Holistic Evangelism in Tete Province, Mozambique - June 2018 Trip Report

Dear friends and supporters of Tete Province,

We had a wonderful trip to Tete Province. Our six-person team sponsored by The Outreach Foundation departed on Monday, June 11. After three flights, we arrived in Blantyre, Malawi on Wednesday, June 13. We were met at the airport by Nedson and his daughter, Esther. We enjoyed a lunch at Nedson’s home prepared by his wife Sarah. After unpacking the medical supplies donated by our home congregations, we drove about three hours to the Malawi town of Ntcheu near the Mozambique border in the northeast portion of Tete Province. On Thursday we had a full day of visiting remote congregations in the Angonia District of Tete Province – places we had never visited. We were welcomed warmly with singing and dancing. We saw newly constructed church buildings at Melenyangu and Mtangowatsanja.

Baryé Fè High School - June 2018 Update

The energy and commitment of the students at Baryé Fè High School were palpable when the team I was leading on a discernment trip to Haiti back in January visited. It was around the time that a leading political official here made some disparaging remarks about Haiti and its future. All I could think about were the students we met, working hard and full of hope.

I am so thankful for the vision of Haiti Outreach Ministries which through its schools, including Baryé Fè High School, is teaching and raising up children who will become the leaders of their country in the coming years. We have been told by Haiti Outreach Ministries that as of mid-May the shell of the second classroom building has been completed which includes construction up to the third (and top floor). Interior work has commenced including installation of windows and security bars.

The Outreach FoundationJune 25, 2018

José Carlos Pezini - June 2018 Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Let me begin by thanking you for your prayers. God has been great to us. After spending some time in the U.S., I returned to Brazil at the end of May to find that the SARA Retreat Ministry for Pastors continues to grow. In this update I want to share with you the testimony of a fellow pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, the Rev. Marcio Tenponi, whom God gave me the privilege of helping in his ministry. This is the Rev. Marcio’s testimony:

At the age of 17 I began to follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I served the church as a lay leader until I received God’s call to the pastoral ministry. I surrendered to God and went to the Presbyterian seminary.

Berea Presbyterian Seminary - June 2018 Update

Equipping God’s people for ministry, Berea Presbyterian Theological Seminary is committed to developing leaders to serve faithfully and effectively, primarily among the Ch’ol people in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas. The Ch’ol language, which can be traced directly to its Mayan origins, is the native tongue of approximately 150,000 people in the state. 40,000 of those are monolingual (Ch’ol only) speakers.

Since the 1940s when pioneer mission work among the Ch’ol people was first undertaken by Presbyterians, much attention has been given to appreciating their language, cultural identity and formation of their own leaders. When the growth of the churches indicated the need for more formal theological education, Berea Bible Institute was established with support from missionaries from the Reformed Church of America and Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Refugee/Internally Displaced Persons Appeal - June 2018

They are the most vulnerable of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, these babies…

Izdihar Kassis, director of an outreach ministry called Together, for the Family, met Muhammad when he was only one month old. His family had fled Aleppo and ended up in the Beqaa Valley in western Lebanon. His father found part-time work in construction, but the only home they could afford was a tent – leaky and cold – on top of an apartment building. The mother had to undergo a C-section since there were some complications during Muhammad’s delivery. The United Nations helped with birth expenses, but the family didn’t have resources for Muhammad’s basic needs like milk and diapers.

Middle East, Projects, Vulnerable ChildrenThe Outreach FoundationJune 8, 2018Refugee IDP Appeal, Lebanon

University Student Ministry - May 2018 Update

Background of the Ministry
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) launched University Student Ministry in the early 1960s. Since the beginning, the focus of the ministry has been on making students disciples of Christ regardless of their denominational affiliation. After the fall of the communist regime in Ethiopia, the Church established her own University Student Ministry at the national level under the Department for Mission and Theology of the Church.

A Brief Activity Report
Even though Ethiopia has been under a state of emergency for the past two years, USM has tried hard to reach students at their various campuses. Many campuses are now centers of political instability. However, the unrest hasn’t stopped the students from holding their spiritual gatherings.

Africa, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMay 25, 2018University Student Ministry, Ethiopia

San Pablo Presbyterian Theological Seminary - May 2018 Update

Over its 36 years of ministry San Pablo Presbyterian Theological Seminary has trained almost eight hundred students from twenty-one of the thirty Mexican states. The Yucatán Peninsula is known in the U.S. for the splendid beaches of the Cancun area, a 700-mile shoreline, and its astonishing Mayan ruins. Not as common is to find people who see the region as a place that has experienced a remarkable multiplication of Presbyterian congregations over the last decades.

The initial classes of the San Pablo Seminary were held on September 19, 1982 in the facilities of Divine Savior Presbyterian Church with Rev. Lucio Ek Canul as the first full- time instructor and Rev. David Brainerd Legters as the first president. The son of a missionary couple that coordinated the translation of the New Testament, Legters’ first language was Mayan, his second was English, and his third was Spanish.

Todd and Maria Luke - May 2018 Update

Dear friends,

Below, you can read about:
•   twentieth anniversary for sanctuary
•   twenty cisterns in January and February
•   “Curious Creature” paradigm success
•   new cistern molds with a 10cm annulus
•   five cisterns in March and April – Mexican labor, Mexican funding
•   invitation for 2019

Happy 20th Xpujil Sanctuary
The Xpujil Presbyterian Church sanctuary opened in the spring of 1998. Presbyterians from across Calakmul County recently joined the local congregation for a special worship service to celebrate the twentieth anniversary. Stories were shared about the early days of our new partnership, rooted in a simple “Amigos en Cristo” spirit. Also remembered were those Mexican men and women who came to Xpujil to teach, preach, and lead: Pastor Francisco Chan, Pastor Manuel Pech, Pastor Francisco Mutul, Obrera Ernestina Chan Pantí, Pastor Isaias Beh, Obrera Vernonica, y Obrero Abdiel. God used our little partnership to bring them to the region and make their families feel at home. Twenty years later, the Xpujil church is active and serving their neighbors.

Syria Appeal - May 2018

In April, I was able to take a small team into Syria to meet with three of the congregations of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, which your generous gifts have sustained and encouraged. I cannot but be enormously grateful for those who chose to defy all of the possible “no’s” to come on this journey and be present to our sisters and brothers there:
Rev. Tom and Joy Boone, Julie Burgess, Rev. Jim Wood and Brian Collins. The fact that their families and congregations (Bethel Presbyterian Church, Cornelius, NC; West Hills Church, Omaha; First Presbyterian Church Norfolk, VA) sent them off with their (somewhat anxious?) blessing confirms their discernment that God’s YES preceded our journey. What follows is part of our daily trip blog, this one written by Julie Burgess while we were in Aleppo in April.
–Marilyn Borst, Associate Director for Partnership Development

Important News, Middle East, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMay 12, 2018Syria Appeal, Syria, Lebanon

Church Construction in Kenya - May 2018 Update

Dear friends,

We recently received this joyful report from Stu and Annie Ross, The Outreach Foundation’s East Africa Mission Consultants:

Yesterday was a very eventful day for us. We dedicated PCEA Manyatta Church, the 300th church that The Outreach Foundation has assisted in building in East Africa. This is a great milestone but we reached this milestone only with the help of many partners and donors....and of course, God protected us and was with us throughout. As we do this Kingdom work, we move farther from our base to very difficult, remote and sometimes dangerous areas. Our aim is to spread the gospel to many that have not heard and to add capacity to those that have heard and can reach out and spread the good news of Jesus Christ themselves.

Africa, Missionaries, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMay 11, 2018Church Construction in Kenya, Kenya, Stu Ross

The Antioch Partners - April 2018 Update

Dear friends of The Antioch Partners (TAP),

Easter was celebrated and together we affirmed, “The Lord is Risen! He is Risen indeed!” Our shared belief that in Jesus Christ, God has revealed himself to the world and with his death and resurrection, triumphed over sin and death, forms the basis of our mission and our calling. We have Good News to share with the world!

TAP's Commitment
TAP is committed to supporting our Partners (“Partners” is the term we use for missionaries) as they seek to share (and be) the Good News – as church planters, Bible translators, business people, community developers, teachers, language learners, pastors, friends and neighbors. Such support is often referred to as “member care” and reflects our desire to care for our missionaries so that they can be healthy and effective and able to thrive in their cross-cultural contexts and ministries.

International, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationMay 10, 2018The Antioch Partners

Alan and Ellen Smith - April 2018 Update

In Their Weakness, the Lord’s Light Radiates
For the last 18 years, most of the ministry we have been involved with in Russia has been with small churches. The largest is a church of about 300 members but most are between 12 and 50 members. The 12-member churches are not a part of the partnership program, but they are a rich part of our lives. We have not yet connected American partners with them because the size of most Presbyterian churches could overwhelm them but remember the “not yet.”

I spend time reading about the small church movement and the simple church movement. I think I am drawn to these topics because of our rich experience with the small churches of Eastern Europe. I know the depth of fellowship, the courage and the inspiration of small churches struggling in an often-hostile environment. I need their witness. Their witness is a complex mixture of humility, courage, tenacity and grace.

Europe, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationMay 9, 2018Alan and Ellen Smith

Bob and Kristi Rice - April 2018 Update

Mama Sarah
Mama Sarah stood and spoke before the large group of mostly men, those being trained at Nile Theological College to serve as pastors and community leaders. While women are unheralded and not valued in this culture, Mama Sarah quickly and easily gained the rapt attention of everyone in the room, sharing her own story in the context of our teaching on forgiveness…

One of the great joys in life is the people we meet. Last month Kristi traveled to Rwanda for a training in healing and reconciliation with three South Sudanese colleagues. One of these colleagues is the inimitable, irrepressible, and unforgettable Mama Sarah.

Mama Sarah is a widow in her late forties; her husband died almost twenty-five years ago. Mama Sarah has raised four children on her own. She has also taken in children not her own from other clans and tribes, an unheard-of reality here in South Sudan. Mama Sarah is a grandmother and she relishes her role as “matriarch,” calling others sons and daughters and cherishing her well-deserved title and status as “Mama Sarah” (Mother Sarah).

Africa, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationMay 4, 2018Bob and Kristi Rice, South Sudan, Juba

Bethlehem Bible College - April 2018 Update

In February of this year, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was temporarily closed by Jerusalem’s Christian leaders in protest of a new taxation imposed upon the Christian institutions by the city of Jerusalem. This was an unexpected break in the status quo going back to the Ottoman era which had previously granted tax-free status to the city’s religious institutions. The shocking announcement included a century of back taxes, totaling almost $200 million; an expense that would have forced many ministries out of the land. Some leaders felt this imposition was a way to continue to weaken the presence of Christians in the city. In protest, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Jerusalem’s most-visited sites was closed.

Because this event took place about a month before Easter, there were worries that the church would remain shut during our holiest season. Thankfully, after three days of closure the situation was at least temporarily resolved, and the doors of one of the world’s oldest churches were swung back open.

Middle East, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationMay 3, 2018Bethlehem Bible College, Bethlehem, Palestine

Dan and Elizabeth Turk - May 1 Update

We recently received updated information on the situation in Madagascar from Dan and Elizabeth Turk. Scroll to the end of this article for news they shared April 24th.

Dear friends,

Madagascar is still experiencing daily ongoing protests in the capital city of Antananarivo. Large crowds were expected Saturday April 28th and again on May 1st, a holiday. The demonstrations are being led by members of the National Assembly upset with new election laws that they insist were passed with the assistance of payouts to other members of the National Assembly. These laws are seen as favoring the current president, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, and making it hard or impossible for the two other major contenders, Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina, to run. People joining the demonstrations are expressing their frustration at the high level of corruption in the government, judicial system, and armed forces. They are voicing the increasing difficulty of living with low incomes combined with rising prices and insecurity.

The Outreach FoundationMay 1, 2018

José Carlos Pezini - April 2018 Update

Dear friends,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Let me begin by thanking you for your prayers. God has been great to us. In January I had prostate surgery. Thanks to God’s grace, I recovered well. Within two weeks of the surgery, I was ready to return to my regular ministry activities including my international travels. Odete and I are so thankful for your lives and the care that you have demonstrated towards us.

The SARA ministry has grown exponentially in these last couple of years. Today there are 13 mentoring core groups spread out all over Brazil. Each one of them has two retreats per year. This year alone, we have scheduled 26 different retreats. It is through God’s mercy that we have already reached around 500 pastors in 13 different denominations. We have helped them through their daily struggles. Many of them have testified that through our personal mentoring and spiritual formation retreats, they have been able to conquer depression and other signs of burnout. As they recover from their personal burnout, they feel motivated to perform their ministry with enthusiasm and great joy again.

Continuing Education for Chinese Church Leaders - April 2018 Update

Walking with Chinese Pastors
“The average pastor in our province has a congregation of 6,500 members.” With those words Rev. Keyun Zhang, chairman of the Provincial Committee of TSPM and president of the Theological Seminary, explained why the development of Chinese pastors is so important for the ongoing health of the growing congregations in the Jiangsu Province.

During the week that he spent in the United States last fall, Rev. Zhang led a delegation of eight high ranking leaders in visits sponsored by The Outreach Foundation to University Place Presbyterian Church (Tacoma, WA) and First Presbyterian Church (Wilmington, NC). He used the opportunity to share how even with such significantly high pastor to member ratios, the church in China is committed to improving the quality of its spiritual life and its ministries in their communities. “We have nine times as many congregations in the Jiangsu Province as we had in 1950,” he stated. “We have gone from 540 to 4,639 churches.”

PCEA Mabati Church Construction - April 2018 Update

The Outreach Foundation’s East Africa Mission Catalyst Stu Ross recently shared the following news from Kenya:

We just dedicated Mary Hill Church, which is located in Aberdare Presbytery. Working with our partner, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, we have completed ten churches in this presbytery. There are two more churches on our list here to finish. By building this sanctuary, we brought the congregation from under a tree to this beautiful structure.

Why We Dedicate Churches
There are several reasons we dedicate a church. By dedicating a church, we let the whole community know that the new church is open. Secondly, many friends bring gifts of money and articles needed for the church to the dedication. Seventy plastic chairs and cash were donated at this dedication. Thirdly, it is a time thank people for all their help.

Africa, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationApril 26, 2018PCEA Mabati Church Construction, Kenya

Partner Updates