I am pleased to have Kalengule Kaoma (KK), GCI Superintendent for Africa, write the letter for this edition of Update. We have more GCI members in Africa than any other continent and the work of preparing, recognizing, and launching new leaders is important for the present work and future growth that we anticipate. KK has done intentional work alongside his four regional directors, who have also been integral in helping to establish national directors who have direct impact on our wide array of pastors. This multiplication and empowerment of leaders is the groundwork that’s needed to have the capacity to receive those whom the Lord calls. Our prayers go up for Jesus to bless this group of newly appointed leaders.
In GCI across Africa, we are faced with several opportunities to transition our leaders. These opportunities are available on congregational and regional levels. As a result, we have experienced several transitions in the last twelve months.
Dictionaries indicate that transition refers to a process of change. In this article, I limit transition to change of leaders in congregational and or regional offices.
The reason for transitioning leaders has mostly been age-related. Most of our leaders who have transitioned out of their offices are at least 70 years of age. Energy levels, mobility, health, length of service, availability, and travel demands also contributed to decisions leading to transitions.
Benefits of timely transitions
Our leaders who have served the Lord for a long time have accumulated vast experiences, knowledge, and maturity. These traits must be passed on to younger leaders. Transitions are like a relay race. The oncoming runner passes the baton to the next runner who takes off at greater speed. But the runner who brought the baton runs on for some distance. In effect, the two runners run together for a while. This effectively provides support to the runner who has picked up the baton.
In our leadership transitions, experienced leaders have the opportunity to come beside the new leaders. Experienced leaders give support, counsel, guidance, and answers to what may seem like new, perplexing, and challenging situations that arise while the new leaders are adjusting to their roles. In executing the process of transition, we have drawn from biblical narratives because we desired smooth transitions.
Elijah prayed a double portion of the Spirit over Elisha. John the Baptist, who had paved the path for Jesus, made the profound statement, “I must decrease so that he may increase.” Jesus himself shows how to prepare others for leadership. He prayed all night before selecting the 12 disciples. He invited them to come and be with him traveling across Judea, ministering to people. The disciples observed Jesus for months. They joined him in ministering to the crowds that gathered to hear Jesus. Jesus spent time quizzing their understanding about who he was and giving them deeper insight beyond the parables Jesus told to the crowds. He proclaimed that they would be fishers for people, and he prepared them for this calling. In GCI, we endeavor to do likewise.
Transitions in Africa
Gardner Kunje (left) w incoming RD Marshall Dube
Biblical examples of leadership transitions encouraged us to courageously effect transitions in Africa. Here are the highlights:
Two national directors passed the baton recently. In Nigeria, Essien George passed the baton of national director to Meshack Igbineweka. GCI Ghana welcomed Theophilus Nii Okai as the new national leader.
We have also commissioned two new regional directors. In December 2024, Central Africa Regional Director Gardner Kunje of Lilongwe, Malawi transitioned leadership to Marshall Dube of Harare, Zimbabwe. In January 2025, another encouraging transition took place in Accra, Ghana. West Africa Regional Director Theo Nii Okai received office authority from outgoing RD Emmanuel Okai. [See image at the top of story.] Together with members of the Christian Council of Ghana, national directors from GCI Nigeria and Togo attended the service with a number of members from around Ghana.
Long term. Bearing in mind that at one point of the leadership path or another, leaders will be required to step aside. For this reason, leaders need to prepare someone to step up and take the role of a current leader. As soon as a leader takes up a leadership role, one must start preparing other people as possible replacements.
Create a team of leaders. Jethro’s advice to Moses to create teams of captains of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands coupled with Jesus’s plan of working with a team of three, twelve, 120, 500, and more form a basis upon which to emulate team leadership concepts. While a congregation may not have lots of members to draw lots of people, it is prudent to have teams of leaders who can be prepared for future leadership roles.
Proactive/intentional knowledge of leaders in the team. Creating a leadership team is one thing. Knowing the leaders on the team is another. Knowing team members calls for close relationships. Without close personal relationships, it is difficult to know members of the team. This too makes it difficult to be certain about who is suitable to be the next leaders. This does not take away the role of the Holy Spirit in directing leaders about next leaders. God works through our relationships.
Transitions are inevitable and important. The Holy Spirit works through mortal human beings with limited life spans. Naturally, human leaders’ bodies will wane in their strength and health. This requires replacement. Sometimes, other factors will call for leadership transitions. Hence, denominational, regional, congregational, and ministry leaders should always be ready to effectively transition officers at various levels of church leaders. In Africa, leadership transition is an ongoing activity.
Under the leadership of Jesus,
Kalengule Kaoma, Superintendent of Africa
Lusaka, Zambia
Devotional—King of the Feast
In Jerusalem, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies
will spread a wonderful feast
for all the people of the world.
It will be a delicious banquet
with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat.
There he will remove the cloud of gloom,
the shadow of death that hangs over the earth.
He will swallow up death forever!
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery
against his land and people.
The LORD has spoken! Isaiah 25:6-8 NLT
Throughout history, a king coming to town is momentous. From a villager’s point of view, a king and his army coming to town is bad news. Your family’s storehouses would be raided to feed his soldiers. They might butcher your livestock for meat or even consume next year’s seed corn. This could easily be a disaster for you and your village.
Isaiah dreams of a King who flips that script. Instead of taking your wealth and ruining your future, this King blesses us with plenty. He gives instead of taking. He fills our lives with the very best, out of his abundance, at no cost to us. Our King honors us with a royal banquet and spares no expense in enriching our lives. Our future with him is one of celebration, not sorrow.
We who are enlisted in his service and enlivened by his love look to his lead. When we “come to town,” we can be his agents in announcing and enacting a kingdom that is like this King.
Prayer:
Lord, may we find an end to our want and our loss in the abundance of your love. Meet us at your table of mercy. May we be quick to rejoice in your goodness and live out your good news for the sake of our communities!
Matt Royal, Church Plant Team Member
Durham, NC, US
Kingdom Living—Joining God’s Mission
In February, a three-day transformative leadership gathering was held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Pastor Mauricio Diaz Burdett, our leadership team, and I hosted the gathering, titled “The Relational God and His Mission.” Pastor Marco Mejia, of the San Pedro Sula Honduras congregation, attended with 11 ministry leaders. One of our leaders from the fellowship group in El Salvador also joined us. We all came together in an atmosphere of deep reflection and spiritual growth, guided by the inspiring presentations of President Greg Williams and Pastor Heber Ticas, Superintendent for Latin America.
During the sessions, Greg Williams introduced the concept of the 5 D’s (Disruption, Discovery, Death, Design, Deploy) as experienced by the early church in the book of Acts, highlighting the transformative process within the first Christian community. He encouraged attendees to join the harmonious flow of the triune God. He reflected on Jesus’ movement towards us and through us by Jesus’ ministry of faith, hope, and love.
Additionally, he presented GCI’s vision and the path forward, reminding everyone of the building blocks toward Healthy Church and that the church’s fundamental mission is to be the healthiest expression of the Church of Jesus Christ that we can be.
Pastor Heber Ticas provided a valuable perspective on building a church MAP around the concept of the 5 D’s and how it relates to our local church’s movement toward Healthy Church. He also delivered profound teachings on faith, hope, and love, and their biblical and theological foundation that informs the practice of our ministry Avenues. He focused on building bridges between our current environments into a missional participation environment by identifying our focus group and developing a missional heart.
His presentation challenged all of us to activate our missional movements in a strategic manner. The Avenue champions from the Tegucigalpa congregation and their teams had the opportunity to reflect and map out a better path forward for each Avenue based on the teachings we received and the customized consulting that was provided by Greg and Heber.
The gathering culminated in an inspiring Sunday worship service attended by 98 participants, where Greg reaffirmed GCI’s commitment to being a healthy, Christ-centered church. The fellowship among attendees and the shared passion for the gospel left a lasting impact, reinforcing the importance of continuing to grow in faith and in our missional calling.
This gathering not only strengthened GCI’s vision in Honduras and El Salvador but also renewed each congregation’s commitment to moving forward in God’s calling and purpose for our church.
Joel Aleman, Associate Pastor
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Kingdom Citizens’ Toolbox—Enter the Kingdom
Citizens of God’s kingdom look to Jesus’ teaching to understand kingdom living. What did Jesus say about entering the kingdom?
We invite you to read the following excerpt from a 3-part series, “What Did Jesus Teach.” Read the full article here.
“The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you,” Jesus told the priests and elders (Matthew 21:31). How were they going in? By believing Jesus’ words about righteousness and repentance (verse 32) and by doing what God wants (verses 28-31). People enter the kingdom by repenting and believing the gospel.
We must “receive the kingdom,” Jesus said (Luke 18:17). He talked about how hard it was for rich people to “enter the kingdom” (verse 24). The disciples then asked, “Then who can be saved?” (verse 26). Here, we see several phrases used to indicate the same thing: receive the kingdom, enter the kingdom, be saved. These are different ways of talking about the same thing.
Jesus did not preach much about the details of the future kingdom. Rather, he preached about the way citizens of his kingdom can live and think in this age. He told us how our sins are forgiven. He told us to repent and believe the gospel. His disciples preached the same (Luke 9:6; Mark 6:12).
The kingdom of God is here, Jesus said. It begins right now. In the future the kingdom will have great glory — God will see to that. There will be fabulous future rewards, but the question that Jesus brings is, are we willing to be in the kingdom right now?
Right now, the kingdom is small (Matthew 13:31-33). Currently, the kingdom has both good and bad in it (verses 24-30). The kingdom is waiting for growth (Mark 4:26-29). Eventually, the kingdom will come in power, but now, it is small. The good news is that we can enter it.
Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom would come (Luke 17:20). He replied that the kingdom already existed in their midst (verse 21). But they could not yet see it. The kingdom will eventually be seen by everyone, but the King had to suffer and die first (verses 22-25).
Jesus also told the Pharisees, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20). The kingdom is here, he said, and the proof is in the power. The kingdom of God is demonstrating its authority over Satan’s rule — and this proof continues in the church today. Just as the kingdom could be seen in the ministry of Jesus, it is seen in the ministry of his church, too. Jesus predicted that his followers would do even greater works than he did (John 14:12). The kingdom is growing.
The kingdom of God is here, Jesus said. People did not need to wait for a conquering Messiah. God is already ruling, and we turn our hearts toward him now. The kingdom announcement demands a decision. It is a call to action. We do not need to wait — there are things to be done right now.
The good news about the kingdom is not just that it is near — it is that we can be part of it. Nearness is not good news if we miss out! Our sins would disqualify us, but in Jesus our sins are forgiven. We can believe in Jesus and turn toward God. We can be in the kingdom of God forever, and that is wonderfully good news!
Michael Morrison, GCS President
Glendora, CA, US
Meet Amiyo Bacher
“I encourage them to love one another and praise God together through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Amiyo Bacher
Meet Amiyo Bacher, GCI leader and facilitator in Khulna, Bangladesh. Discover more about his journey in the full profile here.
GCI Home Office Jobs Available
GCI is hiring!
Three full-time positions are now open at the Grace Communion International (GCI) Home Office in Charlotte, NC, U.S.
New!The Legal Coordinator and Assistant Secretary to Board of Directors position is currently available, and applications are being accepted. See the job description here.
The Media Coordinator position is currently available, and applications are being accepted. See the job description here.
The Assistant Operations Coordinator position is currently available, and applications are being accepted. See the job description here.
If you would like further details on either position or would like a GCI job application, please contact Human Resources at humanresources@gci.org or 980-495-3960.
Please share this announcement with qualified candidates who may be gifted for either position at the Home Office.
GCI Canada Job Available
GCI is hiring!
We are currently taking applications for the role of President (National Director) GCI Canada.
For full details, job description, and application process, click here.
Applications should be sent to GCI Canada Board Search Committee (employment@gcicanada.ca), and the closing date is 15 April 2025.
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Canada.
Please share this announcement with qualified candidates.
Memorial for Mike Swagerty
Longtime pastor, Mike Swagerty, of California, U.S., died on Friday, February 7, 2025. Join us in holding his wife, Sandy, in our prayers. Pastor Kairis Chiaji of GC Sacramento shared the following invitation.
Remembering Pastor Mike
In loving memory of Michael V. Swagerty, you are invited to celebrate the legacy of a life well lived along with his family, friends, and global cohort.
Saturday, April 5, 2025 @ 1pm PDT
In-person: Lakewood Memorial Park and Funeral Home 900 Santa Fe Avenue, Hughson, CA 95326
Overnight hotel rate: $132 per night, per suite, 4-person room
(Total with tax is $310.20 for both nights. Breakfast and manager’s reception is included for hotel guests only.)
Group Name: LiLY Women’s Conference
Group Code: LW5
Central Reservations Number: 1-866-344-7548 Deadline for hotel reservations at the special rate is Friday, April 4, 2025. Register today online at gccle.church/lily
If not registering online, mail your registration fee with checks payable to:
Grace Communion Cleveland 4499 Canterbury Road
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
(Please include your name, address, phone number, emergency contact name and address, and if you are staying for Saturday night dinner)
