Recent travels of Dr. Jesse C. Middendorf, jurisdictional general superintendent of the Asia-Pacific Region, focused on conversations and worship with key district, pastoral, and lay leadership in several nations.

Dr. Middendorf worships with Nazarenes in New Zealand.

The crowd at the New Zealand District assembly was the largest in well over a decade.  Reports included a gripping story from the newest pastor on the district. He and his wife were educated in India and immigrated to New Zealand in 2003. When she suffered a major stroke three years ago, through the ministry of Nazarenes in Christchurch they both came to Christ, were wonderfully converted, and became dynamic disciples. During his report to the district assembly, together they related their testimony of conversion and her miraculous healing after being partially paralyzed. “They are radiant, contagious Christians,” said Dr. Middendorf. After completing a Bible college degree, he is now pursing studies through extension classes from Nazarene Theological College in Australia and being mentored by a Nazarene pastor from St. Vincent in the Caribbean who, along with his wife, currently is pursuing a graduate degree in New Zealand. God has paired these two pastors together for a season of mentoring and encouragement.

Dr. Middendorf’s visit to New Zealand included an evening rally service with a building-capacity crowd, a powerful movement of the Spirit, and a large altar response. The district also joined together for the Centennial Celebration at a civic center auditorium filled with over 400 people, the most widely attended event in the history of the district. A parade of over 20 flags represented the birth nations of the members of the New Zealand churches. Twelve people read scripture in their first language with the text in English projected on screens as New Zealand Nazarenes embraced their ethnic diversity. The service culminated in the ordination of four new elders in the Church of the Nazarene.

Pastors, spouses, and lay persons in key responsibilities welcomed Dr. Middendorf in Fiji
for an all-day leadership meeting, including an hour in fervent prayer. Some of these 50 people present had come from islands four or five hours away. The district has shown an increase in membership of over 200 people and a record-setting 307 New Nazarenes this year. There are now 12 new preaching points, about 20 house churches, and 8 NewStart churches, along with their 12 organized churches.  Fiji Nazarenes are planning prayer summits on each major island and will provide prayer teams an opportunity to visit outlying and isolated islands and villages in order to involve them in the prayer effort.

Dr. Middendorf preached to a capacity crowd in the Solomon Islands, a nation of nine major islands and dozens of smaller ones. In Honiara, people of all ages came wearing shirts emblazoned with the Centennial logo, “Out of Many One, Out of One Many,” a fitting description of the cultural reality of Nazarenes in the Solomon Islands.  People crowded into the sanctuary, while others stood outside doors and windows. At the end of the message, the altar was lined with seekers who poured out their hearts in prayer. “It was more like an old camp meeting service than anything I have seen in years,” Dr. Middendorf witnessed.

In Brisbane, Australia, home of Nazarene Theological College, Dr. Middendorf met with the Board of Trustees and participated in the graduation festivities. The city mayor’s office had sponsored a major part of the graduation banquet, and she was on hand to bring greetings. Dr. Middendorf also met with the Australia North Pacific District pastors for a full day, praying and discussing mission. On Sunday morning he preached to a district-wide rally at the Meadowlands Church, where the altar was once again lined with seekers of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. “It was moving to hear them pray with fervor,” said Dr. Middendorf, “and to watch as people agonized in prayer until they finally expressed their joy and confidence that God had answered and filled them with His Spirit.” Later he ordained one new elder.

A visit to the Australia West District revealed a 25 percent increase in membership this year and other great advancements, especially among the remarkable influx of immigrants from around the world. This was evidenced in a day Dr. Middendorf spent with pastors and local leaders that included Australians, African pastors from Malawi and Sudan, aborigines from Northwest Australia, Koreans working among aborigines, and Koreans working among immigrant Koreans. One Korean pastor was originally a committed Buddhist who came to Australia to foster work among the Korean Buddhists there. However, after a tragic auto accident, he found the Lord, led his wife to the Lord, and has been working with Nazarene ministries to the aborigines. Another pastor emigrated from Botswana, where he had lived for years in a refugee camp. He is now pastoring an Anglo church that has involved both African immigrants as well as neighboring Australians. Dr. Middendorf ordained him before a sanctuary-packed, enthusiastic crowd composed by over 50 percent of African immigrants.

The culmination of Dr. Middendorf’s recent Asia-Pacific travels was a visit to Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS) in Manila, Philippines, where he participated in the inauguration of Dr. Floyd T. Cunningham as its fifth president. Dr. Cunningham challenged the seminary to step forward with renewed commitment to the message of the church.

From the Centennial Celebration in New Zealand to the presidential inauguration at APNTS, Dr. Middendorf reports time spent with Nazarenes who are eager to see the mission of the church advanced: To make Christlike disciples in the nations.