You are invited to join us for four days of celebration, fellowship and Christian outreach at our 12th annual Come & Drink Crusade. It takes place at Courtyard by Marriott, Junkanoo Beach, downtown Nassau, Bahamas, October 11-14, 2019. This hotel is the ideal site for a fall get-together for the entire family. Rooms rates are $160.00 per night double occupancy, all taxes included. Space is limited, so register today. For more information, email Robert.Mckinney@gci.org or call (242) 424-4062.
Grace Communion Ladson held its third annual Vacation Bible School, July 24-26, 2019. Sixteen young people ages 3 to 18 attended the “Super Training with Jesus University” where they learned to “Put on the whole armor of God…” (Ephesians 6:11) each evening session by learning: To trust God; Having the courage to be bold; Knowing the power of prayer and praising God. The teachers taught the same lesson to each grade level using unique approaches. The group started each night with prayer and praising God in songs and worship. They ended each night the same as they began.
After three nights of learning ways of being clothed in the armor of God, the youth celebrated on Saturday with “Funday.” They enjoyed a cookout, jump castle, face painting, games and loads of fun. The young people were able to showcase what they learned during VBS by participating in services on July 28. Our youth participated by leading the service in opening prayer, scripture reading, ushering, singing two selections of special music, and closing prayer.
Our youth even participated in the message. Pastor Tommie Grant, Jr.’s message was, ” Humbleness of Children.” He gave an interactive message. He began by having our youth stand as he asked a few questions and they answered from their heart. One question was “What are you thankful for?” The various answers included: (1) The privilege to be alive (2) Thankful for having a roof over my head (3) Thankful for food to eat (4) Thankful for family and friends.”
It was a humbling and insightful experience for the congregation to hear of the things that were on the minds of the youth. It became crystal clear to all why we are encouraged to be as humble as little children. They are thankful for everything big and small. Matt. 18:4 (NLT) “So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
My experiences during the Home Office move to North Carolina reminded me of the amazing work of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of following his lead.
Mat Morgan, GCI Chief Financial Officer
When the Board made the decision to move the GCI Home Office to Charlotte to be closer to more of our congregations, lower the cost of doing business, improve the quality of life for employees, etc., my job was to find a new office. This search was not successful immediately, and I found myself becoming impatient and asking God why this was not going as quickly or smoothly as anticipated. I felt that the Holy Spirit had led the Board to this decision and that he would provide a clear path to make it happen. The path ended up being clear, but it didn’t happen the way I envisioned!
One of the sites first focused on was a beautiful vacant piece of land in an area that seemed well-suited for the office. It would have been a purchase/design/build project. The project was pursued with enthusiasm, and it seemed like the right path: a great fresh start with a building designed for our purposes in a great area. However, one of the sellers was very difficult to deal with and quite unreasonable at times. The progress was excruciatingly slow with much effort.
On a particularly lengthy and difficult negotiation with the seller, I was calling from a snowy parking lot outside a hospital in Montana where my dad was dying. The call was not going well, so I shut my ears for a moment, put aside my frustration and asked God silently if I was pursuing this against his will. For the remainder of that conversation, I found myself clearly led to exit this deal, which I did at the end of the call.
After hanging up, I felt an amazing sense of peace and appreciation for the nudging of the Spirit, even though the time to find another property was very limited. I thanked God for his patience with me, because looking back from a new perspective, it seemed more obvious that I was just pushing a rock uphill in pursuing this deal. It was not his will. Through some tears of frustration and relief in that cold parking lot, I asked for his lead in finding a more suitable location for the office and nicer people to deal with. To make a long story short, he answered that prayer!
Enter negotiation #2 – after giving up on the deal for the design/build project, we re-visited a building that appeared suitable but required a lot of foundation repair. The building was more affordable and the people were more reasonable to deal with. Negotiations were proceeding well but it just didn’t feel right.
Soon, I felt strongly moved to visit a real estate website that I previously had checked regularly and was set to send me new property listings. I didn’t expect to find anything new that day. However, the building that is now the Home Office showed up almost immediately. I shared it with the Board, and they were as excited as I was. President Greg Williams and I visited the facility and it felt like home from the beginning. It was already built; we closed the purchase on the facility in just over a month and the rest is history! The completed building cost less than the previous facility would have cost, was in a better location and the purchase closed easily within our planned moving schedule with limited effort. But God wasn’t done yet!
Once the facility in California was sold, we had a hard deadline to vacate the property, but our facility in Charlotte was remodeled and ready to move in. Our IT Manager had purchased a house and moved to Charlotte to help facilitate the set-up of our IT infrastructure. The GCI moving team was on-site to receive two forty-foot long trailers full of records and office furnishings sent from California. After a very long day, we went to dinner to rest and celebrate this positive milestone. Everything was on schedule and we were happy.
Not everything continued smoothly, however. I will never forget the call I received the next morning from the construction supervisor, John. He phoned me early and said, “I have some hard news for you, Mat. A pipe has burst at your new facility, and you need to come over right away!” I thought to myself, we can handle some water clean-up.
I was not prepared for what I saw upon arrival. I walked into the lobby of the building and started wading in water. All around me water was falling from the ceiling, and ceiling tiles were dropping into the water, plop, plop, plop! The water leak was on the second floor, flooding both floors with two inches of water! All the remodeling work was ruined, some of the records we moved in the previous day were destroyed, and wood furniture and doors had soaked up water and were starting to swell. We were devastated. All our hard work was for nothing, it seemed, and we didn’t have time to fix it before employees arrived in just a few weeks. Through the lump in my throat, I wondered what God had in mind now. I knew he was there.
We were referred to Randy, the owner of a ServePro franchise, a water clean-up company, who had a close working relationship with another ServePro owner named Randy. Due to the size of the job, both companies had to tackle the cleanup. I firmly believe they were both God-sent. They are both wonderful Christian men who were well-organized and caring. Their teams were there that day, and the building was swarming with dozens of workers, green water vacuums, dehumidifiers and fans.
Before a reconstruction contract could be signed, they were cutting the newly painted and now very soggy drywall out of the building; the ceiling tiles, carpet, cabinetry, furniture, insulation and doors were put in huge green dumpsters and hauled away; damaged records and books were sent to a restoration company for repair; water-damaged computers that controlled the building HVAC and security systems were being dried out, and data restored where possible.
I am sure that God led us to these companies and to the construction company that started putting the building back together almost immediately. What seemed an impossible timeframe became possible through a construction supervisor named Brian. Although he was new to ServePro construction, and this was his first job with them, he led a team that restored the building in time to receive all the relocating employees, and remaining furniture and files. The only delay incurred was caused by the permitting department at the City of Charlotte. Brian is also a wonderful Christian man who had once had his home restored by ServePro. He knew what it was like to be on our side during this process, and it showed. Again, God was with us and ahead of us in this process. I firmly believe we were led to these people, companies and the artisans who walked with us through this reconstruction with skill and encouragement. I still consider some of them friends today.
The result of this event, which we thought was a disaster, was a remodeled Home Office from nearly floor to ceiling with new furnishings. All with limited expense to GCI, because the insurance claim was subrogated to the plumbing company, who was found responsible for the water leak. But God wasn’t done yet!
When we purchased the Home Office facility, we also tried to buy the vacant lot next to the building through a local broker. Although we had the permanent right to use the driveway and parking lot for our new facility, part of the driveway and the parking lot was owned by someone else. We preferred to control any development or use of the adjacent property. The broker approached the owner with a reasonable offer on our behalf, but she refused to sell. We had accepted this reality.
Some months later, I felt moved to reach out to the owner of the adjacent lot and see if I could get to know her without pushing for a purchase—just building a relationship and getting to know her as a neighbor was my goal. I invited her to have a cup of tea and to take a tour of our building. She accepted, and we spent about an hour talking and discussing GCI’s mission and plans.
Through the Holy Spirit’s hand, by the end of that conversation, we had agreed on a deal for the lot. Instead of buying the lot at full price, she donated over two-thirds of its value to the Church and GCI paid the remainder. This donation was worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The Holy Spirit was way ahead of me, preparing the way and working through a person that I had not met before and who was of a different faith.
I was reminded through this process that God does his work, and we have the blessing of participating with him. He is not surprised by our circumstances nor short on love or resources. He is in front of us in every way. The latter part of the Great Commission passage in Matthew 28:16-20 means more to me daily. Jesus told his disciples that day, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He is with us always. May we practice looking for his lead and join him in his perfect will, as we live, work and share the good news about Jesus.
We have sent $10,000 for emergency needs, made available by generous donors, to help with disaster relief for members in The Bahamas and we are standing by for additional requests. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the GCI congregations and members who have donated to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund, so together, we can assist those in need.
The following is an update from Charles Fleming, Mission Developer, on our members in The Bahamas, following the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.
I spoke with Robert McKinney, National Director for the Caribbean, this morning. He says there’s a lot of work to be done in the months and years ahead but for now, all the GCI members who were evacuated from Marsh Harbor have been relocated to relatives in Nassau. Thank God, Nassau was largely untouched and so the majority of the population, as well as the economic heart of the country, is still in good shape. Nassau is now the base for relief and recovery efforts into the Abaco chain of islands. Robert mentioned that moving forward, it is probably best to send money instead of supplies. Of course, if you have already collected supplies please go ahead and send them by whatever method you have in mind.
In terms of long-term prayers, pray for wisdom for the government and blessings for the economy. Freeport and Marsh Harbour are the second and third major economic centers of the nation. They are hoping to rebuild in a way that is sustainable. Pray also for the relationship between the native Bahamian population and the large number of migrants from Haiti. There have long been tensions between the two communities, which this crisis seems to emphasize.
Here is Robert’s update:
Tania, Gillian, Lydia and I have been working late into the night comforting evacuees as they disembarked planes coming out of Grand Bahama and Abaco. Officials are trying to get all Abaco residents off the island as soon as possible. The population was believed to have been around 20,000. I understand the plan is to burn everything that remains and start over, as the level of contamination is severe. The hurricane brought 185 m.p.h. winds, storm surge, and spin-off tornadoes.
Our members, who we thought were safe in Moores Island, were among the evacuees coming out of Marsh Harbour. Imagine how happy we were to see the eight of them make it here safely. They all came out with only the clothes on their backs and what little they could carry. The storm was horrendous, but every person who survived tells a story of God’s grace and mercy. Recovery will no doubt take a few years, but most are determined to rebuild. Thanks again for all the prayers and support, and until next time, may God continue to be with you.
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GCI Disaster Relief Fund
If your congregation has a heart to help members impacted by major disasters like the one in The Bahamas, consider donating to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. The Fund helps provide members in disaster areas with emergency needs such as food, water, medicine, clothing, temporary housing, home and/or church hall repairs, temporary local pastoral salary expenses and other emergency needs. Monies received into the Fund that are not immediately needed will remain in the Fund to be allocated in future disasters. In previous years, money from this Fund has been used to help members recover from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, storms and flooding in Bangladesh, an earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands, typhoons in the Philippines and an earthquake in Haiti.
If your congregation would like to donate out of local church funds, you may do so at www.gci.org/go/chdonate
If your congregation prefers to send a check, make it out to Grace Communion International, indicating on the memo line that the donation is for the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. Send the donation to:
GCI Disaster Relief Fund Grace Communion International 3120 Whitehall Park Dr. Charlotte, NC 28273
You are invited to join us for four days of celebration, fellowship and Christian outreach at our 12th annual Come & Drink Crusade. It takes place at Courtyard by Marriott, Junkanoo Beach, downtown Nassau, Bahamas, October 11-14, 2019. This hotel is the ideal site for a fall get-together for the entire family. Rooms rates are $160.00 per night double occupancy, all taxes included. Space is limited, so register today. For more information, email Robert.Mckinney@gci.org or call (242) 424-4062.
Image courtesy of Annalise Knudson/Staten Island Advance
Congratulations to our congregation on Staten Island, Hands for Christ Community Church. They have been catching media attention and praise for their Sunday services which are led fully in American Sign Language (ASL), with a voice translator. The following is a write up from Pastor Mary Bacheller.
Spectrum News NY1 (the local TV station) called to ask if we could be interviewed for their show. We agreed and they came and loved our services. They would like to come back another time as well. They captured the essence of our services. Even though attendance was down a bit, we did have a new family join us. I am asking the station to provide a link or DVD /CD with closed captioning on it so that I can send it to all of the deaf on the island as a promo piece and invite them to services.
This summer, Grace Communion Fellowship in Eagle Rock, California hosted our second annual Vacation Bible School. What a blessing it was to see new and familiar faces-both for the staff and kids!
Our theme this year was “Into the Wild” accompanied by the motto, “Zoom in-Focus on Jesus!” The kids dove deeper into knowing who Jesus is by reenacting stories in the Bible. They wore costumes and were given scripts to read. Their joy in doing this allowed them to remember what God has done for us. Our church hall was transformed into a jungle, and we felt the Spirit’s presence and love throughout.
Our church will always be grateful for God’s blessings over the week of VBS. We have witnessed his hands move and provide for everything that we need. We have seen the Spirit’s leading and guidance ever since the preparation stage. We thank God for the people who have been praying with us, who have supported and given their resources, time, and gifts. We thank God for the staff who volunteered to serve the children in multiple ways for a whole week. God used their presence to reach out to the children in our community. We thank God for the parents, grandparents, and friends who invited the children to come. It takes a whole village to have a VBS and we thank God for the people he brought this year.
A normal day in VBS looked like: worshipping through dancing and singing, making animal crafts, playing jungle- related games, eating, hearing the stories of Jesus’ life, and a lot of laughing and playing with balloons. Some of the week’s highlights included: watching a series about knowing who we are in Christ and encountering God in this wild world, dancing, and being interviewed. In the interview, the kids were asked what their favorite animal was, their favorite part of VBS, and something they have learned throughout the week. The kids also had a photoshoot with their chosen stuffed animal and they had the chance to take photos for the other kids. The photos they took were used to enter into a contest to win two free tickets to San Diego Zoo Safari Park!
Sunday, culminated for the kids with a celebration of the week. We heard testimonies from both campers and staff. We sang worship with our parents, grandparents, and friends. We then shared with the congregation the awards they were given throughout the week, like being the most energetic worshipper, best hugger, and best in crafts, among many others. The congregation also voted for the best photo and we revealed the top three photographers. Throughout the worship service and the week of VBS, we were celebrating and feasting to proclaim our gratefulness to God’s faithfulness, which was evident this year.
