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?

“Reaching Out” … Our usual practice!

Posted by Bill on November 26, 2011

Reaching “in” and “out” with the love of Christ is the heart-beat of healthy small groups. Loving one another in the church, and loving those with whom we associate outside the church is concrete proof that we are disciples of Jesus Christ (John 13:34, 35). In many churches, there’s too much talk of love, and not enough action. This is not the case, however, regarding a small church in Lagos, Nigeria – Dominion Impact Church. Here in the “City of Excellence” this church is making a difference by ministering in a most excellent way … the way of practical love. Pastor Elijah Samuel, CCI’s associate director for Africa, says …

A social gathering was organised by our small group to celebrate a few family members in our church, those who are less privileged than most. We aimed at making these people see what our church family is like and to help them experience a sense of “belonging” to the rest of the church family.

We did things that families would normally do in common, such as sharing food, having fun, and fellowship. We also gave out gifts to these people. This time was so impacting we have planned to do this again during the Christmas season for our neighbouring community. “Reaching out” with the love of Christ has become our usual practice.

“Journey’s End” at Warsaw

Posted by Nick on October 27, 2011

Two days ago (on Tuesday) we concluded the last session of small groups development training with Christian Fellowship South’s AM group. Soaking in a hot bath that evening was a great way to reflect on the many, many great things Beryl and I experienced in our 34 days at Warsaw. What made this fifth visit to Warsaw more worthwhile than the previous four? We took a lot of people on a “journey” that has changed their lives!

On our earlier visits, I facilitated seminars on small groups development with crowds of people in attendance. For hours I “tossed out” sound universal principles and told inspiring stories of how to go about establishing healthy communities of small groups in churches. Yes, seminars can send-out many people feeling excited by what they’ve heard, but, a seminar’s influence for lasting change is usually shallow and short lived. Jesus didn’t look for the quick “one-off” seminar event approach to growing His disciples – He took them on a life-transforming journey.

My earlier seminars in Warsaw were “events” that prepared God’s people for change, and this visit, which focused on training, provided the “journey” experience that has brought about lasting change. Training with each of the six groups (50+ people) was punctuated with many “ah-ha” discovery moments. Many “ordinary” Christian foot-soldiers have stepped forward, past their fears, to accept the challenge to become the leaders Christ desires to develop within them.

Although the end of our Warsaw journey has come; for those we left behind, their journey continues. We know that what the Lord has begun to do in us, He will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when He returns (Philippians 1:6).

On Wednesday afternoon, Pastor Adam Sawicki (pictured with his wife and five children) arrived from Gdynia by car to drive us to his town, situated four hours North of Warsaw, on the South Western coastline of the Baltic Sea. How did we feel? Great! As new adventure with the Lord was just about to begin!

Thank you for your kind support during our Warsaw time – you’ll be hearing more from us soon, I’m sure.

Bill & Beryl

Pastor Adam Sawicki & Family

More from Warsaw

Posted by Bill on October 22, 2011

A little while ago I posted about the opportunities that the Lord has been providing for us in Poland and one of those was to make a short video about Small Groups.

Christian Fellowship North and South have a fantastic media ministry and this video has ended up on their media website, facebook, etc. So as I don’t do Facebook personally (although we do have a CCI page, so go visit it and “LIKE” us if you haven’t already) and some of you may not do it either, I am sharing both versions with you here.

This is the long version (wait for the end):

TV Impact – 16 pazdziernika 2011 from SCh Południe on Vimeo.

And here’s the shorter version:

Małe Grupy w SCh Południe from SCh Południe on Vimeo.

Opportunities Abound in Poland

Posted by Bill on October 18, 2011

Dear friends, I’m glad we didn’t have much control in planning our ministry time in Poland. With our limited sight, we would have missed out on the many “surprise” opportunities the Lord has opened to us.

For example, when last night’s training session concluded, one of the trainees approached me and asked if I would be willing to participate in a video recorded interview on the topic of small groups development. I said, “Yes … when would you like to do this?” She replied, “Now would be a good time.” Everything (lights and camera) had been set up, down the corridor, in the pastor’s office. No way would I have planned to participate in a recorded interview, immediately after facilitating a two hour training session! Anyway, according to the Lord’s schedule, this timing was perfect, and the interview went smoothly.

Additional training opportunities have opened to us; we’re booked-solid in meeting with people in key positions; trainees have stepped forward to form new groups in both churches; small group coaches are being identified and an additional church would like us to meet with their leaders in the city of Gydnia, after we arrive there on the 26^th.

Daily we are thanking the Lord for the many opportunities He has opened to us. We are so glad to be serving Him, according to His perfect plan and timing.

We continue to express our sincere gratitude to the Lord for your kind support to us.

Bill and Beryl