Saved people serve people--Leaving home, family, friends in Ohio to equip pastors in Africa

Jason & Christy Carmean

Jason, Christy, Micaela, Alyssa, Josiah

 
Email:  jcarmean@encompassworld.org 

Place of Ministry: Yaounde, Cameroon
Sending Agency: Encompass World Partners 
 
Our Missionary Partner: Jason and Christy left Lexington, OH with the kids to go to Africa.  God called them to Yaounde, Cameroon to equip African leaders to shepherd the local churches in Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.  Encompass World Partners directs their endeavors.   

Carmean family packed for Africa

God called them to develop fully devoted followers of Christ in Cameroon, Africa.  Grace Church is part of a coalition of churches who support and provide resources and guidance for the Carmean ministry. 

Their Mission: Jason expresses their passion--we want to train pastors and lay leaders in Cameroon to lead their churches towards all that God wants for each church family. Jason asks us to pray for the partnership of US churches and African churches to work together for the glory of God.

If you want updates, then please LIKE their Facebook page.  You can discover the stories of the Africans that they are training.  You can see their faces, pray for each family, and know that when you give to Grace Church, part of your gifts go to support the ministry of the Carmean family.  

Street scene in Yaounde, Cameroon

How to Be Involved

PRAY: Pray for Jason as he pursues the development of the leadership training program for pastors. Ask God to give Jason strength in the Lord to develop fully devoted followers of Christ in Cameroon.  Ask the Lord to encourage the family to be encouraged and to get rid of discouragement and negative thoughts when they feel lonely, separated from family in Ohio, and physically wore out from the hard life in Yaounde.  
 
ENCOURAGE: Jason's birthday is October 15. Christy's birthday is November 27.
Micaela's birthday is November 16. Alyssa's birthday is October 27. Josiah's birthday is July 25.  Anniversary is June, 7, 1997. 

CONNECT: Carmeans in Cameroon on FaceBook

Men from Douala preparing to be equipped

Saved people Serve People--Kevin & Jill Kane

Kevin & Jill Kane

• Email Kevin and Jill 

Mission Location: Battambang, Cambodia Sending Agency: Encompass World
 
Our Missionary Partner: Kevin & Jill embody the Grace church value--saved people serve people.  They have stoked a passion to be involved in God’s work in Cambodia serving the Khmer people. They came to Christ and got baptized in August 1990.  They explored ministry opportunities through short term trips and ministry skills assessment, even taking a special assignment in January 2002.  Then in 2006, God sent Kevin & Jill to develop fully devoted followers of Christ in Cambodia as missionary partners from Grace Church.  

Their Mission: The Kane's live in Northwestern Cambodia in a city known for its rice, Battambang.  The Khmer language is a challenge to learn, but the Kane's have learned the language and use it to develop Khmer leadership.  They worked together with Kent & Becky Good. Kent & Becky returned to the US in Dec 2014.  Now, Kevin & Jill will help with the transition to Khmer leadership. Ever sharing the Gospel and equipping church leadership, Kevin & Jill intend to delegate more ministry responsibilities to the Cambodian Ministry Partners.  The end goal is to raise up indigenous pastors and leaders who will lead their own churches.

How to Be Involved
PRAY: Pray for Kevin & Jill as they settle into their new roles without teammates.  Ask God to give them strength in the Lord to develop fully devoted followers of Christ in Cambodia.  Ask the Lord to raise up great leaders for the Khmer church!
 
ENCOURAGE: Kevin's birthday is March 8. Jill's birthday is on September 1. Their anniversary is July 9, 1978. 

CONNECT: Kevin and Jill on FaceBook  

Kevin & Jill attending wedding of Khmer couple

 

Kevin & Jill with Cambodian Ministry Partner

Learning how to lead in Atlanta, GA

  How awesome to be in Atlanta, GA to attend Catalyst 2013. In less than 10 hours, I get to attend one of the best leadership conferences.  This will be my second in-person conference. My first in-person experience was overwhelming but fulfilling and challenging. Yet I experienced Catalyst via social media two years ago in 2011 (Twitter and website).
  As I end my day before Catalyst I want to engage the process of being distracted from the routine. I want to discover new connections. I want to come away inspired to do great things for God. I am blessed to have the opportunity to join 12,999 others tomorrow.
  I have embedded the preview video below. I will be posting comments via Twitter (@daronbutler) both days.
  I want to say thanks to my church, Grace Church for allowing me the time to get inspired to be a better lead. I also want to give a shout out to Encompass World Partners for being our host for Catalyst.

Be a person of significance--Links from last Sunday's message

From 4RB on Flickr

A couple of links as a follow-up from this past Sunday's message:

• From Relevant Magazine by Stephanie S. Smith, article, "Attention Hungry Faith: We all want to be influential—but why? The tension between building a platform & building a Kingdom:, discussing significance in the digital world. I agree with her statement, "We need people who are able to articulate life-giving truth with elegance and clarity." We don't need buzz makers and blog stat multipliers.
• From Tim Elmore's blog he presents a Chick-Fill-A leaders cast, a video discussing influence with John Maxwell, Dave Ramsey, and Suzy Welch (28 min video on Vimeo). Many take-aways here.
• From Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford University, cited in sermon.  YouTube video (15 min) Find transcript here.

Lead with your life. Lead by example. You influence those around you. Influence all to become more fully devoted followers of Christ.

Making a difference in Africa

We praise God for the opportunity to partner with GBIM in The Timothy Project with the Theological Seminary in Bangui, Central African Republic. Wooster Grace helps Sylvain Sangassere and his wife, Herodia & their child Gracia.

Sylvain & Herodia

Sylvain is in his second year at the Brethren Biblical Seminary in Bangui on the road to Boali. Pastor Tom Peters of ICDI was able to hand deliver a letter from our church and to give a huge hug and greeting from us to them. I praise God for Pastor Tom's big heart for Africa and it's people.

I thank God also for David & Ruth Ann Martin who are the GBIM Engage Africa US Coordinators.  They were able to get me a photo of the couple.  

Please find below two prayer requests from the GBIM missionaries in regard to seminary and bible institute students who are now on summer break. May we lift them up in prayer. 

1.      This is the season when a lot of the men travel back to their home districts to act as apprentices in local churches and hopefully to get some help with tuition and perhaps some food from gardens left behind in their home villages. Meanwhile the wives and kids are left at Bata to keep up the fields locally so there will be food for the coming year.  As families in the states often discover, when the father/husbands are away things quit working, people get sick, crises arise, etc.  SO PLEASE PRAY FOR THE MEN AS THEY TRAVEL AND LEARN, AND FOR THE WOMEN AND KIDS AS THEY WORK AND WAIT.

2.      2. In the last few years, gold has been discovered in various places in the area around Bata.  Students don’t go looking for it but many others have stopped farming and hoping to get rich, have gone seeking gold (sort of like 1849 in California).  That means fields are left unplanted and food is becoming scarce.  The price of the basic starch food, gozo (manioc), has quadrupled this year. Rains came late so that even those who were willing to work couldn’t plant their peanut crops so that will really cause hard times this fall. PRAY THAT THE STUDENT’S FIELDS WOULD PRODUCE WELL IN SPITE OF A DIFFICULT SEASON.

Please stop now to pray. 

Be in the Arena--homage to Teddy

One hundred years ago today, President Theodore Roosevelt made his famous "Man in the Arena" speech in Paris. His words ring true with me.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

 I want to be a man in the arena.  I want to stand in the center of the arena like Spartacus or like Spaniard . I read that Nelson Mandela gave a copy of this speech to Francois Pienaar, South Africa's National Rugby captain. Although they use Invictus as the poem for the movie , Mr. Mandela copied it for Francois to read. I believe it is inspiring as a follower of Christ.  Many will oppose or critique my devotion to God.  Nevertheless, I will choose to follow Christ! 

Likewise, Joshua challenged the people of Israel in his day. "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)." I wonder what inspires you to follow God with greater devotion everyday. 

Leave a legacy like Tim Russert

photo from celebrity.elle.com

Pastor Bob shared on Father's Day in his sermon how father's need to be reminded that your children are watching your decisions you make in life. My decision as a father affects the destiny of my children. Whoa! What a responsibility.

His message has its application in the life of Tim Russert. Russert exemplified a heart for faith and family. As a father whose faith mattered and whose family mattered as well, I find his example where our children will still remember the kind of father we were. Luke Russert shares his reflections upon his father's life--his father, Tim Russert, died from a massive heart attack on Friday, June 13. His memorial service is going to be shown today at 4:30 on MSNBC. You can view other recollections of a man who impacted those around him regarding his choice to value his faith and his family.

I trust that you will see the disonance in your life and choose to apply the message that Pastor Bob shared about five major decisions every father faces. May you decide to be a difference-maker in the lives of those around you--Tim Russert did, a father who passionately embraced faith and who passionately loved his family. Russert exemplified that leadership shows strength over laziness. I want to show leadership in my family, not laziness.

I went to the park near the Nick Amster/Ida Sue schools last night to "walk" with my family and mother-in-law, Margie Buriff. As I strolled around the loop, I ate a quick sandwich, apple, and drink. Then the boys wanted me to play soccer with them. After a full day, a full stomach, and a full lap, I thought of saying not this time; but I recall the challenge from the Bible that Pastor Bob shared--leadership or laziness; presents or presence; consistency or convenient. It would be lazy for me to give an excuse. It would have been more convenient to offer a reason for not playing. But praise God I won that battle and chose leadership and consistency so that I can remain present in my family's life. I am still on the journey for learning how to be a great father. The battle is daily. So I choose to unsheath my sword to battle to make decisions that will lead my family in a God-honoring way.