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The Christian Response to Communism

July 22, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

christian response to communism

Part 1 – Summary

In Part 1 of this episode, we take a look at the problematic elements of this marxist ideology from a Christian perspective; specifically, its atheism.

Which political parties share these views, and does this have an impact on how we vote?

How does the rise of Socialism impact the Christian church?

We unpack the answer to these questions here.

Part 1 – Shownotes

  • How Should A Christian View Communism? by Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • “In God’s Underground” by Richard Wurmbrand
  • 100 Million Deaths Under Communism
  • Victims of Communism Memorial Vandalized in Ottawa

Filed Under: Christian Living, Humanitarian, Politics, Social, The Issues, The Podcast, The Word of God

She Is Priceless – Campaign 2020

May 11, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld 1 Comment

she is priceless
(Please note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

For the last 5 years, Mercy House Global has held the She Is Priceless campaign in May. The objective? To raise funds to rescue pregnant teens from the slums in Kenya.

Have you ever felt forgotten? Has the overwhelm of a crisis left you so depressed and disillusioned that it was hard to breathe?

Do you ever have that longing to have someone scoop you up, broken heart included, and reassure you that you matter – that you are worth it?

I know I have. And I’d guess many of you have, too.

She is forgotten.

she is priceless

But imagine what it would be like to grow up in the largest slum in the world; especially as a girl.

Envision a life that doesn’t extend more than a few miles beyond the little tin hut you call home; the one infested with rats and bugs, with sewage water flowing through every time it rains.

You have several siblings. Your father may be present, but there’s a good chance he’s not. You watch your mother, worn and worried, do everything she can to put food on the table; skipped meals are the norm.

Most Western girls grow up with grand dreams for their life. But in the slums, you know it will be very difficult to secure a dignified job that pays a fair wage.

If there’s barely enough money for food, then there’s nothing leftover for school fees. Besides, you’re just a girl; your education isn’t a priority.

Even if you are bold enough to dream, you know there’s very little hope of them ever coming to be.

From here, any number of tragedies could await you.

One sure way for a female to earn some money is through prostitution. This is no life for a young girl like yourself, but you may find yourself in that place.

Maybe your mother has broken down through desperation and is insisting you sell yourself for sex. But perhaps your own sense of guilt and responsibility has left you with no other option.

A girl might be spared the sentence of being trafficked for sex, but there are other threats than can await her.

The slums are a very dangerous place. Therefore, forcible rape is very common.

Abused, exploited, trafficked, raped – now pregnant.

Do you feel forgotten yet? Do you in anyway feel loved?

She is loved.

she is priceless

This describes the life of too many a girl in Kenya.

13,000 Kenyan girls have been kicked out of school for being pregnant (Centre for Reproductive Rights).

25% of pregnant girls women in Kenya are HIV positive (ObGyn in Kenya).

Every 30 minutes, a woman is raped in Kenya (Nairobi Women’s Hospital)

Mothers often force their daughters into trading sex for food in the slums (CNN)

Where is the hope, the mercy or the justice for these girls?

Even if the culture has marginalized them, or the society has oppressed them, or the rest of us in the free and prosperous world have forgotten them, God has remembered them.

God brought blogger, Kristen Welch, to Kenya on a trip with Compassion. And she faced the harsh realities of life in the slums.

At every turn, I only saw hopelessness. I wanted to shut it all out. I was so angry and silently accused God. Where are You? These are Your people; You created them. How can You allow so much suffering?

For a moment, time stood still. I stopped and closed my eyes. I saw God’s finger pointed at my chest as He asked my spirit the same question: “Kristen, how can you allow this?”

In that exact moment, I knew my life would never be the same.

“Rhinestone Jesus” by Kristen Welch

Mercy House Global, founded by Kristen, is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.

In the last decade, they have established three maternity homes in Kenya. They have also rescued 54 pregnant girls between the ages of 12-16.

When each teen arrives “home,” she quickly learns that she is loved.

Through the program, the girls also receive proper medical care, healing support, resources to help them embrace motherhood, and a chance to complete their education, and yes, dream big dreams!

She is priceless.

she is pricless

God took one “yes,” and launched a movement to empower marginalized and oppressed women, which has spread around the world.

No one tells this saga of miracles better than Kristen herself. (I highly recommend reading “Rhinestone Jesus” and “Made to Move Mountains“!)

She is not only loved by God, she is priceless to Him.

He could have solved all of the problems with a wave of His righteous right hand, but instead, He has woven women, like you and me, into this miracle of redemption.

When you look into the darkness other people live in, and you allow it to recalibrate your perspective, it creates fertile ground for God to grow amazing fruit through your life.

I hope reading this has grounded your outlook a bit, and brought some new gratitude into your life. We all need this!

Four years ago, God used the We Are That Family blog to give my head a shake. And through sponsoring one of these moms, God changed my heart.

And so, I leaped at the chance to represent this organization as a Mercy House Ambassador one year ago.

My friend, it is truly our privilege to share what we’ve been given. As the hands and feet of Jesus, the ambassadors of His love and heart, we are called to show mercy and stand up for justice.

Though the 2020 rescues have been postponed due to the coronavirus, Mercy House is looking to raise two months of operation costs for the maternity homes.

Today, I am humbly asking you to join the She Is Priceless campaign and help them raise the $70,000. That way, when the restrictions are lifted, their front-line team will be positioned to bring some precious girls home!

Please visit my support campaign, and donate an amount of any sum.

Filed Under: Christian Living, Human Trafficking, Humanitarian, Mercy House Global, Motherhood, Social, The Issues, The Word of God, Women's Issues

Love Without Borders – An Honest Book Review

April 28, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

love without borders
(Please note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

It’s the coffee date with Angie that you always wanted! Through her new book “Love Without Borders,” Angela Braniff shares a testimony that will draw you near to God, and empower you to live the story that God has written for you.

Meet the Author of “Love Without Borders”

love without borders
Photo Credit: Angela Braniff

Hundreds of thousands of people have learned to love the Braniff family through their YouTube channel, This Gathered Nest. At the centre of it all is Angie. 

She is the mom of 8 children “through various means of adoption and biological approaches.”

She is also a homeschooler, digital content creator, entrepreneur, makeup fanatic, influencer, advocate for adoption, children with down syndrome and supporting the foster care system. And NOW she is a newly published author!

Behind the high quality videography, the quirky humour, and relatable content, there is a real family navigating highs and lows. Just like everybody else.

In “Love Without Borders,” Angela, who is already fairly transparent with her online community, pulls the curtain back even further. 

My life had always been about making other people happy and trying to maintain the status quo. God was opening my eyes to a life that looked different, perhaps even weird, but something about it all just felt right. Now I was seeing what could be possible, what it could look like to have the kind of life that didn’t allow fear to be in the driver’s seat, the kind of the life that walked the walk rather than just talking the talk. This was my peek into what it might be like to lay down the dreams I’d been sold, for the chance to follow Jesus and perhaps find the life I’d been missing all this time.

A Journey that Goes Beyond Borders

Photo Credit: Angela Braniff

Angela invites us into the hard seasons she and her husband CR have navigated through; high-risk pregnancies, domestic and international adoption, secondary infertility, embryo adoption and a season of depression.

It’s hard to relive these details as I tell this story. I want so badly to be able to tell you that I had complete faith in God, that I trusted He’d protect the baby, or that I handled it all with grace. But I also know I’m a flawed woman. There is no place of darkness so far that He can’t reach us, no place of fear or doubt that He can’t find us, no ugly side of our sinful nature that He can’t redeem.

Her friendly writing style feels like she is reaching across the table at the local Starbucks, speaking life into your own hard and weary days. 

The Purpose of “Love Without Borders”

love without borders

At few months ago, Angela said that “she was going first.”

I was intrigued and my impatience to read this book increased. By the final few chapters, I not only understood what she meant, but why we needed “Love Without Borders.”

Angela Braniff connects with the longing in a woman’s heart. 

What is your longing? Is it for motherhood, a larger family, a worthy legacy, a life of purpose, stronger faith or that “something more”?

Angela shows how giving God your “yes” in the impossible days is the only way to fulfill that yearning.

Her courageous vulnerability is a blessing, because she shows us the beautiful redemptive work God has done in her life. And that is the most precious gift that any author could endow their reader.

I don’t walk away from reading “Love Without Borders” thinking that Angie is some enhanced breed of Superwoman. Nor do I think that she has the perfect marriage or the perfect life. 

I feel unworthy of the good things that have happened to us, but I’ve come to realize that feeling unworthy is actually a good thing. We don’t earn our blessings, and we certainly don’t deserve them; it’s only by His grace that we receive them.

Instead, I see a woman, who has experienced heartache. And she has come to the other side knowing exactly who her Father in heaven is.

Through her story, Angela goes first and shows us “how bold faith opens the door to embracing the unexpected.”

So, this is for the sister with the deep-seated longing in her heart. Order “Love Without Borders,” stock up on your favourite hot beverage (and kleenex) and dive into this book!

We don’t need to know what’s on the other side of every door He opens for us, we just need to trust Him.

If you appreciated this post, you may also want to read:

  • Why We Should Stop Pursuing Cozy Christianity
  • Sponsorships Matter, Even During COVID-19
  • Made to Move Mountains by Kristen Welch – An Honest Review
love without borders
Photo Credit: Angela Braniff

Filed Under: Christian Living, Humanitarian, Motherhood, Social, The Word of God, Women's Issues Tagged With: adoption

A Christian Response to COVID-19 (Canadian Update)

April 14, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

All links listed at the bottom of the page.

Transcript

Hi there. I’m Sarah Neufeld, and welcome to today’s podcast.  

So COVID-19. Are you sick of hearing about it yet? You know what, I am, too! But I hate to break it to you, that’s what we’re talking about today because there’s so much going on right now. We don’t recognize our world, and we’re living through such uncertain times.

But you know what? The Bible says that we’re supposed to “be innocent as doves but as wise as serpents.”[1.]

I know that all of the information that’s coming to us through the media, whether it’s a press conference, whether it’s a commentary, whether it’s a tweet, it is all overwhelming what we’re hearing; especially today.

It’s so heavy. But we shouldn’t lose our faith despite everything going on. We need to be diligent. We need to know what’s happening. We need to hold people and government to account, if it’s appropriate. But we should not lose our hope.

We should not stop looking to God as our source of help above all things. He is our salvation, not the government and no other organization out there. He is our salvation. He wants us to be looking at Him exclusively.

Today we’re gonna sort through some of the most recent news of the day. We’re going to put it into context. We’re going to talk about some things that we should be looking out for. But I’m going to encourage you that you have a purpose during this time and it is such a good purpose. Thank you for joining me. This is a Christian podcast for Canadian women.

Hi there, friend. I am so happy that you are tuning into today’s podcast. Today is April 9th, 2020 and the last six weeks or so have been record breaking not just for Canada, but for around the world. And I feel like we need to take a moment and just sift through everything that has happened recently.

So we have this global pandemic going on right now, this virus, coronavirus, that originated in China [2.], and it has slowly permeated through basically every single country.

I started following this story back in late January, early February. I was following this story before it was really a huge concern in Canada, and I started preparing myself for what was coming.

I wasn’t just preparing for the virus itself, but I was preparing for the economic implications that would come from a virus that had the potential to put a lot of people out of work, and even claim lives.

And that’s where we’re at today between Statistics Canada and Public Health from Canada and Mr Trudeau. Canadians from west to east were delivered a lot of heavy information today, so let’s go through that.

Statistics Canada said that over one million Canadians are out of work. It’s around 1.1 million and we know that over two million people have been affected economically.[3.]

I had heard two million people applied for unemployment benefits. I don’t know if that’s strictly people who have been laid off or people who have had a significant reduced income as a result of the closures. But that number is over two million and our unemployment rate has shot up to 7.8% which is high now.[4.]

United States just announced their numbers, which is I believe, around 14%.[5.] So, you know… that’s something to make us feel a little better.

Also the models were released today and I feel weird every time I say that, because I immediately think of Milan. But it is not those kind of models.

Between Dr. Tam and Mr. Trudeau, they said a lot of things today. They told us that we should expect that this first wave (note FIRST wave) could take us into summer.[6.]

You know, there’s so much uncertainty for everyone right now. Business owners… parents who have kids out of school… When are we going to go back to normal?

As of today, when I did the calcs, it is 0.5% of the population of Canada who has contracted COVID-19, that we’re aware of. I know not everyone’s been tested. Ontario’s really behind on that.

But that’s not subtracting the people who have already recovered, and that is not all of the critical cases. The critical cases are much smaller. So 0.5% of Canadians have contracted this, either currently or they had it in their over it, but 7.8% of the country is now unemployed and an even greater number than that are in a very precarious financial situation right now.

So when you see that distinction between numbers, you have to ask yourself, how much of this is an overreach? And how much of this is something that is legitimate?

Perhaps all of this social distancing and the closures of so many institutions and businesses are what’s really helping, and that’s why our numbers are down. I mean, there’s there’s no way to know while we’re living it today.

In Dr. Tam’s press conference, she said, we won’t know that we have “peaked until it has already happened.”[6.]

And thats fair.

We aren’t going to really understand what our government’s been doing yet. Did our government make the right choices? Did they not? Were we too cautious? Should we have resisted, or should we have been more compliant?

We won’t fully understand much of what’s happening right now until we’re past it.

That is incredibly frustrating.

For those who have qualified for the CERB (the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit), that’s not the worst news. It’s not great though.

It depends on what your income was. It’s a flat rate of $2000 a month. For some that’s a sweet spot; for some that’s more than what they were making. And for others, that’s nowhere near what they were making.

So you know to hear that, this is how long it’s going to be, that is very hard news to hear.

The other thing Mr. Trudeau said was that until there is a vaccination, our life will not go back to normal.[6.]

I’m gonna give you a little a little side note here.

He and Dr. Tam said a lot of things today, that to me opened up so many more questions!

There is a lot of ambiguity, and a lot of questions I have. There’s no way we would ever get the answers. This particular government really knows how to sidestep questions better than most.

So these are just questions that we’re just gonna have to hold on to, and more importantly, for me, anyways, I’m gonna have to take them for the Lord.

But what does that actually mean? “Life doesn’t go back to normal.”

Does that mean that until there’s a vaccination, businesses stayed closed? Children will not return back to school? What happens in the fall for especially for High School students? What about the students that were supposed to graduate this year, or those who were supposed to start High School?

He said that a vaccination is far off, so this isn’t something that they are going to have soon.[6.] And so he said, life isn’t going to go back to normal, and we need to accept what’s going on.

Because we’re a bilingual country, all of these press conferences are given in English and French. Fortunately, I am fluent in both, and I absolutely hate listening to the translator talking over, whether it’s him or anybody else.

This is because I want to know what they’re saying specifically as things get lost in translation. That’s not just a title of a Bill Murray film; that’s legit.

And so what I found interesting as that he gave a timeline of a year to 18 months in French, but not in English.[6.] Now, obviously there are translators, so if you’re listening, you would have heard it.

But I find that interesting that something that that is as troubling as this timeline is something that he chose to say in a second language that unfortunately, most of the country doesn’t speak outside of Quebec.

Anyway, so it was hard news that we heard today. There were some other things that I found troubling, guys.

He talked about aggressive [contact] tracing. I believe it was the word tracing, not tracking. And he was referring to contacting people who get COVID-19, and tracing where they contracted it from. But this term, “aggressive [contact] tracing,” is troubling if you look what’s going on around in the world.[7.]

There are measures being taken by governments that are very totalitarian. And some of that is not shocking because China, where this originated… I mean, they were literally welding people into their homes so they couldn’t leave![8.]

They were given QR codes through a phone app. If they were given a green light than they were allowed to leave their house and go wherever they wanted.[9.]

If they had yellow, it meant they were restricted to their homes I believe for two weeks, or they were restricted to where they could go. And if they got a red, then they couldn’t leave their house for a much longer period of time.

This is tracked and the authorities have this information.[10.] So if someone who has been given a yellow or red code is not abiding by that and they leave their house, then they could get arrested. Now, that’s an extreme because it’s China and they’re communist.

This is unfortunately what we expect from those governments, but we’re seeing this in the United States and even in Canada as well where people are being tracked.

We know for a fact that Google has been assisting governments per state, I believe. But I don’t know if it was municipalities as well. [Also in Canada][11.]

Either way, they are providing the government with what they said was anonymous information to show them if people are staying home.

Are they staying within the certain limits, or are they disregarding the guidelines? And they said, no one’s name is being given.

It’s just a general through tracking people’s phones, and that’s if you believe that.

There are drones that governments are clamouring for.[12.] I’ve seen video footage of it, perhaps you have too. There are drones flying around, telling people to get back in their homes.

You’re hearing of people being fined up to $100,000 depending on what the violation was.[13.]

There’s a video of a guy who was surfing [correction – paddle boarding] in California. No one was near him for miles and two Coast Guard boats came and basically chased him down, handcuffed him and arrested him.[14.]

We’re seeing some very extreme responses.

So when our leaders are saying that we’re going to continue with aggressive [contact] tracing measures, that doesn’t leave me feeling that great.

I’m not trying to read into anything, but we need to be aware of what’s going on, and I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist. God forbid, I ever sound like Alex Jones!

There is precedent for governments taking advantage of of situations to obtain more control. We have already seen that happening in Canada.

I read today about how Canadians are developing tools and habits that will be beneficial for the resiliency of Canada and the future. We’re being told that what we’re learning right now to stay away from each other and certain other things.[6.]

You know, if you weren’t in the habit of washing her hands, then you know this was not all in vain. That was a good habit to pick up!

Spending more time together as a family, forced or not, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

However, where we are starting to be obedient… We’re told where we can go; how often we can go there; can you go to work; your business can stay open; your business can’t…

Under this circumstance, it makes sense up to a certain degree.

We had the incident back in March when the Liberal government was trying to pass through legislation. Everyone was unanimous. All the parties were working together. It was so great to see such bipartisanship effort taking place.

There’s a lot of hostility that was lingering from the election in October between the parties; especially between any party that’s left and the Conservatives. I mean, I don’t want to say bad blood, but kind of…

There was a lot of tension. There wasn’t much cooperation. And so seeing all the parties coming together was wonderful. This legislation that they were trying to pass was to bring aid to Canadians, which, let’s be honest, we need it right now.

And the government tried to throw in a few extra clauses, giving them a lot more power and free rein to not have to answer to the opposition to any kind of scrutiny until December 2021 which everyone agreed.[15.]

Even the CBC, God bless them. It was so hard for them, especially Rosemary Barton, to admit that this was an overreach. They chose their words ever so carefully, which makes sense because they’re funded by the government.[16.]

But even they agreed, and they weren’t the only ones. There was a lot of liberal journalists and commentators who agreed, and again we saw this unity between the opposition parties, whether it was the conservatives, le Bloc and the NDP.

They all agreed that this couldn’t happen and they had to work together to find an alternative solution.

And so we’ve seen examples where our government may take advantage of the situation.

We really don’t know what to believe. Who’s telling us the truth? Is the WHO telling us the truth? Well, I don’t trust them implicitly.

Can we trust these models? Should we be favouring to protect our economy? Should we just say,

“Screw it? Let the economy go… What happens, happens. We will recover. We have to just shut everything down because people may die.”

Where do we find the middle ground? Who do we believe? And for me, I find this incredibly frustrating because, as I’ve said to my husband, I honestly don’t know who to believe anymore!

I don’t know whose statistics to believe anymore. There’s so much corruption and collusion at high levels involved here. And I don’t trust my government to always make the best choice.

I think scrutinizing one’s government, whether it’s the party you voted for or not, is always a best practice.

I voted conservative. If Andrew Sheer had become Prime Minister, I would be scrutinizing his choices as well; I don’t agree with everything that he does either.

So I think it’s very healthy for us to step back, look at the scenarios that we’re in and scrutinize them.

Look at history.

There’s precedence for a lot of bad things that could happen right now, and we shouldn’t fall into a state of complacency and think it won’t happen to us.

So I’m here to provide a Christian biblical perspective.

I’ve given you a very detailed summary. But what are our takeaways?

Well, first of all, if you’re a believer, our faith should be in God first.

We should be looking to God to provide for our needs. And for some of us, that’s gonna take a whole lot of faith.

And if you’ve been following me, and my writing at Sarah Neufeld Co. or on social media, then you know a little bit of my story. When I talk about financial struggles and having to live by faith, I’m I’m not speaking flippantly. I am speaking very seriously.

We have to put our trust in God. We have to know who we are in Christ and that we are heirs of a promise. I’m not saying that Christians won’t get sick, because, of course, they’re going to.

We have to monitor how much we listen to the news and to social media because too much can become “too much!” It’s not very uplifting news right now.

At the same time, we cannot divorce ourselves from being informed and for not trying to ascertain what is true in a time when, I’m sorry to tell you, a lot of people are going to be lying to you.

We need to be paying attention to what our government is doing, and this isn’t to create mistrust of the government. I would be saying this no matter who’s in power.

There is a long history of people who are in leadership, when there’s a crisis and people are vulnerable, that this is the time for governments to assume more power because people are willing to give it over.

And this is why I’m saying we need to put our trust in God.

Don’t look to the government to be your saviour; whether that’s your mayor, your Premier or a Prime Minister. Don’t look at them to be the solution.

My husband is laid off and we are benefiting from the CERB, and we consider ourselves grateful for that. So it’s not to show a lack of appreciation for the aid that we’re receiving.

Now, I’m going to give you some practical advice for those of you who are going to be receiving some unemployment benefits from the government. This is not tax free, so put money away when you can.

This isn’t a time to go spending it. This is a time to be very, very careful. You will want to spend the next year making sure that you have money set aside to cover the tax bill that you’re going to get from the government next March or February.

Depending on whether you’re an early bird who likes to get your taxes filed away, that would be February. If you’re someone who likes to avoid it, as much as possible, it could be April or May.

Either one, you’re going to want to put money aside.

The other thing I want to say is this is a time to be generous when we can.

Now some of us cannot be generous with our money by much. Some people have no idea how they’re gonna pay all of their bills. But if you could be generous with your time or with your skills to help someone else who’s really struggling, I encourage you to do that.

If you do have some ability to be generous, I strongly recommend you keep tithing to your church. I recommend that you make donations to the local food bank or any other organization that you know is on the ground somewhere helping vulnerable communities.

We should do that as Christians. We should be looking for ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Not to undercut the spiritual principle I’m trying to impart, a side note is, if you are going to be met with a tax bill next year, charitable donations can come in handy. I’m just putting that out there. Some practical advice.

Be wise. Budget. Save. Be generous.

Make sure that your faith is in Jesus and not in human sources of help.

The other thing, and this is some advice that I’m giving myself, just as much as anyone who’s going to listen to this, is make sure that as much as you’re listening to the news or you’re listening to press conferences, (which to some degree, I think we should) make sure that you are meeting that with time with the Lord.

You know, there’s that principle that for every cup of coffee you need to drink so many glasses of water.

The fact that I don’t know that answer tells you  that I don’t follow that principal very well. Although I have given up coffee. So there you go. I’m sipping on a mint tea right now, and I’m enjoying it.

But that principle should follow here as well. For as much as you’re listening to things from the world, double up on how much you’re spending time in the word.

Listen to things that are going to encourage you and edify you.

Another thing that I’m I’m going to tell you, and I’m going to keep saying this, I’m going to be saying that ’till people are sick of tired of hearing it, and then that I’ll say it again.

We need to be praying for our country.

And we need to be very diligent in that.

I have a newsletter, a prayer letter that goes out every Saturday. It’s called, Women Praying for Canada.

You go to www.sarahneufeld.co, an you’ll see it in the menu bar, Women Praying for Canada. You can sign up. You receive an email every Saturday evening with current relevant prayer requests for whatever’s going on in the nation.

Right now, I hate how much it’s about COVID-19, but this is what we’re living through right now. Before this, it was other things that were going on in the country.

I am someone who pays very close attention to the news. And it irks me that not everyone does this. And as much as we can pray for our country in a general sense, we can pray in the spirit if that’s how we are lead. There’s also something to praying about things specifically.

We’re told to pray continuously, and we are instructed to pray for our governments and for our leadership. That’s actually one way that we can be assured that we will live in peace.

Did you know that?

You want to live in peace? Be praying for your leaders.

I mean, that’s powerful. That’s Paul’s writings right there.

So if you haven’t signed up for Women Praying for Canada, I invite you to be a part of this ministry to keep praying.

We are limited to what we can do right now. You know, you look back during wars at the past, how women got involved. I mean, everyone has seen that iconic picture of the woman with her flexing her bicep against the yellow backdrop.

Women went in the factories; they rationed in their home; they sewed. They did all kinds of things.

And for us we can’t go out of our homes, for the most part, but we can buy groceries for elderly neighbours and relatives. We can maybe pick up their laundry if they don’t have their own units.

But for the most part we are confined to our homes.

So if that isn’t proof positive, that our role, our first line of defence, our position that we should be assuming as Christians right now is to pray, I don’t know what else is!

Because there’s very little else we can do.

It shows us that this… this is what we should always be doing.

Let’s not become dependent on human sources of strength. You know, we have access to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us.

And one of my favourite things that Christine Caine has ever said is how the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, lives in you!

You don’t need to pray for a revival to come from somewhere. You are it, my friend!

We need revival in Canada. And you know what? You’re part of this.

Whatever you’re looking for, you have it. And if you’re looking for what your role is going to be in this time of crisis, this time that our grandchildren are gonna ask us about someday if we’re not raptured first, this is it.

We are Jesus’ hands and feet.

We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. So let’s not get distracted.

Let’s not look for a source of help anywhere except God. Let’s be diligent at watching what our government is doing. And let’s not be afraid to use our voice if we have to; I really hope we don’t.

I am someone who hopes for the best, but plans for the worst. That’s my personality. That’s where life has brought me.

Let’s be generous. Let’s be wise. And let’s not forget to pray for our nation. Thank you so much for listening today. I appreciate your time. My prayers are with all of you. Until next time, thank you so much. You’re listening to Woman to Woman. God bless.

Links

  1. Matthew 10:16
  2. The origins of COVID-19
  3. Unemployment in Canada
  4. 2.13 million Canadians apply for EI Benefits
  5. Unemployment in the United States – April 9, 2020
  6. Public Health Canada Press Release & Mr. Trudeau’s Comments – April 9, 2020
  7. Aggressive contact tracing
  8. Chinese communist government welds coronavirus patients into their home.
  9. Communist government controls quarantine in China through QR codes.
  10. Communist China’s detection app shares info with the authorities.
  11. Google is sharing Canadians’ location data with the government.
  12. Ways governments are using drones during the pandemic.
  13. $50,000 to $100,000 fines for ignoring social distancing in Brampton.
  14. Paddleboarder arrested for violating stay-at-home order.
  15. Liberal government puts forward “overreaching” legislation, described as a power grab.
  16. Government funding for the CBC

Filed Under: Politics, Social, The Issues, The Podcast

The Most Important Thing a Christian Can Do in the Age of COVID-19

March 30, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

The Current Situation

The numbers of confirmed cases and laid off workers are skyrocketing.

Quarantine regulations are restricting.

Taxes are going up. We turn to our leaders for help, comfort and wisdom. Instead, we are getting talking points, ambiguous answers, and deception.

Fear and anxiety are spreading as rampant as the virus itself.

Shoppers look warily at each other in the store. We aren’t sure what we are bracing ourselves for, but by now, most of us know the natural circumstances are set to worsen.

Last evening, a group of women I know from the States were sharing stories and prayer requests concerning the lack of ventilators. The horrible stories from Italy, triaging those who get to live, is now happening in some hospitals in America.

I’ll be honest with you.

I was following this story and preparing myself for this crisis before the first Canadian was diagnosed with COVID-19.

A political commentator I’ve been listening to for over a decade shared this message early on.

To paraphrase, he said that naturally speaking, we are about to face a level of crisis the world hasn’t seen for a century. We should start preparing. But as people of faith, we need not fear because all will be well.

As an American, he called the people of the United States to fast and pray for their nation.

Today, as a Canadian, I’m imploring you, this beautiful little community of women, to do the same.

How I’m Responding to COVID-19

I’ve spent the last few days working on a new post on trusting God. I kept hitting a block, and I couldn’t figure out why. But as my husband and I spoke honestly to each other away from the children, all became clear to me this morning.

Personally, I am going to take a break from social media and the blog for a week.

As my husband was laid off Wednesday, we are going to spend as much time as possible away from the news and the commentary, because this is the time for the people of God to press in.

Our homes are our war rooms. Our family is our battalion. In the season of seclusion and distancing, it is time to draw near to the Trinity in unfettered spiritual intimacy.

While we look for ways to occupy ourselves and are co-dwellers, consider this.

Turn off Netflix. Surrender the distractions. If your TV is on, let it be to stream worship, sermons and the narration of the Bible.

Pray, meditate and fast. Do it alone, or better still with your family.

There is no better education you can offer your children right now than this.

Every morning, gather your nest to pray, memorize scripture and sing hymns.

Use Bible passages and excerpts from the great hymns for copy work. Not only will they be practicing their skills in handwriting, literacy, and memorization, they will be strengthened and edified in their spirit.

Take communion daily as a family, as did the Early Church.

Ask the Holy Spirit to endow you with the gift of intercession. Continue to pray for your country, and do it without ceasing.

Nothing, NOTHING, is more important right now.

Resources for Your Family

For those of you who have your children at home, here are a few resources that I highly recommend!

The FREE Gratitude Bundle from Mercy House Global. Worth over $100, it is full of resources to instruct your children in the virtues of gratitude and generosity.

Mercy House Global has just released an Easter bundle as well, which includes “some fun ideas for you to use things around the house to experience a memorable Easter with your family.”

We use the Scripture Memory System from Simply Charlotte Mason. Some of these resources are FREE. (You might also enjoy browsing some of their other homeschool PDF downloads).

97819: Christianbook Prefilled Communion Cups, Box of 50
Christianbook Prefilled Communion Cups, Box of 50

Order a box of pre-filled communion cups with wafers. No need to go to the store and no prep time required. (Currently on sale for $10.99 for 50 cups.)

319075: The Celebration Hymnal, Red
The Celebration Hymnal, Red

I’ve used the Celebration Hymnal for years. It includes some more modern worship songs as well. I always appreciate the arrangement with recommended scripture readings.


Ultimately, it is a personal choice to fast and dedicate to prayer, but this is what I believe with all my heart.

The most important thing that you, as a believer, can do right now is to fall to your knees and pray for our nation.

Please join Women Praying for Canada today!


If you appreciated this post, you may also want to read:

  • Why We Should Stop Pursuing Cozy Christianity
  • Made to Move Mountains by Kristen Welch – An Honest Review
  • Sponsorships Matter, Even During COVID-19

Filed Under: Christian Living, Social, The Issues, The Word of God

Sponsorships Matter, Even During COVID-19

March 22, 2020 by Sarah Neufeld Leave a Comment

sponsorship matters even during COVID-19

Part of me regrets not posting this sooner. Fundraising during a global crisis feels a bit, well… uncomfortable. But here’s the thing, sponsorships matter, even during COVID-19.

So today, I make one simple plea: please, hear me out to the end.

I am going to give you important, time-sensitive information. What you do with that information at the end is up to you. 

I used to think that my role as a Mercy House Global Ambassador is to bring in customers, sponsors and donors, but it’s not.

My responsibility begins and ends with sharing the facts and inviting people to be a part of the solution. How people choose to respond is, quite frankly, none of my business.

The Age of COVID-19

sponsorships matter, even during COVID-19

We are living through history.

We are living the story that we will tell our grandchildren someday. 

As unprecedented changes unfold, many of us shift into survival mode. We look to care for our family, and we cast a watchful eye over those at-risk in our community. And in all this scariness, we breathe sighs of relief that the good people are still among us.

But there are other brave souls whom we might not think of right now, and those are the non-profit organizations. 

The sustainability of these essential groups is also at high risk right now, because as we operate in self-preservation mode, we aren’t necessarily thinking of new charities to support. In fact, this is a season where people start withdrawing recurring donations.

All of that is 100% reasonable and understandable.

And yet, here’s the truth. As bad as things are right now, and as much as it could potentially get worse, we still enjoy benefits and privileges that millions of women do not.

In my post International Women’s Day Facts, I shared how hundreds of millions of our sisters need our prayers, our business, our sponsorship and our voice.

As people naturally slow down in purchases and new spending, these non-profit organizations are impeded from providing the services they have promised; and people will suffer even more than they have already.

So as this is an inconvenient time to bring up sponsorships, someone has to.

For these women and children are forgotten at the best of times, how much more at the worst of times?

A Man Showed Up in My Driveway

sponsorships matter, even during COVID-19

But before I tell you about the teen moms in Kenya who are graduating from the maternity home and need support during their transition; or the artisans who need customers so they can put food on their table; or about the passion and burden MHG founder Kristen Welch carries right now, let me share a very personal story with you.

Three years ago, our family was in a financial crisis of our own.

I sold personal belongings to pay off debt and purchase groceries. We were sponsoring two children at the time; one from the Rehema House Graduate Program and the other from different organization.

And one day in May, at an incredibly inconvenient time, a young man named Marco showed up in my driveway asking me to sponsor another child.

I breathed a sigh of relief because I figured I could send him on his way quickly. After all, two active sponsorships is a badge of immunity, right?

Marco, born in a Central American, told me how he himself had been sponsored as a child. He told me how he was living proof that sponsorships truly do change lives.

This seemed like the perfect segue to tell him that we were already sponsoring a couple of kids and that this wasn’t a time when we were ready to take on more.

He smiled, “That’s really great to hear. Let me show you pictures of some of these kids.”

I wasn’t going to get out of this as easily as I thought.

Why Sponsorships Matter

Sponsor 16 year-old Esther & her 1 year-old son, Jayden

Marco fanned out 3-4 pamphlets, each with a photo of a different child.

“These children are our highest priority right now,” he explained. “Because, you see, these girls are at the age where they will begin menstruation. This means that they are at a high-risk for being forced into prostitution.”

I held my breath.

“That’s why I’m out in the heat knocking on doors until I find sponsors for all these children.” 

A few months prior, we began supporting Operation Underground Railroad; an organization that rescues children from sex trafficking.

In that moment, as I looked into these girls’ eyes, I knew there was no way that I was going to say, “no.”

Sponsorships are a key way of lifting children out of generational poverty. Because it makes necessities like nutrition, education & medical care possible, the risk of lack and exploitation are diminished.

Here’s the thing. I know that I could have declined. I had all of the justifiable reasons on my side. And, in my opinion, I believe that Marco would have found the needed sponsors. 

As I look back, this isn’t a story about me being inconvenienced having to listen to someone’s spiel looking for money.

In the thick of my mess, my fear, and the crisis that was hitting us, God was blessing me with the opportunity to help stop a girl from being trafficked.

Instead of my mind spinning to conjure up excuses, it was working overtime to determine what I could sell. I knew there was something that I could give up.

Ultimately, if God was asking this of me, I had faith that He would provide the way.

And even now, sponsorships still matter, even during COVID-19.

Choose Obedience and Sacrifice

Sponsor 19 year-old Amisa & her 1 year-old son Adam Ali

We give when times are good, and it makes us feel good!

But when we give when we think we have nothing left to offer, though it stretches us like labour pains, our lives bear the witness of His life-transforming grace!

I sobbed after Marco left our house. There was no doubt in mind that I had done the right thing, but it cost me something. This wasn’t nothing for us.

I am a new Instagram follower of Carlos Whitaker. He said something powerful yesterday that I am putting to memory.

Sometimes obedience isn’t easy…

Sometimes obedience is scary…

But all the time obedience is necessary…

Carlos Whitaker

When we give something that really costs us, God transforms us and launches growth in us that we may not have known we needed.

When we sign up to give, we can tell ourselves that we are the benefactor, but we aren’t. We are unquestionably the beneficiary.

Donations & Sponsorships Matter, Even During COVID-19

There are currently 34 teen moms in Mercy House’s graduate program.

This is a lousy and inconvenient time for me to tell you about the needs of a non-profit organization in Texas, or the needs of teen moms in Kenya, or mothers in Ethiopia, India, Haiti, and beyond.

But Mercy House has a large number of open sponsorships that need to be filled, because there are teen moms who have survived the unthinkable, yet are on the path to healing fuelled with the hope of Jesus. They need financial support as they transition home.

And Mercy House committed to connect artisan women from around the world, women who have been denied the privileges we have, with buyers. They need new customers on their Online Marketplace; and new subscribers for their monthly fair trade boxes.

And Mercy House’s foundational mandate is to rescue pregnant girls out of one of the largest slums in the world. They have made an unprecedented decision to halt their rescue operations because they need new partners to give what they reasonably can.

At the beginning of this post, I told you that all I was asking was for you to hear me out to the end. I plan on keeping that promise.

I have told you my story, explained the circumstance and outlined the need.

What you do from here is none of my business.

But if I may add one more thing…

Should anyone read this and make the decision that there is something that they could give, I would dearly love for them to reach out and tell me, because I genuinely want to thank them directly.

We are living through history right now, my friends. My prayers go out for each and everyone of you.

How Can I Help?

  • Sponsor a teen mom (for less than $30 CDN/month) as she transitions home with her little one.
  • Make a one-time or recurring donation to Join the Solution (a partner campaign for Mercy House Global) to help fund the maternity homes and future teen rescues.
  • Become a customer at Mercy House Global Online Market Place and shop from quality fair trade items. (Artisans have been paid in advance and all proceeds support the maternity homes in Kenya.)
  • Become a Fair Trade Friday subscriber. Choose from many monthly options. (i.e. Earring of the Month Club, Bracelet of the Month Club, Fair Trade Friday Box & the Grace Case)

Filed Under: Fair Trade, Human Trafficking, Humanitarian, Mercy House Global, Social, The Issues, Women's Issues

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Sarah Neufeld Co. serves as a resource for women who want to go deeper in their spiritual walk, who seek after truth, and have a passion to empower women in their community and around the world. We’ll direct you toward the opportunities, as well as the tools and information through the lens of grace and truth.

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OUR SITE

Sarah Neufeld Co. serves as a resource for women who want to go deeper in their spiritual walk, who seek after truth, and have a passion to empower women in their community and around the world. We’ll direct you toward the opportunities, as well as the tools and information through the lens of grace and truth.

  • Christian Living
  • Fair Trade
  • Humanitarian Issues
  • Mercy House Global
  • Motherhood
  • Politics
  • Social Issues
  • Women’s Issues

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