Many barriers are broken down when the gospel is preached by a pastor who is recognized by the people. The Holy Spirit can use anyone to be a witness, but consider the strength of using an indigenous (national) pastor starting a church among his own people. White Fields has been supporting, financially and through prayer, the ministry of national pastors since 1953. We use our network of churches to identify pastors who are ready to work full-time starting a new church in an unreached community of their own country. Through this partnership with national pastors the laborers evangelizing their communities are multiplied.
Method of White Fields
They Threw Rocks
“They threw rocks.”
That was his response to my question when I asked, “How did the people respond when you started a church here?”—“They threw rocks.” The small, bamboo structure with a tin roof made a perfect target for rocks. It is located in a poor, rough-looking neighborhood. There were no Christians here when Pastor Shwe began his ministry to reach the lost.
Despite this, the pastor was undaunted and was encouraged by evangelist Aih Kham Goh (also supported by White Fields) and our Field Director Pastor Thawng to continue on. So the pastor came, and when he would gather the people together into the church house to hear about Jesus, the neighbors would throw rocks. But those who had come to listen continued to attend, drawn by Pastor Shwe and his family’s zeal for Christ. After a year and a half, people began coming to Christ. [Read more…] about They Threw Rocks
On Air Media Presentation
We are grateful for the opportunity our Director Steve Wheeler had to be interviewed by David Spoon host of the afternoon talk show on KPRZ Christian Radio station in San Diego. You can listen to our interview here. God’s kingdom is too big for any one mission agency to adequately fulfill all the ministry needed to reach our world. David explores the specific and unique ministry of White Fields with our director. Hear about the unique opportunity one of our pastors in the Middle East had to be a witness for Jesus Christ. You can listen to KPRZ at 1210 AM in San Diego.
LISTEN TO PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW
You can listen along as David and Steve explore how the ministry of White Fields provides a conduit between North American Support Partners and National Pastors and their families. You can also join them in prayer as they uplift the baby daughter of one of our partners as she is approaching an upcoming surgery.
LISTEN TO PART TWO OF THE INTERVIEW
HERE ARE THE LINKS TO THE VIDEOS DAVID MENTIONED IN THE INTERVIEW
White Fields Mission Video
TYPHOONS. . . CYCLONES . . . white fields response
white fields ONLY GOD KNOWS
YOU CAN FIND ALL OUR VIDEOS AT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
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Thinking Ahead
What can we do to help people affected by disasters like Typhoons, Cyclones and Tsunamis. The partners that provide the support to start new churches in these poor communities are helping put first responders, with the love of Jesus, right in the places where they will be needed most. By starting a new church and sharing the gospel, teaching and making disciples of the new members–a team of responders are available the next time a disaster happens.
WATCH A SHORT VIDEO ABOUT DISASTER RELIEF BY LOCAL CHURCHES
Many of the people that live in these communities, live in very simple structures made from the local building materials available. The Pastors and their families help the members of the church reach out in love to assist their neighbors. Often the congregation will share their own limited resources with non-members who have lost everything. This example of self-sacrifice becomes a tremendous testimony of how the love of Jesus is displayed in real life situations.
Our support for the salary to sustain the pastor and his family is designed to provide the means to get the church started. After they get established then the congregation begins to support the ministry and sustain the local church. The ministry keeps helping the community over and over. In addition to the initial response after the disaster – local pastors provide ongoing leadership to help manage resources and get the whole community back on their feet.
We need more partners to share their resources to help start new churches. Then we have a network of local survivors who love the Lord and will minister to their neighbors when a disaster strikes.
First Priority: The Gospel
In North America we live in an environment that has traditionally been among a majority of “Christians.” Even though we may now be recognizing certain coming limitations on our freedoms to live and speak as Christians, we still have major freedoms — for instance the right and privilege to gather openly in public to worship. Not everyone in the world enjoys that freedom.
White Fields is supporting pastors in places where the restrictions on religious freedom are severe. Some face rules and restrictions from their government. In other places the pastors and their families face the danger of persecution by individuals or groups who vehemently oppose Jesus Christ.
In Myanmar (formerly called Burma) some of our pastors are facing heated persecution and resistance from the local village and Buddhist leadership — like this testimony:
“In the beginning of May, I appointed an evangelist to work in a certain village where there is no existing church. All the people in this village are Buddhist. Sadly, the chief of the village and the people were very angry and they did not want any Christian teacher or evangelist to evangelize their village. So they chased him out. I sent him to another village and the chief allowed him to stay for six months! Praise God for answering our prayers for this!” (Pastor Ngun)
These evangelists are not afraid to bring the gospel to their people — even into dangerous places. They also attribute the success in the other village, even after failing to gain access in one place — to your prayers! God can open the door of the heart of people to hear the gospel. These pastors continue to preach the gospel — just like during the book of Acts. Even when the disciples were persecuted in one place they moved to another place: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4 ESV)
In Myanmar there is also a new development in the government. They are considering a new law: The Religious Conversion Bill. This bill was introduced in May by some zealous Buddhist Monks that want the government to make it illegal for a Buddhist to convert to another religion without the permission of a Buddhist Board delegated by the government. Although they say this bill is to protect people from being forced to convert to Islam (A frequent occurrence when Muslim men marry Buddhist women), the bill also makes it a crime to “proselytize.” The bill would provide a one or two year prison sentence to anyone leading a person to convert from Buddhism (The Majority religion in Myanmar) to any other religion including the voluntary conversion to Christianity.
You can read a news article about the bill here: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/10811-interfaith-marriage-push-met-with-opposition.html
Our pastors will not quit because of the opposition. They will even be strengthened in their commitment and motivation to reach their countrymen with the gospel. Your prayers can help! Please pray for God to provide wisdom and strength.
During the days of Acts, Peter and John were detained by the high Priests and commanded not to speak any longer in the name of Jesus. The response of the apostles was that they must obey God. “So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.” (Acts 4:18-21 ESV)
We are praying that our brothers and sisters in Myanmar will retain the current freedom to bring people to their house and share the gospel. But, if the law denies that privilege, then we are praying for their strength and wisdom to serve God first and not man. The gospel is the priority. You have the ability to stand with our pastors in prayer.
LISTEN TO PASTOR NGUN’S STORY:
KPRZ — Salem Communication Radio Spot
God is Able
I never cease to be amazed at what God can do. In the days during the Acts of the Apostles, God used persecution to scatter and spread the influence of the church. What the authorities thought would be a persecution to stop the spread, God reversed the intended actions and caused the persecution to spread the gospel even further: “The Church in Antioch Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:19-21 ESV)
God is so able to bring good out of what man means to be harm that one of the main persecutors of the church became one of the greatest evangelist — Saul converted to become Paul the Apostle.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:1-5 ESV) But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:13-16 ESV)
God is still moving among men like this today: “From May 29 to 31, an evangelist came from the city. He is a very gifted preacher, especially among Buddhist people because he was converted to Christ from Buddhism. The people were interested in hearing about salvation. I also met several people through my outreach ministry. U Oo is interested in knowing more about Jesus. Pray he will continue to study about Jesus and the way of salvation.” (Pastor Tam)
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Partnership Expands Ministry
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 ESV) Those are encouraging words of promise that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shared with his disciples just after he delivered the Great Commission to them. Our pastors take the gospel into unreached communities to start churches and this can be a lonely ministry for many reasons. One is that there may be no other believers in the target area—so the pastor’s family alone needs to be the witness for Christ until others begin to believe. Another reason could be that they are isolated by distance and difficult travel from other cooperative ministries—mountainous villages accessible by unmaintained dirt roads, for example. Another reason may be that they are sharing the gospel in a community highly opposed to Christianity and they face persecution daily.
Van Lal Ruat in Magwe, Myanmar shares an example of the persecution his congregation faces in his recent prayer report: The members of my church were converted from Buddhism, the majority religion of our country. When the people in our community discovered their faith in Jesus they persecuted them. One example: our government tried to help poor people by providing loans to start livelihood businesses. But, the authorities said, “If you are Christian, your pastor will have to provide for whatever you need”—and other excuses like this. As such, my members could not get the loans.
We can’t leave our brothers alone! White Fields comes alongside these pastors in partnership, becoming the hands and feet of our Lord in fulfilling the promise he made that they are not alone. The Apostle Paul experienced this partnership with the Philippian church and he expressed thanksgiving for their participation with him in the gospel ministry even in his low days of prison and through the persecution that he experienced. He expressed to them:
Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:14-20 ESV)
These believers shared in Paul’s troubles by sending help on multiple occasions that supplied for Paul’s needs. In this way they kept Paul from being alone.
They were partners, even though they were a long distance away from the frontline action. They were not in the direct ministry like Paul, but their partnership through financial support to Paul advanced the gospel ministry and was pleasing to God. Paul concludes this descriptive partnership by expressing that God will supply all the needs of the givers. In this way God receives praise and worship twice, once when the supplies are given to the worker and secondly when he blesses the faithful giver. He deserves all our praise and worship.
Consider for a moment how God has chosen to advance his mission. God could deliver supplies to meet the needs of church planters through any method he would like. He could miraculously have had supplies sprout directly out of the ground—he is, after all, the creator of the world. But, God chose to provide for his ministers through the faithful giving of fellow believers. He incorporates us into the process by allowing us to be faithful stewards—then he promises to supply the givers with blessings. In this way God allows us to act faithfully and present our gifts as “fragrant offerings”—worship to our Lord.
Your participation with White Fields allows us to sustain the gospel ministry of these pastors. It allows us to provide for their needs and accomplish the effective starting of new churches. It also lets us provide livelihood projects for new believers thus proving that God will supply all their needs.
Your partnership advances the gospel. Here is the testimony of a new family in Myanmar who came to faith in Jesus:
I praise God that He used a little girl named Pah Pah Soe to tell her parents of Him. (Pah Pah Soe attends our Sunday school.) Praise the Lord! Their names are Mr. Thein Tan and Mrs. Ma Nge Ma. Mr. Tan shared how they came to know God: “My daughter always prayed to God before meals and before bed. She also prayed whenever she would wake. Several times I forbade her not to believe and follow this other religion, but she always refused me. Many times she told us that there is a living God in heaven and His Son Jesus is the Savior of all men. She would tell us that our god is not living, that we should not worship it because it is just an idol. She said if we continue worshiping it, we will be thrown into the lake of fire. Her words were rooted in my heart and since the first week of February, we have tried to go to Sunday service—my wife and I—and the preaching of the pastor touched our hearts. My wife and I prayed to God and have been studying about the Christian God for several weeks. Eventually we have come to understand clearly that there is a true and living God. Both of us are very happy and have decided to join Pastor Maung Hlaing’s church. Praise the Lord!” This couple was baptized March 16, 2014.
