Celebrations and Transitions

This month has been especially exciting, with new things happening at church and at BCM International. If I am honest, my brain is spinning at the thought of it all, but while it's slightly dizzying, it is clear that God is at work, and it's all genuine cause for celebration!

BCM International's 90th Birthday!

This year, BCM International is celebrating 90 years of God's faithfulness to our organization!

On August 28th-29th, we celebrated with BCM family and friends. On the 28th, we celebrated by honoring many of our retired missionaries with a luncheon.

On the morning of the 29th, we hosted a prayer walk in the community. We took time to pray for the present and future needs of BCM International while walking around different stations at Stoner Park in Lancaster.

God blessed us with the perfect weather at the prayer walk! Those attending received a lanyard with prayer requests for each station. During the 8th station, two of our missionaries prayed with and for those attending. I had the joy of praying for BCM with some dear friends and coworkers.

That afternoon, we hosted our first BCM Open House. During the Open House, guests were guided on a 40 minute tour of the suite where they learned more about BCM International while walking through the space, hearing stories, learning more about our new children's picture book, and chatting with some of our International Ministry Center team about the history and the current ministries of BCM International.

Our 90th Anniversary celebrations follow the theme "So the Next Generation will Know" as we reflect on the past and look ahead to the future of the ministry. During the 40 minute tours, there were opportunities to learn about our new children's book, learn the history of BCM, meet the three most recent BCM presidents, and pray for the BCM together.

As the "baby" department of the mission, the Bible and Ministry Training Department is officially launching at the open house events. This means that I, as the Director of the department, had an opportunity to share the vision for the ministry to every single person who came through the doors. Many of those who came to the first event were retired missionaries, and it was a joy to hear their excitement at what God is doing through the department.

I had the opportunity of sharing about the Bible and Ministry Training Department with every person went on an Open House tour. It is a joy to share about all that God is doing!

We'll be hosting a second open house available to the public on Thursday, October 2nd from 3pm-7pm. If you are interested in seeing the office and learning more about the ministry, we would love to have you! Our office suite is located at 805 Estelle Dr. Suite 209, Lancaster, PA, 17601. We'd love to see you there!

Come celebrate 90 years of God's faithfulness with us on Thursday, October 1st, between 3pm-7pm. A missionary will guide you on a 40 minute tour through the office to learn more about God's faithfulness.

Curriculum Testing:

It has been a while since I've given any updates surrounding the Ministry Leadership Training Curriculum that the team has been working on. In January, we received $150,000 to write and publish a training curriculum that can equip ministry leaders to know, love, and obey God, and to help others do the same.

Our goal for this year has been to write the six core sessions of the training, which provide the foundation for the entire curriculum. The Writing Team has been hard at work grappling with content in Bible, Theology, Spiritual Formation, and Ministry Skills, and brainstorming ways to write the curriculum that it is helpful, relevant, and easy to translate into any culture.

We have been working to develop six core sessions on these topics. These sessions will provide the foundational content for the whole curriculum.

After much blood, sweat, and tears, we will be testing the six core sessions for the first time starting in late-October! Lord willing, I will be going to South Africa from October 24th-November 3rd to run a few test-trainings with my teammate in Cape Town. In addition to the testing in Cape Town, we are also hoping to run a test in the United States, and potentially with a group of our missionaries from across Africa.

Starting at the end of October, we are looking to begin testing these first six sessions in several different countries. We want to personally test these sessions because they are the foundation for the whole curriculum.

It has been a long process, but we are so excited by all that God has been doing, and we are excited to see how our ideas work in practice.

Church Transitions:

On September 1st, Phil began his new role as the Associate Pastor role at Calvary Baptist Church of Bel Air, Maryland.

Phil will now be serving as the Associate Pastor of Calvary Baptist of Bel Air, MD.

I know. It seemed sudden to us too.

Over the summer, two of the pastors on staff announced that they would be moving on to a new ministry at the end of the summer.

The church decided to use the time to restructure the pastoral roles, and so Phil will oversee Youth, Adults, and Missions at the church, and he will oversee an incredible part-time Children's Ministry Director.

While we were not pursuing this, God's has made it clear that this is what He has next for Phil and I.

Phil is excited to have additional opportunities to preach, and to work with our volunteer teams to make disciples who make disciples.

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Prayers and Praises:

BCM's 90th Anniversary:

• Praise God for his faithfulness to BCM International for 90 years!

• Praise God for a successful Open House on August 29th.

• Pray for the next Open House on October 2nd, since it is open to the public, and there may be some who come that don't know Christ.

Ministry Leadership Training Curriculum:

• Praise God for the progress made on the curriculum.

• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we continue writing and refining the curriculum to make it clear and relevant to everyone everywhere.

Church Ministry Transitions:

• Praise God for the new ministry opportunity that Phil has as Associate Pastor.

• Pray for wisdom and smooth transitions as Phil gets used to the new role.

Upcoming Trips:

• South Africa Test-Training Trip-- October 24th-November 2nd.

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