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ETHIOPIA EDITION
JULY 2016
10
New Life Faith Ministry
12
Cover Story: Ethiopia
16
Sports Friends
GLOBAL OUTREACH
Prayer Guide Weekly Email
A day by day guide to pray for our missionaries
and ministries of Covenant Church, as well as
around the world.
Sign up now: http://eepurl.com/bWEjSr.
Table of Contents
2
Ministry Updates
3
Christmas in July
4
Lebanon Intro
5
Ethiopia Intro
6
Lebanon Report
8
Why Greece
9
GO Vision 2020 // Ethiopia
10
12
Cover Story: Ethiopia
& the 10/40 Window
15
On Holiday in Ethiopia
16
Sports Friends in Ethiopia
18
Perspectives Course
19
Book Review: Beautiful Feet
20
Unreached People Group Profile:
Hararghe Oromo of Ethiopia
21
World Watch List: Pakistan
22
Missionaries: John + Jennifer
23
Kid’s Page
24
Prayer Requests
25
Outreach Calendar
New Covenant is a publication of the Global
Outreach (GO) Team of Covenant Church.
Sarah M. Reed Stephanie Dicken Mary Eason MANAGING EDITOR
GRAPHIC DESIGN
COPY EDITOR
Global
Outreach
Anton Beukes, Team Leader
[email protected] | 252.355.0123 x 5005
Robin Davis, Outreach Administrator
[email protected] | 252.355.0123 x 5004
Sarah M. Reed, Local Outreach Coordinator
[email protected] | 252.355.0123
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:18-20)
Though we may all be familiar with these words of Jesus, we may not always
take them to mean a mandate for us personally. It is for other people to go,
to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach. We are not capable, not worthy,
not trained, or do not have enough time. One thing we’ve been hearing
consistently from the pulpit this year is that the mandate to go and make
disciples is for all of us. We need not be afraid, though, as the Spirit Himself
goes along with us, in us, ministering through us.
This edition highlights one of the Global Outreach Vision 2020 focus
countries: Ethiopia. Much of the country of Ethiopia is still unreached by the
Gospel. You can read about Ethiopia and other countries in the 10/40 window
in our cover article of this edition. There is still much of the world that we
need to go to in order to complete our mandate of going to all the nations
and making disciples!
Also featured in this edition are two partner ministries at work in Ethiopia: New
Life Faith Ministries and Sports Friends. Read about their work in reaching
the unreached. An article on Eid al Fitr will enlighten you to traditions in
Ethiopia. There is also an introduction to the summer outreach team heading
to Ethiopia this month so you can read about the work they will be doing.
This will be a very busy summer for Global Outreach! In addition to the
Ethiopia outreach team there are summer outreaches to Greece and Lebanon.
You can read about their outreaches in this edition, as well as read a report
back from the team that went to Lebanon in April. A prayer calendar for all
three summer outreaches is available in this edition so that you can partner
with our team members in prayer. As you pray, ask God if He might be leading
you to go on the next outreach… We have two coming up in December and
many more planned for 2017!
There’s more in this edition to take note of: meet new missionaries John and
Jennifer on mission to East Asia; hear about the WAITT Mission Conference held
in May; get inspired by Perspectives on the World Christian Movement; keep
up to date with Community Crossroads Center; and find out what Christmas
in July is all about. Also see our monthly feature articles: a new book review, a
highlighted unreached people group and a look at a country where Christians
are persecuted. And, as always, you can see the calendar of upcoming events and
outreaches as well as the prayer requests from our missionaries.
If you did not see the previous edition we ran on Ethiopia back in October
2015, you can pick up a copy at the Global Outreach Kiosk or see it online at
covenant.cc/go/. It has even more information about this beautiful country
and our involvement in it.
Thank you for picking up “New Covenant” magazine. I hope that it blesses you.
In His Service,
SARAH M. REED
www.covenant.cc
4005 Corey Road Winterville NC 28590
© 2015 Covenant Church
Local Outreach Coordinator
Cover Photo A woman in the streets of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Photo courtesy of Heather White.
MINISTRY UPDATES
WAITT MISSIONS CONFERENCE
SARAH M. REED
Global Outreach Coordinator
The WAITT Missions Conference came to Covenant Church
May 20-21. About 150 people representing half a dozen area
churches took advantage of this opportunity to be inspired,
equipped and motivated for God’s Work around the world.
The WAITT Missions Conference is a yearly conference
led by SIM – a large mission agency that supports missionaries
in 72 countries. This was the first year they have held the
conference in Greenville, the first year they opened the
conference up to lay people, and the first year that the
conference included a children’s program.
The conference began Friday evening with a flag procession
as thirty flags from around the world were brought in – many
by either people from that country or who had served in that
country. As all the flags were put into place, we began to sing
and worship God who is over all the nations.
During the Friday evening general session, Rev. Joshua
Bogunjoko, International Director at SIM, spoke about the need
for people to go to the least reached areas in the world. He said
that though people see these areas as dangerous and difficult,
God has thrown the door there wide open for the Gospel. His
statement that, “Persecution doesn’t kill churches. Comfort
kills churches,” quickly made it to Facebook posts and Tweets!
He also asked us to ponder on this, “Are you willing to go, but
planning to stay? Or are you willing to stay, but planning to go?”
Saturday brought a full day of workshops. Twenty different
workshops were offered along four tracks: Pastoral/Leadership,
Goers, Senders, and Refugees. Workshop presenters shared
from years of mission experience in many areas around the
globe and represented many different organizations in addition
to SIM: Voice of the Martyrs, Heart for Lebanon, World
Relief, and the Baptist Church in Lebanon, among others.
The response from workshop attendees and presenters was
incredibly positive.
Also on Saturday we held a Children’s Program for children
ages 6 to 11. There were about ten children in attendance.
The curriculum for the day was adapted from the Voice of the
Martyrs’ VBS curriculum and highlighted the country of India.
Children learned about unreached people groups in India, as
well as the persecution faced by believers. They took a trip out
to the Unreached People Group wall in the lobby to pray over
Indian groups who need the Gospel. It was such a great day, one
child did not want to leave at the end of it!
Saturday evening was our second general session and the end
of the conference. George Salloum, CFO of SIM, presented.
George and his wife, Sarah, will be moving to the Middle East
soon to lead the SIM effort in that area. He shared about this
move and also talked about the need for us to get out of our
comfort zones in order to reach the world for the Gospel. The
evening ended with the worship team leading us in a bilingual
version of “How Great is Our God” as the flags were led out.
Hands were raised and tears were shed as the goodness of our
God was felt tangibly in the room.
The conference was an amazing time. Those who attended
made connections and learned a lot. As one participant put it,
“I learned that the Gospel is everything – it is worth laying down
every part of my life.” Others expressed new perspectives and
directions that would affect them moving forward.
All participants of the conference were handed a “Next
Steps” card as they left. This card gave them ideas on how to
apply what they heard and learned in the conference. We have
some of these cards available at the GO Kiosk in the lobby, but
here are a few highlights:
LEARN: Take the Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement course when it is offered at Covenant Church in the
Fall, Monday nights August 29th – December 12th from 6-9pm.
Registration available at perspectives.org.
PRAY: Pick up a prayer card or “New Covenant” magazine
to learn how to pray for Covenant Church’s missionaries and
ministry partners, as well as mission trip participants.
GO: We are now registering people to go on our Christmas
outreaches for Greece and Lebanon, and will have more trips
coming in 2017.
SEND: Financially support a missionary, church missions
program, mission agency, or mission team.
WELCOME: Connect with the Refugee Welcome Team at
Covenant Church to outreach to refugees in our area.
If you are interested in any of these Next Steps, please contact me for
more information: [email protected].
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www.covenant.cc/go
Christmas in July 2016
DONNA SHEETS
Contributor
Christmas in July is once again coming to Covenant
Church! Last year Christmas in July was such a tremendous
success we decided to do it again. In 2015, Covenant’s
friends and family were able to raise enough money for the
Outreach Ministry to purchase 700 Bibles to share between
the Christmas Village Toy Store in Pitt County and the one in
Beaufort County.
At the Christmas Village Toy Stores (CVTS) we offered a
Prayer and Bible Table. Every family after shopping stopped
by this table to be loved on and ministered to. We heard
wonderful stories of how Christmas Shoppers were blessed
by that time. We had Children’s Bibles, Spanish Bibles,
and Study Bibles appropriate for both new Christians and
seasoned Christians. The most popular Bible giveaway were the
Children’s Bibles. It is really exciting to think that Covenant
Church had a hand in getting God’s Word into the hands of a
child, and also to new believers and seasoned Christians. Many
CVTS shoppers were touched by the generous gift. Tears were
shed as they were prayed for and cared after.
This year we are going to offer this opportunity again. In
addition to the Bibles we had last year, we will also purchase
Jesus Calling Devotional Bibles and Jesus Calling Devotionals for
Children. Many lives have been touched by the God- inspired
words of Sarah Young in the devotions for Jesus Calling.
For the whole month of July, we will collect contributions
toward the purchase of this incredible resource. Please
consider contributing to this great cause so we can again give
out Bibles at both Christmas Village Toy Stores in Pitt and
Beaufort Counties.
The cost for each hard cover Bible cost is $15. If you would
like to be part of someone deepening their relationship with
Jesus Christ, please make a donation to this Christmas in July.
Thank you for making it possible to get God’s Word into the
hands of needy families. May God bless you for your generosity!
COMMUNITY CROSSROADS CENTER
BOB WILLIAMS
Contributor
There are so many great things
happening at Community Crossroads
Center. Our evening Bible study is
going well and we thank the members
of Covenant for giving our residents this
opportunity.
We have so many things to be thankful
for. The community is always giving back
to our organization in more ways than just
monetarily. We have hair stylists that come
in once a month (one stylist is a member
of Covenant) to provide free haircuts to
the residents. We also have a folk/gospel
group from St. James UMC that provides
entertainment to our residents once a
month in the dining hall.
This past month, on Friday May 5th,
the youth group, “Salt and Light Youth,”
from First Christian Church kicked
off their first ever “Out of the Box for
Homelessness” fundraiser for the Center.
That evening the youth group assembled,
decorated and stayed in cardboard boxes
for the night. I had the pleasure of talking
to these young folks that evening. It
was very humbling to see young folks so
devoted to their community. The passion,
July 2016 // Ethiopia
interest and faith in these young folks
rejuvenated my soul. This past Sunday,
June 5th, the Center was presented with
a check for $5,505 that was raised by this
outstanding youth group.
We will be partnering with Pitt
Community College in another venture
this fall. They will be utilizing our
commercial kitchen to teach a Food
Service certification course. This is just
another example of partnering to benefit
the community. Also in the beginning of
2017, ECU will be utilizing our commercial
kitchen on Mondays and Fridays to teach
senior dieticians at ECU how to prepare a
nutritious, well balanced meal.
Our fundraising event, “Homeless
Knights,” was a success. The entertainment
was robust and we had a silent auction, live
auction, live actors (from the ECU theater
curriculum), musical entertainment from
the ECU medieval studies, as well as a
medieval reading session by a member of
the ECU English department. This was an
evening for folks with a passion to help
the homeless in our community to get
together and socialize and have fun.
It has been almost a year since we
moved into our new facility. During
the past year we have accomplished so
much with the help of our benevolent
community. None of this could have been
done without the faith-based community
supporting us. “Faith makes things
possible, not easy.”
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Lebanon
LEBANON INTRO
JEFF DAIGLE
Contributor
Fourteen people.
Six adults and eight kids, ranging in ages from 10-16.
My family of five, a family of six, a father-son dynamic
duo, and a young man who simply accepted Branson’s
challenge in January to go on an international mission
trip this year.
This is our team going to Lebanon for two weeks in July.
So yeah, the reaction you likely just had to that last
sentence as you realized that more than half of this team
going to Lebanon is kids is the most common reaction
we get from people.
When I was asked to lead the team, I was so excited,
especially since I had the great opportunity to be part of
Covenant’s scout team to Lebanon in April 2015. The
only drawback was that the trip was originally scheduled
to be three weeks, and I didn’t want to be away from
my family for that long. And then, Anton (Covenant’s
Global Outreach team leader) said, “You don’t have to.
They can all go with you.”
The excitement was overwhelming. I remember
telling my wife Kerri that I had been asked to lead a team
back to Lebanon and describing what the team would
be doing, and then the sheer joy of being able to tell her
that all five of us could go! We jumped at the opportunity,
and our kids were equally as excited! We immediately
began asking specific people to pray about joining us, and
in God’s great provision, some said no, some said yes but
had to recant, and, of course, some just simply said yes.
Our team is going at the invitation of Pastor
Mohammad, a Muslim convert, who visited Covenant
late last year and invited Covenant to send a team. His
church, the Church of Tyre, puts on multiple Vacation
Bible School-esque three-day camps all through the
summer for Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese kids,
from preschool through teenagers. Each camp is for an
entirely different group of kids, most often between 200300 kids at a time!
Our team will be assisting in any and all capacities
available as well as lead in some of the storytelling,
dramas, games, crafts, music, and Bible lessons. And,
being that we’ll be there in the dead of summer, there
will be fun and games with the kids in the river! In
previous years, the church has typically chosen a bible
character as their theme, but this year they are building
Left to right: (back row) Kevin Schmidt, Jacob Schmidt, David Richardson, Mekdes Rizzuti, Jeff Daigle, Jacob Daigle, Kerri Daigle, Rich Rizzuti,
Emma Rizzut, Meridith Rizzuti; (front row) Luke Daigle, Mehret Rizzuti,
Nathan Daigle, Nyah Rizzuti
everything around these three passages of scripture:
• Which Soil Are You? – Matthew 13:1-23
• Baa Baa Lost Sheep – Matthew 18:12-14
• An Unlikely Neighbor – Luke 10:25-37
Each of these stories will afford us the opportunity
to really present a strong, Jesus-centered picture of the
gospel to the children, and ultimately to their families.
Given our timeline in country, we will be able to be
part of two of these camps. Then, on other days, we will
be going into the city squares and doing street dramas
and evangelism, which is so incredibly exciting!
Rumor has it that every day, late in the evening, the
people of the church will all head over to the beach for
a late-evening swim and relaxation before getting back
to it early the next morning.
While we are still working out all the details with our
hosts and assigning responsibilities among our team,
the anticipation of the trip is really high, especially
for the impact it will have on the kids who are going.
Given the amount of coverage that the Syrian refugee
crisis has had in our country and around the world,
a close up, first-hand experience will help shape a
global perspective in our kids’ minds and hearts as
they take their own next steps of faith. And I have
every expectation that this trip will simply enlarge the
perspective of all us adults as well.
On behalf of the team, we are excited and truly grateful
to be part of a church that supports the intentionality of
missions and sending teams both locally and abroad.
Jeff Daigle is Covenant’s Communications Director and provides coaching and ministry leadership to Communications, Production, Worship and
Kids’ teams.
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www.covenant.cc/go
Ethiopia
ETHIOPIA INTRO
DRAKE THOMPSON
Contributor
In a country twice the size of Texas with 93 million
people and 87 different languages, Ethiopia is
predominately Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox, and
fertile soil for the gospel.
Ten people of various ages and backgrounds have
trained together for four months with the sole purpose
of going to Ethiopia to share the gospel through their
deeds and actions. Our team is an abundantly diverse
group from all different walks of life. It is comprised of
three middle school and high school students together
with their mothers, three twenty-somethings, and a middle
aged dad. While some members of the team are seasoned
missionaries, others have never been out of the country - let
alone on a mission trip. But all that will change in late July.
On July 21st, our team will depart for Camp
Langano in Ethiopia. After a 23-hour trip, we will
arrive in a mini sports city complete with soccer fields,
dormitories, a chapel, food hall, etc., where kids from
all around the country will arrive by bus for their camp
week. Over 80,000 kids, ranging in age from 8-11, are
vying for 800 spots within this prestigious soccer camp.
The camp strategically chooses non-Christian children
to attend, in order to share the Gospel with them, and
through them to their families. Campers are greeted
with cheers, flags, applause, and shouts of excitement –
just as any major league team would be.
Our team of ten will be partnering with Sports
Friends, a program of SIM - an international missions
agency, whose vision is to see local church centered
sports ministries transform lives and strengthen
communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Ethiopia,
Sports Friends strategically and intentionally uses the
platform of soccer to reach kids and their families in the
community with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The natural environment of sports is used to
bring out and teach Biblical truths. Circumstances
throughout the day bring opportunities to discuss
kingdom perspectives and Biblical values with campers
in the areas of honesty, unity, serving others, and trust
in the Lord.
During camp, we will participate in everything
alongside our assigned team – soccer, swimming,
games, crafts, and competitions. And we will get to
know each child on our team by name and form special
Teff Sheets in the marketplace in Ethiopia.
bonds with them by the end of the week. Americans are
a huge draw during camp as many children have never
seen westerners. This also brings many opportunities
for our team to use the spotlight to share Christ’s love.
Another part of our ministry while there will be
encouraging the year-round staff that coach, mentor
and disciple the 80,000 children involved in Sports
Friends. We hope to encourage these team members
by spending time with them, sharing testimonies and
serving alongside them.
The Sports Camp is a small piece of a year-round
ministry where local staff and coaches continue to
disciple and feed those who have made commitments
for Christ and pursue those who are still seeking.
Experience in the Ethiopian provinces has seen whole
families and villages come to Christ through the
salvation of one child.
Drake Thompson and his wife Hannah have attended Covenant Church
for 15 years. They have two sons: Davis (9) and Bryce (6).
5
Lebanon Medical Mission Trip
6
JIM BYRD,
Contributor
In late April, a Covenant sponsored medical mission team
of seven people traveled to Lebanon to work in the clinic
affiliated with the Tyre Center for Gospel Proclamation. The
team was led by Melissa Norris and blessed by the diverse
talents of the group: Franklin Boone, the team worship leader;
Merrie Boone who assisted with worship and worked with
the children who came to the clinic as patients or with their
families; Kara Hendelmeier, pharmacist; Jennifer Dollyhigh,
RN; David Ryan and Jim Byrd, physicians.
The clinic cares mostly for impoverished Lebanese and
refugees from Syria. Typically, the patients also participate in
worship at the Tyre Church. A day of clinic is quite different
from modern medical practice. We started each day with thirty
minutes of worship, led by Frank, then we convened with the
staff of the church to participate in Bible study. Bible study and
prayer were conducted in Arabic and English. It was a great
way to prepare to take care of patients with profound needs.
Dave is an Ob/Gyn who took care of women and whoever
else presented. Jim transformed from an American internist
into a Lebanese pediatrician. He only saw one child who
made it to the bottom part of the normal curve for height
and weight. The children were not emaciated but chronically
lacking in appropriate nutrition.
Representatives from the church managed the “front
desk,” enrolling patients and preparing their charts. An entire
family, regardless of the number of members, gets one chart.
Then the patients moved on for screening by Jennifer assisted
by Melissa. A member of the church interpreted. After vital
signs and determining the reason for the visit, they prayed
with the patients, whether Muslim or Christian.
Then, it was on to see the physicians, including the resident
physician for the clinic, Annelies. Our interpreters were
provided by the United Nations. Taking care of patients was
natural to Jim and Dave. After the doctor visits, most patients
went to the in-clinic pharmacy to meet with Kara and her tech.
Each member of our team has stories from Lebanon.
When I heard some of the stories told by people from our
group of something that happened while I was present,
it provided a new perspective for me. We had different
cognitive, emotional and spiritual experiences occurring at
the same time. Now, I understand why we debriefed as a group
each day and after our return to North Carolina.
Following are two stories common to the team that likely
resonate differently with each person:
Ahmed. The incredible, energetic, smiling face of Ahmed
captured the heart of each and every person who met him.
Whenever I see a picture from the trip and he is in it, his
joy and smile leap off the page like a 3D image. While in
Lebanon, I was aware that Ahmed, who is seven, was a refugee
from Syria who came to Tyre with his parents and two older
brothers. They have been in Lebanon for three years and
have made great strides in their walk with Christ. His father
works at the Tyre church and they live in an apartment at the
church. That is why Ahmed seemed omnipresent, because he
was always there, consistently energizing our group.
Upon returning home, I wanted to know more about
Ahmed and his family. They are Kurdish and lived in the city
LEBANON REPORT
of Raqqa, which is the self-proclaimed capitol of ISIS. Kurds
are not welcome there. While there were many reasons to leave
their home, the parent’s greatest concern was that Ahmed and
his brothers would be conscripted, indoctrinated or kidnapped
to become ISIS fighters. Instead, they have found a safe haven.
All family members are believers, but still struggle with the final
step of publically declaring themselves as Christians. They are
fearful that their extended family members with reject them or
even attempt to harm them. This story feels like a dream when
we interacted with Ahmed. It seems like the refugee children
are ready to accept Jesus because they hunger for the love that
permeates our faith.
The School of the Holy Spirit Church. What a name and
what a great place that we had the good fortune to visit and
teach hygiene to the students. This school is one of the projects
that Covenant funded with the Christmas Eve offering. We were
privileged to see what can be just described as a miracle. The
husband and wife leaders of the school, Isaac & Perla Basta, were
not educators. In their visits to the refugee camps, they were
asked when they were going to open a school. Without talking to
each other, they separately prayed for God’s word and direction.
Both received clear messages that they were to open a school.
From the time of our funding until March 1st, they located
and rented space, remodeled, painted and prepared the
building, obtained equipment, recruited teachers, decided
upon a curriculum and sought out students. In less than three
months they opened the school with 50 Syrian refugee students.
That is an incredible feat - a God fueled miracle!
At our visit, Dave and I taught hand washing and the rest of
the group taught oral hygiene with flossing and teeth brushing.
Kits with floss, tooth brushes and toothpaste were provided to
each child. Our team arrived during the all school Christian
worship time, held each day. At one point, Melissa Norris was
in the lead. With minimal preparation, she gave a beautiful,
succinct, perfect lesson on salvation. It was awesome – we are
always amazed by Melissa.
Our team was blessed with seven unique people, all with
special talents. We shared common and individual experiences.
As a team, with a big assist from the Holy Spirit, we grew together,
encouraged one another, learned from one another and
experienced the Lord’s mighty love and grace. International trips
are not for everyone, but if called or even nudged by God, go and
be disciples who make disciples to all nations.
Jim Byrd is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine and
primary care staff physician at the Greenville Health Care Center. He has five
children and lives in Winterville with his wife Lee, also an internist, and their two
youngest children, Sophia and Benjamin. They have been members at Covenant for
seven years. The Lebanon trip was his first international mission experience.
He plans to continue to work with refugees in the Middle East
.
7
Why Greece,
Why College
Age People
and Why us?
JOE COX
Campus Pastor @CovenantECU
It’s an understatement to say that
taking American college-age people into
Greece to share God’s Word is strategic
for Kingdom ministry. When you look at
what is happening in Greece, the Middle
East and the U.S., it makes perfect sense.
Here are at least four compelling reasons
for us to make this journey.
Greeks need God’s Word and the
world needs Greece to be transformed
by it. The paradox of Greece is that while
most of the New Testament was either
written in Greek or for Greeks, very
few Greeks have a Bible in a readable,
modern translation. In addition, while
the country is 98% Greek Orthodox,
less than 2% of Greeks profess a surrendered relationship with Jesus Christ.
Greeks are people who love their
country, identify with their church and
value their communities. They have
high praise for authentic community
and enjoy spirited conversations. Almost
every home you visit has an area set aside
where people come and have meaningful
conversation. In the rural areas, the financial crisis is all but a news headline. In
these remote communities, people raise
their own food and care for those who
cannot care for themselves. That’s why
visiting these villages with free Bibles is so
strategic. The Bibles are approved by the
Greek Orthodox Church, which communicates respect. People will take the Bible,
read it and want to discuss it with each
other. And whether Greeks choose to continue in the Greek Orthodox Church or
begin new evangelical communities, the
person of Jesus Christ becomes real and
in faith they commit to following Him.
Greece is the gateway to the Muslim
world and Muslims need evangelical
ushers ready to meet them. Long before
the rise of ISIS and the resulting refugee crisis, Greece has always been the
gateway to the Muslim world because it
is the closest European country to the
Middle East. Hellenic Ministries has
been engaging Muslims to help provide
dignity, basic needs and mainstreaming
services into Greek society while sharing
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When we come to Greece to serve
Hellenic Ministries, we are serving an organization that wants to see the gateway
of the Muslim world be a reflection of
the love Jesus Christ. When Muslims experience God’s love and grace through
Hellenic Ministries, their hearts are won
and surrendered to Him. Many of the
refugees who are won to Christ will one
day return to their native countries, as
ambassadors for Christ.
The Syrian refugee crisis, the Greek
financial crisis and God’s work through
Hellenic Ministries together are providential. The Syrian refuge crisis in Greece
will become exceedingly more difficult
8
as surrounding countries continue to
close their borders. But the “log jam”
of refugees in Greece becomes a rare
opportunity to minister to Muslims. When
the Middle East stabilizes this opportunity
may no longer be there so the timing to
reach Muslims in Greece is critical.
The financial crisis has made it more
difficult for Greeks to participate and support refugee ministries as they struggle to
sustain their own homes. However, it has
made it easier for foreigners to enter into
Greece. Housing, food and travel have
become cheaper giving people outside
Greece greater access to come and serve
with Hellenic Ministries. Last year’s Operation Joshua occurred on the cusp of
the most recent economic meltdown and
it was people from outside Greece that
helped to make it a success.
These two crises together are more
than a financial collision; they are the perfect storm for Jesus to step into the boat.
We are next.
Josh McDowell said that in 25 years
the United States would look like
post-Christian Europe. That was roughly
fifteen years ago and as a country - we
are on track. The secularization of
our schools, widening chasm between
relativism and absolute truth, and the
breakdown of traditional social norms
are strong signs that we are tracking
with McDowell’s prediction.
Working with Hellenic Ministries in a
country made up of less than 1% evangelical Christians is a training ground for
evangelical Christians who want to see
the light of Christ shine again in a post
Christian world. In Greece, we’re not
just serving the Greeks, we’re training to
become more effective in communicating the gospel in the U.S.
The world is changing at break neck
speed and those leading the church
through these changes are the rising
generation of college age people in our
country. Millenials are now the largest
people group in the U.S. and their
churches are the ones growing the fastest. That’s why we are serving in Greece
for the cause of Christ. We know that
what God equips us with in Greece, He
will allow us to take home to raise up disciples who will raise up more disciples.
OPA!!
www.covenant.cc/go
ETHIOPIA
Our involvement, your involvement
ANTON BEUKES
Global Outreach Team Leader
Ethiopia is a diverse country with diverse people groups. It
is also a country with people adhering to different faiths living
most of the time in harmony together. Looking at the map
of Ethiopia, you can divide the country in three large blocks:
the northwest being predominantly Ethiopian Orthodox, the
southwest mostly Evangelical Christian and the east being
Muslim. There are still a small number of animists (people
practicing traditional religions that would include ancestral
worship) and the capital Addis Ababa forms a melting pot of
all the people and religions.
Prior to 2015, Covenant Church had sent out two teams
on scouting trips to discern possible ministry partners.
These teams focused mainly on Addis Ababa, and although
good connections were made, no long-term partnership was
formed. When the Seedcasters started their discernment
process in March 2015, the question was asked whether
Covenant Church should continue seeking meaningful
partners within Ethiopia or not. The Seedcasters were
unanimous in believing that we should continue to seek
partnerships in Ethiopia, and a small team went back
to Ethiopia in October 2015 to visit with mainly two
organizations working in Ethiopia, SIM and Frontiers.
SIM has been working in Ethiopia for many decades and
have multiple ministries and teams around the country.
One of the ministries that we visited was at Lake Langano,
called Sports Friends. With around 80,000 children in soccer
clubs around Ethiopia, they bring around 800 of them
for 10 five day camps in the summer to Lake Langano for
intense training, but also to share the gospel with them.
These camps are directed to nonbelievers and with the love
of international teams, they share the truth and love of the
gospel with the children.
The team also visited Dire Dawa in the east of the country.
They were introduced to New Life Faith Ministries, a ministry
focused on the unreached Hararghe Oromo people, reaching
out through nationals to see a Church planting movement
started among them. They are also editing the New Testament
in their language to change some terminology that is more
understandable for this predominantly Muslim people.
PRAY
As with any of our other partnerships, our involvement
starts with prayer. Through prayer, we acknowledge that we are
not capable of doing anything if the Lord God is not calling
us, equipping us, sending us, and sustaining us for the task.
The same for our partners: it is the Lord that provides people,
resources, skills, and funds. Therefore, our prayers to the Lord
are the beginning of our partnership.
Whom do we pray for? Pray for our Global Outreach team as
we continue to discern how and where we should get involved
in Ethiopia, especially with SIM and New Life Faith Ministries.
Pray for a small team from Covenant Church that plan return to
Ethiopia in August to build upon our relationship with the New
Life Faith Ministries and to have a better understanding of their
ministry and where we could support and encourage them.
Pray for our Covenant team that will join one of the ten Sports
Friends camps at Lake Langano from July 21-31, that they will be
an encouragement for the ministry workers at the camp, that they
will share the love of Jesus Christ with the children and that they
will witness through their words, deeds, attitudes and love.
SERVE
As mentioned above, Covenant Church will be sending
a team to Lake Langano in July to work at one of the soccer
camps. We hope that we will continue to send a team every year
to the camp and thus not only reaching out to the children, but
also to build relationships with the camp staff.
We also hope to send teams as part of our partnership
with New Life Faith Ministries to help and encourage them
in their ministry and outreach. There are also opportunities
for individuals or couples to serve for a longer period of time
with them in one of their areas of ministry. For more ministry
opportunities, please contact the Global Outreach office.
GIVE
Seedcasters has approved monthly support for the ministry
of New Life Faith Ministries. Our contribution will not cover
the whole project but we will be among other churches and
individuals around the world that will be financial partners.
If you want to know how you can contribute directly to this
project and the Sports Friends camps, please contact the Global
Outreach Office.
9
SIEGFRED KOCH
Contributor
spiritual organization. At this time the children’s project is
running very effectively and smoothly. We are looking to find
individual sponsors for these children to keep the project
running smoothly.
While living in Ethiopia, I realized that there were almost
no outreach efforts from the local evangelical churches, which
consisted almost entirely of people coming out of an Orthodox
background. As I had previous mission experience in one of the
entirely Muslim neighboring countries where I had spent about
six years, I realized that I had gained experience and vision that
I needed to share with my local brothers and sisters in Ethiopia.
We organized different training events in which we
tried to encourage the local church to reach out to Muslims
and also gave them some tools. In Ethiopia, the Muslim
and Christian communities don’t mix as they are trying to
preserve their separate identities, and because of religious
wars in the past there has not been much love lost between
the two communities.
Those who tried to reach out to the Muslim community soon
gave up because their efforts seemed fruitless. They were not
making progress because they didn’t know how to communicate
I started New Life Faith Ministry as a legal entity about 16
years ago together with some local brothers in Eastern Ethiopia.
The reason was that we needed to have a legal vessel for the
children’s ministry we had started about 5 years earlier.
With this project, we wanted to reach out to an unreached
people group in the area. The idea of this project was and still is
to prepare missionaries to go to their own people. By providing
a good education for them, they can become useful citizens to
their own people, and, despite their different faith, will be able
to gain acceptance in their society by their good character, love
and contribution to their community.
It was very difficult as well as risky work because no
evangelical Christians had ever tried to do something like this
among this people group. Because of many different issues and
pressures from society, this project came under attack and many
children left the home before finishing their education.
About three years ago we had to register the children’s
project as an NGO as the government of Ethiopia would not
allow the children’s project to run under the umbrella of a
10
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the Gospel to Muslims in an effective way. If some did believe
they tried to integrate them into their own churches which were
culturally not appealing to the Muslim mindset. Many of those
who had decided to follow Jesus ended up back in their old
community because they didn’t feel at home in the new culture.
This cultural shift caused them to be viewed as traitors by their
own society and they were then completely cut off.
About four years ago we trained some Christian university
students who were planning an outreach into the Muslim area.
We equipped them with a method to share the Gospel and
they went out connecting with local churches in those areas
to witness. When they returned they reported converts in the
hundreds, which was very encouraging to hear and opened our
eyes to the openness of these people. However, we realized that
the local churches were not able to cope and take care of those
converts. We then also went to see for ourselves and were able
to confirm the incredible openness of this people group, which
then encouraged us to strengthen our efforts.
The next year we did the same training for the students
but then went out to meet with the church leaders of the local
churches they were planning to work with and offered to train
people to handle the new converts. We then started to get more
involved with training local disciples how to make disciples
among the Muslims.
When we saw success in our model and our efforts, we
decided to increase our activities and conduct training sessions
on a larger scale and in cooperation with the leadership of
the denominations we were working with. We also invited
someone with more experience to help us with the training.
The local churches we started to work with accepted the strategy
of forming house churches that keep cultural and linguistic
identity of the converts. In some areas much progress was made
and many house groups were started and many more believed
and were baptized.
We also realized than in order for a strong movement for
Jesus to take off, we would need Bibles and training materials
using contextual language. We started to process and work on
the New Testament, which had already been translated into
the local dialect. We had to adjust some of the vocabulary, like
Muslim names of prophets as well as Jesus and some other
words that needed correction. We have already completed this
and have begun translating study notes written specifically for
Muslim readers which explain to them terms and words they
don’t know or misunderstand. We are almost ready with the
notes and are looking for a publisher. We believe that this will
remove many of the hindrances to the Gospel and will help
people proclaim the Good News more boldly. In addition,
audio versions of the New Testament need to be produced
as well as other training materials because many do not read
and write and many of those who do are not good readers and
prefer to listen.
By experience we realized that full time church workers
are not the most effective people to be trained, because the
churches want them to serve the believers and to bring new
people into their churches. They don’t get the freedom do go
out and work among the Muslims. This is why we started to
focus on regular church members, many of whom are farmers.
In order to help the effective church planters spend more time
working in the kingdom, we gave them micro loans so they and
their families will not suffer economically if they spend more
time doing kingdom work. These micro loans have helped them
a lot and encouraged their efforts.
Radical Muslims are also trying hard to take advantage of
this openness and are building huge mosques and madrassas
in every town in order to radicalize them. If we do not take
advantage as well, ground will be won by the Enemy instead
of for Christ. This chance will pass us by and many people will
never get the opportunity to respond to the message of salvation
and transformation and become part of God’s eternal Kingdom.
Siegfred Koch was born 1964 in Switzerland into a Christian family. Trained in organic vegetable production, he went to work in the Horn of Africa in 1984 and has
kept working in different fields in the Horn of Africa until today. Siegfred has been
married to Kadra since 1993 and they have one adopted son and have had and
still have several foster children. Siegfried took a two year course in cross cultural
communications at a well known Christian College in England from 1988 - 1990.
11
COVER STORY
Ethiopia and the 10/40 Window
SARAH M. REED
When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they
were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to
his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord
of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
– Matthew 9:36-38
In Christian missions we often speak of the “10/40 window.”
Perhaps you have wondered what this phrase refers to. The 10/40
window is a rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and
Asia which lays between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north.
The area is also known as the “Resistant Belt.” The majority of the
world’s Muslim, Hindus and Buddhists live here. These religions
began in this part of the world and are firmly established here.
The least evangelized countries in the world lie within the
10/40 window. There are approximately 4.84 billion people
who live here, and, of them, 61%, or about 3 billion people, are
unreached. This entails the highest concentration of unreached
people groups in the world. An unreached people group is
12
an ethnic group of people where less than 2% of the people
are Christian and there is no indigenous church movement.
Therefore, they have no one to tell them about Jesus, and many
will die without ever knowing His Name.
The statistics can be staggering to look at. Within the 10/40
window there are:
865 million unreached Muslims or Islamic followers in 3330
cultural sub-groupings;
550 million unreached Hindus in 1660 cultural sub-groups;
275 million unreached Buddhists in 900 groups;
2550 unreached tribal groups (mainly animistic) with a total
population of 140 million;
80% of the world’s poorest people.
Many of the countries in this area are restrictive to Christianity.
In addition, in many of these areas Christians are persecuted.
It is through this persecution though that we see the church in
the 10/40 window growing. The church in China, for example,
though under government restrictions and persecution, is one of
the fastest growing churches in the world. People are coming to
Christ in large numbers.
There is a big need in the 10/40 window for workers. Unfortunately, a large part of the reason why this area remains so unreached
is because many Christians do not want to go there. Only 3% of the
world’s missionaries go to the 10/40 window, even though 86% of
the world’s unreached people groups live there. Of the 11 billion
dollars given every year globally by Christians for foreign missions,
only 1% goes to the unreached within the 10/40 window.
Why do we not want to go there? At our recent WAITT Mission
Conference, we challenged people with this thought, “What if the
easiest places are actually the most difficult? And what if the most
difficult places are actually the easiest?” Going to someone here in
the U.S. who has heard multiple times about Jesus and has closed
their mind to Him might actually be much harder than going to
someone across the world who has never heard of Jesus but gladly
receives Him when they do! It just requires us stepping out of our
comfort zone and being willing to be used by God.
Scripture gives us many reasons why we as Christians and
as the Church should focus on reaching the 10/40 window.
Consider this: God’s history with early mankind as recorded in
the Bible occurred within the 10/40 window. Jesus spent all His
time in the 10/40 window while He was on Earth. In Acts 1:8,
Jesus told His disciples to be witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, Judea
and Samaria – all areas within the 10/40 window.
Consider also God’s mission to us as revealed in the Bible.
From the very beginning, we see God commissioning His
people to be witnesses of Him to all the Earth. When God called
Abraham, He said that He would bless him so that “all peoples on
Earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3b). The blessing was
never meant to be hoarded by God’s people – it was meant to be
shared with all peoples on Earth.
We get so caught up in the small story of us that we forget
the big story of God. We in America are blessed with safety and
comfort and freedom of religion, but we hoard the blessing to
ourselves. In the words of Steven Hawthorne, “The ultimate value
of [our] salvation is not to be seen as what [we] are saved from, it
is what [we] are saved for.” In other words, we were saved in order
to spread the Word.
Jesus’ commission to us in Matthew 28:18-20 says we are to go and
make disciples of all nations. Not just ours. Not just those we like or
are comfortable in. But all the nations of the world. We know that
God loves the world (John 3:16) – the whole world – so what then?
Do we not? Or do we believe that God loves them less than us?
How can we feel comfortable when millions are not only dying
without Jesus every day – but dying without ever having had the
opportunity to hear of Him? The Bible tells us that God wants
people of all nations to come to worship Him. Two thirds of the
world’s population live within the 10/40 window. If we ignore
them, then we cannot faithfully complete the commission we
were given. We cannot be obedient people.
God has been opening doors and providing opportunities
for Christians to go into the 10/40 window. He is using unstable
situations and conflicts to provide opportunities to share the
Gospel that we have not had in decades, and that we may not have
again. Even a decade ago we would not have been able to go into
areas of Ethiopia, Lebanon, India, and Greece that we now can.
Now is the time for us as a Church to act.
The Muslim world in particular, which has traditionally been
a protective fortress, is wide open right now. More Muslims are
being saved today than in any other time in the history of Islam.
Muslims are able to hear about the Gospel without fear. These
new converts need discipleship and training so that they can go
out and share about the Gospel with others. Only there is a lack of
people available who are able to disciple.
Ethiopia, one of our Vision 2020 focus countries, is part of the
10/40 window (as are Greece, Lebanon and India, three of our
other focus countries). According to the Joshua Project, there are
31 unreached people groups in Ethiopia. This represents about
28% of the total population, or about 20.5 million people.
That means that over 20 million people in Ethiopia have not
heard about the Good News of Jesus Christ. No one has ever
talked to them about Jesus or given them the opportunity to
believe in Him. These people may be seeking Truth, but there is
no one there to share it with them.
Covenant Church’s partnership in Ethiopia will be targeting
work with the unreached. One of the partners we will be
For more on Ethiopia,
including a
Non-religious
Islam and the history of
country profile
Buddhism
Christianity andHinduism
Islam in Ethiopia,
see the October 2015 edition of New
Covenant Magazine at the GO Kiosk,
or at covenant.cc/go.
PRAYER REQUESTS FOR ETHIOPIA:
More workers to go to Ethiopia and other areas in the 10/40
window.
Strength and wisdom for Bible colleges and training programs.
For leaders to rise up in the churches.
For Ethiopians to lead the effort to reach unreached people
groups within their own country.
God’s blessing in every effort to mentor and train believers in
discipleship.
Sources:
https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window
https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/1040.htm
potentially working with is New Life Faith Ministries. Their focus
is to make the Bible relevant and understandable to a group of
people that is majority Muslim, so that they will be able to come to
faith in Jesus. You can read more about their work in this edition.
Another of our partners is Sports Friends, a ministry of SIM.
Sports Friends focuses their work on children who are from
nonChristian families. Christian coaches invite children to sports
teams and sports camps to have the opportunity to share God’s
love with them. They also have an article in this edition.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
13
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
There is nothing special about the people with New
Life Faith Ministries or Sports Friends. There is nothing
that makes lifetime missionaries and evangelists who go
to the 10/40 window any better than you or I. The only
thing that sets them
apart is their willingness
Established
to obey God and follow
%
Him, even to the places
that are perceived
as difficult. God will
Unreached
never call you to go
Nominal
%
somewhere where you’ll
%
be away from Him.
Rather He calls us to go
places where we’ll draw
Unreached People
closer to Him – places
Groups in Ethiopia
where His name needs
to be heard and lifted
high; places where we
will be near to the very
heartbeat of God.
I challenge you
today, as you are praying
through the requests for
prayer for Ethiopia, to
also pray this, “Father
God, I know You have
a heart for all nations
to come to know and
worship You. Lord of the
Harvest, I pray that You would rise up and send out workers
to go into the 10/40 window and reach the lost. I pray also
that You would reveal to me how I can be a part of making
sure that all peoples have the opportunity to hear about
Jesus. Amen.”
55.5
15.5
29.1
OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED IN THE 10/40 WINDOW
•
•
•
•
•
Go on a short-term outreach trip with Covenant Church
to Ethiopia, Greece, India, or Lebanon. See the Global
Outreach Kiosk or Robin Davis [email protected] for
more information.
Financially support a short or long term missionary to
that area, either through Covenant Church or one of
our mission partners. Possibilities: simusa.org, iglworld.
org, worldhelp.net, or heartforlebanon.org.
Download the Joshua Project Unreached People Group
app to your iPhone to educate yourself about and to
pray for unreached people groups around the globe.
Adopt a child from a country within the 10/40 window.
https://travel.state.gov/content/adoptionsabroad/
en.html
Volunteer locally with refugees or international students
who have come from the 10/40 window. Contact me for
more information on volunteering: [email protected].
For more on Ethiopia, including a country profile and the
history of Christianity and Islam in Ethiopia, see the October
2015 edition of New Covenant Magazine at the GO Kiosk, or at
covenant.cc/go.
14
www.covenant.cc/go
EID-AL-FITR
JULY 5
On Holiday
in Ethiopia
JENNIFER JOHNSON
Contributor
The observance of holidays provides a fascinating look into
any culture’s tradition and history. What, then, does Eid-al-Fitr, a
worldwide Muslim holiday, reflect about Ethiopia, a country who
widely celebrates it?
First, it is helpful to understand how Islam initially spread to
Ethiopia. Sources speculate that the Prophet Mohammad sent his
family and many close followers to safety in the Axumite Empire
(Ethiopia) where he believed they would be safe from his adversaries
and treated with dignity. The Prophet instructed his followers to live
in peace with the native Christians, and the Axum King, Ashama
Ibn Abhar, welcomed the refugees and protected them. Sprouting
from an initial peaceful alliance, the exercise and spread of Islam in
Ethiopia, a predominantly Orthodox Christian country, grew.
Today, Muslims make up about 34% of the Ethiopian
population. One Islamic tradition practiced in Ethiopia is the
observance of a month-long fast called Ramadan. Marking the
end of the fast is the holiday, Eid al-Fitr, which translates as, “Feast
of Fast-Breaking”. Similar to “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras, a feast
preceding the Christian observance of Lenten fasting, one of the
components of Eid al-Fitr is the post-enjoyment of rich foods and
celebration that were restricted during the fast and reflection
period of Ramadan.
Eid al-Fitr, occurring on July 5, 2016, will see some of the largest
gatherings in places such as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for public
prayer. Lasting three days, the Eid al-Fitr holiday carries with it
specific traditions and practices. Officially, the celebration begins
with the sighting of the new moon of Shawwal, the tenth month in
the Islamic calendar.
A typical Muslim family might prepare for Eid al-Fitr by
purchasing new clothes to wear and preparing rich foods in
advance of the celebration. Muslims bathe and put on new attire
in order to present themselves at a public prayer of thanksgiving
with a clear body and mind at the end of Ramadan. Before
entering a chosen place of prayer, followers pay the “Zakat” and
“Fitra”, or charitable offerings to honor the dead or to feed the
less able before breaking the fast.
During the public gatherings, specific prayers, or Salatal Eid
(“Way of Prayer”) are offered. Then, Muslims return home to
feast on sweets and rich delicacies, followed by visits to friends
and neighbors. Children may also receive gifts from their parents
or other relatives. Upon greeting one another in their homes,
in mosques, or on the street, it is Muslim tradition to wish one
another, “Eid Mubarak”, or “Blessed Holiday!”
Though many businesses and schools are closed, Christians or
non-Muslims don’t typically celebrate Eid al-Fitr, unlike the general
celebration of Christmas and Easter by many non-Christians
throughout the world. However, Eid al-Fitr is meant to be a time
of friendship and community, and it is said that some Christians
acknowledge the significance of the holiday by exchanging sweets
and well-wishes with their Muslim friends.
The three-day celebrations of Eid al-Fitr, signifying the end
of Ramadan, are reflective of a portion of Ethiopian culture
influenced by Islamic traditions. Ethiopia’s observances of holidays,
including Eid al-Fitr, echo the make-up of its population’s varied
religious beliefs.
This year, during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, pray for revelation
of the Living God for the Islamic people. While the practices of
fasting, reflection, worship, prayer, and giving to the poor feel
similar to Christian faith, pray for the light of Jesus to be revealed
as the one true God, the living sacrifice, and the One foundation
for eternal peace. After all, salvation through Christ is the ultimate
cause for celebration!
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia, Addisstandard.com, Eidfestival.net
Jennifer Johnson is a mom, wife, grad student, and Covenant staff part-timer. To
her, “words just make sense,” and she loves putting them together in every form.
She believes it is a privilege to use writing to capture and carry forward the legacy
of Christ.
15
A God Sized
Vision
THE BIRTH OF SPORTS
FRIENDS IN ETHIOPIA
BRYAN WHITE
Contributor
God often uses the simplest of things to do the most
extraordinary work. Who would imagine that a soccer ball could be
used to change the culture of the church and how she engages the
community around her? Sports Friends began in Ethiopia 14 years
ago this July, and this is our story. In 2002, two families packed up
their belongings and moved to Ethiopia to begin a new adventure.
The two men who would work together as missionaries in this new
country couldn’t have been more different. Brian Davidson had
been involved in the development of sports ministry within the U.S.
for more than 20 years. His experience with sports had carried him
to more than 30 different countries where he realized that many
sports ministry initiatives, though well intended, failed to leave the
local church with the tools and resources they needed to continue
outreach into their communities independently.
On the other end of the spectrum, Tripp Johnston, a
successful investment banking executive in Charlotte, NC, had
spent the last 20 years in the business world learning about the
principles necessary for training, developing, and multiplying
effective leaders. Though Tripp enjoyed his work, he sensed that
God was calling him out of the business world and into full-time
vocational ministry.
God brought these two men together through an unlikely series
of events, and the birth of a God sized dream began. Three things
drew Brian and Tripp together: a desire to partner with the local
church overseas, the importance of equipping and training for
effective ministry, and the love of sport. As they spent time praying
and doing research, the Lord began to give them an exciting vision:
thousands of young people, their families, and their communities
coming to faith in Jesus through the powerful platform of sports.
After a vision trip to Ethiopia, Brian and Tripp returned home with
one common calling and passion: to follow God’s leading to return
to Ethiopia to come along side the local church.
After arriving home they approached SIM (our sending mission
organization) to explore the possibility of partnering together
to develop an effective church-centered sports ministry that
would initiate in Ethiopia. SIM was thrilled with the idea, as they
already had substantial work within Ethiopia and could see how
sports might be a powerful platform for the church to reach their
communities for the Gospel.
Even with the support of SIM, the Davidsons and the Johnstons
faced a great deal of opposition in moving to Ethiopia. As they
were leaving the U.S., their families, friends, and co-workers did
not understand why they would uproot and move their families to
an unknown place. Some were supportive, but, overall, they met
significant resistance. Yet this was only the beginning.
Early after their arrival in Ethiopia, the Lord changed this
ministry duo to a trio with Berhanu Kebede. A local Ethiopian,
Berhanu, had been working within Christian leadership for many
years and was well respected within the local church. He knew the
love of sport was great within his country, and the Lord quickly
called him to join the team.
As the three began ministry, they were challenged greatly by
many of the church leaders. There were puzzled looks, laughter, and
even indignation. The leaders didn’t see how God could use sport
for ministry. They were told that Christians should be focused on
activities such as bible study, prayer, and worship. Sports were secular
and worldly, and not an appropriate place for the church to spend
energy. It took a lot of vision sharing, prayer, and a mighty move
of the Holy Spirit, but over time God began to open the eyes of the
Ethiopian Church to see that sports had the potential to be used for
good within the right context. The church leaders began to recognize the power of sports within the culture. They were able to see
how effective the tool could be in building relationships within communities and specifically with the youth. Leaders within the churches
were trained to become coaches, and those coaches developed the
trust of youth through the field of play. The youth became doors to
the homes, and one by one families were introduced to Christ. The
church began to see how sports ministry could be used for evangelism and discipleship, but also church planting. Individuals trained
in sports ministry were sent by their local churches to unreached
neighboring villages. Sports created a non-threatening environment
to develop relationships with people in areas where the church
would typically not be welcomed. The spark that began just outside
of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has now fanned into flame. Since Sports
Friends began 14 years ago within Ethiopia, this ministry has seen
thousands upon thousands of youth and their families turn to Christ.
In Ethiopia alone over 170 churches have been planted, and we are
partnering with more than 3,500 churches. In 2005, Berhanu was
appointed as the director of Sports Friends Ethiopia and continues
in this role with the support of a strong Ethiopian staff.
The vision that God first gave Brian and Tripp has expanded
across Africa, Asia, and South America. The ministry now reaches
more than 200,000 youth around the world, 80,000 of whom call
Ethiopia home.
All of this happened because two families decided to step out in
faith, to follow a dream that seemed crazy to so many around them.
But it was a God-sized vision, and the Lord has done tremendous
things. We often discuss as a team here at Sports Friends how
incredible it is that the Lord allows us each of us to take part in this
great adventure that started so many years ago. We all have roles to
play in the Great Commission; some will pray, some will give, and
some will go. What will your role be?
16
www.covenant.cc/go
17
Perspectives
on the World
CHRISTIAN
MOVEMENT
SARAH M. REED
The Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course is
coming to Covenant Church Winterville for the very first time. This
course draws you into God’s heart for the world and how each of us
can be a part of His story.
Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is offered all
around the country. It is also available online. Since the course
began in 1974, over 130,000 people have taken it. The course
includes a weekly class and a book of core readings. Different
levels, depending on interest, are offered. As you go up the levels
there is more reading and assignment requirements. The reading
greatly enriches the class material, but not everyone will have time
to complete all of it. Most people would probably prefer the key
reading levels as the reading is minimal.
The course is fifteen weeks long with a different instructor
each week so that students can hear from a variety of backgrounds
and experiences. It is divided into four main sections: Biblical,
Historical, Cultural, and Strategic.
The Biblical section journeys through the entire Bible, revealing
God’s vision and mission. From the very beginning of Genesis to
the end of Revelations the course shows how the Bible is One Story
– God’s Story, a metanarrative that’s so much bigger and grander
than just us. The course summarizes God’s purpose this way, “For
His glory in global worship, and for the blessing of all nations, God
purposes to overcome evil by redeeming a people who will love and
obey Him from every people.”
The Historical section looks at the mission movement
throughout history, starting with Abraham and tracing through
the Old Testament to Jesus, then the disciples. It moves on to
look at Christian missions over the last two thousand years. The
text is very honest about both failures and successes, and shows
how even when the Christian church ignored their call to go to
the nations God was still at work in the world, drawing people
to Him. The section ends with a look at where we are today
in reaching all the peoples of the Earth with the Gospel. The
answer might surprise you.
Over time missionaries have made some errors when it comes
to culture. In particular, Western missionaries have often blurred
Western culture with the Gospel, and insisted that new believers
in other countries look, talk and worship like them in order to be
Christian. We of course see this battle in the New Testament book
of Acts as well, when some of the Jewish Christians wanted the nonJewish new believers to look like them when they came to faith. In
the Culture section of this course, the classes look at how to allow
people to retain the beauty of their culture when they come to
faith, adding to the rich tapestry of Christianity across the globe.
The final section is the Strategic. This section looks at mission
strategies at work today in reaching the parts of the world which
are still unreached. A look at church planting and church
planting movements is particularly inspiring. The course notes
that the church multiplies when people are obediently following
Christ and when leaders are encouraged and trained. This
requires discipleship.
The last lesson of the course offers summaries and challenges to
course takers to allow the material learned throughout the fifteen
weeks to not just be another book on the shelf but to be something
that changes you and moves you to take next steps in your faith.
Though a bit of a financial and time investment to take,
Perspectives in the World Christian Movement is more than
worthwhile. I guarantee you that this course will change your life.
Whether you are a new Christian or have been a Christian for
decades, there is something for everyone to gain from this course.
After its completion, you’ll never be able to read the Bible the same
way again. You’ll have a new understanding of God, His mission
in the world, and your part in it. I challenge you to make the
commitment to participate in this course.
Note that the cost of the class goes towards the speakers, who
receive compensation for their travel and lodging in order to be
with us, as well as to other logistical details. For those concerned
about the cost of the class, there are some subsidies available.
Contact the GO Office for more information. Also note that the
first two classes are free, so you can check it out before paying.
Please join us – you won’t want to miss out.
CLASS DETAILS:
August 29th – December 12th 6-9pm
Covenant Church Winterville (House 4 Room 101)
Registration and purchase of books completed through the
Perspectives Website, at: https://class.perspectives.org/
Visitor/Public.aspx?ClassId=432896
18
www.covenant.cc/go
Beautiful Feet
BOOK REVIEW
MICHAL WHITE
Contributor
When Jessica Leep Fick first felt the Lord calling her to be an evangelist, she was
surprised, confused and emotional. The questions she prayed were, “God, how is this
possible? Don’t you only use men as evangelists? I have no idea what this even looks like.”
This month New Covenant is focusing on Ethiopia and the partnerships Covenant
is developing with ministries there. Last month I experienced some trouble securing
a book on India that explored ministry there. In my reading on India and my growing
understanding of the India Gospel League (Covenant’s ministry partner in India),
I have been increasingly intrigued by God’s unique call to women in ministry and
evangelism. On the first page of her book, Fick dives into this subject asking the
question recorded above making it a perfect choice for this month’s book review.
The book is arranged in twelve chapters and they progress from being theoretical
about the things which often keep women from pursuing evangelism to being very
practical about the tools we need to practice ministry well (including sleep!), to
evangelism models Fick recommends. At the end of each chapter there is a short
section for response, designed to prompt reflection and prayer on places where
women may need to heal or to act in order to grow as disciples of Jesus. This space
for reflection makes the book ideal for small groups to use as a study and it makes the
book easy to apply to every day life.
Fick is writing as a female evangelist to encourage and affirm other women who
question whether the Lord could possibly use them. Fick contends that women often
discount themselves as active members of evangelism efforts, either from an assumption
that men ought to do the work or from fears of failure or just being weird. In Beautiful
Feet, Fick calls on women to embrace the unique ways the Lord has made each of us—
intellectual or creative, driven by relationships or a need to understand.
The title, Beautiful Feet, is of course a reminder of the verse in Isaiah where the
author exclaims, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring
good news!” Fick records a time of prayer in which she felt the Lord impress this
upon her heart: “Let my daughters know they have beautiful feet. Let them know
they are sent, called, restored and indispensable to me and to my kingdom. Let my
daughters know that I have created them just as I want them to be. I don’t make
mistakes. I see their suffering. And in the midst of suffering I making something new
in their lives and in the church.”
I found Fick’s book to be profound and relevant, healing and addressing places
of doubt in my own heart. I was relieved by her willingness to broach awkward topics
like the ways that women need to be aware of their dress and bodies in any public
situation because of the ways they are perceived by others.
I believe this book is incredibly relevant to all women in the church. I found
myself underlining repeatedly and even tearing up when certain subjects touched
on tender places in my own heart. Fick manages to write in a way that is poignant,
direct, and honest all at one time. She calls readers to take healthy risks, knowing
that in Jesus failures don’t change personhood and that many women, in a desire to
be perfect, are unable to take the very action to which they are called. This book is
also relevant to men who are interested in learning about the barriers that keep many
women from leading in the church.
Fick calls women in the church to act, speak, and bear witness to the goodness of
the God that we serve. She sums up her goals in the first chapter: “I want you to see
more of what God has for you. I hope that as you read you’ll begin to see that Jesus
loves you and has created you uniquely and perfectly to bring good news to others. I
want you to walk with Jesus into the broken places in your life where you’ve believed
the lie that you aren’t enough and, with him guiding you through those dark places,
begin to step into the woman Jesus has made you to be.”
Will you let Jesus walk with you to discover who he has made you to be?
FAST FACTS:
Title: Beautiful Feet: Unleashing
Women to Everyday Witness
Author: Jessica Leep Fick
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Length: 197 pages
Find it: Wherever books are sold
Michal White, and her husband, Nathan, live in
West Greenville. Michal currently stays at home and
Nathan works at Third Street Community Center.
They have three children: James (6), Liam (5), and
Annia (1). Michal writes at www.whole-heartedmama.blogspot.com whenever she gets the time.
19
UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE:
There is an old Oromo proverb that tells so much about the culture of my people here in
Hararghe: “The father is a tree outside, the mother is the center-post for the house.” The
beautiful Oromo lady, adorned with exquisite jewelry of dazzling amber beads and opals,
was sharing her culture with a friend and businesswoman from England. The woman had
come to buy opals from her. “The very clothing we ladies wear shows other people about our
position in society. This is why as a Muslim I cover my body and head with layers of our
finest cloth. I’m proud of my identity and my people.”
HARARGHE OROMO OF ETHIOPIA
ANTON BEUKES
Global Outreach Team Leader
The Hararghe Oromo people are the descendants of the Barentu
people of the confederation with the same name that moved east
of the Ganale River in Ethiopia during the Oromo migration in the
sixteenth century. They are part of the Oromo (or Galle) ethnic
cluster which is the largest ethnic cluster in Ethiopia. This cluster also
extends to east-central Kenya. Their language, Eastern Oromo, is part
of the Eastern Cushite branch of the Afro-Asiatic linguist family.
The Hararghe Oromo consists mainly of the Ittu, Ania, Ala, Nole,
Jarso and Babile tribes and came into contact with the Somali and
merchants from the Harar city-state, which had a great influence on
their culture and religion. Some of the tribes, like the Nole and the
Babile live mixed together with the Somali people in eastern Ethiopia.
They became sedentary agriculturalists mainly farming with livestock.
There are about 5.6 million Hararghe Oromos, the majority living in
Ethiopia and some in Kenya as well in diaspora in Canada.
The majority of the Hararghe Oromo are followers of Islam
(97.5%), with less than 0.5% Christian, of which 0.01% are
considered Evangelical. The Ittu tribe has remained largely followers
of their traditional ethnic religion (Waqaa). This traditional
animistic religion sees the human, spiritual and physical worlds as
interconnected and the existence and functions ruled by Waqaa
Tokkicha, the one true God. He is seen as the creator of the world –
the heaven and earth and all other living and non-living things. The
ayaana is a spiritual connection that he created to connect himself
with creatures and is maintained by a male Qaaifu or female Qaafitti,
something like a bishop among Christians. They also believe in the
existence of ancestral spirits which can be contacted through certain
ceremonies and they sometimes appear to relatives in the form of
flying creatures.
The majority of the Hararghe Oromo converted to Sunni Islam
through the influence of the Harar city-state (the main Islamic
religious center in East Africa and considered the fourth holiest city in
Islam) and their Somali neighbors. The Oromo became instrumental
in spreading Islam to other parts of southern Ethiopia. Although
the majority of the people follow Islam, folk Islam and syncretism are
wide-spread among most tribes. Very few of the Hararghe Oromo
converted to Christianity, mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox church,
joining people from other people groups. Most of those who convert
are disowned by their families.
PRAYERS FOR THE HARARGHE OROMO:
Pray for the followers of Christ
There is a small but growing body of Christian believers
among the Hararghe. Pray they will be given a vision to
take the message of Christ to all of their own people.
Pray for the entire people group
Please pray the Lord will draw increasing numbers of
the Hararghe people to himself. Pray for reproducing
church planting movements to occur, so that all of the
people can hear the way to eternal life.
SCRIPTURE FOCUS
“Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise
again from the dead the third day, and that repentance
for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name
to all the nations.” Luke 24:46-4
www.globalprayerdigest.org/index.php/issue/day/Hararghe-People-of-Ethiopia/
20
www.covenant.cc/go
WORLD WATCH LIST
6 PAKISTAN
#
PRAYER PROMPTS:
Pray that the Holy Spirit would work to
convict both the military and the terrorist
leaders, and that they would respond
through repentance.
Pray that persecuted Christians, particularly
those shunned by their own families, would
stay strong in their faith.
Pray that Christians persecuted by laws
specifically targeted at them would speak
and act wisely.
Pray for the peace that surpasses all
understanding to comfort Christians in
Pakistan who are constantly fearful of
additional terrorist attacks.
Sources: The Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors USA
THE STATE OF PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS IN PAKISTAN
JEN ORR
Contributor
Pakistan, the world’s second largest Muslim country with
less than 1% of citizens identifying as Christian, is #6 on the
World Watch List for persecuted Christians. Persecution within
Pakistan is considered extreme and is primarily at the hands of
Islamic extremists.
A turning point for Pakistan came in 2014 when Taliban
insurgents attacked a military-run school, killing 144 people,
including 132 school children. The military responded by
announcing a war against Islamic extremists. The death
penalty became a legal form of punishment again, and
terrorists were tried in special military courts.
Even with this response, observers say the government has
not been effective in containing terrorism. Many people are
questioned and arrested for suspicious activities, but a very
small percentage of those are Islamic extremists. Furthermore,
the government labels such extremists as “good” and “bad”
jihadists. The military chooses to fight the worst offenders and
patronize the others.
Life for Christians in Pakistan is very tense. Group meetings
of any kind are considered suspicious and investigated by
the government. Christians are offered few educational
opportunities in Pakistan, and many of them live in poverty.
They are beaten, raped, abducted, and murdered, and the
government rarely intervenes or brings their attackers to justice.
Both the government and Islamic extremists target
Christians. Blasphemy laws were created specifically with
Christians in mind, and some Christians have been killed
based on accusations alone. Suicide bombers also target
Christian churches.
On Easter Sunday, 2016, suicide bombers attacked Christians
in a park in Lahore, Pakistan, where families were gathered to
celebrate the holiday. The attack killed 72 people, including
24 children, and a total of 341 people were injured. A terrorist
group linked to the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility.
Open Doors, a group that serves persecuted Christians
worldwide, has responded to Christian persecution in Pakistan by
creating a petition to urge President Obama to put pressure on
the Pakistani government to protect Christians. They also collect
donations to help meet the basic needs of persecuted Christians.
Voice of the Martyrs also ministers to Christians in Pakistan
through Bible distributions, discipleship and evangelical
support. The group also provides basic needs, medical care,
assistance with gaining employment, and spiritual care to
Christians, families of those who have died in a terrorist attack
and front-line workers.
21
cross-cultural workers
NEWLY APPROVED, SUPPORTED CROSS-CULTURAL WORKERS
JOHN + JENNIFER
We are John and Jennifer and we couldn’t be more excited about linking arms with
you as we pursue God’s call on our lives to share the Good News in Central Asia.
God has given us a big vision. Over the next 30 years we want to create and help
others create 100,000 jobs in Central Asia so people can see and hear about Jesus
in believer-led businesses. Today among the over 80,000,000 people in Central Asia,
only 8,000 follow Jesus. This means that, according to the numbers, there is only 1
person to reach every 10,000 people. If we could create 100,000 jobs in believer-led
companies, gospel access would increase dramatically, to 1 in 1,000!
JOIN US IN PRAYER
Bring the residence and work permits
through to approval.
Help us find dependable language
helpers and child care.
Reaching the unreached through business
Help us be happy and satisfied in Him daily.
In 2007 the Lord crossed John’s path with Patrick Lai, the author of the book
Tentmaking. Most seminaries now use this book to teach their students about
business for transformation (B4T). Patrick shared how the Lord was using believerled businesses around the 10/40 window to bring blessing to communities and
people to faith in Jesus. The Lord used this experience to connect John’s two
greatest passions – the gospel & business.
Due to security reasons we cannot
publish John and Jennifer’s last name,
photo, or the area they are working in.
Business provides unique access to unreached people in the
following ways:
•
Business provides a sustainable and desired presence in the community. –
Communities and governments “get” and like business. Businesses provide
jobs and tax revenue and these are desired by all communities & authorities.
•
Business allows life-on-life access to nationals. – In a workplace, you get to
spend 40 hours a week, or more, with the people you’re seeking to reach.
•
Employees can experience Christ through a gospel-centered workplace
culture. – Workplace culture can be transformative, and as a business owner
you get to create a Biblical culture. The Bible has massive implications for
how work should be done, goods sold, people treated, and interpersonal
problems resolved.
How you can be involved
On the front of our prayer card, which you can get from the Global Outreach
Kiosk, you’ll notice the big bold words – PRAY WITH US. As we start our life’s work
here, we don’t just want you to pray for us, but with us – for God to work in power.
The size of the task is monumental, the opposition is real, and the end is glorious. As
you think of us, we want to direct your prayers in three directions.
First, towards the people. For God to give sight to blind eyes and set captives at
liberty. (Lk. 4:18, Is. 61:1)
Second, towards the work. For God to provide access to the good news through the
creation of 100,000 jobs over the next 30 years.
Finally, towards us. For us to be happy and healthy in the Lord, seeking Him step-by-step.
We are grateful for your partnership in the gospel, Covenant Church. If you’d like
updates or want to connect, grab a prayer card from the GO Kiosk in the Church
Lobby - our secure email is on the back.
22
www.covenant.cc/go
KID’S PAGE
There are many
people today in the
world who have
never heard about
Jesus! Let us pray
that we, like Philip,
will be willing to tell
others about how
good our Jesus is
and what He has
done for them!
There are many people today in the world who have never heard about Jesus! Let us pray that we, like Philip, will be willing to tell others about how good our Jesus is and what He has done for them! July 2016 // Ethiopia
23
Prayer Requests
from our missionaries
Nathan White (Third Street
Community - Greenville)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• A smooth transition to Third Street
Community Center.
• Providing excellent care for our sons this
summer through summer camps and local
programs.
• Working in our summer camps and
programming at Third Street Community
Center. PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL:
• Provide the right partners in ministry to grow
our funding base to match our vision for
ministry.
• Orchestrate the best childcare situation
possible for Annia in the fall.
• Continue to guide me in reaching out to the
neighborhood around the center! Wade & Sharon Cox (Mercy Ships –
Texas)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• Our special needs’ daughter, Brianne’s,
improved health. Her chronic sinus infection
has cleared up and she is feeling much
better!
• The spiritual investment into the lives of our
children in the various summer camps they
are attending this Summer.
• 31 participants have arrived from Holland,
Germany, South Africa, Brasil, UK, and the
USA to receive training for future service
with Mercy Ships in the next 5-6 weeks!
PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL:
• Grant continued good health for Brianne and
our family.
• Grow our children into an even deeper faith
through their summer camps.
• Bless the 31 participants in the onboarding
training group as well as the instructors
(including us), and that God would provide
for every need.
• Provide a safe journey for the Africa Mercy
Ship as it sails from Madagascar to Durban,
South Africa.
John & Jennifer (Central Asia)
PRAISE GOD FOR…
• Safe landing in Central Asia.
• A healthy time of goodbyes before we left.
• Four new believers in the local national
church.
• Bring the residence and work permits
through to approval.
• Help us find dependable language helpers
and child care.
• Help us be happy and satisfied in Him daily.
Isidro & Lucy Mejia
(House of Restoration Church –
Dominican Republic)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• The Covenant team of missionaries who
came to the DR in June.
• Our sponsorship program
• Bring peace to our neighbor Haiti.
• Bring peace to Israel.
David Wall (Fellowship of Christian
Athletes – Eastern NC)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• The doctor’s finding that the mass in my
wife’s lungs was not cancerous.
• An awesome school year that has just
come to a close and for all of the students
and coaches that have made first time
commitments to Christ or who have really
grown in their faith.
• The direction that God has given us for the
ECU campus and for the enthusiasm of the
student leadership.
• Give us a safe and fruitful summer
as hundreds of students and coaches
from our area attend summer camps
and clinics.
• Continue to direct us to new Board Members
for the Eastern NC Area. • Bring new financial teammates on our local
home team of supporters.
Trudy Halstead (God’s Love, Inc –
Pitt & Beaufort Counties)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• The partnership with Churches Outreach
Network allowing us to partner with them to
pass out personal hygiene products, clothes,
and shoes.
• The volunteers that take their time to be
there to help distribute these items.
• The donations that continue to pour in.
• Every blessing that He has and is continuing
to pour out on us.
• Continue to send volunteers.
• Send us a business that we will hire people
with felony backgrounds.
• Expand our territory.
24
Jason & Ericka Gates (CRU/Family
Life – Little Rock, AK)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• The 56 people that indicated salvation
decisions out of the 638 in attendance at the
Orlando “Weekend to Remember” earlier
this month.
• Ericka receiving her official role as “Childcare
Coordinator” and being able to secure
childcare options for all staff during our 40th
anniversary celebration.
• Soften the hearts of couples at this season’s
remaining “Weekend to Remembers.”
• Provide favor for all Family Life staff as
we prepare for the approaching 40th
anniversary celebration.
• Give us guidance as we begin an intensive
gut healing process to help cure Gabriel of
his food allergies.
David & Kathy Sawyer (With
Purpose International – Pitt
County)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• God’s continued growth of our ministry
opportunities at With Purpose International.
• Our daughter’s recent high school
graduation.
• Walk with us as we counsel two couples in
our premarital and newly-wed curriculum
as part of our Marriage and Family ministry
initiative.
• Prepare our daughter as she transitions to
college as a freshman in the fall.
Matthew Lilley (The Burn –
Greenville)
PRAISE GOD FOR:
• 120 hours of non-stop worship and outreach
at Ignite Dunn in May with dozens of
salvations, baptisms, healings. Hundreds of
people fed and ministered to from the city.
• Celebrating seven years in the Boiler Room
and 7000+ hours of worship and prayer in
downtown Greenville.
• Bring a smooth transition as we move out
of the Boiler Room facility and into a new
facility.
• Bless the Burn 24-7 National Summit in VA
Beach at the end of July, as we gather for
training, fellowship and worship with about
200 Burn leaders from around the country.
www.covenant.cc/go
Upcoming Opportunities
OUTREACH
JULY 2016
Christmas in July
JULY 6-14, 2016
Operation Joshua 9 - Bible Distribution in Greece
Applications closed.
JULY 17-31, 2016
Lebanon Summer Camps with Syrian refugees
JULY 21-31, 2016
Sports Friends Outreach to Ethiopia Short Term Outreach
AUGUST 22ND – DECEMBER 12TH, 2016 6-9PM
Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Course
(Winterville)
SEPTEMBER 17-18, 2016
Community Fair, all campuses
OCTOBER 14-26, 2016
Washington Campus Greece Outreach
OCTOBER 15-23, 2016
Transformation Trip to Dominican Republic
Perspectives on the
World Christian Movement Course
August 29 – December 12
Mondays 6-9pm
Covenant Church, Bldg B Room 101
Some subsidies are available; please contact the GO Office
for information. Contact Anton Beukes antonb@covenant.
cc for more info.
Register online at www.perspectives.org
OCTOBER 21-30, 2016
Medical Mission Trip to Lebanon
OCTOBER 22ND, 2016
Operation Inasmuch
NOVEMBER – DECEMBER, 2016
Toy Collection for CVTS
DECEMBER 9-10, 2016
CVTS, Pitt & Beaufort Counties
DECEMBER 8-21, 2016
Christmas in Greece
(Applications close August 22nd, 2016)
DECEMBER 15-23, 2016
Refugee
Welcome
Team
Christmas Outreach to Lebanon (Syrian Refugees)
(Applications close August 22nd, 2016)
MARCH 8-18, 2017
Training Team to India
(Applications close December 16th, 2016)
More Trips will be scheduled for 2017 to the Dominican Republic,
Greece, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and India. .Contact the Global Outreach
Team for more information.
Love to write?
New Covenant Magazine is looking for
volunteer writers to contribute articles.
Topics assigned. Contact Sarah M. Reed
[email protected].
Please join us in sharing the love of Christ with
refugees in our area. Possible participation
includes donation of gift cards, transportation
to appointments, helping to practice English,
connecting to employment, and more.
Contact Sarah M. Reed [email protected] .
Upcoming MISSION TRIPS
Applications available at:
https://covenantcc.wufoo.com/forms/mission-trip-application/
For more info, contact Robin Davis [email protected] or
Donna Sheets at [email protected] or 252.355.0123
GREECE
LEBANON
SYRIAN REFUGEES
WITH HELLENIC MINISTRIES
CHRISTMAS OUTREACH
CHRISTMAS IN GREECE
Deadline: AUG 8, WITH $200 DEPOSIT
Deadline: AUG 8, WITH $200 DEPOSIT
Purpose: To partner with the Baptist Church in Tyre
and The Church of the Holy Spirit in reaching out to children
before Christmas through various programs and activities.
Purpose: In supporting Hellenic Ministries reaching out to
refugees, gypsies and Greeks through various programs,
including the Christmas Love Meals and Christmas Boat.
Trip Dates: DEC 15-23
Team leader: Melissa Norris
Cost: Airfare plus $750
Trip Date: DEC 8-21
Team leaders: Anton Beukes & Theo Parker (TBD)
Cost: Approximately $2200

mobile - Covenant Church

Transcription

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