Volume 2 Issue 4
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at a glance 4
Rusty shares his experiences in Japan
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Celebrating Christmas around the world
Back to Brazil
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Heart for the World.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Photo Shoot (Rusty Carney). . . . . . . . . . . 4 Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Through My Lens (Alejandro Johnson). . . . . . 6 Lightbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Snapshot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Heart for the World, Heart for France
Matt Price with student attendees
by Matt Price
ON THE COVER: Bihoro, Japan, is a rural farming community Funded by FWB Foundation Editor-in-chief: Clint Morgan Managing editor : Deborah St. Lawrence Associate editor: Emily Faison Design by Melanie Poole
Each Friday night, Cœur Pour Le Monde (translated “Heart for the World”), welcomes about 50 students from around the world to eat pizza, practice French...and read the Bible. Most of the students who come to the outreach attend top schools in Nantes, and will be the influential people in their home countries in the years to come. Though we have many Indian and Chinese participants this year, we also have students from Iraq, Sudan, Colombia, and Brazil. The students who attend outreach include
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians—all gathered together to study the words of Jesus. This outreach ministry combines practical offerings for International students—the opportunity to improve their French—with fun activities, like games. The evening begins with pizza, as students trickle in, along with a few icebreakers to get everyone acquainted and at ease, before transitioning to a Bible study time. After working through a passage of Scripture, Continued on Page 3
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Heart Continued from Page 2 we share a dessert together. Of course, the outreach is not without challenges. Buying pizzas for 50 people every week can get expensive! Fortunately, we partner with three other ministries. However, even with the draw of pizza, it can be hard to connect with students outside of our Friday night meetings. We’ll see some students show up one week and then we will not see them for several weeks. Yet, we continue to have five to seven new people each week, simply because those who attend bring their friends. That shows us we have gained their trust. To build stronger and deeper connections on that trust, we desire to involve students in one-on-one Bible studies with leaders from the outreach. From our Friday night meetings, several students have started Bible studies one-on-one with our group leaders, and I have been meeting with a Vietnamese student for the past four weeks. Two weeks ago, he asked if we could have our Bible discussion in French one day, and the next day have a discussion about Christianity in English, because he had a lot of questions. As we met, he asked me, “Matt, how did you become a Christian?” That gave me the opportunity to share my faith and the gospel with him over the next two hours. God is ministering to students through Cœur Pour Le Monde. Around 15 students attended our Thanksgiving service at church.
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians—all gathered together to study the words of Jesus.
View more photos from Cœur Pour Le Monde ministry.
Check out the Thumbnails section for photos of Cœur Pour Le Monde’s Thanksgiving dinner.
Photo Shoot
HOT LINKS
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Email Rusty See the Carney’s prayer card
Which do you prefer? Coffee or tea? Cats or dogs? Spicy or mild? Spicy! Salsa, curry, sushi with wasabi... Facebook or Twitter?
haro. e Kuss k a L ic Volcan usty’s bout R n. a e r o a Learn m parts of Jap e it r o v a f
Green thumb or plant-killer? Plant Killer--my wife has the green thumb! Summer or fall? Driver or passenger?
Read more about the Carneys in Bihoro
Soda, pop or coke?
an Rusty Carney, Jap
Bihoro does have While the town of Baptist church, a small Free Will no ns around it have many of the tow Our prayer is that church — period. to encourage and we would be able ro lievers in the Biho strengthen the be make disciples in church as well as nding towns with some of the surrou witness. little to no gospel
Kids who recently attended our Christmas outreach. Many of those attending were English students and their families. Read more about Rusty’s ministry.
Rusty and wife Brenda, children Grace (9), Kelton (2), and Katherine (6 months)
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Thumbnails Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations with missionaries around the globe
“This service has become an annual tradition that kicks off the Christmas season for the entire city.” View more photos from the Christmas Carol Service in Aix-en-Provence, France. “The French are quite curious about the idea of Thanksgiving.” Read more about Matt and Cristina’s Thanksgiving outreach in France.
“Everyone who came out of the doors after the function was over was smiling.” Read more about the Christmas performance in Alpedrete, Spain.
“At least 15 unsaved adults and children who’ve been connected to our church since 2009 attended our family Christmas party!” See more images from Kamifukuoka Christ Church’s Christmas activities.
Through My Lens Operation MK, by Alejandro Johnson For years, I’ve packed a box for Operation Christmas Child, but this year, I packed NINE. My name is Alejandro Johnson, and I’m an MK in Spain. My parents have been here for 18 years, and I’ve been here for 16 of them. I’ve lived my whole life here, going to public school in Spanish. Every year for as long as I can remember, I’ve put together a box for Operation Christmas Child. This year I wanted to get more people involved, so I presented the project to my high school principal.
Items collected from Alejandro’s classmates. See more photos from the Madrid processing center.
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She said yes to getting the whole school on board, and within a week, posters were up and teachers had been informed that I would be picking up items for the boxes during break. For three days during recess break, I collected what people brought (an assortment of hygiene products, candy, and school supplies). When it was time to put it all together, what I received filled up eight boxes with stuff to spare. I also packed my own separate box, like I’ve done in other years. Then we boxed all the gifts from school and sent them to the processing center in Madrid. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the processing center, checking boxes and helping prepare them for being shipped to Equatorial Guinea and the Sahara. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed the opportunity to minister to other kids around the world. “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” Matthew 19:14
Volunteers at the Madrid processing center.
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The Leandros have been holding Wednesday and Sunday services in the home of Elena and Tel, a local family. Click for more photos from these services.
LightBox Alagoas Missions Project: An Update Since Clovis and Cristina Leandro have begun their work in the village of Boa Esperança, in the state of Alagoas, Brazil, they have seen fruit from their labor among the people. Most, if not all, of the people in the village have never heard the gospel, but the Leandros have followed the Lord’s leading to minister to this area, about 1,500 miles from Campinas, São Paulo. To read more about the Leandros journey from Campinas to Boa Esperança, check out Cristina’s recent article in ONE Magazine.
Clovis and Cristina Leandro
From direct evangelizing to community events like offering haircuts, at least three adults and 10 children have begun attending services regularly. And, praise the Lord, all three adults have decided to follow the Lord.
Many children attend Clovis and Cristina’s Bible classes.
However, the work in Boa Esperança has not been easy. Clovis and Cristina started holding Bible studies in the homes of a few local families, but are now planning to purchase a corner lot on the main street of the village. The lot is approximately 3,000 square feet, but will require development and construction. There is much to be done concerning the purchase of the land— Clovis and Cristina are in need of prayers and guidance. Since Clovis is a barber, he is able to use that to minister to the community. The Leandros host many social events in the community. Click for more photos from these events.
“Back to Brazil.” bal. otica ime in Jab Careys’ t g n i h e c h a t e r m tian p os fro Chris ore phot m w Vie zil. in Bra
Back to Brazil By Christian Carey When my wife, Danielle, was a child, she shocked everyone by proudly announcing she wanted to be a missionary to Brazil. Fast-forward 13 years, and that’s exactly where we found ourselves. In May of 2015, before we were married, we went with a CMP group led by Curt Holland to the town of Araras, Brazil, where we spent nearly two weeks working with a church. We came back to America and started our life together. We married and kept chipping away at our degrees. When the time came for Danielle to complete her Overseas Apprenticeship for her Intercultural Studies Degree at Randall University, we sat down with Curt. At the 2014 convention in Grand Rapids, he asked us where we wanted to go.
Seven weeks in Brazil we spent together— learning, serving, loving. From our first day in Rio de Janeiro, to our next destination in Uberlândia, to our time in Jaboticabal, I have never experienced Christ like this. Allow me to share a few notes from our experiences in Brazil.
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Danielle and I learned that we are called to be missionaries. Sitting in the São Paulo airport, soon to board our flight back to Atlanta, I was broken. Danielle was sobbing. Coming back was wrong. We did not want to return to America. I’m glad we went back to Brazil, and I know it won’t be the last time. This is the life of a missionary, an ambassador, a bridge. We’re all in.
We learned the importance of being involved in a local church. During the first part of our time in Brazil, we co-led with a CMP team in Uberlândia. But then we moved on to Jaboticabal, where, for the first time, my wife and I were alone in another country without a team surrounding us. Though we could hardly speak to anyone in Jaboticabal, and though we didn’t understand all the customs, we served that church however we could. We became a part of the church, a part of those people. We became a part of the family.
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We learned the importance of the Great Commission. No matter the cultural differences or difficulties, we are called, always, to work for the Kingdom. Christ is King, and when His people who are called by His name humble themselves and pray, everything is changed. Continue your work.
Danielle and Christian with longtime missionary (now retired) to Brazil, Bobby Poole
P. O. Box 5002 • Antioch, TN 37011 www.fwbgo.com • 877-767-7736
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