(4 of 4 featured posts by Dennis Wadley)

If you haven't had the chance to see the movie, The Constant Gardener, I highly recommend it. It is a story about a woman who believes that drug companies are testing pharmaceuticals on Africans. (Skip this next sentence if you haven't seen the movie and intend to, as it will give away too much important info) It turns out that the drugs being tested were actually killing the people in the study. Seem implausible? It is a powerful story but it is also a reality in Africa.

Continue reading "The Constant Gardener...a Reality In South Africa" »

Posted by johnson on March 15, 2006 3:02 PM and filed under Dennis Wadley | Permalink

(3 of 4 featured posts by Dennis Wadley)

This week has been packed with little pains. Most of them are not the kind that hit you over the head, but rather they are the annoying kind of struggles that take up your time and disturb the flow of life. Here’s a glimpse of what has been nagging us:

Cars: One of the Bridges of Hope vehicles blew its air conditioner (not a nice thing when the summer temps in South Africa are hitting the 90’s). We found out that it will cost over $1,000 to fix it, so at least for now, we are sweating it out. Another of the vehicles decided to quit working on the highway yesterday. That same vehicle just recovered from a major water leak and an exhaust pipe the fell off. Our personal car also visited the shop last week…what a pain.

Continue reading "Giving Thanks When Things are a Pain" »

Posted by johnson on March 5, 2006 3:01 PM and filed under Dennis Wadley | Permalink

(2 of 4 featured posts by Dennis Wadley)
You know how prayer so easily becomes trite little “god phrases” linked together so that they sound spiritual, but somehow they are devoid of not only power, but even meaning? Sometimes we need to shake up our prayer life, or jump start it, if it has died on the vine!

James has some pretty intense things to say about prayer. Read James 4:1-3 over a couple of times:
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Please don’t rush through this…pause right now…really…slow down and read the last two sentences slowly and with strong emotion, that’s how they were written.

Continue reading "The Power of Prayer in a Hurting World" »

Posted by johnson on March 2, 2006 2:59 PM and filed under Dennis Wadley | Permalink

(1 of 4 featured posts by Dennis Wadley)
To give you a bit of perspective on where we live, South Africa has an estimated 6.5 million people suffering with HIV/AIDS. That is more than any other nation on earth, though South Africa's total population is only 43 million, less than the population of California and Illinois combined. There are already over 1.5 million orphans in South Africa, more than the entire population of Idaho, as a result of the AIDS pandemic and that number is expected to grow to 5 million by 2010. After generations of racial oppression, bolstered by a theological framework which helped establish white supremacy, there is a staggering 47% unemployment throughout the nation and that number soars to nearly 80% in the urban slum we are working outside of Cape Town. It is our hope to build bridges into the lives of those who are suffering in order to create long-term, self-sustaining solutions to the deep problems of our world. We do this primarily by equipping churches to minister holistically (spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally and socially) to their communities through Community Health Evangelism.

Continue reading "Faith and Works" »

Posted by johnson on March 1, 2006 2:36 PM and filed under Dennis Wadley | Permalink