Category: By This Name

In NYC and cold toward God

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cold-in-NYC

(Editor’s note: It’s Christmas! Here’s how one grandma is planning to make the most of her trip to New York City to reconnect with her family.)

Beatrice* was excited when she called the other day to tell about her upcoming trip to visit her son and grandchildren in New York for Christmas. Her son had been raised in Canada and he had gone on to become a successful business consultant to global Fortune 500 companies. He had packed up his wife and young family and swapped their rural life for a start in New York City.

Beatrice was troubled that when they left they also left behind their Christian heritage and their connection with the local church. “They seem remote and distant when topics like God and the Bible are brought up.” she went on to say, “When I go visit for Christmas I’m wondering, would it be appropriate to give a copy of the book, By This Name, to my son as a gift? I have read it myself and I think that it might be helpful. What do you think?”

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Are you going to survive your day?

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Photo credit: Jeff Kramer on flickr

Snowflakes in the air reminded me I needed winter tires for our car. After checking prices and availability I settled on a local vendor and arranged a time to have the new tires installed.

Arriving at the tire shop on the day of my appointment, I handed the keys to a service representative and then proceeded to the customer-waiting lounge. The room was surprisingly vacant; only one other customer was there, a well-dressed, middle-aged gentleman who seemed deep in his own thoughts. He paid me no mind as I settled into a chair a few seats away. But as I reached into my business satchel for my reading glasses, he suddenly looked in my direction. Our eyes met.

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Franklin Graham’s Abundant Life Festival in Thailand

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Franklin Graham: Abundant Life Festival

Franklin Graham recently spoke for the first time in Chiang Mai, Thailand. His three-day Abundant Life Festival, held Nov. 22-24, drew crowds totalling 70,000.

Many believers came together to help organize this massive event. A group of them set up a booth to provide resources for those who wanted to understand the Bible and its message better. They were handing out little booklets that contained testimonies and the first two chapters of By This Name. And, of course, there were full copies of By This Name in Thai for anyone who wanted a book.

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I don’t have answers!

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Airplane

Editor’s note: We often meet new people when we travel. Opportunities to share the good news abound when on a flight or on a bus. One of our staff members relates a recent incident on being ready to share at a moment’s notice.

As a frequent flyer in economy class, I’ve noticed how the close seating arrangement gives passengers freedom to converse about deeply personal subjects. It happened again recently.

I found myself jammed beside a man and woman each in their 30s. Karin,* a married mother of a six-year old daughter was on a business trip. Tyler* was a science major who worked in the medical field servicing imaging equipment.

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Read to me, please

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Reading Together

(Editor’s note: In life, we are often faced with difficult circumstances: an illness or some tragedy. Even during these times, if we look beyond ourselves, we can find God bringing someone into our lives with whom we can share the gospel message. This is Phoebe’s* story.)

A day after we shared Brad Powell’s video testimony, we received an email from Phoebe. She wrote, “I have wanted to write to you for some time and thank you for the book, ‘By this Name.'”

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A visit to a Thai Youth Detention Center

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Thai Detention Center

A short-term missions team recently travelled to the Buddhist nation of Thailand. As part of the trip, the team visited two detention centers for youths. Altogether, they interacted with about 300 teenagers—most of whom were boys, plus a handful of girls.

The team sang songs, played games and performed a skit about Jesus to an audience who had almost no knowledge of the BIble. The team explained briefly who Jesus was, how he was crucified, and how he gained victory over sin and death. Despite the stares of the other youths, two teens responded by saying they wanted to put their trust in Jesus as their Saviour.

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I’m calling you from the casino!

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Casino cards

(Editor’s note: So often we find that people stay clear of the church simply because they don’t understand what the Bible is all about. But when there is understanding, there is life transformation.)

One of our staff had the opportunity to preach at church one Sunday morning. He chose John 1:29 as the key verse to speak on: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

“Do you know what that truly means?” he asked the congregation. “Here is John baptizing people in the waters of the Jordan, when all of a sudden, he stops and points to an approaching man. And he exclaims, ‘Behold the lamb of God!’ What a strange expression.”

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Nick Vujicic in Thailand

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"By This Name" booklet

As an equipping ministry, our tools are often used by organizations around the world to give people an opportunity to understand the gospel message. Just last week, Nick Vujicic, from the organization Life Without Limbs, was in Thailand. Nick spoke at two events, one in Chiangmai and one in Bangkok. The ministry sponsoring Life Without Limbs decided to hand out our materials to the event attendees.

The attendees were given a booklet that contained the first two chapters of the Thai edition of By This Name. The booklet also included many testimonies of prominent Thai people who had read the book and were impacted by it. At the back of the booklet was information on how to get a copy of the book.

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“By This Name” is now available in Mongolian!

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"By This Name" in Mongolian
By This Name in Mongolian

We’re excited to announce that By This Name is now available in Mongolian! The title of the book in Mongolian is “ЭMMaЙ T0CROHbI 3aMД TaapaЛДcaH YЛ TaHЙX XYH.” The literal translation is… “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.” Confusing? Well, it just so happens that the content of “By This Name” is most appropriate for Mongolia, but the translators found that the title of “The Stranger” resonated better with the locals as their culture has been heavily influenced by a nomadic lifestyle. So, we took the content of By This Name and married it with the title of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.

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The quiet ambassador

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By This Name

In the waiting area of a local business, one of our staff members spotted something familiar. Can you see what it is?

We think it’s neat that the business owner is following the biblical mandate of making the most of every opportunity. He’s trying to share the precious gospel message in the waiting lounge!