Christian Standard | November 2019

To the Ends of the Earth

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Letter from the Publisher a ‘singular’ mission

Some might argue it’s a fine point to draw a line between the “n” and the “s” in the word missions, but I have always felt it there. Having graduated from a Bible college that emphasized the need of going “to the uttermost part of the earth,” I felt my commitment to Christ was measured by the space between where I started and where I went. There were mission requirements for my degree, and I remember asking the head of the missions department whether he valued foreign mission work over domestic ministry.

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I chose a domestic path for my professional work, but an international component has always been a part of my ministry. A percentage of our budget historically has been for international missions, and a committee is in charge of spending it. That money usually has been between 10 and 25 percent of our total budget, and it is considered “hands off”—the church doesn’t dip into those funds, even if there are financial needs in other areas. We have had mission-emphasis weeks, mission moments, faith promise rallies, display tables,

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guest speakers, and multiple events with special giving from Sunday school classes, camps, and VBS programs.

When I started ministry, mission involvement largely meant sending or giving. Many of our mission partners had some relationship to a present or past church member, the list of missions and missionaries supported was very long, and the amount designated for each was typically quite small. Missionaries periodically went on furlough; they visited supporting churches in the States to share accomplishments overseas and to cultivate relationships and support.

My ministry career has seen massive changes to the mechanics of foreign mission work.

The need for incorporation, the rise of larger multi-mission organizations like Christian Missionary Fellowship and New Mission Systems International, the explosion of shortterm mission trips, the focus on indigenous missionaries, and the shift from large lists of token support to short lists of major support have completely changed the missions landscape. My nearly 40-year involvement in those works has moved from sending token support to direct involvement through many short-term trips, and also serving on stateside boards that oversee particular efforts.

Here is what I continue to believe: There generally should be no “s” at the end of mission.

The church of Jesus Christ has just one Savior and one mission. There is only one Great Commission and one gospel message. There is a symbiotic relationship between domestic churches and the incredible work that goes on in faraway lands.

No special honor should be afforded to those who feel called to one specific field over

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another. I have seen people serving as missionaries in foreign fields who live in beautiful homes with hired help attending to their needs, and I have seen domestic ministers living in abject poverty. I’ve seen the reverse, as well. I have seen domestic ministers take advantage of their role for inappropriate financial gain—due partly to insufficient oversight—and I have seen those on the foreign field living in destitution.

I have seen the devastation wrought by inappropriate sexual, financial, and leadership behavior among both foreign and domestic church and ministry leaders . . . and I have also seen much selfless, sacrificial, and aweinspiring behavior. No matter where we are or where we go, sin and selflessness will remain with us.

We are on mission for Jesus Christ every waking moment, and whether it’s a passionate young couple heading up a Bible translation effort in a remote area who receive financial support or a fixed-income widow in the Midwest who writes and sends a check, we all are called to one mission. We join Jesus in his work to call God’s lost children home . . . no matter where we might find them.

Jerry Harris is publisher of Christian Standard Media and senior pastor of The Crossing, a multisite church located in three states across the Midwest. @_jerryharris /jerrydharris

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CHRISTIAN STANDARD — FOUNDED 1866 BY ISAAC ERRETT Devoted to the restoration of New Testament Christianity, its doctrine, its ordinances, and its fruits.

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Copyright ©2019 by Christian Standard Media Email: cs@christianstandardmedia.com Website: www.christianstandard.com Printed in USA

To the e nd s of t he e a r t h 2 6 A fric a Christian Arabic Ser vices: The B est-Kept Secret in the Restoration Movement?

By John Caldwell

TABLE OF CONTENTS —

I N E V E RY I S S U E 2-3 | L E TTE R F RO M THE P UB L ISH E R Jerry Harris

32 E urope Christian Fellowship Nor th: Passion for Christ and Communit y

By Laura McKillip Wood

42 A SIA Christ for Asia, Mission to the People: An Unwavering Urgency for the Mission

6-7 | L E TTE R F RO M THE E DITO R Michael C. Mack

10-12 | e 2:EFFECTIVE ELDERS It ’s Ti m e fo r a n Ol d App roa ch David Roadcup

By Walt Wilcoxson

48 A ustra lia & Oce a ni a

13-15 | IMAG INE

Pioneer Bible Translators: ‘ To the Least and the Last ’

Mel McGowan

No Town Like Hometown, Part 2

By Greg Pruett

16-18 | H O RIZO N S

5 4 C entra l & S ou t h A m e r i ca

Partnering for Change Laura McKillip Wood

Morning Glor y Christian Academy: Catalyst for Life Change in Guatemala

By Reggie Hundley

6 0 North A m e r i ca Deaf Missions: Seeing Go d’s Word Come to Life

By Mary Alice Gardner (with sidebar by Chad Entinger)

19-21 | ME TRIC S

Th e Ma i n s trea min g o f O n li n e C hurch Kent Fillinger

22-23 | MINISTRYL I F E

W h en Li fe G ives You Lea m o n s Rick Chromey

68 Be lieva bl e L i v e s How YOU Can Make a Kingdom Difference in This World

By Dan Crum

26-67 | F E ATURE

To th e E n ds o f t h e Ear t h

Stoke a Passion for Living Out Christ’s Mission in your Church

Letter from the editor We planned this issue to tell the stories of mission works located on six of the seven continents around the world. (We know of no mission to the 4,000 people who live in Antarctica during the summer months!) The idea is to demonstrate the ongoing fulfilling of Jesus’ mission to “go and make disciples of all nations” and to be Christ’s “witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.”

We hope these stories help kindle a passion for preaching the gospel message to the whole world . . . but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Fulfilling our mission begins before we go and make disciples, before we baptize them, before teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us—although each of these is vital in the process. First, I believe, we must restore the New Testament definition of what makes a person a disciple of Jesus and what makes a church a church.

I’ve seen numerous good definitions for the words disciple and church, but I want to focus on three characteristics critical to live as a disciple of Christ and to make disciples of Christ: C H RIS TIA N S TAN DA R D

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1. The Christian church is a missionary church. That is, all of us, by nature, are called to mission. Jesus’ charge, “as the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21) is for all believers, not a select few, and he has given us his Spirit (v. 22) and the spiritual gifts needed to carry out that mission.

2. The Christian church is an outward-moving church. Jesus envisioned the church in Acts to be his witnesses in ever-widening circles (from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth). The church is by nature a going, equipping, sending, multiplying enterprise.

3. The Christian church is a serving, sacrificing, surrendering church. The first two characteristics cannot be accomplished without this one. Jesus believed people were worth dying for, and he wants that same commitment from us. The word in Acts 1:8 translated as witnesses can also mean martyrs.

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stands out to me. A couple weeks after a beloved pastor in Iran was kidnapped, 38 men and women from a Muslim background lined up to be baptized. The church was packed, and a friend of the missing pastor stood in the baptistry.

The costs of following Jesus are much more than just the fine print at the bottom of the contract. They are an essential part of what it means to be a disciple. Let’s stop shortchanging people, and the church, by leaving out this part of the message.

“Your pastor is dead,” the leader told those waiting to be immersed. “The man who loved you enough to tell you about Jesus . . . has been killed because of his faith. This is the cost of following Jesus.

Perhaps it’s time to raise expectations for the stakeholders in our churches, to teach unapologetically that each one is an essential member of a team tasked with making disciples of all nations, that there’s no room for bystanders, that the God who commanded us to play our parts has the unlimited power to work through our weaknesses and to provide us everything we need to do what he calls us to do.

“Now, I want to know,” he asked, “are you ready to be baptized? Now that you have witnessed the cost of following Jesus, are you ready to be ‘buried with him in baptism’ and raised to your new life in Christ?”

No one walked away.

A recent study in the U.S. found two-thirds of Protestant churchgoers agree with the statement, “A Christian must learn to deny himself or herself to serve Christ,” with 38 percent strongly agreeing. I imagine that many Christians might theoretically concur with that statement, but how many actually live that way? If following Christ meant certain persecution and probable death, how many would walk away?

We can stoke a passion for missions among our people by simply restoring the New Testament definitions of church and disciple. Nothing will stop that church from carrying out Christ’s mission to the whole world.

@michaelcmack @michaelcmack @michaelcmack /authormichaelcmack

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e 2 : e ffe c t i v e

e ld e r s

It’s time for a new approach ^an old

BY DAVID ROADCUP

I love the pioneering personality. Such a person can blaze new trails and find new horizons in education, business, the arts, and the church. A rare breed, indeed. These pioneers should be prized for breaking ground that many others would not attempt.

Micah Odor is one such pioneer. Odor serves as minister of spiritual formation with Whitewater Crossing Christian Church in Cleves, Ohio. A few years ago, he was a student in my seminary class, “Assimilation and Development of Church Members.” I had challenged students to come up with an approach to their ministry that would not only retain and involve believers, but take them to new levels of spiritual development, growth, and service. Odor has now spent five years working to do just that at Whitewater Crossing. He is experiencing an amazing level of success and effectiveness.

David Roadcup is cofounder and outreach director for e2: effective elders. He also serves as professor of discipleship and global outreach representative with TCM International Institute. He is also on the board of directors of Christian Arabic Services. /e2elders @e2elders

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A Rebirth of Biblical Disciple-Making in Our Generation The exponential aspect of this kind of ministry— staff and lay people leading believers to spiritual transformation—is mind blowing!

Odor shared the process:

Pioneering in the Way of Jesus By the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, the church’s goal is to make genuine, transformed disciples of Jesus by using the methods of Jesus. This biblical concept is important because our work over the last decades has not achieved this. While we have accomplished many good things, we are not accomplishing our ultimate goal. If what we have been doing is not working, we must look for new approaches . . . or actually to really old ones.

It’s time for a pioneering experience in our movement! It is time for leaders, paid staff, elders, and committed lay people to cultivate an openness to biblical approaches that may seem new to us. Here is an overview of what Micah Odor is leading; it’s simple, but not easy: • In year one, Odor met with eight people to read the New Testament—one reading a day for 10 months.

• After 10 months, several from the first group began leading small groups themselves, resulting in approximately 30 people participating in the second round of groups.

• In the third year, approximately 60 people were in groups.

• In year four, 85 people participated in and completed the experience.

• The goal for fall 2019 is 120 people in groups!

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Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make disciples. I’ve preached, taught, and burned a lot of midnight oil putting together small-group materials. I’ve done everything you’d expect a “discipleship” guy to do. And at the end of that time, I had some great sermon recordings, some really good class notes, and a lot of small-group curriculum. But you know what I didn’t have a lot of? I didn’t have a lot of disciples.

We’ve looked at a lot of disciple-making curricula, and the painful truth we’ve come to believe is that they don’t work. Curricula don’t make disciples. As Mike Mack is fond of saying, “Only disciples make disciples.” If a church is waiting for that one can’t-miss curriculum that will solve their disciple-making woes, they’re going to be waiting forever.

Think about it this way: If what we needed most was a curriculum, Jesus could have written that and distributed it. But he intentionally poured his life into a few who would go on and disciple others, who would disciple others on down the line. In 2 Timothy 2:2, we see that Paul’s vision of disciple-making involves (at least) 4 generations.

This fall at Whitewater Crossing, we’ll be starting our fifth generation of disciple-making groups. . . . They’re by invitation only, offered silently alongside our more publicly visible small groups. They run for about a school year, plus a second year of coaching as the members of our groups start leading their own groups.

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larger than four to six, then our replication rate actually goes down, not up.

Finally, we don’t have a curriculum in the normal sense (there are no blanks to fill in or books other than the Bible to buy). We have found that having some rails to run on gives our disciple-makers confidence and replicability. We think the approach we’re taking is working. Here’s what we’re doing that might be useful to other elders, church staff, and lay disciple-makers: • We start with Scripture. We say, “If you want to recognize the voice of God, you need to spend time in the Word of God.” Our lives are our curriculum, brought into focus by Scripture. We use a page-a-day plan that takes believers through the entire New Testament in 30 weeks. But we’re not reading for information, we’re reading for relationship. Every week we look back on the previous week’s reading, and in our weekly meeting [we] answer the question, “What was God saying to me through the pages of Scripture this week?”

• We reflect in community. Jesus was constantly pushing beneath the surface of his disciples’ lives to get at the roots of their faith. We begin every meeting with a time of silent reflection as we look for God’s activity in our lives and try to align with what he’s already doing.

• We train with tools. For years I talked about “equipping the saints” but never realized my people weren’t actually “equipped” to do the specific tasks they’d be faced with. In our groups we teach a series of conceptual tools for both the internal and external work of ministry.

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This work is very old because it is the method Jesus used. It is also new because churches have not been using it. If churches today are not creating disciples, we must either change or add to what we are doing!

I would not refer to the method Micah Odor is using as “rocket science.” It has been used for millennia.

This powerful approach is simply experiencing a rebirth in our generation.

May I ask two questions? (1) If your church continues down the path it presently is on, where will it be in 10 years? (2) If your church incorporates these “new” old methods of discipleship, what will it look like in 10 years?

The latter scenario is exciting to think about.

Lead well! 

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I m ag i n e

No Town Like Hometown, Part 2 Grace City Church

BY MEL McGOWAN

In October I wrote about two churches located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest town of Wenatchee, Washington, population around 34,000. The roots of Sage Hills Church, which I focused on last month, go back to 1908. A hundred years later, in 2008, Grace City Church was planted. The two churches share an outward focus for reaching their hometown for Christ. This month we’ll look at Grace City.

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Mel McGowan is cofounder and chief creative principal of PlainJoe Studios. He is a leading master planner and designer of churches in America. /visioneer @visioneer

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A Gift to the Community Grace City Church has been meeting in the Numerica Performing Arts Center, a restored building in Wenatchee’s downtown industrial district, which has allowed plenty of room for growth. But senior pastor Josh McPherson dreamed of having a stronger, more visible presence to bless his hometown. The Grace City team started working with an architect on plans to construct a building on land the church owned at a main gateway to the city. But nothing felt right, the project’s timeline fell behind, and McPherson became frustrated and discouraged.

Before an unrelated meeting, McPherson just happened to share his frustrations with pastor Mike Wilson of Sage Hills Church, and Wilson recommended he speak with PlainJoe Studios. McPherson called me and we met to discuss the church’s vision and situation. I understood what he was going through. Many churches find themselves in such a position. I gave him some ideas and laid out a plan of how we could get the church back on track; I also offered for PlainJoe to absorb the costs of the money already spent with the original architect. In a big project like this, there’s nothing worse than to keep going forward when you know it just isn’t right. But you also want to be good stewards of God’s money, so it’s a tough place to be.

McPherson was thrilled. The church agreed to the offer, and PlainJoe walked the Grace City team through our discovery process. One thing immediately stood out to us: Grace City was not interested in a building just to house their growing congregation on Sunday mornings. They envisioned a state-of-the-art campus C H RIS TIA N S TAN DA R D

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that would serve and bless their entire community in a variety of ways seven days a week. This is exactly the kind of project we love (which is another reason we agreed to help).

The church website lays out their vision for the building: “It is our dream to build a gift to our community, to be used by our community, to strengthen our community. A space where people, ideas, and resources come together to build the future by enjoying the present.”

A Focus on the Community Thousands of rural communities across the nation are familiar with the Grange, America’s oldest national agricultural advocacy group, organized in 1867. Washington’s first Grange opened in 1889, the same year it became a state. This nonprofit, nonpartisan organization continues to encourage families to band together to promote the well-being of the community as a whole. In many rural areas, Grange halls still exist as the center of community life. Grace City desires to capture the spirit of the Grange while emulating the biblical model.

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- IMAGINE -

Working with Grace City’s vision, PlainJoe designed a mixed-use campus. The 900-seat “Lodge” will accommodate their worship services and will provide flexibility to host community events. The “Intersection Co-Lab” will provide space for the church’s administrative offices as well as offering co-work spaces for freelancers, start-ups, small businesses, etc. The campus will house both for-profit and nonprofit businesses.

A specialty coffee purveyor, Melba Coffee Roasting Company, which already has a presence in the city, is planned as an anchor tenant. McPherson hopes the coffee shop will attract students from Wenatchee Valley College, across the street.

Rather than having a traditional family ministries environment for the children, Grace City plans something different and special. On Sundays, children will learn in the “Packinghouse Kidseum”; this same interactive children’s museum will be open to the community throughout the week.

Plans include space for an academic-based preschool, a day care, café, gym, conference center, and more.

Intentionally Blessing the Community “We’re really wanting to build something that blesses our community in a unique and intelligent way—economically, culturally, relationally—a place where people want to be,” McPherson says.

“When I think about the number of unbelievers who could come through our space every week . . .

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it really fires me up! Hundreds and thousands of unbelievers in our space, being served in excellent ways. What that says about the kingdom!”

And how can Grace City Church finance their “gift” to the community? A fund-raising consultant concluded that the church should raise about $3 million in cash and pledges to start phase 1 of the project.

The church decided to call it “Building Home” and upped the goal to $5 million. On Commitment Sunday, when cash gifts and pledges were counted, the total was $7,144,672! When it comes to building for God, McPherson says, “We never want to be accused of dreaming small.”

The church broke ground in May 2018 and is well under way to building their new home. Learn more about the project at www.gracecitychurch.com/ building-home.

Churches often talk sincerely about being a blessing to the communities where they live and worship.

But few are as intentional as Grace City in designing and building a facility to intersect daily with their neighbors and the local marketplace. Our hope is that many other churches will see their buildings as more than just houses where believers gather, but as opportunities to bless and serve their neighbors and draw them to Christ.  N OV EM B ER 2 0 1 9

Ho rizo n s

Partnering for Change

BY LAURA MCKILLIP WOOD

The 75-year-old, one of few literate Roma women in Ukraine, had read the Bible for years in Russian and Ukrainian. She spoke both languages, in addition to her own dialect of the Roma language.

When translators presented to her the story of the prodigal son, newly translated into the Roma dialect, a smile spread across her face. With tears in her eyes, she said, “I have read this story many times, but this is the first time I have understood it!� This reaction underscores the importance of a new project underway that partners a Ukrainian college, several mission organizations, and a group of Ukrainian believers to translate the Bible into the Roma language.

Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, now serves as the registrar at Nebraska Christian College in Papillion, Nebraska, and works as an on-call chaplain at a nearby hospital. She and her husband, Andrew, have three teenagers. /laura.wood2 @woodlaura30 @woodlaura30 lauramckillipwood.com lauramckillipwood@gmail.com

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Traditionally, the Roma people have been nomadic and make a living any way they can. The Roma, commonly known pejoratively as Gypsies, have a reputation for dishonesty and have experienced a great deal of discrimination in Europe and other parts of the world because of it.

Many Roma do not practice dishonest methods of making a living but still have trouble getting jobs and maintaining stable lives because of stereotypes about their people. They often are unable to rent or purchase housing or provide education for their children. People sometimes chase them from their stores and cross to the other side of the street to avoid them. These marginalized people were among those targeted in the Holocaust, along with Jews and other minority groups.

Ukrainian Involvement In Kherson, Ukraine, a city where Roma people live, Tavriski Christian Institute (TCI) trains leaders to pastor churches in Ukraine and other countries in the former Soviet Union. TCI, a leader in Ukrainian Christian higher education, began in 1997 when local churches, newly liberated by the fall of the Soviet Union, needed educated leadership.

In addition to their work in Kherson, TCI started an extension program to train local pastors in the country of Georgia. They have had success in teaching people to reach out to those from different backgrounds.

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For example, one of their students developed a strategy for building relationships with Georgian refugees displaced from their homes in 2008 when Russia invaded their country. The refugees lived in unheated housing that was supposed to be temporary. As time went by and the housing became permanent, a TCI student from Georgia developed a plan for a simple home heater. After attending a TCI extension class on discipleship ministry, he realized he had plenty of contacts with Georgian refugees through his heating business. He cultivated those friendships and eventually started a youth outreach, youth camps, and sports teams for children.

Collaboration and Empowerment Tavriski Christian Institute and the believers in Kherson have decided to change the difficult dynamic between Christians and Roma people in their city; to achieve this, they have formed an interesting collaboration with several organizations. TCI has partnered with Pioneer Bible Translators (PBT), Team Expansion, and Johnson University to give Ukrainian Christians the resources they need to reach out to the Roma people living in Ukraine.

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- HORIZONS -

Last year, PBT and TCI printed and distributed calendars with Scriptures and illustrations of Roma artwork. The few Roma already attending church began sharing these with their friends, and the calendars spread throughout the Roma community. As a result, more Roma people began to attend church.

“About 40 people started coming to church because, after seeing the pictures, they realized that Christianity could be part of their culture,” said TCI president Valentin Siney. Before that, most had either considered themselves to be Orthodox or had not participated in any religion.

Seeing the interest among the Roma community, Tavriski Christian Institute and Pioneer Bible Translators began collaborating on a translation of the Bible into the Crimea Roma dialect. The Crimean Roma have no books in their own language using their alphabet. Many are unable to read and write in their dialect. Because of that, PBT has recruited several Ukrainians as literacy workers. These workers are learning how to reach across cultures by taking online courses through TCI and Johnson University.

When they finish their training, they will start teaching Roma people to read and write in the Roma language, while building relationships in the process. “It’s important that they not only hear the Bible in their dialect but that they can also read it,” Siney said. Team Expansion also plans to plant churches that specifically appeal to the Crimean Roma culture.

Future Influence Tavriski Christian Institute does not plan to stop when translation work is finished, but instead plans to reach even more people. The college, previously accredited by only the Euro-Asian Accreditation Association, recently earned state licensure for its bachelor’s programs from the government of C H RIS TIA N S TAN DA R D

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Ukraine. This licensure enables all of their degrees to be recognized by the government, the same as secular universities and colleges in Ukraine.

TCI is now working on the next step, which is full government accreditation. To become fully accredited, though, TCI needs a professor with a PhD in residence at their campus for one to two years. They are open to hosting American professors to fill this gap. They also hope to expand their degree offering to include not only ministry and Bible degrees but also business as ministry and other programs.

This will open up options for TCI students and widen their influence.

In the meantime, Tavriski Christian Institute actively works with PBT, Johnson University, Team Expansion, and local Ukrainian churches to educate and reach out to the Roma people and to others in their area and around the world. Alone, TCI could not complete this work. In partnership with others, they form a network that opens more doors to the gospel.

Because of their work among the Roma and other communities, the face of Ukrainian Christianity is changing, and the Roma people are gaining acceptance in Ukrainian society and learning about the love of Christ in the process. 

If you have a doctoral degree and are interested in the opportunity to teach for a year in Kherson, or if you would like to learn more about TCI, contact Valentin Siney at partnerstci@gmail.com.

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M et r i c s

The Mainstreaming Of Online Church

BY KENT FILLINGER

If Paul were still preaching, would he have an online church live-streaming from Jerusalem? It’s entirely possible. After all, Paul said, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22, 23).

All that to say, Internet worship services are becoming more mainstream.

Kent E. Fillinger serves as president of 3:STRANDS Consulting, Indianapolis, Indiana, and regional vice president (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan) with Christian Financial Resources.

In July, I provided an overview of how Christian churches and churches of Christ are using various social media platforms to communicate. I want to go a step further this month, share more detailed statistics, and identify possible advantages and challenges faced by churches with online campuses, as identified in our 2018 survey.

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/3strandsconsulting 3strandsconsulting.com

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at the mercy of the method each church chooses to use. With that said, about half—52 percent—of the churches that offer online worship services included online viewers in their worship attendance figures.

Megachurches were the most likely (77 percent) to include online attendance in their total attendance number. Large churches were the least likely (31 percent).

Online Campuses in Independent Christian Churches Overall, less than one-fourth (24 percent) of the 426 churches in our most recent annual survey reported having an Internet campus or online church. Among megachurches (2,000 or more in weekly worship attendance), 56 percent had an online campus in 2018.

Of the rest, 22 percent of emerging megachurches (averaging 1,000 to 1,999), 19 percent of large (500999) and medium (250-499) churches, and 13 percent of small (100-249) and very small (99 or fewer) churches offered online church last year.

Of the remaining churches, only 5 percent said they plan to launch an Internet campus, while 70 percent said they have no such plan.

Online Attendance Tracking To count or not to count? That is often the primary question asked with regard to online church. And a follow-up question is, If we’re going to include online viewers in our total attendance, how should we count them?

Some churches have developed elaborate methods for how they track and count online worshippers.

Other churches simply count anyone who watches the online worship service, and some count only viewers who watch a service for a set length of time.

Some churches track the number of people who log in during a service and identify themselves or count those who interact with an online worship host or online minister during the service.

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Churches that include online attendees as part of their total attendance derive, on average, 15 percent of their total average worship attendance from their online campus. This percentage ranged from a high of 50 percent (two churches) to a low of 1 percent (two churches).

Growth Rates and Attendance Our survey found that churches with an Internet campus grew much faster than those without (a 9 percent growth rate vs. 2 percent, respectively).

It’s interesting, and perhaps counterintuitive, that churches with online worship averaged fewer attendees than churches without an Internet campus in three of the six church categories.

My guess is that the faster growth rates for the churches with an online campus were the byproduct of a bigger vision and commitment to reach more people and the willingness to use new strategies and tools to do so.

Baptism Ratios In addition to faster growth rates, the churches with an online campus also had higher overall baptism ratios (number of baptisms per 100 people in average attendance) than churches without online services; the ratios were 6.9 and 5.4, respectively.

This was surprising to me. Baptism ratios have declined over the last two years, and I had wondered whether this was due, in part, to increasing online worship. But this does not appear to be the case.

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Age of Lead Minister Not so surprising was that lead ministers of churches with an Internet campus tended to be younger.

Among the five largest size categories, the average age of ministers was 49.8, or 1.4 years younger than the lead ministers of churches in those same categories that don’t offer online services. (By the way, ministers of very small churches with an Internet campus bucked that trend by being older than their non-Internet counterparts.)

Average Total Giving Total annual giving was stronger at churches without an Internet campus in four of the six church categories. Only emerging megachurches and small churches with an online campus had better average total giving than those churches without it.

The churches without an Internet campus gave 24 percent more in total offerings on average in 2018 than churches with an online campus. The average worship attendee of a church with no Internet worship gave $38.63 weekly, vs. $35.96 in giving for persons at churches with an online campus.

This giving gap leads me to conclude many online worshippers are consuming but not necessarily contributing to the church.

Why Do Churches Have an Online Campus?

For the first time this year, our annual survey asked churches to identify their most important reason for offering an Internet campus. Here were the choices (and respondents could also provide an open-ended answer): (1) evangelism/outreach; (2) discipleship; (3) connectivity (help church family stay connected when working, sick, or traveling); (4) multisite strategy; (5) increase our revenue/giving stream.

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The predominant response among all church sizes was “connectivity” (54 percent). Churches saw their online campus as a tool to help existing members stay connected to the life of the church, even when they couldn’t physically be present.

The second most commonly cited reason was “evangelism/outreach” (35 percent). Of the remaining choices, 5 percent of the churches said “discipleship” was the primary motivating factor for having an Internet campus, while 3 percent said it was part of their multisite strategy. (No church listed increasing revenue as the primary reason.)

What’s Next?

What’s next? . . . I wish I knew! As technology continues to improve, and as more online platforms become available, the accessibility and opportunity to broadcast worship services online increases for churches of all sizes. Some churches are exploring how to design online small group Bible studies to create a “next step” for their online worshippers.

Some churches are hiring ministers to care for online attendees as they interact with them and pray for them through online posts. Some churches are trying to encourage online viewers to find a local church to attend. The range of possibilities continues to grow as churches look for new and creative ways to communicate the gospel to reach the lost.  N OV EM B ER 2 0 1 9

ministry l i fe

When Life Gives You Leamons

BY RICK CHROMEY

It was a blustery, cold Thursday in January 2005.

My meeting with Bill Leamon—the maintenance manager for Kentucky Christian University—was scheduled for 3 p.m. I initiated the meeting to announce my resignation from the youth worker team for Bill’s mission trip to Mexico. My daughter had roped me into going. Our church youth group annually traveled to Ciudad Acuna to serve impoverished families. The trip of 1,400 miles was a grueling, nonstop, 24-hour, one-way drive from Grayson, Kentucky. My daughter’s enthusiasm had proven contagious.

I said yes.

But I never wanted to go.

Mission work, I believed, was for someone else.

For most of my life I resisted working in a foreign field . . . any foreign field. It wasn’t my “calling.”

I happily supported missionaries and promoted their work. I gave time and money so friends could serve in short-term missions. I interacted with dozens of missionaries over my ministry career. I was inspired by their stories of sacrifice, courage, and perseverance. Nevertheless, my desire to travel abroad was limited to exotic locales like Alaska, Hawaii, and eastern Kentucky.

Dr. Rick Chromey is founder and president of MANNA! Educational Services International (www.mannasolutions.org).

He serves churches, schools, and faith-based organizations with “curiously Divine” training for leaders, teachers, and parents. He lives in Meridian, Idaho, with his wife, Linda.

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I also told God I wouldn’t do it.

The next day I was home from work early when the telephone rang. There was a car accident outside of Grayson.

And that’s never a good idea.

Oh, I occasionally worked a local or U.S.-based mission situation. I served with groups that painted homes, built fences, fixed roofs, mowed lawns, and raked leaves for the aged, poor, or disabled. My heart was open to mission work, but remote African villages or dangerous Amazon jungles were not options (and I said no to a few invites). Frankly, I have a distaste for exotic foods and avoid dysentery, dengue fever, and malaria like the plague. I prefer pythons, cobras, and pit vipers behind glass . . . television glass.

Everything was copacetic . . . until my daughter signed me up.

Now to be fair, we didn’t plan to stay in Mexico. I never would’ve done that. We would spend our nights in Del Rio, Texas, then daily cross the border for our work. Since I liked Mexican food, I figured I could survive on burritos, chips, and Coke.

And yet, as this trip neared, my interest faded.

I decided to bow out.

My meeting with Bill would be short and sweet. I’d share my situation, my busy schedule, and a dozen reasons why I couldn’t go. That plan worked well for about five minutes. That’s when Bill Leamon—a really nice guy with an undying love for Mexico and teenagers—commandeered the meeting for the next 90 minutes. He enthusiastically re-recruited me to help lead the trip. He assuaged my fears of getting lost, food poisoning, and Mexican drug lords.

How could I say no? Bill was right. I was needed on this trip.

“OK,” I told him, “I’ll go.” Bill just smiled. It’s like he knew what was coming.

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Bill Leamon was dead.

The news was shocking. Why would God let this happen? Why Bill? Why now? Three days later Bill was buried. It all seemed surreal.

True to my promise, I went on that mission trip to Mexico. And, yes, I did survive. The experience ignited a passion for intercultural work in both my daughter and me. I went back to Mexico the following spring. A few years later, I accepted an invitation with KidZ at Heart International to train in Tanzania . . . twice! I fell in love with Africa. I eventually joined the KidZ at Heart staff and became a self-funded missionary. I traveled and trained in South Africa, Uganda, and Moldova in July 2016.

Those international experiences forged a passion to build my own nonprofit educational services ministry to train leaders, teachers, pastors, and parents in the United States and abroad. I’ve now been to Cote d’Ivoire and Italy to lead training and I’m passionately open to serving foreign missionaries wherever God leads . . . whether I like the food or not.

And to think, it all started with a Leamon.

And a conversation that converted a no into a yes.

And then a tragic death that opened a new life chapter and greater calling.

God truly works in mysterious ways. 

Submit your own 500- to 700-word essay telling of an experience through which you learned a vital ministry principle by emailing it to cs@christianstandardmedia.com with “MinistryLife” in the subject line. See more information at www.christianstandard.com/contact-us/submit-articles.

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CAIRO EGYPT

CHRISTIAN ARABIC SERVICES: The Best-Kept Secret in the Restoration Movement?

A CHRISTIAN STANDARD INTERVIEW WITH SAFAA FAHMI

by John Caldwell

Christian Arabic Services of Cairo, Egypt, is strategically located in the Islamic world, at the crossroads of Africa and Asia and next to the world’s only Jewish state. Safaa and Mona Fahmi lead the CAS ministry, which targets the 420 million Arabicspeaking people concentrated in northern Africa and the Middle East. The Fahmis and their dedicated team of associates have trained leaders who have helped to reopen at least 200 Egyptian village churches from Aswan to Alexandria.

Through its efforts, several hundred denominational churches have embraced New Testament Christianity, as well. Each year, Safaa Fahmi and his associates train nearly 3,000 Christian leaders from a number of Arab countries. The training takes place through leadership seminars and correspondence courses, as well as formal Bible college and seminary programs, with degrees granted by Hope International University.

I recently interviewed Fahmi to learn more of his story and the ever-expanding work of CAS.

Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx, and Nile River

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CS How did you come to Christ?

great professors like [Lewis] Foster, [Ken] Goble, [Jack] Cottrell, [Willard W.] Winter, [LaVerne] Morse, [Reuben] Bullard, [Sherwood] Smith, and [R. J.] Kidwell. They poured their rich knowledge into our hearts and minds. I returned to Egypt well equipped to teach and preach based on the Bible alone.

SF I am from a Coptic Orthodox family where I never heard anything about salvation, becoming a new creation, or being born again. At age 17 I had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. For a few weeks I tried to understand what was going on within me, until I met a Protestant minister who was known all over Egypt as the best Bible teacher. He encouraged me to start studying the Scriptures. A year later, 1968, I enrolled in what was then the only Protestant Bible college in the country. I graduated in 1973 and started my ministerial life as youth minister in Assiut at the second-largest evangelical church in Egypt. A year later, the senior minister died and I was chosen as his successor. Mona and I married in 1978.

CS Tell us about the church you served in Assiut.

SF When I began as youth minister, the church had 300 members. At the time I left as senior minister, we had 1,260 members.

CS How did Christian Arabic Services come into existence?

SF Around 1986 there were efforts by the professors I mentioned—as well as men like Dan Pence, John Caldwell, David Roadcup, Joe Putting, Mike Nakoff, Jim Cook, and Sam Stone— which brought CAS into existence and made it an effective reality in the Arab world. Biblical teaching influenced 41 congregations near Assiut between 1988 and 2003. More than 420 churches from several denominations have since been impacted by CAS in Egypt along with many other churches in the Sudan and the greater Arab world.

CS What was your first exposure to the Restoration Movement, as it is known in America?

SF My first connection was in 1980 when I met Dr. Lewis and Betty Foster in Egypt, where they had come to examine the scrolls of Nag Hammadi. We hosted the Fosters for three weeks while they visited various ancient sites.

The day before they left, we had a discussion about Christian baptism. I told him, “What we practice in our church is clearly not biblical.” [Dr. Foster] would later baptize me, and I would later baptize Mona. Dr. Foster invited me to continue my studies at Cincinnati Bible Seminary where he sponsored me in completing three masters’ degrees. I studied under

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CS What are some ways CAS ministers in the Arabic-speaking world?

SF Our evangelism strategy is based on the example of Jesus . . . his teaching and preaching,

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More to the Story: Kid’s Carnivals, a Heresy Trial, Ministry Funding . . .

Christian Arabic Services is the leading distributor of Sunday school and VBS material among churches in Egypt. Recently more than 6,000 children from 41 congregations participated in “Kids Carnivals” (VBS) where they were taught the basics of Christianity. As many as 500,000 children have participated in that program since its inception.

There is far more to CAS’s story than can be told in this one article. Furthermore, wisdom and security concerns preclude telling much of the story in such a public forum.

A most interesting aspect of Safaa Fahmi’s ministry is he was tried and found guilty of heresy by a denominational body for practicing New Testament Christianity. This occurred after a video surfaced of him immersing a number of that denomination’s ministers. He was removed from leadership of the church in Assiut, after having led that church in tremendous growth, because he insisted on believer’s baptism by immersion and weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper.

That congregation suffered greatly because of his removal. That led to another trial in which the “guilty verdict” was rescinded and he was asked to return to the pulpit in Assiut. In the intervening time, however, the CAS ministry had expanded so much he believed he could accomplish far more for the kingdom through his ongoing leadership of it than by returning to that congregation.

Additional funding to complete the Bible commentary project is greatly needed. Perhaps your church would consider sponsoring one of the remaining books. The CAS donor base is quite small relative to the expansive nature of the ministry and its vast potential impact. Consider that the entire ministry is led and carried out with indigenous workers, with only occasional visiting preachers and teachers from the United States. But as the ministry continues to expand, congregations multiply, and more and more leaders come to CAS for training, “There is still a great need for Christian teachers and preachers to come from America and help us,” Fahmi said. “God’s kingdom keeps expanding in the Arab world in spite of the continued growth of Islamic opposition.”

Dr. Lewis Foster called Fahmi “the Alexander Campbell of Egypt.” But CAS may be the best kept secret in the Restoration Movement. If you would like to know more, get involved, or simply arrange a presentation to your church and/or missions team, contact me at johncaldwellministries@yahoo.com.

—J.C.

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but also his actions. Thus CAS is involved with feeding the hungry, offering medical attention to the sick and infirmed, and educating the illiterate. We distribute hundreds of Bibles free of charge and provide trays and cups to churches for the weekly practice of the Lord’s Supper. We also have provided Bible correspondence courses for thousands of seekers in 21 Arabic-speaking nations.

completed 28 books of the Old Testament and 25 books of the New Testament. We expect to complete at least 90 percent of the Bible and have these hardback-bound books in the hands of Christian students and leaders by the end of 2019. Financial help is still needed in completing this important project. The cost of printing the commentaries has tripled since 2017.

CS What is the relationship between CAS and Hope International University?

CS How can the readers of Christian Standard pray for the church in Egypt and the greater Arabic-speaking world?

SF HIU-Egypt is a branch of Hope International University in Fullerton, California. Since 2006, the Egyptian branch, part of the CAS ministry, has been the higher education, theological arm of our ministry, offering a biblical diploma, a bachelor of arts degree, a master of arts in ministry, and now a master of divinity as well.

SF The challenges of preaching Christ in an Islamic-dominated society are obvious. So pray for wisdom, for effectiveness, safety, and for the financial needs to be met. The work of CAS has expanded 20 times over since its inception, thus there is the continued struggle with limited resources. We invite Christians from America to come and see. Send your missions committees to see how big the work is and how essential and urgent is your partnership in prayer. ď §

Hope and CAS are well-known all over Egypt, the Middle East, North Africa, and both North and South Sudan, as a nondenominational, biblically conservative college with an emphasis on preparing ministers and evangelists for the churches. Students come from 11 denominations. And while we respect everyone, we respect his Word more than anything else.

CS Tell us about the Arabic-language, Bible commentary project.

John Caldwell served as senior pastor of Kingsway Christian Church in Indianapolis from 1974 to 2010. He remains involved in ministry as a guest speaker and interim minister, and he serves with three mission boards as well as a part-time field representative for Christian Arabic Services.

SF CAS is producing the very first Bible commentary in the Arabic language. Thus far we have

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WARSAW POLAND

Europe

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CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP NORTH: Passion for Christ and Community

by Laura McKillip Wood I came to Christian Fellowship North soon after I moved. I was in a very difficult and dark place in my life. My relationship had just collapsed, I had moved to a new city and started a new job, leaving family and friends on the other side of the country. For the first few months I came in and out, with no energy to talk to anybody. I just talked to God. One Sunday I sat on a chair somewhere at the back of the room, immersed in my thoughts, tears pouring down my face. It was cold, and I wore a scarf that had slipped down my arm. I was struggling to pull it back around me. Suddenly I felt a gentle touch. A woman sitting behind me took the scarf and gently wrapped it around my shoulders saying, “Maybe I can help you.” It was a little thing, but at that point I knew her hand was God’s hand, caring and looking after me, saying that everything was going to be alright.

It’s been six years since that day, and he has never stopped caring. Step by step, I started to get out of my shell, talking to people, trying to give back this gentle touch that showed me that God cares. He cares through his church. My church.

Warsaw Spire and Trade Center, Barbican, and Castle Square in Old Town

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Eva sounds like a young Christian woman in a church in America’s heartland. But she isn’t. She attends Społeczność Chrześcijańska Północ, translated as Christian Fellowship North, in Warsaw, Poland.

In October 2001, Christian Fellowship North (CFN) began as a daughter church of Christian Fellowship Pulawska, also in Warsaw. The leaders of the older congregation have a passion for planting new churches and dreamed of starting one in another district. The youth pastor there, Krzysztof Zareba, eventually was chosen as lead pastor of the new church.

From its humble beginnings in the conference room of a local business, CFN has grown exponentially. Initially, this congregation leaned heavily on its parent church, but baptisms happened frequently and new believers actively began taking part in the life of the church, so it grew quickly. Within three years, Christian Fellowship North became an independent church, moved to a bigger location, and began its own daughter congregation in a southern district of Warsaw.

A New Location In 2013, CFN’s leadership took a leap of faith. They kept outgrowing rented facilities so they needed a new place to meet. They dreamed of becoming a cultural center and serving the community with their property and through relationships built with people from the neighborhood. They found a building for sale that previously had housed a technical college. It had the potential to become a new home for the church family, but CFN did not have the funds necessary to purchase the building.

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Through a network of believers in several countries, they reached out to The Solomon Foundation, a church extension fund that provides financing for churches from a Restoration Movement background to purchase or construct buildings. CFN is the only church TSF has provided a loan for that is located outside the United States.

“We saw the tremendous potential with their leadership, and their growth reminded us of growing churches in America,” said Doug Crozier of The Solomon Foundation. “It was a pretty easy project for us to get behind.”

Additionally, the Polish economy is strong, and the church’s leadership is solid. Both parties have benefitted from the relationship: The church purchased their facility in 2013, and Solomon has experienced the joy of watching God use their influence in a cross-cultural way.

Multinational Influence Christian Fellowship North is determined to reach out to people in many different situations; they offer five weekly services and average 1,200 people in attendance. This includes a Saturday Messianic service for Jewish Christians in the area, youth meetings, two Sunday morning services, and a Sunday evening service. CFN offers live translation of the services into English and Russian, and they stream services online, thus reaching approximately 500 more people around the world every week.

After Russia annexed parts of Ukraine in 2014, Poland saw an influx of Ukrainians seeking asylum.

Since roughly 3 million refugees entered Poland in the years following, the need for social services and resettlement help grew. CFN took advantage of

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this opportunity to minister to Ukrainians in their community. They offer a special Saturday evening service tailored to that population, and they help immigrants transitioning into their new Polish communities.

The church provides a variety of other ministries, giving believers ways to use their gifts and chances to grow in relationships with one another and with God. Some of these opportunities include a ministry for strengthening marriages, a counseling center, and a program to help integrate foreigners into the life of the church.

Focus on the Future In addition to ministry to immigrants and adults, CFN is passionate about reaching the next generation and being a vital part of the community. The children’s program consists of monthly kids’ worship services and weekly Sunday school classes, as well as holiday programs, retreats, sleepover parties, dance parties, and banquets. The church works hard to support their teachers and teaching assistants through prayer and special events planned just for them. The children’s ministry is growing faster than any other in the church.

Christian Fellowship North is located in a flourishing area where new apartment buildings spring up on a regular basis and young families abound.

“Our dream is to become a fully developed and equipped center for families and children from our area,” says Katarzyna Dumanska, CFN’s communications manager.

The church hopes to deepen their relationship with the community by building a professionally

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designed indoor playground with a tunnel, ball pit, and trampolines for local children. Comfortable couches will offer parents a chance to relax and socialize. The church hopes to make their facilities as useful as possible by providing workshops for families and a kids’ club in the future.

Community Connection Christian Fellowship North also hopes to create such community spaces as “a labyrinth—a multimedia installation presenting Christian values,” Katarzyna said. CFN also plans to build a “men’s shed” where men from the neighborhood can learn basic maintenance and complete do-it-yourself projects. In a city where many people live in apartments, this type of shared space provides room for people to complete tasks they would not otherwise do and helps create community.

CFN already runs a café open to the public. People can interact while using the workspaces and playground and while visiting the café. As the program grows, the believers of CFN would love to become an even more integrated part of the neighborhood.

Christian Fellowship North hopes to focus on God, be open for everyone, be generous in love, and be ready for challenges.

“I love my church with all my heart!” said a member of the student ministry. “I am so proud to be a part of it. I thank the Lord God for all of them. The best family you can imagine!” 

Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, now serves as the registrar at Nebraska Christian College in Papillion, Nebraska, and works as an on-call chaplain at a nearby hospital.

She and her husband, Andrew, have three teenagers. /laura.wood2 @woodlaura30 @woodlaura30 lauramckillipwood.com lauramckillipwood@gmail.com

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Myitkyina Myanmar

CHRIST FOR ASIA, MISSION TO THE PEOPLE: An Unwavering Urgency for the Mission

by Walt Wilcoxson I was sitting in a flimsy, plastic chair under a bougainvillea so large and beautiful it defies description. I looked over at Ahdee Wayezi, a short man who stands tall in the lives of pastors and teachers of the Lisu people of Myanmar, Tibet, and the China border towns.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, seems an unlikely place to find a Christian mission with the outreach and effectiveness of CAMP (Christ for Asia, Mission to the People). After all, estimates of the Buddhist population of Myanmar range from 80 to 89 percent. Regardless, about 1.4 million Lisu people are concentrated in China, Myanmar, and Thailand, and they have a rich Christian heritage.

The Great Wall of China, Potala Palace, and Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (“Golden Rock�)

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If you spend any length of time chatting with a Lisu pastor, you will hear about J. Russell Morse, a missionary with Christian churches and churches of Christ who started North Burma Christian Mission. You will also hear about the rest of the Morse clan and others that have followed in their steps sharing the gospel and discipling believers in the Lord. (To learn more about the Morses’ ministry, see our November 2018 feature article.) Ahdee Wayezi is a product of the Morses’ efforts in Burma, and his approach to ministry mirrors theirs in many ways. Through CAMP, Wayezi makes it his life’s work to evangelize, disciple, and train nationals to do the same.

We arrived at a small airport in Myitkyina. As we were being transported through town, the surroundings reminded me of a patchwork quilt— many pieces joined together: ancient, old, modern, and new. It is a place you can see the traditional longyi—which covers the lower half of the body—worn with T-shirts, vests, or trendy jackets. It is a region in transition. Some of the change is beneficial and some is detrimental.

As this transition occurs, Wayezi points out that providing solid biblical teaching and discipleship is more urgently needed than ever. Among his desires for CAMP: Young people will be provided with a biblical foundation to evangelize the world, and pastors and teachers will be supported in a way that ensures the purity of the gospel through teaching, evangelism, and service.

But, for the moment, Wayezi has slipped his roadtoughened feet out of his sandals. They need the rest. His journey for 28 years has been long and frequently difficult. Wayezi has seen hardships and persecution. If he were given to self-promotion, he could tell stories of beatings, jail cells, tragic losses of co-workers, and much more. No doubt he could write with Paul, “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). And, truth be told, Wayezi has experienced hardships not far removed from what Paul listed in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27. Being humble, Wayezi would be uncomfortable with me discussing his troubles. But I mention them here so you can see his unwavering love for the Savior that drives and undergirds the CAMP ministry.

CAMP focuses its efforts in four areas: evangelism, leader development, local church support, and literature translation.

Sharing the Gospel Although the Kachin state in Myanmar is becoming more accessible, evangelizing the China border towns takes considerable effort and determination.

Many times a year CAMP puts together a team and goes on what they call a “soul-winning journey.”

The group typically consists of Wayezi, a few members of his family, and some students and professors from Myitkyina Christian Seminary (MCS).

They usually fly to Puato, the northernmost town in Kachin state, and then journey on foot through the jungle and into the China border-town area. This

I met Wayezi in the fall of 2013. Four fellow believers and I were traveling to Myitkyina, Myanmar, to teach at a pastors’ conference and preach at local Lisu churches.

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trip is an evangelistic effort that provides training for MCS students. On this trip, students share their faith, interact and minister to children, participate in a worship team, and watch and learn from their mentors.

Being humble, Wayezi would be uncomfortable with me discussing his troubles.

But I mention them here so you can see his unwavering love for the Savior that drives and undergirds the CAMP ministry.

In today’s world of instant communication and rapid transit, it is easy to forget that people like the Lisu still do not have access to such things. But this does not stop these beautiful people from sharing the gospel or learning about the Word of God.

Developing Leaders While visiting the China border-town area once, I met a man in his 80s named Jedediah. He heard about a conference for pastors too late to arrange transportation, so he left in the middle of the night to walk the seven miles to the training.

The journey to the China border towns is no less of a feat. When on the mission, the team is gone from 21 to 28 days; they walk and share the gospel as they go, carrying everything with them and camping on the way.

Wayezi has a heart for pastors. You can see it in the schedule he keeps. You can hear it when he explains biblical truth to a visiting pastor. You can feel it when you attend a CAMP-organized conference for pastors.

Pastor conferences are held all over Southeast Asia.

In rural areas, pastors like Jedediah might travel miles or even days to get to one. They value the Word of God highly, and they appreciate the people

who have dedicated their lives to teaching them the Scriptures.

But CAMP doesn’t just minister to existing pastors.

The group also invests time and resources into the next generation of the church in Myitkyina and the northern part of Kachin state through Myitkyina Christian Seminary.

MCS, which is part of CAMP, was started as a collaborative effort of three Lisu missionaries: Ahdee Wayezi, Jonathan, and Ruben. When I first visited and taught at MCS, it was in a very rural setting inside rented buildings with dirt floors, bamboo walls, and thatched roofs. But these three men had vision and drive. Using donations from various mission organizations, they purchased 5 acres in a prime location. Now, several years later, MCS is in full-development mode and has the space it needs for expansion. It consists of a men’s dorm, two women’s dorms, a kitchen, and a building that houses classrooms.

MCS students are charged a meager amount for food; they are not charged for the classes they take.

In addition, CAMP recently used donations that originated in west-central Illinois to purchase a cornfield that provides it with some self-sustaining income and allows students to earn money by working the field.

God’s blessings come in many forms for both CAMP and MCS. During my last visit, a student mentioned that during the rainy season the buildings stay dry but students must walk through knee-high water. I told him I hated to hear that. “On no, pastor Walt!”

Providing solid biblical teaching and discipleship in Myanmar is more urgently needed than ever.

the student said. “It is a blessing from God. When the water comes in, so do the fish! We have more food during the rainy season.”

The next time I looked over at Ahdee Wayezi, he had slipped on his sandals again. In a moment, he was gone . . . but he didn’t get far. A Lisu pastor cornered him to seek his wisdom. The urgency of supporting these pastors and teachers for the Lord’s mission continues to be the life’s work for this humble man. 

Supporting the Ministry of Local Churches While at the seminary, the students minister to area churches; virtually all of the graduates go into full-time or part-time Christian service. Over the last nine years, MCS has graduated 123 students with various degrees in theology and ministry.

Visiting with the Lisu in Myitkyina is an encouraging and enriching experience. That said, northern Kachin state is not without problems. Presently, there is an ongoing battle between the Kachin Independence Army, a nonstate armed group, and the Myanmar military. This has displaced many Lisu people from the northern part of the state to Myitkyina. They leave their homes with what they can carry and are often separated from family and friends. Local churches step up and provide makeshift shelters and take up grain offerings to help feed the refugees until a permanent location can be found for them. CAMP has supported these refugees by providing rice through the local church.

Translating Literature

Donations to CAMP can be made out to The Crossing, 909 Maine St., Unit 2, Quincy, IL 62301 (note “CAMP” in the memo). You may also visit Ahdee Wayezi at the ministry’s booth at the International Conference On Missions, November 14-17, 2019, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The final area of ministry CAMP participates in is the translation of teaching material into the Lisu language. The teaching at the pastor conferences, when done by non-Lisu-speaking teachers, along with other valuable, biblical material, is translated and distributed for use to Lisu pastors all over Southeast Asia.

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Walt Wilcoxson is a campus pastor/multisite discipleship pastor for The Crossing in Quincy, Illinois. He and his wife, Terry, have four married children and eight grandchildren.

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Australia & Oceania

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA

PIONEER BIBLE TRANSLATORS: ‘To the Least and the Last’

by Greg Pruett When Al Hamilton was founding Pioneer Bible Translators in the early 1970s, William and Robin Butler were among the first missionaries he recruited. Al had heard William explaining a Greek assignment to a friend in the campus bookstore and, on his way out the door, tapped William on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Sounds like you would make a good Bible translator.” That comment planted an enduring seed.

In 1975, at a snowy National Missionary Convention in St. Louis, William and his fiancée, Robin True, went forward to give their lives to the work of Bible translation. In 1976, Pioneer Bible Translators officially became an organization at about the same time the Butlers were married. By 1979, the Butlers finished preparing and raising support and went to Papua New Guinea to begin helping the Waran people translate the Bible into their language.

Magini Falls

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To reach their new home, the Butlers flew to a remote airstrip and then took a canoe out to live among the 3,000 Waran people. The language had no alphabet back then. For 40 years, they strove to see the day the Waran people would have the Word of God in their language. To be clear, it doesn’t always take 40 years. In other settings, translation of the New Testament might take 5, 10, or 20 years.

William invested a lot of time training translation teams for other languages; he also served the Papua New Guinea branch in the area of finance. William and Robin’s servant hearts stretched out the time frame quite a bit.

The awesome scope of the remaining work in the islands stretching from east to west all across the northern coast of Australia staggers the mind. But William Butler and others like him in the Bible translation movement have an irrepressible passion to reach every last one. Those among us who have had the pleasure of knowing and living among the Bibleless peoples of the world are inspired to reach them. Because we know them intimately, we can better understand why God might place infinite value on each soul. The valuable people scattered over these islands inspired William to coin this tagline for our Papua New Guinea branch: “To the Least and the Last.” How will God meet this great need?

Then, at last, after four decades of painstaking effort, the Waran people finally celebrated the dedication of the New Testament in their language on June 23, 2019. I don’t remember William ever talking about the work of Bible translation among the Waran without tears of passion and a tightened voice, evidence of the deep emotional zeal that fueled and sustained four decades of energetic, meticulous labor for the Lord. When I think about William and Robin, this Scripture springs to mind: “The world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:38).

God has already begun to move in great power! Forty years ago, when William and Robin first went to Papua New Guinea, Pioneer Bible Translators was just starting our first few language projects. It took 30 years to translate the Bible into 35 languages spoken by 9 million people in 5 countries. But God has accelerated the pace! Today we are translating the Bible into 92 languages spoken by 43 million people in 18 countries. We are adding three more countries to our work this year alone!

Beginning the Last 200

The remaining task is great, but so is the momentum of the entire Bible translation movement. So much is happening right now that it’s unclear how many translation projects are started each year.

New Bible agencies, local translation endeavors, and whole Bible translation movements continue to arise, to the amazement of those of us who have worked in obscurity on this task for our whole lives.

That celebration back in June was exciting, but the challenge is still before us, as the Pacific islands around Australia still harbor hundreds more small languages lacking the Word of God. Papua New Guinea alone has 837 languages with a possible need for translation in about 270. Indonesia has 684 languages, 280 of which have a potential need for Bible translation. There are 108 languages in Vanuatu, a tiny cluster of islands northeast of Australia, and just under half are thought to still need Bible translation.

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I estimate our partnering Bible agencies may be starting more than 150 translation projects every year. Working seamlessly in unity together with our many partners, we aspire to start every remaining

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“

It took 30 years to translate the Bible into 35 languages spoken by 9 million people in 5 countries. But God has accelerated the pace!

Today we are translating the Bible into 92 languages spoken by 43 million people in 18 countries.

Bible translation project needed worldwide by 2035, and to work toward having the New Testament in every language that needs it by 2050—yes, even the ones in Papua New Guinea.

Pioneer Bible Translators is building momentum to bite off our part of the remaining task; we anticipate we will begin 200 more translation projects before the world runs out of languages in need of first-time translation projects.

“

More and more people and resources are being sent to smaller parts of the world. But the complexity and linguistic diversity in this particular region and the surrounding island nations is so great, we are likely to finish this great translation task in the same place we started, Papua New Guinea—where we have the greatest number of the smallest languages on earth, “the least and the last.”

The challenge is still before us,

as the Pacific islands around Australia still harbor hundreds more small languages lacking the Word of God.

Translating the Bible into Sign Languages Among Bible translators, the most neglected group might be the 70 million people in the world who are Deaf. There is no universal sign language; instead, an estimated 400 sign languages exist in the world.

In the region around Australia, for example, more than 10,000 Deaf people communicate in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and up to 30,000 use Papua New Guinean Sign Language. The Deaf Bible Society estimates 98 percent of Deaf people have never been introduced to the gospel. The time has come for the church to stop behaving as if Jesus died only for hearing people.

PBT and our Bible translation partners are gearing up to meet this need together. We aren’t satisfied to leave people who are Deaf and hard of hearing for

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last. And so we are preparing to send out Deaf missionaries who will start Bible translation projects among the sign languages of the world. (For more on Bible translations in sign languages, go to “Seeing God’s Word Come to Life,” on page 60.)

gin your work. So, may I ask, how is it right to readily ignore entire language communities, be they remote islanders or the scattered population of folks who cannot hear?

And so we won’t stop. Not until everyone everywhere has the opportunity to know Jesus and encounter God’s Word in a language they understand well. Large language or small, hearing or not, every community on earth will someday soon have the Word of God available. Now is the time Jesus is sending his church to seek and save the lost, the least, and the last. 

Seeking and Saving the Lost, Last, and Least Some might wonder whether it’s worth it for people to give their lives for the work of Bible translation among these smaller language groups. But Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and he told a story about a shepherd with 100 sheep.

When the shepherd lost just one, he didn’t say, “Now that’s a number I can live with.” No, he went out and exhaustively scoured the countryside until he found that one lost sheep.

Jesus said he would give us power from the Holy Spirit to testify about him to the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), and that’s just another way of saying every last place, every last people, and every last language group.

Jesus also taught that, whatever we do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, we do as an act of love for him (Matthew 25:40).

So, is it worth it to give our lives to reach these small language communities? I and my coworkers at Pioneer Bible Translators say yes! We have already decided to give our whole lives to make sure everyone has the Word of God.

Greg Pruett has served as president of Pioneer Bible Translators since January 2007. pioneerbible.org @pioneerbible @pioneerbible

Think of it this way: If you were named minister of a church of 3,000 people, you wouldn’t say, “Ah, it’s only 3,000 people. Why bother?” No, you would be-

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@pioneerbible @pioneerbible

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GUATEMALA CITY

Central & South America

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MORNING GLORY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: Catalyst for Life Change in Guatemala

by Reggie Hundley San Raymundo, Guatemala, is a rural village of about 26,000 people located 31 kilometers north of Guatemala City, the nation’s capital. A blend of indigenous citizens of Mayan descent and Ladinos of Spanish descent live there. The region’s illiteracy rate is extremely high. Public schools are free, but uniforms, books, and transportation are expenses the impoverished residents cannot afford. Rather than attending school, many children roll wicks for fireworks throughout the day to help with family finances.

About 5 kilometers north of San Raymundo, hundreds of students study at Morning Glory Christian Academy. The school was started by Lori Nij, who, along with her husband, Queno, were missionaries with the New Iberian Mission Association (NIMA).

The couple also connected with Casas por Cristo, a partnership that has improved the homes and living conditions of many families across the area.

The school and new homes changed both the eternity and daily reality of the people of the region.

These improvements are natural expressions of the Nijes’ dreams.

Volcanoes Pacaya, Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango

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We are getting ahead of ourselves, however. This story actually began almost seven decades ago.

teacher of pedagogy for Colegio Biblico in 1981.

While there, Lori met and married an older student, Eugenia Queno Nij. After his graduation in 1985, they began ministry in San Raymundo, Guatemala.

The Pinneys: Room for One More In 1952, Melba and Herb Pinney Sr. decided their date would include seeing the movie Room for One More. The couple chatted about a number of things as they made their way home. During this seemingly offhand conversation, Herb said the title of the movie should be the theme of the Pinney home.

Little did they know how prescient this comment would turn out to be. Over the years, Melba gave birth to nine children and the couple adopted another. The Pinneys brought another 67 children and young adults into their home while their lives stabilized. The openness of their home meant there would also always be “room for one more” in the lives of their children, including Lori Pinney Nij.

There were many elements of their ministry. Queno preached in the local church and they started what has developed into the self-supporting Community Christian Hospital. Lori had learned first responder medical aid throughout her life, so she became the “medical person of note” in the community. First Christian Church of Vidor, Texas, purchased a vehicle that served as an ambulance for transporting the injured and ill to Guatemala City, almost 90 minutes away over rough, mountainous, and muddy terrain. Lori provided Mayan translation for a Jesuit physician in Guatemala City. Their friendship led him to come monthly for a clinic day at the church.

In the early 1980s, Lori Pinney was teaching at Colegio Biblico in Eagle Pass, Texas. As a semester break approached, she became aware several students from Mexico and Central and South America would be unable to return home for Christmas, so she loaded her Volvo station wagon with students and headed to her parents’ home in Vidor, Texas.

All told, the Pinney children brought 21 extra teens and young adults to fill the house that Christmas.

The gift of hospitality rooted and was in full bloom!

In 1987, doctors from the First Baptist Church of Texarkana, Texas, helped build the Community Christian Clinic and Hospital. The hospital is open to all; it is operated by a staff doctor (a native of San Raymundo) and short-term medical missionaries.

Queno and Lori Nij were asked to fill permanent seats on the community committee governing the hospital. Queno continues in this capacity; he also is pastor/teacher with Strong Tower Christian Church and is spiritual director at Morning Glory school.

The Nijes: Multifaceted Ministry in Guatemala

Morning Glory: Carrying on the Dream In 2001, Lori began the Morning Glory Christian Academy with the desire to make a lasting impact on the lives of the children of San Raymundo. It

After graduating from Dallas Christian College in 1980, Lori Pinney become the dean of women and

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started as a two-room school and 90 students and has grown to serve 650 to 700 students annually led by a faculty and staff of 50.

the local leaders in Guatemala. This working relationship benefits from the continuing presence of Lori’s father, Herb Pinney Sr., as chief financial officer and her brother S. Dean Pinney as the chief executive officer of NIMA. This is uncharted territory for some on the local board, but the people know God has created this team to keep the dream moving forward.

“Why a school?” supporters occasionally asked Lori. “After all, public schools are free in Guatemala. Wouldn’t it be better to use funds to provide food for the people in poverty?”

The vision statement for the Christian academy ends with these words, “Morning Glory wants to be the catalyst for life change as people become selfdetermining, understanding that they are not defined by their circumstances—they are defined by their relationship with a living and active God.”

Lori’s typical reply: “You cannot fix poverty with a basket of food. We would probably have to pay double the price since people know the funds come from the USA, and the food will run out soon. What lesson are we teaching by simply providing food?

Isn’t it more effective to teach a family to fish, to plant, to produce?”

The consistent ministry of NIMA, and Queno and Lori Nij, has always been to help people see that Jesus came to change their eternity . . . and their today. 

After leading the development and growth of Morning Glory school for nearly 18 years, Lori Pinney Nij died on April 12, 2019, due to lingering health complications. (See “Remembering Lori Pinney Nij” on right.]

Morning Glory will continue to grow and bless the lives of people in San Raymundo for years to come.

The partnership with Casas por Cristo will continue to help break the cyclical grip of poverty. A local leadership board called the Junta Directiva (board of directors)—to distinguish it from the NIMA board—has been chosen to carry on the dream. The leaders Lori leaned on are now in new positions of authority and autonomy and must look to raising up the next level of Morning Glory leaders.

Reggie Hundley has served as CEO/administrator of the Christian Churches Pension Plan since July 2017. Previously, he was executive director of Mission Services Association and editor of Horizons magazine for 21 years. @Reggie.Hundley

The NIMA directors, headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, will work even more closely with

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@reggiehundley @ReggieHundley

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Remembering Lori Pinney Nij On April 16, 2019, residents of San Raymundo demonstrated their love for Lori Pinney Nij as her body was carried on a last tour through the village streets. A brief ceremony led by the mayor and superintendent of schools followed this procession.

A celebration of Lori’s life was held April 17, and her remains were laid to rest at Morning Glory Christian Academy, “where she wished to rest forever, and so be always close to her kids.”

What has the life of Lori Pinney Nij and the Morning Glory Christian Academy meant to the people of Guatemala? Two former students expressed thoughts shared by many.

Tiffany P. wrote,

Former student Karla A., 24, who is now a Morning Glory teacher, wrote, [Morning Glory] for me was like a refuge and escape from the situation I was living in [at] my house due to my parents’ separation.

Morning Glory. Just saying the name brings to mind thousands of happy and sad memories.

How can I forget that every day when [we] arrived at school, Miss Lori was there, greeting us, and when it was time to go, [she was] waiting to say goodbye?

On one occasion, I remember that I got sick.

I got a fungus on my wrist and no one in my house was worried about it. The only one who [was concerned] was Miss Lori. She cleaned me and bought a cream to make it go away.

It’s incredible how she [made] a great impact on all of the students. She was a part of my life since I was 4 years old. When I arrived at school, there was always a happiness that characterized her, and now that I am 16, I still remember that happiness.

[The Bible classes on Fridays] were the best.

Miss Lori taught the class. I remember the excitement that came with Friday because of Bible class. In those days all the students were taken to the hospital cafeteria and Miss Lori used a tape player for the music.

How [can I] forget when we were in a Bible class and she told us that it was very important to pray? Her words were, “When I can’t sleep, I go into my Facebook and I see who is connected and I start to pray. For example, for you Tiffany, I have prayed.”

Anothe r favorite mome nt was the dance group. We were the first private school to have a dance group, and September always [brought high expectations] for the parade.

Miss Lori [went] in her red van in front with the music, and we were divided in squads behind. She told us we were her feet.

Miss Lori was with us so much . . . that the school felt like a second home full of laughter and happiness.

She always inspired us to be the best. And in many occasions, other schools didn’t want to compete against us because they said Morning Glory always won. It was a very good time in my life despite the situations . . . in my house. They are memories I will never forget.

—R.H.

IOWA USA

North America

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DEAF MISSIONS: Seeing God’s Word Come to Life

FIRST SIGN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION NEARS COMPLETION

by Mary Alice Gardner “Do not forget us, Lord; do not forget your Deaf people,” her prayer begins. She is in a huddle of a dozen people who watch her signs and nod in agreement.

When the prayer concludes, each person stacks one hand in the middle of the circle. The top hand forms the sign for amen and on the count of three all hands rise, lifting the prayer to Heaven. So begins an ordinary translation day for the American Sign Language Version (ASLV) team headquartered at Deaf Missions in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

While it might be an ordinary day for this team, their work is anything but ordinary. Although Bible translation has been around for centuries, Deaf communities were not included in that process until the last 40 years. And not until about 15 years ago did technology allow for an efficient and affordable way to record signs for a biblical translation.

With the development of personal video-recording devices, smartphones, and mobile studios, the sign languages of Deaf communities can now be preserved and shared.

“ASLV” in American Sign Language

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Duane King, who founded Deaf Missions in 1970, along with others who worked with the Deaf in various Bible-teaching capacities, realized the need for a sign language translation. King remembers teaching the Bible to Deaf children. Despite having English handouts and an English Bible, students answered incorrectly. “Yet when I signed the questions, they answered correctly in sign language,” King said. “I realized I wasn’t asking the questions in their language. They needed a Bible in sign language.”

syntax. No one had ever done a biblical video translation using sign language. This pioneering work required creative thinking and experimentation, relying on trial and error until a process was developed to produce a dynamic, visual translation.

Three Challenges Several challenges must be addressed in translation.

1. Technology. Since the ASLV translation is video, different equipment is needed from normal Bible translation. Filming the translation initially was done in a TV recording studio; later Deaf Missions built an in-house studio. Translation occurred when funding was available.

King recruited Harold Noe, a Christian church preacher from North Carolina, to come to Deaf Missions in 1976. Noe had experience working with the Deaf community and produced a signing worship program for TV. In 1982, the Deaf Missions board chose Noe to serve as translation director and tasked him with developing a process to translate the Bible into American Sign Language. They called it the Omega Project.

Twenty-three years later, in 2004, the New Testament and its 7,959 verses were completed. Translation distribution was on VHS and later DVD. With completion of the New Testament, Deaf Missions produced files for computers and electronic devices.

Today, everything is in the cloud and Deaf people are

At that time, ASL was just receiving recognition as a language, with its own distinct grammar and

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2. Finding the right people. Statistics are sobering.

Despite 70 million Deaf people worldwide (approximately 1 percent of any population is Deaf, according to the World Federation of the Deaf), fewer than 5 percent of Deaf people are Christian.

discovering the ASLV on the Internet and social media. The ASLV translation can be accessed through Deaf Missions’ website (www.deafmissions.com), where books, already translated, are ready for free download or viewing. Other platforms include Apple smartphones, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Google Play.

Debbie Buchholz worked as a Deaf translator with the Omega Project for 16 years. She was the oncamera signer for Luke, the final New Testament book to be translated. On the last day of filming in 2004, the studio was opened to Deaf Missions board members and special guests.

Deaf Bible Society (www.deafbiblesociety.com), an organization that works to distribute sign language translations of various countries, currently has 28 sign languages, including the ASLV, on its website.

It is estimated that 400 sign languages are in use today. Despite this, not one has a complete Bible translation.

“We had filmed up to the very last passage of Luke,” Buchholz explained. “When I finished signing, it would mean the entire New Testament would be in ASL. Before filming, I signed that I wanted to dedicate that passage to my dad, who was Deaf, because he felt that the Bible was only for hearing people.

And now he would have the New Testament in his own true language. No longer could he say that the Bible was for hearing people.”

While translation is the flagship focus, Deaf Missions’ goal is to create dynamic Bible visuals for the Deaf, which included making The Book of Job, a feature film released in 2018. It is being distributed internationally and plans are underway for a Jesus movie created by Deaf people with a Deaf audience in mind.

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PAH!

by Chad Entinger Pah is slang for “finally!” in American Sign Language. It is what Deaf people sign when something is finally finished or when something is finally changed and improved for the better in their lives.

“Pah!” is exactly what Deaf people, including myself, have been saying more lately. For a long time, Deaf people have felt ignored and overlooked. Bible-based resources have primarily been developed for hearing people. But I personally believe God is turning the tide as more resources are being produced and distributed among Deaf people. This is truly the time—thanks to modern technology platforms such as websites, apps, social media, and portable media devices—to reach Deaf people using videos in sign language.

“Pah!” is what Deaf people signed last year when Deaf Missions finished production of The Book of Job, a full-length feature film dramatizing the Old Testament figure’s story in American Sign Language. One Deaf man from Texas signed, “Wow, we pah (finally) have a Christian film that is in our language. There are other faith-based movies out there, but there are no other Hollywood productions that portray the story of Job. This is a first! It’s inspiring that we have taken that step in creating this historic milestone, and we own it. Our language, our community owns it!”

Throughout the past year, more than 120 Deaf churches and ministries have hosted showings of The Book of Job as part of their local Deaf community outreach. Many Deaf non-Christians have watched the film at these showings because this is a “Deaf” film. And they have responded!

One Deaf church in Massachusetts shared, “After watching the film, seven Deaf persons became saved and some responded with tears. The movie lasted not 1.5 hours, but from

continued on page 66

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3. Funding. To address ongoing funding challenges, Deaf Missions, along with Deaf Opportunity Outreach and the Deaf Bible Society, developed a major funding proposal and submitted it to The Seed Company, Wycliffe USA, American Bible Society, and Pioneer Bible Translators, organizations dedicated to accelerating Bible translation. The funding was approved and the priority for Deaf Missions was to complete the last 13 books of the Old Testament. At the same time, Deaf Missions developed other ongoing partnerships to focus on developing sign language translations of the Bible.

translations and consultants. Using a Deaf-centric focus, criteria include: translation teams must be composed of a majority of Deaf people; also, the oncamera signers and translation styles must be approved by members of the Deaf community, both believers and nonbelievers.

Translations take shape using FOBAI parameters referred to as CANA (clear, accurate, natural, and acceptable). Each book has a Deaf on-camera signer plus a facilitator. Both work together using resources—including Logos software—researching cultural and linguistic use of Hebrew, English, and ASL.

Team Members

Here is the process:

In 2007, change in leadership at Deaf Missions provided an opportunity for organizational change.

Chad Entinger, who is Deaf, became the new CEO. Now 40 percent of the board is Deaf as well.

1. First video draft: the team creates a signed translation from Hebrew/English texts 2. Feedback/review: another team, and a Hebrew language consultant, review the work 3. Revise using feedback: the video is revised and made ready for presentation

Since 2017, six teams and a Hebrew language consultant have translated seven books. The books remaining to be translated are Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 2 Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

These books are slated for production and distribution in 2020. Eleven men and three women, ranging in age from 28 to 64, compose this translation group.

Several come from multigenerational Deaf families. They have learned to work and share a signing Christian community that is hard to find elsewhere, even in the church. They pray together, and when books are completed, they celebrate together.

4. Community check: videos are shown to the Deaf community for input 5. Finalize: a new video that incorporates community input is recorded 6. Filming: finalized videos are used as a “teleprompter,” and videos for the entire book are signed in the studio using professional lighting, biblically inspired clothing, and makeup 7. Editing and distribution

Translation Process

“We have tried to distance our translation from outdated signs that depend on English,” said ASL translator Ethan White. “We now use signs natural for the Deaf. It is cool that we can, through discussion as a group of Deaf translators, find appropriate signs that reflect our language.”

In April 2019, Deaf Missions was accepted into the Forum of Bible Agencies International (FOBAI).

The Deaf Deve lopment Group, a subgroup of FOBAI, creates standards for sign language Bible

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6:00 to 10:30. Many asked to pause the movie often so that they could ask questions! With a great example of Job’s sufferings, many Deaf people felt encouraged to remain strong in faith while facing various trials.” Praise God for transformed lives!

“Pah!” is what Deaf people will proclaim and celebrate next year when Deaf Missions completes translation of the entire Bible into American Sign Language. Finally we Deaf people will have our own complete Bible in our native, heart language! And please pray for God’s Word to be translated into all 400-plus sign languages in the world so that every Deaf person may have the opportunity to receive and understand God’s Word.

“Pah!” is what Deaf people will declare when Deaf Missions finishes our next major project: a feature film that effectively communicates the Gospel and story of Jesus in every sign language. The Jesus Film originally produced in 1979 by Campus Crusade for Christ has been “audio-dubbed” into at least 1,700 different spoken languages. Deaf Missions’ vision is to produce an original Jesus movie in American Sign Language and film it in a way that it can be “sign-dubbed” into different sign languages worldwide. For a demo of what sign-dubbing may look like, go to www.deafmissions.com/signdub.

There may be Deaf people you know or will meet in your family, workplace, and/or church. Please share with them the resources Deaf Missions has available to them at its website (www.deafmissions.com) and via the Deaf Missions video app (www.deafmissions.com/app) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/deafmissions).

Along with Deaf Missions’ board, staff, volunteers, and supporters, my heart beats for all Deaf people to see and know Jesus. Let’s get sign language resources into their hands so we all may rejoice together before the throne in Heaven and declare, “Pah!” Chad Entinger is CEO of Deaf Missions, located in Council Bluffs, Iowa (www. deafmissions.com).

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Language Attitude

developing sign language resources and updating Bible books translated early on. With so much of the ASLV available online, sign language translators from other countries also use it for reference.

Overcoming language attitude is also a challenge.

As a minority language, ASL faces discrimination from both hearing and Deaf people. Deaf people often think English is better. Said White, “Translation has taught me that sign language can show the Hebrew concepts just as well, and you do not need English to do it.”

In October 2020, Deaf Missions will host an international celebration commemorating the completion of the ASLV, the first complete Bible in sign language. Festivities will include celebrating Deaf Missions’ 50th anniversary and recognizing 19 countries’ sign language translations that were inspired by the ASLV.

Deaf Missions wants to create a translation that can be understood across denominational, ethnic, and generational lines. Because the ASL Deaf community is spread throughout North America, the translation team has traveled more than 25,000 miles to participate in community checks since 2017. Using this feedback allows the translation to reflect its users and to determine if the biblical vocabulary developed is natural and acceptable to native signers.

With access to the complete Bible in ASL (or any other sign language), Deaf preachers will be able to use it for teaching, and Deaf Christians can grow spiritually mature as they understand God’s Word and teach others.

A missionary named Missy B., who worked with the Chinese sign language Bible translation before joining the ASLV, says, “We are accountable before God for the accuracy of our work. I’m very honored to translate God’s Word. He is orchestrating things for such a time as this. He has not forgotten the Deaf. He has not forgotten us.” 

Community response has been overwhelmingly positive. Excitement is building as Deaf communities claim ownership of the translation and anticipate completion in 2020. Deaf Missions receives feedback from people who use the ASLV from the Deaf Missions app.

A video commenter named Alicia had been unable to access God’s Word. She signed, “I asked God to please help me find his message in ASL—my language—so I could understand everything. Finally, I came across the Deaf Missions app. I was thrilled!

Everything was right there in ASL! I am finally learning about this later in life, but I am happy and excited to continue to grow in God! I am so thankful for Deaf Missions! This app is the best!”

Mary Alice Gardner graduated from Cincinnati Christian University and Gallaudet University before teaching 17 years at Ozark Christian College. She is now on the ASLV team at Deaf Missions translating Deuteronomy. She enjoys travel, reading, and learning new sign languages.

Since the work began, sign language has changed, as all living languages do. Future plans include

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BELIEVABLE LIVES How YOU Can Make a Kingdom Difference in This World

By Dan Crum

INDIA

I visited north India earlier this year and was honored to sit among leaders of one of the largest movements to Christ I’ve ever known. While there, a woman stood up and shared about her work among the transgender community.

Prisha (not her real name) had approached the transgender community and requested to teach them about Christ. She was rejected initially, but soon one of the people in that community became ill and medical treatment was not helping. Some folks reached out to Prisha and told her she could come and pray for their friend. If healing occurred, they would listen to her teaching.

Prisha went and prayed, but nothing happened, so she left discouraged.

On her way home, Prisha was uneasy; she sensed someone was following her. Sure enough, Prisha had barely made it home when someone came to her door . . . but with good news. “It worked! There is healing!” the person said. “Come teach us!”

Prisha began teaching among the group, and soon 25 transgender people came to Christ. A year later, that number grew to 70. Prisha was arrested around that time for leading church services, but something amazing occurred. Her new friends in the transgender community marched to the police station and warned, “If Prisha is not released in five minutes, we will burn this place down. Let her go!” Prisha was released.

Prisha’s love of Christ and for the souls of people to whom she ministers was returned . . . with power.

During her short testimony to us that day, Prisha never mentioned addressing the issue of transgender. In sharing her story, Prisha taught us that love and respect brings people to Christ. The community with whom Prisha ministers is positioned to grow further in their walk with the Lord.

Prisha lives a believable life of respect.

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BELIEVABLE LIVES IN SCRIPTURE In Romans 2:17-29, Paul told the Jewish followers of Christ they were not living believable lives. As Paul spoke to circumcised men born to Jewish parents, he accused them of relying on their Jewishness to make them right with God, rather than changing their heart so it was right with God (see v. 29).

In Acts 6, I see characteristics of believable lives not so dissimilar from Prisha’s life: • The seven chosen to distribute food were well respected, full of the Spirit, and full of wisdom (v. 3).

• The twelve apostles were devoted to prayer and teaching the Word (vv. 2, 4).

• Stephen was described as full of faith and the Holy Spirit, full of God’s grace and power, able to perform amazing signs and miracles, communicating wisdom from the Spirit, and who, in death, had the face of an angel (vv. 5, 8, 10, 15).

God built his church quickly (v. 7), and it’s easy to see why. These leaders followed his leading through the Spirit, not their Jewishness. The masses saw in them the appealing presence of God, and it drew them in. Respect, wisdom, grace, and power make for an attractive community!

Those are the same characteristics that exist in the growing churches in Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and India today. The people in these churches are living believable lives, intentionally making Jesus much more than famous, but also desirable.

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“AS PART OF THE GLOBAL CHURCH, YOUR IMPACT ON THOSE AROUND YOU WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR GOD’S GLOBAL KINGDOM— RIGHT IN YOUR HOMETOWN.”

AFRICA

In our years of bush living among the Maasai in Kenya, our family was given a Maasai family name by a man who had become a dear friend.

Ole Kijabe had a way about him that led people to ask him for advice and encouragement. He had impeccable character and good business sense.

He was funny.

Ole Kijabe couldn’t read, though he tried! He couldn’t even sound out a two-letter word. His eyesight was part of the problem, and the other was his oral culture. He learned by mentoring, and that’s also how he taught others.

Two ladies on our team taught several young warriors to read; a few others had learned in school. When it came time to train church leaders, several of those young Christian warriors were chosen along with Ole Kijabe. At trainings, the warriors took notes, but Ole Kijabe merely listened.

During Bible lessons, the warriors read Scriptures and taught. Ole Kijabe usually just listened. But when Bible lessons were to be lived out, everyone looked to Ole Kijabe. When planning was needed, Ole Kijabe was in on it. When love and acceptance were needed in the villages where few believed in Jesus, Ole Kijabe led by example.

Few decisions were made without first consulting Ole Kijabe.

The local government asked Ole Kijabe to become chief of the area because of his believable life and the respect and people skills he possessed. But Ole Kijabe turned them down. He wanted to focus his time and wisdom on the church and on these maturing young warriors.

Ole Kijabe died several years ago, but he passed on his wisdom to these warriors who are now no longer young. One of them, Patrick, is a national church leader. Another, Francis, is the national church treasurer.

Wisdom lives on in these senior warriors, and now they live believable lives that guide the character of their national church to be a place where people desire Jesus.

This was all made possible because Ole Kijabe was a traditional mentor who lived a believable life of wisdom.

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AMERICAS

I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about child sponsorship early on. When our mission agency started it, I thought it would greatly increase dependence and make it harder to disengage when the work was mature enough to do so. I warmed up to it over time after observing the positive benefits for the children. Still, I thought it might set up kids for major disappointment if sponsors couldn’t follow through on their financial commitments.

I also thought child sponsorship contained an element of unhealthy dependence.

Any misgivings disappeared when I was introduced to Cinthya shortly after assuming my current role as global missions pastor.

Cinthya met Chris when they were in high school. I’ll never forget the story she told me of how she got involved in child sponsorship.

About 18 months into their marriage, Cinthya and Chris went to a Jeremy Camp concert. A photo of a child available for sponsorship through Compassion International had been placed on each seat. Cinthya said, “What!

They still exist?” She picked up the card of a child who shared her birthday and soon started to cry. She turned to her perplexed husband and revealed to him, “I was one of these children!”

Cinthya was sponsored as a child while growing up in Colombia in South America. That’s how she got involved in child sponsorship—as a recipient.

One meeting with Cinthya was all it took for me to see the incredibly positive effects of child sponsorship. This young mother sat with her husband—they were expecting their second child—and humbly shared her story with Connie and me. Despite childhood hardships, Cinthya had a spirit of grace—a gentleness and vibrancy—that touched me deeply and broke down my resistance to child sponsorship. She was just being herself, complete with laughter and Colombian accent.

And then she spoke reverently of Windy, her sponsor. Windy’s letters to Cinthya had given her hope. Windy told Cinthya she believed in her, loved her, and was praying for her. It’s still deeply meaningful to Cinthya, and it’s a big reason for the grace we all see in her today. Cinthya has a softness in her heart for Windy, who gave her years of hope when life was hard.

Cinthya lives a believable life of grace because her hard story never speaks pity. She tells it in a way that speaks hope, opening the way for her to share how desirable Christ is, for he has been her hope since childhood.

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Prisha, Ole Kijabe, and Cinthya all had modest beginnings. Part of what makes their faith stories so believable is they couldn’t have achieved what they did in their own power. In fact, they had very little worldly power. Christ is the power behind their stories, and those who spend time with them know it.

These believable lives are also simple ones. They are known as people of respect, wisdom, and grace. They lead from their Christian character, which is something we all can do.

Prisha, Ole Kijabe, and Cinthya are courageous. They speak what they know of God in their lives and he multiplies their impact to touch many lives. They draw attention to Jesus and never themselves.

BELIEVABLE LIVES SPEAK GLOBALLY

Many people in our churches want to make a difference in this world but don’t know how. My advice is to start by living a believable life, as these three have. Let the character of Christ be seen in your everyday life, and then be courageous and speak up about how he works in your life. As part of the global church, your impact on those around you will make a difference for God’s global kingdom—right in your hometown.

Want to do more?

• Sponsor a child and begin a relationship. Share your life story and be encouraging in letters, just as Windy encouraged Cinthya.

• Go on a mission trip and share your life story with those you meet.

Build relationships and acknowledge you are both part of the body of Christ. There is power in being united in Christ!

• Give financial and prayer support to a missionary or global ministry organization. Get to know them and their ministry.

• Be a forwarding agent for a missionary.

• Become a missionary and allow God to use your life in another part of the world.

The character of Christians in Acts 6 is being lived out globally today by millions of people like Prisha, Ole Kijabe, and Cinthya. When we distinguish ourselves in our Christian lifestyle, we cause people to desire to know Jesus. 

Dan Crum and his wife, Connie, served as missionaries in East Africa for 26 years in the areas of evangelism and church planting, team leadership, water development, and member care. Since 2014 Dan has been the global impact director at Connection Pointe Christian Church (connectionpointe.org) in Brownsburg, Indiana. He also serves with Missionary Care Catalysts and is on the board of Asian Partners (apii.org). Dan and Connie have three adult children, all married, and five grandchildren.

/dan.crum.79

@Dan_Crum

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Equipping Believers to Make a Significant Impact for Eternity

By Mike Schrage

We’ve all probably heard the preacher’s challenge during a sermon about evangelism: “Write down the names of a few people in your life who don’t know Jesus.” We’re asked to pray for them, invite them to our homes, or offer them a ride to church.

What happens next? Maybe we take time to pray for the people on our list over the next few weeks. Perhaps we send them a Facebook message or get together for coffee. Unfortunately for many of us, our schedules get hectic, our focus wavers, and our good intentions are eventually lost in the shuffle of life.

We understand that Jesus called us to share the good news with the world. But far too often, we’re not sure where to start. Evangelism, we know, is about more than checking items off a list; it’s primarily about showing intentionality in our relationships. It’s telling someone we’ll pray for them and taking steps to make sure we actually do. It’s remembering details of a heartfelt conversation with a hurting person and following up to see how they’re coping.

That level of intentionality is difficult! Distractions bombard us every day, so we must continually evaluate whether a relationship has stalled out and where we need to invest more time and prayer.

As president of Good News Productions, International, I am honored to visit churches around the country and share about our ministry’s worldwide evangelism efforts. I tell these folks how much thought and energy we put toward helping people say yes to Jesus. Over the past several years, more than a few ministers have told me, “That’s great, Mike, but I have to admit, our church has been struggling recently. Our attendance is down, finances are tight. . . .

I wish GNPI would create something for us here in the United States to use for evangelism and discipleship.”

GNPI wanted a clearer picture of this, so we surveyed ministry leaders about their perspectives on evangelism. Our research showed that fewer than 20 percent of survey respondents were satisfied with the levels of evangelism and discipleship in their congregations. We asked, “If GNPI could offer media resources for the United States, what should be included?”

The resounding reply from small, medium, and large congregations was simply “disciplemaking.”

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GNPI: Helping People Say Yes to Jesus

“The hardest ask for me to make of my congregation is for them to share Christ individually.

Period,” one minister told me recently. “It’s easier to ask them for money. I can ask them to serve the community or to pray, but motivating them to evangelize feels like I’m shaming them into it. And it feels like my request doesn’t have teeth to it because it is difficult for me to equip them with the resources they need to be successful.”

Christians desperately want training and support for how to share their faith. If you search the term “evangelism” at Christian Standard’s website, more than 450 articles pop up. You are asking for resources, and we hear you, church.

Recent research shows that non-Christians are receptive to casual, one-on-one conversations about Christianity, in spite of our culture’s growing divide over many issues. Barna, in its 2019 report Reviving Evangelism, found that 78 percent of those who are not yet followers of Christ came away from those encounters encouraged to investigate what it means to follow Jesus. The intentional actions of believers are still making a difference!

Introducing Redux GNPI has partnered with a software company to build a cloud-based platform that addresses the concerns of individuals and churches outlined above. Redux—which means “to bring back, restore, revive”—is designed to help organizations, families, and individuals walk stepby-step through the processes of evangelism and discipleship. With this tool, sharing the good news of Jesus becomes both tangible and achievable.

The Redux platform asks users to create profiles for seekers (those who do not yet know Christ). As users do life together with seekers, they can make notes. Things such as important dates, prompts for follow-up conversations, Scripture references, tasks, and reminders will appear on the seeker’s profile.

What makes Redux different from other platforms is the ability to assign a path for each person you’ve added into the system. Think of a path as a recommended sequence of actions to help someone move toward a stronger relationship with Christ. Paths contain set milestones and resources created by those who’ve already had success using the same methods. When a path is adopted, the user may tailor it to the needs of the seeker. This customization allows Redux to be relevant in many ministry contexts, from Mom’s Day Out to prison outreach.

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SPONSORED CONTENT

At the organizational level, Redux allows church leaders to keep a finger on the pulse of their church’s evangelism efforts. Leaders can look at the big picture and evaluate overall effectiveness, as well as provide members with personalized assistance when it is most needed. If a church uses a specific discipleship process or curriculum, organizational administrators can create custom paths for the congregation based on that curriculum. Eventually, when seekers become new believers, Redux allows them to be seamlessly integrated into the platform as users.

We’ve met with a few focus groups during the software development process to see how people in ministry might use Redux. Those who have had a first look are excited about the platform’s possibilities. Here is what a few of them have to say about it: “Redux has the potential to bring evangelism to the 21st century and beyond, by allowing evangelism to happen in tandem with accountability and technology!” —Lito Solorio, lead pastor of Countryside Christian Church, Wichita, Kansas “Redux is a Christian CRM (customer relationship management) system on steroids!”

—Larrie Fraley, lead missions pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona “Every mature Christian I know has the deep desire to share their faith with others.

What keeps them from doing it is the confidence of knowing how. Redux is the resource to equip everyday followers of Jesus with the ability to evangelize that matches their motivation to evangelize.” —Sy Huffer, lead pastor of College Heights Christian Church, Joplin, Missouri We plan to launch Redux in the spring of 2020. The cloud-based website, as well as the iOS and Android apps, will have API (application program interface) functionality to work in tandem with church databases such as Rock RMS or Church Community Builder.

In the future, Redux will build even more functionality into the program, making it a comprehensive platform for evangelism and discipleship: • We will connect users to more tools and demographics to better understand the community around them, so they can become more effective evangelists.

• We will provide refined tools and resources to assist those who are engaging in evangelism.

• We will extend the platform to allow for the addition of discipleship tools and paths that help new believers grow into a mature knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Matt Johnson, lead software developer for Redux, sees potential for the platform to become a daily part of a believer’s faith.

“There hasn’t been much done to give effective tools for people to reach others in their own spheres of influence, in their own communities,” Johnson said. “With Redux, a church can now say, ‘Don’t just give money to us and let us evangelize for you in the world.’ They’re saying, ‘Let us empower you as a congregation to evangelize in your world.’ That’s huge.”

Redux will equip everyday Christians to take small steps in their day-to-day lives that will make a significant impact for eternity. We know relationships are the key to effective evangelism, and Redux can help believers leverage their connections to be most effective for the kingdom of God. Mike Schrage serves as president of Good News Productions, International.