Missions Team …..update on missionaries

The WPC Missions Team would like to update you on the missionaries that we are supporting prayerfully and financially:

Kenny Maple visited the Missions Team in November 2011 to introduce himself and tell us about his call to the mission field of Poland. He is a new missionary with the EFCA's ReachGlobal. After building up support partners here in the states, he will prayerfully take off to Poland where he will work as a long-term missionary.

Updated January 9, 2012: Still have a long way to go in raising financial support. God blessed me with some new supporters this week, and I am feeling really encouraged right now. Hopefully in the coming weeks I will land at 50% funded; once I have reached this I am able to begin taking online training courses. Once I complete three training courses I am able to attend another live weeklong training event. This weeklong training is the last requirement needed before departure for the field. So, prayerfully the funding will continue to come along as I complete these courses. I do hope to be in Poland at some point this year, though I am not sure when that will be. I am currently praying for God's timing in this, but I must admit I am quite ready to go!

Ryan Culbertson also visited our Missions’ meeting in November to tell us about his calling to the mission field. Ryan began to feel a strong call to mission work after a summer mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico in the summer of 2009.
Updated January 9, 2012: Things are going well with our friends in Mexico. The school year is going well and we have around 40 students attending our 1st school and 20 enrolled at our new school. Our teammates are continuing to build relationships with kids & their parents. The Small groups are still growing as is attendance at the church plant. Our family is ready to join them in Mexico.

We are blessed to have 60% of our monthly need pledged. We need to be at 100% before we can leave.

I would ask that you guys continue to pray for us. Pray that our goals would be realized by May, so we can join our teammates and friends in Reynosa. Pray for the teachers, students & their parents. Pray that the light of Christ might be seen in Reynosa, Mexico.

Irene and Michael Sivalee continues to request prayers for the families in their church in Brazil, Samambaia Church.  They are thankful for new members and their families who were received into their church through baptism and profession of faith on December 11, 2011.

Updated January 5, 2012: During January 2012, I will teach 4 special topics to members as I am preparing them to take care of the new organized church. These topics are: 1) privileges and duties of  a church member  (2) the duties of a pastor, elders and deacons, 3) the session of a local church and presbytery, 4) Synod and General Assembly. It is very important for our members to understand the structure of the governing body in the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. It has come to my attention that in the Samambaia society, many little churches are springing up each day. Members are mad at each other because they don’t understand their responsibility or the governing system in their churches. Therefore, it is my responsibility as an organizing pastor to prepare members with practical knowledge in order to better serve the Lord through the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. In our next letter we will write more about the chartering service of the Samambaia Church on Friday, 3 through Sunday, February 5, 2012.
Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell We will officially become PC(USA) missionaries, serving in church planting and evangelism in northern Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon River in Belem, Para. 

Updated December 31, 2011:  On January 3 we will go to Toronto for cross-cultural orientation, working with The Six Indian Tribe Nation and missionaries from other denominations .  We will be there for about two weeks, then go to Louisville for ten days to learn about  PC(USA) policies, etc.

On February 7 we will leave for BRAZIL!  Belem is a city of about 1,500,000.  Many folks from the Amazon region have moved there for work, food, medical care and other opportunities.  We will be working with a different Presbyterian denomination which stresses social work. They want to become stronger in evangelism.  We will work with a congregation which has about 30 adult worshippers and once it is stronger, begin new work.  We have a lot to learn about the work they want us to do and the people in that region.

This term will be very different for us because our team will only have two members.  John will stay in SC, working with computers.  Elizabeth has one more semester at GSU, majoring in Social Work and Daniel will graduate from high school in May.  Daniel has been accepted to the Naval Academy, so we are very excited.
 

When You Are Away……..

and attending another church, please bring us a picture of the church if you can.  Donna Jaecksch has an idea for using these this summer on the church bulletin board.  Please give to Donna or bring by the church office.

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Flowers……..

Thank you for your participation in providing the beautiful flower arrangements for our worship service on Sundays.  If you do not plan to take your flowers home with you, please let Pat Poole or the church office know so that they can be shared or used in some other way.

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From Missions Team………Where Can I Serve?

That’s a question current and new members very well might ask themselves as they seek to become active members of the church and within the community, serving as they were taught by Jesus Christ.

In an effort to help, the Missions Team wants to compile a list of organizations and key contacts, especially if key contacts exist within our membership. If you are involved in a particular nonprofit agency, such as Habitat for Humanity, please e-mail the church office nhatfield@wpcgwd.org. Give the name of the agency, a one- or two-sentence description of the agency’s purpose/mission, your name and phone number.

The list will, of course, include as many agencies as we can get (we’ll contact United Way, for example), but we truly want to focus as much attention as we can on agencies our members are already involved with, believing that our members can serve as great ambassadors and recruits for work in the mission field that lies just beyond our church doors.

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