Today's promises are from missionaries who work with young people.
A Promise According to His Purpose (Robbie Becker)
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
A Promise for Hope and a Future (Jeff and Margreet Dusek)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
At the Spring Missions Festival, the attending missionaries introduced themselves by sharing a promise from God's Word. From now through Easter Monday, April 6, we are posting these promises to encourage all of us to hold fast to his life-giving Word.
A Promise of Wisdom (Ben and Mandy Pehrson)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5
A Promise of Steadfast Love and Faithfulness (Tammy Lundell)
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24
by Lorraine Triggs
Ever since Sarah's mother had a baby in November, Sarah's quiet father has been faithfully bringing her to Kids' Harbor Bible school each Sunday. He never stays for worship or an Adult Community, but always picks up Sarah on time. In World Relief's ESL program, Sarah's dad is learning English and taking care of his growing family over at Wheaton Square Apartments.
One week, I casually mentioned that his wife needed to bring in the new baby so I could see her. "When it is warmer," I said. "It is too cold out for the baby."
This past Sunday, both of Sarah's parents dropped her off. It's always a little crazy at Kindergarten check-in time, but I soon noticed that the two of them were still standing there. That's when I saw her--Baby Rebecca all bundled up in her car seat.
Sarah's father's English is stronger than her mother's but there was no mistaking good, old Midwestern friendliness as I fussed over the baby, with her thatch of black hair and remarkable resemblance to Sarah.
After Bible school, I found out that Sarah's parents had placed the baby in the nursery and had gone to worship for the first time. Maybe all it took was a baby and a smile to make another connection point with a refugee family.
We gardeners greet the month of March with a mixture of skepticism and hope as we look for any signs of life in our dormant garden beds. It's spring, after all, the season of new life and rebirth. In this entry, Lauren Fortosis writes about new life--that is, the new life refugee families experience when they arrive here through World Relief.
When I first heard about Good Neighbor teams a few years ago, I sort of felt like Moses when God asked him to go to Pharaoh on behalf of the Israelites. I felt totally unprepared and assumed I wouldn't be a great fit for this type of ministry.
I am a bit uncomfortable in situations where it's hard to communicate, and this would almost certainly be the case with refugee families who partnered with World Relief and Good Neighbor teams. Yet, somehow, I felt God nudging me to do this, saying, "I'll equip you to do what I have asked you to do. Before I had too much time to talk myself out of it, I attended an informational meeting and signed up.
Within a few weeks, our little Good Neighbor team gathered at the airport, waiting for the arrival of our family. Steven, Ellen and their little boy, Isaac, arrived from India and the next couple of weeks were a whirlwind. We strategized about how to find Steven a job, how to take them to the grocery store and explain about food stamps and how to get them to ESL classes to work on their English. I was amazed at the magnitude of transition this young famly had to go through financially, culturally and geographically. I also saw the benefits of a Good Neighbor team in place to assist refugee families through this transition.
Yet, a part of me remained discouraged because they spoke almost no English. I struggled with the language barrier, let alone the cultural barriers that separated us from making an emotional connection.
One day at a WIC appointment as we waited for food stamps, I had a little glimpse into Ellen's heart.
I had recently found out that, like me, Ellen was pregnant with her second child. Ellen, however, had a health condition that could make the pregnancy dangerous to both her and the baby. It was imperative that we found proper medical care and nutrition for Ellen. The woman from WIC asked if we needed a translator and I agreed that it was probably a good idea. I will never forget what happened next.
For the first time, I sat and listened and understood Ellen as she poured out her heart and her struggles with loneliness and anxiousness about the pregnancy. She felt overwhelmed in a new place with so many new things to learn and take in.
I went home and wept after our appointment. I realized that Ellen and I weren't so different after all. I had struggled with some of those same feelings. A woman from halfway across the world experiences some of the same fears and cares a a woman in Wheaton did. And that woman from halfway around the world and that woman from Wheaton both ultimately need the love of Jesus.
It took a Good Neighbor team to bring these two women together. It takes a Good Neighbor team to share that love of Jesus in tangible ways. And if you join a Good Neighbor team, you will come away from the experienced as blessed as the family you are serving.
Sometimes persevering is simply taking the next step. February's seminar on caring for the orphan offered a wealth of resources to help you take that one step forward in caring for the vulnerable. Again, thanks to the Culture Impact Committee of College Church for putting together this seminar.
Before we list resources, read the short message eleven-year-old Ela Parker shared at the seminar that captures the light and beauty of adoption.
Whenever I hear the word "adoption," it means family to me. You have a new family when you get adopted. To me, adoption has two meanings:
1. To be adopted into God's family in heaven and to be with him forever in his presence. he is our Father in heaven. He loves us so much.
2. Another meaning adoption has for me is parents and siblings. More than just family and siblings . . . it's a family that cares who you are and they want to help you. they love you no matter what, even if you have a disability or something wrong with you. they still love you just as God loves you. they don't judge you the way other people might. They see light in you and beauty. God loves us so much he made each of us different in a good way.
This is what adoption means to me.
Ela Faith Parker (daughter of Mike and Sasha Parker)
The Culture Impact Committee put together a list of books and websites to help you in this journey of caring for the orphans.
Listen to our seminar "Caring for the Orphan--Catching God's Heart for the Fatherless," held at College Church Commons on February 14, 2015. Our special guests were Pastor Todd Wilson, senior pastor of Calvary Memorial in Oak Park, and his wife, Katie, who shared from their hearts and family about their adoption journey and opened God's Word for us. Others from College Church also shared from their experiences. Listen and be encouraged.
Pastor Todd Wilson with one of his daughters and his wife, Katie (right).
Nate and Laura Amodio work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois.
Nate and Laura partner with God to see students transformed, the campus renewed, and world changers developed. They love to equip students to bring God’s Kingdom in the spiritually open and diverse campus environment, in expectation that they will graduate as skilled and visionary leaders in their homes, workplaces, and churches. Nate grew up going to College Church, and he and Laura grateful for the church’s ongoing investment in their lives.
Laura gives her perspective on the power of an obedient ask. Her article first appeared in the weekly newsletter of College Church.
“What are your barriers to following Jesus?” Every week, Laura asked Austin this question as they studied the life of Jesus together, determined not to give up on Austin.
“Austin had been with our InterVarsity chapter for about four months,” Laura recalled. “A friend first invited him to our fall conference, and since then he was actively seeking God. Austin went to small group every week, bought a Bible to study on his own, and recently began praying. Despite all these things, each week Austin had a reason why he wasn't ready to give his life to Christ.”
One week, Austin and Laura were unable to meet. Austin later shared, “I thought, if Laura and I were meeting, she’d ask me what my barriers were to following Jesus. But I wasn't sure I had any more barriers.” That night, as he wrote in his journal and prayed, he committed his life to Christ.
According to Laura,“Austin reminds me of the power of asking. Austin’s friend asked him to fall conference. My supervisor asked me to begin a seeker Bible study. I asked Austin to be in it. And I asked him regularly what was holding him back from following Jesus. Without these asks, Austin may not have been celebrating his conversion. And I certainly would not have learned so much.
“To be honest, I was terrified when my supervisor challenged me to begin a seeker Bible study,” continued Laura. “I helped students do that, but that didn't mean I was thrilled to take the risk for myself. It would take time and energy, and I’d risk failure.”
Yet Laura knew that she needed to persevere and that this was a chance to trust God. “In obedience to God’s ask of me, I opened my eyes to those around me who were curious about Jesus. And he led me to Austin.
“That’s what we see Philip doing in Acts 8:26-40. God instructs, Philip goes, God instructs, Philip goes. In response to God’s “ask,” Philip encounters a eunuch who is reading Isaiah. Philip takes the initiative to ask the eunuch if he understands what he’s reading. And from that ask, he shares the gospel.”
Laura’s challenge to us is to recognize where God is calling us to an obedient ask. “Maybe it’s asking a co-worker to study the life of Jesus with you or asking them to come to church. Or maybe it’s just asking them to work out with you in the mornings. Perhaps you could coach baseball together with another dad in your son’s class at school. You could invite a neighbor family for a play date or include someone new on your morning walks. Whether it’s obviously spiritual or just the beginnings of authentic friendship, take the initiative to ask,” encourages Laura.
From her perspective, “You never know the difference a simple ask might make. Austin is now a passionate follower of Jesus, and he began a seeker Bible study with his own not-yet-Christian friends. God was at work in his life long before I showed up and he faithfully worked through my obedient asks.”
Laura with Austin (left) and Mike, another student in their InterVarsity chapter.
Here is a firsthand account from theological educators and missionaries at College Church's partner seminary, The Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST or, in French, FATEB) in the Central Africa Republic (C.A.R.). For the past 36 years, College Church has provided scholarship funding to students studying theology at BEST. Sadly, political upheaval and violence has rocked C.A.R.
The good news is that this is an account of how the school has adapted, and by God's good hand, persevered in the midst of national chaos.
"We just came home from two weeks with friends and colleagues in Africa. We flew to Yaounde, Cameroon, where the master and doctoral students of FATEB are studying. They were relocated there after the government overthrow and subsequent violence in C.A.R. in 2013. From Cameroon we went to Bangui, capital of C.A.R., where FATEB's original campus has functioned for almost 38 years, with graduates now serving throughout French Africa.
In 2012, while we were visiting C.A.R., rebel soldiers began their march toward Bangui, stopping short of the capital and threatening to overthrow the government. Three months later, they charged in the city, guns blazing--looting, killing and terrorizing the population. Chaos and violence spread throughout the country the next ten months until pressure from neighboring countries forced the self-proclaimed rebel president out of power.
But without unified leadership, the rebels' banditry, rape and torture continued. Militia groups organized to respond to these widespread atrocities. The fighting produced a huge humanitarian crisis with more than a million people driven from their homes.
Foreign students left the country, and FATEB could not complete its academic year. After losing three months of the school year in Bangui, classes resumed in Cameroon for masters and doctoral students.
With the growing presence of UN peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies, we felt it was safe for us to visit FATEB in Bangui once again this year. We spent time with students, colleagues and friends who have lived through two years of trauma. Listening to their stories of threats, destruction and loss of life in C.A.R. saddened us. But we were also encouraged to hear how these people saw the hand of God protecting them through the terror.
As the atrocities grew more intense in Bangui, local people sought refuge wherever they could, and more than 2,500 displaced people found safety at the seminary. A gas station on one side of the campus was looted as was the government training school on the other side--and FATEB remained a refuge.
Eventually the seminary's large assembly hall became a city meeting place for prayer, seminars, discussions and plans for dealing with the crisis. Government officials, UN agencies, relief agencies, World Vision and TEAR Fund and church groups all gathered to discuss how to bring peace and reconciliation to this troubled country.
As the capital city has become more stable, many displaced people have been able to return to their homes. Others have no homes left to which to return and they remain at FATEB.
Is Central Africa Republic really on the road to recovery? Over the past four months tension in the capital has eased and more shops and markets are open for business. The path to peace and prosperity will probably encounter setbacks. But FATEB in Bangui has not just survived these two years of turmoil. It has exerted positive leadership and service through the worst of the crisis. Our colleagues and students at FATEB are not giving up, and we shouldn't either.
Thank you for sharing with us in the privilege of helping to equip these men and women for serving the church and society in Africa.