"This is what the kingdom of God is like: A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
Mark 4:26-29
When God sows His word into someone's heart, it will grow, and the kingdom will advance. Over the past year, some of our work here at Heart of the Father Ministries has been restrained by the pandemic, while other aspects have moved ahead beyond our expectations. We've grown in training through our e-courses, ministering to individuals online, mentoring leaders over Zoom, publishing new translations, and more. Yet perhaps the most exciting surprise during these past few months has been discovering how seeds we had previously sowed have sprouted and grown with very little attention from us.
Two wonderful examples:
A priest from Brooklyn went to the Unbound Priest Retreat at Franciscan University where he caught the vision and brought it to a group of religious sisters in Columbia, South America. He, along with his youth director, provided them with books and materials to hear and study the Freedom in Christ Conference Series. We were then able to assist them by finding Spanish-speaking Unbound leaders to minister to them over Zoom. Now we are hearing the reports of the powerful impact Unbound is having on the sisters. This news is doubly exciting because the main charism of these sisters is Evangelization. We are confident that this harvest will produce many more seeds to be scattered, which will bear more great fruit. We are also observing the workings of the Spirit through many new connections made in Latin America.
In addition to hearing the good news from Columbia, Matt and Neal connected with our friends in Croatia. The Croatians sponsored a Zoom event for all those that are part of Unbound training over there. We were able to speak words of encouragement and instruction to 1500 people who continue to carry the Unbound message after our visit there two years ago. God is good!
Aside from training in Croatia, Matt presented a four week series training priests in the Netherlands and Germany, and then Neal joined him for an inspiring Q&A session. What began with one priest from the Netherlands reading Unbound and getting trained has grown into something much bigger.
The Kingdom of God is advancing!
Join us in giving glory to God that Unbound has been translated and published in Taiwan and Japan, and with the help of our donors, we were able to provide for a reprinting in Swahili. There is a planned reprint of the Malayam translation in India as well.
When God plants tiny seeds in rich soil, they will grow into something big.
"Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." Mark 4:32
Let us pray and believe together that Unbound ministry will grow to serve people throughout the world.
