KEN & CARRIE'S NEWS

At Sheffield

2010-05-17T04:23:00.000-07:00

(Pictures of St. Thomas auditorium at the third service, and the small Iranian meeting later at 1:30 PM)

I first heard of St. Thomas in Sheffield, England while a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This ministry grew from a small church of 50 to a congregation of 1700 meeting in two different locations. Ever since learning about St. Thomas I've wanted to visit and see it for myself, especially since "churches in Europe do not grow" this large. This past weekend we were in the area and were able to visit the church.

Here are a few of my personal observations of the Philadelphia Campus church:
1) The church is located at the cities' center, in a depressed area; obviously the church has learned to reached out into this community.
2) The (Philadelphia) campus was a disjointed group of buildings--none of which looked like a church-- most of which had been business institutions or warehouses. The auditorium was a very large warehouse that was spacious (could seat around 700) but not elaborate.
2) The music was contemporary but not "edgy;" most of it was choruses I've heard in contemporary churches of America (e.g. "Our God is An Awesome God"). There was a praise band with three miked singers (one with a guitar), a drummer and two other guitarists. At the front of the auditorium several "praise members?" were "dancing" with the music; a bit distracting for first time visitors, but not greatly so. (The rationale behind this practice would be interesting to know)
3) Though much planning had obviously gone into the service, it was not done with precision--excellence was not the goal. No one seemed to mind. I wondered whether this was a studied effort not to be too formal. For example, there was a constant lag in the Power-point presentation of the words of the songs. there may have been a lack of excellence, but there was not a lack of planning. Apparently, excellence was not the goal; being informal and casual was.
4) The first song was sung for the kids, was up-beat, fast and moving. The kids were encouraged to come down to the front and "dance" to the music. They were taken out to a different worship service after the first song.
5) The announcements ("notices") were done by two young adults, a male and female, who did them with a casual flair, looking up to the screen now and then.
6) The dress was casual for everyone. The two leading pastors wore jeans and polo shirts--one with a high collar. I was the only one with a suit (no tie). There was one man with a suit and tie, but he was a foreigner. (grin)
7) Communion-in the Anglican manner-was served to the 600+ in attendance, by provided several "stations" throughout the auditorium. (One corner of the building served wine without alcohol).
8) The message was simple, biblical and well delivered by Rich Robinson, one of the pastors.
9) There was an informal invitation to accept Christ or to come forward for "prayer or for healing."

St. Thomas church has learned how to do the work of evangelism among their people. In the process, this has attracted people who do not live in this area to the church. People like a winner.

AS THE WORK GETS TOUGHER, THE TOUGH GET TO WORK

2009-12-12T18:18:00.001-08:00

Just returned from a meeting with the leadership team at the Oasis in Athens, Greece. They are continuing to carry on their work in the face of the threats on their life. And the Lord continues to deliver them from their enemies. The threats, however, have discouraged most Iranians from coming to the meetings (this intimidation is practiced all over Europe) but other Farsi speakers continue to come in large numbers. In addition to the refugee work, the building of a new congregation of Farsi-speaking believers, the leadership believes they need to start a Bible Institute for those who are passing through the area. They have a passion that Persian-speakers not only hear the gospel right, but that they live the gospel as disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a big undertaking, but they believe it to be a mandate. Pray for them.

IT'S FALL!

2009-08-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

The leaves are turning already in England and the air is getting nippy--good weather for catching a cold. But our hearts are warmed--warmed by the prospects of a fulfillment of the Father's promise to pour out His Spirit on us and those we are working with that we would be effective witnesses, be fruitful and be able to reproduce.

We met an Iranian couple who live in the next village over, a place called Rugeley (Seen in the distance from the Chase). Faiza has had 3 by-passes and has three stints in his heart and is rapidly aging. I don't know how long he has but we know the time is short and we ache to share the everlasting gospel with he and Kayani his wife. Hope we can have that talk with them soon.

We are praying that the Lord will answer our prayer for harvesters in the UK. It is the only hope for America and for Europe in the face of global Islamic resurgence. May the Lord give a viral answer to our prayers based on Luke 10:2b.

IT'S SUMMER

2009-06-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Ken has been busy traveling with Daniel Shayesteh, former Hezbollah member and now a Christian apologist. Churches have received their ministry well. We have also done a few missions conferences, one of which was in Bozeman, Montana. What a place!

Ken has also continued to compete his dissertation on "Developing a Strategy for the Defense and Propagation of the Faith Among Muslims." This has been a grueling project and each time we travel somewhere, must be started over.

We are also working with a small group of Iranians we've met in the Kansas City area. Please pray that they will read the Scriptures we have given them and that the Holy Spirit will give them light and life.

Carrie got to visit her mother in Tennessee with daughers, Mychelle, Becky and Ruth. Did I forget to mention that they took along 10 grandkids, eight of whom were five and under? What a trip! (see the wooden spoon? : )

IT'S SPRING!

2009-04-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

New leaves, new grass, warmer weather and a renewed vision of what God wants us do. Though the news media proclaims "the sky is falling," we know that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:12, 13)

"We are all faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." -Chuck Swindoll

IT'S FALL

2008-09-23T02:27:00.001-07:00

We have enjoyed the Fall fruits as well. Recently in Greece we enjoyed the wonderful figs from the fig trees in Bro George's village and the flowers in the garden.

With our sister-in-law, Kay Beall here, we took some time off to visit two very special parks here in the area. We enjoyed the beautiful, still blooming flowers and are amazed at God's handiwork as well as the hard work of the local people.

REAL CHURCH

2008-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

We were ready. Choruses were on power point, sermon on power point in two languages, coffee and tea, cookies and treats--all prepared. It was almost time and noone had showed up---then they came. Several regulars and two guests--and the Lord appeared. We had a wonderful service of fellowship, worship, teaching and preaching. We are preparing for "International Friend Day" next Sun. We are expecting to double our attendance as everyone has been busy inviting. We plan to visit the all English speaking Technical College this week for new contacts. We anticipate that God will bless this effort to reach more with the Gospel--and that is exciting. Have a great week. (picture was from two weeks earlier)

FRUSTRATIONS OF BLOGGING

2008-09-20T03:02:00.001-07:00

I had this page all set up and it disappeared!!! Oh dear!!!

A brief visit to Rome was enjoyed as we have special reasons for going. Our kids, Jon and Becky Liles just arrived four months ago and are getting settled. The boys are in Italian school and Bec is helping them with their homework of learning words in Italian.

AUTUMN IN AUSTRIA

2008-09-20T02:44:00.001-07:00

Fall is beginning to be seen everywhere from the decorating of town squares, the the harvesting of pumpkins, and roasting of chestnuts at the mall entrance. We have already had one night of temperatures in the 30's and there is snow reportedly further west in the upper Alps.

OUR MISSIONARIES IN ROME

2008-09-20T02:23:00.001-07:00

Seeing historical Rome was unbelievable, but seeing new missionaries, Jon & Bec and our grandkids was the highlight of the trip. Having arrived in Italy in May, it has taken four months to find and set up an apartment. The boys started school two weeks ago and are doing good considering they do not know Italian. Becky is struggling with her health but through tests they are working to find an answer.

MINISTERING IN GREECE

2008-09-20T01:56:00.001-07:00

The purpose of our trip to Greece was multi-faceted. We went to the Oasis--a entry center for refugees where they teach spoken Greek, English, give about 150 people one meal a night, have a preaching service, and after a while, give each family a blanket or sleeping bag. We were given money by a church in Ohio to buy Bibles-- so Ken is presenting Farsi and Arabic Bibles to the leaders. We had been given about 1,000 tracts also. Ken preached here and five adults responded and were being dealt with--two days later four of them were presented for baptism after a public profession. The next pict is street evangelism with George Dimakos and son-in-law, James Sinde. There were many activities but going to Greece would not be complete without a trip to the Acropolis.

INNSBRUCK RIVERFRONT

2008-09-20T01:39:00.000-07:00

Our view from the marketplace of the Old City of Innsbruck-- where we ate sauerkraut, pickles, and Thuringer bratwurst as well as shopped the old town marketplace.
We were surprised with an amazing sunset over the Alps in Innsbruck.

SALZBURG SUMMER PALACE

2008-09-20T01:32:00.000-07:00

Very Special Visitor. Kay Beall, Ken's sister from Spfd MO came to visit us for 10 days. Tho still in jet lag, we drove her to Salzburg
Austria for a few hours. We are standing in front of the hunting palace.

Three Youngest Liles Grandkids!

2008-08-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

Living in many countries has its joys and excitement. We get to meet and be with so many different people. However, one of the treasures we have and miss so much, has to be the g'kids. Below are our three youngest and some of their latest pictures--from left to right, Macy Doss (KC MO) 16 weeks, Molly Day (Forney TX) 1 year, Kyra Garrison,(Lima Peru) 18 months.

The Promise

2008-08-06T05:39:00.001-07:00

We have been having some short but severe storms here in Austria. This is one beautiful double rainbow over our building. After the storms, it is usually about 20 degrees cooler--right now 66F, Aug 6, 2008.

The Little Car Story

2008-08-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it goes something like this: My grandson, Ethan, a little missionary in Italy is always spotting these small cars and wanting his picture taken with them. I thought about it and maybe this is why he does it: when he sees a little car it makes him feel bigger, stronger, better. So I thought I would try it. And "lifting" this little car lifted me-knowing Ethan would smile and have a better day.

German Classes

2008-08-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

Carrie and I went downtown to ISOP with Danny Caldwell to see if we could enroll in a German class. They were all full up. So he told us to check out URAINA and we found that they have a class starting in September. We'll try to get into that one.

German is a difficult language because of the German useage of articles (Die, Der, Dem, Das, etc.) There seems to be no apparent rules for the use of articles-one must memorize the article with the noun. I have not been able to find anyone who knows the secret of their usage.

Reviving the Bog

2008-08-03T23:30:00.001-07:00

We're trying to assist Curt Brown in a new church plant in Graz, Austria.

2006-11-30T14:54:00.000-08:00

We were going to Norfolk this weekend for a missions conference. Our good Fleenor friends are there and had asked up to be in a missions conference. And it snowed! We are still going to try and make it! Should be lot's of fun.

Ken is working on some papers for his modules at Midwestern.