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His Harvest KRISTEN BICKFORD | KAREN WILLIS | JENN WILL | JIM SPENCER | DAVID KELLEY | ALEXANDRA FILLMORE | SARAH MACDONALD |
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| "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." - Matthew 9:38 Greater Portland Christian School would like to share with you former students and/or alumni who are presently serving in ministry or on the mission field. Greater Portland Christian School is blessed, honored, and humbled to have been a small part in the lives of these servants. In their own words...
Kristin Bickford graduated from GPCS in 2000. The ministry Kristin is involved with is called Pontypridd Christian Concern. Six years ago I began serving on mission trips with Gordon College to the country of Wales. The area that I am serving is considered the gateway to the valleys. In the valleys, 2/3 of the populations are considered to be living below the poverty level. Only 1% of the country claim to be born again Christians. The town next to where I live has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the whole of the UK. Alcoholism and abuse are prevalent in the area and the majority of the youth come from broken families. Despite all this, God laid a passion on my heart for the people and the town. Three years ago I carried out my internship with PCC and was invited back to be a full time member of the youth leadership team. For the past 2 years I have been involved with Pontypridd Christian Concern's youth program, PCY. I have served as an active member of the leadership team with duties such as coordinating events, planning social outings and get togethers, preparing Bible study lessons, creating new games, building a youth praise and worship band, counseling, and mentoring several of the youth in the area. We are currently reading the Bible together in Chronological Order. Over 60 young people have signed up and are committed to the challenge. The relationships that have been developed with the youth are great fun. I truly enjoy the time I get to spend with each one of them. I am also on the leadership team for the Coffeeshop, which is held on Sunday nights. The Coffeeshop is designed for the older youth and university students. On these evening my main roles are leading worship and discussion times as well as preparing a Bible lesson on occasion. During the days I am involved with about 20 different primary (elementary) schools in the area. I and one of the other PCY leaders lead assemblies on a regular basis. During these times we teach kids aged 3-11 about God and the Bible through drama, music and sketches. It's an amazing opportunity to bring the message of the gospel and embedding it in the hearts of the youth. As well as my service with PCC, I have worked with a couple of the local churches, by serving on the worship team for the morning and evening Sunday services. Other activities included helping to run a kid's club for the community kids, serving lunches once a week for the community, and standing in for the Pastor for the Sunday morning sermon on several occasions. I have also been involved with a Bible study for the local university students, have been involved for three years with planning and co-leading the summer teen camp and have had a "Girls Night" at my home where myself and several of the youth group girls have done a book study where we dive into issues that young women face and learn how to respond with a Biblical approach. This year I will be moving on to serve at a new church that's located in one of the roughest communities in the town. My desire is to connect with the young people on the estate and build relationships with them. I have a passion to see them develop personal relationships with the Lord and become involved with the church and youth ministries. I will be forming closer relationships with several of the primary schools including working with a couple of schools on their reading programs. The biggest desire I have is to continue with PYROS Ministry. God dropped it in my heart to form a team called PYROS. A Pyro is someone who likes to set fires and I desire to have a youth team that is on fire for the Lord and setting fires for Christ wherever they go. This team is designed for those who want to give God their brilliance and bring glory to His name through art of dance and drama. PYROS is open to anyone between the ages 13-25 who have a heart for Jesus and presenting His word through skits, mimes, music/singing, dance and sharing life stories. The team has had two organized services so far and my hope is to connect with other churches and travel as well as use PYROS as an outreach team. The youth have such amazing God given talents and this ministry allows them to develop these gifts while at the same time ministering to other people and bring the word of God to the lives of many. Kristin's Mission Dream: I can say this because I like to dream big as I believe my God is- I would one day love to develop a ministry that trains young people in the areas of dance, music, drama, and speaking in order to send teams out all over the world to share the gospel through their gifts and abilities. I would also love to one day travel, leading worship teams and speaking at youth conferences. My desire is to see revival break out among the young people in the UK and see it spread all over the world. That's my dream. God's big enough to handle it! back to top Karen Willis Karen Willis is another former student out on the harvest field. Karen is in Kenya with World Concern. World Concern is located 19303 Fremont Avenue North in Seattle, WA. Check out their web site www.worldconcern.org. Karen Willis has her masters in Nutrition and is assessing the women of the Maasai tribes to see how they cope with famine, rainy seasons, and how they feed their families. Read through her letter sent at Christmas time... Narok Nutrition - Kenya Christmas Greetings and Happy New Year! "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 Merry Christmas! It's hard to believe the New Year is almost upon us, my time here is starting to fly by as I have reached the half-way point! "Ore Bittia Neme Enkitting'oto Enkishui! Keetae Osiligi! This is Maasai for "Aids is not the end of life, there is hope! ".December 1st marks International World Aids Day, and I was able to participate in some of the supporting activities of World Concern's OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) Program. Activities for this week included visiting and providing food supplements with an HIV/AIDS support group, passing out food supplements at the Narok Hospital, attending the World Aids Day rally in the town of Enabelibel, spending a day playing with orphans, and having a caregiver appreciation day for those caregivers and volunteers trained by World Concern. Although it's sad to see how many orphans there are due to HIV/AIDS, it is encouraging to see the OVC program at work and the lives they touch. Hearts are definitely being strengthened through the activities and prayers of OVC, and I was happy to meet some of the caregivers, pastors and volunteers they support. Please pray for this program as their plans to expand in 2007 come to realization. Narok Nutrition To update you on my work: I have been able to conduct women's focus groups to determine coping strategies used in this area when they don't have enough food during drought. We are able to use last year's drought as the reference point. Last year at this time there was extreme drought, due to the short rainy season of 2005 never arriving. Praise God that the rains are here currently! Through the questions we are asking, we are able to see what differences they make from season to season, as well as in times of extreme drought. For example, how often to they borrow/trade food with friends or co-wives? Or how often do they expand to consuming cow's blood? It's amazing what I am learning about the culture, not just their nutritional intake, through my project -the idea of co-wives sharing resources is very foreign to us as Americans! Additionally, I am conducting interviews with women individually to learn about their nutritional value of their food intake at the household level. Often these villages only have a Market day once a week, therefore it is challenging for them to have a varied diet. Their staple is maize flour, which is used to make "Ugali" and porridge. They are also very dependent on their cows' milk in their diet. I have also participated in trainings with the Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) team. This includes health, hygiene and nutrition topics. It was great to see first-hand what impact the new water pumps (built in August) have on the women in the villages. Now instead of walking for two hours to fill up their 20 Liter-jugs of water, they can go to the pump constructed in their village. They are forever grateful, as one woman said "We thank God for World Concern because we used to spend most of our time looking for water from very far, and now we have clean and safe water." The WES team also conducted trainings to caretakers to maintain the pumps, so that a sense of ownership is developed within the community and they can manage any problems that arise. Home in Narok It's amazing how much I feel at home in Narok. I am very thankful for being so happy where I have been placed! I have made many great friends and am grateful for their welcoming spirit. My only wish is that I knew the languages! Although Swahili is the official language in Kenya, it would be more helpful for me to know Maasai here in Narok District when going out to the Maasai villages. I have learned greetings and helpful sayings in both languages, but must rely on a translator to conduct my interviews and group sessions. I am truly enjoying every experience: from getting stuck in the mud all day on Thanksgiving Day (but we can't complain about the mud because that means rain is here!) to attending my first Kenyan wedding and learning Maasai choruses. It's amazing how different the land looks now that there is rain. Instead of being brown and dusty like when I first arrived, it is now green and muddy! As one co-worker told me, this is the kind of weather that tells him Christmas is here! Even as I type this letter, there are three sheep in my lawn "mowing" the grass. It has been a challenge to have email communication from Narok due to many power outages during the rains, so I have often felt disconnected from the outside world, but I know your many prayers are with me, so thank you! I wish you a very joyous holiday season and I'll be dreaming of a White Christmas back home! In Him, Karen Willis back to top
Jenn Will attended GPCS from 1977-1986. She is currently working at Greater Portland Christian School. Jenn received her teaching degree at Messiah College, PA. At GPCS, she teaches 7th and 8th grade students. She also serves as the Athletic Director of GPCS. GPCS is a ministry that provides a distinctively Christian education which complements the home and church, brings biblical perspective to each subject, and helps parents prepare their children for a God-glorifying life. back to top
Jim Spencer graduated from GPCS in 1985. Jim and his family are presently living in Kansas City, MO. Jim is serving as pastor of Worship & Evangelism at Faith Community Church in Kansas City. He also has started his own music company "Jim Spencer Music" and has released his latest project in the fall of 2006. The new CD is titled " His Faithfulness." The music is based on the life, ministry and poetry of Irish missionary to India - Amy Carmichael (1867-1951). Jim is also involved with Grace Orphan Fellowship. He is currently establishing this ministry to support orphans in foreign countries and to support indigenous workers who are caring for these children by raising them under the teaching of God's Word. We have begun by working with an orphanage in Uthai Thani, Thailand with plans to expand to other orphanages and countries in the coming months. Fifty percent of any profits realized from the sale of "His Faithfulness" CD will go to his work in missions. Contact information Jim Spencer Music back to top David Kelley David Kelley graduated from GPCS in 2005. David travel to Catarama, Ecuador to serve recently. In his letter dated December 2006, he writes... First I would like to thank you all for all your prayers and blessings for me while I am here in Ecuador. I pray that the Lord will bless you and your families as much as He has blessed me during this trip and throughout this entire experience. I guess the beginning would be the best place to start. I left my house on the 14th of September at about 7:30am and I was prepared for the 24 hours of traveling that lie in front of me. I was boarding the bus at the Greyhound Station on St. John Street. My dad came around the corner to surprise me, and what a surprise it was. He works in New Hampshire at 7 in the morning and he drives an hour and a half to see me off. It meant so much to me that my whole family was there with me as I left. I arrived in Guayaquil at 6 am on the 15th. Jorge Tigrero, the pastor of the church "Marantha" here in Catarama, the town I'm living in, and Head of the Household where I am staying, was waiting for me outside of customs. I was ready, I was excited, but when he spoke to me I realized that nothing could have prepared me for this. Neither Jorge, nor his family, nor anyone in Catarama, speaks English. I had no way to communicate for the first few days. But the Lord is good and he provided a missionary to be able to translate and help me learn some Spanish phrases. She lives in Babahoyo, about an hour away from Catarama. Since then I have learned more Spanish that I would in college. I learned more in the first 3 weeks than I did in four years of high school. After a few days, it was time to get to work. I worked with four guys at the site for the new school. They were Carlos, his brother Daniel, and their friends Benito and Albino. Daniel is a leader in the church and has become a very good friend of mine. We worked for one week in the hot sun pouring the cement for the foundation of the school. And then we stopped. We weren't done but we stopped. How it works down here is they work until they run out of money for supplies and when they have more money, they work again. Most things take a long time to finish because of the money, or lack thereof. After that we began to work in the church to build an office. Everything here is made out of cement so they needed someone who knew how to work with wood to make this office. The office is almost finished; all we need is the roof, which will, of course, be tin. Since I have been here I have seen the cities and the country. I have seen houses on stilts and people living in huts. I have seen people pay for things with chickens, and yes I have been given a chicken. But one thing that I saw stays in my mind whenever I think about what I have seen. I was coming back to Catarama from Quito, about an eight-hour bus ride through some of the most amazing scenery you will ever see. We stopped to pick up some more passengers in a town called Quevedo. I looked out the window and saw 4 kids, not older than 7 years old, playing soccer, or futbol, or pelota; which ever you would like to call it. But the thing that caught my eye was that they weren't playing with a ball, but with an empty soda bottle. And even though they were playing in the dirt without shoes, or a real ball, they were as content as could be. Many times we take for granted what God provides for us. We may have nice houses, with rooms that aren't separated by curtains or blankets, and we don't have to sleep with a mosquito net, but we aren't nearly as thankful as the people in these countries. I thank God that I have a place like Maine to come back to, with a family, and a church family that loves and cares for me. I, again, thank you for your prayers and only ask that you continue to pray for me and the people here in Catarama as my time here comes to a close. I hope to share with you all my pictures and stories when I return. Thank you and Que Dios Le Bendiga! (God Bless!) David Kelley back to top
Alexandra Fillmore Sarah MacDonald I work with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a ministry of accompaniment, public witness, violence reduction and nonviolent direct action. When invited to do so by local communities, churches or activists, CPT sends teams of peacemakers to regions experiencing violence and lethal conflict. Currently we have teams in Colombia, South America, and in the West Bank of Palestine, as well as a team just returning to the north of Iraq. In addition, this year we're sending exploratory delegations to Uganda and to the Philippines; we're supporting indigenous communities asserting their rights in Ontario, Canada; and we're exploring how we might best continue work we've begun on the U.S.-Mexico border. Since 2005 I've worked with CPT part-time--fitting in overseas trips during breaks from my seminary studies (or, once, even in the middle of a semester!). In May of 2007, I graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and celebrated by leaving for 3 months on team in Colombia. That went so well that I've now committed to full-time CPT work until June of 2010. I anticipate working sometimes in Colombia, sometimes in Palestine, as well as occasionally helping with the CPT training that happens twice a year in Chicago. So how can you pray? Always, always for the coming of God's justiceand peace! And for healing and restoration for the many civiliansdamaged by the wars, military occupations, and structural oppressions so rife in our world. For myself, I would ask prayers for courage, wisdom, discernment, and grace-filled interactions with all those I encounter.If you'd like further information on CPT, check out the website at cpt.org. Thank you! Peace, |
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