From early childhood I had an interest in missions, not centered on any particular field, but was challenged by stories of need in different places. After I had graduated from college and had begun teaching, my interest was revived. I … (read more)
Political calamity. Debilitating illness. Detour. Disappointment. It is one thing to have a vision for the thing to be done; it is quite another to accomplish it. We find detours along the way. Have you ever noticed? Detour and disappointment are … (read more)
Latin America was famously “neglected” at the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910. But the continent was not entirely overlooked. In preparation for his presentations at Edinburgh, Samuel Zwemer asked a young Robert Speer to produce “a map of South … (read more)
Snow crunched under foot and crisp winter winds whipped rosy color into the cheeks as worshippers, bundled in warm winter clothing, hurried into the “Little Homelike Church” – Trinity Lutheran Church of Minnehaha Falls – the night of December 5, … (read more)
In 1937 the South American Mission Prayer League organized formally in Minneapolis. By the end of the year, the organization had sent its first missionaries – John Carlsen and Ernest Weinhardt, off to the mountains of Bolivia. In 2012 we … (read more)
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty … (read more)
In 1985, Millie Tengbom published a gripping account of the early years of the World Mission Prayer League. She titled the volume, The Spirit of God was Moving. The book begins in 1929 with Weinhardt’s famous vision, penned in “the … (read more)
“Tonight a vision came into my mind. I will write it here just as I was prompted to write it when I saw the vision….” – Ernest Weinhardt (October 17, 1929) In the western Sudan of Africa, slightly-built, brown-haired, blue-eyed … (read more)
God gave the vision in 1929: you can read the story of Weinhardt’s famous vision on the facing page. God sowed the vision in 1932: Weinhardt and his family arrived in Minneapolis, planting the vision wherever they could. God blessed … (read more)
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” – 2 … (read more)