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Venice,
California
Our training this summer got started as our
staff met at Venice Foursquare with eighteen zealous mission
students from the Traveling Team from across America and local
church members. The seminar looked at Buddhism's rising influence in
America and the opportunities and various approaches for bringing
the Gospel to them. Bernie Wijesiriwardena, a former Sri Lankan
Buddhist leader who came to Christ in America, delivered
foundational teaching on the Christian principals of strategic
intercession in a modern pluralistic and Buddhist context. Laurie
Mallord briefly shared her lifework and how God is utilizing her
gifting as an artist to witness to the counterculture community in
southern California.
If
you or your church is interested in attending
or hosting a Saturday Seminar focusing on Christian
Witness to Buddhists please contact us at SonriseCtr@aol.com.
Pasadena, California. On June 14, at Fuller's Travis
Auditorium we hosted "Surprised by Joy! An Evening
of Testimony" which included a unveiling of our
new website http://www.sonrisecenter.org
designed by Thuy Dang. [An update~Thuy passed away at the shockingly young age of 34. Please pray for her husband, Pastor Kim Dang a fantastic brother in Little Saigon]. That evening, we also had a dramatic reading from the life of Gladys Aylward
by Andrea Walford, the first public showing of "Who
Do Men Say that I Am?" clips of interviews with of religious leaders from the 1993 Parliament
of the World's Religions in Chicago answering our question: "Who is Jesus to you..a Sikh, a Moslem...; music and a moving
testimony by the classic guitar virtuoso Eric Henderson,
a protégé of Segovia; David Woodward gave an informative
talk on "The Secret of Intercultural Fellowship"
weaving together his rich experiences with Tibetan
and Chinese Christians; testimonies of a former Sikh
and Buddhist, and ended with a prayerful challenge
by Laurie Mallord. The delicious dessert arrangement
was provided by James Ward, formerly the owner of Heavenly
Sent Restaurant.
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