June 30, 2009
A summer outing turned tragic when Nathan Junker, 30, and Albert Hermiston, 63, lost their lives June 28 after they jumped into the choppy waters of Pokegama Lake in Minnesota to rescue a boy who was struggling to stay afloat. Junker’s father, Randy, is the pastor of Grand Rapids Alliance Church in the same state.
Junker, youth pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, and Hermiston, a layman, had brought the church’s youth group for a day fun and sun on a houseboat, which was docked on a sandbar so the kids could swim.
But the weather changed and the waves on the lake grew to swells that were several feet high. When the men saw the boy struggling, they went out to help him. Hermiston gave his life vest to the boy, who made it back safely. Hermiston and Junker did not.
Hermiston was found soon afterwards but attempts to resuscitate were futile. Junker’s body was found the following day.
“Our hearts go out in concern and love to those who have suffered a sudden loss,” says Don Wiggins, superintendent for the Northwestern District. “In their time of sorrow, however, both families are experiencing the genuine love and support of their church family. It proves, again, the value of the Body of Christ and the reality of a hope that extends beyond death. In the selfless actions that probably saved young lives there is an example of Christ’s sacrifice that will impact a great many people for a lifetime and for eternity.”
Witnesses called Junker and Hermiston heroes who gave their lives to save a child, adding that their sacrifice will always be remembered.
What you can do
Pray for the families of these men. Hermiston is survived by his wife, Nancy. Junker left his wife, Samantha, and four children: Lauren, Alexandra, Journey, and Lincoln.
Pray that God will comfort Junker’s father and mother, Randy and Debbie as well as the people of both churches and the community whose lives have been impacted by these men.
June 26, 2009
Fire struck the First Alliance Church in Toledo, Ohio, in the early morning hours of June 25, completely destroying the sanctuary of the 87-year-old building. While the church offices, foyer and annex were untouched by fire, they did incur extensive water and smoke damage. No one was in the building at the time.
Pastor Keith Sholl told local reporters, “It’s the memories of all the marriages, funerals, professions of faith and people —and to see this church go up in flames is hard to take.”
The fire was ruled accidental, and although the sanctuary is a total loss and will be demolished, church activities and Sunday services will continue as scheduled in two separate buildings across the street from the church.
What you can do
Praise God for protecting church members. Pray that He will provide funds for rebuilding.
If you would like to contribute to the rebuilding effort, contact Great Lakes District at office@greatlakesdistrict.com or call 734-677-8555.
June 24, 2009
When Northgate (Ottumwa, Iowa) Alliance Church leaders challenged its members to give liberally toward the Great Commission (GC) Sunday offering, they could not have imagined the response. The governing board promised to match the offering, using money from the church’s general fund. “We are in a financially healthy position,” says Marcia Oakes, the church bookkeeper,” and assumed that it would be the usual $2,000 or $3,000 offering.”
But the 300-member congregation’s GC Sunday offering totaled more than $52,000. “I was blown away,” says Oakes, who double-checked the church’s account to confirm it could, indeed, meet the challenge. “It’s been fun to see people’s reactions.”
The Alliance church did not have an extensive missions promotion during this time and did nothing “out of the norm” to promote GC Sunday-other than the challenge. According to Oakes, the board leaders believed the Kingdom would be better served by utilizing the financial surplus instead of letting it sit in a bank. “And the Lord moved,” she says.
Church members are excited about their collaborative effort, hoping that their gift will allow Alliance missionaries to continue in the ministry to which they were called. “Maybe one family will get to stay on the field that would’ve had to come home,” says one member.
When told of Northgate’s generous gesture, U.S. C&MA President Gary Benedict said, “I can only praise God for His faithfulness through His people.”
June 3, 2009
We are thrilled to announce the following names of those that have answered the call of Christ and have been appointed to overseas service.
They answered the call of Jesus and were commissioned at General Council in Louisville, KY on Sunday, May 31, 2009. Those gathered watched as these newly appointed workers walked through the “open door of service” that had been constructed on the stage and filed into the crowd that was waiting to pray for each one. In addition to those listed, six additional people were appointed to Creative Access Countries.
Rev. Ronald J. Morrison, Chairman of the Board, lead the gathering of believers in a commissioning prayer. Please continue to pray for these workers—that Jesus Himself would be there protection, care, and power.
Andrew and Lora Brake
Indonesia
Robert and Lisa Burns
Balkans
Laura Eckman
Balkans
Jason Foster
Mali
Kristen House
Mali
Joseph and Kay Kong
Cambodia
Michael and Suzanne Marczak
Jordan
Wyman and Carma Nelson
Republic of Congo
Constance Seale
Balkans
Joseph and Andrea Zanayed
Israel
After a long battle with cancer, Mrs. Joyce Caston, former missionary to Argentina, went to be with the Lord on May 14, 2009.
Joyce Ann Sykes was born on October 5, 1941, in Renovo, Pennsylvania. She attended Nyack College in Nyack, New York, and graduated with a bachelor’s of science in missions. She met Vernon while at Nyack College, and they married in June 1962 in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Vernon continued to pursue his MA from Wheaton Graduate School, and they were appointed as missionaries to Argentina in 1970. The couple left for Costa Rica first for one year of Spanish language learning and then proceeded to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were involved with church planting.
The Castons returned to the United States in 1980 so Vernon could pursue his doctorate at New York University. Upon completion of his dissertation, they returned to Argentina for a final four-year term before Vernon and Joyce accepted teaching positions at Crown College in Minnesota. Joyce was also actively involved in the District Alliance Women Ministries Executive Team. She served faithfully and will be greatly missed.
Joyce is survived by her husband, Vernon, and their three children: Karis, Constance, and Cristina. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be sent to The Christian and Missionary Alliance, The Great Commission Fund, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500.
June 2, 2009
Miss Evelyn Marie Rychner went to be with her Lord and Savior on May 20, 2009.
Evelyn was born on February 4, 1919, in Platte Township, Morrison County, Minnesota. She was saved at the age of 12. In 1939 she enrolled at St. Paul Bible College (now Crown College, St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, as an academic student. While listening to a missionary, Evelyn was called to South America. Following graduation she served with the American Sunday School Union in Montana.
In order to qualify as a foreign missionary, Evelyn enrolled in the University of Minnesota, majoring in practical nursing. After on year at Nyack in 1946, she went to Texas to work among the Mexican people for three and a half years. She received her appointment to Ecuador in 1950.
Evelyn was involved in extensive vacation Bible school ministries, Bible studies, teaching at the Bible Institute in Los Cerros, working the bookstore Libereria Realidades, and serving among the Otavalan and Quechua Indians. She also worked in clinics, literature and book distribution, visitation, gospel movie ministry, translation work, and publication of the Indian hymnal. She helped teach music and start a musical group at the institute. She retired in 1988 after 38 years of faithful ministry in Ecuador
Evelyn was predeceased by her parents, Theodore and Emma, and brothers Harvey, Edwin, and Philip. She is survived by brother Merle and sister Bernice.
A celebration service will be held on June 6 at 11 a.m. at the Rose Hill Alliance Church, 2105 Roselawn Ave. W., Roseville, MN 55113. Memorials can be given to The Christian and Missionary Alliance’s Great Commission Fund in lieu of flowers.
Rev. Mahlon Sunday Amstutz went to be with the Lord on May 23, 2009. Mahlon was born June 28, 1915, in Springtown, Pennsylvania. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior while in his early teens in Akron, Ohio. He attended Asbury College and the Missionary Training Institute (now Nyack College) in Nyack, New York. He married Ruth Nelda Behnke on December 30, 1941, in Bushton, Kansas. They were appointed to serve as Alliance missionaries to Chile in June 1943 while completing their home service in Florida and Nebraska.
Ruth and Mahlon departed for the field in 1945 and were stationed in Temuco, serving in teaching ministries at the Bible Institute and itinerant evangelism. They also produced a weekly gospel radio program and were involved in field leadership ministries at various times. In later ministry years, they were engaged in church planting and were the first Alliance representatives in the city of Antofagasta, where they established fruitful churches. Most of their service took place in Chile, except for six months in Argentina overseeing the Buenos Aires Bible Institute.
They retired in 1988 but continued to travel overseas periodically in various ministry capacities, including serving in the orchestra and choir at the Bradenton Missionary Village. They volunteered at the Bible Alliance, Inc., preparing Scripture cassettes for distribution in 45 languages. Mahlon was involved with a weekly prison ministry through which many inmates came to know the Savior.
The highlight during their retirement years was a return trip to Chile in 1997 to participate in the 100th anniversary of Alliance missionary activity in the country. They were able to stop in Quito, Ecuador, to visit their daughter Nelda and son-in-law Paul Johnson, who are missionaries with The Alliance.
The funeral service was held at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas, on May 30. Dr. Steven Marsh officiated. Maholn was predeceased by his wife, Ruth Nelda; he is survived by his five children: Carolyn Mizzau, Mark, Nelda Johnson (missionaries to the Dominican Republic), Samuel, and James. Cards can be sent to Samuel Amstutz, 2831 Wilderness Ct, Wichita, KS 67226-8813. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to The Christian and Missionary Alliance, Approved Special 44-26-01041, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO.
May 31, 2009
PRESIDENT
Term: Four Years (2009–2013)
(936 ballots cast — 469 necessary for election)
Gary M. Benedict — 870
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Term: Four Years (2009–2013) or Two Years (2009–2011)
(936 ballots cast — declared election by plurality)
David C. Thompson 776 OA/M/E
Rockwell L. Dillaman 745 NA/P/OW
Timothy M. Bubna 737 OA/M
Timothy D. Crouch 665 OA/M
Donald A. Wiggins 654 OA/DS/P/E
Janet K. Howard 653 NA/R
Richard B. Pease Jr. 644 NA/L
Ronald E. Eastman 636 NA/L
Richard P. Mann 635 NA/E/OW
David K. Smith 614 NA/P/OW
Larry J. Carey 571 NA/P
John A. Thomas 548 NA/L
Joseph D. Botana 490 NA/E/L
Not elected:
Dennis L. Krajacic 441 NA/P
William L. Randall 383 NA/P/E/OW
J. Wayne Spriggs 332 OA/DS
Michael C. Gerhardt 312 NA/P/OW
Key: DS = District Superintendent, E = Educator, L = Layperson, NA = Not on Allowance,
M = Missionary, OA = On Allowance, OW = Official Worker, P = Pastor, R = Retired
C&MA BENEFIT BOARD
Term: Four Years (2009–2013)
Bill W. Lanpher — 798
Karen L. Davie — 783
Doris E. Nuss — 779
Jeffrey P. Brown — 777
Gary R. Reese — 765
Linda L. McClanahan — 753
COMMITTEE ON RULES
Term: Four Years (2009–2013) or Two Years (2009–2011)
(936 ballots cast — 469 necessary for election)
Robert B. Goldenberg — 845
Allen R. Biere — 842
F. Nevin Wiest — 842
Larry L. Long (2009–2011) — 836
COMMITTEE ON THEOLOGICAL ISSUES
Term: Six Years (2009–2015) or Four Years (2009–2013)
(936 ballots cast — 624 necessary for election)
Daniel R. Wetzel (2009–2013) — 822
David A. Denyer — 821
Ronald J. Morrison — 814
David G. Reese — 811
COMMITTEE ON COUNCIL ARRANGEMENTS 2011
Pao Her — 860
David L. Gilmore — 859
May 22, 2009
Rev. Elwood A. Mann, a retired official worker who served in the Northeastern District for 43 years, passed away March 28, 2009. He was 86. Mann pastored six churches in the district from 1950-1987.
”It seems the district is quickly losing pastors of Elwood’s generation, but their legacy and godly example of committed humility remains with us,” said District Superintendent Dan Miller. “They will be missed-Elwood will be missed.”
Mann was predeceased by his wife, Elspeth, in 1985. He is survived by three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Two sisters, Edythe Dunning and Marilyn Martin, were able to join Mann’s family before his passing. “We prayed that God would grant him one more day until we could get there,” said Dunning. “God gave us that day with our brother.” Memorial services were held April 1 in Niagara Falls, New York, and gifts to the Great Commission Fund were accepted in lieu of flowers
April 7, 2009
Editor’s note: The following testimony of healing comes from Dan Kidd, a member of Glenview Alliance Church in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. Dan, 46, had a stroke five years ago that took away his speech function. But all that changed recently when God miraculously intervened with His divine touch.
Five years ago, I suffered a stroke and lost my ability to speak, forcing me to communicate with a dry-erase board. Sunday, March 29, marked almost five years of praying for God’s divine healing in my life. As the youth worship band sang “How Great is Our God,” I struggled to think through the words in my head. Suddenly, I felt a “presence” or wave flow through me. I starting mouthing the words, then verbalizing them, and sound was coming out of my mouth. The first words I audibly sang were “How Great is Our God.” I began crying and walked outside, knowing my speech was returning at that very moment.
Some family and friends followed me out and asked what was wrong. I told them on my dry erase board that something just happened during the service, and my speech was coming back. I asked them to sing something-I wanted to see if I could follow along. With each song they sang, my words became clearer. I knew at that moment God had healed me.
We went back inside the church, and during the closing song, I walked up to the front and asked the pastor if I could say something from the pulpit. I said, “Hi, this is Dan. I am back.” I shared with everyone what had just happened and thanked them for praying for me for so long. As I told them that this is truly a miracle, I held up my dry erase board and said, “One more thing.” Then I broke the board in half.
Since then, I have been to three doctors, including a neurosurgeon, all of whom said that my healing is a true miracle. They have never seen anything like this before.
Many times I cried to the Lord, vowing that if He ever returned my speech, I would tell everyone and give Him the glory. I thank all who prayed and never gave up on me, and I give praise to God for what He has done. How great is our God!
Read more stories of divine healing in the February 2009 issue of alife. Also, look for “God’s Healing Arsenal” by Paul King, to be published in the July issue of alife.
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