The Latest from George & Kathy Schultz...
Submitted by: adionne at Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - 8:53am
Dear Praying Friends,
We are ending our winter term here this week and have seen the Lord to be at work again in some amazing ways. But now at this time, I would like to ask for some special concentrated prayer for our staffing needs here at CIT.
Our primary Second Language Acquisition facilitator informed me a week or so ago that this was going to be his last week with us and would not be returning for future sessions. And recently we learned that two of our Kids Intercultural Training teachers will be leaving us mid-term in the fall.
For a small staff like ours this represents a significant challenge especially when our enrollment has taken a significant upward trend. We are filling up to capacity during 2013. It is imperative that we find new staff quickly but recognize this is no small task as trainers need field experience and have financial support. This narrows the field of possibilities significantly.
Kathy will be traveling to Kansas City in April to the Missionary Kids Care Conference and we trust the Lord will bring someone across her path there who might be interested in joining us. We created a recruitment flyer just for this purpose. I will be traveling throughout Georgia and Tennessee also in April visiting mission agencies and also recruiting where possible.
Kathy and I had planned to travel to Oregon and Alaska this August to visit our supporting church and friends but now are thinking we may need to put that on hold until we are confident we have found appropriate staffing. We may be needed here for either last minute recruitment or training in new staff. We are disappointed but hopeful it could still work out if staff were found soon.
So...we are waiting on the Lord for his provision. Would you please pray with us for this need? We would be incredibly grateful. And if you know of qualified people please recommend them to us. Thank you so much.
George and Kathy
United World Mission
Center for Intercultural Training
www.cit-online.org
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The Latest from Gerald & Debbie May in Japan
Submitted by: adionne at Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 9:10am
Their latest newsletter can be found online here.
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Missions Sunday: Nov. 4th
Submitted by: adionne at Sunday, October 28, 2012 - 8:12am
9:45 am: Sunday schoool, missionary Gerald May speaking of his work in Japan
11:00 am: Worship, Gerald May preaching
12:30 pm: Missions Potluck (bring an international dish to share!): Paul Wolff speaking about iGo
6:00 pm: Missionary Prayer Service
Our annual faith-promise for missionary support will be collected on the last Sunday of November.
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The Latest from George & Kathy Schultz
Submitted by: adionne at Sunday, October 21, 2012 - 7:49am
Dear Friends,
None of us are where we could be in our spiritual journey and that includes missionaries. One of the goals we have here at CIT is to move our trainees forward another step in their walk with the Lord. We have a spiritual formation component called “Heart of the Missionary” which includes both teaching and small group discussion/discipling. One student put it this way, “This material helped me understand that I have deep heart issues I need to identify.”
One trainee commented that, “it seemed like it constantly had a flashlight to my heart – so helpful! Another said, “Taking the time to look deep at my heart and getting to the root issues was beneficial because it helped me get beyond superficial aspects.” "I was convicted of my critical spirit and my difficulty to accept criticism.”
“The pride and idolatry lessons were very challenging and applicable in my life.” "Made me reassess my definition of idols and take a hard look at what I would run to for comfort.”
In other news, the Lord answered prayer in a powerful way - of which you may not be aware. Kathy had a deaf child in her fall course and was all set with an interpreter and solid teaching plan. Just days before the course was to begin the interpreter had to cancel for personal reasons. This threw us into a crisis for which we sent out pleas for prayer and help. In a miraculous way the Lord provided an incredible interpreter from SC who was just perfect for the need. Even though Kathy had to work a week without this interpreter in the end the outcome was beautiful. The family was so grateful for what their child received.
Kathy also had the opportunity to be the speaker for a ladies retreat this month. The Lord met the Kathy in a special and powerful way.
This past August we had the privilege of traveling to Colorado to visit our friends and supporters. We were able to visit both of our CO supporting churches as well. It was such a joy to see everyone and realize how blessed we are with such wonderful friends and those who care and pray for us as well. Thanks Fred and Cindy for all your help while we were there!
After returning from CO we took a brief trip to PA to see our son Nathan and family. Our daughter Beth got to go along so we spent a few days sightseeing in New York City. It was great to be together as family.
Late in September George was able to attend the North American Mission Leaders Conference in Chicago. There he met with many leaders from across the country catching up on the latest trends, strategies, and developments as well as promoting CIT among decision-makers. One of the trends we are seeing is fewer missionaries going directly into church planting ministries. Among our trainees here this fall only 13% are heading into that kind of ministry. That is another whole topic we can discuss some other time if you are interested.
My shoulder continues to heal quite nicely from my accident last spring but there is still more therapy to be done to bring it back to full health.
This fall at CIT we are being given the opportunity and privilege to train 44 adults and 25 children headed to 24 countries from 21 mission agencies. We are so thankful for this strong enrollment and the opportunity to touch so many lives and places around the world. Thank you for your prayer and financial contributions that enable us to encourage missionaries in their walk with the Lord and preparation for cross-cultural service. See below for a picture of our fall group in training.
George and Kathy Schultz
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The Latest from Bill & Joy Boerop
Submitted by: adionne at Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 4:06pm
Dear Friends at Trinity Presbyterian Church,
Below are the Prayer Requests & Praises for September 2012 from Bill & Joy Boerop and the World Thrust International team:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Please pray with us for Pat Cahill, the producer of the Winning Strategies Seminar DVD series, as he finalizes the production process.
2. Please pray for the funding needed for the DVD Project.
3. Pray with us for wisdom, skill and the right approach as we start the marketing phase of our Ministry Advance Project, making our WSS-DVD series available to pastors and church leaders.
PRAISE:
1. While Joy and I were in Europe in August we had many meetings/events on our calendar. We were really blessed to speak in a church in the Netherlands on August 26th. Bill was asked to speak in Dutch, which was a real challenge for him. We were also able to present the WTI ministry to the leadership of the Dutch Evangelical Missionary Alliance. We are trusting that this meeting will launch a partnership that will open doors with WTI and churches in The Netherlands.
2. We are thankful for the progress and almost completion of the production of the Winning Strategies Seminar – DVD series.
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The Latest from George & Kathy Schultz
Submitted by: adionne at Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - 8:31am
On May 3 I was test-riding a bicycle from a local shop thoroughly enjoying myself until I inadvertently ran off the edge of the road crashing into a ditch. To make a long and painful story short I ended up in the hospital with a broken right humerus/shoulder and a flesh wound requiring 10 stitches. Unfortunately, the wound got infected requiring two surgeries to clean it out along with copious doses of anti-biotics. I am doing much better now wearing an arm/shoulder immobilizer but still dealing with some pain. This will be a four-six week experience. Physical therapy starts next week. Not looking forward to that. (I am typing this left-handed one key at a time!)
I later learned this was a $10,000 bike, which ended up only with a broken chain! I must admit it was a pretty sweet bike! I didn't fare as well. Yet Psalm 91:11 reminds me of God's care. "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." It could easily have been much worse!
We are very encouraged to report that both our summer and fall enrollments are looking good. Please continue to pray with us that God would fill our classroom and other modules.
Training Window
At CIT we want to give the course participants opportunities to grow and learn through experience. One way we seek to accomplish this is through providing experiential learning activities (from simple to complex) in the curriculum. An example of a moderate activity from the Equipping class this last term was where the participants had to work together to get everyone across the “hot lava” by building bridges from “island to island” (aka wooden platforms out in the CIT parking lot!). It was a challenging task for the team, but much was learned in the process. In the debrief, we discussed how well they employed elements of an effective team like trust, clear communication, effective processes, accepted leadership, courageous followership, etc. We also had the opportunity to experience “failure” at meeting our goal (i.e. burning up a teammate in lava when the bridge collapsed) and discuss the importance of grace and forgiveness on a team when things don’t go as planned.
Student Comments from Spring Classes
“The training received at CIT has been an invaluable part of my adjustment to life and ministry in Central Asia.”
“Every missionary needs to take Equipping for Cross-cultural Life & Ministry at CIT. Don’t let your anxiousness to get to the field rob you of this valuable course. You won’t regret it. The facilitators at CIT care so much for God, the world, and your effectiveness with both. Just when you thought you were ready to go, you’re not…not without CIT.”
“The military have their boot camp to prepare them for battle. CIT is ours. I’m ready! Are you?”
“When my wife and I came here, we were very worried about learning a new language. We left knowing we can and we will. How do you put a price on that?”
“Before leaving, I’ve already referred a friend to this course. It’s energetic yet academic. It made language-learning fun but pushed me to evaluate myself in my strengths and weaknesses. CIT is highly motivated, sensitive, and the facilitators care about the students’ needs. CIT is informative and true “real life” language learning—no holds barred.”
“I entered this course wondering how there could be two weeks’ worth of information about language learning. But now I am leaving with a large tool box of effective language learning techniques, and a realistic understanding of the process and myself as a learner. I am so thankful I came to CIT before overseas.”
“The SLA training at CIT was top-notch preparation for thriving in a cross-cultural setting. They really emphasize the heart and attitude as key components to the SLA experience. I was afraid of the prospect of learning a new language, having failed at it in the past. This course gave me the confidence that in Christ, I can learn the language. It also gave me some excellent tools I can use on the ground.”
Kathy will be having a special-needs child in her class this fall. She has some serious work to do this summer in preparation. Please pray for her.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support in seeing missionaries prepared and equipped.
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The Latest from George & Kathy Schultz
Submitted by: adionne at Friday, February 10, 2012 - 9:13am
Dear Friends,
In my last email to you I spoke of canceling our trip to Thailand due to Kathy's bad back and my dad's stroke. Thank you for praying. Kathy's back is much better. My dad has made some progress for which we are very grateful and yet has many challenges yet ahead. He has been battling pneumonia while trying to strengthen himself in rehab. We hope to be able to get him home again but every day seems to bring a new challenge and concern. I have been spending every weekend in Rock Hill, SC helping care for him with my brother and sister. Please pray that in the next few days we can put together a good plan to care for dad. He is such a great dad and we want to do our best in providing the best care for him we can.
Kathy has had the joy of spending two weeks in PA with our son Nathan and grandson Landon (age 2). Nathan's wife Beth went on a mission trip to Brazil and Kathy had the joy of babysitting for two weeks! You can still see the smile on her face!
During the last three weeks and the next our training facilitators have been meeting together to redesign our training curriculum to a shorter more efficient program. We are working hard building not only a great revised curriculum but also strengthening our training team as well. It has gone really well and we invite your prayers so that we will finish well.
Sadly, our registrations for our next term are very low. Please pray the Lord would send us 18 trainees by April 1. We are excited about delivering our new program to a good group of trainees. Honestly, the current low numbers (6 right now) are a concern for us as our budget depends heavily on trainees. We have done all we can do. Would you please pray the Lord would send us more trainees and that we would learn what He has for us in these days? Thanks. I am attaching a picture of our trainees from last fall to help remind you to pray that the Lord would send us another good group April 1 - no fooling!
We will be heading to Tennessee in a couple of weeks (Feb. 23-26) to be involved in one of our faithful supporting church's mission conference. We look forward to thanking them for their investment in our lives and ministry as well as reporting on what God is doing through missionary training.
We head to International Falls, MN March 8-14 to visit another supporting church where we have been given significant responsibilities including preaching, adults, teens, and children ministries. We will need some good time for preparation. We have many good friends there and we even look forward to being back in cold country. The trip will include a stop in Minneapolis to visit the mission headquarters of the Evangelical Free Church of America (ReachGlobal) to look over their missionary online training program which seems to be a very excellent program. I want to learn all I can from them to help us in our training advancement.
We are so very grateful for your involvement with us and request your specific prayers for us in the coming days.
Prayer:
1. Special wisdom in the next week or so as we plan for my dad's care
2. Good finish to our curriculum redesign
3. 18 trainees by April 1
4. Joy and wisdom in sharing about our work at the upcoming mission conferences and necessary preparation
Thanks again.
Gratefully yours,
George and Kathy Schultz
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Latest from George & Kathy Schultz
Submitted by: adionne at Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 10:03am
Last Tuesday I was just about finished creating an email to send out when I got a call that my dad had experienced a major stroke. He was flown to Columbia, SC where he was treated. Through an amazing procedure (embolectomy) which passed a catheter through his heart into his brain they actually removed the large blood clot! Within one day he had regained much of his left side functioning. The doctor himself was amazed at the quick recovery. His situation has now been complicated by his inability to swallow food and he has developed pneumonia. Tonight he started an experimental drug to help keep his brain stint open. It has never been used on a patient with complications like my dad's. Because of my need to help with dad's care and Kathy's ongoing back pain we made the decision to cancel our trip to Thailand scheduled for Tuesday morning. We will miss going but we feel it is the right decision at this time. We are experiencing God's comfort and care during these days.
On another note....A while back I asked you to pray for a local Hindu family to whom we were trying to minister. We have taken gifts periodically and I gave the husband a book by Ravi Zacharius entitled New Birth or Rebirth? Jesus Talks with Krishna. Last week Kathy and I visited again taking Christmas gifts and another book of a Hindu man in SC who turned to Christ. For the first time this family allowed us into their home and showed us all around including their shrine/prayer room. We talked of their families and struggles and at the end of our visit I asked if I could pray for them. They willingly accepted. We are grateful for the door which seems to be opening very slowly. Keep them in your prayers as you think of them. We anticipate this being a long term relationship which hopefully will bear fruit for eternity. Thanks again for blessing us with your prayers and encouragement. We hope you have a blessed New Year!
George and Kathy
United World Mission
Center for Intercultural Training
www.cit-online.org
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Latest Letter from Bill & Joy Boerop
Submitted by: adionne at Friday, December 2, 2011 - 8:47am
Dear Pastor Ray and our Friends at Trinity Presbyterian Church,
Thank you for your prayers for Bill & Joy Boerop and the World Thrust International ministry. Below are our Prayer Requests and Praises for December 2011:
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Latest Letter from George and Kathy Schultz (CIT)
Submitted by: adionne at Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 9:25am
Dear Friends,
Wow, it has been longer than I thought since my last letter.
We have had a great fall training term though it had its challenges as usual. God allowed us to help equip close to 50 missionaries from 11 different agencies headed to 16 countries (Honduras, Spain, Thailand, Tajikistan, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nepal, South Korea, France, Zambia, Senegal, and the USA! From their blog here is one paragraph in how one trainee described their experience:
"Through all of this training, the facilitators at CIT have been very intentional about meeting each missionary at the heart level and dive deep into who we are at the core of our being to make sure we are firmly planted on the Gospel. Not only have we received world class training from some of the best teachers available, we have received discipleship from them as well...As we go through a module, at the end of each day we are given a slip of paper with questions to ask our boys. These go right along with what we learn during the day but on a level they understand...it has been awesome to see their growth!"
Now we face some important meetings and changes in the coming month.
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