Volume 1, Number 2: July-August 2006

International News

• Mission Developer for Latin America: Hector Barrero has been appointed Mission Developer and Denominational Director for Latin America. Senor Barrero pastors the Bogota, Colombia, congregation and has for several years assisted and been mentored by Charles Fleming. This appointment enables Mr. Fleming to give his full attention to the needs of the Caribbean.

As Mission Developer for Latin America, Sr. Barrero’s primary responsibility will be to equip congregational leaders with the skills necessary for pastoring and leading congregations in mission. As Denominational Director, he will ensure that the doctrinal teachings and ethical standards of the denomination are taught and upheld in all our churches in the region, and that the church’s business in each country is conducted in conformity with the church’s standards and with national law.

He brings to the job a strong passion for mission and evangelism. We are thankful that God has raised up such a dedicated leader for our Latin American churches who can maintain the momentum and zeal that Mr. Fleming brought the region.

Above: Those who were part of the Communion service. Below, outside the house where we held church services. Pastor Nakagawa is in the front wearing the black jacket. Bill Sidney is the second from the left, Mrs. Nakagawa third from the left.

Worship Service in Hiroshima: Sizuko Nakagawa, the wife of our pastor in Tokyo, Shunsuke Nakagawa, asked me to visit Hiroshima in February 2003. On the first visit, I was asked to conduct a memorial service for Mrs. Nakagawa’s parents, who had died a number of years earlier. They were Christians in Japan when it was especially difficult to be Christians—during World War II. A memorial service was held on the side of a mountain at the grave site, with about ten family members present. As I spoke in English, Pastor Nakagawa translated the message into Japanese.

We had a meeting with some of the family members and friends who were Christians and had a Bible study that started at about 7 p.m. and ended at about 2 a.m. They had many questions about Bible teachings, and some were concerned about issues in their local churches. Those present would ask questions in Japanese and Mr. Nakagawa would translate for me. I would turn to a scripture in my English Bible and they followed along in their Japanese Bibles. By the end of our time together they were at peace with the challenges that they were facing. The next night was also a late one, and many family issues were discussed. I felt honored that they felt free to include me in their family deliberations.

While in Hiroshima, I was taken to visit the Peace Park, which was built to remind all humanity of the destructive force of the atomic bomb. It was a very sobering visit to see the incredible destruction that one bomb can make. On the trip I met one of Mrs. Nakagawa’s brothers-in law, who was in Hiroshima the day the bomb was dropped. He was a small boy and he remembers hiding under a table when the bomb went off. The table collapsed on top of him, but he survived.

My second visit was in September 2005. Pastor Nakagawa drove his wife and myself the 1,000 kilometers from Tokyo to Hiroshima. We held another Bible study, but it was for only three hours, since we had to drive back to Tokyo the next day.

My third visit was in March 2006, and this time we traveled to Hiroshima on the Shinkansen, the Bullet Train, which took only five hours. Our visit included two Bible studies and a family discussion night. On Sunday morning before leaving for Tokyo, we had an in-house church service, which included a sermon given by me and hymn singing and a Communion service conducted by Pastor Nakagawa.

Pastor Eugene Guzon from the Philippines and I are endeavoring to place a missionary family in Tokyo to assist Pastor Nakagawa in the work of the church. Any members who are planning to live, work, visit or study in Japan can contact Pastor Shunsuke Nakagawa, who lives about 40 minutes from the Narita airport. He conducts services on Saturdays as our bi-vocational pastor in Japan. Bill Sidney

A Hope for Africa

by James Henderson

Despite the tragic problems Africans must face, the people that I know in Africa fill me with hope for the continent, for Christianity, and for the Worldwide Church of God! I’d like to take a few moments to relate some very positive and inspiring things that are happening as our church in Africa goes forth in the spirit of Christ.

Take our LomÈ congregation in the West African country of Togo. Under the capable leadership of Daniel Yovo, our small congregation there has gone from strength to strength. They are involved in Bible distribution to previously unreached tribes. Also, a medical and social center is being built on the LomÈ church grounds (right) so our believers there can proclaim the gospel to the local community through care in action.

More than 2,000 miles east of LomÈ is the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, near the border with Sudan. It is an arid, inhospitable area where outcasts from various countries and wars eke out a meager existence. Yet God is at work there.

Like many refugees, church member Musafiri Nyenye (left) fled from the eastern Congo and was placed in Kakuma by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. He and a friend decided to plant a church, and now we have three congregations in the camp. Food has been a major concern, and I am delighted to thank members and congregations from all over our worldwide fellowship who have sent money to buy supplies for our refugee members and families. Last week Musafiri wrote to me to express gratitude for the assistance given.

About 2,000 miles south of Kakuma, in the small town of Newcastle, South Africa, member Morrison Belebana has been instrumental in raising up a church (below right). They meet in a garage each week and have begun their own choir. This is another of the many examples of the church-planting activity that has been taking place in Africa over the past several years.

There is so much I would like to tell you about. So much about people who represent a hope for Africa and for Christianity and for our fellowship. Maybe you will allow me to list some names, as Paul did in Romans 16.

Space does not permit me to let you know more about the labor of love by Rose and Sergie Subiah among the blind community in Glenwood, South Africa; of the South African church plants being nurtured by Lennie Christoffels, Freddie Europa, Caleb Makhela, Bennie Maake, Johan Retief, Allison Mthembu; of the massive work being done by Kalengule Kaoma and his ministerial teams in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe; of the gospel outreach in the Indian Ocean being conducted by Rigobert Rafiringason in Madagascar and Yves Nayna in Mauritius; of the lively churches we have in Lesotho and Botswana; of the activity of our church being supervised by Kimani Ndungu throughout Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda; of the ministry of Oliveira Kitambala in war-weary Angola; of the faithful and brave work of Luta Butochima in the dangerous eastern Congo and of the struggles of our ministers and brethren in Kinshasa and western Congo; of the active evangelism of our Jean-Jacques Ndoudoumou and his church council in the Cameroon; of the work of Essien George and the Nigerian ministry; of the joyous communities we have in Ghana under the direction of Emmanuel Okai and the ecclesiastical council there.

There are so many men and women I have not mentioned. I could go on for pages more. They all represent a hope for the future. And they all send their thanks for your prayers of love and support.