One Million Children

China

bnims — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:33:39 +0000

Художникхудожник на икониThere are currently two churches in China: the official, known as the Three Self Church (TSC) and the unofficial, known as the House Church. From the smallest to the largest churches in the country, the Lord’s humbling presence and love for the Chinese people is unmistakable. Throughout the country, the deep need for faith is being proclaimed.

Best of all, children’s ministry is very much alive in China today, and we mean, right now! You may have heard about the restrictions related to sharing God’s Word with children in China but, Pastors and Sunday School teachers are speaking openly about their children’s programs and the spiritual growth that is resulting from them.

In the large, official, churches children’s ministry is becoming enough of a priority that they are even constructing new buildings specifically for their children. House Church leaders share similar enthusiasm, although with fewer resources. No matter the size of the church, both the TSC and House Church have asked us, albeit separately, for a homegrown, culturally relevant children’s Bible study and teacher resources. They know this next generation could not only change China’s future, they could be the world changers to finish the job in the 10/40 window.

A well-established House Church leader we met recently estimates about 8% of the population, or roughly 100 million people are now Christian yet he went on to say, “85% of Beijing has never even heard the name of Jesus.” The buzz should not be about the 2008 Olympics but what the Lord is doing in China!

This is still a work in progress for Gospel Light Worldwide, the churches and the children. As you watch the videos of these young believers, please bear in mind that they are just beginning to learn about a relationship with Jesus.

Please pray with us for China and this next generation. This is such a pivotal time.

Click thumbnail to hear their story.

One Million Children

bnims — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:31:38 +0000

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Trailer

One Million Children: South Africa

bnims — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:52 +0000

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In the South African township of Phola Park just outside Johannesburg, we met Tumi.

Teaser Trailer

bnims — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:57:12 +0000

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Thank You

bnims — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 06:06:28 +0000

We have been in Indiana all week recuperating with our children. This evening we arrived home in Ventura. What follows is part of a post I meant to post on Monday but couldn’t find the energy to finish and a bit of summing up.We landed in Indianapolis late last Sunday night. Our flight was delayed. Not funny. The layover in Abu Dhabi and the flight home was a bit of a stretch. The Abu Dhabi airport was filled with smoke and I got nauseous. And then on the flight I just couldn’t really sleep and continued to feel nauseated off and on. But we landed safely at JFK and that’s what counts. After visiting all the other countries we had visited I felt very blessed to be standing in the US PASSPORT HOLDERS ONLY line. I wondered how many people in the FOREIGN PASSPORT HOLDERS line wished they were in my line. The US isn’t perfect and we have our share of problems, but I am GRATEFUL this is where my citizenship lies.We spent Sunday afternoon in NYC. Despite our time being short and our bodies running on the last fumes of adrenaline teetering close to delirium, we had a good time. Odd enough to note, we got off the Subway station on Canal St and found ourselves in Chinatown. WHY? I wanted to get Noah a bigger fan. No luck. We had pizza in Little Italy and then walked way out of our way and back to the Brooklyn Bridge. That was one of the things we wanted to do when we visited last summer but didn’t. We weren’t disappointed at all, the views were beautiful. New York seems so clean and orderly after being in Beijing and Chennai.It was wonderful to be reunited with the boys. We had prepared ourselves for a lukewarm welcome since they have been having so much fun at camp Weewah’s and having mommy and daddy home meant camp Weewah’s was almost over. You never know how children will respond. But they ran up to us shouting with glee. No joke…otherwise I would never use the world “glee”! They were so happy and kept kissing and hugging us over and over. They even had dressed up for the occasion, complete with clip-on ties. They shared their Camp Weewah adventures the entire ride back to my parents house. The following day was spent the entire day hanging out at may parents in a tired daze waiting for the energy tanks to get refueled. My body felt full of sand. Brent’s felt sick. I think God may have decided He got tired of carrying us and wanted to take a break!! Just kidding. I think we have been running on a mixture of adrenaline and prayer and we just crashed in the safety of our families home.Right now, I am going through a bit of reverse culture shock. Our trip was amazing, truly an adventure of a lifetime. It moved so quickly we never had time to really process all that we saw. I keep thinking about so many things. Percy from Amcare and all that Amcare does to help people. The children in the grasshut Sunday school in India. Chinese Christians who risk their physical freedom to gain spiritual freedom by running or attending churches that are not controlled by the government. A group of teenage muslim girls at Abu Dhabi, covered from head to toe in black with Converse shoes peeking out from under their hijab’s laughing together the way teenagers do while a Barbie display sparkled behind them. Secret Sunday schools in China. Homes the size of some people’s closets. The poverty and the spiritual richness. The trash and the hope of children. The stench of the city and the brillance of man. The fear and joy of experiencing the unfamliar. It’s like we have just come from mix-n-match your emotions store and we are looking forward to sorting through everything we brought home.This week Brent will begin going through all the footage and start the editing process. I know he is very excited. If you don’t mind sending up a few more prayers, pray that this next phase of production will go smoothly and Nims Media will transition back onto the track after taking a semi-pit stop. Also pray that all we saw will not just become memories. We desire that God will use this trip to continue to change us for the better. And very importantly, pray God will use all the footage we captured for His glory. It was amazing and inspiring the see GLW’s curriculum being used first hand by children around the globe. Please pray that many will see the stories we captured and that those who see will be inspired to action. Pray that this documentary helps the Gospel reach one million and more children because this ultimately was the mission of our trip.Thank you so much for journeying with us. And we want to thank you with all the sincerety we can express through a blog for your prayers and thoughts. We felt the power of your prayers daily and are grateful. And at the risk of sounding trite, God is amazing and we want to give Him all the glory and praise for making this trip a success.LoveJenn and Brent

South Africa

bnims — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:33:15 +0000

We arrived safely in Johannesburg last night after a long day of travel. Thankfully we were traveling on Emerates airlines, national airline of the United Arab Emerates. As you can imagine, this means they can afford to spare no expense. We were flying on the latest in jumbojet fashion, the Boing 777. It was sweet. Each seat was equipped with a 10″ monitor and hundreds of movies to choose from, plus games and TV shows and video cameras displaying the view from the nose of the plane to keep an eye on how straigt a line the pilot could drive down the runway.

Tomorrow we leave for the rural area north of Johannesburg. It looks to be beautiful country in a completely different setting.

India Wrap Up

bnims — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:19:20 +0000

Our last day in India was amazing. We visited a Sunday school in a small village here in Chennai early this morning. We had the opportunity to visit one of the boys in his home near the church. It was a small single room dwelling with a small separate kitchen the size of a closet. The boy lives there with his mother and father, sister and brother. He was such a happy little guy. It was very cool talking to him about his faith and the Bible. Afterwards his mother asked us to pray for them to find a place with more room. Right.

In the afternoon we drove a couple hours down the coast to a small fishing village. We parked and took a “fairy” boat across the river then walked a couple hundred meters to a grass hut on the beach where they were having Sunday school. What more can I say. Grass hut. On the beach. Wow. This is the tsunami coast. When it hit the church was somehow spared. It seems our locations are getting progressively more removed from civilization as we know it. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for South Africa…

Tomorrow we fly to Johannesburg by way of Dubai. Please pray for no luggage problems and for safety.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Love Brent & Jenn

Last Day in India

bnims — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:32:49 +0000

Tomorrow is our last day in India. We are going to be visiting some Sunday schools and visiting children in their homes. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we are able to connect with the children on a deeper level. Thanks!

MORE PHOTOS!!

bnims — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:37:52 +0000

We were finally able to update our photostream now that we are out of China (flickr is blocked there). To see our China or India Photosets first click on the title of this post above then click here or visit http://flickr.com/photos/nims and click on the “China” or “India” photosets.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

bnims — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:36:51 +0000

Maybe we have been traveling too much… our 6.5 hour flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur seemed like a trip to Thousand Oaks from Ventura! (that’s about 30 minutes if you’re not familiar with the area)

Before we share more of our adventures, we want to thank all of your for your encouragement and prayers. We truly feel the Holy Spirit carrying us through our days. Knowing that you are thinking about us makes us feel not so far away & eases our homesickness. Thank you.

Right now we are taking in a little bit of home by sitting in Starbucks. Except Jenn is drinking an Azuki Red Bean Frappuccino (don’t think we have those in the states…but maybe). It’s nice to get a short break and sit together to write a post.

We are flying on Malaysia Airlines and all the attendant’s uniforms are traditional ethnic attire. What if airline attendants in America did that? What would they wear? Cowgirl/cowboy uniforms? Pilgrim style uniforms?

The ethnicity here in the airport and on our flight has been so diverse. Lots of Chinese, Indians and other Asian Pacific peoples. It’s interesting being the minority since we left LA. In Starbucks at least the music & walls are familiar (Feist is playing as I type).

This airport rocks. It won “Best Airport in the World” the last two years running. There’s a jungle encased in glass in the middle of the airport. The bathrooms have “clean squatters”. The public transportation rail comes right up into the middle of the main terminal. And, of course, Starbucks!

In about six hours we will be landing in Channai, India. We are so excited to meet our new friends Sudha and Monica. They will be our lifeline to the Indian culture while we are there. We’re also looking forward to meeting the children and families. Please pray that we see what God wants us to see, that everything goes smoothly and for good health.

Love,

Brent & Jenn