As we look ahead to the next event the Lord has put on our calendar to spread the gospel and build the church on a biblical foundation we are amazed at how God plans our path in this endeavor.  So we share below the itinerary and prayer requests for the next trip from February 16 to March 18th.

• February 16th to 19th - Travel to New Delhi - time to acclimate and make contacts.  Pray for safety, rest and God's sustaining hand on us in all our travels.
• February 20th to 24th, New Delhi, India for meetings with an international ministry.  Pray for God's wisdom and the Spirit's leading as vision for effective missions is shared.
• February 25 to 28th - Travel from New Delhi to Myanmar via Bangkok
• February 29th to March 2nd - Meeting with the Karen Baptists in Livingstone, 5 hrs. from Yangon.  Pray for the Lord's leading as they work through the CPM and are led to implement these principles in their own settings and culture.  (A NOTE OF PRAISE - 1000 copies of GPCP were printed and will be dedicated by local church leaders January 30th).
• March 4th & 5th - Meetings at the Karen Baptist Theological Seminary.  Pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit and the igniting of an indigenous work that will spread rapidly.
• March 6th to 8th - Meetings with Burmese Church leaders.  This is the result of a new contact from a Burmese brother in Australia.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in a special way with this group.  This opportunity is one that God has brought our way, but He must bring the fruit out of their time together.
• March 9th to 11th - Travel to Bangkok for rest and refreshment with the Lord.
• March 12th to 15th - GPCP meeting with Karen Refugees on the Thailand/Myanmar border.  We have prayed for some time that this opportunity would happen.  Pray for open hearts with good soil that the Spirit can use in whatever direction He chooses.  Also pray for special needs for the brother who has arranged this meeting.
• March 16th to 18th - Travel back to Bangkok and preparation for the long trip home.

We praise the Lord that each of these meetings.  It makes us sense the urgency in Paul's words when he closed his letter to Colossae, "...pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ" (4:3).

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is traditional at the beginning of a "New Year" to preach a sermon on "new beginnings", or "new resolutions", or some other slant on the New Year that we think will help people do better this year than they did last year.  But let me ask you; is this really a biblical idea?

As I review Jesus in the gospels, Paul and Peter's letters, I see a very different challenge for us.  All three challenge us to examine our foundation.  What good is a 'New Years Resolution' if our foundation is faulty or we build with the wrong material?  Let's look first at Jesus' words.

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus presents a wise man and a foolish man.  The wise man "built his house on the rock".  We know that Jesus is referring to Himself as that rock.  The foolish man "built his house on the sand", unstable, shifting material.  In both cases, Jesus points to one outlook for both - a storm that will test our house and will reveal what we have done in the building process.  But there are two different outcomes.  The house of the wise man did not fall because he laid a 'rock-solid' foundation.  His future was sure because of that "one decision".  The house of the foolish man fell because he built on ideas, methods of men, traditions of man, and not on biblical truth.

Paul approaches this issue a little differently but with the same test and results.  In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 he says that "...no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."  What he is really saying is that Jesus Christ is the only foundation and anyone trying to lay a foundation other than Him is not laying any foundation.  Paul takes this challenge further by saying "Let each one take care how he builds..."! (3:10-11).  If we are not building on the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be sure that a test will come - fire will either purify what we have built with or it will be destroyed.  (See also Galatians).

Peter points to one stone, the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8).  There are some who will reject this stone and "stumble" over what God has laid and chosen.  But for those who believe in Christ and choose Him as their foundation, they become a "living stone...built up as a spiritual house...a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God..." (2:5).  Rejecting God's chosen foundation results in judgment (2 Peter 2).

In all three references, the issue is whether Christ is the only foundation of our lives and ministries.  Then the question is; what are we building on that one foundation.  If we build with anything of man, it will fall and be destroyed.  There is a big difference between 'man's resolutions' and the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer.  We may need to return to our foundations and make sure they are the right ones.  Jesus said to Ephesus, "...repent, and do the works you did at first" (Revelation 2:5).

My desire for this year is that you will make sure to build on Jesus Christ, nothing else!  If there is bad material, repentance will remove it.  The Holy Spirit will help you build so you will never be ashamed.

"We need to move from self-sufficiency to Christ's sufficiency.  Humility is the key to the door of Christ's sufficiency."  by Patrick Fung, Live to be Forgotten - D. E. Hoste, China Inland Mission

_By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
BARKIN LADI, NIGERIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that Fulani Muslim herdsmen along with Muslim soldiers have killed at least 45 ethnic Berom Christians in Plateau state in the past week, Christians in this northern-central Nigerian town said. Shocking scene of Christians burned alive in Nigeria's central Plateau in a recent incident 
(Photo: AllVoices) Smaller attacks beginning on Nov. 20, reportedly over allegations by Fulani Muslims of cattle theft, preceded an attack on a Barkin Ladi church on Wednesday (Nov. 23) that killed four Christians, and an assault the next day left 35 Christians dead in Barkin Ladi and nearby Kwok village, according to area Christian leaders. CDN went on to say that attendance at church services was decimated yesterday as thousands of Christians have left the area. In the attack on Thursday (Nov. 24), the Fulani Muslims were shouting "Allahu Akbar [God is greater]," said farmer Choji Pamjamo, 51. David Gyang, 51, an elder for the Church of Christ in Nigeria Barkin Ladi church, said Muslims set off a religious crisis by attacking Christians at the church site on Wednesday night (Nov. 23) and then launching the major offensive the next morning.. "Some of the Christian victims in this attack that I know include a Christian police officer, one Mr. Bulus, who is the station officer of the Barkin Ladi police station," Gyang said. "He was inside his house on that day, and these Muslims broke the walls of his room and went inside to kill him and his son." Sources told Compass that along with 26 Christians killed in Kwok village, nine were killed in the attack on Barkin Ladi. Compass found that the area attacks on Christians began Nov. 20 with the killing of three Christians outside Barkin Ladi, and then two Christians in the town were killed on Nov. 21. The next day, a Christian was beheaded behind a popular hotel in the town known as the White House, sources said. For more information, please go to: www.compassdirect.org
Comment by Tim, Go and Reconcile Ministries:
How can we continue to look on from the sidelines to the 100 million plus killed in Africa, mostly brothers and sisters in Christ? Six million dead in the Congo, six million Christians murdered, raped, and starved or take Sudan, two million Christians have been killed by Muslims, or how about having the highest mortality rates in the world and could go on and on, not to mention the suffering women which broke my heart when there.

Though billions in aid has been sent from the West, the aid itself is now seen as part of the systemic problem that keeps Africa and the church from moving forward. Africa is an object lesson and a case study of all the things you should not do both the global world powers and the Church. In our effort to fix the mess which we helped make, the global community and church has flooded the continent with foreign funds and resources, thereby destroying local markets and creating ongoing dependency and corruption. We must learn from our mistakes and seek or should I say, "desire" the most effective strategies for the establishment of self-supporting and self-propagating church planting movements. Unfortunately, there are still mission organizations and churches that continue to promote the same mission strategies that created dependency and corruption not only in the African Church but all over Asia, like India. Please read all about the situation in Africa at   www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/current  Your heart will break but you will also have renewed hope in what our Savior is doing today in and through those who are willing to change.

There is a glimmer of hope as we teach and see a few return to a biblical model of church planting and growth not dependent on money and the West which often, with sincerity and good motivates, teach how to do God's work without the Holy Spirit. We know, yes, we know enough now about what God uses to create and sustain these Church Planting Movements. (See David Garrisons book :Church Planting Movements) The question, do we really believe this or not?

Brothers and Sisters, the facts do not lie. I must admit that at times I get so frustrated when you cannot even get others to even talk about this as a problem in India or Africa let alone to start trying to discover a solution. It is a new day, Habakkuk 1:5 is being fulfilled before our very eyes. The earth is filling with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord 2:14. Let us join our Father who is at work all around us. Lord, give us a broken heart for particularly Africa. How can we continue any longer by the sidelines watching our brothers and sisters be destroyed simply because they do not have oil. Anyway, we press on entrusting ourselves to Him Who is faithful and Who WILL build His Church. In Our Savior's Love, Tim

I just wanted to share a video that was put together by Butch Ewing of Macedonia Baptist Church.  Thanks to Butch and Tim!!

Opportunity: The best way to describe the upcoming God's Plan for Church Planting (GPCP) meeting in Turkey is like flinging Brer Rabbit into "dat brier-patch."  As you know, the manual thrives in a persecuted environment because it teaches a biblical model that enables the church to grow and expand in the midst of persecution, opposition and poverty.  What does Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria have in common? The church in these countries is faced with Islamic persecution and opposition. Therefore, this meeting provides a very strategic opportunity.   

Praise:  Praise our Lord for my dear brother and friend Hanna for completing the publishing of the Arabic GPCP, fully funded, and for organizing this meeting, not yet fully funded. I am also thankful for his leadership in encouraging these key leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Algeria to read and complete the manual. Lord willing, these leaders who have worked diligently for many hours will be ready for the workshop in Istanbul, Turkey, December 5 - 10, 2011 (See Hanna's Email Below). This is one of the GREATEST opportunities we have ever had.   

Prayer: Please pray for the Holy Spirit to work powerfully and for our Savior and Head to be honored and glorified in His Bride in the Middle East and North Africa through these indigenous leaders. Concerning the Arabic GPCP meeting in Turkey, Hanna and I are looking to the Lord to supply the necessary funds for their room, board and travel. While this is quite costly, it is still much more economical and practical than me personally traveling into these countries. Please pray for this provision.       

Manual Need: Also pray for our Lord to replenish the Burmese and Khmer manuals,  #1000 Burmese (Myanmar) and #3000 Khmer (Cambodia). The cost is $1300 and $3000 respectively. In both of these countries, God is using this tool to grow and expand His Church (see attached pictures from Burma). Incidentally, I could almost daily send out reports of God using this tool (GPCP) to grow and expand His Church throughout the world through indigenous leaders, without our presence.  As I ponder these needs, the Turkey workshop and manuals, I am reminded of Paul's words in Philippians:  "Not that I seek the gift but I seek the fruit that increase to your credit."      


Hanna's Email: The venue is at a hotel about 50 klm from Istanbul. I will send further details in the next few days once we have the final tally. The countries represented will be Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria. We will meet from 9 AM every morning till about 1 PM, break for lunch then meet again at 3 Pm until 6 or 7 PM and break for the evening. We will do that Monday through Friday. Because we will be far from the city, we will not leave time for shopping. I look to you to lead our sessions. I will co-chair it with you and help with translation etc. By the way, I just learned that we have another 35 ministers and our volunteer staff in Egypt who have either completed the study of the CPM or are completing it. But we will not invite this huge number to Turkey. We will conduct a separate seminar for them in Egypt sometime next year, Lord willing. God is at work and will be glorified in His church even in the Middle East Hanna   "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever Amen"  Tim

This morning I read from Colossians 2:1-5 where Paul says that he had a "great struggle...for those in Laodicea" (v.1).  This is very interesting considering what Jesus said to this church in Revelation 3.  There was a clear and powerful purpose behind Paul's attitude.  He wanted their "hearts...to be encouraged,...knit together in love."  But that was only part of his purpose.  He was struggling because he wanted them to "reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery." (v.2).  Let's think about what this means for us.  We can't possibly settle into a complacent attitude and at the same time achieve this purpose in us.  Let this be FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

Dear Servants of our Lord,

Last month I wrote to you with a desire that we understand what it means to be a "true servant".  We noted that one of the key characteristics of a servant is that he is with the Master "where His is" (John 5:19-20).  I wanted this time to look at one of the changes that takes place as we are walking, working, living in close relationship with the Lord.

It is the continual process of reducing.  There is this subtle idea that keeps suggesting that once we have a Bible college or seminary degree, a title before or after our name, a congregation to pastor, or any other distinction that makes us feel "we have arrived", there is no longer any need for radical changes.  A couple examples will prove this idea very false.

John the Baptist spent very little time physically with Jesus, but he knew there was one essential to being an effective servant of Jesus; "He (Jesus)must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).  I am very challenged with the thought that I must be continually getting smaller.  Everything around me, including those I respect in the body of Christ, tend to feed my pride rather than help my humility.  If we are not very serious about this issue, we will hinder the very work that God wants to do in and through us and that we have set our hearts and live to accomplish.

Paul knew this truth.  Even though he had ask the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh, he also knew that the Lord did not remove it to keep Paul "from becoming conceited" (2 Cor. 12:1-10).  But there was another reason.  The Lord's sufficient grace for Paul's weakness would make way for God's power to be revealed.  In many respects I think we have become comfortable with a powerless life and ministry.  In fact, I feel for myself that I have become too comfortable without the Spirit's power.  I really don't know what His power looks like if it was released.  I cannot live that way any more!

Will you join me in asking the Holy Spirit to teach us how to become small, weak in ourselves, and ready for the power of God the Holy Spirit.  We must learn to be comfortable with being nothing so that Christ can be  everything!  This is the path to fruitful ministry.