Missions Newsletter - October 2021

Callie

“There are no obstacles which our [Father’s] love cannot overcome. The High Places of victory and union with [Him] can be reached by learning to accept, day by day, the actual conditions and tests permitted by [the Father], by laying down of our own will and accepting His. The lessons of accepting and triumphing over evil, of becoming acquainted with grief, and pain, and of finding them transformed into something incomparably precious; these are the lessons of the allegory in this book.” 

― Hannah Hurnard, Hinds Feet on High Places

To face grief and pain is a difficult thing. It is not something that we would likely choose to do, yet oftentimes it is something that we find ourselves being asked to do. The question then is not will we face grief and pain, but will we allow ourselves to become acquainted with it? Will we allow sorrow to be a companion that points us towards the Father or will we avoid it? 

A few weeks ago I sat in a coffee shop with a local and she told me, “Wow, you must be so brave to move to a new country.” After thinking about her statement for a moment I responded, “Actually I’m really scared.” While I am thankful to be here, I often feel very lonely. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at myself in the mirror and said, “What am I doing here?” Or how many nights I’ve sat at the foot of my bed and just cried and told the Father that I want to come home. I miss my friends, my family, the freedom as a woman to be able to come and go as I please. Then, when I am feeling my lowest, a moment will happen. A moment with a local that reminds me of why the Father has me here. It is hard work, but how much more difficult would it be to live a life of hopelessness and an eternity separated from the Father? So, do I want to have sorrow as a companion? No. But, has it led me to depend on Him more than I have before? Absolutely.  

“Whenever you are willing to obey me, Much-Afraid, and to follow the path of my choice, you will always be able to hear and recognize my voice, and when you hear it you must always obey.”

― Hannah Hurnard, Hinds Feet on High Places

Missions Newsletter - September 2021

Katherine Broussard

When I think about Kenya, I think of the voices of the patients in the hospital boldly declaring the praises of Jesus amidst great suffering and need. I think of the Webber kids singing “This is my Father’s World,” the sweet smell of guava, the kinship with neighbors, and the slow pace of life. How Kenyan natives would walk 45 minutes to church to worship in a cinder block building with other believers. I think about how their worship cost them something.

It was the greatest gift to witness firsthand what life on the mission field is like, with Lauren homeschooling their 4 kids and Derek serving as a PA in the local hospital. I learned about the humility of life overseas in how Lauren faithfully shares the gospel with her children each day, discipling them while teaching them how to look for God’s fingerprints all around them.

I shadowed Derek in the casualty unit of the hospital and quickly realized how faithfulness for him is taking the path of greater resistance--supporting the chaplains and local doctors, who are often better equipped to share the gospel with their native people better than any foreigner ever could.

This journey allowed me to witness how God is moving across the world, unbound by geographic location and unceasingly present in every moment.

I am still processing my time in Chogoria, but am challenged to reflect on what true worship is--sacrificial, behind closed doors, for the approval of God rather than man. I am learning to seek deep friendship with Jesus in this transition back to Birmingham and am growing in dependence upon him to guide my steps.

Recently in Chogoria, the hospital got a grant to set up an oxygen concentrator, but with the grant comes the need for guidance in managing funds, which can be difficult to navigate. You can pray for the Webbers as rising, higher acuity Covid cases flood the hospital and they have limited resources, bringing great pressure among their immediate community on the compound.

Thank you for your support in sending me to Chogoria and your prayers for me to know the Lord more deeply from my time with the Webbers.

In Christ,

Katherine

Missions Newsletter - August 2021

Madoline Markham

I never technically left Birmingham when I took Perspectives in 2017, but it sure felt like I did. I’ll never forget listening as a man who had been a missionary with his family in Papua New Guinea for years unfolded the story of their arrival to live amongst a tribe with no connection to the outside world. It took them years to learn this tribe’s language and customs and build relationships with the people before they could even share the gospel. 

But when they finally had done so years later, they shared the story of Jesus with their friends, starting at the beginning of the Bible to lay the full context of the good news Jesus brings and unveiling part of the story each night using explanations they could only share after those years of learning the customs of these people. How Jesus transformed the lives of those friends afterward was nothing short of awe-inspiring. 

There’s a lot that is powerful about the Perspectives class and learning about God’s heart for the nations through readings and teaching, but for me the most impactful part was hearing from a different teacher each week and particularly missionaries’ stories of how the Jesus we see in our own cultural context is the same savior to so many people whose lives and understanding of the world look so different from my own. 

Fifteen weeks later, the stories I heard in Perspectives had strengthened my faith in a gospel that can be easy to doubt in a world that calls it crazy, and they increased my desire to support missions work—particularly where people are invested in living amongst a group of people long-term and sharing the good news of Jesus with them. And Perspectives wasn’t just about me either; I watched the class both transform and bond Redeemer friends and folks from churches all over Birmingham as we took the class together. If you are looking to grow your faith and love for the Lord, I encrouage you to take Perspectives!

Missions Newsletter - July 2021

Hello Redeemer Community Church,

If we have not met, please allow this message to serve as an introduction. It is with joy that we write to you as we prepare to move away from Birmingham after four years here, and we share with you God’s work in our lives. Our hope is to encourage you in continuing to pursue God’s direction in your life. As a family, we feel called to cross-cultural ministry. We believe in the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit to equip all of us for all good works we are called to pursue. Each day, we believe that we are each sent out by God in our present context.

Cross-cultural work became a passion for us after short-term missions. We had the opportunity to eat with former cannibals in Indonesia where the gospel kept us off the menu, and lived amongst agents and survivors of the Rwandan genocide where forgiveness could exist because Jesus first forgave us. Following our time in Rwanda, we were convinced of a calling to work in medical missions, married, trained in nursing and obstetrics and gynecology, and started our family. At times, we felt disqualified from missions due to our own health conditions, an inability to participate in subsequent experiences as hoped, and distance from our previous experiences. Gently, God continued to speak to us through mentors, homegroup, and during our participation in the mission cohort we decided to go.

Our conviction to serve somewhere with urgent spiritual and physical needs led us to join a mission organization with the same purpose. Independently processing, God gave each of us a love for the people of a poor country in Western Africa, presently dominated by Islam, and where the gospel may currently be freely shared. We are excited to announce to you that we, Stuart, Lindsay, Asa, Nathan, and Joseph, are new long-term partners with Redeemer Community Church and will be serving a first term at a hospital in West Africa through 2024.

Missions Newsletter - June 2021

Chase Marshburn and the College Leadership Ministry Team

A little over a year ago, a team of students from Redeemer College was in Panama City, Panama on a mission trip with Filter of Hope the week of the Birmingham Covid-19 shutdown. The events of this past year for our UAB and Samford students pointed to the realization that our ministry would be unable to take our traditional spring break Filter of Hope trip, something that has been crucial to our ministry for the past number of years. But like our God has reminded us, his church, over and over again this past year, his ways are higher than our ways (Is. 55:8-9), and he is sovereign over all – not even a global pandemic can stop his gospel from going forth to all corners of the world.

Thus, despite the fact that UAB and Samford did not have  a spring break this past year, the Lord opened an unexpected door for a Redeemer trip of a smaller group size to travel to the Dominican Republic in May, two weeks after our students finished their finals. There, for six days, our team ministered alongside the Dominican local church and Filter of Hope, splitting time between Dominican and Haitian communities. Our students had opportunity to meet both a physical need of the families we encountered (by installing water filters in a place where clean water is scarce) and a spiritual need (sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with each household we entered). 

Over the course of those six days, our team saw the Lord work in mighty ways. Our students learned to trust in the sovereign work and timing of the Father, to find rest and joy in the simple Gospel of the Son, and the saving, transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Further, we celebrated the salvation of 18 Dominicans and Haitians, experiencing the Lord’s saving work, and seeing how he is moving through his church in the DR. This trip was a time when we truly were able to taste and see the goodness of our God (Ps. 34:8) alongside both members of our local church Redeemer and members of the local church in Latin America. What a joy it was to watch our church’s students fall more deeply in love with their God as they obediently followed the call of the Lord to take his word to all nations!

Missions Newsletter - April 2021

Kristen and James

This newest addition to Redeemer's staff will be joining James Minor, Patrick Dickson, and Elizabeth Randall on our Global Missions Team. Their particular role is to help awaken believers to understand God's heart for all nations and encourage, disciple, and walk with members of Redeemer to help them discover a specific role to play in the Great Commission. In addition, our Global Missions Team helps by training members in cross-cultural evangelism and discipleship in order to prepare to go overseas for the sake of the gospel. 

Hi, my name is Kristen Minor and I just married James Minor on March 5th! I’m originally from Nashville, Tennessee and moved to Birmingham in 2011 to attend nursing school at Samford University. I have been working as a pediatric nurse since graduating in 2014. Redeemer has been my home and a place that the Lord has been using to sanctify and grow me in ways I never expected over the last 6 years. 

In the fall of 2017, I was a part of the first missions cohort at Redeemer. The Lord used those 10 weeks to grow my love and knowledge for who He is and His heart for all nations to know Him, especially those who have never heard the name of Jesus before. Through that group, He changed my life, my desires, and my future plans. 

It has been a hard and, at times, confusing season of discerning and waiting, but I know and love the Lord more because of it. I am honored and excited to be able to serve Redeemer, alongside my husband and the rest of the missions team, as a Missions Training Coordinator to help believers discern their role in the Great Commission while raising up and training more laborers to be sent out to the harvest. James and I hope to one day ourselves be sent out to tell those about Jesus who have never heard His name, but until then we are faithfully serving here.

Please join us in praying that many more would come to know Jesus and that the church would grow in deeper obedience to make disciples of all nations. James and I also appreciate prayer for our season of support raising; we’re asking the Lord for full support by June 1st.

I would love to meet you if I haven’t already, and I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you more!

Missions Newsletter - March 2021

Roy

What led you to sign up for the God's Heart for the City study?

I wanted Christian community that was also seeking the lost.

How would you describe God’s heart for Birmingham and Avondale?

The heart of Birmingham is crying out for help - they want the Lord they just don’t know it. I like Avondale because it is an emerging place. I dislike things about Avondale too - projects, semi-projects. God sees a lot of hurting people there and cares about them and wants us to care for them too.

Tell us your story about sharing in Avondale during the training (at the apartment complex with people who were not really interested).

After the training, we broke into groups and I got the chance to share with a few people in my apartment in Avondale down the street. They actually are often drunk and might’ve been at the time, but I could see they were very hurting people. We got to listen to them and their stories. I got to tell them some of my story and struggles with alcoholism and other things and got to share about Jesus. It was good to share in a group so I wasn’t in any danger. 

I would tell everyone that you need to pray specifically to meet people and before you meet them really pray for them and not just go all guns blazing. It has to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Share how God has changed your life.

God changed me through that day because I felt like I was a part of something. You’ve got to receive before you can give and it was good to be filled up and equipped. 

Missions Newsletter - February 2021

The Castles

Hey everyone!

I hope 2021 has been a better start to the year than 2020 was for most of us. Though we live in a world with what seems to be an unprecedented level of uncertainty, fear, risk, change, and disunity, I have been praying God's people will represent a different way. Not because we are immune or spared from the hardships of 2020 and those that will surely come in 2021, but because we have a hope that does not disappoint.

I have been reflecting on the words of Paul to the church of Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4. In verses 8-9, Paul admits how incredibly difficult his own journey has been. He describes feeling "afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down". In the opening of the letter, he says he and his fellow believers were "so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself" and they felt as if they "had received the sentence of death itself". We don't often think of Paul using this sort of language and it's startling. He doesn't mince words about the brutal reality he was facing externally and internally. Yet, even as he acknowledges the depth of the brokenness he experiences, he doesn't camp out there.

He goes on to describe that in spite of all this, he is "not crushed, not driven to despair, not forsaken, and not destroyed." He says God allowed the feeling of death "to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again." So, not denying or diminishing those legitimate trials and valleys, but in the midst of them, Paul points to a greater hope. A reliance on his Savior who is teaching us to rely on him and to look to him for deliverance.

I pray as we enter this new year, our perspective will be an eternal one. Let us look to the Lord for our deliverance from these trials and strange times, and trust in God and not ourselves. Let us set our hope on Jesus ultimately, not on our circumstances. Let us look to the things that are unseen, not to what is seen. May we have an eternal perspective and an eternal hope.

2021 is going to be a year of replanting. Many things that used to be healthy rhythms and priorities and established parts of our lives have bcome malnourished and even wilted. I am praying we will each fight for and focus on a replanting of those vital rhythms in our lives. Let us seek to find the healthy and appropriate ways to gather, to worship, to encourage, to pray with, to serve, to go, and to strengthen. It is my goal to replant these things in my own life, and to help us all to find the right ways to do this together, in our city partnerships and in our global partnerships.

So, take heart. Pray for eternal perspective and hope. Rebuild and replant. Strengthen what remains. Do so in community and for the sake of the body and to reach the lost. I am praying for you and am here to serve you however I can.

Your brother,
Dwight Castle