Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
This year, thousands of Christians worldwide will join in prayer November 1 for persecuted Christian families. There are many countries in the world today where Christians are martyred for their faith. For example, the world watched in horror the unbridled violence that was unleashed on Christians in Orissa state, India, last year. There are other places, such as North Korea, where acts of persecution take place, but we often don’t see or hear the full story.
The WEA is made up of 128 national evangelical alliances located in seven regions and 104 associate member organizations representing 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.
Greg Pugh, Rocky Mountain District Director of Church Multiplication and Development for the Evangelical Free Church of America, was a guest speaker at the Denver Regional Conference. An experienced church planter, Greg spoke with us about how to prepare to plant churches. Randy Bloom interviewed Greg about the characteristics of people who effectively start new churches. You can watch a video of this interview entitled, “You Might be a Church Planter if …” by logging on to the CMM website at cmm.wcg.org.
Papua New Guinea
Mark Latham, Papua New Guinea (PNG) pastoral coordinator, returned home from a mid-year visit to our congregations in PNG July 26. On this trip, Mark was accompanied by Australian Youth Coordinator Kwan Borden. Mark wrote:
This was Kwan’s first trip to Papua New Guinea, a land of the unexpected, and there was an air of excitement surrounding his visit. The congregations in Port Moresby and Mt. Wilhelm were eagerly awaiting his visit and had prepared an exotic cultural welcome. Dancing and singing were followed by a traditional mumu meal. It was a special and emotional time and showed the genuine love of this community to visitors.
As well as meeting the congregations, work was done on the electrical wiring, concreting the floor, window installation and lining the walls and ceiling of the church building at Mt. Wilhelm. Great progress has been made since last year when just the frame and roof were done. The congregations sincerely thank all the donations from Australia for this project. We thank everyone for their prayers of support and for good health and safety. It was greatly appreciated.
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A rainwater tank was also purchased through CarePac [our Australian church’s relief and outreach ministry] donations. The tank will enable fresh water to be used on-site instead of members having to carry buckets of water up the hill from a river. A cleaner and more reliable source of drinking and cooking water was needed because the river is also used for bathing and laundry.
The rainwater tank holds 4500 liters and will collect the water off the new church building. At present the rainwater tank has arrived at the village and preparations are being made to connect it. It should be in use in October – in time for the beginning of the wet season.
The congregation is excited to have the tank and thanks everyone who has donated so much. This will make their lives easier and healthier.
A communal kitchen is also planned to help in good nutritional cooking and teaching as well as allowing the community to exercise their generous hospitality to each other, visitors and the surrounding community. The church is a shining example to the surrounding community and a light on the hill on the tallest mountain in Australasia.
Africa
Gary Moore, who just returned from Africa, reported that our church in Botswana was recently registered, meaning our members there can now rent a facility and meet publicly. Until now they have been meeting in members’ homes.
Prayer Requests and Updates
CGI Pastor Charlie Piscitello of Batavia Christian Fellowship, New York, and his wife, Judi, ask for your prayers for Charlie, who is awaiting repair surgery for a grapefruit sized hernia. The surgeon delayed the surgery two weeks to give additional time for Charlie to reduce his blood sugar level. Charlie is also suffering with sever sciatica pain. Cards of encouragement can be sent to:
Charlie and Judi Piscitello
205 Bank St.
Batavia, NY 14020-1503
Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.
Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach
I returned home from Estonia last night after our fourth summer school in the town of Kallaste, Estonia. The pupils told us that they had really looked forward to this event, and we have become quite close friends with a number of the older pupils. Several have invited me home to their family. So I am already starting to think about next year’s summer school. I would like to thank the WCG staff of teachers: Timothy Ståhle, Matteusz Kostrzewa (Alhaug), Frederic Clausen, Philip Cifuentes Silbigger and Hendrickje Kehlenbeck, for their service to each other and the pupils.
They came from far and wide to attend the Bahamas Summer Vacation Bible School, which was actually a mission trip, a Vacation Bible School and a mini-SEP all rolled into one grand two-week long extravaganza event! Mike and Janet Morrison led a team of 20 from California to run the program. Their hard work and enthusiasm, together with the assistance of local church volunteers, spearheaded by our local VBS coordinator Gillian Curling, helped to make this our best summer program ever.
In spite of the UN’s resettlement program, which has managed to find new homes for more than 50,000 people in the last year, the number of refugees in the camps is no fewer. In fact, the problem has been exacerbated by the arrival of more refugees to take the empty places. Unfortunately, the new arrivals are mainly economic refugees who perceive that if they can filter in amongst the political refugees, they might get an opportunity to move to a western country. This has made the job of the camp authorities much more difficult in determining who qualifies for resettlement according to the relative danger they face “back home” in Myanmar. While it is understandable that anyone living in the poverty that afflicts so many people in Myanmar would try to find a way to move to a new home in a more prosperous country, it complicates the situation for the political refugees who have been in the camps in Thailand for decades.
Many years ago, Chogait, a graduate of Ambassador University in Pasadena, returned to his native Thailand and eventually started an English language school for little children, whose parents saw the benefit in their children being bilingual, especially in what is the world’s language of business. The one school has now grown to 11, with their newest school opening its doors in Chiang Mai for the first time about two months ago when the current school year commenced. Called the Little Stars Ambassador Bilingual School (ABS), it is already a hive of activity and looking to expand in the months ahead.
During the same trip, Wong Mein Kong and I travelled to Singapore for a significant event in the history of the local congregation. It was a delightful occasion to ordain Joe Zachariah an elder, and the entire congregation celebrated. Joe and his wife, Anna, have a track record of serving the church faithfully and consistently in humility and dedication. Pastor emeritus, Yong Chin Gee, who has been struggling for some years with poor health, was able to travel with several members from southern Malaysia across the causeway to Singapore to join us in the ordination ceremony. It was a great pleasure for him to take part in this milestone event with the local members numbering about 40.
At Higher Ground 2009, campers not only heard the message of God’s unconditional love for everyone and the life we all share with the Father, Son and Spirit, but they witnessed it also. Seventy staff members from a dozen different church backgrounds served 140 campers and showed how Christians from all denominations can work together, recognizing their shared identity as children of God.
Camp activities including dodge ball, paintball, high ropes, water polo, disk golf, and arts & crafts. To foster team spirit and build family bonds, dorm members participated in activities together and sometimes would compete against another dorm. Evenings featured special events such as a talent show, camp dance, praise and worship concert, a magic show and the ever-popular Camo Night. On the last night, each dorm had its own campfire and fireside chat. It was a time to share their thoughts for the week, encourage one another, and ask questions of counselors and guests.
Some of the BEA gospel workers tried to save mission property, but they were chased and threatened by the attackers. We thank God that none of the gospel workers were hurt except for some minor wounds. Our people have calculated that from this incident, the Mission Center has incurred a loss of more than $3,000.00 damage.