Category: Stay Connected

This update is from Eugene Guzon, GCI’s national director in the Philippines. He writes concerning the steps being taken in GCI Philippines following the death of Area Superintendent Captain Jessup Bahinting.

July and August have been quite a challenge as we recover from the shock and grief following the tragedy of the plane crash that took the life of GCI Advisory Council Member and Visayas Area Superintendent, Captain Jessup Bahinting.

Pastor Jessup was laid to rest on Monday, August 27 in Ginatilan, Cebu. The Bahinting family sends their deep appreciation for the support extended to them by members in the Philippines and overseas. Jessup’s wife, Margarita said, “We praise God for giving us a big family who continues to be a source of overwhelming support and encouragement during our time of loss.” I talked with her over the phone and she sounds well but exhausted from the series of meetings with the students and stockholders of Jessup’s flying school and in coping with the loss at the same time.

Pastor Terence Santibanez who is Assistant Area Superintendent of Western Visayas will now be serving as the Acting Area Superintendent for the whole of Visayas, assuming the role filled by Pastor Jessup. We thank and appreciate Pastor Terence for his willingness to assume broader responsibilities at this difficult time. He will be a great blessing to the churches in the Visayas in this new role.

Pastor Levi Yuson of Maramag church suffered a mild stroke while visiting Cebu for Pastor Jessup’s wake last week. He safely returned to Maramag after a few days of rest and is doing better. Let us pray for his full and speedy recovery.

Because of the growing need for ministers, we are committed to developing new and younger leaders to serve our churches. We are confident that God will continue to sustain us in our journey of faith. We thank our pastors, leaders and members for their continuing faith in God and love for our church family, as we serve with zeal and dedication in various ways.

CrossRoads Christian Fellowship (CCF), GCI’s congregation in Tipp City, Ohio, has for the last several years emphasized outreach to unchurched people living in the nearby community. As a result, many new relationships have begun, and the new friends have been invited to the congregation’s various discipleship gatherings, which include the Alpha program and classes using The Hope of Jesus, a small-group curriculum based in Trinitarian theology written by CCF’s pastor Jim Valekis. One of the wonderful results of these cultivating, planting and reaping activities was a special CCF service held last Sunday at which 12 people were baptized! Here are pictures:

Here is a comment about this service from Pastor Jim’s wife Becky Valekis, who coordinates CCF’s discipleship programs:

What a blessed and powerful day we had last Sunday! We are all still “glowing.” We baptized 12 people; some have been journeying with us for a few years and others are new to our fellowship. These baptisms are a result of much prayer and teaching over the last few months. Our next step is to help these people become “grounded in faith” – please pray for them.

Here is a letter to Pastor Jim from one of the women who was baptized:

What a wonderful day, Sunday! I just wanted to thank you again for yesterday’s baptisms, a day filled with such great joy that is difficult for me to express in words. What a great church service you provided for us in preparation for the baptisms. And to have so many attend and participate in the baptisms at the river was truly a unique and a very spiritual experience. You conducted everything in such an inspiring and spiritually moving way. Praise God for He, you and Becky made it happen! I thank Him for you two, for our little church, and for all the people He has put into our lives and continues to do so. I feel God’s grace is upon us all.

For disciplemaking tools, including those used by CCF, see GCI’s FaithTalk resource website at http://faithtalkgroups.blogspot.com/.

 

This update is from Eric Shaw, pastor of Community Life Fellowship (CLF), the GCI congregation in Altadena, California. CLF recently merged with New Hope Christian Fellowship, one of GCI’s congregations in nearby Los Angeles. This update tells the story.

As a congregation, we were experiencing the decline of our resources. We had not been able to draw new people and it became evident that our reserves would be depleted in a couple of years and our members would disperse or we would need to reconfigure into a small-group format.

As we considered our options, we began holding discussion forums after our worship service about once each month. We shared meals together and searched for ideas and vision. As we did so, it became clear that our best option was to merge with New Hope Christian Fellowship, a nearby GCI congregation, and place our remaining cash reserves in the GCI Southwest District church planting fund.

Although merging with another GCI congregation is not often an option for other GCI congregations in similar circumstances, we learned that open communication is vital. Even though people may not say much, it gives them time to process their thoughts and go through the grieving process that typically comes when a congregation faces closing. Indeed, the closing of a congregation is typically experienced as a great loss by those remaining to the end. However, we came to see ours as an opportunity to further our experience and maturity as disciples of Jesus and to leave a legacy toward our denomination’s future.

As we discussed these matters, we realized that our ministry is not over just because the doors of our congregation shut. We believed that God will open new doors. We focused on this concept at our final worship service, where we watched the movie, The Road to Emmaus. The movie emphasized the vital lesson that as long as we have Jesus, we have everything.

We also learned that it is important that communication continue following the closing. I still write my monthly letter to stay in touch with our members. We plan to continue to have gatherings (“reunions”) on a somewhat regular basis. We were a family and we don’t want to lose that. Many who had left before the closing still want to stay in touch and get together.

With the moving of our financial reserves to the GCI Southwest Districts church planting fund (which is coordinated by the GCI pastors pictured above), we are already able to provide support for the Filipino missionary couple planting a church in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles. We hope to see another new church develop soon. My hope and prayer is that this fund will not be depleted as we continuously replenish it through appropriate fundraising so that when God calls someone to our district vision for church planting, we will be able to offer them our support. By investing in this new opportunity, our congregation and its legacy live on and continue to impact the lives of others.

Rather than looking at the close of our congregation as a death, we look upon it as giving birth to new life. And rather than looking at it as failure, we see it as completion of an important aspect of the mission that God had, and continues to have, for us. Indeed, the journey is not over. The book is not completed. We have merely finished one chapter and now it’s time to begin another.

This update is from Ground Zero Church co-pastor Anthony Mullins.

Ground Zero Church, GCI’s new church plant in Aurora, Colorado, recently held a SEP Rockies camp reunion event, which included a worship service, meal and recreational activities.

Several Ground Zero members are on staff at SEP Rockies (Sarah Miles, who directs the camp is shown below speaking at the reunion event). Ground Zero leaders planned for a reunion attendance of about 60. However, 85 showed up – the largest attendance at Ground Zero Church to date!

Perhaps most importantly, the event drew four unchurched new families who live near Ground Zero’s meeting location. They seemed to enjoy the event and their kids returned the next evening for a youth group meeting.

The worship service at the event was filled with testimonies and laughter – there was a wonderful sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence. It seemed to several Ground Zero leaders that the event will be a catalyst for what God does next in the growth of their church family.

GCI Canada member Leigh Smithson recently made a mission trip to Africa where he visited various GCI congregations and contacts. Here is his report.

I left Canada for Africa on July 7. The plan was to ride “shotgun” with GCI’s African missions directors Tim Maguire and Kalengule Kaoma (KK for short).

Before I recount some of the stories, I need to share some thoughts about fear and worry. As Tim and I (sometimes with KK) traveled through the southern part of Africa, we faced many frightening, worrisome challenges. Yet, I felt calm, safe and generally free of fear. All credit goes to the Holy Spirit–and now to the stories.

Johannesburg

Tim met me at the Johannesburg airport. That evening, he hosted a meeting of the SEP camp staff (wonderful people!). Early the next morning, Tim and I packed the car and started on our journey. We headed east towards Mozambique–a route that would take us through Kruger National Park.

Kruger Park

Tim and I spent five hours in this amazing game park. We saw all sorts of animals and Tim got an elephant to “mock charge” our car (thanks Tim!). Was I worried? Well, yes, this got me a little concerned…why tempt the Lord?

Mozambique

At about 1:00 a.m., an ugly pot hole “attacked” our car and bent two tire rims. We pulled over to evaluate and discovered that one tire was rapidly losing air. As we started repairs, a stranger pulled up in a truck and offered help. I felt uneasy with his mannerisms as he took the hammer out of Tim’s hand and started to beat the rim into shape. I thought this was strange, so I made sure my back was never turned to him. As we got the tire inflated with a can of tire repair stuff, the stranger got back into his truck, but the engine would not start. Interestingly, he knew exactly how to hot wire the truck. Once it was started and before he drove away, he told us to follow him to his garage. We said okay, but when he pulled in, Tim kept going–he was sure the truck was stolen and that our “helper” was up to no good. Was I afraid? No but I was a wee bit leery. At 2:30 that morning, after almost 20 hours of driving the world’s worst roads, we parked at a closed gas station. We decided to sleep until dawn when the station would open and we could get gasoline. The place was mostly dark, with spooky shadows; it appeared to be almost abandoned. However, we were confronted by a guard coming out of the shadows, carrying an assault rifle. We told him that we needed to park until dawn so we could buy some gas. He said okay. Tim fell asleep, but as I tried, a large and noisy crowd of young men started to gather. I felt threatened and could not sleep. Eventually, around 6:00 a.m., a school bus picked them up – that was a close call! Tim made breakfast and we offered some to the guard. Was I worried? Not really…ha!

Malawi

We then traveled northward toward Malawi. I was surprised by the young guard who greeted us at the border. He wasn’t wearing a uniform and he smiled a lot. (I later learned that the more a guard smiles, the more trouble you are going to have!) As he interviewed us about the trip, he was twirling his handcuffs and asked for my yellow fever card. I did not have, nor did I need one, and was taken aback even more when he asked if I had been recently in Brazil. As it turned out, I had been in Brazil six months earlier, but that passport had expired and there was no indication of my trip to Brazil in my new passport. However, I said I had been there recently, and it took some quick talking to assure him that I had not been in the Amazon or the jungles (which are prone to yellow fever), so he eventually stamped my book. As we left, the young guard came out to our car and told us that he was fasting to hear God’s direction for him. I prayed for him, Tim gave him his card and we stepped on the gas! Was I worried?? Not a bit (plus we were able to witness). A few minutes after leaving the border station, we hit a deep pothole with a loud thud. We suspected from the sound that we had put a hole in the oil pan. The red oil light coming on confirmed it. We had no choice but to keep driving, and we soon arrived at a little town teeming with people. Loud music was blasting from some poor quality speakers. It was not a comfortable feeling! Tim left me in the car while he searched for oil. Meanwhile, night fell and the town’s power went out. I was now alone in the dark, locked in the car, with no idea where Tim was. Once again, the car was surrounded by a crowd of young men. But I was not worried–I was confident that God was looking after us, even though I was making plans for what to do if Tim did not return! Thankfully, after a long wait, Tim returned with diesel oil, which should be used only in diesel engines (we had a gas engine!). Now I was worried for the sake of the engine, but not for us! Fortunately, we made it to Blantyre, Malawi where we met KK. It was 10:00 at night and we were hungry, so we headed out to find food. However, the car stopped suddenly about two blocks from the lodge; it seems the engine had seized up and would not turn over. We had to walk down a dark street to a gas station to buy oil. The gas station had oil, but we did not have Malawian money. Another short walk to a bank machine was in order. Once again, a young guard there had a big gun. Tim got some funds and we returned to the gas station, bought the oil and walked back to the car. The little engine drank five liters, but it still would not turn over. We eventually pushed the car up an incline where we could then point it downhill. Then Tim steered the car while KK and I followed. It was easy to see where the car had rolled because there was a trail of oil on the road. As we pushed Tim’s car into the lodge parking lot, we could hear oil gushing from the engine. What a mess! Over the next several hours we made plans to get Tim and me back to Johannesburg and get KK to Lusaka. We would have to arrange for our flights and for a tow truck to take Tim’s car the 3,000 kilometers back to his home. In the meantime, we were safe in Blantyre and the ministerial conference would start in the morning. Was I worried? Not a bit. However, I was disappointed because I still wanted to experience Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. I guess that will have to be another trip.

Malawi Ministerial Conference

The conference was a delight. I met most of the people Rick Shallenberger wrote about earlier in the year. KK was host and he made sure that Tim and I were put to work! It was fun how KK arranged it; his exact words were, “You can talk about anything you want, but I want you to talk about conflict resolution methods.” Was I worried? Not a bit. Long before we planned this trip, God had brought into the Blantyre church a young man named Mike. He works for the church at the school doing maintenance, plus he is an auto mechanic! He was able to repair our car and get it running again. It ran flawlessly for the rest of the trip, bent wheel rims and all. There was nothing to worry about. God is in charge!

Malawi church visits

In one of the churches we visited in Malawi, 50 children were in attendance. They were so well behaved that it was a delight to be with them. With KK’s permission, I handed out peanuts that had been given to us earlier. As I did so, the children surrounded me, pushing so hard that I could not move. Looking down, I saw that some of them were being walked on. So I started throwing the peanuts away from me and the kids ran after them, giving us all room to move. Though I feared for their safety, the kids seemed to enjoy it. I don’t think I will do that kind of food distribution again!

Zambia

We next traveled to Zambia, KK’s home country. Though Tim and I had never been there, it soon felt like home to us, thanks to the wonderful hospitality from KK’s family. On Saturday afternoon we had a meal with most of the ministers working in Lusaka. Then on Sunday we met for church. Following that we said goodbye to KK’s family and the three of us headed out. On the west side of Lusaka, we got a call from KK’s family telling us that they had been in a car crash! Before they could share the details, the phone disconnected. You can imagine the heart-stopping thoughts that raced through our minds. We turned around, and then a second call came in. Fortunately it was not as bad as we had imagined–just a fender bender, but it meant we had to return to KK’s house and spend another night. However, this turned out to be a blessing for the family since it gave me time to run solar-powered lighting into KK’s house. Now the family can see at night without having to run extension cords and listen to a noisy generator.

Headed home

Now behind a day in our travels, Tim decided not to go to Namibia as planned. We said our goodbyes to KK and his family, and Tim and I headed off for Johannesburg. On the way, we visited Victoria Falls (magnificent!) and then camped for the night in Botswana. At 3:00 a.m., Tim’s air mattresses sprung a leak with a loud bang. Tim got up and repaired it and fell back to sleep. But I could not sleep–Tim had a cold and his snoring got quite loud. And then I heard loud snorts and grunts outside the tent. Earlier, we had seen warthogs in the area, but as I listened, I realized that these sounds were from hippos resting just 15 meters away. The only “protection” we had was a little barbed wire fence and the fabric of our tent! Was I worried? No, but I was pretty tired!

After 16 days on the road, we arrived back at Tim’s house, both of us still in one piece and still friends (my evaluation). I told Tim beforehand that I wanted to say our goodbyes before we got to the airport (I tend to choke up easily when I am sad). As we said goodbye at the airport, neither of us could speak. Goodbye was a couple of hearty hugs and a wave, and Tim drove off. But he got the last laugh – he had dropped me at the wrong gate! What amazing experiences we shared–many “near-misses,” 18 days (and nights) together–all this can either make friends or enemies. For my part, I feel a deep respect and love for Tim. He does a wonderful job in most difficult circumstances in an efficient and cost effective way. He is totally dedicated to his work as a GCI mission director. The same goes for KK; I really miss those guys and pray for them in a much deeper way than before. I know I will see them again someday and we will pick right up where we left off.

This update is from Pastor Mary Bacheller, who reports on the progress of Hands for Christ Community Church in Staten Island, New York. This new church is being formed principally by and for people who are deaf. Mary reports on two recent events that are important steps in preparing to launch the new church.

Launch team retreat

Mary gathered the 14 ministry leaders who are helping her start the new church (see picture below). They held a weekend retreat where the leaders introduced themselves and the group prayed for one another. Much laughter and some tears were shared. Of the 14 in attendance, three are GCI members. Seven of the others are either unchurched or have not been to a church in over 15 years. Mary shared with the group the vision, mission, budget and discipleship pathway that will shape the life of the new church. She then asked each leader for a one-year commitment to serve on the launch team. She also asked each of the leaders to complete a self-assessment survey called SHAPE: S=spiritual gifts, H=heart, A=abilities, P=personality, E=education/experience. The retreat ended with communion.

First formal Bible study

Fifteen people attended this event, the first in a series of Bible studies. It was held in the library of the church building where the new church will be meeting. It turned out that the library was too small to accommodate the group – next time they will meet in the church fellowship hall. For these studies, Mary is using the Alpha Course. The first study addressed personal friendships and a relationship with Jesus. The next study will address the identity of Jesus and God’s plan for humanity as revealed in Scripture.

The Canadian eastern youth camp (Camp Connections) was held recently. Camp director Lynn Lawrence (who also pastors the Montreal, English congregation) commented that the campers and staff experienced a wonderful atmosphere of peace and unity. Everyone went home tired, yet inspired.

 

 

This report is excerpted from an article in the August 13 edition of The Freeport News. It tells the story of a mission trip to the Bahamas by several GCI members from the U.S. The trip was organized by Grace Missions, of GCI Generations Ministries.

A group of eight adult and eight teen missionaries traveled from Ohio and West Virginia in partnership with Grace Communion International. The partnership began a few months ago between Pastor Calvin Parker and Pastor Dave [David Botha] out of the United States. Parker also joined up with Victoria Wright, Principal of Hugh Campbell Primary School so that the school can be used as the venue for the Vacation Bible School (VBS).

Every day, 52 children crowded the hallways and classrooms at the school participating in a number of activities such as basketball, singing, drama, craft and storytelling. Then after the free lunch that is provided is served, the kids experienced a special activity known as “soaking.” Parker described soaking as a quiet time set aside for the children to meditate, concentrate and soak in the word of God. “We really want them to learn and be taught about the saving grace of God,” he said.

Robert O’Quinn from the West Virginia Senior Leadership team of Grace Community Church is one of the adult missionaries who said this experience has touched his heart and soul. “This is my first missionary trip and it’s amazing to see God moving through the kids. The joy in them is unbelievable, they jump up and give you a hug and they play, dance and sing with you so freely,” he said. O’Quinn said that each day is exciting for him, as well as the others because its radically different. “We have a team of young and old missionaries and this trip has turned into a multi-generational mission that will kind of unite us all and touch people from a different nation,” he added.

Seventeen-year-old, Brandon Bapst is preparing to enter his senior year come September but said after hearing and praying about the trip, he felt coming on it was the right thing to do. “It’s been an amazing experience, I feel like I’ve been called by God to come here and I’ve met such wonderful kids. It’s uplifting to see that they’re always so ready and willing to learn and everybody here is so nice.”

Michelle Greider, a sixteen-year-old missionary, said that she is enjoying her time here in The Bahamas very much and although at first she was scared, she now considers this to be a second home. “It’s awesome, this is my first mission trip but after my experience it certainly won’t be my last. The little kids are so sweet and I love them,” she added.

All of the missionaries, both young and old agreed with O’Quinn when he said, “It’s very encouraging to see the kindness and hospitality of the locals. They went out of their way to make us feel at home, comfortable and happy.” They would like to possibly visit another island, but if not, they hope to come back to do mission work with other local churches in the community.

This update is from Kalengule Kaoma, GCI’s missions director for central Africa.

LIBERIA

I arrived in Monrovia on June 4. My visit had two purposes: to meet with Pastor Robert Browne III about a GCI presence in Liberia and to meet several church leaders who have written to GCI to express interest in being part of our denomination.

I am pleased to report that Pastor Browne, who we met first in May, 2011, is still enthusiastic about working with GCI. In fact, he organized a conference attended by 80 local leaders on June 8-10. I then met with four leaders from other denominations that have asked to become a part of GCI. One of these leaders, Pastor Leo Boimah Brosius, expressed interest in becoming a GCI missionary in Liberia, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. He has left the church he planted, leaving it under the care of his brother. He and I agreed to wait on God for further direction.

RWANDA

Kimani Ndungu, Area Pastor for East Africa, met me in Nairobi on June 12. From there we travelled to Kigali, Rwanda. Last year, I started cultivating new ground for a GCI presence in Rwanda. On this trip, I wanted to see what the Holy Spirit had been doing since I last visited. A group of pastors represented by Benjamin Sibo-Muzi of Calvary African Ministries International, are interested in having GCI facilitate a pastors’ reconciliation conference. These leaders do not want to see a repeat of the genocide of 1994.

Kimani and I had further discussions with Pastor Eugene Munyampama who runs a youth skills training center in Rwanda’s second largest city. After the meeting, he felt more confident to do what the Holy Spirit will lead him to do. He knows there is a need for GCI to be planted in the city where he lives. Both Kimani and I are looking forward to a fruitful harvest of God’s work in Rwanda through GCI.

BURUNDI

We traveled to Burundi on June 15. Prior to this visit, I had been in touch with Pastor Eugene Sibomana by email. For several months, Pastor Sibomana urged me to visit because he considers himself and his church of seven congregations to be a part of GCI. I thank God for his provision that when funds where available, Kimani and I were able to travel and meet Eugene Sibomana and his leadership team.

Pastor Eric-Armie Niyindengera (General Secretary) and Pastor Sibomana and his family met us at Bujumbura International Airport. As overseer of International Revival Church of Life (IRCL), Pastor Sibomana planned that we travel on June 16 to Cibitoke where IRCL was first planted. In the board – church council meeting, we were given reasons for affiliation. The team is eager to be part of GCI. As soon as some funds are available, we plan to make another trip there to consolidate our relationship.

The following day, 550 representatives from most of the congregations joined us for a worship service at the church in Cibitoke. From there, we drove back to Bujumbura to attend a service with members of two city congregations with about 200 in attendance.

MALAWI

Leigh Smithson, from the Red Deer, Alberta, Canada church, traveled to South Africa, where he met Tim Maguire, National Director of GCI, South Africa. Tim and Leigh traveled together to Mozambique. After visiting churches there, they traveled to Malawi where they found me waiting in Blantyre. We shared time talking to GCI Malawi church leaders during the conference on July 14-15. We also visited rural churches in Mombezi, Naminjale, Mwanza, Kabanga and Dowa where our displaced members from the Democratic Republic of Congo live. We encouraged our brethren with the hope of the gospel.

On August 5, Major Chaplain Joseph (Bo) Welch was ordained a GCI elder serving as a U.S. military chaplain. He was ordained by GCI ministry developer Randy Bloom during the Sunday worship service at Good News Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bo served as an active duty Army Chaplain for nearly nine years and has been a U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain for the past three. He now serves as Command Chaplain for the 290th Military Police Brigade in Nashville, where he provides direct ministry for soldiers and family members of the brigade headquarters and supervises five battalion chaplains throughout the Southeast region of the United States. The entire brigade and subordinate battalions have around 2000 soldiers.

Bo has a Master of Divinity degree from Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, Mississippi 1992) and a Masters of Marriage in Family Therapy degree from Trevecca Nazarene University (Nashville, Tennessee 2012). He recently opened a private practice counseling agency in Fairview, Tennessee called the Fairview Counseling Center.