greatly using them. They are celebrating 6 years of marriage. I knew that you would want to congratulate them and pray for them.

God is doing incredible things with this couple among the xhosa people. They have a wonderful ministry that I have had the privilege of visiting.

Kevin and Corli, we love you very much. We are very proud of you and all that you do. It is an honor for our church to be able to support a family like yours. I am looking forward to seeing all the great things that God is going to do with you in the coming days.