Express Grace: Serving through community development
Jesus, in the great commission, told his apostles that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18-20a) Southwood has the privilege, as a corporate body, of participating in this work through our financial and prayer support of missionaries and ministries both in Huntsville and around the world. The weekend of January 14th -15th, we are excited to host six of our ministry partners in Huntsville! Two of these ministry partners serve in Huntsville with Lincoln Village Ministry and Second Mile Development. We have shared a good deal over the past several months about our involvement with these ministries, and encourage you to look at these past articles online for more information.
In this article, I want to share a little bit more about Southwood’s engagement with the four foreign ministry partners who will be joining us January 15th. Often our foreign ministry partners are “out of sight, out of mind,” and I hope that this article helps to bring their ministry, and Southwood’s partnership with them, into clearer focus. For more information about Southwood’s current ministry partners, please contact the Community Development department at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 256-882-3085 x 119. We would love to tell you about our incredible partners!
Reaching Indians, Ministries International
Southwood’s involvement with Reaching Indians, Ministries International (RIMI) began very slowly. Over the past years, Southwood’s missions committee (now Community Development Committee) began to focus their global missions efforts around several key facets, including church planting, indigenous leadership development, and reaching un-evangelized people groups. According to a 2006 study, published by Mission Frontiers, India has the largest un-evangelized population-over three-hundred million people—so naturally the committee turned their sights to India.
RIMI is committed to church planting and evangelism in India, with two supporting ministries—leadership development and compassion. RIMI has a central seminary in Nagpur, where students may receive several degrees, including a Masters in Divinity. Graduates from the seminary (called “missionaries”) are sent into the field to plant house churches, under the direct authority and supervision of RIMI. New leaders, raised up from the missionary’s house churches, are sent to a local, one year Bible College in their state. There these new leaders receive Biblical training and trade skills so that they can supplement their ministry income to provide for their families. These new leaders then plant more house churches in the surrounding villages, under the direct authority and supervision of their missionary. Each missionary is paid a salary which covers half of their expenses, for the first seven years, and given a bicycle to facilitate travel between villages. They are responsible to raise the second half of their salary, and after seven years they are asked to become totally self-sustaining.
Most Christians in India are in the lowest economic classes, which makes providing for one’s family, not to mention tithing to support a local pastor, very difficult. For this reason, RIMI established a micro-loan program which makes small loans to church members. The loan allows them to begin or grow a business as well as tithe to their church, creating a self-sustaining church as well as providing greater financial stability for a family. In many states, RIMI also has one or more orphanages for abandoned or orphaned children. Here these children receive an education, vocational training, and most importantly they hear and see the message of Jesus Christ every day. Another component of RIMI’s compassion ministry is their soon to be completed hospital facility, located next to their seminary campus.
RIMI considers leadership development and compassion ministry to be incredibly important—but apart from the preaching of the Gospel, these two offer only temporary hope. RIMI is committed to supporting evangelism and discipleship through local churches, and everything else RIMI does is designed both to support and flow directly from these local churches. Southwood’s official partnership with RIMI began fall 2011 with financial support for the leadership development component. We are looking for ways to strengthen this partnership as God leads in the years to come.
Keith and Ruth Powlison
Keith and Ruth met at Columbia Bible College in 1977 and were married in 1978. They have three children and two grandchildren. The Powlisons began serving on the foreign mission field in 1984 and are currently serving in Peru. They are part of the Hinterland Team, which Keith supervises from their base of operations in Cusco.
This team focuses on several relatively unreached people groups in the Andean region of South America. The Quechuas, just one of these groups, are estimated to number over 15 million and are spread out over parts of five Latin American countries. The Powlisons work directly with the Cusco Quechuas. Along with their team members, they also minister among eight more Quechua groups. The Quechua Indians have suffered generations of slavery, and consequently they feel that their lives are of little to no value. This mindset is so deeply entrenched that the Quechuas walk outside with their heads held low. This devaluing of human life leads to a violent and abusive culture, with an annual “Christmas Eve fight,” and mothers with too many children bathing babies in glacier water so that they die of hypothermia. Alcoholism is the most common escape from the painful feeling of meaningless existence.
The Powlisons are committed to bringing the Biblical truths that every man and woman is made in the image of God and for a purpose and that while we as image bearers are imperfect, broken by sin, God valued His relationship with us so much that He sent his perfect son to live and to die so that we could be reconciled to God Himself. In Christ, each believer is a son or daughter of the living God-the God above every other god! Psalm 146 says “The LORD sets the prisoner free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.” (Psalm 146:7b-8) What a beautiful promise to a people who cannot hold up their heads!
Southwood engaged specifically with the Powlison’s through a church plant in Santo Tomas where the same alcoholism, abuse, and disregard for human life cause deep suffering. Keith and Ruth, in partnership with another church in San Jeronimo, are working to build a church building and raise up believers in Santo Tomas to lead the church. There are few strong believers equiped to teach the word of God, so discipleship toward leadership is critical. One such leader is Aquilino, whom Keith describes as “faithful, teachable and humble.” the Powlisons are presently working to get materials and spend time mentoring him to grow into the leader for the Santo Tomas church.
The city of Santo Tomas is growing rapidly, due in large part to nearby mines using Santo Tomas as one of their bases for operation. Consequently, the city is spending millions of dollars to improve the roads. Keith feels that the church is a strategic tool for the Lord, uniquely positioned in the middle of this growth with a vibrant testimony within the community. The kingdom of God affects everything, from the perceived value of human life to the way in which we build our churches and schools. Already, the school (located across the street from the church), has reinforced its own building to better withstand earthquakes, following the example of the church construction. Quechua’s struggle to trust outsiders, so Keith and Ruth are careful to make sure that the project in Santo Tomas is run by locals. The Powlison’s also run an orphanage in Cusco called the Josephine House, where abandoned and orphaned children receive necessary care while hearing about the love of Jesus. The hope is that these children can be adopted by loving, Christian families. Southwood entered into a five year partnership with the Santo Tomas church plant, providing funds and prayer support for the development of the church building and leadership.
Northern Mexico Church Planting Movement Monterrey Mexico
Mission to the World (MTW) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (NPC) have partnered together to begin a church planting movement in Northern Mexico. Andres Garza is currently serving as the team leader for Mission to the World (MTW) in this church planting movement and in the establishment of a new Theological and Church Planting Institute (known as ITEM). Andres and his team are committed to planting churches in 27 of the largest cities in Northern Mexico. There is currently little to no reformed, evangelical presence in these cities-so little in fact that MTW considers Monterrey to be relatively un-evangelized. Andres and his team in Monterrey are committed to a unique system of education for church planting pastors. Pastoral candidates, following recruitment and initial assessment and training phase, begin working alongside another pastor while attending seminary classes. They then step out to plant a church, while continuing to attend seminary classes and training seminars. Mother churches are responsible for mentoring these new leaders, and integrating them into the network of other churches. The church planting pastors continue their seminary training until particularization. At this point, these pastors are expected to begin the work of multiplying themselves—recruiting and training new church planters! Andres and his team are committed to raising up indigenous leaders as pastors, elders, and deacons in the local church-leaders committed to lovingly transforming their culture through the Gospel. Vida Nueva is an MTW/NPC church plant in a low income neighborhood, pastored by Teodorois Contreras (Teo). Vida Nueva reaches out specifically to children in their neighborhood through sports ministry. Southwood’s role in this partnership is primarily through financial support for the Vida Nueva church plant, as well as sending short term teams when able. For the past two years, teams have been unable to travel to Monterrey because of the escalating drug violence. However, in 2012 Vida Nueva and other sites will re-open their doors to smaller short term teams of mixed ages. Southwood is committed to providing approximately half of the funds needed for the Vida Nueva church plant through 2014, at which point Vida Nueva will hopefully be a self-sustaining church!
Seth and Jessica Lewis: Church planting Youghal Ireland
Seth and Jessica are working through Crossworld and a church planting network in Ireland who are committed to seeing a church planted in every town of Southern Ireland. Seth and Jessica joined an existing church planting team in Youghal Ireland, and are responsible for outreach and ministry to students from crib to college. They spend time getting to know students through the schools and through sports. and hold summer sports camps as an outreach. Their weekly “youth group” is currently made up of half believing students, and half unbelieving students. Their plan is to help grow and stabilize the church in Youghal, so that this church can then plant another church in another town. The goal is to create healthy churches with the vision to replicate themselves—sending church plants into every city in Southern Ireland! Southwood entered a partnership with the Lewis family in 2008, committing both prayer and financial support for their ministry in Ireland.