December 2019
Dear Friends,
On July 4 of this year I found myself in a candlelit room in South Asia. The candles were held by approximately one hundred young adults and their leaders. We were interceding for the 52 countries of Asia and the Middle East.
We spent nearly a week together in worship, learning, fellowship, and prayer. Most of the participants were from seven Asian countries. The event was organized by Evangelical Friends leaders in Asia and called, “Elisha Generation.” The main idea was to pray for a double portion of the spirit that had been upon Elijah (2 Kings 2:9) so that Elishas are raised up to reach the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit was there. How could we tell? Here were some of the clues:
- Spontaneous prayer meetings
- Various worship teams blending into one by the end of the conference
- Anointed preaching
- More than twenty young adults offering themselves to the Lord for work in the harvest of souls
- The kind of laughter and fun that draws people together
- Tearful good-byes
As I watched what was going on that week I felt like I was seeing the mission statement of EFM come alive. The statement says, “Our purpose and passion is to fuel a worldwide movement of people who seek first the kingdom of God, planting churches who live and die to carry out the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.” I believe we are going to see more of this kind of action in the years to come as a result of this conference.
Later on in July, on the 22nd, to be exact, I found myself sitting in the annual business sessions of Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region (EFC-ER), one of the four yearly meetings who founded EFM back in the 1960’s. On that day this group of 90+ churches decided to put their international work under EFM, some of which dates back to the 1890’s. This decision, and a similar one made by Northwest Yearly Meeting (NWYM) in 2018, gives Evangelical Friends the opportunity to work much more closely together in Latin America/Caribbean, Europe, and especially in Asia where the bulk of their work is.
Do you think God might be up to something among Evangelical Friends as we look towards the second decade of this century? My experiences in July strengthen my sense that he is indeed up to something. I am praying that we will be open to whatever He wants to do in us and through us. I invite you to join me in that prayer.
This year-end offering supports the ministries of EFM in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. To find out more about these ministries and the missionaries involved in them, please go to www.friendsmission.com. As you do so, please keep in mind that we are still in the process of adding to this site the ministries and missionaries who are becoming part of the EFM team due to the recent decisions made by EFC-ER and NWYM.
Local churches, regions/yearly meetings, and ministries like EFM depend on generous year-end giving to meet their budgets and get a good start to the new year. As you prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you participate in this particular offering, may your heart be moved by what moves God’s heart. It is still true that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV). It is also true that God still sends us out under the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of his great love in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
We are grateful for you and your partnership in the Gospel.
Your fellow servant in Christ,
Dan Cammack
Executive Director of EFM
