“They desired only that we should remember the poor,
the very thing which I also was eager to do.” 1 Peter 2:10
Today, continuing this week’s series, “Dare to Rejoice…in Missions!” Ann talks with her dear friend and missionary, Katy Ricards, who works alongside her husband, John, with Ministry to Christian Nationals (MCN) in the Philippines.
Katy shares how God surprised her by going “outside her box” of what a missionary call should look like. Highlighting over 20 years of mission ministry to village pastors (Tribal Gospel Fellowship) and their outreach to impoverished villages (Remember the Poor) Katy also shares how God can link believers to specific areas of missions, even through hobbies and interests, like gardening or travel.
Click below for the LINK to today’s ONLINE audio . . .
Dare to Rejoice . . . in Missions #4:
Mission Photos from John & Katy Ricards in the Philippines:
Filipino Pastor Mateo (left) with Katy’s husband, missionary John Ricards. Here they are standing at the site where the tornado wiped out the village church and where Pastor Mateo’s family died. Please keep them in your prayers.
Clean Water Filter
Drinking water in tribal villages most often comes from open surface water sources which are easily polluted. Outbreaks of diarrhea, amoeba, liver fluke, typhoid and other water borne diseases are common occurrences in tribal areas and many die each year from these diseases, especially children and the elderly. This photo shows a clean water filter, which (for only $50) can help a family or village.
Nurse Merly (in the center) assisting with medical needs
During this week’s church service, our congregation heard an exciting testimony from a medical missions team that had just returned home from The Philippines. As two of my friends, Shannon and Alice, shared about their experiences, an “idea” came into my head for Daring Daughters.
The thought was about how “cool” it could be for women to share current testimonies here on Daring Daughters, while their personal mission experiences were still new and fresh. Specifically, the idea was to create super-easy video testimonies. To simply grab my iPhone and do instant Daring Daughter mission reports, add a few iMovie texts, and to upload these testimonies to YouTube as quickly as possible.
As the service continued (and yes, I was paying attention), other discouraging thoughts argued in my brain: “Oh, you can’t do that. You don’t have enough media expertise. It’ll be too difficult. You should wait until you can do it better… yada yada…”
But then, as our pastor began to minister from the Word of God, guess what his message was about? He preached about stepping out in obedience with that God-given creativity He’s put in us and to respond to those little “promptings” in our hearts to do new things for His purposes. Our pastor talked about how as Christians, we’re called not only to “preach” the Good News of Jesus, but also to “create” Good News for Jesus.
God’s love is not just a historical message. God’s love a living and current message that we preach, both through our words and through our actions. As we DO what God puts in our heart and what He shows us to do — like reaching out in love to help others and to extend God’s love to a lost and hurting world — it “creates” Good News.
Then, our pastor mentioned how FEAR keeps us small, silent, and stationary, but FAITH and PURPOSE allow us to move forward to help expand God’s kingdom.
He was encouraging us, as a congregation and as individuals, to begin to step out and to be more creative for God . . . and to not be stopped or hindered by FEAR.
Along with many biblical illustrations, our pastor used the example of our church’s missions team, explaining how the team took creative action (they had a good idea and they did something about it) — to love people in Jesus’ Name, physically and spiritually, in a very needy area in The Philippines.
As God’s ambassadors, the team brought the eternal Good News of the Gospel message — PLUS, they also helping to “create” more Good News for those people by expressing specific love in Jesus’ Name through the medical mission work.
Through the Gospel and by grace, God helped this team to bring Good News of Jesus’ love. And then, as they came home and shared about their trip, they created even more current Good News, for us to hear and to praise God for.
These thoughts about “creating” Good News were so simple and so encouraging. And as I listened to the preaching, my own thoughts about creating a little mission-testimony-video continued to stir in my heart.
As the service was coming to a close, I knew what I wanted to do.
After Jon and I finished praying for a few people at the end of the service (on our church’s prayer team), I quickly found my two friends, Shannon and Alice, and shared this idea to “create” more Good News by sharing their missions testimony here on Daring Daughters through a quick and instant video. The second church service was about to begin (and our family was heading home), so we only had a few short minutes to make this happen.
I felt really excited in my heart and my friends were more-than-happy to help. We responded to the idea quickly and very spontaneously . . . and here is the result:
A Daring Daughters Medical Missions Testimony from The Philippines:
Daring Daughters, as you watch this little video, I want to encourage you in two ways.
1. First of all, I want you to be encouraged by the testimonies of my friends as you listen to them share their heart for the mission needs they saw in The Philippines.
2. Secondly, I want to encourage you to be willing to step out with INSTANT faith and obedience in the ideas that God puts in your heart. Let’s not make things too difficult. Let’s obey those little “promptings” in our hearts and minds and simply step out to DO those good things that God gives us ideas to do. Let’s love God, let’s love others, and let’s step out to CREATE Good News for Him.
Also, here’s The Philippines Medical Missions team video update that team showed to our church. It was such an exciting update (and the team was so gracious to allow me to share this with you here on Daring Daughters, to encourage YOU for world missions)! As you watch this video, be sure to notice the look of JOY on all of the faces (including the faces of the team, which included our missionary leaders, John & Katy Ricards, along with Shannon Roberts, Alice Wilson, and Alice’s husband, Ryan Wilson)!
Philippines Medical Mission — 2013
As Alice said, “As we give of ourselves to others . . . it’s such a joy!”
Daring Daughters, let’s not be afraid to step out and to be creative for God’s purposes. Let’s “Create” Good News!
Today, continuing this week’s series, “Dare to Rejoice…in Missions!” Ann talks with her dear friend and missionary, Katy Ricards, who works alongside her husband, John, with Ministry to Christian Nationals (MCN) in the Philippines. 
Download today’s audio:
