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Light to the Nations
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Endicott, NY 13761
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Reneé's Word |
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I once heard of a young Brazilian who while being discipled by
another leader, confessed that he thought the singing before the
service was merely to allow time for everyone to show up for the
preaching. Worship was sort of a warm up band or an
opening show for an event. He simply hadn't a clue about
worship. This made me realize how ignorant we are to what God
can do in our lives by just worshipping him. When we open
our hearts and confess with our mouths how great He is, He
inhabits us. He fills us with His joy, His power and we can
experience His love for us in a new way every time. God is so
much bigger than our mere imagination or thinking. If you
haven't experienced God in your worship lately, maybe its time
to dig a little deeper. Take a step further into what's not
comfortable or convenient. Sacrifice how you feel for who He is
and all He's done in your life. He wants to meet you in a new
way as you worship Him.
Keep your vision, Renee
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LTTN CHURCH PLANTING STATS |
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Churches Planted Since 2000:
550
Churches Planted in
2007: 97
Cities Impacted in Project 153 (or in the process): 15
Cities Remaining in Project
153: 138
Pastors Trained in Church Planting Seminar: Over 700
Dollars Spent Directly in Church Planting in 2007: $47,600
Church Planting Dollars Needed for 2008 Goals: $108,000
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Dear Philip,
We had a great year and have been very busy! We just returned
from a crusade in the largest of the Project 153 cities. As you
will recall, Project 153 targets the largest and least reached
cities of Brazil. Each of these 153 cities is under 3%
Christian and over 10,000 in population. These statistics were
given by the official Brazilian Census. Itabaiana is the
largest of these cities with over 70,000 people in it. We had a
tremendous time with Mark Jobe of Gateway Church, James DeMelo
of Covenant Church and James DeMelo Ministries, and Richard
Henderson of Fellowship of the Cross.
As you might expect, we were the first significant Christian
event the city has ever had. Therefore, we needed a mechanism
to really shake the city. During our initial phase
of investigating this city, we realized that it was regionally
known for two things. First, a "truckers" annual festival and
secondly, an annual motorbike stunt show. Since we have used
motorbike stunt shows in other crusades we thought this could be
a good option and investigated it further. I was told that this
event normally attracts about 5,000 people for a one day
event. However, we discovered that last year was the first year
in 6 years that the event did not occur due to lack of corporate
sponsors. I felt that this was our opportunity to impact the
city on all levels. We met with the mayor, radio stations and
the local newspaper and committed to put on the event. I told
them that I wanted this to be the best event ever and that
instead of a one day motorbike show, we would have a three day
event. Instead of only motorbikes, we would have an
international band, motivational speakers, a physical strength
demonstration and give-a-ways which included a brand new 2008
Suzuki intruder motorbike. They were thrilled at the
opportunity. We had a WIDE OPEN DOOR and ACCESS to the
MAYOR and the BUSINESS community!!!
We told everyone we were expecting 5,000 people but were praying
for 10,000. The first night we had a great time, but only 4,500
people were present. On the second night, we had over 7,000
people and on the final night I personally calculated 14,400
people present. That was 20% of the whole city. It truly was
abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. We planted a
Light to the Nations Church in the heart of the city with a
trained pastor. He has now had Sunday meetings since the
event. Please continue to pray for him and the new
church. This city is not accustomed to Christianity and this
"Christian" thing is very new to them. This brings some
tremendous opportunities but also presents many challenges.
Pray for boldness for Pastor Augosto in that city.
Some of you may be wondering how much something like this
costs. Really it is a bargain in my opinion. Our budget
included:
- Some funding for training for the pastor
- Initial set up trips for me and my team
- One follow up trip during the year to see how the church is
doing
- One year of funding for the new church
- Full sound and lighting rental
- Full stunt show rental
- Advertising on radio, a sound car and fliers
- One trip for the pastor to come down and meet with me in Rio
- A motorbike give away
The total cost for all this was $17,200.
I would like you to prayerfully consider being a part of this
kind of event. It is a tremendous opportunity for mission trips
from your church to be involved in tough areas, laying a
foundation where none has existed before.
If you would like to be involved in another city, please email
us. It will be the trip of your lifetime!
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New LTTN BASE in North Eastern Brazil
This year as we expand our involvement into the least reached
parts of Brazil, we will be sending seasoned missionaries, Scott
and Sherri Dalton, to the North East to set up a regional Light to
the Nations base and Global Apprenticeship Program training
facility. Please keep them in prayer as we move toward this huge
next step in our ministry. We project that this new base will
cost approximately $60,000. Please prayerfully consider your part
in this. |
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Crusade Unit in High Demand
We have just heard great news that Joyce Meyer Ministries has
agreed to purchase the crusade truck for us. As we purchase and
build it, please be in prayer over this new phase of our ministry.
First, we are going to call this ministry "The Transformers."
This name was chosen because of the physical nature of the truck.
It will drive into the city, open up its sides, and transform into
a stage complete with a lighting show and sound system capable of
reaching 10,000 people. We also chose the name to represent the
transformation we will be seeing in the cities... transformation
of lives, transforming a city.
The transformers will be a base of operation of a school of
evangelism which will be under the direction of our internship
program
The GAP (the Global Apprenticeship Program, The GAP
www.thegap.com.br) We are confident that this new component to
our ministry will enable us to evangelize and bring transformation
to all the 153 least reached cities in Brazil and train hundreds
of new evangelists in the field.
We need your help with the following.
- First, we are geared up to receive American interns
interested in spending 16 weeks on the field with us. This
internship program can work in conjunction with internship
programs you may already have in your local church. In other
words, The GAP could function as a missions semester to other
internship programs. These interns would learn, in practice how
to evangelize and plant a church during their semester. We
already have a campus with dorm facilities in Rio. We are in
need of 25 - 30 interns for the August semester. The cost of
the program is $3,500 which includes all costs (room, board,
ministry expenses, and tuition) except for air travel.
- Secondly, we are raising our budget to operate and maintain
the truck. We are already hiring a full time driver/tech who
will set up the logistics of our crusades in each city. The
total cost for the new employee as well as the fuel/maintenance
budget will be about $3,500 per month. Please consider what
your part will be.
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LTTN PUBLISHING HOUSE
As you know we have a publishing house we have been using to get
materials published into Brazil which are not being otherwise
done. This month we have had a challenge but also a tremendous
opportunity. Our partner who has been assisting us with the daily
operations of the Publishing House has left the organization.
This has increased the day to day activities we are responsible
for. My mother, Joanne will be taking on this project. Please
pray for her as she dives into this huge and very new endeavor.
During the same week we we were able to secure contracts with
John Bevere to publish his two best selling books, "Under Cover"
and "Fear of the Lord". We are excited as we begin to see God
move in many supernatural ways.
If you would like to assist us in publishing these or other
books in Brazil please let us know. Each book requires an
investment of approximately $8,000, however it pays for itself
after this initial investment and should even generate
additional funds for church planting.
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Once again thank you for your very generous support in forms of
prayers and giving. I also want to thank you so much for the
many emails, calls and letters Renee and I receive from many of
you each month. I have heard that some of you think I might be
too busy to answer an email however this is far from the truth.
Renee and I consider you, our partners, to be co-laborers in the
work here in Brazil. Each and every one of you can send me an
email simply by responding to this email and I will
personally respond to you. Renee and I look forward to hearing
from you.
Working along side you for His Kingdom,
Philip and Reneé Murdoch
Light to the Nations
Loving God, Loving You
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