Urgent Call to Prayer: National Elections in Mali

For the past year the country of Mali has experienced troubling events that have led to civil war and political unrest. On Sunday the polls will open allowing Malians to elect new government leaders and hopefully begin the process of bringing peace to this once peaceful nation. 

As you know STN has a deep connection to many people in Mali and our hearts ache for them as they face these struggles. Will you join us in praying for Mali as the election approaches this week? 

Here are a few resources that may help you be informed along with a few prayer points as you lift this country up to the Father: 

-For National reconciliation 

-Security and safety of voters

-For clear and legitimate results 

-Nearly 300,000 are living in refugee camps outside the county, ask for them to return to Mali safely 

Please pass this post along via email, Facebook, or Twitter so that others can join us! 

http://www.voanews.com/content/registration-chaos-security-concerns-could-impact-mali-elections/1708482.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324144304578619990676689924.html

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

Rain In The Desert

As Tom* entered the village deep in the Sub-Sahara desert the reality of his surroundings caused his heart to beat faster. The eyes of the Kagoro people watched as his team's bus arrived and the village children greeted them with, "Tubabu! Tubabu!" (which means white person in their native tongue).  According to tribal customs he led the team to greet the elders of the village who then led them to the Chief. After the normal exchange of greetings, he discovered the extreme hardship that this village currently faced. 

Drought. 

For months it had not rained, and now in the middle of March still three months away from their rainy season the people had little hope of a refreshing rain anytime soon.  The anguish relayed in the conversations he had with the Chief about the drought spoke of a life seeped in folk Islam and Animism. Here was a village full of people who had no hope. 

"How can we pray for you and your village?" he asked the Chief. 

The Chief replied, "We know that you are followers of Jesus. We would also choose to follow Him if He could make it rain."

Struggling not with the question of could God make it rain, Tom stepped back spent time in prayer and asked the question, "Will God make it rain?" Amazingly enough earlier that morning as he was reading Scripture a verse in Psalms jumped out of his page, "May He come down like rain upon mown grass, like showers that water the Earth." 

Notes in his Bible found at Psalms 72:6 

With little faith, he and his team were in agreement that they would pray together and leave the results to God. They were challenged in a new way, would God send rain among the Kagoro? 

"God make it rain, please." 

Continuing on their travel to another unreached people group, Tom and his team traveled eight more hours to a remote village deeper in the Sub-Sahara to set up camp and sleep for the night. As he laid down to sleep he mentioned to his team, "I smell rain in the air," and it was the truth! He immediately began to wonder if it was just him wanting to believe or if God truly was sending rain. 

As he fell asleep Tom was awaken to the drops of rain, and not just a few drops but a full-on downpour. For fifteen minutes it rained, then stopped, then continued on for another fifteen minutes. 

God sent rain! Had the Kagoro, who were eight hours away, witnessed this miracle?

A year would pass before he was able to return to that Kagoro village. He spent the entire year praying for that village Chief, wondering if he remembered the miracle of rain and his promise to follow Jesus as a result. During that year in his own Bible study Tom came across Jeremiah 14:22, "Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in you, for You are the One who has done all these things." It was this verse that he shared with the Chief when he returned a year later. 

"Do you remember what you said to us on that day a year ago?" he asked the Chief. 

"Yes, I do," the Chief replied. 

"Did you witness the rain that day?" he continued to ask. 

"Yes, we did," the Chief again replied. 

An open door was created and before the team left that day new believers came to Christ and the village now has Christ followers among them for the first time. 

Just like rain brings life to dry ground, God's rain brought eternal life to those without hope among the Kagoro people! 

**If you'd like to hear more stories from the field subscribe to our blog and to our monthly newsletter. 

Email theabicopeland(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.**

*Name changed to maintain security and protection of our School to the Nations team member

Heart to Serve: James & Abi Copeland

Joining the vision that God gave his father for School to the Nations, James Copeland has served with School to the Nations since the beginning. After marrying his wife, Abi in 2007, the two entered into ministry together and share a calling on their lives to live a life committed to bringing the Gospel to all nations. 

"James and Abi have a unique commitment for the cause of Christ globally and within the local church," says STN Founder (and James' father) Randy Copeland. 
James has served in the local church since 2005 working mainly with students ranging in age from thirteen to twenty-five. He is currently on staff at Ridgecrest Baptist Church as a Student Associate Pastor where he serves junior high, senior high, and more recently college aged students. Both James and Abi have a passion for discipling young people and helping them develop a global vision. 

The Copeland's have been overseas numerous times with School to the Nations, and have led teams of students as well across the globe on short-term trips. They have been vital in our church plants in the tribal villages of West Africa and both witnessed the first baptisms among a people group in 2008. 

Currently, James is in the last year of his Global Studies degree at Missouri State University. Abi attended Evangel University where she graduated in 2007 with a degree in Mission Studies. They are parents to two little girls, Anabelle (3) and Mya (2). Abi serves as our Journalist for School to the Nations and James serve on our Frontier Advance Team and is our Media Director. 

Thank you for your heart to serve with us James and Abi! In the words of Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21) 

Each of our Heart to Serve featured staff members/volunteers will receive a free 16oz. frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf in Nixa, MO. We are happy to partner with the wonderful people at Orange Leaf to honor these special people who are using their gifts to change the world!!

Heart to Serve: Adam Chambers

What a joy it is to have such incredible volunteers join us in our mission to bring the Gospel to the frontiers around the world. This month we want to honor one of these people, for his dedication to serve in whatever way is needed and for his heart for the nations. Adam Chamber has served with us in many different ways over the past few years and we are so honored to watch him use his gifts to make a global impact. 

Adam and a friend in West Africa

Adam currently is serving as a volunteer on our Buildings and Grounds team and also as a Facilitator on our Extreme Adventures Challenge Course. He has also been on many trips overseas with School to the Nations and it is on these trips that his true servant's heart is visible. He has a passion for God's Word, and for sharing Scripture with those around him. This passion is unique among his generation and the Lord has great plans for Adam as he continues to serve and allow God to direct his paths. He is currently a member at Stonebridge Church in Nixa, Mo where he is involved in discipling young people. 

Adam's heart is truly the heart of a servant. He is loyal, not only to the Lord, but to his family, friends, and the ministries he serves. We are so blessed to have him on board to STN and look forward to all that God has in store for this young man's life! 

Thank you for your heart to serve with us Adam! In the words of Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21) 

Each of our Heart to Serve featured staff members/volunteers will receive a free 16oz. frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf in Nixa, MO. We are happy to partner with the wonderful people at Orange Leaf to honor these special people who are using their gifts to change the world!!

Heart to Serve: Tracy Wofford

On August 16th, 2012 over 300 international students will be welcomed to our Home Base Campus for the annual International Day event. It takes amazing organization and time to put on an event or this quality and size and we are blessed to have Tracy Wofford at the head of it all as the International Day Director. To see a video from last year's event click here: International Day 2011  

Tracy has an incredible heart for lost people across the world, a heart that is contagious to those around her. She and her husband Mark, have traveled to West Africa numerous times with School to the Nations and have given their love and energy to showing the lost the love of Christ. They are members of Journey Church in Springfield, Mo. 


We are so blessed to have Tracy partnering with us in reaching the lost across the world. She is using her gifts to make a global impact on a daily basis! 

Thank you, Tracy, for your heart to serve! In the words of Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21) 

Each of our Heart to Serve featured staff members/volunteers will receive a free 16oz. frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf in Nixa, MO. We are happy to partner with the wonderful people at Orange Leaf to honor these special people who are using their gifts to change the world!!

Heart to Serve: Tessa Findley

"Not only has God made the accomplishment of his global purposes of salvation hang on the preaching of the Word; he has also made the success of the preaching of the Word hang on prayer."

 -John Piper

Meet Tessa Findley. Currently serving as Prayer Coordinator for School to the Nations, Tessa has a heart not only for intercession but specifically for intercession for the nations. She has served faithfully in many different areas including mobilization, intercession, and has been with us on the field traveling to West Africa with an outreach in 2011.  She has also traveled to Cambodia and Uganda in the past. 

Tessa attends Harvest in Branson, MO and has her degree from Missouri State University in Communications. For those that have visited our STN campus in Ozark, you may be familiar with our Unreached People's Prayer Trail. The trail takes you around the STN campus, and has 12 unreached people groups featured along the way, highlighting prayer needs and information about each specific group of people. Tessa was a key player in the creation of this prayer trail, and we are so grateful for her heart to serve and to pray for unreached people. 

We are thankful for Tessa's obedience to God's call in being a part of His global kingdom, and spending her life serving in order to advance the gospel to those who have never heard. Thank you for your heart to serve Tessa! In the words of Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21)

To read great article by John Piper on the role of Prayer in Missions click HERE. 

Each of our Heart to Serve featured staff members/volunteers will receive a free 16oz. frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf in Nixa, MO. We are happy to partner with the wonderful people at Orange Leaf to honor these special people who are using their gifts to change the world!!

Heart to Serve: Maureen Copeland

"She senses the worth of her work, 

is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. 

She's skilled in the crafts of home and 

hearth, diligent in homemaking. 

She's quick to assist anyone in need, 

reaches out to help the poor.

-from Proverbs 31

      Do you know Maureen? Or maybe you know her as "Mo" as many call her (a few special girls even call her GrandMo). Either way, if you have had the blessing of meeting Maureen, or even more have the blessing of calling her a friend, you know her heart is a heart to serve. Co-founder of School to the Nations with her husband, Randy, Maureen has a heart for the nations and desires to be a part of planting churches globally as His Kingdom advances.
   
As for the day-to-day business, she is the Financial Secretary and Treasurer for STN and serves to keep the books in order for our ministry. She is well-seasoned in frontier work having traveled numerous times to Africa, as well as Japan, Greece, Brazil, and Mexico (to name a few). Her heart is a heart of hospitality seen clearly in the way she opens her house to family, friends, and even a few strangers now and then. Her warm personality is welcoming, along with her desire to see young people grow in the Lord, she has mentored many young people that have crossed her path over the years. She is a member of Ridgecrest Baptist Church, where she sings on the worship team
    As help-mate to Randy, she serves cheerfully as he follows the call and leads School to the Nations as the Lord leads him. For 32 years of marriage she has stood by him faithfully even to the point of "being dragged across the world" as the two of them have discovered this wonderful gift given to them, School to the Nations.

Thank you for your heart to serve Maureen! In the words of Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21)

Each of our Heart to Serve featured staff members/volunteers will receive a free 16oz. frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf in Nixa, MO. We are happy to partner with the wonderful people at Orange Leaf to honor these special people who are using their gifts to change the world!!

Sharing the Stories

Check out this recent article from Ridgecrest Baptist's blog. Included in the post is a story from our most recent trip to West Africa. To God be the glory as his name is proclaimed to the unreached! 

Jesus: Power to Save - RBC Blog