Centerpointe Missions Team
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28: 19,20
Reaching the peoples of the World with the Good News about Jesus is the essence of the Heart of God. He paid the price with the life of His Son Jesus for everyone in the World to be redeemed. Because of the Great Commission we support missionaries throughout the World. This means that some will go as missionaries, some will stay and support them in prayer and with giving. We encourage short-term missions trips for all church members to get a taste of the missions field. — Henry Weigel WeigelHenry@verizon.net, Missions Coordinator
Rocky and Sherry Grams are the missionaries in charge of the Instituto Biblico Rio de la Plata (IBRP). They have been there since the early 1980s. At present the school has 1200 students counting day and week-end students. Quite a few of them become missionaries to other lands. The students’ dorm facilities are crowded to the hilt and the School facilities need expansion.
Wayne and Sylvia Turner have been on the mission field to the Congo for 32 years. A couple of times they had to evacuate for a time because of political unrest. Our team of 24 people painted a good sized chapel, inside and out; laid blocks and poured concrete for a new classroom building at the Bible School in Kinshasa.
Missionaries Gary and Janice Dickinson are in Pointe Noire and pastor a Church of about 500; conduct a Bible School and run a Women’s Center. Our team of about 10 did carpentry work for the women’s center; laid blocks for three dorm rooms; laid paving stones in the dormitory shower area; wallpapered two dorm rooms and part of the cafeteria. Quilting training and organizing the supply area of the women’s center were also done. We also ministered.
David Olson had announced the need for missions teams to go to Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador to construct a church building for a poor community on the West Coast of Ecuador. Bill Fout, a pastor from West Virginia had honored that call and had formed a team but needed two more people. Two men from Centerpointe church were an answer to his prayers.
Missionaries Steve and Nola Slater oversee a Bible School in Suva, Fiji. Our team of 22 started the work day with a half hour back-of-a-truck ride to the Bible School. Breakfast and devotionals were at the Slater’s before walking downhill to the worksite. In recent years a number of mission teams have helped to expand the School’s facilities. Our team erected a modular building that will be used for a dormitory. Great ministry opportunities were extended to us.
Bobby Basham of the Potomac District of the Assemblies of God organized this trip. We had a team of 25 going to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on the Central American Airline known as, TACA. The trip consisted of one week. Our goal was to erect two standardized churches known as Tabernacles. When I heard that we were going to do that I was amazed, thinking that reaching the goal was problematic.
Missionaries, the Arzounis and the Caswells took our team of seven to Timbuktu. Our task was to build a masonry wall around the Church grounds. This would afford some privacy to people attending the church. This task was pretty much completed. Some times the temperatures hit 1050 F. Three liters of water a day were in order. Ministry opportunities developed.
Darrell and Sandy Blatchley run a ministry for children in Davao. It is called Family Circus. It is a fun way of presenting the Gospel to Children. With the Gospel comes food and medical assistance. They minister to about 5,000 kids on a weekend in crowded facilities. Our team of nine erected a large tent that would be used for this ministry. A common transportation method to get the kids is a jeepney – an elongated jeep that can seat a large number of kids.
Missionaries Rich and Lori McLane oversee the construction of the Warsaw Theological Seminary. Our team of 11 worked on wall boarding and painting. There is a great need to train pastors, evangelists and Bible teachers. There are 38 million people in Poland. One out of three adults is alcoholic. Wife and child abuse is widespread. Only 36,000 are believers. That is about 0.1%. 21,000 attend Pentecostal churches.
A team of 26 were on this construction missions trip to Warsaw. We levelled concrete floors, set tile, and applied grouting to the Seminary facilities. Sight-seeing opportunities to the "Old-Town" of Warsaw that was the Jewish Ghetto, Auschwitz and Krakow were afforded the team.
This trip consisted of a team of 15. The work consisted of tiling, grouting, hanging doors, and setting toilets in place. As in all the trips we had devotionals each day either at the beginning or right after lunch led by one of the team members. Ministry opportunities and sight-seeing opportunities were available.
A team of nine endured a 14.5-hour non-stop flight from Washington, Dulles to Johannesburg; and a 2.5-hour drive to the Bible School at Rustenburg. Missionaries Steve and Glenda Evans hosted us. Glend's father, Vern Pettenger, was one of the pioneers starting the school. The work involved window replacement and glazing, hanging dry wall, floor and wall tiling, plumbing, and corrugated, galvanized roof replacement. South African brothers and sisters worked with us.
Close to 30 people comprised the construction missions trip to South Africa to work on the South Africa School of Theology (SAST) facilities. The work consisted of tiling, grouting, hanging doors, structural roof repair and replacing corrugated sheet metal roofs, ceiling insulation, some wallboard, painting, window glazing and even setting a toilet in place. As in all the trips we had devotionals each day right after lunch led by one of the team members and we had ministry opportunities unlooked for. It was a joy to work with local folks.