Your IMB E-Letter
Oct. 30, 2013
 Love is a tomato sandwich
The tomato is one of God’s masterpieces. Many a friend has been made over a tomato sandwich. Love is what it’s about, of course, not tomato sandwiches per se. But the two go together. The act of breaking bread together is a natural way to bless others, especially the hungry and needy, with the love of Christ.
Visit WorldView Conversation, the blog related to this column.
 Flavors of the world: pursuing Jesus’ mission through food
Missions often begins with food and hospitality. The multi-week “Flavors of the World” series continues this week with a focus on Asia. Read about building friendship in a Chinese kitchen, a 91-year-old volunteer who uses food to teach English in Thailand and how cooking classes unite women in South Asia. Find stories, recipes, photos and videos showing how Christians can pursue Jesus’ mission through food.
Previously in the series:
Flavors of the World: Americas
Flavors of the World: Africa
Recipes from the Flavors of the World series are featured on Pinterest  Worldview training hones Native Americans’ disciple making
More than 50 Native American pastors and lay leaders gathered in Albuquerque, N.M., to learn about people group engagement and the role worldview plays in sharing Christ cross-culturally. Those new tools will prove helpful as Native American believers travel outside the United States and take a greater role in fulfilling the Great Commission.
 Hope for refugees
Communities of Bhutanese refugees in the U.S. have found much more than freedom from their home country. Many have found the true hope that comes from faith in Jesus Christ and are free to meet together in churches. Read and see how the church is growing among these often overlooked refugees.
Refugees hope – In Atlanta and Oakland, Bhutanese refugees are free to worship. Ends of the earth – A Bhutanese refugee gets a heart for Atlanta. Photo gallery: Faith family – Bhutanese refugees join in worship together. Video: Refugees plant churches – He had no hope for his wife and daughter until God healed them.
 What in the world does the offering do?
No less than all our heart, soul and mind is what’s required of us as believers. Missionaries commit their lives. Will we support them with our dollars? Learn more about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and what happens when you give.
 MUSIC VIDEO: We are the hands
In a musical tapestry, Nik Ripken (name changed), who served overseas 25 years with his wife, shares their story of sacrifice and obedience in the midst of immense personal loss. Music by Aaron Blanton, Christian music artist.
Find more videos to share with your church during the upcoming Lottie Moon Christmas Offering season.  Who was Lottie Moon?
Learn about the namesake of the offering that supports nearly 5,000 missionaries. Read a selection of Lottie’s legendary letters. Find her famous recipe for tea cakes that helped her earn trust and goodwill among the Chinese in the late 1800s.
 More of Lottie Moon’s letters are collected in a book called Send the Light. Read from the pulpit, use in skits or include in church bulletins to share Lottie’s missionary heart for the lost.
 Get ready to pray
A student in Spain leads a university outreach program that saved him. A missionary kid with autism left South America to make disciples in Japan. Workers help U.S. churches connect in Mexico, Madagascar and South Asia, and they train leaders to reach refugees in Thailand and city dwellers in South Asia. Even cancer can’t stop a single female missionary in Scotland. Learn how your prayers and giving are lining up with God’s plans! Share these stories during Week of Prayer, Dec. 1-8.
 As you prepare for Week of Prayer, don’t forget to order Week of Prayer bookmarks to remind church members to pray during Dec. 1-8 for missionaries, national believers and partnering U.S. churches who are being totally His.
 Years of prayer yield surreal meeting for Virginia church
Ellen Zaborsky sits in the sanctuary of Unity Baptist Church in Prince George, Va., wrapped in a vibrant pink taseynest, women’s traditional West African attire. Though her heart is firmly planted in West Africa, she won’t ever set foot there. A wheelchair and a heart condition have ensured that. But on this Sunday morning, a piece of West Africa has come to her as Ibrahim,* the first-known believer among the “Hidden People,” preaches a sermon to Unity’s congregation.
 Gaza Lighthouse: ‘A beacon of hope for a brighter future’
The Lighthouse School in Gaza City, Palestine, has become a place of refuge for its 266 elementary-aged students, and Southern Baptists are helping to alleviate their hunger through donations to Global Hunger Relief.
Pray that the children of Lighthouse School will come to understand Jesus’ love in spite of the hatred and violence around them. Give to support hunger needs around the world.
 Mission forum: Your voice is needed
Pastors and mission leaders – share what you’ve learned about being on mission and learn some next steps on the journey of being a people who make a global impact. Come to Mission Forum, a roundtable discussion for leaders like you. It’s Feb. 10-12, 2014, at Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Va. You’ll enjoy networking with like minds! Learn more and register.
See more missions events taking place in the coming months.
Speaking of missions
Missions by the Book: I seek you
“God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water” (Psalm 63:1, HCSB).
Quotable: Peace and joy – today!
I have come from far away and walked a long time to come here to meet with you all.… I see peace and joy in your faces.… I’m tired of living with worry, fear, frustration, anger and bad thoughts. If it is this Jesus you worship who gives you this peace and joy, then I want Him in my life, too.… I want this today! --From “Praying for miracles,” a submission to “From the field” from Southeast Asia. “From the field” is a running feature on the home page of imb.org. All entries are archived.
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