Missions Committee Update – Annual Review
On March 9, the missions committee at Reston Bible Church completed an annual review of all international missionaries (workers that serve cross-culturally) that RBC supports.
This review involved sending questionnaires to 60+ singles/family units to help assess how their ministries are progressing and any needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) they may have. Their answers are reviewed by each member of the committee to identify areas of encouragement or concern and how we can best continue to support our missionaries on the field.
Here is the breakdown of the types of international missionaries that RBC supports as a percentage of the RBC International Missions Budget:
Some highlights from this meeting:
- We were able to increase support for 6 missionaries that have been consistently under-supported.
- We were able to give out thousands in one-time gifts to help with ministry needs, medical needs, and personal needs.
- We are seeing major advances in using AI for Bible translation, which is helping to reach new people groups with the Gospel in their heart language.
- One missionary family is excited to see the final edits and checks for a newly completed Bible translation.
Additionally, multiple missionaries reported church plants initiated, churches planted, new baptisms and new contacts with people open to studying the Bible and hearing about Jesus. A few specific reports include:
- Israel – new house church started in city where there is no Christian presence
- Indonesia – church planted in Jakarta
- Italy – an evangelical church plant started in Rome
- Ethiopia – thousands saved, over 200 church plants initiated with 26 growing into fully-functioning churches; gospel going to 12 unreached people groups
- India – Church planted in Delhi
- Turkey – a new church plant launched in Antalya
- Lebanon – baptized four disciples (3 from Muslim background)
Many missionaries reported their church plants are sending people on missions outreach trips to preach to non-believers. There were many more examples of mentoring and discipleship taking place to train both pastors and church members to rightly divide the Word of Truth and put it into practice.
We also spent time in small groups in prayer for specific needs that our missionaries reported. In general terms, we see a lot of struggles with physical needs (cancer, stress, parenting/family issues, aging parents, deaths of family/close friends), country access (issues with green cards, visas, civil unrest), ministry in war/conflict areas, and discouragement related to hardness of heart towards Christ and the Gospel. Please pray with us that our missionaries would be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, and that God would supply all of their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Thank you, RBC, for your generosity and heart to reach the nations!
Gabe and Bethany Cropsey, on behalf of the RBC Missions Committee.
Celebrating Generosity: Nepalese Church Plant
Celebrating Generosity: Youth Summer Camp 2020
Celebrating Generosity: Brazil Outreach
Celebrating Generosity: Haiti Mission Trip 2019
Celebrating Generosity: Justice & Mercy International
Celebrating Generosity: Global Missions
The RBC Missions program officially began in 1978 supporting 3 missionaries with a total annual budget of $5000 per year. Since those early years, our involvement in what God is doing around the world has exploded. Each year we are blessed to send multiple teams of RBC adults and youth on short term missions trips to support evangelistic efforts, construction projects, camps for children and more. Additionally, 19 of our RBC families and singles are currently serving the LORD oversees long-term and it is our great privilege to be their home sending church.
Because of decades of your continual generosity, today your giving extends to 59 countries supporting 191 missionaries including many nationals serving in their country of origin. Through your prayers and giving, and our missionary family, God is planting churches in areas where none exist, caring for refugees and bringing them to salvation in Jesus, training pastors in oversees bible colleges and seminaries, translating Scripture into other languages, supporting urban & rural churches, ministering to orphans and children and much more.
Through you and your generosity, God is reaching the nations with the love of Christ.
From our humble beginning of allocating $5000 to overseas missions, your faithful giving to the general fund has expanded the annual budget for these global mission efforts to over $1.5 million per year. The results since 1978? Over $36.8 million given towards world missions. Even more importantly, God has used you to bring tens of thousands of lives to a saving knowledge of Himself, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So again, I thank each of you for your generosity. I encourage you to keep keeping on, for our Lord is worthy of it!
To the Field: Sending Our Own
It’s a great way to start the year, indeed! We praise the Lord the privilege of sending our very own, Louisa Schlener, to the mission field.
As the early church sent Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey through prayer and the laying on of hands (Acts 13), so RBC has commissioned Louisa to take the Gospel to Portugal.
Dear Lord – we continue to lift Louisa up to You. May You use her mightily in the Word of Life camps as she shares Your love to the many campers. As she reconnects with her childhood church, use her to impact and bring many women and girls into a deeper walk with You. Bless her and bless Your name as she cares for the other female Word of Life staffers arriving in Portugal. Protect her, give her much wisdom and continue to draw her closer and closer to You! Thank You for calling Louisa and allowing us the blessing of sending her. In the name of our Precious Savior, Amen!
Louisa – just has you have impacted many here in NOVA, we are confidant that the Lord will use you mightily in Portugal. Keep walking by faith! Know that you are loved deeply! (Love, Your RBC Family)
Parking: Ministry Volunteer Opportunities
I trust that many of you were able to attend a service this past Sunday at the new RBC location. It was a special day and one in which was the fulfillment of many prayers. I praise the Lord for what He has done and look forward to what He will continue to do in and through His RBC body. During the summer, we usually average 1065 adults and 220 children in three services. Our first Sunday at the new location we had 1700 adults and 390 children in two services. To God be the glory!
As many of you noticed, this blessing was accompanied with a few parking challenges. I trust that this Sunday you will notice a vast improvement in parking and traffic flow. I know that each of us would like to assure that all elderly, expectant mothers, families with small children, those with special needs and guests have the opportunity to park in the church parking lot. In addition, we desire the traffic to flow in a safe and timely fashion. Therefore, I want to introduce two new opportunities to serve.
OVERFLOW PARKING MINISTRY
Would you be willing to serve by occasionally parking in the overflow lot (first left off of Oakbrook as you enter from Cascades Parkway)? We have access to 120 parking spaces in this lot and would like able-bodied volunteers to choose to park in the overflow lot to make room in the RBC lot. For now, we would like to utilize all 120 spaces on August 15 and 22, not knowing the exact need. You may drop off passengers in the drop off circle, located in front of the church, prior to entering the overflow lot. Parking attendants and signs will direct you to this lot as you arrive on Sunday. It is a 10-minute leisurely walk from the overflow lot to the church, so plan accordingly.
To volunteer, please register online by clicking here.
PARKING ATTENDANT MINISTRY
We have an immediate need for volunteers to help direct the flow of traffic. We are looking for 50-60 volunteers (men and women), who can commit to serve once every 4 to 6 weeks as a parking attendant. We will have three parking teams serving each week during these times:
TEAM 1: Before first service 8:45-9:20AM
TEAM 2: In between services 10:15- 11:05AM
TEAM 3: After second service 12:15-12:40PM
Training will be provided this Sunday (August 15) at 8AM and 11:10AM in classroom 250A. To volunteer, please click here to register.
God has truly blessed us with these facilities and may we use them to impact lives for His glory. Thank you in advance for serving and impacting a life in this way. Keep keeping on!
~ Tony Pedroni (on behalf of the Elders)
Remember the Gospel
REMEMBER THE GOSPEL: Reflections on the Lord’s Supper from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
I just finished listening to Leighann Marquiss share her family’s story (God’s story) of their son, Ryan. What a great God we serve! Leighann said, “…During this time, I realized that God doesn’t only love me to get me to heaven – God loves me today, where I am. ” This reminded me again of the power of the Gospel to impact us in our everyday life, no matter the situation.
Two times in 1 Cor. 11:23-26, Jesus tells his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” What, specifically, does Jesus want us to remember in the partaking of communion? For many years, I thought He wanted me to reflect on and remember His suffering and death. While true, this is not the complete answer. Jesus didn’t just say “this is my body” but “this is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me”. Jesus is not just saying “remember my death,” but “remember my death, which is for you.” In short, He is saying remember the Gospel. Likewise, in reference to His shed blood, He didn’t tell us to just remember His shed blood, but to remember His shed blood and what it accomplished, the New Covenant. In short, He is saying remember what I have done for you – remember the Gospel.
We could spend an eternity reflecting on the depths of the Gospel and I trust we will, but for the sake of my fingers (and the fact that dinner is just about ready), let me highlight a few truths of the Gospel. We who have placed our trust in Christ, are:
- Loved by God (always)
- Forgiven (always)
- Righteous in His sight (always)
- Cared for by Him (always)
- The apple of His eye (always)
- Never abandoned by Him (never)
- Never away from His presence (never)
- His children (always)
- Brothers/sisters of the Lord (always)
- Indwelt/empowered by the Spirit of God (always)
This is good news. Scratch that – this is great news. Often times, we (myself included) fall woefully short in seeing and believing the Gospel for our daily lives. The result is that we do not experience the power of the Gospel on a daily basis. Yes, we see the relevance of Christ’s death on the cross for our salvation and our future departure from this world, but what about the time in between? Twice in four verses, the Lord tells his disciples, remember the Gospel, remember what I have done for you. Just as the Gospel impacted Leighann where she “was”, the power of the Gospel can and will impact us where “we are” right now.
Remember and believe the Gospel.