TESTIMONIES FROM FURTHER AFIELD
With ministries in over 35 nations, Iris is bound to be serving in a few less-than-welcoming circumstances. Our teams in creative access nations live the Gospel message and their lives are an open invitation to meet Jesus. While we can’t be specific, we still want to share and celebrate what God is doing in their ministries and remember to keep the persecuted Church in our prayers.
It is an honor to live in a closed nation in the Middle East. Our ministry helps children facing life-threatening heart issues by connecting them with life-saving surgeries that aren’t available in our country. Recently, we brought a 16-year-old girl all the way to Canada after months of touch and go heart failure. Understandably, her anxiety about the upcoming surgery was high, but the Lord used this time to minister to her heart and she went into surgery with such bravery. Miraculously, she returned from the operating room with an amazing report; the doctor found a completely perfect heart. There was no need to replace a heart valve or put in a stent! The doctor was puzzled, to say the least, but we know our awesome God of Miracles was at work.
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We were invited to an engagement party of a young woman from a minority group (a huge celebration), so we took the whole family on a 12hr. train ride into the far reaches of our province. We spent a week there, and on one day we were recommended to travel to a scenic area. The short story is we never found where we were meant to be, so we decided to hike a random mountain with our kids for an adventure. We reached a small village who welcomed us in, and a band of children and teenagers were eager to make friends. We shared the story of the “Creator God” and His great love for them. We also shared fruit together and fun times with our kids. It was beautifully normal and a wonderful reminder of how God uses our inconvenient detours!
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I hadn’t trained a dog in well over a year because of Covid restrictions. My dog training business allows me to legally stay in country. More importantly, it provides connection to many people, so they can hear the Gospel. I had several prophetic words while home that my dog business was going to take off. Shortly after coming out of quarantine, I received a call from an acquaintance, asking if I would help a lady with a problem dog. Sure! It turned out that she is a school principal. We are now doing weekly classes at her school. She is also getting me a contract with the apartment complex to hold seminars every few months. Amazingly, this is all happening while my visa is up for renewal!
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