I will get right to the heart of what God has done and then what we are asking you to pray that He will do in the future. First I will give you a glimpse into Tim's last trip to Thailand and Myanmar by way of testimonies from those who attended the CPM conferences and contacts that were made. There were clearly ‘God ordained’ events and the working of the Holy Spirit. 1. The General Secretary for the Karen Baptist Association tells us that the Thai translation of the GPCP manual is in process and they plan to have it printed by October when we return.
2. The same brother from Thailand reports: “We owe you a lot, and we believe that we can surely apply what you have shown us in our church-planting missions. We will not look backward, but go forward. We will do our best for the Lord. Please pray for TKBC because we believe that with God's grace and prayers of the righteous, we can make a great impact here in Thailand. We will try our best to be a good example for young couples…but we will always be careful and not let any space for Satan. Please pray that we will never fall nor make others upset. Brother, I have been looking for my Paul, but I have not found one yet…. Could you accept me as your Timothy? Many godly people are too busy like Martha, but I can see you care that I become a faithful and fruitful servant of God.” 3. The following is an email from another brother in Yangon, Myanmar. “We could not help talking about how we appreciate you and your teaching. We look to you as our model after Christ. We would like to do the course again with you with another group in October or November this year. Let me know what time is good for you. Then we will bring the two groups together in March 2013. Do you think we should have more time for the course - for 5 or 6 days? We have finished the 18 days training with the group and now we are going to start another training with a different group on Tuesday the 27th of Mar for 4 days. Please pray for us. We are so blessed to have you and your training. It is God's divine appointment for training the church planters in Myanmar for the end time.” We agree with this brother!! 4. Tim met with Moses in Myanmar who is translating GPCP into the Chin language. He is requesting a CPM Conference this fall when the CPM will be complete so they can start biblical church planting. 5. We have a request from the Burma Karen Baptist Association to teach graduating students for a month in the seminary in Yangon. We have also received a request from the Arab Baptist Seminary representing North Africa and the Middle East to provide GPCP in a seminary course format. This has tremendous potential for all Arabic speaking nations. Along with this we are also working on reformatting the present manual so that it is simpler to use--adding diagrams so that the student gets the most out of the Scriptures with the teaching help of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for both of these endeavors as they potentially could have a huge impact in countries around the world. Here is the testimony of a dear brother in Cambodia: “I would like to share about GPCP manual and how it has been used in Cambodia to train Church leaders here to strengthen and grow their church. I found feedback from them about this manual; it is a great and powerful tool contained with biblical principles inspired by living word of God to their personal life, families, church and mission breakthrough so much more than they expected, especially to plant more new churches in new areas where no church exists. Lastly I would like to say thank you for Pastor Tim Bunn that God has blessed and found this great tool to our Cambodian’s Church and in region.” Let me add one final testimony from a brother in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: “The solution rests in a radical return to God's Plan for Church Planting! This is a serious, long-term answer to help call the Church back to New Testament Biblical Principles, as we enter this new era." With the Lord opening these doors of opportunity, we feel deeply dependent on the Him, first to work in us so that God’s Word may be spoken without hindrance and in the Spirit’s power. For we “do not count our life of any value nor as precious to us, if only we may finish our course and the ministry that we received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
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In the last few weeks the Spirit has opened my understanding as I have read the Word and pondered its eternal application to us. What started this was that a dear brother was explaining the difficulties they are going through regarding a building that is not finished where the church wants to meet. As I prayed for him, the Spirit directed my attention to God's BIG PICTURE that began in past eternity. If we are going to grasp the details of God's plan, we must also look at the BIG PICTURE - GOD'S PLAN AND PURPOSE FROM ETERNITY PAST!
Let's start with Eph. 3:8-10 and Col. 1:24-29. Paul wanted to "make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations...the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:25, 27). The greatness of this mystery is not understood because we have a building, but because the Holy Spirit, the "Helper" is "with you forever" (John. 14:16) and He, the Father and the Son "will come...and make our home with him" (14:23). Plus the Holy Spirit "will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (14:26). This does not need a building; just human hearts that receive God's grace. Now, let's go back to Genesis 1:28-30; 3:8-9. God began *HIS*story with man by spending time in The Garden talking to man, in fellowship with man in a relationship that did not need a temple, a building or a special place. It only need God and man in relationship as God designed it - *PERFECT!* Solomon realized that "heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you (God); how much less this house that I have built" (1 Kings 8:27). Paul reminds us of what happened at Pentecost, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you" (1 Cor. 3:16) "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (God) within you, whom you have from God" (1 Cor. 6:19). John 4:19-28. The woman of John 4 realizes that Jesus is the answer to her problems and starts talking about worship. She points to a mountain where her fathers worshiped and that the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem (the temple). Jesus points to a different kind of worship and a different place of worship. The different kind of worship was a relationship with God as "Father" through the Spirit. The 'different place of worship' was the heart where our spirits are in agreement with His Spirit and where His truth is our only truth. This does not require a building or a place, but a living relationship in the power of the Spirit. Revelation 21:3, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "*Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.*" The end of *HIS*story is the same as the beginning. God with man in *PERFECT* communion, in fellowship, man in worship without the need of any man-made things such as buildings, pews, pulpits, etc. The whole plan and purpose of redemption was to restore fallen man to relationship that needs nothing except the finished work of Jesus and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. In pointing to these Scriptures, I fully understand that there is nothing wrong with buildings in and of themselves, but there is a transcending importance in the relationship we have with God through Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. What a great opportunity we have in any difficult time or circumstance to point the saints to something that is far, far greater than a physical building or place. Build in the saints a vision for what is eternal! Ephesians 2:19-22, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." May the Holy Spirit give us this eternal 'BIG PICTURE' - God's thoughts, plans and purpose that do not change even in time! _We want to bring you an update on Tim’s recent trip to Myanmar, Cambodia and Turkey. First, we are still rejoicing that our awesome Lord supplied all our needs including the printing of 1,000 Church Planting Manuals in Burmese and 3,000 in Khmer. He also provided FULLY for the leaders' travel from Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and their room and board for our meetings in Turkey. This brings to mind what Paul said to the Philippians in 4:16-21: "Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." Cambodia: For two days, a new group of church leaders launched into a study of God’s Plan for Church Planting. We have been praying for God to raise up indigenous “Timothys” who will catch the vision for laying this biblical foundation throughout Cambodia. Please pray with us regarding this. Tim commented that “I just sense the same spirit of dependency on the “West” except one lady and her husband, who have planted 11 churches with no support. She seems so free, whereas others are so bound by our “western system”.” Pray that the Spirit will do a fresh, powerful work in this land. Myanmar: A very important contact was made with the head office of a denomination which may open a very exciting door for us. What really brings joy to the heart is that a local brother is teaching the CPM on his own and reaping the fruit of planting God’s truth and principles of church planting and renewal. Pray that this will multiply. Turkey: Tim writes: “This is the most awesome work of God, particularly as it relates to GPCP, that I have EVER seen in my life or could have ever dreamed. They completed their final projects; unreal and just unbelievable. I believe we are going to see a great movement of God in these countries in addition to what our Lord is already doing. I just do not know how to express it to you, even in a very remote way. It can happen, it has happened; they have completed their manuals and things are moving in the Spirit. I have never ever experienced a meeting like this. I am encouraged beyond words.” They return home to their own countries with a “complete picture” from God’s Word of His plan for the church. They will not need follow-up from us, except to encourage them. We in the West have a misconception that these places are very difficult to plant churches. Much like China where persecution is on the loose, the church is growing rapidly and God is doing a might work! We hope this report will ignite a spiritual revival in your heart! Are there any “Timothys” out there willing to re-examine Scripture and see with Spirit-filled eyes God’s plan, purpose and power to fulfill Mt. 24:14? If you are interested in learning more, please contact us.
We want to assure you that God is working. In fact, we sense that He is doing more in us than what He is doing through us. If that were not true, we would have good reason for great concern. These frail, human vessels can only be used by God as they are molded in the character of Christ and led by the Holy Spirit. This is our first prayer request - that we become more and more like Christ and tuned to the voice and leading of His Spirit.
We thank the Lord for giving Tim Bunn a profitable CPM Launch in Nepal and Orissa, India during the early part of June. Even though the Church Planting Manual did not get printed in the Oriya language prior to the workshop, the attendees spoke/read English or Hindi so that the conference went forward. The conference in Nepal may have opened a door of opportunity in the refugee camps of Tibet and a return to Bhutan. Each of these conferences cause us to call out to the Lord that the Spirit would work in establishing biblical principles in those who attend. If He does not work, the conferences are just another event on the calendar. Please pray for God's work to follow quickly, and that hunger for God's Word will increase, spreading as it did in the Book of Acts. We are very grateful for His mercy to Tim as he developed appendicitis shortly after his return and had to have emergency surgery. He has recovered well and thankful that this did not happen while he was away. The next event the Lord has placed on our calendar is Ecuador. I (Sherman) will be there from August 19th to the 26th. Since this is my first trip to Ecuador, the main purpose is to build our relationship with a dear brother there and seek the Lord 's guidance regarding other contacts that may open opportunities throughout Central and South America. Please pray for divine guidance. We don't take lightly our responsibility to sense what God is doing and join Him in His work, not promote our own agenda! We cannot tell you how valuable your prayers are. In addition to the above, we ask for your fervent prayers on a couple of immediate needs in various areas below.
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