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India has more (and larger) people groups with no Christians, churches or workers than any other part of the world. Vast areas of China’s interior have never been reached with the gospel. And Southern Asia contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world.
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PHIL JACKSON, Facilitator for European Church Planting
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October 28, the members of the Olomouc, Czech Republic mission team departed Little Rock, Arkansas for Prague. From there they boarded a train to the city of Olomouc.
This date has been the focus of much prayer and preparation over the last six years.
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This team has been nurtured and coached by their University of Arkansas campus ministers (Scott and Denise Karnes), their Prague Internship mentors (Allen and Laurie Diles), and the Bible and Missions faculty at Abilene Christian University, as well as the staff at MRN. However, when MRN facilitated the team’s Family Workshop we were exposed to the people who did the most, those who raised these young missionaries and placed them on the altar of missions—their parents and extended families.
These workshops are designed to better inform family members about the realities of mission work and to offer resources that may prove beneficial to the support team behind the missionary endeavor. We came away from the workshop humbled by the commitment of mothers and fathers, grandparents and siblings who released their loved ones into this mission. We keep in our heart the scene where church leaders from each sponsoring church stood in solidarity with arms around these young missionaries, blessing them and committing before God their role as supporters, senders and stewards of this team’s effort in Olomouc.
I am convinced and committed to the need for missions training, strategy development, biblical study and cultural learning for all who engage in cross-cultural missions. This preparation, however, is put into its proper perspective when one witnesses the tears and surrendering spirit of mothers and fathers who offer their children to the Lord to be used for His purpose. Responding to the burden in your own heart to go to a distant place with the message of Jesus is a challenge. Releasing the ones you hold most dear to go is unquestionably more difficult. The parents of the Olomouc Team are worthy of the honor that we give to fathers like Abraham and mothers like Hannah—parents who recognize that their children are destined to be a blessing to the nations. They truly are testimonies of the greatness of our Lord.
May God fill these families with His comfort and assurance. And may God’s name be honored in Olomouc, Czech Republic by these precious sons and daughters.
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