Category: Stay Connected

GCI’s newly formed Filipino congregation in Masterton, New Zealand, recently hosted a retreat conducted by Larry Hinkle and Gracie Johnson of Odyssey in Christ (OIC). Called A Deeper Walk, the retreat introduced various spiritual formation practices that enhance a deeper personal relationship with God. The practices explored included solitude and silence, discerning God in creation, sacred reading of Scripture, spiritual journaling, creative expression in play, keeping Sabbath, meditation and various types of prayer.

The retreat included opportunities to try out these spiritual formation practices. For instance, participants were guided in spending time in silence listening to God’s voice. Another exercise was to take a walk outside to concentrate on insights from the creation and report back to the group. After a session on the way creative play can contribute to spiritual formation, the members split into teams for 30 minutes to prepare a skit to be performed in front of the whole group. The results showed amazing spontaneous creativity and talent, making for a laughter-filled evening.

We celebrate the life and legacy of Lores “Janie” Roegiers who died peacefully on June 23 just a few days before she would have turned 87. Janie will be remembered for many things, but the Generations Ministries family will always remember her for the legacy she left through a very generous donation made 15 years ago to the GenMin camp scholarship fund. To date, her donation has funded 1599 scholarships to 17 GenMin camps in 14 states. The average age of the campers helped was 12.5 years. What an amazing legacy!

Along with her generous donation 15 years ago, Janie sent this letter that speaks so profoundly of her vision and generous heart:

Dear GCI,

I, Lores (Janie) Lee Roegiers, have donated $100,000.00 to Grace Communion International (GCI) for the express purpose of supporting youth via Generations Ministry camp tuition scholarships and funding new camp start-ups. I have been profoundly blessed to have inherited a sum of money from my mother who died in 1996. I also inherited a farm located in Kansas at the same time and I receive income from the harvest of the crops. This, too, is a great blessing from God. As I have been blessed, I want to, in turn, bless others.

I see that the youth of today are the church of tomorrow. What better place to invest—in youth, the future of the church. I have had the privilege over the last six years of donating some of the monetary proceeds from my farm to the summer camp fund of my local church—Cornerstone Community Church (GCI, San Diego). I see the difference camp has made in the youth at Cornerstone. I know that summer camp can have a tremendous spiritual impact on a young person. Summer camp is a place for growth, maturity and a deepening relationship with God and others. What a blessing for kids to have such a place to attend. I want to extend the blessing of summer camp to youth in the United States. As God has blessed me, I want to pass His blessing on to others. That is why I am donating this money to GCI.

I do not want to dictate the way or the details in which the donation will be dispensed but I do want to state that it must be used for summer camp scholarships for those attending a camp in the United States and, if needed, to help fund a camp start-up in the United States. Additionally, I would like for those benefiting from the donation to know that they are receiving assistance as a result of God’s blessing. As I have been blessed, I want to bless others and have the recipient of that blessing, in turn bless someone else. I know that I can’t ask for a guarantee that the scholarship recipients help another person go to camp. But I do hope that those who are benefited from the scholarships will endeavor, when they are grown and able, to provide help for another child to go to camp. I will provide a form letter to accompany each scholarship so that the recipient can know the importance of passing on God’s blessing.

Thank you for all that you do in supporting the youth of our denomination and other youth that attend our summer camps. I appreciate the assistance you are providing in allowing me to share God’s blessing with others.

Sincerely, Janie Roegiers

Here are links to reports of recent ministry activities in GCI Philippines:

1. Combined Worship Service on Father’s Day
2. Vacation Bible School
3. SEP Luzon

The first annual gathering of the participants in GCI’s Pastoral Resident Program took place on June 1-4 in Oklahoma City. Through a variety of interactive sessions, the pastoral residents received support and challenge related to their ministries in GCI churches. After two days of training, collaborative learning, sharing best practices, and sharing fun times and meals, the group participated in the worship service at Crosswalk Community Church, GCI’s congregation in the Oklahoma City area pastored by Mike Rasmussen. Several of the pastoral residents participated in the very inspiring service.

GCI’s Pastoral Residency Program is a two-year-long, hands-on learning and ministry experience for those who have completed GCI’s Intern Program or have equivalent ministry experience in a local church setting. Here are the current pastoral residents (with supervising pastors and locations noted):

• Jillian Caranto (supervised by Pastor Bermie Dizon in Glendora, CA)
• Cara Garrity (supervised by Pastor Dishon Mills in Boston, MA)
• Ceeja Malmkar (supervised by Pastor Mike Rasmussen in Oklahoma City, OK)
• Patrick Quinn (supervised by Pastor Dustin Lampe in Cincinnati, OH)
• Dwight Sanders (supervised by Pastor Mike Swagerty in Sacramento, CA)
• Anthony Walton (supervised by Pastor Bermie Dizon in Glendora, CA)

Please pray for these young ministers of the gospel as they pursue a calling to pastoral ministry by ministering within a GCI congregation. In addition to attending the annual gathering, the pastoral residents meet monthly via video conference with Anthony Mullins, National Coordinator of the Pastoral Resident Program.

A hearty “thank you” to Ceeja Malmkar, Mike Rasmussen and Mike Urmie (all from the Oklahoma City church) for their good work organizing this inaugural event. Planning is underway for the next annual gathering, which will be in Cincinnati, OH, on June 26–July 1, 2018.

GCI’s Swiss church hosted a festival on Pentecost weekend in the picturesque village of Hegne by the shores of the majestic Lake Constance, famous for being where Austria, Germany and Switzerland connect. People from all three countries attended and, afterwards, an Austrian delegate was baptized by Toni Püentener, an elder serving our Swiss members and contacts.

Guest speaker at the festival was European Mission Developer James Henderson, who spoke about how the Spirit includes us in Christ’s church and about how each of us is special to God, our Father. Social activities included an informal get-together with laughter and appreciation for how God has blessed his church with talented people.

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.