FRM Newsletter
November 2024: This Christmas Season Bless Those Less Fortunate Than You
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When I lived in Germany as a child, it was a magical place to grow up–it was a land of many castles. My family lived about a block and a half from an abandoned castle. My brothers and I would spend hours playing knights and fighting dragons. It was a wonderful experience to look back on as a childhood memory. Strangely, as an adult, God still has me fighting dragons, but these dragons are real, and they prey on innocent young children. Vicky and I recently traveled to Peru to meet with Cory Kilgus and his wife, Danielle, from Calvary Chapel Trujillo. I was invited to teach at their mission conference and Sunday morning services. Over the next five days, I would see a very well-run ministry and learn about the misery of so many young girls in Peru. Just a block from the church, there is a hotel that looks to be five or six stories tall. Here, rooms are rented by the hour, where men take young prostitutes to have sex with them. Though the age of consent in Peru is 14, this shows how much more demoralized the world has become. Even though this is legal, depraved men desire girls as young as 12 years old. These men can justify their actions however they want, but they are still violating young children. Many girls cannot find a job in the remote areas where they live, and if they do, the minimum wage is about $300 a month. Desperation drives young girls into the world of prostitution, where they make about $600. Once a girl reaches 25 years of age, fewer men want them, and their wage goes down.
Cory and I have the same heart to open a home to rescue these children. A home where they can grow up and have the life that a child is supposed to have and fulfill the biblical mandate that God has for each believer’s life. I know we will need to purchase a piece of property to build these homes, but right now, we are not asking for people to give. We need prayer first for God’s direction as we form a battle plan on how to rescue these children. Calvary Chapel Trujillo has a great team that wants to get involved in helping these young ladies. What impressed me was that Cory already had top lawyers and other people at the top of their fields committed to the work.
In the First and Second World Wars, the Western Front was where all the most extreme fighting took place. As the Lord makes us aware of new areas where spiritual warfare is tremendous, I see each of these as a new front. I have always believed that the Body of Christ is supposed to be a wrecking ball to Satan’s kingdom. By prayer, evangelism, and showing God’s love, we are called to destroy the kingdom of darkness. For Far Reaching Ministries, Sudan was a war front, and then came our involvement in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Burma, and many other nations. I now firmly believe that the Lord will have us open up another front in South America. I have only ever had one real dream in my life: to fight battles with men of God that could change the course of history–fighting to win nations for Christ, giving people the tools they need to understand God’s will. Ultimately, our calling is to help people not miss the life they were created for. Now, for all of you who want this life, it is crucial to understand that for every front-line combat soldier, it takes five to seventeen support soldiers to keep them in the battle. During D-Day in the Second World War, they needed 17 support soldiers for each combat soldier in battle. I want to encourage you all to be a part of this new front through prayer, financial support, or other ministry opportunities.
As the end of the year is approaching, we are again preparing for Christmas outreaches in Mexico, Ukraine, and Peru. We will provide for children who would normally not have a Christmas celebration, including a party where every child receives a Christmas gift, a Christmas meal, and, most importantly, hears the Gospel message. In Ukraine, the children will receive a new winter jacket. We will also be having our annual Potatoes for Grandmothers outreach, where we raise
about $300 for each grandmother to provide them with enough food to get through the winter in Ukraine. These elderly individuals continually struggle to have enough food to eat, and often, when we go into their homes, all they have is bread or an empty refrigerator. When the food parcels are delivered, some of the elderly have never seen so much food and often they come to Christ because they feel so loved by people they have never met. Growing up in Germany was truly magical for a child. It was a different time in history, people just did not have money the way they do today. The giving of toys was reserved only for Christmas and birthdays, and rarely did children receive gifts other than these two holidays. In countries where children are so poor, they are excited to receive even a single toy, and it is truly a pleasure to see so much joy on their faces. In Peru and Mexico, you can provide a child with a Christmas for $40; for $400, you can provide for 10 children. In Ukraine, the amount per child is $75 because they also receive a winter jacket, and for $750, you can provide for 10 children. Tragically, many children in Ukraine have lost parents to the war, and it will be a wonderful blessing to bring smiles to these kids. Vicky and I will spend most of the Christmas holiday in Ukraine, taking your gifts to these children. As the year is quickly coming to an end, let me leave you with this: the year is not over, and you can be part of being used by the Lord this Christmas season to bless those less fortunate than you.
Wes Bentley
Far Reaching Ministries