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Healthy Church—Investing in Youth All Year Long

GCI’s vision for Healthy Church includes investing in our youth. All year we’ve brought you stories about our children from around the globe. Enjoy a 2024 review in pictures of these precious young people. But first, read these recent stories showing how GCI invests in youth.


Cape Town, Republic of South Africa

At the end of November, the Sunday school children and three of the youth participated in an outing to the Planetarium. The joy on the faces of the children is the simplest form of gratitude.


Rayong, Thailand

The children of the Rayong congregation enjoy an active Sunday School ministry. They learn about our triune God by singing fun songs and creating artwork.


Suva, Fiji

In November, the Suva congregation seamlessly combined our Sunday worship with our youth camp in the village of Nanukuloa, Ra, creating a weekend filled with service, fellowship, and spiritual growth.

As part of our Love Avenue initiative, on Saturday we partnered with the youths of Nanukuloa to plant Vetiver grass on a hillside vulnerable to landslides — more than 1,200 planted in just two hours! This effort not only helps the community but also supports environmental conservation, stabilizing soil and preventing erosion. It was a beautiful reflection of Christ’s love in action.

This weekend was more than just a fun event. It was an experience where Jesus’ love was evident in every moment — from acts of service to shared meals and worship, we saw God’s hand at work, uniting us in purpose and faith.

By Epeli Nakautoga, Hope Avenue Champion
Suva, Fiji


Satkhira, Khulna, Bangladesh

Thank you very much for your prayers for GCI Bangladesh. On November 14-16, we had 75 participants from GCI Bangladesh participate in our young adult Friendship Camp. Because of our ongoing college ministry, 20 Hindu and Muslim college students also attended our camp. Among them, three chose to be baptized! By the grace of God, eight more people were baptized on December 5.

By Amiyo Bacher, Facilitator and Church Planter
Khulna, Bangladesh

 

 


2024 Youth Recap

Kenya
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Jacksonville, Florida, US
Derby, Kansas, US
Plaridel Bulacan, Philippines
Big Sandy, Texas, US
Richardson, Texas, US
Appleton, Wisconsin, US
Surrey Hills, Oklahoma, US
Papua New Guinea
Melbourne, Florida, US
Cape Town, RSA
Market Harborough, UK
Sun Valley, California, US
Hyderabad, India
Bogotá, Columbia
Burias, Luzon, Philippines
Ghana
Hmawbi, Yangon, Myanmar

A Look Back—2024 Highlights

Here are some top GCI resources from 2024. These are meaningful resources you may want to bookmark so you can refer to them all year.

  1. Healthy Denomination – this President letter highlights our journey toward becoming a healthy church, grounded in hope, love, and faith. It encourages us to continue growing in worship, outreach, and discipleship. This is a timely reminder of how far we’ve come and the exciting future ahead in 2025.
  2. Meet Members from Across GCI – GCI Testify highlights the transformative power of Christ’s love through personal testimonies from members around the world. It showcases the Spirit’s impact in and through GCI, offering powerful stories of faith that inspire and encourage deeper trust in Jesus.
  3. Why Do We Gather? – This video is a powerful reminder of the joy and renewal that come from gathering as a church community. It encourages us to value our unity in Christ and the deeper connection with God and one another that results from worship and fellowship, making it a meaningful reflection for a year-end review.
  4. Ghana’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee – A milestone in GCI marking five decades of God’s grace in the region. The event featured a week of worship, leadership conferences, and cultural highlights, with participants from across Africa.
  5. A Lament – Our most-read devotional this year calls us to reflect on how we have fallen short in embodying justice, mercy, and humility, as instructed in Micah 6:8. This powerful prayer invites us to repent, seek God’s image in others, and become agents of healing and restoration
  6. Faces from the Home Office – Get to know members of our Finance Department in the Home Office.
    1. Rose Hamrick – Join Dr. Greg Williams, President of GCI, as he speaks with Rose Hamrick, GCI’s Chief Financial Officer. Together, they reflect on Rose’s path to her current role, exploring how her faith, family, and past experiences have uniquely prepared her for this chapter.
    2. Robert Meade – In this episode, GCI President Dr. Greg Williams sits down with GCI Comptroller Robert Meade. Robert discusses his role within the denomination and shares insights into his work.
  7. Jesus’ New Ministry – GCI Equipper – This feature article from Equipper, our monthly e-zine for pastors and ministry leaders, examines Jesus’ mission and its call to live out the Kingdom of God today. Subscribe to Equipper
  8. Home Church US Connection – Discover how the Home Church US provides worship and spiritual support to members without access to a local congregation. You can subscribe to receive the weekly sermons. Sign up here!
  9. Art of Mentoring – This series, released in 2024, highlights the importance of mentoring relationships in fostering growth and leadership across generations. It showcases how mentoring helps develop strong connections in faith and discipleship. This is a timely revisit for members who want to deepen their spiritual journey and explore ways to empower others through mentoring.

Gratitude and Prayerful Hope

Greg and Susan Williams
Greg and Susan Williams

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

As we approach the end of 2024, there’s much to give thanks for in our shared journey. In the U.S., we came together for face-to-face regional gatherings (the first live gathering of this nature since before the Covid pandemic). It was a time to hug necks and rejoin the deep relationships that we have enjoyed for many years. This year was also a time to face difficult realities about the state of our congregations, and we made needed changes related to what congregations can be chartered, and served accordingly, as we go forward into 2025.

Another significant change that is under way in the United States is moving from the regional structure to a U.S. National Ministry Team, whose purpose is to serve our pastors and congregations in meaningful ways that can put legs to the vision for Healthy Church. We are prayerfully hopeful.

I am encouraged by the remarkable ways the Spirit is at work in and through GCI, moving us forward in unity and purpose. The resiliency and supportive attitude of GCI pastors and members amazes me. Thank you!

The triune God is faithful in our midst. Jesus Christ, the head of the church has much in store for us. I caught a glimpse of this at the Dream Huddle event held at our Ministry Training Center in Surrey Hills, O.K. Church planters, pastors of church mergers, and leaders of church relaunches gathered to share what we have been learning. We discussed how we can be supportive of each other as the Lord reshapes and rebuilds GCI in the U.S. Once again, I am prayerfully hopeful.

I am very encouraged by my visits and interactions with our international leaders as well. This past year, I collaborated with our Australasian Superintendent Daphne Sidney who is leading more than thirty participants in the Christian Discipleship Program. Their journey of learning and growing together has great promise. I joined New Zealand Regional Director Dennis Richards and Pastors Frank and Emily Boyd from Fiji as they hosted their Avenue Champions for a two-day workshop. It was inspiring to see their focus and intentionality as they join Jesus in His ministry to their island nation. I rounded out my year joining Kalengule Kaoma, Superintendent of Africa, and his team of regional directors in Ghana. The church in Ghana celebrated its 50-year anniversary, but with the level of energy and enthusiasm expressed it’s like they are just getting started.

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We’re Hiring

GCI is hiring!

Two full-time positions are now open at the Grace Communion International (GCI) Home Office in Charlotte, NC, U.S.

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.

From Equipper—Celebrating in Hope

Join us! We invite you to read this article from Equipper.

Subscribe to Equipper today!


Nuts and bolts of the Hope Avenue

By Linda Rex, Elder

Our journey in GCI towards Healthy Church includes a deeper understanding of our hope in Christ. Our Hope Avenue team ensures that our Sunday services provide a warm welcome, fellowship, worship, and inspired preaching, which refresh us with the hope of Jesus.

Markers of a healthy Hope Avenue

The Hope Avenue team prepares all aspects of the Sunday service, from parking lot to sanctuary to fellowship hall. The Hope Avenue team works together to welcome, include, and integrate into the life of the church, all those who attend. The fellowship and Sunday service enable each person to meet with, in a personal and united way, our triune God. Renewed with the hope of Jesus, those who attend are sent out with this good news. In this way, the Hope Avenue team shares with Jesus in His divine ministry by the Spirit.

Signs of unhealth

Members of a church with an unhealthy Hope Avenue might not notice new guests, or swarm new people at the door and scare them away. Worse, the pastor may bring attention to guests when they prefer not to be noticed. There is limited or no signage in an unhealthy Hope Avenue, and no one offers to help guests find the restroom, children’s room, snacks, or the sanctuary. Guests are often not told they are welcome to join in the pre-service fellowship or study group. Youth and teens are often ignored. Seniors are not always given the support they need as they move from the parking lot to the sanctuary and back.

An unhealthy Hope Avenue worship service is more focused on the content of the service, the speaker, or singers than on relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The service is disjointed and messy because little planning has been done. The music is often more focused on our human experience of God than on worshipping God. An unhealthy Hope Avenue sermon is often teaching a Bible Study rather than preaching about Jesus, who He is and who we are in Him. In an unhealthy Hope Avenue service, communion often focuses more on the items on the table than on the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

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Singapore | Malaysia 50th Anniversary

For four days in October, GCI Malaysia/Singapore gathered at the Grand Kampar Hotel in Perak, Malaysia. The gathering was a landmark as the members celebrated 50 years of the church in Malaysia and Singapore. The church began with a few members who came together in the early ’70s. Over the years, the church has experienced various challenges but has remained steadfast in the faith.

Approximately 55 members from Malaysia and Singapore attended. Guests included 12 members from the church in Thailand, one member from the United States, and Asia Superintendent Dan Zachariah and his wife, Mary, from India. It was a time of great worship and fellowship.

Four church services were conducted during that time and messages were given by Pastor Dan Zachariah, Pastor Wong Mein Kong, and me. The theme for this year was “The faithfulness of God.” It was a most appropriate theme reflecting the course of the church as a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in primarily Islamic and Buddhist countries. One of the highlights of the gathering was the baptism of Mrs. Ho, which was carried out at the hotel’s swimming pool.

Various exciting activities catering to members of all ages were conducted. The young adults had a great time participating in caving and whitewater rafting at Gua Tempurung. The rest of the members also participated in a less physically challenging tour of the caves and a trip to Kellie’s Castle. Others chose a food tour trying various cuisine around Kampar town.

It was a remarkable time, truly reflecting the family that we are in Christ Jesus. As David expressed in Psalm 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when brethren live together in unity.”

By Devaraj Ramoo, Pastor
Klang, Selangor, Malaysia

 

GCI Board Update

L to R. Heber Ticas, Rebecca Johnson, Philip Doele, Rose Hamrick, Tommie Grant, Randy Bloom, Greg Williams, Jen Gregory, Chip Brockmeier, and Celestine Olive

Grace Communion International is a family of congregations and members from around the globe. As a body of believers, we live and serve together in Jesus’ ministry as a part of His spiritual body. We do so in the love, grace, and freedom we have as our Father’s beloved children. But we also must function within the legal guidelines required by governmental agencies. Accordingly, GCI is organized and established according to a set of bylaws and is “board governed.” That is, the GCI’s theological foundation, overall mission, financial procedures, and administrative policies are overseen by a board of directors.

The GCI Board of Directors is a diverse group of elders who serve four-year terms. Each of the directors brings an impressive range of gifts and experiences to serve GCI on a voluntary basis.

On behalf of the GCI Board, I want to thank Celestine “Cella” Olive and Jen Gregory for four years of outstanding service as they conclude their terms. (For Cella, it was her second term of service.) They have both served faithfully and graciously as co-stewards of the mission and resources Jesus has given GCI. We greatly appreciate their contributions to the board governance process and pray they continue to experience every blessing Jesus has for them as they continue to serve Him in other capacities.

 

This gives me the opportunity to welcome two new directors to the board: Rebecca Johnson and Philip Doele. As long-time GCI members and elders, they have also served as pastors and bring a wealth of wisdom and experience to contribute to the board dynamics. Read their full bios here.

Please pray the GCI Board of Directors have the wisdom and insight needed to discern the guidance of the Spirit as we seek to faithfully steward GCI resources and journey forward with Jesus.

Randy Bloom, GCI Board Chair