June 30, 2009
A summer outing turned tragic when Nathan Junker, 30, and Albert Hermiston, 63, lost their lives June 28 after they jumped into the choppy waters of Pokegama Lake in Minnesota to rescue a boy who was struggling to stay afloat. Junker’s father, Randy, is the pastor of Grand Rapids Alliance Church in the same state.
Junker, youth pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, and Hermiston, a layman, had brought the church’s youth group for a day fun and sun on a houseboat, which was docked on a sandbar so the kids could swim.
But the weather changed and the waves on the lake grew to swells that were several feet high. When the men saw the boy struggling, they went out to help him. Hermiston gave his life vest to the boy, who made it back safely. Hermiston and Junker did not.
Hermiston was found soon afterwards but attempts to resuscitate were futile. Junker’s body was found the following day.
“Our hearts go out in concern and love to those who have suffered a sudden loss,” says Don Wiggins, superintendent for the Northwestern District. “In their time of sorrow, however, both families are experiencing the genuine love and support of their church family. It proves, again, the value of the Body of Christ and the reality of a hope that extends beyond death. In the selfless actions that probably saved young lives there is an example of Christ’s sacrifice that will impact a great many people for a lifetime and for eternity.”
Witnesses called Junker and Hermiston heroes who gave their lives to save a child, adding that their sacrifice will always be remembered.
What you can do
Pray for the families of these men. Hermiston is survived by his wife, Nancy. Junker left his wife, Samantha, and four children: Lauren, Alexandra, Journey, and Lincoln.
Pray that God will comfort Junker’s father and mother, Randy and Debbie as well as the people of both churches and the community whose lives have been impacted by these men.
June 26, 2009
Fire struck the First Alliance Church in Toledo, Ohio, in the early morning hours of June 25, completely destroying the sanctuary of the 87-year-old building. While the church offices, foyer and annex were untouched by fire, they did incur extensive water and smoke damage. No one was in the building at the time.
Pastor Keith Sholl told local reporters, “It’s the memories of all the marriages, funerals, professions of faith and people —and to see this church go up in flames is hard to take.”
The fire was ruled accidental, and although the sanctuary is a total loss and will be demolished, church activities and Sunday services will continue as scheduled in two separate buildings across the street from the church.
What you can do
Praise God for protecting church members. Pray that He will provide funds for rebuilding.
If you would like to contribute to the rebuilding effort, contact Great Lakes District at office@greatlakesdistrict.com or call 734-677-8555.
June 24, 2009
When Northgate (Ottumwa, Iowa) Alliance Church leaders challenged its members to give liberally toward the Great Commission (GC) Sunday offering, they could not have imagined the response. The governing board promised to match the offering, using money from the church’s general fund. “We are in a financially healthy position,” says Marcia Oakes, the church bookkeeper,” and assumed that it would be the usual $2,000 or $3,000 offering.”
But the 300-member congregation’s GC Sunday offering totaled more than $52,000. “I was blown away,” says Oakes, who double-checked the church’s account to confirm it could, indeed, meet the challenge. “It’s been fun to see people’s reactions.”
The Alliance church did not have an extensive missions promotion during this time and did nothing “out of the norm” to promote GC Sunday-other than the challenge. According to Oakes, the board leaders believed the Kingdom would be better served by utilizing the financial surplus instead of letting it sit in a bank. “And the Lord moved,” she says.
Church members are excited about their collaborative effort, hoping that their gift will allow Alliance missionaries to continue in the ministry to which they were called. “Maybe one family will get to stay on the field that would’ve had to come home,” says one member.
When told of Northgate’s generous gesture, U.S. C&MA President Gary Benedict said, “I can only praise God for His faithfulness through His people.”
By Sarah Roney, Global Ventures participant
A gang of Americans roaming the streets
Of the Mexican barrios, neighborhoods
These streets are more like paths
Brown, dusty, meandering, rut-filled
No longer are these just any streets to me
I have come to love these paths
They lead us to houses
To children
Who stand in the open doorways
Two, three, four of them
Stained clothes, bare feet
Deep, brown eyes silently staring
The fence keeps us at a distance
They don’t trust me
My face
My smile
My skin
My accent
My clothes
There is more than a fence that separates us
We invite them to church
To sing
To play
To listen
To create
To dance
To laugh
To eat
To be kids
It is there that they begin to trust
Their faces change
The eyes that once stared
At the strangers outside the fence
Are now crinkled with laughter
Worlds collide
If just for a day
I will continue to walk these paths
With dust-covered feet
Looking beyond the fences
To meet that unknowing look of a child
With Love
June 23, 2009
Since its opening in 2006, the Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children has impacted thousands of lives in southeastern Mali, West Africa, with the compassionate care of its highly trained personnel. Ongoing construction on the eight-acre campus just outside the city of Koutiala points to the hospital’s expanding ministry, which serves Koutiala’s 120,000 residents as well as approximately 40 surrounding villages.
“Starting and growing a hospital hasn’t been easy,” says Jessica Schaeffer, a missionary nurse at the hospital. “But God has been blessing [us] since before the doors opened, providing for each need and countless opportunities for our hospital staff to love and testify in the Name of Jesus.”
One Woman’s Vision
A vision to build a hospital that would meet the medical needs of women and children came to medical missionary Joan Foster after the childbirth-related death of a dear friend. The staggering mortality rate of women in childbirth and children within their first five years prompted Joan to begin praying and planning. “Joan’s vision was brought to fruition when Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children opened in May 2006,” says Schaeffer. Ironically, the hospital’s first delivery was the child of Alliance missionaries Shawn and Becky McCabe.
Hospital Awarded
A dedicated staff has consulted with nearly 20,000 patients and delivered nearly 4,500 babies, performed 795 surgeries and approximately 10,000 laboratory examinations, as well as given 25,400 vaccinations in the well-baby clinic in its three-year history. Every patient is presented with the good news of Jesus, prayed for, and given opportunity to ask the Savior into their lives.
Currently, about 200 new women are seen each month at the hospital for prenatal care, and each month an average of 150 deliver at the hospital.
The hospital received an award from the Malian government for its work in AIDS screening. All who are treated at the hospital are encouraged to participate in a free screening and special care is given to prevent transmission of the virus from mother to child.
Life-Saving Ministry
An estimated 40 percent of all of Koutiala’s babies are born at the hospital, which averages six newborns a day. Although the neonatal mortality rate in Mali averages 7 percent, the hospital averages 1.6 percent—a life-changing event for many families.
As a first-term missionary, Jessica has experienced the anguish and joy of caring for some of the world’s neediest people. “It has been some of the hardest and best years of my life,” she says.
Learn More
Visit Koutiala Hospital Web site and meet the staff.
What You Can Do
Pray for hospital staff members as well as patients and their families who hear the gospel.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
A fire that destroyed more than 200 homes this spring left Alliance church members in Indonesia testifying of God’s grace and protection. The church prayer group was getting ready to meet when news of the fire was reported.
“They saw the fire moving toward their homes and tried to take as much as possible to safety,” says Alliance worker Frank Peters. “Then, just as it got to the area where most of the group lives, the wind changed and the fire changed direction, sparing their homes.”
Hidden in Jesus
The incident prompted people in the community to ask, “What kind of power protects like this?” The pastor replied, “The Lord is our only protection.” The prayer group then sang “Hiding in Thee.” The chorus goes as follows: “In You I am protected; In You, Lord Jesus, I am sheltered.”
In a demonstration of Christ’s love and compassion, the Alliance church members provided 50 cases of instant noodles to those displaced by the fire.
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Indonesia.
What You Can Do
Praise the Lord that no lives were lost in the fire. Pray for His provision for people who lost their homes.
Donate now to Alliance Great Commission Ministries to support the Lord’s work around the world.
June 18, 2009
By Lorinda Robinson, serving in Burkina Faso
Alliance field workers in developing countries face unique challenges that we in the developed world would likely find intolerable. Lorinda’s June newsletter describes a recent inconvenience-lengthy electrical power outages in Ouagadougou, Burkina’s capital. An adaptation of Lorinda’s article follows; don’t miss her concluding remarks!
Ouagadougou just doesn’t have enough supply to meet the demands of our electrical needs. So, we are used to three to five hour power cuts during the hot season.
About three weeks ago, we learned that the city was experiencing some major power equipment problems. As a result, we experienced power outages that extended up to nine hours a day for about three weeks. (A couple of days our cuts lasted 12 hours.)
Mind-Numbing Heat
I can tell you that with a heat index here in Burkina of more than 125 degrees Fahrenheit, there’s no time of day that is “good” to have your power cut!
A schedule was published in the local newspaper to notify us when to expect the power cuts. For a couple of days, it was followed. Most days it wasn’t. So not only were we experiencing lengthy power cuts; we also didn’t always know when they would occur. To say that an entire city was feeling cranky, hot, and tired would be an understatement.
Answered Prayer
I sent word home to some people who have prayed for special requests. They prayed and God answered!
We since have had a couple of good rains, and temperatures are now 10 degrees lower! While we still don’t have power 24/7, the situation is better. The weekend was great (only 90 minutes without power); yesterday I was without power for about five hours.
It gets tricky, though, as the Internet service provider is on a different schedule. So, there are times when I have electricity, but I still don’t have Internet. As I write, I’m without electricity. I love laptop batteries!
Power Analogy
As I got to thinking about this situation, I reflected on how we often refer to the Power of the Holy Spirit. Allow me to draw several spiritual parallels related our power issues here that I have been thinking about over the last couple of weeks.
In Christ:
- There is no lack of supply; His power is always sufficient. In Him I never have “equipment problems” (unless I happen to unplug something).
- His schedule is reliable. He’s available 24/7/7; I can count on that. He doesn’t change the schedule without telling me.
- Without His power I’m weak, tired, cranky, and I don’t get a lot of work done!
Learn More
Check out Lorinda’s Web site to learn more about her ministry efforts in Burkina.
Read about her work at Dorcas House, a home that offers care and spiritual nurture to young women who would otherwise be on the streets.
What You Can Do
In your prayers, give thanks for Lorinda’s prayer supporters and God’s answer to prayer! Remember to lift up our Alliance field workers around the world who often deal with inconveniences-like lengthy power outages-that can cause discouragement and even disrupt ministry efforts.
June 17, 2009
By Lorrie Fransworth, serving in Indonesia
The following is an adaptation of a recent prayer letter from Lorrie Fransworth, who serves in Indonesia through higher education ministries. Read about the impact that one of her former theology students is having for God’s Kingdom in Indonesia.
Barnabas served as my gardener while attending the Walter Post Bible School and later as a student at the STT (Theological College) in Nabire. After graduating from STT, he moved to Bugalaga where he serves as principal of the Bible school there. Barnabas has a real heart for evangelism and has clearly been gifted in that area. He has traveled to eight unevangelized valleys to survey the need for evangelism.
On holidays and during school vacations, Barnabas takes a team of students to these areas to conduct evangelism campaigns. In the past year, nine new evangelism posts have been started as a result of these efforts. Every Friday Barnabas preaches in one of these places, and many people from other villages gather to hear the gospel.
Between November 2008 and February 2009, 16 new believers in Christ were baptized through this ministry. In one village where there are no believers yet, the people have been listening to the Word and have asked for a pastor. Sixty people have purchased Bibles, and 86 young people participate in the youth meetings there.
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Indonesia.
What You Can Do
Praise God for the mighty work He has been doing through Barnabas and his student teams. Pray that preachers and evangelists will be appointed to each of these villages.
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.
Donate now to support the work of Alliance churches and missionaries around the world.
An outreach to government workers in Japan by Alliance Sunday school children demonstrates the church’s commitment to building bridges into the community. “Flower Day, or Hana no Hi (pronounced ‘hee’) as it is called in Japanese, is a day marked on the Christian calendar during the month of June,” says Alliance missionary Hazel Schaeffer, who serves with her husband, Don, at Kawaguchi Christ Church. “It is a time when Sunday school children bring flowers to city workers to thank them for their service and to ask God’s blessing on them.”
The church, which is located just north of Tokyo, began taking advantage of this opportunity to reach out to city workers about eight years ago. “Some years, the kids have been invited to climb up into the fire trucks and to wear the firemen’s gear,” says Schaeffer. “This year we went to two police [precincts], two fire stations, and the train station. This is also an opportunity to give these civil servants information about our church.
“By taking part in Flower Day, our desire is not only to thank our public servants but also to show them that we are here to serve,” says Schaeffer. One way that Kawaguchi Church serves the community is through English classes. During a recent class, a man came in saying that he had lost his job and was hungry. “He wondered if we had anything to give him,” says Schaeffer, who gave him money to purchase a boxed lunch. After he left, one of the students observed, ‘Church is a place where people find help and salvation. They wouldn’t get that if they went to the shrine or temple.’”
Another jobless man who received financial assistance from Kawaguchi Church wrote months later saying that he will never forget the kindness that the church members showed him. “He has since found a job and enclosed some money-way more than what he had been given,” says Schaffer. He also expressed interest in going to church sometime.
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Japan.
What You Can Do
Praise God for giving Kawaguchi Church members open doors to make a difference in their city. Pray that those who receive ministry will respond to Christ’s love demonstrated by Alliance workers.
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