Month: September 2016

This report is from Anthony Gachanja, who visited GCI’s congregations in Kenyan refugee camps.

Last weekend, Pastor Stephen Kinoti and I visited our two churches in the Kakuma refugee camp in the northern part of Kenya. Our idea as we left Nairobi was to go and encourage our brothers and sisters who are refugees due to the instability in their home countries. But during our visit, they ministered to us as much as we ministered to them. We learned that the joy of our Triune God is not dependent on earthly possessions, or where one lives. The joyful singing and the quality service we experienced there gave testimony to the fact that our brothers’ and sisters’ living conditions, though substandard by any definition, are nothing compared with the joy they experience in their relationship with our Savior.

We had sessions with leaders because we felt a need to ground them in Incarnational Trinitarian theology, which they had no problem grasping. We also had sessions for couples aimed at strengthening their families. And we had sessions aimed at helping the young discover who they are in Christ.

In their worship services they enjoy a variety that is not common in many places. We also shared meals together, we had three baptisms, and seven babies were blessed.

Pastor Kinoti, in expressing his joy for these churches, said, “When I was coming this way, my expectation was that I would find people with low morale because of their poor living conditions and the fact that some are separated from their families. I thank God because I am going home with a testimony of amazing things God does for his people. ”

This report was compiled from material provided by Assistant Camp Director, Leslie Asare-Akoto.

GCI in Ghana recently held their youth camp (called YEP Camp) with the theme “Come to Jesus” from Matthew 11:28. The 37 staff members served 49 campers age 12 to 18. The campers came from throughout Ghana and included a few from Liberia who are living in the refugee camp at Buduburam. Most campers were supported financially with grants from the Jon Whitney Foundation.

The camp, directed by Pastor Francis Ablordeppey, featured swimming, music appreciation, soccer, soft-ball, fireside chats, volleyball, hiking, Christian living classes, and Bible studies. Other activities included dancing, film shows, lectures, ice-breakers, debate, variety entertainment, Bible quizzes, a “prayer and exaltation night,” and a banquet.

Campers went into the surrounding communities to inform parents and their wards about the youth camp and its benefits. They shared some brochures and invited children in the community to attend the camp’s opening day. As a result, 36 children from the community (pictured above) visited the camp, partaking in some of the camp activities and enjoying lunch and a presentation from the camp director.

The campers toured the Ghana Air Force Base in Accra (picture at right). On the trip back to camp they visited a trade fair and shopping mall. During camp, ten campers accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and were baptized.

Camp ended with a banquet where campers and staff were awarded. Many campers shared how camp had helped them do many things they had not done before, both physically and spiritually.

 

New Life Fellowship (GCI’s Baltimore, Maryland, congregation pastored by Timothy Brassell) recently hosted an Outside the Walls (OTW) event. Pastors, ministry leaders and interns from other GCI congregations traveled to Baltimore to assist and join in the training.

A day of training was held on Friday. It focused on the “paradigm shifts” characteristic of churches experiencing renewal. It also addressed some of the structural modifications that facilitate renewal, including clear and consistent community-to-congregation “connecting points.”

The training was conducted by Heber Ticas (National Coordinator of GCI Church Multiplication Ministries and Lead Pastor of one of our Southern California churches) along with Dustin Lampe (Lead Pastor of one of our Cincinnati, Ohio, congregations). Both shared examples of the renewal that is occurring in their congregations.

On Saturday morning, as part of the training, participants went into the community around the church to invite neighbors to a “block party” that was held at the church that afternoon. Though it was an extremely hot day, many neighbors attended the fun-filled event, which featured live music, food and games for the kids.

The goal of the block party was to provide a hospitable presence for the church in the community, thus creating relational “spaces” where long-lasting relationships might be forged. New Life achieved this goal by meeting their neighbors in a non-religious, non-threatening fashion. Block party participants were invited to a worship service held the next day that included a special “blessing of children” ceremony.

Here is a short video with excerpts from a couple of block party music performances by Intern Xiara Lee and Pastor Timothy Brassell (on YouTube at https://youtu.be/1-Z3noIRkw0).