Buildings, Bicycles, Baptisms, and Believers Being Sent

Today I have been experiencing the power of memory. I have been remembering happy times of serving the Lord in the continent of Africa where I worked for 20 years of my life as a Christian missionary. I lived next door to and across the street from Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Sikh's, Buddhists, Atheists, and Hindus. We formed friendships with them, had them in our home and entered their homes as guests. We loved them, prayed for them and shared Christ with them. Frances and I also led the Church of God churches during a period of unusual church growth and building. We visited many villagers, slept in their homes on a reed mat, or in the back of our Peugeot station wagon, or in a primitive hotel in order to have the privilege of preaching the message of Jesus Christ to them. Here are a few highlights.

Buildings_1
Buildings are NOT essential to the kingdom of God. Most converts are made in street meetings or in personal witnessing by one neighbor telling another neighbor the good news that Jesus has come and Salvation is free to whosoever will receive it. After a few people have received Christ, the effort to disciple them into devout followers is usually pursued by trying to find shelter that will protect the students from the weather. Here is a typical beginning effort found throughout the continent of Africa in rural areas. This building is made from small branches or poles tied together, with thatch tied to them. Church of God World Missions has helped purchase land, build buildings, and support Pastors for this task.

Building_2
Here, at the edge of the city of Yaounde, Cameroon, another larger building takes shape. This will become a ministry center where disciples are made, Bible training takes place, first aid will be given from a one room clinic for local villagers is given, housing for the pastor in another room, and a feeding station for the hungry. On Sunday it will be a worship center. From it many orphans and widows will be ministered to.





Bicycles
Here is an example of a means of transport that is used all over Africa in every sized city and town. This is so much easier than walking. The bicycle can carry huge loads and gives the pastor a tool to work with in carrying Bibles and gospel literature to his neighbors. The recipients are all anxious to share the message of Jesus and the deliverance from sin that is offered through God's plan of salvation found in the Bible.



Baptisms
Water Baptism in Africa is a far more significant event than it is in North America. Here, we invite converts to be baptized in a pool of water that is normally built into the choir area of the church. In Africa a baptistry inside the church is a rare thing. Here in Africa we must be alert to huge snakes, crocodiles, bilharzia and other devastating diseases which are waterborne. Most pastors will rebuke these things in the name of Jesus and will earnestly pray for protection from evil spirits as well.


Believers Being Sent
This picture is typical of a group of "preachers" who have come to know that God loves them and who have experienced the joy of sins forgiven. They eagerly study the Bible in classes that last from ten days to three months before they go out to share the gospel with others. One of my greatest thrills has been the high privilege of teaching them and of interacting with them in special ten day sessions where we give them 60 hours of special training in various Bible subjects, then send them to their local villages to share what they have learned.

May the Lord be with them today and every day as the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus the Son of God continues to be spread.

Missions Resources From A Friend

My personal friend, Dr. Grant McClung, who has taught in our Church's Seminary, in Schools and Colleges around the world, who was a personal guest in Africa and who was Field Director of Europe and the Middle East has released his book (GlobalBeliever.Com) which you may read on-line at no charge to you. I'll copy and paste his note here for your benefit. Grant and his wife Janice are quality people who walk the talk. I hope you enjoy the free E-books.

Press Release:

Missions Resources Now in “Ebook” English/Spanish Formats

Dr. Grant McClung, President of Missions Resource Group, has produced his world missions training text, Globalbeliever.com: Connecting To God’s Work in Your World, as a free online resource, both in English and Spanish language versions. In the original print format, the books have been used widely by pastors, local church missions classes and prayer groups, and as a basic Biblical introduction to world missions in seminaries, universities, and Bible colleges. The Spanish-language version, “Creyenteglobal.com,” is widely distributed throughout Latin America.

“The best way to both versions – English and Spanish,” McClung noted, “is to visit the www.MissionsResourceGroup.org site, go to ‘Globalbeliever.com’ button and click on ‘Read the Book’ in English or Spanish.” McClung also noted that a weblink is available for those who begin their search as Spanish readers. “At the site (with the same name as the book title) www.creyenteglobal.com,” he said, “there are links to “Lea el libro” (“Read the book” in Spanish). Information at both sites also leads to ordering information for McClung’s classic review of Pentecostal missions, Azusa Street and Beyond: One Hundred Years of Commentary on the Global Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement (Bridge-Logos Publishing 2006). (You do not have to order them in order to be allowed to read GlobalBeliever.Com.)

“Through our training programs on five continents in 2010,” McClung noted, “we mobilized pastors, missionaries, missions leaders, and marketplace laity through printed books and curriculum materials. But we saw, especially in poorer contexts, how traditional print resources are not affordable for many. Now, the entire text is available as a free online world missions reader for anyone at www.MissionsResourceGroup.org, www.Globalbeliever.com, or www.creyenteglobal.com.” In addition, at the “Resources” link there are a number of lectures, sermons, articles, and background documents presented by McClung in a variety of global leadership training venues.

The availability of McClung’s “ebook” converges with an international, denomination-wide “Great Commission/Church Planting Mandate” throughout the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee USA). Dr. Raymond F. Culpepper, Church of God General Overseer, has urged the Pentecostal denomination to remain focused and active in “the missional mandate” and the planting of new congregations worldwide. “This is why I welcome Grant McClung’s significant book,” he stated, “and commend it to you as an insightful and practical ministry resource. It arrives at a time when the international events and global developments of our time need the perspectives and prescriptions of a rich and deep Biblical view of global engagement. This book adds value to pastors and local church leaders as they seek to motivate, train, and deploy their congregations in evangelism, church planting, and world missions. It is full of practical helps for preaching and teaching, including outlines, stories and illustrations, statistics, maps, charts, and global missions trends.”

McClung is one of the chapter contributors to a church-wide missional resource, The Great Commission Connection, Raymond F. Culpepper, Executive Editor (Pathway Press 2011) and is an editorial committee and research contributor to Until All Have Heard: The Centennial History of Church of God World Missions, Bill George (Church of God World Missions 2010)

McClung, a former member of the denomination’s International Executive Council, serves as Missiological Advisor to the World Missions Commission of the Pentecostal World Fellowship and is a member of the U.S.A Lausanne Committee. “Making ‘Globalbeliever.com’ available online – in both language versions,” he said, “will now broaden our vision for a more rapid and effective mobilization of the global Great Commission community for missional resourcing in these challenging times. We hope it will also speak to a younger generation who are increasingly active in global awareness and social activism through online connections.”

Email contact for further information:

grant.mcclung@gmail.com

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Enjoy!