Tiffany Ann Lewis: (Taken from The Elijah list)

Leaning On The Lord: Trusting Him and His Plans

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.Proverbs 3:5-6

The Lord is speaking to me a lot right now about leaning on Him. I was wondering why (seriously), and in one of those "ah-ha" moments it became crystal clear. You see, after having a house church for nine months, the Lord has blessed us with a beautiful historic church and we have been able to open our doors to the public. Therefore, as you can imagine, the need to lean has been kicked up a notch or two.

Leaning on the Lord sounds so easy, especially since I understand the importance of being a leaning bride. Nevertheless, being totally honest with you, I have found myself leaning on my own understanding more times than I care to admit and have learned, as King Nebuchadnezzar did, the folly of doing so. Let me explain.

The Book of Daniel

The fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel opens with King Nebuchadnezzar "praising God" and wanting to tell everyone the signs and wonders that God had worked personally for him. He had seen miracles and believed the Word of the Lord, and he wanted everyone to know. Then the testing comes... The king has another dream. The dream scares him, and what does he do?

Instead of calling on Daniel and the Most High God, he pulls out the ace in his pocket and calls, once again, on the astrologers, enchanters, and magicians that he has consulted in the past, even though they had let him down before (see Daniel 2:10-12). In other words, he returns back to his own understanding, revealing that he doesn't trust God with all his heart, but leans on his own understanding instead.

Daniel's advice to the king was to break off his sin of thinking that the kingdom was somehow established by his knowledge and his power versus the hand of the Almighty God. Basically, Daniel was telling him to "know that you know that God alone rules, or else everything in your dream will happen to you" (verses 26-31, my interpretation).

Not following Daniel's advice, the king held on to his aces. He chose to trust/lean on what he knew based on past experiences. The moment he did that, the wilderness that was predicted in the dream comes upon him... (verse 31)

While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from Heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses." Daniel 4:31-32

What a fantastic lesson for us all to glean from today. You see, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. We naturally spring into survival mode, into self-preservation. Being worried or distressed, we naturally formulate our "Plan B." We pray of course, and ask God to bless our plan, feeling that praying means that we are leaning, but it's not. We need to be still and know that He is God, trust Him and the plans He has for our lives, even when we don't understand them. Our "Plan B" is just another ace in the pocket.

A beacon of hope

Siliguri is blessed with natural beauty. The majestic Kanchen-junga Mountains, visible from Siliguri on a clear day are enough to take your breath away. Siliguri, on the bank of Mahananda River and spread into the foothills of the Himalayas, is the gateway into 8 north-eastern states of India. The strategic importance of the town is obvious. Siliguri connects four international borders (Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, and Nepal).

 In 2007 Asian Outreach began the building of a Prayer Tower. It would become the “light on the hill” drawing the lost and broken hearted, the weary, sick and downtrodden, and a place where believers could come together to teach and share the Word of God, a place of worship and praise to the Lord. The Prayer Tower took 5 years to complete and after many obstacles and setbacks, it was finally opened in February 2012.

The Prayer tower has become a landmark in Siliguri for touching and changing lives. Miracles, signs and wonders have been taking place and the powerful anointing and the presence of God is felt when believers come together to worship and pray there. Glory Place Prayer Tower is equipping many pastors and church leaders to expand God’s Kingdom not only in India but into neighboring countries as well. He is raising up Prayer Warriors at Glory Place from the hills and plains of Darjeeling,Siliguri, Sikkim, Bhutan and the eastern provinces of Nepal. This call for intercession and prayer has touched the hearts of the children; and God is using these children to intercede for their families and the nation of India. Like the adults, they fast and pray, often overnight. Many of these young

children are dedicating their lives to the Lord and God is moving in a powerful way among

the children using them to be the “salt” and “light” to their families and friends.

 People who come here leave filled with the love and hope of Jesus Christ, filled with fresh anointing and a miracle. People are being healed from their diseases, set free from bondage and delivered from evil spirits. Pastors, leaders and believers who visit the Prayer Tower give testimony of a tremendous infilling of the Holy Spirit that changes their lives completely.

 Women folk, who have always remained in the background in India, are stepping out in Siliguri, becoming prayer warriors and intercessors for the nations. Families are being saved, husbands coming to the Lord when they witness the changes in their families. Pastor Jiwan the resident Pastor of Glory Place Prayer Tower, has reported recently that non-believers have come to witness for themselves the wonders taking place and many have given their lives to Christ.

Intercessors storming Heaven

Women intercessors crying out to the Lord

                                                 
      

Church with a Mission

Ps Ng Ping Kin                                                                                    

Senior Pastor, U Chau Estate Baptist Church.

Can a church with 100+ people participate in mission or is it only for churches with a large membership?

Medium-small size churches normally lack human and financial resources. The Pastors are over-whelmed with the pastoral work of their church and have no time for mission.  If they ever do anything, it would only be symbolic.  I am serving in such a medium-small size church, with a determination that we WILL do missions!  Missions is the core of the Great Commission.  Jesus commanded that we should make “disciples” of all men.

Mt 28:19-20:“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and the son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”

This is a call for all Christians! 

For a medium-small size church to do mission, I have learnt to hold firmly to three important areas:

1.           Vision: First and foremost, the pastor has to have the vision for mission so he can motivate the church. There are always countless needs in the church, and there are never-ending urgent tasks to be done but to have a vision for missions is equally important. Vision comes from passion.  I have gone to the mission fields with Asian Outreach Hong Kong teams to visit Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County in Guangxi, China.  I was moved by their enormous needs and brought them to my church.  Our congregation visited the Dong tribe several times. We contributed to their church building project.  Our leaders made several trips to share and train them as well.

2.  Teach: I have heard that some congregations complain that their pastors are doing too  

     much mission work.  In reality, they are saying that they want more care from the pastor.    

     When a pastor promotes missions in his church, he needs wisdom to motivate and

     encourage his congregation also to be involved in missions so they will not feel neglected.

     He needs courage to teach his people that “It is better to give than to receive.”  A

     congregation with a selfish attitude, only seeking to receive pastoral care for themselves

    does not have the signs of a blessed church.

3. Give and take: No pastor can oversee the running of the church by himself and he has to learn to delegate and get his church members involved in the daily running and administration of the church. Sharing the load helps the Pastor to then focus on what is important for the church and missions is important for every church. As everything is important, I often pray to God for wisdom to give and take: Which ministry can I give to other pastoral team members or deacons?  Which ministry do I need to take on personally?  For me, I would like to put more time and effort on mission and evangelism. With wisdom to give and take, share and delegate your ministry load, is the only way to avoid being burn-out.

As the Great Commission is the core of all ministries, Missions has to be the most important ministry in all churches. May the Lord grant us vision and wisdom to participate in mission together so we can populate His Kingdom. The GREAT COMMISSION needs all of us. Will you answer His call?

From the heart of Eric Fung...

Dear Partner in Missions,                                                          

Warmest Christian Greetings!            

 

As I look back at the past year (2013) I am truly amazed at  the faithfulness of God and how God was able to supply all our needs for our 2013 budget. During the first half of 2013 it cost me some grave concern and to a great degree worrying on how we were going to raise the funds needed to help the Foot Soldiers put food on the table for their families and to sustain the various ministries the Lord directed us to start.

Praise the Lord for hearing our prayers and thank you for your unwavering support in terms of prayers and financial partnership; we were able to support them for yet another year. This means so much to me as these Foot Soldiers are very special people to me. I may not meet them often but I know how they are doing and what they doing through their respective leaders. I know when they need urgent prayers, I know the challenges and hardships they face in their respective countries and sometimes even the dangers such as persecution and life threatening situation to themselves and their families, all for the sake of the Gospel. 

Who are these great and dedicated men and women of God? I call them great because their passion and love for the Lord which is their driving force. They do not worry about themselves and they do not focus on what they themselves or their families are going through but keep their  focus on the one who has saved them and given them ‘New life’. When I think of them I am constantly reminded of 2 Cor:5 15,  “And He (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”

The Foot Soldiers are from Third World countries like Bhutan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Vietnam, where Christianity is not welcomed  and preaching the Gospel is often dangerous and difficult which could land you in a lot of trouble. They are mostly simple hand working people from various backgrounds who  themselves were touched and saved by the saving grace of God and their desire is to see the families, villages, towns and nations saved also.

Pastor Moses one of our Foot Soldiers who leads the Violet Apple Star Ministry in Ho Chih Minh has a street ministry, ministering to the poor, street children, beggars, prostitutes, sick and drug addicts. With his team of 40 volunteers and part timers he searches the city looking for those who need help and there are so many. They go into the overcrowded hospitals seeking out the lost, giving them the hope and love of God. Prostitutes and drug addicts see the tangible love of God through the Foot Soldiers and see Hope that their lives can change too by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The Leper colony welcome the team as many including their own families are afraid to visit them. The stigma of Leprosy is still apparent and the Leper patients are shunned by

their families and the community. Ps Moses and his team reach out to make a difference in their lives by loving them and sharing the Gospel.

In the town of Siliguri in India, Lotha Nzanbembo and his team of Foot Soldiers work in the mission fields of Bhutan and India. Bhutan, a country extremely hostile to Christianity, is a challenging and difficult place to evangelize.  The Foot Soldiers have been attacked and one was even severely beaten up and left to die. Christians not only face pressure from the authorities but also from the community. There are spies everywhere trailing Christians and their activities, waiting to report them and the people fear to violate the laws resulting in reluctance and afraid to talk. Our Foot Soldiers often have had to change the time of fellowship or camouflage water baptism as having a picnic by the river. But these simple men of God never give up; the fire in their hearts for the Lord burns passionately

Lotha himself has a four year old son Jaazaniah who suffers from epilepsy and has fits four to five times a day. Does he sit back and ask why me Lord? Am I not serving you faithfully? His faith is such that he never even thought to question the Lord. His response is…” Our Lord has already healed us in our inner being though we go through physical and emotional struggles; our God is always good to us even though we do not deserve it. Sickness and suffering are part of our lives on earth and we have to accept It.” says Lotha. What immense faith….

Please join us to pray for the Foot Soldiers. Your prayers encourage them and your financial support helps them to do what God desires of them and feed their families as for most of them, being a Foot Soldier is a full time job. Like you and me they have concerns for their children and how to provide for their families. But their trust is always on the Lord and that does not waver, no matter what their circumstances.

Hebrews 6:10

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. (NIV)

May the Lord continue to bless you and your family as you continue to sow into His Kingdom

Your partner in missions

 Eric Fung

The Dong unreached peoples group

By AO Hong Kong - Rev James Chak  

A Dong celebration

The Dongs are one of the 55 Chinese ethnic minorities that live around the borderlands between Guizhou, Guangxi and Hunan provinces. Most Dongs live in villages surrounded by rough mountainous terrain where there are no major cities or roads. Only narrow, unpaved mountainous paths which are often subject to flooding and landslides. They live in villages of 20-30 households located near streams and the Dong people are agricultural people. The women are adept at spinning and embroidering.

The Dong people are very superstitious and believe that all things have spirits and Gods. Ancestral altars are also found in the main room of their homes. Consequently they live fearful lives, full of terror and superstitions and they are constantly making offerings to appease the spirits of the village. For the Dong, the greater the problem means they have seriously offended a God that needs to be appeased with even more offerings and sacrifices.

One of the lavish features of the Dong village is the drum tower. The tower, a representation of worship to the God of the sky, is a place for the villages to relax, hold their religious ceremonies to appease their Gods, greet guest and also to do some recreation activities. The Drum Tower, built of wood and built without nails, is the largest multi-storey pagoda like building in the village.

Equally spectacular is the folk architecture that goes into the construction of a roof bridge dubbed as the ‘Wind and Rain’ bridge, honouring the God of Wind and Rain. The bridges are beautifully carved with patterns and designs which include mountains, rivers birds, animals and flowers.

Among the Dong there is only a handful of Christians, less than 1% of their 3 million populations.

Dong Tribe, the 10th largest Ethnic Minorities in China and the 37th most Unreached Peoples of the World with 0.01% Christian

Northern Dong dialect: 1,468,000

Mostly live around the border of Guizhou and Hunan Provinces, China

Christian population: approximately 1,680

Southern Dong dialect: 2,396,000

Spread around the borders of Guizhou, Guangxi and Hunan Provinces, China

Christian population: approximately 1,600

(Statistics taken from Joshua Project)

 Sometimes in a whole village there may be only one person who is a Christian and most of the time he lives in fear of his neighbours and will not admit he is a Christian. The work among the Dong is slow as there are many challenges, one in particular is with cults also penetrating the area, drawing away some of the believers. There is also a lot of opposition from neighbours and family.

My team visited a Dong village deep in the forest on a remote mountain. There they met Ah-Wo, one of the very few Christians among them. He became a Christian through the Christian witness of two English teachers while he was in junior high. Being the only University graduate in the village, he holds an esteemed status and is highly respected. Later, he majored in English Education in the university and after he graduated, he started a children English training centre in the county. Nevertheless, up till now, his conversion to Christianity is still a secret. He is afraid to let others know about his faith in Jesus Christ. Since the  missionary teachers have now left Ah-Wo has no one to disciple him. He feels very lost and alone.

While walking around the Dong village market, my team members noticed that there were a lot of Fir seedlings. Being curious she asked Brother Ah-Wo “Why are there so many fir seedlings for sale? He proudly told her “They are to be bought home to grow on the mountains.  According to the Dong traditions, whenever a child was born, the family would plant trees, so that when the child is grown and starts his family, he could make lumbers from these trees and build his new home.”

We were amazed at this fir tree heritage of the Dong People. To ensure the material wellbeing of their children, they start preparing lumbers for their future homes.  There is a Chinese saying, ‘it takes ten years for a tree to grow but 100 years to bring up a generation of ability.’ There is much truth to this old Chinese wisdom. Planting trees are comparatively easy, but rearing the next generation is another ball game, especially when it comes to a Christian generation.

A Fir Tree seedlings

Asian Outreach Hong Kong works with Guangxi Dong ministry and funded the first Dong church in China, in Bajiang.  Besides Bajiang AOHK also works with the Dong ministry in Sanjiang, Guizhou-Laiping County and Cheng Yang

It is a challenge working with the Dongs and although the ‘harvest’ can be plentiful the ‘labourers’ are few. Weather conditions, living conditions, language barriers and the rough terrain make ministering to the Dongs a hard task for many. 

God has trusted us with such a tremendous task of making Him known before His return. We are all called to preach the Gospel. Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” That is your call and my call too. The Asian Outreach Hong Kong team has received this mandate from the Lord to empower the Chinese churches to adopt this Least Reached Peoples of Asia. Will you join us and engage with your prayer, giving and going?

A typical Dong house in the mountains.

FROM THE HEART OF ERIC FUNG

Executive Director of Asian Outreach Malaysia.

Prov 31:8-9 “ Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

God’s heart for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the marginalised and the oppressed cannot be denied or ignored. His cry for justice rings out loud and clear throughout the Scriptures. We are confronted daily with the growing human needs of the world. Poverty, injustice, disease, oppression and slavery, religious persecution, and many other issues are headline news on a daily basis. The world is crying out desperately for solutions to these problems. Christians in particular want to make a positive difference in people’s lives and are becoming aware of the clear biblical mandate to care for widows, orphans, foreigners, poor, and the forgotten who live in our midst and around the world.

We are the hands and feet of Christ’s presence in this world. We create partnership with God through Jesus Christ and it is His Spirit that takes the initiative. God’s love has flooded over the world, but He needs people to express His love.He needs YOU…

Deuteronomy 10:17-18 (NIV)

“For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing”.

The census defines a slum as "residential areas where dwellings are unfit for human habitation" because they are dilapidated, cramped, poorly ventilated, unclean, or "any combination of these factors which are detrimental to the safety and health”. Lack of proper sanitation often leads to outbreak of diseases and most of the slum dwellers are in poor health. Every country has its slums. As the Lord Himself says:

   

Deu 15:11 “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be  openhanded towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.”

AO mission partner in Kathmandu informed me about a slum in Kathmandu and the sufferings of these people. After much prayer in November I flew to Kathmandu to visit this slum. As we arrived nearby and as I surveyed the scene before me, I was appalled at what I saw. I saw about two hundred over shacks made up of cardboard and all sorts of discarded materials, huddled together. As we walked nearer’ the stench hit me. I was told by Ram, our co-worker in Kathmandu that the smell came from the river which ran alongside the dwellings and where the city’s human excrement, factory waste, rubbish and dead animals were dumped. In this river the slum dwellers took their bath, washed their clothes and occasionally used this water to cook.  The Lord did a strong stirring in my heart for these unfortunate people and there itself I made a commitment asking God to use me to raise help for them where 75% of them are Dalits, the outcaste in Nepal as in India.

Most affected by this, as in all slums, are the children. Even though schooling was free they could not attend school as their parents could not afford the bus fares or the money to buy books, stationaries and uniforms. These slum children roamed around, playing in the dirt and scavenging for food and other recyclable items to sell. The slum dwellers lived without hope for a better future, just existing from day to day.

We read about the lives of people living in the slums and we shake our heads at the conditions they live in but they are far away and we are not really stirred to do much. We are too comfortable in our own lives to think much about these people and our own everyday trifle concerns take priority. We cannot sit back any longer.  The cries of these people ring in my ears and I cannot keep silent anymore. I challenge you to join me to show the world that God’s love is more than words and make a difference in the lives of these slum dwellers. We cannot reach everyone of them but if I do good to those He leads me to then I know I have fulfilled what God has called me to do. Will you join me to partner with God to make His love tangible?

Gal 6: 9-10 “ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Wishing you and your family a blessed and fruitful New Year.

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Prayer Points

1. We pray that the Lord will use AO Malaysia to touch and change lives in the slums.

2. We pray that we will be able to bring hope and be the ‘light’ for the slum dwellers as we show them the

    tangible love of God through our giving and sowing into their lives.

3. *join us to pray for the right candidate to work with me and to be mentored by me in preparation of my 

      retirement. Any individual who feels he has a calling to serve in missions please do contact us.

Reaching Asia’s Unreached

By Pastor Stanley Gerard

Associate Trainer

Planting in Faith

THE pioneers of Asian Outreach, like any other Christian organization, individual or church, worked hard without seeing the fruits of their labour of love. Yet they planted seeds by faith, and in so doing, they began the work of salvation in the lives of many. It was this conviction that gave them satisfaction --- that they had done their work and did it well as another generation reaps the harvest.

For the past 10 years, I have been involved in church planting in many countries, including several restricted-access nations. I thank God for those brave workers and church planters in my team who are working in the field with me to obey the Great Commission--- to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”(Matthew 28:19).

Blessed are the Persecuted

You cannot imagine the persecution they face in these restricted-access nations. Danger lurks in every corner. You never can tell if your neighbor

who smiles at you when he sees you today is going to turn on you tomorrow. Their wives and children are also not safe, having always to be careful of what they say and who they talk to.

Counting the cost and Following Him

Why do they still want to do it? Why risk everything?

It is because each one of these church planters had a personal encounter with the living God and their lives have never been the same since. (Psalm 103: 4 “…who redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.”) They have known His love and saving grace, and they trust Him no matter what happens. He is Abba, their Father.

Let me share with you a pioneering work in a fishing community in Bangladesh, a restricted-access nation.

Church Planting in Action

Today, there are 22 believers here. When we visited them in October last year, they were happy to see us and continue to be receptive to God’s Word. Most of them were poor and struggling to make ends meet and like anywhere else in this country, jobs were not easy to come by. They cannot depend on the government to make their lives better and survival is a struggle yet they are eager to hear the Word of God. Truly, blessed are the poor.

Pastor Samuel and Pastor Bullet, two local pastors have a vision for the entire community to be saved. Up to date they have planted 2 churches and 18 cell groups. We pray that once the seed is planted, God would open more hearts to receive Christ as their personal Saviour.

Today, Asian Outreach has trained thousands of workers or foot-soldiers. Many churches have been planted, especially in restricted-access nations. Today, church planters have reached the very borders of Afghanistan and Iran.

Donations needed

However, the work of the church planters have been hindered because of the lack of finance, among other problems. Due to this lack, we have had to slow down the implementation of our church planting plans.

My prayer is that churches and individuals can come together and do what it takes to accomplish the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations.

Allow me to end with this quote “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving”. May this truly reverberate in the Body of Christ, and in the soul of every brother and sister to give out of the love in their hearts to enable the Great Commission of God to spread to the ends of the Earth.

Zec 10:12 “I will strengthen them in the Lord and in His name they will walk.”