Spanish World Ministries has a mission to assist local churches in the Spanish speaking world, to carry out the ministry of communicating the Gospel of Christ, and to edify those who believe. The organization began in 1959 by Florent Toirac, a Cuban national, who was living in Winona Lake, Ind., while his wife taught French at Grace Seminary. Toirac had previously served as a missionary in Europe and Haiti and felt called to proclaim the Gospel in Latin America through evangelistic radio programs.

The organization developed a model that was unique to its time, where they partnered with and financially supported national missionaries. Spanish World Ministries still follows this model today, and all of their national missionaries who are working specific ministry jobs in their countries are funded through the organization. This fosters trust and connection within communities and breaks down cultural barriers to proclaiming the Gospel. There are currently 19 missionaries serving in 15 countries across Latin America.

The missionaries search for radio stations willing to air the evangelistic programs, supply the programs to the stations that agree to broadcast them, and make follow-up calls to listeners who respond to the programs. They also visit churches to encourage believers to utilize their resources in their evangelistic efforts. One of their missionaries is in charge of recording and producing the radio programs that are played throughout Latin America. The programs are either 10 minutes (titled, “El Camino de la Vida”) or 3 minutes (titled, “Reflexion para Hoy”) in length, and both are evangelistic and expository in nature, including an exegesis of a passage in language that a nonbeliever would understand, along with a clear Gospel presentation. Currently, over 3,800 radio stations are airing their programs, with 55 percent of those stations being secular.

Spanish World Ministries aims to support local churches and serve as a tool for discipleship and evangelism, connecting listeners to a community of believers who can guide and nurture them.  The missionaries who are part of the organization are connected with local churches, and each broadcast includes a way for the listener to connect with them. Once a radio listener reaches out to learn more about God, the missionaries connect the listener to a Bible-believing church in their area, if possible.

“The radio can get into places sometimes churches cannot,” Daniel said. “It can also reach places where there are no churches.” Many of the areas where the programs are broadcast are remote, and radio is the only form of consistent and reliable communication.

For more information on connecting with Spanish World Ministries or supporting them spiritually or financially, contact Daniel Sandoval here or visit their website here.

The post Radio Ministry Reaches Latin America with the Gospel first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Arctic Barnabas was founded in 2000 by Joel Caldwell, owner of a local aviation company. While traveling with another ministry throughout remote Alaska, Joel realized a need among the people they were serving that wasn’t being met. Many aviation ministries focus on transporting supplies and people to where they are needed. While this meets a great need for anyone living in a remote area, Joel recognized people had a deeper need than physical transportation. They were craving the ministry of presence. Joel gathered others who caught his vision, and Arctic Barnabas was born out of a desire to minister and serve pastors and missionaries living in remote villages in Alaska.

While this ministry was forming and growing, God was planting seeds in the heart and mind of Rob Bearden, who became the executive director of Arctic Barnabas in January 2023, on the other side of the world.

Rob served in the United States Air Force for 25 years, part of the time stationed in Alaska where he met his wife, Lisa. During his last deployment in Afghanistan, he had a conversation with his brother-in-law, who was an Army chaplain deployed in Iraq, that raised the question, “Who do chaplains turn to when they need help?” The Lord put on Rob’s heart a desire to minister to those in ministry. From that point on, whenever Rob was stationed at a new base, he and his family would befriend the pastor at their local church and seek ways to serve him.

Rob and his wife, who was born and raised in Alaska, had a dream of opening a retreat center in Alaska for pastors and missionaries after Rob retired. “Our plan had more of us in it than God,” Rob said. “We had to have a hard conversation about letting this dream go and we came back to a ‘yes’ we had put on the alter year ago about ‘whenever, whatever, however.’” The next morning Lisa found a job posting for the director of operations at Arctic Barnabas.

Rob and Lisa moved back to Alaska, near Lisa’s family and where Rob was previously stationed, in October 2022. A few weeks later the executive director announced his plans to retire sooner rather than later, and Rob was offered his position. They later found out Arctic Barnabas owns property with plans to develop a retreat center; Rob and Lisa are excited to see how abandoning their plan for their dream opened the door for God to work out His plan for their dream.

Practically speaking, Arctic Barnabas ministers to those serving in remove Alaska through three major events a year as well as ongoing weekly and monthly interactions. The three big events of the year are men’s and women’s retreats, a fishing camp to catch sockeye salmon, and a Ministry Family Retreat that provides practical services (like dental and chiropractic care) and spiritual refreshment and investment.

Arctic Barnabas has 136 families they serve. Every week someone from the ministry checks in on a family to pray with them and find out their needs. The team then assesses needs and plans ministry trips out to meet those needs, sometimes something as practical as flying an electrician out to fix the wiring in a home.

“Ministry is tough anywhere, and even tougher in remote Alaska,” Rob said. “It’s not only spiritually dark, but it’s physically dark and cold. It’s a hard place to minister.” There are 200 remove villages that are only accessibly by boat or air; only half of those have a Gospel presence. “Our heart is to keep the folk on the field to see the Gospel spread to the other half. Our vision is to see a thriving Gospel presence in remote Alaska.”

Find out more about the ministry of Arctic Barnabas on their website here or send a message to connect with them here.

The post Strengthening & Encouraging in Remote Alaska first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

At Access 2023, a variety of speakers will share their own stories of how the Gospel changed their lives and offer encouragement as we look forward to the future of ministry. In addition to large gatherings for teaching and worship, this conference will also provide connection points with others in ministry, small group discussions on specific topics, and plenty of time to rest and recharge.

This year Access will take place in St. Petersburg, Fla., on July 11–13. Sessions, meals, and workshops will take place in the historic Mahaffey Theater. Group rate rooms for lodging will be available across the street at the St. Petersburg Bayfront Hilton Hotel. In addition to restaurants and coffee shops in the area, the St. Pete Pier is a short walk away and has a playground, splash pad, green space, and a beach.

Registration for Access 2023 opens in late February. More information will be added when available at Access.CharisFellowship.com. Sign up to receive the lates information about registration opening, discounts, meal tickets, activity info, and more here.

Access is the national conference of the Charis Fellowship. Held annually in July, it is a vital connection point for people in Charis churches and ministries. The three-day conference is designed to build relationships, deepen biblical knowledge, and strengthen ministry. Each day consists of teaching and worship during celebrations, smaller group instruction and discussion, shared meals, and time for fellowship.

The post Same Mission, Fresh Model first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

The organization was founded in 2001 by Tony Kirwan, following a trip to Thailand where he was staggered by the prominence and magnitude of human trafficking. According to the International Labour Organization, human trafficking is $150 billion per year industry, with $99 billion of that linked to the sex trade. Globally there are one million kids trapped in the commercial sex trade, 74% of that happening in Asia-Pacific. Destiny Rescue is currently rescuing in 10 countries with an additional two pilot countries started this year. Chris says their goal is to be in 30 countries and to have rescued 100,000 individuals by the end of 2030. 

There are four primary methods of rescue that the organization utilizes:

• Covert: Undercover agents enter establishments based on a tip and pretend to be customers to gain intel
• Raid: Wearing undercover body cameras, agents gather intel with the goal of setting up a raid of an establishment
• Border: Check points at the border where youth are stopped and interviewed to determine if they are being trafficked unaware
• Survival: Field agents discover children selling themselves and intervene to offer what is needed to make that unnecessary for survival

Covert: Undercover agents enter establishments based on a tip and pretend to be customers to gain intel

After a child is rescued, a care team works with them to create an individualized “Freedom Plan” that provides counseling, coaching, training, and support as they reintegrate into their communities. Support can include housing, medical, education, discipleship, food, and job training.

Before working for Destiny Rescue, Chris was a lead pastor in Goshen, Ind., where he introduced the organization to his church family. “It was a game changer for us. Our people were upset as they got a clear picture of this reality of how so many children were being abused around the world,” Chris said. “But that anger turned in to action and they wanted to learn how to best use their voices and influence to set kids free. As a pastor, I got to be the biggest cheerleader for my church family as together we engaged in this fight and made a difference in the lives of these precious children.” 
 
After partnering with Destiny Rescue starting in 2015 and serving on the U.S. board starting in 2017, Chris felt God’s calling to move to Destiny Rescue full-time at the beginning of 2019. Chris said, “My greatest joy now is coming alongside pastors and helping them engage their church families in this issue. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world. It is the Church’s responsibility to step up and step out in faith and action to change this reality.”

“I get the privilege of helping pastors lead that charge in their churches,” Chris said. “When the things that matter the most and are the nearest and dearest to the heart of God become the same things that matter the most and are the nearest and dearest to the hearts of His kids…it simply doesn’t get any better than that!” 
 
Chris said, “All of us who follow Jesus have a rescue story. Every one of those rescue stories is worth celebrating. It’s amazing that God takes broken, imperfect, messed up people like you and me, and invites us to join Him in His rescue efforts around the world. We get to be His agents of help, hope, and healing in the lives of those around us, both locally and around the globe.” 
 
Find out more information about Destiny Rescue on their website here. Connect with Chris here to take the first step in exploring what partnering with Destiny Rescue could look like for your church family.

The post Agents of Hope, Help, and Healing first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Roger and Melissa Holl started VisionAlaska in 2013 as a way to meet the need for Gospel proclamation in Alaska. In the 1970s Ed Jackson, a Charis Fellowship pastor, had a similar vision for reaching Alaska and he helped plant four Charis Fellowship churches, but expansion efforts have stalled in recent decades. Since 1984 that has been one Charis church plant in Alaska, and there are currently four Charis churches ministering in Alaska, a state more than twice the size of Texas.

The mission of VisionAlaska is to start Charis Fellowship churches using Charis prescribed church models, as well as train and coach lay leaders, missionaries, pastors, and anyone desiring to serve ministries in the Charis Fellowship. “Churches start when someone loves the Lord and has a desire to reach out to others and bless them with the Word of God,” Melissa said. 

Melissa was born and raised in Alaska and she attended Eagle River Grace Brethren Church, a Charis Fellowship church. “My church was my family support system,” she said. “As an adult I wondered, why can’t that family be all over the world?” Melissa and Roger met at Eagle River and took their desire to spread church family culture with them into the full-time ministry they now carry out in Alaska and other regions.

Roger’s circuitous journey to becoming a pastor gave him a background lay church ministry, and his work as an attorney, College Dean, Commissioner, and Commanding General helped him build strong connections with the community. In 2014 he earned his Doctorate of Ministry and PhD, and in 2015 Roger and Melissa planted Sterling Grace Community Church through VisionAlaska.

Sterling Grace Community Church has a sister church in Kenya that has adopted their statement of faith, and they are in the process of planting a second church. Along with the church, VisionAlaska helps support a local school and an orphanage that is serving 41 kids. VisionAlaska has provided a water well and has leased farmland for the church and orphanage. The farmland is utilized to grow maize to support and feed the children in the orphanage. They also have recently gifted them with Bibles in both English and Swahili.

Striving to be a ministry without borders, VisionAlaska is reaching people far and wide for the Gospel. One way they do this is through the Christian Radio Division which broadcasts the Word of God to Yupik Eskimo villages throughout Alaska. In 2015 a translation of the Bible into the local language of Yupik was completed, a project that took 100 years, and the radio now broadcasts reading of the Bible in the common language of the region. Solar-powered audio Bibles in Yupik are also available for the first time.

VisionAlaska works to build relationships for Gospel impact on individual and organizational levels. They have partnered with more than 40 ministries and churches to provide training, coaching, and workshops. VisionAlaska also hosts the Alaska High Adventure Wilderness Program for fathers and sons involved in Skywatchers. “I’m so glad to be part of what’s going on here,” Melissa said. “This is my home, and I love the purpose of the Charis Fellowship.” Roger and Melissa have true hearts for discipleship, and they long to see others join their mission.

Find more information about VisionAlaska and how you can get involved on their website here, and connect with Roger and Melissa here.

The post Hearts for Discipleship first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Water for Good shares the love of Jesus by meeting basic needs. The video below highlights some of their work and shows members of the community using the manual water pumps.

Watch the whole video here. Find more information about Water for Good on their website here.

This story appeared in GraceConnect eNews. To subscribe to the weekly e-newsletter that includes news and information from congregations in the Charis Fellowship, click here.

The post Tackling Water Poverty first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Jim Hocking Spoke Sango Before He Spoke English.

He grew up in the Central African Republic as the son of a minister, and it fostered in him a deep love for the country and its people. After attending Grace College and Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Ind., where his father, Dr. Donald G. Hocking had also graduated, Hocking immediately returned to the CAR in 1977, this time with his wife, Faye.

The Hockings, who were partnering with Grace Brethren International Missions (now Encompass World Partners), began their work in the CAR training leaders for youth ministry, a task that was “really important for the longevity of the church there.” Hocking followed up that program with a literacy campaign that not only launched 200 schools across the CAR, but also provided bilingual literature in both French and Sango.

Remembering all this makes Hocking nostalgic — “I loved that country from the start” — especially when he recalls the events that would follow.

In 2002, the CAR was thrown into turmoil by war. Grace Brethren International Missions (GBIM) chose to withdraw for the safety of their members, and the Hockings came back to the U.S. But Hocking’s heart remained with the people and the country where he’d grown up. Despite the dangers of the ongoing war, he returned to the CAR in 2003 to help other missionaries get out and to check on how their life’s work and home base had survived.

They were astonished with what they found upon their return. “Our home, our belongings, everything was looted and taken. Our organization had lost millions of dollars — a lot of vehicles, equipment, etc.” To make matters worse, it was people from their own town who looted everything they owned. “It was a really difficult year for our organization and for me personally. We had to learn how we were going to forgive people.”

In light of the destruction, GBIM chose to put their work on hold in the CAR. But for Hocking, that was not an option. He had seen too much over the years — people’s basic physical needs were unmet, AIDS was ravaging the region, and the realities of poverty and war were creating hopelessness.

In 2003, a good friend who knew of Hocking’s desire to return to the CAR offered to sell his well-drilling business to Hocking out of the blue. Hocking protested that he didn’t know the first thing about drilling wells, let alone how to start it as a faith-based nonprofit. What he did know was how desperately Central Africans needed clean water. For most of the 4.7 million people who live in the Central African Republic, collecting water means an hour-long walk hauling heavy 44-pound jugs of water from streams, rivers, and seep holes — water that isn’t even sanitary.

After visiting several villages in the CAR to assess their water retrieval methods, Hocking was ready to act.

“My attitude had changed by seeing the struggle these villages were having with healthcare issues. Kids were dying really young and it was tragic. I realized ‘This is what God’s asking me to do, and I needed to figure out how.’”

That act of obedience was the beginning of what Hocking would eventually call “Water for Good.”

There are a myriad of issues to getting fresh water to many remote villages in the CAR. Getting a well drilled is only the first step. Hocking began to see that a major issue overlooked by other clean water initiatives was that the well pumps would inevitably break and the village would be right back where it started: without safe drinking water.

Hocking knew that sustainability was key to the success of any well and that locals could not depend on Westerners for well maintenance — that model was financially unsustainable.

Instead, Hocking founded Water for Good, a nonprofit that not only drills wells, but also provides regular well maintenance, builds relationships with communities, and works with them to start projects that will prosper and empower the community long term. Villages take gradual ownership of their wells, and after Water for Good drills a well and installs the pump, the team trains the village residents in setting up a well committee.

The committee’s job is to determine how to distribute the water and how to eventually charge for it. The cost of maintenance is initially covered by Water for Good, but the goal is for the village to begin paying for it over the course of three to five years. “We’re committed to this model where the village ultimately takes responsibility for well maintenance by charging a nominal amount for the water,” explains Hocking. Some villages have a pay-by-the-gallon system, while others use a monthly subscription or charge based on family size. Most of them make sure that widows, those with disabilities, and other needy members of the community are provided for.

This approach also gives the village a personal stake in the well.

“They’re human beings, no different from anyone else. If you can add value to what they’re doing and how, they’ll do better, and they’ll do more,” says Hocking.

The post Founder Jim Hocking Shares Background on Water for Good first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

The devastating earthquake in Haiti provides a peek into the progress made in mission work in Haiti. In the past, Haiti had become dependent on the generosity of people from the ‘outside.’ Books like Toxic Charity and When Helping Hurts characterized the state of mission in Haiti.

TODAY, I am so proud of our Haitian Pastors and Churches. Although Haiti once again is in a ‘relief phase’ due to another catastrophe, the church is being mobilized and this time the mobilization is Haitian Church to Haitian Church.

We have six Haitian Churches who are mobilizing their congregations to be on mission and they will travel and build a relationship with a pastor and the members of a church which was devastated by the earthquake. A church building will be constructed, shelter, and simple provisions will be made available. Long-term relationships will be established.

After the relief, these six churches plus a Haitian movement from The Fraternity of Charis Haiti will work to organize a unified effort to provide free training in Purpose Driven Essentials and The PEACE Plan, to mobilize every member to be on mission, hoping to spread the Gospel throughout the entire nation of Haiti. All ‘through’ the local Haitian Church community.

We applaud the efforts of our Haitian Churches and leaders. Well done! We love you, we are praying for you and we stand together with you.

IF you are looking for a worthy cause to provide ‘relief’ assistance to, please reach out and I will be happy to direct you to the proper source depending on where you would like to direct your funding. At this point there seem to be three main opportunities:

1. Church 2 Church Relationship and Restoration Projects (6 at the moment) – Breathe Partners.

2. Medical and Personal Assistance – Three Strands and Caribbean Vision Ministries. Encompass World Partners Crisis Response is partnering with Three Strands and Caribbean Vision Ministries.

3. Personal Relief Efforts – Significance of One

All three of these groups can be trusted and will work through Haitian churches. We are praying for a mighty work of God even more powerful than this last earthquake.

After the earthquake relief we are excited to provide training to all churches in Haiti. Thank you to pastors Moise, Samedy, Jackson, Chelo, Montinat, Dumont, Elysee, Luc, and Desire. We are all cheering you on and standing with you and praying for your leadership.

The post Charis Fellowship Organizations Respond to Haiti Earthquake first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Grace Village Has New Dining Room

The new assisted living dining room at Grace Village Retirement Community was shown off during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday by the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.

Justin Kimbrell, CEO of Grace Village Retirement Community, said the dining room was outdated, had old furniture and carpet.

Construction on the dining room started in September, which had to slow down due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Due to COVID-19 regulations, there was a time when the retirement community didn’t use common areas, so it was a good time to work on projects like the dining room, Kimbrell said.

Click here to read the complete article.

The post Grace Village Unveils Renovated Dining Room first appeared on Charis Fellowship.

Assist Adventure Teams is an initiative of Assist Church Expansion which is committed to supporting new churches, new sites, and church revitalization that will expand the Charis Fellowship movement. Assist Adventure Teams provides opportunities for all churches to take part in the expansion of our movement, celebrate new growth, pray for its success, and have a lot of fun along the way!

The purpose of each adventure is to support new church plants, revitalization and growth for churches throughout the Charis Fellowship in the USA and Canada. Teams help in practical, tangible ways that truly make a difference.

During each adventure, the Assist team will train participants in evangelism and discuss how to share the gospel in an increasingly post-Christian world. Teams also get to explore creative ways to show God’s love and put what we’ve learned into practice.

Pataskala, Ohio Adventure Week – August 18-22

Church Revitalization in Pataskala, Ohio

For more than forty years, Pataskala Grace Church has ministered in this community on the east side of Columbus. The community of Pataskala has grown from 3,000 to 15,000 over the past 30 years. Church and community have both undergone many transitions, and the church is preparing to embark on its most significant upgrade to date.

Teams will support Pataskala Grace Church as they represent Christ and take part in an annual four-day local Pataskala Street Fair.

Bowling Green, Ohio Adventure Weekend – September 4-5

Church Restart in Bowling Green, Ohio

For more than 50 years, the Charis Fellowship Church in Bowling Green, Ohio, has been a light in this college community. After suddenly losing their pastor, the leaders at Grace Church entered a three-year partnership with Assist as a restart project in 2019. They have found a re-start pastor – Eric Holtrop – and are working to establish a new vision and culture for the church to see a bright and fruitful future.

Over Labor Day weekend, teams will partner with the Bowling Green church to help raise their visibility in their community by doing servant evangelism projects and ministry opportunities. The goal is to help them become “known” in the community, building familiarity and credibility for upcoming community event engagements.

Registration for both opportunities is now open at the Assist website: adventureteams.assistcx.org/

Philip Bryant is the Assist contact for more information: philip@assistcx.org.

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