Jeju recently finished its cafetorium and kitchen, with volunteer work and donations helping the campus take an important step in its effort to reach all of Asia for Christ.
Check out some photos of the finished kitchen.
Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asia. Show all posts
4.23.2014
Jeju Kitchen: All Finished!
When the Bible Institute opened its Jeju campus in 2012, the teaching site was only partially completed. Classes began without a key piece -- the campus's cafetorium (and kitchen), which not only feeds the students but also is built to be easily expanded beyond its current double function as a teaching space as the student body grows.
Jeju recently finished its cafetorium and kitchen, with volunteer work and donations helping the campus take an important step in its effort to reach all of Asia for Christ.
Check out some photos of the finished kitchen.
Jeju recently finished its cafetorium and kitchen, with volunteer work and donations helping the campus take an important step in its effort to reach all of Asia for Christ.
Check out some photos of the finished kitchen.
5.11.2013
Refresh: Remembering the truth behind what we know about joy.
By Steve Nicholes
When I transferred from the Bible Institute to college, I was put in a dorm where students who decided to enroll at the last minute were housed. It was a bad scene and, to be honest, I hated my situation.
I had just come from the Bible Institute, where I was a big fish in a small pond. At the new school, hardly anybody knew me. I remember one of my Bible Institute friends coming up to me one day and saying, “Steve, I used to think you were really important....”
Every time I went into my dorm, I got depressed. That was a first for me. I was a pretty positive guy. I started asking God “Why?” The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. It was like I was in this hole, and I was going down, and I didn’t know how to get out.
Finally, one day, in the middle of my depression, I remembered a song from when I was a little kid.
Jesus and others and you — what a wonderful way to spell ‘joy.’
Jesus and others and you in the heart of each girl and each boy.
J is for Jesus, for He has first place,
O is for others we meet face to face.
Y is for you in whatever you do,
So put yourself last and spell joy.
I knew many Scripture verses talk about this idea. “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). “Let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3). And the greatest commands in Scripture are to (1) love God with all your heart and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).
I believed these things were true, but I didn’t know how they would bring joy. I was desperate in my black hole, though. I prayed, “God, help me,” and He gave me the idea to get together with some other Bible Institute alumni who were at the school. One of them lived off-campus, so I asked if we could buy the stuff to make chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies and make them at his home.
After that, we took the cookies to a nursing home and began to go room to room. I took my cookies into the first room. The lady sitting there was so surprised to have a visitor. She began telling me her story. She told me that her kids never came to visit her. Over and over, she kept saying, “Thank you for taking time to come and be with me.” The next room was a similar story — and the next and the next.
By the time I stepped back onto campus, my whole mindset had changed. I had finally stopped looking at myself and had begun looking at those around me who were hurting.
The path out of my hole really was Jesus first, others second, and myself last.
If we really love Jesus and put Him first, then we can enjoy time with Him even if we are on a desert road without anyone else. Then, putting others second makes us stop focusing on ourselves. I can say that I have never again been depressed like that in my life. The new focus changed my life and my perspective.
I don’t know where this article finds you, but as I watch world news from Jeju Island in South Korea, there are so many things that can drag us down. I hope that this simple but timeless principle will help you as it did me. Lift your eyes up to the Lord first, and then look around to others who are worse off than you and lend a helping hand. I firmly believe it won’t be long before you will gain victory over whatever is trying to drag you down.
“Jesus and others and you — what a wonderful way to spell ‘joy.’”
Steve Nicholes, Class of 1981, is the director of Word of Life Northeast Asia. He now leads the campus in Jeju, South Korea, with his wife Rhonda, Class of 1985, by his side.
When I transferred from the Bible Institute to college, I was put in a dorm where students who decided to enroll at the last minute were housed. It was a bad scene and, to be honest, I hated my situation.
I had just come from the Bible Institute, where I was a big fish in a small pond. At the new school, hardly anybody knew me. I remember one of my Bible Institute friends coming up to me one day and saying, “Steve, I used to think you were really important....” Every time I went into my dorm, I got depressed. That was a first for me. I was a pretty positive guy. I started asking God “Why?” The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. It was like I was in this hole, and I was going down, and I didn’t know how to get out.
Finally, one day, in the middle of my depression, I remembered a song from when I was a little kid.
Jesus and others and you — what a wonderful way to spell ‘joy.’
Jesus and others and you in the heart of each girl and each boy.
J is for Jesus, for He has first place,
O is for others we meet face to face.
Y is for you in whatever you do,
So put yourself last and spell joy.
I knew many Scripture verses talk about this idea. “Seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30). “Let each esteem others better than himself” (Philippians 2:3). And the greatest commands in Scripture are to (1) love God with all your heart and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).
I believed these things were true, but I didn’t know how they would bring joy. I was desperate in my black hole, though. I prayed, “God, help me,” and He gave me the idea to get together with some other Bible Institute alumni who were at the school. One of them lived off-campus, so I asked if we could buy the stuff to make chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies and make them at his home.
After that, we took the cookies to a nursing home and began to go room to room. I took my cookies into the first room. The lady sitting there was so surprised to have a visitor. She began telling me her story. She told me that her kids never came to visit her. Over and over, she kept saying, “Thank you for taking time to come and be with me.” The next room was a similar story — and the next and the next.
By the time I stepped back onto campus, my whole mindset had changed. I had finally stopped looking at myself and had begun looking at those around me who were hurting.
The path out of my hole really was Jesus first, others second, and myself last.
If we really love Jesus and put Him first, then we can enjoy time with Him even if we are on a desert road without anyone else. Then, putting others second makes us stop focusing on ourselves. I can say that I have never again been depressed like that in my life. The new focus changed my life and my perspective.
I don’t know where this article finds you, but as I watch world news from Jeju Island in South Korea, there are so many things that can drag us down. I hope that this simple but timeless principle will help you as it did me. Lift your eyes up to the Lord first, and then look around to others who are worse off than you and lend a helping hand. I firmly believe it won’t be long before you will gain victory over whatever is trying to drag you down.
“Jesus and others and you — what a wonderful way to spell ‘joy.’”
Steve Nicholes, Class of 1981, is the director of Word of Life Northeast Asia. He now leads the campus in Jeju, South Korea, with his wife Rhonda, Class of 1985, by his side.
10.11.2012
On their way back home: Chris Gnanakan, Class of 1985.
Many Christians pray for the people around the world who haven't been reached for Christ. Others have gone, leaving the places they know as home, to tell others of true hope. But often, despite years of training or persistent traveling, some areas remain closed to the Gospel.
That is, unless the Christians already there know how to spread the truth — from the inside out.
Chris Gnanakan grew up in Bangalore, India. His great grandfather was the first in his ancestry to become a Christian, and Chris was saved at 15 when a message about God's love changed him.
Chris became very aware of his sinfulness, but that realization was also met with the truth of God's mercy. Compared with India’s prevalent Hindu idea of karma, which atones for sin with punishment, a Savior Who would actually forgive a sinner filled Chris with hope.
But Chris hadn't considered Christianity's reach beyond the life he knew. He was building a career as a skilled technician in Bangalore, the "Silicon Valley of the East" — until, one day, he was moved to make his faith the focus of his life.
Chris was being discipled by Gene Tozer from New Brunswick Bible Institute in the late 1970s when he met Wendell Calder, who taught at Word of Life's Bible Institute and had founded a ministry called Local Church Evangelism. Wendell, who was visiting India, had been working with Jack Wyrtzen and Word of Life on reaching more countries for Christ. At that time, missionaries from the West weren’t allowed in India — but there was nothing to keep a native Indian from sharing his faith.
Chris Gnanakan: Making a pact for a global impact.
For decades, Bible Institute students have read Operation World by Jason Mandryk together. The book is an evangelical tour guide, profiling the state of Christianity in all of the world’s countries.
Chris Gnanakan read and prayed over the book with classmate Nathan Graves during his Bible Institute year. They met at the old Snack Shack on the New York campus and made a pact to go wherever God would lead.
Chris’ path led to India, while Nathan headed to Albania, which at the time was deemed the most difficult nation for Christians. After 25 years in missions, they met in Macedonia in 2010 at the first Balkan World Mission Conference, led by Eagles of Peace, Nathan’s missions organization. The theme of the gathering was “From everywhere to everywhere,” based on Paul’s mission in the New Testament.
Chris and Nathan looked at the crowd and saw people from all over the Balkan Peninsula who are committed to reaching the many nations there that can't be entered by American missionaries.
While preaching Christ remains a struggle in India, Albania’s religious climate has changed since Nathan arrived. Christians now make up more than 30 percent of the country’s population.
Chris Gnanakan read and prayed over the book with classmate Nathan Graves during his Bible Institute year. They met at the old Snack Shack on the New York campus and made a pact to go wherever God would lead.
Chris’ path led to India, while Nathan headed to Albania, which at the time was deemed the most difficult nation for Christians. After 25 years in missions, they met in Macedonia in 2010 at the first Balkan World Mission Conference, led by Eagles of Peace, Nathan’s missions organization. The theme of the gathering was “From everywhere to everywhere,” based on Paul’s mission in the New Testament.
Chris and Nathan looked at the crowd and saw people from all over the Balkan Peninsula who are committed to reaching the many nations there that can't be entered by American missionaries.
While preaching Christ remains a struggle in India, Albania’s religious climate has changed since Nathan arrived. Christians now make up more than 30 percent of the country’s population.
Chris Gnanakan: What's the 114?
They named their older daughter, Alethea, after the Greek word for “truth.” Her sister, Charis, gets her name from the Greek “grace.”
“Truth can get harsh, and grace can be too flimsy — turning to disgrace,” Chris says. “The balance of the two is what Word of Life taught me. The strong and soft parts work together in missions and in ministry.”
Alethea is studying pre-medicine at Liberty University, and Charis is a sophomore at Bangor Christian School. Dorothy is a software programmer and technical instructor at the University of Maine.
Chris Gnanakan: Hitting the Books.
While planting churches, pastoring, and teaching across Asia, Chris Gnanakan has also been continuing his theological study.
He received his masters of divinity in pastoral theology from Asia Graduate School of Theology in 1993, his masters of theology and doctorate of ministry from South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in 1995 and 1998, and his doctorate from Leeds University in the United Kingdom in 2006. Since 1999, Chris has been lecturing and producing curriculum for Biblical Mandate for Evangelism at the Haggai Institute for Leadership Development. He’s also a consultant with the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and a contributing member of the International Council for Higher Education.
In addition to his work with Outreach to Asia Nationals, Chris teaches, speaks, and produces radio broadcasts with FEBA (Transforming Truth) and TWR (Thru the Bible). He’s currently the missions pastor at Bangor Baptist Church in Bangor, Maine, where he and his family live.
He received his masters of divinity in pastoral theology from Asia Graduate School of Theology in 1993, his masters of theology and doctorate of ministry from South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in 1995 and 1998, and his doctorate from Leeds University in the United Kingdom in 2006. Since 1999, Chris has been lecturing and producing curriculum for Biblical Mandate for Evangelism at the Haggai Institute for Leadership Development. He’s also a consultant with the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and a contributing member of the International Council for Higher Education.
In addition to his work with Outreach to Asia Nationals, Chris teaches, speaks, and produces radio broadcasts with FEBA (Transforming Truth) and TWR (Thru the Bible). He’s currently the missions pastor at Bangor Baptist Church in Bangor, Maine, where he and his family live.
7.30.2012
The Bible Institute in Jeju, South Korea: Asia comes within reach.
The Bible Institute’s latest satellite is Word of Life’s most distinctive stretch into the lost countries of Asia. See what we wrote when the campus first opened in 2011.
China censors its media and restricts its citizens, hanging a black cloak over society even as it preaches growth and builds new bridges and homes with promises of a bright future.
Japan boasts some of the finest technology in the world, with innovation a second nature, but the island nation also has the highest suicide rate worldwide, with young people having everything to live for but deciding it’s not worth a try.
Russia lives under the grasp of narrow ambition, its leader playing societal roulette with a vision that works to grip only the moment with violence, restrictions, and silence.
Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and the islands lay in the squalor of want, the heat of the day baking hungry bodies, the rags of need covering lives searching for meaning.
Campfires began on the shore of Schroon Lake 65 years ago and then lit up the world, country by country. But of all the nations filled with campfire glow on a given summer evening, one place has stayed very dark: Asia.
Until now.
Jeju: A satellite campus
What makes the first-year Bible Institute program different in Korea — and the same?
One of Word of Life’s strongest qualities is that it reaches across cultures and nationalities to connect people to Christ and His message of life and change.
Jeju, the first Asian Bible Institute, is no different. It has a lot in common with the Bible Institutes and discipleship training centers around the world that tackle cultural differences while teaching God’s Word each day.
But even as it gathers students from Korea (14), Japan (5), the United States (11), and Canada (3), Jeju’s approach is to be a satellite school of its North American counterparts in New York, Florida, and Ontario. With similar ministry, teaching, and discipleship structures, the Jeju campus takes students through the same first-year program as the other Bible Institutes. Many of the same professors teach in Korea, and students graduate with the same academic coursework and ministry opportunities as they would if they went to a North American campus.
The advantage of offering the same base in Asia, of course, is that these students are that much closer to ministry in Korea, Japan, China, and other Asian countries, both during and after their Bible Institute years.
All five Japanese students are looking into full-time Christian service — most of them in their home country, where many Christian leaders and pastors are from the older generation. North American students are seeing firsthand what missions in Asia looks like.
Most Jeju students come from the discipleship training centers, and Bible Institute enrollment will likely grow as more of these centers are established across Asia.
The Jeju Bible Institute is continuing to recruit new class members, both for next year and future terms. If you know someone who may be interested in having a Bible Institute experience in Korea, check out wolbiasia.com, which has frequently asked questions, updates about the ministry, and links to the admissions process, which is mostly the same as applying to a North American Bible Institute.
One of Word of Life’s strongest qualities is that it reaches across cultures and nationalities to connect people to Christ and His message of life and change.
Jeju, the first Asian Bible Institute, is no different. It has a lot in common with the Bible Institutes and discipleship training centers around the world that tackle cultural differences while teaching God’s Word each day.
The advantage of offering the same base in Asia, of course, is that these students are that much closer to ministry in Korea, Japan, China, and other Asian countries, both during and after their Bible Institute years.
All five Japanese students are looking into full-time Christian service — most of them in their home country, where many Christian leaders and pastors are from the older generation. North American students are seeing firsthand what missions in Asia looks like.
Most Jeju students come from the discipleship training centers, and Bible Institute enrollment will likely grow as more of these centers are established across Asia.
The Jeju Bible Institute is continuing to recruit new class members, both for next year and future terms. If you know someone who may be interested in having a Bible Institute experience in Korea, check out wolbiasia.com, which has frequently asked questions, updates about the ministry, and links to the admissions process, which is mostly the same as applying to a North American Bible Institute.
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