Russia snapshots

Dennis Hilman and Gregory Greve have been in Russia for several weeks now. Here are some updates from Dennis' Facebook page:

MARAT FROM GAGARKA - 12 years after he first invited me to this home as a 13 year old Muslim boy. Whereupon he received the grace to believe in the living Lord Jesus, be baptized and lead his family and relatives in other villages to find a life of faith. Still claiming God's grace! Here with me on his traditional old Russian sidecar motorcycle. Also with mother Nadya (in yellow) and from left to right Denis Zhevlakov (the first boy who came to faith in the awakening in the boys' pretrial prison in 1999), our faithful translator Misha and Lena who joined our congregation years ago.

BAPTISM OF EVELINA - Today I had the privilege of baptizing a sweet little girl from a family I have known for years from Kamishlov, about two hours from this church in Ekaterinburg, who were active in our congregation there. Their daughter Olga and her husband Mikhail are Evelina's parents. Olga's mother and brother Vova were the godparents. The pastor of this congregation is Waldemar Benzil. He also asked me to bring the Word. "The water and the Word!"

 

DISPLACED CHILDREN - Today we spent all afternoon in a children's home with a precious group of six children from disastrous home situations, ages 12 to 14. I was able to share many experiences from living abroad and working with children around the world as a pastor and servant of God. They seemed quite fascinated and asked many questions. Pictured here is also Greg Greve with whom I am traveling in Russia this month (center). To his right the group "mother" Marina. Also Nona Rib (left, who brought us there), as well as Elena (front left). Young Roma is holding a globe that I explained God has given me as my working place. He was full of questions. Imagine that any parents could have abandoned such a clever and beautiful child!! "All are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

Dennis and Greg will be in Russia until the middle of September. Please continue to pray for their time there!

Upcoming trips

Here is the list of upcoming trips. If you are interested in joining us, please contact the Foreign Mission Administrator as soon as possible! foreignmission@comcast.net

August 15 - September 15: Russia

October 3 - about the end of October: South Africa

November 1 - November 21: Kenya

 

sometime in January: India

sometime in February: Burma (Myanmar)

July Foreign Mission Monthly News

Endeavoring to obey the Word of our Lord...Go ye into all the lands and preach the Gospel to every creature.

Come join us! "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:19-20 Have you considered that your interest in reading this report each month or that your commitment to pray and support the Foreign Mission may also be God's way of prompting you to come on a trip? We would love to have you come! There are many things we do in the field to share the salvation of Jesus: preaching, teaching, praying, singing, helping... There are ways we all can serve! If you feel God's call don't let a feeling of inadequacy stop you! Remember...God doesn't always call the equipped but he always will equip the called! If you want to know more about coming on a trip in the future, check out the Upcoming Events section below and contact the FM Administrator today! foreignmission@comcast.net. Word from the field: God's Peace. Thank you for the help for the re-printing of Sunday School Text Book... the amount reached to the account Yesterday. Please pray for our area as the river is flowing and some face problems with lots floods... Praying for you all... Thank you, Yours in His service, Pastor K (India) Support options  Email or click on the Donate link above for regular support options. Special projects Only funded with earmarked funds Motorbike: Pastors in Kenya and other places are asking for motorbikes to help them travel between their congregations. any amount gladly accepted       Church Building Fund: Congregations around the world meet under trees, in mud shacks, or out in the open. There are always requests for help building churches. any amount gladly accepted *Pictures and other feedback supplied, if desired. Upcoming events > Two trips are planned for the fall, one to Russia in September and one to Kenya in October/November. Please pray for continued planning! >There is space on the trip to India next January/February and space on the trip to Burma (Myanmar) in February 2013. If you are interested in coming, please contact the FM Administrator as soon as possible. foreignmission@comcast.net > There may be a trip to South Africa in the next six months. Please pray for us as we try to determine when to take the trip. > Missionary Dennis Hilman is engaged to Marilyn Stenerson. Their marriage will be January 1st in Florida. > FM Administrator John Ruotsala is currently making church visits in the Midwest. Prayer and praise > The ALC annual convention was a blessed time of fellowship! We praise God for the time we had there. The meetings and services went well. > The president of Sri Lanka will shortly be voting on a bill about religious freedom in Sri Lanka. Please pray that God will touch his heart and help him make the right decision!

www.themissionsite.com | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend  Mailing address for DONATIONS: The Foreign Mission 1601 NW 4th Avenue Battle Ground, Washington 98604 Add us to your address book Mailing address for CORRESPONDENCE: The Foreign Mission of the ALC 63 Poor Farm Road New Ipswich, NH 03071 Copyright © 2013 The Foreign Mission, All rights reserved.

Guatemalan convention 2013

La Paz De Dios sea con ustedes! The peace of God be with you all!

Greetings from your sister churches in Guatemala that send their love and greetings from our recent annual church convention. We had a blessed time during our two day convention! Scott Niemitalo visited us with his wife and 5 of his children, as we got together with the three local churches from Piedras Azules, Juan Ponce and Zacapa.

Our theme this year was the “Church of Christ”. During the recent months, we have been seeing a growth in people who want to get more involved in God’s work, and are more willing to take on responsibility. So the Lord led us to take this theme as our focus point for this year’s convention, to encourage the members to take on their God-given responsibilities as members of Christ’s body and part of His spiritual church. The church of Christ isn’t just a few leaders who should do the whole work, but rather every member coming together with one common purpose and every one using his or her Spirit given gifts for the benefit of the children of God (Ephesians 4:12-16), and the furthering of His kingdom.

Our time together was very blessed, as Scott and Pastor Giovanni took turns speaking on different aspects of the church, her purpose and place in this world, and her place in our lives as purchased members of Christ’s spiritual building. We started with two services Saturday afternoon, and concluded Saturday with a beautiful evening of worship and a chance for each congregation to share and give testimony of God’s goodness in their lives through song and personal testimony. The young teens and older youth all were part of various skits that reinforced the idea of the church, our lives and congregations being built on the ROCK of Christ, and the important place the church has in reaching out to the hurting and desperate with the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ.

Sunday we concluded with a morning service, a lunch prepared by the woman of the church, and then an afternoon closing service. All were very content and grateful for the teachings, and we pray that the seed planted will bring forth fruit, according to the Lord’s Will, and that as we work together to encourage leadership and responsibility amongst the members, our local congregations will be able to grow into a position of being very self sustaining and able to govern their own church bodies in their communities, as they have not, as of yet, gotten to that point. Please pray for growth in our members, for spiritual understanding, for God given wisdom, and for the Lord to raise up leaders in our local communities so that the Lord’s work in these areas can advance through our small congregations and the involvement of His dear children here.

I want to end by saying what a blessing it is to be able to have gatherings like this. To see the church work together to organize everything; the woman working hard to prepare the meals, the worship leaders practicing the songs, the people working with the cleaning, the young people preparing decorations and then their skits for the edification of the body, and so much more. May the Lord help us all, as His children around the world, to fight for unity, to fight for peace amongst our brethren as the Word so teaches. May Christ’s love shine so bright in and through us, that we can’t help but love, to forgive as He forgives, to reach out to others, and through this, be a beacon to this dark world. Church of Christ everywhere, wherever you are, let’s stand up and work together, take up your responsibility as a PURCHASED member of the body of Christ, and together we can be Christ’s hands and feet, reaching out to those who so desperately need the love and forgiveness our Father so freely has provided.

Ryan Ruotsala

A short visit to Saigon

When we visit Vietnam, the trip takes a much different form than many trips. It is more personal. We visit homes of friends and visit with individuals. We pray that God would touch the lives of the people we meet there! Here are a few pictures from the trip to Vietnam earlier this month:

New country for Dennis Hilman

Dennis Hilman is currently in Burma for the first time. Here is what he posted on Facebook when he arrived on May 22:

MYANMAR (BURMA) HAS JUST WELCOMED ME FOR THE FIRST TIME!! Always exciting to enter a new country - especially when you make it around the somewhat dreaded visa on entry procedures and see a familiar sign and welcoming faces in the greeting crowd. Pastor Van Cung Tum and his wife were there to meet me as well as his lead evangelist (haven't gotten around his name yet) along with a kindly driver so I did feel very much welcomed (but with very little English all round!). They took me to a comfortable, simple hotel room near their place which has both AC and WIFI, so what more could we ask for?!! Here in the capital, Yangon, there is lots of traffic and bustle - and RAIN - since it is the rainy season. Have already enjoyed a nice Chinese dinner with my hosts. Tomorrow the opportunity to serve begins. Stay close in prayer!!

These pictures are from a previous trip, just to give you a flavour of where Dennis is serving. However, we know Dennis will have more of his own pictures up as soon as he can!

Just as this blog was going to be posted, Dennis updated his Facebook with the following message:

THE JOY OF THE LORD IN MYANMAR! "Back in the saddle again!" Yesterday I was asked to begin a one week seminar series of doctrinal Bible lessons for pastors and other faithful church members here at the small Evangelical Christian Bible College in Yangon (formerly Rangoon). These are the Hakha Chin people who number about ½ million of Myanmar's total 60 million population. In fact it is this ethnic group who account for about 6% who are at least nominally Christians of this overwhelmingly Buddhist nation. It feels great to be here and encourage them.

Dean of college Dr. Van Cung Tum middle front with head turned. Note very common wrap-around skirt worn by very many of the men and boys. Also observe the avid young student "Joshua" front left in blue who always has his Bible and notepad ready for active use! 

Please keep Dennis in prayer as he continues to serve in Burma.
 

Jesus Loves the Little Children!

The trip to the Philippines this year included four different Vacation Bible Schools which were taught by Leona M and Tamasen T! It was great to spend time so much time with the kids. The first VBS in Igpit was the longest: four days. The next two were two days and the last one, due to time constraints, was just one day. 

Here are some pictures from the four different VBS' that were held. Most of the pictures are from Igpit because we were too busy at the next ones to take pictures!

VBS teachers, leaders, and translators in Igpit standing in front of artwork created by the children in response to the lessons on being salt of the earth and light of the world.

Thinking about what Jesus meant when he talked about building a house on the sand.

Exploring what yeast does in order to understand the parable of the leaven. (Put yeast, sugar, and water in a bottle with a balloon over the top and the reaction will blow up the balloon.)

Singing This Little Light of Mine with the children. In the picture we are singing "Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm going to let it shine!" It was their favourite verse!

 

Many of the 50-60 kids that attended the first VBS in Igpit posed in front of their artwork.

 Pastor Bert translating a lesson at the second VBS near Kitcharao.

Game time at the third VBS at Pastor Mosquito's church near Kitcharao.

The focus of the last VBS in Bliss, Kitcharao was that Jesus loves all the children of the world.

 The "graduates" of the last VBS holding up their certificates.

A response written to Tamasen and I from one of the VBS students.

We pray that God will continue to be with each child we taught and will help the word that was planted grow in their lives!

Welcome to the City of Golden Friendship!

Last Saturday our team arrived in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines and the airport sign said, "Welcome to the City of Golden Friendship" and that seems to perfectly describe our time here.

It's been a busy couple of days so far. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to:

 On Sunday morning we went to the small seaside village of Igpit for services. In the afternoon, there was a general feeding for the children in the community. These are the kids that Bernie and Daisy Senonis work with.

 Here are some of the Igpit kids!

 On Monday and Tuesday we held seminars for pastors and church members. Since it is summer holidays now, a lot of the kids attended too.

 Brian Niemitalo opened the seminars by speaking about confession and forgiveness.

There was lots of time to fellowship with one another or sing together!

We are now in the van on the way to Kitcharao where we will visit various churches as well as hold a convention with churches from five different towns! Please continue to pray for the missionaries as well as the people that we will meet here in the Philippines.

Blessed time in Guatemala

The time that God allowed me to be in Guatemala this year was absolutely invaluable and extremely blessed.

First of all I was able to follow up in very many ways the work He called me to do there a year ago. Especially the seminar teachings that had been given and the revival among the young people at that time had led to many repentances and a complete rejuvenation of the spiritual life for instance in the youth group. Also Pastor Giovanni and I were then involved in many home visits for prayer and counseling which bore much fruit. In one case a man, Julio, with a background in alcoholism, came to the throne of grace and then to church on several occasions then. Another case was of a young child, Jonathan, born almost totally blind who we found in a very hopeless state. After telling hid story on the net we found support for him from a couple in our congregation in Canada. In the year since then Pastor Giovanni has been able to take him and his mother to Guatemala City on several occasions for diagnosis, treatment and therapy. His mother now is in church with him regularly and the hope for a meaningful life for him is improving greatly.

This year a special focus of my visit was to follow up on the seminar that was held in Zacapa in February of this year by Scott Niemitalo, Bruce Estola and Colin Kinnunen on pivotal doctrinal issues. This proved to be blessed beyond belief. Issues of baptism and Holy Communion had been dealt with during that seminar in depth. As a result of this Pastor Giovanni, Ryan Ruotsala and I decided to culminate my stay there with a very special combined service celebration to make the sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion available for all three congregations, Zacapa, Juan Ponce and Piedras Azules. For baptism we were especially thinking of the children, so many of whom were not yet baptized.

When we brought this idea out to the congregations there was a great and wonderful response. EIGHTEEN parents brought their children to be baptized last Sunday, April 7, at the special combined service celebration in Zacapa and ELEVEN adults also requested the holy sacrament - in all TWENTY NINE persons!! Little Jonathan was baptized and Julio, who has been sober for months now, even brought his son to be baptized! Later members of all three congregations participated in Holy Communion. For many it was their first opportunity. It had already been practiced in Zacapa but it was announced that it will now be served regularly in Juan Ponce, too. I anticipate that Piedras Azules will not be far behind!

In addition to this great response to the February and earlier seminars there was also a touching response among the youth to my stay. Besides the many personal contacts and "mentoring" times that we had together I was active in the Sunday evening youth group each week and then in a totally unforgettable "camping trip" with them to a mountain near Jalapa. Among many other memorable experiences, the night around the campfire was most precious when almost all of them opened up in a beautiful and moving way.

In all areas I had the incredible support, assistance and guidance of that most seasoned missionary and servant of the living God, Ryan Ruotsala. Furthermore Pastor Giovanni and I reached a whole new level of understanding and cooperation, which we share truly as brothers in Christ Jesus. 

Besides the celebration service last Sunday, April 7, during the last week I held seminars in both Juan Ponce and Zacapa on the theme of "Forgiveness". The attendance was great in both places. Each seminar was culminated with the "Lasting Change" session which includes the instruction and practice of confession and absolution in the name and blood of Jesus.

"Oh what fellowship, oh what joy divine!!"

Most sincerely in God's Peace,

Dennis Hilman

Report from South Africa

Every month, we ask the foreign pastors we work with share what they have been doing in their congregations. Here is the March 2013 report from South Africa:

Sunday School
Sunday school teacher training has been done, where a teacher from each congregation attended, the aim being to equip the teacher better in teaching the children and to use the Bible material provided for them by the foreign mission. The teachers also had a chance to discuss different problems they encounter in the congregations. Teachers suggested that this workshop should be held once everything three month.

Preaching the Word of God

We manage to organize and preach the living Word of God in places which we have never visited through contact of one women called Alinah we preached to the people in Kagiso where several people attended and some asked to be baptized. We also shared the Word of God with people at Kokcsoord and we were also request to make visit to them.

Youth Bible Studies
With the assistance of the youth committee, we conducted Bible studies for the young people I several places and conducted lectures on HIV/Aids at two high Schools. In these schools we met several young people who are involve with Satanist worship and practices. The principal asked us to conduct Morning Prayer once a week at this school.

Easter Service
All our congregations and Pastors met together on Easter Sunday to celebrate the Risen Lord with Songs and the Word of God in the remotearea of Ikageng, under a big tent.

Future Plans
On the 27th April – 29th April, Pastors and other leaders of the congregation will meet in Mohlakeng for a three-day retreat, sharing the Word of God and Prayers.

Problems we need to work on
The church need more trained pastors in other places, in other places their are women leaders as there are no cable men. Secondly even if most of our people are very poor, as stewardship teaching is needed for the people to know that even the little they give the Lord will bless it. We suggest that in future our visitors from the foreign mission should also assist us these two matters.

 Bishop Louis Mphaplele

Love and forgiveness!

Missionary Dennis Hilman just finished an extended trip to Guatemala to visit the congregations there. Here are some pictures from the trip there taken from Dennis's and full-time missionary Ryan Ruotsala's Facebook pages.

Ryan: Today's lesson: The true meaning of Jesus washing His followers feet, and what He meant when He told us to do the same.
Dennis: An attentive youth group in Zacapa tonight.

Dennis: "If you know these things, happy are you if you do them!" And what better way of DOING than to follow Jesus example and proclaim personal forgiveness in His name and blood?!
Ryan: A visible example of what Christ teaches us to do, humble ourselves and forgive as He forgives! 

 Ryan: A wonderful closure to Dennis' teaching on forgiveness! What a blessed time!

 

Ryan: Dennis sharing about how Jesus loves all the children around the ball.... I mean world! :)
Dennis: Probably the closest I will get to a basketball court. :-)

 Dennis: THE HEART OF A MAN! Ryan Ruotsala at his best at an orphanage near Jalapa, Guatemala.

Dennis in now in Florida getting ready to travel to the Philippines. Ryan is, of course, still in Guatemala. Please pray for both their ministries!