December 22, 2011
By Alliance international workers
Our three children, ages 6 to 11, attend a gated national school in the country where we serve. We try to include our boys in ministry as much as possible, and they have opened doors to reach people with the message of Jesus. Two Christmases ago, we invited the teachers from their school to a Christmas party in our home. A few faculty members came, and among them was the assistant principal.
Our boys met them at the door and then took them around the house, pointing out the various decorations and explaining their meaning. They showed them the Nativity scene and told the story of Jesus’ birth; they explained how we use the Advent candles.
Having previously thought that Christmas was about Santa Claus, the assistant principal was enthralled. He came to us later that evening, saying, “Wow—I did not know Christmas had so much meaning. Our kids in school don’t know that this is what Christmas is all about. Would you put this presentation on a DVD for me?” After more dialogue, we discovered that he needed it in 36 hours and intended to show it to the entire student body and faculty on Christmas Day!
So our boys worked with their tutor to script this Christmas presentation for the entire school, narrating the DVD in the national language. It was played the following year as well. We can’t get into the gated school, but God made a way for the students to hear about Jesus through our children.
What You Can Do
Pray for Alliance workers around the world.
Partner with Alliance workers to share the light of Christ—Immanuel—with those living in spiritual darkness. Be Light—give to the Great Commission Christmas offering!
*Look for the upcoming January 15 issue of alife, which includes stories about the impact of children’s ministries.
December 15, 2011
By Jessica Schaeffer, RN, serving at Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children, Mali, West Africa
The following is an adapted excerpt from Jessica’s recent update.
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”) [Matthew 1:23].
In the challenges of these past months, I’ve often reminded myself, “Jesus is with me right now.” What a gift to know that He will never leave me or forsake me. I am not alone because of Immanuel, God with us. And what a joy it is to see others come to know the Gift, to enjoy the presence of Jesus in their lives.
God with Salif
Salif came to our hospital a year ago looking for help. The teenager had been in a moped accident two years previously and broken the bone in his thigh (femur). He hadn’t received proper care, so a piece of bone was sticking through his skin and chronically infected. Salif spent a lot of time watching Christian films during his hospital stay.
Ever since his discharge from the hospital last spring, he has come to church with me. Just recently, God answered our prayers: Salif decided to follow Christ!
A few days ago he visited me, discouraged because his father continues to verbally persecute him for having become a Christian and has threatened to kick him out. After missing school since his accident, Salif was finally back in school, until a few weeks ago when his father pulled him out . . . apparently a consequence of his profession of faith in Jesus.
As I talked with Salif, I kept reminding him that even in the difficult things he is facing, he is never alone—God is with him, and at any moment, we can cry out to Him for help.
Pray for Salif, that he will grow in his faith, and that He will know God’s presence with him, even in the midst of rejection and persecution from his family.
It is a joy to see others find Jesus and experience God’s presence with them always. Thanks for your important part in helping people to know and experience Immanuel. May you know His love and presence today—and every day.
What You Can Do
Pray for Alliance workers the world over. “Although life has been rich and full over these past months,” Jessica wrote this fall, “I’ve also been fairly overwhelmed with my workload. Sometimes the pressure is great, and I feel ready to despair. But my hope is set on Jesus, who I know will continue to help me through your prayers.”
Partner with Alliance workers like Jessica to share the light of Christ—Immanuel—with those living in spiritual darkness. Be Light—give to the Great Commission Christmas offering!
December 9, 2011
Over the 2011 Thanksgiving Weekend, a fire truck—previously used by the New York City Fire Department—was transported to a New Jersey port to begin its ocean journey to Africa via cargo ship. Its mission: to serve the C&MA’s Bongolo Hospital and the surrounding community of Lebamba. The fire truck is scheduled to arrive in Gabon in early 2012.
“What a blessing this fire truck will be, not only for our hospital, but [also] for the local Gabonese!” exclaimed Dr. Keir Thelander, the hospital’s medical director. “Not long ago there was a fire in a nearby village; bystanders just watched as unsuccessful attempts were made to put the fire out with buckets of water—a fire truck could easily have put it out in minutes.”
Hospital Fire Spurs Action
After witnessing a fire that had greatly damaged Bongolo Hospital’s warehouse in 2009, Dave and Diann Conquest (parents of Keir’s wife, Joanna), returned home to Pittsford, N.Y., where they commenced an exhaustive search for a fire truck on eBay®. After placing a bid, the couple purchased the 1975 Mack CF600 Pumper 6-Cylinder vehicle for $3,175!
Since July 2010, the Conquests have helped to raise more than $20,000 to cover the cost for necessary repairs, supplies, and shipping the truck to Africa. Contributions have come in from the community, including local fire departments, and beyond.
The 158-bed Bongolo Hospital is more than 200 miles from the nearest fire station. In addition to its busy surgery, maternity/pediatrics, and outpatient departments, the hospital has a nursing school, a dental clinic, and an eye surgery clinic. As of November 11, a reported 1,111 people had received Jesus as Savior through the hospital’s ministry in 2011.
What You Can Do
Give to the Great Commission Fund. Partner with Alliance workers like the Thelanders to share the light of Christ with those living in spiritual darkness.
Learn more about Bongolo Hospital’s powerful witness in Gabon.
Watch a YouTube video about the fire truck’s journey to Africa, including an interview with the Conquests. Note: Clicking on this URL will take you off of the C&MA Web site.
December 6, 2011
By Ed and Sue Danneker, serving in Thailand
The floods that have ravaged Thailand for the last several months are finally starting to abate. The waters have been in and around Bangkok for more than a month and are quite putrid. It became common to see hundreds of cars parked along elevated highways to escape the floods. People barricaded their homes and businesses with sandbags or cinder block walls in an almost futile attempt to keep the waters out.
Praise God; many areas are finally drying out, and clean-up has begun. However, some communities, especially in north Bangkok, still have a lot of water in their homes. The waters continue to slowly be drained into the sea. We are very thankful that the flood waters never reached Mahachai. It is good to see the stores once again at almost full stock. Pray for those who are still suffering and for the extensive clean-up and repairs that need to happen.
A Flood of Teens
After the regular mid-year school break in October, the schools were closed for an additional three or four weeks because of the floods. But since Mahachai was dry, there were a lot of kids with a lot of time on their hands. So the group of teenagers who have been coming to our church to learn guitar, keyboard, and practice their band started dropping in almost every day. And the teenagers invited their friends to come to church and “hang out.” It stretched Pastor Somkit and his wife, Suda, who live on the third floor of the church’s store front building, but they embraced the young people with open arms. The teens are getting so comfortable at church that they even prepare meals together in the church kitchen.
Pastor Somkit and Suda have been able to disciple the new believers: Ploy, Gick, and Pet, all in ninth grade. The kids finally started school on November 21. Several of them still stop by the church after school to hang out for a while before heading home. Please pray for each of these precious teenagers, that each one will come to saving faith in Christ. About six of them come to church each Sunday.
The youth group came over to our house on Saturday, December 3, for the regular weekly outreach time. They were treated to Sue’s “famous” homemade pizza. Pray that the good news of Jesus will penetrate open and receptive hearts.
What You Can Do
Praise God that the flood waters have receded and for the new ministry opportunities among teens. Pray that the new believers will grow strong in their faith. And pray for Alliance workers worldwide.
Donate to the Great Commission Fund. In doing so, you partner with workers like Ed and Sue to share the Light of Christ with people young and old.
December 5, 2011
By Laura and Jeter Livingston, serving at West Africa Alliance Theological Seminary (FATEAC), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
The following is an adapted excerpt of a recent update from the Livingstons that describes FATEAC’s state of ministry since failed presidential elections took place in Côte d’Ivoire one year ago.
One year ago last week presidential elections were held that set off months of violence in Côte d’Ivoire that culminated in civil war, which left hundreds dead and tens of thousands emotionally traumatized. On that one-year anniversary, we celebrated the official opening of the new school year with great thanksgiving!
Many Reasons for Gratitude
Our joy was compounded at this event because we were blessed to have a recovering Isaac Keita (FATEAC’s dean who has undergone cancer surgery) welcome us to the worship service. Former church President Andre Kouadio preached the Word clearly, in spite of his age and ongoing battle with diabetes.
In surveying the students attending this event—faithful church leaders representing 12 countries and 20-plus denominations—we were thankful to God for giving us the privilege of being a part of this ministry. And we were thankful for you and your part in enabling this work through your prayers and giving.
Trauma Healing Update
Speaking of ministry . . . Laura has just finished writing a standardized curriculum for use in the Trauma Healing Seminars as well as a program for training facilitators. 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.
On the first trip (July 2011) to take the message of healing and reconciliation to Duekoue—a town in western Côte d’Ivoire where the worst war atrocities took place—the idea was born to create a booklet that could be given to those whom we have counseled. Lynell Zogbo (The Bible Society) compiled the text, and Marianne Sommer (SIM) supplied the illustrations.
“My God, You Are the Light in My Night” helps the emotionally traumatized work through their grief as they interact with David’s Psalms of lamentations. The booklet is at the printer this week, and we plan to sell it at cost or, as funds become available, give it away to those still in the refugee camps here.
Last year at this time, we were daily battling fear and wondering what the future held. How good it is to look back and see that God never took His good hand off of us!
What You Can Do
Praise God for peace in Côte d’Ivoire after months of war. Please pray for peaceful legislative elections in December and for Isaac Keita’s complete healing. Pray also for Alliance workers worldwide.
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.
November 30, 2011
Dear Co-laborer for Christ,
The Board of Directors of The Christian and Missionary Alliance met in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 26–27, 2011. On occasion, the Board meets at a location away from the National Office in Colorado Springs. In this instance the Board members met at the Allegheny Center Alliance Church (ACAC) and were thrilled and challenged by the transformative urban ministries of this thriving congregation. This church is a faithful example of what God is doing through Alliance ministries around the world.
In addition to touring the work of ACAC, the Board reviewed numerous reports and acted on certain recommendations. The following is a summary: Funding our global vision is an ongoing challenge as we research ways of engaging a larger percentage of our Alliance family in advancing Christ’s Kingdom globally. It was a blessing, however, to be able to appoint 12 international workers to posts around the world, including creative-access regions. Also, funding has been approved for a Spanish edition of an updated All for Jesus, a history of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.
The idea of holding General Council overseas has been discussed but a committee has determined that it is not feasible at this time. Revisions to the local church Annual Report will allow this document to be completed online and will compile data in a manner that will be more useful to our congregations. A list of National Evangelists and Ministers-at-Large was approved for the next year.
The Office for Federal Chaplain Ministries will now be called Alliance Chaplain Ministries. Also, the director for Federal Chaplain Ministries will now be the executive director for Alliance Chaplain Ministries, and the assistant endorser for Alliance Institutional Chaplains is now the director for Alliance Institutional Chaplain Ministries.
The Office of Intercultural Ministries has been renamed the Office of Multicultural Ministries. This more accurately reflects the current constituency and ministry of our denomination.
The report of the Audit Review Committee was received for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. All financial practices were deemed to be sound and there were no recommendations for changes or improvements. The Board is also asking districts, colleges and supporting organizations to complete audits and reviews within 120 days and no longer than 180 days following the end of the fiscal year. The Board of Directors suggests that it is helpful to meet with auditors regularly during the year to avoid year-end surprises and also for district executive committees to meet with their auditors as part of the year-end audit or review process.
Other special committees reported to the Board and are continuing their work. The Board also received reports from several supporting organizations, including the following retirement communities: Chapel Pointe at Carlisle; The Christian and Missionary Alliance Foundation (Shell Point Village and DeLand); and Town and Country Manor. A fourth organization, The Orchard Foundation, also reported to the Board.
The next meeting will be February 22–23, 2012, in Colorado Springs. It is always refreshing to review the wide expanse of God’s work through our Alliance family. We thank God for each of you and solicit your prayer and labor for the increase of the Kingdom.
Rejoicing in Jesus,
David L. Goodin
Corporate Secretary
dlg/smc
The following is an adapted excerpt from an update by Dakar Academy staff, Evan and Jewel Evans, about the 2011 Thanksgiving weekend outreach in Senegal.
Outreach Summary:
- 1,000 people in 4 villages reached in evening evangelism campaigns; more than 200 decisions to follow Christ
- Children’s outreach team ministered to some 2,000 people in 10 villages
- Drama team ministered in 10 villages (“Best response ever!”)
- One church foundation dug and poured
- 573 bricks made by hand
- 1,800 liters of water pump-filtered by hand
- Mural painted in the village church of Diofane
- Inside of church painted in Bikol
- 283 patients treated by medical team
- 20 benches built by work crew
- Food crew fed 150 people 6 meals
GOD KNEW That . . .
Our medical team would encounter some difficult medical cases, so He sent us a doctor and a nurse from the United States to join us this year
Our water filtration system would break down, so He “just happened” to send us a brand new one with students from the States who joined the outreach
We would have three generators break down, but a first-time team member, who “just happened” to be a mechanic, was able to repair all three
Although we questioned why there was a last minute change of villages to conduct an evening campaign, an important person attended who committed his life to Christ. (A few others joined him after some time.) We had seen greater responses to the gospel in previous outreaches, but imagine our joy when we learned later that night that the first man who accepted Christ was the village chief!
GOD KNEW!
What You Can Do
Praise God for the successful outreach! Pray for the new believers to grow strong in their faith and for Alliance workers the world over.
Donate to the Great Commission Fund. In doing so, you partner with workers like Evan and Jewel to share the Light of Christ with those who live in spiritual darkness.
November 22, 2011
By Evan and Jewel Evans, serving at Dakar Academy, Senegal
The following is an excerpt from a recent update by the Evanses who serve at Dakar Academy—a boarding and day-school program (K-12) largely for the children of international workers. School chaplains, the Evanses head up outreach programs and discipleship ministries; they also serve as dorm administrators.
We are up to our eyeballs in preparations for our Thanksgiving outreach weekend. It is going to be a big group again this year—about 140 of us, including 15 students from Faith Christian Academy in Colorado Springs. There will also be 10–15 Senegalese pastors and laypeople who will join us in ministry when we arrive in the area.
We will be busy with a number of team ministries during daylight hours, including:
- A drama team and children’s ministry team that will travel to a number of villages
- One work team that will paint a church in Bikol (the church for which we laid the foundation and made bricks by hand in January).
- A team that will paint a mural on the front wall of a church in Diofane (the church we built in November 2010).
- Our medical team, which will include three nurses and a doctor who will minister in Diakhao; they will be joined by a team that will dig and lay a foundation as well as make bricks by hand.
- A small team that will build 20 benches for the new church.
In the evenings, we will be holding evangelism campaigns in the following villages:
- Fri., Nov. 25: Diakhao, Gandiaye, Poukham Tok
- Sat., Nov. 26: Mbelakadio, Ngouloul Peul, Mbouscene
On our way home Sunday morning, we plan to worship in the church that we helped build in Diofane during the fall of 2010. We’re looking forward to the blessing of worshipping with our African brothers and sisters and seeing the results of our labors there last year.
Please Pray
We will be serving in an area that is populated by followers of the predominant religion here and ministering in villages that have just begun to hear about Jesus. Please pray for open doors and open hearts. Pray against spiritual resistance and that God will prepare the way for us. Pray for protection in travel and at all the ministry sites.
November 16, 2011
Former Gangster Introduces Ex-Con to the Light
By Mark Edwards, serving in Taiwan
I didn’t think it likely that Jonathan would ever follow Christ! Entrenched in a mixture of Buddhist and Taiwanese folk religion beliefs from an early age, the 30-something car mechanic was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him hospitalized in a coma—and also resulted in the death of the man he had hit.
The police deemed Jonathan to be at fault. Unable to pay the heavy fine to the victim’s family, he chose a six-month prison sentence instead. It was after Jonathan was released, in spring 2010, that Taiwan team leader Don Kramer introduced me to him.
The very next week, I arranged for Jonathan to meet Peter, an intern from the Taiwan Alliance Theological College who was working with us on weekends. Previously, Peter had been a gangster involved in drugs. He had served a short prison sentence prior to coming to know Christ through Operation Dawn, a gospel-based drug rehabilitation program. Partly because of their shared background, Peter and Jonathan got along well together. Peter visited Jonathan almost every weekend for a year; I also visited him, on weekends and during the week.
Before the motorcycle accident, Jonathan had been involved in a bad car accident when he was 19. As he lay there on the ground, he had what he could only describe later as an “out of body” experience, in which he was looking down at himself from above. Because of his car accidents and his time in prison, Jonathan was now more open than the average person in our community to talk with our team about issues of faith. Nonetheless, in every conversation the focus quickly moved off of Jesus and onto Jonathan’s own accomplishments, abilities, good deeds, qualifications, and wisdom. Much to his credit, Peter never gave up on Jonathan—visiting, calling on the phone, and encouraging him to come every Sunday morning to our informal meeting.
A String of “Coincidences”
During summer 2010, while Peter was away on a summer missions trip, I hosted a short-term team from an Alliance church in northern Taiwan. One day I brought the pastor’s wife over to visit Jonathan. She told him that he was a “child of God.” She also counseled him to watch the Christian TV cable station to learn more about Christianity.
Just as she said this, I made a passing reference that our Bible student intern was away on a short-term trip. At that exact moment, Jonathan flipped the TV channel over to the Christian station. The person who appeared on the screen was none other than Peter, our Bible school intern! The station had put together a short program that shared how he and another person had turned from drugs to follow Jesus Christ.
The following week I visited Jonathan again. We laughed about how the previous week Peter had suddenly appeared on the TV precisely when we had been talking about him. At that moment, Jonathan flipped the channel to the local cable channel (not the Christian station), only to see a “Say No to Drugs” documentary featuring—you guessed it—our intern! Jonathan had the same experience a total of three times during that one-week period. God’s timing was impeccable.
No Longer Omnipotent
Jonathan’s attendance at meetings became more regular as we slowly made our way through the Book of Mark. Along the way, however, there were some serious theological misunderstandings. While the concept of “sin” had slowly sunk in, for a few weeks Jonathan mistakenly took the earlier admonition from the pastor’s wife that he was a “child of God” to mean that he himself was omnipotent!
A few weeks later, the Lord set the record straight: Jonathan was involved in yet another accident. Swerving to miss an old man who had pulled his scooter out onto the road without looking, Jonathan intentionally drove his car into a field. The car, a Mercedes belonging to Jonathan’s brother, rolled over and over again as it crashed through the field. The car was totaled. A building in the farmer’s field was also badly damaged. However, Jonathan himself emerged with only a few minor cuts and bruises on his arms. Most importantly, he no longer thought of himself as being omnipotent!
There were other semi-miraculous happenings that occurred along the way, and Jonathan decided soon after that he wanted to follow Jesus. I spent eight weeks helping Jonathan prepare for baptism. We baptized him on September 4.
Over the year and a half that Jonathan has been coming to our small group, Jonathan’s wife, sister, her husband and their three children, mother-in-law, and, more recently, Jonathan’s father and another relation have come to the group once or twice to check us out. In spite of their curiosity, they have yet to be drawn by the Holy Spirit to know God personally. Jonathan’s father and family members continue to be involved in temple activities, parades in the community and elsewhere that honor other gods, and the I-Kuan Tao “Pervasive Truth” religion, which incorporates elements from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Please pray for the seed of the gospel to take root in the hearts of Jonathan’s father and other family members. Pray also that the Holy Spirit would empower Jonathan daily to continue following Jesus—and Jesus alone. Pray, too, that God will bless Jonathan’s business so that he will be able to support his family as a faithful follower of Christ.
What You Can Do
Give to the Great Commission Fund. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers, like Mark Edwards, who are lighting the way for people trapped in spiritual darkness.
Pray for Alliance workers around the world.
Check out how your church can begin a Ministry Partnership with overseas Alliance workers.
November 7, 2011
The following is an excerpt from a report by Jimmy Jacks, a freelance photographer whose C&MA church affiliation is the Hollywood Hills (Florida) Alliance Church.
The water levels in flood-ravaged Cambodia are receding. But as the flood waters go down, the danger of disease rises. Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Communicable Disease Control Department at Cambodia’s health ministry, says the government is watching closely for any severe outbreaks of diarrhea or cholera. Kim Rattana, director of the NGO Caritas Cambodia, has raised concerns about the lack of clean drinking water and water-borne diseases in areas hit by the floods.
Mosquitoes are increasing as the flood waters recede. According to Rattana, malaria and dengue fever are now a big concern. Nhik Bunthuk, director of the Battambang Provincial health department, says the floods have led to disease among affected residents. They are suffering from diarrhea, fever, and the flu, but hospitalization appears rare.
Most displaced families are living in very poor conditions. Their homes have been severely damaged or destroyed, and they have lost all or most of their possessions. Most of these Cambodians live an agrarian subsistence lifestyle, and their crops and orchards have been destroyed. With their source of income gone, their options are bleak.
Please pray for the people of Cambodia and for our Cambodian pastors and churches as they struggle to minister to their hurting fellow countrymen. Pray that individual Christians as well as churches abroad will be led to help. And, pray that Christ will be magnified in the midst of all this.
What You Can Do
Your support through the Great Commission Fund helps keep Alliance workers in Cambodia and around the world, impacting multifaceted needs with the love of Jesus.
Pray for Alliance people around the world, including those in Cambodia.
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