Many articles that you will see about Western and Eastern Europe will tell you that ministry there is dead. That has not been my experience. Although ministry there can be slow, tedious, and difficult at times, it is being done. I have had the privilege of working with the Rawlings Foundation and the International Baptist Network (IBN) for the last 4 years in Eastern Europe, and the last year in Western Europe.
The Foundation and the IBN are committed to developing a network of Baptist churches and Pastors that have the same doctrinal DNA and want to be able to develop and share resources. After spending 18 mos. meeting and talking with missionaries in most of the Eastern European countries, I found that the resource they most needed was teaching materials to be available in their countries mother tongue.
After discussing the potential of this with Dr. John Rawlings it was decided to translate Harold Rawlings book, Basic Baptist Beliefs, into as many languages for Eastern Europe as possible. Dr. H. Rawlings book is one of the best resources on Baptist Doctrine I have encountered, and has the ability to identify those who are in doctrinal agreement with the traditional Baptist position. Using this mechanism to identify those who would work well with a network, I began the translation projects.
The credibility this brings the IBN has made it possible to begin to network churches and ministries together that had not been able to cooperate on anything before. It takes a great deal of time and work to locate a good translator, and then have the book edited into a working model that can be used by pastors and people. At this point we have the book translated and distributed into the following languages: Romanian, German, Russian, Slovakian, Spanish, and Polish. The French, Slovakian, Hungarian, and Portuguese translations are currently being done. The Polish translation has been done in paper back form for the Pastors, and then developed into lesson sets for the people so that they can use this material to train their own churches.
We have also had Bill Monroe’s book “Go” translated and distributed in the Polish Baptist Churches. We have taken a different approach in Russia. We have translated the book into hardback and paperback for the Pastors and students, then we have produced a c/d copy of the book to be distributed to the Pastors. They can then run off lesson sets for their people as they need them.
We are currently investigating the possibility of putting each translation on Amazon as a free download that can be accessed by the individuals, then used as a study reference. I am currently in the process of identifying leaders in each region to take the responsibility of leading the IBN for that region and promoting the cooperation of the churches and Pastors. I am praying about a potential door that has been opened for us to take the BBB book in Russian to 17 of the former Soviet countries for distribution.
Please pray with me about this opportunity. It will be handled by a Ukrainian national pastor that has contact with leaders in each of these countries.
Working with the people of Eastern and Western Europe has been a blessing and a challenge. They love the Lord and are committed to accelerating evangelism and church planting in their countries.
Bob Hines
Editor's note: The Internation Baptist Network Family will conduct an International Baptist Family meeting in the year 2011. We will conduct that meeting at the Castle, in Belgium. Dates will be forthcoming as soon as they are solidified.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Pepers' Report from Sierra Leone
Our 11th church, located in the village of Mabantu, was started two months ago by the pastor of one of our other churches. There was no church of any kind in this villaage and only five Muslims. The first service was attended by 182 people and they have averaged over 130 every Sunday since they began. I had the privilege of preaching in this church two weeks ago and we had 32 people make a profession of faith. After the service the church people walked approximately 5 miles to the river where we conducted their first baptism. Exactly 100 people were baptized and everyone went home rejoicing over what the Lord is doing in their village.
Last week we held a two-day revival in conjunction with the starting of our 12th church. In the two nights we had 114 professions of faith and on Sunday there were 60 in attendance and an additional 11 were saved. Thank you for your prayers for us and for the great opportunity here in Sierra Leone.
We are so grateful for your faithfulness.
In Christ,
Mike & Diane Peper
P.S. We still have need of $400.00 for the temporary building for the church in Bo. The rains have started and there is a great urgency for this young church.
Last week we held a two-day revival in conjunction with the starting of our 12th church. In the two nights we had 114 professions of faith and on Sunday there were 60 in attendance and an additional 11 were saved. Thank you for your prayers for us and for the great opportunity here in Sierra Leone.
We are so grateful for your faithfulness.
In Christ,
Mike & Diane Peper
P.S. We still have need of $400.00 for the temporary building for the church in Bo. The rains have started and there is a great urgency for this young church.
A Day In The Life Of A Camp Director
June 27, 2010
Rotting flesh has a very distinct odor to it. It is not at all pleasant yet easily recognized. Those with a low tolerance to pungent smells would most likely have to fight gagging at this powerful odor. I have noticed that there is a difference in the smell of rotting flesh attached to a live host as compared to that of a dead host. And of the two, by far the most wretched is rotting flesh attached to a live host. At that I gag.
Why this introduction of rotting flesh? Because God has recently been helping me to more clearly understand this OSY ministry and the role it plays in His Great Commission. In one of our most recent camps a couple of campers arrived from the street; one incapacitated and in a wheel chair. His friends took care of him and got him around to all the activities. When I first met him, he set off my gag reflex and I had to fight to keep from reacting. I tried to inspect his body with my glances without staring in order to discover what smelled so badly about this man. As my casual glances finally worked down to his legs I saw the source of this putrefying stench that was overwhelming my nostrils and head. He had an open wound that covered his shin and wrapped around to his calf muscle. There was rotting flesh in this wound and the smell was coming from this leg.
My eyes have seen the teenage boy with gangrene burns from huffing paint thinner that exploded on him. My olfactory senses have been overwhelmed with human vomit on my shoes, human feces and urine stained clothes, and alcohol laden breath. My hands have held the infant with a soaked diaper and no change of diaper available. I have doctored the festering wound from a human bite inflicted during a street fight. I have placed myself between a cowering, frightened homosexual teen as 3 or 4 others beat him in the dark corner of the boys dorm. I have rolled drunks on their sides to keep them from choking on their own puke as their bodies convulsed with withdrawal. I have been threatened with a machete. I have had stones thrown at me. We have stopped the pyromaniac intent on burning down the dorm with everyone in it, and we have shown the light to teenagers who worship death, or believe that they are ghosts. We have been the strong arm that has stopped many a young person from taking their own life, just when they thought they had nothing to live for. I have put my arms around a scared, lost, desperately hungry prostitute who believed she was going to be abused by our staff, but felt it would be worth it to be able to sleep in a real bed instead of an abandoned car and to eat a warm meal.
In this ministry we have seen men, women, teens and children at the edge of destruction because of sin and God has placed us on what I consider to be one of the front lines of this spiritual warfare for the souls of mankind. In every battlefield there has to be a M.A.S.H.
unit. It is the basics, it is raw, it is urgent care. It is not pretty, it doesn’t take long and it does not include rehabilitation or rest and recreation. The strengthening and recovery takes place further away from the enemy lines. In a hospital or some other advanced facility.
That is much like the local church; that is where more time can be spent with those rescued from the front lines, but as for myself, my family and our staff - we are honored to be near the front lines offering this spiritual M.A.S.H. unit for those lives the enemy is seeking to destroy.
Because our Saviour came to seek and to save those which were lost.
We pray for and would welcome the next couple or family to come along side of us and help us develop the ministry beyond the M.A.S.H. unit. But until then, I humbly thank my Lord and Savior for putting us at the front of this spiritual warfare and for allowing this ministry to be a place of rescue for so many OSY.
To date in 2010 the Rawlings Foundation and others have helped to touched 9,819 campers through this ministry. 2,794 of them making a profession of faith. Those are lives rescued from the destroyer...
Sincerely yours,
Allen S. Owens
Rotting flesh has a very distinct odor to it. It is not at all pleasant yet easily recognized. Those with a low tolerance to pungent smells would most likely have to fight gagging at this powerful odor. I have noticed that there is a difference in the smell of rotting flesh attached to a live host as compared to that of a dead host. And of the two, by far the most wretched is rotting flesh attached to a live host. At that I gag.
Why this introduction of rotting flesh? Because God has recently been helping me to more clearly understand this OSY ministry and the role it plays in His Great Commission. In one of our most recent camps a couple of campers arrived from the street; one incapacitated and in a wheel chair. His friends took care of him and got him around to all the activities. When I first met him, he set off my gag reflex and I had to fight to keep from reacting. I tried to inspect his body with my glances without staring in order to discover what smelled so badly about this man. As my casual glances finally worked down to his legs I saw the source of this putrefying stench that was overwhelming my nostrils and head. He had an open wound that covered his shin and wrapped around to his calf muscle. There was rotting flesh in this wound and the smell was coming from this leg.
My eyes have seen the teenage boy with gangrene burns from huffing paint thinner that exploded on him. My olfactory senses have been overwhelmed with human vomit on my shoes, human feces and urine stained clothes, and alcohol laden breath. My hands have held the infant with a soaked diaper and no change of diaper available. I have doctored the festering wound from a human bite inflicted during a street fight. I have placed myself between a cowering, frightened homosexual teen as 3 or 4 others beat him in the dark corner of the boys dorm. I have rolled drunks on their sides to keep them from choking on their own puke as their bodies convulsed with withdrawal. I have been threatened with a machete. I have had stones thrown at me. We have stopped the pyromaniac intent on burning down the dorm with everyone in it, and we have shown the light to teenagers who worship death, or believe that they are ghosts. We have been the strong arm that has stopped many a young person from taking their own life, just when they thought they had nothing to live for. I have put my arms around a scared, lost, desperately hungry prostitute who believed she was going to be abused by our staff, but felt it would be worth it to be able to sleep in a real bed instead of an abandoned car and to eat a warm meal.
In this ministry we have seen men, women, teens and children at the edge of destruction because of sin and God has placed us on what I consider to be one of the front lines of this spiritual warfare for the souls of mankind. In every battlefield there has to be a M.A.S.H.
unit. It is the basics, it is raw, it is urgent care. It is not pretty, it doesn’t take long and it does not include rehabilitation or rest and recreation. The strengthening and recovery takes place further away from the enemy lines. In a hospital or some other advanced facility.
That is much like the local church; that is where more time can be spent with those rescued from the front lines, but as for myself, my family and our staff - we are honored to be near the front lines offering this spiritual M.A.S.H. unit for those lives the enemy is seeking to destroy.
Because our Saviour came to seek and to save those which were lost.
We pray for and would welcome the next couple or family to come along side of us and help us develop the ministry beyond the M.A.S.H. unit. But until then, I humbly thank my Lord and Savior for putting us at the front of this spiritual warfare and for allowing this ministry to be a place of rescue for so many OSY.
To date in 2010 the Rawlings Foundation and others have helped to touched 9,819 campers through this ministry. 2,794 of them making a profession of faith. Those are lives rescued from the destroyer...
Sincerely yours,
Allen S. Owens
Training Session for Highlands Tanzania Camp
It was an incredible week, as 111 youth and youth leaders gathered at the Highlands Tanzania camp for 4 days of ministry training. With evangelistic camps scheduled to launch in December, these young volunteers signed up for ministry teams ranging from dorm monitoring to altar counseling.
Team building games, skits, powerful worship and teaching sessions, and prayer highlighted the week. Students and leaders left the camp charged with a vision of filling the camp to capacity three times during the December school break.
Please pray for the next 5 months of preparation and promotion as the Highlands Tanzania camp ministry gets underway.
Dave Jones
Dave and Bonnie Jones
P.O. Box 986
MorogoroTanzania
Team building games, skits, powerful worship and teaching sessions, and prayer highlighted the week. Students and leaders left the camp charged with a vision of filling the camp to capacity three times during the December school break.
Please pray for the next 5 months of preparation and promotion as the Highlands Tanzania camp ministry gets underway.
Dave Jones
Dave and Bonnie Jones
P.O. Box 986
MorogoroTanzania
52,651 Saved at Highlands Camp, Philippines
Hi Bill,
Hope all is well with you! Just a quick note with the final stats from Manila. Not sure if you've gotten them from someone else.
Campers 109,507
Saved - 52,651
Baptism Decisions - 7,697
Baptist Bible College Asia new student applications - 2,005
God blessed with some great results! We give him the Glory! We are also, very grateful to the Rawlings Foundation for their financial support! What a vision!
We are following up the harvest as we speak!
Sincerely,
Greg Lyons,Metro Manila
Editor's note: These results were from 89 Youth Camps held in the Philippines.
Hope all is well with you! Just a quick note with the final stats from Manila. Not sure if you've gotten them from someone else.
Campers 109,507
Saved - 52,651
Baptism Decisions - 7,697
Baptist Bible College Asia new student applications - 2,005
God blessed with some great results! We give him the Glory! We are also, very grateful to the Rawlings Foundation for their financial support! What a vision!
We are following up the harvest as we speak!
Sincerely,
Greg Lyons,Metro Manila
Editor's note: These results were from 89 Youth Camps held in the Philippines.
Timothy/Barnabas Training for Haiti and Dominacan Pastors and Workers
Although not officially open, the Highlands Complex in the Dominican Republic hosted almost 200 pastors at the end of June. Herb Rawlings welcomed the pastors from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The event was the Timothy/Barnabas Pastors School conducted by Dr. Johnny Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock (GA). Dr. Hunt is the past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Jonathan Falwell was one of the featured speakers.
In addition to encouraging, equipping, and engaging pastors, the highlight of the conference was the footwashing ceremony in which Dominican pastors washed the feet of Haitian pastors. Dr. Hunt participated in this beautiful ceremony.
During the week, hundreds of American teens viewed the new complex. Gus Hernandez, camp director, had the facility and staff receive the guests although the official opening is not until November.
Great preaching, music, and Bible teaching were featured at the T/B Pastor’s Conference. On the last evening of the week, almost 3,000 people participated in an evangelistic rally held in San Pedro de Macoris. Ron Bishop, President of SCORE International, preached the gospel and there were close to 250 salvation decisions.
The beautiful Highlands Complex located in Boca Chica will be fully operational in 2011. Events are being planned to bring thousands of Dominican youth to hear the Gospel, be discipled to carry the good news of Christ to the entire nation, and plant hundreds of churches. Our goal is to make a spiritual impact to the millions who inhabit the island.
The event was the Timothy/Barnabas Pastors School conducted by Dr. Johnny Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock (GA). Dr. Hunt is the past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Jonathan Falwell was one of the featured speakers.
In addition to encouraging, equipping, and engaging pastors, the highlight of the conference was the footwashing ceremony in which Dominican pastors washed the feet of Haitian pastors. Dr. Hunt participated in this beautiful ceremony.
During the week, hundreds of American teens viewed the new complex. Gus Hernandez, camp director, had the facility and staff receive the guests although the official opening is not until November.
Great preaching, music, and Bible teaching were featured at the T/B Pastor’s Conference. On the last evening of the week, almost 3,000 people participated in an evangelistic rally held in San Pedro de Macoris. Ron Bishop, President of SCORE International, preached the gospel and there were close to 250 salvation decisions.
The beautiful Highlands Complex located in Boca Chica will be fully operational in 2011. Events are being planned to bring thousands of Dominican youth to hear the Gospel, be discipled to carry the good news of Christ to the entire nation, and plant hundreds of churches. Our goal is to make a spiritual impact to the millions who inhabit the island.
243 Saved At Highlands, Colombia, SA
We wrapped up our Evangelistic Camps on June 5 – 7.
Here are the stats on the last one:
Campers 538
Volunteers 163
TOTAL 701
We were pretty well running at full capacity. We moved beds up from the ranch house and put our volunteers on the floor. So we ordered more mattresses and brought in 20 tents. We didn’t have enough trays in the kitchen , so the last few had to use disposable plates. As far as lodging and feeding, we were put to the test, and I think we passed it fairly well. Meals were on time and our volunteers are such good sports that we heard no complaining about their sleeping arrangements.
What was really stretched to the limit were our counselors. On the guys side, we had 16 kids per counselor. Considering the kids who came, that made it very difficult to have ,much quality time with each one...something that is extremely important for evangelism and especially follow up. By the last day, we had 243 kids who made professions of faith! So God was good and gave us a great harvest.
Last Saturday we had a Youth Rally at church and this coming Saturday, we start our workshops in order to improve the retention. This is probably the hardest work and where we need a lot of improvement. I’ll never be satisfied with a 20% to 25% retention rate! We have to learn to do better!All in all it has been a fruitful season.
On August 7 – 8, we have our Parent’s Evangelistic Camp. We already have over 20 parents enrolled and we haven’t really opened inscriptions. Getting the parents will certainly improve our chances of keeping the kids.
Thank you for making this possible.
Craig Lingo
Highlands Camp, Colombia, SA
Here are the stats on the last one:
Campers 538
Volunteers 163
TOTAL 701
We were pretty well running at full capacity. We moved beds up from the ranch house and put our volunteers on the floor. So we ordered more mattresses and brought in 20 tents. We didn’t have enough trays in the kitchen , so the last few had to use disposable plates. As far as lodging and feeding, we were put to the test, and I think we passed it fairly well. Meals were on time and our volunteers are such good sports that we heard no complaining about their sleeping arrangements.
What was really stretched to the limit were our counselors. On the guys side, we had 16 kids per counselor. Considering the kids who came, that made it very difficult to have ,much quality time with each one...something that is extremely important for evangelism and especially follow up. By the last day, we had 243 kids who made professions of faith! So God was good and gave us a great harvest.
Last Saturday we had a Youth Rally at church and this coming Saturday, we start our workshops in order to improve the retention. This is probably the hardest work and where we need a lot of improvement. I’ll never be satisfied with a 20% to 25% retention rate! We have to learn to do better!All in all it has been a fruitful season.
On August 7 – 8, we have our Parent’s Evangelistic Camp. We already have over 20 parents enrolled and we haven’t really opened inscriptions. Getting the parents will certainly improve our chances of keeping the kids.
Thank you for making this possible.
Craig Lingo
Highlands Camp, Colombia, SA
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