Elizabeth Mullins – Page 52

Retirement of Tim Snyder

I’m honored to share that Pastor Tim Snyder retired in September. Thank you, Tim and MaryAnn, for your faithfulness and for your sacrificial love for more than five decades! We love you and appreciate you more than words can ever express!

Mike Rasmussen, Central Regional Director

We ask Tim to share his story with Update. Congratulations!

MaryAnn grew up in the Chicago area under the tutelage of Dean Blackwell and those he trained. Her father was a local elder; her mother’s ministry was hospitality, especially to the members. From high school in Joliet, IL, she went directly to Ambassador College in Pasadena, CA.

I grew up in western North Carolina in the Appalachian area known as the Great Smoky Mountains. I received a distinct calling to ministry in the first grade, but gradually disregarded it until it returned in my freshman year of studies in Aerospace Engineering at NC State University, funded in part under a grant from NASA. I transferred to Ambassador College, Big Sandy, TX after two years in engineering. I try to follow space exploration, physics, and math to this day.

MaryAnn and I met on the “Big Dig” in 1971. As all students were assigned to specific project areas (called “holes”) for archaeological excavation, we were among the “leftovers” from the three campuses and were the last assigned. Our little group was truly international and fun-filled every hot and dusty day. It couldn’t have been better. MaryAnn and I married in 1972 after graduation.

MaryAnn and I have served in northwest Arkansas (wonderful people, stories and memories), northern Florida (great citrus and marvelous people), eastern North Carolina (serving some of the members I remembered and enjoyed from my time at NC State), West Virginia (intelligent and engaging members, and where our daughter was born), Chicago area churches (exciting times and people from all walks of life), Michigan (adapting to the challenges of rapidly evolving technologies), and finally Denver and Colorado Springs, CO (wonderfully talented members who helped adopt and adapt to all the changes in the church, technology, and society).

We have found the saints of God varied, engaging, and sometimes temperamental (but aren’t we all?) – their lives of faith in trials and joys always inspiring and uplifting; their endurance in life’s challenges well beyond those of the most accomplished public figures. God’s children are always humbling to know and behold. We count them among our greatest blessings in life!

While MaryAnn still works at the executive level of Lockheed Martin (ironic, since that was where I had hoped to develop my Aerospace career), we look forward to more international and domestic travel, new culinary delights at home, renewed engagement for me in Radio Controlled Aircraft building and flying (meaning more community involvement), renewed opportunities for entertaining at home, photography, videography, reading, writing, the Arts, community involvement (public speaking for me), some wide-ranging college classes and more.

We eagerly anticipate the gathering of all saints at Christ’s return, opening the real-time avenue of renewing relationships, exchanging stories, making new eternal friends and seeing the hidden potential of all mankind and nature finally beginning to be realized.

“Thank you” to our sisters, brothers, and friends around the world for their acceptance and encouragement. With God all things are possible!

Tim Snyder

Birth of Frankie Brandt

The following birth announcement is from Brittany and Alexander Brandt. Recently, Alexander was installed as the pastor of the Winnipeg congregation in Manitoba, Canada.

Congratulations! We are sharing in your joy at the birth of your first child.

Frankie Lynn Brandt was born late Wednesday night, October 12. She was 7 lbs and 19.5 inches long. She instantly became an incredible blessing to our family! She is a vivid reminder of the miracle of life and how incredibly we are loved by God.

Family Festival—Zimbabwe

For three days in August, Grace Communion Zimbabwe hosted our annual Family Festival and Conference. The celebrations utilized a blended approach. The first day was a virtual meeting on the WhatsApp platform. Days 2 and 3 were held in person in two locations: Bulawayo in the southern region and Harare in the northern region. These are Zimbabwe’s major regions.

Nearly 200 people gathered in both locations. Half the participants were children and youths. We were pleased to provide the young people with vibrant activities that focused on living and sharing the gospel through play.

We adopted the 2022 GCI theme for our celebration: Compelled by Love. We were guided by 2 Corinthians 5:14: “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died” (NIV). The festival program was composed of varied segments of preaching and workshops. One major highlight of the celebrations was the baptism of five people at the Bulawayo location.

By Marshall Dube

Devotional—Jesus Is Sending His Church

Editor’s Note: Our overarching theme for devotions during the five months of the liturgical calendar called Ordinary Time is Jesus is sending his church. Using Michael Frost’s B.E.L.L.S. acronym as a framework, the topics will relate to missional living.

bless others generously, in word and deed (July),
eat with others hospitably (August),
listen to the Spirit while engaging with others (September),
learn Jesus’ teachings as a disciple (October),
and, sent people share the good news with others (November)

What is your mission in life? How are you serving others? Regardless of what you do, Jesus Christ gives all his disciples a mission:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matt 28:19-20 NIV

God has given us many gifts and talents to worship him. I like to sing and play the piano. I used to think that singing was the way for me to preach to the world. But then I discovered that singing is just one of the ways I can express praise to God. It does not matter if I’m a talented musician if I am not living my life in a transformed way. It is not merely about how perfect the worship time is, but who I am in my day-by-day relationships.

When we surrender to God, every aspect of our lives can glorify God. God is the one who talks to our heart and gives us the correct words and decisions when things are difficult. We can use social media to reach others and have conversations about God. Apart from our lived example, social media is one of the most powerful ways for the church to continue. COVID brought something new – the reassurance that the church is not a place. We are the church. Let’s enjoy every opportunity to discuss our amazing Creator.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you that we are participants in your mission. Holy Spirit, empower us to use our gifts and talents to proclaim the kingdom of God. Thank you for your plan of salvation for humanity, for indeed we are lost without it. Amen.

By Juanka Barrero, Hope Avenue Champion
Communion de Gracia Internacional Bogota, Columbia

Successful Transitions in the Philippines

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

Greg Williams with the Filipino National Ministry Team

I recently had the pleasure of joining Dr. Eugene Guzon, many Filipino leaders, and the Asian Regional Directors in Manila for a historic week of meetings and events. Dr. Guzon and I have been working together for more than two years to move the Filipino governance from a Corporate-Sole model to a Board-Governed and National-Director-Led model. Mat Morgan and our Home Office Legal Department played a significant role in helping rewrite the bylaws for the Philippines and helping them through national registration modifications. The other significant milestone was recognizing and commissioning the four members of the National Ministry Team (NMT).

Settling out these significant changes took much time, prayer, and discussion from leaders on both sides of the pond. We arrived at a place where it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us. The story below from Dr. Guzon describes the details of what took place. From my perspective, I exhale a resounding hallelujah and amen!

I am excited and expectant about how the Lord moves in and through our new structure.

Greg

On September 25 – October 2, Greg Williams visited Manila for a series of strategic meetings with ministry leaders of GCI Philippines and the Asia region. The week ended on a high note with a face-to-face combined worship service – the first of its kind since the pandemic hit in 2020.

Ministry Meetings

Dr. Greg spent time with the Philippines’ National Ministry Team (NMT) to discuss organizational matters and ministry directions towards the pursuit of Healthy Church, with a focus on leadership transition planning at the national level.

He met the Faith, Hope, and Love Avenue teams of GC Crossway (Manila) for updates and coaching on the development of a Ministry Training Center (MTC). MTCs are part of GCI’s initiative for growing emerging leaders through strategic ministry equipping within the life of the church, in line with the Healthy Church vision.

Another key meeting was between Dr. Greg and the new seven-member Board of Trustees of GCI Philippines. The board members are (pictured at the top, left to right) Dr. Eugenio Guzon, Audie Santibanez, Jerome Manriquez, Romeo Pusta, Vicky Constantino, Dr. Ana Lasco, and Timoteo Sotalbo. All these board members are GCI elders in the Philippines. The formation of the board is a milestone as the Philippine National Office transitions to the legal status of a religious non-profit organization, following a two-year study in consultation with the Home Office, with the goal of providing a better legal and organizational platform for a team-based, elder-led ministry.

Dr. Greg also spent time with 70 leaders – Community of Practice (CoP), board members, district directors, pastors, and ministry workers from across the Philippines to help provide a deeper understanding of GCI’s vision, team-based leadership model and culture, and to give updates from other areas around the world.

Dr. Greg’s visit was an opportunity to convene the GCI Asia CoP, composed of Eugene Guzon, Wong Mein Kong, and Dan Zachariah. This meeting was also attended by Pastor Devaraj Ramoo and his wife, Parameswary, from GCI Malaysia, and Pastor Aron Tolentino of GCI Philippines. The discussions provided clarity and contextualization for the Healthy Church vision and guidance on plans for the region over the next few years.

Overall, these gatherings were edifying, timely, fruitful, and beyond expectations.

Combined Metro Manila Worship Service

On the last day of Dr. Greg’s visit, 605 members were in attendance for a face-to-face combined worship service in Metro Manila. Many more members were able to watch the service online. The sermon was about Jesus as our true foundation and our participation in the great commission through healthy Avenues of Faith, Hope, and Love. His message was very well received!

During the service, Dr. Greg commissioned the two team-based leadership bodies serving GCI Philippines: the Board of Trustees (named above) and the NMT composed of Rex dela Pena, Dr. Eugene Guzon, Audie Santibanez, and Aron Tolentino. Pastor Audie Santibanez, who serves as NMT team member and Metro Manila District Director, was also commissioned as Deputy National Director.

It was a joyful culmination to a meaningful week, and a celebration of God’s continuing faithfulness to GCI in the Philippines and the rest of Asia.

By Eugene Guzon
Asia Superintendent and Philippines National Director

Devotional – Let Christ’s Message Fill Your Life

bless others generously, in word and deed (July),
eat with others hospitably (August),
listen to the Spirit while engaging with others (September),
learn Jesus’ teachings as a disciple (October),
and, sent people share the good news with others (November)

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. Colossians 3:16 NLT

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

Jesus, being the ultimate teacher, involves us and invites us to participate in the life of his church and his ministry. Col 3:16 starts with “Let,” as in permit. Participation with Christ is a choice – our choice.

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.” I love this translation: Let the word be at home in your heart.

Home is where we wear pajamas and no makeup; where we relax and share our hearts’ desires and innermost fears with those closest to us. Inviting the word to be at home in our hearts is not much different. We spend lots of time together, but there are no formalities. As I heard one pastor amusingly describe it, we invite the word into the family room (not the formal living room), we put our feet up on the coffee table, we watch Netflix, and we eat cereal together!

This is not disrespectful. It’s merely the casualness and intimacy that comes from knowing someone well and regularly hanging out in God’s word.

“Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” There are few things that revive the soul quite like good praise and worship music. It can move me to tears. I’ve been known to listen to a great song on repeat for – well, a long time!

There are also few things that bring joy to the soul quite like gratitude. Several years ago, I committed to writing a short daily gratitude entry for fifty days. I ended up looking for ‘gratitude opportunities’ all day long, and the side effect of these fifty short daily writings was life changing. Even in the mess of daily life, my heart was full as I looked for the positives.

So, how can we be involved and participate in the life of Christ? I’m pretty sure it starts with these two things in Col 3:16 – we put the words of God into our life, and we put the worship of God with gratitude into our life.

Prayer:
Lord, I invite your word into my heart and mind.
Holy Spirit, please flood my soul with your word.
Let me be saturated with your word of truth and get to know you more and more each day.
I want to know you, and be known by you, so I can participate in your love.
Let me love others like you love us.
Lord, I praise you and give thanks for all your good and wonderful blessings.
In Jesus name, amen.

By Gillian Houghton
GCI Canadian Board Chair

GCI Buzz—Place-sharing

This GCI Buzz describes place-sharing and provides examples. #gcibuzz

Click the image below to check out the full PDF.

Community Event – St. Michael, MN, US

Jon Arnold, pictured with his wife, Carey

One year ago, our congregation began meeting in St. Michael, MN. Formerly, we were located in Champlin and felt that Jesus was calling us to a new location to join with him in the ministry and work that he is already doing in the St. Michael community. We rent a banquet hall in the St. Michael movie theater. Unless you go to a Sunday movie or do a Google search specifically looking for us, you wouldn’t know we exist.

We were hoping to change that by introducing ourselves more broadly to the greater community by participating in the community’s Family & Youth City Connection (FYCC) street fair on September 10. This is a fundraising opportunity for the FYCC where businesses and organizations set up booths along the street and offer some activities or prizes for kids. The community comes out and can learn about the different businesses and organizations who paid to participate.

At our booth, we had a spinner wheel where kids had the possibility of winning a sucker, a fidget spinner, or the grand prize – a miniature oil paint painting set with a back-boarded canvas. We also had a face painting station for the kids.

For adults, we gave the opportunity to enter their names into a drawing to win one of two gift cards to the movie theater where we meet or one gift card to each of the two nearby gas stations. While the kids were participating in the activities and adults were entering the drawing, we talked a little about who we were and passed out flyers about our congregation.

God blessed us with a breathtakingly beautiful day. I would appreciate prayers for the seeds that were sown at this event. If there is anyone that stopped by who could be helped by participating in our congregation, pray that God would work in their lives to help them be comfortable to take the steps to visit us.

By Jon Arnold

Women of Faith Retreat – South Africa

August 9 is Women’s Day in South Africa. We thought it a good time to have our first post-COVID women’s retreat around that date.

From beginning to end, the event was marked by a very palpable need for communing with one another and several emotional encounters happened where we could share in one another’s grief and minister with great compassion. Since we last saw each other, many of us lost loved ones, jobs, businesses, and others suffered natural disasters. All that hurt and grief came to the surface, and we were grateful to God that he made this retreat possible.

The topics chosen by the various speakers from different church areas also leaned into the mood of things and one got the feeling that, “It Can Only Be God!” That was also the theme for the retreat.

We had pastor Carolyna Katengeza from GC Malawi as a guest speaker, and she really blessed us with her presence and her message.

Activities at the retreat were early morning devotions hosted by different regions and one could hear them singing in the chapel at around 6:00 a.m. as a signal for all to come. We had an African-themed day and a gala dinner as the grand finale. The staff at Aruka really pulled out all the stops and made every experience memorable.

We had about 60 ladies in attendance with most regions in the country represented. Those who could not make it, sent their greetings via video messaging.

One of the most special activities we had was a clothes exchange! Each one brought clothing items in good condition that they do not need or want anymore. We displayed these and everyone went looking for what they want or need. Whatever was left was donated to the needy. This was such a feel-good activity and very helpful.

It was very hard to leave the place at the end of the retreat and it made the promise of the next one even sweeter.

By Margaret Musekwa
Webmaster for GCI Solid Rock Church in Riviera, Republic of South Africa

Back-to-School Event – Queens, NY, US

New Life in Christ, the GCI congregation in Queens, New York City, conducted its annual Back-to-School event during the last weekend of July and focused community engagement into August. We distributed 300 backpacks (more than double any previous year), reaching hundreds of households in its home neighborhood of Richmond Hill, Queens. (Our community of Richmond Hill is one of the most diverse communities in the most diverse borough of a very diverse city.)

The backpack distribution event and cookout took place on Saturday, July 30, followed by a special Sunday Service attended by some of our outreach guests. The message, “Rich Towards God,” focused on the liberation Christ offers from the burdens that society seeks to impose.

The congregation used the month of August to focus on effective follow-up steps and deeper community engagement. On August 13, the congregation also joined with a community partner, The River Fund, as a sponsor and as volunteers. The River Fund is a non-profit focused on combatting poverty and its effects on families, with its back-to-school/food outreach for thousands of families in our greater community.

The total effort, which involved nearly every active member and ministry of the congregation, was implemented in the process of refining each of our Hope, Love, and Faith Avenues to facilitate the Spirit’s ongoing transformation of our congregation’s heart to better align with the missional imagination of Christ for our community. Members took time to design special mugs, prayer cards, and encouragement for students and teachers. Our hospitality team crafted a special cookout experience for all our guests.

Our Love Avenue team (driven by our Women’s Ministry) began this outreach and engagement process in the spring with our ambitious plan in prayer to reach hundreds of households in the community and distribute that many backpacks. This year, we especially focused on enhancing the guest experience and follow-up steps rather than merely putting on an event. Our guiding principle was Christ’s admonition, “One Thing is Needed” from Luke 10: focus on the presence of Christ, focus on the guests. This involved concentrated planning, including equipping a team that focused on welcoming guests, praying where feasible, and embracing opportunities to present our congregation. We wanted our members to express confidence in the power of their short stories of faith and encouragement.

About half of our guests pre-registered for the event through our social media channels. So, we had a good sense of who would be coming, their circumstances, and some prayer concerns. We also prepared for the engagement process (as part of community exegesis) by attending community meetings, visiting businesses and schools, and engaging local law enforcement.

We are joining with Christ’s enduring mission for spiritual, physical, and emotional transformation in our multi-racial, multi-ethnic community in forming lasting relationships in genuine place sharing. We recognize that incarnational engagement is not “extra,” but a very part of our own identity as disciples of Christ. In line with the biblical admonitions, “let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18), so that we are able “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18).

By John Newsom, Pastor

Author: Elizabeth Mullins