In an e-mail received this morning from Haniki Theron , we have received wonderful news about Pieter.

Pieter went out early this morning for a CT scan, came back for his breakfast, and then to physiotherapy. And would you know, they found another pain. They thought he had a heart attack when they turned him
around, all of a sudden a stabbing pain went through the lower part of his left rib. I think it is probably another cracked bone. The doctor said she will check the x-rays to see if it’s serious or not. May not be serious, she has not come in yet.

The physiotherapy really helps a lot. He is completely without pain after a session. I forgot to say that he had a really good night last night. Slept for five hours without waking up. On his left side, hugging a big pillow. The rest of the night he typed all the e-mails in his head he needs to send out, and I had to do the real typing
throughout the day.

Dr. Yot came to inform me that Pieter’s head (CT scan) is perfect!!! Will heal without any problems. Even the blood on the brain is gone. He confirmed that Pieter will be discharged on Thursday, and if it wasn’t for the physio, we could actually go back next week. We will hopefully see someone tomorrow to find out how long he still needs to stay for that.

I have just made a reservation for Thursday to Saturday night in the residence next to the hospital. It will be easy for Pieter to come back for at least those three days. We plan on going back to the guesthouse from early next week.

UPDATE: November 5, 2009

In an e-mail received this morning from Steve Strong, we have received good news.

It is 9:17 PM, Nov. 5, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Richard Herring does not require surgery but must stay in the hospital for another 5 days for bed rest. He does have a fractured hip. He will then require up to two months of physical therapy.

Pieter Theron, team leader from Mongolia, is in Bumrungrad hospital and in ICU still. His wife and a friend are there with him tonight. They have a guest room provided by the hospital.

He has a ruptured disc or fractured vertebrae in his neck, fractured shoulders, fractured scull, and fractured wrist. They may have to do surgery on him on Sunday.  Please pray for any remaining blood in his head to drain or dissolve without incident. He has an excellent team of nurses around him and a neuro surgeon who is watching over him. His mind is sharp and he is alert but in pain.

Thanks for your continued prayers for them both. Our RLT meetings have continued without Richard and Peter and will conclude tomorrow. It has been a heavy last couple of days for all of us.

Please continue to pray for the recovery and healing of Richard and Pieter.

ORIGINAL: (posted November 4, 2009)

I received word this morning that Richard Herring (regional director) and Pieter Theron (Mongolian field director) were injured in a bizarre accident on Wednesday afternoon (Thailand time). Participants of the Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Bangkok attended an elephant show as an outing for the team. While the team was taking pictures, an elephant grabbed Pieter and Richard and threw them about 10 feet into the air. Pieter has a fractured skull and is in critical condition; Richard sustained a broken hip and possible other injuries less serious than Pieter’s.

Please put out a call to prayer for Pieter and Richard in your circle of influence. Additionally, pray for all the participants at the Regional Conference as they respond to the needs of the families of our injured colleagues. I expect, but am not sure, that the final days of the conference will be cancelled. As we get more information, we will communicate with you.

Below is a more detailed account of the accident from Brent and Lisa Liberda, Alliance workers in Mongolia.

Praying with you for Pieter and Richard,
Gary

Members of the RLT (regional leadership team) were on their one free afternoon outing to an elephant and crocodile zoo near the Rose Gardens. We all went to the crocodile show and later attended the elephant show. Everyone was sitting in the grandstands as the elephants performed in a field in front of us.

At the end of the show, the park staff brought out bananas, and about 10 elephants lined up at the fence where people could feed the elephants and take pictures in front of them. After most of the crowd was beginning to leave, some of us from the RLT started to feed the elephants and take pictures. Richard and Pieter were getting their picture taken in front of one of the biggest elephants when suddenly the elephant with his trunk threw them both about 10 feet up into the air. Richard landed on the cement, and Pieter fell on his head. It was very serious. A number of us started administering first aid and praying. There wasn’t even a first aid box in the entire park, so we used our shirts and other cloths we could find for compresses and pillows and kept the two men immobile. Both were conscious. Some Christians from other countries who had been there stayed and prayed at a distance. It took about 30 minutes for the first of two ambulances to come, which seemed like an eternity. Two or three from the RLT group went with the ambulances to the hospital.

The two men are currently in a hospital outside the city and will be transferred at 10 p.m. tonight to Vitchayut as the traffic is too bad now. Word from the people at the hospital is that Richard is stable and has a fractured hip. Pieter is in ICU with a fractured skull and is bleeding internally near the brain. He may also have fractured shoulders. The hospital is working on getting a neurosurgeon to the hospital to assess the situation so that Vitchayut will be ready to receive him. The latest news, which is good, is that Pieter’s vital signs are stable and the internal bleeding is minimal.

Please pray for God’s healing touch in the lives of these two men. Pray especially for Pieter, that God would stop the internal bleeding and that he would be able to receive the help he needs in the shortest amount of time. Pray for his wife, Haniki, as she is at the hospital with him and several others. Dr. Benedict in Colorado has been notified of the situation.

Many thanks for your prayers,
David Strong

Thank you for praying for this situation with us!
Brent and Lisa

P.S.

This just in! As we were preparing to send this e-mail we received the following news. Peter does not need brain surgery. He has some blood on the brain but not enough to require surgery. He has a fractured skull, both shoulders seem to be fractured, and a broken wrist. He is in ICU and will be closely monitored. His internal organs appear to be good and his vital signs appear to be good. He is in the care of good doctors and in one of the nation’s best hospitals. Praise be to God. Please thank all who have prayed and are praying.

I sensed God’s call toward Army chaplaincy in 2005 after reading A Table in the Presence by LT Carey H. Cash. I received the book from my wife, Tammi, on my 30th birthday. As I read Lt. Cash’s testimony and processed the role of a chaplain, I began to envision how God could use my skills and gifts for such a ministry, believing my strong sense of patriotism and love for the Lord would make this a good choice. This vision grew into a desire to serve both God and country by ministering to soldiers and their families.

The years of 2004 and 2005 were a time of transition for me and my wife. We enjoyed our six years of ministry in Wisconsin, but sensed God leading us to be available for cross-cultural ministry. We received this calling without details, as we did not sense a call to a specific people group or country, just that we were to have our lives available for God’s purposes. We heeded godly advice, pursued graduate school, and trusted the details to God as we moved forward in faith.

In the course of the next four months, we chose a school, enjoyed what was to be a short sabbatical and prepared for what was ahead. Life seemed in order, but God had other plans. My father was diagnosed with cancer, so we decided to stay in Montana for what we thought may be a year. We started school via distance learning, got steady jobs, and planned ahead. But when we found out that Tammi was with child, it seemed as though our plans were beginning to unravel.

I understand now that God was preparing us for the unique calling of the military chaplaincy. This is a calling to a people with a unique culture, language, and location. In  my role as a Alliance Army Chaplain, Tammi and I still face many unknowns such as an impending deployment. These are the details which lead us to pray for wisdom and understanding, trusting God to reveal His purposes for our family as we seek to invest our lives into the lives of those who faithfully serve our country.

“Trying to get people to come to church just doesn’t work like it used to,” said one Alliance pastor recently. “There’s a general consensus, especially among younger people, that churches are filled with hypocrites who demand money and perfection but don’t practice what they preach; the Bible is an ancient document and there is no evidence of God’s power among so-called Christians.”

In order to build bridges of trust that will bear the weight of truth, some Alliance churches are moving beyond the four walls of traditional church buildings into their communities, demonstrating the love of their Servant King through projects that benefit their neighbors. The fact that nothing is asked in return has captured the attention of city officials as well as local media in some cases.

Freely Give

Pastor Rick Gates has led his Crossroads Church congregation in Perry, Iowa, out of the sanctuary to shine the light of Christ during a Week of Service in their community. Church members have completed 40 projects in four years. Local TV news shows have reported the “free help” that Crossroads provided for the community in June.

“Our culture today knows nothing of the church except that it expects people to give money and attend services for no meaningful or relevant purpose,” says Rick.  “The church is not connected to their daily lives and does not make sense to them. Jesus talks a lot about being servants . . . as we serve, people slowly begin to see Jesus.”

Benefitting Neighbors

“Most church plants take 30 or more people and move them,” say Pastor Scott Klaudt of Downtown Alliance Church, who established a coffeehouse in downtown Missoula, Montana, in order to meet plenty of people. “We didn’t want to just shift a bunch of Christians around, which may work for some, but it’s not what I wanted to do.”

The coffeehouse venue provides lunches, catering mostly to professionals in search of quality noontime respite, and hosts open-mike night, jazz concerts highlighting local musicians, and benefit fund-raisers for neighbors. “We recently hosted a benefit concert for a youngster who suffers from a seizure disorder,” says Scott.

God’s Property!

In Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Bob and Sue Havenor and a handful of people, none of whom are in professional ministry, have reclaimed for God an area where an Alliance church once stood. They have taken jobs within their community in order to build relationships and prayer walk. Bob is getting to know a lot of men through his work at an auto parts store. 

“We didn’t plant an organization where people with needs must go to a church,” says Bob. “We are the Church that has a mandate to go to the people with needs. This is the essence of incarnational ministry; as John 1:14 says in The Message, ‘God became a man and moved into the neighborhood.’”

Bob’s team began systematically prayer walking every street in a 1.5 square-mile target area. “We started at a strategic location that is, first, an easy place to find on a busy central street,” he says. “Second, and far more important, is what this property once was. This was the site of the Fort Wayne Gospel Temple, a leading Alliance church in the middle half of the last century.”

Outside the Box

ServantChurch in Mission, Kansas, is “committed to doing church simply so that we can simply serve,” says Pastor Doug Burford, who grew weary of buildings, bulletins, budgets, and board meetings, as well as struggling to get busy professionals to meet for prayer, Bible study, and service.

Since its inception, ServantChurch has participated in several projects, including the construction of nanny quarters for a family in which the mother has terminal cancer and the installation of windows to winterize the residence of “urban missionaries” in Kansas City. “ServantChurch is intentionally without a building so that its members are free to worship where they serve,” says Doug.

As the history of the Church bears witness, there are times, like the Reformation, when the Church has to “reset” the course after straying off course. “It has been said that Martin Luther reset the theology of the Church,” Doug says. “This ‘new reformation’ is one that [just may] reset the form of the Church.”

What You Can Do

Praise God for His guidance and provision for Alliance workers who are willing to take faith-filled risks to share the gospel.

Pray that God will bless these four churches with a bountiful harvest.

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With an entrepreneurial approach to ministry, Scott has sidestepped the traditional Alliance church plant model to reach the Missoula community with this innovative outreach. “We started the business first to gain momentum,” he says. “Once we built relationships, we began host Bible studies instead of having a set program.”

The Alliance establishment provides lunch, catering mostly to professionals in search of quality noontime respite. The venue also hosts open-mike night, a favorite past time among University of Montana students. Also, jazz concerts highlighting local musicians, and benefit fund-raisers for neighbors are popular events at the Alliance outreach. “It makes The Alliance look good because we show them love.”

“Most church plants take about 30 people and move them,” says Scott. “We didn’t want to just shift a bunch of Christians around, which may work for some but it’s not what I wanted to do.” Without a tithe base, God has met the needs of the unorthodox church plant. “Our [Rocky Mountain] District has backed us, too.”

Worship services quickly moved from once-a-month to weekly meetings when an increasing number of people began attending. “Attendance now fluctuates between 50 and 80,” Scott says, “including some of the professionals who visit during the day and university students who pack the house at night.” 

When Donnie Spotted Elk entered the center he said, “I hear you guys pray for people here. I need job by Tuesday or I will go back to jail.” Donnie recently had been released from prison, where he placed his trust in Christ. When Scott prayed, the Native American ex-convict obtained employment. Now he hosts a Sunday night Bible study for local Native Americans, many of whom are homeless.

The mission of this Alliance outreach is “not necessarily to ‘do church’ but to help the community,” says Scott. “It’s a full-time business. If the business goes down after we’ve spent $250,000 and only one person came to Christ-it was worth it.”

ServantChurch in Mission, Kansas, is that church. Daring to venture away from traditional church plant models, Doug and a handful of people launched ServantChurch in April 2008. “We are committed to doing church simply so that we can simply serve,” he says. ServantChurch is intentionally without building so that its members are free to worship where they serve. With Doug’s salary covered by a benefactor, all financial resources are used to serve.

Doug was unaware of the history of A. B. Simpson when he came to The Alliance but feels a kinship with the founder, who also left the Presbyterian Church in search of an unencumbered way to reach the lost and to love and serve as Christ taught.

Since its inception, ServantChurch has participated in several projects, including the construction of nanny quarters for a family in which the mother has terminal cancer and the installation of windows to winterize the residence of urban missionaries in Kansas City. The collection of food for an area food bank and the assembly of health kits for distribution to disaster sites around the globe also have demonstrated the compassionate care of the Savior.

Doug believes that service can be the best form of outreach. “People who had not responded to early invitations to “come to church” have responded enthusiastically to invitations to participate in service projects,” he says. “Combining worship with service is an ideal way to demonstrate what Jesus called us to be and to do, creating a powerful witness.”

Unencumbered by other ecclesiastical duties, the church family also has more freedom to help and serve one another. With Doug’s social work background, he is determined that ServantChurch not become just another social service agency, dispensing material help without spiritual help. There is a determination to serve those with whom church members are in relationship.

Church “services” are either at a member’s home or at a serving site. “Service is combined with worship,” says Doug, “in the belief that doing what Jesus asked us to do is as much worship as is anything that takes place in a dedicated sanctuary.”

Believing the Holy Spirit is behind this call back to simplicity, Doug sees evidence of it in the difficulty of maintaining large staffs and facilities during tough economic times and in the struggle of many pastors as they question the institutionalization of the church and the busyness it has created.

Doug is quick to point out that ServantChurch doesn’t have all the answers for how to do church simply. “The presence of children at a worship site without a nursery is just one challenge that creates comical chaos on some Sundays,” he says. “But, I see the church “pressing the reset button.” 

As the history of the Church bears witness, there are times, like the Reformation, when the Church has to be “reset” back on course after straying off course. “It has been said that Martin Luther reset the theology of the Church,” Doug says. “This “new reformation” is one that will reset the form of the Church.”

“It is a gift to understand the times and a revelation to know what we ought to do,” says Michael Scales, president of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, New York.  In spite of the current tough economic times that have hit the city hard, Scales and Nyack College leaders are trusting God’s call to take on the Goliath challenge of a capital campaign for a permanent Manhattan campus.

President Scales has designated November 11 as “A Day of Prayer and Fasting for the Miracle in Manhattan.” The $70-$100 million project will indeed take a miracle. “It is impossible for us to come up with the resources [for this campaign],” says Scales. “But not for our God.”

With a student body of 1,300 from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds in rented spaces, and a growing enrollment, the Alliance college has become the most urban and diverse Christian institution of higher education in the world today.  “This university will become a hub of Christian scholarship and espouse community development,” says Scales. “It will become a lighthouse for this city.”

“The Lord is calling on us to leave a legacy of grand scale,” Scales says. “The time is now-the investment is eternal.”

Learn More

Go to Alliance Events link to read more about Nyack College’s prayer for a miracle in Manhattan.

Rev. Nichols connected deeply with the Senegalese during an Alliance missions trip to the West African nation two years ago. An emotional tour of Senegal’s Goree Island-”the island with the door of no return”-the last stop for most West Africans forced into the global slave trade, solidified his and his team’s resolve to return to Senegal with fellow African-American believers from the United States.  

A Vision Fulfilled

Bridge Senegal 2009 is the fruition of that dream. Through a partnership between the C&MA’s African-American Association, Short-Term Missions Office, and 16 Alliance missionaries and Senegalese church leaders, Alliance African-American community members are taking Christ’s love to the people of Senegal, November 5-15.  

Nichols, pastor of New Hope Church Community in Vallejo, California, and an Alliance board member, is co-leading the trip with Donna Baptiste, a former Alliance missionary to Mali, evangelist for the Alliance Metropolitan District, and president of Donna Baptiste Ministries.

“For more than 10 years,” she says, “I prayed that one day, as in the days of A. B. Simpson, there would be a groundswell of African-American missionaries serving in the C&MA.”

Trip Details

During the first portion of the trip, Bridge Senegal 2009 team members will learn the history of African Americans in C&MA missions. During the second phase of the 16-day outreach, team participants will minister side-by-side with Alliance international workers and Senegalese church leaders. Community ministry will include training seminars with the local church, evangelism, and outreach to the homeless, imprisoned, and infirm. 

Pastor Nichols will share his reflections about Bridge Senegal 2009 in the February 2010 issue of alife.  

Learn More

Read Pastor Nichols’ article “No Language But Love” in the February 2008 online issue of alife.

Check out the Short-Term Missions Office Web site.

Praise God for the eight children who joined us each day for our weeklong Vacation Bible School (VBS) in October. We used the “Wordless Book,” a color-coded evangelistic device, throughout the week to present the gospel to the children. After Wednesday’s lesson on “red,” symbolizing the blood of Christ that cleanses us from sin, a sixth grader named Baan asked Fely, our missionary colleague, if Buddha could wash her sins away. Fely answered that Buddha teaches us to be good people but only Jesus can wash our sins away. Baan was definitely interested in having Jesus do that. 

On Thursday Noi Na, another colleague of ours, taught the “white” lesson on how we can pray to ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sin and become new in Christ. The four girls sitting on the front row of the mat were intently following her every word. God really anointed Noi Na for that day’s message. The four girls wanted to pray to have Jesus wash their sins away. 

A Vivid Contrast

As Noi Na began to lead the girls in prayer, a monk from China who was begging for money approached the front of the church where Ed was seated. I (Sue) began praying that Ed would be able to quickly and quietly have the monk move on without disturbing the children. It was such a vivid picture of the spiritual battle for the children between the former ways and the Jesus way. The children’s backs were to the monk, and they were so intent on what Noi Na was telling them that they did not turn around. Praise God! Ed managed to have the Chinese monk move on, and the four girls did pray to receive salvation in Jesus.

What You Can Do

Pray for the follow-up of these children. Already, Baan is eagerly doing some children’s Bible studies and reading more about Jesus. 

Thank you for your generous gifts to the Great Commission Fund of the C&MA, which supplies what we need to live and minister in Thailand.

Learn More

Check out our Alliance work in Thailand.

Pilot Steve Straw, who serves with Air Calvary, ordered the pre-owned, single-engine aircraft this summer. It will provide air service for Alliance-run Bongolo Hospital in the West African nation, thanks to a partnership between Air Calvary, Bongolo Hospital, and The Alliance Chretienne au Gabon ( the national Alliance church in Gabon).

Following months of painstaking rebuilding, the eight-seat aircraft will begin its transatlantic journey to the West African nation toward the end of November. Straw is an ordained C&MA pastor and his wife is the director of a Libreville-based guest house.

October 24 Commissioning Ceremony

“To start the airplane’s service off on the right foot,” said Straw, “we’re holding a Commissioning Ceremony and Open House at CXY Aviation, Capital City Airport, in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, October 24, from 1 to 3 p.m.”

In his open invitation to the landmark event, Straw exclaimed: “We hope that you can make plans to be at the commissioning service as the aircraft makes a stop on its way to Africa. Come climb behind the controls, take pictures, meet other supporters, buy a T-shirt, and pray the airplane on its way!”

Special thanks, he concluded, go to York Alliance Church for facilitating the commissioning ceremony and to CXY Aviation for hosting the October 24 event.

Fit for Service

Outfitting the aircraft for its new venture has been a labor of love. Work teams in Arkansas and Oklahoma stripped the plane down to its frame before installing more than $20,000 in avionics equipment, as well as a new engine and propeller that were given by an anonymous donor. A new paint job provided the finishing touch.

Plenty of luggage room, a storage compartment just behind the engine, and a cargo pod under the airplane further complement the plane’s commissioning to Gabon for its noble service.

Learn More

Read more about our current work in Gabon at Bongolo Hospital.

See a slideshow Steve Straw compiled, which chronicles the months of work required to outfit the Cessna 207 for its new mission. Note: Clicking on this link will take you off of the C&MA Web site.

What You Can Do

In your prayers, give thanks to God for this first-ever air ambulance service to the Gabonese people. Pray also that the aircraft will have a safe flight and for the brand new air ambulance program’s success.

Because of the Great Commission Fund, Alliance workers are able to provide life-giving care to many who are lost in Gabon and around the world. Please consider giving a donation today.