NEWSLETTER NO. 16
NOVEMBER 2009
Posted: November 30th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, Other.
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Goodbye Stu…
Stuart Brown was our brother, our colleague and our friend. As one of the many unsung volunteers and collaborators who Read more »
Posted: November 20th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, Testimonies.
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Media Developments
The Gospel is Gaining Ground!
At this year’s International Conference, delegates will hear of a number of new developments in getting the preaching of the message of the cross onto new and different media platforms.
In an interview, Gilbert Grant gives CTMI Today some insight into what the Media Department is currently involved in…
• Other than the website and CTMI Today, what other means are you using to spread the preaching of the cross?
Today, 7 years after our first TV broadcast on TBN Africa, and 5 years since starting on Radio in Bujumbura, CTMI’s programs can be seen or heard in more than 45 countries across Africa, including Mauritius and the Indian Ocean Islands. We’ve even received feedback from someone watching Adonai BN channel in Yemen! Without a doubt, it is these 2 platforms that are increasingly reaching believers everywhere. We’ve also realised that a message recorded for TV can in fact become an article in JOY! Magazine. What is interesting is that it can also be used as the basis for a booklet or brochure to be distributed at Leaders’ Conferences.
• Would it be fair to say that reaching our ‘audience’ in Africa is quite different to reaching people in France?
Yes, as none of us has any real media or mass communications background, we’ve had to learn in the field, asking questions wherever we go, and researching. Today, we are aware that we must find appropriate ways to reach a faithful CTMI Partner in Bukavu, as well as someone in Paris. Radio works well for the former, while the latter can receive last Sunday’s message from Mauritius, directly on his computer via our Podcast service.
• So what are you doing exactly in order to achieve this?
As a result of Audrey’s vision many years ago to begin recording all of Miki’s preaching at conferences and seminars, today we have a vast library of messages only ever heard by a tiny group of people at each particular event. Now, we are busy editing these messages to use on both TV and Radio everywhere. I recently reviewed a series in English, with Swahili interpretation, recorded in Nairobi in 2004, where Miki, Peter and Stephen shared. I can tell you that seldom have I heard the gospel imparted in such a simple, yet effective way. We cannot allow such revelatory preaching to gather dust in a cupboard; we must do our best to make it available to the widest possible audience! As a start, these messages are now on TV in Burundi, and are being broadcast on a number of stations by Trans World Radio in Kenya and across the region.
• Radio and TV seems to be the way forward for Africa, but what about the more developed countries?
You are absolutely right! It has taken us some time to realise that we had two completely different ‘audiences’; that the means of reaching them are not only different, but are also evolving all the time. For countries with high-speed Internet access, the great success story has been our Free Downloads page on our website. In 2008, the equivalent of 47 000 hour-long messages were downloaded. This has already reached almost 50,000 downloads for the first 9 months of 2009. We’ve seen that visitors download from such places as Argentina, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Over the next few months, we plan to put online messages on free sermon websites. Our biggest restriction is our ability to upload such heavy bandwidth files from Mauritius at a reasonable speed, but we are working on a solution.
• Tell us about the CD compilations you are offering at the conference…
Previously, each message was only available to purchase on 1 CD, which made it expensive to acquire the full set of 5 or 6 messages for an event like the Durban Family Camp. At this year’s conference, we are offering for sale compilations of messages on 1 CD in MP3 format, from over 20 different events recorded over the past 4-5 years. For example, it’s possible to buy the entire 9-message series “The Church Needs To Know” (over 10 hours of preaching) on 1 CD at a very low price. Even more importantly, this lower price allows us to get the gospel out to many more people. The added advantage is that it will now be possible for each of the Partner Churches to hold 1 master CD of each compilation, as well as messages from all the other events to come, and to duplicate them for resale in their local churches.
The Gospel is Gaining Ground!
At this year’s International Conference, delegates will hear of a number of new developments in getting the preaching of the message of the cross onto Read more »
Posted: November 19th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, Q & A.
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Trianon : a journey in time…
Are you ready for a pictorial journey in time? Once upon a time, in Mauritius, there was a small, but determined team surveying a sugar cane field full of stones… Do you remember?
First, they surveyed the ground, then, foundations were laid – the workers, along with volunteers and workers-in-training, made a fine team. Sisters rallied to work in the grounds, to clean, to help or feed the workers. Week by week we watched the great edifice rising up. On public holidays, the site became a hive of activity! During the final months, the countdown began, and brothers and sisters worked seven days a week, late into the evening, until the long-awaited inauguration date.
Thank you!
Thank you to all of you who have designed, worked, carried, uprooted, planted, watered, cleaned, sanded, chopped, built, demolished, rebuilt, cooked, painted… Thank you for not being afraid to get your hands dirty or breathe dust. Thank you to those who have invested your time and your money, who have prayed and made sacrifices for this building to be erected. Our completed auditorium looks great. We thank God firstly, for the vision of a bigger church that He gave us for His work to be accomplished. This building could have never been finished without miracle upon miracle! To Him, be all the glory!
We have pleasure in presenting this special souvenir T-shirt, (for sale at Rs 150) as a reminder of your support, and of all those times we spent together building our Auditorium.
Are you ready for a pictorial journey in time? Once upon a time, in Mauritius, there was a small, but determined team surveying a sugar cane field full of stones… Read more »
Posted: November 18th, 2009 under Articles, Newsletter No. 16, Trianon.
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Youth Camp in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe • August 09
“Preparing a camp here always requires great miracles and a little bit of ingenuity. For example, for food, we grew our own vegetables, kept chickens; we also organised various projects to raise funds. Thanks to this, we saved S.A. Rand 50,000! We really needed it, because, even though inflation has stabilised somewhat, we are not sheltered from the world economic crisis.
Upon arrival, what a joy to meet our brothers and sisters from Botswana and South Africa! Pastor Basil O’Connell Jones started preaching on the fact that the Church does not know what sincere conversion is anymore. Some people even invest themselves in the church without being born again! Basil did not make an altar call, but rather, he encouraged us all to examine our own hearts.
During another meeting, Pastor Neil Martin went straight to the point: “A separation must take place when we choose to be in the plan of God. But it is worth it!” After the preaching, Pastor Richard Langworthy had a word of encouragement from the Lord for those who feel the call of God to serve Him full time. Pastor Eugene Nyathi summed up so well what we all felt by the end of the camp : “The change the Lord wants to bring in the lives of these young people has started as a seed today”. “
Noah Makoni
• August 09
“Preparing a camp here always requires great miracles and a little bit of ingenuity. For example, for food, we grew our own vegetables, kept chickens; we also Read more »
Posted: November 17th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, ctmi Camps, ctmi Youth Camps.
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Youth Camp in Reunion
La Réunion • July 09
The Camp was organised for about one hundred young people in the countryside, near a river. This year, a new concept: award points were converted into ‘wages’, and nothing was ‘free’ on the camp, to reflect real life!
Every morning, teams established a projected budget, but ‘reality’ was often quite different by the end of the day.
Pastors Lindsay Lajeunesse and Jocelyn Sery both focussed on the Pillars of Wisdom that we should allow the Lord to build in our lives, such as helping out, prayer, respect, reading the Word, generosity, spiritual relationships…
Many young people experienced the joy of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. On Saturday, there was a picnic open to everyone, and parents were able to see the fruits of this camp through testimonies and skits performed by the youth.
• July 09
The Camp was organised for about one hundred young people in the countryside, near a river. This year, a new concept Read more »
Posted: November 16th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, ctmi Camps, ctmi Youth Camps.
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Youth Camp in Rodrigues
Rodrigues • July 09
Everyone was delighted to be back at ‘Batatran School’, late July, in this place so full of memories, for the 3rd Youth Camp. The fifty attendees benefited from the presence of Pastor Louis Mahavande and his wife Gilberte, from La Réunion. These three rich days of spiritual investment encouraged many young people to get their priorities in order.
• July 09
Everyone was delighted to be back at ‘Batatran School’, late July, in this place so full of memories, for the Read more »
Posted: November 15th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, ctmi Camps, ctmi Youth Camps.
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Church Visit to Cameroon
Cameroon • April/May 09
“What an incredible opportunity I had to spend 6 weeks in Cameroon with Pastor Boba and Papa Benam. The greater part of my time was spent in Pastor Boba’s home, in a village just outside Yaoundé. As there was no running water in the house, we had to collect it every morning from a spring to wash clothes and dishes, to shower and to use for drinking. I was so blessed to see Denis Boba’s heart for proclaiming the Gospel, and for helping people. One day he took me to visit some street children. Two weeks later, he had rented a home for 13 of them!
After Yaoundé, I joined up with Papa Benam in Douala. They had a well next door for us to draw water from, which was a real luxury! I had a great time with them, and they took wonderful care of me. Papa Benam shared many stories of his time serving the Lord over the last 50 years. It was fascinating!
When I finally had to leave, I received many gifts, often from people I know had very little – this really challenged me.”
D. Malan
• April/May 09
“What an incredible opportunity I had to spend 6 weeks in Cameroon with Pastor Boba and Papa Benam. The greater part of my time was spent Read more »
Posted: November 14th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, Testimonies, ctmi Church Visits.
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Church Visit to Senegal
Senegal • June 09
A hungry little group in Dakar appealed for greater spiritual investment from CTMI. Pastors Jean-Louis Gaillard and Gérard Doorasamy were sent to meet them, and this visit was full of adventure! From the start, the two pastors were separated for a lack of places on the plane. Jean-Louis finally met up with Gérard, who was busy meeting with groups of 2 or 3 people continuously from 9 am to 9 pm! The next day, Jean-Louis shared about the need to be born again with those present. At the end, many came forward to receive Jesus as their Saviour.
The two pastors enjoyed an excursion to the island of Gorée, a place with a tragic history, as shown by the Slaves’ House they visited. After three very intense days, Jean-Louis and Gérard were confident that the Christians they met, although only beginning their Christian walk, were very open to the gospel.
Godfrey, one of the members of the group has since decided to establish a Christian centre, with a plan to show DVDs and video teachings from CTMI during their meetings, and to advertise it with posters around the town.
• June 09
A hungry little group in Dakar appealed for greater spiritual investment from CTMI. Pastors Jean-Louis Gaillard and Gérard Doorasamy were sent to Read more »
Posted: November 13th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, ctmi Church Visits.
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Church Visit to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe • August 09
There is an affectionate welcome and reunion at Bulawayo Airport, as Miki, Audrey, and the team finally arrive after a 3-year gap in this beautiful country still facing many difficulties. Many have also come from Harare and Malawi for this visit. The 1st evening, Pastor Richard Langworthy gratefully tells of the beginnings of the church at Selborne Park and its spiritual growth under the apostolic ministry. Afterwards, Miki exhorts the congregation to keep sound doctrine, just as Paul encouraged Timothy in his epistles. The next morning, there is a special meeting for about a hundred pastors who have been watching DVDs from CTMI for some time. Miki testifies to his struggles and victories as a man of God, a husband, and a Christian. Pastor Levy Masuku closes the meeting saying: “Are you ready to pay the price needed to live the gospel?” In the last two meetings at the church, Miki shares on faith and repentance, without which a Christian can neither live nor grow. Some, like Pastor Eugene Nyathi, are already asking themselves when they will have another chance for a visit like this!
• August 09
There is an affectionate welcome and reunion at Bulawayo Airport, as Miki Hardy, Audrey Hardy, and the team finally arrive after Read more »
Posted: November 12th, 2009 under Newsletter No. 16, ctmi Church Visits.
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