In the video below, GCI pastors Jim and Becky Valekis discuss the discipleship pathway they have developed for use in their church in Tipp City, Ohio.
To learn more about how you can implement a discipleship pathway in your own congregation, go to http://mindev.gci.org/strategy.htm. For other videos highlighting the missional work of GCI-USA churches, go to It Looks Like This http://gci-usa.blogspot.com/.
Dee Bulante, senior pastor of GCI’s churches in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, grew up in the Philippines in Metro Manila. “I grew up with the hope that one day our family would move to the US because my mom applied for a workers visa back when I was just a kid. It took many years before the US Embassy reviewed her application; I was already a college student at that time.”
Growing up, Dee was active in sports and church. “I enjoyed ping pong, tennis, basketball and golf.” Growing up Catholic, Dee’s mother wanted him to become a priest. “I served as an altar boy and a reader.” Dee’s mother got part of her wish. He’s not a priest, but he is a pastor.
Dee started attending GCI in the Philippines in 1984. “I started listening to The World Tomorrow telecast and subscribed to The Plain Truth magazine and was intrigued by the message and teaching. I was baptized in 1986 in the Philippines, just prior to our family immigrating to the United States.”
The family was supposed to live in Florida, but ended up in Los Angeles in 1986. “I attended the Reseda church in Southern California for several years before 1997 when I helped Pastor Bermie Dizon start NewLife Fellowship in Pasadena.”
Dee, who was divorced in 2009, married Lisa on March 18, 2012. “I have two stepsons, Nelson and Eli Heimsoth. Nelson is a freshman college student in Southern California. Eli is a sophomore in high school in Oregon City. My wife Lisa has been a teacher for over 20 years in the North Clackamas School District. She also serves as a union officer in the local chapter of the National Education Association.”
Dee served with Pastor Dizon at NewLife Fellowship for two years as a bi-vocational pastor. “Bermie was my mentor. He saw the passion and zeal I have for our Lord Jesus and acknowledged my sincere desire to serve in pastoral ministry.” The mentoring served Dee well. “I was hired as a full-time salaried pastor in 1999. It was during our time of transition from legalism to grace that I felt the calling of God to enter vocational ministry. I embraced our freedom in Christ through our new theological understanding and was excited, encouraged and motivated to share that amazing grace to our members and others. We were losing many of our pastors at the time, either through voluntary departure or financial difficulties. I sought a meeting with Dan Rogers to convey to him my desire to serve, in whatever capacity, the denomination during this time of transition. This meeting led to my hiring and subsequent transfer to pastor in Tucson, Arizona.”
After serving the GCI congregations in Tucson and Sierra Vista, Arizona for two years, Dee was transferred to Washington and served as the senior pastor of the Olympia and Port Orchard congregations. “I transferred to Vancouver, Washington in 2010, where I now serve as senior pastor of our churches in Portland and Vancouver.”
When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor, Dee said, “This is easy. I love sharing in the lives of the members of our church and their families. I’m especially excited about teaching biblical doctrine and helping people apply it to day-to-day living. Secondarily, I enjoy the pursuit of knowing the Triune God and the privilege of unpacking the truth of the immense love of the Father, expressed through the grace of the Son in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Understanding the truth of our acceptance and inclusion in the life and love of the Trinity instructs and guides me in loving the people that God brings to my circle of influence.” Dee also mentioned GCI’s fellowship and unity. “I feel at home with our churches and members in other states and countries when I have the privilege to be with them.”
We asked Dee what he would like others to know about him that they may not already know. “It embarrasses me a little bit to confirm this,” he replied, “but I do love reality TV. I was a fan of The Real World on MTV when it pioneered the genre of reality-based TV programming. It has since morphed into reality game shows and other weird shows. I currently like watching Top Chef, Survivor, and yes, The Bachelor/Bachelorette.”
While reality shows provide entertainment, Dee’s real passion is God’s Word. “I am passionate about preaching and teaching the good news of the Father’s love through the Son by the power of the Spirit.”
Dee shared an interesting memorable moment. “I was preaching with fervor and enthusiasm during one of our festival days, when from out of the audience a woman leapt to her feet, ran towards me and kissed my cheeks. At first, I didn’t know what she had in mind, but certainly appreciated that endearing gesture. It has not happened to me since. I guess it went downhill from there (smile).”
Dee finished up by sharing this: “I feel closest to God when I am worshiping him through music because I feel his love for me through the words sung and can express back to him my devotion and gratitude.”
Lascan Sikosi, the pastor of GCI’s Kutima Mulilo congregation in Northern Namibia, held an evangelism event on Christmas Day, 2012. As a result, 15 people committed their lives to Christ, were baptized and now attend the congregation, which now has 105 members.
Funding for the event was provided, in part, by GCI’s Canadian Mission Fund. For this support, Lascan is very appreciative. The pictures here show the congregation preparing for the event.
This update is from Doug Johannsen, GCI district pastor and Snowblast camp leader.
This year, Showblast brought the gospel and fellowship to a diverse group of about 30, ranging in age from 70 something to pre-school.
Since 1997, there has been a winter youth activity in Minnesota called Snowblast. This year it was held at Camp Chicagami near Evelyth, Minnesota. It lasted from noon Saturday to Monday morning, and was led by Pastor Tom and Sandy Kennebeck (from Orr, Minnesota) and Pastor Troy Meisner (from Rochester, Minnesota who also directs Northern Light summer camp).
Snowblast was begun by Jeff and Sarah Skrove. They were unable to attend this year due to the condition of their 16-year-old son Jonah who is recovering from amputation of his lower right leg due to bone cancer. Using internet video conferencing, we included Jonah and his family in one evening of the camp. Everyone participated in decorating and filling a “treasure chest” for Jonah (see picture at left).
Outdoor activities included ice fishing, snowshoeing, sledding and hiking. Ice fishing was challenging due to high winds and cold temperatures. Still, the fishermen pulled up a couple of sunfish through the 24 inch thick ice.
Indoor activities included worship, decorating and filling Jonah’s treasure chest; making pottery, baking lefsa, leather tooling and making jewelry out of polished rocks. Messages during worship were given by pastors Tom Kennebeck, Troy Meisner and Doug Johannsen.
Monday morning we couldn’t get the three outdoor thermometers to agree whether it was -29 F, -24 F or -23 F (they must be theological thermometers!). All vehicles but one started and after a couple of shots of ether it was up and running too.
The Florida Times Union newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida recently highlighted the community service work of GCI elder Gadson Burgess and his wife Orzola. To read the story about their participation in the preparation of a community redevelopment plan, click here.
The Burgesses, who are both in their 80s, are members of Christian Family Fellowship, GCI’s Jacksonville congregation.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When she was younger, my daughter Stephanie would ask me to tell her a story. Now she is a young adult, but we still enjoy sharing stories. Sometimes one of us will ask a question or make a comment and the other will reply with a quote from a famous movie. I’ll caution, “Don’t take that route because it’s a dangerous area,” and she will reply, “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” recalling the line from The Wizard of Oz. Or, it may be a quote from A Few Good Men. She will say, “I want the truth” and I will reply, “You cannot handle the truth.” Or, at an appropriate moment, she will toss out a quote from The Princess Bride like, “I do not think that word means what you think it means.” And I’ll have to think again about the meaning of a word I just used.
These exchanges are entertaining and sometimes hilarious. Though they may seem trivial, they enhance our father-daughter bond.
It is the same when I am with friends. We swap stories. Sometimes it’s the same stories, over and over again. We never tire of them because they are a part of our shared experience and the cement that binds us together.
It has made me realize that our lives are remembered more as dramatic scenes than carefully planned sequences of events. In The Sacred Romance, Brent Curtis and John Eldredge put it this way:
The deepest convictions of our heart are formed by stories and reside there in the images and emotions of [a] story…. Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes. As Eugene Peterson said, ‘We live in a narrative, we live in a story. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have character.’ Story is the language of the heart. Our souls speak not in the naked facts of mathematics or the abstract propositions of systematic theology; they speak the images and emotions of story (p. 39).
How true—and that is why the gospel itself is presented not as an index of theological propositions, but as an interpreted story. The same story, told and explained from four different points of view, brings together the plot of every human being’s life story. And don’t be surprised by this—it is a love story. It is the story of God’s love for us, individually and collectively.
God is seeking us—he has and is sharing his love with us. When we read in John 3:16 that, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” we see that the gospel is not just about Jesus. It is about you and me and every human being who has ever lived. His story weaves all our stories together. Only by listening to God’s story can we make sense of our lives.
While Jesus engaged in direct teaching, sometimes even explaining himself to his disciples, he understood the value of a good story as a teaching tool. Some of his most important lessons were taught through his parables. These parables are nearly always about something that happened to somebody. Who Jesus is and what he wants us to understand is about life—life lived out through a history of relationships between God and his people and among his people.
Stories that convey life lived out in relationships are what attract our attention. Journalists call this “human interest.” That is why they will so often report the news from the point of view of someone who is directly affected by a situation or interaction with others.
Have you noticed how, in his State of the Union address, the US President has real, live people present and tells their story amid the routine facts and figures? A recent article on public speaking made a point that would benefit us all in giving sermons: a well-told story inserted in your speech “gives you permission to talk for another 10 minutes.”
This is why, for the last couple of years I have seen the value of telling stories about our church fellowship collected from around the world. I have noticed how much our members love to hear about each other. I could pass on this news by relaying statistics from reports that come across my desk, which are needed for planning purposes. But what you and I find most inspiring and memorable are the stories of what is happening to people and what is being done by people.
I want to continue sharing such stories, and I am asking for your help. I tend to receive more stories from our International areas than I do from the US. I realize that some of our overseas areas lend themselves to colorful incidents in exotic places. Perhaps you feel that nothing exciting happens in your more “ordinary” location. Don’t you believe it! Don’t assume no one is interested in what is happening in your neck of the woods. Remember—your congregation is ministering with Jesus 24/7. That means there are many things happening—some inspiring and exciting, perhaps some that seem “ordinary.” But if you find them interesting, there is a good chance that the rest of us will too.
So, pastors and ministry leaders, I am asking you to send me some of your stories (with pictures, please!). And let me say, once again, thanks for all you do as you co-minister with Jesus!
Your brother in Christ’s service,
Joseph Tkach
P.S. You may email articles and pictures for use in GCI Weekly Update to Ted.Johnston@gci.org.
Congratulations to GCI Navy Chaplain Jonathan Henderson and his wife Nashisha on the arrival of their fifth child (third son), Caleb—pictured at left—already sporting a fohawk!
Caleb was born January 18 at 11:36am, weighing 7 lbs 10.6oz, 20 in. long. The Hendersons currently live at the US Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island where Jonathan serves as a chaplain. To learn more about them, click here.
This update is from district pastor Heber Ticas, the senior pastor of Comunion De Gracia, the GCI Spanish-speaking congregation in Sun Valley, California. Heber is also shepherding the start of a new congregation in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
On October 14, Comunion de Gracia (Los Angeles church plant) celebrated its first anniversary service with 109 in attendance. The first year has been filled with surprises. We have encountered the joy of seeing people come to faith in our Lord but we have also shed tears as we encountered those in bondage to alcohol and drug abuse, children suffering because of the breakdown of the family and wives suffering as they see their spouses imprisoned. We thank Almighty God for the comfort and peace of knowing that he is in control.
On November 18, we had an outreach event to the community. We also served dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The ministry team continues to create connections with the community. Our growth strategy includes both “attractional” and “incarnational” approaches: attractional through “big day” events such as our Christmas celebration; incarnational through missional groups that live and share the gospel in the midst of the community life.
Brian Carlisle, pictured at right with Anne, his fiancée, is the senior pastor of Living Hope Christian Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Vienna, Virginia (in the Washington, DC area).
Brian grew up in San Jose, California. He says that his competitive nature led him to become captain of the water polo team in high school, then a member of the rowing team at the University of California, Davis.
In 2007, Brian became a member of GCI. “It was the promotion of a Trinitarian incarnational gospel vision by GCI leaders that led me to want to join.” His interest in Trinitarian theology led Brian to his pastoral role. “I became a pastor in 2009. A phone call from Pastor Tim Brassell in 2008 asking me to consider being a pastoral candidate for where I am today is what led me to consider God’s call to full-time ministry.”
Brian loves to pastor because he loves people. “I have a desire to know people, to allow people to know me, and to know the God who is made known in Jesus Christ. I enjoy offering support for people to ‘see the Son and believe in him.’”
Brian says that he especially enjoys leading Bible studies and “exegeting the various Old and New Testament books within the context of a learning community.”
When asked what he enjoys about being part of GCI, Brian said, “I enjoy the freedom and openness to inquire and seek the truth in all the important matters of life.”
Brian’s personal vision is to tenaciously stand for truth and stand with others to disarm despair with hope. He also has an interest in the twelve ancient anointing oils mentioned in the Bible and, what he terms, “God’s forgotten biblical gift of healing.”
Asked when he feels closest to God, Brian replied, “When I’m seeking to know him through his written word, either alone or with other brothers and sisters in Christ.”
This update about Brian Queener is from his father, GCI pastor Mark Queener. For additional detail, see the previous post at https://update.gci.org/2013/01/brian-queener-2/.
Please continue to pray for Brian. He remains hospitalized in St. Louis with severe pancreatitis and multiple complications stemming from that condition. He is scheduled for an invasive surgery on January 25 to remove dead pancreatic tissue and infectious fluid from his abdomen. There are risks associated with the surgery and, perhaps, even greater risks involving post-operative complications. He certainly needs God’s protection, intervention and healing.
