HomeAssociate News
A Lesson from Tom & Bonnie Kopp. We have been encouraged recently by Prov. 28:1, which states, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” In South Africa, people talk about "the big five," which are the elephant, rhino, buffalo, leopard, and lion. They have the distinction of being "the big five" because, unlike other animals which run AWAY from you, they run AT you! In keeping with Prov. 28:1, we have determined to be 'bold as a lion' because, while we may reflect at times (however fleetingly) about slowing up, stopping completely, or even retreating, we KNOW this next step for us is what the Lord has asked of us. Therefore, by God's empowerment, we WILL continue to move forward running AT the open door of strategic opportunity for teaching & discipling internationally that the LORD has placed before us. Sometimes, of course, it's easier said than done - but when all is said and done (and often, more IS said than done!), we want to be counted among those who are characterized by 'loyal hearts' and so considered faithful.
Leta VanMeter Shares from a recent training opportunity she had with a
team going to an unreached people group.
The training in Kansas City for the team going
to the middle east was good, but not without challenges. One
day the heat index was 115 degrees. Yikes! That brought
back some memories of life in the tropics as well as a memory from
my own pre-field training a few decades back. “When the
going gets tough,” counseled Margaret Hillis, “and you just
don’t think you can do it any more, [whatever the ‘it’ may be]
simply say, ‘I do this for You, Jesus.’”
One highlight of that time was meeting the only known believer from the unreached people group to whom the team will be going. When given an honorarium for his linguistic and cultural services, he graciously declined acceptance saying, “Oh, I’m doing this for Jesus!”
Whatever (or whoever) may be difficult in your life right now, may God grace you and me to ‘do it’ as though we are doing so for Jesus, Himself. [“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Jesus, Matt 25:40.]
Glen and Shelly Volkhardt recently came alongside new missionaries in training at Mission Aviation Fellowship's headquarters in Idaho preparing them to integrate into their new fields of service. One attendee said, "it reinforced the time it will take to adapt and understand our new culture." Shelly recently published Trusting in His Goodness, A Woman's Guide to God's Purposes, written with Mimi Wilson. Shelly has an extensive ministry to women in the United States and South America. Glen is the President/CEO of Paraclete.
Doug Goins shares his
ministry experiences with Fundacion Emmanuel National
Training Conference
This ministry has partnered with Discovery Foundation (DF) and Peninsula Bible Church (PBC) for over ten years. Jaime Guerrero, who began the FE Prison Ministry in Mexico about twenty years ago, is a Colombian national whose love for his country compelled him to also disciple, equip and train prison ministry leaders in Colombia.
DF and PBC have sent teaching teams annually for FE national training conferences in Mexico and Colombia. I joined with Mark Dungan and Jeff Farrar to help lead this year's Colombian conference. The three of us have been to Colombia enough times to be blessed with good friends and ministry partners, having walked with them through struggles and victories, watching ministries expand, marriages flourish and children grow into young adults. This year we were joined by Jeff's cousin Orlando Garcia, a Colombian national from Houston, Texas who translated for us through the week. He is a dear brother in the Lord, and bonded quickly with our Colombian prison ministry family.
The week provided much time to catch up and share relationally. There was an abundance of laughter and tears. We also were humbled to teach the Scriptures every day. Jeff taught through the story of Gideon from Judges. Mark taught through II Peter, and I taught through Hebrews 10:32-11:19. The FE leadership is open to God's Word, and they were wonderfully responsive to our exposition.
Paraclete Associate David Bochman is heading to Africa to visit many of the Praise International national leaders.
David is serving as Interim Executive Director to this organization, which is based in Idaho. During his time there he is assisting the board and staff to evaluate how they accomplish their ministry, as well as how to incorporate micro-enterprise development strategies in their national pastor support programs.
Marilyn, Jerry Hogshead’s wife writes about his recent ministry in India.
Jerry’s recent return to India and Bangladesh was pure delight and rich in fellowship with both old and new friends.
The one-day workshop in Delhi on empowering the poor to be change agents in their own communities that was led by our partner in the Delhi Empowerment project, Mark D., was very fruitful. There were 55 workers representing seven agencies working among the poor. The workshop introduced the participants to Advocating With the Poor: A Manual for Delhi that is a key result of the project and a fruit of Mark’s 13 years living in the Delhi slums, learning the language and culture, the ways of the poor, and the systems in the government that can help them, but remain, for the most part, inaccessible because of their poverty, limited education and lack of empowerment.
The manual looks at issues related to seven of Barnabas Ventures’ eight signs of a transforming community and provides specific guidance for helping the poor gain access to everything from utilities to essential documents (without which most services aren’t available) to education, food (ration cards for widows), health services and more.
Mark listed more than 30 specific issues on a white board that were covered in some way in the manual, and invited someone who had a story of a successful advocacy on that issue to share it with the group.
The results of the event were a unanimous endorsement of the manual and the training, the scheduling of a second workshop in October, and the creation of a steering committee to explore forming the group into an ongoing advocacy network. The Empowerment manual is in the process of being translated and adapted for use in other states and future workshops and projects are already in the making.
The meetings in Mumbai, Kolkata and Dhaka were equally fruitful. Jerry and colleague, Will N., met with leaders of three different national organizations to explore their invitations to start Barnabas Ventures’ projects in urban slums. It would be hard to think of a better summary for their words than those of the man in Paul’s Macedonian vision, "Come over and help us!"
