Mission organizations are appealing to retirees to help fulfill the Great Commission. Evangelism Explosion’s Tom Stebbins is inviting retired adults to be a part of the Finishers Forum taking place in Dallas Texas April 6th through the 8th. Stebbins says recruiting older adults is key to evangelism. “At that time of life, age is revered so much in different cultures. And so, their age is an advantage. People listen to them, they want to hear what they’re saying, they’re excited about meeting someone from another culture, so it’s really an asset to be older in many of these cultures.” According to Stebbins this forum will help relieve anxieties and allow them to speak with more than 50 mission agencies. Stebbins says for E-E alone the need for workers is great. “Here in North America we need actually one in every state able to give time to promote evangelism, to organize seminars, visit churches. Overseas we’re looking for at least 7 to 10 full time people.”
News Archives
Elsewhere, we turn to Bangkok where AMG International is reporting the success of an evangelistic indoor crusade. The effort was aimed at reaching the Burmese migrant workers in the area. AMG reports the meetings were conducted by U Zaw Min, whose ministry is geared toward that people group. The spiritual hunger kept the church was full over the next few days, with many coming to Christ. The success of the crusade is a result of the prayers and support of AMG’s partners around the world.
We begin today’s news in the Balkans, where politicians are trying to thaw out chilled relations between East and West. In the meantime, Shelter Now is reaching out to help the people caught in the press of the fight. Jeff Johnstone says despite the tension, they are working to provide humanitarian aid to not only Kosovo, but also Serbia and neighboring Yugoslavia. “We’re working with a couple of churches in Serbia-we’re looking to go up into Yugoslavia. It’s a little tense right now trying to get into Serbia. We have found great favor with Serbian Counsel, Serbian Embassy in Macedonia because of our service to the Serbs there, but if things escalate, that’ll greatly affect that.” Johnstone says they need prayer protection because: “…It’s a very, very difficult place right now. The killing continues; however, I can tell you that the Gospel is going out in an unprecedented way throughout Kosovo. There are pockets of believers, new believers that are coming up each and every day.”
We turn next to Jordan where a 45 year missionary veteran says there are many challenges facing Christian workers there. CB International’s George Kelsey says there are a few people there who are open to the Gospel. “There are four or five percent of the population that are nominal Christian and there’s opportunity to see some of them come. The other 95 or so percent hold very strongly to their Islamic beliefs and feel that they have the truth and they’re not so open.” Kesley, who’s staying at D & D Missionary homes in Florida, says evangelical work takes various forms. “There’s nothing like the power of the Bible. There are one or two different radio programs that are beaming in. There’s a television station in southern Lebanon-northern Israel. I think these three areas have been sort of softening up the opposition.” Pray that missionaries won’t be discouraged by the lack of response and the difficulty in learning Arabic.
In another Muslim country, an evangelical missionary organization is asking for prayer as they prepare to reach the lost in Pakistan. Manmin World Mission’s Johnny Kim says they plan to hold a crusade there in the fall. “It’s not a Christian nation, as you know, it’s an Islamic Republic. More than 95-percent of the total population are Muslim people. They invited the President of Manmin World Mission Rev. Doctor Lee Jae Rock and have the crusade nationwide in this coming October.” Kim says they’re going to use Korean cultural events to to share the Gospel. “For example dance, and praising and I think that the cultural method is a good way to open the mind of the people in different cultures. So through that kind of method we’re going to gather the Muslim people and open their heart and then we will preach.”
Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board says their missionaries hope that their sharing food with the needy in Bulgaria will lead to Jesus Christ. Three-fourths of Bulgaria’s eight million people live in poverty. Christian groups have helped plant and harvest more than 40 acres of potatoes and then distributed them to hospitals, orphanages, and those in need. The IMB is praying that their food project will be used as a springboard for evangelism and church planting.
Topping the news today, evangelical humanitarian groups are stepping forward to condemn Sudan’s bombing of a Christian school in the south. 14 people died in the attack. Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton says an end to the Islamic violence isn’t expected. “I think we’ll see continued attacks and continued violence. And, I think we’ll see continued outcry from the international community calling on the government of Northern Sudan to allow these people to worship freely.” Nettleton says despite the war the Sudanese church is growing. However, the people have great needs and they’re doing what the can to help. “We distribute life packs, which contain what one family needs to survive. Also, it contains a Bible so that they can have not only physical food, but spiritual food as well. The second thing is called the Blankets of Love program. We’re asking Christians to donate a blanket and to donate two-dollars to cover the shipping.”
Meanwhile, four more Christians have been released in Saudi Arabia. According to Compass Direct, 40 days after their arrest Saudi officials released four of the five remaining in custody from the Ministry of Interior detention center. One other Christian is still waiting for the guarantee documents required from his employer. On January 7th, 15 Filipino Christians, including three women and five children, were arrested for worshiping Christ in their own home. All 15 are expected to be deported from the country, which prohibits non-Muslim worship.
In a surprise move, the head of Romania’s Orthodox Church has asked for forgiveness not only for churches destroyed under communism, but also for the concessions made by the Church to the late atheistic dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. New Hope International’s Marius Abrudan says this may well signal change. “Most of the time, the Orthodox Church tried to outlaw the evangelicals or considered them cults, not Christian denomination. But, that’s a great change, particularly when they’ve kind of started to become more Bible-oriented than [they were] traditionally.” Abrudan says with the advent of the official apology, things could improve even more. New Hope is excited about the growth already in place in their ministry. “Doors are open-we can go into public schools, we can go into orphanages, we can go most everywhere and do Christian missions. One of the new approaches that we have is in partnership with Focus on the Family-we want to go into high schools and present the abstinence alternatives from the Christian point of view.”
Next, a building project is pointing people to Christ in the Caribbean. Food for the Poor’s Nick Adams says the program is called two-thousand in two-thousand. Adams says many of the homes will be built in partnership with National Religious Broadcasters. “We hope to build 2,000 homes for needy families in Jamaica during the year 2,000. And, the cost for each home is just $2,000 and this includes the cost of materials, labor, land and shipping. One of the areas that we will be focusing on in Jamaica is Riverton City.” Adams says this project will point many to Christ. “The cornerstone of our ministry is Christ and we see his great goodness working through the hearts of our donors each and every day. And, since we work through the churches in the local communities we establish a relationship between members of the community and the church themselves through our direct ministry of teaching, encouragement and prayer.”
