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UCC MISSIONS 2021 A M A K E D I S C I P L E S I N I T I A T I V E O F
MISSION Love God Love People Make Disciples VISION Jesus Nothing More Nothing Less
Craig and Merschon Hutson
History of Our Work in Ireland When we moved to Dublin in 2010 we felt completely unworthy of the task ahead of us Years of prayer and seeking had finally lead us to our new mission field and against all odds the family at UCC had felt God s leading to partner with us the most unlikely of missionaries You sent us to plant seeds of the Gospel and for five years with our team and more than that without we have prayed laboured and struggled to do just that and hoped that God would somehow advance His Kingdom through our humble efforts We sought to spread the Gospel through many different ministries and activities always focusing on building natural relationships with the people we met through our everyday lives Whenever we felt discouraged whenever we felt weak and incapable our family at UCC responded with love care support and with steady faithfulness saying Keep planting the seeds Now with dual citizenship we are putting down even deeper roots in our community here With UCC s blessing we have recently begun running a part time business at our local farmers market that we hope will grow to fully support our continuing mission here longterm Our small eco friendly grocery business has already blessed us with so many new relationships and we pray that God will use this new endeavor to further His work through us in exciting ways We still don t have a magic formula for successful ministry in Ireland We do however find that God has used the last ten years of seed planting to intricately weave us into the fabric of countless lives into which He spreads His love and Gospel one chat one meal one prayer one heart at a time By His grace and through your partnership we hope to continue to give our lives to His call Craig and Merschon Hutson
We have long prayed for a ministry which encourages people from diverse backgrounds to allow God s Word to unite them Despite the challenges of this year we have seen God working for reconciliation in beautiful ways Even though lockdowns forced us to move our time of worship Bible studies and MeetUp groups online people once separated by geography logistics or even health limitations have been able to form deep bonds around God and His Word A renewed sense of unity and enthusiasm now permeates our groups and although we may be short of hugs and handshakes this year God is allowing us to disciple with people we couldn t have imagined before Craig and Merschon Hutson
We are beginning our eighth year here and it has been a beautiful year to watch God work Even in the midst of Covid we had 13 former Muslim background believers put on Christ in baptism this year and many people who are not believers are joining our Sunday service online God has also been bringing emotional healing among believers Unfortunately most of the ladies in our church grew up with both physical and sexual abuse It has been awe inspiring to watch God bring emotional healing and for them to be able to more clearly see God as a loving father When we arrived 8 years ago our campus of 50 000 students had two believers In the past few years many more students have come to Christ Praise God Jesus witness is spreading on the campus Partners in Eastern Europe
This year has brought a lot of hardship and pain for many But God in His amazing love and sovereignty is working and moving to save the lost and bring glory to His name and that is something to celebrate It is evident in the miracle of salvation in each individual life that puts their faith in Christ It is evident in the lives of the faithful followers that seek persecution despite the outcome so for the glory of God the lost can hear the Gospel Our everlasting never changing God is working and in the midst of a lot of change pain and loss this fact has brought me great comfort and joy Partner in the Middle East
Dear UCC Family The missions impact we envision in our community around the country and around the world is beyond what we re able to achieve in our own power That s why we re focusing on becoming an Acts 1 church in 2021 a church that s constantly in prayer as we wait to be empowered by the Holy Spirit I hope and prayer that becoming an Acts 1 church will lead us to become an Acts 13 church a church that raises up leaders and sends them on mission to change the world As we work toward becoming an Antioch Church Acts 13 you ll see that reflected in three primary areas Disciple Making Church Planting Leadership Development I invite you to consider giving to God s work in the world through our missions ministry Neil Reynolds Senior Minister
God is on the move This past year students regularly prayed and fasted engaged groups of lost students on campus were trained to make disciples led their own gatherings and developed leaders Preston Conder University of Alabama
It s been amazing to see how in a year when so much has happened God has continued to use all the challenges to bring our students closer to Himself This year has pushed them to grow together encouraging each other to walk humbly love mercy and seek justice We ve been sad that we haven t gotten to see each other in person as much and yet the Spirit has worked in amazing ways just like He always does Daniel Jarchow
God is using MRN to take the good news of Jesus to the unreached people groups of the Muslim Hindu and Buddhist worlds He is also working through MRN to raise up high capacity leaders and a churches to expand the kingdom of God in healthy and sustainable ways in countries where the gospel has already taken root Dan Bouchelle President Mission Resource Network
Kairos Church Planting will continue preparing and equipping new leaders for 2021 to plant new churches in new places for new people We are ready for 2021 Ron Clark Executive Director Kairos
Three Foundations for UCC s Missions Effort Ireland Asia Middle East and Eastern Europe UCC has a long history and commitment to sharing the gospel around the world We are dedicated to continuing to partner with God in mission points around the globe Craig and Merschon Hutson in Dublin Ireland Asia and Middle East Eastern Europe 49 500 24 000 10 000 Mediterranean Rim The gospel is spreading among refugees from Muslim countries It is a new exciting movement of God making disciples in places where faith in Christ has barely existed for over a thousand years Mission Resource Network Next Initiative 10 000 Our vision is to reach the next generation with the Good News train the next generation of leaders and plant the next generation of churches ministries
Our efforts to reach the next generation start at the University of Alabama As a church that was planted to reach students reaching the next generation has been in our DNA from the beginning In order to reach new people in new places we will need to plant new churches and new ministries Starting new things in university settings is in our DNA In addition to reaching the next generation we want to train the next generation of missional leaders Reach Daniel and Holly Sullivan Jarchow Univ of Washington Kairos Church Planting Next Apprenticeship NEXT is a ministry apprenticeship that lasts two school years and includes ministry experience campus ministry church leadership as well as graduate level biblical education NEXT is designed to help train the next generation of missional leaders To begin fall 2020 Youth Summer Mission Trip Total Mission Budget for 2021 34 500 14 400 10 000 2 500 5 000 164 930
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved How then can they call on the one they have not believed in And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard And how can they hear without someone preaching to them Romans 10 13 14
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