Over the summer, I was so excited to send you an update about one of our Alliance ministries in an Asian country that must be kept unnamed at this point. Here is yet another story from this same ministry. God is growing our efforts there and I hope you enjoy this latest update!
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When a song is super good, it's always worth re-singing, and I have been fired-up afresh by President John Stumbo's latest video blog.
I'm not sure how many of our family members in the CPD actually get his video blog, so I'm sending it out for all of our CPD family to enjoy. As you already know, my heart beats for the folks around planet earth that have little or no access to the Gospel. I know this is the heartbeat of the Alliance as well.
So please join me in re-singing the song of bringing the name of Jesus to those who have never heard. It's both a pleasure and a privilege to be teamed with you for the glory of God and the reaching of the nations!
Tim Agnello
It’s so exciting to see when an influential leader has an “Ah-ha moment”! As we, the CPD, become more and more aware of the opportunities around the world to bring Gospel access to people who have never heard the name Jesus, my prayer is that we would engage these opportunities head-on with enthusiasm and generosity. I hope you enjoy another “eye-opening” update from our recent Vision Trip to Mexicali. Happy reading….
To the ends of the earth,
Tim Agnello
Recently, Brentwood Neighborhood Church, Trinity Alliance Church, and Price Chapel went on a Vision Trip to Mexicali. The story is from Sergio Gonzalez of Brentwood Neighborhood Church:
Hello! I wanted to share with you our experience at the Mexicali Base. We were a group of 12 people that came from churches in Redding, Utah, and of course, right here in Brentwood, CA.
We all met at the airport in San Diego and after a quick lunch got into our rental vans and headed to Mexicali. As we drove past city after city heading further inland, the landscape went from luscious green rolling hills to high and dry mountain range full of boulders that transitioned to a flat low-lying desert terrain. Once we arrived in Mexicali, we then proceeded to drive to the outskirts of town where the Base is located.
Mexicali Base
The Mexicali Base is all about building relationships with ministries that will partner with the local churches. Our approach is not to have a ministry come with a “Look what I can do” enabling approach, but rather a “Look what WE can do“ team-building relationship.
Buddhist monks chanting in the temple in front of a Buddha statue
God is moving in a Southeast Asian Creative Access Country (CAC)
Our ministry efforts are growing and God is giving us favor in this very difficult, restricted, predominantly Buddhist and Animistic country! Our Alliance workers, in partnership with indigenous leaders, are rescuing girls from human trafficking and exploitation and have made safe houses for them with full counseling, care and presenting the Gospel. Many are coming to Christ!!
We have also created a beauty shop business where they are trained to have meaningful jobs that keeps them off the streets and into a good Christian environment. We also started a jewelry business where they make jewelry to sell to tourists, locals and some jewelry is even being shipped and sold overseas – God is blessing us richly!!
We have some exciting news!
There is a new initiative started within the Alliance family called RAIN, which stands for Refugees and Immigrants Network. The Central Pacific District, especially Raed Awabdeh and our Arabic Ministry in Sacramento, is a front runner in getting this off the ground nationally!
Welcoming our Global Neighbors
with the Love of Christ
RAIN has launched with a new website and will be kicking off with a planning meeting at General Council the end of this month. Please go to www.rainalliance.org to find out more!
The Purpose of RAIN is Three-Fold:
- Welcoming: Alliance churches welcoming our global neighbors with the love and compassion of Christ, as He has welcomed us into His Kingdom, is the heart of this network.
- Equipping: Focus is on equipping our Alliance churches in welcoming ministries that are useful for reaching global neighbors within their local communities.
- Training: Partner with academic organizations to train practitioners worldwide in ministry strategies that address the needs of traumatized refugees and immigrants, and those who serve them.
We have some great new work going on with unreached people groups, unreached villages, and remote areas. Alliance News shared this update from Syna Lao, an Alliance international worker serving in Cambodia a few months back about God's work happening in Anlong Veng province.
It's been so exciting to see several of our CPD churches visit this specific location in the field. Our district has a strong connection with this new ministry and we didn't want you to miss these amazing reports. I will be traveling to Cambodia soon, so check out my prayer request at the bottom of the page.
THE HARVEST IS RIPE, BUT THE WORKERS ARE FEW
Church attendance has doubled and even tripled as healings and miracles occur regularly in Cambodian villages.
God is doing something amazing at Srae Nouy Alliance* church! Located in Anlong Veng province, one of Cambodia’s spiritually dark areas, the congregation continues to see miraculous healings and people being set free from evil spirits.
I'm super excited to give you an update on our initiative to engage the Guarajio Tribe in the mountains of Mexico. Please watch the video and read the message below from Brenda Granados, one of our leaders from Alliance Mexico, then enjoy the video she sent - We've made contact!!
We would like to highlight one of our most recent church plants in the Sacramento area. The new church is called, Hope City Church - and it's only seven months old!
I'm so thrilled to be sharing this very first report from Alliance Mexico about the progress we are making with the Guarajios tribe, deep in the mountains of Mexico. As many of you know, God has given us a wonderful opportunity to go after this unengaged, unreached people group by partnering with our extended Alliance family in Mexico - what a privilege it is, to be teamed for such a thing as this!
Thanks to your generous support and partnership from the CPD, in November one of our long-term dreams finally came true! For more than twenty years Pastor Tomas Bencomo, President of Alliance Mexico, has dreamed of reaching the Guarajio tribe. The Guarajio tribe is an ethnic group that exists between the border of three Mexican states: Chihuahua, Sonora, and Sinaloa. It is an unreached ethnic group where the gospel has never been preached. Finally, in mid-November, the day came when five of us got into a truck knowing where we wanted to go, but not knowing if we were coming back.
So excited to give you an update on our progress engaging the unreached people group known as The Guarajios in the mountains of Central Mexico. Over this past summer, I trolled the CPD family looking for potential partners to engage and support this new endeavor along with Alliance Mexico.
Praise God - we got several churches and also several individuals from the family who felt called to jump in!
You'll see the pictures of the truck we helped purchase and filled it with supplies to make an impact as they hike out into the mountains, hopefully to initiate our first contact with the native tribe where they actually live.
The truck and the team left last week, so be in prayer that we will have a successful first trip. We will keep you updated and let you know how it went when they return in a couple weeks.
Thanks so much for partnering and praying for this brand new work!!