October 24, 2011
The Alliance is grateful to God for His faithful provision through the Great Commission Fund (GCF) to send, support and equip active light-bearers in more than 50 countries around the world. The following stories from each of the International Ministries regions demonstrate our love for lost people through spiritual and/or holistic ministries around the world, made possible by GCF supporters.
AFRICA
Finding Hope at Dorcas House
Because you gave to the GCF, Alliance international worker Lorinda Robinson is able to share the story of God’s redemption with the 15 young women, ages 15 to 25, living at Dorcas House, a home that offers practical and spiritual mentoring to women who otherwise would be on the streets in Burkina Faso. With tears and joy, seven young women decided to give their lives to Christ for the first time. Each woman received her own Bible. Dancing around the room, lifting up their new Bibles, the girls expressed their deep joy in being able to read God’s Word for themselves. One recipient summarized her excitement: “I do not need to eat anything today–I have this Bible; it is enough to satisfy me.”
Alliance Medical Mission Lights the Way for Thousands
At Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, 1,724 people prayed to receive Christ in 2010. That is roughly 1 out of every 10 patients who came to the hospital during the year. Through the ministry of two faithful chaplains, the Holy Spirit powerfully delivered more than 200 people from the bondage of demonic spirits. The hospital’s national and missionary staff provided compassionate and professional outpatient services to an estimated 15,000 people during approximately 25,000 visits. They also provided inpatient and emergency hospital services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dr. David Thompson, field director and hospital administrator, expects similar results for 2011 when he completes statistics for the year. All of this is made possible by the generous gifts from people who support Alliance ministries through the GCF.
Tried by Fire
In September 2010, three local Christian men in Gabon were tied up by demon worshipping villagers who doused the believers with gasoline and lit their feet on fire. The men were brought to Bongolo Hospital, where Alliance international worker Dr. David Thompson, supported by gifts to the GCF, treated the men with skin grafts. After more than a month at the hospital, the men walked into their village and were greeted by believers who were singing and dancing in praise to the Lord for miraculously of saving their brothers in Christ.
The Senegal Connection
Doors have opened in Dakar, Senegal, for Alliance international workers to teach business courses in local universities, giving them opportunity to build bridges into the community that will bear the weight of truth. Also, health care needs of Senegalese people are addressed through a church-run dispensary, which allows Alliance workers to demonstrate the love of Jesus through compassionate care. Additionally, Dakar Academy students, most of whom are Alliance MKs, experience ministry firsthand by going to remote villages to participate in evangelistic events. Without GCF support, none of these outreaches would be possible.
ASIA AND PACIFIC
Saved from Human Trafficking
At New Hope schools in Cambodia, approximately 400 Vietnamese children, who are illegal immigrants, receive elementary education as well as help to become Cambodian citizens. Upon completion of fifth grade, children receive scholarships for ongoing middle school and high school education. Supported by generous gifts to the GCF, New Hope helps to keep children from being sold into the bondage of human/sex trafficking.
Tsunami Tragedy Opens Doors to the Gospel
Because Alliance people faithfully support the GCF, international workers in Japan were able to relocate from Tokyo to the heart of the area affected by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. They are partnering with another mission agency to demonstrate the love of Christ in practical ways, such as providing rice cookers to shop owners who had lost all their kitchen goods in the disaster. Opportunities like this one open doors to share the life-changing message of the gospel in this least reached area.
Black Gospel Music Draws Japanese to Jesus
The Tokyo Journal reports that “thousands of Japanese [are] flocking to gospel singing workshops to clap their hands and sing praise to Jesus.” African-American gospel music has become very popular in Japan, and the phenomenon has inspired a new outreach by Kawaguchi Church, an Alliance congregation in Japan. Because of God’s provision through the GCF, Alliance international workers David and Vangi Kindervater lead this evangelistic effort that is meeting a very real social need in Japan. The idea of being in the “group” and a part of something is important to Japanese people, and this outreach has caused many to visit the church and ask questions about the meaning of the songs they enjoy singing.
Where There’s Hope . . .
Hope House Ministries in Hiroshima, Japan, is led by GCF-supported Alliance international workers, Ken and Kathy Young. The Youngs are using Hope House, which is located near a major hospital, as an outreach to people who have spiritual and emotional needs as they deal with hospitalized relatives. Doors are opening for ministry to doctors and nurses within the hospital, as well.
MKs Minister, Too
Through the ministry of Dalat International School in Malaysia, the children of Alliance international workers (MKs) are involved in many projects that impact their community. Service projects by MKs, whose education is paid for by the GCF, include cleaning at St. Joseph School’s Blind Center, walking with the blind, food distribution projects, and painting a nursing home. Alliance workers are confident their children are provided a quality education with spiritual emphasis in a safe environment when they attend Dalat International School.
From Prison to Praise
Friends of Isaan in Thailand is a GCF-supported Alliance church-planting initiative among the largely unreached Isaan people of northeast Thailand. A prison ministry has introduced Jesus to many incarcerated people, who have evangelized their home villages upon their release. EQ, a former gang member, gave his life to Jesus through the prison ministry. Since his release, he has led his family and many friends to Christ. Also, he married Jang, another former prisoner who trusted Jesus through the Isaan ministry. Together, the couple is training other believers to evangelize their neighbors, as well as celebrating the birth of their daughter, Manna, in June.
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST
A Source of Hope
The Source community center in Bosnia is impacting the people of Sarajevo through English classes, film festivals, poetry readings, day care, and music lessons. The year-old center, strategically located in the heart of the capital city, is made possible by generous gifts to the GCF. Recognizing The Source as a valuable asset to the community, a few nonbelievers have eagerly joined the outreach that is reaching their neighborhood for Christ. Pray that they will soon place their trust in Jesus as their Savior.
Bringing God Back to the French
In 2009, GCF-supported Alliance international workers Brad and Tina Reynolds planted a French-speaking church, Eglise Protestante Internationale, the first new church in the Toulouse, France, suburb of Leguevin since the 12th century. After several baptisms and family dedications to the Lord, nearly 80 adults and children now attend the church. In September, three people followed Jesus in baptism, and church members currently are attending the weekly School of Prayer, where they are focusing on the Holy Spirit’s fullness in their hearts and lives.
A Light in the Darkness
An art gallery, Lego brunch, and two church plants combined as one church in Berlin, Germany, has resulted in many people coming to faith in Jesus through the Freischwimmer outreaches. Recently, a Christian preschool opened, providing biblically based education for the youngest generation of Berliners. Because the GCF supports dedicated Alliance workers, the light of Jesus shines brightly in Berlin, where God was all but erased from a post-WWII society.
God’s Peace in a War-Torn Nation
Partnering with a national evangelical church, Alliance international workers have established a church plant and community center–the first joint project, largely funded by the GCF, to take root in largely unevangelized Kosovo. The Ringjallja (Resurrection) Community Center, strategically situated across the street from the local teaching college, serves as a conduit by which Alliance workers can “influence the influencers” through services they provide to instructors, such as low-cost, quality photocopying services (teachers receive a number of free copies each month), English classes, Internet access, and quiet study areas. The center also serves as an evangelistic focal point for local ministries with a Christian bookstore, concerts, sporting camps, computer classes, and more.
Community Impact
A Madrid, Spain, suburb outreach that began initially with summer English camps has grown to include sports coaching and after school tutoring. City officials have encouraged the expansion of the project, noting that the outreach is meeting felt needs of the community. And in Granada, Alliance workers baptized nine people in the last month and led five additional people to the Lord through this GCF initiative. Now that is a great investment!
LATIN AMERICA
A Heavenly Alliance
Because of giving to the GCF, a church plant in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, called Alianza (The Alliance), began meeting officially in a new rented facility. People are coming to the Lord, and attendance is growing. Recently, four people enthusiastically declared their heartfelt desire to love and serve the Lord all their lives–all this made possible by God’s provision through the GCF.
Multiplying Communities of Christ
Property was purchased and a building constructed for a new church-planting project in La Chicureo in Santiago, Chile. Since 1897, The Alliance has been shining the light of Christ into the lives of Chilean people. The new church plant in 2011 underscores the dedication of God’s servants who give to the GCF to ensure the gospel is heard in Chile.
Creative-Access Countries
A New Work
The opening of a new field in North Africa has been made possible through generous GCF giving. A leadership couple is there, establishing a preschool and community center as they prepare for the arrival of their team in August 2012. Currently, short-terms teams are helping to refurbish the ministry building. This initiative comes at a strategic time when doors are open to make Jesus known in a country with little access to the gospel.
Building Bridges
Medical assistance (nursing in villages, prenatal care, midwifery) and a women’s center that provides parenting, homemaking skills, and counseling courses have allowed Alliance international workers to build relationships with women in North Africa. English classes for university-level students as well as businesses that provide a community service also have opened doors to share the good news in a country with little access to the gospel.
Desperate Worship
Alliance workers in the Middle East have been able to help meet the desperate needs of refugees fleeing from countries with political upheaval. Because our workers are fully supported by the GCF, they have the flexibility to respond to provide basic necessities for those in need.
North and Central Asia
Blazing New Trails
Alliance leaders are visiting critically unreached areas of a creative-access nation for the purpose of planning a strategic initiative there. Meetings with national believers to pray and seek God’s direction regarding how to best begin ministry have led to the possibility of establishing IT (information technology) business models in the northern part of the country. As faithful supporters continue to give to the GCF, new initiatives like this will come to fruition for God’s glory.
New Hope in Two Countries
Two new fields in Central Asia were opened during the 2010-11 fiscal year, staffed by a total of 12 new GCF-supported workers. Moves like this are vital to our commitment to shine the light of Jesus in the neediest places but could not be undertaken at all if not for faithful giving of Alliance people to the GCF.
Help for the Needy
In Moscow, Russia, a help center for Central Asian migrant workers began operations, aiding workers with registration of their temporary residence in the city and helping them in job hunting. This kind of help, enabled through GCF dollars, is offered to people trying to navigate the complexities of life in a foreign society that views them as “second class.” The outreach opens doors to share hope in Jesus with them during a time when they may be ready to receive His truth. Already, several people have chosen to follow Jesus, two cell groups have been formed, and one believer who has returned to his Central Asian homeland has led others to the Lord in that country, where we cannot currently place North American workers.
The Least of These
Alliance workers in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, have organized children’s educational centers in poor districts around the outskirts of the city. These centers are meeting felt needs of families in those areas where schools are overburdened and provide a business opportunity for believing educators who otherwise would have trouble finding work. This GCF initiative provides the location and impetus for small neighborhood churches to be planted. Faithful giving of Alliance people to the GCF makes this possible.
marketplace ministries (mm)
It almost goes without saying that many countries today are closed to the overt sharing of the gospel. Marketplace ministries deploys and supports lay professionals to enter countries that are closed to traditional mission workers. Through professional endeavors, mm servants, some of whom receive partial GCF funding as well as raise their own support, are able to build relationships as they work and live in those communities. Because of the sensitive nature of these mm initiatives, only the vaguest descriptions are given below, but specific prayer is greatly appreciated.
- A family is running two sustainable work projects, focusing on producing large water filters as well as crafting and fitting prosthetics.
- Long-term doctors are working in clinics and hospitals in several countries
- A family in Indonesia has started a school at the request of the village where they live. The school is staffed by nationals who are Christians and have been discipled by this couple over the last few years.
- A family owns a café and recording studio where people of the traditional religion feel free to discuss who God is and compare the Bible with their religious teaching.
- A couple in Asia runs an international school and is working with the underground church in a neighboring country.
- A counseling center was started as a combined work with GCF-funded personnel working with mm personnel. They are continuing to reach into earthquake ravaged areas of Asia, not only providing help for people still traumatized by the earthquake but also training locals in how to provide continued assistance to these people.
- Workers are reaching into two rural unreached people groups in Asia, seeing people come to faith, and forming new believers into communities of faith.
- A training program that focuses on urban professionals in an Asian city leads them to faith, disciples them, gives them opportunities to serve, and then challenges them to serve the Lord full time. It is seeking to reproduce this effective model in other parts of Asia.
- A single woman is working as an English teacher with three churches, which consist of Christian refugees.
- A professor is working at a leading university in Asia and is holding Bible studies in his home.
- A family in the Middle East is working and teaching at a leading public university.
- A couple in Africa runs an orphanage and has completed a new translation of the Bible in cooperation with a partner church.