Providence Baptist Church - Monthly Magazine

Providence’s Coat of Many Colors

God enriches the church family with global diversity

John Piper has said, “If He (Christ) wins followers from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, then the glory of His leadership will look more like the greatness that it really is.” Christ indeed glorifying Himself as He weaves a cultural “coat of many colors” at Providence, bringing Christians from around the globe to worship here. Below is just a small sampling of the many international faces here at Providence.

      When Alex Avila was 21 years old, he came to the United States from his native Chile through the Rotary International Foundation student exchange program. He planned to attend Georgia Southern University for just one year. But while there, he met Marilyn, a fellow student and his future wife. He ended up staying for all four years, and they got married his senior year. Job opportunities eventually led the Avilas to Raleigh, and they have attended Providence for the last 22 years.
      Alex describes his faith journey as “an evolving process.”He says,“I grew up as a Catholic, so I knew there was a Lord, but He had not become a part of my life or a personal Savior.”When Alex began attending church with his wife, he explains, “It became more and more evident that there was a Lord, and He could be part of me and would accept me as His child.”
      When asked about his perspective on the U.S., he says, “Anyone, who has lived or traveled extensively overseas, has a greater appriciation for the U.S. peace: The fact that there is no civil unrest and revolutions all the time, the fact that you are free to practice your religion, whatever it is, and you don’t have to hide it or worry about being arrested, blessings that millions of people outside of the U.S. do not enjoy. Sometimes, I think, Americans forget what they have here.”

      Suijin Li, from Caracas, Venezuela, came to the United States in 1992 after completing an industrial design degree in order to better learn English. While she intended to stay only six weeks, God had other plans. Suijin was offered an internship in jewelry design, enabling her to remain in the U.S. She was invited to attend Crossroads Fellowship in Raleigh, and eventually, she accepted Christ as her Savior. “I was raised Catholic and went to a Catholic school, but I was never shown a personal God. My friends’ Christian examples were so warm and genuine. Learning about a personal God is what led me to Christ.”
      Suijin had to return to Venezuela in 1997 but was able to come back in 2000 and lived with Providence members Chris and Pauline Byron for a year. “They took me in and showed me unconditional love and an example in Christ.” She then came to Providence both because of the Byrons and the Singles Ministry. Suijin is also part of the emerging Hispanic Ministry, and she greets Spanish-speaking Providence visitors. Her excitement about future of the ministry is evident: “A little girl who came to the Super Summer Adventure Spanish class now loves to come to Sunday school. She is bringing her mom with her to church!”

      Nicolas Powlitch grew up in Catholicism in Cambridge, England. Nick never had a personal relationship with God and saw church as something with lots of ceremony that "dumped shame on you." He says, "We all stopped going to church, and when I was 17, I left home to move to South Africa."
      Nick came to the United States occasionally to visit relatives, one of which was his grandmother, Providence member Margaret Watkins. During a visit in 1996, Nick met a Providence couple Margaret had befriended through the Elderhearts ministry. Though he had little to no interest in God, the couple began praying for him immediately. They remained in loose contact, and in 2000, he moved to the United States thinking he would go to college and be near his grandmother.
      The dissolution of a serious two-year relationship combined with his grandmother's death left Nick in a hellish bondage of drugs, despair and pornography addiction. The money Nick inherited did not bring him any happiness. He increased his addictions to drugs and porn, and he made a half-hearted attempt at suicide.
      "I was getting worse and worse," Nick explains. "I was severely, severely depressed. I saw therapists, but I didn't need them - I needed God! I would stay awake for hours and hours because I was so worried about things. I was so sick of being in bondage; I just couldn't go on."
      Nick then turned for help to the Providence couple who had prayed for him for so long, and he prayed to receive Christ. An intelligent young man and an avid reader, Nick began devouring Ravi Zacharias' materials. Apologetics provided him with an immediate foundation for his faith, and he grew quickly. He wisely structured his entire lifestyle to support his Christian walk. Zacharias, as well as scientist Dr. Ken Hovind, have so influenced Nick that he now has a passion for apologetics and is planning to study at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Angry at the lies taught to him in school regarding evolution, he is preparing to teach creation science classes for middle and high school students at Providence.
      His sparkling eyes replace the empty, despairing ones of last year. When asked what he wants this culture to know, Nick has several answers: "Stop living in secret sin and be authentic! I want to help young men understand and want to have sexually pure lives. It is a very slippery path. And I want to tell them of God's love for them. Fear God. We need to have a holy terror of Him. We need to be more afraid of Him than we are the devil! Too many people see Him as either too distant or too buddy-buddy".
      Having lived in England, South Africa and the United States, Nick delights in God's genius. "Now I am a Christian, I can see the diversity of culture - foods and peoples and wares - all of it is ordained by God. Everything is made by Him. It gives Him a grandeur that people may not see if they live secluded lives. A lot of people miss how grand He is. The majesty of His works is all over the place."

      Ying Xiong Schwarz was born in Changsha, Hunan, in the People's Republic of China. There, she was an ambitious medical student who had no time or interest to develop a relationship with God. She remembers a missionary couple from Yale University who taught at her school, but during the student political movement, those teachers were pulled from the country.
      In 1993, Ying came to the University of Toledo where her newfound freedom and independence began to reveal to her the shortcomings of life without Christ. She saw a student studying one day for a test who was "so peaceful" that Ying began to ask her questions. Eventually, this student helped led her to Christ. She got involved in Agape Fellowship and left for the Medical College of Virginia, where she conducted research in immunology.
      Ying got married and began to struggle deeply with physical and emotional issues related to her husband's walk with Christ, young children at home, medical school debt and numerous physical ailments, including continuous exhaustion and fibromyalgia. She became overwhelmed and depressed.
      DivorceCare brought Ying to Providence, and she knew this was the place for her. She struggled with taking care of her kids when she had always been so ambitious. She was afraid of abandonment. But, in her longing to know God, she focused on His Word and tithed, and things began to change. God orchestrated all these events to display His miraculous power. Ying, who at one time could not wash the dishes in the sink, began to have healing in her body and emotions. Because of the Lord's healing, Ying says, "I long to share my experiences with women who have gone through what I have and show them what God can do. I can genuinely show compassion for people." She no longer feels that some tasks are too menial for the Lord and is willing to do whatever He asks.
      Ying reaches out regularly to several unsaved mothers to share the joy of Psalm 103: "Praise the Lord…who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit." Ying says, "He gives me the desires of my heart. I was a walking machine taking care of my children. Now, I want them to see the life of God and taste that good life that He gives. I would like all my friends to have that exuberant life."

      Niyi and Elizabeth Ojutiku grew up in Nigeria, where Elizabeth had a Muslim father and a mother who attended the Church of England. She was raised as a Muslim, but attended a missionary Catholic school for elementary, middle and high school. It was at the Catholic school, where studying the Bible was mandatory, that her Islamic faith came up against Christian teaching. "I had always looked to the Koran to find out about Jesus," says Elizabeth. "It always raised questions in my mind, so that was really good for my quest."
      It wasn't until she got married that she really started seeking after the Lord. "There were people in my area complex where I lived who were very active Christians. They included me in their fellowship and explained to me the Word of God." One day, one of these friends expounded the Scripture to Elizabeth and told her to read the first chapter of Philippians. She says, "That is where the Lord really spoke to me. That was the beginning of my transformation."
      Niyi grew up in the Anglican Church, but he explains, "For me, Christianity was just traditions that I had grown up with." When he began working, he encountered some very zealous Christians who raised some serious questions for Niyi. By this time, Elizabeth had already become a Christian and was praying for his salvation. He says, "I had some questions for God: Why was every religion not acceptable to Him since we are all trying to communicate with Him as God?" God answered those questions for him in a dream one night. "He told me that, 'No man comes to the Father except through Me.'"
      Niyi's graduate work in economics and veterinary medicine brought him and his family to the United States, first to universities in Alabama and then to North Carolina State University. Though they visited many churches in the area, but they decided Providence is where God wanted them to be.
      "When we came to Providence, we saw that Providence has a lot of resources in the form of internationals," say Niyi. "We'd like to see those resources properly harnessed. Diversity enriches the church. I know that there are outreaches to internationals on college campuses, but there is a group of internationals who are not in college that are within the church. The church spends a lot of money on missionary efforts; that is the heartthrob of this church. Some of these internationals are from the places where the church is sending missionaries. We think people like that can enrich the missionary outreach of the church."
      Both Niyi and Elizabeth teach in the public school system in Henderson, North Carolina. "Because of the nature of our work," says Niyi, "we have a special calling toward underprivileged children." Niyi taught at an alternative high school and now at traditional one, while Elizabeth works with exceptional children at the elementary level. They brought approximately 40 of the teenagers they've encountered through teaching to Friday night's performance of Extreme Makeover: Christmas Edition.

      Kamil Solomon, from Bany Ady town in Assiout Province, Egypt, became a Christian at the age of five in this intensely Islamic nation when his mother shared Jesus with him. Kamil became an apologist for the faith as he got older. Persecution in the Middle East became worse after Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. He preached in numerous churches in Cairo and throughout Egypt teaching the truth about Islam. The state police followed him, and after hearing his remarks about Islam, they arrested him in 1993. They confiscated all his belongings including his library and Ph.D. dissertation on "Church History in Arabia Prior to Islam." His dissertation was basically an argument against Islam and was later destroyed. He was tortured in numerous ways for Christ, which included being blindfolded, beaten, and enduring electric shock.
      Kamil endured by God's power, and eventually, American Christian agencies worked together to get him released in 1994. His ministry was banned, and he was placed under house arrest. The American Embassy in Cairo granted him an asylum. In February 1996, he came to the United States and formed Kamil International Ministries Organization, through which he travels the country to teach the truth about Islam, including their desire for jihad on American soil. "Muslims are converting black men, white women, students and prisoners," says Kamil.
      Kamil came to Providence because he was attracted to the college and international ministry here. "There are many Muslims coming to the area, and we should share Jesus with them while they are here as students." He also hopes to help plant desperately needed churches in Egypt.
      Humbly, Kamil pleads for Providence members to put Jesus first and urges us to be ready to sacrifice what it may cost to evangelize. He encourages us to use money judiciously and spend it on people overseas or on the poor among us. Kamil's ministry also offers various tracts on Islam and Christianity. If you would like to receive this free literature, e-mail him at kamil@kimo4jesus.org.

      Peter and Mary Chiramanaphand's story is one that shows the power of God's Word to change lives. Peter and Mary met in their middle school English class in Bangkok, Thailand. Mary, who was raised in a Christian family, invited Peter, who was from a Buddhist family, to attend church with her. Peter says he came to church to find out, "Why should I believe in God?" After three years, he realized, "there was something really different in the world, that the nature we see outside is the creation of God, and that the Father is merciful and loving."
      Peter heard preaching on several different verses that he felt were relevant to his life situation. "I heard a preacher say the verse 'Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden for I will give you rest.' I thought that is good because my mom and dad and my brother are always working and they need rest. I thought that would be good for my mom and dad because they never had that kind of peace.
      He also heard the verse in Mark 8:36: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" My mom and dad labored to give me a better life, and I though to myself, one day they will be dead and then what is the use in their labor? So after three years, I felt that it must be true. That the heavenly Father is a loving Father."
      Peter now believed in God, but had yet to accept Jesus Christ. One morning, after waking up early to study the Bible, Peter came across the verse in John 14:1, which says "Jesus said, "Do not let your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe in me." I got shocked because I started believing in God, but I never had the touch of Jesus Christ.
      He went on to read verse six: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Peter explains, "My spiritual eye was opened. Now I understood that without Jesus we would never have a real relationship, a real touch from God, the Father. So I decided I wanted to get baptized."
      Mary's story of coming to Christ is quite different. She was born in a Christian family and was very active in her church, but she says that it wasn't until 32 years ago that she "became born again." Mary explains, "I was involved in ministry, but I didn't have life. I began to understand how being a good person and a born-again Christian were two different things." Once she came to the realization of what it meant to have a relationship with Christ, her enthusiasm for Him was contagious. "I started to give testimony to friends at work, so much so that some of the friends would say don't talk to Mary, she's talking about Jesus." She eventually began a Bible study for her coworkers.
      The Chiramanaphands came to the United States in 1989 at the encouragement of family members. They lived in Queens, New York, for 15 years. They moved to Raleigh at the beginning of this year to be closer to their daughter, Sherry, who also attends Providence. They felt the Lord was calling them to join Providence, and they became members in January of this year. Peter and Mary are active members of the Gideons and have a passion for sharing God's Word. Mary remembers asking the Lord, "How do you want me to serve You?" She says she woke up one morning and "felt a touch to my heart and the Lord laid a burden on my heart for the Bible." Since then, she and Peter have distributed over 600 Bibles in both English and Spanish.

      Grace Burke praises God for His constant care of her. Raised in Bandung on the island of Java in Indonesia, Grace and her family attended a Catholic-influenced Presbyterian church faithfully, and she knew about God all her life. However, it wasn't until she moved to the Mississippi in 1991 that Grace began to learn to depend on God. Six months previous she stayed with her uncle; however, she wanted to be exposed more to American culture, so she transferred to Belhaven College, a small Christian school in Mississippi. "That was when my walk with God got strengthened. I had no one, so I had to depend totally upon God," she says. Grace met many good Christian girlfriends, and she began to see "how faithful God is. I don't have to be perfect. He is my Provider and my Protector. Every small, little thing He gave to me. God's really watching over me." God was no longer just in her head, but in her heart as well.
      A job brought Grace to North Carolina. After living in the area for about a year she began to search for a church with a strong singles ministry; and that's when she found Providence. "My heart goes out to singles. I am sensitive to them because I know what it is like to have no family to go home to for Christmas, etc. No church is perfect, but Providence seems to cover all the bases. It is a great church; I know it will be a great place to raise my family."
      Grace's smile now reflects the joys of motherhood and the happiness of a young marriage nurtured within the walls of Providence. While she maintains that special heart for singles, she also has one for Children's Ministry, especially for kids age five and younger. Having been raised in a conservative culture influenced by Chinese traditions, Grace worries about how "open" American culture is, and hopes she will be able to find a middle ground. She is encouraged by the way Providence members appear to be comfortable when they reach out to those from other cultures, and visa versa. "If people feel uncomfortable, it is coming from yourself, how you view things. If you believe others think of you as different, then they probably will. I always feel welcome here. I don't dwell on what people think about me. Sometimes I forget I am from another country!"

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