kindling your love for God’s world

fbcslo
& vintage
the
Spark January 2010

God's hands of care in Haiti

Seeing images of disaster and heartbreak, we
often wonder, what can we do? Thankfully we
are not just bystanders. We can help.

Ben Barczi
missions director

CNN.com
GET INVOLVED
Donate financially. A full list of excellent charities
and relief funds is available on the Spark blog,
www.fbcslo.org/Missions. Here are a few:
• Food for the Hungry (http://www.fh.org)
• Real Hope for Haiti (http://haitirescuecenter.
wordpress.com/)
• Feed My Starving Children (http://fmsc.org)
Since last Tuesday, the news and Internet have been streaming
with stories, video and images of disaster: a 7.0 earthquake struck
the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Much of the city is levelled.
The death toll is climbing as thousands, trapped in the rubble, run
out of time to be rescued.
It's jarring to look at such suffering and heartbreak, and feel use-
less. What can I do? we ask ourselves. Too often, the assumed answer
is: nothing.
That's not true. We can give financially to relief efforts. (See a list-
ing in the sidebar at left.) Or donate supplies to organizations that
will take them. We can even go ourselves on relief teams that will
be put together during the coming months. (Don't forget—much of
the work will need to be done months from now, after the media has
moved on to other stories.)
But above all, we can pray. Ultimately, God is in control of Haiti.
He is working out His purposes for good, even now. Pray that He
will move people to give, to go. Pray that He will show His kindness
and rescue many. Above all, pray that many will "give glory to God
in Heaven" (see Revelation 11:13) and find His grace in Jesus Christ.

FEATURES MISSIONARY UPDATES FROM THE FIELD

TEACHING, MISSIONS, & URBANA Find out the latest in the ministry MEET BRANDON
Our own Stephanie Ng shares her of our missionaries, and how to Our newest mis-
experience learning about missions pray from them sionary, Brandon, is
with 16,000 other students at a ALSO, activities for families to bringing the Savior
recent conference in St. Louis, MO. support our missionaries together! to El Salvador

PAGE 2 PAGES 4-5 PAGE 6

2 January 2010 the Spark
URBANA 09
FBC member learns about missions
Stephanie Ng joined 16,000 students in St. Louis for Urbana09
Stephanie Ng
FBCSLO member
A future public school teacher going to
Urbana09, a world missions conference in
St. Louis, MO? What was I doing there?
Public schools are obviously in America,
and I wouldn't be going to Africa any time
soon. I’m on a one way track in my studies
to stay in California and teach elementary
school children. But I'm still interested in
God's work in the world, so I went to Ur-
bana09 to see what God is doing in other
parts of the world.
I was surprised when I noticed a work-
shop for public school teachers. I had to go.
The seminar leader referred to the public
school system as a closed country. He ex-
plained how a closed country has its own
laws, language, politics, people, and cul-
ture. As I thought about it, I realized that
the public school system truly is a closed
country. Not everyone is able to go into this
country. Just by completing my studies at
2010
Short Term
Missions
Want to go?
Here are some Peru
FBCSLO trips March 20–31
to consider! Applications due
IMMEDIATELY!
Cal Poly, I will gain access to (little) peo-
ple. Since so many children come to know
Christ at a young age, they need a good
influence and Christ-like example in their
daily life. Jesus said to “let the little chil-
dren come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such
as these.” (Matthew 19:14) With so many
hindrances, like video games and TV, chil-
dren are distracted, may not see Jesus, and
are missing out on the kingdom of heaven.
Creative and Christ-centered people are
needed in all closed countries, like public
schools. Is your current or future work-
place a closed country? Where I am is my
mission field. The people I know now are
my neighbors who need to meet Jesus.
Sitting alongside the 16,000 young peo-
ple attending Urbana09, I decided to com-
mit to serve in a global or cross-cultural
setting for short term as well as long term.
Long term, I will serve as a public school
teacher in California. As for short term, I
am prayerfully looking for an opportunity
to teach overseas.
India Tulsa, OK
Spring 2010 Summer 2010
Encourage pastors in Visit NBCC, a church
Northern India we helped plant!
Stephanie's Top A-Ha
Moments at Urbana 09
Prayer: Pray big and study
the Bible so the stories can be
referenced in prayer. How did
God deliver people in bibli-
cal times? How can He deliver
people today?
Bible Study: Study the Bible in-
ductively. Ask lots of questions.
The Bible will interpret itself.
Worship cross culturally: God
reveals himself in different
“neighborhoods." From Afri-
can energy and song, to Latin
dancing and celebration. From
Asian reverence and devotion,
to North American traditions.
We can see God’s faithfulness
through time.
Justice: Dealing with justice in
the world seems out of reach,
but to understand God’s love
for the whole world, a Chris-
tian perspective is needed in
helping all people.
Incarnation: In the Biblical cul-
ture, it shows more love to visit
people at their home where
they are comfortable, rather
than for them to visit where
you are comfortable. God did
exactly that when he came as
a child.
Community: At Urbana, we
formed Family groups with the
people you were living around.
Sharing in a safe environment
is important, but it is also im-
portant to be able to leave and
share with others who Jesus is.
for more info,
contact Ben
Israel ben@fbcslo.org
Nov 29–Dec 7
Sight-seeing trip in the
Holy Land
 the Spark January 2010 3

Reaping a harvest among workers in Culiacan

SHORT TERM MISSIONS
Sally Weltner
FBCSLO member
I knew I was in Mexico when I heard “Jingle
Bells” playing in Spanish over a loud speaker
while an eager porter offered to carry my bags
for a small “propina, señora.” The team of 20
from Phoenix had arrived a few hours earlier
on the Ox, a converted school bus loaded with
cots, kitchen, shower and toilet, and a lot of
CD’s and duplicating equipment.
I had arrived in Culiacan, Mexico, and was
about to embark on a mission aimed at reach-
ing the indigenous peoples in work camps
scattered among the fields.
The first night, the missionaries told sto-
ries of people begging for Bibles—some had
had dreams that the words of life would come
their way before our teams arrived. Our lead-
er, Jason, spoke of the eternal tribes of people
that would be gathered around the throne
in heaven as a result of this brief stay in an
unassuming Mexican agricultural town. His
heavenly vision assured me I was going to love
serving the Lord alongside these new friends.
Our days consisted of work projects clean-
ing up Campo Esperanza for the big team that
comes in February every year. We hooked up
donated refrigerators, built a sink, organized
clothes, gospel tracks, CD’s and players, killed
a few rats and cockroaches and generally en-
joyed ourselves singing and talking about
God’s work all day.
The real excitement, however, was at night.
We organized ourselves into teams and went
out to the work camps just as people were fin-
ishing up in the fields. We went door to door
inviting them to see the Jesus film we’d show
at sundown, and asking them if they’d like a
recording of the Gospel in their own language.
After figuring out which one it was, a runner
would be sent back to the Ox to burn a CD in
one of 130 different indigenous languages. Ev-
ery door we went to wanted one.
Next, we would show the Jesus film in
Spanish. I was amazed at how most of the
camp stood and watched for over 2 hours. Af-
ter that, someone would preach the gospel and
give an invitation and nearly every hand went
up. Later we sang a few songs, and prayed with
the new believers. We told them to take a good
look around, as this was their new church. We
encouraged them to read what they could in
the Bibles we gave them and waved goodbye.
Thankfully there is a church in Culiacan
working on follow up, although with record
numbers getting saved they are a bit over-
whelmed. I’ve never experienced a harvest
field so ripe, or souls as eager for salvation as
this. My life was forever changed.
More online!
You can watch an interview
with Sally about her trip on
the Spark blog!
www.fbcslo.org/Missions

THINKING GLOBALLY
"

"

Novosibirsk Leninsk-Kuzneckij
Pray for the Qinghai people in China Kazak, Prokopjevsk
Qinghai of China
" "

0 60120180 Abakan
Barnaul
Km
" www.joshuaproject.net
Mezdurecensk
Kazakh Qinghai CHINA Bijsk
Pavlodar
Population: 3,400 Ekibastuz RUSSIA
Language: Kazakh
Main religion: Islam Ust'-Kamenogorsk
Christian population: 0.00%
"

Although the Qinghai Kazaks are part of the official Kazak nation-
KAZAKHSTAN
ality in China, they now consider themselves to be a distinct people MONGOLIA
group. Their language has also become different from other Kazaks in
Xinjiang. The Qinghai Kazaks have a common affinity and kinship for
Taldy-Kurgan
each other because of the horrendous events of their history.
Shihezi
The Kazaks have long desired to have their own independent state. Urumqi
Almaty
"

In the 1940s a man named Osman led his fellow Kazaks in a rebellion. "
Hami
^
This rebellion gave them control of a large area of southwest Xinjiang.
KYRGYZSTAN
Several years later in 1951, Osman was captured and executed. In 1953, Aksu CHINA
the Communists slaughtered 12,600 of
Geography from GMMS 2007, Global Mapping International
the 15,000 Kazaks who attempted to Language Locations from World Language Mapping System 2003

flee China.
Although they claim to be Muslims, Prayer Points:
the Qinghai Kazaks are essentially
• The Qinghai are an entirely untouched people
animists. They also engage in ancestor
group—they have no knowledge of the Gospel or of
worship. They are surrounded by Ti-
Jesus Christ whatsoever.
betan Buddhists on every side but have
stubbornly refused to embrace their re- • There is no complete Bible available in the Kazakh
ligion. The Qinghai Kazaks still admit to language. Pray for translators to finish the work.
being Muslims; but without the Qur'an,
• Ask for God to send missionaries to build bridges into
teachers, or a mosque to worship in,
this community. There are none, currently.
their devotion has gradually eroded.
4 January 2010 the Spark

MISSIONARY UPDATES

The Pappases The Jacksons

Jamey, Gretchen, Grace
& Jason
Campus Crusade,
San Luis Obispo
NEWS & UPDATES
We gave out about 3,000
Freshman Survival Kits to
incoming students at Cal Poly and Cuesta.
We have a web site, everyslostudent.com. Students can go to
this web site and e-mail in questions about God, the Bible,
evolution, etc and a staff person will send them back an answer.
They can also watch video testimonies of other SLO students,
and can read a gospel presentation. Thousands of students have
viewed this site and over two hundred have made decisions
to receive Christ— many of those are now attending our Bible
studies or are being followed up by our students.
We currently have about 150 students leading Bible studies
at both schools—at least 1 men’s and 1 women’s study in every
dorm at Cal Poly.
We sent about 100 students on short-term mission trips
this summer, or on 1-year mission “stints” to East Asia, El Salva-
dor, South Africa or Turkey, or into full-time ministry.
More updates and photos online!
Kujanga, Kimberly,
Jazmyn & Jaelin
New Beginnings
Community Church,
Tulsa, OK
NEWS & UPDATES
As I began focusing on more discipleship based teaching, our
numbers dropped by about 20%-25%. I had to take this ap-
proach—too many people where falling back into the same pat-
terns of life outside God's will.
As you may recall, we have been working on getting our permit
to even be in the building for the past 3 years! The permit finally
came through.
We are still working on doing required modifications. We have
purposed in our heart to pay CASH for everything!
We have moved our afterschool program, which now has 75 kids
from 2 schools; 4 days a week, to the church building. This tran-
sition from our community center is already yielding fruit as we
had our first community center FAMILY SAVED & BAPTIZED
here at the church!

Harvest India The Nelsons

Vijay & Anujit Emerson, Tom & Nicole
Angel
The Navigators,
Patiala, India San Luis Obispo

NEWS & UPDATES Tom and Nicole will be working

Vijay has begun a new with college students at Cal Poly,
church, and there are about discipling and building relation-
five families who attend, ships to draw students into a
with more interested! relationship with Christ.
Patiala
PRAY FOR HARVEST PRAY FOR THE NELSONS
INDIA That God would grow them closer together in their vision for
Pray for strength to pray, this ministry during Winter quarter at Cal Poly
fast and persevere in prayer That God would strengthen the relationships of The Navigator
and preaching the gospel to staff team in San Luis Obispo
people That God would continue to provide the needed support for this
Pray God would remove the hindrances of people to attend the ministry
church on Sunday morning regularly, give them hunger and That God would begin a good work in the hearts and minds of
thirst for God’s Word and fellowship. those Cal Poly students they will be interacting with in the com-
Pray for two families Vijay is caring for, that every bondage of ing weeks, months, and years
spirit, soul and body be broken and every evil influence be bro-
ken that is working against them. May they find eternal life and
freedom in Christ.
 the Spark January 2010 5

read more and find recent news from our missionaries at www.fbcslo.org/Missions

The Bolgers
Justin & Amy
Skate Church,
Atascadero, CA

For security reasons, Justin & Amy have min-

istry with youth at the
this article is not Atascadero Skate Park; each
Thursday night about 50 kids

available on the web. gather to eat dinner, hear a message from the Word, then skate.

You may request a

PRAY FOR THE BOLGERS
Please pray for the right people to get involved in these kids
lives. We need help.
print version from our Pray for financial support. Without this, a big part of our minis-
try will be gone as I will have to look for work.
office: There is such a dark spiritual stronghold on some of these kids.
Please pray that they would allow Jesus to set them free from
office@fbcslo.org such bondage.
Pray that our Bible study on Thursday mornings would strength-
en our faith and pray that some of these kids who come would
find Truth and follow Him.
-Pray that God will continue giving us the opportunities to share
the gospel and the love!

The Morrises Brandon

Tim & Julie
Disciples Church,
Folsom, CA
Tim is serving as the wor-
ship leader for a new church
plant in Folsom, Disciples
Church.
You can learn more about the new church at:
www.discipleschurch.net
PRAY FOR THE MORRISES
Julie and I have a praise—she found a new job working as an
administrator for a Learning Center which is a huge answer to
prayer. Praise God!
Also, our worship team has doubled, with 9 talented, committed
members on the team. Another very specific answer to prayer!
We're partnering with another church plant called The Awaken-
ing, which is currently being planted in Hawaii! Pray for them.
Please pray for our church's finances! Also, please pray for our
growth and unity. Pray for our Pastor, Stu, and his family; our
program director, Sean and his wife, Teri; our connections
leader, Adam; and for me as I lead worship.
Jernigan
El Salvador
Brandon serves with Cam-
pus Crusade in San Salvador,
making relationships and
sharing the Gospel with
university students.
PRAY FOR BRANDON
The new school year starts at the end of January so please pray
for our planning as we get ready for the new school year and
please pray that we would be able to effectively reach the incom-
ing freshman.
There is a student named Ruben who is considering joining staff
when he graduates at the end of this year, so please pray that
the Lord would guide him in this decision because there is a lot
of outside pressure on him to go work for his dad as soon as he
graduates.
Please pray that our student leaders would continue to take con-
trol of the ministry from us and that the Lord would continue to
raise up new students leaders on the campus.
Read more about Brandon's ministry on page 6!
6 January 2010 the Spark

Bringing the Savior to El Salvador's college students

Meet Brandon Jernigan,
our newest missionary. For
the past year and a half,
Brandon has been working
with Campus Crusade
to share the Gospel with
university students in San
Sal vador.
Brandon Jernigan
missionary
El Salvador is a small Central American
country located in between Honduras and
Guatemala.  It is a country full of conflicts and
contradictions and ironically is in need of The
Savior more than its name might suggest.
Although the Gospel has reached many of
the poor in El Salvador, the university students
have been almost completely unaffected.  Al-
most all of El Salvador’s leaders come from the
university, yet only a fraction of the people go
to college because of the extreme poverty.  We
believe that by reaching these college students
we can not only change their lives for eternity,
Pray for Brandon Jernigan
• For planning for the new school year
• That the team would reach freshmen
• For student leaders to take ownership
• For Reuben, a student who is considering
coming on staff at the end of the year.
but also change the lives of millions of Salva-
dorians and their country.
Last year we saw several students come
to know Christ and now have a core group of
about 10 students who have a heart and pas-
sion to see the Gospel proclaimed on their
campus and around the world.  This year our
focus will be on continuing to share the Gos-
pel on the college campuses and discipling stu-
dents to help them grow in their understand-
ing of their faith and of the Lord.  We will also
be beginning a new ministry on a different
university campus in San Salvador and trust-
ing the Lord to raise up new student leaders
and laborers to take the Gospel to this new
campus.
Recently, we were finally able to hold our
first Christmas conference for students from
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Our
hope for the conference was to bring students
from these three countries to learn more about
their relationship with Christ, especially in re-
gards to how to share their faith. About 80 stu-
dents and staff came with about 20 students
from El Salvador, which was a huge answer to
prayer as we only had 3 students signed up the
week before the conference!
During the conference we had an evangelis-
tic concert in the nearby town of Chiquimu-
lilla, Guatemala where we went out inviting
people to the concert and engaging them in
spiritual conversations to share the Gospel. It
was incredible to watch the students step out
in faith and practice the things they had been
learning at the conference. We saw several
people come to Christ during the concert and
helped connect them to a local church where
they could continue to grow after we left! Not
only did we see God grow our students in their
ability to step out in faith and share the Gos-
pel, but we also saw them grow in their rela-
tionships with each other. We are very excited
for the start of the next school year (at the end
of January) and hope that this conference will
be the first stepping stone for the ministry
during this new year.
Please be praying for my team and I as we
continue the ministry in El Salvador.  Please
pray specifically that the student leaders
would continue to grow in their faith and con-
tinue to deepen their ownership and commit-
ment to the ministry and the Lord.  Also praise
the Lord for his provision for my team as we all
have reached our financial goal! 

the Spark
Local Outreach Opportunities
FEED THE HOMELESS @ PEOPLE’S KITCHEN
The Spark is a bi-monthly publication by
the Missions Department of FBCSLO and
January 23th, 10:00a–1:30p
Vintage Community. Serve lunch to people in need. Meet in the church kitchen at 10:00 am. You
can help by providing food or financial support, preparing or serving the
The Missions Department aims to equip you meal, and praying. Sign up on a communication card or contact Ben Barc-
to love God’s world.
zi (ben@fbcslo.org).
Questions, comments, or requests for more
information about missions can be sent to STAY OVERNIGHT @ THE ECHO SHELTER IN ATASCADERO
Ben Barczi, missions director:
Any night, 5p–7a
ben@fbcslo.org • 805.550.7260
The ECHO Shelter provides a safe place for homeless families to sleep
FBCSLO/Vintage Community Office: and get dinner and breakfast. They need volunteers to stay overnight in
2075 Johnson Ave, SLO 93401 pairs, taking turns sleeping and watching to make sure everyone is al-
office@fbcslo.org • 805.543.0945
right. If you're interested, contact Patty at 461.8539.