Agua Viva Ministries
Ensenada, Mexico
Vision:
Reaching Mexico for Christ
Rancho Agua Viva (Ranch of Living Water) is located in the
hills 10 miles outside of Ensenada, Baja California. The 120-acre
camp has grown from bare land with a few trees and cactus
to a mature facility which can house over 400 people.
From the inception, the vision
for the ministry was to create a place where:
• People could hear about and respond to God’s
plan for their lives;
• Mexican men and women could be trained to be leaders
in their village churches; and
• People could experience the passion of serving God
in a missions environment, to forever
change the way they view the world.
The vision is implemented through four aspects:
-
The Ministry Training Institute, where
Mexican nationals come from all over Mexico to study at
intense 14-week sessions. These are dedicated leaders
in their own areas who desperately need biblical training
to enhance their ministries. Nearly all are poor, and
can pay only a fraction of the cost to attend the institute.
-
American Missions Awareness. Short
term groups come from churches in the US and Canada to
experience cross-cultural missions and so expand their
Christian world view. Groups are involved in work projects
in and around Ensenada, prison ministries, evangelism,
outreach events, helping at orphanages and local churches.
-
Mexican camping program, including
youth camps. Retreats, conferences, seminars, concerts
and 2-week long youth camps are refreshment for Mexican
believers and tremendous outreach for those who are not
yet in the kingdom of God.
-
Missions training. All full and part
time staff is trained in missions as well as living daily
missions experiences. Each summer, Americans come to the
Ranch to help with short-term groups. Many of these “summer
staffers” are now in full time missions work around
the world.
New Harvest Church takes at least one trip
annual to Mexico to stay at Rancho Agua Viva and do projects
with a local church. All ages (including family groups) are
invited to participate and are encouraged to take the “missions
plunge.”
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Bill & Martha
Simpson: Serving in Papua New Guinea
Bill and Martha Simpson, experienced Wycliffe missionaries,
are both shining examples of the radical power of Christ’s
transforming love. They felt compelled by Christ’s call
to service in 2001, to relocate their lives to Papua New Guinea,
so that they could use the gifts God had bestowed upon them
in a place where they felt most needed.
Bill and Martha have used their skills and
talents to contribute in Papua New Guinea in a number of ways.
Bill has served as a Manager in Papua New Guinea’s Intercultural
Community Work Department, where he juggled many different
projects from serving as the Branch’s community liaison,
to heading up valuable water resource developments, to utilizing
his language skills as a translator for many of these projects.
In fact, in January 2005 Bill helped coordinate the arrival
of a mission team sent from Northwest Church in Fresno to
build and install a water tank for the nearby Gadsup village
of Sasaura.
Martha Simpson also contributes in various
ways, working part-time in Papua New Guinea’s Language
Resource Department (LCORE) on the communications team while
also serving long-distance as the Academic Coordinator for
Oregon SIL. However, Martha would be the first to say that
her full-time job is being a mother to her wonderful daughter
Paige, who is now in preschool. Bill and Martha are also expecting
their second child to be born in March 2006!
Bill and Martha have finished up their first
term in Paupa New Guinea but will be returning in May 2006!
The Simpsons are perfect illustrations of the great things
that God can lead us to do if we sincerely and faithfully
heed his call to service.
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Basil & Vera
de Klerk: Serving in Beliz
Mission: To host and direct
hands-on Christian church teams, work teams, medical/dental
teams, construction teams, evangelism teams and other ministry
teams throughout different parts of the world, demonstrating
God's love in action as we present and share the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
During the past 10 years the Klerks became
increasingly involved in “care ministries” through
their local church. As they developed their skills, they began
putting those abilities to work on short-term mission trips.
God then impressed on them to become involved in something
more long-term. As they got comfortable with the idea, God
gave clear direction that they should go to Belize. The end
result: after three decades in banking and business ownership,
Basil and Vera sold their business and many of their possessions
and began a ministry in Belize.
They founded the Belize Mission and Retreat
Center, now a growing hub for training and outreach ministries.
By meeting physical needs, providing tutoring for school children
and ministry through local churches, the Belize Mission and
Retreat Center is sharing God’s love with a goal of
“Christ in every home” in this small Central American
nation. It is an ideal place for short-term teams of U.S.
churches to go and experience cross-cultural missions as they
come and participate in these ministries.
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Ronny Welong: Serving
in Borneo, Indonesia
In January of 2005 a team, headed by lead pastor Mitch Ribera,
visited the ministry of STK (Seminaria Teologica Kalimantan)
in Borneo, Indonesia. Mitch rekindled a friendship begun 15
years ago with the dynamic leader of this evangelistic ministry,
whose cornerstone is a leadership training seminary. Currently
over 400 Indonesian students are enrolled, each with the goal
of serving the Lord in ministry.
The Vision of the Seminary is to become a
quality institution of theological education to equip those
who are called by God in order to minister in His work.
The Mission of the Seminary is: By God's
grace this institution was founded to serve all denominations
and Christian institutions to prepare, educate, and train
each person, man or woman who is called by God in a special
way, in order to develop the ability and skill to minister
as Pastors, Evangelists, Teachers, Counselors, and Leaders.
Over 150 churches have been planted in Borneo
and other provinces in Indonesia by graduates of the school
-- 500 more are planned within the next 10 years. Graduates
also lead in their communities with career training to develop
each area where churches are planted.
New Harvest Church has become a ministry
partner with STK under the direction of Pastor Ronny Welong.
Our partnership is people based, as well as financial. Annual
trips to this area are planned.
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NIAS
NHC is alongside our ministry partners in an outreach to the
island of Nias, which was devastated by the tsunami and earthquake
in December, 2004. Reconstruction is underway and now a team
from STK, the Holistic Ministry Team, is at work in several
villages in Nias to help rebuild as well as share the Gospel
of Christ with compassion and evident care.
Our church's resources are being invested
in this area to help the people there as they rebuild their
lives and prayerfully enter the kingdom of God.
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