Here is a brief overview of my ministry activity this past month, as well as a few points of reflection that have been significant, specifically resulting from these various engagements! To read more detailed accounts, feel free to check out my blog-site, where I aim to post once per week!

This month, Nick and I had a wide engagement with people holding diverse religious beliefs – whether Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslim, RCW, or cognitive Christianity. These are all fascinating demographics to engage with; however, this month was especially filled for me with engagements with Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are many things I could say about my interactions with each of these groups, but one primary theme I’ve noticed that transcends the variations in their doctrinal beliefs is a lack of objective epistemological methodology for distinguishing true from false. Whether it be Joseph Smith, Muhammad, the Watchtower organization, or another leader claiming to speak on God’s behalf, we must have a grounded methodology for determining the validity of their claims. Luckily, there are such methodologies provided in the biblical text (Deut. 13:1-3, 18:21-22; Mt. 7:15-20) which each of these listed groups claims to be in submission to as their authority. However, I’ve discovered an extremely resistant disposition regarding the Bible among these demographics when scripture seems to challenge the authority figure they uphold as God’s messenger. This is a terribly hard wall to advance past, as their heart is not open to acknowledging the reality of who they actually submit to – Joseph Smith, Muhammad, etc. We, as students of the truth, must remain students – lest our prejudice lead us into the darkness of lies and deception. Are we open to having our lives (character, thoughts, and actions) confronted and challenged by the word of God and his Spirit?

Nick and I have continued meeting with a number of students from CSUF and other individuals we meet for Bible dialogues, DMCs, prayer, and general support in discipleship to Christ. Among these people, we plan to continue discipleship and training throughout the summer in hopes that these students and other new disciples of Jesus might be better equipped to imitate Jesus in their evangelistic engagement with those around them and to become increasingly more conformed to the image of Christ themselves! Please pray for these students and new believers, as many of them have just recently received the seed of God’s word, and the soil of their hearts will be put to the test by the inevitable trials and temptations of life! Pray that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and compelled by the love of Christ!

This was a unique month as I participated in two retreats: an NCP retreat in Lake Arrowhead, California, and an EFM Future-Missionary retreat in Woodland Park, Colorado. My time with the NCP team on this retreat was a great time of community and communion with God in an environment that varied from the usual ministry and life setting, providing a great opportunity to step aside from the regular rhythms and focus specifically on abiding. The EFM retreat, among other things, provided me with clarity and excitement for the call that we, as disciples of Christ, have to engage the world and make disciples of Christ wherever we are located. Obviously, the retreat was primarily focused on cross-cultural ministry, but the call is the same whether in your hometown or in Chinatown! If you are a disciple of Christ, then you will necessarily follow him into disciple-making (Luk. 6:40; 1 Jn. 2:3; Mat. 28:19) – there is no such thing as a merely cognitive Christian.

Nick and I look forward to this summer’s schedule of training churches and various disciples of Jesus in the tools and approaches that we have used and found helpful when engaging others with the Gospel! The greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mat. 22:37-39). It seems impossible to love your neighbor and yet refuse to share with them the Gospel of God’s Kingdom, which offers the greatest reconciliation imaginable. Furthermore, if we are unable to love our brother who is seen, how will we be able to love God who is unseen (1 Jn. 4:20)? This is a wonderful ministry that God has welcomed his people into – reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor. 5:18-20), and God has given the Body the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11-13). We are Christ’s ambassadors, the light of the world (Mt. 5:14), as though God were making an appeal through us (2 Cor. 5:20), so let us receive the power of the Holy Spirit that we might be God’s witnesses (Acts 1:8) to the land living in darkness (Isa. 9:2)!

With love and peace,

Ivan Penrose

The post Ivan Penrose May 2025 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Here is my monthly newsletter to provide you with some insight into what I am involved with currently in Orange County! I have reached the end of phase one in the NCP Disciple-Making Apprenticeship, which focuses on learning and practicing tools that aid in evangelism and disciple-making, and I will now be moving into phase two, which focuses on learning and practicing the impartation of these tools to others. For more detailed updates, please visit my blog site at https://sites.google.com/view/ivanpenrose-ncp/home.

This month, Nick and I had the opportunity to share about evangelism with multiple different churches and groups. We had the pleasure of joining the Personal Evangelism Seminar teaching team at Barclay College, sharing at Hutchinson Friends Church, and sharing at East Whittier Friends Church. We are also preparing for future training and workshops, as people desire to become more equipped to imitate Jesus in their witnessing. These trainings are designed to demonstrate and strengthen your ability to engage with others through different practical and effective tools. We have used all of these tools in our ministry and have found them to be very effective in considerate and gentle evangelism. We are currently planning workshops for the Friends Church Fullerton community, as well as for others interested in growing in these practices.

A few pictures of our time at Barclay College for the seminar and the seminar teaching team (minus Matt Macy).

Nick and I have seen God at work in many ways this month, whether in formal teaching settings, Bible dialogue, disciple-making communities (DMCs), CSUF whiteboard evangelism, or unexpected bonus conversations. Here are a few highlights from the above-listed categories, but it is by no means an exhaustive list!

• Nick and I have had many Bible-dialogues this month, and we’re excited to see the ways that they are engaging all sorts of people with the Bible! As we engage with people leaving cults, confused by false prophets, sorting out unbiblical theologies, and those hurt by the malformed church, we see that a sober investigation of Jesus as described in the gospel accounts is one of the best ways to make healthy progress. I have realized that most people we encounter and converse with have an improper perception of who Jesus is and what he taught. It’s a terrible shame for someone to reject Christ because of a misperception of who he is, and I’m almost equally concerned for the many who accept a false perception of Christ that contradicts the life and teaching of Jesus. In our Bible-dialogues, we work to uproot false perceptions of Jesus and Christianity by examining and discussing what is presented in the ancient gospel records.

• One unexpected conversation that led to further Bible-dialogues was when we were meeting in public with someone for lunch, and were approached by a young man who overheard our conversation. He shared that he had come to believe in Jesus after seeing him in a dream, but was looking to learn more about the Bible and discipleship. We’ve met with this young man multiple times since for Bible-dialogues and have addressed other teachings that he has heard from a false prophet on YouTube. While this YouTuber has caused a lot of confusion for him, dialogues over the gospel records have appeared to address many of these false ideas for us. We are planning to involve him in a DMC with some CSUF students who just got out of one of the more intense cults on campus.

• These students, who left the Fellowship cult at CSUF, have decided to become involved with Nick and I through Bible-dialogues and a new DMC. We learned about one young man who left the Fellowship cult and were amazed at the way God removed him after four months of involvement. He has a wonderful heart for evangelism, as many people caught by cults do, and he has joined us with our whiteboard when we are on campus. We are now praying for, and miraculously seeing, more people leave this destructive cult and pursue Jesus! As can be expected, the Fellowship cult leaders are not pleased to see their previous members talking with Nick and I, but we are excited to hear about and pray for the freedom of more cult members!

A few pictures from our times on campus this month with our whiteboard and praying with Christian student evangelists!

There are so many more things that I could say about this past month of ministry, but this is a brief insight into what we’ve been doing, and I hope that it blesses you!

Thank you so much for your generous prayer and financial support for me and this ministry! I am blessed by your generosity and sacrifice to provide me the freedom and opportunity to engage in this ministry in this capacity!

I am currently 87% financially funded and have 163 prayer partners! As I continue support raising, I ask that you join me in prayer as I look for those God wants to have join me in financial and support. If you, or someone you know, would like to partner with me, you can sign up aquí to become a prayer partner and sign up as a financial partner through the options below!

With love and peace,

Ivan Penroseorder

The post Ivan’s Monthly Newsletter | March 2025 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

I send my love and gratitude for the participation you have in this ministry, whether financially or in prayer! This letter will hopefully provide a brief insight into what we have been doing throughout the month of February! For additional and more detailed updates, you can visit my blog website to view pictures and entries further exploring some of my experiences and engagement. The website can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/ivanpenrose-ncp/home.

CSUF

We’ve seen great results from our whiteboard-initiated dialogues this month! We’ve asked a variety of questions for students to engage with this month, such as, “Is Religion Safe?”, “Religion or Spirituality?”, “Prayer or Mindfulness?”, and “Forgiving or Severing Difficult Relationships?”. There are so many nonbelievers that we’ve been able to share the gospel with, and we pray that God would continue stirring their hearts to explore deeper the authenticity and reliability of Jesus and His teachings! Please pray that God would continue to send us those he desires to reach through our conversations, and please pray that we would be aware of the Spirit’s guidance in each unique situation we receive! We have seen an influx of Christian students and good external ministries at CSUF this month, which is very exciting! We are blessed to engage with these people and hope to have opportunities to equip Christian students in evangelism and partner with good Christian ministries on campus! There are several students who have shown great interest in reading and dialoguing with us through the gospel of Mark, and we pray that God would give them a holy discomfort and hunger that causes the word to take root in their hearts and grow into a fruit-producing tree! The cult groups are still at work on campus, recruiting and indoctrinating students with perverted understandings of God’s word, and we pray that God would confuse their actions and repel students from them. It is often the unsatisfied and young Christian who falls prey to their invitation and, in their noble pursuit of God, is led away into a different gospel and different Jesus by these false teachings. We had the opportunity to engage with some cult members this month and disclose the false doctrines and practices of their group. Most of these students are unaware of the truth concerning these groups and truly want to love and serve God with everything they have. We want to see these people freed to do so in the truth and freedom that Christ intended his Church to operate in.

– Some photos we have to share from our times ministering at CSUF –

City Lights

God is certainly at work in City Lights! This month, there have been many changes within the City Lights management that have caused a variety of issues for the residents and the social worker who organizes and helps the residents. These changes affected people’s rent, making it unaffordable for many, and limited the social worker’s freedom to host events within the building for residents. We prayed that God would resolve these issues at City Lights, and this week, we found out that the management that was causing the issues was changed and replaced with a friend of the City Lights social worker! We were told that this is unheard of and is truly miraculous! What a testimony to this unbelieving social worker! God is certainly at work in her heart, and she has been increasingly opening up to Christianity as she asks us to pray before distributing food and pray with residents! Praise God for the work he is doing at City Lights and in this wonderful social worker’s heart! Please pray for God to raise up and strengthen Christian residents to become daily ministers to those living with them at City Lights!

Bible Dialogues

This month, we’ve had several Bible dialogues! We dialogued with *Anthony, who we met at CSUF while prayer-walking, and explored his first steps as a new disciple of Jesus as we began reading and discussing the gospel of Mark. We met and dialogued with a Christian young lady who has recently left a cult and has great questions about the Bible. We’ve also dialogued with *Titus, who Nick met back before I arrived in SoCal. *Titus has said that he loves the Jesus we share with him, but he is not sure how to know which presentation of Jesus is correct. This next week, we will begin a Bible dialogue through the gospel of Mark to discover what the earliest manuscripts about the teachings, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus actually say. Please pray for all of these people as we continue to meet them where they are in their relationship with Jesus and show them what it means to be a disciple of Jesus!

DMCs

We are currently engaged in two DMCs that are working their way through the Sermon on the Mount. In these groups, we read and dialogue through the text, working to understand what Jesus was teaching so that we can correctly apply it to our lives. Along with reading and dialoguing, we also agree to weekly challenges that help us practice what we read and become better disciples of Jesus.

Teaching Opportunities

The engagement of the 60+ boys we taught at Friends Rose Drive Middle School was amazing, and we were invited back Monday the 3rd to continue our conversation with them about resisting temptation. Please pray that our future times with them will be fruitful for their discipleship with Jesus! On March 2nd, Nick and I shared at Friends Church Fullerton about the practice of evangelism/ witnessing- Please pray that what was shared will produce fruitful challenges for our church as we work to disciple under Jesus in every way! We will travel  March 6-8 to assist in an Evangelism Seminar in Kansas where we will teach about sharing the gospel; we will also teach at my home church, Hutchinson Friends Church, on March 9- Please pray that what we share would be edifying and challenging for both of these groups! It also sounds like, near the middle and end of March, we will be teaching about the Mission of God at another local Friends Church in California. Please pray that we will be aware and sensitive to how we should engage with each unique group we will be sharing with in the month of March!

Thank you for your prayer and support of the ministry we are engaged in out here in SoCal! May God bless the ministry you are involved in where you are!

Thank you so much for both the prayer and financial support that you are investing in this ministry and training! I am currently 79% financially funded and have 163 prayer partners! As I continue support raising, I ask that you join me in prayer as I look for those God wants to have join me in financial and support. If you, or someone you know, would like to partner with me, you can sign up aquí to become a prayer partner and sign up as a financial partner through the options below!

With love and peace,

Ivan Penrose

The post Ivan’s Monthly Newsletter | February 2025 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Bible Dialogues

Starting in week one, I joined Nick, my apprenticeship coordinator, in Bible dialogues with people he has already been ministering to and discussing scripture with. There were three dialogues that we had the first week, and I was able to see different ways this tool can be used to engage very different groups of people with the text of scripture. The picture to the upper left is the first Bible dialogue I was a part of (Nick is on the left, and Zack is on the right). This dialogue was uniquely focused on the significance of the local church in a believer’s life as a disciple of  Jesus. The picture to the upper right is of my first solo Bible dialogue with high school friends over Facetime. This was an awesome opportunity to practice the dialogue skills I had been learning and observing with people that I know personally! In this dialogue, we explored the first eight verses of the Gospel of Mark and discussed what the Gospel is, who John the Baptist was, and who Jesus is. We had a great meeting, and I was able to learn experientially some of what I had observed and heard prior. We’ve had so many great Bible dialogues with people exploring huge questions about who Jesus was and what salvation is, as well as less official dialogues with people we meet as we go! Some of the most dynamic conversations we’ve had are with people we “happen” to run into. Discipleship is such a wonderful way of viewing everyday life, and I’m excited to become more and more fluent in this unique dialect!

City Lights

City Lights is an apartment complex for people moving out of homeless situations that provides more affordable housing and additional resources to assist the resident community. In the photo to the left, Vee (another apprentice), myself, Brandy (a volunteer at City Lights), and Nick are delivering food to a few residents. We do various things while at City Lights but are always blessed to serve and pray with the residents. We were recently invited to lunch with the other volunteers where we had a wonderful conversation involving Brandy sharing her testimony of God’s work in her life and the power of Jesus! It was truly amazing how our conversation became a beautiful witness to the nonbelievers present as well as a wonderful encouragement to the rest of us who are already disciples of Jesus! This past week, Brandy
invited us to hold a Bible dialogue with her and a group of the residents! We are stoked to begin exploring this and pray that God will raise up leaders within the residents for us to help equip, and that he cultivates curiosity among the nonbelieving residents!

Counter Cult Ministry

We are also engaged in counter-cult ministries. On the campus of Cal State Fullerton, there are at least eight different high-control religious groups with various names and severities. These groups are actively recruiting students through pressure and, in some cases, deception. Not only is there serious social harm done to members of the groups, but there are also various demonic doctrines taught under the name of Christianity. This causes intellectual dissonance from the teachings as well as additional social distaste towards religious groups in general. We had a Bible dialogue with someone freshly leaving the Shincheonji cult that had been tricked into joining their antichrist group through an invitation to a “Bible study.” They teach many extreme false doctrines, but through legislated lies and deception, they target Christians and slowly guide their members further away from true doctrine. This is very dangerous socially and theologically as individuals are not only hurt but additionally hurt by those claiming to be Christians.
This is such a small glimpse of all the things I’ve learned and experienced this past month, but I am so excited for the ways God is, and will continue, to use us as sowers, waterers, and harvesters in his world!

Prayer

Please pray for the above areas of ministry as we continue to engage with new people daily and walk with those we meet into the discipleship of Jesus.

Please pray for the protection of the new ministries, especially in the early phases, that they would be seeds falling on good soil, taking root, and multiplying the harvest far beyond what was sown.

Partnering

Thank you so much for both the prayer and financial support that you are investing in this ministry and training! I am currently 78% financially funded and have 162 prayer partners! As I continue support raising, I ask that you join me in prayer as I look for those God wants to have join me in financial and support. If you, or someone you know, would like to partner with me, you can sign up aquí to become a prayer partner and sign up as a financial partner through the options below!

For additional updates beyond the monthly newsletters, you can visit https://sites.google.com/view/ivanpenrose-ncp/home to read more about what I’m up to throughout the month. Feel free to share this update website with those you may know who are interested!

With love and peace, Ivan Penrose

The post Ivan’s Monthly Newsletter | January 2025 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Hello!

Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers as I continue working towards this journey and ministry in Southern California! Whether you’ve already committed to partnering with me or are considering joining this mission, I’m deeply grateful for your support and interest in the work God is doing. I wanted to continue sharing with you about the things that I will be doing and the things your partnership and support will be investing in!

Beginning on January 6, 2025, I will be entering a discipleship apprenticeship in which I will be weekly engaged in evangelism at college campuses, teaching young Christians and non-Christians what the gospel is, as well as discipling young Christians to share their faith and engage in the public sphere with their faith through Bible dialogues and prayer walking. I will be a full-time apprentice for the duration of the ten months in order to emphasize and focus intently on what God will teach me in and through this apprenticeship for the relatively short period of time I will be in this position. For this reason, I am looking for financial partners who can support my living and ministry expenses while I participate and mature in this ministry. I’m also looking for prayer partners who can commit to supporting me through their prayers as I work to pursue God’s will in this time.

I am blessed to be welcomed into this ministry and apprenticeship, and I’m eager to step into the ministries God is preparing ahead of me! Thank you for your encouragement and prayers as I prepare for this, and may God bless you in the good works established for you as well!

With love and peace,

Ivan Penrose

The post Ivan Penrose: November Fundraising Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

This is my final ministry update for this program. My training soon draws to a close, but I am still an apprentice yet, with a long way to go.

Several weeks ago, Nick and I were meandering down Titan Walk at CSUF, as is our custom, when we crossed the table of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. Knowing some of the students and leaders of that club, we stopped to greet them. As we did, a charming young woman approached us and asked if she could practice sharing the gospel with us. Happily, we obliged.

Kristy extended her arm to display a bracelet with five colored beads: gold, black, red, white, and green. I immediately recognized the pattern as the Wordless Book, a short method of explaining the gospel that I learned as a little child. Nick, however, was unfamiliar but intrigued.

Using the beads to represent successive points in the salvation story, Kristy described how Jesus’ sacrificial death atones for our sins, reconciling us to God the Father and empowering us to grow in a new life in Christ. We offered our feedback and encouragement, and prayed for Kristy as she prepared for a mission trip to Taiwan.

Afterward, Nick turned to me. “Erik, do you think you could teach this method to my daughter?”

Affirming that I could, we set a date to meet at my house with Izzy, his four-year-old, to teach her the Wordless Book. Izzy already unapologetically and unprompted tells everyone she meets about Jesus, as sweetly and earnestly as only a little child can. While it took a little coaxing to have her sit still to listen, she attentively learned and recited what each color represented, and was very gleeful to build her own bracelet.

Teaching Izzy reminded me of when I also taught the Wordless Book to the 1st-5th grade students at Haviland Friends Church while I was in college, and gave me the idea to propose the same to Glendora Friends Church, where I am currently an intern. (My Haviland readers should ask their kids if they still remember.) Though discipling adults has proved difficult this year due to busyness and apathy, I realized that the children I had met at GFC were especially hungry to learn more about God and to share Jesus with others. Who says a four-year-old can’t learn to make disciples?

Bethany Tobey, the children’s ministry director, graciously indulged me to teach Sunday school one morning to her peanut gallery, ages 3 through 8. Surprisingly, it went very well. The next Sunday, Adele (age 8) informed me that she used her bracelet to share the gospel with her class at school during show-and-tell. One parent, Erik, informed me that his daughter, Maddie (age 6), shared about her bracelet with him and her older brother immediately after church.

Erik, his wife Maria, and their family in particular have given me cause for joy this year. Erik is a substitute teacher and extremely well-read in philosophy and classical literature (probably even more than this Erik). Naturally, we greatly enjoy each other’s company and love to discuss a broad and inexhaustible variety of topics. After his wife started attending church regularly, Erik has developed a deep fascination with Christianity and is steadily reading through the Bible together with Maria (they have just finished the Old Testament).

I have been given the rare gift of witnessing firsthand the reaction of an extremely educated man reading the Sermon on the Mount for the first time and being wholly captivated by it.

“How profound, and yet how simple!” Erik exclaimed. “He’s the fulfillment to all the great philosophers, and a child can understand it! But there is still so much he says that is mysterious to me, and I want to understand more!”

One evening, desiring to try something new, I went to a local martial arts academy for a free introductory lesson in jiu-jitsu. After an hour of learning how to choke an opponent with his own collar—a useful skill in ministry—I began developing a vague awareness of just how pathetically little I knew. When the lesson concluded, I asked the instructor how long it took for one to master the art.

“There are five belts, each with its own color. Even with constant practice, it takes several years to earn the next belt. Though one may learn many different techniques and moves, he will not understand how they all fit together cohesively except by experience, trial, and error. One might take as long as 20 years before earning a black belt, and even then, there is no limit to attaining further mastery and understanding.”

It was then that I realized, though I had practiced under my Master for twenty-three years, I was still only a white-belt: no more distinguished than Erik, Maddie, or Izzy. I, like them, am still learning the fundamentals.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Thank you, all of you, who have prayed for me and supported me financially these last ten months during this apprenticeship. Moving forward, EFM, NCP, and I are discussing long-term ministry assignments for next year, now that I have completed field experience as a missionary through this program. As soon as there is a decisive plan, I will share it publicly and invite you to partner with me in a new ministry opportunity. Please pray that God gives us direction soon on where to send me and that I do not have to wait in indefinite uncertainty.

Also, Nick and I have been teaching the Bible dialogue method to Patrick, a pastor in Kenya who discovered North County Project on the internet. Patrick has already led two individuals to Christ using Bible Dialogues and is excitedly teaching other pastors in his denomination how to use this method. What unexpected success from an unexpected place!

Dutifully yours,

Erik

The post Erik Nilsen: Final Apprenticeship Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

I have recently been accepted to a disciple-making apprenticeship program in California under the leadership of North County Project and in partnership with Evangelical Friends Mission. This is a ten-month program beginning in January 2025 that will focus on engaging in spiritual conversations with those who don’t know Jesus and discipling new believers and old believers alike to learn how to be disciples of Jesus every day and share the gospel. I’m extremely excited for this opportunity to grow in my understanding of what modern-day discipleship can look like, and how it can change the way I live my life for Christ! I look forward to the skills and wisdom I will receive in this apprenticeship program that will not only be used in my time there but will also help prepare and strengthen me for the continued good works God has prepared for my life afterward!

In the process of discerning this opportunity, I, along with my clearness committee, sending church, and family, strongly believe that this step is in alignment with God’s will for me in this season. The reason for this letter is to invite you to become a part of my journey through the support of your prayer and to consider being a part of my financial support team. To participate in this program, I will need to raise $2,963 each month in financial support with a program total of $35,561. I plan to reach out to you in the next week to follow up and answer any questions you may have about the program or the next steps of my journey. I’m also more than happy to answer any questions you have via email at penroseivan@gmail.com.

You can support me through prayer and financial giving. I need and appreciate both so that I can reach 100% in both areas before starting my apprenticeship. My goal is to have 250 prayer partners. If you know anyone who would like to pray for my apprenticeship, please forward this form to them.

I am currently looking for financial supporters to support me through October 2025. Would you please prayerfully consider supporting me as I begin my apprenticeship in January 2025?

With love and peace,

Ivan Penrose

The post Ivan Penrose: New NCP Apprentice first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

August has been a most exciting and encouraging month to see God at work in Orange County. Though I am the last missionary apprentice from the original group, North County Project has since taken on three new apprentices: Noah, who serves on Cru at CSUF; Viany, from Friends Community Church Brea; and Ron, who had been an unofficial partner of NCP since last year. The four of us got to serve together waiting tables for NCP’s financial supporters at a “Thank You” dinner, and soon will start evangelizing together at CSUF this semester.

Previously, I had written how George, who is in the DMC I facilitate, had begun a Bible dialogue with two of his interested non-Christian coworkers. Not only have they already read and discussed the first five chapters of Mark, but George informs me that a third coworker has crashed their dialogue because he, too, wanted to hear the story of Jesus from the source. I often pray that the people God has me teach and disciple would surpass me, but I hadn’t expected such a quick response.

Finally, God used one of my many misadventures to share the gospel with a Jordanian Muslim.

Last weekend, I rode the bus to San Clemente with my bicycle to visit the beach, as I often had before. While I left in the evening instead of the morning, my previous bus trips indicated that the bus system still operates well into the night. Apparently, that is only partly true.

I stayed at the beach until 9:45 pm, at which time I checked my phone to see when the next bus would leave from the nearest bus stop.

5:30 am.

After some frantic searching, I found another bus stop that was active until 12:45 am, just down Pacific Coast Highway in Costa Mesa, twenty-three miles away. With no time to lose, I mounted my bicycle and pedaled nonstop for two hours until I took a short break in Laguna Beach. Charting my progress, I realized that I would miss the last bus by 30 minutes. Reluctantly, I ordered an Uber.

The driver arrived within minutes and graciously made space for my bike in the trunk of his sedan. Anees spoke with a heavy Arab accent, and I asked where he was from. Jordan, he answered. When I mentioned that my uncle was from Lebanon, Anees’ eyes immediately lit up, and we quickly established a jovial rapport (Thanks, Allyn!). He expressed his sorrow at the present conflict and violence in the Middle East and his wish for peace there.

Upon learning that I was a Christian, Anees asked what I thought of Muslims. I answered that, while I disagree with Muslims in many ways, I believe that Jesus died for all people: for me, and for people I may disagree with. Therefore, I must love and serve all people.

Anees, relieved at my response, confirmed he was Muslim himself and proceeded to inquire about what Christians believe. “I have heard some say that Jesus is the Son of God, and others that he is God. Which do you believe, and what does the Bible say?” I explained how Jesus was born of the virgin Mary as the Son of God and how Jesus forgave sins, which only God himself can do.

Intrigued, he continued to inquire. “Koran says that Jesus did not die, but what does the Bible say?” I explained the arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and future return of Christ.

“Wait—” he interrupted. “Jesus is from the Middle East, like me, right? Is he supposed to return there?”

“Yes,” I said, “and I think he cares about peace in that area quite a lot.” Anees smiled.

We arrived at my house at 1:00 am and exchanged phone numbers. “Please, call me whenever you need help again!” he said.

Pray for Anees, that God would bless him because of his kindness and generous accommodation when I was in need. Pray for his family in Jordan and America, that God would protect them from the violence of men. And of course, pray that they would receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord, that they would enter his peaceable kingdom.

Dutifully yours,

Erik

The post Erik Nilsen Apprenticeship Update: August 2024 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

This last month has been a busy one with lots of stories I could potentially share in this update, each worthy of a detailed report in its own right. Alas, there is space only for one, and I have been wracking my brain over which to choose. So, I’m going with this one.

At the time of writing, I have just returned from a vacation with my family to Rosarito Beach, Mexico, to celebrate my grandmother’s 81st birthday. Eight of her nine grandchildren were present, as well as both of my mother’s siblings: my aunt, Holly (with her husband Allyn), and my uncle, Jason. It was a refreshing time for us all, but I felt especially refreshed from many of the trials and anxieties I have experienced this year, only some of which I selectively share in these letters.

 In no small part have Holly, Allyn, and Jason directly inspired me to pursue a life in international ministry, each having travelled extensively as young adults and returning with trinkets and stories of their journeys when I was a child. Under World Vision International, Holly and Allyn served on peacekeeping teams in Jerusalem. Jason, with smaller organizations, taught English at schools in Costa Rica and South Korea. Most importantly, my mother consistently and unapologetically labored that her children would come to know Jesus as their Savior and their friend. While my missiology was developed more concretely at Rose Drive Friends Church and Barclay College, a love for travel and building cross-cultural relationships was imparted to me first by my family, who are among the strongest supporters of my work with EFM.

One day, when my family had walked down to the swimming pool that overlooked the vast crystal Pacific, Jason joined me in the jacuzzi and asked me about my apprenticeship with EFM and where I would be going. I shared that there is a good possibility that EFM would send me to central Mexico next year to serve with the Friends churches there, who are mobilizing to evangelize and plant churches in all 32 states of Mexico by 2032.

“Mexico is already a Catholic country, isn’t it? They already have Jesus and the Bible,” he replied. “What specifically do the Friends churches hope to accomplish by expanding their own influence?”

A fair question. Am I peddling a subjectively better version of Christianity to a saturated market, with 33% less genuflections than “Brand X”?

I firmly believe and can attest that many Catholics have authentic, personal relationships with Jesus Christ, including Joshua and George from our DMC. (George, in particular, is actively sharing the gospel with two of his coworkers, and they have already read through the first three chapters of Mark together.)

However, I have also personally observed nominal religious affiliation displacing genuine discipleship and allegiance to Jesus, serving instead as a rusty gilding over spiritual darkness and depravity. As I recorded during the EFM Luke 10 trip to Jalisco last year, this is especially the case in Mexico. I shared this with Jason, as well as my personal witness to the work of the Holy Spirit through Mexican Friends in reaching their neighbors for Jesus and the total transformation of lives it has wrought.

I further remarked that this merely nominal Christianity exists in America, too, especially within the political realm. (He concurred.) On this point, I elaborated.

“Many Christians, including my mom, understood ‘not taking the Lord’s name in vain’ to mean not to use God’s name as a cuss word. Indeed, we shouldn’t. But I suspect that the commandment really refers to appealing to religion as a rubber stamp for one’s own selfish ends. (‘God told me to do such-and-such!’, ‘God is on our side because he hates the Yanks, too!’, etc.)”

My uncle paused thoughtfully and said, “I see what you mean.”

Frequently, I need to take inventory of my own motivations for doing this, that I am not taking God’s name in vain myself. Am I following my master who bids me come and die, or am I content merely to be a career tourist?

May it always be the former, to the very end.

Please continue to pray for the DMC group and the other people I am currently discipling. Pray for Garry as he returns to Kansas to start work as a history teacher this week.

Faithfully yours,

Erik

The post Erik Nilsen Apprenticeship Update: July 2024 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

In more encouraging news, Nick, Garry, and I attended the EFM Future Missionary Conference at Quaker Ridge Camp near the end of May, where we reunited with old friends, active and retired missionaries, and other young adults pursuing international missions as a lifetime calling. In particular, I am especially grateful to Matt Macy, Bob Adhikary, and Edwin and Maria Giron for mentoring and praying for me through the week and helping me to discern where God may be calling me to serve after this year. The location ever returning to our conversations has been central Mexico, so we are exploring potential opportunities for me to make a visit to see about short-term service in that area in order to discern the next steps as I continue to explore long-term service with EFM.

Back in Orange County, two college students from CSUF whom I met during our Bible dialogue workshops in April independently told me that they were seeking a community for whole-life discipleship. This came to me as an answer to prayer, as I had been praying for an opportunity to practice what I have learned during this apprenticeship in facilitating such a group. Joshua and George met with me and Garry for the first time last week, and we plan to read through the Sermon on the Mount this summer and conspire how to specifically apply it to our daily lives, with Jesus’ help. George is also excited to begin leading a Bible dialogue through the Gospel of Mark with his coworkers, so please pray for him as he faithfully follows Jesus in sharing the good news!

Every month, I am encouraged and deeply moved by your prayers, your letters, and your gifts to support me as I follow this calling, even through difficulty and hardship. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Please continue to pray for me, as well as my fellow apprentices Grace and Garry, that God would open new opportunities to complete their training and serve on the mission field. Perhaps God has another seven thousand EFM apprentices stashed away in a cave somewhere. He’s done it before, and he can do it again.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Dutifully yours,

Erik

The post Erik Nilsen Apprenticeship Update: June 2024 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.