“Great truths” from Warsaw

Posted by Bill on April 28, 2012

Small Groups at Christian Fellowship North in Warsaw Iza is the Small Groups Director of the Christian Fellowship North Church in Warsaw, Poland. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the church on five occasions, since 2004. My visits were to share with them CCI’s Church Plan, and Principles that undergird the formation and development of healthy small groups, and to identify a small groups champion among their membership. Iza is a humble, sincere, faithful, and teachable leader. The Lord is doing amazing things in her church through her sacrificial service to Him. Here is a recent testimony I received from her …

We had a meeting with our small group leaders on Saturday. It was a great time. First, we shared testimonies from our small groups: how they are growing, how people are becoming more spiritually mature, how your visit and your Small Groups Development material has helped our groups. People shared many wonderful thoughts and experiences. One leader encouraged other leaders to use the SGD material. I was very glad!

After some training with a few small groups, people started encouraging each others, not only me! That’s what I really wanted to see happen.
Later we had a prayer time, and coffee and cakes of course. Bill, we are building strong ties. Now we are planning a one day trip for our small group leaders. I was surprised to hear that most leaders want to go! We’ll go on the 20^th of April. We’ll have many activities, rest and just be together.

Here’s a few statistics:

We have ten small groups. It’s not a large number but I know that we have strong groups, and leaders who are sure that small groups work. .
After Easter we’ll start training three or four groups.
At the end July, we will contact all small groups by your support tools. Besides, now we have one group that is multiplying. A new leader – Ewa! We hope Ewa will start in May with her new group.
There are about two or three groups that have many members. They are planning to multiply in September.
We have three coaches. We have another coach but he needs time to give us an answer. We don’t push, just wait and pray. But we hope that he’ll be a coach before the end of this season. Every group leader has their own coach.

In summary: At the end of this season we hope that every small groups will undergo SGD. We will have four coaches. We will have one group multiplying, and maybe two groups will be ready to think about multiplying. Bill, I think these are a great statistics! Just a one year ago we didn’t know if our groups would stay alive. And now we think about multiplying more frequently.

Vision of Vision – a preview of 2012

Posted by Nick on December 3, 2011

Dear partners and friends,

Our wonder-filled “vision of visions” blossomed beautifully in 2011, and revealed new and exciting opportunities for us in Poland, Lithuania, and other places. I can understand the thrill the apostle Paul must have experienced as he returned to familiar places in Asia Minor to strengthen the work the Lord accomplished through him and Barnabus, and Titus, and other faithful servants (Acts, Chapters 13 -20).

With the encouraging outcomes of 2011 behind us, we eagerly look ahead to the opportunities that abound for CCI in 2012. Here’s a taste of the things we are believing the Lord wants to do through us next year:

Continue to coach and mentor small groups champions (Iza, Andrew, Maciej, and Vaclovas) in Warsaw, Gdynia, and Lithuania
Translate our new “Relational Evangelism” book into the Polish and Lithuanian languages (to be free downloads on the website)
Translate our “Growing Up Into His Likeness” book (foundation-level discipleship for new and old believers) in Polish and Lithuanian languages (to be free downloads on the website)
Translate our “Small Groups Development” manual into Greek, German, Sweedish, and Spanish languages (pushing steadily towards our goal of 40 translations)
Continuing to support Dave and Jess Quak in their “Living Temple” small groups church plant on the Gold Coast in Australia
Continuing to support Gary and Aline Douglas in their small groups consultancy work at Llanelli, Wales
Continuing to support Elijah Samuel in his small groups training and development work in Nigeria, and the rest of Africa
Support Wale and Emma Oladipo in their exciting vision to plant a small groups based church in England (look out for more news soon)
A return visit to Poland and Lithuania next April-May with a focus on developing small group skills in “evangelism” and “discipleship”
Ministry with an “interested to know more about small groups” church in Germany! – initial discussions are just starting!
Possible visit to Wale and Emma in England, Gary and Aline in Wales and Monica in Finland as part of our visit to Poland, Lithuania and perhaps Germany.

Nick Truscott, our Senior Associate Director, continues to do a cracker job from Abu Dhabi in the UAE in providing CCI with the finest communications support – without Nick, his technical expertise and firm friendship, CCI would only be a figment of my imagination.

Beryl and I continue to commit all that we are and have to building a universally accessible small groups, evangelism, and discipleship resource facility – that offers its resources in many languages to God’s global harvest workers at no charge.

Lastly, Beryl and I say to you … we could not have travelled this far without your love, encouragement, and kind support – “Thank You”. Do you have it in you to stay with us for one more year? I believe I have enough energy in me to reach out and seize the opportunities the Lord will grant us in 2012.

Wishing you and your family a blessing-filled Christmas and New Year.

Bill & Beryl

Iza says “It works!”

Posted by Bill on November 19, 2011

What can I add to this fantastic testimony from Iza at Christian Fellowship North in Warsaw – especially so soon after our visit…

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Bill, I’m excited! So much is happening!

Marcin and I each chose three current small group leaders to serve as coaches. I chose Pavlina, Justyna, and Gosia; and Marcin (and Agata) chose Leszek, Dajilidzionki, and Tomek.

I met with each of my prospective coaches, separately of course. I talked with them about how to best develop the small group pastors under their leadership and how to best nurture their groups. We discussed your summary on “Where many leaders go wrong”, devoting more time on the following points that highlight the present weakness of each group:

Choose an apprentice, and form a leadership core of four
Choose a good outreach coordinator (blessing list, etc)
Take each group through the Small Groups Development process (SGD training manual)
Practice pair-partnerships (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
Plan, pray, and work hard for multiplication

During our discussion we talked about their groups – people who can be in the leadership core (who can be apprentices). It turned out that we were able to identify quite a number of new people who can be leaders! So, I will plan to start training next January, or February.

Marcin, Agata and I met with Pavlina, Tomek and Marta last Saturday. We talked about the growth of our small groups, and that Pavlina had decided to help us (Pavlina would be their coach). So, they can now meet together, call each other and pray for each other with Pavlina, not me or Martin and Agata. And later we also talked about the above points. Actually, Pavlina lead this part of meeting. And Bill, I was so surprised how well it worked! Now, I see, how important it is to first establish coaches. Pavlina and I are “one” in mind, body and purpose! We are becoming a strong leadership team with a plan to help and care for all small group leaders!

So, I’m so excited! It works!

Iza

: Beryl and Iza

: Marcin, Iza and Bill

: Agata, with Emilka and David

Thank you Iza – and THANK YOU LORD for what you are doing in and through the lives of Iza and her colleagues and Christian Fellowship North in Warsaw.

Finding Mazeikiai’s “Timothy”

Posted by Nick on November 6, 2011

Beryl and I had hoped for an easier time with our last assignment at Mazeikiai. But that wasn’t to be. As we landed at Riga Airport, I sensed pain in my left foot. When we arrived at the home of our host family I removed my shoe to discover that the reason for this pain was gout. My foot was swollen and it was painful to walk. The gout attack was not new to this old veteran – I’ve learnt much from the numerous gout attacks I’ve experienced over the past 10 years.

Vaclovas and Marija, and Beryl and I, worked our tails off to prepare well for the commencement of the small groups conference on Friday night, and we were careful in bathe our efforts with prayer. Let me set the stage for you for what happened: Beryl came down with a head cold and her constant sneezing forced her to stay at the apartment. The outside temperature was 5 degrees. The heating system in the church had not been repaired in time (repair men were still on the job). Power disruptions left us in the dark on four occasions . A hammer drill was used several times on the outside of the conference room wall. Three times, mobile phones rang. A constant flow of people streamed in and out of the room during the three hours of the Friday sessions (the entry door was one metre, adjacent to my shoulder). Several young children were allowed to free-range within the room, and a water pipe burst open in the upstairs room where we were enjoying a snack break.

: Antonas and Dana

: Training Conference Group

: Vaclovas and Marija

Unusual for me, I remained calm … I battened down the hatches and hung-in until the storm was over. Even though the disruptions continued throughout Saturday, the conference was a huge success. I thanked the Lord for saving me from losing the plot. Throughout the nine hours we were together, everyone remained riveted to what they were hearing. For twenty years, the church had waited to hear truth that would “set them free” to go and grow. They had the heart, but not the know-how.

The “reading between the lines” comment I made in my previous news update did not come from an unsound mind. Are you ready for some amazing news? It became increasingly evident to Beryl and me that Vaclovas would make a great “Mazeikiai-Timothy” that the church so desperately needed. The church is led by only one person, Marija’s father. Her “motor mechanic” dad became the pastor of the church by default when the former pastor of the church decided suddenly to return to Germany (20 yrs ago). Marija’s dad is an amazing man – he has done his best. But he has done it alone! Vaclovas has a humble and tender pastor’s heart … an ideal “Timothy” candidate who is ready to rise up to the challenge.

It is now 6:30, Sunday night. Beryl and I have just returned from a last meeting with Marija’s dad, Antonas, and her mother, Dana. We thanked this wonderful “man and woman of God” and shared with Antonas our thoughts and observations concerning his church, including our recommendation that Vaslovas be considered to direct the development of small groups in his church. We thanked Antonas and prayed for him.

Beryl has just finished packing our bags. We leave for Riga Airport at 9:30 am tomorrow (Monday), bound for Frankfurt – Singapore – Brisbane (arriving 7am, Wednesday). My foot has almost recovered, Beryl’s health has improved, and we have completed our assignment at Lithuania … “Mazeikiai-Timothy” has been found!

“Thank You, Jesus” … thank you, dear friends for your kind support.

Bill and Beryl J

Apologies for the delay in posting this update – due to technical difficulties. Nick

All set to go in Mazeikiai, Lithuania

Posted by Bill on November 2, 2011

Another country, another language, another culture … and another great place in which to invest.

Our flight from Gdansk – Warsaw – Riga went according to schedule. Our host family, Vaclovas and Marija Paulauskiene, were waiting to greet us at Riga Airport (Latvia) with a warm Lithuanian welcome. We travelled 3 hrs by car with them to their home town, Mazeikiai, in Lithuania. Marija teaches English in town, and Vaclovas works for Polish owned, Orlen Oil Company. They live on the 8^th floor of their apartment building, with their three children (Gabrielius 9, Salomeja 5, and Evelina 1½).

After our evening meal, I spent some time with Marija, helping her to understand some of the Western terminology that is expressed in our Small Groups Development training manual. Several months ago she began the work of translating our manual into the Lithuanian language. She will have a draft copy ready to go for the commencement of the small groups conference on Friday night. Once the Lithuanian version of the SGD manual has been road tested it will be offered as a “free” download on our website. The program will run for 3 hrs on Friday night, followed by 7 hours on Saturday. I will also be preaching in their church, Evangeliku Krikscioniu Baptistu Bendruomene (Evangelical Christian Baptist Community) on Sunday.

The above is what we knew we’d be doing before we arrived, but Beryl and I suspect the Lord brought us here for other reasons – we are reading exciting things between the lines.

Please pray with us, asking the Lord to do everything He has determined to do for His faithful people at Mazeikiai.

Bill and Beryl

Apologies for the delay in posting this update from B&B due to technical difficulties – Nick.