Category: Stay Connected

This update is from pastor Ben Babol, the pastoral team chairman of the GCI Philippines congregation in Santa Rosa.

The Santa Rosa and Manila South congregations recently hosted a Youth Leadership Training Program at the Royale Tagaytay Country Club in Tagaytay City, Cavite. 70 young men and women attended from the Laguna, Mindoro and Pampanga areas.

The 3-day event was headed by camp youth director Brian Everett Raduban, a pastoral team member in the Santa Rosa church, assisted by Don Santillan. Eugene Guzon, who is national director in the Philippines, welcomed participants on the first night and conducted a lecture on “how to organize events” the following day so that attendees could take new skills home. Pastors Ezra Raduban, Nomer Venus and Rex dela Pena took turns discussing various subjects on servant-leadership. Other activities included amazing race, basketball, movie and swimming. Royale Tagaytay management allowed the free use of its beautiful covered sports facilities. The youths enjoyed the comfort of hotel-like accommodations and meals.

Feedback from participants mentioned God’s goodness and love. The youth appreciated the lectures and activities and wished the event could have lasted longer.

GCI’s Jacksonville, Florida congregation recently hosted A Deeper Walk – a seminar presented by GCI ministers Dr. Larry Hinkle, Dr. Charles Fleming and Ms. Carmen Fleming through their ministry, Odyssey in Christ. The seminar focuses on spiritual formation and deepening one’s awareness of the Triune God.

The 56 seminar participants attended several sessions on Saturday, including methods of enriching one’s prayer life, Bible reading, getting in touch with one’s consciousness of God, preparing one’s heart and mind for Holy Communion, and using prayers of healing and encouragement to minister to others.

On Sunday, seminar participants joined with the Jacksonville congregation for their worship service. Seminar presenters were impressed by the congregation’s hunger to know God better, their spirit of service and family love; and the way they are embedded in the surrounding community (12 people from the community have recently begun to attend).

A Deeper Walk is one of several seminars offered by GCI Church Administration and Development – click here for a list of available seminars.

This update is from Rod Matthews, GCI mission developer in Southern Asia and the South Pacific.

SEP India

This report is from Daniel Zachariah, GCI’s pastor in Hyderabad, India.

Jesus places a special value on children. His love for them was undeniable when he took them up in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them, saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

Encouraged by his example, we had the unique privilege of loving and blessing many children last month. We held a residential camp where 27 children, ages five to fourteen, attended from May 11 to 13. Several children from nearby villages joined the camp. We had them all take residence in our church premises for the three days. Members volunteered to provide food for all the children on these days. The picture at right shows a few of the children enjoying a meal.

From morning until bedtime, they were tirelessly and enthusiastically involved in all the activities. Stephie, Celina, Saritha and Prasanna were our residential counselors, teaching them Bible lessons, songs, crafts, dance and games.

Vanuatu Building Project

This report is from Rex Morgan, GCI’s national coordinator for Vanuatu and the New Zealand office manager.

In 2010, New Zealand member and builder Les Evans began construction of a building at Rory, the Vanuatu village on the island of Malekula where our main congregation is located. Les previously supervised the construction of a new meeting hall and a large concrete water tank to give the church facility water self-sufficiency. The new building was originally planned to include a workshop for fabricating furniture for sale to provide additional income for the church community. It was also to be used for tool storage, a community function room, the church library and a place for visiting ministers to stay.

A perennial problem has been the lack of building materials in this remote location. Fiji pastor, Isei Colati, went to Vanuatu in late 2011 as a guest speaker at their family festival, with the added goal of taking a further step toward completing the project but, alas, the same problem prevented any progress.

In a review of its purposes, it has become obvious that making furniture for sale isn’t feasible because of difficulties in getting quality raw materials and then finding a market on Malekula and nearby islands which are remote from the capital, Port Vila. But the most pressing need is for a place for visiting ministers to stay to save the church considerable accommodation and transportation expenses. Vanuatu pastor William Davies, who lives on the neighboring island of Espiritu Santo, will be able to use it on his bimonthly trips to Rory, and Rex Morgan and other visitors can use it during the annual festival.

Amazingly, further research has shown that it is less expensive to purchase the materials needed to complete the building from hardware stores in Fiji and have it shipped to Malekula in Vanuatu, so Isei Colati has organized this. The cost of $3,500 for needed materials is exactly half of the amount put aside by the congregations in New Zealand for “Vanuatu Outreach” in 2012. The Fiji church has kindly offered to help pay for another trip to Vanuatu by Isei Colati to help organize the project. The members are now assessing gardening and farming ideas to help the church community become more financially self-sufficient.

Here are updates about two recent GCI activities in the Philippines.

Outreach to children

This update is from Arlan Aquino, one of GCI’s area superintendents in the Philippines.

Several members from Baguio City and La Trinidad recently traveled to Bokod, Benguet for a Children’s Outreach Program. According to staff member Myla Faminialagao, the purpose was to “let the children further understand who Jesus is in their lives” and help them to “have a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The program had two classes, one for children 2 to 8 years old and another for children 9 to 14. The first class, led by Grace Ogas, had 23 attendees. Topics included Getting to Know God Through the Bible; and Knowing Jesus as Son of God, Son of Man, Friend and Savior. The second class, with 15 older children, considered topics such as Vanity, Who Jesus Is to Me, and Discipling Others. Myla also taught them how to make cards for Mother’s Day.

Bicol churches celebrate 40th anniversary and attend Missions Fest

This update is from Eleanor O. Bongat.

GCI in the Bicol region recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The theme was Beyond the Great Commission, Preparing the Bride.

Attending were GCI Philippines national director Eugene Guzon, missions director Dr. Rey Taniajura, senior pastor of City of Praise for Asia Edwin Villagomez and the national missions team led by Cecilia Bangay. The celebration was opened by pastor Pamor who recaped the Bicol church’s 40-year journey. It began with one congregation in Naga City and now there are 15 in the region. Missions director Dr. Rey Taniajura then addressed the group, followed by a message from pastor Reuel who gave a glimpse of the past in pictures provided by members. Also included were warm messages from pastor George Escara and Dr. Taniajura.

The celebration coincided with Missions Fest, which included several plenary presentations and workshops. Eugene Guzon made a presentation titled GCI Mission for the Next Decade emphasizing the need for all members to participate in mission. He noted that two years ago there was a good response from GCI members to go to the mission field. But at the moment there is a tapering down in the number of missionaries, hence the urgent need to mobilize response from the churches.

Dr. Taniajura gave a presentation titled The Greatest Story Ever Told: Preparing the Bride and Mission. He said that the greatest of all events in eternity past and present is the preparation of the bride (the church). Her involvement in mission is in anticipation for the coming of the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ).

The missions team conducted workshops on networking, giving, cross-cultural experience, spiritual warfare, member care and intimacy with God.

Worship was led by various music teams, including God’s Little Musicians, a group of young and talented children. A prayer concert was held with a focus on least-reached people groups including tribals, Hindus, unreligious, Muslims and Buddhists. Prayers were also offered for GCI and the government of the Philippines. Pastor Edwin Villagomez concluded by challenging participants to actively enter the mission field. Several responded and received prayer. The event closed with a benediction from Jose V. Manzano, Bicol area assistant superintendent.

The following update is from CrossWalk camp director Mike Rasmussen. CrossWalk is a GCI Generations Ministries camp that is held twice a year near Oklahoma City, OK.

Our 22nd Crosswalk Camp is in the bag! This session was based on the GCI Generations Ministries camp teaching curriculum Rooted.

We were blessed with a great group of campers who rallied together and gave their all. We were equally blessed with an amazing adult staff, who made things work while passionately loving our campers. We had 35 teen campers, 28 pre-teen campers, 6 children campers and 65 staff members.

An exciting trend is developing – former campers and staff members are returning to CrossWalk after getting married and having children. In response, we have added a “Mommy and Me” dorm, which is now filling on a regular basis.

It’s great to see young people, parents and grandparents working and worshiping side by side.

With about 170 people in attendance, New Covenant Fellowship, the GCI congregation in Glendora, California recently marked its 40th year as a congregation.

Over its 40 years, New Covenant Fellowship has been a family-oriented, biblically-based church with a strong commitment to youth ministry. Young people from the congregation have gone on to study at the University of Southern California, Azusa Pacific University, Claremont Graduate University and Yale, as well as serving in the Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force.

The day’s guest speaker, Dr. Jeb Egbert, Provost at West Coast University, was typical of the many coaches and counselors who helped motivate teens and pre-teens in the 1980s when the church met at the Masonic Hall on Valley Center. Since 2001, the congregation has rented space from the Glendora Friends Church. Co-Pastor Judy Shoemaker of Glendora Friends gave the opening prayer for the anniversary service and Curtis May of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries ended with a benediction.

Bringing greetings from GCI were GCI’s Superintendent of Ministers, Dr. Dan Rogers with his wife Barbara, and District Pastor Eric Shaw with his wife Pat. Senior Pastor Neil Earle read official greetings from Glendora Mayor Gene Murabito saying “we appreciate the service and ministry of the New Covenant church [as] part of making Glendora a great place to live, work and play.”

As slide-show narrator Rose Neumann mentioned, New Covenant Fellowship has hosted Black History Month and Cinco de Mayo services every year since 1997 as reflections of its ethnic and cultural diversity. “Glendora has always been a welcoming and warm-hearted church,” said Assistant Pastor Roger Lippross, “one has only to look around to see the blend of races and cultures that has given the church a special composition.” The church also is involved in the National Day of Prayer and other civic events planned by the Glendora Ministerial Association. Ongoing outreach activities of the church include support for the Pomona Valley Shelter; the Bengali Evangelistic Association in Bangladesh; and Amigos Sin Frontera, a medical mission to the poorest mountain tribes of Mexico.

Dr. Egbert covered the subject “We’re Getting Older—Now What?” He brought out several points on facing the senior years joyfully, including enjoying the journey, taking care of yourself, doing something meaningful for others, and finding one small area of ministry and making it special.

Filipina culinary expert Maryann Baylosis led the women in serving a catered meal of braised beef and chicken. Margaret Villanova was happy to say that three generations of her family were in attendance. “So good to see lots of old friends,” she added. “You can’t beat that.”

 

Standing Together, a group of evangelical pastors from the Salt Lake City area, recently visited GCI’s home office in Glendora. Standing Together seeks to advance Biblical unity and spiritual transformation in Utah. Their focus is on being a catalyst for uniting the Utah Christian community through relational efforts of prayer, worship and strategic evangelism.

Standing Together’s founder and director, Greg Johnson, befriended Dr. Tkach over ten years ago when GCI was going through its transformation. Dr. Tkach recommended Greg to the National Association of Evangelicals to become an NAE board member. Greg brought several Utah pastors with him on this visit to GCI where they could hear GCI’s story firsthand and learn about GCI’s views concerning how to better interact with alternative religions. The group (pictured below) enjoyed the day together and were mutually encouraged.

Following are reports on two GCI youth camps held recently.

SEP Visayas: Jesus is More than Life!

GCI Philippines held its Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) camp in the Visayas in late May at a site near Cebu City. 67 campers attended, served by 27 full-time and 15 part-time staff. 34 of the 67 campers were first-timers and 21 were from non-churched backgrounds.

The camp included several evening events, including Movie Night with the viewing of the film “Gifted Hands,” which helped inspire the campers’ performances at Talent Night later in camp. On Encounter Night, camp director Joseph Ouano shared the story of the Prodigal Father (commonly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son) in a fresh way. Campers responded with candle lighting to symbolize their surrender to God’s extravagant love. Campers also enjoyed Dance Night on the final evening. It featured fine dining, beautiful lanterns and exciting dance moves (with some awkward moments!).

Day-time activities included snorkeling and other sports. Campers also enjoyed the team obstacle course with dirt or paint on their faces.

We praise God for moving in the lives of all the participants. Eight campers decided to publicly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior and were baptized on the last day. All the campers and staff experienced the theme that Jesus is more than life Truly, it is only in Christ that we live a full and happy life.

Heart O’ Texas Camp: Rooted: Deep Roots, Lasting Fruit

Generations Ministries held its Heart O’ Texas camp in early June at The Colony in Texas. The 12 campers who attended were served by 12 staff. Two of the campers came from non-churched backgrounds. The three-day long camp included acts of random kindness (neighborhood outreach), fireside chats, team-building challenges, games, and the formation of a praise band that led worship for the sponsoring GCI congregation on Sunday.

The local congregation not only provided the main facility for camp activities and lodging, but also gave financial support and served as camp workers. Off-site swimming and cook-outs were held at the home of camp directors Scott and Shawna Herridge.

GCI congregations in the Zamboanga Peninsula of the Philippines recently celebrated their jubilee year.

The two-day celebration was led by area senior pastors. Participants shared recreation, worship, prayer and communion and heard encouraging messages from Pastor Rex Dela Pena who spoke about church unity. The celebration included installation of a new pastoral team (made up of Orvel Legaspi, Reynan Fernando, Ryan Paquit, Giovannie Bahilid and Jose Ronilo Arquisal) and the baptisms of several youth and one child.

This update is from Santiago Lange, GCI’s national director for Germany.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 27, WCG/GCI Germany celebrated its 50th anniversary in Leonberg, near Stuttgart. The celebration was preceded by a fellowship meal on Saturday evening that was enjoyed by 65 guests. After a multimedia presentation covering our history in the German-speaking region we heard from Dr. Joseph Tkach whose message was greatly appreciated. Dr. Tkach also led the concluding communion service. About 80 members attended the joyful event at the Amber Hotel. We were honored to have international guests from the UK, Switzerland and Austria.