Every Child Every Nation Every Day

The impressive plaza at the CEF International Headquarters near St. Louis in Missouri where country flags are hoisted each week and where prayer is made for the children of those nations. Each pole represents one of the CEF world regions and at the base is a plaque with the names of the countries where CEF is active and the countries which still have to be opened.

Our founder Mr. Overholzer (on the middle photo :), his Bible and the globe he used to pray for the children of the world

Visiting South Carolina

Pastor Myles Beck

This weekend I have the great joy of spending time with some great friends who I spent a summer with as an intern almost 13 years ago. Back then Pastor Myles Beck was based near Pittsburgh. It was with him that I got some of my first preaching and pastoral experience. Many of the lessons I learned then I still practice today. During that summer I stayed with the Savage family. Despite the distance and time, we have been able to maintain contact with both families. I really appreciate their interest in our family and ministry. Both families worship in New Heights Baptist Church were Myles is the Associate Pastor. I am really thankful for these friendships and for the opportunity this morning to preach and share about the ministry in Europe.

"The Cove" - Billy Graham Training Centre

One afternoon last week I had the opportunity to visit "the cove" which is the Billy Graham training centre in North Carolina, USA.

The mobile pulpit used by Billy Graham in some of his crusades

Billy Graham's pulpit with bible, preaching notes and lights marked (5, 3 and 1 minutes)

Budapest, Hungary

People in Arad, Romania listening to Billy Graham preach during the communist years. 

Many recorded the Bible message at every meeting in Eastern Europe

International Conference

This past week I was attending the CEF International Conference in North Carolina, USA. Our theme was "Every child Every nation Every day". We had a really great week of getting to know other workers and worshipping together with 1007 people from 64 nations. Here are some of the highlights and key announcements which I tweeted:

• 176 flags representing countries (142 last time) where CEF has an established and ongoing ministry.
• Every child, every nation, every day: 31 countries to go!
• Hot news: CEF app launched last night on all platforms!!!
• SPAN (Sponsor a National) being expanded and designed to fit the economics of the region / rather than one size fits all
• Reese Kauffman says the SPAN program has the potential to reach not 10 million but 100 million children worldwide by 2027!
• To say that children can't trust the Lord is 'heresy' and a contradiction of the teaching of Jesus Christ @LuisPalauLive 
• @BBassara International Literature Director says: Our material is in 70 languages and being used in 176 countries
• Thanks to Revival Movement in N. Ireland we are launching the teachers packs project. Free boxes of literature for our teachers
• @BBassara 7 million Meet the King evangelistic booklets distributed worldwide
• We have 233 workers in Korea
• 30 Koreans on stage singing Jesus loves the little children - amazing!
• 20 countries in West Africa opened and 3 more to go
• Cambodia has a weekly training class for GNC teachers. 'my workers are not evangelising machines - they need encouragement'
• It has been years since I have heard such good congregational singing. A great mix of old & new and glory directed to God not man
• $547,891 pledged this week for the SPAN project which will be matched to give a total of $1,095,782. Pray that it now comes in.
• Well that's it then! As the sign says on the gate going out of Ridegecrest: "You are now entering the mission-field"

Feeding 1000 all at once!

One of the many seminars

One of the many school buses that took us on a trip

CEF International Conference 2011

It only happens every 3 years but this is actually the first time I am attending this international conference in North Carolina, USA. I am (unofficially) tweeting from the pre-conference meetings and the main conference. You can view this on the sidebar to the right or here.
If you are also tweeting from the conference then please use the search #CEFIC11 so we can link to each other.

Run and run and run

Binzen - on the edge of the Black Forest

Having the Black Forest practically at our back door is a reality that frequently fills me with a desire to get out and explore it on foot. Thankfully the forest is way-marked with hundreds of miles of public walk-ways, so you are literally free to explore and with an area 260 km long and 60 km wide, no two routes need ever be the same.

For the past 15 months I have been discovering the joy of regular running. I have many options and traffic free paths on level ground but I find the peacefulness and beauty of the 'Schwarzwald' hard to resist.
In more recent weeks I have been making the most of our ministry trips to get out into the great outdoors. During the Easter break, while in N. Ireland, I ran one afternoon from the Giant's Causeway to the centre of Portrush (01:18:00 / 13.3 km), then in the Mournes from Meelmore Lodge to Hare's Gap - Brandy Pad - Glenn River - and finishing at Newcastle (Donard Car Park) (01:44:00 / 10.46 km more stats).

Recently in Romania I was able to explore part of the city of Sibiu with the help of a hastily printed out street plan from google maps. I folded the A4 page as small as the packet insert in a tablet box, small enough to hold in my hand and just enough visible to guide me at each juncture.

I love the outdoors and I am enjoying feeling much fitter and healthier these days. No exercise programme is any good unless it is accompanied by a healthy diet. Thanks to Claudia I enjoy lots of delicious cooking with lots of healthy options including a large leafy salad several times a week with an Italian or balsamic dressing. 
I never run with headphones – in fact I have an aversion to them. When I observe such runners I see people who are not enjoying their running but enduring it. The music is just another piece of noise, a distraction from the pain of overexertion. Perhaps in a noisy inner city setting I could be convinced of the merits but then all I can say is, be careful crossing the road! For me, running with headphones is as pointless as caffeine-free coffee!

Meelmore Lodge with the Hare's Gap in the background

Yes running is about fitness and weight control and personal discipline but it's much more than that. It is about taking 'time out' to 'take in'. To shut down the computer and to go out and 'take in' the sound of birds singing and the rustle in the undergrowth as a mouse or a small lizard scurries to safety, the smell of spring flowers or the stench coming out of an old wooden barn, the breath-taking landscapes that open up as you reach the brow of a hill and the colours that change with every movement of the clouds, the warmth of the sun on my face and the fresh air that fills my lungs, the refreshment that a mouthful of ice-tea gives from a hydration pack or the sugar rush of a power-bar. And the best thing of all, is just clearing my head and getting away from technological distractions that have become so much a part of our digital world (with the exception of my mobile phone for emergencies). Yes running is about much more than pain. I have learned my lesson about over doing it. If you pace yourself, build up your muscle strength slowly and find a pleasant route, it can be so exhilarating! Not to mention that there are 65 mentions of running in the Bible! That should make a good Bible Study for another post!!!

UEB CORSO INTENSÍVO - CMLC in Italian

Children's Ministries Leadership Course (Italian) on Vimeo.
Due volte 6 settimane o 7 settimane e 5 settimane: da 30 giugno a 10 agosto 2012; da 13 agosto a 21 settembre 2013
Richiedete il modulo* d’iscrizione presso: Unione per l’Evangelizzazione dei Bambini
Via S. Secondo 1/F, 12050 Magliano Alfieri
Telefono e fax 0173/66525, uebitalia@alice.it 

Training youth workers in Lithuania

This past week I have been in Lithuania helping the local CEF workers to teach a JYC course. We had an enthusiastic group of 10 students with an additional 5 joining us for the weekend sessions. One woman came on the Saturday with some friends. She enjoyed it so much that she came back again on Sunday with her husband and children - even though it was a 6-hour round trip!
We stayed in a remote homestead about 90 minutes from the capital city of Vilnius. I taught in English and Sandra interpreted into Lithuanian. While Vika, a Latvian CEF worker taught in Russian and Kristina-Maria translated her into Lithuanian. I was glad that some of the students were also able to communicate in English. Here's what they had to say about the course:

• "It was very important for me to learn about working with teens. I now have a much better understanding of them and a big desire to work with them. Pray that this passion will continue." Vika
• "The teachers were warm and encouraging. The lessons were very helpful with good structure and many illustrations. The practicals scared us a little bit but it gave us good practice. The morning devotionals from Gary were a refreshment to my soul." Ieva
• "I have been to many other seminars and afterwards felt that they were a waste of time. This one was different. The teachers were well prepared. Through them, I have received courage and confidence to work among teens." Jurgita

Being a student again at Kilchzimmer

On Friday, I and 11 others will complete the 2-week IOT1 (Instructor of Teachers level 1) for teaching a 30-hour course called TCE1 (Teaching Children Effectively). It has been a great learning experience and the fellowship at the course has been both warm and uplifting.
I should actually be leading this course but I decided to take it as a student first. That meant attending all the classes and doing all the home-works and practical assignments. I realised that I had forgotten how stressful it is for a student to prepare for a practical and then to demonstrate their skills in front of an experienced group of instructors who are evaluating you. Tough as it was, I believe it helped sharpen my skills as a teacher and it give me more empathy for those I will teach in the future. Another advantage was that by attending as a student, I could get a better knowledge of the content of the course and could witness first hand how it was taught by a very capable and experienced CEF team.

10 instructors trained in Hungarian course

It was a privilege for David Crutchley and I to spend 8 days with 8 people from Hungary, 1 from Romania (Transylvania), and 1 from N. Ireland at the Hungarian National Office near Budapest. We had come together for a CEF Junior Youth Challenge Instructor Course. The course participants were all full-time CEF workers who have a strong desire to develop the Youth Challenge work in the areas where they work. They studied with enthusiasm, taking down lots of notes and tips for how they could use what they had learned to train others. During the practicals they were able to demonstrate a JYC and a Bible Study for this age group and receive evaluation in a helpful and constructive way.
It was especially thrilling to see them sit around in a circle last Saturday to plan when and where they will launch the first JYC training seminars. God willing these will be held in the autumn in Budapest and in the NE of Hungary.
Special thanks to our translator who did a fantastic job and who was also able to share some of her amazing knowledge of history as we spent an afternoon visiting the tourist sites of the city!

Last Sunday I preached in Pécel Reformed Church, you can listen here to the sermon. Yes I do have my coat on! The Pastor and the congregation kept there's on, so I took the liberty to do the same.