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Key Bible Verse: "The Lord is my helper so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?' (Hebrews 13:6). Bonus Reading: Ezra 8:21–23

Ten of us sat in an open courtyard in the heart of an Arab city. For the Muslims, it was their first Bible study. I read Luke 10 and began asking questions. But Henda, taken with the text, took over. "Look!" she said, "This man bound his wounds. He put him on his own beast. He paid for his stay in the inn with his own money!"

As she spoke, I saw a glint of light and raised my head in time to see a bottle flash from the apartment complex two stories above us and land with a dull thud in a flowerpot on the edge of the courtyard. It landed the only place it could have without hitting someone or shattering. The city noises masked its fall. Nobody noticed but me. I held my two year old on my lap—my first thought was for his safety, then for the safety of the others. But as the words to flee formed in my mouth, God spoke to my heart, "You're safe where you sit—don't move."

Henda continued, staring at her new Bible, "What kind of man is this? What does this mean?" Clearly the Spirit was at work in her, and I wasn't to interrupt with my small concerns about flying bottles.

—Leeann Stiles in Mack & Leeann's Guide to Short-Term Missions

My Response: Am I prepared to risk because Jesus is more "real" to me than the "real world"?

Thought to Apply: Safety does not depend on our conception of the absence of danger. Safety is found in the center of His perfect will. —T. J. Bach (missionary to Venezuela)

Adapted from Mack & Leeann's Guide to Short-Term Missions (InterVarsity, 2000) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

In light of what You endured for me, Savior, empower me to move out of my comfort zone for You.

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