October2016MissionLink fromRev.DavidUpp,GPConferenceMissionary

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PrincipalEmmanuelBhadarcelebrates thebeginningof LahoreCollegeofTheology’s ground-breaking International class over theWeb. I amteachingtheOldTestamentfromhalf-wayaroundtheWorld.GLORY!

Introducing“Visa-Free”Teaching:inLahore,Pakistan,fromKansas.Ihave53OldTestamentStudents,including12WomenSeminarians!

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I first heard about Lahore College of Theology from Anne Tebbe Kidd in Colorado Springs, November 11, ‘16. Anne grew up as a Missionary Kid in Lahore where her father was a Chemistry Professor. Through their contacts, I eventually met with Bishop Azad in Dubai this July. On September 25, all of these dreams & plans came together (I am usually juggling about 10~12 such possi-bilities at a time, roughly two per continent seeking faculty postings).

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The first formal request was for me to teach a New Testament class for one week. The next e-mail switched that to Old Testament, then one week became three. Hours before my first class, I received a packet of OT Lecture Notes. LCT’s Class Schedule called for a Noon-1:30 PM session… which would be 2-3:30 AM Kansas Time. I replied that I could do that, but I might be a little “wooly”. Timing was changed to 9-10:30 AM [11 PM--12:30 AM for me]!

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After 2 classes, “Political Turmoil” forced cancellation of classes 9/28 until October 3rd. Then on October 5, I was assigned a second OT class. My original class was composed of First Year Students (focus on the Torah) & my second class has Second Year Seminarians (focus on the Prophets). LCT’s part of the Church of Pakistan an 800,000 member United Church, formed by Methodists, Anglicans, Scots Presbyterians, and Lutherans, back in 1970, with eight Dioceses.

October2016MissionLink

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GBGM's "Foreign Missionaries": The UMC is approaching 13 Million members. How many Foreign Missionaries are we sending? 395 [Basic Resource is GBGM's own 420 pages of people serving: www.umc mission. org/ExploreOurWork/Missionaries-in-Service/MissionaryProfiles?]. That sounds nice, but it is only a sending rate of 0.000031 or merely 1 Missionary per 32,278 members (compare Mizo Synod's 2,315 = 1 per 259). But IF we "mine the data" a little more deeply, we see that many are not Foreign Missionaries [sent to different countries]. 74 are serving in their own nations, including 20 in USA's National Hispanic Plan workers (a few 'recruited' in the USA from non-US origins), 33 “Church and Community Workers" in the USA, and 21 other Home Missionaries who sere in their own lands. No, I’m not belittling their service, but it is not part of

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Foreign Missions. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that 68 of the remaining 321 are serving "In House" positions. Often former missionaries are given rôles within a Board, so that they can continue to receive a pay-check after they have stopped their service in an earlier posting. That leaves GBGM with 253. Most Disturbing is that most of those remaining are "Global Mission Fellows" (147). These low-pay "interns" are only on 2-year contracts (not even serving a full "missionary term" of 3~4 years), apprentices sent "to experience" what Missions is all about, usually social service rather than Great Commission ministry. GNF's are very cross-cultural, neat adventures; but I don't think they could count as "Missionaries". That leaves a mere 106 "real" Foreign Missionaries, a sending rate of 0.0000083 or 1 Missionary per 120,283 Full Members of the UMC. Very Sad!

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"From Everywhere To Everywhere" is a new slogan of GBGM & they have done an excellent job of overturning the old USA-only sendings. 41 of UM's come from USA and 36 UM's from other nations [nearly 50-50]! This is especially encouraging since non-USA UM's tend to be much more Wesleyan and Biblical in their theology & practice. The other 29 do not come from the UMC in any country... most have a divided-allegiance, since they are members of other denominations (for years, almost all the GBGM missionaries I met were [pro-Gay] UCC members; now most are from other Methodist denominations). These are both improvements! Have a look through those profiles. You may find a specific Missionary YOU would like to support! You could also become much better informed about our own Great Commission Ministries today!

Teaching“MethodistDoctrine”inHaïti:

November9-15,2016

Great Plains + Michigan + FloridaUnited Methodists are servingMethodists in Haiti by preparing 300new Local Preachers to pass theirCertification Examinations! I willrepresentKansasandNebraskathere.

Rev. Kalaba Chali heads up Great Plains’ Mission Projects and invited me to Teach OT in Haiti in 6/15. IF Hurricane Matthew allows, I’ll teach in Jérémie / Les Cayes.

October2016MissionLink

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PhotosfromSeptember2016“MissionAcademy”oftheSouth-CentralUMJurisdictionatMountSequoyah,ARK.

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October Trivia Question: Are the Arabs Ishmaelites? / Descendants of Abraham?

September Trivia Question: Fifteen Percent of the World's People are "POOR" & Fifty-Six Percent have a "LOW Income." What are those 2 percentages for the US Population?? [Notice that this disproves Marxism. MOST of the people in the world are neither poor nor rich, but somewhere in the Middle... The Middle Class doesn’t exist in Communist/ Socialist/Progressive dogma an embarrass-ment that Progressives try as hard as they can to wipe-out! I live on $6~7 per day in India/Kiribati/Philippines/ in The Third World.]

A: USA: 2% are Poor & 3% have Low Income. Poor defined as "less than $2 per day" & Low Income = $2.01--$10/day.

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56% of US folks have "HIGH Income" ...incomes of over $50 / day {this data is reported for the 111 biggest nations from www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/09/how-americans-compare-with-the-global-middle-class/ }.

What is wrong with this analysis? Our Basic Assumption of a Purely CASH Economy! Before WWI, most Americans (like everybody else) lived on farms & "made a living", rather than "earned a living". They raised all the food that they needed, only rarely spending money for some special purchase. You [probably] and I now buy our food at a grocery-store/farmer's market--except for a gift of some zucchini from a neighbor/fellow-church-member during August! The World’s 1 Billion POOR people may or may not be absolutely desolate, a significant proportion of them simply do not have cash on hand, but are able to survive through their other resources! We need to know the FACTS to respond well.

October2016MissionLink

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September2016Review:

-Dr. David Upp, Your Missionary, Whither-so-ever the LORD Leads

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For a few years now, I have been "signing off" with this odd, old-fashioned word. Why do I use this word? Why do I use this word? a) In modern English, when we say "where" there is no clue to origin nor to destination. But at an earlier stage of our ever-changing language [n.b. Languages can not "evolve". In the Evolutionists' sense, nothing does!] we could specify 'whence' = from-where, or 'whither' = towards-where (note old-fashioned Trios: hence, thence, whence; hither, thither, whither!). As a philologue, [Lover-of-Λόγος and of words, since Latin classes] I deeply cherish such precise terms! b) In my studies of Greek, I have been intrigued by "conditionals". One tiny English word "if" can be expressed in five different Greek classes of syntax. So I classify every occurrence of IF when I exegete the Greek New Testament. Whither-so-ever demonstrates one of those patterns: -so- brings into English the un-certainty / un-predictability of the future [path of each Disciple]. This is expressed by the particle ἂν in Greek, even if it stands without another "if". c) The grand old expression Whithersoever occurs 29 times in the King James Bible. More than any other human, it speaks about David in eight different verses altogether, like this '& The LORD saved David whither-so-ever he walked.' [This occurs four times].

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d) Observe that throughout the Old Testament this Whither-so-ever tells of God's Faithfulness: we wander through life yet God never abandons us. However, a profound shift occurs in the New Testament. In Mt. 8:19, Lk. 9:57, & Rev. 14:4 it is the Followers of Jesus remaining beside Jesus. My favorite example is 144,000 Missionary-Evangelists who 'Follow the Lamb [Jesus Christ] whither-soever He goes'. I conclude they follow His Holy Spirit [in small teams] to reach many Tribes. Not unlike My own holy Calling!

9/3 nearby 5.8 Earthquake, 9/4 Halstead UMC visit with their new Rev. Sang Hak Lee 9/6 "Active Shooter" Training with GP's Hollie Tapley (after a Hutchinson Outreach Ministry was threatened), 9/11-14 SCJ Mission Academy Mount Sequoyah, Arkansas, 9/18 Worship at Trinity UMC & w/Nazarenes at State Fair, 9/21 Got gifts of Guaraní & Énxet Sur Scriptures from my son Daniel in Paraguay, 9/25 Worship with classmate Partridge Community Church 9/26 Attend Emmaus' "4th Day" at Hutch: Trinity UMC 9/25 Began Teaching OT in Lahore, Pakistan {via www}! 9/28 Accepted on UMC Team which is still scheduled to teach in Haïti: Nov. 9–15. 10/2 Worship East Side UMC Newton: Pastor Tom Reazin

Icontinue,wheninKansas,tovisitLocalMethodistCongregationsto

encouragePastors&shareMissions.

Global Thumbnail: Jamaica With Hurricane Matthew bearing down, Jamaica is in The News. The home of Reggae, Rastafarianism, and Jamaica Bob-Sled was an interesting place to serve. [Our "World-Beat" Musicians toured St. Ann Parish, Feb. 2013, where I got to preach in isolated mountain Methodist Churches. “World-Beat” sang at a country-crossroads, a Nursing-Home for handicapped/ elderly, churches, & a Valentine's Day Talent Show in Browns Town.] Visit: A) The University of the West Indies is in Mona (Eastern Kingston). B) United Theological College is out UWI's back gate, across Golding Road. C) Gibraltar Camp www.ynetnews.com/articles/ 0,7340,L-4113958,00.html where 260 Jews were sent (mostly from Lisbon) by the Brits during WWII to escape The Holocaust spreading in Europe. 1-of-only-4 sand-floored Sephardic Synagogues in the world is there. D) Devon House [Ice-Cream Parlor] (1st Jamaican Millionaire's mansion). Stay: Hillcrest Anglican Centre eating local-Jamaican food. Try sorrel, rice-n-peas, johnny-cake, [fruit's ripe pods] akee-and-saltfish, callaloo, peanut-punch, grizzada, & (Mom's favorite) Stone-Ginger-Beer!