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‘Festival Evangelism’ to Muslims
Search and Deploy
The term deployment usually re-fers to the movement of men and machines for the purpose of waging war. But this June, for the fifth year in a row, Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, Indiana) coordinated a major deployment to share God’s peace.
Sixty-five CCC members traveled 10 hours in box trucks and 12-passenger vans to Detroit, Michigan, home to 250,000 Muslims and close to the annual Dearborn Arab International Festival. The team’s “festival evangelism” in public parks included a children’s day camp, 15 carnival games with prizes, free snow cones and cotton candy, live music, literature and Arabic Bible distribution, and many life-changing conversations. The church spent several weeks preparing for the event, and many of the volunteers used their own money (and vacation time) to participate.
Over the last five years, the outreach has led to substantive networking partnerships with Detroit missionaries. “Although there has been active resistance to the gospel, especially in the more conservative Muslim communities, the message of God’s love and grace has been faithfully shared,” says Ken Idleman, senior pastor. “We know many lives have been impacted because God has said his Word will not return empty.”
www.crossroadschristian.com
All the Best
The Best Christian Workplaces Institute, a Christian human resources research and consulting firm, recently named Southland Christian Church (Lexington, Kentucky) a 2008 Best Christian Workplace. The award is based on survey results from employees who rate their workplace on job security, management effectiveness, morale, and more.
Southland was one of only two churches included on this year’s list. For a complete roster of winners, visit www.bcwinstitute.com/2008us.aspx.
www.southlandchristian.org
Connect Your Elders
This summer, Parkside Christian Church (Cincinnati, Ohio) hosted a reunion for 36 current and former elders. Six current staff members also joined the reunion and former executive minister Dr. David Grubbs preached for the gathering.
The oldest participant was Roy Nicholas, 82, who journeyed to the reunion from Florida and shared stories of the sacrifices made to secure the congregation’s property.
“It was a great evening of sharing
with those who have carried the banner of leadership over so many years,” writes Bob Kitchen, one of Parkside’s current elders.
www.parkside-cc.org
Dream Team
At this summer’s North American Christian Con-vention, leaders from Shepherd of the Hills Church (Porter Ranch, California) unveiled their new “Dream of Destiny.” The ministry, founded by senior pastor Dudley Rutherford and led by associate pastor Byron Davis, exists to connect Restoration Movement churches and schools with young people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Rutherford and Davis plan several initiatives to mentor these future leaders; the first is “Next Generation Now,” which includes practical ministry experience, coaching, exposure to Bible colleges, internship opportunities, leadership development, and more.
Rutherford reports the Next Generation Now program at Shepherd of the Hills already has 20 young participants, five of whom plan to attend Bible college.
www.dreamofdestiny.org
www.theshepherd.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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