It does get better than this!

Posted by Bill on January 28, 2012

I will never forget him. On Tuesday, September 5, 2006, the Lord took my dear friend, Dave Petrescue, home to be with Him. From our finite perspectives this could not have happened at a more unexpected time.

No one gave of himself more to the Lord’s work at Maadi Community Church than our senior pastor, Dave Petrescue. Four days later, two thousand five hundred people gathered together at Victory Park, Maadi, to celebrate the life of our dear friend, and to say “Thank You” to the Lord for blessing us through him.

It was my privilege to share the following eulogy with those gathered:

The Lord used our dear friend, Dave Petrescue, to save and transform the lives of many thousands of people, for God and for “good”. I know this to be true because my changed-life is a living testimony of this. Six years ago I had seriously considered resigning from Christian service as an associate pastor in Australia. For several years I had battled with discouragement and frustration through trying to function in a constricting and smothering leadership team situation, and the joy of ministry had almost extinguished from my life.

God’s unexpected and timely intervention, however, saved me from the ministry scrap heap by placing me on Dave’s leadership team at MCC as one of his associates. Why? What good had I done in life that I should deserve this gracious placement? To this day, I still don’t know the answer to that question.

Dave Petrescue was an exceptional leader who did not suffer from personal insecurity. His joy and satisfaction in life was to see those around him grow to their full potential in Christ. There was nothing he would not do to provide opportunities of growth for those under his care and leadership. Ministry was never about him, but about God and others. He lived and led with an encouraging presence. No one in all of life has encouraged and inspired me more to grow to become all I can be in Christ than my dear friend, Dave.

Dave’s character, personality, and leadership brought to the surface of my life an amazing amount of unrealised leadership potential. His warm, supportive and approving smile set me “free” to dream big … to soar higher and higher… and expand my horizons to limits set only by the Lord. Friends, I have learnt more, grown more, and experienced more satisfaction in life and ministry in the last 6 ½ years than my previous 50 years!

Throughout our 6 ½ years of ministry partnership Dave and I saw God work miracle after miracle in the lives of His people at MCC, and beyond. Each time we marvelled because we saw ourselves as very ordinary, weak men. We began to respond to these miraculous happenings with the comment, “It doesn’t get better than this!” Because the Lord continued to do greater things, we had to modify our response to, “It does get better than this!” And friends, it has … and will continue to do so until the day we reunite with Dave in glory.

Dave Petrescue, my dear friend, as I continue in my earthly journey with the Lord, I will continue to testify to the world that life does get better than this. But, for you, from where you stand, I’m sure your testimony is now … “Friends, it doesn’t get better than this!”

David Petrescue, well done, good and faithful servant. You have left behind an amazing legacy of hundreds of fired-up successors who are eager to carry on the good work the Lord began through you. Dear friend, you have entered into His eternal rest. Until we see you in glory please don’t waste your time rehearsing those corny jokes and lightning-quick puns. In this area of your life, for our sake, we’ve often prayed, “It must get better than this!”

A “brave-hearted” servant from Cameroon

Posted by Bill on December 31, 2011

“Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44).

At the top of the Lord’s character criteria for leadership selection is humility. If our service for the King is to be judged honourable it must first be motivated by a heart that is humble. Going back to my Cairo years, we were constantly looking out for “fast” believers to join our expanding team of lay small group pastors. We used the word FAST as an acronym to help us in our selection for suitable leaders. FAST stands for

Faithful,
Available,
Servant-hearted and
Teachable.

All four elements of the acronym had to be sufficient in amount and openly evidenced before candidates would be considered for leadership. Disqualification from our leadership team resulted when just one of these elements fell below the standard required or was no longer present in a candidate’s life.

Pastor Sunday Sikod In June, 2006, four hundred and fifty fast lay-leaders kept the ministry and missions’ machinery of our church well serviced and operating effectively and efficiently. Without our fast leaders MCC would not be where it was at that time – a front-line, trail-blazing pioneering church. When it comes to fast leaders, Sunday Sikod was an outstanding servant-hearted model leader. I first observed Sunday through his ministry of hospitality at MCC – serving tea, coffee and water to worshippers in each of our four weekly services. Sunday’s charisma came from his humble heart and was evidenced through his gentle and quiet spirit, his genuine desire to serve, and his friendly smile.

Before travelling to The Philippines on a ministry assignment, Lyn Taleon, one of our cell groups zone directors, prayerfully selected Sunday from her team of coaches to function in her absence as the director of her zone. What was Sunday’s response to his selection? He said:

I am serving as one of the coaches, presently caring for five cell groups. Last December, I was invited by my Zone Director, Lyn Taleon, to act on her behalf during the time of her month’s absence. Sitting in for Lyn was for me very challenging, given the fact that I’m naturally not a bold and outspoken person. Also, I saw myself ministering to groups with people who appeared more knowledgeable, older and more inspired than me. I felt inadequate, and I was at the point of refusing Sister Lyn’s encouraging invitation. All I could see was defeat. Then I remembered the Scriptures that said, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, and love, and self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7 NLT).” God spoke to me clearly and I decided to take up the post. I submitted to Him in prayer and asked Him to lead me. I could not grade my performance but all I did was to work hard and honestly, and expected God to lead. Friends, through this I learnt that through God, everything is possible! He gave me a brave heart, strength and understanding because of my faith in Him. I have learnt that God rewards two things; faith and humility.

Friends, several months later, at nearby Hadayek El Maadi, MCC dedicated to the Lord the first of five new daughter churches (all were formalised before December, 2006). Who do you think was chosen to pastor the first new daughter church, known as The Church of the Redeemed? Sunday Sikod … the humble servant from Cameroon was the obvious choice! And, what was Pastor Sunday doing four days later at MCC, the mother church … serving tea, coffee and water of course! What else would you expect this humble “brave-hearted” servant from Cameroon to be doing?

Created and commanded to reproduce!

Posted by Bill on December 24, 2011

“God blessed them and told them, Multiply and fill the earth …. Genesis 1:28.

… go and make disciples of all the nations …” Matthew 28:19.

God created mankind with reproductive capabilities, both in the physical and spiritual realm. When it comes to physical reproduction, it seems that mankind does not need a great deal of prompting to get on with the job of “filling the earth”. However, when it comes to spiritual reproduction, many believers need a cattle prod to get them thinking about re-producing themselves … to make disciple-makers.

Multiplication is not a term that sits comfortably in the minds of many Christians today. Some believers expend more time and energy in arguing and opposing any move to multiply, preferring to keep things the way they are. Such people are obstructing the work and power of the Holy Spirit and should move aside to allow the Spirit of God to do that which is natural and automatic in the life of a healthy spiritual Body (the Church); similar to that which is natural and automatic with the biological cells of a healthy physical body.

Why do some people oppose multiplication? There are a number of reasons. For some, “multiplication” means mutilation, fragmentation, breaking up, division or splitting – all are negative terms. When challenged to multiply, some protest … We don’t want to break up; we’ve grown close to each other; we want to stay together, and go deeper; multiplication is risky; it’s easier and safer to leave things just as they are. Does this sound familiar to you?

I credit satan as being the culprit who prompts such thoughts in the minds of believers in churches worldwide. Whilst satan is quite happy to sit back and not interfere with mankind “filling the earth” with sin-natured physical beings he’s not happy to sit idle as believers strive to populate the Kingdom of God with regenerated souls. Satan employs a vast array of diabolical tricks to discourage believers from engaging in efforts that result in multiplication. Friends, spiritual multiplication is about expanding the Kingdom of God with your unsaved friends … not mutilating, fragmenting, dividing or splitting it up!

During my term on staff at Maadi Community Church, I was the banner-bearer for multiplication through spiritual reproduction. I can still remember, back in 2006, in a community just 10 minutes drive away from our church, we dedicated the first of five of our cell-groups church plants. This exciting event resulted from multiplication efforts from those in our cell groups. Lyn Taleon was the Zone Director of this work. Though short in stature, Lyn did not fear multiplication. In fact, she dreamt about it, prayed and worked faithfully, diligently and sacrificially to see this happen. Together with her coaches, this little Pilipino laboured carefully in planting the Good Seed, and reaped a mighty harvest for their efforts. This new church plant was made up of 50 cell groups (447 members)!

Friends, satan is the minister of doom. Although he cannot kill a spiritual cell of the Body of Christ, he can interfere with its growth; limit its development and prevent it from multiplying. Satan will not warn believers that their small group will eventually die, if it does not multiply (at the right time, and in the right way).

I am glad there are believers who are faithful to the Lord’s command to reproduce.

Just Imagine

Posted by Bill on December 17, 2011

IMAGINATION_by_archanN

I joined the ministry team at Maadi Community Church (MCC) in May, 2000, hoping the Lord might build His church through me and my wife, Beryl (Matthew 16:18a). Even though I knew I was a weak vessel, I willingly gave myself to the Lord, expecting Him to do great and mighty things. I expected the Lord to establish networks of small groups that would care for God’s people, grow many lay-leaders, and engage in bold Kingdom expansion activities. Throughout my time at MCC, I exercised an “extra mile” commitment in everything I did. I poured my mind, heart, body and soul into this work. Not only did the Lord fulfil my expectations, He went one amazing step further by birthing five churches from our expanding number of small groups. What a surprise!

Why didn’t I expect the Lord to birth churches from our efforts? In my case, there are two reasons: Firstly, birthing churches was outside of my ministry experience, and secondly, I never imagined this possibility. My Egypt experience took me from being willing to dream dreams that “I/we” can make happen to the spiritual realm of imagination … dreaming dreams that only the Lord can achieve. I now know that the ability to imagine such things is a gift, offered by God to His children to help them “see” in advance His grand purpose for their lives! Through the exercise of this amazing gift the Lord performs His plans … “plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11b).

In my small “Collins Gem” Australian English Dictionary, “imagination” is defined as, “faculty of making mental images of things not present”. I like this definition, but from a Christian perspective the following definition is better: “faculty of receiving from God mental images of things not present.”

In the Old Testament we learn of Joseph’s amazing gift of imagination. His brothers made fun of him and dismissed him as a “dreamer” (Genesis 37:5-11). The exercise of one’s imagination is something that is not usually encouraged in most families, work places, and churches. Living within the safe parameters of “do only that which is humanly possible” seems to be the norm for most people in the world. It’s the norm, alright, but it’s not all right with me! This near-sighted view robs us of the amazing hope that Scripture teaches we have in our relationship with the Lord – to open our spiritual eyes and see … and to reach out and take hold of everything the Lord has determined for us.

In July, 2006, I had the privilege of dedicating to the Lord the second of our five daughter churches at Ain Shams (an hour’s drive from Maadi) – the Interdenominational Revival Bible Church was born and dedicated to God’s great glory. I knew this young church had an exciting future ahead. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I could see this church growing and maturing into a fine adult church, and then multiplying many daughter churches that would grow and multiply many daughter churches.

Friends, my imagination has been sparked by the Holy Spirit and has taken me to many exciting new places in life. I can now see further, and I can now see more! My imagination runs hot with amazing possibilities. Do you know what I’m talking about? Do you have the gift of imagination? Are you exercising that gift? Just imagine! There’s a whole new world out there waiting to be seen and seized.

Exercise this divine gift – see and experience the amazing things the Lord has in store for you.

“Net-working” power!

Posted by Bill on December 3, 2011

“Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will catch many fish” (Luke 5:4).

small-groups-training-leadership-frederick-egypt

It thrills my heart each time I recall an incident that involved Fredrick Omoh-John, who was a zone director of small groups during my time at Maadi Community Church in Cairo. When it comes to fishing for lost souls, Fredrick and his leadership team were specialists. Through their sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading, they knew precisely where and when to let down their net. Following the Lord’s example they had discovered that net-working is the best strategy for hauling-in the catch. Many times at MCC, the net-work approach to fishing for lost souls proved to be the most effective and efficient way to reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

One Friday night, in May, 2006, Fredrick, together with his coaches and cell pastors, put down their net at Arba-Wa-Nous (a very poor suburb of Cairo), within a community of needy Sudanese refugees. What happened? Fredrick reported:

“All thanks goes to God for all He is doing in the lives of His children in the cell groups of Zones 7 and 8. May His name be praised forever and ever. I want to testify of the goodness of the Lord in the outreach program that took place in Arba-Wa Nous last Friday. By His grace, at 7pm we started the program that involved 450 Sudanese men, women and children.

After welcoming those present we opened our time with prayer. After that we had a time of worship, followed by the preaching of a message from God’s Word. After the message when we had extended an invitation to those who did not know the Lord to surrender their lives to Him sixty one people came forward and committed their lives to Him as their Lord and Saviour!

I want to say a very big “thank you” to MCC for providing money that was used to pay for food, transportation and rent for the facility. With the money that was made available to us we were able to distribute 500 bags of food, containing sugar, macaroni and tea. May our God, the Creator of heaven and earth, bless our church for their kind support.

I have since forwarded the names of the sixty one new believers to the director of our church’s cells ministry. We want to do a good job in following up each person, nurturing them and helping them to grow in their new lives in Christ. Please pray that we will succeed in this.”

What an amazing outcome! After this wonder-filled event, Fredrick and his leadership team laboured together to help in the care, nurture and development of their new Sudanese brothers and sisters. Their net-working strategy changed their lives, and saved the lives of sixty one people who were desperately in need of a saviour-provider.

Net-working is a powerful strategy. It harnesses and releases the collective experience, giftedness, and passion of every member of the net-fishing team. At MCC we saw our cell groups as the church’s “spiritual nets”. Together, with the Holy Spirit, they experienced “net-working” power!

Fredrick is presently based in Cairo, with his wife, Sarah. He is the founding director of Destiny Kids International… a discipleship ministry to African kids in Cairo. He is also a field director with CCI. Financial and prayer support would be appreciated – you can make your donation right now by clicking on the PayPal button below.