BIBLE NEWS: Airdropping Bibles into North Korea

For most of the world, this is a great time to read the Bible.  It is available free on the internet at sites like BibleGateway.Com and it is available free through countless Missions organizations.  But there are still places on Earth where getting your hands on a Bible is a life and death situation.  Christians are seeking to sneak more Bibles into North Korea, one of the most tightly controlled Communist dictatorships left on the planet.

The balloons, made from a large sheet of "farm plastic," said Foley, are filled with hydrogen before the Bibles and "tracts" - testimonials written by other North Korean Christians - are attached at the bottom inside a sack or box. Timers are then used to release the materials in stages, dispersing them at high altitudes across North Korea.
Foley and members of his Christian mission group, Seoul USA, use GPS technology to help direct where the Bibles land. Around 50,000 of them have dropped from the skies in the last year.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: Former Bible Quizzer on Dancing Mission

"News from the Front" will be a periodic feature over the summer, reporting on former Bible Quizzers now working in ministry, either full-time or short-term.  We'll always try to include how their career as a quizzer prepared them for their work.  If you have a story about your missions trip, or a former Bible Quizzer, please e-mail the coaches!

Katherine Sarris - formerly known as the Trumbull Bible Quizzer "Kiwi" - will be on a missions trip this summer as part of two different organizations.  First, Project Dance...

Project Dance is a movement of dancers seeking to positively impact culture through artistic integrity. Our desire is to see every dancer nurtured to their fullest human potential for their own wellbeing and their contribution to the world. We offer training, education, and performance opportunities for dancers worldwide who desire to dance with integrity to inspire. 

And second, Operation Mobilization...

OM’s role in the body of Christ is to motivate, develop and equip people for world evangelization and to strengthen and help plant churches, especially among the unreached in the Middle East, Europe, South and Central Asia.

Katherine will be training dancers in evangelistic dance and doing choreography for them to be used in missions to England, Malta, France, and Italy!  Her Bible Quizzing experience gave her a strong grounding in the Word, and helps give her confidence as she "goes forth" to use her talents in this new way.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: Bible Quizzers in Manassas, VA

"News from the Front" will be a periodic feature over the summer, reporting on former Bible Quizzers now working in ministry, either full-time or short-term.  We'll always try to include how their career as a quizzer prepared them for their work.  If you have a story about your missions trip, or a former Bible Quizzer, please e-mail the coaches!

Several members of the Monroe Bible Quiz Team are going along with the Beacon Hill Church Youth Group on a missions trip to Manassas, VA from June 30 to July 5.  The team will consist of 10 people - 8 teens and 2 chaperones - going on a "Week of Hope" to the area.  While their exact duties are not yet fully known, the group will be focussed on Community Service and Outreach, along with over 100 other students from around the country.  The theme for the week will be "What Do You Stand For?"

Please be praying for this trips - and especially your fellow Bible Quizzers - as they go on this adventure for God.  There are sure to be difficulties and trials - Satan rarely fails to oppose warriors on the battlefield - but please pray that they will overcome and see spiritual growth in their own lives and the lives to whom they have been sent!

BIBLE NEWS: The Tsunami & The Bible Translators

We hear stories about the horrible things that missionaries had to endure in the old days.  Beheadings, hangings, cannibalism, etc.  We thank God that those kinds of things don't happen anymore, and that missionary work is "safe" these days.  For better or worse, we're simply and completely wrong about that.

John and Bonnie Nystrom are missionaries working in Papua New Guinea with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  They were working with local pastors in the village of Arop village to develop a version of the Bible in the local language when a massive tsunami (giant wave caused by an undersea earthquake) hit the island.

"One out of every three people that we know was killed there, and some of the families that we know lost a lot of people. In fact, after the tsunami, our friend Pastor Peter Marokiki was the only one we knew; we know another family now – where the father mother and all the children survived. Every other family that we knew of, they lost at least some of their family members," Mr. Nystrom told The Christian Post.

As we learned this year in Matthew, Jesus never promised that his followers would escape trouble - in fact he promised the disciples that they would be persecuted.  What he promises is that he will always be there with us, and walk with us through the trials of life.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: Bible Quizzer on a Missions Trip

"News from the Front" will be a periodic feature over the summer, reporting on former Bible Quizzers now working in ministry, either full-time or short-term.  We'll always try to include how their career as a quizzer prepared them for their work.  If you have a story about your missions trip, or a former Bible Quizzer, please e-mail the coaches!

Mari - also known as "Fishy" and "Quirky" was a Bible Quizzer with the Trumbull Quiz Team for many years and this summer is working with the organization "Mercy Ships" for a short-term missions trip.  Here is her report.

All staff on this ship are volunteer Christians with differing amounts of Bible knowledge.  But all are very honest and open about their faith. We, as a missionary team, represent 4 different countries: England, the Netherlands, Swizerland, and the United States of America. It is amazing to meet and talk with people from countries you only usually hear about in a very secular missionaries-need-to-go-there, sense. The discussions we have range from why we got to this point of wanting to help out on the Ship. . .  to what Jesus and the Bible means to us, specifically. 

There are about 31 different countries represented (again all Christians) in the whole staff aboard this ship. What is so amazing is the African Christians aboard - who are helping from different African countries -  praising God with you. 

Last night, I was having a conversation with a man from South Africa. We got into a discussion about the earth and all the creatures in it. I was so grateful for the knowledge and memory I had stowed away years ago from Quiz Team!  I was quoting scripture and talking to him about all that I knew of Science from not only my teachers, but also from the Bible. I remember thinking as I was talking about how this was a prime example of my years of memorizing for a tournament years ago is still benifiting my life today. Many other conversations with older more knowlegable people still make me proud because I can hold my own among them. All thanks to those years of studying and listening to my coaches. I could never have guessed how far reaching an impact Quiz Team would always have on my life and sometimes maybe most of the time I do not realize all of it, but when I actually catch myself quoting or arguing using long-lost scripture verses, it is a wonderful realization every time.   

This is truly a remarkable experience and I am looking forward to the weeks ahead, but I also encourage any other young quizzers to never just view the studying as a chore, but as a gateway into so many amazing realizations of yourselves. 

BIBLE NEWS: "Bible School in a Box"

Often when we think about "missions trips", we think about ministering to people in other countries or other continents. But our own land contains many people who have never heard the gospel, including those living on American Indian Reservations. One church has created a "Bible School in a Box" to bring the message of Jesus to the Lakota people.

Amy said, “We would go out into these places in the middle of nowhere, and as soon as we got out of the truck, children would come literally flying out of the houses.”

The outlying areas — Red Scaffold, Iron Lightning, Thunder Butte — rarely receive missionary visits because they are so far from Eagle Butte, the main area. This, however, is where the greatest need lies, Dye said. These towns lie in the two poorest counties in the United States, Dewey and Ziebach counties, where alcoholism is at 75 percent, unemployment at 80 percent, and Dye said, “Hopelessness is 100 percent.”...

The Higdons visited at Christmas time in 2008 and 2009, and while still on the reservation, Maggie Higdon suggested returning in the summer for a Bible school. The youth brainstormed, and came up with the idea of Bible School in a Box. A team returned in the summer of 2010 and 2011 and are planning a return trip in July this year.

Who DOESN'T have the Bible?

We English-speakers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality Bible translations. We have so many, in fact, that we can take the time to debate the relative merits of the different versions (NIV, ESV, RSV, KJV, etc.) But for many peoples, they don't even one book of the Bible in their own language. That's why it is so important to have Bible translators working to empower missionaries and local pastors to preach in their own tongues.

The need is about 340 million people speaking 2,078 languages, to be exact. These hundreds of millions of people don't even have Bible translation programs started in their languages, according to Wycliffe Bible Translators.

That's why Andrew Lancaster*, who has a degree in Bible translation and is headed to serve overseas, has a passion to see the need met.

"Why is it that there are now hundreds of English translations of the Bible, yet more than 2,000 languages of the world do not even have one word of it? English versions are produced left and right while thousands are dying without having ever had access to the Word of God," Lancaster said.

Thanks for the Help

Thank you to those of you who helped at the Missions Banquet on Friday night. Everything went very smoothly thanks to your help.

Reminder: Missions Banquet Tonight

Just a reminder to those who are helping at tonight's Missions Banquet. Please arrive between 6:15pm and 6:30pm. There is no dress code, but please look nice. Something like a collared shirt with either Kakis or nice jeans would be good.

Fall Missions Weekend

This upcoming weekend is our annual Missions Conference. Thanks to so many who are helping out with the banquet and see which of these events you wish to attend.

Friday October 24th - Missions Banquet 7pm-9pm
Saturday October 25th - Men’s Breakfast 7:30am
Sunday October 26th - Morning Services: Special Speaker: Dr. Salem Barghout
Sunday October 26th - Evening Service at 6 PM: Report by Pastor Dave & Doug Carne on their Sudan Trip

Flood in Togo

Please be in prayer for the people in the country of Togo. There has been major flooding that has destroyed the main road through the country making it difficult to get supplies through. These are some pictures sent to us from a Missionary who works in Togo.

More Christians doing Missions Trips for Vacations

Currently, a number of men from our church - including some Quiz Team parents - are taking vacation time to go on a Missions Trip to Sudan. It turns out this is not unique to Calvary Church, but is a growing trend in Christianity nationwide.

A recent estimate said that 1.6 million American Christians are contributing $6 billion annually in labor in the form of short-term mission trips. In fact, the phenomenon -- which is being called "vacations with a purpose" -- is utilized by ministries nationwide such as Wycliffe Associates, which supports and encourages Bible translators worldwide.

Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates, says there are many ways to serve.

Have you considered taking some of your own vacation time in high school, college, or after college to Missions? Consider praying to see if God has this in mind for you.

Weak Dollar hurts missionaries

If you've been paying attention to the Presidential debates, you may have heard a lot about economics and the falling value of the dollar. Do you find yourself wondering what that has to do with anything? Wonder no more!

"Unlike most U.S. exporters who benefit from a weak dollar that makes their goods cheaper on international markets, our export is our missionaries — who are spending U.S. dollars," Steverson told Baptist Press in November.

The main challenge is the strength of the euro. In 2002, the dollar and the euro were equal. It takes $1.47 to match a euro — a loss of more than 35% in buying power. The cost of everything from saltine crackers to the monthly heating bill has skyrocketed.

In response, missionaries have cut back wherever they can.