Wanted to let you all know of an upcoming training trip into Czech Republic coming up at the end of February/beginning of March ‘09. Myself, along with Regional Manager Judith Linnell and Church Planting Project Leader/Coordinator for Czech Republic, Kerry Parker, will be heading out to Czech for a few days. Myself and Judith will be facilitating Short-Term Missions training for the Church Planters in the Czech Church Planting (CP) project.
When Next Level International (NLI) facilitates a church planting project through partner churches in North America, Australia/New Zealand, the UK, part of the partnership support agreement from the supporting church is that they will send Short-Term Missions (STMs) teams for the latter three years of the project to give the new church plant a boost with regards to it’s identity in the community. In this way, STMs become an amazing catalyst for ministry opportunities into communities where Evangelical Christians are even viewed as a cult in some places! STM’s have a chance to break this stigma; to break wide-open barriers between the Church and Community and see the the Gospel shared not just by word, but by deed as well!
The most important point in all of this, is that after the STM leaves the host city, town or village, the Church Planters have an amazing open pathway from which they can now become active and accepted in the communities where the church is planted.
The training that we will do in Czech is to help the Church Planters in teaching them how to receive and host Short Term Missions Teams. As STMs are a two-way road, it is as important for the receiving church to understand how to facilitate and host a mission, as it is for the missions team itself to be trained to go to the host church and country. It’s an integral and vital step in the process of reaching out into the community in which the Church Planters work.
We’re really excited about this training, and the possibility that it holds for the new churches in the Czech Republic. It’s the personal opportunity to help train those who are influencing a nation for Christ, by enabling them to enable others to become catalysts within their community – sparking a move of God in the nation!
So – I ask you to intercede on behalf of myself, Judith, Kerry and the Czech Republic Church Planters who will be participating in this training in February/March ‘09.
I’m excited to be a part of this training trip and to see the long-term effects of what it produces!
Blessings to you all.
JF
