First Christian Church Guidepost

International Initiatives

Latest news from DeeDee Baumgarner
Hi Laretta!! I'm here in California at my friend Sharon's house. I think I told you about her - she's fighting cancer. Anyway - she has to have more surgery this week coming up, so I came out to support her. I

e-mailed Eric (project coordinator) and told him that I can only stay to the beginning of July, because I have to put on a 50th anniversary party for my parents. I don't think this will jeopardize my participation in the program, but if it will, I'll stay in Iraq until the end of July. From reading the e-mail, I still don't know when we'll be flying out, but I have all of my stuff here in CA in case it's soon. I still have my cell phone service, etc. so let's keep in touch. This REALLY IS a great lesson in patience and understanding for me!!! I don't think I could ever be impatient again after this wait! Love, DeeDee

A few minutes later DeeDee wrote the following:

I think I am going to leave from here. I talked to Eric yesterday, and he's purchasing the tickets today. He's going to try to have us fly out one week from today (Monday, February 2). My friend, Sharon, had surgery on Wednesday, and she was a wreck when I got here. She said that I'm a comfort to her, and asked if I'd stay since I wasn't leaving the country yet. Of course, I'm happy to do that!! At first I was unhappy about the delay, but now realize that it, too, was part of God's perfect timing that I be here now. I'll let you know as soon as I have a booked flight!! I love and appreciate all the prayers from FCC. Love, DeeDee
We will be having regular updates from DeeDee on the FCC website.

Note from Dr. Stanley Mutunga
I am just back from Kenya, and I had a wonderful time there. The church that FCC helped us start--Masii Christian Chapel (MCC) is growing steadily. The pastor (William) is being used by God to lead people to Christ every Sunday. They are now averaging 120 attendees every Sunday morning. Thank you, again, for being part of that growing ministry.

Reach Out to an International Student at AWC
Over 80 students from 20 countries have been identified on the AWC Campus. The world has truly come to us. Each Saturday evening and Sunday morning, for the next several weeks, there will be someone at the kiosk in the Main Lobby with information on how you and your family can be involved with welcoming an international student to the U.S. This might very well be the only way a student gets to spend time in a home in the U. S. Your involvement can be as little or as much as you wish. Dinner in your home, a trip to the Territorial Prison, a ride to the bank in town are all things a student will appreciate.
We hope to find 8-10 families at FCC who will become part of a pilot program of an outreach to international students. Claudia Garrido, a member of FCC from Chile, works in the office of International Students at AWCS. Through this contact we will match these families with interested students. This is a joint effort of the FCC Missions Department, Twenty4/7, and the International Student Department at AWC. Hopefully the ministry will evolve from there. Please read below reasons this outreach is so important.

In Acts chapter 8, we find Philip the evangelist preaching to an Ethiopian visitor, who was quite influential in the royal court of his country. Philip led him to the Lord, and the new believer went back to transform his own nation.

Imagine the possibilities! Because Philip was simply obedient to relate the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, all of Africa was introduced to the message of Jesus. The same can happen today when you become a friend to an international student and lead him or her to Christ! Your obedience to the Spirit of God can affect the destiny of a whole nation or even an entire continent!

When we do not obey God's commands, however, there can often be tragic results.
� Yosuke Matsuoka attended the University of Oregon. Isoruku Yamamoto studied at Harvard. Both experienced incredible racial prejudice. After returning to Japan they became the foreign Minister of Japan and the Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet respectively. They played key roles in leading their nation to attack Pearl Harbor.
� Ho Chi Minh also studied at Harvard and was subjected to extreme racial prejudice. He later studied Marxism, and due to his influence, all of Southeast Asia came under communist dominion.
� Mengistu Haile Mariam, the communist leader of Ethiopia, went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for military training and was said to have been embittered by the racial discrimination he received while in America. The lack of cooperation the government of Ethiopia exhibited with the nations of the West during the great famine was a direct result of this embitterment.

These men came to America for an education - and rather than reaching out to them and loving them, we Full Throttle Faith

sent them back as enemies. Their stories should teach us a lesson

about the importance of reaching out to international students.

Because He Lives,

Laretta K. Shrader

Missions Minister