Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Heber Ticas, Ted Johnston, Randy Bloom, Hector Barrerro and I celebrated with several of our Spanish-speaking pastoral leaders and members in Guadalajara last weekend. Pastor Alfred Mercado and the Guadalajara congregation hosted the event. We enjoyed singing the hymns in Spanish and giving presentations over the three days on Trinitarian theology, church updates and other topics. The fellowship was heartwarming, and it was a treat to spend time with people we had not seen in ten years.
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Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Pastor Joel Aleman reported that on October 16, our congregation in Tegucigalpa had 16 baptisms in the city’s Piliguín ecological park. The baptized adults and young people received a certificate and were officially welcomed to the church during services on October 23.
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South Africa Mission Trip
David Botha and Joel Clevenger, leaders of Grace Missions, reported on Grace Mission’s recent trip to South Africa:
On October 23, the Grace Missions team from the Akron/Canton and Cleveland, Ohio, churches and one participant from the Loudon, New Hampshire, church returned from a successful mission trip to South Africa. We toured Johannesburg and Soweto on our first day. We ate lunch at a shabeen in Soweto right across the street from Nelson Mandela’s childhood home. A very moving afternoon was spent at the Apartheid Museum.
Our next stop was at the GCI “tent church” located in Moruleng. The chief of the village has given this congregation a piece of land to build a church building. We helped by installing a septic system and laying the foundation for the bathroom. A wonderful time was spent encouraging our brothers and sisters there—helping them see that they are not alone (their story was told at the International Conference in Orlando).
We spent one eventful day at the Pilansberg Game Park. We saw God’s creation in a magnificent way. Then we were pulled over at gunpoint and our entire vehicle searched because the local military thought we might be poachers. A few tense moments turned into a wonderful experience ministering to the men. One was even from the village of Moruleng, and we were able to connect him with one of the ministry leaders there. God does work in wonderful ways.
The Grace Communion International church in the northeastern South African region of Venda is located in Maelula, a village of about 6,000 people. The congregation was given some land by the chief to build its own building for worship. Our mission team from the U.S. joined with many young men from the village, spending time each day working on the part of the structure that would support the roof.
One of the highlights of each day was when we would break for lunch at the jobsite. After eating, we would all spend about an hour in devotional and prayer time before going back to work. We prayed in different languages but we prayed to the same God. On the final day of work, our break was a little longer. We took a short walk to a small stream and four young adults from Maelula (Naomi, Khathu, Mpho, Emmanuel) were baptized while the rest of the people sang praises to God.
Another highlight of each day was the evening meal. There was always lots of food and fellowship with many local members. This almost always included traditional African praise songs, which everyone there knows and can sing well. The food was normally South African style, but on the last night some of the team prepared some American style chili, which was a big hit.
We got a lot done on the church structure, but the building of relationships was much greater. It truly is “good and pleasant when brethren live together in unity,” as it says in Psalm 133. We hope the church building will last for many years, but we know that the friendships built, and the experiences we had there, will stay with us forever.
Get more information about doing short-term missions at www.gracemissions.com
Canada
From Gary Moore:
Wendy, Kylie and I had a wonderful time visiting the Ottawa area last weekend for the anniversary celebration. The congregation there was celebrating the 45th anniversary of its founding. We were also celebrating Bill and Linda Rabey’s 40th wedding anniversary, and Bill’s 40 years in ordained ministry – so it was quite a celebration!
People came from Montreal, Cornwall and Smith’s Falls, as well as the Ottawa area. There was a packed auditorium, with 160 in attendance. Bill’s brother Bob came, and we all enjoyed his funny and warm stories about growing up with Bill. The potluck meal was great, and then we enjoyed some entertainment to wrap up a full and enjoyable day. Bill and Linda have served with great dedication and compassion and are clearly much loved by the members there.
Several photos from the weekend follow. The first illustrates the blessing of a multi-generational congregation, in a culture where the generations rarely interact. The second picture shows one of three cakes presented that day (they were eaten very quickly!), the third picture is the happy couple cutting their anniversary cake, and the last is of two content, well-fed ministers at the end of a great day.
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Next week I’ll be in Toronto for the annual EFC conference and meeting. I will be visiting the Ste. Catharines/Hamilton/Kitchener congregations on the weekend. After that, the focus will be on putting the national budget together, and other year-end work at the office.
Exclusive pastors screening of of Narnia film
Below is a link for an advanced pastoral screening of the new Chronicles of Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
http://www.narniafaith.com/teach/narnia-pastor-sneak-peeks/
Prayer Requests and Updates
Cheyenne, Wyoming, elder Cliff Snyder is recovering well after a massive heart attack and emergency bypass surgery last week. He will still need another bypass surgery for three other blocked arteries.
Cliff’s wife, Mary, said that he would welcome calls. Their phone number is 970-881-2458.
Cards may be sent to:
5741 CR 68C
Red Feather Lakes, CO 80545-9507
Dennis Lawrence wrote:
My treatment advanced yesterday as the team at the Royal Victoria Hospital was able to collect my stem cells. It didn’t look promising even on Wednesday that it would happen this week, but the number of stem cells in my blood jumped dramatically in those two days, and it went well yesterday—beyond their greatest hopes. They needed to collect 6 million stem cells, and got 17 million in the volume collected—apparently a record in their experience. (It’s one of those in which I really can’t claim any credit—it’s just what the body did).
I have a couple of tests to get in the next couple of weeks—don’t have the schedule for those yet. But in about two weeks I should be going into the hospital for the 3-4 week stay that begins with six days of very intensive chemotherapy followed by a day of recovery. Then, I’m given back my stem cells and am in recovery, under watchful eyes there for the following 2-3 weeks. I feel fine today—am planning to give the sermon—a full sermon—in church this afternoon!
Cards may be sent to:
211 De L’ile Blvd
Pincourt, PQ J7V 3R6
CANADA
Charles Fleming sent a note mentioning that the hurricane caused some of our planned activities to be canceled in Grenada as it also passed by Haiti, St. Lucia, Barbados, and St. Vincent. Paul Creese in St. Vincent sent the link below. The site shows dramatic pictures of the damage in St. Lucia. Rudy Mills reports that all our members are safe, although many experienced some form of minor damage. So far, Rudy only knows of one member who may have lost a portion of his roof. The island has taken a beating with sections only accessible by boat. Agriculture was badly damaged and so food costs will be up for several months.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55373451@N06/show/
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
