Story number 4 for 1 Feb 2000

Elsewhere, we turn to the United States where World Servants is seeing fruit
from a ministry in the Appalachian area. Ruston Seaman explains how they’ve built
up the outreach. “We kept asking ourselves, ‘What more could we do to help the local
churches develop a complete ministry?’ So, World Servants developed a community
leadership training to help these pastors and leaders understand their position in Christ
and their ability to work together. Each of these community groups has been able to
develop programs out of that training.” Seaman says as with most ministries, there are
tests as well. “Pray that the mission experience would not just be a one-week event
either in the lives of the participants or at the community level. [Pray] that people would
[not only] understand how God can use the mission teams as a way to begin
something, but that also, the ongoing work of ministry in these small neighborhoods
really is the responsibility of the local congregations, and that God would raise up
faithful leaders with a vision for the future.”