Volume 2, Number 4: July-August 2007 What's happening? Bengali Easter celebration On Easter, the Bengali Evangelical Association held a Bengali-language celebration in Loma Linda, CA. The service was organized with other Bengali leaders as a sanctuary to the many Bengalis in the Los Angeles area who feel in need of a spiritual home base. Dr. John Biswas (right), an elder in our denomination, is looked on by the Bengali people in Southern California as their pastor and leader and has been pressured to organize this sort of gathering in their own language and culture, hence this Easter service and social gathering. Many of the attendees were Muslim, and this was their first Christian worship service and their first chance to hear in their own language that Christ died not just for Christians but for Muslims, too. Many of the 380 attendees were former Adventists who had never attended an Easter service, either.  What started out as a small monthly prayer group for Bengalis has grown into a spiritual sanctuary for their community. Similar celebration services are planned for the future.—Roger Lippross

Ross Jutsum Visits Grace Family Church

Dr. Ross Jutsum, of State of the Heart Ministries and former director of the Young Ambassadors, led worship at Grace Family Church (Richardson, TX) on May 20. The composer and musician said his ministry is now in its tenth year. He logged 150,000 miles of air travel last year and over the years has visited 115 denominations, plus non-denominational churches.

Associate pastor Gabriel Ojih introduced Dr. Jutsum, reminding the congregation: “We exist to worship God, to honor and exalt him and glorify him. We do that well in music because it quickly breaks so many barriers.”

The theme of the service was The Heart of Worship. Dr. Jutsum described how Matt Redmond, who wrote “Blessed Be Your Name,” came to also write “The Heart of Worship.” Mr. Redmond was worship minister at a large church in London. One day the pastor called him in and said the worship was great but the services were beginning to seem more like a concert than a church service. That drove Mr. Redmond to his knees, and one result of his prayers was the well-known “Heart of Worship” song.

Dr. Jutsum recalled being invited to give a concert at a nursing home in London. Hazel, a wheelchair-bound woman who hadn’t spoken in three months, became responsive and sang every word to the traditional hymns. Afterward the 93-year-old woman spoke with Dr. Jutsum, explaining that she had been a minister in Jamaica. She told him: “Don’t forget, sonny, you’re never too old to praise your Creator.”

He sang “Two Hearts As One,” a song he wrote for a daughter’s wedding last year. He also mentioned attending an inspirational chapel service for 3,000 people in Chicago with his other daughter, a student at Wheaton College.

He also recalled his “chance” meeting on a plane with a woman whose husband had just been killed in Iraq. She was on her way to the funeral. She explained that she had committed her life to Jesus at age 7 but had later gotten involved with the wrong crowd. Dr. Jutsum listened to her and told her God had never turned his back on her.

The lady was a Dallas Cowboys fan. After the flight landed, Dr. Jutsum persuaded former Cowboy Michael Irvin, who had also been on the flight, to meet the woman. He put his arm around her and prayed for her.

“How many times has God given us an opportunity and we don’t see it,” Dr. Jutsum said. “He has a ministry for each one of us.”—Frank Lewandowski

Dan Rogers Leads Discipleship Class

Superintendent of Ministers Dan Rogers addressed a packed discipleship class at Grace Family Church on May 6. He described how effectively God can use a congregation when the leaders and members discover their gifts, find an area the congregation is passionate about, then use that passion to serve the local community.

“Our motivation is not church growth. We’re here to give, to share God’s love,” he said. “God doesn’t need to work through us, but he wants to. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.” He urged everyone to discover what their congregation has to give, to find out what plans the Holy Spirit has and cooperate with those plans.

He used the example of a congregation he pastored years ago where a number of the members had musical talent. He suggested that a congregation with those types of gifts might put on free concerts and musicals to entertain the community, creating a relationship with the community. “God is a relational being,” he said.

In the worship service, Superintendent Rogers gave a sermon titled: “Who Is Jesus and Why Do We Dance With Him?” Expounding on John 10:22-39, Mr. Rogers explained that Jesus had told the religious leaders that they were not sheep. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus knows his sheep, and they know him.

“The Shepherd accepts us, knows us,” Mr. Rogers said. “It’s not about me, it’s about him, so my fate is secure. It’s absolutely secure and cannot be taken away.”

He talked about verse 30, explaining how the Father, the Son and the Spirit are one in the sense of being the same.

He also expounded upon the Greek word perichoresis, meaning literally, “to dance in a circle.” “Jesus says to humanity: “Join hands, lock arms with us and join in our dance. Creation mirrors who God is. The great dance of life is shared by the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Let’s all join hands, lock arms and dance in this joyous dance forever. This is all made possible by Jesus Christ.”—Frank Lewandowski

Voice of the Martyrs in Kalamazoo

February was a busy month for the church in Kalamazoo, MI. On February 10, Nathan Geigly, local representative for Voice of the Martyrs, spoke to the congregation on the plight of the persecuted church. The Kalamazoo church is involved with the needs of the persecuted church, in financial donations, actions packs, and in other ways.

On February 17, the sisters in fellowship packed blankets to be sent to refugees in Sudan. This year Voice of the Martyrs will send Bibles with each blanket. There was food, fun and fellowship.

Our 13th annual Black history celebration was on February 24. The sermon was given by Cleophus Sturdivant, a deacon. Special music was a praise dance from Ce Ce Winan’s “Come Fill My Heart” performed by Cathy Sturdivant. After the lunch, there was a variety show with a tribute to Mahalia Jackson, readings on the accomplishments of Blacks in America, and songs. God blessed the efforts and the events. We thank and praise him for his goodness.—Catharine Sturdivant

Community Center Progress in Bangladesh In Bangladesh, the Bengali Evangelical Association is involved in building a community center that is designed to double as a disaster relief center. The photos show the progress on the third floor of the Herman L. Hoeh Community Center. Everyone is happy to see the donations in action so effectively. The center will be strong because of the amount of steel we are using (see lower right). The cement is carried from the cement mixer to the third floor on the heads of the workers. The construction is labor intensive, which gives wages and job training and responsibility to the villagers. As donations come in, we pay for the materials already supplied to us. We feel an urgent need to get the building completed along with the interior fittings because of escalating costs, and the local need for a facility like this. —Roger Lippross To make an online donation to the disaster relief fund, click here.

Spiritual Formation Class in Gainesville

Good things do happen in small places. A good thing happened in Gainesville, FL, on the weekend of April 28-29. The Gainesville congregation (New Beginnings Christian Fellowship), “population” 10, sponsored the Ambassador College of Christian Ministry (ACCM) class, Spiritual Formation. The class, attended by 42 participants from the southeastern U.S., was taught by J. Michael Feazell, Randy Bloom and Charles Fleming. The two-day interactive program explored the biblical foundations of spiritual formation, inner transformation accomplished by the Holy Spirit, and focused on the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, worship and service. A highlight of the weekend was the ordination of Paul Volpe and Linard Johnson as elders. Paul and Linard serve as co-pastors of the Gainesville congregation.

Paul Volpe commented, “It was quite a privilege for us to host this conference. We are all still taking it in; and for a small church, it was a big shot in the arm. We realize just how mindful of us the Lord is, as he is with us all. We were encouraged by and appreciated the insights shared.”

ACCM will be conducting additional two-day classes at the General Conference of Elders in Indian Wells, CA. Christian Leadership will be held July 23-24 and Life and Teaching of Jesus will be July 30-31. To register, members may visit the ACCM website at www.ambascol.org To find out how your congregation may sponsor an ACCM weekend class, contact Susan Dick in the Church Administration & Development department.—Larry Hinkle

Ft. Lauderdale Prayer Retreat

The North Broward congregation held their annual prayer retreat on March 30-April 1. The event was organized with the idea that the church could get away from the usual venue and spend a weekend in prayer. The theme for the weekend was “With God all things are possible.” The congregation started these weekend retreats a number of years ago in an effort to develop a more intimate walk with the Lord though prayer.

The weekend took place at the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Ft. Lauderdale. The venue is a beautiful secluded conservation area in Ft. Lauderdale with bungalows for those who chose to stay overnight. Surrounded by forest and the sea, the venue lends itself for a perfect escape from the busy city, a slowing down, and a refocusing for a closer communication with God.

Friday night kicked the prayer retreat off with a motivational message on the Possibilities of Prayer by Beotis Williams. Beotis gave a highly motivational talk about prayer in the workplace and the difference that prayer can make in helping a person be on mission with God. Larry Hinkle led a prayer session allowing all to spontaneously bring prayer concerns before God. He also introduced a breakout prayer session asking the participants to choose a prayer partner and either ask God to reveal how we limit him or to pray about ways we limit God.

The worship leader, Charles Nickert, encouraged the participants to listen throughout the weekend for God’s answer to at least one area in our lives in which we limit God. A large box with bold letters reading “God in a Box” was provided for all to place as many answers as they received throughout the weekend. Each day ended with the theme song, “When we call on Jesus.”

On Saturday, the worship focused on Jesus’ triumphal entrance to Jerusalem. Palms were handed out to wave in worship, and a meditation drove home the point of limitations we place on God. We often limit God by wrong expectations, just as those who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem erroneously expected him to free them from Roman oppression and become their King to restore the former glory to Israel. God came in an unexpected way as a sacrificial lamb to bring a greater freedom—freedom from spiritual oppression and a way of entry into the kingdom of God.

Charles Fleming spoke on praying the will of God. The focus of the message was praying the will of God by taking the big “I” out of “will” and remembering that God’s plan is not about “me” but has a much larger context that includes our whole community, the nation and the world. All were encouraged to make space for God’s will like Barnabas did when he accepted Paul. This required Barnabas to take “God out of the box.” Some of his counterparts were too frightened to do this. This session was followed by a communion service.

A wonderful potluck was served, and fellowship continued around a campfire where the big “God Box” was ceremonially burned. All sat around the fire and shared what it meant to allow God out of the box. The day culminated with a lively game of Bible Baseball. Two teams—"The Holy Heat” vs. “The Blue Wave”—both composed of adults, teens and children—competed for first place in Bible knowledge.

On Sunday, the group celebrated a baptism. Afterwards, they gathered for a summary of the weekend, and a personal and group assessment of what God had done over the weekend. Many commented on how refreshed they felt by the weekend. All were uplifted by the experience and there was a noticeable joy in the air. Many thanks to all who worked hard behind the scenes and helped create the context for a very inspiring weekend, especially to Lori Grossfeld, who coordinated the facility arrangements as well as the youth activities. —Carmen Fleming

Evangelism Services in Pennsylvania

Evangelism Services were hosted at The Fountain of Life Church of Washington, PA, on April 20-22. The worship for the weekend was led by Dr. Ross Jutsum of State of the Heart Ministries; the theme was “Introducing Jesus.” The services were attended by various pastors and representatives from the Christian community from across the area.

On Friday, April 20, Rev. Layman Davis of the Bethlehem Baptist Church of Bentleyville, PA, spoke about “Why Does Anyone Need Jesus?”

Saturday services were co-Sponsored by the First Love Christian Academy, a Christian High School that uses some classrooms in the building. Kathleen Kline, the Academy’s Board President and co-founder, gave a presentation on the history, goals and mission and philosophy of the academy.

Joel Clevenger, of our church, gave a sermon on the challenges that the culture presents to young people and how it affects them in their thinking about God. Dr. Jutsum wove a message around his music presentation about the “Love of God” expressed through Jesus Christ.

On Sunday, C. Anderson Higgins, an elder in the South Bay Christian Church of San Jose, CA, preached about who God is and his glory.

On May 3, a National Day of Prayer was co-sponsored and hosted by The Fountain of Life Church and the First Love Christian Academy. Participants prayed for the nation, government leaders and the church. Readings and prayers were given by members of the Washington congregation as well as by students and faculty of the academy. Greg Smiley, a member, sang The Lord’s Prayer.

The sermon for the service was presented by Pastor Todd Crouch of the Fountain of Life Church; the title was “The Church Must Stay on Message; That Message is Jesus Christ.” —Todd Crouch

Coming events

Copyright 2007