July 29, 2008
About 150 campers attended a national Alliance youth retreat in Indonesia recently. “The week was jam-packed with fun-filled activities from music to community-building exercises,” said Alliance missionary Jim Kendall. The campers participated in nightly services, relevant seminars, evangelistic activities, and youth leadership training. One of the highlights of the retreat was a “love, sex, and dating” seminar that ended with about one-third of the youth making vows of abstinence until marriage. “Follow-up sessions are already planned,” said Kendall. “Praise the Lord for His answer to the prayers of many. Pray that seed sown will continue to bear fruit.”
July 22, 2008
It had been six hours since Thiery had been injured in an automobile accident. The young man had been riding with a dozen other passengers in an open pick-up truck 20 kilometers from Bongolo when the driver lost control and the vehicle rolled. A passing car brought Thiery and four other injured passengers to Bongolo Hospital for treatment.
“He had an open wound in his upper arm that seemed innocent enough,” said Alliance missionary Dr. David Thompson. “But a severe infection set in that within three days devoured most of the skin and some of the muscles on the back of his upper arm and elbow.”
During the month that Thiery was hospitalized, hospital personnel prayed for him when they made their rounds, and Jonas, an anesthetist, talked to Thiery several times about giving his life to Christ. During his third week, Thiery prayed a prayer of faith and told the team that he had decided to follow Jesus. “When he was finally discharged,” said Thompson, “we all encouraged him to attend the local Bongolo church. But after he left the hospital, Thiery went back to his old way of life.”
When a renowned plastic surgeon, David Chang from M. D. Anderson Hospital in Texas, came to Bongolo to offer his services, Thiery was one of the patients who showed up. His right elbow was severely scarred, and his arm was useless. With Dr. Chang’s surgical skills, the amount of scar tissue was reduced, and a vascularized transfer flap was moved from Thiery’s wrist to his elbow, restoring Thiery’s arm to normal function.
During his hospitalization, Thiery was again encouraged to follow Christ, and some staff will visit him after his release. “But unlike Thiery who lives close by,” Thompson said, “most who pray to receive Christ at the hospital come from all over Gabon. We have the privilege of introducing thousands of people to Christ each year. The challenge for our team and for the churches of Gabon is to encourage and help these vulnerable new believers to follow in Christ’s footsteps after they leave the hospital.”
A week does not go by at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, West Africa, that at least 20 people find their way to Jesus. The hospital, which until recently was called Bongolo Evangelical Hospital, not only provides compassionate medical care but also shares the good news of Jesus with hundreds of patients who come from the farthest points of the country.
Recently, the hospital’s head chaplain, Pastor Pascal, reported that since the previous Friday, 47 patients accepted Christ. In the two weeks prior, 37 and 66 people received Jesus.
“Often as I walk by their office,” said Dr. David Thompson, “I hear the chaplains praying with a patient, delivering someone from an evil spirit, comforting patients who have just learned they are HIV positive, or rejoicing with someone who just found Christ. The total number of patients who have prayed to receive Jesus since January is an amazing 1,236!”
Read a Related Story»
July 14, 2008
Mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted in the town of Paradise, California, and evacuees have returned home as the immediate threat of fire has diminished. This was the second time in a month that Paradise Alliance Church was used as shelter for evacuees from Paradise and surrounding communities. “We saw blue sky today,” said church member Karen Horton. “The immediate threat to Paradise is over.”
Many church members, including Pastor Larry Shelton, were evacuated last week when fires sparked by lightning put their homes in peril. “Several church families that live outside Paradise in neighboring towns lost their homes,” says Horton.
The fires have burned about 53,000 acres and are now 70 percent contained. Only five fires are now burning actively, down from 14 active fires Friday. Horton, who has volunteered along with many other church members to help evacuees seeking shelter at the church, said, “I’ve lived here 30 years and never have seen anything like this. The community has really pulled together to help one another.”
July 8, 2008
“Ash is falling from the sky,” said Pastor Larry Shelton of Paradise (California) Alliance Church Tuesday morning. “I just picked up a partly charred leaf that fell from the sky.”
Shelton and his church members thought that the fire danger was over a few weeks ago after the town evacuated nearly 10,000 residents and lost more than 70 homes. Several church members lost their homes as well. The Alliance church became a refuge, and church members not affected by the fire helped their neighbors who were.
At the time, the fires were reported to be contained. But today, Paradise is in the midst of another emergency situation. “The fire has taken on new life and is threatening our town again,” Shelton reports. “At 10 a.m., the sun is blood red. Street lights are coming on, and it’s very hard to breathe. Our town manager requested that we use the church as an evacuation center again. Pray for our town and the overextended fire fighters.”
Alliance missionary Esther Schaeffer, along with a team of colleagues and volunteers, recently launched four weeks of Bible clubs at four area churches in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, hoping to reach the city’s children for Christ. The program’s success was evident the following Sunday when 89 youngsters showed up for Sunday school at the St. Etienne Church, where usually only 10 children attend.
When the children were asked if they knew the name of the first man God created, many named the founder of another religion. “What an awesome opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus with unchurched children,” Schaeffer said. “We’re off to an exciting start.”
Pastor Harley Heckman passed away on June 1, 2008. Harley and his wife, Ferne, were farmers in Nebraska when they experienced the new life of Christ. Ferne came to know the Lord first and then prayed Harley into God’s Kingdom.
A few years later, Harley responded to the Lord’s call to ministry and traveled to St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and two sons, Darrel and Dale. There he entered the St. Paul Bible Institute and upon graduation was called to serve the Alliance Chapel at Tyler, Minnesota. At that time, another son, Myron, was born.
After four years at Tyler, Harley moved on to Orange City, Iowa, to serve the Gospel Church, affiliated with the C&MA, followed by ministry at the First Alliance Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the next 19 years. These were years of great blessings and fruitfulness as the Lord granted new areas of ministry. During the last years of their ministry in Milwaukee, Harley and Ferne became “empty nesters.” At the age of 61 after many conversations with the Lord, they responded to a call from the Hazel Park Alliance Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. They served there for six years before concluding full-time ministry and moved back to Milwaukee.
Shortly thereafter, Rev. Bill Ronzheimer asked Harley to serve as minister of visitation at Alliance Bible Church in Mequon, Wisconsin. Harley and Ferne remembered those last years of service as an enjoyable and fruitful way to serve the Lord.
Upon his retirement in November 1994, Harley was honored with the title of Pastor Emeritus. After nearly 56 years of marriage, Ferne went to be with the Lord in September 1997. She had been a wonderful help in the work of the Lord.
Through all of life, the joys and sorrows, the victories and defeats, God has proven Himself faithful. Isaiah 41:10 has meant so much to Harley and Ferne: “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (NKJV).
July 3, 2008
A state of emergency remains in effect in Mongolia after violence erupted earlier this week in Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital, leaving five people dead. Thousands took to the streets to protest alleged fraud after the recent general election. All is well with Alliance personnel serving in Mongolia. “Our workers were not affected by the turmoil, and things are almost back to normal,” said an Alliance spokesperson for the Mongolia team.
July 2, 2008
by Bill Malick
As most of you may have heard by now, I will be taking over responsibilities as the South Pacific district superintendent. What does that mean for national church planting? The goal is to turn a difficult situation into opportunity. As Gary Benedict says, “we plant churches or we die!” So the Alliance has asked me to consult and make certain we keep moving forward. Here are some of the strategic highlights.
sXt
On the front burner is the continuation and regional development of the sXt (Strategic Multiplication Training). We just came from a great event hosted by the Southeastern district where we had 40+ planters and wives trained. I will be working directly with Todd Sovine in the Central district as he puts together a local sXt in Ohio. On the schedule is the sXt in Phoenix, January 26–29, 2009 with more to follow.
Church Planter Assessment Centers
We have launched Southwest Church Planting (SWCP) complete with bi-monthly forums for church planters and spouses and a twice annual four-day assessment center for planters and their spouses beginning in October 2008. Northwest Church Planting (NWCP) is run by the Pacific Northwest CPD, Randy Shaw. NWCP already operates two assessment centers each year. The focus will be to launch Midwest Church Planting, Northeast Church Planting and Southeast Church Planting all with forums and assessment centers. The training has already begun. Let us know if you would like to attend one of these assessment events, observe, and be trained to take it back to your region. We are ready to help!
Annual CX Advance for CPDs and CHDs
The third week of April 2009 we will be traveling together to Orlando for the Exponential Conference for church planting. We will add on one day at the beginning of the conference for C&MA fellowship, brainstorming, vision casting and debriefing. Please save April 19 for travel, April 20-21 a.m. for our Advance and April 21 p.m.-23 for the Exponential 2009 conference. Mark your calendars now for this excellent event. If we register together as one group, we can save $20/person. More details to follow. Here’s the link to check out the upcoming conference—www.exponentialconference.org
Church Health for Multiplication
Dale Edwardson will remain onboard organizing and coordinating our work toward developing healthy churches with the goal of seeing them become parent churches. GHC training will continue to happen in concert with sXt.
Initiative and Grants
Dollars are still being allocated for initiatives like the ones above along with new concepts, coaching, and strategic ideas. Grants for new church starts are not going away. Grants for sending your church planters to a mission field are staying in place. Grants for establishing Church Planting Centers will be a priority. It is true that this year and last we have suffered financial cutbacks. However, I am confident that we will turn this corner.
Regional Strategies
We are working on regional strategies with the eventual objective that grants will be reviewed and approved by regional teams across the country. More about this will be coming as we gather in April 2009.
Your Voice, Our Voices
We are the ones to best beat the drum for church multiplication. At next year’s Council I will be working as an MC for all the speakers bringing church planting to the forefront throughout the event. As the consultant for church multiplication, I will keep shouting the need to our president, Gary Benedict, and our vice president, John Soper (veteran of numerous church plants). As a DS, I will unite with many of our superintendents who are also veteran church planters and church planting directors as “squeaky wheels” for multiplication.
I told Gary Benedict after he said, “we plant churches or we die” that I will hold him to it. That is, I will hold him to the planting churches part, not the die part. He said, “I want to be held to it!”
July 1, 2008
Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Alliance ministries that began with relief efforts are flourishing. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Pastor Randy Knighten oversees several outreaches through the ministry center that was established immediately after the hurricane. An after-school program assists a dozen children, grades 3 through 8, with school work. “The successful program just completed its first year,” says Knighten. A food pantry ministry, a job skills class, and three years of Vacation Bible School have impacted a community of displaced people after the storm forced their relocation to Baton Rouge.
In Wavleland, Mississippi, Mark Young has assumed leadership of Christian Life Center (CLC) and its ongoing relief efforts to help the community rebuild homes and lives. Volunteers continue to pour in, most recently 75 young people representing four youth groups that “painted, cleaned, dug, prayed and represented Christ well as His ambassadors,” says Young.
Although the church plant is still in the early stages of development, the youth ministry is taking off. “Many who were completely uninterested in God a few months ago now have opened their hearts to Him,” Young says. “One young woman who has been a part of our community for the past 10 months recently made a commitment to follow Christ and has been instrumental in bringing many kids to hear the gospel.”
As the church grows and temporary workers transition in and out, Young is praying that some of them will sense God’s call to permanent ministry in Waveland. “Workers are needed to minister to the people who come to CLC seeking help and hope,” he says.
Forums
RSS
Podcasts
Newsletters