October Mobilization with Mike – upcoming ministry, mobilizing churches for missions impact and much, much more!

October 2019 Update

Greetings to you from the air as I fly from the Pacific toward the midwest for some important ministry opportunities.

I have the privilege this week to be a host for the Central African Leaders Pastor Jonas Bavon and Dr. Françios Ngoumape who will be visiting the USA on a fraternal visit to the Charis Churches and leaders here in the USA.

CAR Leaders

(On the Left) In addition to leading his local congregation, Pastor Bavon Jonas was recently elected to serve as Executive Secretary of the 3000+ Charis Alliance (Grace Brethren) churches of the Central African Republic.

(On the Right) Dr. Ngoumape Francois is Dean of the School of Theology in Bangui, and coordinates leadership training among and beyond our four Bible Institutes.  You can see more about the school online here:

 

Here is a brief outline of our tour with 2 special receptions (in bold) where you can meet these leaders!:

Oct 2 in Ashland, OH  Brief Reception at Ashland Grace Church at 8pm
Oct 3 at Ashland University
Oct 4-5 at Marysville, OH and in Columbus area
Oct 6 at Grace Polaris Church during Sunday morning worship services

Oct 6 @  6PM in Delaware, OH for a special reception! Details and to RSVP online here- https://africareceptionOH.splashthat.com 

Oct 7 @  1PM in Winona Lake, IN for a special reception! Details and to RSVP online here- – https://africareceptionIN.splashthat.com

Oct 7-9 attending Central FOCUS Retreat with Charis Fellowship leaders in Northern Indiana

Wow it’s going to be a busy week…and I’d covet your prayers for this trip and the mobilization of many toward cross-cultural impact for the Gospel!


Mobilizing Churches for Missions

I wanted to share a bit of the story of a church I love and get to work with directly in my California ministry scope. You can see a compelling video of how we are working to help churches by clicking on the picture below…

Church feature: Auburn Grace Community Church in Auburn, California
Watch how one church dedicated themselves not only to be a sending church but an equipping church. Together with Encompass, Auburn Grace Church educated their missions committee to be a proactive team that supports missionaries and shares God’s love for the nations with their church body.

As you learn about Auburn Grace’s approach, ask yourself: How can my church better engage with our global movement? Learn more about The Path Series’ “Mobilizing the Mobilizers” at PathSeries.com.


Circles of Grace


Our church plant had a neat morning this past Sunday!  We finished the book of Acts and so we took last week to think and pray about what the Lord has put our hearts about our church family… what we are doing well and where we could grow.

We were trying to sense what the Lord has for our next chapter.  There was some really great feedback and we sense that the Lord has us in a good spot and we love eating together!

We’ve been meeting in the public park regularly on Sundays centered around Jesus and His Word. And the Lord is pushing us out and deeper in this next chapter!

Keep praying for us to sow the Gospel, make disciples and enlarge our circles! Circles Of GraceWe also need financial supporters for our effort and you can see how to contribute online at CirclesGrace.com (where you can also track with what we are doing together!)

Read the rest of this newsletter online here

September 2019 Update – Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

September 2019 Update

graduationLet’s start this update with info about our family as this year is a crazy one for the Jentes Haus.

On June 22, our son Korey got married to his high school sweetheart Kaelyn! We had a wonderful celebration and I was honored that they asked me to officiate the service (in the picture you’ll see our longtime adopted family member Heike who flew in from Germany!). After their wedding and honeymoon they drove cross country back to Indiana as they work on finishing up at Grace College.

Speaking of weddings, our daughter Kayla and her fiancé Zach are up next on December 21st! Last week, Kayla also reached an important milestone at her “White Coat Ceremony” where she was donned the honor and responsibility of practicing medical care! She is now doing her clerkship (or residency) and working with doctors and caring for patients in her chiropractic studies!

Our son Kevin started his first year at Grace College last month. He is having a blast having conversations with many people, living away from home and learning a bunch. We are proud and hope we will hear a little bit of news from him :-).

Our youngest, Katja completed her tour over the summer with a Drum and Bugle Corp called Blue Devils. She unfortunately got a concussion at the end of the season and has been on limitations with her school studies and her high school color guard. Please be praying that she will fully heal and be able to be healthy for the challenges of school and life.

Whew it is crazy in our world…and so thanks for praying for our kids (and new ones coming into the family!), and for my amazing wife, Dr. Mindi, who is still running her own Chiropractic office in this zaniness!


Circles of Grace


As if we didn’t have enough, early this year we were sent out to plant a new church!  We’ve been plugging along connecting with people and seeking to live our our faith in our new church expression. We’ve been meeting in the public park regularly on Sundays centered around Jesus and His Word.

Keep praying for us to sow the Gospel, make disciples and enlarge our circles! Circles Of GraceWe also need financial supporters for our effort and you can see how to contribute online at CirclesGrace.com (where you can also track with what we are doing together!)

You can see the rest of this email update online

June Update – Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

June 2019 Update

graduation
Let’s start this update with info about our family as this year is a crazy one for the Jentes Haus.

Last week, our son Kevin graduated with honors from Los Alamitos High School! We are proud of him achieving this milestone. Over the summer he will be working with a STEM Day Camp and in the fall he will head out to Indiana to attend Grace College.

Speaking of school, our oldest daughter Kayla is still plugging away at her doctorate in Chiropractic and planning her December wedding!

Speaking of weddings, in just a few days, our oldest son Korey will be getting married to his high school sweetheart Kaelyn! We are delighted for this upcoming celebration and I was honored that they asked me to officiate the service. It will be a SoCal wedding and then they will head this fall back to Indiana as they work on finishing up at Grace College.

Our youngest, Katja completed her school year last week, and earlier this year was selected to be part of a Summer Drum and Bugle Corp called Blue Devils. She has already begun rehearsals and will be heading to the Bay Area for more training and a summer tour!

Whew it is crazy in our world…and so thanks for praying for our kids, and for my amazing wife, Dr. Mindi, who is still running her own Chiropractic office in this zaniness!

Church Planting

Easter Morning CircleAs if we didn’t have enough this year, in February we were sent out to plant a new church!  Over the last few months, we’ve been plugging along connecting with people and seeking to live our our faith in our new church expression. We envisioned meeting in the park regularly, but weather has been dicey and we’ve moved a bunch of Sundays to our home. The picture here is from our Easter Sunday Morning Sunrise Service which was a special time with our core community and some visitors.

Keep praying for us to sow the Gospel, make disciples and enlarge our circles! We also need financial supporters for our effort and you can see how to contribute online atLosAltosGrace.org/plant  (where you can also track with what we are doing together!)

Encompass Mobilization Team Retreat

mob teamAtlanta, Georgia: In early May, our Mobilization Team got together for our annual planning retreat to reflect and prioritize our work for the coming year. This year our team made great strides in connecting people and churches to going and engaging the least-reached. We rejoice in what the Lord allows our humble team to do to push the Great Commission forward! [We also had fun getting out of an Egyptian Escape Room :-), see the pic! ]

Internships to Impact the Nations

One of the highlights for our mobilization team for last year was seeing nearly 2 dozen interns deployed around our world to have significant cross-cultural ministry experience. When God calls you to go, He’s not calling you to go alone. Maybe you could take your next step toward the nations with an internship…or share the opportunities with another globally interested friend! Find out more about our Encompass Internships online

Resources You Should Know About

Missions Recordings

March in Wooster, Ohio: Connect & Equip was a missions conference which I had the privilege to help coordinate. There were many great things, but the two main session messages were outstanding and worth your time to listen to!”When Safety is Satanic: Mark 8:31-35” by Matthew Ellison

Destiny Disrupter: God has always been disrupting lives” by Dave Guiles

Click the titles above and download these audio files (MP3s) right now, listen and be challenged…and share them with others!

Discerning Your Calling

Late last year, I had the opportunity to meet a young California couple who were seeking to go to a least-reached country in Asia. I was encouraged as they shared their story of God’s calling!

Recently, Encompass World Partners interviewed them for an article and I thought I would share an intro here: “Manuel had been interested in missions ever since he was a kid, but his wife, Rochelle, didn’t share his interest until this past year. Was this new curiosity God’s leading? And if so, where was he calling them?

Two books have been instrumental in the process of pursuing God’s call. The first is the Bible, to which the Olivas family turns daily for God’s wisdom. The second isDiscerning Your Calling by John Ward. Manuel says this book would help “anyone who is looking to serve in any capacity, whether locally or internationally. This is an excellent book that guides you step by step in discovering your specific calling to missions, and is a must read as soon as you start to feel the call to ministry.”
… read the rest online

Encounter SoCal

A cross-cultural immersion experience in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic regions of the country – Southern California: If you want to come see my world and the great mission opportunities that are available in a short-term mission trip, check out Encounter SoCal online, shoot me an email and we can talk about it for the coming year!

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached with Encompass, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.  Or you can mail a check with my name designated to “Encompass World Partners” PO Box 3298  Monument, CO 80132-3290

Press on,
Mike–
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners

Go Further Together Message at Rittman Grace

Mission Day

I had the privilege to go back and share at my home church on Sunday March 10 a missions message on a special “Mission Day.” It’s a special day for all of us to turn our hearts toward the nations, to pray for cross-cultural workers, and to explore our calling to participate in the Great Commission.

Rittman Grace

What a joy it was to share with the good folks at Rittman Grace Brethren Church in Rittman, Ohio!

One of the items we defined in this message was what we mean by missions:

Missions is the task of crossing barriers of language, geography, cultural differences and even prejudice to invite the nations to
become true worshipers of God through Jesus Christ. (From the book Discovering Global Missions.)

It was a joy to share with them, and they recorded the message that is posted below (and here is my Powerpoint) to bless you and encourage you!

Continue reading “Go Further Together Message at Rittman Grace”

Two Challenging Mission Messages

On March 9, 2019 in Wooster, Ohio, I was able to help coordinate the Connect & Equip missions conference by Encompass World Partners. It was a great day of connecting and equipping!

With nearly 100 people gathered together for the challenge of mission and among them were the leaders of 16 different workshops, electricity was in the air during this day. We had two main sessions and each of those speakers are men I deeply respect for their passion for the Lord, His Word and the Nations. Find out more and click through to these messages below:

Matthew Ellison is the co-founder of Sixteen:Fifteen, author of When WhenSafetyisSatanic coverMissions Is Everything  and was given the assignment to challenge the conference around the topic of Risk.  He nailed it from the Bible with the message “When Safety Is Satanic- Mark 8:31-35.”

 


Dr. Dave Guiles, Executive Director of Encompass World Partners and author of Discovering Global Missions & Mobilizing The Mobilizers, shared a challenging message about the disruption of destinies.  The messageDestinyDisrupter DaveGuiles ConnectEquip2019 “Destiny Disrupter: God has always been disrupting lives” is a clear call to be open to God and what He might be stirring up in our lives and those we influence.    

 

 

 

More St. Patrick’s Day Goodness

Today, on Saint Patrick’s Day, we spent some time telling his story and even praying a prayer called “Saint Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer.”

A very famous portion of the prayer is:

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

(See what we prayed here)

In re-reading Patrick’s story in his own words from his “Confession,”  I was stunned by how Patrick’s destiny was disrupted. After being kidnapped by pirates, put into slavery and a miraculous escape, he was back home in England and describes what God did here:

And after a few years I was again in Britain with my parents [kinsfolk], and they welcomed me as a son, and asked me, in faith, that after the great tribulations I had endured I should not go anywhere else away from them.

And, of course, there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as if from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: ‘The Voice of the Irish’; and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: ‘We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.’ And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke. Thanks be to God, because after so many years the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry.  (# 23 on pg. 9)

2 Stunning Aspects of Patrick’s Calling

1) Patrick Mentions his Parents’ Desires:

In just a few significant lines, Patrick outlines the overwhelming desire of his parents–for their son’s safety and for him to stay close to them.  We aren’t told how this was intimated, but Patrick knew what they wanted.

“Good” Christian parents in our time and country have the same desire: for their children to be safe and to stay close (maybe more for the future grandkids). Often this isn’t intimated to the children, but they know what their parents want.  Is this part of what holds back the extension of Jesus’ work in our world?

I just heard Dave Guiles share a message about our God who disrupts destinies–not only for salvation, but for calling to serve King Jesus in ministry and on mission. He has often remarked that the recruitment of future missionaries must address the parents and grandparents of young missionary families to release them to God’s work–which is hardly ever close geographically, and often not safe either.

During the same conference where Guiles was disrupting destinies, the other main session speaker Matthew Ellison shared a message entitled, “When Safety is Satanic.” I highly recommend you take a listen to that Biblical and challenging message out of Mark 8 and Hebrews 10.

Patrick seems to have felt the pressure from his parents. The connecting phrase he choses in this confession is so telling–“And, of course.”  If I can paraphrase: “Mom and Dad want me to stay home and be safe. And, of course God has work for me to do in a dangerous place far away.”  Patrick accents that the what God desires must supersede what parents desire.  And he proved it with his life.

2) Patrick’s Calling was for the Crying Irish

He concludes his “calling story” without a self-centered focus. “Thanks be to God, because after so many years the Lord bestowed on them according to their cry. “

Patrick saw that his calling was part of the Irish “crying.” It wasn’t about him, it was about those he would go to love, serve and shepherd.  Patrick’s calling wasn’t for his benefit, ego, identity or resumé, but because of God’s moving for the benefit of the Irish.

 

Who Was Saint Patrick?

I admit, this is an article that I’ve referenced/tweeted/shared every year for a long time, so I want to give Dr. Dave DeVries credit right off the top. It’s a repost. I do have some other items on St. Patrick like a video and an audio recording of a message with Mike McGinnis.


Growing up, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing green so we wouldn’t get pinched by our friends at school. Nobody ever explained to me who he was and what he did. So, this morning as we ate a “green” breakfast, I told my kids about St. Patrick. Here are three things you should know about him…

1. Patrick was a Christian.

He was raised in a Christian family. His grandfather was a priest and he had acquired some Christian teaching. However, he ridiculed the clergy, and in the company of other “alienated” and “ungoverned” youth, he lived toward the wild side.

When Patrick was sixteen, a band of Celtic pirates from Ireland invaded the region; they captured Patrick and other young men, forced them onto a ship, sailed to Ireland, and sold them into slavery. The pirates sold Patrick to a prosperous tribal chief and druid named Miliuc (Miliuc moccu Boin), who put Patrick to work herding cattle.

During his years of enslavement, Patrick experienced three profound changes. First, the periods when Patrick was isolated in the wilderness herding cattle connected him with what theologians call the “natural revelation” of God. He sensed with the winds, the seasons, the creatures, and the nights under the stars the presence of God; he identified this presence with the Triune God he had learned about in the catechism. In his (more or less) autobiographical “Confession” Patrick tells us,

“After I had arrived in Ireland, I found myself pasturing flocks daily, and I prayed a number of times each day. More and more the love and fear of God came to me, and faith grew and my spirit was exercised, until I was praying up to a hundred times every day and in the night nearly as often.”

Patrick became a devout Christian, and the change was obvious to his captors.

Second, Patrick changed in another way during the periods he spent with his captors in their settlement. He came to understand the Irish Celtic people, and their language and culture, with the kind of intuitive profundity that is usually possible only, as in Patrick’s case, from the “underside.”

Third, Patrick came to love his captors, to identify with them, and to hope for their reconciliation to God. One day, he would feel they were his people.

2. Patrick was a missionary.

After six years, Patrick escaped and returned to England. He trained to become a priest, immersing himself in the scriptures. At the age of 48, after serving for years as a faithful priest in England, Patrick experienced a dream where his former captors in Ireland cried out, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us. When he awoke the next morning, he interpreted this dream as his “Macedonian Call” to take Christianity’s gospel to the Celtic peoples of Ireland.

Patrick’s mission to Ireland was to be such an unprecedented undertaking that it is impossible to understate its magnitude and significance. Why? Because the Irish Celtic peoples were “barbarians.”

The Irish context of that period, however, provided some strategic advantages for Patrick’s mission. Ireland was populated by about 150 tuat-extended tribes-each tribe fiercely loyal to its tribal king. Ireland’s total population numbered between 200,000 and 500,000 people. By Patrick’s time, all of the tribes spoke the same language that Patrick had learned while a slave, and they now shared more or less the same culture, so Patrick understood them.

Indeed, the fact that Patrick understood the people and their language, their issues, and their ways, serves as the most strategically significant single insight that was to drive the wider expansion of Celtic Christianity, and stands as perhaps our greatest single learning from this movement. There is no shortcut to understanding the people. When you understand the people, you will often know what to say and do, and how. When the people know that the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the High God understands them too.

As God blessed, the Irish people responded in faith to the presentation of the gospel of the cross. Patrick and his missionary band began planting churches and for 28 years, he continued proclaiming the gospel until his death in A.D. 460. An ancient document called the “Annals of the Four Masters” reports that Patrick’s mission planted about 700 churches, and that Patrick ordained perhaps 1000 priests. Within his lifetime, 30 to 40 (or more) of Ireland’s 150 tribes became substantially Christian.

3. Patrick started a missionary movement.

Irish Christianity spread remarkably in the generations following Patrick’s death. While we don’t have written records from this period, here’s what is clear:

First, the available evidence suggests that Patrick’s movement blanketed the Island: “In Ireland alone, there are more than 6,000 place names containing the element Cill-the old Gaelic word for church.” Second, Irish Christianity was geographically beyond the reach of Rome’s ability to shape and control, so a distinctively Celtic approach to “doing church” and living the Christian life emerged.

What would a visitor from Rome have noticed about Celtic Christianity that was “different”? The visitor would have observed more of a movement than an institution, …a movement featuring laity in ministry more than clergy.

The missionary movement that Patrick started spread and multiplied churches which continued to send teams into settlements to multiply churches and introduce people to faith in Jesus Christ. In two or three generations, all of Ireland had become substantially Christian. Within a century after Patrick’s death, Irish Celtic Christians were lifting their eyes to see harvests beyond Ireland. They continued to multiply churches, sending out apostolic teams.

An Irish apostle named Columbanus, with entourage, departed for Europe in A.D. 600 to launch a Celtic Christian mission to the continent. he may not have been the first Irish apostle to Europe, “but he as certainly the pioneer who inspired the mass exodus later.” …In the next fifteen years, Columbanus founded monastic communities in (what is now) France, Switzerland, and Italy; and in time his people founded a vast network of sixty or more monastic communities, learned a dozen or more languages and cultures, engaged peoples, planted churches, and launched a significant movement among the barbarian peoples of Europe, particularly in (what is now) France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

I was fascinated to discover how Patrick’s missionary endeavors transformed a nation. (I’m thankful for George Hunter’s classic book The Celtic Way of Evangelism. All quotes are from this book)

However you may “celebrate” St. Patrick’s day, prayerfully consider how God can use you to take the gospel message together in community with other Christians to those in the culture around you!


Authored by Dave DeVries

Dr. Dave DeVries is a coach, trainer, author and founder of Missional Challenge. He is passionate about coaching and training church planters and missional leaders. With 30+ years of church planting and leadership development experience, Dave brings his passion and encouragement to those he trains and coaches.

 

 

March Update- Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

March 2019 Update

We started talking in earnest with the Los Altos Grace Church leadership about a year ago (where I’ve been serving on the pastoral staff for 10 years), but finally announced a transition at the end of 2018. You can listen to my announcement: “We are Pregnant: Los Altos Grace starting a new spiritual family.”

We are going to remain in our home in East Long Beach and seek to gather a new spiritual family in the Greater Long Beach area. We are seeking to be as sensitive as we can to the existing churches…but we know there are tens of thousands of lost people, so the fields are white for harvest in SoCal. We are thankful that Los Altos Grace is supporting and sending us to start a new church!

You can track with our church plant online at LosAltosGrace.org/plant some of our progress on my website at MikeJentes.com.

See below for upcoming events and opportunities that I’ll be engaging with–I hope you’ll be praying!

Church Mobilizer Network

Wooster, Ohio: On Friday of this week, I’ll be meeting with mission leaders from 10 churches around the country to encourage their global engagement. This is an invite only event, but an important opportunity for churches with massive impact!

 

Missions Conference

March 9, 2019 in Wooster, Ohio: Connect & Equip is a missions conference for everyone interested in missions to interact with cutting edge speakers, training, dialogue, inspiration & challenge! The time for engaging our world on mission–across the street and around the world is NOW!We believe a day of Connecting & Equipping will further what God wants to do in our world! Check out the details and register online at ConnectEquip.com or at the Door!

 

Back to Rittman for Sunday March 10

Mission Day: Being back in Ohio will afford me the opportunity to be back at my home church in Rittman, Ohio. I’m thankful that Pastor Bud and the church family has asked me to share with the congregation at 9:30am for the Sunday School hour and also during the 10:30 Worship Service. If you are in NE Ohio I’d love to see you at Rittman Grace for Mission Day.

 

Read this entire update online:

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached–A March Update! – https://mailchi.mp/93000d1e1d0f/5ozkrzqowm-2085617

 

How to go from Ordinary to Extraordinary

A huge problem loomed in Jerusalem for the early followers of Jesus, namely they believed in their Messiah’s resurrection from the dead. As we read in the beginning of Acts chapter 4, the resurrection was why the Jewish religious officials were so incensed at the Jesus followers (verse 2).

These disciples or followers of Jesus were a band of misfits: fishermen,  zealots, tax collectors and commoners. This handful of men were unrefined in scholastic and educational pursuits and very ordinary. These disciples followed Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and through His fifty days on earth after the resurrection. And this band were humble and true believers that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God to be worshipped and followed as the one Way, Truth & Life. 

The power of God was on these disciples, and God used Peter and John to heal a forty year old man who everyone recognized back to full and immediate health (chapter 3). This healing drew a crowd, and Peter shared from the ancient Scriptures about Jesus and how He was the Messiah, how He died and rose back to life and that all should follow Him. Many responded to the truth of Peter’s explanation and pledged their allegiance to Jesus the Messiah!

The Jewish officials wanted to put a stop to this message, so they had Peter and John arrested and they spent the night in jail (4:3-4). What would you think about if you were (like Peter and John) sitting in jail overnight waiting for trial?

I think that the Gospel of Mark gives us a hint. They were WORRIED!

Many believe that Mark wrote his Gospel along with the apostle Peter who was coaching him as an eyewitness about the stories of Jesus’ life and ministry.  We have this teaching from Jesus to his disciples captured in Mark 13:9-11:

“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.  Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

We see that Jesus said “don’t worry beforehand” because He knows us! He also counts the Holy Spirit into the words of witness!

I think this teaching was remembered well by Peter who actually endured the trials, floggings, witnessing and worry!  I believe this teaching is vital to us who follow Jesus many years later, because we need to remember don’t worry, and that the Spirit is able to give us what words to say of witness to Jesus!

Back to these ordinary guys–Peter & John–who are standing trial for causing all of the city to be in an uproar. As they stand in front of the officials, Peter with power and persuasiveness shares that the resurrected Jesus is their Messiah and the only Way for salvation!

They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is

   ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

So how do you go from Ordinary to Extraordinary? The officials at the trial saw the transformation and they took note that these men had been WITH Jesus!

We can be transformed the same way today from ordinary to extraordinary by being WITH Jesus!

Listen to the recorded message  “How to go from Ordinary to Extraordinary – Acts 4

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached- December Update

A Sincere Thank You I mean it, THANK YOU. Many of you personally sacrifice your time and treasure to support me for my work with Encompass World Partners. Your prayers and financial support are vital for me to continue serving as a mobilizer.  Please keep it up as there is still much work to do!

Below are some updates that you should be encouraged by…and pray for…and a way to contribute to the continued work of reaching the toughest places on our planet!

New People Group getting the Gospel

Unengaged Unreached People Groups: The picture to the right is a list of people groups that our partner churches have planted churches in Chad, Africa.  The number 6 people group on this list–the Kulfe–was a group that no one was going to with the Gospel.  They were considered an Unengaged Unreached People Group and were cataloged on the Finishing The Task list – see the detail on the Kulfe here.

We celebrate that this Christmas, this group which may have never had the Gospel before, now has at least as one church in their language and culture to be a light!

Bible Institute Graduates First Class!

Cameroon Leadership Training Coalition: On Saturday August 11 hundreds of people attended a historic Bible Institute graduation for 31 families (Bible Institute trains both the men & their wives!) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. What a privilege for me to be the coordinator of this coalition of churches who facilitated this effort over the last 5 years!  Your support of me helped make this happen!

You can see more about the graduation and Bible Institute from the Director Dr. Jason Carmean via email newsletter or on Facebook. We are excited that a whole new group of students have been accepted and are making plans even now for the second class of the Bible Institute. You can contribute to the new class starting in 2019 online.

Resources You Should Know About

Discovering Global Missions

Early this year, Encompass World Partners released a new book Discovering Global Missions, a starting point to lead you to deeper insights and meaningful engagement in God’s Global Mission. This book is a “fill-in the blank” Bible study which pushes you deep into the text via videos and the Scriptures. You can get your own copy in print or check it out as a download for free online here

I had the privilege to lead a four week class at Los Altos Grace using the book. Our friends at Grace Connect recently published an article about the class which you can read online here!

Missions Conference

March 9, 2019 in Wooster, Ohio: Connect & Equip is a missions conference for everyone interested in missions to interact with cutting edge speakers, training, dialogue, inspiration & challenge! The time for engaging our world on mission–across the street and around the world is NOW!We believe a day of Connecting & Equipping will further what God wants to do in our world! Check out the details and register now online at ConnectEquip.com

Encounter SoCal

A cross-cultural immersion experience in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic regions of the country – Southern California: If you want to come see my world and the great mission opportunities that are available in a short-term mission trip, check out Encounter SoCal onlineshoot me an email and we can talk about it for the coming year!

Grace Leaders Network

If you are in Southern California, then you should seek to connect with one of these great Network Gatherings in 2019.  We meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 10am-Noon at different Grace Churches. It’s a time of connecting, encouraging and equipping for ministry leaders! Find out more by checking out the Grace Leaders Network

In addition, this year in our Grace Churches Network we added one Spanish speaking church and are looking forward to many exciting things in the year to come.

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached with Encompass, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.  Or you can mail a check with my name designated to “Encompass World Partners” PO Box 3298  Monument, CO 80132-3290

Press on,
Mike–
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners

 

You can sign up to receive these updates and see old issues of the newsletter online 

Syrian Refugee Ministry Resources from @EncompassCrisis

Today I had the privilege to be on a phone call with some of my friends and church leaders to swap stories, share resources and attempt to stimulate some movement toward making a difference.

My colleague, Barb Wooler who is director of Encompass’ Crisis Response Network has been collecting info and shared this helpful list.  I’m giving her all the credit…but wanting to circulate this to be helpful to you and those you know!

SYRIAN REFUGEE MINISTRY RESOURCES

THINKING BIBLICALLY

·        GC2’s Statement: Theological Foundations http://www.gc2summit.com/footnotes/

·        Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC) Adopted Statement on Immigration & Refugee Debate — Point 5 on webpage:  http://fgbc.org/page/63

·        David Platt’s Five Points, Gives a Biblical Framework for the Church’s Response to Refugees — recorded Dec. 17, 2015 >>  5 Truths about the Church & Immigrants

·        Evangelical Immigration Table – good resource on immigration  (http://evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/)

·        Resources from GC2 (http://www.gmi.org/connections/gc2summit/)

Current SituationSyrianRefugeeCrisis

 THE TALK – OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT ISSUE on (YouTube, https://youtu.be/qFF9yqFOp8E) – Recorded in November 2015 (33 min) with: World Relief’s Stephan Bauman, World Vision’s Richard Stern & Gabe Lyons

DO

Pray

·        The Syrian Circle video

·        The Syrian Circle Website (http://thesyriancircle.com/)

Go

·  Locally: As World Relief prepares for resettling many Syrian and other Muslim-background refugees (from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan), they are in need of help including the following (see their Get Involved page):

  • “Good Neighbor Teams” (6-12 month commitment to a family)
  • Language partners
  • ESL help
  • people go prepare Welcome Kits
  • funding to pay for apartments for refugees
  • people to employ refugees

·  Internationally: There are a couple different opportunities – one in Germany and the other in Turkey – to help with refugees in camps or processing centers. This will not be firmed up for another month or so. More to come about these possibilities as they develop. Contact Barb if you are interested

·        Go on a team through The Syrian Circle – see their website (www.thesyriancircle.com) o

POSSIBLE NEXT STEP

·        Attend the GC2 Summit on January 20th at Wheaton College (Illinois), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There was also talk that they would be offering Simulcasts, encouraging churches to have “Simulcast Parties” where the event can be live-streamed for a group in your church or community (information on that above link)

Grateful for your partnership in Christ,

Barb Wooler
Director of Crisis Response
Encompass World Partners
574-268-1888 x24 (office)
bwooler@encompassworld.org

My Birthday Wish

So as I prepared to be greeted by social media friends (and real ones too) for my birthday on Monday, September 28th, I wanted to let everyone know my birthday wish…

…To Bring Clean Water to 26 people in Uganda!

As you may know, I’ve been training since the spring of this year to run the Long Beach Half Marathon with some friends from @LosAltosGrace Church and Team World Vision. Race day is coming up on October 11th.  I’ve done pretty well at the training and I think I’ll be in fine shape to complete the run.

One of our other goals in running is to seek to raise support for clean water in Africa. I haven’t worked as hard at that as I have my training.  So, I’d love to have you help me finish this off!

For my birthday would you consider giving the gift of clean water? Only $50 gives clean water to one person in Uganda!  You can read my story about why Uganda … and you can go to my support page, give a little (or a lot) and help me have a great birthday!

So no gifts for me, give it all for the kids in Uganda to have future birthdays with clean water!

 

August Mobilization Update on Coalitions, Mission and more from @MikeJentes

Mobilizing the Church for the Sake of the Least Reached

August 2015

The summer has been full with activity and ministry, too full to even write a newsletter ;-).

In July, I had the privilege to share in the Sunday morning service on Disciple Making & Mission @ Norwalk Grace Brethren Church, in Norwalk, CA. (hear’s therecording and powerpoint) What a neat church family with a heritage of engaging the world!

In late July, I was off to Atlanta for Encompass Family Reunion where it was great to catch up with many of our deployed staff who were back in the USA for home ministries. This time was rich for relationship renewal and even for the connections of future partnerships.

To wrap up that week away, I was in New York City (okay staying in Newark, NJ) at theFlinch Conference with our Grace Brethren Family. The theme on taking RISKs for Jesus was very powerful through messages and testimonies. You should check out some of thevideos of main session talks and audios of the workshops online.

I had the privilege to lead 2 workshops:
1) A Candid Conversation about Bi-Vocational Church Leadership with a whole panel of leaders, and
2) The Great Debate: Missions Vs. Missional with John Ward (handout)

Neither of these workshops got recorded, but I posted my powerpoints at the links above for you.

From a family side, we also sent our oldest daughter, Kayla, off to Grace College.  Here’s a little pic of us at a send off for her the night before she left!

(Thanks Flinch Conference for the selfie stick…we used it in Long Beach too..not just in NYC.)

Coalitions

Over the summer, we made some significant traction with a variety of coalitions:

Chad Educational Coalition:

Partnering with the Chadian church to help start new Christian elementary schools and help their teachers get the training/certification they need to lead those schools. We are looking to raise about $7000 per year to send 5 teachers to the training. Ways to give will be open soon!

Chad Medical Coalition: Partnering with the Chadian church leaders and evangelists and to aid their self-sustaining medical clinics and build a new surgical center where it is really needed. This one is still in development, but hopefully by the end of the year will be moving forward significantly.

St. James Way Coalition
A unique evangelistic opportunity is afforded by thousands of pilgrims walking on the Caminho de Santiago or the St. James Way. In Western Europe, where spiritual conversations are a rarity, this experience is fertile ground for the church to relationally and spiritually connect for evangelism, discipleship and leadership training. The faithful Via Portus Cale ministry in Porto, Portugal has become a strategic dual initiative: along the caminho and in therefugio.
We’ve had two different Teams to walk the St. James Way and to serve pilgrims over this summer. Also we had two interns serving consecutively for one month each.  One of the outstanding young ladies–Mariah Shope–was from our Los Altos Grace Brethren Church. There is much to be learned and prayed for in this ministry as we hope to send 20 international teams over the next 3 years! We are excited that Grace College will be doing a special mission project this fall (with solar panels) and taking teams next year!

Encounter SoCal

A cross-cultural experience in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic regions of the world — Southern California (pic from ChinaTown in LA). This pilot program from August 10-14 was a great success!
The participants had an eye-opening time and four people expressed faith in Christ for the first time through the ministry efforts of the team!  

Donate nowThanks for your support!

I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference! Also, if you want to continue to mobilize the church for the sake of the least reached, you can make a tax-deductible donation to support my work using the Donate button.

Press on,
Mike–
Mike Jentes

Coordinator of Mobilization Initiatives
Encompass World Partners

 

My E-newsletter Archive:

August 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
June 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
May 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp
April 2015 E-newsletter    on Mail Chimp

Read the September 2014 E-newsletter
Read my February 2014 e-newsletter

Read my December 2013 E-Newsletter
Read my August 2013 e-newsletter
Read my June 2013 e-newsletter
Read my May 2013 e-newsletter
Read my April 2013 e-newsletter

A Great Debate: Missions VS. Missional

For the conference on RISK (FLINCH Conference), my friend and team leader John Ward & I were asked to lead a workshop on how missions and missional relate.

Here is the workshop description:

The new word missional is now everywhere in Christian-ese. The word missions has been around for centuries. These two words often create very different ministry targets. You are invited to a lively debate highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of polarizing missional and missions.

Unfortunately, this session wasn’t recorded, but I have posted the powerpoint for you to see the direction we headed with this workshop. Below is an outline with the major items of discussion:

The first exercise we had the group do was to take 5 minutes and do their best to define the two words: Missional & Missions.

I’d invite you to take a few moments and take a stab too!

 

Here is where John and I landed for our definitions:

Missional:
The Word missional is simply the adjective form of the noun missionary, and like any adjective it is used to modify a noun.*

Missions:
Missions is to move towards or go to those different than us –culturally, socially, ethnically, economically– by crossing over those barriers and sharing the gospel with the compassion and love of Jesus.

 

Another exercise for the group was to ask this question:  Does the church have a mission or does the mission have a church?

We realize it is a “both/and” answer.  Yet thinking about our God being a missional/sending God reframes our orientation to see mission as bigger than merely a “job” of the church, but to see mission as part of the very character of our God.

Along this line, we shared the following quote:

“Our task as His people is to discern what God is doing and join with Him. It is not so much that the church has a mission but that the mission has a church.”

– Alan Hirsch (The Permanent Revolution, p. 148)

 

Don’t we need to be reaching out in my neighborhood before we go to the rest of the globe?

global_localThe tension of Global mission and Local mission is a one that everyone sensitive to the mission of Jesus feels at a gut level.

In China, the country with the most Christians on the planet–87 million– hasn’t really made a dent in the total population of 1.3 BILLION people!** So we are delighted that there is great progress of the Gospel, but there are millions (a billion!) more people to reach!

Even here in the USA where there are approximately 84 million evangelical Christians, a much higher percentage than China, yet we still have 234 million people to reach!** So do we need more disciples, leaders and churches in China and the USA? Absolutely! We need to take serious the opportunity to reach those in our community who don’t know our Jesus yet!

At the same time, we must know about the plight of billions of people outside of the easy reach of the Gospel. Billions of people on our globe don’t have a Bible, Body of Christ or even a Believer in Jesus in their lifepath! We must be informed about this reality!

To close our time we watched the following CONVICTING video–You Should Know:

We hope that sharing this outline of our workshop has been helpful to you!  If you would like to chat with John or myself, please reach out to us via email at the links on our names above!


The Key Articles / Resources shared below were on a worksheet we gave to all the of the participants:
Missions vs Missional Resource Sheet [PDF]

Seed article for this Workshop:
Missions vs. Missional? Why We Really Need Both by Ed Stetzer 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/september/missions-vs-mission.html

Online debate about that article:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/missionalshift/2013/09/missions-vs-missional-what-ed-stetzer-gets-wrong/

Make sure to check out the video in that article:

Other Resources on the Topic:

Seamless Garment of Christian Mission:  http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-seamless-garment-of-christian-mission

Leadership Network article Defining Missional by Alan Hirsch:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/fall/17.20.html

Ed Stetzer on why Missional Churches don’t do Global Missions:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2009/september/five-reasons- missional-churches-dont-do-global-missions.html

*”History of the Missional Church” by Brad Brisco:
http://missionalchurchnetwork.com/history-of-missional-church/

Four Reasons We Should Be Passionate About the Nations by Matt Carter:  http://ow.ly/PUEd5

Institute of International Education. (2014). Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Retrieved from
http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students

Video: You Should Know https://vimeo.com/32125879

Joshua Project: Research on Unreached People Groups – http://joshuaproject.net/


**Data via the Joshua Project. Retrieved from http://JoshuaProject.net on July 9, 2015

 

 

The Candid Truth about Bi-Vocational Church Leadership

flinchconference2015For the conference on RISK–FLINCH Conference–I was asked to lead a workshop on bi-vocational leadership for the church.  Rather than me talking about this, I decided to pull together other leaders from around the country who have been doing it to share about the candid truth.

Here is the workshop description:

Since the beginning of the Church, her leaders have not all been fully salaried staff pastors. The Apostle Paul even made tents for a season in his ministry. One of the questions facing many of our leaders is “how to support my family and do the ministry that God has called me to?” We have a panel of leaders who have experienced the reality of bi-vocational ministry — earning income from the ministry and from some other source. So as we think about raising leaders and church planting, we should hear the stories of those who have embarked on the bi-vocational journey.

Here is the list of panelists:

Manuel Espinosa:  Pastor – Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad  (Lakewood, CA), Prison Evangelist, House Painter

Angel Ortiz:  Pastor – First Alliance Church NYC (Christian & Missionary Alliance Church; the church Dr. A.B. Simpson started), Freight Supervisor – Javits Convention Center in NYC

Jack Brown:  Pastor – North Shore Bible Church (Essex, MA), Realtor – Sotheby’s International Realty, Grow New England – Regional Church Planting

Javier Forero: Pastor –  Iglesia Comunal La Esperanza (Lithia, FL), Chaplain – Crush It, Dominion, & more!, Coaching & Recruiting Church Planters –   Encompass World Partners

Plus via Video– Hugh Halter:  Church Planter – Adullum (Denver, CO), Author, Trainer with Missio, House Painter

Here’s his video that set up our conversation (the first 7 minutes):

bivo-bookI’d recommend his book: BIVO: A Modern-Day Guide for Bi-Vocational Saints as well.

 
Unfortunately, our workshop didn’t get recorded, but I posted my PowerPoint online here

 

 

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