Close your eyes for a moment and try to picture in your mind these instances that illustrate the power of God's Word at work:

Cave: Imagine yourself in a cave where darkness is thicker than any other black hole on earth. Suddenly you hear the voice of God speak into the darkness, "Let there be Light!" and BANG! Instantly, darkness turns to light. This is the power of God's Word described in Gen 1 when He spoke the world into being. God's Word invades darkness and brings about light.

Cemetery: Dead bodies lined up, grave upon grave, in a dark cemetery as far as the eye can see. Without warning, you hear a voice speak two simple words: "Come forth". All of a sudden, dead corps are coming back to life as each soul is restored and united with its body and the Day of Judgment has arrived. This is the power of God's Word as described in John 5:29, overcoming death and bringing new life.

Baptism: Picture your parents and sponsors gathering at the Baptismal font and yourself as an infant in the arms of your pastor. With one hand he holds your body above the font and with the other hand he pours water three times over your head calling out your name and speaking these words: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit". Then your pastor lays his hand upon your head and speaks this powerful blessing: "Almighty God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with grace to life everlasting. Peace be with you. Amen."

Most human beings find themselves drawn to the spectacular. The people who followed Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry did so because they wanted to see him perform miracles and witness his spectacular deeds. They wanted to see magic and watch Jesus pull a rabbit out of a hat. Even King Herod urges Jesus: "Walk across my swimming pool."

In our Baptism, God speaks His word into the ordinary water and makes it Holy in order to accomplish the extraordinary. What a Ordinary Holy Miracle. It is not the water, nor the amount of water, that does what God wants done. Rather, His word, His promise to us as children or adults, that provides the power to make the water of Baptism so dynamic. The Trinitarian formula (In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit) employed in Baptism is, of course, drawn from Christ's Great Commission to All Nations in Mathew 28:19.

Now open your eyes for a moment, wake from your imagination and take a good look at this real picture with real people as children from All Nations enter the Kingdom of God through the ordinary but holy water of Baptism. Because of the Great Commission and for the sake of the Gospel, the doors of All Nations Lutheran Church in Dallas will remain open for all peoples to enter the Kingdom of God through this Ordinary but Holy Gift of Baptism. In the sacrament of Holy Baptism, we become precious to God and therefore, strongly secure and unified with all His people from all nations as one big family on the face of the earth. "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.". Deuteronomy 7:6

On June 29, 2008, during our International Service, we sang our faith and celebrated the spectacular power of God's Word at work, as children from All Nations, Joshua and Jerusha, entered the Kingdom of God through ordinary yet Holy water of Baptism.

This gift and mystery of baptism, is indeed, the Ordinary Holy Gift for All Nations. As God's chosen people from all nations, precious in His sight and secure in the grace and knowledge or our baptism, we are reminded in I Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

As we continue to remain faithful to the great commission, thousands from many Nations will come to Salvation and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit just as Peter replied in Acts 2:38-41 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call." 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."

Amen Pastor Karim

POBLO-TX & Lord of Life in Plano launch ESL program bringing community together

As burgers and hot dogs cook on the grill, kids climb to the top of an inflatable water slide, and adults chat with each other at picnic tables in the shade next to Lord of Life Lutheran Church.

The church, which has hosted an English as a Second Language program during the school year for the past six years, began its first summer version of the program Monday. “This is for international students, immigrants, and people looking for survival English, friends, or a place to belong,” said Pastor Karim.

The ESL Summer Connect, held every other Monday starting June 2, is an extension of the church’s regular ESL program and helps students practice their social and speaking skills outside of the classroom. The program has attracted students who speak languages such as Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, and Swahili.

According to Kimberly Idrees, a missionary at Lord of Life, the idea came from the church’s Board of Outreach, which discusses ways to help the community. Members of the board asked themselves if they were offering something that could benefit the community or provide something people need.

Another factor in establishing a summer program was to maintain activity level in the church. “A lot of churches go dormant in the summer,” said Pastor Karim. “There’s no activity in the church and the community.”

The word “connect” in the summer program’s name reflects some of the church’s main goals in establishing the program.

In addition to connecting immigrant families with American families, the program is meant to connect working parents with their children. As a church, one purpose is to connect people to God, but also to connect people in the community with one another.

By combining food, activities for children and good people, the church hopes the summer program will become as successful as its school-year counterpart.

ESL during the school year is more classroom-oriented. Students are tested and placed into seven different levels. Most of the 45 students are adults, but anyone can participate. This year, the youngest student was 19 and the oldest was 84. “Everyone is welcome to come,” Idrees said.

To get the word out about the classes, church members distributed flyers to many local businesses, particularly ones owned by people with divers ethnic backgrounds.

Four years ago, sisters Fereshteh and Sherry Nowrouzi saw a sign advertising the ESL program in front of the church. For Fereshteh, who emigrated from Iran in 2001, and Sherry, who has been in the U.S. for 24 years, the ESL program has helped them get to know the community, improve their English, and make new friends. “I love the people. The pastor, everybody, are so kind,” Fereshteh said.

Although the classes are free, students like the Nowrouzis have to buy an English book and complete worksheets and exercises during the hour-and-a-half period. Once a week, one class is taken out of the classroom setting to practice social skills and build more confidence speaking English. “We ask them to share stories about their country,” said Idrees. “There’s a lot to talk about, especially around the holidays.” Every December, the church holds an ESL Christmas party where everyone brings a dish from their homeland. In addition, the names of the children of ESL students are placed on a Christmas tree. Members of the congregation buy gifts for the child they picked from the tree.

According to Sherry, gestures like these are why she continues to come to the ESL program and the church.“They are angels, these people,” she said.For more information about ESL Summer Connect, visit lol-plano.org or call 972-867-5588.

by Phoebe Wu, Staff Writer of Plano Courier Star Community Newspapers
(Created: Wednesday, June 04, 2008)

POBLO-TX 2nd Annual Banquet Update

We are so thankful for all our partners in the ministry who helped to make this year's Annual Banquet a success. Thank you for your generous gifts to POBLO-TX to help support our new missionaries. By the grace of God and the help of Thrivent, we were able to raise over $40,000. We hope to raise enough money to get Pastor Aamir Masih a full-time job as our newest POBLO-TX missionary. Ground work for the next mission site has already begun in Carrollton, TX. Please continue to keep Aamir in your prayers for this mission site.

The evening was blessed with representatives of more than 30 different congregations and mission societies, along with people from 12 different nations! We thank the Pastors Walt Weiser and John Lindner, Dr. Jim Dretke and our guest speaker, Jerry Rassamni for their powerful words of encouragement. Thank you for your continued prayers, your faithfulness to the Great Commission and your love and compassion for the lost. We thank the Lord for your partnership in bringing the Gospel to all nations! (Matt 28:19-20)

The Friendship of Jesus & Muslims Conference April 3-6, 2008 Detroit, Michigan

What an incredibly blessed and exciting event we experienced during the recent "Friendship of Jesus & Muslims Conference". With more than 180 people registered to attend, we had the pleasure of meeting with many LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) representatives, the Mission Board, and POBLO Missionaries. LCMS President, Dr. Rev. Gerald Kieschnick set the tone with his words of encouragement our first evening together.


As this historical gathering got underway, we could not help but feel we were witnessing a small piece of heaven as the scriptures were being fulfilled "After this I saw a large number of people that no one could count, from all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues standing before the throne and the Lamb, dressed in white garments and holding in their hands palm branches." (Rev. 7:9) There were more than 20 nations represented at the conference.

We were privileged to hear from those faithful servants of the Lord who had been serving in the harvest field for untold years, offering their words of wisdom, gleaning from their experiences, offering us fresh insight to reaching the slaves of Allah. And what a joy it was to behold those captives set free from the chains of Islam, as Muslim converts to the Christian faith stood up from Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon, Indonesia, Pakistan, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Gambia and the U.S.

One by one, with each testimony, we were encouraged and emboldened by the Gospel and the FRIENDSHIP of JESUS, the friend to all sinners, to impact the lives of our Muslim neighbors with the Good News. They all shared of the One True Friend, who went the furthest distance, to the point of death, that they might have life. Many converts also told of the friend who cared enough to point them toward Jesus and His sacrificial love on the Cross.

Friday afternoon, we were given the opportunity to dialogue with three Muslim guest panelists who shared their perspectives and desires to deepen the friendships between Muslims and Christians. In hoping to offer a possible solution, one Muslim panelist closed with this comment, "The closer we get to God, the closer we get to each other." So much for religion. If only he knew that apart from Jesus, the Friend of sinners, no one can get closer to God. (Phil 2:6-8)

Christ came to us, that we might know HIM. Muslims, however, believe they must work their way toward God, through their own efforts and good deeds. The only reason we are close to God is because He became close to us in His Son, Jesus Christ, reconciling us to Himself. Therefore, our Muslim neighbor desperately needs Christ as much as we do, in order to get closer to God and to us.

Pastor Karim and Kimberly Idrees
Missionaries at Large