Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Camp Director Paul David Kurts sent this recap of Higher Ground 2009:
At Higher Ground 2009, campers not only heard the message of God’s unconditional love for everyone and the life we all share with the Father, Son and Spirit, but they witnessed it also. Seventy staff members from a dozen different church backgrounds served 140 campers and showed how Christians from all denominations can work together, recognizing their shared identity as children of God.
Based on last year’s camper feedback, the chapel messages addressed the reality of the camper’s lives by featuring stories of men and women in the Bible who encountered God and were used by God in spite of their imperfections, age and social status. The chapel theme was “Real Life, Real People, Real Good News.”
Camp activities including dodge ball, paintball, high ropes, water polo, disk golf, and arts & crafts. To foster team spirit and build family bonds, dorm members participated in activities together and sometimes would compete against another dorm. Evenings featured special events such as a talent show, camp dance, praise and worship concert, a magic show and the ever-popular Camo Night. On the last night, each dorm had its own campfire and fireside chat. It was a time to share their thoughts for the week, encourage one another, and ask questions of counselors and guests.
Jeff McSwain from Reality Ministries in Raleigh visited the camp on Friday to observe how we reach out to young people in the light of who they already are in Jesus. He was very excited about what we are doing and may consider partnering with us next year or running his own camp at the same location.
Higher Ground 2009 filled up in record time. Based on early registrations for 2010, we expect next summer’s camp to fill up even faster. Higher Ground offers a $75 discount for registrations received by August 31. The camp website is www.carolinacamp.com.
Jay Richie, Pathways Camp Director, sent this update:
This year Pathways Camp was blessed to have our best camp experience ever for campers and staff alike nestled in the beautiful hills of Jackson, Ohio during the week of July 18–24.
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This year we had 118 campers, 13 mini-campers and 58 staffers gather to worship God, have fun, learn social skills, and learn more about our life in Jesus. We used the Narnia-themed curriculum, which proved to be a powerful message that the kids could understand and get excited about.
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Aside from our normal activities, we were able to participate in an outreach event one afternoon – without ever leaving the facility. We worked with the Jackson County Family Services Division and arranged to have 21 kids between the ages of 7-14 attend camp for a few hours. We had staff there to help out, but we put most of the work of running a block-party style of events on the capable shoulders of our Senior Campers. It was simply awesome to see and feel the love of Jesus flowing out of our campers and into the lives of those other children.
South Africa
From Gary Moore:
Last weekend at the South African board meeting I was able to pass along some sports equipment donated by the Vancouver congregation for use at the South African summer camp. It was great getting the news this week from Dennis Thibault that the Castlegar, B.C., congregation has decided to fund the travel of our national ministry leader in Zambia to each congregation in that country. Their generosity will be deeply appreciated.
The first photo is the passing on of the sports equipment, and the second is proof that I really am in Africa. We had the chance to interact with African elephants weighing in at 4.5 tons. They are pretty impressive animals.
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Prayer Requests and Updates
Bangladesh
From John Biswas:
You are all aware that it is difficult to share Christ’s message of hope in fundamentalist Islamic Bangladesh. More than 150 million people are living in a space smaller than Iowa. Muslims constitute 90 percent of the population, Hindus 9 percent, and 1 percent are Christians, Buddhist and others.
Sadly, two week ago fanatics attacked and badly damaged our Bangladesh mission center. They numbered about 19 to 20 people. They entered the mission compound carrying homemade firearms and have first broken the security walls. They also broke doors, windows and threatened our people. They vandalized the clinic casting out medicines and supplies, plus our books, Bibles and Christian literature and other materials.
Some of the BEA gospel workers tried to save mission property, but they were chased and threatened by the attackers. We thank God that none of the gospel workers were hurt except for some minor wounds. Our people have calculated that from this incident, the Mission Center has incurred a loss of more than $3,000.00 damage.
Despite all this and the persecution of our little Christian outpost, our BEA brave gospel workers take it as a challenge to work for Christ, even though they are persecuted and disturbed from time to time.
The BEA gospel workers are helped and encouraged by your continued prayers and support. By God’s grace they remain strong and dedicated to his work. They do firmly believe that our Savior the Lord Christ saves at every step while they share his message to the people of darkness. They earnestly seek your kind prayers in their efforts.
From Brian Spurgeon:
The Spurgeon family would like to thank everyone who has been praying for Dosha Spurgeon. She went to be with the Lord at 8:50 pm Tuesday evening. Our great Lord chose to give her fullness of life with him in his eternal kingdom.
We are grateful for the time that God blessed us with this wonderful woman of God. She has been such an inspiration to so many with her kindness, patience understanding and love. We miss her deeply, but we know that she is in a better place, and that through the power of Jesus our family will go on united in love and moving forward to the crown of life that we are all waiting for.
We would deeply appreciate your continued prayers as there are so many children and grandchildren who have been affected by her passing on. The dynamics in our family are affected by this change. We love you so very much and treasure the kind words and thoughts that we receive from you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Cards may be sent to:
The Spurgeon Family
2276 Huntington Drive #228
San Marino, CA 91108
Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.
A new showing of the art of Basil Wolverton is currently on display in New York’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery until Aug 14. The link is: 
We were all looking forward to getting together – it had been some time. The first day, Saturday June 20, was hosted at Ballymoney’s regular church hall. This enabled members, many of whom are elderly and could only attend one day, to sample the flavor and more relaxed atmosphere of a retreat. The Ballymoney ladies, renowned for their catering skills, enhanced the occasion by preparing a delicious lunchtime spread for the 45 attendees on that day. Over the course of the weekend around 60 people participated in the event.
The theme for the weekend, perhaps recognized and recited by us all since childhood, was “The Lord’s Prayer.” Though viewed by Christians as a simple outline or rote mantra, our mentors Messrs. James Henderson and David Stirk, with enlisted helpers – we, the audience – examined and amplified every nuance of each word and verse over the two-day period. By Sunday evening, we had, only just scratched the surface of this profound passage of Scripture. A quote taken from Deacon Will Linton’s Retreat program put it this way, “Rather than a prayer to be repeated, the Lord’s Prayer is more like a magnificent house to explore.”
My mum, Annie Darlison, arrived home from a Chest Heart & Stroke activity recently with a big smile on her face. She had been presented with 2 trophies, one gold to keep permanently and one silver, her name engraved on them both. We knew she was good at bowling but we didn’t know she was that good! We were pleased for her to have won the CHS bowling competition. She was the first woman in five years to do so.
We have successfully concluded Northern Light Summer Camp in Lanesboro, Minnesota. There were 26 campers and 18 staff members.
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A week or so ago my dad had a fall resulting in a serious head injury and a broken hip. He was operated on, and survived that, but he died peacefully in his sleep, at 4 a.m. this morning. I will be preparing the services with my youngest brother and a catholic priest to honor my dad. He reached the age of 93 years, and we are thankful for that.
Church Multiplication Ministries has developed Church Next Training, a training event focused on the key principles and skills necessary for starting and sustaining new, Christ-centered, disciple-making congregations. These principles are also relevant for helping established churches continue to grow in ministry effectiveness and in developing environments that produce new churches.
I returned from Zimbabwe two days ago. The visit went very well and I was able to see members in Chitungwiza, Harare, Domoboshawva, Chegutu, and Bulawayo. I spoke at a combined worship service in Chitungwiza, where members from most Zimbabwean congregations attended. Most of them are well. In recent past, we made prayer requests for Zimbabwe and on behalf of our Zimbabwean brethren. Thanks for your prayers. This is a prayer update.
Members are looking forward to the upcoming Family Festival in October. The youth are planning a national youth career guidance camp August 18-23. Pastor Joseph Mpofu, Zimbabwe National Ministry Leader, is conducting a Ministerial Trainee Program every quarter for interested people. Joe Mpofu has been visiting Zimbabwean congregations and has really put in a lot of effort to rekindle the fire among members.
Church members, families and guests from Florida and Georgia gathered in Jacksonville, Florida, for a two-day Reconciliation Workshop June 27-28. The seminar was presented by ORM (Office of Reconciliation Ministries) director Curtis May, who was accompanied by his wife Jannice.
This year’s youth camp in Bacolod May 30 to June 2 kicked off the theme, “Breaking Barriers,” by focusing on Romans 15:1-15. Sixty-five spiritual lives were renewed and energized. The campers were grouped into levels instead of dorms. There were 36 campers for Levels 1 and 2, comprised mostly of first-timers, 20 members of Level 3 (facilitators); and 4 kiddy campers.
The camp was not just filled with fun and educational activities, it was also a nature trip, embracing and adoring the Lord’s enchantingly picturesque creation! The campers had an adventurous two-kilometer trek to the Hidden Valley and had time to meditate at the Pine Tree Farm.
The Church in South Africa has launched a new bi-monthly magazine, Face to Face (F2F). It will be sent initially to all members and coworkers in South Africa, but the plan is to expand circulation to include nominal Christians and unchurched people. F2F replaces the African edition of the Worldwide News, which was primarily for members. F2F will focus on mission and outreach, making Christianity relevant to Africans as they go about their lives, incorporating our new understanding of Trinitarian theology.
June 7 was another eventful day not the least of which was Kaye and my fortieth wedding anniversary. But this event was made more thrilling and memorable with our daughter, Janna’s wedding. Her wedding was smaller and the setting was our side yard. Janna and Nate were so pleased to have an outdoor wedding. The speed of their wedding was similar to the speed of Kaye and my wedding back in 1969, proposal in late April and wedding in June. Short planning times aren’t recommended, but the wedding was beautiful. We are thrilled to embrace Nate as a part of our family. And lastly I spent time preparing for retirement after 40 years coming in late June.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
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As part of our Spiritual Enrichment Program, daily chapel messages focused on analogies and lessons from C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as dramatized by a recent Disney film. Teens and pre-teens were able to reflect on what Jesus does for them through this unique teaching tool. At the conclusion of camp, the young people were encouraged to speak with their pastors in their home churches about giving their lives to Jesus and following that up with baptism.
In a recent email from our ministry partner in Faisalabad, Dr. Muqaddam Zia, he mentioned that the fighting between the Pakistan military and the Taliban has created a huge exodus of refugees from the Swat, Dir, Buneer and Malakund regions of northwestern Pakistan. Dr. Zia wrote,
In the meantime, the Alpha Bible Church, Dr. Zia’s primary congregation, has planted four more congregations in the Punjab Province in the last month, including one in a village near Jaranwala city. Twenty-four new believers have been baptized.
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s but not financial. He was understanding and not offended. He earnestly asked me to visit Kalaymyo to speak to the elders, leaders and students from all their various congregations. They generally have no training and little experience, and need further training and teaching for the growth of their Churches of God, Myanmar. He feels they would greatly benefit from a seminar or conference if we hold it for them. He told me there are now regular flights between Yangon and Kalaymyo and many foreign tourists go there, so it is quite safe. He said his group would be able to attend for a few days if that was needed. Any time outside of the rainy season (June to October) would be suitable. I told him I was impressed with the idea, and would discuss it further.