FRONTLINEM A L D I V E S

UNASHAMED T O U R R E V I E W

SE ASIAS H O R T T E R M R E P O R T

WASTED LIFE?J I M E L L I O T

MISSIONARYO LYM P I C G O L D - M E DA L L I S T

CHINA, BURMA D I S A S T E R U P D AT E

>FREEY O U T H M I S S I O N S M A G A Z I N E

C O N T E N T S

J I M E L L I O T 0 2

F R O N T L I N E N E W S 0 3

O LY M P I C M I S S I O N A RY 0 4

L A O S S H O R T T E R M R E P O R T 0 5

N E W S 0 6

INTRODUCTION

IS GOD THE GOD OF JEWS ONLY? IS HE NOT THE

GOD OF GENTILES TOO? YES, OF GENTILES TOO

R O M A N S 3 : 2 9

Dear Friends,

Passion for God is what counts. It’s that all-encompassingdesire for His glory that drives missionaries to leavehome and comfort in order to pursue the task ofworld missions.

In missions, it’s not simply a case of setting peoplefree from their sin and shame. There’s a bigger, broadergoal. It’s ultimately all about making disciples of allpeoples, making them into worshippers! As John Piperputs it, ‘worship is the goal of missions because

in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into

the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory’.

Looking back through the Bible, we see one underlyingtheme from God’s faithful followers – passion for His glory.

As radical as it may have seemed to the disciples atthe time, it wasn’t a new thing for Jesus to commandthem to “go” to the nations (peoples). He was simplysummarising and reminding us all of what exactlyGod had been doing throughout history. It was nowtheir job to carry on that work. Jesus had openedtheir minds to understand that this was what it was all about... Abraham, Israel, the Psalms and theProphets – it was all about Him!

They finally got it! Their faith was no longer introspective.Their worldview began to dramatically shift. As they moved forward in missions, it wasn’t onlycompassion for the lost that drove them on throughpersecution, dangers and hardships. It was a biggerand greater world-changing perspective that propelledthem to reach to the ends of the earth. God has to

be glorified among all peoples.

S O W H AT O N E A R T H I S G O D D O I N G ?

He is building His church, just as he promised.

The good news is that tens of thousands come to Christevery day. Literally. The mandate that Christ gave us hasbeen and is being carried out so that thousands of tribesand tongues are beginning to hear about Him! Nowthat’s something amazing!

The job is still not done. There’s still loads to do andstill more people need to go. Lots of them, too. There may be lots of missionaries but there are relatively few targeting their efforts on the places where currentlythere are no viable church. That’s important. There’s a huge imbalance in reaching the unreached. It getsworse too. Only 1% of financial support for missionsgoes towards work among unreached people groups.

The big picture is this. It’s His Story and His glory thatmatters, not ours. Being truly consumed with passionfor God’s glory will lead us into some serious action.

Thanks for picking up this 4th issue of Historymakers.We’ll be featuring several Christians who have beenconsumed with that world-changing passion. Their liveshave made a difference. What’s your passion today?

J I M E L L I O T

Many people thought it was a tragic waste of a life when

Jim Elliot died trying to contact the Aucas. Yet, how many

Christians would risk their life for an opportunity to share

the gospel? Jim Elliot, a young modern martyr, gave what

he could not keep and gained what he could not lose.

A ‘missions’ statistic that profoundly challenged Jim was,“There is one Christian worker for every 50,000 people in foreignlands, while there is one to every 500 in the United States.”

Early in 1952, Jim Elliot sailed for Ecuador. The plan was tolocate in an old oil station that was abandoned because itwas considered too dangerous for oil personnel. It was closeto the Auca tribe and had a small airstrip. In February 1953,Jim and Elisabeth met in Quito and then on October 8,1953 they were married.

Their daughter, Valerie, was born two years later. Jim andElisabeth worked together in translating the New Testamentinto the Quechua Indian language at the new mission station.

The Aucas were a violent and murderous tribe and had neverhad any contact with the outside world. Jim wanted tobring the gospel there so he started a plan which was calledOperation Auca. Besides him and his wife, his team consistedof five more missionary couples.

‘ N O T A L O N G L I F E , B U T A F U L L O N E ’

The men discovered the first Auca huts with the help of amissionary jungle pilot, Nate Saint. The first attempt to contactthem was by airplane. They would fly around the camp shoutingfriendship words in the Auca language through a loud speakerand dropping down gifts in a basket. Encouraged by this progress,after three to four months of gift dropping, they decided tomake a base on the Curray River, ‘Palm Beach’. After they hadset up shelter they eventually made contact with the Aucas.After a little persuasion, they were able to convince some to come into their camp. Encouraged by this visit, the menfelt that it was time to go in and try to minister to them.

One morning, after numerous songs of praise and considerableprayer, the men radioed their wives saying that they weregoing to go into the village and would radio them again later.‘Operation Auca’ was under way. The next day, a groupof twenty or thirty Aucas went to Palm Beach.

“Guys, the Aucas are coming!” As soon as the others heardthat, they flew into action straightening up their camp.Little did these five men know that this would be their lastfew hours of life. The last radio contact they made was Jimcalling his wife saying, “We’ll call you back in three hours.”Jim Elliot’s body was found down stream with three others.Their bodies had been brutally pierced with spears andhacked by machetes.

After Jim’s death, Elisabeth and her daughter Valerie movedto work with the Auca Indians. The love of Christ shownthrough their forgiveness allowed them to have amazingsuccess with the once murderous Indians.

Jim’s life was not a waste, in fact, God used his death tobring life through salvation to many Aucas and encouragementand inspiration to thousands of believers worldwide.

2

“GOD, I PRAY, LIGHT THESE IDLE STICKS OF MY LIFE AND MAY

I BURN FOR YOU. CONSUME MY LIFE, MY GOD, FOR IT IS YOURS.

I SEEK NOT A LONG LIFE, BUT A FULL ONE, LIKE YOU, LORD JESUS.”

J I M E L L I O T

INSPIREMARTYR

The story of Jim Elliot and the othermissionaries can be found in the

book and film ‘BEYOND THE GATES

OF SPLENDOUR’

FRONTLINEM A L D I V E S

The Maldives, 1200 islands off India’s southwest tip, have

jumped up the list of most serious persecutors of Christians.

Indeed the country is now among the top five most

consistent opponents of the Gospel.

B I B L E T R A N S L AT I O N

One of the most important current ministries in this Islamic

nation is the translation of the Dhivehi Bible, Dhivehi being

the language spoken by the majority of the three hundred

thousand islanders. It is an intricate process. Written from

right to left, this locally invented script requires the full

attention of a native speaker in order to communicate

the message well and to sound natural. It also makes the

printing process much more complicated.

Then there is the added problem that word choices of one

translator may not communicate clearly to everyone in the

intended audience or maybe even finding a word in

a culture where no word exists in their language,

such as the word snow! Draft versions have to be

evaluated by other native speakers to verify that the

translation is both understandable and accurate. Each

translated draft is back-translated into English so that

non-Maldivian experts can check for errors.

In addition to the time and energy this takes, many

Maldivians are afraid to read the Bible because, from a

young age, they have been warned against it. A Maldivian

Bible translator can expect persecution and rejection from

the community as a reward for this work.

With maybe just ten Maldivian Christians in the world

today, completion of the Dhivehi Bible is taking time.

Several books have already been translated, tested and

printed… and placed in the hands of Maldivians. That’s

amazing progress! You can be praying that others would be

able to get a hold of the Scriptures, would be hungry to

read it and that the Spirit would help them understand

something so very far removed from the way they have

been raised to think, believe, act and worship. The Bible, of

course, is not available to buy in the islands.

Meanwhile, you can be praying for a series of weekly radio

broadcasts by our partners. We have made a commitment

to help with the costs for this incredible new ministry.

Dhivehi broadcasts into the islands will be starting soon

and will be reviewed after three months with the possibility

of doing more afterwards. Other ministries continue too.

We are not always able to report these freely but you can

be asking the Lord to oversee all that is happening, to

guide the people involved and that many more Maldivians

would be brought into a relationship with Him.

W H AT Y O U C A N D O

There is a united and concerted prayer effort from

concerned believers in many countries. You can be a part of

this. We will send you what news we can.

Sign up at islands@asialink.org.uk

INFORM

G O L D M E D A L M I S S I O N A RY

Most of us only think about Eric Liddell as ‘the man who

wouldn’t run on Sunday’, about whom about the Oscar

winning movie ‘Chariots of Fire’ was made. He was

known as the ‘Flying Scotsman’ and was the first of his

country to win Gold during the 1924 Paris Olympics. But

Liddell achieved a greater prize than Olympic Gold later

on in his life.

After the Olympics, Liddell returned to China to work as amissionary. His family, originally from Scotland, worked inChina during the time of the Boxer Rebellion. Liddell workedas a teacher at a school for Chinese boys at which he taughtchemistry and organized sports. He married in 1934 and in1936 China prepared for war as Communist and Nationalisttensions increased. Liddell was asked by the LondonMissionary Society to give up his work in Tientsin, and workas a village evangelist in Siao Chang. This was a dangerousarea. Liddell could not take his wife and two daughters withhim and he was forced to leave them behind when he wentto work there. He was able to visit on occasion, but it was along journey. Visits were not frequent.

E VA N G E L I S T

The villages Liddell worked in suffered many hardships as aresult of the warring between Communists and Nationalists.On one day, the Communists would pillage and destroy avillage and then leave. Later, on another day, the Nationalistswould come and do the same thing. His job in the area wasevangelism and to encourage the Christians already there.The work was dangerous. Travelling in the countryside withCommunist and Nationalist forces equally hostile tomissionary work put Liddell in harm’s way on a regular basis.

The Japanese invaded China and in 1940 Liddell told hiswife to take their children to Canada where she could livewith her parents. He stayed behind in Tientsin to continuehis work. Liddell was sent by the Japanese to an InternmentCamp where 1800 other internees were confined. He wasnot dissuaded by his circumstances. He worked tirelessly in the camp, doing just about anything that needed to bedone, whether it was bible study, teaching children whowere trying to keep up their studies, or organizing sports.

In a prisoner exchange bargain, his freedom was arranged

by Winston Churchill, but he gave it up and let a pregnantwoman leave instead.

I H AV E F I N I S H E D T H E R A C E

In 1944, Liddell was not well. The doctors did not have theresources to diagnose the real nature of the problem. OnFebruary 21, 1945, he began coughing uncontrollably, andas friends came to his aid, he lay back and uttered thewords “It is surrender”. An autopsy later revealed thatLiddell had a large tumour on the left side of his brain. Hedied never having seen his third child, Maureen Liddell.

This man was truly committed to the cause of Christ.

He had the opportunity to leave China but he chose to stay.

He poured his life into the work of reaching the lost inChina. He worked for a prize far greater than gold, evenOlympic gold.

MISSIONARYERICLIDDELL

I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE,

I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH. 2 T I M O T H Y 4 : 7

“GOD MADE ME FAST. AND WHEN I RUN, I FEEL HIS PLEASURE”

E R I C L I D D E L L 4

INSPIRE

INFORMEYE WITNESS

In July, a Historymakers team

delivered Bibles and teaching

materials to underground

believers in the Communist nation of Laos in SE Asia.

This is their eye-witness report:

On our first night in Laos, we were cautiously able to share our faithwith a man who was sitting playing his guitar in a shop front. ‘N’spoke good english and had already heard of ‘Yesu’ (Jesus) from thework of missionaries and was very close to becoming a Christian. Weplan to keep in touch with him via email.

Soon after, we spent 10 hours travelling by mini-van to meet membersof the underground church. We were able to safely deliver materials tothe believers and as a real bonus we also managed to spend a few hourswith one of the housechurch leaders. ‘S’ told us how the Church in Laosis growing, particularly among some of the tribal people groups. He alsogave us a few prayer needs, especially for imprisoned Chrisitans like the retired government official who has served 10 years of a 15 yearssentence for evangelizing other officials.

He also told us about a government-granted licence that Christiansneed in order to share the Gospel with others – a card that only a handfulof people have been given! ‘S’ mentioned that in each housechurch,only two out of three people have a Bible of their own... a soberingreminder that even though we have been taking teams into Laos for anumber of years now, we are only scratching the surface of the need ofthe Christians in Laos. Needless to say, ‘S’ was extremely grateful to thewhole team for carrying rucksacks full of God’s Word to be distributedamong the tribal house churches.

Each day the team was blessed with opportunities to share about Jesuswith Buddhist monks, Lao people and English speaking minority tribalpeople. One such instance led one team member to make friends witha new believer. ‘T’ who was only 17 years old, invited us to join with asmall gathering of believers who were studying God’s Word togetherevery week. The topic for that day – Persecution! We were all humbledas we spoke with ‘T’ and with others about persecution they werealready experiencing from their families and authorities.

Later that week we went to visit a local housechurch Sunday gathering.‘S’ had assured us it wouldn’t cause any problems for the local believers.What a tremendous privilege to join in worshipping Yesu and listen toGod’s Word in a tiny building which over 70 Christians squeezed intoeach week. The team even had the opportunity to sing Amazing Graceto the congregation–a melody which some of the older believers knewalready and brought tears to their eyes and to ours too!

We travelled on to another part of the country to distribute in villages.One of our drivers spoke good English so a team member shared about Jesus.He had owned an English Bible years before in the capital city but couldnot remember any of it. Amazingly enough, we had kept back one copyof the Bible to bring home to the UK to use in meetings about Laos.

Later that night we met again. He was overjoyed to receive the Bible in

his own language, even though he was Buddhist. We instructed him toread the Gospel of John and told him we would pray that he would givehis life to Christ. He said he would like to but that his grandparents, whowere Buddhist, would be offended if he did. Please pray that God wouldcontinue to bless the Church in Laos. Pray that those who have beenimprisoned for their faith would continue to stand firm and that theHoly Spirit would bring comfort to them in their time of need. Pray that

minority tribal groups would be reached with the Good News.

Here’s a testimony from one of the team members: “The trip to Laos withAsiaLink’s youth department, ‘HistoryMakers’, was something I’ll neverforget. God showed me that, although the people are being persecutedfor their faith, He hasn’t forgotten them and that He is blessing themas they serve and obey Him, despite the consequences they could facein doing so. We in Ireland and the UK need to learn from them and startobeying God when it comes to sharing our faith, or we’ll never experiencethe blessings and growth that they see. Attending the undergroundchurch was a highlight for me and I left Laos feeling encouraged inmy faith and challenged at the same time.” Suzie, Ireland

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SHORT TERM OPPORTUNITIESWITH HISTORYMAKERS, EMAIL: historymakers@asialink.org.uk

or PHONE: 0161 442 3349 (Replace ‘0’ with +44 from outside the UK)

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NEWSCHINA: HOPE IN SICHUAN

The aftermath of the horribledisasters in Asia has seen God bringsome beauty out of the ashes ofpeople’s lives. Many Chinese (andsome foreign) Christians have been atthe forefront of aid efforts in SichuanProvince, motivated by a love for Godand compassion for the victims of theearthquake, which has left in excessof five million people homeless.

The Chinese house church believers inparticular have boldly proclaimed the

Good News of Jesus Christ at thesame time as they have been helpingpeople and this combination of greatlove and great boldness has provenirresistible. One report we havereceived says that more than 3,000

people in Sichuan have repented of

their sin and given their lives to

Jesus Christ. Our partner Asia Harvesthas so far sent enough funds to Chinato buy 1,000 emergency aid kits. Please continue to pray, as the relief

work moves to the rebuilding stage.

BURMA: RELIEF WORKIn Burma too we are seeing the Lord at work in people’s hearts. As food,clothing and medical aid were takendown the Irrawaddy river to villages stillto be reached by relief workers, therewas opportunity not only to show, but

also to tell openly, of God’s love.

Vunga is in charge of our relief effortsand reports, “The Lord really used ourrelief effort to bring many people toChrist and to the Church and many moreexpress sincere interest in the Gospel.

We baptised 18 new believers last

Saturday. This Sunday, Lord willing, wewill baptise another four. Our childrensministries have increased in attendanceto more than 400 children weekly in fivelocations. All of these were taught by ourBible students.”

Praise God that we can see His hand atwork even in these awful disasters.

UNASHAMED: YOUTH CONCERT

By now you should be receiving our

e-update. Every month we send out up to date information on the HistoryMakers ministryand AsiaLink projects, including cool videos,

inspiring sermons, missions quotes, Scriptures

and prayer points. If you signed up at a

HistoryMakers meeting and you haven’t received

emails yet, then there’s a good chance your

email wasn’t legible! Please contactisabel@asialink.org.uk with your correct email address and we’ll make sure you’re added to the database.

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INFORM

This summer, the 116 Clique toured the

USA and the UK. These weren’t just

concerts. They were a call to believers

to live UNASHAMED of the GOSPEL!

Paul wasn’t ashamed. He says “For Iam not ashamed of the Gospel,because it is the power of God foreveryone who believes…” (Rom 1:16).While we say “I am not ashamed”, our lives don’t always speak it. Toooften we are caught up in the thethings of this world, too easily satisfied

with its enjoyments, too quicklyforgetting God Himself.

HistoryMakers hosted the Manchesterleg of the UK tour. It gave us thechance to give a missions challenge to the audience and to share the visionbehind HistoryMakers and the work of AsiaLink to the 116 Clique.

Altogether, it was a fantastic day, toppedoff with an excellent concert, powerfulministry from the artists and ten peopleeven made commitments to Christ!

To read more about the Unashamed

ministry, go to:

www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1265_living_unashamed/

EMAIL

HistoryMakers is a ministry of AsiaLink. Registered Charity No. 327165

WILLIAM CAREY

MIKE STACHURA

A S I A L I N K Y O U T H O F F I C E R

237 WELLINGTON ROAD NORTH

STOCKPORT, ENGLAND, SK4 2RQ

TEL: +44 0161 442 3349

historymakers@asia l ink .org .uk

If you would like to receive the

HistoryMakers magazine and monthly

e-updates, go to www.historymakers.info/join

and submit the on-line form.

>JOINWe’re offering you the exciting opportunity to inspire your youth group through the

HistoryMakers ‘ENGAGE’ presentation. Using dynamic media including exciting videos

as well as teaching about missions and living passionately for Christ – we want to challenge

your youth and student groups to move out of their comfort zone! Would you like

HistoryMakers to visit your church or youth group? Drop us an email and we’d be

happy to help.

INSPIRE

>DONATEYou’ve seen what we do. You’ve read about the work.

Now you can sow into this ministry. You can do it as an

individual or perhaps as a Church or as a Youth Fellowship. You

can support the work of HistoryMakers by a one-time gift or by

regular support. You can send cash or cheques. You can even

Gift Aid it if you pay tax. Contact us for Direct Debit forms or

you can give online at: www.asialink.org.uk/giving.html

Illustration taken from ‘Conventional Wisdom’ by A. Auderset Used with the kind permission of Monarch Books.