[EAPTC Update] – August 2010

Dear a Friend of EAPTC,
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Be still, and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’ve been seeing a very strange phenomenon in our mission works since last year. I’d rather want to call it a “paradox” of missions. The giving towards our mission has been seriously affected due to economy recession from last year. However, in the midst of this crisis we’re seeing that God continues to plant new churches and to expand borders of our work. Despite severe financial setback, God is faithfully building His Church in Africa, just as He has assured me in the beginning of 2010 with the promise of Psalms 46:10:

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Indeed, God has been exalted in the nations of Africa since the dawn of this year contrary to the challenges we’ve experienced. This experience simply fills our hearts with a feeling of awe for amazing grace of God. We can’t help but acknowledge that God did it all and give Him all the glory.

On July 3, we had a graduation of six Bible trainees who studied at our Sultan Hamud training center for past one year. It was exciting to see more gospel workers getting equipped for greater harvest.

After twists and turns, our Juba Church celebrated her first anniversary on July 25. After years of successful Bible training ministry in Nimule, EAPTC Sudan engaged in planting churches in different regions of northwestern Uganda and southern Sudan since 2008. To that end, Juba congregation was planted in the southern Sudan’s capital in 2009. Though only a year old, Juba Church already transplanted a daughter congregation in the next town of Tongthing.

Seven churches of EAPTC Tanzania have managed to launch an orphanage, computer school, nursery school in addition to two-year Bible training center in Moshi by this time. Besides, two missionary teams were sent out by Moshi Church to a neighboring country of Burundi from June. This effort laid the foundation for another daughter church and school to spring up over the border in suburban Bujumbura in near future.

The Lilongwe Church in Malawi lately planted a daughter congregation in Mchinji, a strategic town lace bordering Mozambique and Zambia. Musa Aringo, our Central/Southern Africa Director, and his church elders made a survey of Blantyre last week to tap another church plant in that highly commercial city. They reported that things looked very affirmative and promising.

When new churches are planted and grow, many of those churches will soon face a challenge of land purchase and building construction. To this end, EAPTC came up with the Matching Fund program to assist potential African churches. By investing half of the required expense for a building project of one of our recently planted churches, you can help leave a lasting fruit of mission on the African soil. Once the building is constructed, we will send you the photos of completion and other related reports. We believe that in this way God’s kingdom can be manifested and advanced in Africa in practical senses. If you feel led to participate in this Matching Fund program, please write us for more information. We’ll have a list of churches undergoing construction and other related information available for you.

Also, a number of you have asked about the short-term mission opportunities at EAPTC. Our mission does welcome short-term mission teams, including college students who wish to take advantage of school vacations to serve Jesus at overseas. If interested, just write us for more detail information about it.

In closing, I was recently asked by Lausanne World Pulse online publication to contribute an article on the multiplication of cross-cultural discipleship. Please check http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/ in days to come.

Every time I pray, I thank God for you. Only eternity will know exactly what you have done for us along the path for this vision for Africa. Thank you for being a dear friend in this often tough and lonely venture. Just thinking about you being there for us makes us to feel already encouraged.

Let us leave you today with a word of encouragement from J.C. Ryle:

“This only we may be assured of, that if tomorrow brings a Cross, He Who sends it can and will send the grace to bear it.”

I trust that some of you who may be presently going through any kind of hardship will gain extra strengths by this timeless truth. At the same time, rest assured that our prayers are with you, your family, and your loved ones, as always!

Yours in peace and love,

Paul Lee (& Eunice Jaeun)
Nairobi, Kenya
August 20, 2010