Pastor's Pondering

 

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Missions Participation 2

by Pastor Duane Mabee on February 22, 2018
Each year, North River participates in the worldwide work of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) through its generous missions giving and through sending people.  Last week, we looked at 5 Highlights of God at work through the Alliance in 2017 that we participated in.  Here are 5 more things you had a part in making happen.  
  1. Displaced Peoples in Ukraine Find Hope – Rebel fighting in eastern Ukraine forced many area residents to flee to Kiev.  In response, Alliance workers in partnership with CAMA – and the support of generous donors – were able to open a center that weekly assists about 350 of these internally displaced people to re-establish their lives in Kiev.
  2. Bongolo Hospital Served 40,000 – In 2017, Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, Central Africa, served 40,000 patients and conducted 1,500 surgeries.  One cataract-surgery patient exclaimed, “I am most excited to see my wife again – I thank you, and I thank God!”  An estimated 2,000 came to Christ as a result of this life-giving ministry. 
  3. Gospel Spread in West African Villages – A group in West Africa, among the world’s oral learners, previously had no access to God’s Word.  Alliance workers helped record several Bible stories in this group’s heart language; as a result, the gospel spread rapidly to 11 of their villages and more than 200 adults have received Christ.
  4. Churches Planted Among Addicts – The opioid addiction rate in Ohio is classified as a national emergency.  Through Alliance church-planting efforts in Akron, 50 people who struggle with addictions were baptized in 2017.  This ministry is set to expand, and Alliance churches are being planted in other states in communities where this crisis is prevalent. 
  5. Envision Shares Christ Through Multinational Short-Term Teams – In 2017, 1,722 U.S. Alliance people served Jesus at more than 20 Envision sites throughout the world.  This past summer, the Envision site in Thailand sent a team of Thai believers to serve at Aroma, a ministry of Envision Taipei, where 55 people came to Christ!  In response, Envision Taipei is sending a team of Taiwanese believers to Thailand this April to share Christ with overlooked people in Bangkok. 
Church, you should be encouraged.  You have made an impact around the world.  In some of these cases, you had a very direct impact.  Thank you for giving to advance the gospel around the globe. 
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