Author Archives: thebridge

Sargon Chamaki Daniali – Serving Iranians in Turkey with the Gospel

A TWO YEAR UPDATE ON OUR MINISTRY

MY FAMILY:  In 2018, I moved more permanently to Turkey from Kazakhstan, and after a year, my wife and daughter joined me in Istanbul.  They are adjusting well and learning the Farsi and Turkish languages.  My two older sons are busy with work, church ministry and theological studies at a seminary in Kazakhstan of which I was one of the founders and Rector from 2006-2012. My youngest son is studying at the Christian University of Divine Grace in Chisinau, Moldovia, at the Faculty of Business Management and Foreign  Languages.We started a new mission center at a leased three story villa in the western suburb of Istanbul to serve as a regional office, guest house, a place to conduct seminars for our seminary students and a shelter for people in need.

A 14 seat minibus was purchased for the transportation needs of the church. I have asked all our church members to pick one day a week to do active evangelism.  Everybody is excited  about this.  We are continually praying and believing that Iran will open up for the Gospel!

We have established daily, scheduled online  meetings for worship, prayer and intercession. A new, online Church Radio program was launched with the purpose of sharing the Good News and provide transformational Biblical teachings among Persian speaking people worldwide. We continue to develop and broadcast online daily Bible studies and relevant programs on various faith-strengthening topics both among new believers and those more mature in faith.Our church distributed food packages to victims of Covid-19 among Iranians and Afghans in Iran and Turkey, believers and unbelievers.  We took care of basic needs for groups of refugees and provided various medical assistance to the poor: medicine, medical supplies related to high blood pressure and heart problems; also financially helped a sister have surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

Our translation team completed the translations of two theological student workbooks (with their leader guide) into the Farsi language: A practical training in the discipling of new believers, via A. Abundant Life – The life of Christ in us, and B. The Life of Christ 1 – The first of a six book series titled, A compendium of Pastoral Theology, for training of ministers. We are also in the process of translating another book called Encounter Bible Manual for groups of 2-20 people. It’s a very strong tool for evangelizing, discipling and church planting.

A number of new believers were baptized, included my youngest son who made a commitment as an adult to continue following Christ.

We conducted five seminars and conferences; two of them were even held in the midst of the Covid-19 restrictions.

TWO YEAR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE REGION 

The hardship to the refugees in Turkey is opening their hearts to the Gospel Message.  Please pray for God to reveal His wisdom and strategy for continued reaching and ministering to the Iranian refugees in Turkey.

The situation in Iran has also become increasingly volatile as the banks are on the brink of collapse, and the economy suffers greatly.  There is widespread famine and shortness of basic necessities.  The price of gas has soared 300%.  Demonstrations by the people and violent responses by the government happens daily.  But God is using this situation to bring about a great spiritual awakening in Iran with many Iranians coming to Christ.  Our ministry in partnership with like ministries have distributed 50,000 New Testaments throughout the country. Please pray for their protection and God’s provision for the believers! Praise Report:  I have signed a three year contract for the translation of eleven more books into Farsi, two of which are completed.

Several of our home group leaders in Iran were attacked and arrested by the intelligence service,  their books and computers confiscated.  After three weeks they were all released, but they are under surveillance and have to report to the police at their bidding.  A couple of them are awaiting court cases against them.

In spite of the restrictions Covid-19 brought, the Church overall has been doing well. Some churches and fellowships have been shut down, due to the virus.  Our church members have been meeting, while following social distancing and encouraging our older persons to stay home and join us online.  We have been gathering every day of the of the week, for two to three hours, both in person and online, for worship, prayer, and Bible teaching.  I have had a revelation that God has been sending this plague to bring people’s attention back to Him.

The situation in Turkey for refugees is becoming increasingly difficult.  There are currently 4.1 million refugees in Turkey and the allocated government budget to support them is decreasing yearly.  This is bringing pressure on Iranian refugees.  Joblessness and inflation is increasing in Turkey.  Conditions in Iran are extremely difficult. Conditions across the Middle East are worsening.  With no support in Turkey, and horrible conditions at home in Iran, the Iranian refugees have nowhere to turn.  Please pray for our ministry to them.

At the beginning of the Corona epidemic crisis, tens of thousands of refugees from this larger war-torn region were forced to leave and go to Bulgaria and Greece, where they were denied entrance and had to return back. 50 Afghan and Syrian orphans without parents were flown to Luxembourg.  We received a group of about forty people (seven families) to care for.  I currently have one of the families living with me in the center.  No one helped them except Christians.  A ten year old girl prayed a sweet prayer thanking Jesus!  These family members are followers of Jesus and very evangelistic.  Please pray for them !!

In December, we moved into the newly leased Mission Center building.  I have asked all our church members to pick one day a week to do active evangelism.  Everybody is excited  about this.  We are continually praying and believing that Iran will open up for the Gospel!

In the midst of all the suffering and darkness, the Lord is requiring us to be salt and light! Matthew 5:15-16 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”.  The blood of Jesus is the cure for the virus of sin which can kill both body and soul.  God is listening and He will answer our specific prayers!

F.Y.I.  This link is a Christianity Today article on the expansion of the Christian faith in Iran:   https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/september/iran-christian-conversions-gamaan-religion-survey.html

FROM R.K.’s CORNER

The Bridge encountered Sargon for the first time in 1994 during a Christian conference we co-sponsored with a partnering ministry in Istanbul, Turkey.  He was then a young, single Assyrian teacher having fled his homeland, Iran, due to severe persecution by the Iranian government against his church and pastor, who had been murdered.  He had lived in Turkey for almost four years while serving  refugee believers in Istanbul with the Gospel.

The Bridge decided to sponsor Sargon, and helped him move to Almaty, Kazakhstan to bring the Christian faith to Central Asia’s Turkic and Farsi speaking peoples.  There he met his wife, Nadia. Together they have  four children, three of whom are now young adults and have decided to walk in their parents’ footsteps in serving the Lord.  Sargon’s  personal journey is documented in two prior Bridge Reports:
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/november2009.pdf
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2019/04/

This issue is an update on the last two years in Sargon’s family and ministry, and briefly touches on the challenges and triumphs the Christian church is encountering in the face of great opposition and hardship in the Muslim dominated countries where he serves.  Please pray for him, his family and ministry; mark your gift: 8341 Iran/Turkey Workers.

CHILDREN IN NEED HAITI (CINHP) — GRIEVING FEDNOR by Jeanette Felix, Founder & RN Medical Mission Coordinator

I will never, ever forget the look in the eyes of this tiny skeleton of a 3-year old child. Staring intently, his eyes never wavered from the hardboiled egg I’d started peeling for him ‘Could this be for me?’ ‘Could this entire egg really be for me, only?’ he questioned with his eyes.
At my slight gesture to hand him the peeled egg, he quickly grabbed it from me, held it tightly in his tiny hands, took one big bite, held the rest in his two fists for a moment and then squished the remaining portion into his dirty pockets, not knowing if or when he would get a next meal.

Our first Children In Need  (CNIHP) medical outreach took place on October 24, 2008. Our school was transformed into a temporary health clinic.  We examined 126 patients over a two-day period, many of whom had not seen a doctor in years. Most of the adults we examined were severely anemic.  Many had critical hypertension with BP 200/100 and up. Yet, I believe the real reason we were there that day was to save the life of a three year old boy named Fednor.  He was in the end stages of starvation.

Fednor’s step-grandmother arrived to the clinic with two healthy-looking, seemingly well-cared-for children to be examined by the doctor. Anoise, the Community Leader, advised us that there was a third child at home. We pressed the woman as to why she had not brought the other child along, too. Uncomfortable with her response, we strongly urged her to bring him which she initially refused to do. Troubled by her reluctance, we declined to examine her two children until she brought Fednor.

We soon  learned why she was so reluctant to bring him.  Fednor was covered from head to toe with scabies, had sunken eyes, a  bloated belly, and ribs prominently protruding from his tiny, malnourished frame. He could only stand for a couple of minutes before needing to squat. According to Dr. Sanchez, who examined him, he would have died of severe malnutrition within days, had we not intervened.

From the beginning, Fednor had an extra special place in my heart. I could sense an intense spiritual struggle raging over the life of this little boy. Throughout Fednor’s life, his social situation was unstable and filled with horrific traumas. His father and mother were separated, each trying to survive by working in Port-Au-Prince. With both parents gone most of the time, Fednor had been left to the care of his paternal grandfather and step-grandmother who lived close to our school. Tragically, as often happens, Fednor was seriously neglected, almost to death.

We arranged for him to come to the school each day to eat lunch with our students until he was recovered enough to attend preschool. Once he began his education, the neurological damage caused by being malnourished for years became evident. He had difficulty concentrating and learning. Our Pre-school Director, Julia Jules, took him under her wing, as a surrogate mother, brought him breakfast and snacks plus vitamins and supplements each day and tailored the curriculum to optimize his learning potential.

Sadly, a year later, Fednor suffered another disruption in his young life. His father, a healthy 28 year-old, contracted a fever of unknown origin and died within a few days. This time Fednor’s paternal uncle took over caring for him and, thankfully, agreed to let him continue to attend our school and  learn of the love of Jesus.  But as soon as his mother thought she could care for him again, she would take him out of these loving and stable homes to live with her. As he got older he was a help to her at the market and, as a result, did not attend school. Fednor became street smart and as a young, vulnerable teenager got involved with the wrong people. Tragically, last summer, at the age of 16, Fednor was shot and killed on the streets of Port-au-Prince in an area known to be controlled by gangs. CINHP helped his family to bury him in the beautiful mountains of Lespinasse where he was born.

I tell you these details so you can better understand why we continue to fight for justice for the children of Haiti. Fednor was deeply loved by CINHP. Saving his life and providing a good future for him became an ardent pursuit for us throughout his short life. In so many ways Fednor embodies our work in Haiti.
Children In Need Haitian project exists to give the children in the community of Lespinasse a “future and a hope” as our guiding verse (Jer 29:11) states. To me, Fednor’s own death reflect the overall helplessness of precious children who grow up in toxic environments and tragic circumstances – where structural, social, and spiritual oppression run uninhibited with very few available interventions.

Sharon Cushing, Executive Coordinator for CINHP writes:

We believe that the best way to a better future for Haiti is to prepare today’s children to be the leaders of tomorrow – to identify and seize opportunities for themselves and become creators of opportunities for others.

Though Jeanette and I haven’t been to Haiti for nearly two years due to the civil unrest that continues to plague the country and now Covid-19, the work continues and is prospering! God is doing amazing work through our staff in Haiti, who, though a bit weary, are doggedly determined to serve the children of  Lespinasse. They even found a way to do a “school at home” program during the Covid-19 closure so that our students didn’t fall behind.
This year all 13 of our 9th-grade students passed the state exams and nine of them began attending high school. This is monumental. There was a time when this would have been unthinkable. It shows growth in the mindset of the community. It shows a developing though fragile hope for the future. The parents are beginning to move beyond surviving to planning, and that is encouraging.
A few items we’ve yet to accomplish include: build a new kitchen, install a pre-school playground and additional restrooms to accommodate our growing student population, provide health insurance for our staff, construct a public cistern for the community, and begin a literacy program for adults and others who are unable to attend school.          

Our gratitude goes out to our staff for their dedication and perseverance,  and to our faithful friends whose finances and prayer have enabled Children In Need to do: 

  • Serve 200+ children and employ 26 full and part-time Haitian staff.
  • Provide daily nutritious meals, mentoring, and basic healthcare for each of our student.student.
  • Build a beautiful new school building with a play area.
  • Deliver quality education that has earned us First Place in the region and enabled our older students to pass the state exams and qualify for high school, year after year.
  • Provide emergency assistance to families, including a house for an elderly couple whose home was destroyed in a hurricane.
  • This year we’ll enter into an agreement with Child Evangelism Fellowship to begin Youth clubs and summer camp for our students and other children in the area (implementation by summer 2021).
  • We are also in early discussions with a partnering organization that may be able to help our graduating students with high school scholarships and vocational programs.

From R.K.’s Corner

In the July, 2013 issue of The Bridge Report, we featured for the first time Children in Need Haiti Project (CINHP) under the headline From New York City to the Mountains of Haiti (see https://www.bridgeinternational.org/the-bridge-report-july-2013-from-new-york-city-to-the-mountains-of-haiti/ on our website).  There, we introduced you to Jeanette Felix, the founder and visionary of the mission.  She and her Executive Coordinator, Sharon Cushing, are helping the children in a small mountain town Lespinasse, by removing them from a destiny of poverty and deprivation to a fulfilled and productive life, by the love of Jesus, education, and good health care.  In our October 2016 issue, we followed up with a story how CINHP assisted the town in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

UNICEF reports that in the world today, 1 billion children live in poverty and neglect.  It is a dizzying statistic no one can relate to, but we all can relate to one person.  That’s why, in this update report from Haiti, we have chosen to report on the short life of one little boy, Fednor, who was rescued from that statistic by CINHP, then loved and cared for by the staff.  Here is also an uplifting progress report on their school, and their efforts to educate in the midst of Covid-19.

CINHP is a worthy ministry, please mark donations
8155 Children in Need Haiti!

 

2020 Annual Bridge Report

Dear Friends and Partners:

Happy New Year to you and your family from The Bridge team and our partners around the world!  Our warm THANKS to those of you who sacrificially gave of your finances and prayed for the missionaries we serve in the nations!  Your Tax Receipt has been sent to you via postal mail or email.  May you all experience the abundance of the promise in Proverbs 11:23-25: “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”

2020 IN REVIEW—REFLECTIONS

2020 was a tumultuous year which brought massive changes with lasting effect to the lives of people world wide.  At the beginning of the year, the breakout of Covid-19 pandemic originating in China, expanded quickly with death and devastation across the world. This tiny, invisible ball brought life as we knew it to a screeching halt, as businesses, schools, social and spiritual activities and any other meaningful human interactions were shut down while people were commanded to withdraw from society and live behind closed doors in isolation, only with their nearest family members. Beyond the obvious tragedy and grief of losing loved ones to the pandemic, the unintended consequences by the lockdowns have caused equally, if not worse, misery in people’s lives: financial ruins, increased poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, depression and suicide.

In the name of safety and health, governments globally have centralized their grip on power.  An international group of elite leaders, part of The World Economic Forum (WEF), have planned a shift from the individual nations’ sovereign right to govern their citizens, to a world wide power elite of the rich and powerful, who think the time is near when The Great Reset, outlining their global agenda, will successfully be instituted “for the Good of Mankind.”

Centralization and consolidation of power will be necessary, as will conformity and absolute obedience to the agenda of the Powers to Be.  Faith and loyalty to a Higher Power, individuality and dissent must not and cannot be tolerated, and those who protest must quickly be brought back in line, deemed as dangerous elements, a threat to peace and security in civil society.  The Cancel Culture is right now coming into full bloom!  The draconian measures mandated by political leaders to protect the world population against the deadly virus are a perfect opportunity to test the timing for the introduction to the New World Order.

Last year, this nation also experienced another trauma which will have far reaching international consequences— a bruising, volatile and outright hateful American Presidential election.  It has divided the nation right down the line. The 45th President, running on a Republican ticket, had during his tenure openly rejected the globalist agenda through his slogan “Make America Great Again”, and reintroduced ordinary American citizens to their Constitutional rights. The President gave a voice to the voiceless, “WE THE PEOPLE”, by tirelessly laboring for the people by introducing legislation and regulations benefitting the lives of men and women all across the socio-economic and racial spectrum. In turn, those people loved him… to them he was the People’s President!  To the Globalists, he was a clear and present danger, hindering their view of progress.  In a  bitterly contested election with serious allegations of major fraud, it was determined that the globalist-friendly Democrat candidate won, and he has been sworn in as President.

The deeper world issue is not politics, nor economics, it is the clashing of ideologies.  In the United States we have openly entered into a fierce spiritual/cultural war—a fire which has been raging on other continents for decades, with severe persecution against Christian believers and destruction of their churches and symbols.  Now, it has erupted with vengeance against the last bastion, the Judeo-Christian world view in America.

The Bible was always the bedrock for Western civilization—the glue which held our society together with a common understanding of basic Biblical moral values, adherence to the rule of law, equality under the law, and respect for the individual’s rights. The American Constitution, built on these Biblical principles, has been a shiny model of a good governing document; the example to be applied against tyranny by freedom fighters the world over.  Today, these Biblical moral and spiritual principles must be crushed by the fascist/globalist elite, the Christian faith subdued and its followers canceled and cast aside. With that, the American Constitution with its fundamental phrase, “endowed by our Creator, ” must also be nullified, as it declares that all men are given Equality with certain inalienable Rights, among these Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, not by man, governments or the political correct elite in society, but given by God!  This the core of the conflict!

In the midst of a hostile society facing the Christian believers, we are called according to Matthew 5:13-16 and Phil. 2:15-16a, to be salt and light before men—children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding fast the Word of Life!

THE BRIDGE AND OUR FIELD PARTNERS

In spite of the lockdowns, and concern that the hardship of the virus would diminish our Bridge contributors’ ability to give, we were blessed in every way.  Our income grew beyond expectation, so we were able to help equip a number of our partners with funds to reach out with compassion and love with life sustaining provision to victims of Covid-19 in their communities.

One of our Stateside prayer warriors and leader of The Bridge Intercessory Team, Paul Booher, went to be with the Lord.  It was a loss for us, but the Lord provided us with three new members called to intercede for the nations and our partners who labor in His harvest.  We are humbled and thankful for the labor of love of the group!

Covid-19 affected every community we serve overseas, some countries harder hit than others, with heartbreaking  devastation and suffering.  We are deeply grateful that none of our partners, except one family, contracted the virus.  Rustam and Zamira and their two children in Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN  were lightly infected, and were quickly restored to full health with no negative health effects.  This was an answer to prayer by our intercessors, demonstrating that the Lord’s protection as promised in Psalm 91 were true and real.

As most countries were already in lockdown in the late spring, all church services and fellowship gatherings were shut down everywhere, and with that, many of the outreaches and mercy ministries of our partners.  This became a challenge for the leaders to find ways to continue their labor of love in obedience to the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, “…Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Their clarity of vision, personal sacrifices, courage, endurance and hope; having been trained to stand firmly in faith in the face of serious setbacks and apparent insurmountable problems, have helped them find new, creative ways to circumvent their governments’ restrictions, and continue to keep in contact and fellowship with their church family.  Worship services and Bible teachings were in many cases conducted virtually online.  To comply with the restrictions on social distancing, smaller home fellowship groups flourished with just a few believers in each, which has brought forth new leadership and closer knit relationships between the believers.  We have reports from every field that there was growth and expansion in the number of people responding to the Gospel and desiring to grow in faith.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of last year’s activities among our partners, was their willingness to risk their own health and safety, and together with their church family reach out to the most needy suffering from the pandemic with a feeding program, which provided amazing opportunities to share the Good News to people in communities closed to their presence in prior years.   The Himalayan Good News Network Ministry in INDIA each did impressive outreaches into their surrounding communities with life giving sustenance.  You will find their stories on our website, published under last year’s Bridge Report for respectively June and August.

Sargon, serving Iranian believers in TURKEY and IRAN proper, reached out to a number of refugees and provided shelter and food for them.  We also helped provide finances for the distributing of food packages for needy Iranian believers and unbelievers in Iran and Turkey.

This year, we are not providing specific updates from all the fields we serve, but you will find a comprehensive list and description of each of the major partners we resource on a regular basis in the 2019 Annual Report which you find under ANNUAL REPORTS above.  Scroll down the page, or click on the following direct link and scroll:                  https://www.bridgeinternational.org/category/annual-bridge-reports/

BLESSINGS  to those of our partners not mentioned here, and those of you who invested resources into their lives and ministries.  THANK YOU, again!     R.K. Ulrich

The Fear Factor—The Church and The Pandemic: An American’s View Seen through an African Lens By Paul Cowley

The Fear Factor

Fear is a good thing. It alerts us to potential harm, activates our defense responses and, if harnessed properly, motivates us to timely, appropriate self-preservation behavior. It keeps us Alive.  It is true not only in the physical realm but also the Spiritual.

Alternatively, Fear can be a bad thing. It can blind us to reality, cloud our analytic processing and, if not harnessed properly,  send us into paralysis, inaction and further vulnerability. In short,  it can lock us into a Death Spiral.

The “Fear Factor” is an opportunity, and also a dilemma. The choice between the two remains within our grasp.  Grasp onto “living Life” too freely or casually, and we end up foolishly encountering death prematurely. Grasp onto “preserving Life” too earnestly or analytically, and we miss the opportunity to Live Life to its fullest. This predicament presents itself throughout our daily activities and responsibilities: at work, leisure, pleasure, exercise, diet, education, decision-making, communication, social interaction, spirituality, Christian-living, ministry and our eternal destiny.  Yes, it impacts our final destination—Forever!

When Fear is harnessed properly, it is first and foremost focused on our Creator. After all, if we don’t Fear God, how can any other Fear even be relevant in the final analysis? Only with the Wisdom of God can we effectively thread the varied needles of Fear in the tiny eye we call “Life” God Himself has declared, “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge.  But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:7

When Fear of God is maligned or ignored, it doesn’t go away. It cannot.  It exists and must settle somewhere. That Fear simply mutates into a  Fearful Life. It becomes what the Bible calls “fear of man.”   “The Fear of Man brings a Snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be Safe.” Proverbs 29:25

The Church and The Pandemic

A snare. A trap. Stifling life, placing it on a sure course of inactivity, paralysis and death. It’s happening to Ministers and  Ministries all over the world. While pastors and people pontificate over how, when and whether to “reopen” their churches on Sunday, we miss the Spiritual Reality hidden in plain sight: Christianity is in a Death Spiral,  like an airplane that has lost “lift”—plummeting precipitously with precious little opportunity to dodge disaster. To continue our circular conversations about churches reopening is to miss the main point:  We are not doing Christianity. The works, fruit, and eternal purpose of the Christian Life amount to much more than Sunday service. The Enemy knows , but we act as if we don’t.

Having promoted a Pandemic of Fear in the masses, the Enemy has redirected our focus from Fear of God to fear of man. It was cunning, stealthy and quite ingenious. But now that Christian ministry is in the crosshairs of cultural irrelevance, what should the Church be doing? Struggling to reopen Sunday services? That would be like replacing professional Nascar racing with virtual video “races” online. Sounds absurd? That’s exactly what largely is happening.  And with it, they begin the certain Death of actual “in-person” Nascar racing. How about replacing Christian ministry with images and voices on a digital screen every Sunday?

Christian Life and Christian Ministry go far beyond Sunday’s holy huddle. As people bark and banter about restrictions on Sunday services, they blindly miss the open eradication of Christian works: counseling, visiting orphans and widows, feeding the hungry, door to door evangelism, open air evangelistic crusades, nursing home/hospital/hospice visitations, prison ministry, chaplaincy, grieving and honorably burying the dead, discipling anyone, leading by example, helps ministry, teaching (let alone making) new Disciples, marriage, baptism, communion, missionary endeavors, mission trips, reaching the unreached, reaching the digitally unconnected—42% of the world have no access to the internet!

The list goes on and on. These are not optional side dishes in a buffet of Christian Ministry. These are commands and imperatives from the mouth of God. Christianity cannot be reduced to Sunday service, much less a digital imitation of it. Touchless, virtual ministry has become the golden calf. An idol that keeps the money flowing, the congregation seeing and hearing…and subtly anesthetizes us from obediently Doing!

We tend to think that “Fear of  God” can coexist with “fear of man”. It cannot! They are mutually exclusive. And so, we are called to press forward into the vast imperatives of Christian Life with one Fear: Fear of God. It is high time we get back to the Christian Life before the possibility of participating passes us by. God does not need us to accomplish His work. Rather, He grants us the divine invitation to co-labor with Him. This will cost us dearly. It will divide communities, churches, ministries, homes, friends, marriages and loved ones. Make no mistake about it. The “days” are upon us.

“… and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worth of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake, will find it.”  Mt. 10:34

THE DISCIPLE SUPPORT MINISTRIES BIBLESCHOOLS AND THE PANDEMIC

The DSM Bible Schools are up and running. Indeed, because of corona virus restrictions, due to complying with “social distancing” mandates, we are now teaching more days per week than ever before. This has led to an INCREASED ENROLLMENT! In fact, we cannot even process new students because of the overwhelming response from current and prior enrolled Pastors and Ministry Leaders. Life is being proclaimed from the hilltop!

But more important is what our Pastors and Ministry Leaders are Doing. They are marrying the unmarried. They are baptizing believers. They are partaking in communion services. They are evangelizing door to door. They are visiting the widows, the sick, the elderly, the shut-ins, the disabled and dying. They are counseling face-to-face. Most, if not all, of this is illegal. Some of our Pastors have been tracked, apprehended and imprisoned. I cannot provide specifics without furthering endangering them and others. But suffice it to say, their Fear of God has enraged kings and kingdoms of this world. The Christian Faith is being tested worldwide… and the Faithful and Faithless are quickly being sorted and sifted.

Our most pressing need is for your Prayers. Fervent prayers. Faith filled prayers.  For our Pastors and Ministry Leaders—to courageously Do the Will of God; for the Bible School Ministry—to boldly continue Discipleship through the Ministry of the Word of God; for Fear of God—to suffocate any and all Fear of Man in us.

The time for Christ-like Courageous Ministering is Today—lest we dare to presume we even have tomorrow!

 

FROM R.K.’S CORNER

Almost two decades ago, Disciple Support Ministries (DSM) was founded by Paul and Marcia Cowley with a call to minister in the heart of Africa. Since their move to East Africa in 2002, the Lord has blessed them with three children (Isaac, Joshua, and Alegria).
Today the ministry has grown to operate two Bible Schools directly inside the two largest slums of Nairobi, Kenya. One in Kibera slum, the single largest slum in Africa, with over 1,000,000 residents. The other in the Mathare Valley slum, with over 500,000 residents. The Schools are strategically located on opposite sides of the city, in the two largest and most easily accessible slum.

Steve and I have known Paul and Marcia from the time they were newlyweds living in South Florida, a couple of years before they heard God’s call and moved to Africa.  We have had the joy of serving them on their extraordinary journey.  In this issue, Paul gives his perspective on the Church at large and the Lord’s commission to His people, especially  during hard times, seen through the eyes of his slum Pastors of the Least, for whom overcoming insurmountable hardships through faith and trust in God’s caring love and provision, are daily occurrences. We have much to learn from them! We highly recommend DSM worthy of your support.

Please mark your gift 8344 Kenya Workers.

A Personal Note from R.K. to my Fellow Americans—The Upcoming Presidential Election

From its inception, The Bridge’s primary purpose has been to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the nations via primarily indigenous peoples—a mission we continually endeavor to faithfully follow.  Sometimes, however, events take place in one country which have far reaching consequences throughout the rest of the world. The Covid-19 pandemic is one, and I dare to state that the United States Presidential election is another.  Our fellow believers we serve in the nations all are fervently praying for this country, expressing their concern that the United States is at a crossroad, whereby her people may lose their freedom, liberty, and egalitarianism, which up till now have been the bulwark against other nations’ tyrants who oppress their people.  Most of our partners live in countries where their freedom is limited. There is only one reason that America has been called a “Shining City upon a Hill” – The American Constitution!  The words “WE THE PEOPLE” is the fundamental bedrock which makes it different than any other  governing document in the world, guaranteeing its individual citizens Equality of Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness as given by our Creator!  That means, no ruler can demand total loyalty and obedience of his subjects!

Don’t get lost in the two candidates’ rhetoric, or promises fueled by the election campaigns of the two parties; don’t get lost in the idiosyncrasies of the two individual candidates – and PLEASE tune out the noise from the media!  Rather, study the ideology and philosophy shaping the views of the two individual parties, policies and the individual Presidential candidates.  Then, vote for the candidate whose past record and future platform most closely confirm, honor and shape his policies in accordance with the American Constitution!