Focus on the Unreached: Three Fields of Thailand

There is no doubt that the Lord has led School to the Nations into the Buddhist world, where, out of billions of people, less than 2% are evangelized even after 200 years of missionary work in these areas. The true essence of Buddhism is complex: it is a meld of humanism and animism, not based around a deity, yet full of idol worship.

The concept of a living God is very far removed the mindset of the Thai people. This human-centered worldview is coupled with a strong social solidarity, which makes missionary work a challenge.

In this difficult and exciting new work, we know that God’s timing and his providential work among the nations is to be highly considered. Many people have gone before us to sow the seed and we are confident in God’s timing – there will be a great harvest in the days ahead. School to the Nations is blessed to be a part of this, as God has opened door after door in the last 18 months to allow us to move into these new fields for the message of the cross of Christ. Once again, He has been faithful in this calling, which is spelled out for us in Matthew 28:19, that we should “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”.

 This winter, we are mobilizing 22 people to four separate Buddhist fields, 3 of which are in Thailand. They are currently being trained and equipped to communicate the message of the cross in the Buddhist culture specifically. One team will be in Bangkok working with university students, a work which began last winter on our first Thailand outreach. This particular campus has more than 100,000 students, most of which do not know the name of Jesus. Another team will work in Bangkok to pioneer the deaf ministry to the Thai culture. Unlike our work with the deaf of Botswana, that is concentrated on deaf schools, the Bangkok deaf outreach will focus on finding deaf in the human trafficking trade and other areas where the deaf tend to congregate in the Thai culture.

Because we have a large team for this outreach, we are opening a new field in Chiang Mai to accommodate the outflow of disciples. This team will focus on strategic evangelism to the Thai, working in a variety of locations.

 Pray For:

 -The 23 disciples working in Thailand to be spiritually prepared, well-equipped, healthy, and that they would trust in God for the finances for this trip.

-          - An influx of prayer partners for the Gospel to spread throughout Buddhism.

-         -Our new field among deaf field in Bangkok; This is heavy on our hearts as the deaf are the least reached among the unreached worldwide.

-         - The peoples’ eyes to be opened to the hope of the cross.

-         -That our partners, the full-time missionaries who follow up and disciple those we will work with long after we are back home, would be strengthened and encouraged.

-         -A great movement of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes and hearts of the Buddhist people all over Asia so that the glory of Jesus will shine upon these nations who wait to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

To read a true story of God’s hand on the Thai people during our trip last year, read this post.

On the Field: Southern Africa Deaf Team

Please be in prayer for our team working with the deaf in Southern Africa for the next several days! We look forward to a great report of lives changed and God's Kingdom advanced among this unreached people group. 

Prayer Points: 
-Safety and Protection of our team 
-Clear vision and wisdom as they share The Story with many people 
-Open doors into schools and communities where they can share 
-Strong relationships between our team and the national brothers and sisters 
-Great rest each night as they are working long days of ministry 

Thank you for joining with us as we watch the Gospel spread among the unreached across the world! 

To join the email updates for this outreach please email: theabicopeland(at)gmail(dot)com 

Focus on the Unreached: International Day 2013

 Close to 600,000 international students come to study in the United States each year. This opens an opportunity for missions that we do not often have. We now have untold opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with foreign students who previously could only be reached by long-term missionaries. This year, School to the Nations gets another opportunity to reach over 400 students from all over the world, connecting them with local businesses, community, and campus ministries. 

 The idea of International Day came about when Randy and Maureen were working with inner-city missions, hosting teenagers at what is now the School to the Nations campus. Randy had a deep sense from the Lord that one day the influence of the campus would expand to host and reach the nations. In 2007, he attended classes with Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, where he met new friends who were already involved with international students and were in need of a place that could host those students. That autumn, the first event took place, and over 100 international students were ministered to and welcomed.

Globalization has caused an unprecedented intermingling of cultures in the last several decades.  Nations from all over the world are coming to the United States and Europe seeking education and a better life.  As such, the opportunities for cross-cultural ministry abound just by walking out the door.  God’s sovereign hand provides this opportunity to do his work. It's like the Lord told us to go to the world and gave us all these resources, but we instead chose to stay and enjoy the comforts of America. "Well," God says, "if you won't go to them, I'll just bring them to you. Is this close enough?" 

This authentic welcome requires a lot of help. Each year we are blessed with new volunteers, whose hearts are full of Christ and ready to share and have community with these students. We can impact the world right here in our backyard because the world sends their best and brightest right to our doorstep. Please join us in this! You have a unique opportunity to pray for them, love on them, share your life and faith with them. Let them see what your life, family, and faith is all about. See what God will do. Send them back with a vision to reach their own country for Christ. When these students come to know Christ, are discipled, and return home, they become missionaries in their own right. But instead of reaching a people foreign to them, they are reaching their friends and family.

Welcomers are people who are especially good at reaching out people of different cultures while remaining at home.  This should be part and parcel for believers in their own sphere of influence.  Reaching and discipling international students is possibly the most strategic mission in God's Kingdom today for fulfilling the Great Commission. Alongside campus ministries which work constantly to reach and disciple hundreds of students, International Day volunteers are a vital part of welcoming! Will you join us on August 15th from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in welcoming these students for God's glory? We are especially in need of volunteers to help prepare food for these students the day of the event, starting around 2 p.m. at a nearby church. If you are interested in helping with this or any other part of International Day 2013, please contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@stnations.com -- she would be so blessed to hear from you as this event draws near!

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’” Revelation 5:9

Even if you can't make it to the event, we would be so blessed by your prayers and/or financial help. To take part in prayer for this upcoming event or to provide financial support, please contact Randy at randy@stnations.com . 

Focus on the Unreached: The Mountain People

Learn

Isaiah 45:8 

"You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the LORD, have created it.”

Several years ago, School to the Nations began prayer that the Lord would bring us an Unreached People Group in Asia.  Part of our campus prayer trail is dedicated to UPGs in Asia and the Lord brought this desire to fruition when we were able to make connections in Asia that would later help us reach these people far up in the mountains. Some of our staff took a vision tour to these beautiful Mountain People, who are shut off completely from the Gospel where they live in extremely remote jungles. Although we set off to find one group, we ended up spending only a short period there before moving on to another area and another people group also living in the extreme terrain of these mountains. God surely led us to each of these groups and the team was warmly accepted and brought into living daily life with these people, despite the language barrier.  Deeply invested in their religion of animism and folk Buddhism, these people are truly in need of the love of Christ. Several relationships were formed between the Mountain People and our team, but they were unable to share the Gospel in this area. Because of the political and religious barriers, we are in a long-term and very strategic partnership with another organization in Asia to bring the hope of Christ to these wonderful people. We call it The Bamboo Cross Project.

Pray.

 Isaiah 59:16 “And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.”

Although God has no limitations, our movement in this area will be especially slow and cautious, and we need a lot of prayer! As God calls us to an intercessory prayer movement, we hope that you will join us. The darkness over the lives of the Mountain People cannot and will not be brightened by the Gospel without a fervent and continual prayer movement, and there is much planning yet needed to get us there.

•          Pray that the Lord will bring intercessors – strong people of prayer to begin the spiritual battle of getting the Gospel to the Mountain People! If you would like to get more information about our passion and need for intercessors, please contact us at stn.intercession@gmail.com so that we can connect with you. It is so important to us to equip those who want to be a part of this movement. Please know that intercessory prayer is powerful Kingdom work!
•         Pray for Houses of Peace to be prepared by the Holy Spirit, hearts that are being opened to the Gospel before our team even arrives.
•         Pray for the team that will be returning to the Mountain People in the next year. Specifically pray for their finances, health, spiritual wellness, and that they will be encouraged and passionate with a peace that passes all understanding.
•          Pray for government favor and good connections in this area.

Focus on the Unreached: The K People of Sub-Saharan Africa

Learn.

In 2003, the call that had been put on the hearts of those who founded School to the Nations began to be fulfilled. A trip to the K People, a tribe in Sub-Saharan Africa, took place in January 2003 when they were officially adopted by what would become School to the Nations. There had been little to no preliminary mission work in this area, and there were no known believers among the 35,000 people of the K tribe.

School to the Nations first reached the K People by partnering with IMB in Africa. The first goals of this partnership was to facilitate indigenous church planting among believers and to bring compassionate touch to the K. We began with medical clinics, where over 400 patients were treated and individually prayed over. Eventually, the compassion projects expanded into BioSand filter wells to give the villages access to clean water and a healthier life.

The area is harsh. There is constant drought, occasional danger of famine, and malaria is prevalent among their villages. What’s more, they battle with spiritual warfare against the worshipping of nature and folk Islam.  Their country was, at the time of our first outreach, among the top 10 poorest in the world. All of this was a heavy weight on the first teams to reach the K People in 2003 and 2004. Leaders of School to the Nations experienced extreme spiritual warfare they had not anticipated – some very personal struggles as well as a deep discouragement among the teams.

Faced with returning for another trip again, School to the Nations’ leadership sought to obey Christ, remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:37: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”. The Lord fulfilled His promises to the K People Outreach teams, when in 2005, the first Houses of Peace were established, meaning that they found people who had clearly been touched by Jesus before even hearing from this missionary team.  One Muslim man had had a dream about following and seeking Jesus, and approached the team to tell them he wanted to accept Christ.

After this encouraging trip, teams began returning to the K People two or three times each year, and in 2006 the first group of believers came about. This particular team witnessed a powerful work of the Lord, as K People literally began to burn up the idols they had relied on for so long. With new believers emerging each trip, the prayer for the K People shifted to finding them an indigenous leader. In 2007, Pastor A and his family moved to the tribal regions and planted the K People’s first indigenous church in 2008, where a team from School to the Nations experienced the first baptisms of these people. Truly, the Lord showed Himself faithful when these teams chose to draw near to Him and His people in obedience.

Pray.

This church is very young and in a very dark place – the political turmoil in this Sub-Saharan country is powerful, and teams have not been able to reach the K People recently. We pray, and hope you will pray with us, that Pastor A and his family as they seek to reach and disciple around 35,000 K individuals. The harvest truly is plenty, but these workers are few. Pray that they are supported by current believers and encouraged that the Lord is working among the K People. Pray that political trouble will be assuaged and that the elections this summer will bring up strong leaders who will create peace.  Pray that this political upheaval ends soon so that the doors will be open once again for missionaries to come and aid pastors like Pastor A in reaching these tribal, unreached peoples.

The amazing thing about our work among the K People is the reality of prophetic words coming true. Revelation 5:9 says “for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Jesus has bought the freedom of all unreached people with His blood, and we have had and will have the opportunity to see the first fruits of this promise from the Lord.

To read an amazing story of Jesus’ miracles amongh the K People, visit this post. To get involved with School to the Nations' intercessory prayer movement, which includes prayer for the K People, email us at stn.intercession@gmail.com.

Focus on the Unreached: The Hidden People of West Africa

This month's Focus on the Unreached showcases one of the first people groups adopted by School to the Nations: the Hidden people of  West Africa.

Adoption of the Fulanke

Learn.

First off, let's review the definition of "people groups": it comes from the Biblical term "nations" and refers to a distinct people who are connected through a common tongue. The significance of reaching the nations is based in Revelation 5:9, which tells us that every tribe and every tongue will be represented in God's Kingdom.

The Hidden are spread throughout dozens of villages in a West African country but share a common tongue. These kind and gentle people face drought and famine daily, and are oppressed under the ideas of folk Islam and animism. The Hidden people are in great need of being loved in truth and in deed. We have begun compassion projects of medical aid and BioSand filters for well water in the past and hope to continue those works in the future.  Their part of West Africa is currently experiencing serious political turmoil and we haven’t been able to do an outreach since January  of 2012. We have not been able to take trips there and we anticipate moving back into these areas as we sense the Spirit and it is safe.

School to the Nations adopted the Hidden in 2006 and had many outreach trips to West Africa since then. When we first arrived, there were no known believers within the 50 or so Hidden people villages, but God drew several Hidden people to Himself on our first outreach. The first Hidden believers were baptized during the winter of 2010-2011.  Since then, the number of believers has grown and an indigenous pastor has been growing the church and making disciples. The church is small and based on land that was given to the pastor by his chief; he and his family serve and live there. School to the Nations is aiding this young pastor in finishing Bible school so that he is even better equipped to spread the Gospel among the villages. He is in need of a motorbike so that he can travel throughout the villages efficiently.

Pray.

-That the funds needed for a motorbike for the indigenous pastor will be provided. Contact Randy at schooltothenations@gmail.com if you’d like to learn more about this need.

- For the elections in July to produce new national leadership that will stabilize the nation.

- For the current believers to be strengthened and begin a church-planting movement among the villages.

- For a continued and strengthened Intercessory Prayer Movement. This movement is at the forefront of our efforts and the Hidden people are a key group in our prayers. If you’d like more information about this movement, please contact us at stn.intercession@gmail.com

Focus on the Unreached: The Deaf of Botswana

This monthly blog feature focuses on one of the 12 major fields with which School to the Nations works. This month we’ll shed some light on what’s happening in Botswana, a nation in southern Africa.

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” Matthew 10:27

Learn

School to the Nations began work in Botswana last fall – our first outreach to touch a largely unreached group – the deaf. Although Botswana is one of the wealthiest and most democratic nations in Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic of past decades continues to impact young generations. The disease is believed to be one major cause of deafness among children and families in Botswana. Botswana strongly supports the deaf of their communities, giving free public education to all children including specialty deaf schools and students with other special needs. In fact, many teachers in these schools are Christians, but they become burned out and discouraged and are often not able to fully utilize their training due to time and other restraints. One of the discouragements with deaf children is that they are at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they are often not taught any ASL or other sign until they start school. Overall, 70% of Botswanans are Christians, yet these Christians are in desperate need of encouragement as well as training to reach the deaf and other unreached in their communities.

Connect

        

School to the Nations will send a team out to share the Gospel and train and encourage the church of Botswana sometime this fall. If you’d like to take part in this trip, either by going or supporting those on the team, contact our Cross-Cultural director and leader of this trip, Jenna Kilgallin at jenna.kilgallin@gmail.com. The team start out in the capital city, Gaborone,  to host a discipleship conference for the deaf and those who want to reach out to the deaf. They will also travel to the city of Maun to work in both primary and secondary schools building relationships with students and faculty alike.

You can read Jenna’s stories from the last trip to Botswana on her blog. 

Pray

• That the church in Maun will grow and the gap between the deaf and the hearing in Maun will be closed as the hearing of Maun are trained and encouraged to share Christ with their community.
• That similar ministries will be planted in and around Maun to support the deaf community.
• That the small deaf church in Gaborone will grow exponentially to create a Christian community for the deaf.
• That deaf children will begin to be taught ASL from a younger age so that they can keep up with their hearing peers.
• That the teachers of deaf schools will be encouraged, supported, and strengthened to continue their work among deaf children.
• For the team headed for Gaborone and Maun early this fall.