Inside this month’s edition of Where Worlds Meet, you will:
- meet Trino Jara, the new field strategy coordinator for South Asia;
- read about the life of a towering figure in India and his contributions to the Church of the Nazarene there;
- find out about a young German woman’s experience as an M+Power missionary in Africa;
- and more.
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‘WHERE GOD WANTS US’ A faith story by Dorli Gschwandtner, Eurasia Region Communications
You’d probably think of them as refugees. But *Ishaq and *Maryam chose to be where they are now – where they believe God wants them to be. In the midst of chaos and war, they serve their God with complete faith – because they know He is a God of miracles.
When their youngest child and only daughter was born eight years ago, the doctors were concerned. The little girl had a large hole in her heart and needed two dangerous operations which would have cost more than 10,000 US dollars. Ishaq and Maryam only had 200 dollars. So the church started praying.
When the couple took their baby back to the doctor, the hole was completely closed, and the doctor – a member of the majority faith – couldn’t believe his eyes.
“He asked, ‘What did you do?’” Ishaq remembers. “So I told him that God healed her, that we are Christians and lots of churches prayed. The doctor had goosebumps.”
Facing persecution Ishaq and Maryam grew up in as members of a majority faith in their home country. While Ishaq was attending university in Europe, he met believers who told him about Jesus. Soon after, Ishaq accepted Christ as his Saviour and was born again.
“My life changed 180 degrees. I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. And God gave me strength: He knew what persecution I would face back home, from my family, the government, the security system.”
When Ishaq returned home, he ‘God was using us there in great ways’ became part of a large evangelical church. But when he asked the pastor to baptize him, the pastor refused because he was afraid. He asked Ishaq to wait one year. But Ishaq didn’t want to wait. He found out that the local Nazarene church was having a baptism one week later. So, with the agreement of his first pastor, he received baptism in the Nazarene church. Eventually he decided to become a member there and leave his previous church.
“I didn’t know how to decide,” he recalls. “So I prayed. The [other] church is big and rich and the Nazarene church is poor and small, so I felt that God wants me in that church – and I’ve been there since 1992 until this very moment.”
And the church has stood by him in all times of persecution.
“These were tough days for me; I could have been killed. But God saved me.”
Ishaq met Maryam, who had also become a Christian, and they were married. Their families, who were still members of another faith, stood against them and persecuted them.
“Her father started looking for us, they wanted to kill us. They even threatened the Nazarene church and the pastor.”
Security forces asked them to come in for investigation.
“But God was protecting us all the time.”
Instead of being intimidated by the threats, Ishaq and Maryam served in their church, ministering to believers from another faith background. Ishaq was in charge of discipleship groups, and both learned about theology and grew in their own faith.
Becoming refugees
In 2011, they applied for immigration to Australia, but later stopped the application process because they felt they should continue their ministry. During the following three years of civil war in their country, they ministered to a lot of internally displaced persons who fled to the capital for refuge.
“God was using us there in many great ways.”
In 2014, a new episode of their life began. When their first child was born, they had taken the decision that they would leave in 2014 because in that year that child would reach the grade in which he has to study the faith his parents had left behind. Since both parents were originally from the majority faith background and one’s religion cannot be
legally changed, their children were still
registered as belonging to that faith and
consequently were going to be trained in it. This was something Ishaq and Maryam could not allow to happen.
So when 2014 arrived, they told their church that they had to leave – not so much because of the civil war, but for their children’s education. The church prayed for them, blessed them, and sent them from their home Middle East country to another Middle East
country. And here, too, God provided for them. They became members of a local Nazarene church and were able to enroll their children in a Nazarene school. God gave them a house by the wall of the church and had already prepared a ministry for them there.
In this particular church, there is a regular church service on Sunday morning and then another congregation meets in the afternoon. This is a congregation made up entirely of
refugees, many with another faith background. After only a very short time, Ishaq was asked to be the pastor of that afternoon church.
“God gave us a vision for that church. We cannot just preach, we also have to do discipleship.”
More than 200 families attend the church now. Eighty to 100 of them are being discipled every week in four groups. Maryam is doing a children’s ministry for 60 to 100 kids, and 25 young people are meeting in a youth club. The pastor couple are doing house visits with
refugees, helping about 80 families with
“We would have lived a better life there, but
the question is where God wants us.”[Ishaq]
food coupons, and have approached doctors to help with mobile clinics. It is a ministry that offers hope in the midst of fear and despair.
“In the church there are many needs of these refugees; we are praying that God will help us to help them. We are living sometimes in sorrow because we are feeling with them, what is happening to them. We are praying that God will intervene and also bring leaders out of
them for ministry.
“Now they know who is Jesus, what He did for them, how to believe in Him, how they should live the life of faith. Many of them are believers now and their lives were renewed and Jesus did miracles in their lives.”
Ishaq and Maryam know that their God is a God of miracles. This knowledge gives them the courage to faithfully serve Him in the place He has chosen for them.
During the past two years, the family has had the opportunity to move to Austria as asylum seekers or to Poland to pastor a church there – but they said no to both offers, because they felt that God wanted them to stay where they are.
“We would have lived a better life there, but the question is where God wants us. We have this church here and we believe that God will solve our problems.”
And sometimes the problem-solving and miracle-working is a longer process – but no less reason for praise. Despite death threats and strong opposition at the beginning, Ishaq and Maryam’s relationship with their families has improved during the past years.
“God changed their heart and now they accept us.”
And since their baby daughter was miraculously healed, Ishaq and Maryam are even able to speak about Jesus with their families; one sibling has accepted Christ and the others are open to the message about this God of miracles. A God who deserves to be served faithfully – no matter where He chooses to place us.[*Names changed for security.]
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Trino Jara named new FSC for South Asia by Gina Grate Pottenger, Eurasia Region Communications
Global Mission, Church of the Nazarene, announced this week that Trino Jara was appointed the new field strategy coordinator (FSC) for the Eurasia Region’s South Asia Field. The South Asia Field includes Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Jara and his wife, Anna, were commissioned in February as global missionaries, affirming their many years of service to the Church of the Nazarene around the world.
Eurasia Regional Director Arthur Snijders expressed confidence in Jara’s appointment.
“Over the last years, Trino has ministered in Eurasia as a leader in Ukraine and Armenia,” Snijders said. “Besides these regional assignments, he was fully engaged with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries as Global
Child Development coordinator, so our brother brings a wealth of experience to this new role.”
Trino and Anna will continue to live in Armenia and travel between their home on the CIS Field and the South Asia Field. As FSC, Trino will work closely with two appointed assistants – Amitava Chatterji (India) and Bill Grigory (USA/Sri Lanka).
Chatterji, a district superintendent in India, speaks fluent Bengali – the language of the church in Bangladesh – and will focus on church development and district assessment in that country. Grigory will focus on church and leadership development in Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
In the past 21 years, the Church of the Nazarene in South Asia has grown to more than 4,600 local churches. The expansive growth of new believers and new congregations occurred through a Spirit movement, in partnership with local Nazarenes’ focus on sharing God’s love through holistic ministries.
Snijders calls on the global Church of the Nazarene family to encircle the Jaras and the field in fervent, intercessory prayer.
“Wherever God’s Spirit is moving and bringing people to new life, the evil one seeks to disrupt and break the unity of the believers,” Snijders said. “It is critical
for the continued development and maturity of the church that Nazarenes remember their brothers and sisters in prayer.”[For more information about the church in South Asia, visit eurasiaregion. org.]
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Long-time Indian leader passes at 96
The year 1919 was a momentous year in the history of the Church of the Nazarene in India. In that year, the first Nazarene church was organized, in Buldana, Maharashtra. Also in that year was born Suwartik Tukaram Gaikwad, to a Methodist family. S.T. Gaikwad would become one of the towering Indian leaders of the Church of the Nazarene during much of the 20th century.
After serving his church for 46 years, including 22 years as a district superintendent, S.T. passed away in Aurangabad in April at the age of 96. Since his retirement, he and his wife Anandi, who passed away two years ago, had been living with their son Vinay, superintendent of the Mid-Maharashtra district and pastor of Aurangabad Church of the Nazarene.
His mother, Yashoda, named him Suwartik, meaning “evangelist,” when he was three months old, after he miraculously survived a near-fatal bout with pneumonia. With no medical care available, and her husband away on a preaching mission, her fervent prayer
brought divine intervention. The name she gave her son always reminded her (and him) that she had dedicated him to God’s service.
The family moved to Washim, which was a Methodist mission until it was turned over to the Nazarenes. While other mission families moved away, the Gaikwads elected to stay, thus becoming members of the Church of the Nazarene. During that time, another miracle
occurred when a violent hail storm wiped out most of the crops in the area. Yashoda went to prayer and the family’s tiny plot was spared.
In 1935 at a camp meeting in Washim, an 18-year-old Suwartik came under conviction during the preaching of missionary May McKay and dedicated his life to Jesus. Soon he agreed that God had indeed called him into pastoral service. After attending Nazarene
Bible School in Washim, he moved his wife, Anandi, and their two children to Bangarapet, where he enrolled in South India Biblical Seminary. He graduated with a bachelor of theology degree in four years.
Suwartik became a pastor and was ordained by Dr. H.C. Powers in 1954, who subsequently appointed him in 1959 to his first term as district superintendent. Over the following years, his service alternated between being superintendent and pastor.
In 1974, Dr. Edward Lawler appointed him as pastor of the Aurangabad church, which was then in a crisis that could have closed the church. In 1983, Dr. Greathouse appointed him
as district superintendent, where he served until 1989. During his years of leadership, S.T. was often confronted with opposition and persecution from without and dissension from within. He served with distinction and humility.
“Towards the end of his life, he had a special burden for old churches and for revival of the holiness message and witness of the Nazarene churches,” said Sunil Dandge, field strategy coordinator for India.
S.T. had a good command of English as well as Marathi. He translated several books and articles into Marathi, including I and II Samuel in the Marathi Living Bible. He attended six Nazarene general assemblies and served on the General Board. He was esteemed as an effective holiness preacher, taking his
message to revival meetings and camp meetings all over India.
However, he wasn’t just a preacher and church leader, Dandge said.
“He was a well known hunter in early days, and had many adventure stories of close encounters with tigers and how he killed them! He was never tired of telling these stories with excitement.
“He encouraged many youths to go for full-time ministry and for theological studies. I am one among many he encouraged,” Dandge added.
Three of S.T.’s own children are in ministry.
During the funeral service, Rev. P.L. Manmothe said, “He was a great preacher and his emotions and experience in his sermons made huge impact on listeners.”
S.T. is survived by six children, including Pastor Vinay, and Vidyasagar (“Vidu”), a holiness evangelist, and 12 grandchildren.
https://vimeo.com/168158551 to her future.
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Too young to wed: Chandni’s story
At 15 years old, *Chandni was considered old enough to marry. Chandni’s mother had married young, and her older sister was already a mother by the time she turned 17. That’s just the way it is for many families in Bangladesh.
But Chandni didn’t want to get married.
At the Nazarene child development center
(CDC) she attends, the young teen had
learned that girls should not marry before 18.
She desperately asked her mother, Maya, to
intervene, but her father had made up his mind that his daughter would be married.
Poverty is entirely too common in the rural village where Chandni lives, and it’s one reason that child marriage is so common in Bangladesh.
Yet marrying young typically perpetuates a
cycle of poverty because young brides drop out of school without the skills to earn an income, and pregnancy can endanger the health of teen mothers and their babies.
In an effort to counteract this tradition, the CDC holds parent meetings once a month.
“Caregivers [from the center] taught us the
risk of death during pregnancy for those who
get married before 18,” Maya says.
Her father agreed, and Chandni is continuing her schooling and looking forward to her future.
Maya says she’s thankful to see her daughter
thriving at the child development center.
Chandni is a top performer in her classes and
even helps other students who struggle with their class work. She has many dreams for her future, including a career as a police officer. She wants to combat women’s violence.
“Please pray for me,” Chandni says. [*Children’s names are changed for their
protection.][This story first appeared in Nazarene Compassionate Ministries’ Spring 2016 edition of NCM Magazine. Reprinted with permission.]
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Volunteer: A ‘gap-year’ in Africa by Zee Gimon, CIS Field Communications
There are many things a 19-year-old can do during a gap year after high school graduation, but not many of them become short-term missionaries in a country that is very unlike their home. However, this is the story of Lisa Wahl, a girl born and raised in Berlin, Germany, who spent 5 months in Madagascar as a short-term volunteer and now has moved to South Africa for 5 more months.
We have interviewed Lisa about her experience.
When did you feel the desire to become a volunteer missionary?
I just graduated from high school in Germany and because of school activities I have not had a chance to participate in a short-term mission before. So yes, this is the first time for me.
I’m not sure when exactly I felt the desire to become a volunteer missionary. But I have known for quite a long time that I want to take a “gap year” and do something like this to broaden my mind, to get to know another culture and learn about different ministries. I think it is a great chance to grow!
Who inspired you to become a volunteer?
It wasn’t really one person who inspired me but many different people.
I have heard from a lot of people who are missionaries, who took a gap year, just went with a Work & Witness team and so on. They always told me what a great experience it was and how much they learned and that they would love to do it again. So I thought it can’t be too bad.
Why Madagascar?
In 2014, the missionaries from Madagascar (Ronald and Shelly Miller, who moved to South Africa last November) came to my home church in Germany for a weekend. I got to know them a little, we talked about opportunities for me to go there and help with their ministry and then stayed in contact. Since I was always interested in Africa, it seemed like the perfect choice. And it was true - I loved
it and enjoyed my time there so much! I am very thankful that God opened this door for me! Madagascar is a beautiful country, I was able to try new things/responsibilities, but the best thing for me was meeting the people there. They really became like a family to me! In the beginning of February 2016, I
moved to Johannesburg, South Africa. Because the Millers moved here, I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know another country and try other responsibilities.
What was your ministry in Madagascar?
In Madagascar, I mainly taught English. I had two classes (grade 4) at the Street Kids Center “Ami4,” where I also lived. Beside that, I also taught the Living Hope School class at the District Center. The Living Hope School is a school where young people (about 15-25 years old) can go and take additional
English, computer and Bible classes.
While Ronald Miller was still there (for the first two months of my mission), I also helped a little with NYI work for the Africa Region (which is what I am doing now in South Africa).
What were some difficulties that you have encountered during your preparation as well as during the ministry? What was the toughest
thing?
The first two weeks were the hardest for me, mainly because I felt overwhelmed by everything -- so many new faces, new tasks, etc. It took some time to get used to everything. Also, before I got to Madagascar, I didn’t really know what it would be like to be a volunteer missionary, so that was a little scary. But everything worked out well!
Another thing was the language. I don’t speak Malagasy, which made it very hard to communicate with most of the people. I always had to have someone with me, which kind of limited me. That is one thing I like about being in South Africa now -- everyone speaks English.
What was the best moment so far?
That is a very difficult question! There were so many great moments during the trip and I am sure there will be so many more. But what I enjoyed most in Madagascar was spending time with the people! I loved being with the children from the Street Kids Center (the most wonderful children!!), the team I was
working with and so many other people! It was a real blessing to get to know them and we had great times together!
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Eurasia Communications seeking media professionals
Join our team!
Did you know that Eurasia Region has a website, a video channel, a monthly newsletter, breaking news Snapshots, social media channels, and that we also try to help resource Nazarenes across Eurasia, as well as
globally, with the media they need to tell
God’s story in their local churches and
cultural contexts?
Did you also know that our team is made up of just a handful of people, scattered across Eurasia?
Do you have skills and experience in:
• journalism
• graphic design
• social media management
• film and video production
• editing
• website design and development
• translation
• radio or Internet broadcasting or podcasting?
If you’re wondering how you can put your gifts to use for God’s kingdom, consider volunteering with the Eurasia Region Church of the Nazarene communications team.
We are looking for people to join our network, based in your home country, plugging into our work around your regular activities such as job or school.
We also need full-time volunteers who can serve for one to two years through M+Power.
To learn more about how to join our regional team network, email Gina at communications@eurasiaregion.org. To find out more about becoming a full-time M+Power communications volunteer, visit eurasiaregion.org/volunteers.
Watch the above video here: https:// vimeo.com/163674750
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First student graduates from Germany Learning Centre
This year’s Germany District Assembly was a special occasion for European Nazarene College (EuNC) in many ways. Delegates of the Germany District met in Hanau 11-12 March
2016. Apart from celebrating services, attending workshops and electing a new district superintendent, the visitors also
witnessed the first-ever graduation of a
student in the Germany Learning Centre.
Dennis Lieske graduated with a Certificate in Spiritual Formation, but he is moving on to pursue the Diploma in Christian Ministry and eventually a B.A. through our partner school Akademie für Weltmission in Korntal, Germany.
“With the Büsingen campus so close by, no one ever seemed determined to provide theological education in the German language. I am glad that we have this possibility now and that we can see EuNC focus the first graduate. Hopefully, many others will be inspired by the example,” says center Coordinator Wolfgang Köhler.(The Büsingen campus closed in 2011.)
Before the start of the assembly, prospective and current students, teachers and friends of EuNC came together for a luncheon. Since the
programme in the Germany Learning Centre is completely online, this is one of the few opportunities where students and teachers get to see each other.
Information about new developments in the school and the learning center were shared at this occasion. Around 15 people attended the event.[Reprinted with permission from In Touch, EuNC’s newsletter.]
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EuNC learning center libraries grow by JEuNC learning center libraries grow by Jonathan Phillips, Local faculty member for the Romania Learning Centre
European Nazarene College (EuNC) is investing in the development of libraries for each of its learning centers.
Last year, we began purchasing books for our library. Since we have students in both Bucharest and Sighisoara (5 hours apart), we are developing libraries in both places. At the end of March, I spent a few days in Bucharest cataloging the books there. In April I began cataloging the books in Sighisoara.
We currently have just over 500 books cataloged. About half are books we have
purchased in Romanian. The rest are English books that have been donated in the past. We plan to continue expanding the library each year. I’ll be working on this project for the next few months, until each book has a spine label complete with Dewey Decimal number and our collection is uploaded into EuNC’s
online library database.
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Prayer Requests
•Please pray for *Ishaq and *Maryam as they continue obeying God in leading
ministry among other refugees. Ask God to provide for all their needs and make
their paths straight. Also ask God’s blessing on Christian and Nazarene ministry
to refugees throughout the Eurasia Region and around the world.•
•Please pray for Lisa Wahl’s ministry in Africa through the M+Power initiative.
Ask God to work through her, and also be present with her during her future
transition home. Pray for God to raise up more Eurasian Nazarenes for
volunteer, cross-cultural ministry.
•Pray for European Nazarene College leaders, learning center facilitators and
lecturers, that they would continue to expand quality theological education
across Europe.
•Pray for God to continue producing fruit in India from the lifetime investment
made by Rev. S.T. Gaikwad and his family in the Church of the Nazarene. Ask
God to comfort them in their time of loss.
“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)]
Do you have pictures of your ministry in Eurasia that you would like to share with the region? Send them to communications@ eurasiaregion.org and we’ll consider posting them on our Facebook page.
Send us your story ideas, too!
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Share global Nazarene video news
The Asia-Pacific Region is releasing a series of Nazarene news roundup videos that share stories of churches involved in their communities around the world.
World Mission Communications News videos are a great resource for sharing with your church. In under 5 minutes, each video reports on what Nazarenes are doing globally, told with pictures and video fooage. Show these videos during mission reports at church, or post to your church or personal Facebook pages or church website.
Check out the May edition and find links to other recent video repor
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Transforming Our World:
In Christ • Like Christ • For Christ
www.eurasiaregion.org
We welcome stories, photos and prayer requests. E-mail submissions to communications@eurasiaregion.org
Gina Pottenger, Comm. Coordinator
gpottenger@eurasiaregion.org
Randolf Wolst, Website Designer
rwolst@eurasiaregion.org
Arthur Snijders, Regional Director
awsnijders@eurasiaregion.org
Eurasia Regional Office • Postfach 1217 • 8207 Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Phone (+49) 7734 93050 • Fax (+49) 7734 930550 • E-mail whereworldsmeet@eurasiaregion.org
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