Ambassadors In Uganda

Bududa Survivors Camp - May 2010

2010-05-30T14:55:00.005-04:00

Few Americans have probably ever heard of the village of Bududa, Uganda which lies at the base of Mount Elgon in the eastern part of the country. In early March of this year, after several hours of torrential downpours, the heavily farmed hillside gave way and buried the entire village in mud. Many lives were lost, homes, farms and livestock destroyed. The survivors of Bududa, and others from the surrounding area, were moved to a camp further down the mountain as they wait for the Ugandan government to give them land to start over.

This past month, our church planting team that had been working in Tororo, was privileged to visit the camp and share the Hope cube (for HIV/AIDS education), the evangecube and distribute flour to some of the survivors of the mudslide. This experience was somewhat surreal. No one on our team had really ever witnessed anything like it. Driving into the camp several of us remarked that it was like something from a movie, but this wasn’t make-believe. There are almost 7000 people living in the camp currently and conditions are bad. Make-shift toilets and kitchens had to be set up, the school which has almost 2000 children is lacking in supplies and there are only 23 qualified teachers. Tents are set up almost on top of one another and clothes, food and other necessities are in limited quantities.
We divided up into groups and were able to go through the camp and share about HIV/AIDS education using the Hope cube and also share the Gospel using the evangecube. It is amazing how God has used such a disastrous event like the mudslide to reconcile people back to Himself. As we shared and spoke to the survivors, we found there was very little bitterness in them, most praised God that they had survived! Amazing. It left most of us wondering if we would have the same reaction if we had truly lost everything, including our entire families…how would you react?

Prior to our arrival, we purchased 17 huge bags of flour to pass out to 16 families who had all spent time in the hospital because of injuries inflicted by the mudslide. I wish we could have had enough for everyone. Please take a moment to go to the right hand side of the blog under photos and view the pictures from the album “Bududa Camp” so you can see what it the camp looks like and see the faces of some of the survivors. I’ve captioned some photos so you will know a little bit about what these people went through.

Please continue to pray for these people and for the Pastors, Peter and Andrew who are ministering there. We pray many more will come to Christ here and may God receive all the glory.

New Hope Orphanage

2010-03-13T12:17:00.019-05:00

Every year at Thanksgiving we are reminded of all that we have to be thankful for. For our family it's also a time to stock up on turkey. They go on sale, sometimes for as little as $.0.37 per pound, and this is a blessing to us for several reasons. One we love turkey, and two we save a lot of money. I just recently took advantage of one of our stowed-away turkeys. We had turkey for dinner, turkey for lunch, turkey sandwiches of every type, turkey quesadillas, and turkey and more turkey. Ok there are some disadvantages of turkey. If you had to eat the same thing everyday, and I mean everyday without any change, could you do it?
We've been working with an orphanage in Bugiri,Uganda called New Hope. The church was burdened for the needs of these orphans so they opened New Hope and try to educate, cloth, and feed the children the best they can. But the needs are great.
We recently received a request from our local leader for food. Their supply was running low and the children would go hunger. We have been blessed to be a blessing and through the generous support of many people, we were able to send some money for food. When I asked our leader Bernard what they need, he said: "Here we usually feed them on cornflour and beans due to the limited funds we can not go beyond that. Thank you very much for the efforts you are making to help us keep the orphanage running." They use the cornflour to make a pourage and add the beans for a protein. This is what the children eat every day and it's also often the only meal they get.

We are partnering with our brother and sisters of New Hope Orphanage to see that these children truly do have hope. First, that they know and understand the love of their Father in heaven but also that they would experience the love of the church. Who is the church? Me and you, Christians that have been purchased with the blood of Christ who have also been given the right to become children of God. Our goal is not just to feed the children both spiritually and physically but to teach and give them the opportunity to feed themselves. We are working in partnership with several ministries to provide opportunities to plant a farm, provide adequate shelter, to cloth and feed the children, our future. It has always been the responsibility of God's people to take care of the orphans, so if God is calling you to partner with us to make this happen please contact us to find out more. May God Bless!

Testimony from Uganda

2010-03-11T11:32:00.000-05:00

The Church is in the Heart of the People

2010-03-11T11:04:00.016-05:00

One of the hardest things to get people to understand about our ministry is what it means to be a church planter. Do we build buildings? No! The Church is not a building! A church can meet in a building but a church can meet under a tree. We wouldn't then say that the church is the tree. The church is people, people saved by God's grace.
During our last trip to Uganda this problem arose with one of our church plant pastors. Because we were coming to plant a church, one of the locals in the village was happy to donate land for the new "church". The church plant pastor began working on the arrangements to build the church. On our first day of going into the village to do hut-to-hut evangelism our church plant pastor, Simon, was nowhere to be found. We were told that he needed to stay behind to continue working on the new church. This was no good! We told Simon that he must go with us because the church is out there in the hearts of the people. Simon agreed to join us but not until the second day. Day two came and Simon went with us. We spent the next four days in the bush going through the village telling of the good news of Jesus Christ. On the last day Simon thanked us. He said that if he had not gone out he wouldn't have understood the needs of the people and the spiritual obstacles that existed. He was begining to see the vision.
On every campaign we close the church plant with a small devotional where we turn all of the work over to the people of the village and the new church plant pastor. We use the events of Exodus 17:8-16 for the devotion. While I'm giving the devotional, we asked Simon to hold his hands in the air with the tear-offs from the tracts in one hand, this is all information of those who made professions of faith, and the bible in his other hand. The devotional begins. Moses and his men are in a battle with Amalek. When Moses has his hands raised, Israel prevails, when they drop, Amalek prevails. Moses hands became heavy and Aaron and Hur came to help him hold them up until the battle was won. By this time, Simon's hands were getting heavy and began to drop. I looked at Simon and told the new found church, "We are leaving but there are still battles to be fought here, who will help this man that the work may continue?" His brothers surrounded him and held his hands high. Simon broke down into tears, something he said he never does. He was overwhelmed because he said for the first time he realize he couldn't do this alone. Our work was done and we knew that the Lord's work would continue in that village because Simon now understood the true meaning of Church. It wasn't in a building but in the hearts of the people and he needed God's people to continue the work. We praise God for the way He moved in the village of Acanpii.

e3 Uganda Mission, September 09

2009-11-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

Uganda Hope Cube Training

2009-08-15T16:55:00.000-04:00

HIV Hope Cube

2009-08-15T08:50:00.001-04:00

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints...Psalm 116:15

2009-08-05T15:51:00.006-04:00

Unfortunately we are writing with some sad news. Our dear and beloved friend Pastor Phani, of Silchar India, has been called home to be with the Lord. Pastor Phani had a heart attack about 4:00am on Tuesday morning, July 29th and passed away soon thereafter. Pastor Phani leaves behind his wife Sengari, his three beautiful children Praisey, Joicey, and Phillip, and many faithful disciples. We count it a true privilege and blessing to have been able to serve with Pastor Phani in January 2008 and 2009. He was a wonderful man, full of joy and sold out to Jesus Christ. He will missed.

Please keep his family in your prayers.

2009-03-21T11:44:00.001-04:00

New Country Focus: UGANDA

2009-02-26T12:23:00.010-05:00

At the 2009 Internatinal Conference, e3 rolled out the new focus for the ministry as a whole: Primary Country Focus. In the past, we as church planters have traveled to various countries throughout the year to lead church planting campaigns. Although this has been very effective in proclaiming the Gospel and planting churches, jumping from country to country leaves little time for building long-lasting relationships with our nationals. We have found that our nationals need more support in developing a country strategy and this can best be done by working side-by-side, long term with our national leaders. Of course we will continue to do evangelism and church planting, but we will also help develop with our national leaders training programs for church leadership, pastors, develop women's ministry, to name a few. By focusing on a particular country, it will allow e3 church planters to have more impact in the countries as a whole in which we work. So, each of us was asked to prayerfully select a main country to focus our ministry on. Although we are really excited about this new direction in e3, we cannot tell you how difficult this decision was! However, after much prayer and thinking about our gifts and talents and where we can best be used of God, we are very exctied to say we have made a three year commitment to be a part of the e3 Team for Uganda.

A few weeks ago, we were blessed to be able to meet and spend time getting to know our e3 National Leader for Uganda, Joseph Oyuki. Joseph was in the US visiting churches and speaking about his ministry and life in Uganda. Below are some photos from his visit with us.

Tony and our e3 National Leader for Uganda, Joseph Oyuki

Joseph receives a t-shirt from the East Union Middle School's C2J (Come to Jesus) Club

Hanging out at Wolfman Pizza with our good friend Rick Schroer

Speaking about his ministry and life in Uganda with the 7th graders at East Union Middle School

With some of the other "Team Uganda" people looking over a map of Uganda

Planning a strategy with Tony over breakfast

Sharing the HIV/AIDS Hope Cube with our pastor and his wife

2008 Video

2008-12-12T11:11:00.003-05:00

Europe's New Reformer

2008-12-03T08:56:00.002-05:00

From www.heartcrymissionary.com - Maybe it's not too late for Europe after all. Mikael Thomsen is a young man in Denmark who burns to preach the true Gospel. Listen as he delivers some thunder from the pulpit to a stunned congregation. Pray for him, this is highly unusual preaching in this part of the world.

Check out more on Pastor Thomsen on his website www.thecrossalone.com

God's ultimate goal

2008-11-18T17:15:00.003-05:00

"The ultimate goal of God in all of history is to uphold and display His glory for the enjoyment of the redeemed from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. His goal is the gladness of His people, because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Delight is a higher tribute than duty. The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy His glory forever. Since His glory is magnified most in the God-centered passions of His joyful people, God's self-exaltation and our jubilation are one. The greatest news in all the world is that God's ultimate aim to be glorified and man's aim to be satisfied are not at odds."
- from Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper

Apologetics Conference

2008-11-12T13:06:00.005-05:00

The National Conference on Christian Apologetics was held last weekend at Hickory Grove Baptist Church here in Charlotte. We had a booth to make people aware of e3 Partners and short term missions in general...and we got to share the Gospel with many people!

The Face of Nepal

2008-10-24T15:21:00.001-04:00

For each one of us that had never been to Nepal before, we were left a bit speechless on how to actually react to such a place. Nepal is beautiful. Beautiful almost beyond words. Of course known for Mt. Everest, and several other of the world’s tallest mountains, there is so much more to the natural beauty of this country about the size of North Carolina. In the lower areas lush rice fields and winding rivers scatter the landscape. In the “foothills” (we would call them mountains at 12,000 ft and up!) tea gardens abound and the jungle is thick with bamboo, broom and fern, not to mention monkeys! And everywhere, flowers. Flowers of every color, size and shape. Stunning! It became a standing joke that the Nepali people were blessed never having to make a trip to Home Depot...everything is natural and in abundance! However, we all remarked that we’ve never been anywhere this dark. The spiritual darkness that looms over this Eden-like place is tangible. It’s overwhelming actually. The Nepali are truly a people living without hope, sadly without even hope for hope. Many people, like the woman wearing the red scarf in the photo above , merely stated that no one has ever loved them and now that there old no one ever will; they feel as though they have been abandon. This reaction was all too common and several people walked away, refusing to listen to a word from us. But we know there is always hope, hope alone in Jesus Christ. As I, Lisa, trekked through the tea gardens and jungles on my last day in the “foothills” I came to the home of an elderly woman who was living with her two adult sons and their families. She kindly invited us into her very clean but very dark little hut. She and her sons sat on the bed across from me while stated my purpose in being there: to tell her about Jesus Christ. Her sons snickered and left the hut. She sat with her arms and legs crossed and said “years ago on his deathbed, my husband spoke of this Jesus; I didn’t want to listen to it then. (very long pause) However, I am ready to listen to it now.” And with that last statement she reached to her left and unlatched the shutter of the only window in the hut. A bright beam of sunlight streamed in across the bed where she was sitting. I almost cried. It was so symbolic of how God’s light can penetrate any darkness and my firm belief in 2 Peter 3:9 “the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” She listened, took a bible and said she would diligently, and prayerfully, read it.

For centuries Nepal kept itself cut off from the world. It only opened is borders in 1949, mainly to capitalize on the influx of wealthy westerns bent on climbing Everest. And it wasn’t until 1960 that Christians were allowed in. So Nepal is quite new in it’s exposure to people sharing the Gospel and it is in desperate need of your continued prayers. But just to share how God is moving, we were blessed to share with around 1500 people. There were 30 professions of faith and many took bibles. But the remainder of those people ALL said they wanted to hear more about “this Jesus” and invited our Nepali brothers and sisters back to talk more about Him! May Christ be glorified and His Name be proclaimed throughout Nepal.

surreal at 30,000 feet!

2008-10-08T12:09:00.004-04:00

Generally when you fly above the clouds all you see is blue sky above and billowing clouds beneath. Mount Everest stands at 29,028 feet, the world's tallest mountain. It was a bit surreal flying at approx. 30,000 feet to look out the plane window and see the peak of Everest practically parallel with you!

praying for open doors in Nepal

2008-09-07T18:55:00.002-04:00

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ...Col 4:2-3c

Chivay, Peru 2008

2008-08-01T12:45:00.002-04:00

Removing The Chaff

2008-07-21T15:16:00.006-04:00

Matthew 3:12

whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing-floor; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire.

This scripture came to life as I watched a Peruvian farmer seperate the chaff from his beans. He would scoop up beans in his bowl and drop them from over his head. The beans would fall to the ground with the chaff blowing away in the wind. Seeing this helped remind me of the importance of sharing the gospel with the lost.

Next destination: Peru

2008-04-22T13:32:00.003-04:00

Never say never. We thought, and often said, we will probably never go to South America. There was no particular reason for making such a statement, it was just something we both felt. But we know, God directs the steps of His children, and He has opened a door for us to evangelize in the Peruvian Andes this summer. Nestled in the Colca Canyon (pictured left) of the Andes is the town of Chivay. Chivay will be our base for 10 days this June/July as we seek to go out and share the Gospel of Jesus in the villages surrounding Chivay. Our prayer is to plant at least three churches in villages where there is no existing church. According to Operation World, evangelical churches have grown dramatically in the last century, and this is definitely a praise! Please pray, not only for us and our team, but for the country of Peru. Pray that believers will continue to grow in the truth of Christ and that the church in Peru would be unified as a source of leadership, stability, social aid and hope as well as providing for the spiritual needs of the nation.

A future leader

2008-01-29T16:12:00.001-05:00

As we entered the mainly Animist village of Sabaspur, animal sacrifices were being burned as offerings to the spirit gods worshipped by some of the villagers. It was a strange sight for us, and we were a strange sight to them. Not many white people visit their remote area, they were very curious to hear why we came so they opened their huts to us without hesitation serving us tea, coconut bread and rice cookies. I came to a home where 6 Muslim men were gathered and I began to share the Gospel with them. After a few minutes, a young man walked up to see what was going on, his name was Shahieth (photo above). After sharing, we invited the men to become followers of Jesus. They replied that they where Muslims and believed that Jesus was a prophet. They already had a religion however, they would think about what they had just heard. My translator said that we should move on. As we began to leave, young Shahieth raised his hand and said he believed and wanted to become a follower of Christ. PRAISE BE TO GOD! He then took us to his home where several of his family members accepted the Lord. Shahieth and all his brothers and sisters can read English. We had them read several passages from Scripture to make sure they understood the decision they had just made. They did! Shahieth joined us for the worship service that we hold before leaving every village. He was one of the few who joined us, clapping his hands and trying to learn the words to the songs the nationals were singing, as the rest of the villagers looked on. After worship we entered the bus to leave and I noticed Shahieth had followed us. It was hard sitting there while Shahieth looked on, knowing that there is a good chance we will never meet again, well at least not on earth. Lisa spoke up, thank God "give him your Bible!" I did, how could I not, he read English and didn't own a Bible. Shahieth will no doubt be a future leader for his village and people. Please continue to pray for him as he is discipled in his walk with our Lord Jesus Christ. - Tony

Incredible India!

2008-01-25T12:15:00.000-05:00

Tucked away in the northeast corner of India dwell the Bishnupriyamanipuri people, a tribe of approximately 300,000. Most are Hindu, some are Muslim, many are Animists but God is also raising for Himself a group of believers who have a strong desire to reach their own tribe with the Gospel of Christ. Three years ago when e3 first went into this area, they met Pastor Phani, a man who had been praying for 21 years for God to send help from the outside to help preach the Gospel to his people. At that time, there were less than 100 believers, all of them from one family. India occupies only 2.4% of the world’s land area, yet 1/6 of the world’s population (1.136 billion) live in India. Sadly, only 2.3% are Christian. There are over 2000 languages spoken in India and every religion known to man is practiced here. This is tough ground; ministry in India is slow moving and takes much prayer, perseverance and total reliance on a sovereign God. We absolutely fell in love with India!! A land of traffic jams, jungles, tigers, cows wandering the streets, delicious food, smiling children and warm, hospitable people, most of them young as the average age in India is 25 years. For 10 days in January, we had the privilege of visiting four different Bishnupriyamanipuri villages with the Good News. Sometimes we were met with much opposition from the village elders, sometimes people refused to listen, but God is in control! He continues to draw people unto Himself regardless of any obstacle man wishes to throw in the pathway of His laborers. These villages were remote but we shared the Gospel with around 400 people, plus children, 150 made professions of faith in Christ and a new house church was established! ALL GLORY TO GOD!!

2007 Recap

2007-12-22T18:51:00.000-05:00

As 2007 comes to a close, we can honestly say, “what a year it has been!” Too often people say things that sound canned or “churchy” but we truly say from the depths of our hearts, He is an amazing God. Not only have we seen Him at work in the countries we have been privileged to serve in, but we’ve also had a front row seat watching Him move in the lives of loved ones here in the states. In January when we began this ministry, we had no idea where God would take it or what He was
going to do with it. Yet, in His faithfulness, He gave us many divine appointments throughout the year as He built, and continues to build, our ministry team. So we are closing are first year at e3 with many new friendships. People, who like us, have a heart for the nations, who love Jesus and want to see His Gospel preached and His Name made famous throughout all the world. We also have been taught much this year. One of the things we have learned along this journey is that you, our partners, don’t care about statistics and numbers. We could tell you every stat, and you may read it and say, “great” but what you really care about is people. You want to read about people; people just like you, whose lives are being strengthened or changed or about the people who realize their sin and come to the cross of Christ for forgiveness and redemption. So that is what we intend to do. As we watched people kneeling in prayer in a mosque in Damascus, Syria we realized in a new
and fresh way: we are all the same, everyone of us. The ONLY difference is Christ. He is the only difference between any of us. It is not our hair or eye color, not our nationality or political stance, but the difference is do we know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior….and these are the things you long to hear about.
Second, we have mentioned “our” heart, “our” ministry yet truly it is not ours but His. As we met new people and talked to different churches, we heard “your” hearts. So as Christ’s hands and feet, who are we to say where we will focus our ministry. This ministry belongs to Him so moving forward, wherever God directs our feet, opens doors and provides for us to go, we will go.

2007 RECAP Internationally: we partnered with churches in Egypt, Jordan and Syria to strengthen their congregations. Discipleship classes and evangecube trainings were held in each country to help set up small groups within each church and to equip people to reach the Muslim world for Christ. Tony was also asked to preach every time we went to a new church! On the home front: we hosted evangecube trainings at a couple different churches , Tony preached about missions at churches in North Carolina as well as one in South Carolina. We were asked to serve on the Missions Council at church, we also have been blessed to assist Southern Evangelical Seminary’s mission TEAM of Apologists with logistics as they have been invited to train in varies countries (they’re going to Italy in January) and Tony was also voted in as a Deacon.

2008 LOOKING AHEAD Internationally: we are going to India in January to witness to an unreached people group in the northeast part of the country, Sudan in either March or April (dates are not confirmed) and we are working on a couple other trips for the summer/fall. We will keep you posted as these will be open toanyone who would like to go with us! Please let us know if you or your church has a burden for a particular country….remember it is about reaching ALL the world. On the home front: our church, as well as another in the Charlotte area, has invited us to participate in their missions fairs, we have two other churches that want us to do evangecube trainings, we are also working with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Campus Crusade for Christ to host evangelism training with the evangecube and then arrange outreaches here in the Carolinas, and we will continueserving SES TEAM in anyway we can to help them in their mission of equipping the body of Christ with apologetics……

Whatever else God has planned, “here we are Lord, send us”…..

Wrestling in Jordan

2007-10-08T09:09:00.000-04:00

During our trip to Jordan I was explaining to several young men that in the states I am a wrestling coach. They didn't understand the word wrestling, so they asked me to demonstrate. After one demonstration they understood and they all wanted a shot at the title. I tried to explain that it was not WWF. Here is a video of one match. We were wrestling on a concrete slab so I tried to be gentle.

e3 Middle East Ministy

2007-10-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

Greetings to you all in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We are excited to share with you how God has allowed us to be part of His work in the Middle East this summer. It is a privilege to have worked alongside our brothers and sisters in three countries over the past few months.

The e3 model for ministering in this area of the world is quite unique. Because we cannot do open evangelism, God has opened doors for us to work alongside national believers and help disciple and train them through various workshops and conferences. Our prayer is that you will be blessed and God will be glorified by the following stories. Please note, in order to protect our national leaders, we will not give real names or specific locations of ministry nor will we publish their photos.

UPDATE: EGYPT

There is a spiritual depth to the believers in Egypt that is simply extraordinary. They love Christ with all their hearts and they know the Bible. Each church we visited, no matter how small, had the most powerful praise and worship music that most of us had ever heard. Where they need help is in structure and application and that is why the discipleship model is a perfect fit. The ministry in Egypt is new for e3. All the leg work and planning were done this past spring, and we began the ministry in August with much enthusiasm from the Egyptians! Five discipleship classes were selected: Spiritual Leadership, Experiencing God, The Book of James, Celebration of the Disciplines and Women in the Bible. There was also Evangecube training as well as a youth component and AWANA. Originally, 120 signed up to attend the two day training conference. But the desire for growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His word is deep in Egypt and 260 people showed up! Our purpose is to train the leaders from various churches how to lead small groups, show them a variety of good material and have them go back and teach their congregations. We were very encouraged to be invited by another
Pastor to hold the same training in his church when we return in November. We are planning on adding a few different classes in addition to the ones we have already done. This is an exciting time to be serving in Egypt. Plans for 2008: A women’s discipleship training in March, discipleship training in June and August, a Medical trip in November. And whenever else God opens the door for us to go!

UPDATE: JORDAN AND SYRIA

What God is doing in Jordan and Syria is simply amazing. Non-believers are hearing the Good News, believers are being discipled, Christian leaders are being trained and Evangecubes are being distributed. Our five National leaders, 2 in Jordan and 3 in Syria, work tirelessly to fight the good fight of faith to shed the Light of Christ into their countries. These godly men do all of this under the watchful eye of authorities and amongst much persecution.

For example, Jamal our Middle East coordinator, was called in for questioning and interrogation by the secret police, just days after we concluded our Leadership Development Conference (where 70 leaders were in attendance) in September. These situations are almost daily for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. A couple of men told us that they had been offered jobs as pastors in America but they turn them down because their hearts are burden for their own countries.

So amidst the trouble, persecutions and constant questioning, God’s soldiers march on to do His work. This year alone in Jordan and Syria: 2485 people have been trained, there have been 513 professions of faith in Jesus Christ, 3265 Evangecubes have been distributed and 12 churches have been planted!!

PRAISE GOD for this wonderful news!! We must remember that our God is sovereign. No matter what forces may come against it, God’s word is Eternal and it will always prevail.

And so will our nationals because they are completely sold out to Jesus and doing His work; it is indeed an honor to call them brothers. Please remember to pray for them. Pray for their families, for wisdom, protection, boldness, strength and endurance as they continue to be His hands and feet in very difficult areas.

Egypt, More than pyramids

2007-07-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

When we think of Egypt, we may have visions of pyramids, ancient ruins, and a history that almost seems more like a tall tale than reality. In our travels, we often find that a country is nothing like what we thought it would be. I'm sure this will be the case with Egypt as well. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare for our trip to Egypt. To most people this would be the trip of a lifetime, our purpose, however, is not to see pyramids, ruins, or experience the history, but to know the people of Egypt and to show them the love of Christ.

Making a Difference

2007-07-14T09:23:00.000-04:00

e3 Partners Ministry is making a difference around the world. Please watch this vidio to see how the evangecube is being used to bring people to Christ in Gaza.

May update

2007-05-08T15:25:00.000-04:00

Someone once said “much can happen in an day.” If that is true, and we know that it is, what can happen in 30 days?

April has been a very busy, productive and exciting month for us. First, we praise God that He has brought to this ministry a few more monthly financial partners! What a blessing to have more harvesters for the Lord of the harvest working alongside of us!

Secondly, we had the privilege of speaking with two churches and sharing our ministry with them. The first was Cornerstone Christian Church in Farmer’s Branch, Texas. Cornerstone is just over a year old and has a small congregation. The second was Steele Creek Church of Charlotte (NC), they have been around for over a decade and have about 2500 members. Where these two churches differ in location, longevity and membership they have one very strong bond: They are both churches that have a burning heart for missions and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations. As we shared with these churches, it was refreshing to see how both of them had a worldview of God’s Kingdom and a strong desire to see their own congregations participate in missions. Please be in prayer for these churches and how they might be in partnership with us.

As we stated in our last newsletter, we need to be at 40% of our monthly goal in order to go on our first of two training trips. We currently are at 20% (praise!!) and are trusting that God will bring us to 40% in the next few months. So, while we were in Dallas, we were scheduled for our first training trips. It is suggested by e3 Partners, that although we will be working together when we are fully supported, that we take our first trip separate. This is to learn our full roles and responsibilities independent of one another so that when we are working together we will be more effective. Tony will be going to Maturin, Venezuela August 9-17 on his first training trip. This is a church planting trip that includes door-to-door evangelizing and we need to recruit seven people to come with us! Has God maybe been speaking to you about possibly going? If so, please get in touch with us. We would love to serve alongside you in Venezuela! And Lisa will be going to Egypt Nov 9-19 on her first training trip where she will be helping to lead and teach women in a small church in El Minya, Egypt. The Middle East trips are run a little differently than campaigns in other areas, this campaign will be about discipleship and training Egyptian’s for leadership in their country.

So, as you can see we have a busy summer ahead of us! Please pray for endurance for us as we continue to raise our monthly financial partners, raise our funds for our training trips (which we will not have to do once we are 100% supported) and MOST IMPORTANTLY as we prepare spiritually for ministry in Venezuela and Egypt.

Remember to ask God how He might use you in this ministry: PRAYING, GOING OR GIVING.

April Newsletter

2007-04-01T13:50:00.000-04:00

So, you want to change the world...but what in the world are you doing?” We love the questions that people are asking us lately! The above is the first of three questions that seem to be on everyone’s mind. Our purpose at e3 Partners is to equip God’s people to evangelize His world and establish His church….How do we go about doing this?

It is like the Parable of the Harvest:

Every farmer wants a harvest. His eyes see an empty field that is overgrown with weeds and covered with rocks. But his mind sees his field covered with strong, healthy crops. And the promise in his mind, not the problems before his eyes, takes him into the field to work. First, he breaks up the hard dirt, so the seeds can grow easily. Then he plants the seeds. As they grow, he pulls out the weeds that try to choke the new plants. He makes sure they have enough water, and he protects them from birds and bugs. He does his part, knowing that only God has the power to make the seeds grow. When the time is right, the farmer goes into the field, gathers the fruit of his harvest and takes it to his storehouse. There, he collects new seeds for the next planting season—more seeds than he started with. So his harvest grows greater every year. That is what Jesus was talking about in Mark 4:3-9:

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty or even a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear let him hear!”

Church planting is similar to the sowing and harvesting cycle. Imagine your community is a field. How does it look to you? Is it empty, choked with the weeds of worldly wisdom, and clogged with stony obstacles to the Gospel? Does it look like it could never bear fruit? Or has God put a different picture in your mind? Can you see your neighbors filled with joy and worshipping God? Can you see them free of the world’s hold on them? Can you see them overcoming every obstacle? What we see in our minds is called “Vision.”

VISION. A clear mental picture of what the future could, or should, be like. e3 Partners seeks evangelical churches among the nations who have a desire to reach their own country. We train pastors and lay-leaders in the church planting process through our Leadership Development Conferences (LDC) and prepare them to receive short-term teams from the US who we have also trained in the church planting process, evangelism and cross-cultural training.

PRAY. Like a sharp plow, prayer not only breaks up the harden soil in the spiritual world, but it also brings workers into the fields. (Matthew 9:37-38)
our friend Joey Query praying in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela

EVANGELIZE. The Gospel is our seed that we sow among the nations through our short-term mission trips. The Bible promises that the more seeds we plant, the bigger the harvest will be. We use personal testimonies, tracts and the Evangecube through a translator as our main resources for evangelism.

Me sharing with some homeless women in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia

MAKE DISCIPLES. We train nationals, and those who have received Christ as their Lord and Savior, in the process of evangelism so they may reach their own communities for Christ.

DEVELOP LEADERS. Those who are more mature develop in the church and continue the cycle.

Our friend Jimmy Moore discipling new believers in Mbale, Uganda

GATHER TOGETHER. When the harvest is ready, we need to gather the new believers into groups called churches. Churches are not buildings, they are people who know and love Christ, and who meet together to worship Him and learn from His Word. This is what we call church planting. Most people around the world do not have access to a local fellowship of believers. If they can’t walk to church, they can’t go to church. e3’s mission is to plant churches within walking distance of every person on earth. Believers gather to praise and worship God in Bangladesh

And as a result, churches MULTIPLY! One becomes two. Tens becomes twenty. Five hundred becomes one thousand. Just like in the Book of Acts!

“Awesome! So, when will the two of you start doing this?” Question number two! Like everything else, there is a procedure that we must go through. We are called “faith” missionaries who need to have financial partners. A financial partner is someone who supports this ministry by their monthly giving. In giving, you become a co-laborer in spreading the Gospel to the nations and establishing new churches without ever leaving the US! Before we begin leading trips ourselves, e3 requires us to go on two training trips; one when we reach 40% of our monthly goal and the other when we are at 100%.

“So, um, what is your monthly support goal?” This is the third question that people, reluctantly, ask. So, we want to be open and honest and share our need. We are praying specifically for 50 people to support us at $50 each per month. However, our desire is for those whose heart’s have been stirred by God to partner financially with us, to be obedient to whatever amount He has placed on their hearts. We are also praying for five mission-minded churches to partner with us in sending us with their financial giving, praying for us and going with us into the nations.

Has this ministry stirred your heart? If it has, we pray that you would join us with your monthly, tax-deductible support.

If you would like to hear more about this ministry, please email or call us, we would love to meet with you! Or if you know of anyone else that would like to hear what God is doing through e3 partners, we would be more than happy to speak to any Christian businesses, Sunday school class, ladies or men’s group, etc.

1 Thes 5:24 says “He who called you is Faithful, who also will do it.” We trust that God will continue to bring people to this ministry; those who desire to labor in His whitened fields (John 4:35) with us. To those of you He has already brought to us as monthly partners, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN THE HARVEST!!! We are excited to see how God uses all of us for HIS glory!!

February

2007-02-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

Celebrating 20 years of blessings

22,587 Americans Mobilized
260,493 Nationals Equipped
3,252,223 People Evangelized
1,020,358 Professions of Faith
10,389 New Churches Established

So, you want to change the world…
Each night as we watch the evening news, what do we see? Distressing pictures of lawlessness and hate. Deep within each one of us lies a desire for things to change. This was the theme for the e3 Partners 2007 Conference, and we know that this change can only come through the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Throughout the conference, we had the opportunity to hear testimonies of how Christ is changing the world through e3 national leaders and missionaries from countries like Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Romania, Venezuela, Russia, Ecuador and the Middle East. e3 was celebrating its 20th year and it is amazing to see what God has accomplished through this ministry. We feel truly blessed to be a part of it.

During our journey to becoming full-time missionaries, we have been praying for God’s direction as to an area of focus for our ministry. For awhile now, we have felt the Lord leading us into the Middle East and spreading the Gospel among the Muslim world. e3 is doing ministry in Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel and parts of Northern Africa and amazing things are taking place. During the conference, we attended the e3 country strategy session for reaching this part of the world.

The Middle East…..what comes to your mind when you hear those words? Is it only the pictures you see on TV or the headlines you read in the newspaper? There is so much more to the Middle East then terrorism and Islamic extremists. Underneath those all-to-familiar images, lies a people who long for freedom from oppression and who are daily receiving the true freedom that comes only from Jesus Christ. Their stories are amazing and inspiring! Here are two stories we want to share.

Jamal Zarka(for protection, not his real name) was an Imam in the Jordanian Army and his job was to train the army in the ways of Islam. Because Jamal Zarka was raised in a Muslim home, he was taught to believe that Judaism and Christianity were false religions. But, during his studies as an Imam, he found many contradictions in the Qu’ran. The major one being that he found nothing that assured him of the salvation he was desperately searching for, so he left the faith, decided that all three religions were false and that there really was no God. Over the next year, a friend of Jamal Zarka's repeatedly asked him to come to a Baptist church with him. Jamal Zarka continually said no. But persistence paid off, and finally Jamal Zarka replied to his friend, “I will go once and then never asked me again.” That Sunday, the preacher’s sermon was on how you could have assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ. That day, Jamal Zarka became a follower of Jesus and is now serving with e3 as their national leader to the Middle East!
Persecution is a part of daily life for Christians in the Middle East, yet they consider it a privilege to be persecuted for Christ. One remarkable story is about an Iranian women named Magda. Magda was married to a Muslim man when she converted to Christianity. In Islam, in order for a man to divorce his wife all he has to do is say “I divorce you” three times and it is over. Yet Magda’s husband decided to take her to court. The court gave her only two choices: First, renounce Christ, become a Muslim again and the entire ordeal would be forgiven, forgotten and treated as though nothing ever happened. Second, if she remained a Christian, she would be exiled immediately and never see her four year old daughter again. They demanded her choice to be made on the spot. Magda told the court, that what they were asking of her was the worst thing that a mother could be asked to do. Yet, Magda refuse to deny Christ and was immediately handcuffed and exiled to Turkey where she now lives. Magda has not seen her daughter since but trusts that Christ Himself will watch over her.

After hearing these stories, and many other testimonies of the Christians in the Middle East who are sacrificing everything for the cause of Christ, our hearts were definitely stirred. Being at the conference gave us more confirmation as to our being called to shed the Light into the darkness that is hanging over the Middle East. We had numerous encounters with pastors, e3 staff and we even sat next to an Iranian believer (formerly a Muslim) at the banquet held the last night of the conference. All this helped us catch an even greater vision for how God would use us in this area of the world. Please be in prayer as we continue to pursue God’s calling for our lives.

So, you want to change the world? e3 Partners has a vision for how we all can be a part of changing the world. In most parts of the world, people do not have access to a church where they can come to the knowledge and freedom that is in Jesus Christ and continue growing in fellowship with Him. If they can’t walk to church, they can’t go to church. e3 partners’ plan is to equip God’s people to evangelize His world and establish His church; you too can be a part of this. e3 stands for: Equip, Evangelize and Establish but the most important part of our name is Partners. We realize that without your help, this ministry would not be possible. Romans 10:14-15 says “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

There are several areas in which you can be a part of our ministry team:

PRAY:
And we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:37-38

GO:
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

GIVE:
You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth. 3 John 5-8

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Co 9:6-7

e3 Acceptance

2006-12-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

It's official! We have been accepted as full time missionaries with e3 Partners Ministry. Please see the link at the side of the page to find out more on e3.
We are extremely excited to see how the Lord will use us in this new role. Over the next year or so, we will be building our support team, consisting of prayer partners, financial partners, and those who are called to go onto the mission field will us. We will be leading at least 4 trips a year overseas. But,before we can begin leading trips we must be fully supported and go on two training trips. Our prayer is to be fully supported and GOING in about a year. Please be in prayer as to whether this is a ministry that you may feel God leading you to be a part of.

In Christ,
Tony and Lisa

e3 Ethiopia Mission Trip 2006

2006-09-09T09:20:00.001-04:00

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Ethiopia "Who says it's boring to be a Christian"

2006-09-08T07:43:00.000-04:00

Where else but on the mission field could one get charged by an angry bull, be pulled over by armed gunmen, enter the home of a witch doctor or eat zilzil (beef and tomatoes) served in a pot over flaming coals? This is the abundant life! John 10:10

Ethiopia "the first century church

2006-09-07T16:05:00.000-04:00

When one reads about the first century church in the Book of Acts, you are looking through the window of the Ethiopian church. There is an overwhelming sense of true community here, unlike anything I have ever experienced….Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man’s life sharpens another man’s life.”

As Tony and I walked through our villages of Denkaka and Ude, we caught a glimpse of what Christ’s ministry must have been like. Muddy, uneven roads, hot sun, women drawing water from the well, oxen, donkey, sheep with their shepherds milling about and all day people following you eager to hear what you had to say, but also with many questions. Our eyes were opened to look at the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet in a totally different light. Most of the people in our villages wore sandals. Their feet were not dusty; they were caked with dirt and mud. We realized anew what an undertaking it must have been to wash the feet of twelve men. What an enormous job that only a truly humble and selfless person would even attempt to do. Christ, our Ever-Perfect Example. It is such a lovely thing when Scripture we know so well, comes to life in an entirely different way.

While I stood by myself one day and observed the various scenes going on around me, God put Matthew 20:16 very heavily on my heart. Jesus says “the first shall be last and the last first.” I was convinced in that moment that He was speaking about the Ethiopian people. Their large, soft eyes and captivating smiles draw you in. It only takes a second and you realize that their beautiful exterior encapsulates an even more beautiful soul. They are extremely humble, selfless, genuine, loving, respectful, always giving a stranger priority and truly servant-hearted. Samuel, one of our disciple-makers, is the perfect picture of a servant. Samuel insisted daily that Tony and I take the front seat of our van that drove us to the village. He always made sure when we took our rest that we got the tree stump or fence post to sit on while he sat on the ground. And everyday, all day, he wanted to serve us by carrying our backpack while he carried his bag and coat, and always with his wonderful smile. It is because of their humility, I believe, that God is moving in a powerful way in Ethiopia, drawing so many unto Himself. Our team was blessed to share the Gospel with 2700 people, there were 412 professions of faith in Jesus and 10 new churches were planted.

Galatians 5:22-23 lists the Fruit of the Spirit, or what I call the very characteristics of Christ: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. I will take the liberty of speaking on behalf of our entire US team, the outpouring of these gifts upon us stirred our hearts in a way none of us had experienced before or even thought possible. This was a life-changing trip for all of us. For myself, God answered every one of my prayers of the last several months, one hundred fold; He knew exactly what I needed and His faithfulness to me has brought me to tears more than once. As a team, I know we all felt God’s presence and blessings being showered upon us daily and each one of us feels blessed beyond measure. I will share a few of those blessings: Mike, our leader, for the first time in his life witnessed a man being healed. Nadine’s village was not only blessed with a new congregation, but God provided the building, pews and preacher. Zulema was so moved by the love from her village, that she came home empty-handed, leaving everything she had with her behind to bless someone else.

Only when God has emptied us of ourselves, can we even begin to catch a glimpse of His glory and be used in a way that stretches us and molds us into the people that He created us to be. It was a privilege to serve Him in Ethiopia and I am so grateful to Him for calling me there. To God alone be the glory.

In HIS service,
Lisa

Ethiopia "fishers of men"

2006-09-07T14:18:00.000-04:00

“Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men” Mark 1:17

Much to our surprise, we were greeted by a group of about 30 people Monday morning when we arrived at our village. In the crowd, one of the first people to hear Tony share the Gospel with his evangecube, was a young man named Dereje. Eagerly he asked Jesus into his life and thus began his journey to becoming a fisher of men.

As we walked along the road to Denkaka, throughout the day Dereje continued to find us, always bringing a new person with him. At our Monday afternoon worship service, he showed up with another friend in tow.

Tuesday, our day began at the house of a family who had accepted Christ the day before. We called this our peace house and it is where we held service Monday afternoon. Dereje came with his two best friends. They too were excited to ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their lives. Tuesday found Dereje repeating much of what he had done the day before, bringing new people to hear the salvation message. At afternoon service, he had brought his brother.

At worship service Wednesday morning, we gave Dereje his first New Testament and evangecube which he accepted with much humility. Within the hour he was sharing the Gospel with his own evangecube and led an entire family to Christ. We took our lunch rest at the house of one of his relatives and he shared his story with us. Dereje is a 20 year old farmer. His family is very poor and he had to quit school for awhile to help his father work, however he had recently started attending again where he is second in his eighth grade class. After lunch, Dereje took us to his home, via his friend’s horse cart. As we walked through the grass fence, there was his home, a mud hut, about 10 ft in diameter with a thatch roof. Inside was a dirt floor with a cowhide for a bed and newspapers lined the wall. He gave me the seat of honor in his home, which was a small water jug and Tony was given the only other seat, a small pot covered with a towel. As he stood, he asked for me to pray for his schooling, work and future. Dereje is a very bright, somewhat shy young man and you could see in his lovely eyes that he wants something more. I read Eph 3:20 and Jer 29:11 and prayed for him. He searched through the cardboard box that contained his belongings and pulled out a small, plastic photo album. Through our interpreter he said that he wanted me to pick out a picture of him as he wanted to give me a gift. Graciously I accepted his gift but asked him to select the picture, he picked one of him and his best friend Wacinu. (It is already on display in my living room) Before I left home I packed a picture of Tony and I just in the event we didn't get to minister together. I gave that to Dereje and he proudly placed it on his wall. I didn’t realize how such a simple gift could tug at your heart, but it did. Dereje was already very special to me, and going to his home only endeared him to me more. After we left his home, he brought his father to meet us. Our afternoon worship service was attended by about 13 people and Tony shared the lesson of Mark 1:17. Through the interpreter, Dereje learned what his new title meant and how important it was to be a fisher of men.