CoMISSION Magazine - Spring 2022

Page 1

M A G A Z I N E

SPRING

COMISSION

20 22


ONE VOICE W I T H O NE MI S S I ON:

CONTENT

To take the church to where it is not, and help others do the same.

Letter from the President/CEO............................................................................................................... 3 Bethany Partners..................................................................................................................................... 4 Bethany Gateways................................................................................................................................... 6 Bethany’s Reach....................................................................................................................................... 8 Bethany Global University....................................................................................................................... 10 Senior Spotlights...................................................................................................................................... 12 Engaging the Unreached......................................................................................................................... 14

President: Dan Brokke I Editor: Caroline Duxter 6820 Auto Club Road, Suite M, Bloomington, MN 55438-2849 Telephone: 952-944-2121 I Email: bethany@bethanyinternational.org I Website: bethanyinternational.org


“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...”

Matthew 28:19

When Jesus was asked “What will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?” He offered the following answer: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Jesus will return, and we must press forward to make His name known everywhere. For our success Jesus prayed, “That they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them.” (John 17:23) Being “one” is key to fulfilling the Great Commission. Bethany’s ministries and partners work together to equip missionaries to go and thrive. When Bethany™ started 77 years ago, five families in Minnesota risked everything to work as one. This commitment still burns bright today. Bethany got its name because it was a place Jesus loved to be with His disciples, and His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, as He pursued His mission on earth. Following His death on the cross and resurrection, the Gospel of Luke records, Jesus gave a final commission to His disciples that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” Then, Jesus “led His disciples out as far as Bethany and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” (Luke 24:47, 50) Our call to action is to make disciples of all nations everywhere until He returns. This is the heart of Bethany’s mission. Three billion people still have no access to the gospel. Time is of the essence. In this issue of CoMISSION, we are highlighting stories of those who have the obedience to go. I pray their testimonies of serving and sharing the Gospel will inspire you as much as they inspire me. They are called to go… so they go! But they can’t go alone. Bethany is one people, with one voice, and one commitment to train, send, and partner, fulfilling one mission to “take the church to where it is not.” This is the Great Commission. Now, Let’s Go. Until the Whole World Knows, Dan Brokke Bethany President and CEO

Our Ministries: Bethany Global University™

An accredited undergraduate and graduate missionary training school. More than 3,000 graduates have served as missionaries, leaders, and Great Commission advocates in their communities.

Bethany Gateways™

Deploys church planting teams around the world to unreached people groups with a goal of multiplying disciples. Just over 100 missionaries are currently fielded in more than 20 countries.

Bethany Partners™

A mission development team helping national partners worldwide launch their own cross-cultural missionaries into unreached peoples. Through these partnerships, hundreds of mission training schools have been developed, sending Kingdom builders across the globe.

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 3


TH E W O R L D S A YS distributing rice and other supplies. They discovered that out of desperation, some parents had even had to sell a child to keep the rest of the family from starving.

By: Alison Goldhor, Bethany Partners When Rhakho made the decision to follow Jesus and become a missionary, he knew the road ahead would not be easy. Despite experiencing persecution and opposition, the Bethany Partner from northeastern India does not let challenge deter his obedience to go. His goal in life remains the same: to bring as many people as possible to the saving knowledge of Jesus. However, a new challenge in the form of a global pandemic brought unimaginable tragedy. In the span of just a few months, 15 of his closest supporters, friends and family members died from the virus. Faced with grief and uncertainty, Rhakho said it was difficult to see how his ministry would move forward. But rather than slow down, he pressed on with strength he testifies only God could provide. “Our time is short, so I don’t want to stay back and mourn,” Rhakho said. For nearly 20 years, Rhakho has dedicated his life’s work to training disciples. In 2003 he founded Harvest School of Missions in Nagaland. Close to the border of Myanmar and home to many colorful tribes, it is a strategic place from which to send missionaries into places where people have never heard of Jesus. More than 300 students have graduated since then, and Rhakho’s missionaries have planted churches among 34 unreached people groups. Some of these churches are now sending out their own missionaries to reach remote peoples inaccessible to outsiders. Realizing the pandemic offered opportunities as well as challenges, Rhakho and his trainees began reaching more people with the Good News than ever before. When COVID restrictions brought severe economic hardship, Rhakho mobilized relief teams to villages worst affected,

4

Seeing how hungry people were for God, Rhakho’s trainees began to invite him to put on conferences in remote mountain areas. People would gather from villages all around, and many responded to the Gospel. At the beginning of 2021, Rhakho’s prayer was to see 100 souls saved. By the end of the year, he had seen more than 2,000 come into God’s Kingdom. “In these three years, especially during the pandemic time, we’ve trained more people, we’ve brought more disciples into the kingdom, we’ve planted more churches,” Rhakho said. “When I look back, the Lord gave us more open doors to reach people.” Rhakho said this success is a direct result of Bethany’s Exponential Disciple-Making seminar (EDM) that he took in early 2020 just before the pandemic. The seminar equips teams to make disciples that make new disciples, multiplying the impact of the Gospel among the unreached. Despite all of the COVID barriers, Rhakho was able to lead a total of 17 seminars, both in-person and online. Just one seminar brought in as many as 400 people. “Praise God, because I know the Lord called me. I praise God not because of what I can do, but because of who is praying for us and praying for our work,” he said. Rhakho’s calling to the mission field came early in life. He grew up in a Christian home where he was encouraged by his family to pray often for persecuted nations. Now as he faces the same challenges as those he prayed for, God is opening doors no one else could. What keeps Rhakho obedient even when struggle is imminent? “I want to make sure that when my time comes, I will have more disciples who will carry on the work,” Rhakho said. “They will bring more people to the Kingdom of God.” ABOUT RHAKHO’S SCHOOL: 22 students currently attend Harvest School of Missions in northeast India, with eight planning to graduate in April 2022. The small class sizes mean Rhakho can mentor as well as train his disciples.


STOP

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 5


By: Dan Germo Bethany Gateways International Director

The Gambia, a small nation in western

Africa, is often overlooked. Aside from a short coastal strip, it forms just a sliver in the side of Senegal, the country surrounding it. A taxi driver there told me while I was on a recent visit, “The Gambia is the tongue inside the mouth that is Senegal!” While it is a place many might disregard, it is on Bethany’s radar. The Gambia is considered one of the least developed countries in the continent, with many people living in poverty. More than 90 percent of the nation is Muslim, also making it a spiritually dark place. That’s why Bethany Gateways, the ministry I lead to place Missionaries across the globe, sent a long-term team to serve the people of The Gambia. Bethany Missionaries Jon and Vee Gowin are leading this charge. This nation of just over 2 million people is home for the couple and their two children. Jon grew up in The Gambia to missionary parents. “As a boy I sensed God calling me to foreign missions. That’s why I attended Bethany Global University,” Jon told me. After training to be a career missionary, he studied agriculture and returned to work in The Gambia. For many years his ministry focused on working the soil and teaching local people how to farm in a sustainable way. While serving, he met Vee in a nearby city. Shortly after they met, she came to Christ. She too became passionate about her newfound relationship with Jesus and was determined to share this message with her own people. Several years later, Jon and Vee married and started a family. When their first child was four years old, they moved to the U.S. so Vee could also study at Bethany Global University. After spending nearly 7 years in the states, the Gowin family moved back to The Gambia in 2021 with a strong and persistent determination to reach the unreached. During their time away, a political shift in the nation created an environment of religious freedom. This new atmosphere created many open doors, which they were determined to use for the sake of the Gospel. In partnership with a local believer, who is a former Muslim, they began preparing local evangelists to go throughout the small country. Last year, they equipped 10 disciples with Jesus Film backpacks and motorcycles to bring the loving story of Jesus into the remote villages. During my recent trip to see Jon and Vee, they took me to visit one of these evangelists. While sitting on the floor of his house, over a delicious meal of monkey (yes, monkey, and it was surprisingly tender),

6

REACHING A L L NA T IO NS


this evangelist shared with us his passion to see his neighbors and family come to know Jesus. Each week he would spend considerable time in prayer, interceding on behalf of the lost around him. Then at certain times each week, he would take the Jesus Film backpack, get on his motorcycle, and travel into the villages sharing the love of Jesus. It touched my heart to see this man’s motivation to truly serve others, rather than himself.

The Gowins, and their ministry partners, are committed to see the Gospel go forth, and for the Church to be established among all the tribes throughout The Gambia. Join me in praying for Jon and Vee as they continue to serve with the desire to see disciples made, who become disciple-makers themselves, among all the tribes within this little nation God has certainly not overlooked.

Jon and Vee Gowin pictured to the far left and right.

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 7


BET H A N Y ’S

REACH

Bethany ministries impact 98 countries across the globe. This presence encompasses everything from Bethany Global University internship sites, Bethany Gateways long-term missionary placements, to Bethany Partners training schools.

UNITED STATES Bethany’s main campus is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. It’s where missionaries can be trained, sent, and form partnerships around the world.

MEXICO Bethany Missionaries Kerry and Jan Olson reside in Mexico City where they have established missionary training schools in partnership with Mexico’s largest church. Kerry Olson focuses on researching unreached people groups where the church is just taking root.

SOUTH AMERICA Bethany Partner Adriel Souza da Conceição has a passion to complete The Great Commission. Having served as a missionary in Uruguay he now leads a mission base in Brazil that mobilizes, trains, and sends Brazilian cross-cultural missionaries into the global harvest.

WESTERN EUROPE Bethany Missionaries Grayling and Sandra Trees have led a team in Southern France for more than 30 years. There, they focus on community outreach and helping local ministries.

WEST AFRICA Bethany Missionaries Sam and Jonhild Dunya focus on missionary training in Ghana, where hundreds of new churches have been planted among Muslim people groups. They also host and mentor Bethany Global University interns.

8

EAST AFRICA Bethany Partner Dr. Semeon Mulatu is part of leadership in one of Ethiopia’s largest evangelical churches. They partner with Bethany for many outreach programs, primarily starting missionary training schools and engaging unreached peoples across the country.


“ For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

Countries with Bethany Countries without Bethany

NORTHEASTERN INDIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

EAST ASIA

Bethany Partner Rhakho founded and runs a missionary training school in Nagaland, India. He does outreach to unreached villages across his region, where he is seeing multiplication of disciples and churches.

Southeast Asia Bethany Partner Johannes and his team started with 28 home churches at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today there are more than 500. He is training and sending workers to some of the least accessible unreached peoples across his region.

Bethany Missionaries Jon and Hiromi Dugan lead a team of eight people in Japan. They have planted churches in various cities across the country, are involved in a primary school, Bible School, and train workers to rescue those in cults.

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 9


GO, AN D LET J E S U S ’

LIGHT SHINE

By: Dr. David Hasz President of Bethany Global University

At Bethany Global University, students spend more than a year abroad doing mission work while earning their degrees. When the graduating class of 2022 left their junior years to go overseas, they not only faced the hurdles of learning a new culture and language, but new challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their stories are a testimony of obedience to God’s plan and calling, even when it’s not easy. Even still, BGU students’ impact across the world is made for such a time as this. At one point during the fall, just over 100 students were serving across 15 different countries. Seniors who made the move in the summer of 2020 are now returning to campus with reports of growth, maturity, ministry fruitfulness, and a growing intimacy with Jesus. BGU not only has the internal capacity through Bethany Gateways to help place and mentor interns, but also partners with several missions organizations so our students receive the best training to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This hands-on experience and access to an ecosystem of mission work, both on campus in Bloomington, Minnesota and worldwide, is what prepares students for graduation. It is our hope and prayer these graduates will then join the hundreds of thousands of missionaries advancing the Kingdom worldwide every day. Whether it is prayer, encouragement, or financial help — the support students receive makes this possible. This season for students is a transition into the next stage of the race we are all called to run with faith and perseverance.

10


B U IL DING F OR THE NEXT GENER A TI O N A historic movement is happening on Bethany’s campus. We are constructing a new Welcome Center on our Bethany Global University campus in Bloomington, Minnesota. It will serve as a new front door welcoming students and international partners from all over the world. Several other updates are in the works, including major dorm remodeling and increasing on-campus housing capacity. All glory to God as we work to train those dedicating their lives to advancing the Gospel. Help us equip the next generation of missionaries by scanning the QR code.

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 11


Hungary Slovenia Serbia Montenegro

Grace Swartzendruber Age: 21 Hometown: Wichita, Kansas Internship: Montenegro Despite being sent to a predominantly Orthodox country, Grace spent her time regularly fellowshipping with a family of Muslim faith. After the 21-year-old Bethany Global University (BGU) student met Deni, the daughter of Muslim immigrants, a deep friendship was born. “This Muslim family I met became my second family,” Grace said. Meeting Deni and what would become that second family, came during a chance encounter at a coffee shop after Grace had experienced a series of denied visas and pandemic travel restrictions to her initial mission destination. God had a plan. In the 16-months Grace lived abroad in southeastern Europe, more coffee outings with Deni turned into being invited to her friend’s home for meals, which then turned into an invitation to a family member’s graduation. “It was so sweet to see their heart for us, and their desire to see us be at home in a new place,” Grace said. With the pandemic closing most community businesses, the church Grace and her other BGU team members partnered with focused on community outreach. “It gave me a new idea of what ministry looked like, and how it is truly just loving people like Jesus,” Grace said. Whether Orthodox or Muslim, most people Grace met did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. Grace focused on praying, listening, and learning about the different cultures. “We could have conversations without anger and fighting, but instead understanding,” she said. Even after returning home, Grace said she keeps in touch with the Muslim family she came to know and love. Her prayer is one day the seeds planted will help turn their hearts to the Lord. “I loved pursuing them and pouring into them. I think they’re the ones God really worked the most in my heart for.”

12

Matthew Hall Age: 22 Hometown: Neenah, Wisconsin Internship: Slovenia Matthew felt the Lord calling him to be a missionary after attending a year-long Bible school in Montana. It was there he discovered BGU and the chance to go abroad. “I had a huge desire placed on me to reach those who don’t have access to a Bible or have never met a Christian before,” Matthew said. After preparing for months to go to Asia, Matthew learned his team would head to Slovenia due to COVID travel restrictions — admittedly not what he originally hoped and prayed for. In a predominantly Catholic country, most people knew about Jesus. However, their team’s mission was to support the few evangelical churches that exist in Slovenia. “It was a huge growing experience being there and learning to just transform my expectations.” Once the students arrived, quarantine further paused ministry efforts. Matthew said the isolation took a toll. “I just struggled a lot with depression and loneliness,” he said. Matthew received counseling help through BGU, and God answered his prayers. Restrictions eased and allowed Matthew to begin connecting with the community. He took his love for skateboarding to a nearby park to minister to locals. He also started singing and leading worship at church. “One thing that brought me a lot of comfort was learning I don’t need to yell out to God to be heard by Him. He would hear the smallest whisper just as well as He’d hear the loudest cry out to Him,” Matthew said.


Bethany Global University

SENI O R

SPOTLIGHTS

Jake Flaming

Saba Levendusky

Age: 24 Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico Internship: Serbia

Age: 22 Hometown: Kansas City, Kansas Internship: Hungary

While on mission in Serbia, Jake turned his hobby of working out at the gym into a ministry.

Thousands of miles away from her home in Kansas City, Saba found herself on familiar turf in Hungary.

There, he befriended a local trainer, who eventually asked for help studying the Bible. Jake jumped at the chance. “It was a great friendship that started by just getting to say ‘hi’ to one another,” Flaming said.

The 22-year-old, along with other members of her BGU internship team, started regularly meeting to kick around a soccer ball — a game she’d played her whole life. It didn’t take long for it to become a ministry.

Yet the first few months abroad weren’t easy. The 24-year-old student was the only man on his team, and the only one married. His wife, Elsa, joined in on the trip to help evangelize.

“We learned Hungarians loved soccer, and they are always on the field,” Saba said. “It’s a great way to connect with people without speaking the same language.”

“The Lord started bringing friends in my life,” he said. The couple originally planned to spend their BGU mission in another country — but less than two weeks before they were scheduled to depart, the plan changed course. Still, they remained faithful. “There were times where I thought ‘Why am I (in Serbia), and why did I come?’ It was in that time I was able to grow my relationship with the Lord and with my wife,” Flaming said. In addition to making connections at the gym, Jake and Elsa’s partnership with a Serbian pastor led them to focus on ministering to the community for more than a year. Jake said in seeing the hearts Christian Serbians had for their nation, the Lord taught him the importance of the role of the local church — something he hopes to take to America. “I believe BGU really helped me understand what I believe, why do I believe it, and how to practically share with others,” he said.

Saba said soccer became a source of light and encouragement. “(We started) seeing people come to youth group who would have never thought they would see themselves at a church or in a religious setting,” Saba said. But this transformation did not happen overnight. Before her internship, Saba knew she wanted to be in ministry, but not necessarily overseas. Admittedly, she said she didn’t have an interest in going to Europe after also having her original location changed due to COVID. “I would say the first eight months I had no desire to live in Hungary. I just didn’t feel like I fit in with the culture, and it was hard adjusting,” Saba said. “Once I broke that barrier, I was able to go deeper in my relationships.” The experience changed her perspective and trajectory. “It’s very comforting to know I don’t have to know the future. I don’t have to even know the next year in front of me. God knows it, and He’s taking us one step at a time,” Saba said. Everyday ministry, like playing soccer with Hungarian youth, is now something she cannot imagine her life without. Now, Saba’s prayer is to return as a long-term missionary and become an English teacher.

BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 13


ENGAGING PEOPLE GROUPS

WI T H T H E S MA L L E S T P E R C E NTA GE O

Bethany and our international partners currently engage 542 Unreached People Groups (UPGs) with the Gospel across the globe. Nearly a third of the groups we focus on are 0.0% Christian. God has called us to shine a light in the darkest, hardest to reach places. Many of the people we serve have little or no access to a Bible or Christian witness. Our ministries are dedicated to seeing the name of Jesus Christ known among every tribe, tongue, and nation.

The Unfinished Task Bethany’s passion is to find unreached people groups and engage them until disciples and churches multiply among them. This is at the heart of who we are and what we do, until no unreached peoples remain. In May of 2020, with the help of our partners around the world, Bethany reached the goal of engaging 500 UPGs. However, with billions of people still considered unreached, our work is far from over. God is calling us to engage exponentially. We do this by equipping new disciples to make more disciples. We are trusting God for 100 new movements to Christ by 2026. Whether it is training, sending, or mobilizing – we are all called to play a role in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Engaged UPGs by Primary Religion

Engaged UPGs by Evangelical Percentage

200

187 150

183

59 60

100

66

50

0

Islam

378 59

Hinduism Animism Buddhism

45

0.5% - 0.99% 1% - 1.49% 1.5% - 2%

47 Other

14 Data provided by: Bethany and the Joshua Project, a Bethany partner

0% - 0.49%

Photos by: Bethany Missionary Kerry Olson


E OF BIB LE - B E LI E V I NG C H R I S TI A N S

GIVING TO SERVE Bethany provides support to our partners so the Good News can be shared exponentially around the world. This is made possible by donors dedicated to see unreached people with no access to the Gospel come to faith in Him. Since 2015, John and Jan Hawkins have partnered with Bethany to see more national leaders trained to serve among people who have no Christian witness. “It has been our heart to see the unreached, reached and Bethany is successfully working worldwide to advance the Gospel to unreached people, taking the church to where it is not,” Jan said. Jan joined the Bethany board in 2022 and serves as the vice chair. BETHANY

I SPRING 2022 I 15


6820 Auto Club Road, Bloomington, MN 55438

Let’s Go

To learn more about Bethany and partner with us, scan the QR code.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.