In one of the last weeks of his life, my dad was visited by occupational therapists on mission to help him play his way back toward mobility. If I had a do-over, it might be a career worth considering. At one session he and a fellow patient were given drumsticks to beat on big plastic yoga balls held fast in washtubs. The therapist and her two students joined the fun.
Our modern word “play” may be linked to middle Dutch pleien, “leap for joy.”
“God is truly at work,” we say—awed at some recent recognition of his grace and mercy. Perhaps He is at play.
Praises
Last week we prayed for a young man’s surgery to be approved by insurance (after being denied a couple of times). Look what came across my email this week: “I am working with the Billing Manager and Medicaid as Dr. S is deeming it as lifesaving. Dr. S is still planning surgery for May 29th, especially due to recent events. He has planned an appeal in case Medicaid continues to fight us.” Praise God for progress!
A friend selling her home and buying a new one within a short amount of time was waiting for the official appraisal. She had been given verbal notice to expect $237K, but could not proceed without the official documentation. As she prayed the Lord reminded her of the street number for her new home: 237. She laughed, thanked Him, and soon after received the official appraisal documentation—for $237K. Praise God for mercy and kind communication.
Young people celebrating milestones: graduations, weddings, internships, first jobs—praise God for orchestrating details!
Older people celebrating milestones: retirement, encore careers, travel plans—praise God for bringing us through with joy!
Prayers
An elderly man is falling frequently—praying for mercy upon him.
Suicide has robbed a family. Praying for God’s mercy and healing upon all touched by this tragedy.
A family struggles with navigating the mental illness of their adult child. Treatment options are opening up—praying for wisdom and peace and for God’s will to prevail.
A woman recovers from surgery on her tear ducts.
An eighty-year-old woman is trusting God and is praying for wisdom and healing in the midst of low blood pressure symptoms.
A woman in her fifties received news of cancer following a biopsy.
A small church in Quebrada Verde, Pachacamac Peru is asking God to provide the resources to buy land.
Quests
From Wes and Leah Brooks, dear friends and modern-day digital missionaries.
“We are excited to join God in His call on our lives to build a new kind of missions organization dedicated to Digital Missions – whose aim is to redeem the internet and harness the power of digital to make disciples.”
Highlights from their recent update:
"Entrust" emerged as our joint word for 2025 – though initially, we both resisted it! Honestly, who wants to hear "I'm going to help you grow in trusting Me" from the Lord? The word represents an active surrender of our plans and desires, and an active receiving of God's guidance and provision, and we’ve been getting lots of practice...
Along with navigating health challenges; in March, the Lord challenged us to spend a week in prayer and fasting about our direction and next steps, rather than relying solely on data or worldly wisdom alone. During that time, God met us in powerful ways. For Leah, it was a reconnection with her "first love" – falling in love with Jesus again and remembering that our ultimate why is helping others do the same. For Wes, worship song lyrics captured what God has been doing:
"I put my sails in the air. I'm Yours, just take me anywhere... I put my trust in the Lord, I won’t let fear keep me on the shores. May I venture out into the deep, confident that You won't let me sink, but You'll let the wind of love blow."
Wind of Love, by Elevation Rhythm
God is calling us to venture out with confidence in His leading. The only appropriate posture is to surrender, release, and entrust everything to Him – whether that’s our health, aspirations, efforts, or impact.
Venture's Vision for GenZ
As we’ve continued to test and learn how Venture can effectively support Christian discipleship globally, we’ve been doing a lot of research to understand new and re-new GenZ believers. In March, we attended the Exponential Conference here in Orlando, where we gained crucial new insights about GenZ. Much of the missions world is saying that this generation is marked by spiritual openness and hunger for God. Many are seeking purpose alongside salvation. Beyond “Saved from what?”, they’re asking "Saved for what?" GenZealous could even be their nickname - zealous for living out a purposeful and impactful life.
We began testing how Venture could serve GenZ specifically. One of our testers, Sasha, grew up in a Christian home but walked away in her teen years due to church hurt (a story we have heard over and over again). She recently was introduced to Jesus again, and wants to pursue following him, maybe truly for the first time. She shared: “I’m not ready to blindly accept what a pastor says, but I want to rebuild my faith on my terms. And I think Venture could help me on my journey.”
How do we meet Sasha right where she is and help her move towards Jesus, work through her church hurt, find new purpose and direction, and help her live out God’s design for life? We're prayerful that Venture can support her and many others like her to walk fully in the way of Jesus.
Speaking at Missional AI.
In April, we were honored to receive a last minute invitation to speak at the 3rd annual Missional AI Conference, sharing our vision for AI’s role in spiritual growth support with hundreds of other ministry and mission leaders and technologists.
There were so many encouraging and inspiring things shared at Missional AI about how God is at work in the missions world through the redemptive use of AI. Watch more here.
Venture’s Next Steps & Launch
God also used Missional AI to open an exciting door: we’re evaluating adding a new person to our team! During the conference, we connected with a talented developer who has complementary skills to our own and shares our passion for harnessing the power of digital to make disciples. His expertise would help us drastically accelerate Venture's development. We would love your prayers for wisdom as we evaluate this opportunity, and for God’s provision as we navigate timing and funding.
NOTE: the next paragraph arrived in my inbox in an email from Leah just as I was drafting today’s edition:
—> Prayer answered!!! We looked at our "God's Provision" account (His provision above and beyond what we needed at the end of 2024) and prayerfully decided to use this money to hire the developer we met to help launch Venture while we raise funds for him to become a full-time hire. He accepted! And it's a God thing - the developer said he loved that he didn't feel like we were trying to convince him, but that God already put it on his heart through prayer. We have enough for five months of runway with him before we would need to have additional funds.
As we continue learning to entrust this journey to God, He continues to surprise us with divine connections and solutions we couldn't have orchestrated ourselves. We're reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." What might He be asking you to entrust to Him in this season?
Prayer Requests
Health and our family's resilience through frequent illnesses; wisdom for any additional medical interventions
Holy Spirit inspiration as we finalize the redesigned Venture experience
Clear direction regarding team expansion and the right timing
God's provision for the resources needed for our next phase
Sasha’s journey with Jesus, and others like her
To give a financial gift:
https://globalservicenetwork.org/give/50221001
Our mailing address is: Lightworks - 9809 Poplar Pl - Orlando, FL 32827-6839Reach us at:
Wes@lightworks.team 859-221-9795
Leah@lightworks.team 435-640-1572
Until next week,
If you work at what you love, it might feel like play. Even so—taking a break matters. Maybe that’s why there’s even a Ten Commandments shout out about that… Trust in the Lord includes releasing the need to work all the time. Sabbath creates a weekly date with what feels like vacation. Definitely worth a try. I dare you to entrust your time to your Creator : )
With love,
Jana
Love it!