Prayer Focus:

The Middle East & North Africa

The next several months, our mission prayer focus will be on the geographical areas where UBC’s missionaries reside. Some of these areas are hostile to the Gospel, thus we will not be sharing the specific names of those serving in these updates or our corporate prayer.

It is fitting for April to focus on the Middle East and Northern Africa as these areas are predominantly Muslim, following our month of prayer during Ramadan. This geographical area, also referred to as the Arab World affinity bloc, only has an estimated 0.1% of evangelicals with the majority religion being Muslim. The Pew Research Center has predicted the Muslim population to grow in this region by ~75% between 2010-2050. Even within the large Muslim faith, cultural differences lead to differences between Arab Muslims and African Muslims. Knowing this will appropriately guide discussions about Jesus with the different people groups. About one-fifth of the world’s Muslims live in these 19 countries: see info at joshuaproject.net

Per recent Pew Research data, while those professing to be Muslim will grow, those professing to be Jewish or Christian are expected to decline in this geographical area. The net effect is that those professing no faith, or those professing faith in polytheism or other deities will grow to 56% by 2050.

Let us pray:

For many to believe in the One True GOD
For peace amongst peoples of these countries
For those professing polytheism to have their hearts and eyes open to the Creator and not the creation
For desire to understand Muslim beliefs so we can engage without fear or ignorance
For protection and safety of UBC’s 3 supported missionaries serving long-term in this area
For several of our UBC members going on short-term trips to this area this year
That God will prepare hearts and provide open doors to share the Gospel

Additional links:

Missionary Spotlight:

M and A in the Middle East

M and A sent this report to share with UBC:

“We are excited to share with you that we traveled safely and landed in our new home! By the Lord's kind provision, and through those standing behind us, we've been able to find a house and a car to help us with daily life. We've connected with our team, began language school, and have even met our next door neighbors. Please pray for us as we have experienced some team shuffling with a family choosing to go home to the US. We are both excited for them and sad for our team. Please pray for us as we seek to remain faithful in the seemingly mundane. Just existing here is more work than we are used to, and it comes with new challenges each day. Please pray for endurance and curiosity in language and culture acquisition. Our main goal for these first two and a half years is to gain as much language and culture as we possibly can in order to share our great message. Lastly, please pray for our neighbors. Pray that we might run into them more often. Pray that we might find culturally appropriate ways to approach and build relationships with them. Pray that our tiny bit of Arabic would be endearing to them and pave the way for a sharing of our message of hope later on.

Recent Mission Highlight:

John Vanderwal - Perspectives

Core Mission Team member John Vanderwal, recently earned his Certificate for successfully completing the Perspectives course and shares about his experience:

True to its title, the “Perspectives” course “really changed my perspective of the role of missionaries and the church in making God known to the world.” I initially enrolled in the course as a requirement to join UBC’s Core Mission Team, however I am glad for the prompt and wish every UBC member would take it.

The course begins by helping participants learn about God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, where God not only promised to make him into a great nation, but He says He will bless Abraham and then all peoples on earth will be blessed through him. The Perspective lessons then build off what that promise means and how it sets the stage for the overarching story of the Bible and God’s purpose for all of us.

One personal takeaway for me was the realization of how important God’s name is, and how everything He does is to make Himself known to the nations. Even though I grew up in the church and read the Bible, suddenly I saw examples everywhere of “the nations will know that I am the Lord”, “for the sake of my holy name” and “I will show the holiness of my great name.”

Some of the other topics covered in the course are:

How God has been using missionaries through history to reach the nations
What our role is as Christians, even if not called to be missionaries to another country
What might a church plant look like in a very different people group
How we can reach unreached people groups, even if we don’t leave Dayton
How to communicate the gospel in another culture

And much, much more…

The Perspectives course is available online and in-person. I took it online, as it was the best for my schedule at the time, but would highly recommend the in-person format so you can discuss what you are learning with other believers. There are different levels to the course; Key Reader, Certificate, or Undergraduate/Graduate Credit. The main difference is the amount of reading you do for each, and the ones for credit involve taking some tests. Unless being taken as a school assignment, I would recommend the Certificate level, which involves 2-3 hours of reading per week, some weekly homework/forum posts, and a small project at the end (I wrote about a very unreached people group called the Sentinelese).

Bonus: UBC will be hosting an in-person Perspectives class in early 2024! You can let us know if you’re interested by contacting missions@ubcbeavercreek.org

Opportunity:

Hope Rising’s Walk for Life - Saturday, April 29th

You can help keep the vital work of Hope Rising (formerly Miami Valley Women’s Center) going strong by participating in the Walk for Life on Saturday, April 29. Become a sponsored walker, collect donations, and then join with hundreds of other walkers to testify that the lives of the unborn are precious to God and to His people. This is a great opportunity for friends, families and UBC Growth Groups to unite for the cause of life. If you are unable to participate directly, you can still donate to a sponsored walker you know. The goal for this fundraiser is $250,000. The Walk is Hope Rising’s second-biggest event each year and provides the funds needed to continue doing what they’re called to do: rescue babies from abortion while offering moms and dads practical help and gospel hope.

Date: Saturday, April 29th

Time: Check in is 10:00am-10:45am, Program starts at 10:45am

Concludes at or before noon

Location: Southbrook Christian Church (near Dayton Christian School)

9095 Washington Church Rd. Miamisburg

Walkers can register at https://supporthoperising.org/events/walk-for-life/

Raise funds online through Fundeasy, or print a form to track donations and collect cash or checks.

You can also earn prizes when you raise funds:

$100 – earn a T-Shirt

$500 – earn a T-Shirt and Hope Rising Tumbler

$1000 – earn a T-Shirt, Tumbler, and Invitation to Lifesaver Dinner on June 13th

Interested in going on a mission trip this year? The following UBC-sponsored trips are open to UBC members and regular attenders.

Contact Jim Corbin jim.corbin@ubcbeavercreek.com or Aldin Falfulovic aldin.fafulovic@ubcbeavercreek.com for more information.

To read past Mission Updates or to get more information about UBC on Mission, visit www.ubcbeavercreek.com/mission.

UBC Mission & Mercy Ministry Update - 2023, Issue 4