Nancy Vander Meer
Hi! I love the Lord Jesus and am thankful to serve Him through my work, my church participation, my neighborhood and, my home. In my job as Information Associate for Back to God Ministries International (the worldwide media ministry of the Christian Reformed Church) I collect and share information--photos, statistics, and--my favorite part--stories about how God is using media missions to reach people in literally every country of the world. You might occasionally see these stories in The Banner or on our website, BackToGod.net. As a member of Alger Park CRC in Grand Rapids, I lead a Women's Bible study, serve on the women's ministry committee, help serve our neighbors on Wednesday evening "EaT" nights, love welcoming visitors, and thoroughly enjoy all aspects of worship! I love my husband of 21 years, my 19 year-old college daughter, and look forward to being a grandma this summer when my stepson and his wife have their first child.
Posted in: What Is the Real Impact of Muslim Relations?
I agree with Wendy. There is salvation power in the Gospel! I work with Back to God Ministries International and receive encouraging stories of people coming to faith in Christ from our Arabic ministry in the Middle East. Our team reports that many of the younger Muslims are becoming disenchanted with those who practice a fanatic version of Islam. They are open to alternatives.
Although many countries are hostile to the Christian faith, thousands of Muslims in the Middle East have access to the truth of the Christian faith through Back to God Ministries audio programs on radio and Internet. We also have a Facebook page that introduces sayings of Jesus--and Jesus' words draw many into a desire to know more about Him.
We provide answers to their questions and discipleship through text messaging and Skype conversations—and, with caution, in face to face meetings with trained mentors. With prayer and patience, we are seeing the Holy Spirit transform lives.
For example, a young couple, from an area of the Arabian Peninsula where the Bible is forbidden, first heard the Gospel over the airwaves. They became Christians a few years ago and now have secret fellowship with a small group of other believers. They keep in touch with our Arabic staff through Skype and quietly point their friends and relatives to our Arabic ministry website. As a result, some of their friends or relatives have also committed their lives to Christ!
There is a similar story on BacktoGod.net that might encourage those who are praying for Gospel transformation in the Middle East. http://backtogod.net/global_impact/reaching-muslims-through-prayer-and-patience. Keep praying! God is at work!
Posted in: ESL Coffee Break
Marian, did you happen to catch the Global Coffee Break article in the February Banner? http://www.thebanner.org/church-at-work/article/?id=3965 Before I started researching this article, I had no idea about the global impact Coffee Break was having and the various languages in which the materials were available.
Another ESL or ELL resource is available through ReFrame Media, the English outreach of Back to God Ministries International: Spotlight English Clubs. http://www.spotlightradio.net/sec/ These are great easy-to-implement materials for outreach. Your quote "They came to the church to learn English; they met Jesus in the process!" is one that perfectly fits the Spotlight outreach.
Here are a couple of links to stories about how churches/individuals are using Spotlight to connect with ELL people in their communities. http://backtogod.net/global_impact/go-where-the-people-are and http://backtogod.net/global_impact/a-new-community.
Posted in: Internet and Missions
Thanks, Steve, for mentioning ReFrame-Media.com. These are some great new ways God is using the Internet for missions in the English language. You might also want to check out BackToGod.net to see links to similar web ministries in other languages as well. Back to God Ministries International has some great discipleship web resources in Arabic, Chinese, French, Bahasa (in Indonesia), Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish—and we’re working on Hindi.