VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3
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at a glance 4
From Panama to Uruguay with Lori Torrison
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Conner Outlaw lets us look through his lens
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Help, Hope and Healing with Shane Brown and THP
Living on God’s Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Photo Shoot (Lori Torrison). . . . . . . . . . . . 4 LightBox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Lázaro and Ariadna Riesgo
Through My Lens (Conner Outlaw). . . . . . . . 7 Snapshot (Shane Brown). . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Living on God’s Schedule Lázaro and Ariadna Riesgo were appointed as educational specialists for Hispanic ministry in April 2014. Lázaro shares what their ministry will look like and how adjusting to the U.S. has been.
ON THE COVER: Fountain, First President’s Park, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Funded by FWB Foundation Editor-in-chief: Clint Morgan Managing editor : Deborah St. Lawrence Associate editor: Kurston Ward Design by Melanie Poole
After serving in Panama at the Free Will Baptist Bible Institute for four years, International Missions asked us to join the work as educational specialists for Hispanic ministries. We finally received the approval in April of 2014. The ministry, which is focused on training the Spanishspeaking leadership, is something new for us and for FWBIM. Because of the large Hispanic
population in the world, the growing number of FWB Hispanic believers in the U.S. and abroad, and the necessity of leadership training, we accepted to be involved. We moved to the United States in July of 2015 because FWBIM headquarters is in Nashville, TN. This facilitates the launch of the ministry. My ministry in the U.S. is focused on: 1. Building relationships between FWBIM and FWB Hispanic churches around the country. Continued on Page 3
Living on God’s Schedule Continued from Page 2 2. Visiting our American FWB churches to raise the funds for the ministry and for the FWBIM partnership budgets for Latin America. 3. Flying two or three times in the year to those countries in Latin America that need specific leadership training. Moving to the U.S. has been a great experience. Despite the fact it is an amazing country in which we found a beautiful FWB family, there are a lot of challenges to face. Studying the English language seven hours a day from Monday to Friday and traveling on the weekends to the churches to share about the ministry are two of those. Also coming from the tropical countries of Cuba and Panama, the winter will be an interesting experience. God taught us to be patient. It took more than a year from the date we were approved by FWBIM until the time that we arrived in the U.S. When you accept the time of God, you live no more on your own agenda, but on God’s schedule!
Lázaro and Ariadna with students from the Seminary in Chame, Panama
Ariadna in Panama with children from the “Naso Teribe” tribe in the mountains near the Costa Rican border
Baptism in Panama in 2014
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Photo Shoot
HOT LINKS
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Email Lori See the Torrisons’ prayer card
Getting to Know Lori Which do you prefer? Coffee
Tea
Kittens
Puppies
Summer Bacon Rain
Fall
Ham Snow
Football (American) Basketball or no sports! Baseball (or from the choices, football americano)
Lori Torrison
Uruguayan Asado (Barbeque)
Is it soda, pop, or coke?
ay since May 2015
Serving in Urugu
What part of missionary work do you enjoy most?
Married to Steve ie Joyce Mother to Melan Elizabeth
and Abby
From Panama to Uruguay
LightBox
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Five Things (Almost) Every Missionary Wants to Say When missionaries leave the shores of the U.S. and embark on God’s calling on their lives, a lot of things change. Some they expected...a new language, strange foods, and a new culture. But some things many don’t expect. One of those is returning to the States and feeling a little out of sync with the rest of us. Below are five things (almost) all missionaries would like you to know. 1. Before a missionary arrives at your church, do a little homework. Often supporters give financially without becoming fully engaged in the missionary’s ministry. They know little about the country where the missionary serves or the missionary themselves. 2. The missionary may not consider the United States “home” any longer. Most love the U.S. and her heritage and honor the country of their birth. But many (not all)
Lazaro and Ariadna Riesgo share more about their passion and their ministry. Watch their video.
feel far more comfortable in their host country than they do in the States. When a missionary arrives at your church, phrases like “welcome home” or “you must be glad to be home” often ring hollow. Please don’t be offended or hurt by this.
3. Missionaries typically don’t want (or need) three large meals a day. While they are appreciative of people’s kindness, it is some- times difficult for the missionary to maintain good health. 4. Missionaries want to know you have been praying for them and their ministry. Give examples of specific times you prayed and ask about the outcome, or rejoice with them when you know prayers have been answered.
Want more information about how you can care for those going to the ends of the earth? Want to know how you can impact the kingdom as a sender? Check out Serving as Senders in the FWBIM store.
5. Give generously. Missionaries travel across the U.S. for two primary reasons. First, to share with you what God has done through their ministry and invite you to pray for them and the people to whom God has called them. Secondly, they must raise support. One of the most difficult things missionaries do is ask you for financial support. Make it easy for them.
Neil Gilliland serves as member care consultant for FWBIM
How does your prayer, support, and love help? Check out this video.
Thumbnails
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Kenneth and Rejane Eagleton serve in Brazil. Read more about Kenneth’s work in Brazil and around the world.
Anthony and Lea Edgmon serve in Alpedrete Spain. Read Anthony’s description of Spain. While it is certainly hard learning to adjust to a new culture, returning to the States can be even more difficult for missionaries. Judy writes about some of these struggles.
Read Kenneth’s advice on supporting missionaries when they come to your services.
Robert and Judy Bryan serve in France. Learn about Judy’s favorite parts of her ministries.
Missionaries give their hearts to care for and love the people to whom they minister. However, they need to be cared for and loved as well. Read Judy’s advice on how churches and supporters can do just that.
Anthony explains about the type of food served in Mexico during Cinco de Mayo to Spanish guests at the Outreach Center. Learn more about Anthony’s favorite parts of cross-cultural ministry.
Through My Lens Being an MK By Conner Outlaw The term “MK,” for those who don’t know, is short for “Missionary Kid.” Sure, it’s a two-word phrase, but the words themselves carry meaning. It’s not just a cool nickname (even though the nickname is kind of awesome). Actually being an MK makes you just the tiniest bit special. For instance, most MK’s speak at least one language besides their native tongue. You know that you’re in the presence of a group of missionary kids when one kid offends the other in English, the offended responds in French, the offender retorts in Russian, and the baby-sitter yells at them in Spanish. Sure, passersby may look at them strangely, but most MK’s are quirky anyway. Being an MK means you know how to adapt. I speak from experience when I say that adjusting from American culture to Kazakh culture is no easy task. However, since us MK’s have done it, we’re pretty good at it the next couple times. MK-ism also carries a smorgasbord of benefits as well. Speaking a foreign language can impress the kids at school, but can you guess what’s even cooler? That’s right—telling them which airline has bad service. What else impresses the cool kids, you ask? Well it’s also pretty cool to reach in your pocket at the concession stand and accidently try to pay the people at the window with euros, tenge, and won. Cool perks aside, being an MK can give you a different perspective on life. When you’re out on the mission field, you truly see God’s hand in the world, despite any kind of culture shock. For instance, Russians are known as being stoic, unmoving, and intimidating. While all of these are very true, I will never forget the first time I was blessed to hear a prayer said by a lady in the church. Her words were heartfelt, passionate, and meaningful. Despite the fact that I only picked up broken pieces of Russian in her prayer, the sheer outcry in her voice was enough to give me shivers to this very day.
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Of all the things God has blessed me with since November 2007, when I first joined my parents on the mission field at seven years old, the greatest is that He has shown me that He is utterly and completely everywhere. There is no place on the earth where God cannot say, “That is mine.” Being a missionary kid has done many things for me, but most of all, I’ve been gifted with a chance to see God’s work in places I still have trouble pronouncing. Traveling to foreign countries has shown me that we are all His. Not just the Americans. The sole fact of it is: I’m not just the child of a missionary. I am, most importantly, a child of God.
Conner
The Outlaw Crew
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Help, Hope, and Healing Recently, I had the privilege of traveling to Central Asia with The Hanna Project. Our team went to fulfill the purpose of THP: Help, Hope, and Healing. Help Our main objective in Central Asia was to continue construction on a children’s home. We were able to assist many national people in building a playground (including swing sets, slides, monkey bars, and climbing ropes), installing siding on a newly-built boys’ dorm, and painting many of the exterior walls. Two members of our team also constructed a shoe rack to go outside the dining area. Hope We worked during the day, but the best part of the trip was sitting down with the kids in the
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evenings. We played games, asked each other questions (with the help of our wonderful translators), and looked at pictures of each other’s families. The ladies on our team also worked with the girls to make bracelets. The leaders of the children’s home give these kids a safe and loving place to live, and we had the honor to be part of that, if only for a short time. Healing
Installing siding on the boy’s dorm
Before we left, we held an eyeglasses clinic and handed out 200 reading glasses to people in the area. One elderly woman—who loved to read— burst into tears as she put on her new glasses and began reading for the first time in years. We were also able to hand out first aid and wound care kits to the leaders in the children’s home as well as many of their neighbors. We have been blessed to be a blessing to others. However, each person on our team felt more of a blessing from those very hard-working and loving kids than anything we could have done for them.
Enjoying the completed dorm
I would like to encourage others to be involved with The Hanna Project. Several opportunities are coming up in 2016 to take Help, Hope, and Healing to those who need it. - Shane Brown
Building a swing set for the dorm
How can she hear,
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they
be
except
sent? Romans 10:13-15
April 24, 2016
Save th e Date
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