CMM FORUM
As in most lines of work, missions has its share of acronyms to get used
to. I will spare you most of them, but this is one that I would like to
share with you all. CMM - or Church Multiplication Movements is what we
are praying and working towards in our ministry here in Payo. A CMM is
defined as: "a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches
planting churches within a given people group or population segment."
There are many examples of CMM's happening throughout history and there
are many going on today. While a CMM is a miraculous work of God, there
are things that we can do to stop one and there are things we can do to
help foster one to happen. At the end of February, World Team
Philippines hosted a forum on CMM's in the Philippines. We invited
everyone that we knew of in the country who is working towards seeing a
CMM happen in their area, and we asked several to share who have seen
some amount of success. Everyone was greatly encouraged by the meeting
and we all learned a great deal that we would like to bring back to our
ministries. We all believe that the Philippines is on the brink of
seeing several CMM's happen in different areas of the country. Please
pray that God would pour out His spirit upon the Philippines so that we
may see many saved and churches planted.
INDONESIA LEADERSHIP MEETINGS
Jacinda and I left the kids on the island with our teammates to attend
the Asia Area Leadership Meetings in Bali, Indonesia. It was our first
time to visit Indonesia, and we were surprised at the many similarities
there are to the Philippines. Jacinda was tasked with organizing a good
part of the meetings, and she enjoyed the chance to use her gifts in
organization on a larger scale than she usually can in Payo. The focus
of the meetings was training on developing leaders in Asia, and we
learned a lot that we want to implement in our ministry here in
Catanduanes. We also had the opportunity to hear reports from the other
fields that World Team is working in in Asia, and our leaders shared
their visions for Asia and for World Team as a global mission. We were
encouraged to hear the reports from others of how God is working in
Asia, and we are excited about what God has for World Team in the future.
RECRUITING
Are any of you out there unsatisfied with the amount of time you are
able to give in serving God and others? Or maybe you have achieved the
"American Dream" but are still left asking the question "What was it all
for?". Are any of you willing to step out in faith and see if God can
take your 10 and make it 1000? Don't answer these questions with
another question. If your answer is yes, then your next questions are
matters of faith. "What about raising support?" - does God not promise
to supply all our needs (seek first the kingdom...)? "What about my
kids?" - do you think that God does not care for your children even more
than you do? "What if I fail?" - did Jesus not promise to be with us
after commanding us to go? Are you willing to trust Him with your life?
- "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses
his life for My sake will find it." Matt 16:25. If you want to know
what it is like to be a missionary, have questions about the process of
stepping into missions, or have any other questions, feel free to send
me an email!
BIRTHDAYS!
We celebrated 2 birthdays in February - Arwen turned 7 and Elias turned
2! Arwen had a simple birthday with all of her classmates attending as
well as a number of other friends in the neighborhood (about 40-50) with
a kite theme. Elias celebrated his Birthday with a farm theme, and we
had 60-70 people over for hamburgers and baked beans. It was the first
time anyone has tried a hamburger off the grill and it was a hit!
We are thankful every day for the chance to be here and especially to be
able to witness God working in the lives of people living in a community
which has until recently never had a chance to understand what Jesus has
done for them. Thank you for being our partners in bringing the Gospel
to the people here in Payo! We are all playing a role together in
seeing God's plan worked out in this place.
Bryan
