AGORA WEA MISSION COMMISSION WORLD FORUM

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1 1 van :45 June 2008 AGORA WEA MISSION COMMISSION WORLD FORUM Agora is the Greek word for market place, forum, where people gathered for dialogue, discussions, sharing information or just for being together (Acts 17:17). The Mission Commission staff is launching a monthly newsletter, called Agora, directed primarily to the MC Associates but also sent to other mission leaders and available on the MC web page. Agora is an open forum for the MC Associates, MC Task Forces and Networks as a complement to the magazine Connections. Brief texts and news for publication in Agora can be sent to our office in Brazil:bekstrom@worldevangelical.org Read in this issue of Agora Streams under an Oak... Musings MC Consultation in Thailand Connections website Asia Christian Writer s Conference Refugee Highway Partnership Roundtable South Africa The Responsibility of the Church Bulletins and Newsletters of MC related Networks ** Opportunities Tentmakers International Newslette Streams under an Oak...Musings* In less than six months, God willing, our MC consultation starts in Pattaya, Thailand. As staff team we met a couple of weeks ago in Rotterdam to finalise the programme for the consultation and evaluate the preparations and invitations to the event. So far some 110 MC Associates and other mission and church leaders have answered positively to the invitation. Our expectation is that the number of participants will be around 220. Missiological reflection will be the main emphasis of the consultation. The relevant but also challenging and disturbing themes are: Mission in the Context of Suffering, Violence, Persecution and Martyrdom; Mission and Contextualisation; and Mission and Spirituality. The tone of the days together will be given in the first two plenary sessions, with streams of thoughts flowing out from the never exhausting well of divine revelation and theological content found in the second half of the Passion Week and in the Cross of Jesus. Therefore we will start the consultation this time with the Lord s Supper. The invitation to us is to follow our Master and to identify ourselves with Him in His ultimate sacrifice for the sake of humankind and of the Church. That gives meaning to mission in a context of suffering, requires the highest level of contextualisation and identification and reveals profound spirituality in our journey as Disciples of Christ. Our hope is that you will join us in this time of listening to God, of reflection on His word and on the missional mandate, and of search for practical applications of biblical principles in our daily service as mission and church leaders. More information about the consultation is available in this issue of Agora and on our website. Soon together in Pattaya, Bertil Ekström * The symbolism of streams under an oak comes from the pleasant and refreshing experience of sitting under a big tree (as we often did in my childhood in Brazil and still is common in many places), feeling the breeze during sunset and enjoying the conversation with friends. Sometimes alone, the dialogue has been with God, and new insights on life and ministry are revealed. That is also the meaning of my family name Ek-ström (Oak-stream). MISSION COMMISSION CONSULTATION IN PATTAYA OCTOBER 30TH TO NOVEMBER 4TH 2008 Some useful information about the MC Consultation in Thailand: If you already send in your registration form: Due to a technical problem in the WEA server it

2 2 van :45 might be that even although you send in your registration form- it is not appropriately received in the WEA office. If you have not yet received a confirmation of your registration, please resend your form to Kees van der Wilden, who co-ordinates the registrations for the MC consultation. Due to the above problem with the server it is not possible to connect with the appropriate site to register. That s why at the end of this newsletter you ll find an information form about the consultation and a registration form. Please don t delay to register! You can send your form to Bonnie Knoll at the WEA office in Canada, with a CC to Kees van der Wilden. Visa: you can check the need of applying for a visa at the website of the Thai ministry of Foreign Affairs. Generally speaking you have three options: either you receive a visa on entering the country at Bangkok airport for free, or you need to buy a visa at the airport or you need to obtain a visa at an Embassy or consulate before leaving for Thailand. What is apllicable for you is available at the mentioned website. IF you face any problem in obtaining a visa, please do inform Kees van der Wilden at your earliest convenience! Detailed information about requirements and arrangements regarding the consultation will be send to you during the month of July. An overview of the full program will be part of that information. Connections (website) The latest issue of Connections will soon become available in print and be send to you as MCA. This double issue is also the first document for you to get prepared for the MC consultation. It s topic is one of the three missiological main themes: Mission in Contexts of Suffering, Violence, Persecution and Martyrdom. Connections and all its back issues are now also downloadable at the Connections website, that becomes available thanks to the wonderful co-operation of Initialmedia, Connections publishing house, that offered building this site for us. As MCA you now always will have access to the digital articles! ASIA CHRISTIAN WRITER S CONFERENCE October 16-19, 2009 Chiang Mai, Thailand Coordinated by Ramon Rocha, who is the director of OMF publishers in the Philippines. The sponsor is Media Associates International. Inquiries should be directed to Ramon (ramon111@omflit.com). REFUGEE HIGHWAY PARTNERSHIP ROUNDTABLE IN UGANDA IN JUNE The Refugee Highway Partnership was launched at a historic Consultation in 2001 in Izmir, Turkey. Nearly 200 church leaders from around the globe gathered to build connections, collaborate, and develop strategies to respond to the incredible need of refugees in our world. Since then annual leadership meetings and roundtables have been held to continue to build and grow the partnership. The RHP's mission is to mobilize the worldwide church to bring hope and provide refuge for over 30 million refugees and internally displaced people around the world through collaborative strategies. For more information about the RHP visit our website. The Uganda Roundtable, hosted by the Association of Evangelicals of Africa (AEA) - a member of the World Evangelical Alliance -has been designed for participants to: 1. Learn more about the RHP and to engage their church in refugee initiatives 2. See first-hand the impact of refugee movements and internally displaced persons in the host country. 3. Partner with the African church through prayer, encouragement and engagement 4. Participate in World Refugee Sunday celebrations in a "hotspot" in our world Roundtable Participants: Our target participants are strategic church leaders which includes pastors, denominational leaders, mission body representatives, and para-church organization leadership. We are intentionally capping the number of participants to allow for strong connections to take place. Our goal is to limit total attendance to approximately 60 to 80 people. The Africa region (as host) will have 10 to 15 church leaders from across Africa in attendance. Other regions and issue group areas have room to include approximately 5 to 10 leaders. Our goal is to involve decision makers who have the motivation, the influence and the ability to mobilize church involvement in refugee ministry when they return; leaders who have had some prior exposure to refugee issues and for whom this event could be the catalyst to greater involvement; and influencers who will share what they learn at this event to engage others. This is an invitation-only event. For questions, contact Linda Moorcroft of the Refugee Highway Partnership at Linda_Moorcroft@christiestreetrc.com

3 3 van :45. SOUTH AFRICA THE RESPONSILITY OF THE CHURCH I have ambivalent feelings today. Last night I attended the Centennial celebrations of the AFM Church here in South Africa. What an occasion it was to hear what God has done in this denomination in this past century! It was really great to hear how the Church has grown. There was a great challenge from both Dr. Isak Burger and from Rev. Frank Chikane for the Church to maintain its mission s emphasis. We are celebrating with the more than 1.1 million members in South Africa and are praying that what is to come will far supersede that which has been. On the other hand I sit here with a heavy heart as I reflect on the spate of Xenophobic attack in our nation. We are preparing to celebrate Africa Day this coming Sunday, 25 May. I doubt whether those from our neighbouring countries fleeing South Africa right now are looking forward to celebrating this day. I've been reflecting this morning as to what is it that we as Christians need to do. Leviticus 19:33-34 says "When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were once aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God". We ought to care for the aliens and strangers in our midst. There must be a concern for the weak and the oppressed. As I have been reflecting on this, the words of John Stott came to mind, where he defines apathy as "accepting the unacceptable". Surely for us as South Africans it must be unacceptable that our fellow Africans are mistreated in such a dastardly way. While we are called upon to care and to pray, I am wondering if there is something else that we should be doing and I asked myself: What am I and my family to do? What is the organisation which I am leading to do? What is my local Church in Pretoria to do? What are we as Christian leaders in South Africa to do? Last night Moss Nthla, General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance and Ndaba Mazabane, local Pastor and President of WEA were reflecting on what we ought to do. We realised that there is an immediate action that needs to happen but that there is also a longer term strategy that we need to engage in with regards how we care for the poor and marginalised in our country. If you have any inspirational ideas of what it is that the Church should do at this time, I suggest that you write to Moss Nthla at TEASA <teasa@mweb.co.za>. Your brother Peter Tarantal WENSA (World Evangelisation Network of SA) Coordinator TENTMAKERS INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER MAY 2008 From the desk of Johnny Chun Executive Secretary of TI Tentmaking and Mentoring As tentmakers, we realize the importance of mentoring knowing that we tentmakers are serving God as disciple makers and mentors. In His book, The power of a mentor, Dr Waylon B. Moore gives us a good example. "Sir Randolph Churchill was in deep trouble. Travelling to Scotland for a speech, he found his carriage hopelessly stuck in mud, desperate Sir Randolph noticed a lad crossing the fields toward them leading a team of giant draft horses. The youth saw the problem and offered to help. Before leaving, Churchill wanted to pay the lad, but he wouldn't hear of it; "Thank you, sir, but it was the least that I could do. It was a privilege to help such an important person as yourself." Then the politician asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up? The farm boy replied, "I'd like to be a doctor." But his family didn't have the money for school. "Then I will help you become a doctor." said Sir Randolph. Churchill kept his promise, sponsoring the young man who graduated from medical school. Decades later, during World War II, the son of Sir Randolph was now a statesman himself. Winston Churchill lay deathly ill from pneumonia. His doctor had heard of a new experimental drug, "Penicillin". He used it, saving Churchill's life. The drug had been discovering by a doctor name Alexander Fleming. Fleming was the

4 4 van :45 Scottish lad who had pulled out Sir Randolph's carriage. The father's mentoring had saved his son's life, and potentially sealed the victory for England. Christy Wilson, Don Hamilton, Ted Yamamori, John Cox, Berit Kloster, Danny Martin, Derek Christensen, Dan Harrison... They are the people who mentored and encouraged me and greatly contributed for the World Tentmaking movement. We all are called to give good influences to the people whom we meet through our life-time. I believe you tentmakers, as mentors, will give a good influence to whom you meet today... NEWS Mexico - more than just physical healing For Toribio, a young man from Tarahumara, life became uncertain and scary after a bad fall from a horse in September Up until that point, Toribio thought he had life in order and was content. The day he fell off the horse, Toribio had been drinking heavily. The fall shattered his arm, but he waited to have doctors look at it. By the time they did, it seemed that there was little that could be done. It was in such bad shape, the doctors thought it might have to be amputated. After several unsuccessful operations, Toribio's once-content life became one of fear for his future. After a few months passed, Toribio heard about New Tribes Mission missionaries in the area who were connected to a hospital. Those missionaries, Tim and Janet Roberts, spoke with Toribio, and Tim accompanied him to the hospital for the first time. As they talked about why the injury had to happen, Toribio said that he was being punished for his sins. Tim realized that Torbio was hurting more than just physically. After that trip to the hospital, Toribio began attending foundational Bible classes whenever he could. He and Tim have talked about how God has used his injury as a way of making him ready to hear His Word. According to Tim, Toribio is being drawn by the Spirit and seems to be close to placing his faith in Christ. It was only possible because of the loving care that the tentmaker missionaries were able to give through the mission hospital. Pray that these ministries will continue to boldly proclaim and live out Christ's love and that Toribio would soon come to faith in Christ. Togo film reaches many places A team of Association of Baptists for World Evangelism completed filming of their newest production. The team included a group of 30 Togolese believers as well. These kinds of films are evangelistic and have proven to be a great tool for sharing the Gospel with people. This latest film will be used in hospital waiting rooms and patient care areas, as well as for open-air evangelism in towns and villages. This ministry is important since the country still clings tight to its pagan ancestry. In many parts of Togo, Christianity is almost completely foreign. However, ABWE believes the Togolese people are eager to learn more and begin their own ministries Zimbabwe airwaves bring economic transformation Zimbabwe's once-prosperous economy is now faced with a hard currency shortage, which is contributing hyperinflation, and shortages in fuel and consumer goods. Drought conditions across the entire region, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the current government control over prices and their land reforms are being blamed for the situation. Trans World Radio is targeting Zimbabwe for their new project called "The Entrepreneur." People who have been most-affected by the economic downfall and are struggling to make ends meet will be the individuals chosen to participate. Others with raw talent will be chosen as well. The project is an information-loaded educational project based on 32 half-hour programs that will air in June. The information covered touches many subjects that are key to starting a new faith-based business: start-up costs, finances, marketing, insurance, entrepreneurial tips, proposal writing, customer care and community responsibility, among other things. Trans World Radio's hope is that as these leaders are trained and begin to grow, they will make a positive impact within their communities. Their current goals and strategies for reaching out in Africa are to provide dramatized Scripture for the non-literate, to produce and air broadcasts about HIV/AIDS in several languages and to reach youth and women. News in Brief Malaysia Missions Network called Malaysian Center for Global Ministry (MCGM) was launched last week at the MCGM Roundtable, which was attended by about 65 missions and church leaders present. Initially they will be looking at doing the following:

5 5 van :45 to start putting out MTN (Malaysia Tentmakers Network) e-newsletter...sharing articles, testimonies, resources, job opening, etc. The purpose of this is to get word out about the existence of such a network and begin casting vision to the Malaysian Church. some time in the second half of 2008, they are planning a 1 day meeting to bring together leaders who share this vision to further explore how they can move the vision forward more effectively for the Malaysian Church, including defining themselves and the concept (as it fits in with the Malaysian Church) Ben Bester (who is part of The Task Force of the Malaysia Tentmakers Network) has come up with some course materials which focus on 3 levels of courses (i) short presentation on Tentmaking that can be shared in 10 minutes or up to 40 minutes (ii) a 2-3 day seminar on tentmaking (iii) a training curriculum for those wanting to go out as tentmakers (this will be further to the existing 9 week program that we have called "Malaysia cross-cultural missions school"). OPPORTUNITY EXCHANGE We here at Tentmakers International have seen the need to connect member organizations and tentmaking businesses with people who are looking for opportunities to serve. This is our second publication of OPPORTUNITY EXCHANGE. We will update this information on our website If you want to make use of this service send us an with "Opportunity Exchange" in the subject line to tentmakersint@gmail.com OPPORTUNITIES GIVEN China - General Manager in Beijing, China. Job description includes: Leading the general management functions of ZhaoDaoLa (Internet) China Ltd. (ZDL Books) to include, but not limited to: planning, leading, organizing, controlling, analyzing, assessing, protecting, and promoting all company projects, functions, goals, and visions. Will report to the Board of Directors Send resumes/leads to: wight@priusa.com Bangladesh - Agape Social Concern is looking for a volunteer, willing to commit for a period of 4 years to work in their children's hostel Home of Peace. This position is approved by the government of Bangladesh. He/she will be teaching English to 300 children. The organization will provide accommodation but the volunteer should take care of other necessary expenses. It is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to work as a tentmaking missionary from her/his church. Preference will be given to nationals from English speaking countries so that the children can learn proper English. These children are the future of the churches. For more information contact Albert at theway@citechco.net Ghana TI in Ghana in collaboration with Dr Clarke, Pastor Nicholas and Rev Amattey are working in the three areas of education, health and agriculture. Help is needed to expand their projects in eye care, vocational training and agricultural irrigation. For more information contact Rev Devine Amattey at deamattey50@yahoo.com OPPORTUNITIES NEEDED International - I am looking for a Tentmaking job in management, counseling or traveling. I have 7 years management experience and worked on every level of management including supervising staff, resolving issues, paying wages and connecting with the public. A challenge I accomplished was to get staff to a point where they actually wanted to work and enjoyed their work and didn't have a viewpoint of "have to work". I also have a certificate in counseling and am busy doing my degree in counseling. I also did a course with the South African Police Force to be enabled to help victims. I also hold a TEFL teaching certificate. I enjoy to counsel people and help them work through situations in their lives. I also like traveling and went overland through Africa. For more information contact JJ van Wyk at baiedankiejesus@ougat.com UPCOMING EVENT August 10 18, 2008, Mali and Burkina Faso. Tentmaking fourth Residential courses will be held the Fourth Residential TM courses in Mali and Burkina Faso. The speakers will be Steinar Opheim and Tiowa Diarra. For more information, contact timali_07@yahoo.com Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16: 25-27) COPYRIGHT c2006 WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

6 6 van :45 - Appendix 1: Basic Information MC consultation - Appendix 2: Registration form MC consultation COPYRIGHT c2006 WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.