1 ST QUARTER AIMers Alley Vol Facebook: AIM2go.

Transcription

1 1 THE WHOLE GOSPEL TO THE WHOLE WORLD BY THE WHOLE CHURCH 1 ST QUARTER Facebook: AIM2go

2 2 A PERSONAL NOTE Dear AIM Family, Happy New Year! I hope so far that 2018 has been good to you. As I am sure you are aware through social media, our AIM Training event in January was fantastic! We were blessed to have David K Bernard, Bruce Howell, Jim Poitras, Sister Vani Marshall, Lisa Marshall, and Angie Clark pour into the lives of fifty-five participants. I firmly believe everyone walked away changed and challenged! Make sure you plan to attend next year s sessions! Stay tuned for the dates. Our next big events coming up other than annual board meetings, would be our Next Steps assignments this summer to the countries of Tanzania and Sri Lanka. We are so excited about the growth of this program and can hardly wait to see what God has in store for each participant, and to see these countries blessed by their involvement. In this edition of AIMers Alley we wanted to do something a little different. It is always a crowd favorite to hear missionaries share stories from the field. I have asked our Regional Directors to share a memory from their time as a missionary. It is such an encouragement knowing that our leaders were once in the same place we are! Before they were Regional Directors, they experienced daily life on the field. I hope you enjoy it and learn something new! In conclusion, this is a bittersweet issue of AIMers Alley, at least for me. This will be my last time sending it out. It has been an absolute pleasure and honor serving the AIM community. I have been so blessed to have met many of you throughout the last three years. I truly feel like we are family! I will take my leave from World Headquarters in March to start a new chapter in my life. I will be moving to North Carolina, and in April I will be getting married to the love of my life, Michael Paul McBride. We hope to one day pursue an AIM appointment, so don t worry! I am not leaving Global Missions for good, just entering into a new season. It has been such an amazing gift to serve each one of you. Please feel free to stay connected with me and to update me on how God continues to move in your life. I am certain our paths will cross again. I just may have a different last name next time we meet. Yours for the Kingdom, Tia Reynolds -Providing a pathway, creating a community. UPCOMING EVENTS Next Steps Tanzania/Sri Lanka June/July 2018 GoNEXT Kids, O Fallon, Missouri September 15, 2018 General Conference, Louisville, Kentucky September 25-28, 2018 Global ConNEXTions Weekend, St. Louis, Missouri October 18-20, 2018

3 3 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS AFRICA During our early years in the French-speaking nation of Togo, West Africa, I had traveled out in the bush country for weekend services. When going to that remote area, my Sheaves For Christ vehicle served as my hotel room. The local pastor had organized a prayer meeting on Saturday in preparation for the Sunday services, and the church building was jam-packed with people - it was literally standing room only. While we were praying, the Holy Ghost came down, and the pastor came to me and asked me to listen to a particular man as he prayed. To my amazement, the man was speaking clear English. This was obviously unusual, so I turned to the pastor and said, This man is speaking English. The pastor was very excited and said (in French) He has just now received the Holy Ghost! As he prayed, the man was repeating over and over again, God I have received your plan, God I have received your plan -Regional Director to Africa, Randy & Carolyn Adams NEWLY APPROVED AIMERS /NEXT STEPPERS/CHANGE OF FIELD Vanessa Musick, NS Tanzania Breanna Damon, NS Tanzania Matthew Ehlert, NS Tanzania Cynthia West, NS Tanzania Emily Fox, NS Tanzania ASIA What a privilege for me to grow up in the country of India as an MK. India has been called the biggest slideshow on earth! One doesn t go looking for a photo opportunity; just stand where you are and it will all come by you! Later, after graduating from Bible college in Canada, I married Kathy Shea and we took our two children to Sri Lanka, serving there as missionaries. From Sri Lanka, we moved to Pakistan as missionaries for a number of years. But we soon discovered that for our happy family of four, these three countries had one important common denominator-they all love blazing hot spicy curry! We used to joke as a family that every time we ate curry it was Asia s version of fast food-simply because it was in and out so quick! Our best family times together were spent around the dinner table eating rice and curry. Try it

4 4 sometime-it will get your conversation moving quickly! Today, whenever our son Krister, and our daughter Lindsey visit us, the first order of the day is to find the best Indian restaurant and have a meal together. We have often remarked that the music of heaven could be Spanish, but the food of heaven is curry! -Regional Director to Asia, Lynden & Kathy Shalm NEWLY APPROVED AIMERS/NEXT STEPPERS/CHANGE OF FIELD Jewel Bolieu, NS Sri Lanka Tiffany Sanchez, NS Sri Lanka Naomi Kovach, India/Sri Lanka CENTRAL AMERICA/CARIBBEAN I will never forget the flood of emotions that went over me and my family on the night we arrived in Costa Rica as fully-appointed missionaries. It was a wonderful but scary moment when we arrived with sixteen suitcases and trunks, plus carry-ons, and no one to meet us. What a moment! I personally felt the call to missions at age fifteen, and on arrival night I was thirty-five years old. It was the greatest moment because it was the culmination of events and things that came together on that night. It was December 9, First it was the call I felt as a teenage boy. Then a few years later it was a wedding and then a family that was started, a call into the ministry, working in several churches, pastoring, appointment to missions, deputation and then language studies. A ton of events, wonderful and difficult things, that were all part of God s plan to put us on a plane that would arrive in Costa Rica on that night. What a moment, what a night! God s plan for my family and I came together. Unforgettable moment! Many things have transpired since that night but nothing like that night. We were blessed to serve Costa Rica twenty-three years and we are all grateful that in all things God is faithful. We were able to see and experience many things while there but none of that would have been possible without the night of arrival that shifted the gears of our life and set so many wonderful things in motion. No regrets. God will fulfill His plan when we are faithful to Him. -Regional Director to Central America/Caribbean, David & Yonda Schwarz Querston Carver, Costa Rica NEWLY APPROVED AIMERS/CHANGE OF FIELD EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST This missions memory was when we were AIMers in Germany working with the American Military. It was on Thanksgiving evening in We were driving back to our apartment after a Thanksgiving evening service complete with a nice meal prepared by my wife and the ladies of the church. After it was over, we loaded the trunk of our car (which the Burks had purchased as their SFC car a number of years prior - we were the 3rd owners of the car) there was the box filled with thanksgiving leftovers, including leftover turkey, dressing

5 5 and the trimmings, which my wife had displayed so nicely on her new Crystal platter. There was even some left over sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and more. Carefully we strapped our two-year-old and one-year-old in the back seat, along with two small children (three years and eighteen months) from one of the families in the church whose mother was in the hospital. We volunteered to watch two of their five children. The temperature had dropped, and the roads became coated with ice. As we topped the hill and headed down the curvy stretch of road I realized the road had become like a skating rink. Using all my Driver s Ed skills and trying to remember what not to do and what to do, the car began to fishtail first to the left.. then back to the right then left then right with each fish tail the back end of the car came closer and closer to leading us down the road. Then it happened, the car did a complete 360 turn around, not once, or twice, but four or five times down that curved stretch of road. Not knowing what else to do my wife calling out the name JESUS and I praying that we would remain on the road way and not over the edge. When finally the right rear wheel hit a huge bolder alongside the road - we came to a stop - heading in the right direction sitting on the edge of the road. All four of the little ones were fine. Sister Tuttle was thanking Jesus. The car was a total loss the wonderful Thanksgiving leftovers along with the crystal platter was also a total loss but we were all fine. Thankful to be unhurt - we made it home late that night. -Regional Director to Europe/Middle East, Michael & Dianna Tuttle NEWLY APPROVED AIMERS/CHANGE OF FIELD Nathan & Brittany Bulmer, Ireland Anna Drebes, Austria Hannah McNemar, Scotland Bridger & Aspen Edwards, Netherlands Kirstie Chrestman, Sweden Megan Hanson, Austria Malorie Bovee, Latvia Taylor Jacques, Latvia Philip & Amy Sword, Finland Troy & Mellissia Taylor, Portugal Ashli Gaddy, Latvia Brock Carroll, Latvia Nathanael Davis, Ireland Laina Brown, Ireland Feliciano Italiano, Italy Alyssa Mullis, Estonia PACIFIC Thirty years ago our family of four, along with Missionaries Brother Carl and Sister JoAnne Varnell, made an unforgettable journey high up into the mountains of Mindanao Island, Philippines to minister to the indigenous tribal people. We began the long journey from the city of Davao by SFC vehicle as far as we could, then hitched a ride on the bed of two rice-hauling trucks, dismounting and hiking several miles up over the mountain peaks, following muddy and arduous trails, we finally reached the simple, bamboo structured church. News that the missionaries arrived spread from mountain peak to mountain peak. As our eyes scanned the horizon from the vantage point of the little church, small threads of red

6 6 became discernible as the tribal folk dressed in their beautiful traditional attire made their way single file down the steep mountain paths. It became apparent that the little church could not hold the people, so piece by piece, the entire back wall was carefully taken down, allowing visibility to everyone who sacrificed to come. I couldn t help but laugh inwardly when I thought how most missionaries want to build churches and here we come, and the church is being dismantled! No music. No embellishment. A simple but life-changing message from the heart of a missionary, translated into three more dialects before finally reaching the hungry hearts of the 400 seated and standing. His Word brought LIFE! Adorned with horsehair combs and vibrant colors of red and blue, men and women alike automatically responded by weeping in the presence of the Holy One. Inside and outside that little bamboo church, people trembled as they received the Holy Ghost! Unforgettable! I can only anticipate what will heaven be like when every tribe and every nation will worship together around His throne!" -Regional Director to the Pacific, Roger & Becky Buckland Tessa Robertson, Philippines NEWLY APPROVED AIMERS/CHANGE OF FIELD And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost SOUTH AMERICA Early in our missionary life the work in Argentina was still small and inroads were being made wherever there was an interest and hunger. We made an evangelistic trip to Mendoza where contact had been made with a man who believed and had received the Holy Ghost. It was late evening when we arrived. We were received with smiles and a warm welcome to a humble home where service was to be held. There was no understanding of the infilling of the Holy Ghost. This message is simple and I have never experienced such sincere hunger. Thirty had gathered to meet this North American missionary and to hear what he had to say. Only three of us had the Holy Ghost. Unfamiliar with Pentecost they listened intently and worshipped with open hearts. Bro. Crossley explained the Holy Ghost and baptism in Jesus Name. He felt not to lead them to receive the Holy Ghost, but invited them back for a second night. He told them to come expecting and to receive. The following night they began to gather in. One by one as they passed the threshold and we greeted them they declared, I m going to get the Holy Ghost! With a simple acoustic guitar and no sound system we began to worship and invite the presence of the Lord. Small? We were crammed in wall to wall. There was no altar. The pulpit was jammed against the wall. There was no preaching but a simple explanation and the declaration of receiving the Holy Ghost! We started praying. There was no room to pray with anyone. It was like the day of Pentecost and the sound of a mighty rushing wind. ALL twenty-seven who did not have the Holy Ghost were filled within ten minutes! The fastest altar call we have ever experienced in a humble home

7 7 with adobe brick walls, with no furniture, slats of wood for pews, but simple faith and hunger. We have seen thousands receive this promise, but Mendoza will forever be stamped in our hearts and memory. From that humble beginning two became ministers and pastors, and remain faithful forty years later. Just a few of my favorite Missionary memories: A FEW MEMORIES FROM THE DIRECTOR When I was baptizing someone and the man confessed he had been baptized by others, the wrong way, and wanted to give his right name because he knew it was the right baptism. His name, he said, Jumbo Jet! When, another, in some far-flung area of the world, going down in baptismal waters in Jesus name and came up rejoicing. And another. And another. And another. Never gets old! When I gave one of the first books I authored to a national from Namibia. He held it to his chest as if it were a valued treasure. When I would visibly see mental lights come on as a student would see Apostolic truth. -Regional Directors to South America, Darry & Kathy Crossley When, with hands lifted! Tears flowing! the person began speaking in other tongues for the first time. It s happened time and again, over and over as multiplied tens of thousands have received their personal Pentecost! When arriving in an Islamic nation, walking into an office and hearing, You came from heaven to earth to show the way! How true! Still for every nation and for every one of the 7.6 billion people on the planet. We get to tell the redemption story and show the salvation way! When, last but by far the least, meeting Linda Revell for the first time in Nigeria, West Africa. She was leading a choir singing, Walking by faith in Jesus my Lord! Thirty-four years later, we are still on the journey, walking by faith, and enjoying the trip. -Director of Education and AIM, James & Linda Poitras