Category: Stay Connected

This update is from GCI district and church pastor Mike Rasmussen who also directs GCI’s Crosswalk Youth Camp, held twice each year near Oklahoma City.

Though a tornado in May significantly damaged the facility where we hold Crosswalk Youth Camp, leading to the cancellation of our May session, we were able to conduct our fall session in November. It was amazing! We were blessed with an awesome staff who worked diligently to create a life-changing experience for the young people God brought our way.

As the leadership team met to prepare for camp last January, we sought the Spirit’s lead concerning how the camp should be formatted this year. We reevaluated our focus and methods. Rather than a mission statement, we came up with a statement we call our Kardia (meaning “center of our being”): Experiencing life in God’s love. We want the campers and staff to have a deep experience of God’s love. We then use our Kardia to help us evaluate all aspects of camp.

At the January meeting we also selected a camp theme for 2013. We decided on “Walking Dead,” which taps into the current zombie apocalypse craze. While minimizing the zombie-side of the theme, our goal was to use it to grab attention and to convey the message of how life can seem drab, dull, grey and boring to the point of feeling like one of the “walking dead.” Even though alive and breathing, we can feel dead on the inside where life lacks flavor. This happens when we aren’t living in God’s love.

Using this theme, our goal was to create a contrast and a progression of how when we don’t understand/believe who we are in Christ, life can feel dead, but as we come to this understanding and believe in who Christ is and who we are in him, then life becomes alive and full of flavor.

In accordance with our new Kardia and fall camp theme, we made several changes in how we structure camp in order to help campers and staff more fully experience God’s love:

• As people arrived, an upbeat, positive team that we called our “ground crew” welcomed everyone. They led campers and staff to registration where they were welcomed by a theme-based registration area filled with colored streamers and balloons that created a party atmosphere.
• After the Friday night welcome, staff met to be briefed on the new camp Kardia and to experience a time of worship just for the staff.
• After researching the average age of our campers, we realized we had to rework some of our activities. We created opportunities for greater camper-staff interaction and friendly competition to connect campers and staff at an even deeper level.

There was a great response to this camp session. We have heard from several campers and staff that they are excited about the next camp and will be coming back with plans to bring someone with them. We were blessed with 20 new campers and 13 new staff this session. We are excited about what God is doing at Crosswalk and look forward to the future. The next session will be in May 2014, with the theme FaithFactor. It is sure to be full of energy—jam-packed with fun activities—enabling us to advance our camp Kardia of sharing God’s love.

This report is from Kalengule Kaoma, one of GCI’s mission developers in Africa.

GCI recently held its East Africa Leaders’ Conference in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. The countries represented were Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia and Belgium. Joel Clevenger and Gary Schrimpf from GCI’s US-based Grace Missions also attended.

From Nairobi I traveled to Uganda for meetings with groups who are interested in joining GCI. From there I took a bus to the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Pastor Patrick Asaba met me at the bus station and we then attended a conference with 45 leaders from various denominations.

Following the conference, we met with three of them who are interested in affiliating with GCI. We later learned that there are also two church planters interested in planting GCI churches in the DRC. We wait to see what God will next do.

I then returned to Uganda (Kampala) where I met with Pastor Mark Oedo. His non-denominational ministry focuses on equipping rural church leaders to effectively preach the word of God and properly manage their churches. Many of these rural leaders have little or no theological and managerial training. Pastor Mark is eager to work with us. We traveled together by bus to Lira in northern Uganda where together we taught some church leaders.

We then traveled to Utoboi where we stayed at a “lodge.” Though it was rat and bed bug-infested, I was thankful for a place to rest my tired body. I was really glad when roosters announced the breaking of a beautiful morning. We participated in an early morning church service followed by leadership training.

We then returned to Lira for their church service attended by about 60 children and teens. Their songs, dance and jubilation in the presence of God brought tears of joy to my eyes. The service was held in the open in Pastor Joseph’s back yard. He is creative in ministering to children using music, drama and dance. Parents and older youth come to watch the children.

That evening, Pastor Mark and I took a midnight bus back to Kampala.The next day I proceeded to Kyotera in southern Uganda where three churches are interested in affiliating with us.

Later that week, I traveled to Masindi in western Uganda, where I visited Pastor Edward Kagoro and his family. When I returned to Kampala I visited two pastors who represent 20 churches located in Kampala and in surrounding rural areas.

These kinds of prospects are exciting. The potential for GCI in Africa continues to overwhelm me as I see God’s love and involvement in many lives.

GCI president Joseph Tkach recently visited GCI’s Richmond, Virginia church to join in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the congregation. During the visit, Dr. Tkach and others visited the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech where he said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

In October, nine representatives of GCI’s Generations Ministries M25:40 Missions gathered at a Boy Scout camp in Northern Colorado to cut, load and haul beetle-kill pine to provide winter heat for an elderly couple in the area.

Despite the cold and the fact that it was a Denver Broncos football game day, these followers of Jesus dedicated their morning to helping others (though the game schedule sped things up a bit!). Three trucks were loaded and everyone packed up in just under two hours. This is the second outreach for M25:40 Missions in the last few months.

GCI SE Asia mission developer Rod Matthews along with Mark Latham, GCI’s pastoral coordinator for PNG (Papua, New Guinea) recently visited PNG. Here is Rod’s report.

Getting to Papua, New Guinea (PNG) is not easy. Yet for years, GCI pastors from Australia have made the trip to PNG at least once a year to visit, encourage and help our congregation there develop. Now, it is mature, well led and a shining light in the high valley below Mt. Wilhelm (pictured at right).

Anthony Gachanja, GCI’s national leader in Kenya reports the recent baptisms of 10 people in that nation.

GCI in Colombia held its annual seminar in the city of Bogotá in early November with 76 members attending from the Bogotá and Barranquilla congregations.

The seminar theme was “The Heart of a Disciple.” Guest lecturer Hanz Daza from the Colombian Bible League provided instruction concerning disciple making.

This update is from Eugene Guzon, GCI’s national director in the Philippines. It was filed on November 16.

Since super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck central Philippines on November 8, the situation remains bleak. Statistics vary, but the official death toll is 4600 and rising. We praise God that most of our GCI members in Tacloban and in other hard-hit areas have been located and are alive, though their homes and belongings have been damaged.

In Tacloban City (the hardest hit) and other places in the Visayas, thousands have died while others are half-alive from fatigue, hunger and disease from infections and scarcity of hygiene supplies and medicines. These people would like to flee to neighboring cities, like Cebu and Samar, and even as far as Manila to find temporary refuge from an otherwise deadly situation, but there is a lack of transport facilities. This is an overwhelming crisis for the Philippine government and considering the scale and scope, there is a need for everyone to join in this humongous effort. Thank you so much for the outpouring of prayers and willingness to help in service and in kind. These updates will give you some of the ways GCI members have been helping.

Visiting affected members

In the last several days, I have visited GCI members who were impacted by the typhoon, including 13 families with damaged homes, three of which were destroyed. One family lost their poultry houses—their main source of income. Two families lost their retail stores. I saw the overwhelming destruction of infrastructure, including telecommunication, transport and money transfer facilities. During a short candle-lit church service, I relayed to these members your love and that you are praying for them. During the visit, I represented you all in delivering to them the first wave of support in the form of food and building materials. Next week, we will deliver the next wave of support, including generators to restore power and communications through phone charging, along with supplies to help in reconstructing homes and businesses.

Relief team en route

As I write this, a team of GCI Philippines leaders are travelling from Manila to Samar and Tacloban—a dangerous drive that will take well over a day. They are going to minister to our members with prayer and counseling, and to gather information concerning their immediate needs. They are carrying with them relief goods for members and their families—enough to last a week. They also are delivering power generators. Please pray for travelling mercies and special protection for this team, especially as they approach the worst-hit areas where security is a concern. And thanks for your generosity in giving, which is making the delivery of these supplies possible.

Outreach in Manila

Villamor Airbase in Manila is the drop-off point for typhoon victims arriving on the government’s C-130 planes. Members from our Santa Rosa Church along with others, are volunteering there in support of the Tacloban refugees who are now arriving. They are providing relief goods, counseling and other forms of support. According to their report, they need donations of food, medicine, slippers and transport vehicles to use in shuttling the refugees to public transport hubs in order to reach their families. As of this writing, we are mobilizing to send relief supplies. We are calling for volunteers to help at the airbase with various tasks including crisis counseling, marshaling, goods disbursement, feeding efforts, and other work; especially at night because the operation goes on 24 hours a day.

SEP camp community helps out

Staff and campers from our SEP Luzon youth camp recently volunteered for re-packing of relief goods at a Manila university. They joined other young people and volunteers in putting together family packs to be deployed by the Philippine government to Tacloban and surrounding areas.

Moving forward

These are just a few of the ways our church has an active part in the relief efforts, allowing God to use us as instruments of his love and provision to our members and others badly in need of help. We thank our churches and members from all over the Philippines and around the world, for their prayers, encouragement and other forms of help. To the churches and members who have already responded with donations in cash and in kind, please know that your contributions are going a long way in helping our affected brothers and sisters. We praise God for your compassion and selflessness. We also thank our members and partners from GCI headquarters and across the United States for their generous donations given to this relief effort through the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. This aid is helping our affected members rebuild their homes and businesses and address other immediate basic needs.

We are truly blessed to be part of a worldwide family, through whom we powerfully experience God’s love, despite the distance.

This update from GCI Philippines director Eugene Guzon describes the terrible aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (called Typhoon Yolanda inside the Philippines).

As you know, Typhoon Yolanda has devastated part of my country, the Philippines. The damage is particularly great in the area known as the Visayas. The typhoon left behind heartbreaking loss of life along with terrible suffering and massive destruction. The situation is chaotic. Many people lack food and safe drinking water. Many are dying from disease and injury. There is much desperation.

Many GCI members are among the thousands of victims in Tacloban, Samar, Iloilo, Aklan and other affected provinces. Though Tacloban was the worst hit, Samar also took a terrible beating, and several other areas in the Visayas were severely damaged.

Danny De Guia, a GCI assistant pastor and area superintendent for Visayas has just returned from visiting Tacloban. The GCI members he located there are alive, though weak and lacking basic necessities like food, electrical power and communications. There are some we have not been able to contact yet. We hope and pray that they are safe. Many of the residents of Tacloban are fleeing the area, though transportation is hard to find.

I talked with our pastor in Kalibo. Our members there also lack necessities. Some of them have lost their homes and had to flee to neighboring towns to find shelter. They were told that power will not be restored for a couple of months.

I have asked our pastor in Bicol and members of our staff inthe National Office to go to Tacloban to get more information on how we can address the needs of our members in Tacoloban. We are exploring setting up a supply center in nearby Samar to feed them and provide other necessities. However, it is still risky to bring these things into the area due to a lack of security.

I ask for continuing prayer for these people—please pray that they experience God’s grace, healing, relief, peace and provision at this difficult time. These are trying times for many of our brothers and sisters. When they hurt, we all hurt, for God has united us to one another. My prayer is that against this backdrop of pain, suffering and calamity, our love will abound even more.

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Here is a related message from GCI treasurer Mat Morgan:

Thanks to previous generous donations to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund, we were able this week to wire about $35,000 (U.S.) to help our brothers and sisters in the Philippines recover from Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). This donation was in addition to ones sent earlier this month to help those affected by the recent earthquake there.

If your congregation would like to help us respond quickly to this and future disasters, please have your treasurer either make a donation through the online portal at https://www.gci.org/participate/donate or send a check to the fund at the address below. Your donations change lives by providing necessities to members who find themselves overwhelmed and in need.

GCI Disaster Relief Fund

P.O. Box 5005

Glendora, CA 91740

GCI Canada recently held a Thanksgiving Celebration in the city of Moncton, New Brunswick. The 53 people attending came from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Guest speaker Dr. Gary Deddo (pictured at right) gave sermons on our identity in Christ and the obedience that flows from faith. He urged the audience to remember to first ask: “Who is God? and then ask: “Who are we in Christ?” He noted that we only are able to love unconditionally—with no strings attached—when all of our strings are attached to God.

In one of his sermons, Gary discussed loving God with all our mind (expounding on Matthew 22:37). Because theology is how we think about God, we all have a working theology. However, to have right theology, we must focus on who God is as he reveals himself in Christ. The foundation of our thinking is therefore of utmost importance. Loving God with all our mind involves actively seeking God to know him better.

An atmosphere of peace and joy was prevalent throughout the celebration—God’s presence and blessings were evident. The members fellowshipped, shared meals and enjoyed a sing-along with Jim Noseworthy (pictured above, left), and shared communion at the beginning and end of the weekend.