March Monthly Missions Focus - The Nelsons

By amberbruce

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. … [Missions] is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

-John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad!

Revelation 7:9-10 gives us a vision of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation standing blameless before God and praising Him. This is the ultimate goal of the church. We want to make disciples who will one day be among that throng, rejoicing in God’s presence for eternity. As the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27-30), we each have a part to play in reaching that goal. Some will minister here while praying for and giving to those who are serving around the world. Others will be sent out to go and make disciples of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

Jeff and Jacqulyn Nelson, Missionaries to Uruguay

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal in missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory.

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship preceded the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish.

-John Piper, Let The Nations Be Glad!

Last month we highlighted the work of Amy Brock-Devine, who went out from Bethel to Thailand. This month, we want you to meet another couple who has been sent out from Bethel in the last two years. Jeff and Jacqulyn are not afraid to “dream big after 40” – they are making the second half of their lives count for Christ! They are able to commend God to those they serve because they truly cherish Him. Here is their story in their own words:

Our work in Uruguay

After raising our financial and prayer support, going through mission and Bible training, and spending this last year learning Spanish, we are thrilled to finally be in Uruguay!

Uruguay

During our first year here, we’re focusing on developing solid relationships, learning the culture and sharpening our language skills in the castellano dialect of Spanish. We’re presently working in a Baptist Church of about 40 people (including children). Our long-term goal is to assist the Uruguayan church to plant new churches. We also desire to develop an inter-denominational discipleship ministry. We want to nurture and equip the body of Christ in Uruguay, so that they may really know the One True and Living God.

The churches here are young, and are attended mostly by first-generation believers, many of whom have believed a gospel that is completely focused on outward works. Discipleship is almost non-existent. Because of this, most believers do not have a solid foundation in the Scriptures, nor an understanding of how God wants to personally transform each of them into the image of His Son. Few are obedient to the Word of God and few are living transformed lives.

As part of our first year’s work, we’ll complete an “On Target” project for our mission agency (United World Mission). The objective of this is to observe behavior, learn what Uruguayans value (what is good or best), and at the deepest level, what they believe to be true (their worldview). In November, we rented a car and traveled to the capital cities of each of the 19 departments (states) in Uruguay, to meet the people and learn from them. As many of them shared their beliefs about God and life in general, we could really see the effects of 90+ years of atheism. Most of them tend to have very fatalistic views, and trust absolutely no one.

One of the key pieces of advice that we were given during cross-cultural training, was to “enter our new culture as a learner” — and stay that way. The significance of this approach really hit home when we began to understand how the values of Uruguayans differ from our own values in almost all areas including honesty (truth), respect for the law, authority, life and possessions, what the future holds, quality, discipline, privacy, efficiency, comfort, courtesy etc. We think that their primary and highest values include relationships, family and sports.

Our transition

As we think back about our transition to the mission field, many things come to our minds…moving, moving and moving again…learning everything new…cultural differences and language difficulties… but our biggest challenges have been on a personal level.

From the very beginning, this has been a faith-building process. That is especially true because for much of the time, we have not known how God was working, only that He was. Our “need” to understand everything and to know all the details in advance was challenged continually. One of our friends told us, “it’s much easier to sing “’I surrender all’ than it is to do it.” It’s also easier to say that we “live by faith and not by sight” than to actually walk that way. Honestly, for us, the most difficult thing continues to be “the stripping away” of all that we have come to depend upon other than God in our lives. We had no idea how self-reliant we were, or how dependent we were on other things and other people. The Lord has been patiently teaching us to yield to Him, His ways, His timing and His will and rely upon Who we know – He who is Faithful and True – rather than what we know. We’ve learned so much.

Our first cross-cultural transition was from the U.S. to Costa Rica, for a year of Spanish language school. Within days of arriving, our feelings of adequacy and self-confidence in who we were and what we knew (and were able to do), were shaken (badly), as we were unable to communicate even the most basic of things. We were reduced to grunts, groans, hand signals and pointing! We couldn’t even carry on a conversation on the phone! For us, language school was one “one gigantic humbling experience” (which truly was a very good thing). The Lord taught us much there.

Our transition to Uruguay was much more difficult, as we arrived in the middle of winter. Our first moment of culture shock occurred when we realized that we could understand almost nothing that was being said to us. Our Mission Directors were here to help us for the first week, but then they left, and we were here by ourselves. Right away, the believers in our church (who knew the right people and businesses to contact) helped us get established. They were patient and kind to us, and it was during this time that our relationships with them began to develop. We’ve learned that everything here takes longer, is harder, has to be done by hand, from scratch, and the results are usually different than we expect. But they are not bad, just different. In this process, God has helped us set aside our agendas, schedules, and priorities and adapt so we can function well here.

One of our greatest challenges has been our residency process, which has been very complicated. We think we’re nearing the end now, and hope to have our cedulas (National Identity Documents) in hand by the end of March.

In August this past year, we left a world in which…

• Young children were securely strapped into car seats, and those who couldn’t swim, wore life jackets.
• Our really sharp kitchen knives had protective covers (sheaths) on them.
• Electricity and water were never mixed together.
• Every day, we reviewed our day planners to see what we’d scheduled days and weeks in advance.

To come to a world in which…

• Young children (& babies) are carried in the arms of their mothers on the backs of motorcycles… without helmets. Or they stand up in the front seats of cars.
• Cheese samples from the local vendors are served to us on the pointy end of a 20” long machete.
• A shower head (that heats water passing through it) is hooked up to electricity and water….hmm…they call these “widow makers” for a good reason. We’ve been advised to avoid the urge to put the hose back on if it should come loose.
• We commonly receive text messages inviting us to a birthday party and other important events - 3 hours before it begins.

As the only American couple living here, and working in the churches in Florida, Uruguay, we have many challenges. Misunderstandings with Uruguayans are common (on both sides). But we work them out. God has given us love and compassion for them, and we are so grateful that He sent us here.

Life is a challenge…walk by faith in the God who created us and who gives us the grace to follow Him every day.

Prayer Requests

For the month of March, please pray:

1. That the hearts of Uruguayan believers would be filled with passion for the Word of God and that they would long for Him, as the Psalmist said in Psalm 42… As a deer pants for the water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
2. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ would become central in their lives; that their hearts would be filled with compassion for those who are lost, and would reach out to them with the Truth of God.
3. That God will grant us the grace and wisdom to come alongside the leaders of these churches, to encourage & strengthen them.
4. That the government of Uruguay would grant us permanent residency.

February Monthly Missions Focus: Amy Brock-Devine

By amberbruce

Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave the Great Commission:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Based on this command, Bethel is committed to making disciples both here and around the world. As Christians, we are each commanded to participate in this global mission. Our individual roles are usually some combination of praying, giving, mobilizing, and going. This month and next month we will look at some missionaries that were sent out from our own body at Bethel. Following the example of the Antiochan church in Acts 13:1-3, we pray for and send out men and women to preach the gospel among those who have not heard.

Amy Brock-Devine grew up in the Tri-Cities. She was attending Bethel and was part of a small group when she heard God’s call to full-time ministry over-seas.

Amy says putting her dreams in the hands of God was one of the hardest things she has ever done. She was “successful” in her career for 13 years, but felt like she was missing something important. She says, “The Lord kept saying, ‘Come, I will show you how to fish…’ It took me 3 years to obey. And in 1994 I quit my 6 -figure job to go to follow that command. As we are called to go ‘… in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

During a 6-month training course with a youth ministry in Northern Argentina, she was surprised to find God reminding her of Thailand - a nation she had visited 5 years before. After the training course and a short time back in the States to pray and determine where to go, she went back to Argentina for 3 years. There she tutored, taught, and discipled foster children, children at an elementary school, and adults while supporting herself by teaching English and selling fruit smoothies.

A new phase of God’s plan started in 2008, when her time in Argentina came to an end. She finished her Master’s in Education while doing ministry and living in three different hemispheres. She spent some time travelling to visit missionary friends in Brazil and El Salvador, and then spent the Olympics in Beijing. She came back to the States to raise support and finish her classes.

In March of 2009, Amy went to Australia to train at the School of Frontier Missions in Perth. After that, she joined her team already on the field in Bangkok, Thailand.

Amy now works with Ark International in Bangkok to love, educate, restore and advocate for children at risk. These children are at risk of: poverty, poor health care, sexual abuse, lack of education, labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and a life without Christ. Amy and her team employ three strategies to reduce the risk to these children:

1. Personal one-on-one relationships
2. Opportunities like job and life-skills training and sports ministries
3. Education in the truth of God’s Word and academic kills

Amy and her team love underprivileged children in the Name of Christ. Their work is difficult and demanding. They see children in dangerous and difficult situations. They work with children with emotional damage from abuse and neglect. They are often under attack from the enemy as they bring the love of Christ into areas of darkness. This month, please lift up Amy and her team in your small group.

You can follow Amy on Facebook or her blog, Making A Big Difference.

Please pray:

1. For the team to have unity, harmony, and perseverance in doing day-to-day tasks.
2. For the protection of the children they are mentoring. Some children have been left by their parents in the slums for an indefinite amount of time with little to no money while they go seek work or medical treatment.
3. For Amy to have understanding in all she does: study of the Thai language, study of God’s Word, and knowing when and how to speak into people’s lives.
4. For Amy to keep her eyes focused on God’s grace. That she will be filled with the knowledge of God’s love and grace, then let that flow from her to her team members and the families and children she works with.

January Monthly Missions Focus - Sex Trafficking

By amberbruce

[Author’s note: For many of us, sex trafficking is “too horrible to think about.” I know. I used to be there. But I’ve come to realize that this is a crime that is too horrible not to think about – and tell others about and do something about. It has often been said that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Evil is triumphing in sex trafficking. It is time to rise up against it.]

Though awareness is on the rise, sex trafficking is crime that is little known and widely misunderstood. Its lack of public outrage is all the more drastic when contrasted with its prevalence. More of an epidemic than a crime, sex trafficking accounts for a large percentage of all human trafficking, which is the fastest-growing organized crime in the world, second only to drug trafficking. Human trafficking is estimated to net $32 billion dollars each year – but that doesn’t take into account the $97 billion that the world pornography industry rakes in each year by selling images of the victims of sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking is the sale of persons for commercial sexual exploitation wherein the person is forced, coerced, or deceived into performing sexual acts for the profit of the trafficker. It occurs in every country in the world and in nearly every city. An estimated 100,000 new girls and boys are kidnapped, lured, tricked, or sold by their own parents into commercial sexual exploitation each year in the United States alone. Their average age is 13.

Once in “the Life,” these women and children are controlled by their pimps with violence, threats, and psychological manipulation. They are held captive as slaves, servicing an average of 20 customers a night, with little hope of escape or rescue. Many die at the hands of their pimps or johns, or from drug overdose or STDs. The few who are rescued rarely have a safe place to recover, as there are fewer than 100 dedicated beds in the United States for these victims. Many return to their captivity.

It is a common misconception that prostitutes are simply bad people. They are drug addicts driven to selling their bodies, we think, or they enjoy it and make a lot of money doing it. The reality is that these are broken people, who oftentimes can’t even recognize their slavery because of the psychological control of their pimps.

But Jesus shows us an even more radical response to that misconception. He makes it clear that we are all bad people (Mark 10:18). Jesus is the only good guy. And far from shunning prostitutes, Jesus had dinner with them (Matt 9:10-12)! He sought out the places they frequented and showed them the love and forgiveness of God that changes trodden-down women into saints. Who doesn’t love the story in Luke 7:37-50 of the sinful woman anointing Jesus and washing his feet with her hair? May we follow His example and not that of Simon, the host of the dinner party who knew very well “what sort of woman” that was – and who loved little.

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. We are honored to have Don and Bridget Brewster, the founders of Agape International Mission, coming to visit Bethel. They will share about their work in Cambodia rescuing and restoring girls from sexual slavery and transforming the culture to prevent it. They will also talk about the global sex trafficking problem and the hope we have as Christians with which to combat it. Join us Sunday, January 15 at 4pm in the Desert View Room.

Please pray:
1. Agape has done much work in the village of Svay Pak, Cambodia, and it is making a difference! Two men in the village of Poipet, on the Thai border, were recently overheard saying,”It’s very difficult in Svay Pak now. We stay away from there, now we have to come here to Poipet where it is still easy.” Pray for a Rahab’s House (community center) to be built in Poipet.
2. For provision and protection on all AIM ministries, staff, girls and families. For all of our staff and leadership, for strength and perseverance to keep fighting the good fight in faith.
3. For complete restoration for Agape’s rescued girls. Some are so bombarded by guilt from their family to return to the life to make more money! Their families’ insistence to do what is wrong wears them down. May Christ reign in their hearts and minds instead of the earthly parents.
4. For many Christians to rise up and build restoration homes in the United States where rescued victims of sex trafficking can find a safe place to receive love, healing, and the gospel.

Oct/Nov Monthly Missions Focus - The Persecuted Church

By amberbruce

Bethel Monthly Missions Focus is an ongoing prayer initiative to highlight a relevant prayer need. The focus may include an area of the world, an unreached people group, or a missionary Bethel supports. Each month there will be four specific requests. Consider praying with your small group for all four once a month or for one each week.

This month our missions focus is the Persecuted Church. This ties in with the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday, November 13. Open Doors reports that over 70% of the world’s population live in areas of severe religious persecution. Hebrews 13:3 exhorts us to “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

The Bible teaches that persecution is a normal part of a disciple’s life (John 15:18-21; 17:14; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 John 3:13) and calls on Christians to follow Christ’s example of suffering (Philippians 2: 1-11; 1 Peter 2:19-25) while responding in love (Matthew 5:38-48; Romans 12:14,17-21; 1 Peter 2:21-23). Christians are even called to rejoice in persecution, seeing it as an honor and a guarantee of future glory and joy (1 Peter 4:13-16).

Glenn Penner in his “Biblical Theology of Persecution and Discipleship” writes:

Rather than following the common Western practice of thanking God for the privilege of living in a free country where we do not suffer for Him, the early Christians thanked God for the honour of suffering for His sake (Acts 5:41). They knew that in order to bring life to others, they must die; to see others experience peace with God, they would have to suffer the violence of the world; to bring the love of God to a dying world, they would have to face the hatred of those whom they were seeking to reach.

We may not be suffering ourselves, but we are called to stand with those who are persecuted. (Matthew 25:31-46; Hebrews 10:32-38; 13:3). First Corinthians 12:26-27 reminds us:

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Many experts suggest that more than 200 million people in over 60 nations face violent persecution or detention because of their identity as Christians.

Open Doors summarizes the reality of persecution in their 2011 Prayer Guide for the Persecuted Church in this way:

For men, persecution means living with the reality of arrest and punishment. Even where Christianity is ‘tolerated’, converts and disciples face routine violence and intimidation. Their stories show the pressure they are under: a church leader is arrested and held without charge, a Christian father takes his family and flees. Houses are raided, hard-won businesses shut down overnight.

For women, persecution increases their vulnerability. They can be falsely imprisoned, beaten, raped, killed. Female converts often find themselves banished from their extended family, left without a place to live. Widows of Christian martyrs, or wives whose husbands have been imprisoned, often lack the education or the skills they need to earn a living. They relied on their husband. Now he is gone.

For children, persecution means a life of uncertainty. Some are orphaned by persecution. Many have a parent in prison or labor camp. Christian boys are targeted for training as child soldiers or even abducted to be raised as Muslims. Girls can be kidnapped, and forcibly married. Many Christian children are denied education. Socially excluded, they are doomed to a life of menial and low-paid jobs.

For churches, persecution means secrecy, hiding, and fear. Forced underground, they meet in secret locations. Where allowed to meet, the church is monitored: spied upon by the secret police, its leaders kept under surveillance. Buildings are targets for arson, mob violence or even bombs. Pastors are martyred by their enemies, who believe that cutting off the ‘head’ will kill the body. They are wrong: the church is growing.

If you would like to take action, here are four options for you:

• Sign up for Voice of the Martyr’s prayer emails.
• Write a letter to a Christian in prison.
• Send Bibles to people living in restricted nations.
• Fill an Action Pack for persecuted Christians.

For more information about the Persecuted Church, visit Voice of the Martyrs or Open Doors. Also, check out the table in the foyer at the Richland campus on November 13, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

For more on what the Bible teaches about persecution, see IDOP’s list of Bible readings.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

- 2 Corinthians 1:11

Please pray:

1. For wisdom: for parents who want to teach their children about Jesus; for young Christians, both physically and spiritually, who are eager to share the gospel with others despite the risks.
2. For teaching: That God will supply His people with His Word where Bibles are scarce; that pastors will be trained to shepherd their congregations and teach the Bible; that believers will be trained to reach people groups who have never heard the gospel.
3. For fellowship: That isolated believers will have the courage to connect with other believers; that local believers can meet together in safety and that strong bonds of trust can be built.
4. For health and safety: that God will provide shelter, jobs, education and healthcare for believers displaced by violence; that children who have lost parents will receive the care they need.

September Missions Focus: The Muslim World

By amberbruce

Bethel Monthly Missions Focus is an ongoing prayer initiative to highlight a relevant prayer need. The focus may include an area of the world, an unreached people group, or a missionary Bethel supports. Each month there will be four specific requests. Consider praying with your small group for all four once a month or for one each week.

This month our missions focus is actually rather broad. The focus is on Muslims, locally and globally. With the recent 10-year anniversary of 9/11, the Arab spring, and the drought in Muslim-dominated Somalia, Muslims are at the forefront of the news. As Christians, how should we think about Muslims, pray for Muslims, and interact with Muslims? Many of us still need to get past our wariness and learn to love these people the way Christ does.

Bible Background

In our culture, Muslims are frequently ostracized and seen as the enemy. Yet we worship the God who loves his enemies. Romans 5:8 tells us that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul goes on to say that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (verse 10). In Matthew 5:44, Christ our Lord commanded us to follow his example: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

In Jesus’ day, Samaritans were the ones who were ostracized. Jesus’ Jewish disciples were all too happy to destroy them for rejecting Jesus (Luke 9:54-55), but Jesus saw things differently. He rebuked his trigger-happy disciples. Instead, he sought opportunities to preach the Good News to the Samaritans, even foregoing his dinner to do it (John 4:31-41). He told his disciples that the Samaritans were like a field ripe for the harvest, and they were the harvesters (John 4:35-38).

Today, the Muslim world stands like a field ready to be plowed, sown, tended, and harvested. Many have labored and are labored, but many more are needed. Rather than seeing them as enemies to be feared, Muslims need to be seen with eyes of compassion for the lost, eyes that see the potential that any enemy of the cross may be God’s elect (1 Tim 1:12-13). In Luke 10:2-3, Jesus pairs a command to pray with a command to go: “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Pray that laborers will go. Pray that you will join them.

What is Islam?

The world Islam means submission. Muslims believe humans ought to submit themselves to God. They believe in one God, the Creator of all things, angels and evil spirits, prophets (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Jesus, and Mohammed), holy books (Books of Moses, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Qu’ran), the Day of Judgment for all people. They live according to five main “pillars” which are required religious practices for all adults:

1. Reciting the Creed
2. Prayer five times a day
3. Almsgiving
4. Fasting
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime

Some Muslims add the sixth requirement of Jihad, the struggle to propagate the faith of Islam either by force or by proselytizing.

Muslims believe that the Bible has been corrupted and modified by Jews and Christians. They believe Jesus was a man, not God, and a prophet. They do not believe in the need for or the efficacy of Jesus’ death on the cross, and in fact deny that it happened at all. They do not believe that Jesus is the Judge of all mankind, but will be judged along with other men.

Muslims Around the World and in the Tri-Cities

According to The 30 Days Prayer Network, one fifth of the world is Muslim. Muslims are the majority in 52 nations, most of which are in North Africa and the Middle East. Though estimates vary widely, there may be as many as 8 million Muslims in Canada and the United States. The Tri-City Herald reports that the Islamic Center of the Tri-Cities has about 700 members, many of which are refugees from places like Somalia. The Islamic Center of Tri-Cities holds potlucks on the second Saturday of each month at 6:30 p.m., open both to members and the whole community.

One of Bethel’s local partner organizations is World Relief, which helps newly-arrived refugee families get settled and shows that the Church cares for them. Of the 161 refugees that World Relief helped from last October to this September, about 70 of them were Muslims fleeing persecution in Iraq, brutal conflict in Somalia, or escaping refugee camps.

World Relief is looking for volunteers to serve as Friendship Mentors, ESL Tutors, or Employment Coaches with new refugee families starting life in the Tri-Cities. Initial commitment is a couple of hours a week for 12 weeks. Read about Claudia’s experience as a local World Relief volunteer and contact Scott Michael if you are interested in volunteering.

Other ways to help World Relief include donating new or gently used household items:

• Tables and chairs
• Twin and full-size blankets
• Pots and pans
• Used cars

Skills Development Mission also ministers to many refugee students in an after-school program. Close to 50% of the students currently attending are Muslims. These children from unreached people groups are able to hear the gospel and meet Christians who are praying for them when they attend SDM.

Resources

To learn more about reaching Muslims with Christ’s love, check out The 30 Days Prayer Network and the book The Gospel for Muslims by Thabiti Anyabwile.

Please pray:

1. Pray for the protection, encouragement and empowering of believers in areas affected by the Arab Spring.
2. Pray that World Vision and other aid organizations would be able to access the regions in Somalia where three quarters of a million people could starve to death. And pray for the financial resources to complete this job.
3. World Relief serves many families still waiting for their loved ones to come to the US. There is currently one family waiting for their 5 children. Please pray that the children come soon.
4. Because of what they have experienced, many of the refugees deal with unspeakable grief on a daily basis. Some have health challenges. Pray that God’s people will come alongside them to show His love and offer support. Pray that these Muslims will have the eyes of their hearts opened to receive Isa Al Masih (Jesus the Messiah).