Saved People Serve People--Serving Lakota People

This year Grace Church is sending a team to the Lakota reservation in Pine Ridge, SD. We are partnering with the Oyate Concern ministries to serve the people in Pine Ridge, SD.  

Lapman and Ching Ching Lun will lead the team of nine traveling by van from Wooster, Ohio to Pine Ridge, SD.  The team includes the Lun family: Jonathan, Jeremy, and Abby along with Roger and Jenifer Miller and David Fairhurst and Sarah Miller. 

Together they will travel two days to arrive in Pine Ridge. On Sunday, they will begin preparing for the Sunday Night services where the team will share God's love with children, teens, and adults.  

Each day they will work on service projects to help Oyate Concern with their Christian school and church ministries.  The team will work in pairs to complete some projects for the ministry.  

On Monday evening, the team focuses on teens. Students will gather to play basketball and hang out. Then a message from our team will challenge them to give their life to Christ or to remain strong in the Lord.  

On Tuesday evening, the team will direct their encouragement to the lay leaders in the Oyate Concern ministries.  Everyone will share pizza, testimonies, and prayer time for the challenges facing the Lakota believers.  

On Wednesday, the team will finish up projects and clean up for the start of their journey home.  The team will visit the Black Hills, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore on their return trip. 

Please pray for the team:  

• travel safety
• good health
• deeper connections with missionaries and Lakota people
• catalyzing of new friendships, and 
• having a servant's heart

 

Use the #Superbowl for Good

Leverage Superbowl for Good

Thanks to Jon Dansby for sharing the post for using the Superbowl to reach people for Christ. 

The Apostle Paul wrote “To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it (I Corinthians 9:22).”

Most people will watch some of the Superbowl. Over 110 million people tuned in to watch the Superbowl last year.

Photo from Flickr

You can use this event as an opportunity to reach out to those who need to hear the gospel.  Consider your list of people who need Christ. Pray over your list.  Find out who is going to watch it. Invite them over or ask if you can come over to watch part of it. Use this as an opportunity to get to know one or more of your friends or neighbors.   

Be hospitable.  Throw a party to invite others over. Or go to a party and offer to invite them over for dinner some time. 

Above all, pray. Ask God to guide you to an opportunity.  Do everything you can to see God save people.  

Please share how you could use the Superbowl for Good. 

   

Seahawk & Patriot families from Flickr

Sharing life change to the Nations--Cathy Simms goes to Cambodia

Cathy Simms travels to Cambodia with a team from Women of Grace USA (November 11-24).  The team includes women from Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

How to Pray for Cathy Simms and the Women of Grace Team:

• Ask God for safety as the team travels 30-plus hours from US to Cambodia
• Pray for everyone one on the team to remain healthy
• Ask God the Holy Spirit for team unity (Ephesians 4:3)
• Pray that the team can encourage Jill Kane & Becky Good 
• Ask God for the power to encourage the Cambodian Ministry Partner wives
• Pray for the team to do whatever it takes from a servant's heart.

The team will serve in English classes providing English-speaking dialogue for the students. They will encourage the Cambodian Ministry Partner wives who serve along with their husbands in developing fully devoted followers of Christ in churches in Northern Cambodia.  

English as Second Langauage Class (ESL)

Cathy shares on her prayer card, "Please pray for our team that we would be willing and able to pour ourselves out in love for those we will minister to, and that Christ will be made known through our interactions there."

Jill Kane & Becky Good

Cambodian Ministry Partner wives

Our passion is to develop every person into a more fully devoted follower of Christ. "We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom,so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ (Colossians 1:28)."  

Rescuing Children At Risk for Human Trafficking

Team Hope International

 

It started with an extraordinary need. Hundreds of thousands of children in Southeast Asia, many of them orphans, being trafficked. Exploited. Raped. Some of them by their own parents.  The very people who gave them birth selling them for a buck. 

The need gave way to extraordinary passion.  One woman who found a way to help more than one of the least of these, and through her efforts, Team Hope International was born. Together with her husband, God is allowing them to help the helpless.

You can find out more by going to the Team Hope International website. 

Diane Tirakis coordinates Team Hope International at Grace Church.  Team Hope seeks to raise funds for organizations that help rescue orphans and children at risk for human trafficking; specifically through the ministries of Asia’s Hope and G.R.O.W.  

Asia’s Hope is a non profit agency committed to mobilizing resources to meet spiritual, physical and educational needs among Asia’s poor.  G.R.O.W. is a an organization committed to rescuing at risk children in Thailand to place them in small, family homes.   

To sign up for Team Hope International, visit teamhopeintl.org or contact Diane Tirakis, dtirakis@hotmail.com (330) 345-5779

When you want to give up on people

   The Outreach Staff at Grace Church in Wooster, OH comprises unique backgrounds. I am Dineh from the Navajo Nation. Celeste is Brazilian. And Juana is Mexican. Our team serves internationals and seeks to develop everyone into fully-devoted followers of Christ.
   This morning we met to share how we are doing in ministry. I try to provide a framework for our ministries where we gather to envision, pray, and lead.
   I organize the meeting around the central focus of vision. I highlight a portion of our vision statement at Grace Church, "Develop all people into fully-devoted followers of Christ by creatively leading and teaching families towards life change."
   I chose to focus on "life change." Using a picture of a colorful butterfly, I reminded us that God is always at work in everyone of us. "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6 NIV)." 
   We rehearsed how many people in our ministry have transformed lives that are better today than yesterday. We praised God for His on-going work in their lives.
   Yet ministry is hard. It's hard work. Paul wrote in the book of II Timothy how hard ministry can be. "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (II Timothy 2:3)."  Paul uses the imagery of a soldier. Orders are to be carried out. Make it so.  Get it done. Ministry is hard. It's hard work.
   But in the end, "remember Jesus Christ (II Timothy 2:8a)."  You can be discouraed about the people you serve who are making poor choices and experiencing troubling consequences. You witness the pain displaced on family and children. You wonder if your involvelment is just a waste of time.
  You feel the tension of giving up on people. Yet God does not give up on anyone. There is hope for anyone. Each person can choose to live for God. Yes, you will struggle whether you have done everything to help. Still, recall how God do anything. Nothing is impossible with God! His work in unstoppable. Only by God's grace can we go forward to keep helping people.
   Moreover, beware of fostering a self-righteous attitude. You might start thinking how much better you are than so-and-so. You could picture yourself above the ones you are helping. Remember how Jesus saved you. It is by God's grace that you can serve others.
   Visualize life change as the progression from caterpillar to butterfly. Each person who believes in Jesus is on  the journey of transformation. Each believer is a good work in progress.
  When you feel weary in ministry, recall how God is always as work in each believer. Things can be challenging, but consider what could be. 
   This person who is hurting could be one who is helping in the future. This person who needs service could be the one serving others. This person who is in crisis could be the one who is helping to relieve crisis. This person who is so draining could be the one refreshing others one day. Life change can happen in Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus Christ!

Things I learn from our Outreach Staff recently

I got to lead our last two Outreach Staff meetings. I wanted to conduct them with a focus around three main sections: Vision, Team, & Skill.

Vision: I intended to rehearse the vision and values of our church with the team. I have heard that people lose vision in less than a month. So to rehearse our vision was part of this segment.

Wooster Grace Vision Statement "Developing everyone into fully-devoted followers of Christ"

Next, I challenged our team to ask the question everyday, "Is what I am doing developing everyone into fully-devoted followers of Christ?" I phrased the question differently and created a one-page reminder for each team member to post in their office or cubicle to help them keep the vision in front of them.

Today I asked how the reminder helped. I noted how it helped me from being too distracted. As a people-pleaser, I tend to say yes to everything. So, this reminder redirected me to refocus on the mission. I will need to say NO more. Another teammate shared how the reminder helped her clarify what she wanted to do. She used "filter-questions" to strain out her excuses and to discover what was the key issue and then to make a decision. A different teammate shared how ministry can be so overwhelming at times. We want to help others--that's why we are on the outreach team. Yet we must seek to keep a margin, even in ministry. Her gifts and talents clarified her to decide to add one more ministry project to her life because our vision is developing others. The printed reminder helped us stay on mission.

You can do the same. Insert your church's or ministries' mission statement in the question and place on postcard or page to keep you on-mission. "Ask, 'If what you are doing is advancing your mission statement?'"

Ministry can be extremely busy. I wonder how you stay on mission amid the chaos of ministry opportunities. Please share in the comments below how you stay on mission.  

One of the things that I want to do in the new year is to share what I am learning in ministry. I trust these posts will encourage you and help others who are in ministry also.

God be praised! Another child comes to Christ

Pic from internautdecristo.com.br

Just got off the phone with Linda Kline who is a teacher for the Norwayne/Northwestern Religious Education Program. She shared how one boy prayed to receive Christ at his home in his room. This young boy told Ms. Kline that he reviewed the Evangecube truths and decided to trust in Jesus for everyday for the rest of his life. You can view the presentation below.

How awesome is God! Someone coming to Christ brings the Lord glory! Please pray for Linda as she continues to offer these evangecubes at cost to the kids in the Religious Ed Program. May the Gospel go into homes where even the household will hear and respond to God so that the Lord is glorified.  Thanks for the report, Linda.

Links:

• Blogpost a year ago re: dedication of the new building
• Wooster Daily-Record, letters to the Editor (scroll down to read how God glorified His name)
• To order Evangecube from Christian Books

"Catch a Wave...And your out of your comfort zone"

Missions trips s-t-r-e-t-c-h you.

Every day we have experienced new things: new foods, new schedules, and new activities.

The Dominican Republic is on the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The country is surrounded by water. I am a Navajo and our traditional lands is surrounded by four sacred mountains on high desert plateaus.  So it is a stretch to engage the water as one who's ancestors engaged the desert.

So when my bro-in-law Jeff asked us to go out-of-our comfort zone and go surfing. Part of me was excited for the new adventure. And the other part of me was a bit uneasy.

However, our family has been on a quest from the first day of 2011. On Jan 1, 2001 we jumped in the iced-over Winona Lake with other "polar bears" to declare that we would go beyond our comfort zones this year.

Rafi & Gustavo of Macao Surf Camp

Our family took another step out-of-our-comfort zones. Each child had fears. But each one overcame them. We praise God for new Christian friends from the Macao Surf Camp--Rafael & Gustavo. They minister to Dominican youth by training them to be surfing instructors. Each youth has dropped out of school in junior high because high school demands extra money to pay for transportation. Please check out their fb page and pray for their upcoming Christian Surf Camp in October. 

My favorite story is Carissa. Her countenance had traces of tears forming in her precious little eyes. But she cautiously listened to the instructors, followed her personal trainer's directions, and after two wipeouts, rode her first wave onto the beach. I was so proud of her. The smile that glowed from the beach out to me was priceless. 

So when you take your missions trip with your family. Take the lead. Experience new things. Then debrief with them to instill confidence in the Lord and to guide them as they experience challenging obstacles.

Back to School means Back to Prayers

When I see back to school promotions on radio, tv, or internet, I now consider those returning to school to be a witness--to make more and better disciples on campus. We partner with four campus ministries to share the Gospel in elementary schools, in middle & high school, and in secondary campuses.

Ms Linda Kline

Release Time Religious Education is the heart of Linda Kline. She faithfully prepares each year to share God's Word with students in Northwestern & NorWayne School districts.  Please ask God to provide chaperones to walk children from the schools to the off-campus Religious Ed buildings. If you live in either school district, then please consider being a "walker" for your school. Call Linda at (330) 262-6787 to volunteer.

Ms Mary

Mary Swartzentruber helps with Breakaway where students in fifth through twelfth grade get an opportunity to take as an elective a Bible Class.  Green Local Schools abides by the ruling that schools may release students for a time of religious training off-campus.  Parents give permission for their student(s) to be excused from study hall to attend. Breakaway's mission is to offer Christian, spiritual and moral training to young people. If you are in or near Green Local School District please consider volunteering. Please contact Breakaway at (330) 669-2056.

Ben & Sandie Dyke

Two missionary partner families serve with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). Ben & Sandie Dyke live in Indianapolis, IN where they help facilitate the ministries in the Great Lakes Region for Cru. Many campus ministry teams receive training and equipping to share Christ, to start bible studies, and to disciple new believers in Christ, as well as establish growing believers in their faith.  Please share your prayer for the Dyke's on the Indycc facebook page. "Like," then post a prayer for the team.

Mark & Roxanne Johnson

Mark & Roxanne Johnson serve with Cru at Indiana University-Bloomington. Mark & Rox minister on campus with many students. They help with outreach, bible studies, contacting students, facilitating new student connections with Cru, as well as lead the leaders on campus. Please ask Mark & Roxanne Johnson to add you to their friends and post a word of encouragement.

The College of Wooster has the Wooster Christian Fellowship on campus. Julie Longacre coordinates the Fellowship. You can read about her prayer request from an earlier blog post.

Please pray for these servants of the Lord who prepare to go back to school.  Then offer to help or send a word of encouragement today. 

Prayer needed for campus ministries

Wooster Christian Fellowship

I praise God for InterVarsity at the College of Wooster. The Wooster Christian Fellowship begins their ministries this month for the upcoming school year. Please join them in prayer. My friend, Julie Longacre, wrote the following prayer request. 

"We have a day of evangelism training on Friday, August 26th and then have several training events that weekend for new leaders and small group leaders...etc. the first day of class is that Monday, the 29th. We really appreciate your prayers!

your friend, Julie"

Take a moment right now to pray for the Wooster Christian Fellowship at the College of Wooster. Then send a friend request to Julie on Facebook so you can pray for her and the group.

Campus Crusdae for Christ changes name to 'Cru' [guest post]

New logo

Mark & Roxanne serve on staff with Cru.  Wooster Grace partners with them as they seek to share Christ with university students at Indiana University--Bloomington.  I asked Mark to share about the recent name change from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru on this blog.

Over the past weeks there have been stories posted by Glenn Beck and FoxNews (and other secular and religious media outlets) criticizing the name change.  Some of the stories posted in major media outlets have been less than accurate.  There has been growing concern in both traditional and social media that we have lost our way and are seeking to make a politically correct name change.  These concerns stem mainly from the fact that "Christ" is no longer in our name.

If you would like to hear from our organization itself, our vice president, Steve Sellers, explained the name change on Fox and Friends Saturday morning, August 27.

Rox and I want you to know from the bottom of our hearts that the name change is not the result of a shift in our mission to fulfill the Great Commission.  On the contrary, we made the name change because we want to be more effective in bringing the gospel of Christ to the lost and broken of this world.  Research showed that 20% of nonbelievers who were interested in hearing more about Jesus would not want to talk with someone from Campus Crusade for Christ.  Another interesting find from the same study was that 9% of believers would not want to be a part of our ministry because of our name.  For clarity's sake, the off-putting part of our name was "Crusade", not Christ.  Through a process of diligent prayer and fasting over the last two years, the leaders of our ministry decided to take a risk instead of allowing 1 in 5 people to miss an opportunity to talk about Christ.

Here is also a great blog post that links to many different articles and blogs about the name change.

Sunday, July 24

Sunday morning was a delight as we joined the Battambang homes for church services.  All the home participate in the service which is awesome. Savorn spoke since he drove up for the weekend. 

 

Afterwards Zac jumped up to the drums and the kids gathered around as he played.  Back to Grace Place we went for last minute massages and hugs from the kids. 

 

Final massage

We finally had to begin the process of saying goodbye. And believe me when I say process.  It only took 1/2 an hour this time to tear ourselves away from the crying children. This is the most difficult part of the trip for us because your heart just breaks and wants to stay and love on these kids some more. It would be easier to never come, some may say. A part of you is left behind, ripped out of your chest.  You are never again the same. But it is more than worth it. "At least we have more children to look forward to," says my kids. "It makes leaving a little bit easier."

 

We drove back to Phnom Penh, rode around in a tuk tuk with Pkeakdey, had pizza down by the river, started to pack for our trip tomorrow to Thailand. Tomorrow we see Faa and the GROW children and Tutu. And now, I say goodnight!

 

So hard to say goodbye

Gifts from Wooster Grace to Vannak & Home Directors

 

Saturday, July 23

Who is that on the menu from Apple Creek?

Well it is Sunday night here and a lot has happened this weekend.  We had such a wonderful time with the children at Grace Place: Battambang. They are all doing so well. I had to take a picture at the restaurant where we had breakfast because the Richardsons are on the front cover of the menu at a place coalled "Cold Night" 

After breakfast Saturday morning we headed out with Pkeakdey and her father again to visit three more possible children for the up and coming GROW Cambodia home. 

Two of the girls are 5 year old twins and the other is three. The girls looked like they were 3 years old because they don't get enough food to eat. Their father died in an accident and their mother has some mental illness that comes and goes.  The family eats when neighbors in their village give them some food like a tomato or something.  

GROW Cambodia orphan rescue candidates

We spent quite awhile talking with the mother and her friend whom she was staying with in Battambang while she brought her daughter to the hospital.  We gave the girls some beanie babies the Roselers gave us and the mother some money to buy some food for her daughters and self. She began to cry as I, Pheakdey and her father all handed her some cash. She was overwhelmed by the love we were sharing with her.

We then headed to Grace Place to pile all 40 kids, the staff and us into 2 vans.  Yep, that's a lot of people in a small space, but we did it! The kids had so much fun at the waterpark.  We pretty much had the entire place to ourselves.  For hours we went up stairs and down slides, played Keep a Way and splashed (see more photos below). 

After dropping the kids off, and changing, we met the staff of our home at a BBQ and buffet restaurant as way of thanking them for what they do for these children and to give them a night off..  At first we weren't sure we were going to eat at all because everything was raw (meat and fish).  Then we learned that we cook it at our table on these little grills in the middle of our tables. It was quite an experience. Vannak and another staff member kept bringing us new foods to try. You may not wish to know what all we ate, but it was pretty good, never mind we all felt a little queezy in the stomach and bowels later. Yikes. But better now!

We returned to play with the kids some more of course.  By this time my kids are wanting to stay here and never leave. It is that or hide 40 kids in our suitcases! We Skpyed with Pastor Ivanildo and the older kids who are doing very well in English, spoke with him.  I will say I do not think I will do that again because Nga began crying after speaking with him.  She held onto me for 15 minutes or so crying about how much she missed him and wanted him to come back.  This began a domino effect as about 5 other girls joined in holdiong on to me.  I was able to convince all but Nga to join the others dancing and having fun.  I passed Nga off to Tim and she help on to him most of the rest of the evening crying.

Sokha

Sokret

Using a church as a place of hope for children in your community

Pastor Dale Workman

I had a great conversation with Robin Workman, wife of senior pastor Dale Workman from Community Grace Brethren Church of Long Beach (CA).  She shared how their church people renovated a room in their church to serve as a computer lab for the families in their community. In fact, they host the Andy Street Youth Ambassadors program where children get afterschool lifeskills training. Elder Ken Victor seeks to facilitate the church facility for outreach as part of the heartbeat of their church.  In partnership with LaVerne Duncan who leads the Andy Street Ambassador Program for Long Beach, Community GBC of Long Beach uses their building for outreach. Here's a shout out from this pastor for what you are doing on-mission for the Lord. Find Pastor Dale & his wife Robin at Vision2020 Leadership Conference.

If you would like to have them share how they did it and what you could learn from them, please contact them via email at 2ormore@msn.com or call (562) 634-1056.  Let's learn together to make a greater impact for Christ!