The Great Bike Ride of 2009

 Charleston, WV Missions Team

 Your Asia Mission Team: 

Nathan Bost, Jacob Bradley, Pamela Farnsworth, Kaleb Gooden, Jason Hudson,  Charles Kincaid, Kenny Lamm, Dale and Diane McLelland, Kevin Reigle, Terrie Ross, Lana Smith, Tim Stutts and Doris Swaim.

Upcoming 24-Day Asia Missions Trip Will Involve Four Countries and
Ministry to the Persecuted Church

The worship team from Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, NC has been invited to make a return visit to Malaysia this summer to work with the Christians in that country by providing training opportunities, outreach events, worship leading, and times of fellowship.  In addition, the team has been invited to work with the Singapore Baptist Convention in training worship leaders and offering an outreach event as the team spends three days in their country.  The team will also work in Cambodia and a relatively unreached Muslim country in Southeast Asia (name withheld for security purposes).  This country will host outreach events and worship leadership training, while Cambodia will hold worship leader training conferences for many churches.

The trip itinerary is quite ambitious with little rest time for the team. Our worship team will equip and encourage church leaders in the four countries through offering one and two-day worship conferences in seven different locations. They will lead Sunday morning worship services in four churches. In Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, they will train and rehearse an estimated 100-voice choir to prepare for a Choral Worship Festival with orchestra that will be a major outreach event. Our instrumentalists, augmented with local musicians, will make up the orchestra.  The team will also hold several evangelistic outreach concerts in various areas, utilizing music, drama, video, and congregational involvement.  The churches they will work with are quite varied. They will be involved with the largest Christian churches in Malaysia, will work with a group of churches (Baptist and other denominations coming together) in a few areas.  In Cambodia, the teaching and materials will all be translated into Khmer.  The fourth country will hold a concert, worship leadership training events, and times of fellowship.

Malaysia is located on the other side of the world-twelve hours ahead of us in time. The team will travel about 30 hours each way. The country is in Southeast Asia near Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, etc. Over 21 million people live in Malaysia. Over 90% have yet to hear the wonderful news of Jesus in that country. It is a Muslim nation. 55% of the population are Malays - considered Muslim at birth. Laws forbid evangelization of Malays. 28% of the nation is Chinese; they are Buddhists, Taoists, animists, ancestor worshipers, and combinations of all of these. It is in the Chinese population that Christianity is getting a footing. 9% of Malaysia are Indian - Hindu, and 7% are tribal - animistic. There are over 200 people groups in Malaysia. As you can see, Malaysia is quite a mix of peoples and religions with most people speaking English as a primary or secondary language. 

Over 4 million people live in Singapore.The main island, only 26 miles long and 14 miles wide , is 3.5 times size of Washington, DC.  There is no state religion.  Singapore is a very affluent society, people tend to put trust in technology and material things.  77% of Singapore is Chinese.  Christianity is gaining ground among the Chinese people, with almost 60% of the country claiming to be Christian.

Our team's entry into the fourth country will be a challenge.  Islamic Shari'a law in the country supersedes civil law and it regulates all of life. The national constitution states, "The religion of <name removed> shall be the Muslim religion." Life is difficult for Christians there. Some have lost their jobs without any notice. Christians seeking opportunities for higher education must leave the country to access universities. Evangelism is strictly forbidden and some local Christians have been arrested and detained for planning outreach to the population. Christian based (expatriate) schools must give instruction in Islam to all students and are not allowed to teach Christianity. Recently a foreign English teacher simply prayed for blessings on a Malay family during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations (at the end of Ramadan) was given 48 hours to leave the country.  A number of Malays in the country have believed over the years, but the very strict, conservative Islamic environment there is hardly conducive to any Muslim-background believer being open about their commitment. Indonesian Christian broadcasting is easily heard and understood there. Christian literature for personal purposes (not resale or distribution quantities) can be carried in from neighboring countries. It is not possible to buy Bibles or Christian books in the country. Two recognized churches exist. Both are closely watched by police.  Our team will have opportunity to encourage our persecuted brothers and sisters and provide training and resources for their worship teams.  About 11% of the population is Christian.

Most of the team will also travel to Cambodia to work with our New Tribes Missions missionaries, Kit & Avery Putrakul.  While there, several members of the team will hold worship leader conferences for people from the provinces and urban areas.  The small, but growing, Christian community constitutes approximately two percent of the population. 

The cost of the trip is great-but the rewards are high. The cost of the trip is about $2,600 per team member. In addition, we would like to help offset the cost of some of the print material the team will use there, such as choral music, teaching notes, publicity, etc. Many of the people of Malaysia and Cambodia cannot afford even the modest cost per person of materials used in the various events.  Altogether, the trip will cost around $36,000 We are trusting that God will provide the funds that are needed through the generosity of many people. The majority of the funds are given through the sacrificial giving of the trip participants themselves.  Any contribution that you will make can help offset ministry costs incurred.

Attention all Adults, Youth and Children!!!!

Anyone interested in being part of the Jerusalem team (Local Missions Team) for the upcoming year we are going to have a planning meeting on Sunday, July 12 at 4:30 in the afternoon in the Friends & Family Classroom.

This will involve initial planning for the upcoming year and a brainstorming session for ideas in how to reach our local community with the love of Jesus Christ.

Contact Debbie or Scott Stewart if you have any questions

704-871-1624 or 5stewarts@bellsouth.net

 Community Revival!

 

Each Wednesday night this summer, the CiA kids and Youth will be busy doing missions!  We'll be reaching out to our community in various ways and in various locations. We are excited about this summer of missions and all parents and any other interested adults are welcome to join us!

 High 5!

 July 4th Celebration on Sunday, July 5th

Memorials and Honorariums 

 Prayer Sanctuary