Heartcry Missionaries to Partner with Mission Surge

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I have sent out two previous emails this week introducing you to our new ministry partners:  Peter Vimalasekaran (Vimal) with Refugee Ministries International in Germay and Pastor Jerry Marcellino with ECCI, a ministry to Italian and Philippine pastors.  I hope you took time to read those reports.  If not you can go to kevinivy.com and read the previous 2 blog posts and get the news.  I want to share two more partners with you today that we are very excited about as well as a couple of other reminders/announcements. 

First, I want to ask you to pray for an unreached and unengaged group of more than 3400 Haitians on the small island country of Martinique.  These people have no church and no gospel witness.  We are praying that God would raise up one of the Haitian pastors/church planters that we worked with over the last two weeks to go to them as a missionary/church planter on Martinique.  This will take God calling a pastor and his family to go.  It will require the Haitian churches in the Dominican Republic pooling their resources together in order to help send and support this couple.  And it will require us helping to fund, administrate, and assist the effort in Martinique.  There is a very tentative plan for Gene and I to incorporate a brief visit to Martinique the next time we teach in the Dominican.  We are praying for God’s guidance and providential hand to work out His perfect will in this endeavor.  Please pray with us.

Second, I want to remind you that I will soon be posting quotes and notes from John Paton’s 500 page autobiography.  I have read through the entire autobiography notating those things that really hit me.  I want to share those insights with you and hopefully encourage myself and others to be more of a missionary in our own families, communities, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.  I will be posting these notes and quotes at kevinivy.com and I hope you will make it a point to keep up with them as I post them.  If they are of half the benefit to you that they have been to me, I know you will be encouraged.

Finally, I want to introduce you to our newest partners in our effort to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Meet Andrea Artioli and Giacomo Lerici. They are the founding members of Coram Deo Ministry and are planting a church (Chiesa Sola Grazia – Grace Alone Church) in Porto Mantovano.  (learn more at www.chiesasolagrazia.it ) The province of Mantova boasts a population of approximately 417,000 people, but there is little evangelical presence.  At the present, HeartCry Missionary Society is providing partial support to these two church-planting pastors.  Mission Surge will be partnering with HeartCry to support Andrea and Giacomo by handling the remainder of their support.  

You can learn more about this work and Coram Deo at:

http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/italy

We, at Mission Surge are excited to partner with Vimal (RMI), Jerry (ECCI), and now Andrea and Giacomo (Coram Deo)!  We will be helping to promote their ministries, raise awareness for their work, encourage prayer support, and financial support for their works. 

You can learn more about Andrea at:  http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/andrea-artioli

You can learn more about Giacomo at:  http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/giacomo-lerici

Please keep praying for us!  We are working through details with two other potential partners with Mission Surge and could use all of the prayer support that we can get.  

We are in the process of building a brand new website at Mission Surge where you can easily read updates about RMI, ECCI, and Andrea and Giacomo’s work.  You will also be able to donate online through paypal and/or secure instructions on mailing your donations.  We are excited to be a part of what God is doing around the world, and to be able to share it with you!  We covet your prayers.  Please pray for the work, and spread the word.  

If there is anyone that you think would benefit from receiving our email updates, please send me their email addresses!  I would love to keep the informed.  

In Christ,

More News from Mission Surge

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I sent out an email yesterday introducing you to one of our new ministry partners:  Peter Vimalasekaran (Vimal) and Refugee Ministries International.  I hope you took time to read that report.  If you did not you can find it in the archives at kevinivy.com  I want to share another partner with you today as well as a couple of other reminders/announcements. 

First, I want to remind you that The Underground Men’s Conference is scheduled for April 11 and 12, 2014.  Tim Dillmuth from Seoul USA will be our keynote speaker as we are confronted with the persecuted church in North Korea, as well as around the world.  There will be some informative and challenging preaching as well as some thought provoking break out sessions.  I want to encourage all men to attend.  I am convinced you will be challenged.  

We will be meeting at Faithview Baptist Church on Jackson Raymond Road in Jackson, MS.  The cost of registration is $50 per man with sons 12 and up able to register for only $25 each.  This covers the conference, materials, and 3 full meals!  If you need lodging, we would recommend Clinton, MS which is only 10 minutes or so from the church.  Camp Garaywa also could be a possibility for cheaper group lodging.  We hope to have our online registration form available very soon!  We are working hard on our new website.  Please go ahead and plan to attend and enlist some other men to come with you.

Second, I want to remind you to continue praying for our Oblivious documentary/project.  The snow and extremely cold winter we experienced has put us behind schedule on our video project but we are still hoping to have the project complete and ready for release at the Underground Men’s Conference.  Pray that we can get it done and pray that God will use this documentary to awaken many who have been deceived or who are distracted when it comes to their spiritual condition.  We have printed 1000 tracts to preview prior to the release.  If you would like to utilize some of them, just let me know.  We can provide them for you for free.  If you would like to help off-set the cost, you can do so for 50 cents a piece.  The final Oblivious project will consist of the documentary, an audio sermon, tracts, and book with study guide.  Our hope is that this information can be used to engage the lost and point them to an authentic relationship with Christ.

Finally, I want to introduce you to another new member of the Mission Surge team.  Jerry Marcellino, pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, MS and his ministry to the Philippines and Italy, ECCI, has partnered with Mission Surge in our efforts to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Jerry Marcellino has been a pastor since 1988 and has been the pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, Mississippi, since 1993 (www.audubonchurch.org). He and his wife of 30 years, Dawn, are the blessed parents of seven children. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii - 1980 (B.A. in Communication) and Capital Bible Seminary in Lanham, Maryland - 1988 (M.Div.). Jerry is the author of Rediscovering Family Worship (Shepherd Press); and the “Heart for Israel” Booklet Trilogy: Should Christians Have a Heart for Israel? A Biblical Perspective; Should the Church Have a Heart for Israel? A Historical Perspective; and Should the Nations Have a Heart for Israel? An Eternal Perspective (Galilee of the Nations Music/Heart for Israel Ministries). And has contributed chapters to the following books: Reforming Pastoral Ministry: The Christian Ministry in Post Modern Times (Crossway Books) and A Foundation for Life: A Study of Key Doctrines and Their Application (Joshua Press).

He has contributed articles to the following publications: Reformation Today (UK), Reformation Africa South, Table Talk, Pulpit Helps, The Toronto Baptist Seminary - Gospel Witness and The Journal of Modern Ministry; and writes a weekly column for The Laurel Leader-Call (Laurel, MS). Jerry is a frequent speaker at Church Leadership, Family, Youth, and Christian School conferences throughout the United States and the World (Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Philippines, South Africa, St. Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago). He has served on the Board of Coram Deo Ministries of Montova, Italy since 2006. He is a co-founder of The Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (www.firefellowship.org). And has served for the past seventeen years on the Laurel Christian School Board and is a part-time faculty member (teaching 11^th grade “Biblical Worldview & Ethics)."

His ministry, ECCI, which is partnering with Mission Surge seeks to train, resource, and encourage pastors and church planters in Italy and the Philippines.  We, at Mission Surge are excited to partner with ECCI!  We will be helping to promote their ministry, raise awareness for their work, encourage prayer support, and generate financial support for their work.  You can follow Jerry’s ministry on his blog at:  

http://www.audubonchurch.org/pastor_jerry

We are in the process of building a brand new website at Mission Surge where you can easily read updates about RMI (which we introduced to you yesterday) as well as ECCI.  You will also be able to donate online through paypal and/or secure instructions on mailing your donations.  We are excited to be a part of what God is doing around the world, and to be able to share it with you!  We covet your prayers.  Please pray for the work, and spread the word.  

In Christ,

Kevin

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

There is so much to share about, after our board meeting yesterday, that I am not sure I can do it all in one email or blog post.  I will be sending out several updates this week in order to let you know some of what God is doing through our work at Mission Surge and in order to encourage you to pray without ceasing.

First, I want to thank you for praying for and giving towards my recent trip to the Dominican Republic.  We were able to encourage more than 100 pastors while there.  We walked through sections of Titus, defined the biblical gospel, discussed how the gospel should impact their individual lives, their marriages and families, and then left them with the challenge to send the gospel forth through their churches, into the communities, and to the ends of the earth.  You can read a little about the work in the archives of this blog.  I plan to give a full report at Providence Baptist Sunday that should be available online if you are interested in listening. 

Next, I want to ask you to please be in prayer for our new board members.  Board members serve for 3 years and we had several that rotated off this year.  Our board, as of yesterday consists of:

Rev. Kevin Wade, pastor at Cleary Baptist Church (member since 2012)

Darron Byrd, businessman (member since 2013)

Russ Granberry, pastor at Providence Baptist Church (since 2014)

Ken Holm, computer guy at UMC (since 2014)

Dallas Baker, Department of Environmental Quality (since 2014)

Jim McClendon, Fire Investigator for City of Richalnd (since 2014)

Jeff Statham, ATT (since 2014)

Please be in prayer for these men as they continue to serve, and/or begin serving!  We will be affirming at least one other board member at our next meeting and attempting to gradually add members over the next 2 years.  Thank you to these men for their willingness to serve, and for your prayers for them as they do so!

Finally, at our board meeting yesterday, I was able to share a report on the DR trip as well as some vision that I have for local ministry.  The highlight of the meeting however, was the announcement of some new members of the Mission Surge team.  Back in August I began hoping and praying that God would give us an opportunity to be involved in all 7 regions of the world.  What seemed like a possibility in August of 2013 has begun to unfold in amazing ways in 2014.  I want to introduce you to one of the men today who is helping to make my vision in August 2013 a reality and I will introduce 3 others later in the week. 

Meet Peter Vimalasekaran (Vimal) and Refugee Ministries International

Vimal was born in Sri Lanka, into a multi-religious family. Due to Civil War in that country, Vimal experienced life as a refugee. During his time in a refugee camp in Tamil Nadu, S. India, the Lord opened his eyes and gave him eternal life in Christ. Afterwards, Vimal obeyed God’s call to serve Him in a full-time capacity. He completed a Diploma in Church Planting in Bethel Bible Institute in India in 1991.  Later that year he attended London Reformed Baptist Theological Seminary for two years and gained another Diploma in Pastoral Studies. In 1993, he studied for another three years in the Irish Baptist College, Belfast, for his Diploma in Missions and gained a Bachelor of Divinity degree through Queen’s University, Belfast in 1997.  From 1993-2000, he was an Assistant to the Pastor of Killicomaine Evangelical Church, Portadown, Northern Ireland. He also pursued a M.Phil at Queens Univeristy. 

In 1997, Vimal married Louise from England and began outreach ministry to refugees in Germany in 1998 and 1999.  Louise was born into an atheistic family in England. God graciously met her in 1990, when she was 18 years old, preparing to do Social Work training. Through the witness of a friend, God gave her a new life. Louise was then trained as a Staff Nurse after studying at Kings College, London. Louise uses her gifts in the ministry among women and children. At present, she is at home with two small children, attending to the family’s spiritual, educational and physical needs.

Later, Vimal was officially ordained in Killicomaine.  Vimal gained a Doctorate in Missions from Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS.  After studying,  the family returned to Germany to continue refugee ministry up to the present. Now the Vimalasekarans live in Karlsruhe and minister to migrants and refugees. Vimal and Louise now have four children, 

Abigail was born on 4^th November 2002

Beulah was born on 19^th February 2004

Celeste was born on 25^th February 2011 

David was born on 29^th April 2012

Refugee Ministry in Southwest  Germany.

Germany has nearly 7.5 million foreigners.  There are many refugee camps in Southwest Germany with several hundred refugees and asylum seekers living in them. We have been working with over 40 different nationalities, predominantly from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Refugees in Germany:-

They are kept in refugee camps – usually four people in a small room.

Their movement is limited within the boundaries of a county, subdivision (or equivalent). 

They are not allowed to work for at least a year (but even then the probability of getting a job after a year is very slim).

They are provided with food and clothes through a voucher system

They have language difficulties. 

There is limited health care for them.

Successful applicants are well looked after.

What Do We Do?

Our vision is to reach out to migrants in Europe with the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe God is the refuge for the people on the move.

Friendship Evangelism (translation, transportation, helping with legal work, hospital visitation, prison visitation etc).

Visiting refugee camps 

Scripture and literature distribution in their own native languages.

Team outreaches and personal visits.

Teaching and discipleship – Vimal is also helping and pastors a small Tamil ethnic church in Frankfurt. Our desire is that we will be able to build up churches like this, so they can multiply and be effective in the Kingdom of God.

Helping with integration – This aspect is a great challenge in Germany.

Working as a bridge between local churches and migrants.

Providing counseling to refugees and migrants

Working and supporting Lausanne Diaspora Movement 

Partnership with South Asian Network

Organizing Seminars for migrant and local church workers

Preaching and teaching

Networking and collaborating with various migrant ministries

Providing support and encouragement to local churches to be involved in migrant ministry.

We, at Mission Surge are excited to partner with Refugee Ministries International!  We will be helping to promote their ministry, raise awareness for their work, encourage prayer support, and financial support for their work.  You can follow Vimal’s work on his blog at:  

http://findrefuge.wordpress.com

We are in the process of building a brand new website at Mission Surge where you can easily read updates about RMI and Vimal and his family.  You will also be able to donate online through paypal and/or secure instructions on mailing your donations.  We are excited to be a part of what God is doing around the world, and to be able to share it with you!  We covet your prayers.  Please pray for the work, and spread the word.  

If there is anyone that you think would benefit from receiving our email updates, please send me their email addresses!  I would love to keep the informed.  

In Christ, 

Kevin

Dominican Republic Update 2

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

We have finally gotten access to internet again and I wanted to update everyone prior to us leaving tomorrow (Sunday) for Santiago.  For the past 2 days we have repeated the pastor/church planter training in another Haitian church and community called Sabana Perdida.  We have been blessed and encouraged at the passion we have discovered among the Haitian pastors and churches.  There seems to be the beginning of a church planting movement among them here in the Dominican Republic.  For instance, I introduced you to pastor Silvera in my last update and mentioned that he and his humble congregation in Cuatro de Agosto have already planted 4 other churches, some of which are larger and stronger now than his own.  Below is a picture of pastor Silvera and Lucette.

One of the churches that pastor Silvera has started is the church we have been working in the past two days in Sabana Perdida.  Pastor Marthurin and Enilda are doing a great work in Sabana Perdida and we had a good number of pastors and wives come to the training.  The singing alone was worth coming for.  They don't just go through the motions, but sing with heart and passion in spite of the fact they have no instruments, no praise band, and no "official" worship leader.  We could take some serious lessons from them in the states!  Pastor Marthurin's church is a daughter church of Pastor Silvera's church...but the work didn't stop there.  Pastor Marthurin's church has already started two more works!

One of the churches they have begun is led by Pastor Gabriel and his wife in the community of Bani 2 hours away from Sabana Perdida.  Pastor Marthurin's congregation sent a team to Bani and evangelized a number of people and then sent Gabriel out to live there and plant a church.  They have only been meeting 6 months and already have 60 baptized members of the church!  God is doing a work among the Haitians here in the DR and we are humbled that we can be an encouragement to them.

One of the funniest parts of the training came today in the closing comments and prayer.  The pastor at Sabana Perdida was calling on the pastors to confess their sins after hearing a message on Ephesians 5 and loving your wife as Christ loved the church (which is very very counter-cultural in the Haitian community by the way).  Most Haitian women are treated as property.  The pastor confessed his failures and called the other men to do so.  One pastor stood and said if everyone who NEEDS to repent DOES REPENT, then who will be left to offer any comfort to us?  The whole place fell apart in laughter.  It was a great way to end the training....with a mutual confession and commitment to repentance.  We are praying for even greater things in Santiago.  I hope to be able to access internet before leaving Santiago for one more blog post and one more very very important and exciting prayer request!  You should know when Gene and I get together, we can stir something up!  But we will address that next time.

Please continue to pray for us.  There is much more transpiring with Mission Surge under the surface.  Much will be being announced this month!  Please keep your eyes and ears open and prayers going up for the work!  Until next time....