Archive for January, 2010

By Linda L. Scisson

[Jesus speaking] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9 ESV).

According to the grace of God given to me [the apostle Paul], like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it (1 Cor. 3:10-11 ESV).

The China Harmony and Unity Center in Beijing, China is being considered a new outreach of Fellowship’s global ministry, “Fellowship Unleashed.”

From January 20 to January 27, 2010, Paul Chapman, Fellowship’s Unleash Missions Pastor, and Fred Wood, Overseeing Elder, will be in Beijing, halfway around the globe. Their eight-day mission is to see first-hand the workings of the China Harmony and Unity Center, known as “CHUC” (pronounced “Chuck”), and report back to the Elder Board if they believe this is something our church should pursue.

According to its Facebook page, the five areas of focus for the China Harmony and Unity Center are:

• Leadership Development
• Marriage and Family
• English as a Second Language
• Medical Assistance
• Youth Development Programs

Several USA evangelical ministries and churches are already lending a hand with the China Harmony and Unity Center, including (1) Christ Community Church (Omaha, Nebraska), (2) Crown College (St. Bonifacius, Minnesota), and (3) FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ (Little Rock, Arkansas). One couple from our body, through their work with FamilyLife, Jim and Judy Burrows, have recently moved to Beijing to provide guidance in the area of Marriage and Family at the CHUC.

By way of phone interview on January 15 (five days before Fred and Paul make the 14 hour flight), Paul told me that in the ministry of missions, three actions typically take place:

(1)  Relief work

(2)  Rehabilitation

(3)  Development

This ministry opportunity in Beijing, the second largest city in China, deals with development.

Since the fall of Communism in China, there has been a shift on several fronts that affect the people’s livelihood and lifestyle. There appears to be a widening window of opportunity for faith-based organizations, including Christianity, to bring their gifts, talents, and knowledge to the People’s Republic of China.

The nation’s leaders see a need for practical solutions to their challenges, such as a divorce rate that exceeds 50 per cent and a depression rate in the 60 percent range. They are beginning to sense and, on some occasions, see that a life centered around a healthy moral foundation, such as what our faith proclaims (and has proclaimed through the  centuries), could turn things around for their good.

“The goodness of God leads to repentance” (see Romans 2:4).

Thus enters the missionaries — “as servants and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1 ESV) — the scouts, the trail-blazers, the pioneers, the builders, the maintainers, the pastors, the prophets, the teachers and, equally important, those able to provide financial backing and prayer support. 

Please keep Paul Chapman and Fred Wood in your prayers, as well as the decision-makers of Fellowship Bible Church, as the thoughtful process continues to see if the China Harmony and Unity Center is one area (among so many) that we are to expand our church’s goodwill and, by God’s grace, advance and nurture the Kingdom of God, knowing the authority — all authority — behind such ventures is Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-19).

WHAT THE PROJECT IS ABOUT

Fellowship got involved in Sept. 2009 in a multi-year project with the Dadiya people group, a Bibleless, partially unreached people group in Nigeria. This project will deliver the Scriptures in the Dadiya language by 2013 through an integrated project with The Seed Company (Wycliffe), and other partners like the Jesus Film Project. Of the world’s 2300 languages without even one verse of the Bible available, more than 200 of those languages are in Nigeria. In the last nine months God has brought several unique opportunities together to form this project that can inspire us, leverage experience, and facilitate church planting and biblical growth. By 2013 the entire NT, selected OT portions and Psalms will be translated, tested, checked and available in text and audio format. Associated church planting, growth and literacy initiatives will also have been implemented.

PROJECT DETAILS:

The Dadiya live in the Gombe state, a strategic spiritual area and one often featured in recent news reports pertaining to religious violence. This people group has over 30,000 speakers. One of Chuck Brod’s disciples is from the Dadiya region and the Brods have confirmed the potential and significance of church planting and growth efforts in the Gombe state. With the successful partnership of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), the Seed Company (Wycliffe) and Jesus Film Project, the pieces were in place by 2008 to start a full scale Scripture translation project with a team of 4 nationals. The churches there have responded enthusiastically and are connecting the Word of God with church planting and strengthening initiatives as evidenced this month by the rollout of the Jesus Film in Dadiya.

COMMUNICATIONS TO DATE:

In spring/summer 2009, Ken Tuttle met with Rosie Stephens to explore potential involvement with unreached people groups and Bible translation efforts. At Paul Chapman’s request David Alexander identified the Dadiya translation project as having the key criteria relevant to FBC (location, time frame, impact, milestones, etc.). Ken Tuttle, David Alexander and Rosie Stephens met with FBC ministries to see if the project would be of use for leveraging interest and connection of members with global missions. Basic briefings about scripture translation, this project and potential ways to connect with it were shared with the Congregational Pastors, with Brandon Barnard (re: FSM), with Jenny Lane and Carolyn Buckner. To leverage the first major milestone in the project since FBC joined, i.e. the rollout of the Jesus Film amongst the Dadiya, a general awareness launch event has been planned. All communication since then have related to this event and to a March trip by key individuals to Nigeria.

PURPOSE OF THE MARCH TRIP:

As part of the criteria for funding established for Paul, a fact finding/connection component is planned. Rosie (and Glenn) Stephens, Ken Tuttle, David Alexander, Will Crawford and Nancy Hamilton will go to Nigeria the first week of March to connect with ECWA leaders, visit the Dadiya region, connect with the translation and field staff teams, witness the ongoing rollout of the Jesus film in Dadiya villages, and gather information and media for use in missions awareness efforts at FBC including FSM’s global village (which will feature this project in April).

WHAT ARE WE ASKING?:

FSK and FSM will be asking their children and students to engage with the project by leveraging tight funding/outcome aspects of the project represented in the opportunity to sponsor the translation of a verse (at $26 per verse). This will be connected to missions giving initiatives and connected with their curricula and teaching to increase the students’ appreciation of the scriptures. In addition, we are encouraging community groups to take a week between now and the end of March to pray for aspects of this project. Beyond that the options are broad and encompass prayer, engagement, involvement and awareness.

Chuck Colson is a class act.
He sent FBC this thanks for our partnership with the Prison Fellowship InnerChange Freedom Initiative.

Chuck mentions Fellowship in his latest book….. and it’s not for prison ministry.

Click here to view ‘The Faith” at Amazon.com

And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  Acts 8:29-31

And so she guides them one by one.  They have been abused, mistreated, unloved, and found unworthy by the world.  But she introduces them to the One who can fill the void that the world and no man have ever been able to satisfy.  The women of Dorcas House, a local shelter for abused women and children, are being given an understanding of God’s Word and His Son that many of them had no idea was available.  Sarah Bowden, a woman who truly believed that she did not have an evangelistic bone in her body, has been faithfully ministering to some very broken and battered women through the Explore classes for a little over a year.   She is satisfying a hunger not just in their souls, but in her life as well.

Explore, a study by Robert Lewis that walks believers and non-believers alike through a process of understanding what it means to be a Christ-follower.  It is not in-depth theology, just the Gospel in a way that can be explained and understood easily.  Lewis reworked what was originally known as One-to-One into a much more user-friendly study.  The information has been condensed down to three sessions making it much easier to train those hungry to share the Gospel.  It is also a non-threatening commitment for those hungry to hear the Gospel.  Sarah had done the study in its original form and though she gained knowledge about her faith, she did not gain the confidence she felt was necessary to share her faith.  It was not until she and some others at the church participated in a new training session of the Explore curriculum that she finally felt like she had gained a confidence that matched her desire to share her faith in Christ.

Sarah was not new to the ministry.  She and her family have been members of Fellowship since 1978.  She and her husband have raised all four of their children at Fellowship.  For twenty years, Sarah served in the children’s ministry.  Fifteen of those years she served in the nursery and her last five she oversaw the entire children’s ministry department.  No small task and one that finally led her to take a step back and a break from a defined ministry role at Fellowship.  But as often happens, the Lord drew her back into serving at the church and after a three year break she now works part-time in the administrative offices of the church.  Looking back over the life of her involvement with the church she stated that “…if you are called (to work in the church), God will make it easy.”  Her way of thinking also extends to evangelism.  Although she did not think she knew enough or was capable of sharing the Gospel in a meaningful way, she soon learned that we are all called to share the Good News and when she let God handle the situations, it all worked to His will.

So when the Dorcas House called a little over a year ago and asked her to lead a group of women through the Explore program, she decided her time had finally arrived.  But as sometimes happens in our attempt to help God with saving souls, her first experience was not all she had hoped.  The main reason was that the women were being required to take the course while they stayed at the shelter.  Thankfully, Sarah did not give up even when she was not feeling the call to continue.  She turned the situation over to God praying that He would give her what she needed to share His Word.  The opportunity arose for her to give a “pitch” for the program during one of the chapel services offered by Dorcas House and the response was overwhelming.  Ten women accepted her invitation to begin the Explore program!

Sarah began meeting with the women one-on-one.  She discovered early on that group settings did not work for these women because it made being vulnerable to God’s Spirit that much harder.  These are women that have been taken advantage of in every way imaginable and learning to trust in God and be vulnerable in front of Him is a very scary thing.  As with any ministry, there have been peaks and valleys.  Of course, the peaks are when one of the women gives her life to Christ and the valleys are when someone rejects Christ and all that He offers them.  Sarah has seen both and she has seen those that originally rejected the Gospel finally cling to it with their whole being.  Sarah passed out a survey to the women about their thoughts on the course and one response she received has stuck with her ever since.  One lady told her that going through Explore and learning all that Christ has to offer was “like pouring understanding over my head.”  That is what Christ does.  He uses people like Sarah and studies like Explore to feed those so desperate for His love.

The women of Dorcas house are not the only ones that learn as they journey through Explore.  Sarah learns something new every time she goes through the course with one of the women.  Even though many of these women come to the program not knowing that there is an Old and New Testament in the Bible, Sarah said that she now understands that she does not have to have all the answers to their questions.  She does the best she can with what God has given her and she then has to leave the rest up to Him.  Sarah has gained a new knowledge from her training in Explore, a new courage from stepping out in faith that God would walk with her through this process, and a new boldness from witnessing Christ take a hold of these women and their lives.

So one woman, who never saw herself as an evangelist, but had a love for women and a desire to share the Gospel has developed a team of five women to walk these wounded women through Explore.  Philip was willing to allow God to put him where He needed him to be to guide a hungry soul.  Philip did not let the fear of failure or lack of confidence keep him from helping the Ethiopian understand God’s love for him.  Sarah and the other women serving with her are also guiding these women to a new life in Christ and helping them understand how deep and wide Christ’s love is for them.  Sharing the Gospel is always a risk.  Andrée Seu, a writer with World Magazine, states is this way, “Risk-taking is nothing fancy, just an everyday pressing into little things that we have no confidence of doing without the help of God.” (World Magazine, Nov. 7, 2009)  Sarah had no confidence in her ability to share the Gospel, but with God’s help that is exactly what she is doing.