Good News Email – 07-27-2014

Greetings from Los Angeles! The Sunday morning opening session of the 2014 Global Leadership Conference – ZION’S DREAMERS – is just 13 days away! Already 745 have registered from all over the world for this life-changing and historic event!

The 2014 GLC will be held at the beautiful JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert about two hours from LA’s airport – LAX. If you have not registered, please go to CAICC.net and register now so that we can be all the better hosts for you!

This weekend was quite busy as the last ICCM Session of the third semester of the BA Degree Program concluded on Saturday! Presently, we have 68 students (34 men and 34 women!) in our BA of Ministry Program, 19 in our Master’s Program, and six in our Doctoral Program!

All of us on the ICCM Faculty and on the Board of Regents are so looking forward to our Second Annual ICCM Commencement Ceremony on the Sunday of the GLC! To God’s glory, 57 will receive BA Degrees in Ministry, four will be awarded Master’s in Ministry Degrees, and one will have bestowed on him a Doctorate in Ministry Degree!

This week, the Lord again graciously blessed the City of Angels Church with 10 additions: seven baptisms and three place memberships, two of whom – Jemal & Tamarah Tucker – placed membership directly from our former fellowship seeking revival! Therefore in the 208 days of 2014, God has added to our number: 312 – 214 baptisms, 37 restorations, and 61 place memberships! And to God be all the glory!

And now detailed good news reports from each of the new World Sectors…

HEADLINE NEWS – LOS ANGELES

Cesar Limon: Grace and peace in abundance from the East Region! This week the Lord added to the East Family an incredible sister namedJasmine! Due to being a full-time student and a full-time banker, she had a very packed schedule, but that did not stop her from getting right with God! The sisters of course worked around her schedule and so they were in “labors of pain” as they had to drive far distances as well as do her studies at 6AM and at 11PM… But it was all worth it as we saw Jasmine be reborn this past Wednesday at midnight!

Sunday Service was also very encouraging for all the East Region as we had Sergiy & Olena Pometun visiting us from the South Region to inspire us in contribution and communion! They did an incredible job sharing about the vision and the plan God has for all nations!

They left our region with a better understanding about our movement’s global vision and therefore they are all the more inspired about going to the GLOBAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE! It was evident that their hearts were stirred as we already have over 70% of our members registered, and we are praying (and working) to get everyone in the region registered by the end of this week! Love to all!

Capil Marhatta: Greetings from the Sensational South! The South Region truly has become “the land of milk and honey” this Summer as disciples from around the globe have come to place membership! Many disciples from Russia and the Ukraine continue to flood in for training and to attend the Global Leadership Conference! Anya and Masha of Moscow came over on their own dime just to learn from the disciples here!

Also, the leaders of the Moscow Remnant Group – Eugen & Julia Sobolev with their two beautiful daughters – just landed at LAX this past week!

Also from that side of the world, the Lord brought over the Rajan family for training (Raja, Debs,  Shefali and Isheeta whom we call “Strawberry”) before the Crown of Thorns Planting of Chennai, India scheduled for September 21st.

Finally, Jen “the Baptist” Garcia strikes again as she reached out to another girl Sharnelle that she met at the bus stop recently was baptized! Jen has helped 10 people come to God since her baptism last year at the GLC! This year she’s excited to go as a disciple!

Luke Speckman: Greetings from Orange County! This past week we were able to see the miracle of Austin Bolin being baptized into Christ at our Wednesday Men’s Midweek! As the son of Steve & Kim, both disciples in the OC Region, it can be challenging to find faith for yourself even growing up around disciples! Yet, after studying the Bible with the brothers and having his sins washed away in the Pacific Ocean, Austin is now your brother in Christ! Please pray as his teenage brother, Alex, is now also studying with the brothers in the Teen Ministry!

Speaking of miracles, we are so incredibly honored to be able to host the Zoutendijks all the way from Amsterdam! They are definitely “heroes in the faith” considering their stand for God’s righteousness has led them out of the lukewarm ICOC to truly worship God in a remnant group that consists of just five disciples! Needless to say, they were extremely grateful for the room full of fellowship here in the OC, but Menno reminded us through his communion message to not take this great number of people in our fellowship for granted as every soul is precious to God!

We are all excited to see you in Palm Desert in just a couple of weeks. Safe travels!

Andrew Smellie: Greetings from the Wild West Region! The Lord added two more incredible souls to the West in the past week! First, the Lord blessed the faith of the saints in the West as Arlette Miller, a mother and wife of a US Navy Serviceman, was baptized on Wednesday! Arlette works as an Accounting Manager for SONY and was met by Liliana Zindler! Please pray for her 13-year old daughter who is now studying the Bible!

Today as well, Charlotte Xia, a 20 year old Junior at UCLA studying Chemistry, proclaimed that Jesus is her Lord before entering the waters of baptism! At this tender age, God has saved her from engaging in the sinful lifestyle of so many campus women, who almost destroy their lives. She shared vulnerably about how she has learned to forgive, have compassion, and live a pure life before the Lord. Charlotte is a native of China and is inspired to see what God will do when this powerful nation is planted! She changed her flight back to China for summer break so she can attend the GLC! To God be the glory!

Cory Blackwell: Greetings from Southland! There is so much good news! First of all, I am filled with joy as on July 28th Jee & I will celebrate our First Year Anniversary! I love Jee with all my heart! I am so grateful that God gave me such an undeserved gift. She is an awesome wife, mother and incredible partner in the gospel!

The past two weeks have been amazing as God continues to add to our number! Tony, an 18 year powerful young man, came to our Paramount Bible Talk which had 35 visitors that night! Although he was full of anger and bitterness toward his family, when he saw the love and joy of the disciples, he then studied the Bible. Immediately afterward, Tony went and apologized to his family asking forgiveness and then was baptized!

Erica studied the Bible then stopped as she received persecution from her mother who decided to come see what we were doing. She came and was quite pleased to see the “goodness” in the fellowship. Erica then made the decision to get baptized and her mother is now studying the Bible herself!

Delron is the longtime friend of our sister Sharece. He had been coming to church and Bible Talk for about a month. He knew what he needed to do and was baptized!

The Teen Ministry baptized a young man named Alex! He was the answer to the prayer of his older brother Isidrio who is a powerful disciple! Alex had to make the tough choice of breaking up with his girlfriend. He chose to make Jesus Lord of his young life and get baptized! Now his girlfriend is studying the Bible!

Then there is Jojo. He had been coming around Southland since it started! His best friend of many years Emanuel – one of the original nine who started this region – had been praying for him since he became a disciple four years ago. Well, persistence paid off as Jojo was baptized this past Midweek as 160 people cheered him on! Jojo now has the dream to plant Fresno as that is where he and Emanuel grew up! 

Please continue to pray for us that God will continue to raise up leaders and mature us. To God be the glory!

Jake Ramsier of the Antelope Valley Region: We had a “doubly blessed” Sunday on July 20th with two precious sisters added to the AV Region! First, we celebrated the place membership of Renee Shutt from our awesome sister church in Hilo! Renee has joined our intrepid ICCM “Unpaid Intern” Team and immediately made an big impression on us by diving into serving the church from the moment she landed! We are deeply grateful to the whole Hilo Church Family for sacrificing such an incredible sister!

Second, we rejoiced at the baptism of Julia! Julia initially began studying with her close friend Daysha of the North Region, but since she lives in the AV, sisters from both regions joined forces to guide her into the water! We could immediately see a vision of God’s plans to do great things with this new sister when she brought a whole row of family members to her baptism!

Finally, I have to note that we had an awesome Beachside Worship Service today with our Ventura Region neighbors with an attendance 176! Some may be slightly sunburned but all were greatly encouraged by the fellowship and fun at the beautiful Marina Park! I was personally inspired by the 45 Ventura Region disciples, as it was a great victory seeing God use them to bring 55 of their friends out to church today! Don’t forget to send your prayers up the “14 Freeway” for us!

Jason Bond: Hello from the AMS Region here in Hollywood, California! We had a great week: one baptism and two placed memberships! Alfred was baptized Wednesday night! And Jasminn Dove, Jabari Farrow’s girlfriend from Washington DC, placed membership as well as Miyumi Hockenhull placed membership from the Central Region’s Teen Ministry!

We had a packed house today, and of special note, we celebrated that two dear brothers, Jabari Farrow and Anthony Wise, graduated from the Theater of Arts College for the Contemporary Actor with degrees in acting. (Between the two of them, they had 10 friends and family at church!) Anthony’s mom came up to me after service and said she was so impacted by the love of the brothers and sisters and feels grateful that Anthony has found a “church home” with the AMS! 

Chris & Sonja returned from encouraging the Phoenix Church and their vacation just in time this week for Princeton & Joy’s wedding this Saturday at 5PM at Brace Canyon Park in Burbank!

Also, the AMS will be showcasing our short film “RESPECT” at the GLC! We will have copies available for purchase at the GLC for only $5.00! Remember, THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE “SOUL” BUSINESS!!!!

Erik af Klint: Greetings of love from the Inland Empire! Since the last Good News Email two weeks ago, God has given us four more additions in the IE! First of all, there was Daniel & America who had two wonderful kids but were not married. They came to our Palm Springs Sector on their Ohana Service and they loved it! Then like the Bereans, they studied the Scriptures daily. After being shown the truth, Daniel joyfully left the family home and was married the day after with the love of his life – America! They were then introduced to their new “first love” – God – as they were baptized last Sunday as sold-out disciples of Christ!

And today, we had a wonderful couple place membership directly from our former fellowship: Jemal & Tamara Tucker! When their son Justin challenged them to join the SoldOut Movement, they turned him down. But as lukewarmness crept into not only the church they were part of, but their very lives as well, they became greatly alarmed! They even stopped inviting people to church because no one wanted to help show their visitors the Bible!

However, when they visited various SoldOut Movement Churches, they were blown away by the wonderful zeal, the incredible singing, the ongoing Bible studies, and the love for God they saw! Today they came to be part of the good soil that “produces a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:8) Oh yes, their two daughters – Tierra (22) and Elena (12) – after seeing a change in their parents have started to study the Bible to become disciples!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – USA SW QUADRANT AND THE MIDDLE EAST

NEWS FLASH – Jeremy Ciaramella of Phoenix: Greetings from the Valley of the “Son!” Jesus Christ teaches us in John 15:16-17, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.“ Amy & I are very grateful for Chris & Sonja Chloupek visiting us this past week and their powerful preaching about “the most excellent way“ (1 Corinthians 12:31) – the way of love! 

Chris preached a passionate thought-provoking sermon about love and how it is even greater than miracles, knowledge, faith and even commitment! (1 Corinthians 13:1-4) Sonja’s vulnerable communion was also heartfelt and impacting! Chris then taught the leadership about converting the heart and how it’s essential to have fun in order to build family and foster deep friendships with those we are bringing to Christ! The church was certainly refreshed and strengthened by the Chloupeks who took a heroic stand to start the Phoenix Church in their living room in 2005!

Excitingly, God is moving to raise up shepherds and deacons in Phoenix! It was a great honor for Amy & me to appoint Rick Romney as the Deacon of the Teen Ministry and Chris & Darby Schultz as a Shepherding Couple! Rick is a man who continually makes great sacrifices for God’s people, tirelessly serves the teens, and often perseveres through some severe health challenges!

Chris & Darby serve as the MERCYworldwide Coordinators, lead a Bible Talk, and Chris also faithfully serves as the Administrator for the church. As I appointed Chris, I gave him the sword “Glamdring” from theLord of the Rings. In the story, it is this sword that was used heroically to fight an ancient demon of darkness and flame, and the hero who fought it gave his life for his friends in the process. Disciples fight darkness and flames with the sword of the Spirit and we also lay our lives down for one another. I believe this spirit of sacrifice is at the heart of serving as a shepherd in the Kingdom of God! Amy shared about the heart of the“good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep” and how this heart has shown itself in Darby!

This Sunday we also celebrated two baptisms! Scott & Sandy Lunde have been diligently loving and preaching alongside the disciples in their house church and today God blessed them with an incredible Latina sister, Linda Gonzalez! Her husband, children, mother, father and many others of her family members were there to witness her baptism! 

Also in the North, God has done an amazing thing in leading David Burdick to the saving waters of baptism! David’s daughter Natalie was baptized just three months ago in the ASU Campus Ministry! After being challenged by the brothers with the Scriptures – David adamantly insisted his salvation was settled and was close to walking away. His daughter tearfully challenged him with her concern about his salvation and he agreed to keep studying. Through prayer on our knees and uncompromisingly preaching the Word, David finally saw his need to truly make Jesus Lord after 40+ years of false doctrine and is now your brother baptized into Christ! To God be all the glory! 
 

 
Richie McDonnell: Greetings from beautiful Santa Barbara! Excitingly, today we were able to celebrate our Sixth Month Anniversary as a church planting! These past two weeks have been incredible as we have had three baptisms! One woman – Emily – from UC Santa Barbara, and two men from SBCC – Josh and Brian! Josh in an incredible “catch” as he is from the island of Roatán (off the coast of Honduras), is on the SBCC Soccer Team, and is a natural preacher! Though he once was a false doctrine Pentecostal preacher, he is now excited to preach the truth!

Today, we also had Brian’s baptism, which is the answer to a radical prayer! Brian and his best friend started studying the Bible back in January. They loved the fellowship; they fell in love with the Bible; but after really counting the cost, they both decided that they couldn’t commit to being a sold-out disciple, and that school and sin were more of a priority for them. The stopped studying the Bible, and stopped coming to church.

Then this past Thursday morning, I prayed, “God, please let someone who’s already studied the Bible all the way through, and who knows what it means to follow Jesus, contact me and get baptized this Sunday.” That very night Brian went against better judgment and decided to try a new drug out with some friends. He described going on a “drug trip” where he was in Hell; he felt like he was burning in Hell, and heard people around him screaming! This helped him come to his senses and realize he couldn’t wait any longer! And that next afternoon he contacted me to get together and talk about getting baptized immediately! So finally, and with a truly repentant heart, Brian was baptized in the Pacific Ocean and couldn’t be happier! I am encouraged by Jesus’ words, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22) God truly answers prayer!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – USA NW QUADRANT AND CANADA
 
Coleen Challinor: Greetings from the City of Bridges! It has been incredible since being back from IGNITE! Ricky & I are so honored to be able to direct such an impactful and life-changing program! Truly it is amazing to see these young men and women who have the Spirit and the vision that the world will be evangelized in our day! And here in Portland, it hasn’t stopped! Last week, the teen disciples of Portland were in charge of the service as though IGNITE were here! From the singing, preaching, communion, contribution and sermon, the teens truly electrified and “IGNITEd” the hearts of the disciples!

The highlight, however, was the baptism of a wonderful teen named Brenda Avila! Brenda is 13 years old and is going into her freshman year. Her sharing brought everyone to tears and she broke everyone’s heart with her pure love for God and His Kingdom. She is an incredible teen who truly “gets it” that the whole world is lost and she as a disciple is to use the rest of her life to bring salvation to all women!

Excitingly, Brenda is one of five disciples in her family. Her grandmother and parents are in the Latin Ministry and lead an incredible “Charla” (Bible Talk), and older sister Frida, who is a “sharing beast” in the Campus Ministry, are all disciples! The most incredible thing is that Brenda although 13 is going to the GLC along with her entire family! Although she is the youngest member of our church she is “setting the pace” by going door knocking and having car washes so even more disciples can attend the GLC!

Jeremiah Clark: Greetings from the Mighty Denver International Christian Church! “For God says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) The Lord has truly shown His people tremendous favor over the last two weeks as He has strengthened and encouraged the entire church! This month, we hired our very first interns – Matthew & Marlo Lovacheff to lead our North Region!

We also greatly rejoice as our brother and sister, Kevin Horton & Erica Triche, have been united in marriage! Theirs was the Denver Church’s very first wedding! Their dedication and commitment to purity has been a light and hope to our Singles and Campus Ministry!

We have also had the privilege of restoring our brother Junior Onyeali to the fellowship last week! Throughout his time with us, he has fully immersed himself in the Campus Ministry. His commitment to the family of God has already made a tremendous impact and has inspired us greatly!

Finally, after an amazing Park Service this Sunday, God showed His incredible grace and mercy to our new sister, Salama, as she was baptized into Christ and added to God’s Kingdom! Salama is our eighth addition in the last six weeks! Therefore, since the Denver Mission Team was sent out at the 2013 GLC, God has increased our number from 18 to 55! To God be the glory!

Gabe Reed of Eugene: “News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.” (Acts 11:22) In the first century, we find that key leaders did not have an attachment to any one congregation. Rather they went to where they were most needed at the time. The Spirit sent them to places where they could best serve. In the first century, the leaders were “Global Christians” not simply Jerusalem Christians, Antioch Christians, Philippi Christians or Corinthian Christians!

For over 10 years the Eugene International Christian Church has been all about world evangelism in this generation! From this local congregation, disciples have been sent out to encourage and strengthen others churches all over the world in places like Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Phoenix, Portland, Santa Barbara, Sao Paulo and Washington DC! Truly the impact of the disciples in “Track Town, U.S.A.” is racing all around the world in this generation!

Today marks a significant day in the Eugene International Christian Church. In an effort to reach more souls all around the world and to meet the immediate needs of the Eugene Church, we are initiating the Eugene Leadership Academy! The ELA is our plan to prepare our members for the mission field and to train leaders that are qualified to meet the needs of our local congregation. Our prayer is that through the ELA, we will cultivate an atmosphere that is conducive to raising up the spiritual leaders needed to further God’s Kingdom!

The ELA along with Eugene’s other incredible disciples had a Day of MERCY this past Saturday, since my wife’s & my arrival made June too difficult of a time to do things excellently! We were able to serve the Relief Nursery again this year. Relief Nursery is a non-profit child abuse and neglect prevention agency proven to strengthen high-risk families and keep young children safe. We were able to clean up two of their playgrounds that had not been cleaned in over a year. The Coordinator expressed how grateful the children were that we came and cleaned up the playground!

Lastly, we were able to hear Jeremiah Clark preach this Sunday in Eugene! We are so grateful to be a part of the movement of God. Few things are more impacting for a disciple than to see that what they believe is being preached “everywhere in every church” all around the world! (1 Corinthians 4:17)

Tim Kernan: Greetings from the Toronto International Christian Church (TICC)! Well, it’s been an incredible week here in the church as we had our historic first Toronto ICCM Session!

‎It was amazing how God has already gathered seven Bachelor’s Degree students including three for whom this was their first class: Daniela Juarez, Donna (Smellie) Clark and Kevin Smellie! Of special note Michele Miranda, or “Sparkles” as she is known here, scored 96% on her exam!

Also, excitingly, we have 11 students in the Toronto ICCM Master’s Program including my lovely wife Lianne, Jake & Megan Studer, Jason & Sarah Dimitry, Jeremiah & Julie Clark, Ricky & Colleen Challinor and Gabe & Stephanie Reed! They will all take their Old Testament Entrance Exam on September 1st and their New Testament Exam on November 1st! Please pray for them!

We are also so excited that seven delegates from Toronto will be coming to the GLC!

Last but certainly not least, we witnessed the powerful and moving restoration of Nanette Weber, the wife of our dear brother Harvey! Everyone was so moved to see this incredible couple now fully united in Christ!

Much love to all from Toronto! TICC, TICC, TICC BOOM!
 
HEADLINE NEWS – USA SOUTH QUADRANT
 
NEWS FLASH – Mike Patterson of Gainesville: “When Barnabas arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.” (Acts 11:23) God’s amazing grace is being seen in the numerical growth and spiritual growth in the Gainesville International Christian Church! Today we celebrated our Lord as two women were baptized into Christ: Mara, a University of Florida (UF) student, and Alexis, a Santa Fe College student!

Starting with just 17 disciples at our Inaugural Service on January 19th, we now have exactly 40 members which was one of the church’s prayer goals to be reached by the end of 2014! In addition to that, two amazing families (Tim & Katie Le and Dave & Ticia Fergot) from San Francisco are on their way and will be placing membership Sunday which will greatly strengthen our incredible Marrieds Ministry! We are so grateful to the Dimitrys and Underhills for sending them!

In our quest to continue to multiply disciples, we will officially begin our “Singles Professional Ministry” Monday night with our new Singles Devotional! From this new ministry, our own Joseph “Music” Melara and Courtney Abraham are now engaged! 

Perhaps one of the greatest miracles of this month was seeing Amy baptized last Sunday! Amy didn’t have a religious background and was eager to study the Bible but was in a two year relationship with her boyfriend. When she saw the Biblical teaching that disciples date disciples (2 Corinthians 6:14-18), she took the call to “give up everything” (Luke 14:33) and broke up with him.

However, Satan viciously attacked as afterward – drawn by curiosity – she read so much persecution online (spiritual pornography) towards the disciples. We had done the Persecution Study and she had read Ron Harding’s A HISTORY OF THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY IN MODERN TIMES at KipMcKean.com, but Satan continued to wage war in the spiritual battle for her soul! The sisters kept calling her to the Bible and to make a decision if she wants to be a disciple or not. Amazingly, after she prayed and read for a week on her own, she finished the studies, took up the cross, and was baptized! She is such a natural part of our spiritual family!

By the grace of God, we have only seen four fall aways since we started back in January, but it’s still four too many. With so many new disciples I started teaching today the Follow Up Studies at our Leaders Meeting to make sure every new disciple is fed spiritually. We will also begin our First Principles Series in the Fall to “solidify, unify and multiply!” So far, around 12 of us are coming to the GLC! We will see you all soon!
 
Anthony Eckels: Greetings from Houston! God blessed the sacrifice of the church as we exceeded our 5X Special Missions Goal of $7,000 by collecting over $8,000! However, two days after missions, Satan tried to discourage us as our meeting place almost doubled the rental cost. We begged God for a new location, and in a couple of days, God answered our prayers with a better hotel for almost half the cost!

On Monday, our World Sector Leader for the South USA Matt Sullivan visited Houston! He graciously called us all higher with a lesson on Exodus entitled, The Lord Is Among Us. Also in town for this meeting were Tyler & Shay Sears of DFW!

We are excited to welcome from our sister congregations Marley Depew of Hilo and Selethia Jackson of South Florida! As well, Jason Nolasco was restored! Jason listened to the online sermons of the Houston ICC, gained convictions, and came to study to be restored! See you soon at the GLC!

Matt Sullivan of Orlando: “Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.’” (Matthew 11:4-5) God is working powerfully as the good news is being “preached to the poor” and this has produced a harvest as 11 have been baptized and two have been restored in the last eight weeks!

Of the two baptisms today, Jazmyne’s (Jazzy) was quite unique! Amazingly, a fallen away sister, Jessie Clerzeau (restored last week) was working on her heart and had made the decision several weeks ago to repent of not sharing her faith. She was on campus and decided to share with Jazzy, who is blind. Jazzy came to church and loved it but could not “see” – physically or spiritually. Jazzy grew up in foster homes until she was a teenager. She eventually ran away from home and lived a “wild life” and then sadly at the age of 19 she contracted an unknown disease that caused her to go blind. She still suffers from the disease and yet humbled by God she has learned to love life and is a vibrant and friendly woman!

Although she cannot “read” the Word of God, she fought hard to draw close to God and by “hearing” the Word! Kathy Green, who helped study with Jazzy, shared with her today from Matthew 11 that the “blind receive sight” as proof of God’s compassion for us and His ability to perform miracles! Jazzy was moved to tears and spoke powerfully and from the heart that she was so happy to finally be able to “see” the truth! We were all deeply moved as Jazzy is already dearly loved by the church and is now your sister in Christ!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – EUROPE
 
Michael Williamson of London: God is moving across “The Pond!” This week Michele & I were able to visit our brothers and sisters in one of the most beautiful cities in the world – PARIS, FRANCE! However the most touching moments were the love, encouragement and hospitality offered by the disciples in Paris, especially Philippe & Prisca! Amazing fellowship, “dreaming and scheming” about evangelizing Europe, and coordinating plans for the EMC Worship filled our times together! Of course we saw the iconic Eiffel Tower, and Philippe and I sang the words to Aux Champs Elysees, on the Champs Elysees! Bonded as partners we are ready to crank Europe!

We returned late Saturday night to hear the exciting news that Victor Komo & Krista Cameron became engaged! Stay tuned for wedding plans!!

The next day at the East House Church Service a Jamaican native MICHAEL WILLIAMS was baptized! Michael not only saw that he was lost, but he realized that he and his girlfriend were living in sin and that he needed to move out showing repentance by deeds. His girlfriend should be baptized next week as she’s been studying diligently as well!

We ended Sunday night with the Going Away Party for George & Angelica Grima! George & Angelica have made a huge impact on the church! As one brother commented, “Physically you two will be gone, but you left your heart for the gospel here in London with us!” See you guys in a couple weeks!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – AFRICA
 
NEWS FLASH – Lola Lof: Greetings in the Lord from your African brothers and sisters in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo! What a tremendous week as our God keeps performing miracles in a very exceptional way! The first miracle is our 13 “Kingdom Kids” who took their final state exam to complete their studies in the secondary school in order to go to the university; all of them have brilliantly succeeded! Thirteen out of thirteen! This is the result of hard work and a basic Christian education. All the parents “rejoiced in the Lord” and said ”thank you” to God and ”congratulations” to their children!

Then the second and great miracle which moved God’s heart is the conversions of three guys who were powerfully baptized into the body of Christ; Delphin (a religious preacher), Thierry and Lebon!

Of special note, Lebon is the son of Odon & Jeannine, an awesome couple in God’s Kingdom! They are very happy to see their family members becoming members in God’s family! To Him be all the glory!

 
Blaise Feumba – Overseeing Evangelist of the French-speaking churches in Africa and the Caribbean reports: “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” (Proverbs 25:25) Our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ are really fighting hard in spite of their daily challenge to put food on the table and an ongoing struggle against poverty and diseases to seek and save the lost without excuse!

The Lord added two more souls to their number this week! In our awesome church in Jacmel, Jean Bonard is still preaching the gospel calling all members to be completely sold-out in their love for the Lord and the lost. There a young married woman named Nativita Chery was met by disciples and after being invited was open to studying the Scriptures and made the commitment to become a sold-out disciple! She was baptized last week! Please be praying for her husband to study and become our brother soon!

Also in the church in Port-au-prince, powerfully led by Alexis & Maryse Turgeau, another miracle was witnessed with the baptism today of a young man named Joseph Daniel!

Alexis & Maryse and Jean Bonard & Loverlie are eager to join us soon to be part of the Zion’s Dreamers Leadership Conference where we will all be better equipped to go and win the world for Christ in our generation!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – RUSSIAN COMMONWEALTH 
 
Oleg Sirotkin – Moscow Mission Team Leader: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.” (Jeremiah 23:3) God collects disciples from all of the countries! The conference in August has become a really strong magnet for many remnant disciples around the world! Great joy overwhelms my wife Aliona & me to see disciples sacrificing everything to be trained and to go on the Moscow Mission Team!

Maria Bizimova, who lives in Moscow, has been saving money in the last year so that she could come to LA for six months to train! Great news… she is now an ICCM student! Anya Korotova, from the Campus of the Moscow Remnant Group, also came for training and is in the ICCM!

Excitingly, the woman church leader in Kiev Larissa Kaminski received the visa to come to the GLC! As well, it was a great joy to meet at LAX our dear partners in the gospel – Eugene & Julia Sobolev, the leaders of the Moscow Remnant Group, with their wonderful children Anya and Sasha! Now in Moscow are 38 faithful disciples of Christ and 14 Russian-speaking disciples are training in LA!

One more piece of good news: After 19 years of hiatus, Dima returned to the dream of Jesus to be full time for God! Congratulations!

 
HEADLINE NEWS – CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA

NEWS FLASH – Carlos Mejia of Santiago: “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your Word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”(Psalm 119:9-11) Saludos from Chile! This last week has been amazing as God has added three amazing young people to our number – two baptisms and one restoration!

Our Teen Ministry, powerfully led by Anna Hernandez and Jorge Valenzuela, has been on fire as they started out the year with just one teen boy, Yamin Leyton. Last Sunday with the baptism of Loreto Navarro, we now have five sold-out teens and many more to come! 

 
Our second baptism was a very dynamic single woman named Emily Valqui from our Oriente Region! 

Finally, the Lord brought back our brother Javier Aracena, who was restored today! He will be part of our AMP Ministry, as he is a talented percussionist. We are very grateful that God has given the AMP Ministry an amazing spot for our monthly Open Mic Night, which we are certain will continue to bear fruit and bring many more to Christ!

We are excited to see you all at the GLC in just a little over a week and also very happy that 10 disciples from Santiago will be there this year, as well as Hector & Adriana Gomez from Bogota, Colombia! We love you all with the love of the Lord! 

Raul Moreno: The saints in São Paulo are fired up to participate at the coming GLC really soon and to hear all the good news from all over the world! We have six disciples going and we are super excited to learn all that God wants to teach us!

But we also have good news here! Last Saturday, we witnessed the baptism of Malu who is a fired up 18 year old USP Literature student who is ready to win many souls for Jesus!

Also, it was awesome to see the baptism of another courageous single named Vera this Sunday! She is very grateful to be in God’s Kingdom and to serve Jesus with all her heart!

And lastly, thank you LA Church for sending Rocky to be a missionary here for about a year! She has already refreshed the hearts of the saints! We love you with the love of the Lord!

Jared McGee of Mexico City: “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” (1 Corinthians 4:10-12) Greetings from the “City of Hope!” We are so excited to soon participate in this year’s Global Leadership Conference! The GLC is phenomenal every year, but there does seem to be a greater excitement heading into LA this August as God’s Kingdom has been spreading so rapidly and powerfully throughout the whole world! Although we will be few in number from Mexico, we will have a jubilant contingency of eight disciples attending this year’s seminar!

Going to LA is like a homecoming for Rachel & me, as I was baptized there and Rachel was a part of the original “42!” The City of Angels Church is home to so many, and has so often been “given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may also be revealed in ourmortal body!” Recently I was able to witness first-hand how the sacrifice, or “death for Jesus sake” of LA has given life to “our mortal [church] body” here in Mexico! The interns from LA have brought conviction, energy, faith and life to our congregation here! One who shines exceptionally brightly is Sara Oros! Sadly, Sara enjoyed here last Sunday here in Mexico today, and she will soon head off to encourage the East Region of the LA Church in a great way, and become an incredible support to Cesar & Debbie! We are so grateful for Sara’s sacrifice and all of her hard work on the mission field, and we are so grateful to be a part of God’s modern day movement where the “life of Jesus” is “at work in [us]!”

 
HEADLINE NEWS – PAC RIM & AUSTRAL-CHINA

NEWS FLASH – Joe Willis: Greetings from the Sydney International Christian Church! John 13:34-35 rings so true as it states, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It has been a “RIDE of a ROLLER COASTER” here in Sydney as all of the disciples have persevered through trials, embraced the victories, and have grown increasingly more and more in their love for “one another.” The joy that comes with fighting to live an obedient life for Christ has definitely been overflowing even into the streets and campuses of the place we can call home – New South Wales, Sydney! So much so that more and more guests come walking through our doors and are curious to find out why all the love? Why all the joy?

Last week, we experienced the thrill of our “evangelism quest” as the brothers from the North Region Macquarie University Campus, courageously baptized our most zealous brother in the roaring waters (literally roaring) of Coogee Beach! Dean is our first Chinese male convert who can speak fluent Cantonese, Mandarin and English!

What is so powerful about Dean’s conversion story is that he was first reached out to by our baby Christian Maggie, as they have been friends throughout Maggie’s prior life in China. Dean is an individual who was completely atheistic and sincerely battled through what he had always “known” – that there is no God. During the fellowship, he would ask several disciples why they believed in God, but now, Dean is OUT THERE on campus and in the fellowship asking OTHER visiting guests why THEY don’t believe in God! It was such an “encouragement boost” to witness the changes that Dean had made!

Equally encouraging was the serene and beautiful baptism of our new baby Christian sister, Nonto! In the very middle of a sunset, the sisters from the Central Region Sydney University Campus gently placed Nonto completely into the water in view of Australia’s glorious Anzac Bridge! God was literally making it so special as the Sydney disciples have been genuinely praying for a “Uni” campus student to be saved!

Amazingly, Nonto is a talented woman who comes from the sovereign state called the Kingdom of Swaziland located in the South African Region. It is so exciting to know that her hometown is just neighbors away from Johannesburg! Thank you for all of your prayers for us, and faith that God CAN do it! Eight of us will be at the GLC including our first baptism – Teigan!

NEWS FLASH – Lou Jack Martinez, the Overseeing Evangelist of the Hawaiian Islands: Greetings from the Pacific Rim World Sector!!! God is doing amazing and unprecedented things in our world sector, particularly in the Islands of Hawaii!!! First of all in Honolulu, we have begun the initial stages of what we call “Hawaii FIVE-O” which is the plan of FIVE (5) NEW CHURCHES PLANTED OVER THE NEXT FIVE (5) YEARS:  1) West Oahu (2015); 2) Guam (2016); 3) Kona (2016); 4) Maui (2017); 5) Kauai (2019)!!! And we are doing this by moving TWELVE LEADERS to various parts of the movement to achieve our dream!!! SIX (6) LEADERS to the Mainland (for more training) and SIX (6) more leaders to Kona and Hilo to bolster those ministries!!!

Greetings from Scott & Terra Utter and the amazing Hilo International Christian Church!!! For our first Bring Your Neighbor Day – with only 37 sold-out disciples on island – we had an attendance of SIXTY-NINE (69) people at our Sunday service today, as well as the long-awaited baptism of Erin Winkler!!!

Erin is an amazing new single sister who was reached out to over a year ago by Karyss Richardson while they were working together. She finally came to a deep conviction that she was totally separated from God, and that the ONLY way for her to be saved was to be BORN AGAIN, in the waters of baptism as a sold-out disciple of Jesus Christ!!! Erin made that“pledge of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21) and was baptized TODAY!!! She is now committed to seeing ALL of Hilo and the Hawaiian Islands reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ in her lifetime!!!

Here’s some great news from David & Beth Kelly in Kona: God has blessed our little Kona House Church/Bible Talk in immeasurably more ways than we could have asked for or imagined!!! Beth & I are so very excited about what God has been doing!!! We were so grateful for our humble home in Waimanalo, that God decided to bless us with an even bigger and more amazing home here in Kona! Our new home in the Holualoa Township, just above Kona Town, is simply unbelievable! We have an amazing view of the ocean during the day and incredible sunsets every evening! There is a macadamia nut orchard next door with wild pigs and there are wild turkeys roaming through our garden every day!!! 

Our little house church here – which Sarah Chang calls the “City on the Hill” – has been really great in hosting our last two Bible Talks which had more visitors than disciples! 

And, last but not least, here’s a report from our pillar church in Honolulu:  IT’S ANOTHER BAD DAY FOR THE DEVIL ON THE ISLAND OF OAHU AS GRANT POHIN-HERNANDEZ WAS BORN AGAIN, BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST AT MAGIC ISLAND TODAY in front of many witnesses!!!

Grant is a bright young man who suffered a traumatic and debilitating injury because of a car accident when he was only six years old; but God had a plan for this young man as Simi Fruean, Jr., Ned Lam, and Kimo Kahihikolo Miranda studied the Bible with this determined young man, made him into a disciple, and baptized him into Christ!!! Grant will truly be a tremendous “lure” for more people to be reached, and disciples to be made, as he shares his faith with EVERYBODY, loves people, and is as bold as a lion, telling it “like it is!!!”

God has made it clear that the Islands are His, and we are confident that our Hawaii 5-0 Plan will bring MUCH glory to God!

HEADLINE NEWS – USA NORTH QUADRANT & INDIA
 
Chris Broom: God continues to answer all our prayers here in NYC! Almost all of the 31 disciples on the NYC Supplemental Mission Team have arrived and God has blessed us with great places to live all over the five boroughs of New York City and incredible jobs as well! We have two disciples that have secured jobs in the financial district near Wall Street! Lisa is a court reporter for the Federal Courts and Drew was hired in the IT Department for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation where they had been trying to fill that position for two years and never even sent anyone to Human Resources until Drew, an MIT Grad, applied! I am confident that the last few homes and jobs will be coming soon!

On Sunday, an amazing young man was baptized! Tristan grew up in Harlem and attended the Professional Performing Arts High School not far from where Theresa & I live. He now attends FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) where he is studying Marketing. Omar, one of our most zealous brothers, had known Tristan and invited him to church and Bible Study for years until one day when Tristan called Omar and simply said, “I need church!” He shared powerfully in front of the church before his baptism about how hopeless he had become as how his life had spiraled out of control. Since his baptism, he has not stopped sharing his gratitude to all of us who loved him and taught him the Bible!

We can’t wait to see you at the GLC! Pray for the over 70 disciples who are fundraising daily to make the trip!

Joel Parlour of Syracuse: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Today the sermon was about A Greater Love that only comes from the example that Jesus gave us! So we have been working very hard to bring out new people to church and study the Bible with a harvest of lost souls! This week, God blessed us with a baptism and restoration of two incredible guys!

The baptism was a young single man named Pat who has been studying the Bible on and off for about two years! It was inspiring to see the disciples not give up on Pat and for him to surrender everything to God which included quitting his job which interfered with the Kingdom. His joy has refreshed the hearts of us all!

The restoration that really moved my heart was of Rich Kim. This truly was miraculous as Satan has attacked Rich in so many ways over the years. His story relates to a majority of those from our former fellowship who left God while pointing fingers at all those who hurt them. During his restoration he spoke about how after leaving the Lord that he had finally realized his pride and then humbly admitted he was the only one to blame. We are so grateful to see Rich boldly declare Jesus as his Lord!

Coltin Rohn of Boston: “When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying.” (Acts 1:13 NAS) We first felt like the Israelites in the Old Testament as God “came down in a dark cloud” and rained us out of our Park Service! Then we had people in the “upper room” at the Karonis’s and so we felt like the Apostles in the New Testament! I’m fired up we are “Bible Church!” Amen!

God is moving in Massachusetts! Today a whole group came to church from Springfield (over 85 miles away) in western Massachusetts, just to be a part of the Movement of God! Kevin, who was baptized in 1993, teared-up in the upper room as he found the church he was baptized into so long ago! Sadly after visiting a couple of months ago of what’s left of the ICOC in Springfield, he was shocked that no one could tell him what had happened to the church and why it was so lukewarm.

His desire to find the truth led him to a conversation with Kip and then to our House Church Service up in Lynn! Today Kevin is determined to come back to the Lord and bring as many as possible! God is calling out the remnant in western Massachusetts to help us evangelize the rest of the world! Thanks be to our God for giving us a new movement to evangelize the world!

Maria Franklin of Chicago: “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in Heaven and Earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the Kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11) God is always working powerfully and here in Chicago it has been manifested in the salvation of two precious souls in the past two weeks!

Last Sunday, Sallie’s sins were washed away! Sallie is a married woman. Incredibly, her daughter was invited to Bible Talk at UIC Thursday night and she went and brought her mother Sallie! Sallie then studied the Bible Saturday, came to church Sunday, and studied the Bible every day and was baptized in a little over a week! She has such an amazing and eager heart to be right with God and inspired the whole church to be reminded that the harvest indeed is plentiful! She is an amazing addition to the Downtown Region! 
 

Today, Jesus was baptized through the efforts of the Mighty Central Region! Jesus shared powerfully and with deep gratitude and commitment his excitement to be with God and help others come to the Lord. Prayerfully his fiancé will be baptized  this week!

In addition, the Second Annual Men’s Retreat was held last Saturday! The “Diotrephes (“who loves to be first” – 3 John 9) Trophy” was taken from the Downtown Region and given to this year’s winners, the Mighty Central Region! The men bonded through fun-filled competitions including a pie eating contest, tug-o-war, push-ups, races and arm wrestling among others! They also grilled steaks, but savored the Word of God the most through powerful preaching!

Last Sunday tears were shed and tales were told as we said our final goodbyes for the “Fab Four” who are leaving for LA to help strengthen the Southland Region! 
 

Lastly, through countless tagging efforts including Saturday when we raised over $4,000, we are finalizing the details to help at least 80 get to the GLC in just two weeks! Please keep us in your prayers and see you all soon!

Ron Harding: Greetings from Washington DC! “Likewise, teach the older women to…teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God.” (Titus 2:3-5) We are so excited that we have not only outgrown our meeting facility, but the DC Church has expanded from three to four regions! To meet our growing needs, we have secured a new theatre which will allow us to triple our present size!

Tracy & I are especially encouraged by the older women in the DC Church. Just as the older women took care of the needs of Paul’s ministry, our older women saw the growing need for shepherding with our young Christians and four of our “mothers” have stepped up to train and shepherd the younger women in the church, becoming “church mothers.” Each week they speak with the ministry leaders and travel around the different ministries training the younger women. The face of the entire church has change as everyone has been inspired to see the zeal and wisdom of these inspirational mature disciples of Jesus! All of us cannot wait to see all of you at the GLC!

Jason Dimitry of San Francisco: Greeting from “The Bay!” One of the greatest things about transitions is “GDO’s” – “golden discipling opportunities!” And God has used this time to teach, correct and rebuke us through the steadfast counsel of the Kernans. I’m super grateful to have this opportunity to learn and grow spiritually. Sarah & I are honored to be building on the foundations that Mike & Brittany Underhill absolutely poured themselves out to lay! I have known Mike for 19 years and I so grateful for his partnership in the gospel!

The first two weeks have been so inspiring with the 19 on the Supplemental Mission Team finally all here! Thankfully, all on team have found jobs! Also, with two nights of tagging, we were able to raise almost $2,000 for GLC registrations! Looking forward to seeing you at the GLC!

Roger Green of Chennai: “To fear the Lord is to hate evil…”(Proverbs 8:13) This very Scripture turned the heart of our new sister Maria who was from a Hindu family and only went to the denominational church because of her husband but found nothing convicting or life-changing! The very first time she visited the Chennai Church, this was the message preached by our dear brother Raja which so convicted her! Also she was simply blown away by the fellowship and love she saw in God’s Kingdom! Now Maria and her husband Christopher (who was baptized a week before) are now a happy couple in the Lord!

We are very thankful and so grateful to God and to the LA Church for having our Shepherding Couples – Johnson & Vandana and Thomas & Shirly – attend this year’s GLC and also be a part of the “official mission team” that will be sent out at the GLC to evangelize the 1.3 billion lost souls in our beloved India!

Chennai loves all of you! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
 
Dear Brothers & Sisters: Just a reminder that this year’s GLC will be broadcast via Livestream.com! In using Livestream.com, there are multiple ways to catch all the major events!

• You can view the 2014 GLC Event Page onwww.new.livestream.com/CAICC/2014GLC.
• Also there will be live video players posted on multiple church websites.
• Livestream also features apps for your iPhone / iPad/ iPod Touch via the APP Store, Android Phone / Tablet via Google play, and Roku TV Set-Top Box. After you have installed the app on your device, just search for 2014GLC!

For all the “twitter tweeters,” we will have a live twitter handle @Zion2014GLC where you can follow us, get instant updates, and maybe have your encouraging comments displayed live for the entire movement during the Livestream!

Here’s the Livestream Schedule for the 2014 GLC:
Sunday, August 10         9:00AM Church Service
6:00PM Kingdom Banquet

Monday, August 11         9:00AM Austral-Asia / India World Sector Forum
7:30PM Evening General Session

Tuesday, August 12         9:00AM Women’s Session
11:30AM Closing Session

For too long, the internet served Satan through persecution, pornography and “pushing the agendas” of the liberal press. Now, God’s movement is learning to shine His light into all the nations through this incredible technology so that those who simply cannot attend the GLC will share in the joy of being ZION’S DREAMERS!      

So looking forward to seeing so many of you at this year’s GLC! “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” 
Much love,
Kip