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Mandate - 2007, No. 1 www.chalmers.org
IN THIS ISSUE ANNOUNCEMENTS

From the Director:
   • Chalmers Center Update
Chalmers Center Field Stories:
   • Africa
   • Asia
   • Latin America
   • North America

   • Upcoming distance learning courses
   • New U.S. economic development course
   • New short-term missions course
   • Sponsor a local training institute
   • Apply for the Senior Director position
   • Matching grant giving opportunities
   • Tell us your Chalmers Center story

FROM THE DIRECTOR: In the past two years, the Chalmers Center has experienced significant challenges and also has had an increase in the demand for its training.

CHALMERS CENTER UPDATE
by Dr. Brian Fikkert, Chalmers Center Director

About eighteen months ago, I prayed that God would make His will for the Chalmers Center clear. I felt that I was holding on to the Chalmers Center too tightly, and that I really needed to put the Center's future in the hands of the Lord and submit to His will, no matter what that was. So I asked God for wisdom, telling Him that I would be happy if he either dramatically expanded the Center’s work or...   READ MORE >>

Brian Fikkert, Director of the Chalmers Center


AFRICA: A church in Kenya ministers in both word and deed and gives fifty very poor HIV/AIDS sufferers a sense of worth.
Eunice is one of the members of a Kenyan savings and credit association run by a church trained by the Chalmers Center

GOD HAS CHOSEN THE FOOLISH AND
THE DESPISED THINGS

by Dr. Brian Fikkert

Nearly fifty people line the walls of the dark room in the Kenyan slum. One of them stands up and says, "Hello, my name is Eunice. Jesus is my Savior. When I get my loan I buy beads and make jewelry. I use the profits to feed my five children and to pay my rent." After proudly displaying the necklaces she makes, Eunice sits down and another lady stands up to speak.   READ MORE >>


ASIA: A ministry in the Philippines helps people in twenty communities experience God as the provider of their needs.

TURNING BANANAS INTO ELECTRICITY
by Malu Garcia and Dr. Russell Mask

Among the many struggles faced by tribal people in the mountains of Mindoro, Philippines, the lack of electricity has negative repercussions on many aspects of their lives. The children have to study before sundown, or they will go to school the next day without having finished their homework. Emergency sicknesses must be treated in the dark or by kerosene lantern. But sixteen families have been able to work together to turn bananas into electricity! READ MORE >>

Sixteen families cooperated to create a “banana savings fund” and money from this fund was used to buy an electric generator

LATIN AMERICA: A missionary helps the poor to save and, in the process, teaches them spiritual formation, a Biblical worldview, and business and life skills.
Two members of the La Trinidad savings and loan group in Bolivia that was run by a missionary trained by the Chalmers Center

MISSIONARY EMPOWERS BOLIVIAN CHURCH
by Tom Waddell, Five Talents International and South American Missionary Society

Blanca works as a cleaning lady and desperately wanted to earn more income to support her family. Blanca's husband moved to another part of the country and provides no financial support, so Blanca has to support her five children...   READ MORE >>


NORTH AMERICA: A Lecanto, Florida church transforms its community outreach ministry and as a result, the poor feel welcomed and a part of the church.

BROKEN BUT BEAUTIFUL
by Tara Bryant, Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church

As the Community Ministries Director at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church in Lecanto, Florida, I spent the first year to year and a half assessing our current ministries before I realized that we were enabling most folks and potentially harming them. ...   READ MORE >>

Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church in Lecanto, Florida

What is Your Chalmers Center Story?
Tell us about the impact of Chalmers Center training on you/your ministry.


Next Issue of Mandate
:
Chalmers Center in Africa


i.sv.11/07

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706-419-1805 • chalmers@covenant.edu
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