Category: Stay Connected

GCI’s Big Sandy, TX, congregation is experiencing the lingering joy of three celebrations involving several of its members. The first occurred on Pentecost when, in addition to celebrating the birth of the church, the congregation celebrated the 70th wedding anniversary of members Clifford and Deloris Hix. Following church, there was a reception for the couple, followed by a gathering of 80 friends and family, many who had come from Minnesota and Canada. A proclamation from the City of Big Sandy declaring June 7 (the couple’s wedding date) “Hix Day in Big Sandy” was read by Mayor Sonny Parsons.

The second celebration occurred when Big Sandy member Anna Peterson married Andrew McIver, the son of Helen Ellard who is the wife of Big Sandy’s pastor Jerome Ellard. Anna is the daughter of Big Sandy members Rick and Lois Peterson.

The third celebration occurred earlier on the day of Andrew and Anna’s wedding, when the Big Sandy congregation celebrated the 56th wedding anniversary of Big Sandy Elder Kelly Barfield (a retired GCI pastor) and his wife Vinita. In the sermon that morning, Kelly delivered a sermon titled Journey of Faith.

Here are links to reports on recent events in GCI-Philippines:

1. National Women’s Conference
2. Emerging Leaders Retreat in Bicol Region
3. Emerging Leaders Retreat in Cebu
4. Youth Camp in Bukidnon
5. Youth Camp in Palawan
6. Outreach to the Poorest of the Poor in Pasay City

Here from National Director Gary Moore is news from GCI-Canada.

Bibles distributed in Kenya

GCI-Canada has numerous international mission projects, some funded from GCI-Canada’s International Missions Fund and the rest funded by local churches. Recently, Eric Vautour and the Moncton and Saint John New Brunswick congregations he pastors funded the purchase of Bibles for distribution in our GCI refugee congregations in Kenya. At right is a picture of those Bibles being distributed. Numerous members attending our Canadian churches formerly attended these congregations in Kenya.

Canadian national office moving

The GCI-Canada national office will be moved to Saskatoon in the first half of 2018. The move is due to several factors including National Director Gary Moore’s retirement in 2018 and the overheated housing market in the lower mainland of British Columbia where the office is currently located making housing too expensive for national office staff. A mid-sized city like Saskatoon offers all the benefits required for GCI-Canada’s national office, without many of the costs. In addition, Saskatoon is centrally located with a modern airport, which means travel costs will be reduced.

GCI’s Woodbine, GA, fellowship group recently hosted a Neighborhood Fun Day. The small congregation (17 members, including kids) held a scaled-down version of the Outside the Walls community outreach event conducted this year and last by its sister congregation in Jacksonville, FL. The purpose of the event was to help the community become more aware of GCI’s presence in the neighborhood where it meets, and to bring joy to the children who live there.

Fun Day activities included a prayer/chat booth, free raffles and Bible give-aways, two bounce houses, face painting, pony rides, a small petting zoo, four carnival game booths, and free food. Although the event lasted only three hours, the congregation hosted over 40 guests from the neighborhood. Now that the event is over, the congregation is making follow-up calls and sending cards to those who visited. The contact information was gathered through sign-ups for the Fun Day raffle.

Here is a short video of the event (on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBJ9tcC-8Uo&sns=em):

Here is a video showing the GCI youth camp held recently in Hyderabad, India.

On YouTube at https://youtu.be/5xPg8t1k7n8.

At the Converge conference in Nashville in April, leaders from Generations Ministries renewed their commitment to using GCI camps to serve GCI congregations. Here is a video with excerpts of a discussion concerning ways to do that.

On YouTube at https://youtu.be/Kq1mSC89trE.

Given the advanced age of many pastors, several GCI congregations face pastoral transitions. One such (successful) transition is detailed below by John McLean, GCI-Australia National Director.

GCI-Australia National Administration works with pastors as they retire and with their replacements. Later this year, Randall Bourchier will be retiring as pastor of Mooroolbark Christian Fellowship (MCF) and connected churches. Matthew Gudze will be taking his place. Randall and his wife Mary will continue serving the congregation in a variety of ways—the value of their wisdom, experience and insight will not be lost. I thank Randall and Matthew for the warm, proactive and collegial friendship expressed as we have worked through the transition process. Together, our major concern and priority has been the health and wellbeing of the congregations involved, as well as the life situations of the ministers and their families. My thanks to these men and their wives as they have negotiated what is not always an easy transition with grace and care.

Randall was instrumental in the development of the MCF pastoral team. He has done outstanding work connecting the congregation with the local community, in prayerful and Spirit-led involvement in incarnational mission. He is well-known for his creative, artistic gifting. Combining this with excellent theological depth, he has made a great contribution to the role of worship in our national fellowship.

Matthew, Sandra and their two young children moved into the Mooroolbark area some time ago where Matthew has worked with Randall and the othere leaders there for some time. Matthew has a Master’s Degree, and gave up a secure and well-remunerated career to join the ministry. He has a heart for the gospel, for mission and ministry, and is a blessing to the fellowship. His humble and gentle approach, and genuine concern for others, as well as his research and teaching abilities, are wonderful ministry gifts.

My heartfelt thanks to Randall and Mary for their years of wonderful dedicated ministry pastoring the MCF and connected churches—for Randall taking the initiative in this journey, and for the couple’s continued ministry. The congregations have been aware of these developments throughout the year. My thanks to the pastoral team as it has prayerfully and collegially discerned the lead of the Spirit in these developments, working through Randall with National Administration to arrive at this outcome.

I know that the individuals and congregations will appreciate your prayers for God’s blessing on these upcoming changes—that the Holy Spirit’s work might be done in everything.

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Note: though GCI-USA does not have a mandatory retirement age for its employees, Church Administration and Development asks all lead pastors (employed or bivocational) to work with their regional pastor to develop a transition plan. The planning should commence when the lead pastor turns 62. Even though the actual transition may be several years away, it takes considerable time to identify and properly prepare a new lead pastor (or pastoral team) and we want the transition to be as smooth as possible for all concerned.

This update is from GCI Mission Developer Rod Matthews.

The Himalayan Gospel Church (HGC), GCI’s ministry partner in Nepal, runs the Himalayan Bible School (HiBiS), which recently concluded its 2017 course in Kathmandu. Since mid-February, 11 young men and women (pictured below) from rural Nepal have lived and studied in Kathmandu for three months, completing an intensive course in biblical understanding and Christian ministry. The students were chosen from attendees at village seminars conducted last year in seven locations in the Himalayan foothills by HGC’s Mobile Bible School.

On March 30, Southeast Asian Senior Pastor, Wong Mein Kong, myself and our wives arrived in Kathmandu to meet with HGC Pastor Deben Sam and members of his team. I had also requested that Daniel Zachariah, who serves our north Indian pastorate, based in Hyderabad, join us so Deben could become acquainted with the GCI pastor closest to Nepal geographically.

While in Kathmandu, we visited HiBiS in session and each of us had the opportunity to teach the students (through a translator, see picture at right) and enjoy their enthusiasm for the Scriptures and the gospel message. We also had the opportunity to visit the HGC’s medical clinic at its new location on a busy street where drop-in customers can purchase basic pharmaceuticals. The clinic also has a mobile unit (on the back of a motorcycle!) that takes basic medical services to the very poor on the outskirts of the city several times a week.

During HGC’s weekly worship service (pictured below), Wong Mein Kong and I re-established our connections from the last visit and introduced Danny Zachariah to the congregation before sharing messages with the 70 or so people in attendance.

Nepal is a challenging country in which to work. While most of the population is Hindu in religious heritage, the government consists largely of politicians from a mix of Hindu and Maoist philosophies and they wrestle with conflicting approaches to religion. Many Hindus would like to see anti-conversion laws installed. The Maoists make no commitment to that. So, in one sense, the impasse serves the Christians well for the moment.

Kathmandu still shows signs of the severe earthquake of April 2015 with some rubble still not cleared from certain secondary streets and a few residences here and there, mainly on the outskirts, remain a pile of bricks. At the best of times, building good infrastructure in a mountainous country is an expensive proposition. But it’s a huge challenge in a poor country subject to earthquakes where many people live in isolated, remote valleys, and on the steep sides of the Himalayas, most with their own languages or dialects. That is overlaid by the inefficiencies of a government afflicted with philosophical conflicts and a desire to retain control of everything. But we are privileged that God led us into this partnership of over a decade with a ministry led by Deben Sam who has a passionate heart for the poor and isolated who need to hear the gospel message. As a result, many have heard the Word of God and personally experienced a practical example of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Deben much appreciates your prayers for him and his team.

Here are links to reports concerning recent events in GCI-Philippines:

1. Deeper Walk Retreat for Emerging Leaders in Baguio
2. Olaguer-Pamor Wedding in Bicol
3. Preparations for Jesus Global Youth Day 2018

This report is from Kairis Chiaji, Spanish interpreter for the missionary team.

GCI’s congregation in Sacramento, CA, was preparing its youth to live on mission. Toward that end, Lead Pastor Mike Swagerty worked with youth leaders Judah Dwight Sanders and Lauren Rierson to implement a curriculum addressing GCI doctrine. The curriculum included field trips to non-GCI churches to experience their approach to worship. And then a big idea hit—what if the learning experience included a mission trip overseas? After looking at various options, the answer came—our sister congregation in Bogotá, Colombia, would be the perfect place to participate in God’s work on an international scale. GCI Bogotá Lead Pastor Hector Barrera and Pastor Mike not only are friends (originally connected by Ambassador College) they have participated in joint evangelism efforts. After some research, it seemed evident that God was leading us to take a mission trip to Bogotá, Colombia.

After much fundraising, updating passports, and reassuring parents, we were set to travel in April. Six adults (including three youth leaders) accompanied six youth group members on the 3,375 mile trip to Colombia to meet with Pastor Hector, his wife Paulina, and their ministry and mission team in Bogotá.

No doubt about it, Comunión de Gracia Internacional of Bogotá, sets the standard for hospitality! Our trip there was filled to the brim with opportunities for serving, sightseeing, praise and worship, and education. Each day, in every activity, Bogotá church staff and members tended to our needs. They fed us well, gave us gifts and shared their stories. Excellent cultural liaisons, they went above and beyond. We were safe and comfortable. We were family. We had a blast!

During Holy Week we witnessed three baptisms and two of us were invited to give sermons in Holy Week services. Some of us participated in an international praise and worship team at the Easter service. The Holy Spirit’s presence transcended the language barriers. We were truly many parts, one Body.

Our mission team sought out ways to serve and support the Bogotá congregation’s community outreach goals. As a result of all these activities, we returned home energized and with a renewed heart and spirit for evangelism. Though we lent our hands to help with their ongoing service projects, the blessings we experienced far outweighed anything we contributed. The Bogotá congregation’s youth ministry leadership team, which reflects the determined, patient and grace-filled leadership of Pastor Hector, had a great deal of experience and wisdom to pass on to us. Their commitment renewed our own. Their success gave us hope.

Though these two congregations are half a world apart, they have been closely connected for years. Their lead pastors, steadfast in kingdom-building work for decades, have now passed the torch of leadership to a new, up-and-coming generation. The bonding and friendships that took place during our visit were heartfelt and sincere. Like any siblings with Christ’s DNA, had there not been different languages to navigate, you would never have known we hadn’t met before. The great good news of our futures together is set for eternity!