Teen Mission Notes (July, 2008)

It's good to catch a quick breather from a very busy summer.
Today (July 31st), our final mission team for the summer left on their trip.
Our last summer team will return home on August 12th.
With the summer mission trips now nearly over, it's a really good feeling to wrap up what has been a very successful year of mission trips.
At summer’s end, we will have had 35 trips involving nearly 550 participants.
From Africa to Asia to right here in the United States, there have been a lot of great stories to share on how God moved in the lives of many people.
We hope to share several of them with you in the days and weeks to come.

As summer starts winding down, many conventions, camps and Vacation Bible Schools are still going on.
Ken and Chuck are currently in Nashville, TN, at the 17th World Convention of Churches. This is a unique gathering of all three streams of the Stone-Campbell movement (Christian-Church of Christ-Disciples of Christ).
The convention, held once every four years, started yesterday (July 30th) and will last until Sunday, August 3rd.

Ken will leave Nashville for New York. Next week (August 2-9), he will be at the Catskill Christian Assembly (Prattsville, NY) where Teen Mission is the mission for the Senior High week of camp.

Leonard is representing Teen Mission/Global Bible School and the Hillsboro (OH) Family Camp this week.

We've had Vacation Bible School this week (July 27-31) at Gardenside Christian Church. GCC has had Teen Mission be the mission for the week. Myself along with Ken and Carol have shared with the boys and girls this week about our ministry.
The offering goal is $1,000. The kids are about half way there coming into today (VBS wraps up tonight).
They've been told them can "slime" me and Janie Truesdell (GCC Children's Director) if they reach their offering goal. We shall see.

Just as we wrap up the 2008 edition of the Mission Journeys, work on the 2009 Mission Journeys will soon be underway. Keep watching the Mission Journeys web site at www.missionjourneys.org and we’ll have a tentative 2009 list posted soon. The 2008 Mission Journeys are currently posted. That will give you an idea of some our communities/locations we’re working in. A 2009 Mission Journey newsletter will be in the mail sometime in October.

May God continue to bless.

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Taiwan: Final Thoughts

I'm back home after my mission trip to Taiwan.

I returned home safely to Kentucky on Thursday, July 24th.

My other team members made it home safely, flying into Indianapolis on Wednesday night (July 23rd).

The recovery from the long hours of travel and adjustment to the big time difference wasn't too bad.

I've had some time to get my "feet back on the ground" and reflect on the just-completed Taiwan Mission Journey.

Here's some final thoughts and reasons I love being a part of the ministry in Taiwan:

(1) It's Unique.
Our project is Taiwan is different from any of our other Mission Journeys.
The team we bring seldom functions alone once we arrive. Instead, they are absorbed into a bigger team with the primary responsibility of doing the Sports & English camp.
While this creates some challenges with team dynamics, overall , I like the setup.
The Taiwan trip definitely involves a lot less pressure for the person in charge of the short-term team. This is, in large part, because the "on-location" project is pretty much all planned out for you. The team leader's biggest role is getting the team there. After the on-island arrival, the team leader then primarily serves as one the faculty and works with the kids in attendance. That's a welcomed change for me. Also, using sports and teaching English as a way to convey the gospel message is emerging as an effective means of evangelism. I look for such opportunities in "specialized" ways to increase.

(2) It's Strategic.
The ministry in Taiwan allows us to be involved with a work inside the "10/40 Window."
What is the "10/40 Window?" According to the Joshua Project (http://www.joshuaproject.net/): The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The 10/40 Window is home to the majority of the world's unevangelized countries. The "unevangelized" are people who have a minimal knowledge of the gospel, but have no valid opportunity to respond to it.
Southeast Asia is the most densely populated area on earth having over 45% of the world's population living there. Almost one out of every two people lives in Southeast Asia. However, only about 3% of these people are Christian.
In recent years, Southeast Asia has had a prominent role in world headlines. Communist China's growing military and economy has greatly increased their influence around the globe. North Korea has emerged as potentially dangerous "rogue" nation with nuclear aspirations.
With such threats to peace, is there a better area for the Gospel to be planted and growing?
Ministering in Taiwan puts us just 90 miles off the coast of China and in this important area of Southeast Asia.

(3) It Yields Eternal Results!
In over 15 years of being involved with short-term mission trips, I've never been involved with one that has yielded as much spiritual fruit as the one in Taiwan has.
In 2006, the first year of doing the Sports & English camp, we had 35 decisions for Christ with 15 of those being baptized before we left camp.
This year, those numbers were down a little (13 decisions; 7 baptisms), but still impressive.
This harvest has much to do with the fine missionaries that work in Taiwan on a full-time basis. We have been honored to meet many of them over the past two trips. Ted & Bev Skiles has been on the island for nearly 40 years and have great ministry providing a Christian home for Taiwanese children, the Home of God's Love. Team Expansion has several missionaries on the island. They are doing a fantastic job with several church plants.

It’s been a pleasure to serve with David & Brenda Atkin (our host missionaries) and all the other on-island missionaries as well as the other short-termers. Let’s do it again real soon!

Teen Mission, USA, is very much looking forward to working in Taiwan again in the near future. Most likely, we will return in 2010 to help with the Sports & English camp again.

Until then, I pray that God will continue to bless!

-- Greg H

Taiwan: Heading Home

We're just about ready to head home from Taiwan.
Today, Tuesday, July 22nd, we're heading up to Taipei for the day.
We plan on spending the night and heading to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 3:45 pm for Los Angeles.
We're scheduled to arrive in LA around noon (PST) on Wednesday, July 23rd. It's a 12-hour flight, but there's also a 9-hour time difference from Taiwan to Los Angeles.

Vacation Bible School with the Come Christian Church in Taichung began yesterday. We had a nice turnout with over 40 children.

We will leave Taichung for Taipei shortly after VBS this afternoon.

Please pray for safety in travel. This will probably be my last post during the trip as we'll be in transit over the next few days.

It's been a great trip, but I'm looking forward to being back home.
I'm on target to be in Lexington around 9 am on Thursday, July 24th.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Sports & English Camp ends

The Sports & English camp ended yesterday (Saturday, July 19th) on a high note.
There were 13 decisions for Christ with 7 of those being baptized yesterday morning before we left Morrison Christian Academy.
The Lord held the storms off just long enough for us to get all the baptisms in without rain.
We had a few less decisions than our last trip (2006), but still a good number and we praise the Lord for each of them.
In two years that Teen Mission has been involved with this project, we've seen nearly 50 decisions for Christ and 22 baptisms!
I can't think of any other short-term project that has yielded as much "fruit."

After camp, we cleaned up and left for the Atkin's home here in Taichung.
They took us to a pretty cool restaurant last night. You had a grill in front of you to cook your own meats. It was a neat concept.
It was nice to have a little down time after several straight busy days.

This morning (Sunday, July 20th) we worshiped here at Come Christian Church. The church meets in ground floor of the Atkin's home.
David and Brenda moved here a few years ago to plant this church.
We had lunch with several of the church people after services.
They were really nice folks. One of them was a young lady (named Jamie) who is entered in Miss Taiwan beauty pageant. If she wins that, she'll go to the Miss World contest.
Another couple of people (Chuck and Hope) thought I looked like a movie star (Matthew Perry; Chandler from Friends). I told them I was flattered, but thought they needed to get new glasses.

This afternoon, we're going to the All-Star game of the Chinese Professional Baseball League played here in Taichung at their fairly new baseball stadium.
We're pretty excited about it.

Vacation Bible School with the Come Christian Church will begin tomorrow (Monday, July 21st).
We'll be leaving on Wednesday, July 23rd.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Typhoon hits Taichung

We awoke early on Friday morning to the sounds of wind and rain.
A typhoon had come ashore and was hitting the city of Taichung with lots of rain.
The city received a foot of water between midnight and 8 am on Friday morning.
I went out in a car with David Atkin looking to buy some rain ponchos.
Several city streets were flooded with water several feet deep.
Back at the camp, the girls sleeping in the lower gym here at Morrison Christian Academy had to be moved to one side of the gym as the water began coming in and flooding the floor.
We had a difficult time, but were able to transport the campers between buildings this morning by using vans.
The area between buildings looked like a lake as water began to back up.
All of the outdoor activities (sports classes) were cancelled and most of the day's programing moved to the auditorium.
I was disappointed as I was looking forward to one more day with the baseball group.

We're praying the distraction of the rain will not take away from the real focus of the week: introducing the kids to Jesus Christ.

Ted Skiles (a missionary here in Taiwan since 1969) will be bringing the evening message and offering an invitation.

Camp will end tomorrow morning.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Facing Fear

It's Thursday, July 17th, here in Taiwan.
The phone lines have been down for a few days here at Morrison Christian Academy. Therefore, I haven't been able to access the Internet.
The week is going great.

Yesterday's lesson was on Elijah and overcoming fear.
The prophet Elijah was scared for his life and felt alone after the contest on Mt Carmel.
For the evening message, a few Taiwanese Christians shared about overcoming their traditional beliefs in spirits and idol worship.
The folk religions here seem to keep many people in fear all the time.
People are trying to appease the spirits because many think that evil spirits will do bad things to them unless they are pleased.
It is not until they met Jesus Christ that they experienced true freedom from fear.
I'm convinced that fear is one of Satan's strongest tools in discouraging Christians. Fear will hold us back from being the people Christ wants us to be.

The sports have continue to go well, too.
Yesterday, the students defeated the faculty in a softball game, 5-3.
The outcome was somewhat contested, though, as many of the calls went the way of the kids.
Today, however, the teachers evened things by winning big in basketball.
The game was close early, but the play of Justin Livingston, Chad Edwards and Scott Pagel proved to be too much for the young campers.
Tomorrow's match will be on the soccer field and the campers appear to have the edge.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last full day of camp. We're hoping and praying for many decisions for Christ.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Camp in Full Swing

Things have gone fairly smooth after our first full day of Sports & English camp here in Taiwan.
We have 12 young people (10 boys, 2 girls) in my baseball class. I'm helping David Atkin (host missionary) with that.
I also have 6 students in my advanced English class. We're looking at the lives of Bible characters each day. Yesterday, we studied Joseph. Today, we're looking at Daniel and his friends.

It's pretty hot here. They tell me it could be hotter.
I know I haven't sweat this much since Junior High school.
If my voice starts changing and I break out with acne, I'm going home.

We ended the day (yesterday) with a game of competitive dodge ball.
A few girls got hit in the face and two boys knocked heads going for a ball. Besides that, I think we made it through without any serious casualties.
Keep praying for those here who do not yet know Christ as the Lord and Savior.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Sport & English Camp Begins

The Sports & English Camp began yesterday (Sunday, July 13th).
This year's theme is "It's Gonna Be Alright."
We have well over 100 Middle & High School students here this week.
The students and faculty were divided up into family groups.
My group has 10 young people.
Our classes will begin today (Monday, July 14th).
I'm doing baseball for my sport and teaching an advanced English class (me teaching advanced English to kids in Taiwan; yes, God has a sense of humor).
I'll keep you posted on how the weeks goes.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Adjusting & Gearing Up

We're starting Day 3 here in Taiwan (Sunday, July 13th).
We will worship here on the campus of Morrison Christian Academy this morning with the Community Church of Taichung.
Later today, the 3rd annual Sports & English Camp will begin here at Morrison.
There are more students expected this year than either of the first two years.
Please keep the camp in your prayers. There will be many young people attending who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Yesterday (July 12th), the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship wrapped up and we took some time to look around Taichung.
We went to a wood-carving village outside of town as well as the Tiger City mall here in Taichung.
I'll keep you posted as the Sports & English progresses through the upcoming week.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: We've Arrived Safely

After nearly 50 hours and 10,000 miles, we have arrived safely in Taiwan.
With a long layover in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 9th, our team was able to take a tour of the city of Angels.
We were able to see some famous sights such as Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and Venice Beach.
Our flight left LA at 2 am (PST), arriving in Taiwan early on Friday morning (July 11th).
It was already over 80 degrees at 6 am this morning.
The Atkins were busy with the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship conference this week, so we had to get ourselves from Taipei to Taichung.
No problem, though, for us experienced travelers (3 of our 4 team members came to Taiwan in 2006).
Everything worked fine and we arrived in Taichung around 9 am local time.
Brenda Atkin came and picked us up from the bus stop and took us straight to the Morrison Christian Academy.
Morrison is the site of this week's missionary conference and next week's Sports & English camp.
We've enjoyed the fellowship of many missionaries and some of the finest Kingdom workers.
We even witnessed a baptism this afternoon.
Dr David Roadcup of Cincinnati Christian University has spoken a couple of times today about discipleship. It's been really good stuff!
Please continue to pray for our team and next week's Sports & English camp (starts Sunday, July 13th).

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan Mission Journey (July 9-23)

I’m leaving early tomorrow (Wednesday, July 9th) for a 2-week mission trip to Taiwan.
I helped with a mission project there in 2006 and have been looking forward to returning ever since.

Here's a little more about the ministry going on in Taiwan:

Taiwan is a mountainous island located just off the coast of mainland China. It is a non-Christian society with only about 5% of Taiwan's 25 million population claiming to be Christian. The majority follow a unique Chinese blend of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

The Good News Christian Church in Kaohsiung (pronounced Gow Shung) began nearly 20 years ago.
However, the church struggled for its first 10 years of existence with only 15-20 members. One missionary couple (the Foremans) worked with the church, but was on the brink of coming home to the United States in frustration.
That all changed in 1996. Two families from the United States and Team Expansion (the Atkins and the Dunns) came to help the Foremans with the church.
The church began to flourish shortly after their arrival and is now very healthy with nearly 150 in attendance.
In 2003, David & Brenda Atkin moved to the city of Taichung to begin a new church work there.

Our team's main project will be helping David & Brenda Atkin (our host missionaries) conduct a Sports & English camp for over 100 Taiwanese teenagers.
The Sports & English camp has its own web site: http://www.sportsandenglish.com/.

Young people from all over the island will come to learn more about different sports and the English language. We will teach a lot about Jesus, too, as most of the campers (75-80%) will not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The first-ever Sports & English camp, held in 2006, was a great success!
We had 35 young people come forward at decision time on Friday night, with 15 of them being baptized into Christ on Saturday morning before we left the camp.

This year, I will have 3 others traveling with me to help with the camp. They are: Justin Livingston (Iowa) and Rick & Emily Kemple (Indiana).
Please pray for safety for our team in travels and effectiveness of sharing the gospel.
I'll try to post updates throughout the trip.

God bless,
Greg H

Teen Mission Notes (June, 2008)

All is well here at TM headquarters. I realize the June notes are being written in July, but it's been a very hectic last few weeks.
The "summer" Mission Journeys are in full swing.
Most all of the June groups have come and gone. We’re now working on getting all the July teams ready.
In fact, we have a group of 16 leaving today (July 3rd) for Barbados, West Indies.

Our staff is currently scattered all around the globe doing different mission projects.

Our director, Ken Henderson and his wife, Carol, have been in Tanzania, East Africa, since June 17th.
Ken reports that things are going great:
"Our trip to Tanzania is going just great. Not least among the blessings is that the temperature has been no worse than 85 to 90, and nights have been warm but pleasant. The electricity has been consistent, water in adequate supply, and stuff like that.
The team and the people at Haven of Peace Chr Ch are hitting it off wonderfully. We have a shy girl on the team who is coming out of her shell big time, and folks from her church are so excited for her. Another girl who comes from a difficult home situation is blossoming in her witness—taught at VBS yesterday. She has already talked to Carol at length about becoming a missionary.
The worship Sunday was incredible—they now have a sound system and fancy keyboard. Adding that to the swing and African style singing, it was wonderful."

Chuck Perry emailed from Ethiopia where he has been working with CMF missionary Shelly Hilvety for the past 2 weeks. Chuck writes, "Ethiopia departure approaches. God’s blessings abound. New stories to relate, Great opportunities: Feeding-Teaching 200 - HIV adults, 3 home visits with food and encouragement, Church leaders’ Bible Study & Devotionals, an Ethiopian Wedding; Wonderful 2 weeks."

Leonard Stone helped lead a group to New Orleans (June 16-20) and will help with another team going to the Yakama Indian Nation in Washington (July 10-19).

Sam Bowles left on June 26th with a group of 13 going to work with a mission in Honduras. You can follow their adventures on Sam's blog: http://sambowles.blogspot.com/

Our summer intern Cameron Andry was busy this month representing Teen Mission at a couple weeks of camp in IN & KY. Cameron has done a great job and has been a big help to our office operations here at Teen Mission. We could not have done all of the mission work without his help.

Next week (July 9th), I will leave for Taiwan where I'll be helping with a Sports & English camp there.

The North American Christian Convention is going on this week (July 1-4) in Cincinnati, OH. Cameron, Leonard and I have taken turns manning the Teen Mission booth there.
On Tuesday morning, my daughter (Autumn, age 8) and I went up for the day and set up the booth in our exhibit space.
In the midst of a busy summer schedule, we had some good "father-daughter" time. Autumn picked up many free pens, note pads, Frisbees, cups, mugs, letter openers, travel bags, bibles, etc, on her many tours of the exhibit hall. She also did the rock climbing at the Nebraska Christian College booth at least 30 times and played the Wii at the Cincinnati Christian University booth.
The exhibit hall is sure a lot more "kid" friendly than I remember from my childhood.
The NACC was in Cincinnati 20 years ago in 1988. I was 16 years old and came with a group from Gardenside Christian Church. My main reason for going was not the NACC, but to see a Reds game that night.
I could not have imagined then (1988) that I would be in ministry with an exhibit at the NACC 20 years later.
God sees things that man cannot.

One last thing: Autumn is getting very close to be baptized. The Holy Spirit has been working on her heart big time the last few weeks.
She has met with our minister at Gardenside and is working through a workbook.
It may be this week. I don’t know for sure, but it will be rather soon.
Please keep her in your prayers.

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

GCC Softball Season Ends

The 2008 softball came to a close this week for the Gardenside Christian Church men's team after a couple of fantastic games in the city-wide Church league tournament.
On Monday night (June 30th), GCC defeated a very good squad from NorthEast Christian Church, 13-12.
The G-men rallied from an early deficit and scored all 13 of their runs in the 4th inning. They then held off NorthEast's late rally for a big victory (their 2nd tournament win in 2008).
GCC senior minister, Joe Cooper, was one of the many Gardenside fans in attendance.
Brother Cooper had to like what he saw as the win moved GCC to Tuesday night's Elite Eight showdown with Calvary Baptist.
On Tuesday night (July 1st), with a Final Four birth on the line, GCC would, once again, find themselves down early. However, they would rally and take a 13-7 lead late in the game.
Calvary Baptist tied the game at 13 after 6 innings, so the game went "extra" innings.
Neither team scored in the 7th. Gardenside scored one in the 8th and Calvary answered with two in the bottom of the 8th for a dramatic, 15-14 win.
GCC finished the regular season with a 5-4 record and 7-5 overall (after the post-season tournament).
This was no doubt the best softball Gardenside has seen since the late 1990s (the days known as the "ringer" era).
A big THANKS to all who played on the team this year: Billy Reynolds, Brian Hale, Nick Bruins, Russ Bruins, Greg Herriford, Brandon Messinger, Keith Messinger, Bobby Cairell, Ryan Smith, Steve Smith, Eric Padgett, Bradley Dennis and a host of others who filled in a game or two (you know who you are, but the NSA might not).
Give us a few months and we'll be ready for next year!