Printable Top Stories (PDF)

January 30, 2015
Volume 1504
Senior Editor: Frank M. Moore
Managing Editor: Chad E. Schnarr
Associate Editor: Sarah A. Glass
NCN News
Top Stories for the week of January 30, 2015
Churches to stand united against human trafficking on Freedom Sunday
Nazarene congregations around the world are invited to participate February 22 in Freedom Sunday, a day set
aside for the church to stand united against modern slavery, also known as human trafficking.
More people live in bondage today than at any other time in history — children, women, and men who have
been forced into prostitution or labor through human trafficking. The U.S. Department of State estimates as
many as 27 million individuals are victims of trafficking. It is a problem that reaches into communities in almost
every country in the world.
This is the second year that the Church of the Nazarene will join other denominations within the WesleyanHoliness Consortium in observation of Freedom Sunday. In 2014, the Church of the Nazarene's Board of
General Superintendents endorsed the Wesleyan-Holiness Consortium's Declaration for Freedom, a document
that Nazarene leaders helped draft.
Freedom Sunday is a day to unite with thousands of other churches; participate through prayer, raise
awareness, and give surrounding the problem of human trafficking; and celebrate what God is doing to set the
captives free. The first Sunday of Lent was chosen to focus on the fast spoken of in Isaiah 58:6: "Is not this the
kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the
oppressed free and break every yoke?" (NRSV).
Churches can sign up and download free resources, including a bulletin, at ncm.org/freedomsunday.
The Church of the Nazarene is present in many countries where people are vulnerable to trafficking. The
church, through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, partners with local congregations in anti-trafficking
efforts that range from prevention and education to protection and rehabilitation. On Freedom Sunday, the
church is taking a Freedom Offering, which will support the NCM Global Anti-Trafficking Fund, scholarships for
trafficking survivors, preventing trafficking of children, and church-based prevention programs. To learn more,
visit ncm.org/freedomsunday.
--Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
MNU students help revive Missouri church
Leaders from the Drexel, Missouri, Church of the Nazarene thought they might have to close due to low
attendance and a slim budget, but they were not ready to give up. Now they are experiencing a resurgence,
and the spirit of enthusiasm is palpable. The difference? Ministry students from MidAmerica Nazarene
University in Olathe, Kansas, are re-energizing the church with their presence and passion. Every Sunday they
travel to Drexel to sing, preach, and teach this small group of believers, and they love every minute of it.
Jeren Rowell supervises Nazarene churches on the denomination's Kansas City District. In talks with the small
church he learned they "weren't done." Rowell approached professors in the Department of Christian Ministry
and Formation at MNU with an idea. What would they think about a partnership between students in the
Introduction to Ministry course and the Drexel church? As Rowell and professors Don Dunn and Randy Cloud
talked, they liked the idea of immersing students in what Rowell called a "live laboratory" — a real church that
needed help provided by student ministers that needed experience. Rowell paved the way with the people of
Drexel, who were open to the idea.
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"They said 'Come practice on us,'" Dunn said of the congregants. "They know it is not going to be perfect and
they are good with that. It's such good practice for our students, too."
The students are able to practice all the skills needed to hold church services. They preach, lead worship,
conduct communion, teach Sunday School, handle outreach, and communicate with the congregation. The
professors say the opportunity is unique not only due to the breadth of the experience, but also because these
students are freshmen and sophomores.
"Our junior and senior ministry majors already have places of service that are required in their major, so these
are first and second year students," Cloud said. "They are getting experience that can't be matched and is
great preparation for the rest of their training."
Freshmen ministry majors Div Tosingilo from Iowa City, Iowa, and Jillian Mariani from Cincinnati, Ohio, are the
two point people on the Drexel team. Working together, they recruit students from their class to preach, lead
worship, teach Sunday School, and handle all Sunday responsibilities. They take it seriously, understanding
that the people of Drexel depend on them each week. They took care to schedule local student ministers
during the university's Christmas break so the church experienced no lapse in services over the holidays.
Eight to 10 students meet on MNU's Olathe campus every Sunday morning to carpool to Drexel. Sometimes
they have a pianist, a guitarist, and a couple of vocalists to lead worship; other times two guitarists and a
vocalist. There are always students who see this not only as a learning experience, but also as the opportunity
to minister to others long before they complete their training.
"It's awesome to get this experience; this has confirmed my calling to pastoral ministry," Mariani said. "I said, 'If
there is fruit to my preaching, then I will know my calling is true.' People have come to me after I preached and
told me they needed to hear what I said. That let me know [my calling is] real."
Tosingilo echoes her thoughts.
"Whatever I was going through that week when I preached, I had a lady pull me aside afterwards and say, 'you
really impacted my life.' That's what really matters to me," he said.
Cloud related a story about one Drexel young person who reached out to a MNU ministry student during the
week.
"Our student recognized this person's need and was texting back and forth, following up with them," Cloud
says. "They thought enough of the student to contact him when they needed help. That says our students are
really taking over the pastoral responsibilities, not just the Sunday morning service."
Everyone involved agrees that it takes all parties to make this unusual partnership work. Cloud and the
students agree that the Drexel congregation is just as enthusiastic as the students are. At Thanksgiving
season, the congregation held the first potluck the church has had in years. There just weren't enough people
to have a potluck before.
"You should have seen the food," Tosingilo said. Cloud added that the potluck made the people feel like things
were back to "normal."
"They want to do a potluck for us every month," Dunn said.
Rowell is pleased with the partnership as a solution to the Drexel church's difficult situation.
"The church was in a different season, trying to determine what ministry should look like for them," he said
about the time before MNU students started ministry there. "It is tremendous how this is working given the
willingness and ability of Dr. Cloud and Dr. Dunn to mentor the students in this setting. That's what is making it
work."
He also credits the church people themselves.
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"They are extremely positive and excited about the energy there now," he said.
Drexel laymen are interested in taking the partnership with MNU further by utilizing the student ministers to
have youth events and start a calling program.
Dunn has taken the idea a step further, creating a new program with MNU Church Relations Director Kevin
Borger. Apostolos, which is Greek for apostle or one who is sent with a message, will provide ministry students
for churches that need to fill a pulpit for one Sunday or longer. Students must complete the Introduction to
Preaching course to be eligible. Then they will be trained by Church Relations staff to be placed in a temporary
position.
MNU offers four majors in the Department of Christian Ministry and Formation. Students can major in Bible
and Theology, Ministry, Intercultural Studies, and Youth & Family Ministry. For more information, visit mnu.edu.
--MidAmerica Nazarene University
M-Power initiative to mobilize regional missionaries
Several years ago, a couple who attended a Church of the Nazarene in the Netherlands sensed God calling
them into cross-cultural mission work, so they approached the denomination's Eurasia Regional Office to
inquire about how they could become missionaries. At the time, there was not an established structure or
method for the region to deploy missionary volunteers from within the region, and the couple met with a closed
door. The couple researched other mission organizations and the Nazarene church lost an opportunity.
The Eurasia Region is now opening that door to Nazarenes across the region who sense God leading them
into cross-cultural ministry.
M-Power, which stands for "mission power" and is a play on the English word "empower," is a new regional
initiative to identify people whom God is calling into short-term missions and match them with sites in other
cities or countries where the church is ready to receive them as co-laborers in the ministry.
Missionary volunteers make up 50 percent of the 100 missionaries on the Eurasia Region, but only 10 percent
of those missionaries originate from within Eurasia. The rest are from North America, where there is an
established structure designed to identify, train, and deploy missionary volunteers around the world.
Arthur Snijders, the regional director, and his wife, Annemarie, a church planter in the Netherlands, came up
with the idea for M-Power after they had their own volunteer cross-cultural experience more than two years
ago. At the time she was pastoring and Arthur was the district superintendent for the Netherlands. They spent
their two month sabbatical teaching and training in Bangladesh and also spent time with pastors in India.
"That experience was very positive because we longed to see with our own eyes a country where the Lord
would be at work in a much more powerful way than in our own country," Annemarie said. "We felt like we
were spiritually dry and we needed to experience a fresh touch of the Lord. We visited Bangladesh and that
was a life-transforming experience in the sense that we experienced what it was to be in another culture that
was so different from our own and sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. For the people of Bangladesh, the
solution to nearly every problem was prayer. As a group of leaders, they would go to the person in need to
pray about the situation, and the situation would change. We felt both ashamed, but also the wonder of what it
is to encounter the bride of Christ in other people and places."
Arthur decided to make missionary deployment one of the region's four priorities when he took over as director
in late 2013. Annemarie became the Mobilization coordinator.
"Fortunately there is a team of people to help out because this is so big that we could never do it on our own,"
she said. "It is really something in which we have to work together."
A new regional website, eurasiaregion.org/volunteers, was designed to receive applications from interested
people on the region and match them with possible ministry locations.
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The M-Power team is currently setting up sites that will be ready to receive missionary volunteers from the
region.
"There are several criteria for ministry sites," said Nancy Firestone, Eurasia Region personnel coordinator. "1)
We want people to go into thriving ministry atmospheres where they can have a local person to coach them
and also someone who will mentor them as they develop spiritually and in their service. 2) We want to be sure
the ministry has been well developed and in place long enough to be a help and support.
"In the future we hope we can begin to use M-Power missionaries as church planters and start new work, but
that's a long-term goal and we know it will take a little bit to get there."
Anyone on the region can fill out an application and start the exploration process of becoming a missionary
volunteer. The application is in English, but might be translated in one of the region's major languages, Bangla,
Arabic, Russian, and Hindi.
Positions will be available from three months to more than a year. Those whose applications are approved by
the M-Power team will be required to participate in one of the region's to-be-scheduled cross-cultural
orientation training events that will take place in different places on the region each year. The first training
event is 15-18 May in Büsingen, Switzerland.
Once a person's application is approved and he or she has successfully completed the training and passed
evaluation, he or she will be matched with a ministry location, as well as a coach and a mentor to guide
through the ministry experience and provide emotional and spiritual support.
The candidate will be required to raise all funds necessary to get to and from the location and to live there
during their contracted service. The region will work with each economic situation, attempting to match people
to areas where it is believed they can reasonably raise the funds from their local church, district, or field to go.
There are already two approved sites for short-term missionaries on the Italy District — Catania and Florence or
Rome. District Superintendent Daniel Fink is eager to see missionary volunteers come to work with his district.
"We need people that can encourage us with their presence and prayers and with whatever capacities they
have that can help in our district," Fink said. "I hope and I pray that not only someone will come from outside
and minister in our district, but that our young people and whosoever is willing to become a volunteer will
accept the challenge (to go elsewhere)."
The two other approved sites are in Armenia and Portugal.
"We want to get the message out that we believe every country that is part of the Church of the Nazarene has
people God is calling to cross-cultural ministry," Firestone said. "We know they're being called and we want
them to be our missionaries."
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region
Papua New Guinea nurse honored for lifetime service
Cathy Mia was born on April 12, 1956, in Waramis, a remote village deep in the western highlands of Papua
New Guinea. From an early age, Mia attended a Church of the Nazarene under the ministry of pioneer
missionary William Bromley. She did not attend school because at that time there were no schools in the area.
In 1973, Dr. Glenn Irwin invited Mia to the Kudjip Mission Station, where she assisted in the care of the Irwins'
son, Walter. While on the mission station, missionaries Ruth Irwin and Mona White worked with Mia, teaching
her how to read and write.
One day Dr. Irwin asked Mia if she was interested in nursing. He invited her to the hospital and introduced her
to one of the nurses. As time progressed, Mia began to sense a call to nursing. The Irwins paid Mia's school
fee and she began the nurses training program.
Mia continued to study English with Ruth Irwin while pursuing her nurses training. In 1975, through God's
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strength and provision, Mia completed her training and followed her calling as a nurse, serving with Nazarene
Health Ministries. This was also the year that she was baptized.
"Several years ago we did a staff appreciation," said Dr. Scott Dooley, hospital administrator. "We gave a
bronze medal for those serving 10 years, a silver for those serving 15 years, and gold for those serving 20
years or more. Of course, these weren't real gold, just a way to honor our staff and say thank you for their
service. The day after the celebration, Cathy came to my office in tears. She said, 'I never expected a gold
reward this side of heaven.' In the same way, her retirement party the end of 2014 was a real testimony to a
life of faithful service. She shared about the impact of those early missionaries when she was young, asking
her to join the Community Health Worker Program when she didn't even know how to read. But they believed
in her and helped her believe in what God wanted to do in and through her."
Mia has honored that initial investment with a lifetime of service with Nazarene Health Ministries. While she
may be retiring from nursing, she assures local leaders that this is just a transition, as she plans on continuing
to minister to her family and local church in the Banz Jiwaka Province.
--Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region
BGS appoints interim superintendent for Northern California
General Superintendent David A. Busic announced the appointment of Gary W. Moore as interim
superintendent of the Northern California District.
Moore follows John Calhoun, who resigned to take a position at Point Loma Nazarene University. Moore
begins his assignment February 1 and will serve until a new district superintendent is appointed and in place.
A member of the Sacramento District Advisory Board, Moore previously pastored churches in Nebraska,
Missouri, Kansas, Idaho, California, and Oregon. In addition, he served as a missionary in South Africa,
Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on the Eurasia Region as field strategy coordinator of
Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe. He was also superintendent of the France District.
Moore received a Bachelor of Arts from Pasadena City College and a Master of Divinity from Nazarene
Theological Seminary.
Gary and his wife, LaVonna, reside in Yuba City, California.
Caribbean Nazarene College inaugurates 11th president
Caribbean Nazarene College inaugurated Anthony Manswell as its 11th president in November during a
service in the CNC Chapel. The college is the primary educational institution for the Church of the Nazarene in
the English-speaking Caribbean.
Manswell was elected by the CNC Board of Trustees May 24 with an overwhelming majority vote. He assumed
the role June 1. The inauguration service confirmed the support and encouragement of the constituents and
the international church.
Manswell's immediate family was in attendance, including his wife, Barbara, and children, Kenrick, Kavanah,
Jayedon, and Jerrick. Several brothers and their families were present and additional relatives watched online
via live stream. In his inaugural speech, Anthony mentioned the tremendous impact that his father has had on
his spiritual, character, emotional, and physical development. Unfortunately, he was not able to attend as he is
currently in the USA.
English Field Strategy Coordinator Alphonso Porter chaired the service and prayed for peace, power, and the
presence of the Holy Spirit and for Manswell to fulfill all that God was leading him to do at CNC. Mesoamerica
Regional Education Coordinator Ruben Fernandez and Church of the Nazarene Education Commissioner Dan
Copp gave words of greeting, encouragement, and challenge. Former CNC President Scoffield Eversley and
his wife, Margaret, were also there to pray, support, congratulate, and pass on the Presidential Medallion.
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Manswell outlined four aspects of his vision for the college: educational personal convictions, progressive
educational perspective, viable educational provider, and sustained educational prospective.
He also highlighted the college's spiritual development.
"We must not remove the ancient landmarks," Manswell said. "We are not a secular institution. We offer
holistic education. And we do that in a Christian environment, unashamedly. Note our steeple up at the main
building; it stands for everything Christian!"
His vision for CNC to become Caribbean Nazarene University was met with immediate, thunderous applause.
Manswell's speech challenged all those in attendance to support, contribute, and continue to pray that God
would accomplish His purpose for CNC.
"CNC must engage its students and graduates and faculty and staff in being lifelong learners," he said. "CNC's
graduates must be world leaders and world changers. I have never known Nazarenes and Christians to settle
for mediocrity in service, ministry, and educational pursuits. Our people must continue to have a place where
quality education in various disciplines is taught with truth. These disciplines must be seen as having capacity
to meet service demands within the church and society."
--Caribbean Nazarene College
Missionaries from Extreme Nazarene arrive in Ecuador for training
The first members of the 40/40 church planting team for Córdoba, Argentina, arrived in Quito, Ecuador. The
missionaries will help Extreme Nazarene in its effort to plant churches in South America's large metropolitan
cities.
One missionary from the U.S. and four missionaries from Argentina arrived January 8 in Quito, Ecuador, where
they will be trained over the next several months. Rachel Gilmore, Romina Celeste Calderón, Juan Ricapito,
Ana Garcia, and Damaris Obando make up half of the 40/40 missionary team being deployed to Córdoba,
Argentina. The rest of the 40/40 missionaries will arrive in the next eight weeks. The five missionaries joined
their cluster support family, Aric and Kimberly Bidwell and their three boys, who arrived in Ecuador in July to
learn Spanish.
During their time in Ecuador, the North Americans will learn Spanish at the Nazarene International Language
Institute, and the Argentines will be taking classes at the Nazarene Theological Seminary-South American.
After training in Ecuador and Colombia, the team will move to Córdoba on May 21 to begin planting a church in
the second largest city in Argentina. This is the 83rd church plant with Extreme Nazarene Missions.
For more information about the project or to recommend an applicant, visit extremenazarene.org or contact
Cailyn Wheatley at [email protected].
--Church of the Nazarene South America Region
Related: "Extreme Nazarene starts new Chile church, seeks volunteers"
Southern Florida youth serve through service projects, food drive
More than 150 high school and college students from across the Southern Florida District converged on Lehigh
Acres the weekend of January 23 for a Youth Mission Encounter. Co-sponsored by the district Nazarene
Missions International and Nazarene Youth International, the students worked at a farm, fed the hungry, and
participated in a community outreach event.
Pastor Eric Skelton of the Lehigh Acres Church of the Nazarene and the district Encounter coordinator
arranged for students to perform a multitude of tasks at the nearby Healthy Harvest Community Farms. Youth
harvested crops, planted new ones, prepared new planting areas, built a bamboo grow hut, made mulch, and
installed new irrigation lines.
Healthy Harvest CEO Joe Pearson said the Nazarene youth completed what his regular volunteers would
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normally accomplish in six months. The food generated from the farm is donated to local food banks for
distribution to the needy and hungry.
Later in the afternoon, many of the students transitioned back to the church where the Harry Chapin Mobile
Food Bank set up a food distribution unit. The students did the set-up work and provided assistance to 167
needy families who were given fresh vegetables, bread, rice, beans, and meat.
"Our Encounter provides teens with an opportunity to serve others and to be a Christian witness no matter the
circumstances," Skelton said. "In today's world, it is imperative that our youth be true mission-minded leaders
for our church now and in the future."
The families were invited to a community service later in the day under a large tent on the church property.
Good360 Program donated new coffee makers, bed linens, beverage machines, and other merchandise for
attendees.
District Superintendent Brian Wilson was the speaker for the event. More than 300 were present for the
evangelistic service, which included 120 new families from the community.
"This Encounter was such a moving experience," said Christina Saint Louis, a high school senior from
Indiantown Evangelical Church of the Nazarene. "We were able to see the power of prayer as we asked for
and then experienced a great evangelistic movement. It was so cool to be involved and interact with the people
from the community."
--Church of the Nazarene Southern Florida District via NCN News submissions
NTS sends newest 365M cohort
Nazarene Theological Seminary held its annual sending service January 27 for students preparing to serve
through the seminary's 365M Program. Roger Hahn, NTS dean of the Faculty, shared a message of challenge
and encouragement and General Superintendent Eugénio R. Duarte prayed for the students and their families.
365M is a yearlong global mission experience that couples graduate-level intercultural studies with hands-on
experience in cross-cultural settings around the world. In 365 days, through intensive module classes, online
coursework, and on-the-ground training and mentoring, students earn a 24-credit graduate Diploma in CrossCultural Ministry, while embarking on an experience of a lifetime.
365M Program Director David Wesley opened the sending service.
"The mission nature of God is woven into the DNA of NTS," he said. "This is evident in our curriculum, our
community events, and even in our structure. Today's chapel is one of the ways that we explicitly focus our
attention on the nature of God, who sends. 365M is a robust, contextual learning program in which NTS
students learn within the context of global missions. Today, the NTS community comes together to pray for the
2015 cohort of 365M students that will be leaving in just a few days. We acknowledge those who are sent
through 365M; we acknowledge those who have been sent through 365M in the past; and we acknowledge our
seminary community as a sent community."
This year's cohort of students is the largest in the program's history.
Abigail and John Carr with sons Hosea and Moses; Larne, Northern Ireland
Bailey Daniels; Belfast, Northern Ireland
Kaitlyn Dexter; Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
Sarah Dutra; Brisbane, Australia
Weston Jordan; Brisbane, Australia
April Kerbyson; Wicklow, Republic of Ireland
Daniel Manning; Perth, Scotland
Brianna Thompson; Ardrossan, Scotland
Aisling and Grant Zweigle with sons Graiden and Abram; Manila, Philippines
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To learn more about 365M, visit the NTS website at nts.edu/365M or contact Lynne Bollinger in the 365M
Office at [email protected].
--Nazarene Theological Seminary
In Memoriam
The following is a weekly listing of Nazarene ministers and leaders who recently went home to be with the
Lord. Notices were received January 26-30, 2015.
Beverly (Mangum) Allen, 81, of Louisville, Kentucky, passed away January 25. She served more than 30
years as Kentucky District Nazarene Missions International secretary, in addition to several leadership roles in
her local churches. Most recently a member of the Southern Hills Church of the Nazarene, she is survived by
her husband, Dr. Robert Allen. The Allens' personal ministry included hosting hundreds of missionaries,
pastors, evangelists, and college students in their home over the years.
Rubye Blythe, 91, of Fanning Springs, Florida, passed away January 26. She was the widow of retired
minister and evangelist Ellis Blythe Sr., who served in Florida and Ohio. Ellis Blythe Sr. passed away in 2004.
Eunice (Kendall) Bryant, 96, of Anderson, Missouri, passed away January 27. She was a retired educator
and missionary, serving in Texas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador,
and Peru. She was preceded in death by her husband, Larry Bryant, in 2009. (story)
Audie Mattingly, 94, of Rising Fawn, Georgia, passed away January 26. She was the widow of retired
minister Ralph Mattingly, who served in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Ralph Mattingly passed
away in 2010.
Johnny Price, 71, of Bamberg, South Carolina, passed away January 26. He was pastor of the Bamberg,
South Carolina, Church of the Nazarene. He was preceded in death by his wife, M. Carolyn (Jackson) Price, in
2013.
Priscilla (Nichols) Wheeler, 73, of Shinnston, West Virginia, passed away January 21. She was the wife of
retired minister Bartlett Wheeler, who served in Rhode Island, New York, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, and
Pennsylvania.
For previous editions of In Memoriam, see the "Passings" section on ncnnews.com by clicking here.
Note: Please join with us in prayer for the families who have lost loved ones. Click on names for full stories,
funeral information, local online obituaries, and/or guest books (if available). To submit an entry of a minister or
church leader, send to [email protected].
--Compiled by NCN News
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