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Here is a compelling testimony from Cape Town 2010 (the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization), which I attended in October 2010. This inspiring story challenges us to consider the price we would be willing to pay to see lost people come to Christ.
Dr. Billy Simbo (left) and the honorary degree.
Billy Simbo, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Theology degree from the Evangelical College of Theology in Sierra Leone (a school for which he once served as president). The degree was bestowed on Saturday, December 18.
Dr. Simbo will conclude is wrapping up his three years of service in Sierra Leone and will return to the United States on January 14, 2011.
Global Ministries is sponsoring two mission trips during the summer of 2011:
June 17-25: Honduras Medical Trip. This trip is open to medical personnel and a limited number of support personnel. It will be led by Robert and Fonda Cassidy, who are from the Mt. Olivet UB church of Mt. Solon, Va. Cost: $600 plus the cost of airfare.
June 24 – July 5: Poland English/Sports Camp. This trip is open to high-school aged students through adults. Participants will work with Polish teens in a camp atmosphere to improve their conversational English skills. There will also be time for informal teaching of basic sports skills. Cost: $700 plus the cost of airfare.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
In early October, I traveled to Turkey with Kurt Uhen, a member of Emmanuel and a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team. We were investigating opportunities for United Brethren involvement. I previously explained why we were looking at Turkey, and about I.N. Network, an organization which provided entrée to the country.
We spent the majority of our time in Eastern Turkey, which isn’t an area most ministries focus on, though IN Network does. We found some unique opportunities.
If you’re a Christian in the east, it seems that people notice. We found that among many of the Muslims we met. They would tell us stories like this: “When I was a little boy, my dad sent me to town to get farm implements. He told me to go to the Christian down the street, because he wouldn’t cheat us.”
One pastor in the east, whose congregation has its own building—it’s very important to have a physical presence—told us Muslims regularly come to the door. First, they want Bibles. Second, they want to know if any Christians at the church need a job, because Christians are trustworthy and don’t tell lies.
Moving a Turkish couple into a new community to start a church and set up a business might be a great opportunity. They could support themselves. Being able to do business with integrity in the community might be one of the most meaningful ways to have a witness and impact the community.
We received an invitation from a community leader who had been in prison numerous times over the years, a Muslim of Kurdish background. He threw the doors wide open to us. In a public gathering with press coverage, he said, “These people with us today are Christians, and they are good people. We need to make room in our community for them to work here.” We were surprised by the openness.
Interestingly, we heard reports that many Kurds are fed up with Islam. They complain, “What has Islam ever done for us? We’ve been repressed and persecuted, and Islam has held us backward in so many ways—socially, economically, globally.” They’re ready to throw it off, and many are interested in knowing about Christianity. It’s not like huge numbers of Kurds are coming to Christ, but there is increased receptivity.
The main building at Camp Malvern will be replaced by a new building.
A side view of the building.
Here’s an update on the Malvern Camp project. As you can see, the Jamaican people are hard at work tearing down the old building. Beginning on January 22, construction teams from North America will travel to Jamaica to work alongside Jamaica Conference to rebuild the main building.
Owen Gordon, a Jamaican pastor and president of Jamaica Bible College, writes, “Over 100 years of history is slowly coming down.
Mixed emotions were evident as persons reflect on the blessings received coming to camp. The expectation is high for the upcoming project.”
Back, L-r: Roger, Marilyn, Christy, Rigo. Front, L-r: Teresa, Amanda, Elisa. Plus the three Andino children. (Click to enlarge)
Roger and Marilyn Reeck, Global Ministries Endorsed Staff, Honduras
Our Christmas was very quiet. Roger and I are now in Honduras, and our girls did not come this year. They were all together in San Antonio, Texas. Even so we did get to be part of their Christmas. It was fun to watch the grandkids open their presents– watching on the webcam and through Skype.
We remained in the US long enough to spend Thanksgiving with our 4 daughters, son-in-law, and grandkids in Texas. The picture above was taken then.
Donna Delik
Global Ministries Endorsed Staff, Kutno, Poland
This year we are experiencing very severe winter, which caused chaos everywhere all over Europe. This winter came suddenly and caught many off guard. Many are dreaming of a wonderful Christmas holiday, yet they may be stuck on the road or in the airport.
This winter reminds me C. S. Lewis’s book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The snow-blanketed land of Narnia is ruled by a wicked witch whose magic spell keeps the entire land so that “It is always winter, but never Christmas.”
What would our lives be like if it was always winter but never Christmas? There would be nothing to look forward to because days get shorter and thermometers fall. There would be no winter family gathering, no holiday traditions, no Christmas gifts….
On a more serious note: Christmas represents the birth of Jesus Christ. His coming changed history. Bethlehem only happened so Calvary could happen. He was only a baby so He could be a man and die. He only lived in order to die and save. If there had never been a Christmas, the world would be far different than it is today – in ways we cannot imagine.
Talking with a Turkish mayor about opportunities for ministry.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Previously, I talked about the idea of starting United Brethren ministry in a Muslim country, and why Turkey would be a good place to start.
Targeting a specific country is one aspect. Another is asking, “Who do we begin with? Who has some effective approaches and models?”
For me and for some members of the Global Ministries Leadership Team, we’re not interested in merely going to another American agency that is doing Muslim ministry. We’d prefer to learn directly from nationals in a Middle Eastern country, gaining their insights into what’s going on.
For that, we had a connection through Emmanuel UB church of Fort Wayne, Ind.
For several years, Emmanuel has been supporting one of its former members, Ladoyt “Rody” Rodeheaver, president and CEO of IN Network. IN Network connects churches and individuals in the United States with Christians in areas of the world where there is great need and the gospel is not widely known. That connection brought us in contact with Benan.
In early October, I traveled to Turkey with Kurt Uhen, a member of Emmanuel and a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team. Benan took us around the country.
Benan is Turkish. I don’t know how many languages he speaks, but Kurt and I observed him functioning well in 9 different languages. He’s responsible for translating the Kurdish New Testament. He worked with the Bible society in Turkey to do the French, German, English, Arabic, Syriac (a dead language), Greek, Hebrew, and Kurdish translations. His ministry spans Turkey and the region, and he works to encourage, train and motivate pastors, church planters, and leaders.
Kurt and I found that there are a lot of opportunities for getting involved. I’ll talk about them in my next post.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, returned Tuesday (Dec. 14) from Sierra Leone, where he attended the annual conference. A major decision was the selection of John Pessima as the new bishop of Sierra Leone Conference. He replaces Billy Simbo, who has been serving there for three years.
Jeff posted a bunch of photos from the conference on his Facebook page.
This church building in Eastern Turkey is being offering to the evangelical community for free, with the condition that they restore Christian worship in this city of some 200,000 people.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Turkey used to be the cradle of Christianity. You would never know it now. Pressure from Muslims, from both the state and grassroots levels, forced Christians to flee. Many went to Europe. Numerous churches became mosques.
However, during my trip to Turkey in early October, we visited two churches that have stood empty for around 250 years, and are under the control of the Syriac Orthodox Church foundation. The Orthodox church is looking for someone to come restore worship in these communities of 100,000-plus people. Maybe Turks are motivated a bit by wanting to join the European Union and show they are a pluralistic society. But the open doors are there.
One vacant church we visited could probably seat 300 people. It looks very much like an old European church, with high ceilings and columns. If you did some dusting, and brought in a generator to power lights and sound equipment, you could begin worshiping next week.
They told us, “If you’ll initiate worship in this building, it’s yours. We’ll hand the deed over to you.” An evangelical pastor traveling with us said, “I need to go home and talk with my wife about this opportunity.” We were told there was a large Protestant population that would immediately want to be part of any restart of that church.
In another community, we came across a church—not quite as ornate—with an American missionary couple working there. They have a number of believers who have relocated from other cities and churches to work alongside them, and have taken jobs in that community. The same deal: If we started worship in that building, we could have it.
At the same time, the Turks kept telling us, “This is still Turkey. Don’t write reports saying Turkey is turning to Christ.”
If you’re in a deep cavern and someone lights a match, that spark can seem real bright. But Turkey remains predominantly Muslim, with plenty of opposition to the Gospel.
