Dear World Challenge,

On January 5^th, our orphanage in Thailand received your annual donation.  As always, it was a great blessing.  This year it was especially helpful, and I would like to explain why.

We hear a lot about the favor of God these days. That's a good thing. Without the Lord's favor, we wouldn't be able to breathe, stand or find true life anywhere. Our loving, compassionate God looks to bless us with his amazing favor. 

The following is a beautiful letter written to us by a grieving mother.  The testimony she paints is a of daughter’s utter faithfulness to God despite severe disabilities.  The mother’s letter has been slightly edited and abridged:

When faced with the challenge of living in a time of uncertainty and unrest, are you tempted to give up hope?

At World Challenge, we’re always encouraged when we receive news of the amazing work the Holy Spirit does in prisons.  We were blessed tremendously to read the following letter written by an inmate to WC president Gary Wilkerson.  It has been edited and abridged slightly for length: 

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Before beginning this year, with over 20 pastors’ and leadership conferences scheduled, I prayed earnestly that God would anoint the message and mightily stir the hearts of God’s called ministers. I didn’t want to just preach a nice word and receive pleasant applause but have nothing of real transformation ensue. I wanted to see a move of God in these pastors, churches and even nations.

Bruce and Deborah Crowe along with their 8 children are full time missionaries to the Ukraine but also minister in Belarus and Russia, regularly. They have lived in the Ukraine for 8 years and feel called to bring the gospel to the former Soviet Union.

The recent flooding in Louisiana has affected over 40,000 homes and has caused the local government to declare disasters in twenty communities. We recently sent team members to see what we can do to help. Though the amount of devastation caused by the flooding is great they came back with wonderful reports of local churches meeting the needs of their neighbors.