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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Solomon Islands
Secunderabad, IndiaFranklin 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.
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.
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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.
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