November 13, 2009
Alliance churches are breaking the mold of the traditional church plant. Frustration with budget crunches, dwindling congregations, and decreased giving with little left for outreach has caused many Alliance pastors to rethink the way they do church.
“Trying to get people to come to church just doesn’t work like it used to,” said one Alliance pastor recently. “There’s a general consensus, especially among younger people, that churches are filled with hypocrites who demand money and perfection but don’t practice what they preach; the Bible is an ancient document and there is no evidence of God’s power among so-called Christians.”
In order to build bridges of trust that will bear the weight of truth, some Alliance churches are moving beyond the four walls of traditional church buildings into their communities, demonstrating the love of their Servant King through projects that benefit their neighbors. The fact that nothing is asked in return has captured the attention of city officials as well as local media in some cases.
Freely Give
Pastor Rick Gates has led his Crossroads Church congregation in Perry, Iowa, out of the sanctuary to shine the light of Christ during a Week of Service in their community. Church members have completed 40 projects in four years. Local TV news shows have reported the “free help” that Crossroads provided for the community in June.
“Our culture today knows nothing of the church except that it expects people to give money and attend services for no meaningful or relevant purpose,” says Rick. “The church is not connected to their daily lives and does not make sense to them. Jesus talks a lot about being servants . . . as we serve, people slowly begin to see Jesus.”
Benefitting Neighbors
“Most church plants take 30 or more people and move them,” say Pastor Scott Klaudt of Downtown Alliance Church, who established a coffeehouse in downtown Missoula, Montana, in order to meet plenty of people. “We didn’t want to just shift a bunch of Christians around, which may work for some, but it’s not what I wanted to do.”
The coffeehouse venue provides lunches, catering mostly to professionals in search of quality noontime respite, and hosts open-mike night, jazz concerts highlighting local musicians, and benefit fund-raisers for neighbors. “We recently hosted a benefit concert for a youngster who suffers from a seizure disorder,” says Scott.
God’s Property!
In Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Bob and Sue Havenor and a handful of people, none of whom are in professional ministry, have reclaimed for God an area where an Alliance church once stood. They have taken jobs within their community in order to build relationships and prayer walk. Bob is getting to know a lot of men through his work at an auto parts store.
“We didn’t plant an organization where people with needs must go to a church,” says Bob. “We are the Church that has a mandate to go to the people with needs. This is the essence of incarnational ministry; as John 1:14 says in The Message, ‘God became a man and moved into the neighborhood.’”
Bob’s team began systematically prayer walking every street in a 1.5 square-mile target area. “We started at a strategic location that is, first, an easy place to find on a busy central street,” he says. “Second, and far more important, is what this property once was. This was the site of the Fort Wayne Gospel Temple, a leading Alliance church in the middle half of the last century.”
Outside the Box
ServantChurch in Mission, Kansas, is “committed to doing church simply so that we can simply serve,” says Pastor Doug Burford, who grew weary of buildings, bulletins, budgets, and board meetings, as well as struggling to get busy professionals to meet for prayer, Bible study, and service.
Since its inception, ServantChurch has participated in several projects, including the construction of nanny quarters for a family in which the mother has terminal cancer and the installation of windows to winterize the residence of “urban missionaries” in Kansas City. “ServantChurch is intentionally without a building so that its members are free to worship where they serve,” says Doug.
As the history of the Church bears witness, there are times, like the Reformation, when the Church has to “reset” the course after straying off course. “It has been said that Martin Luther reset the theology of the Church,” Doug says. “This ‘new reformation’ is one that [just may] reset the form of the Church.”
What You Can Do
Praise God for His guidance and provision for Alliance workers who are willing to take faith-filled risks to share the gospel.
Pray that God will bless these four churches with a bountiful harvest.
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“We wanted to meet people first,” says Scott Klaudt, who pastors Downtown Alliance Church in Missoula, Montana. Through a coffeehouse/community center near the University of Montana, the state’s largest university, Klaudt and his team are accomplishing just that.
With an entrepreneurial approach to ministry, Scott has sidestepped the traditional Alliance church plant model to reach the Missoula community with this innovative outreach. “We started the business first to gain momentum,” he says. “Once we built relationships, we began host Bible studies instead of having a set program.”
The Alliance establishment provides lunch, catering mostly to professionals in search of quality noontime respite. The venue also hosts open-mike night, a favorite past time among University of Montana students. Also, jazz concerts highlighting local musicians, and benefit fund-raisers for neighbors are popular events at the Alliance outreach. “It makes The Alliance look good because we show them love.”
“Most church plants take about 30 people and move them,” says Scott. “We didn’t want to just shift a bunch of Christians around, which may work for some but it’s not what I wanted to do.” Without a tithe base, God has met the needs of the unorthodox church plant. “Our [Rocky Mountain] District has backed us, too.”
Worship services quickly moved from once-a-month to weekly meetings when an increasing number of people began attending. “Attendance now fluctuates between 50 and 80,” Scott says, “including some of the professionals who visit during the day and university students who pack the house at night.”
When Donnie Spotted Elk entered the center he said, “I hear you guys pray for people here. I need job by Tuesday or I will go back to jail.” Donnie recently had been released from prison, where he placed his trust in Christ. When Scott prayed, the Native American ex-convict obtained employment. Now he hosts a Sunday night Bible study for local Native Americans, many of whom are homeless.
The mission of this Alliance outreach is “not necessarily to ‘do church’ but to help the community,” says Scott. “It’s a full-time business. If the business goes down after we’ve spent $250,000 and only one person came to Christ-it was worth it.”
After eighteen years of traditional Presbyterian ministry, Pastor Doug Burford had had his fill of buildings, bulletins, budgets and board meetings, as well as struggling to get busy professionals to meet for prayer, Bible study, and service. “At the same time,” says Doug, “those who were growing in their faith often said that they grew most through their small group meetings.” That led him to long for a simpler expression of “church”-one where there was nothing to do except to pray, study the Bible, and serve.
ServantChurch in Mission, Kansas, is that church. Daring to venture away from traditional church plant models, Doug and a handful of people launched ServantChurch in April 2008. “We are committed to doing church simply so that we can simply serve,” he says. ServantChurch is intentionally without building so that its members are free to worship where they serve. With Doug’s salary covered by a benefactor, all financial resources are used to serve.
Doug was unaware of the history of A. B. Simpson when he came to The Alliance but feels a kinship with the founder, who also left the Presbyterian Church in search of an unencumbered way to reach the lost and to love and serve as Christ taught.
Since its inception, ServantChurch has participated in several projects, including the construction of nanny quarters for a family in which the mother has terminal cancer and the installation of windows to winterize the residence of urban missionaries in Kansas City. The collection of food for an area food bank and the assembly of health kits for distribution to disaster sites around the globe also have demonstrated the compassionate care of the Savior.
Doug believes that service can be the best form of outreach. “People who had not responded to early invitations to “come to church” have responded enthusiastically to invitations to participate in service projects,” he says. “Combining worship with service is an ideal way to demonstrate what Jesus called us to be and to do, creating a powerful witness.”
Unencumbered by other ecclesiastical duties, the church family also has more freedom to help and serve one another. With Doug’s social work background, he is determined that ServantChurch not become just another social service agency, dispensing material help without spiritual help. There is a determination to serve those with whom church members are in relationship.
Church “services” are either at a member’s home or at a serving site. “Service is combined with worship,” says Doug, “in the belief that doing what Jesus asked us to do is as much worship as is anything that takes place in a dedicated sanctuary.”
Believing the Holy Spirit is behind this call back to simplicity, Doug sees evidence of it in the difficulty of maintaining large staffs and facilities during tough economic times and in the struggle of many pastors as they question the institutionalization of the church and the busyness it has created.
Doug is quick to point out that ServantChurch doesn’t have all the answers for how to do church simply. “The presence of children at a worship site without a nursery is just one challenge that creates comical chaos on some Sundays,” he says. “But, I see the church “pressing the reset button.”
As the history of the Church bears witness, there are times, like the Reformation, when the Church has to be “reset” back on course after straying off course. “It has been said that Martin Luther reset the theology of the Church,” Doug says. “This “new reformation” is one that will reset the form of the Church.”
November 4, 2009
“He is the God of the impossible. He is going to use the children of the African diaspora to go back home and reach those in the ‘motherland’ with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” wrote Rev. Terrence Nichols, president of the C&MA Association of African-American Churches, in the February 2008 issue of alife.
Rev. Nichols connected deeply with the Senegalese during an Alliance missions trip to the West African nation two years ago. An emotional tour of Senegal’s Goree Island-”the island with the door of no return”-the last stop for most West Africans forced into the global slave trade, solidified his and his team’s resolve to return to Senegal with fellow African-American believers from the United States.
A Vision Fulfilled
Bridge Senegal 2009 is the fruition of that dream. Through a partnership between the C&MA’s African-American Association, Short-Term Missions Office, and 16 Alliance missionaries and Senegalese church leaders, Alliance African-American community members are taking Christ’s love to the people of Senegal, November 5-15.
Nichols, pastor of New Hope Church Community in Vallejo, California, and an Alliance board member, is co-leading the trip with Donna Baptiste, a former Alliance missionary to Mali, evangelist for the Alliance Metropolitan District, and president of Donna Baptiste Ministries.
“For more than 10 years,” she says, “I prayed that one day, as in the days of A. B. Simpson, there would be a groundswell of African-American missionaries serving in the C&MA.”
Trip Details
During the first portion of the trip, Bridge Senegal 2009 team members will learn the history of African Americans in C&MA missions. During the second phase of the 16-day outreach, team participants will minister side-by-side with Alliance international workers and Senegalese church leaders. Community ministry will include training seminars with the local church, evangelism, and outreach to the homeless, imprisoned, and infirm.
Pastor Nichols will share his reflections about Bridge Senegal 2009 in the February 2010 issue of alife.
Learn More
Read Pastor Nichols’ article “No Language But Love” in the February 2008 online issue of alife.
Check out the Short-Term Missions Office Web site.
November 3, 2009
By Ed and Sue Danneker, serving in Thailand
Praise God for the eight children who joined us each day for our weeklong Vacation Bible School (VBS) in October. We used the “Wordless Book,” a color-coded evangelistic device, throughout the week to present the gospel to the children. After Wednesday’s lesson on “red,” symbolizing the blood of Christ that cleanses us from sin, a sixth grader named Baan asked Fely, our missionary colleague, if Buddha could wash her sins away. Fely answered that Buddha teaches us to be good people but only Jesus can wash our sins away. Baan was definitely interested in having Jesus do that.
On Thursday Noi Na, another colleague of ours, taught the “white” lesson on how we can pray to ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sin and become new in Christ. The four girls sitting on the front row of the mat were intently following her every word. God really anointed Noi Na for that day’s message. The four girls wanted to pray to have Jesus wash their sins away.
A Vivid Contrast
As Noi Na began to lead the girls in prayer, a monk from China who was begging for money approached the front of the church where Ed was seated. I (Sue) began praying that Ed would be able to quickly and quietly have the monk move on without disturbing the children. It was such a vivid picture of the spiritual battle for the children between the former ways and the Jesus way. The children’s backs were to the monk, and they were so intent on what Noi Na was telling them that they did not turn around. Praise God! Ed managed to have the Chinese monk move on, and the four girls did pray to receive salvation in Jesus.
What You Can Do
Pray for the follow-up of these children. Already, Baan is eagerly doing some children’s Bible studies and reading more about Jesus.
Thank you for your generous gifts to the Great Commission Fund of the C&MA, which supplies what we need to live and minister in Thailand.
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Thailand.
October 16, 2009
By Ken and Kathy Young, serving in Japan
Editor’s Note: Ken and Kathy Young are reaching out to ordinary people in the Hiroshima region of Japan through Hope House, a holistic ministry geared toward helping families of patients in the medical center, as well as Bible studies. The following is an adaptation of a recent update from the Youngs.
Sometimes we feel like we are living in someone else’s missionary story. Events brought on by God’s leading stun us.
Recently, we led a Bible study in the farming village of Daiwa Cho, a 40-minute drive from home up mountain roads and through valleys tiered on both sides with rice fields and pine- and bamboo-covered peaks. The drive is breathtaking, but the evangelistic Bible study is awesome.
The study meets in the home of a Christian family. About a third of those who attend are Christians. The other two thirds are not just non-Christians; until now, these Buddhists and Shintoists had never heard the gospel. Many are influential farmers in their 80s.
During the first two sessions, 12 people attended; 16 came yesterday. People bring other friends each time. In fact, we were told afterward that one of the non-Christian women publicly announced the Bible study and invited people to come during the area’s gathering for Buddhists.
Ready for Good News
Explaining the gospel to regular folks who had never heard anything about Jesus before is not just a privilege but also a thrill. For example, yesterday we read Mark 2:1-12, the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man who was carried by four men and then lowered through the roof in front of Jesus. We emphasized what Mark recorded: Jesus has authority to heal, but more than that, He has authority to forgive sins.
In the Japanese Bible, the first page of the account ends with Jesus saying to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” I read that out loud and then asked, “So, what happened?” As everyone turned the page, I heard some of the people gasp. Then, a couple of them, filled with wonder, quietly said the next words: “He got up.”
Friends, this is fun! How privileged we are to be telling the good news of Jesus to people who really have not heard and are completely open. And, the fun increases. Maybe we are at the starting point of a movement of people to Christ in an area where, up until now, only the worship of spirits prevailed.
Please continue to pray for all of us missionaries in Japan. We work in the country. Others on our team work in mammoth cities. But all of us are taking the good news of Jesus to people who are part of the largest Unreached People Group in the world. We are witnessing for Christ to people who have never heard and likely will never hear unless we tell them.
Thank you for praying. Thank you for giving. Keep up your good work. We all will continue to do ours.
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Japan.
What You Can Do
Help keep Alliance workers like Ken and Kathy Young on the field. Donate now to Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
October 14, 2009
By Ruth Davis and Jo Kiel, serving in Brazil
Editor’s Note: Jo Kiel, an Alliance missionary to Brazil, has developed a dynamic ministry. In evangelistic fashion seminars, Jo demonstrates the use of colors to accentuate outer beauty and introduces women to Jesus, the Master Painter, who can make them beautiful on the inside. Over the years she has interacted with hundreds of women during presentations in tennis clubs, universities, government offices, and private homes. Several recent events were organized by Ruth Davis, who serves with The Alliance in Sao Paulo.
During a week of presenting “Inner and Outer Beauty” seminars, we were privileged to come in contact with more than 130 women in six different venues, including 65 women who indicated that they wanted to give their lives to the Creator, Jesus Christ. Also, 18 people wanted to start Bible studies.
For the second time, we went to a business club and were well- received. The club members mentioned that they desired to make this an annual event. We had 35 women present, and 23 indicated that they wanted to give their lives to Christ.
Thursday was our double header as we presented the seminar at the Federal Revenue Department of Brazil with women who were paid to listen to the message. Ruth asked for a double anointing, and God answered. We had 35 people present with 26 indicating they wanted to give their lives to Christ. We received an open invitation from the deputy to come back anytime. God willing, we will. Later that day, we presented the seminar at a hair salon where participants were packed in like sardines.
At the end of each seminar, we gave out door prizes including accessories, beauty products, Christian books, and a pink women’s devotional Bible, which the women seem to love more than anything else. We prayed that the right person would be chosen to receive each gift.
We could not be doing this ministry without your partnership in praying and giving. So when we see results like this, we want to share them with you as you are here with us in the Spirit as we live the call together. We are thankful to God for putting you in our lives. May He richly bless you!
Learn More
Check out our Alliance work in Brazil.
Watch a video about Jo Kiel’s ministry to women.
What You Can Do
Please pray . . .
- for effective follow up of all who attended the seminars and for God’s direction in planning the next week of color events in March 2010
- that God will continue to open doors into women’s lives through this innovative outreach
- that all who hear the message of inner beauty through a relationship with Jesus will receive Him as Savior
Help keep Alliance workers on the field. Donate now to Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
October 9, 2009
The following is an adaptation of Jessica Schaeffer’s recent newsletter to her supporters.
On Monday, Oct. 5, the 5,000th baby was delivered at Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children, less than three and a half years since our May 2006 opening here in Mali!
What a privilege it is to make a difference in the lives of many moms and babies at this hospital, in a country rated by the organization Save the Children to be one of the worst in the world to be a mother or child.
Preventing Double Tragedies
Recent research shows that more than two million babies and mothers die worldwide each year as a result of complications during childbirth. Each death is a double tragedy, since nearly all of these deaths could be prevented.
Koutiala Hospital has daily opportunities to prevent these double tragedies. And as we provide good medical care, we have open doors into the hearts and lives of people who need Jesus. One example is Nana.
My friend Nana (a Tired Mom)
Last fall Nana delivered triplets at her home in Koutiala with the help of her teenage daughters. She hadn’t received any prenatal care, so didn’t know she was having triplets. Maybe since she’d already had three sets of twins, having more than one baby wasn’t a big shock?
Her triplets were quite small, about three pounds each. One of Nana’s friends told her she should bring them to our hospital to be checked (we have a growing reputation as the place to bring premature babies). So a few days after their birth, Nana arrived here with her triplets and spent the next six weeks at our hospital.
The family just barely manages to get by on the money her husband makes. (He travels to nearby towns on big market days to sell flip-flops.) So when the time came for the three babies to be discharged, one of my missionary colleagues covered the $200 bill. Nana and her husband sent their oldest son, 15, to work in another town in order try to earn a little money to help the family pay the bill.
Malian Family Struggles
In many ways, Nana and her family are a typical Malian family. They have a lot of children (with a few more multiple births than usual, although multiple births are more common in West Africa). A few of their kids died before reaching age five; meanwhile, about one in four Malian children die before this age.
In January 2009, a couple of months after the triplets-”Sara,” “Bintu,” and “Miriam”-were discharged from the hospital, Sara died. Realizing how sick her baby was, Nana was taking her to a nearby health clinic when the infant expired.
Survival
I was very upset when I learned this, but when I visited Nana a week or so later, I was surprised at how accepting she was of the loss of another child. Like many Malians, life for Nana is about survival, and she must keep on going to care for the rest of her family. She was just as warm and gracious as always.
Nana doesn’t yet know Jesus as her Savior. I’ve had opportunities to share the good news with her in my fairly functional, although elementary Bambara, and I’ve also given her a family Bible. She doesn’t know how to read (less than 30 percent of Malians older than age 15 are literate). But one of Nana’s older kids said they would read it to her.
Would you pray with me for Nana and her family? She is a dear friend, and she also represents so many other Malians whom I have grown to love, and whom God loves infinitely. He desires that they find life in His Son.
Thank you for praying for our hospital as we participate in what God is doing in Mali. Thanks, too, for your gifts to the Great Commission Fund, which supports me in my work.
What You Can Do
Please also pray for . . .
- The many patients who have heard the good news at Koutiala Hospital, that they will understand Jesus’ great love for them and give their lives to Him.
- My Malian and missionary colleagues who are working long hours with many difficult and sad cases during malaria season. Pray that God will protect them physically, spiritually, and emotionally from the attacks of Satan.
October 6, 2009
In our GoChurch series, Jim Blake, director for Alliance Redwoods Camp and Conference Grounds (ARCCG), describes the mission of his “congregation” within the camp community. ARCCG hosts churches and groups from all over California and beyond, providing God’s majestic redwood trees as the background for ministry.
Thousands of children and young adults experience authentic community each year at Alliance Redwoods Camp and Conference Grounds (ARCCG), where a Christian camping adventures have changed lives for more than 60 years.
At ARCG, nearly 1,000 young people make decisions for Christ annually as they receive ministry to the whole person and build relationships with God and with caring mentors. The camp environment breaks down social, economic, and cultural barriers that the traditional church setting struggles to overcome and provides a safe environment that is conducive to positive interactivity.
Catch Them While They Are Young
More than 85 percent of those who come to Christ do so before they reach the age of 18. Ten-year-old camper Josh,* whose biker father did not attend church, connected with Greg, one of the head cooks. Greg, sporting his biker regalia and is a chaplain for the Christian Motorcycle Association, spent the week building a relationship with Josh. As Josh left camp, Greg gave him his card for Josh’s dad.
Filled with excitement about his week at camp, Josh gave Greg’s card to his dad, who was moved by his son’s experience and attended a local Alliance club meeting. Soon Josh’s entire family received Christ and all now are active church members who are growing in their newfound faith in Jesus.
Sarah was cutting herself. But the self-inflicted torment could not ease the pain in her heart. Camp counselor Natalie Romalia was asked to help. “When I approached Sarah, she told me that she was having a hard time because her mother had died,” said Romalia. “I brought up losing my brother to suicide, and Sarah said, ‘My mom committed suicide too.’”
That seemed to break the ice between a hurting teenage girl and a high school camp counselor. Natalie’s willingness to share her pain with Sarah immediately built a bridge of hope between the two women.
“We talked longer, and I prayed with her that afternoon,” said Natalie. ”That night when other teens were sharing their testimonies, Sarah asked, ‘Would it be okay if I shared?’ I said sure! She stood up and shared a little bit of her story with everyone.”
Sarah’s youth pastor believes this is the beginning of a big breakthrough in her life. At this particular high school camp, too many students to count came to the front during ministry time, weeping with sorrow for their sins and praising God for His unconditional love.
No Boundaries
The impact of ARCCG does not begin and end in California. Part of our vision is to become an international training and sending center for The Alliance, taking Alliance camping worldwide. Every winter since 2002, ARCCG has hosted a month-long camp in South Africa that has ministered to more than 6,000 impoverished children. More than 50 percent of them have indicated a desire to have a personal relationship with Christ. Many of these children have AIDS and will never see adulthood. Each one reached represents a life turned from despair to hope in Jesus Christ.
Germaine was a 12-year-old street kid, sniffing glue, selling drugs, and stealing to survive when he came to our first Camp South Africa (CSA) outreach in 2002. Germaine came to Christ during that camp and the following year, he testified that he was drug free, back in school, reading his Bible, and attending a local church-all with no parental care or supervision. It is amazing to observe what the transforming power of God can accomplish in the worst of human circumstances! Germaine now is a spiritually mature 17-year-old and worked as a camp counselor for CSA 2008 last December. He has a passion to reach others for Christ.
International camp workers receive training at ARCCG and go to mission fields like Russia, Romania, Paraguay, and Hawaii. They have a sense of urgency to fulfill the Great Commission and bring back the King. Requests for training abound from all over the globe, and expansion of this vision is limited only by our current financial resources, making your partnership a vital link to building the bridge to future generations.
Stories like Josh, Sarah, and Germaine’s abound at ARCCG, where we are living out The Alliance’s first core value: Lost people matter to God. He wants them found. Life circumstances may differ, but many lives are touched by God during camp!
Jim Blake has served as executive director of Alliance Redwoods Camp and Conference Grounds since 1998. His wife, Christine, is a physical therapist and member of the Camp South Africa 2007 team. College-age daughters Kate and Emily have been campers and summer staffers at Alliance Redwoods since moving to California.
Learn More
Read about Alliance camping ministries in the March issue of alife
Visit Alliance Redwood’s Web site.
What You Can Do
Pray for Jim Blake and his team as they work through daily details and plan for future ministry. Also, pray for the lives of those impacted for Jesus through ARCCG.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries
October 1, 2009
By TEAM Isaan
Editor’s Note: Team Isaan, a ministry of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, has a vision for an indigenous church-planting movement in three provinces of northeastern Thailand, where the largely unreached Isaan people live. A prison ministry has been introducing many incarcerated people to the gospel, and they are evangelizing their home villages upon their release. The following story shows the unexpected ways in which God has been at work through this dynamic ministry.
Two prisoners learned about Jesus through an inmate who, before he was incarcerated, had heard the gospel from EQ, a former inmate who now ministers with TEAM Isaan. EQ received Christ while in jail and has led 12 people in his home village to the Lord following his release.
Since the 12 people in EQ’s village were baptized, God has been using them in the most obscure ways to share His love with their fellow villagers and in neighboring villages. One of the most recent opportunities has led to a group of 15 people actively studying God’s story.
Scared and Hopeless
The 25-year-old son of one of the families that came to the Lord in EQ’s village was arrested with his friends. Though this young man had studied about God in some of the meetings, he hadn’t been attending regularly and had not accepted Christ. His friend was in possession of drugs, so both men were placed in a county prison cell while they waited to hear if they would appear before a judge. While in the cell, the young man met many other people who were scared and felt hopeless.
He began telling these prisoners about the hope that the people of his village had found in Jesus, even though he still has not chosen to believe in and accept Christ. Two people in the cell who were arrested for gambling became very interested in learning about this hope that he mentioned. So the prisoner told them to call EQ when they got out, and he would share with them about Jesus Christ.
Ready and Willing
A few weeks ago, the gamblers were released from the cell and called EQ. He challenged them to get their family and friends together, and he began sharing with them about God. For the past couple of weeks, 15 people (ages 25-45) have been learning stories about God. After they finished the story of Creation and the fall of man, EQ shared his personal testimony with them.
At first, he was a bit unsure if they would still respect him after he shared with them about this own past and formerly having been imprisoned. But as he challenged them to think about committing their lives to Christ, he said every single person in the group was ready and willing to make that decision. He even questioned them to make sure they knew what this choice meant, and all of them were able to explain that they knew they needed Jesus to save them and give them new life.
On October 14, this group will begin meeting together as a church. Pray that God will use this new fellowship of believers to reach others in their villages and in neighboring villages.
Learn More
Read an alife article about TEAM Isaan’s ministry.
What You Can Do
To help keep our missionaries in Thailand on the field, support Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
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