Creasmans: What's New(s) for Ministry in 2012

Happy New Year from Asia! I write this email from Melaka, Malaysia where Jim and I are attending the annual Pastor's Prayer summit and I am thinking about you and hoping your 2012 has begun with refreshed hope and courage. James sits near me working on a newsletter for CRMS to pastors and Christian leaders. We enjoyed sending out Christmas cards this year. If you didn't receive one, it's because I don't have your address! (Send it to me! I still have a few left!) It has been great to hear from friends around the world who are following Christ and using their gifts and talents to bless the world. Such an array of good things are happening, and we look forward to news of so much more in the new year. Kimberly's Status I've asked my Saviour if this year he would grow back my capacity and passion, and then that I'd live it out with more godliness and grace (& leave behind old habits of drivenness and perfectionism). I want to be at peace with God's definition of influence & significance and relinquish any of my hopes for attaining recognition or status. I want to see miracles happen as a result of prayer and spiritual authority, and lead people to knowing Jesus in a deeper way every day! 2012...Bring it on!!! Jim's Status I am excited about more itinerant mentoring outside of Singapore this year. Regular trips to China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines are being planned with Singapore mentees who are pastors & leaders in churches here.  This will help fulfill the Singapore Church's destiny to build spiritual leaders in Asia, and meet the needs of many Asian churches that are crying out for more leadership development.  It is also a fulfillment for me of my calling to "entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim 2:2) as some of the Singaporeans who've had mentoring join me in serving Asian leaders beyond Singapore. Year End Highlights "Christmas Changes Everything" on Christmas morning in a local church where Jim was a guest preacher. Lord we pray for those who gave their hearts to you this Christmas, and for those who long to know you and love you more in the new year. Celebrate Christmas in Singapore is a remarkable effort of the Christian Community coming together to share the meaning of Christmas and the hope we've found in the infant Jesus who died to become our Saviour. This year a 1000+ mass caroling session was added! We thank you God for the openness of Singapore to embracing and celebrating our multiple religions, and allowing Christians to share Jesus openly during the Christmas and Easter public holidays. After a short visit to USA for Thanksgiving and a trip with Tyler to Cal Poly campus, Kimberly helped with the Elementary Christmas Pageant & took neighbor kids on the OM Logos Hopeship berthed in Singapore over the holidays. Q: How does a creative person process the transition of her 1st born to university? A: Take all the tshirts/sweatshirts/school uniforms/old football jerseys AND socks, and make a quilt collage of almost all the stuff you can't bear to throw away! Lord, you lavished generosity on me to have frequent flier miles and the opportunity to be with family on Thanksgiving and go with Tyler up to Cal Poly for a few days after. How happy I am to see that he's settled well and loves his school and new friends! Thank you for the fun I have when I have the chance to work with children and share your truths with them using drama. Looking Ahead: Our Prayers in January 2 A small group of artists meet for "Post it Note Resolutions."  It was sweet to see how God made connections among the group to help them move forward on various goals. Lord help us to not limit ourselves due to lack of faith in your power in us. We are yours to use as you please. Give us boldness this year to invite more people into your family and give us the capacity to love the unloveable, patiently nurture new believers and build up and encourage our peers. 6 CRMS staff meet and confirm some dates for training, mentoring and trips to neighboring countries in the new year. We have only a few months left with 2 interns from China, and we look forward to new Singaporean staff joining us in 2012. Lord, we move forward with these plans only by trusting that you are the one who inspired and commissioned us. We will succeed only as we abide in you, trust in you, and submit to you. Thank you for our staff who share a desire to mentor spiritual leaders. We look to you for our needs in leading/shepherding this organization and thank you for your continued provision to let us live in Singapore and serve leaders in this city and the region. We had to say goodbye to our full-time administrator in November, but an intern has stepped into her shoes for the time being. Two ex-pat volunteers have surfaced who say "I love organizing and admin!" Lord we pray that we can pass on to these gals work which will delight them. So much of the admin is burdensome to us. Thank you for these divine contacts which arose at just the right time. 9 Cameron is back to school and gearing up to have a successful 2nd semester. We are considering a change to boarding school for next year, which is a tough decision. Lord, you have given us the privilege of being Cameron's parents. We love him so much and we thank you that he has a heart to follow you, that he loves people, and has such a happy personality. You have surrounded him with Godly support who believe in his potential and encourage him. We pray that this will be a semester of real growth and maturity for him when he dislikes the discipline of academics and work so much. Give us wisdom and patience to parent him in what feels like a crucial semester in determining his future. 9-12 Pastor's Prayer Summit, Melaka, Malaysia. We'll be together with Christian leaders in Singapore to meet and pray for our impact on the nation, region and world. Hosted by Love Singapore, our presence at this conference (since January 2000) has been an encouragement and affirmation for our role here in and the need for mentoring spiritual leaders.  "An important part of journeying together is learning to wait on the Lord together as a community—to listen to His heart and hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Sad to say, waiting is neither a passion nor a forte of the Singapore Church. Most of us are impatient and impulsive. We are insanely busy, going from event to event, multi-tasking all the time! As a result, we suffer from short attention spans, restless spirits, crowded souls, cluttered minds, anxious hearts, and tired bodies." - Pastor Lawrence Khong, Chairman of Love Singapore 12 Tyler turns 19 and is very happy and doing well at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Currently a biology major and in Army ROTC. Father, we trust you for guidance in Tyler's life to keep him growing in godliness as well as in maturity and discovering your calling in his life. 23-24  Chinese New Year comes early this year. This is a holiday when families get together (like American Thanksgiving) and many like us are not near their families! We enjoy hosting those who are "orphans" over to share the holiday with us. 27 CRMS staff meet for a half-day enrichment time.  Father, thank you for these four Singapore staff and two Chinese interns who have chosen to serve you through mentoring ministry.  Please encourage them through your financial provision as they raise their financial support, give them clear guidance in their calling, and build them together as a team and raise up more staff to join them in building spiritual leaders in Singapore and throughout Asia. 30 CRMS staff and board members meet for a half day planning retreat to review CRMS' history over the past decade and wait on the Lord for future ministry direction. Father, please speak clearly to the staff and board members about your purpose and future for the CRM ministry in Singapore and Asia.  Give them a bigger vision of you and specific direction for their future ministry. Learn more from Jim about Church Resource Ministries Singapore @ www.crms.org.sg

BRAVE

I've just had a chance 

To have another conversation 

With a seasoned American 

Woman of faith.

A peer. A bit older. A mentor. 

A trooper.

She confides in me...

About how much she misses her kids.

About how she's afraid to get on an airplane.

About how she is often awakened from nightmares 

and has to pray until she finds peace enough to fall asleep again;

If sleep comes.

And yet.

She's obedient.

Long ago she sensed God ask her to leave her comfort zone.

She did more than raise her hand, come forward, or fill out the card.

She left

Her comfortable middle class life

As the wife of a middle manager

In the mid west

And headed out white-knuckling

On an adventure that's taken her to 4 other continents (so far).

In her small day-to-day life she shares her faith

with neighbors, with the people God puts in her path, 

with the local ladies she invites for English

[or craft, or cooking] classes once a week.

The kind of things all typical good Christian women 

Everywhere

Can do.

Or should do.

Her missionary "job" is in a support role

To her husband and team who are in a support roles

To even more in support roles to

those of who are front-line Evangelists in hard to reach places

And actually proclaiming the Gospel to multitudes.

Behind the scenes isn't exciting.

But she doesn't need [or want] exciting.

Her husband's travels include enough excitement for both of them.

Giving her more reason to stay on her knees.

But his "work" also means she must live in places where 

The Super Bowl isn't shown on TV.

She can't buy clothes that fit.

Heart friends are hard to find.

Where she'll never get really great at the local language.
And yet, she's still here.

Before meeting her, 

The missionary women I have had the chance to know

Were all the fiercely independent gutsy women for the Gospel.

But this gal;

Despite the worry, and fears, and anxiety as she has,

She's really another kind of hero. 

Perhaps because of those things that keep others from 

ever stepping out in faith to leave

father, mother, sister, brother, friends and comforts

of what is familiar and feels safe.

I want to build a statue to her

(and then maybe get her a prescription for some valium).

THIS hero, 

Despite her irrepressible fears.

Has paid, is paying, and will pay

A great price for her obedience to Jesus' last command:

"Go ye therefore into all the world..."

I want to be there when Jesus welcomes here "home" and

hear him say those words to her, 

"Well done, good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy of your Lord."

Year End Reflections & Resolutions 2011

End of Year Reflections is a tradition of mine with creative friends... the guest list isn't exclusive. 

I learned to…
I grew most in…
Another way I saw myself growing was…
One of my best adventures was…
I saw/knew God was doing something when…
A real gift from God was…
Something I really enjoyed doing more of was…
One of the happiest memories of 2008 I’d like to freeze in my mind…
I was really brave when…A Scripture passage that meant a lot to me was…
I’m still trying to learn what God wants to teach me through this hard experience…
The best word of advice or encouragement I can remember is…
One thing I’m looking forward to in 2012 is…

RESOLUTIONS
I use post it notes to brainstorm the resolutions. It is my way of saying, "they're just ideas, so if you don't do them, you don't have to feel guilty about it." When we do this in a group, after sharing some of the reflections above, we take a break to individually do the brainstorming, then come back together to share a few. It's fun because we find that some of us have the same goal, and realize that we can do it together. I have 6 categories for brainstorming resolutions:

• Physical
  
• Spiritual
  
• Service
  
• Important Relationships
  
• Professional/Intellectual
  
• Adventure/Risk

On the afternoon of the 2nd, we'll tackle the Post it Note Resolutions. Consider posting a resolution on the wall here to inspire the others!


If I don't get to see you, here's wishing you a blessed Christ focused Christmas, and a wonderful New Year!


Kimberly

Creasmans: What's New(s) November 2011

October Highlights:

Jim:

Outstanding spiritual authority seminar! It was the 3rd time he had led it, and he's learning more each time.  Lord we pray that our lives and ministries would be characterized by your living presence.

At our Staff/Executive Committee retreat there was good open and heartfelt sharing about the vision and growth of CRMS and ministry planning for 2012.  Out of a dozen ministry intiatives we discussed, there was unanimous enthusiasm for starting new monthly learning groups for leaders to gather and discuss/digest quality books together over lunch meetings.

We also were unanimous about initiating mentoring ministry in Vietnam through five weeklong trips during the year.  Lord, thank you for the joy we have working with a common passion for empowering spiritual leaders. We ask that confirm that these are your plans for us by bringing spiritual fruit through them.

Praise the Lord for a fantastic time with the mentoring network in the Philippines!  At the October meeting, the group formally formed CRM Philippines, electing a President and VP and Secretary and Treasurer.  They are very enthusiastic, and I look forward to staying in close touch with them to help them establish and grow the ministry.  We have a three-day training set for December, to continue equipping them as mentors.

Kimberly:  

A couple of events were delightful opportunities to watch younger leaders step out and take risks into their calling as artists or being more creative. Thank you God for the joy of seeing others blossom in serving you with their unique gifts!

We are also thankful for God's gracious provision as friends both here and abroad partner with us in tangible ways. Emerging from a time of "lack" we are so humbled to see an encouraging trend in our CRM and Singapore bank account! Thank you for your prayers about this need, and thank you to those who are partners in the ministry through your gifts! As the resources grow, we can advance with the opportunities!

TCA College Graduation. Student Jaqueline Khoo graduated in Creative Arts. She is a professional social worker and also serves in the Chinese Ministry, music and creative arts of Grace Assembly of God, Singapore. She and her husband have a dream to be full time Christian workers someday...somewhere.

Tyler (18): 

Diagnosed last week with mono, he's not letting it slow him down much. Enjoying school and ROTC and new friends! Lord we pray for restored health and strength, and that by your Spirit, Tyler would follow you in all his ways, in all the new directions you are giving him opportunities to explore.

Cameron (14):

Football season is over and grades are out for first quarter. We are all so thankful Lord, for teachers at his school who work together with parents to give the students what they need to be successful and grow in godliness. 

Our Prayers for November

3-5 Facilitator Training

One of the most important events of the year for CRMS. We have twelve graduates from our mentoring networks joining Jim for three days of training on group facilitation and personal coaching. In order to become new leaders for our mentoring networks. Lord, for Jim and for the participants, we pray that they would catch more of the passion and vision and skills for personally investing their lives in other spiritual leaders, for the sake of your glorious name!

10-20 CoNext Meetings

Jim travels to London for meetings with CRM country leaders around the world. CRM is a fraternal organization rather than a multinational organization, so each country has a separate entity that relates to the others on a peer level, rather than USA being the worldwide headquarters. This will be an important time for the dozen country leaders to grow closer together, to support each other and find out how we can learn fro each other and collaborate together. Lord, we pray that you will guide the agenda and use the discussions to strengthen the working partnerships that have been birthed from CRM - for the grown and multiplication of your church around the world!

14-18 

An Invitation to Peace

From the CRM website:This fall we are honored to invite you to participate in CRM’s annual Week of Prayer.

From over 27 countries around the world, CRM staff and ministry partners will join hearts and minds together as we focus our attention on the Lord, who is the source of our peace and all good things. Through a daily email devotional, we will reflect on God’s invitation to be known and loved by Him, to be redeemed, to be still, to observe His provision, and to journey with Him.

If you would like to receive this shared reading and reflection every day from November 14 - 18, you can sign up on our prayer page at crmleaders.org/prayer.

We will also join together in more focused prayer on the annual Day of Prayer, on November 17. On this specific day, staff and ministry partners will pray for the requests of each other and for the movement of God around the world. We invite you to participate in whatever way you feel led, whether as a recipient of prayer or as one who might intercede for others.

Please reply to this if you want us to be praying for you. CRM also has offered to pray as a staff in our offices in Anaheim, CA. To submit a prayer request, simply send an email to donorservices@crmleaders.org or submit your request online at crmleaders.org/prayer.

If you would like to be involved in ministering to others through prayer, please contact Sheri Price at sheri.price@crmleaders.org.

We hope that this coming season will be one of deeper intimacy with the Lord, leading to an abundance of fruit and ministry in our lives and the world around us!

*All prayer requests are handled with the utmost care and privacy.

24-27 Thanksgiving!

Jim and Cameron will take a father-son trip locally while Kimberly cashes in on frequent flier miles to be with family in California. Lord God, we can't thank you enough for all you've done for us by giving us salvation and hope through Jesus and his sacrificial death for our sakes: to make a way to know you and live lives of purpose. And for those "secondary blessings" when good things come our way, or you provide peace and comfort in the midst of hard things, we are also grateful! Bless our friends and supporters this Thanksgiving with abundance and joy.

I have not stopped thanking God for you. 

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the 

glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

to give you spiritual wisdom and insight 

so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light 

so that you can understand the confident hope 

he has given to those he called—

his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

I also pray that you will understand 

the incredible greatness of God’s power 

for us who believe him. 

This is the same mighty power 

that raised Christ from the dead 

and seated him in the place of honor 

at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms

Ephesians 1:16-20 (New Living Translation)

Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

Blessing. Joy. Humility. Gratitude. Grace.

Jim & Kimberly Creasman

Charitable Giving thru CRM

Please consider making our work here an extension of your heart for Asia.

We pray that you'd have great joy in these kind of investments, 

whether is it with us or with other good work around the world!

www.crmleaders.org

Donation questions (in USA) 1 (800) 777-6658

you may add "preferenced for Creasman-acct 5651"

CRM- 1240 N. Lakeview, Suite 120, Anaheim, CA 92807-1831

CRM Week of Prayer

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Dear Friends of CRM, One of the most powerful ways we can minister God’s love and truth is through praying for each other. For this reason, CRM sets aside a special day each year to pray for our staff, our partners in ministry, and the work that God is doing around the world. Please join us this year on  November 17, 2011 as we come before the Lord together. We invite you to share your prayer requests with us or send them via email to prayer@crmleaders.org so that we can pray for you more specifically. Also, as an important member of CRM's community, you are invited to join us for a weeklong observance of prayer. FromMonday, November 14 to Friday, November 18, we are offering a short daily email featuring a Psalm and prayer points centered on God’s invitation for us to know His love, be still before Him, and surrender ourselves to His providence. Please join us as we draw together to reflect on the past year and all that God has accomplished in our midst! You can subscribe online at crmleaders.org/prayer. (If you received our Lent mailing in the past, you will automatically be added to the list.) We hope this ministry of prayer will be a blessing to you and that you will be encouraged by spending a few moments with the Lord as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday together. We look forward to joining you as we give praise and thanks to our Creator. Happy Thanksgiving! CRM Empowering Leaders www.crmleaders.org Pass It On: If you know someone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, feel free to forward a copy. To find out more about CRM or to send us your prayer requests, send us an email or call 800-777-6658. For more information, visit www.crmleaders.org.

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