Calvary Missions 2006-2007

By Magan Yarbrough

Calvary Missions – 25 years

Discerning Our Assignment

God spoke to the Pastors of Calvary Community Church about missions during a retreat in January of 1988. We knew that we would be doing something different regarding missions in the days ahead. Our main involvement in missions prior to 1990 was limited to supporting the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention, supporting the Union Baptist Association in Houston, sending Youth mission teams to the Valley of Texas, and blessing the efforts of members who went on short-term trips.

For three years the pastors sought the Lord for his direction.

During 1990, the Pastors at Calvary sought God's direction on how to organize and structure to accomplish his agenda for missions. Most churches choose to let separate sending agencies oversee their missionaries. But God had given us clear direction, asking us to “give yourselves, not [just] your money.” Our assignment involved equipping people for missions, helping them get to the field, and shepherding them while they served on the mission field. We believed we were to serve as both a sending and servicing agent. Thus, Calvary Missions was born.

First Overseas Assignment

In the Spring of 1990, the Pastors felt God gave us our first land to impact: the Soviet Union . By divine providence, also in the Spring of 1990, several people who had a burden for the Soviet Union joined our church.

Working with the pastors and those interested in the Soviet Union, we discerned more specifically that we were to minister in Latvia . Pastors Jeff McGee and John Foster, along with our two prospective missionaries, Tammy Ross and Stacey Fox, made an exploratory trip to Latvia in December, 1990. In the spring of 1991, Tammy and Stacey moved to Latvia to begin their ministries. The Lord provided several confirmations that we were to be ministering in Latvia , such as:

Calvary’s first trip overseas was in September, 1991, only three weeks after Latvia became an independent nation. With Latvia being a new nation, no one really knew the process for getting in the country so a team of 12 arrived at immigration with a letter of invitation from a pastor in Riga , assurance in our spirits that we were to go, and prayers for entrée into the country. Permission was granted and we have literally been sending teams ever since!

Tammy Ross lived and ministered in Riga for several years, returning to the U.S. in 1997. She was involved in church planting, in evangelistic outreaches in homes, schools, and prisons, and in modeling hands-on ministry to many believers and co-laborers from around the globe. Tammy befriended and discipled several students at the Latvian Medical School and has visited their homes in the Middle East . Partnerships were formed with several ministries and missionaries such as Bibeles Eraudze (local church pastored by Alvis Sauka), Larry and Debbie Stout, and Vanessa Masoudi. Tammy hosted Monday night church for the missionaries with the leadership rotating among the missionaries. We visited Tammy at least once a year to encourage her and other missionaries, to minister in the churches, schools, and prisons, and to serve wherever we were invited.

Latvia was our beginning in becoming a sending agency for our missionaries. We learned the importance of building a financial and prayer support base for each missionary, as well as the value of the fax machine and economical international telephone plans to stay in touch with our missionaries. Email was a great blessing when it came along! We also learned the importance of visiting our missionaries on the field through teams or pastoral trips to pastor them, encourage them, and participate alongside them in their ministry. We saw the change in perspective of the short-term team members and how the Lord increased their heart for the nations. Our experience in Latvia captured our heart for missions and helped us set a foundation for expanding our missions’ vision to other countries.

Over the next few years, we expanded ministry to other countries in the former Soviet Union . Through connections in Latvia , we met missionaries in Ukraine . Karen (Whittington) Tinker served with them in Ukraine on a short-term trip. Later, Mischa (Barber) Brinkmeyer served there for a year to lead worship and help with a church plant. Then, in 1993, Lynda Gilpin moved to Russia for a year of service with Campus Crusade for Christ’s CoMission program to teach Christian morals and ethics in the public schools. Lynda began serving in the international Assemblies of God church and ministered with them for a total of five years.

We learned much about the importance of strategic prayer helping to bring down barriers to the gospel as we ministered in other nations. When the Praying Through the 10/40 Window emphasis was initiated in 1993, Calvary prayed and was led to send a team to Nigeria , hosted by Mosy Madugba. For Calvary, this involved a several month commitment of intercession, periodic fasting, and researching Nigeria to know how to direct our prayers. Mosy visited Calvary several months later and reported on significant changes taking place in Nigeria as a result of Calvary ’s prayers. He shared that this was his first prayer journey and it was an awakening to Nigerians on the value of strategic prayer.[1] We were hooked on prayer journeys!

By 1995, we were supporting six ministries in the former Soviet Union regularly and partnered with several others as opportunities arose. We expanded into Asia as a Calvary family moved there for a couple of years, developing friendships and providing medical care.

 
 
Our Jerusalem , Judea, and Samaria

While much of our focus was on the former Soviet Union , the Lord was continuing to work closer to home. In 1990, God began opening doors for our pastors to share with other churches the things the Lord was teaching us about ministering in the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. God had brought great blessing to us through the ministry of David Parker from Kansas City Fellowship in 1989. For several in our church, David’s ministry was a turning point. Freely we had received, now freely we would give (Matthew 10:8). Pastor Steve began teaching on intimacy, spiritual formation, the prophetic, and other topics in churches in the region, taking a partner or small team with him to assist in ministry.

One of our LIFT group leaders, Cindy Long, started an after-school Bible Study outreach, Kid’s Alive, at Roberts Road Elementary School in Hockley in 1993. Cindy’s team included members of Calvary as well as members of churches in the Hockley-Waller community. Gateway Christian Fellowship, pastored by James and Cindy Long, was birthed from this ministry two years later. We also assisted Larry and Terri Smith in planting a church in Bryan-College Station. In Northwest Houston, we supported Bear Creek Assistance Ministries and the Northwest Pregnancy Assistance Center . Work in the inner city of Houston began with Kent Newman encouraging pastors and workers, prayer walking, and leading a weekly prayer meeting.

In 1994, we started reaching out more to the community through servant evangelism. Our first event was in Bear Creek Park on Mother’s Day. We provided games for children and gave away hot dogs, popcorn, sodas, bottled water, snow cones, and helium-filled balloons. We held these events in Bear Creek Park for several years. During the Christmas season, we spent one Saturday wrapping presents in a tent at the Copperfield Wal-Mart, as well as handing out soft drinks and bringing snacks to the employee lounge. This outreach was very successful so it became an annual event and now includes a prayer tent. Church members have also arranged for smaller events to be held in their neighborhood parks.[2]

Overseas Expansion

The Lord continued to connect Calvary with various ministries serving the nations. In 1995, we partnered with churches in our local Union Baptist Association (UBA) to send short-term teams annually to minister in Taiwan for the next three years. We ministered in the churches, spoke at evangelistic events, prayed with church and business leaders, and prayer walked whenever we could. It was a blessing to be able to partner on mission in unity with other Baptist churches.

Calvary was introduced to the ministry of Valson Abraham and India Gospel Outreach by Valson’s cousin, Jacob Cherian. For years, Jacob shared the vision and values of IGO, which raises up indigenous ministers and evangelists to reach the world’s second most populous nation. In 1995, Jeff McGee had the chance to travel with Valson to India , participating in equipping efforts and a church planning effort backed by targeted intercession. Our relationship with IGO continues as we partner with and sow into the work of reaching India .

Brent Knapton, who serves in missions through Window of Opportunity (WOO), is another connection from the Lord. In 1998, several members of Calvary joined Brent and WOO for a mission trip to Nepal . After the plans were made, we were reminded of a prophetic word from 1995: “Steve’s written material would be flung into areas called closed...for the printed page to go through a window of opportunity... Mail would come from villages, Katmandu , Nepal , Asia, Taiwan , etc. like a post office...” [3] We received this word as confirmation for this team from Calvary and WOO to minister in Katmandu and to take Steve’s books with them!

Also in 1998, the World Mission Council was impressed by the Lord to begin praying for Israel and to look for ways to connect with the nation in missions. At the same time, the Lord was already working in Lynda Gilpin’s heart regarding Israel . The Lord partnered her with friends she had ministered with in Russia and they moved to Israel in 1999. Lynda ministered with a church in Haifa for three years in personal ministry, women’s ministry, and partnering with other missionaries for outreaches. We sent several teams to join Lynda in intercession for the nation and in evangelistic outreaches. Through Lynda, we met Gary and Lorraine Hull (Living Stones Ministry) who minister through preaching, evangelism, and radio. We continue to support the Hull ’s ministry today.

Calvary Missionary Pam Holecheck has served in many nations over the years, often partnering with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to train others in the ministry of intercession. In 2000, the Lord led her to move to Germany to work in the area of intercession in and around Munich , helping with the beginnings of a House Church and mentoring individuals. She also became involved with a group of intercessors from around Germany to pray in the area where the Holocaust began through Hitler by repenting on behalf of their forefathers. The purpose of this work was to see reconciliation and healing come between Germans and Jews and to see more openness to the Gospel. Pam is now located in Herrnhut where she is currently working with the local Church in Herrnhut known as Christliches Zentrum and their connecting ministry, Jesus Haus, in the area of prayer, helping to build a House of Prayer and Healing Rooms. 

We moved into Asia again in 2002 with entrepreneurs creating businesses and teaching Christian principles to their employees as the foundation for how their company conducts business. Several employees have come into agreement with these principles through this business-lifestyle model and some have even stepped out into their own ministries. There has also been influence in the prostitution business such that 60 brothels in one district were closed! A jewelry business was created to provide some of these ladies with a new avenue of income. At this same time, Jenani Meyers moved to Japan to minister in the Christ for the Nations school. She ministered in hospitality and teaching some English classes. She also joined a local church and was asked to form a gospel choir! You never know what surprises the Lord has prepared when you trust him and step out in faith.

Tammy Ross may be back in the United States now but our ministry to Latvia continues, primarily through the leadership of her good friend Mary Standley. Mary has traveled to Latvia more than 15 times and at least 20 people from Calvary have ministered there over the years. Many of the trips are to work with Pastor Petr Samolvich’s teachers’ conferences where they minister to the teachers, follow up with Bible distributions, and speak in schools as requested. Prayerwalks are a common part of the schedule. Teams have also assisted with church conferences and youth camps. In recent years, the teams have blessed a couple of churches by holding Ladies Retreats. They have been so successful that the men are requesting Men’s Retreats. Are there any volunteers?

With Jeff Chapman becoming Youth Pastor at Calvary , Youth Mission trips expanded overseas! Previously, our youth had stayed on the continent, traveling to Mexico and Guatemala . Now they have journeyed to:

2004 – Bulgaria

2005 – Guatemala

2006 – unreached people groups in Asia

2007 – Guatemala and England , while a College team went to Asia

Many people at Calvary can testify that members of short-term teams are impacted for a lifetime with a desire to share Jesus with others. One of Jeff Chapman’s desires is for each youth to experience a mission trip before they graduate. Calvary is experiencing the beginnings of the fulfillment of a prophetic word spoken over Jeff and Mary Kay in 1995, that they were an apostolic team (first fruits) and would be used to activate missions.[4] Prophetic words of transgenerational ministry coming from Calvary are also being worked out as adults and youth, including parents and children, are journeying on mission trips together. We have been singing prophetically of the next generation for years with words such as “Father of creation, unfold Your sovereign plan. Raise up a chosen generation that will march through this land...Let Your glory fall in this room. Let it go forth from here to the nations...” Truly, the Lord is at work answering our heart’s cry to reach the nations for him and fulfilling his purposes in and through our body.

 
Focusing again on the Home Front...

On October 31, 1998, we hosted Fall Fest as an open house to the community of our new gym/Worship Center . We offered free hot dogs, chili, pickles, popcorn, pretzels, and sodas along with lots of children’s games, face painting, photo booths, and more. Of course, there was a bag of candy for each one as they left. It was well-received by the community, so Fall Fest became an annual event.

We have continued to support ministry in the inner city of Houston , which is truly a cross-cultural ministry for us. We supported Mark and Renita LeCrone as they pastored Antioch Community Church in the Montrose area from 1998 until early 2004. We often sent prayer teams at Mark’s request to minister to his church members. We are continuing to minister to the Montrose area by supporting Harbor Church , pastored by Jim Herrington. Harbor Church has several homes in the area where recovering addicts and others are discipled in a community atmosphere.

One of our gift-based, passion-driven small groups partnered with Pastor Elmo Johnson and Rose of Sharon church in the Fourth Ward by providing meals to their neighborhood once a week. We also helped with a servant evangelism outreach by providing hot dogs, children’s games, and helping hands. At Easter we shared the gospel with Resurrection Eggs to their neighbors in Allen Parkway Village .

In the last few years, we have seen more opportunities for ministering in the workplace. We have Calvary members who participate in Marketplace Ministries, an organization of chaplains available to businesses to minister to their employees. We also have some members who have held an Alpha course in their workplace.

Calvary has prayed for the church in Houston to be unified and work together as one across denominational lines. Mission Houston is an organization that facilitates that vision. Mission Houston “seeks nothing less than the spiritual and social transformation and revitalization of greater Houston – each person, neighborhood and community.”[5] Calvary ’s pastors participated in several Houston Pastor’s Prayer Summits. Mission Houston also brought together many ministries and churches to host the prayer-driven compassion and evangelism festival known as CityFest Houston. Calvary ’s participation in CityFest was our biggest servant evangelism event yet!

On a national level, Gene and René Haub have been ministering with FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, for almost seven years to strengthen marriages and families. Before shifting from a corporate career to full-time ministry, they led small groups at Calvary and served on the local FamilyLife volunteer team. Now they have the privilege of partnering with the Lord to impact thousands of couples each year. Gene and René have put a “stake in the ground”[6] to reclaim marriages for the Lord.

On September 19, 1999, the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri (IHOP-KC) started a prayer and worship meeting that has continued for 24 hours a day, seven days a week ever since. We have had the privilege of supporting several intercessory missionaries at IHOP-KC such as Mandy Meeks Rushing, Amanda Lund, and others. These intercessory missionaries carry a passion for Jesus and ignite that fire in others as they minister among us and to others through worship and intercession.

Somebody Cares America (SCA) is an amazing organization founded by Doug Stringer and Turning Point Ministries International (TPMI). They excel at networking ministries together to communicate in a practical way to those in need that somebody cares.   Calvary has supported TPMI and SCA with occasional gifts for several years. However, we became much more involved and regular in our support in response to a prophetic word from Jim Goll in 2001 encouraging us to get behind Somebody Cares and to help shoulder someone named Stringer.[7] The work of Somebody Cares really came to the forefront with their ability to quickly respond to disasters such as the Indonesian tsunami and hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

 
What’s Next?

As our history testifies, the Lord has connected Calvary Missions with many ministries here and around the world. We now have about 20 ministries and missionaries that we have committed to supporting with monthly gifts. Each year, we give to teams and individual members as they make short-term trips. We give to other ministries we connect with as funds become available. Our ministry and support is based on relationships, with church members (you!) being our highest priority.

For 2008, we have invitations to return to Asia and we are always welcome in Latvia . There are several opportunities already being considered for short-term trips. Stay tuned by reading our bulletin and subscribing to Calvary ’s email distribution.

Dream! Where would you like to minister? Prepare now, especially if you will need a passport.  Send! Connect with someone ministering in the area the Lord has put on your heart – pray for them, encourage them, and give to them as you decide in your heart. (2 Corinthians 9:7) Go! If you have a desire in your heart to go on a mission trip, pray for the Lord to make a way while you continue to serve and be obedient to Him where you are today. Visit with a World Missions Council member. We love to help pray, send, and go!

Going boldly,

Magan Yarbrough, on behalf of the World Missions Council (Rick and Linda Jones, Dean Isaac, Lynda Gilpin, Karen Tinker, Magan Yarbrough, Jeff Chapman, and Jeff McGee)