Overseas Missions
Our Overseas Missions
To truly love our neighbour as a result of our love for God is central to the
gospel. Our neighbour may be the next person in front of us, but we must also
remain true to the commission of Jesus to ‘go and make disciples of all
nations,’ reminding us that our ‘neighbour’ may be in Africa or Asia. The
worldwide needs are endless, but we follow the thread of relationship and as a
church we currently support some wonderful people in
Cambodia and Burundi
on an ongoing basis. Click the links above to read more.
How can I help?
- You can You can financially support these people.
- You can pray for them regularly, or contact them via email to encourage.
- You may be interested in going with a short term team to another country (as
organised).
- You may be interested in going to another country or culture, and staying!
If you are interested in any of the above, please
let us know here or
contact any of the Pastoral staff.
Cambodia
Cambodia, situated in Southeast Asia, suffered through tragic genocide
and civil war in the 1970’s and as a result it is one of the poorest
countries in the world. However, war and poverty opened the hearts of the
Cambodian people to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in a huge way. As a
church we are committed to taking short term teams into Cambodia to serve
the people there, but at the same time exposing us to the reality of poverty
and brokenness not seen in our nation. We are partnering with various
ministries within Cambodia, and over the years have developed a strong link
with Kim and Sue Bonnevie and the New Life Fellowship.
Kim and Sue come from New Plymouth where for 14 years they were
senior leaders of CityLife Church. Following a ‘spy out the land’ trip
to Cambodia in 2006, they moved to Phnom Penh in mid-2007 with a vision
of establishing Healing Homes in this nation. These are homes where sick
predominantly poor people can come to receive care. The ministry name,
‘Compassion With Power’ declares the core value – to honour the name of
the Lord by representing Him in His love for all people and His power to
heal every sickness; every disease.
Kim and Sue are associated with New Life Fellowship (NLF), a vibrant
Cambodian church with a strong commitment to evangelism and church
planting. To date NLF has over 30 churches established across Cambodia,
with many more house groups and outreach points. Kim and Sue always
wanted Healing Homes to be established as a ministry of the Cambodian
church, rather than as a ‘parachurch’ ministry. Therefore, taking the
time to build relationships and trust with Pastor Jesse McCaul and his
team of Cambodian pastors has been an important part of the journey.
In August 2008 ‘Wonderful Healing Home’ was opened. It is a house within
Phnom Penh that can accommodate up to nine people. The ‘normal’ is to
have five or six patients together with two or three family members of
the patients resident at any one time. Three full-time and three
part-time staff are employed, all young people from NLF. In the 2009
calendar year 104 patients and perhaps 55 family members were received
into the home.
Many of the patients are taken to a medical clinic in order to determine
a diagnosis, but there is always an emphasis on Jesus – building faith
expectation in His goodness and power to heal. There has been a number
of wonderful healings at the home, just this last week (March 2010) one
of the patients went home pain-free after two days. She cancelled her
appointment at the clinic, declaring ‘God has healed me’.
Part of the vision is to establish a simple model that can easily be
multiplied across the cities and villages of this nation – and beyond.
By keeping the homes small and staffed by young, faith-filled believers,
contributes to releasing a new generation in Cambodia who carry a
different spirit. The mind-sets of poverty, victim and financial
handouts will never produce a glorious church!
Every healing home is to reproduce. New healing homes are to be
established by invitation from church pastors. The focus is on
establishing a second home in 2010, at the invitation of NLF, as part of
a new congregation plant in Phnom Penh. This will double the capacity of
everything presently happening. After two homes are established within
Phnom Penh the goal is to move out to the provinces.
The goal is to also see these homes financially sustained from within
Cambodia so that gifts from outside can be put towards establishing
future new homes. This is a significant challenge in a nation where
virtually all Christian initiatives are donor funded, thereby creating a
mindset of unbelief and low responsibility in financial stewardship. NLF
has a strong commitment to work the process of change in this dependency
mindset – but it will be a work in process!
The ministry of New Life Fellowship also includes:
• A vibrant church in Phnom Penh with more than 700 members
• More than 30 churches planted from the mother church
• Leadership Training Schools and Seminars to train church members and
Cambodian leaders
• Office Skills Training School with more than 1,000 young people
studying 5 days per week, learning to speak English, use the computer
and work in an office - thus, developing marketable job skills
• Primary Healthcare Ministry in Phnom Penh with 11 branches in
provincial villages
• Children at Risk ministry supporting almost 100 children in a
non-orphanage setting
• Street children's ministry in Phnom Penh
• Micro-Enterprise
• Christian Primary School
Burundi
Mel Jeffs serving in Burundi writes:
I am honoured to be serving God in Bujumbura, Burundi. Burundi is a
small country in Central Africa, and it sits just below Rwanda. Its
history is similar to that nation - civil wars and genocides have
dominated the recent history, with a 13 year civil war ending when a
peace agreement was signed in 2006, Burundi is still getting back on its
feet. Poverty is huge in this nation - with the average wage being one
dollar a day. I was privileged to come to here in 2008 for 10 months to
work at The Kings School, an international school set up under African
Revival Ministries for the CRIB children.
These children were left without families during the civil war
and are part of the CRIB orphanage. My role was to work alongside those
who have emotional, behavioural and academic needs as a special needs
teacher. As my time came to an end in 2009, God clearly spoke to me that
the work was not done yet and I returned here to Bujumbura six months
later to follow God and his will for my life. I am astounded at his
grace, and it is true that as we delight in him he will give us our
hearts desires. I live in this nation I now call home, and I am thankful
as God's promises are yes and amen. I am also thankful to Northcity for
their continual financial support and for their prayers. Prayer covering
is my main need over here - to be protected and working under God's
blessing.