What is the CMC program?

LINKE

D IN

KEN CHITWOOD’SNEWSLETTER

TO PARTNERSIN MINISTRY

Discipleship and Mission

The class, the ideas and the mission.

Ever y Tuesday n igh t e igh t individuals gather together in a small church in downtown Houston for two hours to learn what it is to be a disciple on a mission. Their numbers may not be great and their surrounds may not be all that inspiring, but the heartbeat of what they are learning and discussing is going to have an impact.

For the students enrolled in LBI’s first quarter spring semester class “Discipleship and Mission” taught by Rev. David Kim (LINC Missions Director) being a disciple of Christ and being called to engage in missions is the stuff of immediate application.

Surely, Rev. Kim teaches students the Scriptural, doctrinal and practical basics of what it means to be a

follower of Christ. He explains the importance of Bible study, knowing our faith, following Christ, being part of the church, seeing the church as God’s mission on earth and telling others of Christ and his redemption. We talk about the foundations and discuss the implications.

Yet, what sets this course apart is its emphasis on taking what is learned in class and applying it immediately. It is one thing to teach “go and make disciples of all nations” and quite another to encourage students to “do it now!” That is what Rev. Kim so eloquently and passionately does. While he covers the foundations and allows for discussion the assignments that make up this class are not papers and presentations. Instead, Rev. Kim encourages the students to be discipling an individual throughout the class. This may be someone who does

not yet know Christ and is being witnessed to or it may be a long-term Christian brother or sister who needs the exhortation and encouragement to get involved in mission. Whoever the person and whatever the situation the students are coming back and proclaiming how what they learn on Tuesday is training them for how they live out being a disciple Wednesday through Monday.

Already there have been stories of fresh conversations, new invitations and major turn arounds. Praise be to Christ for what the Holy Spirit is doing in and through such an introductory class!

As LBI Director, I am immensely encouraged by such great feedback and immediate impact. This is what LBI is all about, training disciples of Christ for ministry today!

-Ken Chitwood

CMC stands for Cross-cultural Ministry Center; more importantly, CMC is the program I am in as I pursue my MA in Theology & Culture and seek to be certified for public ministry in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). The CMC program is designed to offer seminary training to missionaries serving in diverse locations, including a certain individual in Houston, TX :) Through four years of classes and practical training (vicarage) I will procure an MA and be nominated for certification for ordination in the LCMS. I do this by taking classes online two nights a week & in California for 20 days in the summer.

Greetings from the Chitwoods now serving in Houston, TX!

Highlights & News:

Below are highlights from the last quarter:

1. Start of LBI’s Spring Semester www. l inchous ton.org/ l inc -b ib le -institute.html. It was SO exciting to re-launch LBI this January. While we only have seven students currently enrolled in our semester program we also were excited to have nearly twenty folks in our first Saturday workshop. We know that there are many other potential LBI students out there and that our quality training can help meet their ministerial needs. Here’s to continued growth for LBI’s certificate program!

2. Congregat ion Connect ions - Memorial, Mountain View, TrinityThis January I gave my first sermon as a vicar at Memorial LC in Katy, TX. I was then honored to share the Word of Christ at Mountain View LC in Apache Junction, AZ and look forward to preaching at Trinity LC in Simi Valley, CA in July. Soon I will be preaching in Downtown Houston and in Austin, TX. Would you like me to come and preach at your church? Let me know and I would love to come and share in worship and God’s Word with you!

Around the World in a DayTo be honest with you, I am really tired. You know that feeling you get after a long road trip

or on the second layover of an international trip? That’s exactly how I feel right now. Dead tired, like a weary traveller in an airport terminal. Have I left Texas? No. Have I even left Houston? No. In fact, I am in Southwest Houston at Voice of Evangelism International. I am waiting to meet with my brother the Rev. Dr. Emeka Agwu to discuss how the LINC Bible Institute can excite, equip and empower his congregation for mission and ministry in their community.

This meeting comes after a long but rewarding day of travel “across the world” right here in Houston. My day began with a Skype conversation with a missionary in South Africa who I spoke to about the contemporary mission scene there as I prepare to train a CAN-DO missions team headed to Johannesburg in May. I then headed to India, or should I say a Bible study with Indian graduate students at the University of Houston, where I shared God’s faithfulness in Christ to four young Hindu men. After that I met up with a self-described “German Lutheran” who co-ordinates mission in the Texas District of the LCMS. Followed closely by this encounter was a Skype chat at a local hipster coffee shop with a missionary in Peru regarding his mission and LINC supporting him there. Finally, I made it to Southwest Houston for my time with Brother Emeka to discuss a workshop on church planting LBI is offering at his church in late Spring.

From 8am-4pm I went from South Africa to India to Germany to Peru to Nigeria and then I wound up back home in our little apartment in Katy, Texas, USA. I thank God for the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of people and to share valuable missions training with each one of them. I pray the Spirit may continue to guide me and protect me as I travel across the world...I mean Houston, each day as a missional trainer for LINC.

The Path of our Partnership TogetherWould you consider partnering with me and LINC Houston in our effort to train and equip

leaders for mission here in Houston and beyond? It is my humble hope that you will see the value in what Christ is doing here and join us in His mission here in Houston. I also encourage you to share this mission with your friends, family and your church. Maybe your church is looking for a mission to support - this could be the one!

As of March 2011, I am ONLY 34% fundraised for the 2010-2011 missionary term. Will you help me get to 50% by April? That would mean a total of $2,000 in donations in the next five weeks, but I believe the LORD is faithful. Let me know via e-mail or a phone call if you are interested in contributing.

Whatever you do, please pray for the following for me and my wife, Elizabeth:

+peace as we continue our transition to a new home in Houston+thanksgiving for our new found friends here in the Houston area, and the opportunity for

our family to visit us here and for us to visit them as well!+guidance as we discern God’s will for our calls here+that financial support would come as we serve Christ in this place

Please let us know if there is anything we can keep in prayer for you!

- Ken Chitwood ken@linchouston.org//281.598.8976

The LBI e4 Initiative

At the Houston Zoo with friends, exploring the African Forest...just

another part of the world we get to see

here in Houston!

The new LBI e4 Initiative is meant to extend LBI’s reach in our city so we can bring our quality missions and ministry training to even more communities, churches and faithful disciples of Christ in the Houston area. Starting in March, 2011 we w i l l b e h o s t i n g S a t u r d a y workshops and weekend seminars for churches and ministries that gather ten of their people together in-depth training. Our hope is that we can EXCITE a drive for missions, EXTEND our reach, EQUIP disciples as harvest workers and EMPOWER leaders of disciples to replicate what we do. Is your church in need of specif ic mission or ministr y training? Maybe the e4 Initiative is for you! Contact Ken at ken@linchouston.org