Village of 100

The following is some food for thought regarding the World Today*:



Population in 1900 - 1.6 billion people with 20 cities of 1 million+


Population in 2000 - 6.1 billion people with 410 cities of 1 million+



If all the people of the world were represented by a village of 100 people, the world would look something like this:

ETHNICITY of the Village of 100

57 are Asian
21 are Europeans
14 are Americans (North and South)
8 are Africans


GENDER of the Village of 100

51 are female 49 are male

FAITH of the Village of 100

33 persons are Christian
67 are non-Christian

of the 67 non-Chrisitans, 33 profess Islam, 15 are Hindu, 8 are Buddhist, 8 are Atheist, and 3 have some other belief system.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS of the Village of 100

80 people live in substandard housing
70 people cannot read
50 people suffer malnutrition
1 has a university education

33 people are under age 15
85% of this 33 live in poverty
13 of the 33 live on the street, without home or parents (=100,000,000 street children)

50% of the wealth is owned by 6 people...all from the United States

Consider the words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel according to Luke...

"When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required." -12:48b (NLT)




*based on figures supplied by Dr. Darrell Whiteman via Rev. Dr. Howard Mellor at the World Methodist Evangelism Institute, June 25, 2007.

P.O.W. - Tekoa

Had the awesome chance to connect with my ministry roots recently. I started out in youth ministry before becoming a lead pastor, and most recently a church planter. From time to time, it great to back where you started.
Kind of like when you walk into a room and forget why you walked into the room. I always retrace my steps and go back where I started from and I usually remember what I was going after. For me, a week at camp serving as Pastor of the Week (POW) is that going back and remembering.
Camp Tekoa is a United Methodist Camp in the mountains of North Carolina. Each summer for the past few years I have taken a week to serve Christ in the mountains at camp. My duties include opening and closing campfire talks, and small group time with each of the family groups. The groups usually have 10 - 15 kids, ranging in age from 2nd graders to high school students. this was one of the best years yet.

A cool thing about this year was "Barnabas Camp" - which is a camp experience for people with mentally handicapping conditions. Barnabas was a follower of Christ who's name means "son of encouragement". The Barnabas campers were just that, an encouragement.

On the last day of camp, we have a closing campfire. During the closing talk I invited campers and staff to stand to indicate a desire to pursue full time ministry. 5 stood. We also had 15 campers stand to indicate their desire to follow Christ. The evening closes with a candlelight service around the lake. See Picture.

If you are interested in more information about this camp - follow this link: Camp Tekoa.

World Methodist Evangelism Seminar - Wrap Up

The International Evangelsim Seminar was an extraordinary event. The potential impact of the combined people at the seminar is great! I believe God will continue to do some awesome things through this.
Personally, I believe the relationships built with other Christians, of the people called Methodist, will be beneficial for Kingdom business in the future. I can truly see our congregation connecting with churches in Kenya, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Hungary, India, and to the ends of the earth.
As it becomes easier to travel, send & receive information, and make alliances across borders - we will see the Kingdom of God continuing to advance in the name of Jesus Christ. Lives will be changed, and more will decide to become Christ followers.
Peace and Towels,
Andrew