Meet a Missionary!

Can you say “Mademoiselle”? Mlle is the abbreviation for Mademoiselle, the French way of saying “Miss.” Mademoiselle is pronounced MAD-mwah-ZELLE. Can you say that? MAD-mwah-zelle. We at Kids 4 Truth would like to introduce you to Mademoiselle Jeanne (pronounced “ZHJUN”). She was always known as “Miss Kristi” when she lived in the USA, but “Kristi” is a very hard name for French people to pronounce. So while living in France, Miss Kristi goes by her middle name instead, which happens to be a French name, too: Jeanne. Mlle Jeanne is a missionary worker who lives in the northwest region of France (the province of Normandy), about an hour and a half west of Paris.

Where is France, and how did Mlle Jeanne end up there? France is in Western Europe, south of England and north of Spain. Long before Mlle Jeanne ever set foot in France, she had been praying for years about three strong desires that she believed were put in her heart by God: 1) To be a missionary, 2) to serve in a French-speaking country, and 3) to be able to use her musical training for Him. Mlle Jeanne studied the French language and was finally able to travel to France for a visit several years ago. While she was there, she visited in Normandy and learned a lot about the needs of French people (including their spiritual needs). She was amazed at how God had led her to this place that seemed to meet all three of those desires she had been praying about! Her heart continued to hope she could serve God there someday, somehow.

When she returned home to the States, God directed Mlle Jeanne to spend several years preparing for her life in France. She learned how to teach music and how to disciple young women. Most of all, she learned how great her God is. Before moving to France, God put the finishing touches on her preparation by allowing her to spend a month visiting many churches in Quebec, a French-speaking province in Canada. God brought together many people to pray and help send Mlle Jeanne, and on April 30, 2008, it was finally time for her to return to France! She spent the summer in Paris studying French at the Sorbonne (a famous French university). By fall 2008, she was ready to move west to Rouen (rw-ON), the city that is quickly becoming her new home. In Rouen, Mlle Jeanne has seen the fulfillment of all three of her desires! She is able to use her French and her musical talents to help build up the church in Rouen.   

What does Mlle Jeanne do in France? Mlle Jeanne is part of a missionary team that is working to start Gospel-preaching churches in Rouen. She spends time each week sharing the Gospel and encouraging the women in her church in their walk with God. Discipleship is important! Jesus commanded us all to be making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). For Mlle Jeanne to be discipling means that she is teaching and counseling the women biblically in order to help them grow to be followers and students of Jesus. She is in charge of the children’s ministry at church, as well as the music. For her, it’s a dream come true to serve God in France and to be able to use her musical gifts for Him.

What can I learn from Mlle Jeanne’s story? While Mlle Jeanne was waiting in the USA for God’s timing for her to move to France, she spent her time praying and preparing herself to be a better servant. Most of all, she spent her time trying to get to know the God she wanted to serve, and He is graciously still discipling her! Are you praying now? Are you preparing in practical ways now? Are you getting as ready as you can for what God wants you to do in the future? Are you trusting God and obeying Him now so that you will be more ready to trust and obey Him in the future?

Why does France need missionary workers like Mlle Jeanne? French people live for things that will never satisfy: Good food, expensive wines, and fancy clothes. Here’s what most French people say when Mlle Jeanne asks them about God:

“I don’t believe in God.”

“I know there is a higher power, but I don’t like to give it a name.”

“I don’t think that God cares about me.”

“I go to work and pretend everything is OK, but it’s fake. I don’t have any peace. But I don’t really think God has the answers.”

“I am trying to earn points to go to Heaven.”

Mlle Jeanne has been learning in her own life that God’s Creation and God’s Word are truly “all about God.” Just as you’ve been learning as you explore the Kids 4 Truth books or this website, God is interested in making sure that people from every nation, no matter what language they speak, will get to hear the story of His gracious Gospel and learn how worthy He is of fame and glory. The people who live in the Normandy region of France are sinners just like the rest of the world. God is on the move in Rouen! He is opening up sinners’ eyes and saving sinners’ souls. Pray that Mlle Jeanne will get to have a part in the work He is doing!

Who in the wide world is “Chef Soufflé”? We would also like to introduce you to Chef Soufflé (SHEFF soo-FLAY), Mlle Jeanne’s trusty sidekick. Here he is pictured with one of his favorite things: FOOD. Specifically, he is holding a baguette, which is a long, crusty loaf of French bread. Chef travels around with Mlle Jeanne, and when she comes home to visit her friends in American churches, he comes along and helps her tell about her life in France. Maybe you will meet Chef Soufflé in person one day!

Bob Roberts, the Director of Kids 4 Truth, and his wife Sarah are serving as short term missionaries over in Hong Kong for 9 months where they are teaching English and Bible in a public secondary school as well as helping out Pastor Cedric Wong in his church.
 

So how did the director wind up in Hong Kong?

Bob and Sarah had been praying for several months for God to give them more chances to share the Gospel with people who've never heard. This past summer, while working at the Wilds Christian Camp, they were able to meet a national pastor from Hong Kong who was looking for people to be missionaries over in Hong Kong. He told them about the opportunity to get to know over a thousand Chinese kids and share with them truth about God through teaching English to them. He also told them about the chance to train pastors in children's ministry and use the Kids 4 Truth curriculum to reach the Chinese.

After praying about this opportunity, and getting counsel from trusted friends and family, they started making arrangements to travel half way around the world!

What Do the Roberts Do Each Day?

Bob and Sarah leave for school a little after 7:00 each day. They begin the day talking with students as they come into school and then go to the morning assembly time. Most of their time is spent interacting with students during their break times and at lunch which turns into several hours a day because the students have break times at different times of the day. During these break times, they play games with the students and just talk to the to help them with their English as well as to help teach Bible lessons and stories.

Bob and Sarah also each have a chance to spend individual time with students to test how well they can understand and speak English. This is a great chance to get to know the kids personally. Their are also more speaking opportunities for Bob during some of the chapel and assembly times.

Another part of the Robert's ministry is to help out in a local church. Here they help with outreach ministries, preaching, some training, as well as other service around the building.

What is Hong Kong Like?

Hong Kong is a part of China, but it has it's own government and free market economy. It's a very busy and crowded place with skyscrapers everywhere! There are seven million people who live and work in a very small area. Hong Kong is full of hard working and respectful people. Even though it has a lot of Western influence, it is still very much a Chinese culture.

School System
School is very, very important in Hong Kong. There are a lot of primary (elementary) and secondary (junior high/ school) schools all over. Many are packed very closely together. A person's future is almost completely dependent upon the grades they make in school and their examinations. These exams will allow you to get into a university and will determine what type of job you will be able to get. Many students will stay at school all day long and even spend their "holidays" working on school work.

School students all wear uniforms, and you can tell the school that a person goes to by what uniform they are wearing. They are required to follow very strict standards and are not allowed to dye their hair or to wear a lot of jewelery.

The students themselves are very much like American kids who enjoy listening to music, talking and laughing with friends, and playing sports and games.

Food
There are a lot of food options in Hong Kong. You will mostly find traditional Chinese food, but you can also find Japanese, Vietnamese, and Western Cuisine. You can even find some American favorites like McDonald's and Pizza Hut!

Entertainment and Activities
The Chinese people are very healthy people. They enjoy sports and spending time in the outdoors. There are a lot of parks to enjoy, and many people will do morning stretches and workout routines outside each day. They also enjoy movies, TV, video games, as well as playing board and card games.

Transportation
Very few people own cars here because you have to pay for parking almost everywhere you go. Gas is also pretty expensive. Most people use public transportation such as the light rail, trains, or buses to get wherever they need to go. You can get what's called an Octopus Card that you swipe onto an orange or green machine whenever you get on or off of the light rail or train in order to pay for your trip.

Fun Facts

• Most people in Hong Kong don't have a washing machine, but instead they will get their laundry done at a laundry store. If they do have a washing machine, they won't have a dryer but will hang their clothes on a line to dry.

• The currency in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong dollar and it is worth about eight US dollars.

• Most children ride on the light rail to go to school every day.

• You should not clean up after yourself in a fast food restaurant because the staff will get in trouble by the manager if they don't do it for you.

• Hong Kong is the most vertical city in the world! More people here work above the ninth floor than anywhere else.

Matt and Kelly Collier work with a ministry called Camps Abroad. They travel throughout the world to set up and run camps for children in many different countries.

I would like to share what the Lord did on the first ground level camping endeavor of Camps Abroad. We went with two goals for this trip to India: communicate a basic understanding of camp counseling to the staff and run a week of camp to see how it works in Indian culture. The Lord allowed us to reach both goals successfully.

Ron Degarde, Kelly and I left on Friday, April 14 and arrived in Cochin, India on Sunday morning after 22 hours of flying and an enjoyable 8 hour layover in Bombay. (I could say a lot about Bombay but will refrain for the time being.) Ron and I both got our share of preaching, speaking about 18 times each in the two weeks, and we started off with the morning and evening services. I'm not sure what we said, but I'm sure it was good. It was refreshing to be in the services. The people love to learn and are earnest and sincere about following Christ. The first time I preached, I went about 45 minutes. Brother Thomas approached me afterwards and told me that I must go at least 1 hour and 15 minutes or the people feel cheated. (That would be called heaven for some evangelists I know.) They love to learn and listen attentively, even though they sit on concrete floors on thin straw mats for 3 or 4 hours. I am rebuked when I think of how long it takes for me to get restless in a service.

We began training the staff on Monday at 10:00am. We held it at the Thomas's house. Matthew Thomas has served for 13 years in India and the Lord has used him to start 11 churches that now have their own pastors. He is a godly man and is doing a wonderful job. It was his vision and work that has propelled this camping effort in India. We could not begin earlier because it took some of the counselors 2 hours of riding on a bus to get to the location, and we didn't have room for all of them to sleep over. We began and ended each day with a counseling session during which I covered selected lessons from "How to be a good counselor" and some basic counseling principles. God and I time (studying Colossians) followed the first counseling session, and then Ron preached. We had one program session a day, covering the simple schedule, some games, and some music practice times. We had about 30 people every day -- mostly pastors and their wives. The basic counseling techniques were all new to them. Not all of them understood everything, but at least they were exposed to the concepts. A good foundation was laid.

Easter Sunday was a sweet time. Early in the morning, I took a walk to a Hindu temple down the street to see how they celebrated Easter Sunday. The burning candles and incense and empty faces were quite a contrast to the Sunday service that we attended that day. We witnessed the baptism of an entire family that day. Baptism there is a major step, because from that point on, they are cut off from all family and friends who are Hindu, Buddhist or Catholic (which make up 95% of India). Needless to say, after baptism, the church doesn't lose very many converts - they have no where else to go.

On Monday we went to the camp site for some preparations. We rented a YMCA campground for the week. It had two dorms, a main meeting hall, a 1 acre dirt ball field and an outdoor eating facility. That was about it. It is located on the outskirts of Cochin on the banks of a very big river. Fortunately, it was walled in and they had a guard at the gate. The bathrooms are holes in the ground and the showers are spigots and buckets. Let's just say that the health inspector would pass out at first sight! Primitive, yes, but as we know, the place doesn't make a camp. The kids absolutely loved it. We had about 150 people for the week. Not bad considering most of them didn't even know what a camp is.

The games were as simple as we could make them. The staple game for the week was: dodge ball. The kids loved it. We ran the entire week with 4 playground balls, 2 soccer balls, a volleyball, a rope, and some cones.

Several were saved during the week, and, probably most exciting was the 15 that surrendered to fulltime Christian work. With 1 billion people and only .05% of them Christian, India desperately needs laborers. The Friday night service best sums up the week. After the service that night, we took the kids out to an outdoor amphitheater (a series of concrete steps) that looked out over the river. We had prepared a campfire at the bottom of the steps. 200 feet across the river, some water buffalo were playing in the warm water on the far bank. As I was explaining the campfire service, a Hindu temple in Cochin city began broadcasting its annoying, Satanic, Eastern music. Our people sang as they came forward to put a stick in the fire. I then opened it up for testimonies about what the Lord had done in their lives that week, and for 1 1/2 hours, the kids were standing and praising the Lord. Out of all the testimonies, only 4 were in English. I got a report on the other afterwards, but I'd like to share two of the ones that we could understand. Two boys from Hindu families had come that week. And one of them stood up. He said, "This week I have decided to follow after Christ, even though I know that my family will reject me. I want to follow Jesus." The other boy stood up. In a choked up voice he said, "I have also gotten saved this week. I want to go to Bible college and serve the Lord no matter what my friends and family do." Praise the Lord! This is why we travel around the world! For these and many like them. The field is ripe and the time is now. God is going to use camping around the world for His honor and cause.

Here's a letter from Baron and Joyce Howerton, who are currently serving as missionaries in Romania.  They have three children - Zachary, Spencer, and Andrew.

We have been in Romania for 3 years now. We have three sons. Zachary is 5 1/2, Spencer is 4, and Andrew is 1. Our first two years here we went to language school. We went for 3 months, 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. Then Baron went on for 3 more months 2 days a week for 2 hours. We helped in a village church those two years. This past November we opened Berean Baptist Church in the city of Lugoj which is where we live. We were burdened to reach our friends and neighbors. We are currently in the process of buying land for a future church location. We will be having our first baptismal service the end of this month.

Life is definately different here in Romania. This country was under the rule of a dictator until the December 1989. Much has changed in the past years but it is still very different. We have to go to pay our bills we can't just write a check and mail them in. So, every month we spend an afteroon going to pay the phone bill, the electric bill, the water bill, the cell phone bill, garbage(in the summer they actually come to our door and collect the money). There is still a lot of corruption here. You have to have money or have connections to get certain things done in a timely manner. The driving is also different. There are only two lane roads filled with big pot holes. When driving we have to be careful not to hit pedestrians, bicycles, horses, cows, tractors, sheep, lots of stray dogs. We only live 25 miles from McDonalds but it takes us an hour to get there! Baron spends much of his time on Monday and Tuesday writing his sermons in Romanian. He has to write them all out still until he learns the language better. It takes a lot of time. Then Wed. our teacher comes and corrects the sermons. We usually try and go visiting twice a week. We visit people we know are unsaved and people who visit our church and invite them to come again and tell them how our church is different from other churches here. We share the true way of salvation with them. We have teen activities once a month, we have a family night at church every other month, and then we also during the school year work at the Bible College that was started two years ago. Baron teaches this year, Doctrines and NT Survey. Joyce will be teaching Health Class again. Each week we have several people come to our door looking for food or money. There are beggers on the street here. Many children here, especially gypsy kids, are sent out by their parents to beg instead of going to school. We always try and give these people some food and invite them to church.

On this trip to Japan I have traveled from the north, Misawa to the South, Okinawa. God has been blessing the meetings. Two young men have surrendered for full time service, two people have been saved, and at least twenty decisions among Christians.
 

In Okinawa we went out to evangelize children and invite them to Sunday School. The first two pictures below show that work being done. Children attend school 6 days a week, so we were there on Saturday. I am happy to report that several of these children came on Sunday to the Shinko (Faith) Baptist Church Sunday School for the first time.

Boys and girls in Japan are taught to believe in many gods. They practice both Buddhism and Shintoism at the same time. Most have never seen a Bible and know nothing of the Lord Jesus. I was with Missionary Don Gardner, his wife, Terri and their son Joshua. They also have purchased land for a camp and have nearly finished the first building.
 

This picture was taken at the Nishi Maiko Baptist Church in Kobe, Japan. This is the church that was destroyed in the earthquake and re-built by volunteer workers. My wife, Odessa, and I started this church in November of 1966. One of the highlights of the ministry of this church is that over 30 practicing Jehovah's Witnesses were won to Christ and they now have a full time ministry to people deceived by this cult. Over 200 have been saved through the years.
 

This picture is of the Sunday service when I preached in that church.
 

this picture is of a young lady dressed in the typical okinawan clothing

Since I have been in Japan this time my burden has increased even more. Pray that the message of the "Risen Son" would shine in the hearts of the children in the land of the "Rising Sun."