Printable Top Stories (PDF)

January 16, 2015
Volume 1502
Senior Editor: Frank M. Moore
Managing Editor: Chad E. Schnarr
Associate Editor: Sarah A. Glass
NCN News
Top Stories for the week of January 16, 2015
MNU student killed in traffic accident
The MidAmerica Nazarene University community is deeply saddened by the loss of Quincy Foster, a junior
nursing major who passed away on January 1.
Foster was the victim of a traffic accident in icy conditions near Wichita, Kansas.
A vibrant member of the Pioneer community, Foster was formerly on the women's soccer team, a resident
assistant in Spindle Residence Hall, a student worker in the Registrar's office, and a recent member of a
summer student SERVEteam.
Vitally involved in MNU's Passion to Serve project in Haiti, Quincy's career goals included weaving her passion
for missions into her nursing career by being a nurse, a missionary, or both. Family members said she loved
mission trips because she loved people and she loved God. Haiti held a special place in her heart and she was
looking forward to an upcoming School of Nursing mission trip to Guatemala with immense anticipation.
MNU President David Spittal expressed condolences to the family and all of Quincy's friends.
"Our hearts are broken," Spittal said. "We seek the healing presence of the Christ Quincy loved and served
with passion."
University Chaplain Randy Beckum held a campus-wide memorial for Quincy on Tuesday, January 13 during
the university's first chapel service of the new semester.
Quincy is the daughter of Jonathan and Johnna Foster, pastors of the Mission Church of the Nazarene in
Overland Park, Kansas, and alumni of MNU. She is the niece of MNU employees Jon North and Cindy Foster
and the cousin of several MNU students.
Campus counselors are available to assist students in this time of grief. The following link connects students
with the grief counseling team.
A visitation was held January 5 and the funeral took place January 6, both at College Church of the Nazarene
in Olathe.
The Quincy Foster Memorial Fund at MNU has been established to help fund the efforts of future nurses and
students to take mission trips. This fund will help accomplish Quincy's life-long goal of serving. The giving site
is connect.mnu.edu/give. (Select the "other" giving designation and write in Quincy Foster)
Prayer is requested for the Foster and MNU families.
--MidAmerica Nazarene University
Philippines church feeds 1,000 children
Each Saturday, Taytay First Church of the Nazarene strives to have a special lunch for neighborhood children
who might otherwise go without. This Christmas the church decided to take its lunch program to a new height
by feeding and ministering to 1,000 children.
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Several weeks before Christmas, church members were challenged to become involved through giving and
volunteering.
"When we first arrived at the designated covered ball court in the middle of the barangay, there weren't very
many people there," said Connie Aebischer, regional Nazarene Missions International coordinator. "Over a
short period of time, the children began pouring in accompanied by their parents."
Youth from Taytay First Church's Generation Congregation joined with church members, Asia-Pacific
Nazarene Theological Seminary students, barangay (neighborhood) government officials, and local Jollibee
Restaurant employees to help facilitate the day's events.
As the children were seated, the children's version of the JESUS film was shown in the local language. Eyes
were riveted to the screen as the story of Jesus' ministry and death was portrayed.
"I have been participating in showing of the JESUS film for many years," said Todd Aebischer, Asia-Pacific
regional communications coordinator. "I am always moved by the incredible impact that this story has on the
children. It is a story that never becomes old. It is a story of the greatest gift that anyone could ever receive at
Christmas."
While nearly 1,000 children were fed physical food, they were also served something so much greater: the
story of the love of Christ, available to anyone who is willing to receive it.
--Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region
goTandem enables free church apps
Pew Research states 90 percent of American adults have a cell phone, and 58 percent of those are
smartphones. Church leaders continue to engage technology as a tool to help people draw closer to Christ.
To help in this endeavor, Back to the Bible's goTandem app allows every Church of the Nazarene
congregation to have its own mobile app at no cost to the individual church. goTandem is a free mobile app
that discovers the users' spiritual needs and then delivers personalized biblical content to help the user grow
closer to Jesus.
goTandem is based on the results of a seven-year study by the Center for Bible Engagement of more than
100,000 people from 20 countries. This research showed the greatest spiritual growth among those who
engaged the Bible four or more times a week. Back to the Bible created goTandem to help believers and nonbelievers conveniently engage the Bible on a daily basis.
App users have experienced positive growth. Currently, half of new goTandem users don't engage the Bible on
a daily basis, but after a few months using the app, 83 percent engage their Bible four or more times a week.
In October 2014, the app launched its white label, which allows ministries to have their own app powered by
goTandem's technology. Ministries will know where their members are spiritually and can measure how they
are growing and disciple users on a daily basis. Representatives from Back to the Bible will have an exhibit
and conduct a workshop at the M15 conference (February 9-11) in Kansas City, Missouri.
For more information about goTandem, visit gotandem.com, email [email protected], or call toll
free at 888-243-2767.
--Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International
Maryland church provides alcohol-free hangout through Connections Café
Do you need to be drinking to have a good time? To socialize? At the Upper Room Connections Café, they
think not.
"Where do you go to meet people? You go to a bar. And for a lot of people, that's just not where they want to
be or what they want to do," said Terri Palmer.
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Palmer is one of the founders of the Connections Café, an alcohol-free option for Friday nights, hosted by
Hollywood Church of the Nazarene.
"We're a late-night weekend venue," said co-founder Craig Haskell. "We have a bar-like atmosphere where
you can shoot pool, listen to music, hang out, and have that social bar feel. We just don't serve alcohol, that's
all."
While it is hosted at the church, the even is intended for the community as a whole.
"We make it so it's not in your face," Palmer said. "We are still a religious establishment, but it's the first thing
we're talking about. We're not going to be pulling out the Bible; we're not going to be Bible-thumping."
The event is intended to cater to a wide variety of ages and audiences.
"It benefits people who might have a history with alcohol and need a social place to go, but it's not just geared
to that," Haskell said. "It's also geared to people who are just trying to get away from the alcohol."
In addition to being alcohol-free, the café is completely free of charge. They do have a jar for donations, but
there is no obligation.
"A lot of people will go to a local restaurant for karaoke or something, but of course when you go to those
places you have to spend money," said Junell Zambrano, Haskel's fiancée and a regular at the café. "For
some people it's like, 'Do I have money to go hang out tonight?' whereas we are providing a venue where
people can come, have a great time, and kick it with new people without worrying about spending $50 or
$100."
One frequent feature of the Connections Café is live music.
"We have either someone booked to do a set or we'll have people get up and do some song as more of an
open-mic night," Haskell said. "A lot of people just feel free to bring their instruments in. The idea is just to be a
venue."
In addition to having musicians, they often stream football games or show movies. Sometimes they even book
special performances like stand-up comedian Matt Merchant, an L.A.-based entertainer who is originally from
the area.
"I already feel like a regular," Merchant said after one performance at the Connections Café. "It's warm and
very inviting; everybody is very supportive. The aspect that I have to use only clean material is a fun new
challenge, but to have people here who just want to be here and are enjoying themselves is great."
In addition to entertainment, the café offers free refreshments for guests.
"We always serve food," Palmer said. "Also anything that's alcoholic, like piña coladas or strawberry daiquiris,
we make non-alcoholic. I'm a bartender, sort of … the dry bartender. We can even do mudslides without the
booze."
Currently the café has an average of about 30 attendants, but the numbers continue to grow.
"There really isn't anywhere else in the area that does something like this," Haskell said. "So as word has been
spreading, we've been having really good reactions and a lot of new people are checking it out."
"It doesn't matter if people come here for the first time or if they've been coming here for a while," Zambrano
said. "We treat everyone like family, and everyone is welcome."
The Upper Room Connections Café is open every Friday night starting at 6:30 p.m. For more information,
contact Palmer at 301-844-8082 or visit the community calendar at some.com for weekly updates.
--Republished with permission from The County Times
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Biswas to lead South Asia Field
Editor's note: As Hermann Gschwandtner retires from decades of ministry in the Church of the Nazarene, most
recently as field strategy coordinator for the South Asia Field, he turns over leadership to Sukamal Biswas,
with whom he has worked closely in developing the church in Bangladesh for the past 20 years. This article
looks at Sukamal's testimony and his leadership in the church, as well as his thoughts looking forward to this
new role of leadership in the field. We will share about Gschwandtner's ministry in an upcoming edition of
Where Worlds Meet, the Eurasia Region's newsletter.
As a 15-year-old boy, Sukamal Biswas left home with just $1 in his pocket because his family was unable to
continue providing for his education. It took two days for him to travel to Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh,
from his tiny village where he had grown up learning farming from his parents.
His parents were strong Christians but Biswas had not yet accepted Christ.
In Dhaka, he spent several days roaming the streets before he met an American Baptist missionary who
allowed him to sleep in the church.
"That night, I started reading my Bible. In Isaiah 53, I saw 'We all, like sheep, have gone astray,'" he recalled.
"I'm alone and I'm crying. I am a 15-year-old boy caring for myself. That night I surrendered to Jesus to save
me and give me right direction. That's the turning point of my life."
After accepting Christ, one day Biswas saw a local Christian pastor. The pastor was wearing a nice shirt and
nice pants from a famous brand and a good pair of shoes. Biswas had never had nice clothes; his family was
too poor. He had never seen branded clothing. Biswas thought that if he became a pastor, he would also be
able to wear nice clothes. So he told the missionary that he wanted to be a pastor. The missionary said he
would need to graduate college and then go to seminary before he could be a pastor.
Determined, Biswas finished college and then went on to seminary. He was appointed by a Christian mission
to be a traveling evangelist, planting churches in different villages. He found he was gifted in the work, and
although the job did not provide a high income or security, he developed a passion for sharing Jesus with the
people.
"I found that a lot of people, like me, really need to see the hope for life, hope for their salvation; somebody
needs to tell them and I really feel the strong feeling that I'm the person to tell the people the love of Christ and
the good news of the gospel," he said. "Then I responded, 'Here I am, God; send me.'"
It was no longer about nice clothes but a divine calling to give people hope in Jesus Christ.
Eventually, through prayer and seeking God's lead, he felt a particular call to social work and applied to
various nongovernmental organizations. He married a nurse, Rina, who supported his calling. After many
years of unemployment, he finally got a job cleaning classrooms for a nonprofit's school. Seeing the needs of
the impoverished children, he remembered his own childhood and developed a vision to help poor children.
Over time, he was promoted repeatedly until he was in a top management position.
Then, in the early 1990s, two Nazarene leaders visited Bangladesh at the invitation of a local Christian who
wanted to see the denomination enter the country. Biswas was at that meeting and had numerous questions
about the denomination's beliefs and practices. He was accompanied by fellow worker, Vanu. They agreed to
file the paperwork to register the church with the government.
The regional leaders decided to open work in Bangladesh through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and
led by local leaders instead of foreign missionaries. The strategy depended heavily on Biswas and Vanu to
carry out the work. Biswas, who came to appreciate Nazarene doctrines and beliefs, decided to join the
church. He developed a strategy to plant churches through compassionate ministries — particularly to children
— and theJESUS film, with the intention to start the work in Bangladesh without a single penny of foreign
funds. He wanted the churches to start out with a sense of self-dependence rather than dependency on
donations from overseas.
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Hermann Gschwandtner, then leader of NCM in South Asia, said that Biswas' strategy to make the new church
self-sustaining from the beginning had never been tried in the history of the denomination. But it worked.
Today there are more than 3,000 congregations in Bangladesh and more than 700 licensed pastors. Biswas
served as district superintendent of Bangladesh before it split into three districts in 2010; he then continued to
help provide leadership for the districts and Bangladesh Nazarene Mission, a compassionate ministry.
As Gschwandtner retires from his role as field strategy coordinator for the South Asia Field, of which
Bangladesh is a part, Biswas is stepping into the role.
"The secret about growth is to involve others into my thinking," Biswas said. "When I see the dream, my role is
as a dreamer to insert my dream to my inner circle and outer circle, then my dream becomes their dream.
"In my present role as field strategy coordinator, I would like to respect my other leaders — the district
superintendents, the leaders in the other countries (of the South Asia Field). I am not a person to do by myself
everything. My role will be the facilitator, facilitating the church growth and church planting and evangelism; to
empower the indigenous leader. And at the same time, help the leaders to carry the gospel into areas and
places where it has not been brought so far."
Hermann has worked closely with Biswas over the past 20 years.
"He has an incredible skill of finding and implementing systems that work," Hermann said. "He is definitely a
person who is ready to challenge the borders or the limits doing extraordinary things. He's a person that really
knows in his society how to work with the people. And of course an extremely dedicated person. He is a
person who really has a compassionate heart. He really cares for people."
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region
New leader for Eastern Mediterranean Field
Editor's note: Khalil Halaseh is stepping into the role of field strategy coordinator for the Eastern Mediterranean
Field. He is taking over for Lindell Browning, who has served as FSC for 22 years and in the field as a ministry
leader for more than 35 years.
A field strategy coordinator provides leadership, strategic vision, and direction to the districts and local
churches located within a field. The Eurasia Region has seven fields.
Halaseh shared his testimony and ministry experience in the Eurasia Region's newsletter, Where Worlds Meet.
We will look back over Lindell and Kay Browning's years of service in an upcoming issue of Where Worlds
Meet as they move toward retirement.
In 1988, Khalil Halaseh was a troubled 16-year-old in Amman, Jordan. He'd grown up in a family that practiced
no faith and had little interest in the Bible or church. He was involved in street fights and developed a negative
reputation. He was expelled from school, and people began to reject him because of his behavior. He was
jailed three different times.
Sitting in the jail the third time, he prayed to God, "Lord, I don't know you, but if you take me out of here, I
promise to give you my life." He also promised that if someone beat him again, he would turn the other cheek.
Two weeks later, his uncle, very concerned about his nephew, bailed him out of the jail and had a serious talk
with him. Although his uncle was not religious, he mentioned to Halaseh a youth party he'd heard about at the
Al Ashrafiyeh Nazarene Church. Halaseh decided to go, but arrived only at the end of the event.
A young man from the church approached Halaseh and began talking with him, even inviting him to a church
picnic. Others also reached out to the visitor.
"I felt, 'Wow, it's a good environment. I like it,'" Halaseh said.
Halaseh brought two friends with him to the picnic. Despite the three teenagers' reputations, everyone
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accepted them and welcomed them with open arms. A woman sat and talked with him for two hours and said
the church would love to have him be a part. Deeply impressed by the showers of kindness, he approached
the pastor.
"I said, 'I saw the people at the picnic and I need to be like them.' [The pastor] said, 'You have to repent if you
want to be Christian.' I prayed with him and I felt I am happy; there is something starting in my life I can't
explain," Halaseh said.
Halaseh began to experience a deep thirst for the Bible. Instead of his previous habit of going out all evening
on the street or to the theater, he began staying in his room to read. The sudden change in his behavior
worried his parents, who called a therapist to examine him. The therapist assured his parents that he was fine,
so they allowed him to continue reading and attending church.
After about two months, Halaseh began to share Jesus with his parents. First his mother came to Christ, then
his brother, next his sister, and finally his father. More family members followed.
Passionate about sharing Jesus with others, Halaseh made a sign that said "Nazarene church" and put it on
the door of his home and began inviting neighbors and friends for Bible study and prayer meetings, during
which time he shared his testimony with people.
The pastor, observing all this, told Halaseh he was exhibiting the natural gifts of an evangelist, and he provided
space in the church for Halaseh to begin developing leadership skills and gaining experience.
In 1991, Halaseh studied with Eastern Mediterranean Nazarene Bible College, where his eyes were opened to
all he still needed to learn and ways that his life still needed to be transformed in Christ. During a chapel
service that told the story of God calling Abraham out of his homeland to travel to a new promised land,
Halaseh recognized God's call to ministry on his life, and he embraced it.
His pastor and family supported his move to a theological school in Lebanon run by the Anderson Church of
God denomination where he graduated in 1995. He returned to Amman to serve as a youth pastor at the Al
Ashrafieh Nazarene Church. When the pastor was called to another church, he decided Halaseh should take
over as the lead pastor. From 1996 to the present, the church grew from about 50 people to between 400 and
500 people. The congregation has an active ministry to about 600 refugee families.
Over the years, Halaseh became involved with the John Maxwell Equip ministry, where he serves as a
facilitator and an associate trainer in four countries. Halaseh has also led Evangelism Explosion for 20 Arab
countries and is the pastor for a sports ministry in the Middle East. He is a volunteer with Willow Creek
Community Church on the organization's advisory board. For several years, he helped to organize a Nazarene
Pentecost service in Jordan that attracted up to 3,000 believers for prayer.
Halaseh is stepping down from Equip and Evangelism Explosion in order to focus more fully on his new FSC
role.
He has become passionate about not only evangelism, but also training leaders and pastors.
"His skill in leadership development is one thing that will really unite [the field]," said Lindell Browning, who is
retiring from serving as the field strategy coordinator for the Eastern Mediterranean Field more than 22 years.
"He is very intentional in building a team … hopefully he'll be able to reach out to the whole team on the field.
He's able to travel to some areas I couldn't travel to. He's got a wonderful passion for the Lord. He's very
passionate about evangelism, no matter who the people are."
Halaseh accepts leadership during a challenging time for the Middle East, but he believes that God has given
the Church in the Middle East a mighty task and great opportunity in the midst of ongoing civil war, political
turmoil, persecution, and subsequent mass displacement of people.
"I can see what is happening now in the Middle East as an opportunity for the Church to rise up and shine
Jesus," he said. "There are many who are fallen in the hands of the robbers and we are like the Samaritan
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whom God has send to help. I believe that the Church is found for such a time as this. There is no better time
for the Christian to show love for those who do not love them, and to live like Jesus, because many in the
Middle East are trying to find solutions away from what they used to believe. Jesus said, 'open your eyes the
harvest is ready'; we just need to ask the Lord to send workers for the harvest."
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region
Eurasia NYI receives new leader
Editor's note: Diego Lopez of Manchester, United Kingdom, was selected this month to serve as coordinator
for the Eurasia Region's Nazarene Youth International. In this role, Lopez will lead the regional NYI council,
develop young leaders, and provide strategic vision for building and expanding NYI across the diverse cultures
and contexts of the Eurasia Region. He shared his testimony and experience with Where Worlds Meet, as well
as his vision for the future of NYI.
Diego Lopez was a teenager in Colombia when he began to experience bullying. To defend himself effectively,
he began to study and practice Tae Kwon Do, a self-defense martial art. The discipline increased his selfconfidence, which repelled the bullies. He earned a black belt and participated in competitions.
Around that time, some of the teens he had hung around with began going to a local church and accepting
Christ. Lopez was intrigued with the dramatic change that took place in them and wanted to see the church for
himself, so he began attending. The people accepted him just as he was, and soon he accepted Christ for
himself.
He quickly joined in the church's street evangelism activities, which he enjoyed and found himself naturally
effective in leading people to Christ.
While still a teen, he moved to Barcelona, Spain, and joined the Nazarene church there. He tried to continue
what he knew about evangelism, but in the Spanish-European cultural context, it didn't work. He realized the
people were skeptical of what he had to say about Christ and the gospel. He began to feel a need for
theological education.
Lopez attended a Nazarene Youth Congress in Guadalajara in 2003, where he met many Nazarene youth
from different cultures, including some from England. One suggested that he move to Manchester to learn
English so he would be qualified to study at European Nazarene College, which requires English proficiency in
all of its students.
He did just that, learning English in Manchester while getting involved in Longsight Community Church of the
Nazarene, which embraced him, providing him unconditional support. When he was proficient in English, he
relocated to Büsingen, Germany, to study for a two-year Christian Ministry Certificate from EuNC.
After graduation, he felt called back to Longsight, so he returned to Manchester and joined the church's
leadership team as an intern while pursuing and graduating with a Bachelor in Theology from Nazarene
Theological College-Manchester. After graduation, he took a part-time co-pastoring job at Longsight. His other
job for the next five years was as a staff member at M13, a parachurch youth ministry that deploys youth
pastors to the streets of the urban center to work with youth who have complex issues. He has also worked
with local social service councils to teens who come from domestic abuse or other troubled situations.
Lopez is passionate about ministering among youth.
"I think it's a very important time in young people's life; 13 to 19 is a time when you form your political views,
your religious views; it’s a key time of transformation," he said. "Understanding it from within is very
important."
As the new Eurasia Region NYI leader, Lopez has a vision for the regional council to provide leadership and
strategic direction for the field and district and local NYI leaders, as well as to listen to ideas and strategies
from the local church.
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"I think whatever we do [regionally] in leadership needs to reflect all the way to the local church," he said. "The
most effective way is to create an effective line of communication from field representatives to NYI presidents
to local leaders to anyone who just walks into a local church. NYI everywhere [should have] the same theology
and ethos. It will look different in every country and context, but it should reflect the same passions and
Wesleyan theology. I think effective communication throughout the systems is very important, and we can do
so by engaging with new technology and social media."
Diego is married to Palmira, an accounting assistant; he will continue part-time with Longsight and M13.
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region
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 12-16, 2015.
E. Drell Allen, 97, of North Richland, Texas, passed away January 11. He was a retired minister, chaplain,
and educator, serving in Michigan, Alberta, Minnesota, and Tennessee. He is survived by his wife, Geraldine
Allen. (story)
William Chambers Jr., 95, of Homestead, Florida, passed away December 25. He was a retired minister and
chaplain, serving in Florida. He is survived by his wife, Venetia Chambers.
Cora (Osborne) Konkle, 97, of Anderson, Indiana, passed away January 10. She was the widow of retired
minister Donald Konkle, who served in Indiana, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. Donald Konkle passed away in
1991. She was also preceded in death by her first husband, Clarence "Tude" Cotton.
Betty Martin, 90, of Hartford City, Indiana, passed away January 8. She was the widow of retired minister
Jesse Martin, who served in Indiana. Jesse Martin passed away in 2004.
James Sherman, 82, of Nashville, Michigan, passed away January 12. He was a retired minister, serving in
Illinois and Michigan. He was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Sherman, in 2011.
Wesley Weber, 57, of Corvallis, Oregon, passed away January 13. He was the husband of Katy Weber, who
is the Oregon Pacific District children's ministry director.
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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