Thursday, April 23, 2020

A Message of Hope and Action

Thomas Martins is staying in Liberia wuth us for three months. He has written a blog about his experience with us. You can view the original post here.


I have been reluctant to write about this topic. Rare are the moments when the effects of this pandemic are not on the forefront of our minds. Our forgetfulness may provide us with a moment of stillness, only to be snapped back to reality by a news headline or a tweet. Fewer still are the moments we hear of hope and action. I will attempt to share with you, one of those rare moments of hope and light in the midst of confusion and fear.

To recap what we are all painfully aware of, a few weeks ago our world changed to the point that it will likely never be the same again. So fast and absolute was the upheaval of our deceptively secure lives that we have been left shaken and wondering: Why? Did God allow this to happen? Are we being punished? Is this the end? In our prayers we beg God to stop this plague and the coming global economic and health care crisis, to keep us safe from it all. We begin to rebuke it in the name of Jesus! But we are forgetting a fundamental truth. We forget there are only two possibilities for everything that has happened since the creation of our universe. God either made something happen or he permitted it. To say there is a third option is to say God is something less than He is. I realize this may challenge how some view God as the benevolent old man in the clouds who only sends out his baby cupids to shoot us with arrows of love. Yet, we must seek to know him as he is not as we want him to be.

This is Vasco, one of the children on the mission base. Photograph by Thomas Martins

In the wisdom of man, we have always misunderstood God. John the Baptist (who knew something of the divinity of Jesus when they were both yet in the womb), clouded by the understanding the years had given him, questioned what he knew at the river Jordan when Jesus did not meet his expectations. When John’s life was flipped upside down and death was at his doorstep, when the savior he thought he knew didn’t show up with an army to bust him out of prison, he was left disillusioned. He thought to himself, “this can’t be right, the God I know wouldn’t leave me in here. He wouldn’t let them cut my head off… maybe I had the wrong guy all along.” Yet, Jesus responds by pointing to the miracles that John was blind to and finishes by saying, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Lk 7:23). In other words, “you wouldn’t be offended if you paid attention to what I AM doing, instead of what you THINK I should be doing.”

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” ~Luke 7:23

May we also seek to be the blessed ones who are not offended by what the Lord is doing. Instead of praying for God to fix this disaster (as if it had accidentally slipped through his fingers), we should be asking for Him to show us what he is doing through it. In what way is he seeking to spread his kingdom in these difficult times and how can we be part of it? I believe each of us find ourselves exactly where we should be to fulfill our purpose in the coming weeks.

The following is Wordsower Liberia’s (WSL) response to the virus.
The printing press room in action. Photograph by Thomas Martins

In a country where misinformation and superstitions are widely spread and easily believed, communication of the facts is of primary importance. In a country where many towns and villages are located in the bush and not easily accessible, dissemination of those facts is equally important. Getting this information into the hands of the people has the potential to save many lives.

After identifying this need and realizing that WSL has the perfect resources to fulfill it, namely a printing press and motorbikes, we got moving. In collaboration with the Liberian government and the official health organizations, we produced a booklet with all the facts of COVID-19. We also added some of WSL’s own evangelistic material to the back of the booklet. We have produced hundreds of these booklets. We trained the WSL missionary teams and sent them out. We have been going to all towns and villages, teaching awareness about the virus and bringing the only message that can provide hope in these times, the good news of the Kingdom of God. The teams have been received with joy and gratitude.

On the mission field. Photograph by Thomas Martins

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For those villages that can’t afford a bucket for hand washing, we are teaching a free alternative for a hand washing station. Photograph by Thomas Martins

Monday, April 13, 2020

March 2020 End of Month Report

Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone:
12 - Total counties we ministered in
263 - Total communities/villages/towns/cities we ministered in
138 - Total mission trips
12 - Total baptized
503 - Attended our 2-day trainings in 4 locations
31 – Attended our Wordsower Bible Institute 2-week class, level 2
13- Dental patients, 18 teeth pulled
13 - Optical patients, 14 glasses distributed
577 - Viewed the Jesus film shown in 4 locations
79,000 – pages printed on our printing press
3,700 – Manuals printed
2 – Broadcasts from radio stations. 105.3 FM - 7 one hour teachings a week. 98.6 FM - 2 one hour teachings a week

The above report is made possible by a united sacrificial team here and abroad.  Only in the unity of us all can the above be a reality and even increase.

 “If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence…  For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” ... This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s… Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you… Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged… The LORD will be with you.” 2 Chron 20:9-18.  Everything is different! Months ago, we never imagined the world we live in now could change so fast.   None know what the next 3, 6, 12 months and beyond will be like.  All is in our Lord’s hands, He is Sovereign. We pray. 

“Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples…Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.  Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” Ps 96:2-10. We will always do all we can with what is available to continue the mission of Christ, given to us. to reach every tribe. Our passion, our urgency, increases.  Virus, war, plague, danger, persecution nor famine will keep us from the assignment of our Lord. “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” Ac 13:47.  

“Men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” 1 Chron 12:32.  We the people of Wordsower understand the times and know what we should do.  Things have changed and our tactics must change.  Most of Liberia is made up of remote small villages and towns.  They are confused, they hear and believe rumors and false prophecies.  We have been to hundreds of towns and villages bringing awareness and the truth about the virus and the gospel of our Lord in a booklet.  We teach about the virus and salvation, leaving the booklets with the pastors and community leaders.  Below are two videos that show how we are doing it. The below video is less than 2 minutes. 

This video is 2 ½ minutes.  It shows our teams ministering in the villages.  Thomas Martins is in the video.  He is from Woodside Bible Church in Michigan.  He came to spend 3 months with us…. Well that was before the virus, now we do not know how long he will stay. 

In February, we sent two teams, on mission to spy out 4 unreached tribes. Each team, of two, was gone for 3 weeks. They found the unreached tribes. They presented the Gospel to 78 towns/communities in the regions of these tribes.  Surprisingly, overall, they were well received. If we show up in obedience and fearlessness then a bountiful harvest will result.  These are the tribes that they went to: the Maninka is 0.00% evangelical Christian, Mandingo is 0.03% evangelical Christian, Bandi is 1% evangelical Christian, the Mende is 1% evangelical Christian.  We already have a team ministering to the Vai, they are 0.01% evangelical Christian and the Gola, they too are 0.02% evangelical Christian. (Source - joshuaproject.net).  We have seen salvations and baptisms among the Vai and Gola tribes!  Praise God!! We have discovered that if we show up there will be salvations and baptisms.  Our Lord has prepared people from among them. Our job is to find those prepared, evangelize, disciple and unite them into churches. Before the virus crisis, we had hoped to have these two indigenous missionary teams relocated and ministering in these 4 tribes.  It is still possible, lack of funding holds us.

This film, below, is for fun.  It is one minute.  There is much to observe, notice the mothers joy and laughter, the building on the left, the pot on the fire, the clothing, and the corn (the corn is not wasted, it will be eaten, sanitation is not like ours).
As always, you can view all of our videos on our YouTube channel by clicking here.

Participate with us in Praise and prayer:
  • Praise: For our two spy teams.  They returned safely and accomplished their mission.
  • Praise: Our leaders are sacrificial, bold and fearless.  When I asked for volunteers to go in the midst of the virus I got what I expected.  100% raised their hands to go!!!  Wow to be surrounded by such is exciting. They call me general, we have a war soldier passion.
  • Pray: Please pray for our safety as we will continue to boldly and fearlessly march into and live within the strongholds of Satan to, “snatch others from the fire and save them.” Jude 1:23.
  • Pray: For increased donations.  We have an indigenous missionary team ministering to 2 of the unreached tribes of Liberia.  We have 4 more unreached tribes that need indigenous teams to go to them.  Our neighbors, Sierra Leone and Guinea, are asking us to start this ministry in their country also.
100% of all donations go to the mission. None is used for administration. Tax-deductible receipts will be sent each January.

Click here to donate online

Check Donations:
Please make checks payable to the “Woodside Vision Foundation” designating “Wordsower Africa” on the memo line of the check. Please include your name and address for the receipt, if the information is not already on the check. Mail to:           
Woodside Vision Foundation
6600 Rochester Road
Troy Michigan 48085

If you have questions or problems with donations or want to contact me, Kim Smith, then
email me at kimlogansmith1957@gmail.com  I’m also available on the app called Whatsapp, the contact number is +231881344417

Financial Report for March:
Summary of expenses:
$1,500- Staff support for 12 employees
$452 - Assistance to the poor
$635 - Radio Ministry
$728- Base Expenses. Covers food cost for the team, visitors and maintenance on the base
$1,489 - Mission; teams that are sent out to preach and teach
$866 – Sent two teams to spy out 4 unreached tribes.  They were gone 3 weeks
$1,506 – Wordsower Bible Institute 2 week, level 1 class on our Zwedru base
$29 – Video production labor
$1,786 - Capemont Missionary team working with 3 unreached Muslim tribes.
$221- Printing press supplies and labor
$552 - Motorbike maintenance and repairs
$1,400 - Gas for bikes and generators.  Liberia went through a gas crisis.  The normal gas price is
$80 - Adult Literacy
$1,900 - Wordsower Ivory Coast base.
Total: $13,144