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Project Hannah, which takes its
name from the biblical woman, Hannah (1 Sam. 1:1-28),
was founded in 1997 by Awareness Advocate Marli Spieker.
Marli and her husband, Edmund, were Trans World Radio
missionaries in Asia when God impressed upon her the many
women who are trapped in spiritual, cultural, and physical
bondage.
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Heart to Heart
December 2002 - Pressing On
Mountains are conquered in stages. Climbers need to rest, refocus,
and regroup before they press on to the next phase. The main
force here is determination. No matter how hard, how painful,
or how difficult the way up is, determination will keep them
pressing on to the top.
Project Hannah (PH) also faces a mountain: a mountain of suffering
women from every people, every color, and every language. But
we press on with our God-given mandate to give them hope through
prayer, awareness, and Women of Hope radio programs
broadcast worldwide.
In response to PH's intercessors, God is reaching out to women
with the power of His Word. We see their ashes of hopelessness
exchanged by a crown of strength and dignity. We see women prisoners
in Thailand testify to this fact! Women dying with AIDS are
receiving the Word of hope in hospitals in Cambodia. Tribal
women in Paraguay testify how God has taken away their bitterness,
and how hope–a word which does not even exists in the
Guarani language–has given them a reason to live and love
again!
Of course the mountain is high and rugged. Discouragement does
sink in at times. In the midst of PH's annual 40 days of fasting
and prayer, God took my handsome, godly, and loving 28-year-old
son, Fabio, to Himself. His sudden and tragic death crushed
our souls. It was the day after we launched "Projeto Ana"
in Brazil in a blessed event witnessed by more than 1,000 people.
I felt I had plunged down the mountaintop experience right into
the valley of death. In my mother's heart, I experienced a depth
of suffering I had never known before. I now know what women
who have lost their children in war-torn Angola, or in the infested
slums of South America, feel. I understand the dark, icy hole
in their hearts. The difference is, I have God. I have hope.
I belong to His loving family. Many of them do not. They desperately
need Jesus–the Hope of Glory!
"What keeps you going?" a reporter asked me. "God's
love," I said, "but also knowing the painful plight
of these dear women and girls." Imagine, in China, 500
women a day kill themselves in order to escape a life of hopelessness
and insignificance. Lost in a Christ-less eternity! As Christians,
knowing these facts, can we turn a deaf ear and do nothing?
That's why PH's worldwide staff is pressing on with confidence
in our Lord, to conquer this massive mountain which towers before
us more visible and challenging than ever before. As we praise
God for allowing us to overcome barriers that seemed like unsurmountable
granite walls, we prepare to face the future with renewed faith
and much hope.Would you join us? Come, let's say with Paul,
"I press on to take hold of that for which Jesus took hold
of me" (Phil. 3:12). Ultimately, we've been saved to serve!
- Marli Spieker
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