~Nanette

Having taken three years of Spanish, I was able to pick out certain phrases, and one in particular that we heard in Costa Rica will forever ring in my ears. Hearing Leopoldo, the pastor at the Volcancita church, shout and exclaim over and over again “Gloria a Dios! Gloria a Dios!” (Glory to God) along with the church congregation outwardly lifting up their prayers astonished me. I’ve never heard a noise more beautiful!

Coming back to the states, I definitely don’t see our method of worship as being wrong, but I do raise a question: what holds us back from giving God the glory He deserves?  In talking with Kurt Krodle on the Thursday in San Jose, I decided that we don’t need to change what we do to fit the Cabeccar style of worship and prayer, but maybe be more obedient, more genuine, more attentive toward God in our own lives.

By Dr. Dennis Wiles

Our theme for this year’s missions’ emphasis is: The Sent Church.

I like it! It accurately describes who we are as a church family. We are sent! I want you to consider yourself as someone who is sent out by this church! You may be sent to your office, school or home. You may be sent to your family, friends or colleagues. But – you are sent out with a message. It is the message of hope and reconciliation. It is the message of the Gospel.

I also want you to embrace the understanding that our church is to be sent out to the nations of the earth. Jesus has commissioned His followers to make disciples of all the peoples of the world. In order to accomplish this grand mission, we have to be going, baptizing, teaching and obeying (cf. Matthew 28:16-20).

We are taking this task seriously as a church. We are training people who believe God has called them to the nations of the world. We are engaging them in cross-cultural training to equip them with the tools necessary for this undertaking. We are connecting them to the infrastructure developed by our church to assist them in fulfilling God’s call on their lives.

When they are ready – we are sending them. When we send anyone from our church family, we are all sent! FBC Arlington is in Arlington – and in Asia – and if Africa! These are our people sent out from our church. Praise God!

It is an exciting time to be alive. You and I are privileged to participate with God in the accomplishment of His great plan of redemption. As you pray, give your money, offer your emotional support, go on a mission trip, participate in any way in this work – you are in the mix! God is using you! May He find you an available, willing and supportive part of this great work! To God be the Glory!

By Diana Richardson

Being able to minister to people who have never known Jesus has always been a childhood dream of mine.  I always imagined being able to go to third-world countries and sharing His love and His message.  Now as an adult, not only have I been blessed to visit other countries and cultures but I also have my church, First Baptist Church of Arlington (FBCA), which encourages the use of the gifts God has given me to help stateside. There is an incredible amount of preparation that goes into each trip. Recently, I have had the privilege of helping in the Mission House (south of the Wade Building). We have an area for dental, medical, kitchen, camping, and children ministries. With the help of others, organization of the supplies we currently have has been completed.  We pack for and unpack after all the Mission Trips, whether stateside or overseas. Recent Mission trips from FBCA have included Brownsville, TX, Atlanta, GA, New York, NY, Costa Rica, Sierra Leone, Africa and Niger, Africa.

My husband, Jim, and I are also currently involved in obtaining medical supplies and equipment for the Hope Center in Sierra Leone. We collect various medical items from local hospitals and organizations and sort through what can be used. Then we itemize everything on paper (in duplicate) and pack it for shipment overseas. While some folks may think that you need to be trained in a special profession to help, that really isn’t the case. A willing heart and a pair of hands is really all that is needed.  The work is tedious at times but the fellowship is awesome! I know that it is sometimes hard to get fired up for people or cultures that you do not know, but listen to God’s voice in your prayer time. Is He gently urging you to step out and give of your talent and time? Join God in bringing the lost back into His fold.

By Sarah Dowdy

Who are the internationals in our community?  They are…

… university students far from home and family.

… business people and their families sent to work in Texas.

… scholars with Ph.D.s doing research in their fields of study.

… people who came here as the spouse of an American citizen.

… families who came to escape religious or political persecution.

These and many others make up the international members of our community.  Many are lonely, do not speak English (or at least not “Texas American”), and they may be afraid, but they are here.  They want to learn about American culture – cooking, the customs, the language – and they want to make friends.

Over the past 40 years, those of us in the International Friends organization have met several thousand of the internationals in our community.  Thanks to the World Mission Offering and our American volunteers, we are able to help meet some of the needs of these internationals.  We offer classes teaching all levels of English (yes, even “Texas American”); Bible study classes, as well as craft, art, and cooking classes.  We have Bibles available in many languages for our internationals and  give one to anyone who requests a Bible in his or her native language.  As we spend time with and minister to these people, they truly do become our “international friends.”  Some of these friendships develop further into special relationships where the international becomes like an adopted member of the family.

About eight or nine years ago two lovely young ladies, Maria and Irina, came to UTA as a part of a special program sponsored by our government.  I met them when they began attending International Friends on Wednesday mornings.  Soon, my husband and I and our children and grandchildren began spending time with Maria and Irina.  After their year at UTA was over, they returned to Russia, but we remained in contact.  Two years later, they both returned to UTA to complete their Masters degrees and then went on to find wonderful jobs.  We now call them “our Russian girls.”  They have been with our family for holidays, special occasions, and evening dinners.  The first year Maria and Irina joined us for our family Thanksgiving celebration, it was great fun to see my sister and her husband show them how to cook a turkey and dressing with all the fixings.  Each year since then, they enjoy helping with the preparations just like the other members of the family!   We enjoyed meeting their parents when they have been able to visit from Russia. We celebrated Irina’s wedding and will soon attend Maria’s.

We have many people from Vietnam who attend International Friends and our Sunday morning International Bible Study.  Most of them have come here in order to escape their government.  De and Thinh are a very special couple from Vietnam.  De was a chemistry professor in Vietnam.  He was a Buddhist, but Thinh helped him learn about Christianity and he became a Christian.  De and Thinh both help International Friends and the International Bible Study to minister to the many Vietnamese in our community.

Melanie and I have been special friends for 30 years.  She and her family came to Arlington from Sri Lanka when her husband was sent here by his company.  Melanie is an accomplished pianist and plays for International Friends on Wednesday mornings.  Her children grew up here, and still live in north Texas both having professional careers – one as a doctor and the other in technology.

Another special friend I met is from China.  She is a research scholar with a Ph.D. doing medical research at UTA and Southwestern Medical School.  One year, she and I attended the WMU Christmas Home Tour.  As we went from house to house, I was able to tell her the Christmas story for the first time as we looked at the Nativity displayed in each home.  Her Junior High aged daughter was able to come stay with her for one year, and our family enjoyed getting to know her as well.

Each year a group of business executives are sent from China to earn an Executive MBA from UTA.  This past year we met Kevin, Cathy, and their eight year old daughter, Angel, who came here as a part of that program.  Our entire family enjoyed getting to know them, and our grandchildren especially enjoyed playing with Angel.  Now that they are back in China, we keep in contact by email.

International Friends was, and still is, a wonderful experience for our daughters.  They have had the unique opportunity to meet and really get to know people from all over the world.  Now our four grandchildren also have this special privilege.  One of our grandchildren’s favorite people is a young man who is a graduate student at UTA.  He misses his younger siblings, and our grandchildren (the boys especially) enjoy playing with him, hanging out, and having a big brother type of friend – what fun!  He and our older grandson have birthdays very close together, so we have a joint celebration for them.  He was also a “must invite” to our younger grandson’s birthday party.

Thank you, First Baptist, for partnering with us through your prayers and offerings so that International Friends can continue.  We have been able to share Jesus with so many wonderful internationals.  “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

By Victoria Malone

Overall, the Junior High Mission Trip was amazing― amazingly hot, amazingly eye-opening, and amazingly fun. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life, but I have also never seen so many smiles in my entire life over a period of four days. The kids at the sports camp were filled with joy that spread to me despite how miserably hot it was. They didn’t care about the weather; they embraced the fun and love that was all around them which I thought was really cool. To see the look on the mission church pastor’s face after we finished painting was heart-warming (or heart-cooling considering it was 102 degrees outside!).  Going to the beach and the Astro’s game were great ends to awesome days.  I will never forget the relationships or memories that were made over those four days. From Carlos trying to catch a picture of us in mid-air, to looking at the completed mission church and getting that great feeling of accomplishment, to playing extreme kickball with the kids, my experience was unforgettable.

By Kerry Bankhead

God is alive and at work.  And the week leading up to our small group of four leaving for New York, proved to us that there are other forces at work as well.  From stressful work weeks to a gruesome leg injury and strep throat, from nightmares filled with darkness to anxiety about provision, the fears and tensions were building for each of us.  It was not until I was resting in a squeaky hostel bunk-bed that I felt peace.  And I knew we were where we were supposed to be.  What a blessed feeling.  And that peace did not leave, but surrounded me and gave me strength in moments when I would typically shrink back.

Our time in New York was very exciting and filled with missions opportunities.  While our mission trip was focused on sharing Jesus with West Africans and providing resources in their languages, we found an unexpected mission field opened up to us at our hostel.  There were many nations represented and many lost souls.  Every conversation was an opportunity to show respect and love, and it was so readily accepted!  We made several friends.  God put us there.

Friendships were also formed on the streets of Harlem.  We set up a table full of resources and literature that shared the gospel and conversion stories in many different West African tribal languages.  As we played a CD in Jula, people stopped to inquire about and receive the free items we offered.  We were informed, through a “Bridges” training program and conversations with the resident missionary, about what to expect from the Muslim population.  Respectful, expressive debates and uninhibited conversations focused on their misconceptions about Christian beliefs took place at a moment’s notice.  Although there were instances of discomfort and doubt in our abilities and knowledge, there was no need to doubt the strength of God’s hand guiding us.  Only He could have fostered the relationships that were built with the West Africans we surrounded ourselves with.  One Muslim shop owner even passed out some of our materials for us!

The sky is one of the ways God stirs my affections for Him.  Seeing the sky reminds me of His limitless love for me, His omnipresence and sovereign power.  So, it is no wonder that sitting by the window on the flight home from New York fostered a truly spiritual experience for me.  After spending several days on a street filled with men and women from West African countries, sharing living space with many different cultures, hearing multiple languages at any given moment and braving new (and sometimes undistinguishable) foods, my view from the airplane window screamed this truth: He’s got the whole world in His hands.  He showed me that as vast and expansive as this world seems to me, as far away and hard to reach as so many places seem, He holds them.  He knows them and He cares for them – the people He loves.

By Jacque Bobker

These words rushed to mind as we stood on the hot, windy and dusty site of the small mission in Venecia, Mexico. This was not my first Torreon trip but it was my first experience as Vacation Bible School leader.

My spirit had been immediately renewed when our mission leader shared these words with me a couple of weeks before. At that time I was frustrated trying to pare down and package the bare minimum of VBS materials we would be able to transport. But NOW we were here with temperatures at the century mark and not a bit of shade in sight!  There was a lot of “best” to do. The church sanctuary was too small to house us all and the children’s classrooms were still rudimentary cinder block construction with no roof or floors. Where would we teach 100+ VBS children and keep them and their papers from blowing away in the dust?

Torreon 2010 presented many new challenges and, as it turned out, VBS logistics was but a minor obstacle! This was my third Torreon mission trip. Previously, we drove down in a caravan of large vans and we could easily bring all of the VBS and construction materials, as well as dental tools and the personal items we would need. We stayed in the city in a modern hotel with air conditioning and its own restaurant where we could even order hamburgers and french fries if we wanted them. Sure, we would go out to the countryside during the day and do our work, but would come back to rest in all of the comforts of home.

Torreon 2010 was very different!  We learned that due to some recent security alerts related to incidents involving visitors being too prominent and visible, that we would need to come as common tourists and stay away from the city hotels and desolate country roads.  This meant we would fly down and live and blend in, as best we could, with the small village setting. So how would we get all of our construction and VBS materials down there?  We could only carry so much with our limited luggage allowance and, would we be able to get what we did carry through customs? Also, with no hotels or inns in the villages, where would we all sleep and eat for the time we were there?

Well, of course, I need not have worried. None of us need have worried. Do your best and God will do the rest!

Through extensive planning and several preparatory trips, our mission leader made sure everything was in place. Working through church leaders of two local community Baptist churches, the heavy and space consuming construction tools and supplies, such as concrete and lumber, were purchased locally ahead of time. The same was done for bulk VBS materials we couldn’t transport such as scissors, crayons, and paper.  A local Christian dentist in a nearby town made available some dental equipment and medical supplies for use by our dental team due to arrive midweek.

Arrangements were also made for our living quarters. We were to stay in a small unused parsonage which at one time had been a church sanctuary. Actually, one of our previous Torreon mission construction crews had repurposed the structure about 5 years before! (God does provide.)  There was no running water or air conditioning, but plans were made for several additional structures to be built behind the main building to provide shower and restroom facilities. All but the details were in place.

So, when we arrived Monday morning for our first day of VBS, the shade tarps and the sitting tarps were placed as we had planned. The children with their bright and beautiful faces sang their songs, learned their Bible stories, and worked their crafts. We had a great class of teenagers and a wonderful turnout of adults as well. Each day our attendance increased resulting in a very successful and satisfying week!

Our construction crew, consisting of the men from our group and the Christian men from the mission and surrounding churches, put a wood and metal roof on the children’s cinder block classrooms and they ran concrete floors and a sidewalk the length of the building. The crew also built children’s tables and benches for the classrooms as well as many new benches for the church sanctuary.

The dental team arrived late Wednesday night. They were able to see more than 150 patients over the next two days.

We all camped out on the parsonage floor on air mattresses.  We shopped in town for the week and cooked our food on a propane stove and a charcoal grill. We washed our dishes with water heated on the stove. We lived very close together but we were able to share a camaraderie and fellowship we had not experienced in previous years when we stayed in the hotel and we all went our separate ways.  We came to fondly refer to our new home as Casa Verde.

We met many new faces this year and reconnected with many old friends. We enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with the local church members every evening. One member of our group, a local pastor in Grand Prairie, delivered the evening sermons again this year. The church community planned a wonderful farewell our last night.  They sang us special songs and gave us special hugs and lovely handmade gifts of appreciation. They prepared us food and we all experienced a delightful communion crossing all language barriers.

Our mission leader, who has done this trip for over 20 years, told me that each trip has its own personality and special challenges, but they all are good and we accomplish what we set out to do.  But in my limited experience, this year was a very special one for me! Though we all worked harder and longer with fewer creature comforts, I feel we experienced a greater satisfaction in having to stretch farther and dig deeper. I know I did and, in return, I received a most wonderful and personally satisfying gift!

By Chris Bowerman and Kurt Knapton

You may have seen or heard of the movie, “Blood Diamond”, which was nominated for five Academy Awards for its portrayal of conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone.  While diamonds may be the most valuable mineral found in the West African coastal country of approximately six million people, the most valuable resource for preserving the future of Sierra Leone is its children.  These “diamonds in the rough” are the focus of the Orphan Sponsorship Program in Sierra Leone.

”Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27 (NIV)

James 1:27 is the theme for the Orphan Sponsorship Program, a ministry that comprises one facet of the overall Restore Hope Project in Sierra Leone.  The program is just over a year old now, but there are currently 84 orphans in Sierra Leone who are now sponsored by loving families and Christian believers.

The program at its core is a correspondence and relationship building program between orphans in Sierra Leone and caring American families.  When an orphan in Sierra Leone (a country ranked last on the UN’s 2008 Human Development Index) receives their first sponsor letter from the United States, it is as if they have received a letter directly from an angel in heaven!   The sharing of reciprocal letters and pictures forms the foundation for a special bond that transcends barriers and grows over time.  The target of the program is helping orphans of ages 7 through 13 who have lost their parents through war, sickness, or accident, and are in need of support.  In addition to the correspondence,  another aspect of the program is financial aid from the sponsor of $1.23 a day (or $37 a month) which is enough to provide a sufficient supply of food, clothing, basic necessities, medical care and educational support (e.g. tuition, uniforms, books and supplies) that the orphan needs to survive and thrive.  The program currently focuses on orphans in four areas of Sierra Leone: Kissy, Wellington, Mile 91, and Bo.  Because of the tragic circumstances surrounding the lives of the orphans, the most important aspect of the program is how it provides hope and an opportunity for the love of Christ to shine in their lives.

Many people wonder how a program like this can work so well in a country so far away.  In addition to having great sponsors, it starts by having great people on the ground.  With a dedicated team of our own cross-cultural workers in Sierra Leone as part of the Restore Hope Project, letters and aid can be delivered effectively and the proper oversight can be in place.  Additionally, the program partners with Sierra Leoneans through an in-country orphan program called “NEEDEP” (New Era Evangelism and Development Program) that was established by Pastor Samuel G.A. Kargbo and his wife Emma in March of 1999, just two months following the rebel invasion of the capital city of Sierra Leone, Freetown.  This vital organization’s mission is to make Christ known to the destitute, disadvantaged, and vulnerable in society through spiritual formation and the provision of relevant social services.  The NEEDEP partnership has flourished as a direct result of the Restore Hope Project’s core values of “collaboration” with and “indigenous” support of societal problem-solving by Sierra Leoneans themselves.

The co-managers of the Orphan Sponsorship Program for the Restore Hope Project are Kurt Knapton and Chris Bowerman, both members of First Baptist Church Arlington, TX.  They are committed to helping to “polish” these “diamonds in the rough” through the promotion and administration of sponsorships that holistically improve each orphan’s physical, educational, emotional, and spiritual well-being.