OUR MISSION:
Be the Light shines the light of Christ through good works for God’s glory. (Matthew 5:16)
OUR VISION:
To dispel darkness in all the earth by proclaiming Jesus as Savior and caring for people as He did.
Can you believe all of this happened during a pandemic?
Our Year in Review:
Look What the Lord Has Done!
Like you, we began the year with no knowledge that a pandemic would soon drastically affect our daily lives. We were feverishly making preparations for our first medical team to travel to Peru to minister to the Quechua people, a trip that God made vastly fruitful. As our team was exiting Peru on March 7th, we encountered the first glimpse of how things would change when we stood in line in immigration with people wearing masks. There was one reported case of coronavirus in Peru on that day. Eight days later the Peruvian border was closed and our team was safely back home in the U.S. joining throngs of people searching for toilet paper, masks, and cleaning supplies. Hundreds of people in two communities in the Andes mountains had received medical care, medicines, miraculous healing, hygiene supplies, and an opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior right before they were locked down for almost nine months. Look what the Lord did!
A week later schools closed and chaos erupted as our country braced itself for something most of the living had not experienced in our history. People began to lose their jobs and fears over the impact of the pandemic on the economy dominated social media and news feeds. That is when we heard God prompting us to put our townhouse on the market and begin looking for a larger home that could better accommodate our growing ministry. It seemed so counterintuitive, but then, a lot of things with God are that way. We prepared our townhouse and listed it within two weeks, and eight days later it sold for far more than we had paid for it. This allowed us to have the down payment we needed for a larger space and we found our next home the same day ours sold. Fast forward 46 days through a roller-coaster of challenges (getting a loan approved during a pandemic is a horse of a different color!), lots of prayer, and true miracles in answer to those prayers, and we had moved into our new home and office space without changing our house payment. Look what the Lord did!
Throughout the spring and summer months we intensified our ministry efforts to meet local needs by quietly providing grocery assistance for families impacted economically by the pandemic. We also reached out to support healthcare workers in some of the hardest hit areas including one local nursing home which had experienced a catastrophic number of deaths related to the virus. During this time, we were also able to provide blankets to the community we had served in Peru as winter was upon them and people were freezing. In addition, we responded to the Beirut, Lebanon crisis by sending funds to help a local church and Bible college there rebuild to reach their community for Christ. Finally, we launched a new partnership with Chalkley Elementary School, initiating our monthly “Bright Spots” program with a back-to-school lunch for the teachers and staff. We have continued that outreach with the support of a special small group from Southside Church as well as other contributors from the community. Every month 101 teachers and staff receive a “Bright Spot” gift of encouragement from Be the Light. Look what the Lord has done!
In September, Lucia began Discipleship Training School in Mexico, and here in Virginia volunteers helped to pack thousands of pieces of feminine hygiene kits for Stacy to take to Kenya in early October. Be the Light joined with Jennifer Bennett of Least of These in Kenya to partner with Africa Gospel Church to reach rural Kenyan girls for Christ utilizing washable feminine hygiene kits as the entry point to begin a mentoring program with rural girls from four tribes. We provided education and training on general and feminine hygiene and the use of the kits and the AGC women taught life skills. Together we presented the gospel to the girls and over 60 of them received Jesus as Savior. God opened a door for us to teach a local retired seamstress how to sew the fabric components of the hygiene kits and now Kenyan women will be making kits for their outreaches to the girls! This has been part of our vision since we began and it is now coming to fruition. A trip that was scheduled to be just 12 days doubled in length when Stacy was requested to stay to provide help in the area of speech-language pathology at a baby center and a school for children with special needs. She was able to provide informal assessment, training, and support to children and staff in both of these locations and looks forward to taking a therapy team to continue that work in the future. Look what the Lord has done!
After the kit and life skills trainings we presented the gospel of Christ to the girls and gave them an opportunity to receive Jesus as Savior. Over half the girls believed and received Jesus that day. (Photo Credits Last 6 Pics: Julie Ganey)
After a day of working with the children Stacy returned to spend some time training staff to support speech and language development and swallowing safety.
In November, Stacy had hip surgery, and in December Lucia and her DTS team began eight weeks of evangelism outreach traveling throughout Mexico to proclaim the gospel and invite people to believe in Jesus as Savior. Look what the Lord has done!
In one year, during a pandemic, we have served on the ground in Peru, the United States, Kenya, and Mexico, as well as sent aid to Lebanon. We have moved our family and ministry office to accommodate our ministry growth. We have gained new ministry partners and God has opened doors for new ministry opportunities. Look what the LORD has done!!
What will He do in 2021? One thing we have learned this year is that we must hold our plans loosely. We are being diligent to plan for the future while praying for God’s direction, humbly acknowledging that we do not know what will happen and trusting that He does. That said, here is a glimpse of what may be in store next year: three international outreaches in Africa and Asia as well as domestic outreaches in the US! Please pray with us as we seek direction from the Lord for 2021.
If you would like to make a year-end tax deductible contribution to Be the Light, please be sure to postmark it by December 31st, or donate online by the end of the day Thursday, so that it will be able to be credited to your charitable giving for 2020 for tax purposes. Thank you for your support!
Please Note: Donors may make one-time, recurring, and designated gifts at bethelightnow.org. Donations may also be made by check payable to Be the Light at 101 N. Pinetta Dr. #35811, N. Chesterfield, VA 23235. If you wish your donation to be for missionary support for Stacy and Lucia please write our account number “SE0408” in the memo line. Undesignated donations will benefit the general fund.