March 11, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Christian and Missionary Alliance has launched a new program that offers young adults the opportunity to experience cross-cultural missions firsthand. Praxis is a network of C&MA ministry sites with the same purpose: to develop a generation of leaders who can impact the world by living out authentic faith. The program focuses on three core values: spiritual formation, service, and community. It aims at cultivating a missions-centered lifestyle while building into young adults the Alliance DNA of deeper spiritual life and missions.
As part of the Global Ventures family of programs, Praxis is for people between the ages of 19 and 31, who are willing to invest six months to a year at a Praxis Community in the United States or overseas. The main purpose of the program is to “strategically connect with young adults in Alliance congregations who desire to serve cross-culturally but dont know where to start,” said Doug Bortner, northeast regional representative for Candidate Development.
Current Praxis locations include Mexico, Costa Rica, the Middle East, Gabon, and Portland, Oregon. Faith and character will be formed within the context of community as participants engage in Christ’s mission. “The program will take participants outside their comfort zones and expand their worldviews,” said Bortner.
Through Praxis, Alliance leaders will have the opportunity to invest in the lives of young adults through mentoring and coaching. “Through these relationships, they will be able to discern and discover who God made them to be,” said Bortner.
Praxis is not for believers who already have committed to overseas ministry. “It is more for those who are not sure what the missionary call looks like but who want to invest their lives in something that counts,” said Bortner. “Participants will come back ready to plug into churches or other areas of ministry. They will be more engaged, whatever the venue, whether it’s the local church or overseas.”
For more information, visit www.cmalliance.org/serve/praxis.
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Becky Gorton, Global Ventures Office
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2037
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: global-ventures@cmalliance.org
Web: www.cmalliance.org/serve/praxis
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January 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
After years of obstacles that hindered expansion of Christian radio ministry, Gospel Radio Burkina has grown from one station to four in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second-largest urban center in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Eric Eshbaugh, who oversees Christian radio for The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in West Africa, is helping to establish a station in Tougan and will soon set up two others in Nouna and Banfora.
With the additional radio stations, countless people in Burkina’s isolated villages will be able to hear the good news of Jesus through this medium, which reaches areas that missionaries have yet to penetrate with the gospel. “A young nomadic man outside of town was listening to a C&MA broadcast on a handheld, solar-powered radio while tending his herd,” says Eshbaugh. “The man made a decision to follow Christ and is now reciting Scripture and sharing God’s truth without even being able to read. In a place where no church exists, the radio is his Bible and the link to his spiritual growth.”
Solar-powered radio often is the only way that nationals can be informed of current events, public health issues, or refugee-assistance programs. “With more than an 80-percent illiteracy rate in parts of Africa, local FM radio allows listeners to hear the written Word of God, spoken in their particular dialect, and allows for aural education and training in areas of development,” said Eshbaugh. Radio in Africa has opened lines of communication that once had been closed, making way for millions to hear the gospel. The Christian and Missionary Alliance is at the forefront of this frontier ministry in Africa, reaching across ethnic borders and language barriers to bring the good news to uncharted territory.
“[The Alliance has] 16 stations in French-speaking West and Central Africa,” said Eshbaugh. “These have coverage of up to 50 miles. Each station has three objectives: to evangelize the lost people of their community, to edify the body of believers, and to educate listeners in matters of health, hygiene, and agricultural training.”
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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September 20, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Christian and Missionary Alliance congregations around the United States are taking new approaches to ministry, moving beyond just talking about Christ’s love to actually showing it. Medford Neighborhood Church in Medford, Oregon; Crossroads Church in Perry, Iowa; New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in Maywood, Illinois; and Acts 29 Fellowship in Hamtramck, Michigan, are causing their communities to take notice.
Medford Neighborhood Church hosted a “Meet and Greet Your Public Servants” night, featuring a free barbeque dinner. Pastor Lee Gregory described the event as a way of saying thank you to those who provide public services to the community. The mayor, city manager, sheriffs’ deputies, and city council members attended, along with police, search and rescue personnel, and firefighters. Police Chief Randy Schoen told one local TV news reporter, “This type of event builds community. It makes [our city] a better, safer, and more fun place to live, so I encourage [these kinds of gatherings].”
Crossroads Church Pastor Rick Gates shampooed carpets at a local school. Other church members cleaned windshields at a grocery store and distributed complimentary water bottles at community functions. Since these outreaches began, many civic groups and individuals have solicited the church’s help.
At New Beginnings, Pastor David Torres met with the mayor of Maywood and several other public officials from nearby Chicago suburbs to discuss how the church can best serve the community. Of the 80 churches in the city, the mayor told Torres that none has ever offered its services. “He was excited about working with our church and agreed to shut down the church’s street for a day to hold a back-to-school festival,” says Torres.
Acts 29’s outreach to Hamtramck, a suburb of Detroit, involves numerous programs. From hosting summer camps for inner-city kids, restoring dilapidated houses, teaching English to Middle Eastern immigrants, and offering after-school homework classes, the church has earned the respect of residents and community leaders alike.
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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September 5, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After an exceptional year of earnings on invested reserves, The Alliance Development Fund (ADF), a support ministry of The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), gave a gift of more than $1 million to Alliance churches and other ministries that have ADF loans. Each ministry received an amount equal to the interest portion of one monthly payment. “As God has blessed ADF,” says President Larry McCooey, “we want to bless those churches and ministries that He has entrusted to us.”
ADF provides loans to Alliance churches to build or acquire facilities. The C&MA subsidiary’s ministry focus allows loan interest rates to be as low as possible, while paying investors competitive rates of return, covering operating costs and building reserves to keep ADF financially strong.
These gifts meet ADF’s core values—serving Alliance churches and giving back when it can. Churches appreciate the unexpected gift. Pastor Stephen Kroh, from Emmanuel Alliance Church in Maryland, and his prayer group had just finished praying for their students attending LIFE and financial needs. “I checked the mailbox as my wife and I left the church and found the ADF check,” said Kroh. “I told my wife, ‘We just prayed for this!’”
South Pacific District Superintendent Don Brust shared the amazement of many beneficiaries. “I have never heard of anyone getting a gift refund from a lending institution before,” he said. “Thank you for modeling stewardship from God’s blessings!”
ADF offers investment options for members or friends of the Alliance family and provides free Internet banking services for ADF investment partners. Currently, ADF has approximately 6,200 investors, and a growing number of people are realizing that they can maximize their stewardship impact by making their investments do “double duty”—helping C&MA churches while receiving a competitive rate of return.
For more information about The Alliance Development Fund, visit www.adf-inc.com.
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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August 28, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VALLEJO, Calif. – Adolescent children in California who have lost parents to AIDS are finding hope through a strategic Alliance outreach. Camp Hope hosts children from the Vallejo, California, area, many of whom are in foster care. Terrance Nichols, pastor of the northern California city’s New Hope Church Community and president of the Association of African-American Churches of the C&MA, established the program to impact disenfranchised children who may never hear about Jesus.
The six-week summer program includes group discussions, Bible stories, and project lessons to help the young people put into practice what they have learned. Recreation is a key ingredient to the recipe of building relationships with the initially reserved youth. Field trips to the San Francisco Zoo, the Vallejo Museum of Naval History, and Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk bring excitement and wonder into their lives.
“It is always amazing to see these youngsters have their eyes opened to possibilities that God may have for them,” Nichols says. “We do not view the field trips as just a fun time, but we challenge them to set high goals for themselves in life.”
“Camp Hope requires a lot of time and patience,” says Nichols, “especially if campers have lost their parents to AIDS or are estranged from them. But the Lord has blessed us with an extremely effective ministry.”
After a week or two, some campers feel safe enough to express their feelings of loss. “One girl cried, saying that she misses her dad and wants him back,” says Nichols. “Two sisters who recently lost their father shared how the camp has helped them to cope.”
The 2007 summer ministry culminated with three young people giving their hearts to the Lord, seven rededicating their lives to Him, and three families joining New Hope Church Community. “Five youth are praying about full-time ministry,” says Nichols, “and two of them want to be missionaries. The Lord worked miraculously this year.”
For more information about Camp Hope, contact Pastor Nichols at revnich@prodigy.net. Read a related article By Terrence Nichols»
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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July 25, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ORLANDO, Fla. – The AIDS crisis, famine, unclean drinking water, and inadequate medical care are just a few of the daunting problems facing Africa. And students in The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) are responding to the continent’s overwhelming physical and spiritual needs. At LIFE 2007, a C&MA youth event, 7,500 high schoolers and sponsors descended on Orlando, Florida, July 3–7, to experience Christ and be challenged to expand His Kingdom. The five-day conference featured Project 132 (1 continent to expose, 3 hours to entertain, 2 ways to engage), an event designed to connect students with the C&MA’s ongoing work in Africa.
A total of $117,280 was collected in a cash offering for Project 132. Many of the teens were moved to give their own personal belongings—watches, jewelry, iPods, a Nintendo Game Boy, a compact disc player, a camera, and a camcorder. Students also donated first-aid equipment, clothing, linens, hygiene items, eyeglasses, school supplies, French Bibles, New Testaments, and more to fill a 40-foot shipping container that is being sent to Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Another major emphasis of the conference was service to the community. “Outreach was an integral part of LIFE 2007,” says Jerry Mapstone, LIFE’s executive director. Student teams made their mark on the city by working with Hands on Orlando. One group cleaned and painted a local school, while others worked alongside two Alliance church plants to help them impact their neighborhoods by meeting practical needs.
In addition, “The C&MA’s effort to identify and develop the next generation of missionaries and pastors was strong at LIFE,” says Carl McGarvey, director for Candidate Development at the U.S. C&MA National Office in Colorado Springs, Colorado. About 1,200 young people went forward during the Saturday morning missions service to commit to serving the Lord in full-time ministry.
For more information on LIFE 2007, visit the Alliance Youth Web site:www.alliance-youth.com.
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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July 19, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After a U.S. missions investment of more than 70 years, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) national church in Gabon is moving full circle from being a recipient of Christian missions to being a partner in sending missionaries to unreached peoples. “These churches are fully organized with official recognition from the Gabonese government,” says Bob Fetherlin, vice president for International Ministries at the U.S. C&MA National Office in Colorado Springs. “They are able to support financially their own pastors and leaders. As the largest family of evangelical churches in the country, they are taking the initiative to plant new churches and reach into new areas with the gospel.”
The Alliance churches of Gabon have a world missions center focusing on cross-cultural ministry. Also, they also have a training strategy in place that includes a Bible institute campus and a strong theological education by extension program. They sent their first missionary couple to Cameroon.
“Over the next two years, our U.S. mission personnel will be transitioning to other countries,” says Fetherlin. On July 21, a celebration in Gabon will acknowledge this major change. The primary purpose of this event is to honor the churches of Gabon for maturing to the place that the U.S. C&MA no longer needs to place long-term church-planting missionaries in the country. Alliance leaders also will reassure the C&MA churches in Gabon of a continuing ministry relationship.
The U.S. missions staff at Bongolo Hospital, which is affiliated with The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Gabon, will remain in the country until 2015 to work through transition issues.
The Alliance is a fellowship of evangelical believers joined together in local churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ’s Great Commission.
CONTACT:
Mike Saunier, Director for Communications
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
719-265-2009
Fax: 719-599-8234
E-mail: saunierm@cmalliance.org
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