its been a while since i've written a personal entry.
mainly because i've been traveling so much its been
hard to catch a breather. well...here i am back in sunny
san jose california after geez.....5 months of non-stop
traveling from nation to nation. its been an amazing 5 months
and at the same time unexpected. I think this is the first
week i've been home since June...it's good to be back home :D
i've been spending time with family, the waiting placerz, sjcac
friends, and catching up with old friends in the US through phone.
it's great to just spend time with my buddies and my spiritual
sons and daughters to here what is going on in their lives and be
able to just be there for em :D God is good! Not to mention i have
some major jet lag and am still trying to get over that!
i felt so bad last night i fell asleep during my sisters celebration
japanese sushi dinner for winning a $10,000 scholarship for
being the top student of her PHD program at UC Davis medical
school. I am so proud of her! She won this special honor as the
first student to ever receive that much money for this program
and was chosen as number 1 out of 4,000 applicants and 91
students who were actually admitted. what a sister eh? yeah..
i'm really proud of joyce she is finally getting the attention and
support she so deserves.
as for me...i'm just amazed at how God works. It amazes me the
places He has taken me, the lives He has touched, the stories
i have heard, the people He has me meet, the blessings &
providence in which He never ceases to stop giving. He is the
best Dad in the whole world! I am in utter awe each day at
the GRACE God shows me. How great it is to live daily in
the grace of God.
man..so many stories to tell, it would take me to write an
entire book to just share what has happened in the last 5 months
(i mean the little stories inbetween the BIG stories) yep yep yep...
in Hong Kong i had the best drinks at "huir lau san" its like this
aloe-jelly-drink place that has the absolute best drinks in the
world!!! I got to spend more
time with my aunt, uncles and my favorite cuzin Christine :D
she is the coolest cuzin anyone could have man...she is like ...
geez..not real...she's just too nice and too kind and too helpful
sometimes i don't think she's real....she must be like an angel
sent to just bless me in Hong Kong. i mean she's like my personal
assistant and makes sure everything gets done for my ministry
while in HK every time. anyways...it was cool hangn with her and
hahaha..we even recorded a half english half cantonese rap song
together for fun:P sorry but you won't be able to hear it until it's complete.
oh yeah..i also went to singapore and that was such a great time.
i got to visit my mentors who have coached me on church planting
movements and met some of the worlds leading strategic coordinators
on church planting. but most of all i got to spend time with my friends
and one of my best friends. we went all around singapore eating all kinds
of foods, watched mama mia ( i really dig dat show), watched homerun,
visited city harvest church, sentosa island, dinner at the Fullerton and
then the Equinox (what an incredible view!), and a bunch of other fun
surprises. Good times! it was great to catch a breather before I went off
to the next nation to minister. I'll be back in Singapore Dec 6-9 speaking
at a youth camp, i'm excited!
then off to thailand to attend the Lasaunne Conference in Pataya
and then the special meeting with the International Prayer Council.
Those 2 meetings were I can't explain it, but surreal. Who am I to
be chosen to discuss mobilizing the worldwide prayer movement
with 70 of the top prayer leaders in the world? i felt like i was sitting
in the council room of God as i heard reports of the prayer movement
in each different continent and nation from around the earth. So so
many stories, but i can't get into detail. (i'll have to write a book, remind
yourself to do so jaeson!) but yeah, got to meet with Vonette Bright
of Campus Crusade, Ralph Winter of US Center of World Missions and
many other world class legendary leaders. It was amazing the connections
and friendships i made there. most of all it was a work of God that i was
able to share with these world leaders the burden to pray for America's
youth and the coming elections & the impact it will make on the future
of America and the world. the power of God fell after i shared and many
fell to their faces crying out to God for mercy & the hearts of these leaders
began to turn towards the children by embracing the next generation
and teaching us how to pray!
well..i'm getting tired again from my jet-lag. i better hit the deck. again,
its great to be back home. back in my ministry office. visiting The River,
the Waiting Place, SJCAC and old friends...its great to have friends eh?
well i'm off to Washington DC tuesday to pray for our nation! then to
Argentina, then to LA, Texas, Chicago, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong,
back home for Christmas and immediately off to Hawaii (not for vacation)
but to train student church planters to reach the University of Hawaii
and all the highschools on each island...amen amen!!!! good-bye
(God be with you) learned that at the River this morning from pastor
Keith's message :D i'm gonna miss that guy! God bless yo! i'm out
like japanese trout.
Campus Church Networks: Update #1
Dear CCN Friends,
I am in AWE at what God has done in just a few months of Campus Church
Networks being launched. As some of you know I started a student
church planting organization in June under the covering of Harvest
International Ministries. About a year ago God gave me a clear vision
to see church planting movements started on every university and high
school campus around the world. I've been praying "Every campus, Every
City, Every Nation for Christ!" Can you believe in just a few months
of launching out this vision that we are getting literally invitations
from nearly every continent to start campus churches in their nations?
I've prayed and watched in complete amazement as pastors, youth
workers, college students and high school students everywhere are
saying, "It's been on my heart to start something exactly like campus
churches on my campus & the CCN vision has confirmed it." Almost
everywhere I speak and travel I am getting responses similar to the
above. I know this student-led church planting movement isn't a man's
vision, but God's vision. This is why so many are responding from all
over the world!
Already we have trained student leaders and pastors to start campus
churches in Hong Kong and the United States. Currently, we have works
started in Colorado, Oregon, California, and very soon Texas. Please
pray for the following universities where we have already begun works
or are in the process of praying and planning with Christians in that
city: San Jose State University (where we started), San Francisco
State, Colorado State, Oregon State, UC Berkeley, University of Texas,
Texas A&M, University of Hawaii, UCLA, University of Toronto, Hong
Kong University, Hong Kong Polytechnic, others etc.
Internationally: we have been invited in this next season to train in
India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Europe, other Asian
countries which we cannot name for protection and more. Please pray as
we are going to pray and choose wisely where we can go and can't go in
this next year.
I want to just share a few testimonies from around the world on what
God is doing.
In June I prayed for a young college grad name Jay in Hong Kong. She
told me she had a burden for her college campus, but didn't know how
to reach them. Also, she had a job that was quite far from the
university. I prayed over her and saw a vision of her playing the
guitar worshipping in the middle of campus with about 10 students
surrounding and singing with her. I then prayed a prophetic prayer
that she would get a job that would give her the time and flexibility
to start a campus church network on campus. You won't believe this….
On my last trip to Hong Kong at our citywide youth prayer meeting she
came up to me with a big smile on her face and said "It happened!" She
prayed and by some crazy divine intervention she applied for a random
job at the University and even though she didn't have the
qualifications she got the job! This City University is right next to
Hong Kong Polytechnic and so she started with her new job and began
praying for the campus on her heart. Within a short period of time she
told me that her and a few other students volunteers began to prayer
walk and serve hot drinks in the dorms while the students were
studying. As a few weeks passed the students began to ask her why her
and her friends were so nice. They began to share Jesus and invited
them to a Bible study in their dorm. Guess what? Exactly 10 new
seekers are showing up to this weekly worship gathering and a campus
church is being born! Let us continue to pray for Jay and her team of
student church planters who are seeking God for the Gospel to be
spread at Hong Kong Polytechnic University! You know what else? She
asked the seekers why don't you go to church and they said, "It's too
far from the college, but we can go to your church meeting in the
dorms!" Yes, we must bring the church to the students, not the
students to the church! Amen!
This is just one of many testimonies from Hong Kong. Students on
almost every campus in HK have started spontaneous prayer meetings and
the campus Christians from different fellowships at Hong Kong
University have gathered corporately for the first time to unite and
pray together for revival on their campuses. We trained over 150
student workers to start campus prayer movements and to begin campus
churches on our last visit to HK. Not to mention a youth crusade that
filled Kowloon Park to the brim with many youth saved, signs and
wonders breaking out with many healed and delivered! Amen!
I can't share all the testimonies, but on the next newsletter I'll
share what's been happening on the US campuses and other countries.
One last exciting testimony is that we are now together working with
YWAM to partner in helping each other empower and network Christian
young adults to initiate campus church planting movements on campuses
all over the world! We even got an endorsement sent out by Wolfgang
Simson who wrote "Houses that Change the World" to promote CCN with
underground house church leaders all over the nations.
Lastly, please do keep Campus Church Networks in your prayers as we
are currently trying to raise $10,000 US a month to support our staff,
conferences, and ministry expenses. Please check out our way cool site
developed by our brother Andrew in California to find out more about
CCN and how you can partner with us through prayer and financially
giving.
http://www.campuschurch.net/
Please pray daily for God to release another great awakening on the campuses
of the world for the last great harvest!
Elections:
Also pray & fast for the coming US elections as this will be one of
the most crucial elections: a battle for the culture of America. We
must pray that God puts RIGHTEOUS LEADERS in the offices of PRESIDENT,
SUPREME COURT JUSTICES, SENATES ETC. Please pray & FAST..this is not
only the future of America, but the future of the world.
A liberal president like John Kerry who is for late term abortion,
homosexual marriage, fetal embryo stem cell research, faith to be
taken out of schools/society, etc will choose liberal supreme court
justices if elected. I am not advocating Republican or Democrat, I am advocating for God's Government and for RIGHTEOUS standards which Bush stands upon. The picture is too
clear and we must read God's word, vote and pray for America to turn back to
God in order to save the future families and culture of our nation. GOTO:
http://www.voteandpray.com/
(Pray for Pastor Lou Engle and other young adults who are praying in Washington
D.C. right now for the elections on the supreme court steps!)
Yours for the Great Commandment & Great Commission,
Jaeson Ma
------------------------------
----------------------------------------
YWAM EMAIL & FRIDAY FAX LETTER ON CCN below…
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 8:05 AM
To: YWAM CP Forum
Subject: from Y's C.P. Network: CP on College Campuses
Okay! I haven't used this forum to push websites (though ours is
excellent http://www.cpcoaches.com/). However, I just came across a very
exciting new CP initiative. It is all about campus church networks,
but the materials and ideas are so applicable to us AND they have a
passion for missions!!!
If you have net access you must check them out: http://www.campuschurch.net/
Make sure you check out the easily translatable discibleship materials
under "Equip"
Jason,
Check out our CP Coaches website: We have tons of materials for free download:
http://www.cpcoaches.com/
Dear Fellow YWAMers,
Earlier this week I was sent the following report. I am sending it to
you because of your commitment to reaching campuses. I'm sure you will
agree it was worth the few minutes it takes to read it! Jaeson Ma is
interested in finding ways to partner with YWAM. If you are interested
in this, contact him through the website noted below.
Our website has lots of good resources too, if you want to pursue this further.
Keep up the Good Work,
Kevin
YWAM Church Planting Coaches
http://www.cpcoaches.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Church planting at University
Six years ago, Jason Ma sat in an introductory lecture for Philosophy.
Suddenly, the Professor asked "Who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God?" Jason and one of his friends were the only two who raised their hands
in a class of 100 students. Jason could not believe that most of his fellow
students had no idea what Jesus offered them, so he started prayer walking
in the University, asking God to do something so that the 28,000 students
would come to know him. God open doors for Jason; the University officials
were sympathetic to his aims, granting him permission to hold evangelistic
rallies. Hundreds were saved.
No connection
Jason soon realised, though, that very few managed to find a place in a
church after becoming Christian. "To be completely honest," says Jason,
"most of the churches around the University had nothing to offer students.
Nobody had any idea what to do with them. Some students met for Bible
study, but when they left University, the problem remained; they could
not find a place in a traditional church. I found the same problem at
other
universities. Most students see church as boring, irrelevant and
hypocritical, despite the fact that they themselves are empty, hurt and
suffering, seeking true love in drugs, parties, sex and good grades. Many
became depressive, some were close to suicide."
Bringing church to the students, not the other way around Gripped by this
state of affairs, Jason began to pray. He discovered that it is much better
to bring church to the students, not the other way around. After much
research, including studying China's underground house church
movement, he became convinced that relationship-oriented "simple
church" was best suited for reaching students. He read about
18-year-old Chinese girls who had planted over 100 house churches in
one year, although they had only been Christians for a few years
themselves. The churches which he investigated in China were networks
of small fellowships of 15-30 members which met in houses and small
shops to share their lives every day and follow Jesus together.
"If an 18-year-old Chinese girl can plant 100 churches each year
in China, why shouldn't a student plant a few at University?" Jason asked
himself. He realised that, similar to the Biblical concept of a 'house of
peace' or 'a man or woman of peace', a missionary can win 'a student of
peace' for Christ, who will in turn win his circle of friends for Christ,
thus forming a small church. One single church would of course never be able
to reach the very diverse student community, so he started viewing every
student group as an unreached people group, with the aim of starting a
church among them. These new churches with 15-20 members would meet
somewhere, and if they grew, would not look for somewhere larger to meet,
but divide, thus multiplying. They could meet anywhere - in dormitories,
apartments, Student Union rooms, classrooms or the coffee shop across the
street. So he started planting churches at his University. They later sent
missionaries to other universities to do the same; Campus Church Networks
(CCN) was born, starting at the San Jose State University in 1998, and is
spreading.
The 13/30 Window
Missiologists created the term '10/40 Window' to describe the geographical
region between 10° and 40° latitude; many consider this to be the least
evangelised region in the world. "The 13/30 Window is probably more
important," says Jason. He means people between the ages of 13 and 30,
where the greatest harvest potential for the Gospel is probably to be
found today.
"That group," he says, "is amazingly open for the Gospel." Surveys show that
90% of all Christians decided to follow Jesus before their 25th birthday.
This is also the most important group, because they are the future of the
world and the church.
60% under 25 years old
Statistics reveal that 60% of the global population is under 25 years old;
30% - 1.7 billion people - is between 10 and 24 years old. Studies by the
Barna Reasearch Group showed Jason that the 18- to 25-year-olds are the
group least likely to attend a church. The majority of students who attended
church during school no longer did so at the end of their studies. Jason
concludes that "we desperately need completely new churches for the new
generation, because the traditional form of church simply does not work in
America. Post-modern youths no know standards, believe basically anything
and want to experience God for themselves. They will not sit in pews,
listening to someone preach forever, but want to put their faith into
practice." Statistics from the American Society for Church Growth from 1999
show that American churches lose 2.76 million people to secularism or
nominal Christianity and that between 3,000 and 4,000 churches close each
year. In the past decade, the active membership of all Protestant
denominations has shrunk by 9.5% (around 4.5 million people), compared
to a population growth of 11% (24.2 million) in the same period. Half
of all
churches have not gained a single new believer. "That," Jason recognises,
"doesn't need a new committee, it needs a revolution."
Where are the revolutionaries?
His motto became "Start a revolution, start a campus church!" On CCN's web
site, he writes "Every revolution begins with a revolutionary. Are you
prepared to be one? Is there already a Campus Church at your University? If
not, you should start one..." Campus Church Networks is a relational church
planting movement led by students, challenging and training students to
plant new churches for a new generation at every university in the world.
Source and information: Jason Ma, <outbind://9/www.campuschurch.net>
http://www.campuschurch.net/ and info at campuschurch.net
<http://www.campuschurch.net/index.php>
Written by: Wolfgang Simson (FRIDAY FAX)
--
Jaeson Ma
Lead Director
Campus Church Networks
408-252-5500 x146 (office)
408-390-0112 (mobile)
http://www.campuschurch.net/
Prayer Movements in USA: Young Adult & Elections
The Cause USA: 50 days of 24/7 prayer for government in Colorado
Vote & Pray Cause USA: Grassroots prayer meetings on American universities
40 Days USA: Forty day prayer & fasting movement all over America for elections
America For Jesus: National Prayer gathering on Washington D.C. mall Oct 22, 2004
Dear International Prayer Leaders,
I would like to inform and ask for fervent intercessions to be lifted up for America in these next 30 days going into the US presidential elections. There have been significant prayer initiatives started in response to the urgency of the coming elections in America & major ministries from all over the US are uniting together to mobilize prayer for our nations government at this crucial hour. I am asking that other nations join America in prayer by asking God to raise up righteous leaders in the elections & for another great awakening to come to this great nation. Below are a summary of the major prayer movements in the USA uniting together to pray for America.
The Cause USA: (
www.thecauseusa.com)
In Colorado Springs Pastor Lou Engle (founder of The Call) gathered hundreds of young adults from almost all 50 states to intercede night and day for the government of America. Each young adult was required to intercede 8 hours a day on the issues of (presidential elections, each 50 state, supreme-court justices, national government, justice & mercy issues, abortion, homosexual marriage, racism, university and campus revival, etc) daily. We are now praying on bus through each swing state rallying churches to vote and pray for coming elections.
Vote and Pray the Cause USA: (
www.voteandpray.com)
Birthed out of the 50 days of prayer is a grassroots movement to mobilize every Christian young adult to register to vote and covenant to pray for the presidential elections. Already, we have mobilized major Christian ministries on college campuses nationwide to start 1 Timothy 2 prayer meetings on campuses while registering Christian young adults to vote according to Biblical convictions. Students on universities all over the states are praying together for God to raise up righteous leaders and to turn America back to God.
40 Days USA & America for Jesus: (
www.40daysusa.org,
www.americaforjesus.org)
An organization called 40 Days USA birthed out of the World Prayer Summit in Washington D.C. has networked literally almost every major intercessory ministry in the USA to pray and fast 40 days into the presidential elections Nov 2, 2004. We are currently working close with them to mobilize an estimated 5 million+ intercessors in the US to commit to pray for the US government and elections. Also, another prayer initiative America for Jesus is estimated to potentially be the largest national prayer gathering in US history to be held at the D.C. Mall Oct 22, 2004. Bishop Jiminez (Washington for Jesus), Bill Mcartney (Stand in the Gap PK), Che Ahn and Lou Engle (The Call) are all endorsing this repentance and prayer gathering. I just got back from the World Prayer Center with national prayer directors from different US states (including Bill Mcartney & Lou Engle) sharing how prophetically it seems the hearts of the fathers are turning towards the children and the children to the fathers as Christian families all over the US will be gathering on the Washington DC mall to pray, fast, worship and ask God to turn America back to Jesus.
Worldwide Day of Prayer: (
www.transformationafrica.org)
Lastly, through all these prayer ministries uniting together to pray for the US elections we have connected with Transformation Africa and Jericho Walls Intl in South Africa to help mobilize the US to prayer for the worldwide day of prayer May 15, 2005.
I ask that other nations would link arms in prayer with America in this crucial hour asking God to raise up righteousness and justice in the government and supreme court justices to secure a hopeful future for this nation.
Praying for worldwide revival,
Jaeson Ma (
Jaeson@campuschurch.net)
