March 2019 Newsletter from the Ackermans

On March 2-6, David, along with Rev. David Phillips from Southeast Asia, went to South Korea to lead a meeting about developing the course of study for Korea Nazarene University and the Korea National District. Like the rest of the world, South Korea is facing many challenges, including the need for more trained pastors. Educational institutions and districts around the world are finding creative ways to prepare those called to ministry. We are challenged to rethink what we mean by "ministry" and "church." Pray for the leaders of the Korean Church of the Nazarene as they strategize about theological education.

Micronesia District Assembly

We spent March 6-12 in Guam for the Micronesia District Assembly. It was enjoyable to visit this beautiful island again after two years. The Micronesia district is part of our field. It is made up of four small churches on the islands of Guam, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Saipan. Prior to the assembly, David taught a course for the Nazarene Course of Study for Ordination to over ten people on the topic of How to Prepare Bible Studies and Sermons. One of the high points was to hear the pastors reports. The church in Chuuk has a new outreach to the nearby island of Fefan. In February, they ministered by providing haircuts, massages, and testing blood pressures and blood sugars. They also reached out to children through story telling. The outreach was well received by the local people. A second outreach is planned for the second week of April. You can read more details by clicking here: http://asiapacificnazarene.org/nazarenes-on-chuuk-respond-to-needs-of-other-islands/. Pray for the church in Guam. If you would like a challenging ministry with many opportunities, the Guam church is without a pastor. You can read about this need here: https://secure.nazarene.org/WMPersonnel/. This is US territory, so you don't need a visa but you will need to have your own support or be bi-vocational.

Work and Witness Opportunities

Philippine Nazarene College: Electrical Upgrade, New Classroom Building
Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary: Dormitory Renovation, Completion of Stairwells
Visayan Nazarene Bible College: New Cafeteria, Chapel Renovation, Women's Dormitory

There are many opportunities to come and serve in the Philippines: library work, ministry training, electrical, plumbing, various construction, and many others, both skilled and unskilled. If you are interested, please see this website: http://www.nazarene.org/workandwitness.

Member Care

What is Member Care? Member Care is not a program. Member Care is intentionally loving one another holistically. Member Care is intentionally loving your body of ministry workers holistically. The Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region Member Care Vision Statement defines Member Care as a Christ-like Community Holistically Developing and Nurturing One Another. This vision statement reflects our values of Christ-likeness, Holistic Health, and Genuine Growth manifested within the context of Body and Community. We believe that as Christ’s hands and feet, we offer to one another the context for authentic, effective, healthy living as we recognize, support, and build one another up in Christ. . . and that THIS will result in increased fruitfulness in ministry and vibrant thriving as we follow God’s call on our life! The Nazarene Asia-Pacific Region has identified five Member Care Mission Priorities for our region: Resilience, Thriving, Engagement, Trauma Awareness and Response, and Loving our Families. You can read more about Member Care and these priorities on our region’s Member Care site, http://asiapacificnazarene.org/ministries/member-care/ .
Rhonda continues to work on developing Member Care for the Nazarene missionaries on our field. A focus priority this year is developing awareness of the needs of our Missionary Kids. She is beginning to work on developing Member Care awareness for our Philippines-Micronesia field’s districts, churches, and lay people. She is presently working on developing a Member Care Awareness Workshop that can be presented in our churches and districts. Please pray for this work, development, and implementation. It is a great way to put into practice loving one another in our districts, churches, small groups, Sunday School classes, church boards, committees, ministry groups, and with one another.

Upcoming Events

Regional Course of Study Advisory Committee: David is the chair of the Asia-Pacific RCOSAC. This committee overseas the development of the course of study for the ordained ministry. The annual meeting will be March 28-31 in South Korea. The A-P RCOSAC and leaders across our region are developing strategies to help prepare a new generation of ministers. We are developing new resources for the 24 courses. David is the primary editor of these resources and will be quite busy once the authors finish their work. These module handbooks will be helpful especially for extension education and college courses.
Metro Manila Pastors and Leaders Conference: On April 1-3, both Rhonda and David will be speaking to over 100 pastors from the Metro Manila District. This is a special retreat and training time for pastors. We will share four sessions on the topics of Handling Stress in Ministry, The Pastor and Finances, The Pastor and Family, and The Pastor and Technology. Each session will be three hours, so this will take a lot of preparation.

Updates on Joel

Joel made it to Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, on February 23. He is excited to be participating in this Study Abroad program. Northwest Nazarene University is part of a program where students can study for one semester in a university in another country. Joel has linked up with a Korean friend from his childhood who lives near KU. Joel will be in this program until the end of June. Many of his classes are in English, but he is also learning Korean. Thank you for praying for him during this time.

Updates on Shan

Shan continues to be a blessing to everyone she meets, which is a lot of people. She is a great assistant to Rhonda with Member Care for the missionaries on our field. She is serious about looking out for our missionaries. In January she was assigned to the care of Dan Behr, a short term missionary who serves at APNTS 6 months out of the year. She did a great job at ensuring his apartment was ready with food and homemade cookies upon his arrival, and that he was able to get to church and buy groceries. She continues to check on him regularly to see if he is in need of anything. Her primary focus has been on our missionary kids. Recently, one of MK’s had a birthday and we enjoyed taking him and his brothers out to lunch. She loves to spend time with our MK’s.

Home Assignment 2020

We are beginning to layout a rough schedule for our next home assignment in September through November 2020. If you would like us to come visit your church or district, please let us know. We will first lay out a general schedule of district tours and then coordinate with districts for scheduling individual churches. We are working ahead of time because many districts and churches plan one-two years ahead.

Prayer Requests

David: Preparing for the Regional Course of Study Advisory Committee in South Korea and the Metro Manila Pastors' Retreat. He has many other big projects to work on over the next few months.
Rhonda: Continued development of Member Care on our field.
Joel: Study Abroad program at Korea University.
Shan: Finding new ways to develop and learn.

Korea Nazarene University Planning