Project 61 Ministries Child Sponsorship Program

As many of you know, Thompson Station Church has a child sponsorship program called Project 61.  This ministry started when 3 ladies from our preschool ministry staff (Sumer, Alicia & Angela) went on a mission trip to Africa in January of 2010.  While in Ethiopia their mission team visited children who spent their days searching for food at the landfill in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  It was a life changing moment and Sumer knew that she had found her calling…

From Sumer:  In the trash dump, there are fires burning and ash covers everything including the children. After leaving, God reminded me that in Isaiah 61 He says that He will bring beauty from the ashes. Those verses go on to say “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of His splendor.” That is my vision for these children who spend most of their time in the trash dump, and for the 100,000 plus people living in the adjacent community, that their lives would glorify God. That they would be a testament to His promise that He will not leave us as orphans, and that this generation would be a planting of the Lord.

She returned home with a passion and a hope to find sponsors for these children and Project 61 Ministries was born.  By June of 2010, Sumer and Corey sold their house, gave up great jobs, sold all of their possessions and moved with their 3 preschoolers to Africa.  God’s provision was evident in all the details and by September 2010, 250 children had sponsors and were headed to boarding school!  They have spent this last year sleeping in dorms, eating 3 meals per day and receiving a Christian education.

From Sumer:  I am blessed to interact with our sponsored children daily, and the change in their lives and hearts is tremendous.  I cannot imagine a more drastic example of God’s grace than moving from the trash dump to boarding school.  Thank you for loving a child and meeting a need!

The Y Family

Project 61 needs additional sponsors for the 2011/2012 school year and monetary donations to help purchase school supplies.  If you would like to sponsor a child or make a donation, please contact Erin Allen at erin@p61.org. 

Tizita

Lengero

Arizona Church Goes International

By Steve Chamblee: 

 

Greetings from beautiful Vail, AZ!

  

Wow... where do I begin?  God continues to bless and move in our city. As we continue to seek His face and make His name great in this place, He continues to move!  This October we will celebrate our two year anniversary as a church launch. God has certainly brought us a long way from the days of meeting in my living room, next to our garage and now moving to the Vail Middle School. The eleven that began in my living room has grow to an average of 160 meeting on Sunday mornings!  

 

We have seen God gloriously save over a hundred people  and we have had the privilege of baptizing over sixty of those new believers. In fourteen years of ministry experience, I have never seen the hand of God like I have here.  That is an absolute and complete testament to Him...not us!  

 

God has opened the door to a relationship with a church and an orphanage in Naco, Mexico.  Naco is a border town in Mexico which is about 1.5 hours from Vail.  We are working on a partnership with the orphanage and men's alcohol/drug rehab facility.  Working with a local church, we will be seeking to build the orphanage a new building.  The present building is in terrible condition.  The rehab facility wants us to come down on a regular basis and hold worship services for the residents.  There is also some opportunities to do some pastor training for local pastors.  Please be in prayer as we are seeking to extend our boundaries of His influence to Naco.   We have prayed from the beginning that God would weave within the beginning fibers of this church a missional heart.  It is exciting to know that you can drive an hour and be involved in international  missions.

   

We have begun our third semester of connection groups (small groups). We have eight this semester going on during the week.   Our students are now meeting in the library of the High School on Wednesday nights...we believe this new place and time will open new doors for our students.  

 

Please pray for our upcoming men's retreat (Oct 21-22).  I am very excited about our retreat this year!  Our theme is "Warrior"!  Pray for our men!  Continue to pray with us and our vision for a community center. We have leased to purchase 6.2 acres of land.  Our vision is to pay this land off and to construct a community center.  God continues to sharpen this vision.  This fall we will begin a capital drive to pay this land off.  Please pray that God would provide the partners to help us do this.  Thanks for all your prayers and please continue to keep these prayer requests in mind. 

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief Provides Medical Care In Cholera Stricken Haiti

Update from MMDR:

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, http://www.MMDR.org, based in Brentwood, TN provides medical care in Port au Prince, Haiti to patients affected by the recent cholera outbreak. This is the 19th time that Mobile Medical Disaster Relief has returned to Haiti since the earthquake devastated the Caribbean country on January 12, 2010. During this time the non profit organization has brought some 600 medical personnel and building teams to Port au Prince and the surrounding area.

Dr. David Vanderpool, CEO of Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, reports, "we always go to areas that have little or no access to health care so that we can help the people in greatest need". This trip includes 34 health care workers, clean water experts and college students who will provide medical and dental care, water purification systems and construction expertise to the people of Thomazeau, Haiti. Since Tropical Storm Emily drenched the island earlier this week, the outlook for the worsening cholera outbreak is bleak. Bethany Luckey, Chief Nursing Officer at Mobile Medical Disaster Relief, says, "since we previously sent a large shipment of cholera medications to Haiti, we should be in good position to help many people suffering from this terrible disease".

Mobile Medical Disaster Relief provides medical and logistical support during disasters in which the country's medical infrastructure is damaged such as occurred in the Haitian earthquake of 2010.    In between disasters, Mobile Medical Disaster Relief builds and supports medical clinics, provides clean water initiatives and implements micro finance projects in the countries which have suffered disasters. Active in fourteen countries worldwide, the doctors and nurses of Mobile Medical Disaster Relief treat tens of thousands of patients per year who otherwise would have no access to health care. Mobile Medical Disaster Relief's clean water initiatives provide pure, fresh clean water to those who have only contaminated water to drink. Dr. Vanderpool reports that the micro finance projects are some of the most exciting projects that Mobile Medical Disaster Relief participates in. He says, "these projects basically start small businesses which provide sustainable income for impoverished people worldwide." He further states that micro finance projects are key to improving living conditions in the developing world.

Years of Progress

For years TSC has been partnering with those in Nicaragua and has had many opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people.  Many lives have been impacted simply by church members who have sacrificed their time to show the love of Jesus.  Through the support of an organization called Chosen Children Ministries, TSC has been a part of bringing the gospel to Nicaragua and helped in the process of raising up leaders.  Here is a summary of what has happened in various cities the past few years: 

In October of 2007 a team added on a mission house at Casa Mepheboseth Orphanage in Juigalpa, Nicaragua.  A year later another team was able to construct a kitchen and staff quarters at Mission complex in Leon.

In May of 2009 a Bible institute was built on the Mission complex to help equip local leadership.  In the following year of 2010 TSC members were able to build a church in another town called Emmanuel.  This team not only provided a building but a Pastor of this church was  provided a salary for an entire year! 

This past year in May of 2011 a team built another Bible institute at CCM headquarters in Masaya. Hopefully this institute will be a blessing to those who wish to have further training the the Bible.  TSC would like to thank all of those who were willing to go to Nicaragua and meet the needs of fellow believers who do not have church buildings or places to meet.  It is truly amazing to see how simply providing these needs could change lives. 

Why Me?

By Bryn

As I sit with my wife on the seemingly endless 15 hour flight from Los Angeles to China, tears streaming down both of our faces, I come back to this theme that God has so graciously revealed:

Why me?

God used the 5 weeks I was in the United States to do some wonderful things in my heart. The climactic moment was when I walked out of Grace United Methodist Church last Sunday and said my first set of family goodbyes. As Courtney and I were driving to Johnson City to do the second set of goodbyes, I was awestruck once again by the resplendent beauty of the mountains. My natural response was warm nostalgia, especially in regards to the wonderful people I had just left behind for the second time. Thinking of my church family in particular, they are some of the most genuine people I've known - "warts and all" - and for several of them life in Erwin and its surroundings is about all they have known. Why would God choose me from among their number to experience His love, grace, mercy, and passion in ways that many long for.

With these realities pounding in my brain, eyes moist with tears, I was again confronted face-to-face with my own sinful nature and desperate need for a Savior. Since I left for Southeast Asia, God has consistently been bringing me to my knees with grief for how unfaithful, untrusting, and sinful I can be - yet, from that place comes the overwhelming flood of joy when I consider the price my Father paid for my ransom. From that place comes a respectful, fearful familiarity with Jesus Christ, who is my personal Shepherd and Friend.

As Courtney and I look forward to a new school year of living in God's provision and following His will, I want to make it clear to all those who support us and pray for us that in no way do I consider myself worthy of the call God has given to me. Truthfully, I have no answers at all to the question "Why me?" But I will tell you this: even though difficulties have come and ever loom near for the future, I wouldn't trade anything for this life of walking step-by-step in faith.

Summer Months Fly By

By Branden and Annie

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5
The summer months have flown by and the school year is quickly approaching; we still have a lot preparation and foot work that needs to be done in order to get our new academic center up and running! Please commit to pray for us as we undertake this enormous project! Our director left for a year in the States and has given this task over to Branden. Our goal is to have five hundred students become members of our center and be coming on a regular basis.


SUMMER PROJECT

We were privileged to have a team from a church in California come the second week of July and help kick
off the promotion of the center. For nine days we spread ourselves among seven universities and
passed out around fifteen hundred brochures to up-coming freshmen. In the afternoons we invited students to come visit free English clubs in order to create interest in what we will offer full time in the near future.

OUR VISION

We want our center to be unlike the other academic centers around the city that only offer high priced grammar classes. Our vision is to be more like a club, where there is an upbeat environment to practice speaking English. We want to attract students with interesting topics, guest speakers, and special events! Each day we will offer something different; for example on Mondays we will have cultural day where we will invite individuals to come speak on their native country (there is an international church with several countries represented, we also have a Chinese team and a Korean team here long term). On Tuesdays we will have our usual fun filled interactive English clubs. On Wednesdays we will offer grammar with preparation for test like similar to the SAT. Thursdays will be career day. We will discuss topics such as resumes, interviews, business etiquette, etc. We will also have guest speakers come from around the city and speak on their professional experiences such as doctors or embassy employees. On Fridays we will open our doors for anyone to come and check us out. On these days we will show films in English that we will discuss afterwards.
Our goal is to build a place for the students to get connected and feel a special identity. We will not have any clear spiritual meetings at the center that would destroy our platform. But as we build relationships with these students and their friends we feel that we will have many “open doors” to present the gospel.

OPPORTUNITY AWAITS YOU!

We also have an opportunity for you to be a part of this project! Our home church,
Thompson Station Church, in Tennessee is coming here October 7th-16th and we want to invite you to come along!!! If you are interested, here is an opportunity to come and serve with us! Please pray and consider if God is leading you to come! We are excited to have some of our ministry partners come be a part first hand in the kingdom work they have been praying for and financially giving towards! For more information you can contact Brandon Akers at bdakers@gmail.com.

MORE TEAMS!

Please also remember to pray for us during the month of September. We have two more teams coming from other states to help jump start the semester and the grand opening of the center! We are thankful for this timely help and are praying for the students to be further interested due to the presence of foreigners!  We love you all and are thankful for your partnership with us! Hope you are enjoying your summer months!

(TSC supports the work of Branden and Annie through GOCTW offerings and will be sending its first team in 2011! For more info on how to join this team, go to http://www.goctw.org/.

This summer...

This summer one young lady, name Bekah, from TSC has moved to Hawaii for the summer to be a part of Youth With A Mission.  After training in Hawaii she and her teammates will be sent to help in other parts of the world.  Bekah has been making new friends, learning life lessons, and experiencing more about the Lord.  Here is a quick glance at Bekah's blog when she learned the Lord will provide:

Provider!

Good news!!! Jesus is Alive!!! Jesus is King! and Jesus Loves us!!! But really! I have good news! I have the $2,500 that was due today for outreach! However, there is something else that came up in the meeting today. The outreach is going to cost $6,000 instead of $5,000 and the money will be due in 2 weeks. But that's ok! God has brought in $3,000 for my outreach in just a couple of weeks! He CAN do it AGAIN! He promised to provide- so He will! He wants us to go out into all the world proclaiming His name without fear, without shame, but boldly and with JOY! I am longing to do this! I think this ministry is supposed to be my profession and God holds my paycheck. He is just waiting to give me EVERYTHING I will ever need! I love Him so much! I trust Him so much!

God you are worthy of my praise! Even if you never do a good thing for me ever again! You would still be SO WORTHY! I love you and I know you hold all the money I need. Bring it forth Father!

A Warrior for the King,
Bekah

For more blogs written by Bekah click here http://bekahmezera.blogspot.com/.

Project 61 Prayer Requests for August

Thank you for praying for Project 61 and those working in East Asia!  Here are a few requests and praises from the Project 61 Team.

 

A team just returned on Saturday from a week of summer camp.  Things went very well and they had great things to say about the kids in the boarding school.  They look great physically and they were impressed with how much they've learned in just a year.

Another team just left.  They are taking half a load of brand new tennis shoes to East Africa.  Pray for favor with custom's agents.  We are praying they will not have to pay taxes on these shoes.  Some previous teams have dealt with this issue.  Another team in August will be taking the rest of the shoes.  Pray for them as well.

Corey starts in-service in a week for his new job at a local school in Addis.  His children also start school in a week.  Pray for all of their transitions.

Continue to pray for the summer camp and the interns in East Africa helping this summer.  (Boarding school starts again in September).





Please pray for good health for the family working in East Africa and for strong relationships with church leaders.  Most of all pray that God's glory would be shown over in Africa!

Pilgrim Journey

By Bryn

I am so excited to be going back to Southeast Asia. I cannot even describe how much, to my own surprise, I missed it while I was home. Don't get me wrong, I was so thrilled to see family and friends, understand the things that were going on around me, drive a car, eat, eat, eat some more, and eat some more!

Yet, amidst all of that, I found myself missing the climate, the people, the crazy traffic, the language, the school, the students, and even the rice of this land that has become my home.

However the moment is quickly coming when Courtney and I will step foot in Southeast Asia, get settled in our new home, and I'm going to be longing for people and things from the land of my birth and my developmental years. Now, please don't mistake what I'm saying as something fickle. I'm talking about a very real sense of grief that God has blessed me with - a grief that sees His beautiful hand at work in my present location while also longing for the people and places of blessing that God has used in my life before.

I'm on a pilgrim journey, and neither the United States nor Southeast Asia (nor anywhere else God may lead me and Courtney) is truly my "home." Indeed, the longing and anguish of "goodbye" are simply gifts that point us to another place - a Heavenly place that is being prepared for us by the Bridegroom. And from this knowledge comes the strength to savor and mourn that which is gone, embrace that which is new, and ultimately to know that no matter why God has chosen me and Courtney, where He decides to send us, what difficulties He allows to come our way, and what victories He lets us taste along the way -- through it all we run the race towards our Heavenly home, where we will walk with our Lord and cry no more, where we will "understand it better by and by."

In the meantime, I close in rejoicing with these words written by my mom to me and Courtney:

"What a privilege to let go of you to honor the Father in the collection field of little lambs for Christ!"I love you all dearly. Please never forget: He is faithful, and Courtney and I look forward to sharing more with you this year about our King of Kings.

Cooking for Campers

By George Moran

Recently I went on a trip to East Asia.  I started off my trip with many flight challenges.  At the end of the flights I had been up for fifty hours!  It was a long hard day but I was filled with excitement for what God was about to share with me. 

While I was overseas I cooked meals for kids attending a camp.  There were 110 campers who were children of missionaries in East Asia.  My kitchen was an outdoor patio area consisting of a sink and a grill. The biggest challenge was the flies because cooking area was about 100 yards from a pig pen.  To say that there were a lot of flies is an understatement.  I prayed that first night and the next morning asking God to help keep my focus on why I was there and to get over my circumstances with the flies.

The first three days of camp were focused on fine arts.  On the third night we took the kids into the local town to the dancing park.  The kids performed Christian songs and skits that presented the truth of the Gospel that they had been learning at camp.  They performed for a crowd of about 200 locals most of whom had never heard the name of Jesus. It was inspiring to see these kids do what a lot of us “adults” fail to do and that is enthusiastically sharing their faith!

Throughout the camp I felt drawn to one young man.  He had just graduated high school and will be returning to the states for college.  Later in the week the young man shared that he had felt lost in his life for a long time.  He said that he could not see God’s purpose for his own.  Although he was a Christian he felt alone.  Then God revealed Himself through his Word to this young man.  God showed him that he is loved, that he is valued and that God does have a plan and purpose for his life.  The last night of camp this young man shared his experience with the other campers.  It was amazing to see God use him to help others. My prayer is that we will follow the example of this young man and use our own stories as opportunities to impact others as God presents them to us.

When we traveled back we gave thanks for the opportunities God provided us to share His word and serve His people.  We prayed lives were touched while we were there.  I know that I will never be the same.  My plans now that I am home are to continue to seek out opportunities to serve God and His people.  One of these ways includes making a cooks training program that will give the homeless or unemployed training in the proper techniques of cooking.  My hope is that this will give them the skills needed for long term employment.  My wife Ann and I are planning on taking our children on mission next year.  I would love to go back to East Asia and continue to spread His word and love but I will go where He leads us.

(For more information on how you can join a TSC mission team, go to http://www.goctw.org/, and check out the Missions at a Glance page for all future trips. All work done in East Asia is supported by the GOCTW yearly offering, which aids in providing food, supporting and sending workers, and whatever else is needed to minister to the community there.)