INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES MARCH 2018

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES MARCH 2018

2 On The Ground MYANMAR Fellowship Bible Church Congratulations to the Class of 2018! On February 17, a graduation ceremony was held at Myanmar Bible College honoring 16 young men and women. Please pray for them as begin begin a life in ministry and service to the Lord. CHINA China Sees The church in China continues to flourish, and they are preparing for their first church plant! Please pray for this time of growth and transition, as well as the equipping of additional leaders who will lead small groups, provide Biblical counseling, and fill the pulpit. PAKISTAN Omega Ministry Pastors Shakeel and Christopher Bhatti were able to hold a crusade in December where many heard the Gospel for the first time. Since then, there have been increased protests by hard-line Muslims against what they see as a softening of the government in regard to tolerating blasphemy. The pastors are concerned that these developments could further raise animosity towards evangelical work and Christian churches. Please continue to pray for their safety as they teach the Word. In This Issue We are pleased to give you a small glimpse into what the Lord is doing through the diligent work of our amazing partners. In this issue, you ll learn about some of their accomplishments during new churches planted, schools and churches under construction, and new programs started. You ll meet an incredible women who is impacting her entire village for Christ, as well as a man whose life was so dramatically changed that he donated land for a new church. Finally, there is a tribute to Ed Hirshman, our former director, that went to his eternal home in December. As you read, we hope that you will remember each ministry, along with the pastors, evangelists, and teachers, in your prayers. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to receive regular updates on our partners! Harvesters International Ministries harvestersinternational What Can I Do? Doug Radford - Harvesters International Ministries I get asked a lot by people who support our work - What else can I do to help?. That s a great question with an easy answer! I encourage them to simply help us connect with more people. We are always looking for opportunities to share with churches, Sunday School classes, small groups, and individuals about what God is doing through Harvesters. These opportunities often happen when someone who is already familiar with our work encourages someone else to get to know Harvesters. I ve seen first-hand how a simple phone call to a friend has eventually resulted in a great blessing to the people we serve. Would you consider helping us meet new people or groups who might want to be part of blessing the lives of people in some of the most difficult places on earth? We will always approach these opportunities with no pressure and no expectations. If you have questions, please don t hesitate to contact me. You can me at doug@harvesters.net or give me a call at Thanks for all you do! The work of Harvesters truly consists of what you and other supporters do alongside us and our international ministry partners to make Christ known and show His love to people. 2 3

3 Kerith Ministry Samuel Mwesigwa - Uganda We celebrated ten years of ministry in 2017, and I am pleased to share with you how the Lord has blessed us this year. During the year, we held seven revival meetings, planted one new church, baptized 496 new believers, and held seven Gospel crusades where just over 1,700 people received Jesus Christ as their Savior!! We held our ninth annual believer s conference, which attracted over 600 people, and held our fifth annual youth camp. One of the Gospel crusades was held in the village of Kaboloi. The three-day crusade attracted thousands of people and over 600 gave their lives to Christ. As a result, we planted a new church there, and it is growing rapidly. Among the people saved at the crusade was a former witch doctor. He was so radically changed by the power of Jesus that he donated the land where the church is currently meeting! Church members (seen here dedicating the land) have worked together to put up a shelter for the meetings. In June, the Lord blessed us with three hectares (approximately 7.5 acres) of land for farming, which has been a long-term ministry need. This allows us to grow food for the children living in our children s home and also provides income through the sale of food to the community. We were also able to begin construction of a permanent school building. The building structure is almost complete, and soon we will begin work inside to finish the classrooms. Serving in a Muslim community presents a challenge in finding a place to hold a fellowship. Over the last four years, we have been trusting God for a place in the middle of Pallisa where we can hold midday services. With much prayer, the Lord led us to an unfinished building right in the middle of our town. We contacted the owner, and he agreed to rent us the place for $450 per year. It has been three months since the fellowship started. Within a few weeks, the group grew to over 100 people! We meet every weekday for one and a half hours for prayer and studying the Word. Every Friday, we have a two hour prayer meeting aimed at praying that the Lord will save our town. Since this fellowship (seen above) started, there has been a lot of resistance, but the Lord has helped us to stand amidst it all. The Gospel is preached through our loud speakers and reaches most parts of the town. People can hear our message of hope even if they aren t physically there. Two former Muslims, and six others, have given their lives to Jesus. This has also grown our church in the area of prayer and commitment to begin more fellowships, since the church is far from the center of town. Our future plan is to buy this property and set up a radio station, which will broadcast the Gospel in eastern Uganda and part of Kenya. We are experiencing revival in our community! I ask that you pray for our team. Pray for more passion to serve and patience since our staff members are volunteers and don t receive a monthly wage. I also ask that you pray for the Kerith primary school project that the Lord will give us the right staff and a good environment for our children to study. We are trusting that by the end of this year, the Lord will provide the required funds to complete the building. Finally, please pray for our pastors as they disciple our members and that this would be a year of growth and fruitfulness for the ministry. 4 5

4 6 Pokot Outreach Ministries Reuben Meriakol - South Sudan Our ministry s primary focus is bringing the good news to everyone through evangelism and church planting. Besides this, we also engage in community development activities such as education, health campaigns, and capacity building on social and economic matters. In the ministry of preaching the gospel and church planting, we have missional leaders leading our missional hubs with evangelistic teams reaching a particular area of focus. For instance, the evangelism team of the main mission hub in Kapoeta ministers in the town s outskirts, hospital, and prisons. The team conducted three house to house evangelism events in which over 50 households were reached. We also followed up with the Jesus film and other Bible videos, which was attended by hundreds of people (it is difficult to give a precise number because we normally conduct film ministry at night). We can confidently report that our main hub s ministry impacted over 800 people in the past year. The other mission hubs and village churches led by our missional leaders Nichodemus, Sam Etyang, Eliya Lokuru, and Lopeyok also did marvelous work. Their village teams were able to do home to home evangelism, night fireplace evangelism, and water well evangelism (preaching to people who gather at water points). Open air preaching/ crusades were done in Chukudum (among the Diding a people), which over 400 people attended. Also, we normally use the Christmas celebration to make contact with many people in the village. Our ministry leaders, along with members of the village churches, organize for food and drinks on Christmas eve and/or day, which becomes an invite-a-friend event. Most of those who are invited are unbelievers, and they get an opportunity to hear about the greatest gift of a savior to the world. This is part of the year that we always look forward to because we make contact with many new people. Another success in 2017 was the program in Nachilagur village. In this village, we implemented two of our major goals of ministry: church planting and education. We planted a church that is now meeting every Sunday at the Nachilagur primary school. The primary school was one of the many closed down schools in the state until our ministry revived operations. Both the school and the church program have given us contact with over 800 people in a village with a population of about 2,000. Over 500 hundred people, including children, teenagers, young adults, and parents are directly impacted by this twin program. In 2017, our entire ministry made contact and shared the gospel with over 3,500 people, among whom over 250 came to faith. This is Martha Lokwale - a woman who believes in God s power and provision. She walks for over 21 kilometers to our mission home/hub in Kapoeta. She always longs for her people to know the Word. She has defied all odds in a society that gives the lowest regard to women. In this society where women are there to be seen and not to be heard, she has mustered the courage to share her testimony among her village members. Her changed life is the script that her own village reads as they listen to the good news we preach. She has earned respect and influence and has on several occasions brought women to visit our church in Kapoeta. Her hospitality and generosity show the spirit of resilience which rises above the shortcoming of droughts, diseases, and economic crisis that points that her anchor and faith is in Christ, the rock of ages. Whenever there is an outbreak of disease in her village, she takes the burden on herself and walks the full distance to share with us the prayer requests from her village. We normally respond by prayer and sending medical help to rescue the situation. Her faith fans mine into flames and has drawn my heart to dream for a health facility to help the many women she worries about in the village. She has faith that cholera that killed dozens in her village will not happen once they have a source of clean water. I see the spirit of God moving in this woman, and I can t wait to see Martha s prayers answered! We praise God for the provision of the things we have been praying for: completion of the church construction, motorbikes for our two mission hubs and accompanying Jesus film systems. Pray that the use of these resources shall be effective in showing the love of Christ and preaching of the good news to the unreached. We have a vision of planting 12 or more churches this year; at least three in each of our four mission hubs including Kapoeta, Riwotoo, Chukudum, and Lotien/Mogos. Please pray for our missional leaders Nichodemus, Sam, Eliya and Joseph as they lead their teams that they may be led by the Holy Spirit in rallying the troops to battle for the lost souls. We thank you for your prayers and support! 7

5 Sion Assembly Church Rajendra Kumar - India Thank you for your support of our ministry. We have had an eventful year here in India with two new churches planted, the addition of new programs for assisting people affected by leprosy and AIDs, and the opening of a satellite campus of the North Carolina Theological Seminary (NCTS). In September, we began training pastors, evangelists, and church leaders through NCTS. Almost 160 men and women from two different states travel to our facilities for two days twice a month to receive training that will culminate in a bachelor s degree in Biblical Studies. Meals and lodging are provided during these intense training sessions. Some of our first class are pictured here. We ask that you pray for these servants and their families as they pursue God s call on their lives. Our children s home is attached to our church building in Vellaturu. Our desire is to give abandoned and orphaned children a chance at life - both physical and spiritual. We embrace them with the love of Jesus! Not only do we provide their basic necessities of food, shelter, clothing, we also provide for their education. In 2017, we began holding classes on the roof of the children s home. This year, we are planning to begin construction of a school building. We hope to provide an English speaking school for those in the children s home, as well as children in the community. We ask that you pray for the construction of the school. Also, please pray for Rufus, the son of Pastor Venket, who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Fellowship Bible Church Pastor Ben - Myanmar We are grateful for your prayers and support for the work we are doing in Myanmar. In early 2017, the Lord provided land for a permanent home for Myanmar Bible College. Once complete, this complex will house the college, dorms, and become the headquarters for other ministry operations. An existing building on the property has been restored and modified for temporary use. We continue to trust the Lord for provision of the cost of construction. In December, our Bible students traveled to Shan state to share the Gospel. This took many forms - street evangalism, house-to-house evangelism, hospital evangelism, market evangelism, and even train and bus evangelism. We were able to reach over 1,000 people with the good news of Christ. It is so wonderful to see these students boldly sharing their faith with others. I am encouraged to see their big burden for lost souls. Through this trip and other outreaches, we were able to distribute 100 Bibles to new believers, as well as 3,000 Christian tracts to non-believers. Our team of evangelists and church planters sets aside every Friday for praying and fasting. On the first Friday of the month, all of the church planters near Yangon gather together to encourage each other, share testimonies of how God is working, pray for each other, and discuss how to forward the kingdom of God in Myanmar and beyond. This is a time of rejuvenation for us all! We thank you again for your support! Please pray for: our Bible students as they go on an evangelism outreach trip to Southern Chin state in March the annual water festival (an alternative to a Buddhist festival) held in April that allows us to share Jesus with children funding for Bibles for new believers 8 9

6 Leaving A Legacy J Lucarelli - Harvesters International Ministries This past Christmas, we were given a gift that we didn t really want to receive. The week before Christmas, Ed Hirshman, a beloved friend, mentor, and recently-retired-director of Harvesters, passed away at the spry age of 73, as a result of complications with esophageal cancer. Ed is certainly in a better place, and is no longer suffering. I have to admit, though, that the cliché sentiments that people often use to bring comfort to those who have suffered a loss are not sufficient to soothe the hurt of losing someone like Ed. He faithfully served as a Marine on active duty for 22 years and on staff at Harvesters for even longer than that. He led Harvesters around the globe, prayerfully expanding the scope of the ministry s partnerships from a focus solely in Kenya to 11 partnerships in 10 different countries. Around the time of Ed s passing, I watched the Christmas classic, White Christmas, which gave me a picture that helped me relate to the death of my dear friend. In the opening scene, we see General Waverly, who is retiring from the Army, say goodbye to his men. He starts out insulting them and telling them how worthless they are, but ends up melting (in a macho way, of course) and tells them how great they are. The crowd of soldiers send Waverly off singing We ll follow the old man wherever he wants to go... Even as bombs fall around them, they continue to sing as Waverly moves through the crowd and gives his men a final salute before exiting into a waiting vehicle. Even though Ed would probably lose his mind because Waverly was in the Army, not the Marines, there are similarities between Ed and General Waverly. Both were rough and brash on the outside, but wise and compassionate on the inside. Ed was respected by those around him, sought after for his advice, and endured for his stories. He didn t mince words and told it like it was. He was much smarter than he gave himself credit for. Dave Wilson called him a true warrior with a big heart and compassionate hands. Ed finished well and had the respect of so many as he gave his final salute. At his memorial service, when tears weren t blurring my vision, I saw a room full of people that loved and respected a man whose legacy will not be in monuments, fame, or wealth, but in the people into whom he invested his life. As one of those people, I must admit, that there is a huge hole in my life where Ed Hirshman used to be. He was a friend, mentor, confidant, and someone I knew was always on my side. It is because of Ed that I am now in ministry. I realize my grief is selfish because I miss my friend and regret things that went unsaid. But I know that God is in all things and that my friend now has a new audience to whom to tell his stories. Goodbye dear friend. May your legacy continue to bear fruit as the lives you touched touch others. A Note From Our Director Authentic love leads to action. It s more than just a passive acknowledgement of need or a brief thought about what ought to be done. In several verses, God s Word defines genuine love in terms of how it reacts to needs, with right attitudes mixed with helpful responses. That s the kind of love that led Christ to offer Himself for the redemption of us all. That s also the sort of love that leads people like you to share their financial resources with ministries like Harvesters International and our partners in Asia and Africa. Your gifts result in the spiritual and material needs of countless people being met in the name of Christ, accomplishing the end result of the kind of love that is described in the Bible. Everyone at Harvesters looks forward to the future, with a great sense of both calling and urgency to continue sharing the love that changed our own lives. God has blessed us with a great means of doing so through our work to support and encourage national missionaries. We are thankful that you have chosen to be part of that effort as well, through your prayers and giving. Blessings & Thanks, Doug Radford Director 10 11

7 CONNECT NEW ADDRESS? Help us stay in touch by sending your updated address. We welcome your comments or address changes. Contact us: Harvesters International Ministries P.O. Box Hilton Head Island, SC E: P: (844) DONATE Harvesters International P.O. Box Hilton Head Island, SC Return Service Requested NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 221 Hilton Head Island, SC 29926