www.engagemagazine.com
Thursday, December 15, 2016 Issue #118
engagemagazine@nazarene.org. We are looking for new stories from anywhere in the world!
RECENT ARTICLES
engagemagazine@nazarene.org. We are looking for new stories from anywhere in the world!
RECENT ARTICLES
Sowing seeds in paradise: Young missionaries from Tennessee follow God's call to Maui by Carol Anne EbyA young couple relocate to Hawaii, where they join efforts with local Nazarenes in ministering to the homeless and other people in the community, and discover that the multi-ethnic state is a diverse mission field.A tourist paradise of sparkling water and incredible beaches, roaring waterfalls and memorable sunrises also has a darker side hidden from the average tourist’s eyes. But God sees what others may miss: homeless people who sleep on the beach, feel hunger and pain, and despair brought about by addiction.
The name of the town, Pukalani, a Hawaiian word, means "window of heaven.” A loving God sees this town, and has put compassion into the hearts of the congregation of the Pukalani Community Church of the Nazarene to bring hope and to reclaim these who are lost in “paradise.”
In the past year a young couple, Bobby and Alyssa Forest, have come to the church to join this ministry. Bobby and Alyssa are uniquely gifted by God for such a ministry and have a vibrant passion for missions. Bobby grew up on a farm in Tennessee and always had a love for agriculture. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Plant and Soil Science and felt a calling to use his degree to help people. Alyssa is a Nazarene preacher’s kid, and always had a love for missions, participating in five mission trips. She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Olivet Nazarene University in 2007 and began her nursing profession.Bobby had gained experience as an inventory manager with a Farmers Co-Op and Alyssa served as a research nurse specialist in the Pediatric Diabetes Clinic at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. Alyssa had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 10 and wanted to help other people and families that have been affected by diabetes. Although they had chosen their careers to help people, they were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with their professional lives.
Alyssa felt a call to missions as a child but was waiting for God to show her where and when. Bobby felt a pull to full-time ministry, as well.
“We both believe that the Lord was waiting for us to meet before sending us out because we are more effective as a team,” Bobby said.
After a lot of research and prayer, they learned about an opening at a church on the Big Island of Hawaii, and began reaching out to the local church. Three months went by, then they discovered the church had decided to fill the position with local leaders. Although disappointed, they still felt a specific calling to that area of the Pacific.
They found a website with a listing of all the Nazarene pastors in the Hawaiian Islands, and contacted them to ask if any needed assistance with ministry. Four pastors wrote back and one of them, Pastor Mark Gudmunson of Pukalani Church, received the inquiry with great joy.
“Previously I had a vision that people were coming to restore revival in this land,” Gudmunson said. He didn’t see faces in the vision, but definitely felt God was going to send people to his church, and believed the Forests were God-sent.Although Hawaii is one of the U.S.’s 50 states, the culture of Hawaii, which includes many South Pacific Island peoples and Asian people groups, is so different from “mainland” United States that the church has recognized those who come from outside the islands to minister must approach it with the mindset of cross-cultural mission.
The Forests cleared all arrangements to serve in Hawaii with the Nazarene Global Ministry Center in Lenexa, Kansas; took a cross-cultural orientation class at Trevecca Nazarene University; raised funds; and sold their home and most of their belongings.
They arrived in Pukalani in October of 2015 and dove into ministry. Bobby felt immediately at home as he assisted caring for the church’s garden. Vegetables such as lettuce, green beans, sweet peas, broccoli, tomatoes and eggplant, as well as fruits such as oranges, bananas, papaya and coconut, were lovingly tended and harvested. The youth of the church take the produce to those in need at the church, the community, and the homeless. They pray with those who wish it, and all are grateful for the fresh produce.The Forests not only sowed seeds in the garden but sowed seeds of friendship and spiritual nurturing as they fostered relationships specifically with the young adults of the church.
“Bobby and Alyssa have been successful in cultivating new relationships here on Maui, reaching people for Jesus that the church never would have been able to reach otherwise,” Gudmundson said. “As we discussed job description upon their arrival, I told them the number one item for them was to seek out and build new relationships within our community. They have done a marvelous and fruitful job of doing that, building a young adult ministry from only one or two to a healthy group of 15 or more.”
They lead a small group Bible study weekly where they have food and fellowship prior to studying the Word. They mentor and encourage individuals who they hope will find a deeper relationship with the Lord and will become local leaders in the church.A young man was drawn to the church. He was addicted to heroin, but after becoming involved with the small group, he has given up drugs and his cigarettes and has told the group that he wants to be “all in” for the Lord.
“God is changing him and God is healing him from gang activity, drugs, pain and emotional problems. He even feels God is calling him to be a pastor. He never misses a meeting. It’s so neat to see him transformed,” Alyssa said.
They sowed seeds of compassion as they joined with the weekly outreach ministry of Kihei Church of the Nazarene, spending time with the homeless, feeding them, praying with them and befriending them. Alyssa would assess needs of people with wounds and give medical attention. When she became pregnant, she stepped back from this ministry, but the church team continues to give first aid and help to the homeless each Saturday. Alyssa loves the homeless but feels God is leading her to spend her future Saturdays developing a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) program for the mothers of the church and community. While homelessness is a huge need on the island, the church is involved in serving the entire community in different ways.
They are also the Work & Witness coordinators and are always hoping and looking for teams to prayerfully consider coming and helping with much needed projects on the island. They are hoping that next year a cottage that has sat empty for 10 years will be made ready to become the Forests’ “home sweet home.” After the cottage is complete, the church will have met legal requirements to apply for a permit to build a new church.Both Bobby and Alyssa are in the course of study to become ordained ministers and will soon be licensed by the Hawaii-Pacific District Church of the Nazarene. They help lead worship on one of the several worship teams as well as preaching occasionally to get practice.
In September of this year, Barrick Dean Hau’oli Forest, lovingly known as “Bear,” weighing 10 pounds and 11 ounces, joined their family.
Alyssa says, “Family or ohana, in Hawaiian, is of the utmost importance to most locals, so they love that we have Bear and we have made more relationships with this little angel than we ever could have made without him.”
The church’s future in Pukalani looks bright. Pray for the Forests and Pastor Mark and their congregation, that the seeds sown will continue to produce a bountiful harvest for the Kingdom.
Read More
-------
'STEPs' forward: Lebanon churches invest in refugee children by Dorli Gschwandtner"Thank you for making me laugh when I didn't even want to smile," wrote a refugee child among the hundreds given education, normalcy, and loving relationships through Nazarene churches in Lebanon.If you've ever lived away from your home country, even if it was just for a semester abroad, you know how important it is to have a home away from home. A place where, even if you still miss your "real" home, you feel accepted as you are, with your differences appreciated, and where you are treated with equality, dignity and respect. A place where you can really live, not just exist, as a valued and profitable member of society.
In the country of Lebanon, two million refugees from Syria and Iraq are hoping to find this: a home away from home, a place where they can lead a life of dignity today and need not fear tomorrow. Too many do not find it, and are torn between facing the terror of their war-torn home or succumbing to despair in the place where they have found refuge, but not life.
Yet there are others, too, that discover this home away from home – like the 70 Syrian and Iraqi children who were able to join the Nazarene Evangelical School (NES) in Beirut, Lebanon.
In the NES, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this summer, teachers and students understood long ago that all children are created equal and have the right to life and happiness. For years, the school has been accepting and successfully integrating students that other schools will not take in, such as children from Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi families. As their parents usually work in lowly esteemed cleaning jobs, most Lebanese families do not wish their children to study with them, and so even some Christian schools refuse to enroll these children.But the NES is different. Here, Lebanese and Armenian, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi, Nigerian and Sudanese, Iraqi and Syrian children play, learn and laugh together. This school year, there are 210 students from more than 10 nationalities pursuing their studies at the NES, which starts with kindergarten and goes up to grade 9. The children are so used to being in class with kids from other countries that the integration of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children is a smooth process.
Nonetheless, the refugee children do have additional needs. Many of them are traumatized, have missed out on schooling, suffer poor living conditions, and are struggling with lack of acceptance in the society as a whole. The NES is spending a lot of energy on offering these children a new home.
“We try to be aware of the needs of the Syrian students,” said Nabil Habiby, dean of students at NES. “So far it has worked, they have become part of the school life, which we think is very important for them.”Every month, a special event is planned that focuses on meeting the needs of refugee children, making them feel accepted and allowing them to really live as children. School staff spend time on building relationships with their families and try to be near them in their need. On Saturdays, more than 100 children meet in clubs organized by the Nazarene church that is connected to NES. About half of them are Syrian refugees. “The school and the clubs are a chance for them to find friends and live a normal life,” said Habiby.
In October, the school celebrated “Friendship Day.” When asked to write a note about best friends, one girl drew a picture of the school and wrote “NES – We are a family. We help others and we love others.” Another child put into words what many refugee children long for: “Thank you for standing by my side when times get hard. Thank you for making me laugh when I didn't even want to smile.”Yet finding a new home doesn't mean forgetting one's first home. When the children watched a movie about friendship, a Syrian boy from grade 9 started to cry. “Why are you crying?” he was asked. “I was thinking of my friends from Syria, I want to know how they are doing.”
“He has a lot of friends in school. But we can't know what they're going through,” Habiby emphasized.
That's why teachers are trained regularly on how to deal with situations like this. There is now an atmosphere of acceptance and love towards the refugee children among the teachers. They have learned to take on this mission and regularly meet to pray for the kids or minister to them through chapel.“Now most of the teachers want to give chapels,” said Marlene Mshantaf, principal of NES. "They want to give something back to the children. We're very happy about that.”
This school year, the NES has agreed to do a pilot project with Youth for Christ, which is opening a center for reconciliation. Syrian and Lebanese children will participate in the reconciliation work. While there is no actual need for this at the NES – the students are well integrated – it is another chance for the school to make a difference in the community and contribute to helping refugee children and families be accepted into society and treated with respect.
The Nazarene Evangelical School has a very good reputation and is considered one of the best schools in the area.
“We are happy about the effect we have on the society as a whole,” said Mshantaf. “Our students have the chance to be something better in life.”
There are many stories of former students who have become very successful, and several local church leaders have graduated from this school.
One of them is Rev. Andrew Salameh, who is pastoring one of the Nazarene churches in Beirut: a church that is making its own unique contribution to offering refugee children a home away from home.
In the spring of 2014, Rev. Salameh and his wife Caroline noticed an urgent need in their community: refugee children that could not be enrolled in Lebanese schools, for instance because they don't speak English or are far too old for the classes they belong in according to their educational level. These children had no other option but to stay in their tiny homes all day, get into mischief on the streets, or engage in child labour.
In order to offer these children some hope and dignity, the Salamehs started the Syrian Temporary Education Program (STEP). STEP is now in its fourth year and this school year has added Iraqi children to the program. There are currently 44 children in kindergarten and grades 1, 2, 4 and 6 – the grades depend on the level of the children, not on their ages – who are taught the Lebanese curriculum in Arabic and English. The teachers are Lebanese, Syrians, Egyptians and Iraqis; some are themselves former refugees.The neighbourhood, though at first criticizing the program, has learnt to appreciate what the church is doing – and “that the church is being the church,” as Rev. Salameh pointed out.
“The idea that we have about 50 students and that we can give them hope and a future, this makes our heart very big. We are very blessed that we are able to help these children. We can look at it from any angle: there are benefits in all ways, for the teachers, for the children, for the church, and for the community. STEP is like an oasis.”
Even though STEP is not an accredited school like the NES, it has discovered a gaping need and is filling it with hope. Some of the children who have moved through the program do go on to other schools. But even the ones who do not are now able to read, write and speak English, and thus have the chance to join a vocational school. It is the difference between rejection, being treated as worthless, and having the capacity to become a valued and profitable member of society. It is the fine line between simply existing, and really living.
Read More
-------
Lucy's Story: Miracles, grief, healing by Gina Grate PottengerOver Lucy's life in Central Asia -- through heartbreaks, miracles and the healing of a loving group of believers -- Lucy has learned that true joy comes from knowing Christ.As a young woman living in Central Asia*, Lucy* met a man, fell in love and moved in with him. She had been raised by parents who were each from a different faith, but did not connect faith to their daily life choices. So Lucy did not see any moral implications to living with a man to whom she was not married.
The man’s mother, on the other hand, was a strong Christian and she objected to the two people living together without being married.
“I didn’t understand at that time why. We love each other! She was witnessing to us.”
In those days, Lucy smoked. For two years she tried to quit smoking but failed.
“Then I said, ‘God, if you are there, help me.’ And it was like a voice in my heart, He told me, ‘Don’t smoke, I will help you.’ I was thinking maybe today I will smoke and start from tomorrow. But He said, ‘No, stop now.’ For three days, when I wanted to start smoking, someone would call me on the phone or knock on the door or something would happen. And on the fourth day I realized it would be struggle for me on the fourth day. It was a struggle, but God helped me to quit smoking.
“One night my boyfriend and I visited his mom. He went to the balcony to smoke and I didn’t. His mom asked me why I didn’t, because I usually did. I realized I didn’t want to smoke. I told her, ‘God set me free.’ She cried and asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus. I said yes and she explained to me the prayer of repentance. I cried and prayed. She got a big grin on her face and laughed with joy.
“It really changed my life. The world around me seemed different, better. And God started opening my eyes that I was living in sin. Then I broke up with this man I lived with because I realized it was sin. But I’m still friends with his mom and she’s the godmother of my children.”Tragedy in Moscow
After the breakup, Lucy moved to Moscow for a year because her sister and some friends lived there. One night the group decided to go to the theater, and someone bought tickets. But they forgot to buy one for Lucy. So she stayed at home while the group went out.
That was the night, October 23, 2002, that 40 to 50 Chechnyan terrorists captured that same theater and took 850 people hostage for several days, including Lucy’s sister and friends.
Lucy had been attending a church in Moscow, so when she heard the terrible news, she called the leaders and asked them to pray. While praying, Lucy had a vision of people on their knees praying, and Jesus coming down to them. At the end of the night, special forces fought their way inside and pacified the attackers with a gas. But the gas also killed 130 of the hostages. However, Lucy’s friends and sister survived, although they became very sick. To this day, Lucy’s sister cannot have children.
Before the theater attack, Lucy had been telling her sister about Jesus. Her sister had not been interested. But during the attack, her sister and their friends begged God to spare their lives. After they escaped, her sister changed her life and became a believer.
Love and loss
After one year, Lucy returned to her home country in Central Asia where she found the local Nazarene group. She began meeting with them regularly and became part of the faith family.
Not long after she had returned, she fell in love with a man named Andrey*. He was not a believer, but he was good and kind and they were married.
They had seven wonderful years together, except for the fact that Andrey, who had been raised Orthodox, did not allow her to spend time with the Nazarene group because he believed it was a cult.
“I was part of this [group], but I didn’t tell my husband because he would forbid me to come,” she said. “I always told him, ‘I’m going for a walk with the kids.’"
Lucy's advice to young women is to marry men who love Jesus and follow Him in a similar way.
They had three sons together, which Lucy says are the three brightest events of her life.
In the first two pregnancies, God gave her the name that she should give to the child. But she couldn’t tell her husband Andrey that God had told her the child’s name. So she kept this to herself. In both instances, when people asked her husband what he wanted to name the child, he would spontaneously say the same name that God had whispered to Lucy.
For the third child, God did not give Lucy a name, but Andrey said he liked the name Simon. Lucy prayed about this, and when she learned that Simon is a Jewish name which means “One who walks under God,” she realized God had put this name in her husband’s heart.
One day, five years ago, Andrey was driving back from the country with two of their small sons, and Andrey’s sister and her child. On the way, Andrey began to say he did not feel very well. Without warning, he collapsed over the steering wheel. Andrey’s sister managed to get control of the car and steered it into the ditch. Five-year-old Michael and three-year-old Simon sustained just scratches. But Andrey, a seemingly fit man, died almost instantly of a massive heart attack. He was just 39.The Nazarene group became Lucy’s support as she grieved the shocking loss of her husband while trying to comfort her children.
“They prayed for me a lot,” she said. “They gave me hugs and it felt as if they took my pain away. For a year, it was a hard time and I didn’t know what to do with the kids. But God really took care of me and blessed me.”
She had the opportunity to attend the Eurasia Region Church of the Nazarene quadrennial conference in 2011, and there she felt the support of the whole church.
A living witness
Lucy works for a publishing company, but she has struggled to support her family as a single mother, also caring for her retired mother. She began praying that God would help her. She was surprised when God answered that she should start her own business. Obediently, she began thinking about what type of business to start and who could become her business partner. One day during prayer, she sensed God saying, “Take me as your partner.”
Lucy sold her husband’s car and with that money she registered her business under the name, El Elyon, which is Hebrew for God Almighty. Then she set up printing equipment in her home. In February she began taking clients. She prints smaller run books and other materials for her customers. She never forgets to give God a tithe of her profits.
Anyone who meets Lucy sees the joy of the Lord shining on her face. She is brimming with smiles, and loves to laugh. When she worships, she holds her hands high and dances. Like other Christians in her country, Lucy is restricted from publicly telling people about Jesus. But she has too much hope and joy to keep it to herself.
“We do not preach in the street, because it’s forbidden. People notice our life and they ask questions. Then we answer through personal relationships. We have God and they’re interested.
“So I see that God, He works with people in this country individually. For example, in my work I prayed with one woman, an accountant, because she had a problem. I told her to accept Jesus and she did, but she’s afraid to come to [our group] because of the situation in this country. I believe I planted the seed and God will work in her life.”
*Location and names omitted for security reasons
Read More
-------
Video: Back to God by Eurasia Region CommunicationsAfter God gave Helmut the courage to quit the Stasi, the East German secret police, Helmut walked away from the Lord. Years later, God drew Helmut back in an unusual way.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/193911776" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>After God gave Helmut Warnstedt the courage to quit the Stasi, the East German secret police, Helmut walked away from the Lord. Years later, God drew Helmut back in an unusual way.
Back to God from Church of the Nazarene on Vimeo.
Read More
-------
-------
'Chance' occurrences by Michelle McLane on Nov 30, 2016An international student is captivated by the witness of Christians he meets, which leads him to follow Christ, too. In response, his family back home threatens his life. Now he is a refugee.In 2010, Paul* came to the UK to earn a degree, planning to return to his fiancée in his home country where they would start a better life. Instead, he found Christ, and now he can never return home.
Paul had made many friends at his university, and found his life full with school activities. One afternoon, Paul took the tram to meet a classmate to discuss an assignment. When he returned to the station to ride back home, he realized he had lost his ticket and couldn’t get another one without coins. Since he only had paper bills and a debit card, there was no way for him to purchase another ticket. Upset, he asked a passing man for change. The man, a Christian, gave him more than enough, and when Paul asked for his address so that he could pay him back, the man refused.
“He said, ‘No, don’t worry about it,’” Paul remembers. “I don’t know exactly the words, but, you know, he said that if you do good for others, God does good for you.”
Paul went home and searched the Internet for the verse (Ephesians 6:8) the man had referenced. He admired the man for his kindness, and he was curious about Christianity. Several of Paul’s classmates were Christians, and he casually discussed their beliefs with them. These conversations brought up more questions. Paul reached out to several organizations, including the Church Army at christianity.org. This site eventually connected him with Andrew and Jane* at the local Church of the Nazarene.
When Paul first visited the Nazarene church, he was surprised at the friendly welcome he received.
“I really felt very good because it was [a] really warm welcome, especially for me because I was [a stranger] for everyone, and especially because of [my] ethnicity. And so, but, you know, I really realized that there is something … attracting me.”
Jane gave him a New Testament. Andrew, a lecturer of the Old Testament, helped Paul overcome the language barrier of reading in English. As Paul continued to research Christianity and belief, the couple answered each question he brought to them.
Jane remembers with amazement when Paul decided he wanted to become a Christian.
“[I]t was within about three weeks that you said, no, this is what I really want to do,” Jane recalls. “I think you said that this was the main reason for you wanting to change your religion, because you’d experienced and seen love that you hadn’t seen before.”
“But every time there was an issue or just a problem,” Jane went on, “you would say to me, ‘Jesus will do better.’ And that raised my level of faith. I agree. Jesus will do better.”
Paul decided that he wanted to start following Christ right away and change his name to reflect his new faith. However, he knew that his family would not be happy with this decision. Paul had left his family of 10, extended family, and fiancée in his home country, and he didn’t know how they would react to this change. Still, the freedom and forgiveness Paul had found through the Christian faith was worth the risk.
Paul wrote a letter to his father to tell him that he had chosen to become a Christian. In the letter, he asked for his father’s blessing. His father refused, and the family swore to kill him if he returned home. They cut off funding for his schooling and expected that the UK would revoke his student visa, forcing him back to his home country. Paul sought asylum to save his life. This also would allow him to continue his studies at school and in his faith.
The separation from his family and fiancée was difficult for Paul. Andrew and Jane started acting as his new family in faith and encouraged him through the asylum process. After bringing a great deal of evidence to the government, Paul was granted five years’ refugee status in 2013.
He is a regular attender at the Nazarene church, where he was baptized, has been elected to the church board, and befriends other asylum seekers of his former faith who find their way into the church.
Paul has rarely heard from his family since he was granted asylum. In 2014 he received an email that his birth mother had passed away, and that several family members had a dream in which she told them that Paul was in the right faith and place and they should follow him. To his knowledge, they haven’t, however.
Paul still misses his family and fiancée in his native country.
“I [was] born and brought up there,” Paul says. “[S]o I really pray for everyone, yeah, all the time.”
Paul continues to search and pray, like many asylees, to be fully employed. He knows that it will take time to build a life in the UK, but he has hope in someone greater now. While he waits, he rests in the trust that Jesus will do better.
*Name changed and some details omitted for security reasons.[Interview conducted by Gina Grate Pottenger.]
Read More
-------
-------
Haiti: A holiness journey by Michelle McLaneTheology might sometimes seem confusing, but seeing it lived out brings clarity. For Franckel Formétus, a Nazarene leader in Haiti working closely with JESUS Film, holiness is best described not with words, but with your life.Holiness or entire sanctification as a term confounds description to some degree. For Franckel Formétus, a Nazarene leader in Haiti working closely with JESUS Film, holiness is best described not with words, but with your life.
Franckel began his faith journey in a family that was already dedicated to the Lord. His father had been a pastor in another denomination, but found that he couldn’t reconcile his beliefs with that church’s doctrine. He began studying Nazarene theology and discovered he agreed strongly with what he learned. Shortly after Franckel was born, his father became a minister for the Church of the Nazarene and planted a church. Holiness was an integral part of his father’s decision.
“The holiness doctrine was part of what attracted [my father]. Since we were at the church, he usually talked to me about that (holiness), so trying to convince me to go and study theology.”
Franckel had an understanding early on that his salvation was a matter of personal choice. At about seven years old, he made the decision to accept Christ’s sacrifice and become a Christian.“Some people [believe] when you are born in a Christian [family], you are really a Christian. You don’t have to accept for yourself. I remember they had a worship service, and then after they had preaching. And then after the preaching they asked if someone would like to be a Christian. If they would like to accept Christ and make a commitment with Christ, they can come and kneel down and so we can pray for them ... That day I came to the front, and so I did, and they prayed for me.”
Franckel describes his experience of entire sanctification (Nazarene Article of Faith 10) as a journey. As he matured in his faith, he valued what was godly above submitting to temptations or challenges, and he accepted the guidance of the Holy Spirit. His witness to others was more important to him than fleeting temptations. This was obvious to the community around him. At one point, Franckel’s close friend encouraged him to engage in wrong behaviors with women. Franckel told his friend that he couldn’t do anything immoral, and his friend supported him.
“This is what my friend said to me; he said, “Franckel, I don’t want you to do anything that is wrong or bad. I would like you to live a holy life because it is very important [that] you are a model in the community—that everybody can see you as someone that is very special in the community.”
Within his school Franckel found the greatest challenges to his faith. In one philosophy class, a teacher asked him to prove that God exists. Franckel studied and looked for an answer that would satisfy his teacher. He opened his Bible to Genesis chapter one and was reminded that God created everything. Only the one true God could create the world. The proof that God existed was in His creation. By this scripture, he was able to bring the reality of God to his teacher through an argument that the teacher appreciated.
The key for Franckel to discerning God’s direction in daily decisions was rooted in the time he spent with God. Through prayer and Bible study, Franckel learned to know his Heavenly Father and find hope for the difficult times. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
“I had all the time to stay home, and pray, and ask God [for] direction, and ask God to give me strength and to empower me, and then to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and then to have me to understand everything better. So I realized day after day I was becoming someone who is understanding things better. And so, I discovered that in God when you’re studying the Bible and then you apply the principles of God in your life, you will know quickly that you have [a] direction to follow and your life needs to be a holy life. And then you will know that even though things are difficult—you will have difficult challenges to face—you will not have a big problem to face them because you have the word of God in your life you have the power of the Holy Spirit of Christ in your life.”
Eventually, Franckel (pictured with his wife, Philiona Derissaint), through the advice of those near him and self-discovery, realized God’s calling on him to be a minister. Now, through his experiences, he knows what he would say to someone if they asked what holiness means to him. It’s something he feels passionately about and wants everyone to experience.“Holiness and entire sanctification is the work of God in us … in order to transform us in order that we can look and be like Jesus. We can feel that Jesus is living in us. We can see that Jesus is alive in our life.”
“For me I think that it is very important as [a] Christian to be all the time with Jesus, to be all the time hav[ing] a life that is important for God, to live a life that is holy, to seek the face of Jesus. Seek the face of God all the time. We have only one God.”
Today, as JESUS Film coordinator for Haiti, Franckel oversees 55 JESUS Film zone planters and their teams. Through this ministry, the Church of the Nazarene in Haiti has doubled its churches in the last 12 months, to 785 preaching points (groups of believers not yet organized as churches). This is more than the current number of fully organized churches in the country, according to Tonya Kucey, a missionary in Haiti.
“He is not one that draws attention to himself or seeks to self-promote,” Kucey wrote in an email. “He is a joy-filled, gentle man … one who shows good leadership with his area of ministry.”[Interview conducted by Gina Pottenger]
Read More
-------
Radio ministry brings hope during ebola crisis by Kaitlyn WilliamsThrough radio, Nazarenes in Liberia broadcast hope to sick people quarantined in Ebola camps, as well as informed and educated people about the disease. Now the church is ministering to people still suffering the outbreak.When thousands of Ebola-stricken people in Karnplay City, Liberia, were separated into quarantine camps to prevent the disease from spreading, Nazarenes took an innovative approach to reach them with the hope of Jesus, and also combat myths and disinformation about the disease.
Liberia’s Ebola outbreak in February of 2014 brought fear, isolation, sickness and death. Most of the sick were confined to government-assembled camps for at least one month. The only outside people they could see were government assigned teams headed by the District Health Officer Aaron Glay.
Pastor Tee Latahn and his wife, Bouyanue (photo left), live in Nimba County and help oversee 10 churches in the Liberia Central District. Since 2002 they have used a regular radio broadcast in the Dan language as a means of introducing the Church of the Nazarene to listeners, and explaining the denomination’s Articles of Faith to the nearby communities.During the Ebola crisis, knowing that his radio program would reach into the camps even though church volunteers couldn’t, Pastor Latahn decided to orient his radio programs to educate people about Ebola. He also taught about Christ and the Church. Since the crisis has ended, the station now airs information about HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. In addition to the radio broadcasts, the Nazarene church, along with the Trumpet Baptist Church of Ganta, donated food to the quarantine camps, such as rice, cassava, greens, and oil, and hygeine items, including soap, to help ease some of the rough conditions at the camps.
Many people in the camps became Christians through listening to the radio show, and some are now part of the Nazarene church.Kanyea Leayean is the Chief of the Karnplay Zone 8 in Liberia. Matthew Duo is an herbalist and lives in Gbaylay Town, Liberia. Before people knew what Ebola was, Matthew was called to treat a little girl, Josephine, who was very sick. The village Chief, Kanyea, among many others in the village, came to visit her.
“Traditionally, when one is sick, all go to comfort them,” said Chief Kanyea.
Tragically, Josephine passed away, and was named the first victim of Ebola in Karnplay. When sources linked her death to Ebola, all who visited her and all close to her were sent to quarantine camps, including Chief Kanyea and Matthew. They were originally quarantined for 21 days, but in their last week of quarantine, Josephine’s father came down with the virus and also passed away. This extended their quarantine period an additional 25 days.
Chief Kanyea and Matthew both say that the Karnplay Church of the Nazarene helped immensely by praying on the radio and providing various materials during their time in the camp.
After staying in the camp for approximately 46 days, the men were allowed to go back home, but their troubles did not seem to end.
“After being quarantined, times got hard. There was no more assistance from anyone but the church, but we are very thankful for them,” they said.
Soon after their quarantine time, the Karnplay Church of the Nazarene invited Chief Kanyea and Matthew to their Sunday worship service and then had a special thanksgiving program for them.“At that time, all people associated with quarantine and Ebola were stigmatized and were not accepted by many, including close family members,” said Pastor Latahn.
Chief Kanyea, Matthew, and many others are even now thankful to have had support from the church during this difficult time.
Because of the outpouring of love from Christians everywhere, and specifically in Karnplay City, God made a way in the hearts of many Ebola survivors and people formerly quarantined. As a result, Chief Kanyea and Matthew both came to Christ, along with Josephine’s elder brother, and many others.
Though tensions and circumstances have improved greatly, some Ebola survivors are still not completely recovered from hardship.
Pastor Latahn, Chief Kanyea, and Matthew ask for prayer from the global Church for acceptance in their communities, more resources to educate their children, and for the prosperity and funding of the the radio station that has brought knowledge and hope to thousands of people across Liberia. The Nazarene program will continue to emphasize the Wesleyan tradition and the holiness doctrine.
“The one thing that helps greatly is knowing that Christians everywhere are praying for us,” said Matthew. -------
No comments:
Post a Comment