April 2011 – GCI Update

April 27, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in the Chillicothe and Columbus, Ohio, congregations pastored by Jeff Broadnax. These congregations are a new assignment for Jeff, who recently transferred from New York, where he had pastored three congregations for many years.

The worship was warm and the fellowship an equal delight. It was serendipitous to be there on that particular weekend, because Good Friday (and Earth Day) this year were also the occasion of John Halford’s 70th birthday. John and Pat, who live in Indiana and attend church in Cincinnati, were visiting along with other Cincinnati members.

Randolph, Massachusetts

Dishon Mills, pastor of a new church plant in Randolph, Massachusetts, sent the following report about the informal “friendship feasts” that he and his wife, Afrika, are conducting to bring unchurched people together to develop relationships and share God’s life and love.

Thank you for your prayers. Our first friendship feast had a total of seven people. This time 31 people came (19 adults and 12 children). It was wonderfully diverse, with people representing at least seven different ethnic groups. We focused attention on ensuring that people could easily break the ice and be comfortable. Here are some of the things we did:

Nametags. We put a “getting to know you” question on the bottom of each nametag (e.g., What is your favorite ice cream flavor?). This provided an immediate conversation starter.
Paper tablecloths with crayons on the tables. Everyone loves to doodle, and giving adults (not just the kids) permission to play set a lot of folks at ease.
Puzzles and Games. We brought games for the kids and small puzzles for the adults.
Gifts. We gave everyone a small gift to say “thank you for coming.”

. .

Dishon and Afrika will have another friendship feast in June. Please keep them in your prayers. You can visit their website at: www.redeemedofchrist.org.

Philippines

Joan Lumabe and Eddie Centellas, two Oyango tribal members, were baptized April 17, 2011. They attend Christ the King of Glory Church, a congregation of GCI composed of the Oyango tribe. Pastor Boni Gonzales, who is now working in Canada, planted this church. Pastor Doming Trilles conducted the baptism ceremony.

New Churches in Mozambique

Tim Maguire (National Director in South Africa), Caleb Makhela (one of our South African pastors) and Daniel Fernandez (a deacon from our Portuguese congregation) are in Mozambique for a conference with about 55 pastors of the group that has now become part of GCI. Your prayers for a very successful and encouraging time of learning and fellowship would be greatly appreciated. The deacon from Portugal will provide translation into Portuguese. He was born in one of the Mozambiquan towns in which we now have a congregation.

Photo captions: 1. Board representing the 55 congregations in Mozambique 2. Pastor Mariano Binzi (regional pastor) and Tim Maguire (National Ministry Leader in South Africa) 3. Mozambique Congregation 4. The Late Pastor Domingos, his wife and the youngest of their three children. (Domingos was the initial contact between GCI and their group.) 5. Local church building 6. Pastor Mariano Binzi visits congregations on bicycle.

Prayer Requests and Updates

Karl Reinagel sent this note regarding the tornadoes in St. Louis:

We have no reports of damage to any members’ homes, though there have been power outages for those closest to the airport. Thankfully no lives have been lost and all reported injuries have been minor—cuts and scrapes from shattered glass, etc.

It is strange the way some homes can be totally wiped out and others just next door seemingly untouched. Thankfully, we have been spared this time. We appreciate your concern and your prayers.

Retired District Superintendent Don Lawson sent this update about his wife, Sue, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia at USC University Hospital:

I had to come home and get some rest for a day, but am going back to the hospital today. Just had a phone call, and the report is very good. Her white cell count is on its way up, also the neutrophil count. The doctor said she may be out of protective isolation by the end of this week. Looks like she may be able to come home soon. She will still have a lot of chemo to go through, even after returning home. We want to say thank you to all for prayers, cards and concern. Would appreciate your keeping Sue on your prayer list. We thank God for how far she has come since this started.

Cards may be sent to:
78406 Hampshire Ave
Palm Desert, CA 92211-1954

Please pray for Jim Meade, pastor of In His Grace Community Church, in Port Huron, Michigan.

While being checked for some longstanding stomach pains, Jim was referred to a heart doctor the same day. They discovered that he had several major arterial blockages (some more than 90 percent) and some valve leakage. After an overnight hospital stay, he met with a cardiac surgeon who confirmed the diagnoses, and is now scheduled for quadruple bypass surgery Tuesday May 3.

Cards can be sent to:

Jim & Kim Meade
3665 Ruddock Rd
Kenockee, MI 48006

Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.

Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach

April 20, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I thought you might enjoy some photos from the recent writers workshop that John Halford and Mike Feazell conducted in South Africa for the staff and potential writers for GCI Southern Africa’s Face to Face magazine. Face to Face is in its second year of production and growing steadily. South Africa national director Tim Maguire requested the workshop to strengthen the magazine’s editorial, distribution and theological effectiveness.

Photo Captions: 1. Face to Face staff 2. John Halford discusses identifying your readers. 3. Mike Feazell discusses Christian journalism. 4. The group relaxes for a lunch break. 5. Waiting for Tim’s brother to come to the rescue when the truck broke down. 6. A male impala poses with his harem. 7. Left to right: Mike Feazell, GCI vice president; Tim Maguire, GCI South Africa national director; Kalengule Kaoma, East, West and Central Africa missions director; John Halford, GCI international publications advisor.

Fred and Maryann Stevens’ son, Alex, was part of the Arcadia, California, drum line that just won the national competition in Ohio. Fred is an elder in our Eagle Rock, California, congregation. You can view Alex’s team’s winning performance here on YouTube: http://wgi.thefannetwork.org/?vod_id=5d9c9452-c256-4b6f-a963-d52d7382009c

Sri Lanka

From Rod Matthews

The GCI Discipleship 101 course continues to be one of the most useful resources in our evangelical and mission work in Asia. Last year we had it translated into the Tamil language in Sri Lanka to complement the Sinhala language edition, which is already in print. The Tamil edition has just been printed by the Publishing Division of the Colombo Theological Seminary (CTS), so both the major ethnic groups in Sri Lanka now have an edition in their native language.

Mohan Jayasekera, pastor of our Perth, Australia, congregation, and who oversees our Sri Lankan church, has shared with me a message he received from his cousin, Lokendra Abayaratne, a retired Anglican archdeacon, and prominent religious leader in Sri Lanka. Lokendra has taken responsibility as the “person on the ground” for coordinating the translation and printing. He personally distributed copies at a major church near Colombo when he went there to preach last week and then asked the pastor to announce the availability of the publication at next Sunday’s service.

Lokendra also forwarded the following message he received from the director of Publishing at CTS:

Dear Father,

I thank God for using us as partners of this project. We are confident that this book will be a blessing to the Tamil speaking community. We thank God for Pastor Mohan and Grace Communion International ministry. Thank you for choosing us as partners of this publication. May the hand of the Lord be upon all your future endeavours.

Yours in His service,
Lal Wijesinghe
Publishing Coordinator

Reconciliation Ministries

From Curtis May

We are nearing completion of a DVD about the life of a woman who was kidnapped along with her two sons and held for several years. They went through unspeakable torture. Eventually she found a way to flee with her sons and get help. Long story short, she is now a member of GCI, serving in the church and working as a counselor. She has been able to forgive her attackers and has triumphed in Jesus. Her story is very moving and inspiring! Please pray that the DVD will be an effective witness of the grace and power of God!

Another opportunity that recently opened to us is a request by the Burleson/Cleburne (Dallas, Texas area) Ministerial Association and the Baptist Director of Missions to conduct a three-day reconciliation conference to help bring the local communities together. These communities have a history of racial conflict even among people in the same fellowship. GCI churches are involved in this process of building unity among them. Your prayers would be much appreciated. The dates of the conference are May 31 through June 2.

Lisburn, Northern Ireland

European Missions Director James Henderson is scheduled to preach at the inaugural service of Grace Communion Church, Lisburn, on Resurrection Sunday, April 24.

The new congregation hopes to provide a haven of God’s peace in a long troubled, but slowly healing region. They ask for prayer that with God’s help their limited resources will be focused effectively and that they will faithfully follow the Spirit’s lead.

Prayer Requests and Updates

Pastor Paul David Kurts reported that no GCI members have been hurt by the recent tornados in North Carolina, but as we have seen in the news reports, dozens have died from the severe weather the region is experiencing. Your prayers for protection and for the ability to help those in need are much appreciated.

Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach

April 13, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We held our third district conference of this year in Chicago over the weekend. Like the Southwest and Northwest conferences, this one also had a higher attendance than last time. Thirty-two attended from Toledo, Ohio, and blessed us with their worship band. We had two Advanced Diploma graduates from Grace Communion Seminary: Willard High and Linda Rex. Here are a few photos of the conference:

Photos by Douglas Johannsen

“It Looks Like This”

New on the GCI “It Looks Like This” website (at http://gci-usa.blogspot.com/):

• A video of an infant baptism service held recently in a GCI congregation in the U.S.

• A video of a gathering at the recent GenMin leadership summit. Being discussed is God’s calling of young leaders into ministry with Jesus.

• A picture of a recent “friendship feast” held by Dishon and Afrika Mills, who are starting a new GCI church in the Boston area (click on the “seeking” tab).

Ghana

The Buduburam, Ghana, congregation celebrated its first anniversary on Sunday, April 3, with songs, dance and praises to the Lord. In attendance were 173 adults and 150 children. Some members from the New Ashongman (Accra), Kutunse and Kumasi congregations were present to share the joy of the Buduburam church.

The children gave musical performances that drew long applause from the crowd.

The Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Council of GCI Ghana, Pastor Emmanuel Okai, gave the sermon for the occasion.

In addition to the children, the Miracle Choir (the church’s choir), the “Dialect Choir” with songs from Grand Gedeh County of Liberia, and some teen groups gave musical presentations to the delight of the congregation. New musical instruments donated by the Australian churches enhanced the performances. Meals were served to all who attended and pastors and their spouses cut the anniversary cake.

Photos by Theophilus Nii Okai & Emmanuel Okai

Galway, Ireland Festival 2011

We are pleased to announce the Irish Harvest Festival, which will take place from Sunday, September 11 to Saturday, September 17. This year’s festival will be at Salthill resort in the City of Galway in the beautiful West of Ireland. The festival venue is the Salthill Hotel, which is situated on the Galway Bay seafront. Some of the finest scenery in the world is just on the doorstep: beautiful Connemara, the Aran Islands, the north Clare coast and the Burren, to name just a few places of outstanding beauty.

The hotel has a large car park and extensive leisure facilities, including two swimming pools, a sauna, etc. which are available for complimentary use by residents of the hotel. Meals are available in the restaurant and in the bar. There is a large variety of restaurants in the local area and also in the city to suit all tastes and pockets.

For those who wish to stay in other accommodation, there is an abundance of hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, and holiday cottages in the area. There is also a caravan park only minutes from the festival venue with mobile homes that can be rented by the day. It is advisable to stay on the west/Salthill side of Galway since driving through the city can be slow. Galway is readily accessible by motorway from Dublin and Northern Ireland, and for those outside Ireland, we have airports at Galway, Knock (Ireland West) and Shannon, all within easy reach. There are frequent buses from the hotel to the city.

For further information, email Gerard or Marian Folan, marianfolan@eircom.net.

Other useful contacts are:
The festival venue: www.salthillhotel.com
The Salthill Caravan Park, www.salthillcaravanpark.com
Discover Ireland tourist site, www.discoverireland.ie

Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach

April 6, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Pastor Glen Weber and Youth Pastor Mat Morgan baptized five teens on Sunday, April 3, at New Hope Christian Fellowship in Eagle Rock, California. Three were fourth generation GCI family members. Celestine Olive, an elder and pastoral team member at New Hope, performed the laying on of hands for her grandsons, Trenton Foon, Eric Olive, Jr. and Cameron Olive. Pastors Glen and Mat performed the laying on of hands for Joshua and Jeremy Escandon, both new to GCI in the past year. Picture shows Pastor Glen presenting baptism certificates before the boys and their families took communion.

Madrid, Spain

From Pedro Rufian

Your GCI family in Spain is extending a warm invitation to come to Majorca to celebrate God’s Love and Grace in Christ with your Spanish brothers and sisters from September 30 to October 8.

Apply now! There will be a price increase of 10 percent after April 30.

Barcelo Ponent Playa Hotel, Marjorca, Spain

For more information please email Pedro Rufian at iduespana@yahoo.es

Or write to:
Iglesia de Dios Universal
Attn. Pedro Rufian Mesa
Real, 26
28610 Villamanta, (Madrid); Spain
Telephone: + 00 34 91 813 67 05

Members’ comments from last year’s spiritual retreat:
“It is the best hotel and location we have had for the festival in Majorca.”
“To have a gorgeous sea view from your room is wonderful.”
“The beach is just a few meters from your room.”
“The food is so plentiful, so varied and so delicious, with wine and everything included.”
“I enjoyed the family-oriented atmosphere.”

Solomon Islands

From Rod Matthews:

We are saddened to report that one of our leaders in the Ranongga congregation in the Solomon Islands died of leukemia on February 4. George Nake, son of local chief, Timothy Nake, was in his early 40s. His wife, Amellin, and seven children ranging in age from 1 to 13 survive George.

George was highly respected and had a reputation as a “very honest man.” He will be greatly missed in the Ranongga congregation. We are grateful that the closeness of our church community in Ranongga and the sense of responsibility within the village communities will ensure that Amellin and the children are well looked after and comforted in their grief.

Secunderabad, India

From Rod Matthews

Franklin Paupens, a long-time member and servant of the people in the Secunderabad congregation, was ordained as an elder on February 13. Franklin made his career with the Indian Railways until his recent retirement, and has been the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the church in India for many years. He is known for his energy and meticulous attention to the needs and welfare of those around him.

Nepal

From Rod Matthews

Our ministry partner in Nepal, Deben Sam, leader of Gospel for Himalaya Ministries, has embarked on a new project in his community. It involves three poor families in a livelihood project that provides everyone with cheaper “home-grown” food.

Deben has leased land on the outskirts of Kathmandu to grow crops, raise animals and breed fish. Three families live on and work the land, including one widow with children who would otherwise not be able to obtain any meaningful employment. Deben’s brother is undertaking an agricultural degree, and after his morning classes, he comes to the farm to teach the farm workers and work the land. It’s a perfect match, using the talents of individuals in the church community to pass on their learning and skills to others.

The farm provides vegetables and other produce to sell, has a flock of nearly 100 ducks, and will provide a regular source of fish once the ponds are completed and the environment settles down. Because people in Nepal own only small plots of land, it took Deben many months exercising his negotiating skills to lease at least twelve adjoining blocks of land from various landowners to provide a single plot of land large enough to be suitable for this project. As a result, three otherwise landless families have a place to call their own, meaningful employment and an added opportunity to contribute fresh produce to the rest of the congregation as well as the local community.

Conference in Haiti

From Joseph Franklin

Our church families finally made it to Port-au-Prince the weekend of March 19 for the mini conference on the theme, “We are on Mission with God.” We moved it up a week to avoid the transportation strike that was announced for March 28. The strike is a response to the 50 percent increase that the government added to the price of gasoline, which consequently affected the price of the transportation over the country.

Five new people attended with us. They are believers and Sunday-school monitors in evangelical churches. They showed a real passion for truth and plan to attend on a regular basis. We pray that God will knock down all barriers that may come across the zeal we find in these friends. We left them with folders containing a handout titled, “Eight Key Elements of Trinitarian Theology” (French version).

Colombia

From Sonia Orozco

Under the theme, “Learning From the Divine Love,” our Barranquilla congregation celebrated its annual seminar from March 5-8, 2011, at the Sorrento Hotel in Rodadero Beaches, Santa Marta. Sixty-two adults and seven children attended.

Pastor Hector Barrero and his wife Paulina came from Bogota and brought very comforting and inspiring presentations about the triune love of God. One person was baptized, Yudy Guerrero.

Leaders Efren Giraldo and his wife Marta Alvarez from Medellin also joined us for these four delightful days of rejoicing in God’s presence. Besides daily worship services and lectures, we celebrated a night of praise and worship as well as a talent night in which old and young expressed their love to God in dance, songs, poems and more. The beautiful Caribbean Sea and beaches were an ideal environment for this unforgettable reunion.

Prayer Requests and Updates

Retired long-time pastor Don Lawson asked for prayer for his wife, Sue. He wrote, “For several weeks Sue has been going through tests because of a drop in the white blood cell count. Thursday, they did a bone marrow biopsy. We received a call from the doctor and he informed us that Sue has Acute Leukemia, for which, at her age, there is no real treatment. He said she was terminal and that we need to get prepared.”

Then Don and Sue got some good news. Don sent this on Tuesday: “We have an update. They got the final results back from the lab. It seems there are seven strains of AML, only one of which is treatable for older people. Sue’s leukemia is called APL and we are told it is curable. We just received a call from the specialist and he has checked Sue into the University Hospital in Los Angeles, where she will be for 20 days. I will probably stay there with her most of the time. We would appreciate your prayers.”

Cards can be sent to:
Don and Sue Lawson
78406 Hampshire Ave
Palm Desert, CA 92211-1954

From Monte Wolverton:

Thanks to everyone for their prayers, cards and emails of encouragement. Kayte’s surgery for ovarian cancer was successful, in that the surgeon was able to remove all the cancer he could see. The cancer he removed was nearly dormant, because of the previous months of chemo. Kayte is extremely sore, but she is feeling a little better every day and is happy to be home and very positive. When she recovers from surgery in a month or so, she will begin another regimen of chemo – a lesser dose – to decrease the chance of recurrence, and anti-cancer drugs afterward. Considering how insidious ovarian and peritoneal cancers are (and this cancer was considered stage IV, as cancer cells had migrated outside the peritoneum, into the lung) we are thankful and blessed that Kayte’s relatively small tumors responded to chemo and surgery. We are also thankful for the excellent team of cancer specialists that God provided us. We hope and pray for remission, but even after that we will have to treat this as a chronic condition, and constantly watch for recurrence.

Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach

Month: April 2011

April 27, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Randolph, Massachusetts

Philippines

New Churches in Mozambique

Prayer Requests and Updates

April 20, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Sri Lanka

Reconciliation Ministries

Lisburn, Northern Ireland

Prayer Requests and Updates

April 13, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“It Looks Like This”

Ghana

Galway, Ireland Festival 2011

April 6, 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Madrid, Spain

Solomon Islands

Secunderabad, India

Nepal

Conference in Haiti

Colombia

Prayer Requests and Updates

GCI Update

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