On August 28, Grace Family Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Elkhart, Indiana, celebrated their 50th anniversary. GCI president Joseph Tkach was present, along with district pastor Sam Butler, Elkhart senior pastor David Howe, current members and several guests.
In the video below, Dr. Joseph Tkach and Dr. Dan Rogers discuss why church planting is an important part of GCI’s participation in God’s mission.
This video may also be viewed on the GCI Church Development site on YouTube at http://youtu.be/3skseWKm4IA
On August 28, Pastor Jon Pairitz was commissioned as the new senior pastor of the GCI congregation in Michigan City, Indiana. The commissioning ceremony was conducted by district pastor Sam Butler, accompanied by GCI president, Dr. Joseph Tkach.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since that awful day we remember as 9/11. All of us old enough to have experienced it remember where we were and what we were doing as the tragic events unfolded. On that fateful morning, the World Trade Center Towers had been destroyed, the Pentagon had been attacked, and another airliner with many passengers had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 innocent people lost their lives in these coordinated and brutal acts of terrorism. And many more thousands were left grieving the loss of their loved ones – emotional scars they still bear to this day.
I didn’t personally lose anyone in the 9/11 tragedy. But I felt as if I had. And even those of us who were far removed from the horror knew that life would never be the same again. And it hasn’t been, has it?
We saw both sides of human nature. In the aftermath of the ruthless cruelty of the terrorists we began to hear many stories of courage and self-sacrifice. Heroism side by side with evil: the contrast and contradiction is hard to understand. But it reminds us that we are, when all is said and done, made in the image of God. And it is through the person and work of Jesus, the Son of God incarnate who has taken our evil upon himself, that ultimate healing will come. So, though evil continues, in faith we look to the day when all this horror will be just a distant memory. And as his followers, we seek to share in what he is doing.
However, this Sunday the horrors of 9/11 will not be a distant memory for many thousands of people. So I want to ask our congregations to be sure to remember them in our prayers this weekend. And if you, personally, know someone who lost a loved one, or whose life was shattered by those events ten years ago, why not call them, or send them a personal note? Let them know that they are not forgotten and that you are praying for them.
In the last Weekly Update, I noted the destruction caused by Hurricane Irene. We learned this week that some of our members in the U.S. experienced significant damage to their homes. Among them were GCI Pastor Al Nelson and his wife Arlene, who live in Vermont. Irene left 17 inches of water standing on the first floor of their home. Also, two of their vehicles were destroyed. Insurance covers the vehicles but not the house. They are seeking financial help through FEMA. Al’s brothers are helping him rebuild. Al figures that the house won’t be back to normal for six months. In the meantime, he presses on in serving the congregation that he pastors. Please pray for Al and Arlene and others affected by this tragedy.
In this issue, we share exciting news about our new church plant in Los Angeles. We also feature a video of a discussion I had with Dan Rogers concerning the importance of church planting for GCI. Also check out reports on the 50th anniversary of our Elkhart, IN congregation, the commissioning of John Pairitz as the new senior pastor in our Michigan City, IN congregation, and the Caribbean Women’s Conference.
Let us, in prayer, fight together the good fight of faith. Please join me in praying for several mentioned this week (see the links under Prayer and Updates).
Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach
The following announcement and request is from Gary Moore, GCI-Canada National Director.
Canadian pastor Dennis Lawrence will be going on disability on September 15 due to continuing health struggles. This is, of course, a big and emotional step for Dennis, who has served for 37 years in pastoral ministry.
A celebration of his ministry will be held on September 10. If you have benefited from Dennis’ ministry, we encourage you to email a note to his wife Lynn (Egbert) Lawrence. She will see that it is given to Dennis as part of the celebration. Lynn’s email address is lynnegbert@yahoo.com.
Thanks for your prayers for Dennis and Lynn.
Last time, we reported on a new GCI satellite congregation being planted in Los Angeles. Here is a follow-up from pastor Heber Ticas (pictured at right):
We held a preview worship service on August 28. God is amazingly awesome – 126 people attended, including 43 adults and 11 kids not connected with the San Fernando “mother” church! An additional six people attended from our Santa Fe Springs church. During the service, ten people confessed faith in Christ in response to an altar call.
All our expectations for the event were surpassed by far. It was encouraging to see members from San Fernando who live in Los Angeles demonstrate a commitment to the new congregation by attending the evening service. The team did a phenomenal job getting word out and inviting friends and family. We now have five different homes where we are holding follow-up Bible studies.
Overall, the preview was a total success (see pictures below). Excitement and momentum keeps building. We have our second preview service on September 25. If we have a similar response, I may decide to launch the new congregation in October. We continue to solicit your prayers.
Here is an update from Marj Friddle who continues to recover from her recent cancer surgery:
I am feeling better. Today, [August 7] for the first time I have felt more like I did before the surgery. I am weak but that also seems to be a little better today. The infected area is coming along but it is going to take a while for this to heal because it is 5 centimeters deep. A home health care nurse comes each day to clean and dress the area. The nurses have taught me how to connect the antibiotic infusion device to the line in my arm so I can do that myself. That is done once a day and it takes about an hour and a half. This has to be done for 10 days, blood work will be done and medication adjusted or changed as indicated by the blood work. The home health care nurses have been excellent. The one today was superb – very kind and compassionate. Thank you for your prayers (they need to continue) and your love.
My love to everyone,
Marj
The standard teaching curriculum for GCI Generations Ministries (GenMin) camps this summer is titled Living Loved. GenMin is pleased to make this curriculum available to congregations for use as a series of sermons, discipleship classes or Bible Studies.
Related downloads are as follows:
Congratulations to first time grandparents Scott Wertz (a long time employee at GCI’s home office) and his wife Barbara! Their granddaughter, Emily Lorraine Wertz, was born on August 25. She is doing fine, as are her mother Dorothy Stephan-Wertz and her father Scott Wertz Jr.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Hurricane Irene has left a long trail of destruction and death through the Caribbean and along the U.S. East coast into Canada. Initial reports from Charles Fleming indicate that our members in Haiti and the Bahamas suffered only minimal damage, and so far our U.S. district pastors are reporting that our members along the East Coast were also spared the worst, though some members had to evacuate their homes, and are experiencing continuing power outages.
We are united in support and prayer for all those affected by the storm who are grieving the death of loved ones and enduring the loss of property.
Even in the midst of tragedy and pain, life moves on. This week we celebrate with Scott and Barbara Wertz the birth of their first grandchild (Scott is a long time employee in our Glendora home office) and rejoice in milestone anniversaries of our Exeter, England and Salt Lake City, Utah churches.
Once again we’re reminded that life continually brings both tragedy and celebration. In both, we look to God’s promises to use all of life’s circumstances for our ultimate good.
Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith.
Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach
