June 22, 2011
By Laura and Jeter Livingston, serving at West Africa Alliance Theological Seminary (FATEAC), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Months of violence stemming from Côte d’Ivoire’s failed presidential elections last year left hundreds dead and tens of thousands emotionally traumatized. The following adapted excerpt from a recent update by FATEAC’s international leadership couple describes how a strategic partnership is bringing emotional healing—in Jesus’ Name—to this troubled West African nation.
“They fired on our bus [when we were] fleeing Abidjan last March; my seatmate—who was shot in the back—died in my arms. Last week I watched my neighbor die because no one had money for her medical care. I have been tormented by these images until this seminar, but now I am at peace.”
Powerful testimonies like this one were shared as we sang victory songs and committed our wounds to the cross at last week’s Trauma Healing/Reconciliation Seminar in the M’Pouto (Alliance) Church in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s capital. A number of adults who attend the church were beaten and harassed by government troops during the war; many have suffered severe emotional trauma as a result.
Healing Partnership
FATEAC professor Noel N’Guessan facilitated the seminar’s reconciliation component. Salimata “Saly” Dembele and Laura taught the trauma healing seminar that aired on Trans World Radio (TWR). Saly, a FATEAC student and pastor’s wife, has a program for women on TWR—which broadcasts the gospel to 40 African nations in 60 languages and dialects. TWR is offering more such opportunities in the future.
This training is sponsored by ECGAP (The Church, Healing Community/Peacemaker)—a partnership between FATEAC and Action Internationale De Developpement Integral (AIDI), an Ivoirian nongovernmental organization focused on the development of women and children. Opportunities to meet deep needs through this partnership are endless.
This week ECGAP is holding two, four-day seminars, and several more are in the works. Negotiations are also underway to use an international humanitarian agency’s helicopter in July to take us to Duekoue—a town in western Côte d’Ivoire where the worst atrocities took place.
It is amazing to trace back to 2007—when Saly and Laura were trained during a continent-wide trauma healing project directed by SIL International—and see how God designed for the trauma training and materials to be available at this critically needed time in Côte d’Ivoire.
You Can Help Right Now!
PRAY for God to bring reconciliation and healing to emotionally traumatized Ivoirians; pray also for His will regarding the trip to Duekoue.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers, like the Livingstons, to share the good news of God’s healing grace, provision, and reconciliation with the hurting and the lost.
Learn More
Read an article by Africa Regional Director for the Alliance Dr. Chris Braun that was written at the outset of the months-long Côte d’Ivoire crisis.
June 20, 2011
By pediatrician Brett MacLean, serving at Koutiala Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Mali, West Africa
One in five children never reaches the age of five in Mali. Since Koutiala hospital opened its doors there in 2006, thousands of little ones have escaped death because of Alliance peoples’ partnership with dedicated workers like Dr. Brett and his wife, Sheri, a family nurse practitioner. In the following adapted excerpt from the MacLean’s recent update, learn how you can help rescue children—from your desktop.
Awa was desperate. Fourteen-year-old Fatoumata, her only child, was gravely ill.
When Awa brought her to the hospital, the teenager was wasting away. Despite constantly eating and drinking, she didn’t have any strength to get out of bed except to go to the bathroom every hour.
Thankfully, we were able to identify Fatoumata’s illness. She is the first juvenile (insulin-dependent) diabetic that we’ve diagnosed here.
We asked the family to pay the first $100 as an investment in Fatoumata’s care, and then we offered to cover the rest of her future expenses through our work fund. Within a few days of starting her insulin, life returned to Fatoumata’s countenance.
Extreme Challenges
Childhood-onset diabetes is an illness that requires extreme exactitude—a controlled diet, precise quantities of refrigerated insulin injected at least twice a day, and blood sugars analyzed and interpreted to make necessary insulin dosage adjustments.
Now imagine that scenario taking place in one of the poorest countries of the world, where patients and their relatives are mostly illiterate, electricity is rare, and food availability depends upon the time of the year in relation to the harvest.
But there is hope.
A New Name
During the past four months she’s been hospitalized, we’ve been able to help Fatoumata learn to read; she’s also been trained to give herself insulin shots, and check whether her blood sugar is elevated. She has interacted with our staff—all followers of Christ—and she now desires to follow Him, too.
Fatoumata even wants to change her name to Elizabeth—an outward sign of her inward change.
Our heartfelt thanks go to you for your gifts to the Great Commission Fund (GCF), which allows us to give gravely ill children, like Fatoumata, quality care instead of sending them home to die.
What You Can Do Right Now
Pray! Pray that Fatoumata will be able to manage her diabetes well once she leaves the hospital. Pray for Koutiala staff workers to daily experience the Lord’s peace, wisdom, and strength as they contend with limited resources while treating numbers of children with life-threatening illnesses.
Give to the Great Commission Fund online. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers, like the MacLeans, to rescue children from death and share Christ’s eternal hope with them and their families.
Learn More
Read another gripping article by Dr. Brett about how the GCF is helping to save Malian orphans’ lives.
Just several years after Koutiala hospital opened its doors, a remarkable 5,000 babies had been delivered successfully.
Check out the Koutiala hospital Web site. Note: Clicking on this link will take you off of the C&MA Web site.
June 17, 2011
By Alan and Jill Kropp, serving in Japan
The following is an adapted excerpt from the Kropps’ recent newsletter.
At 2:46 p.m. March 11, 2011, Japan’s landscape changed forever when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Miyagi Ken. In some areas, the resulting tsunami penetrated as far as four miles inland, destroying nearly everything in its path and leaving thousands homeless.
The earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant, triggering a nuclear crisis that is still unfolding. Although plant employees have worked heroically to cool the reactors, radiation continues to emanate from the plant. It is estimated that it will take at least nine months to bring the situation under control.
In the midst of this triple disaster, the eyes of the world have been on Japan. Recently, we heard someone say, “In no other time in history has there been such a global focus of people interceding for Japan!” We believe this is a unique time to minister in Japan.
Soon after March 11, I (Alan) tried to find a way to be involved in the relief effort. I prayed, “Lord, what is my role? Do you have something prepared for me?” Initially, the process was frustrating. I made phone calls and sent e-mails, but the doors remained shut. To make matters worse, there were logistical challenges. Roads were closed; gas was in short supply up north.
An Answer to Prayer
After two weeks of “active waiting,” an opportunity finally emerged. I made contact with a coordinator from Samaritan’s Purse (SP). She told me that shovels, rakes, and gloves were needed in relief efforts. While most of the tsunami-hit homes would eventually be bulldozed, tools would help people sift through the rubble and recover personal belongings. I also learned that roads were reopening and, with a special permit, relief workers could get fuel.
I felt like this was my chance to move. I bought as many tools as I could in Nagoya and drove up to the Tokyo area. There I met up with Kouichi, a seminary student from Kawaguchi Christ Church, which had been planted by Alliance international workers Don and Hazel Schaeffer. We rented a 2-ton truck and drove north to distribute the tools. While there were still many “unknowns,” I figured once we got to SP’s distribution center, the staff would direct and help us.
The morning that Kouichi and I arrived at SP’s distribution center, we were greeted by staff members who said, “You are an answer to prayer!” Just that morning they had ask God to provide a vehicle so they could deliver aid to hard-hit Ofunato-and there we were! I was blown away. God had masterfully orchestrated the timing and circumstances. Their words were a huge confirmation of His leading. While the tools we brought—purchased with CAMA (Compassion and Mercy Associates) funds—were appreciated, perhaps even more than the tools, our 2- ton truck was a huge asset that week. Kouichi and I helped various groups deliver supplies such as water, food, blankets, and bikes.
On the first day of our trip, the truck was loaded with aid, and we travelled to Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture. Although the coastal town had been pulverized by the waves, a small church had escaped the tsunami’s reach. The sanctuary had been transformed into a relief center. Food and clothes were displayed on tables; praise music played softly in the background. According to one believer, 200 people were coming to the church each day to receive clothing, food, and water. This humble church of 10 people was profoundly impacting its community! Several weeks earlier, to many in that community, the church had been merely a beautiful edifice—part of the landscape but not part of their lives. Now, in the midst of destruction and death, it stood as a bright beacon of hope.
As I interpreted for SP staff, I learned that one of the believers at the church had lost her home and her husband in the tsunami. In the midst of grief and loss, this woman was ministering to and comforting others. What a powerful witness of God’s sustaining grace—the grace by which we are saved and by which we serve.
A New Ministry Landscape
The entire nation was shaken by the horrors that unfolded on March 11. Even as Japan’s coastline has been altered by the tsunami’s devastating inundation, Japan’s ministry landscape has changed. Relief work, something we never dreamed would be part of doing ministry in Japan, has entered the mix!
Northern Japan, where Christianity is particularly scarce, is in its greatest hour of need. The work is far from over—it is going to be a marathon. Please pray that the millions of Japanese who have yet to hear the gospel will encounter Christ during this time of crisis in Japan. Pray that there will be a new “openness” to the gospel in the midst of this tragedy and that God will bring a spiritual awakening.
Learn More
Read about a new Alliance initiative to plant a church in the earthquake-stricken region of Japan.
What You Can Do
Pray that God will provide all that is needed for the Japan field’s church-planting initiative in northern Japan, including a rental facility where Harry and Jane Landaw, church-planting team coordinators, can carry out ministry.
Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and partner with Alliance workers around the world who are being light to those who need Jesus.
June 15, 2011
A smiling, poncho-clad Native American woman, her long hair braided neatly behind her, carries a hollowed out deer horn filled with sand. As someone strums a guitar, the woman sings and rhythmically shakes the horn. Her brother, a man with sharp gray eyes and a quiet dignity, sits near her. His smooth voice suggests a fine tenor, though he seems reluctant to let anyone but the immediate group hear. “The brother and sister are here to experience the fellowship and help of the Food Cupboard ministry at North Woods Alliance Church,” says Pastor Vince Hartford. “Today, in the traditionally culture-cloistered world of rural Lee, Maine, it is hard not to notice that God is bringing to us a large and diverse number of people groups from around to world.”
According to Pastor Hartford, the New England District church, which was established in 1983 as The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Lee, “was steeped in a traditional Yankee ‘exclusivity,’ which would’ve previously made such an atmosphere nearly impossible.” Since arriving here in 2000, however, he has seen a gradual turnaround in the unwritten policy. The church’s Food Cupboard outreach has become a multicultural ministry to local and outlying communities, drawing people “who have found a weekly oasis near the center of this little town in the great forest of the Northeast,” says Hartford.
Sitting at the table with the Native American siblings is a man who residess in a ramshackle cabin in the woods. “He lives alone,” Pastor Hartford says, “but every week he arrives early, duffle bag on his back, ready to not only receive badly needed supplies but also to spend a little time with ‘family.’”
“We don’t think of it as a food pantry,” says Russian-born Irina Luekina, a transplant from a Toledo, Ohio, Alliance church, where she served with another food pantry ministry. Having experienced her share of hardship while growing up in the old Soviet Union, Irina now oversees the North Woods outreach to the poor with a great deal of empathy. Her sparkling eyes and anxious grin can break through language and cultural barriers even before she begins to speak. “We think of it more as a fellowship of friends. The people here are like family.”
Irina is assisted by exchange students-some are Christians, but most are not-who arrive each school year from Europe and Asia and are drawn to the ministry. “I don’t think it is the Christian faith that draws them to this church,” says Pastor Hartford, “as much as a fascination with serving poor people in a nation where the streets were supposed to be ‘paved with gold.’ This gives us opportunity to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of the servers as well as those who are being served.”
Every Friday, people of all ages and ethnicities fill the church basement-some to serve and some to be served. “The students help people carry groceries, lifting cardboard boxes filled with food to their shoulders,” Pastor Hartford says. “Some church members clean while others visit with food recipients; and the room is abuzz with the easy going banter that springs forth in a place where people know they are safe.
“There is a picture here of something deeper than just a food pantry ministry-something very special not devised by man nor fully understood by any sage foolish enough to attempt explaining it. Christ has sent His Church to bring good news to the all nations, but here in Lee, He seems intent on bringing the nations to us.”
Learn More
Read how other U.S. Alliance churches are impacting their communities for Christ. www.cmalliance.org/news/topics/gochurch/
What You Can Do
Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and partner with Alliance workers at home and abroad who are being light in a spiritually dark world. www.cmalliance.org/give
New Life Emerges from Murky Waters
A lone white dove hovered over 14 believers as they were immersed into the Jordan River recently, following Jesus in baptism. “What was amazing,” says Pastor Richard Mirpuri from the Word of Grace (Alliance) Church in Chicago, Illinois, who led the group on a tour in Israel, “is that they were not believers before the tour.”
This is not the first Israel tour that Rev. Mirpuri has led. In 2005, Word of Grace, a Filipino-American ministry in the Midwest District, joined a global, grassroots movement, focusing prayer and attention on the Middle East-specifically Jerusalem. The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, which was launched by a coalition of more than 500 Christian leaders around the world, drew participation from 53,000 churches in 72 nations that year.
Since then, Rev. Mirpuri has led several groups to the Holy Land for a prayer pilgrimage and Bible tour, initially among members of the church. This year, there were 27 participants, including people from Canada, the Philippines, New York, and California. Several of the participants were from Chicago’s Filipino community who are not members of the Word of Grace but learned about the trip from an article by Rev. Mirpuri that was published in a local Filipino community newspaper, in which he pens a regular column.
Life-Changing Trip
“I met the participants, the majority of whom were unbelievers, during the 2011 Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem, when they signed up for the tour.” says Mirpuri, who uses the tours as an evangelistic tool. Before visiting the Jordan River, he explains the gospel message and challenges the participants to consider a relationship with Jesus Christ.
“During this last trip, almost all of the unbelievers in the group surrendered their lives to Jesus and went through the waters of baptism for the very first time at the Jordan River,” says Rev. Mirpuri.
“What is so cool is that during this occasion, the white dove came out of nowhere after the people emerged from the water. The dove hovered over the Word of Grace group, even while there were other groups in the water for baptism at the same time. This left such an impression upon the new believers that many of them openly wept through the whole event.”
One participant, a business executive from the Philippines, e-mailed Rev. Mirpuri after the trip, saying, “The Bible is so alive to me. As I read, especially the gospels, my mind brings me back to the very places we visited during our trip. Christianity will never be the same to me again.”
Learn More
Read how other U.S. Alliance churches are impacting their communities for Christ. www.cmalliance.org/news/topics/gochurch/
What You Can Do
Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and partner with Alliance workers at home and abroad who are being light in a spiritually dark world. www.cmalliance.org/give
The Tin Lanh (“Good News”) Church of Vietnam celebrates 100 years of ministry this month. The festivities are scheduled for June 14-16 in Da Nang City, Vietnam. U.S. C&MA President Dr. Gary Benedict will speak at the event. Dr. Tom Stebbins, a former international worker to Vietnam—whose sister Ruth Thompson and her husband, Ed, were killed in the Tet Offensive—also has been asked to speak.
In 1911, a team of three Alliance international workers, led by Robert A. Jaffray, entered Vietnam, then known as French Indochina, with the purpose of establishing the country’s first evangelical church. This church was formed in 1927 and by 1940 was comprised of 100 self-supporting churches.
In 1968, Communist forces invaded the Banmethuot Leprosy Center, killing five Alliance workers and a volunteer layman. When Vietnam fell to Communist control in 1975, The Alliance had established a national church with a membership of 53,000. At that time, the Vietnamese government took possession of the buildings and land belonging to the Tourane Bible School/seminary. For the next 28 years, believers were not permitted to train for ministry.
Yet God continued to multiply and build His church, sustaining it supernaturally. Alliance workers, Vietnamese nationals, and laypeople who gave up their lives for the gospel during the 1960s did not die in vain. Because of their sacrifice, the church in Vietnam has grown to more than 800,000 believers.
In April 2001, the government of Vietnam officially recognized the Tin Lanh Church as a legal entity. Today, the Tin Lanh Church is the largest Alliance-related Body in the world.
Learn More
Watch Dr. Thomas Stebbins’ account of the Thompsons’ ultimate sacrifice as international workers in Vietnam. [duration: 05:24]
Read about the courageous believers who gave their lives for the gospel in Vietnam.
June 14, 2011
“On June 1, 2011, the city of Gulfport presented me with a letter of occupancy for Liberty Café, a coffeehouse outreach to the community. We are now on the verge of opening the doors of Freedom Hall for the next vital step in our ministry plan.” says Rev. Darren Sanford, who moved his family to Gulfport, Mississippi, in 2005—after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast region—in order to plant Journey4Life Church and Freedom Hall community center amid the devastation. “Nearly 370 volunteers have contributed more than 15,000 hours of labor and resources over the course of two years. This is nothing short of amazing.”
Southern District Superintendent Fred King says, “We are very excited about the progress of Freedom Hall in Gulfport! Darren Sanford and his family have been the hardest working people I have ever known! His seven children jump right in and go to work. When was the last time you saw youngsters installing tile? They not only do it; they are really good at it!
“We believe this unusual ministry is of God and is very needed in the region. Though the project has made great progress, it is far from done. The need for materials and workers, as well as the Sanfords’ monthly support, continues to be something we can all share in. I plan to personally help, and I urge you to pray about what you can do. As we all participate together, I believe the need can be met.”
Darren and his family will connect with the people of the community through Freedom Hall by providing job training assistance to those who desire to become self-sufficient. “Training provides opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with disillusioned, hurting people in a mutiethnic community of single and multi-family dwellings in which 20-30 percent are single-parent households. We offer tangible help and hope to people who otherwise would not hear about Him. This is what the mission of the church is all about.”
Establishing Community
Liberty Café will create an environment for building relationships and “bringing individual freedom to a hurting community through the indwelling life of Christ,” Darren says. ”The name ‘Liberty Café’ was chosen to reflect our purpose of bringing liberty and dignity to people. The coffees and teas served will be procured from fair/direct trade suppliers, and a portion of the profits will be donated to sponsoring ministries that are combating human trafficking.”
The grand opening of Liberty Café is scheduled for July. “While we continue to renovate Freedom Hall,” says Darren, “we realize the importance of establishing a community of local believers to provide the basis for Freedom Hall’s mission statement: ‘We bring freedom to those struggling with life’s hardships.’ Thank you for your faithful support of Journey4Life Church and Freedom Hall outreaches.”
Learn More
Read about ongoing Alliance work throughout the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina: Katrina Four Years Later
What You Can Do
To find out how you can participate in Journey4Life ministries, contact the Southern District at office@southerncma.org, or call 205-661-9585.
One More Thing You Can Do
Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and partner with Alliance workers at home and abroad who are being light in a spiritually dark world. www.cmalliance.org/give
June 2, 2011
CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT
Term: Four Years (2011–2015)
(962 ballots cast — 482 necessary for election)
Jonathan G. Schaeffer: 930
CORPORATE SECRETARY
Term: Four Years (2011–2015)
(962 ballots cast — 482 necessary for election)
David L. Goodin: 937
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Term: Four Years (2011–2015) or Two Years (2011–2013)
(960 ballots cast — declared election by plurality)
Ronald J. Morrison: 799 NA/P/OW
John: 718 OA/IW/OW
Charles L. Folkestad: 693 NA/L
Ralph S. Trainer: 691 NA/OW
Dennis L. Krajacic: 684 NA/P/OW
C. José Bruno: 633 NA/P/OW
Jeffrey P. Brown: 616 OA/DS/OW
R. Douglas Swinburne Jr.: 591 OA/DS/OW
Steven C. Lausell: 559 NA/L
David L. Bishop: 557 NA/L
James O. Woods III: 555 NA/L
Iván R. Martí Sr.: 535 NA/L
Larry G. Shelton*: 507 NA/P/OW
*Filling an unexpired term
Not elected:
David E. Schroeder: 473 NA/P/OW
Susan Bernard: 466 NA/L
Nancy D. Wheeler: 455 NA/L
José R. Martinez-Villamil: 454 NA/P/OW
Michael C. Gerhardt: 286 NA/P/OW
Key:
DS = District Superintendent, E = Educator, L = Layperson, NA = Not on Allowance,
IW = International Worker, OA = On Allowance, OW = Official Worker, P = Pastor, R = Retired
COMMITTEE ON RULES
Term: Four Years (2011–2015)
(962 ballots cast — 482 necessary for election)
Larry L. Long: 962
Daniel B. Crom: 962
Douglas P. Parkinson: 962
COMMITTEE ON THEOLOGICAL ISSUES
Term: Six Years (2011–2017) or Four Years (2011–2015)
(962 ballots cast — 642 necessary for election)
Stanley K.H. Kwong (2011–2013): 818
David K. Strong: 810
José R. Martinez-Villamil: 784
Ronald C. Walborn: 782
COMMITTEE ON COUNCIL ARRANGEMENTS 2013
Paul Bartnick: 962
Thomas A. Hicks: 962
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