WHAT IN THE WORLD CAN I DO?

BUILDING THE CHURCH IN THE LEAST REACHED PLACES

SUMMER 2017

The needs are vast in the least reached areas of the world,but there is so much you can do to make an impact

BY LARRY ANDREWS PRESIDENT AND CEO

Partners International’s vision is that local ministries in the least reached, least resourced nations will be proclaiming the Gospel to every

person and building a thriving Church for every people. With over 2 billion people on the planet who have never heard the beautiful Gospel of Jesus nor experienced His love, the task is pretty overwhelming. Proclaiming the Gospel to the whole earth is the single mission of Jesus. He has commanded each of us who call Him Lord to be part of that mission. As Christ followers, we need to let that sink into our hearts and allow His mission to give us purpose and strength. In the same breath that He gave us that command, He promised to be with us to the end of the age. The infinite God of the Universe, who has a mission to share His love with every person on this planet, has given all of His power and resources to us who call Him Lord, so that we can play a significant part in that mission. Wow. That means to follow Jesus is to be a surrendered person committed to fulfilling His mission, for His glory. When we wrap our hearts around that truth, we are often overwhelmed. It is a humongous task. I am only one person. What can I do? What difference can I make? How do I best invest my time and resources? In the 30 years I have followed Jesus, many things have sought to hold me back, cause me to pause, give me doubts, and leave me in a state of inaction. The more I have come to know Jesus, the more I have learned that taking steps of faith is never easy. Jesus created us and saved us for one purpose, and that is to proclaim the Gospel to the whole Earth. I was not saved to simply be forgiven of my sin and have intimacy with God (which is awesome). I was saved to have intimacy with God and be enrolled in His mission. Saved with a purpose!

This newsletter is focused on encouraging every Christ follower to embrace His mission. He has appointed each of us to do something specific that helps fulfill His mission and gives Him glory. You will read in this newsletter some beautiful and creative ways ordinary people are serving Jesus, to reach least reached. The ministry model of Partners International is all about people like you and me, and the churches we are part of, partnering with ministries where there is no church. This plays out in a myriad of ways with different churches, different people, and different ministry partners – unlimited in nature because God’s creativity and power are unlimited. Everything the Lord Jesus has done in this world started with one man, or one woman – just like you and me - surrendered to Almighty God. I pray the Lord would encourage and reveal your part in His amazing mission of love and grace!

In Christ,

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Find out more about what you can at www.partnersintl.org

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!Connect with me on Twitter or by email.

larrya@partnersintl.org @partnersceo

What in the world can you do?

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A Middle East mission trip requires risk assessment. After a full team was recruited and air tickets had been purchased, our host,

Khalaf, responded to a threat at his church by telling us not to come. Five intense days of discussion and prayer later, Khalaf agreed to allow our team to go to Lebanon, home to many churches in his movement. Lebanon has a large Syrian refugee population. His ministry, Raja al Umam, is one of the nearly 60 ministries in partnership with Partners International.

This was the fourth year our church has sent a medical team to help Brother Khalaf’s team in their ministry among refugees. My wife, who is a nurse, and I have been privileged to be part of each group.

In Lebanon, our team of 14 people treated both Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees. The Lebanese

have felt left behind when watching free social services offered to Syrians while their own capacity to pay for them has diminished.

Over the week we saw about 700 patients. Some highlights:

• A child had a fever of 106 degrees. We brought it down to normal. • Dental care ranged from cleaning to pulling wisdom teeth. • A man brought his two wives and their 13 children. A long triage! • An elderly woman severely injured her ankle. The boot and cane we provided saved her from an expensive emergency room visit. We heard some heart-

wrenching stories from some of the refugees. Many had become separated from children or spouses while fleeing the violence in their home towns. We

BY DOUG CHRISTGAUPASTOR OF OUTREACH VALLEY COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCHAVON, CT

TravelWhat can I do?

Medicine for

RefugeesA US church travels to Lebanon provide medical clinics for refugees through a ministry partner

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What in the world can you do?

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BY PAM SHEFFLER, NORTH IDAHO WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN GROUP LEADER

WWomen Empowering Women group from North Idaho joins to help women around the world

Crossing Continents

e started North Idaho Women Empowering Women in the spring of 2016 after a meeting with Cari Johnson, Partners International Women’s Director. Cari explained the plight of so many women around the world.

We are so blessed as women in America! Most of us in the group don’t feel called to the mission field, but have a heart for missions. We especially have a heart for women who are struggling. We formed this group, because it is a way for us to “be missionaries” and to support the amazing programs that Partners

International has in place to help women. Our group of about 12 faithful women meet once a month (More often when we get closer to a fundraising event). We decide everything with a great deal of prayer. It is important to all of us that what we are doing is God’s plan. Whenever our plans and decisions seem hard, we just table it, go home and pray, and the next time we meet, it all seems to fall into place. In this way, we let God lead and direct us. It is so fun to see what God can do through us when we let Him! We hadn’t planned on the blessings that we would receive from our efforts. I think we are all

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Crossing ContinentsWomen

Empowering Women

What can I do?

growing in our faith and trusting God more each day. This past year we decided to fund a sewing class at Roshan Life in Pakistan. We understood that it would cost $2,800 for 50 Pakistani women to take the vocational training for a year and at the end would receive a sewing machine of their own to provide an income for themselves, potentially changing their lives and the lives of their children. Shortly after we decided this, we were informed that the cost had doubled. We didn’t bat an eye. We all just said, “I guess we will have to work harder!” We had a garage sale, a Sweetheart Dinner with raffles

and silent auctions, an open house, we sold Christmas ornaments, and we challenged each other to set a personal giving goal. We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun . . . and we reached our goal! After much prayer, our group unanimously decided to continue to raise funds for Roshan Life. Our hearts go out to the women there! We are already planning our first fundraiser, which will be a “Christmas in July” craft fair. We have learned that our greatest resource is prayer, prayer, and more prayer! God makes the fundraising part easy and fun if we let Him be in control. No kidding! v

BY KEN HERTZLERNEWPORT NEWS, VA

God placed a seed in my heart for Morocco at a young age.

It started in Sunday School when our teacher had us give pennies to a “globe bank” for missions. At our age, we didn’t have a good concept of what world missions was, but it is something I remember 70 years later.

A couple years after that, I did a report on Morocco and learned about the people and the country that would come to be a focus of mine later in my life.

Over the course of my adulthood, my wife, Donna, and I felt the urge to do more than give to our local church. We began investing in world missions and looking for ways to spread the Gospel in places where it isn’t known.

In our 60s, we went on our first mission trip to Morocco to minister to an unreached people group. We worked at ferry terminals in southern Europe, handing out Bible literature to North Africans returning home. One day we took the ferry and spent the day in Morocco. We returned a few years later and spent several days in the home of a family in a mountain village. Those trips instilled in us a love for the Moroccan people and a desire to reach them for Christ.

Our first encounter with Partners International was when a group at our church was raising money for farm animals through Partners International’s gift catalog, Harvest of Hope. I was teaching at a Christian school and also rallied my class to raise money to buy a pig.

In late 2015, my wife and I came into an inheritance and wanted to give a portion to a ministry in Morocco. I contacted Chris Phillips, the Director of

Advancement, and asked if Partners International had a ministry partner in Morocco. Chris said he didn’t think so, but that he would look into it. He came back awhile later and said in fact, Partners International had just brought on a Moroccan ministry called Song of the Sahara. The timing had God’s fingerprints all over it.

My wife and I met with a financial counselor and looked at how we could be good stewards of our funds. He suggested ways we could give appreciated assets to charity that would both benefit the causes we are

passionate about and help us from a tax standpoint.

This year, we made a direct transfer of our required minimum distribution from our IRAs to the ministry. It was a simple transfer our financial counselor orchestrated with Partners International, which then arranged the funds to go to Morocco.

God has given us a desire to reach the unreached in Morocco and has opened

up doors for us to use the resources he has given us to help Song of the Sahara grow. We feel grateful and enriched for the way He orchestrated our encounters with this country throughout our lives. v

A passion made in MoroccoOne couple’s connection with a country leads them to donate mutual funds to a ministry partner.

What can I do?

give stock

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KEN AND DONNA HERTZLER

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BY CORNELIA GREYFLORIDA

We became aware of Unreached People Groups in the 70’s through Operation World. The Lord has given us (Herm, my hubby of 52 years and myself) the desire to support Christian Missions. We have done this in various ways. After retiring from the Space Program, we went to Africa in 2001 to volunteer with various missions for three years. Without a home to care for in Africa, I had extra time after volunteering. I started beading necklaces as a fundraiser for missions. Back in the USA, I sold necklaces on eBay and soon branched out in more categories. I now sell mostly clothing that is donated to my shop. My desire was to raise money; send my little follow-up notes as seeds for the Lord to use as He sees fit; increase awareness of missions and maybe inspire others to do it too.

After I receive feedback from customers, I send an evangelistic follow-up note. Buyers can designate which ministry receives the funds from my list.

All my profit is passed on to Christian missions (including Partners International), and what goes out depends strictly on what comes in. I have been able to sponsor three children through Partners International and sometimes give beyond that. I have had an eBay store for 12 years and have sold to people in 61 countries! The Lord has helped me find goods to sell and sets up His divine appointments. My motivation remains — she who has been forgiven much will love much! v

A passion made in Morocco

Business Profits

What can I do?

wanted to show the love of Jesus to every person. An assurance that we were nearing our goal came when one woman looked at us and said, “You treat us like human beings.” We were inspired by the stories of Muslim Background Believers: • Shafeek* is a Kurdish pastor. Through his ministry, a demon-possessed woman was healed, giving him access to 10 Muslim families who heard what had happened. • Abdel* became “Peter” after following Jesus. His apartment house in Syria collapsed due to shelling, trapping 170 people in the basement for 60 days. He was one of 17 survivors. Many died due to injuries. Peter said a man in town he calls Jesus brought food and water each day. He would lower it through a hole in the collapsed building. This man “Peter” is now an on-fire evangelist. • When Jasar* came to faith in Jesus Christ, his brother stabbed him for dishonoring his family by leaving Islam. Now Basil is a pastor with a passion to share the Gospel.

Our clinics were joint efforts of our team and faithful Arab believers who provided translation. Standing with them in morning prayer while as many as 200 people waited to be seen was inspirational. We prayed in the name of Jesus with many patients. One made a commitment to follow Christ.

Valley Church loves giving from its outreach budget to support the ministry of Brother Khalaf. Over 150 people in our church have committed to pray regularly for this ministry. Without question, however, Khalaf’s most enthusiastic supporters at Valley are those who serve with his pastors by providing health care services in the Middle East each February. v

the business of missions on ebay

DOUG AND HIS WIFE, CHRISTINE, TRAVEL TO THE MIDDLE EAST TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CLINICS

Seller uses profits to sponsor children, give to missions

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*Names changed for security reasons.

1117 E. Westview CourtSpokane, WA 99218

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Give Online at partnersintl.org/whatcanido

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Published by Partners International. | Editors: Scott Steinloski, Lynda Johnson and Alli Beck. | Contributors: Larry Andrews, Doug Christgau, Pam Sheffler, Ken Hertzler and Cornelia Grey. | Designer: Alli Beck.

Learn about starting a Women Empowering Women Group

Sponsor an Unreached Child

Learn About Planned Giving

Here are a few things you can do:

See the envelope inside to get started!

Find out more at www.partnersintl.org.