MISSION CRY JUNE 2016
EMPOWERING NATIVE MISSIONARIES SINCE 1956
CHRISTIAN RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL
CONTENTS 3
Executive Director’s Note
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Our Missionary Friends Pastor John Kwasi Joseph & Jane Wainaina
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Updates On Our Shipments
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Places We Send To
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Testimonies
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Leaders & the Next Generation
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How Can You Help?
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Contact Us
Christian Resources International World Headquarters PO Box 356 200 Free Street Fowlerville, MI 48836
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Christian Resources International
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE A Reward is Awaiting You! Scripture is clear that entrance into eternal life is already settled for those who have placed their trust in Jesus (John 3:16). However, at the judgment seat of Christ, He will determine the degree of eternal rewards believers deserve, based on their deeds. Isaiah 38:1-5 says, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.” We see all throughout scripture there is God’s part and our part. It takes an act to say I surrender to you God. And although a man’s greatness or power does not negate him from sickness or death, through God, prayer, and the power of the ask, you can have an efBut He answered and said, “It fect on your destiny. is written, ‘Man shall not live James says, you do by bread alone, but by every not have because word that proceeds from the you do not ask and mouth of God.’” that the prayers of a righteous man avaiMatthew 4:4 leth much! The Lord has heard your prayers and has seen your tears, God is watching you, God is hearing you. The prayers of not only you and I, here in America, are being heard but also the prayers of our brothers and sister around the world who are in need and are praying and crying out for just one Bible to make it possible to read the word of God.
resources, and money to provide books and Bibles for those men and women who cannot afford them. How great will your reward be because you were the one who planted the seed for that individual to meet Jesus, or sent a christian book to encourage someone in time of need.
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17 As it is written in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word hat proceeds from the mouth of God.” You know this, and I know this: the power of the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and is the bread of life which we need to live spritiutally. From every ounce of my being I say Thank you, for sharing your greatest treasure with those who are so desperately in need. You make what CRI does possible, and because of you, the world has heard our mission cry. My prayer is that as God is hearing your prayers and seeing your tears; as you’re living and giving for God, that He will bless you in the realms of spiritual, physical, and financial. God hears your voice and as you call out to him, he can send to you someone that you least expect to help you. When you go before him be expecting that God is going to go before you and answer you. God bless you,
Reverend Jason Woolford
When we as believers get to heaven and are receiving our eternal rewards I can imagine believers standing before God—people like you— who gave time, www.missioncry.com
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MEET OUR MISSIONARIES
Pastor John Kwasi Takoradi, Ghana
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n April we sent a sea container stocked full of Christian literature and Bibles to our Missionary friend in Takoradi, Ghana, Pastor John Kwasi. Pastor John represents the CRI distribution center in Takoradi which has and will continue to supply materials for over 125 local churches as well as for over 75 local pastors. Pastor John and those who have been provided with materials continuously thank you for enabling them to own a Bible of their own. As Takoradi is right on the coast, fishing is one of the area’s largest sources of income bringing in around $5 per day for the average household. Now that this distribution center is in Takoradi, these fisherman can now also become fishers of men!
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Christian Resources International
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Joseph & Jane Wainaina Mai-Mahiu, Kenya
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ince we established the distribution center in Kenya, we have successfully sent several shipments of Christian books and Bibles to be distributed to local pastors, churches, and any person who simply desires it. The CRI distribution center in Mai-Mahiu, Kenya is about an hours’ drive from Nairobi and is run by Pastor Joseph who trains pastors from surrounding areas for the ministry. Through your prayers and monetary support Pastor Joseph and his wife Jane were able to purchase a new building to not only house the materials that are sent to them, but also to hold training sessions and equip pastors and the next generation for the Kingdom! Just recently a mission team from Michigan visited the distribution center just in time for the container’s arrival. They were blessed to be able to meet those pastors and their families as they were given their own personal Bible for the first time! Some of them were even honored with the privilege of reading John 3:16 with the villagers for their very first time! It was a day of firsts that will not be forgotten!
www.missioncry.com
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UPDATES ON OUR SHIPMENTS
Togo
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n April we were able to send yet another sea container to Togo, West Africa! This shipment will be arriving shortly and will equip five different groups of pastors with Bibles and Christian books to teach their congregations about God. Bishop Akoto had been emailing back and forth in efforts to get a container to Togo and thanks to your generous efforts, we were finally able to! Below is a letter we received from Bishop Akoto: “l shall be grateful if you could send me one container of books to feed my Library, l am a pastor who has 13 branches in Togo, and l want you to come into my aid to receive one container full of books to feed my Library, therefore this morning l decided to contact you for assistance, Please let me know if you can ship that quantity to me here in Togo- Lome. God Bless you and hope my supplication will meet your approval”
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Christian Resources International
Guaymas
Prisoners
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or the past several years we have had the tremendous opportunity of sharing the Gospel in Guaymas, Mexico through the faithful help of our missionary friend, Doug! As mentioned before, Doug drives a bus full of Books and Bibles from CRI to Mexico about 3-4 times per year and hands them out to the locals, thus providing them with the word of God for free. Through this partnership we are able to get Spanish material into Mexico to seed into the lives of pastors and their families. We believe that through this partnership a wave of salvation will hit Latin America and by the faithfulness of our missionary friends who contine to sow the seeds of the Gospel all around the world!
“But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14
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his past year we had the incredible opportunity to send the word of God to 1,420 prisons reaching over 45,000 individual inmates with a free Bible or Christian book. Although our mission is to send the word of God around the world— outside of the United States—we felt a particular need had to be met stateside that we simply could not pass up. With this shipment we were able to send Bibles and Christian books that have the ability to change lives and hearts. What better way to minister to the brokenhearted than by reaching out to those who may be in bondage both spiritually and physically?! Pray with us that this shipment will be a catalyst for life change through the four walls of the prison and may even spread beyond that in the future for generations to be changed. Since we are not planning to do another shipment within the states in the future, we pray that this one will be instrumental in setting the eternal destiny of these inmates!
Orphanages, Leaders, Pastors
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t CRI we want the word of God to be available for all those who seek it. That is why we send material not only to pastors and leaders, but also to orphanages, schools, and to people from all around the world who may not have training. We want to make a point as a ministry to reach out to children because we want to be a part of raising up the next generation as Godly leaders, pastors, spouses, and parents
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.� Matthew 18:5
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tatistics show that over 100,000 people get saved everyday, many of which attend a church where the pastor does not even own a Bible. We personally received a letter from a pastor who had been preaching every Sunday from one daily bread and asked us if we could send him just one Bible. We regularly receive letters like this that truly show us the desperation for Bibles in other places. We need to be strategic with the sending of Bibles because we want to reach as many people as possible. Our strategy is to equip pastors and leaders, and people who are called to the ministry because we cannot have ministers preaching false doctrine. We then send materials to the layperson so that he/she can grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. By sending to both of those groups of people we have covered a vast majority of the population, but we don’t stop there. To ensure that we do not only send Bibles and Christian books to people in ministry, we also hold crusades for people from all around to come and to be ministered to so we can reach those who have not yet heard about Christ and received salvation. At these crusades we have Bible giveaways where we have often given out over 10,000 free Bibles!
www.missioncry.com
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TESTIMONIES Kenya
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t was a rainy afternoon in the office and I was working
and attend Seminary school was provided to him—he
late to finish a project that had to be done by the next
was able to bring his wife and two children here to get his
day. My shift had ended an hour earlier, so when the
education.
phone rang and I picked it up I caught myself wondering, why did I answer this?! I’m not going to be able to finish in time! I say it was divine intervention because the person on the line was not the usual telemarketer. Although we were not aware at the time, this simple interaction developed into so much more than we ever would have ever thought. After a brief conversation with our soon-to-be friend, Joseph, I had learned of his upcoming graduation from Moody Bible College in Chicago and his dreams to return to his homeland and share the gospel to his friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers in the village of Mai-Mahiu. Joseph had been marked by God upon salvation to eventually come to the United States to study Theology at Moody. When Joseph felt this call, he did not have the money to make all of it possible. Matthew 6:31-33 says, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly
In the meantime, God laid it upon Joseph’s heart to go back to his hometown in Kenya and start a Distribution center there where he could train pastors, leaders, and the community in the ways of God. He began sharing that vision with people whom he trusted and upon sharing Joseph was directed to call us to simply “get some materials”. After several meetings, and some key people coming alongside of this mission, we were able to have this tremendous partnership with him of sharing, sending, and sowing the word of God into the people of Mai-Mahiu, and for this opportunity we are so grateful! The sovereign plan of God is amazing and as we go about our day-to-day honoring Him, He will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think to accomplish His will. What had started out as a simple step toward the goal of aquiring some resources to train some pastors turned into multiple millions of dollars of donated resources to fill an entire distribtuon and training center in Kenya!
Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” And this is exactly what happened for Joseph. The money that he needed to get to the states
Help us continue this mission of sharing, sending, and sowing the word of God in Kenya! -Becca, Special Projects Coordinator, CRI
Just to let you know that two weeks ago I sat alongside a woman and her children in the church and we found her with a book. I had to plead with her to lend me this book so that I could use it to teach my children about the Word of God. We learned it was you who sent this book over here. This book you sent here along with other booklets is a wonderful tool for parents and grandparents to teach their young children about God the Father and Jesus Christ directly from the Bible. The word of God in these materials bring the message of God to children in an easy-to-understand manner. As the book of Probverbs instructs, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Children need to realize that good and loving behavior in ovedience to God and parents brings blessing directly to them from God. It is true, as Proberbs says, “Even a child is known by his own doings, whether his work is pure and whether it is right.” God bless you, Sister Roke, Nigeria
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Christian Resources International
LEADERS & THE NEXT GENERATION
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ere at Christian Resources International it is our mission not only to equip God’s children with His word, but also to share the good news of the Gospel with those who have yet to hear it. We have our hearts set on seeing people from ages one to one hundred hear the word of God, receive it with open hearts, and further the great commission and the Kingdom of God! We believe that by seeding into the lives of pastors and leaders all around the globe we will see salvation by the masses as the gospel of Jesus Christ goes forth throughout communities and amongst the people within those communities. Our prayer is that through this gospel mission the word of God will penetrate families for generations to come. A good leader leads by example, and we know that when a true leader is equipped he/she will raise up more leaders to take the position with the anointing of Elisha—a double portion—which will cause exponential growth in the leaders of the next generation!
Pray with us today, and believe with us for that double portion anointing for leadership on the next generation of gospel-laborers!
www.missioncry.com
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Support CRI
Philippines, Kenya, and Takoradi Distribution Centers O ne million dollars in Bibles and Christian discipleship materials will be sent to the Distribution Centers every year. These materials will supply the local pastors, teachers, prisons, orphanages, and anyone who wants a Bible. We will offer on-site training sessions every month for one year for local pastors. Initially, from the shipment alone, 60,000 people per center will be equipped with their own Bible. Statistically, 50,000 unsaved people per year, per center, will meet Christ for the first time. To keep this mission going, $40, 000 is needed annually to support the Kenya Distribution Center, $22,000 annually to support the Philippines and Takoradi Distribution Centers.
Fund Sea Containers
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ou can also help by supporting the shipment of sea containers that go to other ministries and villages around the globe. These containers may or may not go to the Distribution Centers that CRI has already planted, but they will certainly go to a ministry, village, or school that is in need, therefore empowering native missionaries. In the past 60 years we have been able to reach over 170 nations by sending nearly $300 million worth of Bibles and Christian books. We have made the goal for CRI to send $6 million per year in Bibles and Christian books to be given away. These books are transported via sea container, each of which costs $11,000 to send and that is a cost that we simply cannot cover on our own—we need your help in the loading and sending of these resources around the world. This year we have had the tremendous privilege of sending 12 sea containers to our distribution centers and even to Hong Kong, India, Togo-West Africa, and Mexico! Support CRI with $35 a month to provide 3 boxes of books and Bibles to a brother or sister overseas by filling out the remittent envelope provided.
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Christian Resources International
Here are a few ways that you can donate Online
Go online to www.missioncry.com and click on the “Donate Tab” which will lead you to our giving page where you can make general credit card donations. If you go to our website and click on the “Projects” tab, you can view our distribution centers and donate specifically to your chosen center!
Make checks payable to “Christian Resources International” at P.O. Box 356, Fowlerville, MI 48836.
Email us at admin@mycrimission. com to learn more about Legacy Giving and Li ving Wills or for general inquiries.
Mail any literature donations to our physical address: 200 Free Street, Fowlerville, MI 48836
For financial questions, email: janice@mycrimission.com
www.missioncry.com
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LET THE WORLD HEAR YOUR MISSION CRY
CHRISTIAN RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL