I Love Missions

A Celebration of Freedom

      Tomorrow, we, as a nation, will celebrate Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, representatives from 13 colonies formally signed the document that declared our independence from Great Britain. Thirteen years later, James Madison introduced amendments to the Constitution — the Bill of Rights.

      Our religious freedom is guaranteed in Amendment One:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We are privileged to be part of a nation with this constitutional provision.

      As believers, we are aware that not all people across the globe enjoy this liberty. Some Christians today worship in secret; others are in a prison cell for their faith in Christ. Because of persecution, some families have been forced from their homes with only the clothes on their backs. Many others have died.

      Christians have been persecuted for their faith since the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, but statisticians tell us that more Christians died as martyrs during the 20^th century than in any time in history. And the slaughter continues.

      While the annual number of Christian martyrs cannot be accurately calculated, one writer noted: “Most martyrs suffer and die anonymously, unknown, forgotten, their deaths unrecorded except in heaven.”

      As believers living in freedom, we know our responsibility is to pray for those who suffer for their faith, while also doing everything in our power to preserve our freedoms. But we also know that true freedom only comes through Christ.

      Today, 4.4 billion people know NOTHING of freedom from sin and Satan’s oppression. Our responsibility reaches beyond prayer. We must go or send someone in our place. The apostle Paul said in Romans 10:13-15

For, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

      May we celebrate our freedom with joy and gratefulness and also soberly accept our responsibilities to pray, give and go.

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Remembering - Sadness With Hope

Staff members in Assemblies of God World Missions have been sad for a few days. Last Thursday missionary Nelma Carpenter and her 9-year-old grandson, Buck, died in car accident in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was instantly in God’s presence; Buck died an hour later in a hospital. Nelma and her husband, Tommy, have served with Missions Awareness Team since 2010.

Then on Friday night, missionary to Ireland, Larry Dimond, also was transported from this earth to heaven after a short, but difficult, battle with inoperable cancer.

This week’s funeral services for the three will be many miles apart, but they are now part that “great multitude that no one could count” (Rev. 7:9). Already they are worshiping our King and are whole – no sickness, pain or tears (Rev. 21:4).

The days ahead for Nelma’s, Buck’s and Larry’s families will not be easy, and we in AGWM will miss these wonderful people. Will there be sadness? Of course! Grief? Yes! But the apostle Paul tells us that we who know Christ do not grieve as others without hope (I Thess. 4:13). One day we, too, will rejoice with Nelma, Buck and Larry.

Their work on earth is finished, but we are still here to carry the gospel to those around us and to the ends of the earth. With 4.4 billion people still without the hope that only Christ can give, we have much work to do.

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The 4-14 Window

About a year ago, I read missions articles that referred to the “4-14 Window.” I was familiar with the “10/40 Window” introduced by Luis Bush more than a decade ago as a geographical term to identify the location of least-reached people groups, but what did this new term mean?

Once again, Luis Bush coined the new term. It refers to a demographic group, ages 4 to 14, that is the most open and receptive to the gospel. Many years ago, children were described as “the church of tomorrow.” Then the correction was made: Children are the “church of today.”

I think of Christ’s words: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”(Matthew 19:14). Or, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Many AGWM missionaries say they knew as children that God was calling them to overseas ministry. This says to me that children are not only sensitive to the gospel but are also willing to hear God’s voice and accept His direction for their lives. 

In a concentrated effort to reach the world’s 1.2 billion children for Christ, AGWM leaders designated 2011 as “The Year of the Child.” Missionaries across the globe are planning special outreaches and addressing children’s needs.

The great evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, said, “If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God!”

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The Suffering Church

Today I read the story of Leopold Kuzmic, the father of Peter Kuzmic (AGWM missionary to the Balkans). Peter was remembering the day the Communist militia broke into the family home and verbally and physically abused his father. “When they took him away, we wondered whether we would ever see him again,” says Peter.

His father returned home but was ordered to report to the police station every Sunday. There the militiamen beat him mercilessly. Leopold could not chew his food or speak clearly when he came home, but his response always was: “I am so grateful that I just had the privilege to suffer for my Lord who died for me on the cross.”

Every week I receive reports telling of those afflicted for the cause of Christ. We suffer little for our faith in the United States in comparison to others throughout the world who have no religious freedom. Our response to their suffering should be earnest intercession. We should pray that God will

• Grant them strength to endure hardship.

• Supply their needs and encourage them.

• Give them favor with government officials.

• Create open doors for ministry.

We must also be grateful for and take advantage of the privileges we have to openly proclaim the gospel and gather in worship.

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A Day to Remember

November 24 marks the 46^th anniversary of one of AGWM’s greatest tragedies: the death of a missionary at the hands of the people he was trying to reach.

After completing a year of itineration in the United States, J.W. Tucker and his family returned in August 1964 to begin their fifth missionary term in the Congo. During their time away, the political situation in the Congo had deteriorated, and rebel soldiers occupied the area around the family’s home in Isiro. The Tuckers were placed under house arrest on October 29, and within a week Jay and other missionaries were imprisoned at the Catholic mission.

The situation escalated when rebels realized that Belgian troops were invading the area. An Italian priest was the first to be killed, and 49-year-old Jay was second. He was clubbed to death and his body thrown to the crocodiles in the Bomokande River.

Jay’s death brought great sadness to his family and to believers worldwide, but God, as He promised, brought good out of evil. The story of his death led hundreds of people from the Mangbetu tribe to accept Christ.

The complete story of this miracle is found in God’s Faithfulness in War and Peace, a new AGWM Heroes of the Faith book that includes 33 exciting missions stories. Call Assemblies of God World Missions at 1-800-988-6568 to order the book.

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A Different Worldview

Several Sundays ago, our pastor at Central Assembly in Springfield, Missouri, said emphatically, “I love missionaries.” I smiled and thought, I heartily agree. As I thought about my response, my mind flashed back to a basement Sunday School room in Martinsburg, West Virginia, where nearly every month missionaries told us stories of God’s grace and forgiveness. They wore their national dress and allowed us to touch curios that gave us a glimpse of far-away cultures. What treat for a 6-year-old!

I was much older when I realized that these godly men and women had significantly influenced my worldview. They directed my thinking outside that small hometown and taught me that God is no respecter of persons.

We often sang, red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in God’s sight. I knew this was true because missionaries told me that people outside the United States were finding Christ as Savior, experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being healed physically.

Our world is much smaller today. A variety of media gives us insights from overseas that I never imagined as a child. But only missionaries and missionary-loving pastors and believers can instill in our children a love for people that are different than us in every way.

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A Promise Fulfilled

Within a few days, I leave for a short-term teaching assignment at a Bible school in Romania. The privilege of traveling, working with missionaries and helping students develop their writing skills for media ministries is the fulfillment of a promise God gave me during one of the lowest times of my life.

In January 1991, I was sitting in our car in front of the rehab unit at the Pittsfield Medical Center in Massachusetts while therapists worked with my husband, Tony, who had lost a leg in late November. He had resigned the pastorate, and we would vacate the parsonage soon. Disability funds would not be available for six months; we had a son in college and no savings.

We had decided to move to Springfield, Missouri, so our son could live with us and finish his studies at Evangel College. How could we move without any money? Where would we live? How would I find a job in a new city? The saddest part was that we were leaving people we loved and would no longer have a place of ministry. I didn’t feel forsaken, I simply felt numb and so scared I couldn’t even cry anymore to mourn our losses.

I dismissed those thoughts and picked up a Christian magazine that I had brought to read. One of the articles mentioned that God was opening doors in Russia for the spread of the gospel. As I read about new opportunities for missionaries to start Bible schools, I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, “You will teach in overseas Bible schools.” I remember wondering how will that could ever happen, but I tucked those words in my spirit, hoping they were from God.

He did not fulfill that promise immediately, but this is my sixth overseas teaching assignment. He has been faithful.

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Up the Down Escalator

I smiled as I watched a few Chi Alpha students struggle to climb the down escalator at the recent World Missions Summit in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were laughing all the way to the top. What fun they were having! I’ve thought about the incident over the past few days in several ways.

Sometimes we choose the most difficult way in life. When God asks us to simply follow Him, we carve out our own path thinking that our way is best. Going God’s direction just doesn’t look like much fun. We laugh as we ignore the obvious danger and struggle to keep our balance spiritually. We may finally reach our destination, but the path was much more difficult than God had planned.

At other times, God chooses a path that is seemingly one of constant hardship. Some missionaries face spiritual darkness and daily disappointments, failure and insecurity in a culture that is not pleasant. Some work for several years before they see their first convert. Without consistent electricity, pure water and American conveniences, their lives are not easy. But it’s God’s path and they have joyfully accepted the assignment. God gives them the same comfort He gave the apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

When we choose a path that seems pleasant but is not in God’s direction, the outcome may not be good. When God chooses the way, however, victory is always assured, even if difficulties meet us around every corner.

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Thank you, Grandma

When I was in grade school in the mid-50s (yes, I’m that old), the company that produced filler paper bound the sheets with a four-inch wrapper that featured a movie star. The elementary-age craze was to collect all the photos and exchange them with friends.
My grandparents sold the paper in their general store so I could choose the photo I wanted. Although I knew nothing about celebrities or movies (that was not part of our Pentecostal culture), I was soon caught up in the activity.
Grandma thought it was useless – maybe even sinful. One afternoon, she told me that movie stars did not live by God’s rules. “These people should not be your heroes,” she said. “I don’t want you to pattern your life after them.” Then she handed me a small scrapbook. “I want you to see how many missionary prayer cards and autographs you can get in this book,” she added.
Over the next seven or so years – until I became a teenager, I was the first in line to speak with the missionary after a missions service. I sought them out when we attended camp meetings and listened intently to their messages. Each prayer card was carefully glued on the page next to the missionary’s signature, and the scrapbook became my highest treasure.
God touched my heart through the kindness of a host of missionaries who took time to fulfill a little girl’s request. Missionaries are my heroes today, and I’m still moved by their stories of God’s intervention in peoples’ lives.

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