Mission Sunday on Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly, a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven

and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire

that separated and came to rest on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

With many other words, as a skipping head,

after the Holy Spirit comes and enables Peter and he speeches,

preaches his very bold sermon.

With many other words, he warned them and he pleaded with them.

Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.

Those who accepted his message were baptized

and about 3,000 were added to their number that day.

So we go in that moment from there being 120 followers of Jesus

to over 3,000 followers of Jesus.

And so that's why Pentecost is considered the birthday of the church

because God did such a good thing that day

through the power of his Spirit.

So a couple of announcements this morning before we just dive

into what the Lord has for us this morning is today is a one service Sunday.

So we didn't have a 9 a.m. service.

The next month is going to be our normal Sunday morning schedule.

So we'll have a 9 a.m. service, 10 a.m. Sunday school and 11 a.m. service

until July, I believe, 6 is the next one service Sunday.

The other, really only other announcement we have

is youth camp season starts tomorrow.

Kids camp kicks off tomorrow.

And then after that, it's middle school camp.

And after that, it's high school camp.

And so just be in prayer.

Just like Pentecost did a great thing that launched the church today,

we just are praying that God will do a great and mighty thing

in all the lives of the kids next week,

the middle schoolers and high schoolers after that.

So just be prayer and seeking God for him to send his spirit

to do a great and wonderful work at Table Rock the next couple of weeks.

And so, again, with today being Pentecost Sunday,

we're focusing on missions today.

We're going to have a bunch of different things that are going to be shared.

There's going to be a letter that's going to be read.

There's going to be some videos.

There's going to be some missionary sharing.

And so we're really excited to see and hear

all that God's going to do this morning.

And so let's just pray and ask him to be with us.

Jesus, we do just say thank you, God.

We are thankful for this day.

This is the day that you have made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

And God, we just rejoice that we can celebrate and honor Pentecost

as the birthday of the church.

And God, that you are still moving, alive and active

2,000 years later, God, that it wasn't just for a time,

but it's for all time.

And God, just as we are a continuation of the church that began there,

we're a continuation of the ministry that Jesus started

and just enabled through James, John, Peter, all the other disciples.

We just say thank you that we are part of that.

We are part of a legacy of loving and caring

and serving a dark world, a world in need

and that we get to be messengers of your light and your love.

And so this morning, just as we worship you,

we pray that we can just come humbly before you

and we can ask for you to do a great and mighty thing today.

God, we just, Holy Spirit, we pray the same thing

that you will come powerfully this morning on each and every one of us

to fill us with the gifts, the callings, the abilities

to do what you have called us to do.

And so, God, we just entrust this service to you

and say, come, Holy Spirit, come.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Welcome to the house of the Lord this morning.

Psalms, we read Psalm 47, 1, 6 and 7.

Oh, clap your hands, all you people.

Shout to the Lord with a voice triumph.

Sing praises to God.

Sing praises.

Sing praises unto our King.

For God is the King of all the earth.

Praise him with psalms.

Please stand this morning and lift your voice to him in extravagant worship.

We worship the God who was.

We worship the God who is.

We worship the God who evermore will be.

He opened the prison doors.

He parted the raging seas.

My God, he holds a victory.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

Our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

Oh, we shout out your praise.

Oh, and we sing to the God who heals.

And we sing to the God who saves.

We sing to the God who always makes a way.

Because he hung up on that cross.

And he rose up from that grave.

My God, still rolling stones away.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

Our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

Oh, we shout out your praise.

Oh, because we were the beggars.

Now we're royalty.

We were the prisoners.

Now we're running free.

We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace.

Let the house of the Lord sing praise.

Because we were the beggars.

Now we're royalty.

We were the prisoners.

Now we're running free.

We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace.

Let the house of the Lord sing praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

Our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

There's joy in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

There's joy in the house of the Lord.

Our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet.

We shout out your praise.

We shout out your praise.

Amen, you may be seated.

So again, this morning we are just honoring the Lord

and just talking about missions

and people he's called into missions.

And so I have a letter from one missionary who came.

She came a handful of years ago.

And I believe we have a picture of her

that we're going to put on the screen.

But we're not really supposed to share her name.

We can put it on the screen, but not online

because we broadcast our services.

And so she sent us a letter

because she couldn't send a video

or she couldn't be here in person.

And so I just want to read this letter

on behalf of her to you all

as we support her as a missionary.

When I last visited you all,

I was headed to,

and the places I say are going to be names

that she has renamed them

because again, because of where she is

for security reasons, we can't say on camera.

I was headed to the Fateso people.

However, due to visa issues,

I found myself in Caris.

As I spent time here,

I knew this was where God wanted me to be.

Choosing to transition from one field to another

changed a lot of things.

For example, expectations, roles,

example of languages and things like that.

As some of you may know,

I serve in two settings here in Caris.

First, I serve as an English teacher at WorldHOPE.

Four days a week, I teach one class

to low-income and refugee adult students.

However, recently, the government

has begun to create more regulations,

making it harder for humanitarian organizations

to function in Caris.

Despite the municipality being financially well off,

this isn't true for the general public.

The loss of humanitarian organization

puts many Caris people at greater disadvantage

to find help for meeting their felt needs.

The loss of humanitarian organizations

doesn't just put Caris people at a disadvantage,

but also puts our team in a hard spot.

The previous visa options opened to us

were no longer available to those who obtain

our residency permits through WorldHOPE

have had to pivot to a new visa option.

Luckily, the officer at the immigration office

was able to give our local director advice

on what visa options to pursue.

Now, only myself and another unit

are waiting to get our new residency permits.

For us, this process has been slower,

as myself and my new teammate

have had to obtain a special certificate

in teaching English as a foreign language

from the University of Arizona.

By the time you'll hear this,

I'll have submitted my final portfolio

and have completed the course.

I would love if you would join me

in prayer for this process.

Once I obtain the certificate,

I need to get it from the US to Caris.

Then in August, I will apply for my residency permit.

Please pray that I'll find favor

with all the immigration offices this fall.

Pause, immigration and visa stuff

is a really difficult thing for missionaries to deal with.

I know there's a couple of people in the back row

who recently went through a lot of that.

So this is a serious prayer request

for them to be able to get all their,

for her to get her visa stuff sorted out.

My other role on the team is in CP work.

If you don't know what CP stands for,

please ask one of your pastors,

as censorship is very important

when it comes to where I live and what I do.

I joined in CP work in different capacities.

One form is through monthly outreach nights

that our team does in partnership

with our local fellowship.

Every month, we host a coffee house night

where local believers can have a safe

and intentional environment for sharing about Jesus

with their friends and families.

Because I live in a predominantly Muslim country,

often locals perceive followers of Jesus

as only being foreigners.

The great thing about our coffee house nights

is those of us who are on the CARES team,

it is our local friends who can see

that they are CARES people who follow Jesus.

The other way I join in CP work

is through making my own connections in the community

by building relationships with the CARES people

at World Hope and around in my neighborhood.

Often, this means being very intentional

to be in tune with what God is doing

and to prayerfully find relationships

with ladies who are seeking.

Seeking doesn't necessarily mean

that they are seeking Jesus,

but that they are at least open

to asking questions about him.

Since January, our small fellowship

has continued to grow.

Last Sunday, a new local believer was baptized,

which that's awesome.

We should praise the Lord for that

in these difficult countries.

Since her initial profession of faith,

she's taken seriously the call

to share Jesus with those around her.

Though neither her son nor daughter

have made a profession of faith,

she continues to share with them.

She's even been able to get them

to join a few events with our fellowship.

Another celebration is that our Easter service

had 40 plus attendees

with about half being unbelievers,

all but two of which continue to be engaged

in other events since Easter.

One couple, who she refers to as Sierra and Jim,

whose names are changed for security reasons,

have been open and receptive

to what has been shared with them.

Both Sierra and Jim came to the baptism service

last Sunday.

One of our believing sisters shared with us

that she had prayed that Jim's boss

would give her Sunday off

so that she could come and see the baptisms.

Not long after she had prayed for this,

Jim's boss gave him last Sunday

and this Sunday off from work.

When our believing sister shared this with Sierra and Jim,

they believed it was a miracle from God

and that they needed to come to the service.

God is definitely working in the lives, sorry.

And I would love if you join us in prayer

that they would remain open and one day

receptive and receive the gospel.

Thank you all for the ways

that you support the ministry in Charis,

both through finances and through prayers.

Your dedication to see the Charis people

have an opportunity to respond to the gospel

means the world to those of us in Charis.

You are all deeply appreciated

and I often give thanks to Lord for your faithfulness

and to his kingdom work, your partner in Charis.

So that's a letter that we have

and up next we've got a couple of videos

that Pastor James is gonna come

and kind of intro them and what's going on.

All right, it's good to be back with you guys today.

If you were on the way in and you noticed

I didn't shake your hand, I'm sick this morning.

So I'm gonna keep my distance from you guys,

but I wanted to make sure you realize that

and I'm just not avoiding you because I don't like you.

I do like you, I just don't wanna get you sick.

So it is a privilege to be able

to do what we're doing today.

And one of the things that I know

that some of you may have come this morning

is like, man, I really wanna hear a sermon

or I just wanted to be at church and have this great thing.

But what we are doing with these missionaries today

is so important because not only is it beneficial

for the kingdom of God,

but it's a reminder for us this morning

that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

We believe that what we do at Graham Chapel

is vitally important to this community,

it's vitally important to our spiritual lives

and to the kingdom,

but there's also other people around the world

who are called to do the same thing

that we're called to do,

but in a different place,

in a different setting, in a different way.

And so one of those different callings

that we're gonna see in just a second,

this is Bradley Hill.

He is the one that we've actually been working with

for the past couple of months now

with the Rise Up Network,

who is in charge of making sure

that this church in old Fort North Carolina

is gonna be rebuilt.

So if you're unfamiliar with that,

this church was damaged during Hurricane Helene

through flooding.

And the church is comprised mostly of people

who are 65, 70 years old and older.

So they don't have like this massive congregation

of young people who can come in and do the rebuild.

And so Bradley has come in through his network

and he's helping making sure

that this church is gonna be rebuilt

so that these people have a sanctuary

to come back and to worship in.

And so this is just one aspect.

We're gonna watch this video real quick

and then I'll come back up in just a second

and introduce our second video.

Bradley Miller was a bird of the feeder

and the whole event of the Jerusalem

had this encounter that I had never had before

and haven't ever had since.

It was a birthing of,

what does it look like to serve people?

To help people get connected

to needs locally, regionally, globally.

So that was bird over 10 years ago.

But it started growing three or so years after that.

And so for the past seven years,

what we know today as the Verizon network started growing.

We operate to give people the opportunity

to serve others.

Everybody we believe in life at the core who they are

would like the opportunity to serve.

But most folks don't know how to get into contact

or to know where to go to have that opportunity

to serve others that are in need.

So that's what we do.

We allow folks to have opportunity to serve local

in their local context.

Give folks an opportunity to regionally

go to disasters on and help in the rebuild process.

And also to take folks to the nations

because we're commanded to do that in the scripture

to go to all the world.

And so over the last seven years,

this thing has been growing

and it's been growing by just giving people the opportunity.

The opportunity to go affect others.

We just set the stage for that to happen.

That is the core of the Rise Up Network.

There's more to it than that, but that is the base.

That is the core of who we are and what we're about.

Graham Chappell, what's going on?

Bradley Hill here with the Rise Up Network.

Man, we wanna thank you guys

for sending a couple of teams up

over the last couple of months to help us up in 04.

Man, 04 was demolished by Hurricane Helene.

But you guys down there in Chesney, South Carolina,

come on, there's some good folks down there.

Your pastor, Pastor James, superb dude.

Great leader, I love seeing him come

because not only is he a pastor,

but he's got this talent that is probably

hidden to most of you guys.

But it was awesome to see your teams come up

and to really jump in and turn the tide for 04

just over the last few weeks,

there hasn't been a floor in that building in seven months.

Your guys come up and laid the first subfloor.

That was just like so foundational for this project

because now we feel like we're making some headway.

So I wanna thank you guys at Graham Chappell

for giving, supporting, for sending.

See, a lot of folks can give and support,

but when you send people, something happens.

Man, I think about that in the scripture

when God said to go to all.

And that's what you guys have done, man.

We wanna thank you.

Thank you for partnering with the Rize Up Network.

Man, we're excited about the days ahead.

You guys got a great team down there.

We're looking forward to partnering in the future,

to doing great, great things.

Thank you, Graham Chappell, you guys are awesome.

Thanks.

Good morning, church.

My name is Greg Edmonds.

I grew up as a part of Graham Chappell,

but was served away and now I'm currently serving as a missionary with

Global Partners which is the mission arm of the Westland Church. I'm the area team

leader for the Carib Atlantic area. I frequently travel to the Caribbean

countries that I'm responsible for, Haiti, Suriname and Guyana, and at some point

we'll probably start traveling and being a part of the ministry from some of

those countries in Africa. I have the privilege of being kind of the

representative of Global Partners not only to as a liaison with our missionaries

who are serving in various countries but also working with the national church.

One of those countries is Haiti and as maybe you saw in the news that Haiti has

been in turmoil for several years now. Their president was assassinated in July

of 2021 and they still have had no elections for a new president. The

country is for the most part completely controlled by groups of gangs that have

risen over the last four or five years and they have had a chokehold on the

country and so we have not been allowed to travel to Haiti. I do want to say

though that the church is strong in Haiti. We again work particularly

particularly with the Westland Church and although seven or eight of our

gang-controlled areas and had to close two or three months ago I was told that

we have planted ten new churches because of the population from the capital city

of Port-au-Prince that has been scattered to the surrounding countrysides.

The gangs are for the most part centered in Port-au-Prince but they have

recently started reaching out into some of the other areas around the capital

city which is concerning. Some of you know of our work on the island of

Vlaganov which is out in the Bay of Vlaganov so if you look at Haiti and it's a

backwards C the island of Vlaganov is out in the middle. When my family lived

there that was the island that we lived on. We do have a Wesleyan hospital

there that is continuing to operate and is doing doing very well with some

partnerships from World Open International and some other

organizations and so we are we are thankful to even in the midst of

chaos in Haiti and the trouble and turmoil we are hearing some wonderful

news coming out of there about how the church is ministering to people

sharing the love of Christ and and offering hope in a country that right

now is is desperate for hope. Please pray for Haiti pray for the gangs to

come under control there is an international force there that is

working to eradicate the gangs but but Haiti needs much prayer. Pray for the

churches they are all denominations are ministering and continue to work. One of

the other great opportunities that the Lord has afforded me is the work I'm

getting to do in Suriname. The church there I was started going there five or

six years ago attending their district conference in the spring and I was told

about a project that they were hoping to get accomplished and many years

ago they had a work at a place called Pilgrim Condre and at one point it was

the their ministry of outreach into the the jungle. Suriname is a beautiful

country it's 93% forested and this was their ministry to the interior and

after the internal civil war that took place in Suriname the place kind of

fell into disrepair and so they have a vision to restore Pilgrim Condre and

once again use it as a place where ministry takes place where they can hold

camps retreats not just for the Wesleyans in Suriname but for other

denominations and ministry groups as well and so last September I started

leading short-term mission teams to Suriname to help revitalize the

property there had two teams last year a team this past April and we have some

other teams coming up in September and November of this year to go and do

that some of the men that we were working with there one of them as we

were standing on top of this building putting a brand-new roof on the

building someone pointed and they said this the brother now brother that's up

here working with us he was one of the little boys that came to this place as

a as a young student to the boarding school and he was up there working

with us he's now a pastor in one of our local Wesleyan churches and just a

wonderful man of God and after a service last year that I was there the

the keyboard player from the worship team came up to me and he said you know

that little church out there at Pilgrim Condre he said I was saved on one of

the benches in that church and so we've met some wonderful people in Suriname

one of the other brothers he he and his family lived down the river there's a

told me he's like Pastor Greg when I was a little boy my dad would bring me up the

river by by a small motorboat we had and we would attend church here on the

Pilgrim Condre property and it was a privilege to to get to know this

brother brother Jerry Douglas he's he's he's not just a Christian brother anymore

he's become a great friend and co-worker and every time I go to Haiti

he's he's my host he goes and works with our mission teams and helps us

with the project and he has just a strong heart for the property there at

Pilgrim Condre but as much as my heart breaks for the the need in Haiti and as

much as I get excited about the work in Suriname my heart breaks for the four

in ten around the world who have never heard the gospel and if four in ten

people have never heard that there is a Jesus that loves them that a God who

sent that there is a God in heaven who sent his only son to pay the price

for them one of the songs that we sing in worship begins with these words in the

darkness we were waiting without hope without light till from heaven you came

running there was mercy in your eyes some of you may recognize those words to

the song King of Kings it's one of my favorite more modern worship songs that

we sing we sing that song in the past tense because we know that it is

complete Christ came to this earth he lived a sinless life he died in our

place and he rose again and I love how that final verse begins to build momentum

and the music gets louder and louder and more intense as we sing the words and

the church of Christ was born then the Spirit lit the flame now this gospel

truth of old shall not kneel shall not faint by his blood and in his name in

his freedom I am free for the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me but

at a missions conference about a year and a half ago I couldn't get past the

first two lines of that song and the new reality that I believe God impressed

upon me in that moment in the darkness we were waiting without hope

without light but here's the reality global partners rebranded last year to

more clearly reflect our calling the new statement is this more than 4 in 10

people live without access to the gospel we exist to reach them the global

global population reached 8 million people in November of 2022 that means

that there are 3.2 billion people who have limited or no access to the gospel

it is not that they choose not to attend a church or don't respond to a

absolute darkness and have to sing the song a different way they would have to

sing it in the darkness we're still waiting without hope without light we

are told in Romans that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be

saved how then can they call them the one they have not believed in and how

can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard and how can they

hear without someone preaching to them and how can anyone preach unless they

are sent I stand before you today as a person who believes that God is not

finished with the North American Church I believe that he is still calling

believers to go and make disciples of all nations I believe every man woman boy

and girl who hears my voice right now plays a significant part in taking the

hope and light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those 3.2 billion people who

are still waiting in the darkness without hope without light God says

church is up to you I left no plan B open your eyes and look at the harvest

fields the fields are ready to be harvested those people are ready to

hear the gospel but they can't hear unless someone goes and preaches to

them and they can't go unless someone sends them more than four and ten

people live without access to the gospel we exist to reach them thank you

for your faithfulness in the past to pray give and go but the work is not

complete will you continue to pray will you continue to give are you willing to

go God is looking for obedient men women boys and girls who will say yes to

whatever he tells you to do thank you so much for your faithfulness thank you

for your prayers you're giving let's go and make a difference in the world

whether it's across the street or to the ends of the earth thank you

let's stay to worship together

my jesus

purchase my pardon on Calvary Street.

I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow.

If ever I love thee, my Jesus tis now.

In mentions of glory and endless delight,

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.

I'll sing with a glittery crown on my brow.

If ever I love thee, my Jesus tis now.

In the darkness we were waiting without hope, without light.

So from heaven you came running, there was mercy in your eyes.

To fulfill the law and prophets, to a virgin came the word.

From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt.

Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one.

God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings.

To reveal the kingdom coming and to reconcile the lost.

To redeem the whole creation, you did not despise the cross.

For even in your suffering you saw to the other side.

Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake you died.

Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one.

God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings.

In the morning that you rose, all of heaven held its breath.

Till the storm was moved for good, for the Lamb that conquered death.

And the day rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe.

For the souls of all who come to the Father are restored.

And the Church of Christ was born, then the Spirit led the flame.

Now this gospel truth of all shall not kneel, shall not faint.

Christ wouldn't in His name, in His freedom buy Him free.

For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me.

Praise the Father, praise the Son,

praise the Spirit, three in one.

God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings.

Praise the Father, praise the Son,

praise the Spirit, three in one.

God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings.

Praise forever to the King of kings.

Father, God, as we continue on in this service, we just want to say thank You.

For everything that You've blessed us with, for continually watching over us

and guiding us in our lives, also with us as a Church.

And Father, we don't want to take it for granted.

Lord, we want to make sure that we give the honor and the credit

and the glory that You deserve.

And Father, today as we do things a little different,

and we allow some light to shine on some other people

and some other ministries that are going on,

I pray that You would do an amazing work in the hearts

of the people who are in this room and even the ones who are watching.

Jesus, You did not just call us to be spectators.

Lord, Your calling was for every one of us to take up our cross.

And to follow after You.

For every one of us to be witnesses and ministers of the gospel.

And Lord, I truly believe that there are people in this room, young and old,

who You have a calling on their life more than what they're doing.

And I pray that Your Holy Spirit would come and move and work in them right now.

Lord, that You would show them, maybe for the first time,

the plans You have for them.

Lord, maybe just remind them of what You called them to so long ago.

Lord, we lift up all of our requests, all of our shut-ins.

Lord, I pray specifically for the high family today.

I pray that You would be with them, with the loss of Scott.

Lord, Your Spirit would just bring peace and comfort to them.

Lord, we also pray for Marsha Wall and her family as her brothers, not doing good.

Lord, I know it did not look very good yesterday when I talked to her.

So, God, I would just pray for them.

Ask that You would touch them.

Jesus, it is a privilege to be here.

It's a privilege to be able to call out in Your name for things that we need.

To help us in situations and circumstances in our life that we realize we have no control or power in.

Lord, we believe that You are more than able.

That through Christ, all things are possible.

Lord, it is in Your name that we pray today, that we cry out.

We love You, and we ask it all in Your name.

All God's people said, Amen. You may be seated.

As I introduce our next missions group today, I'm going to ask Ms. Geddes if she'd like to go ahead and come forward.

Now, most of you know this is release time, but this is school ministries of Spartanburg County now.

I'm going to let her share with you a lot that God has been doing in this organization.

But Graham Chapel has been a part of this for a long time, I guess since the very beginning.

And so, it's a privilege to have her come and share with us today.

She was one of our ones who was able to be in person, so I'm going to turn it over to her and let her share.

I think there's a short video you can see.

I don't think you probably heard all that, but what Ian was saying as he came into class that morning,

he said, I have the power and spirit in me today.

And he pulled out from under his coat jacket there, the Bible.

And if you know Ian, and I'll tell you a little bit more about him at the end, that is all what school ministries of Spartanburg County is about.

We get to share the Bible, the truth, to students during the public school day.

And Ian is just one of those students of many that we've had this school year.

So teachers give the opportunity to share the truth, to share the gospel in a fun, interactive way.

Our mission of school ministries is to engage with churches and schools to provide a release time program

that will result in a greater Christian character for our public school students.

The vision is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and encourage Christian development and discipleship

by providing a biblical instruction for every student we're blessed to serve.

Yes, we are a nonprofit, and we are supported by churches just like Graham Chapel.

And we appreciate you guys. You were one of our first supporters.

If release time started in 1999, the first classes were right here in Chesney.

We're also supported by individuals, by businesses, by grants that we write.

If we did not have your support, we could not be in operation.

I wanted to share with you three things that a lot of people don't realize that make our ministry legal.

First of all, it has to be off campus. That's why we have sites like yours.

If you realize that probably maybe in the year sitting in, a student on Monday may sit to hear God's word.

There's a couple other classrooms on your campus that we use.

Children, for whatever reason, it's not like when we grow up,

not all of them have the opportunity to walk into a beautiful campus like we're in today.

They're difficult. They are raised by families that are broken.

A lot of them are raised by grandparents.

For whatever reason, they will sign them up to come to our class during their school day,

but they will never get to hear God's word by coming into a church.

We get the opportunity to share God's word with them.

I want to share with you a few things that also make it legal.

Of course, like it's off campus, parent consent,

and of course, no state or legal funds can go to support our ministry.

This school year, I want to share with you the schools that we were in.

We actually were in seven schools this year.

Paul England Springs, which is district six, that's fifth grade.

Shelly Creek Elementary, fifth graders.

Collins Springs Middle, sixth through eighth grade.

Chesney Middle, sixth through eighth grade.

Clifton Middle, sixth through eighth grade.

That is one of our newest schools and newest districts, district three.

Rainbow Lake Middle, sixth through eighth grade,

and Carver Middle, seventh through eighth grade.

As I said, we serve seven schools this school year in four different districts,

and we had 561 students that we served this year.

It took 46 staff and volunteers to make this ministry operate this year.

We had 79 salvations that will give God the praise for

that He brought in turn darkness to light in these students' lives.

As you heard Ian at the very beginning,

if you knew Ian, he was one of our students for Carver Middle.

That area, a lot of them have not been in a church.

A lot of them, if they had a Bible and Ian did not until later when we gave him one,

it was exciting to see how we tried to teach them about God's Word

and how to navigate and find things.

We spent a lot of time.

They loved to carry on and have competitions,

so they soon learned how to get there fast

by opening their Bible in the front of the Word

and finding what page it might be on.

But soon, especially Ian, he was excited that he could use his Bible,

he could find books in the Bible,

and to see Ian grow from the beginning of class to the end in his excitement,

he loved to come in class and carry on with his teacher

and just excitement in his eyes.

I don't know about you, but a lot of times we as adults

take for granted that we have a Bible, many Bibles in our house,

and a lot of students that we know do not.

And do we still have that thrill, as Ian does,

that he brought his Bible to school, to class?

Do we take it for granted?

I hope you see that school miniatures from accounting

gets to share the Word with students

that may and a lot of them have never heard the stories that we know,

that did not grow up in church like you and I did.

But I hope we continue to know that we need to stay in the Word,

and we're excited that Ian now is one of those children of God

that he is excited about his Bible and about reading it,

and I hope we'll continue to be,

because school miniatures of Spartan County

want to continue to help sharing the light,

and that is why you are involved,

and many of you support us that we can continue to help students

turn from darkness to light.

Thank you again for all your support.

I just love being in Chestnut and I love seeing familiar faces.

Thank you for your prayers, your financial support,

and all you do for our ministry over the years.

Before Ms. Geddes sits down,

we just want to take a moment to pray for her in the ministry.

I don't know if you guys heard that.

How many salvations did you have?

Seventy-nine.

Seventy-nine salvations.

At Graham this past year, we recorded four.

This is why we support other ministries.

Someone said last year at our district conference,

a win for the kingdom is a win for everyone,

and so that's something we have to remember

as we are part of Graham Chapel,

and this is kind of the focal point of how we connect

with other Christians and with our Savior

that every aspect of God's kingdom is an aspect of us,

and so our natural desire should be to support that,

every church around.

We should never pull against any church or any ministry,

but we should be praying for them and lifting them up

and supporting them, other ministries, other churches,

because a win for one is a win for all of us.

Let's pray.

Let's pray for you.

Father, thank you so much for Ms. Geddes and her heart

and everything that she has done for this ministry

for so many years.

God has been a privilege to work with her,

and it's been a privilege to see her take it

and make it so much more than what it was

whenever she took over.

God, I pray that you continue to lead her and guide her,

to speak to her and show her how you would have her

run this ministry with your leading.

Lord, I pray that you be with the board,

with all the volunteers, with all of the staff

and the teachers and everyone who's involved.

God, that you would fill them with your spirit

or that you would go to these schools

because they're going to start this thing up again

this coming September.

God, that you would go ahead and be preparing them

for those registration days

when they are trying to get kids to come over

and get parents to come over to their table and sign up.

God, I pray that you would just go ahead

and give them favor,

that there would be something that would draw them

to those tables

because, God, to see 70-something kids come to know you,

what a wonderful privilege.

It's why we do what we do.

Lord, it's why we come to church.

It's why we worship you

because we know that you are the only one

who's worthy of receiving us into your arms.

Lord, we pray that you would just help us.

Help us all to be faithful.

Help us all to serve.

And, Lord, just be with release time in the coming days.

We ask all this in Jesus' name.

I'm going to get Jonathan Cheryl Smootz to come up.

And I love that we get to go from talking about release time

and getting in the Bible.

And so each one of these middle schoolers

gets a Bible on their seat to open and to read a verse.

Sometimes I have to bribe them with candy, but they do it.

It's a lot of fun to see that.

And now we get to go from talking about that

to Jonathan Cheryl, what they do as Wycliffe Bible Translators.

So Jonathan's my cousin. We go way back.

He's a little older. He's a little wiser when we were growing up.

He's still a little older. He's still a little wiser.

You can come on up here.

And I just want to never forget.

They came three years ago,

and I probably said this three years ago when they came,

but I will never forget one time me and you and your brother,

my other cousin Jeremy, were hanging out.

And me and Jeremy were in high school where these hotheads

were like, oh, we want to make a difference in the world.

And you see all this stuff.

They do it when they're young and being older and wiser.

I just remember Jonathan saying that he truly believes

what he's doing is making a difference in the world,

that translating the Bible into a language it's never been in

is going to make a generational impact on people going forward

more so than anything you can read in history books.

But what that work is is life-changing and eternally changing.

And I will never forget that because we truly do believe God's word

is powerful and effective and brings salvation.

And so I just thank you for reminding me that all these years ago

and thank you for all your work.

So give it up to Jonathan and Cheryl and they'll share with us.

Hello. Good morning. It's nice to be here again.

We are Jonathan and Cheryl Smootz.

We have four children there in the back.

And we are serving in Southeast Asia.

I don't know. You can do the next slide.

You can see a picture of our kids up there.

Oh, never mind. Not yet. Okay. Sorry.

So does anybody know how many languages there are in the world?

There's a lot.

There's over 7,000 languages in the world.

And out of those 7,000 languages, 756 have a complete Bible.

1,726 have a New Testament.

1,274 have portions of the Bible.

There's 1,524 languages that have no translation started.

So 1,524 languages that could not pick up a Bible and read it

if they were given a Bible.

1,524 have a work in progress.

And there are still 1,892 needed.

So we are just booklet Bible translators.

Our goal is to see that every language in the world that needs a Bible

has access to the Word of God.

So you can see a picture of our family.

All right. Our oldest, Lucas, is 13.

He will be starting eighth grade.

Jude, our youngest, our second, is 11.

He is just going to start sixth grade.

Annabeth is seven, and she will be starting second grade.

And Gideon is five, and he will be starting kindergarten.

They were all born in Thailand, and we've been really enjoying living there with them.

So the star up on the map that you see is where we live.

It's in a town called Muktahang.

It's right on the Mekong River, one of the largest rivers in the world.

We've been there now for, what, 13 years.

And so it's home for our kids, especially.

And it's been really nice to be there.

We've seen other people in our organization come and go,

but we're still there with our co-translators who are there as well.

Thailand has only about 1% Christians in the country.

The major religion is Buddhism as well as animism,

so that means that they believe and they worship spirits.

So there is a lot of darkness.

When we were singing the song, King of Kings,

and it just said that we were in the darkness,

it just hit me really hard because the people of Thailand are waiting in darkness,

and we want them to see the light of Jesus because he is hope.

Our neighbor, our neighbor boy, comes and plays over very often,

and if he's still in our yard playing after dark,

he needs us to walk him just next door, you know, 100 feet away

because he's scared of the spirits and the trees.

So we just are there because we want to see the light of Jesus

reach the people that we work with.

We work with a minority language, about 50,000 speakers.

We'll call them Oita today for safety reasons.

They are in an area of the world where Christians are very persecuted.

Many of the Oita believers have been kicked out of their villages

and living in huts in their rice fields.

This past year, a pastor from a different language group was killed,

and the government had been loosening up in their persecution,

but this past couple of years, they've been kind of squeezing their fist again.

I'm not sure what the motivation is behind that,

but just pray for the believers that are there

that God will protect them from persecution.

Jonathan's going to tell you about what we're doing

and what our project is about.

So we're obviously, we're translators,

so we're working on translating the New Testament into the Oita language.

And so far, we have 18 books of the New Testament completed,

which is really exciting.

And of those, there's another nine books

that are halfway through the four-step process.

And of the ones that we've completed,

11 of them have been recorded in audio format,

which is really good for us,

since we're the very first ones to write down this language.

So a lot of the people can't read their own language.

Some of them can read the national language.

A lot of them cannot read at all.

So while they're working out in their fields,

they're able to get some audio players,

maybe solar powered or something like that,

and listen to the word of God in their own language.

So that's really exciting.

Recently, there was a songwriting workshop

where some people came together to work on songs

in their own language and in their own style,

because we have style of worship music here

that is very, really similar.

I mean, it's a lot of stuff that's unique to our culture,

and that can go across other cultures, other Western cultures as well.

But the Oita culture has its own styles of singing,

and so they're trying to build that out into worship songs as well.

So the songwriting workshop went well,

and they took back to their village some of these songs,

and that group of believers that is being persecuted

and got kicked out of their village

continued to work on writing songs on their own,

so that's been really exciting.

And in the last couple of years,

I've also been able to start working on the Jesus film script,

and we're hoping to get that done as well.

So I wanted you to be able to hear some of the language,

the Oita language,

so I'm going to read from Romans 1513 in the Oita language.

Perfectly clear, right?

We like to do that because we just want a reminder

of how some people hear the word of God.

So imagine if the Bible wasn't in your language

and that was the only way you could hear it.

There wouldn't be very much that would get into your heart, right?

Let me read it in English.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace

as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that's really why we are doing what we're doing,

is so that the people that we're in contact with

can understand and see God's hope,

that they can see that there is power over the darkness

and power over the spirits,

and they can understand that when you have Christ living in you,

that you can be filled with his joy and his peace.

So that is the reason why we are translating the Bible,

the reason why we want people in other places

and other cultures to understand God's word.

Timmy mentioned earlier when he was reading the letter

about visa problems.

So that has been something that has been a lot of work

for us in the past two and a half years.

So one of the ways that we were able to get a visa

last year was that I taught English,

which is my first time teaching English.

I was uncertain of whether I could do it

because I had not ever done it before,

but in the process of it,

I really felt God just giving me the strength

and the understanding and the knowledge to do so.

So up here you can see the adult class

that I taught for three months last year.

They were a part of a agricultural seed production company.

And so I was handed a list of like ten pages of concepts

in Thai that they wanted to learn in English.

And I said, oh, okay.

So I had to first of all translate

and Google translate all of those concepts

from Thai into English because there's a lot of them

I don't know.

I don't know agriculture very well.

Then I had to learn what they meant in English

so that I could teach them how to say it in English.

But we had a lot of fun.

It was really a privilege to see,

especially this one woman, her name was Dao.

It was a real privilege at the beginning.

If I called on her, she had a deer in the headlights

look like, oh, my goodness, I don't know.

She was a little bit, she was the oldest woman there

and she just had no confidence in her English abilities at all.

And by the end of the three months,

she came up front.

I called her to come up front

and she was able to read a dialogue

with one of the other students.

She had lots of help from her classmates

but it was just really encouraging

to hear her say at the beginning,

I didn't think I could learn English

but now I feel like I can.

And so that was a really neat experience.

It's also one of the reasons why we do translation though

is because it's so hard to learn another language

and if the only way you can learn about Jesus

is in a language that's really hard for you,

then it's gonna be harder to get it into your heart.

It's gonna be harder to accept that as truth.

So that's why when we do Bible translation,

we want it to be in their language

and not have them learn English.

I also taught some preschoolers and kindergartners as well.

It was very challenging for me.

I am not by nature a kindergarten teacher

but God gave me the strength

and at the end of my English teaching visa,

I felt that he really taught me

that when I feel very weak that I have strength

and I am strong and capable because he has given me the gifts

to do what he wants me to do.

So we've had some major health issues in the past two years.

Jonathan, we'll talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, just about a year and a half ago now,

I was diagnosed with epilepsy

and because of that, I've been unable to do all the work

that I would have liked to do.

And so, I don't know what else.

I mean, if you're gonna have epilepsy,

I basically have the best form of epilepsy

because it's not falling on the ground

and being unconscious or anything like that.

But still, it's been hard and it kind of wipes me out

after I've had seizures.

So you could just really pray

that I'll be able to figure out

the best way to control those

and the medications with the doctors

that I have both here and in Thailand.

So you can pray for that.

Our kids attend school in Thailand.

We have a bilingual school in our city,

but it's for elementary school.

So grade, actually age three up until grade six.

So last year in March,

Lucas graduated from that school in sixth grade.

And this past year,

he had a completely different education experience.

So the bilingual school the kids go to is a Montessori school.

So it's got a lot of student-led learning

and a lot of hands-on learning.

And he has Thai kids.

There's a few other international kids,

but it's largely Thai.

The new school that he attends

is called the Modular Study Group.

It's a program that several missionaries started in Asia

and are part of the world for families

that don't have good access to education.

So it starts with grade seven and it goes to grade 12.

And what they do is they travel to one of the big cities

in Thailand called Chiang Mai.

They travel to Chiang Mai one week out of the month.

They meet with other missionary kids

and the teachers that are there.

They have about three classes,

math, science, and English.

And they have tests and they do projects

and they are together and they live in dorms together

and they study the Bible together.

And it's just a really encouraging time

for these missionary kids to be able to talk

to other kids or having similar experiences.

And then they come home for three weeks

and they do homeschool.

And so it's a really good hybrid form of education

because in the past, you know,

missionaries would often send their kids away

to boarding school.

And that was really, really hard for kids.

It was really, really hard for the parents.

And so as we, you know, have moved on in society,

we're kind of acknowledging some of those difficulties.

So this is a really good middle ground

because he's getting a good education

with other missionary kids,

but he's also able to be home with his family.

So as far as we can tell,

he's been having a good time with the kids there

and fun time with his friends in the dorm.

The other three kids are attending

the local Thai and English Montessori school

and they have some really good friends

and it's been really fun to watch them grow and learn

and just be encouraged to be part of a community.

We've been really thankful for the school community

because it enables us to stay where we are,

continue to do the work,

as well as have our kids have a sense of belonging

and have friends as well.

We just want to kind of close up with our prayer requests.

So as you can see behind me there,

I pray for our finances.

We've been a little low lately,

especially with my medication,

costing quite a bit for,

I think I'm on four different medications right now

for my epilepsy.

You can pray for my health.

That will be able to get that under control.

Pray for the school, for the kids,

pray for the continuation of the project.

We're hoping to finish it up, the New Testament up here

and know there are two or three years

and be able to get the whole thing out to the people

and pray for protection for the national believers

because of the increased persecution that's going on

and then pray for the health of our other teammates

that we're working with,

the national translators in particular.

I just wanted to end it again by reading that verse we read earlier.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace

as you trust in him

so that you may overflow with hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And I just wanted to remind all of us

that we're all missionaries where God has put us to be

and that each one of us here has his hope in our hearts

and that we have the opportunity to impact

the people that we come in contact with every day.

There are non-believers all around us all the time

and just that hope that we have in our hearts,

we need to let it shine out for those who don't have any.

So thanks for having us today.

I'm going to pray for Jonathan Sherrill just a second,

but I just want to think about some things like

anyone ever flown with your children before, small children?

Anyone ever done that?

Is it easy or hard?

Sherrill just had to fly from the other side of the world

with four kids because of visa issues that they had

and so Jonathan wasn't able to come back.

So she had to do that just a couple weeks ago.

That's incredibly hard.

Anyone ever been on vacation with kids before, small kids?

Are you energized at the end of that?

No, right?

Imagine living on the other side of the world

in different culture and different contexts

wrangling four kids while learning a different language,

while translating it into the Bible.

And so the work that they're doing is incredibly hard.

It's spiritually difficult because of the attacks of Satan,

but it's so rewarding because the Word of God

has transformed your life, I'm sure.

It's transformed my life and what they're doing

is going to transform the lives of believers now,

but for generations and generations and generations to come.

And so I'm just going to pray for them

and we will conclude from there.

Lord, we do just say thank you for Jonathan and Cheryl

this morning.

God, I'm just especially grateful for them being here,

being family.

But we just pray for all of these requests, God.

We pray for particularly Jonathan's health.

God, we just pray with the moving and power

of the Holy Spirit, God, that you can bring full healing.

God, you have that power, you have that ability,

you have that capability, and so we just ask for that

in the name of the Holy Spirit through the power of Jesus.

And so we just come to you asking for that.

And God, as you do that, as you work that out,

give wisdom to doctors here and abroad

of how to bring help and healing in that process.

And so we just do pray for that.

God, we pray for their finances,

that they will be able to serve you,

to live the lives that you've called them to live.

And God, you do not have to worry day after day

about what's going on, where everything's coming from.

But God, that you will abundantly provide for them

everything that they need.

God, we pray for the schooling for their kids.

We pray for the work that they're doing

and all of these things, God.

We just pray that you will be glorified, God,

in their interactions with their neighbors,

that they can just be faithful witnesses of who you are

and how you've called them to live.

And God, we do just pray for the work again

that they're doing.

God, that sooner rather than later,

that this language group will have

the entire New Testament translated.

God, that those believers will be able to cling to your word

from the beginning of the New Testament to the end,

that they will have it, that they will know it,

that that will transform those communities

where those 50,000 people are living and working

and operating, God, that your word will go forth

with power and active.

And so, God, we do just pray for that.

And God, pray that you'll encourage them

and build them up.

And as they're here in the U.S. for a couple months,

God, that they will be able to get some rest.

And God, they'll be able to recharge

and go back to do the work that you've called them to do.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

All right, as we conclude today,

I challenge you guys again.

We're not all pastors.

We're not all singers.

We're not all teachers.

We're not all Bible translators

or 501c3 chairman or, you know,

we all serve God in different ways.

But I just want to remind you today

that a win for one is a win for all.

And as we sit here at Graham Chapel,

and you think about everybody who shared today,

whether it's video or one of our people in person,

while they're doing most of the legwork in their ministries,

we have a small part in that.

We get to share in that victory.

And in the same way, everything that you do,

everything that you do at Graham Chapel,

a win for us as staff is a win for you as people.

We all share in the kingdom of God.

That's the way God designed for it to be,

is that all of us would be a part of it,

that we would all support one another,

build one another up,

and make sure that we do this together as one family,

we're all children of God.

Let me pray with you.

I'll let you guys go.

Our people who are in person will be out front.

If you'd like to stop and talk to them,

get more information, they will be available.

And again, just prayerfully think,

prayerfully ask the Lord,

how can you serve Him in different ways

as you've seen the different ways

some of these people have been serving,

but also how you may be able to support them

in their ministries as they're working really hard

to see that the kingdom's being built.

Let's pray.

Father, again, thank you for the stay.

Thank you for this time together,

and thank you for the people who have shared.

Lord, from the videos, the letter,

to the people who were able to be here in person,

God, we thank you so much

for what they're doing in the ministry,

that they're working so hard at.

Lord, we pray that You would fill them

with Your Holy Spirit,

that they would not do this under their own strength,

but God, they would do it

with the strength and power of Your Spirit.

Lord, I pray that as a church,

that we would be humbly obedient to You.

Father, we would not just think

that what we do here in our life is important

or any more important than anyone else.

Lord, what is going on around this world?

Lord, it's all so much bigger than us.

Father, we're so small

in the context of who You are,

of Your kingdom, of Your creation,

and Lord, I pray that You would just help us

to be faithful with who we are

and where we are and all that You've given us

and help us all to be willing to build Your kingdom.

We love You and we thank You

and be with us as we go for us.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.