Bethany is a SIM Australia worker who is serving in West Africa. Bethany arrived on the field in 2017 and continues to work on language learning while ministering with children and families in her community. Two highlights during Bethany’s time in West Africa include being able to start sharing about Jesus in the local language and pray while walking in the local area.As she has adjusted to life in a different country, Bethany has learned to be dependent on God for both the big and small things. She explained, “There is so much in each day that I don’t understand, that I cannot ‘lean on my own understanding’ and am reminded to commit my ways to God. I rely on the Holy Spirit to help ease my interactions across language and cultural barriers. Requests for help are a particular issue I bring to God in prayer asking for wisdom, to know how to help in a way that is good for the person and their relationship with God.” Despite the adversities Bethany has faced in moving to a foreign country by herself and learning about a culture that is very different from her own, she has learnt the importance of gratitude. “In the struggle of daily life and language learning, my most common plea to God over the past years has been for– “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow” (from the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness),” she said. “God’s presence and God’s forgiveness are blessings we can thank Him for every day. Each time I can tell a story from the Bible in the local language it is an answer to prayer and my heart rejoices!” Whenever Bethany sees God at work in her community, she is reminded of her faithful prayer supporters who daily ask for God’s intervention in West Africa. She said, “I am so thankful that mission is a team effort. When I see God work in ways that I haven’t anticipated I wonder who has been praying from the other side of the world for a moment of God’s grace to be shown in West Africa.” Through Transition John and his family recently returned to Australia after serving in South Asia. John oversaw many projects in their field country and had a deep passion for those in their community to hear the Good News. When they were seeking God’s leading about whether to transition into a different area of ministry, John and his wife were intentional about not only praying themselves but inviting a trusted circle to also pray. John shared, “We got lots of people involved in praying for us through our newsletters and prayer updates. We determined to pray individually for discernment and also we prayed intentionally together as a couple once a week.  We also invited a few church leaders and friends to pray more specifically for us and our decision. We also started to pray about this decision with our boys in our family devotions which was a good way to include them in our discernment process.” Although John and his wife had a difficult decision to make, their dependence on God allowed them to lay their burdens at His feet. “Certainly being able to ‘throw all our cares’ on Him in prayer is a great help and comfort,” John said.  “Knowing he is a personal God who is concerned about us and our life in Him, not just our work for Him, is also a comfort. In prayer, we can go directly to Him with our disappointments, frustrations, and hopes. He serves in this way like a counsellor who is a good listener.” John experienced many blessings after being obedient to God’s call to missions, including serving the church in South Asia, meeting a wonderful woman to marry and having the opportunity to study at Bible College. John and his family’s obedience in returning to Australia, opened an exciting door for John. He is using his experience on the field to empower the next generation of missionaries.

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