Multicultural Ministries of The Global Church of the Nazarene "Roberto's Reflections - September 2014" for Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Multicultural Ministries of The Global Church of the Nazarene "Roberto's Reflections - September 2014" for Wednesday, 24 September 2014

ROBERTO'S REFLECTIONS Immigrants in the Bible: For such a time as this! Paul as Immigrant: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. Acts 9:15 We are familiar with the story of Saul of Tarsus who persecuted the disciples of Jesus.  On his way to Damascus he had an encounter with the risen Lord “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"  The Lord Jesus had plans for Saul to go out of his native country and to travel the world preaching the gospel of Jesus.  Paul a Roman citizen became an immigrant in many foreigner lands. Paul came to the Antioch church, the first Multicultural Christian community as we know it in the New Testament.  There God confirmed his call: “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”  We know that in Antioch there were at least five large ethnic communities: Syrian, Jewish, Latin, Greek, and African. Dr. Ray Bakke, in his book entitled “Integral Mission In The City” states: that “Paul and Barnabas went on to plant churches patterned after the model of the church of Antioch- -a church that brought together ethnically, racially, socio-economically, and linguistically diverse elements of the city and that met with equal integrity the needs of the “haves” and the “have nots.”  Paul used the privilege of his Roman’s citizenship to travel the world in fulfilling the call of God on his life to the Gentile world.  More than any other Apostol in the New Testament, Paul traveled the known world of his time as an itinerant evangelist and church planter.  He became an immigrant/missionary in many different world areas.  Practical lessons from this reflection: God continues to call people to become immigrants/missionaries to carry out the gospel of Jesus. God prepares people in a multicultural environment for a multicultural journey. God can use the advantages of our particular nationality or citizenship to allow us to reach people of different countries with the gospel. SNAPSHOT Ethnicity District Churches Worship Membership Multicultural Alaska 1 24  -   Multicultural Anaheim 4 429 459 Multicultural Arizona 2 399 280 Multicultural Canada Central 8 1,204 1,156 Multicultural Canada Pacific 3 211 350 Multicultural Canada Quebec 1 62 68 Multicultural Central California 1 887 1,204 Multicultural Central Florida 5 920 1,611 Multicultural Chicago Central 2 82 113 Multicultural Dallas 1 68 82 Multicultural East Tennessee 1 106 31 Multicultural Georgia 1 15 23 Multicultural Hawaii Pacific 11 1,172 1,067 Multicultural Illinois 3 133 91 Multicultural Intermountain 2 62 29 Multicultural Joplin 1  -    -   Multicultural Kansas City 6 345 570 Multicultural Los Angeles 5 233 241 Multicultural Louisiana 1 11 8 Multicultural Metro New York 7 425 375 Multicultural Mid-Atlantic 6 253 148 Multicultural Missouri 1 63 96 Multicultural New England 2 250 903 Multicultural New Mexico 2 617 1,170 Multicultural North Carolina 2 80 68 Multicultural Northeast Oklahoma 1 45 45 Multicultural Northern California 12 1,850 2,483 Multicultural Northwest 1  -    -   Multicultural Northwest Indiana 3 8 8 Multicultural Northwestern Illinois 1 33 33 Multicultural Northwestern Ohio 1 Multicultural Oklahoma 1 55  -   Multicultural Oregon Pacific 3 81 81 Multicultural Philadelphia 2 173 126 Multicultural Pittsburgh 2  -    -   Multicultural Prairie Lakes 3 233 235 Multicultural Sacramento 4 708 751 Multicultural South Arkansas 1 587 456 Multicultural South Carolina 3 46 12 Multicultural South Central Ohio 2 Multicultural South Texas 2 771 933 Multicultural Southern California 2 46 178 Multicultural Southern Florida 2 87 151 Multicultural Southwest Indiana 1 25 38 Multicultural Southwest Oklahoma 1 171 83 Multicultural Southwestern Ohio 4 82 240 Multicultural Virginia 1  -    -   Multicultural Washington Pacific 3 110 170 Multicultural West Virginia North 1 22 5 Multicultural Total 136 13,184 16,171   CALL FOR PRAYER Mulicultural Ministries Facilitator - Rev. Junior Sorzano Multicultural Ministries Pastors and Congregations EVENTS September 29 – October 2 - Korean Ministerial Conference October 14 – 15 – Haitian French Pastor’s Teachers Training October 16 – 18 – Ethnic Facilitator’s Training/Meeting    Multicultural Ministries vision is to encourage the development of strategy and initiative to reach the USA/Canada mission field through the visionary leadership of the ethnic facilitators, and their strategy committees.

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