**Words Written by Veteran Missionary in a sensitive location** Editor’s Note: The author’s husband was placed in prison in a foreign land as a direct result of steps of obedience to their missionary call. Although the words below don’t address this situation they carry a weight that is worth noting.

My host smiled and offered me a goat eyeball. I waited for his laughter to follow to break the building tension. None came. I was the guest and therefore received the best part of the evening’s dinner. My mind wandered to a meal that I had had in the States just a few months before. Surrounded by friends, I laughed at their jokes, recognized the food and understood all of it. It felt normal.

A grunt brought me back to my senses as the host continued to move the light blue eyeball closer and closer to me. I realized in that moment that a 30-hour flight brought me here to this strange place filled with bizarre customs and questionable food choices. How could an uneventful plane ride from Michigan to the Middle East make me feel as though I had landed on Mars instead?

Absolute everything was different.

Then it hit me, I was simply one plane ticket from normal…back to a place I knew, understood and loved. Dorothy, could point and click (with her finger and a decent credit line, not her heels) and be home again. But Jesus was asking me, “Do you want a normal life or an extraordinary one?” I still answer that question every day. Am I willing to let go of “normal” to tell others about an extraordinary Savior?

What if I asked you the same question? Are you willing to let go of your preferences, routine, schedule, rightness and “normal” to tell those you’re near about Jesus?

“Of course!” you say. “That’s why I’m going. I’m a servant’s servant. I am the meekest and the lowliest person you’ll ever find!”

I hope you’re smiling. We may not make actual statements like this, but somewhere in our hearts, we believe it to be true. And it may be, but ultimately the contents of our hearts will spill out in words and attitudes… especially in uncomfortable, unpredictable, uncontrollable environments.

• Accomplishment is not as important as attitude.
• Productivity is not as important as attitude.
• Schedule-keeping is not as important as attitude.

Because it is your attitude that those near see and experience.
It is your attitude that frames their understanding of who a Jesus-follower is.
It is your attitude that builds or corrupts team unity.

It is our attitude in which Jesus holds us responsible.

Mission trips create opportunities for “mission with-ness” of other peoples. Jesus demonstrated “mission with-ness” when He came in human form giving those near a chance to experience God. His attitude stayed on mission. Now He charges His followers to the same “with-ness” or witness:

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all…

“Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

“Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night…” Philippians 2 (MSG)

Church, thank you! In 2019, as a church family, we gave nearly 1.7 million dollars to local and foreign missions—that includes support for 329 missionaries in 122 countries working in previously unreached areas.

We gave BIG:

• 21k to Arabic Broadcasting Network, a ministry broadcasting the gospel to Muslims.
• 50k to New Directions, a prison ministry based here in Lansing.
• 250k to Strategic Global Missions, to give scholarships to pastors internationally, intercity church planting, and intercity street ministry in Flint, Pontiac, and Detroit.
• 30k to the House of Promise to invest in rehabilitating survivors of sex trafficking.
• 50k to Cai Alpha University Ministry internationally to reach college students in Spain, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and more.
• 40k to Cai Alpha University Ministry here in Michigan ministering to Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University and more.
• 20k to into the boots on the ground local outreach projects through our Saturday Serve and Into the Streets Ministries.
• 20k to Courage Church, a Mount Hope Church partner that ministers to the people of Detroit
• 40k to build a school in Gaza through one of our Mount Hope missionaries.
• 150k to Speed the Light’s to drill wells in Africa through students, leaders, and matching.
• 25k to Live Dead Ministries, partnered with our missionaries to plant churches in Egypt
• 40k to serve foster kids through Bethany Christian Services
• 30k to Saint Vincent’s Foster care

In addition to the 1.7 million we gave to missions, through matching and partnerships we were able to accomplish:

• 1/2 a million dollars worth of bibles and teaching materials given to underground pastors in Northern Sudan
• 5.4 million dollars worth of personal medical debt was eliminated in Ingham County. Over 5,400 families woke up to a letter saying their debts have been paid in full because Jesus paid their debts.
• 29 girls that were registered by the FBI as missing, were found and rescued on the streets of Las Vegas out of sex trafficking
• We responded to hurricanes in the Bahamas, Tornadoes in mid-America and devastating earthquake’s in Indonesia
• Our children’s ministry partnered with local missionaries and built a community center in the jungles of Cambodia.
• We sent short term teams around the world to West Virginia, Guatemala, Thailand, India, Peru, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Bhutan, New Zealand and Nepal.
• During our Bless the City outreach, we ministered to our city with practical love and care. We gave 100’s of diapers, baby food, and needed assistance to moms in need, and we gave 1000’s of pounds of food to City Rescue Mission.
• Every Saturday and Wednesday we have gone out to be Jesus’s hands and feet to our community. We’ve raked leaves, delivered groceries, painted houses, housed the homeless, fed the hungry and proclaimed Jesus to our neighbors.

Mount hope, God does not need our money but he asks for our obedience. As we look back at 2019 I thank you for your obedience.

#LetsGo!

If you want to give towards our current projects, you can do so by clicking here.

**The words below were written by 2 of our amazing Mount Hope Missionaries. Because the nature of the work they are doing this amazing young couple wishes to remain anonymous.**

The cost of missions is like the cost of discipleship, it’s hard and can leave you lonely at times. If a life dedicated to Jesus was only hard though, how could we make the claim that Jesus is closer to us than our closest friend? Though Jesus was honest with us in that we will face hardship in this world on account of His name, He was also clear that we would receive a hundredfold if we left everything behind for His name sake.

“Truly I tell you no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father of children of fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10: 29-30

There is eternal hope in Jesus and when we turn to Him we begin to experience Heaven on earth. There is a real cost to giving up your life for the work of overseas missions work; You give up the comfort of living in your home culture, you say goodbye to family and friends, sometimes you give up adequate health care, easy to cook food, transportation, internet, running water. Jesus promises though that if we leave everything behind for His name sake, we’ll receive a hundred times as much. After living in the Middle East for just a year so far, the joys surpass the sorrows. There is a joy that comes from sharing the Gospel with someone who has never heard it before that I have never experienced before. To have the opportunity to introduce someone to the living water and bread of life and seeing their faces light up in amazement is a treasure I will never let go of.

God is worthy.

Why do we go to the hard places to preach the Gospel? Because Jesus is worthy to be praised by every tribe, nation, and tongue! In Revelation 5 we read about a mighty Angel asking, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” No one was found worthy to open the scroll except the slain Lamb of God. God is worthy of our lives as a living sacrifice because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and we are not above our master. Why would we go to the hard and dangerous places to preach the Gospel? Because Jesus left His eternal dwelling place in Heaven and came to our broken dangerous world to reconcile us to Himself.
Let us join the Moravian slaves in saying “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.

Sheep among wolves.

We will not be surprised when we are rejected by men as we seek to glorify Jesus’ name among the unreached. At the heart of unreached people groups (UPG’s) is the center of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism and Atheism. We will not be shook when we are rejected, persecuted, or slain for Jesus’ sake. We will use wisdom and love, like serpents and doves.

We will not seek out persecution, but we will not shy away from proclaiming biblical truth or compromise His message for safety! Jesus promised the Kingdom of Heaven to those who are persecuted for righteousness. How will we muster up the courage to move beyond fear? By looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.

So what is a “Win”in regards to short term missions trips? One of our very own Mount Hope Missionaries took some time to give us some inside information on the subject. After a decade raising their missionary family in an extremist Muslim environment their words curious and authoritative weight. Their faithful walk shows me that they understand two things very well. They understand the pressure of missions life AND they very clearly understand what it means to walk in Holy Spirit power. In a moment of adrenaline, many can’t heroically run to the battle lines. It takes more then human heroics to have staying power when you see war up close.

Words Written by Veteran Missionary in a sensitive location

Eph. 2:1-5 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”

All of us intuitively know that something isn’t right in the world. Massive income inequality. An epidemic of opioid addiction and overdoses. Parents overdosing while their young children watch. Mass shootings. Intense polarization of politics and life.

This can’t be right.

Thank you! In 2018, as a church family, we gave nearly 1.5 million dollars to local and foreign missions—that includes support for 310 missionaries in 120 countries. This also includes:

• We invested over $40,000 into prison ministries. Every week, over 1,500 inmates across Michigan heard the gospel of Jesus!
• We gave over $25,000 for food and hygiene items for local refugees.
• We invested over $10,000 into substance abuse ministries in Michigan.
• We gave over $30,000 to support ministries that serve victims of human trafficking, both locally and overseas.
• We’ve invested over $200,000 into targeted grants, scholarships, and pastoral education so church leaders across the US and internationally can be equipped to lead with excellence. Local kid’s ministries like Pontiac Kids Power Company and foreign missions like the church in eastern Europe, were among those that received these grants.
• We invested over $75,000 in state-side church planting.
• We responded to multiple fires, storms, and disasters here in America and abroad, with over $35,000 in disaster relief.
• We planted a church in the jungles of Ecuador with a $10,000 investment! Now that church is ministering to hundreds of new Christians.
• In Europe, we renovated three children’s ministry rooms with a generous gift of $7,500.
• In Africa, you and I together have given over $10,000, where we distributed over 500 “Fire Bibles” to pastors that would have otherwise not had access to them.
• We took another $10,000 and built eight classrooms in West Africa to be part of stopping the poverty cycle and see the gospel advanced.
• We saw hundreds healed and tens of thousands hear about
  Jesus through a $25,000 investment in events and outreaches in Africa, Thailand, and India through Christopher Alam.
• We we able to invest over $40,000 in university ministries and missionaries across Michigan.

When I hear Pastor Kevin paint Heaven’s vision and say, “In 2019, we are going to experience more, miracles, and multiplication,” I can’t help but think that multiplication means at least double.

In 2019, our Mount Hope Church goal is to double our giving and invest 3 million dollars to missions and local outreach—this includes Spyn Student Ministries’ goal of $80,000 and Kidz Connect’s BGMC goal of $15,000.

We need to raise, train, and equip 500 individual missions and outreach intercessors who will weekly release protection, wisdom, and favor to the Soul Zone and beyond. We need to see 1,000 volunteers and short-term missionaries being sent out on at least 12 local and foreign serving trips. Lives will forever be changed because of you and your faithfulness to pray, love, and serve.

Here’s my humble request—pray with me for our missions giving capacity to double, that our prayer capacity would double, and that our sending capacity would double.

My wife and I have committed to give more to missions in 2019 than we have ever given before. We have strategically decided to give those funds through Mount Hope Church toward the projects laid out in this book. I ask you to pray about coming on this adventure with Mount Hope and committing to do the same.

Thank you,

Geoff Bassett

Missions Director

A month ago, I was teaching a preaching class at the SoCal Network School of Ministry for the Assemblies of God. As part of the class curriculum, each student had to preach a twenty minute sermon. As one of the participants got up to share, I had no idea what he was going to say. His name was Jorge.

He said, “I was raised in Mexico where my mother taught me the ways of being a spiritualist. She taught me how to take on the spirits of dead people so that they could tell us their secrets or reveal the future. This led to witchcraft and Santeria which is a form of saint worship.

“There came a point when nothing could satisfy me, no matter how hard I looked or how deep I delved into witchcraft. Even though I became deeply involved in these horrific rituals and cultish practices, nothing filled the void. I struggled with a profound sense of emptiness for years.

“In my 20s, I lost my wife-and kids because of a divorce. They stayed in Mexico, and I moved to the United States. I eventually settled down in Southern California where a couple began sharing the Gospel with me.

“From time to time, I went to church with them, but for the most part, I was never delivered from the demonic stronghold on my life until one particular event. One day, the couple approached me and said, ‘There is a campaign tomorrow. It’s sponsored by Radio Nueva Vida. The event is called Poder Para Cambiar. We want you to come with us.’ So, I decided to go.”

I Didn’t Walk, I Ran!

Then Jorge stopped his message for a brief moment, pointed and me and said, “Our Brother has never heard this story nor does he know me personally. But that morning, when he gave the altar call, I didn’t walk to the front. I ran! The power of God fell on me like an avalanche. That morning, the Lord crushed my chains and delivered me from all of the demonic oppression that had governed my life for decades. All of my bondages were immediately broken. He instilled His divine purpose into my heart. For the first time, I had a sense of purpose and meaning.

“Today, this class is one of many I am taking to become an ordained minister. I thank God for the miracle working power of the Gospel and for all He did in that Encuentro Poder Para Cambiar.”

When he finished his sermon, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude, because of so many donors like you who made that outreach possible. I thank the Lord for you, and I thank you for your prayers, your continual giving and your faith to believe God for the impossible. Because of you, millions of lives have been transformed for all eternity

Jason & Cindee Frenn