February 2012 Update

Here are some areas for prayer and praise this month as we look forward to what God is up to. We really appreciate you taking the time to lift our ministry up in prayer and for your continued support and encouragement...

Prayer

• Our Indonesia Team leaves March 7th. Pray for the guys to have a safe and productive trip as we seek ministry partners to serve in the unreached areas of Indonesia. We are thrilled to begin this partnership with EFCA Reach Global.
• We are looking forward to sending our Pastor/Teaching team to India in September and we are now at the point of final commitment from those who have shown interest in going to serve. Pray that God assembles the team in His perfect way to accomplish His purposes in India.
• A big request is for prayer as we move forward in seeking to purchase the building that houses Helping Hands Re-Sale Shoppe. As most of you know this ministry partnership with CrossWord Cafe Youth Center has been a huge ministry blessing 33 groups financially in 2011 and we want to keep it going. The location and building we are in has more than tripled our proceeds - so we now are working through a plan to purchase the building. Currently we rent from a bank that could sell the building at any moment and we would lose it. We anticipate a big push to raise as much of the down payment as we possibly can so if you are interested in helping us continue this ministry by giving financially to the effort, please let us know as soon as possible.

Praise

• For amazing Peace we have experienced in the midst of uncertain situations.
• For Joy that has kept our eyes on Christ though all the times we are unsure of what the next stages of ministry hold.
• For Harmony we have seen in the Body of Christ as we seek to Connect at Timothy Culture in the Church.

You guys ROCK! Thanks again for praying!

God's presence, January 10, 2012

I have been reading the story at the end of Luke 24. I am amazed at how Jesus' presence is exactly what we need in the face of fear and uncertainty. In that story Jesus shows up after He is risen from the dead and stands right in the room with His disciples. These are the guys who spent three years with Him and had seen all that He could do. When He comes through and accomplishes all He had told them and then stands before them, they are afraid and think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus is tender in His compassion and He asks for some food to eat in order to show them that it is actually Him. Finally, they get it and He opens their minds to understand all He had told them. This story really means a lot to me because I need to be reminded often that the Lord's presence is all I really need. That His leading and power are exactly what is best for me.

As we step fully into the ministry goals we have for Small World Connections in 2012 I am again feeling like one of these guys in that story. It can be confusing and overwhelming even when God is blessing - I need to be reminded that His presence is all I need.

Please praise God with us for what He has done and pray for His presence and guidance in new areas of ministry:

• The Mexico GO Team had a great time of ministry with Lowell and Sheri Glick and returned safely. We hope for more to get involved with our next trip to serve in Mexico.
• Helping Hands Re-sale has financially blessed 33 non-profit orgs in 2011 and looks to expand that in 2012.
• We are putting the final pieces together for our first teaching team to serve in Northern India in 2012. Please pray that pastors and teachers of the Word will step up and follow the call to equip and train church planters in this country that has very little Gospel presence.
• We are finding a network of believers who want to offer themselves to the Lord by serving and helping missions all around the world, including right in our own hometown. Please pray that SWC would continue to help these Timothy's follow the call and prompting that the Holy Spirit gives them by equipping and providing resources to follow through and thrive in their unique ministries.
• We have seen God provide financially in the past and we continue to look for committed supporters to help us as we serve in our role leading Small World Connections. If you or anyone else you know might want to partner with us financially please let us know. We are currently about 2/3 funded as missionaries by those who have committed to giving on a regular basis.

Thanks for praying and supporting Small World Connections.

I want to continue this month by highlighting another friend we are working with who is living out the Timothy Culture we are trying to connect, but before I share with you about Ben Barton - I just want to give you a few praises and prayers to lift up....

India Team - Larry and David returned home safely from a great trip to Northern India.  We got to work right away on planning another team to go and serve Delhi Bible Institute in 2012.  We will be sending a Bible teaching team to equip and train church planters there - so please pray for these details to come together and for team members to step up and follow the call.

LUCINE - Last month I made the appeal for prayer and financial support to help our good friend from East Africa be able to pay for an immigration lawyer in an effort to be granted asylum.  This will allow her to be able to stay in our country where she is safe and loved and serving as a missionary.  Praise God that many of you responded to that and God heard your prayers.  We now have raised over $5,700 to pay for these legal expenses.  Wow!  I feel so blessed to be part of something that is so close to God's heart as we help this orphan reach her full potential.  Thanks to you and to God for the answered prayer!

Helping Hands Re-Sale continues to help fund and bless local and international ministries.  Currently we are in need of a good covered trailer to use for deliveries and pick-ups.  Please let us know if you want to donate one or know someone else who might.

Finally our GO Team Director David Headley is connected to a great ministry called Malaria No More and he had planned to participate in the New York Marathon as a fund raiser for malaria research.  David has battled malaria twice himself as a result of his many trips around the world and even though he was not able to make it to the marathon this year he is still working to raise the $3,000 he had pledged. 

If you would like to help David reach his goal here is the way to help- Send Checks to:

Malaria No More - c/o Richard Thayer - 432 Park Avenue South -4th Floor -New York, NY 10016

Please write " David Headley" in the memo section of your check. 

The deadline is Nov 28th

And Now.....Ben Barton.

Sometimes in life we meet people who show us the way ministry should be - that happened to me when I met Ben.  This gentleman has committed his retirement from CAT to serving missionaries around the world.  Specifically, Ben has had a long term commitment to our ministry partners Lowell and Sheri Glick who are serving in Zacatecas Mexico.  He has been down to serve with them in their previous location at least four times and stayed to work with them for extended trips as well.  Ben is an active member of a great church in our area and works to get others to go and serve Glicks and other missionaries he has served around the world.  He will be going with our team at the end of December to reconnect with the Glicks (for the first time since they moved to Zacatecas) and look for ways to return and bring others from his church and surrounding area the next time he goes.  I told Ben when I first was getting to know him - that he was the poster boy for what we are dreaming of when we try find Timothy's who will put the welfare of missionaries first.  He completly gets our vision, that we base on Philippians 2:20-21, better than anyone I have met and I praise God that he came into our ministry so early as an inspiration to me and to others we are helping follow the call. 

Thanks for praying and supporting Small World Connections!

Merry Christmas Prayer Partners!!

I am inspired by the Christmas season and my good friend John Heffron to use this last prayer letter in 2011 to share what I am thankful for when I think about Small World Connections (SWC)

On the 12 days of Christmas I am thankful that the Lord gave to me...

1 amazing wife who helps the ministry and me in too many ways to count

2 ministries in our local community that we have helped connect to the world (Helping Hands Re-Sale and CrossWord Cafe Youth Center)

3 great kids who bring me joy and show me a picture of faith that helps keep me going

4 new target areas where we have established partnerships around the world

5 new financial supporters who have committed to regular giving in order to help us continue serving the Kingdom

6 times per day that I remember relationships are really what Jesus wants me to spend my time growing

7 days per week that I am doing what I love to do - Connect the Body of Christ

8 times daily that I underestimate what God can and will do if we trust Him

9 people who went for the first time to serve missions with SWC in 2011

10 ministry partners we work with on a regular basis to serve the Kingdom

11 months that I thought I might be crazy in 2011

12 months that we hope to continue connecting a Timothy Culture in the Church in 2012

All of you prayer partners would be number 13 - but you get the idea! 

We love you all and thank God for your prayer and support as we serve with His Joy!

In His Grip,

Brent for the Resslers

Oct. 24, 2011 Prayer Updates

The past few days I have been thinking about the phrase... Like drinking from a fire hose.  In this case though it has been an amazing thing to see that up till now God seemed to have the faucet on low but has recently turned it up full blast.  This faucet is filled with blessings that are taking the form of ministry opportunities for Small World Connections.  Although I won't say it is easy to keep up with all of it, I will say it is amazing to be part of His work in this world for His Kingdom and realize that He is directly involved even in the smallest details.

My first prayer/praise for this month is something that is very close to my heart.  We have an opportunity to directly impact the life of a young woman who was orphaned during the genocide that took place in East Africa (Rwanda region) back in 1993.  This is close to my heart because since 2004 I have been trying to find ways to help orphans in that region and in fact can trace this desire to help there to the founding of SWC, but that is another story.  Lucine is a smart and educated young woman who has been living in poverty and continued danger there since she was orphaned at the age of nine.  For five months Lucine has been living and serving in our community of Chillicothe Illinois as a missionary at our youth center and at Helping Hands Re-Sale.  With the visa she currently has she must return to her country and the terrible living conditions by early December. 

That is where a great community of believers in our town have stepped in.  Through Small World Connections we are committing to sponsor her and fund the legal expenses for her to be granted asylum in order to stay in our country.  Through this we pray she will find a better life as she seeks the answer to why God protected her from the men who murdered her whole village.  This is a clear and present opportunity to directly change a life and God brought it right to our doorstep.  I am asking our prayer supporters to pray and to consider sharing the financial load to make her dream a reality.  If you would like to contribute to this need - that could reach well into the range of $5,000 - simply send a check (made out to: Small World Connections - 1623 North Finney St.  Chillicothe, IL 61523) with Lucine written in the memo line.  We will keep you posted on the progress.  If you want to know more just give me a call - 309/251-2048.

New target area -

India - David Headley and Larry Bradley just returned from 10 days visiting the ministry of Delhi Bible Institute.  We as a  ministry are "All In" with supporting what they saw and we will begin to send teaching teams of pastors from the U.S. there in 2012 to teach frontline church planters who will take the Gospel into the interior of a country that is less than 1% Christian.

We are also adding Indonesia and Cambodia to the list of our target areas.  We will have more details on those for you next month.

I had planned to share another story this month of someone involved with our ministry who is living out the Timothy Culture we see in Philippians 2:20-21 - but I believe in sharing Lucine's need and story with you I have already shown you an opportunity and in Lucine someone who is living out the attitude Timothy had of putting others needs first.  Please praise God for Lucine's example and continue to pray for Small World Connections.