Harvest Festival Report

The inaugural Harvest Festival 2003 was held in Washington UBF from November 7-9. The program began on Friday at 6:30 pm with co-workers attending from Lehigh, Shippensburg, Penn State, Georgia Tech, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, George Mason University, and Baltimore. Missionary Jacob Lee gave the opening message based on John 4:35. Jesus saw the harvest fields of the world through harvesting one Samaritan woman’s soul for eternal life. We were encouraged to see the harvest fields of 206 East Coast Campuses and the World through fourteen testimony sharers, the world mission report and six book reports.

Rachel Brewer from Baltimore shared the first testimony. Her testimony was based on the life of Joseph from Genesis. She is involved in many ministries but feels that she is not fruitful for God. Rachel is struggling to make a commitment to serve God in one way. Jimmy Bochert shared from George Mason ministry. He really enjoyed studying John’s gospel with Sh. Bruce Hollinger. He accepted through John 21 that there is no failure in Jesus. Shs. Sarah Martin from N. Carolina shared a mission report from her stay in Korea over the summer. During her time in Korea God broke and rebuilt Sarah’s heart. She is now praying to be a shepherd and mother of prayer for UNC students.

Nina Aniskevich from Shippensburg shared a beautiful and heart moving Life Testimony. She was in despair after the death of her grandmother who was a pillar in her family. She could not console herself or her mother, who had depression as a result of her grief. When everything in her life seemed to be collapsing God invited her to Bible study through Msn. Deborah Lee. Through Bible Study her hope and faith in God began to grow. She was encouraged through attending the Spring Conference. She found strength in God to overcome the problems she was having in her family, school and her personal life. Now she is praying to be a shepherdess and Bible Teacher for Shippensburg University. Ken Stewart from Baltimore shared his testimony based on Mark 6. He shared the demonstration of God’s shepherd heart in his life. He is praying to be a Bible Teacher and shepherd for Johns Hopkins University. Sarah Brown from Georgia Tech shared her clear and sincere Life Testimony. She was living a meaningless life by seeking the approval of others and looking for a dream job which doesn’t exist. She was invited to the Summer Bible Conference through her brother and began Bible study with Msn. Rebecca Noah shortly afterwards. When she studied the Bible her eyes were opened to the spiritual world and she found the meaning of her life in Jesus. Now she is praying for 12 disciples and 12 Marys to be raised up from Georgia Tech and Kennasaw University.

Next, Valerie Tornabene from Baltimore ministry shared her testimony. She is praying to share the gospel with students in Australia while she studies there for one semester. Akwete Doku from the Lehigh chapter shared his testimony. Through studying the Bible he has come to recognize the urgency of telling others about the gospel of Jesus, he compared it to rescuing someone from a burning building. May God use him as a gospel worker at Lehigh University. Jen Slingland is a growing disciple at Washington. Through meditating on John 12 she offered herself to God. She made a decision to entrust her school studies, and her marriage to God. She also decided to go wherever God sends her to serve World Campus mission.

After the testimonies Dr. Luke Lim shared a very strategic plan for how to establish the work of God in pioneering chapters and countries. He made a clear distinction between the general mission of God’s people and the personal vision that God has individually given each of us. Shs. Allison prepared a beautiful PowerPoint presentation with pictures of co-workers who visited conferences and pioneering sites abroad. God planted great vision in our hearts and enabled us to see the ripe harvest fields.

Our Saturday program began at 9 AM. Shs. Elaine Phillips from Washington shared the sacrificial and risky lives of Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry who were missionaries in Afghanistan when the war on terrorism began. We were moved and challenged by their servant heart for the people of that country. Sh. Joshua Sprenkle shared his book report on Martin Luther. We learned the importance of deep Bible study in order to know God’s truth for ourselves. Sh. John Martin from UNC shared his report on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He could have remained comfortably in the US but he went back to Nazi Germany in order to help his people during WWI.

Dr. Bill Pottenger shared about the life of Eric Liddell. He was a famous runner whose life is portrayed in the movie “Chariots of Fire.” He was a witness of the gospel to many athletes and went to serve China mission. Dr. Richand Anderson shared a report on Charles Studd. He was a renowned Cricket player but when confronted by the possibility of his brother’s death, he learned that the gospel of Jesus is the most valuable thing. He went as a missionary to China in spite of his family who were a stumbling block. Msn. Mary Brogi shared her report on the life of Gladys Aylward. She was told that she was unqualified to be a missionary but found a way to go to China as the assistant of an elder missionary. We learned that willingness, not qualification, is the essential factor in serving mission.

Sh. Paul Sambucco, from Baltimore, delivered the Sunday Worship Service message based on Isaiah 54:1-3. We accepted that we must enlarge our heart and our vision for the harvest fields. We learned that we should not hold back our love for Jesus but express it through teaching the Bible. Also, we were moved to lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes through deeper personal Bible study and prayer. After the message we listened to five testimonies from growing disciples in Washington ministry. We thank God for Tommy Pham who left his parents house in order to serve the garden of God’s mission that he received through Gen 2. Ashley Fox shared her testimony confessing that she now has firm faith in God and his son Jesus. She struggled to understand the heart of God who brought destruction to the world in the time of Noah. She accepted the God who grieves because of our sin. She is praying to be a “BUT- woman” of this generation.

Mark Butman shared his testimony based on the life of Joseph. He was moved by Joseph who was a shadow of Jesus and led an exemplary life. He is praying to serve world mission in God’s time. Matt Goller saw himself in Levi, who shares his name. He has been growing through Bible study after signing up at table ministry in September. Mitchell Kato from GMU ministry was the last testimony sharer. He is praying to hear and obey the word of Jesus in order to overcome sleeping too much. May God continue to bless these growing disciples of Jesus and bless us to see the harvest fields of each mid-Atlantic campus through them.