July 2013: Wales Mission Explosion

Monday July 1, 2013: Wales Mission Explosion

For the first four and one-half years of our church's adventures to Wales, we have had only 2-3 missions a year. This summer and fall, we are radically expanding our vision by pouring a stunning nine missions into Wales! In addition to the individual missions of T.J. Kerr (who is staying six months), Doug Mikes, and Jennifer Mansour (who are separately staying one month each), we will send a total of six mission teams.

Chris Jones will lead a team in October to help Derek Rees establish an English-speaking component to his church at Capel Gomer in Swansea. Our friend and ally, Jeremy Smith, pastor of Eastwood Baptist Church of Midwest City will be leading the American contingent who will partner with the Welsh in late July to sponsor our third youth camp. This has been highly successful in leading young people to Christ, and this summer promises to build on the success of the two previous years. More than sixty Welsh children are planning to attend.

Already this summer we have completed three missions and are in the midst of a fourth. They are as follows:

Mission One and Two -- ACTS Camp -- June 16-24, 2013
Mike Wall led a group of twelve ACTS Camp Missionaries from Brussels to Wales where they were met by Allen and Deedee Rice. The group was divided into two mission teams, one team supporting Welsh pastor Derek Rees in Swansea, and the other team (known as the Panthers) supporting Welsh pastor Aron Treharne in Carmarthen. The Swansea team helped run kid's clubs and youth groups and discipled some young teenage fledgling Christians. The Carmarthen team got to do a skit and preach in the local school as well as introduce American sports to the Welsh children in five regular school P.E. classes. In the culminating American night at Aron's church, 7-10 new unchurched children came to eat American food, play American games, and hear a testimony from Payton and a short sermonette by T.J. Kerr.

Mission Three -- Pastor's Retreat -- June 24-27, 2013
Near the end of the ACTS Camp week, Allen Rice left Swansea, drove to Manchester Airport and picked up HHBC pastors Rob Hunt and Jimmy Quinn. Along with T.J. Kerr, they joined together with nine Welsh pastors (including old friends Derek Rees, Aron Treharne, and Rhun Murphy) in a Pastor's Retreat located at the magnificent mansion of Gladstone's Library in northeast Wales. The event was not really focused upon teaching and doctrine (though there was plenty of both) but rather a time of both Welsh and Americans to bond and unite deeply with Christ and with one another. At the end, one young Welsh pastor playfully suggest we hold hands and sing "Kumbaya." We didn't literally, but we did spiritually.

Mission Four -- Wrexham 2013 -- June 28-July July 7, 2013
A team of 12 missionaries flew into Manchester Airport and were met in Wrexham by Allen and Deedee Rice. We toured Valle Crucis Abbey and Chirk Castle, and then settled in to the week by attending Sunday worship at Rhun's Capel Pen Y Bryn. Monday we spread fliers (announcing an upcoming event) across several neighborhoods near the church. Rhun led a team into the school where they informed the children about living in tornado-plagued Oklahoma; this was capped off by Rhun preaching to the children about the time Jesus calmed the raging storm. The rest of the week promises several events where the American and Welsh churchmen and churchwomen can bond and fellowship as well as another opportunity to preach in school, opportunities to reach out to the community through offering free car washes, free tea and coffee socials, and by giving free gifts of appreciation to local businesses. Rhun's church has doubled in attendance since last summer when we had our first mission partnership with him. We pray that our mission this year might (at least indirectly) help his ministry to continue to grow.