Missionaries & Projects
The Whole Gospel for the Whole Person
MIA BlogSpot | May, 2010
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May 28, 2010
Posted by Steve McGeeEvery Friday morning the staff of MIA meets to pray for our missionaries. We have three missionary families in Jamaica who are keeping us informed about the current situation in the Kingston area, where the Prime Minister has called for a 'state of emergency'. The US issued a warrant for Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who has allegedly trafficked large amounts of drugs into the US and guns back to Jamaica. Mr. Coke is the leader of one of Jamaica's notorious gangs. This has caused a huge outbreak of violence and gang wars against the government of Jamaica.
One missionary couple sent me an email last night that I would like to share with you so you can join us in prayer for Jamaica.
"The fallout is still to be known, but the number of dead is put at over 70. Many suspect it will be higher. We thank God that more security forces were not killed, but we lost two police and one soldier. Pray for the Prime Minister, who is also the representative for the constituency where most of the fighting and deaths took place. He is being much vilified, but he had to take the decision that he did. Even the Church spokesmen have not been as understanding of his unique situation as they should. But we trust that others who have his ear will minister to him spiritually."
The couple who wrote this works with troubled young people in the schools and youth camps. Thanks for your prayers for Jamaica!
May 16, 2010
Posted by Steve McGeeWe are continuing to work with our ministry partner Miami International Seminary (MINTS) to improve our theological training program. One particular area of concentration is in pastoral counseling. Even the American seminaries’ pastors generally receive little training in counseling, yet many pastors find that helping suffering church members through difficult life problems – counseling - is a major part of what they do.
Our Director of Theological Education, Barry Smith, has had several meetings with the leadership of MINTS to design a counseling program for our centers. Before coming to MIA Barry worked as a pastoral counselor at a Christian recovery program in Baltimore. He is using his experience to write courses for our program. This quarter Barry is teaching an addictions counseling course for the MINTS Miami program. This summer Barry will teach Intro to Biblical Counseling in Jamaica and Haiti.
There is virtually no pastoral counseling training available any place in the Caribbean. As pastors and other church leaders are trained and improve their skills they will be equipped, by the grace of Christ, to alleviate spiritual and emotional suffering as never before.
May 12, 2010
Posted by Steve McGeeFor many years Ministries in Action has had a thriving ministry led by Roger Smalling training church leaders in Latin America. He has founded Reformation in Latin America (REAL) study centers in many Latin American countries. It is our hope to continue to grow that ministry and to branch out into significant transformation ministries in impoverished communities throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
As I’ve shared before, we’re excited about Gustavo Formenti joining our staff as Director of Community Transformation. Gustavo will develop programs to assist local church leaders to address, among other things, poverty, substandard housing, scarce health care and inadequate education. In this way we will help churches, in the name of Christ, improve the quality of life of the people in their congregations and communities. It’s a big vision for a big job - more than any one organization can accomplish. That’s why one of our chief tasks is to develop strategic partnerships with people, churches and organizations that can help.
With our offices in Miami, we are in a perfect location to network with ministry partners to help us with the task. I met recently with Rick Sawyer, CEO of the Family and Children Faith Coalition. Rick has spent the last 20 years building relationships with churches and Christian organizations throughout the city. Rick is going to work alongside MIA to help us connect with Hispanic churches and leaders in Miami to bring them on board with us in making a significant difference in dozens of communities in Latin America.
Please pray that we will continue to build and strengthen many ministry partners who will join us in the work of transforming communities throughout Latin America. Please also pray for Gustavo as he raises financial support and plans to join us here in August.
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