Category: Stay Connected

The video below describes the ministry of GCI members in Canada and South Africa, reaching out to assist about 100 GCI congregations in the African nation of Mozambique.

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/yJXSh9x3z5M.

The Rock, one of Generations Ministries’ summer camps, was recently named one of six top Christian camps in North Carolina by Christian Camp Pro (see the post on their website at http://christiancamppro.com/top-6-christian-youth-camps-in-north-carolina/).

Congratulations to the staff at The Rock, including camp directors Dennis and Diana Elliott, and their predecessor Stephen Webb. This is quite an honor for a camp in its third year of operation.

Here is a video showing The Rock in operation:

Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/F_VgaXUDEyI.

Over 350 people gathered for Converge 2015 at the Deer Creek Lodge and Conference Center in Mt. Sterling, Ohio on March 20-22. The event, sponsored by GCI Generations Ministries, started as a gathering of GenMin camp leaders and expanded through the years to include young people, pastors, ministry coordinators, camp and short-term mission trip leaders and others interested in exploring the mission of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In keeping with the theme of Epic Story, Converge 2015 proclaimed the message that every person’s story gets its meaning and purpose in the Epic Story of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wm. Paul Young (in the center of the picture below), best-selling author of The Shack and Crossroads, was a featured speaker at Converge 2015 along with GCI President, Joseph Tkach.

Here are comments from a few people who attended:

• It was excellent and first-class, on all fronts, from start to finish. I can’t commend or thank you enough.
• I had an awesome experience with everyone at Converge this year. I really love how it gives our generations, both young and older, a fun, Spirit-filled time to bridge the generational gap. I can’t wait for next year.
• I had the privilege of attending my first Converge and let me start by telling you Converge was absolutely amazing!
• Thank you for orchestrating one of the most Gospel-inspiring GCI events to date.

Videos of Paul’s two presentations at Converge 2015 are embedded below. Additional videos and pictures are posted at www.generationsministries.org/converge-2015-highlights.html.

Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/CbS3rONpZAA.

Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/NvzMazhzU2M.

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Next year, GenMin will be holding Converge conferences in two locations:

Converge West
April 15-17, 2016
Encino, CA

Converge East
April 22-24, 2016
Mt. Sterling, OH

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Last December, GCI South Africa held a youth camp attended by 42 children, 57 teens, 26 young adults and 58 staff members. Camp activities included worship, Christian Living classes, outdoor sports, dancing, life skills, crafts and camp improvement.

Cycling, the newest camp activity, was widely enjoyed. Many campers, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, had never learned to ride a bicycle before.

The camp theme, Connected, proclaimed the reality that we always are connected to God, and in that connection we are connected to each other. The theme was preached and explained in morning worship sessions and included in all camp activities. The theme came to a conclusion in a full church service on the last day of camp. The service included the Lord’s Supper led by camp chaplain, Timothy Maguire. During camp, two youth committed their lives to Christ and were baptized.

Thanks to the generosity of congregations and the mission fund in GCI Canada, many of the disadvantaged campers were fully sponsored in attending.

Jannice May, president of Connecting and Bonding, hosted the annual Lexington, Kentucky conference for pastor’s and minister’s wives on March 13-15. Women came from various parts of the country to enjoy the time together.

Jan Taylor kicked off the conference with a devotional showing how much God loves us. Keysha Taylor led the group to “the heavenly places” in worship. Powerful, heartfelt messages were given by Leslie Howard, Alma Smith, Doreen Ray, and Leigh Sniffen. A concert of praise was given by Edna Barr, Tamar Gray and Keysha Taylor. The group also heard an audio-taped message from Naomi Beard, who, over the years, has served as a valued mentor to the group. Little did they know that this would be Naomi’s last message—she died of a heart attack just a few weeks ago.

Jannice honored the wives of retired pastors for their many years of service to the church. These women truly are a gold mine of godly wisdom. The group ate, sang, laughed, cried, prayed and played together. They left feeling pampered and loved with “full cups and full hearts,” ready to face the joys and challenges of participating in ministry with Jesus.

In the video below, GCI Intern Program coordinator Jeff McSwain invites candidates to apply for an internship. Your assistance in getting this information to potential candidates is much appreciated. Also note related resources at https://www.gci.org/internprogram.

View on YouTube at https://youtu.be/26tw–SY-VM

A special celebration took place on March 15 when Brian Smith was ordained as an elder in our Coulsdon Community Church in south London. James Henderson (GCI national director in the U.K.) performed the ordination ceremony, assisted by David Silcox, Hilary Buck, Annette Woods and Anthony Dady. Congratulations to Brian and to the congregation he serves.

The island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific recently was devastated by a powerful cyclone. GCI has members there—here are two reports:

From Rod Matthews (GCI mission developer in the South Pacific):

A very severe cyclone hit the island nation of Vanuatu doing great damage to a number of islands including the capital Port Vila. We have a couple of members in Port Vila and have been in contact with one who is OK and no contact with others yet. Due to disruption to communications, there has been no contact possible with members on islands to the north of Efate where Port Vila is located, including Malekula where our congregation is located and Santo where elder William Davies lives.

From Rex Morgan (GCI pastor in New Zealand):

We have heard that William’s son John Davies (who manages the power station in Port Vila) is fine and his property is largely unscathed. Clearly he has his work cut out for him as he leads the struggle to restore the power supply. We have not yet been able to contact William who lives in Santo, or our members in Rory, Malekula. Even the Vanuatu government authorities in Port Vila don’t yet know what has happened in Malekula and the other outlying islands, as power supplies and phone lines are down, and even air reconnaissance is prevented because aircraft in Port Vila have been destroyed, and the airport is closed to all but military aircraft, which are now beginning to bring in relief supplies from New Zealand and Australia.

As it happens, Isei and Va Colati [Fijian pastor and wife] are scheduled to fly from Fiji to Vanuatu on March 29 to spend a week with the Rory church. It now looks like this trip could be well timed to support and encourage the members there, as well as to assess damage and provide necessary help.

Note: At this time we do not know if the members in Vanuatu need financial assistance. We will let you know if that is the case, and ask at that time for donations to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund.

GCI in the Philippines recently hosted Odyssey in Christ retreats in two locations. Here are links to reports:

• http://my.gci.ph/gci-luzon-leadership-conference-odyssey-in-christ-retreat/
• http://my.gci.ph/gci-visayas-mindanao-leadership-conference-retreat/

JWM in SoCal

The last issue of Weekly Update reported on a Journey with the Master (JWM) event held recently in Southern California. In the video update below, GCI-USA CAD director Greg Williams shares testimonies from teens and young adults who participated in that event.

Watch on YouTube at http://youtu.be/3n5Vs6c4XPs.

JWM in the Northwest

Though it was football playoff time in Seahawk territory, several young adults from GCI’s Christian Family Fellowship church (in Kenmore, Washington) gathered on the weekend of January 16 for their fourth Journey with the Master retreat with GenMin national coordinator Anthony Mullins, and the congregation’s pastor Wayne Mitchell and his wife Patty. The group (pictured at right) embarked on a discussion about their own stories and the kind of stories they want to live in the future. Inspired by the book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story by Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz), the group talked about what makes an epic story and how our Creator is the ultimate author of our stories.

The group was strengthened and encouraged by this opportunity to reflect both individually and collectively on their lives as servants. Though they are in the beginning phase of their lives, the next chapters are being written. The weekend was a great time to explore those stories, to reconnect, to take walks in or between downpours, to eat lots of food, to solve a small “coffee crisis,” to play games and to take communion together. Anthony good-naturedly joined the young adults in watching their beloved Seahawks in a playoff game against the Packers. It was a win/win weekend in the Pacific Northwest!