Fr. Jim Blount felt almost suicidal. He didn't know that God loved him u...

One of the Most Inspirational Talks of Our Time by Fr. Jim Blount, SOLT

April 25th 2022 Message of Our Lady in Medjugorje

“Dear children!

I am looking at you and I see that you are lost. That is why I am calling all of you: return to God, return to prayer—and the Holy Spirit will fill you with His love which gives joy to the heart. Hope will grow in you, also for a better future, and you will become joyful witnesses of God’s mercy in you and around you.

Thank you for having responded to my call.”

The Wa tribes in Burma ... how they became Christians .. from Asia Harvest website

The history of Christianity among the Wa is a long one, with God first reaching them with great power through a unique demonstration of His love and grace in the 1880s. The late Don Richardson's wonderful book, Eternity in their Hearts, tells the extraordinary story of how the Gospel first came to the Wa people:

"The Wa were headhunters. Just once a year, in the planting season, Wa tribesmen felt compelled by bloodthirsty spirits to plant human heads in their fields along with their seeds—just to ensure a good crop. Neighboring tribes always wanted to leave for vacation when the Wa were planting their crops, but unfortunately that was when they had to plant their crops too.

A benign influence, however, was at work within the folk religion of the Wa people. From time-to-time prophets of the true God, whom the Wa called Siyeh, arose to condemn headhunting and spirit-appeasement! One such prophet, Pu Chan, appeared during the 1880s. He persuaded several thousand Wa tribesmen to abandon headhunting and spirit worship on the grounds that the true God was about to send a long-awaited white brother with a copy of the lost book. If he came to the Wa territory and heard that the Wa were practicing evil things, he might think them unworthy of the true God's book and turn away again! If that happened, Pu Chan warned, surely the Wa would never get another chance to have the lost book restored to them.

One morning Pu Chan saddled a pony. ‘Follow this pony,' he said to some of his disciples. ‘Siyeh told me last night that the white brother has finally come near! Siyeh will cause this pony to lead you to him. While Pu Chan's disciples gaped in astonishment, the pony started walking. Expecting the pony to stop at the nearest stream, they followed it."

Two hundred miles away, an American missionary from Nebraska, William Young, had recently set up base in the town of Kengtung. One day Young went to the marketplace to preach among the people, and he noticed strangely garbed men gravitating toward him out of the throng in the market.

They were not Wa, but were men from the neighboring Lahu tribe, who God chose to receive the Gospel first. The Lahu had also been waiting for a white man to come with a lost book that would reconnect them to the true God, whom they called Gwi'sha in their language. Richardson continues the story:

"They stared incredulously at the missionary's white face, the interior of the book in his hand, and listened to his description of the laws of God contained in that book. Then, in an outburst of powerful emotion, the Lahu pleaded with Young to follow them up into the mountains. ‘We as a people have been waiting for you for centuries,' they explained. ‘We even have meeting houses built in some of our villages in readiness for your coming.'

Some of the men showed him bracelets of coarse rope hanging like manacles from their wrists. ‘We have worn ropes like these since time immemorial. They symbolize our bondage to evil spirits. You alone, as the messenger of Gwi'sha, may cut these manacles from our wrists—but only after you have brought the lost book of Gwi'sha to our very hearths!'

Nearly speechless with awe, Young went with them. Tens of thousands of Lahu became Christians, and it was at that stage that Pu Chan saddled his pony (200 miles away in Wa territory) and told his Wa disciples to follow it to the missing book and the messenger of the True God. When the pony finally arrived at the home of William Young, the Wa asked him: ‘Have you brought the book of God?' Young nodded. The men, overcome with emotion, fell at his feet and blurted out, ‘This pony is saddled especially for you. Our people are all waiting. Fetch the book! We must be on our way!"

Thousands of Wa heard the Gospel from both the Young family and the new Lahu Christians. They repented of their sins and gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Young's son, Vincent, later translated the New Testament into Wa.

During much of the 20th century, many Wa people continued to outwardly follow Christ, but their faith generally slipped into dead formalism. A vibrant, life-giving revival was greatly needed among the Wa, lest the amazing breakthroughs of the past would go to waste.

One reason for the spiritual decline among the Wa was the problem with their Bible. Because of their widespread locations and multiple dialects, only a fraction of Wa were able to understand the dialect the Bible was available in.

Some years ago, a Wa Bible committee was set up to address this problem, and a new translation was launched in a common vernacular that many more Wa people could understand.

Asia Harvest has been greatly blessed to provide more than 80,000 new Wa Bibles , free of charge, through our Asian Bible Fund . There are many requests for more, and we invite you to prayerfully consider supporting this strategic endeavor.

New Creation Productions: Lech Walesa and Solidarity in Poland

New Creation Productions: Lech Walesa and Solidarity in Poland:

"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future”

St Augustine is quoted as saying that “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future” and it is in the possibility of change… of being transformed by grace through the love of a community, that is our hope as we all struggle through this earthly life towards eternity. 

Those living on the streets of Manila who have been abandoned and cast out by society, left feeling unloved, unwanted and who often turn to an array of vices just to ease the pain of life are finding a reason to hope again through the efforts of the workers at the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation and of its founder Fr Flavie. 

Welcomed into the center, with an opportunity to wash, receive clean clothes and eat well is just the beginning. They can pick-up their education through the alternative learning system and gain spiritual formation and healing through counseling and an understanding ear. Although often a long process, not without failures, many emerge with a renewed heart and a new vision for their future. 

Many have left the streets and found work through partnerships with local businesses in the construction industry; one HIV+ patient now lives in a shelter where he works in their office. Another man is on his way home now, to a distant province to be reunited with his waiting family after 20 years on the streets, reconciled with the father at last, as he brings home a new faith and hope. Imagine that reunion for a moment, after so long, after so many trials and loneliness and the pain of separation. If it sounds like a Gospel story: it is. 

An insight shared with me was a very simple but important one. A man was given a birthday party at the center. He was 43 years old, and was very touched because this was the first time he had been celebrated, the first birthday party he ever had. It was a new beginning too. 

People who wind up on the streets have had very difficult lives and often very traumatic and dehumanizing experiences, often deprived of love and care that we all need, to thrive. 

Remember them. Understand them. Reach out to them.

To help out or for more info see:-    Arnold Janssen Foundation

The Lost Sheep

I read a quote by G.K Chesterton describing how God brought someone to repentance: - “I caught him with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still bring him back with a twitch upon the thread” 

This is surely reassuring for anyone with a family member who has strayed from the path, however far they may be from God at this moment, it’s not out of the reach of His mercy. That said we must play our part in seeking out the lost. 

I read the autobiography of Joshua Blahyi , a Liberian Warlord and pagan priest, once described as the most evil man in the world. He would certainly be a contender for that title as his life was truly horrific. As a pagan priest he was required to offer human sacrifices (usually children) by his deity to give him more power, cannibalism also formed part of this ritual. As a Warlord he earned the moniker “General Butt Naked” as that is how he ran into battle with bands of child soldiers he had recruited. He claims to have been responsible for 20,000 deaths.

A group of Interdenominational ministers in Monrovia (Liberia’s Capital) felt led by the Holy Spirit to start to pray and fast for Joshua. They prayed and fasted for 54 days before one of them visited the military compound and spoke with and even prayed for Joshua. Later they moved into a building opposite the compound and held prayer meetings every night inviting him over to join them. In the midst of one battle Joshua even had a vision of Jesus who told him to ‘repent and live or refuse and die’. After all the prayer, fasting and intercession to win his soul, Joshua did surrender to God and was delivered of his past and set free. 

He had much to atone for, seeking out his victim’s families to ask forgiveness, rehabilitating child soldiers and of course sharing the good news of the Gospel. 

The ‘twitch upon the thread’ involved a mighty spiritual battle to wrestle Joshua from Satan’s grip and consistent intercession on his behalf by those who loved him enough to make the effort.