A few days in the life of missionaries in a strange country

The following is part of a letter from Carol, a missionary with her husband Steve.


Recently, missionary, Carol Johnson, wrote, "we hosted two leaders from The Mission Society who came for the big 15th birthday of The Friendship Corporation and the Living Vine Church. The Living Vine Church actually has become two wonderful churches. The original one that we attend, which is all in Russian, and a Kazakh fellowship which meets at a different facility and whose services are all in Kazakh. There were lots of events around that weekend including a big all day church event. The morning was a worship service with mini-sermons, lots of praise music, prayer and testimonies by people of the Living Vine Church. Then there were special gifts given from America to the church and from the churches to The Mission Society. A wonderful lunch was provided by the Kazakh church for all. The afternoon service was testimonies, prayer, mini-sermons, praise music Kazakh style and it was absolutely beautiful. Some were familiar songs but with a different musical twist. I wish you could all hear it. Once again there were testimonies and then there was a very powerful skit by the university students and special dancing by Kazakh women and one young girl did her own dance all in national costumes. It was very, very special. The entire event started at 10 am and ended at about 5:15 PM. A very full and appropriate date full of celebration."

Steve, Carol's husband is working with the mission Field Leader, Douglas, concerning management and financial issues. The two leaders from The Mission Society met with Steve several times while they were there to get reports, discuss and help come up with a game plan. Steve is devoting a lot of his time and energy to this process. The Field Leader, Douglas, has been under a lot of stress. He and his family have left for a vacation and time of renewal in the States. They will be gone until sometime in July or August. Steve will be overseeing the field while Douglas is gone and as long as he and Carol are there. Steve's administrative background before becoming a pastor is a huge help there along with his natural analytical skills. His Pastor's role must cover it all so that everything is done in a Godly way. Your prayers for the entire process will be greatly appreciated.

It is amazing how God has worked in the lives of the over twenty missionaries who have served or are serving in Kazakhstan during the last fifteen years. One of the outstanding churches began when a medical doctor from Michigan went to serve for a short period of time. When missionary, Joyce Chelius, took the doctor to visit one of the villages where immigrants from Poland had come to Kazakhstan by force from the Communist government. The doctor was immediately rushed to the home of a very old lady who was very sick. When the guest doctor examined the patient, he reported bad news to the patient's daughter. He said, "I am sorrow that I can not help your mother. She is dying." When the daughter and her family insisted that he try, the doctor said, "I can not help your mother, but I have a boss who is able to heal her if it is His will." When they inquired who his boss was, the doctor said, "My Boss is Jesus Christ, the great physician. Will you give me permission to pray with your mother?" The daughter said, "By all means." When the family members filled the house, the American doctor, in fear and trembling read the story of how Jesus healed a woman who had been very ill for a long time. He concluded the story by saying, "When this woman slipped through the crowd and reached out and touched Jesus coat, she immediately felt the healing power of God go through her body." Then the doctor said, "All who will pray with me that the healing power of Jesus will go through her body, do so as I pray." When the prayers were finished, the older woman who had been very ill, opened her eyes and asked for something to eat. The whole village began to praise God. No one was more amazed than the visiting doctor, who found that his faith in Jesus Christ was the most powerful medicine available to him, and he had become the founder of a Christian Church. Scriptural Guide: Read Matthew 9:20-22.

Call The Mission Society(1-800-478-8963)

Faith Story - Arthur & Mary Alice Ivey

Challenge: Use this May 09 letter as a prayer guide for missionaries Arthur & Mary Alice Ivey, Huancayo, Perú

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord Jesus Christ for all He is doing in our lives and in the ministry here in Peru, for filling us with His Holy Spirit to guide and direct each of our steps, and for pouring out His grace upon us...

In April, Billy, Genaro, and Arthur traveled to Panao to make preparations for the upcoming medical campaign that will take place in July. A team from Asbury United Methodist Church in Kentucky will be coming to work with us on this project. Panao is a small town in the middle of the Pachatea region outside of Huanuco. The people of this area are Quechua Panao speakers. We currently have ten to twelve discipleship groups functioning in this area, and the ministry is growing. We have been working to translate the discipleship materials to the Panao dialect, and hope to have the first small book ready for use in this medical campaign. This is very important because the Bible has not yet been published in this language, and is due to be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

These medical campaigns require months of planning, but always result in a great harvest. We are expecting to treat between 1500 and 2000 patients, and based on past experience we expect to see around 500 or more professions of faith. Three churches in Panao and the discipleship groups will all be involved in the event and the follow up of these new believers. Please be in prayer for us for everything to be planned and in place for this event, and for the Lord Jesus’ will to be done. Please pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people in Panao to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord. Please also pray for our local workers in Panao: Manuel Villar, Pablo Villogas, and Edmin Leon.

We were also blessed to have John Pearson, and Chris and Angela Mitchell from Roswell United Methodist Church with us to conduct a workshop on micro enterprise. We taught 13 students the basic concepts for analyzing a micro business idea, writing a business plan, and starting and running a small business. A number of the students were some of our national missionary workers. We are hoping that this will help them to find ways to sustain themselves in the ministries in their respective areas. Three of our national workers are already involved with us in two small businesses. One is a restaurant in Lima, and the other is the soft drink bottling plant in Puerto Bermudez. Please be in prayer for each of these students, that the Lord Jesus would lead them and guide them though this process, and that he would bless them with means to support themselves in the ministry.

Pastor Alberto, Karen, Arthur, and Mary Alice held another leadership retreat for the discipleship leaders in San Ramon. The participants received the teaching well, and seemed to grow in their relationship with the Lord. They were excited about continuing the work of discipleship. Please pray God will give wisdom to these leaders as they lead their discipleship groups, and that Christ will change the lives of each person involved in the groups.

Please give praise to the Lord for bringing us additional persons called to be part of the missionary team in Peru. Covenant with us to continue in prayer for the young adult leadership team and their continued ministry to the spiritually lost and dying youth of Huancayo. Please pray for the leaders of the churches in Peru, and for their spiritual protection and growth in the Lord Jesus. Also be in prayer for Billy and Laurie Drum, Ash and Audra McEuen, Martin and Tracy Reeves, Louise Reimer, and their families. All are missionaries with the Mission Society that currently or will soon be working in Peru. Pray also for Obed and Cynthia Alvarez, the head of NEWMA, as well as their other leaders and national missionaries. Please pray for our safety as we travel, and that we will boldly speak God's Word wherever we go.

We pray that Jesus will continue to give you hope to live each day for Him, and we also pray that God is drawing you closer and closer to Him every day. God bless you. We love you.

Yours in Christ,

Arthur, Mary Alice, Benjamin, Joshua, and Mary Beth Ivey

Write for a picture and prayer card of the Ivey family: The Mission Society Missionaries to Peru, P.O. Box 922637 Norcross, Georgia 30010-2637

"Take the teachings that you heard me proclaim in the presence of many witnesses, and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:2 (Today’s English Version)

The Privileged Planet

Recently I watched The Privileged Planet. Contemporary scientists, were challenging the so called scientific theories of the past that the earth is just an insignificant planet rotating around an insignificant star. They concluded that all the present day knowledge of the earth and the universe reveals that the earth is uniquely placed in the universe by an intelligence for a purpose. Therefore, I want to share their conclusions.

There is an opinion, common among purely secular scientists, that our earthly existence is not only rather ordinary, but in fact, insignificant and purposeless. An accomplished astronomer, the late Carl Sagan, typifies this view in his book '"Pale Blue Dot". He took the position that a space photo, showing the reflection of sunlight on the earth, making the earth seeming to be sitting in a beam of light, can be misinterpreted as if there were some special significance to this small world. Dr. Sagan, momentarily stepped outside his scientific discipline, to say that a photo of the earth sitting in a beam of light is just an accident of geometry and optics. "Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe", was challenged by Dr. Sagan( Sagan, Carl,1994. "Pale Blue Dot": New York: Random House). He claimed our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint('except in Biblical revelation, such as the star of Bethlehem', -this writer's observation ) that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. However some present day scientists, sharing their expertice on The Privileged Planet documentary say "unprecedented scientific knowledge acquired in the last century, enabled by equally unprecedented technological achievements, when properly interpreted, contributes to a deeper appreciation of the earth's place in the cosmos."

In The Privileged Planet modern day scientists explore a striking feature of the natural world. A feature as widely grounded in the evidence of nature as it is wide-ranging in its implications: the conditions that allow for intelligent life on earth also make it strangely well suited for viewing and analyzing the universe. The fact that our atmosphere is clear; that our moon is just the right size and distance from earth, and that its gravity stabilizes the earth’s rotation; that our position in our galaxy is just so; that our sun is its precise mass and composition: all of these factors (and many more), are not only necessary for earth’s habitability; they also have been surprisingly crucial for scientists to measure and make discoveries about the universe.

According to the producers of The Pivileged Planet, "Mankind is unusually well positioned to decipher the cosmos. To put it more technically, 'measurability' seems to correlate with habitability. But is this correlation between the existence of complex life and our ability to make scientific discoveries simply a coincidence or the result of blind chance? Or does it point to a deeper explanation? The Privileged Planet examines these questions in a remarkable search for evidence of design and purpose within the universe. Utilizing stunning computer animation and the visual archives of NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope Institute, the European Space Agency, and leading observatories throughout the world, the program present a spectacular view of our planet, galaxy, and the entire cosmos."

Scriptural Guide: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things were created by the Word and without the Word was not anything made...and the Word became flesh and lived amoung us."(John 1:1, 14).

Faith Story - Jake Matthews

Recently I received an email from Milton Slater. Milton wrote about a man from Norfolk, Virginia and how on Sept 11th, 2003, TWO YEARS AFTER THE TRAGEDIES OF 9/11/2001, he called a local radio station.

His name was Robert Matthews. Robert reported that a few weeks before Sept. 11th, that he and his wife found out they were going to have their first child. She planned a trip out to California to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, they prayed that God would grant her a safe trip. Shortly after Robert said 'amen,' they both heard a loud pop and the car shook violently. By the time they had stopped and replaced a blown out tire they had missed her flight. Shortly after they returned home, they received a call from Robert's father who was retired NYFD. He asked what his daughter-in-law's flight number was. He informed Robert that the flight she missed was the one that crashed into the southern tower. He also shared that he was going to help. He said, "This is not something I can't just sit by for; I have to do something."

Robert was concerned for his father's safety, of course, but more because his father had never given his life to Christ.

Before he got off of the phone, he said, "take good care of my grandchild." Those were the last words Robert ever heard his father say. He died while helping in the rescue effort. After receiving word that his father had died, Robert's joy over the safety of his wife quickly became anger. He was angry at God, at his father, and at himself.

Several months later Robert reports that he was sitting at home with his wife and son, when there was a knock on the door. When Robert opened the door he saw a couple with a small child. The man looked at him and asked, "Was your father's name Jake Matthews. When Robert said, '"Yes", the visitor quickly grabbed his hand and said, "I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son."

He explained to Robert that his wife had worked in the World Trade Center and had been trapped inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that Jake Matthews had been the one to find his wife and free her. He then said to Robert, "my wife has something else to tell you." His wife then told Robert that while his father worked to free her, she talked to him and led him to faith in Christ. To this good news Robert shared, "Now I know that when I get to Heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that you will be able to thank him yourselves." To make the event even more exciting the couple shared that when their baby was born, they named him Jacob Matthew, in honor of the man who gave his life so that a mother and baby could live.

Scriptural Guide: "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures Forever." Psalm 136:1

Faith Story - Bishop Fulton Sheen

Recently, through one of the religious broadcast networks, I was able to reach back into the past to the 1970's and listened to Bishop Fulton Sheen, a Roman Catholic priest, who was one of the first leaders of the Church to use television to share hope. He was seeking to bring a message of hope to what he called "a people caught up in the down cycle of life." He was speaking to a generation who had recently experienced World War I and World War II, and who were facing a future darkened by the mushroom cloud of the spread of atomic weapons. He called our attention to our grandparents who gave us hope because they were the people of the 19th century, a people of hope, living in one of the up cycles of life. The 19th century was one of many great inventions and heroes who refused to flounder in the ashes and wreckage of the moment and stood on something solid, called faith, and used the fallen stones of their civilization to build new homes and factories, and places of worship. A great missionary movement began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A cry went out from the youth, "Let us win the world to Christ in this generation." Young people, caught again the spirit of hope that was experienced in the eighteenth century when Francis Asbury, a 26 year old young man from England, landed on the shores of North America to lead and expand a Methodist movement that found thousands of young men eager to answer the call of spiritually leading the pioneers of hope on the frontier. Hope spread by providing "preaching places' and Christian communities, in nearly every community in this new land.

Bishop Sheen said these were people of hope, not because life was easy, but because they refused to be satisfied with just the answers of "how", but were determined to find answers to the questions of "Why." In the 1950's through the 1970's Bishop Sheen called the post war generation to seek from their faith the answer to the "why" question. He closed his message by pointing to Jesus Christ who lived and died victoriously because He knew why He was here up this earth. "If you seek to save your life, you will lose life, but if you give your life for my sake and the gospel, you will find life"(Matthew 10:39).

Faith Story - Cheyenne

Recently I received an email story from a good friend of mine. It has a powerful message. The author suggested that those who read it might want to forward the good news story to others. I have revised the story to be able to make it fit the newspaper column (and this blog.)

The daughter of an elderly father tells the story. Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. He survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. Offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. His friends stopped coming.

She and her husband, Dick, asked Dad to come live with them. Within a week, she regretted the invitation. He criticized everything. Alarmed, her husband sought out their pastor. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind.

But it seemed God did not hear. Finally, she called a mental health clinic. Just when she was giving up hope, one worker suddenly exclaimed, 'I just read something that might help you!' The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a dog.'

The daughter went immediately to a dog pound. There she discovered the pointer. He was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held her attention.

She pointed to the dog. 'Can you tell me about him?' The officer said, 'Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would claim him. His time is up tomorrow.' He gestured helplessly.

As the words sank in she turned to the man. 'You mean you're going to kill him?' 'Ma'am,' he said gently, 'that's our policy.' She looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited her decision. 'I'll take him,' she said. When she reached home she was helping her prize out of the car when Dad came up. 'Look what I got for you, Dad!' Dad looked, with his face in disgust. 'If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one.'

Anger rose inside her. She yelled. 'You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!' They stood glaring at each, when suddenly the pointer pulled free. He wobbled toward dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw.

Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together they explored the community, making many friends. They even started to attend Sunday services together.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable for three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then one night Dad died in his sleep. Two days later the family shock and grief deepened when they discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. They wrapped him in the rug he had slept on. As they buried him near a favorite fishing hole, Dad's daughter silently thanked God for the dog and the help he had given in restoring Dad's peace of mind.

An Exercise in Faith Building

Recently the National News reported the results of a survey,
"More Americans Have No Religion, They say."
Since a religion is an organized system of values,
Giving lives meaning, purpose and faith for each and every day,
What does it mean when an increasing number begin to say,
"The foundations of our family heritage now get in our way"?
Is it possible when people say, "I have no religion,"
That their conclusion fails to come from a well designed position?
Often, it is only an expression of a popular secular cliché?
After all, it usually takes finding a higher set of values,
Not less values to say,
"I have given up our God. Our family's faith has been a facade."
It may mean that some, answering the survey, are saying,
"I no longer practice a regular ritual of praying,"
Or they mean "I am not, at this time, active in a religious institution,
Where I am regularly confessing my sins, seeking absolution."
Or maybe, " We no longer belong to a fellowship of believers,
In practicing sacrificial service to be better achievers."
If you are not at this time practicing being religious,
How you are going to fill your need to be more prodigious?*
Begin by making a list of your time consuming activities:
List the ones you practice regularly to meet your daily desires.
Rate them on a one to ten scale, as to how much time each requires;
Secondly, based on which ones, in a crisis, you will definitely keep,
Note the ones, in an emergency, that go to the garbage heap.
Now make a list of the different ways you spend your money.
Then circle the costly practices you will never give up,
Even if your income is cut to "half a cup."
Write a brief paragraph indicating where you need divine intervening.
To help you establish what is important in your search for meaning.
Then make a list of persons with whom you spend most of your time.
List some of the values in these persons, which you consider prime.
Move on to make yourself a list of things you "must do."
As if, you discovered that you have less than a year to live,
List the causes to which you would want to give.
Then make a note by ones calling you to be more active.
Now underline the ones you consider most attractive.
Write a prayer, asking for a focus to make you more proactive
Make a copy of the commandments you find in Exodus twenty.
Rate each one of these commandments on a one to ten scale,
With number one meaning "definitely not important to me"
And number ten meaning "very important for me,
To become the person I want to be."
Then write a paragraph on what your ratings of the commandments reveal.
Conclude with a one sentence prayer appeal.
The final test is to go and buy a paperback Gospel of John.
Read one chapter a day, and use a yellow highlighter to mark verses,
Which are saying something with which you totally agree.
In other words, do not focus on the sayings with which you disagree,
That exercise is for another day. Do you not see?
For now set aside the statements that are questionable to you.
Focus only on the teachings, you have no problem saying, "This is true!"
Then conclude this exercise by asking a special friend,
To discuss the verses you believe to be true for you.
Asking the friend to help in this "faith battle" to win.
Following each faith conversation with your friend,
Use the Scriptural verses to help write a letter to God's Son,
A letter, stored in your Bible, saying "Jesus, You are the One."

*receiving power beyond human limitations