The Missionary Messenger FEB 2012

THE MISSIONARY MESSENGER FEBRUARY 2012

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DISCOMFORT ZONE

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WAKE UP!

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FOLLOW

Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross and FOLLOW me.

(Mark 8:34b).

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YEC - 2012, FOLLOW

CALL TO MISSIONS

EVANGELISM DIRECTOR NAMED

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THE WOMEN’S MINISTRY CONVENTION, JUNE 19-21, 2012

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WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE CHURCH REALLY PRAYED?

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HOW WE SENT/SEND MISSIONARIES

 FOR MORE INFORMATION http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry

MISSIONS MINISTRY TEAM of the Cumberland Presby terian Church

8207 Traditional Place Cordova, TN 38016-7414 p h o n e 9 01. 276.9 9 8 8 f a x 9 01. 276. 4 578 e - m ai l: m e s s e n g e r @c u m b e r l a n d.o r g Please note ex tension numbers

Publication Manager: Editors:

Sowgand Sheikholeslami: ext. 211 George R. Estes: ext. 234 Pam Phillips-Burk: 901.276.4572 ext. 262 Lynn Thomas: 901.276.4572 ext. 261 Robert Watkins: 901.276.4572 ext. 263 T.J. Malinoski: 423-972-1239 Jinger Ellis: ext. 230

Art Director: Printer:

Sowgand Sheikholeslami: ext. 211 A1 Printing Memphis, Tennessee

Member:

CALL TO MISSIONS

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By Lynn Thomas

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Cross-Culture Global Missions

he word mission and missionary are not actually in the Bible. The word mission was first used in 1544 and was taken from the Latin word “mitto” - to send, and “missio” sending. This term was used to define those that were being “sent” away from their familiar “world” for the purpose of evangelism. It was not until the 17th Century that the terms “mission” and “missionary” became commonly used.

The classical term often used was the term apostle or the apostolic ministry.

This is still seen in our Confession of Faith (5.30) where it talks about those being sent as part of the “apostolic commission”. The apostle was the one “sent out”, the evangelistic emissary to the gentiles and Jews alike.

Obviously, in the life and the history of the church it became necessary to designate those that felt called to cross cultures to share their faith. The New Testament gave ample examples of Christian leaders that crossed culture and language barriers to evangelize, disciple and establish churches.

Eventually the church labeled this undertaking “missions” and these people were referred to as “missionaries”. The apostolic commission seen in the New Testament has always been the Biblical foundation for this endeavor, although the terms have changed. n the mid 1900’s the terms “missions” and “missionaries” were commonly understood to describe people who lived in remote areas outside of their native culture/ country learning a new language and culture in order to share their faith.

In most cases this involved crossing borders, even oceans. Thus the term “foreign missions” developed. It also included ministries that were supportive of faith sharing such as working as teachers, nurses, doctors or opening schools, hospitals and orphanages.

Works of compassion in other countries were also considered “mission” work.

During the 1800’s and 1900’s the American Church became the primary sender of Christian missionaries to the world and missions was celebrated as a high priority of the American Church.

Interestingly, a year after the birth of the CP Church a new Presbyterian seminary

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was established (1811) primarily for the training of missionaries, it was Princeton Seminary. The CP Church through the Women’s Board of Missions in the late 1800’s and 1900’s was very much a part of this emphasis and celebration of missions.

The basis of missions is the belief that God sends. Initially He sent His Son, then He sends emissaries, messengers, to those different than the ones sent.

They share the message of Jesus Christ and/or they provide a ministry that creates an understanding about the message of Jesus Christ. n recent years there has been a shift to proclaim that everyone is a missionary. Missions has been redefined by some as everything the church does and thus anyone who does something in the church is a missionary. However, there is a specific vocation that involves a unique call and special training to live long term in a different culture, reaching those who are culturally different. The danger of calling everything we do missions and everyone who does those things missionaries is those called, trained and commissioned to serve in the apostolic commission have no vocational identity.

For example, it is important that we have pastors and elders and it’s important to protect that call and identity. We should not call everyone in our church pastors and elders, even though we believe God calls all of us to service. The same is true of missionaries. The call to be a Christian Missionary needs to be clearly distinguished from other calls. It is a call to Christian service that some believers experience, and it is different from other calls God gives. It is a call that requires gifts and training to do well, and it is sustained by God’s grace. Being sent from one’s culture and/or language to a different culture to share one’s faith, or demonstrate by community service the nature of Christ’s love should have its unique career identity. “Missions” is the work of evangelism and outreach in the context of a dissimilar culture, often requiring people with specialized gifts and training. All of God’s callings are noble and valuable, none superior to others. The missionary’s call to mission service is genuinely a distinct call and a distinct career. ■ ■ ■

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http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry

EVANGELISM DIRECTOR NAMED

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he Missions Ministry Team of the Ministry Council has welcomed the Rev. T.J. Malinoski to the Evangelism and New Church Development position, charged with the further development and implementation of the Step Out evangelism emphasis approved by the 2011 General Assembly for this decade. Designed as a call to the denomination to forge a fresh identity in evangelism, Step Out is regarded more as a movement of the whole Church than as a program. So there are challenging goals for local churches, presbyteries and denominational agencies in the ten-year plan.

T.J. is a graduate of Bethel College/

University (1999) and Memphis Theological Seminary (2002). He has served Cumberland Presbyterian and union churches in Alabama and Tennessee, and has been Presbytery Pastor for East Tennessee Presbytery. T.J. has also worked professionally with children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and he has owned and operated a landscaping business.

He is married to the Rev. Melissa Malinoski, and they have a nine-year-old son. His passion for holistic evangelism, and his desire to work with congregations and presbytery agencies to address the Step Out goals, will provide vital leadership for this far-reaching effort. ■ ■ ■

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The Step Out Movement

By T.J. Malinoski

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ast year’s General Assembly birthed the Step Out evangelism movement, but the emphasis and need for evangelism has had an appeal long before. As individual Christians and congregations, we search for ways to keep our witness to God consciously and intentionally relevant.

The appeal for a vital ministry, harmonious community involvement, and the sharing of God-given gifts and abilities are practically universal in the Church.

At the center of this appeal is the conviction that “Through Jesus Christ, God frees persons from the shackles, oppression,

and shame of sin and sinful forces, from the guilt and penal consequences of sin, and enables them to have free access to God. This freedom, rooted in love, not fear, enables persons to become who God intends them to be, to bear witness to their Lord, and to serve God and neighbors in the vocations of their common life” (COF 6.01).

Evangelism is not something that we find or discover, but something to which we are called. And this calling requires implementation and action. Likewise, a productive and happy life is not something that we find, but something that we actively make. And so it is with evangelism, rooted in a demanding love for God and the human

family where we no longer just recognize and identify needs but find creative and effective ways to address these needs with an unbending yet compassionate “commitment to social justice and peace, concern for the whole person, for communities and nations, and for the natural world” (http:// ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/evangelism).

The Step Out emphasis mirrors our collective aspirations to bear witness to God, to serve God and neighbor as articulated in the scriptures and inextricably bound to our Cumberland Presbyterian history and witness.

In a real sense, this movement calls upon each and every one of us to believe it, speak it, do it! ■ ■ ■

WHERE?

The New Cumberland Presbyterian Mission Field.

The Step Out program, approved by General Assembly, sets several ambitious goals for the next ten years. One of those goals is establishing a new mission field. The idea is that we will recruit a team of CP missionaries to move to a new country to start churches and establish a new CP ministry. As we look at our success in places like Colombia, Japan and Hong Kong, we see these were the results of a strategic and focused effort by the entire church, sending many career and short-term CP missionaries over a period of time to develop our church in those countries.

We are taking the first steps toward selecting a new mission field. We believe the new mission field should meet these criteria: 1. A country that has a natural affinity and relevance to the CP Church; 2. A country that is accessible to us; 3. A country in which and from which we can grow; 4. A country that is realistic for the size, talents and resources of the CP Church; 5. A country that will catch our vision and passion; 6. A country in which CP missionaries would desire to serve, both short and long term; 7. A country that allows missionary visas and that allows churches legal status;

9. A country that is open to the Gospel or appears to be opening to the Gospel; 10. A country that will produce CP Churches that can realistically be full participants in the Global CP Church.

Our criteria are based on who we are and what we can realistically do in the world. Obviously, the world has great need for the Gospel, and there are remote, challenging places that call for a witness. We do have a missionary presence in some of these difficult places. We will continue to promote and work with CP missionaries that work in other parts of the world, in addition to this new mission field.

First, we are calling on the CP Church to PRAY. Pray that God reveals to us the place He wants us to go and establish a new Christian witness. And, pray that God calls CP’s to serve as missionaries on this new mission field.

Second, it would really help us if different ones would make suggestions and give reasons and information relevant to this new mission field. We would like to have more than just the names of countries-give us your justification for why this would be a good opportunity for the CP Church.

Share your ideas with us. What country(ies) do you think would meet the above criteria? Give us some of your research on this country. Who do you know there? What do you know about this country? Why do you feel the CP Church would be a good witness there? Why do you feel we would be successful? ■ ■ ■ Please e-mail your suggestions to newmissionfield@cumberland.org.

8. A country that gives us the opportunity to evangelize, serve and plant churches; http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry

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What would happen if we prayed, if we really prayed for the G blessing upon and direction of the Cumberland Presbyterian

MISSIONS MINISTRY TEAM MINISTRY COUNCIL of the CUMBERLAND

God's n Church?

D PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE CHURCH PREAYED?

THE WOMEN’S MINISTRY CONVENTION

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JUNE 19-21, 2012

he Women’s Ministry Convention will be held June 19-21, 2012 in Florence, Alabama at the Shoals Marriott Hotel. We will be sharing our theme in the coming year with General Assembly - Meeting People Where They Are, which is based on 1 Corinthians 22b-23 (New Living Translation) --Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

There will be lots of opportunities to learn how to share the Good News with all sorts of people in all kinds of settings. Workshops, local outreach opportunities, speakers, prayer, and music will fill out each day of activity. The keynote speaker will be RheAnn White. RheAnn possesses a unique ability to communicate God’s Word through personal experience stories. Just ask her to tell you the story about the spider’s web under a cup!! We will be blessed with the musical leadership and talent of Chuck Brown, and we are planning to have a Convention Choir this year!

WORKSHOP POSSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

 Meeting people in your own back yard  Meeting people in the world  Meeting people with special needs  Meeting young women where they are  Meeting people through evangelism  Meeting people through life transitions  Meeting people on the street  Meeting people through service projects/outreach Some changes in workshops may occur between now and convention. Spread the word…Everyone (men included) attending GA/Convention are invited to attend both GA and CPWM workshops!!!

Lodging will be at the beautiful Shoals Marriott (800 Cox Creek Parkway South, Florence, AL 35630, 256-246-3600) which overlooks the Tennessee River. Please make your own reservations.

Use the Group Code: CPCCPCA and Register online at: http:// www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mslmcgroupCode=cpccpca&app=resvli nk&fromDate=6/16/12&toDate=6/22/12■ ■ ■

Watch The Cumberland Presbyterian and Missionary Messenger for additional information.

Also, check online at cumberland.org for additional registration forms.

If you need additional help, please contact Jo Ann Shugert at shugertr@yahoo.com or 682-593-0350

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2012 YEC FOLLOW

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This Youth Evangelism conference is for youth grades 7 through College Freshmen and includes youth leaders and parents who work with and alongside them. Worship, energetic music, reflection groups, conversation, and handson outreach opportunities in the Little Rock, Arkansas area will make this YEC as meaningful and memorable as past events. YEC Follow will be held at the Arkansas 4-H Center in Little Rock, AR, December 27-30, 2012.

TWO GOALS FOR YEC 2012 INCLUDE – 1) Challenge students to follow Jesus in His teaching, love for and service to other people for the sake of the Glory of God. 2) Educating, equipping and empowering young people with the Gospel (the reality of God’s love) and how that translates, in and through their lives We will be partnering with the non-profit organization “My Own Backyard” (Kathleen Murphy) to become engaged in a hands-on

approach to servant evangelism with a goal of sharing the Good News with the folks in Little Rock, but also to provide practical training and tools for participants to take home to serve in the midst of their own respective backyards.

Keep a watch for registration information and more conference details.

BJ Mathis is the conference coordinator and may be contacted at bjmathis83@gmail.com.

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REACHING OUT TO OTHERS THROUGH WOMEN’S MINISTRY Faith in 3-D Youth Event has already come to pass in Orlando,

FL where youth from three different denominations came together to worship and study together. CP women were asked to help fund the missions component to that event. Thank you for your quick attention to this project this past year. Giving toward this project stands at $2,315.45 as of 12/13/2011. If you would like to contribute, money is still being received to cover the costs of this recent ministry event. (Faith in 3-D - #34052).

The CP Children’s Home continues to grow and increase their

services to children and families at-risk. One important way they seek to nurture and support their clients is through spiritual guidance and care. CPCH is attempting to fund a continuing chaplain presence at the 6 | M I S S I O N A R Y M E S S E N G E R F E B R UA RY 2 012

home and has set a goal of $30,000 for this effort. Giving toward this project stands at $1,008.53 as of 12/13/2011. If your groups would like to see this become a reality then you are encouraged to accept this challenge. (CPCH Chaplain Salary - #34053)

The 2012 Convention Offering will be Prep 1:8 which is a new

and unique Missionary Recruitment and Training Program. The goal is to recruit, train, and evaluate missionary candidates for the future new mission fields of the CP Church as well as develop a pool of missionary candidates from which to draw for other mission field needs that arise in the future. This offering is an outstanding way to Step Out and proclaim the Gospel far and wide. (Prep 1:8 - #34051) ■ ■ ■ http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry

HOW WE SENT/SEND MISSIONARIES

First of A Series of Articles on Missions

By Lynn Thomas, Cross-Culture Global Missions

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he Cumberland Presbyterian (CP) Missions Program has gone through a significant transition over the past 15 years. It was gradual and, for that reason, probably unobserved by most Cumberland Presbyterians.

To put the changes in context let’s go back to the early 1900’s when CP missionaries were first sent and salaried. The denomination initially used the Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s program as a missionary society. They had a board of directors that actually interviewed and selected the missionaries.

Missionaries didn’t do fund-raising; the CP women did the fund-raising.

In 1939 the Women’s board of missions was merged into a more unified denominational board of missions. Men were added to the board of missions as board members. In coming decades the mission program moved into the central offices (1951), and by 1965 the Board of Missions, as we know it, was formed by merging all boards related to missions into one Board of Missions. The method of CP missionaries being accepted by the Board of Missions and salaried by the Board of Missions continued.

The Our United Outreach (OUO) program had assumed the role of fund-raising for missionaries. Thus, missionaries were accepted by the Board of Missions and salaried by OUO in much the same way it had been done with the CP Women’s mission program.

In 1900, 80% of all American missionaries came from the boards of missions of mainline denominations. By the year 2000 the number dropped to only 6%.

Today, most American missionaries come from non-mainline churches or from non-denominational mission organizations. There are various reasons for this reality, but a primary factor is that denominations do more than just missions; they have many financial responsibilities and obligations. Para-church, or non-denominational mission organizations make up a large percentage of the missionary http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry

sending agencies in the USA, even in the world. They have the luxury of a narrower ministry focus.

One of the past executives of the CP Board of Missions said several years ago that he agreed with all the changes the General Assembly had made, he even voted for them when allowed to vote. He noted the reality that these positive changes cost money and thus diminished the resources for missionary support.

About 15 years ago it became obvious to the Board of Missions that changes had to be made as far as missionary support. There just weren’t enough resources to fund missionaries and also provide for the other needs of the CP Church.

The Board of Missions took several actions over a period of years: (1) They allowed CP’s to work with para-church mission organizations.

The Board of Missions didn’t give OUO financial support to these missionaries, but they did allow them to raise money within the CP Church. (2) The Board of Missions determined that our overseas churches and presbyteries desired that we all be a global church and not a nationalistic church. That is, we are one church, not the US CP Church, Japanese CP Church, Colombian CP Church, etc. We all can be CP missionaries if we are CP. Most denominations nationalized and thus became separated from each other. The Board of Missions promoted this global view, which actually came from our mission field.

(3) In recent years new reforms have been made to our mission program, and they require all new CP missionaries to raise their own support, not just those that work with para-church mission organizations.

In an effort to expand our mission program, this was the only way to do it. The General Assembly, in 2010, approved the Step Out Program, which calls on all churches to begin supporting CP missionaries as a budget item in their church’s budget. This is an effort to be more supportive of CP missionaries and increase our ability to deploy more missionaries.

There are many ways to

interrupt the changes that have taken place over the years, even decades; but this is the world, the reality we live in. If we had stayed with the historical system of salaried missionaries via the Board of Missions, we would not have been able to grow internationally as we have. In reality, we now have as many CP missionaries as we ever had. Now it is up to the local church to support CP missionaries, which, in a sense, was the innovation of the women’s missionary society movement whereby local women’s groups supported missionaries. Since it is the local church’s responsibility to support missionaries, we can have as many CP missionaries as the local churches are willing to support. In the past we could have only as many as the Board of Missions budget was able to fund.

Our missionaries can be CP lay people that work in para-church organizations using their skills and talents, or they can be CP pastors or lay people helping open new CP Churches and CP institutions around the world.

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realize people can look to our past and become concerned about the future.

However, if all CP Churches become passionate about missions, the results could be beyond anything our Church has historically ever seen in the area of missions. It is easier to say, “Why doesn’t our denomination’s budget support missionaries more?” as opposed to saying, “We will support missionaries!” Think about this, if 500 CP Churches gave $2,000 a year from their budget for missionary support, we would have $1,000,000 a year for missionaries. Most of our churches have the ability to do this.

In reality, history has presented us with an amazing opportunity. We can expand our mission program in ways we never could have in past decades. The Church has given us the tools, the means, the open door to greatly expand our missionary presence in the world. ■ ■ ■

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1993

A Gift He Gave Away

By Bob Watkins

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ometimes it is more effective to say nothing; and instead, do something to make an impact upon the lives of other people.

Rev. Arturo Taborda visited the United States as a Colombian commissioner to the 1993 General Assembly meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. Simultaneously, the Women’s Convention of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church also met in the same city. Rev. Taborda had been invited, along with three Colombian women, to share their testimonies with the attendees. The women were willing to speak. Rev. Taborda, a quiet saintly gentleman, said he would prefer to say nothing (a good decision since he spoke no English), but instead to play a couple of works on his violin.

The women took turns articulating their personal experiences with Christ and when they finished, Arturo took the stage and said in broken English, “I play Mozart and a hymn.” He would be the last event of the morning’s activities.

Rev. Taborda had reached the age when his thick curly hair was totally silver and always combed in a natural flow from the front to the back without a part. His brazen eyebrows also gleamed in the stage light. It was not his custom to smile as he played, but instead his personality seemed to disappear into a focus of concentration on the music he had chosen. His performance was filled with an intense emotion as all eyes were fixed upon the violin of this pastor from one of the poorest barrios of Medellin, Colombia, an area called Zamora. This was an area often frequented by henchmen of the drug lord, Pablo Escobar.

No doubt some of the drug venders had heard of the ministry of Rev. Taborda and his effort to assist people

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escape from the dangers of the drug culture.

Following the presentation, the Colombians exited the conference center and stood visiting in the entry hall. I was in their company, but was observing the attendees as they left, half-way ignoring their conversation, and hoping to capture a visual sense of the impact of their presentations.

Most of the conferees had left when I noticed a middle aged woman coming toward us. She caught my attention because she looked like someone leaving a rodeo arena. She had on tight faded blue jeans, a western patterned shirt and some heavily beaded black unpolished cowboy boots. She was a contemporary cowgirl ready for a day on the ranch, except for spurs and a leather hat. She walked slowly with a stiffness that testified a few years in the saddle.

It soon became apparent that the woman was crying.

Tears were pouring with enough frequency that she had a Kleenex and was blotting as she walked up and spoke. “Dr. Watkins, would you please translate and tell Rev. Taborda what just happened to me during his presentation?”

She continued, pausing to wipe her tears. “When I came to the service today, my heart was not in it. A little over a year ago my father died after a long bout with cancer, and I have not been able to get over my loss and grief. I have been depressed and nearly unable to function as a wife or a mother. But, today, when Arturo took the stage, something incredible happened. My father played the violin. And, when Arturo began to play Gaither’s Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow, I recalled that was Dad’s favorite hymn.”

She paused, but not to wipe her tears; instead, for the first time since she approached, she smiled ever so faintly.

Continuing, “As Arturo played, it was as if I felt the Holy Spirit descend, rest upon my shoulders, and then depart with the burden of my grief! Oh, I am still crying, but now the pain has been replaced with a certainty of hope and thanksgiving. I just wanted to say ‘thanks’.” We paused and prayed, and then she was gone, carrying the unwrapped and quiet gift of Don Arturo. ■ ■ ■

A HEART FOR GRATITUDE

hen I visited a number of our Cumberland Presbyterian Churches in Colombia, S.A., recently, I was struck by the evident sense of blessing expressed by so many people in different places. One afternoon some friends took me to a poor neighborhood in the city of Tulua.

We drove through dusty streets to a corner lot where a two-story church building stood, Rey de Reyes (King of Kings) Church.

Readers of The Missionary Messenger may recall that they contributed to a Gift to the King project for this construction project. The sanctuary has been completed, and there’s a full range of ministry activities conducted there. Worship, women’s ministry, youth work, children’s ministry, a teen program, and evangelistic outreach. But from the standpoint

By George R. Estes of our US understanding, the building was far from finished. Sunday school rooms are not yet finished. And there’s a whole floor and an education wing yet to be built. But that day there were about fifty people on hand, having Bible study and fellowship. They weren’t expecting me, and they knew only that I represented our Missions Team, but they welcomed me with open arms! In very broken Spanish, I tried to explain what it meant to me to be there and see what they were doing.

They were so excited to show me around the facility, and to tell me of their plans for future expansion of the building. At the same time, they told me of their outreach ministries in the surrounding community, the work they are doing with area youth who are beset with problems of drugs and gang violence, how they have developed an outreach for young

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mothers in the community, and on and on.

When it was time for me to leave Pastor Valencia asked me to pray for the group.

And after that prayer, during which I was surrounded by all these wonderful people, they gave me a gift. Again, they had no idea a visitor was coming that day, but they had a gift already prepared! It was a hand-carved heartshaped jewel box, which I brought home to my wife. It is truly beautiful.

It seemed to me that wherever I went, from Medellin to Armenia to Cali or Popayan, I encountered what I considered to be a heart for gratitude, indeed an aptitude for gratitude.

People impressed me with their capacity for thanksgiving and blessing. It was a great witness. And it reminded me of the boundless joy that we have in Christ, and that we share in one another, no matter where we live. ■ ■ ■

http://ministrycouncil.cumberland.org/missionsministry