Dear friends,

A woman’s voice called out in French, her voice rising in volume and urgency with each repetition, “Calling.  CaLLing! HEY! I’M CALLING!!!”  Each time this happened, everyone in the seminar laughed at the funny cell phone ring!  Most of the pastors and deacons attending were too poor even to think about owning a cell phone yet, but one school teacher/leader was clearly a bit better off than the others.

I just spent 11 days in Burundi, getting familiar with their unique situation and teaching between 20 and 30 0f their pastors and deacons.  Burundi is a country that has been ripped by civil wars, and is locked in struggle with extreme poverty.  Many of the leaders lack a basic education, and only a handful have made it past high school.  But Burundi is a superb example of how International Ministries is committed to partnering with believers from other countries.

The leaders of the Free Baptist Church of Burundi realized they had a very big problem, and needed help.  A religion strong in other parts of Africa and long present in their country is becoming dramatically more active.  It has seen a recent surge in growth, with all signs pointing toward that growth rate continuing.  This religion is well funded and they are sending people into places where they have rarely been seen before to proclaim this “new gospel.”  They give away food, clothes, free education and free medical treatment.   Many view them as a threat because of other methods they use to convert people to their religion and because of news reports from other parts of Africa. The leadership of the Free Baptists want their people to respond to these people with the love of Christ in such a compelling way that rather than lose people to the other religion, members of the other religion will find the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ.  That is the teaching and training that I and an Australian colleague were providing.  Our teaching was eagerly sought and gratefully received.  The fact that no students left the training during the week seemed evidence to us of the importance the pastors themselves  felt.

I read a book several years ago by an Indian church leader proclaiming a new day in Christian missions.  His proposal was that Western missionaries no longer be sent to other countries, because it was far cheaper to support a local worker.  However, International Ministries recognized that long ago, and has always been committed to training and supporting local Christians in the proclamation of the Gospel.  This is what the World Mission Offering primarily does, and that is why it is still vitally important.  The problem is that God calls people far more urgently than the French voice on the cell phone.  He calls some to go to their own Jerusalem, some to their Judea, some to a Samaria, and some to the ends of the earth.  He calls people through International Ministries and through our cross cultural partners.  I am often asked if it is more important to give to the personal support of a missionary, or to the World Mission Offering.  The answer is that both are vitally important, because both support people in the way God wants to and is using them.

Thank you for your support which allows me to minister to partners in the United States, and in extremely hard places like Burundi.     

Yours in Christ,

Walt White