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Summer camps
reach families in Ireland
by Gina Grate Pottenger on Sep 5, 2014
 When Nazarene missionaries Stephen and Annette Morley (right in photo left) first came in 2011 to County Wicklow, in Republic of Ireland, the most clear need they found among the community was some kind of activity for parents of toddlers. The Morleys quickly jumped in to start a group.
Ted and Sarah Voigt (photo below) joined in when they arrived as volunteer missionaries to work alongside the Morleys in January 2013.
The weekly group, called Wicklow Talk & Play, started with two to three families and has rapidly grown to more than 20 families. It offers a safe and welcoming space for toddlers and all of those who care for them to gather, play, and share tea, coffee, and snacks.
 The Morleys and Voigts expanded their ministry by hosting two camps for children in July and August this year, assisted by two ministry teams from the United States.
For three days, a 12-person team from Quest Church of the Nazarene, West Liberty, Ohio, helped host a toddler camp for children from infant to five years of age. About 45 children attended every day, enjoying songs, puppets, and crafts, activities and stories, according to Sarah Voigt.
The second camp was held at a community center for a low-income housing area. A 13-person team from Woodlands Church of the Nazarene, Texas, ran the camp, which had a cowboy theme, and about 40 children, ages 8 to 12, attended. Besides playing games, learning songs and doing crafts, the children also learned how to line dance, a traditional form of group dancing associated with the American west and country music scene.
 Although the teams agreed to the community center’s request not to include overt Christian themes in the camp, the neighborhood kids noticed something different about the visiting teenagers from Texas, anyway.
“They noticed that the kids from the U.S. – the way they talked to each other – how they really cared about each other and how loving they were towards each other,” said Sarah. “They didn’t usually hear people talk to each other like that in that age group. They picked up on the love they had for each other.”
A man who works at the community center sent the Voigts a text message saying how much the visiting ministry team had touched him, and how much their generosity had impacted him.
“It was amazing to read the message from him because he’s this really nice guy but he usually doesn’t talk like that,” Sarah said. “Again we’re able to minister to him just in the way they treated him and in the conversations they had throughout the week.”
 One young mother who brought her two small children to the toddler camp said afterward how encouraged she was by the way the team paid special attention to her four-year-old daughter, Rose, who has Down Syndrome.
“I think Rose was everybody’s favorite little girl among the people that were here from Ohio. They fell in love with her. It was a real blessing to her [mother]. She gave them a card at the end of the week letting them know how much they had impacted her.”
The Voigts and the Morleys are approaching their ministry in Wicklow through relationship-building and meeting community needs. While planting a church still hovers at an unknown point in the future, they are seeing the fruit now from their investment in people and families. They are praying about when God would reveal the timing to be right to start a home group specifically for Bible study and discipleship.
In the meantime, they continue seeking God’s wisdom in when to talk about Him to their friends and acquaintances, when they should just listen and to always be real and authentic with everyone they interact with, Sarah said. |
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Dr. Jim
Radcliffe faces second surgery, honored by PNG for legacy of service
by Gina Grate Pottenger on Sep 4, 2014
 Dr. Jim Radcliffe (left in photo), a missionary surgeon at the Nazarene hospital in Kudjip, Papua New Guinea, started noticing earlier this year that his energy levels were lower than usual. Busy work days completely wore him out. And one day, while walking up a hill, he became very short of breath.
Jim sought a check-up from a fellow doctor and discovered that his heart was enlarged from congestive heart failure. His physician worried he may have already had a heart attack.
Jim and his wife, Kathy, were already scheduled to return to the States to accompany a group of missionary kids who were competing in a Bible Quiz at Trevecca Nazarene University. When they arrived, Jim sought more tests, during which an adrenal tumor was also found and a treatment plan was developed for that as well.
On July 17, Jim had major heart surgery, from which he is currently in recovery. He will have another surgery on Sept. 9 to remove the adrenal tumor and determine whether it is benign or malignant.
Throughout these unexpected health emergencies, Jim has taken comfort in knowing he has the full support and prayers of the global Church of the Nazarene, as well as the church’s leadership, and that he is covered by the denomination’s Missionary Medical Plan.
“[It has been] tremendously comforting to know that this is not going to be a devastating financial thing to my family,” he said. “Tremendously comforting to know I can get the best health care so hopefully I can continue to fulfill my calling when and wherever God wants to use us after this. So that has really taken anxiety out of it, along with the prayers of our church people, which have been overwhelming.”
 A community gives back
Meanwhile, back in Papua New Guinea, hundreds of local people, families, villages, health centers, even local schools, businesses and government officials have been pouring out donations to offset Jim’s out-of-pocket expenses related to his medical treatments. These sacrificial donations “express a deep appreciation and love for Dr. Jim and his many years of service to the people of Papua New Guinea,” wrote missionary Joani Goossens.
“One lady came to my office after traveling by herself for more than an hour because Dr. Jim had saved her husband’s life with a much needed surgery,” Goossens wrote. “When they heard about Dr. Jim needing his own surgery they wanted to help, to show appreciation for what he had done in their time of need. Her husband had to attend to business in the capital city of Port Moresby, but their family didn’t want to miss the opportunity to give so she came by herself even though it scared her to travel alone.”
PJ, a former nurse anesthetist at the Nazarene Hospital, felt a “stirring in his spirit” when he heard of Jim’s need for surgery. He asked some friends to pray with him about what God would have them do. The next day they saw a notice about Jim’s surgery in the local newspaper, so they talked to people in the community about Jim’s situation. People started to respond.
Street donations in one day were $6,000 USD, reported Baru, acting hospital administrator. Later, another $9,000 was brought in from the community. At the Nazarene mission station adjacent to the hospital where Jim has served for 29 years, local people gave another $5,900 USD. One community leader donated $831 and several businesses contributed another $2,000. A member of Parliament gave more than $8,000. The Jiwaka Provincial Government is also fundraising on behalf of Jim.
“There was a community event at our local market a few weeks ago that was organized by the leaders of two of the local area tribes. One of these leaders has been a bit antagonistic to the hospital and mission over the years, but he recently came to Christ at a revival service and has been in a small group that Dr. Jim was leading to disciple the converts,” Goossens wrote. “He was the most outspoken supporter of Dr. Jim and his ministry at this event. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of love sometimes 2 kina ($0.80) at a time from people who are primarily subsistence farmers.”
“God is doing miracles here and we praise God for moving people, both Christians and non-Christians giving out of compassion and deep love for you and your work over 29 years here,” wrote Baru to Jim in August.
 IWhere it all began
Jim and Kathy heard and obeyed God’s call from young ages to become missionary doctors when they could have pursued lucrative medical careers in the United States.
Jim’s father was a Nazarene pastor, so he had frequent exposure to missionaries while he was growing up, as they stayed in his home and spoke in his church.
“My earliest remembrances of the call were at age 8, reading the (NMI) missionary books and hearing missionaries speak,” he said. “I committed my life to Jesus and told him I’d be a missionary.”
Kathy also heard God’s call to missions when she was child, through reading Nazarene Mission International’s annual mission books and hearing missionaries speak in her church. Both attended different youth camps where God confirmed their calls at a more mature age, and then again when they both went on separate mission trips while they attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University (then a college).
Jim was interested in science, and was moved by the stories of how Jesus healed people’s illnesses as part of his ministry. He prayed that if God would be pleased with his becoming a missionary doctor, that God would help him get into medical school.
Kathy completed an associate degree at Mount Vernon and then completed a medical dietetics degree at Ohio State University. After graduating from Mount Vernon, Jim was accepted into the medical school at Ohio State.
During medical school, Jim spent 10 weeks at the Nazarene Hospital in Kudjip, which again helped to confirm that he would eventually go there to serve as a missionary. He learned that they didn’t have a surgeon on staff and that they had to send any surgery cases to government hospitals or overseas. He decided he would become a surgeon.
The couple remained in the USA for five years of surgery training and one year of private practice in Kathy's hometown of Xenia, Ohio. They were able to pay off their student loans, and Jim successfully completed his surgery board exams during that year before their departure to Papua New Guinea.
Since then they have spent 29 years serving in the Nazarene missionary community in Kudjip, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, where they have raised six children, all of whom are serving the Kingdom, and two of whom are planning to return to Kudjip this year to serve as missionaries themselves.
Legacy
Ben Radcliffe and his wife Katherine have completed their medical training in surgery and family medicine respectively, with plans to serve at the Kudjip hospital, while Priscilla Radcliffe just graduated with a degree in English and plans to be a volunteer teacher at the missionary school in Kudjip.
Jim said that God’s early call on their lives made it possible to resist the temptations of financial security in the U.S. through a higher-salaried career there.
“All through our training, our goal was to be medical missionaries. so it’s never been a great temptation. I would say that God has proved that scripture that He will reward us a hundred times if we’ve left houses or lands or parents or children,” Jim said. “We have hundreds of homes in America where Nazarenes would welcome and keep us – and they have. God has provided us places to live, vehicles to drive, wonderful education at our Nazarene colleges for five of our children. One more is in high school. God has been faithful to his word.”
Thanks to Nazarenes who give generously to the missionary health care offerings and to World Evangelism Fund, Jim Radcliffe and many other missionaries around the world benefit from the peace of mind that comes with knowing they and their families are covered, not only for routine medical tests and visits, but for major health crises. |
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Heart of God:
Psalm 9:11
by Howard Culbertson on Aug 27, 2014
"Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.”(Psalm 9:11)
As David wrote the words “proclaim among the nations” for Psalm 9*, did he envision today’s world mission activity? Probably not, since he wrote that Psalm three thousand years ago. Isn’t it fascinating, however, how the Holy Spirit uses that phrase to call us to carry out Jesus’ Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)?
The four verses just prior to Psalm 9:11 extol God’s righteousness. Scholars say that Psalm 9:11 builds on those four verses. It is thus a “therefore” verse. That is to say, because our Creator and Redeemer is upright and fair and righteous, we must therefore proclaim Him “among the nations.” Indeed, our passion for world evangelism may well indicate how much in awe we are of God’s righteousness.
We have often thought that our awareness of the world’s unreached peoples would be what ignites passion for world evangleism. Well, it should. However, Psalm 9:11 points us to an even higher motivator: Our understanding of God’s righteousness. Yahweh is radically different from the fickle, capricious and even dishonest “gods” promoted by other religions.
This is not the only Psalm which speaks of worldwide proclamation. More than 40 other Psalms mention global evangelism in some way (http://goo.gl/5BppMj). David clearly believed that God’s revelation of Himself was not supposed to remain Israel’s private secret. Rather, God intended for His people to communicate that revelation to all other nations, to announce it in "all the ends of the earth" as Psalm 22:27 and Acts 1:8 put it.
Not everyone sees Psalm 9:11 as a call to world evangelism. One online Bible commentary inexplicably says this verse is a message that we are to “tell people about God: our family, our friends, those we work with.” Now, to be sure, spreading the Good News to family and friends is important. It’s very important. However, asserting that “among the nations” refers only to those close to us robs this verse of its global sweep. Indeed, John Wesley wrote in his Explanatory Notes that Psalm 9:11 refers to “heathen nations” (not close friends and family).
What has the Lord done that we should be proclaiming all over the world? God loves us and that love has driven Him to incredible lengths to draw all people to Him (John 3:16). That is worthy of being proclaimed among the nations!
Psalm 18:49, also written by David, is similar to Psalm 9:11. There, however, global proclamation is stated as a response rather than as a command: “Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.”
Shouldn’t we echo those words in response to the command in Psalm 9:11?
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*Psalm 105:1 has words almost identical to Psalm 9:11: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.” |
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Rendezvous
trains missionary kids for re-entry
by Gina Grate Pottenger on Aug 20, 2014
 “This has been one of the best gifts ever given to me. Through Rendezvous Plus, God refreshed and encouraged me in the middle of one of the hardest years of my life,” wrote Joy Fosnaugh, a Nazarene missionary kid fresh out of Rendezvous Plus, an intense re-entry training that was held at the Nazarene Golden Bell campground in Colorado earlier this month.
 Rendezvous Plus is part of a new global strategy to prepare missionary kids (MKs) who are reaching adulthood and transitioning away from their support systems in the lands where they and their families have been serving as missionaries.
The idea of this intensive re-entry training goes back eight years, when the Asia-Pacific Region developed a week-long event it called Rendezvous as a way to support its MKs, who were graduating from high school and moving to their passport country for the first time as adults on their own. Asia-Pacific hosts Rendezvous every two years.
Nazarene Global Mission is bringing Rendezvous to each of the denomination’s other world regions outside the U.S. and Canada next year, where they will also be held every other year.
The Mesoamerica and South America regions will co-host their first Rendezvous training in January 2016 and Africa region is looking to plan their first Rendezvous late in 2015 or early 2016. Eurasia region will be joining the Asia-Pacific region for its fifth event in January 2015, according to Natalie Ward, who is coordinating the global effort.
Meanwhile, the Rendezvous leadership team also established Rendezvous Plus, which Fosnaugh attended, to take place annually during the summer in the U.S., as an extension of the regional events, to continue supporting young people who are already undergoing the transition process.
Rendezvous is a French word meaning “to meet together at an appointed place and time for a specific purpose.” The vision of Rendezvous is to meet with God and together equip these amazing transcultural individuals, as they navigate this life-changing journey.
 “They are leaving their support system and structure and many times they’re leaving that forever,” said Sarah LeBaron, who was an MK in Papua New Guinea and now lives in Idaho with her family. LeBaron serves on a leadership team for Rendezvous events. “For any young person making that transition into adult life, you still go home for Christmas or for the summer, for special occasions and you might even move back to your hometown. Most MKs may not have that opportunity.”
The vision of the Rendezvous team is to lead these who have had the privilege of living transculturally through learning and discovery about the various dimensions of a healthy transition. This includes learning about healthy grief as they’re dealing with the loss of what has become home to them, a lost way of life, and lost relationships. Rendezvous teaches them that they can and should ask for help from their new support system rather than trying to be self-sufficient. It helps them think about intentionally finding new mentors and healthy, supportive relationships in their new environment.
Rendezvous also provides personal development and practical tools, ranging from job interviews to how to write checks, manage a bank account and other financial matters. The Rendezvous team also passes on the truth that growing up learning multiple cultures has given them strengths and tools that can help them through the rest of their life. Most of all, the Rendezvous team teaches that a believer’s primary identity and belonging comes not from one’s culture or geography but first and foremost from Christ. That identity can be lived out in any culture.
 “We design the event to include the positive discovery of some tools and qualities that come so naturally to them, that they may not realize they have them to use in their transition,” said Ward.
“I learned so much about myself through the StrengthFinders workshop,” said Jessica Myers, an MK from Papua New Guinea who now lives in the U.S. “I saw and realized new things in myself which has helped me know how I deal with the world around me so that when I was on my own this past year, I knew how to successfully maneuver difficult and new situations.”
Amanda Johnson, who grew up in Madagascar and Kenya, wrote at length about how God touched her through this month’s Rendezvous Plus. Her sentiments have been echoed by dozens of missionary kids who have had the privilege of attending Rendezvous, according to LeBaron.
Rendezvous Plus was, for me, a life changer. The weekend that we spent at Golden Bell Camp changed me so much, and gave me such a different perspective on life around me; where I had once felt that I was completely alone in my struggles and feelings of loneliness, a new feeling of community and understanding began to grow. I was able to create new friendships, and further develop those that I had already established.
Before I went to Rendezvous Plus, I had felt very distant from God, and I felt as if my prayers weren't going past the ceiling. After Rendezvous Plus, however, I felt that God was close to me, and was once again directing me in the way that I should be going. I believe that this is in part because of what Rendezvous Plus taught me about the grieving process that we as MKs must go through when it is our time to leave the country and culture that we have made our own. It taught me not to find my identity in people and places, but in Christ, for people and places will leave us, but God is with us forever. Rendezvous Plus changed me, and I am so thankful for the leaders who loved each and everyone of us and cared so much for our personal and spiritual lives. My only regret is that Rendezvous comes only once a year, but I know that I have a new community who will be there in prayer until I see them again.
Rendezvous is meeting a specific, deep need in the lives of missionary kids and families. It is enabling young people to transition into the new chapters of their lives with confidence, encouraing them to develop life skills and stay grounded in their faith, Ward said.
If you would like to be involved through prayer, or would like to know more about Rendezvous please contact Rendezvous@nazarene.org.
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Video: A new
outreach in Illescas, Spain
by Zarah Miller on Aug 14, 2014
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/102719179" width="500" height="281" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
Missionaries Josh and Shannon Herndon and Nazarenes Loli Benito Caro and Miguel Murcia Ruiz are leading a new strategy of outreach in Illescas, a community on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. Through a kids club, slowly growing relationships and a baseball camp, they are showing Christ's love to a neighborhood that needs Him.
4 minutes, 15 seconds.
 World Evangelism Fund
Through the generous giving of Nazarenes to World Evangelism Fund (WEF), missionaries Josh and Shannon Herndon and their family have been sent to Spain to support local Nazarenes in reaching out to their neighborhood with the love of Christ through community service activities.
Everyone who has given to WEF is part of this story.
Missionaries Josh and Shannon Herndon and Nazarenes Loli
Benito Caro and Miguel Murcia Ruiz are leading a new strategy of
outreach in Illescas, a community on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain.
Through a kids club, slowly growing relationships and a baseball camp,
they are showing Christ's love to a neighborhood that needs Him.
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