February 2016—IDC McKinney

FEBRUARY 2016 | IDCMCKINNEY.COM | PASTOR: JORDAN STONE

IMAGO DEIGospel Partner Spotlight: Partners in Western Asia

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,

do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor…”

Zechariah 7:8-10

As we continue in our series of taking an in-depth look at each of our Gospel Partners, we are excited to share about our partners who serve in Western Asia. Due to the sensitive nature of where they are serving, we are refraining from using their names and exact location. However, we can share that these Gospel Partners began serving in this region last August, and they are currently focused on learning the local language as they also befriend the local people there.

We hope these questions and answers will draw you closer to the work that God is doing through them and into faithfully praying for them!

How is your family adjusting to your new culture? How have you all settled into your new home and new surrounding community?

We are all doing OK. We initially had some chal-lenging adjustments trying to set up our place — no utilities for awhile in 100 degree heat, meaning no fans, no cooking, etc. It was very hard with three kids. The heat really got to us. After taking my mom back to the airport, our team surprised us by getting us utilities in someone else’s name until we can get ours. That was a huge praise. Our home is all set up now and we’ve settling in well. Now we’ve been

getting lots of snow, so it’s just the opposite! We love our neighborhood , though. We are walking distance from lots of shops, cafes, a journal store (that is Megan’s happy place), and a few parks. Kids have their moments of sadness or struggles, but for the most part they are doing well.

What are a couple of your favorite aspects of the culture where you live?

The people, the cafes, the relational aspect of drinking coffee or tea with every business transac-tion are some of the highlights of living here.



Are the locals generally open to interacting with foreigners? What is their attitude toward Americans?

For the most part, people are friendly to us. There are some who are leery of foreigners because of the influx of refugees here, but for the most part as soon as we start talking to someone, they want to keep talking and we’ve gained a new friend! The hardest part is finding the time to keep up with the relation-ships we’ve started!

What are 1-2 short term (within 1-2 years) objectives of your work? What is 1 long-term objective?

In the short term, our goal is proficiency in learning the local language to get around, then we will move to Farsi to work with the refugees. Then, our short/longterm goal: we hope to have short term teams coming out after 2016 to serve in some specific ways such as prayer walking, TCK teams (teams coming to work with our kids and others like us specifically), as well as truth-sharing teams. These teams will have the opportunity to both serve in these ways as well as take some local tours of the major historical cities in the area. For the long term, if the Lord continues to sustain us in-country, we would love to help take part in a movement for new fellowships to begin.

What kind of interaction do you have with the local Body?

There is minimal interaction at this point. However, we do meet as a team weekly with the other workers here. We are largely focused on language learning and building relationships through 2016.

Can you share some ways how our church can encourage and lift you up?

You are already doing that in amazing ways through your emails, prayer, and encouragement. We are completely blown away by IDC and how amazing you are all, corporately and individu-ally. Have we mentioned we are in love with the Hodges?! :)

Is there anything else you would like to share with the IDC body?

We are thankful for the organization of the IDC Gospel Partnerships, but also for their consistency and support. ALL WONDERFUL THINGS!!!!




IMAGO DEIGospel Partner Prayer Requests

John & Jessie ChengCru — Dallas, TX

John and Jessie continue to seek God’s direction as they invest in several

communities here in the Dallas area, including UTD international students, refugees, as well as Children’s Hospital. Please PRAY:

• For the health of their precious daughter, Hope, and her recovery following extensive surgeries in February. For the Lord to continue providing their family His strength, endurance, and peace for Hope’s healing.

• Praise for how well the “Little Gifts of Hope” holiday meal and gift card outreach went in December. It was truly a beautiful success, and it deeply blessed the patient families as well as all the volunteers who served.

We are thankful for how the Lord has allowed IDC to partner with many

incredible individuals, couples and families who faithfully work to share Christ,

help plant churches in unreached areas and care for orphans. Here are ways

we can intercede on behalf of our Gospel Partners. To learn more about IDC’s

Gospel Partners, please visit idcmckinney.com/go.

John & Kristen MurphyVeritas Church — Fayetteville, NC

John and Kristen lead Veritas Church, which was planted in 2013 in order to serve military families near Ft. Bragg. Please PRAY:

• For God to use the current sermon series in Ephesians to provide wisdom and discernment regarding ministries within their church and for the series to equip their church for the work of the Gospel.

• For continued spiritual protection over John and Kristen’s family and three young children, as their surrounding community is filled with much struggle and darkness.

• A huge praise that their church has recently become financially self-sustaining. They are so grateful for God’s provision and faithfulness in this way.

http://www.idcmckinney.com/go



Kyle & Carrie WileyLifeVesting International — Mobile, AlabamaKyle and Carrie are launching LifeVesting, which is a sending agency that will connect North American churches with churches in Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, where there is little access to the Gospel. Please PRAY:

• For LVI’s first mission trip scheduled for Feb 21-March 3. Kyle and his team will be going to Malaysia and Thailand. They will be taking Lance (their pastor in Mobile) and Stan, a pastor from Rockwall.

• For the discernment about adding an intern to the LVI staff to assist with the workload. Please pray for guidance and a good working relationship with him.

• For God to continue helping their family recover from lots of sickness in recent weeks. It seems they are all getting better, but it was a rough start to 2016 for Carrie and the children!

Trace & Christa HaglerTo Every Tribe — Oaxaca, MexicoTrace and Christa focus on sharing the Gospel with an unreached Zapotec people group outside of Oaxaca. Please PRAY:

• For stamina. They are grateful for the many opened doors to study His word with people. Some are new believers from their church and some are non-believers. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to empower their words and that the Lord would be exalted. With all these commitments, they have something almost every night, Monday-Friday. Also, Trace is planning a trip to the village next week (early Feb) with Omar (a co-worker) and Lidia (from the village, who came to faith translating the bible into their Zapotec dialect) and her two sons.

• For their marriage and family, that they would have good intentional time together as well. With the busyness of ministry, homeschooling, and normal daily life, it is easy to feel like they are missing one another and not really connecting.



Gospel Partners In Asianames/location withheldThis team is based in a remote area of Asia in order to reach an unengaged people group with the Gospel. Please PRAY:

• For continued endurance and focus on learning the national language; praise for the progress they have made so far in just one year.

• For spiritual protection and discernment

regarding dark spiritual forces in their area. Particularly, prayer for spiritual opposition that they have witnessed in the life of a man with whom they have built a relationship and shared the Gospel.

• For the hearts of the “Cat” people, who this team will serve in a remote part of the country, Lord willing, after they finish language training.

Gospel Partners in Western Asianames/location withheldThis team has just moved overseas to the host country in Western Asia, where God has called them to go and proclaim the Gospel among a large refugee community. Please PRAY:

• For their language learning. They are moving forward, but not as fast as they would like. They said the biggest challenge is just finding the time to put into it. They’re learning more than they probably realize, but to them, it just feels like it is going slowly, especially when they still have another language to learn after this one!

• For their children. Overall, they are doing pretty well, but they have some challenging days. In the big picture, though, they are all doing relatively well and feeling at peace there. Due to snowy weather, the children have been kept inside the apartment, so they are looking forward to warmer weather.

• For discernment concerning the kids’ schooling options. For the purposes of learning the language, they want the kids to go to a school here for at least one a year. It’s the best way for them to learn it and have a social outlet, which is very important to help them integrate into the culture. However, the schooling options are very limited. The public school is far from ideal and they don’t feel comfortable with sending the kids there for a variety of reasons. The only other viable choice is a private school, but it is expensive, plus it is five days per week, all day long, and they would still need to homeschool in addition.



Bruce & Denise KendrickEmbrace — Dallas, TXBruce and Denise Kendrick lead Embrace, a ministry serving at-risk, foster, and adopted children and their families. The Kendricks are currently traveling on their year-long Hometown Tour to equip churches across the U.S. who desire to begin their own orphan care ministries. Please PRAY:

• For their family, especially the kids! They are all juggling school, work, chores, travel and meals together, which continues to be a circus act on everyone’s part. Please pray for God to orchestrate their travel, ministry training and homeschool education for the kids. Pray for much endurance, as they have an even busier season of training and travel this spring.

• Praise for how God continues to establish connections with churches in Southern California and other locations. Pray for God

to lead all of the churches throughout their tour to be faithful in following through with the training and equipping efforts that they have provided.

• That we would make the right connections along the way. The trainings have been somewhat smaller than expected in some cities, but it always seems like the right people are there.

• For Mattie, as transitions are hard for people with her condition. She is really struggling this year, but also loves traveling. It absorbs so much time and energy trying to school and manage her.

• For their transition back home. It is around the corner, and the reality of such a big change for their family is starting to sink in for them.



Training Leaders InternationalTLI mentors and sends pastors, seminary professors, and graduate students to bring theological education around the world through short-term trips, long-term sending, and school planting. Please PRAY:

• For the Lord to orchestrate all of the trips and trainings that are planned in 2016, and for all the pastors who attend to grasp the Truth offered in these trainings in order for them to return to their home churches fully equipped to teach the truth of the Gospel.

• For God to protect Darren and Amy’s marriage and family as they continue to balance a heavy ministry workload and homeschooling their children.

• Praise for how God miraculously provided to meet TLI’s end-of-year financial needs.

JoannaCrossover — Columbia, S.C.Joanna’s role at Crossover is both the Member Health Coordinator and Prayer Coordinator of all of Crossover’s field staff who serve unreached peoples throughout the world. Please PRAY:

• For her as she meets with their workers online each week to encourage them, especially in their language learning, but also in their spiritual walk and family matters. Praise that the Lord has provided 4 new members to their Member Health Team (very needed as their work expands in hostile areas!). Pray for wisdom and discernment as Joanna serves as Prayer Coordinator and collects the most urgent requests from their workers to post on their website.

• For her next overseas trip in late March through mid-April, which will involves participating in their Global conference in Moldova, visiting workers in Turkey or Cyprus, and then rounding out the trip by traveling to East Asia to actually visit workers — some of whom are IDC's Gospel Partners!



Risen Christ FellowshipRCF is a young church plant located in Philadelphia, PA and they are led by Shai Linne (top) and Brian Davis (below), who are co-pastoring this urban congregation. RCF is eager to see the truth of God’s Word impact inner-city areas where biblical truth is often lacking, and they desire for RCF to be a church filled with God-glorifying, Christ-centered, Bible-saturated, Gospel-preaching, people-loving individuals. Please PRAY:

• That the Lord would continue to both save and build His people up through the preaching and teaching of His Word at RCF. Please pray that the Lord would give RCF a high view of the means of grace — specifically the ordinances — and that He would use them powerfully to increase their faith and joy in Christ and the gospel. And that there would be many more baptisms!

• Give God glory for hearing their prayers! Thank Him for Frank and LHC, a place to meet, and the financial supporters He's raised up. God is so faithful! Please pray for unity regarding the finances and that it would be stewarded well and used for the sake of the gospel in Philly.

FEBRUARY 2016 | IDCMCKINNEY.COM | PASTOR: JORDAN STONE FEBRUARY 2016 | IDCMCKINNEY.COM | PASTOR: JORDAN STONE

IMAGO DEIHeartfelt Thanks

At the end of 2015, IDC received many heartfelt notes from our Gospel Partners expressing their gratitude for our partnership with them and the Christmas gifts that our body provided to their families in December. What a joy to walk in relationship

with these Gospel Partners as they continue to make the truth of Christ known throughout the world! Here are excerpts from

some of the communications with them.

“To the Saints at IDC: An email can't properly articulate how thankful we are for IDC and your partnership in the gospel. You have overwhelmed us with your care and generosity. Like the apostle Paul, we long to come to visit y'all, that we might impart some spiritual gifts and be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. For now, please know that we pray regularly for IDC in our services.”

“Thanks for your encouragement and support. We love it and appreciate it so much. The type of work we do can be isolating. We are glad people care for us.”

“Words cannot express my gratitude to Imago Dei for so generously investing in the work God is doing here and abroad. Thank you for the generous monthly support and thank you for the Christmas gift. I am not worthy of your kindness and your investments, but I see that God is blessing you so the work can continue. Honestly, I don’t even understand how all this works, but I do know that I am committed. I do know that God is moving in profound ways. I do know that I am running hard to keep up with His moving us all forward!”

“Thank you so much for your continued support and friendship! We feel so very blessed that the Lord allowed our paths to cross and we are so grateful to be a small part of the IDC family and ministry. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We also want to thank you for your additional gift this Christmas. What a blessing you all are to us! God Bless! Thank you for being a vital part of the ministry in Oaxaca!”


We would love to highlight some missions efforts of some IDC members! It is amazing to see how God is inspiring our church body to take an active role in missions in various ways. If you

have events you would like to share, please contact the Missions team at [email protected].

The Second Story (www.TheSecondStory.com) is a coalition of churches who have a united vision to

find homes for Waiting Children in Collin county (Waiting Children refers to children who are currently in the foster system and who are

waiting to be adopted.) CPS has designated one child for each of the churches (there are currently six churches) in order that they will pray over and walk alongside the foster family to help care for the needs of the child. The goal of The Second Story is to help these waiting children to find a forever family, as well as be the hands and feet of Christ as we serve the child.

Imago Dei has been given a seven-year-old girl named Tracy who is currently placed with a foster family in Royse City. Tracy is a bright young girl who enjoys cooking and singing, and she also has some mild autism and learning differences. She has been placed in over 10 homes since she has been in foster care. IDC has formed a group of volunteers to begin serving Tracy and her foster family, and we would love more to join us. Ways to serve Tracy include praying for her, taking meals to her family, mentoring and other needs as they arise. If you are interested in serving in this way, please contact Beth Godi ([email protected]) in order to complete the volunteer application process.

IMAGO DEIOther News

John Woodruff’s Thailand Trip(Jan 28 – Feb 7)

John had the unique opportunity to counsel and speak into the lives of Cru missionaries who serve all over Asia and who were gathered in Pattaya, Thailand at the annual Cru conference. Because of the ongoing stress that most missionaries face as they serve cross-culturally, they are in desperate need of counseling opportunities such as this in order to make sure they remain emotionally and spiritually healthy to continue their work. Although John will have returned from his trip by the time this newsletter is published, please continue to pray for those that John counseled. Pray for their hearts to hold onto the truth and encouragement that John shared, as well as for the Lord to continue speaking those truths into their lives as they continue in their callings. Please also pray for John as he is filled with strength and rest to return to his family and counseling work here in McKinney.

mailto:[email protected]

www.TheSecondStory.org

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

February 2016—IDC McKinney