Joel Reemtsma
j_reemtsma@hotmail.com
3909 Swiss Ave. #1392
Dallas, TX 75204
Dear Friends and Family,
Hello Again!
If you're getting this note of mine, it means you've replied that you'd like to stay in the know on my life and ministry. Thanks! (Or possibly, it might mean I disregarded your silence and sent you another letter anyway… I know how some of you procrastinate.)
Friends, I write to you in great pain. My shoulders are killing me because I had to go get immunizations in preparation for overseas travel. And my nerves are shot as well. It's what comes of having an otherwise-pleasant woman jabbing at me all morning with a giant needle. She looked so nice too. Still, I suppose it's better than growing a third arm or turning green, though I seem to recall yearning for one or both as a young boy.
How You Can Help!
I have been constantly astounded by the way God has provided for me as a seminary student. When I've got time to work, He has given me jobs I enjoy, that pay well. (Three right now, actually!) And when I am too swamped with school to work, he has sends generous people to me to help defray tuition costs.
So now, I am confident that he will provide the financial resources for this venture. I am trying to raise somewhere around $3800 for my two-month stay. A plane ticket from D.C. to Addis runs about $2000. Immunizations are going to set me back about $900, which makes me a rather expensive dartboard. Cost of living (food, lodging) will be about the same.
If you'd like to help finance my trip, there's a couple ways to give. It is easiest for me if you send a check to:
Calvary Baptist Church
208 Lawton Dr.
Kenai, AK 99611.
http://www.kenaicalvary.org
Put my name on the memo line, and my home church in Alaska will put the money in a special account for me. You can also donate to my trip online now! Just go to www.sim.org and follow the links to donate, or copy this address in your browser [https://apps.easydraft.com/Payment/SIM/CCcredit2.asp] to go directly to the correct page. Make sure to put my name, Project Name and team account number in the appropriate field: Joel Reemtsma / DTS Ethiopia 2008 #030224.
If it's not in your budget to help, no worries! I would be honored if you would pray for me and continue to read my updates. It was great fun to read your emails!
About SIM
I also promised you some info on my organization, SIM International, so here goes. Originally, the letters stood for Sudan Interior Missions back in the late 1800's, but the situation grew too dangerous for missionaries in that particular patch of paradise, and the missionaries had to go someplace else for awhile. So they joined up with some missions agencies elsewhere in Africa and in South America and Asia and changed the name to Society of International Missions.
In 2000, they to switched to Serving In Missions or just SIM, which apparently sounds less sinister to foreign governments than the word "Society" does. (I think my nurse belonged to the Society of Giant Needle Operators). Today SIM has operations in about every African country and regional headquarters on every continent. They are an evangelical organization and state their purpose(s) as: 1) to evangelize the unreached, 2) to minister to human need, 3) to disciple believers into churches, and 4) to equip churches to fulfill Christ's commission.
My Role
In Ethiopia, SIM works with the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church. Kale Heywet means "Word of Life" in Amharic, not to be confused with a different organization by that name here stateside. The website is http://www.ekhc.org.et/ for more info. EKHC is an evangelical denomination of nearly 5 million of your brothers and sisters. Most couldn't read a Bible if they had one, and many count wealth in goats and chickens.. Lord willing, I will be preaching in some EKHC churches in rural Ethiopia, usually with a translator. How weird will it be to preach Christ while standing under a tree that the congregation used to worship!
As part of their desire to equip churches, SIM also provides support for the Evangelical Theological College in Addis Abbaba (http://www.etcollege.org). Our team will be teaching two 4-5 week summer classes at ETC (see team photo below). Matt and Mike will teach through Romans, and Greg and I will be assisting Dr. Anderson with his interactive Homiletics (preaching) course. My primary role will be to help future Ethiopian pastors learn to communicate the truth clearly and effectively, in a way that is loyal to the actual words and meaning of Scripture. Although I will probably be responsible for some lectures and discussions, my primary role will be to spend individual time with students helping them hone their skills and sharpen their understanding.
I am excited about this task, because frankly, preaching in Africa can be a pretty rum affair. Preachers often wander around a vast array of theological topics and texts without saying anything coherent about any of them. Little preparation goes into it. The Bible is not all that important to many African Christians, because the Holy Spirit tells the preachers what to say, right? Naturally, this dubious arrangement leads to a lot of misunderstanding and even heresy among churches. There is desperate need for quality biblical preaching in Africa.
A Heart-Warming Human Interest Story
At a recent team meeting, we met these German folks who had been in the Ethiopian wilderness for thirty years ministering to some tribe… Some tribe with a population at least a million strong. And if I remember right, there was some bit of adversity in the story too. The locals were cannibals or headhunters or telemarketers. Something savage anyway. But now, as a direct result of their presence, there are 35,000 believers, which is terribly exciting. And of course the elderly couple was as humble as pie about the whole thing. You grandparents out there, imagine a walletfull of 35,000 spiritual children and grandchildren to show everyone!
Goodbye
Friends, family, thanks again for taking an interest in my life and ministry. Your prayers and support are a great encouragement to this fledgling servant of Christ. Please continue to keep in touch. And if you can recruit more readers for me, so much the better!
In Christ,
Joel Reemtsma
j_reemtsma@hotmail.com
3909 Swiss Ave. #1392
Dallas, TX 75204
Dear Friends and Family,
Hello Again!
If you're getting this note of mine, it means you've replied that you'd like to stay in the know on my life and ministry. Thanks! (Or possibly, it might mean I disregarded your silence and sent you another letter anyway… I know how some of you procrastinate.)
Friends, I write to you in great pain. My shoulders are killing me because I had to go get immunizations in preparation for overseas travel. And my nerves are shot as well. It's what comes of having an otherwise-pleasant woman jabbing at me all morning with a giant needle. She looked so nice too. Still, I suppose it's better than growing a third arm or turning green, though I seem to recall yearning for one or both as a young boy.
How You Can Help!
I have been constantly astounded by the way God has provided for me as a seminary student. When I've got time to work, He has given me jobs I enjoy, that pay well. (Three right now, actually!) And when I am too swamped with school to work, he has sends generous people to me to help defray tuition costs.
So now, I am confident that he will provide the financial resources for this venture. I am trying to raise somewhere around $3800 for my two-month stay. A plane ticket from D.C. to Addis runs about $2000. Immunizations are going to set me back about $900, which makes me a rather expensive dartboard. Cost of living (food, lodging) will be about the same.
If you'd like to help finance my trip, there's a couple ways to give. It is easiest for me if you send a check to:
Calvary Baptist Church
208 Lawton Dr.
Kenai, AK 99611.
http://www.kenaicalvary.org
Put my name on the memo line, and my home church in Alaska will put the money in a special account for me. You can also donate to my trip online now! Just go to www.sim.org and follow the links to donate, or copy this address in your browser [https://apps.easydraft.com/Payment/SIM/CCcredit2.asp] to go directly to the correct page. Make sure to put my name, Project Name and team account number in the appropriate field: Joel Reemtsma / DTS Ethiopia 2008 #030224.
If it's not in your budget to help, no worries! I would be honored if you would pray for me and continue to read my updates. It was great fun to read your emails!
About SIM
I also promised you some info on my organization, SIM International, so here goes. Originally, the letters stood for Sudan Interior Missions back in the late 1800's, but the situation grew too dangerous for missionaries in that particular patch of paradise, and the missionaries had to go someplace else for awhile. So they joined up with some missions agencies elsewhere in Africa and in South America and Asia and changed the name to Society of International Missions.
In 2000, they to switched to Serving In Missions or just SIM, which apparently sounds less sinister to foreign governments than the word "Society" does. (I think my nurse belonged to the Society of Giant Needle Operators). Today SIM has operations in about every African country and regional headquarters on every continent. They are an evangelical organization and state their purpose(s) as: 1) to evangelize the unreached, 2) to minister to human need, 3) to disciple believers into churches, and 4) to equip churches to fulfill Christ's commission.
My Role
In Ethiopia, SIM works with the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church. Kale Heywet means "Word of Life" in Amharic, not to be confused with a different organization by that name here stateside. The website is http://www.ekhc.org.et/ for more info. EKHC is an evangelical denomination of nearly 5 million of your brothers and sisters. Most couldn't read a Bible if they had one, and many count wealth in goats and chickens.. Lord willing, I will be preaching in some EKHC churches in rural Ethiopia, usually with a translator. How weird will it be to preach Christ while standing under a tree that the congregation used to worship!
As part of their desire to equip churches, SIM also provides support for the Evangelical Theological College in Addis Abbaba (http://www.etcollege.org). Our team will be teaching two 4-5 week summer classes at ETC (see team photo below). Matt and Mike will teach through Romans, and Greg and I will be assisting Dr. Anderson with his interactive Homiletics (preaching) course. My primary role will be to help future Ethiopian pastors learn to communicate the truth clearly and effectively, in a way that is loyal to the actual words and meaning of Scripture. Although I will probably be responsible for some lectures and discussions, my primary role will be to spend individual time with students helping them hone their skills and sharpen their understanding.
I am excited about this task, because frankly, preaching in Africa can be a pretty rum affair. Preachers often wander around a vast array of theological topics and texts without saying anything coherent about any of them. Little preparation goes into it. The Bible is not all that important to many African Christians, because the Holy Spirit tells the preachers what to say, right? Naturally, this dubious arrangement leads to a lot of misunderstanding and even heresy among churches. There is desperate need for quality biblical preaching in Africa.
A Heart-Warming Human Interest Story
At a recent team meeting, we met these German folks who had been in the Ethiopian wilderness for thirty years ministering to some tribe… Some tribe with a population at least a million strong. And if I remember right, there was some bit of adversity in the story too. The locals were cannibals or headhunters or telemarketers. Something savage anyway. But now, as a direct result of their presence, there are 35,000 believers, which is terribly exciting. And of course the elderly couple was as humble as pie about the whole thing. You grandparents out there, imagine a walletfull of 35,000 spiritual children and grandchildren to show everyone!
Goodbye
Friends, family, thanks again for taking an interest in my life and ministry. Your prayers and support are a great encouragement to this fledgling servant of Christ. Please continue to keep in touch. And if you can recruit more readers for me, so much the better!
In Christ,
Joel Reemtsma
Change the world with e-mail. Join the i'm Initiative from Microsoft.
No comments:
Post a Comment