Assembly at school in Swaziland
Raising Next Generation's Leaders
In missions terminology, the ‘4-14 Window’ refers to that receptive period between ages of 4 and 14 when more than 80% of Christians come to a personal, saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. With this in mind, then raising up tomorrow’s generation of gifted church leaders for tomorrow necessitates reaching today’s generation of children.
Long before the ‘4-14 Window’ gained popularity, BCM International was founded on a passion for reaching children and strengthening the church with well-equipped leadership. This issue of BCM’s World Magazine focuses on ‘Raising Next Generation’s Leaders’. In its pages you will read exciting reports of tomorrow’s leaders being developed among today’s youth from Swaziland to Peru, the city streets of Eastern Europe and Pakistan to the rain forest of Suriname. You will witness the response of some of those youth to serve others in the face of crisis. And, hopefully, you will better understand the potential this new generation—and BCM International—holds to reach this world with the never-changing Good News of Jesus Christ.
by Jeanette Windle
A small brick school building in the sun-baked Swaziland countryside is abuzz. Teachers in each classroom gather their students into a straight line, marching them out onto the long concrete veranda. BCM missionary Assiena Maseko has arrived for the weekly Bible class. The school has no auditorium nor even seats to accommodate 800 children.
No problem.
By Dan Schmidt
For decades mission groups have spoken of a "10-40 Window," that section of the planet between 10 and 40 degrees latitude where the majority of people live without a saving, shaping knowledge of Christ. More recently, a very different window has been receiving increasing attention. The “4-14 Window” opens not on a geographical region but on a chronological range: that very sizeable segment of the world’s population between the ages of 4 and 14.
By Chris Martin
Nestled among the wooded hills of the Beskidy Mountains, the charming town of Ustroń, Poland, is renowned for its crisp air and peaceful ambiance. Such peace was far from the case elsewhere in the country. Amidst rising political tensions from the upcoming election, and just as nearly one hundred BCM missionaries and guests began filtering into the town for the biannual BCM European Conference, the Polish customs guards had gone on strike.
By Chris Martin
In Pakistan, a Muslim country, it is highly unusual for young men and women to be seen together at a public function. But this was a special occasion. Laughter and warm greetings rose amidst steaming bowls of curry and rice as the group of young adults celebrated the return of their former Sunday school teacher, BCM missionary Marion Jean Grant, who had been away in her home country of Canada for the last ten years.
By Jennifer Hamilton with Marion Odicio
Around dinnertime on August 15th, 2007, the earth moved.
Wilfredo, pastor of the Acomayo church in Ica, Peru, along with his wife, Raquel, held on as a massive earthquake struck the city of a half-million population. Measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale, it reduced sixty percent of the city to wooden beams propped like matchsticks against crumbled walls. The Pan-American Highway buckled, leaving huge gaps, stranding people in the demolished city.
By Jeanette Windle with Imro Smit
The village lay 1 1/2 hours Cessna flight from the Suriname capital of Paramaribo on the bank of a river deep into the equatorial jungle. It was hardly a commercial center to draw planeload after planeload, canoeload after canoeload of Amerindian and Maroon delegations from a radius that reached into Brazil and French Guiana as well as Suriname. Except that this year the Wayana tribal community of Kawemhakan was hosting the Interior Bible Conference/
Other Articles:
IFMA changes its function, direction, and name — now called CrossGlobal Link.
Mill Stream Bible Camp’s 2007 summer season was another amazing time with new campers and staff joining returning ones and making new friendships.
Looking for creative ways to give to missions and still have municipal bonds?
Past Issues
Copyright © 2007 BCM International