Photo Report From Uganda

A national e3 leader, Joseph Oyuki, sent this photo report recently from Serinyabi Island in Uganda.

The Bible school was opened officially,

21 Pastors from 7 islands turned up. Eager to learn and expressed their need for Bible school on each island.

Movements from one island to he other is very difficult and expensive.

"Many pastors are not Trained and most of these islands have few churches. The Training offered in Discipleship and the Bible skills Institute using DVDs will be a great help to changing of lives and resulting into health churches. we have been requested to pray for Gods provision of materials and equipment for Bible skills institute"

Joseph reports

"Over 250 belivers and 21 pastors attended the conference.

The Connection from one island to the other is very difficult.

We have been requested to pray and provide more of our teaching materials to the pastors of this place.

That will result into health Discipling churches.

Joseph Reports over 71 people gave there lives to Jesus during the out door evangelism"

The boat used to ferry to and from the Island.

Sharing Jesus, via the Evangecube on the boat.
More evangelism in the village.


Training pastors and leaders.
Praying.

Ethiopia Report

Yoseph Menna, our national leader in Ethiopia reports:

“In the first 4 months of 2006, 137,389 people heard the gospel message; 5,105 professed faith in Christ and 255 new churches were started in Ethiopia!!!”

(yes, the pic below is from Ethiopia)

Praise Report from an Ethiopian Leader:

“We conducted a campaign in Zeway and the surrounding Rural Peasant Associations. It lasted for seven days. The first two days we spent the time in prayer about all the areas we are to reach. We started the evangelism on Monday through Saturday. God has called 2307 people to hear the message of the gospel, of which 461 people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Magnificent harvest!!!!

“There were challenges during the mission. The challenges cam from rigid Muslims as will as traditional believers who tried to protect others from hearing the message of the gospel, they themselves closing their doors….People of all ages opened their ears and hearts for the gospel….Women were also there to accept Jesus as their savior, though many of them were urging us to first tell this message to their husbands because they are under the total control of their husbands and they cannot decide on any issue in the absence of their husband. This is what they said: ‘We love to hear about the Truth to escape eternal doom, but look, we have no right to choose what we like. In case we are found following Jesus in the absence of our husbands, we face the risk of getting bitten, firing from the family, divorcing and even death. Please challenge our husbands and then you can easily reach us.’

“The evangelical churches in collaboration with the churches that participated in the mission agreed to form a team that would constantly share Jesus to the unbelievers in the town as well as the rural areas. They also accepted the mission of coaching the newcomers. Having EvangeCubes and gospel tracts in the heart language of the people we serve is a blessing.

“The awesome news about the aftermath of the campaign is the fact that evangelical churches established a usual witnessing team from all the functioning local churches in the rural areas. They have already started praying about the converts and receiving a favor from the Lord to witness to him before people with boldness.”

Blessings,

Menna Prayer Captain

Burning Man and the Church

I'm reading this amazing book about "the church" in this century and what does it open with?

Burning Man.

Money quote: "And yet, once you've been to the Nevada desert and tasted something as overwhelming as Burning Man, what does the contemporary traditional church have to offer you?"

They follow with, "We, the authors, take the view that the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ is greater than anything offered at Black Rock. But we are realistic enough to admit that unless the church recovers its role as a subversive, missionary movement, no one who has been to Burning Man will be the least bit interested in it."

Story Telling

Steve Sims is our Director of Oral Communications Strategies, which is fancy for Storytelling. We're practicing and learning how to tell the stories of the Bible. It's remarkable how powerful stories are and how difficult it can be to tell a good one. One that is even provided for us in God's word. I practice on my four year old, but they are equally affective with adults. As you prepare to tell them by reading and re-reading and studying the story in great detail, you always notice something you'd missed before.

Steve related that very thing to the story of man's fall. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit. Their "eyes were opened" and they knew they were naked. They sowed some fig leaves together to cover up and then they heard the Lord walking in the garden. At his sound they hid.

What Steve then brought out was fascinating: Our Lord's initial reaction to their devastating disobediance. He asks, "Where are you?" As if He doesn't know. Like an adult playing hide-and-seek with a small child whom he or she hears giggling behind the door. Of course he knows, yet he asks. Then "finding them, He asks, "Who told you that you were naked?" Then after a response to that, He asks, "What is this you have done?"

Steve's takeaway was a fascinating: This is the character of our God. Did He render judgement? Of course, we still feel it today. But look how he engaged his fallen creation initially. Not with a club, nor a rod, nor a harsh word, but with gentle questions.

More on Storytelling the Bible Here.

To Chew On

Keith, whom I've never met nor conversed with, put up a thought-provoking post. Here's an excerpt. The comments are worth reading as well.

Have we lost sight of God, or re-made him in our own image? These unsettling and provocative observations and questions come from an evangelical Christian friend, who has given me permission to share them with you.

"I find myself in the place where my view of God is shifting. Well, maybe that's premature. I guess I've realized that as much as I would try to deny it, my God is very white & very Western. I've been reading outside my comfort zone lately, and have realized that I can't reconcile my God to the world I see. Clearly the problem isn't with God, it’s with me.

How does one understand God when your whole village has been starving for as long as you've been alive? How does one understand God when your country has been destroyed by war, and He doesn't seem to intervene...

…I guess what is rolling around in my head is the uncomfortable exposure I've had to evangelicals who laud God for providing them a parking space when they need it; or when getting a good deal on a manicure, call it a "Holy Ghost deal". Not to say that I believe God isn't interested in the details of our lives... but...

... when millions of women pray for food for their starving children, or that someone would take care of their children when they've died of AIDS... or water to drink... or seed to plant...”

On the heels of this, we sent out this email on behalf of David Kaya in Sudan:

An urgent request for prayer has come today from David Kaya in the Sudan.

David has asked for prayers for his health. He is “sick suffering with malaria” since his trip to the Aweil Diocese last month. It was a difficult journey to an area where “the condition of health is very, very poor compared to the rest of the world.” David was not able to take enough clean water or food with him, so he had to do the same as the Dinka do for survival. The Bishop of the area told him, “This is the end of the earth. Be ready to hear and see for yourself what it means to be born a Dinka in the heart of the Sudan. The people eat and drink anything that can occupy the stomach – even dirty water and leaves from trees. The water is the greatest contributor of all the sicknesses in that area.”

Please take a few minutes right now to pray for David Kaya’s health. He also requests prayers for clean water for Aweil and for the health situation there to improve.

Blessings.

Kaya Prayer Captain

KayaPrayerCaptain@e3partners.org

Color

Ali thought I needed more color. Alas, more color.

The Golden Ticket

Ever see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or read the book? Perhaps you can recall that Charlie desperatly wanted a golden ticket because with that ticket he'd get a tour of the amazing Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. Remember that through dramatic circumstances, his grandpa Joe gave critical money for Charlie to purchase a chocolate bar and in dramatic fashion, that lone, last bar held a golden ticket?What if you held those tickets in your hand instead of having them randomly placed inside chocolate bar wrappers? Not only do you hold these tickets, but you know what's inside the factory. You've worked with Willy Wonka, you've ridden a candy boat on a chocolate river, and you've seen it all.This is pretty much how it feels to be an e3 Church Planter. You're walking around with Golden Tickets, knowing what's in the factory. The tickets are short-term, church-planting trips and Willy Wonka can be either Christ or one of our national leaders in the countries we work in. Generally speaking, folks who come experience God in such a fresh, unique and powerful way that, like Charlie, they're transformed by seeing God transform others' lives.

Take a ticket.

Bolivia Wrap Up

As I, somewhat, feared on Sunday morning I had no translator. So there I was, the “missionary,” the gringo, the guy who flew all that way. Surely I would need to speak, encourage the believers, deliver a short message. What would I report to my supporters!? Ah! Surely that impure thought never crosses my mind. No never.

Yeah right. Want another confession? I can be seduced my numbers. X number of people accepted Christ; We trained X number of pastors in church planting; X number of people are attending church Y that was planted (on this date).

I don’t know how God speaks to you, but Sunday morning He told me "to just be still, be quiet and worship Me. If I need you to speak, I’ll make a way." This is the whole point of what we do. It's not about me or numbers. It's about worshipping a sovereign God, and He showed up that morning.

This is where Pastor Enzo and I were on Sunday morning.

This neighborhood is called Jericho and last May, a group of college students worked with this pastor, Alberto Ortiz, to plant this church. For four years, pastor Alberto and a few workers only taught children here, now they have multiple meetings each week with over 40 adults. (look a number, flee from temptation) Get this, he asked me for more discipleship materials. They’ve run out of the first few volumes of material we gave them a year ago. On Friday nights about 30 adults gather to listen to an audio tape of the New Testament in Spanish. They listen and then ask discussion questions so every is exposed to the Word, even those who can’t read or write.

Back to the worship. A young guy and lady and a girl around eight led worship along with a young guy on guitar. The Spirit of God came into that place. I was moved. I sat on a thick board that sat on top of two milk cartons. It stretched the width of the room. A gentle breeze was blowing, it was around 70 degrees, the sun was out, and when I looked out the open side of the building I could see a beautiful tree that was in full bloom with pink flowers.

Once the music subsided, Enzo stood to preach. He preached on this passage. Proverbs 30:

24 "Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:

25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;

26 coneys ^[d] are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;

27 locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;

28 a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces.

How appropriate. These churches are small, yet the believers have a strong, committed faith.

Below, Jose (left) gives a testimony of the Lord sparing him despite a nasty car accident while Pastor Alberto (right) looks on. Jose is a key member of this church, purchasing many of the supplies and food the church needs. He's storing up his treasure in heaven.

Above the children recite memory verses for the congregation. Below, the younger children have their lesson under the tree.

That afternoon, Enzo and I rode over to Montero. A smaller town about 45 minutes from Santa Cruz. We had a little time before church started, and a translator showed up (hallelujah), so we talked for awhile. I got a major reality check, and a serious reminder how important prayer is to this country. Enzo related many of the challenges he’s faced in trying to mobilize pastors and the even larger challenge of them really catching the vision for saturation church planting. There can be many obstacles.

That night we visited a church planted in July 2005. Below is a picture of the people worshipping. There are times I quite articulate my feelings, thoughts and impressions about a place, but this church was an encouragement. Montero is more rural than Santa Cruz and I think all, or virtually all, of these folks have lived in Montero all their lives. Imagine you're just scraping by, trying to find work, raise your family, and just make it in this world. One day someone comes to your door and tells you about Jesus. The King of Kings wants to know you, He will take away all your sins, He will give you a hope and life more abundantly. And after you die, He has a place in paradise ready for you to live for eternity. That 's the story of the folks below. Many began following Jesus less than a year ago. Hallelujah.

Me and a few of the members. Actually most of the members of the church.

********************************************************

Other Pictures I liked.

The next time we complain about doing the dishes ...

Anna

The Campus Crusade building where we held the church-planting training.

Another Anna, the pastor's wife at New Hope Church. Her daughter is doing dishes above.

Wise Counsel

A quick keyword search through the Wisdom Books at BibleGateway, produces this:

1. Proverbs 1:5
   A wise man will hear and increase in learning,And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
   Proverbs 1:4-6 (in Context) Proverbs 1 (Whole Chapter)
2. Proverbs 12:15
   The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
   Proverbs 12:14-16 (in Context) Proverbs 12 (Whole Chapter)
3. Proverbs 19:20
   Listen to counsel and accept discipline,That you may be wise the rest of your days.
   Proverbs 19:19-21 (in Context) Proverbs 19 (Whole Chapter)
4. Proverbs 24:6
   For by wise guidance you will wage war,And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

One of the things I've appreciated about our ministry's approach, albeit far from perfect, is that we do our best to avoid a paternal approach to missions. What that means is that we do our best to avoid the "We're superior and the source of missiological knowledge because we're from America" attitude. The past two days, we've tried to live this out. First, yesterday we met with Raul Justiniano, (pictured on left; Jorgensen on right) a very respected international leader in Latin America. He's clearly a visionary and a man full of wisdom. He explained at some length how the church should and could respond to what appears to be a left-leaning political movement in Latin America. His response was totally biblical. We traded information and listened carefully for his wise counsel.Today, we spent a good deal of time with Tito Ramos. He's Campus Crusade for Christ's Bolivian National Director. When we went to meet him we found him here.

This is a small sea or university students at the largest university in Santa Cruz, and probably Bolivia. He was giving a lecture on business and marketing principles to these students. Most of it geared towards starting your own venture since employment is difficult in this economy. At the end of the lecture, he posted a slide and said, essentially, the following, "None of these marketing and business skills matter unless you have character. Where do you learn character? Where do you develop your personal character? Would you like to learn how God can held you develop your character?"

Then about 15 CC student workers passed out sheets of paper for the students to put their contact information on for follow-ups. In these follow-up sessions, the gospel will be presented clearly.
After this meeting, we sat down with Tito to ask his advice on how to form our national strategy in Bolivia. The Lord has blessed e3 in the areas we've worked in, but the Lord has burdened our hearts for a national church-planting strategy and, of course, for a church-planting movement to break out!

Tito immediately caught the vision and provided valuable advice we'll heed. How do we get 5,000 Bolivians trained in how to use the Evangecube in a matter of months? How do we reach every region of Bolivia? How do we find out where the unreached people groups are? Let us pray that we'll be wise in listening to good counsel.

Tonight, the training begins ...

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

After flying all night from Miami to Santa Cruz, we took a brief rest and then headed into the outer parts of the city. We went to two areas where e3 teams planted recently. This first church, below, is called House of Prayer Church in El Dorado. An e3 team worked with a mother church to plant this work in July of 2005.















Rosa and Anna pictured here were integral to the planting of this church. Rosa's husband owned this plot of land, and their home is adjacent to it. He donated this tract for the church. The boards you see on the sides are recent addition. Winter, while mild, is nevertheless on its way here below the equator and the boards serve as a wind block.

If you look closely at the top picture, you can see a yellow piece of poster-size paper hanging on the wall. This listed 19 names of active members over the age of 12 years old.

From here we drove to another neighborhood where an e3 team planted a church two months ago. The benches and chairs under the tree is where this baby church of around 40 members meet three times a week. After meeting for awhile, the members met to pray for an entire day. After praying, they went out into the neighborhood to evangelize. As they were speaking with folks in the area, they realized they had a problem: They had no name. The pastor had everyone write down what he or she thought the name of the church should be. They placed the papers in a hat and drew out their new name. Now, they're the New Hope church. This church is on fire, they recently came to their pastor, Franklin, and asked to begin meeting a fourth night per week to learn more about the Bible! As always, you wonder and pray for the plants after you leave. What an encouraging day we had.





























The pastor, Franklin his wife, Anna, and daugthers, Anita and Yspana.
















Here is Anna showing us the bread she's letting rise to sell later today.






The family moved here in January and until they erect a permanent structure, this is their home. The oven that will bake the bread is in the middle of the wall.

Romans 8:28 In Practice

When we were in the Middle East, I heard a few reports from Iraq that brought this verse to mind. Romans 8:28 is the famous, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

We heard a report of terrorists waiting outside some Christian churches and shooting believers as they exited the church. We also were told that the number of churches in Baghdad went from 1 to 20 after Saddam fell.If the first report, the shootings, is indeed true, it's fairly easy extropolate how the Lord may turn that to good. If "The Church" is forced to go underground into homes, look out. Explosive growth may be right around the corner. From the beginning of the New Testament church, the Lord has continually allowed persecution to be used to show His glory and to grow His Church.

Wednesday I head to Bolivia. Today the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, seized control of the gas industry--private companies included.
So the Christian persepective: How will the Lord use this situation?

Should political events affect us? How? And how do we synch our answer with Paul's instruction to Timothy?

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

2 Timothy 2:4

Planting

Quote from David Hesselgrave

"If you want to plant something that lasts a season,
plant a flower.

If you want something that lasts a lifetime,
plant a tree.

If you want something that will last for eternity,
plant a church."