Bitter Enemies Reunited in Christ

Bethany DuVal • Aug 21, 2019

On Sunday mornings, Libia and Julio don’t look like anything special. Just two close friends worshiping God, maybe imagining their future together.

You would never guess that this time last year, they wouldn’t speak to each other — much less be in the same room together. Or that they were bitter enemies for five long years.

The fact that they happily sit together at church now? TEAM missionary Dawn Moore says it’s nothing short of a miracle.

Peruvian Couple Seeks Better Life in States

Libia and Julio’s relationship was complicated from the beginning.

They both grew up in Peru as Catholics, but neither had a personal relationship with God. When they started dating, they also started sleeping together. And within a year, Libia was pregnant.

Wanting to be good Catholics, the couple got married.

A few years later, they immigrated to Charlotte, North Carolina to build a better life.

Julio and Libia were ideal immigrants. Julio worked long hours to provide for his family, while Libia cared for their son. But they rarely had time together — and it began to hurt their relationship.

“We used to argue over everything and over nothing,” Julio says.

Libia was eager to fix her marriage. So, when an acquaintance invited her to church , she decided to start going.

But then Libia was hit with an unexpected blow.

Sickness, Overworking Drive Couple Apart

Libia started having strange symptoms. She was constantly fainting but her doctors didn’t know why.

In her fear, Libia started praying and reading Scripture more. Julio kept working.

As Libia tried to save her marriage, she started experiencing strange fainting spells. After two years, she found out she had a brain tumor.

After two years, the doctors figured out that Libia had a brain tumor.

Julio was horrified at the news, but he had no time to slow down. Libia’s medical bills were growing. It was far more than they could afford.

Julio began working up to 20 hours a day. The couple’s fighting got worse.

Eventually, Julio decided to go to church with Libia. And eventually, Libia was healed of her cancer. But by then, the marriage was so far gone, Libia and Julio didn’t know how to save it.

One day, Julio decided he just didn’t care anymore. He left and married someone else.

After years of fighting, Julio gave up on his marriage. He left Libia, and the couple stopped speaking entirely.

Both Julio and Libia stopped going to church. They were so consumed by anger, they refused to speak to each other. Their only news of each other came from their adult son.

But as the years past, Libia longed for God. In 2018, she let people know she was looking for a church. Word spread through the local Latin American community, and someone told her about a Spanish-speaking church plant: Impacto Charlotte.

Spanish-Speaking Church Leads Ex-Wife to Healing

The first time Libia went, she sneaked into the back, trying not to be noticed. But she loved the music. And the whole service was in Spanish, letting Libia relax as she listened to the sermon.

“The teaching [at Impacto] is profound, and at the same time, simple, so you can understand it,” Libia says. “It fills my heart.”

When she met the TEAM missionaries leading the church, Dawn and Keith Moore, she found out they had planted churches in Colombia and Honduras. They already knew and loved the Latin American culture!

The Moores could see that Libia was still traumatized by her marriage. But they welcomed her with kindness, patiently sharing the Gospel and studying Scripture with her.

Slowly, Libia’s heart began to heal.

Meanwhile, Julio’s life was falling apart — again.

Ex-Husband Amazed by Spiritual Transformation

Julio thought starting over with someone new was all he needed. But he kept working so many hours, he didn’t have time for his new wife either.

Soon, the marriage fell apart. This time, though, Julio took it as a wakeup call. He knew he needed to change.

Shortly after Julio’s revelation, Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina.

Julio and Libia hadn’t talked in five years, but Julio decided to check on Libia anyway. When Julio arrived at the house, he was shocked at how Libia received him .

Julio and Keith Moore sit at a table and study the Bible together.

When Julio saw the change in Libia, he wanted to go to church for himself. He soon started studying the Bible with TEAM missionary Keith Moore.

“There was no grudge, there was no pain, … because God healed me,” Libia says.

Libia and Julio started texting, and Julio quickly realized that Libia was a different person.

“I was amazed to know that she had forgiven me after everything that had happened between us,” Julio says.

Julio asked if he could go to church with Libia, and Libia agreed.

Just as they had with Libia, the Moores were eager to study Scripture with Julio. And when Keith shared the Gospel, Julio thought, Why not receive Christ in my heart? … Why not fill that emptiness that I have been feeling for years?

Former Couple Grows in Christ Together

After Julio received Christ, he began to change, too. He’s eager to study Scripture and to treat others with Christ’s love.

“God works in incredible ways that we really do not understand,” Libia says. “He is amazing.”

Julio and Libia sit together in church at Impacto Charlotte

After years of animosity, Julio and Libia now attend Impacto Charlotte together! Thanks to friends like you, they are living new lives in Christ.

And for everyone who supports TEAM missionaries like Dawn and Keith, Julio has one simple message: “I was so far away from God, and now I have returned. … I want to thank you with all my heart for all you do.”

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Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024

TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024

Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.