October 31, 2008
Due to instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa, two student interns, Kate Manske and Benjamin Lawson, of Crown College’s nursing program are being brought home from the Heal Africa Hospital in Goma.
October 27, 2008
Alliance Chaplain Andy Kikuta received the prestigious John A. Price Excellency in Chaplaincy Award recently at the Annual Training Seminar of the International Conference of Police Chaplains in Mobile, Alabama. Kikuta has served with the Honolulu, Hawaii, police department for 23 years and currently is the senior chaplain of seven volunteer chaplains.
“My areas of responsibility involve caring for the Chief’s Office, Communications Division, Criminal Investigation Division, Human Resources Division, Media and Legislative Liaison Office, and our uniformed patrol district,” said Kikuta. “We primarily serve the officers, civilian employees, and families of our department in a supportive role, being with them especially in tragic situations. Upon request, we will assist the officers with cases involving the public.”
Kikuta, whose Japanese name translates to chrysanthemum field, has been planting seeds of the gospel on the island of Oahu for 28 years, beginning as an assistant pastor at Kapahulu (Alliance) Bible Church and then planting Hawaii Kai (Alliance) Community Church, where he continues his leadership today. Kikuta is married to his wife of 33 years, Claudia, and the couple has three adult children.
Mrs. Ruth Nelda Amstutz, retired missionary to Chile, entered into the presence of the Lord on Tuesday, October 21, 2008. She was 92.
Before her marriage to Mahlon in 1941, Ruth was a high school teacher in Kansas. Both she and Mahlon attended Asbury College and Nyack Missionary Training Institute before their appointment as Alliance missionaries to Chile in 1945. They were stationed in Temuco, serving in teaching ministries at the Bible Institute and itinerant evangelism among the Chilean churches. They also produced a weekly gospel radio program and were involved in field leadership responsibilities.
In later ministry years, they were engaged in church planting and were the first Alliance representatives in the city of Antofagasta where they experienced fruitful establishment of churches. Most of their service took place in Chile, except for six months in Argentina overseeing the Bible Institute in Buenos Aires.
The couple retired in 1988, but continued to travel overseas periodically in various ministry capacities. Ruth was said to be sincere, earnest and desirous of God’s best in all things. She took care of their five children and household, but also played a vital part in ministries to young people and women. Whether it was Sunday School, VBS ministry, or women’s Bible studies, she was faithful to the mission of seeing Chilean’s of all ages come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Amstutz is survived by her husband Mahlon S. Amstutz; sons Mark R. Amstutz, Samuel W. Amstutz, and James Amstutz; daughters Carolyn R. Mizzau and Nelda L. Johnson (C&MA missionary to Ecuador); 13 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Saturday, October 25, 2008, at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas. Memorial gifts may be made payable to The Christian and Missionary Alliance with “Ruth Amstutz Memorial” in the memo and sent to the attention of Donor Accounting at The Christian and Missionary Alliance, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500. This will be used for the Chile national church women’s ministries.
October 22, 2008
by an Alliance missionary to West Africa
For many years I had a Fulani “grandma.” I called her Pati. If she and I had been the same age, we would have been best friends—she was that cool. Over the years I picked up bits and pieces of information, understanding that for some undisclosed reason, her family had abandoned her—her children, her husband, her sisters and brothers. In this culture, to abandon an elderly mother is unheard of.
As Pati began to lose her eyesight and was unable to care for herself, she was shuffled from one home to the next. During her last two years, she spent most of her days and nights reclining on a hard, wooden chair in the corner of her nephew’s front porch. All her worldly goods were either under her chair or in a little pile next to her “home.”
Sometimes when I went to visit, I couldn’t see Pati’s toenails or fingernails because the grunge was so thick. It made me want to cry. Her clothes smelled, and her hair was matted. I would bundle up her dirty clothes (there weren’t many), lead her to my car, and take her home with me. With the help of a friend, we would bathe her, wash and braid her hair, and do her nails while her clothes were being washed. At the end of the day I would return Pati to her chair on the front porch, where she would watch the dark shadows of children playing around her feet.
When total blindness set in and I would visit, I tried to sneak up on her if she was resting under the mango tree. I would tiptoe quietly and slowly sit down on the bench next to her. Within a couple seconds, Pati would get all excited, give a little jump, grab me and say, “Biddo an arii! Biddo an arii!” (My daughter has come! My daughter has come!) She said she could smell me!
It made me happy to give Pati so much joy because I knew she didn’t have much of that. As the months passed, she got weaker, and I kept waiting for someone to come and tell me that she was sick and asking for me. But no one did. Two days after Pati was buried, I heard from a passerby that my grandma had died. It hurt that they hadn’t told me that she was sick, so that I could go be with her. Years before, my daughter had said, “Mama, don’t let Grandma die without Jesus.” But Pati never seemed to understand when I told her that Jesus loved her.
It has been two years since Grandma died. The other day, Pati’s granddaughter, Iliasou, came to visit me. Although the family had abandoned Pati, Iliasou had taken care of Pati while she was dying. She was the one who closed Pati’s eyes. Before she died, Pati told Iliasou to find me after she was buried.
Iliasou came by to visit yesterday. And so we talked. We talked about Grandma, and we talked about Jesus. And Jesus has touched Iliasou’s heart somehow in these two years. She’s no longer the same hard woman she was before. She even has a glow about her face and a soft, sweet smile that she can’t seem to stop. During our time together, Iliasou told me about a conversation her uncle and older brother had this week. They were discussing the fact that Iliasou wasn’t practicing a local tradition. Her older brother was accusing her of following those “white Christians” like Rougi (that would be me) who only take people away from God. But Uncle chimed in and said, “Rougi isn’t a Christian. She follows God.”
In this culture, “Christian” is almost a dirty word. It is a major insult to call someone a Christian. So for Uncle to say, “Rougi is NOT a Christian—she’s a God follower” was the highest complement that he could have possibly paid me.
Let’s ALL be God followers.
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October 21, 2008
In September, the Alliance national church in Guinea and the Guinean government-run television station signed a contract with Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) to begin broadcasting some of CBN’s French Christian programming, including The 700
Club. Alliance Pastor Marcel Telliano will be the CBN Guinea representative, helping to provide world-class programming to the television station. Pray for Pastor Telliano and for the church as it provides follow-up assistance to viewers seeking to learn more. Currently, CBN is broadcasting in 17 countries across Africa on more than 40 stations.
It was a week when James 1:26–27 was put into action. The national church of Burkina Faso held its first widows conference in Bobo-Dioulasso in October 2008. Missionary Esther Schaeffer, working in conjunction with ACCEDES, the national church’s relief and development agency, and the church’s Alliance Women, organized this week of meetings, meals, fellowship, and encouragement for the widows of Alliance churches in Burkina. This is the first time the church has made a special effort toward widows. Read more»
By Kiersten Hull, missionary to Burkina Faso
True religion that God considers faultless and pure, according to James 1:26–27 is, “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” The national church of Burkina Faso held the first national widows’ conference in Bobo-Dioulasso in October 2008. Missionary Esther Schaeffer, working in conjunction with ACCEDES, the national church’s relief and development agency, organized this week of meetings, meals, fellowship, and encouragement for the widows of the Alliance churches in Burkina. This is the first time the church has made a special national effort toward our widows. It was a week when James 1:26–27 was put into action.
The opening ceremony was attended by numerous dignitaries of the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. The mayor’s assistant gave her address in Jula, instead of in French, so she could be fully understood by the women in attendance. She encouraged the widows to trust in the Lord and to work hard to raise their children. The church president, Rev. Job Dao, gave the opening exhortation. He spoke of the need for Alliance churches to care for the widows in their congregations and to practice this “true religion.” He also spoke to the widows, encouraging them to take their place in the church, to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, and to trust in Him.
Although the atmosphere at the opening ceremony and throughout the week was one of joy and mutual encouragement, the collective sadness of these 400 widows could also be felt. Some widows are older ladies, whose husbands have passed away many years ago. Some are young, even with nursing babies, who are still trying to adjust to the loss of their spouse and their provider. Some live with other family members; some live alone. Some have children who care for them; some do not. Some are treated kindly by their extended family; many are not.
It has been said that the face of poverty in Burkina Faso is a woman, more specifically, a widow. When the husband dies, a woman’s property and even her children are sometimes taken by the family of the husband. She has no rights, especially if the marriage was never formalized by the mayor or government official in the villages or in the city, as is often the case. A widow has a hard time earning a living without the help of a husband to work in the field, as most of the people in Burkina Faso are subsistence farmers. Some widows are left with large amounts of debt incurred by their late husbands.
Widows are sometimes required by the family to participate in funeral rites that are contrary to their Christian faith. It has been a source of much persecution and difficultly with the in-laws when the Christian widow refuses to “honor” her husband with these pagan ceremonies. Even young widows, have a difficult time finding someone to remarry, as the common myth is that if a woman’s husband has died, she most-likely put a curse on him. It takes a brave man to marry a widow, as he will be warned of this curse and reminded that she could be a witch. Some older widows are believed to be witches, too, as any bad thing that happens in their family or village is blamed on them. It takes strong faith and perseverance for Christian widows to stand firm despite this sort of persecution and stereotyping.
At the conference, the widows enjoyed hearing speakers who encouraged them to stand strong in their faith. Noelle Dembele, the Alliance Women (AW) president for the Malian nation church, was one of the speakers. Noelle lost her husband a few years ago, so she is able to speak to the widows at the point of their need. Other speakers included members of the national AW committee and respected leaders in the church. The messages were aimed, not at providing answers to these dear widows as to why their husbands are no longer by their sides, but they encouraged the widows to trust in the Lord’s sovereignty and to work for Him in their local church, holding strong to the hope that they have in Christ.
At the conference, the widows also enjoyed lots of good food, which was a blessing to them as they do not often have the funds to prepare daily nutritious meals for themselves. Although the conference planning committee prepared for 250 widows, comprised of delegations from each of the districts, they were surprised when 400 widows arrived at the conference. After some extra trips to the market and a rather large increase in budget, the widows were all fed for the four days of the conference. The encouragement provided by the spiritual food from God’s Word, coupled with the physical food, surely satisfied each attendee.
This was the first national widow’s conference held in Burkina Faso. We hope that it will be the first of many. As the church is made aware of the needs of the widows in their congregations, we pray that more tangible acts of help and encouragement will be provided in the future. Widows in the Bobo-Dioulasso district meet together four times each year for a special day of prayer and fasting or for a seminar. Also, they have begun a small enterprise of making soap to sell at the local market. Many widows do handiwork or sell other small items to provide for their families. The needs are great. It is our prayer that this conference will be a start to many more ministries with widows. May we all have a heart to practice true religion that is faultless and pure.
“We were so encouraged to see more than 100 people in attendance,” said Larry Burg after visiting the three-year-old Pissy (pronounced PC) church plant, which began with a core group of seven people. “They have had 34 conversions this year and 22 baptisms.”
The church hosts a Compassion International ministry for about 175 neighborhood children, and members of the church have been hired by the organization to follow up with the sponsored children, making sure they receive food, shelter, education, and health care, as well as Christian training.
The popular program has received a good response, even from families of the traditional religion, who are happy to sign their kids up because of the benefits. “The church needs to build a wall around the property in order to better supervise the children, said Burg. “The leader of the church told me that this young group of believers has sacrificially raised hundreds of dollars for this project, which will cost about $6,000.”
If you are interested in helping the Pissy church build the wall, make a gift to the C&MA, marking “Burg work/Pissy” on the check memo line.
October 16, 2008
D.M. Duquilla, a youth leader at the Word of Grace (WOG) Family Christian Fellowship (Alliance) of Chicago, ran in the October 12, 2008, world-class long distance running event: the 31st Bank of America Chicago Marathon, representing Word of Grace, in an effort to raise money for missions. The race is limited to 45,000 runners on a first-come, first-served basis. More than 1.5 million spectators line the 26.2 mile course to watch the runners in action. There is no qualifying time to participate, but only runners who finish within six and a half hours are officially timed. D.M. finished in 5 hours, 27 minutes, 23 seconds and raised nearly $3,000 for Alliance Great Commission Ministries. This was his first run.
The Chicago Marathon is one of the five World Marathon Majors alongside the Boston, New York, London, and Berlin Marathons. Since it began in 1977, five deaths have occurred with numerous others requiring medical attention and hospitalization. It is among the fastest-growing marathon road races in the world, due in part to its largely fast and flat course through 15 Chicago neighborhoods, facilitating the pursuit of personal records and world-record performances. Runners from all over the world come to Chicago to participate in the event.
Although the race has limited registration, exceptions include elite runners and charity representatives. Increasingly, local (e.g., Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital), national (e.g., American Cancer Society), and global (e.g., British Red Cross, World Vision) charities and humanitarian organizations encourage sponsored participation in the event as a means of raising funds.
For more information about WOG and its passion for missions, check out the December issue of alife (www.alliancelife.org).
“The Poipet border has reopened, and the city has returned mostly to normal,” said an Alliance spokesperson in Cambodia following a recent Thai-Cambodia border skirmish. “Our workers appreciated your prayers. They truly experienced God’s peace in the midst of this storm, and they attribute that to God’s goodness and the prayers of His people.” One Alliance couple had a large group of young people from the churches at their house to play sports. “That’s a good sign!” said our spokesperson.
A positive development included Thai and Cambodian military leaders meeting today for talks. They also agreed to joint patrols in the area where the fighting took place.
“This situation still has potential for additional fighting, but at this point, it appears that both sides are trying to reduce tensions,” said the C&MA spokesperson. “Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for cooler heads to speak into these events.”
The Alliance believes wholeheartedly in the power and necessity of prayer. We cannot “Live the Call Together” unless prayer is central to all we do—as a denomination, as churches, and as individuals.
You can help build Christ’s Church around the world by donating online to the Great Commission Fund. This fund finances our missionaries, allowing them to focus on ministry rather than raising their own support.
Is God calling you to full-time service? Do you want to experience missions firsthand by participating in a short-term missions trip? We want to help you connect your passion with God’s purpose.
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