If a crisis arises...

By Omar Rodriguez

... ... ... ... ...

At least 42 dead, 115,000 homeless in Brazil flooding

By the CNN Wire Staff, June 22, 2010 2:52 p.m. EDT

... ... ... ... ...

As Crisis Manager for Latin America, several times during the day, I check news sources to see what’s generally going on in the world. The above headline from CNN greeted me just a few minutes ago – as it did people in the National Office, our supporting churches and family. Two questions immediately come to mind. First, are our missionaries affected in some way? Second, is the EFCA doing anything to help?


If the headline seems urgent or severe enough, someone in leadership might shortly start receiving notes from some interested party with the above questions. While it is impossible to stay on top of every crisis situation, we do need to be aware that due to global communications, crisis events are broadcasted quickly and interest is generated surprisingly fast.


For those of you on the field, what CNN may consider a crisis may not at all rank as such in your perception. But, if you are sending off emergency prayer requests to your supporters regarding an emergency situation or people are writing to you about what’s going on, it’s probably a good trigger that you should inform myself or your team leader.


Crisis events are not limited to personal emergencies but also include incidents where ReachGlobal might be affected or might have the opportunity to respond to serve. At the very least, we want to be proactive about generating concerted prayer for those who are affected. If at all possible, we also want to take the opportunities placed before us to reach out to our fellow believers and those without Christ who may need help. Proactive communication to your team leader or to me will greatly help us to respond to selected emergencies in a coordinated and timely manner.


If you are unable to contact your immediate supervisor, please contact me at Omar.Rodriguez@efca.org or you can call me at my cell phone at 714-930-6451 (24/7). If necessary, call collect.

Ministering in a Roman Catholic Context

It'll be no surprise to you, the RG LA staff, that most of Latin America is predominantly Catholic. Evangelicalism is rapidly growing but still remains the minority. Despite living and ministering within Latin America on a day-to-day basis, how much do you know about the predominant religion?

Starting July 5, EQUIP (along with facilitator Dr. Ernest Manges) is offering a 4 week interactive/collaborative course on "Ministering in a Roman Catholic Context."

Take this opportunity to complete a personal KRA while learning about the history of Catholicism, complexities within the religion, and differences and similarities between Catholic and Evangelical doctrine and beliefs. Come away with practical ideas for ministering effectively to your Catholic friends and neighbors. Plus, due to the interactive nature, you will learn from fellow RG staff and have the chance to share your own related experiences. The course comes highly recommended for all staff ministering in predominantly Catholic countries.

View additional course information online or email equip@efca.org to register today! If you have any specific questions, you can also contact ernest.manges@efca.org.

Surprised by God!

By Bob Werntz


Sometimes on the mission field, we are surprised by incredible God-given ministry opportunities that are a bit outside our expectations and paradigms. During our time in Honduras, this has certainly been the case for our family.

In 2009, I received a call from a ministry called International Fire Relief Missions (IFRM) in Minnesota requesting my help in connecting them with the municipal government on the Honduran island of Roatan. They felt led to minister to the firemen and medical emergency responders there, and the director of the group attends an EFC church in Minnesota. I love to go to Roatan – a beautiful island paradise where I have often dreamed of planting a hammock church. After many months of phone calls with governmental and customs officials and a couple of vision trips, the day finally came!

The Roatan Fire and Medical Services were happy to receive a fire truck and a container stuffed with over $1 million worth of supplies! A team from Minnesota traveled to the island for two weeks to train the workers on the best use of their new equipment. (At right, Roatan fire fighters, wearing and using their new equipment, receive car extraction training.)

At the same time, another ministry affiliated with IFRM (International Relief Missions) worked with a church in Roatan to train a group from their local church family to provide chaplain ministry to the emergency responders. Part of the training included going to the fire station and meeting all the workers there (pictured at left), the first steps to building a relationship between the church and the emergency responders. What a blessing to see these ministries and trainings come together after months of preparation and prayer!

God surprised us again when a group called Missions Mobilization International (MMI) contacted us. MMI had the desire to minister to the national police force in Honduras, the COBRAS, and requested our help. They arrived in Tegucigalpa with a team that specializes in training SWAT teams around the world. After several days of intense training, and once they’d earned the COBRAS respect, the MMI ministry team preached the gospel to them. Many COBRAS indicated their desire to follow Christ, and we handed out around 500 Bibles! Awesome!

Preaching the gospel to the COBRAS

Proud owners of new Bibles

May God continue to surprise us all with ministry opportunities that seem outside the box!

Add the RSS Feed for the RGLA Staff Broadcast

RSS feeds


First things first, if this is new to you… RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a way for publishers of blogs, news, etc. to make their web content available for subscription. For example, when you add an RSS feed for a blog to your email, you are subscribing to that blog, and from that point forward, you will receive an email anytime new content is published. This saves you the time and effort of regularly checking the blog on the web, and it ensures you don’t miss any important information that is published!

 

To add an RSS feed in Outlook:

As RG staff members, we all use Microsoft Outlook, and there is a simple way to add an RSS to your Outlook account.

1. Visit the webpage you would like to subscribe to – for our example, you can use this blog (RGLA Staff Broadcast).
2. If the webpage offers RSS, you will see a button with an orange box that says "Posts" -- on this blog, this is located on the right-hand side of the page, part-way down the sidebar. Click on this button. In some situations, the site may have a dropdown list of subscription methods – in that case, you will look for the orange button that says “Atom” – usually it is at the bottom of the list.
3. Click on Atom. A new page will open up – for our example, it will look like this. Copy the URL at the top of this page – example: http://rglastaffbroadcast.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
4. Return to Microsoft Outlook.
5. Go to the Tools menu at the top of the main page. Click on Account Settings.
6. Go to the RSS Feeds tab in the box. Click New.
7. In the New RSS Feed dialog box, type or press CTRL+V to paste the URL of the RSS Feed.
8. Click Add and then OK.

 

You should now be receiving the RGLA Staff Broadcasts in your email.

 

Note: The posts will not come into your Inbox! They will appear in their own folder (labeled RGLA Staff Broadcast) under the folder RSS Feeds.

 

Now you are ready to add the RSS for other blogs you follow – such as TJ Addington’s Leading from the Sandbox -- to your email, too.

 

If you have any questions or issues, please contact Melissa Putney or Brian Duggan with questions. Thanks!

Are you taking advantage of EQUIP?

Part of ensuring ongoing success in ministry is ensuring that we keep ourselves (our skills, knowledge, and training) relevant. EFCA EQUIP offers online self-guided and facilitated courses to help in that development – and they are free-of-charge to ReachGlobal missionaries!

One upcoming course to consider taking is the Healthy Missions Partnership course. One of ReachGlobal’s guiding principles is to be “partnership driven,” so understanding how to establish, build and maintain healthy partnerships is key for all ReachGlobal staff. The course will be interactive and a great opportunity to learn from the experiences of missionaries, pastors and partner organizations from around the world.

Visit the EQUIP website to read more about the course and to sign up today. The next 4-week course (+ 1-week introduction for new EQUIP users) is scheduled for June 30-August 3. The course should be offered again in the fall as well (dates TBD).

In Latin America, we encourage every RG staff member currently involved in some level of partnership to participate in the course. As we continue to develop a structure or model for defining and building partnerships, we expect this training to be immediately beneficial and relevant for our area.

Lead Team update

May God bless you richly this Easter season!

Last week, ReachGlobal held its annual Lead Team meeting in Mt. Hermon, California, at a Christian camp and conference center in the midst of the beautiful Sequoia Redwood forests. The week was both refreshing and challenging as we worshipped together, studied the Word, prayed often, discussed ReachGlobal dynamics, and celebrated what God is doing around the world in and through our ministries.

The conference began with a full day of fasting, worship, and prayer. Throughout the week, we focused on discussing multiplication, vision casting, develop-empower-release dynamics, personnel health, and how we can be intentional about developing new leadership within our organization. Each ReachGlobal division shared a ministry report, and EFCA President Bill Hamel gave an update on the EFCA.

We were also privileged to hear from Tim Addington throughout the week. He spoke candidly on important teaching points from his soon-to-be-published book on deep influence – specifically, how leaders can develop a deep influence in the lives of others and what mistakes can result in the loss of that influence.

The overriding theme of the conference was the transformational power of the gospel in individuals, organizations, and communities. The ReachGlobal mission is to glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people, and we are gospel-centered in our very being. The gospel is the reason we do church multiplication, and this topic is part of an ongoing discussion within ReachGlobal and the EFCA.

In addition to the regular meeting schedule, the Latin America Leadership Team also took time apart to discuss various topics in our area. Although we meet regularly via conference calls each month, it was a pleasant change to be face-to-face, enjoying a nice meal in the outdoors and thinking through various aspects of ReachGlobal’s work in Latin America.

As your area leaders, we would like to express our appreciation for each of you, your work for the Lord, and your part in ReachGlobal’s ministry here in God’s continent. 

Introducing our new Communications Coordinator

I’d like to introduce our newest staff member, Melissa Putney.  Melissa will be serving in the role of Communications Coordinator for Latin America and is a much needed addition to our RG staff. 

The role of Communications Coordinator involves several aspects:

·        Liaise between the National Office and Latin America

·        Help improve our overall communications in all formats (web, newsletters, printed materials, PowerPoints, etc.) for both external and internal communications

·        Provide training and act as a resource to our RG staff in their communications

·        Develop a Latin America communications strategy and plan

Although she will be available to help with your communications questions and provide recommendations, Melissa is not the originator of content.  That still needs to come from you, our RG staff who are experiencing God’s work in your area in unique ways.  Thus Melissa would appreciate your help in several ways:

·        Please add her to your regular prayer updates distribution and while you’re there, please make sure I am on the list as well.  I read these and pray for each of you.

·        Send her stories and God-sightings that she can edit and publish

·        Let her know how you are communicating outside prayer letters, such as your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc. 

·        Consider helping Melissa with skills you may have such as editing, writing, web updating, photography, videography

Short Bio: After graduating from Clemson University in 2006, Melissa moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and entered the corporate world – initially participating in a rotational leadership development program at Vanguard and later working as a corporate recruiter for Red Ventures (a sales & marketing firm based in the Charlotte area). While in Charlotte, she also became involved at Church at Charlotte, a local EFCA church, volunteering as a youth leader with the junior and senior high youth groups.

While working in Charlotte, she felt the Lord calling her to full-time ministry or mission work and began exploring the options and listening for God’s leading. It was through connections at Church at Charlotte that she discovered the opportunity to serve Christ in Latin America with ReachGlobal. God affirmed this decision, and after raising support for her two-year ministry assignment, Melissa moved to Costa Rica in early March to serve as the Communications Coordinator for Latin America.

Fine print: Melissa has joined RG for a two-year fixed term and is living in Costa Rica.  She will report directly to me.  Her KRAs will be based on the area KRAs and her role will develop as our communications abilities improve.  Although Melissa’s work will be primarily in English, she will attend one semester of Spanish starting in May.  She may be contacting you for information on your current communications approaches and to solicit stories from you.  Please understand that Melissa is not an administrative assistant and will not be able to help you in those types of areas. 

So please welcome Melissa to the RG LA team!