Alliance Connection Fall 2017 by The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada

Fall / Winter 2017

A Moment with Dave On mission. Everyone. Everywhere. All the time.

Instructions Matter

tend to look at instruction books as a last resort, often feeling that my ideas and strategies are superior, and that I can carry out the described goals better and faster on my own. My wife is laughing as I read this to her, because she knows that most of my frustrations in life are the result of ignoring instructions. Instructions matter, not only in the material things of life, but also in the spiritual things. The Word of God is the Creator’s instruction manual, guidebook, and global positioning system; it tells us how life is to be lived. It reveals the character of God, unveils the plan of salvation in Jesus, and invites us into an eternal adventure through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. I am convicted by the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.” We are people of the Word. We believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God, and, as D.L. Moody affirms, that it “was not given for our information but for our transformation.” The Word of God undergirds our vision to be a Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered, and Mission-focused people. This issue of our Alliance Connection magazine is an invitation into an encounter with God through His Word. Our hope is to inspire you to read, reflect on, and consume God’s Word. In this issue, • discover the ways that Bible Quizzing has a deep and abiding impact on teens, coaches, officials, and families; • be encouraged that a Bible app is being used among leastreached people groups; • be stirred by a reflection on spiritual discernment; • be heartened to learn that norms in Scripture regarding human life, euthanasia, assisted suicide, prostitution, and pornography are being discussed at Parliament. God has freely given us His divine instruction book. It is powerful and transforming, and it brings stability when everything around us is unsteady. This is one teaching manual you must not ignore! Instructions matter! Dave Hearn, President

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Alliance Connection magazine is a publication of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada (C&MA). The Alliance family is a mosaic of ages, cultures, and perspectives. The purpose of the magazine is to inspire and motivate everyone to live on mission. Founder A.B. Simpson President David Hearn Director of Communications Abigail Brown Editor and Graphic Design Gladys Thompson Copy Editor Denise Lodge Web Coordinator Matthew Caldwell All articles are copyrighted by The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada except where indicated. Permission is given for up to 1,000 photocopies for use in a local church or classroom. Reprints must include the credit line indicating Alliance Connection as the source and the date of the publication. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Submissions For Writer’s Guidelines and our Advertising Policy, please go to cmacan.org/magazine Disclaimer Alliance Connection does not endorse every opinion or event reported or every product advertised. Alliance Connection does not endorse any advertiser nor does it take responsibility for the accuracy of any claims made in the advertisements. To subscribe or for more information, contact: Alliance Connection The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada 30 Carrier Dr, Ste 100 Toronto ON M9W 5T7 Phone: (416) 674-7878 ext. 202 Email: magazine@cmacan.org Canada Post Agreement No. 40064689 ISSN 2369-9469 ISSN 2369-9477 (online)

Contents F E AT U R E S 13

Something to Chew On Nourished by the Word of God

Bible Quizzing A fun way of memorizing Scripture

Radical Sacrifice Making tough or unexpected choices

PLUS 12 17 23 26 36 43 44 46 48 49 50 52

Awakening a Hunger for the Bible A Universe of Meaning Is it Worth It? “Along the Way” Teaching The Quechua Women of Peru Choose Change Biblical Principles of Discernment Amazed by God The Gift of Prophecy In the Midst of Battle Our Sponsorship Journey Who is the Stranger Next Door?

D E PA R T M E N T S 2 4 6 8 10 25 33 34 38 40 41 51 54

A Moment with Dave • Instructions Matter Readers Write On Mission Together • Updates from Around the World A Future in Missions • Prepared to Go Reflections • A Message Recycled Silk Road Region • Sharing the Gospel with Least-Reached Kids Asian Spice Region • Spreading Like Wildfire Silk Road Region • Disciples Making Disciples Desert Sand Region • Bringing the Gospel to the Nations Caribbean Sun Region • The Bible for Business Perspectives • Law and Public Policy Sea to Sea Region • Reaching Our Neighbours Now You Know • Estate Planning Guidance

These articles are also available online at cmacan.org/stories. Add your comments or join the conversation on Facebook.com/CMAllianceinCanada and on Twitter at #CMAinCanada.

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Readers Write

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Comments are taken from letters, social media, and our online articles at cmacan.org/ stories. Messages may be edited for space, clarity, and style. We’d love to hear from you! Email your thoughts to magazine@cmacan.org or write to: Alliance Connection • The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada 30 Carrier Dr, Ste 100 • Toronto ON M9W 5T7

Appreciated

The Ancestry of Ambrose University

C&MA truly has a rich heritage in missional training and Christian education. I just had an opportunity to visit the Alliance Bible Seminary in Hong Kong, a “sister school” in China founded by Alliance missionaries in 1899, later relocated to Hong Kong after the war. What a joy to see the visionary legacy continue in different parts of the world...

Genghis C.

Really appreciated the magazine on “Healing.” Thank you!

Doreen C.

Terrie T.

Delighted

I have been reading the Alliance Connection of Spring/ Summer and Fall/Winter 2016, and I just had to communicate to you how delighted I am with the current magazine’s style, format, content, and print size. I so enjoyed the many missions articles, Five “S” prayer updates, Reflection articles, Canadian Ministries, etc., and I want to thank and commend those who are responsible. Also, you have made such perfect decisions on the name of the magazine [and] the tagline.

Shirley F.

only one was told anonymously: the porn addict’s. I find it sad that an addict who has stayed clean for eight years still finds the issue of pornography too shameful to attach his name to. While a drug or alcohol addict would receive accolades after eight years of sobriety, the recovering sex addict remains anonymous in our churches. This choice in the magazine speaks clearly to the deep shame surrounding sexual addiction, and I fear that unless this changes, the statistics of those caught in its grip will only continue to worsen. We proclaim freedom to the captives, but our compassion for the captives is expressed in degrees.

Personal stories

I just received the magazine last week. Lots of great personal stories in this issue!!

Nadine H.

Anonymity

Thank you for filling your Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Alliance Connection with hopefilled stories of God’s healing and deliverance. Of all the stories,

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Editor’s Note: Thank you for sharing your concern about shame culture surrounding certain sins! For this particular article, the author asked to have his name withheld, so although it was written anonymously, we felt the article added value and was worth publishing.

Would love to hear follow-up

Captivated

Thank you for the Connection magazine. This issue on Healing has particularly captivated me. I especially enjoy the ‘Reflections’ articles.

Lorna B.

Check out our

online stories...

Always Enjoy This Magazine

Excellent issue! Special thanks to Joanne Beach for “Healing Relationships” and “Awakening the Giant”. C&MA churches have a great opportunity to respond to these critical issues. Would that every church establish interest teams to respond to these issues! Would love to hear follow-up articles on what churches have done, also study guides and resources churches could access. Sincere thanks for continuing to develop this magazine.

Just finished reading the Spring/ Summer edition of your great magazine. What an excellent publication. Right from “Our God of Miracles” by Dave Hearn to “Reclaiming Sabbath” by Bill McAlpine, all articles were just great. So uplifting and encouraging. I always enjoy this magazine and read it from cover to cover. I thought it was time I let you know just how much I enjoy it. If I have any misgivings, it would be that I miss the obituary section and the pastor placements that used to be in it a number of years ago. Thank you for a great magazine.

Glenn J.

Douglas W.

Editor’s Note: For a learning and prayer guide related to the impact of residential schools on Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, we encourage all readers to visit: cmacan.org/tr-prayerguide.

Stories can be sorted by category, topic, title, and author

A Risk Worth Taking

Links to similar stories, resources, and further information

Disappointed

I enjoy your Alliance Connection magazine and look forward to the latest edition Spring/Summer 2017; however, was dismayed by not one but three typos or incorrect references to Bible verses that do not exist in my Holy Bible… Extremely disappointed.

What an amazing testimony! Thank you for sharing and blessing others by sharing your story.

Juanita T.

Read what others have said about the story and/or add your own comments

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Paul B.

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On Mission Together

Updates from Around the World Praise and prayer items from our workers

In Niger, Kristi Hopf uses a set of stories written for women, which are accompanied by doing a henna drawing of the story for a memory aid. The ladies love the stories and henna. Pray that the truth of the stories would remain on their hearts and they would seek to know the One who loves them.

growing in trusting Jesus. Her face reflects the transformation that is occurring in her life. A Testimony of Transformation Blake and Kathy, Creative Access Country Esther’s is a story of domestic violence and abuse – a cycle that has left deep wounds in her family for generations. She struggled with high blood pressure as a result of stress, both physical and emotional. Blake shared the Word of God with Esther and asked if he could pray for her healing. Several days later, Esther told Blake about a dream she had one night. In the dream, the devil appeared to take her. He grabbed her and twisted her arm behind her back. Esther declared: “The blood of Jesus! The blood of Jesus!” and the devil was defeated. From that day on, Esther has not struggled with high blood pressure. It is amazing to see how she is

Regional Developers’ Update The Christian and Missionary Alliance has had a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean since 1897 when the first workers went to Chile. Since then the Alliance movement has expanded to more than 20 countries. The newest additions are among the least-reached Chinese on the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and St. Martin. We now have some Canadian international workers helping these three churches grow in discipleship and reaching the Chinese on these islands. On the island of Aruba we have a Canadian Chinese couple who have seen more than 15 Chinese come to Christ this year already. We are working closely with Chile and other nations to see

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

new Latino international workers developed and trained in a new effort (launched March 1, 2017) called Samuel House. We continue to support national movements in Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Mexico. These are exciting days as God does His work in the Caribbean Sun Region as we continue to pursue the leastreached still needing Christ.

Regional Developers’ Update People are calling in to the radio station in Conakry, Guinea and asking for prayer, some of them following up by coming to the spiritual clinic where God heals them spiritually and physically. A lone believer in North Africa has had his prayer answered; God brought two new believers to meet him and they are now a small

community of Jesus followers in a very hard land. Pray for courage for these three. In Senegal a group of men are gathering and being discipled. Pray for strength in the midst of persecution. Spiritual warfare is strong, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Regional Developers’ Update Praise God for the successful children’s camp that Roup and Len facilitated this past July. Of the 88 children who participated, several were non-church kids including those from Muslim and Buddhist backgrounds. Praise the Lord that 14 of these kids were counselled for salvation. When the camp ended, many were crying because they didn’t want to leave. Praise the Lord for the dedicated team of volunteers from Rexdale Alliance Church in Toronto. Without these volunteers, this camp would not have been possible. Praise God for a recent gathering of believers from the majority faith background of the Middle East. Some 36 per cent of those who attended were from the Arabian Peninsula. All these believers expressed that, despite the risk of persecution and/or martyrdom for following Jesus, they needed to meet together regularly right in the countries where they reside. Praise God for beginning to birth His Church among the majority peoples in the Arabian Peninsula. Please pray that He will protect His children and that they will be bold and wise to share Him, to live their lives in a manner that will point to Him, and that they will love their friends and family for Him.

Regional Developers’ Update This is a season of praise as we see the Lord raising a new harvest in Cambodia, Japan and Indonesia. For many years the Lord has inspired several to sow seeds among the stateless Vietnamese in Siam Reap, Cambodia. By God’s love and grace, through practical help and preaching of the Word, 11 youths and six adults were recently baptized! In Japan, interest in Bible study is rising as the team grows and God stirs this group of people towards hope. In Indonesia, the Lord did a miraculous work to confirm one man’s struggling faith and stir another man’s hardness into a reverent fear of the Most High! This is a season of suffering and quiet trust, requiring great boldness and courage. In creative access locations, the longing for a Saviour is evident, but the challenges are great. International workers face high security and sometimes threatening situations. They rely on God’s Spirit, and need your prayers and encouragement as they persevere in adversity. They struggle alongside local people, and while they put their hope in the Eternal God, they are in these locations by choice, in response to the Spirit’s leading. In contrast, most locals do not have a Shepherd or choice of where they will live. We must continually pray that believers will be bold and steadfast, that Christ will open the door for His message, and that they will know the creative doors for access. Thank you for your partnership in prayer and Global Advance Fund giving; both are essential and neither should be neglected.

New Venture - Faith Christian Alliance, Toronto, ON Faith Christian Alliance became an official Christian and Missionary Alliance church on July 9. Launched with a vision to establish a welcoming church that was accessible to new Canadians, this church plant is a thriving community located along the 401 corridor in the West area of Toronto. It is exciting to see God’s faithfulness to this church plant’s mission to reach out to all nations. A youth worship team has emerged under the leadership of Rodrigo Felomino Jr. who also leads the youth ministry. Faith Christian Alliance has established a healthy home on Saturday nights in the Bathurst and Lawrence area of Toronto continue to pray for them!

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A Future in Missions

Prepared to Go New workers follow Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading into global ministries

Caribbean Sun / Mexico

David and Marilyn Shaw

David and Marilyn accepted Christ as their Saviour while in their teens and have attended C&MA churches for more than 30 years. Marilyn is a retired registered nurse, and David retired as a service manager from an automotive company. They have taken several short-term missions (STM) teams and their children to Ecuador, falling in love with the Latino culture and Spanish language. They also took a STM trip to Mexico City a few years ago.

God has led the Shaws to serve at the Mexico City Ministry Centre and Guest House, where they will work with and support other international workers in Mexico City and encourage STM teams and interns staying at the guest house. They have four married children and 10 grandchildren, who support their decision to go to Mexico.

Caribbean Sun / Mexico

Barry and Geri McLeod

Barry grew up in a Christian home and was led to the Lord by his mother at an early age.

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

He is thankful to have had many Christian influences in his life. Geri grew up in a Christ-centred family in the core area of Winnipeg, Manitoba and also came to know Christ at an early age. The McLeods have served in full-time ministry with the C&MA for more than 20 years, including a four-year term as the pastoral couple at an international church in Bali. God has now led them to once again serve outside of Canada, to Mexico. It is estimated that there may be as many as one million expatriates living and working in Mexico City, with about two churches ministering primarily in English. The McLeods will help establish a community of Christfollowers by making disciples among English speakers, with the plan that the disciples will then use their gifts and resources to reach out to various least-reached people groups in the greater Mexico City area.

Silk Road Region/ Creative Access Country* Lorne and Vivian

Lorne and Vivian both came to Christ as children and have been part of the C&MA for more than 25 years. Lorne grew up in Montreal, Quebec and has been a journalist, broadcaster, writer, and stay-at-home dad. Vivian, a first-generation Canadian, is trilingual, speaking English, French, and German. She accepted the Lord through Child Evangelism Fellowship and first heard a call to missions at the age

! k o

o b e

of 10. She has been an educator for more than 30 years, in both Christian and public schools. Lorne and Vivian served in Liberia for one year, evacuating as the civil war broke out. They continued to serve the Lord through the workplace and in their local church, expecting that in Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timing, they would once again be called overseas. Following a short-term missions trip in the Silk Road Region, the door opened for them to serve full-time in an area where they can come alongside those who are reaching out to refugees.

*an environment often hostile to spreading the Gospel

This e-book is full of eye-witness accounts of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power through people like you.

Order your copy! extraordinarystories.ca Published by the C&MA in Canada.

Reflections

Home previously owned by the Simpson family

A Message Recycled A hope shared By A. Daniel Goldsmith

oung Jim Mackness was sprawled out on the floor of the farmhouse his family had recently purchased, on Prince Albert Road, about five miles outside the city of Chatham, Ontario. He was reading a pile of dusty old magazines left by the home’s previous owner. The more he read, the more he was intrigued by the articles. He said to himself, “I wish I could go to a church that taught what these magazines teach!” A half-century or more later, I was born and raised in Chatham, where I attended the Alliance Tabernacle. One summer’s day, home from Bible college in South Carolina, I was working in my parent’s garden when I noticed our neighbour was also working in his garden. I had recently taken some pictures of the nearby farmhouse that had once belonged to the family of Dr. A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary

Alliance (C&MA). Since the neighbour was a long-time member of the Alliance Tabernacle, I decided to show him the photos. When I handed him one, I asked him if he knew whose house was pictured. “Yes,” he said, “That’s my old house.” “No, it isn’t,” I told him, “that’s A.B. Simpson’s boyhood home.” “It was also my home,” he said. “My parents bought that house and farm from the Simpsons.” He offered to show me the cemetery where members of the Simpson family are buried. Soon after, I went with my neighbour, Mr. Mackness, who had read that pile of dusty magazines in his younger days. The drive turned out to be a very informative history lesson about the Simpsons. As we drove around the area of the old abandoned Simpson house, he pointed out some farmhouses along the way, telling me that this one used to be the Simpson blacksmith shop; the

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

next one that he pointed to had been the Simpson chicken coop, and the third house had been a building on the Simpson farm. He then directed me to the nearby McVicar Cemetery. There, in that quiet little cemetery, Dr. Simpson’s parents, James and Jane, were buried. Nearby were the tombstones marking the burial of A.B. Simpson’s brother and sister. Mr. Mackness then shared how Dr. Simpson had come home to Chatham for the funeral of one of those siblings. “We had heard that this hometown boy, who was now a famous preacher in the United States, was going to be there for this family time,” he said. Jim Mackness then pointed out the spot, just a few feet from where we were standing, where he had stood with Dr. Simpson for the committal. The dusty old magazines which Jim had read as a teen were The Word, The Work and The World,

“I wish I could go to a church that taught what these magazines teach!” early editions of what is today’s Alliance Life, the magazine of the C&MA in the USA. Today, those magazines would be recycled. Over a century ago, the message contained in them was recycled. The magazines had a great influence on Jim. His longing to go to a church that taught what he read in those magazines was eventually fulfilled. At the time when Jim showed me the McVicar Cemetery, he was one of the senior members of the Alliance Tabernacle

in Chatham, today known as Gregory Drive Alliance Church, a growing church of 650 members and adherents. This year, we rejoice that the C&MA celebrates 130 years of sharing the Gospel of hope and healing to hungry hearts, and we continue to share that same Gospel with millions around the world. •

Dan Goldsmith is a retired Alliance pastor who attends Sevenoaks Alliance Church, Abbotsford, BC, and the author of two books.

Jim Mackness (L) and Dan Goldsmith (R)

Photos courtesy Dan Goldsmith

AU this is Ambrose

...our Faculty of Arts & Science, School of Ministry and Seminary form one vibrant community

Visiting us is the best way to get a feel for what we’re all about. We offer tours, open houses, preview days, and student-for-a-day experiences; you’ll see first-hand what it’s like here and meet your future classmates. If you’d like a chance to check out our facilities, talk to our enrolment team, and meet cmacan.org/magazine professors in the programs you’re interested in, visit and book a tour today!11

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Awakening a Hunger for the Bible Digging into the riches of God’s Word By Dave Heasler

've been a pastor for more than 30 years, and a Christian most of my life. When I was a kid, my family went to church a lot. We went to Sunday school, morning worship, Sunday evening service, and a midweek Bible study. Children were encouraged to memorize Scripture. Teenagers were quizzed on their knowledge of entire books of the Bible. One of my fondest memories is sitting in on an adult class and listening as a woman, who obviously deeply loved God's Word, taught it faithfully. It's easy to rhapsodize about the past, but what does God envision for His church and His Word in the future? What do I envision? I envision a future in which Christians love the Bible and can't wait to mine its riches, in which we read it daily and discuss it weekly, and in which we talk frankly about what we understand and what we don't. I've seen adults roar with laughter as they've watched their children act out the story of Joseph. I’ve witnessed an eight-year-old girl recite the 77 major people, places, and events in the Old Testament, and I’ve heard an 83-year-old woman exalt that after 60 years of teaching the Old Testament, she finally understood it. I've been working with Walk Thru the Bible for more than a dozen years. Last year, we deployed teachers in 142 countries around the world; in each country, their methodology was the same. 1. Plan big picture events to bring the whole church together, build them up, and bring them to a place of commitment.

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

2. Organize small group Bible studies to deepen understanding and promote discussion over the six weeks following those big church events. 3. Equip lay preachers to follow up the events with six weeks of materials that complement what is being shared in the small groups. Last year, Walk Thru the Bible instructors around the world taught Old or New Testament events to more than 1.5 million people; afterwards, 70% of those who attended made a commitment to read the Bible daily. At Walk Thru the Bible, our goal is to help create a hunger and thirst in believers for God and His Word so they passionately desire it, understand it, and live it daily. • Dave Heasler leads Canada's Walk Thru the Bible.

Walk Thru the Bible ignites a passion for God’s Word. If you’re a pastor who wants to get people into the Bible or a teacher who wants to develop your skills, they would like to help. For more information contact: Canada’s Walk Thru the Bible

info@CanadasWalkThruTheBible.ca 877-474-2689 Dave Heasler

DaveHeasler@walkthru.org 519-381-4673

ave you ever seen the delight of a dog given a bone? After his excited prancing, the dog will drag it off to a quiet spot and go to work on it. He turns the bone over, licks it, sometimes letting out a low growl. He savours every bite. Later, he will likely bury the bone, returning to it the next day. In Eat This Book, Eugene Peterson uses this scene to illustrate the term growl as used in Isaiah 31:4, “As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey— …” The Hebrew word hagah, translated as growl, he notes, is translated as meditate in Psalm 1:2, where the blessed person is described as one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord” on which “he meditates day and night.” Hagah means that a person “is lost in his religion,” which is exactly what a dog does with his bone.

Something to chew on

Nourished by the Word of God By Gladys Thompson

Eating Piecemeal

Responding to God’s Word Psalm 119 talks about the value of reading God’s Word and how we should respond to it:

• Obedient Response

- Keep it (8 times)

- Obey it (20 times)

• Emotional Response

- Love it (10 times)

- Delight in it (9 times)

• Thoughtful Response

- Meditate on it (8 times)

- Not forget it (4 times)

- Consider it (3 times)

• Expectant Response

- Long for it (3 times)

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Some of us tend to “eat” the Bible piecemeal, a verse here and a verse there, perhaps a promise that gets us through the day, a quick devotional before scrambling out the door. We may be surviving spiritually, but not living the full life God intended. Well-known pollster George Barna observed that most Christians are biblically illiterate. He suggested several reasons for this deficiency: • People think they know all they need to know. • Families are too busy to make Bible study a priority. • Teachers are often poorly prepared to provide effective, reliable instruction. • There is much confusion and rejection of biblical values in our world today. Trying to live on a piecemeal diet that nibbles on a verse here or a passage there means we are often taking them out of context, missing out on the meaning they were originally meant to convey.

Meat or Milk

Babies need milk, but as they grow, they are able to chew and digest more and more types of food. God has used this same illustration in describing His children. At first, we can only take in certain key verses and promises, but as we mature in the faith, we are able to handle more and more from God’s Word. As mature Christians, God expects us to be getting into the meat of the Word; there should be no Bible vegetarians. Gnawing requires work. When it comes to the Word of God, it involves digging into the verses to draw out all the “nutrients” God has put there. It means asking questions like, What do I learn about God from these verses? What is God telling me about unbelievers? How is God telling me I should live? What do I need to change in my life? What else does God have to say on that particular subject? The important question isn’t “What does this say to me?”, but rather, “What did God mean by that?” Gnawing means studying to show ourselves approved, correctly handling the Word of God (see 2 Timothy 2:15). Gnawing means digging out maps to find out where events took place. Google World is an awesome way to visit many of these places. With the Internet today, we can check out reliable websites that will show us the various locations in pictures and videos. We can learn the history of the times, what the culture was like, who was ruling at the time, and how people lived. I knew very little about my paternal grandmother. A few years ago, I dug into my family history and traced much of her life’s experiences through the Internet. I visited the places in Sri Lanka and Scotland where she grew up and checked out what life was like there at the time she was a child. I found pictures of her church and school, as well as her name in a copy of the school register. I saw a picture and learned about the ship that brought her to Canada as a teenager. I visited the farm area in southwestern

God has so much more to tell us than what we see on the surface

Manitoba where she settled, married, had her family, and died, when my dad was 11. By visiting the local museum, I learned much about what life must have been like for her when she lived there. Although I never met her in person, I felt like I got to know her by digging for information. Can we not do the same with people and events we read about in the Bible? God has so much more to tell us than what we see on the surface. He expects us to get our “teeth” into the “meat” of His Word (see Hebrews 5:11-14). Gnawing requires time. It may mean spending weeks or months studying a small portion of Scripture. There are excellent commentaries and study guides available to help. See how God uses hyperbole, simile, metaphors, and other figures of speech. Check out keywords and cross-references. Reading the Bible isn’t a matter of our own interpretation, but rather a discovery of what God wants us to know. For that reason, we should pray as we read, asking the Lord to speak to us through His words, asking Him to help us understand and obey them. We need to allow the message time to sink deeply into our hearts and minds. In the whole armour of God, His Word is the only weapon we have to fight against evil, so we should know how to use it properly (see Ephesians 6:10-18).

Sweet and Sour

I love sweets! While others may enjoy potato chips, cheezies, popcorn, or fries, chocolate is my favourite comfort food. When it comes to the Bible, we often also go to our favourite comfort passages, such as the Twenty-third Psalm. We love to spend time with them, meditating and enjoying the uplifting feeling they bring. Many of us have memorized psalms and other verses to bring us comfort in dark times. A popular hobby these days is adult colouring. For those who enjoy it, it brings them closer to the heart of the Creator. It’s not so much about the finished product as it is about the process of developing the picture. It involves beginning with prayer and then meditating on the Scripture portion, allowing God to speak to you while colouring the page. Bible journalling is another way of learning Scripture; it entails reading a portion of the Word and then writing it out by hand and/or writing out what you sense God is saying to you through that portion. Some people turn the verses into prayers for themselves or others. Whatever our personal taste in meditating on Scripture, we have come to enjoy the promises and blessings, the sweet counsel and direction we receive. Revelation 10:9-10 says, So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It

Tools and Tips to Boost Your Bible Knowledge • bible.com – apps, reading plans, devotionals, videos • biblegateway.com – study tools, audio Bibles, app, resources • biblestudytools.com – tools for reading, studying, and teaching • studylight.org – Bible study tools, original language tools, historical writings, resources for individuals, pastors, study groups • thebibleproject.com - short-form, fully animated videos to make the biblical story accessible to everyone • youversion.com – Bible app – read, listen, watch

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tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had and when out and about, when they were ready eaten it, my stomach turned sour. to begin their day and when they were ready to go The book he ate was the Word of God. to bed. It was to become an integral part of their Many of us can relate to the Word being as sweet as daily lives. Their antidote to Canaan’s influence honey, but the sour might be a little harder to swallow. was to rehearse again and again the story of God’s The Bible says some things we may not want to hear deliverance. They were to intentionally remind or obey; things that may be hard to digest. themselves each day how God intervened to rescue, The Devil still likes to use the oldest trick in the preserve, and protect His people. Book: “Did God really say...?” Did God really say to In the State of the Bible 2017, Barna observed that love my enemies? Did God really say that a husband “More than half of all adults wish they read the Bible should love his wife just like Christ loves the Church? more often (58%).” Did God really say to tell my neighbours about Him? Christians are to feed on Scripture, to take Many view the Bible as being irrelevant to life in the 21st century, so they toss it it into the very fiber of our being, so that it out of their homes, schools, and politics. The attitude seems to be, “If it makes becomes a part of who we are you uncomfortable, get rid of it! If it feels good, do it!” Many books of the Bible show how God’s people Christians are to feed on Scripture, to take it into maintained their faith in a world enticing them to the very fiber of our being, so that it becomes a part of blend in. Daniel and his Jewish friends faced pressure who we are, just as digesting good food becomes part under the Babylonians, who tried to turn them against of our physical lives. God. The Apostle Paul wrote letters to churches that How we take in the Word of God – piecemeal, milk were often swayed by the culture around them. or meat, sweet or sour – it’s something we all need to When entering the land of Canaan, Moses chew on! • exhorted the Israelites to keep the Word of God, to Gladys Thompson is publications coordinator of the C&MA in recite it to their children and talk about it at home Canada and editor of Alliance Connection.

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

A Universe of Meaning A profound reverence for the ancient words By Steve Maskell

became a follower of Jesus when someone from my university in southern Ontario challenged me to read the New Testament for myself. My initial encounter with the Scriptures gave me a profound love for the people, language, and culture of the Messiah. During this time in my twenties, as a new follower of Jesus, I had a strong desire to study in the Chosen Land. I never imagined the opportunity would come, and I was ecstatic when, in 2010, the Lord prompted me to pursue further studies in Israel. What was supposed to be a one-year immersion

The first five books of the Bible are referred to in Hebrew as the Torah (meaning “teaching”). Many Jewish people, much like Jesus, have a profound reverence for the ancient words inscribed in the Torah, recognizing that in them, we encounter glimpses of the Divine. For Jewish interpreters, individual Hebrew words and their relationship to one another have profound significance: words are a universe of meaning. After reading the Scriptures in Hebrew over the last several years, I have come to appreciate this sentiment much more.

...it is the naked intent of a God who, before all else, bears His heart

in Biblical Studies turned into a two-year Master of Arts in the history and geography of the Old Testament. During these studies, my wife and I had the opportunity to serve with The Christian and Missionary Alliance (U.S.) in an international church in the West Bank. Unknown to us at the time, our study and life experience abroad uniquely prepared us for the work we are currently doing.

For example, the twentieth chapter of Exodus is a passage well-known and much-loved by both Jews and Christians. In the section we call the Ten Commandments, God invites the recently liberated nation of Israel into an eternal covenant as a treasured possession, a royal priesthood: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2).

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Normally, in Hebrew, the first-person singular form of “I” is the Hebrew pronoun ani; however, in the first word of verse two, that word isn’t used. The author instead chooses the longer, more uncommon form, anochi. The sages say that the author used the elongated pronoun to give us a message about the nature of this God to whom Israel would be eternally joined. The three letters of the pronoun anochi, -aleph, nun, and kaph, relate to four other Hebrew words that translate roughly into English as “I will give you my soul in writing.” In other words, at the very outset of the covenant that God made with Israel, before any such law, judgment, or statute had been established, He gave Himself to them, and put it in writing. What kind of God would issue such a declaration? And who could possibly resist? From this vantage point, perhaps we can better understand how the psalmist could write, “Oh, how I love your Law…” (Psalms 119:97). The Torah is not a list of rules to follow or commandments to stumble over; it is the naked intent of a God who, before all else, bears His heart. The Lord God gives His soul in writing; the same thread is carried through into the New Covenant. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, once again besieged by the armies of the Babylonian Empire, were given

this proclamation: “‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts…’” (Jeremiah 31:33). What timing! The One who Himself was engraved on tablets of rock, bore His soul to His beloved ones, and would then inscribe His very being on humankind. Human hearts and minds would soon become the tablets upon which the Living God would inscribe His essence, His heart, His very Being. What kind of God would issue such a declaration? Who could possibly resist? Jesus Christ has likewise chosen us to join His royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). As those grafted into Israel (Romans 11:17), we are authorized to approach the Living God. The author of Hebrews, after he recounts the words of Jeremiah written above, encourages us to “…draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…” (Hebrews 10:22). May the God who has inscribed His very Being upon our hearts give us a deeper revelation of the Messiah’s life so that we may bear witness to His eternal reign and extend Him to all the families of the world. •

Steve Maskell has an MA in Leadership and an MA in Biblical History and Geography. He attends Lake Country Alliance Church in BC, but he is currently working on a project with the C&MA in Paraguay.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada has partnered with Deboski & Co. to provide their proprietary planned giving platform, GIVE FOR GENERATIONS, to help individuals embed philanthropic purpose into a portion of their wealth. Seeking advice? To learn from and be inspired by your peers, you are invited to join Celebrate Giving, a virtual community where other like-minded entrepreneurs share insights about their philanthropic journey.

Join the Celebrate Giving community today: giveforgenerations.com 18

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

The Canadian Midwest Team #2 won the championship of the C&MA International Bible Quizzing finals in dramatic fashion on the last question of a three-question tie-breaker to take the top spot at the finals in 2016.

Bible Quizzing A fun way of memorizing Scripture By Blake Weiseth

A We trust that God is fully able to use this memorization and study of His Word to change the lives of quizzers

pril 28, 2017 was the first day of the final quiz meet of the year for the Canadian Midwest District’s (CMD) Bible Quizzing program. A quiz meet is a weekend-long event when students participating in the program (affectionately known as “quizzers”), along with volunteer coaches, gather. The primary goal of these quiz meets is to fulfil the program’s mission, which is to “see visible evidence of the application of God’s Word in the lifestyle of each participant.” Weekend activities include the quizzing competition, social activities, evening speakers, and praise and worship time. Anticipation for the 2016 final quiz meet began during the program’s first week, in September, and it continued to build during the smaller meets, which took place every six-to-eight weeks since October. At the final meet, 350 quizzers, coaches, and volunteers gathered together, representing three provinces and more than 20 churches.

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It is amazing how much friendly competition can encourage one to memorize Scripture Quizzers

Joy Juson Photo courtesy Blake Weiseth

A Testimony Bible Quizzing has been an incredible blessing in my life. I’m so grateful to have been a part of this community of like-minded youth who memorize God’s Word and are eager to learn about Him. I was able to make such godly friends, not only people my own age, but also younger and older. Many of my mentors today are actually people from the Bible Quizzing program. In my six years of being a quizzer, I learned that the ultimate goal of everything in this world is to glorify God. It’s all about Him. No matter what I do, it should be done with an attitude of serving Him. I can’t recite all the verses I’ve ever memorized word-perfectly, but, having done Bible Quizzing, I remember slivers of Scripture and I am able to locate those truths in the Bible. God’s Word is living and active, and it continues to transform me to be more Christ-like.

Joy Juson Quizzing with Westgate Alliance Church, Saskatoon, SK

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

During the quizzing competition, sets of three teams face off in a game that tests their knowledge of the Scripture they have memorized. This year, quizzers were tested on their knowledge of the Book of Luke, and several quizzers memorized nearly the entire book! Each game is known as a “quiz,” and it consists of 20 questions. It is amazing how much friendly competition can encourage one to memorize Scripture. While many quizzers have fun correctly answering questions and perhaps even winning a quiz, they know that this is not the sole purpose of the program. Bible Quizzing isn’t only about memorization; it also includes intensive study of the Scriptures, as quizzers participate in Bible studies as part of weekly practices leading up to the quiz meet. We trust that God is fully able to use this memorization and study of His Word to change the lives of quizzers. Quizzers also enjoy the social aspects of the quiz meet, whether a simple conversation among friends in the hallway, or the organized activity of the weekend. Activities have included an evening at the local roller rink, a carnival led by volunteers from the host church, and some night skiing, in February. The meet also provides the opportunity for quizzers to reconnect with friends they have met in the program from other churches or even another province. For some quizzers, the people they have met at a quiz meet are their only friends who have a personal relationship with Christ.

Coaches

God uses the quizzing coaches in powerful ways in the Canadian Midwest District’s Bible Quizzing Program. Coaches have both mentor and teacher roles, discussing topics such as how to lose graciously, how to win with humility, and how to respond when a ruling does not go as one hopes. Coaches have the opportunity to speak into the lives of their quizzers and share how God has taught them to act in trials. Scripture says that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4).

Ultimately, as Bible Quizzing leaders, we trust that God is able to use His Word to shape the way that quizzers respond to difficult circumstances, both those that arise during a quiz meet and those they face outside of quizzing.

Officials

Bible Quizzing officials volunteer to assist in mediating the quizzing competition. Many officials were once quizzers themselves, and their service illustrates an important truth of Scripture to current quizzers: God’s people “should use whatever gift [they] have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10).

The Final Quiz Meet

The final quiz meet, held April 28, 2017, took place at Briercrest College and Seminary, in Caronport, Saskatchewan. While meets are usually hosted by one of the churches participating in CMD’s Bible Quizzing Program, hosting the final meet at Briercrest allowed all of the quizzers to spend the entire weekend together, as they were billeted in the dorms. Quizzing took place from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon. After supper, everyone gathered for the evening service, when Paul Ens spoke about Envision Canada, an initiative of The Christian and Missionary Alliance that seeks to identify and develop future missional leaders. Next, we moved into a time of sharing, when quizzers were given the opportunity to share a favourite verse and testify to how God had used His Word to speak to them over the year. Quizzers in grade 12, who were to graduate from the program, were given the special opportunity to encourage younger quizzers by sharing how the memorization and study of God’s Word through Bible Quizzing had influenced their lives. After the service, on a beautiful spring Prairie evening, everyone moved outside to enjoy God’s creation and a fireworks show. It is encouraging to help our quizzers connect with God in a deeper way as they not only systematically study and memorize books of the Bible, but also as God’s Word is applied to their lives. •

Blake Weiseth and his wife, Meagan, are the directors of the Canadian Midwest District’s Bible Quizzing program; they attend Rosewood Park Alliance Church, in Regina, SK.

Check out 10 Reasons to Memorize Big Chunks of Scripture at desiringgod.org/articles/ten-reasons-tomemorize-big-chunks-of-the-bible

Rev. Daniel Rinker, Assistant Christian Education for Youth, congratulates Bob Peters and Jan Abramoff of the Canadian Midwest District championship quiz, team, 1970 Photo courtesy C&MA Archives

The History of Bible Quizzing The first Bible quizzes were organized by Youth for Christ (YFC) in the 1940s. Bible quizzing was one of the many activities that took place during YFC rallies, and they were quite different than the contests of today. Three teams of four players from local high schools attempted to answer 20 questions, and players who answered five questions correctly or three incorrectly were replaced by another player. Eventually, national competitions were developed, complete with the now-familiar seats with wired relay switches. In the late 1960s, YFC rallies began to de-emphasize quizzing, but it was picked up by churches and denominations, including The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). Canadian Alliance teams have competed in the International C&MA Quiz Finals: The Canadian Midwest team featuring Bob Peters and Jan Abramoff, coached by Clyde Walker, won the competition in 1970, and a Canadian team also won the year before. In 1979, the competition began awarding a scholarship to the top quizzer. It was named the Jan Neufeld Scholarship, in memory of the Canadian Midwest coach who died in a traffic accident the previous spring. Sandy Ayer is the director of Library Services, Ambrose University and C&MA archivist.

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The Fourfold Gospel Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have... (1 Peter 3:15)

Learn more of what the Bible says about Christ:

Saviour

Sanctifier

Healer

Coming King

A small booklet and verse cards are available to download, print, learn, and memorize. Memorize as an individual, family, small group, or congregation. Challenge others to join you!

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God prepared me years before, to be able to teach them that Jesus loves and cares and died for everyone

Micah (L) and Anna Jean McDaniel (R) Photo courtesy Anna Jean McDaniel

Is it Worth It? Teaching adults with intellectual disabilities By Anna Jean McDaniel

s a girl growing up in an Alliance church in Red was born with Trisomy 21, more commonly known as Deer, Alberta, and as a student at Canadian Bible Down syndrome. College in Regina, Saskatchewan, I sang Micah heard Bible stories and songs A.B. Simpson’s hymn “My Trust.” The at home and at our little Sunday school. trust: noun song opens, “Lord, Thou hast giv’n to me I wrote simple lessons to help him A person or duty a trust, A high and holy dispensation, To understand salvation, and he was baptized for which one has when he was 13. tell the world, and tell I must, The story of Thy great salvation.” (My Trust, by Albert Several years later, we moved to a larger responsibility B. Simpson, Hymns of the Christian Life, city. At the church we attended, we met 1936, #451) English Oxford Living other young adults with Down syndrome. Teaching became my trust, both in Dictionaries (online) They enjoyed the church services, but there Sunday school classes, and as I read Bible was no class or Bible study for adults with stories to my children. intellectual disabilities, so we started one! I My world changed abruptly when my husband, Mike, created the lessons on our home computer using simple and I welcomed our third son into our family. Micah words, shorter sentences, larger fonts, and pictures.

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Over the next seven years, the class grew from the original four to about thirty members. Since then, we have moved again, and I currently teach a class of ten. It is my trust. Is it worth it? Certainly time and energy are part of “it” as they are needed to develop lessons that are meaningful to students with intellectual disabilities, to put them on a computer, to print them, and to eventually distribute them and teach the material on class night. However, “it” also includes the privilege of developing relationships with individuals, getting to know them along with their interests and concerns. Having Micah in our family for the past 34 years has helped us relate with ease to persons with various disabilities. “It” is also the joy of helping these young people learn about Jesus and to realize that He loves and cares for them. “It” is seeing them believe in the power of prayer as we include requests and answers in our prayer time at each class. Often when I meet one of them in our community in between class dates I will be told of something to add to the prayer list at our next class! “It” is also the bond of friendship that has been forged between class members and the genuine happiness observed as they greet one another as we gather together once a month around a large dining room table at the home where some of them live. I suppose I could go on but I will leave you with one last observation. I’m now in my 70s and in my lifetime I have taught Sunday school, led youth ministries along with my husband, had leadership roles in women’s ministries, and have participated in services for the elderly. However the privilege of

teaching God’s Word to persons with intellectual/ developmental disabilities over the past 14 years is my highest calling. It is worth it when… • a young man getting ready for school says, “I’m putting on my belt of truth.” • a non-reader happily shouts out, “Peter” when I ask review questions about the story of Jesus walking on the water. • one young woman asks us to pray for the children of St. Jude Hospital every single week. • the silent lips of a young man in a wheelchair mouths the words to “How Great Is Our God” each time it is sung. • I have the privilege of holding the communion cup to the lips of a young woman who cannot feed herself. • a young man who is going to have a minor surgical procedure asks, “Is Jesus the King of the hospital?” Yes, it is worth it! Telling the story of God’s salvation to people with intellectual disabilities is not something I would have dreamed of while singing A.B. Simpson’s hymn years ago. God knew! He knew that we would have a son with Down syndrome, and that other people like him would come into our lives. We discovered that the Church has often underestimated what concepts people with disabilities can understand. God prepared me years before, to be able to teach them that Jesus loves and cares and died for everyone. This is my world, and this is my trust. •

Anna Jean (Gifford) McDaniel grew up in the C&MA in Red Deer, AB; she attended Canadian Bible College, in Regina, SK, and lives with her husband and family near Leavenworth, Washington.

Resources

Anna Jean McDaniel with her class Photo courtesy Anna Jean McDaniel

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

• Caring Hearts A Disability Ministry of the Zanesville Alliance Church, 545 Richey Road, Zanesville, OH 43701 caringheartsdisabilityministries.org • Friendship Ministries 2215 29th St. SE #B6 Grand Rapids, MI 49508 friendship.org • Joni and Friends PO Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376 joniandfriends.org

Silk Road Region

Sharing the Gospel with LeastReached Kids Teacher training in the Silk Road Region By Roup*

Teacher training class in the Silk Road Region

uring one of our teacher training lessons, Alicia** started to cry when we were teaching what the Bible says about sharing the Gospel with children. “I thought I already knew it, but now I feel that I have wasted my time with the kids,” she said to me in a low voice, explaining she had taught Sunday school for many years without realizing that they too need to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour. Alicia is an educated woman who works at a consulate in the city where we live in the Silk Road Region. She loves Jesus and children, yet during our lesson, she understood for the first time that verses like John 3:16, John 1:12, and Acts 16:31 apply to children as well. Unfortunately, the children in Alicia’s church are not the only ones who haven’t been given the knowledge and understanding of the message of the Bible. According to the national statistics

of our country, there are nearly 7 million children under the age of 12, and most still have not heard that Jesus is ready to save them. We truly believe that without a strong knowledge and conviction of the biblical basis for child evangelism, there will be no fruitful children’s ministry in our churches. “Can I just say something?” asked Pilar** with an angry tone during the breaktime of one of our training events. “You basically ruined my whole ministry! What am I going to do now?” I thought to myself: What a strange comment! What did I just do? Did I say a bad word? Did I teach a false doctrine? Then I asked her, “Pilar, tell me why you are not so happy?” Pilar replied, “I have taught children in my church for 15 years, but I never ever told them that God is inviting them to be saved from their sins! I always thought that they are already saved because they’re kids.”

If our Sunday school teachers still don’t have a solid knowledge of what the Bible says about children, how will they be able to share the Gospel with children who are outside of the churches?

...we strongly believe that what the Bible says about children is 100% true We’re very motivated and encouraged to continue to train more workers, because we strongly believe that what the Bible says about children is 100% true: “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:14). •

*Roup’s full name is withheld for security reasons. He is an international worker in the Silk Road Region, serving in an environment often hostile to spreading the Gospel. Learn more at cmacan.org/biography/115 ** pseudonym

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“Along the Way” Teaching Lessons that emerge in the mess of life By Jenica Van Essen

iscipling my children has been one of the biggest challenges of my life. I don’t have a degree in children’s ministry or child psychology. Just like any parent, I am learning this thing as I go. To be honest, the journey has often been less about my intentionally discipling my children and more about Christ’s intentionally discipling me. In this crazy life, I am so grateful that God, in His graciousness, is teaching my husband and me how to express our faith to our kids and foster their relationship with Him. I am also so grateful for “the village,” our friends, labouring alongside our family. Whether kids call you parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, guardian, teacher, or friend, here are some nonexpert tips on how you can help them grow in their love for God and His Word.

Take advantage of opportunities to learn along the way

Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “Teach them [God’s words, in this context, the Old Covenant Law] to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Some of our most meaningful conversations with our boys have happened in those “along-the-road” moments, often when least expected. I think this is partially because these times don’t come with the baggage and inevitable disappointment of my expectations. “Sit still.” “Stop bothering your brother.”

Learn age-appropriate language

I experienced Jesus authentically and deeply as a very small child, and I believe that children are capable of grasping deep truths about God and the Bible with incredible faith. However, there are two pitfalls to avoid in teaching kids about the Bible: one is oversimplifying the Bible to a collection of moral lessons that lack their intended power and intimacy; the second is leaving the Bible dressed up in so much adultspeak that it goes way over their heads. There are plenty of great resources available, but one that has been indispensable for us in this area is The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally LloydJones. The brilliant language in this book has equipped us to explain the Gospel well and answer those complex questions that inevitably come from our deep little thinkers.

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Above: Jenica and her boys colour a picture about worshipping with music Photos courtesy Jenica Van Essen

… kids will learn that they can bring their questions, doubts, and wonder to God “Please show me you are listening.” “Why do you always have to pee as soon as we start to pray?” In contrast, the “along-the-way” lessons that emerge in the midst of the mess of life often connect more deeply because they are being experienced, usually with the majority of their five senses. The challenge, of course, is that we need to be truly present in the moment, both to the kids in our lives and to the Holy Spirit, in order to harness the potential of these opportunities as they arise.

Trust the Holy Spirit

When our oldest got his first Bible, he was excited to start reading. I was scared that the jump from our worn Below: Jenica reading a Bible story to her two sons

copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible to the Holy Bible was going to be met with a lot of confusion and subsequent boredom. As we opened it to begin reading the Book of Luke, we stopped and took a moment to pray. I asked the Holy Spirit to do what He does, guiding Elliot in truth and helping him to understand. As we finished reading our first story Elliot asked me, “Mommy, who was the other person reading with you?” I truly believe that it was the Holy Spirit speaking to him. Just as we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and teach and remind us adults of truth, we can trust Him to speak to and teach the children in our lives. By intentionally including the Holy Spirit in the way we relate to the Bible, kids will learn that they can bring their questions, doubts, and wonder to God, and that they can trust the Holy Spirit to guide and teach them. • Jenica Van Essen is an international worker serving with her husband,

Daniel, in Mexico City; they have two sons, 6 and 4 years of age. Learn more at cmacan.org/biography/47

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Radical Sacrifice Making tough or unexpected choices By Abigail Brown

Yazidis

Wolof Balinese Hindus Urban Professionals of Mexico City

Fulani

od calls every one of us to play a role in seeing every tongue and every nation gathered around His throne. For many of us, this calling will mean making tough or unexpected choices and radical sacrifice. Robert Jaffray understood this calling, too, and didn’t shy away from sacrifice, despite having his own doubts, fears, and other matters vying for his attention. “If God will, I reach Hong Kong tomorrow morning early, and have the full day there…. As you know, I think, I am making now for the Conferences in North China…Many times I have felt like regretting having promised to go, for I feel as pressed for time as I ever did with the full responsibility of South China work upon me, and again I seem to dread the standing before so many missionaries and Chinese leaders as a teacher of the Word of God. But, these Conferences have been asking for me to go for some years, and I feel now it is His will for me to go…”

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Those words are an excerpt from a letter Jaffray wrote to his colleagues in 1931 en route from what was then called Saigon to Hong Kong. In his words, you can hear the tension or the internal struggle even many of us feel today when we have other needs and responsibilities pulling at us to go one way when God is clearly telling us to go His way or do something else He has specifically planned for us to do. In the end, Robert decided to follow God’s will and what an incredible difference this made in the lives of so many people.

A Young Person on Fire for God…

Even as a young man, Robert Jaffray was motivated by the message of the Gospel. He lived a life centred in Christ, empowered by the Spirit, and focused on mission. When he was 16, Robert, a Canadian, gave his life to Christ and soon came under the teaching of A.B. Simpson, founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). A passion for missions began to burn within Robert, but this came with some conflict in his home life. His

2017 father, a businessman with political influence in the late 1800s, owned the forerunner to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Robert Jaffray, Sr. intended to pass his money, influence, power, and prestige on to his son, but on the condition that he give up his plans for missions. Faced with this ultimatum, Robert chose to follow God. He left for China when he was 23. He faced diabetes and heart troubles. But what drove him was the fact that so many people still hadn’t been told about Jesus. He relied on God for strength to persevere and keep him well enough to travel and work as a missionary.

…Becomes a Man Determined to Reach as Many as Possible for Jesus

Jaffray’s office walls were lined with maps, and he prayed over them almost daily, asking God where the Gospel should be proclaimed next. Jaffray’s prayerful work led to his reputation as a “man of the map,” a nickname that has since been extended by many to include the C&MA worldwide as “people of the map.” The Jaffrays and their colleagues led many people in the Guangxi province to faith in Jesus Christ and planted churches in the Wuzhou area of China. Among other things, he established a printing company to publish training materials, mostly written by him. In 1911, Jaffray launched a mission into Vietnam. Today, the C&MA in Vietnam has more than 1 million members, 550 ordained pastors, and 2,775 churches. In 1928, Jaffray felt God pulling him to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He later wrote about Bali in The Pioneer, the missionary newsletter he published, “Pray for Bali. As far as we know, there is NOT ONE soul saved through the Blood of the Lord Jesus among the native inhabitants of Bali. The Balinese also must someday sing the song of the Redeemed. When shall they learn it? Who will go and tell them?” So again, Jaffray went. In 1945, during World War II, Jaffray died of illness and malnutrition in an internment camp. His legacy is one of surrender and obedience to God.

Jaffray’s Legacy is Relevant Today

In 1930, Jaffray wrote in an issue of Pioneer, “A dispensation of the Gospel is committed to us. The time is short. These are not days of ordinary missionary work.

Robert Jaffray and family, 1936

In the short time that remains for us to work for Him, we must concentrate on this kind of missionary work. If we take up this task of going to the unreached parts of the world for Him, the Lord will surely work with us and He will work speedily too.” What a sense of urgency in these words! As we go about our daily lives each day, living and maybe even struggling to follow Jesus, it’s worth stopping and taking the time to ask ourselves: “Do I carry that same urgency with me today? Like Robert Jaffray, I have my own struggles, my own important responsibilities, but as I continue to walk with Jesus do I also have heart and concern for those who don’t yet know Him?” God is still calling workers to go, and He is still leading the C&MA to least-reached people groups. Through an initiative called the Jaffray Offering, we want to share the love of Jesus with the Balinese, urban professionals of Mexico City, Yazidis, Wolof and Fulani – specific groups whom we believe God is calling us to reach for Him. Some of us are called to go – but there’s also a vital role to play for those of us who can pray and give. As you read this we hope you will do three things. First – know that we remain ever-grateful to our Alliance church family for the support they’ve shown to the Jaffray Offering so far (see page 32 for an exciting update!). Second, we hope you will pray for the initiative we are taking in reaching these groups, some of whom are in places where it is difficult, if not dangerous, to share the Gospel of Jesus. Third, if you haven’t done so already, we hope you will consider what choice – what radical sacrifice – you can make today to ensure more people across the nations have the chance to hear about Jesus. •

Abigail Brown is director of Communications at the C&MA National Ministry Centre in Toronto, ON.

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How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?... (Romans 10:14)

Urban Professionals of Mexico City This group of people, once they have received the Gospel, is positioned to reach the other 125 leastreached people groups of Mexico with the message and love of Jesus Christ! In addition, Mexican and Latin professionals are often needed in the 10/40 window, where nearly 5 billion people live; 62 per cent of people living there have very little access to the Gospel.

Balinese Hindus Almost all Balinese people adhere to the Balinese Hindu religion, a combination of the Indian model of Hinduism and elements of indigenous beliefs. They try to maintain a balance between good and evil forces so they make offerings to both gods and demons.

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

2017

The Yazidis The Yazidis have inhabited the mountains of northwestern Iraq for centuries; the region is home to their holy places, shrines, and ancestral villages. Pray for these displaced people who have faced genocide more than 70 times, most recently by ISIS, which has invaded their territory and brutalized them. The Yazidis are trying to resettle in other countries or in refugee camps.

The Wolof and Fulani Along with Islam, the Wolof often practise other traditional beliefs. Nearly all Wolof wear amulets, believed to have the power to protect them from harm. The Fulani are among the most widely dispersed and culturally diverse peoples in Africa. They form the largest pastoral nomadic group in the world.

cmacan.org/magazine

How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?... (Romans 10:14)

2017

Thank You! Robert Jaffray understood his calling and didn’t shy away from sacrifice. When faced with the choice between a life of sacrifice and a life of great wealth and prestige – Robert chose a different calling. To take the Gospel to unreached parts of the world and to offer people the opportunity to know Jesus – even while he battled health problems and other barriers. Robert Jaffray’s ministry spanned decades – starting first in South China and serving God and the people there for 35 years. He also travelled to other countries across Southeast Asia, taking the Gospel to least-reached people groups in those regions. His legacy continues to inspire and motivate us today. Since launching the Jaffray Offering in 2016, individuals and churches have together raised over $617,000 (as of July 31, 2017) for global missions! That’s an astounding figure in such a short time. Thank you so much for your generous support! Here’s a snapshot of our work on the ground so far: • International Workers (IWs) Gary and Sharon Howell moved their lives and ministry to Senegal to assess the needs of the country and the Fulani and Wolof people. They outgrew space in their home due to the high numbers of Fulani men coming to Bible study and so a new home with a larger space was found to continue

To learn more about the Jaffray Offering and

download other reading materials, please visit us online at: cmacan.org/jaffray-offering

the study. This new space is aptly named: Nicodemus House. • Other IWs have also led short-term teams in Northern Iraq to minister among the Yazidi people and those fleeing Mosul, and to encourage Alliance churches in the area. • IWs and new workers are being called by God to serve the few evangelical Wolof Christians in Senegal: 200 known believers. IWs are currently evaluating the work of other organizations to discern how God wants to use the C&MA and what personnel are needed for this work. This year, we need to keep going – including reaching the Balinese of Indonesia, the urban professionals in Mexico City, the Yazidis in Iraq, as well as the Wolof and Fulani across Africa. Thank you in advance for your continued prayers for these workers and projects and for your support!

DONATE TODAY! Mark your church donation to the Jaffray Offering, or use the enclosed stamped, self-addressed envelope, or donate online at cmacan.org/jaffray-offering 32

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Asian Spice Region

Spreading Like Wildfire Under-developed area gains access to the Bible By Drew*

or several years, I have been part of a Bible translation team in the Asian Spice Region. My role is to help automate the publishing process and distribute the Scriptures in ways that make them easily accessible to the people among whom we live. Where we live, there was only an old, hard-to-understand, heavy, print Bible in the language of our people. Our translation team has been working on a more modern translation for those with a limited level of literacy. A few months ago, we completed the first draft of the entire New Testament. It’s a technological chore to convert the translator’s rough notes and data files to something that can be published in both print and digital formats–but that’s only the first challenge. The second challenge is distributing this newly drafted New Testament and getting it into the hands of the people who need it. You probably know where to get a Bible for a friend. You might order a print Bible online or download a Bible app. Where we live, it is not an easy or safe task to have print Bibles and ask people to share. However, in this under-developed

region, almost everyone has a mobile phone. They may not have plumbing in their homes, but they have access to the world’s latest phones, so we decided to distribute the New Testament via a Bible app. Working with other translation teams, we are creating Bible apps that contain the New Testament, book introductions, audio recordings, a glossary with illustrations, and introductory commentaries. The apps will be available in various app stores, and people can even share them with their friends. Pray for this key initiative in taking the Gospel to the leastreached people groups around the world – a Bible that is easy to find, easy to read or hear, and easy to share. The next time you open your Bible, pray. Pray for the translators. Pray that the Bibles they translate would spread like wildfire through the local communities in these difficult to reach places of our world. •

*Drew’s full name is withheld for security reasons. He is an international worker in the Asian Spice Region, serving in an environment often hostile to spreading the Gospel. Learn more at cmacan.org/biography/97

Why does almost everyone have a mobile phone in an underdeveloped region? As a country develops, it is often easier to skip several generations of telecommunications and instead, make use of the latest technology. Many rural villages in developing countries don't have landline telephones. Bringing phone lines to every house would be expensive compared to setting up a few cell towers. In the past, some villages did have a landline phone that was shared by everyone. But voice and data plans are now quite cheap and don't require a binding contract. And there are more choices when it comes to purchasing cheap phones. Under-developed regions have many needs but providing people with a reliable means of communication is a priority for the government and the people themselves. Mobile phones are often the answer to finding an income, staying in touch with family, and simple boredom. In the end, mobile phones are more important to them than reliable plumbing or healthy food or even adequate healthcare.

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Silk Road Region

He is a changed man. I want what he has!

Disciples Making Disciples Introducing one method for practising the Great Commandment By Lloyd Frey* and Dan Li*

South Asian labourer, An*, approached Lloyd one day, seeking his advice regarding a relational problem. An described his love for a woman: he signed his love letters to her with his own blood. Despite these letters, she rejected him. An was devastated and couldn’t cope with the heartbreak when he approached Lloyd. Lloyd went on to explain that this woman’s rejection of An’s love was parallel to An’s rejection of God’s love. An spilled his blood to sign the letters to the woman

he loved; Jesus spilled His blood in expression of His perfect, true love for all of us, including An. In that moment, An received Christ as Lord and Saviour. An then joined a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) led by Lloyd and another international worker. Week after week, in obedience to the questions asked during the Bible study, An shared with his family and friends what he was learning about God and himself. Three months after An joined the DBS, he brought his roommate,

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Chin*, to the same group. Chin received Christ as Lord and Saviour during his first DBS. Since this happened so quickly, Lloyd wanted to clarify and asked Chin if he knew the kind of commitment he was making. Chin replied, “Oh, I understand completely. I’ve been watching An for three months now. He is a changed man. I want what he has!” Shortly afterwards, An and Chin were baptized on the same day. Lloyd baptized An, and An baptized Chin.

Change their mindset from just learning to passing on what they’ve learned to multiple generations These two men are just one example of what has been happening in our disciple making movement in the Silk Road Region. The Disciple Making Movement We are part of a team of international workers ministering where numerous least-reached people groups (LRPGs) reside. Our team is fully committed to The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada’s global ministries’ purpose statement, to glorify God “by developing indigenous movements of reproducing churches among least-reached people groups.” To accomplish this vision, our team adopted the principles of the Disciple Making Movement (DMM) about four years ago. International Project, an organization that initiates these movements, describes a Disciple Making Movement as a “rapid and exponential increase in disciples making disciples.” We consider “church growth” a “movement” when four generations of churches are formed in a relatively short period of time. Presently, about 170-200+ movements are happening around the world. DMMs use the principles laid out by Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, as well as the early church’s practical implementation of those principles, as written in Acts and the Epistles. The initial portion of Jesus’ ministry (as shown in Matthew, Mark and Luke) shows a remarkable similarity to the command He gave His disciples when He sent them out into the various villages and towns ahead of Him. Jesus’ disciples observed

Him in His ministry, and then they the Gospel. Jesus is our reproduced it in their own work, example in reaching out first in their ministry in the towns (Philippians 2:4-11). We have and villages, and then in the events a cultural heritage that can recorded in Acts. be effective, or can prevent DMM training is based on nine God’s Word from connecting three-hour lessons led weekly and with the community we seek is designed to empower people to to reach. practise the lessons, both during the • Consider your people as training sessions and between them. the “labourers whom God Below are a series of key will send” into the harvest concepts taught to DMM fields. They will release participants: God’s Kingdom into their • Teach people to think communities. multigenerational in their • Use the Discovery Bible ministry and outreach. Study method as the basis Change their mindset from for finding, training, and just learning to passing on developing disciples. what they’ve learned to One of the key principles of multiple generations. DMM is the Discovery Bible Study • Identify people who are method to help non-Christians listening to God, willing to discover the plan of salvation. We obey, and being drawn to use this method as the basis for the Father. finding, training, and developing • Let the Holy Spirit reveal disciples, like the two mentioned truth. Jesus instructed His above, among the LRPGs that God disciples to rely on the Holy has called us to love and serve at Spirit to teach them “His this particular time. truths” when He was gone. DMM Learn more at applies this internationalproject.org/our-vision/resources principle in teaching, helping participants encounter God The DBS method emphasizes directly rather than through prayer, the Bible, and obedience the trainers. to what God says. We have been • Always live out loud your love blessed to witness God change for God. This is the greatest lives powerfully and miraculously commandment of God to through this process and invite you us (Matthew 22:36-40), and to see if this is a tool you should be we must practise it so that using in your church as well. • everyone around us can see, *pseudonym observe and understand Lloyd Frey and Dan Li are international (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). workers in the Silk Road Region, serving • Become like Jesus and the in environments often hostile to ones we must reach with spreading the Gospel.

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The Quechua Women of Peru

Paulina Palomino - student instructor Photo courtesy Alliance Women’s Ministries

Where literacy equals access to the Gospel By Rhona Hathaway “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1).

he beginning of everything—the creation of our earth, of all life, of humankind, and most importantly, of a knowledge of our Creator—all started with God. These were my thoughts as I watched a small gathering of women, surrounded by pictures, flashcards, and a Bible, learning how to read. The very first word they learn is Dios, meaning “God.” At the very beginning of their introduction to reading, comes an introduction to the Living God through His own Word. Imagine holding a precious book in your hands, feeling the smooth cover, seeing the printed words on the pages, and knowing that if you could unlock the meaning of those words, you would discover the

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

life-giving message held within. Imagine never having stepped inside the doors of a school, and never having been taught to read. This is the experience of the Quechua women living in the jungles or remote villages in the heights of the Andes Mountains of Peru. God’s Living Word in Quechua, the 2016-2017 national women’s ministry project, was initiated to see God’s Kingdom extended through literacy and God’s Word to women within the rural Quechua communities of Peru. Using Bible-based curriculum, the international workers of an Inca Link Ministry called Runa Simi (Quechua for “People’s Language”) go to these communities to teach Quechua women to read. The national women’s ministry project funds go towards

the much-needed literacy teaching tools, Quechua Bibles, and the costs of travelling into the remote villages and jungles. The Quechua women have had a very difficult life and, for the most part, have no hope or satisfaction apart from meeting Christ as their personal Saviour. Gaining access to literacy and the Word of God in their own language opens up a whole new world to them, giving them hope, vision and tools that will help them and impact their families, churches and communities with spiritual transformation. To date, Runa Simi Ministries has distributed more than 60,000 Bibles and New Testaments in the Quechua language. Quechua continues to be the “heart” language of the indigenous people of the Andes, but there are very few people who can read Quechua fluently, and most are functionally illiterate. The majority of people who can read are men who learn to read in Spanish, but read poorly in their own language of Quechua. Many children know how to read in Spanish because they are required to study it in school; however, they do not understand the Bible, because their mother language is Quechua, and there are very few materials in the Quechua language. Quechua women are the most affected by illiteracy and are also the ones who know the least amount of Spanish. In the mountain churches, often over 80% of the women do not know how to read or write in their own language. Theodora is one of the women who has graduated from the Runa Simi literacy program. She shares: “Before, I didn’t know how to read, but then once I started to learn how to read and learned more about the Gospel, I started teaching my husband how to read and then we both started having a happier life. I also started teaching my children and my grandchildren, and we are very joyful because of this. It brings me so much joy to know that I have Christ in my heart, and that I have salvation through Him. I want the women also to learn to bring happiness in their lives through salvation, like I have. I want them also to go out and teach others the Gospel that is commanded to us to spread around.” It is a wonderful experience to watch a woman receive her very own Bible, to see the great joy and anticipation in her eyes as she holds this valuable gift, knowing that soon, she will be able to read the lifechanging words it contains. •

Rhona Hathaway serves as the National Director of Women’s Ministries of the C&MA in Canada and the Director of Women’s Ministries at RockPointe Church in Calgary, AB.

cmacan.org/magazine

Desert Sand Region

Bringing the Gospel to the Nations Reaching the unreached in Africa Following are various stories coming out of our Desert Sand Region...

A Tamasheq Bible

From Translations to Technology

ce Cheung likes to read his Bible on his phone. It’s handy, clear, and complete. However, it’s in English. “Great for me,” he says, “but not so much for Mohamed T., his six children, or the other 1.6 million Tuaregs in Niger who don’t know Christ yet.” Thankfully, SIL International, a faith-based nonprofit organization, and Serving in Mission (SIM) worked faithfully for 32 years to produce the Tawallammat Tamajaq translation of the New Testament for Tuaregs. Freshly printed New Testaments come in all three scripts used by Tuaregs: Latin, Ajami (Arabic-based), and traditional Shifinagh. In January 2017, Tuareg believers from Timbuktu led worship in Niger, celebrating the dedication of these new translations. Alliance international workers from Canada provided technical assistance to develop the Ajami version so that Tuaregs raised learning Arabic can access the Gospel. They also helped develop Android versions. Now it’s handy anywhere across the Sahara. What about the majority of Tuaregs who are only marginally literate? The apps come bundled with audio and highlight verses as they are read. •

Reading the Tawallammat Tamajaq Ajami NT

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Paraphrased Stories

n North Africa an international worker and her coworker started a weekly Bible study with people from a hospital compound. Each week, the workers learned how to paraphrase Bible stories to share. Our worker discovered that this is an amazing way to learn language, allowing her to learn new words, and, even better, to get to know the stories of the Bible in a deeper way, and in a way that can be shared easily. •

Listening to the Living Word

here is a group of about 20 Fulani men in Niger who follow Jesus and call Lisa Rohrick their “pastor.” They have chosen Wednesday mornings as their time to gather for worship, including prayer and Bible study. Their studies are in oral format, since the men are illiterate. But if they only hear one Bible story every week, how will they ever have a reasonable grasp of what the Scriptures say? This is where audio can be a great asset. Lisa and her colleagues have put Scripture recordings, Bible teaching, and worship music on memory cards for portable devices and on solar-charged mp3 players, making the Word available to people in their homes. Pilgrim is the keenest member of a small Bible story group that Lisa leads. Because of his interest and constant questions, she gave him an mp3 player loaded with some worship songs and the Book of Matthew in Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani people). After he’d been listening, he came to her with many questions. A few weeks later, a young man came to see Lisa and Pilgrim. He’d heard some Bible teaching on the radio and had a lot of questions. Lisa was thrilled to listen to Pilgrim answer so many of them. He’d obviously been listening to Matthew a lot, because most of his answers came from there. He retold stories of Jesus and combined them with local examples and his own testimony. Listening to the living and active Word of God has given Pilgrim the gift of faith. He realizes that he still doesn’t know much about what’s in the Bible, but he loves what he does know. •

Treasuring the Truth

ophie lives in one of the Fulani villages where our international worker, Kristi Hopf and a co-worker, Megan Reuber, minister. God has been opening doors for them to tell stories in the evenings. Sophie comes and expresses excitement over what she hears and then goes and tells the stories and brings others to listen. One week, Kristi told the story of the Ten Commandments. Some giggled over parts they found difficult, such as not lying or gossiping. They all agreed that it is impossible to follow all that God commands. At the end, Sophie sat up and excitedly proclaimed that she loved the story, saying, “This is truth…I see in this what my religion tells me!” She asked Kristi and Megan to share the story again, and as they discussed it, they came to the summary that God loved His people and wanted them to follow Him. He is a holy God who showed the road to follow Him, and because He knows we are human and sin, He gave us a road to forgiveness. •

A Religion of Love

Muslim from a creative access country in the Desert Sand Region asked our team many questions about their faith. They answered his questions, and he told them he’d been studying Christianity for two years. At that time, he was reading the Book of Matthew. He told them he thought it was a religion of love and asked how he could become a Christian. The way of salvation was explained to him, and he replied that he still wanted to keep learning more about Christianity. Please pray that he will choose to take a step of faith and give his life to Christ. • Harry holding the Ajami NT in the Nigeria dialect of Fulfulde

Learn more about our workers in this region at cmacan.org/ biography/desert-sand

A Bible They Can Read Harry (R) reading Genesis in Ajami with a friend

A Holy Spirit Revelation

ver the past five years, an international worker (IW) in North Africa and his friend came to understand, respect, and speak more openly about one another’s cultural and faith differences. The IW told his friend that he watched the movie on the life of his prophet, Mohammad. The IW told his friend that he found the story about his prophet very insightful and asked him if he had seen the JESUS film. He had not seen it and asked the IW to watch it with him. Over the course of three evenings, they watched the film together in his shop. It took so long to watch the movie because many questions were asked. A number of weeks later, they were talking about Abraham, who was about to sacrifice his son when God provided a ram in his place. It was then that the friend made the connection with Jesus dying in our place. He was extremely excited about what he realized, and it was truly a Holy Spirit revelation moment! •

arry was an important teacher of the local religion before he met Jesus. Now, he is following the Lord with all his heart and is an enthusiastic evangelist. Like many boys in Niger, he studied at the mosque when he was young and learned to read Arabic, but he didn’t learn French (Niger’s official language) and doesn’t read Roman script (the letters of the alphabet you are reading now). Our international workers have been putting portions of Scripture in Fulfulde (the language of the Fulani people) into Arabic letters, called Ajami; it looks entirely different than the Roman script version, but it is word-for-word the same. Harry and others who’ve studied Arabic can easily read the Bible in Ajami because of this work. One of the believers told of an Arabic teacher out in a remote village who got his hands on the Book of Genesis in Fulfulde Ajami and decided to use that as his language textbook. •

cmacan.org/magazine

Caribbean Sun Region

The Bible for Business Living with integrity in a world of corruption By Curtis*

e had gathered for a prayer retreat in a lush tropical area of the island. During a challenging season of ministry, our leadership team was seeking to refocus our hearts on God’s faithfulness and the many promises He had given us. Several months had passed since we had started praying through

God reminded me of Isaiah 62, a passage from our prayer guide. It says that exiled Israel was like a deserted wasteland, a place where nobody wanted to be. The passage continues, calling the watchmen to stand on the walls and pray, giving themselves no rest until God restored the land and turned it into

our Bible-based prayer guide, which expressed our dreams for an economically self-sustaining house church movement. Though we had poured out our hearts in prayer for months, we were constantly confronted with setbacks. In response, we gathered to pray and to allow the Scriptures to reorient our hearts. While we were there, I came across a deserted castle that was falling apart. As I looked at it,

a place that was sought-after, full of a holy and redeemed people. I believed God was showing me this as a promise, that as His people united in prayer, this nation would indeed cease to be a deserted place and become a sought-after place. Three years later, I visited the castle again and was amazed to find it being restored into a four-star hotel! I heard God say to me, “See how I have been fulfilling my Word? You don’t always see me working,

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

but I am fulfilling my promises. Keep praying!” Many times our leadership team has gone back to promises like these in the midst of strong opposition. His Word is the hope that keeps us going. One of the primary ways we support the national church is through microfinance and providing leadership to a business training centre that equips our people to be successful, both economically and spiritually. In our training program, we place extreme importance on the Bible. Students are given a devotional guide with daily Bible lessons on topics such as stewardship and trusting God, and they meet regularly with a prayer partner and in small groups to discuss what God is teaching them through His Word. Each day, our business courses begin with three hours dedicated to spiritual formation, training students in the Word and prayer. We have learned that our business training is only fruitful if our students are deeply committed to Scripture. In an uncertain business climate, the Word anchors our souls. It gives us strength to live with integrity in a world of corruption. We know that His Word does not return empty but accomplishes the purpose for which He has given it (Isaiah 55:11). •

Curtis’ full name is withheld for security reasons. He is an international worker in the Caribbean Sun Region, serving in an environment often hostile to spreading the Gospel. Learn more at cmacan.org/ biography/109.

Perspectives

Law and Public Policy A biblical understanding of critical issues By Bruce Clemenger

uthanasia, assisted suicide, prostitution, and pornography – if these issues sound familiar, it is because we have faced them before. In every generation or two, a society will revisit how it responds to moral issues. However, there are other dimensions to the current deliberations in Canada. First, since 1982, law and public policy have been subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), and many laws have been tested to see whether they conform to the freedoms and rights guaranteed by this Charter. Second, historians such as John

Webster Grant and Marguerite Van Die acknowledged that as recently as 50 years ago, there was a “pan-Christian” consensus that provided a general ethos within which public debates took place. That consensus has passed, and individual autonomy is becoming a dominant principle in discussions about law and public policy. Rather than abiding by norms reflecting a transcendent created order, we assert values that indiviudals or communities construct. Into this changing context, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has been actively advancing

a biblical understanding of critical issues. We have made submissions to Parliamentary committees on issues ranging from biotechnology to charitable giving, from fetal rights to religious freedom. We have appeared in Canadian courts more than 60 times, with 28 of these being before The Supreme Court of Canada. In each instance, we seek to advance principles and norms we find taught in Scripture. We believe that when our laws and public policy are aligned with Scripture, God is honoured, and all will benefit. This is part of our witness

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The sanctity of life that we find in Scripture causes us to plead for the unborn and the refugee, the widow and the fatherless, those who are ill and all who need care and protection about the coming Kingdom of God, when justice and righteousness will prevail. Recently, laws in Canada were changed to allow assisted suicide and euthanasia in some circumstances. In the early 1990s, the debate on these issues culminated in a Supreme Court decision that upheld the total ban on assisted suicide. Five of the nine judges ruled that to allow exceptions would undermine Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s affirmation of the sanctity of human life. In that case, the EFC co-intervened with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and we were the only ones to raise the sanctity of human life. We were concerned that the Court would look at the issue as a strictly legal matter, and not as an issue that raises deep philosophical, theological, and moral issues. We noted that the criminal code is a moral code. We argued that it is hard to understand our societal commitment to universal health care and our social welfare system without acknowledging an underlying commitment to the sanctity of human life. A slim

majority agreed, and the decision hinged on protecting the sanctity of human life. Conversely, in 2015, in the Supreme Court decision on the same issue, autonomy trumped the sanctity of human life, 9-0. The Court affirmed that the sanctity of human life was still a core value but felt that the complete ban on assisted suicide was not necessary to protect it; the Court reasoned that the autonomy of the individual should, in some cases, prevail. While the sanctity of human life has been affirmed by a variety of religious traditions and secularists, for Christians, it is grounded in the belief that each of us is created in the image of God, and that our value and dignity are not contingent upon our abilities or contributions, but on who we are in relation to God. We also believe that life is a gift from God that is to be respected and cared for through all its stages. Hastening death is adverse to the sanctity of human life. Criteria have now been established to determine when doctors can participate in

assisted suicide and euthanasia. However, any criteria established will be challenged on the basis of individual autonomy, which contends that ultimately I, and I alone, should control the manner and timing of my death. The sanctity of life that we find in Scripture causes us to plead for the unborn and the refugee, the widow and the fatherless, those who are ill and all who need care and protection; it motivates us to denounce the commercialization of sex and activity that reduces a person to a commodity. In an increasingly secularized culture that seeks to eclipse the transcendent and asserts values which challenge the norms and principles whose fruit are justice and peace, the EFCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response is to express our commitment to the sanctity of human life. We do this by loving our neighbours in tangible ways and advocating for laws that affirm the sanctity of all human life; in so doing, we seek the blessing of Canada and our neighbours. â&#x20AC;˘

Bruce Clemenger is president of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada is one of about 45 associate denominations in the EFC. Please pray for those who are responding to critical issues on our behalf in our Canadian government and court system. For more information on the EFC, go to evangelicalfellowship.ca

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

efend Dignity, an initiative of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada, exists to end sexual exploitation in Canada. A major root cause of sexual exploitation is the demand for purchasing sex; pornography plays a significant role in fuelling this demand. Defend Dignity has recently launched a campaign, Choose Change, inviting you to help challenge the harms of sexually violent images.

Mainstream Canadian organizations and businesses are promoting and profiting from sexual exploitation. For example, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, including iconic hotels such as the Banff Springs Hotel and the Royal York, continue to offer pornography on their pay-per-view channels. Despite this, other major hotel chains, such as Hilton, Marriot, and Starwood, have purposely removed access to pornography from their hotel rooms. Pornography is prolific in our culture; it’s everywhere. Author and anti-pornography activist Dr. Gail Dines says we live in a pornified culture. Pornographic images link violence and sexuality and are as easy to access as the devices in our hands. The impact of these images in our culture is leading to public health concerns: • addiction • increased sexual violence • exploitation • abuse

24%

of smartphone owners admit to having pornographic material mobile searches on their mobile are for of 16-17 year handset pornography olds have been unintentionally exposed to porn online Source: covenanteyes.com/pornstats

1 in 5

28%

To help end the demand for purchasing sex, visit choosechange.org and discover organizations with strong Canadian ties that are facilitating access to pornographic images. In addition to our challenge to Fairmont, • we are asking the Toronto Public Library to research and implement filtering on all terminals in their libraries; • we are calling on Amazon.ca to remove all pornographic materials from their online offerings; • we would like to see TekSavvy use default filters to block violent, sexually explicit images; • we are asking The Keg Steakhouse + Bar to safeguard their Wi-Fi and establish a pornfree, family-friendly environment in their Canadian locations. Our site also features the Change Maker List, which was created to recognize organizations that have made or are making choices that will proactively reduce the ease of access to violent, sexually explicit images. We hope to see the five organizations being challenged this year join the Change Maker List. You can change lives. Call on businesses and organizations to create and follow policies and practices that promote the well-being of all people.

Visit choosechangecanada.org today! cmacan.org/magazine

Biblical Principles of Discernment How to decide on the right thing to do By Paul L. King

...biblical principles help us know when we ought to press down the accelerator, apply the brakes, or continue to move forward with alertness and caution

piritual discernment is like driving a car; biblical principles help us know when we ought to press down the accelerator, apply the brakes, or continue to move forward with alertness and caution. The process of discernment is like approaching a traffic light while driving: • Green light means go. • Red light means stop, go no further. • Yellow light means slow down and get ready to stop. • A blinking yellow light means proceed with caution, looking in all directions. Eight Biblical principles of discernment, based on the acronym DISCERNS, provide us with guidance:

1. Discover biblical precedent. Is the teaching, practice, or manifestation found in Scripture? (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). If biblical commands, principles, or examples permit or sanction this teaching, practice, or manifestation, then you may have a green light or a blinking yellow light. Look for further confirmation of two or more Scriptures or other witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1). If the Bible clearly questions or condemns this teaching, practice, or manifestation, stop. This is an automatic red light. If there is no scriptural precedent, proceed with a blinking yellow light by exercising the following discernment principles. 2. Investigate for scriptural harmony. If no biblical precedent can be found, examine the Bible

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further (Acts 17:11), asking, “Is this teaching, practice, or manifestation in harmony with Scripture?” If no, proceed with a blinking yellow light, looking in all directions, and be prepared to stop. If yes, proceed with a green light. Discern between “unbiblical” and “nonbiblical.” Unbiblical teachings, practices, and manifestations contradict, compromise, take away from, add to, or go outside the bounds of Scripture (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5-6; 1 Corinthians 4:6). When faced with something unbiblical, hit the brakes (red light)! Non-biblical teachings, practices, and manifestations are those that are not found in the Bible, indicating a blinking yellow light. Teachings that do not appear in the Bible are not-biblical, but they are not necessarily unbiblical. For example, Sunday school, youth group, and terms such as “Trinity” and “rapture” are not found in the Bible, but they are not unbiblical. When faced with non-biblical teachings, practices, and manifestations, proceed with caution, looking in all directions.

3. Scrutinize for sound doctrine. Is this teaching, practice, or manifestation consistent with sound biblical theology, interpretation, and/or practice? If Scripture is being accurately used (2 Timothy 2:15), and the teaching lines up with what Christ taught (1 Timothy 6:3) and with teachings handed down from the apostles

(2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6; 1 Corinthians 11:2), proceed. If the teaching compromises the deity, humanity, virgin birth, atoning blood, or the resurrection of Christ, and it attempts to undermine the authority of Scripture or the reality of Heaven, Hell, the Trinity, or salvation by grace through faith, stop.

4. Confirm with experience. Is this teaching, practice, or manifestation confirmed by real-life experience? (see Mark 16:20; Hebrews 5:14). If the experience is in harmony with Scripture, move forward (green light). If you’re uncertain, take caution (blinking yellow light). If not, stop (red light).

5. Examine the fruit. Does teaching, practice, or manifestation bear good fruit? (see Matthew 7:16-18). Is Jesus Christ lifted up and glorified? Are people being edified spiritually, saved and/ or transformed, and brought closer to Jesus? If yes, you have a green light. If it’s a maybe, then pause, you have a blinking yellow light. If not, stop, you have a red light. 6. Receive supernatural discernment. Pray for the gift of discerning of spirits to shed light (1 Corinthians 12:8, 10; Colossians 3:15). If you have a sense of peace in your spirit, proceed. If not, you have a yellow or red light. 7. Note examples and lessons from the past. Is there similar precedence in teaching, practice, or

manifestation in church history? (see Hebrews 11; 12:1; Jeremiah 6:16; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11). If there’s harmony with Scripture, go forward. If it’s uncertain, you have a blinking yellow light. If the answer is no, then stop, you have a red light.

8. Sift and weigh for equilibrium. Balance is an essential foundation of discernment – weighing what is right and just and impartial, what is true, false, and partially true. God is in the business of weighing and maintaining equilibrium (Isaiah 26:7, James 3:17). He is concerned about this in a balanced judgment (Proverbs 18:17), attitudes (Philippians 4:5), character (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17), and motives (Proverbs 16:2). Does this teaching, practice, or manifestation represent a biblical balance? If yes, go ahead. If there are continuing questions, or the answers are mixed, you have a yellow light. If no, stop. The next time you’re not sure what direction to go in a spiritual matter, remember these biblical principles that emphasize discernment along with a balance of doctrine and practice. •

Paul King is an ordained minister with the C&MA-US, author of 11 books, interdenominational speaker and seminar teacher, as well as a cancer overcomer. This article is summarized from his forthcoming book Is It of God? A Biblical Guidebook for Spiritual Discernment. paulkingministries.com

Biblical Foundations for Discernment The following principles of discernment are based on seven biblical foundation blocks. Discernment is: 1. God-given: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...” (Proverbs 3:5). 2. Christ-centred: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6). 3. Spirit-guided: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth…” (John 16:13). 4. Prayer-saturated: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7). 5. Scripture-based: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12). 6. Corporately-confirmed: ...“Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (2 Corinthians 13:1). 7. Divinely-balanced: “…motives are weighed by the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:2). “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

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Amazed by God Hearts stirred by the Spirit By Don Neufeld

he city of Steinbach, Manitoba, 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, is not generally deemed a destination spot, especially when it’s -30°C in January. People are returning from this farming community of 15,000 people amazed by what God is doing. Southland Community Church, a Bible-based nondenominational church where approximately 4,000 worshippers gather on any given weekend, has been touched by God. I went there on a weekend that was not another how-to seminar; rather, I witnessed people empowered and ministering like I’d never seen before. They were genuinely excited about demonstrating their faith. A number of years ago, stories began to trickle down to me of a renewal movement in Steinbach. My interest was piqued, and my wife and I decided to register for one of three annual conferences. The event was not especially designed for outsiders; we joined the regular church family in a weekend of challenging teaching, confession, prayer, and worship. The Church Renewal Weekends at Southland include the Set Free! Retreat, Prayer Summit, and the

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

Intro to Hearing God Seminar. As the Set Free! Retreat began, I was immediately struck by the thought, “Here’s a church serious about helping individuals deal with their past and accompanying brokenness.” They talked straight-forwardly but sensitively to the issue of our besetting sins that too often dog our lives. Unconfessed sin relegates a believer to the margins of their faith experience. It’s not what God intended. Learning healthy patterns of confession and repentance restores one’s ability to enjoy the abundant life which Christ offers to all. At least three quarters of the room was comprised of young people fully engaged in an interactive healing ministry. It was amazing to see so many people hungry to know what it means to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and learning to deal with sin within a redemptive context. At the completion of the retreat, we were advised to be sure to go to attend Prayer Summit early. We were told, “It’s always full.” I admit, I was initially skeptical. Arrive at a prayer meeting early to find a seat? Really? That night, there

It felt like I was standing on holy ground was nearly standing room only as people entered the sanctuary eager to engage in earnest prayer and celebration. It was a moving experience to be prayed over by a group of young people whom I had never met before. As they took time to seek God’s heart for me, their prayers were remarkably relevant and timely. It felt like I was standing on holy ground. Monday morning included the Intro to Hearing God Seminar, where Pastor Ray Duerksen shared his personal story of how he and his wife Fran learned to listen to God’s voice and were challenged to obey. Pastor Ray is a very down-to-earth man and one whom, I sense, operates under God’s anointing. He endeared himself to me as he shared insights from both his failures and successes in leading a church towards renewal. The humility of the man, along with his transparency, was compelling. After my first trip, I felt that I wanted to bring more people to taste and see for themselves what God was doing in this place. If He could do it here, perhaps He can do it anywhere! Since my initial visit, I’ve led three separate delegations of pastors and a few lay people to the city.

Invariably, participants have come away with hearts stirred by the Spirit, a vision for something similar, and practical resources and steps forward. A follow-up mentoring program is also offered to all participants. Following are some comments shared with me: • The Spirit spoke very clearly and lovingly to me. I returned from Steinbach with a refreshed spirit and renewed wonder for God. • The practice of learning what it means to have a daily conversation with God is so energizing. • I am so much closer to Him than before. • The entire trip proved to be so informative and transformative. Finally, I’ve always practised, to some extent, listening to God, but I had never quite seen it integrated into the life of a congregation the way it is at Southland. It was simply embraced as normal for any child of God, whether young or old. In fact, I plan to attend again next January, and you can be sure, I’ll bring people to taste and see for themselves as well. •

Don Neufeld is a Church Effectiveness Coach for the Western Canadian District.

catalogue.faithhopeinaction.ca

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The Gift of Prophecy Hearing God and building up believers By Linda Gould Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 1 Corinthians 14:1

rophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit that expresses God’s truth and love in a personal way, and that changes people’s hearts. A prophetic word may be an affirmation of what God is already doing, confirmation of what He wants to do, or a word that may later serve as a confirmation and encouragement of God’s will unfolding in your life. A prophetic word can take various forms, such as a timely Scripture, a shared impression or picture, a vision, or even a dream. The goal of prophesying is not to direct or instruct a person, but rather to communicate God’s heart to someone in the midst of life’s circumstances.

Discerning God’s Voice

How do we know the voice we are hearing is God’s voice? We may wonder, “Is this voice my own voice, an evil spirit, or the voice of another?” Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). The Bible also says, “…test them all; hold on to what is good,” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Spending time with God and diligently studying His Word will give you the clarity you need to discern the whisper of the Holy Spirit. Hearing God’s voice requires practice and testing. Practising prophetic ministry requires an exercise in faith and a posture of humble learning. The Bible says, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part...” (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). To grow in learning to hear God’s voice, ask the following questions about the word or message you are hearing or encountering: • Does it line up with the truth found in the Word of God? • Does it reflect God’s character? • Does it express the love of God? • Will it glorify God? Both an intimate knowledge of the Word and a right walk with God are needed to answer the above questions. It is the responsibility of the one learning to hear God’s voice to maintain a right relationship with

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God and to listen for the Holy Spirit through the lens of the Word. The Word of God demystifies personal prophecy and clarifies its purpose. The use of the biblical prophetic gift by the one to whom the Holy Spirit gives this gift is a wonderful outflow of a devoted and worshipful heart. A person’s accuracy and benefit to another when prophesying is dependent upon their own depth in the Word of God and their obedience to Him. The Bible encourages everyone to pursue the A word that is gift of prophecy because it is a gift of the Holy prompted by Spirit that builds up the Holy Spirit, believers. The purpose of prophesying is to aligned with the strengthen, encourage, and comfort a believer Word, and given with a word from God in love always prompted by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians produces life 14:1-5). A word from God is never given to tear down but to build up and give life, even if it is a word of loving conviction. A word that is prompted by the Holy Spirit, aligned with the Word, and given in love always produces life. Hearing God’s voice and New Testament prophecy is a wonderful gift given to believers that flows out of a heart that desires to spend time with God in worship and in the Word. •

Linda Gould leads the prayer ministry team and teaches prophetic ministry at Burlington Alliance Church, in ON, where her husband, Shane, is the lead pastor.

In the Midst of Battle Extravagant grace during physical and spiritual warfare By Glen G. Scorgie The following excerpts have been adapted from Experiencing God’s Presence Wherever I Go, taken from The God You May Not Know: Ordinary People Leading Extraordinary Lives, published in 2016 by The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada; Editors: Ronald Brown and Charles Cook. For more information go to extraordinarystories.ca.

n the early 1970s, Southeast Asia was convulsed with war as the intense conflict in Vietnam had spilled over into adjoining nations, including Cambodia. Ruth Patterson, an Alliance international worker, accepted an appointment to assist her colleagues in a risky adventure for Jesus’ sake. Ruth arrived in Cambodia in 1973 and was involved in student evangelistic ministries, teaching the Gospel of John in simple English. In the midst of these perilous conditions, the Cambodians showed an unprecedented openness to the Gospel. Most had never seen a Bible, but now they were very keen to learn as they studied it verse by verse. Ten to twelve young Buddhist monks met regularly with Ruth, and some of them declared their faith in Christ. Ruth remembers these exhilarating times as the highlight of her career. The home Bible studies she led were frequently punctuated by the whooshing sound of an approaching rocket. Words would stop mid-sentence. Eerie silence would reign as everyone held their breath, not sure whether it might be their last. Then the danger would pass. Collectively, the group would exhale and resume their concentration on the Bible study lesson before them.

Ruth Patterson, 1991 Photo courtesy Alliance Archives

his story: years before, he had been in a refugee camp and Ruth had visited him and shared the Gospel. He had been a soldier on the Communist side and initially countered Ruth’s gospel invitation with a sad insistence that he had sinned too much for God to forgive him. But eventually the hope of God’s extravagant grace broke into his tortured heart. Ruth had left the man and his family a Bible with her name written in it, and through that Bible and a series of other providential circumstances, his faith was firmly established. This former soldier is now the assistant pastor of the Cambodian church where Ruth regularly worships.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” Helen Keller once said. No one can possibly write beforehand the script of a life open to the call of God. Such a life may not be easy, but almost certainly it will not be boring, either. It is normal to shrink back from From 1978-1992, risk in favour of the familiar. But in the Ruth lived in France ...through that Bible and a series of 1940s, a young woman from Mimico, for the benefit of Ontario, chose another route. Her Cambodian refugees other providential circumstances, story is a shining confirmation that who were faced God holds close to Himself those who with a bewildering his faith was firmly established step out into the unknown, trusting in new culture and His unseen presence. It reminds us once again that the considerable life challenges. These refugees were Great Commission of Jesus ends with an emboldening first brought to Paris and placed in transit centres assurance: I will be with you to the ends of the earth. • throughout the sprawling metropolitan area... Dr. Glen G. Scorgie is professor of theology at Bethel Seminary in Ruth retired in 1992 after forty years of missionary service. One day, a Cambodian stranger came up to her San Diego, California and the author of Ruth Patterson’s biography, written in July 2014. and asked, “Are you Ruth Patterson?” Then he shared

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Our Sponsorship Journey

Church members at the airport awaiting the arrival of their refugee family Photo courtesy Alliston Alliance Church

Welcoming people forced to flee By Ken Stouffer

efugee sponsorship is doable for Alliance congregations, even if funds are tight. Our refugee sponsorship experience began in July 2015. Mary*, a Middle Eastern woman from Alliston, Ontario, was looking for a sponsor for some relatives from Iraq who were stranded in Turkey after ISIS forced them from their home. Mary approached the Alliance Justice and Compassion team for guidance, and they contacted our church in Alliston to see if we would consider this sponsorship. As head of the missions committee, I was asked if I would follow up. I contacted Mary and arranged to meet with her and her husband. I learned that her relatives were Christians who were forced to flee their home after receiving threats. The family didn’t even pack any suitcases before they fled; they were concerned they may be stopped at a checkpoint, and they didn’t want to raise any suspicions. They left their lovely villa, successful business, and a lifetime of accumulated savings. They went to another city in Iraq, and a year or so later, they had to flee again due to the same threats from ISIS. From there, they went to Turkey, and the wait began. Meanwhile, in Alliston, Mary

was at work on their behalf. I told her right up front that we were a small church, and money was tight. She assured me they had a large network of relatives in the Greater Toronto Area, and they were prepared to cover all financial costs; all they needed was a sponsor. I approached our elders about the opportunity to sponsor this family of nine. When I presented the whole picture, they agreed, and we officially began our sponsorship journey. I’d never seen such an immediate and enthusiastic response. Our next step was to form a refugee sponsorship committee, people from the congregation who were willing to help in whatever way necessary, from the beginning of the process to the settlement of the family in Canada. Although we did not have to raise the funds necessary to support the family for a year, we did have to pledge that if the family here in Canada were unable to come through with their support, we would cover it. The congregation’s enthusiasm gave me confidence that people would dig deep to find a way to support the refugee family. It was also reassuring to know that if we as a local congregation found ourselves with a financial burden, we could apply for partial

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

It was an eye-opening experience assistance from The Christian and Missionary Alliance’s (C&MA) Refugee Fund. The C&MA’s refugee sponsorship team led us through the entire process. It took a little more than a year from the time the sponsorship papers were filed with the Canadian Government until the family arrived. They landed in Toronto, Ontario in January 2017, and within about two months, they had jobs and their own rented home. Mary’s extended family looked after all their financial needs. A few times during the year of waiting, our refugee support committee got together with Mary and her relatives to pray for the refugee family. Mary shared some of the horrors being experienced by our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. It was an eye-opening experience that increased our awareness of the plight of Christians in the Middle East and added intensity to our prayers. If you would like to explore sponsorship, please contact refugeesponsorship@cmacan.org. •

Ken Stouffer is senior pastor at Alliston Alliance Church in ON. * Name changed for privacy

Sea to Sea Region

Reaching our Neighbours Sharing the Gospel among multiple worldviews By Jonathon Yanke

t greatly concerns me that few people seem to see their need for faith in Christ. They say, “I do not need a Saviour. I have my own faith.” They feel they can reject the Bible as they make up their own faith from things they pick and choose along the way.

I desperately wanted to clearly teach my church the Bible, to equip them to reach their neighbours with the message of faith in Christ I desperately wanted to clearly teach my church the Bible, to equip them to reach their neighbours with the message of faith in Christ, and to guard them from non-biblical teachings, but I did not have the time to develop an effective teaching tool. I was also not being a very effective preacher. Though I used the correct words, not all of my listeners understood. I said “eternal life.” Some thought, “Everyone has it.”

Others reasoned, “There are many ways to get it.” We regularly use such keywords, but our listeners have their own meanings because we’re experiencing many different worldviews. Now I finally have a tool—one I did not have to develop—and it equips believers in Christ to understand their faith and enables them to communicate Christ to neighbours who do not have a biblical worldview. It is called the Worldview Rethink Course, developed by GoodSeed. I took one couple with no church connection though the course, and God used it to lead them to faith in Christ. Now I am taking my whole church through By This Name, which is likely the most suitable format of the Worldview Rethink Course for most Canadians. The course takes around 18-20 hours and is very simple to lead. It explains the Bible in a non-armtwisting way and is translated into numerous languages. I love it because once someone completes the course, they will have read 1,570 Bible verses!

For more information, check out The Worldview Rethink Course, By This Name at goodseed.com

We have received great reviews from people in the congregation, like, “We never knew what we never knew.” Some have said they finally understand why Jesus had to die, and others said they now see how the Bible fits together. Now we can say things like “angel,” or “holy”, and we know everyone has the same meaning. What’s more, understanding what people know helps me to preach more effectively. My prayer is that God would use our church and the Worldview Rethink Course to deliver the message of faith in Christ and to biblically ground our whole town. •

Rev. Jonathan Yanke is pastor at Rosthern Alliance Church in SK.

Members of Rosthern Alliance Church enjoying Bible study Photo courtesy Rosthern Alliance Church

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Who is the Stranger Next Door? An honest answer from a stranger By Sadiri Joy Tira

ho is the stranger next door? There are cultural, tribal, linguistic, and religious strangers; social, and economic strangers; and of course, relational strangers. Host nations see new immigrants or foreigners as strangers, but these people also see their hosts as strangers. Perhaps the answer is that we are all strangers to one another. Strangers are simply people who are not in our ‘inner circle.’ They are people who are outsiders. To my neighbours, I am the stranger next door. But to me, they are strangers next door. My wife and I have been residents of a southeast community of Edmonton, Alberta, since 1984. However, we immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1981. We have now lived in Canada longer than we have lived in our native land. Our first child arrived with us as an immigrant when she was

Alliance Connection - Fall/Winter 2017

only three years old, while our next child was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. All of us, except our youngest, are naturalized Canadians, and the four of us take great pride in our ‘blue passport.’ We are grandparents to four ‘Canadian’, but Filipino-looking children. Are we still the strangers next door? In 2003, after our children moved out to have their own respective homes, we moved from a townhouse into a bungalow. It did not take long to discover that we had moved into a diverse neighbourhood. Our next-door neighbours, then, were from the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. They were not refugees, but they were highly educated and moneyed immigrants who were homeowners and drove BMW sedans, Cobra sportcars, and Honda utility vehicles. They were doctors,

bankers, and educators, but at a quick glance, they were in the same ‘boat’ as us—Canadians by law, but visible strangers. Our stay in this community was short-lived as we decided to move to Toronto. Our Edmonton house was rented out until last year. Today, we are back in our bungalow after our sojourn in Toronto—the most diverse city in the world. Since moving back ten months ago, I have discovered that our neighbourhood has demographically changed. My neighbours are now different. Many young families of European descent have moved in. They bought the houses of the older immigrants. A few well-established business people, some of African and Filipino descent, are now my neighbours. In just a few years, my wife and I have become the strangers next door! We are the new outsiders. Since moving back, I am slowly getting to know these neighbours who are strangers to me. Last fall, I met our next-door neighbours. This couple has three small children. They asked if we were willing to replace our common fence and split the cost. At first I hesitated, but my daughter said, “If you want to be a good neighbour and become their friends, split the cost!” I am glad I listened to her counsel. While I travelled last winter, these neighbours shoveled the snow around our house. Another day last year, while working on my yard and garage, a man approached me and asked, “Would you like to throw away your junk at the junkyard for $200? I assume you are Filipino. My wife is Filipino. So, if you pay me, then I will do this job for you.” It was a done deal! We went out for coffee a couple of times and we plan to watch our NHL hockey team this coming winter. I had another neighbour who, to me, was a strange young man. We met for the first time at our neighbourhood Starbucks. I was taken If you don’t aback when this man became aggressive and know what to extremely talkative. He asked, “Is that say to people, your car? What is your name? Here’s my cell then pray and phone number. What is yours? I live with ask for wisdom my grandmother three houses from yours. I saw you several times walking in the neighbourhood. What do you do for a living?” I did not know how to react, and I remember telling my parishioners while pastoring, “If you don’t know what to say to people, then pray and ask for wisdom. Ask yourself, ‘What would Jesus do in your situation?’” The next time I saw him, he asked, “What is your

profession?” I answered, “I used to be a church pastor. My job is talking to people like you. I introduce the most important person, the most caring friend. He offers to be the Bread of Life, the Living Water. He alone can quench our thirst and satisfy our deepest need.” He replied, “Tell me more. I was a young boy when my parents separated and divorced. My grandmother raised me. She took me to her community church, but I didn’t like their liturgy.” “So, would you like to come with me to my church?” I asked. “Surely, this Sunday,” he replied. My wife and I picked him up. According to him, our congregation was friendly, even if he found the sermon ‘boring’. “Let’s just talk about God at Starbucks!” he suggested. That is what we do now whenever I am in town. In recent weeks, I met my neighbour across the street from our house. He is a successful builder. Today, he is helping me fix my leaking basement. From my recent trip to Asia, I came home with a small gift for him and his wife. Recently, he suggested that we have a barbecue in his yard. They do not go to church, but they are gracious and decent people and we like each other. Another neighbour adjacent to our house is a Christian family from Africa. They own a landscaping business. Two weeks ago, he offered to landscape my backyard for minimum fees. We decided to have African and Filipino meals and invite our common neighbour—“the builder”. Who is the stranger next door? Who is your neighbour? Do you know and relate as Christ’s follower among your neighbours? Let’s go beyond rhetoric and stereotypes. The truth is that we are all strangers in our borderless world, in our multiracial cities, multicultural, pluralistic neighbourhoods. Surely, we are all alienated from one another. On a deeper level, when we don’t belong to the “family of God,” we are not “brothers or sisters.” We are not comrades in the kingdom. We are not citizens of heaven and co-heirs of Jesus Christ. We are aliens and strangers to each other. What would Jesus do with these strangers next door? What is Jesus telling you to do with the immigrants, unchurched, young families, older couples, seniors, children, divorced couples, etc. in your community? You and I can easily become the alienated neighbour or the stranger if we do not translate our words into action. • Dr. Sadiri Joy Tira is senior associate for diasporas with Lausanne and diaspora missiology specialist with the Jaffray Centre for Global Initiatives at Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, AB. Adapted from gospel-life.net, a resource of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism. Used with permission.

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Now ow Y You ou K Know now N

Estate Planning Guidance Helping you make the most of your gifts By Brian Thom

ood planning is important for everyone, no matter the value of the estate. Creating a biblicallybased estate plan helps achieve the following: • integrates your worldview and values into your plan; • ensures your plan will promote family harmony and avoid conflict over family assets, heirlooms, and expectations; • prepares the next generation; • and reduces taxes and fees at passing. A will can be much more than a list of how your assets are to be distributed. It can be a powerful statement that reflects the life you lived. According to ADVISORS with Purpose, 60% of Canadians lack a current, up-to-date will, meaning a will created in the past five years. Not having a current will can lead to challenges for your family and friends and eliminates your opportunity to decide how you would like to distribute your estate. The C&MA in Canada has partnered with ADVISORS with Purpose, a ministry committed to helping people manage their assets according to their faith and values. These Christian planned giving specialists can guide you through a

strategic planning process, helping you create a plan for your will to: • protect the value of your estate; • use your assets in ways that reflect your desires; • and help fulfill your goals. This service is provided at no cost to attendees of our Alliance churches; there are never any obligations, and the estate planners will never sell any product. •

Rev. Brian Thom is director of Development for The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.

For more information, or to speak to an estate specialist for a free confidential review of your will and estate, contact ADVISORS with Purpose, and let them know that you’re connected to the C&MA in Canada: • Phone (toll free) 1.866.336.3315 • Email plan@advisorswithpurpose.ca • Address 89 Auriga Drive, Ottawa, ON K2E 7Z2

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My wife Betty and I used ADVISORS with Purpose (AWP), as we needed to update our wills. Our life group participated in a four-week study by AWP, “Stewarding Your Stuff”, and it helped us understand ways that we can be better stewards of what God has given us. Propelled by our new knowledge, we facilitated a 1.5-hour seminar with AWP’s president, Lorne Jackson, for our church family. As a result, 75% of those attending took the next step and received a free consultation. Wayne and Betty Kerr Wayne has pastored with the Alliance for 49 years. He and Betty are national volunteer coordinators of Power Team, a ministry to C&MA retired pastors and international workers.

Celebrating Canada’s 150th Anniversary! A commemoration booklet celebrating 130 years of the

C&MA and Canada’s 150th Anniversary. • statistics • timeline • photos

• district

overviews

• and more!

Available online at

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2018 JUNE 5 - 9, 2018

FIRST ALLIANCE CHURCH CALGARY, AB

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30 Carrier Dr Suite 100 Toronto ON M9W 5T7 CANADA Publications Mail Agreement Number 40064689