God is doing amazing things in the Muslim world!  Sending out a church-based team into their world would provide your congregation with a unique opportunity to work together towards advancing God’s kingdom.  Whether praying, giving, or going, each member could find their place in helping a team of people they know reach Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To find out more about how this innovative approach can fit into your church’s mission vision, we are hosting two Advance Symposiums in September.  We invite you to attend and bring your Senior or Mission pastor. 

The Advance Symposiums will be on:

• September 20-21 at Champion Forest Baptist Church, Northwest Houston TX
• September 27-28 at Wheaton Bible Church, West Chicago, IL

Both Symposiums will begin with dinner on Monday evening and run until 4:30 on Tuesday.  Dinner on Monday evening and lunch on Tuesday will be provided.  There is no registration fee.

Please RSVP to advance@gemission.org

The following is a reprint of  a post brought to our attention by one of our GEM workers in France. It is from the 30-Days Prayer Network, a group encouraging, educating and enabling believers to join the millions of Christians around the world to participate in praying for the Muslim world. Visit the site at http://www.30-days.net to learn more. You can also download a free daily prayer guide they provide to help you pray intelligently during the event by clicking here.

-D. Robinson

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Ramadan 2010 / 1431 – The Muslim Month of Fasting

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. It is during this month that Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan. Dates for Ramadan 2010 (or 1431) are 11 August – 09 September.

The first evening of Ramadan

In many places around the world Muslims will be looking to the heavens this evening. They will be interested in knowing if they will be able to see the crescent moon. If it is visible this will be the signal for the beginning of the month of Ramadan. (In most countries religious authorities will make a proclamation concerning the beginning of Ramadan). No fasting will take place till tomorrow morning. Muslims will rise early to eat their breakfast before the day begins. Afterwards they will not have anything else to eat or drink till nightfall. This will be their daily experience during the next 30 days.

Fasting – Ramazan

Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the religion of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is regarded as an act of obedience and submission to God as well as an atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes. Called Ramadan (or Ramazan), Muslims fast during this holy month from the moment when it first starts to get light until sunset. Muslims fast as an act of faith and worship towards Allah, seeking to suppress their desires and increase their spiritual piety. Fasting together as a worldwide community – Ummah – affirms the brotherhood and equality of man before Allah.
Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle. The month of Ramadan is the ninth month and begins with a combination of the sighting of the new moon and astronomical calculations. The exact time of Ramadan sometimes varies from place to place as some rely heavily on the moon sightings while others depend on science. An Imam (Muslim holy man) will declare the exact time of Ramadan just prior to its commencement. The fasting period ends upon the sighting of the next new moon, which occurs after 29 or 30 days.

The lunar cycle changes each year. For example, this year Ramadan will be 22 August-20 September, but last year the dates for Ramadan were 01-30 September.

The Meaning of Ramadan

The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramida or ar-ramad, denoting intense scorching heat and dryness, especially the ground. From the same word there is ramdaa, meaning ‘sunbaked sand’ and the famous proverb Kal Mustajeer minar ramadaa binnar – to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Some say it is so called because Ramadan scorches out the sins with good deeds, as the sun burns the ground.

The Special Feeling of Ramadan

Ramadan brings out a special feeling of emotional excitement and religious zeal among Muslims of all ages. Though fasting is mandatory only for adults, children as young as eight willingly observe fasting with their elders. Children look forward to the excitement of sighting the moon and eating special meals with their families. Adults appreciate the opportunity to double their rewards from God and seek forgiveness for past sins. As Ramadan emphasizes Muslim brotherhood and community all feel a particular closeness.

Muslims have to change their whole physical and emotional selves during this 30 long days of fasting. A typical day of fasting begins with getting up early, around 4:30a.m. and sharing a meal called Sahur together before the fast begins at dawn, about 5:10a.m. As dawn breaks, the first of five daily prayers, Fajr, is offered.

As the day proceeds, fasting Muslims are constantly bombarded with messages from their stomachs that it is time for breakfast, snack, lunch, and so on. And each time, Muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the sole purpose of pleasing Allah and seeking his mercy. They offer the second and third prayers during early and late afternoon, respectively.

Fasting helps one to experience how a hungry person feels and what it is like to have an empty stomach. It teaches one to share the sufferings of the less fortunate. Muslims believe that fasting leads one to appreciate the bounties of Allah, which are usually taken for granted – until they are missed!

Throughout the day Muslims are encouraged to go out of their way to help the needy, both financially and emotionally. Some believe that a reward earned during this month is multiplied 70 times and more. For this reason, Ramadan is also known as the month of charity and generosity.

To a Muslim, fasting not only means abstaining from food, but also refraining from all vice and evils committed consciously or unconsciously. It is believed that if one volunteers to refrain from lawful foods and sex, they will be in a better position to avoid unlawful things and acts during the rest of the year.
Breaking The Daily Fast During Ramadan

The fast is broken at sunset. The Prophet Muhammad recommended breaking the fast with dates. Muslims are urged to invite others to break the fast with them. These gatherings are called Iftar parties.

Just after breaking the fast, and before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their houses of worship, called Mosques, to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

The Last 10 Days of Ramadan

The last ten days of Ramadan are considered highly blessed, especially the 27th night which is also called the ‘Night of Power’, or the ‘Night of Destiny’. It is believed that on this night the prophet Muhammad received the first revelation of the Qur’an. For many Muslims, this period is marked by a heightened spiritual intensity and they may spend these nights praying and reciting the Qur’an.

After 30 days of fasting, the end of the month of Ramadan is observed with a day of celebration, called Eid-ul-Fitr. On this day, Muslims gather in one place to offer a prayer of thanks. It is traditional to wear new clothes, visit friends and relatives, exchange gifts, eat delicious dishes prepared for this occasion, and wait patiently for the next year.

It might not be your typical “missions trip” but a prayer hike into the woods with national Christian leaders and their friends on the journey toward faith in Christ has been one of the most important things we’ve done so far.

On our second hike, we pitched our tent on the shores of a breathtaking lake nestled in towering pine trees, complete with picnic tables, running water and even a volleyball net (which got some serious use I might add.) Amazing.

Our trek team was joined by four of our national partners and five other young adults they’d met through the local campus ministry. The days were loosely organized around conversation, some informal worship and deep times of discussion in the evening.

Our discussions began as we compared our thoughts on friendship and led to a shared conclusion that Jesus has to be the truest friend anyone could have. The second day, after admitting together how impossible it seems to be truly good, our five friends wrestled with the standard God showed us through his commandments and through the life of Jesus.

That’s when the five of them decided to follow Jesus. Some had made decisions like this before but never really followed through on it. Join us as we pray for God to provide them with the strength and courage to walk with Him in a way that others will be drawn to do the same.

-Karalee

Just last week Jamin asked if a few guys could help move their 10’ x 14’ shed from one side of the yard to the other (in 100° weather). On top of that, it was a hand-built shed, not one of those nifty contraptions from Costco that you can take apart and put back together in an hour. They had to put skids under the building to pull it across the yard with a truck. The entire time, they had kids under foot, asking questions. Among those helping was Trey, a guy who became a Christian and was baptized just two weeks earlier at the house church that meets in the Binghampton house.

The shed had to be moved to make room for a shop that will enable the Binghampton house residents to take on bigger projects as an extension of what they’re already doing. They hope to help foster small businesses that will benefit the community as well as provide workspace to encourage creativity. Things like pottery, carpentry, paper-making, and casting candles.Eventually they’ll add an attached greenhouse and two studio spaces where artists can do their thing. And so far they’re doing it all with their own funds.

During this time away from ministry in Europe, Jason is discovering renewed vision for the kinds of things he knows God wants to see happening in Europe. Things like community. Art. Discipleship. It’s not easy, and it’s not quick. But Jason is gaining experience in small ways with principles of ministry that will serve him well once he returns to Europe, even though the way that will look will most likely differ somewhat from what’s happening in Memphis.

Please pray for this community in Binghampton, for Jamin, and for the other four people who live in the house—Pete, Katherine, Becky, and William. Pray that their interactions with each other stay healthy and that they continue to love the greater community as Christ loves it. Pray for their wisdom. Pray for protection, as the area is not always safe. And pray for Jason and others like him, that they will not only bless those they serve locally, but also gain experience and grow their hearts for service globally.

With the church building renovation, we hope the building will be modernized and more accessible when we have various events.A clean, well-kept building will go a long way to showing that our community wants to move forward in building relations with the community.  In fact, a neighborhood afternoon gathering brought 13 neighbors together in front of the building, and we were able to tell of our future plans.

The evangelism project among university-age youth was an encouragement for our faithful few Christian students to be more at ease in evangelistic contact.  It was also an encouragement for us to have 400 students start in spiritual discussions through surveys and 150 came into student ministry headquarters, where we gave away Bibles and invited them to start a future class in Bible discovery.

My hope is that our young people will disciple some of those who are searching and will be able to start study groups and maybe churches in any number of the churchless towns in metropolitan Lille.

-Gary DeGraaf, Lille

After attending INTERSECT 2010, the sales manager of one of the finest hotels in the country got excited. He’s not only an influential businessman in Bulgaria. He’s also a follower of Christ. Others like him were in attendance from other towns and even a few from Macedonia.

The chance to connect with new people from around the world with a vision to leverage their life in the workplace for the Kingdom has motivated him to share the hope he has in Christ to people far from him. He left with powerpoint presentations he can reuse to introduce others to the concepts he learned. He’s now going through a Bulgarian copy of “Organic Church” by Neil Cole.

But the training isn’t over. He’ll be joining Lance Clemens to begin training for trainers (T4T) online with others (a training program for disciples who want to disciple others in how to follow Christ.)  In all thirteen of the conference participants are being personally invited to the training which will begin in the next few weeks.

Several of the participants had professional coaching in how to put together business plans for their companies and are continuing to have input via email as they are being developed.

INTERSECT 2010 was a launching pad for the beginning of a house church, the T4T training of people from business and the planning of an exploration trip to two Bulgarian cities this fall focusing on the launch of 10 new discovery bible studies by the end of the year.

An enormous amount of prayer will be needed to grow the vision, open hearts closed to religion but in need of a Saviour, mobilizing the harvest force from both within and outside Bulgaria and for continued financial resources to be invested.

Pray with us for the Kingdom to expand through the marketplace in Bulgaria and beyond.

-Lance Clemens, Bulgaria

PS. Contact me for more info at lanceclemens@gmail.com.

This past week, ten people in two teams began their “treks” across Europe by working with street kids, prayer walking, encouraging believers, talking about their journeys with Jesus and learning from European Christians whose faith has been shaped through years of struggle, persecution (which even included interrogation) and spiritual battle.

The TREK teams spent a week together going through a special program of cultural and teamwork training in Kansas before heading off to Europe. The whole experience had been crafted to simulate some of the challenges any team travelling on a nine-week trip abroad might face. The participants not only survived the experience but came out thriving.

The training, described by one person as a combination of Survivor, boot camp, and a spiritual retreat pulled the teams together while also training them to be more aware of the needs around them and God’s heart for the nations.

Now in Europe the two teams have started their journeys. Team two will be exploring and serving first in Germany, then on to Croatia and Ireland. Team one’s route includes Romania, Armenia and Poland.

You can follow their journeys on the TREK website (http://gemtrek.org)

As a result there is a new commitment among Christian marketplace professionals to collaborate together in order to see God’s Kingdom expanding and to make this journey together in order to be more effective.

The gathering ended with agreement to partner in major business expansion and mutually learn, train and support each other. An important first step is INTERSECT 2010.

INTERSECT 2010 will bring together business professionals from around the globe to discuss how God wants to use the marketplace to make Himself known and grow His Kingdom in Bulgaria and beyond. We will focus especially on the needs of the Bulgarian small business owner who is seeking to become more effective in both business and marketplace ministry.

Workshops include topics such as:

• How to write and effective business and ministry plan
• Financial planning for the small business
• Marketing for the small business
• Identifying your market and developing a marketing strategy
• Funding a start-up or growing company
• Developing employees for company success and individual growth
• Profit vs. Kingdom goals: can they coexist?

Be praying for Intersect 2010:

1. For safe travel and that the volcanic ash cloud will not interfere.
2. That God will draw those He desires to mobilize into His harvest field and speak powerfully to them.
3. For all who are speaking during the conference and that the Lord will lead and bless.
4. That the Lord will bless Tom as he preaches on Sunday.
5. That the Lord will go before the groups making side trips to Skopje and Vidin, open doors and give clear direction for future ministry in those new locations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE INTERSECT 2010 WEBSITE

I walked through the gates from off the dirty gray street and was immediately hit with a rainbow of colours and sounds from the exotic birds and beautiful flowers being cultivated for the community all around the building. Joe refers to the Anchorage as a reminder of hope.

Joe’s no newcomer to the area. He grew up in Ringsend. In fact, back in the day when this building was a Protestant mission hall, he used to pass the time vandalizing the place. As he told us the old stories, he was just shaking his head and smiling at God’s sense of humor in it all. He had spent his first years as a follower of Jesus on the streets of Dublin doing street preaching. But the frustration of trying to win arguments while losing the battle of winning their hearts made him search for a better way.

The Anchorage is a radical shift from telling people what they need to think toward helping people recognize that God’s kingdom has come to town.  People in the inner city aren’t as opposed as you might think to what you believe as long as you’re willing to walk along side them and live it out.

The Liffey River in front of the Anchorage is salty, bracken water. The sea is only a few hundred feet away so it pushes upstream to mix the fresh with the salt water. Joe says there’s a backwards pressure of the reality of God’s eternal Kingdom breaking through all the time into what’s happening now. God as a loving parent wants to give tangible reason to hope for the future he’s already prepared for us. And that’s what the Anchorage is all about.

One early morning, as he was reading from the gospel of Matthew, he recognized that the birds of the air and the flowers of the field were reminders of hope when the pressures of life and worry press in. That’s when he came up with the idea of raising flowers for the community and introducing the neighborhood to the songs of exotic birds housed at the centre. The hard, almost toxic soil of Ringsend needs to be revitalized so that the seeds of the hope of the Gospel can grow locally.

The Anchorage runs a child-care creche and this summer a coffee and internet cafe. The flowers are sold around Dublin as well; the proceeds of everything going to send Ringsend youth on humanitarian service projects in Africa. Last year alone 20,000 euros was raised for overseas projects. Recently friends of the Anchorage gather weekly there, meeting every other week to gather for worship, prayer and bible study, and the alternate weeks going out into the community to serve with specific projects like street parties, gardening and clean-up. There’s also a development project to open a family counseling centre next to the coffee shop where friends and neighbours can find a more private place with a listening ear and encouragement to help rebuild broken relationships.

Seeing my bike waiting for me where I’d left it reminded me of my attitude about the area only a few hours before. I’m not sure what changed me most: the children from the creche breaking out into a spontaneous chorus of “You are my sunshine” to the centre’s one and only rabbit or Joe’s stories of hope and restoration.  All I know is that I left the Anchorage feeling hopeful for Ringsend. “Hope” has moved into the neighbourhood and lives there and it sounds like good news to me.

Durand Robinson, Dublin

(PHOTOS: Upper: Joe Donnelly with Cheryl Kingsley, Lower: Joe with Phil Kingsley)

GemStone Media was invited to invest time and skills to train Christ followers in the art of “digital story telling” in one of the last communist states of the former Soviet Union. 9 people attended the training. The short video* (above) is the product of a weekend Video Training Seminar that we did in Belarus.

After a day of practical instruction (regarding developing the message/story, how to use a camera and lighting, planning the shoot, etc) the group was then given a specific topic and asked to create a short video. The topic was “hope” and the team was challenged to go shoot the video and edit it completely in less than 30 hours. It was a great team building exercise.

The Belarusian video team intends to post short videos like this on YouTube. They’d like to interest people far from God to consider the One who can give them strength and walk with them as they face life’s challenges. Over time, the church hopes to create more short videos like this one as relevant ways of inviting people to come and learn about Jesus Christ.

-James Meyer and Ted Cox, GemStone Media (Germany)

*Concept back-story: Alcohol abuse is a significant issue for men in Belarus. As a result, many boys in Belarus grow up with a father who is frequently intoxicated and apathetic. And sadly, many of those boys will grow up to be just like their dads. Through this short video message, the Belarusian video team was wanting to say that there is a way to break free from this cycle of bondage – that young men don’t have to be alone to face this struggle by themselves.

Here is the English translation of the Russian titles:

Пустота = emptiness, боль = pain, ненависть = hatred, отчаяние = despair, надежда = hope, Я не один = I am not alone