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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Following up on my comments in the last issue of ONWARD, I just received a report from Sr. Debbie Good-Erickson, Mission Camp Coordinator at Laurel Ridge. Over a period of four weeks, 155 youth and 61 adults, representing 16 Moravian Churches, participated in their Mission Outreach Program this summer. They served 41 families in need: building four handicap ramps, painting, cleaning, landscaping, and various other projects while praying and singing, both on and off site, as they shared their love for their neighbors in Appalachia. Your Mission Society helped by contributing roughly $ 3300 in camp scholarships through our Young Partners In Mission Program. What an impact this program has had on the recipients as well as the participants!

   This simply reinforces what I and many others believe – Our Mission Is On Our Doorstep. This is precisely the conclusion reached by the Continental Province when they met simultaneously at the World Mission Conference in Herrnhut, 2001. To quote Pastor Worth Green in his sermon on July 17th of this year, We don't have to look very far to find a non-Christian with whom to share our faith. He cited some interesting statistics from Diana Eck's book, A New Religious America. I quote: There are now six million Muslim Americans. There are as many Muslims in America as Presbyterians and Episcopalians combined. (There are 120 times as many Muslims in America as Moravians.) There are four million Buddhist Americans.  There are more Buddhists in America than Presbyterians or Episcopalians alone. There are one million Hindus in America, and 300,000 Sikhs.

Have foreign missions come to our door?

   He went on to say that “According to one 2002 poll, that only 22% of religious people in America thought that we Christians ought to try to convert people of other faiths and a whopping 71% said that we ought to leave them alone”. He and I, and hopefully you, are among that 22%. I truly believe we are to follow the Great Commission in Matt. 28:18-20. The nation of Islam is included in all nations.

   Anne and I were privileged to host Sam and Debbie Propsom and their son John for a few days several weeks ago. They have retired from their mission work in Labrador and are on their way to his new pastorate at Bruderheim, Alberta, Canada. This family has been used mightily these past six years and we pray that they may continue to glorify Jesus in their new work.

A reminder of two upcoming events. We are holding an Open House at the Mission Residence, 433 S. Main Street, Winston Salem, on Sunday, September 11th, from 2 to 6 PM. It will showcase the handiwork of many volunteers who refurbished the downstairs apartment.  Also, the Mission Lovefeast will be held at Macedonia Moravian on November 6th, at 3:00 PM., and the focus will be on youth. We will be recognizing our new Life Members at that service.  Hope to see you at one or both of these events. God Bless!

Miskitu Moravian Hymnal

Rev. Alston Mendez, a Nicaraguan Moravian pastor residing in Canada, has been working on a revision of the Miskitu “Lawana” (hymnal) for several years.  The project is especially significant since the new edition will differ from previous hymnals in 3 ways:

It will include original Miskitu tunes and texts (in addition to translations (of hymns in German and English) found in previous editions. 

It will contain new liturgies written by Miskitu Moravians.

It will be a music edition, as opposed to “words only” 

Brother Alston will be moving back to Nicaragua at the end of September to finish work on the hymnal.  Please visit the BWM website at www.moravianmission.org for a list of ways in which you can support this important project.

Miskitu Bible Update

The United Bible Society of Nicaragua is publishing a second edition of the Old and New Testaments in Miskitu.  Funds received for the “Lahoma Gray Memorial Fund” will be used to provide Bibles for distribution by the Nicaraguan, Costa Rican and Honduran Moravian Churches. Note: Rev. Joe Gray, who coordinated the translation of the Old Testament into Miskitu, is presently recovering from surgery to remove 2 tumors from his spinal column.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers.