Nov-Dec. 2007

What's been happening in the WCG?

Kansas City Children’s Church, An All-Member Project

As Youth Ministry is one of our ministry priorities, children’s church at the Kansas City, MO, congregation is an all-member project. Members are encouraged to get to know the children and teens of all ages, address them by name, build friendships with them, and to pray for them.

To assist in this process, we have a “Wall of Faith,” a wooden display with the names and pictures of all our children and teens. Also displayed are the baptism dates of those who have been baptized. The “Wall of Faith” was made by Terry Anderson, a member of the congregation. When the doors of the case are closed, the front of the case has a carved cross.

A group of dedicated members volunteer weekly to teach and nurture our youngest members, a group of about 31 children and teens. Janice Bass serves as Children’s Church Coordinator, and oversees the teaching of children in pre-school through sixth grade. She is assisted by Elaine Meyer, Pat Harrison, Karen Anderson, Bob Owens, Perry Haden, Sarah Healy, David Lane, and Linda Lane.

Elaine Meyer, Children’s Church Assistant Coordinator, oversees the teaching of the pre-kindergarten children with the assistance of Carla Ross, Peggy Johnson, and Susan Little. The Teen Church Coordinators are Walter and Barbara Leatherman.

Vacation Bible School was held June 10 through July 8, with classes every Sunday. The VBS attendance record was broken this year with an attendance of 22—four more than last year.

The theme of this year’s VBS was “Training for God's Service.” A review of the Vacation Bible School was presented to the congregation on July 22. On July 29, a graduation ceremony for participation in children's church was held. All children were presented certificates for participating in children's church and VBS. Francais Healy was also presented a graduation certificate as he graduated to teen church.

The week of July 9, Elaine Meyer hosted an outreach VBS at her home in Raytown, MO. Fifteen children between the ages of 3 and 10 attended. Four children were from the Kansas City congregation, but most of the children were from Elaine’s neighborhood and did not attend any church regularly. At the end of the week, nine children decided that they wanted to join God’s family by receiving Christ.

We have been blessed by a number of baptisms this year. Young people baptized March 18 include Shanice Lynette Castro, Monica Nichelle Castro, Dearin Janae Robertson, Erica Michelle Smith, Alyssia Nicole Stover, Heather Dawn Johnson, Francais Healy, and Isaac Healy. Those baptized June 10 include Jonathan Reed, Tierney Little, and Enoch Harrison. We thank and praise God for his work in the lives of our precious young people. Dick Mann

GenMin Connection seminar

Ted Johnston, Generations Ministries director, held a Connection seminar in Harrisburg, PA, on August 18. Twenty-five pastors, youth ministry workers, parents and grandparents spent the day exploring the ministry environments and strategies that celebrate and develop the connection that young people have with the triune God in Jesus.

Connection discusses WCG Trinitarian theology and its application to ministries with and through children, teens and young adults. If you would like to schedule a Connection seminar in your area, email Ted.Johnston@wcg.org. Additional information is available online at http://fly2.ws/j2mtsgh

Ohio Church Has Community Event

Despite the small size of our WCG church in Uniontown, Ohio, Grace Community Fellowship (GCF) made a large impact on the community around the church, proving that with God all things are possible, even for a small congregation.

GCF hosted a two-day yard sale on August 24-25 in which they earned $2300 and ended the weekend event with a community block party on Sunday the 26th. The weather cooperated beautifully all three days. Proceeds of the sale will be used to send some chickens and a cow to the families of children the church is sponsoring through World Relief in Uganda and also to support the Lake Township Senior Center, where the church meets each week.

During the block party there was a raffle drawing. For this raffle, area merchants gave certificates for products and services: a boy’s bike, a girl’s bike, a set of free tires, manicures, pedicures, massages, movie passes, dinners at area restaurants, etc. Throughout the block party, the community visitors enjoyed entertainment from the GCF Praise Band, a Celtic musical group, and the Junior Praise Band from our sister church in Cleveland, OH (Edgehill Community Church).

The guests also enjoyed fun activities, carnival games, face painting, and a bounce house for the kids. Members of the church pulled together to help run many of the activities. (I think many of the members had more fun helping with the block party than they did just sitting around, talking and eating at our annual church picnic!) All the food was offered free during the block party because of donations made by local community vendors and organizations.

Although we only had a few visitors from the community come to our block party on Sunday, we did learn how to have more effective cultivating events in the future. David Kaiser

Church Dedication Living Hope Christian Fellowship, Atlanta, Georgia To dedicate is to set aside for a special purpose. We know that God is everywhere, but our faith accepts the idea of reserving a place where we may enter into communion with him. The practice of dedicating places of worship is older than Christianity itself. For more than 40 years, the Atlanta congregation of the Worldwide Church of God worshiped in rented facilities. The dedication of Living Hope Christian Fellowship’s (LHCF) site and building represented a significant milestone and an unmatched spirit of cooperation. The “help your brother” spirit is prevalent in our congregation and was dramatically demonstrated during the preparation for the opening day ceremony. The inaugural service was held on a beautiful Sunday morning, September 23. More than 130 people participated in the exciting, thrilling, and long-awaited dedication service of the new LHCF church site and building at 5885 Mallory Road, College Park, Georgia. We are blessed to be under the leadership of Pastor Charles Young and First Lady Deborah Young. Pastor Young stood on the doorsteps, praised God and thanked those in attendance for their prayers, support, and faithfulness for the work done to make this a reality. Paraphrasing Pastor Young’s comments to the crowd, “May God to whom we dedicate this new church guide and prosper Living Hope Christian Fellowship in its service to Jesus Christ. We can see that faithfulness marks the work done here and that God will reward our many sacrifices.” The ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Mother Doris Grier, the oldest member present that day. The crowd entered the sanctuary beginning with Pastor Young, followed by the oldest to youngest while singing, “We Come This Far By Faith.” The worship service began with additional comments from Pastor Young, followed by songs of praise. Songs included, “Lord You Are Good,” “Let It Rise,” “When I Think About the Lord,” and “Spirit of the Living God.” We were blessed by two outstanding selections from Minister Shana Cheeks and the Atlanta Faith Singers. Pastor Howard Blakeney, and 1st Lady Wanonia Blakeney, from The Harvest Church in Marion, SC, joined us for this special occasion. Pastor Blakeney delivered an inspirational and entertaining message to the worshipers. While enjoying food provided by the congregation after the worship service, children could be seen playing outside under a tent, running around, and eating on the vast church grounds. Many little ones played themselves out and were fast asleep before their parents could leave the parking lot. As the day came to a close, images of the experiences of our inaugural service will forever be etched in the minds of those who were in attendance. We will remember the prayers, speeches, songs, praises, tears, laughter, joy, and excitement experienced that day. The dedication of Living Hope Christian Fellowship’s new facility and grounds along with being part of the first U.S. WCG church constructed from the ground up is a historic occasion and will be remembered in WCG’s history. Photos by Donald Jones.

Faith and hope in the midst of crisis

Redimer Ramos felt something unusual about his family being together having lunch on that fateful Wednesday. Even Corazon, his wife, was there. She normally had her lunch at the public market in the town of Santa Maria. Redimer and Corazon are fish vendors. Their children, nine in all, were there peacefully and happily eating lunch with him and his wife. They expressed their gratefulness to God for having a house where all of them can sleep and eat together, bond together, and most often able to pray together, however small their house was.

Except for the 3-year-old Rico and 1-year-old Sofia, all of Redimer’s family members are baptized regular attendees in the WCG Santa Maria congregation. It did not occur in his mind that it would be the last time his whole family would be together in their small house bound with love and cooperation though constantly saddled with difficulties in life.

Within minutes, the rain became stronger, leading to a sudden flood. Within minutes, whatever they had saved was gone. It was a blessing that they were able to run for their lives to higher ground.

I visited them to give them some assistance provided by the WCG National Office. As they talked, I could discern their resolve to continue striving for life for the sake of their children. Although showing a brave posture, their faces betrayed the thought of uncertainty about their immediate future.

Each time I came to hand over some relief goods and cash coming from benevolent individuals, local government officials and some members, they were always tearfully grateful to God for the love of those people, particularly the WCG brethren. They were unrelentingly thankful to God, for in spite of the total loss of their house in the sudden rushing flood water, the children were safe and alive, though bruised, tired, and haggard. They praised God for the love of many members, especially the local and also the national WCG leaders for being mindful of their journey in life.

This disaster also includes an inspiring account of selfless service. For example, two young men, Mono Aquino and Jodonel Javier, risked their lives to save the children of Lourdes Diaz from drowning. The two small girls, ages 5 and 3, were in their bamboo-built house. Seeing that the house was about to be washed away by the rushing water, Mono tied himself with plastic rope and asked Jodenel to pull the rope as soon as the children were secured with him. Mono braved the bamboos, pieces of wood, and other objects in the rushing flood and took hold of the two small girls. He had not thought that he might have also drowned in his attempt to save the girls. He told me the incident matter-of-factly, but I could not help being awed by the love of these two young men for others. Both are members of the WCG Santa Maria congregation.

The Ramoses are among the 15 families who lost their homes completely. The local church hall became the temporary evacuation center of the members, where they were given some food and clothing. Many of those evacuated were young children. As of this writing, there are still a few of them in the hall. The parents go to work during the day and go home there during evenings.

We thank God for his provision and we count on him for such faithfulness in delivering them from a more tragic loss of life. The rains have stopped and things appear as though nothing ever happened, except that the community now has a different landscape. There are still a few flooded areas. The members now face the challenge of starting over and moving on. But because of their faith in God, their hopes remain strong.

Remigio Cruz and Eugene Guzon

Goats for Rwanda

by Dennis Lawrence

On July 27, my third daughter, Judith, member of the WCG congregation in Montreal, returned from a 3½ week mission trip to Rwanda. This was her second such trip, the first being four years ago, with both being organized by King’s Kids, an extension of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Winnipeg. Much can be said about the entire trip; you can read a day-by-day account at www.xanga.com/thesoundofhope07.

Judith spent July in Rwanda as part of a mission trip. She did something on her own that I think is spectacular. This grew from Judith’s awareness of Rwandan culture and of a simple way to fulfill a need for food on the part of some poverty-stricken families.

This development and venture began in her heart, but many shared it by becoming involved; in this, Judith offered a way for many to be involved in the entire mission trip, even though they could not travel to Rwanda with her. She was able to plan this before leaving Montreal, and her team was able to share in it through its fulfillment in Rwanda.

Judith recognized that for a family to simply own a goat can mean the difference between life and death, wealth and poverty. In a family conversation, she expressed that she would like to raise funds extra to what was necessary for her trip, which could be used to purchase a few goats to assist a few families. Since a goat in Rwanda costs only $35, the possibility of raising enough for three or four goats would be enough to make a small difference in this developing nation.

Along with her family, Judith developed a plan to hold a hotdog barbecue at church one weekend, where both the French and English congregations could be served, learn of this aspect of the mission, and contribute. In addition, flyers were delivered to 30 homes surrounding Judith’s home offering the opportunity for those who knew Judith to participate in this venture. Several neighbors contributed enough for one goat each. At the end of the venture, to her amazement, Judith went to Rwanda with over $1700 for goats, a sum that would provide many more goats than she initially imagined.

For the giving of the goats, Judith worked through her friend Amon Munyaneza, founder and director of Africa Mission Alliance (www.africamissionalliance.com). This Christian agency was excited about the opportunity provided by “this young white girl from Canada” and did the work necessary to locate both the goats and the families to whom the goats could be given. The goats were given only after educating the recipients about proper care, and their committing to give the first kid, after breeding, to another family in need.

Judith was present for a “Goat Giving” of 27 goats to 27 widows. To date, through the efforts of Africa Mission Alliance, goats have been given to at least 53 families, offering them the life-giving milk, butter, and cream of a healthy goat that they could not have afforded otherwise.

It is exciting to recognize how what appears to be the expression of a simple desire to help a few people can multiply and grow much bigger than originally anticipated, offering not only an immediate opportunity to give and share the gospel of Christ but for that gospel to continue to be declared through the daily life and benefits of a goat in someone’s yard. Beyond that, when the kids are given to other families, the message of God’s love continues to be offered, and will be in an ever-widening circle of benefit and influence.

She is in love with the country and sensitive to the situation there, and will return, leading a group next summer. The WCG has three congregations in Rwanda, and she plans to contact them before her next trip, and perhaps integrate some activity with them. The WCG-affiliated Bengali Evangelical Association has a similar goat-giving program for Bangladesh. See http://bengalimission.org/WEB/Whatwedo.html

Photos show the initial Goat Giving, with Judith at the center of appreciation.