September 2006 - Posts

• Planting in the Shadow of the Catholic Church

  “He could stay away from my children!” bellowed RL, a short, stocky man with a bushy moustache and a belly that suggested a few too many beers. We (Rob and his partner John) were conducting a five-question survey of a neighborhood to help a recent church plant better reach its target area. The survey finished by asking what advice the respondent would give a pastor or priest who wanted to help his community. This was the question that instigated RL’s rough response. John, my friend, and I looked at each other. We knew he was not speaking alone, but for thousands of Quebeckers. “So you would never consider attending a church?” we asked. “Never.” “Under any circumstances?” “Never, ever, ever, ever!” “Do you believe that God exists?” “Absolutely, I believe in God. I will never stop believing in God. I just hate the church. The church and God are not the same thing. All it wants is my money. What do they need my money for? Look at the Pope! The Vatican! There’s enough money there to feed a small nation for years. The church is abusive. They want to tell me what to do. I never want to have anything to do with it, ever.” Many Quebeckers are emotionally opposed to the Catholic Church. For most, it’s the only church they’ve known. Some have heard of a church called Protestant, but they’ve never come into contact with one. As we share the love of Christ, the challenge is to stay focused on a personal relationship with God, rather than the “church” (although many hold a very slippery definition of “God” as well). The message is a personal relationship with the God of the universe, not the “church” as an abusive intermediary. There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. We spoke with RL for another 30 minutes or so. We shared the message of a personal relationship with God through Jesus, but there didn’t seem to be any actual comprehension. John plans to follow up with him another day. Please pray for the church planting efforts in Quebec, Canada. Posted Sep 12 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed

• Redemptive Friendship with Gia

  Today after church we brought a Russian lady Gia back to our apartment in Rome for lunch. How delighted she was to spend the whole afternoon reading Scripture and sharing how God has intervened in her life. She is only two years old in the Lord and has experienced a complete change in her life. She is a beautiful woman who has left a life in Russia. Italian men already have eyes on her, but she wants to stay firm in her faith. She lost her highly professional job in Russia just because she turned 40 years old. Her health deteriorated, she longed for something more, searched many avenues and found emptiness until one day the Lord met her. After moving to Italy illegally for work, she now works for a cantankerous elderly Italian woman who has kept most assistants for only 3 months. Gia says only the strength from Jesus has kept her there. Now after nine months the woman, just yesterday softened. What a test in patience. Gia in thanking us for the afternoon said, "I was not ready to receive all Jesus' blessings today!!” She felt renewed and ready to start another week of serving her "padrona". Dan and I felt that we were the ones that got the blessing just from being with her. What an example of a woman of faith! Posted Sep 12 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed

• God is so Generous

  A recent correspondance from Susan Newell illustrates the daily transformations God orchestrates within our walk of faith. Sunday, I was blessed to worship with my ministry partners in a nearby supporting church. At offering time I remembered that all I had in my wallet, beside some coins, a $10 bill. I have to admit I selfishly hesitated in taking that bill from my purse. But after being convicted by the example of that church giving so generously to my needs, I offered the $10 willing to the Lord for His work there. After the service a man, who had been sitting behind me, handed me a folded up bill. He said, “I feel led to give this to you.” I thanked him as I received the money and stuck it in the outer pocket of my purse. Once in my car I looked at the bill still folded. Seeing the numbers “1” and “0” I thought, “The Lord’s given back to me the $10 I gave to Him?” Later, at home, when I unfolded the bill I found not $10 but $100! God is so generous! Posted Sep 11 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed

• Gospel Growth in Fourou, Mali

  Mamadou and his friend, Salif, often listened to Radio Yeelen. As a result of that they both accepted the Lord. Occasionally, a pastor from a distant village would come down to Fourou to hold meetings, but this was very sporadic. Mamadou and Salif would read scripture together and talk about it. Both men worked at the nearby gold mine. When the company cut back Mamadou was laid off, so they decided that he should be the leader of the growing group of believers in the village. They prayed that a Bible teacher would come and work with them. Investigating the opening of a new field, WorldVenture missionaries, Jan & Ernie Eadelman, came to Fourou. The people in town said there was a group of Christians. They directed them to Mamadou. He was excited to meet them and told of the five or six Christians in town. Four months later Tom & Laura Requadt move there. In the early days MaMa, Mamadou's wife, was very defiant. Every Sunday after the people had gathered for church in her home she made a loud show of getting her tools and gear together then she stomped across in front of the meeting on the way to work in her fields. Today she is very outspoken about the Lord. She talks to her neighbors over and over explaining about Jesus.  Her life changed and all her friends know that it was Jesus who changed her. Now, less than three years later about 100 people are attending church each week. They outgrew the pastor’s house and moved the meeting out under the mango tree. When they outgrew the shade they built a carport-type structure attached to the pastor’s house. The group keeps growing and now not everyone can get under the roof of the carport – a problem with the rainy season. Please, pray for believers in Fourou, Mali. Posted Sep 06 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed

• Praise Songs for Sempire People

  The believers in Fourou can now say, “And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40:3 Backstory: Achaka and his band were sent to the Arts Festival to represent their town of Fourou. At the festival he met a drama team from Kadiolo in southern Mali. They made friends and often told about their work and life as Christians. They did radio drama for Radio Yeelen and other radio stations across West Africa. The story of Jesus, his death and resurrection, meet a need in Achaka’s life and he accepted Jesus as Savior. The team knew of other Christians in Fourou, so the Sunday after the Arts Festival the entire team went to Fourou, a town about 40 miles away. Achaka went to church with them and they introduced him to the Christians there. Now: One year later, Achaka has continued with the church and growing in the Lord. The church’s balafone player moved away, so Achaka began playing for the services. Using his natural talents to serve the church was a natural fit. At that time, there were no worship songs for the Sempire people created by the Sempire people. Just before Easter Pastor Mamadou, his wife, MaMa, and Achaka went to Kadiolo to attend a music workshop. They learned to create songs using Scripture and biblical truths set to music of their people group. When they returned to Fourou they brought with them six new songs. On Easter morning they taught them to the congregation and they loved the songs — the first worship songs ever created by Sempire people for the Sempire people. Like the Psalmist the believers in Fourou can say, “And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Psalms 40:3 Posted Sep 06 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed

• Spiritual Harvest in Senegal

  God is working in Senegal. In a recent update from Matt Paschall, an appointee to Senegal, we see God's call of workers and the fruit of harvest in this country. Matt writes: A few weeks ago, I drove down to speak at a church in Port Murray, New Jersey. This was my first support raising appointment with WorldVenture and had never visited this church before. I preached from Isaiah 43 regarding the future promises of the kingdom and how God will make a “roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” as a picture of what is happening in Senegal. Even though it is a dry, desolate place, there is a rushing river of responsive hearts to the gospel and we have been asked to jump into that river. He called us by name and promises to always be with us (vs 1-7); he wants us to be a witness to the nations (vs 8-13); and he is doing a new thing in a thirsty land (vs 14-21). We have witnessed a partial fulfillment of these promises in Senegal. As I shared several stories of how the people of Senegal have burned their idols and been set free from the bondage of traditional religion, there were many in the congregation who were encouraged to know that God is working in places around the world and answering amazing prayers in order to bring people to himself. I told them of men coming to Christ through dreams, seeing groups of women walk miles in order to hear God’s Word and children ask their parent’s permission to follow Christ after watching the Jesus Film. One of the repeated ideas in my message was, “If we will make his name known, he will make his name great!” While the final chorus was being sung, a man in his late 20s came forward with tears in his eyes and embraced me while I was standing at the front. He whispered to me, “Up until six years ago, I was a person and grew up with my family in Southern Senegal. Then I became a follower of Christ and came to America. I live not far from here, but I have never been to this church before. Today the Lord told me to come. When you spoke about what God is doing among my people, I was so blessed because that is my story.” I asked him, “So, how did you become a Christian?” He answered, “From a missionary just like you,” then he added, “I am so thankful that you are being obedient to God’s call.” He promised to pray for me because he wants more missionaries to come to Senegal. Posted Sep 01 2006, 03:00 AM by Transformed