Camp Is Over

The camp is officially done. I am sure the team is ready for a rest after a very long week! They had a good time at the church and debriefing at Lida & Jarek's house. Here is what Bronek wrote to me:

"The camp was very positive and very successful. We appreciate all the ministry that your team did. I can say that it was the best AWANA camp we have ever had, both our AWANA team, the kids and even the kids´ parents were very excited and I am sure they will remeber this week for very long time."

Here are more pictures. I will post another set later when I get some from the team themselves.


Czech Kids Awana Camp 2006!


JoDee (on left) and Laura (on right) with their students


Emily playing Boggle with students


Bronek (on left) and Pastor Mick teaching the students


Extreme makeover, Czech style!


An alien made a guest appearance at the camp!!

Thursday's Pictures from the Camp

The camp is almost done! I will post any other pictures I receive, so check back here often.

Continue to pray for the team. JoDee is feeling better but still has a bad cough. Pray for the team as they share with the kids on Friday that Jesus is the King of Kings! And pray for their safe return!



2006 Czech Kids Awana "Snow" Camp!



JoDee


Games


More games!


Do you trust me?


Do you trust them??


What is Mick up to? Will Cindy and the group let him by?

Pictures from Prague

Here are some pictures that were taken of the team last weekend when they first arrived in Prague.



The Team, fresh off the plane and newly in Prague!


Having fun with the guard at the Palace


The Team with Prague in the background


Pastor Mick, setting the example for the team


Dinner anyone?

More Czech Kids Camp Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the Czech Kids Camp:


Pastor Mick & David interpretting



Nate and Emily playing with the kids


Kids singing


Lesson Time


Learning Games

Czech Kids Camp Update

Posted below are 3 pictures I received today from the Czech Kids Awana Camp. Of course, the important one is Melody, my wife! It is such a special treat to get this email on Valentines Day. I look forward to seeing her when she returns next Tuesday, February 21.

Bronek reports that the camp is going well. JoDee, another person on the team, has a cough, so she could use our prayers. Pray for strength and wisdom as they have 3 more days of activities with the kids!

I will post any other pictures that I receive.

James



Melody



Ron



Emily

End of the Spear

I love to fly. When I was in sixth grade, my Sunday School teacher took me up in a single engine Cessna to fly from Long Beach to Catalina Island. It was probably a 30 or 40 minute trip each way, and I was both terrified and yet loving every minute of it. That day a dream was born: I wanted to be a pilot. Over the years that followed, I read books on planes and the rules for flying. Because of my interest in missions, I also began reading about missionary pilots, which led me to the story of Nate Saint.

January 7, 2006, marked the 50th anniversary of five missionaries who were killed as they attempted to reach out to the Huaorani with the Gospel. Nate Saint was one of those five. He was an incredibly gifted man. He and his fellow missionaries devised ingenious ways to solve the unique problems of jungle flying. More importantly, they were dedicated to bringing the Gospel to tribes who had never heard about Jesus.

While Nate and his friends did everything they could to prepare for their encounter with the Huaorani (formerly called the Auca), they knew it was dangerous. They went forward with the plan because they considered the salvation of those who had not heard more important than even their own lives. Steve Saint, Nate’s son, writes the following: “I remember telling my dad ‘Please dad, if the Huaorani attack you, you will defend yourself! You will shoot them?' My dad said, ‘Son, we can’t shoot the Huaorani, they are not ready for heaven but we are.’”

That was not the end of the story. God used the death of Nate and his coworkers to open the door to reaching the Huaorani people. It is estimated today that 80% of the Huaorani have heard the Gospel, and over 25% of them are believers. Steve himself has developed a deep friendship with Mincaye, one of the men who murdered his father.

This month the movie End of the Spear is out in theaters. It tells the story of Nate Saint and how God turned a seeming tragedy into a testimony of forgiveness and redemption that has literally impacted the world. Learn more about it by visiting these websites:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/001/30.38.html

http://www.assistnews.net/stories/s06010062.htm

God's Will

¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. ²²News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. (Acts 11:19-22, NIV)

Have you ever wondered what God’s will was for your life? How do you know what job you should take, who you should marry, or whether you should join a mission trip? How do you know what God wants you to do?

Even if I could write a book on the topic, I am not sure I could give an adequate answer. But I want to share two things that I have found to be biblical and that have helped me over the years. I make it my goal to be obedient to what God has told me to do in the Bible, and I look for where God is at work and then join in the fun!

This is what happened in Acts. Following the death of Stephen, the believers suffered persecution and were forced to move. As they went, they were obedient to Christ’s command to preach the Gospel. At first, they only told the Jews, but then they included others as well. As a result, many people believed and turned to the Lord. What did the church do? They saw that God was at work and they chose to join in the fun! They sent Barnabas to Antioch to teach and disciple the new believers.

What is God’s will for us as a church? It is the same! This year the Missions Committee will continue the process of prayerfully considering both God’s commands and where He is at work. There are many new missionaries and missions projects we could support, but we are not called to do everything. Please pray that God will give us wisdom to know what he is uniquely calling us to do.

Pray for Our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters

Our country was founded on the concept of religious freedom. So it can be easy to forget that this freedom is the exception, not the rule. Even in countries that offer political freedom, there can be religious oppression. Many more countries make life difficult for or actually persecute those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

November 13 is an International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. But my hope is that we remember this need not just on one Sunday, but throughout the year. I find it helpful to have specific things for which I can pray, so here is one situation you can bring before the throne of the true King of the Universe:

Tajikistan (MNN) – The Bible League's Tajikistan director is asking for prayer about a shipment of New Testaments being held in customs.

Officials dispute the need for Scriptures, they are also imposing a huge import fee and they're charging storage fees while the shipment is detained.

In many Central Asian countries like Tajikistan, Christianity is viewed as a western import. Often, family members and others treat it as a cult, and make strenuous efforts to rid the new believer of his faith and make him “come to his senses.”

In many cases, the more outspoken the Christian, the more vigorous the attempts to either stop him from speaking of his faith, or to re-convert him to Islam.

Because of that, high profile attention can exacerbate an already dangerous situation. That's true for the Bible League's director in Tajikistan. With each delay, he grows more concerned that he may become subject to many unpleasant meetings with government officials.

Please pray that God would make a way to get the Scriptures to Christians in Tajikistan. There are also concerns that the situation could extend to harassment of the director's family, and his associates.

(Article distributed by Mission Network News, www.mnnonline.org .)

A Kingdom Perspective

But he answered, "You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish.” (Mark 6:37-38, NIV)

It is easy to judge the 12 disciples when we read this story because we know how it will end. But imagine that you are in New Orleans the day after the hurricane. You are sheltering 5,000 people in your church and all you have is one loaf of Wonder Bread and an Oscar Meyer package with 12 slices of turkey. I come to you and tell you to feed everyone. I dare say you would call me a lunatic.

I am very hesitant to ever say that God has told me to do something. But when I returned from the Czech Republic in June, I believed God was asking our church to help the Trinec Church with the purchase of a building they could use for services and outreach. I knew if this was from God, then he would reveal his desire to others. I presented the need to the Project CR Team, the Missions Committee, and finally to the Elders. While there were reasonable concerns and questions, there was almost unanimous agreement that God was leading us to assist the Trinec Church.

It was a step of faith to ask you as a church to donate $30,000 towards this project. And as a church, you have overwhelmingly responded. We have received more than $30,000 towards our goal. No more donations are needed. We have “12 baskets full” left over, a testimony of your generosity and God’s faithfulness.

The point of the miracle is simple. The question is not “How much do we have to give?” The question is “What is God asking us to do?”

Kingdom Partnerships

Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, NET Bible)

At the end of his time on earth, Jesus told his disciples (which includes us today) to go and make disciples of all nations (literally, all “people groups”). This is a huge responsibility. In fact, if you were one of those original disciples, it truly would have been overwhelming. Think about it. They had no Internet, printing press, TV, radio, car, plane, or even portable copies of scripture. Jesus gave them a task that was truly beyond their capabilities. And that is the way he meant it. From the beginning, the work of spreading the gospel message around the world was meant to be one based on kingdom partnerships.

First and foremost, we were meant to have a partnership with the King of Kings himself. Perhaps we are too quick to read past Jesus’ promise that he will be with us. We think of it during times of trouble—and indeed he is there when we are in need. But the context here is not just a promise that Jesus is there to comfort us. The promise here is meant to assure us of that we will have his power and authority to fulfill his commandment. It parallels God’s promise to Joshua that he would be with him as he went in to conquer the Promised Land (Joshua 1:5, 9).

Equally important, we were meant to make disciples as a team. Though there are some rare exceptions, the biblical model of ministry clearly demonstrates the importance of working together. Paul experienced this when he went on his first missionary journey with Barnabas (Acts 13-14). He experienced this when the church in Philippi financially supported his ministry (Philippians 4:10-19). He reinforced this concept when he taught us that the church is a body, and each of us has a unique role to play (1 Corinthians 12).

Kingdom Partnerships: It is not a slogan; it is God’s plan for ministry.

The Kingdom of Light

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:12-14, NIV)

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (Revelation 1:6, NIV)

Kingdom Partnerships is more than just a title for our Missions Weekend next Friday through Sunday. It is a description of what we are about as believers. Jesus’ last command was to go and make disciples of all people groups. Jesus told his disciples, which includes us, that we would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. As we make disciples, we are advancing the work of the Kingdom of God. We are participating in their liberation from the kingdom of darkness and rejoicing in their entrance into the Kingdom of Light.

Participation in making disciples for the Kingdom is not an option. The question is not if you should be involved, but how and where. This coming weekend will give you plenty of opportunities to consider. We have 8 out of 18 New Covenant missionary families represented at our Missions Weekend. Please take time to come to a dessert on Friday night to get to know one of them better. We have a fun time planned for our “International” Potluck Dinner next Saturday evening. Next Sunday you will have an opportunity to “adopt-a-missionary” as part of our new Barnabas Ministry. Through regular prayer and a simple phone call, card, or email, you can give our missionaries the moral and emotional support they need. Next Sunday we will also be taking an offering to help advance the ministry vision of our partner church in Trinec. So take the plunge this coming weekend and get involved in advancing the cause of the Kingdom of God!

Need for a Building

When the New Covenant leadership was first considering sending a gift to the Trinec Church, we asked Cindy Howard for her perspective based on her having lived there three months. Here is what she told us:

I used to be critical of believers who thought they had to have a building. But when apartments are small, and the winter is long and cold, where can you do ministry? I heard one church share they didn't want to build a large building, they just wanted some space to do ministry.

I believe this is what is driving the Trinec Church here to desire property. They have rented space for about 7 years. The building we had was too small and only had space for one Sunday School class (elementary kids).

We rent space for AWANA in a local school. If we could have our own space we could structure the council time, and the Word time better. If we want to have a bible study for seekers, we need to kick a family out of their apartment or rent space in a public facility. If we want to do something like Alpha that requires a meal, I'm not sure where we could do this and no one has a large kitchen either.

There is no physical church building in Teresa (the part of Trinec where this building is and where the church currently meets). They deliberately selected this area because of the need for “light” in this area. These are totally unchurched people.

There are many empty rooms in the building they hope to buy, so as the church grows the space is available. We could also use the space for women's studies, prayer meetings, etc. Right now we need to rent space for all of these, and sometimes the space is not available.

We just need space in order to reach out to others in ministry. This church is not trying to be elaborate. God has eliminated the place we were in for 7 years. Now a temporary place has been provided for 2 months (with no Sunday school rooms, and only 60 people can fit (we routinely have 70) so this will not be workable in the fall. It really seems like God is asking us the Trinec Church take this step of faith.

Project CR: Trinec Outreach Center

Future Trinec Outreach Center

It had been a while since I was in snow that deep. The sun was out, and it was beautiful there in the Czech Republic. We had spent some time meeting with the elders of the Trinec Church, hearing about their vision to create a community outreach center to reach their community. We were now taking a break to see where their vision might one day become reality. Our first stop was the school building they were leasing. It was already too small and had very little parking, but they were making do as best they could.

Our next stop was a preschool building that had not been used for over 10 years. The elders were not even sure who owned it or what the condition was inside. But the location near the heart of the residential district was perfect, surrounded by flats on every side. It was easily accessible by foot or public transportation. The church had a vision to use the facility to host English clubs, sports activities, business workshops, and a computer lab to train the many who are unemployed.

As we returned to Jaroslav’s house, the building seemed little more than a dream. They did not know if the owner would be willing to sell, and the price would probably be far more than they could hope to raise. They had faith God could provide, but it would be a year or two before it was even an option.

God had other plans. Five months later, the Trinec church lost their lease. At almost the same time, they discovered the abandoned school’s owner was an old friend of one of the elders. The owner was interested in selling, and at a price 25% lower than they anticipated.

Today the church has raised or borrowed 75% of the cost of purchasing the facility. We have the opportunity to help make up the difference. On Sunday, September 18, we will be taking a special offering to send $30,000 to help the Trinec Church take the next step in reaching their community for Christ. (See the Task@Hand on the NCBC website for more information about our partnership with the Trinec Church and our plans to send them a financial gift: www.newcovenantbible.org )

Project CR Agreement

After months of discussions, phone calls, emails, and a trip to Trinec, it was time to draft a “Project CR Agreement.” It was submitted to and approved by the elders of both churches to be in effect from June 2005 through May 2008 and reviewed on an annual basis. Here are some highlights from the agreement:

New Covenant Bible Church in Cedar Rapids and the Brethren Church in Trinec –Terasa share the mutual purpose of growing great lives that are on mission for Christ. It is our desire to see people get saved and grow in their walk with Christ in both Cedar Rapids and in Trinec. The purpose of Project CR is to assist each other in accomplishing our shared goal of evangelism and discipleship.

New Covenant Bible Church agrees to: pray regularly for the Trinec Church; send individuals and teams to assist in evangelism outreaches, leadership training, and spiritual development; and consider helping with work teams and financial aid to assist the Trinec Church’s move to a larger facility.

The Brethren Church in Trinec – Terasa agrees to: pray regularly for New Covenant; play an active role in any evangelism outreaches, leadership training, and spiritual development that New Covenant sends teams to assist; possibly come to Cedar Rapids to assist in similar endeavors; try to assist any New Covenant Missionary who comes to stay for a few months or longer.

The Fingerprints of God

I am always cautious in saying I know what God is doing. I am not worried about sounding arrogant, but about being presumptuous. So I look for the “fingerprints of God” to help me discern where God is at work. The “fingerprints of God” are circumstances that cannot be a coincidence but rather are a sign that God is up to something.

While we were on our partnership exploratory trip to the Trinec Church in the Czech Republic last January, I began to clearly see the “fingerprints of God.” In fact, they were all over the place! It started with hearing about the core values of Pastor Marek and the elders. It continued with hearing the vision they had to reach their community. It crystallized as we listened to the needs they have, needs that we seem uniquely prepared to partner with them to fill.

One need they have is for servant leadership training. God has blessed New Covenant with individuals who are strategic thinkers and who model servant leadership. For over 5 years, God has allowed us to strategically plan and to implement those plans. While things are different culturally in the Czech Republic, there are many principles we can share with them and help them to explore how the principles would apply in their setting. After hearing about our process of strategic planning, they asked for us to come back and teach them. We are currently making plans for a small team to return in October to meet with their leadership, as well as leadership from other churches in the region, and teach a weekend seminar on strategic planning.

The Trinec Church has a strong commitment to reach the children in their community. This is somewhat unusual to find in other countries. As we talked about their goals, Pastor Kim realized that they were describing the ministry of Cindy Howard, one of our very own missionaries! God had closed the doors for Cindy to return to Moscow, and Kim had just talked to her right before our trip to Trinec. She was looking for a new location where she could come alongside a church or group of churches and help them grow their ministry to children. We joked that we would come back to Iowa and tell Cindy, “God loves you, and we have a wonderful plan for your life!” When we did first tell Cindy about the opportunity, it did not seem like it was the right option. But over the next few months we watched as God closed doors to other options and threw open the doors for her moving to the Czech Republic. Looking back seven months later, it is absolutely clear that God’s hand was preparing the way for Cindy to have an open door of ministry in Trinec and the surrounding region.

God’s hand was clearly at work. His fingerprints could be seen everywhere we turned. The next step was to put a partnership agreement in place.

One principle I really appreciate from Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God study is that I should look for where God is already at work and join in. When I returned from the Czech Republic in June 2004, it was clear that God was at work. For four years New Covenant had been a part of the Business English Camps and had seen God touch the lives of many of the students. But just seeing them for one week a year was clearly not enough. We had a growing desire to find a way to continue our ministry to the students after we had returned to America. At the same time, we were developing a relationship with the Brethren Church in Trinec-Terasa where Bronek Lipus, the Czech national who led the camps, was an elder. When we learned of the Trinec Church’s desire to reach their community, it seemed like God was providing us with a strategic partnership to accomplish both of our goals.

A few months after I returned, I began exploring the possibility of us working together with the Trinec Church. In order to evaluate the possibility of us entering into a partnership, I helped create the “Project CR Team” which consists of Pastor Bob, Pastor Kim, Ed Luebe, Doug Forret, and me. Together, we began thinking through the issues we were facing.

A partnership can be defined as a relationship that shares complementary strengths and resources to reach a mutual goal. A partnership is a lot like a marriage. It should only be entered into after carefully considering whether you share similar passions and values. For the next few months we traded emails with Bronek to share our expectations and to explore the heart of the Trinec Church leadership. When it became clear that there was a solid foundation, we knew the next step was a trip so that we could meet face to face. It was also important for Pastor Kim and Pastor Bob, who had never been to a camp or to the Trinec Church, to meet the pastor and elders to talk with them directly. So in January 2005, Pastor Bob, Pastor Kim, Ed and I traveled during the middle of winter to the Czech Republic.

The trip was an important confirmation that we were headed in the right direction. After 2 days of meeting with their leadership, it was clear that we were very similar in our doctrine, passions, and values. In fact, I was amazed at how well our visions fit together. Next week I will share more about that vision and the steps that followed after our January trip.