04 Jun October 2010: Third Lausanne Congress

Here is an update from Doug Birdsall regarding the Lausanne Congress planned for October 2010 in South Africa. Four thousand participants have been selected from 200 countries. I will have the privilege of representing the United Brethren church. This will be the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization; the Second Congress was held 36 years ago, in 1974.

Doug Birdsall (right) is executive chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He grew up in a United Brethren preacher’s home, a son of Roger and Mary Lou Birdsall, and a sibling to Brent, Brian, and Connie. Doug has been working on this historic meeting for five years.

Greetings from 37,000 feet over the North Atlantic.  As I write to you I am flying home from London to Boston on the final leg of a round-the-world trip for the Lausanne Movement.  The trip began 17 days ago as I departed from Boston going to Hong Kong, with subsequent stops in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Dubai before going on to Cape Town, South Africa.

While in Cape Town, our Lausanne Global Lausanne Leadership and our Cape Town 2010 Congress Team – 120 gifted and highly motivated people – held a productive week of meetings. We were dazzled as leaders of each working team presented their reports and had a growing awareness of history in the making.  At the end of the presentations at the Convention Centre, Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda, Honorary Chairman of the Congress, turned to me and said, “This is incredible, just amazing. This will go down as the most thoroughly planned Congress on world evangelization in history!”

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03 Jun Keeping Up with the Klines

David and Melissa Kline and children are currently in Ontario visiting churches and supporters. They will be speaking nearly every Sunday until the end of July. If you would like to hear their presentation on Macau, you can find them in these places:

03 Jun Looking Ahead to Helping Haiti

One of the tent cities in Port au Prince

During May I traveled to Haiti to assess the current situation with the help of our Haitian leader, Rev. Oliam Richard. Joining me were Paul Plato (Canadian UB Missions Director), Ed Sider (Director of CH Global), and a number of others.

At present, 1.3 million Haitians have been displaced by the destruction following the earthquake. The majority live in tent cities. It seems that a sea of blue Samaritan’s Purse tarps and tents cover any vacant lot or field in the greater Port Au Prince area. Lack of food, dignity, and hope are a constant problem. Children are not attending school and the jobs the parents worked at before the quake no longer exist.

Yet we found that our UB churches are bursting at the seams. Across the country there are reports of people coming to faith in Christ.

With the addition of a recent offering of $7,900 from Hong Kong Conference, our total for Haiti Relief has reached $170,000. Over half has already been distributed to Samaritan’s Purse and CH Global for immediate relief needs. With the remaining $70,000 we’ll complete construction on our Delmas Church in order to open a new school for up to 200 children.

Later in October, we’d like to send a number of work teams to rebuild two UB churches in Cite Soliel, the poorest area of Port Au Prince, where two UB churches were destroyed by the earthquake. Here again, we’d like to not only restore these places of worship, but open schools for needy children in this community.

We’re grateful for our partnership with fellow UB churches around the world and for organizations like CH Global that share our passion to bless the nation of Haiti.

02 Jun Guatemala Battered by Rain and Volcanic Ash

Reports indicate that Tropical Storm Agatha has caused 123 deaths in Guatemala, 14 in Honduras, and 9 in El Salvador. Guatemala, however, is also feeling the effects of the Pacaya Volcano eruption that began last Thursday night and continued to spew ash until Tuesday.

Here are two reports from our superintendent in Guatemala, Rev. Francisco Najera (right).

First Report

“It has been raining nearly without a break since Tuesday, May 25, causing widespread flooding in several parts of the country. However, on Thursday the 27th at 3 pm we also felt a tremor throughout most of the country which did not last long, thanks be to God, but caused a little scare. At 7:20 pm, loud thunder was heard, and since it was raining we thought everything was normal. But after  our evening service we realized that ash was falling along with the rain.

“This alarmed us all, because we were seeing something very unusual. It fell for several hours through the night due to the eruption of a volcano located between Guatemala City and Escuintla. The International Airport is closed due to the volcanic ash that is as deep as 8 cm (half inch) in some areas. The roof of my house sank in part due to the weight of water and ash, and several neighboring houses also were damaged.

“The Mount of Olives Church, which has just opened, is 18 kilometers from the volcano and lost about 40% of its roof. Although the volcano is closer to where our Escuintla churches are located, they have not reported damage. Our Central Church has no damage to its structure, but the ash has plugged downspouts and water is entering the building, as there is no place for the water to go.

“The government has declared a state of emergency in three departments of the country. About 2500 people have been evacuated. Several roads have collapsed, but the airport is scheduled to reopen on Monday. Please remember us in your prayers.”

Second Report

“Since yesterday, it has rained without even a pause for 18 hours. This has caused rivers to overflow, and roads and bridges to collapse. Five families housed in the Rock of Salvation Church have unfortunately lost their homes and all their possessions due to the rains. We thank God, they were in the church, not in their homes when they collapsed and were swept away. We have taken clothes and food to this group of 23 people, mostly children, who are hurting deeply. We are doing everything possible to feed and house them.

“Your prayer and assistance would be welcomed. The rains continue, and will continue until next week according to the news media.”

Global Ministries will pass on 100% of any donations received to assist our Guatemalan church members. Please be sure to indicate that your gift is intended for “Guatemalan Relief.”

27 May Update from the Hendricks Family in Spain

Troy Hendricks sent these items about their family and their ministry in Spain. The Hendricks are endorsed missionaries with SEND International.

• Julie Hendricks broke a bone in her knee last December and underwent surgery. New x-rays show that the fracture is fully healed. However, the pins have moved significantly and need to come out. Discomfort from the pins is increasing, and limits Julie’s walking. Surgery has been scheduled for Monday, June 7.
• An evangelistic campaign is planned for July 19 – August 1 in a public park. Initially, they were granted a permit to use the park only 2 out of the requested 14 days. However, the official in charge changed his mind and re-wrote the permit for the full two weeks. Pray that this campaign is very successful and reaches a lot of people.
• Troy’s English classes, which have met since October, are winding down for the summer.

26 May State of Emergency in Parts of Jamaica

Owen Gordon (right), president of Jamaica Bible College, as well as pastor of a United Brethren church, sent this note regarding the recent unrest in Jamaica.

Since Sunday the government has declared a state of emergency in Kingston and St Andrew. This has been brought on by the stand-off between specific communities in West Kingston and the police force. Subsequent governments have endeared themselves to “so-called community Dons.” Many have warned our leaders of this danger, but because of the blindness of our leaders and their desire to remain in power, there has developed a dangerous reciprocal relationship with these dubious persons, which has led to this present state.

I am making this special appeal to all of God’s people to join us in special prayer for the law enforcement officers, who at the risk of their own lives are attempting to prevent Jamaica from being taken over by lawless persons. At present, the situation is mainly confined to Kingston and some parts of Spanish Town. In our area and most of the rest of Jamaica, things are pretty calm, with people going about their normal business.

Many are seeing this as a unique opportunity for truth and justice to prevail and for our leadership to turn to God and turn this country around. I ask you to bear us up in your prayers! Let us stand in the gap!  God is Able!

The forces of darkness will not prevail! We are believing God that before this week is over, things will return to peace and calmness across our land!