Message summary: We encourage all our readers to dedicate their feet to His glorious service!

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“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7). "And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" (Romans 10:15).

Dennis Shelly is a teacher I (Stephen) serve with as part of a teaching team in our Crossroads ABF class (Sunday School). Dennis served for over 40 years in Nigeria as a missionary. He recently published his autobiography titled "Drumming To A Different Beat" chronicling his life from childhood to his call to missions.

As we travel Brooksyne often reads books aloud as I drive and yesterday she came upon an interesting portion. Dennis very candidly shares about numerous health challenges he encountered through the years, including problems with his feet.

Dennis underwent several operations on his feet in Nigeria and one here in Lancaster where they broke his middle toes so he could wear hard shoes since he had worn sandals for many years in Nigeria. That was also unsuccessful. He writes, "Although my toes don't look very nice today Romans 10:15 encourages me, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'" *

In what way does God see beauty in our feet? It's not primarily related to physical features as we reckon beauty. Rather God is extolling those who are obedient to His calling to physically go forth and spread the Good News. It might be on foot, via ship, air, or automobile that takes us to the place God wants us to be in our witness for the gospel.

The three word summary of their message is “Your God reigns!” This verse refers first to those who proclaimed release to the captive. There’s little doubt that many held captive by godless authority over a period of years had lost sight of the God of Israel.

But this passage also foreshadows the announcement of salvation through the coming Messiah. The apostle Paul wrote, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'” (Romans 10:14,15).

God’s messengers will climb the rugged mountain terrains, cross the hot dry deserts, and stand on the street corners of crowded cities to proclaim the message of God’s peace to a lost world.

Not only will dedicated believers go on foot to difficult places, but they’ll use their hands to bandage the wounded, and their voices to speak the truth in love. I believe God sees beauty in our surrendered devotion and sacrificial service as we fully dedicate our lives to Him.

Some feet are doubtlessly callused, some are arthritic and still others may be laden with painful bunions or other afflictions. But feet that have been active in “bringing good news, proclaiming peace, bringing good tidings, and proclaiming salvation” are beautiful in the eyes of God. The heart of the message is, “Your God reigns!”

And let's not limit God in His calling on our lives. I think of Joni, a quadriplegic since 17 years of age, who has reached millions with the gospel through her writing, her music, her mouth artistry, her speaking and many other ways since she has given to God what she can give - her all. Limited in her mobility, but unlimited in her zeal to reach the lost for Jesus and to express boundless love to those the world deems unlovely through her Joni and Friends ministry.

Today, all over the world God is calling His children to continue bringing the Good News to a world besieged with bad news. Some 2,700 years after Isaiah first heard this Word from the Lord our victorious message has not changed.  From the rooftops we proclaim, “Our God Reigns!” We encourage all our readers to dedicate their feet to His glorious service!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, Your reign is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. Though millions have heard this message, “Your God reigns”, there are still so many people groups who have not heard this glorious life transforming truth, and in many instances even those who live right across the street. As You call upon us to go to the ends of the earth and to our own neighborhood, You also fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. As we go forth we ask You to take our feet and let them be swift and beautiful to Thee as we fearlessly make known the mystery of Your gospel to all who will listen. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

* "Drumming to a Different Beat" by Dennis Shelly P. 60

Brooksyne's note: In 1991 we witnessed the ministry results of beautiful feet firsthand when we traveled to El Progresso Guatemala to visit Mirza, a 10 year old girl, who lived with us two years earlier while she received medical care here in the U.S. for Spina Bifida. We grew very fond of Mirza and marveled at her courage and strength as she went through multiple surgeries, endured a full body cast, and then months of rigorous physical therapy before returning to her family in 1990. (In the above photo Ester is 9 months old and is recovering from her second heart operation. Mirza treated her like a baby sister.)

We longed to see her and wanted to meet her family so a year later we traveled to her home in El Progresso, but the only way we could actually get to it was by foot, though locals in the community also got around on mules. It was so high on a mountain and so rugged in terrain that we would have considered the place uninhabitable, but then we looked around the bend.

Just down the road from her house sat a very small church that might seat 30 parishioners on a crowded Sunday. It had large letters across the entrance: Asamblea de Dios (Assembly of God). We were humbled and grateful for those missionaries and national workers who cared deeply for the souls of these who lived in an area where the gospel might never be preached. They endured the rough terrain as they also learned the culture and language of the mountain people to present the Good News and provide a place for further instruction and teaching from God’s Word. It will never be a mega church, but God doesn't reach us by the thousands; He reaches us one by one.

Update on Mirza: We still hear from Mirza who is now in her early 40's. She writes to us on Facebook. She miraculously gave birth to a baby girl about two years ago. The child is the love of her life. She always refers to the time she spent with us in the U.S. and how much she loves her Tia and Tio (aunt and uncle) that we encouraged her to call us. But she does slip now and then as she writes and calls us her Mama and Papa.

"Our God Reigns"  Watch on YouTube  Recorded at St Andrews Church Bangalore, India in August 2022

"Take My Life and Let It Be"  Watch on YouTube  Reawaken Hymns  This song has the line: "Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee".

Drumming to a Different Beat: Serving God for over 40 Years in Nigeria  Here's info about the book Dennis wrote.

There were two things Dennis never thought he would do: preach or teach. However, over time, these became his greatest joys. He also thought he’d never be a good husband or father. However, God guided him to find his wife, Coletta, a missionary nurse who served in Quito, Ecuador. God led him one step at a time, one summer after another, year by year, to have a fruitful ministry in two Nigerian Bible Colleges for over 40 years.

The Shellys drum to a different beat as they’ve poured their lives into many nationals who’ve become pastors, missionaries, church planters, and lay leaders in their churches in Nigeria and beyond. Hopefully, this book will encourage those who’ve prayed for and supported them, and challenge those who are thinking of serving the Lord cross-culturally.

They have two grown children who were born and raised in Nigeria. This story includes the struggles and joys of raising children in a different culture and to a different beat. Their children are now working and living in the U.S. and have given them three grandchildren.

Dennis and Coletta continue to serve in the U.S. as missions associates under Fellowship International Mission in the U.S. and with ECWA Theological Seminary, Kagoro (ETSK), in Nigeria. ETSK is in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where many Christians have faced continuous attacks by militia groups. Despite much loss of lives and property, many believers are still standing strong for the Lord!