White Fields Ministry

Stephen Wheeler
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White Fields Ministry Podcast

Listen in to hear how White Fields specializes in providing start-up salary support to National Pastors starting local evangelical churches throughout South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Hear how YOU can take action and be involved in the spread of the Gospel. White Fields specializes in providing start-up salary support to natioal pastors starting local evangelical churches among their own people in countries outside North America. Our goal is to support pastors who already know the language and the culture. These pastors and their families live with and like the people in the poor community they are reaching. In addition to sharing the Gospel and teaching biblical discipleship, the newly started church seeks to transform the entire community through compassion ministry and livelihood development.

Episodes

  1. 07/11/2023

    Generations Passing the Baton

    For two millennia, God has been guiding the ministry leadership of the church from one generation to the next. In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul was accompanied by Silas, and later Timothy joined them. Two of Paul’s Epistles were addressed to “Timothy, my true child in the faith.” One of the crucial principles of church leadership is training young people in the faith to become the next leaders of the church. When I travel among our pastors, I am thrilled to see that some of the pastors we are supporting now in church planting ministry are the sons, nephews, or young relatives of our pastors who were supported in previous decades. I want to share the incredible testimony of one of our newest pastors in Myanmar. His name is Pastor Lun Htin, and he has a heartwarming story about how God called him into the pastoral ministry. Pastor Lun is the son of Tin Saw, and I remember preaching in Pastor Tin’s church when Lun was just a boy. The Church that Pastor Tin started with the support of White Fields is now self-sustaining and a strong, established church with a significant outreach ministry. Pastor Lun shared that his father always taught him and his siblings about God, and as a result, he came to faith in Jesus Christ at a young age. Growing up, he helped his father with church planting ministry, further strengthening his faith. Eventually, he graduated from high school and attended Bible College. Myanmar is in a civil war, and the military will often arrest any young men who are not military members, assuming they are participants with the rebels. As a result, Lun was arrested and held in jail for two weeks, tortured to get information about the rebels. Eventually, the military gave up and realized he was not participating with the rebel forces, releasing him. During his imprisonment, God touched Lun’s heart and convinced him that many people in his country had not received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Although he was trained as a pastor, he had not utilized his abilities. While he reflected on this in jail, he decided to become a pastor and spread the gospel. Now, he is supported by White Fields to reach a mountain village in the hills of Chin State, where three families have already come to faith in Jesus. There are still seventy more families in need of the gospel. Pastor Solomon is the pastor closest to Pastor Lun’s village. He is also the son of a White Fields church planter who was previously supported. Solomon’s father, Pastor Tha Khup, planted two churches with White Fields’ support. Pastor Solomon actively trains his youth group to conduct evangelistic campaigns by sharing tracts from house to house. He also takes his youth to help Pastor Lun with gospel visitation in his village. Through the ministry of these two young men, God is bringing many people to faith in Jesus Christ. In Uganda, Pastor Onesimus, our Field Director, is training his nephew, Pastor Bryan, to establish a church in Kikarara, a poverty-stricken village. When we first reached out to the village,

    7 min

  2. 20/09/2023

    Achieving the Boldness

    Pastor Stephen, who is the President of White Fields, recently had the privilege to preach at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim, California. You can listen to the sermon either in audio or video format. We hope it will encourage your participation in missions. Audio Version – you can listen on your favorite podcast source too. You can increase your boldness to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ by putting into practice four principles illustrated by the Apostles in Acts chapter four. Following a miracle by Peter and John in Acts chapter three, the leaders of the Temple Mount took them into custody and put them in jail overnight. The next day, they brought them into the same high court where they brought Jesus after his arrest in the garden. When they questioned them and threatened them not to speak in the name of Jesus, the Apostles responded with extreme confidence. We hope that you will enjoy the sermon and share it with your friends. Pastor Stephen & Pastor Onesimus (translating) preaching in Uganda last July. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 Support White Fields

    42 min

  3. 07/09/2023

    Reaching the Lost in the Farthest Corners

    It’s wonderful to hear about Pastor Able and his wife, Brighton, serving their ministry in Garuka with such dedication. They go far out into the remote regions to visit families living in areas outside the village. It’s heartwarming to see such compassion and care for those in need. Pastor Able shares in his report: “We have reached out to the community through home visits, and this month, we visited thirty homes and shared the Word of God with forty-five males and fifty-seven females. Some of them are already church members, while others are people with whom we are sharing the gospel. Many have promised to visit us at the church. We count it a blessing to be used by God for His cause.” The compassion and support shown by White Fields partners have significantly impacted the ministry of Pastor Able. Thanks to their kindness, White Fields purchased a motorbike, so he no longer has to walk for hours to visit the first house on his list. With his motorbike, he can now reach many more people and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. The generosity of these donors is truly inspiring and has made a tangible difference in the lives of many. Pastor Arnel in the Philippines Shares: The number of young people attending our weekly Bible study is increasing. We prioritize prayer for our youth and concentrate on equipping and mentoring them for missionary work. The young generation holds significant influence in their communities and can impact the beliefs and actions of their peers as well as their families. God remains faithful and continues to provide for our needs. The children’s ministry team is reaching out to families in the community with dedication. Our goal is to spread God’s love by collaborating with our families and providing assistance to those in need beyond our community. We strive to set an example as families and followers of Christ. Our Children’s Ministry Team is dedicated to offering necessary resources and prayers to the families under our care. The church is making great strides in spreading the gospel and touching the lives of more families every day. I earnestly encourage your prayers as we support this church on its journey. You can view of the beautiful photos shared on the Whitefields.org website, where you will find captivating pictures of the youth gatherings and children coloring Bible Story pages with the art supplies generously donated by our partners at White Fields. Sharing among the Buddhist majority religion people is often a difficult task. The people have been consumed with idolatry and they have lost hope that their religion is to serve non-existent, dead gods. When I hear a testimony like the one pastor Aye shares, I understand how the mind of this woman in his town was thinking. She has heard that she is a sinner and needs to believe in Jesus for her forgiveness, but she wonders if he is a living God or if he is just another idol like the gods she has been serving. Pastor Aye Min Htun serving in Myanmar Pastor Aye Htun reported that they have reached several people in Yukyi with the gospel message. Among them is a woman named Ma Ih Ih, who has received Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. When Pastor Aye met her,

    8 min

  4. 25/08/2023

    Strengthen For Perseverance

    Community members observe a new church preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They question its future, as its followers have left religious cults and large denominational churches to follow Jesus Christ. The new church members believe in the forgiveness of sins and salvation through faith instead of payments required by existing religious institutions or activities to earn their way into heaven. The community wonders whether these followers can endure the persecutions and hardships ahead. White Fields and our partners aim to strengthen new churches, making them permanent members of the community. We have various strategies to achieve a sustainable church and to have a continued impact in proclaiming the gospel. Your support and partnership help us provide groundwork from the initiation stages to achieving a permanent presence in the community. The first step of starting a church is supporting the pastor’s family. The person giving leadership is the most important foundation to establish a solid church. We have local leadership at White Fields who provide encouragement and accountability to our faithful pastors. Monthly reports allow you to pray for our pastors, including second-generation pastors like Pastor Solomon and Pastor Lun in Myanmar (Burma). Their fathers were White Fields church planters, and these young men grew up serving with their father, starting a church. That is the best training you can receive, but additionally, both of these young men graduated from our Bible College and studied in seminary. In other countries, our local committee carefully and prayerfully chooses a qualified pastor to lead the new church. Once that pastor is in place, White Fields moves to other areas of support to help them successfully proclaim the gospel and disciple new believers. Those funding projects may include providing a motorbike so the pastor can travel between house visits in his village or assisting the local church in constructing a permanent building to gather for worship. For our projects in Uganda, our team takes the initiative to engage the local church in constructing a public gathering place. Our funding provides a solid concrete beam system reinforced with sturdy iron rods to ensure the structure’s resilience against storms. The church community actively contributes to the project by providing bricks to fill the walls, resulting in a highly successful partnership between our team and the local church members. There is a tremendous testimony to the members of the local community when these structures are built. Owning the property for local buildings is a powerful way for the church to demonstrate its care for the community. Through the joint efforts of local members and distant supporters, the building becomes a place of gathering and worship, a symbol of unity and faith. The community recognized that foreign partners love the local church in their village. They also see the local members laboring and constructing the building where they gather and worship God. So, the work is done by locals, and our partnership in providing materials shows love. a href="https://whitefields.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/feature-resized-Kikarara-1.

    8 min

  5. 23/04/2021

    The Continual Spread of the Gospel is Achieved by God Moving in the Hearts of Faithful Partners

    Year by year, I am thrilled to watch how God expands his outreach into new villages where no one has ever heard of Jesus. On more than one occasion, I have received the answer, “None,” when I had asked one of our church planters, “How many Christian were in that place when you first went to share the gospel?” The faithfulness of indigenous pastors traveling into the remote villages and mountain towns to bring the Good News to people is astounding. To pray for such faithful servants of the Lord is a tremendous privilege. I am also encouraged by the astonishing achievements of our partners here that support the ministry so that these pastors can work full-time serving the most deprived and the poorest people in their communities. Hundreds of individuals and dozens of churches join together in support of the national pastors in our ministry. Our consistent supporters giving their monthly donations are the foundation of our regular salary support to the hard-working pastors to sustain their families. At the same time, they expend their energies reaching the lost. There are times, however, when some exceptional achievements happen that astound me. Now is a time to humbly give praise to God as we observe how he moves in people’s hearts so that God fulfills his intended purposes. The glory goes to God because he is the one that coordinates all the needs with the generous givers that supply for the needs. Pastor Onesimus Preaches on the Radio Broadcast as Betty Translates The Radio Ministry in Uganda In March 2020, I shared a strategy to cross a bridge with the gospel outreach that had become our agreed next step with our Ugandan pastors. Since that time, God has provided for many necessary accomplishments to move us toward our ability to cross that bridge. The radio ministry in Rukungiri is one of those milestones. Pastor Onesimus has hosted a half-hour radio show in the town of Rukungiri for many years. During the early years, the show was available whenever someone would provide for a few weeks of airtime. A few years ago, our partners became aware of the show, and we began to receive consistent financial support. We selected a minister in Uganda with experience to organize recording Onesimus’ sermons to air on the radio and to develop a follow-up phone ministry answering people who call after the show to receive Christ. There has been a tremendous response from listeners who want to receive Christ. You may be wondering how that impacts crossing the bridge. This year, a church in the US decided to raise funds to support the radio broadcast in Rukungiri. They set a goal that would provide for the entire year of airtime for the Rukungiri station. God moved in the hearts of the church members so that there was double their goal when the offering came in. The offering was twice as much as was needed for the current radio station, so we have launched the broadcast onto another station that will cover the entire region across the bridge. The radio broadcast has spread out into the areas that had no evangelical churches. Now the gospel is broadcast into the region that desperately needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our phone ministry will answer their questions and lead them to a relationship with Jesus. A local Bible Study has begun for the newest believers, and some of those people are walking many miles to rea...

  6. 11/03/2021

    The Generosity of Our Partners Produces Thanksgiving

    The donations we receive are used to support the ministry of churches that generously respond to needy people. When Impoverished families receive the blessing of modest gifts of kindness, it causes them to celebrate in thanks to our heavenly Father. The delivery of these gifts is made in Jesus’ name. God has promised that he will provide for people who give to meet the needs of others less fortunate. He rewards our good works as Christians by providing what we need to accomplish more good works. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  – 2 Corinthians 9:8-9 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.2 Corinthians 9:10 God could easily supply for the needy and the impoverished directly from his storehouse without our participation. Consider how God provided for the Israelites with Manna – and when they complained about the lack of meat, God sent Quail into their camp. When they were thirsty, He caused water to gush forth out of a rock. God Uses Us to Deliver His Provisions God introduces us to his beautiful cycle of receiving glory through our participation in the ministry of generosity. God supplies our needs. He provides the seed to sow, and He gives the rain to make that seed grow into plants producing vegetables and fruits so we can reap the harvest. From the produce, we harvest we are given the privilege to use some for our family’s sustenance, and we donate some so that we provide for the needs of those impoverished so that God will receive thanksgiving. But that is not the end of the cycle. After the needy gives thanks to God, God replenishes our assets to repeat the cycle. In this way, we multiply the worship and thanksgiving to God. We thank him when we reap our harvest; we donate to help those less fortunate, and they thank God for the believers who supply for them. Then we thank God that he blesses our ministry, and we are again provided the seed we need to sow and reap another crop—over and over again, God receives praise for his provisions. God introduces his principle in agricultural terms, but it is true in whatever occupation you use to earn your living. Remember that it is God who gives you the strength and knowledge to perform your job and earn your paycheck. Following are just a few examples from our monthly reports provided by our pastors. Pastor Jerry – Philippines shares about one community he serves: The fathers are usually fisherman who are away for one to three months to fish. During these times, food in the family is scarce, despite the mother attempting to make a meager amount of money last. Sometimes they primarily eat gathered plants as vegetables. So, we bring cooked food for the children in addition to the spiritual food. The leaders share some, and we budget funds to provide healthy, nutritious food for the children. Financially, we can feed the kids once a week.

  7. 25/01/2021

    Analyzing Our Past Brings Renewed Energy to Fulfill the Great Commission

    Throughout all the years of my ministry, whether as an associate pastor, or as a senior pastor, or now as the President of White Fields, I have always recognized the importance of evaluating our ministry’s progress by looking back at the year just passed. We need to look at the results we are achieving and determine that we are engaged in the activities that bring glory and honor to our Lord. God has given us biblical guidance for what he expects us to accomplish, and we need to rely on his grace to give us strength. But we also need to ensure that we are staying on course and that we don’t get sidetracked with the inconsequential business that ultimately will not achieve the right goals. Pastor Solomon and Pastor Tha Khup Baptize Seven New Believers in Myanmar With that in mind, I looked back throughout our ministry last year. At White Fields, we have a clear priority: our first and foremost goal of the ministry is to establish churches in communities that do not have an evangelical witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. All other activities come alongside that ultimate priority. Therefore, I consider our churches’ most important task to be proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tha Khup Baptizes Young Man White Fields does not publish numbers of professions of faith. We do not make fantastical claims of how many thousands are claiming to get saved. We focus our attention more directly on the idea of how many people have transformed their lives to turn from their former futile life of sin and have now committed themselves to join the church and become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Those are the people that show us that a self-sustaining church is being established. We want true believers that commit to walking in faith. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,Matthew 29:19 One guide that we use is to observe when people make the obedient and public confession of their faith in baptism. In all the countries we serve, that step of baptism is a renouncement of all the person’s former religious beliefs. If they formerly were baptized as an infant and counted themselves to be saved because they were baptized into the church by their parents—to be baptized as a believer means they no longer count all their previous works to be part of their salvation. Baptisms In Uganda Some individuals have spent their life gaining credits by attending ceremonies at the temple of Shintoism or Buddhism. To take the step of baptism boldly proclaims that they are renouncing all the former religious actions. Often their unbelieving family will reject them. But I have observed that through the prayers of the faithful, over time, the dedicated believers give a powerful witness to their family, and mothers and fathers will follow the first believer’s decision in faith. I am thrilled as I look back across the monthly reports that our...

  8. 03/12/2020

    God Keeps Changing Lives in Extraordinary Ways

    The enemy can throw every hurdle in the way of our pastors, but God keeps moving in the hearts of the people who hear the Good News. Governments placed restrictions that kept churches from gathering, but God continually opens new opportunities for pastors to minister to the people of their community. Young People Leading the Congregation in Worship We are thrilled to see the creative responses our churches use to reach out to people. In the USA, you expect that technology is readily available. Almost all churches have sound systems and video equipment. The White Fields churches reaching out into the rural areas usually lack all that digital resource. Still, our pastors use creative methods to find ways to live stream and get simple devices that would let them reach their church members during the lockdown. Young people have really come to the assistance of pastors with their natural skills for technology. As the churches are now able to regather, they find that many people came to faith during the past year. Pastors could make home visits, and the church families would invite their neighbors to join them for a Bible study. The pastors have also delivered food supplies to the impoverished families that had lost the opportunity to do any labor. These acts of generosity opened the hearts of many people to listen and respond to the Gospel. The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of people. Our responsibility is to proclaim the Gospel with clarity and boldness. Jesus made it clear to his disciples that they were to go into all the world and declare how God would forgive repentant believers’ sins. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.Luke 24:45-47 (ESV) God Works in Marvelous Ways I had the privilege to preach at an open-air crusade in Kagashe last year in August. We were praying that the Lord would provide so we could start a new church in this village. Our pastoral team conducted home visits, and a Bible study had begun among people showing an interest in the Gospel. On the afternoon of the crusade, many people gathered to join the music and hear the preaching. At the end of my message, I invited anyone who wanted to place their faith in Jesus Christ could come forward, and we had counselors who would answer any questions and pray with them. Many people gathered from the crowd, and our pastoral team joined them. One man stood out to me. As he approached, I could tell that he was drunk. I expected that he might be mocking the people who were gathering—that is a common occurrence at outdoor events we hold.  We concluded the meeting, and the counselors began their interviews and prayer with the people. Our team loaded me into the van for another meeting. In November, I returned to Kagashe with another short-term team from a local church near our office in San Diego. They went into the Kagashe Village because we planned to begin a new church starting in January. When our team met for dinner after the home visits of the day, one of our partners shared that he had met Disimus—the man who gave his life to Christ while drunk at the outreach in August. They had visited in his home, and he gave his testimony that since that day that he gave his life to Christ, he had been sober. During the first week after his conversion,

  9. 29/06/2020

    The Whole Story

    I first saw a photo of this family around May of last year. It was just a photo of an impoverished family, but it struck me, and I pondered the meaning of who this family was, and could we do something to help? Pastor Onesimus had sent the photo, so I began asking questions about them. He shared with me the history of the family, giving more details about their story. A team from God’s Embassy church had visited the home and took this photo. They had come by on their home visits because we had many people from their village begin to show an interest in the gospel, and they began attending one of our churches about an hour walk away. This family shared that they had been attending a mainline majority religious church. But the leaders of that church eventually told them that you have not been paying the quarterly dues, and you are so far behind that you will never be able to go to heaven. You are so poor that you will not be able to pay the fee to have a Bishop come to the funeral if one of you dies. You should give up and don’t come to church anymore. They left that church but still desperately desiring to be acceptable to God; they found a smaller church not part of a denomination hoping that they would achieve lower fees and pay the amounts they required to participate in church.  After attending some time, the pastor came to them one day and said, “You are so poor that God does not want you!” At this point, the father desperate that he was responsible for the eternal damnation of his family, left to find work somewhere, maybe in the capital city. He would do anything to try and provide so his family could go to heaven. That is when our team met this family. You will notice the father is not in the photo. I showed this photo to several churches as I spoke about missions. I believe the Scriptures make it clear that the gospel transforms our lives so that we see people differently from the way non-believers view them. I asked, “What Do You See?” I received many interesting responses: * Poverty* Poor Children* Dirty rags for Clothes* Disintegrating, decaying house* Discouragement – Hopelessness* Collapsing dirt place to live* I’ll tell you what I don’t see – a Father When I showed this picture, I still did not know the whole story that I’ve related to you. But I followed my question with this passage of Scripture. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:9-10 (ESV) I grew up in church during the rise of the Social Gospel. That was a term used to identify mainline denominations that went out to serve the poor, but eventually denied the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and our personal need to repent of our sin to be Born Again. They believed we just needed to be helpful and kind to people and give the poor our help, but they failed to see the need to be forgiven by God and have our sins paid by the sacrificial death of Jesus. By the time I had reached college, I had begun to see that he pendulum of the church doctrinal positions had swung too far to one side. My fundamental church experience had lost their vision to see the poor as needing any help whatsoever. They came to believe that JUST the gospel was all that was required, and slowly, they no longer had any compassion for the physically hungry. I see that Scripture teaches us that we see the world through his eyes once we have truly believed in Jesus Christ.

  10. 28/05/2020

    Do You See?

    Each person has a unique ability to observe the same scene and see different things. The question comes for those who know Jesus Christ, do you know what God wants you to see? We might also ask this question, when we see something, do we see the opportunity or just the problem?  I showed this photo of an impoverished family to several church congregations that partner with White Fields. When I showed them the picture, I asked them what did they see? I had many people that responded to me after my message to share what they first saw, what their first response was to the photo. * Some saw poverty!* Some saw poor children with dirty clothes.* Some were concerned by what they did not see, a father.* Some saw a hungry family.* Some saw a mud house eroding away. After we had viewed the photo, I shared these verses: Galatians 6:9–10 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (ESV) Let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. When we look at the hungry starving masses, do we see the opportunity to serve the impoverished church of Jesus? God does not provide everyone with wealth and plenty of food—so that we have the chance to show our love for our Lord by serving his people. Eyes that look are common; eyes that see are rare. The Pharisees looked at Peter and saw only an unschooled fisherman—not worth a second look. Jesus saw in Peter a prophet and preacher, saint, and leader who would help turn the world upside down.J. Oswald Chambers Listen to The Whole Story about this family here. We saw this family as children of the Lord. Upon a recent visit to our ministry in Uganda, I was able to minister to this family alongside our local pastoral team. I was joyful in the transformation, not only on the outward but in their hearts. After long seeking for a church that would teach them the Bible and explain how they could go to heaven, they had received the truth and came to faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus to pay for their sin. Now they want to commit fully to learn the Bible and be wholly involved in church. Bringing some gifts to the family.Pastor Robinson Prays In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us about an event that will take place in the future. Following right on the heels of several parables, some might mistake this for a symbolic parable. Still, the language clearly illustrates that this is a glorious event at the end of time. Jesus will come in all his glory, and there will be a judgment. There will be two groups of people, the saved and the unsaved. Everybody from the entire human race will be here; God does not exclude anyone; all the wicked and the righteous will be present. The judge separates the group like a shepherd, the sheep on one side, the goats on the other.  The symbolism may demonstrate that the sheep respond to the shepherd’s call, and they follow, whereas goats do not listen and would not follow. There is a Judgement Coming There are many reasons why the final judgment is indeed necessary. One is that the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the glory he deserves will be on full display. His last appearance on earth was hanging on a cross.  Now he sits upon a glorious throne and has ...

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Listen in to hear how White Fields specializes in providing start-up salary support to National Pastors starting local evangelical churches throughout South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Hear how YOU can take action and be involved in the spread of the Gospel. White Fields specializes in providing start-up salary support to natioal pastors starting local evangelical churches among their own people in countries outside North America. Our goal is to support pastors who already know the language and the culture. These pastors and their families live with and like the people in the poor community they are reaching. In addition to sharing the Gospel and teaching biblical discipleship, the newly started church seeks to transform the entire community through compassion ministry and livelihood development.

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