Sep – Dec 2014
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寓工 作於 娛 樂
At Work and Play
People
Places
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News
New Horizons Europe Growing Urban Church
Get to Work Tune our Hearts
Bringing hope to hard places
We serve the church and seek to bring the gospel to all the peoples of East Asia. We help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide. Through God’s grace we aim to see an indigenous, biblical churchplanting movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelising their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.
From The Editor 2
A perceived sacred secular divide is not only a misunderstanding but also leads to missed opportunities.
God graciously loans us our time, gifts and circumstances. Circumstances provide us opportunities to sow gospel seeds; work places create space to build relationships and may open doors cross culturally. A musical gift can serve the church and engage a community. Circumstances and gifts, together with the people we are and the time God gives us, form our own unique setting to serve the gospel. Thinking about what God has already provided for us to serve his Kingdom, might prove more fruitful than adding more things to the to-do list.
AUSTRALIA 18-20 Oxford Street Epping New South Wales 2121 Tel +61 2 9868 4777 Fax +61 2 9868 5743 au@omfmail.com
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People News 4 Jussi and Riitta with their young family have left their home in Finland to reach out to young people in a provincial town in Taiwan.
Inge from Denmark has just completed a year at one of our boarding homes in Thailand.
Places
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The Growing Urban Church 6 Laurens is a Bible school student How do people plant churches? in Latvia. He wants to
Get to Work – Get to Mission Paul the Tentmaker
explore missions, and has shown an interest in East Asia. Pray as he tries to raise the funding for a shortterm trip.
Tune Our Hearts 14 God’s people have always had a song
New Horizons Europe 10 Responding to the European church Notes from Hokkaido Finding my place as a Christian musician
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People
News Selected snippets from OMF's work with East Asians around the world.
Praying with Japan
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This summer a small team went on a prayer trip to Hokkaido, Japan. Maddy Griffiths and Angelo Lebrato were part of that team and share with us what they found: ‘Nishi Okoppe (that's “West Okoppe” to you and me) – a small town in Hokkaido only distinguishable from the places around it by the presence of the road signage. Cattle outnumber people three to one. Total population? About 1,300. So why is it worth your time? ‘One of the things that captivated me was getting the chance to speak with missionaries who have been in the country for more than 30 years, people who in their 20s gave up their comfortable lives to serve the Japanese and are still crying out for their salvation. They are an example of discipline and persistence in what the Lord called them to do. ‘I'm convinced that prayer is the key for Japan. We met with pastors who have been praying for revival in their nation for 20 years. They believe that the prayers are going to be answered in their lifetime. Personally, I would love to see more people coming for prayer walks and short-term missions, to encourage missionaries and to minister to the local people in Japan.’ Angelo Lebrato
‘Try to find the place on a map – you will struggle. In this tiny town, one couple faithfully share the gospel with their community through traditional Japanese arts such as the tea ceremony, ikebana (flower arranging) and karate as well as reading to local children and working with a mums and tots group. They have, as yet, seen only one person come to Christ but they are hopeful and they continue. Stepping off the career ladder, and consequently living on a reduced income, they have faithfully freed up time from their working lives for Christian outreach. These are not foreign missionaries; they are local people who have continued in their witness for twenty-five years. Their faithfulness challenges many of us. ‘Prior to the Prayer Team's trip to Hokkaido I used to ask everyone to pray for Japan. After visiting towns like Nishi Okoppe, I'm now asking people to pray with Japan. There are local people passionately wanting to see salvation come to their towns and they pray persistently for Jesus to be made known.’ Maddy Griffiths hopes to be a long-term missionary to rural Japan.
Caring for Creation
New Website
You may have seen it already, but in case you haven’t; OMF has a new website. Behind the scenes, a team from across OMF has been working hard to decide what an OMF website should look like, what it should do, and who would be using it. Having reached some consensus it then needed to be built. For those involved it has been an exciting but exhausting process. We are thankful to those across world who have generously given of their time, expertise, energy and prayers. The beginning of this year brought a final big push to get the site ready for the world to see and use. Then, just one day after the launch it broke. Again members of the team worked hard, outside of usual office hours, to put things right. Now that it is ready, we hope that you find improvements to both the function and content of the website beneficial. We would welcome any feedback as the website is and will continue to be in constant development.
http://omf.org
webmaster@omfmail.com
Anybody who passes by the new OMF Centre in Switzerland will see the architect’s hand in the well-constructed building. Nobody would consider the notion that it all happened by chance – there is a ‘creator’ behind the building. The ‘creators’ behind it know that there is a God who made and cares for the world. Because God cares for the world, the ‘creators’ of the new OMF Centre wanted to use sustainable and clean building technologies. The solar panels produce warm water and enough electricity for the spacious office, the cafeteria and the energy needs for heating, air conditioning and lighting. Geothermal energy is used for additional warm water and heating the well-insulated building. The long-term benefits and savings from these energy sources will more than offset the additional costs for the installations. The savings of about 20t CO2 per year show care for God’s creation. It is part of the testimony that Christians care for what God cares for.
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Places
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匯 報 — 增 長中 的 都 市教 會
Report – The Growing Urban Church
Josh Kinghorn In the western world, church planting tends to run by an established model. But have you ever wondered how churches are planted in countries without a model to follow? What about in countries without an established church tradition? How do you start a church when most of the population has little or no Christian connection? In East Asia, one OMF couple got the opportunity to be part of a new church plant. Of course, they did not realise it at first. The pastor of a small local church approached the couple to help some young members of his small church start an English club. They hoped that the club would be a stepping-stone to bring people into a new Bible study they were starting about the same time. Once a week, between eight and nine young Christians from the church would meet with the OMF couple to learn English at the club. Local Asian people hoping to learn English began to join the group. The opportunity to learn English from a ‘white face’ was just too good to ignore. The session followed a regular routine. The OMF couple would give a talk lasting between 15 and 20 minutes on any topic that prompted discussion. They spoke about all sorts of things; the nature of love, the meaning of Easter, and even physics got a mention! Next, those attending broke into smaller groups to discuss the topic, where they had a chance to practice their English. One young Christian would lead each group, directing conversation and making friends with the non-Christians attending. Not only did the smaller groups provide a way for relationships to develop, but the discussion topics lent themselves towards allowing Christians to share their faith.
The group was so successful that they decided to start meeting on Sunday afternoons, as well as midweek. The Sunday meetings were still English lessons, but they also began to take the form of Bible studies. The non-Christians attending had the chance to develop their English while discovering more about the faith the young Christians had shared during their discussion times. Through these Bible studies, the English club members started to give their lives to Jesus. As more and more people became Christians, the Bible study developed into a Sunday morning meeting. It was the start of a new church. Who would have thought that God would use an English club to start a new church? Today, the club has evolved into a church of about 250 students and young professionals led by a permanent local pastor. They even have their own building! The OMF couple who were part of the English club are members of the church, working under the leadership of the local pastor. The English club still runs, now with about 60 weekly attendees. An OMF worker estimates the English club has seen about 1,300 people come through its doors, many of whom have came to faith in Christ and attend the church. God can use anything to grow his church.
Who would have thought that God would use an English club to start a new church?
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Peter Rowan
到宣 教 工 場 上 班
Get to Work – Get to Mission Millennials, we’re told, expect to remain in a job for just under three years. That could mean 15–20 jobs in a working life. For many, job-hopping is a strategy to gain more experience, and part of the search for greater job fulfilment. 8
In the book, Work Matters, Paul Stevens says we need to consider the purpose of God for our lives right where we are, in the job that we’re doing, rather than view life as haphazard chance. With an Esther-like perspective, we’re to recognise that we’ve been placed in ‘such a place and time as this’. Work does matter, and it matters for mission. We must see beyond the unbiblical secular-sacred divide with its tendency to see ministry and mission as the stuff done by the pastor, evangelist, or churchsupported missionary. These ‘professionals’ are a small proportion of the world-wide church. The Cape Town Commitment encourages ‘all believers to accept and affirm their own daily ministry and mission as being wherever God has called them to work’ and recognises the need ‘to train all God’s people in whole-life discipleship, which means to live, think, work, and speak from a biblical worldview, with missional effectiveness in every place or circumstance of daily life and work.’ With a population of 2.15 billion, how are East Asians going to see and hear the gospel? One of the best places to rub shoulders with non-Christians is the workplace. This isn’t just about using a skill or profession as a ‘platform’ in order to do real ministry. This is about
valuing the work itself, doing a good job for the glory of God and integrating what we do in the workplace with how we live in the wider community and local church. The Cape Town Commitment urges churches ‘to mobilise, equip and send out their church members as missionaries into the workplace, both in their own local communities and in countries that are closed to traditional forms of gospel witness.’ Based on the Apostle Paul’s strategy, the ‘tentmaker’ model is one that’s been around for a while, but it hasn’t always been well integrated into the traditional mission structure. We use it in places where traditional missionaries can’t go, and the language of ‘platform’ and ‘vehicle’ is sometimes an indication of an inadequate theology of work. Michael Griffiths reminds us that ‘being churchsupported is a relative novelty of the past two hundred years, impossible until the development of international banking. Before that all missionaries had to support themselves…’ From the Jesuit Matteo Ricci who made clocks and maps and gave clavichord lessons in Peking, to the Baptist William Carey with his indigo plantation and college lecturing. As Griffiths says, ‘On the whole, nineteenth century missionaries were perceived by nationals to have other roles besides that of proselytising, and because of this they were probably more acceptable. The lack of a clear role constitutes a problem both for the missionary, and for the national observer trying to understand why this person is here at all!’
Four things about Paul the Tentmaker
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1 It was a matter of principle that Paul supported himself, rather than be a burden, or appear to be profiteering. (1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Cor. 2:17; Acts 20:33–34).
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Paul’s trade provided the context for whole-life discipleship. Paul brought the whole of his life under the Lordship of Christ: ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord’ (Col 3:23). As a friend put it to me recently – words do not lead the way; we bring ourselves to people, our words and deeds emerging from our persons. It’s our Christlikeness that makes the difference and makes our witness authentic.
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天幕作りであるパウロについての４つの点 Although Paul didn’t practise his trade in every place, it provided him with a clear role and identity. He may be overstating it but R. F. Hock suggests, ‘far from being at the periphery of his life, tentmaking was actually central to it. … Consequently, his trade in large measure determined his daily experiences and his social status.’
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Paul’s trade provided him with missional opportunities. For instance, Ben Witherington suggests that Paul, aware that the Isthmian Games happened close to Corinth, knew that working in the city as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3) would provide plenty of work making tents for visitors to the games, giving him lots 3 of opportunities to share the gospel.
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Restless millennial? Thinking about the next job? Take a providential and missional outlook and read this from Chris Wright: There is no reason why far more Christian professionals should not make the effort of finding ways of using their skills to earn a living in countries where their presence can be a great encouragement to local Christians, or where they can live out the love of Jesus in situations where open evangelism is impossible. So, get to work and get to mission!
では、仕事を始めよ！それで伝道活動に赴きなさい！
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Places
Guido Braschi
新領域
New Horizons – Europe Europe, the spiritually dead continent. Statistics suggest that there is little ‘spiritual life’ in many European countries (Operation World pp79–81).
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Most continents have registered a steady, sometimes dramatic growth in the number of believers over the last 50 years. However, the line for Europe appears to be flat. Yet, quietly, the Spirit of God has been at work. Over New Year 2013/14, more than 2800 young people from almost 40 European nations gathered in Germany for Mission-Net, a biennial European mission congress. As expected, there were several hundred young people from Germany and Switzerland present. More surprising, however, were the 400 from Italy, 200 from France and almost as many from Austria. Countries like Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Poland and Portugal were all represented.
What’s been happening? While churches in many traditionally protestant countries have been on the decline, there has been a steady growth in Eastern Europe. The fall of communism two decades ago brought a new freedom of religion, and the formerly persecuted churches could start to operate more openly. Faithful perseverance is now bearing fruit, the church is coming of age and having increasing impact on society. Evangelical churches in the countries of Southern Europe are also entering into a new era; missionaries have now handed the church leadership to local leaders. The influx of immigrants from countries like Brazil, Nigeria, Philippines and China have had a
Inge from Denmark has just completed a year at one of our boarding homes in Thailand.
positive impact on churches. These churches are now asserting themselves in a positive way. No longer a minute minority, they are making their voices heard with bolder proclamation and a desire to be involved in missions. Romania, Ukraine and Italy now have a large and growing evangelical population. Believers from these countries are quickly expanding into a new and dynamic mission force. Initially it was mission to the neighbouring countries, but now they are beginning to look further afield. In OMF, we have been getting inquiries from young people from all corners of the continent, inquiring about short- and long-term possibilities in East Asia; we want to be available to those whom God has called. A new unit called ‘OMF New Horizons’ has been created for that purpose. It seeks to partner with local mission organisations in countries where OMF doesn’t have an existing presence. This might be more straightforward in Scandinavian nations where there has been a long-standing mission tradition, but more complicated in countries in Eastern and Southern Europe, where there are few mission organisations that have the experience of sending people. OMF New Horizons hope to work with the local believers, to create a mission infrastructure that produces appropriate media and helps with the practical and legal aspects of sending people to join teams in East Asia. Here are some of the local believers OMF are working with. Please pray that OMF New Horizons would continue to support individuals and groups who have a heart for mission in East Asia.
Jussi and Riitta with their young family have left their home in Finland to reach out to young people in a provincial town in Taiwan.
Laurens is a Bible school student in Latvia. He wants to explore missions, and has shown an interest in East Asia. Pray as he tries to raise the funding for a short-term trip.
Dimitri and Viktor are students at Kiev Evangelical Seminary. Dimitri senses God’s call to serve him in a Buddhist country; whereas Viktor feels drawn to China. Finances are the big issue, but it looks like a church in the USA may be willing to help sponsor them.
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Yuliana from Slovenia heard God’s call to serve him among Chinese people when she was converted at the age of 14. She has since served short-term in Taiwan and is preparing to go long-term.
Lenka, 19, from the Czech Republic helped with childcare at Orientation Course in Singapore last year. She is now praying for her next mission involvement. Cornelia from Austria is only 18. She is almost ready to go to Thailand for two months, to help with childcare and be an assistant at a team centre.
Footnote: Aliases have been used to protect identity.
Celia Olson
Places
北 海 道 か ら の 便り
Notes from Hokkaido I studied cello at university; one motivation for attending seminary was to find my place as a Christian and a performing musician.
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During my second year of seminary, my brother invited my husband, Keith, and I, to attend a mission conference. At this point, we had no intention of being overseas missionaries; although we were looking for God's leading to serve him, we assumed it would be closer to home. When I met OMF missionaries Tony and Pat Schmidt at that missions conference, they said, ‘Oh, you play cello! We have a cellist in OMF Japan; she plays at outreach concerts at churches.’ That conversation helped to reconcile my calling as a musician with my calling to follow Jesus; I discovered that these two callings were not mutually exclusive. Fast forward a year and a half; we were serving under Tony and Pat as short-term workers in Sapporo, Japan. Invitations to play Christmas concerts started to come in. I wanted to accept, but I hadn't met any pianists willing to play the pieces I hoped to perform. One colleague suggested playing with a recorded piano track, but for me, the fellowship and cooperation of playing music with a friend was an end in itself. I continued to practise by myself while praying for a collaborator. Finally, in November, some missionary colleagues introduced me to pianist Shino Inoue, a member of their church. I was impressed by Shino's work ethic and her commitment to serving God through music. After a month of feverish practice, we managed to pull together three difficult cello and piano sonatas.
The final concert that season was possibly my best concert ever, with about 100 people in the audience. After our nine months in Japan ended, Keith and I returned to the US. Shino and I exchanged letters; we both hoped to continue playing together. More than anything, Keith and I wanted to return to Japan as long-term missionaries and the letters from Shino were a great encouragement during the waiting time. A little over a year later, Keith and I returned to Sapporo. I immediately reconnected with Shino. In my absence, Shino had been listening to recordings of cello and piano music; whereas before I had chosen all the music, this time, Shino had several sonatas she wanted to play. Before we received a single concert invitation, we had already started weekly rehearsals. Even with a busy schedule at language school, I looked forward to rehearsals. We often spent just as much time drinking tea and talking as practising. At first we mostly talked about music, but gradually we started sharing about our joys and struggles and praying for one another. Shino became more than just a colleague; she was a friend. We started working on the Schubert ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata, a difficult piece that Shino chose. I had wanted to learn it for a long time, but gave up because of the difficulty. Shino’s encouragement gave me the motivation to keep working on the piece even when I felt as if my practising was going nowhere.
We now find that, even if a Japanese person isn’t interested in Christianity, he or she may be interested in attending a concert. Our concerts give members of various churches the chance to bring friends who will then have a first contact with the church. Usually we play several cello and piano pieces and I give my testimony or a short message. Churches can make requests for certain pieces of music; sometimes we add seasonally appropriate songs. One highlight was an Easter concert. Shino and I told the Easter story interspersed with music we chose to fit each part of the story. The pieces of music served as pauses in the narrative, allowing the guests to reflect on what they had heard. Although we sometimes play concerts at our own churches, we often have opportunities to visit and support other churches. Most Japanese Christians spend their whole life at the same church, rarely visiting other churches; we have been blessed with the opportunity to share fellowship with Christians all over the island of Hokkaido. We plant lots of seeds, but we rarely hear about the fruit of our work. We pray for the concert guests and entrust the follow-up work to the host churches and the Holy Spirit.
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It was almost five years ago that Shino and I first played together. I thank God for giving me a wonderful colleague in bringing the Gospel to the Japanese people, and a means of serving using the gifts God has given us.
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調準心絃
Tune our Hearts 14
God’s people have always had a song. Christians are known for singing and have always sung.
What did the Israelites do when they crossed the Red Sea? They worshipped God through song. Think of the picture in Revelation, multitudes around the throne of Jesus singing, ‘Worthy is the Lamb!’ King David, a worshipper and musician, pours out his heart to God through song in the Psalms. God’s people have always had a song, a song of redemption, salvation and hope. God hears and enjoys the words we use. By his Holy Spirit he helps us to worship him, causing our spirit to cry out ‘Abba Father!’ When we sing to God, the truths written in the songs stay in our minds because of the melody. I love singing hymns. The depth of theology and beauty of the imagery in songs like ‘Come Thou Fount’ are stunning. I love singing songs about the gospel; the story of what Jesus has done for his people like ‘Saviour of the world’. I also love singing response songs to God, committing my heart to him afresh like ‘Lord you have my heart’.
What we sing when we are gathered together is important, it can inform our theology and understanding of God. What we sing can also raise our faith and trust in God. However, there’s one area of our Christian faith that doesn't get sung about very often. It’s such an important part of our faith that Jesus decided to speak about it as his very last words to the disciples. Any guesses? It’s mission! When I was working as a staff worker for UCCF: The Christian Unions, I led worship at their student leadership conference, Forum. I’d be able to find the celebration songs of praise and the songs of intimacy but it was so difficult to find good response songs about mission. I wonder if you’ve encountered the same problem before? For this reason I tried to write a song that leads us to mission, not out of a sense of guilt or striving, but out of a place of acceptance and love. It’s called ‘Jesus’ Name’. In John 20 verse 21, Jesus says to his disciples ‘As the Father sent me so I am sending you’. The Father
Olly Knight Name Olly Knight Occupations Husband, Father, Worship leader, Song Writer, Photographer Based Canterbury, Kent Website worshipjesus.co.uk
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has loved the Son with an eternal and perfect love. The Father sent the Son into the world out of a place of love and acceptance. The incredible thing in this passage is that just as the Father sent the Son from a place of love and acceptance, so the Son sends us into the world from that same place; we are loved and accepted by him. We have good news to share; we don’t operate on a heavenly commission for the amount of converts we make. Jesus has already done everything possible for us (and others) to come to know him. Not only this but the Holy Spirit is with us and works through us as we evangelise! The Trinity at work in our mission. That’s what this song is all about. In the bridge the lyrics paint a picture of our position in Christ, telling others about him ‘Just as the Father sent the Son into the world that he begun, so God sends us to do the same, to speak and live for Jesus’ Name’. In the chorus there is a sending, a commissioning for God’s people to sing together ‘We will tell the
world that ‘Jesus loves’, for he came to earth to rescue us. ‘Only Jesus saves’ we will proclaim. Come find love, come find peace, come find joy in Jesus’ name’. There is an invitation for us to hold out to those who don’t know Christ yet to come and find love and new life in him. I believe that we should be singing more about mission. So often during the week we will be singing the words we sung on Sunday in our heads (or sometimes out loud!) but unfortunately we often don’t remember nearly as much of the sermon. For this reason, the words we sing in our times together as a Church are so important. In our Churches let’s continue to sing of the greatness of our Saviour and our heart’s response to what he’s done, but also lets sing songs that send us out to make disciples of Jesus.
Listen to Jesus Name https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/jesus-name/ id628666624?i=628667172
Rob & Trudi Parkes (WEC International)
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四 十天小 品
40 Days 40 Bites: A family guide to pray for the world We live in an age of unlimited information. Christian adults are often overwhelmed by it. We can become torn over which country or world situation we should pray for. It even affects our children; they may start to pray for the world enthusiastically, but often give up after a short time. 16
I compiled 40 Days 40 Bites because I saw the need for something that both children and adults could use together to read about how God is at work throughout the world, and to find out what to pray for. With families praying together, children will persevere in prayer and become inspired as they see their parents engaging in world mission. The book contains 40 bite-size topics spread over 96 pages. It covers 20 different countries, including Algeria, China and North Korea, as well as issues such as poverty, clean water and translation. Each topic is presented on attractively coloured pages illustrated with photos and maps. There are Bible verses, information, fun facts and simple prayer points presented in a fresh style. Short stories and testimonies are included from missionaries who are currently serving God in different countries. These accounts bring the pages to life with what is going on in the lives of real people around the world. The book can be used to pray for 40 consecutive days or used weekly by choosing one special day per week. I pray the book will be a tool that can open people’s eyes to what God is doing throughout the world, and challenge them to come before God and pray. I hope it will provide fuel for families to pray and that it will inspire the next generation to get involved in world mission.
Trudi Parkes, WEC International
£4.50 To purchase– Online https://ukshop.omf.org/ Phone 01732 887299