March 29th, 2012
Every April STEM (Short-Term Evangelical Missions) hosts a 3-day national Short-Term Mission Leaders’ Conference (STMLC) at Bethany in Minneapolis. STMLC is one of three training conferences endorsed by the “U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission. ” We’ll help train your short-term mission leaders, coordinators, and other short-term missions staff for maximum impact in your short-term mission program.”
April 12 - 14, 2012
March 22nd, 2012
In 2002 a 10-year goal was embraced to establish 100 mission training schools 
to prepare workers to plant churches among unreached peoples by 2012. This “GO100″goal was surpassed in 2008. Then the Field5000 goal was set to send 5000 workers in the next five years (2013). Last May, during the GlobeServe Triennial Conference held here at Bethany, we celebrated the amazing outcome of more than 8000 workers sent from what has now become nearly 500 mission training schools.
Some of these schools are four-year degree programs, others are contextualized informal schools where students come a week a month over a couple years period of time, others are “dry season” schools when farms are not needing to be tended, and others are church based schools which train every member of the church to be about evangelism and reaching neighboring tribes.
The GlobeServe Executive Committee and the Mission Training 
Consultants met this month in Kenya and came from Singapore, Kenya, USA, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria. During their four days together they discussed ways to continue expanding schools and improving the quality and effectiveness of training. Tim F. serves as the International Coordinator for GlobeServe. At the close of our meetings the members expressed great appreciation for all that Tim and Bethany do to serve and support the executive leadership, the HUB regions, and the hundreds of schools in more than 40 countries who are reaching out to more than 100 different people groups.
March 14th, 2012
Ezekial Rain is a ministry that works to rescue, bring healing and release to victims of sex trafficking in Thailand. Bethany International plans to come alongside them by holding an awareness and fund-raising marathon in June and also working with them through teams and projects.
The first of two STEM teams to Haiti just returned, rejoicing in seeing God at work there. Kathie Pederson, who led this team, and other team members worked with the ladies in the photo, teaching sewing and how to use and maintain the machines. One project was to make bags that use colors to tell the Gospel story (similar to the “Worldless Book” colors); each lady was given a sewing machine which will alleviate some of the poverty they face. Twelve sewing machines in all were donated.
The team also helped in a medical clinic and children’s ministry, where some accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus’ name was lifted up in Haiti. The team overlapped a couple days with a second STEM team who is there now, building a medical clinic in Cabaret, where these ladies live.
Would you please pray for STEM teams on site right now in Haiti, France, Thailand, and doing coffee shop ministry elsewhere in Asia?
March 7th, 2012
The focus of this event is to raise awareness of the tens of thousands of people every year who are being trafficked many of them in the sex trade. You can walk or run in conjunction with the Minneapolis Marathon on Sunday, June 3, but instead do it on Saturday right here around the Bethany campus. Already 80 people have visited our face book site to learn more. Funds raised will go toward a specific project in Thailand and assist Bethany students who want to work alongside the Thailand project. The site is - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anti-Human-Trafficking-Challenge/239273746161744. People are already starting to get in shape by walking and or jogging! Why not join them? Not only will you feel so much better but also bring amazing spiritual and physical transformation to individual lives!
Thanks for your prayers for Kathie P. and the STEM Team in Haiti. So far they’ve kept busy teaching sewing and with children’s ministry and are asking for continued prayer for safety on the sometimes hectic Haitian roads.
Other current STEM teams out in the coming days:
All these groups are so dependant upon the protection, guidance, and direction of our Heavenly Father to be able to be in the right place at the right time to be about His business. Thank you for joining - going with these groups - by your faithful, fervent prayer.
February 7th, 2012
Training schools in South America are gearing up for the new school year to begin in March. Pray for a good number of students for each of the schools in Chile, Paraguay and Brazil (Petrolina, Curitiba and Altonia).
Luke 10:2 “…the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go…!” This has been our prayer for the past few months –no really it’s been years—that God will send workers. We have many places ready, from mostly construction/rebuilding missions to church planting. We need people to go. Here are just a few of our current opportunities:
A team has been formed by some inner city college girls in Houston to minister with Bethany Missionaries, G. and S. Hauter in Brazil May 14 – 29.
A BCOM graduate living in Asia has a wonderful coffee shop ministry with innumerable opportunities to share the Good News and we have a team going there May 14 – 30.
Join a team ministering in France, May 28 – June 6.
There are many more opportunities, but those are just a few. Are you one of the laborers God is speaking to? Then GO! Check with us at the STEM office for more info!
February 1st, 2012
In the days to come you will hear more about ways in which you can become involved to provide long-term solutions to human trafficking. A primary way to do this is through the Anti-Human Trafficking Challenge - the Minneapolis Marathon and Half-Marathon. Now you may say, “I am not a runner.” You DON’T need to be a runner to participate in this event on June 3, 2012. There are many other ways you can participate. You can form a relay team with each person doing about 6.5 miles to complete the marathon. You can even walk!! If you live in the Twin Cities you can do the event either in Minneapolis with about 1,500 other people or right in the Bethany community. As a participant you would contact some friends and ask them to make a donation to this anti-human trafficking challenge. Very soon we will give specific details as to how the funds raised will be used. Now, if you don’t want to join in the event you can promote it to your church youth group. Flyers and brochures will be available for this. If you have a Facebook page, you can let your friends know about the Challenge. They can participate in the event even if they don’t live in the Twin Cities. Thanks for considering how you can join the Bethany community in this very significant venture!
Last week we announced the April 12 - 14, 2012, Short-Term Mission Leaders Conference “The Leaders Call,” sponsored by Bethany and STEM International. It’s designed to train all participants in short-term missions, whether goers or senders or receivers. Here’s the link to register: http://www.cvent.com/d/1cq7vh/4W. For more information about the conference, you can go here: http://stemintl.org/training/stmlc.
January 16th, 2012
Thanks to the Bethany Press team for sharing with the Bethany Family the new model of publishing that is emerging today. For the past 5 ½ years we have prayed for and wondered if there was a “new” expression of publishing Christian resources and a possible expansion of the historic “Business as Missions” model that was so much a part of Bethany’s heritage.
Then a few months ago, right after placing the Bible printing web press in Cambodia, things began to break loose. A Bethany Press associate and former missionary kid had breakthrough insights into a very simple digital print center model (though he has received some pretty complex revelation to get things simple). This led to a meeting with the Billion Soul Network leadership. It became clear that that there was a unique opportunity to serve the global church. For too long the direction of Christian publishing had been the “West to the rest.” Now it was time to bring the “best to the rest” - the whole church to the whole church. God seemed to say, “Now is the time.” Bethany Press has been given a thought and execution leadership window to serve. And it has been non-stop!!!
Equipment from the digital print center was shipped to Orlando, FL for the Synergize3 conference. Bethany’s innovations will be on stage and introduced to church leadership from around the world. BPI leadership is also going to meet for 1 ½ days with the leadership of the Billion Soul Network to explore and expand how we can serve the global church through these initiatives.
January 9th, 2012
The Bethany family celebrated the launch of a Bible press in the heart of Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Thanksgiving Day. The vision behind the press is to see one million Bibles printed in the Khmer language in the next five years. For the first time in Cambodia’s history, the Bible will be accessible to all Khmer believers!
Partners in Publishing, a ministry of Bethany International composed of Christian publishing professionals who volunteer their time to accelerate indigenous Christian publishing, is at the center of this project, raising funds, purchasing the press, the paper, and training Cambodian partners to print and bind Bibles. This is a labor of love, fueled by proceeds from the projects publishers print with Bethany Press, so that we all can see a Bible in the hands of each new Christian in Cambodia.
December 12th, 2011
Christians all over the world join together today to pray for those suffering poverty. There are approximately 1 billion people who struggle to survive on less than one dollar a day. Often, efforts to help these suffering masses are unsuccessful because of government corruption.
Bethany will hold a 1/2 Day Set Apart tomorrow, Tuesday, December 13 to participate in this Global Day of Prayer. Please contact the Bethany Welcome Center if you would like to attend (952-944-2121).
Location: Bethany Church
Time: 11:10 am to 2:45 pm.
Our Ministry Interns join World Vision staff in guiding us through a Poverty Simulation. This experience helps participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a low-income family trying to survive month to month. It is not a game! The object is to sensitize us to the realities faced by people living in poverty. Participants must try to provide the basic necessities for their “families” during four 15 minute “weeks”. Each Family interacts with a mock community composed of various businesses and community services.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1
November 15th, 2011
Some of our college interns have left Kenya due to safety issues there. They moved to Tanzania and are learning Swahili.
Lowell and Sheri Glick (Mexico) have started a new outreach in Monte los Garcia.
Paul S. is in Nigeria to teach and consult nationals.
Ross H. is in Africa assisting nationals begin a training school.
Other college interns are in South Asia and Thailand, learning the local languages and researching ministries where they can get involved.
The Evaluation Visit Report from the Association for Biblical Higher Education arrived this week. We have until December 15 to respond to the letter by describing progress the College has made toward 11 key recommendations.
Our goal is to raise $100,000 and match it with $100,000 from Bethany revenues to provide additional scholarship help to students. This initiative would provide 125 students in 2012 an extra $1,600 in financial aid.
Freshmen: Evangelism, Discipleship and Community, Synoptic Gospels
Sophomore: Hermeneutics and Exegetical Skills, Theology II
