Tag, You're It!

[what's brewing: 73 varieties to choose from]

It's time to go out visiting one of the 73 women on our blog roll and play a proverbial game of Tag. Tag them with an encouraging comment on their blog.

If you are presently on the blog roll, pick the blog that is listed below yours and click through to her site. Read her latest entry. Encourage her writing effort. Value her voice. Leave a comment. Pray.

And best of all, make a friend!

And if you are not on the blog roll, pick one 'randomly' and see what happens.

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 1/25/10
"This photo was taken in April 2009 while visiting a children's home in Kenya. My family and I were helping with a feeding program. Once again God opened up a new group of people to our lives and we found room in our hearts for yet another people group and another culture."

Photographer: Marcy Bentley Lemasters, Thailand--"I've been serving in Asia since 2005, full-time since 2007. I am the co-founder & secretary of Le Masters Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization caring for the widow, orphan, and taking the Good News of the Gospel around the world."

Hear Our Prayers

In response to A Prayer for Haiti, several women serving there emailed WOTH. Here are their comments:

*Thank you, a million times over. My heart is blessed with your prayer & I am passing it to other Sisters in the Lord in Haiti.

*Thank you sooo much. Spent 24 hours sewing, and binding wounds, we are out of supplies and now trying to coordinate efforts as well as survive. God is sooo good. Please pray that the aftershocks quit. They are running 4-5 on the richter and houses will continue to fall since they are damaged.

*Thank you so much, it means everything to have people lifting us field workers and the nationals, up in prayer. We believe also that God will be glorified and many will cry out to him for saving grace.

*Thanks so much for your prayers on our behalf. Our compound in northern Haiti felt the quake stronger than I would ever care to do again. Our property and staff in Port-au-Prince are ok. The wall surrounding the property there collasped. We are working to get relief help to people there. We have had so much rain people in the north are being flooded and put in refugee camps.

*It is pitch black and we have neighbors and students all over the campus. We are sleeping outside because the aftershocks are still going on and they really are frightening too. This was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. You know there has been a tremendous loss of life. The building [school] will probably have to come down completely. All the homes are standing but not sure of structural damage. There is lots of damage with broken glass, etc.

I was walking on the treadmill and once it started I was thrown back and held on for dear life all my bookcases and things in my work room came down. Pray for all of us in the days ahead to meet the needs all around us. We have many friends we have no idea if they are ok or not and have no way to get in touch with them.

Our prayers will continue...

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 1/18/10
"I was in Vietnam to visit and encourage some of our friends. As I watched this woman weaving, I thought about all of the relationships that God has interwoven into the tapestry of my life, from America, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. I am constantly amazed at His goodness."
Photographer: Marcy Bentley Lemasters, Thailand--"I've been serving in Asia since 2005, full-time since 2007. I am the co-founder & secretary of Le Masters Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization caring for the widow, orphan, and taking the Good News of the Gospel around the world."

A Prayer for Haiti

Our Dear WOTH Sisters in Haiti-

We want you to know that we are praying for you! We are asking God to surround you as He has placed you in Haiti for a purpose and with a heart for His Haitian children. Lord, we ask that You protect and work through the blessed hands and feet that You have directed to be in Haiti right now Father. We plead with You to carry burdens, sustain energy and provide provisions for those whom You have called to be in Haiti in this time of need and suffering.

We will continue to pray for all of you as you are dealing with your own upheaval of situations and for what is to come. Father, we don’t know what Your future looks like for Haiti, but we do know that You are good. Even after all is said and done…we will still give You the Glory. For we know that Your Will and Your Love will be revealed. Father, hold us while we are trying to see and understand this.

Lord, we pray for all of Your children in Haiti. Lord, it feels like they have been forgotten in this world for so long. We just ask that Your Glory shines from this atrocity and from the reaction of Your believers and Your children to the HOPE that is only offered through You.

We are beside you on our knees, dear sisters, during this trial and are blessed to do so.

~WOTH staff

Is This Site Necessary?

[what's brewing: new items on the menu]

Now that you've bookmarked CG's Community, I've been praying about how to keep this blog relevant without our beloved Coffeegirl's posts. With the launch of IRL*in real life with Jamie Jo and the WOTH Writer's Blog (and more on the horizon), there are now venues where you can connect like you did with Coffeegirl.

Is this site even necessary?

We had a visitor in the office today, a former missionary woman, saying how lonely it can be out there, even among team members. Isn't it amazing how one good conversation with a friend can alleviate that feeling?

What I keep coming back to about this blog is how many of you are on our blog roll and are "Followers." It has become a place of connection--many of you have found each other by venturing out to the blogs listed. And WOTH wants to keep offering that and all our refreshing and life-giving resources, too.

So here is what you can expect each Tuesday you drop by:

*A place of connection with one another--we'll keep and add to the blog roll. Email me with your blog URL: editor@womenoftheharvest.com

*Each Tuesday post will highlight all the current refreshment being offered by WOTH (think: Bible study, Retreats, writing opportunities, publication releases).

* A new feature, "The Story Behind the Photo, " about the Picture Praise photo that came out on Monday, with a personal blurb and the details surrounding the shot. See sidebar.

What's NEW this week:

*WOTH's Weekly Word (e-Bible Study) is starting a NEW! series this week: Isaiah--Glimpses of God.

*WOTH Retreats: Registration is OPEN for the summer Furlough Retreat.

*Picture Praise: 1/11/10

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: "This photo I'm submitting is the best one I've ever taken and very dear to my heart. These children are Karen refugees in a camp along the border of Thailand and Burma. They fled the soldiers of Burma who had slaughtered most of their families. I heard horrendous stories that day from 20 some children just like these who told of watching their parents murdered. These children changed my life for an eternity." Photographer: Marcy Bentley Lemasters, Thailand--"I've been serving in Asia since 2005, full-time since 2007. I am the co-founder and secretary of Le Masters Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization caring for the widow, orphan, and taking the Good News of the Gospel around the world."

I'm open to what you may be thinking too...I'd love to hear from you!

~Cindy Blomquist, Editor

First Your Photos. Now Your Stories.

[what's brewing: a jolt to get the creative juices flowing]

I have an opportunity for you! Women of the Harvest onlineMagazine is putting a call out for articles that focus on this phrase: “Friendships that have made a difference on the field.” These friendships can be among teammates, a friend back home, a national woman, or...

What needs to be conveyed is how life-giving that relationship was at a critical time in your life or how important it is as you persevere in your cross-cultural life. Each onlineMagazine issue in 2010 will feature at least one story, but who knows where this "call for articles" could take us!

Length: 500-800 words--but I'm not that picky. Submit: editor@womenoftheharvest.com

Pop over to the WOTH Writer's Blog for some writing tips by a WOTH published author, Taryn R. Hutchison; her tips are in the blog sidebar, as well as in her posts.

I look forward to hearing from you! ~Cindy Blomquist, Editor

P. S. Remember to send in your global photos and verses for Picture Praise too.