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Welcome to this
edition of our newsletter. Spend a few minutes to find
how we are partnering with other people. You can also
discover ongoing needs and ways you can be involved,
especially through your
prayers.
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 Moldovan regional pastors cast
a vision for tomorrow's ministry |
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Nine regional pastors and three national office
leaders from Moldova came together October 22-25, 2008
in Poiana Brasov, Romania, for an exciting retreat!
These key leaders are responsible for 521
churches and mission points with over 21,000
believers. Although Moldova is the second poorest
country in Europe-Albania the poorest-Baptists comprise
one percent of the population, the highest in
Europe.
The training from FLF focused on four
areas: 1) vision casting, 2) strategic planning for the
regions, 3) coaching pastors on conflict management and
4) shaping key leadership skills.
One of the
regional pastors participating was Rev. Pavel
Vaculovschi. He and his wife wrote at the end of the
retreat:
"We...were glad...that you
had the courage and the desire to help us, to encourage
us morally, spiritually and financially in the work we
are doing in the Orhei Region, Moldova. The
collaboration between us came when we were facing a
difficult period in the service we do, at that very
moment we were passing through some trials and
difficulties harder than ever. You have encouraged us
not to give up, not to lose heart, but to keep going
forward, living and preaching the Gospel, thus planting
new churches, and at the same time encouraging those
churches which already exist....May God be exalted in
everything!"
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What participating as a
coach meant to me
Dr. Bob
Johnston
Pastor,
First Baptist Church,
Rolla
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A highlight of my ministry is the unique
opportunity to be part of the leadership team that
traveled to the country of Moldova.
Future
Leadership Foundation seeks to provide the kind of
experience that can enable national leaders to reach
their highest level of service before God, and this
coaching retreat surpassed that goal. The joy of
the Moldovan Baptist leaders and their wives was
overwhelming, and I had the clear sense that we were
giving them a gift of a lifetime.
As the
retreat took place, it became obvious that this was an
exceptional event that would alter their
ministries. During the question and answer time on
the last day of the retreat, it became obvious that
coaching in the areas of vision casting, strategic
planning, and conflict resolution would spill over from
these twelve leaders into the 500 churches that make up
the Baptist Union of Moldova. What a blessing to
be a part of this! What a joy! What a
challenge to invest ourselves even more!
Photo: Valeriu Ghiletchi
(left), president, Baptist Union of Moldova, and Dr. Bob
Johnston.
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 Lithuanian leadership
training:
Arturas Puckovas
for Lithuania and pastor,
Good News Baptist Church,
Kaunas,
Lithuania
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FLF is completing its third year in training the
leaders of Lithuanian churches. This all-church-leader
event was again held at Christ's Mission Baptist Church
in Kaunas. Approximately ten churches were represented
with close to 70 persons participating.
The FLF team was pleased with the attendance and
participation. As always, we ask those whom we
serve to evaluate the event from top to bottom. The
national leaders plan the event based on their needs,
and FLF teams help them accomplish the work they believe
God is asking them to do for the
Kingdom.
The evaluation from the
Lithuanians:
"Greetings from
Lithuania. ...praise the Lord, people were encouraged and we
had good fellowship with our teachers. After the
seminar with help of missionary Nathan Leuthold (with
whom we co-work over 10 years) we started weekly men's
metings at his home. We temporarily named this "Men's
Club 24/7." We
have fellowship, prayer and Bible studies how to become
men of God. We have had six meetings and 14-17 men from
our and Christ Mission Church participating. So we will
see how it works later, but the need for men's
fellowship, encouraging and teaching is great." [Note: One of the teaching tracks was helping the
churches with adult Bible studies and small groups. Some
small groups were formed after the last training in this
area in 2005.]
Find the full evaluation
from this event on the FLF
website.
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FLF
considers
opportunities
in
Ukraine
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FLF was one of three groups that held
exploratory meetings this past November in St. Louis
with Dr. Ivan Romanyuk, President of Ukrainian Baptist
Theological Seminary (UBTS). Others included Dr. Alton
Lacey, President of Missouri Baptist University (MBU),
and a group known as Ukrainian Baptist Transformation
Group (UBTG). The latter includes several leaders in the
greater St. Louis area.
Our purpose was to
determine whether there are specific opportunities for
FLF to work with these organizations in leadership
development efforts in Ukraine.
Ivan
Romanyuk is president of a growing Baptist seminary in
Ukraine and pastor of Borislav Baptist Church. He is
also Senior Pastor for the Western Ukraine region of the
Ukraine Baptist Union. A true visionary, he also
holds several other key leadership positions in the
national Baptist organization. This gives him a unique
perspective on the most urgent needs and effective
approaches to Baptist efforts throughout the
country.
UBTG supports the Ukraine
seminary by sending visiting professors, providing
scholarships for students and participating in mission
projects. MBU and UBTS have signed a partnership
agreement designed to help UBTS in three areas. These
include the development of Baptist leaders, educational
literature and more effective ministries in Ukraine. All
of this helps bring additional international
perspectives to MBU.
Based on the
discussions, numerous opportunities have surfaced for
FLF to develop leadership and even engage other partners
in the opportunities. Read more about the
Ukrainian partnership with FLF, MBU and UBTG will be
shared in future newsletters.
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| NEEDED: In-kind gifts |
FLF continues to have needs
for these in-kind gifts. If you can help, contact Roger
Hatfield at our toll-free number or e-mail info@flfmissions.org .
§ Data Projector for the Bible Institute at Minsk [Belarus] Seminary.
This Institute has trained over 700 Sunday School
leaders throughout the country and is setting up three
learning centers.
§ Digital Camera and Video
Camera for FLF to use primarily overseas in
training events when teams are on the
field. |
First
steps in strategic initiatives: organizational
redesign |
"It seems
like everybody is always reorganizing all the
time!"
With the constant of change with us
anymore and the economic dilemmas facing us, all
organizations are rethinking how they can best function.
It echoes the words of Jesus: "And no one puts new wine
into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the
skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but
one puts new wine into fresh wineskins." (Mark
2:22)
Based on the Strategic Initiatives adopted by the
Board of Directors in their December 2008 meeting, FLF
is taking the first steps to rethink the organization in
order to accomplish the initiatives.
A small task force of heart-driven Christians with
experience in church, business and civic life came
together in January to help us do strategic planning and
organizing. This select group has gifts in those
areas as determined by a ministry tool called TheSHAPE,
produced by MinistryConnect, LLC.
When completed the new and improved organization
will be found on our
site. |
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If you are receiving this
newsletter, it is because we see you as a person who
shares our passion for the ministries you'll find in
this quarterly newsletter.
You can help by
praying, by volunteering and by contributing to our
work. Another way you can assist FLF is by
word-of-mouth, sharing this newsletter with others so
that we can expand our audience.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at
Future Leadership
Foundation
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Prayer points
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Prayer is the place to start
with our needs. Please remember these needs and share
them with others:
§ Thank God
for the incredible work of the nationals and Americans
in the training events in October 2008 in Lithuania and
Moldova.
§ Pray for Saulius
Karosas, pastor, CityChurch, Klaipeda, Lithuania, as he
engages the church in the city of Klaipeda to reach
unbelievers for Christ.
§
Pray for Minsk [Belarus] Theological Seminary as it
struggles with wise budget decisions and their upcoming
accreditation visit in May. Also pray for the
School of Music as it seeks to serve another semester
and meets the needs of an emerging body of trained
church musicians. Remember Leonid Mikhovich, seminary
president, and Nikolay Lomako, chair of the Music
Department.
§ Pray for the
Board of Directors of FLF as they begin to implement the
strategic initiatives that will guide FLF into the
future.
§ Pray for Ramune
Puckovas, wife of the pastor of Good News Church,
Kaunas, Lithuania, who completed chemotherapy for cancer
recently and will return for a checkup in
February. She is a nurse in an outstanding
hospital in Kaunas where she has taken her treatments.
Arturas and Ramune have a teenage
daughter.
§ Pray for the
FLF's 2009 Business by the Book events with the
partnership of Crown Europe and its program director,
Andrew Nedelchev, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
§ Pray for Ivan Romanyuk,
president, Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in
Borislav, Ukraine. Also, the seminary's academic dean,
Yaroslav [Slavik] Pyzh, is presently a student at
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth,
TX, working toward his PhD, and his family.
§ Pray for wisdom in doors that
God opens for FLF. When God does open doors, He also
provides the resources to do what He wants us to do with
leadership development. All the resources of the world
belong to God, and we know He will provide what He
chooses for us.
Find further information and
additional prayer requests on the FLF Prayer Request page.
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Stay in
touch
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Our new United States toll-free number
is: 1.866.652.5150.
Also please note the change to our Skype
address: flfleadership.
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Purchase a Fresh Wind CD
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The beauty of music is one constant that doesn't
change.
That's what you can find on the Fresh Wind CD. It is a
collaboration of the Belarus National Christian Choir
and the Farmington First Baptist Church choir and
orchestra.
Sales of the CD benefit the Minsk
Seminary. (See Prayer
points.)
Use the FLF site to
print out an order form
or
order via a credit card
. By mail, send a check or money order
to:Future Leadership Foundation, PO Box 105225,
Jefferson City MO 65110, and we will mail the CDs to
you.
Please include the address and
quantity of Fresh
Wind CDs you wish. We pay the shipping. Your order will arrive within two weeks.
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FLF developing a 2009 worship
seminar
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John Jackson observes: "Our goal for the body of
Christ in Belarus is 'One in Christ: United in
Worship.'"
"As we follow God's
leadership in our partnership with the churches in
Belarus, our desire is to join Belarusians in working
together to preserve the heritage of the past, celebrate
the unity of the present, and look forward to the hope
we have in Christ for the future.
The key to accomplishing
these tasks is to equip and unite church leaders and
their congregations in a common understanding of the
basic principles of Biblical worship. Through the
training of these leaders, we hope to involve them in
the implementing of these concepts in the church and the
curriculum of theological schools in
Belarus.
"Future Leadership Foundation
is actively involved in the process of developing a
worship seminar in 2009 to address these issues. Our
hope is that pastors, music leaders, Baptist union
leaders, seminary students and faculty will embrace this
vision as we work together to honor Christ in worship
and celebrate the unity we have in
Him."
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