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| Engage Magazine: A global mission magazine - Issue No. 121 for Friday, 2 June 2017 - The Nazarene Missional International - The Global Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, United States |
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| www.engagemagazine.com | Friday, June 2, 2017 Issue #121 |
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| Are you and/or your Nazarene church involved in God's mission, locally or globally? We want to hear your story! Private message us on Facebook, or email engagemagazine@nazarene.org. We are looking for new stories from anywhere in the world! |
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I’m going to get real honest. I’ve been a Nazarene for nearly all my life and I’ve never quite understood all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the General Assembly and Conventions. I grew up in a small Nazarene church that seemed to always be in the shadow of the larger churches around it. I could tell that they were there, but never really saw them. I would occasionally hear about quizzing, district events, camp and assemblies, but my little church almost never participated. I was in college before I realized that most Nazarene churches thrived on their district community.
Seeing as I didn’t understand the need for district events, you can be sure that I didn’t understand the hullabaloo that surrounded an event such as General Assembly. There was particular excitement expressed by a small few in our church about the fact that General Assembly would take place in my hometown of San Antonio, in 1997. Although I enjoyed myself, our youth leader (yes, our youth group had four people and thus needed a leader) had to practically drag me to the Nazarene Youth International convention. At this moment, I got a small picture of how truly large the Church of the Nazarene was.
 My perspective was broadened and enriched throughout the years and even more profoundly so when we were sent as missionaries to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I saw how the individual churches, districts, and countries within the Africa Region truly depended on one another. General Assembly was finally starting to make sense. The entire event is a commitment to being a global church community. It is a chance for us to see the strengths and weaknesses of our brothers and sisters in Christ so that we may know how to better serve one another. Yes, it is about the boring business stuff too; the kind of stuff that my teenage mind dreaded so intently. But I see now just how much it means to be able to do the business of running our church together.
In the DRC, there are more than 22,000 active members in the Church of the Nazarene. However, finding the funds to send more than a handful of delegates is quite difficult. In addition, visas are not often granted to Congolese applicants. This year, we will have only seven delegates, yet they are thrilled and honored to carry the voice of the Congolese Nazarenes to the General Assembly.
Let’s continue to bring the General Assembly and Conventions before the Lord in prayer; that they would be a means of fellowship for our global community and an avenue to more effectively make Christlike disciples in the nations. [Gavin and Jill Fothergill are missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with their children Macy and Connor, where they serve the Africa Central Field.] |
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Around the world, a billion people have some form of physical or cognitive disability. Almost 200 million individuals experience significant disabilities. With disabilities often comes discrimination and stigma, not to mention extremely limited opportunities. Entire families can experience loneliness as well as increased poverty, particularly in countries without support services. Recognizing these needs, Nazarene congregations are reminding individuals with disabilities, and their families, of God’s love for them.
A new special needs sponsorship through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries’ child sponsorship program is aimed at serving both children and adults with disabilities. Currently, sponsorships are available to support individuals with disabilities in Ukraine, Chile, and Peru.
UKRAINE
When Ira and her mother, Valentina, first came to the five-day camp run by volunteers from a Nazarene church, they hadn’t packed any clothes. Based on past experiences with strangers, they fully expected to go home the same day.
Ira uses a wheelchair and has trouble communicating her thoughts. She was used to being ridiculed by her peers and had no reason to expect anything different this time. But after the first day of the camp, Valentina asked her husband to bring them clothes because Ira had decided to stay.
In Ukraine, where Ira lives, those who live with disabilities are highly stigmatized and often go without the care they need. Church-led ministries are stepping in to provide care and to say to those with disabilities, “You are valued and loved.” Along with the summer camp Ira attended, a group of volunteers affiliated with the church of the Nazarene run a Kids’ Club in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, where children and young adults with disabilities come to experience community and Christ.
Volunteers also help make sure families are supported through home visits and help accessing medication and groceries.
CHILE
In Chile, the Mirada de Amor center creates a space for adults with disabilities to work, learn, and experience community. In the country, government benefits end at age 26 and services are very expensive, so adults with disabilities don’t always have access to the care they need. Mirada de Amor provides therapy and specialists for young adults whose families don’t have the means to pay for those services.
Flavio (photo above), 34, has been attending Mirada de Amor for six years. His best friends also go there, and together they do job training, go kayaking, attend cooking workshops, and take part in physical recreation.
“I like being in Mirada de Amor because they help me to work better,” he says. “It is a place where I have friends, and they teach us that Jesus should be the one walking with us always.”
During the week, participants can join a holistic support program that includes Christian education, activities for daily living, cognitive stimulation, financial management, and sheltered employment. On the weekends, the ministry also serves children and youth with disabilities. All participants have access to vocational training and therapy.
With all of the workshops and activities that Mirada de Amor schedules, the needs of both the body and soul are met. As Flavio explained, he can learn about God there, and he’s encouraged to seek a deeper relationship with God, too.
In English, the phrase mirada de amor translates as “look of love.” It’s an appropriate name. Through the daily care and love provided through this ministry, the church is painting a picture of what Christ-like love looks like. |
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When believers from one culture introduce the “unchanging gospel” to people of another culture, how do they keep the Good News from being dismissed as a foreign import? The short answer is one word: Contextualization.
When Christianity moves from one culture to another, there is danger that it will be thought of as belonging in the first culture, but very much out of place in the second one. The chances of that happening can be lessened if the Gospel will be proclaimed and lived out in culturally understandable ways. That process of meaningfully connecting biblical revelation to a specific culture is called “contextualization.”
Missiologist Darrell Whiteman said it this way: “Contextualization attempts to communicate the Gospel in word and deed and to establish the church in ways that make sense to people within their local cultural context.”
 Having the gospel “make sense” to people of a culture does not, of course, mean everyone will rush to embrace it. People must decide if they are willing to make the changes necessary for Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. That does not mean, of course, that people must abandon their ethnic or cultural identity to follow Jesus. Authentic contextualization is based on the premise that when people allow Christ’s transforming power into their lives, they will be even better Nicaraguans or Japanese or Bulgarians or Navajos than they were before.
Contextualization does not mean robbing the Gospel of its essence or “watering it down” to make it more palatable. On the contrary, good contextualization renders expressions of the “unchanging Gospel” more faithful to Scripture than they would otherwise be. Holy-Sprit-led contextualization allows Scripture to be as powerful and transformative in each cultural context as it can possibly be.
 Proper contextualization moves gospel proclamation past a sense of foreignness to allow each people group to hear God say: “This is my design for you.” Contextualization allows people of a culture to see that Yahweh, Creator of the universe who reveals Himself in Jesus Christ, loves them and wants a relationship with them.
In tangible terms, contextualization involves the wording of theological expressions as well as things like sermon illustrations, music styles, artwork, decision-making, lifestyle choices, church programs and schedules, modes of preaching and teaching, the process of discipleship, evangelistic outreach, leadership selection and even architecture.
 It must be clear says missions professor Zane Pratt, that the ultimate purpose of contextualization “is not comfort, but clarity.” Thus, authentic contextualization does not involve the softening or white-washing of Jesus’ radical commands. Indeed, contextualization enables the Gospel to be offensive to each culture for exactly the right reasons. Whiteman has said that good contextualization makes sure that the Gospel “engages people at the level of their deepest needs.”
Authentic contextualization must travel on two rails. One rail is an unwavering faithfulness to Scripture. The other rail is that of communicating and living out the Word of the Lord in ways that are familiar to people in a particular cultural context. |
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It’s a school unlike any I have ever seen.
Take, for instance, math class. For many kids worldwide, math is quite possibly the most boring subject ever invented. But math can be loads of fun! One day, the kids of grade 4 walk up the stairs with huge rulers and set squares to practice measurements; the next day they fill up self-made, one-cubic-centimetre boxes with water at the taps outside to explore the concept of volume. Meanwhile, grade 5 is enjoying pieces of watermelon to internalize the mathematics of fractions.
 Or English grammar? Like “pulling teeth?” Not here. When the 27-year-old dean of students comes to class dressed up as an old man character and tells stories “from when he was young” to introduce the past simple tense, grammar may turn out to be everyone’s favourite subject.
Creative teaching methods are complemented with educational field trips to explore ideas outside the classroom and learn, not just for school, but for life. Like grade 5 going to the mall to learn about prices. Or grade 9 taking food to a home for young drug addicts to learn both about the dangers of drug abuse as well as the value of ministering to others.
“Learning” is not just an activity at this school, a necessary precursor to passing exams. Learning is a lifestyle, an adventure, a privilege to be enjoyed.
What school, then, is this? A posh institution offering Montessori-type education to middle or upper class kids in an affluent U.S. suburb, with well-equipped, comfortable classrooms, wide green spaces to play in, the newest technology, advanced learning tools and teachers with Harvard degrees?
 Not so. It's a small school of 200 students in a busy, cramped, low-income neighbourhood just north of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Most of the classrooms are tiny, dark and unbearably hot in the summer. There's some technology, but several rooms still use chalkboards. The school has a small computer and science lab and a modest library, but no gymnasium or sports ground, and the school bell is actually a bell that has to be rung manually. The schoolyard is impossibly small, giving only just enough space for grades 1 to 9 to play and take a rest outside before they return to their classrooms.
For 51 years, the Nazarene Evangelical School (NES) in Sin-el-Fil has been serving its community, and for 51 years, the teachers and staff have not permitted outward circumstances to deter them from giving their best to the children who call this school home.
In so doing, they have created a haven of peace in a world of turmoil. Through 15 years of civil war, they kept the school running. Through decades of religious violence and mistrust, they have built up a place where children of all religions and denominations study peacefully side by side. This is particularly significant at a time when the tiny country of Lebanon is bursting at its seams with refugees. Until 2005, the nation had been occupied by Syrian troops, and only six years later, Syrian civilians started arriving in the wake of their civil war. Many Lebanese grumble angrily against having to give refuge to their former oppressors. But in the midst of all this resentment and hatred, the NES is able to provide a space where all kids are equal and equally loved and valued.
Children from a dozen different ethnicities and almost as many religious affiliations study at the NES. Some were persecuted in their home countries. Others belong to families who left home voluntarily in search for work and a better life. Some lost everything or had to watch loved ones die. Others have grown up in sheltered middle-class families. And some live in orphanages because their parents can’t give them a home.
But when you watch them in the school, it is impossible to tell who is who because these differences don’t matter here. Every child is integrated into the NES family – those children, too, who were not accepted anywhere else.
And that is what you notice when you visit the school. It’s not the cramped classrooms or the tiny schoolyard, not the lack of state-of-the-art laboratories or a gymnasium. It’s the atmosphere of love and mutual respect, the way the teachers and children create community and accept and care for each other, no matter what. In April 2017, I have the privilege to witness this for myself. And it is unlike any school I’ve ever seen.
Talking to and watching the teachers, I can tell how much they care about these kids and invest time and effort to make their lessons creative. They try to be a friend, not just an educator. That in itself may not be unique – I have met many teachers who taught not as a job, but as a vocation. But there’s something different here, and I notice it in the way the kids respond to the teachers with affection, friendship and trust.
During the watermelon lesson in grade 5, Mrs. Claude, the math teacher, starts pulling her desk to the centre of the room, and immediately, four guys jump up to lend a hand – 10-year-old boys, falling over each other in their eagerness to help their teacher! A minute later, two girls get up to assist Mrs. Claude in covering her desk in cling wrap. And when the watermelon-fractions are distributed, those that didn't get to help before are happy it's finally their turn.
“It’s a privilege to them to be allowed to help a teacher,” Nabil Habiby, dean of students at NES, explains later.
But what impresses me most is watching the kids during recess time. With approximately 150 children playing in one tiny, concrete-floored schoolyard – the three kindergarten grades have their own playground upstairs – you'd think there'd be several casualties every recess. But there are not – “because the kids take care of each other,” as Marlene Mshantaf, principal of NES, tells me.
I can see a seventh grader bend down to tie the shoe of a first grader. Two girls from different grades arm-in-arm, weaving in and out of the throng to be in nobody's way. A fifth grade guy deep in conversation with a teacher, and several sixth grade girls having a chat with second grade boys. I watch an eighth grade boy, engrossed in the basketball match, throw himself after the ball to keep it from hitting some third graders.
Wherever I gaze, I see evidence that this is not just a school, but a family, a home. |
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“Shaping minds with knowledge and hearts with love,” is the motto of the NES. And that's not just empty words – it’s a vision made reality.
But making this vision reality can only be done if everybody participates – teachers, students, administration – to turn their school into a home. It requires the right attitude, and the NES teachers are living this for their students and, by their example, encouraging the positive behaviour that creates the NES’s atmosphere of love and acceptance.
And there are other things the NES does to intentionally foster this family environment.
Twice a week, the students have a “classroom time” in which they sit together with their class teachers for a period to discuss and solve any issues that have come up. At least two field trips per class per year give additional opportunity to share fun times together and build relationships. Recently the school started football and basketball teams that help kids from different religions and ethnicities to bond outside the classroom.
All students are required to attend chapel two to five times per week, and teachers or outside speakers take this opportunity to teach the children about healthy relationships, loving God and one’s neighbour, and treating each other with respect. These topics are deepened in Bible classes as well as the Saturday kids and teens clubs that the Sin-el-Fil Church of the Nazarene offers and which about half of the NES students attend.
Mutual understanding and respect among ethnicities and religions are also fostered in separate activities such as sessions on conflict resolution for the children conducted by Save the Children, and a reconciliation program offered in partnership with Youth for Christ and the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, where 10 teenagers from different faiths, and of Syrian and Lebanese background, met once per week for two months.
This school year, the NES started a “treasure token” system, where students are awarded tokens during chapel time for positive behaviour. With a certain number of tokens, the students can then choose a reward, for instance wearing regular clothes rather than their uniform on a school day or getting a free period.
In addition, in elementary school a “theme” is chosen each month, such as “kindness” or “honesty,” and elaborated upon in chapel and class. At the end of the month, one child from each class is selected as “Mr.” or “Miss” Honesty, Kindness, etc. and honoured during chapel.
For grades 7-9, the “NES police force” system encourages an attitude of serving, caring and taking on responsibilities. Twenty volunteers are trained by the dean of students and take turns to keep things peaceful during recess times and help in other ways. Two different groups have served so far, and it is considered an honour to be on the “police force.”
Fifty-one years of “shaping minds with knowledge and hearts with love” – a motto that is written not onto a plaque, but into the lives of children and teachers alike.
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Christ died over 2,000 years ago, yet, only in the last 24 years has the New Testament been translated into the language of the Cabécar people group. It took over two years to make JESUS, a film about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus based on the Gospel of John, available to these village residents.
Recently, a team of 13 people from (JFHP), traveled across 15 rivers to one of the most remote regions of Costa Rica to premiere the film.https://weedy.com
Many children and adults attended the JESUS film showings held in the village schools. One couple was passing through the village of Boca Coen and decided to stay when they heard about the film showing. They both later accepted Christ.
The principal of Gavilan School, Rosemary Medina Alvarado, explained how the JESUS film in Cabécar brought both cultural and deeper linguistic meaning for their community. Some Cabécar people also speak Spanish but understand things better in their mother tongue.
“Showing the film in Cabécar is very important for the students. They feel there is an effort to reach them in their mother tongue. The film also feels like an effort to identify with their culture, to be more interested in who they are as a people,” Medina Alvarado said.
One hundred and twenty-five people made decisions for Christ in response to the two JESUS film showings.
One girl was watching the film with Nazarene District Superintendent Rev. Sirlene Bustos, and told her, “Jesus speaks Cabécar! I feel something in my heart.” Bustos said in response, “Wow, I was not able to do anything more than hug her and tell her, ‘Yes, Jesus speaks, understands, and listens to you in Cabécar!’”
Giselle, another Cabécar woman, considered herself a Christian most of her life, but everything changed when she saw the JESUS film in Cabécar. She realized the seriousness of the message as well as learned a new way to communicate with God.
“It was great, what the pastors said about prayer being not only in Spanish but rather in our own language. I never prayed in Cabécar because I hadn’t been taught that. So today I tried…and I really liked it,” Giselle said.
One trip participant, Caleb Mingus, was impressed by the church’s preparedness to take in new believers, even in remote areas.
“There’s a system in place for people to become a part of a church and become discipled,” Mingus said.
JFHP Assistant Field Services Coordinator Daniel Herrera, explained this discipleship plan.
“Before, the Cabécar people had the New Testament to help them disciple new believers. Now, the Cabécar church members will be able to use the JESUS film as another tool. There is potential for more intentional evangelism and discipleship,” Herrera said.
Herrera believes the film will create a lasting impact on the community through discipleship and local leaders arranging to show the film.
Mingus saw how excited the local leaders were to receive the film. He realized it was not “just one or two times” that it will be shown, but how it will be shown to “all the different tribes in the area.”
One villager, Sofonias, is a teacher in two Cabécar schools. He has already made plans to share the JESUS film with his schools and in many more communities, even if it means walking hours to reach them.
“It’s important to have Christ in our lives. After people see how much our Lord suffered for us through the film and with an explanation, they will understand how important this is. And being in Cabécar, they will be able to understand it even better. Thank you very much,” Sofonias said. |
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