Author: Elizabeth Mullins

We attribute the success of our kids’ back-to-school carnival to the Holy Spirit and the prayers of many who partnered with us in the weeks leading up to the event. Every Sunday for three months, members and friends of GCI Glendora were encouraged to pray for enough volunteers and for God’s will for the carnival.

A week before the event, our Love Avenue champion took the initiative of emailing and mailing out a specific prayer list of what to pray for before, during, and after the carnival. We prayed not just for ourselves and the volunteers, but also for the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of the neighbors who would come. Some members performed a “prayer walk” in the surrounding neighborhoods, while going door-to-door to pass out fliers announcing the carnival.

We are compelled by the love of God to serve our neighborhood – that’s our central reason behind neighborhood engagement. Specifically, we held this initial event because we desired to:
• get to know our neighborhood and have some fun with them,
• allow the neighborhood to get to know us and know that we exist,
• bring about a change of mindset from inward to outward,
• provide training for volunteers to be more effective at future activities, and
• create an opportunity to celebrate obedience to God’s call to reach out and serve, regardless of the outcome.

Our goals for the carnival were:
• to give people a good time,
• to start getting to know kids in our neighborhood,
• to help the kids have a good time. Every player wins a prize.

We would have been content if only two kids had attended – but we were amazed and grateful that approximately 200 people showed up! All our neighborhood engagement and carnival preparation has been an act of faith in our God who provides so much more than we expect or imagine.

Through this new Love Avenue experience, we are learning the slow and consistent process of getting to know our neighborhood and how we can best serve with the gifts we already have. It’s as if God is saying to us, “Trust Me. Watch and see what I will do through your obedience to me.”

By Jillian Morrison
Associate Pastor, Glendora, California

Greetings GCI family,

The Zambian church is excited and humbled to have raised an African Champion! Muzala Samukonga won a gold medal in the 400 metre event at the 2022 African Championships in Mauritius in June. He also won a gold medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, finishing in 44.66 seconds in the 400 metre race.

Muzala, age 19, is the first born in a family of six boys and one girl. Together with his mother and siblings, he congregates at GCI Central church in Lusaka. We are very proud of the young man as GCI family and thank God for being with him. Let’s remember him in our prayers, asking for him to stay focused on God as he is an example to the youths in our congregation and indeed all of Africa.

By Grace Namukolo
Lusaka, Zambia

An exciting milestone has been accomplished in Ghana with the launch of a Ministry Training Centre (MTC). A ribbon cutting ceremony was performed to the cheers of more than 500 members who witnessed the significant moment. Joined by Emmanuel Okai, Regional Director of West Africa, and Theo Okai, Ghana National Pastor, Superintendent Kalengule Kaoma cut the ribbon to usher in this important phase of leadership training and empowerment in Africa. “The Accra Ghana MTC was inaugurated during the Sunday service on August 28, 2022, at our Kutunse Convention Auditorium with the clear presence of the Holy Spirit,” Emmanuel Okai said of the event.

I am writing this update because The Ambassador College of Christian Ministry (ACCM) is delighted to partner with this important program. Classes have already begun with the Jesus and the Gospels course, which I am teaching with Kalengule. He reflected on that first day, “We were blessed with John Mclean’s Zoom presence in class, and we had a good time. The MTC meetings went very well. I’m grateful to God, the organisers, and sponsors for making possible this grand step in GCI Ghana.”

The first short steps in the proverbial “journey of a thousand miles” have been taken in both programmes. Or as Emmanuel Okai put it, “Like the Biblical mustard seed, ACCM classes started for leaders in the West Africa region in August 2022.” Our confidence for success is based on our resolve to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit as Christ directs our region to become the best possible expressions of healthy churches and healthy members led by healthy leaders.

We appreciate your prayers for the successful development of the MTC and ACCM’s ongoing contribution. Together, we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit and the “I” in GCI.

By John McLean,
ACCM Director

The Australasian Conference and Celebration Weekend was held on 18-22 August at the picturesque site of Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. With the theme of Compelled by Love, we fellowshipped in the presence of a very joyful and loving spirit as we were able to meet together again with our brothers and sisters from all around our region after a long and isolating stretch with COVID.

On Sunday, with an estimated 230 members attending in-person and 70 Zoom connections, more than 300 members participated in the service. We heard an inspiring message from our president, Greg Williams, entitled, “Jesus our True Foundation.” The Communion was given by his wife, Susan Williams. We were delighted and thankful for the presence of Greg and Susan. Members very much appreciated their messages and the opportunity to spend time in fellowship with them. We were also delighted to have the GCI Goodna, Queensland choir present their lively special music.

Pastors and leaders shared experiences and aspects of the Faith, Hope, and Love Avenues that are being implemented in their various areas. RD Dennis Richards presented on the trinitarian foundations of the Team-based, Pastor-led model, and Coach Martin Bailey led a Zoom presentation on the four E’s [Encourage, Engage, Equip, Empower.] All the presentations were informative and encouraging.

Activities included a fun family night with dancing and games and a dinner for Gen XYZ leaders. Twenty-four young people gathered to have lunch on the beach and an exciting game of Archery Zone. After the restrictions of COVID, it was lovely to see young people from all around the country gather once again and have some fun!

Everyone appreciated the global update from Greg. He warmly described the faithfulness of our leaders and members, in their various life circumstances, in the countries he has visited this year. It was a great reiteration of the connectedness we have with our brothers and sisters internationally, and an affirmation of the central role the Home Office plays in strengthening our ties and bringing us together as a global team. The presentations and prayers over the five days were an inspiration to all and a great motivation to keep moving forward with Living and Sharing the Gospel, being Spirit-led with Jesus as our True Foundation.

P.S. Greg and Susan departed our shores to visit the church in Fiji. Stay tuned for this update in a future issue!

By Daphne Sidney
Australasia Superintendent

The GCI congregation in Mooroolbark, Melbourne, Australia (the Mooroolbark Christian Fellowship) was finally able to host its annual neighbourhood tree planting day after two years of cancellations due to COVID-affected lockdowns. On a cool and blustery winter’s day in July, the 17th annual Tree Planting Day was held. With trowels and mattocks in hand, about 70 rugged-up-and-rugged tree planters got on their knees in the dirt to dig holes, plant seedlings and saplings, and gently protect almost 1000 trees in a reserve not too far from where the congregation had met for worship just an hour before. Twenty-five people from the GCI congregation were joined by another 40 or 50 people from the local neighbourhood.

For the event, which is planned to coincide with Planet Ark’s National Tree Day, the GCI congregation works in partnership with the local government, which selects the location and provides seedlings and wooden stakes. The main reason for the event is for the congregation to serve the local neighbourhood and invite and engage with residents who also have the same desire to do good and have a positive impact on the local surrounds. The congregation has developed several partnerships in the local community, and it was great to see those partnerships continue to bear fruit with many of them joining us, including the local Girl Guides chapter, the local Scouts and even our local member of Parliament. The congregation also provided hot drinks with jam and scones for the volunteers who put in the hard work after a couple of hours of planting trees.

There is something relaxing about working together outdoors with soil and gardening tools. There were some wonderful conversations had, and it was delightful seeing families planting and conversing together, helping each other out across the generations. Next time we plan to show our church presence even more by wearing a t-shirt with our church logo. Or perhaps, on such a wintery day, a church logo on a beanie would be better!

By Matthew Gudze
Pastor, Melbourne, Australia

Grace Communion Cleveland held its second Love Avenue engagement event on Sunday, August 14. An advertisement in a Cleveland newspaper invited families to pick up school supplies for the upcoming school year and have a picnic lunch of hot dogs, chips, and drinks. In case of rain, it was decided to hold the event in the large interior common area of our meeting space.

Forty-four happy kids, accompanied by their parents, left with bags of supplies to start off the school year. Three $50 gasoline cards were raffled off to any adult who entered their name in the drawing. A member talked with some of the attendees who inserted their written prayer requests into the prayer wall inspired by the west wall in Jerusalem. The prayer requests were presented to God after the event and kept confidential. Most of the congregation was able to be there, filling the room with friendly smiling faces as they handed out supplies and served food to the guests. Set-up and clean-up went quickly with many hands to help with the tasks.

The following Saturday, we engaged with the community at the annual sidewalk chalk art festival sponsored by the organizing tenant of our building, Coventry Peace Campus. We were invited to participate alongside the professional artists with a designated 4’x6’ space. Five members of our congregation volunteered and attended a training session before the event so we could make our art stand out.

One of our members also came up with our design beforehand, based on our mission, “Growing in Faith, Living in Hope, and Serving in Love.” Many other smaller squares and rectangles were painted on the ground for members of the community to come and participate. Our five artists took turns on various parts of the design, which also gave us plenty of time to wander about and interact with the other members of the community.

By Pat Shiels
Love Avenue Champion, Cleveland, Ohio

GC Big Sandy’s core team (Pastor Jerome and Helen Ellard, Rick and Lois Peterson, and George and Sarah Strub) gathered for a retreat at the rustic and comfortable “Whispering Pines” cabin in nearby Holly Lake Ranch, Texas, in July. The three members of the core team are our Avenue Champions: Rick – Love, George – Hope, and Sarah – Faith.

We are very busy people in our congregation and in our lives. As pastor, I desired for us all to get away to rest and get to know each other in a relaxed, natural setting. We shared making delicious meals, sitting outside and watching the deer walk through the yard, and resting in the love of God together.

We got to experience a Strub family tradition during one dinner by having dessert first! Food, games, laughter, and good conversation was the order of each day. One of many highlights was when each couple successfully circumnavigated Holly Lake on paddleboats. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God is all about relationship, and this retreat helped us grow closer to him and to one another. I heartily recommend that all church leadership teams spend some rewarding, relaxing time together like this! You and your church will be blessed.

By Jerome Ellard
Pastor, Big Sandy, Texas