Category: Stay Connected

On Saturday, January 30, Cathy Deddo presented a day-long seminar titled Wholehearted Life With Christ at Freedom Church in Dallas, Georgia (Atlanta area).

The seminar addressed questions regarding our identity in Christ: What does wholehearted life look like? How does it fit into our daily routine? How does one live wholeheartedly in the midst of personal struggles and unsettling events? Is this wholehearted life a life worth living or will I lose myself by being fully devoted to Jesus?

We struggle with these questions because often we have faulty views of what the Christian life is all about. Lance McKinnon, Freedom Church lead pastor, commented:

Cathy’s seminar helped us understand that our life in Christ is grounded in and flows from the truth and freedom found in our identity in Christ. When we live with the orientation that Jesus is fully present with us, working in our daily life, wholehearted living becomes our natural response. Jesus, who is our hope, shares with us the life he receives from the Father. Through that sharing we participate in Jesus’ own trust, worship and obedience. Instead of being what we “have to” do, wholehearted living is what we “get to” do.

Cathy noted that a wholehearted response to Christ flourishes as we attend to him—a response only possible because Jesus is attending to us. She mentioned several ways we may attend to Christ: reading and studying Scripture, prayer, fellowship with other believers—all powerful means by which we experience the wholehearted life Jesus has for us. The next day, at Freedom Church’s Sunday worship service, Cathy continued the theme in a sermon based on John 13:1-17.

Along with her mother, May Hall, Tammy Tkach recently visited Grace of God Fellowship, GCI’s congregation in Tucson, Arizona. Tammy gave a sermon titled, “Keep Your Eyes on Jesus.” Following services there was a special potluck meal and a time of fellowship and fun featuring some special photographs. Below is a photograph from a previous visit with Tammy (at right) along with Ted and Lila Millhuff who serve on the congregation’s pastoral team.

On January 30, members of Grace Fellowship, GCI’s congregation in Wichita, Kansas, gathered for a “discovery retreat” as part of the Transformational Church (TC) consulting process they are engaged in with TC consultant Greg Williams (shown below addressing the group).

After introductory devotions, the members recorded on cards their recollections of key “transformative” events in the congregation’s history. The cards were then posted on a wall by year, creating a history timeline. The value of small groups in their history clearly emerged.

In groups of three to four, members then reflected on each of the seven assessment areas addressed in a previous survey (referred to as the Transformational Assessment Tool, or TCAT, for short). The seven assessment areas (which together create the “transformational loop” shown in the diagram below) are missionary mentality, vibrant leadership, relational intentionality, prayerful dependence, worship, community and mission.

After lunch, each group took one of the assessment areas and developed proposed action steps to address the congregation’s strengths and weaknesses in that area. The whole group, with Greg’s facilitation, then discussed each of the proposals. Two concepts surfaced from this discussion: the importance of having small groups and the importance of mobilizing to serve the neighborhood where the congregation meets. Regional Pastor Mike Rasmussen (who was present at the retreat), described members as excited and eager to move forward in implementing the action steps. The pastoral and leadership teams will review the proposals to determine priorities, time-lines and budgets.

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For information about GCI’s Transformational Church consulting services, which are provided by the GCI-USA Church Administration and Development (CAD) team, click here.

GCI Generations Ministries (GenMin) recently conducted a Journey with the Master conference at the GCI home office in Glendora, California. The weekend was open to anyone, teen years and older. As indicated by the conference name, the weekend was primarily about getting a better understanding of our true identity as we travel on a lifelong journey with our Master, Jesus.

Anthony Mullins, GenMin’s national coordinator, led participants in looking at their identity spiritually and physically, emphasizing the need to unlearn the lies we believe about ourselves (like being unlovable) and to learn (or perhaps re-learn) the truths that God accepts us entirely and loves us unconditionally. Strengthened by these truths, we are able to journey in ministry with Jesus, which means sharing in his love for all people.

There were many moments in the conference when teens and adults gathered to pray for one another, extending encouragement and love. As one participant noted, “We were able to see hope rise in the hearts of our youth along with a thirst for the only Being who can satisfy our every need.”

The event concluded with participants traveling to Central Park in Pasadena where they offered food and prayer to homeless people. One conference participant noted this about that outreach and the conference in general:

The frame of mind we took with us was to first see anyone as a beloved child of God—someone our King died for and loves as much as he loves us. These beloved children of God then have a secondary identity, whether it be as a college student, blue-collar worker, stay-at-home parent, CEO, or a homeless person. GCI has a wonderfully rich history of relationship—we yearn to bond with those in and out of the church and to bring people into a fuller understanding of the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ. Journey with the Master is one of many events held by GCI, and with many others to come, we hope to see more and more come to know just how loved and accepted they are by their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Here are links to articles that update us on some of the recent events in GCI-Philippines:

• Training for preachers in Baguio: http://my.gci.ph/pulpit-ministry-training-at-gci-baguio/
• Events in Kalibo: http://my.gci.ph/gci-kalibo-updates/
• Baptisms at Cotmon church: http://my.gci.ph/baptisms-at-gci-cotmon-church/
• San Carlos church celebrates 33rd anniversary: http://my.gci.ph/gci-san-carlos-negros-occ-celebrates-33rd-anniversary/

This update is excerpted from a report prepared by Leslie Asare Akoto and Francis Ablordeppey.

GCI’s YEP youth camp in Ghana recently held a two week session with about 150 campers and 60 staff members. The camp theme, based on 1 Peter 2:9, was “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.” The campers, who came from different parts of Ghana and Nigeria, included refugees from Liberia and the Ivory Coast who are staying in a refugee camp in Ghana.

Camp activities included Bible Study, Christian Living classes, fireside chats, hiking, swimming, softball, batik tie & dye, initiative training, cooking & nutrition, and volleyball. A “YEP awareness time” enabled campers and staff to go into communities around the camp to inform parents and their wards about the youth camp and its benefits and also to invite them to attend the camp’s opening day set aside for visitors. As a result, about 37 children visited the camp and a local TV news crew also visited, covering some of the camp’s activities that occurred on Christmas Day. What they filmed was aired on national TV later that afternoon.

The campers enjoyed a Christmas Eve praise and worship session that included praising God in song and dance. A similar session was also held on New Years Eve. The campers were spiritually filled, pleased and blessed to usher in the New Year in this way (which included fireworks to thank God for keeping them through another year). The campers also enjoyed a party at the Tills Beach Resort.

On the last day of camp, 17 youth accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior through baptism. The baptisms were performed by pastors Emmanuel Okai and Francis Ablordeppey.

On the last evening of camp there was a beautiful banquet where campers and staff were awarded certificates for participation and for excelling in particular activities.

This update excerpts a report prepared by Johannes Maree (camp director) and Tim Maguire (camp chaplain) concerning the youth camp held recently in South Africa.

Since about 1974, we have been conducting an annual youth camp here in South Africa named SEP (which stands for Summer Enrichment Program). Our camp in 2015 was held in December at a beautiful facility about 60 miles north of Pretoria with 57 staff members serving 35 teen, 37 pre-teen and 13 young adult campers. With about 50% of the campers being unchurched, evangelism was a primary emphasis for us. The camp is a joint effort of GCI South Africa congregations and Youthworx, a Christian non-profit that has several GCI members in its leadership. Together we run the camp, manage the facility, and are working to purchase the facility.

This year our camp had three Christ-centered programs that ran concurrently: a VBS for pre-teens, traditional camp for teens, and leadership development for young adults. Our aim in all three was to develop the campers emotionally, physically and spiritually, with a focus on helping them build their relationship with Jesus. As mentioned in a report following SEP 2014 by Pastor Tim Maguire, “SEP has really become a powerful tool in evangelizing youth.”

Every morning camp began with an hour-long chapel service that included praise and worship and a presentation by one of our key speakers on the sub-theme of the day. That sub-theme was linked to the overall camp theme of EPIC, which focused on our journey through life with and in Jesus. The EPIC curriculum was provided by GCI-USA Generations Ministries. Campers regularly commented that chapel was the highlight of their camp experience. Other camp activities included mountain biking, obstacle course, rock-climbing, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, dancing, life skills Christian living, crafts and a camp banquet.

This report is from GCI pastor Doug Johannsen.

GCI members and guests from Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota gathered recently for Snowblast 2016. What typically is a camping experience with lots of outdoor activities ended up being held indoors due to extremely cold weather (20 degrees below zero, with a wind chill of 35 below). It was a family-style event with participants ranging in age from 6 to 80 (click on the pictures below to enlarge).

The event was held at Inspiration Point, a Christian camp/retreat located on Spitzer Lake in west-central Minnesota. The facility provided us with a worship center, dorm rooms, dining hall and recreation center. Indoor activities included volleyball, basketball, knitting/crocheting, pottery, wood pen turning, Zen Tangle, static electricity, DIY natural body care, perennial flower jugs and game room. These events were taught by members who offered special skills passed on to them from their parents or acquired from their professions and hobbies.

The theme for Snowblast 2016 was Ministry of Presence—Love God, Love Others, Make Disciples. Chapel messages included Listening by Doug Johannsen, Discerning by Carolyn Lane, and Loving without an agenda by Tom Kennebeck. Interactive adult breakout sessions were conducted by Troy Meisner and Becky Deuel. A live band accompanied worship.

SEP Mexico was held on December 28-January 1 a couple of hours from Guadalajara, Mexico. The youth camp provided a great time of worship, learning, relationship-building and spiritual nurture for 35 campers and 9 staffers from different parts of Mexico including Mexico City and Francisco Villa—a community in the state of Tamaulipas (near the U.S. border) where there is much danger due to drug cartel activity.

Speakers for most of the camp were Pastor Heber Ticas (pictured teaching at right) and his wife Xochilt Ticas. Through their messages, campers were immersed in the love of the triune God as they engaged in various topics including God’s universal love, forgiveness, our true identity, and God’s plan for relationships. The youth also had a great time participating in games and sports (mainly soccer and volleyball).

Morning sessions at camp were divided into two tracks. Some of the oldest campers participated in the leadership development track with Pastor Ticas while the rest took part in the discipleship track with Natanael Cruz, pastor of the GCI church in Mexico City. The discipleship track developed topics from the general camp sessions, presenting the loving, inclusive nature of our Savior.

The highlights of the week came on Wednesday and Thursday:

• During a time of prayer and worship on Wednesday morning, it was evident that the Holy Spirit was moving us to set aside scheduled presentations to give him room to work in a a special way in and through our youths. Many tears were shed as hearts were being healed by the love of the Lord that gripped those who were present.
• On Thursday morning Heber and Xochilt shared their story of 24 years of marriage as an introduction to the topic of One Flesh (God’s plan for marriage). This topic really connected with the youth, especially the young ladies.

Reflecting on the camp experience, Heber wrote this note:

At SEP Mexico we saw clearly that the Spirit is working in the lives of our young members in Mexico. We are thankful for the hard work that the Mexico camp committee did in making the camp a success. We also are thankful for the financial support from the Jon Whitney Foundation, the GCI Southern California Hispanic District and other partners in GCI-USA and GCI-Canada. Without their generosity it would have been difficult for many of the campers to attend.

GCI’s congregation in Bogotá, Colombia, recently conducted “Caritas Felices” (Happy Faces) as a Christmas-themed outreach to needy children living in a poor community on the outskirts of the city. Over 170 children were served. Members had picked the name of a child before the event and purchased a gift for them to receive. The children were also given a meal (over 190 sandwiches served). A Christmas play was presented to show the children the importance of the Incarnation of the Son of God.