What happens when a pro baseball player hits 12 for 12? Bats 1000? He gets lots of attention, and if he keeps it up he gets a big raise!
What happens when God enables a church to bat 1000?
Pastor Gary Willett asked me to speak his weekend (10/21-22/06) at Potomac Heights Baptist Church in Indian Head, Maryland. Pastor Gary and many in their church have been with us to Bolivia. In fact, they are the first church to adopt Bolivia as one of their strategic missions projects.
I asked Pastor Enzo Saavedra, our Bolivia e3 leader, to check back with all the new churches PHBC members have worked with during their 3 campaigns.
What Pastor Enzo learned astonished me, and also challenged me to continue to develop the work in Bolivia. God enabled them to bat 1000! Here are the stats—
12 -- New churches planted by PHBC members
12 -- Areas still active! (although one has moved to another location)
44 -- Average attendance
150-180 -- Attendance at largest new work
10 -- Attendance at smallest new work
I’d call this a spiritual “home run.” But not a “Grand Slam.” For in addition to this great news there also is sobering news to share. One area has kept going, but experienced a split. Another area continues even though the pastor moved to Spain to find work. Many are experiencing difficult economic conditions. Several are looking for new places to meet because they have outgrown the home or other place where they meet. All need more encouragement and equipping to continue to reach out to their communities.
--Please pray for the God to strengthen the leaders and churches with whom we have worked.
On Saturday we teach their ministry leaders our First Steps church planting curriculum. While they plan to focus on planting churches in Bolivia, Pastor Gary wanted their leaders to learn the ministry multiplication principles in First Steps. Then on Sunday I’ll be sharing this glorious good news with the congregation. Please pray:
--For God to multiply ministry as He challenges His leaders at PHBC
--For God to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” through these sessions (Eph 4)
--For God to raise up more laborers, prayer warriors and financial partners for the work in Bolivia
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
From Lonely to Unity
Thanks for praying for our trip to Peru last week. Sorry I wasn't able to send back "on the field" reports--my laptop crashed. But your prayers were answered in powerful ways.
“I feel so alone.”
This was the most consistent comment as we began our Leaders Summit. It was shared by several of the e3 country leaders. Even though ministry was going well in every country, many shared how they felt they were going it alone, trying to organize campaigns, cast vision and grow into a larger e3 ministry. But by the end of the trip what we heard was . . .
“We are together. I now know the other e3 leaders, and we are going to work together and help each other.”
By the grace of God, He took away the sense of loneliness that some of the leaders came to Lima with. They laughed together, prayed together, worshipped together, and heard testimonies of how God is at work in the e3 Latin America countries. Each also shared the struggles they have. By the end of our time together we signed a covenant of cooperation, which was an exciting end to a very productive Summit. Picture at left is of all the e3 country leaders praying for the implementation of the covenant of cooperation.
Some more highlights:
“I feel so alone.”
This was the most consistent comment as we began our Leaders Summit. It was shared by several of the e3 country leaders. Even though ministry was going well in every country, many shared how they felt they were going it alone, trying to organize campaigns, cast vision and grow into a larger e3 ministry. But by the end of the trip what we heard was . . .
“We are together. I now know the other e3 leaders, and we are going to work together and help each other.”
By the grace of God, He took away the sense of loneliness that some of the leaders came to Lima with. They laughed together, prayed together, worshipped together, and heard testimonies of how God is at work in the e3 Latin America countries. Each also shared the struggles they have. By the end of our time together we signed a covenant of cooperation, which was an exciting end to a very productive Summit. Picture at left is of all the e3 country leaders praying for the implementation of the covenant of cooperation.Some more highlights:
In Peru they now have 40 "mobilizers" who are leading church planting campaigns of only Peruvians (no North Americans). They now are doing almost twice as many without us as with us! That's an big answer to prayer. God has used Juvenal and Katty Bejar and Alejo and Dorothy Quijada to accomplish this major milestone.
In Venezuela Omar Piña has developed a similar network of Venezuelan e3 trainers, along with excellent training for them. Another great example of taking the ball and running with it.
Omar also offered to send one of regional coordinators to other countries to help them develop their organizational structure and ministry strategies. These "coaches" probably will be going to Bolivia, Costa Rica and Panama in the near future.
Diego Trujillo from Ecuador shared how he has been asked to be the director of evangelism for a a national association of pastors. This is propelling our evangelism and church planting tools and methods to new prominence nationwide.
In addition to our Leaders Summit, we also did a leadership conference. The primary purpose of that conference was to model how to do a nationals’ only First Steps LDC for the 40 people who now are e3 mobilizers in PE. But 340 people showed up!
All our national e3 leaders shared at the leadership conference about how God is working in their country. So the conference turned into a giant pep rally for missions outside Peru. Many people indicated an interest in going to one of the other e3 Latin American countries on short term mission trips.
Thanks for praying for this trip, Pr-Air Force. Our work in Latin America took a huge step forward last week.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
What Do We Do With Wild Headlines?
Venezuela's Chavez calls President Bush "the devil" International Herald Tribune - France... for more than a month. "Venezuela once again proposes today that we reform the United Nations," he said. He drew tentative giggles ...
Strike against Morales highlights Bolivia's deep divisions International Herald Tribune - France LA PAZ, Bolivia Opponents of President Evo Morales stayed home from work and blocked key thoroughfares in four Bolivian cities Friday to protest his party's ...
Venezuela in Negotiations with Russia for More Military Hardware Venezuelanalysis.com - Caracas , Venezuela , September 20, 2006 —Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez confirmed yesterday that the Venezuelan government was currently negotiating the ...
Iran, Venezuela start drilling joint oil well Tehran Times - Iran TEHRAN – Iranian and Venezuelan oil companies jointly started drilling of the first oil well in a field in Venezuela slated to be developed by the two ...
Cuba and Venezuela: Building an 'axis of hope’ Green Left Weekly - Chippendale, NSW, Australia... Cuba has now been joined by new left-wing governments winning respect for combatting First World domination of Latin America: Venezuela’s, headed by ...
Strike against Morales highlights Bolivia's deep divisions International Herald Tribune - France LA PAZ, Bolivia Opponents of President Evo Morales stayed home from work and blocked key thoroughfares in four Bolivian cities Friday to protest his party's ...
Venezuela in Negotiations with Russia for More Military Hardware Venezuelanalysis.com - Caracas , Venezuela , September 20, 2006 —Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez confirmed yesterday that the Venezuelan government was currently negotiating the ...
Iran, Venezuela start drilling joint oil well Tehran Times - Iran TEHRAN – Iranian and Venezuelan oil companies jointly started drilling of the first oil well in a field in Venezuela slated to be developed by the two ...
Cuba and Venezuela: Building an 'axis of hope’ Green Left Weekly - Chippendale, NSW, Australia... Cuba has now been joined by new left-wing governments winning respect for combatting First World domination of Latin America: Venezuela’s, headed by ...
*******************************************************
“What in the world is going on down there?” Do you have these same thoughts as I do as you read these wild headlines?
My heart aches as I read these news alerts. I’ve walked the streets of all these places (other than Iran). I have looked into the eyes of the common folks. They are concerned with making ends meet. Keeping their family together. Wondering what to do with that wayward child or spouse or parent. Dealing with the pain in their lives. They are looking for hope.
I don’t know what the answers are to the political turmoil depicted in these headlines. But I do know who The Answer is for those folks I’ve met in the streets, talked to in their homes, stood beside on the bus or train. His name is Jesus. And He has a Body, a family, an army He wants to reach out through to the hurting, the hungry, the hiding and the hounded.
This week (Sep 27-30) we go to equip His ambassadors at a “Train the Trainer” Leadership Conference in Lima, Peru. We’ve invited people from all over Peru who are interested in becoming e3 trainers. Also coming are our e3 national leaders from Bolivia (Enzo Saavedra), Ecuador (Diego Trujillo), Panama (Moises and Talsy Vega) and Venezuela (Omar Piňa).
“What in the world is going on down there?” Do you have these same thoughts as I do as you read these wild headlines?
My heart aches as I read these news alerts. I’ve walked the streets of all these places (other than Iran). I have looked into the eyes of the common folks. They are concerned with making ends meet. Keeping their family together. Wondering what to do with that wayward child or spouse or parent. Dealing with the pain in their lives. They are looking for hope.
I don’t know what the answers are to the political turmoil depicted in these headlines. But I do know who The Answer is for those folks I’ve met in the streets, talked to in their homes, stood beside on the bus or train. His name is Jesus. And He has a Body, a family, an army He wants to reach out through to the hurting, the hungry, the hiding and the hounded.
This week (Sep 27-30) we go to equip His ambassadors at a “Train the Trainer” Leadership Conference in Lima, Peru. We’ve invited people from all over Peru who are interested in becoming e3 trainers. Also coming are our e3 national leaders from Bolivia (Enzo Saavedra), Ecuador (Diego Trujillo), Panama (Moises and Talsy Vega) and Venezuela (Omar Piňa).
We pray that God will use this conference to train these trainers how to—
• Equip churches to
• Evangelize their neighborhoods and
• Establish new churches
What do we do with wild headlines? We can't just turn the page. It's time to pray.
Please pray for God to use this conference to accomplish His will, and to make His name more famous in all of Latin America. Pray that the Prince of Peace will reign in more neighborhoods as a result of this conference.
• Equip churches to
• Evangelize their neighborhoods and
• Establish new churches
What do we do with wild headlines? We can't just turn the page. It's time to pray.
Please pray for God to use this conference to accomplish His will, and to make His name more famous in all of Latin America. Pray that the Prince of Peace will reign in more neighborhoods as a result of this conference.
Declaration of Dependence / Update
Thanks for praying for our Cabinet Planning Retreat. God definitely showed up. We could sense His power as He gave us great unity. As we hoped, He did not give us new directions to pursue. Instead, He showed us many things we needed to improve, and even some things we need to drop in order to do other things better. We continually rejoiced at the blessings He has given us during 2006. Even during the meetings we received word about a major grant to fund several country strategies. We sense that He has even bigger things in store for 2007.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Declaration of Dependence
I love this quote from The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson:
Please take a moment right now to pray Colossians 1:9 for us—
Thanks.
Mike Jorgensen
“What is prayer? It is communication with God by which we express our dependence on Him. God knows what we need in our battle with the powers of darkness, and He is more ready to meet our needs than we are to ask. But until we express our dependence on Him in prayer, God will not act. In prayer we say, ‘You are the Lord, not I. You know what’s best; I don’t. I’m not telling You what to do; I’m asking. I declare my dependence on You.’ Our prayers open the way for God to act on our behalf.”Once again we are declaring our dependence on our Almighty God. Mon-Wed this week (9/18-20) our e3 Partners Cabinet has a planning retreat to pray and plan for 2007. The folks involved are Curtis Hail, Dan Hitzhusen, Sam Ingrassia, Nawaz Lalani, Casey See, Nathan Sheets, Jeff Sheets and me. Please pray that we will hear clearly from God, especially how He wants us to join Him in His work around the world.
Please take a moment right now to pray Colossians 1:9 for us—
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Thanks.
Mike Jorgensen
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Ethiopia LDC Blessings
Dear Pr-Air Force—
Thanks so much for praying for our Ethiopia trip. Sorry I wasn’t able to send updates as I generally do. One day I went in to the internet café and it kept disconnecting me. I went in a second day and they said their network was down. When I asked where another café was, they said “no, the network is down in this whole region.” My third try a couple days later? The electricity was off in the whole region! Ah, what we take for granted here in the US!
Internet problems aside, God showed up in a mighty way! And I’d much, much rather have His connection than an internet connection! Here are some glimpses of His glory—
370 people attended our leadership conference! Most were from our primary partner there—the Kale Heywet (Word of Life) denomination. Please pray for God to effectively use them to train the 6500+ churches of Kale Heywet how to use the EvangeCube and how to plant churches using our First Steps curriculum. Picture above is everyone saying "thanks for these First Steps manuals."
Also attending were leaders from 18 other denominations and ministries. All are interested in using our tools and training to plant new churches. Ask the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus, to give us strong partnerships with all who are focused on planting new churches. Here’s what one of those denominational leaders said: “Most of the teaching that comes in from the outside is not relevant for us. But this training is helpful for us here.”
During the week we met with the Kale Heywet top leaders. They confirmed their desire for e3 to continue to help training their 6500+ churches in evangelism and church planting. We joyfully signed a new partnership agreement at the end of our week together. Picture above is us praying over the new agreement.
Mike Congrove led a team of 12 on a church planting campaign at the same time as we were doing the leadership conference. In spite of the heavy resistance in that area, over 490 people prayed to receive Christ as Savior! And 10 new churches were planted. Click here to read the amazing stories from that campaign he’s posting on his blog. Pray for 30, 60 and 100 fold multiplying Christians to grow as the Ethiopian believers follow-up the new believers.
Rick Eisemann led a campaign to the northern part of Ethiopia the week before our leadership conference. The north has been closed to the Gospel for centuries . . . yes, centuries. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church persecutes evangelicals harshly. Three legends indicate the depths of this religious stronghold. First, they believe that the Queen of Sheba mentioned in the Old Testament had a son by Solomon after she visited Jerusalem. They believe their leaders are descendants of that “royal son.” Second, since their church was founded by the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in Acts 8, everyone else is a heretic. Third, they say they have the actual Old Testament Ark of the Covenant in the basement of a church.
But this changed when Rick’s team arrived. They did an eye glass clinic. The provincial officials were so happy about this that they sent government vehicles to pick them up at the airport and transport them all week. They wanted to have a dinner for the team, but it conflicted with their flight schedule back to Addis Ababa. So the president of the region called the Chairman of the Board and he had Ethiopian Air send another plane for them! At that dinner Rick was able to share the gospel with those officials as he presented each with an EvangeCube. The local officials called the national TV station—so they were on the Ethiopian equivalent of CNN several times!
Bottom line: the door is wide open for more evangelism and church planting there. The local officials, who are closely tied with the Orthodox church, pleaded with them to return with more teams, and gave the OK for evangelism. God holds the hearts of kings in His hands. Pray for these doors to stay open, and for protection from the father of lies.
Thanks so much for praying, Pr-Air Force. God answered in powerful ways.
Thanks so much for praying for our Ethiopia trip. Sorry I wasn’t able to send updates as I generally do. One day I went in to the internet café and it kept disconnecting me. I went in a second day and they said their network was down. When I asked where another café was, they said “no, the network is down in this whole region.” My third try a couple days later? The electricity was off in the whole region! Ah, what we take for granted here in the US!
Internet problems aside, God showed up in a mighty way! And I’d much, much rather have His connection than an internet connection! Here are some glimpses of His glory—
370 people attended our leadership conference! Most were from our primary partner there—the Kale Heywet (Word of Life) denomination. Please pray for God to effectively use them to train the 6500+ churches of Kale Heywet how to use the EvangeCube and how to plant churches using our First Steps curriculum. Picture above is everyone saying "thanks for these First Steps manuals."Also attending were leaders from 18 other denominations and ministries. All are interested in using our tools and training to plant new churches. Ask the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus, to give us strong partnerships with all who are focused on planting new churches. Here’s what one of those denominational leaders said: “Most of the teaching that comes in from the outside is not relevant for us. But this training is helpful for us here.”
During the week we met with the Kale Heywet top leaders. They confirmed their desire for e3 to continue to help training their 6500+ churches in evangelism and church planting. We joyfully signed a new partnership agreement at the end of our week together. Picture above is us praying over the new agreement.Mike Congrove led a team of 12 on a church planting campaign at the same time as we were doing the leadership conference. In spite of the heavy resistance in that area, over 490 people prayed to receive Christ as Savior! And 10 new churches were planted. Click here to read the amazing stories from that campaign he’s posting on his blog. Pray for 30, 60 and 100 fold multiplying Christians to grow as the Ethiopian believers follow-up the new believers.
Rick Eisemann led a campaign to the northern part of Ethiopia the week before our leadership conference. The north has been closed to the Gospel for centuries . . . yes, centuries. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church persecutes evangelicals harshly. Three legends indicate the depths of this religious stronghold. First, they believe that the Queen of Sheba mentioned in the Old Testament had a son by Solomon after she visited Jerusalem. They believe their leaders are descendants of that “royal son.” Second, since their church was founded by the Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in Acts 8, everyone else is a heretic. Third, they say they have the actual Old Testament Ark of the Covenant in the basement of a church.
But this changed when Rick’s team arrived. They did an eye glass clinic. The provincial officials were so happy about this that they sent government vehicles to pick them up at the airport and transport them all week. They wanted to have a dinner for the team, but it conflicted with their flight schedule back to Addis Ababa. So the president of the region called the Chairman of the Board and he had Ethiopian Air send another plane for them! At that dinner Rick was able to share the gospel with those officials as he presented each with an EvangeCube. The local officials called the national TV station—so they were on the Ethiopian equivalent of CNN several times!
Bottom line: the door is wide open for more evangelism and church planting there. The local officials, who are closely tied with the Orthodox church, pleaded with them to return with more teams, and gave the OK for evangelism. God holds the hearts of kings in His hands. Pray for these doors to stay open, and for protection from the father of lies.
Thanks so much for praying, Pr-Air Force. God answered in powerful ways.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Pray for Ethiopia
Please pray for our leadership conference trip to Ethiopia Aug 25 to Sept 3. Click on the following to see an online slideshow that will help you pray.
Pray for Ethiopia
Pray for Ethiopia
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Which Doctor? Or Witch Doctor?
In the Los Lotes barrio of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, people have had two types of doctor to visit. One is a medical doctor who also is a pastor—Dr. Hamer (at left). The others are witch doctors, who deal as much in spiritual matters as physical ones.So when someone has a problem, he must decide “which doctor?” A witch doctor, or the other guy? At least until last month.
About a year ago Pastor Hamer started praying for the Los Lotes barrio. It was a spiritually dark area, for there were 12 witch doctors there.
Hamer began to prayer walk the area. One time he invited some of his pastor buddies from other areas to prayer “drive” the area late at night in a big truck. The truck’s wheels started spinning for no apparent reason (no sand or mud or water and certainly no ice!) right in front of the home of one of the witch doctors. As the truck stalled, his buddies bailed out, and most wouldn’t come back.
Six months ago Hamer decided to send the witch doctors a letter. In it he boldly proclaimed that they had three choices—
1. Trust Christ and renounce their wicked ways
2. Leave the barrio
3. Die
Yes, you read that right—repent, relocate or retire (permanently).
Soon thereafter two of the witch doctors got very sick and ended up in the hospital at the same time. Surprisingly, they asked Hamer to come visit them. He faithfully shared the gospel with them. One trusted Christ. The other refused, and he died before morning.
Needless to say, this caused quite a stir in the black magic business in Los Lotes. Several witch doctors moved out. When Pastor Gary Willett and his daughters Sarah and Abi arrived at the beginning of their e3 Mission Trip, only 3 were left. At that point, however, no one on the team knew anything about this.
One day an older man came hobbling up to the church, which also is Hamer’s home (at left). He was in pain, and had come to visit Dr. Hamer, knowing that he also was a pastor. He could hardly move as he hobbled in with this cane (on ground in picture). Hamer introduced him to Gary, who shared the gospel with him. After he prayed to receive Christ, Hamer shared that he was one of the witch doctors! One down, two to go.Later in the week Gary had the chance to lead German and his wife Sinthia to the Lord. He is 73 years old . . . and has been practicing witchcraft for over 50 years! Two down, one to go.
The last work day of our campaign Gary and Hamer met a man coming out of a building as they were walking. Hamer excitedly told Gary “that’s the last one!” They stopped and shared the love of Christ with him, but he did not make a decision. Please pray that God will bring to pass what Hamer has been saying since the team first arrived: soon there will be none.
Ethiopia.
We are hosting a leadership “train the trainer” conference in Ethiopia Aug 26 to Sept 1. The goal is to train 400 trainers from 35 denominations how to train others how to plant churches (using our First Steps curriculum) and do evangelism (with the EvangeCube). Please pray that God would use this training to greatly expand His kingdom there.
Eagle Scout Project.
Our 15 year old son, Philip, is working on his service project for his Boy Scout Eagle rank. He decided to collect eye glasses and then do an eye clinic on one of our church planting campaigns to Bolivia.
If you have old prescription glasses you want to donate, or new or used reading glasses, please let him know.
Also let us know if you’d like to go with us to Bolivia over Thanksgiving to distribute these glasses as we plant new churches. It would be a great way for your family show your thankfulness to our loving Lord by showing His love to the poor of Bolivia.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen
Bolivia: Glimpses of God's Glory
Bolivia Prayer Warriors--
Thanks for praying for our Bolivia e3 Mission Trip. Here are more glimpses of God's glory. As you watch, please pray for God to raise up 30, 60 and 100 fold followers of Christ from the new believers. Click on the link below to see Glimpses of God's Glory in Bolivia.
Glimpses of God's Glory in Bolivia
Thanks for praying for our Bolivia e3 Mission Trip. Here are more glimpses of God's glory. As you watch, please pray for God to raise up 30, 60 and 100 fold followers of Christ from the new believers. Click on the link below to see Glimpses of God's Glory in Bolivia.
Glimpses of God's Glory in Bolivia
Bolivia: What a Blessed Week
July 01, 2006
Bolivia Prayer Warriors—
Our team arrived home last night, but Pastor Enzo has another big day today. He flew to Sucre this morning to teach about 40 Quechua leaders how to use the EvangeCube and give them an overview of our church planting training. Please pray that the Head of the Church will use this training to build His church.
Thanks so much for praying for our Bolivia campaign! Ray summed up our week very well: “God is working in a special way down here.” He did that in answer to your prayers—
· 1,612 professions of faith (1,297 in the 12 work areas and 315 in executive outreaches that Ray and Mary did in partnership with Campus Crusade)
· 9 new churches were planted
· 10 churches strengthened (3 areas in which we worked and 7 mother churches of the new areas)
· 1,026 follow-up contacts made (79% of the professions of faith in the 12 work areas)
Behind these stats are hundreds and hundreds of God stories. Here are a few of them.
School Kids. Pastor Gaylord, Scott and Ellie were back at their host home/church for lunch after a morning of visiting homes. “Some kids are outside” someone said, so 18 year old Ellie jumped up to go talk to them. Others followed after a minute or two, and were surprised at the sight they saw—Ellie surrounded by 50+ kids who had just gotten out of school. God drew dozens to Christ as Ellie shared the gospel with them. Hallelujah!
Outdoor Cathedral. Jason, Andy and Sarah were overjoyed when over 170 people came to the evening meetings in their brand new area. Since they had no building, they met in an open field. For the main service they met under a tree strung with a few light bulbs. Then they broke up into groups. Jason took the 70+ kids under a lone streetlight along a dirt road. Andy taught the 35+ youth as they sat on the soccer field illuminated by headlights from two cars. Hallelujah!
Students. We thank the Lord for the 12 students He placed on our team. It was a joy for the parents on the trip (Bob and Samantha & Greg and Bryannia, for example) to see their kids sharing their faith fearlessly, as 12 year old Samantha is doing in this picture.
Name My Baby. As Richard and Sue worked in an area, they received a request that was a first for us. One of the ladies who trusted Christ asked Richard to say a prayer of dedication for her 3 month old baby. Then she asked him to name the baby! So he named him “Fabio Enzo Plata.” “Fabio” after the national believer who helped share the gospel with this new mom, and “Enzo” after our Bolivia national director who loves and serves the Lord.
Walk to Church. Lindsay, Kara and Philip worked in an area with lots of kids. When Kara learned that many kids attend church without their parents, she voiced the question most of us think: “but how do they get to church?” Living in the US, we assume everyone drives to church. But in most countries of the world, if a person can’t walk to church, they don’t go to church. That’s one key reason why we focus on planting new churches in barrios around the world.
Special Thanks to Troy for being our team translator!
Want a Video? One of the unexpected blessings of the trip was Ky. After he signed up to go, we found out he is a videographer. Ky’s passion is to do evangelism, and then capture ordinary people being used by our Extraordinary God to accomplish eternal things. He’s making a video of our trip, so please let me know if you’d like a copy.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
Bolivia Prayer Warriors—
Our team arrived home last night, but Pastor Enzo has another big day today. He flew to Sucre this morning to teach about 40 Quechua leaders how to use the EvangeCube and give them an overview of our church planting training. Please pray that the Head of the Church will use this training to build His church.
Thanks so much for praying for our Bolivia campaign! Ray summed up our week very well: “God is working in a special way down here.” He did that in answer to your prayers—
· 1,612 professions of faith (1,297 in the 12 work areas and 315 in executive outreaches that Ray and Mary did in partnership with Campus Crusade)
· 9 new churches were planted
· 10 churches strengthened (3 areas in which we worked and 7 mother churches of the new areas)
· 1,026 follow-up contacts made (79% of the professions of faith in the 12 work areas)
Behind these stats are hundreds and hundreds of God stories. Here are a few of them.
School Kids. Pastor Gaylord, Scott and Ellie were back at their host home/church for lunch after a morning of visiting homes. “Some kids are outside” someone said, so 18 year old Ellie jumped up to go talk to them. Others followed after a minute or two, and were surprised at the sight they saw—Ellie surrounded by 50+ kids who had just gotten out of school. God drew dozens to Christ as Ellie shared the gospel with them. Hallelujah!
Outdoor Cathedral. Jason, Andy and Sarah were overjoyed when over 170 people came to the evening meetings in their brand new area. Since they had no building, they met in an open field. For the main service they met under a tree strung with a few light bulbs. Then they broke up into groups. Jason took the 70+ kids under a lone streetlight along a dirt road. Andy taught the 35+ youth as they sat on the soccer field illuminated by headlights from two cars. Hallelujah!
Students. We thank the Lord for the 12 students He placed on our team. It was a joy for the parents on the trip (Bob and Samantha & Greg and Bryannia, for example) to see their kids sharing their faith fearlessly, as 12 year old Samantha is doing in this picture.
Name My Baby. As Richard and Sue worked in an area, they received a request that was a first for us. One of the ladies who trusted Christ asked Richard to say a prayer of dedication for her 3 month old baby. Then she asked him to name the baby! So he named him “Fabio Enzo Plata.” “Fabio” after the national believer who helped share the gospel with this new mom, and “Enzo” after our Bolivia national director who loves and serves the Lord.
Walk to Church. Lindsay, Kara and Philip worked in an area with lots of kids. When Kara learned that many kids attend church without their parents, she voiced the question most of us think: “but how do they get to church?” Living in the US, we assume everyone drives to church. But in most countries of the world, if a person can’t walk to church, they don’t go to church. That’s one key reason why we focus on planting new churches in barrios around the world.
Special Thanks to Troy for being our team translator!
Want a Video? One of the unexpected blessings of the trip was Ky. After he signed up to go, we found out he is a videographer. Ky’s passion is to do evangelism, and then capture ordinary people being used by our Extraordinary God to accomplish eternal things. He’s making a video of our trip, so please let me know if you’d like a copy.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
Bolivia: Open Door and Hearts
June 26, 2006 10:32
Santa Cruz
Thanks for praying, Prayer Warriors. Here are some glimpses of God’s glory that He has revealed in response to your prayers.
1. Saturday morning we prayed for God to introduce us to persons of peace—people who are influential in their neighborhoods who will introduce others to Christ. Many of you have been praying that for us, too. God answered this prayer in L.S., Glenda and Sammie’s area within an hour of their arrival! In one of the first visits, God opened the door to share the Gospel with Alejandro and several others in his household. He prayed to receive Christ, and then told the pastor “I own this restaurant here. You are welcome to meet in my restaurant.” This was a blessing to this new little church, for it now meets in the courtyard of the home of a member of the mother church.
2. Carlos owns a mechanics shop that fixes lots of taxis near the church with which Andrew, Mei and Tanya are working. He prayed to receive Christ yesterday, and welcomed Mei back for a follow-up visit. Could he be a person of peace who could introduce many taxi drivers to our Lord?
3. This afternoon Juanita decided to head back to the meeting place where she, Doug and Melissa have been working. She was feeling a little queasy, and hoped some rest before the evening meeting would help. As she neared her rest place, a man and his son asked what she was doing in the neighborhood. As her team started to share with him, he asked them to come to talk to his whole family. Actually, three families were gathered together for a family reunion, and all 12 trusted Christ!
4. One team was headed to a follow-up appointment, but stopped to take a picture of two parrots in a front yard. Out of the house came a scolding grandmother, saying we should have asked permission. She started in Spanish, but finished in English, for she is a tour guide. The team apologized, and asked if she had ever seen an EvangeCube. Her scold turned into salvation as she prayed in English in her own words to put her faith in Christ. As they were leaving, she shared that she had been the tour guide for a Christian children’s organization for 12 years.
5. Jason, Andy and Sarah are working in a brand new area. Tonight they had 170+ at their evening meeting, including over 40 youth! God has created a great hunger for Him in that area!
These are but a few of the glimpses of God’s glory we are seeing as God answers your prayers. Please continue to lift our team to the throne of grace. Please pray especially for—
· Ray Berryman (on right in picture), who over the next 3 days is doing 15 evangelism and discipleship meetings with Campus Crusade for Christ to business leaders, police officials, university leaders and professors, doctors and other influential groups
· Discipleship for all the new believers
· Good health—people are getting worn out
· The Head of the Church to continue to build His Church here
Santa Cruz
Thanks for praying, Prayer Warriors. Here are some glimpses of God’s glory that He has revealed in response to your prayers.
1. Saturday morning we prayed for God to introduce us to persons of peace—people who are influential in their neighborhoods who will introduce others to Christ. Many of you have been praying that for us, too. God answered this prayer in L.S., Glenda and Sammie’s area within an hour of their arrival! In one of the first visits, God opened the door to share the Gospel with Alejandro and several others in his household. He prayed to receive Christ, and then told the pastor “I own this restaurant here. You are welcome to meet in my restaurant.” This was a blessing to this new little church, for it now meets in the courtyard of the home of a member of the mother church.
2. Carlos owns a mechanics shop that fixes lots of taxis near the church with which Andrew, Mei and Tanya are working. He prayed to receive Christ yesterday, and welcomed Mei back for a follow-up visit. Could he be a person of peace who could introduce many taxi drivers to our Lord?
3. This afternoon Juanita decided to head back to the meeting place where she, Doug and Melissa have been working. She was feeling a little queasy, and hoped some rest before the evening meeting would help. As she neared her rest place, a man and his son asked what she was doing in the neighborhood. As her team started to share with him, he asked them to come to talk to his whole family. Actually, three families were gathered together for a family reunion, and all 12 trusted Christ!
4. One team was headed to a follow-up appointment, but stopped to take a picture of two parrots in a front yard. Out of the house came a scolding grandmother, saying we should have asked permission. She started in Spanish, but finished in English, for she is a tour guide. The team apologized, and asked if she had ever seen an EvangeCube. Her scold turned into salvation as she prayed in English in her own words to put her faith in Christ. As they were leaving, she shared that she had been the tour guide for a Christian children’s organization for 12 years.
5. Jason, Andy and Sarah are working in a brand new area. Tonight they had 170+ at their evening meeting, including over 40 youth! God has created a great hunger for Him in that area!
These are but a few of the glimpses of God’s glory we are seeing as God answers your prayers. Please continue to lift our team to the throne of grace. Please pray especially for—
· Ray Berryman (on right in picture), who over the next 3 days is doing 15 evangelism and discipleship meetings with Campus Crusade for Christ to business leaders, police officials, university leaders and professors, doctors and other influential groups
· Discipleship for all the new believers
· Good health—people are getting worn out
· The Head of the Church to continue to build His Church here
Bolivia: Black Market Miracle
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
6.25.2006
About a year ago Pastor Hamer had a vision for going to the jungle. He explained today that he has a burden for a very primitive tribe who don’t even wear clothes. The challenge was a way to effectively present the gospel.
One day he was accosted on the street by a drug addict wanting to sell something in a little cardboard box. It obviously was something he’d stolen somewhere. He said no, but the peddler persisted. “Look, it’s only one Boliviano,” which is about twelve cents.
Pastor Hamer again brushed him off, but the addict took the contents out and showed him the pictures on it. One was of Jesus on the cross, so he decided to go ahead and buy it. It was an EvangeCube!
Hamer took it home, but couldn’t figure out how to use it. So it sat on his shelf.
About 6 months ago Pastor Hamer got caught in a flash flood. He found himself walking through waist deep water. He had more presence of mind than I would in such a dangerous situation, for he looked down and saw a piece of paper floating by . . . and it had some of the same pictures as that Cube thing on his shelf. It was one of the tracts we use on our campaigns!
God was answering his prayers in some unusual ways!
Pastor Hamer went to work. He translated some of the tract into the language of the tribe in the jungle. But he still had not figured out how to use that Cube thing.
Then about a week ago he met Pastor Enzo, our Bolivia coordinator. When he heard we were coming, he asked for a team and found out we had enough on our team to add his new church plant to our list of areas. Then when Pastor Enzo went to train his church members at the last minute, he pulled out an EvangeCube! They finally would get to learn how to use that Cube thing.
Then the circle was completed yesterday, when Gary and his daughters Sarah and Abi showed up to work with Hamer. As they sat down with his church to plan the evangelism, Gary pulled out the same tract Hamer had noticed floating in the flood!
God is very creative as He answers prayers! Pastor Hamer now has two tools to share the Gospel here in Santa Cruz, and also in the jungle.
Please continue to pray for our team and the areas in which they are working. We are trusting God to work as creatively this week as he did with Pastor Hamer (but we can do without the floods!). Yesterday 289 people prayed to receive Christ! Join us in thanking Him for the great first day He gave our teams.
Please pray especially that God will raise up people to disciple the new believers.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
6.25.2006
About a year ago Pastor Hamer had a vision for going to the jungle. He explained today that he has a burden for a very primitive tribe who don’t even wear clothes. The challenge was a way to effectively present the gospel.
One day he was accosted on the street by a drug addict wanting to sell something in a little cardboard box. It obviously was something he’d stolen somewhere. He said no, but the peddler persisted. “Look, it’s only one Boliviano,” which is about twelve cents.
Pastor Hamer again brushed him off, but the addict took the contents out and showed him the pictures on it. One was of Jesus on the cross, so he decided to go ahead and buy it. It was an EvangeCube!
Hamer took it home, but couldn’t figure out how to use it. So it sat on his shelf.
About 6 months ago Pastor Hamer got caught in a flash flood. He found himself walking through waist deep water. He had more presence of mind than I would in such a dangerous situation, for he looked down and saw a piece of paper floating by . . . and it had some of the same pictures as that Cube thing on his shelf. It was one of the tracts we use on our campaigns!
God was answering his prayers in some unusual ways!
Pastor Hamer went to work. He translated some of the tract into the language of the tribe in the jungle. But he still had not figured out how to use that Cube thing.
Then about a week ago he met Pastor Enzo, our Bolivia coordinator. When he heard we were coming, he asked for a team and found out we had enough on our team to add his new church plant to our list of areas. Then when Pastor Enzo went to train his church members at the last minute, he pulled out an EvangeCube! They finally would get to learn how to use that Cube thing.
Then the circle was completed yesterday, when Gary and his daughters Sarah and Abi showed up to work with Hamer. As they sat down with his church to plan the evangelism, Gary pulled out the same tract Hamer had noticed floating in the flood!
God is very creative as He answers prayers! Pastor Hamer now has two tools to share the Gospel here in Santa Cruz, and also in the jungle.
Please continue to pray for our team and the areas in which they are working. We are trusting God to work as creatively this week as he did with Pastor Hamer (but we can do without the floods!). Yesterday 289 people prayed to receive Christ! Join us in thanking Him for the great first day He gave our teams.
Please pray especially that God will raise up people to disciple the new believers.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
Bolivia Mission Trip begins
June 24, 2006
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Heavenly Father—
You are omniscient—You know everything about where we are and what we are doing. Thank You for bringing all our team safely to Bolivia. Thank You for bringing Melissa in this morning, who had missed a connection in the States on Thursday and was delayed a day. In spite of 2 cancelled flights and a very late flight, You brought all the rest of the team here on time Friday. Thank You.
Thank You for getting all the teams connected with their host churches last night and this morning. All except one team is now out with their churches, getting ready to begin evangelism this morning.
Lord, we pray for unity among the teams today. Bridge the cultural and language gaps.
Lord, we pray for You to introduce our teams to those Your Spirit is giving faith to trust Christ.
Lord, we pray that You will introduce us to persons of peace, who will introduce our teams to whole neighborhoods through their family and friendship connections.
Lord, we pray that You will bring great glory to Yourself this week as You pour Your Living Water through the US and Bolivian teams, and splash all over the people in the areas where the host churches are planting new churches.
All this we pray so that You will be more famous in Santa Cruz, in Bolivia and around the world.
Amen.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Heavenly Father—
You are omniscient—You know everything about where we are and what we are doing. Thank You for bringing all our team safely to Bolivia. Thank You for bringing Melissa in this morning, who had missed a connection in the States on Thursday and was delayed a day. In spite of 2 cancelled flights and a very late flight, You brought all the rest of the team here on time Friday. Thank You.
Thank You for getting all the teams connected with their host churches last night and this morning. All except one team is now out with their churches, getting ready to begin evangelism this morning.
Lord, we pray for unity among the teams today. Bridge the cultural and language gaps.
Lord, we pray for You to introduce our teams to those Your Spirit is giving faith to trust Christ.
Lord, we pray that You will introduce us to persons of peace, who will introduce our teams to whole neighborhoods through their family and friendship connections.
Lord, we pray that You will bring great glory to Yourself this week as You pour Your Living Water through the US and Bolivian teams, and splash all over the people in the areas where the host churches are planting new churches.
All this we pray so that You will be more famous in Santa Cruz, in Bolivia and around the world.
Amen.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Rwanda Fires
Pr-Air Force—
Next week Philip and I go to Boy Scout Winter Camp. We both like to play with the fire. Small consolation for sleeping in tents in the winter . . . but it helps. I especially like getting up in the morning and putting wood on the embers from the night before. Before long, a huge blaze is going. Existing embers + more wood = blazing fire.
ADDING FUEL TO FIRES
We are working on this same concept in our ministry now. We will continue to lead short term mission teams to help light fires of church planting. But we also want to throw more wood (more resources) on the church planting fires already burning around the world.
Our new e3 Partners program raises funds in the US ($30/month) to provide EvangeCubes and other church planting resources for our national partners. In Rwanda we had the blessing of hearing how God is fanning many church planting fires with the resources provided by our e3 Partners. Some examples—
Sudan: in the midst of the horrible conditions caused by 20+ years of civil war, David Kaya reported that he had heard of 10 new churches being planted. Because of the difficult transportation and communication situation there, he knows there are many professions of faith and more churches planted, but he has to wait until he personally sees the trainers in order to get more reports.
Tanzania: Michael Omega reported that 1011 people were trained, and they saw 1764 people pray to receive Christ in the hour or so they practiced evangelism after the training. Also, 10 new churches were planted by 7 trainers.
Kenya: Joe Michael Kamau reported 1,400 trained with EvangeCubes, 235 trained in church planting, 2,525 professions of faith and 24 new churches planted.
Uganda: Moses Kaziba reported 390+ people trained with EvangeCube and church planting, 2000 professions of faith and 12 new churches.
Uganda: Joseph Oyuki reported 20 new churches planted through his network of EvangeCube trainers.
Rwanda: Robert Mutijima reported 40,000 professions of faith and 139 new churches planted.
Middle East: Our Middle East leader (name withheld for security reasons) reported that they had planted 36 new churches among Iraqi refugees in his country, and also 8 new churches among immigrants from another Middle East country.
Ethiopia: Yoseph Menna reported 7,213 professions of faith after the EvangeCube training events they hosted, plus 1,480 new churches planted. He admitted these numbers are partial, because he does not yet have reports from the northern part of the country, where communication is especially difficult.
Church planting fires are burning brightly in these countries! God is bringing glory to Himself as e3 Partners in the US are helping add fuel to these fires.
DO THEY GET IT?
Thanks also for praying for the leadership conference in Kigali. 230 pastors and leaders from all of the 8 provinces of Rwanda attended. The training center was packed out. They had to bring in more seats to the front of the room because every square inch in back was maxed out.
A trainer always wonders “do they get it”? We always try to work in “laboratory” with “lecture” when we do training to make sure people “get it.” Usually we have church planting campaigns (laboratory) that follows our Leadership Conferences (lecture). Since we do not have a campaign immediately following this conference, we tried something new.
We did a church plant during the conference! Yep, God used this group to birth a new church! Here’s how it worked.
The first day everyone got an EvangeCube and learned how to use it. Then they went out to practice that afternoon. 109 people prayed to receive Christ! They were so happy. Hallelujah!
The second day we talked about the vision for church planting. One of the key ideas is about following up with new believers to begin discipling them. Not merely do more evangelism, but take steps to obey Christ’s command to “make disciples.” So that afternoon we sent the teams out again to go back to visit the new believers in their homes. Not only did they do that, but about 200 more family and friends accepted Christ! The group was ecstatic! Hallelujah!
Before the conference, our Rwanda coordinator recruited Pastor Emmanuel Rukundo and his nearby church to be the “mother” of this new work. They invited me to speak at their Sunday service. I challenged them to adopt these new spiritual babies as their own.
The new church has now had two meetings. 30 attended the first one, and 37 the second. I’ve challenged the pastor to recruit a team to personally visit as many of the new believers in their homes as possible to encourage more to actively follow Christ.
THANKS FOR PRAYING
Thanks for praying for this trip, Pr-Air Force. God blessed us exceedingly abundantly. Please continue to pray that He will blow on the fires of church planting in these countries until they are totally out of control!
Have a blessed CHRISTmas.
Mike Jorgensen
Next week Philip and I go to Boy Scout Winter Camp. We both like to play with the fire. Small consolation for sleeping in tents in the winter . . . but it helps. I especially like getting up in the morning and putting wood on the embers from the night before. Before long, a huge blaze is going. Existing embers + more wood = blazing fire.
ADDING FUEL TO FIRES
We are working on this same concept in our ministry now. We will continue to lead short term mission teams to help light fires of church planting. But we also want to throw more wood (more resources) on the church planting fires already burning around the world.
Our new e3 Partners program raises funds in the US ($30/month) to provide EvangeCubes and other church planting resources for our national partners. In Rwanda we had the blessing of hearing how God is fanning many church planting fires with the resources provided by our e3 Partners. Some examples—
Sudan: in the midst of the horrible conditions caused by 20+ years of civil war, David Kaya reported that he had heard of 10 new churches being planted. Because of the difficult transportation and communication situation there, he knows there are many professions of faith and more churches planted, but he has to wait until he personally sees the trainers in order to get more reports.
Tanzania: Michael Omega reported that 1011 people were trained, and they saw 1764 people pray to receive Christ in the hour or so they practiced evangelism after the training. Also, 10 new churches were planted by 7 trainers.
Kenya: Joe Michael Kamau reported 1,400 trained with EvangeCubes, 235 trained in church planting, 2,525 professions of faith and 24 new churches planted.
Uganda: Moses Kaziba reported 390+ people trained with EvangeCube and church planting, 2000 professions of faith and 12 new churches.
Uganda: Joseph Oyuki reported 20 new churches planted through his network of EvangeCube trainers.
Rwanda: Robert Mutijima reported 40,000 professions of faith and 139 new churches planted.
Middle East: Our Middle East leader (name withheld for security reasons) reported that they had planted 36 new churches among Iraqi refugees in his country, and also 8 new churches among immigrants from another Middle East country.
Ethiopia: Yoseph Menna reported 7,213 professions of faith after the EvangeCube training events they hosted, plus 1,480 new churches planted. He admitted these numbers are partial, because he does not yet have reports from the northern part of the country, where communication is especially difficult.
Church planting fires are burning brightly in these countries! God is bringing glory to Himself as e3 Partners in the US are helping add fuel to these fires.
DO THEY GET IT?
Thanks also for praying for the leadership conference in Kigali. 230 pastors and leaders from all of the 8 provinces of Rwanda attended. The training center was packed out. They had to bring in more seats to the front of the room because every square inch in back was maxed out.
A trainer always wonders “do they get it”? We always try to work in “laboratory” with “lecture” when we do training to make sure people “get it.” Usually we have church planting campaigns (laboratory) that follows our Leadership Conferences (lecture). Since we do not have a campaign immediately following this conference, we tried something new.
We did a church plant during the conference! Yep, God used this group to birth a new church! Here’s how it worked.
The first day everyone got an EvangeCube and learned how to use it. Then they went out to practice that afternoon. 109 people prayed to receive Christ! They were so happy. Hallelujah!
The second day we talked about the vision for church planting. One of the key ideas is about following up with new believers to begin discipling them. Not merely do more evangelism, but take steps to obey Christ’s command to “make disciples.” So that afternoon we sent the teams out again to go back to visit the new believers in their homes. Not only did they do that, but about 200 more family and friends accepted Christ! The group was ecstatic! Hallelujah!
Before the conference, our Rwanda coordinator recruited Pastor Emmanuel Rukundo and his nearby church to be the “mother” of this new work. They invited me to speak at their Sunday service. I challenged them to adopt these new spiritual babies as their own.
The new church has now had two meetings. 30 attended the first one, and 37 the second. I’ve challenged the pastor to recruit a team to personally visit as many of the new believers in their homes as possible to encourage more to actively follow Christ.
THANKS FOR PRAYING
Thanks for praying for this trip, Pr-Air Force. God blessed us exceedingly abundantly. Please continue to pray that He will blow on the fires of church planting in these countries until they are totally out of control!
Have a blessed CHRISTmas.
Mike Jorgensen
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Plant a Church in a Week? It'll Never Last.
Pr-Air Force,
No, I’m not getting lazy . . . it’s just that Mike Congrove keeps writing great reports so fast that I can’t keep up with him! So here’s the latest from here in Kigali.
Please keep praying for us. We started this afternoon with our planning meetings. Please pray that God will give us wisdom, and continue the sweet unity He has given us so far.
Thanks for standing in the gap for us.
Mike Jorgensen
From: mike congrove
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 3:34 PM
To: Mike Jorgensen
Subject: The Church
This morning, I gave a testimony in a local church here in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda is called "The Country of a Thousand Hills" (at night when you can just see the lights of the houses, it looks like California with its hills and deep valleys). We went up the side of one of those hills this morning to be a part of a church service--a service that ran from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I couldn't help thinking of my fellow Baptists and if this was in the States. With their worship, however, time flew.
A pastor who attended our training invited us. Now, I want to share with you what I shared with the 200 Rwandans I stood in front of this morning, but first a brief detour.
There were 200 Rwandan adults at this church. We met in an open area under a tin roof. See pics, guess where? Yep, here.
If you won't click, imagine a very large carport.
Anyway, the pastor said they were running 200 adults and 140 children. And then the bombshell: This church was established by the Lord via GMF in June of THIS YEAR!
Can God plant a church in a week? Hellooooooooo.
So, my testimony time subject matter. This is good stuff, keep reading. This is what I shared, but I'll alter it a bit for you.
I surrendered to the ministry when I was 17, and at first I obeyed. But then I disobeyed and spent a few years in the wilderness, just like Israel. Even in the spiritual desert, God put Africa on my heart. And here, years later I stood in Africa fulfilling a dream.
After coming out of the wilderness, I prayed for God to show me what He wanted me to do.But someone else was praying for me too, Ali, my wife. For years, she prayed,
"that [I] would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that [I would] walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience:" Colossians 1:9-11
So I attribute being here, seeing God work in more people, seeing a fulfillment in my life, and finding God's purpose for me, to a large extent, because of a wife who prays for me. And she's cute. What a deal!
I talked to the congregation about the power of praying scripture; it sure had a big impact on me. Several widows told me afterwards it touched their hearts as well.
We've begun our strategy and planning meetings. Please pray for wisdom, vision, and understanding.
I owe you the "Tomorrow you will die" story. I know, it's coming. I had an "I love my wife" moment that intervened. Also have a Sudan story for you. Our national leader from Sudan gave a heart wrenching report this afternoon.
Keep the faith,
Mike Congrove
No, I’m not getting lazy . . . it’s just that Mike Congrove keeps writing great reports so fast that I can’t keep up with him! So here’s the latest from here in Kigali.
Please keep praying for us. We started this afternoon with our planning meetings. Please pray that God will give us wisdom, and continue the sweet unity He has given us so far.
Thanks for standing in the gap for us.
Mike Jorgensen
From: mike congrove
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 3:34 PM
To: Mike Jorgensen
Subject: The Church
This morning, I gave a testimony in a local church here in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwanda is called "The Country of a Thousand Hills" (at night when you can just see the lights of the houses, it looks like California with its hills and deep valleys). We went up the side of one of those hills this morning to be a part of a church service--a service that ran from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I couldn't help thinking of my fellow Baptists and if this was in the States. With their worship, however, time flew.
A pastor who attended our training invited us. Now, I want to share with you what I shared with the 200 Rwandans I stood in front of this morning, but first a brief detour.
There were 200 Rwandan adults at this church. We met in an open area under a tin roof. See pics, guess where? Yep, here.
If you won't click, imagine a very large carport.
Anyway, the pastor said they were running 200 adults and 140 children. And then the bombshell: This church was established by the Lord via GMF in June of THIS YEAR!
Can God plant a church in a week? Hellooooooooo.
So, my testimony time subject matter. This is good stuff, keep reading. This is what I shared, but I'll alter it a bit for you.
I surrendered to the ministry when I was 17, and at first I obeyed. But then I disobeyed and spent a few years in the wilderness, just like Israel. Even in the spiritual desert, God put Africa on my heart. And here, years later I stood in Africa fulfilling a dream.
After coming out of the wilderness, I prayed for God to show me what He wanted me to do.But someone else was praying for me too, Ali, my wife. For years, she prayed,
"that [I] would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that [I would] walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience:" Colossians 1:9-11
So I attribute being here, seeing God work in more people, seeing a fulfillment in my life, and finding God's purpose for me, to a large extent, because of a wife who prays for me. And she's cute. What a deal!
I talked to the congregation about the power of praying scripture; it sure had a big impact on me. Several widows told me afterwards it touched their hearts as well.
We've begun our strategy and planning meetings. Please pray for wisdom, vision, and understanding.
I owe you the "Tomorrow you will die" story. I know, it's coming. I had an "I love my wife" moment that intervened. Also have a Sudan story for you. Our national leader from Sudan gave a heart wrenching report this afternoon.
Keep the faith,
Mike Congrove
Stop the Bus!
Thanks for praying for us, Pr-Air Force. God is doing some wonderful things here. I'll send a more complete report, but I thought you'd enjoy this praise report from Mike Congrove, our new staffer who's here with us.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Congrove
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 12:13 AM
Subject: Stop the Bus!
230.
That's how many pastors and leaders we trained in Kigali, Rwanda this week. When Curtis, Steve and Mike (see my blog for pics of these guys,
http://lettersfrompaphos.blogspot.com) trained these folks with the Evangecube, they made a few requests. One is to share Christ via the cube twice a week for a year.
230 x 2 = 460
460 x 52 = 23,920 gospel presentations in Rwanda for a year, just from the training.
Ah, but you won't have 100% participation you say, that number is bogus.
Uh-huh. Well, let me introduce you to Robert Mugabe. (His pic is here:
http://lettersfrompaphos.blogspot.com) Robert got on a bus last night to go to restaurant and he had his cube out. The folks asked him about it so much that finally the driver stopped the bus until he showed everyone the cube. He went through the gospel presentation and eight people accepted Christ.
When he arrived at his restaurant a woman from the bus saw him. She had the owner close the doors to the restaurant while he showed everyone the cube. Six more people accepted Jesus.
I may be way low on that 23k number because God's math is way different, and much better, than mine. Now in your Ronco voice, read this, "But wait, there's more."
Mike Jorgensen repeatedly challenged everyone to constantly disciple at least one person, if not a few. Let's stay conservative:
1st Generation: 230 disciples of the 230 conference attendees 2nd Generation: Those 230 find a disciple each = 460 3rd Generation: And so on, 690 4th Generation: 920 evangecube and church-planting trained leaders.
Hallelujah! That's from ONE training. This training.
From the neighborhood where these 230 "practiced" using the Evangecube,
the Lord brought about 100 to Himself on Thursday afternoon. We were out for an hour. On Friday afternoon, we went to follow up with those who accepted Christ the previous day. Because of those folks bringing friends and family to hear the gospel, 198 more Rwandans came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Ahh, discipleship. What do you know?
If you obey God's word, He blesses.
Hopefully tomorrow, I can share with you a story of our Ethiopian national leader. It begins with a letter he received years ago. The letter read, "Tomorrow you will die."
Keep praying, we now begin meetings with our national leaders from:
Ethiopia
Sudan
Kenya
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
A closed Middle East Country
Oh so much more later, God bless,
Mike C
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Congrove
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 12:13 AM
Subject: Stop the Bus!
230.
That's how many pastors and leaders we trained in Kigali, Rwanda this week. When Curtis, Steve and Mike (see my blog for pics of these guys,
http://lettersfrompaphos.blogspot.com) trained these folks with the Evangecube, they made a few requests. One is to share Christ via the cube twice a week for a year.
230 x 2 = 460
460 x 52 = 23,920 gospel presentations in Rwanda for a year, just from the training.
Ah, but you won't have 100% participation you say, that number is bogus.
Uh-huh. Well, let me introduce you to Robert Mugabe. (His pic is here:
http://lettersfrompaphos.blogspot.com) Robert got on a bus last night to go to restaurant and he had his cube out. The folks asked him about it so much that finally the driver stopped the bus until he showed everyone the cube. He went through the gospel presentation and eight people accepted Christ.
When he arrived at his restaurant a woman from the bus saw him. She had the owner close the doors to the restaurant while he showed everyone the cube. Six more people accepted Jesus.
I may be way low on that 23k number because God's math is way different, and much better, than mine. Now in your Ronco voice, read this, "But wait, there's more."
Mike Jorgensen repeatedly challenged everyone to constantly disciple at least one person, if not a few. Let's stay conservative:
1st Generation: 230 disciples of the 230 conference attendees 2nd Generation: Those 230 find a disciple each = 460 3rd Generation: And so on, 690 4th Generation: 920 evangecube and church-planting trained leaders.
Hallelujah! That's from ONE training. This training.
From the neighborhood where these 230 "practiced" using the Evangecube,
the Lord brought about 100 to Himself on Thursday afternoon. We were out for an hour. On Friday afternoon, we went to follow up with those who accepted Christ the previous day. Because of those folks bringing friends and family to hear the gospel, 198 more Rwandans came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Ahh, discipleship. What do you know?
If you obey God's word, He blesses.
Hopefully tomorrow, I can share with you a story of our Ethiopian national leader. It begins with a letter he received years ago. The letter read, "Tomorrow you will die."
Keep praying, we now begin meetings with our national leaders from:
Ethiopia
Sudan
Kenya
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
A closed Middle East Country
Oh so much more later, God bless,
Mike C
Pr-Air Force--
Thanks for praying for our trip to Nairobi. Things went very smoothly. Thought you'd enjoy an email Mike Congrove sent out to his prayer list. He did a good job of capturing our day today.
Tomorrow we fly to Rwanda. Please keep praying for us.
Blessings. Mike Jorgensen
From: mike congrove
Sent: Tue 06/12/2005 08:30
To: Mike Jorgensen
Subject: I've got 3 goats
The Goat Story
"I've got three goats."
This was the reply of a Masai pastor here in Kenya when GMF's Kenyan national leader, Joe Michael Kamau, asked him what he had in terms of resources to plant a new church. Joe Michael was talking with the pastor about planting a new church among the Masai people in a rural area of Kenya.
Joe Michael asked him about the preparation he had done for a church-planting campaign. The Masai pastor replied that he had people from his church who were willing to do the evangelism and follow-up discipleship, and he had a man who could pastor the new work, but he was concerned that he didn't have the resources to host the 16 people Joe Michael was bringing from Nairobi to help conduct the church-planting campaign.
The pastor asked Joe Michael how much money he would contribute the campaign to cover the costs for hosting and feeding the workers. Joe Michael returned the question back to him, "What resources do you have for this campaign?"
That's when the Masai pastor told him he had three goats. Joe Michael told him to focus on what the Lord had given him, not what he lacked. Later as the time for the campaign approached, Joe Michael and the Masai pastor spoke again. The pastor had secured two more goats, totally five for this campaign. He sold two, using those funds to buy wheat to make bread. He found a place for the workers to sleep, and he slaughtered two more goats for meat for the campaigners to eat. He used a plot of land he owned to start the new church on, and on their final campaign meeting day, he slaughtered the fifth goat for a celebratory feast for the workers and the new believers.
Hallelujonga indeed.
I heard this story at lunch today with Joe Michael. There are 65 people attending that "goat church" today. Amazing what happens when we use what the Lord has given us rather than focusing on what we desire.
By you being a part of GMF, you're a part of amazing works like this. "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes;"-- Jesus (Luke 10:3-4)
The Office
We met with a dapper Kenyan attorney today in a quiet office, tucked away from the center of busy Nairobi under large trees and surrounded by blooming hibiscuses. The attorney is guiding GMF through the process of registering as a foreign registered company in Kenya.
Apparently Kenyan intelligence has to check out us thoroughly before granting the registration. Then Joe Michael can get the office up and rolling and begin to receive shipments of Evangecubes for distribution throughout the country. The investigators vet these applications for groups using the registration as fronts to funnel money and goods into the country illegally.
Please pray for the registration to go smoothly and quickly. This will jumpstart the next level of work for GMF here in Kenya.Joe Michael is an impressive figure. I'm glad he's a part of GMF. He appears to be an impassioned man for planting churches, evangelism, and expanding the Lord's kingdom in Kenya and East Africa in general.
After lunch we met with the organization that is translating our church-planting training material into Swahili. I thought their approach to translating a document was impressive.
First, they have three linguists translate the document individually. Then those three compare, contrast and argue until they're satisfied the document is translated properly.
Pray the Lord will use this training tool in a powerful, multiplicative way in Kenya for years to come.
God bless, next message will be from Kigali, Rwanda.
Mike C
Thanks for praying for our trip to Nairobi. Things went very smoothly. Thought you'd enjoy an email Mike Congrove sent out to his prayer list. He did a good job of capturing our day today.
Tomorrow we fly to Rwanda. Please keep praying for us.
Blessings. Mike Jorgensen
From: mike congrove
Sent: Tue 06/12/2005 08:30
To: Mike Jorgensen
Subject: I've got 3 goats
The Goat Story
"I've got three goats."
This was the reply of a Masai pastor here in Kenya when GMF's Kenyan national leader, Joe Michael Kamau, asked him what he had in terms of resources to plant a new church. Joe Michael was talking with the pastor about planting a new church among the Masai people in a rural area of Kenya.
Joe Michael asked him about the preparation he had done for a church-planting campaign. The Masai pastor replied that he had people from his church who were willing to do the evangelism and follow-up discipleship, and he had a man who could pastor the new work, but he was concerned that he didn't have the resources to host the 16 people Joe Michael was bringing from Nairobi to help conduct the church-planting campaign.
The pastor asked Joe Michael how much money he would contribute the campaign to cover the costs for hosting and feeding the workers. Joe Michael returned the question back to him, "What resources do you have for this campaign?"
That's when the Masai pastor told him he had three goats. Joe Michael told him to focus on what the Lord had given him, not what he lacked. Later as the time for the campaign approached, Joe Michael and the Masai pastor spoke again. The pastor had secured two more goats, totally five for this campaign. He sold two, using those funds to buy wheat to make bread. He found a place for the workers to sleep, and he slaughtered two more goats for meat for the campaigners to eat. He used a plot of land he owned to start the new church on, and on their final campaign meeting day, he slaughtered the fifth goat for a celebratory feast for the workers and the new believers.
Hallelujonga indeed.
I heard this story at lunch today with Joe Michael. There are 65 people attending that "goat church" today. Amazing what happens when we use what the Lord has given us rather than focusing on what we desire.
By you being a part of GMF, you're a part of amazing works like this. "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes;"-- Jesus (Luke 10:3-4)
The Office
We met with a dapper Kenyan attorney today in a quiet office, tucked away from the center of busy Nairobi under large trees and surrounded by blooming hibiscuses. The attorney is guiding GMF through the process of registering as a foreign registered company in Kenya.
Apparently Kenyan intelligence has to check out us thoroughly before granting the registration. Then Joe Michael can get the office up and rolling and begin to receive shipments of Evangecubes for distribution throughout the country. The investigators vet these applications for groups using the registration as fronts to funnel money and goods into the country illegally.
Please pray for the registration to go smoothly and quickly. This will jumpstart the next level of work for GMF here in Kenya.Joe Michael is an impressive figure. I'm glad he's a part of GMF. He appears to be an impassioned man for planting churches, evangelism, and expanding the Lord's kingdom in Kenya and East Africa in general.
After lunch we met with the organization that is translating our church-planting training material into Swahili. I thought their approach to translating a document was impressive.
First, they have three linguists translate the document individually. Then those three compare, contrast and argue until they're satisfied the document is translated properly.
Pray the Lord will use this training tool in a powerful, multiplicative way in Kenya for years to come.
God bless, next message will be from Kigali, Rwanda.
Mike C
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)