We said No but God said Yes!

Fall, 2011

Dear Friends

Our thoughts now turn to traditional family celebrations during the holidays. What would your new traditions be if you were a new immigrant? This is the perfect time to reach out to internationals living and working in your community and talk about the holidays from a Godly perspective.

Serving in intercultural ministry through InFaith (AMF) we have been involved in reaching the 1st and 2nd generations of immigrants which match the focus of Ethnic America Network (EAN). We would like to share with you how the ministry of EAN has directly impacted our ministry.

EAN functions as a ministry of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College which conducts Ethnic Ministries Summits and Regional Conferences held in various locations around the country and is where our lives intersected with EAN.

We said NO but God said YES!

Prior to the first summit in April, 2001, we received the promotional mailing and tossed it. The second mailing arrived; we considered the cost and decided financially we could not afford it. While visiting a friend he handed us a check for the exact amount needed.

God said YES!

During a plenary session we remember looking at each other with tears in our eyes (OK, Mike does not cry … his eyes sweat!) This summit directly changed our ministry and resulting in Mike’s attendance at each subsequent summits.

In 2004 we joined the Seattle 2007 planning team not knowing the following year we would move to Georgia. We called in for meetings and encouraged the Seattle team. When Mary was approached in 2006 to become the co-chair for the summit …

We said NO but God said YES!

We continued to pray and after talking with the chairman Garrick Pang we said yes to God. Mary commuted 10 times across the country in her role. She enjoyed networking with believers from communities around the world.

On the night featuring reconciliation the choir consisted of Ethiopians and Eritreans together praising the Lord. In Africa these people traditionally would have been at war with each other. It provided a true picture of the reconciliation God can work in people’s lives.

After the summit, as Mary came up for air, she realized the manual for conducting a summit should be improved and undertook this in her spare time. She continues to work on the manual and hopes to have it finished soon.

She also became InFaith’s representative to serve on the national EAN committee. As the committee looked for mentors to guide future summit leaders she became the mentor for administrators and chairmen leading the mentor team.

Last year EAN director Dr. Chandler H. Im announced the Network was looking for an Events Coordinator. The coordinator would need to be located in either Chicago or near Atlanta. We prayerfully considered this ministry for Mary knowing it would be a volunteer position and we sought counsel from other EAN members.

We said NO!

In May, while in Chicago to have an area fellowship for InFaith missionaries under our care, we visited with Dr. Im at the Billy Graham Center. We talked about the position and …

We said NO but God said YES!

In June, she was confirmed by the national EAN committee as the events coordinator. Her work with future summits and regional conferences is more involved than ever. You may ask why Mary would add more to her plate in a non-salaried position. Simply put -- God asked us to. The 2012 summit will be held in Spartanburg, SC.

www.interculturalnetworkcarolina.org

“70% of children under the age of 10 are children of color.”
Dr. Stan Perea at the 2011 Multi-Ethnic Conference
in Denver


We believe God is allowing the faces of America to change. Our nation is changing as God provides opportunity not only to send missionaries abroad to reach the world for Him but also to reach their new neighbors which in turn will impact the world for Christ.

Please pray for us as we reach the nations for Christ in America.

Mike and Mary Pinkerton

Ps – a one-time gift to our work fund will help meet ministry expenses.