Caring For The Shepherds
Jeremy Grafman
“For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” - Hebrews 6:10
Your loving and continued prayer and support for the ministry in the Epicenter often brings significant, though unseen dividends in the lives of some of the local pastors, shepherds and ministry workers. Our field teams travel the countryside in Israel and throughout the Epicenter observing all that the Lord is doing, listening carefully for the ways the Lord may ask The Joshua Fund to help, to assist, to supplement Kingdom work that is taking place, or to perhaps help initiate ministry efforts that aren’t being pursued or cultivated at the moment. In these travels we have the tremendous privilege of walking alongside those saints the Lord has called to evangelize, disciple, shepherd, teach, train and send forth among their countrymen, in their own language. During these critical times of connection, we frequently get to hear and share the needs and wounds of many faithful laborers. Sometimes a willing ear from afar is just what’s needed to enable a ministry worker to share their concerns, hurts and struggles.
During last fall’s ‘Preach The Word/ Shepherd The Flock’ teaching conferences in Israel, I had just such a poignant moment with one of the local shepherds. A quiet man simply asked for prayer for a crushing need in his life. As I was able to convey this brother’s great and pressing agony before our Father, I was as deeply blessed as he was. I recognized the Father’s love for him in a great way at that moment that He had cared enough for this brother to enable our faith to be expressed together in prayer.
Each of us can so easily lose sight of those on our path as we pursue the ‘goal’. I love that Jesus’ ministry is always marked by teaching and touching. It’s never just sharing the Word, never only message content to be conveyed, or the project that should be our focus, rather those the Father places along the way who we can bless, encourage and strengthen for Him as we take time to listen, to invest, to share. When we stay attentive to these opportunities, the ‘goals’ we viewed afar off are so often added by our Father!
I was very impacted by the Lord’s kindness in arranging for this moment with my brother last year…and just a few weeks ago felt a nudge from the Lord to send a brief note of encouragement to this dear shepherd. I was so blessed to hear back very shortly as to how timely this word was for my friend. He had just ended a terribly difficult day of struggle, and the fact that the Lord sent refreshment and encouragement from afar meant a great deal to him on that weary evening. Just a few reminders from the Word as to our Father’s ever-seeing care lifted my friend.
To all our friends who pray and partner with us, thank you for enabling us to be there often enough and long enough to be useful to the Lord in extending these kinds of meaningful, yet rarely visible moments. Please rejoice with us that the Lord’s kindness is extended through us in this way on a regular basis. On my last trip into Israel, two of us had an extended time of connecting with this dear brother. We talked and he wept. We understood and were able to comfort and console. Your prayer and gifts made that possible, and have helped encourage our brother to stay faithful to his calling, continuing to teach God’s Word and to share of Messiah throughout what can still be a dry and weary Land. We haven’t ‘solved’ his problems, and our praying hasn’t yet visibly changed the immediate circumstances he faces… “But God” has moved on our hearts to comfort him in his trials, to visibly remind him that he is loved, and that his labor and love for the lost never goes unseen by the King of the Harvest.
Thank you again for walking and praying with us in this special and vital ministry role the Lord has provided. “
