Tag Archives: equipping indigenous pastors

Capturing God’s Heart – Repentance – Volume 28

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There is a time for celebration and rejoicing and for worshiping God, and then there is a time for mourning and grieving and laying bare our deeds before the Lord.

Consider what James says,

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:8-10

Admitting that we have done wrong is one of the most freeing experiences. Repentance is deep intimacy with The Father.

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Ministry in Mozambique

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The summer is flying by, and with it we are thick into preparations for our fall ministry trip to Mozambique.

Pastor Daniel and nine churches have been waiting for over a year and a half for us to be there, and we are deeply glad that the time has come for fellowship in company of each other.

The plan is that I (Cyndy) will head there on October 16th for 15 days on the ground. We have received donations enough to cover about two-thirds of the ticket price, and half of the total cost of the trip.

Thank-you to all those who have donated so far – The work of Capturing Courage is dependent on the donations and prayers of ordinary folks like yourselves.

A few specific things to keep in prayer about:

– Clarity in our final communications as we near our travel time.

– Full funding so that we stay on budget for this trip.

– Heart preparation for a work of the Lord, for both Cyndy and the people in Mozambique.

– All details coming together.

art auctionThere are also five evangelists and pastors from Kenya and Uganda who would like to travel and join us in Mozambique – please pray for clarity, direction, and funding to work for them as the Lord leads.

The work of Capturing Courage continues to solidify and expand. As we are faithful with the depth the Lord continues to increase the breadth.

Please be in prayer for us beyond this trip to Mozambique. The question of ‘which country next?’ is playing in the back of our minds and we wait on the Lord’s specific direction.

The choices forefront in our minds at this time are India, Kenya, Myanmar, & Uganda.

Your prayers for clarity and wisdom and guidance on our behalf are very appreciated.

If you live in the Vancouver area mark your calendars for our Open House & Art Auction Fundraiser coming in late September.

If you are new to the work of Capturing Courage Click HERE.

“Make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous portion of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.”  2 Peter 1:5-7 NLT

To support this work around the world Donate HERE

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Capturing God’s Heart

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cover ebook gods heart 1 -10I began writing and sending the Capturing God’s Heart studies in December of 2011. They began as a simply way to continue teaching and encouraging our indigenous colleagues we had met and ministered with in Uganda.

Since that time, they have been received in a number of other countries and are proving extremely useful in the discipleship of pastors, church leaders and congregations.

Today, at the time of this writing, Capturing God’s Heart material is equipping over 4000 Bishops, Pastors, Evangelists, Apostles and Prophets across denominations, and impacting over an estimated 150,000 people (if each leader then passes it on to another 40 people each).

We have Twenty-Seven Volumes so far, and aim to publish a new one every 2-3 weeks.

You can access them singly or we have them packaged 10 Volumes together as an easily downloadable PDF, and are simply encouraging each recipient to use them as they can.

(We also have full PDF of all Volumes available by request.)

We have Bishops printing them out and sending them to village cover ebook gods heart 11-20Pastors, we have one woman doing social justice work in Uganda who is using them with the women that she ministers to – about 12 groups of 15 women each, we have a youth Pastor using them in the training of youth in the 405 churches that he oversees, and we have Evangelists in India passing them on to thousands of Christian Leaders.

“Dear sister till now, I and church members distributed Capturing God’s Heart studies,1456 to church Reverends and Presidents, c.s.i.Deans, Chairmen, Evangelists, Roman Catholic Catechist’s Pastor’s and many people.

They are reading and understanding the love of God and many local and non-local persons and non-local church Director’s are asking me to distribute the God’s Heart studies.

We are using and understanding, very gracious and very comforted with holy ghost. Thank you dear lord Jesus.”  from Pastor Ravi in India

And they are asking for more.

Each volume:

  • helps indigenous pastors weave   together various parts of the Bible
  • helps organize verses and thought together
  • brings practical wisdom about life in Christ
  • brings growth and confidence in the love of the Lord

READ THIS ONE

If you want to know more about the Capturing God’s Heart material, if you would like to receive these direct to your email as they are published, please Contact Us and we will gladly add you to our email list that goes out regularly.

Every week we hear from those receiving these materials:

“Let me tell you that i appreciate everything your doing for the work of God, i saw your message about evangelism it is really teaching me a lot of things and i have shared it with my friends and in my youth groups where i go to meet them and i see that they are really helped.we really say thank you for that heart of God.” from a young school director in Uganda

“Thank you so much Cindy. Your articles are a blessing to me and our Churches. I am downloading the teachings and send to our local Pastors in the remote villages and they give a lot of praise of  the contents. I am encourage since God has connected me to a right person with a right vision and teachings we needed. God bless you.” from a bishop in Kenya

“I’ve received God’s heart and I read it. Surely they will be useful in our church as we are young beginners in raising a church.” from a pastoral couple in India

“Dear sister i saw your greetings,i studied also sent some friends.they saw with good interest.we are praying for you.” from a pastor in India

“It is a very interesting sermon and touching,what remains is the the way to live by it.I am very grateful.” from a reporter in Uganda

“Cyndy,thank you you so much for the word COMPASSION. Am blessed,I have understood what it means,my heart has not remained the same.May the good Lord continue to use you.” from a nurse in Uganda

“Greetings, Today we have shared Volume 3, FORGIVENESS. Really God has touched people’s hearts!” from a lead pastor in Uganda

“May God’s grace give you all the wisdom you need as you take us through the living word. I am happy that the word of God gives me strength. True freedom is essential and profound. Your teaching is indeed reawakening.” from a reporter in Africa

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Your support directly helps to equip indigenous pastors and others around the world.

More Favor in India

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093More favor in India. This comes from Pastor Ravi,

“Dear sister till now, I and church members distributed Capturing God’s Heart studies,1456 to church Reverends and Presidents, c.s.i.Deans, Chairmen, Evangelists, Roman Catholic Catechist’s Pastor’s and many people.

They are reading and understanding the love of God and many local and non-local persons and non-local churches Director’s are asking me to distribute the God’s Heart studies.

We are using and understanding, very gracious and very comforted with holy ghost. Thank you dear lord Jesus.”

We simply give God the glory for the impact of the Holy Spirit via these simple Capturing God’s Heart studies.

Capturing God’s Heart – Holy Spirit – Volume 27

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In the Amplified Bible we find Jesus telling his disciples,

“But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.” John 14:26

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Spiritual Authority Course Begins in India

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Timothy in IndiaPastor Timothy in India reports:

“My Dear Sister in Christ,

Heartily Greetings to you in Jesus precious Name!

Thank you for CCI School of Discipleship – Part ONE.

I am Studying and understanding every sentence, very useful to our ministry.

I and our ten pastors we all are studying and praying every day.

Thank you for your kind prayers for our ministry

May God bless you and your ministry

Yours brother Timothy www.tribalevangelisttimothy.org”

You can find out more about Timothy and the work he is doing HERE

As the Walking in Spiritual Authority material begins to make its way around the world we simply pray that students are personally touched by the power of our Living God.

Please pray for these eleven lead pastors in India, for both provision and for clarity about how to take this course to other pastors and to congregations.

They are hungry for training and discipleship material. Timothy writes weekly asking for further materials as he has been one of the primary distributors of Capturing God’s Heart, having already passed them on to 1000 pastors.

We are just trying to keep up with him! We declare the Lord’s blessing and peace over him this day.

You can support the work of Capturing Courage HERE

Capturing God’s Heart – Volume 26 – A Glad Heart

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2 Corinthians 9:7 reads, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

It is the cheerful heart that intrigues me.

While this verse speaks about money and our tithes and offerings, I wonder how might the ‘glad heart’ principle apply to the rest of our life?

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Blessing and Being Blessed

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pastor Michael in KenyaThe reports regarding our Capturing God`s Heart topical Bible studies are coming in –

here is the latest from Pastor Michael & his wife Mary in Kenya,

“Much greetings and much blessings to you in Jesus most precious name. Thank you for your mail and inquiry and what we are doing here, especially with the Capturing God’s Heart studies.

I am so much blessed because of God’s grace and love that enabled me to be connected to you so that I may have access to your teachings. I am a church planter in the rural villages and the slums in Kenya.

I reach many areas of my nation working with different churches in the rural villages. However our major problem had been lack of discipleship material. Having gone through your material I was very much happy since they are addressing all areas of Ministry.  This is when I began using them in my church. I then introduced them to the Pastors working in my Ministry.

Since the beginning of this year we adopted Capturing God’s Heart studies as discipleship training material and our teams like them so much.  Presently over 4000 people are being taught or benefiting from Capturing God’s Heart every week in the rural villages.

Over 60 churches from different denominations in western Kenya, Nyanza, Rift valley, Central and Nairobi are using Capturing Gods Heart studies. Due to poor internet availability in most places I do print and send the printed copies to the villages. I pray God will give you the opportunity during your African trips to visit us and many others.

God bless. Pastor Michael Agoye“

Pastor Michael is just one of six leaders (and many, many congregations) in Kenya who have invited us to fellowship with them – we are waiting on the Lord`s timing and leading regarding our time to come in Kenya.

Personally, I am eager to go there.

Please keep us in your prayers as we stretch forward into full-on ministry around the world. We thank the Lord for his favor over these God`s Heart studies, and simply commit all our effort and lives to the glory of God and God alone.

To Donate to God`s Heart around the world, as well as our presence on the ground in Kenya and other nations, go HERE.

Note that all donations (within Canada) will receive a charitable receipt for tax purposes.

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the one who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! … So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day with pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 Message

Ministry of Presence

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P1230297 compressedThere is something to be said for a ministry of presence.

In our North American culture it is all too easy to think we must be always doing something, accomplishing this, managing that. But what if we don’t?

Trained as a coach one of the most powerful paradigm shifts I came to learn was to consider that just maybe, everything right now, exactly as it is, is just the way it is supposed to be. Just consider for a moment that nothing is wrong. What might that change for you today?

Now, the technical answer is that there are many things wrong in our world. Justice demands that we do in fact enter into everything that has gone wrong and in the name of the Lord set it straight.

At the same time, what if we could do this work in the peace that comes of God having everything in hand, and the knowledge that we are in the exact right place this very minute.

What might that change for you today?

Because of my own journey through immense difficulties, and the subsequent profound presence of the Lord in the midst of them, I learned that everything need not rush to be fixed. I learned that God is in our messes just as much in our cleanness.

Once we have learned this in our own lives. Once we’ve stopped frantically trying to assuage our own comfort, once we’ve ceased from controlling our outcomes we are well equipped to come alongside others in a gift of presence.

Instead of speaking into the matter we can just sit alongside.

Rather than finding ourselves distraught we can hunker down and be a companion.

A friend of mine had cancer a few years back, and my favorite thing to do was to just climb up onto her bed beside her and simply be there with her.

We had such rich times of prayer and whispers and silence.

In many ways, this is the ministry of Capturing Courage around the world. We are climbing in alongside hard and difficult circumstance and simply bringing a ministry of presence.

With rich times of prayer and heart whispers heard by God and profound silence found in his glory.

None of us are the same afterwards, and we are simply so much richer.

For nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed, once we’ve been in the presence of the Lord together.

 

Re-Crafting

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P1230099Our Walking in Spiritual Authority course went well in Madudu, Uganda. We are thanking the Lord for his presence amidst it all.

Re-crafting the material for an overseas audience has been most interesting. Most of the metaphors used here for our own culture have been completely off the mark for third world countries.

For instance, one of the pictures we paint (imagine with me) here in Canada is that of a small frog on a lily pad. The frog looks content enough but zoomed in we cannot see much of the frog’s context.

So we zoom our lens out and get and see a bit more about the frog’s surroundings. We see that there is a lot of other lily pads, and much more activity going on around the frog than our first picture.

If we zoom out again we see that frog’s world is in fact very large. So large in fact that frog may not have even explored to the edges of this world. There is much for frog to do, much to see.

And then we zoom out one last time, and lo and behold frog lives in a beautiful garden of luxuriant foliage, beautiful water features and unexplored paths. It is stunning and so much more than frog can most likely even imagine.

I tell this story to bring to life that here in North America we have made our worlds very small, when in fact the world is very big. We stay within our nice little lives when in fact there is a much bigger world waiting for us, that is not scary, but rather beautiful and vibrant – if we will just trust God to take us beyond our safety zone.

Well writing this story for our overseas colleagues doesn’t work. I tried. I have a nice little picture of a lizard on a rock from one of my trips, and so I thought I could write the same progression from focussed in life to big picture living.

But it doesn’t work, and isn’t even culturally relevant. For starters, we zoom out from the African lizard on the rock and we do not get nicer, we get more barren. Consider zooming out and out and out in Kenya’s dry grasslands and the picture does not gain in complexity but actually increases in dry and dusty. The metaphor doesn’t work.

In the rewriting of the material I realized that not only does the picture not work, but that the people themselves need something completely different.

The Pastors and Evangelists that I have met have a very good idea of the world as a big place. And they are forging forward into the very big world quite successfully. There is a resilience to go out of the their comfort zone that seems quite normal in Africa.

So I switched the metaphor. I began with a zoomed out view of many, many people, and then began focusing in. Bit by bit, taking in country, and towns and villages, and then finally family down to one person.

While in North America we need God to prick our consciences about the bigger world, in Africa they need to know that God loves them intimately and personally. The lesson is, God loves you. God forgives you. God knows you and has called you to himself.

This is just one example of the many changes I’ve had to make to the Walking in Spiritual Authority course – but changes we are glad to make in service to our overseas colleagues.

We invite you to support this work with a monthly $30 subscription. Every little bit goes a long way.

All donations will receive a charitable receipt.

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Capturing God’s Heart – A Long Life – Volume 24

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The Bible speaks many things about living a life unto God and when we do this the good fruit we experience.

Today I’m outlining just five principles that lead towards a long and prosperous life.

1. Honoring the Elderly

We will begin where the Bible begins, with one of the Ten Commandments given to Moses for the People of Israel. In Exodus we have record of the Ten Commandments with the fifth commandment,

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

In Ephesians 6:1-3 we find this commandment repeated and noted as the first commandment with a promise.

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