mission:world | God Sent His Son

bma america

OUR MISSIONARY GOD

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BY: DONNY PARRISH | BMA AMERICA

e serve a “sending” God! Aren’t you thankful?

Since the dawn of his creation, God has been sending people to help make his name famous among the nations.

God SENT Abraham in Genesis 12:1.

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.

God SENT Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8.

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

God inspired David with a SENDING psalm in 1 Chronicles 16:24.

Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.

And, in the New Testament, Jesus SENDS each of us!

John 20:21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

This edition of Mission:World magazine focuses on our “Missionary God”. It was his plan from the beginning to redeem everyone by sending people to proclaim his message of love to the world. BMA Missions, Lifeword, DiscipleGuide and BMA Seminary are all focused on helping your church send the message of Jesus to your community and around the world. Our prayer is that you will enjoy these stories told by your missions force.

It blesses me to know that God took missions to the next level when he SENT his own Son to my family and to me that first Christmas.

John 1:14 (The Message) The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from your team at BMA America!

Family of Ministries To help fulfill the Great Commission, the people of the BMA have created a family of ministries. Each has a unique directive, but all have the same Great Commission purpose.

BMA Missions seeks to facilitate churches in fulfilling the Great Commission through assessment, training, coaching, and missionary care.

Lifeword Media Ministries assists in taking the Gospel throughout the world through radio, television, the internet, and mobile devices.

DiscipleGuide Church Resources partners with BMA Churches by providing church resources, workshops, camps, and conferences.

BMA Seminary equips students to become pastors, missionaries, and church leaders.

Moral Action makes sure that the views of BMA Baptist are heard in the halls of Washington D.C. Minister’s Resources Services helps meet the financial planning needs of BMA pastors and staffs.

The BMA Foundation is the endowment instrument for all of the ministries of the Baptist Missionary Association.

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mission:world (USPS 575-320)

Volume 3 - Issue 6 November - December 2015 www.bmaamerica.org

Contents

Editor Donny Parrish Managing Editor Phillip Rice Design & Layout Jared Eakin Published bimonthly by the Baptist Missionary Association of America, 611 Locust Street Conway, AR 72034 Entered as Periodical Rate at Conway, Arkansas.

Periodical Postage paid at Conway, Arkansas and at additional mailing offices.

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WE HAVE A MISSIONARY GOD Throughout the Bible, the emphasis and importance of missions is evident.

POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Mission:World P.O. Box 1188 Conway, Arkansas 72033 501.329.6891 Email missionworld@bmaamerica.org Website www.bmaamerica.org Subscription rate is $7.50 per year 65 and older, $1.00 per year Church Plan, 50 cents per month per family

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Lifeword

Delivering the Gospel to the Middle East.

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BMMI

Making Everlasting Smiles shoebox ministry

Lifeword.....................................................................18-21 DiscipleGuide............................................................24-27

Seminary...................................................................30-33 For contact info, websites, and more on the BMA family of ministries, visit BMALife.com

mission:news...........................................................43-47 November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 3

asia-pacific

ASIA-PACIFIC

Three missionary families share their visions for reaching Asia for Christ

“I

am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop to see you. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can help me with my missionary journey.” That was the Apostle Paul 2,000 years ago. Though there were many Christians in Rome, he had never been there and was anxious to go. He had just completed his letter, reminding himself to mention how pleased he was with the reports of their character and knowledge.

They had in fact “instructed one another.” Wow! He was so proud that his disciples had made disciples. But notice that even though he had not

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BY: PHIL KNOTT | MISSIONS yet been to Rome, the missionary was on his way to Spain. That was like the end of the known world!

And just in case they wondered why he wanted to go to Spain when he hadn’t been to see them yet, he wrote, “I make it my ambition to preach Christ where he has not been named.”

Fast forward to Samuel Zwemer, who wrote, “The great Pioneer Missionaries all had ‘inverted homesickness,’ this passion to call that country their home which was most in need of the Gospel.

In this passion all other passions died; before this vision all other visions faded; this call drowned out

all other voices. They were the pioneers of the Kingdom.”

Asia is one of those mission fields today, out on the limits of missionary frontiers. It also inspires the same passion and calling. There are three BMA missionaries entering new areas this year in Asia.

Filomeno and Lisa Kakilala, Northern Luzon, Philippines.

Filomeno writes: “At our wedding, Lisa and I dedicated our lives to serve the Lord in the Philippines.

Well, that was twenty-seven years ago! We’ve had few detours along the way, most recently planting two churches in Hawaii. The members of those churches are mostly Ilocanos, a people group from the Philippines. Of course, they asked, ‘Why is there not a BMA Missions outreach in Northern Philippines?’ Our family took it as a challenge, resulting in a mission trip to that area. That outreach has now produced two vibrant congregations in Laoag City and San Nicolas City in the Ilocono region of the Philippines. We also have a group ready to start a new church in Metro Manila.”

“Our next step is to move to the Philippines and develop our Filipino ministry team. My wife and daughter are learning Tagalog, and I am learning to improve on my Ilocano communication skills.

Although English is spoken and Tagalog is also commonly used, we need to learn Ilocano and be versatile in language. There are also the purists in their culture who prefer to only deal in the Ilocano way. We will need to adjust to a new environment and procure just about everything to start a new home and ministry setting. Prayers are appreciated.”

Eli and Ana Brito-Semedo, Thailand “When God stirred our hearts about crosscultural ministry, we felt drawn to working among an unreached people group in Asia. For different reasons, Thailand kept coming to our minds. While waiting for further guidance, we spent two years in Chiang Mai learning the language and culture.

In this period, God laid on our hearts the desire and need to work among Thai Muslims in southern Thailand. Many thousands of Thai Muslims have yet to hear the one true story of Isa Al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah). The number of Christian workers in the south is very low, making that region the least reached area in the country. One of the challenges November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 5

asia-pacific is certainly the language. Although we’ve devoted the past two years to learning Thai language, we will need to use the tools that we’ve acquired to improve our language skills and also learn the unique vocabulary used by Muslims. Another challenge is developing relationships with Thai Muslims. Entering into a new culture, it will take time to learn their customs, earn people’s trust, be part of the community, and make close friends.”

“Once we settle in the South, I will apply for a few teaching jobs at Muslim schools. This will provide me with a unique platform and access to the community. As our language progresses, we want to connect with teachers and community leaders. In time, we want to share meals together and build a relationship. By then, we will be looking for windows of opportunity to steer the conversation to spiritual matters. Eventually, we hope to share chronological Bible stories. The end goal is to establish missional communities – House Churches – that will grow in the Word and share with others about Christ and the transformation that he brings to those who surrender to him.”

Sam and Dawn Freeman, Negros Oriental, Philippines.

“The Oriental side of Negros Island has a very diverse culture and a different dialect from the Occidental side. Results from the last census indicate that Orientals are predominantly ‘animists veiled in orthodoxy.’ These belief systems are generational and deeply embedded into their culture. Much care must be given that we simply do not replace one type of idol worship with another.

We must reach them at the center of their being.

This will allow them to be ‘transformed by the renewing of their minds.’ Another challenge we face is the overwhelming poverty in these areas.

The circumstances so many of these people live in leave them with very little hope. Like the Jews of Jesus’ day, they seek relief in this life, not realizing that this life is but a vapor, which is here for only a moment. It takes discipleship to help a Filipino believer who is young in his or her faith to realize 6 ::: November - December 2015 | mission:world

that by, ‘seeking God’s kingdom first, and His righteousness, that all these things shall be added unto you,’ does not necessarily mean that we will no longer have physical and financial worries, but that our desires in this life are remolded into what God says is important.”

“Our family is partnering with Filipino churches and leaders to develop a unified vision for planting churches in the Oriental region. 3We will need all the tools God has blessed us with at our disposal: Lifeword Singers, Lifeword Community Radio (LPFM), BMA Bible College, Publications, and BMMI teams. With all of these ministries involved in church planting, we will be able to saturate the identified areas with the gospel message in many forms, which will help us jump start our mission efforts.”

God is a missionary God. He is still sending, still calling, and still opening doors in places where Christ is not named.

south america

BY: BUDDY JOHNSON | HISPANIC MISSIONS

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issionaries, pastors, teachers, and workers are constantly searching for tools that can aid them in their work. Several years ago, Bro. Jack Courtney, former North American Missions director, was seeking tools that could help his church planters plant more churches.

He became acquainted with Paul Becker, founder of Dynamic Church Planting International (DCPI), and began introducing his church planters to DCPI materials.

DCPI was relatively new since it had been begun with Paul’s vision in 1994. The goal of DCPI was to help

churches and associations of churches plant one million churches before the return of Christ. Through the years, the DCPI program has become a requirement for all BMA missionaries.

In 2007 when I became coordinator of Hispanic Church Planting with Bro. Kevin Clayton, who was then our North American Missions director, I was asked to go through DCPI training. Since the materials had not yet been translated into Spanish, we decided to wait until I November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 7

South america could be trained using the Spanish materials. In 2009 I was trained and certified to teach DCPI materials in Spanish and English and immediately began to use the principles of church planting that we teach. Bro. Larry Barker, who had become our current North American Missions director and was a Regional Zone leader for DCPI, helped me become a master trainer in DCPI materials and in 2011, Dr. Mark Williams, vice president of DCPI, appointed me as senior master trainer of DCPI materials.

The materials we teach are produced in five tracts: Essentials, Churches Planting Churches, Becoming a Mentor, Growing New Churches, and Beginning a Church Planting Movement. I was immediately thrilled by the materials of DCPI, because for almost thirty years I had stumbled and struggled to discover the best way to plant churches in Mexico. To my amazement, DCPI had included almost everything I had learned in all those years and had packaged the materials that could be taught in three days. It is reproducible and available in many languages.

Today, as coordinator of international training for the BMA, I work with our International Missions director, Bro. Phil Knott, teaching principles of church planting, leadership, multiplication, and coaching around the world. It has been my joy during the past five years to teach church planting in many countries and help train more than 500 church planters around the world. The

DCPI goal is to train 23,000 church planters in 2015 and many of these are our own people and the vision is now to help churches and associations of churches plant five million churches worldwide before the coming of our Lord. Many of these new churches are BMA churches around the world. I am convinced that what we have learned, we must share with faithful men who can teach others (2 Timothy 2:2).

Several years ago, Bro. Bill Gibson moved to Chile and when he left he put one man in charge of the work he had begun in the city of Santiago. Bro. Pablo Munoz was the man whom Bro. Bill had discipled for almost three years. We trained Pablo in the church planting principles, and he immediately began to apply the principles in his church plant. The church was organized and last year we taught twenty-two of his men in the principles of planting new churches. This year two of these men have been ordained as pastors.

Bro. Cristian is pastoring the church Bro. Bill and Bro. Pablo have led, and Bro. Patricio is planting a new church in one of the annexes of Santiago. The vision of Bro. Pablo is to begin another church that will begin other churches in the city of Santiago.

In Bolivia, there are many new, small churches that have been started as the result of the Rivers of Blessing ministry along the Mamore River. We dedicated our River Institute building in March of this year, and we are working to train young men to travel the river and

Buddy Johnson (left) and students at the Bible Institue in Bolivia receiving their certificates.

Buddy Johnson teaching at the Bible Institute in Bolivia

evangelize as they begin new churches. We have led in the training of eighteen pastors and others in church planting studies.

In Peru, it was my blessing to spend three days with Bro. Paul Tinoco and teach him these principles of church planting. He was my only student. The next year, he organized a training in the jungles of Peru, we taught twenty-one men the church planting principles, and last year we taught twenty others in the town of Tarma. Today there are several new churches in the mountains of Peru because of the work these men are doing as they evangelize and disciple new believers in their area.

In Uruguay we have tried to encourage the faithful men who are carrying on the work which was begun by Bro. James Poole many years ago. My son Grady helped me teach nine young people the principles of DCPI church planting, and I am encouraged to hear that they are working and planning to begin new churches. I also shared the materials with Bro. Daniel Reyes and ask your prayers for him and new churches to be planted through his leadership.

In Paraguay, we have a Bolivian pastor, Bro. Regino Acu単a, who is our missionary. He and I have led in the training of twenty men in his town. We pray that new churches will be planted in Asuncion very soon.

Bro. Phil Knott and I have worked with our missionaries in India and have taught all of them the church planting principles presented in DCPI materials.

Recently we worked with Bro. Jeramiah Shetti and several of his men in northern India, and we are thrilled at the five new pastors who are active in starting new churches.

Finally, I continue to be thrilled at what God is doing in Mexico. The Alba Baptist Church of Pachuca is actively planting two daughter churches in their nearby areas. Our son Grady and our-son-in-law Tommy Rose are leading in these endeavors. I am happy for the work they are doing. Also, the First Baptist Church of Huejutla, which was the very first church I planted in Mexico, is presently planting fifteen daughter churches in their area of the mountains of Mexico. I am thrilled at the leadership of Bro. Josue Osorio and the work his people are doing for Christ.

This practice is being repeated all around the world where God is giving his men the vision to plant new churches. I believe with all my heart that the heartbeat of our Father is for the growth of his kingdom through the planting of new churches. Please pray that God will give the increase while some plant and others water.

November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 9

W e h av e a MISSIONARY GOD BY: DR. JOHN DAVID SMITH | MISSIONS

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lthough the view out the window on this trans-Pacific flight is quite captivating with a myriad of colors and clouds, my mind’s eye is looking well beyond the picturesque scene as I go through a personal debrief of the last few days.

A group of three Central Baptist College students and I are returning from a visit to the church planting team in the Wantakia (#ReachWantakia) region of Papua New Guinea. The Crabtree, Hambrice, and Sanders families have committed their lives to reaching the ten unreached tribes of Wantakia with the message of the gospel. Here are a few of the facts about these families’ present realities: they have spent upwards of four years preparing to enter this tribe, they are spending many hours learning the culture, they are learning the language so they can write it, then teach the people to read it and give God’s Word in written form; there are seven children among the three families, all aged five and below; their tribe is accessible only by helicopter or a multipledays hike; their burning desire is to see the Wantakian people come to Christ and then be the ones who take the message to their fellow tribes; and it goes without saying that they live without a lot of the excesses that we call necessities.

However, their questions do not center on things they may feel they are missing out on, because that is not how they feel. Their question is simple to all who

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BMA AMERICA do not share their present reality: “Why not tribal missions?”

For everyone who is held captive by a pseudo-Christianity that is all about me and mine and has no sense of God’s mission at home or abroad, these families, along with others who have given all in the mission of God, are used by the Spirit to prompt us to rethink a lack of missionary purpose.

Although there are many possible motives for living a life in concert with the mission of God such as the need to obey the Great Commission, the “lostness” of men, the need to plant churches, etc. The greatest motive for global mission is the fact that we have a Missionary God! This God is the hero of the story! We must live in love and loyalty to this triune God who has made himself known and desires to be known to the ends of the earth. If this is the mission of God, then our mission can be no less.

The theological and motivational discussions concerning missions begin and end with a missionary God who is ultimate, not us! Once we connect our vision and passion for missions to the God who has revealed himself and desires to be made known, we will discover the purpose for which we were made: to know and worship HIM. We see the foundation of mission in our God in the fact that he is life, he is good, he is one, and he is love. We also see the missional nature in his creation of a kingdom of people capable of displaying his glory, redeeming that fallen creation, and ultimately restoring his creation in a blessed place full of eternal worshippers.

God’s missionary nature is exhibited clearly in the pages of his great story, the Bible. From the beginning to the end, God

declares his missionary nature as he interacts with the creation he made for himself. Early in the story, God declares in Genesis 12:3 that a “Deliverer” will come to bless the nations. Galatians 3:8 says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you all the nations will be blessed.’” In Exodus 19:6 God tells Israel that they will be a nation of priests to represent him to the nations, and this was stated before the law was given. There are numerous missionary Psalms including Psalm 67 (see Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper for a thorough treatment of this Psalm).

The book of Jonah describes one of the most significant missionary results in all of the Bible. Jesus himself gave credence to what God accomplished through the reluctant

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of God, the command to preach, proclamation, belief, judgment, etc.

It can also be argued that Daniel was perhaps the greatest missionary of all time. We know that Daniel was chosen to go into Babylonian captivity along with other capable men from Israel. Daniel’s outstanding reputation in his homeland was due to his love and obedience to God. Once he was taken into Babylonian captivity, we know that he made God’s name great in that world empire when King Nebuchadnezzar sent out a worldwide decree stating that there was no God like the God of Israel (Daniel 3:29). What we fail to realize at times is that Daniel was also a great missionary to yet another world empire. The familiar story of Daniel and the lion’s den takes place under the rule of King Darius of the Medo-Persian Empire. In Daniel 6:25-28, Darius also makes a worldwide decree concerning the greatness of Daniel’s God! Daniel makes God’s name known in his homeland and two world empires. This certainly speaks to the missionary nature of our God! The worldwide kingdom of God is a reoccurring theme throughout the book of Daniel.

This important Old Testament book teaches us two vital lessons about the missionary nature of God. First, we see the mission of God as heathen nations become aware of his greatness. Second, we see the mission of God as missionary in the city of Nineveh. “For as Jonah became his worldwide kingdom is prophesied and the glory and a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the son of Man worship of our God is the declared goal of his creation. be to this generation. The men of Nineveh will rise up In the New Testament, the incarnation of the eternal at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, Son of God brings the mission of God to its fullest earthly for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, expression. Jesus Christ, the sent One, becomes the something greater than Jonah is here.” The book of sender as he spends ninety percent of his earthly ministry Nahum also is spoken to Nineveh, and the Ninevites preparing the men were not Jews. who would turn This is significant the world upside in Old Testament down. Have you ever writings because it thought about the “Almost every book of the NT demonstrates that fact that basically our God has always speaks about someone on mission. the entire New been a missionary Testament is given God. There was an Practically every book is written in a missionary outward missionary about people who are being context? Almost expectation from every book of God to Israel. prepared for missionary service...” the NT speaks Certainly, that about someone on force was a lot mission. Practically more centripetal every book is written than centrifugal in about people who are being prepared for missionary the Old Testament, but it reveals the missionary nature service, to those who are in the middle of missionary of God nonetheless. The book of Jonah is filled with service, or to churches that have just been started as language about missionary themes such as the grace 12 ::: November - December 2015 | mission:world

a result of the missionary enterprise. Our God is a missionary God! The Gospels are written about the Master making disciple makers. The book of Acts gives us the advancement of the mission of God to the known world.

The Epistles speak to laborers and new local churches.

In Romans, Paul clearly defines the gospel as it relates to the righteousness “from” God. He also speaks concerning his work of proclaiming this message in the eastern Mediterranean world, as well as his desire to preach this message where it had not been heard (Chapter 15). In Corinthians, Paul once again defines the gospel and states that it must be proclaimed through preaching. Missions in Galatia prompted the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 and reminds us that our theology was not an academic pursuit; it was hammered out in the context of missions. Ephesians was written to the church that became the missions headquarters in Asia Minor. Philippians celebrates the incarnational approach of Christ as being foundational and exemplary in the missionary process. Colossians begins with the ministry of Epaphras (1:7) as the church

planter and ends with a who’s who list of Paul’s missionary team. Space does not allow us to note examples from all the books of the New Testament. However, the missionary content of the Word of God reflects the fact that our God is a missionary God! We find ourselves in a most opportune time in the mission of God. We have the unique privilege of making God’s name known to the nations. We celebrate our missionary God and we worship him in anticipation of the goal of missions: “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen’” (Acts 15:9-12).

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FRANCE BY: MIKE CROSS | FRANCE

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hroughout the Bible, we see the example of a sending God. He sent a ram to take the place of Isaac. God sent Moses to lead the people out of captivity in Egypt, and he sent Jonah to Nineveh.

And of course, he sent Jesus. That is why we as Christians celebrate Christmas, to celebrate the sending of Jesus. The holidays are a time when sending and giving are often at the forefront of our thoughts.

During this time of year, the idea of “sending” is popular even here in France. While we do not send Christmas cards, people will send small gifts to each other all during the Christmas season. And of course, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, gifts are exchanged as people send and share their love with one another. While many churches will have services on Christmas Eve, from our experience, the idea of God sending us a gift through the giving of his Son is all but lost on the people of France. The ancient traditions of Christmas time and Catholic

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holidays still dictate the calendar, but that is about as far as the true meaning of Christmas or of God being kind and giving goes. France is a country with such a rich history. It is a history full of ups and downs. A history full of good times and of difficult times. A history filled with both peaceful times and times of war. But never in the history of France can it be said that it was a time when Jesus reigned.

Thankfully, God was, is, and forever will be a God who sends and a God who gives. God loves France and her people. That is one of the reasons that he sent Jesus. Jesus was not sent to die just for one nation or one race of people, but he died for all nations and colors and creeds. I am reminded of what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9 that, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Each and every day that God sends us is an opportunity to share with others about the

wonderful gift of salvation that he has given to us.

And while God has sent us to be witnesses to that good news here in France, he has also sent you, so be his witness wherever you may find yourself.

If you will take a moment right now to stop and think about it, I would imagine that there are several people who come to mind whom God has sent your way this year. Maybe they are already believers who need to be encouraged in their walks with the Lord.

Maybe they are non-believers who need someone to listen to them, walk with them, and love them.

One of my prayers is that God will allow me to cross paths with people who need him in a special way.

And I am constantly amazed at the people that God has allowed me to work with and to love on. God is love. And in this crazy mixed-up world that we live in, that simple statement is just what the world needs to hear. People here in Clermont-Ferrand, in France, in Europe, and all over the world need to know that God loves them so much that he sent his

Son for them. They need to be told about the love and grace that can be found in this gift named Jesus.

I want to leave you with a challenge. As we are busy sending gifts and sending cards and sending “Thank You” cards for gifts that we have received, let us not be so busy and so caught up in the sending, giving, and sharing of material things that we forget to share and give those things which have an eternal value. You are all familiar with the saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season”, but let us not forget that God did not just send Jesus for a couple of weeks in December. In fact, Jesus should not just be the “reason for the season”, but our reason for everything that we say and do.

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season and remember that there is no greater gift we can give one another than the gift of love and that there is no greater love than the love that God has shown to us all through the sending of Jesus.

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or unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, Luke 2:11. Therefore, we know he lives! We all like to sing the song written by Bill and Gloria Gaither titled “Because He Lives” (I can face tomorrow).

This is the message that Baptist Medical Missions International, commonly referred to as BMMI, carries to BMA mission fields. BMMI has a division called “Children Helping Children,” which is an opportunity for children of all ages to be involved in BMA missions around the world.

This is a program by which youth groups or other groups in our churches have the opportunity to send funds to BMMI for use on the mission field to provide short-term help for tragic events

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BY: DR. RALPH IZARD | BMMI like an earthquake in Haiti, a hurricane along the Gulf coast, a flood in Bolivia, a landslide in the Philippines or a famine in the End village of Cambodia, plus many other unexpected catastrophes in other parts of the world.

Out of this program, BMMI received a suggestion from one of our churches to send Christmas presents to the children on one of our mission fields. BMMI felt that this was a great way to introduce men, women, boys and girls to the birth of Jesus Christ. This program was named “Making Everlasting Smiles” and thousands of shoebox-sized gifts have been sent to mission fields around the world. This year half of the boxes will go to Savaii, a remote, undeveloped island

BMMI in the South Pacific. (We ask that the boxes be wrapped in Christmas paper, but please don’t use Santa Clause paper as we want our missionary to be able to tell the story of Jesus without having to explain Santa Claus to the children.) Distribution of the Christmas presents has resulted in mission churches being formed.

Several of these missions have organized into BMA churches. Anytime a group of people assembles, a common discussion topic is everyone’s aches and pains. It was realized that an excellent way to attract families to meet together was the use of medical teams from the United States. Many of our mission fields are in countries where medical care is not readily available, plus there is a lack of funds to purchase medicine once it is prescribed. This provides an opportunity for our missionary on the field to meet people who live in the area and provide high quality medical care to the population there. Many times the greatest service that the medical team provides to an individual who comes to the clinic is showing love and care for a seriously ill patient who feels that no one cares. This is a special opening for one of the medical team members to explain the love of Jesus Christ to him or her.

There is always a need for medical personnel on a BMMI team, but the primary reason for a

medical team visit to a mission field is to work with the missionary teaching people about the Good News of Jesus Christ. For this reason, anyone who wants to tell others about the love that Jesus Christ has for them becomes a valuable member of the team. On our last visit to Micronesia, one of the people who received medical care commented that the difference in this medical team and others that had visited their island was that we spent time telling them about the love of Jesus Christ and didn’t just give them a tract. Each year thousands of individuals are treated in our clinics and provided the needed medicine. Many come to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. There is always a need for anyone wanting to share Jesus Christ on a BMMI medical team.

When you say your prayers tonight, I urge you to ask the Lord how he would want you involved in missions. Many are involved as senders or providers and some as goers, but both of these groups are needed and are of equal importance in carrying out Jesus’ command to go and tell others. In his book “Jesus Among Other Gods”, Ravi Zacharias points out that in John 14:19 there is one of the most comforting statements made

by Jesus: “Because I live, you shall live also.”

What a great message that we are privileged to carry to the nations.

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delivering the gospel to the middle east

BY: DR. STEVE CRAWLEY | LIFEWORD

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n July 29 at 5 p.m. in an undisclosed location somewhere in Amman, Jordan, Charlie Costa, BMA regional missions director to the Middle East, and a man who, for safety reasons, wishes to be identified only as “Bro. I” are sitting in front of two computer monitors debating the stylistic merits of three short videos. Each video features a speaker addressing a topic that is of interest to those living in the Middle East and North Africa — a predominantly Muslim region

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— from a Christian worldview. One of these videos will serve as the model for a series of fiftytwo discipleship “hook” videos for the Arabicspeaking world.

In the Arab world, Internet media is important to evangelism and discipleship on a level those in English-speaking regions might not comprehend.

In the West, especially in America, information about Christianity freely flows. Most evangelism is done at the level of face-to-face interaction,

and a church with a physical meeting location and a pastoral staff can be found in nearly every city. If Americans are curious about Christ, they likely know a Christian personally, and at the very least they could visit a church without fear of governmental or familial persecution. But for millions of Middle Easterners, discussing Christ in person is dangerous and often impossible.

The reality of a world closed off from the open voices of Christians is why this series of

“hook” videos is so important. The Internet is the “marketplace of ideas” where a staggering number of Muslim converts to Christianity hear the gospel and learn Christian doctrine. According to Bro. I, who is a staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ, ninety percent of all converts throughout the region came to Christ because of information they found online. Even ISIS members are being reached. Bro. I’s organization has an evangelism hotline that two ISIS members called in the past

November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 19

LIFEWORD week. The men were asking if it was possible for Jesus to forgive them. One had personally cut the necks of twenty-nine Christians. Both converted.

The short videos Lifeword and Bro. Costa’s production team will partner to produce are meant to entice Arabic-speaking believers to take advantage of free online discipleship materials as many believers are alone in their journey with Christ. As the age of YouTube has proven, people will watch a one and a half to three minute video if it pops up on their Facebook news feed. Fifty-two videos are planned, each containing a topic of interest to Middle Eastern and North African people.

The videos will direct viewers to talmazaonline. com, a site sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. (While the site is in Arabic, most Internet browsers will translate the site to unrefined English) From this site, viewers can access a broad range of discipleship materials.

Another great feature of the site is the ability of users to join The Church Online, which allows users to not only view the video, but also to participate in live worship services from the Arab Church in Cairo. During the services, remote viewers can live chat with Christians on site. If users have questions about the meaning of phrases or the doctrine being preached, they can have their questions answered in real time by real believers. This is a tremendous help and source of encouragement for those living in the shadow of organizations such as ISIS or Al Qaeda. In August, the BMA’s own Bro. Costa will be traveling to Cairo to record a series of fifteen, fortyfive-minute sermons for the church.

The “hook” videos are not the only major media undertaking in the Middle East. A twentyfour/seven Internet radio station (radioalive.org) for Arabic-speaking people all over the world is also in place. The station features both Arabic and English sermons from well-known pastors in the Middle East and America. Additionally, the Middle East team produces content for a website called Arabic Insight for Living (arabicinsight. com.), which offers sermons, articles, links, counseling and videos.

Lifeword will also be providing matching funds for a new, 1,000-watt FM transmitter to be placed in Beirut, Lebanon. The smaller, weaker transmitter they used has burned out, and even when operational, was not effective enough.

Beirut is a large, modern city with tall buildings and a more powerful transmitter is needed. A 1,000-watt transmitter placed on a high hill should be sufficient to rain down the twenty-four hour sermons and Christian music into a city full of refugees and only sixty miles from areas controlled by ISIS. While the Western world primarily sees only the turmoil that plagues the Middle East, the truth is that in the darkness of conflict, the light of the gospel shines all the brighter and the peace of Christ is tangible in the hearts of those who are being saved. Please continue praying and supporting the media ministries of our missionaries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Video Project Titles 1.

Be Sure

2.

Who is God?

3.

Knowing God

4.

Saved by Grace

5.

Created for a Purpose

6.

The Holy Spirit

7.

Filled with Spirit

8.

Holy Spirit’s Work

9.

Holy Spirit’s Power

10.

Living in the Spirit

11.

What is the Bible?

12.

Power of the Bible

13.

Reading the Bible

14.

Trustworthy Bible

15.

A Daily Pattern

16.

Joining a Family

17.

Like a Family

18.

How Does it Work?

19.

Finding a Good Church

20.

Involved in Church

21.

What is Prayer?

22.

Why Pray?

23.

When to Pray

24.

Where to Pray

25.

How to Pray

26.

Great Commission 101

27.

Why Share?

28.

What is the Gospel?

29.

How Do I Share?

30.

Don’t be Scared

31.

The Trinity

32. Angels 33.

The Devil & the Evil Spirits

34.

The Human

35.

The Covenants

36. Sin 37. Salvation

45. Righteousness

38. Prayer

46. Peace

39. Grace

47. Holiness

40.

48.

Christian Ethics

41. Renewal

49.

Eternal Assurance

42.

50.

The Church

43. Faith

51.

Divine Announcement

44.

52.

Divine Revelation

The Redemption The Alternative The Adoption

BY: DAVID DICKSON | HISPANIC MISSIONS

B

eginning immediately after our national association was formed, pioneer church planters were elected and sent out to take the gospel to a spiritually destitute world. The region of the world that received the majority of those new missionaries was Latin America. It was during that initial “wave” of missionaries that three Central American countries (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala) received their first missionaries. Since then, the BMAA (Baptist Missionary Association of America) has established a missions presence in the remaining three countries of Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Belize.

Our missions efforts and accomplishments in this region are a good “picture” of the long-term goals of BMA Missions. We presently have no American

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church planters in Central America, as national leaders have stepped up to the plate to supervise and promote missions in their own countries. In Nicaragua, Bro. Oscar Gaitán, who was converted as a very young child under the ministry of missionary Paul Robinson, is our field coordinator. Bro. Oscar is also the missionary pastor of a new, thriving congregation. Nicaragua has its own national association and conducts and supervises its own missions program. The role of BMA Missions is to provide training, mentorship and temporary, limited funding for specific missions efforts.

The churches of Costa Rica are actively planting missions in their own country and support Costa Rican missionaries in Peru and Mozambique. In Guatemala, that story is repeated. In both cases, a

CENTRAL AMERICA national field coordinator has been the key to an organized, efficient missions program.

In Honduras, the Gathrights (the only American missionaries presently working in Central America) minister among existing congregations, helping churches establish the Celebrate Recovery program among their people. Their ministry is a good example of the changing role of American missionaries in Central America. Within Honduras, the Garifuna congregations, with their own unique culture, language and history, are successfully conducting missions among their people group in a way that is unique to them. Latin congregations are also prospering and planting churches under the supervision of their national field coordinator.

The tiny countries of El Salvador and Belize developed and organized their missions efforts without the presence of an American missionary.

In Belize, the only English-speaking country of the region, missionary Cesar Lacayo has received limited financial support from the other five countries in Central America, but has always been a selfsupported missionary. Members of the Garifuna churches of Honduras periodically travel to Belize City to encourage and support Bro. Cesar and the Garifuna congregation he pastors there.

However, painting Central American missions with such a broad brush like this doesn´t begin to do justice to our Central American brothers and sisters and the countless unique stories that could be told about their faithfulness and dedication to missions.

In El Salvador, missionary Rigoberto Jiménez works among the most violent gangs in the region.

He has earned their confidence and won several gang members to the Lord. He lives, with his wife and daughter, in an area where violence is a daily occurrence but ministers with confidence and a smile on his face, simply because he believes that is where God has placed him.

Our Garifuna pastors of Honduras, in their typical “hands on” approach to missions, traveled together to a new mission point this year and stayed long enough to refurbish and paint the building where the mission congregation was meeting.

In Nicaragua, our congregation in Diriá was finally able to realize its long-time dream of organizing and conducting their own medical brigade, using dental and medical personnel from their own congregation.

For Central American believers, what was once an American missionary vision is now their own. I´m sure our Missionary God is pleased.

November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 23

Lessons From My Little Tree-Hugger BY: SCOTT ATTEBERY | DISCIPLEGUIDE

E

very evening, I rummage through my son’s backpack to review his homework and to look for notes from his teacher. Since I am a neat freak, I take joy in throwing away papers that are no longer necessary. Recently, I was throwing away a large stack of papers when Bryce shook his head and said, “I just hate to see a good tree go to waste!” I stood in disbelief. What did my son know about the timber industry and the paper business? It turned out that his school is very “environmentally conscious” and emphasizes recycling.

I was taken aback by how quickly Bryce had adopted this value. Then, it occurred to me: the school is not the only influential factor in his life. The entire world is promoting various cultural identities for him to adopt, and they are doing a powerful job.

The word culture is tossed around frequently these days. Preachers denounce “today’s culture” while missionaries are encouraged to “read the culture.” A

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proud parent may remark how “cultured” their child has become while a radio talk show host may criticize the “culturally elite.”

Culture is simply the way a group of people expresses identity and meaning. Everyone lives within culture. It is inescapable. Even Christ entered culture when he took on flesh as a Hebrew child.

It should be no surprise that the world is full of various cultures, each containing unique subcultures.

For instance, one might belong to American culture, Southern (That’s where I belong.) culture, or Latino culture, while identifying with post-modern culture and entertainment culture – and that is a simplification!

Culture Outside of the Church Culture isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, much of culture is good. It serves as an expression of God’s

diversity in creation. Consider the fact that the Bible’s description of heaven specifically includes people from various cultures (Revelation 5:9, 7:9). The emphasis on every tribe, tongue, people, and nation describes more than a people divided by geographical bounds. Instead, it points to a divide of cultural bounds. For that reason, the Great Commission to reach all people groups is more than a call to overseas missions – it is a call to our own communities!

In addition, this snapshot of heaven points to the supreme value of differing cultures: When people from multiple cultures agree upon Christ, it proves that he is greater than our differences and that he alone is worthy of the unified praise and glory of all peoples.

DiscipleGuide helps churches read their community’s culture and find ways to reach it.

Just as Paul became “all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:22), congregations must ask, “What

adjustments can we make to better reach the various peoples of our community?” Whereas Paul adapted to the culture of Jews, Gentiles, Judaizers, Romans, Athenians, and Cretans based upon his context, so too local churches must stretch themselves to reach Millennials, post-Millenials, rednecks, professionals, urbanites, environmentalists, etc.

Biblical accounts of early church outreach imply that cultural bridges should be used to carry the gospel.

DiscipleGuide’s Church Solutions Director Todd West explains: “Phase two of our Activate process coaches the local congregation to understand the immediate culture of the community.” Often, churches assume the culture outside the church is identical to the culture within the church. Worse, we expect the outside world to adapt to the church’s internal culture before we will attempt to reach them.

DISCIPLEGUIDE Culture Within the Church

Did you know that churches belong to cultures as well? Every church is located within cultures and composed of people who identify with cultures.

On top of that, every congregation identifies with a church culture. Church culture includes the rituals, traditions, practices, expectations, priorities, terminology, and styles adopted by a congregation.

Church culture explains why some churches have a strict dress code while others are more relaxed. Further, the particular church culture of a congregation will dictate which activities are deemed taboo and which are acceptable among members. Even the music, order of worship, length of service, and building architecture are highly influenced by the congregation’s culture.

The problem is when a church confuses culture with Kingdom. Kingdom values are absolute; they do not change. God must always be honored, magnified and worshipped. Christ will forever by the Great High Priest who redeems sinners by his blood. God’s Word will always be authoritative and sufficient for the church. And the call to “make disciples of all nations” will not change in this world.

When we cross the line and treat cultural preferences as kingdom truth, we mislead converts and develop legalists. When disciples are taught the evils of contemporary music styles at the expense of learning about the heart of worship, we have a problem. When leaders emphasize a restriction on women wearing pants in worship services instead of

spending time relating how their efforts to attract male attention can be destructive to brothers in Christ, something is missing. When children are taught to believe that wearing shorts to church is a cardinal sin rather than emphasizing the command for reverence in worship, we are guilty of straining a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24).

Don’t get me wrong, traditional hymns, long skirts, and long pants are all fine and well. A healthy church’s culture may include any or all of these.

However, healthy churches don’t mistake these issues as a matter of biblical standards. To do so is categorically legalistic.

Haven’t we learned by now that traditional music can be used to fuel prideful performance just like its contemporary equivalent? And has it occurred to us that prohibiting pants is no match for miniskirts?

And certainly we must have discovered that there are some styles of long pants that are less modest than shorts!

Meanwhile, as we raise “cultural disciples” rather than “kingdom disciples,” we push ourselves further and further from those who are in need of Christ! Certainly unbelievers aren’t caught up in our “church culture wars!” But when that is all we focus on, we lose sight of those whom Christ has called us to reach. The sad irony is that if Christian discipleship was merely the enculturation of converts into our human culture, there is no need for the church. The world does a powerful job of that already – just ask my tree-hugging son!

DISCIPLEGUIDE

MAKE A KINGDOM INVESTMENT!

W

hen missionaries are commissioned to plant a church, they are expected to reach the community to which they have been sent. For instance, a missionary sent to a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska, is expected to reach the people in that particular area through community engagement. Many times this takes shape as a service project such as handing out water bottles at a county fair to meet people or volunteering to feed the volunteer fire department in order to build relationships.

So when does it stop? When does a new church reach the point that it no longer needs to emphasize community involvement?

Of course, the answer is “Never.” Why, then, do many churches neglect community outreach? Perhaps it happens when a congregation loses focus on its mission and becomes institutionalized. Institutionalization occurs when the mission changes from an outward focus to an inward focus. Every church struggles with the temptation to institutionalize.

BY: SCOTT ATTEBERY | DISCIPLEGUIDE Face it, reaching out means sacrificing time and resources that would otherwise be self-serving. Every decision within the church, therefore, must be made with intentional focus on the mission. Will the new budget reflect an emphasis on projects that enhance the church’s comfort or projects that reach the community with the gospel? Will the next VBS be focused on ministering to “church kids” or will efforts be made to invite unchurched children? Is the next sermon series going to make us comfortable with our “holy huddle” or challenge us to share the gospel with our neighbors?

As long as there are unbelievers in the vicinity, the church must make efforts to engage the community. The Great Commission demands no less.

So how will your church get involved? Let me challenge you to find at least one way to reach outside the walls of your church for the sake of making a Kingdom Investment. What will be your community mission?

November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 27

SEMINARY

QUENCHING THE THIRST FOR SIN BY: DR. CHARLEY HOLMES | SEMINARY

I

n the United States we most often describe a hopeful conversion experience by saying that someone “asked Jesus into their heart.” It was refreshing to hear and see someone express the desire to become a follower of Christ in another way.

This past July it was a blessing to accompany Dr. Joel Slayton, Bro. Shane Crank, and Bro. Mike Goodwin (group leader) on a teaching trip to Tabora, the capital city of the Region of Tabora in Tanzania. Bro. Goodwin had previously been in contact with a group of Baptist churches in this area and had established ties between them and BMA America.

What particularly interested me about the trip was the chance to work with a group that seemed to be unpolluted with Pentecostalism (as is the case with many Baptist works in

Africa). Additionally, they apparently are not affiliated with other mission organizations.

Each morning Dr. Slayton (BMA Seminary graduate, BAR class of 2002 and MAR class of 2008) taught an excellent study of the doctrine of salvation from the book of Romans.

Bro. Crank (BMA Seminary graduate, MAR class of 1994) led in a study of Acts, which the pastors really enjoyed.

In the afternoons I had the joy of equipping them in the discipline of personal evangelism.

Each afternoon we discussed the materials and rehearsed speaking to lost people.

We studied the concept of first finding a “man of peace” as described in Luke Chapter 10.

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A “man of peace” is someone whose heart God has already begun softening and who is open to talking about Jesus. Second, he is a person of influence. That is, he has a significant realm of personal influence (extended family, friends, business and social contacts) which is the New Testament concept of “household.” Last, this person is willing to use that influence to help expose others to Christ. For examples of “people of peace,”

The Tabora Team (left to right) Dr. Charles Holmes, Dr. Joel Slayton, Bro. Renatus Kanunu, Bro. Shane Crank, and Bro. Mike Goodwin

see Cornelius and Lydia in Acts.

After praying each afternoon that God would lead us to such a person, I shared with them a simple, unscripted way to share Christ.

The method we used with the persons of peace was simply to ask if they would read the Bible with us. We read with them from selected passages in the Gospel of Mark.

After reading each passage, we posed five questions and discussed their answers as found in the passage.

The questions were: Who is Jesus? What was his mission? What does it mean to follow him? What is the most important thought in the passage? What could I pray about regarding this passage and myself?

After the instruction period and prayer, the “real” class started. Learning to be a witness of Christ is more caught than taught. We left the church each afternoon in pairs (Luke 10), just walking and praying that God would lead us to people who were open. Opportunities

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to pray and read in Mark abounded, and several indicated that they realized that God’s Kingdom had been revealed to them and they wanted to enter it by repentance and belief (Mark 1:15). If someone we spoke with was resistant to or hesitant about following Jesus, we did not harangue them. We merely asked if we could come again and read another passage from Mark and answer their questions about Jesus. Many were open to additional reading and God opened their hearts in the following days.

SEMINARY One such person was Godwin.

On the first afternoon our host, Renatus Kanunu, and Bro. Goodwin met and spoke with Godwin. Godwin was a “man of peace.” Brethren Mike and Renatus were able to establish a rapport with him, and we were invited to come back on another day.

Later in the week Renatus and I visited again, and this time part of his “household” had been invited. A neighbor was there with her child. This day’s reading in Mark centered on Jesus’ power to forgive sin. When the final question was asked that day - “What could I pray about in regards to the passage?” the neighbor Irene was first to respond by stating, “I want to ask Jesus to forgive my sins.”

Next to respond was Godwin.

Jesus had revealed his identity to Godwin as the One who had power to forgive sin. He prayed for forgiveness and help in beginning to follow Christ. Last, he requested that I would pray for him that “Jesus would quench his thirst for sin.” By simply reading the Scriptures without any printed tracts or scripted prayer, Godwin trusted in Jesus as the source of peace with God and began (repented) the journey of sanctification (turning from and cultivating a decreasing desire/ thirst for sin).

The week in Tabora was replete with similar works of God. One pair of witnesses, on their second visit to a home, found that the “person of peace” had gathered his entire family, and the second reading

from Mark led to a household conversion (like Cornelius).

While it was remarkable to see these returning pairs rejoicing in God’s free grace (see Luke 10), perhaps the greatest blessing was seeing nineteen pastors grasp a new ministry concept.

Many westerners are merely too timid to share their faith and approach community outreach in a disciplined way. These

African pastors had no concept of witnessing in public, but now they have a new tool to help reach people like Godwin who would have Jesus “quench my thirst for sin.”

Pray for Bro. Goodwin as he continues to help equip this isolated group of churches who want to become a strong association of Baptist churches.

Dr. Holmes (right) with Godwin and his family

Sharing the Gospel with a family in Tabora, Tanzania

SOUTHEAST ASIA BY: TODD & PAIGE WEST

Paige In my online dictionary there are nineteen definitions for the word missions, but my favorite and the one I connect to the most is “those sent.”

This past May, we were “sent” to Thailand for a short-term foreign mission trip. Our family of four traveled with Larry and Shelby Barker to hold a mini-conference for our missionaries in Asia. We met at The Juniper Tree in Chiang Mia, Thailand, with missionaries from Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Mission trips can serve several purposes including sharing the gospel, discipleship, physical labor, encouragement and coaching/mentoring, but this is how our mission trip looked. First, we had to get there, which for most of us meant raising funds. All I can say is that if God has called you to go then he will supply the means. Next, prayer is a must; from beginning to end, because there were obstacles, and it’s best to be prepared because this will more than likely happen. We encountered a 34 ::: November - December 2015 | mission:world

few, but we pressed on and stayed on mission. Finally, it was exhausting, but it’s a good tired. You know what I mean. It’s the kind of tired that you can’t think straight, but it is so worth it! We were out of our comfort zones, but we remembered we weren’t doing this for us; we were doing this to serve others. It’s little sacrifice compared to the benefit we received in knowing that we were obeying Christ and helping others.

I mentioned that our entire family went; yes, our two thirteen-year-old girls went with us. Ministering together as a family caused us to bond even more, and we grew closer to Christ. I just don’t think there is any greater opportunity to show the love of Christ and to learn the things that God wants us to know than when we serve others. I never feel closer to Jesus, Todd, Addison or Riley than when we give of ourselves, not get, but give.

As a follow-up to our Thailand trip and other mission trips we have taken, we keep in touch with

asia-pacific

the missionaries serving in those countries by sending Facebook messages and care packages to let them know we are thinking of them and praying for them. We encourage them so they can carry out their mission. The “going” part of the trip was only the beginning, the catalyst to greater giving, but the giving and serving should continue well beyond the trip, and it’s another way to cultivate a spirit of service in our home.

After our trip to Thailand in May, we went to SOAR in July. I loved their response when I asked the girls, “What made the biggest impression on you at SOAR this year?” and they both said, “Mission Arlington”, which was the service project. I hope that being on mission everywhere stays alive in their hearts, whether it’s in foreign lands, home soil or in our own backyards. So glad God “sent” his Son on a mission trip from heaven to this earth. It changed my life and is truly the gift that will last for eternity.

Todd I echo Paige’s thoughts on doing a mission trip as a family. Our BMA missionaries “poured into” all of us and gave us a new perspective on life and a

different view of the world. We were so impressed with the missionaries that came for the retreat. It was obvious that these laborers needed a time of being encouraged in the Word, prayer and fellowship. It was clear to all of us that this time together was definitely something God had put together. Mission work in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand is certainly worthy of our support.

Joy, John and Louela, Jo and Jessie, Brandon and Brittany and Eli and Anna are passionate about their calling. As we heard about the dreams God has put in their hearts, we could visualize the many who will be discipled in the years to come. I hope you will prayerfully consider supporting these missionaries financially or perhaps taking a trip in the future to help these brothers and sisters in their various fields.

I really appreciate Larry and Shelby Barker making this trip with us. I’m pretty sure I would now be “locked up abroad” if they had not guided us on the trip. A special thanks to all of the many churches and individuals that helped make this trip possible for our family.

November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 35

BY: LARRY BARKER | MISSIONS

G

od is a missionary God! The Father is a missionary because he sent his son. Jesus is a missionary because he came at the appointed time. The Holy Spirit is a missionary because he anointed and filled the one the Father sent.

Galatians 4:4-5 says, “When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman,

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born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Reggie McNeal describes missional as, “The inherent understanding of our being the people of God partnering with Him in His redemptive mission in the world.” It is not the church that has a mission but rather God’s mission has a church

North america

“Partnerships can only be effective

to carry it out. Each church has members who are when those involved have common goals called to live on mission and work together to achieve them.” in their communities and their zip code. We must focus on living every day as itself to ensure sustainability. There is always the if we are on a mission trip, because we are! danger of creating dependency.

The gift of salvation was made possible Third, what kind of commitment is required because of the partnership of the Godhead. It was in being a partner? Your church determines the a very successful and effective partnership. God has always looked for those who will partner with length and amount of your commitment. Please him in making his glory known. God wants us to make sure that it is communicated well to the know his heart so that others can see his heart in church planter and team. Here is a great rule of us. This is why Jesus says in John 20:21, “Peace to thumb: Under-commit and over-deliver! you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Fourth, with whom should we partner?

A partnership has been described as “two or Prayerfully ask the Lord to guide you toward more equals working together to accomplish a the church planter with whom you can build a common task.” We certainly are not equal with relationship and travel this journey. The support God, but when we partner with each other, we is not just about the money but partnering with a should be. Our association’s stated purpose is common goal of spreading the gospel. If you need “to inspire a mission vision and assist each local some suggestions, feel free to call. church in carrying out the Great Commission.”

Fifth, isn’t it better if we just let BMA Churches do not exist to help us, but rather we Missions handle this for us? We believe exist to help churches to partner in his mission! partnership is better because more churches and Partnerships can only be effective when individuals become personally involved in God’s those involved have common goals and work together to achieve them. The third step in the P5 redemptive mission. You don’t have to reinvent Multiplication plan is “Partner”! Church planters the wheel in developing a system, but we can need partners to help them carry out the Great use the one already in place, which involves Commission in the communities to which God recruitment, assessment, training, coaching, and has called them to serve. Here are some answers partnership. to a few questions about partnership: Last, what are the benefits of partnership?

What does partnership look like? There are Partnering with others in the redemptive many elements to partnership such as prayer, mission of God here in North America allows volunteers, training, short-term teams, financial us to become prayer partners, supporters, investment, and any determined combination. and encouragers of those on the front lines Whatever partnership you decide on, safeguards of the battle. We build lasting relationships must be put in place to avoid dependency. for multiplication and we obey the Great Second, how long do church planters need Commission. partners? Our financial plan is not perfect, but it Partnerships help us to determine, discover, is for a maximum of five years. Many say that is and carry out strategies for increasing our too long and some say it is not long enough. The kingdom impact! goal is for the church plant to begin supporting November - December 2015 | mission:world ::: 37

BY: MICHEL POIRIER | CANADA

W

e have been working in Levis, Quebec, now for three and a half years and I can tell you that the work is not easy. With Christmas and the holiday season soon here along with the snow and cold weather, it is getting busier than ever. During the Christmas holiday time we always have new visitors coming to join us for our meetings, which gives us a great opportunity to share God’s great gift with others.

Recently, two young people around twenty years old who were saved a year ago came to church one afternoon, and I had a great opportunity to talk about our wonderful Savior.

As I approached the subject of witnessing, I saw their eyes getting bigger and discovered that they were interested in knowing more. I went on

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sharing the importance of witnessing and made the comment that God was a God of missions because he gives us eternal hope through his Son. I think they said they were from Vision For Christ where they were involved in helping the poor with clothing, food, shelter, etc. Of course, it sounded like they were not actually doing it but helping in the process. You see, we deal often with people who don’t know Christ, who use the name of our God in vain, so it’s important for each of us to teach who God is and why he sent his Son Jesus Christ to earth to save us from our sin.

For years I was left in the dark about salvation.

The religion I was raised in told me that salvation is in the church, and if you’re out of the (Catholic) church you’re lost. But now after I heard the truth

Canada from the Bible, I could tell these young people about the importance of the Great Commission. After one hour, these young men left, and they were encouraged to do more for Christ.

For us, as the weather gets colder it is hard to get people out to carry the message of the good news to the people of Levis. On many homes you see Christmas lights, red, blue, yellow, green, it all looks pretty, but it is only a coverup for what is really needed in the home.

Our province was built on a manmade religion, Catholicism, and if you were not a Catholic you were a Protestant.

But the most crucial problem we deal with is a religion that has left Christ out of Christmas. Years ago when I was young I used to go to midnight mass and participate in all the rituals that were prepared for Christmas, not knowing any better. I did not know the Lord who was born in a manger; it was only a story wrapped with human religious rituals and practices passed on from generation to generation. I am sorry to say that Christ was not in that manmade religion. The Bible clearly states that Christ was sent as a gift to all people to save them from their sin. This is the great gift that the Lord has given to everyone, yet for three and a half years as we serve in Levis, people still need to hear the gospel of Christ. They still go to midnight mass and come out as empty as they went in.

We have great opportunities to bring the gospel into homes during the holiday season. For most people it is a time of joy with family and friends gathering for food and laughter. But many will die during this time of celebration without Christ, because of poor choices, which bring a deadly consequence. We want to show the people of Levis this Christmas that Christ is the way, the truth and the life!

In Haiti this will be our first Christmas we attend there. We don’t know much about how they celebrate Christmas, but we are excited to be there during this special time. Last August we organized

the work in Segur and now we have a new work in a place called Onaville. We have built a great wall for protection all around the property but no church building yet, so this Christmas it’s open air meetings.

We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ at our new property, and we are expecting hundreds of people to come. The colorful lights that we will be putting up will pull the attention of both young and old. The generator will be making its own melody, but the music is what makes the joyful noise to bring people into this place where people can sit and hear the preaching. By 6 p.m. it’s getting dark; good thing we have a few lights on the grounds or we would not see the people, for the place will be packed with excitement and enthusiasm.

My friend, it is wonderful to see such a hunger for the Word of God and to celebrate the birth of his Son. I wish that you could be here with us to witness the work of God here in Haiti. I pray that through these few lines you have seen God’s mission. Who God calls, he equips and he provides for.

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BY: DALE BROOM | GHANA

H

ave you ever looked in the side mirrors of your vehicle and read the words that say, “Caution, objects may be closer than they appear”? Many times there are things in life that are much different than they appear. People are always asking us about what life is like in Ghana, and if you visit for a short period of time you may get the impression that everything is centered on God and worship.

It may even seem that everyone is always eager to hear the gospel of Christ, and there are some that are. But like the reference to the mirror, things can look a certain way, but they are actually not that at all. This can be the case all over the world.

When you look around while traveling down any road in Ghana, it is very common to see many kiosks or places of business that are named after something from the Bible or names of Jesus. These words may even be found on cars, taxis, or big trucks. One of our first thoughts when we came to Ghana was that the people are surely focused on

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the things of God. Even on holidays like Easter and Christmas, the customs for the holiday are centered on worship services similar to that in America.

In fact, people begin celebrating Easter on the Thursday night before with church services night and day until Sunday afternoon. They call this an Easter Convention, which is very similar to what we call a revival. We really enjoy the services and the people here do as well. This practice is done in many of the religious denominations of Ghana.

On Christmas Day, whether it is on Sunday or any other day, they will have a worship service like their regular Sunday morning services. This too is done throughout the religious denominations, except for the Muslim population. Christmas in Ghana doesn’t include decorations, gifts, or parties.

They do not have Christmas trees in their homes, and the only gifts exchanged on Christmas day are usually items of clothing or shoes that the family member is in need of. The day after Christmas,

africa

Boxing Day, is the day that they gather with their extended families and eat together and they may possibly bring a gift of some particular kind of food to share with the family.

This description sounds great doesn’t it? You might even be thinking that it would be good if we celebrated Christmas this way in the United States as well, and it would be. As good as this description may sound, the majority of what is done on Christmas and Easter in Ghana is a custom or tradition. The churches will have a large attendance for the Easter and Christmas services like we do in the States and then the other services throughout the year are smaller. We learned soon after we arrived in Ghana that the religious names on things are to make sure that the “gods” (which they consider Jesus and God to be) are pleased so that their businesses will be blessed.

I am definitely not trying to make Ghana sound like a terrible place; there are customs and traditions all over the world. There is certainly nothing wrong with the tradition of having church services!

The point that I am trying to make is that sometimes things are different than what they appear to be. Even though some traditions may involve going to a worship service, true worship of God comes from the heart of the believer! We can do things that appear to be godly, but we need to be aware that things can be different from what they appear to be.

We need to evaluate our motives and intentions of going to church and ask ourselves if we are

going because of tradition or to truly worship God. Sometimes we can get so involved in what we are doing that we tend to forget the reason we are doing it.

Some of the things that my wife Celia misses the most are the family traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and she is so excited that we will be with our family for those holidays this year. But she also knows that those traditions are not the true reason for the holiday. The true reason for Christmas is the birth of Jesus and that he came to earth in order to die for our sins. Everything that we do should be done for the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Traditions are good as long as they are within God’s guidelines and attending church services is a very good tradition, but let us make sure that it is more than just a tradition and that we truly worship God. Merry Christmas!

NOVEMBER CALENDAR 1. International Missionaries 2. Ellen Siler* - LifeWord Conway, AR 3. Daylen Lemons* - Texas Ely Brito-Semedo* - Thailand 4. Bible Institutes in various countries 5. North American Missions Coaches 6. Heather Malone* - Conway, AR 7. Buddy Johnson* - Hispanic Coordinator, Texas 8. Johnmichael Poulin* - Peru 9. Missions Office Staff 10. Cambodian Missionaries 11. Missionaries traveling on Furlough 12. Canadian Nationals 13. Rana Costa* - Lebanon 14. Priss Williams* - Mexico 15. Indian Nationals 16. Liya Kravchuk* - Florida Mallory Huson* - Peru 17. Joe Ward* - Conway, AR Jonas Prewitt* - Texas Tricia Kimbrow* - LifeWord Conway, AR 18. Jason Prewitt* - Texas 19. BMA Pastors 20. Liana Brito-Semedo* - Thailand 21. Johnmichael & Angela Poulin** - Peru 22. BMMI 23. Peruvian Nationals 24. Jeff Franks* - Ukraine Rebecca Hales* - Dominican Republic 25. Missionaries in Creative Access Nations 26. Thanksgiving Day 27. Lebanese Nationals 28. Missionaries in Papua New Guinea 29. Portuguese Nationals 30. LifeWord Staff * Birthday ** Anniversary

DECEMBER CALENDAR

1. Audrey Faulk* Washington New North American Church Plants 2. DiscipleGuide Staff 3. Water for Christ Projects 4. Dominican Republic Nationals 5. Laney Dodson* - Tennessee Hollie Burdick* - Mississippi Daisuke Okada* - Japan Boris Lebedev* - Georgia Lisa Kakilala* - Hawaii 6. Justine Kakilala* - Hawaii 7. Baptist Children’s Home 8. VSM trips 9. Todd Cox* - Georgia 10. Jessica Hager* - Illinois 11. Hannah Gathright* - Honduras 12. Sophie Sanders* - Papua New Guinea 13. Missionary Care Ministry 14. Korean Nationals 15. Andrey Kravchuk* - Florida 16. Mike & Ruth Poirier** - Canada Linda Moore* - Philippines 17. Micronesian Nationals 18. Brandon & Brittney Lingle** - Thailand Yana Lebedev* - Georgia 19. Missionaries to Nicaragua 20. Laotian Nationals 21. Sarah Parks* - BMA America, Conway, AR Jessica Prewitt* - Texas 22. Chris Huson* Peru 23. Costa Rican Nationals 24. Ricky Robinson* - Texas 25. Christmas Day Buddy Johnson* - Texas 26. Jonas Prather* - Texas 27. Holly Huson* - Peru 28. Chilean Nationals 29. Lauren Hager* - Illinois Ricky & Priss Williams** - Mexico 30. Daniel Lebedev* - Georgia 31. Church Solution Ministry

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A review and preview of missionary news from around the world added to our email list, you can email us at ballardsphilippines@ gmail.com. God Bless!

Philippines: Danny Ballard Praise the Lord we are officially moved to Manila! We are excited about the ministries God has for us in this area of the Philippines. This is a land of over 25 million people with a new birth every 18 seconds!

This area is made up of 16 cities, and according to the 2013 census has over 25 million people, one fourth of the total population of the Philippines.

Currently there are only three BMA churches along with three mission outreaches in the Greater Urban Manila area. One area of our ministry includes the House of Hope Ministries.

It will be a multi-phase ministry which will open doors to share the gospel with the Filipino people and reach them for Christ.

We ask that you will continue to pray for us and the ministry the Lord has allowed us to be a part of. If you would like to have more information or be

Thailand:Eli Brito-Semedo Sawadee Krap Pi Nong (Greetings Brethren!), We are excited that we’re finally moved to Southern Thailand. For the past two years, we were in the Northern part of the country learning the culture and language. We are not fluent in the language, but we do have the tools to get there one day.

God has blessed us tremendously in the culture adaptation process and growing in love with the people. In this training period, the Lord has laid on our hearts the desire and need to work with Thai Muslims. The vast majority of them have yet to hear about Isa Al-Masih (Jesus The Messiah) and the One True Story of Redemption!

As we approach Christmas time, we ask that you keep us in your thoughts and

prayers. We long to develop lasting relationships with Thai muslims, improve our language and culture skills, adjust to the challenges of being in a new place and for divine appointments to Share His Story (the true story of Isa AlMasih) and Shine His Glory.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

California:Jesse Garrido Greetings from Northern California. Maria and I continue to serve in the city of Ceres in an effort to reach out to the Spanish speaking within the community. The mission field here has proven to be very difficult but in spite of all the obstacles we praise God for His never ending Love. Two Sundays ago Bro. Severo was baptized, then this past Sunday after our morning service Carmen came forward and asked God to come into her life. She had been attending sporadically but did not know

mission:news

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that she was unsaved, she assumed that being a good person was all she needed, but the Lord spoke to her and she came forward. Please continue to pray for Maria’s health and the mission field here, may God continue to use us as we reach out to the unchurched and unsaved.

The new location provides more opportunity to be personally involved in the lives of more of the teachers we are here to minister to. This new opportunity is exciting to us and we can’t wait to see where God takes it. Please keep praying for us and those we minister to. Thank you!

Dominican:Jesse Hales Thank you for praying for us. God is continuing to bless us and this ministry of discipling and training teachers of children and youth here in the Dominican Republic. We spent the month of September in the US working on renewing our yearlong work visas (we do not meet the requirements for getting residency visas here so this is the next best thing). We enjoyed our time in the US but it is always good to be back home here in the Dominican. We moved to the Capital to be closer to more of the churches right before we left for the States. Since we have been back we have been able to finish getting settled into the new place and started getting adjusted to the new schedule and activities here.

Missouri:Jeff Herring We are encouraged by all that God continues to do to grow His work here in Nixa, MO. We continue to have new families join us on a weekly basis to worship with us and celebrate the greatness of God. Many of those families have returned multiple times and are beginning to find places to connect in both small groups as well as opportunities to serve through the church. It’s exciting to see those who have been connected to the work of Refuge for many months begin to poor their lives into these new people and seek to make a difference in the lives of others. Over the past few months, we have literally made thousands of contacts in a variety of ways. Those seeds have been planted and we’re praying that God would give

the increase as we continue to reach out for His honor and glory. Would you pray that God would grow His church here in Nixa and that He would work in the lives of the new families that we are connecting with to bring them closer to Him? Thank you for your continued prayer and support for the work that God is doing here in Nixa.

Philippines:Fil Kakilala We will be at our new base of ministry in the Philippines by the time this is published.

Thank you to the churches who welcomed us, and for new friends we’ve made through our furlough. We appreciate your prayers and support of our ministry in Asia-Pacific. We say goodbye to our older children and granddaughters who made up our team in Hawaii, as Lisa and I, along with our 13 year old daughter Justine leave them in the U.S. for our new field. On our way to the Philippines, we have planned to join our second church plant, Na Koa Baptist in Hawaii, on their one year anniversary.

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Cambodia:John Page We have so much to be thankful for. What an amazing year! The first BMA church of Cambodia is well on its way of standing on her own. By the time that you read this article, her daughter church, a group of believers from the In Village, will be meeting on a weekly basis with two of our trained disciples leading them. Many faithful souls have poured their hearts, time, and resources into reaching this indigenous tribe. By God’s grace, the light of the Gospel will shine bright for years to come and villagers all around will hear and come to know the sweetest name of all, JESUS. Thank you for partnering with us in Cambodia.

Canada:Michel Poirier As I write this we are anticipating a wonderful Maximum Impact week of evangelization here in Levis and St. Anselme, Quebec. About 70 people are scheduled to come out to share the gospel and compel people to come to Christ. In Haiti we are planning our 2nd anniversary

of the church in Segur and are anticipating a turnout of about 400 people. We will be organizing this church with our director Phil Knott and our Pastor James Sprayberry of Bay Springs, MS. Along with the assistance of a few other preachers from the USA and the Dominican Republic. We will be working on building a wall for the new church in Onaville as the funds come in. We will be facing some new challenges here in Haiti, like sharing the gospel to those that practice voodoo, the different foods, the heat of the day, and our safety. As for the teaching of the Haitians, they have a hunger for learning and are willing to do the job. Pray for Ruth and myself as we serve in Quebec and Haiti. Thank you for your sacrificial giving and prayers and all that you do to make sure we are ok.

PNG:BJ Sanders Can you believe we are already 6 months into culture and language learning in Wantakia? Some days it feels like time’s flying, but other days are so long! Language learning is mentally draining at times,

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but also incredibly rewarding when we have good language sessions in the village. Jill has just begun homeschooling Olivia, our oldest, so pray that she will continue to balance her time as a wife, mom, language learner, and now a kindergarten teacher (wow!). Pray that God will give us an “unusual aptitude” for this language, just like He gave Daniel in Babylon. Thank you for sending us here to reach the Wantakia people with the Gospel. Merry Christmas from Papua New Guinea!

Mexico:Ricky Williams Two courses down and one to go. Of the three courses planned for this year´s Latin America´s Theological Training in conjunction with BMA Theological Seminary, only one course is left to do (Theology

of Worship in Honduras).

Christian Apologetics with Dr. Brian Rickett was an eye opener. Since this missionary had never had a course in apologetics, the students weren´t the only ones that benefitted from it. About 13 students across Latin America connected with the teacher and I via Google Hangouts. What a blessing it was to connect ten different sites at once via the internet and talk about how to witness to people with completely different worldviews than a Christians. One pastor in Mexico City aptly expressed the need for the course when he said, “Mexico City is filling up

with foreigners from around the world. I meet people everyday with very different values and worldviews.” The second course finished was Greek Exegesis of Philippians. Once again Dr. David Hellwig was at his best explaining in his methodical but interesting way the Greek text of Philippians. All five students (four of which are master level students) benefitted also from the Hangouts format. That´s just amazing that the teacher can be in Texas, the translator (me) in Mexico, and the students scattered from Mexico to Guatemala and finally Bolivia. Praise the Lord for technology.

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