Pray for India

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Upcoming World for Christ Events
Come be a part of what's happening!

:: 7 August 2011, 10 am - Greg Owens at Real Life Church, Cincinnati, Ohio  513.741.1428

:: 21 August 2011, 6 pm - Greg Owens at Tylersville Worship Center, Hamilton, OH  513.863.6029

:: 3 September 2011 - myCapeTown Event, Fundraiser for Abaphumeleli Orphanage, Zandvlei, South Africa

:: 24 September 2011 - myCapeTown Event, Khayelitsha Assembly of God, Khayelitsha, South Africa

:: 8 - 23 December 2011 - WFC Mission Trip to Mongu, Zambia

Schedule Greg Owens to come and inspire your church, youth group or organization by contacting him at 615.823.3927 or click here to email him.

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Linking Africa and America
Expanding the work of World for Christ

In April 2011, Sarah, Abby and I moved back to the United States.  We are living in the Cincinnati, Ohio area and are enjoying spending time with our families, which live only 20 minutes apart from each other.

I am working full-time with World for Christ, expanding this ministry in the States by speaking at churches and youth groups sharing about our time in South Africa as well as inspiring people to get involved in missions.  I am also working with our WFC team in South Africa as they continue the work that was started there.  They are doing an excellent job!  Sarah is staying home raising Abby and is really enjoying watching her grow up. 

Please keep us, and World for Christ, in your prayers as we seek the Lord's guidance for what He will have us do and where He will have us go.

If you would like to schedule a trip to Cape Town, South Africa or support the ministry there, please contact me at 615.823.3927 or email me.

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Read the article:

Help for the Homeless
myCapeTown Event :: U-Turn :: Report Back

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How Does A Pastor Make Time for Evangelism?

In the midst of sermon preparation, preaching, counseling parishioners, dinners with first-time Evangelism cartoon visitors to the church, weddings, funerals, board meetings, committee meetings, returning phone calls and emails, going to your children's sporting events, spending time with your spouse and practicing your hobby, amongst many other responsibilities, a pastor's time is very precious.

Unfortunately, we as ministers find it hard to make time for the most important aspect of our ministry: evangelism. There is no greater reward then leading someone who has experienced the love of Christ for the first time in a salvation prayer. We know that evangelism is important and that it is something that is commanded of us, but for some reason we find it difficult to make it a priority in our life and our church.

In this three minute video, Jeff Vanderstelt, Vice President of Acts 29 Network and Lead Pastor at Soma Communities in Tacoma, WA, gives some great, practical advice on how to incorporate evangelism into our daily routine.

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Tears of the Saints
Having God's Heart for the Unreached

The task of reaching those who have never heard the Gospel before is far from over. I pray that this video will fan the flame of missions in your heart and compel you share Jesus' love to those who don't know Him as well as open your eyes to the bigger picture of the task that is before us. And may the tears you shed for those that are lost water the soil of their hearts in preparation for the Gospel that will be sown in their lives.

Tears of the Saints from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

Lesotho 2010 Missions Trip from World for Christ Ministries on Vimeo.

We sponsored our first missions trip to Lesotho in December 2010 and had a wonderful time. We want to share our experience with you.

Our second myCapeTown Event was held at Sibongile Day & Night Care Centre in Khayelitsha, on of the impoverished townships in Cape Town, South Africa.  Sibongile is a diamond in the ruff.  They give excellent around-the-clock care to 24 children with cerebral palsy and it was started in 2005 by Nomasongo Xabanisa.

Nomasongo asked Greg if World for Christ could help paint one of their houses and we agreed without any hesitation.  We got the help of members from The People's Church in Constantia along with Khayelitsha Assembly of God and together we were able to give their house a fresh look.

It's an honour to have a continuing relationship with Nomasongo and Sibongile.  This is a phenomenal organization and we look forward to partnering with them on a long-term basis.

To find out more information about Sibongile, go to www.sibongile.org and watch the video below.

Our February 2001 Newsletter is now available!

It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without the internet.  The ability to find out information or purchase a particular item or reconnect with long, lost friends is immediately available to us.  And then there’s Google: the web search engine that has changed how we surf the web.  It has the capability to search billions of websites and put whatever information that we are looking for at our fingertips in a matter of seconds, if that slow.  I’ve used Google to help me with everything from finding out how to spell a word to finding a picture of SpongeBob Squarepants to looking at the front of my house using Google Maps Street View.  Whatever I need, I can find it using Google.

As I was thinking about the beauty of Google, I was reminded of a passage of Scripture I read in Exodus 20.  It’s telling the story of the Israelites two months after they have been freed from slavery in Egypt.  They wandered to a place called Mount Sinai where God came and physically resided on the mountaintop.  Every Israelite saw God in the form of a cloud where there was flashes of lightning, loud thunder and smoke billowing from the mountain.  They even heard the voice of God speak to them as he gave them the Ten Commandments.  They had the opportunity of being able to come to the one, true God and talk with him.  They could get to know the heart of God and ask him any question they wanted.  What an awesome privilege!

But they didn’t want to.  Look at what verses 19-21 says, “And they [the Israelites] said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”  ²⁰“Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”  ²¹As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.”  You see what happened?  The Israelites didn’t want to talk with God directly; they wanted Moses to do it for them.  They couldn’t get past the lightning, thunder and smoke to realize that they were as close as they would ever be to touching the God of universe.  But they wanted an intermediary.

You know, we can be like that too.  When we’re trying to sort out a situation in our life, we’d much rather read a book on the subject, or talk to a friend, or listen to a pastor preach about what the scripture says rather than go to God directly.  Or maybe we would even Google our problem to see if we can find a website dealing with the same issue.  I’m not saying that books, friends, pastors or Google are wrong.  But the problem comes when we are more inclined to go to one of them first before we go to God.

The Israelites were afraid to go to God because they were afraid of what would happen.  Sometimes we are afraid to go to God because we are afraid he might bring up that sin we’ve been hiding and don’t feel like dealing with.  Maybe he will ask us to do something or give up something that we are unwilling to do or give up.  Or maybe we’re afraid because he’ll tell us that we need to end a relationship with that person we really “love” but know isn’t a good relationship to be in.  Whatever the reason, we think that God is going to hurt us.  But if you think that way, then you have the wrong view of God.

God wants nothing more that to show you his love and for you to love him in return.  He wants you to know everything about him and is willing to help you achieve that endeavor.  But the only way you can truly know him is to be more like him, so God does whatever is necessary to make sure you become like him.  That means offering you forgiveness from your sins, blessing your life, and guiding you in the way he desires you to go.  Sometimes, however, that means that he needs to show you things in your life that make you look the complete opposite of him in order for you to get rid of it.  But we would much rather skip being cleansed by God because we don’t want to be made uncomfortable and therefore, we don’t communicate directly with God. 

Can God use other things or people to get our attention?  Absolutely!  And he’ll do our use anything he wants to in order for us to see him.  But I’m talking about the attitude that doesn’t want to go to God because of being afraid.  Listen, you don’t need to be afraid of God.  He wants to help you become the person that he created you to be.  He can be trusted.  Don’t look for an intermediary to talk to God on your behalf, like the Israelites did with Moses (see Hebrews 4:14-16).  Look to God!  You will find every answer that you need in him.  You will be completely satisfied when you turn to God first.   Use the books, friends, pastors and maybe even Google as confirmation or wise council for what you feel like the Lord is already telling you to do.  But they should never replace the original source of knowledge, God.

Google may know a lot, but it doesn’t know enough.

Copyright 2010, Greg Owens, World for Christ Ministries