New Semester Starts With A Surprise

Friendships are Made:

“The worst part of our winter break was that we could not come to the center everyday! And the best day of our break was the day we went ice skating with you and our friends from the center!” This was the response we got over and over again as we asked our students about their holidays. They had four weeks off from the university and we naturally closed the center during these weeks, as well, in order to spend the much needed time to plan for the upcoming semester. It was exciting and humbling to hear how much they enjoy the center and the time they spend there!

The Key To Their Hearts:

We have seen an incredible difference in our ministry this past semester at the center compared to the previous year we spent on the university. Although, we had several occasions to share the gospel the prior year, we had few accept, and we never built the deep bond and rapport like we have now with these students at the center! We feel having these deeper friendships and connections with the students will be the key in seeing them later accept Christ as their Savior and Lord. We are no longer just foreigners and strangers that came to their country to try and change their beliefs, but we are friends, that love and care for them. We are people they respect and trust. We have heard many, many testimonies of the local believers here in Central Aisa and the common denominator in all of their stories is someone built a relationship with them along the way and through their lives they saw Christ, and were forever changed.

What’s Next:

Already we have been able to share about our beliefs and about our personal relationships with God on several different occasions and because they trust us, they listen and still come back. Our goal by the end of the semester is to have one-on-one time with each student coming to the center and present them with the chance to accept God’s sacrificial gift. Continue praying for their hearts and the timing of these conversations.  Another part of our work here is to train and raise up the local believer staff to take on the long term ministry. Recently, the largest part of that has been showing them how to run the center as a business and use its potential to reach students for the Lord. This is a new way of doing ministry and has been challenging at times to persuade them of the benefits. We are thrilled to see them become more involved with the center this semester. We can tell they are catching the vision of this strategic platform!

Kicking Off Another Semester With Tennessee Friends:

Words cannot describe the energy and motivation we get from having a group of like-minded people here working full blast along side of us!! We were blessed to have another team from our home church come last week! It was a week full of excitement! Two of the people on the team, Brandon and Amanda, were returning after just being here in October; this had a huge impression on the students that got to know them last semester. The other two, Luke and Joanna, brought just as much fun to the week! Each morning Branden and the team set out on two of the largest universities in the city and were able to do a lot of advertising for the center. We have had several come and join because of the work they did. The team also took the load off of us for the week and taught all the lessons at the center. Then in the late afternoons they spent quality time with the students hanging out, dancing, and playing Uno a hundred different ways. Most of them had opportunities to share their personal testimonies with students during the week and continue planting seeds of truth in those lives. When they left, we weren’t the only ones crying; they impacted these students on such a deep level, even the guys were bawling as they said their goodbyes!

Taken By Surprise:

In His Word, God calls us to leave our families in order to follow Him. For some maybe this isn’t a huge sacrifice, but for us this has been one of the hardest things about living on the other side of the world. Therefore, you can imagine the sea of emotions we had when Annie’s dad showed up with the team and surprised us all! On top of the fantastic week working with friends, we were able to spend some wonderful quality time with him and allow him to see and be a part of our lives we’ve been living here in Central Asia! It was hard to say good bye when it was time for him to leave, but we were so blessed by the valuable time we had with him! We are still stunned from his initial appearance!!

Discovering Thier Identity: Vail, AZ

By Steve Chamblee:

God continues to amaze us out here every day!  We are learning so much about Him and ourselves, as He faithfully grows His Kingdom in Vail,  AZ.   We have outgrown the Multi Purpose Room at Old Vail Middle 

School.  Now we meet in the gymnasium which amply meets our needs for space and should over the next year or two.  Many of you remember my emails from a couple of years ago when we were meeting in my living room.  Now we are averaging around 160 weekly in our worship services and we continue to grow in the number of small groups that meet weekly in homes as well.

Currently people are continually come to Christ, being baptized, and discipled.  We have now begun a mini-series called "Identity, rediscovering the true identity of the church".  Over the next few weeks, we will be teaching through the qualifications of elders and deacons. In late March we will begin a nomination process of selecting elders and deacons (we call them servant leaders).  Please pray for us as we are beginning to form ministry offices within the church!

Please continue to pray with us as we are seeking the Lord's direction for a worship leader.  We have a great one now, but as you may know, JT is seeking to focus his time solely on student ministry.

Please continue to pray with us in regard to our land acquisition.  We are very excited as we have made plans of putting a portable office building on the property.  This will give us an on-going presence on the land which will definitely bring excitement to the community.  We will soon be launching a capital campaign to raise funds for retiring of the land debt and the funding of building our community center.  The vision is still as bright and vivid as ever and continues to beckon us!

If your student ministry is looking for a summer mission project, let me commend our friend Shawn Doss, and Hope Mission Trips (http://www.hopemissiontrips.com/ ).  Shawn and his staff will be leading a mission team of students and adults from around the nation to Tucson, AZ this summer.  This is going to be a great trip.  Shawn and his team do a tremendous job of exposing the heart of missions to young people as well as keeping the cost low.

We are still seeking to maintain partnerships and begin new ones for the next couple of years.  Please keep up the prayers and support!   We love you and appreciate your partnership!

Thousands of Bibles Pledged in Men's Ministry

When Robert Kamau, from African Leadership Inc, spoke at the GIC in November showing the torn and incomplete Bibles that pastors depend on in Africa, one man at TSC was touched by the Spirit to do something about it.  He went and bought Bibles that day and brought them to Robert.  He also learned that there are over 13,000 pastors that African Leadership is training across Africa.  “How many more Bibles would you need?” he asked Robert.  “I don’t know.  Maybe 10,000.”  “I want to do that,” was this man's heart response. 

This past week in the men's ministry presented God’s vision to supply African Leadership with 10,000 Bibles and to raise funds to send Bibles to Kosovo.  Several men donated money on the spot.  Several are going to purchase or bring used Bibles.  Another member of TSC remembered that his friend who is a bi-vocational pastor, has over 5,000 Bibles that he was looking to donate somewhere.  Looks like they now have a home!  Praise the Lord that he is raising up men in TSC who are willing to make sacrifices for fellow brothers in Africa.  Hopefully now these African Pastors can receive training and Bibles that aren't torn or missing sections.  Please pray for these African leaders and praise God for giving men a vision to be a part of the work in Africa. 

A Glimpse of Heaven

 

By Joanna Reekers

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and be for the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7: 9-10

Amazing things are happening in Central Asia.  I was grateful to serve with our brothers and sisters across the world this past week!  There are so many stories I could share about the trip.  Our time in Central Asia consisted of teaching English while also building relationships with the students through board games, line dancing and even skiing! We had many laughs, cultural experiences, and impacting moments from God.  Although I would love to share about each of these days I feel burdened to share two stories.  The first is what I believe was a slight glimpse of Heaven and the second is about my new friend Z.

One Common Purpose: 

On our first day in Central Asia our team met some of fellow believers who have committed to reaching the university campuses.  Some are from the area and others came from surrounding countries. On Sunday we were able to get to know these believers and fellowship with them.  I was amazed at how quickly we connected even though we all came from different areas of the world.  At the end of the day they asked if they could pray over us.  In the Asian culture everyone prays at the same time, so they gathered around us and began to pray.  About 3 or 4 different languages were all being spoken as the team prayed with power on our behalf!  I was humbled as I felt the power of the Lord and the earnest prayers of believers brought together for a common purpose; the spread of the gospel.  They prayed with conviction and anticipation for the rest of the week. Later all of us from TSC reflected on the experience and felt we had caught a glimpse of Heaven as we heard multiple people pray together in different languages.  How beautiful it was to see believers brought together because of our faith in the one true Lord!  I wish every believer could have experienced that moment.  In our everyday life it’s easy to be engulfed in our routine and forget the greatest privilege we have of sharing the gospel.  Moments like this remind me of the promise of the Lord that he will raise up people to serve him all over the world from every tribe and tongue.  One day I will fellowship again with these believers, either on this earth or after this life is over.  My heart’s desire is that we too will pray with this sense of urgency and may we never forget our time here is temporary! 

A Friend With Questions:

One girl named Z, had met and connected with the TSC team who came in October.  However our team quickly noticed that she was not coming anymore to this English Center.  After contacting her she showed up about half way through the week.  On our last day we went to a museum and I walked with Z.  I prayed that as we talked about their history I would get to share with her.  Others have shared the gospel with her but she still has been resistant to believe.  Eventually we came across a mummy and I asked her why they tried to preserve the body.  She explained they believed in life after death.  I realized the Lord doesn’t give a clearer opportunity than this!  I asked her if she believed in life after death.  This led to a further conversation where I got to share my testimony with her.  Z told me she can see a difference between believers and those who don’t believe yet she still wanted to learn more before she made a decision.  After this conversation I was both thankful and burdened for Z. I am confident this was one of many seeds planted.  Z has a head knowledge about God but she has not experienced Him on a personal level.  Many people in Central Asia are like Z.  Their Muslim beliefs have given them knowledge and they simply hope they will be good enough to go to Heaven.  Early in the week another girl told me that she believed if she did her routine prayers she hoped that would be good enough.  Those students have yet to experience the Lord in their own personal life.  Please pray for Z and others like her.  Pray for the local team to reach students and that these students will become leaders in their own country.  I boldly ask you to be a part of lifting up fellow believers who are in this area sacrificing their time and resources for the sake of the gospel.  Pray that the seeds that were planted will be the beginning of something great in Central Asia.