Africa:
- SDMI Global Council Begins Plans for General Convention
- World Mission Broadcast Conducts Radio Programming Training in DRC
- Dream Inspires Pastor to Remain in Troubled Area
- Jordan Churches Welcome Refugees
- Conference Gathers Evangelicals to Consider Response to Islamic Revival
- NCM distributes Food in Haiti
- 2 Youth Ministry Academies Open in Cuba South America:
- Former Missionary Carol Kratz Bennett Remembered
- NPH Provides Free Small Group Lesson for Election Year
- Ministers Fail to Take Advantage of Retirement Accounts
- Texas Churches Rebuild, Lean on Each Other After Tornado
- Olivet Announces Education Partnership with Chicago Cubs
- ENC Announces Partnership with Quincy College
- NTS Center for Pastoral Leadership Hosts First MLK Week
- PLNU Hosts San Diego Global Poverty Forum
- GMC Employment Opportunities
- Nazarenes in the News
- Moving Ministers: January 2016
- Lay Leaders: January 2016
- Global Praise Reports and Prayer Requests
- Reflecting Christ: Merciful and Forgiving
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A life-changing story has to be shared. We can't keep the gospel to ourselves, waiting for others to spread the hope we enjoy. For over 75 years Nazarenes around the world have given to the Easter Offering for the World Evangelism Fundso that the story of God's Greatest Gift can be shared around the world.
Each time you give to the World Evangelism Fund, the message reaches further, through schools, church plants, mission hospitals, and more. When we join our gifts and prayers together, God uses our humble offerings, and new voices call on the Lord of All.
For more NMI info click Here
"Developing Leaders" by Stan Toler
"Relating and Leading Millennials"
7 Things Every Baby Boomer Must Learn About Leading Millennials
According to the US Census Bureau, the Millennial generation is some 80 million strong, and more of these younger people enter the work force every month.
Seasoned (okay, older) leaders sometimes have trouble understanding and working with this new generation and its work-related values, which differ greatly from those of their parents.
The first insight for working with Millennials is to give up on managing them and be a leader. You'll find that this outstanding group of workers and volunteers love working for leaders who engage and inspire them. Here are some tips for encouraging them as their leader.
1. Create an Environment of Teamwork and Affirmation
Millennials have had praise heaped on them by their Baby Boomer parents, and they're used to spending time in groups. Capitalize on that by embracing the idea of team projects and team leadership, and lead them by affirming what they do right.
2. Talk About Relationships Not Rules
Millennials are motivated by purpose, vision, and positive values; not so much by rules and regulations. Talk more about your value of teamwork than the rule about copying you in on their emails. Give them a reason to join your movement without sending out a list of do's and don'ts.
3. Think of Yourself as a Coach, Not a Boss
Top-down leadership is all but dead among Boomers. With Millennials, it never saw the light of day. This generation values mentoring and inclusion. Coach them rather than manage them. Think more like a teacher, less like a dictator.
4. Be Willing to Mix Work and Personal Life
Millennials don't seem to identify with that distinction anyway. They think of work as part of their larger life, not as a distinct category. You can be more personal with them than perhaps your first boss was with you.
5. Wrap Communication in Respect
Some would argue that Millennials are used to being coddled by over-protective parents. I think a better way to attempt to understand them is to realize that they are used to being respected. You've heard the saying that "the medium is the message?" With Millennials, the relationship is the message. Respect them, and they will respect you.
6. Connect Electronically
This generation has never known a day without the Internet, and many have never used a phone that did not also serve them as a computer. Team meetings can now be held online. Paper memos have become a waste of time to most organizations. It's now time to take advantage of the technology with which they identify and possess.
7. Inspire and Enable
As an aging Baby Boomer, I've come to realize that today's generation wants to accomplish something that's more meaningful and long lasting. It's my belief that we must inspire them as well as equip and enable them. In so doing, they will become the best leaders the world has ever known!
What's your advice on leading Millennials? If you are a Millennial, I'd especially like to hear form you! Share your answer on Facebook or Twitter.[Stan Toler]
Share The Story!
Asia-Pacific Region
- Granddaughter of Missionaries to Undergo Heart Surgery.
- Prayer Needed for Budget Crisis at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital.
- Rev. David Phillips Approved for Return to Field!
- Prayer for Rain in Papua New Guinea Answered... To Overflowing!
- Team Member Back in Action After Cancer Treatments- Praise God!
- 17 Month Old Daughter of Team Members Headed for Heart Procedure - Please Pray! *** Update!
- Most Up-to-Date Prayer Requests & Praise Reports for the Global Church - Prayer Mobilization Line.
Fiji, South Pacific
While many watch the political landscape, the landscape of Fiji has been devastated by the Southern Hemisphere's strongest landfalling cyclone!
The United Nation's March 3, 2016 report indicated:
- Some 120,000 people are estimated to need urgent humanitarian shelter assistance.
- Up to 90 percent of structures destroyed in the hardest-hit areas.
- Over 54,700 people are still sheltering in evacuation centres.
- An Audio Report from Melanesia South Pacific Field Strategy Coordinator is posted on the web page. Here his description of the situation as he drives through the aftermath of this storm.
Click here for the most recent report, and how you can help to impact the lives of those devastated by Cyclone Winston.
BLOG, FEATURE, MELANESIA SOUTH PACIFIC, NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES,NAZARENE DISASTER RESPONSE, NEWS
FIJI CYCLONE WINSTON UPDATE – DAY 12
Fiji: As many in the world watch the political landscape, the Pacific Islanders of Fiji are dealing with a much different landscape. They are picking up the pieces after the strongest cyclone in Fiji’s history slammed the island nation almost two weeks ago.
The United Nation’s March 3, 2016 report indicated:
- Some 120,000 people are estimated to need urgent humanitarian shelter assistance.
- Up to 90 percent of structures destroyed in the hardest-hit areas.
- Over 54,700 people are still sheltering in evacuation centres.
- Audio Report by Harmon Schmelzenbach
Families are now trying to re-build what once was their homes… and lives.
We met up with Jack, a very instrumental layman in the church, one who is truly responsible for the Church of the Nazarene being in this particular place. He describes the families and communities working together through unbelievable destruction, working to try and rebuild what were their homes.
Visiting the location where the Nazarene Church meets, there should have been two structures, one wooden and one reinforced concrete. The reinforced concrete building, while suffering roof damage, was still useable. The wooden structure was gone. Reduced to only its foundation.
We met up with Jack, a very instrumental layman in the church, one who is truly responsible for the Church of the Nazarene being in this particular place. He describes the families and communities working together through unbelievable destruction, working to try and rebuild what were their homes.
Visiting the location where the Nazarene Church meets, there should have been two structures, one wooden and one reinforced concrete. The reinforced concrete building, while suffering roof damage, was still useable. The wooden structure was gone. Reduced to only its foundation.
Homes reduced to their foundations and a few walls here and there.
As we travel along, we hear story after story similar to that of Pastor Jasoni, whose home was literally lifted from the ground, “like an airplane,” just moments after he and his family were able to run out. The neighbor’s family was not so fortunate – lives were lost.
Stories of five families huddled together under the strongest home that was also coming apart, praying that God would protect them through the night.
In the town of Ba, 20 families are already being helped directly by the Nazarenes. To say that they are deeply grateful is an understatement.
As we travel along, we hear story after story similar to that of Pastor Jasoni, whose home was literally lifted from the ground, “like an airplane,” just moments after he and his family were able to run out. The neighbor’s family was not so fortunate – lives were lost.
Stories of five families huddled together under the strongest home that was also coming apart, praying that God would protect them through the night.
In the town of Ba, 20 families are already being helped directly by the Nazarenes. To say that they are deeply grateful is an understatement.
What once were lush, green, jungle forests, have been wind burned and defoliated.
Rev. Kafoa Muaror, the District Superintendent for the Fiji District, and I have come up with a plan and after meeting with the Nazarene leaders in this country, we are prioritizing needs into four initial categories and then empowering these Nazarene Pastors as representatives of Nazarenes around the world to reach out and bring help, healing and hope to untold numbers of hurting people in the areas surrounding where they serve.
Thank you for partnering with us which has allowed us to already be getting survival supplies of food, water and basic shelter to almost every Nazarene Pastor on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji and their families and church members that have been effected by this Cyclone.
Rev. Kafoa Muaror, the District Superintendent for the Fiji District, and I have come up with a plan and after meeting with the Nazarene leaders in this country, we are prioritizing needs into four initial categories and then empowering these Nazarene Pastors as representatives of Nazarenes around the world to reach out and bring help, healing and hope to untold numbers of hurting people in the areas surrounding where they serve.
Thank you for partnering with us which has allowed us to already be getting survival supplies of food, water and basic shelter to almost every Nazarene Pastor on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji and their families and church members that have been effected by this Cyclone.
Official records are indicating that over 350,000 Fijians have been directly and seriously effected by Winston. About 100 schools are damaged so badly that they are beyond repair. As the International Church of the Nazarene reaches out and helps, the positive effect is disproportionate, not only is there desperately needed practical help but the emotional effect can been seen in the eyes of these Nazarenes who realize this really is an amazing family that wraps itself around the world and helps each other hold on through the midst of the storm and rebuild in the light of day.”
Thank you for your continued prayers for the ongoing recovery in Fiji. You can donate to the relief effort through the below link:
---------------------Thank you for your continued prayers for the ongoing recovery in Fiji. You can donate to the relief effort through the below link:
Is Work & Witness Really Worth the Cost?
Papua New Guinea
It's all there in the name, "Work and Witness!" Teams that come to do work and to witness to who Christ is.
But is Work and Witness really worth the cost? Wouldn't it be more financially beneficial to just send the money that these teams spend on airfare and travel? That money could be used on the ground for greater impact...or could it?
Dr. Scott Dooley, hospital administrator at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea answers these questions in a compelling way, based on the experience of a recent team from the U.S.
If you've ever asked or been asked these questions - you'll want to have these answers! Get the Answers - Click here!
BLOG, CURRENT, FEATURE, MELANESIA SOUTH PACIFIC, NEWS, WORK AND WITNESS
WHAT IS WORK AND WITNESS WORTH?
Papua New Guinea: It’s all there in the name, “Work and Witness!” Teams that come to do work and to witness to who Christ is.
Some people question the pragmatics of spending so much money to fly to the other side of the world rather than just sending money…. but God’s economy is an “economy of grace” not of finance. He is not fretting about the bottom line or how He will provide – no His is the business of changed hearts.
The latest Work and Witness Team from Joplin District (parts of Kansas and Missouri in the US) is a great illustration. They came to build a toilet and shower block (feature image). From a construction point of view a small building for sure, but as I always tell teams – the fact that a team of people would fly around the world at their own cost to do it adds special significance. It demonstrated a real sacrifice of everyday people, and helped our staff realize that they need to take care of the investment.
It was also a witness in another way. This was part of the NMI 100 year projects, which have been a big part of the Church of the Nazarene’s contribution to our Housing and Water Project. This contribution has resulted in exponential matching on the parts of our foreign aid partners. Because of the sacrifice of so many, the Church will exceed our promised matching commitment to this project!
Towards the end of the Joplin District’s time at Kudjip, we had a visit from Australian Aid, the majority donor on this project. They were amazed when comparing our project to many others. We do not use contractors, so all funds go directly to the actual project / building. On top of that, dedicated church people come to contribute money and free labor.
10 Single-Family Houses that are part of W&W Projects.
In the world of foreign aid, there are naturally concerns regarding corruption, inefficiency, etc, so as Australian Aid reviewed the project they were very pleased, They witnessed an organization not only using funds efficiently but going above and beyond the expected matching contribution. This commitment was a real relief to them and served as a vitally important building block in cultivating solid partnerships for the ministry of the Church of the Nazarene and Nazarene Healthcare Ministries in Papua New Guinea and beyond.
The team not only worked, they came and experienced the outreach and impact of the hospital ministry. One of the highlights was the opportunity to encourage and prayed with patients.
Baby Helena thriving after answered prayer!
One day while visiting the wards and singing with patients, the team witnessed a baby, Helena who nearly died. The team prayed for the medical staff as they continued to resuscitate what looked to be a hopeless case from a medical standpoint. But…God was gracious and Helena not only survived but a few days later was thriving!
The team visited churches and followed up with patients who, after experiencing the love of Christ in the hospital, had become new believers. One of these churches was a brand new preaching point where a patient has given land for a new church. The first week they had 4 people, the next week 25, and the third week when the team came they had 83!
Each of these opportunities is about changing hearts. Those that go on work and witness trips see God at work in different ways and gain a new understanding of the impact of foreign missions. These members also leave challenged to serve God in new ways in their home context.
People on the receiving end are always moved at such an extravagant gift of love – not only sending money, but sending themselves – giving of their own time for someone they have never met in a place they have never been. In the economy of grace it is an extravagant, generous gift. It challenges all of us to consider what we will sacrifice to help others.
Work and Witness teams touch the lives of our staff, patients and communities. They encourage our missionaries. The funds raised support the work and show the world how people from all walks of life can make a difference. These teams unite the body of Christ in a way you can’t put on a budget spreadsheet. It is God at work through His people around the world.
The value and kingdom impact of Work and Witness? IMMEASURABLE![Submitted: Dr. Scott Dooley – Hospital Administrator]
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NPH provides free small group lesson for US election year
Kansas City, Missouri
Every U.S. presidential election is packed with emotion. This has never been more true than in 2016. Christians respond to this emotion in many ways — some work to ignore the sound bite publicity while others boisterously engage in promoting a specific candidate. There is so much emphasis tied up in talk of winners and losers that it’s easy to forget that a believer’s hope is in God, not an earthly ruler.
In view of the upcoming election, Nazarene Publishing House’s curriculum division — WordAction — has developed a special free lesson for small groups and Sunday school classes. The goal of this lesson is to help us recast our political hope by challenging the claim that history is written exclusively by the powerful. Through a careful study of 2 Kings, we find that trusting God’s faithfulness is plenty political; it has real implications for our communities, the world, and the kind of political hope we can find in it all.
To download this free lesson, click here.[Nazarene Publishing House]
Scripture Focus
2 Kings 4:8 One day Elisha visited Shunem, and a well-to-do woman living there pressed him to stay and eat a meal. After this, whenever he came through, he stopped there for a meal. 9 She said to her husband, “I can see that this is a holy man of God who keeps stopping at our place. 10 Please, let’s build him a little room on the roof. We’ll put a bed and a table in it for him, and a stool and a candlestick. Then, whenever he comes to visit us, he can stay there.”
11 One day Elisha came to visit there, and he went into the upper room to lie down. 12 He said to Geichazi his servant, “Call this Shunamit.” He called her; and when she arrived, 13 he said to him, “Tell her this: ‘You have shown us so much hospitality! What can I do to show my appreciation? Do you want me to say anything to the king for you? or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I’m happy living as I do, among my own people.” 14 He said, “What, then, is to be done for her?” Geichazi answered, “There’s one thing — she doesn’t have a son; and her husband is old. 15 Elisha said, “Call her.” After he called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 He said, “Next year, when the season comes around, you will be holding a son.” “No, my lord,” she answered. “Man of God, don’t lie to your servant!” 17 But the woman conceived and gave birth to a son the following year when the season came around, just as Elisha had said to her.
18 When the child was old enough, he went out one day to be with his father, who was with the reapers. 19 Suddenly he cried out to his father, “My head! My head hurts!” He said to his servant, “Carry him back to his mother.” 20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he lay on her lap until noon; and then he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door on him and went out. 22 She called to her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants with a donkey. I must get to the man of God as fast as I can; I’ll come straight back.” 23 He asked, “Why are you going to him today? It isn’t Rosh-Hodesh and it isn’t Shabbat.” She said, “It’s all right.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey and ordered her servant, “Drive as fast as you can; don’t slow down for me unless I say so.”
25 She set out and came to the man of God on Mount Karmel. When the man of God saw her in the distance, he said to Geichazi his servant, “Look, here comes that Shunamit. 26 Run now to meet her, and ask her, “Is everything all right with you? with your husband? with the child?” She answered, “Everything is all right.” 27 But when she reached the man of God on the hill, she grabbed his feet. Geichazi came up to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is in great distress, but Adonai has hidden from me what it is, he hasn’t told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say not to deceive me?” 29 Then Elisha said to Geichazi, “Get dressed for action, take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, don’t greet him; if anyone greets you, don’t answer; and lay my staff on the child’s face.” 30 The mother of the child said, “As Adonai lives, and as you live, I will not leave you. He got up and followed her. 31 Geichazi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The child didn’t wake up.”
32 When Elisha reached the house, there the child was, dead and laid on the bed. 33 He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to Adonai. 34 Then he got up on the bed and lay on top of the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands. As he stretched himself out on the child, its flesh began to grow warm. 35 Then he went down, walked around in the house awhile, went back up and stretched himself out on the child again. The child sneezed seven times, then opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called Geichazi and said, “Call this Shunamit.” So he called her; and when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 37 She entered, fell at his feet and prostrated herself on the floor. Then she picked up her son and went out.; Matthew 5:13 “You are salt for the Land. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except being thrown out for people to trample on.
14 “You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.
17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
The Word to Live By
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salitiness, how can it be madesalty again? (Matthew 5:13)
Session Truth
Christian life calls us to the way of Jesus, which may be different than the political conventions of our time.
A Home Among My People
THE CAMPAIGN MESSAGE
From the dawn of creation, the God of Christian faith began to provide order in the midst of chaos. If you’ll notice, much of what is taking place in Genesis 1 has to do with placing things in order: light from dark, day from night, land from sea, and so on. It was that order that allowed life to flourish. Political life is really about how things ought to be best ordered for life to flourish: How should humans be ordered together? How should we order our resources so that our neighbors can flourish?
Politics, seen in this list, isn’t about holding power for the sake of holding power. It is about faithfully stewarding our life and resources in this time between the beginning of God’s creation and the time when God will bring new creation. Is there a political vision that can guide Christians toward that kind of political life?
THE PRIMARY
On election night, 2012, I was at church. We were holding a service that night, and between elements of the service, I noticed a small group of young men who were huddled toward the back of the building, peering at cell-phone screens, looking for the latest election information. On the line was the political future of their country.
For some of them, they were nervously hopeful that the election results were trending in a way that was favorable to them. For
others, they were nervously hopeful that the trend wouldn’t hold. The significant point I saw in that group was that everyone was nervous.
Primarily, I think they were nervous because so much was on the line
for them. The way the world would be governed was going to be decided that night. Some hoped it would be governed according to a particular political party’s platform, and some hoped it would be governed according to an opposing party’s vision. Each were dedicated to some version of political options that were given to
them by the available selections.
The learning outcome of this lesson is not to argue for or against any of the political options given to us by the systems of governance, but to encounter a vision of political life in the way of Jesus Christ, who lived, preached, and taught a different vision of political life. Jesus’ life and ministry opens our eyes to an approach to political life which takes seriously the strange ways that God is redeeming the world, even when those ways make little
sense according to the political options given to us by the world around us.
2 Kings is a challenging, strange, and fascinating political book, which is why we will focus our attention there for this lesson. It continually presents differing approaches to political life and asks the reader, “Which of these political visions will capture your imagination?” On the one hand is what we will call the “world of
kings.” It’s the political world as we often encounter it, a world that traffics in political agendas which favor the powerful and
insist that history is written by kings in their might. On the other hand is what we will call “the world of the kingdom,” a vision of political life which sees that God is writing history through God’s
own faithfulness to the weak, the poor, and those forgotten by human history.
The hope, then, is that a holiness engagement with political life will not primarily be about aligning ourselves with one of the political options given to us by the kingdoms which surround, but
about offering to the world a completely different vision of political life – that of the way of Jesus, who opened new options for political engagement by his path-carving embodiment of a king who is lifted up not on a throne, but on a cross.
STEPPING INTO THE STORY
Background
Many scholars believe that 2 Kings was composed during a time of Israel’s exile from their homeland. In the midst of being taken into political captivity by a foreign king, the composition of 2 Kings serves to remind a holy people of their calling and challenge them to not lose their distinctiveness, and to encourage one another to not be subsumed into a foreign culture.
Political Vision in 2 Kings
As a reminder to remain who they have been called to be, the author presents the people of Israel with a series of stories for the sake of contrasting them against one another. In one set of stories, the political vision of the kings are played out: the kings go to war, they flex their political power, they believe that they have what it takes to advance history in a way that will favor their kingdom. The contrasting stories are those of widows, mothers, lepers, slave girls – those who possess very little or no political power. These stories advance an alternative political vision because we see
that God is actually writing a history of salvation, rather than a history of conquest, through remaining faithful to those who are in deep need.
Kings
The king in this story is Joram, a king who does not find favor in the eyes of the author of 2 Kings (3:2). When this story opens, we find Joram has just returned from a military campaign to capture the wealth of a neighboring kingdom. The campaign is a disaster, many in Joram’s army are killed, and the king comes home with no profit to speak of.
Economics
2 Kings 4 is the story of a woman who is about to pass from being in a position of power to powerlessness. Unlike many of those who we encounter in the pages of 2 Kings, the Shunammite woman is economically well-off. She is married to a man who can afford to meet all of her needs. That provision, however, is about to run out.
Her husband is very elderly, and when he dies, so does her economic security.
Connections
This woman has a previous connection to Elisha. She used her economic abilities to build him a guest house on her property. Elisha would use this as his quarters when he was in the area. Elisha is a prophet, but he has political connections. He has the ear of Joram, the king. Joram has listened to Elisha in the past, and we are led to assume that he would listen to Elisha again in the future.
Plot
Knowing that her economic security is going about to run out, Elisha makes an interesting offer to the Shunammite woman, who had been gracious enough to provide housing to Elisha. He offers to speak to the king or the commander of the army on the woman’s behalf (4:13). We aren’t told directly in the text, but there are probably
marital undertones to this question; the king may be willing to take her as a wife, and provide significantly more of the kind of economic security that she is about to lose. Her response is fascinating: “I have a home among my own people,” she says.
Seeing that she has declined his offer, Elisha wonders what he can offer to her, and instead promises that she will bear a son within a year. The child is eventually born, but dies a short time later. The woman begs Elisha to do something for him, and after going to the boy and lying on the boy’s body, the boy returns to life.
STEPPING INTO THE KINGDOM
• The woman’s response signals that there is a difference between the king and her own people. There is difference between them, between the way they operate, and between the way they see the world. The king may have his way of seeing the world, but that way is different from the way of the woman’s people, and she is choosing the way of her people.
• The woman doesn’t argue against the king, nor does she attempt to overturn him. She simply suggests that she wishes to go another direction. Her point is not political overturning, but faithfulness to the ways of God’s people, even in the midst of a king’s reign that is based on a fundamentally different political vision of the world.
• Aligning herself with the king would have aligned the woman with the king’s way of obtaining things, like economic security. The king, we have seen, obtains security by making war against neighboring kingdoms and taking that which will make him secure. The woman is opting to entrust herself to God’s very different way of making provision for God’s own people. That way is strange and different, but the woman opts for it because it is the way of her people.
• The options given to the woman were clear, based on the political realities of her day: she could align herself with the powerful, or she could condemn herself to join the weak. She sees another option that wasn’t given to her by the conventional political wisdom of the day. She is able to envision a political future according to God’s humble faithfulness, and she chooses that path instead of any of the political paths offered to her by conventional political wisdom.
• Her response is a subversion of the conventional political wisdom that would say that political life must be about aligning oneself with the powerful. She does not seek to tear down the world of kings, but humbly seeks to offer an alternative, that of the world of the kingdom of God, which does not depend upon war or the use of power to steal from neighboring kingdoms.
• The ‘given’ political world begins with the quest to gain power and ends with the quest to gain power. While power can be used for good just as much as it can be used for evil, the logic of ‘given’ political wisdom is that you must gain power by opposition, or you will lose power in defeat. If those are the only options we see to choose from, we will likely cease to offer the world a holy and refreshing difference. We will, to use Jesus’ language, lose our salty distinctiveness. Engaging the political world in the strange way of God offers a salty alternative to a world which is offered only a bland vision of political life.
www.NPH.com
1-800-877-0700
New from Shawna Songer Gaines and Tim Gaines
What if a faithful approach to politics wasn’t simply about who was going to win the next election? How might our political hope change when we encounter a God who offers us a different kind of kingdom?
God isn’t asking the church to be politically uninformed, apathetic, or even bi-partisan. On the contrary. God is asking us to be faithful citizens of the kingdom—a kingdom of surprising hope where the majority of God’s work to save the world will be done.
Kings and Presidents
A STORY
Jacob and Dorothee Morris had been happily living in and around Nashville, TN since they were married in 2009. After completing seminary studies, Jacob entered pastoral ministry while Dorothee
accepted a position working in the School of Theology and Christian Ministry at Trevecca Nazarene University. It was there, in Dorothee’s office, that they found themselves discussing a pressing
political issue which was deeply rooted in a political vision of the world. While Dorothee had been at home in her native Germany, she noticed an influx of displaced refugees who were fleeing their homes
in Syria because the political instability and violence had become too dangerous to endure. Germany was a much safer and more stable place to live, and so many Syrians, at great risk to themselves and
their families, left everything they knew for fear of what was taking place in their home cities.
When the images of a young Syrian boy’s lifeless body, washed up on the beach near where his family had been attempting to flee the violence in their towns, began being shown in news media, Jacob and Dorothee were moved with compassion. After all, their own 3-year-old son wore the same kind of Velcro laced shoes and the same rocketship
t-shirt as the boy who had lost his life as his family fled for their lives.
It was around the same time that the Syrian refugee crisis also began to be debated in political centers around the United States. State capitol buildings, senate chambers, and public hearings
became venues of airing out the given political options. One option was to welcome those refugees. The other option was to turn them away. The debate spilled into the news media, classrooms, workplaces, and churches.
Each side argued their points: safety vs. hospitality, security vs. welcome. These were the given political options.
Jacob and Dorothee saw another option. It wasn’t an option offered to them by the political conventions of the day. They contacted the Church of the Nazarene’s Global Mission Department, resigned their jobs, sold their possessions, and made preparations to step into the flow of those who are fleeing for their lives. As Nazarene missionaries, Jacob and Dorothee will work among those who have been forced from their homes into refugee camps, working there for the sake of a God who heals by stepping into dark situations. This is
the way of Jacob and Dorothee’s people, called Nazarenes. That way opened a different kind of political vision. That kind of political vision allowed them to see other kinds of political options than the ones being given to them by the political debates of the world. by TIMOTHY GAINES
Timothy Gaines used his time as pastor of Bakersfield First Church of the Nazarene to seek distinctly Christian approaches to pressing contemporary issues and to apply those responses in faithful and
creative ways in the local church setting. Tim now serves as assistant professor of religion at Trevecca Nazarene University.
SESSION PRESENTATION
A. Stepping into the Story
a. Break into discussion groups and read 2 Kings 4:8-37.
b. Ask each group to identify:
i. The political vision of the king.
ii. The political vision of the Shunammite woman.
iii. How those might differ from one another.
B. The Strangeness of God’s Story
a. As a group, discuss the ways that:
i. You see the way God is working in this passage.
ii. Is the way God works something you think the people in the story
would have expected?
C. Ask the group to compile a list of political options that are given to us by the world, perhaps around a particular current issue. Look for common themes or ideas among those options. What kind of political vision is being given to us by these options?
D. Read Matthew 5:13-20 (You may wish to read through verse 48.)
a. When Jesus talks the Law, what kind of options did that Law provide to the people of his day? (The rest of the chapter may help.)
b. Does Jesus teach his disciples to live according to those options?
c. Does Jesus teach his disciples to destroy the Law?
d. What kind of political options does Jesus open up for his disciples?
e. What do you think it means to be “the salt of the earth” in this political context?
Summary
• The world often operates according to a certain political story, which makes political life about winning through beating the opposition.
• The Kingdom of God doesn’t want to destroy political life, but has
a different vision of it, which is about the way of holiness. It is the particular and peculiar way of God’s people.
• Often times, our peculiar way of seeing the world will mean we
can’t simply accept one of the options given to us by the political
systems of the world. We are often called to offer an alternative that is faithful to the way of Jesus, which means that it may call for humble engagement for the sake of serving others.
More free content
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Around the Region News ArchiveAsia-Pacific
Do you remember seeing a particular story in one of our weekly newsletters?
Are you wishing you could send a copy of a previous newsletter to a friend? Be sure to check out the Around The Region Weekly Newsletter Archive.
You can always find the Archive on the Web Menu under "News" by clicking on the Around The Region News menu item.
Remember that you can always get the most current news delivered to your email every week by subscribing to the newsletter.
Click here to find out more about the Archive.
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Breathing Deep... Endurance for the Race... GRATITUDE
Member Care
Grat·i·tude \ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ (noun): the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for, and to return kindness.
How can Gratitude really help us stay in the ministry race for the long term? You might be amazed to see how the science of neurobiology has actually once again, proven what we have been told in the Bible, "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
It's not just a command, it's the secret to having Endurance for the Race!
Do you ever find yourself questioning whether you can make it through the end of the week, day, hour?
If so...this article from our Member Care Coordinator is for you!
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Click here to read the importance of gratitude and 7 practical steps for putting it into practice!!
BLOG, CURRENT, FEATURE, MEMBER CARE
BREATHING DEEP…ENDURANCE FOR THE RACE… GRATITUDE
Gratitude
Grat·i·tude \ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/ (noun): the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for, and to return kindness.
synonyms: gratefulness, thankfulness, thanks, appreciation, indebtedness; recognition, acknowledgment, credit.
grat·i·tude \ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for, and to return kindness.
What is it? According to Robert Emmons, “perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, there are two key components to gratitude: “First,” he writes, “it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.” In the second part of gratitude, he explains, “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves…”’ What gratitude looks like in the brain, according to brain scan research conducted by Dr. Glen Fox and University of Southern California, is a “complex social emotion… It involves morality, connecting with others, and taking their perspective.” (Greater Good Science Center, 2016)
I love it when science makes breakthrough discoveries and when we listen, something deep inside says, “I already know this…” We realize we are hearing truth in a different language and because of that, we hear it like it’s brand new! There are good things in the world and we know the source is not ourselves!
My Gratitude Awakening began almost 4 years ago as several ladies at Kudjip in PNG decided to journey together through Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts, (which I highly recommend)- and what a self-revealing journey it has been. Ann writes, “Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other.”(2010) It was the first time I realized that gratitude and grace are, by God’s design, inseparable. We most fully experience God’s grace when we allow ourselves to embrace gratitude.
Why does it matter? Well, for starters, being grateful makes us happy. For example, research has shown that when a person writes a 300-word letter of gratitude to a person for whom they are thankful, and then reads it out loud to that person, the one who wrote the letter will experience increased happiness and decreased depression for up to 3 months afterward (Seligman, 2004). I tried this and can personally say it’s true! As I read my letter of gratitude, we were both in tears. It was a profound, lasting and happy experience!
In 2014, Forbes magazine published a list of benefits that are directly associated with increased gratitude in a person’s life. This includes better relationships, better physical health, reduced depression, reduced anger and frustration, better sleep and increased resilience (Nov. 23, 2014). Business coaches are encouraging employees to intentionally practice gratitude for better workplace satisfaction. Sounds good to me!
But maybe the most significant is that God has commanded us to be thankful.Commanded? Like we are ‘commanded’ to be alive? ‘Commanded’ to breathe? No, not commanded, but invited, created for. We have been invited to experience the sacred space where gratitude gives way to peace. Paul gives us a peek into this mysterious link between thankfulness and peace in his letter to the Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, … with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is what we were created for.
What can I do about it? A simple “how to be more grateful’ search on ‘Google’ renders 152,000,000 results. If that’s a bit overwhelming, here are some starting places for effective ways we can intentionally experience more gratitude:
- Keep a gratitude journal. Research indicates that a simple act of writing down 3 things that we are thankful for everyday will have a significant impact on our overall ability to be tuned in to those things; the benefits of this positive mindset are immediately realized. If you like apps, try these: Gratitude 365, 10 Reasons or Grid Diary.
- Practice ancient prayers of gratitude. Psalms are filled with heartfelt prayers of thanksgiving – we can choose some and memorize them; we can practice, with the saints, the spiritual discipline of intentionally expressing gratitude. Here’s a start: Psalm 9:1, Psalm 2:7, Psalm 95:2-3, Psalm 100:4.
- Become ‘sense-full’. We can notice the goodness of something we see, hear, smell, taste and feel everyday.
- Remember. Two primary obstacles to gratefulness are forgetfulness and a lack of awareness (Emmons, 2016). What we could do is surround ourselves with visual reminders of the things for which we are grateful for: photos, word clouds, post-it notes, reminders on our phone- whatever helps us remember our vow to practice gratitude.
- Say it! We can speak the language of gratitude. We can say thank you often and speak of the good we are aware of- the beauty we experience and benefit we enjoy because of other people in our life. Tell and re-tell stories of gratitude.
- Do it anyway! We can’t wait for an emotion of gratitude to overtake us before we practice it. Smiling, speaking the language of gratitude, writing about it will kick-start our brain into a thankful mindset.
- Be creative. Let’s stretch our gratitude muscles- consider and try new and creative ways to express our gratefulness. Enjoy!
Member Care is one the Asia-Pacific Regional Priorities. Thank you to Cindy Schmelzenbach who submitted the above article.
More on Gratitude:
Emmons, Robert. (2016) What is Gratitude?http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude/definition – what_is
Seligman, Martin. (2004) TedTalk file://localhost/Greater Good, the Science of a Meaningful Life http/::greatergood.berkeley.edu:topic:gratitude:definition – what_is
Voskamp, Ann. (2010). One Thousand Gifts. http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-Gifts-Fully-Right/dp/0310321913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456562611&sr=8-1&keywords=one+thousand+gifts
Holmes, Lindsey. (2013) 7 Habits of Grateful Peoplehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/27/gratitude-habits_n_4343934.html---------------------
Ezra Nehemiah
February 29 comes only once in four years, and the leap day of the year 2016 has become extra special for the World Mission Communications (WMC) Family and the Asia-Pacific Region as they welcome baby Ezra Nehemiah Fausto!
WMC Supervisor for New Media Ernalyn Longcop-Fausto gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on February 29th, an hour and a half before midnight. Ernalyn has been with WMC for more than 5 years, and has been excellently leading the New Media Team in various projects, one of which is the revamp of Global Church of the Nazarene website - nazarene.org.
Follow this link to read the rest of the story!
BLOG, FEATURE, PHILIPPINE-MICRONESIA
WMC FAMILY WELCOMES THE FAUSTO’S LEAP DAY BABY!
Manila, Philippines: February 29 comes only once in four years, and the leap day of the year 2016 has become extra special for the World Mission Communications (WMC) Family and the Asia-Pacific Region as they welcome baby Ezra Nehemiah Fausto!
WMC Supervisor for New Media Ernalyn Longcop-Fausto gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on February 29th, an hour and a half before midnight. Ernalyn has been with WMC for more than 5 years, and has been excellently leading the New Media Team in various projects, one of which is the revamp of nazarene.org.Learn more about Ernalyn's inspiring life journey here!
We praise God for the protection and safety for both mother and baby, and for the strength and resilience he provided for Nathan, the head of their family.
Ezra Nehemiah is the first baby of Nathan and Ernalyn. Thank you for your prayers for the Fausto family, and continue to pray for them as they enter a new chapter in their family life.---------------------
Summer, Missions, Aboriginal Outback, Australia, You! Don't Miss This Opportunity!
Australia
For the last 3 years a group of students from Nazarene Theological College - Brisbane have gone up to Kimberley, Western Australia, as a short term mission trip for practical learning and life-changing experience.
What is it?
Kimberley Mission Experience (KME) is a short term mission trip through Nazarene Theological College.
Life-changing, unique and intentional missionary experience that provides cross-cultural preparation, hands-on ministry, and an avenue preparing you for ministry in a range of contexts.
Click here for more information about KME and how you could register!
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2016 Annual Report of the Board of General Superintendents
Ede, Netherlands
Jerry D. Porter delivered the annual Board of General Superintendents' Report during the 93rd Session of the General Board, February 28, 2016, in Ede, Netherlands.
Porter's report, titled "VISION 2020-Multiplying Christlike Disciples," was enthusiastically received by the members of the General Board, officers, Global Ministry Center directors and staff, regional directors, Nazarene Publishing House leaders, and guests.
Follow the link to read the story on our website, and to access a transcript of the report in different languages!
BLOG, CURRENT, FEATURE, REGIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, RESOURCES
2016 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS
Ede, Netherlands: Jerry D. Porter delivered the annual Board of General Superintendents’ Report during the 93rd Session of the General Board 28 February in Ede, Netherlands.
Porter’s report, titled “VISION 2020—Multiplying Christlike Disciples,” was enthusiastically received by the members of the General Board, officers, Global Ministry Center directors and staff, regional directors, Nazarene Publishing House leaders, and guests.
To view a transcript of this report, download a PDF file (7 MB) by clicking below:
English
Español
Français
한국어
PortuguêANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS
TO THE 93rd GENERAL BOARD
CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
28 February 2016
Ede, Netherlands
“VISION 2020 –
Multiplying Christlike Disciples”
INTRODUCTION
Where there is no vision, the people perish … (Proverbs 29:18, KJV).
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd …‘this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams’(Acts 2:14, 16–17, NIV).
We, the global Church of the Nazarene, yearn for this prophesy to be fulfilled again. Our sons and daughters will prophesy Kingdom truth with loving courage. Our young persons will embrace bold VISION 2020 Faith Projections with humble enthusiasm. Our senior leaders will
dare to dream of a transforming global holiness movement for the glory of God.
In the majestic name of our liberating Lord, I welcome you on behalf of the Board of General Superintendents (BGS) to the 93rd General Board Session of the Church of the Nazarene.
The desire to further internationalize general meetings and an invitation from General Board member Robert Kegel set in motion the decision for Ede, Netherlands, to become the setting of the first General Board Session in our denomination’s 108-year history to be held outside the United States of America. We have gathered here to praise and worship God for all that has happened and for all that is yet to come in and through the Church of the Nazarene.
To God be the glory!
The General Board is convened not only for organizational purposes; we also pray that this unique General Board experience in the Netherlands will be a means of grace in your lives. You are a vital part of an international community of faith, focused on making Christlike disciples in the nations.
The Beginning Days
Our church’s history in Eurasia dates back to the arrival of our first missionaries to India to 1898, sent there by the general missionary secretary, Hiram F. Reynolds. By 1915, nearly 25 Nazarene
missionaries had served on that field. Reynolds visited the churches and missions in India in 1914—the first superintendent to do so.
Our second point of entry on the Eurasia Region dates to 1906, when Rev. George Sharpe and 80 others established Parkhead Pentecostal Church in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the mother church of the Pentecostal Church of Scotland, which merged in 1915 with the Church of the Nazarene. 1
A Nazarene presence in the Netherlands became possible in the 1960s through Jeanine van Beek, a Dutch Nazarene from New Zealand, who was on her way to pastor a church in West Germany.
She was joined by Cor and Miep Holleman, Hetty van Houweninge, Willem and Ria deVries, and Jerald Johnson in planting the Church of the Nazarene in a country which would become the 17th largest economy in the world.
It was Jerald Johnson, as district superintendent of the Middle European District, who organized the first church in Haarlem in January 1967 with seven charter members. He temporarily
assigned himself as pastor and commuted 482 kilometers (300 miles) from Frankfurt, Germany.
In 1976, Cor Holleman was appointed as the first national district superintendent for the Netherlands.
2 To his son, District Superintendent Antonie Holleman, to Eurasia Regional Director Arthur Snijders, and to the 2,300 Nazarenes in the Netherlands, we say dank u wel for hosting the 2016 General Board!
Appreciation
It is one thing to organize and plan a General Board less than 14 kilometers (nine miles) from the Global Ministry Center, Lenexa, Kansas, USA. It is quite another to work out the details of that
process 7,730 kilometers (4,493 miles) away.
To General Secretary David Wilson, Susan Metcalf, Diane Miller, Elizabeth Kuhns, Shirley Marvin, Allison Bergerat, Jeff Beam, and the Global Ministry Center information technology staff, the Board of General Superintendents offers its deepest appreciation for careful facilitation of this historic General Board Session.
To Renee Rotz and the BGS office staff for the preparation required for the Board of General Superintendents, thank you.
And to Dale Jones, Rich Houseal, and the Global Communications Office for their professional assistance, ¡Muchas gracias!
2015 IN REVIEW
Part I: External
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33, NIV).
Our denomination serves in 159 world areas and in countless cultures and subcultures. The external environment for our internal core values—Christian, holiness, and missional—varies dramatically over the earth’s estimated 7.3 billion inhabitants.
Most of the populace is connected by some form of media, social or otherwise, which permeates nearly every aspect of life. What happens in one part of the world, such as the terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Istanbul, or a Starbuck’s coffee shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, immediately gets our attention.
Social Change
Nazarenes in certain countries continue to see increased social change, breaks from long-held cultural norms, and decreased freedom of religion. Changing laws relating to human sexuality pose serious challenges to churches, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses that uphold biblical standards of marriage and the sanctity of human life.
On 26 June 2015, the general superintendents released a statement regarding decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide:
We remind our people that while the civil law of yet another country has changed, divine truth has not changed … Our commitment to the orthodox biblical Christian faith remains the same. We continue to call Nazarenes around the world to a life of holiness, characterized by holy love and expressed through the most rigorous and consistent
lifestyle of sexual purity. We further call our people to a generosity and graciousness of spirit that extends kindness to those who do not share our belief. We pray that God will help us be examples of His truth in a world that needs to see God’s love demonstrated in word and deed more than ever.
On 14 February 2016, through participation in Freedom Sunday, Nazarene congregations around the globe took a stand against human trafficking. Last year, more than 200 congregations worldwide participated in the event through prayer, worship, preaching, and support of church based anti-trafficking ministries. This is the third year the Church of the Nazarene has joined other denominations in observing Freedom Sunday.
It is when the world seems upside down that God strengthens our faith and opens new doors of opportunity:
At present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident. It happens to prove your faith which is infinitely more valuable than gold (1 Peter 1:6–7, Phillips).
Christians are called to prevail in prayer when reaching the lost and engaging the culture.
Writing to the church at Colossae, Paul says:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:2–6, NIV).
“Take heart,” Jesus said to His disciples. “I have overcome the world.”
The Refugee Situation
For many, it is hard to comprehend the scope of the current refugee situation, as rarely in modern history have so many been so desperate to flee in search of refuge.
Perhaps the most shocking image last year was that of the body of a Syrian boy, three-year-old Aylin Kurdi, washed up on the Turkish shore.
The Kurdi family was making a final, desperate attempt to flee to relatives in Canada. Syria was already at war when Aylan Kurdi was born. He died, along with his five-year-old brother, Galip, and mother, Rehan. Their father, Abdullah, survived.
The scope of the refugee situation is staggering.
According to 2014 figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, right now there are almost 60 million refugees and internally displaced people around the globe—one in every 122 people worldwide, the equivalent of the entire population of Italy being forced from their homes.
During this refugee situation that is reshaping Europe and the world in which ministry takes place, the Board of General Superintendents called on the Church of the Nazarene to respond.
Nazarenes are among those who have had to flee their countries to escape violent conflict … Nazarenes are also among those who have had to flee because faith in Jesus has put their lives in danger. And Nazarenes are among those who have been ministering to refugee
families who are seeking safety and hope.
The denomination is working through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to support care for refugees through sensitive and generous local churches.
Middle East Field Strategy Coordinator Rev. Khalil testifies of bold Jordanian and Lebanese Nazarenes who are ministering to hundreds of Muslim Syrian families, offering them love and basic provisions. Nazarenes are also providing education for refugee children who are unable to enroll in local schools. As they embrace faith in Christ, scores of these displaced persons have asked to be included in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
In Hungary, Nazarenes have been providing food, blankets, and tents for refugee families caught in transit in both Budapest and Roszke on the Hungarian/Serbian border. Now that the border has closed, a team of Nazarenes on the ground in Serbia is partnering with another denomination to meet emergency needs of refugees there.
Many refugees headed for Europe come from cultures that place much value on hospitality, so there could be no greater expression of love and welcome than the community hosting an abundant meal for their new neighbors.
That is exactly what happened on 17 October 2015 when a network of churches and organizations in Gottmadingen, Germany, including the Church of the Nazarene, welcomed 60 refugees to their community by hosting a banquet with international foods, live music, cultural
presentations, and plenty of conversation.
“The refugees gave testimony of where they came from. There was a big map of the world and they showed the places they had gone through to reach Germany,” said Ludwig Duncker, pastor of the Gottmadingen church. “There were several activities to show the local people what the refugees had experienced.”
When leaders on the West Texas District, USA, were contacted by a nonprofit organization in need of space to house 200 immigrant and refugee children from Central America, they did not hesitate.
“It was a unanimous decision,” said the district superintendent. David Downs. “We are honored to receive these children while they are awaiting placement in the United States.”
The boys, ages 13 to 16, stayed at the district campground, Camp Arrowhead. Some will be reunited with their families in the United States, while others will go into foster care.
Word Action, an imprint of Nazarene Publishing House, in response to the refugee situation, has developed two free small group lessons that explain how Christians can engage in the social needs of today's world.
During this refugee situation, we remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was an immigrant (translation of Greek word: xenos) and you welcomed me.” The BGS, in a December 2015 letter, said, “We are asking our global church family to pray and minister to those in need.” This is a wonderful opportunity for the Church to demonstrate and embody Kingdom values.
Part II: Internal
Jesus said, “I will build my church … you make disciples”(Matthew 16:18, 28:19, NIV).
Jesus expected His disciples to reproduce His likeness in others. He imparted the message and mission to the disciples in order that they would reproduce themselves in others and make disciples who would make disciples, even in the midst of great strife. As we intentionally make disciples, Jesus builds the Church.
Christendom has become a 2.3 billion-member movement today, after starting with only twelve disciples. The analogy of the Vine in John 15:1–17 speaks to our mission. The purpose of the Vine (Jesus) and the branches (us) is to bear fruit. Christians are to work for and expect a harvest (Matthew 9:37–38, Luke 10:2).
The Harvest
Churches of the Nazarene continue to be characterized by their evangelistic fervor. Evangelism is the first step in multiplying Christlike disciples. In 2015, pastors reported just over 209,000
conversions. Praise the Lord!
These new Christ-followers are embraced by the church in the sacrament of baptism. Likewise, Jesus was baptized by his cousin John: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John” (Matthew 3:13, NIV).
In the Great Commission, we are commanded to baptize these new disciples:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you … (Matthew 28:19–20, NIV).
John Wesley had this to say about baptism:
By baptism, we enter into a covenant with God, an everlasting covenant, are admitted into the church, and made members of Christ, made children of God.5
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often referred to as the Prince of Preachers, said that up until the time he was baptized, he was afraid to confess Christ. Thereafter, he lost all fear of man and never again hesitated to boldly profess his faith.6
The 89,000 Nazarene baptisms in 2015 are testimonies to the church embracing and welcoming new believers.
The General Secretary’s 2015 report also testifies to the addition of new congregations.
• 994 new “centers of holy fire”
• 656 churches organized
• 29,945 churches worldwide, with 21,912 organized
• 28,658 active churches, up 517 from the previous year.
• 143,076 New Nazarenes
• A record total global membership of 2,441,372
• Average weekly worship attendance of 1,498,482
• A record average global Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries attendance of 1,210,871. The Church of the Nazarene Statement of Mission is “to make Christlike disciples in the nations.” We celebrate the continued attendance growth at Bible studies and
fellowship groups.
It is important for new disciples
• to join the fellowship as members.
• to regularly participate in worship.
• to be joined into small classes in order to grow into Christlikeness.
• to be personally, continually discipled, while intentionally discipling others.
We will obey the Lord’s instructions to make disciples! Who is discipling you? Who are you discipling?
Summary
The Annual Pastors’ Report records quantitative indicators of health and growth. Even these measurements are inadequate because of the creative access areas where it is difficult and dangerous to count disciples and churches. What is more difficult to measure, however, is the qualitative evidence of holiness, Christian maturity, and the spiritual power that God expresses in and through us to carry out the work to which we have been called.
In John 5:17 (NLT), Jesus responds to the complaint about healing the beggar on the Sabbath by saying, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” Our hope is in Christ who never ceases working and who never fails. This same Lord now sends us to work when He says, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1, NIV).
To our pastors, laity, district superintendents, educators, Sunday school teachers, evangelists, compassionate ministry workers, chaplains, JESUS Film crews, and those who represent the
mission of the Church of the Nazarene—the general superintendents express heartfelt gratitude for your faithfulness and your fruitfulness. Ultimately, you serve for the approval and applause
of an audience of one, the Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate your prayers, your labor of love, your passion to bring others to Christ, and your obedience in personally and intentionally making
Christlike disciples in the nations.
For what is recorded and unrecorded, we say:
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.[Thomas Ken, 1674]
Missionaries
Phineas F. Bresee, one of the founders of our church and its first general superintendent, often said, “We are debtors to every man to give him the gospel in the same measure as we have received it.” That statement became the clarion call of the denomination. Out of it grew a flourishing world mission enterprise that has been the hallmark of the Church of the Nazarene.8
With an ever-increasing number of indigenous leaders, in 2015, the denomination reported 706 missionaries and their 327 children deployed from 50 world areas, including 302 Mission Corps
volunteers, 301 short-term volunteers, and 8,484 Work & Witness team members. All of these missionaries receive support from World Evangelism Fund through Global Mission and other offices of the Global Ministry Center.
During recent years, Extreme Nazarene has helped to mobilize over 300 missionaries from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Scotland, the United States of America, and Venezuela to work in church planting.
These are four pastors of newly launched congregations in Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina.
On Monday evening, fourteen candidates will be presented for missionary appointment, and two couples, Lindell and Kay Browning along with Jim and Kaye Williams, will be honored for their
many years of service as they move into retirement.
Nazarene Publishing House Turnaround
Nazarene Publishing House (NPH) continues to make significant progress since the 2015 General Board met. NPH is making great strides toward regaining financial stability while maintaining its long-standing tradition of providing Wesleyan resources in the areas of discipleship curriculum, books, and music. The leaders have prayerfully restructured as they focused on increased efficiencies and cost savings.
As a result of the 2014 staff reduction and a changing business model, the NPH Board has approved the sale of the administrative offices located at 2923 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. That transaction will take place in early 2016 with administrative offices located close to the present site.
In another move forward, NPH announced the relaunch of Lillenas Publishing Company, which was founded in 1924. The production of new product was halted in late 2014.
The leadership team, led by Chief Executive Officer Mark Brown, is creating a new future for the 103-year-old NPH. The Board of General Superintendents expresses deep appreciation for the NPH turnaround. Special thanks goes to the loyal customers across the Church, the
committed NPH employees, and the NPH Board, comprised of Chair Bob Brower, Monte Chitwood, Keith Pardue, and David Graves.
NPH is vital to the overall global ministry of the Church of the Nazarene as Wesleyan holiness content continues to be produced, translated, and distributed worldwide. NPH currently has no debt, and it is anticipated that when the 2015 financial audit is released, NPH will have operated in the black for the first time since 2004.
NMI 100th Anniversary
October 2015 marked 100 years of Nazarene Missions International mobilizing the church. The anniversary culminated with the NMI 100th Anniversary Project.
Ninety districts around the world joined the celebration, adopting 283 initiatives submitted by the regions, and pledging more than $4 million. Projects included, among other things, flashlights to
show the JESUS Film south of the equator and support of a Russian orphanage. Districts could adopt more than one project. The Netherlands District adopted 16 projects, providing poultry and
sheep so that Armenian women could better care for their families.
One of the most adopted initiatives included districts purchasing motorcycles to help pastors show the JESUS Film and build Nazarene churches in remote areas. West Virginia North District (USA) provided six motorcycles for Nazarene workers in Nepal.
The Papua New Guinea Kudjip hospital was another well-supported effort. The hospital was started by Nazarenes in 1967 to provide preventive and curative medicine, as well as spiritual healing through the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. Initiatives were submitted in hopes of raising $100,000 to provide housing and water for the hospital. Districts gave more than $200,000, which, through matching grants and other means, God multiplied to actually reach $2
million.
Thank you, Nazarene Missions International.
A GLOBAL SYSTEM OF MISSION—BETTER TOGETHER
“One of the practical reasons for the church lies in her cooperative service accomplishing that which cannot otherwise be done.”9 Samuel Young, General Superintendent (1948–1972)
Our History
The Church of the Nazarene has a storied history:
Our church is a Wesleyan denomination whose organization on a national basis took place at Pilot Point, Texas, USA, in 1908. Its membership at that time was drawn from associations of churches which had appeared within the previous two decades.
These parent bodies were products of a spiritual awakening which during the previous half century had cultivated the doctrine and experience of Christian perfection, or entire sanctification.
The history of the Church of the Nazarene, therefore, properly begins with the story of what was called the “holiness movement” of the nineteenth century. The holiness movement was born of great revivals. It prospered from the newly employed energies of lay men and women preachers. And it was in large measure centered in the cities.
That is how a commission of Nazarene historians summed up the beginnings of our church ahead of the denomination’s 50th Anniversary in 1958.10
Creating a System of Mission
No religion can live without organization. It requires form and order.
As Oswald Sanders wrote in his classic work, Spiritual Leadership, “Subtle dangers lie in organizations, including an over reliance on structure as a substitute for the Holy Spirit. But lack of method and failure to organize has spelled doom for many promising ministries.”
Someone once characterized the Church of the Nazarene as having a “knack for organization.”
In the early days, that gift became evident during a series of financial crises in which young leaders used those critical moments to reshape the church’s unique system of mission.
In the 1920s, leaders such as R. T. Williams, E. A. Girvin, E. J. Flemming, J. G. Morrison, and Mervel S. Lunn were instrumental in creating the General Board and General Budget and gaining stronger footing for “foreign missions.”
The ten board structures that predated the General Board’s creation in 1923 were consolidated into what was first called “General Council,” then “General Board.” That body consisted of six clergy and six laity chaired by the BGS. The recommendation from the general superintendents to create the General Board was approved by the 1923 General Assembly. “The assembly demolished with one blow” the old board structures, writes historian Timothy Smith.
Nazarenes responded accordingly, showing strong financial support in response to a “spiritual rejuvenation” taking place within the denomination during that time.11
Funding the Mission
In 2015, Nazarenes gave $38.1 million to World Evangelism Fund (WEF).
Based on 18,937 churches reporting financial data, 25.2 percent gave 5.5 percent or more to WEF, 46.0 percent gave something to WEF, and 28.8 percent reported no WEF giving. We celebrate this generous support of the Church of the Nazarene.
• $30.1 million was given to Mission Specials.
• The $68.2 million combined total for World Evangelism Fund and Mission Specials came from generous and sacrificial Nazarenes who know that one cannot out give God. Thank you for unselfishly funding the mission.
It was never the intention of the BGS or the General Board to ask local congregations to take 5.5 percent of their income and remit it to fund the global mission. The 5.5 percent global World Evangelism Fund is ONLY a way to calculate a generous visionary goal that will be reached by offerings such as Faith Promise, Easter, Thanksgiving, Prayer and Fasting, and other WEF contributions. We say thank you to every congregation that has invested in these Great Commission offerings. Is it time for every local church to embrace a 5.5 percent missions giving goal for this year? Is it time for every Nazarene congregation to testify to the reality of our Lord’s Kingdom principle that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”? (Acts 20:35, NIV)
Distribution of Funds
During the 2009 General Board Session, the BGS made a commitment to provide greater access to general church finances. Since funding the mission is built on trust, transparency, and accountability, the General Board and Nazarene donors need to know how much is given and
where those funds are invested.
The General Treasurer’s Office and Stewardship Ministries publish numerous information pieces in print and online to show the distribution of donor gifts from World Evangelism Fund and Mission Specials. The Distribution Report, which you have received, shows that 86.1 percent went toward field ministries, and 13.9 percent went to support and delivery.
The Mission Infrastructure
The purpose of financial and administrative infrastructure is to support the spiritual infrastructure. The general church has had several funding models since its inception in 1908.
Originally, multiple boards raised their own funds; then a unified system of giving called “General Budget” was created in 1923 and renamed “World Evangelism Fund” in 1997. The church has had a long history of managing the healthy polarity of unified and designated giving.
World Evangelism Fund, under general supervision of the BGS (Manual 317.11), continues to be the “lifeline” of discretionary ministry and organizational support. WEF is the basis for the general church budgeting process and provides needed assistance for the denomination’s long term viability.
Mission Specials plays a vital role in ministry fulfillment as well. Mission Specials gives Nazarenes the opportunity to support Alabaster, LINKS, JESUS Film, Mission Corps, Work & Witness, and Compassionate Ministries, all of which are essential to the health and strength of the denomination. Mission Specials giving exists in tandem with World Evangelism Fund, making it possible for donors to personally engage in urgently needed, effective, specific
opportunities.
The Church of the Nazarene Foundation, which was begun in 2004, distributed $5.1 million for Kingdom work in 2015. Donor Advised Funds and Charitable Gift Annuities each now approach $5 million dollars. Endowments that will provide revenue well into the future increased to over $7 million dollars (13.54 percent). We are grateful to districts and local churches that have invested over $65 million in assets for ministry under Foundation management.
Donors give through a system built by World Evangelism Fund, which ties together local churches, districts, regions, educational institutions, and compassion. For nearly eleven decades, Nazarene generosity has made missionaries, indigenous leaders, and wider ministry possible.
What Nazarenes often see and experience as an international church is the fellowship and inspiration of general assemblies, General Board sessions, and regional conferences. What they do not always see is that World Evangelism Fund is largely responsible for making those venues come to life.
For example, here are expenses for the 2001 through 2013 general assemblies:
This chart represents total expenses of General Board sessions 2012 through 2015:
And here is a summary of expenses for Global Mission regional conferences held in or scheduled for 2015–2016:
General assembly, General Board sessions, and Global Mission regional conferences are all made possible because of generous WEF giving. (Not in reading copy: General Assemblies, General Boards and Regional Conferences are funded with annual accruals for designated
purposes.)
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, JESUS Film Harvest Partners, and other global partnerships make critically important contributions to the church. Those entities exist and collaborate because there is a WEF-funded system in place to make Christlike disciples in the nations.
Here are two questions: Will succeeding generations of Nazarenes continue to value this “cooperative service accomplishing that which cannot otherwise be done”? Are we truly “better together”? That idea was at the heart of a mission funding discussion held at 2015 General Board. The focus of our time during the Monday morning plenary here in the Netherlands will be to look at next steps in crafting the right mission funding strategy. In doing so, it is essential that storehouse tithing (Manual, paragraph 33.1) be seen as foundational in support of the whole church.
The BGS will again want your feedback in Part 2 of this important discussion on financial stewardship.
BETWEEN TWO TRUTHS
As children, we enjoyed singing and doing the motions of the chorus, “Deep and Wide.” We sang, “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.” This chorus may have been inspired by the prophecy of Isaiah:
Wilderness and desert will sing joyously, the badlands will celebrate and flower … God’s resplendent glory, fully on display. God awesome, God majestic … Tell fearful souls, “Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on his way to put things right …” Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness, streams flow in the desert. Hot sands will become a cool oasis, thirsty ground a splashing fountain … There will be a highway called the Holy Road. No one rude or rebellious is permitted on this road. It’s for God’s
people exclusively … (Isaiah 35:1–8, MSG).
The glory and the beauty of God’s majestic fountain is that it flows both DEEP AND WIDE.
If it only flows deep, it is limited to the few who are near and can draw from the deep well. If it only flows wide, it is too shallow to go very far, and it will dissipate in the desert sands of life.
VISION 2020 foresees a gracious movement of God throughout the Church of the Nazarene that is both DEEP AND WIDE.
I remember that one of my theology professors, Rob Staples, warned us about the dangers of heresies. “I have no doubt you students will preach and teach a heresy from time to time. I just want you to know when you are doing so. It will allow you to make the necessary correction the next time you teach or preach. Good theology is usually two truths in tension. If you exaggerate one truth too much, you fall into a heretical ditch. You stay on the orthodox path when you maintain both truths in healthy tension.”
We can see this in our cardinal doctrines. Is God one or is God three? If we emphasize “one” or “three” too much, we are teaching heresy. Is God one or is God three? That is a trick question
because it tempts a person to emphasize one half of the theological truth. So, is God one or is God three? The only correct answer is YES!
Was Jesus Christ divine or human? If we emphasize either truth and diminish the other, we have fallen into one of the many Christological heresies. Is Jesus Christ all God or all man? YES!
Is God sovereign or are we responsible for our choices? YES! Some denominations have emphasized one half of the theological truth and have fallen into the heresy of teaching that God predestines some persons to be saved and some to be cursed. Other movements teach the heresy that God observes and reacts to our decisions but has no sovereign divine will.
When I was a seminary director in Costa Rica, I participated in many faculty discussions about how best to prepare women and men for ministry. Usually our heated and sincere exchange of ideas emphasized one strategic truth while undervaluing another. Should we emphasize resident or extension theological education? Do we want to graduate practitioners or theologians? Do we prefer single or married students? Do we recruit young, immature students or older, more mature students? Do we want high quality ministers or a great quantity of ministers? YES to all the above!
VISION 2020 must be DEEP AND WIDE. We are not satisfied with a small, dwindling, global huddle of deeply committed, entirely sanctified Nazarenes any more than we are satisfied with a growing mass of shallow believers. As we invite every Nazarene pastor and congregation to embrace numerical VISION 2020 Faith Projections of membership, worship attendance, Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries attendance, and church multiplication, do we only care about the numbers? NO! VISION 2020 is an invitation to affirm again that quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if we decide to emphasize either half of this healthy tension, we will fall off the “Highway of Holiness.”
The worship of numbers is idolatrous and arrogant. The study of numbers may also be diagnostic and celebrative. When I go to the doctor, I expect exact numbers that indicate my weight, cholesterol level, blood pressure, sugar level, etc. If my doctor tells me he does not worry about numbers but is only interested in my state of mind, I will change doctors. The Old Testament records a census of the Israelite nation that was condemned by God because of the arrogance of the King.
On another occasion, Jehovah mandated a census, as recorded in the book of Numbers. Some of the very persons who dislike numerical goals for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting are the same ones who carefully scrutinize the financial reports. We need to be as concerned about numbers of persons as we are about numbers of dollars.
As the BGS envisions a global church membership of 3.5 million Nazarenes in 50,000 congregations by 2020, do we emphasize evangelism or discipleship? YES! Do we emphasize strengthening existing congregations or launching new “centers of holy fire”? YES! When we embrace the faith projection of 2.5 million persons in worship and 2.5 million in discipleship groups, which of these is most important? YES!
The BGS and our representatives at every district assembly have been sharing global VISION 2020 Faith Projections:
2015 2020
Total Membership 2,441,372 3,500,000
Worship Attendance 1,498,482 2,500,000
SDMI Attendance 1,210,871 2,500,000
Total Churches and Missions 29,945 50,000
The BGS has invited every local Nazarene pastor and congregation to humbly embrace its own VISION 2020 Faith Projection. Our hearts have been deeply moved by the faith and vision of these godly leaders. Here are the current VISION 2020 Faith Projections from the Global
Mission regions:
VISION 2020 Faith Projections
Members
Worship
Attendance
SDMI
Attendance
Total
Churches*
Africa 1,012,000 658,000 708,000 10,270
Asia-Pacific 200,000 200,000 100,000 2,510
Eurasia 423,000 324,000 229,000 11,330
Mesoamerica 569,000 427,000 476,000 4,870
South America 550,000 350,000 400,000 4,655
USA/Canada 796,000 719,000 547,000 9,000
TOTAL 3,550,000 2,678,000 2,460,000 42,635
*Total churches = new church goal plus existing churches.
The local church faith projections match or surpass the BGS vision, except in the area of new congregations. We trust every Nazarene church to embrace the VISION 2020 Faith Projection of at least one new outreach ministry cell during the next four years.
The BGS invites the General Board to join us in prayer for a mighty Holy Spirit revival that would sanctify, empower, and mobilize our global family in the seven characteristics of a Nazarene:
1. Meaningful Worship
2. Theological Coherence
3. Passionate Evangelism
4. Intentional Discipleship
5. Church Development
6. Transformational Leadership
7. Purposeful Compassion
What motivates our work of “making Christlike disciples in the nations”? Why are we so desperate to reach the VISION 2020 Faith Projections?
There once was a rich man … wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep … Then this poor man died, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child … there is a huge chasm set between us …’ The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers so he can warn them …’ Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets … Let them listen to them.’ ‘I know, Father Abraham, but they're not listening.’ Abraham replied, ‘If they won't listen to Moses and the
Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead’(Luke 16:19–31, MSG).
VISION 2020 is urgent because the eternal destiny of our generation depends on us.
In November 2014, I joined over 500 Peruvian Nazarene pastors who gathered in Chiclayo, Peru, as part of the Centennial Celebration of the Church of the Nazarene. We rejoiced to see all that God had done in raising up a glorious church of over 65,000 Nazarenes.
I told my Peruvian brothers and sisters that we had four basic options:
1. Shrink the church: Let’s get rid of some Peruvian Nazarenes who are not genuinely sanctified. No pastor agreed with that option.
2. Maintain the church: Let’s do whatever we have to do to maintain our current number of Nazarenes. No pastor agreed with that option.
3. Grow at the current rate: Let’s continue making slow, steady progress in evangelism, disciple making, and church planting. Again, no pastor agreed with that option.
4. Grow by multiplication: I told each pastor to tell his or her neighbor, “¡Pon la moto ensegunda!” Shift the motorcycle to second gear!
We have been enjoying steady growth, adding believers and congregations. Would the Lord be pleased if the Peruvian Nazarene church moved to multiplication? Will the global church move to multiplication?
Luke records that there was a similar shift in the New Testament church. “The word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem …” (Acts 6:7, NKJV).
Later in the narrative, Luke reports the same shift took place with the churches: “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied (Acts 9:31,NKJV).
When we shift the motorcycle into second gear, the motor does not rotate any faster, but the wheel turns faster. When we go to third gear, the wheel turns even faster. It is time for the Church of the Nazarene to no longer be satisfied with adding and subtracting disciples and congregations. By the grace of God and with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, we will not rest until we multiply disciples and churches.
If we experience the multiplication of disciples and congregations, will they truly be Nazarene?
Which do we prefer, qualitative growth in Christlikeness and holiness or quantitative growth by multiplication? YES!
Growth by multiplication must be by two or more. If we multiply by zero, we end up with zero; multiply by one and the number is the same. If the New Testament church was multiplying disciples, that meant that Luke saw 3,000 become 6,000; then there were 12,000 disciples who became 24,000! The New Testament churches were also indefinitely reproducible. They were not dependent on property, buildings, funding strategies, or ordained clergy.
I was deeply moved when the Brazil district superintendents announced their VISION 2020 Faith Projection of doubling the Brazilian Church of the Nazarene by 2020. They want to see every disciple make a new disciple and every congregation launch a new church.
My wife and I have been honored to serve the Church of the Nazarene as pastor, missionary, seminary director, regional director, district superintendent, and general superintendent for 44 years. We have seen this church in all her glory and her occasional lethargy. As we move toward our retirement as general superintendent in 17 months, we celebrate the amazing advances of our beloved Zion around the world. We also yearn to see our church step into the full stream of the Holy Spirit’s activity in this amazing global harvest.
Last November my wife and I traveled to Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. In the Spiritual Formation class, she taught awesome students from the Philippines, South Korea, China, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Myanmar about prayer. Meanwhile, Clark Armstrong, Bill Wiesman, and I taught a class, “Urban Church Multiplication.” With more than 50 percent of the world’s population now living in towns and cities, we must find a way to multiply congregations in the urban areas. So, which is more important—prayer or church multiplication? YES!
You and I have a choice to make. Will we embrace the new vision and shift to multiplication?
Will we dare to believe that the Church of the Nazarene can grow in holiness while it also grows numerically?
Walls of Unbelief
[Jesus] returned to his hometown . . . On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit … “We had no idea he was this good!” they said … But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “He's just a carpenter—Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid … Who does he think he is?” They tripped over what little they knew about him … Jesus wasn’t able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that’s all. He couldn't get over their stubbornness (Mark 6:1–6, MSG).
The Lord could not do what he wanted to do because of the unbelief of the “Nazarenes.” Of course, they were Nazarenes because they lived in Nazareth, but we may also be guilty of unbelief. Do we ever put handcuffs on God, limiting the Lord’s activity? Yes, the Holy Spirit respects our free will. We will never be forced to pray, to have faith, or to obey the Lord’s mandates. We can quench, resist, or even disobey the Spirit. When we choose to be negative, critical, or cynical, we limit what God can do in us, in our family, in our church, and in our community.
My Faith Releases God
As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.” “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine …” Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and
how he works …” Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well (Matthew 8:5–13, MSG).
In this passage, Jesus was amazed at the faith of the Gentile Roman soldier. The word that Matthew used to describe the Lord’s reaction in this passage is the same word that Mark used when describing the Lord’s amazement at the unbelief in Nazareth. While the military captain magnified Jesus’ action, the Lord’s hometown folks resisted, thereby diminishing the Lord’s activity.
Today we have a choice. Some have commented that the BGS should not set high faith projections. Some feel it is laughable to envision the gain of one million Nazarenes in only five years. The truth is, if we knew the Lord was coming back in 2020, we would all become bolder and more desperate in sharing the good news with those around us. If each Nazarene brings one person to Christ and the church, we will surpass the 5 million mark, to the glory of God!
What Is Our Motivation
Nine-tenths of the bickering and fault-finding and suspicion and criticism among us, laymen and preachers, general and district superintendents, would disappear if we were properly joined up in an all-out crusade for souls.[J. B. Chapman, General Superintendent, 1928–1947]
Perhaps the right question is, who is our motivation? The Vision 2020 Faith Projections are motivated by Christ’s love for the lost that overflows in our hearts.
Last month, I was honored to preach at the newly launched Ibarra, Ecuador, Open Door Church of the Nazarene. The response was heartwarming as over 30 persons embraced saving faith in Christ. Among them was a woman sitting next to my wife, Toni. She was weeping during my message on the new beginnings that Jesus Christ offered the Samaritan woman (John 4). Toni prayed with her as she moved from spiritual death to life. That is what stirs our hearts and motivates our evangelism, disciple making, and church multiplication.
Why is VISION 2020 so urgent?
The destiny of our generation is in our hands.
We are not satisfied with the results thus far.
We invite the General Board, the Global Ministry Team, district superintendents, pastors, and leaders around the world to take the handcuffs off the Lord by being persons of faith, obedience, and availability. If we describe what God cannot do, we become part of the reason the Lord’s activity is limited. However, if we embrace bold VISION 2020 Faith Projections, intercede for the lost and the church, and become radically obedient to the Spirit’s leading, we will bring to the Lord a precious harvest that is both DEEP AND WIDE!
I prepared this report while visiting our brothers and sisters in Cuba. During the last two years, 800 lay leaders accepted the challenge to dedicate their Saturdays to training and church
planting. Six hundred new cell churches have been launched. Today, 111 pastors are training 2,272 lay church planters.
May we all join the faith, commitment, and vision of our Cuban colleagues.
Every region has VISION 2020 stories. I encourage you read and be inspired by the account of these miracles of God’s grace when this report is posted on Nazarene.org.
Remember this:
Anything that God has ever done … He can do now!
Anything that God has ever done anywhere … He can do here!
Anything that God has ever done for anyone … He can do for you![A.W. Tozer]
Joel prophesied: “What a day! Wine streaming off the mountains, milk rivering out of the hills, water flowing everywhere in Judah, a fountain pouring out of God's Sanctuary, watering all the parks and gardens!” (Joel 3:18. MSG)
There is a fountain flowing DEEP AND WIDE. With God’s help, we will do our small part.
And God will majestically intervene allowing us to participate in a gracious multiplying harvest of a host of radically committed, Christlike, Nazarene disciples who make disciples. Amen!
Prayerfully and respectfully submitted,
Board of General Superintendents
David A. Busic
Gustavo A. Crocker
Eugénio R. Duarte
David W. Graves
Jerry D. Porter
J. K. Warrick
Prepared and read by Jerry D. Porter
bgs@nazarene.org
Footnotes
1 Nazarene Archives, Global Ministry Center
2 Mission to the World, J. Fred Parker, Nazarene Publishing House, 1998
3 The Atlantic 2015
4 Christian Research Institute
5 John Wesley, A Preservative Against Unsettled Notions in Religion, p. 146-150, as quoted in Millennial Harbinger, Volume 1 by William Kimbrough Pendleton and Theological Writings on Various Subjects by Peter Nead.
6 Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon at His Best, comp. Tom Carter (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), 20.
7 For consistency and accuracy, the general superintendents draw from the General Secretary’s Annual Statistical Report. The
source of that information is the Annual Pastor’s Report (APR).
8 Mission to the World, J. Fred Parker, Nazarene Publishing House, 1998
9 The Nazarene Pastor, August/September 1961, Vol. 14, No. 6, page 2
10 Called Unto Holiness, Vol. 1, Timothy Smith, Nazarene Publishing House, 1962
11 Ibid
12 Cash receipts from general treasurer’s office for each of these categories may be different from general secretary’s report.
13 General Treasurer’s Office
14 Office of the General Secretary
15 Global Mission Finance
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The Day the Picture Came to Life
Jason Graham (Engage Magazine)
I remember well the black and white picture on the wall and the questions that ran through my young mind as I studied it. Who are those people? Why do we have their picture hanging in our church fellowship hall? How old is it? How old are they?!
The picture of "our missionaries" Wallace and Mona White was a mainstay in my home church in Lovington, New Mexico, U.S. We held children's church and VBS, ate at numerous potlucks, and ran wild while our parents practiced for worship team, all under their watchful eyes.
The story goes something like this: Sometime in the 1950s, Wallace and Mona White became a part of Lovington First Church of the Nazarene where they experienced the saving grace of Jesus. As they began living out their salvation, they eventually answered God's call to missions and soon became pioneer missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene in Papua New Guinea (PNG). While in PNG, they planted many churches and started a Nazarene hospital that is widely respected and still in operation today.
From just a photo to reality! Follow the link to continue reading this interesting story.
"The day the picture came to life" by Jaron Graham
I remember well the black and white picture on the wall and the questions that ran through my young mind as I studied it. Who are those people? Why do we have their picture hanging in our church fellowship hall? How old is it? How old are they?!
The picture of “our missionaries” Wallace and Mona White (left) was a mainstay in my home church in Lovington, New Mexico, U.S. We held children’s church and VBS, ate at numerous potlucks, and ran wild while our parents practiced for worship team, all under their watchful eyes.
The story goes something like this: Sometime in the 1950s, Wallace and Mona White became a part of Lovington First Church of the Nazarene where they experienced the saving grace of Jesus. As they began living out their salvation, they eventually answered God’s call to missions and soon became pioneer missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene in Papua New Guinea (PNG). While in PNG, they planted many churches and started a Nazarene hospital that is widely respected and still in operation today.
As a young child, I heard these stories, but they seemed as distant as the colorless people in the picture on the wall. They were stories of work that began long before I was born and that was continuing in far off places that I knew very little about. And yet, somehow it was a part of our church’s story. I really didn’t catch the significance, but I knew there must be something to it because there the picture hung year after year.
People at Lovington Nazarene church have always proudly claimed that “we are a sending church,” and the facts back up that claim. While cleaning out my desk after pastoring there for seven years, I found a letter from one of our long-time members that listed all of the women and men who had been called to full time ministry from our church. The list of pastors and missionaries was long. I had grown up in the church myself and was packing for New Zealand, where my family had accepted an assignment as Nazarene missionaries, so my name now fell in both categories.
So what about Wallace and Mona and that black and white picture? Last week I had the privilege of attending a meeting of Nazarene educators from around the Asia-Pacific Region of the world. On the first day, I was introduced to the man across the table from me. He is from PNG, and serves as the president of our Nazarene College of Nursing there. His name…Wallace White Kintak. He was named after Wallace White. Our Wallace White. The Wallace White whose black and white likeness hanging on the wall captured my curiosity and raised so many questions in my mind.
All of the sudden the story came alive. No longer is Wallace White just a name. No longer does Papua New Guinea seem far away and the stuff of dreams. For sitting before me was a man who is a follower of Jesus Christ, the president of a college, and new dear friend because a family from my home church answered the call of God to serve in a far off land. Wallace White Kintak proudly carries the name of the man who changed his family–and his country–by introducing them to the love of Jesus.
The implications are incredible. First it speaks to the faithfulness or our church—a small church in rural New Mexico—who carried the love of Christ to its community so that Wallace and Mona could experience the transforming grace of God in their salvation. It speaks to the faithfulness of a local church who discipled, shaped, and ultimately sent them with prayer and support to the mission field. At least in part because one little church took seriously the call of Christ to “go and make disciples of all nations,” there are 11 Nazarene districts in Papua New Guinea. The church is on fire there, and is growing rapidly. Women and men are being called to ministry and are being educated and trained by people like Wallace Kintak, who like his namesake, is following the call of God to make disciples.
There are families like the one who is a part of our congregation here in Hamilton who are getting to study abroad in first-world university settings because of the Nazarene missionaries’ commitment to high-quality education. There are babies born in clean, safe environments and medical needs being met 24 hours a day 7 days a week at a highly respected hospital because a missionary couple saw the need for easily accessible high-quality healthcare.
In a world where Christians are tempted to get hung up on which communion bread to use, where flashy lights and professional-sounding bands are touted as essential, and where pastors (and laymen) spend way too much time one-upping each other on Facebook, I am convinced that these are non-essentials that can easily distract us from the important work of the Kingdom. Over 60 years ago a little church, in a small town few have ever heard of welcomed a new couple into their fellowship. The church didn’t have a fancy worship team or flashy lights or much in the way of bragging rights, but they did know how to love. What they didn’t know was that their love and care for this couple would someday extend to thousands upon thousands on the other side of the planet who had not yet heard the name of Jesus. It’s a legacy that is thriving today.
I think my ancestors at Lovington Church of the Nazarene might say; “Son, we are not a fancy church. It’s not about being fancy. A sending church though…yes, that is what we are. So by all means, go, love well, and tell them about Jesus. That’s what will change the world.”[Jaron, Elizabeth and their son Q are missionaries serving in Hamilton, New Zealand. They are pastoring the Crossroads Church of the Nazarene, as well as training and equipping pastors on the New Zealand District Church of the Nazarene. Formerly, they copastored a Nazarene church in Lovington, New Mexico, where they also started a non-profit after-school program and a full-time summer care program. They helped to develop a community-wide food coalition for feeding and meeting utility assistance needs. This story is reprinted from their blog with permission.]
How to De-Clutter Your Church for More Effective Ministry
Christianity Today
It's not easy to create a culture of renewal, change and adaptability in an existing small church.
But it is essential.
There needs to be a renewal process in place or the changes will be random, unsettling and ultimately, unsuccessful. We'll end up work harder without working smarter.
The healthiest churches are relentless about being effective, not just busy. They trim off anything that saps time and energy. They refuse to be burdened by clutter. They do this by following the Closet Rule.
What is the Closet Rule? How do churches get cluttered and how can churches de-clutter? Follow the link for answers to these questions!
Innovative Ministry
How to De-Clutter Your Church for More Effective Ministry
The healthiest churches are relentless about being effective, not just busy. They do this by following the Closet Rule. by Karl Vaters
READ IN MULTIPLE PAGES
Sometimes_Sam | Flickr
It’s not easy to create a culture of renewal, change and adaptability in an existing small church.
But it is essential.
There needs to be a renewal process in place or the changes will be random, unsettling and ultimately, unsuccessful. We'll end up work harder without working smarter.
The healthiest churches are relentless about being effective, not just busy. They trim off anything that saps time and energy. They refuse to be burdened by clutter. They do this by following the Closet Rule.
What Is the Closet Rule?
When people have to live in small spaces, de-cluttering experts tell them this: before you add a new item of clothes to your closet, toss out an old one.
Small churches need to do the same thing.
This is the Closet Rule for small churches: Don’t add a new ministry until you’re willing to lose an old ministry.
The Closet Rule for small churches: Don’t add a new ministry until you’re willing to lose an old ministry.
(If you're interested in more ideas like this, check out the upcoming Big Little Church Conference – April 11-13, 2016.)
How Churches Get Cluttered
We love having new things, but we hate change. So we add new things without removing old things. This leads to clutter. Physical, emotional and spiritual clutter.
I was guilty of this for many years. I would get a new ministry idea from a church leadership seminar or new book. But when I presented it to the church, I’d get blank stares.
It wasn’t because the church was filled with heel-draggers and vision-killers. It’s because what I saw as an exciting new ministry opportunity, they saw as one more thing to add to their full calendar.
The Closet Rule forces us to prioritize. To think before acting. It helps us enact changes according to a logical process, not on a momentary whim.
How Churches Can De-Clutter
Imagine the ministries of a too-busy church as a cluttered closet.
We all have those clothes in the center of the closet that we like and wear regularly. But we also have clothes that make their way to the back and sides – and they stay there. They haven’t been worn in years. But we can’t bring ourselves to toss them even though they cost us valuable space.
Church ministries are the same. Many small church pastors feel like we're accomplishing very little, even though we're constantly busy, because we're trying to do too much.
Any church that's been around for a while has long-standing ministries that are loved and used all the time. They’re front-and-center.
But we also have ministries that have not aged well. They’ve stopped working, but they still cost precious time and energy. They’ve been shoved to the side, but they still take up valuable space. And time. And money.
And no, I’m not talking about ministries that may have just a few people in them. Size has nothing to do with the value of a ministry. It’s about effectiveness.
Size has nothing to do with the value of a ministry. It’s about effectiveness.
Healthy small churches relentlessly monitor their schedules to reduce ministry clutter. And the healthiest ones start reducing clutter, not after they find a great new idea, but before.
We need to clear space in the closet first. Only then will we be ready to add something fresh and new.
Start by asking the following hard questions:
What ministries have ceased to be effective?
- What ministries cost more money, time or energy than they’re worth?
- If we were starting the church today, would we do this?
- What ministries don’t fit the mission or vision of the church?
- Can this ministry be refreshed, or should it be ended?
- What are we doing that we wish we didn’t have to do?
- Renew It, Replace It or Say Goodbye to It?
1. RENEW IT: Many ministries need a face-lift. Or an extreme makeover. If the foundation of the ministry is solid, it’s meeting a valid need and it has a core of leaders, it may need some TLC to get back on its feet again.
2. REPLACE IT: Some ministries need more than a makeover. They need to make way for something that works. Like replacing the stained, torn, ill-fitting blue shirt in the back of the closet with a new green shirt.
3. SAY GOODBYE TO IT: Some ministries are beyond repair. Their reason for being has ceased to exist. If it’s time to say goodbye to it, we need to make the brave choice to do that.
In all three cases, the people who may still be going through the motions of the ministry deserve to be treated tenderly. Their needs should be heard and validated.
If the ministry can be salvaged, we need to do whatever we can to involve them in the updating or replacement process. If the ministry must be ended, their contributions should be honored. People should never feel belittled in this process.
But we must always remember this hard truth. Not wanting to hurt people’s feelings is never enough of a reason to keep doing an ineffective ministry.
Change Gets Easier
The Closet Rule is not always easy to implement. And it won’t happen overnight. But it, or something like it, must happen.
Once you start it, this process becomes a part of the church DNA. People who used to resist change can learn to appreciate that church ministries must be assessed and renewed in order to be effective.
After the initial shock of losing some ministries that people are emotionally invested in, most people will be grateful when they realize that their time and energy have greater impact now. Their efforts are being respected because they’re being effective. What they do, matters.
How Does a Closet Grow?
As a church gets healthier, it’s like getting a larger closet. Leadership training grows the closet, too. The same goes for devising more efficient systems, upgrading the facility and more.
Anything that allows us to do more ministry without adding more burden to the leadership and congregation is like getting a larger closet.
Ministries can become more effective without overburdening people’s wallets and schedules. When that happens, some new ministries can be added without old ones being lost. But that should be done carefully. Clutter has a mind of its own and we must always be wary of it.
Renewing ministries is not about Old vs. New, or Big vs. Small. It’s about Effective vs. Ineffective.
But, more than anything else, I hope you’ll remember this. Renewing ministries is not about Old vs. New, or Big vs. Small. It’s about Effective vs. Ineffective.
In the battle for the hearts, minds and spirits of people, we must always be on the side of effectiveness.
Copyright © 2016 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here to contact me concerning reprint permissions.
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General Board Releases Global Prayer Requests by Region.
Global
The General Board has released a copy of the Global Prayer Requests by Region. Please consider taking the opportunity to download these requests and distribute them to your churches for focused and intentional prayer.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.- James 5:16 (NIV)
BLOG, CURRENT, NEWS, REGIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS
GENERAL BOARD RELEASES GLOBAL PRAYER REQUESTS BY REGION
Global: The General Board has released a copy of the Global Prayer Requests by Region. Please consider taking the opportunity to download these requests and distribute them to your churches for focused and intentional prayer.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.- James 5:16 (NIV)Africa
• Pray for the persecuted church—many believers are persecuted and some are even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. We should pray that the Lord will strengthen the believers who live and worship in communities that persecute the church. Pray that the believers will be strengthened by the Lord and will have divine wisdom and grace as they advance God’s kingdom.
• Pray for a unified vision to intensify the multiplication of disciples and churches in the Africa Region, with a goal to reach membership of one million by the year 2020. Pray that every district in Africa will accomplish rapid reproduction of disciples and local churches through saturation evangelism and the intentional multiplication of churches using reproducible methodologies.
• Pray that the churches will achieve rapid incorporation of new believers through dynamic Christian, compassionate, missional fellowship, training them to be mission-focused and strategy-centered in their ministry practices.
• Pray that we will achieve rapid reproduction and development of church leaders for Africa (lay and clergy).
• Pray that every Nazarene home will be a “nursery” for holiness champions.
Asia Pacific
Leadership Transitions:
• Two district superintendents on the Australia New Zealand Field, Satish Manmothe, and Roland Hearn
• Taiwan District Leadership alignment and Taiwan Nazarene Theological College choosing a new president
• Search for district superintendent in Southern Tagalog and a president for Visayan Nazarene Bible College
• Restructuring of Asia Pacific Resource Center and Asia Pacific Regional Office
• Appointment of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Field Coordinators
• Korea National District Assembly—election of a new district superintendent and district leadership in March 2016
Spiritual Breakthrough:
• For spiritual breakthrough and outpouring of God’s Spirit that will bring increased unity, growth, and fruitfulness. Pray specifically for district leadership across the region and in team family relationships (particularly with missionary kids). Pray for communication within the team in shared ministry with national leaders, local churches, and districts to strengthen long-term fruitfulness despite difficult situations (such as health decisions, retirements, shortage of laborers, and persecution). Together we will teach and disciple (with church planting) the next generation of leaders with joy!
New Work:
• Restart of the work in Republic of Palau in Micronesia
• Church planting team, which has been developing and training for two years, will be launched to enter a new large city (in a sensitive area) on Sealands Field in July. (This large city has two major and four other smaller, unreached people groups.)
• Pray for VISION 2020 goals to be fulfilled for God’s glory and for the planting and building of His Church in new areas.
Government Relations:
• Kudjip Nazarene Hospital faces a potential financial crisis with Papua New Guinea possibly reducing its government partnership funding by as much as 40 percent this year.
• Korea Nazarene University is undergoing Consultation with Government Ministry of Education.
• Pray for favor with local authorities in terms of registration of a local church on Sealands Field; its process has been rather slow.
Member Care:
• Pray for missionaries as they go on home assignment that God will refresh and renew them as they share in the churches and reconnect with family. Pray that God would use them to challenge the hearts of the people to answer the calling of God to be sent out as workers to His harvest fields.
• Pray for new personnel transitioning to AP region.
Eurasia
• The many refugees (hundreds of thousands) in transition from either Syria and Ir*q or
Northern Africa
• Secularization and materialism in Northern Europe and CIS
GENERAL BOARD
• The need for Christian maturity in India and South Asia—fast growing but in need of depth and of developing an indigenous holiness message
• The unrest in the Middle East—pray for protection, but also pray for the harvest in reaching m-people
• Thanksgiving for an excellent Regional Conference last November 2015.
Mesoamerica
North Central Field
• Pray for renewal of the vision of the leaders who for years are still doing the same things, and we still have the same results.
• Pray for the country of El Salvador, considered the most violent of the isthmus.
Mexico Field:
• Pray that the Holy Spirit of God will flood every leader and member of the Church of the Nazarene in Mexico.
Haiti Field:
• Haiti is one of the neediest countries in the Mesoamerica Region; however, despite the lack of resources, the Church of the Nazarene continues to grow because it is the country with the membership in the region. Pray for leaders and congregations that the passion for lost souls may remain.
Meso Central Field
• Pray for leadership in the Meso Central Field, especially the Dominican Republic. René Acosta died in the month of October; he served as coordinator of ministries in that country.
• Pray also for leadership in Cuba. One CCO attended by 61 people was made recently, who are committed to bring the word of God to every place in that country.
• Last year the Church of the Nazarene was inaugurated in Guangandi (Region Kunayala) in Panama. Pray for the pastor and the congregation at that location. Caribbean Field
• In September last year, the Church of the Nazarene was legally registered on the island of Curacao. We thank God for the Brash family, volunteer missionaries, who supported the planting of the church, which is being shepherded by Jonathan and Lisette Petrus.
GENESIS INITIATIVE
GENERAL BOARD
• Pray for the start of ministries and churches in 28 places of the Mesoamerica Region, 24 of them have a current presence of the church but should be strengthened to be urban areas, and three of them are where the Nazarene Church is not yet involved.
• Currently, through this initiative, we are working to advance the Church of the Nazarene in Veracruz, Mexico, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Curacao.
• Pray for volunteer missionaries serving in these cities and continue to encourage congregations to support them in prayer and financial resources.
South America
• Pray for “Living the Great Commission,” 123 churches that are engaged in holistic ministry. Praying for the 123 pastors to be renewed, and multiply 10 percent of their growth, train 3,500 lay people in ministry for April of 2017.
• Pray for the new leadership in Brazil for the transition on the new setting of leadership in Brazil.
• Pray for the analysis of the logistics of the campus of the Regional Office.
• Pray for the new strategy of communications in the South America Region.
• Pray for David Gonzalez as he leads the country, district, and local ministry coordinators.
United States/Canada
• Pray that God will send a revival of holy love to each of the 5,069 churches in the United States and Canada.
• Pray that each of our churches will experience vibrant renewal inside the Body and that renewal will lead to a new passion for reaching the lost and hurting of our communities.
• Pray that every USA/Canada Church of the Nazarene will be known as a body of loving people so people in need will know they can find help among us.
• Pray that Nazarenes in the United States and Canada will continue to have a spirit of generosity.
• Pray that pastors will continue to preach the message of holiness with clarity and power and that people listening will hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Pray that churches will find new ways of bringing their children, youth, and adults together in intergenerational worship and service and that new mentoring relationships will develop.
GENERAL BOARD
Click here to view and download these prayer requests, share them with your church and pray!
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See What's Happening Around the World with the Latest WMC News Release
Asia-PacificDid you realize that shoes are a major concern for refugees fleeing through the Balkans. They are walking hundreds of miles with insufficient or no shoes, in many cases through freezing mud. Watch the video to see how you can help.
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This month's highlights include:
Prayer is requested for Taiwan after the earthquake that left at least 55 dead and many more still missing in the rubble.
The refugee crisis in Eurasia is a prominent concern.
320 Youth attend Consencrated 2016 in Argentina.
The JESUS Film being produced in the Cabécar Language in Costa Rica.
Click here to watch this video and for the download link - be sure to share!
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/155089125" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Schedule of Asia-Pacific Region District Assemblies
Asia-Pacific
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
District Assembly Schedule 2015-2016
March 2016
8
Sealands
Java-Bali
8-9
Japan
Japan
12-13
Sealands
Papua
| March 2016 | ||
| 8 | Sealands | Java-Bali |
| 8-9 | Japan | Japan |
12-13
|
Sealands
|
Papua
|
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
District Assembly Schedule 2015-2016
November 2015 | Field | District |
7
|
ANZ
|
New Zealand
|
7-8
|
Melanesia
|
South Coast
|
8-9
|
Melanesia
|
Enga
|
9-10
|
Melanesia
|
Middle Ramu
|
9-10
|
Melanesia
|
Islands
|
12-13
|
Melanesia
|
Simbu/ EHD
|
13-14
|
Melanesia
|
Hagen
|
13-14
|
Melanesia
|
Western Highlands
|
14-15
|
Melanesia
|
East Sepik
|
15-16
|
Melanesia
|
Sandaun
|
19-20
|
Melanesia
|
Bromley Memorial
|
20-21
|
Melanesia
|
North Coast
|
20-21
|
Melanesia
|
Southern Highlands
|
24-25
|
South Pacific
|
Solomon Islands
|
26-27
|
South Pacific
|
Vanuatu
|
27-28
|
South Pacific
|
Samoa
|
29-30
|
South-Pacific
|
Fiji
|
December 2015 | Field | District |
30
|
Philippines
|
Bicol
|
January 2016 | Field | District |
2
|
Philippines
|
Southern Tagalog
|
8
|
Philippines
|
Mindanao East
|
9
|
ANZ
|
Australia North & West
|
13
|
Philippines
|
Mindanao West
|
16
|
Philippines
|
Metropolitan Luzon
|
16
|
Southeast Asia
|
Northern Thailand
|
19
|
Philippines
|
Negros
|
20 or 21
|
Philippines
|
Luzon
|
| 20 | Southeast Asia | Cambodia |
| 23 | ANZ | Australia Southern |
| 23 | Philippines | Metro Manila |
| 23 | Southeast Asia | CAA #3 |
| 26 | Southeast Asia | Thailand |
| 27 | Southeast Asia | CAA #1 |
| 28 | Philippines | Panay |
| 29 | Philippines | Eastern Visayas |
| 30 (Tentative) | Philippines | Central Visayas |
March 2016 | Field | District |
| 8 | Sealands | Java-Bali |
| 8-9 | Japan | Japan |
| 12-13 | Sealands | Papua |
| 17 | Sealands | C. Kalimantan |
| 14-18 | CMF | Taiwan |
| 20 | CMF | Hongkong |
| 22-23 | Korea | Korea National |
Global Compassion Conference Announced!
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries announces the Compassion Conference, to be held July 14-16, 2016, at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, USA.
We can no longer turn our heads in our communities. Compassion is the church in action. And the time is now to go deeper.
Follow this link to find out more, and how you can register!
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Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary Highlights
The Graduate Certificate in Intercultural Studies (15 credits) is intended both for those preparing for cross-cultural service and for those already in cross-cultural ministry who would be helped by continuing education.
All subjects are offered for 3-hours graduate credit that may be transferred to other APNTS programs.
Don't delay in finding out more information!
Click here for the brochure and curriculum inclusions.
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This newsletter is a ministry of your Asia-Pacific Regional Communications Office. Please submit questions or comments to: Regional Communications Coordinator
Connie Aebischer - Editor - Around the Region News
Writers: Laurice Maggay, Rebecca Moisio
World Mission Communications Asia-Pacific
Ortigas Avenue Extension
Taytay, Rizal, Philippines
Around the Region is released each week on Saturday. If you have news to share, please forward to our office by Friday at noon (PHT).
Strategic Partners Ltd, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Kaytikling, Taytay, Rizal, Manila 1920 Philippines
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