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Growth via Bogota marriage classes

The following update is from Hector Barrero who pastors GCI’s congregation in Bogota, Colombia.

Introductory meeting

An important part of our outreach in Bogota is conducting marriage enrichment classes that are open to the public.

We began a new round of classes on February 25, with an introductory meeting attended by 31 nonmember couples. We connected initially by publicizing the classes on our radio program.

Marriage class leaders

The members of our congregation who will teach these classes have been trained to present a Trinitarian, grace based perspective on marriage enrichment.

Those who signed up for the classes, which last about four months, will attend in various locations around the city. The largest of these groups with eight couples will meet at our church hall.

Holding these classes in the past has brought new members into our congregation. To accommodate this growth, we have recently added a second Sunday worship service. One starts at 8:00 am and the other at 10:30 am. Having two services provides ample room to receive newcomers, opportunities for additional preachers, and possibilities for developing other leaders within the congregation.

Free books by Steve McVey

Steve McVey

We have taped several You’re Included interviews with Dr. Steve McVey (view one at www.gci.org/YI112). Steve is author of several books on theology and Christian living that reflect a Trinitarian, incarnational theology. His books in English are listed at www.gracewalkresources.com/.

One of our French pastors recently informed us that several of Steve’s books are published in French and other non-English languages as PDF files downloadable for free on Steve’s website at www.gracewalk.org/web/pageid/107325/pages.asp.

Our mission and vision

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We have just concluded the first of our 2012 US regional conferences. GCI members and friends gathered in Ontario, CA for three days of worship, dialog and presentations. I always look forward to these conferences—they are wonderful opportunities to renew old friendships and make new ones. Several more conferences are scheduled around the nation this year. I urge you to attend if you can.

Sharing our mission and vision

At our conferences, I’m often asked to cast a vision for our denomination’s future in the way a CEO might cast a vision for a business. Though, for practical reasons, churches must embrace certain business practices, the Biblical model for leading the church is that of a shepherd or farmer rather than a business executive. This does not mean, of course, that we are called to sit back and do nothing. However, it explains why my approach is not to cast a vision but to gather a vision. Let me explain.

In the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul wrote: “We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” (Romans 5:3-5, The Message Bible).

This passage describes the sense of hope and expectancy that I feel as I receive reports concerning what our congregations around the world are experiencing in Christ’s service. We have moved from being a denomination where our congregations existed to support a work that emanated from a central headquarters, to a network of congregations that are working under the overall umbrella of the denomination. Now, each congregation seizes opportunities that God presents to them locally to advance the overall work of the church globally.

Ontario, CA regional conference audience (click to enlarge)

I have the privilege of telling the stories of many of these congregations in my presentation at the regional conferences. Like Paul who couldn’t “round up enough containers” to hold everything, I do not have enough time to tell all the stories about the marvelous things the Holy Spirit is doing through our congregations. From these reports, I gather a picture of what God is doing with and through us. And that collage, rather than grandiose ideas I might come up with, is what frames my vision for our future as a denomination.

With that in mind, let me now share with you some thoughts concerning our mission and vision that I shared at the first of our 2012 regional conferences.

What is our mission?

Grace Communion International is a people called together by God to share in the ministry that Jesus is doing through the Holy Spirit in our world. We are a communion of churches and denominational ministries with a shared mission, which is taking us toward the realization of a shared vision.

We are called to the same mission as all other followers of Jesus—it’s often referred to as The Great Commission. There are a number of ways to summarize this mission. We do so in our denominational motto: Living and Sharing the Gospel.

This motto, which appears in our denominational logo (see above), is not just a catchy slogan. It encapsulates our sense of calling to lock arms, sharing together in what Jesus is doing in our world, through the Holy Spirit, to fulfill the Father’s mission. We can expand this into a more complete mission statement: Grace Communion International is committed to living and sharing the good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ.

We pursue this mission by:

  • Building healthy, Christ centered congregations that are sanctuaries of worship, friendship and nurturing pastoral care.
  • Providing sound biblical teaching through our congregations, media and personal outreach in ways that are relevant and meaningful to people of diverse backgrounds and ages.
  • Equipping people for Christian service so that the gospel can be known, understood and experienced.
  • Sharing in the work of the gospel with the broader Christian community, acknowledging that we can learn from one another and that Christ’s love goes beyond denominational boundaries.
  • Expressing the love of God to all through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The result of this mission focused work is lives transformed by the gospel, one person at a time. This is actually Jesus’ mission—and we are called to share in it with him. Through eyes of faith, we are able to see the transforming presence and activity of God that others are not yet seeing. It is not about us “taking God to people,” but rather helping people see the God who already is sharing his life and love with them. It’s not about helping people “find” Jesus, but of showing them the creative, life giving Savior who, through the Holy Spirit, is already present and at work in their lives.

What is our vision?

Our vision is a faith and hope-filled glimpse of what GCI will continue to become as we pursue our mission to live and share the gospel. We summarize our collective vision this way:

All kinds of churches for all kinds of people in all kinds of places.

Expanding it, we can say: Grace Communion International exists to help each congregation of Grace Communion International attain its God-given potential. Why this emphasis on local congregations? Because it is my belief that God’s primary instrument for realizing our collective vision is healthy local churches—here in the US and around the world. As I look ahead, I see us becoming more and more a growing, loving community of congregations that are dynamically living out God’s mission in a broken world, and that excites me!

Our core identity (who we are) is founded on our communion with the Father and Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And who we are drives what we do—our passionate participation in what God is doing in the world. In this way, our mission gives shape to our vision.

I look forward to sharing more about these things at future US regional conferences and on trips to other parts of the world. I hope to see you there!

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. For locations and other information of future US regional conferences, see our web site (www.gci.org/event/12/conferences). Also, be sure to note in this issue the article (linked above, left) telling about our new US military chaplain support ministry.

Avoiding ministry burnout

The following post is from GCI regional pastor Ken Williams.

Ken Williams

Ministry burnout is a real threat (see the March issue of Equipper now posted at http://mindev.gci.org/equipper.htm). I think most GCI pastors understand the threat, though not all seek help when experiencing burnout symptoms. Perhaps my story will be a source of encouragement.

In 1995, I was pastoring a church in decline (many of you reading this can relate!). I was experiencing many depression-like symptoms, but not doing much about it. But then an article in Leadership Journal on depression among church leaders got my attention and led me to consider the symptoms I was experiencing.

At the same time, my wife and a couple other friends were concerned about me and encouraged me to get help. I agreed, and visited a competent, experienced counselor who understands Jesus’ gospel. After completing five sessions I understood that what I was experiencing was unresolved grief. I was grieving the loss of the departing members. I was willing to take medication to help me, but in my case the symptoms were relieved through the interaction with the counselor who helped me walk through the grief process.

Through that experience and others I’ve learned over the years that to avoid burnout it is vital that pastors have close, honest friends. Indeed, such friends are a gift from our loving heavenly Father! My wife Nancy is my best friend but it complicates our marriage if I rely solely on her for emotional support.

We all need friends who can be objective and honest with us. And from time to time (as was my case) we may need professional counseling services. Most U.S. health insurance plans cover counseling (such is the case for GCI’s plan). Please avail yourself of this benefit. Self-diagnosis can be inaccurate and incomplete.

Brothers and sisters in pastoral ministry, you are not alone! Please seek help when you need it.

PD Kurts appointed GCI chaplain coordinator

The US military requires that its chaplains be endorsed by a denomination or other recognized religious institution. Recently, GCI was contacted by two chaplains who feel connected to GCI and want us to be their endorsing denomination (we’ll profile these men in a future article). To facilitate these and other endorsements, GCI recently joined the National Association of Evangelicals Chaplains Commission (NAECC), which provides endorsement and support and training for evangelicals who minister as chaplains within three branches of the US military and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Captain Paul David Kurts

GCI now offers its endorsement to appropriately qualified US military chaplains. Such endorsements will utilize NAECC services. Paul David (PD) Kurts has been appointed by Dr. Dan Rogers of GCI Church Administration and Development (CAD) to serve as GCI’s military chaplain coordinator. PD will continue serving as a GCI pastor and district pastoral leader and part time in the North Carolina Air National Guard.

PD enlisted in the Guard in 1999, served in Guard chaplaincy from 1999 to 2003, was commissioned an officer in 2003 and has served since as assistant director of Equal Opportunity for the North Carolina Air National Guard (where he deals with unlawful discrimination and advises commanders concerning human relations and morale). PD is currently a Captain and is scheduled to be promoted to Major in a few months. Congratulations and thanks to PD!

If you know of a U.S. military chaplain who might be interested in receiving GCI endorsement, you may email PD at paul.d.kurts@gci.org.

For a video profiling a day in the life of a US Navy chaplain, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jrzpEzDQxuU

Working with cohabitating couples

Pastors often ask about how to counsel and otherwise work with couples attending their congregations who are cohabiting (living together outside of marriage).

For an example of how one pastor handled this issue, see the Leadership Journal article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2012/winter/finallydo.html

For current research concerning unmarried co-habitation see the blog post at http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/cohabit.htm

If you would like to share your pastoral experience with this issue, feel free to do so using the “add a comment” box below.

GCI members in the heart of San Francisco

San Francisco Community Fellowship (SFCC), is a dynamic GCI congregation in the heart of San Francisco, CA, near the top of Mission Street. The congregation’s motto is, “Bridging a multi-cultural community to Jesus Christ.”

With persistence and patience, SFCC has been doing just that – reaching out with God’s love and life to the surrounding community. The result is a growing church fellowship that is wonderfully cross-cultural (representing several ethnic groups) and cross-generational.

Ted Johnston, media coordinator for GCI Church Administration and Development, USA, interviewed several of SFCC’s members. The video below provides excerpts from some of these interviews, highlighting comments concerning why the members appreciate their church home.

http://youtu.be/nArSOSaNYFg
(Theme music by GCI member James Egbert)

Prediction addiction

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I can relate to the cartoon above (used with permission). I am a moderate gadget person. I enjoy my smart phone and am slightly envious of my wife’s sleek flat screen television in her craft room. But I still hold on to the old-fashioned tube kind in my den.

Technology is changing the lives of even the most technologically challenged of us. If only we could make the same kind of progress with war, or poverty, or hunger and disease. Even developed nations seem to be in danger of economic collapse these days. Experts in international politics and finances disagree about the seriousness of the situation. Some see peace on the horizon and an economic recovery. Others warn us that things could get worse before they get better.

It is, then, not surprising that there are many people who think we are on the edge of disaster, and that the world is coming to an end.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in international finances or politics. I have no inside knowledge about what is going to happen. What I do know is that I have heard dire warnings of catastrophe “just around the corner” all my life. These warnings were not from experts, based on experience or a careful analysis of the situation. They were based on a wrong understanding of Bible prophecy. Doomsaying like this did serve to create a certain climate of urgency about “preaching the gospel as a witness before the end came.” At least, it did for a time. But in the long run, I see that it also created what I call a “prediction addiction.”

Here is what happens. You conclude from your study of prophecy and its chronological calculations that we are in the “end times,” and that a catastrophe of “biblical proportions” is going to befall us in “just a few short years” (they are always “short” years, it seems). You then “watch and pray,” anxiously (or perhaps eagerly), fitting the events and news of the day into your predetermined framework. You watch with growing anticipation as the evidence piles up.

The problem is that the pile of evidence starts to get very shaky, and the “short years” stretch into decades. Although the pattern of major world events may not fit neatly into your prophetic scenarios, you can still find enough catastrophes to stay in the game, while you hastily recalibrate your prophetic timetable.

Thankfully, as we in GCI have moved into the full embrace of grace, we have come to understand prophecy in a different light – the light of Jesus. It is his light and life that deliver us out of prediction addiction.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we look at the state of the world through rose-colored glasses.When we look at world history, we see a cycle of corruption, greed and egomania that has resulted in financial crises, starvation and war. History does have a way of repeating itself. One thing is consistent – we human beings do not know the way to peace. In spite of our progress in technology, far too many of the world’s citizens live in poverty, sickness and fear. Indeed, we need help of biblical proportions.

Most of the self-appointed prophets who so enthusiastically plot the end time do at least have one thing right. The solution is for Jesus to return and establish the kingdom of God, as he promised he would. But he did not say when, and he made it clear that it was a waste of time trying to figure it out.

Jesus’ prophetic word announced the mustard seed presence of the kingdom of God and the promise of it one day arriving in fullness when he himself would return. He opened up the way for us to accept his rulership in our lives now and, in effect, change sides. While remaining in what the Bible so accurately calls “this present, evil world,” we can by God’s grace, live our lives now in a way that represents the very kingdom of God. Although not now fully manifested and often hidden, our trust in the coming of our Lord’s kingdom means we are to be people of hope, not doom.

Our role is to show how anyone can have that life now, through a personal relationship with Jesus and his Father by the Holy Spirit—a life that God offers to everyone. Our part is to be living parables—those who embody signs of that coming kingdom. We are to speak and act in faith, and love and hope—at home, in our churches, at our jobs, in our nations.

So we don’t need to waste our time frantically trying to find meaning in the next cycle of world disruptions. Jesus said these would continue until he returns, whether that is one, or ten or a thousand years from now. It does not change what we can enjoy now in our relationship with Jesus. He has already secured our future. He holds out to us the hope of a new heaven and earth. He is the First One, the Protos, and the Last One, the Eschatos (Rev. 22:13). Jesus Christ, our Reconciler and Redeemer, is the Living Word of God and he will have the last word.

So I consider myself a recovering prediction addiction addict. I have stopped looking to world events to serve as my spiritual barometer and only look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.

In him,

Joseph Tkach

Bulante-Heimsoth engagement

Dee and Lisa

On February 12, Dee Bulante, pastor of the GCI congregation in Portland, OR, gave a sermon on marriage. Then he showed a video of himself expressing his love for member Lisa Heimsoth. After showing the video he proposed to Lisa.

She said “YES!”

The wedding is planned for Sunday, March 18. Bart Baril, the pastor of the GCI congregation in Port Orchard, WA will officiate.

Congratulations to Dee and Lisa!

Growth of school in Thailand

This update is from John Halford, editor of GCI’s Christian Odyssey magazine.

John Halford

On February 14 I joined GCI southeast Asian mission developer Rod Matthews and Malaysian pastor Wong Mein Kong in opening the Ambassador Kindergarten School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is the latest development in the remarkable Christian education enterprises of Chogait and Amphorn Garmolgomut.

I have told their story in Christian Odyssey. Chogait, a 1986 Graduate of Ambassador College and his wife Amphorn (Fong) opened several schools in this northern Thai city, and along the way developed a successful and growing ministry.

Chogait and Fong with picture of Dr. Herman Hoeh

The school idea grew from a challenge from the late Dr. Herman L. Hoeh, who loved Thailand and all things Thai. Chogait and Fong had been raised as Buddhists. Now as Christians, they wanted to reach their people with the gospel. They asked Herman Hoeh what to do, and he suggested they start a school based on true values and right living. He gave them $100 to get started.

They started small with a school in their basement apartment, teaching in Thai and English. Many Thais want to learn English as it is a significant key to a successful career. As more students came, they were able to expand.

Later, Chogait and Fong leased an office building on the outskirts of the city. They renovated it, making it into a bright school for several hundred students Grades 1-6. I was privileged to help formally open the Ambassador Bilingual School (ABS) two years ago. At that time, they showed me an empty, semi-derelict warehouse that stood behind the main school. “That’s where the kindergarten will be,” explained Fong.

Chogait and John

We formally opened the kindergarten on February 14. The old warehouse has been transformed and renamed the “Love Building.” Chogait asked me to say a few words to the large group of parents who had come to the opening ceremony. I told them that in the western world, February 14 is known as Valentine’s Day, when people give gifts to those they love. The school was also a gift of love, to the parents, the children and the future of the country.

The Thais are tolerant of all faiths, but the vast majority of the people remain staunchly Buddhist. Frankly, much missionary activity in Thailand gets nowhere as the Christian message is presented in a way that is out of context with Thai culture. However, traditional values are beginning to fray as Thailand continues to modernize. ABS teaches Christianity by example, and although making converts is not the focus, Chogait and Fong have baptized dozens of people in the last few years. Today a church of about 70 meets in their home.

ABS now offers an education from kindergarten through middle school. Rod Matthews jokingly asked Fong “So where are you going to build the high school?” Without hesitation, she pointed to an empty lot next door. “We’ll put it there,” she said, “if that is God’s will.”

Psalm 127 reminds us that “unless the Lord shall build the house the weary builders toil in vain.” It seems that the Lord is building this “house” as the work is certainly not in vain. It is a success story that is attracting the attention of educators and missionaries in this country.

You can help

Here is how you can help be a part of this success story. Chogait and Fong are not asking for financial help. However, the challenge of running a bilingual school in Thailand is the lack of quality, affordable books in the English language. The Herman L. Hoeh Library, named after their friend and mentor, is in urgent need of books.

Many of us have books that our children and grandchildren have outgrown. If you send us those books, we can get them to Thailand. They do not need to be specifically Christian books, although those are welcome too. But any book for grades K-6, ideally with colorful pictures on any subject of an educational nature would be very welcome. They do not need to be new, but should not be too battered, torn or in any way defaced.

Do you have some books that ABS could use? Then email me at john.halford@gci.org and let me know what you have. If you can ship them to me in Indiana, we know how to get them to Thailand.