Harry Hoehne, a firefighter and Church of God layman from Hamilton, Ontario, spearheaded an effort to donate a sea-freight container of gospel literature to the Church of God in Uganda last year. The container held 2,200 copies of the songbook Camp Meeting Favorites along with thousands of pieces of surplus Sunday school curriculum and other books. Church of God Ministries (CGM) and Warner Press made the items available for this effort at deep discounts or at no charge.

More than $13,000 was raised through the generous donations of individuals and congregations as part of the special Fifth-Sunday Offering conducted on Sunday, August 31, 2008. Sixteen congregations responded to the call during this special time of giving in support of the World Ministries Budget of the Church of God. Of those, nine were churches that previously did not give in support of the Basic Budget.

“The gifts and supportive prayers were a blessing to receive and reflected the very heart of those congregations expressing their love and support for the collective ministries of the Church of God,” said Dr. Ronald V. Duncan, general director of Church of God Ministries.

Every plant begins with a seed. Courtyard Church (Tulsa, OK) began four years ago as a dream in the heart of Melissa Smith. Through her prayers and the prayers of her family, this seed was nurtured and began to grow. Rachelle Nelson, wife of Courtyard’s preaching pastor, Todd Nelson, shares her thoughts about how this church plant began as a seed in 2005 and continues to thrive today:

Todd and Doug and Melissa Smith became acquainted at a church planters boot camp at Southpark Community Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2005. It was during this boot camp that God began to knit together the hearts of these families and the dreams God had given them for his kingdom.

If you haven’t pre-ordered your 2009 Yearbook of the Church of God, it’s time to act. Friday, October 31, is the last day to obtain FREE SHIPPING with your Yearbook order. That is also the final deadline for ordering the custom hardcover edition of the Yearbook. The paperback, spiralbound, and CD-ROM editions will continue to be available for order after October 31, with applicable shipping charges. Pre-orders will ship by January 15, 2009.

Sustaining Health and Pastoral Excellence (SHAPE) continues to positively affect those pastors involved in the program. But the impact transcends the individual participant and extends to their family and congregation, all enhancing ministry. And the impact continues to expand as the number of pastors involved, as well as the number of SHAPE clusters, continues to grow.

The 2009 North American Convention will be like none other. This year we will celebrate in a spectacular way the one hundred years of the Church of God’s sending missionaries out to reach the world for Christ. Together, we will remember and honor the work of the Church of God around the globe. You won’t want to miss it.

But it is not history alone that we will celebrate at the North American Convention. This year’s convention will also serve as the launch for a new era of intercultural ministry (missions). New strategies and visions will be unveiled at the convention. This is a moment in time when pastors, leaders and congregations can see the vision and talk with those from around the globe about our collective ministry through missions.

Church of God Ministries (CGM) has obtained an updated assessment on the extent of damages to Church of God congregations in Texas from Hurricane Ike. Damages vary from congregation to congregation and range from $5,000 to $40,000. However, reports have not yet been received from Beaumont, Texas, the area hit by the brunt of the storm.

Rev. Tim West, area administrator for Texas, provided the following consolidated assessment of damages.

By Mike and Heather Webb

Tanzania—This was our sentiment as we returned from the Kondoa area earlier in September. We drove two and a half hours over pothole-studded roads and sand as fine as talcum powder to encourage our sixteen theological education by extension (TEE) students in their studies. Our visit marked the halfway mark for their first book Following Jesus, and we were eager to see their progress. We hadn’t been face to face with them since leaving them with books and training five weeks earlier, so we were thrilled to see students’ books filled out, witness a lively discussion among them about what they had learned, and see the leaders keeping great records.

Anderson University will receive $375,000 from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc., for a sustaining proposal to provide students more opportunities and incentives to keep them in Indiana upon graduation.  The Anderson University sustaining grant proposal approved by the Endowment is entitled, INvision AU.  The grant comes from the Endowment’s “Initiative to Promote Opportunity through Educational Collaborations.”

By Susan Kane
Church Multiplication

But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9 niv)

I love a good fire! I love watching fires. I love sitting by fires. Actually, I love starting fires, but that is a whole other story. (Sorry, Dad and Mom!) There is something about a fire that has always drawn me towards it. And I don’t think I am all that different from most people. Fire draws a crowd. That is just what fires do.