New 3W Missionaries: Introducing the De Franciscos

We are very excited to announce that Alejandro and Carmen De Francisco are joining the 3W Team to serve as missionaries to Spain, as well as assisting us in Europe and the Middle East. The De Francisco's will be starting the Church of God in Spain and planting a congregation in Madrid. They have a vision to plant a network of healthy, self-sustaining, self-replicating congregations across Spain. Along the way, they will be raising up and training leaders for these congregations and making sure this network of churches will be fully integrated into the fellowship of the Church of God across the region. The De Franciscos will also serve across the Europe and Middle East region as the Three Worlds team’s consultants for healthy church plants.

Alejandro was born in Cuba, growing up as an atheist under Cuba’s communist regime. Carmen, born into a devout Jehovah’s Witness family, grew up as a Sandinista in Nicaragua. Their paths crossed in the 1980s when both received university scholarships to study in the Soviet Union, he for a degree in physics and mathematics and she for a degree in Russian language and literature. The couple eventually sought political asylum in Spain, where Alejandro’s father was living, later immigrating to Miami in the United States in 1991.

For the next ten years they served in that church as lay leaders, growing in faith. Alejandro found enormous success as the art director of the Latin American edition of PC Magazine and later PC World. But in 2001, God brought a new calling, one that caused them to leave everything behind to plant a Hispanic church in Tampa, Florida, alongside Oak Grove Church of God. And so Alejandro and Carmen stepped out in faith into what has now been fifteen years of planting Hispanic churches throughout Florida, including ten years on staff with Florida Church of God Ministries.

As Global Strategy missionaries, you ca support them and the church-plant in Spain by giving now online at http://chogglobal.org/living-link-donations/#defrancisco. You can also mail a check to Church of God Ministries, Box 2420, Anderson, IN 46018, with De Francisco, Project # 42.10097 in the memo line. To learn more about the ministry of the De Franciscos and how you can support them financially and in prayer, contact Debbie Taylor at DTaylor@chog.org or 765-648-2129.

Meet the Langfords: New 3W Teammembers!

Zach was born in Port Charlotte, Florida and was an active member of 6th Avenue Church of God in Decatur, Alabama (Ken and Keli Oldham's church) when he got interested in international ministry.  After going on a mission trip to Guyana, Zach traveled to the U.K. to work with the Church of God and felt God calling him to England.  He returned for the summer in 2008 to work in the church in Birkenhead (Liverpool) for the summer and that was the beginning of a great love affair between Zach and England as well as the U.K. churches.   In 2010, Zach married Audrey Denmark and they moved back to Birkenhead to continue working as a pastor with the church there.

Audrey is a TCK (Third-Culture Kid) who spent some time as a child in Cairo, Egypt attending the same school that Jamie Nachtigall attended.  She has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and a B.S. in Elementary Education from University of Alabama and has worked as a teacher and as a Lead Clinical Assistant.   She has also worked in rural Mexico, Belize, and Northern Ireland on mission trips.

The paths of the Langfords and Three Worlds kept passing as we traveled to the U.K. to lend support to the churches in London and Liverpool.  We were deeply impressed with their level of integration, their analytical skills, and their deep faith in what is one of the toughest mission-fields we have in this region: the tough, working-class neighborhood of Birkenhead.  We invited them to our 3W Seminars and they helped organize them.  Audrey accompanied Jamie Nachtigall to help introduce the Oldhams to Egypt on their first visit, and Zach has spent time in Germany meeting the Church of God there and cooking for Patrick and Marco. We also invited them to join our 3W Staff Meeting in September of 2011 and they fit right in with the rest of the crazy team.  They felt God calling them to long-term ministry and that led to this opportunity for them to join the 3W Team. The work of this couple has been deeply impressive and we are thrilled to formally have them on our team.

Zach and Audrey have committed to moving to England to serve with the local youth and church in the Liverpool area as well as regionally with the 3Worlds(3W) team.  Zach hopes to continue to support Egan Road Church of God as well as help with research and development of the 3W church planting initiative.  Audrey will begin developing an MK/TCK Member Care Program for 3W as well as continue to work with the youth at Egan Road.

Meet the Kihms: New 3W Team Members

Daniel and Christy Kihm are our Three Worlds missionaries to Holland.  Daniel grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and holds a B.A. in Bible & Religion as well as an M.Div. from Anderson University.  He also attended Cincinnati Bible College.  For the past 7 years, Daniel was the Senior Pastor at Maple Grove Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.  Daniel has had extensive experience leading teams overseas and has traveled to Haiti, Peru, Guatemala, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Honduras, Grand Cayman, India, Mexico, Australia, France, Italy, Jamaica, and Morocco.  He also was a part of XZ Berlin's 2010 Urban Mission Experience.

Christy was born in Albany, Indiana and has been working as an Admissions Counselor at Anderson University.  She has a B.A. in Secondary Education and a Masters in Business Administration from Anderson University.  Christy has traveled to Israel, Honduras, Tanzania, Brazil, Costa Rica, Greece, and has co-lead groups with Daniel to Grand Cayman, Hungary, Romania, India, Honduras, and Australia.

Both Daniel and Christy love being in positions where they can mentor and encourage people in their lives and ministry.  On the Three Worlds Team, the Kihms will be based in Holland working with the young, emerging leadership in the Church of God congregations near the Belgium and German border as well as in Holland.  The Kihms will also be assisting the XZ Berlin team from time to time, and helping us lay the foundation for a major Church planting and church support initiative by Three Worlds.  We are very excited to have them join our team!

By the way--the Kihms are expecting their first child this summer, so there will be 3 Kihms on the 3W team.

Celebrating! Oldhams Get the Green Light!

We are all celebrating here at Three Worlds about the Oldhams receiving 100% of their support!  This means that soon the Oldhams will be on a plane to Egypt and will officially be over here working for our Three World objectives.  Ken and Keli worked very hard to raise their funds.  Over the past few months, Ken has been traveling tirelessly sharing about their passion of the Egypt and talking about the 3W vision.

The other side of the story is YOU!  The churches and individuals who have made this happen (and make Three Worlds happen!). There were churches making room in their budgets despite the budgets being fixed, there were commitments made on faith, there were individuals sacrificing during a recession, there were churches that are already supporting 3W personnel and added one more family because they believe in what we are doing and in the Oldhams, and lots of others that have made pledges.

As I was sharing recently, the fundraising process is boot-camp.  It is a giant leap of faith.  You don't have a job, insurance, and you have to spend your time on the road never knowing if the long 8 hour drive will lead to a new partner or a rejection.  Your support plateaus at some point (maybe 10%), and all the while you long to just get on the field to do your work.  Even Jamie and I still have to do this even though we are Regional Coordinators.  So we are all utterly dependent on your generosity.  It is humbling, it is challenging, and I think ultimately, if you are the right person for the job, it is refining.

All of us over here in Europe and the M.E. are very excited to have the Oldhams here.  Please pray for their transition, especially for the children. Our team is prepared to love on them and give them a whole lot of support.  The kids are going to have lots of "3W Aunties and Uncles" looking after them.  And we have plans in the works to expand the level of care and love that we can give our 3W kids.

Last night as we waited to get the final results (the push over 100%), it felt like waiting for electoral votes on election night.  When word came through at about 11PM Berlin time we celebrated. The Oldhams are still not done fundraising however, as our goals it reach 110% which is very important because there has to be a protection against shortfalls and also schooling expenses for the kids.  So there's still room to continue giving, but there is enough to get them on their way.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the adventure--one that will have many twists and turns.  Our hope is that 3W's system will be the shock absorbers that will enable the Oldhams and the next generation of leaders to handle the challenges that come along with greater support and ease.  Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Join the 3W Care-A-Van!

This coming April 5th through April 19th, Three Worlds will be introducing its first ever Care-a-Van experience.  Care-a-Van is an opportunity for North American Christians to join us on the road in Europe as we visit a few small churches located throughout Europe that could use encouragement.  Throughout Europe we have many Church of God congregations that are isolated and struggle in an environment hostile or indifferent to Christianity.  It is difficult to stay encouraged.  Consequently, the Care-a-Van will give North Americans the opportunity to connect to these churches and encourage them through prayer and fellowship.

The Care-a-Van (a group of cars driving from church to church led by the Nachtigalls and Aaron and Nicole Varner) will set out from Munich, Germany and make their way through the Alps to visit congregations in Southern Germany, our newest church in Arco, Italy, as well as to join in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Rome Church of God.  Along the way our visitors will be educated on the challenge of ministry and mission in the European context and given ideas for how churches in North American can enhance their global connections.  The trip will be educational, strategic, encouraging, and will include some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. It will be a great introduction to Three Worlds.

We highly recommend this trip for mission pastors as well as lay-leaders and pastors who are interested in learning about the Three Worlds vision and connecting with churches in Europe and the Middle East.

Cost: Approximately $2,000 + Airfare to Munich, Germany.  Contact us for further details.

GBR - Episode 3

The long awaited, and much delayed episode 3 of Gateway Berlin Radio is up. In this episode The Oregonian film critic M.E. Russell discusses why Christian movies are often shallow compared to secular movies and what would make Christian art better.  Also:  A farewell to our summer intern Jael Tang.

Right click to download the podcast: [audio:http://www.three-worlds.com/GBR_Ep3.mp3|titles=Gateway Berlin Radio - Episode 3=Patrick Nachtigall]

GBR - EPISODE 2

In this episode, host Patrick Nachtigall brings us a blast from the past. Also:  Remembering Emmy Lou , checking out strange but true headline news from around the world in the “Around the Horn” segment.  In the In-Depth segment: we look at the city of Singapore with our guest co-host and summer intern Jael Tang. Finally, a World-Cup Roundup with Greg Dorr.

Right click to download the podcast: Gateway Berlin Radio / Ep. 2

GBR - EPISODE 1

"Live" from the McQuarium Studios in Berlin:  This is Gateway Berlin Radio Podcast, Episode 1.

In this episode, host Patrick Nachtigall and intern Jael Tang introduce the GBR podcast, discuss issues of faith in the multicultural city of Berlin, and check out strange but true headline news from around the world in the "Around the Horn" segment. in the In-Depth segment Patrick and Jael look at a church in Mexico City trying an unusual method to reach youth, and finally there is a visit the Turkish Market.

Listen online:  [audio:http://www.three-worlds.com/GBR_Ep1.mp3|titles=Gateway Berlin Radio / Ep. 1]

Download the podcast here: Gateway Berlin Radio / Episode 1

Patrick's New Book Released

Patrick's third book Mosaic: A Journey Across the Church of God was released in June.

Does a reformation movement born in the nineteenth century still have a future?  Beginning at the cemetery where his great-grandfather is buried, Patrick Nachtigall sets out on a journey to see how the Church of God is facing six critical challenges.  From a megachurch in the flatlands of the Midwest, to an isolated churchin Siberia, to the Philippines where pastors deal with Pentecostal movements, to the Middle East where a former Al-Qaeda member comes to Christ, Patrick treks to six different continents to talk with Church of God people.  He seeks to understand the realities that we face in the twenty-first century.

Here is a picture of a very diverse movement where some congregations exist in a traditional Christendom world, others in a post-Christendom world, and yet others in a pre-Christendom Book of Acts world.  Patrick finds that we are a movement filled with holiness but desperately lacking unity.  So our future is an open question.

Mosaic is for anyone who wants to understand the macro trends that affect not only the Church of God, but the entire Christian church worldwide.  Visit the Mosaic website, purchase the book and post your opinion.

We're No Longer at Chinatimesonline.com

Welcome to three-worlds.com, it's great to see you!  You are now in the Three Worlds Diary where we will continue to write about our life, our ministry, our travels, as well as discussing geo-political issues and covering the international scene.  Thank you to all of you who have followed us on chinatimesonline.com for the last 8 years.  We are now moving to our new home at three-worlds.com.  Please reset your browsers bookmarks and get ready for a global view coming out of Europe and the Middle East.

We are now the Regional Coordinators for Europe and the Middle East for Global Missions and will be based in Berlin, Germany as of July 9th, 2010.  We are working with a team of missionaries that we call the Three Worlds Team (or 3w Team).  You will be hearing not just about us, but about our individual team members as well.  They are based in Germany, Bulgaria, the Middle East, and other parts of the region.  Mostly, you will be reading my voice, but you will also hear from the rest of the team members in writing, in audio, and eventually through video.  Three-Worlds.com will be our primary mode of communication about our work--although most everyone on the team has their own web pages, facebook pages, and other ways of communicating.

For those of you that have been following the Chinatimesonline for years (and there actually are many of you), this diary will be similar to the last one.  There will be considerably less China analysis (although that still remains my area of academic expertise), and more about Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  At the heart of this website, however, will be our attempts to process the global shifts that are occurring in Christianity.  Three Worlds as a team and a website will be a place where we try and stay ahead of the curve of all that is happening globally in the world of religion.  Hopefully you will learn a lot, be inspired, get involved, and laugh a lot too!  Laughter is a big part of our Three-Worlds Team.  You gotta have fun too.

So welcome to Three-Worlds.com.  We are still building the website.  It will be months before things are fully looking how we want, but we start here.  Check out the photos, check out the news, and in time--you will definitely want to check out our podcast:  Gateway Berlin Radio.  So let's get this party started.