—Submitted by: missions staff

Over the fall semester of 2011, PC3’s college ministry, Overflow, came together for a common purpose and made a huge impact in the worldwide fight against sex trafficking.  From August to December, students pitched in and raised over $7,000—an incredible amount that enabled them to rescue 175 women and children from a life of slavery.

Currently there are 27 million people trapped in modern-day slavery, more than any other time in history.  Sex trafficking and and bonded labor slavery run rampant around our globe, terrorizing and silencing these victims in its wake.

“We were so encouraged by the students’ generosity and passion to further the kingdom of God by helping to rescue women and children from such a horrific life—one that we can’t even imagine,” Overflow’s Host and Communications Coordinator, Lauren Mendoza, said.

Working through international abolition organization Tiny Hands, Overflow also sold 15 “One Girl” bracelets, a prayer initiative that challenges people to pray for a specific girl who has been rescued and for the continued efforts to rescue more.

“The beautiful and unique thing we loved about Tiny Hands was that they have a passion to rescue these women and children BEFORE they go through all this,” Mendoza observed.

From January 2nd-5th, 2012, Overflow took 93 students to this year’s Passion conference, an annual trip during which this ministry joins 45,000 other students to hear speakers and worship corporately, usually around a cause.  This year a central theme was freedom from slavery, a message that resonated loudly and reaffirmed the importance of the fight in which our Overflow students had just seized the opportunity to play a powerful part.

To learn more about what God is doing through Tiny Hands, click here, and for more information about Overflow, click here.

—Submitted by missions staff

When Japan’s most powerful earthquake recorded struck there on March 11, 2011, and the enormous tsunamis pummeled its coastline, and all the subsequent quakes continued on and on, and when finally the impending threat of radiation caused even more people to be displaced from their homes, Port City did what we usually do during a disaster of this proportion. We leveraged the finances God has blessed us with through the tithes and offerings that you have given to provide aid as quickly and effectively as possible. What an incredible blessing to be in a position that we can do this!

In most disaster response situations, we cannot possibly mobilize volunteers in a manner that would be helpful. We’d probably get turned away before arriving anywhere close to those hardest hit. And with limitations in fuel, water, and food, the last thing we’d want to do is take any of that from those in desperate need or those with much greater ability to be strategically beneficial. So, we know our best immediate response is to work through experts.

In most international disasters, World Vision is the first to respond with both resources and personnel on the ground. Their networks of relationships are so vast, and they are so well equipped, there are few who can match their disaster relief response. So, typically in disasters, Port City sends immediate financial support to World Vision — as we have done in Japan. This organization is well-known for caring for the whole person, and in a way that will point them to Christ. One of the really cool things they’ve done both in Haiti and now in Japan is establish child-friendly spaces. These are centers that allow children affected by the disaster to process through their fears and emotions, and get them on the road to recovering. If you’d like a glimpse of how this program is working, check it out in their April 4^th and March 25^th blogs: http://blog.worldvision.org/?s=child-friendly+space&searchsubmit=Search .

Seems World Vision’s enormous capacity to bring aid has been affirmed. Their disaster-response plan for Japan was slated to last 24 months. A recent post on their website says they have raised enough funds to complete all the planned work and they’re asking people not to give any more designated for Japan. Pretty incredible!

Comparable to World Vision in its ability to respond is Samaritan’s Purse. We have already sent financial support to Samaritan’s Purse, who is also doing an excellent job caring for the people of Japan, and helping them understand that the love behind the help is God’s love. They are doing all kinds of wonderful, practical things; check them out at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/InVideo/?bclid=831057262001. Be sure to check look at the video labeled ‘tool kits.’ In this video, Nick Ledoux, Samaritan’s Purse Regional Manager for Latin America and Asia — who attended Port City for a brief time while between assignments — is talking about the mud-out kits being used to help restore homes.

We encourage you to give generously to the aid efforts in Japan. Please thoroughly check out the organizations you give to. If you’d like to give to these efforts through Port City, beyond your tithe, all offerings given in April designated to “disaster relief” will go toward helping Japan.

It is very important that we help the Japanese people. We love them and we want to see them restored. Knowing that so few in Japan know Christ, we want to do everything we can to be witnesses of His love, and mercy, and compassion. Please know that just as important as giving and helping are, it is equally as important that we PRAY!!!

So, please continue PRAYING and giving, and know that we will look to find the very best ways that we here at Port City can help the people of Japan — now and in the future.

— Submitted by Christie Coley

All throughout the month of February, there was an irresistible new sound coming from the Grow Zone hallways. As always, there was the sound of children learning, babies babbling, teachers teaching, and toddlers toddling—but a brand-new beat could be heard from within…

It was the sound of ‘Grow Zone Global’! Music from around the world played throughout the halls, and volunteers could be seen dancing their way down to their rooms. Photos of children from different countries lit up the walls with their smiles, while international paraphernalia added to the atmosphere at the welcome booth.

All four Sundays, we celebrated with an emphasis on missions that opened the children’s minds just a little bit wider—around the globe, in fact! The February Bible-story lesson was “Jesus loves the little children,” focusing on Luke 18:16 when Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” Teaming up with Missions at PC3, the Grow Zone staff expanded this lesson to become “Jesus loves the little children, all around the world.” Each week, the children learned about a different country: America, Guatemala, China and Kenya. They were able to pray together specifically for the children who live in each of these areas and the needs that many of them have. The children also heard songs from each of these countries during their worship time, and colored pictures of children from these areas for their craft. Each country is a place where Port City has already established relationships.

February lesson’s expanded focus fit nicely after January’s lesson, “God Made Me,” which emphasized the fact that each one of us is unique and special. It also built upon November’s “Coats for Kids” project, during which the children in Grow Zone learned about other kids in Wilmington who may not have coats when it’s cold, and had the opportunity themselves to donate coats to those in need.

February was quite an exciting time in Grow Zone, and all involved were able to see the hope for this month realized: that the children would see just a small glimpse of how God loves all people all over the world.

—Submitted by missions staff

PC3 has recently concluded hosting a fall semester of a ‘Perspectives on the World Christian Movement’ class (www.perspectives.org). This global-discipleship course offers college credit, and through a different, exciting speaker each week, as well as immersion into study and the Word, it opens the eyes of its students to discover the part they can play in joining God’s movement around the world—across the street and across the globe. We asked our students to provide some feedback about how ‘Perspectives’ has changed their perspectives. Below are a few of their stories…

Taking ‘Perspectives’ was never on my list of things to do. Sure, I knew of the class from seeing it on the announcements on Sundays mornings. I even had friends who had taken it. But I had two reasons for not considering to take it: 1) I heard it was a lot of work, so why should I add something else to my already-busy life, and 2) I thought a class about missions would be really boring; I mean, how much can you say about missions, after all? Well, like many things in life, God had a different plan for my Tuesday evenings in Fall 2010!

My journey to ‘Perspectives’ started in the fall of 2009 when God pushed me to apply for the Africa mission in April 2010. This was way outside of my comfort zone! I was OK with the fact that missionaries existed and really liked listening to their stories when they came to visit on furlough, but I didn’t want anything to do with the going part. Apparently God had a few things for me to learn about missions. I went to Africa in April of 2010 and pretty much had my world flipped upside down, shaken, rearranged, etc. After Africa, I kept wondering how I fit into the mission of missions.  I came back with lots of questions: The big one was should I sell everything I own and go into missions full-time, long-term? My roommate in Africa (and new best friend) told me she was taking ‘Perspectives,’ suggested that it would be easier if we took it together, and said that the class would probably help me figure out (or at least gain more clarity) on how my life fit into God’s big plan. Hmm….possibly gain clarity on my life and take a class with my best friend? I was in!

The ‘Perspectives’ course has two major components: 1) readings during the week and response questions 2) attending two hours of class once a week and listening to a speaker. I’ll admit I very rarely completed the readings! They were a lot of work but worth the time I invested in them. I just tended to run out of investable time! The speakers were wonderful! There were current missionaries, former missionaries and other people who are involved with missions in various ways. The common theme I kept hearing was ‘Go’; in fact, one speaker one night said we should be facing the ends of the Earth and leaning. Wow! What an awesome picture. I felt challenged to figure out what it looked like to ‘go’ in my own life. Is this going somewhere foreign long-term, going to my neighbors, going to another part of the US or being content to encourage others to go? ‘Perspectives’ challenged me to answer this question, and while I do not yet have an answer, I’m chasing it.

I started researching missions agencies and found one that hosts a summer program. They send young adults to the field for three months during the summer to partner with a long-term missionary and participate in their ministry. I decided that participating in this opportunity would help me get a picture of what it would look like to serve in a foreign country long-term. I will be spending my summer of 2011 Indonesia working alongside a career missionary in community development and church planting among an unreached people group.

Another opportunity I got from ‘Perspectives’ was with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We had a speaker one evening from Wycliffe, and after class I was asking him questions about translation. I asked him who translates the Bible into other languages? What background do these people have? He responded that some translators have a background in linguistics, but some of the best translators are engineer types. He asked me what my background was, I said math and physics. He said, “You would probably be a great translator; come to this class,” and he handed me a pamphlet for the Total It Up (Taste of Translation and Linguistics) class. I went to Total it Up (TIU) at Wycliffe USA Headquarters in January 2011 and learned all about the process of translating the Bible for people groups who do not already have access to the Bible in their ‘heart language’ (the language that they think in, dream in and best function in). Wow, what a process! It is very scientific, and I understand why people with backgrounds in math and science are successful with it!

‘Perspectives’ allowed me to learn about many different missions organizations and the current status of the missions movement. I am still searching to find how my life fits into missions, but I now know of places where I can search and explore and discover, and hopefully gain clarity on God’s plan for my life.

Everyone should take ‘Perspectives.’ You will be challenged, your view of God will stretch, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find yourself jumping into a journey that will take you to the ends of the Earth…

—Submitted by Kimberly Embrey

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My One Word for 2010 has been “grace.” Through this ‘Perspectives’ course, I have come to see the grace of God in many new ways. I found that God has given us the grace to co-labor with him as He moves through the world, engaging people in relationship. I saw the grace that we need to employ as we look back on some of the mistakes made in the name of our Lord and Savior, and that people need to give well-intentioned missionaries grace as they enter the unknown in their quest to share the Good News.

From the first week the homework was handed back, I had to give myself grace, as venturing back into academia for the first time in 28 years was a bigger challenge than I expected it to be. I had to be gentle with myself as perfection was not easily obtainable through the grading of our wonderful Mrs. Smith. I learned a lot about my preconceived notions about short-term missions, what a “missiological breakthrough” is, and that there is a study of God’s missionary heart through history.

One of the most profound things I learned was about short-term missions and how they can have a more significant impact than just being a holy tour of a remote location. I think that adjusting my expectations of what I desire to accomplish on missions has been altered, deepened and extended. At the beginning of the course, I desired to “know God better.” I think this goal has been more than accomplished. Doing a mission to Israel in the middle of this course was great; it gave me a deep appreciation for the opportunity God was giving me, to see Him and represent Him in the world. I thank you for the privilege to take this course and look forward to being inspired by teachers in future class years.

—Submitted by Annie Anthony

* * *

‘Perspectives’ was a confirmation that it was the right next step that God wanted me to take.  Through all the incredible speakers, He provided me with insight on the challenges that can be expected as a missionary, and how rewarding those challenges will be once I reach an unreached person and lead them to Christ. I am looking forward and I feel blessed to accept whatever next step God as planned for me.

—Submitted by Rosa Petrucelli