Letter from MAGI Pastor Dearest Calvary Family, I pray that the 2016 edition of the CBC Mission Catalog will truly bless you. We as a Missions Committee are so excited to encourage Calvary with this resource. This is meant to be a connection point for you to the many ministries and missionaries we partner with and support. Please use this as a prayer guide for this whole year. Pray for a different missionary or ministry daily. Pray that God will use Calvary to make disciples who make disciples. In this magazine you will find pictures, stories, and basic information for our current monthly supported missionaries. There are a few who are working in closed countries and therefore we are unable to print their last names or countries of service. Some have asked us not to print contact information as well. If you are a member of Calvary and would like to contact one of these missionaries, please contact one of the Missions Staff here at the Church. The Missions Committee feels the weight of responsibility that has been entrusted to them, and this magazine is a way that they are passing the weight on to you. We fully believe that, “Every great move of God is preceded by a great move in prayer by God’s people.” We need your
prayers, our Missionaries need your prayers, and most of all this lost world needs active prayers. Please commit to praying regularly for the people who are introduced in this booklet. Each of us, you and I, has been called into the service of the GREATEST Missionary, JESUS. For HIS sake let each of us use the skills, talents, resources, abilities, ideas, and creativity to work together to further the expansion of HIS Kingdom among all of the people groups of the earth. Yes we have a responsibility here, but we also have to remind ourselves that they need HIM there as well. Thank you for your partnership with us in the Gospel. Thank you for your faithful giving to the budget of Calvary Baptist Church. Thank you for your trust that God will complete all that HE has started.
Intro to CBC Missions Collaborators Missions Staff Volunteer Leaders Missions Committee 2016 Mission Trips Schedule
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UNREACHED WORLD Pastor Nixon Cubicaje Theophilus & family Sam & Mother Freddy & Nora Saenz Andy & Natalie Burke & Jill Al & Brenda Gatti Eufemio Bonifaz
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REACHED WORLD EMPOWERMENT David & Kristi Chan Calvary: Bread of Life Angel Tree Community Classes/Dorcas Elijah Awadalla Keith & Olivia Heppner Raul & Alba San Martin
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REACHED WORLD MOBILIZATION David & Elizabeth Flynn Candelario & Carmen Nataren Pablo & Judy Perez Brent & Chely McBain Ricardo & Gloria Morillo Marco & Aubrey Murillo David & Denise Love Real Network Tamar’s Tapestry Perspectives/Buckner BGCT/BSM IMB/NAMB Sustainment Projects Kenya Water Project Chiapas Coffee, Pecans
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CONTENT
Introduction
We believe that we are to develop and implement vision and strategy that best use the resources we have been entrusted with to further the glory of God among all of the people groups of the earth. We believe that to do this we need to live by the following priorities:
b. It means that we are intentional about avoiding dependency among the impoverished and paternalism among the people that we serve. c. It means we look for partners who train leaders and have exit strategies. An exit strategy ensures that a missionary is seeking to replace him/herself with capable indigenous leadership as soon as possible and eventually leave the ministry fully in the hands of the capable disciples who have been trained to lead.
Priority 1: Engage the Unreached & Underserved: a. The term Unreached is reserved for people groups who have little to no access to the gospel in their culture or language. This specifically refers to people groups in the world with under 2% evangelical Christians in their population. This is vastly different from the popular term “unchurched” referring to those who have yet to be evangelized. b. Underserved is reserved for large populations of people who have no voice within their own culture or country. These people are often victims of oppression and violence in their home cultures. We are called to give voice to the voiceless.
We see that these two priorities will help us make decisions regarding how we direct the missions funds of Calvary Baptist Church. These priorities have helped us to break our mission into two major subdivisions: Unreached World & Reached World *For a copy of the detailed Missions Policy please contact a Missions Staff Member.
Priority 2: Extend the Kingdom of God strategically: a. This refers to seeking mission partners who can demonstrate a reproducible model, indigenous engagement, and unreached people focus.
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Because of Jesus’ great love for us, we are sent to walk faithfully among all nations and make disciples for the glory of God. 4
Collaborators
MISSIONS STAFF Pastor Chad Mason MAGI - Chad enjoys helping to lead the many volunteers who serve the various missional endeavors of Calvary. He and his family have grown to really love the McAllen area and the family of believers they have come to know at Calvary. He seeks to provide more opportunities for Calvary Members to strive to be better disciples and join in God’s mission on this planet. Every disciple a disciple maker.
VOLUNTEER LEADERS Jeanette Ahlenius - Bread of Life Market Jeanette serves as the coordinator for our monthly Bread of Life food pantry. She helped to found this ministry at Calvary and faithfully leads the volunteers and cares for the many families that participate in the food program. Jeanette’s hobbies and interests include her family (including her church family), reading, especially Max Lucado, C.S. Lewis, and Sue Grafton, and cooking. She has always loved having people in her home and sharing her family’s lives with extended family and friends. We do it all for His glory!
Elizabeth Zamora - Elizabeth currently oversees CBC Community Ministries. This includes Benevolence, Bread of Life Food Market, Baskets of Hope, Family & Community Ministries, Angel Tree Ministry, and Bridges Community Classes. Growing up she saw the need to serve and help others for the Lord. After some life experiences, she knew God had been working in her heart and molding her into the person she is today. Elizabeth is married to Joaquin and they have a beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Emily. Kathy Herzberg - Kathy serves as Missions Ministry Assistant at CBC. With an undergrad in Theology from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana and master’s degree in Sociology from Central Missouri State University, Kathy previously worked as a Youth and Christian Education Director in New Jersey for six years, and 12 years as Urban Ministry Coordinator in the inner cities of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas. Kathy attends Our Savior Lutheran Church and teaches Adult Bible Class, sings in the choir, and helps with social ministry projects.
Tom Boone - Angel Tree Tom has been coordinating Angel Tree for several years. If you know Tom you know that he is a bundle of energy and excitement. Tom is a general contractor here in the McAllen area. He and his wife Dora have been a blessing to many people and children over the years. For more information on Angel Tree please contact Tom.
2016 MISSIONS COMMITTEE Member: Member: Member: Member: Member:
Faby Haro Ron Corbett Julio Varela Laura Heflin Juan Huerta
Member: Member: Member: Member:
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Denisse Ibarra Ken Munn Cindy Shartle Karla Torres Robledo
2016 MISSION TRIPS SCHEDULE Chiapas – Spring Break - March 14-18 Costs: $750 - $1,000 Leader: Pastor Chad Where: We will fly to Tuxla and drive to the jungle close to the Guatemala Border, where we will be working with Pastor Eufemio Bonifaz to establish a new church and Bible institute in this underserved area. This will be quite different from our trips to Simojovel in recent years—a new experience and adventure for Calvary missions.
Tbilisi, Georgia – August 4-13 Costs: $3,000.00 Leader: Pastor Chad Where: We will be traveling to the Republic of Georgia to work alongside David and Kristi Chan (former MAGI Pastor at Calvary). David is pastoring an international church and has asked Calvary to bring a team designed to lead a family camp for the many ex-pat missionary families ministering in Tbilisi. Many do not have strong support systems to encourage their families. This will be ideal for families since we will be working on camp elements for adults, youth, and children. Our ministry will be in English.
Philippines – June (Dates TBD) Costs: $2,500.00 Leaders: Pastor Julio & Pastor Paulo Where: This trip will fly into Manila and work to follow up on ministry that we started in 2015. We will work in villages around San Fernando and the city of Ilo Ilo. We are working to develop long-term community partners and focus on a development project that can help both communities better serve the poor and create holistic development opportunities.
Mexico – Parras de la Fuente – November/ December (Dates TBD) Leader: Pastor Chad Where: We will work with Pastor Candelario in Parras, supporting his ministry as he directs. Staying at the Vida Nueva Children’s home will give us opportunities to interact with the children of Vida Nueva each day after school. Besides celebrating Christmas with Candelario’s church and the children of Vida Nueva, we will also spend a day working at the Pecan Farm Project outside of town.
Colombia/Amazon – July (Dates TBD) Costs: $2,700.00 Leaders: Pastor Chad & Pastor Benjamin Description: This trip will fly into Bogota, Colombia, before a short flight into Leticia, Colombia. We will be taking a boat up the Amazon River to a village called Mocagua where we’ll base and minister for several days.
For more information on any of these trips please contact Pastor Chad or Kathy, the Missions Administrator, or any member of the Missions Committee.
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UNREACHED WORLD Today the world population has exceeded 7 Billion. That is a staggering number. To put that into perspective, think about it like this: If you started counting seconds the moment you were born and you lived until you were 80 years old, you would only get to around 2.5 billion. According to Operation World, Christianity is the largest religion in the world, accounting for 2.2 billion people, just over 30% of the world population. It also says that of those 2.2 billion people only 550 million have what Evangelical Christians regard as a relationship with Christ. That means that just over 7.9% of the world population identifies themselves as having a relationship with Christ.
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Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all nations (ethne) and then the end will come.”
To better understand this we basically have the world segmented three ways: 1. Christian: These self-identify as Christian and while they may not express Christ as their personal Savior, they do express personal faith in the God of the Bible. Those who are not saved are considered “unchurched or unevangelized.” Christians make up roughly 1/3 of the world population and that includes groups such as Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals. 2. Reached but not Christian: These people have heard the message of Christ and chosen not to follow that message. These claim another faith or a specific lack of belief. These would include European Muslims and American Atheists, and again equal roughly 1/3 of the world population.
3. Unreached: These are the people who have yet to hear the Gospel in their language or culture at all, technically defined as having less than 2% evangelical presence within their native people group. This is the designation given to over 7,000 people groups and almost 3 billion people. For more information visit www. joshuaproject.net. This means that often they do not have a church among their people, often they have no translated scripture, and some designated as “Unengaged Unreached” do not even have anyone trying to reach them. There are over 500 Unengaged Unreached People Groups
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PASTOR NIXON CUBICAJE
Nixon Cubicaje is a Peruvian-born missionary who lives in Mocagua, Colombia, along the Amazon River. Nixon is a pastor with a missionary heart. Through his relationship with David Love over the last five years, Calvary has had the blessing of getting to know this incredible man and his family. Nixon is the Pastor of Iglesia Bautista de Mocagua. Under his leadership they have developed several Bible institutes.
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MISSIONARIES TO UNREACHED WORLD Pastor Nixon has been recruiting, training, and sending missionary pastors to the unreached of the Amazon for over 10 years now. Calvary has been blessed with our annual trips to participate in planting several of these churches in areas that have no Christian churches. It is an incredible experience to ride the fast boat upriver to Puerto NariĂąo, and then start taking small peke-peke boats to the rural areas where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil meet. The physical needs up and down the river are extreme, as is everything about this jungle environment. The extremes of the river, the wildlife, the tropical climate, and the lack of modern
infrastructure make this part of the world very difficult to thrive in. It is even more difficult to break through eons of tradition with a fresh Gospel that seeks to deliver people from the bondage, hopelessness, and poverty that so many in these villages experience. Pastor Nixon truly is a light in the darkness. Pastor Nixon’s boat was damaged this last summer during the dry season, when the river dips to dangerous levels and the danger of running aground is much higher. Praise God Calvary was able to help him get his new boat that is pictured here. This, combined with the motor (donated in 2014), will extend his ministry well into the jungle areas.
(New Church completed in 2015 in La Libertad.)
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THEOPHILUS AND FAMILY Ministry: CAPRO Our vision and mission remain the same: To empower the church and reach the unreached people groups in North India. To this end we have continued with our culture and language learning as well as interacting with the community at large. We are still based in Gurgaon in the state of Haryana. We have conducted empowerment seminars and workshops for the ministers and Christians in the city of Gurgaon with some brethren coming from outside our district. The attendance has been encouraging. Our interaction with the unsaved also continues as we keep looking for the man of peace. Thank God we all renewed our residence permits this month and will run until 2016 when we shall reapply for renewal again. Theophilus completed his PhD course work, wrote the exams and the results came out three days ago. He passed with a mean score of 71%. One daughter is in grade 10 while the other is in grade 9. My wife is doing great as well giving all the support to everyone. We are praying and thinking of relocating our oldest daughter to Nigeria to complete her secondary education. Pray for us. The doors of ministry are opening but we are also experiencing financial challenges. God bless you and thanks for your love and partnership. Amen Theophilus and family. India.
Ministry: CAPRO International Itinerant Ministry
Ministry: Wycliffe Translators
Two conferences were held in Nyeri and Hola. The Lord spoke to His people beyond our ability. Thirty-five people were in the Missions conference in Nyeri while 30 church leaders and 60 more attended the general conference.More than 15 in the Hola Tana River committed to be involved in intercession for the seven unreached people groups in the region. Pastors have started implementing the teachings they received.
We are adopting a baby boy; Ari Joseph is his name. God provided this blessing. We were present when he was born and we received him then. Ari is one month old now and he is with us while we’re going through the adoption process. Pray all goes well and that the adoption goes through. Nora is busy taking care of him. He is a blessing from God. Emi Sarah is back at Oaxaca Christian School. She’s in sixth grade and enjoys meeting up with her friends after school and on the weekends.
SAM AND MOTHER
My visit to Tanzania resulted in connecting friends with CAPRO. We saw God’s faithfulness in meeting people’s needs. Mother has had many teachings in different churches and places in addition to regular work in the office and teaching in our special missionary training school here in Lagos. Our school of missions in Kenya is due to reopen June 2016. We have ten acres of land on which to build a school of missions. An architect and former national chairman in the country is handling the site plan and building drawings. Please pray for provision to put necessary structures on the ground. “Yes, ask anything, using my name, and I will do it” John 14: 14 (LB).
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Cornelio and Esmyrna have shared in the community on how to write Mixtec. There is some interest especially in the local churches. We plan on having literacy displays and sample materials, written prayers in Mixtec, and Scripture portions in Mixtec in the dozen or so churches. The fish farm is coming along. It has stopped raining and has dried out some, so we plan on putting in the cement base (3X7 meters) in the ground about one meter deep. Afterwards, we’ll build up the walls, one meter high. By having the water tank in the ground it should help keep the fish a little warmer, since it’s so cold up in the mountains.
FREDDY AND NORA SAENZ
Ministry: Casa Hogar de las Montañas
Ministry: Navigators
ANDY AND NATALIE Ministry: CRU Andy and Natalie have been leading campus student pastors in East Asia for over 11 years. Their goal is to train Christ-centered student leaders and staff who in the power of the Holy Spirit win, build, and send multiplying disciples to change the world so that every student on every campus in our region will know someone who truly follows Jesus. They lead teams of East Asians to share the love of Jesus though Good News and good deeds with their neighbor, at home, and abroad. Their ministry consists of evangelism, discipleship, leadership training, and cross-cultural and international missions sending with a focus on college students in the 10/40 Window.
The summary of our ministry is to care for abused, abandoned, and forgotten children of Mexico. We want to provide for them a safe environment where the LORD GOD is preached and they are taught to be good citizens of Mexico. We also serve as an outlet for outreaches where a home church, several women’s ministries, and a men’s Bible study have begun as well as many other facets of ministry. We are located on the highway between Saltillo and Monclova, which gives us the opportunity to minister to many passersby including truck drivers and families with children.
Eufemio has helped to start 45 mission churches and nine Bible Institutes in the last few years, and is also cultivating 1000 coffee trees that in 2016 will bear around 2,000 pounds of Arabic coffee beans. The plan is that this coffee will be sold to further fund their missions outreach. Prayer requests: Safety as his family travels the dangerous roads in Mexico visiting the various missions. Pray for fruit as they raise up and train young pastors to make disciples.
BURKE AND JILL Uruguay has a very tight-knit culture. Very few people ever venture outside of their group of childhood friends. Breaking into those groups and building a testimony that speaks to the culture’s need for Christ is very difficult. Pray that God will soften hearts and open doors. Please pray with us for those at the Nav Staff Conference to hear from the Lord, to leave more refreshed and unified, and for the Nav vision to resonate in even more laborers.
Pastor Eufemio and his family continue to do great things for Christ among the unreached peoples of Chiapas. Calvary has sent at least one team in each of the last three years.
AL AND BRENDA GATTI We share the Gospel with all. Presently there are seven girls and eight boys, most of whom are teenagers. They are being directed into a life of love for THE LORD and are becoming lovely young Christians for GOD.
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EUFEMIO BONIFAZ
MISSIONARIES TO UNREACHED WORLD
As we once again said good-bye to family, friends, our country, and culture, we believed God’s promise in Isaiah 55 that our advancing of the Gospel in Uruguay will not return void but will achieve the purpose for which God has sent us—and that we truly go out with joy and peace knowing that this is exactly where God wants us to be.
Ministry: Iglesia Bautista de Simojovel
REACHED WORLD EMPOWERMENT The reached world is the designation given to roughly 2/3 of the world’s population that has access to the Gospel of Christ in their own language, culture, and ethnicity. This does not mean that they have all responded to being reached. The task of the established churches in their culture is to move the gospel deeper into the grain of their own communities and paradigms. The task of all Christians is to help move the “unchurched/unsaved” into the knowledge and acceptance of the empowerment that only the Holy Spirit can bring. Our task as part of the “reached” world is to make disciples and give them the tools to make more disciples. Ultimately the task of reaching the “unchurched & unsaved” is the primary task of those who call Christ Lord. Every Christian is given the mandate to “Go and Make Disciples.” Sometimes you go to the “ethnes”/nations but most of the time you are sent to your family, your job, your school, your community; that is your primary mission. In the end you make disciples wherever God places you. .
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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.� Jeremiah 29:11.
Reached World Empowerment seeks to help disciples to become fully formed: able to build, equip, develop, and sustain Kingdom growth, to bring worship to the Father from places that previously worshiped something else. For this to happen we must give them not only the ability to hear, but the ability to train others. This means we work so that they are fully formed disciples, lacking in nothing, able to diligently pass on what they have received. This would mean that our job is to share the gospel, and then to disciple the recipients so that the faith becomes theirs. It means that the Gospel becomes flesh in their language, culture, and ethnicity.
From the beginning our role is to prepare them to be able to feed themselves the Word, and then to get out of the way. Thus it would be a failing if after some time the dependence on outside teaching, faith, finances, and worldviews prevented the indigenous church from having the ability to grow beyond the influence of the outside missionary. This is the focus of Holy Spirit Empowerment, that the new disciples/church are fully depending on the Holy Spirit.
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DAVID AND KRISTI CHAN
David and Kristi, along with their three children; Anna, Elisa, and Andrew, moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, in June 2015. David has accepted the call to pastor an international church in this beautiful city. Georgia is an amazing country with a very distinct history. It has been a crossroads for culture between the East and West for thousands of years. The Chans are doing very well there and the church has been very blessed by their ministry. The church is growing, as is each member of the Chan family. Over the years we have been a part of many short-term trips overseas. David especially went with the intention of encouraging partners and missionaries that our church(es) (still) support. This year, being on this side of things, we understand more fully when many would say that our coming alone was super encouraging. This weekend we are hosting our first team from the USA here on a vision trip. (Thank you Bob, Norm, and Festus, and their families for sending them!!) The ministry of presence is a real thing! We can be present in so many ways for people, whether near or far. First, just by showing up! Just being there can be a huge encouragement for anyone at any time. It has been said that “we may be the only connection to Jesus that some may ever encounter.” It was profound
to me this weekend when we gathered some local missionaries to hear what God has them doing and one of our guests mentioned how ESL exposes people to language, but also to culture and worldview. Just by being present in someone’s life, you can expose them to the Gospel. Second, FaceTime, Skype, emailing, or messenging in real time also go a long way in connecting and encouraging people living or serving far away! Although virtual (love it or hate it), it is still a kind of “being present” in people’s lives. Third, a way to be present is by praying. Another profound thing one missionary woman said at our gathering is that some people in this world have not been prayed for, ever in their life, by name. That is showing up before God on their behalf. Many don’t know Jesus in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities, in other countries, or even in our own homes. Praying for them is a way to “be present” in their lives. This week we just wanted to share a few ways we hear and see that God is at work IN us and THRU us over the first six months. They all have to do with being daily and weekly present here. * Many people have expressed how TICF is forming a strong community bond, and people seem to enjoy each other’s fellowship, lingering after services together, and making connections in life and ministry.
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MISSIONARIES TO REACHED WORLD EMPOWERMENT
* We continue to lead three discipling groups that we hope will help set the culture we are seeking. The impact among the young adults especially is very tangible. Many have expressed how they feel this is the kind of investment/discipleship they have longed for, see the model for how to do the same with others, and continue to ask for increasing mentorship in their lives.
* We are blessed and blown away by how much people comment about our family being such a strong asset to our work here - they see God’s call on all five of us and it is a joy to hear! Of course this adjustment has not been easy for us as a family, but God continues to affirm His call on us.
Know that your prayers and financial support allow us to be present in Tbilisi, Georgia, for the sake of God’s kingdom. Your communication encourages us! THANK YOU! Pray with us that God would send a single, young couple, or family to serve alongside us for a year to invest in youth and worship.
* Kristi continues to meet lots of women from around the world in a women’s group of expats. Some are the moms of our kids’ classmates, some are from closed countries, and some are just new to Georgia looking for a friend to connect with.
Pray and ask if God might have you join us for a week or more in this strategic location in the world. There are many ways to serve: unreached peoples, international students, other expats, or missionary families.
* David is now coaching basketball at our kids’ school. This has been a great way to continue to connect to the administration of the school and the families at the school, and now involve others from our church— around 50 kids are playing!
* The Teens group we started has met a deep need for ex-pat families, both with believers and non-believers. Kids from our kids’ school come to our home more and more. Every Saturday night this month we have been having an informal “Christmas movie night.” Last Friday night they all went and served together at a local ministry to low-income kids.
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May you enjoy knowing the presence of the greatest gift, JESUS, as we celebrate Him this season with joy, and may you make His presence known by yours. დიდი მადლობა (pronounced: didi madloba) BIG thanks, David, Kristi, Anna, Elisa, and Andrew Chan.
Ministry: Community Ministries at Calvary
CALVARY: BREAD OF LIFE
Ministry: Community Ministries at Calvary
Bread of Life Market provides food assistance through partnership with the Food Bank RGV to approximately 170 families per month. This represents roughly 350 adults and 200 children. Every second Saturday of the month, Calvary hosts its food distribution. The families are given food and provided access to faith needs, such as prayer and invitations to church events. During the year, a special food drive for peanut butter resulted in a collection of over 900 jars. Many families also received turkeys for their Thanksgiving dinner. Prayer requests: Pray for the many volunteers who help every month. Pray for the many families who seek assistance. Pray for God’s continued provision in volunteers, funding, food items, and time. Contact: Jeanette Ahlenius
Angel Tree Ministry reaches out to children whose parents are incarcerated and unable to be with them, especially during the Christmas holiday. This year Calvary provided clothing and toy gifts for 45 families. The Angel Tree volunteer team collects and sorts the gifts during the month of December. The team of volunteers then delivers the gifts to the homes of the children. This is a powerful testimony to our community about our care for the prisoners and for broken families.
ANGEL TREE Prayer requests: Pray that God continues to provide partnerships and funds needed for this important ministry. Contact: Tom and Dora Boone
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COMMUNITY CLASSES/ DORCAS Ministry: Community Ministries at Calvary As a Calvary family we answer the call to be bridges that embrace our neighbors. BRIDGES community classes offer opportunities and resources to help our community develop educationally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. With the dedication of the BRIDGE leadership team, Calvary offers weekly classes for ESL & Conversational Speaking Classes, Zumba Exercise, Urban & Recycled Art, Nutrition, and Guitar. BRIDGES offers classes to local community partners including Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, Housing Authority, McAllen Public Library, Retama Nursing Home, and The Federation for the Blind. Another BRIDGES partnership is the Latina Hope Business Network, which is a collaborative effort with McAllen Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of South Texas supporting women who want to gain financial and business literacy as well as acquiring stability. The VITA program is offered every spring for income tax assistance. The Dorcas Project was formed to help women further their skills in sewing and creativity. As a group they have developed projects for missions and other specific needs. For more information: Elizabeth Zamora, communityministries@calvarymcallen.org
Ministry: Primera Iglesia Bautista Sullivan City
REAL Network
The church plant in Sullivan City is doing very well. In 2014 Calvary’s ABFs made a huge effort to partner closer with Pastor San Martin and the effects have been very fruitful. The facilities are in better shape than they have been in years. The church is growing, and Pastor San Martin has many ideas for growth and eventual independence.
God continues to open doors for Elijah to share the hope of the Gospel in different environments. He has visited in hospitals, particularly with the elderly. He promotes mission with churches in Mexico, providing Arabic lessons in multiple locations. His work with refugee families in Dallas and Houston is very critical. During the year, Elijah was able to travel to Dearborn, Michigan, for an important outreach event and mission trip. Elijah is supported through the REAL Network. Prayer requests: Pray that the world would see one another through the eyes of Christ. Pray for Christians to have mercy and care for one another.
KEITH AND OLIVIA HEPPNER
Prayer Requests: Pray that God will draw the Community of Sullivan City to himself. Pray for the many families who daily deal with issues like drug addiction.
Ministry: Rio Grande Bible Institute Keith and Olivia Heppner serve at the Rio Grande Bible Institute where Keith is the VP of Media. His responsibilities include radio, video, telephones, computers, print shop, and the bookstore. RGBI exists to develop Christ-centered leaders with a biblical worldview for the global church. Rio Grande Bible Institute is a mission organization that has several ministries.
ELIJAH AWADALLA
The Spanish Bible College is a four year accredited Bible school giving a degree in Biblical Studies with emphases in Pastoral Ministries, Missions, Christian Education, or Women’s Ministries. The Missionary Language School teaches Spanish to appointees from 50 different missionary sending organizations. Radio Esperanza beams the Gospel in Spanish into areas where missionaries or pastors may never be able to go. Video Esperanza provides via video excellent Bible study courses offered at Rio Grande Bible Institute.
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RAUL AND ALBA SAN MARTIN
MISSIONARIES TO REACHED WORLD EMPOWERMENT
Ministry: Cross Over Outreach Ministry
REACHED WORLD MOBILIZATION We have talked about reaching out to the unreached, the places with no access to the gospel. We have talked about reaching out to the unsaved, people with access but no understanding of the gospel. Now we must talk about reaching out to the Christian who does not live like Christ. The task of helping Christians engage the world for Christ’s Kingdom purposes is called Mobilization. It could also be called discipleship, because it is helping Christians to learn, love, and live like Christ and His disciples. Mobilization is a primary task of the Christian church in the reached world. We are to make disciples who make disciples. A disciple is one who cares about the things Christ cared about. They are people who have surrendered their hearts, lives, futures, resources, and comforts to Christ and His will. They are willing to give of themselves however Christ might call them.
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May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. Psalm 67:1-5
In our day and age as we live, work, and participate in one of the richest cultures in world history, following Christ is a difficult task. To deny oneself to take up the cross of Christ is impossible without the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit. The task of the Mobilizer is to awaken the sleeping church, and then to help the disciples of the church to engage the world with the full strength of the resources God has put at their disposal.
This is the call of Christ to us, the call to come and die to ourselves so HE can live in and through us. The ministries that follow in the subsequent pages are ministries designed to help awaken a sleeping church.
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DAVID AND ELIZABETH FLYNN
David was born Jersey City and grew up Belleville, New Jersey. He graduated from Nyack College in 1986 with a B.S. in Missiology, and has a Master’s of Science in Management, International Development, through Hope International University in Fullerton, California. He worked for 11 years at Mikasa Corporation, where he was the Sales and Marketing Manager for two divisions leading a sales force of 45 people. In 1999, David and his wife, Elizabeth, joined the Frontier Mission Fellowship (now Frontier Ventures) in Pasadena, California, to serve at the headquarters of the U.S. Center for World Mission. David worked as the Director of Recruiting for five years, and managed the Personnel Department for
another, before being assigned to the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Study Program as the National Director in 2005. This role as the Perspectives National Director brought them to Northwest Arkansas, where the Mobilization Division of the USCWM was to be located. For eight years he led a team of over 3,000 national, regional, and local volunteers across the country responsible for running the 200-plus classes each year. In 2012, David and Elizabeth joined the Center for Mission Mobilization (CMM) located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he has worked on several special projects including overseeing the
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MISSIONARIES TO REACHED WORLD MOBILIZATION
translation of CMM materials into Spanish, and the revision of the Support Raising Solutions Bootcamp. Since then, David has facilitated numerous Support Raising Bootcamps throughout the U.S., and is currently overseeing the translation of that resource into Spanish.
from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1984 with a BA in Spanish Literature and Sociology.
David has served on the field briefly in India, Kenya, and Peru. He is blessed to be able to continue in his passion for drama by presenting dramatic monologues on the lives of missionaries William Carey and Adoniram Judson around the country, and in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. He speaks around the country at churches, conferences, colleges, and Perspectives classes. He and Elizabeth have three grown children: Joshua (26), Jessica (25) and Benjamin (22). Elizabeth was born and raised half of her childhood in Lima, Peru. She came to the U.S. as a young girl, and grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. She was a Production Assistant for a printing company for four years, and an Export Correspondent for a ribbon company for three years before becoming a full-time Mom with the birth of their children. She graduated
During her time in Pasadena with the U.S. Center for World Mission, and in Fayetteville with the Center for Mission Mobilization, Elizabeth has had a variety of roles associated with the Personnel Department, particularly in the area of Hospitality Coordination for guests. In 2013, she began her involvement with Perspectivas, the Spanish version of the Perspectives Study Program, which had recently been translated. She was part of the team that ran the very first Perspectives class in South America in April of 2013, held in Lima, Peru. Since then, classes and training workshops have been held in several places in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Cuba, with other locations throughout Latin America planned for the coming months. David and Elizabeth have recently been given a very strategic role that leans on much of their past experience in mobilization and training. They relocated to Lima, Peru, in July 2015 to help serve a mobilization and training movement throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America and around the world. In partnership with Perspectives Global, David also serves as Director for Program Development.
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Ministry: REAL Nework
Ministry: United World Mission
Candelario and his family have been in ministry for over 25 years. Calvary Baptist Church members have been working with Candelario for almost 20 years now in his ministry in Matamoros and now in Parras.
Pablo and Judy Perez minister in Ecuador, South America, with United World Mission, in coordination with AMEE (Evangelical Ecuadorian Missionary Association). They live in Quito, where they work with discipleship and pastoral ministries in a local church re-plant “Renacimiento,� as well as discipling pastors of a number of churches in the metropolitan area.
In 2015 Candelario and Carmen, along with their youngest son, Josue, listened again to the voice of God and moved their family to Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Mexico. They have begun church planting there. Already in the first nine months of their ministry, God has opened doors for them.
BRENT AND CHELY MCBAIN
Prayer requests: Pray that God will continue to provide for their financial need. Pray that a property donation that has been proposed will finalize.
Ministry: Destino (CRU)
PABLO AND JUDY PEREZ
CANDELARIO AND CARMEN NATAREN
They have a discipleship center in the first floor of their home and Pablo is the AMEE missionary in charge of the AMEE churches in the province of Morona Santiago. They also minister through digital media such as Facebook and Skype.
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Brent and Chely had a great year in 2015 working on campus at UTPA and UTB, now UTRGV. They are excited about the many potential ministry opportunities. Brent has begun to do Business as Mission strategies in partnership with the new Valley mission organization called REAL Network. They started homeschooling their first two boys, and welcomed their third son at the end of January 2015. Prayer Request: Pray that God will continue to provide for the McBain family through the donations of their support base and ministry community.
I love to imagine the day when people of every tongue, tribe, and nation will be worshiping our God with great joy, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our Lord.” (Revelation 19:1) My wife and I long for that day, but we know that before it happens, there must be a representative from each language, tribe, and nation in the wedding of the Lamb. Most of the people who are unreached with the Gospel live in an area of the world known as the 10/40 Window. To reach them, the church must be trained and equipped to fulfill the Great Commission. Latin America is already reached with the gospel, and God is giving Latinos the desire to reach those who remain unreached. God has given many Latinos similar physical and cultural resemblances to other people groups in the 10/40 Window, paving the way for them to take the gospel to this part of the world. Our hearts beat to see God raise up the global church to complete the Great Commission, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Ministry: Rio Grande Bible Institute
Our primary goal is to plant churches in the Northeast area of Atlanta with first, second, and third generation Hispanics.
Dave & Denise Love both teach at Rio Grande Bible College, where Dave is the academic dean. On January 13-19 we have been invited to attend a Crisis Response Training Workshop for international leaders who travel and minister in restricted countries. The training will be held in Turkey by some of the top Member Care leaders in the region. A trip to Cuba is being planned in the Spring with a Pastors and Leaders Conference. Denise will be leading a Women’s Conference for 300 National Southern Baptist missionaries in the Philippines at the end of April.
We began with a church that could provide training and leadership for future church plants that sprout from the original church. As a second goal we want to help Hispanic ministries that are part of predominately Anglo churches to consider making a healthy transition from ministry to an autonomous church that can experience God´s purpose for the Church.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support of us!!!
MARCO AND AUBREY MURILLO The Hispanic population in the United States has been named the largest minority, and by the year 2020, it is projected that a quarter of the U.S. population will be Hispanic. However, this growth will be of second and third generation Hispanics, who have some special characteristics, such as those who predominately speak English as their first language, yet maintain their Hispanic culture.
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DAVID AND DENISE LOVE
MISSIONARIES TO REACHED WORLD MOBILIZATION
RICARDO AND GLORIA MORILLO Ministry: Center for Mission Mobilization
Ministry: Hispanic Church Planters
REAL NETWORK REAL Network is a 501c3 Christian Non-Profit that took shape in December of 2014. As a result of the Refugee Crisis of 2014 and the India Mission Team, a group of mobilization-minded Christians started this organization to be able to pool resources and partner with other agencies to further the Gospel around the world. REAL Network stands for Reach, Empower, Advance, and Lead. The organization has already become a partner for Calvary simply because it was organized by Calvary members. It has an independent board and will operate independently of Calvary. This organization will help to expand many of the projects and missionaries that Calvary supports, giving opportunities to seek additional partners across denominational lines and for the cause of Kingdom work. REAL Network has several ministries active under its associational umbrella. REAL’s Global Impact Ministries is providing missionary care for six different missionaries (several whom Calvary supports), Tamar’s Tapestry (read more below), Palms 605, a ministry reaching out to international students on campus, and several others. Read more at www.realnetwork.org.
TAMAR’S TAPESTRY
Tamar’s Tapestry is an RGV Ministry being developed to provide support and assistance to the women who are rescued out of the illicit sex trade that operates here in the RGV. The plight and reality of the needs of these women are nothing short of astonishing. Our goals have had to adjust to the realities of finding and caring for these women.
Tamar’s Tapestry has found that identifying these women is as difficult as providing care for them. While statistics support that there are many women being trafficked through the RGV and being victimized here, the complexities of this border region make it very difficult for the law enforcement agencies to identify these women and process them as victims. At this time Tamar’s Tapestry is working hard to advocate for changes and awareness to encourage rapid identification and victim care as needed. For more information contact: Tracy Hughes or Pastor Chad.
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PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT-RGV Why Perspectives? God has a “world-sized” role for every Christian in His global purpose. Whether people go to distant countries or stay at home is a secondary issue. The primary issue is what most people are hungry to discover: vision to live a life of true purpose. Discovering that vision makes this course valuable, and perhaps crucial, for any Christian. What Is Perspectives? Perspectives is a fifteen-week course designed around four vantage points or “perspectives” — Biblical, Historical, Cultural, and Strategic. Each one highlights different aspects of God’s global purpose.
Perspectives will be offered in English at Baptist Temple in McAllen on Tuesday nights, starting on January 12 at 6:30 PM, and in Spanish at RGBI in Edinburg on Monday nights, starting on January 18th at 6:30 PM. Feel free to visit the website and the class to check it out. www.perspectives.org.
BUCKNER Get Involved in the Rio Grande Valley You can join us in improving the lives of hurting children and their families through one of our Rio Grande Valley programs. Your support is critical to their success. Pray. Make a commitment to pray for the children and families of the Rio Grande Valley. Give. Make a donation online to support Buckner programs or call 214-758-8050 make a donation by phone. Volunteer. For opportunities at the Rio Grande Children’s Home, contact Rogelio Salazar at rsalazar@buckner.org. For opportunities at the Family Hope Center, contact Gabriel Flores at gflores@buckner.org. For opportunities with STAR, contact Roger Marcelino at rmarcelino@buckner.org. Collect Shoes. Host a shoe drive or give a pair of shoes to help children around the world. Be a foster or adoptive parent. Learn more about becoming a foster parent or adopting through Buckner at www.beafamily.org.
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BGCT BAPTIST GENERAL CONVENTION OF TEXAS The BGCT encourages, facilitates, and connects churches in their work to fulfill God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself. Our Vision We are a fellowship of transformational churches sacrificially giving ourselves to God’s redemptive purpose. Continually being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ, we join together to transform our communities and the world. Engaging culture, we reach people where they are for an encounter with Jesus Christ. We are on mission with God to continue Jesus’ ministry of teaching, sharing the good news and meeting human needs through our churches, institutions, and organizations. Our ministries reflect the heart of Jesus. We accomplish our work through individuals with diverse backgrounds who love Jesus Christ and his church. Lives, families, communities, and nations are transformed as ordinary Christians take extraordinary steps of faith in obedience to God. Contact Info: Baptist General Convention of Texas. 333 N. Washington Ave. Dallas, TX 75246-1798 Toll Free: 888-244-9400 http://texasbaptists.org
BSM
BAPTIST STUDENT MINISTRY UTRGV: Thanks for your interest in college students! We have a tremendous opportunity to reach the 1.2 million college students in Texas. Did you know that current statistics tell us that 70% of students drop out of church when they graduate from high school? We want to reverse that trend. Our mission is to introduce students to Christ and help them grow through BSM (Baptist Student Ministry) and churchbased college ministry. BSM at UTRGV is a campus ministry that encompasses the entire UTRGV community.
From International Students to Athletes, Dorm Students to Commuters, Graduate Students to Undergraduate Students, the BSM ministers to them all. The UTRGV BSM is blessed to have so many student missionaries who continue to support the mission and ministry to the thousands of UTRGV students. In 2015 the BSM launched additional ministries on the UTRGV Brownsville Campus and at the STC campus in McAllen. We need your help! Join the Fun!
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IMB
IMB’s (International Mission Board’s) mission is to make disciples of all peoples in fulfillment of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. Over 6,000 people groups - 1.7 billion people - still live with little or no access to the Gospel.
IMB is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest evangelical denomination, claiming more than 40,000 churches with nearly 16 million members.
Total Missionaries in the Field: 4,707 Career Missionaries: 4,098 Two-year Apprentices: 258 Baptisms in 2013: 190,957 Churches overseas: 38,989 Overseas Membership: 720,951 New Churches in 2013: 13,824
People Groups Engaged: 949 Unreached People Groups Not Engaged: 3,201 IMB Budget for 2016: $278.8 Million *Statistics from imb.org Fast Facts page
NAMB The North American Mission Board (NAMB) exists to work with churches, associations, and state conventions in mobilizing Southern Baptists as a missional force to impact North America with the gospel of Jesus Christ through evangelism and church planting. To push back lostness in North America, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) believes we must 1) plant more evangelistic Southern Baptist churches, and 2) discover and develop the next generation of missionaries who will lead the way in taking the gospel to North America. NAMB seeks to push back the “lostness” by: - Planting Evangelistic Churches - Raising up the Next Generation of Missionaries - Promoting Church-based Evangelism
NAMB has been commissioned by the SBC to: - Establish New Congregations in North America - Evangelism - Appointment and Support of North American Missionaries - Missions and Missions Education - Leadership Development - Disaster Relief
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SUSTAINMENT PROJECTS Today’s giving climate is rapidly changing. Over the last years more and more ministries have had to start looking at fundraising solutions aside from the traditional support mechanisms such as visiting churches and sending out support letters. Some have realized that there are “tent making” opportunities that can open doors for ministry and develop a long-term income stream. Many ministries have started legitimate businesses that operate within their respective countries to turn a financial profit. Calvary’s Missions Committee has begun to look to help some of our ministries pursue sustainment solutions in areas where opportunity and willingness are found. Below is a synopsis of a few projects we have contributed toward.
KENYA WATER PROJECT Calvary Missions participated in contributing $5000.00 toward a loan given to Pastor Moses in Kenya to start a water company in the community where Calvary and its members helped to dig a well about six years ago. The water company is building five water towers that will serve six communities and a military base. All total, the government has given Pastor Moses the rights to be the exclusive water provider to the communities for the next 25 years. The towers were completed at the end of November 2015 and already Pastor Moses has been able to start repaying the loan. The water company will gross in the neighborhood of $500,000 USD per year.
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COFFEE PROJECT Many of you are already familiar with Pastor Eufemio and the Chiapas Coffee Project. It is simple: the Missions Committee gave funds in 2014 for Pastor Eufemio to plant 1000 coffee trees on his farm in the mountains of Chiapas. In an effort to test the quality of Chiapas Coffee we bought some Chiapas beans and a few small roasters from a U.S. coffee distributor and roasted coffee to sell at Calvary. It has been so well received that we have partnered with a small coffee company here in Mission, Agrarian Coffee Co., to keep the project ongoing. Since launching in September 2015, we have raised close to $500/month in additional funds to send to Eufemio. Currently Agrarian is working to expand its coffee offerings to include coffees from other areas where Calvary is mission engaged.
PECAN PROJECT In 2013 we learned of a sustainment opportunity that involved farming pecans in the high desert of Coahuila, Mexico. In partnership with Vida Nueva Children’s Home and Pastor Candelario we have helped to provide a power transformer, upgrade a well pump, and fund the purchase of 500 pecan trees to be planted and maintained. The 500 trees will produce an estimated $75,000 a year when they mature. It will take 6-8 years for the pecans to mature. In January 2016 our first 100 trees will be planted in the ground. We expect that by the year 2023 we will be able to significantly fund ministry in Parras from the profits of the pecan sales.
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