By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

In rural Uganda, just south of the equator, Matthew Rogness and thirty-three other North Americans on an interdenominational e3 mission trip (click here to learn more about e3) worked door to door with teams of national lay-evangelists and translators. Nearby, we offered free eye-glasses, dental, and medical care in a make-shift clinic. Sharing testimonies and the gospel door-to-door to make disciples and help the nationals plant several new churches seemed to quicken our step. Watching strangers earnestly accept the gospel message seemed to take some of the fear out of this bare knuckles evangelism. Joy took its place and peace prevailed despite monumental setbacks and lurching schedule changes. Was this joy akin to how Jesus' short-term missionaries felt in Luke 10?

Within three years, it seems the Lord had cleared the way for a Church of the Lutheran Brethren team to visit Cameroon to help plant two more new churches in Jesus' name. In preparing for the journey, I witnessed the hand of God persevere with us in this direction despite severe personal health problems, airline failures, escalating costs, and last minute visa hitches. Five months prior to departure I suffered a crushing wrist injury requiring a four and a half hour surgical repair. Then, five weeks before leaving an emergency aneurysm repair in my groin was complicated by life-threatening blood loss. Prolonged recovery from both illnesses kept me from much of the preparation for leading this trip. In addition to her own duties as co-leader, almost all my leadership responsibilities fell to my wife, Trisch. Yet God was faithful and His love steadfast in supplying our every need, demonstrating repeatedly that He required none of our strength, intellect, training, experience, or possessions - only the willingness of ordinary people.

- Noel Johnson

 

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Day One:
Arriving at the Welcome Center in Chad

Last night we loaded 21 Americans, and a handful of locals, into a travel bus. Our luggage was loaded on top of the bus, possibly 5 feet high, and it stretched as far as the bus would allow. We were driving through the city to the Welcome Center and it was extremely dark. The city looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie and, in most places the city looked abandoned. In the darkness you could see silhouettes of Africans sleeping next to broken down walls; many people were sleeping on the side of the road. I'm guessing that is the only home they have.

In some places fires were burning, and they would give light to the surrounding activity. In many places there would be a small group of people hovered around the fire talking. I was curiously gazing at all of the people and sights that we passed. A group of men shifted their attention from one another to the passing bus of foreigners. I could feel their stares, as our bus passed by, and Pastor Randy Paulson asked "What does God think when He looks down on this city?" I knew the answer, but I couldn't respond; I was too choked up. After a few moments of silence Pastor Randy answered, "He sees a city with people that He loves." Yes, Lord! When you see this city you see a harvest, you see a mission. The very mission that cost you your life!

- Lars Coleman

 

Day Two:
Crossing the border into Cameroon

When the bus rolled into Kousseri, Cameroon, the border authorities required registration of the bus and each of the passengers. The bus driver parked on the far left side of the road, and throngs of people, motorcycles, and overloaded trucks swarmed around us while we waited for the important paperwork. With no air conditioning, we hoped for a breeze through the windows. As the temperature rose inside the bus, our pink skin glistened and we wet our mouths with lukewarm bottled water from the Welcome Center. We waited.

We were a group of strangers in an uncomfortable place so I suggested it may be time to pray together. We prayed. Then Pastor Randy Mortenson quoted Psalm 91:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

As he recited the Living Word, I heard God's provision and protection for us in a personal way. God knew we were fragile beings in this heat, but He also knew the comfort and coolness provided in Scripture. The temperature in the bus probably didn't fall, but we were invigorated and encouraged as many in the group shared favorite scriptures which ministered to our souls and sweating bodies.

Living in Washington, I don't normally seek shade, but I certainly learned to treasure "the rest in the shadow of the Almighty" as we rode in the bus and later wandered in the scorching neighborhoods of Garoua.

- Janet Tangen

 

Day Three:
Arriving in Garoua, Cameroon

I heard in the audio book of Paul Theroux's Dark Star Safari that "safari" simply means "journey." As we travel from Maroua to Garoua, looking out at the beautiful Cameroon savanna on a beautiful sunwashed day, I think again about this safari we're on together.

There's already something about this place, even the African terrain, which gets into me. It's not just another landscape. It's Africa. My church, Ebenezer LB Church in Mayville, North Dakota, has sent me on this safari. A word I'd never connected to myself before is "apostle." Not with a capital A, but simply as "one being sent." I'm suddenly aware of this sending, this sending of me by my church to reach out with the Gospel to the people of Garoua. And something else, which maybe they didn't know. Something we sensed God leading us toward. Something about simply responding to God, and going, and seeing.

It's all part of the spiritual safari. And I'm not going alone. Yes, there are others on the bus with me, but there are also all those who sent us. An apostle is very aware of his sender; and of his Sender.

After two days of plane travel and another two days in a bus, I am tired when we finally reach Garoua. This will be our harvest field for the next few days. We will need God's strength. We rest and trust in the support of our Sender.

Meeting President Goyek and a number of other pastors and dignitaries feels like a dream realized overlapping with another dream just begun. A band of young people plays music and sings and sways and claps in front of President Goyek's house all afternoon long. Soon, together with our newly-met Cameroonian brothers and sisters, we will embark on a journey together through the dusty roads of Garoua. This is Africa. This is what it means to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.

- Randy Mortenson

 

Day Four:
Sunday Worship

On Sunday morning, far down a deeply rutted and narrow alley, we attended the first of two scheduled church services. The Aviation Church stands on an impeccably kept lot and is plain but tastefully decorated and spacious, holding possibly 800.

The second service was at Yelwa Church (built by missionary Roy Erickson) and is considerably larger. The grounds are spacious and the building was constructed in the form of a cross. This building served, that day, a packed crowd of around 1,200.

In both churches, we were ushered in, warmly welcomed and placed in positions at the front of the church, observing first an explosion of color and dynamic, rhythmic singing. The parishioners, all in their colorful native Sunday best, were already in the midst of worship-a smiling, swaying, dancing crowd with a worship team playing drums, guitars and a keyboard. The atmosphere of worship, even though the lyrics were not understood by us, was profoundly moving. At predetermined times entire sections of the church would stand and provide the "special" music.

In the second church, a wedding was also a part of the service and a highlight was Pastor Goyek calling on Lars Coleman to bless the union. The sermon was delivered in both churches by Rev. Randy Mortenson, interpreted by native speakers. There were tears in our group coming from the realization that the Body of Christ transcends all nationalities and the joy in which we were participating had everything to do with "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." We experienced for a short time the dynamic of the answer to that universal prayer.

- Tim Nordtvedt

 

Day Five:
First day of door-to-door visits

I'm so glad that Pastor Goyek explained things in a way that hadn't occurred to me. Today was our first day of evangelism and it went a little different than I thought it should. We didn't actually go to any homes until mid-afternoon, but now I can see the reason why.

The first part of our day felt like it consisted of mostly driving around or waiting. We drove back and forth from the hotel to Pastor Goyek's and to the Aviation Church a few different times. We waited at the hotel; we waited at Pastor Goyek's; and we waited at church. This morning, while we were waiting at church to be matched up with our Cameroonian evangelists/translators, most of us played with the kids that were around.

"Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord" is a little more difficult with the language barrier, but it was great to watch the kids' joy-filled faces and it turned out to be a fun way to wait!

Once we finally got the chance to go door-to-door with our team, Tim, Etienne, Joel and I went to a few different homes and shared the gospel. It was amazing to see that people were very open to hearing about Jesus and were interested in the new church that was being planted. I wish I knew if they were already believers or if this were the first time they had heard the Good News, but I guess I need to remember that it's God's work, not mine.

The good thing that Pastor Goyek said tonight is that it was critical for us to be almost "paraded" around town. Not that we need to be an attraction for people, but that it's important for people to know we're here so when we come knocking on doors, they're prepared for us. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?

- Kari Swanson

 

Day Six:
Second day of door-to-door visits

I was blessed to have Susan Ellenwood from Edmonton, Alberta as my teammate. She shared during our morning group devotions from John 21, the story of the disciples coming in and meeting Jesus after their evening of fishing. "They fished all night, but they caught no fish..." As Jesus watched from the shore, He tells them, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some" (v. 6). So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. Susan continued to share how the passage says there were 153 fish caught that day. She then questioned, why 153? Would 154 have broken the nets or 152 mean the nets would not have been fully utilized? She ended by saying God gives us exactly what we need. Our team was Hiway, Anna, Augustine, and YaYa. Our "translators" didn't speak much English, but God didn't need them to. They knew the gospel story.

Some of the people we met that day did not want to hear our message. Others listened, but didn't want to accept the gift for themselves. We met a mother and child at one of the last huts we visited. As we shared the salvation story, we said what we wanted and pointed at the pictures on our Evangecubes. Our translators then said something that represented what we had pointed at. Upon hearing the story, the mother wanted to know how she could receive salvation. After we prayed with her, her husband came home, walking in with one of our other translators. He too had accepted Jesus for the first time as our translator talked with him while we were talking with his wife! God gave us exactly what we needed in our group. We were expecting translators, but instead He gave us evangelists!

- Jeff Langness

 

Day Seven:
Last day in Garoua - tent meeting

"I home go you." Through broken English Evelyn finally expressed her sentiments so I understood what she had been laboring to tell me. It was our last night together and we were at the tent meeting celebrating the new church plant. As I was hit with the gravity of Evelyn's request, my feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness were overwhelming. The mother in me wanted desperately to take her home and fight any obstacle in our way with the certainty that nothing could stop us.

I met Evelyn the first night of training with our nationals. After giving my testimony and the gospel, she was insistent that we have more time together. Evelyn had so many questions. Most seem to center on how a woman could stay encouraged in the faith while living in such a sinful world. The opportunities for women in the church that we have in North America were just a jaw-dropping dream to her. Our time together, even with our lack of common language skills, was too short.

I resorted to the obvious responses, "You must finish school. You are too young," before I resigned to what I didn't want to say: "I can't." My mind still frantically tried to figure out a way to make her situation better. It was obvious that Evelyn's heart was breaking. She was, after all, only seventeen. I rested on what I knew to be the best response. I promised to do the most powerful thing I know to do, pray, and trusting the Lord to meet all her needs through Him.

- Tresa Myers

 

Day Eight:
A day at the Market in Maroua

Woo - Hoo!! I love the Market! My first Market experience six years ago in Ndjamena was nothing short of amazing! Today in Maroua is just as incredible.

I really don't like shopping at home, but here - what fun! Colorful fabrics, carved animals and bowls, knives and spears, something for everybody! Everything is negotiable - a counter offer is part of the dance. Start with half and then see what happens. If the counter offers are too much you can try walking away to see if they really want your business. It's always fun when they follow you to make the sale.

Sometimes you don't quite know what a fair price is; you don't want to pay too much but you want to be fair to the seller. Our hosts are along to help mediate for us. "They are missionaries and are here to help us. They have given up much to be here and you need to give them ‘best and last' price"! Such memories!

Memories are good. They mold me. They help me find what is important. Sometimes I don't get the best deal, but sometimes I get more than I ever dreamed was possible!

I am a couple of days away from leaving Africa again. My big purchase this trip was a shirt to remind me of a place that has people that I will miss and pray for, and my co-workers in the harvest. I can hardly wait to hear how they will remember this trip!

- Mike Braaten

 

Day Nine:
Arriving back at the Welcome Center

I was hot, tired, and feeling somewhat emotionally, physically, and spiritually spent as we again cross the river from Kousseri, Cameroon into Chad. I spotted Dan who gave us a welcoming smile and I felt "home" again, somehow. We followed his motorcycle to the Welcome Center to find the friends we had left; was it really only a week ago? So much had happened. There were eager ears to hear our stories, smiles and hugs to soothe and assure, hot showers to shed the layers of dust, soft beds to lay our tired and sore bodies upon after the long bus ride, a delicious meal of "American food" complete with dessert and cold beverages-what more could we want?

And then songs of praise, with grateful hearts and voices, rang out in four-part harmony as if practiced for weeks as our hearts worshipped our faithful King of Kings and LORD of Lords together. How sweet a transition back to our "normal" lives from short-term missions, sharing time with our amazing and gracious long-term missionaries: Steve and Janice, Marcos and Kirsten, Dan and Rachel. How could I possibly say thank you for their wonderful hospitality, welcoming smiles, generous sharing of bedrooms and personal spaces, fabulous meals, and a tiny glimpse into what life must be like for all of our missionaries living in Chad?

I will never think of them or pray for them the same. My thoughts are nearer, my prayers deeper and dearer for their protection, health, spiritual steadfastness and witness to their communities as they share the light of Christ with men and women in Chad. My heart is longing to fellowship with them again and is filled with praise to our King. "Thank you" is inadequate, but it is all I have besides my love, prayers, and memories which call me back to West Africa everyday! Merci beaucoup, nos frères et soeurs au Chad.

- Trisch Johnson

 

 

By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

Our first missionaries to Africa, Berge and Herborg Revne, left the United States in 1918. It was not until 1923, however, that our missionaries were given official approval to begin mission work in Cameroon and Chad. Dozens of Lutheran Brethren missionaries have served in Cameroon over the years and at one point in our history there were more missionaries in Cameroon than on the other three fields combined. The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of North America has committed a lot of people and resources to the ministry in Cameroon over the years.

The Cameroon Church became the independent Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon in the early 1960's when political independence encouraged the same for all indigenous groups in the country.

In 1992 the North American and Cameroonian Churches signed an integration document that effectively closed the "mission" as a formal entity and brought all ministries under the Cameroonian Church. Five years later, in 1997, the last missionaries from our Church in North America left Cameroon.

Our relationship to the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon is one of sister Church to sister Church. We are fully independent of each other. Where we share vision we seek to partner together. For instance, we have a shared vision of reaching unreached Muslims for Jesus Christ. We have partnered to train and send their missionaries to Muslims. We share a vision for training the next generation of pastors, missionaries, teachers and leaders and so we continue to partner to train these people in targeted and significant ways. We continue to pray for and encourage the Church in Cameroon as they work to be the Church that is sent into the villages, towns and cities of their region of Cameroon.

Another area where we share a common vision is in the sending and receiving of short-term mission teams to plant churches. For several years, we have been seeking an avenue whereby we could address the needs of our congregations in North America that includes sending members on short-term mission teams to a Lutheran Brethren ministry field.

What you will read through the pages of this issue will describe how God worked through a team of 20 of your fellow members and friends of our Church in North America in partnership with our brothers and sisters in Cameroon to reach their neighbors with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to plant a church in two neighborhoods.

 

Matthew Rogness
Executive Director
Lutheran Brethren World Missions

 

 

By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

Mission Statement:
"e3 Partners exists to equip God's people to evangelize the lost and establish new churches."

My Previous e3 Mission Trips
I have been on three previous e3 Church Planting mission trips with Noel and Trisch Johnson; Kenya 2004 (with Pastor Dave Overland), Uganda 2005 (with Matthew Rogness), and Panama 2006. These three trips were well planned in partnership with experienced e3 in-country church leaders and involved as many as four local churches desiring to plant churches in a new area. The North American team typically came from all around the country from different denominations and backgrounds to go house-to-house with local church members. The house-to-house teams would consist of one or two North Americans, one or two nationals from the sponsoring church, and a translator. The teams go out house-to-house from 9am to around 3pm, giving a personal testimony with translation, presenting the gospel using the Evangecube (a moveable cube with images), and offering them the opportunity to accept Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sin and eternal life with Him. Many accept and pray the sinner's prayer to accept Christ. All are invited to attend a Bible class conducted by the nationals and are invited to attend the new national church starting the next Sunday in their neighborhood.

Well now, how about the CLB Cameroon Short Term Mission Trip 2008?
The plan was basic e3: 1) we had the Cameroon in-country leader/sponsor, President Goyek, 2) we had a church trained and committed to planting two new churches in Garoua, Cameroon, 3) we had our trained leaders Dr Noel and Trisch Johnson, 4) we had our team, 18 from the US and Canada. The team members were all from Church of the Lutheran Brethren (CLB) congregations; made up of Pastors, a seminarian, a veteran missionary, CLB staff, missionary kids and lay persons, many with close ties to our missionary presence in Chad and/or Cameroon (past and present).

Due to the CLB connections there appeared to be numerous side agendas. We were eager to meet or renew friendships with the missionaries in Ndjamena. In Garoua we spent many hours every day at the former mission center and in President Goyek's home and at the Aviation Church assembling our house-to-house teams (always short of translators). On occasion, these were perceived as frustrating delays. When we did eventually partner with our nationals ready to go out house-to-house to present the gospel, many told us that these neighborhoods were resistant and would not respond. However, they did respond in great numbers. This was a good step in starting the 2 new churches. Many of our team members began to ask, "Why am I here? God does not need me! He is touching hearts and calling new believers all around us! I am just a small speck of dust in the wind! God is doing all the work!"

My Personal View:
The mixed agendas, long road trips, delays and other distractions and obstacles all played together in a special way to create a great team - even a close family, openly sharing, helping each other, trusting/worshiping God together, wondering what God will do next. We have grown in the Lord. We have made new friends and encouraged them in reaching out into new territory. We may have even played a small role in a story of what God is going to do in the Cameroon Church and in the lives of those yet unreached in West Africa and the Sahel.

Learn more by visiting the e3 website >

 

By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

God has sent all of us into the mission field in one way or another. From our human perspective it often seems in order to be sent, we would need to physically go somewhere far away. Missionaries are sent overseas. Pastors are often sent to a new location. Youth groups are sent on short-term mission trips to Mexico. But what about some of us who stay home and attend our local church?

I was sent by God, and also by my home church, friends and family, on a short-term mission trip to Cameroon last November. It was an incredibly memorable experience that I have enjoyed sharing with those back home. The others on the trip were from Lutheran Brethren congregations as well, and were also sent by their home churches. Some were influenced by their pastors to go on the trip while others were from churches served by pastors who are former missionaries or strongly connected to CLB World Missions. It was inspiring to see the line between North American Missions and World Missions disappear as each team member revealed their story about why they were on the trip.

There was an obvious sense of "sending" while on the mission trip due to the distance between Cameroon and each of our homes. The realization that the mission of our home churches was strongly connected to what we were doing with churches in Cameroon shifted my understanding of "being sent" from merely applying to my time in Cameroon to applying to my entire life as a follower of Christ.

Our work of going door-to-door in Garoua, Cameroon helped me realize that God was at work in people's hearts and lives before we arrived. We know that God was there before our missionaries even stepped foot in Cameroon and Chad. How could I possibly ignore the fact that God is also working in the lives of my own neighbors back home? Is it my responsibility to decide when someone is ready to hear the Gospel? Isn't it my responsibility to just allow God to work through me? With the incredible openness that we witnessed in Cameroon I realized that there is no way for me to ever know when a person is ready to hear about God's gift of salvation. Of course I need to approach my neighbors back home very differently than I would in Cameroon, but the similarity is in the reality that God is working right here at home, as well.

This trip confirmed for me that from a human perspective "being sent" may mean going somewhere far away from home, but from God's perspective "being sent" must mean going as close as across the yard to our neighbor or as far as across the world to Africa or Asia. We are all sent missionaries in one way or another.

 

Tim Mathiesen is the Director of Communications for the Church of the Lutheran Brethren

 

 

By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

A service of dedication for a new sanctuary was held on January 11, 2009 at Living Faith Church, Cape Coral, Florida. President Joel Egge delivered the message "I Will Build You A House" based on 2 Samuel 7. President Egge also presided over the dedication ceremony.

The 7,900-square-foot building was built largely by the volunteer efforts of congregation members, who by the grace of God, sacrificed their Saturdays for over two years to complete the project. The steel and mechanical work was contracted out, but, framing, paving, drywall, painting, siding, finish trim, landscaping, irrigation, and more was done by the church's members.

A pictorial record of the sanctuary's erection is available at the Living Faith Web site, following the project from groundbreaking to when the church received its certificate of occupancy in November.
> www.livingfaithcapecoral.com >

 

By   Sat, Aug 15, 2009

Erick Sorensen
15438 Mallard Lane
Fontana CA 92336-1048

John Kilde
1715 Aspenwood Trail
Fergus Falls MN 56537

Wayne & Jaqui Quam
312 Fuhrman Ave
Grand Rapids MN 55744-3231

Torgeir Haugland
28847 37th Ave S
Auburn WA 98001

Steven Heppner and Elim LBC email:
elimlbc@mtintouch.net

Dan Brue’s email:  dbrue@kingdom-coaching.org

By   Mon, Aug 17, 2009

Ebenezer Church is over one hundred years old and is located in south Minneapolis. Over the past three decades, the community around the church facility has significantly changed, but the congregation has not connected much with our new neighbors. In 2001, the congregation adopted this vision statement: "Our vision is to be a Christ-Centered, community-based, outreach-focused church that intentionally embraces people of all cultures." This sounds great, but the changes required of us to actually become community-based and outreach-focused remain quite a challenge. Yet by God's grace, we are living more and more into this vision that God has given to us.

On the first Tuesday of every August since 1984, neighborhoods across the United States and Canada gather to get to know one another and to increase awareness about local police programs, such as drug prevention, town watch, and other anti-crime efforts. It's called National Night Out. Initially communities held lights-on vigils. Now, many communities hold block parties, festivals, and other events to help bring neighbors together.

Since people would already be looking for something like this, we thought we'd host a block party for the folks that live near our church facility in south Minneapolis. Our youth were serving in local mission with another youth group from a sister congregation in South Dakota, and together with the Evangelism and Service boards of Ebenezer, we planned and threw a party last August that our neighbors still talk about to this day.

We purchased food from a famous meat market in the neighborhood, rented a couple of inflatable games and created a host of other children-oriented games, and gave away prizes donated by local businesses and purchased by the congregation. We handed out fliers to over five thousand homes, and then prayed.

We didn't know how many people would show up. We had done something like this a number of years ago, but didn't have too many people other than Ebenezer folks show up. So, we optimistically planned for 200 people. Well, to our delight, over 400 came to our party that night. We raided any food that we could grill from the church kitchen, and quickly bought more food to serve. We gave away prizes from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. The key to the evening? (It's not very spiritual.) We gave away free iPods! We had advertized this on the fliers, and people young and old all wanted the iPods.

If Ebenezer Church wishes to be community-based and outreach-focused, we will need to look a lot more like we did during National Night Out than we currently do on Sunday mornings. Above all, we want to remain Christ-centered in all we do.

(To see a video clip of Ebenezer's National Night Out, go to www.myebenezerchurch.com)

 

Pastor Todd Mathison serves Ebenezer Lutheran Brethren Church, Minneapolis, MN

 

By   Fri, Aug 14, 2009

Moving to a new community usually requires a variety of adjustments in life and lifestyle. But what do you do if the community that you live in does the changing?Between 1960 and 1980, more and more people of Norwegian descent emigrated from Brooklyn, back to their homeland or to more rural areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The vacancies created along 8th Avenue, where 59th Street Lutheran Brethren Church rests, were being filled by Chinese immigrants.

The community was changing. Everything from storefront windows, to smells of Chinese food in the air; this part of Brooklyn went through a drastic change. What do you do? A church that had thrived in its ministry to Norwegian immigrants was now desperate for a new vision.

After much discussion and divine leading from the Lord, the Chinese Department of 59th Street Church was born on March 9, 1980. Six Chinese brothers and sisters came to the first service. Pastor Per Larsen led the meeting which was interpreted into Cantonese by Mrs. Ivy Goon.

It's been 25 years since the group met in the upstairs of an addition that was originally built for Norwegians. On March 6, 2005 59th Street Church's Chinese congregation again met to praise the one true God, to pray together, and to hear the reading and teaching of God's word (no longer translated from English into Cantonese, but from Cantonese into Mandarin). The initial group of six grew to a flock of more than a hundred, and instead of meeting in a small upstairs classroom, they now fellowship in a full sanctuary with plenty of room for growth. God is faithful!

The easy option for this congregation would have been to see all this change as a problem, or even a nuisance. For the handful who caught the vision, they saw a gift from the Lord. In order to see the development, jump back with me to 1948.

P.M. Valder was the last of the Lutheran Brethren missionaries to leave the Chinese mainland and this marked the end of more than 40 years of fruitful ministry to a country that had now barred its doors. But God was at work, and the very same people who had been kept from hearing the Word of God by communist China, were now moving into the vacant apartments and street-side restaurants all around 59th Street Church's neighborhood. Instead of seeing change as a problem, it can be seen as God's solution.

March 6th was truly a day of celebration at 59th Street Church as we lifted our voices to the Lord who is faithful. It was a day of thanksgiving for his vision and provision, and a day of excitement for the future. It was a day where not six, but one hundred Chinese brothers and sisters gathered in a facility originally built for a different language group in order to praise the God of every language.

 

Pastor Roger Viksnes serves 59th Street Lutheran Brethren Church in Brooklyn, NY