FGM Goes to South Africa

Carol & Wayne Mack

Dr. Wayne Mack is one of the most respected leaders and authors in the Biblical Counseling movement. In 2006, Dr. Mack and his wife Carol moved to South Africa to begin Grace School of Ministry, dedicated to providing a seminary level education in Biblical Counseling. This ministry is under the direction of Grace Fellowship Church of Pretoria, South Africa and the curriculum and teaching is led by Dr. Mack.

Dr. Mack invited Faith Baptist Church, Lafayette, IN to assist him this year by providing teachers for the Theological Basis of Counseling course in Pretoria or Cape Town, South Africa. Our leadership considered it a privilege to be invited to participate in such a ministry with our friend, Wayne Mack. We naturally jumped on the opportunity in Cape Town because that would allow us to visit our missionaries there. Faith Baptist Church is the sending church for Marc and Judie Blackwell and their son and daughter in law, Marc, Jr. and his wife, Nancy and their two children, Nicole and Matthew. Pastor Andy Woodall and David Selvey were sent in response to this request and this is our story.

Andy Woodall & David Selvey

Visiting the Blackwells
Missionary Marc Blackwell, Sr. met us in the Cape Town airport where we arrived about 9pm Friday night after travelling 28 hours. We enjoyed good fellowship with Marc as he drove us to the airport. It seemed a bit strange for the driver to be on the right and for us to drive on the left side of the road, but the roadways are modern and in good condition.

Saturday we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the clean hotel followed by a walk around the area ... lots of sunshine and pretty warm. Marc picked us up at the hotel around noon and took us to lunch and tried to fill us in on 36 years of ministry in a few hours. In the afternoon, we had the privilege of attending the ordination counsel and service of two South African Nationals for service in the gospel ministry. It was a tremendous privilege and blessing to see Llewellyn and Dean, two dedicated South African men, ordained into the Gospel ministry. One of the men is a very successful insurance executive who is now dedicating his life to serving as a pastor of the English speaking church in Blue Downs, a Cape Town suburb.

After the ordination council we drove out to the camp facilities that God has provided. We praise God for providing facilities where young people can go for a concentrated time of biblical teaching and discipleship.

Blue Downs Baptist Church

On Sunday morning Marc, Sr. picked up Andy and took him to preach in one of his church plants. Marc, Jr. and his family picked me up a few minutes later to take me to preach in his church plant in Blue Downs. The last time I was here was in 2005 when I preached Marc, Jr’s ordination service and the dedication of the new building that Victor Pereira and I helped complete with a CWE team. The building is shared by two churches. Marc’s Afrikaans church meets first and then the English speaking church meets after them. The people were warm and accepting, listening attentively to the message from God’s Word. After that service, we stayed for the English speaking church which was installing their new pastor that had been ordained the day before. What a marvelous privilege to see a local church install a national pastor.

 On Sunday evening Pastor Woodall and I each taught in the Church Ministry Institute (CMI) that they have in each of their churches for training national church leadership. We enjoyed the teaching and fellowship time together. After our time with the Blackwells, Marc Jr. drove us an hour or so across Cape Town to the place where we would meet with Dr. Wayne and Carol Mack.

Grace School of Ministry

There we met Ian Murray, an elder in Grace Fellowship Church of Pretoria. Ian has assumed the administrative and logistical responsibilities of enabling Dr. Mack to teach at various times and in various locations.



Andy, Wayne, Carolm David, Ian



The ministry in which we were to participate is Grace School of Ministry, which provides a two year seminary education in the area of Biblical Counseling. The program is offered in Pretoria and Cape Town. The course of study includes 4 classes per year for a period of 2 years. Classes are all taught in the form of 5 ½ day modular classes in each of the two locations. These modular courses are not for the faint of heart. Students have extensive pre-course assignments and post course work to do, as well.



Class

Dr. Mack taught all the sessions on Monday so Pastor Woodall and I could see how he taught and how the class functioned. Pastor Woodall picked up the teaching Tuesday afternoon. For the remainder of the week, Pastor Woodall taught 3 hours before lunch and I taught 3 hours after lunch. Andy also prepared and taught 90 minutes each evening on counseling youth. Saturday was a half day with Andy teaching the first half of the morning and Dr. Mack teaching the second half.

 

We had a regular attendance of around 35. Pastor Doug and his wife, Ann had travelled 900 miles from Pretoria to attend the class. A single woman, Anna travelled all the way from Sweden … I think she said it was 14-16 hours by plane! The people were so incredibly hungry for the practical theology of God’s Word that we were a bit overwhelmed by their thankfulness for the Word and the teaching of it.

Here are some of the comments we heard.

• God has taught me a lot this week.  

• Today I realized that I need to apply these principles to my life before using them to help others.
• God’s Word brought great conviction to me this week.• I must reevaluate my ministry and even my whole perspective of life.
• Please thank your church and your families for allowing you to come and teach us this week.
• I have a degree from a prominent, well known seminary in the USA … I teach in a Bible College in Pretoria … I am a pastor and I teach in a Bible College yet this theology is eye opening for me. Thank you so much for leaving your families for a time and teaching us God’s Word in this way this week ...

We even managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun with a visit to the harbor Saturday afternoon and a quick trip to the beach early Sunday morning before leaving for the airport. After our quick swim we heard they closed the beach due to great white sharks in the area!  The flight out of Cape Town was delayed an hour, but we had plenty of time between flights in Johannesburg. God was so kind as to have the 16 hour flight only partially filled so we had room to work and move around a bit. Total travel time from our hotel in Cape Town to Lafayette, IN was 35-36 hours. It was a long trip, but well worth it.

We want to thank our wonderful church family, Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, IN, for making it possible for us to partner with the folks in South Africa and to begin building a relationship with the church there. Teaching with and for Dr. Wayne Mack all last week was a humbling, but wonderful experience for Pastor Andy Woodall and me (David Selvey). He and his wife Carol and his assistant, Ian were greatly encouraging to both of us.

Please pray …

• For our missionaries in South Africa, Marc and Judie Blackwell, Sr. and Marc and Nancy Blackwell, Jr. along with their children Nicole and Matthew.
• For Marc and Judie Blackwell, who are now in the US reporting to some of their supporting churches through the end of April.
• For the new South African pastors installed last week, Llewelyn De Kock and Dean Kramer.
• For all the Blackwells’ church plants that God will raise up national pastors to take over those works.
• For the students who were in the Theology of Counseling class that the Word of God will take root in their hearts and lives and make long lasting change.
• For Ian Murray as he faithfully serves Grace Fellowship and the Macks.
• For Wayne and Carol Mack as, after more than 50 years of ministry, they continue to serve God faithfully in spite of their physical challenges.
• For the ministry of Grace School of Ministry in South Africa.
• For Andy and David as they attempt to catch up and get back into busy schedules and recover from jet lag over the next week or two.

Andy Woodall and David Selvey arrive in Cape Town

Andy Woodall and David Selvey arrived safely in Cape Town, South Africa after over 9,000 of travel and 29 hours after departing from Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, IN. Veteran missionary, Marc Blackwell picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel where it was nice to get a hot shower, set up internet access and Skype and email our wives.


After a good night's sleep, we ate a delicious breakfast, went for a walk in the warm sunshine and then went back to our rooms to study. Missionary Marc Blackwell picked us up just before noon and took us to lunch. Then the highlight of our day was attending the ordination council of two men for the gospel ministry. Upon arrival at Blue Downs Baptist Church, where Marc Blackwell, Jr. serves, a flood of memories came to me. Memories of a week in 2004 when Victor Pereira and I worked with a CWE team to complete the final phase of their church building. The building was filled with people from various churches who had come to observe the ordination council. The two men had prepared thorough doctrinal statements and presented themselves well.

There was just enough daylight left to go and see the camp that the Blackwells have developed over the years. They have a beautiful location and facilities that serve their campers well. Andy and I then enjoyed taking Marc, Jr. and Marc, Sr. out to dinner returning to the hotel about 10:30pm.

Sunday morning Andy will preach in one of Marc, Sr's churches and I will preach in Marc, Jr's church at Blue Downs. The last time I preached there was for the dedication of the building and the ordination of Marc, Jr. I am looking forward to fellowshipping with their congregation again. The know me as the man who installed the lights in the church building.

My wonderful wife is celebrating her birthday without me today. I thank God for friends who will make her day special.

Comments from Moldova

Here are some of the comments we received regarding the teaching in Moldova March 7-12.

• "You have made the Word of God so practical for us..."
• "The teaching you have shared with us has helped us personally prepare to be parents..."
• “We have been nourished by the Word of God this week.”
• "I understand now that I must apply this to my life and then use it to help others."
• “Will you please come back and help us more with your teaching?”
• “Never before have I heard the Bible taught in such a practical way.” (Regarding biblical principles of sex)
• "It has been good to hear from God this week."
• “Missionaries came and taught us over a period of years how to evangelize. Now we are good at evangelizing and we need more help to be good biblical counselors. Please come back in future years to help us learn to be good biblical counselors until we can do it on our own.”

Please continue to pray for the ministry in Moldova and for our leadership team as we determine how this fits into our strategic plan.

A Weekend in Anini Noi, Moldova

Scott and I finished teaching two 3-day conferences on Pre-Marriage and Marriage Biblical Counseling in two locations in Moldova.  We began in churches in Cahul in southern Moldova last Sunday, followed by 3 days of teaching to a group of about 70 hosted in Emanuel Baptist Church.  Then we drove 3-4 hours to the village of Anotonest (Ahn-to-nesht) where we taught a group of 35 people for three days.  Saturday afternoon we drove to Anini Noi where Igor and Mariana live and pastor a church.

We spend the night in a guest room at the church. The accommodations were simple but nice. The church is in an excellent location, very central to the activities of the town and surrounded by hundreds of apartments and thousands of people.  The story of how God provided the property is interesting, but too lengthy for this post.

The highlight of our weekend was to share a meal in Igor and Mariana's home Saturday night.  they are wonderful servants of the Lord and Mariana prepared a wonderful Moldovan meal for us with fresh salad greens and other wonderful foods.  With internet connection at the guest room where we spent the night we learned about the terrible earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan.

Sunday morning Mariana prepared breakfast at the church for us and Igor described their ministry and remodeling plans for us.  They hope to finish the rooms upstairs so that they can host teams that may visit and also to host church-planing trainees.  He wants to have a church planting school where Moldovan missionaries can come for a period of months and learn how to evangelize and how to plant churches.  He also has plans to expand their ministries to families and children as well as their outreach to the poor in their area.

After our time together at breakfast and our tour of the property, we attended their church service where Scott shared a greeting on behalf of our church to theirs and I preached to the group of about 40.  Immediately after the sermon, we left with Igor for the airport in Chisinau where we began our travel back home arriving at home about 18 hours later. 

We thank God for your prayers and support.

In the service of the King,
David Selvey & Scott Meinema

Moldova Update Mar 12, 2011

Today is the last day of the second of two conferences we have taught in Moldova this week.  It is Saturday, March 12, 2011.  Only four hours of teaching left ... I outlined some very basic biblical principles of finances in one hour ... 30 minutes of teaching after translation.  Then Scott taught for one hour on parenting ... only the very basics to prepare a young couple for the change coming from adding children !  to their family ingredients.  Then I, David, finished the day with two hours of biblical principles of sex. 

The last session was fun.  There was one older guy ... well, older than me and I'm 55 ... who liked to cut up a bit and make some jokes.  He didn't over do it, just enough to bring some levity to the class environment.  I was teaching on 1 Cor 7:3-4 regarding the responsibility of each spouse in the sexual relationship.  When I said that this means that the biblical responsibility of the husband is to give pleasure to his wife, this man remarked, "It's good my wife is not in here."  Everyone cracked up ... including his wife who was sitting two rows behind him!  He had a good laugh at himself, too.

We rounded out our time with about 20 minutes of question and answer time followed by a good lunch and parting good-byes.  Some of the comments we heard in closing were ...

“We have been nourished by the Word of God this week.”

"Will you please come back and help us more with your teaching?”

“Never before have I heard the Bible taught in such a practical way.”

After our good-byes, we loaded up in the van with Igor and Mariana and drove to their town of Anini Noi.  More about the visit to Anini Noi in the next post.

Moldova Update Mar 11, 2011

It is very encouraging to interact with these pastors and church leaders in Moldova regarding the sufficiency of God's word. Today is Friday, Mar 11 and it is warmer than it has been any other morning.  I think the temperature is above freezing this morning and it is a sunny day.

Today we shared the biblical role of the wofe, then I, David, taught on biblical principles of communication and Scott taught on biblical principles of forgiveness.  The teaching went well and the people areeagerly listending and  interacting with good comments and questions.  Almost everyone is taking copious notes as we teach so it is helpful for us to enumerate the important headings.  I think this may actually be working better than if the people had a handout with our outlines on it.

Supper was good, as usual and we took part of the evening to pack all our belongings so we would be ready to depart after Saturday's classes, though we would not yet be going home.

Moldova Update Mar 11, 2011

Thursday we ate breakfast at the church with the others who traveled here for the conference.  It was absolutely delicious!  Some kind of omelets with fresh bread.  We made sandwiches that beat McDonald's or Burger King's breakfast sandwiches any day of the week.  We each had at least two. :)

It was still cold enough that everything was frozen in the morning but it seemed like today may be a bit warmer.  The sun was shining and the sky was pretty clear so it is a nice day.

We had a great time today in the counseling conference today.  I, David, finished up the husband's role and the we shared the wife's role.  Then I taught the four rules of communication and Scott taught a session on forgiveness.

In the evening we were invited to preach in the church in Cogmaz.  This church has been without a pastor for 10 years!  They are maintaining at over 100 in spite of losing almost 1/3 of their congregation in the last year to emigrations to other countries such as the US.  Scott preached an excellent sermon on Psalm 1 and I preached again on Romans 14 and building unity in the church.  Afterward the pastor insisted that we stay for refreshments.  We were served hot dogs and potatoes and some other Moldovan foods ... our fourth meal of the day!  Don't worry, we are not going hungry! 

We praise God for a good day of ministering the Word and look forward to tomorrow.

Moldova Update Mar 6-10, 2011

Sunday, March 6 in Southern Moldova

Nadie prepared a great breakfast for our first morning in their home. It is nice getting to know Anatol, Nadie and their three boys, ages 13, 11 and 7. The boys have a lot of energy, especially young David!

My good friend, Misha, picked me (David) up at 9:30 to transport me to the village of Vidul lui Isac where I preached in Brother Andrei’s church. Andrei is Naty Tully’s father. The church building was pretty full, about 200 people. After preaching on Romans 14:1-12 and building unity in the church we went to the home of Andrei and Lydia Ciobanu, Naty’s parents and enjoyed a delicious meal. I enjoyed the fellowship with the Ciobanus and with Mish and Angelica Caraivan. I especially like Lydia’s stuffed red peppers!

After resting a bit, Misha drove me to the village of Colibasi (Ko-lee-bahsh) where I preached at 3pm to a group of about 350-400. The people are very warm and friendly. I met Scott and the Dunas family back in Cahul around 6pm.

Scott left a few minutes after I did and preached in the First Baptist Church in Cahul. Immediately after preaching he was taken to Emmanuel Baptist Church to preach. This is the church where Brother Anatol Dunas is the pastor. Afterward he returned to the Dunas family’s apartment where Nadie prepared and served lunch.

After I arrived back home, Scott and I compared notes and worked on getting ready to teach Monday and we enjoyed a light supper with the Dunas family.

Monday, March 7 in Southern Moldova

Nadie prepared breakfast again for us. This dear lady just had surgery last Wednesday! The conference began with Scott teaching the group of 70 people an overview of Pre-marriage Counseling. Then I taught on the Bible Basics of Marriage and Progressive Sanctification. With translation this took six hours. These folks will sit and listen intently for two hours, but coffee break is important to them so we learned not to cut into the coffee break with our teaching.

When they take coffee break, the all gather around small tables, maybe 4x4, without any chairs and remain standing the entire break. There is a man in the church that makes tea so he provides tea for all the church functions. It has an unusual flavor that is quite tasty.

Like the coffee breaks, lunch was served in the basement of the church … yes, they sit down for lunch! Brother Anatol kept the schedule moving with only 20 minutes for the coffee break and 45 minutes for lunch.

After the conference sessions we returned to the apartment and repeated our evening routine.

Tuesday, March 8 in Southern Moldova

Today we shared teaching on the Wife’s Role and the Husband’s Role and I (David) taught on the Four Rules of Communication. Some of the folks have been through at least part of the training we have provided before while others have not been exposed to biblical counseling before.

Several young pastors came to me today telling me about some of the struggles they are having in counseling and asking for suggestions on how they might get more training to be better prepared. When we began working with the church in Moldova, our hope was that at least three churches would take the teaching seriously and begin doing biblical counseling and at least one would eventually become a training center.

Today is Mother’s Day in Moldova so we took our host family out to dinner. They chose a local pizza place. It was fun and the pizza was good.

Wednesday, March 9 in Southern Moldova

Today we covered Forgiveness and abbreviated sessions on Parenting and Finances. We finished off the conference with Biblical Principles of Sex. Response overall was very good with lots of questions on the last session.

At lunch we shared a table with Anatol, Andrei and Lydia. The discussion was centered around their observations about how the churches in the Southern Region had taken up the challenge of biblical counseling. They told us of various churches doing biblical counseling and of the need for more training. They have invited us to return to do a series of conferences and perhaps set up some consultations via Skype. They think that if we would work with the handful of churches that are serious about biblical counseling for a few years they could take up the gauntlet and carry on the ministry.

After we finished our teaching, they honored us with small gifts to express their appreciation. Then we got in a van with Brother Igor and he drove us to the village of Antonesti (Ahn-to-nesht). We stopped in Chisinau for pizza. Igor’s two older boys, Theofil (11) and Marco (7), seemed to particularly enjoy it.

We arrive in Antonesti at about 10:30 and settled into our new home of the next 3 nights. Antonesti (Ahn-to-nesht), is a village southeast of the capitol city of Chisinau (Kee-shih-now). We are staying in the simple 4 room home very dear young couple who speak very little English. We are grateful for their willingness to open their home to us and serve us with what they have.

We had tea and visited with them until after 11pm. We understand that he is a farmer and a pastor. He farms potatoes, sunflowers, corn, wheat and walnuts and they also have 21 pigs and four young bulls.

Thursday, March 10 in Southern Moldova

It turns out the tea we were served last night had plenty of caffeine so we did not sleep so well.

We were served potatoes and meat for breakfast. Yum! Everyone showed up at the church at about the same time so set up for the conference took place from about 9:45-10:15 Then we got off to a relaxed start in the basement of the church. There were about 35 men and women in attendance representing about 10 different churches. Scott started us off with an overview of Premaritial counseling. I followed with Bible Basics of Marriage and Progressive Sanctification. Somehow my grandson Jacob seemed to come up as an illustration in all my sessions.  He is now an international celebrity! 

Scott ended the day with the first part of the Husband’s Role.

The outdoor temp is in the 20s to low 30s while the temperature in the basement of the church is about 60 degrees. I don’t think the dining room we ate lunch and supper has any heat. The temp in there is cold enough to see your breath.

It’s good to be back ‘home’ where it is warmer. I probably won’t update the blog tomorrow night as I have been invited to preach in one of the churches. We covet your prayers as we continue to serve the people here and will send updates as we are able.

David and Scott

Moldova Pre-Marriage Counseling Conference

David Selvey and Scott Meinema arrived in Moldova Saturday.  We split up Sunday morning and preached in two churches each, enjoying the fellowship of the brethren.  Monday morning we began teaching on pre-marriage counseling.  We ahve about 70 area pastors and leaders in attendance.  Scott started off with the first two hours and David taught the other four.  We had good response and lots of requests for materials.  It is a joy to be reunited with so man old friends, folks who have been through three tracks of Biblical Counselor Training with us.  Several pastors are telling us their struggles with counseling.  The pastors in the south are eager to get more training.  Tuesday is mother's day in Moldova so we are taking our host family out to dinner to celebrate.

Brother Anatol has a wonderful heart for the Lord and for people.  He is working hard to instill a sense of servitude and responsibility in the people here.  It has been a wonderful blessing to be in his home.  We will finish up our teaching here in Cahul on Wednesday and then move to another town to present the same materials to another group.  Pray for us as we will be teaching through Saturday and then traveling home on Sunday.

Thanks,
David and Scott

Medical Missions Opportunity in Honduras

Short-Term missions trips are a great way to expose yourself to missions ministry while serving others. You will have the opportunity to be an encouragement to others and opportunities to speak up for the gospel.

Faith Baptist Church and Faith Global Ministries in cooperation with Construction for Worldwide Evangelism are offering an opportunity to serve on a medical team in Honduras in July 2011. You will be serving in a medical clinic for one week.
If you do not have a US passport, you should apply for one soon as the process can sometimes take several months.

This is a medical mission trip to enhance particiaption at an Evangelistic Crusade in partnership with the past President of the Honduran Baptist Convention.

ATTENTION!
In order to participate in these short term missions trips …
1. You must be a member of Faith Baptist Church.
2. You must complete an application and submit to the church office.
3. You must successfully complete the Expanding Your Horizons missions class.
Expanding Your Horizons will be offered as an FCI class on Wed nights April 13-May 18.  You may register online at FBCLafayette.org.
It will also be offered on Sunday mornings at 8am in room 217, April 17-May 15.


Project Date and Positions Needed:
July 23 - July 30, 2011
Kitchen worker
Doctor
Dentist
Dental Assistant
Pastors or Laymen willing to share the Gospel

Estimated cost from Lafayette is $1,330/person.

Go to Bolivia!

Short-Term missions trips are a great way to expose yourself to missions ministry while serving others.  You will have the opportunity to be an encouragement to others and opportunities to speak up for the gospel.

Faith Baptist Church and Faith Global Ministries in cooperation with Construction for Worldwide Evangelism we are offering an opportunity to serve on a construction team in Bolivia in July 2011.  We will be be building a church in partnership with BIMI missionaries Jake & Sharon Wiebe.

If you do not have a US passport, you should apply for one soon as the process can sometimes take several months.

ATTENTION!
In order to participate in these short term missions trips …

1. You must be a member of Faith Baptist Church.
2. You must complete an application and submit to the church office.
3. You must successfully complete the Expanding Your Horizons missions class.

Expanding Your Horizons will be offered as an FCI class on Wed nights April 13-May 18.
It will also be offered on Sunday mornings at 8am in room 217, April 17-May 15.


Bolivia project dates and positions needed:
Week 1 - July 9 - July 16, 2011
Masons
Electrician

Week 2 - July 16 - July 23, 2011
Roofer
Carpenter

Week 3 - July 23 - July 30, 2011
Carpenter
Painter
Concrete Finisher
Electrician

Estimated cost from Lafayette with travel, lodging and meals: $1,510/person