Outreach Stories

by Jeff Ritchie

Mention the name of Jonathan Edwards, 18th century pastor and theologian, and many people think of his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” a sermon preached during the First Great Awakening, a revival movement in the American Colonies and Great Britain in the 1730s and 1740s. Scholars of American religion view him as a profound philosopher and thinker and refer to such works as Freedom of the Will and the Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World as they speak and write about him. 

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by Jeff Ritchie

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt has been in existence since 1854 when the first Presbyterian missionaries came to Egypt. Their aim was to renew the 1,800 year-old Coptic Orthodox Church for mission to the Muslim majority. Their efforts did not accomplish that purpose. Instead, an evangelistically oriented Egyptian Presbyterian Church came into being. 

Until the 1950s the Egyptian Presbyterians evangelized their own people, including colonies of Egyptians in what is now the Republic of Sudan. However in the 1950s the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt appointed a couple to work cross-culturally among people groups in what is now South Sudan. The couple chosen, the Rev. Swailem Sidhom Hennein and his wife, Mrs. Sameera Rizk Hennein, were fully funded by the Egyptian Church and spent seventeen years in Sudan and Kenya.

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by Rob Weingartner

A number of years ago when I was visiting partners in Ethiopia, we visited a synod office that had been built as an income generating project. The church used the office space on one floor of the building and rented out the rest of the space to various businesses and shops. It was a great idea.

When we were up on the top floor of the building looking out over the center of town, Mizan Teferi, I saw something that confused me. It looked like an old man walking along the way holding out his arm – as if he was reaching for something. Because of the press of people I couldn’t see clearly what was going on. Then, the crowd parted for a moment.

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by Rob Weingartner

This story was related to me by Alexei Borisovich Teleus, the pastor of the Evangelical Christian Baptist Church in Noyabrsk, Siberia. He was also senior presbyter of the Yamal District of the Evangelical Christian Baptist Union in Russia. I preached at the church in Noyabrsk on January 22, 2006. It was 35 degrees below zero!

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by Rob Weingartner

I used to think that missionaries were people who wore pith helmets and funny clothes, ate exotic foods and served in places with names that are hard to pronounce. And there are still some missionaries who fit that description. But now when I think of missionaries, I also think of a group of men who live at the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility; that’s a fancy name for a very plain looking Tennessee state prison just outside of Nashville.

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by Jeff Ritchie

 

Without support and encouragement from others, dedicated servants of God can become fatigued, discouraged, and depressed. Their cry goes up, “Who cares for those who care for others?” This is a universal challenge for the church of Jesus Christ. I am currently in Brazil where I am seeing the beginning of a movement to address this need. The movement is a relational and grass-roots movement, and it is beginning to impact four denominations. At the center of the movement is the Rev. Dr. José Carlos Pezini, The Outreach Foundation’s staff for Portuguese-language ministries. 

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by Rob Weingartner

At last week’s Fellowship Community gathering in San Diego, I had the opportunity to lead a workshop examining the language that we use to talk about mission and our participation in it. One of the things that I observed is that many of the false dichotomies that have weakened our understanding of God’s mission may be overcome simply by paying attention to the life and teaching of Jesus, to his ministry and to his model of what it means to be on mission with God.

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by Jeff Ritchie

I have just been to Turkey for a family wedding. My brother, whose son was the one getting married, suggested that we go early and visit some of the biblical sites. Our itinerary included Ephesus and Miletus, featured prominently in Acts 18-20. Our guide was well-versed in both the general history and in the biblical history. He made Paul and his missionary band come alive for us on a sweltering August day. 

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The Rev. Dr. Kwame Bediako was a giant among missiologists. I began to read his writings in the mid-1990s and looked forward to meeting him some day. That opportunity came in 2005 when he spoke at a mission conference sponsored by The Outreach Foundation and Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship. 

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by Rob Weingartner

As I travel across the United States and share stories about the breathtaking growth of the church around the world, I am often asked the same question: “Why is the church growing in so many other places but not here?”

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by Rob Weingartner

From Start to Finish

When I was in seminary over three decades ago, mission was taught and experienced as one program among many that made up the life and work of the church. There was worship, education, fellowship, a few other things – and mission. It was twenty years ago that an encounter with the church in Africa and exposure to the writings of Leslie Newbigin and others helped me to understand that mission is the purpose of the church, not a program.

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by Jeff Ritchie

One of the sayings we have in The Outreach Foundation is, “Follow Jesus into the world, and the first life you change may be your own.” I have had a pilgrimage in cross-cultural mission that has spanned forty-five years.

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by Rob Weingartner

As I prepare to return to the States following two weeks in China, many places linger in my thoughts and many people remain in my prayers. One of the interesting places, or architectural features, I visited is the Nanjing City Wall, one of the key historical and cultural remains of the Ming Dynasty. It is a masterpiece of China's ancient architecture and had an original perimeter of about 22 miles. At more than 600 years old, it is in remarkable shape, in large part because of the care with which it was constructed.

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by Rob Weingartner

In my work with The Outreach Foundation I spend a lot of time on airplanes. Last week, as I prepared to depart for Beijing, a friend asked me about the length of the flight. I thought to myself, “I really don’t want to know!”

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by Rob Weingartner

There is a lot of talk these days about doing mission in partnership. It is driven, in part, by an increasing awareness of the growing global church and respect for the initiative and faithfulness of brothers and sisters in Christ who are already engaged in mission in places where we are or seek to be involved.

 

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by Marilyn Borst

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, wrote seven letters as he traveled to Rome to answer to the charge of being a Christian. Since he knew that he would never recant his faith, he also realized that he was traveling forward to his own death, and indeed, St. Ignatius was one of the early “high profile” martyrs of the Church. His letters, which date from around 107, are addressed to one fellow bishop and to six congregations most of which lay along his route through Asia Minor (modern Turkey), such as at Ephesus, Smyrna and Philadelphia. In those letters, he not only sends a message of encouragement but also speaks words of correction and concern over issues within that particular church which Ignatius, because of the respect in which he was held, knows will be heard. 

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By Rob Weingartner

Having spent lots of time in congregations across the United States, I have come to the conclusion that one of the most important questions that a congregation answers is this: “For whose sake do we exist?” Every congregation answers this question, either by design or default. What I have observed is that too many congregations, regardless of what their well-intentioned and carefully crafted mission statements say, behave as though they exist primarily for the sake of themselves.

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