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Connect Spring 2024

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Connecting You to Christ’s Kingdom Work Among the Nations| SPRING 2024 |team.orgA TALE OF THREE CITIES...AND BEYONDThrough God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, the global Church grows in new directions.

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Imagine you’re raising small children on a limited government stipend. You’re thousands of miles from home and don’t speak the language or know how to access community resources. You’re also recovering from the trauma of war, political oppression, and natural disasters. is is the reality for roughly 100,000 Afghan refugees who have relocated to resettlement communities in the US since 2021. One such community is Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it is here that dozens of Afghan families attempt to build a new life. It is also here that God opened new doors for TEAM workers to be the hands and feet of Christ to Afghan people. TEAM workers Kim, Juan, and Rose, who previously served in Afghanistan, established e Haven - a space where Afghans come for English classes, job skills training, trauma healing, and a school readiness program for children. e Haven operates in partnership with local churches and is run by TEAM global workers and local volunteers. e lives of Afghan families are deeply impacted through the services oered at e Haven. As trust is built and relationships form, the door is paved for faith conversations. For Afghan people in need of healing and hope, God is opening doors for TEAM workers to serve them...in the unlikeliest of places. For two millennia, followers of Jesus have been inspired to obey His command recorded in the Gospel of Matthew to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” For many, obeying that command has required a journey to a new place to learn a language, an unfamiliar culture, and a new way of seeing the Kingdom come. TEAM has been blessed to participate in this sort of Kingdom work for over 130 years, and we are grateful for the ways these seeds of obedience have borne fruit in many locations worldwide. e world of today is very dierent than thirteen decades ago. While the call of Jesus to “go and make disciples” remains the same, migration, geopolitical change, and other factors have brought many people from faraway places right to the doorsteps and cities of many North Americans. ere is still a need for obedient servants to go to distant places to make disciples, but there is also a growing opportunity to encounter unreached peoples in more familiar locales and share the Good News with them. I pray you are encouraged by these stories that highlight some friends who have answered this call in a variety of places, and I invite you to personally look near and far to obey Jesus’ call to “go and make disciples of all nations.” For His Glory, Dave Hall TEAM International Director2 3CONNECT CONNECTA HAVEN OF HOPE GO TO THE NATIONSDEAR PARTNER IN MISSION,© TEAM 2024 EDITOR: Suzanne PearsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER: Amber BellMARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS: Aaron CatlinWe enjoy your feedback! Please email us at communications@team.org. eEvangelicalAllianceMission @teammissions team.org/bloge names of people you’ve helped may be changed to protect their privacy. TEAM CONNECTClick Here

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Imagine you’re raising small children on a limited government stipend. You’re thousands of miles from home and don’t speak the language or know how to access community resources. You’re also recovering from the trauma of war, political oppression, and natural disasters. is is the reality for roughly 100,000 Afghan refugees who have relocated to resettlement communities in the US since 2021. One such community is Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it is here that dozens of Afghan families attempt to build a new life. It is also here that God opened new doors for TEAM workers to be the hands and feet of Christ to Afghan people. TEAM workers Kim, Juan, and Rose, who previously served in Afghanistan, established e Haven - a space where Afghans come for English classes, job skills training, trauma healing, and a school readiness program for children. e Haven operates in partnership with local churches and is run by TEAM global workers and local volunteers. e lives of Afghan families are deeply impacted through the services oered at e Haven. As trust is built and relationships form, the door is paved for faith conversations. For Afghan people in need of healing and hope, God is opening doors for TEAM workers to serve them...in the unlikeliest of places. For two millennia, followers of Jesus have been inspired to obey His command recorded in the Gospel of Matthew to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” For many, obeying that command has required a journey to a new place to learn a language, an unfamiliar culture, and a new way of seeing the Kingdom come. TEAM has been blessed to participate in this sort of Kingdom work for over 130 years, and we are grateful for the ways these seeds of obedience have borne fruit in many locations worldwide. e world of today is very dierent than thirteen decades ago. While the call of Jesus to “go and make disciples” remains the same, migration, geopolitical change, and other factors have brought many people from faraway places right to the doorsteps and cities of many North Americans. ere is still a need for obedient servants to go to distant places to make disciples, but there is also a growing opportunity to encounter unreached peoples in more familiar locales and share the Good News with them. I pray you are encouraged by these stories that highlight some friends who have answered this call in a variety of places, and I invite you to personally look near and far to obey Jesus’ call to “go and make disciples of all nations.” For His Glory, Dave Hall TEAM International Director2 3CONNECT CONNECTA HAVEN OF HOPE GO TO THE NATIONSDEAR PARTNER IN MISSION,© TEAM 2024 EDITOR: Suzanne PearsonGRAPHIC DESIGNER: Amber BellMARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS: Aaron CatlinWe enjoy your feedback! Please email us at communications@team.org. eEvangelicalAllianceMission @teammissions team.org/bloge names of people you’ve helped may be changed to protect their privacy. TEAM CONNECTClick Here

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continued on the next page...to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “ey helped us with everything. ey took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. e couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.Impacto Charlotte Keith and Dawn settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, a location halfway between their parents’ homes and one with a large Hispanic population. In a beautiful example of polycentric sending, Impacto Honduras became their sending church to establish the new church plant in Charlotte! Named accordingly, Impacto Charlotte was formed in November 2017. Starting as a house church, the edgling congregation was just Keith and Dawn, as well as a couple they’d met at Impacto Honduras, and another believer who was a former student in their youth group in Bogota. Within a few months, they had 25 people attending and realized they’d need a larger space to meet. e Moores connected with Carmel Baptist Church in Charlotte – a missions-minded church that already hosted Chinese, Japanese, and Russian congregations, and was looking to serve Hispanic populations as well. Looking back, Keith marvels at the goodness of God in providing a “home” for their church body in such a short time. Word-of-mouth began to grow and now six years later, the church has grown to about 100 people, representing 12 dierent countries. All in the Family In a sweet turn of events, Keith and Dawn’s son, Chad, and daughter-in-law, Rachel have joined in serving at Impacto Charlotte, with Bellevue Baptist in Memphis and Impacto Honduras in Tegucigalpa as their two sending churches! e three churches are now also working together to help send a Honduran believer to serve cross-culturally in North Africa. What an amazing picture of the global Church working together! It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist.Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. e Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. roughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a dierent vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want By Suzanne Pearson In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen rst-hand this transition taking place. eir story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras After serving with TEAM in Bogota, Columbia for nine years, Keith and Dawn felt called to Honduras. ey prayed for a strong missional church to help send them. e Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. A TALE OF THREE CITIES...AND BEYOND“People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing”4 5CONNECT CONNECTA GLOBAL REACH(2008 IN HONDURAS)

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continued on the next page...to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “ey helped us with everything. ey took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. e couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.Impacto Charlotte Keith and Dawn settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, a location halfway between their parents’ homes and one with a large Hispanic population. In a beautiful example of polycentric sending, Impacto Honduras became their sending church to establish the new church plant in Charlotte! Named accordingly, Impacto Charlotte was formed in November 2017. Starting as a house church, the edgling congregation was just Keith and Dawn, as well as a couple they’d met at Impacto Honduras, and another believer who was a former student in their youth group in Bogota. Within a few months, they had 25 people attending and realized they’d need a larger space to meet. e Moores connected with Carmel Baptist Church in Charlotte – a missions-minded church that already hosted Chinese, Japanese, and Russian congregations, and was looking to serve Hispanic populations as well. Looking back, Keith marvels at the goodness of God in providing a “home” for their church body in such a short time. Word-of-mouth began to grow and now six years later, the church has grown to about 100 people, representing 12 dierent countries. All in the Family In a sweet turn of events, Keith and Dawn’s son, Chad, and daughter-in-law, Rachel have joined in serving at Impacto Charlotte, with Bellevue Baptist in Memphis and Impacto Honduras in Tegucigalpa as their two sending churches! e three churches are now also working together to help send a Honduran believer to serve cross-culturally in North Africa. What an amazing picture of the global Church working together! It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist.Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. e Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. roughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a dierent vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want By Suzanne Pearson In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen rst-hand this transition taking place. eir story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras After serving with TEAM in Bogota, Columbia for nine years, Keith and Dawn felt called to Honduras. ey prayed for a strong missional church to help send them. e Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. A TALE OF THREE CITIES...AND BEYOND“People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing”4 5CONNECT CONNECTA GLOBAL REACH(2008 IN HONDURAS)

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6 CONNECT CONNECT 7FROM HONDURAS TO NORTHERN AFRICA: JULIO’S STORYALLIN FOR GOD’S WORK THROUGH TEAM(continued from page 5)Celebrating Gospel Impact Each year on the anniversary of the founding of Impacto Charlotte, the Impacto family celebrates the Lord’s goodness. At the most recent anniversary event, twenty-two folks from Impacto Honduras joined the party. e Julio was about 19 years old when he encountered TEAM worker Keith Moore at Impacto Honduras, a TEAM church plant in Tegucigalpa. Julio’s mother owns a hospital in Honduras, and looked to her son to be the one to take over when she retires. He went through medical school and got a master’s degree in hospital administration. A career in the medical profession would not only please his family, but it would also put Julio at the top of the socio-economic strata in Honduras. Yet Julio felt a pull toward something else: full-time ministry, and specically cross-cultural missions. He trained with Impacto Honduras’s Bible institute, a 4-year celebration included wonderful times of worship, fellowship, and the sharing of a lot of food! Perhaps the highlight of the celebration is a tradition that the Moores began way back in Colombia. A cake is made in the shape of a cross, and everyone who has trusted Christ as their Savior that year puts a candle on the cake. “We had 20 candles on our cake this year,” Keith shares. “It’s a tangible way for us to see: Are we just collecting people? Or are we really reaching people for Jesus?” When asked what keeps him motivated in ministry after so many years, Keith has a ready answer. “Two things,” he says. “I love to see people come to Jesus. It’s just a miracle seeing somebody pray to receive Christ. And then to see people trained and ready to serve the Lord, that’s awesome. I love it when we’re moving forward.” program designed to help professionals transition into ministry. Julio then served for four years as a pastor at one of Impacto’s church plants in another part of the city. Julio’s wife, Elizabeth was poised for a successful career in nance, but she, too, left her job to work full-time in ministry. Specically, Julio and Elizabeth feel called to reach the Muslim world. Julio has gone twice to Northern Africa and has an opportunity to serve there long-term. e couple raised all of their monthly support in just three months! A few hurdles remain before Julio and Elizabeth can begin their ministry in Northern Africa, but friend and mentor Keith continues to encourage him. “I told him, this is a season. Don’t look at it as a closed door,” Keith shares. “Just hang in there. e Lord is in control. ere are some battles to go through, but it’ll be all right.” Does your church need to raise the bar on its global partnerships? Visit team.org/engage-churchesCreate a new or updated Last Will and Testament, Health Care Power of Attorney, and Financial Power of Attorney free through TEAM’s partnership with: We’re pleased to offer you this complimentary resource in gratitude for your investment in the work that God is doing through TEAM! Complete your will today at https://team.org/wills. Questions? Contact Jeanne Conder at Jeanne.conder@team.org.• Protect your family • Easy online process • State-specific forms • Support TEAM after your lifetime (optional)Above: The Nicely Family in 2001 while on home assignment preparing to transition their ministry from Venezuela to SpainBelow: Venezuelan hillside community (left), Judy & John Nicely today (right)John and Judy Nicely have been “all-in” with God’s Work through TEAM since they entered the mission eld in 1989. First, they wholeheartedly responded to meet a short-term, emergency need for teachers – landing on Venezuelan soil a mere 30 days after they heard the call. Just a few years later, John and Judy faithfully served an additional seven years in Venezuela, followed by eight years in Spain. Since returning to the States in 2010, John has served in a number of roles, most recently in the Finance Department, while Judy has served in caring for and training TEAM’s TCK’s (third-culture kids; also called missionary kids). John and Judy share that their many years with TEAM, both in the eld as well as in the home oce, have given evidence of TEAM’s unwavering commitment to its mission to send disciples who make disciples and establish missional churches to the glory of God. “TEAM has shown itself to be exible and adaptable,” says John. “TEAM does a good job of trying to strike the balance between new and innovative, but at the same time, remembering the lessons that we learned from history.” When it came to considering an estate gift to TEAM, John says, “To us, it was a no-brainer. We’re all-in with TEAM. We left our careers, our family, and our home to be all-in with TEAM. Why not part of our will, too? To me, the question is, why wouldn’t we do this?” Where there’s a will, there’s a way to leave your legacy!Click HereClick Here

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6 CONNECT CONNECT 7FROM HONDURAS TO NORTHERN AFRICA: JULIO’S STORYALLIN FOR GOD’S WORK THROUGH TEAM(continued from page 5)Celebrating Gospel Impact Each year on the anniversary of the founding of Impacto Charlotte, the Impacto family celebrates the Lord’s goodness. At the most recent anniversary event, twenty-two folks from Impacto Honduras joined the party. e Julio was about 19 years old when he encountered TEAM worker Keith Moore at Impacto Honduras, a TEAM church plant in Tegucigalpa. Julio’s mother owns a hospital in Honduras, and looked to her son to be the one to take over when she retires. He went through medical school and got a master’s degree in hospital administration. A career in the medical profession would not only please his family, but it would also put Julio at the top of the socio-economic strata in Honduras. Yet Julio felt a pull toward something else: full-time ministry, and specically cross-cultural missions. He trained with Impacto Honduras’s Bible institute, a 4-year celebration included wonderful times of worship, fellowship, and the sharing of a lot of food! Perhaps the highlight of the celebration is a tradition that the Moores began way back in Colombia. A cake is made in the shape of a cross, and everyone who has trusted Christ as their Savior that year puts a candle on the cake. “We had 20 candles on our cake this year,” Keith shares. “It’s a tangible way for us to see: Are we just collecting people? Or are we really reaching people for Jesus?” When asked what keeps him motivated in ministry after so many years, Keith has a ready answer. “Two things,” he says. “I love to see people come to Jesus. It’s just a miracle seeing somebody pray to receive Christ. And then to see people trained and ready to serve the Lord, that’s awesome. I love it when we’re moving forward.” program designed to help professionals transition into ministry. Julio then served for four years as a pastor at one of Impacto’s church plants in another part of the city. Julio’s wife, Elizabeth was poised for a successful career in nance, but she, too, left her job to work full-time in ministry. Specically, Julio and Elizabeth feel called to reach the Muslim world. Julio has gone twice to Northern Africa and has an opportunity to serve there long-term. e couple raised all of their monthly support in just three months! A few hurdles remain before Julio and Elizabeth can begin their ministry in Northern Africa, but friend and mentor Keith continues to encourage him. “I told him, this is a season. Don’t look at it as a closed door,” Keith shares. “Just hang in there. e Lord is in control. ere are some battles to go through, but it’ll be all right.” Does your church need to raise the bar on its global partnerships? Visit team.org/engage-churchesCreate a new or updated Last Will and Testament, Health Care Power of Attorney, and Financial Power of Attorney free through TEAM’s partnership with: We’re pleased to offer you this complimentary resource in gratitude for your investment in the work that God is doing through TEAM! Complete your will today at https://team.org/wills. Questions? Contact Jeanne Conder at Jeanne.conder@team.org.• Protect your family • Easy online process • State-specific forms • Support TEAM after your lifetime (optional)Above: The Nicely Family in 2001 while on home assignment preparing to transition their ministry from Venezuela to SpainBelow: Venezuelan hillside community (left), Judy & John Nicely today (right)John and Judy Nicely have been “all-in” with God’s Work through TEAM since they entered the mission eld in 1989. First, they wholeheartedly responded to meet a short-term, emergency need for teachers – landing on Venezuelan soil a mere 30 days after they heard the call. Just a few years later, John and Judy faithfully served an additional seven years in Venezuela, followed by eight years in Spain. Since returning to the States in 2010, John has served in a number of roles, most recently in the Finance Department, while Judy has served in caring for and training TEAM’s TCK’s (third-culture kids; also called missionary kids). John and Judy share that their many years with TEAM, both in the eld as well as in the home oce, have given evidence of TEAM’s unwavering commitment to its mission to send disciples who make disciples and establish missional churches to the glory of God. “TEAM has shown itself to be exible and adaptable,” says John. “TEAM does a good job of trying to strike the balance between new and innovative, but at the same time, remembering the lessons that we learned from history.” When it came to considering an estate gift to TEAM, John says, “To us, it was a no-brainer. We’re all-in with TEAM. We left our careers, our family, and our home to be all-in with TEAM. Why not part of our will, too? To me, the question is, why wouldn’t we do this?” Where there’s a will, there’s a way to leave your legacy!Click HereClick Here

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Visit give.team.org/outreach to make a difference today!team.orgPO Box 969 | Wheaton, IL 60187-0969Click HereADVANCE THE KINGDOM THROUGH POLYCENTRIC SENDING! Support the global Church with TEAM as we embrace “polycentric sending” and empower cross-cultural workers like Keith, Kim, and Julio. Your generous gift fuels vibrant church planting eorts like Impacto Charlotte and diaspora ministries, like The Haven, impacting lives from Honduras to Pennsylvania and beyond. Partner with TEAM today and witness the beauty of God’s work in every corner of the world.