Mission ConneXion again displays variety in

responses to God's calling

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
     VANCOUVER, Wash. — God’s calling on individual hearts to carry the Gospel to the whole world is as varied as the people who respond. In the same way, the ninth annual run of Mission ConneXion Northwest last month offered a wide range of background and perspectives, but all focused on reaching the lost.
     An estimated aggregate attendance of 12,000 turned out the event’s sessions, held Friday evening and all day and evening on Saturday, Jan. 20 and 21, at Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver. Theme this year was “Your passion... God’s purpose ... Your Call.” Mission ConneXion is sponsored by Portland-Vancouver area churches.
      The first of four keynote speakers, businessman Bill Job on Friday outlined how since 1987 his company in China has been used of God for His purposes. Meixia International produces Tiffany and fine glass for export.
“Operating a business in a foreign country can be extremely effective for the Kingdom of God — if you walk with God,” said Job, putting emphasis on the latter phrase. He said a full dependence on Jesus for such a venture is critical for protecting it against predators and other threats.
     “The best thing you can do is give your company to Jesus,” he said. “You are not going to be able to protect it, but He does a great job.”
     Not that everything is smooth sailing, he added. He said his company started with only five employees, expanded rapidly and at its peak, employed about 650, but eventually had to trim the workforce to about 300.
     “Recession falls on the just and unjust alike,” he quipped.
     With its strong focus on the Lord, Job’s company has seen hundreds of employees come to faith in Christ, churches have been planted and compassionate ministries have started, including a program to hire the disabled.
    Miriam Adeney, associate professor of world Christian studies at Seattle Pacific University and missions worker on five continents, spoke Saturday morning. She offered examples of how individuals responded to the Gospel in such nations as Egypt, Borneo, Russia and China, which then resulted in multitudes more being reached.
      “There is nothing more important than telling the story of Jesus,” she said. “Christ is our convergence — the place where all our lives come together.”
Adeney said it is important, in missions work, to see people the way God does — as precious souls and not as statistics.
     “Nobody is your ‘project,’ and nobody is my ‘project,” she said, emphasizing the need to listen to others and show respect.
      Saturday afternoon speaker Fouad Masri, a native of Lebanon, in 1993 founded Crescent Project to nurture transformational relationships between Christians and Muslims.
      He told how he once was an atheist who hated all sides of the Middle East conflict, but who was changed by Jesus.
    “The same Jesus that changed my heart, and your heart, can change the hearts of millions of Muslims,” he said.
     He described Muslims as “very nice, very pious” people who need the Gospel, as do all. “Muslims are not the problem,” he said. “Islam (the religion) is the problem. Muslims are the victim.... God’s passions is that you throw the net to Muslims across the street and across the ocean.”
      Also speaking Saturday evening was Bishop Joel Jeune, founder of Grace International, an outreach in Haiti.