Well, another year of Short-Term Missions is complete! Below are some of the stats from this year’s Short-Term Missions – and it’s amazing when it’s all laid out how many people were reached this year with the Gospel through the Short-Term Missions department – 8,906! Thank you to all of you who keep Next Level International in your prayers – lives are being changed, and people are coming to know God through the unique work that each STM team has in the cities they visit.
THE TEAMS
33 STM Teams: 22 STM teams, 3 Prayer Teams, 4 Planet-shakers STM teams, 2 iTeams, 1 Dance team (*visited 3 nations), 1 Expo trip (Czech)
Estimated people on mission: 300 people
7 Host Nations: Romania (13), Slovakia (12)*, Ukraine (2), Czech Republic (3), Poland (2)*, Austria (2)*, Spain (1)
6 Sending Nations: Canada (10), UK (9), Australia (7), USA (1), Ukraine (1), NZ (1) Ukraine (1) (iTeams/prayer/expo teams not included)
People by sending nation: 125 Canadians: 88 UK: 44 Australians: 11 USA: 9 NZ: 7 Ukrainians
THE MISSIONS
Total 1st time decisions: 229 (Adults 46: Kids/youth 183)
Other decisions of note: 413 Re-commitment/Response to preaching/request for CP follow up
Baptisms: 8 (1 after Ukraine mission & 7 during Austria iTeam)
Adults reached: 4,725
Children/youth reached (including school kids/youth): 4,181
School children reached: 720
Total numbers reached by STM teams in 2008: 8,906
Some comments from the Short-Term Mission Teams were…
From a High School Team from Canada who went to Zvolen/Lucenec in Slovakia…
“In the Crisis Orphanage we entered a room where the children were not familiar with visitors; these precious lives had been horribly abused and many could not even speak because they were so traumatized. Some never smiled, some were fearful of the males in our group. We began to blow up some animal balloons and our students began to interact with the children, after 4 hours of playing, skits and having fun almost every child was laughing and squealing with delight. When I asked the director of the home if there was anything we could do to bless them her answer was, ‘You already have, just by coming and playing with the children). Apparently many churches come to the home to drop-off toys etc. but no one will come in because there are gypsy children in the home, we were the first to actually go in, this was just one of the many open doors that we were privileged to be a part of.
In the children+s hospital, children were abandoned by their parents because they were considered too ill to take home. They would now be sent to a ’special) orphanage. These little ones were left alone in a cot, hardly touched or played with until we had the wonderful opportunity to go in and spend a short time with them-another open door opportunity for pastor Otto and his church.”
Planetshaker’s Team from Australia who went to Poland commented…
“I believe that much of what the Lord used us to do would be considered seed-sowing. I do believe that our time building relationships with the people of the Churches and encouraging them was successful, chiefly because we connected so well and felt the heartbeat of what God is doing through them. We also had some great success sharing personal testimonies and the gospel with many of the homeless and poorer people of the area. Our time spent in the cultural centre was also a very fruitful experience, mostly because we were able to connect culturally in order to build trust between us and the kids, and also the centre and the Church. The people all seemed very interested in Australian culture and the fact that we were so excited about their culture gave us a platform to minister to their hearts. God is Sovereign!
The list continues to grow in this area. To see God+s Sovereignty in another nation was mind-blowing! It was so encouraging to worship the same God with different people in a different way and sense His hand upon it. The Church is very family oriented, but outward focused,which is exciting to be a part of. I believe that we have each returned with a desire to get more outside the walls of the Church and have a fresh confidence to do so. As many would expect, we have a new appreciation for relationship and the things that the Lord has entrusted to us in Australia. One of the other things that stood out amongst the people of the Filidelphia Church is their sincerity. Few of them wore masks, which made some of us realize just how much people in our culture do.”
And the comments could continue! People are engaging in mission, realizing their potential to minister – even to people they don’t know. Praise the Lord! We’re seeing teams not only excited to go on mission – but they come home refreshed and ready to minister to their own cities again with a new passion for those around them.
On that note – I encourage you to get involved in next year’s missions – there are lots of possibilities and YOU’RE invited!!
Well, to keep in tune, I have started a Facebook Group dedicated to my work with Next Level International! Visit it, join it, spread the word! It’s called Janelle Fowlow: Missionary with Next Level International.