“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” -Habakkuk 2:14
Hi friends and family! Will you consider helping me with an important project? I’m leading a team to The Gambia, West Africa for the third time and I need people to partner with me financially. Will you make a donation to our team? The most important thing Christians can do is introduce people to the good news of Jesus Christ that changes everything for the glory of God. We’re working to do that with Servants of Word (SOW), a Biblical training school, to build a residential training center where students from all over Africa will learn to study the Bible correctly, preach it effectively, and develop agricultural skills that will give them self-sufficiency. Pastor Steven M started the school when he moved from Sierra Leone and saw that the Gambia was a strategic location for training West African Christians. The Gambia is a Muslim nation and it’s costly to follow Jesus. There’s very little access to faithful churches or Biblical teaching. Christians need training and discipleship as God brings more people to faith. God is already at work in The Gambia raising up Christian leaders from all over West Africa. We get the privilege of working alongside them.
Each year looks a bit different for our team but we spend time with the Gambian Christians who encourage us more than we encourage them! We work with local children’s programs and do manual labor at the school campus. The first year we worked with the students to prepare the site. We extracted tree stumps, planted new trees, and cleared the land. The next year we moved mountains of bricks for the first dormitory wing. The school campus is now open with a classroom building and dormitory. God is working and the good news of Jesus is being taught! We are giving thanks to God for the 17 students who graduated in December. They are leading or serving in local churches. Our next trip is on 1-9 February. This year we’ll finally be able to work and sleep at the school campus. We’ll attend class with the students and help with the construction of more facilities. Our support of SOW is strategic for the future of Gambian Christians and it would mean a lot to me to have you support my team financially. Our team of 5 is raising £4000. We’ve already raised £1,683 towards our £3,985 target! Now we’re praying for God to send us more supporters. Will you help us? (And will you consider sharing this with others who might be interested?) Your support will affect Christians in the Gambia for many generations. Please let me know if you’re able to make a donation. It’s encouraging to see how God answers prayer! You can email at dustintramel@gmail.com
There are a few ways to donate. If your credit card allows international transactions you can follow this link https://redeemercroydon.churchsuite.co.uk/donate/
Select Gambia 2020 in the drop-down menu.
If you’re based in the US you can support us tax efficiently. It’s very simple and is made possible by Redeemer City to City, an umbrella organization with 501(c)(3) status. You can use a US credit or debit card and receive a tax receipt. Follow this link https://redeemercitytocity.secure.force.com/donate?c=7011N000000jtK3QAI
(Please let me know if you use this method so I can ensure your funds go to the correct account.)
Below, you can check out what God is doing at Servants of the Word
CLICK HERE to see the location of the training school
https://earth.google.com/web/@13.25569724,-16.58029181,19.89758431a,394.01803024d,35y,50.99633917h,0t,0r
CLICK HERE to see a short video introduction to Servants of the Word
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru8dNpfpF4Y
The Doctor Is In
Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Over a year ago I knocked on the door of Dr. S. He's a retired anesthesiologist who's taken up acting in community theatre. He's quite a bit older now with early signs of Alzheimer's. Having spent his life in the UK he's familiar with some of the basics of Christianity but faith had never been important to him. I don't remember much about our conversation. He doesn't have much family left and because of his age he's doesn't get out much.
He had some questions about trusting the Bible. I explained to him how the translation of the Bible worked through the centuries. He was not aware of how many manuscripts we have or that you can see some of them on display at the British Library. I left him with a Gospel booklet and thanked him for the conversation. I've knocked on his door a few other times but he hasn't been in. From the look of his flat on the outside, I eventually concluded he no longer lived there.
Last week, Will and Anny were in the area and knocked on Dr. S's door. This time he was at home. When Will mentioned he was from Redeemer Dr. S. recognised the name and excitedly recalled, in detail, the conversation he had with me. He told them he'd been thinking about it ever since. Will invited him to church and Dr. S. actually showed up. I had a lovely chat with him. Anny brought him some coffee. Dr. S. took notes during the sermon from the Gospel of John and we gave him a Bible to take home. He said he'd be reading the Gospel and thinking about who Jesus is.
God's timing is perfect. He is calling people to himself according to his purpose, according to his timeline, and it's for his glory. We're praying for Dr. S. He's in his 80's. Now is the time for a decision.
Over a year ago I knocked on the door of Dr. S. He's a retired anesthesiologist who's taken up acting in community theatre. He's quite a bit older now with early signs of Alzheimer's. Having spent his life in the UK he's familiar with some of the basics of Christianity but faith had never been important to him. I don't remember much about our conversation. He doesn't have much family left and because of his age he's doesn't get out much.
He had some questions about trusting the Bible. I explained to him how the translation of the Bible worked through the centuries. He was not aware of how many manuscripts we have or that you can see some of them on display at the British Library. I left him with a Gospel booklet and thanked him for the conversation. I've knocked on his door a few other times but he hasn't been in. From the look of his flat on the outside, I eventually concluded he no longer lived there.
Last week, Will and Anny were in the area and knocked on Dr. S's door. This time he was at home. When Will mentioned he was from Redeemer Dr. S. recognised the name and excitedly recalled, in detail, the conversation he had with me. He told them he'd been thinking about it ever since. Will invited him to church and Dr. S. actually showed up. I had a lovely chat with him. Anny brought him some coffee. Dr. S. took notes during the sermon from the Gospel of John and we gave him a Bible to take home. He said he'd be reading the Gospel and thinking about who Jesus is.
God's timing is perfect. He is calling people to himself according to his purpose, according to his timeline, and it's for his glory. We're praying for Dr. S. He's in his 80's. Now is the time for a decision.
To The Ends Of The Earth part 1
How is it that the message of Jesus will reach the ends of the earth?
From before the world began, God’s mission, his plan, has been to bring glory to himself by saving people from their sins. That’s really what the entire Bible is about. And now God’s people, his church, we are active participants in his plan. Jesus has given us work to do.
Jesus says to his followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
God’s method to accomplish his plan, is to use us, his people. He will accomplish his purposes through us. We are called his witnesses. A witness is someone who has seen something true and testifies about it.
We are witnesses that testify about God to the very ends of the earth.
God wants his message to be proclaimed everywhere. He wants his glory to fill the entire earth. I’m sure many of the first Christians wondered how that would be possible. The world is really big. As they began to preach and do the work God called them to, they found they were met with conflict and tension in the mission. The world is big and the mission is dangerous.
A Christian named Stephen becomes the first martyr. He is committed to declaring that Jesus is the saviour of the world. So he’s executed for blasphemy. His death sparks persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem forcing most of them to flee. They meet server opposition. How will this movement continue to the ends of the earth?
2000 years later we know that the movement did continue. Christians are active all over the world because God’s mission was not defeated. The history of this movement continues in the Book of Acts. Chapter 11 shows us how Christianity grows and spreads and how we can join in God’s work today.
As persecution caused the believers to scatter, the story focuses on the Mediterranean city of Antioch.
Acts 11:21 “And the hand of the Lord was with them." A group of anonymous Christians has taken the message of Jesus to this large city. God is with them. His power is working through them. The result is that "a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”
This pattern is all through acts, all through the Bible. God by his power is continuously drawing more and more people to himself. We see it again in 11:23 “When Barnabas came to Antioch he saw the grace of God." Lives were being changed, sins were being forgiven. All this was a confirmation of God’s work. In 11:24, God worked through Barnabas and “A great many people were added to the Lord” This is God’s work. This is God’s plan. God gets glory when he saves people from their sins. So His kingdom is always increasing, always growing
What is the growth? The growth is people! God loves to save people and add them to his kingdom. The kingdom is always growing. And it's God who is causing it to grow.
How is it that the message of Jesus will reach to the ends of the earth? The message will travel, person to person, by the work of God's people. Despite opposition, danger, and death, God stirs passion and vision deep in the hearts of his people that causes them to go.
From before the world began, God’s mission, his plan, has been to bring glory to himself by saving people from their sins. That’s really what the entire Bible is about. And now God’s people, his church, we are active participants in his plan. Jesus has given us work to do.
Jesus says to his followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
God’s method to accomplish his plan, is to use us, his people. He will accomplish his purposes through us. We are called his witnesses. A witness is someone who has seen something true and testifies about it.
We are witnesses that testify about God to the very ends of the earth.
God wants his message to be proclaimed everywhere. He wants his glory to fill the entire earth. I’m sure many of the first Christians wondered how that would be possible. The world is really big. As they began to preach and do the work God called them to, they found they were met with conflict and tension in the mission. The world is big and the mission is dangerous.
A Christian named Stephen becomes the first martyr. He is committed to declaring that Jesus is the saviour of the world. So he’s executed for blasphemy. His death sparks persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem forcing most of them to flee. They meet server opposition. How will this movement continue to the ends of the earth?
2000 years later we know that the movement did continue. Christians are active all over the world because God’s mission was not defeated. The history of this movement continues in the Book of Acts. Chapter 11 shows us how Christianity grows and spreads and how we can join in God’s work today.
As persecution caused the believers to scatter, the story focuses on the Mediterranean city of Antioch.
Acts 11:21 “And the hand of the Lord was with them." A group of anonymous Christians has taken the message of Jesus to this large city. God is with them. His power is working through them. The result is that "a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”
This pattern is all through acts, all through the Bible. God by his power is continuously drawing more and more people to himself. We see it again in 11:23 “When Barnabas came to Antioch he saw the grace of God." Lives were being changed, sins were being forgiven. All this was a confirmation of God’s work. In 11:24, God worked through Barnabas and “A great many people were added to the Lord” This is God’s work. This is God’s plan. God gets glory when he saves people from their sins. So His kingdom is always increasing, always growing
What is the growth? The growth is people! God loves to save people and add them to his kingdom. The kingdom is always growing. And it's God who is causing it to grow.
How is it that the message of Jesus will reach to the ends of the earth? The message will travel, person to person, by the work of God's people. Despite opposition, danger, and death, God stirs passion and vision deep in the hearts of his people that causes them to go.
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