Multicultural Ministry Office of The Global Church of the Nazarene - Roberto's Reflections -January 2015

AFRICAN FACILITATOR, REV. BLEEMIE ZOEWAH'S REFLECTION PROPHET DANIEL AS IMMIGRANT  For my reflection on immigrants in the Bible, I will apply the phrase “resolved not to defile yourself.” Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official permission not to defile himself this way. God caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel,"I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you." Daniel then said to the guard, whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” The guard agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days, they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink (Daniel 1:6-16). My reflection is that the key factor in the brainwashing process of the Babylonian training was a name switch. This was to link the inductees to local gods rather than to support their former religious loyalty. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way (Daniel 1:8). The pagan food and drink was devoted to idols. So to indulge was to be understood as honouring these deities. God honoured Daniel's trust and allegiance by sovereignly working favorably for him among the heathen leaders (Daniel 1:9). Practical lessons from this reflection: 1. In the most complex situation, trust God. 2. Never compromise your devotion to God for any temporary earthly gratification. 3. Believers richest inheritance is not here in this world, but waits in heaven. SNAPSHOT New Statistics for the Year 2014 Recently Released Statistics:  African Combined 2014  Congregations - 19   *   Total Members - 605   *   AVG Worship Attendence - 586    CALL FOR PRAYER The African Strategy Committee Seven ( 7) key objectives be fully implemented The African Pastors Conference successful implementation this Summer (2015) The growth and maturity of African ministers and churches Dr. and Mrs. Roberto Hodgson, have both recently lost their mothers.  Pray for their families at this time. Rev. Alexander Shabo, Arab SRT Member has been struggling with some health issues Rev. Rodrigo Quema, Filipino Coordinator, recovering from the flu Rev. Junior Sorzano, Multicultural Congregations Facilitator's mother has been struggling with her health. Rev. Joseph Knight, Multicultural Congregations SRT Member during his move and transition Mission 2015 Conference and all the SRT meetings and workshops that will take place 2015 Conferences and events ENTE - Online education for Hispanic students Please e-mail multi@nazarene.org to submit additional prayer requests EVENTS February 9 - 11, 2015 - Mission 2015 Conference, Kansas City, Missouri For more information and to register go to www.M15conference.org May 18 - 21, 2015 - Korean Ministerial Conference USA/Canada, Dallas, Texas For more information contact Rev. Stephen Lee at slee4j@sbcglobal.net June 26 - 27, 2015 - Portuguese Ministries Conference, Brockton, MA Nova Alianca For more information contact Rev. Benedito Monteiro at bcmonteiro11@gmail.com July 16 - 18, 2015 - African Nazarene Minister’s Conference USA/Canada Location of Conference – Mid America Nazarene University Register online at http://www.usacanadaregion.org/african-ministries For more information contact multi@nazarene.org July 17 - 19, 2015 - Black Ministries SE Regional Fellowship, Birmingham, Alabama For more information contact Bill Allen at cfcnaz.bill@att.net July 23 - 25, 2015 - Native American Ministries Conference, Bethany First COTN For more information contact John Nells at jrnells07@gmail.com   A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR - DR. ROBERTO HODGSON Congratulations to five ethnic SRTs that added new congregations in 2014, according to the new statistics from the GMC research office.  The groups in alphabetical order and the number of new congregations are:  African 3; Filipino 3; Haitian 4; Hispanic 23; and Korean 4.  I encourage the SRTs from all our people groups to continue praying and looking for opportunities to start new congregations in the fulfillment of the church’s mission of “Making Christlike Disciples in the Nations”.  “Christ is the Lord of church planting and He has a vision for your new church.” DCPI/CPE Manual Multicultural Ministries vision is to encourage the development of strategy and initiative to reach the USA/Canada mission field through the visionary leadership of the ethnic facilitators, and their strategy committees.

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