23 May ’21 was it …

23 May ’21 was it … so it’s time to celebrate my 2-year anniversary of extended life on the planet Earth and with you, all love and grace and permission from Him, the Christ of all true LIFE and living!

Yesterday, in my Monday men’s group, I had the privilege of doing what we call a ‘man-moment’, where one of us gives a short 20-30 minute spiel of some portion of our life-journey. Mine ended up taking the full 90 minutes, as we journeyed through so many levels of the past two years, and so much restorative healing spiritually, physically, relationally, emotionally, and mentally. All the men had at least some touch-point of understanding brokenness and the beauty it can potentially bring, in our common Lord, and each other. I am so privileged to be among them, as they have provided key pivot points for healing, that other “professional” venues have not been able to. Over the past 8 years, our lives have become more intertwined, and whole, as we have learned to be heart-gut honest-transparent, and journey through so many issues together. Along with my weeping, there were a log of other wet eyes in the room of 25-30.

Here is a text/excerpt just received this morning from one of the men there yesterday:TM:

“Thanks again for sharing your story of God’s faithfulness to both you and Nora. The blessing transcends yesterday morning. Speaking of invitation(a word I’ve been using a lot lately) – it seems when one man shares a story of God coming to rescue them, the Holy Spirit goes about the room and plants seed thoughts of wonder in us. God is faithful – got that. God rescued Dan to a new life. Awesome. Wait…what about my circumstances…would He really do that for me? I know He can, but… So the Spirit invites us into the journey of God coming to my rescue – transforming me in my circumstances – which is the “be”(as opposed to ‘do’) you spoke about. The circumstances may or may not change but the man certainly does. Love that.”

Wow … what an example of so many gifts we share around that circle with each other each Monday!!!

Joyful while sometimes weeping in this awesome journey with them and each of you reading this … 😀

Daniel J. Emig

Our Iraq/Kurdistan Team In the Earthquake Zone of Turkey …

This is a first for our Iraq/Kurdistan team to serve in the earthquake zone of Turkey. You may recall our Lebanon team has been to both Turkey and Syria numerous times already. We are so grateful for Ari and Aram, as they coordinate with local leaders, to help in these capacities. They have communicated that the priority for purchasing things is tents, food, clothes, shoes, and kitchen supplies like (pots, plates, spoons, knives, bottles of gas, carpets, blankets, and pillows. To support them in these endeavors, financially, please note “Earthquake Support” on any giving(s), and can be funneled via:

https://www.frontierpartners.org/donate-for-kurdistan-and-iraq

Syria Earthquake Relief – 17mar.’23

Frontier Partners (via GSA) … partnering with WarmHeart-Lebanon

are again back in Syria, with humanitarian aid for ongoing needs that will be needful and last for months and years to come. Crucial to all this are:

Partnerships: Working with country partnerships(in this case, Lebanon/WarmHeart), we are able to be, serve, and help in better ways and means, than if we tried to do it all ourselves. These layers of partnerships actually work. And if fact, when done well, provide assistance more direct, appropriately, and relationally, than if a singular organization and/or person tried to do it. We are so graced to have such quality people and organizations to partner with. Join us in giving thanks!

Resourced Locally: Resources are key to any aid, of any description, that is provided for the needy. So from where are they best sourced? In most cases, seeking out and using locally-based resources are key to the best relief and development. And while there are exceptions (like our containers of wheelchairs to Lebanon from Joni&Friends two years ago), the best sources are almost always the local ones. A great friend and colleague of mine once gave me an example of how he locally resourced in a most unlikely place; South Sudan, during their awful civil war (’83-’05). For most of us westerners, I know it sounds crazy. How in the world can such aid be locally resourced? As it turns out, many local entrepreneurs are quite brainy, astute, and resourceful(no pun intended). They find ways to bring goods into their domains, even under such hostile environments as civil war and earthquakes.

WarmHeart-Lebanon, now in Syria, is doing just this. They are purchasing locally, for almost all their humanitarian aid endeavors. This helps those receiving, and it greatly helps the local economies, currently in shambles.

For your heart to contribute to helping these specific partnerships and resourcing into Syria, use the link provided below to give:

Jeff Latsa – GHNI in Turkey now … https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid026MNf9UnsKrwic31eAWQacym2JSpowPtbmZeR78BtMgLMZ6cUpmvGBrpUiFvuPr1fl&id=670417624&mibextid=qC1gEa