"Gathering in the Harvest for Jesus" conference, Myrtle Beach, SC, October 9-12, was a great success. The music was inspirational, the sermons were uplifting, and the fellowship was heavenly!

Although members faced difficult economic times, we had people who traveled from Vermont, Tennessee, Canada, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington DC, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. Our attendance on opening night was 130; Saturday morning we had 240, and we concluded on Sunday morning with 225.

We again provided a short worship service and a meal for Street Missions (a homeless shelter); there were 100 in attendance. Ten people accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. During the Sunday service, six others accepted Jesus and four rededicated their lives to Jesus Christ.

Each week New Hope Christian Fellowship (Eagle Rock, CA) provides a church service for more than 20 residents of The Fair Oaks by Regency Park Independent and Assisted Living Center in Pasadena. Ron Kelly and Pastor Glen Weber organize numerous elders as worship leaders/speakers. On special occasions our music groups provide a music program for the residents.

During December our choirs provided two weeks of Christmas music. One Sunday the New Hope Children’s Choir (left) sang numerous Christmas carols with readings, and a week later the New Hope Praise Choir performed a two-person narration with appropriate songs during the narration.

This is a lively group of senior residents who are very appreciative of the services we provide to them.

A big "high five" and a thank-you goes to the Colorado Springs congregation. We read their article in the July-August Together about the "Love Packets" they made to give to children in their community. We are also a small congregation and have been wondering and praying how could we start a community service mission with so few to help. The "Love Packet Ministry" was ideal for us and so, was unanimously agreed upon.

We call our ministry, "Small Blessings." We fill our baskets with a coloring and reading book, Christian Odyssey magazine, crayons, a stuffed animal, toothbrush and toothpaste, a love message from the Bible, and a business card from our pastor. We have chosen the women’s and children’s abuse center in our area, and also the emergency room at a hospital in Alton. So far we have delivered 26 baskets to the abuse center and 21 to the hospital.

The director from the women’s abuse center told us they are very grateful in receiving these baskets. The children usually come to the center with only the clothes on their backs, having to leave their favorite toys behind, and this gives them something of their very own to have. The director said that although we are a small church, she "sees a big heart" in our fellowship and thanks us for our thoughtfulness.

The Seattle/Bellevue and Everett, WA, church teens, called "DJs" (Disciples of Jesus), made 250 sack lunches and 150 extra sandwiches to take to a homeless shelter in Seattle. This shelter does not receive consistent funding from large organizations, so any volunteer services and food are much appreciated.

The food was eagerly received, especially because we just had our first snowstorm and some other volunteer groups had not shown up. We had enough to serve not only the people inside the building and people lined up outside, but we were also able to leave lunches behind for others coming to the shelter throughout the day. Our pre-teens also put together around 150 toiletry bags, which we were able to deliver to the shelter with the lunches on Dec. 14.

People helping make the lunches: Dylan Hatch, Dulci Hatch, Albina Gorodilova, Nikita Gorodilova, Austin Dean, Chyla Helean, Sean Quinn, Pastor Bill Miller, Tori Emerson, Paul Ramirez.

On Dec. 21, the children of the Tyler congregation performed the Christmas skit "Christmas Time Is Coming." The skit told the story of Mary and Joseph finding a place to stay before Jesus is born. The skit was followed by the congregation singing "Away in a Manger." After the skit two teenagers from the congregation performed on the trumpet and clarinet two Christmas songs. The service was followed with a luncheon and fellowship with the members.

Janalee Swisher

A capacity crowd of 158 people, including more than 30 guests, attended Pathway of Grace’s Dec. 21 service celebrating the birth of Christ. Members were asked to cook their best recipes and bring them for a potluck after the service. Debbie Hard baked a cake inscribed with: "Happy Birthday, Jesus." A gingerbread house echoed that message. Pastor Bob Persky and his wife, Kay, took turns reading scriptures and announcing proclamations about Jesus and his relationship with us.

Traditional carols were sung by the Children’s Choir, the worship band, and various adults. As the members and visitors heard the songs of joy and Christmas carols, many joined in.

For the third year in a row, the WCG (through Generations Ministry) sponsored a cross-border winter ministry trip into Mexico. This year is was Dec. 19-21. The December program originated as a follow-up to our weeklong summer missionary hands-on training camp. In the summer program we share in outreach with native ministries in Mexico, and the winter trip helps us reconnect with fresh support for some of those ministries.

For our winter trip we collect shoeboxes packed with gifts for children and we deliver them to children in Mexico. In 2007 we had 10 people go on the weekend trip to deliver 150 shoeboxes, and in 2008 we grew to 28 missionaries sharing 350 shoeboxes full of gifts. Shoeboxes came to us from 12 congregations and school groups (some from other states), and attendees came from as far away as Maryland. We are excited about the growth God is giving this ministry opportunity.

Eight of the missionaries on this trip were alumni of our summer camp program, and they provided the backbone for the trip. But 20 of the attendees of this "micro mission" trip were new to the cross-cultural missionary experience. Ages ranged from pre-teens to septuagenarians, and it was especially exciting to see multiple generations of some families sharing in ministry together.

There is an axiom that says there are three critical keys for ministry work (especially in international missions). Those keys are flexibility, flexibility and flexi-bility. For instance, we expected it would take no more than an hour to cross the Mexican border (based on our past experience). But we were stuck in a five-hour traffic jam. Everyone on the road seemed to take this situation in stride, with lots of folks visiting back and forth between vehicles, some people peddling ice cream and soft drinks to the stranded motorists, and a general tone of a giant "tailgate party" while we inched our way toward the border.

We had to radically re-arrange our plans for the day. At our first stop, a local church had planned to have a crowd gathered for us to share various activities and give shoeboxes to the children. But by the time we got to their location, the crowd was gone and dusk was approaching. We broke into three groups and went door-to-door to the neighborhood (an extremely poverty-stricken pallet village) inviting families to come to the local church to receive shoebox gifts. Within a half hour we had a happy, expectant crowd assembled, and we gave away shoebox gifts in the name of Jesus to 300 grateful, smiling children. What a blessing it was to our group to see the love of Jesus flowing out to these families.

Our second stop was at a children’s foster home with which we’ve worked for several years. We were very late, but they greeted us with joy. We brought food for their lunch, but now it was for supper instead. We built a campfire in the courtyard and had a praise and worship sing-along.

We had a relaxing evening of talking and playing with the kids, and we were inspired by the testimony of the director of the foster home—of the miraculous calling and change of heart God accomplished in her life as he brought her from a non-Christian dissolute life in New York, to caring for 25 foster children in a border town in Mexico. We gave shoebox gifts to the children in the foster home, and we were able to leave extra shoeboxes of gifts for them to take on an evangelism trip into interior Mexico.

This trip did not go as we had planned, but God gave us ample opportunity to share his love with hundreds of children and their families in another country and culture. We were reminded that our plans are not always God’s plans, but if we surrender ourselves to share his good news, he will accomplish his purposes through our efforts (Isaiah 55).

Maybe you’d like to test the waters to see if God has given you a heart for cross-border missionary work. If so, there might be a missions group in your area you could participate with. Or you might want to come to our summer camp on the Mexican border June 22-28, 2009, or next winter’s shoebox trip. For more info, go to www.cbmission.org or call 903-653-0992.

Ross Jutsum in Tucson, AZ

On Sunday, Dec. 21, Grace of God Christian Fellowship (Tucson, AZ) had an outreach in our community, “Christmas Concert presenting Dr. Ross Jutsum.” Dr. Jutsum (who handled the whole service) invited some young guests in the audience from Nepal to join him on stage and play instruments. After the concert, we invited everyone for food and fellowship. It was a wonderful day of praise, worship and fellowship for all.

Anne Rice

Church Multiplication Ministries 2009 Planning Meeting

The Church Multiplication Ministries team gathered on January 8-9 in Memphis, TN, for its annual planning meeting. Dan Rogers, Superintendent of U.S. Ministers, and Ted Johnston, Generations Ministries director, joined the CMM team comprised of Randy Bloom (CMM director), Glen Weber and Ken Williams. Lorenzo Arroyo is also part of the team but was unable to attend.

 After reviewing the CMM vision, mission and faith goals, the team discussed its key strategies and plans for casting a vision for church multiplication, helping congregations develop environments that lead to church multiplication, and providing church leaders with resources for starting new churches.

The vision for church multiplication includes the creation of Christ-centered congregational environments which “naturally and supernaturally” lead to the multiplication of ministry leaders who start new churches. Church Administration and Development and CMM envision starting new kinds of churches, for all kinds of people, in all kinds of places. This is a “God-sized” vision, but it is a vision that is validated by scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit through the church throughout history.

CMM faith goals include:

• Planting 12 or more new churches each year

• 45 assessors comprising 15 assessment teams

• 4 church plant leadership training teams

• 12 or more ministry coaches for church planters

• 20 district church planting networks

At this time CMM has trained:

• 22 assessors (3-5 assessment teams)

• 1 church plant leadership training team

• 5 ministry coaches for church planters

CMM plans for 2009 include:

• Inviting experienced church planters to speak at the nine regional conferences. These speakers will join Randy Bloom in addressing the conference plenary sessions. They will also participate in the breakout workshops.

• Conducting Church-Next Training – a 5-day training session for pastors and other ministry leaders who want to learn how to plant a church (dates to be announced).

• Producing a training resource manual for the Church-Next Training program.

• Conducting church multiplication workshops for district networks and congregations.

• Developing a process for recruiting church planters.

• Adding the church planter recruitment process to the CMM website (cmm.wcg.org) and beginning to recruit church planters from outside the WCG.

• Working with district pastoral leaders to begin to develop district church multiplication networks.

• Presenting a church multiplication workshop at the Wisconsin Dells festival.

• Conducting church multiplication workshops for district networks and congregations. (To schedule a workshop contact Randy Bloom at Randy.Bloom@wcg.org)

Please continue to pray that the Spirit will continue to lead us - pastors, congregations and denominational leaders – that we may discern his will and follow his direction for starting new churches. Please ask the Lord to provide the ministry leaders and resources we need to participate in his mission to the world by planting new churches.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for the ministry of planting new churches. Those of us in Church Administration and CMM are grateful for your passion and participation in this ministry. God bless you all as you continue to experience the life and love of Jesus.

Randy Bloom
Church Multiplication Ministries, director

Servants Passage in Louisiana

About 70 pastors, ministry leaders and members from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana met in late January in Tickfaw, LA, for Growing Deeper—the second intensive of Servants Passage. The gathering was coordinated by the Tickfaw congregation under the leadership of Mike Horchak, district pastoral leader, and his wife Pam. The group was led by Ted Johnston, director of WCG Generations Ministries.

Servants Passage is a two-year-long journey of exploration and learning that helps believers of all ages understand and grow in ministry with Jesus as we journey together to WCG Next. The journey includes three weekend intensives with local-church-based, small-group learning between intensives.

At the first intensive, Join the Journey, participants explore their personal and group “divine design”—the composite picture of the spiritual gifts, interests, life journey, relationship styles and other factors granted by God to us individually and collectively so that we may participate actively with Jesus in his ministry. The insights gained from this exploration lead to a “life development plan,” which identifies goals and means for growing in this ministry in ways that are faithful to who God has made us.

At the second intensive, Growing Deeper, participants are helped to understand more fully the nature of Jesus’ ministry on earth and their current level of development related to that ministry. Ministry development strategies and tools are examined, leading to formation of local “learning communities” where growing in ministry and doing ministry are brought together in the context of our local church-based living and loving with Jesus.

If your congregation or district pastoral network would like to begin a Servants Passage journey in your area, see additional information at genmin.wcg.org/leadershipministries.htm or request additional information from Ted Johnston by e-mailing ted.johnston@gci.org.

Youth Discovery Weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC

As always, our youth event was held on Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend (Jan. 17-19). We provided worship services, basketball, bowling, a talent show, and a dance. Several of our youth gave testimonies of how Jesus Christ has worked in their life in recent times.

Due to the economy, all the congregations that normally attend were unable to do so. Because of this, I came very close to canceling the camp. It was somewhat discouraging that so few were able to attend. However, we took the matter to Jesus! The answer was that our local congregation needed to show to our youth we shouldn’t quit in the midst of difficulties.

So we made the weekend an evangelistic event. I challenged our youth to invite every unchurched youth that they knew to the camp. The church then paid half of their camp cost. We had eight unchurched youth from the community as well as 16 youths from our local congregation.

We had a great Spirit- and fun-filled weekend. A few of the new youth have already attended our church worship services. Including our adults, we had 34 people at the camp. Many of our adults and youth said that although they missed the fellowship with the youth from the other church areas, it was one of the best camps yet. The moral of this story is never quit! No matter how bad it looks, Jesus is faithful.

Howard Blakeney

Copyright 2009 Grace Communion International