November 2002 Contents

Applications are being accepted for a Winter Educational Program camp to take place Jan. 1 to 5 in High Springs, Florida, according to Marty Davey.

The camp is part of the church’s national Student Ministries Summer Educational Program, and is open to all youths ages 12 to 19. Page 3.

On Oct. 2, the church selected the award-winning firm of Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh and its partner on the project, EDAW, Inc., to head the design team for the development of the 48-acre Ambassador campus, writes Mat Morgan. Page 4.

The Worldwide Church of God is committed to living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, writes Pastor General Joseph Tkach. Evangelism is central to our mission, and we sometimes quote Mark 16:15 to describe it: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." Page 6.

Who remembers the Bataan Death March? asks Ken Main, a member in the Palm Springs, California, church. In 1942 about 70,000 American and Filipino men were forced to march under a blazing sun without food or water for three or four days to prison camps. Page 9.

I stood in the middle of Red Square, in front of the Kremlin, surrounded by the golden domes of the restored Russian Orthodox churches, to pray with my colleagues from the Moscow Theological Seminary Page 10.

The WCG has a growing congregation at Mt. Wilhelm in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea, writes Rod Matthews, regional director. In July, Ken Slade and Mark Latham conducted Christian development seminars there. Page 15.

Member donations for September topped the $1.5 million mark, writes controller Ronald Kelly. A hearty thank- you from all of us at headquarters for your continued support. Page 19.

Worldwide Church of God members around the world celebrated Christ at Festival 2002. They came together in many countries, on cruises and even a bus tour. Coverage starts with the cruise to Alaska. Ronald Kelly writes that it was a smashing success for the more than 400 who joined together for inspiring worship and fantastic scenery. Page 22.

GAINESVILLE, Florida—Applications are now being accepted for a Winter Educational Program camp to take place Jan. 1 to 5 in High Springs, Florida, one half-hour northwest of Gainesville.

The camp is part of our national Student Ministries Summer Educational Program, and is open to all youths ages 12 to 19 who want to get to know Jesus Christ better, make new Christian friends, and renew friendships already made at previous SEP camps.

Our pastoral team this year will be Jim Blackwell, Marty Davey, Bob Persky, Steve Schantz, Ken Smylie and Charles Taylor. Other adults and young adults will serve as counselors and activity leaders.

Spiritual and recreational activities will include inspiring praise and worship, chapel services, Christian living classes, go-karts, low- ropes course, basketball, volleyball, flag football, soccer, canoeing, dance instruction and dances, horseback riding, miniature golf, a zoo and nature center on site, and great food and lodge-style dormitories.

The cost for the 4¹/2 day camp is $200. However, if you would like to arrive one day earlier, you can go with the group to Universal’s new theme park, Islands of Adventure, in Orlando, for an extra $50.

Visit the SEP website at www.wcg.org/youth to obtain camper or staff applications. No teen staff workers are needed, but any teen coming as a camper is welcome to express an interest in helping out in a particular activity as an assistant, as needed.

Transportation costs are not covered in the $200 camp fee, and all campers need to make their own transportation arrangements and pay for them individually. However, camp staff will pick up campers at the airports in Orlando, Gainesville and Jacksonville.

If you plan to come early for the group outing to Islands of Adventure, you should plan to arrive in Orlando, Monday, Dec. 30. All other campers and staff should plan to arrive at the airport or the camp on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

Florida is a great place to come during the winter. Temperatures in January can range anywhere from the 30s to the high 60s, so come prepared. What better way to enjoy your winter break from school? For many parts of the country, the winter break from school will last through the Jan. 1 holiday and following weekend, so we hope most campers will not need to take off extra time, and can be back home Sunday evening, Jan. 5, ready to start school the next day.

For additional information or questions, contact Jacksonville pastor Marty Davey at MartyDavey@ prodigy.net or phone him at 1-904-282-1055.

PASADENA—The Worldwide Church of God announced today that it has selected the team of Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh and EDAW, Inc. as master architect/planner to design a residential development on the 48-acre site of the former Ambassador College in West Pasadena.

"We wanted the most talented architects available to help us design a community that will reflect the best of Pasadena," said Bernard Schnippert, director of Finance & Planning for the church. "Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, in conjunction with EDAW, Inc., bring their world-class reputations, their deep roots in Southern California and their award-winning Pasadena portfolio to the Ambassador campus," said Schnippert. "They have the unique combination of skills, vision and experience we were looking for in an architecture team."

The church reviewed proposals from some of the most respected architects in California and the nation before narrowing its choice to Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh and its partner on the project, EDAW, Inc.

Johannes Van Tilburg and Steve Kellenberg of EDAW, working with the Worldwide Church of God, will be responsible for the overall look and feel of the Ambassador project. Individual buildings will be designed by additional firms, but those designs will have to be in accordance with the design guidelines set by Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, EDAW and SheaHomes.

The firm of Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh is one of the most accomplished and recognized residential architects in the nation and has decades of experience in Southern California and the West.

Van Tilburg has received awards from the local and national American Institute of Architects (AIA), the cities of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach and the County of Los Angeles.

The firm has also received awards from a host of professional builder organizations, including the Pacific Coast Builders Conference and the National Association of Homebuilders. Among its prominent projects are the Holly Street Village development in Pasadena, Villas of Renaissance in La Jolla, California, the Dominguez Hills master plan in Carson, California, the Adventura community in Irvine, California, and Janss Court on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California.

For EDAW, the assignment represents a homecoming. The firm was the original master planner and landscape architect for the Ambassador campus. The Ambassador site is renowned for its graceful sweep, its spectacular gardens and natural feeling of its fountains and waterways. The campus is widely recognized as an example of how to integrate modern uses with natural and historic Pasadena gems.

Though EDAW will now combine its talents with those of Van Tilburg as joint master architect, EDAW’s history in cultivating a garden sanctuary in Pasadena is especially crucial in creating a residential development that integrates with the campus’ natural and man-made beauty.

EDAW has been a leader in the fields of landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and environmental planning for more than half a century. In addition to its earlier work on the Ambassador campus, other prominent California projects include Playa Vista in Venice; the Monrovia Nursery project in Azusa; the Chapman University specific plan in Orange; and urban design work for the County of Los Angeles in Marina Del Rey.

The Worldwide Church of God has always been a proud steward of this unique campus," said Johannes Van Tilburg, principal of Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the church and its management team to preserve and conserve the best qualities of this site while generating an exciting and valuable project that neighbors and the entire city can be proud of."

Steven Kellenberg, principal in the Los Angeles office of EDAW, said: "We thought it would be a unique challenge to create a new development from the foundation of our award-winning master plan and landscape design for the Ambassador College campus. We are delighted and very proud that the Worldwide Church of God has given us an opportunity to reinterpret this site for another generation."

Bob Yoder, SheaHomes’ vice president of Community Development, Southern California, said: "We could not imagine an architecture team better suited for the goals we have for this development. Van Tilburg and EDAW have a solid reputation for listening and working with communities. They also have the creativity, the experience and an innate feel for ‘Pasadena character’ to transform this campus into the extraordinary neighborhood we all envision."

The pairing of Van Tilburg and EDAW has an established record of success. The two firms have collaborated on a variety of projects, and the two principals, Johannes Van Tilburg and Steven Kellenberg, teach Design and Planning at the master’s degree level at the University of Southern California School of Planning.

In July, the church completed a similar nationwide search before selecting SheaHomes as its master development consultant. Like Shea, the Van Tilburg group and EDAW have both a national reputation and a long history of interpreting the look and feel of Southern California communities to fit the character of the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Worldwide Church of God is creating a master planned community on the Ambassador campus that would include a transit-oriented urban-village on the East Campus and a garden-residential community on the West Campus. The church seeks to preserve key garden areas on the campus, historic homes on the site and to determine the future of the Ambassador Auditorium as part of the development.

Over the past 50 years the WCG acquired 138 separate lots and combined them into one of the most lovely campus environments in Southern California—Ambassador College. The Ambassador campus grounds include acclaimed gardens, historic homes and the Ambassador Auditorium, which has been compared to Carnegie Hall in its grandeur and acoustic quality.

SheaHomes is the largest privately held building firm in the nation, and is known nationwide for its commitment to homeowner services. Shea Homes is also a leading developer of energy-efficient homes and a leader in creating communities that are harmonious with their surrounding environment.

PASADENA—On Oct. 2, after interviewing a group of nationally respected architects and planners, the church selected the award-winning firm of Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh and its partner on the project, EDAW, Inc., to head the design team for the development of the 48-acre Ambassador campus.

Johannes Van Tilburg and Steve Kellenberg of EDAW, working with the church and SheaHomes, will be responsible for the overall look and feel of the residential community being planned on the Ambassador campus. Please see the press release on page 4 for additional information.

Van Tilberg and EDAW now join the church and SheaHomes in a listening phase that has already begun. The purpose of the listening phase is to receive suggestions for the new community from citizens and citizen groups, business owners, elected representatives, city staff, consultants, future residents and others during a series of small and large community meetings.

So far in October, the newly expanded team has met with the boards from the West Pasadena Residents Association, Pasadena Beautiful and Pasadena Heritage. Several other listening meetings and presentations are planned, including a meeting with church members Oct. 29 in Ambassador Auditorium.

This meeting will allow church members to meet the development team, receive the latest information about the new community being planned on the campus and provide input. Another large community open house is scheduled for Oct. 30. All residents of Pasadena will be invited to the Hall of Administration to meet the development team and offer suggestions.

Suggestions gathered from the listening phase will be carefully considered as the design phase now begins. We hope the result will be a quality master-planned community that will make church members and the citizens of Pasadena proud for the next 50 years and will allow the church to focus more financial resources on the mission of the church.

1. Sharing your faith, by Bill Palmer. "Everyone knows the Bible is filled with contradictions,� I asserted, smugly assuming that I had scored a point in the debate my friend and I were having. �Where?� he asked. That one word hit me with the force of a freight train. He had not argued with me. He simply asked a question I could not answer because I had not read the Bible for myself. More than two years passed before my friend ever knew the effect that conversation had on me. At the time, he thought I simply walked away from what I had heard. He did not know our discussion was never far from my thoughts until I finally acted on what I knew.

2. Sharing with the unchurched, by Neil Earle. Unchurched Harry and Mary are a lot like many Americans today. People who are trying to fight the traffic, pay the bills and eke out a living in today�s uncertain economy. They are "nice" people. They don�t throw wild parties, ruin the neighborhood, or threaten others with bodily harm � but they probably haven�t been to a church for years, except to attend weddings and funerals. They are the unchurched. As Christians, we are expected�sometime, somehow�to share our faith with people like Harry and Mary. See the article by Neil Earle: Sharing Your Faith With the Unchurched.

3. Sharing through friendship, by Sheila Graham. As Christians, our responsibility is to communicate with others, to share our faith. "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:24-25). But how can we share our faith and encourage one another in living Christian lives if we aren�t getting together and communicating with others? My editor doesn�t like writers to promise three, seven or 10 keys to instant eloquence or to instant anything else, and he�s right. There�s no such magic formula. But let me share with you a few lessons I�ve learned as a self-confessed nonverbal type.

4. Sharing with a New Ager, by Keith Stump. "I used to go to church, but all they seemed to care about were rules and regulations, and everyone was always judging everyone else," said one man. His friend responded: "Same here. Church was irrelevant to what was happening in my life. And the minister�s favorite topic was hellfire. What a waste of time." I was perusing the shelves in a New Age bookstore and could not help overhearing the conversation between two men farther down the aisle. The two men were typical New Age devotees. Studies show that many New Agers once attended traditional, mainstream Christian churches. But they were turned off by the dos and don�ts that are often attached to the gospel of Jesus Christ�legislation about clothing styles, hair length, musical preferences, financial contributions and the like.

5. Sharing with another Christian, by Neil Earle. When I was 7 years old, I did one of those silly, stupid things that children do. My parents were upset. We were a close family, so the rejection and anger I felt from my parents cut me to the quick. I was crushed. Hurt. Troubled. But I didn�t know what to do or where to turn. But Aunt Helen did. She could see exactly what I was feeling. She knew just what to do. Quietly but deliberately, she took me upstairs to her room. We both knelt by the side of the bed. Then she told me, "All you have to do is close your eyes and tell God you are sorry, and he will forgive you." I did what I was told. And�guess what?�it worked. I felt forgiven, pardoned, restored, clean. No penance, no agonized harangue, no great spiritual pyrotechnics. I didn�t have to carry the guilt anymore.

6. Sharing with a Muslim, by Keith Stump. Jesus is spoken of nearly 100 times in the Koran under numerous names and titles, including Al-Masih (the Messiah), Kalimatu�llah (the Word of God), Rasulu�llah (the Messenger of God) and Nabiyu�llah (the Prophet of God). These titles sound very Christian when translated. A brief glance at these surface-level similarities might suggest that Muslims and Christians are not far separated in belief �until we notice that "Son of God" is not among the titles. Muslims are fiercely monotheistic.

The following was given as a sermon on Memorial Day weekend. We print it here as the country observes Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

In March 1941, 150 men who had enlisted ahead of the draft were awaiting transportation to a port of embarkation. They had the privilege of choosing their assignments, which were an Infantry Division based on the Bataan Peninsula, in the Philippines, and Coast Artillery Units, one of which was on Corregidor.

After about three days, the order came to fall out and climb aboard trucks, which were soon filled and roaring down the street and out of sight, leaving one man standing alone. I was that man!

Reason? Delayed parental consent. My comrades-at-arms went on that dangerous, disastrous journey. About one year later, Gen. Jonathan Wainwright was forced to surrender his troops to the Japanese. Had he known what would befall them in the next days and months, he would likely have ordered total resistance to the death of every man and woman.

About 70,000 men were forced to march under a blazing sun without food or water for three or four days to prison camps. When one faltered or fell, or tried to help another, he was shot or beaten or bayoneted without mercy. About 10,000 men failed to complete the march. The death rate in the prison camps was high, because of savagery, malnutrition, disease and slave labor.

Does our Savior Jesus Christ remember the Bataan Death March and the soldiers’ sacrifices and cries for help?

In August 1945, our troop ship, traveling zigzag in a convoy bound for the island of Leyte and Manila, in the Philippines, was on the high seas at about the same time as the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

This heavy cruiser had just delivered components of the atomic bomb to the island of Tinian and was also en route to Leyte. A Japanese submarine intercepted our warship and fired torpedoes. The Indianapolis went down in just 15 minutes, taking almost half the crew to the bottom with her.

Several hundred men went into the sea; many were wounded. They tried to form groups to survive until help arrived. In just a short time dorsal fins appeared and a savage shark attack began. The struggle and desperation that followed makes one heartsick to describe.

Does Jesus have the men of the Indianapolis in mind? Does he know the names of the men who lost the battle with the predators of the sea?

Some of us have personal reasons to remember those times of great peril and sacrifice. As a sergeant, my name was included in an order for special training for operating a landing craft, the kind you see in the movies that goes ashore in combat conditions, drops the ramp and delivers troops and equipment as part of the invasion force.

For some reason, the order was rescinded. Was my life spared again for some reason? More than 2,500 men were killed on D-day; 8,500 wounded.

My wife’s brother Jim was a flight engineer and gunner on a B-17 that was shot down over Germany. He bailed out and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. The 487th Bomb Group lost 230 airmen in missions over Germany. Will Jesus forget these troops and airmen in that great day yet to come?

A total of 13,067 Marines gave their lives in Vietnam. Our son, Gary, was a Marine and served there in that war. He came home OK. Over time, 200 or more Marines were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Does our Savior Jesus understand the suffering, brutality, pain, anguish, fear, the cries for help that occurred on Bataan, Normandy, Vietnam and more recently, at the World Trade Center?

The answer is in Isaiah 53:3-4: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.... Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows."

Does our great Lord God have a rescue plan in place for all who are under the sea and under the earth?

Yes, it is summarized in Revelation 21:3-5: " ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.... He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away!’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ "

The greatest Memorial Day of all time is in our future. We will celebrate that one with our Savior Jesus Christ—and we will all sing together: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" with extreme excitement and great gladness.

MOSCOW, Russia—Next year Russia will celebrate the city of St. Petersburg’s 300th birthday. Even in Moscow, the capital, the nation is laboring to beautify Red Square for the celebrations.

I stood in front of Lenin’s Tomb Aug. 27 in the middle of that square, in front of the Kremlin, surrounded by the golden domes of the restored Russian Orthodox churches, to pray with my colleagues from the Moscow Theological Seminary.

We have seen the scene often on our televisions. The leaders of the Soviet Union standing seriously upon the symbol housing Lenin’s body, reviewing the pageantry of the Soviet military might in full determination of its communist doctrine.

There we were, Russian Baptists and Pentecostals, Korean Christians and myself from the WCG, holding hands in the open air of a clear August afternoon with our heads bowed. We prayed: "Thank you, O God, for the freedom to worship here in the heart of Russia. We are grateful that we may proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Lord over Mother Russia among the nations and seek your blessing upon her eternal flame, for we pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

That afternoon of prayer culminated my two weeks of teaching, Aug. 14 to 27, at the Moscow Seminary. My ministry in Moscow was filled with the blessed surprises of our Lord.

We had met together as a class of about 40 pastors and their assistants. We studied the Great I-AM, the Lord God, in his covenant with his people. We studied the I-AM of the burning bush with Moses as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, humankind made in his image. We saw that the Holy One who gave his people his Torah at Sinai was the same One who spoke in the beginning and who spoke his covenanted promise of grace with the House of David in the development of the history of Israel.

We understood how that, based on his grace, he had made himself as a father to a son in his relationship with the people of God. Israel’s great messianic hope, its gift to the future of the world, was developed clearly in the light of this covenanted promise and this great grace of God with Israel.

Then we saw how this same Lord had come to reveal himself in the incarnation when the Word of God became flesh and gave humans access to his Father. God was free to become the Creator in the beginning and he was free to become a man for our sakes, while remaining the Great I-AM in his own eternity.

Kathy Cho, one of the team from the Oriental Mission Church and the World Mission University of Los Angeles, had brought with her the gift of a computer system to the seminary.

The team also had with it a dentist. He had us call him T.J. He spent all his time among us pulling bad teeth. Evidently, such medical care is hard to get these days. My translator, whose name is Nicolai Alexandrevitch, joked that Dr. McKenna was pulling bad theological teeth just as T.J. was physically pulling their teeth.

It seemed to me that, indeed, the pastors had seen clearly that the Great I-AM that God was in the burning bush and the Great I-AM that he is in the Incarnation and the Great I-AM of the Trinity was the same, the Creator and Redeemer of all the world. He was the same in his divine freedom down through the centuries and even into our time together in Moscow.

We celebrated this freedom and gave thanks for the grace of his divine forgiveness and the healing that comes with being reconciled with who he truly is for us in our world.

The Moscow Theological Seminary, founded 10 years ago by Kapsoo Joseph Cho and his wife, Hwa Jane, is superintended by Pastor Daniel Lee. Their love for God and the Russians has laid down a solid foundation that allows this ministry to flourish.

Now we are to seek to integrate things that in the past were beyond the attention of any one denomination in Russia. With the new-found freedom in the land, Russian Christians are free to seek to articulate afresh their Christian faith.

One feels in this new air a hope rising again for God’s blessing upon Mother Russia. The generation of the Great War is now free to speak openly to a new generation of young people of their love of God and the reality of their hope in Jesus Christ in ways that were silenced in the past.

Among the Russians one still senses the oppressiveness of the past, the suffocation of human personality, an old belief in humanity’s alienation from its God. These fearsome conditions seem to force upon the human psyche questions such as: How could this have happened to us? How could we have been so stupid for so long? Why did we lose the great nobility of our great nation’s cause in the world? Will the Lord bless us at last?

Surely their questions are in some sense also our questions. What shall become of us, now that we have learned to seek of God afresh the truth of his grace for us in Jesus Christ? It is a privilege to be able to teach the Great I-AM of God across the centuries to people who seek to understand the Bible’s witness to him. I can see clearly that we will not repeat the tragedies of our pasts because of the great Light his word is for us.

It is wonderful to pray for the healing of his word in our wounded lives. I hope you will pray for the Russians as you pray for our church, that we will not fear because the Lord is indeed with us. The Russians made me promise to return next year, to help them celebrate the 300th birthday of St. Petersburg in Moscow. Will you also pray for our guidance and direction?

RUSSIAN CONGREGATION—John McKenna
(front, right) with Pastor Emmanuel Mukendi
(front, center) and his church in Moscow.

TRANSLATOR—John McKenna (left)
with Nicolai Alexandrevitch.
Mr. Alexandrevitch translated for
Dr. McKenna when he was in Moscow.

RED SQUARE—John McKenna (left)
with Professor Peter Nam from
World Mission University.

BURLEIGH HEADS, Australia—Many years ago, in the middle of a civil war in Myanmar (Burma), God looked upon some families in the middle of the conflict with great favor and called them to himself.

RegiMt Wilhelm congregation.jpg (113232 bytes)

We honor their faith and responsiveness, but it also brought them physical difficulties. Today they are refugees in Thailand, basically stateless, not permitted to work officially in Thailand, and largely dependent upon the United Nations agencies, nongovernment organizations and the church for physical support.

Most of our people now live in one of five refugee camps established along the border area of western Thailand to house refugees from a number of ethnic groups displaced by the war. This camp is a small city of about 38,000 people who live in small houses constructed from bamboo and teak timbers, with thatch roofs made of teak leaves, all spread over many hectares of hills and valleys along the main road serving the border area, about nine kilometers inland from the actual border.

Small lanes run between the buildings, dusty and rough, gouged with the evidence of the occasional heavy rains that turn the dust to mud and the roads to streams.

The U.N. and other nongovernment agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) help with basic services such as food allowances, financial assistance or material to construct basic houses, medical services and a water supply—which means a few water collection areas from where water must be carried to the homes, with the water running only for a couple of hours a day.

Regional SnKaren group shot.jpg (184527 bytes)

Limited schooling is available for the many children, including several schools established by a few of the larger denominations, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, which charge fees to cover some supplies and the cost of supporting a better quality education. Small stores in the camp are available for those who have the funds to buy additional food and supplies.

On a visit to the camp earlier this year with Yong Chin Gee, our Malaysian senior pastor, I found with delight that our brethren had purchased some land and built a church meeting hall. Fifty-seven people attended the Bible study we conducted there. Many were beautiful and attentive children.

Lah Shi translated my message into the Karen language, since only a few of the brethren can understand English. But expressive smiles, handshakes, signs and hospitality are a universal language of their own. We ate a fine lunch they had prepared of local dishes at the home of one of the member families. It was a hot day, but we were refreshed because we were among family.

We have 21 baptized Karen members, most of whom live in the camp. Our elder, Lah Shi, conducts regular services and looks after the physical and spiritual welfare of the members. He manages the distribution of the assistance money sent each month from the Australian churches that helps the brethren with medical supplies, supplements the food available so as to look after their general health, and enables the parents to send their children to the schools, which better prepare them for a future of freedom and a return home that they hope will become a reality in the near future.

BURLEIGH HEADS, Australia—The WCG has a growing congregation at Mt. Wilhelm high up in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Through financial support from the Australian Office and several congregations, the PNG brethren are pastored by Ken Slade, an elder from Bendigo, Victoria. On recent trips he has been accompanied by Mark Latham, a Sydney member with a passion for serving these remote and isolated Melanesian people. In early July, Ken and Mark traveled to Mt. Wilhelm to conduct a first-ever series of Christian development seminars.

Getting there safely is the first challenge. Sometimes the few airstrips are not operational because of tribal fighting, damaging heavy rains or the theft of aviation safety equipment such as the windsock. The only alternative is the Highlands Highway, a dirt road with huge potholes often barely clinging to the side of the mountains, which leaves the traveler subject to the risk of holdups from roving bandits.

Mission Aviation Fellowship flew Ken and Mark into the Keglsugl airstrip and they walked the remaining couple of kilometers to the village where our brethren have built a meeting hall and hospitality house for all who come to worship there.

Training sessions over several days covered our differences and uniqueness in Christ, how we fit into the Body of Christ in peaceful love, our relationship with the triune God, lessons for us from the letters to the seven churches of Revelation, and the role of Bible study in the personal transformational process as God lives in us—which was then celebrated with the symbols of the bread and wine.

During their time with the Mt. Wilhelm congregation, new buildings were dedicated to God’s glory and use. Many songs of thanksgiving were sung, and a blessing was requested of God for those who have dedicated their lives to him. A wedding renewal service was conducted for eight couples who had been married previously by tribal law but who now wanted to acknowledge God in their marriages. They promised to love God forever and commit themselves to each other in love until death parted them.

A pastoral team of seven men and three women was commissioned to serve and coordinate various ministries among the brethren, and a special offering was taken up to further church work in the area.

While there, nearby landowners and village elders met with Ken, Mark and the brethren to discuss the church’s proposal to install a small hydroelectric generator on a stream to bring electricity to the village. This would open the way for evening meetings and activities to take place at the hall for the surrounding community. Several Australian congregations are willing to raise funds to enable the Mt. Wilhelm congregation to install the generator and conduct evening community and outreach activities.

Because of member enthusiasm for the training sessions, other villagers didn’t want to miss out. So ministers and members from the Roman Catholic, Revival, Foursquare Gospel and Christian Outreach Centre churches packed our hall on the final day with some of our WCG leaders.

Through a newly invented game and discussions, the preferences and differences experienced between men and women, Jew and Gentile, and between Christian denominations were explored to help everyone better grasp what unity in Christ is all about, and, it is hoped, to help defuse tensions that have tended toward division and competition.

The spiritual development of our congregation at Mt. Wilhelm and respect for the WCG in the community is growing strongly. The pastoral challenges are great. The financial resources are lean. But the work of God in this remote and difficult area is clear and positive and encouraging.

Mary and Elizabeth. Woodcut by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, from Das Buch der Buecher in Bilden. Used by permission of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

After the angel Gabriel told Mary that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant in old age, "Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah�s home and greeted Elizabeth" (Luke 1:39-40). Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth was pregnant (v. 36), so Mary quickly made the three-day journey to Judea. Elizabeth�s pregnancy was evidence that what the angel said about Mary was also true. One miraculous pregnancy was a sign of the other, just as the first son would prepare the way for the work of the second.

"When Elizabeth heard Mary�s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (v. 41). Elizabeth was inspired to understand a supernatural significance to this reaction, and even before Mary gave her the news, she knew Mary would have a child: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" (vv. 42-45).

Elizabeth counted it an honor to be visited, for she recognized that Mary�s child would be her Lord. It was a joyful occasion, for the Savior was coming to the people who had waited for so long. Both Elizabeth and Mary are good role models for Christians today. Anyone who believes that the Lord keeps his promises will be blessed.

God inspired Elizabeth to praise and encourage Mary�s faith, that her child would, as the angel promised, be the Son of God, ruling over the children of Israel forever (vv. 32-33).

Mary�s response is a hymn of praise, arranged with the parallel thoughts that characterize Hebrew poetry, such as Hannah�s prayer in 1 Samuel 2. Mary�s song is traditionally called the Magnificat (the first word of the Latin translation):

In this verse, the second line repeats the thought of the first�"my soul" and "my spirit" are similar, and "glorifies" and "rejoices in" are similar ideas. But the second line adds a new thought at the end: Not only is God the Lord, he is also the Savior. Mary then gives a reason for rejoicing: God has rewarded her humility:

Mary, seeing the evidence in Elizabeth, knows that God has already done what he promised to Mary, that she would be the mother of the Messiah. Mary says that God has helped her, and everyone will know of her blessing. She then reverses the flow by saying again that God has helped her, and praising God, returns to the thought that she started her poetry with. (This mirror-like arrangement is called a chiasm.)

Mary then expands her praise to include everyone who trusts in God, contrasting God�s blessings for the humble with his opposition to the proud:

To those who worship God, he gives mercy, but those who do not care about God are brushed aside with mighty deeds. A similar contrast is seen in verses 52-53, with another balanced structure�the rich, the poor; the poor, the rich:

God works in a great reversal, bringing the mighty down and exalting the poor and the weak. God did not send his Son into the palaces of royalty, but he honored the working poor of Galilee. Salvation comes not from human power, but must depend on the intervention of God. Mary represents all who trust in God to do what he has promised.

The next significant event in Luke�s story is the birth of John. "When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy" (vv. 57-58).

They did not name the baby until the eighth day, when he was circumcised, and there was a community celebration. Although boys were often named after their grandfathers, the neighbors and relatives thought it would be appropriate to name the boy after his elderly father: "On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, �No! He is to be called John�" (vv. 59-60).

"John" comes from the Hebrew Yohanan, which means "God is gracious." The neighbors objected to this name, since it wasn�t in the family traditions. Zechariah was apparently deaf as well as mute, so "they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child" (v. 62).

Zechariah names John. [Illustration by Ken Tunell]

Zechariah "asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone�s astonishment he wrote, �His name is John.� Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God" (vv. 63-64). Earlier, Zechariah had been made mute after he asked, "How can I be sure of this?" (v. 18). He now had the evidence he wanted, and as the angel promised (v. 20), his speech was restored when God fulfilled his promise.

Luke will soon tell us what Zechariah said, but first he tells us what effect the miracle had on the people: "The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, �What then is this child going to be?� For the Lord�s hand was with him" (vv. 65-66).

Rumors were stirring, Luke tells us. Many people knew that God was doing something among his people. Could it be that God would give them the Messiah they hoped for?

"Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied" (v. 67). After nine months of enforced silence, in which he no doubt frequently thought about God�s faithfulness, he praises God. His song is called the Benedictus, which is the first word of the Latin version.

Surprisingly, Zechariah (a Levite) is not speaking of his own son�just as Elizabeth did, he focused on Mary�s unborn child, predicting the son of David. But John, the Levite baby, is nevertheless part of God�s preparation for rescuing the Jewish nation. In Hebrew, "horn" was a symbol of strength (perhaps from the strength of horned animals such as oxen), so Zechariah predicts a mighty salvation. He focuses on the Jewish people; he may not have realized (unlike Luke, who knew more of the story) that the Messiah would rescue the Gentiles as well.

Just as Mary did, Zechariah mentions that salvation was predicted, that it was part of the blessings promised to Abraham (Gen. 22:18), and that God was keeping those promises:

Zechariah briefly turns his attention to his own son, with an echo of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1:

He then describes the salvation of the Lord�not a military conquest, but a spiritual rescue, bringing light and instruction in the way of peace. In this section, Zechariah uses concepts found in Isaiah 9:2; 60:1-3; and Malachi 4:2:

Salvation will come not through force, but through spiritual growth. Through the Lord, the people will be enlightened about salvation, forgiveness, mercy and peace. John�s role will be to prepare the way.

Luke now summarizes the next 30 years for John: "The child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel" (v. 80). There is a hint of greater things yet to come. The promises made to the people have not been forgotten.

News from the financial office continued to be cautiously good in September. Member donations for the month topped the $1.5 million mark. That is almost spot on with the same month last year.

In addition we had an estate donation in September bringing the total monthly income to just over $2 million. These figures exceed our projected budget for the month, so obviously this is reason to be joyful. A hearty thank-you from all of us at denominational headquarters for your continued encouragement and support.

Available cash funds for the year to date have passed $19.1 million. That’s about $14.4 million in member donations and almost $4.4 million from all other sources. For the first nine months of this year we are running just one percent under the comparable nine months of last year. While that’s still a negative figure, at least it’s the smallest negative number we can register!

As you see from the chart, expenses continue to exceed income by about $3.9 million. This is within guidelines established by our headquarters management staff and the church board of directors. So we maintain our reserve funds at the best possible level under the circumstances.

From time to time members inquire about the reserve fund. Let me use this opportunity to explain a little bit about reserves. To maintain financial health, an organization of our size and scope should always have adequate reserves. We retain the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a major public accounting firm, to review our finances, issue annual reports and advise us on matters pertaining to accounting, bookkeeping and other matters related to corporate fiscal matters.

We also have to issue audited annual financial statements to various government agencies and to businesses with which we interact. We also maintain a rating with Dunn and Bradstreet that allows businesses to obtain appropriate information on church finances.

PricewaterhouseCoopers advises us to maintain a reserve level of up to six months operating capital, with a goal of having reserves as near the one-year operating level as possible. Obviously from a financial point of view we would prefer to have at least that one-year amount in the reserve fund. And when we have sold selected assets, such as the Big Sandy campus, we were near that level.

This year, as noted above, we have had expenses about $3.9 million more than income. That, of course, has dropped the reserve fund. But reserves are still in adequate shape, that is, above the six-month level. This is a financial matter that we monitor on an almost daily basis. And it is certainly our intent to maintain the reserves at as high a level as we can while we operate the affairs of the church at the best level of expenses to accomplish the mission and goals of the denomination.

As we proceed into the final months of this year, we sincerely thank you for your dedicated response to the needs of our church. Many, hopefully most, of our congregations are more and more becoming places of excitement to share the joy of God’s grace with others.

Each of us has gifts from God. Our job is to discover those gifts, and with God’s guidance, use them for the greater glory of his kingdom. So keep up the good work as you serve your congregation and community.

Statement of Operating Income and Expenses for
WCG for the Month Ended Sept. 30, 2002

For many years the WCG has sponsored a variety of group tours and cruises. In this issue of the WN we are pleased to announce the tour schedule for next year.

We announce these tours now to allow maximum time for planning. It is advantageous to book early. For example, on the cruises, early bookings often mean a financial discount, members can select the price range of cabins and even request a specific cabin, and receive dining preferences. For those who want to go on a land-based tour, early booking allows us to project numbers and plan for motor coaches, hotel space and tour guides.

Festival cruises are an appreciated opportunity for a vacation combined with the joy of fellowship and the inspiration of worship. Our members find special value in assembling with fellow believers for camaraderie and worship as a group.

Further, quite a number of members use a cruise as a time to gather family and close friends for a vacation together. We always welcome friends and family on our group tours and by no means want them to feel compelled to attend worship services (although they are welcome).

So, if one or more of these opportunities would be of interest to you, please contact Travel Gallery (see box) for information regarding the tour or cruise, specific pricing, additional airfare (if desired) and other questions you may have. In addition to the published prices for our tours, a WCG registration fee of $25 per adult will be charged for our group tours and cruises.

This year we add the excitement of a group tour to Russia, Oct. 9 to 17. John Halford, who has conducted numerous international WCG programs, will be host of this tour of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Members will tour the historical and cultural sites of the Russian capital as well as experience one of the most beautiful cities of the world—St. Petersburg.

It will be an all-inclusive land program including meals, lodging and visa. The land price is $1,395 per person, based on double occupancy. Group airfare from the United States will be available as well. Contact Travel Gallery for complete itinerary, details and air options.

The Eastern Caribbean cruise will be the introduction of Holland America’s newest ship, the 82,000 ton Zuiderdam. Two thirds of the staterooms have verandas, and 85 percent of the staterooms have ocean views. The Zuiderdam has 40 percent more space than Holland’s main fleet of ships, but only 25 percent more guests.

Our Oct. 11 to 18 cruise puts into port at Holland America’s own private island, Half Moon Cay, as well as St. Thomas, Nassau and an island new to our festival cruisers, St. Kitts/Nevis. Contact Travel Gallery for daily itinerary and complete pricing. Prices start at $673 based on double occupancy. Port fees and government taxes are not included.

In 2003 we will offer a seven-day cruise, Oct. 13 to 20, on Holland America’s MS Ryndam, departing San Diego, California, then sailing on the Pacific Ocean to the Mexican Riviera. The ship will put into port at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The itinerary includes three sea days for fellowshipping. Contact Travel Gallery for complete details. Prices start at $658 per person (plus port charges and taxes).

Next year we offer a land-based tour June 5 to 11. Participants will fly from Seattle, Washington, to Anchorage, Alaska. From there, aboard the historic McKinley Explorer train, it’s on to Denali National Park, home of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America.

Your time in Denali will include a stay at the McKinley Chalet Resort and a Tundra Wilderness tour to search for grizzly bear, moose, caribou and mountain sheep. Then, board the dome rail service train to Fairbanks. There, learn about the Alaskan gold rush and the Alaska pipeline. Pan for gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine and visit a recreated Athabaskan Indian Village.

Pricing is still being negotiated. The tour includes train fare, lodging and meals as well as entry fees to all sites. Group airfare rates are available from Travel Gallery. Contact them for details and complete itinerary.

We travel by motor coach Oct. 12 to 19 to the Grand Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion National Parks and Monument Valley. Worship services are conducted on selected days. This Western-themed tour will include all motor coach transportation, admission fees for all National Parks, all meals (except a lunch or two), accommodations in first-class hotels (where available), and gratuities for guides and drivers. The price will be about $1,295 per person based on double occupancy. Please contact Travel Gallery for pricing and full itinerary.

The fall festival cruise to Alaska was a smashing success for the more than 400 who joined for inspiring worship and fantastic scenery. Joseph and Tammy Tkach, Bernie Schnippert and Ronald Kelly presented messages during the days at sea. Russell and Phyllis Duke led the music and conducted the festival choir.

The ship put into port at Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan, but the scenic highlight was a day spent cruising next to the glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park. More than one third of the group were first-time cruisers, but almost all of them, along with those who had been on other group cruises, are now hooked on cruising and are making plans for next year. Ronald Kelly.

Thirty-nine WCG members, their spouses and children pioneered an 1,100 mile coach tour sponsored by Travel Gallery of Pasadena Sept. 22 to 28 through three states and five national parks. They visited the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

"I had high expectations for the Grand Canyon tour," said Danny Nail, an elder from Melbourne, Florida. "Every expectation was exceeded, including the spiritual uplift."

Betty Thompson, a retired schoolteacher from West Allis, Wisconsin, agreed: "This Grand Canyon festival tour was a treasure of fantastic memories painted on a canvas of God’s artistry."

Neil Earle, pastor of the Glendora, California, church, and his wife, Susan, led the tour. Mr. Earle conducted four worship services aided by elder John Petrisor from Washington and a host of singers, worship leaders and musicians from across the United States.

"One of my highlights was of us singing hymns to God the Creator as the train pulled in from Williams, Arizona, and the unforgettable outline of the Grand Canyon came into view," Mr. Earle commented. "That sent a shiver up my spine."

Another coach tour will be offered next year. Contact Travel Gallery at 1-800-858-6999 for details. Neil Earle and John Siston.

Two hundred forty WCG members and families from 30 states and a few international areas enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation and were refreshed by the Holy Spirit as we worshiped our Lord Jesus on the Eastern Caribbean Cruise. We had more than 30 young people in our group and provided youth church during services for teens, preteens and preschool children. At our closing service we were inspired by a lively vocal praise team made up of four teens from New Jersey: Tamara and Tanya Jendrek, Caroline Fischer and Sarah Magallanes, who led worship and presented special music.

Sermons by J. Michael Feazell, Larry Helscher, Roger Lippross and Dennis Pelley celebrating our saving faith in Jesus uplifted our members as well as several guests who dropped in for our worship services. Dr. Feazell also led a question and answer discussion one afternoon. Karl Jenner, an elder from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and a United Airlines pilot, shared personal memories and reflections of the tragedies of 9-11.

Our ship, the Holland America Maasdam, made port stops in Nassau, Bahamas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where many shopped for souvenirs and jewelry. Some chose to take historic tours of the islands, and the more daring ones enjoyed water sports such as parasailing and kayaking. We were renewed in our love for God and encouraged to share his gospel of grace with others as we returned home. Dennis Pelley.

A combined regional conference and festival took place at the Airport Holiday Inn in Moline, Illinois, Sept. 14 to 21.

More than 300 attendees participated in daily praise and worship and benefitted from general sessions and workshops. During the conference, Pastor General Joseph Tkach gave an overview of how we should look at prophecy and in another session discussed what it means to be a Christian leader.

Dan Rogers, superintendent of U.S. ministers, took several of the general sessions to teach how we can develop and implement a vision for our congregations and fulfill the great commission to the church. Carn Catherwood, South Central district superintendent, spoke on the importance of corporate worship and how we can effectively mix traditional and contemporary styles of worship.

The theme for the festival was "Come Celebrate Christ—Your Life." We sang praises to our great God as we were led by an inspired and talented group of musicians.

We gave offerings daily. On Tuesday, Sept. 17, it was a shout of praise. On Wednesday we offered confession. On Thursday we gave an offering of goods to a shelter. The designated shelter couldn’t handle it all, and the excess was given to other charities. The offering on Friday was financial, and on Saturday we offered ourselves in service to God.

The sermons during the conference were both informative and inspiring. Dr. Tkach discussed the various views on hell and showed how we all can avoid hell, whatever it turns out to be. Greg Neller, pastor of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, church, challenged us to be true to our calling by living our belief in our day-to-day lives.

Mr. Rogers used the account of Peter walking on water to show how God is with us during our times of need, and James Newby, pastor of the Chicago Northwest and Joliet, Illinois, churches, used the story of Paul’s encounter with the philosophers on Mars Hill as the basis for his sermon on having our life in Christ. Dave Fiedler, North Central district superintendent, concluded the festival by showing us how we need to develop the mind of God in our attitude toward the lost. Dave Kroll.

More than 400 members from all over the United States, plus some from Canada, gathered in Riverside, California, Sept. 26 to 29 to celebrate our Lord.

We billed the occasion as a Family Reunion in addition to a worship celebration, and the fellowship reflected that feeling. Each day after the service, members had to be encouraged to leave the building so rehearsals and technical work could be done.

Mssrs. Dizon, Ramos, Holm and Albrecht brought moving sermons focusing on our relationship with Jesus Christ and with each other. Mr. Ecker led the closing communion service on Sunday.

Worship music was provided the first two days by a worship team from Pasadena led by Celestine Olive, and on Saturday by the combined talents of Higher Ground (another Pasadena-based team). Ross Jutsum rounded out the weekend on Sunday with old standards and some of his own compositions.

Higher Ground also provided a praise concert on Saturday night benefiting the Bengali Evangelical Association (www.bea.org). More than $2,200 was raised from the 170 who attended. Al Killebrew of Higher Ground commented afterward, "I’ve never played for such a responsive group as we had tonight!"

Besides the worship services, studies for men were led by Larry Omasta and for women by Deena Murray. Through an agreement with the convention center, we served four receptions and a fellowship luncheon attended by 285. The food service was paid from registration fees and on-site ticket sales, and the food costs were credited to the hall rental, reducing our hall rent to near zero. Mark McCulley.

Festivalgoers to this community on the Oregon coast heard from Seaside Mayor Rosemary Baker-Monaghan and from Dwayne McQuilliams, director of Clatsop Community Action, the agency that oversees several food banks at the Sept. 21 service. Attendance that day was 406. The festival ran from Sept. 20 to 24.

This is the eighth year in a row Seaside attendees have donated money and food to help the many needy people in the area. Mr. McQuilliams expressed deep appreciation for our continuing support and Christian example. Oregon ranks first in the nation in hunger, and Clatsop County ranks among the highest counties in Oregon, so our contributions have been meaningful.

This year’s donation was $4,771 and 753 pounds of food. Over the past seven years, the WCG has become known by the residents of Astoria and Seaside for its support for the coastal food bank. One person said: "Most groups come to our city to hold their meetings and then leave town; but you folks do more than that. You also give help to us while you are here."

In an article in the Oct. 4 Daily Astorian, Mr. McQuilliams said: "Without the annual support of this group, Clatsop County food banks and meal sites would not be able to meet the need. Very few resort areas in the nation are as fortunate as we are to have tourists of this caliber visit on an annual basis."

The Seaside Ecumenical Bell Choir, led by Arlene Ydstie, put on a program for the church. The group is composed of Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and Episcopalians.

A group of members joined a chaplain in his Sunday service at an assisted-living center. Judith Gascon from the Portland West congregation played the keyboard, while members of the Salem and Portland East congregations provided vocal support in singing traditional hymns known to the facility residents.

Many members and their families enjoyed walking on the beach, visiting shops and restaurants, feeding seals at the aquarium, sight-seeing along the coast highway, and spending time with old friends. A major attraction was the Seaside Sand Sculpture Festival that brought world class artists who worked for two days building detailed sand sculptures. Joel Lillengreen and Paul Hailey.

To many, this festival from Oct. 11 through Oct. 14 exceeded all expectations in inspiration and unity. But it was threatened even before it started when the Atlantic storm Kyle headed for the coast after meandering in the ocean for several weeks. It arrived just as we were preparing for the opening service.

The Holy Spirit, working through many people, each with gifts and distinctive strengths, brought together an event that lifted us all and made a difference in the Myrtle Beach community.

The festival began with a rousing praise and prayer service that started with a procession of youths singing praises to King Jesus. After stirring songs of praise, thanks and worship, 697 people listened to powerful testimonials of God’s intervention and participated in four huddle sessions in which we gave thanks for God’s blessings of the past year and prayed for youths, the community, our nation and our personal needs.

The festival theme was "Joining Jesus at Work." Sermons by Dan Rogers, Jonathan Stepp and Tim Brassell built on the theme. Attendance ranged from more than 900 to nearly 1,100.

The community was invited through radio ads to the Saturday evening, Oct. 12, benefit concert featuring WCG singers and musicians. The crowd of 537 people worshiped and donated $4,085 to three charities. Sunday morning, Howard Blakeney, Myrtle Beach pastor, presented checks to representatives of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Hospice. The next day, members used the other third of the donation to buy items and directly serve the homeless in Myrtle Beach.

The festival concluded with communion, led by Keith Brittain, Mid-Atlantic district superintendent.

More than 150 people attended the festival in Northern Ireland with a theme of Reconciliation. Guest speakers were Curtis May, director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries; Paul Redfern of St. Marks Church of Ireland parish in Ligoniel, a church on the peace line in north Belfast; and Stephen Cave, secretary general of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland.

Messages covered many aspects of reconciliation, internal and external, practical and theoretical.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the Belfast, Northern Ireland, congregation. David Stirk.

Around 165 to 170 people attended the festival at Bridlington’s Leisureworld theatre.

On day one Robert Harrison encouraged members to engage in wall-to-wall fellowshipping and to consider, through messages and conversations, the "not yet" of the kingdom of God.

Sermons were supplemented by seminars by Mr. Harrison and Marion Pearse, and a Bible study by John Stettaford.

After the last service, Mr. Harrison baptized John Facchini of the Middlesbrough church, bringing the festival to an inspiring close. Rob Harrison.

About 120 people from several nations gathered in Britain’s capital for a week of celebrating our salvation in Jesus Christ. Activities and atmosphere encouraged an upward, inward and outward focus.

Graham Buik coordinated worship, with spiritual food provided by preachers including Richard Kane, director of the Futureway Trust, the group that organizes National Marriage Week. We enjoyed communion services, Sunday morning visits to London churches, a joint Bible study with the WCG and YMCA, whose facilities we used during the festival, and Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Catered meals, trips organized by tour guide David Bannister, and fellowship evenings gave opportunities to grow together. As part of the Evangelical Alliance Facevalues initiative, we gave food to some of London’s homeless. Anthony Dady.

More than 400 members gathered in Paignton to enjoy the festival with a theme, "Our Identity in Christ," focusing on our relationship with him. Other subjects included spiritual discipline, letting grace work in our lives, accepting differences in others, the problems of taking the Christian message to a post-Christian world, functioning as witnesses and emotional healing in Christ.

One service was organized by young adult members. Two communion services, a praise service and a traditional hymn service were also conducted. David Silcox conducted a question and answer session on the church, and John Halford conducted one on the British magazine. We had seminars on improving marriage relationships, analyzing our reactions in difficult circumstances, and how wise women manage relationships. Harry Sullivan.

Twenty-three people enjoyed nine days of spiritual food, fellowship and two fellowship meals in Estonia. Several visitors made their way from Finland, Germany, the United States and England to join in the celebrations.

The festival was conducted in two of the largest cities in the country. The first five days were in Tartu, the university center of Estonia, and the final four days in Tallinn, the capital. Two public lectures were conducted in Tartu by Leo Kaagjarv and Mike Barlow. In Tallinn we visited the zoo and an open air museum featuring actual and replicas of housing and conditions in Estonia over the past several hundred years.

The spiritual part of the feast focused on reverence for God, Christ centeredness and likeness, and our righteousness in Christ celebrating our wonderful calling and salvation. Mike Barlow.

Forty people from five countries worshiped God at the festival in Oslo. One day was set aside for small group prayer meetings. We prayed for members, families, friends, readers of church publications and for guidance of the church worldwide. Communion was provided.

Every day we had a small group meeting before the service. In the evenings we fellowshipped, with games for young and old. The festival began by explaining God’s plan and purpose for humanity. Other topics covered were freedom in Christ; what is prayer?; and what is the Christian’s responsibility?

It was a time of bonding, rest, reflection, joy and fellowshipping. Attendees felt the festival strengthened their relationship with Jesus Christ, the Master of their lives.

Scandinavian members are scattered and see each other only once a year, so planning has already started for next year. International visitors remind us that we belong to a worldwide family. Carl Fredrik Aas.

More than 116 members and guests from many countries met for nine days at the Eldorado Sun Club resort.

Spanish and English messages were punctuated with daily praise and worship, particularly by young children playing musical instruments. Messages included the coming fullness of God’s kingdom, grafted in Christ and God’s kingdom now.

Members bonded through shared daily meals, participating in the festival choir, in a talent show and in outreach. One of the highlights was the ordination of Javier Perez Font to elder. Christ is stimulating growth in the church in Barcelona, where Javier Font is from and to where he returned to continue serving the small congregation.

Earnest offerings of thanksgiving, petitions for blessings and inspiration for church leaders and members, as well as governmental officials, were publicly expressed. Members and guests were stirred during the festival to recount God’s miraculous interventions in their lives. Carlisle S. Parker Jr. and Denise S. Coultas Parker.

Around 210 members participated in this year’s festival near Venice, Italy. This included 130 guests from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, England, Ireland, the United States and Australia.

This year’s celebration of Christ had personal evangelism as its central theme. Members were encouraged to become personal lights in their daily lives, lights that cannot possibly go unnoticed by those whose eyes are being opened by God.

Highlights included sermons given by guest speakers Randal Dick and Francis Bergin, a seminar on evangelism given by Pietro Bolognesi, head of the Institute for Evangelical Formation and Documentation in Padoa and area representative of the Italian Evangelical Alliance, a Lord’s Supper, a workshop with Mr. Dick and the Italian members and a piano concert by Swiss pianist Caroline-Sara Stauffer.

Members were able to choose from a variety of gifts, souvenirs and handcrafts prepared by the Sicilian brethren. Funds will be donated to the project "Bread of Life" to assist poor children in Peru with food and schooling. This collection is coordinated in Italy by the Italian Bible Society. Daniel Boesch.

Thirty-two people met in Roseau, Dominica, a site administered by the European Office. Our theme was "Living the Word," under which banner we walked a journey of being a living sacrifice through Christ living in us.

Our emphasis was based on loving Christ with all our heart, soul and mind; letting the written Word be a lamp unto our feet; letting the Word dwell richly in us; and a call to Christian action.

Worship and prayer occupied the greater part of each service, and added much depth to our fellowship.

Sunday was family day, and our youths led us in worship and prayer on the beach. Then we all shared a potluck lunch, followed by a get-together fun show. Cris Vidal.

Spiritual community was both the theme and the experience at festival sites around Australia this year.

Around 400 participated in worship, seminars and a variety of family-based activities in Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast. "There were many positive comments about the atmosphere of peace and joy," said coordinator Bob Regazzoli. "The youth services were entirely planned and presented by the young adults and had a tremendous impact."

The messages and seminars developed the theme of spiritual community and of celebrating our life in Jesus Christ. The aim was to better equip members to be more productive in their congregations.

In Western Australia around 380 enjoyed a festival characterized by a spirit of togetherness, thankfulness and dedication to our great God—as was evident throughout worship songs, speaking and fellowship. Children’s church was enjoyed by 63 participants under the age of 12.

In Ulladulla, New South Wales, about 380 people appreciated a diverse range of speakers, including James Henderson, regional director for Africa, who encouraged us to build a safe, respectful community that encourages each person to maintain what connects them to God.

We celebrated who we are in Christ and the wonderful salvation God is working out in our own lives and ultimately for everyone. Our spiritual pilgrimage has a destination that will surpass all our expectations.

"We were again inspired by the substantial messages from the youth service as they encouraged all of us in our goal of becoming like Jesus Christ," said coordinator Rod Dean.

At the festival conducted at the Mooroolbark Community Centre in Victoria, the emphasis was on reaching out to the community. In addition to providing craft classes and cleaning up the station area, a sausage sizzle raised $200 for the Disabled People’s Company. The response to a free family film night open to the public was overwhelming, and comments such as, "This is what churches should be doing for families," has prompted the local council to do this in conjunction with our church at least four times a year.

In Wellington, 100 members gathered at the Overseas Terminal, a conference center on Wellington Harbour, to celebrate "Jesus—Humanity’s Hope." Guest speaker was Ken Edgecombe, chairman of the Council of Wellington Churches.

Social activities included a variety evening with a theme of the "Orient Express"; a complimentary seniors lunch; a women’s breakfast, addressed by the retired Rev. Sylvia Jenkin; a family day at the Botanic Gardens, including orienteering and a barbecue; a lunch harbor cruise; dinner at Molly Malone’s; and a cafe church evening. Rex Morgan.

One hundred twenty people attended a festival Sept. 25 to 29 at the Genting Permai Park and Resort. Rey Taniajura, director of Missions in the Philippines, gave two presentations on courses and programs used by the WCG Philippines for discipling new believers and training leaders. Another visitor, Patrick Chong, gave a talk on the work of Prison Fellowship International and his experiences in prison ministry. Wong Mein Kong.

Youth activities took on a new dimension in Fiji this year, with a large variety of items. Church youths teamed up with youths from other denominations to perform a variety of action songs. Members of the New Methodist Church also attended and participated fully at the festival.

The men’s outreach program teamed up in twos and visited Indian homes to offer prayers. Many invited them back for prayers the next day. Healing, job opportunities and family reconciliation were high on their prayer requests. This breakthrough has opened an important door for the Fiji church to take the gospel to the Indo-Fijian communities in the country. Epeli Kanaimawi.

Forty-five members from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad met at the church hall on Sept. 22 and 29 to celebrate a festival with a theme of "Relationships." In a country that has seen too many violent incidents of communal riots, members came together to learn that good relationships are possible between communities. It all begins with what Christ accomplished for us on the cross. Dan Zachariah.

The highest attendance ever recorded at the church building at Rory on the island of Malekula was achieved on the last day of this year’s festival. The attendance of 111 included a number of chiefs and church leaders from various denominations in the surrounding area and meant that some members had to sit outside, as there wasn’t enough room for everyone in the hall.

During a radio interview, Epeli Kanaimawi, visiting Fijian pastor, spoke about the Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji (ACCF), with which he is closely involved. Mr. Kanaimawi also invited church leaders in Vila to come to a meeting that evening. Twenty-eight leaders from a number of denominations turned up, eager to discuss the work of the ACCF.

Members in the Solomon Islands met in two locations this year, the city of Honiara and the island of Ranongga. The messages focused on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and also the way in which renewed hearts and