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On Saturday, March 9, about 70 people gathered at Wooster Grace for Connect & Equip day. The day afforded many opportunities for participants to connect with other local church missions leaders as well as to be enriched by the many workshops and two plenary sessions.

PLENARY SESSIONS
Encompass Executive Director Dave Guiles presented the moving story of the sacrifice and cost of planting the seed of the gospel in Central Africa, a sacrifice that, by God’s grace and blessing, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of believers and thousands of churches in five countries. (Link to video of the Africa Story presented the following day at a local church.  Start at 29:00 minutes.)

WORKSHOPS
Among the many workshops offered was one by Encompass Crisis Response director Barb Wooler entitled, Grief: A Silent Crisis Waiting To Be Redeemed. The premise presented in the workshop was that, not only that grief can be redeemed by God for good, but that the Church and believers are His primary means of doing so. The vision for a fellowship of churches that are equipped to be part of how God is redeeming suffering and loss for good and loving purposes – both in the church and their community.

Each participant was given a simple tool that can help them care for someone processing a loss, and two other trainings were offered for later this year in the fall.

TRAINING OFFERED THIS FALL
Encompass Crisis Response will be providing a weekend of training this Fall for churches interested in equipping mature believers to help people with grief counseling. This bible-based training will run on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday. If you or your church are interested in learning more about participating in and/or hosting this training, please write crisisresponse@encompasscrisis.org.

Clustered in a large house on the top of a mountain in north Georgia this week is a distinguished group of Encompass workers from all corners of the globe. These leaders have come together to learn and grow and be refreshed, or as it has been put, to “sharpen their blades.” Among the 21 team leaders is Barb Wooler, who is representing Encompass Crisis Response’s refugee team. If you have not yet heard about Encompass’s team of refugee workers, it is because it is a team that is just starting to come together. The team will be comprised of workers from several different countries in Europe and western Asia.

WHY REFUGEES?

Why target refugees for ministry? Because refugees and other migrants are in great need of most everything, and often are extremely open – to relationship, to spiritual dialogue, and ultimately to the gospel.

PRAYER

While we have a great start on our team, we urgently need “apostolically-wired” people ready to join these teams and move us towards our ultimate goal of making new disciples and planting churches among refugee and migrant populations. Please join us in praying that God will raise up these workers, and please also share this need among those you know who might be good candidates for this ministry. If you know of someone who may be interested in talking about the needs we have in our refugee teams, please contact us at crisisresponse@encompass.org.

The first rule of short-term teams is to Stay Flexible. A crisis response team from Marysville Grace (Ohio) that served in Panama City got their share of practice doing just that. The team, led by Rob & Shellee Taylor, the “Two Tims” (affectionately known as First and Second Timothy), and Wanda from Marysville Grace spent their time in Panama City helping an elderly couple still working to clear their property of some 50 trees brought down by Hurricane Michael’s category 4+ winds.

Rain all day long on day one was not part of their plan, but the team came prepared. Donning their work clothes they spent the whole day working in the rain. Then — having the skid loader they had reserved on day two rented out from under them — also wasn’t the plan, but the team made another course adjustment and had another profitable day and the rest of the time they were there.

The team was a huge blessing to the Boy family, but the blessing was mutual. Mr. Boy, at 86 years old worked right alongside the team doing the outdoor work, while Mrs. Boy worked hard to love on the team through her continual encouragement and by showering them with love in the form of mounds of spaghetti and meatballs.

With Hugh & Nora Boy both strong believers, the team found themselves more than just among friends, but also family in Christ. As Shellee put it, “We are created to be in community. The body of Christ is much bigger than our community church. When you can show up and shine forth his light — let His purpose be your priority — He orchestrates everything. He has a plan and it goes as He intends it to go.”

Excellence doesn’t just happen but is brought closer through planning, preparation, and the honing of skills.

It was the pursuit of excellence that brought 40 people together from over 13 Charis churches on Saturday, November 17, for a 6-hour workshop called, Leading and Shepherding Short-Term Teams in Excellence. The event was hosted by the Ashland Grace Church in Ashland, Ohio, with instructors coming from Ashland Grace, Grace Fellowship in Pickerington, Ohio, and Grace Church of Akron, Ohio.

The goal of the training — a joint effort of Charis Fellowship and Encompass World Partners — was to further equip Charis Fellowship leaders in the specialized skills and know-how involved in leading short-term teams. The goal is that well-led teams will be maximally fruitful both for those who serve as well as those they serve.

VIDEO RECORDINGS

While the networking and bonding that comes when this many good people are in the same room cannot be duplicated, video recordings of the sessions will allow the impact of the content taught to continue sharpening team leaders in the future. Recordings will be available by mid-December.

DON’T MISS THE NEXT TRAINING!

Stay informed of future Charis Fellowship/Encompass Crisis Response trainings and other news by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter at crisisresponse@encompassworld.org .

The holidays are times of enjoying family and friends, of special meals around the table, and savoring the rich blessings we enjoy at God’s hand. As we enter into this Christmas season, we remember those who have lost so much in California’s recent wildfires. Among those are 10 families at the Charis church in Chico, California, whose homes are a total loss.

Christians are characterized by their compassion and generosity, so if you have been moved by the tragic images coming out of these fire zones and are wondering how you can help, we invite you to join a Gift Card Shower to bless these family-members-in-need.

These cards also will put tangible help into the hands of the Chico church [livinghopechico.com] as they reach out to serve their community.

WHAT KIND  OF CARDS

What kind of gift cards are needed? These families need pretty much everything, so card to any major retailers or restaurant will help, such as:

• Walmart
• Target
• Lowes
• Applebees
• McDonalds
• Visa gift cards

WHERE TO SEND THEM

Mail the cards to: Chico Fire c/o Auburn Grace, PO 6446, Auburn, CA  95604

Please join us in praying especially for these 10 families, who will be celebrating Christmas in a way they could have never imagined not that long ago. Our prayers and gift cards flooding in from all over North America will remind them and their communities that they are not alone in their time of need.

While Charis Fellowship teams are still deploying to the Hurricane Florence impact zone in Hampstead, North Carolina, just last week we met with our partner church in Panama City Beach. And now comes word of our Charis Fellowship church in Chico, California, that has been caught up in the tragic fires there earlier this week.

HAPPENING NOW

Grace Fellowship Team (Pickerington, Ohio) is the ninth Charis Fellowship team deployed to North Carolina.

Crisis Team in NC
Grace Fellowship (Pickerington, OH) has a team of 11 on the ground in Hampstead, NC, this week. Like the more than 30 other Charis Fellowship folks who served there before them, they are rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty for Jesus! Very grateful for all who have prayed and given to send these teams.

Panama City, Florida Teams
At present, we have sent two loads of relief supplies to Panama City. Our hope and prayer is to be send four teams this winter to help our partner church, Calvary Chapel of Panama City Beach, Florida. (See address below if you are interested in serving on or sending a team.)

Paradise, CA, Fire Relief (the Camp Fire)
We are in the early stages of planning a response to the northern California wildfires. Just last night we received word that 10 families in the Charis Fellowship church in Chico, California, lost their homes in wildfires earlier this week. According to Pastor Phil Sparling (80 miles away at Auburn Grace in Auburn, CA), the most recent damage reports for the Camp Fire indicate:

• 80 fatalities (almost 1,000 still unaccounted for)
• 12,000 structures lost (homes and businesses)
• 140,000 acres burned.

As staggering as these numbers are, they do not begin to capture the losses on a human scale.

Our family in Chico is overwhelmed as they are trying to care for their community’s needs during this time – critical needs for prayer and giving. You can help the Chico Church serve the 10 families in the church who lost their homes as well as others in the community by praying & giving:

• PRAY — for these 10 families who lost their homes, for healing and God’s presence as the process their trauma and loss.
• GIFT CARDS for food and other essentials – to major retailers and restaurants (Walmart, Target, Applebees, Jack in the Box, McDonalds). Mail them to:
  Chico Fire c/o Auburn Grace
  PO 6446
  Auburn, CA 95604
• Money donations directly to the Living Hope Fellowship in Chico, CA
  • –> Homepage > Donate (at bottom) > Quick Give (on left margin) > choose amount > choose Fire Recovery (drop down field next to dollar amount field)

GO! — There are also opportunities to GO, to send (or join) a team to serve in the impact zones of hurricanes Florence (NC) & Michael (FL). We are scheduling teams now to deploy in 2019 from January through March.  Email us (crisisresponse@encompassworld.org) for more information.

Sixteen folks from Charis Fellowship attended a conference last weekend (Nov. 1-3) that helped to hone ministry skills and open opportunities to engage Muslims for Christ. This was the national conference for a ministry called Crescent Project. The conference also coincided with the ministry’s 25th anniversary.

Crescent Project’s founder Fouad Masri never could have imagined 25 years ago how God would bless his passion to help believers from his adopted country in North American to reach Muslims. Back then, in 1993, there was very little movement of Muslims to Christ, but look what God is doing since then!

God alone knows what has triggered the tsunami of Muslim-conversions since the late 1990s, but there is no doubt that ministries like Crescent Project, which mobilize millions in prayer for the least-reached of the 10/40 window, have played a powerful role.  Missiologists such as author David Garrison (A Wind in the House of Islam) have documented that more Muslims have come to Christ since the year 2000 than since the founding of Islam 14 centuries ago. Many more, in fact.

Among the hundreds attending the conference were 16 people (pictured) from seven Charis Fellowship churches in the region. We were challenged by plenary sessions and practical workshops, but the highlight for many was the keynote speaker, Nik Ripken. Ripken shared from his deep experience of 20+ years of documenting the stories of more than 700 persecuted believers from 72 countries. His book, The Insanity of God, recounts many of the harrowing stories of our persecuted family in Christ around the world. Nik Ripken’s presentation was especially poignant as this conference came on the eve of this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

May God bless us and use us all to take the gospel to the world — to those who are near and those who are far, to those who are receptive and to those who not.

The tragic story of Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi is only one of many that highlight the grim plight of Christian minorities in some countries, especially in Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Even just last week, it looked as though Asia Bibi, a mother of five, would be executed for her alleged crime of blasphemy against Mohammad. This accusation landed her in prison – in solitary confinement – for eight years. Finally, on October 31, Pakistan’s highest court acquitted Asia of all charges and freed her.

BACKGROUND
The “blasphemy” charge was the result of an incident at her job as a field worker. Asia’s “crime” was that she drank from a water bucket out of which her Muslim coworkers wanted to drink. Her enraged coworkers, now considering the water to be defiled, started coercing her to convert to Islam, which she refused to do.

REAL-LIFE IMPACTS
On a human scale, one cannot begin to imagine what it has been like for this wife and mother, who was 39 years old at the time of her arrest. This was eight years of days of longing for companionship as she languished in solitary confinement. It was eight years of longing to hold her children and embrace her husband, to worship with her small church, and just live the life she had known before she became the target of extreme persecution. These were eight years of days knowing that all she needed to do was whisper, “I submit”, and she would have been cleared of the charges, but she deemed a clear conscious to be of far greater worth.

Our sister Asia Bibi is an inspiration.

THE BATTLE NOT OVER
But the battle rages on. For months the judges involved in the case have been threatened with death should they rule in favor of Asia Bibi. When the news of Asia Bibi being cleared of charges was broadcast, radical leaders immediately made good on their threats to incite riots in the street throughout the 95% Muslim country.

The result is that now, as a result of this verdict, while Asia Bibi will not be hung, every Christian in Pakistan is now in danger.

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (iDOP) 
With this high profile case occurring on the eve of the iDOP (this Sunday, November 4, 2018), there is hope that this high profile case will draw in prayers of many more Christians around the world during this powerful prayer event. Find out more about iDOP and view a  video highlighting the plight of Pakistan’s 5 million Christians.

On November 4, 2018, millions of Christians around the world will be calling out to God on behalf of persecuted believers. Will you be joining your voice with theirs on this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (iDOP)?

HOW TO HELP

Stuck in a cold, dark and dank prison cell and asked how the Church on the outside could help, what would your answer be? Paul’s answer was quite simply, “Remember my chains” (Col. 4:18). And today, when persecuted believers are asked this question, their reply is the same as Paul’s: “Please pray for us.”

HOW TO PRAY

But do you know how to pray? Asked this question, surprisingly, persecuted believers often do not ask for prayers that the persecution would end.

According to a November 2017 Open Doors article , “The No. 1 request Open Doors receives from persecuted believers is prayer, but they don’t ask us to pray they will be removed from persecution. Time and again, persecuted believers tell us that persecution builds the church and their witness… Instead, persecuted believers ask us to pray with them that they will stand strong and witness with faithfulness” (italics added).

For those of us not in the midst of violent persecution, this is astounding! Proof that, when it comes to praying for the persecuted church, those of us who have never sat in a dark prison cell or experienced torture may need some help knowing how to pray for them. Thankfully, there are many resources just one click away from you. Below are rich resources from three of the foremost agencies serving persecuted believers – Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs, and Persecution.org.

May your voice and mine be joined as one with believers from all around the world as we “remember the chains” of our brothers and sisters who are suffering greatly for their faith in Jesus.

RESOURCES TO ENRICH YOUR PRAYER TIME OR AN iDOP PRAYER EVENT YOU HOST

1) Open Doors USA  

• Focus on North Korea
• 4-minute or 1-minute promo videos
• Free bulletin insert
• Free sermon outline
• Free poster
• Letter writing info
• North Korea infographic
• North Korea prayer points

2) The Voice of the Martyrs 

Find these free resources at the bottom of the webpage:

• Video
• Slideshow presentation
• Church Bulletin Insert with prayer requests

3) Persecution.org

Download a free kit that includes:

• Video
• Social media posts
• Bulletin insert
• Petition
• Prayer cards (stories from different countries on the back of each)

Questions or comments? Email Barb Wooler. (crisisresponse@encompassworld.org)

While Hurricanes Florence and Michael may not be our favorites due to the lives these two have turned upside down, these storms have opened many bridges for believers to serve their communities, and that’s only GOOD.

HURRICANE FLORENCE

Three Charis teams have deployed to serve alongside our partner church, Renovation Church in Hampstead, North Carolina. With three more teams arriving this weekend (October 20-27) – two from Akron Grace (Bath Campus) and one from Penn Valley Church (Telford, PA) – and three more coming in November, we are just one team shy of our goal of deploying 10 teams to the region.

Want to Serve People in Florence’s Impact Zone?

• Cost: travel there and back. Lodging, two meals a day, and morning coffee provided by Renovation Church.
• Duration of stay: teams serve either Saturday to Saturday or Thursday through Saturday (travel home Sunday).
• Requirements: reasonably healthy and able to do a moderate to heavy workday. No skill required (training onsite).

HURRICANE MICHAEL

This one was truly a wind-making monster. Unlike slow-moving Florence, who gave five days warning before dropping 30+ inches of rain and immersing houses in feet of water, Michael raced toward the Florida panhandle, starting out on Monday, 10/8, as a Category 1 and striking just two mornings later as a devastating Category 4! The storm surge and winds have left the panhandle looking like a war zone with a huge debrief field of trees, cars, and lumber from broken up houses.

Want to Help People in Michael’s Impact Zone?

• Phase 1: Relief Supplies – Working in partnership with our Charis Church partner, Ghent Grace Brethren Church (Roanoke, Virginia), we are sending relief supplies to a church in Panama City that they know – the Northstar Church. The first load of relief supplies will arrive in Panama City on Thursday, Oct0ber 18, with more deliveries being planned for later. Total needed: $2,000 ($1,000 already raised).
• Give to provide relief supplies [https://www.encompassworldpartners.org/item/5130-storm-relief]
• Phase 2: Reconstruction – It is too soon to provide details, but the general plan will be to deploy at least two teams to the region in January 2019. Team members should at least be handy with a hammer.

Please contact Barb Wooler [CrisisResponse@encompassworld.org] with questions or if you would like to send or join a team.

Come serve with us – praying, giving, & going – joining God on the fields of crisis and serving as only the Church can.