Tuesday, March 16, marks the 25th anniversary of the very first STEM team sent out. It was a team from the Singles group of New Hope Church formerly Crystal Evangelical Free Church, New Hope, MN, sent to Haiti to work at an orphanage. This was the first of about 10 teams sent that year to Haiti and Jamaica. Since that time, STEM has sent 112 teams to Haiti and hundreds more to about a dozen different nations. Celebrate with us 25 years of God’s faithfulness and pray for many more years of fruitful service in His Kingdom.

Please pray for the team of six from five different states who will be ministering in Haiti March 13-21.

GlobeServe: South Africa

Dan Brokke, Tim F., Paul S., and Ed D. joined Herbert B. as host and nine others for the GlobeServe Executive Committee and GlobeServe Training Consultants team in Pretoria, South Africa for three days of consultations centering around Field5000. At this point it is estimated that we have sent at least 350 missionaries since Field5000 began in June of 2008.

We looked at John K’s newest work, which is a missionary sending manual designed to help GlobeServe schools visualize and implement strong missionary sending efforts. This will be a good tool for GlobeServe and we are excited to begin field testing it.

The meetings were very positive and it’s great to sense the passion that continues to climb among our GlobeServe leaders for the work we need to do to see Field5000 accomplished. To do so will mean the salvation of many who are presently locked in the darkness of being a part of an unreached people group.

Half Day Set Apart

On Tuesday we again participated in a half day of prayer. We focused on pure motives and seeing God as the one who does the work of sanctification in our lives. We began with a review of Psalm 27:4 and the progression of asking, seeking, dwelling and gazing.

From there we spent time meditating on:

• Right Words/Wrong Spirit (Acts 16:6)
• Right Motives/Wrong Understanding (2 Samuel 6)
• Right Building/Wrong Builder (1 Chronicles 22)

Podcasts

Four more messages from Harold Brokke’s “Study in the Book of Roman’s” seminar have been posted on the Bethany I-Tunes page. Messages are posted weekly on the site. Other messages by Ted Hegre and Paris Reidhead have already been posted with more past Bethany speakers to come.

In order to listen to these messages at home, you will need to install I-Tunes on your computer. A free download can be found here.

Bethany Center for Global Studies

Get a Certificate or Masters in Cross-Cultural Leadership

The next two start dates for online classes are March 15 and June 1.

One of the courses is Cultural Innovation and Change. This 8-week course examines the need for change in a world filled with poverty, disease, injustice and death and practical steps to bring this necessary change to pass. Students learn the principles, strategies, and methods for effective innovation and change based upon the experience of current innovators. A highlight of the course will be studying ways that poverty is being alleviated and lives saved by innovation and change in the developing world. Books for this course are Leading in a Culture of Change by Michael Fullan; Discipling Nations by Darrow Miller; The Legacy of William Carey by Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi; and The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by C.K. Prahalad.

Is this course something you could put to practical use in your current or future ministry? If so, check out BCGS online or call Rick Boswell for more information 952-996-1450.

Students Share Christ at University

BCOM students go to the University of Minnesota every Monday night to share the Gospel. They have found this to be a challenge with the busy university students who are absorbed in their own lives, and have their own philosophies on life, but they have seen fruit. The campus has many students who are ready to hear the gospel and if approached correctly will be open to hear the word.

BCOM is partnering with a college ministry called Chi Alpha who has a vision to see student-led fellowships start all over the campus. They are seeing doors open up for the Gospel, including in several fraternities. Different types of outreach are used at the – everything from serving free hot chocolate in order to share Christ, to doing prophetic evangelism as they are led by the Holy Spirit.  People are saved, healed, and Bible studies started. They have ongoing discipleship and connect those open to the Gospel with other believers on campus.

Here is one story of many that students have to share: “Two of us asked God that He would send someone our way that needed help. A half hour later while talking to a few Muslims, a desperate and tired man came up to us hurriedly asking us if we would give him money for something to eat. His breath smelled strong of alcohol but we knew that we were to feed him and minister to him. After telling him that his heart is more important than giving him food, he began to cry and tell us how much he needed Jesus.  Then while sitting in a restaurant, we listened to him pour out his heart to Jesus, asking him to come into his life and change him completely. He cried for about an hour, not even touching his food. It was heartfelt repentance. Then on the way out of the restaurant he witnessed to the owner of the restaurant as he shared from his life. We were amazed. It’s clear that God is doing wonderful things!!”

Bethany International Ministries

Scott G. (Asia) just spent a month in the village training two new translation helpers. His wife is involved in personal evangelism, counseling and visiting villages and an orphanage.

Chris and Sabina S. (Slovenia) are working to build the church leadership team and hope to expand or relocate the church this year to accommodate the needs of the congregation. Chris and Sabina lead small groups, translate resource material, write new material, host visiting lecturers, teach seminars, run a ministry training program and lead mission trips.

Chile Update: Dan & Arlene C. and Dion & Natasha M. are all okay following the earthquake. Dion was in southern Chile when the quake hit so it took him a few days to get back to Santiago. The office of Programa Amor (missions training program) has been moved to a new building since its previous location suffered serious damage in the earthquake. The start of the new school year has been moved to March 20. All of the current students and their immediate families are okay. Things are getting “back to normal” in Santiago, but there are critical needs along the coast which was hit hard. Dion is working with others to distribute the ShelterBox (shelterbox.org), a kit which includes a tent, water filter, wood kitchen stove and the basics to provide a temporary 6-month shelter for 10 people. Regarding peoples’ response to the earthquake, Dion writes on Facebook, “Sure puts life and priorities into perspective.” Interestingly enough, following the quake the internet was operational so Facebook and Skype provided a means of communicating with our missionaries, while even cell phone service was down. Pray for our team in Chile, continuing relief efforts and for Programa Amor as the new school year starts.

Japan: The Bethany team is interested in receiving new workers for church planting. In Japan this is considered a long-term commitment as it takes time to learn the language and to build relationships. Joshua Project lists the Japanese as the second largest unreached people group with a population of 121,405,000. Japan is one location in the 10/40 window that is open to receiving Christian workers. Jon and Hiromi D. give oversight to the churches in the Osaka area. Jon is the team leader for Bethany workers and also heads up the church association in Japan. Efforts are ongoing to train Japanese leaders. Beginning in April two of the churches will be under Japanese leadership. We enjoyed visiting with Hiromi during her campus visit last week! Willy and Iko W. lead Sunday outreaches and small groups, teach English and facilitate other evangelistic ventures. Reiko S. is involved with the local church. Albert and Cecile G.work in a children’s school and church ministry.

Thailand: Jasmine and Mindee serve as Global Internship (GI) site leaders in Thailand with the current interns until August 2010. As at other GI sites, the leaders and interns serve with a variety of local ministries.

Some full names have been withheld for security reasons.

Field 5000

Bethany leaders head to South Africa to meet with the international GlobeServe Executive Committee to assess progress, pray and plan for advance in the Field 5000 goal of sending 5000 workers to unreached and least reached people groups.

Haiti

The STEM team to Haiti (Feb. 27 - Mar. 6) was divided up and delayed due to full flights and east coast snow storms last week-end, but they ministered on the Dominican/Haitian border and in Haiti.

Last week-end a team of 25, mostly from Oak Hills Christian College in Bemidji, MN came to stay overnight at Bethany on their way through to Haiti where they will be ministering for a week.

On March 13, STEMS third team will head for Haiti. There are still openings available if you’d like to get on that team; contact STEM right away at 952-996-1385.

Prayer

The commitment to the prayer initiative, called “Watchmen on the Wall” continues to grow and new interns have joined the Prayer Support team. This is a statement of faith and obedience to God’s word to us regarding 24/7 prayer. As we individually and corporately pursue lives of whole-hearted obedience and trust in God, it makes room for Him to speak into our lives, positions us to listen to His word and direction, and brings us together as a people living and working in the fullness of the Spirit - not in our own strength and zeal.

Several from Bethany will be going to South Africa at the end of this week to meet with the GlobeServe Executive Committee. These are representatives from the nine HUBS within the GlobeServe Training Network (173 mission training schools) along with our training consultants. All desire to work together and train workers to the church go to where it isn’t among least reach people groups. Bound together by a common vision and passion we will seek God and strategize together to accelerate the fielding of 5000 new missionaries. There will need to be new schools established and a laser-like focus on sending laborers to the unreached. The Go100 team has also put together a “mission-sending” training program to help national church movements better deploy and support workers. This will be introduced in our meetings as well.

BCOM

Three intern girls finally received their visas and departed Sunday for France.
They had been delayed from leaving with the rest of their team. While waiting for visas, they studied French with former missionary to France, Grayling Trees.

All of the students on campus have enjoyed their Old Testament I course with Tom Shetler. This week the students are on Spring break.

Bethany International Ministries

A Memorial Service will be held for Paul Sunde in the Bethany Chapel at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 3. A reception will be held in the West Dining Room following the service. Paul went to be with the Lord on November 29, 2009. Paul and Reiko have served as workers in Japan with Bethany International Ministries (BIM) since 1980.

Prayer Team

We are thrilled to have three new ministry interns join us: Meisha Simon, Jason Wong & Ezekiah Joshua.

Due to the BCOM spring break, the Prayer Room will be open from 9 - 5pm Monday through Friday of this week (Mar 1 - 5).

Short-term Evangelical Missions

STEM sent their first Haiti Earthquake Response Team on Saturday, Feb 27. The team is made up of seven BCOM students and three other people, one of whom is BCOM alumnae Sheri Flores. Their on-site STEM leaders will be Katia (Alvarado: BCOM ‘04) and Miguel Ulloa. Please pray for them as this group is the “pioneer” team for STEM. We will be partnering with the Christian Community Development Agency, a Haitian NGO that will plug us into whatever type ministry is most needed at the time the team will be there. It may be cleaning, painting, preparing a guest house for future short-term teams or some other work. There is one trained, experienced nurse on the team.

The Bethany Board of Trustees arrived on campus February 21 for the first of three board meetings they will have this year. Along with receiving reports on the College, International Ministries, and Bethany Press, they will focus on Bethany’s vision and priorities for the next few years. There are several objectives that flow out of Bethany’s mission.

• Penetrate the darkest places, bringing the church from where it is to where it is not
• Establish regional platforms for partnership with national churches, networks and ministries (Global Access Partnerships)
• The church everywhere has access to culturally relevant mission training (GlobeServe/Go100)
• Grow mobilizing (ACTS) workers for church planting, training, prayer, and justice
• Establish training and field programs that effectively work in different nations in a sustainable way

The College

All of the campus students are enjoying the third week of their Old Testament I course with instructor Tom Shetler.

Outreach

This week in the prayer and fasting time and in the weekly chapel, Haiti was brought to the forefront. We heard that the earthquake in Haiti is likely the worst natural disaster in history in terms of percentage of people from one nation impacted. STEM is on a fast-track to get disaster response teams there, beginning with the first one going February 27, the second on March 6, and the third on March 13. We still don’t know every aspect of what the teams will do, but we do know God has called us to bring more than humanitarian aid. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation, going in the opposite spirit of fear perpetrated by the voodoo religion. We also are to be ministers of comfort, bringing comfort just as we have received comfort from God (2 Cor 1:3-4). We are booking teams to go to Haiti throughout the remainder of the year and into next year.

Speaking of “comfort” we have another team of 31 ministering in Dulac, Louisiana this next week (Feb. 21-27). Please pray for their safety as they work, as well as for those divine appointments in which they will be able to minister the Kingdom of God to people open to receive.

Paul Sunde Remembered

A memorial service will be held March 3 at Bethany for Paul Sunde, who served as a Bethany missionary in Japan for many years. Feel free to call the Welcome Center at Bethany for details: 952-944-2121.

PARADOX is an opportunity for high school students, young adults, parents and pastors to come for an overnight visit here at Bethany College of Missions (BCOM). This time (April 15, 16) will be filled with worship, fellowship, and info sessions about BCOM.

Why do we call it PARADOX? A paradox is something that seems contradictory, like when Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 16:25). At BCOM it is our desire to do more than just train good Bible students and missionaries; we aim to equip them to be people who truly lay down their lives for the sake of Christ. Prospective students (and their parents) are invited to attend the next PARADOX event to see if BCOM might be the place where the Lord is leading them for the next season of their lives. You can view the Paradox website for more information.

STEM’s ‘Scout’ team has returned from Haiti and is working hard at putting together all of the logistics and information for future teams. The first teams that STEM will be sending out are as follows: February 27 - March 6; March 6-13; March 13-20.  There will likely be more teams to follow for individuals who want to join.  If you are wanting to establish your own dates with a team from your church or organization you can do that as well anytime after March 20.

The staff at STEM is working hard to strategize and plan the long-term response in an expedient manner in order to be as effective as possible for the people of Haiti and the Kingdom of God!

We have all seen reports from the tragic earthquake in Haiti. It is a tragedy beyond comprehension. Several have asked about our Bethany alumni who live in Haiti. We have received reports that they are okay.

Teams to Haiti

We will be sending teams to Haiti for relief and ministry work in the weeks ahead, the first one to leave in five weeks. Two more teams will follow. We welcome you to join one of these teams or put together a team through STEM and your local church. Call 952-996-1385 for more information.

Financial donations are being accepted online for the supplies these teams will take with them.

Go100

One of our key Go100 associates, who works out of our Minnesota office, had a near-fatal bout with malaria. We’re all very aware that the Lord answered the prayers of the saints worldwide and spared his life. Thanks to all of you who were praying. His daughters told us that even when things were at their worst he would still joke with those around him. He said he was really at peace even in the face of death.

Bethany International Ministries

Bethany missionaries are meeting in Kenya to discuss plans for an integrated development project in that country.

A week of teaching on Ethnographic Research at Bethany’s Global Internship site in Thailand will be recorded next week.

Bethany International is responding to the tragedy in Haiti in several ways. We will send our first relief team to Haiti in six weeks. Two more teams will follow. We welcome you to join one of these teams.

What to Do?

Bethany now oversees a ministry called Short-Term Evangelical Missions (STEM). STEM has sent 115 teams to Haiti over its 20-year history. In light of this, we believe we have a very good awareness of where the teams can go and what they can do once they are in Haiti.

You can learn more here: http://www.stemintl.org/trips/opportunities/teams/locations/haiti_restoration.

No Gift Too Small

A second way to become involved is through a financial gift. Team members, while they raise their own support for the trip, will need materials and supplies. This will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. You can make an online gift today toward this relief effort.  To do this go to: https://secure.bethanyinternational.org/donate/index.php.  Gifts to the Haiti Relief Initiative are the last option.

Spiritually speaking, Haiti is a very dark nation that has been bound by our enemy. We encourage you to be in prayer for the church in Haiti that they would be filled with strength and courage at this time. Also, pray for Haiti as a nation trusting that the powers of darkness will be broken and that God’s Kingdom would reign victorious.

Many in the Bethany community have sensed a need to gather together for worship, intercession and to listen, watch and be taught by the Lord. As a result, corporate prayer times have been set for Bethany International associates, interns, volunteers, and students:

• 4 PM Mondays (starting in February): focused gathering to launch each week

• 12 PM Tuesdays: Fasting, prayer, worship

• 9:30 AM Wednesdays: focusing on vision, values, and God’s Word

• Monthly: ½ Day Set Apart Sacred Assemblies

• Quarterly: Day Set Apart

College News

BCOM welcomed seven new students this week! They will join the freshman class of 45, making an on campus student population of 52. We also have 27 ministry interns (post graduates) serving on campus and 59 interns on the field. Please keep them all in your prayers as they begin their spring semester!

Pray for Global Interns preparing to leave for the field. The Kenya and Central Asia teams depart January 15 and the France team leaves January 30. A team leaves for a 4-month Associate Internship in the Philippines in early February. Pray for all of these interns as they finish raising needed support, secure visas and make final preparations for leaving for the field.

Short-Term Missions

A team just returned from the Dominican Republic and a second one is en-route from Haiti after serving there the past 12 days. One of the highlights on the team in the Dominican Republic was the way the Canadian/German team worked together on the construction project with the Dominicans. Our team leader said, “Many times they allow us to help in small ways, but this time we really worked together, both carrying equal load.”

STEM staff from Bloomington and Bemidji will be meeting next week for an extended time of prayer and strategy, seeking to know how we fit into God’s plan for our ministry this year. Please continue to pray that the Lord would connect us with teams we can send out. We are aware of many needs in nations where we have excellent partnerships. Now all we need is people to form teams.

Many Bethany folk are heading out for the Christmas and New Year holidays to be with family and friends. The students ended their semester Friday and will be gone until the first week of January. New students arrive on campus on January 5^th and begin their orientation week.

We have teams going out on Global Internship (16 months) in January to France, Central Asia, and Kenya. An Associate Internship team (4 months) leaves in February for the Philippines. Pray for the final weeks of support raising for these interns, several are still in need of funds, as well as logistical preparations on the fields.

Three mentors received their visas last week and departed for Central Asia. Pray for a good arrival and settling into the culture, and for wisdom as they work with team members to set up everything for the interns due to arrive in January.

As we receive “end of the year” newsletters from our missionaries, many of them have been “stretched” in their finances because of the economy. Yet most of them have been able to take more trips and be involved in more ministry in this past year, experiencing fruitfulness in the midst of challenges they’ve face.  God has been faithful! We want to pray a blessing on each of them and their families during the Christmas season, as they find ways to celebrate with their family, or with their fellow workers. Please join in praying that they will feel God’s presence with them in a special way.

GlobeServe’s hub in India is deeply committed to the Field5000 goal. Since we inaugurated Field5000 on June 26, 2008 the schools in India have sent out 61 missionaries, both within India to unreached people groups and outside in Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan. When we surveyed their present graduation rates and plans for the future we received individual school commitments to send out 400 additional missionaries between now and the end of 2013.

The Bethany prayer room will be closed at 5pm on December 23 and will reopen again January 4. Praise God for all He has done this year and for all He will do in the next!

STEM just returned from an outreach to Kenya where they worked with the interns and Bethany workers in the northeast part of that country. God used this team to impact elementary and pre-school children by building 45 desks which will be used by 90 kids this year who, previously had to sit on the floor in school. This was part of the strategy by those who live there of connecting with unreached people groups in their area. Other highlights were meeting people who are very simple and unassuming, but have laid their lives on the line for the sake of the gospel because of their love for Jesus and the people He has put in their hearts. One man buried his two year old son, who died of malaria due to the harsh conditions, yet he speaks with tenderness in his voice for the people and the city to which God has called him. Another has endured many beatings and death threats because of his persistence in sharing the love of Christ, yet he too has no harshness or bitterness in his spirit, rather continues to pour out his life for the sake of reaching the unreached. We couldn’t help thinking of the scripture passage, “…They went about…persecuted and mistreated-the world was not worthy of them…” Hebrews 11:37-38