An Evening with a Missionary

Wednesday, February 15th
 

Bill Nikides, his wife Cheryl,

and their friend from Bangladesh, Rev. Edward Ayub.

Bill and Cheryl have been helping missionaries for 12 years since Bill's retirement from the military.  As a Director with i2 Ministries Bill trains church planters, church leaders, pastors and missionaries on three continents (Asia, Africa, Latin America).  Bill also develops training courses and travels extensively.

Rev. Edward Ayub is a Presbyterian pastor in Bangladesh and is moderator of their General Assembly.

In addition to their main work the Nikides and and Rev. Ayub are concerned about what are called “insider movements”.  These are part of a very disturbing trend in which some missionaries and church leaders blur the distinctions between Islam and Christianity.  Some even teach that that a Muslim follower of Jesus can retain all Muslim practices, including prayer toward Mecca and recitation of the Muslim Creed.  Bill is involved in making a documentary film about insider movements that will be available this summer.

Decatur Presbyterian Church provides about 10% of the annual support for the Nikides.
Please check out the web site at i2ministries.org and the one for the film halfdevilhalfchild.com.  The facebook link on this website has some great photos on-location in Bangladesh.  The phrase "Half devil and half child" comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden which exposes the arrogance of colonial powers who felt that they were "civilizing" indigenous peoples that they were in fact colonizing.