For Those With Ears - Entries tagged "Global Ministries"
ThuThursdayJulJuly14th2011
HY Missions Update
Well everything is
going really well so far. We're currently enjoying some downtime which
is why I am able to write this. Our team members are doing things like playing
cards, guitar, reading, resting and bonding right now which is a nice
break from all the work we've been doing.
As a
reminder to you all, a group of 13 students and four leaders from Harvest
Youth Sr. High are on a missions trip in Bradford with CrossTrainers
this week helping run a Vacation Bible School for kids at a local church
in town. We've finished three days so far which has us leading kids
ages 4-10 though worship, games, scripture memory, crafts and more.
It's been an incredible time of building relationships with both the
kids and CT staff. The students are growing and learning which has been
cool to see. In the afternoons we've been painting the outside windows
on the building that CT operates from in the heart of Bradford. It's
been disgustingly hot but there hasn't been so much as a complaint from
the students about it. They've been working hard painting and cleaning
the place from top to bottom and it's been a huge blessing to the CT
staff. They are blown away at what God is doing through our group.
Here's
a picture of the team getting ready to run the VBS as well as one of
them prepping the windows of the building we're painting.
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Please
pray for our team - that we would continue to stay unified and have
positive attitudes. Also pray that there would be much impact for the
kingdom through what we do - for children to come to know Jesus as
Saviour and for much fruit to bear in their lives. We're grateful for
your prayers and your support!
Mike
TueTuesdayAprApril12th2011
Churches Helping Churches: Our Ministry to Japan Begins
We are grateful that $9,124.07 was given here at Harvest Barrie for the Churches
Helping Churches effort in Japan. Praise God. And may he use this for
his purposes there.
A word from Executive Director Tom Kim:
The challenges we faced during our
trip are some of the obstacles that people in northeastern Japan face
everyday these days. The main expressways have been closed off to
civilian travel. There are gas shortages on the east side of the
country. Long lines form at kerosene depots in the hopes that they can
cook a warm meal at home. Most cars are either parked with empty gas
tanks or waiting in gas station lines a mile long.
These obstacles impede the Japanese people’s commutes to school and
work, and therein a return to normalcy in their lives. Moreover, they’re
slowing down the distribution of food and water. Grocery stores in
downtown Sendai have 100 bags of rice, while people along the coast just
six miles away struggle to find adequate food and supplies.
We saw the need firsthand when we stumbled upon a middle school
gymnasium in Shiogama, now acting as an evacuation shelter. After
delivering a few boxes of feminine care products, a girl rushed over to
Andrew, a volunteer with our partners, CRASH, and hugged him. This, in a country where public displays of affection are non-existent, especially between strangers.
The physical needs persist but not alone. As people move away from
day-to-day to week-to-week and month-to-month, the needs begin to shift.
When the basic things in life can’t be trusted – such as the ground
beneath your feet, the air that touches your skin, or the seaside view
that you’ve always enjoyed – it does something to the mind and emotions.
We need 10 times more physical relief, and 20 times more spiritual
relief.
Ministering to the pastors of Japan
We’re beginning plans for Churches Helping Pastors,
a retreat that provides crisis counseling that’s gospel-centered and
Biblical to pastors. The curriculum is designed to both treat and train
pastors. If there’s one thing that every Japanese pastor cannot afford
to be less than excellent at right now, it’s crisis counseling. The
retreat will take place in May, led by a team of Japanese and foreign
teachers. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by
God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) If you know any pastors who would benefit
from this retreat in northern Japan, please have them contact us.
Meanwhile, we are exploring options for new church buildings. As far
as we know, there were not many churches along the coast within
striking distance of the tsunami. We are currently aware of four, which
we plan to rebuild or repair. There will be a correct time for
reconstruction, in pace with the rest of community restoration.
For now, we continue to be reminded that the church is not a building but the people of God. As we saw in Haiti, though the church buildings were lost, the church grew. And it’s that church that needs our attention and care now.
MonMondayDecDecember13th2010
Romania Church Plant Project
Harvest Barrie is excited to partner with Harvest Bible Fellowship in giving toward the Romania church plant project. Our elders would like to invite you to participate in our Christmas offering for Romania. Below is an excerpt from a letter from HBF concerning the work in Romania and below that is a video outlining what God has already accomplished through the Metanoia church.
As you are aware, the Lord is
bringing fruitfulness to our churches in various ways
and one of the "Only God " growth areas is in Eastern Europe under
the dynamic leadership
of Cristian Barbosu and his Elders.
At
HBF, we have partnered with these brothers in birthing six Harvest Metanoia
churches and two village churches in five years and there is much more, we believe,
that God wants to do in this challenging part of the world.
We are sending you
some information produced here in the states with the support
of HBF which outlines the fruitfulness to date and the faith filled vision
which God has given
to this local church. The Metanoia Fellowship is effectively and
operationally our Eastern
Europe mission vehicle. We have established an agreement for supporting
and encouraging
these autonomous local churches which recognizes them all as sister churches of
all HBF
church plants; they are Harvest Bible Chapels! Harvest Bible Fellowship
is working with these leaders
to equip them and give us all a good and godly sense of ownership of this
ministry expansion. We are praying by faith for another seven fold growth in the
next five years and want to equip and accommodate this growth by helping with the
funding to build the Eastern European hub of HBF at Cristian's church
in Arad Romania.
The
local church is committed to a substantial portion of the cost of each phase
being raised
in Romania. Yet without foreign investment,
there are no
banks or even wealthy Romanian Christians who love the Lord and his work.
But praise God, we
in North America can partner with our brothers. Recently a
Christian in Texas agreed to match
the first $500,000 given by December 31 - a generous gift which if fully
subscribed, with the funds
already raised by the Romanian Church, would see Phase I built and fully paid
for by this time next year.
Metanoia Building1 from HBF Church Plants on Vimeo.
Donate online or with your regular giving on Sundays.
FriFridayDecDecember10th2010
Fullness of Time
Christmas is a time of anticipation! Friends and relatives will be over for
a visit, some perhaps coming from far away. The presents will be wrapped up, tantalizing those with a
penchant for guessing what is in them.
Watching the anticipation build in young children as the time draws near
is enough to make us all burst!
It
is fun looking forward to celebrating with workmates and enjoying concerts and
maybe even a little time off. Some
people even enjoy shopping – looking for just the right gift. That is an art lost to the “gift card,”
but that’s another blog!
Eventually the day will arrive, just like it did so long
ago. Not only the birth day, but a
day of promise, a day of anticipation, a day of fulfillment! God stepped out of eternity into time
and space to accomplish a mission, right on time!
Galatians 4:4-5
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we
might receive the adoption as sons.”
The fullness of time is still coming around for people all
over the world. Jesus is still
coming into people’s worlds so they can be adopted as sons. This is still the most exciting news
around! It isn’t 2000-year-old news either. It is happening now!
It is happening here! And it
is happening in many other places also.
In God’s time his Son is entering lives and changing them!
We have a part to play in this mission to Barrie and beyond!
We participate in global outreaches like church planting
with Harvest Bible Fellowship or ministering to the church in Haiti through
“Churches Helping Churches.” This
Sunday we are going to get a couple of glimpses into those worlds of
opportunity. One will be “up close
and personal” through the experiences of Pastor Todd and Dave MacDonald. Bring a heart of anticipation to see how
“the fullness of time” is coming today.
ThuThursdayDecDecember9th2010
Churches Helping Churches: Haiti
How we are – and aren't – giving away money in Haiti
Haiti was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, with over half
of its population living in abject poverty and almost a quarter of its
GDP coming from remittances, when it was hit by the earthquake in
January, killing a quarter of a million people in Port-au-Prince and
bringing an already crippled economy to its knees.
The quake's aftereffects underscored long-standing problems of the Haitian infrastructure: Perennially dependent on foreign aid, the Haitian economy – and even government – had never developed the infrastructure
to stand on its own feet. There was concern among many that foreign
aid, ironically, was frustrating the very development the aid was
intended to foster, discouraging both local production and, moreover, local governance. One
key, experts have said, to Haiti’s recovery, would be for the
international community to not blindly pour money into a country that
would not be able to properly channel it into infrastructure
development. It would be imperative for Haitians to own and implement this recovery.
By this summer, Churches Helping Churches had over $2 million in funds
tied to Haiti. Many Haitian churches often function as community
institutions, running schools, hospitals, and more. We knew dozens, if
not hundreds, of pastors who’d lost their churches, many of whom knew
exactly what it would cost to fully rebuild their churches, and some who
would ask for the amount directly. Now it was up to us to give the
delicate response: We love them; we can’t give the money out
that freely, not with what we know of development, but more importantly,
what we know of scripture.
Giving to churches, not buildings
“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God
has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their
overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond
their ability.” (2 Corinthians 8:1-3)
A church is not a building; It is a community of believers. The core mission
of Churches Helping Churches is to rebuild, not just church buildings,
but church communities – bodies of believers who come together in
fellowship to grow in discipleship together. If we simply handed out
money to rebuild church structures, we would be side-stepping this
critical gospel-based component of what a church body is, and who we are as an organization.
Thus, we are indeed giving money to churches, but we’re doing so with a plan,
one that requires the participation not just of Haitians, but of
Haitians coming together as one church body to own the reconstruction of
their own church. And we want to partner with and support them in this
process, while leading from behind.
Here’s how our church reconstruction program operates: CHC has been holding retreats for pastors
throughout the year in Port-au-Prince and regionally. At these
retreats, we get to know and identify the pastors whose churches were
destroyed and who are leaders in their community – leaders among leaders
– and the ones for whom a church reconstruction grant would be most
strategic. In this process, we’ve met many amazing men of faith and partnered with them. Through
this program, we will partner with 30 larger churches and up to 50
smaller ones, and give out about half of our Haiti funds.
Read more about the full program on the CHC website.
ThuThursdayDecDecember2nd2010
Haiti
The
earthquake of last January was devastating to the island nation of
Haiti. Yet it is really just the latest blow to a country that has faced
perpetual instability and poverty. Since the earthquake, a hurricane, a
cholera outbreak and post-election political tension have added to the
misery and hardship.
Yet
God is at work and there are many of his people in Haiti who are
seeking day by day to continue to live for him amidst the nationwide
struggle.
After
the earthquake, a wave of relief efforts swung into action. As a
fellowship of churches, we partnered with the Acts29 Network churches,
raising $1.6 million for an effort that would be known as “Churches Helping Churches”.
The idea is that while NGO’s, governments, and the U.N. will help
rebuild streets, sewers, hospitals and such, there would be no one
helping rebuild the churches that were destroyed.
And
we, as the church, wanted to be involved in rebuilding churches as well
as helping pastors lead those churches in the wake of the disaster.
When
we announced the project, you responded in an amazing way, giving close
to $20,000 to help churches in Haiti. A portion of that offering was
given to two orphanages founded by Dave Lock, a Toronto businessman and
member of Harvest Bible Chapel York Region.
On
Sunday, December 5, Dave MacDonald and I will have the privilege of
traveling to Haiti for five days to survey the work of Churches Helping
Churches and the Freedom House orphan homes. In addition, Pastor Paul
Whittingstall from HBC York Region, who will also be traveling in the
group, and I will be preaching at the “Churches Helping Pastors”
conference on Ile de la Gonave off the coast of Haiti on Thursday,
December 9.
We
are looking forward to serving the people of Haiti in Jesus’ name and on
your behalf. Pray for us as we travel, observe, minister, preach and
encourage the faithful servants of Christ who are persevering for him in
Haiti.
Dave and I look forward to reporting back to the church here in Barrie on Sunday, December 12.
ThuThursdayNovNovember11th2010
Barrie Food Bank
When
we moved into our new offices we each were assigned an office with
built in desks and cupboards in various kitchen styles. Mike’s is so
retro! Mine is just classy, without being ostentatious! We had some
stuff lying around from moving and I found a paper bag that was left
over from our last collection for the food bank. I thought it quite
entertaining to put it up on my wall as “art” since we didn’t have much
at that moment. It read, “Our cupboards are bare but you can help fill
them.” I would leave my office cupboard doors open so everyone could
see how empty they were. Ha,Ha!
I have taken it down because now we have stuff on the shelves, (and it
never was very funny). We don’t have bare shelves here that should be
holding food. But I know two kinds of places that do. The Barrie Food Bank’s shelves are bare. And that means some of the people who depend on them have empty shelves also.
We
are handing out empty paper bags so in November we can change that. By
filling them we can fill the shelves at the Food Bank and in turn the
shelves of those who need the food. We are the ones that can help fill
the shelves. We can bring our filled bags back here each Sunday, drop
them off at our office (112 Caplan Avenue) or deliver them directly to
the Food Bank. Perhaps you would consider volunteering there.
The
Food Bank was so thankful that we helped out in the middle of the
summer. That can be a hard time for them. But now they are heading
into an even busier season. Now is the time to make a difference. Fill
up the bag! Fill up the cupboards!
Roger
TueTuesdaySepSeptember21st2010
Churches Helping Churches: Ministering in Leogane and Beyond
“It’s like they were waiting for us. It was a dry land, and we were pouring water on it.”
This
was Jacques Louis’ comment to me as we evaluated our time in Léogâne,
the city nearest to the epicenter of the earthquake. From September 2
to 4, pastors and church leaders from a wide range of denominations
showed up, and they were on-time everyday. (This does not happen all
that often here.)
Our meeting site was dark and poorly vented. The STEP faculty, who took
more ownership of the teaching this time around, and I were constantly
making eye contact and shaking our heads at the unbearable conditions.
And when Haitians say, “It’s hot,” it is indeed sweltering. Every shirt
in that room was drenched.
Yet,
none of the attendees complained. As we taught on crisis, the emphasis
was on the personal healing of the pastor first, then to their
congregation. These men and women quickly embraced this vision and were
unusually hungry for God’s truth. They were unphased in their learning,
frantically jotting down notes and asking to repeat key phrases. In our
Q&A sessions, they were looking for coaching on current, hands-on
struggles. As we equipped them with Biblical responses to shed light on
their situation, they were so grateful for each answer. I felt terrible
each time I had to end the session.
A
major component of this retreat is the mutual ministry to one another.
We give them a vision for small groups and coach them daily throughout
the conference. During a morning huddle, one small group leader said,
“We have never seen this (small groups) before. We ask a question, and
it’s like a free ride! I will continue this in my ministry after the
conference.” When I asked if any others were planning on implementing
small groups in their churches as a follow-up, they responded in
vehement agreement. (Special thanks to Pastor Mike Wilkerson of Mars
Hill Church in Seattle for his instrumental leadership in small group
architecture for this retreat.)
I've
been overwhelmed with the gratitude for these retreats – gratitude for
one another and most of all, gratitude to “the God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 2:4).
© Harvest Bible Chapel - Barrie