Bless The Nations returns to its nautical roots in PE

Conference and missions course on board ship

When the 29th annual Bless The Nations conference starts aboard the Logos Hope in the Port Elizabeth harbour on June 17 and 18, 2016, it will be a case of returning to the historical roots of the enduring missions mobilising event.

A 1987 prayer event in PE aboard the Doulos, the sister ship to the Logos Hope, was a catalyst towards the launch of the first Bless The Nations conference in the city in 1988. The annual event has played a role in inspiring PE people to serve all over the world as missionaries and to promote missions in their local churches.

A focus of the Logos Hope’s visit to PE from June 9 to June 30 is the mobilising of God’s people for His mission, and two events are dedicated to seeing this happen. One is Bless the Nations and the other is the Kairos Course, taking place on board from June 13 to June 17 from 9:30am to 5pm each day.

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BTN programme
Bless The Nations will start with a youth fest from 7.30pm on Friday, June 18. The programme on Saturday. June 19 will run from 10am to 5pm. Peter Nicoll, head of OM Ships, will be talking about the importance of missions, and there will also be workshops looking at the importance of culture when doing ministry and exploring new opportunities in the area of missions.

Tickets for the conference will be sold for R20 at Greenacres Presbyterian Church, Christian Connexion (Greenacres Shopping Centre), Cafe Au Lait (6th Avenue Shopping Centre, Walmer), Multiserv (Cleary Park Shopping Centre, Stanford Rd) and on the Logos Hope.

Kairos Course
The Kairos Course starting on the ship from Friday June 13 is an interactive course on the world Christian mission, designed to educate, inspire and challenge Christians to active and meaningful participation. Subjects look at the biblical and historical aspects of missions, and also tackle missions strategy and cross cultural issues. (See below for a full breakdown of the subjects.)

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Some testimonials of people who have done the course are:

• The Kairos course has helped us (as a church) to deepen the missions interest of our members. The interactive nature of the course provides many opportunities to guide and bring understanding on many mission issues.
  Mission Pastor. Church of Our Saviour, Singapore
• Every local church should use this tool in preparing itself for active missions. Pastor Jack Geurin, New Zealand Apostolic Mission Director
• We run the course twice each year. It is a great tool to inspire, motivate and equip teams to reach out to the nations. Pastor Peter Chen, Kenmore Baptist, Brisbane, Australia
• I have been in ministry for 32 years and a missionary for 18 years. This course is one of the best I have come across. Dr Charles Dewing, Seminary Lecturer, USA

More information about the Kairos Course or any of the other programmes, can be obtained by contacting Paul Koker at paul.koker@om.org.

The Kairos course subjects are:
Biblical
God’s Purpose and Plan
Israel, The Covenant People
The Messiah, the Message & the Messengers

Historical
The expansion of the World Christian Movement
The five periods of missions since Christ
The three eras of modern mission
The final thrust

Strategic & Cultural
Missions Strategy
The Task Remaining
World Christian Teamwork
Cross-cultural Considerations