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.
Alliance congregations across the United States are taking new approaches to ministry, moving beyond just talking about Christ’s love to actually showing it. 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.
The Week of Service initiative began in 2005, when Gates offered to shampoo carpets at a local school. Other church members cleaned windshields at a grocery store and distributed complimentary water bottles at community functions.
“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 Gates. “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.”
Open Doors
Since these outreaches began, many civic groups and individuals have solicited the church’s help. As the requests come into the church for projects in the community, church members go out and serve-free of charge. They have painted 10 classrooms and shampooed carpets in a local school, saving the school district hundreds of dollars. A deck has been built, ground tilled, and grass planted
“A widow was grateful when some of our people helped her burn a huge pile of brush behind her home,” Gates says. She was amazed to receive all of the help without being charged. Other people in the community, who are not members of Crossroads Church, have joined to help out with projects just to be part of the excitement.”
Heather, a single mother, started attending Crossroads recently. “I can relate to a church that reaches out to others instead of just taking care of its own needs,” she says. “That’s why I’m here with my daughter, and that’s what I want to be a part of.” Heather now wants to do something to help someone else soon!
The doors are open for cross-cultural outreach as well. During the weekend of September 12-13, 2009, Crossroads Church hosted “Booth of Hope” at a Latino festival in town, giving away bottles of water and New Testament Bibles.
“We want to be involved in cross-cultural events in order to engage their culture,” Gates says. “We want to share God’s love in tangible ways and be ‘Jesus with skin on’ in our community.”
Learn More
Read how other U.S. Alliance churches are impacting their communities
What You Can Do
Pray for open hearts as the Crossroads family interacts with their friends and neighbors.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
September 24, 2009
By Betsy Blanchard, serving in Granada, Spain
The following is an adaptation of Betsy Blanchard’s recent update about the Cinderella’s House ministry, her God-given vision to address the overwhelming needs of Spain’s sex-traffic victims.
An estimated 350,000 women in Spain are hidden behind the doors of more than 2,000 legal brothels called “Alternative Clubs.” Mostly illegal immigrants, these women are enslaved to satisfy the appetites of an estimated 40 percent of Spain’s male population who seek their services regularly.
Prayer!
I have been doing intensive research and strategic planning to best meet the needs of these women in crisis. God has given me many important insights. What has been overwhelmingly clear is that when God calls one to this ministry:
- He opens doors that no man can close
- It’s slow and hard work; and
- In order to succeed PRAYER, PRAYER, PRAYER is needed.
If you embark in this type of ministry, make sure you have many praying people supporting you in this spiritual battle! This is the only way forward, for it is only Christ who can break the bondage and bring new life among those ensnared in the sordid sex-trafficking business.
As I continue to learn about the horrors of sexual exploitation and the situation in Spain, God has reminded me as well of two things I’d like to share with you.
Our Biblical Heritage
In the late 1800s, Alliance founder Dr. A. B. Simpson was moved by the unmet needs of the marginalized. Leaving a lucrative pastorate in a well known church, he established the Gospel Tabernacle in New York City. God led the church to embark on new approaches for that day to reach the lost, including a number of street prostitutes. Many of these destitute women found new life and hope in Jesus as a result.
My prayer is that Cinderella’s House will follow not only this heritage, but the mandate of our Savior, who also loved and cared for prostitutes!
Divine Healing for the Whole Person:
Dr. Simpson also believed whole-heartedly in Jesus as our Divine Healer; this, too, is part of our Alliance heritage. Women caught in prostitution and sex trafficking-the overwhelming majority of whom have suffered physical, emotional, and especially childhood sexual abuse-desperately need Jesus’ healing touch.
Lied to from their earliest memories, many of these women have distorted thinking that has trapped them in a cycle of hopelessness and vulnerability hard to understand and harder still to break. Since their life experiences define “love” in destructive ways, the “Good News” is a concept almost beyond their comprehension. A lasting demonstration of God’s love through a deep, divine touch from the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of their hearts and to heal the most damaged places in their lives is desperately needed.
Prayer and Fasting
In order to break such bondage our Heavenly Father calls us to fast, “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness,” (Isaiah 42:7).
The 4th Annual International Weekend of Prayer and Fasting for the Victims of Sex Trafficking is September 25-27. Will you join me and believers worldwide to fast and pray for at least one meal that weekend on behalf of the victims of today’s slave trade-sex trafficking? If you are led to do so, please pray for
- God’s leading in the building of the Cinderella’s House ministry, and
- Freedom through Christ amongst the 350,000 women caught in sex trafficking in Spain.
Your faithful giving to Alliance Great Commission Ministries allows me the privilege and joy to serve in Spain, as we “Live the Call Together!”
You can also donate online to the Cinderella’s House project to help make this vital ministry a reality!
Learn More
Read another article about the Cinderella’s House ministry.
For additional suggestions on how to pray Sept. 25-27, check out the Salvation Army Web site
Please note that by clicking this link you will be leaving The Alliance website.
September 22, 2009
Burkina Faso’s government has placed land markers on the four corners of the Alliance-run Dorcas House property, reports Amy Nehlsen. “Praise the Lord with us! We have been praying for this for three years, since this assures that the property is secured and is officially ours.”
The Nehlsen family serves with The Alliance in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Life-Saving Assistance
Fifteen young women live in the home in Ouagadougou where they receive literacy training and Christian discipleship as well as vocational skills training. Nearly 80 percent of females in Burkina are illiterate and face a life of deep physical and spiritual poverty without interventions like those Dorcas House offers in Jesus’ Name.
Amy asks for continued prayer and protection for house residents. Last week a five-foot snake was killed in one of the dormitories on the property. “We rejoice in the protection of the Lord on the girls,” she concludes.
Learn More
Read about the spiritual awakening at Dorcas House earlier this year.
Check out our Alliance work in Burkina Faso.
What You Can Do
Donate now to Alliance Great Commission Ministries! Help to ensure that workers like the Nehlsens can continue to share the love of Christ with those who are destitute and without hope.
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