Ministry Update: Sowers & Fields Festival

In April, School to the Nations gathered our board members, partners, and staff families to celebrate the adoption of three people groups - the Deaf of Botswana and two Mountain People groups in Asia. In a small room at Remington's, we took part in a time of worship,  talked about where we're headed, enjoyed a beautiful worship dance, and prayed together for our three new people groups. This celebration outlined the continued need to share the name of Jesus around the world and reignited the passions of the staff and our board and supporters alike! What follows in this post is a recap of the message that was shared; it is a challenge to us and we hope you will feel encouraged and passionate about spreading the name of Jesus throughout the nations after you read it!

Isaiah 12:2-5: “’Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: ‘Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted.’”



This scripture reveals a lot about His name (and thus His nature) and His desire for people. This winter on an outreach trip in a large city in Asia, our team met with college students for English as a second language training. While reading with one of our team members, a young student asked  "Is this a name?" pointing at the name of Jesus. How deeply this ought to effect us! In a culture full of constant fear, hopelessness, and meaningless religion, people do not know and have never even heard the name of Jesus.

What does His name mean in our lives?

•  His name is our salvation, which gives us peace with God.  The scripture from Isaiah also reminds us that our salvation is not only for ourselves, but to "make known among the nations what He has done". 
• His name is our strength and our song. Abiding in Christ means we are connected to God's peace and we are comforted by His people and His Living Word through all of the trials and pain we all experience throughout life. He changes the lives we had into a new song and strength to thrive through every storm!

What do we do with all of this? We share it! He calls us to share His name where it has never been heard, to plant churches so that believers can grow and support one another in the driest spiritual desert. There are more than 6,400 unreached people groups and 70 million deaf worldwide who have not heard the name of Jesus. Truly, His name - His love, grace, mercy, hope, and life - must be exalted among the nations! 

What does this mean for you? We invite each and every one of you to partner with us in this work of making the name of Jesus famous throughout the world. Know Jesus intimately. Get to know His name more deeply today. Surrender your talents, skills, gifts, prayers and ability to reach the nations so that His Name can be the salvation of 3 billion unreached people around the world! At the end of our celebration, we officially adopted 3 more people groups with signed certificates showing the commitment of our leaders and staff to this movement of God. It signifies our passion and commitment to serving the unreached and sharing Jesus with them. We'd love for each of you to join us in this calling by praying, supporting, and even going with us!

Psalms 8:1 "O Lord our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout the earth!"

May Volunteers of the Month: Bethany Webster & Hanelle Reeder

School to the Nations believes that every gift can be used to impact the world for the Glory of Jesus. We are blessed to have volunteers with a variety of God-given gifts and talents who are using them to be involved in missions and in carrying out the call that the Lord has placed on their lives. 

This month we want to honor two women who are using the gift of dance to proclaim the message of Jesus. Bethany Webster and Hanelle Reeder recently choreographed and performed a dance at our Sowers & Fields Festival at Remington's in April. It was a joy to see these women dance with such skill and passion! 

The Webster Family

Bethany Webster is a close family friend of the Copeland's and has been involved here and there with School to the Nations over the course of the ministry's development. She has traveled with STN to Africa and has a sincere servant's heart. She is the wife of Jacob Webster and they have two children, Landon (5) and Storri (3) and a third baby on the way! They attend Revolution Church in Nixa. She works at VIP Hair Studio in Nixa where she uses her gifts not only to cut and style hair but to impact her community by offering great service as a means to share the love of Jesus. She has been involved with dance for many years whether teaching, choreographing, or dancing herself. What an inspiration to see Bethany dance with such passion! 

Hanelle Reeder

Hanelle Reeder came to School to the Nations through our college house church that meets weekly during the school year. Originally from Nixa she is one of eight children in her family and other than dancing enjoys painting, violin, and piano. She is a member of the Petra Ballet Company and attends Parkcrest Baptist Church. Hanelle has always wanted to dance for the Lord and feels that it is a huge part of her ministry. She loves the work that STN is doing and appreciates that Randy and the staff are so real! Hanelle has a hunger for the Living Word of God and it was an honor to watch as she used her gifts for the Glory of Jesus.

We are grateful for Bethany and Hanelle's part in making our April event a success and most of all for welcoming us into the presence of the Lord through dance. We pray that they continue to use their gifts for His glory! If you know these ladies, take some time to bless them with your words and know that these two ladies are living testimonies of God's specific gifting all for His Glory. 

Sowers & Field Festival - April 2013

 Thank you Bethany and Hanelle for your work and service not only for School to the Nations but for the Lord! 

Thanks to Remington's!

Faced with a difficult decision to move International Day inside this year due to potential rain, the leadership team decided to move forward and avoid missing the chance to welcome international students by moving the event indoors to Remington's in Springfield, Mo. 

We cannot express enough gratitude to Geoff Steele and his crew for opening up the building on such short notice and displaying the heart and soul of Remington's in fostering an environment that promotes relational evangelism. "We don't have scripture stenciled on the wall, or tracts in the lobby.  We believe Jesus clearly modeled a servant existence, and if our mission is to be like Him, we MUST serve," said Geoff Steele, Venue Manager at Remington's. 

Geoff and his wife, Joy Bilyeu-Steele, together with their son Cameron (Assistant Venue Manager) and a large pool of what they call 'Essential Personnel' (volunteers) worked hard to prepare the building so that our International Day team could come in and make the building their own for this event. Not only does doing this have a huge impact on the local community, but for this specific event, a huge impact on people around the world. 

"We consider it a privilege, impacting students from across the globe, particularly as they first come to Springfield, was a tremendous privilege.  We also recognize all organizations and ministries are not created equal - some operate at higher levels of integrity than others.  The School to the Nations staff is well known to Cameron and I - and we knew it would work if given the chance." -Geoff Steele   

What an amazing group of people, dedicated to using the resources given to them, to make such a large impact on such a diverse group of organizations that utilize Remington's. Just a week before International Day they had hosted hundreds of local leaders in the Global Leadership Summit, a web conference hosted by Willow Creek out of Chicago. In less than a month they will host a huge consignment sale, Just Between Friends,  at which hundreds of local families shop and sell twice a year.

All this to say, at the heart of Remington's, is a desire to "provide a place for community organizations to  reach a greater level of effectiveness, profitability, and excellence," or in our case a DRY place to host hundreds of international students, and welcome them into our community.

Thank you Geoff, Joy, Cameron, and the rest of the crew for your incredible hearts to partner with us in welcoming and loving students from around the world, and in doing so, carrying out God's commission to "go into all the world..." (Matt. 28:19) 

Remington's is a ministry out of Ridgecrest Baptist Church. The church acquired the property in 2004.

For more information visit their website: www.remingtons.tv

International Day 2012 Recap

International Day 2012 looked a little different this year than in years past. Roughly eighteen hours prior to this year's event, our leadership team was faced with the decision to move locations due to a threat of severe weather hitting the Ozarks on Thursday afternoon. Tracy, Randy, and other leaders sought the counsel of local weathermen and made the choice to move the event indoors to Remington's in Springfield, MO. What could have been a stressful eighteen hours, turned into a wonderful picture of the body of Christ working together to show His love to all people and accomplish a goal.

We had hundreds of students come, and despite the darkness that loomed outside during the rainstorm, Remington's was lit up with new friendships and an excitement among students from all over the world.

The students enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by amazing volunteers.







Local businesses including the Springfield Police Force set up information tables to answer questions and inform the international students of what Springfield has to offer.





Also campus ministries were able to showcase their group and hopefully gain many more members for the upcoming school year!




Entertainment kicked off with the Red Bridge Bluegrass Band using their talents in Bluegrass music to give these students a little taste of the Ozarks through music!

Following the band a local ballet company, Petra Ballet, did a short performance featuring native dances from across the world. The students loved seeing the different types of dance!





Ending the evening, Real Encounter Ministries demonstrated the extreme talent of two of their BMX riders on an indoor ramp. These guys did flips, tricks, and jumps and were for sure a crowd favorite!




The event was a great success and we look forward to maintaining the friendships formed and seeing how God uses this event to energize the local church and community in welcoming all people to enjoy the Ozarks.

 Thank YOU for your prayers and support for the event. This event was not a success because of the efforts of man, but because of hundreds of prayers and amazing partners that allowed us to function underneath God's blessing!

Check back with us next week to learn more about Remington's and the amazing crew that allowed International Day to happen!

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(Photographs by Matt Douglas)