NAT i ONS TESTIMONIES.
Powerful stories alongside each priority
VISION.
Casting a clear vision for 2020
20 TOP PRIORITIES FOR 2020 #Part One
Issue 01 March 2020
Nations Magazine
20 PRIORITIES FOR 2020
#Part One In the first two editions of Nations in 2020, we’re going to list World Outreach’s top 20 priorities for the year ahead and share some exciting stories to each one.
What motivates you? What drives you? Why do you do the things you do? What have you identified as your priorities for 2020?
Our priorities are very important because they determine how we are living our lives and what we give our time and attention to. 03
1 To Honour and Glorify God First and foremost, our compelling motivation in all we do in World Outreach is to give honour and glory to God. Everything else is secondary to this prime priority. There are compelling reasons why the Lord is worthy of honour. In the many references in Scripture to honouring God, we see that we should honour God because: everything belongs to him1; he reigns over all2; the whole earth is full of his glory3; he is glorious and powerfully great4; he is holy5; he does marvellous things that were planned long ago6; he is Creator of all things7; he sits on the eternal throne for ever and ever8; and, as the slain Lamb, Jesus is worthy of all honour9. How do we honour God in practice? We honour God by loving him with all our heart10. If we are to love him wholehear1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
tedly, our lives must be fully devoted and consecrated to him and his service11. If our hearts and lives are fully his, we will obey his words and commands12, and make it our goal to please him13. If we love, serve and obey him, we will worship him acceptably from our hearts with reverential awe as the eternal King, whose Kingdom will know no end14. Putting all this together, to truly honour God we must love him with all our heart, consecrate our lives fully to him, live solely for him, obey him and his word, please him, fulfil our God-given purpose, revere and worship him. May we all bring honour to God in the year ahead, Bruce Hills International Director
1 Chronicles 29:11 ibid Isaiah 6:3 Psalm 29:1–2, 34:3 Isaiah 6:3 Isaiah 25:1 Revelation 4:11 Revelation 5:13 Revelation 5:12–13 Matthew 22:37–40; Mark 12:29–31; cf. Luke 10:25–29; Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12 Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:20; Proverbs 23:26 John 14:15; 1 John 5:3; cf. 2:3–5; 3:22–24; Deuteronomy 26:16 2 Corinthians 5:9 Hebrews 12:28–30; cf. Exodus 3:5; Joshua 5:15; Psalm 33:8
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Wholehearted Engagement in God‘s Mission
A second priority for World Outreach is to be actively involved and aligned with God’s mission in the world. We are co-workers with God in his mission, his harvest, and his kingdom. World Outreach exists to do what we have been called to do in God’s mission, which is to evangelise and disciple unreached people groups.
To do so, we have five major focuses through which the Gospel is being established among unreached people groups. Using the acronym of REACH, they are:
Raising Leaders Evangelism and Church Planting All Nations Mobilisation Children’s Ministry Humanitarian Aid In this first edition of 2020, we’re going to go through an initial ten priorities. They are not in any particular order. We’ve categorised them within the acronym of REACH, which articulates our five primary focuses. 05
R RAISING LEADERS
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Train More Local Church Planters
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily - Acts 16:5
After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples - Acts 18:23 Training and equipping local church planters to go and make disciples and multiply the church is a key to advancing the gospel into new people groups. We have a variety of trainings and programs planned to introduce local believers to the basic principles of church planting, assisting them to become local church planters. In addition to this we provide upskilling and further training to local church planters to inspire and encourage them in the difficult work of church planting. The results of these trainings are quite encouraging. Recently, after hosting a one-day seminar on local church planting to a small group of about twenty-five believers, they went and applied what they learned during the next week in a totally new area for them. In the following weeks three simple house churches were started as well as a children’s program. A community previously with no church now has a church. We believe these churches will flourish as we continue to train the local church planters and walk alongside them. Ben B. is based in South East Asia and is the Field Strategy Director for WO overseeing the formulation and implementation of sound strategy through the organisation. He is particularly passionate about seeing communities of believers established and multiplying among people groups that have never had access to the gospel.
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EVANGELISM + CHURCH PLANTING
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Plant More Churches and Church Planting Movements
Church planting is a proven, effective way of proclaiming the gospel and making lifelong disciples of Christ. Here is a short report from Jo & Jenny Graham after attending the 40th anniversary of a church they planted which has now itself grown and become the first of many within a movement. “We recently attended the 40th anniversary of the network of churches we planted with a wonderful team in Sarawak, Malaysia,celebrating with our children in the faith through several generations. We thought back to when we first stepped out of the boat! We had prayed together fervently for about three years and it was time to step out. We didn’t know what we were doing but our eyes were on the Lord. We got hilarious advice from one senior minister who really thought we were not capable of doing it. Another wise missionary told us why, for five good
reasons that he listed out … “I know you think the Holy Spirit is leading you, but it cannot be done!” We looked at the wind and the waves, but we knew the Lord was saying, “Come!” So we took the risk and stepped out! In spite of the dangers, we began to share the gospel in our target area, seizing opportunities, going through every hint of an open door. I would like to say ‘boldly’, but we really didn’t know what we were doing so we weren’t so bold. But we DID it! And God worked; people slowly but surely came to faith and we discipled them, developing our ‘Following Jesus’ curriculum as we did it. Churches were established and leaders raised up. Two powerful keys for planting churches! First, fervent, united prayer. Then, taking risks and stepping out of the boat to make disciples! “ -Jo Graham, based in East Asia
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ALL NATIONS MOBILISATION
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Train More People to Serve on the Mission Field
One of the ways in which World Outreach trains more people for missions is through the Nations Course. Here is an overview of the course and some FAQs: Do you feel called to make a difference in the nations, but don’t know where to start or what to do? Or, perhaps, you feel ill-equipped to relate to people of other cultures? Maybe you’re in mission service, but need to sharpen your skills. If your answer is ‘yes’ to any of these questions, the Nations Course could be the answer. What is the Nations Course? • It is a six-week, residential, full-time course designed to equip you for effective crosscultural ministry, whether short or long term, in your own nation or abroad Who is the course designed for? • People considering missionary service • People already serving on the mission field • People working among other cultures in their own community • People considering serving in short-term mission abroad Subjects include: • Cross-cultural communication • Animism and Mission • Culture and language acquisition • Cross-cultural church planting • World religions • Mission strategy • Missionary life • And much, much more.
When is the next course?
14th June –24th July 2020 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For details and costs see: www.world-outreach.com/nations-course/
What impacted me on the course was “the humility and homely nature of the trainers. They are very warm and concerned about the welfare of everyone… T’was great being here, because God was here.” - Joseph Otieno, Kenya, 2019
Why do the Nations Course? • It will equip you with the skills to reach people from other cultures • The lecturers are highly experienced missionaries with a proven track record • The course is taught using adult-learning principle • The course is mission focused, cross cultural, and practical. • The course can significantly reduce the time needed to reach maximum effectiveness. • A short-term investment of just 6 weeks could reap a lifetime of fruitfulness in cross-cultural mission How is the course structured? • It runs over six weeks as an intensive from Monday to Friday each week • There are five hours of classroom time a day plus reading and assignments • The comprehensive, intense structure of the course maximises value in the shortest possible time, while maintaining a focus for effective mission service • The course is usually run in a live-in environment, where participants and trainers from multiple cultures can interact and share common experiences as the course unfolds. This has been one of the success factors of the course in the past.
“I often thought, ‘I wish I had this training and information before I was on the field or during the time I was on the field. I could have understood things much better - and made less mistakes.’” - Marina Prins, South Africa, 2019
“The Nations Course did not shy away from the ‘realities’ of cross-cultural ministry life. This helped me greatly to think through my own vulnerabilities, strengths, weaknesses and areas that need further development.” - Alistair McColl, New Zealand, 2019
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Here is a testimony from a missions pastor, who recently organised a trip for some members of his church to visit some WO ministries in Thailand. Our church has strong missions roots from being helped and supported by missionary leaders in the 1960’s and 1970’s. We want the church to continue to be mission minded and see the importance of reaching outside of our city and country. To do this, we regularly had short-term missions trips to countries and ministries we support. However, it had been four years since we last coordinated a trip mainly because of the time and energy needed to organise and run one. We have been partnering with World Outreach for a couple of years now and took the opportunity to be involved in what they are doing. We were given a few options to see which experience would suit our church and, in consultation, decided on the ‘Thailand - Missions in Action’ trip. This was a 10-day shortterm missions trip last October that helped us understand and see firsthand the various ministries WO have in Bangkok. We had a wonderful team guide, Pamela, who was from Sydney. She came to meet with our team and gave us a briefing a few weeks before leaving. It gave us a great opportunity to get to know and bond with each other, to go through the program and brainstorm ideas. Through that time together Pamela was able to see how to use the giftings of each of our team members. Through-out the whole trip Pamela’s wealth of experience and organisational skills enabled everything to run smoothly.
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Mobilise People for Short-Term Missions and Exposure Trips
Another major priority in 2020 is to provide people opportunities to go on short-term missions trips. WO provides many options for you to be part of a team that either does hands-on ministry, be exposed to an unreached people group as part of a guided journey, or serve a bit longer as an intern. Please see world-outreach.com/go for options and details.
It was an amazing spiritual and cultural experience for each of our five team members. We visited and ran children’s programs; and we visited the Rahab Ministry, which supports and reaches out to the bar girls from the red-light district in Thailand. In Rahab, these young ladies can find a new life and direction in a practical and spiritual way. We visited and ministered in prisons and saw the work that Siam Care are doing with families inflicted by AIDS.
This short-term mission trip provided our church members a chance to personally participate in missions; have a greater perspective and vision for the world; an opportunity to bless and be blessed, and to impact and be impacted by the experience. I would highly recommend partnering with WOF as we did because of their vast resources, their expertise, and their cultural understanding. Pastor Joseph Leone Missions Pastor Life Christian Centre, Adelaide, Australia
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RESC HEDU LED JULY TO 26-30 , 202 1*
WE LIVE AT ONE OF THE PIVOTAL MOMENTS OF HISTORY. GOD IS MOVING IN THE WORLD ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE.
THERE IS AN AWAKENING! DO YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THIS AWAKENING AND HELP SHAPE HISTORY? HERE’S ONE WAY TO CATCH THE HEARTBEAT OF WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE NATIONS. We will have amazing speakers, and you‘ll hear inspiring stories from the field. There will be workshops for missionaries, business people, pastors, and intercessors. You‘ll also have some time to chill with amazing people and enjoy delicious food! Our theme is AWAKENING! Why? Because an awakening has dawned. It is an awakening among the people groups, nations, churches, intercessors, business community, and in our hearts and lives. We’re inviting you to be part of it. Come...you’ll never be the same again!
For more information and registration, Scan the QR code or visit world-outreach.com/global-summit-2021
* Due to Covid-19, Summit has been rescheduled from July 2020 to July 2021
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CHILDRENS
MINISTRY.
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Reach More Children Through Outreach Programs
Statistically, most people come to faith in Christ before they turn twenty. A flow-on effect is that they in turn often lead members of their family to their Saviour. The fruit of children’s ministry is not only humanitarian and social, but true gospel multiplication. From West Africa comes the following story. We praise God that more than 200 children came to our Kids Camp held in a village in July last year. The whole village participated during the camp. As the children played games, sang songs, memorised verses and studied God’s Word, their parents came and witnessed their joy. We believe that through the children, we will be able to reach their families and the whole community. Because of the security situation here in Burkina Faso, we had to shorten the camp to three days. We, as missionaries, were advised to just come at the end. The village depended on rain to be able to farm and grow their crops. Rainy season has started but not in the village. We praise God because on the second day of the camp, it rained! -
Noel & Diana
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Disciple More Children Through Correspondence Courses Two testimonies from the fruit of the work of the Good News Team in Thailand: † We see best results when teachers help their students to study and mail their response sheets. For example, one teacher in Makkasan area in Bangkok found our drawing contest on Facebook. Her students took part in the contest and afterwards we told her about our free Bible lessons. Now we have 60 students there! So far, we’ve never even visited this school but have now sent our brochures and are waiting for their reply.
† At a church in central Bangkok, I talked about a girl named ‘Orpa’ who was 10 when she first heard about Jesus when we went to her school. She did our lessons and decided to follow Jesus, and through the faith of that one girl God has worked in her village, and now out of 60 families in her village 57 families are Christian.
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WE WANT YOU (or someone you know, maybe?)
In order to serve our growing and changing organisation, we are looking for like-minded people to serve in the following areas:
1. Executive Manager
3. Applications Coordinator
• Oversees the financial, legal, personnel, technology and other areas of WO.
• With the applications committee, oversee the processing of applications to join WO.
• Looking for someone with experience in operational management of an organisation.
• Track and guide applicants in the applications process
• Full-time role, preferably Singapore-based.
• Present applicants to WOI leadership for acceptance into the Mission
2. Development Director
• 2-3 days per week, may be based anywhere
• Oversee the revenue generation of the organisation, both in resourcing others to do so, as well as personally developing ministry partners. • May be part-time initially, transitioning to full-time in the future • May be based anywhere
4. IT Analyst • Oversee the IT systems of the organisation, updating users, first level problem diagnosis • Supported by an IT manager and technical guru. • Half to 1 day per week, may be based anywhere
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HUMANITARIAN AID 19
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Help Impoverished
During March and April 2019, cyclones Idai and Kenneth caused widespread flooding and major devastation to central and northern Mozambique. Whole villages were flattened by the storms, while floods washed away the April harvest. With your support, World Outreach missionaries, together with local churches, have provided a muchneeded, three-phase relief effort to those affected.
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Our relief efforts initially focused on providing emergency food supplies and make-shift shelters in areas that were overlooked by international aid agencies. For instance, in July, some of our missionaries in northern Mozambique were the first to hand out emergency supplies to an area suffering from terror attacks. All in all, more than 3,000 families received emergency food supplies.
Communities 02
During the 2nd stage of our relief efforts, our missionaries have rebuilt homes. In central Mozambique, our missionaries provided homes to 20 families, while 150 homes are currently being built in another part of the country with financial assistance from a US relief agency.
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Late-2019, we completed the third stage of our relief efforts. As the cyclones washed away the April crop, most farmers lack seeds for the December-February planting season. With the financial support from many generous people, our missionaries were able to: distribute seeds (e.g. corn, beans) to ensure food security, provide training & tools to increase crop yields, and distribute fruit trees (cashew, mango, citrus, coconut) to boost income of people in their areas.
For more information on how you can help in humanitarian crises, please see world-outreach.com/humanitarian-aid
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VISION 2025
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The leadership of World Outreach is currently finalising plans for the years 2020 to 2025. Under the banner of ‘Vision 2025’ (‘V2025’), the strategic plan will outline what World Outreach is believing to achieve within that timeframe. There will be some bold new initiatives to reach more unreached people groups, along with other important elements necessary to do so. We’re believing for great things. We’ll be launching V2025 at the Summit in Chiang Mai in July. Stay tuned. More details and #Part2 of our 2020‘s Top 20 Priorities will be in the next edition of Nations. 23
CHIEF EDITOR: Bruce Hills PUBLICATION MANAGER: Andrew M DESIGN: Zoe Anderson Angeline Smith ISSN 2624-1528 PUBLISHERS: PO Box 97230, Manukau 2241 New Zealand T: (64 9) 263 5434 T: (64 9) 887 7150 M: (64 21) 330 874 E: id.office@world-outreach.com PRINTERS: Thumbprints Utd Sdn Bhd Lot 24, Jalan RP3, Rawang Perdana Industrial Estate Rawand, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Country Offices International Office: PO Box 97230, Manukau 2241 New Zealand T: (64 9) 263 5434 T: (64 9) 887 7150 M: (64 21) 330 874 E: woi@world-outreach.com
Netherlands: Meint Kisteman (Board Chairman) Oogstweg 12 8071 WS Nunspeet Netherlands T: (31 62) 467 1758 E: holland@world-outreach.com
Australia: Val Ciacia (Country Director) Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 136 Flinders Lane Post Office Melbourne VIC 8009 T: (617) 5313 8591 T: (612) 8203 4530 M: +61 0456 772 107 F: (617) 3319 8928 E: admin.au@world-outreach.com
Malaysia: Philip Chieng (Board Chairman) PO Box 8541, Kelana Jaya 46792 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan T: (60 3) 77325924 E: malaysia@world-outreach.com
Canada: Ed Tetrault (Office) PO Box 183 Stn St. Norbert Winnipeg, Manitoba R3V 1L6 T: 1-204-793-1500 E: canada@world-outreach.com
New Zealand: Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 97230, Manukau 2241 T: (64 9) 263 5434 T: (64 9) 887 7150 M: (64 21) 330 874 E: nz@world-outreach.com Singapore: Tarn Ping Kueh (Office) 2 Kallang Avenue #04-09 CT Hub Singapore 339407
T: (65) 6464 8698 E: singapore@world-outreach.com South Africa: Ivan Venter (Country Director) Postnet unit #459 Private Bag X1288 Potchefstroom 2520 T: (27 18) 290 5285 M: (27 79) 084 2141 E: southafrica@world-outreach.com United Kingdom: Jon Hitchen (Office) BM Box 5265 London, WC1N 3XX T: +44(0) 203 642 4873 E: uk@world-outreach.com United States: Aaron Rudd (Country Director) 615 East Sego Lily Drive Sandy, UT 84070 T: (1 801) 572 0211 ext.11 M: (1 801) 599 3370 E: usa@world-outreach.com 501(c)3 Tax Exemption Available
Field Ministries Director: Peter Smith Executive Manager: Kevin Chan International Board: Lorraine Dierck, Laura Kuimba, Wayne Freeman, M.Schumann, Rob Reid, Rachel B, Bruce Hills International Leadership Team:Bruce Hills, Peter Smith, Ivan Venter, Ben B, Maria Ramos Sarah.