Reuben is currently an Olympic-level platform diver. He began diving competitively when he was 11. When he was 16 he moved to Edmonton, AB, to continue his diving career and lived with his brother Elliot and wife Debbie for two years.

Reuben attends the University of Miami on an athletic scholarship. He is a sophomore in Civil Engineering. This year he won the Atlantic Coast Conference male diver of the year award.

Ross represented University of Miami in March at the Division 1 NCAA finals in Federal Way, WA, and won first place in the 3 Meter Board event, breaking the NCAA record. He placed sixth on the 1-Meter board and fourth in the Platform diving event.

Earlier this year, he won the Canadian Winter Nationals on the 3-Meter and Platform events. He also represented Canada in Beijing at the Diving World Cup and secured a second Olympic spot for Canada on the 3-Meter event.

During the Canadian Olympic Trials in Victoria, BC, in June, he earned a spot in the 3-Meter springboard and the 10-Meter platform.

Black History celebration in Michigan

Our congregation in Kalamazoo, MI, celebrated their 14th annual Black History celebration on Feb. 23. The sermon was given by Cleophus Sturdivant, titled "Tearing Down, Building up and Maintenance." Pastor Roger Abels gave comments on the concept of maintenance in relationships. Before the sermon, Catharine Sturdivant performed a praise dance to the song "Order My Steps in Your Words." Praise and worship music was led by Paula Hochstetler and was taken from the Black gospel experience. A typical "soul food" luncheon was served and a program followed.

A PowerPoint presentation on George W. Carver was given by 16-year-old Cassady Haines. A report on Fredrick Douglass was given by 10-year-old Sydney Haines. "When a Man Loves a Woman was performed by 10-year-old Jordan Stokes. Other presentations were given on the 54 regiment, and "What Black History Means to Me, a Young White Christian," and more music presentations. God blessed the planning and the work.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Rhode Island

The Grace Family Church of Rhode Island had an opportunity to receive community-wide attention on March 15 by participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We were dressed up in all kinds of traditional Irish clothing: green hats, bow ties, and green glass necklaces.

The celebration on the streets was so exciting and exhilarating. We tossed a big beach ball into the air, and over our church banner, which we used as a volleyball net. Since we were so bad at "volleyball," the crowds, especially the kids, had a great time passing the ball back to us.

While some members marched, others stayed at the church handing out flyers and inviting people to church. The parade passed right in front of the church.

It was nice to see that everyone was having such a wonderful time and we greatly enjoyed participating in the parade.

Church-Next training in Oregon

Fourteen men and women from across the United States attended Church-Next Training in Eagle Creek, OR (near Portland), May 5-10. This event, sponsored by Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM), taught participants about the key elements for church planting and church renewal. Trainers included Dan Rogers, Lorenzo Arroyo, Randy Bloom, and Glen Weber.

"It was an eye-opening experience," according to Jim Valekis (pastor, Tipp City, OH). "I was informed, challenged, provoked a little and stretched—and convinced of something new. We can grow and multiply churches! And we can grow bigger churches than we’ve allowed ourselves to imagine."

The training was highly interactive and was presented in a way that enabled pastors and potential church planters to contextualize the material to their unique situations. Session topics included vision and mission development, leadership team development, reaching unchurched people, and developing culturally relevant ministries. These were layered on top of an undergirding of Trinitarian theology, kingdom growth and church multiplication.

This column of pictures is from the Chicago-area conference in April. Photos by Doug Johannsen.

Below: Thomas Dobbs

Dee Bulante (pastor, Olympia, WA) commented: "I understand that the organic nature of church is not being minimized by doing all this preparation and planning. In fact, the best thing I’ll be taking home with me from this training is knowing and following the intentional process involved in setting up a church plant, and renewing a church."

According to Jeff Broadnax (pastor, White Plains, NY), "The most important thing I learned was that my sights are too small when it comes to growth of our church. They were not open enough to the Holy Spirit to give us movement now as opposed to that proverbial "when we are ready." I am going home excited about this information."

Our church in Bowling Green, KY, celebrated its 40th anniversary on May 18. There were 88 in attendance. The current pastor, Frank Tomes, gave the sermon on the good news that Jesus loves us and the joy of knowing Jesus. Members performed several special music selections.

After services, members, families, and friends enjoyed a delicious luncheon of fried chicken and all the trimmings. A 40th-anniversary cake and a variety of cookies topped off the meal. Everyone enjoyed the fellowship with God and each other.

The Bowling Green church was started on May 18, 1968, with a Bible study occurring one year prior to this. Over the 40-year history of the church, the congregation in Bowling Green has moved the location of its services several times and moved its services to Sundays. Over the years, there have been many picnics, hay rides, and formal dances. During the past few years, the congregation has been actively involved with the Angel Tree prison ministry.

The Christian Family Fellowship (Snellville, GA) has been busy during the last few months. The congregation's Women’s Ministry on April 17 was host to what we hope will be the first of many Mother-Daughter Teas. Our theme was: Connecting Over Tea.

The Women’s Ministry entertained 70 guests at their meeting place in Snellville, GA. The tea was expertly planned by Gayle Beckner, Esther Doele and Jackie Shadoan, and catered by a business in Snellville. They did a fantastic presentation that was delicious as well as beautiful.

There were several speakers from the Women’s Ministry, including Louise Simmons, who set the tone with her Add Color Presentation in a very humorous way. Gayle Beckner spoke on "In My Mother’s Shoes." Esther Doele gave a beautiful rendition of: "Hats of Friendship," which was a biography of her mother’s life of friendship and love. Carolyn Calhoun spoke on "Women Inventors and How God Used Women to Help Our World Improve Its Lifestyle."

We were honored by several women from our sister congregations. We hope to expand next year so we can invite more guests.

On a sad note, we lost four of our members within a few months of each other. Rosalie Anderson and Reginald Jones were eulogized in December. Connie McDuffie was laid to rest in January. Bernice Jones, wife of Reginald Jones, was memorialized on May 17, following her death on April 18.

The Christian Family Fellowship in Snellville, GA, has a very active community outreach program. One of our programs involves the Women’s Day Shelter in Atlanta. The chairman of the board, Lori Clos-Fisher, was our speaker. She spoke of the need for missions for all Christians and emphasized the fact that the shelter grew out of a need that was seen by the founder, Ruth Schatmeier.

Ruth had a vision growing out of her compassion for the many women she saw walking the streets of Atlanta in all kinds of weather. She realized that these were homeless women who slept at a night shelter, but were sent out each morning before dawn. Her Christlike compassion moved to envision a place where the women could receive food, encouragement and help to improve their situations. That is how the Women’s Day Shelter was born.

On an average day, the shelter serves about 150 patrons and children, especially in the summer when school is out. Our church supports the effort with donations of clothing, personal items, etc. We have a regular day to serve food—the fourth Sunday of each month. Charles Calhoun, an elder, presents a sermon with a video presentation each month that is well received by the women. We prepare breakfast and lunch as well as offer encouragement.

We have recruited another church group to fill the same need on the third Sunday, which helps us realize that we are the Body of Christ.

Christ is alive and well in our small but vibrant congregation. We hope to expand our services to include soldiers in Iraq as we have a co-op with the Snellville Baptist Church and the Operation Sandbox started by Catherine Pearson. Our Pastor, David Beckner, helps regularly with the packing and shipping of boxes to soldiers, so we are combining efforts and will be able to send more packages and encouragement to the soldiers.

Thomas Dobbs, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, wrote a poem and shared it in the Vienna, VA, congregation. Members there found it so inspiring that they wanted to share it with others:

God’s Great Sacrifice
by Thomas M. Dobbs
 
No excuses, nowhere to hide.
The eyes of God have found me…
the eyes of God shall thrive.
He understands my pain.
He understands my sorrow, He understands my shame.

He gave His Son to save us…to save all mankind,
Without His holy bloodshed we all would now have died.

Stand out…stand out for Jesus,
the one who lived and died.
Stand out…stand out for Jesus,
the one who was crucified.

He gave His life for all mankind…
to unite us at this special time.
He shall seize the light and lead the way…it is clear.
He shall come and this time stay!

Members represent Spain in Texas

Above: Paula Sifuentes, right, and daughter Diana display items from Spain at the College of the Mainland 2008 International Festival, April 4. Below, Paula performs "Rumba Flaminca," a traditional Spanish dance.

College of the Mainland is a community college near Galveston, TX, that hosts an "international festival" each year. Each country gets space on a table or two to display arts, crafts, household items, books, musical instruments, foods, etc. Many of the tables are hosted by college students who are from the country represented there. Since there were no students from Spain this year, Paula Sifuentes and her daughter Diana were invited to host the table for Spain. They are members in Community Christian Fellowship (Houston, TX).

This year there was a total of about 30 countries represented at the festival. Part of the program includes performances of folk music. Paula did the Spanish dance, and there were dances by Near Eastern and Oriental performers as well. The German-Austrian group did a dance and sang folk songs accompanied by accordions. To me, the most profound performance was by a young black man on a drum-like instrument fashioned from a small hardwood log. He said the instrument was used to send messages from village to village. He played his piece and when the applause died down, he said: "The message I just sent was: 'Run to your hiding places, the slavers are coming.'" There was also a serving line where samples of foods from various countries were available.

What was it like to be part of a crowd that followed Jesus when he walked the earth as a man? Mark Schnee and Mike Read portrayed this in a skit written by Frank Lewandowski, "Following Jesus" at the March 9 service in the Pathway of Grace congregation (Mesquite, TX).

The drama described a first-century village that was virtually deserted. Mike wondered aloud where everyone had gone. Mark, playing another local resident, Thaddeus, surmised many of their neighbors were following Jesus as he traveled and spoke, something Thaddeus himself had done.

He explained how he had seen several miracles, including the multiplying of the loaves and fishes and various people being healed of illnesses and infirmities. He said he had been healed, too.

Mike's character, a skeptic, claimed Thaddeus had followed Jesus only for meals and entertainment, and that Jesus had merely used the old ploy of the Roman Empire of pacifying the masses by providing bread and circuses. Thaddeus said that was incorrect, that the Master's preaching about loving God and loving one another changes lives. He cited the example of Zaccheus the tax collector, once a notorious cheater who, after meeting Jesus, paid back four times what he had taken unlawfully.

The believer also talked about how Jesus' words had cut him to the heart, prompting him to reconcile with his brother after a 20-year rift. The skit ended with Mike's character admitting that perhaps he, too, needed to hear Jesus speak. 

African Mission Developer visits Texas church

Kalengule and Nsama Kaoma came back "home" to visit Pathway of Grace members on Feb. 24. Affectionately known locally as KK, he is our mission developer for most of Africa and served in the old Dallas East congregation (forerunner to the current Pathway of Grace church) in the early 1990s.

As enthusiastic as ever, he told of the couple's four children, one boy and three girls and described their 3-year-old as "a bundle of energy." "We regard Dallas as our second home," Kalengule said. "I learned [to speak] some Texan a long time ago, but it's all gone."

He emphasized a need for prayers for the church in Africa. "It's growing rapidly and we're not coping [with the growth]," he said. "We need manpower and a lot of work." He spoke of opportunities in the Congo, a nation two and a half times the size of Texas. Eighteen Christian congregations in eastern Congo totaling about 2,000 members want to join our denomination. "They have seen love here," he said. "Love is something that unites us."

He recalled visiting a refugee camp housing vibrant worshipers. "When they sing, you cannot remain in your seat," he said. "They use anything for a [musical] instrument: their hands, drums. They praise God with their whole bodies."

One refugee was drawn to Mr. Kaoma and his message about Jesus. The refugee went to South Africa, where other members took him in. Along with two friends, he started a prayer meeting that eventually grew into three congregations totaling about 250 people.

Kalengule described Zimbabwe as a country blessed with abundance and filled with hope, recounting that recently 60 people were baptized in one day. But the nation is challenged by a 3,000 percent inflation rate. The price of groceries changes dramatically within the same day, and a $10 million note in Zimbabwe currency was recently worth about U.S. four cents. He spoke of the struggles of youth to attend a regional summer camp and women to organize a regional retreat. Even the most valiant fundraising efforts are quickly negated by the inflation. However, the Kaomas have encouraged the members to keep praying and continue their efforts, remembering what God has done for them in the past. As a result of faith and perseverance, a number of youth were able to get to camp, and the ladies planned a retreat for April.

"Pray for us. We believe God will come through," he said. "Jesus said if you have faith as a mustard seed, this small faith will move mountains."

He said peace is returning to Kenya, although one of our members was shot in the leg with an arrow while trying to escape a conflict. In another situation, a pastor lost first a son then a daughter in separate car crashes. "If we would not go through some experiences of our own, we would not be able to comfort other people," he said. "God allows some things to happen to us. We come out stronger. Wherever my path leads tomorrow, I want it to lead to the kingdom of God."

Following the message, Pastor Bob Persky and the congregation prayed over the Kaomas, who returned to Africa the following day.

Kathy Miller, daughter of David and Cheryl Miller (Pathway of Grace), received a Division 1 rating at the Solo and Ensemble music competition. She also received a 3rd and a 4th, with 4 being the best, for her entries at the Visual Arts Student Exhibition (VASE). She has been named as a Superintendent Scholar for making a PSAT score among the top 100 sophomores in the Garland (TX) Independent School District.

On April 17, Raymond Johnson, assistant pastor at Grace Family Fellowship (Tallahassee, FL) was recognized at the 30th anniversary Volunteers of the Year Awards luncheon in the Religion category. Each winner received $500 for a charity of his or her choice.

Raymond ministers at prisons four days a week, and on some weekends, and encourages and mentors incarcerated men through counseling and Bible studies. All religious classes in the prisons are voluntary, and his classes average 80-100 men; graduates of his classes continually encourage others to take his classes because he is a strong male role model. Raymond brought in pamphlets for inmates to study and prepare to take the test for a commercial drivers license. Some have obtained the license, which helped them find employment.

On March 22, Christopher Bates was baptized into the Body of Christ. The special occasion was held at the home of Al and Vinnie Fenrick, in Tucson, AZ. Seventeen members of Grace of God Fellowship attended the ceremony. The baptism was performed by Pastor Zita Mickens, assisted by Ted Millhuff and Selina Warren. We celebrated the event with songs of thanksgiving, praise and prayers. There was food to share, and fellowship followed. We are now blessed with another child in Christ!

Our church attendance in Tucson, AZ (Grace of God Fellowship) is about 40 members, and most love music, but they do not play instruments. So we invited the band from Craycroft Baptist Church to play for us during a special event in 2007. They are called the HIZ Band. We loved the music and the band members. We have interacted with them for over a year now, and they are part of our worship service every 5th Sunday.

This year the HIZ Band invited our Grace of God Fellowship to their Easter Service. We accepted gladly and brought their attendance to twice their normal size. We enjoyed the music, the sermon, and the fellowship. God bought two segments of his family together for this special memorial of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Above, left to right: Donna Rae Wells, Bill Wells, Katie Hollis, Lois Wirweitzki, Alex Hollis, Lawrence Torguson, Nancy Torguson, Jessica Hollis. Below, closeup of a Love Packet.

Hospital ministry in Colorado Springs

The Colorado Springs Church has found an easy and fun way to show the love of God to some of the smallest and most vulnerable people in the community. One of the members, Katie Hollis, moved to Colorado from Texas, where her sister Laura Cook and friend Mary Beth Waters worked in a hospital. Those women saw the emotional needs of young children who were traumatized by entering the hospital or waiting for hours in an emergency room. The two women started an effort they called a "Love Packet Ministry" to deliver some comfort and love to children in such stressful situations.

The women delivered packets to the hospitals, domestic violence shelters and other providers of family services. The packets contain crayons, coloring book, a stuffed animal or toy, a snack and a drink, and include a scripture or note about the love of God.

The Colorado Springs Church had talked about reaching out to the community but had not found the right idea...yet. Katie Hollis asked if this Love Packet Ministry could be good for the church to do in Colorado Springs. We were excited about this good work, and the advisory council accepted the proposal.

Soon after, the church had an afternoon scheduled to put the packets together. Many members arrived, and in a short time were able to make almost 300 Love Packets amid joyful laughter and busy hands. That same day two members, Lois Wirweitzki and Jessica Hollis, delivered about 40 Love Packets to the hospital emergency room, and soon after that 75 more packets were delivered to the Domestic Violence Shelter's safe houses. Both the hospital and shelters were thrilled to have them and will call when more are needed. This simple but impactful outreach will be an ongoing ministry filled with comfort and the love of Jesus.