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Missionaries of the [Really] Good News
For the fourth year in a row, Crossing Borders mission camp reached out across the Mexican border with the good news of Jesus Christ. We’re grateful that our denomination sponsors this camp, because it provides opportunities for the attendees to see how amazingly God is working with a wide variety of programs to accomplish his work in the lives of people of all cultures. With ongoing American news media reports of violence at the border and of swine flu, we did our homework in advance to make sure that our attendees would be safe. We found that border violence in Nuevo Laredo (where we conduct our ministry work) had actually decreased by about 75 percent in the past couple of years (although other areas of the border have unfortunately seen an increase). Also, there had been no confirmed cases of swine flu within 200 miles of our location. So we were glad to get the green light to proceed with the mission outreach camp. Unfortunately, many other church-related groups cancelled their ministry work into all parts of Mexico for the summer, leaving a large hole in the physical and spiritual provisions for our cross-border neighbors. During the weeklong camp, we participated in a variety of ministry programs. One day we helped distribute bulk food supplies to about 60 pastors and ministry leaders to take back to their people. Later we handed out individual cooked meals and hygiene supplies to several dozen homeless people living behind garbage dumpsters, on street corners, in parks and under bridges. One of the homeless was a woman who had formerly been the wife of a pastor. She had made some bad decisions and her life had slipped into immorality and addiction—now living alone on the streets. She felt totally separated from God, worthless and abandoned by her former friends. She insisted that God did not love her and would not listen to her anymore because of her actions. It broke our hearts as we tried to convey to her that God still loves her very much as his child, and he has never stopped loving her even for an instant. Unfortunately, her shame, guilt and performance-based religious teachings are so far blinding her to seeing God’s loving face and feeling his arms embracing her. During the camp, we became aware that many people are not assured of God’s love for them and how Jesus has included all in the love of God. They are missing out on the crux of the gospel, so we tried to share the love of the Father in the Son through the Spirit with everyone we met. Other activities included feedings of large numbers of people, helping with adult and children’s teaching services, praying with people, distributing gospel tracts, skits and music in the public parks, a construction project, and more. As a new activity this year, we added two afternoons of conducting a Vacation Bible School for the children of a very poverty-stricken “pallet city”—where hundreds of small homes are made of refuse materials and there is no running water and no electricity. Consuelo and Pedro Orduño and Lucero Villarreal put together an excellent program, and the children thoroughly enjoyed their Bible lessons, songs, games and snacks. Although the temperatures were very hot and the conditions sometimes uncomfortable, our 17 attendees came away with a new love for all of God’s children and an increased appreciation for sharing God’s transformational truth of his love for everyone. To find out more about next summer’s camp and our winter shoebox ministry, go to www.cbmission.org or call Lee Berger at 903-653-0992. Lee Berger, camp director Youth camp in Florida Youth Camp concluded on Monday, June 8, after four days of inspiration, recreation, friendships and new experiences. Fifty-seven youth campers and 33 adult staff from Florida and Georgia participated. Although there was one day of rain requiring a few schedule changes, most of the weather was pleasant, activities took place as scheduled, and the Lord’s protection, safety and blessing was always upon us. As part of our Spiritual Enrichment Program, daily chapel messages focused on analogies and lessons from C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as dramatized by a recent film. Through this unique teaching tool, teens and pre-teens were able to reflect on what Jesus does for them. At the conclusion of camp, the young people were encouraged to speak with their pastors in their home churches about giving their lives to Jesus and following that up with baptism. Activities included a zip line and climbing wall, outdoor swimming pool, canoeing and kayaking on the lake, children’s sports and games, basketball, volleyball, BB gun range, archery, arts and crafts, talent show night, dance night, a block party and a novelty-events race. On the last day, the entire group went to Wildwaters Water Park in Ocala to enjoy the numerous water slides and wave pool. Campers were well fed, as church volunteers prepared and served an abundance of food and filling meals. Next year’s SEP Florida is scheduled for the first weekend in June. Because of the excellent price we pay to rent the camp, and the volunteer food crew, we can keep our camp costs at only $135 per camper for the entire four days. Campers can secure a spot by applying in advance by clicking on the “applications” button at our website, www.sepflorida.com. For more information, call camp director Marty Davey at 904-406-9022.Youth camp in Minnesota At Northern Light Summer Camp in Lanesboro, MN, there were 26 campers and 18 staff members. Activities included: Oneota life, pioneer life, south treetops (for the older campers – the facility’s toughest treetops course), east treetops (for the younger campers), earth exploration, group challenges, archery, minimum impact camping, rock climbing, basic orienteering (for the younger campers), GPS pathfinders (for the older campers) and canoeing. We also held workshops for the campers in arts & crafts, videography, photography, worship leading and prayer journaling. We started each day with camp devotions led by the campers. It was especially nice to see the depth that developed within the entire group of campers as the devotions were led by the older campers. A dynamic that contributed to the overall synergy of the camp was the mix of ages for evening workshops. This was the first time in this camp’s history that we mixed campers out of their dorm assignments. We found that the older ones "looked out" for the younger ones and the younger ones looked up to the older ones. The older ones showed more respect in helping the staff members teach the lessons as well. Todd Fox Camp in North Carolina At Higher Ground 2009, campers not only heard the message of God’s unconditional love for everyone and the life we all share with the Father, Son and Spirit, but they witnessed it also. Seventy staff members from a dozen different church backgrounds served 140 campers and showed how Christians from all denominations can work together, recognizing their shared identity as children of God. Based on last year’s camper feedback, the chapel messages addressed the reality of the camper’s lives by featuring stories of men and women in the Bible who encountered God and were used by God in spite of their imperfections, age and social status. The chapel theme was “Real Life, Real People, Real Good News.” Camp activities including dodge ball, paintball, high ropes, water polo, disk golf, and arts & crafts. To foster team spirit and build family bonds, dorm members participated in activities together and sometimes would compete against another dorm. Evenings featured special events such as a talent show, camp dance, praise and worship concert, a magic show and the ever-popular Camo Night. On the last night, each dorm had its own campfire and fireside chat. It was a time to share their thoughts for the week, encourage one another, and ask questions of counselors and guests. Jeff McSwain from Reality Ministries in Raleigh visited the camp on Friday to observe how we reach out to young people in the light of who they already are in Jesus. He was excited about what we are doing and may consider partnering with us next year or running his own camp at the same location. Higher Ground 2009 filled up in record time. Based on early registrations for 2010, we expect next summer’s camp to fill up even faster. Higher Ground offers a $75 discount for registrations received by August 31. The camp website is www.carolinacamp.com.Paul David Kurts Spiritual Enrichment Program of Southern California
SEP So. Cal. is two camps in one. We run a Jr. Camp (ages 8 – 12) and a Sr. Camp (ages 12-18). Those who are 12 choose whether to be in Jr. or Sr. Camp. In all, 260 people participated: 187 campers and 73 staff. We had 181 regular campers. Of these, 117 had attended one of our camps previously; 64 were first-time campers. Of the 111 senior campers, 50 were girls and 61 boys. Of the 70 junior campers, 37 were girls and 33 boys. We also had 6 mini-campers: staff children under the age of 8. Campers came from California, Idaho, Kentucky, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Florida. Nineteen GCI congregations were represented, along with 32 congregations in other denominations. The campers were 44% Caucasian, 36% Hispanic, 10% African-American, 8% Asian/Pacific /Filipino, and 2% Middle Eastern and Native American.
Staff: We had many first-time
staffers this year. They – as well as the “old timers” – rose to the
occasion and poured their heart, body, mind and soul into the lives of the
campers with passion, love and grace. A new and welcomed addition was the Worship Team from The Oaks Christian Church in San Marcos, CA. Jeremy Ketchum, Worship & Arts Pastor at The Oaks, along with Doreen Teadwell and Leslie Izon, provided worship music during chapels, special worship events and provided their gifts and talents by offering support in the Variety Show, Open Activities and guidance to the campers. All our staff are gifted servants, and yet this year we had quite an interesting talent. We had the privilege of having John Cardie, a checkers instructor, on staff. John has written a book called, “How to Beat Granddad At Checkers.” Our purpose for the class went beyond a fun and entertaining game. John taught sound strategy for both checkers and life, helping the campers to develop forethought, which will help them make right choices as teenagers and young adults. John accompanied his son and daughter-in-law (Heath and Rebecca were junior camp counselors) and four grandchildren, who were campers and mini-campers. (In 2008, 9 year-old Colton Cardie was the reigning World Youth Checkers Champion.) Mentoring: This year, to help foster the development of emerging leaders, we offered a mentoring relationship with our worship leader, Jeremy Ketchum and our chaplain, Glen Weber. We extended this year-long mentoring opportunity to senior campers and staff by having them write an essay telling about their calling, passion and desire for worship leading or church pastoring/planting. This may have caught campers unprepared, because only three essays were submitted—all from girls, for worship leading mentorship. I think many youth are still intimidated by the notion of pastoral-type ministry, thus there were no essays submitted for that. Instead of selecting one candidate, two sisters (one senior camper and one staff) were chosen to engage in a mentoring relationship over the next year with Jeremy Ketchum. In addition to the year-long mentoring relationship, the bonus is that they were each awarded with a high-quality and expensive guitar. Our worship leader, Jeremy Ketchum, donated his personal electric guitar and then he was able to get an acoustic guitar donated by T.J. Baden of Baden Guitars. (We appreciate T.J.’s devotion to God and belief in serving youth in the camp experience.) So each of the sisters received a guitar. Interestingly, one of the girls had been praying for two years for an electric guitar. Both exhibit skill, gifting and desire in singing, playing and leading worship. (The third person who submitted an essay is actually a member in Jeremy’s church and he is already giving her guitar lessons.) We hope to increase the number and types of mentoring relationships in the future and it is our prayer that local church ministry leaders actively promote, seek and involve themselves in mentoring relationships with emerging leaders. Activities: The junior and senior camps each had four chapel and debrief sessions, daily oasis (quiet) time and a lot of exciting daytime activities for their age groups. The junior camp participated in Christian living classes, parachute games, splashball, mind-teaser puzzles, swimming, canoeing, checkers, teambuilding, creative arts class, a modified version of the Prayer Journey, drama class, hiking, Frisbee golf, darts, and a trip to a local water slide park. The senior camp participated in Christian living classes, a God’s Word class (how to read the Bible), dance, canoeing, prayer journey, checkers, basketball, zip-line, volleyball, teambuilding, drama class, Frisbee golf, and a purity session. During the purity session, guys and girls were separated from breakfast until after dinner. They discussed matters of character, purity and God’s design for relationships with the opposite gender. The guys and ladies then participated in a Knights & Daughters of the King ceremony, which focused on respect for one another and allowed for a time in the combined group for sharing about what they learned. The two camps joined together on Monday night as the Pasadena NewLife Fellowship Youth Band led Praise & Worship. On Wednesday, the camps joined together as a youth band called “SALT” from the Nipomo congregation led praise & worship. On Thursday, both camps gathered for a variety show where campers used their talents to glorify God and encourage their fellow campers and staff. On Friday evening both camps gathered for a praise & worship session, after which the senior camp held a “speech night.” During the week, each camper had the opportunity to share how camp affected their lives. They talked about transforming camp experiences, special moments and what they learned about God, life and themselves through camp. Both camps had a special naming ceremony that led into communion. The naming ceremony was special. We drew on the many examples in the Bible where God changed the name of a person to reflect who they were and what God was calling them to be, and we used the illustration from the book and movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. At the end of the movie, after the great battle, the four young people (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) were crowned as kings and queens of Narnia and given “new names” —Peter the Magnificent, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just and Lucy the Valiant.We saw all the campers grow, develop, mature, blossom and flourish in one way or another during the week. We saw godly characteristics emerge and take a firm position in their lives and personalities. As a result of that growth and to honor how God made them, and to honor their development, we gave each of them a new name. Their counselor and assistant counselor saw their campers in action, in the good moments and bad moments, and saw traits bubble to the surface. During the naming ceremony, the campers were presented with a new name. The wording of the certificate was thus:
It was a powerful and moving experience. We told them that God is with them, desiring relationship with them and forming them. Their new name would describe only one characteristic or aspect of many that God will develop within them. Three popular activities—riflery (BB guns), archery and bugs & reptiles—had to be canceled due to an emergency health issue with our rangemaster, Richard Watson. Richard had his truck loaded and ready to head up to camp when he had a kidney stone attack. The pain caused a serious and dangerous spike in his blood pressure. Due to his high blood pressure spikes, the doctors recommended he not work in the high altitude. Reluctantly, he stayed home. We had to replace the three activities with alternatives at the last minute. Come to find out, a nine-hole Frisbee golf course had been built at Cedar Lake in the past year. It replaced the riflery class, while darts / electronic darts and a special junior camp activity replaced archery and bugs & reptiles respectively. The staff assigned to assist Mr. Watson switched gears very quickly. The senior camp had the opportunity to experience a new challenge this year. Instead of a high ropes course, they got to participate in a brand-new zip line called Flying Bear Zip Lines. It is on-site at Cedar Lake and, though open to the public, SEP So. Cal. was able to procure a time slot for all of the senior campers to zip. Theme: The theme this year was “Oasis.” Our chapel titles were: 1. Original Oasis / Original Mirage 2. Promised Oasis / Desert Mirage 3. Source of the Oasis 4. Oasis Overflow The oasis = the abundant life-giving relationship with God where the living water bubbles forth and brings life, love and acceptance to all who are thirsty. The water = God’s constant life-giving presence, in Jesus, through the Spirit. Even in the desert, it’s constantly flowing just under the surface of the earth. The desert = not living in the full reality or refreshment of the living water. The mirage = the illusion of what satisfies, quenches our thirst and gives life but never fulfills. Our primary message was to let the youth know that God loves them and created them to be in a deep, loving and abiding relationship with him. We talked about many mirages, one of which is the mirage of perceived separation from God. As we abide in the Father’s love and drink in of the living water, he creates an oasis of life-giving fruit in our lives so that others can come taste and see that the Lord is good. We emphasized to the campers that they cannot come to camp and fill up a canteen with “God” and hope that it will last them the rest of the year. But rather, that God desires a personal life-giving relationship with them that will naturally produce a thriving oasis in their lives. They will still have desert experiences, but just like in an oasis, there can be peace inside even when there is chaos all around. The water is always flowing just underneath the desert floor. The water is always available and desiring to spring forth to show that the Father is especially fond of them, that they are eternally loved, included, accepted, forgiven and redeemed. The campers left SEP So Cal with their new names, with the truth that God loves them and with new tools on how to talk and listen to their Creator with the mission to be an oasis back home in their schools, neighborhoods and churches. For thousands of photos, see www.sepsocal.org/09 Mark and Anne Stapleton Jacksonville, FL, church hosts reconciliation weekend
Just over 70 church members from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds gathered at the Jacksonville Christian Family Fellowship and GCI church building for the presentations and discussions. Topics presented included: Jesus’ dream and his ministry of reconciliation, ORM promotional videos, inventions and contributions of African-Americans, different types of conflict and broken relationships, and solutions and ways to be an ally for healing. As shown in the photo of the ORM resource table, a variety of helpful resources were made available, such as videos, booklets, the book Mending Broken Relationships, newsletters and handouts. Host Pastor Marty Davey, of Jacksonville, commented on how the workshop addressed reconciliation in three key ways: recognition and repentance of our individual and national faults, inspiration and encouragement in moving forward, and information and resources for recognizing the need for and accomplishing reconciliation. Additionally, several other neighboring GCI pastors were able to attend as part of their continuing education goals, and for their personal instruction and inspiration.
Women's tea in Snellville, GA The Women's Ministry of the Christian Family Fellowship was the host to a tea on June 27. The event was attended by 60 women from various churches as well as other guests who were invited. The guests included neighbors, co-workers as well as other members of the community. The tea was the brainstorm of Esther Doele last year, and was such a success that we decided to make it an annual affair.
This year we were privileged to have as guest speaker, the Honorable Mayor Evelyn Dixon of Riverdale, GA. Her message was encouraging to all in attendance. She related how she went from being homeless to becoming the mayor of a city. Her message was that God is not limited, and we need to get out of his way and let him show us what he can do. Esther Doele spoke on the tsunami in our lives. She reminded us that each of us has a personal problem or tsunami that can be overcome with the help of our heavenly Father. Gail Beckner gave a message about "Mama Said." She reminded our younger audience to listen to our parents and other adults as well. She reminded the young people that God is there for all of us. Several men helped with sound and in escorting the ladies to their seats. This is one of many outreach programs that our church is involved in and we hope that we can continue to represent Jesus Christ as we witness for him in service. Carolyn Calhoun Baptism in Arizona On June 6, Arlene Ser was baptized into the Body of Christ. The special event was held at the home of Ted and Lila Millhuff, in Tucson, AZ. Thirteen members of the Grace of God Fellowship attended the ceremony. The baptism was performed by Pastors Ted Millhuff and Tom Landess. We celebrated the event with prayers and praises. There was food to share, and fellowship followed. We are now blessed with another sister-in-Christ! Lila Millhuff |
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Copyright 2009 Grace Communion International
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The Spiritual Enrichment Program of Southern California (SEP So. Cal.)
was held Sunday, July 5 through Saturday, July 11, at Cedar Lake Camp in
Big Bear, CA. Nestled at 7,000 feet in the majestic San
Bernardino Mountains on 270 acres, Cedar Lake is a year-round retreat
center considered by many to be one of the most beautiful camps in
Southern California. It has its own private lake and has amazing views of
the majestic Big Bear Lake and surrounding mountain peaks.
Church members, families and guests from Florida
and Georgia gathered in
Jacksonville, FL, for a two-day reconciliation workshop, June 27-28.
The seminar was presented by Curtis May, director of ORM (the
Office of Reconciliation Ministries) for our denomination, who was accompanied by his wife, Jannice.
