Ivy's Care for the Brokenhearted in Western Asia
November 2017
“The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.” –Isaiah 61:1
This is the rallying cry of Encompass Global Worker Ivy in Western Asia as her team reaches children with disabilities and their poor families with the hope of Christ. Like the hands of Jesus, Ivy serves the marginalized peoples in her city by satisfying their physical and spiritual needs.
It’s been nearly three years since Ivy joined this ministry, which is made up of mostly national workers. Together they’ve developed an ethos that is empowered by the gospel and carried out with transparency. For the children with special needs and their families, the team strives to provide excellent medical care and family services while also expressing their love for Jesus.
Here is an example of what this team sees every day.
“Ollie is 21 years old. He is one of our children that are both physically and mentally handicapped. When he was young, his father passed away, and his mother always tried to be both mother and father for Ollie. His brothers and sisters have never really paid attention to him. When we go to visit this family, we talk to Ollie like older sisters and try to give him advice. One week, his mother was telling us about how our conversation with Ollie helped him change in a good way. His mother is a very religious woman, and she raised Ollie this way.
We had the opportunity to share the gospel with her this past week. We believed that she knew a lot about the Koran, but we realized that she really didn’t. She was surprised that we knew so much about both the Koran and the New Testament. Most of what she knew came from what she heard from an Islamic Cult rather than what she studied or read for herself. After our discussion, she was very confused and said she wanted her teacher to answer the questions that we asked her. Pray that her mind would be opened to the truth and that she would not be deceived by the lies of her teacher. Pray that she and her son would be saved.”
Praise God, there are 134 other families like this one who are being helped and 103 children with disabilities who are receiving care. Pray for Ivy and her team along with the families they serve every day. This is a hard ministry, which depends fully on the Holy Spirit’s strength and guidance.
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