An Agent of Unity | the Reach April 2022

Dear friends,

I am thrilled to announce that after meeting with the World Outreach Committee and the National Leadership Team last week, both have officially recommended that the newest version of the World Outreach Master Plan be brought to the 2022 General Assembly for approval.

What is the World Outreach Master Plan you ask?

If you didn’t know, this is a governing document revised and brought before the GA every 3-5 years. We’re approaching 6 years since the last one. After hundreds of prayer-filled man hours over the last seven months, gathering input from key stakeholders, global workers, missions leaders, the World Outreach Committee, and the National Leadership Team, the Proposed Master Plan defines our mission and how we will serve the denomination in her calling to help fulfill the Great Commission. While simple, this document bears the weight of everyone who worked on it, prayed for it, and represents it in real-life ministry in the field. It also bears the weight of everyone who has gone before and built the history and foundation on which we stand.

As you familiarize yourself with it (link below), I invite you to pray that God would graciously use this as an agent of unity at General Assembly and the EPC for years to come.

While this document may be a fresh version, it’s composed of values and priorities that have been true and are being lived out. One recent example I’d like to highlight is related to “Church Engagement,” found in the Strategic Priorities section. In August, as Afghanistan was falling and a surge of refugees fled, God was preparing generous hearts within our EPC family. In November, World Outreach workers who had spent nearly two decades ministering in Afghanistan (and continue that work among Afghans in the US), alerted us to an opportunity – the need for Christian materials.

The Scriptures in Dari and Afghan Pashtun, a translation which they had worked on and recently completed, were desperately needed. Once out of reach because the translation didn’t exist; out of reach because of physical distance; now in the blink of an eye, both barriers removed for millions of Afghans. Eleven EPC churches and two families gave toward this effort to birth the first 10,000 print copies into existence. “Physical needs, food, water, clothing, are critical, but being able to give the word of God in their heart language is a gift that can last forever. And now we can,” said our WO workers.

There are many other stories of EPC churches currently engaged in ministry with Afghans. May we continue to lean into the opportunities God provides in faith as we live out the strategic priorities the Lord has given us.
 
Grateful to serve with you to help fulfill the Great Commission,
 
Gabriel de Guia
Executive Director, EPC World Outreach

Community Life

Muslim Ministry Network

Are you connecting with your Muslim neighbor through friendship, community assistance, or by teaching English? Do you want to meet others who are doing the same things? If so, we are looking for you! Click here for more information.

Spread the Good News

If you feel called to support WO workers and ministry partners here and abroad, consider giving to the U.S. Muslim Ministries Project and the International Disaster Relief Fund. These funds are used to reach and support those in need, sharing the love of Christ.

Divine Opportunity | the Reach March 2022

Over four million Ukrainian refugees have fled their country in the last four weeks. World Outreach has been working with ministry partners on the ground in the surrounding countries to care for those who are impacted and displaced by the events of the last month. Similarly, there are over 600,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan having fled war in their country. World Outreach’s Mission Cohort took a trip in December 2021 to ministry partners in the area, to offer encouragement and support in their work and to share the love of Christ with Syrian refugees in the area. Two team members, Danny and David, share with you their experience; they were blessed to see eight people put their faith in Jesus during this College Missions Cohort trip: 2 from Syria, 2 from Yemen, and 2 from Iraq.

My much-beloved brothers and sisters,

It is with great pleasure that I write to you as a young man who is blessed to have been mentored by so many wonderful people in the EPC. For the past two years, I have participated in a World Outreach missions cohort of college-aged adults. This cohort was led by EPC World Outreach mobilizers: Mark and MJ, Saul and Jesse Huber, and Shawn and Lisa Stewart. The purpose of this cohort is to, as in all things, glorify God, as well as give young adults an opportunity to discern a possible calling to the cross-cultural missions field. The cohort does this by providing students with both hands-on experience and mentorship from global workers within the EPC.

The highlight of this cohort was a short-term mission trip to Jordan. During this trip, we partnered with a relief agency of Jordanian Christians who are dedicated to doing the work of evangelists among refugees. It was during this trip that I gained one of the most cherished experiences that I have ever had since my own conversion. You see, a primary way that this agency facilitates outreach is through visiting the apartments of refugees. During these visits, staff members and volunteers bring essential food and clothing, as well as take inventory of any specific needs that a family may have. While on these home visits, they also engage in religious dialogue with the intention of sharing the gospel.

The story that I would like to share is the apartment visit with an 80-year-old man and his wife, who are Muslim refugees from Syria. As we sat together, they told us about their needs, as well as their journey from Syria to Jordan. In the midst of the conversation, our interpreter stopped and told us that he wanted to share the gospel with this man, but was concerned about his wife. In the past, he had spoken with the man and shared some things about Christianity but had yet to speak of such things with his wife. It is important to note that in Jordan it is illegal to proselytize, meaning that it is illegal to try and convince someone to change their religion. So, when you do not know how one is going to react to the gospel, you must be very careful in sharing it.

After telling us his concern, the interpreter asked our team if we had any ideas on how to approach sharing the gospel with this couple. I took a moment to pray, and the story of a man by the name of Dennis was laid on my heart. Dennis was a man from my home church who was much loved by our congregation. Despite being sick with cancer, he had such amazing joy and was not afraid, even when he knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. I began to tell Dennis’s story to this couple, and as I said to them that Dennis was not afraid to die, the wife cried out with tears. She told us that both she and her husband were afraid of death. I asked her why she was afraid of death, and she said that it was because she was not sure whether they had been obedient enough for God to let them into heaven. I explained to them that Dennis was confident unto death not because of any kind of obedience or good work that he had done, but because he knew and trusted that God loved him. 

After I shared this story, a member of our team, David, told the couple the story of Jesus being crucified next to two criminals. He explained how one criminal, like this man and his wife, was terrified of death because he knew that he could not meet God’s standard of righteousness. But upon trusting in Jesus, who is the Son of God sent to take away the sins of the world, the criminal was saved. David then got on his knees and asked the man and his wife if they believe this truth and wish to accept Christ, and both of them cried out that they believe. At that very moment, we saw two elderly people, who had been Muslim their entire lives, profess faith in Jesus. Behold the power of Almighty God! 

I left Jordan with a burden on my heart.  The call for us as God’s workers to reap a ready harvest and to disciple new believers was evident.  It has been both wonderful and convicting to share my experiences in Jordan with brothers and sisters in Christ. If you sense in any way a call to pray, to give, or even to go share Jesus with Muslims, I urge you to contact a World Outreach mobilizer through www.epcwo.org/go/. If you know a college-aged young person who is considering a life of ministry or missions, please share this story and invite them to join us at www.epcwo.org/cohort. Your life, their life, and countless others could be changed forever. 

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,

Danny Cridelich
Highview EPC, Dousman
Christ Alone Church, Green Bay

Community Life

Support Syrian Refugees

If you feel called to support ministry partners as they share the love of Christ with Syrian Refugees, consider doing so through the Syrian Refugee Relief Fund. Donations to this fund will help with the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. The EPC is joining with church partners in Lebanon, Turkey, and Germany to not only assist refugees with physical needs, but also to share the gospel to meet their spiritual needs.

GO with WO

If you’re interested in learning more about opportunities to serve with EPC World Outreach, visit us at www.epcwo.org/go.

Prayers about the Invasion of Ukraine | the Reach February 2022

But the LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 9:7-10

Dear friends,

The scriptures continually remind us that the LORD is enthroned forever; He is in control establishing His throne for justice. The Kingdom of God has come, despite the chaos and darkness around us, He promises to always be with His people and that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Would you please pray with us for peace in region, and even more that all those people would know the name of our living LORD and put their trust in Him!

  • PRAY for all involved in the region to know the name of our LORD and put their trust in him. People often turn to the Lord in crises.
  • PRAY for peace in the region and wisdom as leaders work toward that peace.
  • PRAY for our ministry partners in the region. Some are in the middle of the situation, while others are far from the action but sanctions have closed the movement of funds and on-going ministry in the area.
  • PRAY for all the ministries located in the neighboring countries bordering Ukraine who are taking in thousands of refugees. The refugees are women, children, and older men since the younger men, 18 to 60, have been required to remain in Ukraine, available to fight. Already, approximately 120,000 Ukrainians have fled to other countries, including Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Czechia. This number is expected to swell greatly.

Additional Resources

Read several articles that offer context and additional prayer needs for Ukraine:
  • Read: Christians in Ukraine in the face of invasion: “Prayer is our weapon”
  • Read: ‘No justification’ for Russian invasion of Ukraine, say European evangelicals (christiantoday.com)
  • Read: Putin’s Spiritual Destiny (spiritual background to the conflict) 
  • Give to the EPC Disaster Relief Fund for the needs of displaced peoples and the on-the-ground ministry.

Opportunities to Connect with World Outreach | the Reach January 2022

Dear friends,

As we begin 2022, EPC World Outreach wanted to let you in on 3 opportunities to connect with us and pursue a call to missions – both abroad and in your own neighborhood.

World Outreach Workshop
If you’re interested in learning how to foster meaningful relationships with Muslims in your community, we encourage you to take part in EPC WO’s Connecting with Your Muslim Neighbors workshop. This six-week online workshop will tear down stereotypes and help you become compassionate and courageous witnesses of God’s love for Muslims.
Missions Cohort
The EPC WO Missions Cohort is a space dedicated to engaging young adults that are interested in missions; Through mentoring, fellowship, and study together, this cohort pursues God’s leading and discerns the call towards the field. If you or a young adult you know feels led to missions, we’d love to be a part of your discernment process.
Muslim Ministry Network
Are you connecting with Muslims in your neighborhood and interested in meeting with others doing the same? You may be interested in WO’s ministry networking group! This six-month group meets online to share joys and challenges, receive input from WO workers, and pray for one another. 

Prayers of the Saints | the Reach October 2021

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth.”
-Revelation 5:8-9

Dear friends,

Twenty years ago, the EPC and EPC World Outreach declared the Malay people and Malaysia to be a “designated field” – meaning we, as a denomination, were going to work hard at seeing Jesus’ church established among the 20+ million unreached Malay peoples .
 

The first ten years were a struggle; a team was formed, laborers were raised up and sent, but struggle and suffering led to an exhaustion of commitment and resources to the Malay people. In our lowest point, there was just one family remaining in Malaysia, and they were thinking of giving up….

During this time, the Engage 2025 initiative was launched and by 2012, plans were made for the World Outreach team and the Malay people to become an Engage 2025 project; in God’s providence, the Engage 2025 focus through the presbytery provided a means for the EPC to shore up our commitment to the Malay people. God began to move among us. He called laborers and by 2014, the WO team became one of the largest planting teams in Southeast Asia.

When the WO team began processing how to move toward seeing the multiplication of disciples, an observation was made: “there has never been a movement to Christ without a preceding extraordinary prayer movement.” We asked ourselves, “has Malaysia and the Malay people ever had a prayer movement?” The answer? No.

Our course of action became apparent: create an extraordinary prayer movement. We increased our own personal prayer times, we prayed corporately as a team every month, and started a city-wide prayer meeting for all who shared our heart for the Malay people.

As God was moving among us, he was also moving hearts within World Outreach and the EPC. In 2016, WO declared a year of prayer for breakthrough among the Malay people. One hundred forty-nine people committed to pray for the Malay at least once a week for the whole year. Following that initial General Assembly, four additional years were designated by World Outreach at GA as years to pray for breakthrough among the Malay.

At the same time, God was moving in Malaysia and inspiring Pastor Raymond Koh and others to mobilize prayer and evangelism among the thousands of Malaysian minority Christians in the country. The vision was to believe God would launch disciple making movements in each of the fifty-two zones of Malaysia within the next five years: the 525 prayer initiative.

We have witnessed an incredible amount of prayer on behalf of the Malay people. Yet, for all of this extraordinary prayer, the breakthrough still tarries. We have seen green shoots – some Malays have begun to follow Christ, but nothing like we envision when we think about Revelation 5:9 and 7:9.  Did we fail? 

Or does God plan to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20)? Perhaps the bowls we see in Revelation 5 and 8 represent our prayers for the Malay and we are just now reaching our tipping point?  Stay tuned and keep praying for breakthrough among the Malay people.  Believe God’s promises and His word, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9).  The best is yet to come… 

The Malay people, like all people, are one of the tribes  / languages / peoples / nations bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and will join us in the great multitude standing before the throne of God.  How many will be there?  Only God knows, but with over 20 million Malay peoples presently scattered over, South Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia we have to believe it will be millions.
 
Written by “J” a team leader in Southeast Asia.

Community Life

Malay Prayer Card

If you feel called to pray for the Malay of Malaysia, or are interested in learning more, take a look at our prayer card. We would be happy to send these cards to you to pass out to friends and church members, as well. Simply email us here.

Foundations of Prayer

Listen to audio lectures by J. Edwin Orr which give us a key understanding to what precedes church planting movement activity.

PRK 555 Prayer App

Download (iOS Android) this daily prayer guide and pray along with thousands of others who are eager to see prayer, revival and the kingdom come and God’s will done among those in South Thailand, Malaysia (East and West), Singapore and Brunei. You may also request a free book copy of the prayer initiative by emailing us

Walking With Those Seeking Refuge | the Reach September 2021

Dear friends,

It took five long, lonely years before Fatima*, an Afghan mother of five, could finally embrace her husband, Sayyid, again. During their escape from their war-ravaged country, Sayyid was shot in the hip by the border police and unable to make the exhausting journey across Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. Sarah and Andrew – WO global workers – met and befriended Fatima when she arrived with her children at a camp near their town.

During those five years, the family began to change: feeling the freeing effects of a European culture originally based, in part, on biblical ideas. Sarah has had numerous opportunities to pray with Fatima for the safe return of Sayyid, for healing (both are severe diabetics), and the insurmountable paperwork. In response to life questions from their children, Sarah and Andrew have also furnished them two Bibles in their own language. 

Several weeks ago, after a perfunctory tea and Sayyid stepping out of the room, Fatima boldly proclaimed her opinion that Westerners have better ‘hearts’ than Muslims. Andrew disagreed with her, saying that all hearts are evil apart from God’s saving work. 

The challenge with our ‘cousins’ is to move their eyes away from works and religion to issues of the heart, and free grace in Jesus. For this reason, this conversation was a breakthrough moment for Fatima. 

It is a joy and privilege for Andrew and Sarah to walk alongside Fatima, Sayyid, and their family on their journey of integration into a new culture, but also their journey into an encounter with the triune living God through His people. 

There are many other displaced people who share similar stories. Since 2016, Andrew and Sarah have met and worked primarily with Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, and Iraqis – some of whom have become like family. As the horrific events unfolded in Afghanistan last month, they received a voice message from Fatima saying that her family had spent the whole last week weeping over the destruction of their country and friends and family in harm’s way. 

Please join us in prayer for Fatima and Sayyid, and so many other Afghan families alike. 

*Names changed for security of our workers and those they work with.

Written by WO global workers, A & S, serving with refugees in Europe.

Community Life

Serve Afghan Refugees

We’ve assembled resources for you and your congregation to serve, learn, give, and pray for Afghanistan and Afghan refugees. Click the button below to access this list of resources online. Or click here for a printable pdf.

Support A & S

If A and S’s ministry resonates with you, we encourage you to consider supporting them as they serve refugees in Europe. For even more information on their work, please email us.

WO Webinar

Last month, we were able to host a webinar around the current situation in Afghanistan and how we can respond in our own communities, as followers of Jesus. If you would like access to the webinar, please email us.