STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 2/22/10

Jessica, the girl captured in this photo, had a tender heart with the spirit of a mountain woman. While walking from village to village in the 10,000 foot elevation mountains overlooking Pinchicha, she would be searching, gathering and presenting the most precious of the high mountain berries. This particular day it was blueberries. I remember being overwhelmed by her ability to seek out the treasured berries-- just as we learn how to see God’s face when we look for Him .

Photographer: Jennifer Lindgren, USA. "I was down working with indigenous communities of Ecuador during the summer of 2007. I was blessed to work with so many wise and passionate advocates for the education and future of children, including the children themselves."

What's NEW This Week @ WOTH:

*WOTH Writer's BLOG: New Host! Go meet Carol Brinneman, magazine editor (JAARS Rev. 7 Every Nation People Language). She's offering a FREE GIFT for the budding writer!

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 2/15/10

Two days of preparations and passing over a road that usually only donkeys and slightly insane jeep drivers would attempt, our truck-- full of building supplies and excitement for the school-- was halted by two massive mud slides. We were greeted with our students running up the mountain, beaming from ear to ear and dressed in their finest. A “little” 5 foot wall of mud and 300 lbs. logs were not going to put a hindrance on their day of celebration! What a joy to see perseverance at its finest!

Photographer: Jennifer Lindgren, USA. "I was down working with indigenous communities of Ecuador during the summer of 2007. I was blessed to work with so many wise and passionate advocates for the education and future of children, including the children themselves."

What's NEW This Week @ WOTH:

*Retreats: Announcing the 2010 Fall Retreat in Goa, India--October 24-27 and October 28-31. Registration opens up on April 1 (no foolin'). For all the glorious details, click here.

*WOTH Writer's BLOG: Encore! Carol Ghattas is writing one more post on writing [effective and interesting] newsletters for your [21st- century, information-overloaded] supporters.

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 1/08/10

Autumn in Ireland is all brilliant and crisp. It feels like Fall at home, except like a brand new 2.0 version. The leaves are bigger, the air clearer, and the people are everywhere, trying to take in that last great glimpse of bright freshness. The Irish Autumn sets up camp in early September and lasts through most of November, daring you not to notice it, goading you into embracing it, reminding you that Irish life is worth living outside...that is, until the damp dark Irish Winter sets in.

On this particular day, it is our brand new baby boy’s first outing into Dublin City. My dad and stepmom are in country for a visit – for the baby AND for the sightseeing – and we bring them to one of our favorite places this time of year: St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin City Centre.

The golden leaves illuminating the pathway appear almost heavenly. I think, being here with my children and my parents, surrounded by life and youth and nature, how amazing that God has brought us here, at this time and to this place, to live and to serve. To try to know Him here a little bit better than we did before we got here, and to try to be like Him a little bit better here – for His children here – than we could’ve been before.

Ireland is filled with churches, beautiful empty churches. But this space, here in St. Stephen’s Green, feels more like church than anything before.

photographer/writer: Karin Huber, Ireland. Karin is on the CG's Community Blog Roll: The River Into Words

What's NEW this Week @ WOTH:

*Have you been following Carol Ghattas' writing advise [author of Lust Behind The Veil] @ WOTH's Writer's Blog?

*Don't miss Jamie Jo's fresh and funny post on Wednesday @ IRL*in real life with Jamie Jo.

*Just in case you need something for dinner tonight--Debbie Peck, our resident WOTH chef, has some great pasta recipes in this issue of the onlineMagazine. Yum!

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 02/01/10

"Mario, a kindergarten child attending the Impact Christian School in Mocohan, BVP, Guatemala was very hungry that morning. He couldn't wait to get his morning meal and polished it off in no time....good to the last lick!...beans and tortillas. Most children that attend the school come from very poor one-room, dirt-floor homes. They are provided with shoes, a uniform, a meal, an education and medical care .... a great privilege in an area where only about 25% of the children have the opportunity to attend any school due to lack of schools. These children are part of a sponsorship program. I had the privilege of being their school nurse for three months. What a blessing!" (photo taken in September 2009)

Submitted by Virginia Birss, serving the Mayan Indians of Guatemala

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