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Welcome to thE-TASK for September 2002!

Last year, our name was “IMB Collegiate eNewsletter,” but that was a boring name, so we have changed it to thE-TASK to reflect the mission of college and seminary students to help finish the unfinished task of taking the gospel and God’s glory to all the nations of the world.

Tell Us What You Think

What news and info do you want to read about in thE-TASK? Send your input and feedback for features and people group info to Felicity at fburrow@imb.org.

This month’s eNewsletter focuses on the Nosu of China People Group.

What’s Inside: People Group Info: the Nosu of China, Prayer Points, Mission Projects in East Asia, Baptist World Youth Congress, God’s Heart for the Nations Bible study: Be All That You Can Be.

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Nosu [No-soo] People of China

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” Isaiah 9:2

“Wake up! I heard a noise outside! Hurry, get your weapons. It may be the barbarians!” As the Han Chinese family hurried up to gather their weapons in the early morning hours, a high, blood-boiling howl went up outside the village confirming the inhabitant's greatest fears - the Nosu raiders were surrounding them.

Suddenly, the door of the house was kicked in and several tall, dark Nosu warriors burst into the bedroom. Brandishing rifles and wearing traditional capes and head wraps, the Nosu carved a fearsome sight. The Nosu quickly swooped on the father and the two sons, tying their hands and feet and carrying them away as the women screamed. Never again would the family see each other alive.

The Nosu are one of the most spiritually dark people groups in China. For centuries, they have terrorized other people groups in China. They consider themselves to be supreme people, and look with disgust on all other people groups, including the Chinese. The Nosu used to believe other races existed to serve them. Until the late 1950’s, the Nosu continued the tradition of looting villages and kidnapping slaves. Most slaves did not live longer than a few months as their health deteriorated under horrible conditions. Nosu history is one of violence, inter-clan warfare, death and intimidation.

For nearly 2,000 years the Nosu have been without a Gospel witness. To no avail, these people have relied on demon worship, animal sacrifice, and works for the atonement of their sins. Each day more Nosu slip away into a Christless eternity, but not because they have heard and rejected the Message. It is because they have never heard the Message....not even once! They are without hope as long as they are without Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but how, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone going to them? Will the Nosu continue to live not knowing that Jesus Christ exists, or will yet another generation pass away without a witness?

Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers to the harvest field among the Nosu. Ask the Lord in which harvest field you are to serve - among the Nosu?

FACTS about the Nosu people.

Population: 500,000 souls
Livelihood: Agriculture, Animal Husbandry
Religion: Polytheism, Animism, Ancestor worship

What can you do to reach the Nosu?

PRAY!

See prayer needs in next section below.

GO!

• Be a volunteer! Visit the towns and villages of the Nosu. Catch the Vision (1-3 weeks).
• Take a short term impact trip! Prayerwalk, teach English, coach a sports team, backpack, trek, ... you name it! (1-3 months).
• Ready for a larger commitment? There are opportunities available which allow you to live and work among the Nosu (1-? years).

GIVE!

• Financially support those who may wish to volunteer or take a short-term impact trip to Nosu areas.
• Financially support projects which may be used among these people: JESUS films, Christian literature, Bibles, etc.
  Give your life to work among these precious people.
• If God is speaking you must listen! You can help by praying, going, giving, or even adopting the Nosu. For more information, contact the advocates for the Nosu:
  www.ReachtheNosu.net

"Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" - Isaiah 6:8

"Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest fields."

Prayer Points:

“Many of us can not reach the mission field on our feet, but we can reach them on our knees. Solid, lasting missionary work is accomplished by prayer, whether offered in China or elsewhere.” James O'Frasier

We need prayer warriors who will remember the Nosu in prayer and fasting on a regular basis:

• to soften their hearts so that they will be open to hearing the gospel.
• to ask God to break down the strongholds of animism and ancestor worship.
• to ask God to fill new believers with knowledge of Himself so that they will grow in
• understanding and boldness in sharing their faith.
• to ask God to raise up Nosu believers to become disciplers and church planters among their own people.
• For more info about the Nosu, go to www.ReachtheNosu.net.

For more info about praying for the nations, go to http://www.imb.org/CompassionNet/default.asp.

Project List for East Asia

Apply online at www.thetask.org/students/apply!

14th Annual Baptist World Youth Congress in Hong Kong
July 16 -20, 2003

Join thousands of students ages 13 - 30 from around the world to worship God together in Hong Kong. Every 5 years Baptist young people come from Australia, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, the USA, Germany, Jamaica, Columbia, and hundreds of other countries to encounter God and worship Him. July 16-23, 2003, is the next Baptist World Youth Congress!

This is the closest we get to gathering around God’s throne with “all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages” (Rev. 7:9) on this side of heaven. Don't miss it!

For registration info, contact the Collegiate Mobilization Team at studentteam@imb.org or 1-800-789-4693.

Adventure China
between July 21 and Aug. 7, 2003

Then join 1,000 students on Adventure China as we move into China with the Message. These projects may be the largest single movement of students taking the Message to China in the history of the country. Projects include:

Hong Kong Venture (7 nights, USD $315)

China experience (12 nights, USD $790)

China Pioneer (14 nights, USD $830)

China Experience PLUS (18 nights, USD $920)

For more information, contact Adventure China 2003 toll-free at 1-866-298-1534 or AC2003@pobox.com.

God’s Heart for the Nations Bible Study:
Be All That You Can Be

Staring from behind the eight ball at that gathering snowball of homework, you know that fall semester has begun with a vengeance. Activities and ministries galore beckon to you to put down that No. 2 pencil and do something - anything - besides study. All of us could graduate summa cum laude with a degree in busy-ness because our society tells us that we look important when we are busier than the next guy. Our inner lives shrink from neglect while we frantically move from activity to activity in our outer existence.

About our addiction to busyness, theologian Richard Foster says, “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in ‘much-ness’ and ‘many-ness,’ he will rest satisfied. Psychiatrist Carl Jung once remarked, ‘Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.’”

Before we can do great things for God during this fall semester, we need to put the horse back in front of the cart. That is to say, let’s focus on being a follower of Christ, spending inward time with Him, instead of getting busy doing things for Him. Meditating on who Christ has made me to be with His power in me is not only freeing for me internally, but it changes my attitude and lifestyle externally. Look up the verses listed below and write out what the verses say about who you are in Christ. Then write a brief prayer of thanks to God that He has made you into the person described in the verse.

Example: I Thessalonians 1:4 “For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you . . .” Who am I? I am chosen by God and loved by Him.

Prayer: Thank you, God, that You chose me. I know I am unique and precious to You because You chose me specifically to be Yours. Thank you that You love me and I can rest in Your love. I am safe in Your love because You will always love me.

John 1:12

John 15:15

Rom. 8:17

I Cor. 6:17

2 Cor. 5:17

Gal. 4:6-7

Eph. 1:1

Eph. 4:24

I Pet. 2:5

I John 5:18

How can this knowledge of who you are because Christ lives in you change your attitude about yourself this semester?

How can it change your attitude about God?

“As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
- Ephesians 4:1