On Saturday night during FAME’s Night of Hope Banquet, the unique opportunity came to be able to interview a partner of FAME who had been trying to visit the USA for 33 years. I’d like to share part of his interview with you.

But let me tell you about him. Simon is part of the team of Asia Christian Services, he grew up in a village called Putao. If that sounds familiar it may be because that is where J. Russell Morse and his family led the Lisu people out of China and into the safety of this mountain region. 20 years ago FAME partnered with the Morse family and built a clinic in Putao which still serves people today. In September of last year, a clinic was opened in Mae Sot, and next a clinic will be constructed in Miao Town, across the border into N.E. India!

Here is an edited version of the story Simon told Saturday night about a woman who came to their clinic in Mae Sot. “This refugee woman was brought to our clinic because she passed out. Our medical team learned that she had high blood pressure and other heart issues. After one week of care, she was doing well physically. But she also had heard the gospel from Moses our evangelist and accepted the message. Upon release from the clinic, she shared the good news with her husband, cousins, and some neighbors…all 7 came to the church and soon all were baptized and became children of God.”

To that, I responded, “That’s Medical Evangelism.” And the crowd at the banquet erupted in applause!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of you and your generosity over the recent months, story after story like this is told over and over again. 1000 people are treated in the name of Jesus and hear the gospel, for every $500 given to FAME. That still amazes me, even though I see it every day!

Thank you for your partnership in the gospel.

 

 

 

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your continued partnership with the medical ministry of FAME through prayer. We are blessed to have so many praying for the ministry and the people we serve.

This month we have 2 short-term medical mission teams going to the Philippines and Honduras that we ask you to pray for as they serve.   The first team will be partnering with the staff from Charles Selby Memorial Hospital in Aparri, Philippines. They will be hosting multiple medical outreaches in local villages in and around Aparri.

Medical outreaches open doors for our Filipino hosts to engage in personal relationships with those who come to receive treatment from our team.  Through those relationships, the good news of Jesus can be shared, and ultimately lives will be transformed.

The second team will be serving with the mission His Eyes in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. This team is comprised of college students from Corban University.

Please pray for each of the participants that will be serving on these trips, the mission partners in those countries, and the people they will be serving. Pray that the love of Jesus will be shown to the people who will be receiving medical care in the name of Christ.

Please pray also, for our FAME scholarship recipients that are studying to become medical professionals. These International Christian students are all studying in their home country or one of similar socioeconomic standing and after graduation will serve with a mission partner providing medical care to those in need.

We also would like to ask for prayers for some new sustainable healthcare project grants that were approved at the last FAME Board of Directors meeting in April. Please pray that the necessary funding is raised for these projects and that once built, they will bring people to Jesus through medical evangelism.

Lastly, take time this Memorial Day to remember those who have sacrificed so much for our country.

Blessings in the coming month

Click here for the May Prayer calendar.

This week, a FAME team is in the high-altitude mountains of Mexico, in the shadow of the12,188 ft. peak of San Rafael. These villages are many hours away from any source of healthcare.

A children’s pastor and pastor who have been going door to door in this village inviting people to church and preparing to start a Bible Study in their village joined our team. For many hours, your team treated patients, but also the gospel was shared. The first station upon arrival at a ‘medical camp’ is the “waiting area” and this is where the pastor or children’s pastor shares the gospel very clearly over and over all day long. There were government officials, some farmers, business leaders, and mothers who came for themselves and many well-child checks!

Some impressions from one of the team:

• Joy! The children’s pastor is always laughing, talking to parents and children about Jesus
• Joy! The children were singing in Spanish about Joy in the song that has the line…” happy all the time…”
• Joy! The team caregivers and the partner doctor from the church there served with such joy.

It made me think of the Scripture, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” But then I realized it could be said another way, “One of the strengths of FAME teams, global partners, and partners like you is joy.” One Strength in the Lord is Joy!

Because of you – JOY is a strength, JOY is contagious, and JOY sends a message of help and hope!

Thank you for partnering with FAME to send JOY which results in help and hope to the world’s most vulnerable!

I get a lot of videos and photos of people dancing-it usually includes singing!

…because a child is going home
…because a hospital well hit water
…because a clinic is open
…because an ambulance arrived
…because a shipping container arrives
…because a family member is healthy

Nothing new: A man who was lame from birth…Peter…took him by the hand and he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. So he jumped up and started to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking, leaping, and praising God. (Acts 3:2,7-8)

Peter spoke later and said, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…by him this man is standing before you healthy…. There is salvation in no one else. (Acts 4:10,12)

There’s no video of the man lame from birth walking, leaping, and praising God posted on social media. But the same type of response is seen daily because of partnerships of FAME around the world.

That means that people are dancing…
…because of you!

(Click here for the video)

If you would like to hear more about these dancing stories from Malawi and elsewhere, we warmly invite you to join us in the Indianapolis area on April 27th for the FAME Night of Hope Banquet.

• There will be an interview with a partner who has never been to the USA and is daily helping refugees flee for safety
• Stories of Impact in the last year
• A fun atmosphere for story-telling with a silent auction, a comedian, a great meal, and a great project!
• Keep your eyes open for an email in a few weeks that will include access to the App for the silent auction!

Thank you for your partnership, which allows people to rejoice because of health and hope that come their way through partnerships with FAME.

People are dancing because of you!

Bill Warren
Executive Director

The FAME Night of Hope April 27th Banquet tickets are available at www.fameworld.org/2024-night-of-hope where you can hear more victories of your impact, and opportunities coming in 2024!

Dear Prayer Partner,

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

A devotion written by David Platt gives some good insight on this verse.

This is the distinguishing mark of a disciple of Jesus. This is how people will know that we are followers of Jesus when they see our love for each other.

Now, it’s interesting the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then the second commandment Jesus says is like it. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So why does Jesus say here, “this is the distinguishing mark of my disciples, they love one another.”

Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? When we love God, when our hearts are tuned to him and his heart, then we will have his love for the people around us. And we will love just like Jesus said, just as he loves us, we will love one another. And then that love will mark Christian community. That love will mark the church and be a testimony to a watching world.

Thank you so much for loving the ministry of FAME, our mission partners, and the people we serve. Your partnership with the ministry of FAME through prayer expresses love for those around the world. We are blessed by your prayers, not only for us but for the people to whom help and hope through Christ is brought.

This month a medical mission team will be going to Mexico from April 6-13 to serve with the mission, World Wide Hispanic Outreach. Please pray for not only the team members, but for our mission partners there, the Fuentes’, and for the people that will be treated in the name of Christ.

Also, the FAME Board of Directors will be attending the semi-annual FAME Board of Directors meeting on the last weekend of the month. Please pray for wisdom and discernment as they make decisions for the ministry in the coming year and pray for the individual board members leading up to the meeting.

And lastly, please pray for FAME’s annual Night of Hope on April 27^th. This annual fundraising dinner and silent auction will give those in attendance the opportunity to participate in the relocation and rebuilding of a Hospital that was destroyed by fire in a direct persecution attack on Christians, Churches, and their mission work in S.E. Asia!

The dramatic needs of the world are increasing but so are the open doors for the gospel!

We would love for you to come join us for this event. Tickets can be purchased through our website at www.fameworld.org/2024-night-of-hope.

Thank you once again for your partnership in prayer and your love for others around the world.

Blessings in the coming month.

Click here for the April Prayer calendar.

But that’s not all that happened. More about that story in a minute…

At a Passover/Seder meal, the words of a song the Jews have sung for centuries hit me differently than ever before. The setting is when the families remembered all that God has done for them at the Passover meal. Of course, the Passover meal is remembering the escape from Egypt and all that came with that event.

But they sing how just one of God’s great deeds would have been enough.

Had we been taken out of Egypt and not had judgment executed upon the Egyptians,
it would’ve been enough.
Had judgment been executed upon the Egyptians and not upon their idols,
it would’ve been enough.
….. Had the sea been split the sea for us, and we had not been led through it to dry land,
it would’ve been enough.
Had we been led to dry land, and our enemies not drowned in the sea behind us,
it would’ve been enough for us.

I needed that reminder…that just one of God’s caring deeds would have been enough…but God has done so much more for us.

Not long ago my co-worker Jeff was visiting a FAME partner and this dad was telling Jeff about bringing his child to the clinic when she was very, very ill. He described how desperate they had become, and didn’t know what to do. So they were able to pay someone to give them a ride in the back of a pickup truck and drive for 2 hours to the clinic. Upon arrival the clinic was open, and the medical team diagnosed what was wrong and turned the health situation around! But the dad said something else through the translator. “At that visit and then at a follow-up appointment, the doctor and nurse both shared with us about Jesus. I’d heard of Jesus but didn’t know about him. I didn’t know WHO he was, or WHAT he had done, and I never knew that he had lived and died on the cross for me and my family too! If all they had done was heal my child, it would have been enough, but they told us about Jesus! And now we want them to help us start a church in our village too!

It would have been enough! Just sending help in the name of Jesus is important, but FAME also sends hope.

Because of you millions of people each year NOT ONLY are treated in the name of Jesus…but they HEAR the good news of Jesus!

Thank you for your partnership that brings more than help, but also hope to the world’s most vulnerable!!!

In the middle of a nation in crisis, there is peace for this little boy because of you.

I’d like to tell you one more story from chaos-torn Haiti.  This little boy is receiving treatment at an Occupational Therapy Center in Northwest Haiti.  I don’t know, and can’t imagine what he is seeing every day or what he has been through leading up to his appointments and relationship with the FAME partner Occupational Therapy Center.  The caregiver sending these photos has been in NW Haiti for 15 years and has helped so many adults and children!

In a recent article I received from a Medical Mission they described Occupational Therapy’s importance in sustainable health and wellness care.  The article described their role as a holistic health practitioner in the developing world as key to helping in rehabilitation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put simply, helping clients like this little boy learn simple skills, like using utensils, balancing, and using his wrists is key to recovery from injury.  This time is probably a peaceful moment, a calm in the middle of the storm where the Occupational Therapist is able to share the love, peace, and message of Jesus to the child and his parents.

But here is where FAME and this OT Center connect.  The therapy chair and table pictured were in the FAME warehouse because of friends of FAME who donated them in Florida and delivered them to Indianapolis.  They were delivered to the mission partner in Haiti recently, and now provide a place of help and hope in the midst of crisis and chaos in that country.

Only God could have orchestrated the donation of a therapy chair and table in Florida, which traveled all the way to Indianapolis and then to Haiti, where they are now helping a little boy recover from injury and trauma.

Only God, but partnered with your generosity, FAME is blessed to play a role in helping the world’s most vulnerable!

Thank you for your partnership!!

 

FAME says, “…help and hope to the world’s most vulnerable…” and there is not a place at the moment where people are much more vulnerable than Haiti. I’ll let you just turn on the news to learn the bad news…but I want to share with you some good news.

Vulnerable, includes our dear friends around the world who have a lack of mobility. There are many types of mobility issues, but this Haitian gentleman is so excited because after a 6-month wait, a FAME partner was able to provide the leg he needed! What joy!

In the midst of the darkest times in a country, your partnership with FAME sends help and hope that shines bright!

Thank you for your partnership!!

Click here for a video of him walking!

 

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your continued partnership with FAME through prayer. We are blessed to have you come alongside us each month in praying for FAME ministry partners, board members, volunteers, trip participants, scholarship recipients, healthcare projects, staff, church visits and conventions, as well as other items of ministry.

Since 1970, FAME has had a mission of bringing help and hope to the world through medical evangelism. In the last 50 years, FAME has worked in 50 countries around the world. These include countries to which we have taken a short-term medical mission team, have shipped medical equipment and supplies, or have provided a grant for a sustainable healthcare project.
This month we’d like you to pray each day for one of those countries that FAME has touched through medical evangelism.

Here is a snapshot of those countries.

To find out more about these countries and to see how you can specifically pray for them, you can visit Operation World at www.operationworld.org.

Thank you again for your partnership. Together we can bring physical and spiritual healing to the unreached and underserved around the world.

Blessings in the coming month.

Click here for the March Prayer calendar.

Last week I was at the dedication of a brand new clinic on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. The clinic will be such an asset to medical evangelism for the mission and ministry there of Christ Reaching Asia Mission started by C.Y. Kim.

• Care for infants
• Care for mothers
• Care for the aging
• Care for the seriously ill

All are currently lacking in the area, but this clinic will serve thousands. The clinic impressed me, the people there encouraged me, but something happened after the dedication that reminded me of why you help FAME do what FAME does.

The program for the dedication began at 9:00 am. After the program of speeches, ribbon cutting, and lunch, the people began to leave. One family of 4, a Christian leader who came for the event, got on their little motorscooter to begin their 4-hour motorized scooter ride back into the mountains and the village from which they came. 4 HOURS!

That means that in an emergency they have to travel 4 hours IF they have a motor scooter – longer if they walk! Four hours is too long! But if it weren’t for you, it would be three times that for that family and the villages they serve!

Access to Healthcare = Access to the Gospel for millions, and YOU make it possible!

Thanks to your partnership, we can move closer to providing access to both for the world’s most vulnerable.

FAME considers the vulnerable as valuable! Thank you, that YOU do too when you partner with FAME!