Christian Mission Summer 2013

christian mission 1 www.christianaid.org

Christian Mission

REPORTING THE wORk OF INDIGENOUS MINISTRIES PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL AMONG UNREACHED PEOPLE

A new church fellowship planted by an indigenous ministry working among Muslim people in South Asia

Native Missionaries Are Reaching the world


We Can Trust Them to Reach the WorldBy Cynthia Finley, President

Looking back over my 42 years at Christian Aid, one of the things that most influenced me was spending time with foreign visitors while

I was hostess of the guest house in the 1970s. Af-ter dinner, we would stay at the table having long talks about things that mattered to them and to me. Some specific things I remember are conversations with Nicholas Bhengu, the great Zulu evangelist from South Africa; Victoria Lorne, MD, the wife of Rev. G. R. Lorne, who was leader of Fellowship of Indigenous Gospel Churches in Andhra Pradesh; G.R. Lorne; Ruth Gnanaprakasam, wife of Job Gnanaprakasam, leaders of Tamil Christian Fellowship of India; and Sundar-Thapa of Nepal.

I asked Nicholas Bhengu what was the most important thing God had shown him during his min-istry. He replied, “Don’t grieve the Spirit, and don’t quench the Spirit.” From someone who had seen

In Christian Aid’s 60th year, we pause to learn from indigenous leaders on the mission field. They have much to teach, and we have much to gain by listening to them.

thousands saved, delivered from the power of demons, healed from diseases, and washed from the power of sin during the height of Apartheid, this taught me the importance of personal obedience.

Dr. Victoria Lorne told me she tithed her time in prayer. That works out to 2 hours and 20 minutes each day. And it wasn’t Bible study preparation, she said. I tried this. At first, I didn’t know what to pray; I ran out of things to say after about five minutes. But I began quoting the scripture and substituting my name in appropriate places and turning Him and His into You and Yours. I found that I could easily pray for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. My public prayer reflected the time I was spending in private prayer. People were touched and responded to the words the Holy Spirit was speaking out of my mouth in worship. During this time, I gained a rich prayer life.

Victoria’s husband, G. R. Lorne, was an indepen-dent Baptist. I asked him to describe his ministry, and he told me that their governance was Presbyterian, but their baptism and evangelism was Baptist. However, in their church services they prayed for healing and deliverance from demons. I learned that our American labels for things, particularly denominations, don’t apply equally to the same terms overseas.

Dr. Victoria Lorne and Cynthia, 1973

Nicholas Bhengu,

1974

G. R. Lorne,1991

Ruth Gnanaprakasam,2001


Ruth Gnanaprakasam led a women’s ministry in South India that focused on unreached tribes. She required that the girls in their mission’s Bible school pray at least one hour during each night—(that’s wake up and pray and go back to sleep)—or they would not be prepared for what they would face in the jungles. By doing so, they were clothed with the full armor of God and thus able to resist all attacks of the enemy.

Thapa was so engaged in the lives of people he was ministering to that he even helped bury the dead. When a church member would die, Thapa would help build the casket, then place it upright on the back of his motor scooter, tied to his waist with a rope, and drive slowly through the night lanes to the home of the dead. From there the body was added and driven again on the back of his scooter to a place for burial. Because Nepal is a Hindu kingdom and Hindus burn their dead, Christians faced opposition and terrible insults for burying their dead. That’s why this work

had to be done at night. But picturing him driving with a casket upright be-hind him on his scooter is what I call sacrificing for your congregants.

A missionary leader from West Africa taught me the life of the cross. When

you die to self, you are surrendered to the Lord. That’s when the power of God is released in us.

These are some of the ways I have been impacted in the 42 years I have been with Christian Aid. This year we are celebrating our 60th year as a ministry helping indigenous missionaries all over the world. As president, I continue to marvel at the deep truths I have learned from those who are on the mission field, ministering to their own people. They live in cultures

we cannot imagine. God is dealing with them in ways we could not conceive. I thank God for the three years I hosted Christian Aid’s guest house and grew to know God’s servants from India, Nepal, South Africa and many other places. These are true disciples and ministers of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can trust them to reach the world.

IN ThIs eDITIoN oF ChRIsTIaN MIssIoN you will visit the refugee tents in nations surrounding Syria, and hear the mortar falling in the devastated cities within Syria’s borders. You will tour South Asia and witness the impact Christian Aid has had on the ministries from India to Nepal and Bangladesh. You will learn of the exponential growth of Burmese missions due to your giving. And you will read of the Lord’s move among Muslims in the southern Philippines.

Christian Aid is everywhere you want to be in missions. From refugee care to disaster relief, from rescuing street children to church-planting in closed lands; whether bringing the gospel to Muslims, Bud-dhists or Hindus, indigenous missions can do the work of reaching every kindred, tongue, people and nation with the gospel.

We backed them up 60 years ago and we’re still helping fund their ministries today. As nations develop economically and ministries grow, we turn our focus to other countries and new ministries. These precious ministers of the gospel are sold out for the Lord Jesus. We are praying that Christians in developed nations will get behind native missionaries and help them finish the task. Christian Aid has identified many missionar-ies like these mentioned who are serving the Lord but could do so much more with our support.

We have seen their lives of prayer, their convic-tions and the extent to which they will go to serve. I pray many more will support Christian Aid to help them gather the great harvest of the Lord.

They live in culTures we

cannoT imagine. god is dealing wiTh Them in

ways we could noT conceive.


When Bob Finley met Bakht singh in 1946 at the first Urbana conference in Toronto, he knew he had to back his mission work

in India. There was something special about the man who was born a Hindu and raised a Sikh, yet surren-dered his life to Jesus while studying in Canada. Bakht Singh returned to his homeland, where he prayed and fasted until the Lord directed his next steps. Within just a few years, he planted more than 100 churches, and hundreds more in the years ahead. He became one of the most prominent spiritual leaders in India.

Prem Pradhan of Nepal met the Lord through Bakht Singh’s disciples while he was serving in the army in India. He read the Bible 12 times and couldn’t deny the call of God to return to his country and preach the gospel. At the great cost of persecution and imprison-ment, Prem became one of the pioneer indigenous leaders of Christianity in Nepal. Bob Finley met Prem in 1957, and Christian Aid sent funds to his ministry, raised support for his prison release later, and helped him build an orphanage which would bring up 100

children as Christians in a nation where changing one’s religion was illegal. Many grew to become indigenous missionaries. Now more than one million Christians live in Nepal, some within each of the 100 tribes scat-tered throughout the country.

“When we started helping Prem’s work in Nepal, there were very few Christians in that country,” Finley said. “Prem was among the first.”

P.J. Thomas of India traveled to the United States in 1972 and met Finley, who immediately began assist-ing his Bible institute and orphanage. “We’ll see what God can do,” Finley told him. Thomas became known as India’s man of compassion and “a father to 10,000” because of his work with orphans. He also started the first Bible college for women, which was cutting-edge in India since only women could evangelize women.

For 60 years Christian Aid has searched out ef-fective indigenous missionaries with a call from God and the initiative to carry it out. The call is so strong on their lives that they would minister with or without financial help; it may just be slow growing. But with

The growth of Christianity in South Asia traces its roots to great indigenous missionary men of faith who met the Lord abroad and returned to their own country to walk with Him and plant a witness for Christ in their homeland. For 60 years Christian Aid has been backing them. Here’s a glimpse at how.

IMPaCT IN souTh asIa

“We’ll See What God Can Do”

By Joan Hutter


help, they thrive. “They do more than we can imagine with so little,”

said South Asia Director Sarla Mahara, born in Nepal, who has traveled extensively throughout South Asia and witnessed the wonders indigenous missionaries are accomplishing with help from Christian Aid. “We couldn’t do it. An American missionary could not live and work on this budget. But for these indigenous min-istries, it’s like the loaves and fishes. God multiplies.”

God has used Christian Aid to impact South Asia for His glory since the early days of Bakht Singh and P.J. Thomas in India and Prem Pradhan in Ne-pal. These men tilled the ground with their lives spent for Christ. With financial help, they reached the next level in their ministries, doing what they already were doing, yet on a greater scale. Ministries today stand on their shoul-ders, and Christian Aid is honored to be helping them.

Freedom for the Fatherless in NepalThere is an indigenous ministry today that grew

out of Prem Pradhan’s ministry. In Prem’s orphanage, a boy named Thapa was free to worship the Lord Jesus. There were no limits or rules saying that though he was born a Hindu, he had to stay one. He decided to serve Jesus all his life, and God healed the wounded heart which had been torn when his family put him out as a 7-year-old. As a result, Thapa went to Bible school as a young man, and there he met his wife. They returned to Nepal with vision and purpose to enlarge the body of Christ in their country. The Thapas responded to needy children and longed to impart to them the knowledge and love of God. They took 22 orphaned girls into their home, and later some of these girls managed the

five orphanages where 550 little ones live today. One generation sows into another.

The children come from desperate situations, hollow-eyed and shaken from abuse, poverty, sickness or rejection. Some were rescued from the sex-trade industry, modern-day slavery where children are sold to circuses and brothels. Others come from families too poor to feed them. They may have HIV or some other sickness. Or maybe a teen has been cast out of his home because he came to faith in Christ.

They find more than a home and education. They find restoration. Many grow up to work in the church-planting min-istry where they travel mountain to mountain

sharing the gospel, teaching and developing leaders. Others enter the marketplace as believers living in a Hindu kingdom. In time, these hundreds will win thousands.

With support, the Thapas have planted 186 churches with 10,000 members. Through Nepal Bible College, they disciple believers and send them to un-reached villages. God is using them for His glory—for generations to come.

stretching out the Tent Posts in IndiaIn India, there is a ministry that uses a holistic

approach as they help meet the physical and spiritual needs of destitute tribal villagers. In 2010 the mission director sent a request stating the ministry was grow-ing and in need of assistance to reach more villages for Christ.

“Dear Christian Aid: I am working among poor tribal people in Rajasthan state of India. I have been working by faith for 15 years and now have 50 churches

“god is moving in a mighTy way. souls are being saved and his kingdom is expanding in more

new parTs of norTh india. Thank you for sTanding wiTh us.”


and an orphanage. I need support for this ministry. Please kindly help us to reach India for Christ. God is using us as an instrument for His glory.”

In the next few months, Christian Aid reached out to this ministry, sending funds to bolster its work among poor farmers living in remote areas who had not yet heard the gospel. Mission Leader Benjamin and his team would walk long distances to reach them. With prayer and fasting, they waited upon the Lord for daily provision. When he first received help he wrote:

“Dear Christian Aid: We are thankful to you and God. God can do a miracle in our life. We received some money from you for God’s work. Our heart is rejoicing.”

Since 2010, with Christian Aid’s partnership, this indigenous ministry has built worship centers and church houses, provided wells, trained missionaries and reached 100 more villages with the gospel. In the last year they planted a church in a formerly unreached village they’ve been praying for and laboring in since 1999. They’re doing what they’ve always done, but additional support enables them to “stretch out their tent posts.”

standing with Believers in North IndiaOpening the doors for the gospel in North India,

another ministry began training missionaries in 1980 in Haryana, one of the most unreached states of In-dia. Of the 21 million people living in this area, a slim .09 percent are Christian. One Bible training center is preparing young men and women to preach the gospel amidst hardship and persecution. Since Chris-tian Aid began sending funds in 2008, the mission has dispatched 27 missionaries, planted 73 churches and completed the training center.

“For the last 10 years, we have been praying for funds to build the first floor of the training center,” the mission leader wrote in an email. “We thank God that He heard our prayers and provided the funds through Christian Aid. Truly He is Jehovah Jireh.”

Sponsorship also began the same year for 20 church planting missionaries.

“God is moving in a mighty way. Souls are being saved and His kingdom is expanding in more new parts of North India,” he reported. “Thank you for standing with us.”


“Your Love has encouraged us to Work More”

When Christian Aid’s South Asia di-rector visited an orphanatge in 2004, the ministry working with children from six tribes had no electricity in an area where temperatures regularly reach 110 degrees. Christian Aid made the need known, and believers in the U.S. responded with con-tributions.

Born of a dream and led by the Chris-ties, the home began in 1988 with 13 girls. Today it nurtures 50-plus impoverished children. Christian Aid has found sponsors for most of the children, but more sponsors are needed. Donors have sent offerings for everything from a well and solar heating system, to bedding and uniforms for the children, to a chicken coop and land for fruit trees.

Christian Aid also assisted in the completion of the children’s home. They fed the children hot meals from a tin shed used as a kitchen. With a new kitchen and

dining hall for the children, they accomplished more, and the children enjoyed having a place to eat.

Burdened for the lost, the Christies started a church planting ministry in nearby villages with eight gospel workers and a worship center near the chil-dren’s home. But, even as churches thrive and the chil-dren’s home worship hall overflows with hundreds for conferences, the children remain their first concern.

“We are so thankful for your wonderful love to us,” Christie wrote. “Whatever growth you see in the photos from when you first came is due to your love. Your love has encouraged us to work more and more for these children and for the sake of Jesus’ love.”

strengthening hands in sri LankaRescuing girls off the streets and opening a door

for their safety, answered the call of the Lord in a land of tsunamis and civil wars, with support sent through Christian Aid.

Sister R remembers the eyes of a little girl on the street and how the Lord confirmed her call.

“As I ventured out into the street to enter their lives, I discovered a whole new world,” she said. “They were instructed to steal and deliver drugs. How had I been so blind to their plight? The little girl whose face shone with happiness when I gave her a bag of candy

Students at the training center rejoice to have this new building provided by supporters.

Children from six tribes live at a children’s home, helped by Christian Aid since 2004.


years earlier came flooding back to my memory, and I knew what I had to do.”

Children, dirty and hungry, began arriving on her doorstep. “Many had been abused by alcoholic and drug-addicted parents. We fed them rice and curry, gave them baths, and taught them reading, writing and arithmetic before sending them away for the night,” Roheen said. But sending them away brought heart-ache, for when they returned the next morning they had been abused more deeply. She began renting a house and took in a few girls.

In 2004 Christian Aid increased assistance and sought sponsorships for these abused children. Then the ministry could house just 11 girls in a rented prop-erty. Today they care for 30 girls living in a permanent home funded by generous donations; a separate home for boys was completed in 2012, with additional gifts.

“Most of them reply that it’s the protection that they appreciate,” Sister R wrote. “They are also grow-ing in the Lord, and we pray that they will grow up to be Christian leaders, lights in a darkened world.”

In 2009 Sister R and her team reached out to Gypsy women in the salt mines. With Christian Aid’s help they have built a center to educate the women and children there.

“We have been able to accomplish what the Lord called us to do because He provided partners for us like Christian Aid to strengthen our hands,” Roheen said.

advancing the Kingdom in BangladeshThe gospel shines regardless of poverty, bringing

spiritual riches to those who take hold. In Bangladesh, one of the poorest places on earth, there’s poverty of spirit, as 150 million people of the 330 people groups

“as i ventured out into the street to enter their lives, i discovered a whole new world. They were instructed to steal and deliver

drugs. how had i been so blind to their plight?”


have never heard the name of Christ.But missionaries there are bringing hope. In 2007

donors responded with gifts to help believers dig ar-senic-free wells in five villages known for persecution.

In November 2007 a cyclone hit Bangladesh. Christian Aid immediately sent help for believers over-whelmed by the devastation. Using these offerings, the mission worked to restore demolished houses and supplied food for 150 families for 10 days. They brought hope where hope was lost.

Since 2008 compassionate Christians have given for bicycles, Bibles, income-generating projects; sup-

ported conferences and provided for persecuted believers in Bangladesh, where missionaries are ef-fectively advancing God’s kingdom. To assist them is to join with what God is doing in this part of the earth.

For six decades, Christian Aid has impacted indig-enous ministries in South Asia—from the early days with Bakht Singh and Prem Pradhan—to the Thapas of Nepal, the Christies in India and Sister R in Sri Lanka. Their lives are drink offerings poured out before the Lord, until His return. With prayer and wise giving, we’ll see what God will do.

Bengali Muslim


Ten years ago Ed White was speaking with a vil-lage pastor outside his church in eastern Brazil when he experienced a revelation of sorts.

That evening his missions team from Virginia had presented The JESUS Film to a gathering of more than 1000 people. Many journeyed for miles by foot, canoe, or truck through jungle terrain to hear the gospel. By the end of the event, scores of people had prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Deeply moved, the Brazilian pastor watched as people dispersed and told White, “If only I had a gen-erator, I would take The JESUS Film to villages up and down the river. I have a boat. We can get gasoline. We just need a generator.”

That’s when it hit White. “Is it possible the work of God is being thwarted because of a generator? That is unacceptable,” he thought.

The school principal returned to Virginia Beach with a new mission in life, but he needed some guid-ance to get started. He wondered if there were other ministries in the United States who partnered with indigenous groups. To his surprise, a simple Internet search directed him to Christian Aid Mission located less than three hours away in Charlottesville.

“I had never heard of them, but I came for a visit and saw that they understand and value the work of indigenous missions,” said White. “I had a vision for what I felt God wanted me to do, while Christian Aid had a strong relationship with ministries around the world and 50 years of experience. We started a part-nership, and from that time on, our two ministries have been working together.”

IN 2004 White founded a non-profit Christian or-ganization called Great Commission Resources Interna-tional. The group seeks to provide the resources—and simple tools for evangelism like generators—to assist indigenous believers as they proclaim the gospel in the far reaches of the globe.

GCRI acts as a fundraising agency, sponsoring a variety of projects for missions-related organizations. Their first large-scale venture with Christian Aid in-volved the construction of a dining hall for an orphan-age in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami.

In addition to small monthly projects that fami-lies and schoolchildren can contribute toward, GCRI donors have the opportunity to invest each year in two large-scale projects for ministries supported by Christian Aid. White receives recommendations from

Ed white, founder of GCRI, shares a meal in the home of a Nepali ministry leader.

Working TogetherA HEART FOR MISSIONS

LEADS VIRGINIA MAN

TO NEW HORIZONS AND

JOINT VENTURES WITH

CHRISTIAN AID

By Valerie Davis


Christian Aid staff, then consults with his Board of Directors to select projects they believe will interest their donors.

When White began working with the ministry, one of his requests was to eventually accompany staff on a trip overseas to see the fruits of the work firsthand. He got his wish, traveling to Vietnam a few years ago to see a Bible training center. Since then, he has been to Ecuador to visit a missionary training facility as well as to Peru, where a radio station was built to proclaim the gospel to Quechua Indians in the Andes Mountains.

IN oCToBeR 2012 Christian Aid arranged for Ed White and a videographer for GCRI, Tom Schultheis, to see ministry projects GCRI has helped fund in Nepal.

One of the projects White visited was a children’s home operated by a ministry in the Gorkha district. Isolation and distrust of the outside world make it difficult for children of mountain families to receive a good education. Living within a nurturing environment, these youngsters have the opportunity to escape generations of poverty and come to know the Lord.

White also went to a Bible training center where 75 Christian men and women were attending a leaders’

conference, and he toured a safe house for teenage girls rescued from sex trafficking. As an extension of the safe house ministry, adult women from the nearby community can enroll in tailoring classes. Upon gradu-ation they receive sewing machines to help them start their own shops.

The next joint project that both organizations are supporting is construction of the Nepal Hope for Life Ministry Center in Gorkha. The land has been purchased and funds are being raised to build the facility. Hope for Life will offer vocational training, literacy classes, and medical clinics—all part of a desire to show the love of Christ to unreached people living in one of the most rugged mountain terrains on earth.

ThIs YeaR White has trips planned with Christian Aid staff to the Middle East and to Ecuador. With each experience, he comes back inspired by modern-day giants of the faith.

“To see the work of what our courageous broth-ers and sisters are doing, all risking martyrdom every day, yet asking for so little, is such a blessing,” he said. “What Christian Aid is doing in all of these places through the work of local believers is bringing the light and the joy of Jesus to a lot of people.”

Quechua Indians broadcast Christian radio programs, thanks to support.

Rescued from human trafficking by a ministry in Nepal, these women learn to sew to make a living.


SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES—Never say never to a gospel worker who has counted the cost of preaching Christ to Muslims. Not just any

Muslims. Tribal headhunters, cannibals and terrorists inhabit some areas of the southern Philippines. But if you are an indigenous missionary called by God to reach the tribes in your area, you are not about to say, “No. Sorry. Someone else will have to do the Great Commission here.” Instead, you pray, “Here I am, send me.” You prepare your heart because you might die. You be-friend to gain trust. And you tell the children of Islam that Christ died for them too.

Roger Obe was born to Mus-lim parents of the Yakan tribe on Basilan Island, a small southern island southeast of Mindanao, infamous for harboring Muslim terrorists and steeped with vio-lent opposition to Christianity. As a child he faithfully studied the Quran. But while at a Christian mission school at age 18, he surrendered his life to Christ. Now what would he do? If he shared with his family, he might be cast out. So he hid his faith.

One year later Roger’s mother died.“She never knew where she was going in spite of

her devotion to the Islamic faith,” Roger said. “I lost my mother not only for now but for eternity because I did not testify to her about my newfound faith.”

Devastated, he openly proclaimed the truth, but death threats drove him away. Through the years he prayed that the Lord would send someone to tell his people about Christ. One day Roger felt the Lord say, “If you will not go, who will?”

After much prayer, Roger and his wife Fe moved to Basilan and started haven of Rest orphanage, where they provided housing, food, educa-tion and God’s love to poor or orphaned Muslim children.

The name of Christ had returned to this Islamic island after many years. But opposi-tion abounds today.

“We are frequently vis-ited by Muslim religious lead-ers,” Roger wrote to Christian Aid, which assists the ministry. “They wear long white robes

during the day, but dress in Muslim terrorist military uniforms at night.”

BeLIeVeRs aRe ReaChING The uNReaCheD in the southern Philippines. Of the 15 Islamic people

While the Philippines hosts a Christian majority, a strong Muslim minority saturates the southern region. These five indigenous ministries are telling the story of Jesus to followers of Islam. And hearts are opening.

Christ for the southern Islands

By Joan Hutter

These children experience Christ’s love at an orphange in a Muslim area.

continued on page 14 . . .


This former rebel leader now lives a peaceful life since coming to Christ through native missionaries working with Public Preaching Ministry in the southern Philippines. In Christ, all things are made new.

One well-knOwn cOmmander of one of the radical Muslim terrorist groups operating in Mindanao trig-gered a cyclone of fear because of his ability to escape capture by the government army. He and his militia killed numerous government soldiers and civilians.

Whenever this commander personally murdered, assassinated or beheaded someone, he would cut his arm, leaving a scar to keep tally of his work. He and his soldiers tor-mented the village with massacres, rapes, killings and bombings. They recruited young people as terrorists.

Several years ago one of his young sons was passing through an area where Public Preaching Ministry offered free food and medicine. When he told his father, the commander became suspicious and went to investigate. In the dark, he stood outside the tent where a PPM pastor was preaching the

gospel. He was amazed. He went forward to hear more, and the Lord Jesus captured his heart.

Now when the pastor travels through dangerous territories in the mountains he asks the commander to accompany and guide him and his team. The man even travels in front to shield the others from attack.

Recently the commander ac-companied the pastor to a remote area for a meeting with local Chris-tian leaders. During dinner the lead-ers commented on how peaceful things had been in that area. The ter-rorist commander had not bothered them. Had he moved? Did he die?

The pastor told them that the man they were talking about was sitting there eating with them. The commander looked drastically dif-ferent, no longer having the long hair and fearsome countenance.

The leaders found this impos-sible so the pastor asked the com-

mander to show them the tattoos and the scars from bullet wounds. The commander also showed the scars on his arms indicating how many he had personally killed. He told them that, if he could, he would repay them. He would understand, too, if they wanted to hurt him.

The leaders believed and for-gave him.

Nothing is too difficult for God. In a world where hearts seem cold-est and most resistant, where terror-ism is on the rise and radical Islam seems to prevail, God is greater, and His people are responding with courage to take the gospel to the unknown and unreached, no matter the cost. Christ gave it all, and these fiery, native believers ask why they should give less.

Please pray for courage, bold-ness and provision, that the gospel would shine in the darkest places of the earth.

every scar Counts as a Miracle of Mercy


A missionary prays with Filipino soldiers.

They marvel aT The way The lord changes a hearT and brings The mosT unlikely

soul inTo his kingdom.

groups, sowing among Muslims is reaching seven by building friendships over time. saM’s seven grass-roots teams are working to establish relationships through medical outreach and education, as well as helping poor families start modest income-generating projects. Helped by Christian Aid, the mission has had considerable impact on those unreached, mixed Islamic and animistic communities that have led to a promising trust relationship.

“Our goal is to keep a balance between good works and proclaiming the gospel,” their leader ex-plained. Using The JESUS Film and other audio, video and print handouts, saM missionary teams are reach-ing into the hearts of Muslims, who come back asking who this Jesus is. One evening when a worker showed a shorter version of The Passion of the Christ, three of the eight Muslims professed the Lord Jesus as their

atoning sacrifice. Gospel workers liv-

ing in the southern Phil-ippines face one of the most difficult mission fields in the world, with an Al-Qaeda training camp reportedly exist-ing in this area. Gather-ing to strengthen one another, f ield teams

with Christ for Muslims spoke of the blessing of liv-ing on the frontlines as 165 souls from four Muslim unreached people groups had come to the Lord. Their mentors left them with a challenge: What if these 165 believers become a harvest force witnessing to their families and tribesmen?

“The message rang loudly through my heart,” one leader said. “Courage is not the absence of fear. It is pursuing in spite of it.” Harvest workers here plant

churches among Muslim tribes that are completely unreached. Despite danger posed by Muslim extrem-ists, scores have been led to Christ, and dozens of churches have been planted. When missionaries meet the basic needs of Muslims, they gain their trust and an open door.

Jon Paller, leader of Nationals for Tribal Ministries in the Philippines, directs more than 100 missionaries who work among 20 unreached people groups. The missionaries live in tribal communities, where they teach the Bible, train leaders, plant churches and translate the Scriptures into local dialects.

“We are working to reach new tribes until we’ve reached the last,” Paller said.

Native missionaries are seeing miracles of salva-tion in an Islamic world. And miracles continue to happen of lives radically changed by the power of the gospel. Christian Aid is full of these stories, sent from the field, where gospel workers are serving as foot soldiers. They travel great distances by boat and on foot over rough, muddy trails in scorching heat to reach the precious people God made, who are yet to know Him. And how they marvel at the way the Lord changes a heart and brings the most unlikely soul into His kingdom.

“we are working To reach new

Tribes unTil we’ve reached

The lasT”

. . . continued from page 12


While armies brutally ruled this nation for 50 years, oppressing and enslaving its impoverished citizens, God was sustaining

His armies throughout Burma. Nothing can repress the Lord.

Even when all foreign missionaries were expelled from the country in 1966, thousands of native believ-ers kept worshiping the Lord in secret. Spreading the gospel was now up to the Burmese. As they preached, proclaimed and pastored their own, the number of Christians in Burma grew.

Today, Christians comprise about 4 per-cent of the population in this predominantly Bud-dhist nation, leaving 94 percent yet unreached.

Burmese mission leaders describe the extraordinary impact outside financial help has had on their church-planting ministries, Bible institutes, orphanages and fellowships—and all Christian growth in Burma. With help sent through Christian Aid, God is raising up a mighty fortress among believers in Burma.

“Church planting in Burma is the direct result of generous people who felt the Lord’s call to give gener-

ously for missions,” David, a mission leader, explained. With 80 full-time and 20 part-time workers, as well as 50 Bible college students from 12 ethnic groups, and 70 churches among 19 different people groups, David’s ministry shepherds about 4000 believers.

“This type of accelerated growth is possible with financial help,” he said. “If we waited until churches in

Burma could support indigenous missionar-ies, much of the work on the frontline would have to be pulled back. Growth would be slow. The political factor and poor economy cannot be ignored. When the country is poor, its churches are also poor.”

In this Southeast Asian country bor-dered by China, Thai-land, India, Laos and Bangladesh, one third of the 60 million peo-ple live on less than a

dollar a day. The people suffer poverty from years of dictatorship, military rule and isolation. They have survived forced labor, beatings, killings and imprison-ments. Believers look up with hope that the 70,000 child soldiers—the largest number in the world—will somehow be set free in their hearts.

a Mighty Fortress for Believers in Burma Cambodia

Vietnam

Thailand

Myanmar(Burma) Laos

young missionary “soldiers” are winning The losT To chrisT and planTing churches among

The unreached

By Joan Hutter

“If I lived outside of Burma I would do what Christian Aid has been doing. I would help the nationals. We can do the witnessing. The people’s heart is not closed to the gospel.” —Timothy


“Soldiers for Jesus Christ,” a ministry of Biblical Faith Mission, offers an answer to the military reign. With boot camp style training and discipleship, young missionary “soldiers” are winning the lost to Christ and planting churches among the unreached. Helped by Christian Aid, BFM has graduated 456 students from its Biblical School of Theology, and 97 percent are work-ing in the ministry. The indigenous mission now has 87 pioneer missionaries who have planted 65 mission churches in different states.

“Outside funding strengthens our ministry,” Timothy, a ministry leader, said. “Yet we depend on God, not outside funding. However, in the ministry, when we partner with outside help, we can accomplish more.”

He said the country is so poor that after 12 years only four churches planted by BFM missionaries could

support their own pastor. Burmese ministries teach their believers to give, and they give all they can; but there’s no way they could support missionaries, let alone other crucial ministries.

“What if there were no outside funding?” Timothy pondered. “We have Hope Children’s Home where 31 orphans are cared for. Without outside funding, we cannot run orphanages. With your help, we have a good Bible college, children’s home, 87 pioneer mis-sionaries, 37 mission church buildings, a good library and purified water for students.”

A ministry leader with Myanmar Rural Mission said if there came a day when ministries in the West could no longer send support, God would make a way. If He wants it done, He will supply the means.

“God will open up His ways to accomplish the given task,” said Sya Chit Khine, who leads this faith-based ministry with zeal to prepare young people for the mission field in Burma. Christian Aid assists this work, which conducts evangelistic preaching, dis-cipleship training, summer camps and Bible seminars through its four-year Bible institute.

“In our Bible school, my students cannot pay the tuition, though I ask only 5 percent of the total cost,” he said. “But the ministry can run with help.”

With help, Burmese ministries are establishing churches and mission bases in their closed country. For native missionaries doing the Lord’s work in Burma, outside help is the mercy of God.

A missionary pastor stands

in front of a new church building

provided by gifts from Christian Aid

donors.

Canon Theological College students gather in homes to study the Bible and pray together.


Leaders say one of their urgent needs is to provide for the church planters ministering among people liv-ing in poverty.

“The people are very poor. They live in huts. You can’t expect them to support the church planters,” harvester Mission leader David Mang Sum wrote Christian Aid.

haM equips new believers and develops strong church planting missionaries through its Canon Theo-logical College. In remote areas, evangelism camps include programs for children, and missionaries pro-vide food and medicines. Often working to support themselves, church planters live among the villagers until a new leader is trained.

“Our church planters are also very poor,” Sum said. “They have nothing but Christ. Though they are poor, they have a loving heart for these unreached tribal people.”

And look what they face. Not just poverty. They are reaching devastated souls, beaten down by years of neglect and abuse, with no way out, and no one looking in to deliver them. But God did not forget the Burmese people. He Himself was their fortress and safe tower all along. And, while foreign missionaries had to leave, assistance for indigenous missions swept in through Christian Aid, strengthening those who ministered among their own people.

“If I lived outside of Burma,” said Timothy, who has persevered through persecution, “I would do what Christian Aid has been doing. I would help the nation-als. We can do the witnessing. The people’s heart is not closed to the gospel.”

Through prayer and financial partnership, these ministries, and Christ’s witness in Burma, break free from years of oppression. Please continue to join them in prayer and give as the Lord leads.

Burmese indigenous missionaries reach children with the gospel, bringing songs to replace despair. with continued help, more children will learn of the joy and kindness of the Savior.


More than a million Syrian refugees have flooded bordering nations since

the conflict began, and as many as three million may swell the camps of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey by the end of this year. What are Chris-tians living in those countries doing about the harvest opportunity amid broken lives? Ministries partnering with Christian Aid report.

“We waited until nightfall and climbed through a barbed-wire fence under heavy gunfire with our husbands and kids. our husbands didn’t make it across.”

“I couldn’t sleep at night as I watched over my kids, thinking, ‘Is this our last night?’”

“I feel as a husband that I have failed my family.”

“We lost it all! I feared for my children, but here they can play without being shot! I worry for my family that didn’t make it out! I lost friends and loved ones! I’ve lost hope!”

—Voices of Syrian Refugees

Refugee Camps—Long past are the days when Asu could rise safely on a quiet Syrian morning and head for work at his growing grocery business. Tensions tightening amid escalating warfare left this businessman with no choice but to leave.

“I had my own business,” the Syrian shared. “I ran a super-market, and we were financially stable. Unfortunately, that’s not the case anymore; our dreams vanished when a group of terror-ists threatened to kill my family, burn our house, and set fire to the supermarket, if I didn’t pay them $7000. I paid the amount, hoping that they would leave us alone, but they did not. Instead, they kidnapped me for a whole week. They only let me go on one condition—that each month I would pay them the same amount! What could I do? I fled. I took my family and came to Jordan. I used to be a business owner, but now I am a laborer who can hardly handle providing day-to-day living basics for my family.”

This businessman is one of more than a million Syrians who have fled their homeland for safety in surrounding countries. But, though these nations opened with hospitality, arriving was like entering a life of depravity, and hope escaped him.

A woman who lost her husband speaks of the horrors of death which drove her from her home.

“I was in the kitchen and the kids were playing. Suddenly we heard voices and shooting outside, and the next minute I saw my husband on the floor, bleeding from a gunshot to his head! We couldn’t even take him to the hospital because of the gunshots outside. He passed away in front of the kids and me.”

Streaming from a nation that literally is gushing blood, men, women and children cross the border to find their home some-what like the tents of the Israelites. But the manna isn’t raining from heaven, and water is not pouring from a rock to meet their physical needs.

All Things LostExCEpt For thE surpAssIng grEAtnEss oF knowIng ChrIst

“The harvest is here and the doors are open”

By Joan Hutter A woman searches filthy streets for food in ravaged Syria.


However, God is supplying His Bread of Life and Living Water through indigenous missionaries. Min-istries working among Muslim people groups in those countries are turning to care for refugee families, bringing food, water, blankets and the kindness of a listening ear. Christian Aid is helping.

“The needs for the Syrian refugees are more than our capacity or capability,” a ministry leader in Jordan wrote. “We are reaching the refugees that are hurting, lonely and hopeless. We are saving Syrian families, providing children with milk, warm clothes and diapers. We help, but most importantly, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world in need.”

And they are finding displaced Syrian Muslims open to the gospel. “The harvest is here and the doors are open for us,” one leader proclaimed.

“We have the most strategic opportunity for the gospel with almost all the refugees being Muslim and very, very open to the gospel,” a leader in Lebanon wrote.

In the past, while in Syria, these Muslims were in bondage to their Islamic culture, forbidden to change their religion. Now as refugees, for the first time in their lives, they are free to open their eyes to the gospel, without the same fear. Plus, they see the love of Christians. They come to understand that believers are reaching out to them from the heart. After see-ing Muslims fighting against each other, they wonder: “Who is this God of Christians?”

“This is an opportunity for loving Muslims unlike any other time,” the Lebanese believer wrote.

And love is what they’re doing. Not just feeling or talking about. They put on the hands of love, roll up the sleeves of love and lace up the boots of love.

“It’s very difficult to preach in their situation with-out helping with their most basic needs,” a ministry leader in Iraq wrote, considering the great exchange, from Iraqis fleeing just a few years ago, to their return, along with myriads of Syrians, today. “It’s time to show Jesus, His love and care. Help us to show the love of

Having lost everything, Syrian refugee families rely on the mercy of ministries working among them. with help sent through Christian Aid, workers distribute food, blankets and Bibles.


our Lord in action.”Imagine walking into a room with a sheet spread

on the floor and a couple of cushions; these are the living conditions of many refugee families. The high crime rate among the camps drives them to find al-ternate housing in dilapidated buildings even the local poor have avoided. Many live in run-down apartments with multiple families sharing a single kitchen and bathroom. These families lack basic necessities, and jobs are limited and low-paying. People rely on mercy.

With the number of refugees increasing daily, ministries are strategizing about how to meet their

needs while they build lasting relationships and trust. A ministry in Jordan has found a strategy that

helps refugees and trains local youth to minister. The teens interact with the refugee families and leave them with a gospel tract, New Testament or a DVD if they have a player. They also provide blankets, clothing, milk, diapers, food, gas for their heaters, or kitchen utensils, with funds through Christian Aid. At each meeting, the teens listen to the stories of the refugees.

“They talk about their fam-ily members being left behind in Syria, coming to terms with family and friends who have died or been injured, their grief over what’s happening in Syria, and their thoughts about the future,” a ministry leader shared.

Another issue is what to do with the children. They have suffered loss of home, fathers, belongings, safety and school-ing. They live in tents or rooms

without doors, windows, heat or blankets. A ministry in Lebanon is addressing the need by absorbing 200 refugee children into their daily classes. They offer an education, a nutritious meal, affection and the gospel, giving the children security and something wholesome to focus their minds on. More children need this at-tention and opportunity, as the schools have filled. With additional support, missionaries could supply this service, giving children hope and a future.

The situation in Syria continues to escalate, send-ing countless hundred-thousands to wander home-less in alien lands. What hope do they have but what

Jesus can give? The ministries Christian Aid helps are bringing the Hope of the Nations to

shine among the refugees. And while they may feel overwhelmed and shorthanded at the task, it has become an opportunity for a great harvest among Muslims. Who knows? Maybe they will someday return to Syria as Christians and continue what the Lord began in that nation.

Until then, pray and give all you can; as those ministering are giving all they have to help those who have lost everything.

Refugees live in old dilapidated buildings to steer clear of crime in the camps. Christian Aid assists ministries in supplying basic needs.

The minisTries helped by chrisTian aid are bringing The hope of The naTions To shine among The refugees


While hundreds of thousands flee to bordering countries, a few called mission workers hold ground in Syria, raising a banner for Christ amid con-stant bombings, kidnappings and growing insecurity in this war zone. “We must keep a Christian presence,” they say.

SYRIA—Beneath the rubble of crumbled historic churches, and surrounded by the sound of explo-sions and raining mortar, a handful of believers

are clinging together in one accord to bear up under the pressure to leave their country. In a day when one million souls are swept away in the mass exodus into bordering nations, some Christians are fortifying their walls to ride out the storm.

“They have a calling,” said Steve Van Valkenburg, director of Christian Aid’s Middle East Division. “It’s John 10, ‘I’m not a hireling, I don’t flee. I have a flock of sheep, I don’t leave.’”

Christian Aid has a direct line to assist ministries work-ing in the mire. With donor support, indigenous groups reach the lowest places to meet the needs of the weary.

Christian Presence

Keeping the

in Syria

By Joan Hutter


Leader shares “Daily unbelievable situations” Believers in Syria take the war day by day. They’re

not just trying to survive. They are caring for their flock in the unbelievable wilderness of their lives.

“Nearly every day, during the day and night, from hour to hour, as well as this moment of writing to you, we hear the voice of mortar or rockets passing over our area or exploding somewhere close to us,” a Syrian ministry leader shared with Christian Aid. “We live in a city of daily unbelievable situations. But another week has passed with the protection of the Lord for each one of us.”

Some days they search the city for bread so they can feed the believ-ers among them. Other days they try to buy gas for cooking, but the price can double overnight, so they hunt firewood instead. They lose power for days or weeks, cutting off communication, heat and refrigeration. Many left their homes due to battles in other cities and now live with 20 people in just a few small rooms. Bombs can fall at any moment and some people, entering the building targeted, have escaped by a hair, leaving just a step between them and death. With the escalation of missile explosions and checkpoints up and down neighborhood roads,

they can sense when the heavy fighting approaches. But the darkness from power outages triggers

more fear than anything.“Fear,” the Syrian brother wrote. “You can’t

imagine how much people are afraid of the power problem—to be in a city without electricity for many days, which means without communications, comput-ers, lights and heating, in addition to the fear of fighting that might start at any point; or criminals will attack

you in this very darkness! Spending the very long night when the only voice you hear is mortars!

“Since everything is possible now around us, what else will they do? The rumors now are that the opposition groups are preparing to stop bread and meat from coming into the city. Prices suddenly go up in crazy ways, and in any shop you enter you will hear the

same advice: ‘Buy it; if you find it tomorrow, it will be double price!’”

Some weeks they really can’t find bread in the city. So when they do, they buy 50 bags at a time.

Persecution of Christians has increased, seen in daily kidnappings. When two gospel workers were kid-napped, they were released only after paying $25,000.

“At the same time, they threaten to kill Christians,

During less volatile times, a children’s ministry attracts crowds, including Muslims, in the open square.

Through These Trials The

churches come TogeTher in uniTy

To sTrengThen The believers who

remain in syria, and To reach ouT

To muslims.


Questions? Comments? Call 1-434-977-5650

email: [email protected]

BulK Quantities of Christian mission are available for churches and individuals willing to

distribute them among interested Christians.

CHRistian aiD missionP. O. Box 9037

Charlottesville, VA 22906

434-977-5650

www.christianaid.org

we love the brethren.. . . because

ChristianAid

Christian Aid is a member of the

Evangelical Council for Financial

Accountability

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Cynthia Finley PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR & DESIGN

John Scully WRITER/EDITOR: Joan Hutter

WRITER: Valerie Davis

FIELD DIRECTORS :

Christian

VOL. 39 NO. 2 — Summer 2013Mission

Copyright © 2013 Christian Aid Mission. All data, materials, photographs and illustrations

are property of Christian Aid Mission.

LATIN AMERICARosa Hart

SOUTH ASIA Sarla Mahara

AFRICABrittany Tedesco

FORMER USSRSlavik Radchuk

CHINA, Dorothy SunS. E. ASIA, M. EAST,

and E. EUROPE, Stephen Van Valkenburg

CREDIT CARD gifts are accepted by phone or online.

and the Islamic ‘Sharia’ Law is now daily in the opposition news; they are advising Christians to prepare for the new Islamic regime,” he wrote.

The destruction of historical church buildings also points to perse-cution. Church buildings more than 150 years old today lie in a heap throughout this city.

“I know that the building is not the church, the church is us,” the ministry leader reflected. “And this is true partly. But when you lose your church building, it is something important, and when you lose a very historical church building because they meant to destroy it, this is something we need to think and pray about because this is a very clear message from ‘them’ to us Christians in the East.”

Yet this ministry keeps caring for the “body of Christ,” wounded, broken, homeless, hungry and helpless, all around. Their plan is clear: to help provide the physical and spiritual needs in their community. Sister ministries working among refugees in neighboring countries risk their lives to transport supplies to the believers in Syria. One truck survived 27 checkpoints. Provision comes from donations sent through Christian Aid.

Mission leaders rally the youth to help distribute food packages to the needy instead of submitting to the call of war. News bureaus report that fighters are putting guns into the hands of the youth.

Christians respond with daily fasting and prayer. And through these trials the churches come together in unity to strengthen the believers who remain in Syria, and to reach out to Muslims.

“The Muslims now trust Christians because Christians stood for them and provided for them and stay beside them,” the leader said. “Lots of Muslims have realized the love of Jesus.

“Thank you for praying, for standing with us before the throne.” CORRECTION:Spring issue: “working Together” on page 13 was written by Jean Pinkham.

MISSION STATEMENT: We seek to establish a witness for our Lord in every tribe and nation (Luke 24:46-48) by supporting competent indigenous mission boards based in poorer countries, planting churches among unreached peoples.

GIVING TO CHRISTIAN AID: Christian Aid Mission sends 100% of your offerings overseas for the missionary, child, cause, or ministry that you designate. Additional gifts are needed to cover operational expenses which come from gifts specifically designated for this purpose, from staff raising their support, and from general funds. To give to Chrsitian Aid and/or ministries mentioned in this magazine, contact:

Church buildings crumble from constant bombing, with no relief in sight. However, ministries are helping those who remain.



Non-profit OrganizationAUTO

U.S. Postage PAIDLong Prairie, MNPermit No. 908

CHRISTIAN AID MISSION P.O. BOx 9037 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22906

eleCtRoniC seRViCe ReQuesteDwe love the brethren.. . . because

ChristianAid

60:200

You Can Be a SponsorOver 6000 indigenous missionary

ministries are winning souls and planting churches in “mission field” countries.

Very little financial support is available from their impoverished people. Here is a way you, your church, or other Christian

groups can help meet their needs.

Support a Missionary — $50 monthly

Monthly gifts of $50 on average will help to support a missionary working with an indigenous mission board evangelizing people who have never before heard the gospel. These native missionaries are citizens of unreached nations, and are on the field right now planting churches in areas where none had been before. Sponsors receive the name and photo of the missionary supported plus information about his work.

Sponsor a Needy Child — $25 monthly

Native missionaries have compassion on the hundreds of destitute children around them. Most are orphans, or their parents are too poor, sick or

disabled to feed them. Helping these children often means reaching whole families or communities for

Christ. Gifts of $25 monthly will provide for one impoverished child and you will receive the name

and photo of the one you sponsor.

summeR CM13-2

ChildAll about

SponSorShip

How sponsorship worksWhen you send a gift and commit to sponsor a child, Christian Aid will send you the name, photo and biographical sketch of the one as-signed to you, as well as information about the indigenous ministry responsible for him or her. We will also send you updates on the one you help as they become available.

Your monthly gifts will be sent to the in-digenous mission caring for the one you assist. They will be combined with those of others and distributed according to need. This follows the example of the original apostles, written in Acts 4:35, “. . . and distribution was made unto every man [child] according as he had need.”

Christian Aid MissionP.O. Box 9037

Charlottesville, VA 22906Phone: [email protected]

All Gifts Are tAx-deductible59:113

christian AidPO box 9037

charlottesville, VA 22906

Orphans given hope and eternal life through your support.


ChristianAid

Missionary

All About

Supporting How supporting a missionary works:

When you send a faith gift and promise

to support a missionary, Christian Aid will

send you the name, photo and biographical

sketch of the one assigned to you, as well as

information about the indigenous ministry

responsible to provide for him or her. We will

also send you updates on the one you help

as they become available (a few times each

year). Your monthly gifts will be sent to the

indigenous mission in charge of the one you

assist. They will be combined with those of

others and distributed according to need. This

follows the example of the original apostles

recorded in Acts 4:35, “. . . and distribution

was made unto every man according as he had

need.”

Christian Aid Mission

P.O. Box 9037

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Phone: 434-977-5650

www.christianaid.org

[email protected]

All GifTs Are TAx-deduCTiBle

53:183rev0611Christian Aid, PO Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906


ChristianAid

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