The following prayer update is from GCI pastor Martin Manuel concerning his grandson Jason Richards. For an earlier update, click here.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Jason Richards. He continues to be a miracle child and testimony of God’s grace.
Jason was released from Seattle Children’s Hospital recently. While there, his doctors adjusted one of his medicines and added another due to a recent event that led to an inability to receive night feedings through his nasal tube. As a result, he was suffering from diarrhea. We asked for prayer specifically about these problems, and they were answered! Jason received daily night feeds and the diarrhea stopped. Already he has started to gain weight!
Our level of knowledge and understanding does not enable us to see how a stroke followed by cardiac arrest can result in improvement. We know that normally they don’t. In fact, normally the percentage of recoveries from cardiac arrest in hospitals is 50% at best. The Lord is batting 1000 with Jason! God did not cause Jason’s stroke; we did – of course not deliberately. When I say “we” it includes all humans who are part of the process – doctors, nurses, employees of pharmaceutical companies and all other caregivers. We do our best most of the time. Occasionally, we drop the ball. But our God in His mercy hears our prayers and acts on our behalf to turn our mistakes into blessings (remember Joseph in Egypt).
Our God – Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit – loves each of us and faithfully answers our prayers. And I believe it is a special joy in heaven when so many are praying fervently together out of compassion and love. Many of you sent e-mail notes of encouragement in response to our prayer request. I am sorry that time does not allow a response to each. But we deeply appreciate the notes and prayers. This has been a rough journey, to put it mildly. You have given us a lot of support along the way. Jason is progressing toward a heart transplant. He and his parents will continue to need your prayers all the way and beyond. We will keep you posted.
Hallelujah to our wonderful God! Thanks again to each of you.
We are saddened to announce the death of Byron Duke who died unexpectedly on Monday afternoon at age 62.
Byron grew up in Pasadena, CA where he attended Imperial Schools and then graduated from Ambassador College in 1971. In recent years he served as the treasurer in the GCI congregation in Joplin, MO. Byron is survived by his wife Sharyon, his son Brandon, his daughter Sharby, his parents James and Claire Duke, his brothers Russell and Warren Duke and his sister Kay Overstreet (for a longer obituary, go to http://www.ferryfuneralhome.com/view.php?view=1857).
A memorial service will be held for Byron on January 6 at 2:00 p.m. at the Ferry Funeral Home, 301 South Washington in Nevada, MO.
The family deeply appreciates your prayers. Cards may be sent to:
Sharyon Duke
431 E. Minnesota St.
Nevada, MO 64772
In 2012, the GCI U.S. Ministry Development Team will continue to provide Transformational Church consulting services. To read about those services, click here (see under “consulting services” in the right-hand column). To hear from a GCI pastor and his wife concerning the value of these services, watch the video below. If you would like to arrange for these services in your congregation, phone Church Administration and Development at 800.574.2299.
This report is from Living Christian Fellowship member Paul Hailey.
Pastor Dee Bulante leads in prayer
Living Faith Christian Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Portland, OR, has about 30 members. We meet adjacent to King City, a senior (55 and older) community with about 1600 residents. Since most of our members are of this age group, it made sense to us to make King City our primary focus for outreach.
With guidance from Pastor Dee Bulante, we began sponsoring events at the King City club house with the goals of serving the community and making our presence known. In December 2010 we held a Community Christmas Celebration. In the summer of 2011 we sponsored a seminar on overcoming grief. Then this last December, we held our second Community Christmas Celebration.
We paid to advertise the event to all 1400 homes in King City. We hired a professional three-piece band to play Christmas music, invited the local King City Music Club to sing carols, asked a local singer to lead in a sing-along, and invited a King City resident who previously performed with notables such as Danny Kaye and Red Skelton to sing a solo.
The one and a half hour program went smoothly. About 90 people attended. Pastor Dee Bulante served as emcee, introducing the performers and giving a short message focusing on the love of God expressed through the person of Jesus Christ—love not just for Christians, but for all people. He commented:
We share time with family and loved ones because God has shared time with us through Jesus…. We exchange gifts to one another because God has given us the ultimate gift of Jesus…. We sing songs of warmth and merriment because of the peace and joy that wells up in our souls, expressing thanks to the baby born who is our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Several “amens” were heard from the audience as he spoke, and some appeared to be on the verge of tears as they were reminded of God’s love.
We feel the event was a smashing success. Some attendees asked where we meet for church, and a few took copies of Odyssey magazine. Many gave comments expressing their gratitude:
You outdid yourselves this year…. Everything looks so beautiful…. Thank you for the delicious food…. We had a wonderful time…. I came primarily for the Christmas music, but was pleasantly surprised with the food served and the whole program. I appreciated the message as well. It gave me a different perspective about Christmas…. I really am glad I came today for the whole program, the food and the people. Nice pastor, didn’t talk too long, but got the message out.
We have learned how a small congregation can reach out to the community. It takes prayer and hard work, but it is worth the effort. We plan to hold two King City outreach events in 2012 – possibly a seminar on aging gracefully and definitely another Community Christmas Celebration.
The following report is from Lee Berger who directs the GenMin Crossing Borders mission team.
We returned recently from a mission trip to Mexico to deliver shoe box gifts. In several ways it was the most challenging of the 13 mission trips we have made into Mexico since 2005.
From churches and other groups across the U.S. we received almost 600 shoe boxes full of gifts, together with personally-knitted baby blankets, handmade pillows, infant supplies, custom-carved wooden cars, several boxes of nice shoes, bags of good clothing and other items. Finding space in the vehicles to transport these items across the border was both a challenge and a blessing.
Carol Meyer from Kansas City donated copies of “Project Renewal” (in Spanish), a book she authored about recovery from abuse (a common problem in Mexico). Truett Seminary at Waco University donated 100 books for training pastors. Generous cash donations allowed us to purchase many other needed gifts and resources for the pastors and ministry leaders with whom we partner in Mexico.
Pedro Orduno and van
Our crossing into Mexico from Laredo, Texas on Saturday started well with visits to two churches to sing Christmas songs, teach about the birth of Jesus and hand out the shoe box gifts. However, it was raining hard and both of our team’s vans got stuck axle deep in mud at the second church. A tow truck was called but it got stuck too. Then the host pastor’s van and another vehicle got stuck. While some worked outside to free the vans, the rest of the Crossing Borders mission team and local church members prayed and visited inside the unheated church. Two young men who lived in nearby houses (we thought of them as our “Mexican angels”) worked hard to help pull out a couple of the vans. After four hours struggling in the cold rain and slippery mud, a truck from the fire department arrived to free the vehicles.
Our final stop of the day was supposed to be lunch served at the children’s home. Instead, it was supper. Soaking wet and cold in our muddy clothes, we visited with the kids for an hour and a half, distributed shoe boxes and provided the meal. Now well past dark, we headed back across the border to warm showers and our own dinner, thankful for the experiences and inspired by the patient and willing spirit exhibited by all. We had hand-distributed about 300 shoe boxes and left the remainder of the boxes in the hands of two of our Mexican ministry partners who delivered them to churches further inland.
I (Lee Berger), my mother Jean Berger, and Steve and Barbara Solari were scheduled to catch a flight the next day (Sunday) to Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, to take gifts to Karen Salinas and her 17 foster children. This was the first time we had ventured into interior Mexico. Once again, we encountered unexpected challenges. Our flight was cancelled on Sunday due to bad weather (no radar at the local airport), and then cancelled again on Monday.
In the meantime, we made ourselves useful assisting pastor Raymundo Rendon and his wife, Lisa. The Rendon’s kitchen stove (which they use to cook food for various feeding ministries) had stopped working. So we went stove shopping and also bought the Rendons a new set of tires to replace the unsafe dry-rotted ones on Pastor Ray’s car. Lee and Steve made a hospital visit with Pastor Ray one afternoon and prayed for a Mexican government official they had met on the previous summer trip. The group provided babysitting for the Rendons so Ray and Lisa could have a rare night out for their wedding anniversary. There was much brainstorming about ways the Crossing Borders mission team can assist Ray with ministry needs in the future.
Praying for the children (Lee Berger at left, Barbara and Steve Solari at right)
On Tuesday, the weather was bad again, so we took the commercial bus to Victoria. We arrived in Victoria at about midnight, and Karen and several of the older children visited with us into the wee hours of the morning. We then had a busy day on Wednesday at Karen’s home, visiting with her foster children and hosting a party to deliver the gifts we had brought, including a bilingual Bible for each child. We prayed for each child and several gave moving testimonials. It is difficult to describe the close bonds we feel for these lovely children being brought up in the nurture of the Lord. Thursday was filled with playing with the kids and restocking the foster home with supplies purchased with donations from many supporters.
After an event-filled and challenging trip, we returned to Laredo on Friday and everyone was back home in the U.S. by Saturday, thanking God for an amazing trip full of unexpected obstacles that led to many wonderful opportunities to serve others on mission with God. We are now looking forward to our next mission trip to Mexico in June 2012. You can learn more about it at http://www.cbmission.org/.
“Going on short-term mission trips has changed me. I now see my whole life as a mission field. I now see my school as a mission field where I have the opportunity to make the Kingdom visible to my friends and classmates. We all have opportunities like this. The question is this: Do we dare to take them? Short-term mission trips are like a training ground to live the Gospel everywhere in our lives.”
This statement is from a young GCI member who has participated in some of Generations Ministries’ short-term mission trips. GenMin invites you (along with others from your church), to join one of these inspiring short-term mission trips in 2012. GenMin is hosting several trips next year to the following locations: Cincinnati, Ohio (urban mission), Mexico, South Africa and India.
Adults and older teens will greatly benefit from one of these trips. They are physically challenging, yet they yield great spiritual rewards – helping participants to become more fully missional in their outlook and lifestyle. Fundamental to these trips is the understanding that being missional is not about a small compartment of one’s life. Rather, it’s a lifestyle that is expressive of God’s own nature – the God who is a sending God – who, as an expression of his love, sends his Son on mission to the world through the Holy Spirit. A short-term mission trip is an excellent way to “jump in” and begin living “sent” in every aspect of one’s life.
For more information about GenMin short-term mission trips, you may email Anthony Mullins (anthony.mullins@gci.org) or visit individual GenMin short-term mission websites:
We are saddened to announce the death of Robert McAlexander, associate pastor in Eugene and Oakridge, OR. He died on December 3. His death was unexpected and, at this point, the cause is unknown. Robert, who was 62 years old, is survived by his wife Kathleen. Please keep her and the rest of the family in your prayers.
Cards and letters can be sent to:
Kathleen McAlexander
P.O. Box 7642
Springfield, OR 97475
GCI media announces the posting of a new 2-part Dimensions in Ministry interview with Steve Elliott concerning pastoral coaching. Steve, who was a guest speaker at the 2011 U.S. regional conferences, is president of Church Assistance Ministry, an organization providing training and coaching to church leadership.
On November 1 GCI Pastor Neil Earle and his wife Susan were invited to set up a “400 Years of the King James Version” display at the Duarte, California Public Library.
The display features two large impressive Bibles. One, a family Bible dated 1898, is on loan from Phyllis and Russell Duke. A 1770 German Bible is on loan from Susie Albrecht. Other items on display are on loan from Joseph Tkach and Curtis May.
Many gratifying comments have been received, pictures taken for the local newspaper, and the library requested that the display be left a while longer. Now, officials from the Duarte Museum are making space available to set up the display there as a temporary exhibit.
We are saddened to announce the death of Dennis Lawrence, a GCI pastor in Montreal Canada. The following announcement is from Dennis’ wife, Lynn Lawrence:
To all our wonderful church family across Canada and the world,
It is with great sadness that I share with you that my husband, Dennis Lawrence, lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday evening, December 7. Although Dennis’ health had been declining slowly, he was home and reasonably independent up until the Wednesday before his death; even attending a pastors’ meeting of churches in the area we have our services in Montreal. The change between Wednesday and Thursday was dramatic and he entered a hospice center on Friday. During the last few days of his life Dennis was surrounded almost continually by his whole immediate family, including my mother and his sister, and we were able to be there with him as he drew his last breath.
It would be impossible to summarize the last 37 years in ministry, but I know he loved it, and all the people he had the privilege of working with and for. He loved the people God gave him the chance to serve.
It is also impossible to adequately express our appreciation for not only the thousands of you who prayed for him, but also the hundreds that took the time to tell us, some repeatedly, that you were praying regularly for Dennis’ healing and peace. All that prayer and love held us up often during his 20-month illness. Please share with your churches how very much we appreciated all the cards, letters and facebook/email messages of love and encouragement. Dennis will be greatly missed by all of us, I know.
-Lynn
Note: you can send Lynn notes of condolence by using the “add a comment” feature below, by emailing them to lynnegbert@yahoo.com, or by sending them to:
Lynn Lawrence
211 De L’ile Blvd
Pincourt, PQ J7V 3R6
CANADA
