Missions

Hispanic churches gave 24 percent more than the previous to year to Southern Baptists' Lottie Moon international missions offering, although it was short of a $1 million offering challenge.
Posted on Jun 18, 2009 | by Shawn Hendricks
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)—Hardly anyone on staff at Primera Iglesia Bautista in Woodbridge, Va., thought the congregation would come close to its $15,000 goal for the 2008 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.

With a tough economy and a congregation of about 150 members, many of whom were either out of work or struggling to support their families, most of the Hispanic church's staff felt an unmet goal would only bring discouragement.

"No one thought we should set it that high," said Luiggi Reggiardo, who has pastored the church for seven years, "... [but] I told them that God is in control of our church and economy. We need to trust Him."

The church exceeded its goal by totaling $16,000 in 2008 Lottie Moon offering receipts. In 2005, the congregation had begun collecting a Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which totaled $1,500. For the next couple of years, the church more than doubled its giving to the annual offering. In 2006, the church gave $5,000; in 2007, the total was $12,000.

This past year, "The Million Challenge" was initiated to encourage Hispanic churches to give to the Lottie Moon offering, which supports more than 5,600 International Mission Board missionaries. The Million Challenge also raised awareness of overseas missions among these congregations and helped them connect with Hispanic missionaries, about 100 of whom are part of the IMB's missionary force.

The Million Challenge resulted in a collection of $504,372. Though short of the $1 million goal, it was a 24 percent increase over the previous year's contribution of $406,524 from churches that identified themselves as Hispanic Baptist.

"I think in this economy, a 24 percent increase is pretty significant," said Jason Carlisle, a Hispanic missional church strategist for the IMB.

"We have a lot of churches that are catching the vision," he said. "Most of these churches are less than half the size of most Baptist churches."

The 24 percent increase in giving among Hispanic churches helped the 2008 Lottie Moon offering reach an overall total of $140.3 million, but the offering fell nearly $30 million short of its $170 million goal and more than $9 million short of the previous year's total. As a result, the IMB will be unable to send many of those who are ready to serve as missionaries in 2009. New missionary appointments for 2009 will continue on a more selective basis, involving the most strategic assignments.

Counting salary, housing, medical care and children's education, the IMB spends approximately $43,000 annually per missionary.

Spanish speakers can visit hispanos.imb.org to find out about Hispanic ministries and how churches can get involved.
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Shawn Hendricks is a writer for the International Mission Board. For more information about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, visit imb.org/offering.

THE MAX WILLOCK MISSIONS REPORT

6/23/2009

Kendu Bay area of Kenya
    Jane Muga is one of the workers that we have trained to start home
churches. In an email today she reported going to a village called
Kawiti. She found a man there bad sick with Cholera. She pushed him in
a wheelbarrow to the nearest clinic where they were able to treat him
and he got well quickly. He nor she had the money to pay the clinic
bill but they allowed her to come back when she had raised the money. In
2 days she was able to pay the bill. This opened the village to receive
the Gospel.   She witnessed to them and 54 people were saved and she was
able to start 5 home churches in the village.   In 3 years she has led
2,626 people to Christ and has started 223 home churches.

Yours in Christ's service,

    Max Willocks

6/15/2009

* This report has some normal English errors but I think that you can
get his meaning. The name on the email is his real name but he goes by
his English name, George. He is the leader of the group that we worked
with in May in the Adhiwa district of Kenya. Note this report covers
only the work of 5 leaders and not the rest of the 26 that we trained. I
have not heard from the others.
*

Praise God brother Max,

I hope you are doing well in the Lord as we do here. sorry for taking long to write you. I misplaced the contacts you gave me and thanks to God that I have got it from Shem.

God is doing great things since you left. I and four other pastors have been going round to the places we planted the home churches to teach them on how to conduct Bible studies and baptize. So far, for the last one month, we have seen 256 people baptized. Last week we were somewhere called Kuria and we managed to plant 23 home churches praise be to God!! for that mission.

Once more, I thank God who is enabling you to come again in September to serve with us. We are praying for you and the team that the Lord has put in place to come and serve Him.

I wish to hear more from you.

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ

George.

* This next report is from Andrew who is the leader of the work in the
Kendu Bay area of Kenya. The other letter that I sent tells something of
the beginning of the work in the Kendu Bay area.
*
Dear brother Max,
Praise the name of our lord and Savior Jesus. How do you do brother ?
Its long before i hear from you sir , since i left you at Awendo . How
was you journey back home ? And how is our sister Neysa doing ? I and my
family are doing well and strong in the lord .
Well i just want to give you the report on what the lord has been doing
through my ministry . I had an invitation from one of brother working in
Kisii by name Joseph Obungu , I went with him in a very interior place
next to the border of Gusi people and the Masai people . We were three
and we stayed there for 8 days . The work of God was wonderful many
souls came to the lord .We started 63 new home churches with about 423
new confession of faith . There is much to be done in that area many
people need Jesus , when we were passing to visit some homes , people
were just inviting into their homes to present the gospel and to pray
for them . We had a wonderful time there , God really touched his people
there many were saved and many were healed of there diseases and we give
God all the glory . We are planning to go and revisit them and show them
how to baptise themselves .
In Christ's service,
Brother Andrew

*One of the leaders in the Kendu Bay area is a woman whose name is Jane.
Here is a report from her work dated 6/10.*

Dear My Friends Max and Neysa
It has taken me some 3 weeks without going to check the email. I thank you very much for receiving your letter this morning.
I had been somewhere called Nyaguti area where I got some grand home churches and I was training them how to baptize and to encourage the others and I have seen the glory and the power of our Lord upon the work we are doing in Jesus name.
There I planted 10 home churches with 108 believers for your letter that I have received this morning I’m going to check my file or the copy sent, you are going to get the correct answer.
My orphans are doing well in their lives God knows them so much. We don’t have crops in our gardens because of the sun. it is too hot that made the crops to be destroyed but we want to be joyful always, with this in mind I constantly pray for you
Pass greetings to all of our friends
Sister Jane

*Yours in Christ's service,
Max and Neysa

REPORT ON THE KENYA ADHIWA PROJECT 2009

By Max Willocks

On April 25, 2009 John Parker left from Florida and I left from Arizona to travel to Kenya. We arrived in Nairobi on April 26^th. We stayed over-night in Nairobi and left as early as possible for Awendo in the Adhiwa district. On the way, we stopped at Tenwek to deliver some medical supplies to the hospital located there. It was raining; and we had to turn off the main paved road on to an unpaved section which had been dug up in preparation for repairing. The mud was deep and flowing with water and looked threatening. We, however, were able to travel through it without problems.

We continued on to Awendo over some very difficult roads and we arrived at a surprisingly nice hotel about 7:00 P.M.

After over-night rest and a good breakfast, we traveled to Kakwara. Because of heavy rains, the road was almost impossible to travel. It took 45 minutes to travel about 10 miles.

The group was late gathering but we were able to start the training meeting with very little delay. Instead of the 35 that we were expecting to train, only 26 were present. This made the door-to-door visiting easier. Several of them expressed serious doubt that Home Churches would work in the Adhiwa area. Since we had been invited to introduce Home Churches in that area, we proceeded to present the planned program.

At the close of the first day of meeting I asked each one to find at least one person to witness to before the meeting on the next day. I had given them some instructions on how to witness. I told them that I would ask them to report on their witnessing experience the next morning. We then traveled back to the hotel where we enjoyed a good dinner and some sleep.

As we gathered the next morning, everyone seemed anxious to report. Each of them had experienced some success. Thirty professions of faith were reported and some of them had the opportunity to help with family relation problems. Real excitement had now begun!

The second day of training became a day of more excitement and anticipation. It had been a long day so we rested in the evening. The next day we began our door to door witness training. We met many people along the trails and they always seemed anxious to talk to us. At the end of the day every one reported many professions of faith and several reported families that committed themselves to start home churches.

Each day we went to different areas, always witnessing to the people and telling

them about home churches. There were marvelous results each day. Although it rained

much of the time, it did not interfere with our work -- except that John became soaked one day.

John and I spoke in different churches the Sunday that we were there. We learned from these that neither the pastors nor the congregation did any witnessing. They said that they thought that if they had a building, the people would come on their own. We continued our door to door witness training on Sunday afternoon and worked with the members of one church that was 10 years old and had 10 members.

One morning I was dismayed to see a woman with leprosy. She had already lost any semblance of toes on both feet. She also had a large open sore above her left ankle and was beginning to lose her fingers. I tried to get some medical help for her but I did not succeed.

One day we witnessed near Lake Victoria and the next day we witnessed in the next valley. I was very surprised to meet a man that morning with whom we had worked near Lake Victoria. His name was James. He had walked for 3 hours over the mountain so he could go witnessing with us and he was at the meeting place at 8:00 A.M.

We closed the project on the evening of May 7. We were all absolutely thrilled with the results of our witnessing. There were 581 professions of faith reported and 115 families had committed to start home churches in their homes.

The Executive Secretary of the Baptist Convention of Kenya came from Nairobi to see how the project had progressed. He was very much impressed and he already had prepared a plan, inviting us to bring a team in September, another in January and one in May of next year to introduce home churches in three new areas.

While in the Adhiwa area we had an opportunity to check on the progress of the project that we began in the Kendu Bay area nearly three years ago. In that project we had trained 10 workers and 4 of them have faithfully continued to start home churches and to train others to do the same. They now report that they have reached more than 12,000 new believers in Christ and have started 1,700 home churches. This news is very humbling and shows the mighty hand of God at work.

Please continue to pray for these projects.

Max Willocks and John Parker.

Rwandan Genocide 15 years later: Alice forgives

She survived the unthinkable, forgave her attackers, and now works with World Vision to bring peace and reconciliation to her country.

June 2009

By Didier Habimana, World Vision Rwanda, and Rachael Boyer, World Vision U.S.

Alice tells her story at a World Vision workshop, promoting forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation.
Photo ©2009 Didier Habimana/World Vision

Editor’s note: The following story is Alice’s account of how she survived the violent Rwandan Genocide. Due to the graphic content of her story, reader discretion is advised.

“I was holding my 9-month-old baby girl, when a mob of soldiers and interahamwe militias came and surrounded the swamp where I was hidden,” recalls Alice, 40. She is a Tutsi and a survivor of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide in which approximately 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were brutally killed by extremist militia groups.

“They were armed with guns, machetes, swords, and clubs. They saw me and approached. One of them took my baby out of my hands and [killed her],” says Alice. Then, a man named Emmanuel cut off Alice’s hand and slashed her face. “Others hit me with nail-studded clubs, and I lost consciousness.”

Over the course of 100 days, Alice and millions of Rwandans saw their neighbors killing their relatives, their priests and pastors abandoning and betraying them, police and army soldiers shooting at them, nations around the world observing without action, and their leaders plotting against them.

Fifteen years after the genocide, Alice’s memories are still fresh; she has a scar on her jaw and is missing a hand. However, there is something extraordinary about this soft-spoken woman: With the help of World Vision reconciliation workshops, she found the strength to forgive Emmanuel and the men who killed her baby. In fact, Alice lost 100 members of her extended family, and yet she forgave.

Alice's story

At the age of 14, Alice was refused access to public education because of her Tutsi background. Her father was killed in 1991, accused of being a political traitor. Then in 1992, two of her brothers were killed on their way to join the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), an opposition group.

Learn more about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and World Vision’s efforts to bring healing and reconciliation to this country in the years since.

Alice married and gave birth to a daughter. In April 1994, they heard that Tutsis were being hunted and treated as “cockroaches meant to die.” They tried to take refuge at a large Catholic church, hoping the killers would not attack a “house of God,” but the church was already crammed with people seeking refuge, so Alice’s family and thousands of others hid in swamps around the Akagera River.
Four days later, the interahamwe militia and soldiers attacked the church and brutally slaughtered approximately 5,000 men, women, and children, including many members of Alice’s extended family.

“[In the swamp,] we were many and were very terrified,” says Alice. “Children would go days without eating, and some were sinking deeper in the mud of the swamp and died. Two nieces of mine sank while escaping bullets and grenades of the soldiers.”

Militia raided the swamps on April 29. “Killers were fleeing, defeated at the Battle of Liberation. As they were passing by, they decided to slaughter the survivors hidden in the swamp,” says Alice. “They killed a lot of people that day, including my baby and my niece,” she adds, with tears in her eyes. After they attacked Alice, she was left for dead among the other victims.

When Alice came back to her senses, she saw her husband and a few other survivors.

“The first thing I asked was, ‘Where is my baby?’” Alice says. “As all people looked at me with mercy, I remembered what had happened.”

A week after the killings, RPF soldiers rescued the survivors and Alice was taken to the hospital, where she spent two months recovering.

Emmanuel repents

Your monthly gift will help World Vision provide relief and support for children affected by war and conflict around the world.

Eventually, Alice came face to face with one of her offenders: Emmanuel Ndayisaba. “I’m the one who cut her hand off and slashed her face,” Emmanuel confessed even before authorities identified him. He took full responsibility for his crimes. “I participated in the genocide, killing people,” he said. “With my own hands, I killed 14 people.”

After the genocide, Emmanuel’s Christian faith convicted him of his wrongdoing. “Before the 1994 genocide, I was a member of a church choir, yet I was taught from my family to hate Tutsis,” he says. “After being involved in the killings, I felt bad in my heart and I said, ‘This would not have happened if I was really a good servant of God.’ That’s why I repented.”

The cries and faces of those he killed haunted Emmanuel. He reported himself to the authorities and pleaded guilty. He asked authorities to punish him, and he served six years in prison for his role in the genocide.

Taking the first step

Emmanuel was attending one of World Vision’s Healing, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation workshops when he met Alice for the first time since the attack.

“When I confronted Alice to ask forgiveness, she refused,” said Emmanuel. “It was very difficult to forgive me. I did everything to repent. I knelt, stood, cried — everything I could, but she was not forgiving me,” recalls Emmanuel.

Alice wrestled with Emmanuel’s request, but she wasn’t ready to forgive. “From 1994 to 2002, my life was very miserable. I was desperate, disappointed, poor, and traumatized,” says Alice.

Forgiveness

Emmanuel testifies about the power of forgiveness in his life at a World Vision workshop. Behind him is a quote from Alan Paton: "When an injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive."
Photo ©2009 Didier Habimana/World Vision

“Emmanuel came to see me three times, asking forgiveness,” remembers Alice. “At first, I felt scared. I felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't know what to do. I just felt I was not able. Later on, I reviewed what I was taught in healing workshops, discussed the issue with my husband, and he encouraged me. I also realized that Emmanuel was really repenting, and I forgave him.”

It’s been more than six years since Alice forgave Emmanuel. Now, both preach reconciliation in their community and wherever they’re invited.

“We work together, we are part of that association, and we love one another,” says Emmanuel.

They are both members of the Ukuri Kuganze Association (meaning, ‘truth must prevail’). This association is made of released prisoners, survivors, and people whose relatives or friends are still in jail because of the genocide. World Vision works closely with Ukuri Kuganze, offering training sessions that promote healing, reconciliation, and unity in communities.

At workshops and conferences, both Emmanuel and Alice teach, “Forgiveness and repentance benefit both the offender and the victim.”

Alice’s life has changed, and her outlook is now hopeful. After forgiving Emmanuel, Alice and her husband were able to conceive again, and they now have five children. On a regular basis, Alice serves as a source of hope, love, and courage in her community, checking in on sponsored children as a volunteer for World Vision.