Why Would God Send Me?
By Shaun Burrows, International Missions Manager
Over the years, I have heard many people say,
“Why would God send me to another nation,
when there are so many people here who need
to be reached?”
In the book of Nehemiah, we see a remnant of
Jews left after the captivity of Jerusalem, who
have lived within the demolished city walls for
over 150 years. God sent Nehemiah, a man from
far away to assist them in rebuilding. Why did He
send someone with no experience of masonry
all the way from Persia, present-day Iran?
I used to live in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in
KwaZulu Natal South Africa. Nearby was a home
for two hundred children with albinism who had
been abandoned by their families. Some had
had their limbs amputated. One young Zulu girl We work closely with local churches to help them welcome and empower
disabled people
had been sleeping alone on the floor of her
shack, when a man with a machete entered.
lived their lives within a particular condition to go to places
Minutes later he emerged, having cut off her arms, and made like that. His provision is abundant. The young girl was given
his way to a witchdoctor, where he exchanged them for
prosthetic limbs. But God’s grace abounds too.
payment. The witchdoctor went to work making charms and
Our Churches Inc. teams work with church leaders,
potions from them, promoting the belief that they would
encouraging and equipping them to identify and confront
bring good luck to those who wear and use them.
these barriers. Our Wheels for the World distributions are
I had been to the children’s home a number of times to sell
tremendous opportunities where a wheelchair or other
wooden toys I’d made, but not taken notice of the children
mobility aid is given to someone with a physical disability. The
there. In fact, stories like that had little impact on me. In my
recipient is afforded a chance for a quality of life that he or she
earlier years as a prison warder, when prisoners had
may not have thought possible. Would you like to join us on
attempted to take my life, I saw it as par for the course. Later,
one of these trips?
as a policeman, I became accustomed to the violence I
Through the Roof will be running the following Wheels
witnessed and grew insensitive to the victims. I was
distributions in 2018…
indifferent, detached, and focussed on the perpetrators. I
became blind and deaf to the anguish, desensitised in a
Uganda:
10th – 20th of April
culture where life is cheap.
Kenya:
5th – 15th September
Nigeria:
14th – 24th November
Mozambique: 14th – 24th November
We are particularly looking for therapists, techies and people
with administrative skills for the Nigeria distribution, as well as
people with photographic skills for all three distributions.
Our Churches Inc. trips this year are as follows:
Tanzania:
Sierra Leone:
6th – 16th June
9th – 17th October
We need people who can teach God’s Word, and people who
have experience of working with disabled people to assist
with the workshops.
Your skills could help to change lives
This is not uncommon in such societies, and it’s a barrier that
prevents disabled people from being included in the life of
the community. God needs Nehemiahs; people who have not
Please visit www.throughtheroof.org for more details. If
you’d like to join one of our teams, or just chat about what’s
involved, please contact me on [email protected].
www.throughtheroof.org