Why Missions is Important

In the few weeks they have been in the States, Pastors Williams and Peruth Beshiisha, who are visiting from Uganda, have been ministering in various churches, making contacts, and raising awareness about what is happening in their nation.  One of their speaking engagements was at North Central Indiana Bible College, a ministry of church of the Heartland (http://ncibc.wordpress.com).

To a class of more than twenty Bible college students, the Beshiishas spoke about the importance of missions.  As people who have hosted several groups of missionaries in their church and home, and as missionaries themselves, Williams and Peruth definitely have experience in this area!

Their message was encouraging.  In it, they stressed the importance and the benefits of missions.  It was so good that I want to share some of my notes with you!

• The Bible will take you places.  The message of the Bible is to GO!  The church has a voice in every corner of the world, and we CAN bring about change.
• We often complain about our circumstances because we don’t realize that God is using them to shape us into who he wants us to be.  It’s hard to say that God is with us when we are going through trouble, but He is always at work.
• LIFE is part of your training in who you are to become.  Don’t waste time complaining because everything is part of your training.
• Our past ushers us into our future.

On the importance of missionary work:

• Missionary work, to GO, is a command, not an option.
• To become a missionary, your selfishness needs to die.  You are being trained to make disciples and to be on the job at all times.
• Missionaries expose the errors and hidden things in other coutnries.
• They help persuade through loving and caring and penetrate the hearts of outsiders.
• Missionaries put things into action.
• They help change the minds of people.
• Uganda needs missionaries with transformed lives to declare repentance and tell the real truth.
• WE are the ones who are supposed to go and comfort people and love the unloveable.
• We  need to bring people hope and solutions.
• Missionaries convince people who reject God of the serious consequences of their choice by speaking the truth.
• Missionary work reveals God.
• Types of missionary work: praying, giving (clothes and money), encouraging missionaries, fasting and praying for missionaries, and going yourself.
• Allow the Holy Spirit to tell you where you are supposed to go and what you are supposed to do.

Final encouragements:

• Respond to the call of the Father to other nations
• When he was alive, Jesus couldn’t go to all the places where he was needed.
• Today, he can, because the Holy Spirit is in all of us.
• It really is better to live today because we can reach everyone.
• You can’t go and be a blessing if you’re not full and you’re not being instructed.  Take every opportunity to get what you need to build the kingdom
• When Jesus left, he was 100% sure that his disciples would go and do what he told them.  Are you sure YOU would go?
• We can’t give what we don’t have… but what DO you have?
• God will fulfill your heart’s desire, but your duty is to have a desire to do mission work.  God has the money; just have the desire.

Thank you, Williams and Peruth   Be encouraged by the truth they shared, and may their missionary work here in the States bear the fruit they spoke about!

More pictures……

Anybody want to see more pictures from the missions banquet???

I thought so.

It was an awesome night for kid and adults alike!

Fish Farm Location

At the Project A1:8 missions banquet, Pastor Heath cast the vision for a fish farm that would benefit the Beshiishas, Grace International Ministries Uganda, and the children at Grace Children’s Home.  This is an incredible business opportunity that would provde a consistent source of protein for our children, which is rare in Africa, and jobs for Ugandans who are in need of income.  As brothers and sisters who care about God’s people in Uganda, let’s support this vision both financially and in prayer.  This is one investment that will change lives in Uganda!

Project A1:8 Banquet

November 8th was a big night for missions at Church of the Heartland.  Not only was the KWAM banquet awesome, the adult Project A1:8 banqet ROCKED!  It was such a joy to take the time to celebrate what God  is doing in other nations.  We heard encouraging testimonies about some of the ministries that Project A1:8 supports, including pastor Radovan Bogdonavich in Serbia, missionary Linda Turner, a church building project in the Dominican Republic through pastor Randall Black, and specifically what God is doing in Uganda.  Grace International Ministries Uganda has a mobile Bible college that has trained 280 pastors who were leading congregations with no training at all.  We heard video testimonies from pastors who are deeply grateful for the training they received from the Bible college that Project A1:8 supports.

Besides the great food, the awesome praise and worship, and the encouraging conversation, a highlight of the night was hearing from Williams and Peruth Beshiisha – pastors of Word of Life Church in Uganda, friends of Church of the Heartland, and founders of Grace Children’s Home, which is home to thirteen precious African children who had nowhere else to go.  I’m continually amazed at the way God cares about people and does miracles in their lives!  We truly have a lot to celebrate.

Pastor Heath and the Beshiishas also shared the vision for a tilapia farm that would provide protein for the children in the children’s home and would eventually be a source of income for GIM Uganda.  Let’s keep believing God that He would provide for this project!

This year, we have reason to rejoice.  God is faithful.  We’ve been blessed in America, and I love Project A1:8 because it’s a chance to share what God has given us.  Thanks for being generous givers and partners in prayer.  Take some time today to thank God for what He’s doing in lives all over the world!

Young Missionaries

Last night’s second annual Project A1:8 missions banquet was a huge success.  Not only was the adult banquet incredible (more details to come), God did some awesome things in the kids’ banquet.  As the kids registered, they received their passports, got their passport pictures taken, received a boarding pass with their seat number, and were escorted by flight attendants to the plane.  The experience was so authentic that I watched many eyes get big as they learned that they were going to India, Africa, South America, China, or the Philippines for a few hours.  While on board “flights” to several nations, these young missionaries learned what they could do to help people in other nations.  They emerged with a prayer box containing an airplane as a reminder to pray for safe travel for missionaries, a small bottle of water as a reminder to pray for clean water, a bag of rice to remind them to pray for food, and a globe with a nation that God had called them to pray specifically for.  The kids also adopted a child from Grace Children’s Home to pray for.

The goal of the kids’ banquet was to help kids develop God’s heart for teh nations.  It was a  HUGE success, and the people who invested their time in the children have already seen evidence of what God did in their hearts.  Check out a few of these testinonies:

- One child wasn’t able to attend the banquet but helped put together prayer boxes.  His sister said he had all of the stuff out and she asked him what he was doing (she didn’t know about boxes).  He said, “I’m praying for the kids to have food and water.”
- One mom said that her son is taking his prayer box to school today for show & tell and that whenever he gets money he wants to send half of it to the African child his family sponsors.
- Another mom said that something has been stirred in her son.  All he wants to talk about is where God wants to send him and ways that he can sponsor a child.
- Still another parent said that her son loved the banquet and wants to go to Uganda.
- A junior high student who has started to rebel said that after last night he knows God wants his life to make a difference
- We heard and saw many of the kids at the banquet comparing their pictures and talking about the kids they are sponsoring in prayer

Last night was a great reminder that kids are not too young to make a difference in other nations.  These kids are excited about what they can do NOW.  It’s so exciting to hear about how God is calling kids and giving them opportunities to connect with His heart for people all over the world!

Uganda 2010

It’s time to start praying about Uganda 2010!  Below is all the important information about next summer’s trip to Uganda.  Right now is the perfect time to start seeking God about whether He wants you in Uganda in 2010.

Trip dates for Uganda depending on the size of group

Group 1 leaves June 7th

Group 2 leaves mid-June (second trip depends on number of people interested in trip)

 

Uganda 2010

Suggested timeline

November – pray about participating in Uganda 2010

December – Passport ordered  (must have by February)

January – $1,000 payment due

Shot appointments made

(must have yellow fever shot by March meeting)

February –   Find prayer partner to pray for you and the mission trip

March -  Yellow shot record card & passport given to leader to

send for visas

$700.00 2^nd payment

April – $300.00 3^rd payment, Malaria pills ordered

May – Final payment due at last meeting

All required shots completed

Bus tickets ordered

June -  Packing, final details

Approximate cost of trip: $2800

Potential mandatory training dates:

January 16

February 20

March 13

April 17

May 15

Are YOU Ready?

Only six more days!