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Wednesday, November 18, 2015 Issue #103
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Refugee family finds new home, church by Gina Grate Pottenger
RECENT ARTICLES:
Refugee family finds new home, church by Gina Grate Pottenger
The world was a dark and sometimes hopeless place for Godson Bahabwa during the 12 years that he lived in the Osire Refugee Camp in Namibia.
Violence that started in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 spilled across the borders into neighboring countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Bahabwa was growing up. Violence flared here and there for many years.
Bahabwa’s father was a pastor, who raised his own family also to worship the Lord. He often taught his children that even when life was hard, they needed to trust God and remain faithful in following Him. This message carried him through the darkest days of life in the refugee camp.
In 2003, when his village was attacked by rebels, Bahabwa’s father, mother and older brother were killed. He fled alone, until he found himself across the border in Namibia. There was a refugee camp there, housing many other people who were driven out of the DRC and neighboring countries.
Bahabwa was alone, without family or friends, living in a tent in a crowded camp for the next 12 years. The situation was so hopeless that his faith in God was severely tested.
“Sometimes we start to think is there a God around? Is this God that my father was worshipping and was preaching – was this the same God that can allow me this life?”
In those darkest moments when he questioned the very goodness of God, the words of his father came back to him: “You have to remain in your faith. Through hard moments and problems, God will one day reward us.”
In that camp, Bahawba met Rev. Domingo, a Nazarene pastor overseeing a nearby local church. He introduced the young man to the pastor and local church inside the camp. There, Bahabwa found a church home and a new family. He assisted the pastor and led worship.
And he, like other members of the camp, found ways to sell small items in a market within the camp, making a little to support himself.
It was in this market where he met Elinda Felisberto from Angola. Back in their home country, Elinda and her family had been working in their garden when they noticed people running from the homes in their village. Acting quickly, she and her brother ran and took all the other brothers from their home and hid them in the brush outside the village. Her parents ran to join them. When they witnessed attackers burning the village, they ran for their lives.
“We didn’t know where we were going until we find some people in the district and they told us you are in Namibia,” she recalled, weeping. “We went inside Namibia and we gave ourselves to the police. They took us to the refugee camp where we stayed.”
Elinda’s family were not believers at the time. But they met a woman in Osire who was always encouraging them to have faith in God, and she shared scripture with them. Eventually they believed in Jesus and gave their lives to Him.
One day, Elinda and her mother went into the camp’s marketplace to shop. They stopped at the table where Bahabwa was selling his wares. He was friendly and engaged her in conversation. They began to get to know one another and soon he proposed. They waited until Elinda reached the legal age of 20 to be married and began their life together. They had two children.
This year, they learned from the United Nations Refugee Agency that they were next in line to receive visas and refugee status in the United States. The U.S. government decided to send them to Greensboro, North Carolina.
Domingo, now the district superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene in Namibia, contacted American missionariesJoe and Beth Heath, in South Africa, to see if they could help connect Bahabwa and his family to a Nazarene church in their new home.
“I sent an email to the pastors of the Nazarene churches in the Greensboro area explaining Godson’s situation and asking if one of them could connect and support Godson and his family,” wrote Beth on their ministry blog.
Bahabwa and his family arrived in Greensboro the first week of September with just two suitcases, and they prayed about which Nazarene church God wanted them to reach out to.
“When we were told we were going [to the U.S.], we were just asking ourselves, ‘Where are we going to in America? Are we going to meet our Nazarene church there? Are we going to meet nice people who understand us in that church?’ We were just having those doubts,” Elinda said.
After looking over the list of local churches and praying, they felt strongly that they should contact Southeast Church of the Nazarene.
About that same time, the Southeast Church’s pastor, Will Fields, had received a message that the family was coming, so he emailed them. Not having seen the email, they called Pastor Will Fields, left a message and then went to read their email. The couple were surprised and delighted to find the message waiting for them.
Fields gave them a tour of the town, and on Sunday introduced them to the congregation. The church has enthusiastically welcomed the new family, helping them acquire furniture for their apartment. One man, about to get married, gave his microwave and most of his cooking utensils, pots and pans to the family.
The Southeast Church of the Nazarene has a long history of missions involvement around the world, sending members and the pastor to Kenya, Swaziland and other nations to serve.
“We were starting to slow down and now it’s like God has brought the mission to us and now [the church has] a mission to the people around them,” Fields said.
Part of that is helping the Bahabwa family to become part of the church body and life. Bahabwa is a musician, playing several instruments and writing songs. Fields would like Bahabwa to get involved in the music ministry of the church.
“I’m thinking about the call of God on his life, I believe God brought him here for a purpose,” Fields said.
Elinda says she is filled with gratitude to the Church of the Nazarene for embracing the family and welcoming them with love.Read More
Never enough socks by Chris Lewis
Chris and Karen Lewis volunteering on the Croatian border, assisting with Nazarene ministry to refugees as thousands of people from the Middle East are streaming through Croatia on their way to Germany and Austria. Chris shared the following update.
We spent another day in a hot white Red Cross tent sorting clothing. Piles and piles of donated shirts, jackets, shoes, jeans and other items of clothes. Except socks. We never have enough socks.
Every day anywhere from 600 to 5,000 refugees come through the large refugee camp at Opatovac in Croatia near the Serbian border. Volunteers work 24 hours a day trying to keep up with their needs. They usually arrive hungry, thirsty and often cold. That's why there is such a great need for socks as the cooler weather has come to the Balkans.
Row after row of large green military style tents cover the camp, with an occasional white tent like the one with the piles of clothes in it. Thousands of refugees fill the camp, many sitting or standing in the dirt paths between the tents and others attempting to sleep in the big tents. Some of the tents have cots lined up side by side for them to sleep in; others just have a white tarp for them to lie on with whatever blankets we can provide. The camp is surrounded by high fences and military guards.
We spent another day in a hot white Red Cross tent sorting clothing. Piles and piles of donated shirts, jackets, shoes, jeans and other items of clothes. Except socks. We never have enough socks.
Every day anywhere from 600 to 5,000 refugees come through the large refugee camp at Opatovac in Croatia near the Serbian border. Volunteers work 24 hours a day trying to keep up with their needs. They usually arrive hungry, thirsty and often cold. That's why there is such a great need for socks as the cooler weather has come to the Balkans.
Row after row of large green military style tents cover the camp, with an occasional white tent like the one with the piles of clothes in it. Thousands of refugees fill the camp, many sitting or standing in the dirt paths between the tents and others attempting to sleep in the big tents. Some of the tents have cots lined up side by side for them to sleep in; others just have a white tarp for them to lie on with whatever blankets we can provide. The camp is surrounded by high fences and military guards.
We managed to sort the clothes into boxes marked "men's pants," "men's coats," "women's boats," "children's coats," "kids' shirts," etc." just in time for the big line of refugees to come to the "shop" to get what they need to survive another cold night. Most of the donations come from caring individuals and organisations around the world. However, I am most touched by the donations given from within the camp. As the day goes on, refugees keep coming to us with extra clothes, shoes or blankets that they don't need so that we can give them to others who need them more.
The scene in the food tents is similar. Volunteers work as quickly as they can to prepare and distribute the food as long lines of hungry immigrants wait for something they and their families can eat. They are also kept busy giving out diapers and baby food as there are a great many young families and so many children.
I've seen statistics that say one of every four of the refugees is a child, and what I've seen with my eyes tends to confirm that statistic. It is sad to see so many children cold and hungry. However, everyone works as hard as they can to make them all as comfortable as possible in this difficult situation. As many scramble to provide food, clothing, blankets and diapers, from time to time you see someone blowing bubbles and making the children laugh. Those little moments of sheer humanity bring bursts of joy into a situation where the sense of people's human dignity is often nearly lost in the midst of the chaos.
The presence of the military and the police cannot be forgotten. They are everywhere. They control the camp, and none of us dares forget that we are there at their discretion. Fortunately, most of them are very helpful and seem to care about the refugees as much as we do. They just want to help them move on so they can find a new home. Still, as they march a new crowd of refugees into the camp or another one out of the camp onto waiting buses, one still cannot help but to think of similar images of concentration camps in another day.
The scene in the food tents is similar. Volunteers work as quickly as they can to prepare and distribute the food as long lines of hungry immigrants wait for something they and their families can eat. They are also kept busy giving out diapers and baby food as there are a great many young families and so many children.
I've seen statistics that say one of every four of the refugees is a child, and what I've seen with my eyes tends to confirm that statistic. It is sad to see so many children cold and hungry. However, everyone works as hard as they can to make them all as comfortable as possible in this difficult situation. As many scramble to provide food, clothing, blankets and diapers, from time to time you see someone blowing bubbles and making the children laugh. Those little moments of sheer humanity bring bursts of joy into a situation where the sense of people's human dignity is often nearly lost in the midst of the chaos.
The presence of the military and the police cannot be forgotten. They are everywhere. They control the camp, and none of us dares forget that we are there at their discretion. Fortunately, most of them are very helpful and seem to care about the refugees as much as we do. They just want to help them move on so they can find a new home. Still, as they march a new crowd of refugees into the camp or another one out of the camp onto waiting buses, one still cannot help but to think of similar images of concentration camps in another day.
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) is blessed to be allowed in to help the people here. A lot of nonprofit organizations have been denied access, and there are not very many Christians among the volunteers who are allowed entry. The refugees can tell which ones of us are Christians, though, somehow. One Syrian man told me, "It's easy to see that there is some difference." He expressed gratitude, especially for the way followers of Jesus have helped him and others, and shown genuine compassion during their difficult journey.
We have spent a lot of time sorting clothing, but that is not all. There are three clothing tents in the camp, one in each section. When we arrived, there was a lot of clothes, but distribution was so disorganised that many times the tents had to be closed for hours to be reorganised and restocked before we were able to serve the people. This resulted in hundreds going without the coats and blankets they needed for the cold. A few days after our arrival, Karen and I were asked to coordinate the clothes tents so that distribution could happen in an organised and efficient manner. We are working on that now and believe we will have helped the camp develop a more consistent, self-sustaining system for providing clothing.
We also discovered soon that more clothing was needed and managed to arrange the delivery of 11 tons of clothing last weekend. This of course gives us even more clothes to sort! However, it ensures that thousands more will not go cold in the night.
In addition to clothing distribution, we are also looking at providing beds for the people. They need 3,000 more cots in order for everyone to have a comfortable place to sleep, and NCM is currently working on trying to provide them.
We've also provided emergency raincoats. When it rains, the refugees often have no shelter and have to stand in the rain for hours. As they come from a hot country, this is especially difficult and puts many of them at risk for pneumonia and other illnesses. This week alone we have provided 5,000 rain ponchos to prepare for the rainstorms that are coming this weekend, and we hope to provide more as the need continues.
Of course, another need that we are trying to meet is simply the need for the presence of Christ in the camp, through His people. As Christian workers are few here, we are blessed to be among the few allowed access to the people.
We've put together a small card in Arabic which we give out to Arabic speakers when we talk with them. It simply tells them that we are followers of Christ and that we are there because God loves them and we love them. It tells them we would like to pray for them and invites them to send us an email if they would like us to pray for them specifically.
We have spent a lot of time sorting clothing, but that is not all. There are three clothing tents in the camp, one in each section. When we arrived, there was a lot of clothes, but distribution was so disorganised that many times the tents had to be closed for hours to be reorganised and restocked before we were able to serve the people. This resulted in hundreds going without the coats and blankets they needed for the cold. A few days after our arrival, Karen and I were asked to coordinate the clothes tents so that distribution could happen in an organised and efficient manner. We are working on that now and believe we will have helped the camp develop a more consistent, self-sustaining system for providing clothing.
We also discovered soon that more clothing was needed and managed to arrange the delivery of 11 tons of clothing last weekend. This of course gives us even more clothes to sort! However, it ensures that thousands more will not go cold in the night.
In addition to clothing distribution, we are also looking at providing beds for the people. They need 3,000 more cots in order for everyone to have a comfortable place to sleep, and NCM is currently working on trying to provide them.
We've also provided emergency raincoats. When it rains, the refugees often have no shelter and have to stand in the rain for hours. As they come from a hot country, this is especially difficult and puts many of them at risk for pneumonia and other illnesses. This week alone we have provided 5,000 rain ponchos to prepare for the rainstorms that are coming this weekend, and we hope to provide more as the need continues.
Of course, another need that we are trying to meet is simply the need for the presence of Christ in the camp, through His people. As Christian workers are few here, we are blessed to be among the few allowed access to the people.
We've put together a small card in Arabic which we give out to Arabic speakers when we talk with them. It simply tells them that we are followers of Christ and that we are there because God loves them and we love them. It tells them we would like to pray for them and invites them to send us an email if they would like us to pray for them specifically.
This kind of personal touch has been very well received because so many times they are accustomed to being treated either like cattle or like criminals. They can see the difference instantly when someone takes time to stop and talk with them or to play with their children.
I met one Christian refugee yesterday who was incredibly grateful to meet another believer. We had a great talk and prayed together. He said, "You have made this day special. I have not been able to be in church for three weeks. This is a great day." He then took some of the Arabic cards and said he would share them with others.
We continue to pray and keep our eyes open for the needs of the people and could use your prayers both for guidance and strength as the team prepares for what looks likely to be a long-term crisis. We also pray that we can have more workers in the Balkan region so that we can maintain a continual presence for Christ among the refugees. [Chris Lewis is an ordained Nazarene minister, evangelist and church planter. He has led church plants in Scotland, Mexico and America and has helped launch dozens of churches and train other church planters in Africa and Argentina. He and his wife currently live in Scotland and have been volunteering with NCM in the Balkan region to help with the refugee crisis.]Read More
A higher calling: PNG nurses train for evangelism by Carol Anne Eby
I met one Christian refugee yesterday who was incredibly grateful to meet another believer. We had a great talk and prayed together. He said, "You have made this day special. I have not been able to be in church for three weeks. This is a great day." He then took some of the Arabic cards and said he would share them with others.
We continue to pray and keep our eyes open for the needs of the people and could use your prayers both for guidance and strength as the team prepares for what looks likely to be a long-term crisis. We also pray that we can have more workers in the Balkan region so that we can maintain a continual presence for Christ among the refugees. [Chris Lewis is an ordained Nazarene minister, evangelist and church planter. He has led church plants in Scotland, Mexico and America and has helped launch dozens of churches and train other church planters in Africa and Argentina. He and his wife currently live in Scotland and have been volunteering with NCM in the Balkan region to help with the refugee crisis.]Read More
A higher calling: PNG nurses train for evangelism by Carol Anne Eby
It’s hard enough for medical personnel when they must treat the diseases that afflict people in remote and under-developed areas like the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. But it’s even more discouraging when they are trying to save lives from unnecessary wounds inflicted by hatred and sin.
That’s why the Nazarene College of Nursing in Kudjip, Papua New Guinea, is not only training its students to be high quality medical nurses, but also to give time as a JESUS Film team that goes out to share the gospel and plant churches.
Healing souls as well as bodies
The Church of the Nazarene fulfilled a great need when Nazarene Mission Hospital was opened in 1967 at Kudjip to meet the desperate medical needs of those living there. Not only were there the normal diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis but also malaria, tropical ulcers, malnutrition, and high infant mortality.
And then there was the spiritual darkness. In this culture, twins were believed to be a sign of evil spirits. The government was forced to offer payment to the parents to let the children live. Men were brought in with severe wounds inflicted by machete in fights; drunks with spear wounds as the result of drunken brawling; women severely beaten by their husbands -- or a second wife. In the Highlands – just as everywhere -- God needs to transform hearts as well as heal physical bodies.
A College of Nursing was established in Kudjip to train young men and women to come alongside missionary doctors and nurses in the healing process. Spiritual healing was high priority in this almost 50 years of ministry, but in the last three years led by national leadership, it has become even more significant.
Wallace White Kintak, principal of the College of Nursing, says, ”The focus on evangelism came about after our leaders, in their goal deliberations, desired to see our school cooperate with (Melanesia) Nazarene Bible College to share their curriculum on a lay ministry program so that a nursing graduate not only goes out as a qualified nurse but can be a lay minister of the gospel wherever he or she goes.”
Dr. Scott Dooley said, “We are training people to be excellent nurses but also spiritually aware and capable of helping people with spiritual needs.”
Teaching nurses to be lay evangelists
Early efforts of incorporating the curriculum began with morning devotions to students and attending Sunday services, but then expanded to include compulsory Wednesday fellowship and asking students to get involved in Nazarene Youth International programs on Friday and tertiary students’ Christian fellowship on Mondays. A discipling program called “Big Brother/Sister” involved staff and missionaries to mentor and give spiritual counseling.
The program of lay ministry involves such activities as starting a cell group Bible study, organizing a Sunday school program, developing children’s ministries, starting youth programs, organizing women for Christian ministry and organizing men for Christian leadership in the home and local church.
“This training is getting increasingly practical with students going out to help churches, show the JESUSfilm, and put their skills into practice,” Dooley said.
In the last three years, the college has planted two churches in the Minj area and officially handed them over to the district and in the last two years has started a new preaching point, one in the Western Highlands and one in the Southern Highlands.
JESUS film has become a significant tool of evangelism for the college’s outreach program. As 90 percent of the students come from a Christian background, they were thrilled to have the opportunity of sharing the gospel in this way and have witnessed great results. A team goes out once a month to lead worship in song and prayer and to show the film. Hundreds have come and every showing has had seekers and resulted in transformed lives. Local pastors are alerted to the new believers and they initiate follow-up programs.
Students, as well, sometimes get to follow up with new believers. A man had surgery after a vehicle accident and after he had returned home, he sent word requesting a team to come to his home village. Two chaplains, some nurses and lab staff, and eight nursing students drove to his home on a Sunday. He had invited his family and others in the community to come. In an outdoor service, 150 people showed up. The team led the service and as a result, the people invited them to plant a Nazarene church there.
Holistic approach
Principal Kintak says, “The spiritual program is enhancing students’ spiritual formation and growth.” This has been shown recently in the College of Nursing’s response to several recent events. Because of a severe drought that has gripped Papua New Guinea, Melanesia Nazarene Bible College was completely out of food and on emergency rations. They planned to cut the academic year short and send the students home. Hospital staff and missionaries and the College of Nursing rallied to the cause. In one day, they raised 12,000 Kina (about 4,500 USD) and the College of Nursing gave funds from running their printing service to make the total amount of 17,000 Kina available. The immediate response by God’s people allowed the Bible College to buy enough food to finish the year.
Recently, HIS Global came to Kudjip to give training on the “Saline Process” which teaches health care workers how to be spiritual salt through health care and to share the love of God with patients. Twenty-six took the course along with 11 who took an additional course to be trainers. Many of these were from the College of Nursing who plan to incorporate these concepts into their school.
At the last session, heavy rains fell and almost drowned out the voices of the speakers, but all were elated the drought had been broken. The participants saw this outpouring of rain as a symbol of their desire for an outpouring of the Spirit to bring revival to their land.
Nazarene College of Nursing seeks to provide a Christian environment in which to train nurses in skills, theory and attitudes necessary for assisting the community’s physical health needs, but also to follow Christ in teaching, training and providing compassionate ministry to the whole person. Truly, they are answering a higher call.
Read More
Nazarene church launches in Curaçao by Richard Gamill
Curaçao, one of the “ABC islands”–Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao—off the north coast of Venezuela, is being introduced to the Church of the Nazarene. This is a story of new beginnings, for a country, for a young pastor and his team of church planters, and for an American pastor and his local church.
In 2010, the leadership of the newly-constructedMesoamerica Region—formed out of the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean Regions—took a hard look at itself. What they learned presented a challenge: the witness of the Church of the Nazarene was the weakest in the areas with the most population. Fifty-eight percent of the population of the region lives in 169 large cities and islands, but only 28 percent of the church membership is in those areas. This called for fresh thinking and a new strategy.
Hope springs from another factor. Across the region, a revival is occurring, with youth and young adults experiencing a call to missions. “We don’t need to rely only upon missionaries coming from North America,” they are saying. “Let us carry the gospel into these new areas.”
The Genesis Project is the region’s response. Twenty-eight large population centers are targeted to receive teams of four missionaries each by 2020. Missionaries Scott and Emily Armstrong in the Dominican Republic was named to develop the strategy and a training program.
The Dutch island of Curaçao presents its own challenge. The high cost of living makes it difficult for missionaries from Mexico or other parts of the region to live there. Yet, its diverse population of 150,000 needs the gospel. There are some 80 Protestant churches on the island, nearly all of them with memberships below 50. No Dutch-speaking evangelical church is proclaiming the message of heart holiness.
An international team is responding to this challenge with a strategy for planting a new Nazarene church on the island. Through divine orchestration, a team has come together to open the Church of the Nazarene in Curaçao:
- Kevin Hardy, pastor of Crossroads Church of the Nazarene in Ellicot City, Maryland
- Larry Orwig, Nazarene Missions International president at Crossroads
- Richard and Karen Brash, members at Crossroads, and sensing a call to full-time ministry
- Jonathan and Lissett Petrus: Young Dutch immigrants with a calling
- Scott Armstrong, missionary responsible for development and implementing Genesis in Mesoamerica Region
Starting the partnership
Crossroads has a history of involvement in looking outside itself to participate in what God is doing. Crossroads planted two new churches in neighboring suburban cities: Alive Community Church in Elkridge and Connection Church in Arbutus. The launch of a third church is planned for next Easter, in Columbia, Maryland.
The same passion for impacting lives for Christ extended to cross-cultural missions, and they had shouldered a number of significant mission projects.
“As much as God is enabling our people to do,” Pastor Kevin Hardy said to Larry Orwig, his missions president, “I believe there must be another long-term challenge to consider.”
Orwig (photo left) called Greg Taylor at the Nazarene Global Ministry Center to find a different model—a long-term partnership—that would directly involve more of the Crossroads congregation. Taylor said, “Get in touch with Scott Armstrong in the Dominican Republic and let him tell you about the Genesis Project.”
“We are going where the church is not yet,” Armstrong told them. “Half the world’s population now lives in large cities and that percentage is growing. Genesis is targeting those places where the Church of the Nazarene has a limited presence. We are training and deploying volunteer missionaries on two-year assignments to bring the holiness message to these urban areas and plant new churches. How does that sound to you?”
“Sounds good,” Orwig said. “Which cities and which islands?”
When Scott mentioned Curaçao, Larry stopped him. “I don’t know much about that place but I’ve been to Holland and I understand there’s a connection.”
“Right. It’s an independent country now, yet it remains a constituent part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We are praying for a couple to go to Curaçao with a team and spend two years planting a new Nazarene church.”
On June 2014, Scott came to Crossroads and addressed the congregation. Thirty-five church members met with Scott and agreed to support a long-term partnership.
Seeing the vision
The following December, a vision team from Crossroads, including Richard and Karen Brash (photo left), arrived in Curaçao on a short exploratory visit. They met with Scott Armstrong and Dr. Alphonso Porter, field strategy coordinator for the Caribbean Field, and surveyed the island.
When the delegation left Baltimore, Karen Brash said to Richard, “Maybe we could consider this.” By the time of the trip home, God had spoken to her heart. “We’ll go!”
Immediately following the vision team’s initial visit, Scott Armstrong discovered Jonathan and Lissett Petrus, Nazarenes from the Netherlands, were residents in Curaçao and established email contact with them.
Soon after their marriage, Jonathan and Lissett moved to the south of the Netherlands where a friend invited them to visit the Church of the Nazarene. It did not take long to immerse themselves in the life of the church, leading music, working with the teenagers and finding nourishment in their own spiritual growth. The emphasis on the essentials of holy living resonated with them and for six years they enjoyed the fellowship of a vibrant church.
But Jonathan grew dissatisfied with the crowded urban living and his four daily hours of commuting. When relatives reported back from their move to Curaçao, the couple decided to follow them.
In the Netherlands, Jonathan believed God had placed a special call on his life. Going to a new home on a distant island did not change his sense of calling, but it took a few years to understand what God had planned for them.
Soon after the Crossroads delegation made its exploratory visit, Jonathan dedicated himself to preparing for the Church of the Nazarene to come to his adopted country. Richard returned to Curaçao in June and he and Jonathan officially registered the denomination in the island country, establishing it as a legal and permanent entity.
Starting small
Jonathan and Lissett began with a small Bible study group in their home and then rented a room in a Catholic school to hold services. Under the theme of “A New Start with Jesus,” Jonathan invites inquirers to come and learn, without any prior commitment to participating in the church.
“Don’t limit God,” says Jonathan. “Don’t limit His followers. Let Jesus be seen in you. This is about more than a private faith; it’s about serving God in the public realms of your life. It’s about raising up leaders and impacting our society.”
His current priority is reaching out to the Dutch-speaking population. The next step will be outreach to the 80 percent of the population which speaks Papiamentu, a Portuguese Creole spoken in all levels of society.
Jonathan will be licensed by the Dutch Antilles District. The couple anticipates the arrival of the Brashes coming on a two-year assignment starting in 2016, and to being mentored long-term by Pastor Kevin. Jonathan is grateful for the Genesis team, providing him with wisdom and guidance for his role in the new beginning.
“Churches who devote themselves and their resources only to their local community don’t realize what they are missing,” Hardy says (photo left). “They never discover the excitement of doing something great for God that unlocks His blessings and releases divine power exceeding human capacity. Doing more globally enables us to do more locally.”
Larry Orwig added that, “Since we took on the Curaçao project, Faith Promise giving at Crossroads has increased from $60,000 annually to $125,000.”
Enthusiasm for engaging in God’s work is evident in all aspects of the multiple ministries of the church. Crossroads people pray for a young Dutch couple on a small island, and they also pray that God will be glorified across their community and around the world as multitudes are brought to faith in Jesus Christ.
Reflecting Christ: Believing in radical transformation by Howard Culbertson
The message burning in Jesus’ heart was not one of syrupy self-improvement. Jesus knew that human beings needed radical transformation, the kind of transformation possible only as we surrender ourselves to divine intervention.
As Jesus began his ministry, He said we all must be “born again.” That wording by Jesus in John 3 graphically captures humanity’s need for profound transformation. Indeed, the Gospels tell of people radically transformed physically, emotionally and spiritually by encounters with our Lord. Lame people that met Jesus walked again. Blind people began seeing. Demon-possessed people were liberated.
As Jesus began his ministry, He said we all must be “born again.” That wording by Jesus in John 3 graphically captures humanity’s need for profound transformation. Indeed, the Gospels tell of people radically transformed physically, emotionally and spiritually by encounters with our Lord. Lame people that met Jesus walked again. Blind people began seeing. Demon-possessed people were liberated.
In an episode recounted in Matthew 21:31, Jesus horrified Jewish religous leaders when he said corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes would be allowed in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was right, of course. Matthew gave up being a tax collector to become one of the 12 apostles. A tax collector named Zacchaeus radically changed in attitude and behavior. A promiscusous Samaritan woman was transformed when she met Jesus at a village well (John 4).
An encounter with Jesus on Golgotha radically transformed a dying thief’s relationship with his Creator. Jesus knew that Peter could be transformed into something more than a loud-talker who crumbled under pressure. Jesus wanted a wealthy young man to be transformed. Sadly, that young man refused (Matthew 19). When Jesus encountered Saul on the Damascus road, Jesus expected him to be radically transformed and Saul was, including even to the point of taking on the new name of “Paul.”
If the Church is to truly fulfill the Great Commission, its missionaries must share Jesus’ belief in divinely-wrought transformation. People’s individual attempts at self-generated transformation will always fall short of what they really need.
As the Church of Jesus Christ tries to minister around the world in Christ’s name, its objective must be more than simply helping people. We want people everywhere to have clean water, health care, and decent schools. We want to help those who have lost homes and possessions in natural disasters or civil unrest. We would like good people to get even better. However, our overarching missionary desire must be for the radical transformation of hearts and lives and, eventually, whole societies.
That conviction of Jesus regarding people’s need for radical transformation must grip us. Proclaiming its possibility must be a top priority for us. That message must permeate everything we do in global cross-cultural ministry.
An encounter with Jesus on Golgotha radically transformed a dying thief’s relationship with his Creator. Jesus knew that Peter could be transformed into something more than a loud-talker who crumbled under pressure. Jesus wanted a wealthy young man to be transformed. Sadly, that young man refused (Matthew 19). When Jesus encountered Saul on the Damascus road, Jesus expected him to be radically transformed and Saul was, including even to the point of taking on the new name of “Paul.”
If the Church is to truly fulfill the Great Commission, its missionaries must share Jesus’ belief in divinely-wrought transformation. People’s individual attempts at self-generated transformation will always fall short of what they really need.
As the Church of Jesus Christ tries to minister around the world in Christ’s name, its objective must be more than simply helping people. We want people everywhere to have clean water, health care, and decent schools. We want to help those who have lost homes and possessions in natural disasters or civil unrest. We would like good people to get even better. However, our overarching missionary desire must be for the radical transformation of hearts and lives and, eventually, whole societies.
That conviction of Jesus regarding people’s need for radical transformation must grip us. Proclaiming its possibility must be a top priority for us. That message must permeate everything we do in global cross-cultural ministry.
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Motorcycle club in Illinois disciples boys while supporting Costa Rica pastors by Kaitlyn Williams
Motorcycle club in Illinois disciples boys while supporting Costa Rica pastors by Kaitlyn Williams
on Nov 3, 2015
She asked Floyd Hoffman, a retired layperson at the church, if he would be interested in this kind of ministry. Specifically, she needed a man to work with 3rd through 6th grade boys by doing hands on activities. Floyd enjoys taking apart, building, and working with motorcycles, so he and Ellen brainstormed on how they could minister to kids through this hobby.
When these motorcycles are taken apart, however, they are not simply thrown away. The club sells the salvaged parts, building a fund to raise enough money to buy motorcycles for pastors in Costa Rica. Many pastors there do not have money for transportation in their ministry, yet often work more than one job. By receiving new motorcycles, these pastors have been much more effective in their ministries.
What do motorcycles have to do with pastors in Costa Rica, and retirees mentoring boys in the United States?
A motorcycle club at College Church of the Nazarene in Bourbonnais, Illinois, U.S. is bringing these disparate groups together in an unexpected way.
It started when Ellen Steward, the recent pastor to families at College Church of the Nazarene University Avenue in Bourbonnais, Illinois, believed it was important to try to connect kids with people of different generations through apprenticeship-style experiences.
She asked Floyd Hoffman, a retired layperson at the church, if he would be interested in this kind of ministry. Specifically, she needed a man to work with 3rd through 6th grade boys by doing hands on activities. Floyd enjoys taking apart, building, and working with motorcycles, so he and Ellen brainstormed on how they could minister to kids through this hobby.
“I told her if she could get a room [at the church to work in], I could get a motorcycle,” Hoffman said.
“The Motorcycle Club” was born.
Sherry Mitchell is now the full time children's pastor and has been instrumental in sustaining the Motorcycle Club and retaining a place and time for them to meet.
Since 2012, every Wednesday night before the kids gather for church, a small group meets to simply take apart motorcycles. These are usually motorcycles that are no longer usable and are donated by the community and church family.
During the hour that the boys work on the motorcycles with their mentors, they are also encouraged to talk and build relationships.
“Kids usually open up more if they are doing hands-on projects. If they pulled off one piece of the motorcycle, but would talk about their day, that was a win,” Steward said.
George Laun, a retired layperson who joined the club a year ago, says this is a continuous process and sometimes may be slow, and the number of kids attending fluctuates. Yet, the ministry is growing.
“It’s interesting how God can use unusual ways to serve the Lord. I never thought about disassembling motorcycles,” said Laun.
Through the progression of this ministry, these (usually) boys have been challenged to memorize titles of the books of the Bible. If memorized, they receive a camouflage Bible of their own.
“This club has given kids a reason to come to church. It gets them excited,” Hoffman said.
When these motorcycles are taken apart, however, they are not simply thrown away. The club sells the salvaged parts, building a fund to raise enough money to buy motorcycles for pastors in Costa Rica. Many pastors there do not have money for transportation in their ministry, yet often work more than one job. By receiving new motorcycles, these pastors have been much more effective in their ministries.
Once enough money is raised, Hoffman, along with a team from his church, travels to Costa Rica on a Work & Witness trip to purchase and deliver a motorcycle to a selected pastor. To this date, they have given three motorcycles to pastors in Costa Rica.
However, it is not only the pastors who benefit from this international ministry, but also the boys in the motorcycle club. They see what their efforts are going towards and are inspired by it.
“I hope it can be a blessing to the kids involved in it. I hope they can see that they can be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Hoffman said.
The club is bringing young and older generations together around a common goal, building relationships along the way.
“People think they are not relevant to the teens and kids once they pass a certain age. We need more openness in the generations in order to learn to serve alongside each other,” Steward said.
“I feel blessed that I have been able to be a part of it. Each of us, every Christian, has something that we are interested in or are good at. I wish we could realize that we can use all of these things for ministry,” Hoffman said.
Steward is learning that God can take whatever we can do and use it for His glory. A tug from the Lord to bring together the generations in a church in Bourbonnais, Illinois, has turned into a ministry to mentor kids and provide motorcycles to pastors in Costa Rica.
Club de motocicletas en Illinois discipula a niños mientras que apoya a pastores en Costa Rica by Kaitlyn Williams
¿Qué tienen en común las motocicletas, los pastores en Costa Rica y personas retiradas que sirven como mentores de niños en los Estados Unidos?
Un club de motocicletas de la Iglesia del Nazareno College Church, en Bourbonnais, Illinois (Estados Unidos) está reuniendo a estos grupos muy diferentes en una manera inesperada.
Todo comenzó cuando Ellen Steward, la reciente pastora de familias de College Church en University Avenue (Bourbonnais, Illinois), creyó importante el intentar conectar a los niños con personas de diferentes generaciones, mediante experiencias
de estilo aprendizaje.
Ella le preguntó a Floyd Hoffman, un miembro retirado de la iglesia, si él estaría interesado en este tipo de ministerio. En forma específica, ella necesitaba a un hombre que pudiera trabajar con niños de tercer a sexto grado escolar realizando actividades junto a ellos. A Floyd le encanta desarmar, armar y reparar motocicletas, así que él y Ellen se pusieron a pensar en cómo podrían ministrar a los niños a través de este pasatiempo.
“Le dije que si ella podía conseguir una habitación (en la iglesia, donde pudiésemos trabajar), yo podría conseguir una motocicleta,” dijo Hoffman.
Así fue que nació el “Club de Motocicletas.”
Sherry Mitchell es ahora pastora de niños de tiempo completo y ha cumplido un papel fundamental en la continuidad del Club de Motocicletas, manteniendo el lugar y horario de las reuniones.
Desde 2012, cada miércoles de noche antes de que los niños se reunan para la iglesia, un grupo pequeño se junta sólo para desarmar motocicletas. Generalmente se trata de motocicletas que ya no tienen uso y que son donadas por la comunidad y por la iglesia.
Durante la hora en que los niños trabajan con las motocicletas junto a sus mentores, ellos son animados a hablar y a desarrollar relaciones.
“Los niños normalmente se abren más cuando se encuentran realizando actividades. Si ellos retiran tan sólo una pieza de la motocicleta pero hablan acerca de su día mientras que lo hacen, eso es ganancia,” dijo Steward.
George Laun, un miembro retirado que se unió al club hace un año, dice que se trata de un proceso continuo que a veces es lento, y que el número de niños que concurre fluctúa. Sin embargo, el ministrerio está creciendo.
“Es interesante ver cómo Dios puede utilizar maneras inusuales para servirle. Jamás se me hubiese ocurrido el desarmar motocicletas,” dijo Laun.
A travésd el progreso de este ministerio, estos niños (con frecuencia varones) han sido desafiados a memorizar los nombres de los libros de la Biblia. Si logran memorizarlos, ellos reciben una Biblia camuflada como obsequio.
“Este club les ha dado a los niños una razón para venir a la iglesia. Ellos se ven entusiasmados,” dijo Hoffman.
Una vez que estas motocicletas son desarmadas, las piezas no son descartadas. El club vende las partes utilizables y de este modo recauda fondos para comprar motocicletas para pastores en Costa Rica. Muchos pastores en ese país no tienen dinero para el transporte que su ministerio requiere, de modo que a menudo tienen que trabajar en más de un lugar. Al recibir motocicletas nuevas, estos pastores han podido ser mucho más efectivos en sus ministerios.
Una vez que se ha recolectado suficiente dinero, Hoffman, junto con el equipo de su iglesia, viaja a Costa Rica en un viaje de Trabajo y Testimonio para comprar y entregar una motocicleta para un pastor seleccionado. Al día de hoy, ellos han entregado tres motocicletas a pastores en Costa Rica.
Sin embargo, no sólo los pastores se benefician de este ministerio internacional, sino que también lo hacen los niños del club de motocicletas. Ellos ven el resultado de sus esfuerzos y eso los entusiasma.
“Espero que esto pueda ser una bendición para los niños que se encuentran involucrados en las actividades. Espero que puedan ver que ellos pueden ser parte de algo más grande que ellos mismos,” dijo Hoffman.
El club está reuniendo a generaciones jóvenes y mayores para el cumplimiento de un objetivo común, construyendo relaciones en el camino.
“Hay personas que piensan que ya no son relevantes para los jóvenes una vez que pasan una edad determinada. Necesitamos una mayor apertura por parte de las generaciones para poder aprender a servir los unos al lado de los otros,” dijo Steward.
“Me siento bendecido de haber podido ser parte de esto. Cada uno de nosotros, cada cristiano, cuenta con algo en lo que nos interesamos o en lo que nos desenvolvemos bien. Me gustaría que todos pudiésemos darnos cuenta de que podemos utilizar estas cosas para el ministerio,” dijo Hoffman.
Steward está aprendiendo que Dios puede tomar cualquier cosa que nosotros podamos hacer, y utilizarlo para Su gloria. Un estímulo por parte del Señor para unir a las generaciones de una iglesia en Bourbonnais, Illinois, ha resultado en un ministerio de mentoría hacia los niños y que provee motocicletas a pastores en Costa Rica.
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