Monthly Archives: September 2014

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September 30, 2014

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General Baptists, International Missions

Shining Lights

From Faith Home

Faith Home was founded with the vision of raising up children with the love of Christ so they can go out into the world and be a light to their country.  We continue to see the hope of Christ ignite in the children here, as many are now living out that vision in their place in the world outside.

Here are a few examples of how our Faith Home young adults are shining lights in their workplaces, just as God intended them to be.

OdalinOdalin

A couple of people that work with Odalin cam to visit Faith Home recently, to see the place where she grew up.  One shared how she met Odalin:  “I saw her at work and thought to myself, ‘there is something different about this girl.’  It was as if she had a light within here that made me want to know her more.  The more I got to know her, the more I was impressed and inspired.  I wanted to see the place she grew up, and that taught her how to be this amazing young woman.

 Jose RicardoJose Ricardo

During a visit to the workplace of Jose Ricardo, his boss asked us if we had any more young men like Jose.  He said Jose is an excellent, honest worker who is a joy to work with.  Jose is currently active in a local church where he loves to sing in the band.  He has grown into a very responsible young man with a passion for telling others about Christ.

BelyBely Karina

Bely has proven herself to be such an honest and responsible employee that her boss entrusts her with the keys to open and close the beauty shop everyday and handle the money.  Bely currently lives in San Manuel where she attends a local church.  She visits Faith Home often to help the Faith Home drama group she started last year.  She is an amazing Christian example to the rest of the children.

What is Faith Home to me?

By Odalin

The day I sat in the green van, I had no idea where they were taking me.  The man (David Kelle) was driving and I desperately wanted to know where we were going.  When we finally got there and got out of the van I didn’t know that it was going to start a marvelous chapter of my life.  My life completely changed at that moment.

The day we arrived at Faith Home, there were only 3 other children there, besides my brothers and sisters and I.  I was 5 years old at the time and only thought about toys, food, and playing jokes on others.

Days later, I was very sick and the doctors didn’t think that I would live through the night, but we have a marvelous God who gave me another opportunity at life and allowed  me to live.  Each day when I got up and went to devotions, I saw Martha Kelle walking with all of our medicine and I received a kiss each morning before I left for school.  I knew I was loved.

I grew more each day, studying and living in a safe place where I ate well, praised God, and enjoyed the company of many other children.

Now I am 20 years old and have left Faith Home.  I live in San Pedro.  Now I see why the house parents and missionaries corrected me when I didn’t obey or did things wrong.  They wanted to prepare me for this part of my life.  I am thankful for that.

I never imagined that God would give me the great opportunity to grow up in a place like Faith Home.  I am thankful to God and all of the people that He used and is still using in that place.  God chose me before I was born-and not just me, but all of the children who are still in Faith Home or have left to complete His purpose in their lives.  It doesn’t matter what our past is.  What matters is what our future will be with Christ.

This place is not only an orphanage for children, it is a place that transforms lives and gives hope.  This is Faith Home to me.

I don’t usually share my thoughts, but God tells us to share and not hide the marvelous things that He has done for us.

-Odalin

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September 25, 2014

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Christian Life, General Baptists, International Missions, National Missions

Updates from the Mission Field

Read the articles below to catch up on what is happening in General Baptist missions, both internationally and here at home.

By Carl Nichols

Last month, National Missions hosted our first in-house assessment for future church planters, and boy, did we learn a lot!  I speak for the entire advisory team when I say we are so excited about the future!  We will soon be releasing an update with an introduction to our newest church planter slated to plant in Bonita Springs, FL in late 2015 or early 2016.

October 26th will be National Missions Sunday, and we will be receiving an offering.  All of this offering will help fund the Go Project to launch 15 churches in the next five years, like our newest plant in Bonita Springs.  (To read more about the Go Project, click here)  Thank you so much for your faith in our team. Keep your eyes open in the coming weeks for more information and updates.

 

From Jessey and Brittany Vemula, missionaries in India

This is a personal story of an Indian woman who was brought to Christ through the work of the Lydia Sewing Center in Siddipet.  This year’s Ed Steven’s Day offering is helping make stories like Pushpa’s a reality in India by funding not only the sewing center, but mission work out in the community, and food and clothing distributions also. 

Pushpa is an India woman from Irkod village, which is eleven kilometers from Siddipet.  She was brought up in a Hindu family.  Pushpa, who is 25 years old, has three older siblings.  She joined the Lydia Sewing Center at the beginning of this year.  She had to walk the 11 kilometers from her hometown to train, and was rarely afforded the opportunity to travel by rickshaw.  There are devotions every morning at the Lydia Sewing Center, and after hearing these, she decided to give her life to Christ.  However, when she chose to become a Christian her life here became much harder.

update from India

Pushpa with Alan Motley, short term mission trip participant, this past summer.

Pushpa started attending church, and even told her siblings about Christ. They came to church with her and also became believers.  However, their father was not pleased with this.  He told them that if they didn’t come back to Hinduism, they would not get their share of the Mango orchard he owned.  Pushpa and her siblings stood strong and refused to convert back to Hinduism.  Since they refused, their father signed over the property to his nephew.

Pushpa and her siblings pray for their father’s conversion daily.  As her pastor, Jessey has conducted prayer meetings and talked with the father, but to no avail.  Pushpa and her siblings, however, remain faithful to God in this time of hopelessness.  The situation is helped by the fact that Pushpa received free training at the Lydia Sewing Center and received a sewing machine.  She and her family are using the sewing machine to bring in extra money.  She is very thankful for the help she received from the Lydia Sewing Center.  Currently, she is preparing to follow Christ’s example in baptism.  Please remember our sister Pushpa and her siblings in your prayer.  Most importantly, pray for their parents who have yet to accept Christ into their hearts and lives.

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September 23, 2014

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Executive Office, General Baptists, Leadership

Turnaround Denominations Continued

A few weeks ago I discussed Turnaround Denominations, and I shared some thoughts about what is required to be one. The idea came from Thom Rainer’s 2010 book entitled, Breakout Churches.

I strongly believe that General Baptist churches who are plateaued or declining can become healthy and growing, but the objective of a Turnaround Denomination cannot be achieved in isolation by only a few churches. For an entire denomination to be turned around, more and more churches must take on the heart of Jesus. Seeing the world as Jesus does is the best thing any church can do. Dan Spader, in his 4 Chair Discipling book, points out that our God is a missionary God, and Jesus Christ is a missionary Savior.

We see this missionary concept in the Bible over and over again. When Jesus saw a multitude of people, he was moved with compassion.  In other words, he was overcome with concern for them because he realized they were lost and searching, like sheep without their shepherd. This is what having a heart for the lost looks like. We see a wonderful example of this in John 4 when Jesus went out of his way to have a conversation with a woman who was spiritually lost and living in an entire community that was spiritually lost. In this passage Jesus challenged his disciples to lift up their eyes. He was telling them, “Look around you. What do you see? Do you see the same lost, sin-sick, dying people that I see?”

If churches as well as entire denominations are going to turn around, members must develop the same heart for the lost Jesus had.  We must stop looking down at our own feet, for to do so can minimize our ability to navigate peripheral obstructions in our Christian journey.  Looking down teaches us to be consumed exclusively with how things affect us. Instead, we must look up and around, as Christ instructed his disciples, to see those who are lost and in need of a Savior. That means we must look at those within our immediate vicinity — to our family, friends, and co-workers – understanding that they may never take that step of faith unless someone first begins looking for them or seeking them out.

But Jesus not only said for his disciples to look around or lift up their eyes and see the lost, but to actually have a spiritual conversation with them. If we do not tell them about Jesus, how else can they hear?

Taking the initiative to lift up our eyes and see the lost and then tell the lost the story of Jesus must go hand-in-hand with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will guide us to those we need to see and with whom we need to speak. If we fail to take on the heart of Christ, our churches will remain inward-focused, dying organizations, instead of churches that are vibrant and alive, with a passion for looking outward into our communities, spreading salt and projecting light into this world.  If enough people turn around, then churches will turn around.  If enough churches turn around, an entire denomination will turn around!

Be on the lookout for my next installment about becoming a Turnaround Denomination.