Category: Announcements

GCI pastor Mike Rasmussen and his wife Juli—both avid skydivers—are seen tandem jumping in the video below (at 24 seconds). The video advertises the Rasmussens’ home state of Oklahoma.

Watch on YouTube a http://youtu.be/kM1gDZjLlO8.

GCI’s IT department is offering a workshop at the upcoming Denominational Conference in Orlando titled “Technology Q & A.” Though questions will be taken at the workshop, we would like to receive technology-related questions in advance (ones related to computers, smart phones, social media, etc.). If you have any questions, feel free to email them to Bret Miller (at bret.miller@gci.org) anytime before the conference begins. Even if you can’t make it to the technology workshop, we will make the material, including answers to questions, available following the conference.

We are pleased to announce that GCI elder and former long-time headquarters employee Monte Wolverton is engaged to marry Kaye Minor. The wedding is planned for August. Congratulations Monte and Kaye!

A reunion of alumni of Ambassador College, Pasadena is planned for 2015. Though a date has not been selected, reunion planners are seeking to contact the 3400 people who began attending Ambassador College in Pasadena between 1947 to 1974. If you are interested in learning more about the reunion, please email Cledice Decker (cledeck@att.net) and provide her with the following information:

• Your name (your current name and the name you used while at college, if different)
• Name of your spouse
• The year you entered Ambassador College, Pasadena
• The year you graduated (if you did)
• Your email address or mailing address

In this update, Linda Nichols-McCarty, an elder in GCI’s church in Ripley, West Virginia, reports on the work her congregation did in helping the community of Spencer, West Virginia recover from recent flooding.

The clean-up in Spencer continues. The first floodwaters hit on June 13th; another came on the 18th. The two nearby dams could not control the 7.5 inches of rain that fell in about 45 minutes. Many members from our congregation helped in the clean-up.

Following the first day of flooding, many elderly people rescued from an apartment building were brought to a temporary shelter wet and in muddy clothes. We helped them get dry clothes and some food. We also gave them lots of hugs and words of hope. We made many trips that first day to various places, taking care of basic needs like medications, dry clothing, snacks and meals.

I met one family that lost their home and all their possessions. My husband and I own rental apartments and one was vacant. So I got air mattresses, bedding, towels, toiletries and we told them they could stay in the apartment for as long as they needed it. The wife begin to cry and said she had never experienced such love. I replied that many times through disasters like this, God’s love is pronounced and magnified.

Many members in our small congregation rolled up their sleeves, waded through mud, carried ruined items to the street to be hauled off—acts of love and concern for the many in need. I thank God that we could be of service in this way. God is so good to allow us to be included in the love that he is. Our little congregation has been blessed to help people in need as far away as Uganda and as close as our next-door neighbors.

This update is from GCI Caribbean mission director Charles Fleming.

Below are pictures of a house in Haiti being built by member, Serge Jacques. Construction is being supported with money from the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The house replaces the one Serge lost in the terrible earthquake that devastated Haiti several years ago. He often hosts GCI Bible studies and other gatherings in his home.

Though incomplete (due to difficulty in obtaining building supplies) the house is significantly better than the one it replaces. Our pastor in Haiti, Joseph Franklin, pointed out some of the home’s features, which the Jacques family now enjoy:

The Jacques are now lodged in two bedrooms+living room+porch+unfinished flush toilet. They send their thanks. Once again we are reminded that God’s love opens the way for even tragedies, like earthquakes, to transform the way we live.

Thanks to the generosity of donors to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund following the earthquake in Haiti, we are able to continue providing appropriate support for this and other ongoing GCI relief projects in Haiti. If you would like to help GCI prepare to help others in similar disaster situations, wherever they may occur, your congregation is welcome to send funds to: GCI Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 5005, Glendora, CA 91740.

Last year GCI in the US began offering endorsement of GCI elders who are serving as chaplains in the US military. Just recently, GCI made arrangements to provide endorsement of GCI elders who are serving as chaplains in non-military institutions such as hospitals. As with the endorsing of military chaplains, GCI endorses institutional chaplains through the services provided by the National Evangelical Association Chaplain Commission.

GCI Church Administration and Development announced last week that GCI has now endorsed Gabriel Ojih to serve as a hospital chaplain. Gabriel serves as an associate pastor in one of GCI’s Dallas, Texas area congregations and works full time as a chaplain in a Dallas area hospital. Congratulations Gabriel!

If you have interest in being endorsed by GCI as a chaplain in the US military, email Paul.D.Kurts@gci.org.

If you have interest in being endorsed by GCI as an institutional chaplain in the US, email Ted.Johnston@gci.org.

The women’s ministry of New Life Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Baltimore, Maryland is sponsoring in October a retreat for women in Ocean City, Maryland. Here are the details:

The retreat will open Friday night with a meet and greet featuring Christian comedy. Saturday morning we feature the teaching of Cathy Deddo. Saturday afternoon will focus on workshops covering various topics. Saturday evening will be a fun-filled night of line dancing and games. Sunday’s message will be given by Cathy Deddo.

A deposit equal to half the room price is due by August 1; the balance is due by September 1. Breakfast will be provided by the hotel on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Friday night snacks will be provided by the retreat; Saturday lunch and dinner are on your own. For more information and to register, contact Dianna Nesbitt at 410-788-1513.

GCI pastor Bill Miller and his wife Kathy are thrilled to announce that they are now grandparents for the second time.

The Millers’ daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Jamon are the proud parents of Aaron William Mills who arrived June 28 at 7 lb., 8 oz.; 19.5 inches long.

Baby, parents and grandparents are all doing well.

GCI mission developer and national director Hector Barrero and his wife Paulina provided this announcement concerning their son’s graduation.

We are celebrating the recent graduation from college (Universida de la Salle) of our son Andrés Felipe. He graduated with the highest grades in the university—a grade point average of 4.7 out of a possible 5.0.

Andrés Felipe is already working on a master’s degree in social philosophy and has applied for a scholarship to study social conflict resolution in Germany.

Currently he is working as a philosophy teacher in a bilingual high school. With his brother Juan Carlos (our oldest son) he is leading the worship band and leading the youth ministry in our congregation. All this and Andrés Felipe is just 22 years old.

We give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ!