In 2009, Grace Church will expand its partnerships on the foreign mission field to include Caribbean Ministries Association (CMA) and their work on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Teams from Grace will work with the staff from Eleuthera Bible Training Center (EBTC) to accomplish construction projects and take part in evangelism on the island.
CMA's vision is to partner with local churches and community leaders to provide basic shelter and share the gospel message. That matches Grace Church's desire to serve, and to have both a physical and spiritual impact in the lives of people in our own community and around the world.
Our partnership in Eleuthera extends beyond CMA and the EBTC, as Grace will be the sending church for Mike and Shannan Fastzkie, who will be stationed on the island starting in mid to late summer of 2009. Mike and Shannan are faithful members of Grace Church, and have felt led for some time to return to Eleuthera as missionaries (their family served in Eleuthera for approximately two years prior to joining Grace).
This partnership in Eleuthera will give us the ability to expand our cultural understanding and Christian perspectives as we experience the difference between the culture of the U.S. and the culture of the Haitian and Bahamian people. As in all situations, we believe that this will have a positive impact on both our congregation and the people that we serve as we see God working in other parts of the world to change lives through His word and the work of the local church.
May 2009
Grace will launch its first team to Eleuthera for a week of Construction, new cross-cultural relationship building, and evangelism through life-on-life activities. We expect that this initial trip will be just the beginning of a long-term relationship where we can serve and experience life change.
