Anita Charles has a powerful story to tell about how God used a couple in Oregon to help rescue her from childhood poverty in India, through Compassion International, to become a Jesus-follower ministering around the world. Now, after nearly 50 years of life-changing ministry to millions of children, the government of India is forcing Compassion out of the country.

My journey with Compassion started when I was 9 years old. My parents had a rough marriage and had separated. My mother was left to raise me and my brother as a single parent in Chennai, a large city of 8 million people. It so happened that Compassion International had a project in the school I was going to. My 4th grade teacher knew how much my mother was struggling to raise 2 children on her own, struggling to pay the rent, struggling to pay school tuition, struggling to put food on the table and to make ends meet. So she recommended me for sponsorship with Compassion.

In India, as in many other countries, schools are not free and there is no system of good public school education. The house that we grew up in was about the size of a two car garage. There was one room that was our bedroom, living room and dining room. There were no taps in the house except for one hand pump. We sat on the floor to have our meals. We washed dishes, clothes and bathed in the same small space in the bathroom.

My mother said this so much it was drilled it into me, “You don’t have a father, we don’t have money, so if you don’t finish school you will have nothing!” So we knew that education was important if we wanted to survive.

How did being sponsored change my life? Being sponsored impacted my life in 2 distinct ways.

First, sponsorship provided an education that we could not afford on our own. I was sponsored from 4^th grade through 12^th grade by a couple named Glen and Linda who live in Portland, Oregon. During that time, my school tuition was paid for as well as my text books and school uniforms. They also gave me birthday gifts and Christmas gifts. Let me add that God gave me the awesome privilege to meet them when I came to live in the United States. Because I was sponsored I received good education that prepared me for the opportunities that lay ahead.

Secondly, God gave me Jesus who is the Lord of my life – the Hope of all Hopes! The school that I went to, because of my sponsorship, was a Christian school that nurtured my faith. We started every day with songs, prayer and reading Scripture. This school taught me to connect with God as my Father and this school was also the place that I first asked God to be the Lord of my life.

Additionally, being sponsored allowed me to see how God had seen my mother’s difficulty and answered her prayers.

My journey with Compassion has come full circle as my family now sponsors four children through Compassion, two of whom are from India. While it is a pleasure to receive letters from them, see their photographs and to write back to them, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having a meaningful relationship with the two children in India for about 10 years. I have visited them twice in India. My heart is saddened to think that their chances to stay in school and to receive a good education has been jeopardized by the changes made by Indian government. The government has moved to restrict charitable organizations, hindering them from redeeming vulnerable children from the cycle of poverty.

Compassion International has been working in India for 48 years and is now forced to close the doors of opportunity to about 145,000 young, vulnerable children. While we worship a sovereign God cares very much for those 145,000 children. To learn more about the situation please visit https://www.compassion.com/about/where/india.htm

For Further Reading:

Suhasini Haidar and Vijaita Singh, “Compassion International to shut down India operations,” The Hindu (February 3, 2017).

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, “Compassion: Why We’re Leaving India, But Still Have Hope: ‘Frustrated’ CEO explains how shutdown of 589 centers serving 145,000 children will affect staff, sponsors, and churches,” Christianity Today (March 1, 2017).

Anita recorded this testimony about 5 years ago:

Anita Charles: Compassion Child Sponsorship from Navin Kharmai on Vimeo.

Thank you for your patience as we work through how to overcome this difficulty. Meanwhile, you may still read all individual articles and reviews from all of our past issues in the Archive (organized into the categories listed below): over 1,100 articles and counting.

• Biblical Studies
• Church History
• Spirit
• Ministry
• Living the Faith
• In Depth

Mike Dies and Raul Mock at an editorial meeting on February 6, 2015.

Update for Saturday, February 28: Some features of the site were temporarily unavailable earlier today while we worked through some maintenance options. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please leave a comment below or Contact the editor.

A group of young pastors have asked that I meet with them monthly for lunch to answer questions and provide help. At our last meeting I gave them the pop-quiz below. I recommend that you read it. If you are a pastor you may be helped by examining your answers. If you are not a pastor you might recommend it to your pastor.
— Charles Carrin

1. As a pastor are you listening to, benefiting from—or ignoring your critics?

2. Are you emotionally-secure enough to realize that your critics are sometimes right?

3. Do you know the most frequent or significant criticism made of you?

4. Do you regard your opponents as being “unspiritual” and unworthy of consideration?

5. Do you justify the departure of members from your congregation as simply being “God’s ‘pruning'” and/or their refusal to accept your “new wine skin”?

6. Did you learn from wrong choices you made in the past?

7. Do you ever listen to—print copies of your own sermons—critique them, and hear your preaching as others hear it? Do you study the content and eliminate superfluous talk?

8. If you were asked to preach a 3-point, quality sermon in 15 minutes could you do it?

9. Are you prepared to preach “in season, out of season”?

10. Do you blame your lack of preparation, indecisiveness, or procrastination, on your supposedly allowing “freedom” for the Holy Spirit?

11. Are you willing to preach more sermons to more people by being considerate of their time or do you insist on longer sermons and fewer people?

12. What percent of your congregation arrives late to avoid the length of the service? Have you ever considered that possibility?

13. As a pastor, do you pray as ardently about your administrative responsibilities as you do your preaching responsibilities?

14. Do members see such consistent growth in your preaching, your administration, that they are eager to hear your next message and be part of your next action?

15. Do visitors observe such maturity and reliability in your whole church-experience that they want to transfer its pattern into their home and personal life?

16. Do visitors eagerly return to your service or are most one-timers only?

17. If you were a first-time visitor in your own congregation what would be your honest opinion?

18. Are you providing your congregation with the example of a loving, disciplined, well-structured life?

19. Apart from your preaching-ministry, does the congregation witness the power of the Holy Spirit in you privately? Are you a “carrier” of the anointing?

20. Have you ever canvassed your congregation to ask for their honest opinions about improving the Church’s total ministry? If not, why not?

21. Is there consistent, viable presence of the Holy Spirit displayed through your laying on-hands and personal ministry?

22. When laying-hands on people do you push them down? If so, Do you possibly mistake your emotion and pumped-up zeal with the genuine activity of the Holy Spirit?

23. Are your prayers so long that people quit participating?

24. Theologically, are you a Kingdom-man or a Church-man?

25. Theologically, are you a “closed door” or do you listen to new, godly ideas?

26. Do you give opportunity for prophetic messages, tongues, interpretation, signs, wonders, etc, in every worship service?

27. Do you do all the talking, praying, announcement making, letting the congregation hear your voice alone? Are you a “one-man” show?

The Church of God 73rd International General Assembly met in Orlando, Florida July 27-30, 2010. This biennial meeting is a significant event on the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) calendar. Among other things, during this time denominational leadership is nominated and elected and contemporary issues facing the organization are discussed, debated, and decided, first by recommendations from the General Council of Bishops (all male), then by ratification of the General Assembly proper (all registered delegates, clergy and laity, male and female, over sixteen years of age). During this assembly the issue of women in ministry was prominent – and discussion was passionate.

Tony Richie at the 2014 Society for Pentecostal Studies convention held in Springfield, Missouri.

Acts 2:17-18 clearly indicates that Spirit-filled women have an important place alongside Spirit-filled men in the ministry of a Pentecostal church. Unlike many other Evangelical groups, the Church of God, one of the oldest of the classical Pentecostal denominations, ardently affirms the place of women in ministry; but the Church of God has often struggled to define the specifics of that place, particularly in leadership functions. This ambiguity contributes to partial affirmations combined with partial reservations. Soon after the General Overseer (aka Presiding Bishop), Dr. Raymond Culpepper, made moving remarks about uniting and implementing the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) and the Great Commandment (Matt 22:37-40) and led the gathering in a significant time of concert prayer, the General Council session quickly moved into passionate and spirited debate on the agenda item, Women in Ministry, particularly on ordination of women as bishops. In the Church of God, bishops comprise the General Council with rights to debate and vote in session. Also, only bishops are eligible to serve in almost all elected or appointed positions. Presently, the Church of God ordains women as ministers with full rights to preach, to perform weddings and the sacraments, and to pastor churches but it does not allow women to be bishops.

The Moderator repeatedly found it necessary to remind the Council to be sensitive of the Council’s tone, decorum, and demeanor and to carefully weigh all remarks. Opinions on this issue were polarizing. It seemed everyone passionately desired to correctly interpret, apply, and embrace the truth found in Scripture. Those “against” ordaining women as bishops adamantly argued that a literal interpretation of Scripture allowed no room for any other view. They appear to fear compromise of biblical beliefs thereby undermining commitment to biblical inspiration and authority. However, speeches made by those “for” ordaining women as bishops included several leading biblical scholars and theologians as well as church historians. These seem convinced that careful exegesis of Scripture and awareness of Church of God history and the Pentecostal heritage provide a firm foundation for full partnership in ministry. In fact, some argued that the struggle about the role of women in the Church of God is itself indicative of doctrinal transition or departure from the denomination’s Holiness Pentecostal roots toward a more Baptistic theology and polity. On the one hand, opponents to the motion were apparently concerned that a “liberalizing” trend beginning with ordaining women bishops might lead to similar steps in the future regarding ordaining homosexuals and lesbians. Proponents of the motion emphatically denied any such perceived connections. On the other hand, proponents of the motion to ordain women as bishops repeatedly compared antagonists to 19th century Christian slaveholders in the southern United States prior to the Civil War – a connection that was also emphatically denied by their opponents. Though much of this discussion was about nomenclature, culture and context, the process required a simple “yes” or “no” response. The motion failed with a “no vote” of 62.52%. A bold attempt to reconsider the subject in the General Assembly session failed as well.

Rick M. Nañez, Full Gospel, Fractured Minds?: A Call to Use God’s Gift of the Intellect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2005), 235 pages.

This book is a first of its kind. While others have tackled the issue of intellectual laxity among evangelicals as a whole, Nañez, an Assemblies of God missionary, is the first to devote an entire volume to the issue as it relates to Pentecostals and charismatics.

The first four chapters are devoted to giving a biblical theology of the mind. He makes an admirable case that God gave us a brain with the intent that we would use it for his glory. He gives particular detail to the original Hebrew and Greek meanings for the words heart, mind, etc. In the second four chapters he very ably articulates the anti-intellectual bias of early Pentecostals and is careful to set this in the historical backdrop of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He demonstrates very clearly that this phenomenon not only included evangelicals but points to the de-emphasis on the mind in American pop culture as well, implying at least that Pentecostals are, at least to some extent, people of their times.

But in my opinion, he overstates the case, occasionally comes across like he has an axe to grind, and seems to be totally unaware of the great strides that have been made in Pentecostal scholarship in recent decades. To be specific, he justly commends Don Gee for his excellent scholarship, but unfortunately does not seem to be aware of Stanley Horton, William Menzies, Gordon Fee, Vinson Synan, Gary McGee and Edith Blumhofer, to a name a few, who have made substantial contributions to Pentecostalism over the last few decades, particularly in the area of theology and history. The list continues to grow as more and more Pentecostals have found their pens! Nañez’s failure to at least mention these is egregious.

Nañez invests the second half of the book pointing the way out of our mental malaise. He calls for a retuning of our educational values so that people are taught how to think, not simply what to think. He calls for the sanctified use of reason and logic, using these mental tools in doing theology and especially in the art of apologetics. He calls for a return to studying philosophy and the sciences, pointing out that many fathers of modern science were devoted Christians. In all of these subjects he articulates very well how one can love God with their mind.

But there are two problems with this part of the book. First, although the content is quite good, a senior colleague pointed out to me that Nañez is rather late. There are any number of colleges and universities sponsored by Pentecostals that provide a Bible based, Christ centered liberal arts education. Evangel University, an Assemblies of God school in Springfield, MO, has been doing this for over 60 years.

© Stan Myer

Learn a First-Century Jewish perspective of Passover from Messianic teacher Kevin Williams.

Messianic Foundations
Artwork by Steve Grier © 1997 RBC Ministries. Used by permission.

Within the overall context of Passover, the details for the Christian to experience are few. We know little of a typical four hour celebration meal. Little of the preparatory cleaning that goes into making a house “kosher” for Passover. We know virtually nothing about the elements on the Seder plate or the ceremonial “four cups,” though the traditions go back to the second Temple period and were observed by Jesus and his disciples. We might know that you eat “matzah ball soup” during Passover because leavened products are forbidden by the Law of Moses, but beyond that, our knowledge is slim at best.

There are 28 references to Passover in the New Testament, and scant little information on the Last Supper except as recorded in just a few verses. There is the complete history of the first Passover recorded for us in the book of Exodus, and over 100 references in the Old Testament to the God who “brought you out of Egypt,” all of which allude to the miracles of the Almighty and His unique and awesome lessons revealed in the Passover. But what does the average non-Jew really know about such things?

Colossians 2:17 refers to the sabbaths, festivals, and new moon observances as “things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” This has often been interpreted as a discouragement from investigating the traditions or observances of these God ordained times and seasons. Personally, I feel this style of interpretation has unfairly robbed believers of much of their biblical heritage and separated them from a legacy that is theirs to claim.¹ In Lenski’s The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus and to Philemon, he draws a poignant conclusion to Colossians 2:17.

We should not think slightingly of the shadow. It was no less than the Divine promise of all the heavenly realities about to arrive. The shadow proved the actuality and even the nearness of the realities, for only an actual body and one that is not far away casts a shadow.²

If we can accept, for the moment, the concept that the shadow points out something near and perceivable, then the “sabbaths, festivals and new moon observances” Paul references should be able to point out a great deal about the character and will of God. These Jewish observances should be able to give us a fuller vision of who God is.