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State
Missions Offering
December 2005
Our
partnership in Belgium
By Lana Rowland
The Baptist Church of Beaufort
Pastor Samuel Verhaeghe
led us into Bethel Baptist Church. It was like a homecoming! There was Derk
and Samone and dear Marie Claire, and also Annik, Sammy’s wife, and his two
sons, David and Rueben. There were greetings and smiles and remembrances and
catching up on events. I realize that this is the gift of mission
partnerships: missions is no longer projects; it is relationships. Missions
is not something I go and do and return from. It is friendships and ongoing
relationships and knowing each others dreams and struggles and answered
prayers.
My children, Harry and
Melissa, worked with 7 others on the construction team. My husband, Harry,
and I, along with four others comprised the prayer walking team. We learned
about God and His kingdom and what He is doing in Belgium. The work is hard
in Belgium. It is a post modern culture with a secular government and is
less than 1% evangelical Christians. But what a passion for Christ lives in
the hearts of leaders and laity alike! If sharing resources is our gift to
them, teaching commitment is their gift to us.
This is truly a
partnership. Our church has sent three teams to Belgium to work with local
churches and CBF missionaries, Butch and Nell Green. Our church has been
blessed with a concert by Belgian youth, preaching by Nell Green and Patrick
Deneut, Evangelism Coordinator for Belgium. The Green’s daughter, Sissi,
served as our summer youth intern. Prayer is an ongoing ministry. God is
growing our church and me, personally, through relationships with his saints
in Belgium.
Lana Rowland is a CPA and has made three trips
to Belgium. Her husband Harry is pastor of The Baptist Church of
Beaufort. They are parents of Melissa, 20, a sophomore at the University
of Alabama, and HarryIII, 19, a freshman at Samford University.
The
partnership between SC/CBF and Baptists in Belgium is one of the ministries supported by your
gifts to the State Missions Offering of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
of South Carolina. The goal for 2005 is $110,000. |
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Download photo of Lana Rowland suitable for
printing. |
| Lana Rowland |
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You may download this article and use it in your church bulletin or in
any way you would like to promote the SC/CBF State Missions Offering.
Download.
Other monthly
features:
February 2005: Charmaine Townsend.
Metanoia. Go.
March 2005: Raymond Bennett at Christ
Central Ministries in Allendale. Go.
April: Fumi George, Japanese Ministry.
Go.
May: Tyquanisha Fludd, a Young Leader
at Metanoia. Go.
June: Duc Nguyen Van, the pastor of a
Vietnamese congregation in Greenville. Go.
September: Oakland Baptist Church in
Rock Hill doing missions in Belgium. Go.
October:
Akiko Beville,
Japanese Ministry. Go.
November: A
testimony from Metanoia. Go.
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