CBC Missions

To fellow Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

We would appreciate your prayers for the team coming from Greenville, SC. They will be with us in Portugal from July 2-13 and will be involved in various church-based outreach projects: teaching basic computer skills to youth as a means of outreach, couples’ ministry, etc. One member of the team put up the following site, if you want to learn more: http://mrpcamissiontoportugal.weebly.com

Pray for God to use them in the lives of those with who they will be in contact, both pre-Christians from the community and church members. And pray for God to do a good work in their lives as they sacrifice to be here with us.

Thanks!
Tom and Vicky Arabis

Training Missionaries in Sudan

Greetings to friends and family at CBC,
Over a year ago I began a project to train Kenyan cross-cultural missionaries. My initial trips to the country was to cast the vision and to remind the church of Kenya that the Great Commission was not just for the wealthy church of the West, but for every church throughout the world. My most recent trip in February was to teach pastors and leaders the basic principles of cross-cultural ministry. One person in attendance was a graduate of our Bible Institute who is now working in Sudan. He told me that he desperately needs to understand how to work among a people, who are primarily animists.

If you know anything about Sudan (Dafur is often in the news), it is a country that has been in civil war for years. The need is great and we have an opportunity to equip faithful men and women to serve in this troubled country.  I have accepted an invitation to teach missions for the International Christian Ministries in Kitale. This is a theological training institution, primarily for pastors. I accepted this invitation provided I could also bring students, into this class who are interested in cross-cultural training. By faith I have committed to supporting ten students who are either working cross-culturally or are interested in serving as missionaries outside of Kenya. Classes begin July 14th.

Some of you who receive my newsletter are my friends and have been praying for our ministry for many years. While you may not be a regular monthly supporter, I AM ASKING FOR YOUR HELP IN UNDERWRITING THIS TRAINING PROJECT. Through your donation you will be helping to take the Gospel where Americans cannot go. It will be the responsibility of the Kenyan church to support these missionaries; my appeal is for you to help us prepare them to go. (For more detailed information about this request contact Pastor Vince Smith at Community Bible Church.)

Thanks so much in advance,
Richard Lewis
Lewis Cross-Cultural Training

SEND Summer Program News

Dear CBC family,
Summer has officially arrived, and it’s hard to believe that we are already half way through June. We really enjoyed having our son, Aaron, with us for two weeks in May. We took a week to do some traveling around the island, visiting the beach in Kenting and traveling up the eastern coast of Taiwan. We did some hiking in Taroko Gorge and then drove back through the mountains to Taichung via the Central Cross-Island Highway. It was beautiful but quite scary as we maneuvered through endless hairpin turns (some with no guard rails) with very steep drop-offs . There were also a number of spots where the two-lane road became a one-lane road, with nowhere to pull off to the side. When we began the journey, the temperature was around 90 degrees. About an hour and a half later, near the top of Hehuan Mtn. (elevation around 11,000 ft.), it was 53 degrees. We returned from our journey with thankful hearts for the beauty that was displayed by our AWESOME CREATOR and for the safe journey.

Looking ahead, we have two separate teams arriving in July to help with English camps and VBS that will be held at several different local churches and three public schools. These teams are coming from Chicago and Philadelphia and are made up of ABC’s (American-born Chinese) and some who have previously lived in Taiwan. They won’t have much time to get over jet-lag as they “hit the ground running”. Needless to say, the logistics of planning schedules, preparing housing, providing transportation, coordinating meals and outings take a lot of teamwork. We trust the Lord for great things!

We are very conscious of the fact that we are in a spiritual battle. Not only in the ways you would normally think when you’re in a culture that is heavily steeped in idolatry and ancestral worship….but also in areas where the enemy seeks to hinder God’s work through distractions and discord.  With more than 95% of the population lost, we desperately need a movement of God’s Spirit.
Here are some of the items we would like to share with you:
Praises
-  a great time traveling with our son and many opportunities (away from Taichung) to use the Chinese that we’ve been learning 
-  Buddy’s dad received an encouraging report from his PET scan this week; the tumor on his liver and around it appears to have shrunk some as a result of his chemotherapy and MUCH PRAYER     
-  answered prayer for some of our physical issues
-  we received some much needed rain last week; no typhoons yet, but the season is here
-  A couple (from our home church, North Hills Community Church) are coming to visit (June 23-26)
Prayer Requests
-  pray that the Lord will soon provide a couple to take over our responsibilities while we’re away; also pray for us as we prepare to leave and make preparations for home service
-  TMF Conference (Taiwan Missionary Fellowship) in Taichung July 13-17
-  several local churches that SEND partners with are without a pastor

Thank you for regularly lifting us up before the Lord,
Visit our Blog: The Vaughns In Taiwan
Buddy and Joy Vaughn

Missionaries back in USA

He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. Titus 2:14

Back and Adjusting

We have been back in the States since November and are still adjusting. It has not been easy to catch up with all the ways our home country has changed. The last we lived here without planning to soon return elsewhere was 1992. As it turns out, life in the United States has changed so much and so quickly, we are pretty much in the same boat as many others! Please do pray for us as we transition back – to this fast-paced life, finding bargain shopping, just getting day to day tasks done… etc.

New Ministry Initiative

We have officially been on Medical Leave since returning from Russia in November. I (Carl) am now moving into Recruitment for TEAM. There is a somewhat new approach to recruitment which lays stress on coaching and personal development. I am coming up to speed on what this means and understanding where the younger generations are “at”. My efforts will be focused at Columbia International University and surrounding regional churches.
Children’s Progress

Stevie just finished up first grade here in a public school. It has been a good experience for him this year amidst many transitions. Julianne is doing homeschooling with Debbie and getting ready for K-6 next year at home. Both children have made progress adjusting to life and all it has brought us. Please continue to remember them and us before the throne as we walk through this period of our life together.

Summer Travels

We would like to visit every one of you this summer. Realistically, we are now beginning this process and will work on it bit by bit over the next year. Currently, we are planning a trip from here to New England in June and then a trip North to Illinois in July. We look forward to sharing what God has been doing in our lives. We are also asking God to bring our support levels up to 100%. If you know of churches who are interested in exploring their involvement in missions, we would love to have an introduction through you. Please pray that we would have safe travel and new opportunities to share with churches and individuals.

THANK THE FATHER:

♥ For God’s personal care for each of us as we continue to adjust.

♥ For His direction and provision of new ministry.

♥ For opportunities to personally connect with many of you this summer.

ASK THE FATHER:

♥ Please join us in prayer for God’s complete provision of all our financial needs.

♥ Pray that we would strategically serve and facilitate many new potential leaders seeking to serve cross-culturally in missions.

Thank you for praying with us,

Carl & Debbie Peklenk

 Leadership Training in USA
To visit website: The Evangelical Alliance Mission

Dear friends at Community Bible Church,
I’m doing catch up on our financial records from the mission, and I am noticing your consistent giving. Thanks so much! You all are so special, making this sacrifice.

Ministry continues to abound here. Vicky is bringing over a team from one of our SC churches to work on an evangelistic project. Teófilos, our online training platform, continues to make strides forward. The most recent two projects are a Sunday school teacher training program in conjunction with the Convention Baptists and the likely possibility of hosting an organization’s online discipleship program for new believers.
Thanks for your part in it all!
Tom

Dear Friends and Supporters,
With the support of Teofilos, our church here in Portugal is planning on a "Computer Outreach" in July. We will be the first church to experiment with this method of outreach here in Portugal, but it has been used successfully in Eastern Europe for a few years now. We have a church from the States who will come and present the material and help to provide as many computers as they can. Right now we are limiting the outreach to 30, however, we do not intend to provide a computer for each person but work with a group of 3 or 4 per computer.

Portugal has really been promoting computers these last couple of years and there may be kids who can bring their own computer that the school offered them through a grant from Bill Gates. The computers that were given away were called the Magellan (after the great Portuguese explorer) and were small and inexpensive…€300 (euros). That computer, or something similar, is what we would like to purchase. We are doing research to determine what would be the best option.

It is our desire at Teofilos to purchase a set a computers, cases, one printer and digital camera that can serve as the foundation for this outreach to be used in other churches here in Portugal in the future. We have determined the minimum cost at $4000 (dollars).

If you personally, your church, Sunday School, home group or youth group would like to participate in this outreach by helping us buy this equipment, we have set up a separate Teofilos Outreach Fund with our mission. In the event that you would like to help, refer to Pastor Vince Smith at Community Bible Church of Beaufort.

Thanks for your support and prayers for this visiting group, our Portuguese church and this Computer Outreach.
Vicky for the Arabis Family

Greetings to Community Bible Church in Beaufort,
Casting The Vision For Missions In Ukraine
This past month I was in Ukraine at the invitation of Christian Leadership Development International (CLDI.org), speaking before over 300 Ukrainian pastors. My role was to (1) teach them how to reach their communities with the Gospel through an understanding of cultural anthropology and, (2) to introduce and challenge them to be involved in sending cross-cultural missionaries from Ukraine to other parts of the world. As with many places I teach, these subjects were new for my audience.
It’s a half-truth to say the best way to reach the nations for Christ is to train national pastors. NATIONALS MUST BE TRAINED SPECIFICALLY ON HOW TO TAKE THE GOSPEL CROSS- CULTURALLY TO TRULY BE EFFECTIVE IN REACHING EVERY PEOPLE IN THEIR COUNTRY.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Richard Lewis
Lewis Cross-Cultural Training Institute

The Big News!

Return to Cebu…

During the last two months a few of our churches were able to increase our support level, and new individuals also joined our team. The result is we will be able to return to Cebu in time for the new semester at the grad school in June.John will be teaching three theology sections and seeing the new developments among the mountain church planters in Cebu.

We want to thank all of you for your warm hospitality to us during our travels this past year. We were able to visit our supporting churches and many of the individuals who pray for and support us. It was great to be with you.

Our Long Term Situation:

While we raised enough new support to return in June, we are still short of the level necessary for the long haul. We are asking our team partners and churches to remember our need for increased regular support. As always, we are confident in God’s providential care for us!

Family News:

Warning: Eleanor is driving! While living in Manila, Eleanor never needed to drive, but as an American college student she needs to get to and from the campus and to work. In May, John and her brother Richard spent many hours helping her gain confidence behind the wheel. She will use the car we purchased for our Home Assignment year.She and Richard are in St. Petersburg for the summer, but she will return to Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, in the fall.

Jan will return to Cebu at the end of June. She has her hands full helping the family settle my mother’s estate. Thank you for the many cards and kind emails sent to us. We miss John’s mother, but are confident she is with the Lord.

Our next email will be from Cebu!

Blessings,

John and Jan Baxter

Converge Worldwide Missionaries to the Philippines

Dear Pastor Broggi and friends at Community Bible Church:
So what’s been going on with the Skinner family, you ask? The end of March through the beginning of May brings lots of celebrations for us due to many birthdays and our 16th wedding anniversary! Also, Mother’s Day was the tenth and I’ve been blessed with a wife with determined faith who builds me up and helps me have courage to ask God regularly for His power to dare to do what’s far too big for me to do.

For instance, we recently learned that two million have indicated decisions for Christ already this year through our 91 websites! As part of a group assigned to develop a plan for improved follow-up, Mike drafted a letter this month to be sent automatically to any who are unresponsive to online mentor’s emails. It challenges them from 1 John to be sure they have been saved. Other recent efforts resulted in big increases in those taking a second step, like going to our Look To Jesus website where Mike’s chat is hosted.

So you ask, what’s coming up for the Skinner family? July 21-29 - is the Biennial Campus Crusade For Christ International US Staff Conference in Colorado.
Ministry Partner Development time - yes, it has been about two years now since we’ve spent significant time raising support and we have lost 14 financial partners, most of them directly related to the economy’s struggles.

What’s been going on with your family? Please let us know, (You can call Community Bible Church for address information) It is our privilege to hear how God is working in your life and pray along with you.
Thanks so much for your faithful ministry to us!
Mike & Cindy Skinner
Campus Crusade for Christ
Global Media Outreach