Special Edition
August 31, 2018

ATTN: If the pictures in this article are distorted, then click on the “view it in your browser” link located at the top right-hand corner of the page.

Dear Friend,
Warm greetings from Los Angeles! Truly, the 2018 Global Leadership Conference – EMPOWERED – was our best one… yet! The Sunday Worship Service will surely be talked about in Heaven! The singing by the almost 2,700 in attendance was angelic! In the Communion, RD & April Baker – LA’s new Ventura Region Leaders and heroes of the Middle East – brought us to the cross! Joe & Kerry Willis were hysterical in motivating us to give generously at the Contribution Charge! Then came the glorious Sixth GLC Commencement of the International College of Christian Ministries where a record 92 received their BA Degrees and a record 6 received the prestigious Master’s Degree! Andrew Smellie of Lagos gave the message of the hour on TRANSFORMING POWER! Following, we witnessed 21 souls make their “good confession” and then were baptized into Christ! After these amazing miracles, we prayed on our knees for the Holy Spirit to send out the Columbus (Ohio) and Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Mission Teams, as well as to send out Nick & Denise Bordieri to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) to establish and oversee the Chhim MERCY Orphanage for the next year! To close the service, we stood arm-in-arm singing with LuJack Martinez The Glory Song – International Version! And to God was given all the glory!

 
HEADLINE NEWS
The 2018 Global Leadership Conference
For Elena & me, the 2018 GLC began on Thursday evening, August 9th with the World Sector Leader (WSL) Retreat!

Before pairing up for dinner, the World Sector Leaders gathered for a reception on the rooftop of the DoubleTree Hotel in beautiful Dana Point!

Sadly, our dear sister Michele Williamson was not able to be with us as she had to fly to Perth, Australia for the Memorial Service of her beloved mother. Praise God, Michele flew to LA and joined the GLC Festivities on the following Tuesday!

 
On Friday, August 10th, as is the custom at every World Sector Leader Gathering, Elena & I shared for Communion! After the bread and juice were passed around, we held up the bread and proclaimed, “We are family!” Then we raised our cups and asserted, “By God’s grace to grow!”

After singing Jesus Is Lord, Andrew Smellie preached a very powerful lesson on WE HAVE DIVINE POWER! During his speech, Andrew spoke about the many challenges of the Lagos Disciples, which included taking a stand against parents to come to a “new church,” taking a stand at their jobs so as to come to all church services, and since Lagos is so religious, taking a stand against all of the false doctrines! To illustrate these challenges, Andrew shared about Tolani Abiodun when he first came home to Lagos from being converted in London. His father said to him, “Jesus is Lord in Heaven, but I am your God on earth! Obey me!” Praise God, Tolani took a stand and is now the Campus Ministry Intern for the mighty Lagos Church! Then we broke into Men’s and Women’s D-Groups!

 
For the remainder of Friday, the World Sector Leaders spent precious bonding time with one another! On Saturday, we continued to spend time together as we all moved to the Anaheim Sheraton for the remainder of the GLC!

 
On Sunday, August 12th, was the much anticipated IGNITE Church Service! IGNITE is an eight-day teen leadership program dynamically led by Ricky & Coleen Challinor of Los Angeles!

They selected 30 teens and 8 IGNITE Interns from all of the SoldOut Movement Churches around the world!

Each day had a special theme from A Day of Evangelism to A Day of Confession to A Day of MERCY, and even A Day of Fun!

 
The inspiring IGNITE Church Service was led entirely by the IGNITE Teens with terrific singing led by Myles Keys of LA and a powerful Welcome by Chris Burdick of Phoenix and Shefali Rajan of New Delhi!

Then we were led in an International Prayer by Chris (English), Anna Smirnova of Moscow (Russian), Daniela Velasco of LA (French), Lucas Tria of São Paulo (Portuguese), Giovanny Martinez of Portland (Spanish), Lidiia Sirotkina of Moscow (Ukrainian), Miriam Chundula of London (Bemba), Shefali Rajan (Hindi), and Luke Chiappetta of LA (English)!

 
Of special note, Josiah Fisher of Washington DC introduced Bella Swann of New Jersey who shared for Communion! Bella publicly opened up for the first time about her struggle to forgive the older man – that claimed to be a disciple – who molested her on multiple occasions. Bella said in tears, “It was like I put Jesus on the cross again, because I thought I had the right to be angry and to not forgive. When I remembered all that Jesus did for me, then and only then was I able to fully forgive.”

 
For the sermonettes, we were inspired by Jordan Swann of New York City – The Slippery Slope Of Having No Hope, Lucas Tria – The World Needs More Amore, and Dylan Harding of LA – Faith Sets The Pace To Win The Race! Jordan in his sermon confessed his cowardliness in sharing his faith with one of his high school volleyball teammates – Steve. To his dismay, while still in high school, Steve passed away in his sleep without Jordan sharing with him. Then Jordan shared the conviction that changed his life, “My comfort is not worth the price of someone else’s salvation!”

 
The IGNITE Service came to a close with two baptisms, a restoration and a word of encouragement from Elena & me!

The remainder of the day was spent in fellowship with disciples from almost 30 nations!

 
On Monday evening, August 13th was the initial Crown of Thorns Council (COTC) Meeting! As most disciples are aware, the SoldOut Movement is striving to reduplicate Jesus’ ministry! So, the World Sector Leaders are paralleled to the 12 Apostles and the Crown of Thorns Council is paralleled to the 70 Apostles of Luke 10! The Jews – who were descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob, which formed the physical nation of Israel – came to understand that Jesus selected 12 Apostles as He was building a new “spiritual Israel!” Jesus later selected the 70 Apostles to convey His dream to evangelize all nations as Genesis 10 in the Table of All Nations has 70 nations listed!

 
After the Welcome and Prayer, the Crown of Thorns Council enjoyed a time of Good News Sharing!

Following a short break, Raul Moreno of São Paulo gave the unforgettable charge, PRAYER THAT IS POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE! His six points were: 1) Pray For Everyone In Your Ministry By Name; 2) Prayer Can Change God’s Mind; 3) Believe Before Praying; 4) Forgive For God To Answer Your Prayers; 5) Spiritual War Delays Answered Prayers; and 6) One Prayer Can Change Everything!

 
On Tuesday morning, August 14th, the Crown of Thorns Council gathered for Men’s and Women’s Programs! Michael Williamson addressed the men and Elena spoke to the women on the theme of SYNERGOI, which when translated from the Greek means co-worker!

 

In essence, each group was taught from the Scriptures that we are co-workers with God (2 Corinthians 6:1) and co-workers with each other! (Philippians 4:3) From the Greek word “synergoi,” we derive the English word “synergy.” The definition of synergy is the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. So, with God as our co-worker, we can do so much more than on our own, and because God has chosen to limit Himself according to our faith, God can do so much more with us as His co-workers if we are filled with faith! As well, working side-by-side with another disciple increases our boldness, our faith and our love! After these stirring messages we broke into D-Groups!

 
After a lunch break, the World Sector Leaders gave brief reports to the Crown of Thorns Council on “their” congregations, which covered all 92 churches now composed of 7,000 disciples in 35 nations in the Movement!

To close the afternoon, we discussed the 2018-2024 Road Map and the new SoldOut Movement Retirement Program for full-time ministry disciples!

 
At 5:00PM that Tuesday, the Prayer War Room was opened to “empower” all the disciples around the world, especially those who would participate in the GLC! A special thanks to Yamin Leyton and Karen Maciel for setting up and sustaining this great endeavor!

After opening the Prayer War Room, I hurried over to the Sheraton Hotel to meet Tim, Michael and Elena for the signing of the ICCM Diplomas!

 
That evening at 8:00PM, all of the ICCM Faculty around the world met together for the ICCM Chancellor’s Dessert Reception! After a short charge, I asked the 2018 Master’s Degree Recipients – Jason & Sarah Dimitry, Blaise Feumba, Sharon Kirchner, LuJack Martinez and Matt Sullivan – to share what meant the most to them in attaining their degrees!

 
On Wednesday morning, August 15th was the Church Builders Workshop where almost 700 came to learn all that they could about being better church builders! Andrew & Patrique gave a stirring Welcome!

This was followed by 10 Admonitions by me. I addressed various topics from improving our song selection for worship services to communicating with the Lead Evangelist of a disciple whose heart is to be on a mission team before this disciple is officially asked to be on the team.

After this, Kolbe & Rebecca Gray of London shared about the exciting new ICCM Alumni Program!

 
Since Luke Speckman has been used by God to not only build the powerful New York City Church, but to oversee the thriving three churches in India, we selected him to speak on the theme, MY POWER IS MADE PERFECT! Luke preached from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 where Paul shares that God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness… That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong!” Luke’s easy-to-remember points were: 1) Weaknesses, 2) Insults, 3) Hardships, 4) Persecutions, and 5) Difficulties! As Luke began his speech, he asked the question, “Has Christ led you so far in 2018 in triumphant procession in your church?” He answered this question, “Yes… but the question really is, ‘Were you following?'”

After a break, we broke into three tracks: Track One – Campus Leaders emceed by Raul & Lynda Moreno; Track Two – Church Leaders overseen by Luke & Brandyn Speckman; and Track Three – Overseeing Church Leaders directed by Elena & me!

Unique in this GLC was that Track One – Campus Leaders was conducted by the leaders converted as campus students through the efforts and prayers of the São Paulo Church! The speakers included Vini Rodriguez, Bia Hida, Caio Costa, Luis Viera, Malu Dias, Danilo & Carol Bataglin, Tulio & Vaítsa Amaral, and Luca Di Beo!

 

On Wednesday evening at 6:00PM was the ICCM Alumni Reunion! After Kolbe & Rebecca explained the purpose of forming an Alumni Association, as well as the benefits to those who join, I gave the charge, THE ARDUOUS ROAD TO GRADUATE DEGREES! I opened and closed with Robert Frost’s narrative poem, The Road Not Taken! The final stanza reads,
 

 
I shared this poem to convey that the road to a Master’s or Doctorate Degree is indeed very difficult and time consuming, and that is why it is “the one less travelled by!” Yet, when one achieves this goal, there is a “sigh” not of regret, not of relief, but of deep satisfaction! Indeed for an Evangelist or Women’s Ministry Leader, these degrees will make “all the difference” in winning as many as possible!

 
After having a few finger foods at the ICCM Alumni Reunion, many were off to the International Campus Devotional (ICD), which started at 8:00PM! This event is always one of the highlights of the GLC! This year, the ICD was overseen by the Smellies, who continue to win students to Christ at the University of Lagos! After several students shared good news from their campus ministries around the world, Coltin Rohn – the Columbus Mission Team Leader – preached the sermon entitled, I DECLARE YOUR POWER TO THIS GENERATION!

 
Thursday morning, August 16th was the First General Session of the GLC! After a phenomenal Opening Video and the joyful Welcome by Tim & Lianne Kernan – the City of Angels Church Leaders, we participated in an International Prayer in 20 different languages: English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Samoan, French, Chamorro, Hindi, Swedish, Mandarin, Ebo, Twi, German, Dutch, Cantonese, Tamil, Thai, Russian, Amharic, Tagalog and Portuguese!

 
Then came the thrilling Flag Ceremony where 35 national flags – the nations of the SoldOut Movement Churches – were paraded!

 
Following, Elena & I shared the GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD coming from all six populated continents! Included in this presentation were the 10 plantings in 2018 in the SoldOut Movement: Albuquerque (New Mexico), Quito (Ecuador), Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC), Mbuji-Mayi (DRC), Bandundu (DRC), Kikwit (DRC), New Delhi (India), Sean-d’Eau (Haiti), Columbus (Ohio), and Milwaukee (Wisconsin)!

 
We shared in some detail about the four newly reconstructed churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo! Amazingly, their collective membership is over 400 disciples – the largest being Kinshasa, now the second largest church in the Movement, at 283 disciples!

 
We also praised God for the incredible turn around in Manila! After the devastation of losing their Lead Ministry Couple in 2017 with the consequence of so many fall aways, God has blessed the Manila Church in 2018 with 105 additions – 75 baptisms, 17 restorations and 13 place memberships! In 2018 – The Year of Grace, God has grown this incredible group of disciples from a membership of 187 to now 254 sold-out disciples!

 
Also, so exciting is that after just four months since the New Delhi Mission Team of 38 arrived from Chennai, God has blessed them with 73 additions – 51 baptisms, 21 restorations and 1 place membership! The New Delhi ICC is now 126 sold-out disciples!

 
There was so much good news that I forgot to mention the encouraging report from Haiti! Since Alexis Turgeau – a Mainline Church of Christ Preacher from Port-au-Prince (Haiti) – was baptized five years ago at the 2013 GLC, God has multiplied this amazing disciple into 384 disciples in now 9 churches throughout Haiti!

 
Then after the GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD came more great news: The Reinstatements of Chris & Sonja Chloupek of Orlando as an Evangelist and a Women’s Ministry Leader in the Kingdom of God!

 
After the San Francisco Church Band led us to sing an old favorite hymn, Power, Blaise Feumba of LA delivered the tremendous speech, HIS POWER AND HIS GLORY! His convicting points were: 1) You Must Know His Glory; 2) You Must Show His Glory; and 3) You Must Fear His Glory! After this amazing lesson, we headed out to lunch!

 
In the afternoon, two Specialty Workshops began at 2:30PM: CyberCon emceed by the Lead CyberEvangelist of the Movement – Ron Harding of LA, and the MERCYworldwide Summit directed by the World Sector Leaders for MERCY – Nick & Denise Bordieri of LA! At CyberCon which was attended by over 200 disciples, Ron delivered the message EMPOWERING THE VOICES OF THE PROPHETS, which was followed by three more CyberEvangelist Appointments: AJ Penedo, Alex Rohde and Brice Williams all of LA!

At the MERCY Summit, Nick delivered the message, EMPOWERED THROUGH COMPASSION IN ACTION, where he very enthusiastically shared about the Chhim MERCY Orphanage and our new partnership with the Children Social Welfare Services of Cambodia and MERCYworldwide! As well, Nick announced that Denise & he will be moving to Cambodia in September for a year to oversee the orphanage – which has 58 children already – and to lead the Phnom Penh Remnant Group!

On Thursday evening were the Men’s and Women’s Programs! Joe Willis and Elena were the respective emcees for these life changing sessions! At the beginning of each of these sessions there was a Kingdom Appointment! At the Men’s Program, Cory Blackwell appointed his valued son in the faith Markus Cameron to be an Evangelist, as they work together in the great Chicago Church!

 
At the same time, Elena appointed her dear daughter in the faith Lauren Ona to be a Women’s Ministry Leader, as they work side-by-side in the AMS Region of LA!

 
Both programs had the same main speech, BE STRONG IN HIS MIGHT AND POWER! John Causey of LA preached for the brothers, and Lynda Moreno spoke to the sisters! John’s two catchy points were Power Up and Open Up! John was quite open about getting “touchy” as he has gotten older. He confessed that this is one of his main struggles. John was recently asked how he had overcome and he humbly answered, “I realized that I am not a strong disciple, but I need to be a plugged-in disciple!”

 
During the Women’s Program, Lynda Moreno shared with the sisters one of the secrets to being empowered by God, “Alone the world is going to change you, but together we are going to change the world!”

 
Following the main speeches, several short charges were preached: Empowered Devotional Life (Matt Sullivan/Patrique Smellie), Empowered Life-Force (Michael Williamson/Lucy Mejia), Empowered Life Skills (Michael Kirchner/Therese Untalan), Empowered Brotherhood/Sisterhood (RD Baker/Lianne Kernan), Empowered Marriage (Anthony Olmos), Empowered Fatherhood/Motherhood (Oleg Sirotkin/Aliona Sirotkina), Empowered Evangelism (Richie McDonnell/Helen Sullivan), Empowered Discipling (Kolbe Gray/Rebecca Gray), and Empowered Generosity (Joe Willis/Kerry Willis)! Then after these “empowering” charges, there were many who enjoyed late night fellowships!

 
Friday morning, August 17th were the invaluable World Sector Sessions! These inspiring seminars included the following groupings: Tribe – Western USA, Canada and Pacific Rim; SAGES – Eastern USA and South Asia; Southern USA, Central And South America; Europe And Russian Commonwealth; Midwest USA And Middle East; Africanus – Africa, Mid-Atlantic USA And French-Speaking Caribbean; and Austral-China!

 
Each session followed the same pattern: Singing, Welcome and Prayer, Heroic Bible Talk Sharing and then the main charge – THE WORD SPREAD AND GREW IN POWER! In some sessions, there were co-teachers. So the main speakers included: Richie McDonnell, Matt & Helen Sullivan, Carlos & Lucy Mejia, Oleg Sirotkin, Michael Williamson, Cory Blackwell, Andrew Smellie and Joe Willis!

 
Following a break, short charges were given on the theme, Empowering Principles! These charges in every session gave several younger leaders an opportunity to preach at the 2018 GLC! Comprising these charges were: Empowering Commitment To The Cause, Empowering Standards, Empowering Unity, Empowering Women’s Ministries, and several others very interesting titles!

 
For lunch, we held 2019 Mission Team Luncheons at various locations! These were by invitation only, but if a disciple was interested in the planting, the mission team leaders were always accommodating! There were Mission Team Luncheons for: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Atlanta (Georgia), Auckland (New Zealand), Bahrain, Davao (Philippines), Johannesburg (South Africa), Lima (Peru), and Salt Lake City (Utah)!

 
That evening was the Second General Session – The Kingdom Banquet!

Cory & Jee Blackwell gave a rousing Welcome which was followed by a very powerful Opening Prayer by Oleg! Then we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner!

 
At the end of the dinner, there was a Special Performance by Lauren Ona, the LA Choir, Dancers headlined by Earnest Baker, and the awesome San Francisco Band – Sovereign Sounds!

 
Following this were the historic CyberMinistry Appointments! Ron Harding appointed the first three “CyberWomen’s Ministry Leaders:” Alicia Dunn of Washington DC, Jacque Economo of LA, and Chantelle Anderson also of LA!

 
Then we witnessed another engaged couple – Sean O’Conner & Krystal Legarda – appointed Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader by Jared & Rachel McGee!

 
Undoubtedly, the highlight of the Kingdom Banquet was the keynote address for the 2018 GLC simply entitled EMPOWERED! This life-changing message was delivered so eloquently by the Director of the GLC – Tim Kernan! 

We ended the evening with Micky Ngungu and Andrew Smellie leading us in most disciples’ favorite song from Africa, There Is A Joy! A huge conga line quickly formed that circumvented the entire room!

 
On Saturday, August 18th began our Third General Session! Raja & Debs Rajan of New Delhi gave the Welcome and Prayer!

Following, Nick & Denise Bordieri directed the MERCY Presentation! Highlighting the day was Jarrett Barrios, CEO of The American Red Cross in Los Angeles, who addressed the entire GLC! He was so exuberant as he spoke about the new national partnership between the Red Cross and MERCY in installing lifesaving fire alarms in the poorer areas throughout America!

 
Then, I preached the 90-minute presentation, A GREATER GLORY – The History Of The Mainline Churches Of Christ, The ICOC And The SOLDOUT Movement! Every situation in our lives and every situation among God’s great people has a “parallel” somewhere in the Bible! I used the Books of 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, Ezra and Haggai to teach how God worked to gather and build His Movements! I concluded this presentation with a view of Heaven and that all of our challenges on earth as disciples are “worth it!” (You can hear and see the entire presentation at https://youtu.be/kdhpVqU6LwQ.)

I received more feedback on this lesson than any that I have preached in the last few years! Here is a sample: Dear Kip, It really convicted me as far as comparing the Boston Movement, gathering prominent young leaders who were trained Biblically out of Mainline Church of Christ programs (Crossroads) – vs the SoldOut Movement, with the remnant who are joining being older, and not as freed up to go anywhere to lead. That is something I hadn’t really put into account, and mildly corrupted my attitude about the SoldOut Movement’s emphasis on campus ministry. It took so long for it to finally click that these are the Movement’s next leaders (much like the younger folks were in the early days of the ICOC). I mean, I was baptized at 20 years old in a campus ministry… and I am so grateful!

 
Also, a dear veteran disciple was watching from Seattle! He was baptized in the frigid Puget Sound in 2001, and recently placed membership in the Seattle ICC! This lesson resonated deeply with him, answered many questions for him, as well as confirmed many of his suspicions that he has had about what happened to the ICOC. He is super fired up after watching a couple of the lessons from the GLC, especially yours. He really wishes he could have been there to meet many incredible disciples from around the world, as well as to share with you in person his support and gratitude to be in God’s true Movement!

Following the break, we attended the Specialty Ministry Sessions, which included: The AMS Global Conference, The Shepherds Forum, The Second Language Ministries Seminar, The Song Leaders Workshop, The Teen Ministry Seminar, The Administration World Congress, The Kingdom Kids Coordinators, and The Chemical Recovery Congress!

 
That afternoon was the ICCM Rehearsal, and that evening was followed by The Mature Singles Mixer, The Teen Devotional And Dance, The Talent Show and The PYUR Dance!

 
On Sunday was the grand finale of the 2018 GLC – The Sunday Worship Service! John & Emma Causey gave the Welcome and Opening Prayer!

Then came the Kingdom Appointments of Dave & Jill Swann by Luke & Brandyn Speckman! The Swanns lead the New Jersey Region of the New York City ICC! In her response to being appointed, Jill shared Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!” Jill shared that she was baptized exactly 27 years ago on August 19, 1991, and becoming a Women’s Ministry Leader was one of her Kingdom dreams! Dave followed by sharing that he was thrilled to enter the full-time ministry for the first time at 50 years old! His region affectionately calls him – Papa Swann!

 
The Communion was one of the best ever as April Baker shared her trials to remain faithful through all of her years! She spoke about her severe physical heart challenges and how God has used this to guide RD & her, as well as giving her the opportunity to “win as many as possible!” (1 Corinthians 9:19)

 
The Contribution was done by the author of the SoldOut Press International’s newest book – Money Is The Answer For Everything – Joe Willis and his lovely wife Kerry!

 
Then came the Sixth Commencement Of The International College Of Christian Ministries where 92 received their BA Degrees and 6 were awarded their Master’s Degrees! Inspirationally, after the ICCM Chairman of the Board of Regents – Michael Kirchner – welcomed all to the 2018 Commencement, Wagner’s Ride Of The Valkyries was the music played for the Processional!

 
As the Chancellor of ICCM, I was privileged to introduce the ICCM-Global Faculty, the ICCM Board of Regents, and all of the ICCM Extension School Presidents and Deans of Women! Amazingly, God has multiplied our dream into 11 extension campuses in Columbus, Lagos, Los Angeles, Manila, Miami, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, São Paulo, Toronto and Washington DC!

 
Following, I gave a short charge on SCROLLS AND PARCHMENTS sharing about the books that have been published by SoldOut Press International that were ICCM Master’s Theses and Doctoral Dissertations!

 
After Dr. Tim Kernan explained the European Degree System and Dr. Elena Garcia McKean shared from the ministry of Jesus about The Role Of Women In The ICCM, we were inspired by the Valedictory Addresses given by our 2018 Valedictorians – Joey Gregory of Columbus and Alicia Winthein of LA!

 
Then came the conferring of the ICCM BA Degrees given for four different disciplines: Ministry – represented by red tassels, Ministry And Administration – blue tassels, Ministry And Charity Services – green tassels, and Ministry And Shepherding – white tassels!

 
Following came the awarding of six diligent disciples for the impressive ICCM Master’s Degree!

 
Before the reading of Psalm 126 for the Benediction, we observed the Tassel and Stole Ceremony! The tassels on the graduates’ graduation caps were moved from right to left, signifying that their new-found knowledge needs to be used in making decisions with the heart!

Secondly, each BA Recipient was encouraged to give his or her stole to the individual most responsible for them to attain their degree!

 
After a short break, Andrew Smellie delivered a message for the ages, TRANSFORMING POWER calling every disciple to make radical decisions from the GLC! Andrew had two points: Transform From Loving Tradition To Loving Truth and Transform From Loving The Praise Of Men To Loving The Praise From God! Andrew’s final words of admonition were, “Transformed people, transform people!”

 
Then came one of the most amazing highlights of the entire GLC as we witnessed 21 baptized into Christ! Of very special note were the baptisms of Capil Estep’s mom – Krishna, who is of royal blood from Nepal, and Luke Speckman’s dad and mom – Fred & Virginia, who were at one time missionaries for a denominational church in Kenya! Not only did August 19, 2018 become Fred & Virginia’s spiritual birthdays, but also that day, they celebrated their 46th Wedding Anniversary!

 
After these glorious celebrations came the Send Off of the Columbus and Milwaukee Mission Teams, as well as the send off of Nick & Denise Bordieri who will lead the Chhim MERCY Orphanage in Cambodia! Everyone fell on their knees to pray for the Holy Spirit to empower them to do “more than we asked or imagined!”

 
To close the most awesome of all GLC’s, we “bridged the aisles and came together arm-in-arm” as LuJack led The Glory Song – International Version!

 
That Sunday evening, as well as on Monday and Tuesday, many disciples stayed in LA to have more fellowship that would “empower” them to do “even greater things” upon their return to their home congregations! And to God be all the glory!

FAMILY NEWS
Eugene: Congratulations to David Rydstedt (baptized in Eugene) & Sara Garcia (baptized in Mexico City), who were married on the beach in Santa Monica just a few hours after the conclusion of the GLC!

 
Boston: On August 10, 2018, Gianni DiFusco & Skyla Eastman were married under a beautiful sunset overlooking the mighty city of Boston! God painted the sky just for them, as the these two souls became one!

 
New York City: On August 11th, Gerald & Danielle Gayle were married in the Brooklyn Region!

 
London: On August 25th, Richárd Frankó proposed to his girlfriend Lisa Picciano of New York City while she was visiting him in London! She of course said, “Yes!”

 
Orlando: Praise God that the father of Chris Chloupek – the Evangelist of the Orlando Church – was restored to the Lord!

Portland: Greetings in the Lord! We had an amazing addition to the Limon Familia – the Portland Church Leaders – with the birth of their son Nathanael David on July 16th!

 
What a joy it was to host over 30 disciples flying in to witness the wedding of “our” Ohio missionaries – Craig and Keshia, as they officially became the Davidsons on August 4th!

 
There was much love in the air as the next day, we witnessed the engagement of Cesar & Debbie Limon’s son and daughter in the faith – Jorge Castillo & Valeria Garcia-Piñeda! They will be getting married October 20th in Portland, Oregon and would like to invite everyone to this special event! God is good… all the time!

 
Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW): The entire DFW Church was ecstatic over the wedding of Hector & Taylor Mogollon!

Honolulu: Our administrator Kawika Kelly & Reina Quimzon became engaged and will be married September 3rd!

 
Kiev: In June, we celebrated the awesome wedding of Sasha & Alina Balitsky! This marriage strengthened them, and immediately following their honeymoon, Sasha & Alina began to work full-time in the ministry!

 
San Diego: Just before the impactful 2018 GLC – EMPOWERED, God “empowered” Fabian & Edimar Velasco to be fruitful with their beautiful new son, Isaac Jedidiah Velasco! Isaac was born July 24th at 8:20AM, weighing in at 8.15 pounds and 20.5 inches long! We are also excited that the Velascos will be stepping up to lead a newly established house church in the Greater San Diego ICC! To God be all the glory! 

 
Albuquerque: Encouragingly, a young married couple named Jet & Yuri Heredia were baptized in Albuquerque! Yuri is the cousin of Bridgette Sanchez and Yunice Luna in the Metro Heights Region of LA! Jet was baptized first and then he was blessed to baptize his wife Yuri!

 
Seattle: On July 29th the Seattle Church witnessed the beautiful wedding of Owen & Letecha Hartley on the gorgeous Golden Garden Shores of Puget Sound!

 
Manila: Beth Tagimacruz was baptized in 1993 and was restored to the Lord in 2015 following a life-threatening stroke. She knew that God still had a purpose for her life, and after her restoration she baptized her mom, sister, daughter and niece! On August 22nd, she passed on to glory after being in the hospital for three months battling several health complications.

 
Cebu: Aki Cabañero & Lou Ariate are full-time Campus Interns in Cebu, and they became engaged on July 25th!

 
Washington DC: Ms. Dolores Russell was baptized on March 18, 2018, and then went home to our Heavenly Father on her 87th birthday July 18, 2018! Her daughter Denise Russell and grandson Lawrence Russell were by her side during her studies, her illness and her glorious return to our true home! The church was united in prayer, as we watched her humble heart desire to be baptized! So we now rejoice as Dolores went on to glory as a faithful disciple!

  
Wedding Bells are almost here, as we had an engagement! This couple has been friends for a few years now, and then at the Singles Christmas Party in 2017, Bryan asked Judith to be his girlfriend! After dating for six months, he asked her to be his wife! She said, “yes” with enthusiasm! In Bryan’s own words, “I would have never have made this choice (to be married) in the world.” Now, he sees that God truly meant for Judith to be his “wife of noble character” and sees her worth through God’s eyes!

 
Penelope Rose Carrothers was born on June 5, 2018 to Christopher & Patricia Carrothers! This little bundle of joy was excited to finally join us all! She was a quick delivery, without complications, and as you can see is a happy little baby girl!

 
Mexico City: “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.” (Psalm 127:3 NLT) It was an exciting July for Gustavo & Sofia Flores! Not only were they both baptized, but to finish off the month on July 31st, the Lord blessed them with the birth of their new son, Joshua Flores!

 
New Delhi: John & Salma, who lead the abundantly fruitful New Delhi Teen Ministry, are happily married now!

God blessed Gabriel & Seema in “starting” a new family with the birth of “Baby Genesis!”

 
Satbeer & Nisha, who now lead a Bible Talk, were blessed with a baby boy – Nishanth!

 
San Francisco: Kyle Gibson & Janelle Mendoza were happily engaged on July 23, 2018!

The soon-to-be Nathaniel & Sam Pavon were engaged on July 30, 2018!

Afa & Tromila were blessed with Finiasi Molikeilahi Maile, who was born on July 30th at 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 21 inches long!

Excitingly, Anthony Fellis & Monica Fang were engaged on August 11, 2018!

Freddy Quintana & Alejandra Rivera were engaged during the GLC on August 18, 2018!

Sacramento: “Then immediately [the jailer] and all his family were baptized… He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God – he and his whole family!” (Acts 16:33-34) We had a very empowering worship service the first Sunday after the GLC! To close out, we witnessed the very moving baptism of Brandon Baskus, whose whole household has now been impacted by the Gospel! It all started with Richie being baptized last month, who is on the Sacramento City College Wrestling Team! Then Richie’s mom, Selina (Brandon’s wife), was baptized a few weeks ago! Then Sam, the youngest son, was baptized two weeks ago, giving us our first teen baptism! God is truly displaying His power in a mighty way in Sacramento!

 
Los Angeles – East Region: Congratulations to Kirk & Margie Hamula, the East Region Leaders, on the birth of their son – Jeremiah James!

Inland Empire Region: Please welcome the newest addition to the IE Family from Juan & Jhoselyn Mota – Leah Nicole who at her birth on August 16th was 19 inches!

Orange County Region – UNIDAD Sector: Meet the Gonzalez Familia! Jonathan (Jonny) & Lily were restored to the Lord and there kiddo Jayden is now studying the Bible and wants to be a disciple!

Metro Heights Region: Congratulations to Richard Cadle & Victoria Monroe on their engagement!

All in the Metro Heights Region are so moved by the repentance of Josiah Garcia – the son of Noel & Janice!

 
Jimmy & Carol Idrees were united in Christ through baptism with their teen daughter – Keilly Lopez at the GLC!

 
Coachella Valley Region: God has been uniting families in the Valley this summer as we were able to see three family members baptized! First, Michael was able to baptize his son, Andrew, who moved to Coachella Valley from Texas to be with his dad!

 
And Cesar (who was baptized in February) was able to baptize both his mom, Sonia, after months of persecuting and his sister Silvana, who was a true three-day conversion!

 
Central Region: We were so blessed to see the incredible baptism of a wonderful Filipino woman named Myrna! Myrna’s son, Karl, was baptized over a year ago in the Pasadena City College Campus Ministry and Myrna has studied off and on for the past year, battling with her religiosity. Yet recently, God opened up her heart, and she studied urgently for three weeks and was baptized on August 5th!

 
Valentina Marulanda was baptized almost a year ago at USC in Los Angeles, and on her trip home to Miami, Florida for winter break, she was questioned and persecuted by her family! However, after seeing her love and faithfulness, Valentina’s mom and teen sister started attending the Miami ICC! Her teen sister, Susana Marulanda-Ortega, was baptized on July 22nd, and miraculously at GLC Sunday, Valentina’s mom, Nora Ortega, was baptized as a sold-out disciple!

 
It is so awesome to be in a Movement where family members can be baptized through the efforts of a sister church in another city!
 
EDITORIAL
“I Never Want To Go To Columbus!”
“The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit!” (John 3:8) Lord willing, tomorrow September 1st, Karen Maciel – one of the best hearted disciples that Elena & I have ever known – will pack up her car and drive over 2,000 miles to Columbus, Ohio where she will be the last Columbus Mission Team Member to arrive! So why did she say just four months ago, “I never want to go to Columbus?” Learning of her extraordinary life may help you understand, will likely inspire you, and perhaps prevent you from saying the word “never” to God!

 
Karen was born in Tijuana, Mexico on September 19, 1994 to a beautiful young woman – Araceli De La Huerta! Karen has two older sisters – Vanessa and Lizbeth Maciel. Karen has never met her father, but was graciously given her stepfather’s last name Maciel, so that she would not feel different or left out as she grew up. (Her stepfather is the biological dad of her two sisters.)

Since her oldest sister Vanessa is a United States citizen, in the year 2000, Karen’s mother and stepdad legally crossed the border with Karen’s older sister with a temporary visa. However, similar to Moses’ mom who radically risked Moses to “save” him, Karen’s mom paid complete strangers to smuggle across the Mexican border to America Lizbeth just 7 years old and Karen at 5 years old! The two of them were transported to three different homes full of Mexicans waiting to be brought to the United States. This all happened in one day! They were told to be brave and to pretend to be sleeping so as not to get nervous if they were questioned at the border. Once across, the smugglers gave back to their worried mother and stepdad at an agreed upon location two now very grateful little girls!

 
Karen’s teen years were filled with sports as she played basketball and took up boxing after her nose was bloodied in middle school by in Karen’s words, “A really big girl!” In high school, she excelled in cross-country and track! She also did quite well in her studies!

 
In January 2012 at 17 years old while working at Tacos Mexico Restaurant, Karen was met by Ezequiel Gonzalez. However, first he reached out to her sister Lizbeth who also worked at the mall, but she was not interested so Lizbeth “volunteered” Karen! Ezequiel came to her job with his little sister Sara. Sara and Karen exchanged numbers, but even though Karen texted her, there was not a response. Six months later at the Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) Freshman Orientation, Ezequiel reached out to Karen again, but neither recognized the other. Karen did go to Bible Talk and there Sara recognized her and vigorously apologized for not following up! Karen was so inspired by the disciples’ love and the Bible study that she attended Devo that same night!

The next week, Karen studied the Bible every day and was baptized at the City of Angels Church All-Congregational Service on July 1, 2012! This was the day that I first met Karen!

 
On her second spiritual birthday, July 1, 2014, she moved to Las Vegas on the Supplemental Mission Team and led the UNLV Campus Ministry with her then fiancé. Sadly, a few months later, he fell away with another sister! Karen felt abandoned and betrayed by this young man. A few months later at the Jose & Liz Torres Wedding in Las Vegas, Elena & I met Karen again, as Elena had met her at the Staff Meeting before Karen left for Las Vegas. We were touched by her genuine warmth, her enthusiasm to serve by helping Sonia Gonzalez to cook for the wedding, and her effectiveness in the ministry at such a relatively young age of 19! It was then that I asked her to become a student at ICCM, as I saw so much potential! As well, the decision was made for the church to sponsor Karen for her DACA Work Permit!

 
In October 2015, we asked Karen to return to LA. This she gladly did as she went on to lead the San Bernardino Sector Women under Adam Zepeda and Rebecca Rico, who led the very fruitful IE Region! Since Rebecca was discipling Karen, when Rebecca left to join her future husband working in the London Church, she emphatically said, “Karen is the best person to replace me as your Assistant for the Good News Email as she is very effective, very smart and ‘knows everyone!'”

 
So, in July 2016, Karen became Elena’s & my Assistant! Her work ethic with the Good News Email has been extraordinary in many long days and nights and in quality editing… redacting!

Peter and John were “unschooled and ordinary men” (Acts 4:13), yet after being with Jesus these fisherman wrote a very high quality of Greek in their writings! Similarly, Karen has become an excellent writer! In fact, she frequently “gently” corrects my grammar and punctuation! These are just a few of the reasons that Karen is now an ICCM-Global Assistant Redactor! (The ICCM-Global Redactor-in-Chief is Chris Adams, a Yale University Graduate, and the other Assistant Redactor is Dr. Jen Watkins, who received her PhD in Medieval Studies from another Ivy League School – Cornell University! Yes, Karen is now in their “league!”)

 
Elena & I thought we were going to have Karen for a couple more years, but the Spirit has directed otherwise. In April of this year, Karen had “caught the eye” of Joey Gregory – a very fruitful Campus Intern in the OC Region! He called me up several times for advice as he saw me as Karen’s dad in the faith! When Elena & I first sat down with Karen to “explore” if she had an interest in Joey, who was the right hand man for Coltin Rohn on the Columbus Mission Team, Karen’s first words were, “I will never go to Columbus!” Well, after a few dates, Joey won Karen over! So not unlike Silas, Luke and Timothy with Paul’s Macedonian Vision, it can now be said of Karen, “After [Joey] had seen the [Columbus Vision, Karen] got ready at once to leave for [Columbus], concluding that God had called [her] to preach the Gospel to them.” (Acts 16:10)

 
Why did she say, “I never want to go to Columbus?” It was simply because she loves her LA spiritual family and her mom Araceli so, so much! After all, she loved taking care of her mom, and in LA are her two spiritual Dads – Ricky Challinor and me! (She had several great moms in the faith as well – Coleen Challinor, Lianne Kernan, Megan Mathews, Sonia Gonzalez and Elena to name a few!)

As well, Karen now understands that disciples must love God and His plans more than not just their physical families, but their spiritual families too! All this said, I am tearing up as I write this, because Karen has become a true daughter in the faith to Elena & me! She now understands the principle: Never say never to God! Do you?

 
Let us all pray for the Milwaukee and Columbus Inaugural Services on September 19th and October 7th respectively, as well as for Nick & Denise Bordieri, who are joyfully leaving the comforts of America to oversee the Chhim MERCY Orphanage in the third world of Southeast Asia! Pray as well for every disciple in the SoldOut Movement to be EMPOWERED by God’s Spirit to take His Gospel to all nations in this generation! And to God be all the glory!
We are family… by God’s amazing grace,
Kip

Copyright © 2018 City Of Angels International Christian Church, All rights reserved.

For more information, please visit the City of Angels International Christian Church website at CAICC.net

 unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences 

July 14, 2018

ATTN: If the pictures in this article are distorted, then click on the “view it in your browser” link located at the top right-hand corner of the page.

Dear Friend,
Greetings from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Moscow, Lagos, Dubai and Los Angeles! Elena & I had a terrific time with the Dallas/Ft. Worth Church as we joyfully celebrated Mother’s Day! Then it was on to Moscow for the amazing Eurasian Missions Conference on May 18th through May 20th, where almost 250 disciples came together to celebrate THE ETERNAL COVENANT! That same Sunday, the City of Angels International Christian Church (CAICC) raised over one million dollars for Missions! Then at the end of May, I had the great honor to preach at the 11th City of Angels Church Anniversary Service! Two weeks later, the CAICC had a record attendance at their Bring Your Neighbor Day (BYND) of 2,105! On Saturday, June 16th was the incredible International Day of MERCY where thousands around the world were served by the zealous and loving MERCY Ambassadors! At the African Missions Conference on June 21st to June 24th in Lagos, God blessed us with seven baptisms! On Friday, June 29th, in a very tearful leadership exchange, RD & April Baker – the Father and Mother of faith of the Middle East – graciously entrusted the souls of the 35 sold-out Dubai Disciples to Miguel Mendez and Megan Mathews! And to God be all the glory!

HEADLINE NEWS

GLC highlights will include amazing preaching, extraordinary singing, glorious fellowship, the Sixth Commencement of the International College of Christian Ministries, and the Spirit sending out two more OPERATION EAGLE Mission Teams: Columbus, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

We will also be hosting the “Kingdom’s Got Talent Show!” This year is the fifth such occasion! If you are interested in performing, please send a video of your act to the Director of KGT5 – Jay Causey – by July 15th! The full GLC Program has been posted on the City of Angels Church Website!

The registration fee is $200 for a regular ticket; $180 for a current ICCM student; and $100 for a teen registration! Our Prayer Goals are for 1,800 American Disciples and 200 International Disciples to participate in the 2018 GLC as this will allow us to financially break even! Register now! (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-global-leadership-conference-empowered-tickets-42924191412)

 
We are encouraging every Church Leader Couple, every Shepherding Couple and every CAICC Region Leader Couple to stay at the Sheraton Park Hotel. The cost of a room is $139/night plus tax. The group rate is available until July 17th, so book now! (https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1801311047&key=E24CAE4)

 
There will not be a Global Leadership Conference next year to financially allow particularly American Disciples to attend Geographic Missions Conferences outside of the United States! Thus, this makes the 2018 GLC all the more important to attend! Be praying that over 2,000 disciples from around the world will come together for this momentous event!

Nick Bordieri – World Sector Leader of MERCYworldwide: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

On June 16, 2018 all of the SoldOut Movement Disciples on all six populated continents of the world became MERCY Ambassadors to let our light shine during the 11th Annual International Day of MERCY! Donning our KNOW MERCY T-shirts in a sign of unity across the globe, we served hurting individuals and communities with hearts of compassion and a spirit of joy!  

 
Our passion to live out our purpose did not go unnoticed! So many lives were impacted by MERCY Ambassadors during this year’s Day of MERCY! I particularly like the name the Sacramento Community gave the MERCY Ambassadors: “Angels in Green Shirts!” The following pictures only give a glimpse of how God used the Angels in Green Shirts!

 
Andrew Smellie – World Sector Leader of Africa: Greetings from Lagos, Nigeria and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), respectively the largest and third largest cities on the continent of Africa according to WorldAtlas.com! After an inspiring African Missions Conference in Lagos, I had the privilege to travel to Kinshasa on Wednesday, June 27th to help build a sold-out base of disciples by strengthening the Kinshasa Church Leadership and planning the evangelization of the almost 80 million souls of the DRC!

On my arrival to Kinshasa, at 1:30AM on Thursday morning, I was greeted by Micky & Lyly Ngungu, the Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader for the Kinshasa Church, along with seven other zealous Kinshasa Disciples!  

 
After getting some rest on Thursday, I met with the Ngungus for lunch and celebrated Lyly’s birthday as we reviewed the status and history of the Kinshasa Church. Micky & Lyly are both Congolese and became disciples in early 1993 in Johannesburg, South Africa as a married couple with two kids! After moving to Abidjan, Ivory Coast because French was their native language, they were called to the ministry in 1995 and planted the Kinshasa ICOC in October of that year! After moving back to Abidjan from 1997-2000, they returned to their homeland in 2000 and led the Kinshasa Church which reached 800 disciples by 2005!

 
Sadly, due to the “Great Tribulation” in the fall of the ICOC, the Ngungus were mistreated and deeply wounded spiritually. There was deep division in the Kinshasa Church as the ICOC usurped the Ngungus’ leadership and eventually disfellowshipped 12 key leaders. Included in the 12 were the Ngungus, who chose to take a godly stand against returning to autonomy and other Mainline Church of Christ doctrines. In 2007, Lyly in desperation took a job in South Africa just to make money as a nanny, since the Ngungu Family had grown to four children – Li, Sarah, Lena and Delia! After meeting with Tim Kernan back in 2012, Micky was eager to join the new Movement and came with a group of 150 remnant disciples also desperate for revival! At our First African Missions Conference in Abidjan in 2015, Lyly was restored to the Lord! Now both Micky & Lyly live in Kinshasa together, strong and united in the Lord!

On Friday, we visited the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN), which numbers over 26,000 students! It is a large campus, and a few disciples who graduated from UNIKIN also work at the university. Our prayer is for the whole Kinshasa Church to meet in their large amphitheater soon! 

 
On Friday night, I was encouraged to meet with all the 42 Bible Talk Leaders of the Kinshasa Church! Since the Democratic Republic of Congo is French-speaking and my secondary school training in French is far from fluent, I was grateful to have Micky translate for me! His ability to speak in English has grown tremendously, and inspires me to practice and become fluent in French! We are also looking forward to having our dear friends Blaise & Patricia Feumba move back to Abidjan, Ivory Coast in June 2019, so that they can oversee the evangelization of the 14 French-speaking Countries on the continent of Africa!

 
After preaching to the leaders from Ezekiel 33 and giving them an admonition to be courageous and to call every disciple to be “fully committed” (2 Chronicles 16:9), they were inspired to surpass the “former glory” of 800 members in the ICOC and do “even greater things” for the Lord! After our d-groups that evening, I was told that because of the lack of availability of water for a baptistery on Sunday, we would need to meet on Saturday morning at the Congo River to see 13 souls baptized – a new record in the Kinshasa Church! At 2:00AM, we greeted Amadou & Angele Sountoura – the present Abidjan Church Leaders – with the same warm SoldOut Movement Welcome that I received! 

 
After the baptisms we went to the hospital to encourage Lyly’s sister Martha, one of the most fruitful Sector Leaders of the Kinshasa Church! Despite three rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer and enduring a mastectomy, she was fired up to greet us and sends her love to the Lagos Church and to the disciples around the world!

 
On Sunday, we celebrated the start of the Kinshasa Church Reconstruction with much singing and dancing! I preached on being RELIGIOUS OR RIGHTEOUS? from Daniel 3 to an audience of 579 souls! In fact, we probably had well over 600 as there were even more people outside of the windows listening intently to the message as Micky translated in French!

 
After a great day of worship, Amadou preached at a very fired up Bible Talk Leaders Meeting on the lessons that God taught him in the reconstruction of the Abidjan Church just three years ago! He concluded by sharing about their Bring Your Neighbor Day on June 17, 2018 where 150 Abidjan Disciples had 602 in attendance and witnessed 8 baptisms and 1 restoration! Amadou preached that those kind of miracles will only occur when the foundation of a congregation is composed of only sold-out disciples! Amadou explained that this sold-out foundation was accomplished by counting the cost with every Abidjan Church Member!

 
What a privilege it is to serve the Lord on the Motherland of Africa! Please pray for forceful advancement as God continues to build His Kingdom in the DRC and throughout the African continent!
 
Richie McDonnell – Lead Evangelist of Manila: Greetings from the beautiful 7,641 Islands of the Philippines! The month of June has been incredible for the Filipino Churches! The Metro Manila ICC celebrated our Third Anniversary on June 10th with a record attendance of 433!

 
Then both the Metro Manila and Metro Cebu Churches had an amazing Day of MERCY on June 16th! It was a day filled with serving the young and impoverished children of the Payatas Community, which is a neighborhood adjacent to a dumpsite. The people of Payatas rummage through the dumpsite to recycle the trash for their everyday lives. This community is the poorest of the poor. Most of them are unable to afford an inexpensive jeepney ride out of the neighborhood, costing only about $0.14 USD. 

 
In Metro Cebu the Day of MERCY was just as awesome! The MERCY Ambassadors similar to us in Manila played games with the children of Barangay Ermita, performed songs, and danced with the kids! Delicious food was provided for all of the children and over 100 backpacks of school supplies were given to them as well! God was truly glorified on this Day of MERCY!

 
Next, on June 24th, the Metro Cebu Church hosted its very First Women’s Day where 18 sisters and 7 visiting sisters had 96 women in attendance and 3 baptisms!

 
It has been an exciting month as the Lord continues to “add to our number!” The Metro Manila ICC has been blessed by God with 83 additions in 2018 so far – 56 baptisms, 16 restorations and 11 place memberships! Also of note, a new remnant group of 13 has come out just a three hour bus ride north of Cebu in Daanbantayan! And to God be all the glory!
 
Anthony Olmos – Lead Evangelist of Paris: Greetings from Kiev! Though it has been difficult to be away from Paris, I am very appreciative of Kip and Oleg giving me the opportunity to reconstruct the Kiev Church! It has truly been an amazing time here, as Cassidy & I have fallen in love with the disciples and this incredible city! God has been glorified as we celebrated the One Year Anniversary Service of the Kiev Church on a boat! With 40 disciples, we had 191 in attendance! By God’s grace, we will have many baptisms and restorations very soon!

 
These past three weeks in Kiev have been inspiring, yet extremely challenging! Most challenging of all is that Cassidy suffered her second miscarriage in the past few months, and now both of her Fallopian tubes have been surgically removed – one from each miscarriage! We were very encouraged by Cassidy’s doctor when she shared that Cassidy might still be able to become pregnant through “in vitro fertilization.” I am so very proud of her as she is still radiant, faithful and trusting in the Lord! We celebrated her 30th Birthday this past weekend! To make it extra special, I surprised Cassidy on Friday morning with a “piece of Paris” cake! After her cake, our Father and Mother in the faith – Michael & Michele Williamson – sent beautiful flowers that moved Cassidy to tears! We continued to celebrate that night at a restaurant overlooking all of Kiev!

 
The next day was the most special surprise of all for Cassidy, as her best friend Rebecca Gray secretly traveled from London to Kiev! This was the most special as Cass was “stung” by unbelief! Both sisters embraced each other and were filled with emotion as each wept in each other’s arms! This was really one of Cassidy’s best birthdays!

 
Dustin Miller – Lead Evangelist of Denver: Greetings from the beautiful Mile High City! It has been an incredible last few months as we have seen the Denver ICC grow in so many ways! Amanda & I are so proud of the church in Denver as we blew out our Missions Goal of $80,000 (which was a 32x for us)! Also, we have seen 13 additions since the last Good News Email on May 5th, and have even sent out our intern to Albuquerque and an incredible sister to Columbus, Ohio!

 
Since volunteering to send Shyloe Pollard to Albuquerque, God blessed us with 4 amazing place memberships! It is incredible to have seen firsthand how God really does take care of us when we trust Him! Lastly, very encouraging to me was to see the baptism of Angie Garcia! Angie was reached out to by our dear sister Jennifer Torres during a very tough time. Jennifer gave birth to a son named Sam, and very sadly only a few minutes later he passed away. It was during this time that Jen reached out to Angie. Angie shared at her baptism that it was seeing Jen’s incredible faithfulness and love for God during her trials that inspired Angie to pursue a relationship with God and make Him Lord of her life! 

 
Lastly, Curt & Morgan Valdez have joined our efforts to evangelize the Rocky Mountains! Amanda & I are so excited to build an incredible partnership in the Gospel with them!

 
Alfredo Anuch – Overseeing Evangelist of Quito: The Quito (Ecuador) Church was planted in March 2018 by Manuel & Claudia Palma! They were sent off at the South American Missions Conference last February! The Lord used the Palmas, and they valiantly grew the church from 9 disciples to 19 disciples in just three months! This was remarkable! That being said, we know that Satan often attacks after victories, and that is precisely what he did. Satan attacked the Palmas through discouragement and acedia. Now, the good news is that the Palmas are faithful and happy to be back in the fellowship in Santiago!

 
As the Lord always does, He provided a new leadership couple to lead the Quito Church to build on the foundation of the Palmas. That couple is Anthony & Alejandra Rodriguez, who planted and led the Monterrey (Mexico) ICC.

The Rodriguezes are fired up to be in Quito, and once again God is taking care of His church as He always does!
 
Peter Markarian – Lead Minister of Gainesville: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Greetings from Gator Country! In the past two months since Jessica & I were blown by the Spirit to Gainesville, the miracles have been nothing short of phenomenal! First off, we are very grateful for Marcel & Tia Turner’s love, patience and training! So amazing for the Gainesville Church was that in the midst of preparing the Miami Supplemental Mission Team, God gave us five powerful additions!

 
One of these baptisms was met by our brother Zach Dryden a year ago! He studied the Bible, but at the time he was heavily engrossed in Satan worship. After arguing with the Scriptures, he decided to walk away only to return a year later humbled by God. He ran into the brothers once again, and after restudying for about four weeks, Trey was baptized! He went from being a pagan in the Kingdom of Darkness to now a prince in the Kingdom of Light!

 
On that very same day, a supplemental mission team was sent to Miami! It was a tearing of heart as friendships had been forged in just a few short years with these faithful few, and yet God has called them to “even greater things!”

 
Lastly, the parents of two sisters here have been heavily persecuting them and the church, and even went as far as to file a complaint to the University Police Department! That is when one of the workers overheard them making their complaint, and instead of being repelled, he was compelled to find this controversial church! He recalled at that moment, “I have not heard of persecution like this since the Crossroads Church in the 70’s and early 80’s!” After finding us online, Steve & Angie Middleton – who were both part of the Crossroads Movement and the ICOC – attended their first service and quickly realized that “this was the church they were baptized into!” About three weeks later after becoming dear friends to the Turners, Jessica & me, they officially placed membership with God’s SoldOut Discipling Movement! The Middletons were so moved by the passion and fire of every single disciple in the fellowship! Steve shared with tears in his eyes that his heart has again been ignited on fire like the day he was first baptized! 

 
Raul Moreno – World Sector Leader of Central and South America: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8) What an amazing passage! Abraham went to Canaan even though he had never been there, and he was blessed because of this faith! Likewise, the São Paulo Church has made some radical decisions to see our part of the world won for Christ! At service, we announced all the changes and everyone was filled with joy and with tears as well! Here are the plans we laid before the Lord:

 
1. After the GLC, Tulio & Vaítsa Amaral will move from leading the Tatuapé Sector to lead the South Region of the São Paulo Church! Lynda & I will be there with them for six months to further their training. In January 2019, the Amarals will move to Santiago, Chile to learn Spanish, as in February 2019, they will plant the Lima (Peru) Church! We already have a small remnant group there, and we have several more Peruvian Disciples in both São Paulo and Santiago that will go on the team!

 
2. After the GLC, Danilo & Carol Bataglin will move from leading the West Region of the São Paulo Church to, God willing, Dallas, Texas to bolster the campus ministry work there! After that time, they will move to Santiago for about a year to lead the campus ministry!

 
3. After the GLC, Vini Rodrigues & Bia Hida will move from the South Region to lead the West Region of the São Paulo Church! The West Region will be divided into two sectors: an English Sector and a Portuguese Sector! An English church service is very attractive to opinion leaders in São Paulo, so we will use this resource to save those individuals!

 
4. The English Sector will be led from August 2018 to December 2018 by Lynda & me with Luca di Beo assisting! In January 2019, the Holy Spirit will bring Sophia Sirotkina from Moscow to São Paulo as she just “happens to be” dating Luca! Then for the first six months of 2019, Luca & Sophia will lead the English Sector, and when Luca graduates from USP in June, Lord willing, they will move to London to further their training to plant a discipling church in Rome!

 
5. After the GLC, our Tatuapé Sector will be led by Renato & Maria Jose Tria! This sector will be used to train two awesome young dating couples for the ministry: Alex Carrim & Daine Ferreira and Gabriel Especamilha & Amanda Silva!

 
Thank you LA for sending missionaries to São Paulo to plant our church seven years ago! God-willing, we will imitate your example to produce a similar result! Oh yes, we are so ecstatic to welcome Jasmine Mikulak of LA to help Lynda & me with our children’s homeschooling! Indeed, “God is good!” (Psalm 106:1)

 
Brian Carr – Lead Evangelist of Eugene: After completing our Missions Contribution, we moved into our “Fight for Someone Summer of Fun Campaign” where everyone adopted the goal of finding one open person to befriend, study the Bible with, and baptize! Excitingly, Leo was baptized into Christ just 10 days into the campaign!

Tyler Jongsma from Sacramento came to surprise his dad in Eugene for Father’s Day and reached out to his friend Denny. Amazingly, Tyler and I made plans to go hike a mountain one morning and do a follow-up study with our newly baptized brother Leo, and Denny just “so happened to be” at the same mountain to go hiking that morning! We ended up all hiking the mountain together, studying the Bible with Denny at the top, and in less than two weeks he was baptized as our brother in Christ! To God be the glory!

 
Raja Rajan – Lead Evangelist of New Delhi: Greetings from the Capital of India! God has given us more than we could ask or imagine! Since the New Delhi Mission Team landed in New Delhi just 63 days ago, God has added 70 souls – 38 baptisms, 19 restorations and 13 place memberships! So with 38 on the mission team, God has grown the Delhi Church to now 108 sold-out disciples!

 
We started with just one teen, our daughter Isheeta, and now in just two months, we have 17 teens in the New Delhi Church!

 
We also had our first marriage in the church – Vignesh & Scarlett! Vignesh is from a Hindu background and Scarlett from a Muslim background! At their wedding, the disciples fulfilled the Scriptures to be “their” mother, brother and sister as both physical families did not come for the wedding! However, it was a magnificent and glorious celebration!

 
We started the First Principles Classes and many from our former fellowship heard the teaching and said, “We have never heard such teachings before;” “We were never taught these truths as only the full-time workers did the studies;” “These teachings are good and will help me to teach others effectively;” and “I am so happy I get to learn how to teach others!”

 
We are so excited to meet all of our brothers and sisters from across the world during the GLC in just five weeks!
 
MCKEANS’ MISSIONARY TRAVELS
Elena & I were so looking forward to going to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) for the Mother’s Day Weekend on May 11th through the 13th! Not only were we able to fellowship with the DFW Church and their valiant leaders – Tyler & Shay Sears – but we were able to spend great time with our daughter Olivia, her husband Santtu and our two precious granddaughters – Scarlett (5) and Savannah (2)!

 
One of the many highlights of the Mother’s Day Service was the Welcome and Opening Prayer! The Welcome was given by Ernesto & Stephanie Morales and the Prayer was done by their disciple sons – Geo and Aiden! Then beautiful roses were passed out to all the “moms” in the audience that day!

 
Amazingly, without talking to each other, Nicole Peralta moved our hearts for Communion as she shared Proverbs 3:1-6, and Elena for Contribution shared Proverbs 3:9-10!

 
For the sermon entitled GOD’S AMAZING GRACE, I chose the account of Hosea & Gomer to help the brothers and sisters appreciate God’s amazing love for us as sinners! After church, we were blessed to have an incredible Mother’s Day meal with Santtu, Olivia, Scarlett and Savannah!

 
Then Elena returned to LA, but I went on to Moscow for the Eurasian Missions Conference! I was met at the airport by Raul Moreno of São Paulo, Oleg & Aliona Sirotkin – the Eurasian World Sector Leaders – and the new dating couple Luca Di Beo also of São Paulo & Sophia Sirotkina! The exciting them was THE ETERNAL COVENANT!

 
On Thursday evening, May 17th, we had the Speakers Dinner which was in fact a delicious meal! To conclude that evening, I gave a short charge on GOD SCATTERS AND GOD GATHERS challenging all the leaders to be like Jesus and be the very hands of God in gathering the lost and the remnant! My four points were simply, 1) God Gathered; 2) Jesus Gathered; 3) Paul Gathered; and 4) We Must Gather!

 
Friday morning, May 18th was the Leadership Workshop where Michael Williamson of London preached to a packed house on THE ETERNAL COVENANT! He stressed that disciples do not have a “contract” with God, but a “covenant!”

 
Then we divided into Men’s and Women’s Programs! Anthony Olmos of Paris preached to the men on A COVENANT OF LOVE! I will never forget his account of Cassidy – who like Anthony – had been very fired up over her newfound pregnancy because she had previously suffered two miscarriages! However, Cassidy was rushed to the hospital for a third miscarriage! And yet, Cassidy was singing Thank You Lord! This was a huge upward call for me to be joyful as it was a very tough day since my father would have turned 90 years old that day.

 
Following Anthony’s inspirational lesson, five short charges were preached by Slava Kapskiy of Moscow, Kaspar Tambaur of Stockholm, Vlad Matveyuk of Moscow, Luca Di Beo and RD Baker! Kaspar shared a terrific insight: The Greek word for co-worker is “synergoi.” This is where we get the English word – synergy – which means the performance of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts! So in 2 Corinthians 6:1, we are “co-workers with God,” therefore we can do much more than we thought possible! Being a “co-worker” with fellow disciples as Paul shared about in Philippines 4:3, each of us is motivated to do more!

 
In the Women’s Program, Michele Williamson of London spoke on ELEVATE FOR ETERNITY!

 
After her lesson, the five charges were given by Aliona Sirotkina, Sophia Sirotkina, Masha Bizimova of Moscow, Cassidy Olmos of Paris, and April Baker of Dubai!

 
For lunch, I was able to fellowship with Erik & Michelle af Klint and Erik’s son Gustaf that I had known since he was in elementary school!

Later that afternoon, Oleg and I studied “remnant theology” with Sasha & Paulina Korostelov of Kiev, who were attending our former fellowship yet seeking revival! The following weekend they placed membership with the Kiev ICC!

On Friday evening, was the First General Session of the Eurasian Missions Conference! The singing was incredible! Then came a powerful Opening Video! Following was the always inspirational Flag Ceremony of all the Eurasian Nations! While the flags were paraded into the conference hall, Sophia beautifully sang the lead for the Moscow Band as they sang, Make Me A Believer!

 
Then I was privileged to share GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

 
Then came a brief but powerful MERCY Presentation by Nick & Denise Bordieri – the World Sector Leaders of MERCY – and Slava & Lena Kapskiy, the Moscow MERCY Directors!

To conclude this “MERCY Moment,” we saw several of the Down Syndrome children – that the Moscow MERCY Ambassadors reach out to regularly at Dancing House – perform a dance with their house parents! There was not a dry eye in the auditorium!

 
After a break and more singing, Oleg preached the Word as only Oleg can preach it with humor and conviction on the theme, GIVE YOUR LAST DROP OF BLOOD!

 
On Saturday, May 19th was the Second General Session! I spoke on THE COVENANT OF GRACE! After a half-an-hour break, we divided into three sessions: Marrieds, Singles and Campus And Teens! For the Marrieds, RD & April spoke together on THE ETERNAL MARRIAGE COVENANT! This class was followed by Admonitions by Erik & Michelle Af Klint of Stockholm, Victor & Sonia Gonzalez of LA, and Dima & Tanya Serafonov of Moscow!

 
The Singles Track was led by Anthony & Cassidy on the theme ENJOY BEING SINGLE! Short charges were given by Timur & Vika Butakov of St. Petersburg, Juriy Zykov of London, and Yulia Ursul of Kiev!

 
For the Campus And Teens, Raul spoke on FORCEFUL ADVANCEMENT! Then the students were treated to amazing practical Biblical teachings from Luca, Sophia, Vlad and Masha!

 
Then at 3:00PM was the Football (Soccer) Tournament: Moscow vs. the World! Well, it ended with Moscow handily winning 8 to 3!

 
Saturday night was the Third General Session – The Kingdom Banquet! There was sooooo much food and very tasty too!

 
Then we heard Raul deliver the masterful speech, ETERNAL IMPACT calling us to focus our eyes not on this world, but on all things eternal!

 
Sunday morning, we opened up church with a Mini Concert! Sophia and the Moscow Band again sang, Make Me A Believer! Marina Pryadko of Kiev sang a famous Russian song which translates to, I Will Stay. Ada Rodriguez of Moscow – a professional singer – treated us with Raise Me Up in English, and Walt Whitaker of Stockholm sang an amazing song that he wrote, I’m A Soldier!

 
After this, Michele Williamson shared for Communion saying, “The Kingdom is all I have!” Then, Raul read Haggai 1:2-4 and gave a stirring Contribution Charge!

 
Then RD Baker gave the close out speech, ETERNAL GRACE! He preached on the Great Commission in Matthew 28, and then told the story of the Dubai Mission Team which celebrated their Inaugural Service in September 2016! There were 9 on the team, and they did have 6 restorations in that Fall! However, there were no baptisms, as well three on the original team returned to their homelands in the Fall because of visa issues. So the then 12 Dubai Disciples at the 2017 January Winter Workshop were called to repent and in the next 12 months, God blessed them with 29 baptisms! RD laid it out, “I learned that people are as open my mouth!” He went on to say, “So you do not want to be a missionary on a mission team? Well, it’s too late! You signed up to be a missionary when you were baptized!” It was an incredible send off speech for all of us!

 
At the end of the service, Lena placed membership; Tanya was restored; and Julia was baptized!

 
The fellowship went on for quite some time after the phenomenal singing of the closing song, Молитва За Cмелость (Prayer For Boldness)!

 
Three weeks after the 11th Anniversary Service of the City of Angels Church on May 27th, Elena & I flew to Lagos, Nigeria for the African Missions Conference (AMC) entitled, FEAR NONE… EXCEPT GOD!

 
After an incredible Nigerian Feast, we heard our dynamic brother Blaise Feumba deliver the stirring message, FEAR GOD AND GIVE HIM GLORY! My favorite quote from that amazing message was, “The power is not in the messenger, the power is in the message!”

 
In the morning of June 22nd, we met at the Virginrose Hotel for the Church Builders Workshop of the AMC! Andrew & Patrique gave the Welcome and announced that it was Patricia Feumba’s 50th Birthday!

After a short break, we came back together with the song, Come And See where a Conga Line quickly formed around the room!

 
The afternoon was open so it afforded more opportunities for fellowship and some rest! That evening was the First General Session!

The opening included amazing singing, a Cultural Dance Performance, a Welcome Video and the Opening Prayer by Dr. Benedict Atason – the “Man of Nigeria!”

Benedict was given the name “Man of Nigeria” similar to the “Man of Macedonia” in Paul’s dream recorded in Acts 16 where a “Man of Macedonia [begged Paul], ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us!'” This gave direction to Paul – from God – to expand his ministry from Asia to Europe! Likewise, Benedict’s plea to Andrew and me was to change the Crown of Thorns Project’s key African City from Johannesburg to Lagos! This we did!

 
Then we had a very encouraging session where several different disciples shared GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND AFRICA!

 
On Saturday morning, June 23rd, we divided into Men’s and Women’s Programs! The lessons from Proverbs 23:17 – BE ZEALOUS FOR THE FEAR OF THE LORD – were delivered by LuJack Martinez and Elena respectively!

 
Then each program heard five very interesting 20 minute charges: Overcoming The Fear Of Failure, Overcoming The Fear Of Family, Overcoming The Fear Of Sacrifice, Overcoming The Fear Of Job Loss, and Overcoming The Fear Of The Past! When I heard Bolaji speak so powerfully on Overcoming The Fear Of Job Loss, I sensed that he would once again become a very influential Evangelist!

After a short lunch break, we boarded small buses to go to our MERCY Project at the Red Cross Orphanage in the underprivileged community of Makoko! Unfortunately, it rained during our time there so it limited some of the disciples’ access to the orphans. That said, those of us that were able to go into the buildings had a terrific time holding babies, singing Kingdom Songs with the younger children, and doing crafts as well as playing games with some of the older orphans!

 
That evening was the Talent Show and Dance Party! Elena & I were not able to attend, as this was the only time available for us to fellowship with Bolaji & Chinyere! The Akinfenwas are a very talented couple who served full-time in our former movement overseeing the work in three African Nations! Lord willing, Chinyere will join Bolaji on the full-time Lagos Staff in the very near future!

Sunday, June 24th was the Final General Session and the AMC Worship Service! To open up the service, our hearts were greatly moved by the singing and an International Prayer! I still remember leaning over to Michael Williamson and enthusiastically sharing that there is no place else where the singing is as powerful as in Africa!

 
The Sunday sermon was WHOM SHALL I FEAR? by Dr. Andrew Smellie! Very interestingly, Andrew had three points: 1) What Do Religious People Fear? 2) What Do Irreligious People Fear? and 3) What Should Disciples Fear?
 

 
To gloriously close out the AMC, LuJack Martinez wrote new words to The Glory Song – The Africanus Version!
 

Monday, June 25th Elena & I had very special times with the Lagos Women Interns and Tolani & Kate!

Then we were off to the airport to fly from Lagos to Frankfurt to Dubai! As we neared Dubai, so many awesome memories of the Dubai Mission Team and Inaugural Service flooded our minds!
 

Upon landing in Dubai on Tuesday night, June 26th, since we were in a Middle Eastern Country, there was no singing by the disciples, but there was loud cheering and signs warmly welcoming us to the United Arab Emirates! We also circled up and had an awesome prayer!

 
Our main purpose for going to Dubai was to oversee the change of leadership from RD & April Baker to Miguel Mendez and Megan Mathews! The next two days were spent in fellowship times with these four courageous disciples!

 
Since RD was preaching and he usually led the singing as well, I volunteered to “come out of retirement” and to lead several of the songs for our worship service!

For Communion, April shared about her life and how her time in Dubai had impacted her.

Before RD preached, we were shown a slideshow about all the good times and the baptisms in Dubai for the past two years! Inspirationally, the song Time Of Your Life was played during the slideshow! The title of RD’s sermon was THE END OF CHAPTER ONE! He began his lesson by recounting the sacrifices of the original nine-person mission team and the astounding Inaugural Service attendance of 56! He also shared about April suffering a heart attack and ensuing cardiac arrest for four minutes in 2017! Yet, God blessed the 12 Dubai Disciples of January 1, 2017 with 40 baptisms in 21 months! Due to the transient nature of the city of Dubai, 10 of these baptisms have moved “home” to nations such as India and the Philippines! As RD finished his sermon, there was not a dry eye in the house!
 

After service, we had lunch and an awesome study with a remnant couple – Sada & Dores Kochunni! A week later, Sada placed membership in the Dubai ICC!

 
Saturday, we had a farewell breakfast with the Bakers knowing that we would see them very soon in Los Angeles, where they will become the Ventura Region Leaders!

 
Saturday night was the Going Away Party for the Bakers! The room was exquisitely decorated with balloons and pictures of the Bakers’ Dubai Days! Pasted on the wall at the back of the room was the heartwarming thought, “Home is where the Lord is!”

FAMILY NEWS
Portland: It is great to be a part of a worldwide Movement as Cristina, who was studying the Bible earlier this year, was told by her husband that if she was baptized, he would divorce her. Cristina was having a hard time until she went on a prayer run and it finally clicked for her: God is a lot more important than anyone or anything! She was baptized that weekend and then because of certain situations, they soon moved to Mexico City! Her husband Raul had met the disciples in Mexico City… And then he met God through the studies and was baptized! Excitingly, Cristina then baptized her mom and Cristina returned to Portland last month, but this time with her mother and her “formerly persecuting” husband as disciples of Christ! Praise God we have a church in Portland! Praise God we have a church in Mexico City! And praise God we have churches in so many cities to baptize our families!

 
Denver: We were all able to witness the incredible baptism of Dave Jones! Dave is the father of our young campus brother Sean and has been attending church since Amanda & I moved to Denver a year and half ago! We are very proud of Sean and the example he has set for his family!

 
Dallas/Ft. Worth: Hector Mogollon & Taylor Williams were engaged on May 12th and their wedding is planned for August 11, 2018! Hector was baptized in the South Region of Los Angeles in 2011 and was a key member of the DFW Mission Team! Taylor was baptized in DFW in 2015 and is also the sister of Ryan & Nikki Williams in San Diego! Together they help lead our Teen Ministry!

 
Boston: On May 13, 2018, Sharmayne Viscichini gave birth to her first child, Ethan Tobias in Brooklyn, New York just two weeks before Aaron & Sharmayne left New York City to lead the mighty Boston Church! Aaron shared, “What a miraculous experience that will forever change our lives and my perspective on the strength of women, as Sharmayne had an all-natural birth!”

Also, on Saturday, July 7th, Gianni DiFusco got down on one knee and proposed to the “love of his life” Skyla Eastman! These two talented disciples just started leading the Boston AMS Ministry and are “superlatively happy” (Psalm 119:1-2), as they enter into this new adventure and new stage of life!

 
New York City: On June 25th, we had our smallest addition to the New York City Family! We are honored to announce “Baby Iva Merritt” is finally here!

 
On June 30th, our dear brother Jamal Ellis was “finally” engaged to be married to an amazing woman of God – Urline Jean-Baptiste!

 
Mexico City: The first six months of 2018 have been simply amazing as God has given us 44 baptisms, 8 restorations and 5 place memberships! One of our most recent miracles is the birth of Isabella Wagers, the beautiful daughter of Albert & Jeny!

 
Moscow: On June 10th, Rezo & Sasha Davitadze inspired the entire Moscow Church at their wedding with their love for God and their vows to one another!

Kiev: Congratulations to Sasha & Alina Balitski who dynamically lead the Kiev Campus Ministry!

Las Vegas: José & Liz Torres are now the proud parents of two beautiful little girls! Their second daughter – Riley Margarita Torres Gonzalez – was born on May 3rd at 6:40AM at 7lbs. and 18inches!

São Paulo: At the 2018 Women’s Day, everyone rejoiced that Luca’s mom Marisa Vila Real was baptized into Christ!

 
Honolulu: This past week, we had two incredible teens baptized! Toa and Meleane are the son and daughter of Joe & Mary Santos – the Honolulu Shepherding Couple!

 
Hilo: Chris & Mahe Directo – who serve as the Hilo Shepherding Couple – baptized their youngest son, Austin! So now their family is totally united in Christ!

San Francisco: Since the last Good News Email, two of our amazing interns here in the San Francisco Church – Tyre Ellison & Jael Cook – were engaged! Lord willing, they will be married in November and then next year at our Annual Winter Workshop, “the Ellisons” will lead the planting of our fifth region in Hayward, California!

 
Los Angeles – Metro Heights Region: Congratulations to Omar Valdovinos on the baptisms of his twins – Savana and Ezekiel!

 
Also, a special congratulations to Mario Mijango & Michelle Miranda on their engagement!

 
Los Angeles – Antelope Valley Region (AV): For the AV Teen Ministry, we witnessed the baptism of Isaah Hernandez on June 28th and Christina Hernandez on July 5th! To add to these miracles, Isaah and Christina are the younger siblings of Malonie Penn (our new teen leader) and the children of our amazing sister Genisha Williams! Their family now has four disciples united in Christ!

Los Angeles – AMS Region: Our dear brother Terri Tait passed on to glory on June 8th. On the card sent with the beautiful bouquet of flowers to Debbie Tait in honor of her disciple husband was written, “Terri touched so many lives as ‘he fought the good fight and finished the race!’ Our spirits are lifted from our loss because we will see him in Heaven! Our condolences to you who must remain separated from your love for a while. We are family… by God’s amazing grace, the City of Angels International Christian Church.”

 
Miami/Ft. Lauderdale: On a very bittersweet note, we had our dear sister Juana Dominguez join the angels last Tuesday. She is the grandmother of Dania who moved to Miami from NYC to be on the mission team. Dania had one dream coming here and that was for her grandmother to become a disciple! Juana made her good confession and was baptized late last year at 88 years of age! Since her health was failing, Juana could only make it to a few Bible Talks, one House Church Service, and just a few months ago, she had enough strength to attend one Congregational Service! She was so full of life and at one point was so fired up that she stood up during service and lifted her hands in joy and Dania and the Spanish Ministry were amazed! She leaves behind a very grateful family, including Joseph, Dania’s cousin who was also baptized a few months ago! The family is sad, but content, knowing Juana made it home!

 
Manila: Incredibly, on June 2nd, Felip Biongan & Wis Leuterio, the Ateneo Campus Ministry Leaders, became engaged at the Armor Bearers and Shield Maidens Royalty Gala! 

 
On May 19th, the Manila Church celebrated the wedding of Arkho & Hon Andalis! 

 
In the last two months, it has been incredible to see so many physical family members become spiritual family together! Joy’s younger brother, Wil, was baptized! Yanyan, the teenage daughter of Lito was baptized! Janine’s mother, Margarita, was restored! Aires’s sister, Love, was baptized! Ge’s cousin, Mela, was baptized! Rose’s sister, Che, was baptized! Mark’s niece, Grace, was baptized! Maricel’s daughter, Justine, was also baptized!

Lastly, it was incredible to see a whole family brought to unity in Christ: the Siasat Family, who were seeking spiritual revival after having left the ICOC years ago! First, the youngest teenage daughter and Kingdom Kid, Jaja, was baptized, which then inspired her older sister, Christia, to be restored the following week! These events finally culminated in their two parents, Relly & Gina, getting restored the week after! To God be the glory! 

LOCAL LA NEWS
Tim Kernan – Lead Evangelist of Los Angeles: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57) Greetings from sunny and beautiful Los Angeles, California! We are currently in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave as temperatures have hit 117 degrees! The highest previous record in Downtown LA was 112 in 1990! Lianne & I do not have air-conditioning, so it has been a little like living in a Western movie at the Kernans!

 
We are so grateful to God for all the amazing things that are happening right now highlighted by raising over 1.1 million dollars for Missions in May! 

Another landmark victory was the record attendance of 2,105 at our Bring Your Neighbor Day on Sunday, June 10th!

Thank you to Kip & Elena who called each LA Disciple to fast and pray to move God’s heart until that disciple had collected five commitments for the BYND! Lianne & I are so grateful for each LA Disciple who fought so hard for this immense victory!

 
Another amazing story is that of Anthony & Tayyiba “Ty” Haneef-Park who were baptized on Saturday, July 7th in the FORCE Sector of the Orange County Region! Ty is a three-time Olympian in Women’s Volleyball! Amazingly, she won silver medals in both Beijing and London! Anthony is a fighter pilot who ran track and played football for the Air Force Academy! Ty was met through the CyberMinistry via Chantelle Anderson’s Confidently His VLOG! Ty came out to the AMS Women’s Day with Chantelle! After Ty heard Chantelle’s testimony and Therese Untalan, the keynote speaker, she immediately started to study! Our mighty Congregational Shepherds – Tony & Therese Untalan and Nick & Denise Bordieri – led most of the studies!

 
Lastly, it is so encouraging that our dear sister Yelena Astanina has recovered from a diabetic coma and is now back working in our amazing Movement Administrative Staff! Please keep us in your prayers as we are in the middle of radicalizing all of our Bible Talks! And to God be the glory!
 
EDITORIAL
International Nationals
The 2018 African Missions Conference in Lagos had so many memorable moments! From a church-building perspective, perhaps the most profound for me was when I was introduced to Tolani Abiodun and Deji Aregbesola – both Nigerian nationals who were baptized in London through the efforts of Michael Williamson! Upon their returning home to Nigeria, Andrew Smellie saw both of these “International Nationals” to be five-talent men! Therefore, they quickly became full-time interns and students at ICCM-Lagos!

 
Women International Nationals that have made a huge difference in Lagos are Tina Nwachukwu and Kate Awara! Again, both five-talent and full-time interns! What makes these four disciples so special is that they have renounced “their rights” to live in the First World! It could be said of Tolani, “By faith [Tolani] when he had grown up, refused to be known as a [Londoner]. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as a greater value than the treasures of [England], because he was looking ahead to his reward! By faith, he left [England], not fearing [his parents’] anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible!” (Hebrews 11:24-27)

 
Other young national disciples that have had a terrific impact returning to their homelands or their heritage include: Marc & Maika Carbonell, Zach & Ariel Shields, RJ Castro and Carlos Robielos – in Manila; Lucy Mejia, Miguel & Myrna Limon in Mexico City; and six of the Hong Kong Seven Mission Team! All of these disciples have made a huge difference in building these key churches!

 
It also occurred to me that God in His foreknowledge knew that our former fellowship would be scattered because of our sins. Yet, He left a small remnant in most nations that allows us to initially begin remnant groups. In time, we are able to plant churches by sending mission teams or by reconstruction. International remnants have allowed us to build incredible churches in India (Raja & Debs Rajan), Russia (Oleg Sirotkin), Ukraine (Aliona Sirotkina), London (Michele Williamson), Sydney (Kerry Willis), Santiago (Alfredo & Alejandra Anuch), Paris (Philippe Scheidecker), Lagos (Goodhope & Bonita Atason and Bolaji & Chinyere Akinfenwa), Abidjan (Amadou & Angele Sountoura), Kinshasa (Micky & Lyly Ngungu), Johannesburg (Jacques & Jeanette Groenewald), and seven more couples in seven other African Nations!

 
Often, remnant disciples from our former fellowship or Mainline Churches of Christ come into God’s new Movement still hurting from being in lukewarm congregations. Most have lost a great deal of trust in God and in church leadership leading them to the sins of acedia, contempt and even lukewarmness! “To win the remnant,” young church leaders must have a respect for these “veterans” in the war against Satan. In love, we must offer trust and mercy even when the remnant are hesitant to give their hearts. We must continue to “fry the airwaves” in getting God’s message out to the remnant – both in churches and fallen away!

 
It is time to call our young national disciples to remember their vow at baptism – “go anywhere, do anything and give up everything!” Yes, the price is high, but what a joy it will be to bring “their people” and for many their physical families the message of the Gospel and the gifts of forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit, the Church and Heaven for eternity! So looking forward to meeting and hugging all of our International Nationals at the 2018 Global Leadership Conference! And to God be all the glory in all nations!
We are family… by God’s amazing grace,
Kip

Copyright © 2018 City Of Angels International Christian Church, All rights reserved.

For more information, please visit the City of Angels International Christian Church website at CAICC.net

 unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences 

ATTN: If the pictures in this article are distorted, then click on the “view it in your browser” link located at the top right-hand corner of the page.

Dear Friend,

Copyright © 2018 City Of Angels International Christian Church, All rights reserved.

For more information, please visit the City of Angels International Christian Church website at CAICC.net

 unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences 

May 3, 2018

ATTN: If the pictures in this article are distorted, then click on the “view it in your browser” link located at the top right-hand corner of the page.

Dear Friend,
Greetings from San Francisco, Hilo, Manila, Hong Kong, Chennai, Paris and Los Angeles! In the almost two months since the last Good News Email, the Spirit has done so much around the world! In March, Elena & I had the pleasure of being with the San Francisco Church for their Women’s Day entitled BEAUTIFUL where 91 disciples had 230 in attendance! In late March, we flew to Hilo to help our dear son in the faith Kyle Bartholomew be restored to the Lord! We then flew to Manila for the exciting Pacific Rim Missions Conference where three were restored and one was baptized on Sunday! Then Elena & I flew to Hong Kong where we were able to study with and baptize Ria – an actress, model and singer! Following those memorable days, Elena flew home to LA and I traveled on to Chennai for the South Asia Missions Conference (SAMC)! At the Sunday Worship Service, nine were baptized and the Spirit sent out the historic 38 disciple New Delhi Mission Team led by Raja & Debs Rajan! Then before coming home, I flew to Paris to preach to the church and spend time with my beloved grandson and granddaughter in the faith – Anthony & Cassidy Olmos!

 
Amazingly, this month, we celebrate the 11th Anniversary of God’s SoldOut Movement as the Spirit has multiplied the 42 Portland Disciples that planted the City of Angels International Christian Church on May 6, 2007 to now 6,000 disciples in 91 churches in 36 nations on all 6 populated continents of the world! Truly, this is not a mere movement of men, it is the very Movement of God! And to God be all the glory!
 
HEADLINE NEWS
Raja Rajan – Lead Evangelist of New Delhi: After a 28 hour train ride from Chennai to New Delhi, the 38 on the New Delhi Mission Team received a very warm and noisy welcome when we arrived at the Hazrath Nizamuddin Station on Saturday, April 28th! All of us received flower garlands and were invited to dance and rejoice with the 18 disciples in the New Delhi Remnant Group, as the SoldOut Movement of God had officially come to the capital of India!

 
Sunday was a real blow out service as we had an attendance of 205! The singing was electric! Luke Speckman’s Communion was very touching, and I preached the whole sermon in Hindi with full conviction! Many of our old friends from the ICOC came seeking revival and said this was just like old times! Some had informed their leaders and said good bye to them with the explanation that they were “joining the Kingdom of God!”

 
We are now busy with studying the Bible with 30 visitors! God is truly moving in a powerful way! All glory to God!
 
Tim Kernan – Director of the 2018 Global Leadership Conference (GLC): Out of hundreds of suggested themes for the 2018 GLC, we would like to congratulate Victor Gonzalez Sr. for his entry of EMPOWERED!

And yes, Victor will now receive a free registration for this momentous event! So many Scriptures on God’s power come to mind: “The Kingdom of God [has] come with power.” (Mark 9:1) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order [to experience]… His incomparably great power for us who believe!” (Ephesians 1:18-19)

 
The 2018 GLC will be held on Thursday, August 16th through Sunday, August 19th, 2018 at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California! Accommodations will be at the Sheraton Park Hotel – a five minute walk from the Convention Center! (It is also just a 10 minute walk to Disneyland!)

 
GLC highlights will include amazing preaching, extraordinary singing, glorious fellowship, the Sixth Commencement of the International College of Christian Ministries, and the Spirit sending out two OPERATION EAGLE Mission Teams: Columbus, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wisconsin! We will also be hosting the “Kingdom’s Got Talent Show!” This year is the fifth such occasion! If you are interested in performing, please send a video of your act to the Director of KGT5 – Jay Causey – by June 1st! A full program will be sent out in the coming weeks!

 
The registration fee is $200 for a regular ticket; $180 for a current ICCM student; and $100 for a teen registration! Our Prayer Goals are for 1,800 American Disciples and 200 International Disciples to participate in the 2018 GLC as this will allow us to financially break even! Register now! (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-global-leadership-conference-empowered-tickets-42924191412)
 

We are encouraging every Church Leader Couple, every Shepherding Couple and every CAICC Region Leader Couple to stay at the Sheraton Park Hotel. The cost of a room is $139/night plus tax. The group rate is available until July 16th, so book now! (https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1801311047&key=E24CAE4)

 
REMEMBER: There will not be a Global Leadership Conference next year to financially allow particularly American Disciples to attend Geographic Missions Conferences outside of the United States! Thus, this makes the 2018 GLC all the more important to attend!
 
Andrew Smellie – Lead Evangelist of Lagos: Greetings from Nigeria, now known as “The Giant of Africa!” With a population of approximately 195 million souls, Nigeria has become the seventh most populous country in the world! In the city of Lagos, God has blessed our efforts in the church as we have seen eight precious souls come to the Lord in the month of April! We are begging God for every disciple to be fruitful before our Second Anniversary on June 24th as we are currently at almost 90 disciples!  

 
On Easter Sunday, April 1st, we witnessed an incredible miracle as three souls came to be baptized – Lolade and Enoch (Students at the University of Lagos majoring in Chemical and Systems Engineering respectively), and Rotimi, my dear friend and neighbor! Rotimi is the Head of Market Development for Africa at the Siemens Corporation! 

 
On April 8th, we witnessed another two glorious baptisms as two more campus students came to the Lord – Dorcas and Jibola! Jibola is the younger brother of Deji Aregbesola, a brother who placed membership from London earlier this year!

On the 15th of April, Queenest Aregbesola, the younger sister of our brother Deji, was baptized! After his sister’s baptism, Deji shared with me that he is eager to win all of Nigeria for the Lord by pursuing the full-time ministry! He is now a Campus Ministry Intern!

On April 22nd, we saw two more incredible baptisms: Fega from the Campus Ministry and Frank from the Singles Ministry!

In the month of April, we also witnessed the birth of our first “Kingdom baby” in the church as Lordwilson & Faith Simon had a baby boy on April 4th named Nathan!

 
In Nigerian tradition, babies are not named immediately, but instead the family has a “Naming Ceremony” on the 8th day of birth where family members come together to offer different names of meaning to the baby! Nathan’s full name is now Nathan Ojo-Arome Akumabi Simon! Akumabi means, “a fortress that cannot be shaken!”

 
As the Evangelist of the church, I was given the privilege to “officially” bless and pray for the new baby! My Nigerian brothers affectionately gave me my own “Naming Ceremony” as I was called “Oluwaranmi” (“God sent me”) and “Ayanfeoluwa” (“The Chosen of the Lord”)! It was encouraging!

 
In addition to all the amazing miracles this month, I have been deeply moved and inspired by the faith of my brother Tolani Abiodun, who has handed in his resignation from a prominent IT position and has answered the call of God to pursue the full-time ministry! Tolani counted the cost to be part of the Remnant Group in Lagos before the Lagos Church planting in June 2016! He was baptized in London while finishing his graduate studies at UCL in March 2015! Please pray for our dear brother as both he and Deji join our Staff Team on May 1st! It is so encouraging to see the impact of the Nigerian Homecoming Project (NHP) – where we encourage Nigerian nationals that are converted in other countries to return to Nigeria! The NHP has not only reaped a harvest of many souls, but is raising up the leadership that is dreaming to win all of Africa for the Lord!

 
The 2018 African Missions Conference will be held in Lagos on June 21-24, 2018! Do not miss this incredible time of inspiration and fellowship with African leaders from around the continent! There will be a plethora of activities from viewing Nigerian art and culture, enjoying incredible food, and serving orphans in the community! You can register at the following Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-african-missions-conference-fear-none-except-god-tickets-44210489765.

 
Thank you American Disciples for your incredible sacrifice that allows us to be used by God who continues to do great miracles here in Lagos and throughout the African Continent! We love you!
 
Blady Perez – Lead Evangelist of Phnom Penh: Greetings from Cambodia! It was at the 2017 GLC in Manila, when my wife & I together with our son Bryce decided to place membership in the International Christian Churches! We immediately returned to Cambodia to start the church. We had our Inaugural Service last October 29, 2017 with a total of 69 in attendance! God has grown the church from 3 disciples to now 13 disciples in the last 6 months!

 
It is by God’s grace and vision that He moved in the heart of two former full-times of the ICOC in Phnom Penh to join us and build the Kingdom of God! Rasmey & Chan Mona Seng are former staff and the admin couple of our former movement in Phnom Penh! Pheakday & Socheat Kim are missionaries and were full-time in the ICOC when they decided to place membership with us!

Just last month their son Mathuselah Kim was baptized!

 
We also had our first Women’s Day this month and with only 5 sisters we had 27 in attendance and Ani was baptized on the same day! We are very grateful for Joe & Kerry Willis for their discipling of us and the Phnom Penh Church! We are especially appreciative for all of their help in our first Women’s Day!

As well, we are learning from and imitating the fired up Sydney Campus Ministry to convert university students here! To God be the glory!

Joe Willis – Lead Evangelist of Sydney: Greetings from Australia in what we are claiming to be “The Best Year of our Lives!” The Sydney Church has grown this year from 47 to 61 disciples and now has 21 different nationalities represented! So encouraging to see in this one minute “Thank You Video” for everyone’s continual financial support through the raising of Special Missions Contribution! (https://youtu.be/cdkOeSbieM4)

 
Other highlights this year included the baptism of our first Aboriginal Disciple, Paula! She is a first year Law Student at University of New South Wales!

 
Equally exciting is the baptism of Uka, who was Naomi Radnaabazar’s co-leader in her old denominational church in Mongolia! Their dream is to now plant a true church of sold-out disciples in their home country! We have found a pocket of other Mongolians here in Sydney that are coming to church and studying the Bible! Pray for us to reach all nations!

 
Jason Dimitry – Lead Evangelist of San Francisco: “On this rock I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18) Greetings from the Saints in the Bay Area! What an incredible last couple of months it has been! Where do we start… hmmm.. Women’s Day! This epic annual event entitled BEAUTIFUL took place March 10th and for the very first time was held in Downtown San Francisco!

 
God blessed us with Elena McKean as our guest speaker and our 91 sisters had a phenomenal 230 in attendance! 

 
If that was not enough, we had three incredible baptisms at the Women’s Day in a BEAUTIFUL baptistry with red and white rose petals floating on the water!

 
Another highlight had to be the This Is Me Performance which came from the movie The Greatest Showman! The sisters absolutely “brought down the house!” Here is a link if you would like to check it out: https://youtu.be/gsIK6THc4Aw.

 
The following day on Sunday, we had the privilege to hear Kip preach to a combined service of the San Francisco and Sacramento Churches! That day 2 more were baptized and another soul was restored!

 
Other incredible feats of God this year have been the 34 baptisms and 3 restorations we have had so far! Of note, it has been so inspiring to see how God has worked in the Spanish-speaking Ministry! Since last year when Fernando & Jackie Chavez heroically uprooted their family and moved to the Bay for ministry training, God has blessed their Spanish-speaking Bible Talk with 7 incredible baptisms including 2 married couples! Very excitingly is that come June they will assume the leadership of the South Bay Region centered in San Jose! 
 

 
Luke Speckman – Lead Evangelist of New York City: This was an outstanding month for us! Particularly energizing was the final week of our Basketball League!

As the number 1 seed, New Jersey had a bye and Manhattan played Queens in the semi-final. Manhattan rallied from a 10 point deficit to claim the victory over Queens! Jordan Swann won the 3 point competition which was held between the semi-final and final game! Then Manhattan beat New Jersey by 10 points to become the champions!

 
On Easter Sunday, we had a congregational service! It was a joyous celebration as we had not had a congregation service since our Winter Workshop the first weekend in January! There were outstanding dance, musical, singing and spoken word performances done by the disciples as well as a Chemical Recovery (CR) Graduation which was very powerful! Also, we had over $105,000 turned in for Missions that day!

 
The highlights of the day were the 5 additions – 1 restoration and 4 baptisms! Kiana Davis, who is a daughter to my wife Brandyn & me, had fallen away late last year. Yesterday, she was joyfully restored by Jill Swann and Brandyn!

 
The Manhattan Campus Men had 2 baptisms: 1 from CCNY and 1 from the Ivy League College – Columbia University! Of special note, Malcolm completed his Bachelor’s Degree at Columbia and currently works on campus. He is preparing to begin his Master’s at Columbia as well. Malcolm played football at Columbia for 4 years and is helping to connect me with the coaching staff and other football players. Since I now have a position in the Chaplain’s Office, my goal is to be the Chaplain of the Columbia Football Team beginning this fall! On Friday, I received keys to my office and a conference room that I have access to. Nick Enfantino and I did 3 Bible Studies there that day!

 
As well, just two weeks later another Columbia Student was baptized and on Monday another Columbia Student became a disciple! So with the baptisms of Jerome and Sally, we now have 5 men and 5 women in our Columbia Ministry! 14 months ago, we had only 1 man!
 
RD Baker – Lead Evangelist of Dubai: Greeting from the United Arab Emirates! We have had an exciting last two months here in this key city in the Persian Gulf! To celebrate our Year And-a-half Anniversary, we had a special Desert Safari Service in the Arabian Desert! Incredibly, we had 71 in attendance! This is our second highest total yet!

 
We have had 4 baptisms in the last month: Mesraq Kizito, Ivan Giliwango, Paul Moni and Angela Rapiz! The 3 young men were from Uganda, and Angela is from the Philippines. This brings us to 7 baptisms this year and 38 since January 2017! Mesraq from Kampala, Uganda was raised as a Muslim. However, when he was 18 years old his family gave him the option to choose to continue in the Islamic faith or pursue another path. As God’s Spirit directed, his friend Paul who had been studying the Bible invited Mesraq to come witness the church that was having such a great effect on his life! Mesraq saw the truth in the Scriptures and made Jesus his Lord and was baptized! Paul quickly followed suit and was baptized shortly after! 

 
We are also excited by the two incredible additions of Evangelist Miguel Mendez and Woman’s Ministry Leader Megan Mathews! The church has enjoyed “welcoming” them to the family, and acclimating them to our wonderful city! Both have already made a huge impact on our church! It will be announced on Friday, May 4th that April & I are heading back to the States and Miguel and Megan will become the new Dubai Church Leaders! I believe the church is in great hands!

 
Finally, we have enjoyed hosting many brothers and sisters from around the world who have encouraged the church greatly: Tamara Kusto from Stockholm, Michael & Sharon Kirchner of LA, Jay & Barb Shelbrack of soon-to-be Milwaukee, and Ernest & Shannon Baker of New York City! Also, Dao Henderson (an original Dubai Mission Team Member) and her boyfriend Nick Enfantino also visited and encouraged the disciples!

 
Oleg Sirotkin – Lead Evangelist of Moscow: After Aliona & I were convicted by attending the South American Missions Conference in Brazil, we began to pray for the list for people who had left the Moscow Church for a year or more. First, Angelica called us and she was restored a week later! Then a campus girl named Milana called and was restored at the Women’s Conference! Then Ludmila and Yuriy called disciples and were restored in the Lord last Sunday! A few weeks ago, Olga called with a humble question, “What do I need to do to be in family of God again?” So, this Sunday, we received back our fifth sister! All these people were on the prayer list which further united the Moscow Church through prayer! Glory to our Lord that He does not want anyone to perish, but to live!

 
Not only has God given us many restorations, but He has blessed us with even more baptisms! To mention a few, God blessed us by baptism with a beautiful campus girl Julia! She was invited to Bible Talk by our young sister Lola. At the Bible Talk, Julia shared that she was a member of a Pentecostal church, but after studying the Bible with true disciples, she understood that she had never become a disciple and was baptized in a week!

Also in March, God blessed us with an awesome young campus guy, perhaps a diplomat in the future, Kyril! He was invited a few months ago by Oleg Sirotkin (me 😊) in the gym where we were both working out! Despite his high social level as he is the heir of Lev (Leo) Tolstoy, the well-known author of War And Peace, Kyril had a very soft heart and was baptized in the Lord with strong conviction!

 
Lastly, Heo Kyu is an awesome teen boy from Moscow! Since his father is from South Korea, Heo speaks fluent Russian, English and Korean! He was baptized Sunday, April 29th! Our Teen Ministry Family is growing spiritually and in many fruits! Heo’s teacher said that he was the main troublemaker in school, and he even persecuted Lydia because of her conviction on salvation. A month ago at a basketball tournament in their Academy, Sophia and Lydia decided to invite Heo to the Campus and Teen Devo. Afterward, Heo started to study the Bible! At the counting of the cost, Lydia told him that she is ready to go on a mission team even to North Korea! Then she asked Heo, “What about you?” He quickly answered, “Yes!” He went on to say that this is an answer from God, as there is a new start of relations for the first time in 65 years between South and North Korea! The parents of Heo were at the baptism and testified about the huge changes in their son and gave glory to God with all of us! God is a faithful Father and full of grace!

 
Michael Williamson – Lead Evangelist of London: Greetings from England! We had an incredible celebration this weekend as we saw three campus students baptized, and the beautiful wedding of Denzel Keyede (from Ghana) & Thu Lé (from Vietnam)!

 
All three baptisms were amazing, but let me share about a very intelligent and gifted young woman Victrix! She is a first year physics major at UCL, who received a scholarship to attend there as she received “ten A stars,” a grade that made her eligible to attend either Oxford or Cambridge University! I am so proud of Jenia (Jurij Zykov’s new girlfriend), Josie and my lovely wife Michele for meeting and converting this incredible young gentle woman who is a direct fruit from our Women’s Day!

 
Also terrifically exciting, we had an incredible CR Graduation where six more graduates received their certificates, and then we sent off our faithful Kiwi warrior Chris Singers to Sydney, Australia to train for the New Zealand Mission Team!

 
Raul Moreno – Lead Evangelist of São Paulo: Greetings Brothers and Sisters! The saints are fired up in Brazil as God has allowed the São Paulo Church to grow from exactly 200 disciples at the beginning of the year to 221 as of now!

 
One of the innovative endeavors that we started was to host a weekly English Service. This creates a platform to bring visitors that are “opinion leaders!” One of those visitors was an amazing USP Campus Student named Lucas that was baptized last Sunday!

 
Also last week, the 28 disciples of our valiant and very loved Rio de Janeiro Church had an amazing 4 baptisms to the glory of God! I guess they are fired up as their church leaders, Caio & Carol, were joyfully married just 2 weeks prior!

 
Love seems to be in air in this part of the world, as our very own São Paulo Sector Leaders, Tulio & Vaitsa, were happily married this week as well!

We also have three more weddings looming on the horizon! God is always good! (Psalm 106:1)
 
Chi Leong – Lead Evangelist of Hong Kong: Greetings from China! I was so encouraged that the City of Angels Church in Los Angeles sent one of their best interns – Alicia Winthein – to co-lead the Hong Kong Church with me! She has made an incredible difference with the sisters!

 
In the past month, the Lord has been working powerfully in Hong Kong by blessing us with 4 baptisms! Their names are Matthew, Daisy, Ria and Harry! These young men and women are from the University of Hong Kong and Polytechnic University! We look forward to all the great things that God will do through these zealous disciples!

 
Also, we had our first Women’s Day where the Lord brought out 47 women in attendance as the sisters shared their hearts to inspire the crowd!

 
In addition, we had our record Sunday church attendance of 37 when Kip came and preached the Word powerfully to the crowd!

 
Please continue to pray for us as now there are a total of 13 disciples in the Hong Kong International Christian Church! To God be all the glory!
 
Cory Blackwell – Lead Evangelist of Chicago: God is amazing and He is doing great things in the Windy City! After a long spell with no baptisms, the church fasted and prayed for God to open His floodgates of fruit! Prayer really works! We have had additions the last 6 weeks in a row!

 
I will share about only one of these amazing miracles! Luis Avila was born in Venezuela. Today his country is in great political turmoil. Like many from third world countries, he had the American dream. He received a full baseball scholarship, but unfortunately like many young athletes without guidance, he made poor choices that cost him his baseball scholarship! When Luis was met on the UIC Campus, he was faced with deportation! Something told him to listen to the brothers that reached out to him. Luis persevered through all the hardships. Then he made the best decision of his life – making Jesus Lord! Immediately after Luis’ baptism, he was no longer faced with deportation and he has been asked to play baseball for a new college, where he longs to help build the Kingdom!

 
Blaise Feumba – Overseeing Evangelist of Haiti: “So the Word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests [PREACHERS] became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7) At the beginning of the month of April, the Lord blessed the International Christian Churches of the nation of Haiti with the forming of a ninth church! Alexis Turgeau, Jean Bonard Colin and 13 other leaders of our Haitian Congregations in Port-au-prince, Saint-Marc, Mirebalais and Jacmel answered the call of a desperate denominational church in the city of Seau-d’Eau, an hour-and-a-half away from Port-au-prince! Our team landed there to teach the First Principles Series to over 100 people! After 5 days of intense Bible studies, the Lord blessed their efforts with 21 baptisms, 6 of them were preachers!

 
Alexis and another group of leaders are planning to go back next week from May 3rd to May 6th to strengthen these new disciples and to study the Bible with many more!

 
It is amazing to see what the Lord has done with Alexis – a Mainline Church of Christ Preacher – who reached out to Kip! Kip invited him to attend the 2013 GLC! After studying with several of the French-speaking Evangelists, Alexis was baptized the day after the GLC ended! So, from one sold-out former Church of Christ Preacher, we now have 367 disciples in 9 churches in Haiti!

Amazingly, 25 of these disciples are former preachers with 16 of them coming directly from the Mainline Churches of Christ!
 
MCKEANS’ MISSIONARY TRIP
Elena & I flew to Hilo, Hawaii on Tuesday, March 27th where we were warmly greeted by Kyle Bartholomew, as well as Dennis & Corinna Sloan who are the Hilo Church Leaders! Over the next few days, we were able to spend quality time with the Sloans!

However, the main purpose for our going was to study with Kyle to be restored on Easter Sunday! A highlight for us was on Friday night when Elena & I had dinner with Kyle and his three children – Brett, Connor and Bree!

 
Another highlight was Saturday night as we enjoyed reconnecting with the Hilo Shepherding Couples – Chris & Mahe Directo and Robbie & Linda Robinson! All four were part of the 12 Hilo Disciples – led by Kyle Bartholomew – that took a stand for discipling, central leadership and world evangelism in September 2006, thus sparking the New SoldOut Movement into existence!

 
Of course, the ultimate highlight was Easter Sunday and Kyle’s tearful restoration! At his restoration, Kyle shared Micah 7:8-9, “Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against Him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until He pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see His righteousness.” Kyle wholeheartedly apologized to the Lord, to the churches in Hawaii and the Philippines, and to his physical family. He wept as he expressed how disappointed the Lord was in him and how his falling away had a devastating impact on so many peoples’ faith.

 
Interestingly, after singing to Kyle, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord, and taking a fellowship break to welcome him back to the family, Kyle’s father Jay – who is not a disciple – came up to me asking if he could address the church for five to ten minutes. After a quick “Nehemiah Prayer,” I said, “Sure!” So after a song to gather everybody back, I introduced Jay to the church. Jay began by saying, “I want to share with you a true story, something that I witnessed about a month ago, but in fact, it is a parable. As I was walking I heard the squawking of a large flock of mynah birds in a tree. All of a sudden, one of them flew off alone and then a huge hawk pounced on him, grabbing the mynah bird with his sharp talons! Then all of the mynah birds in the tree squawked all the louder as they witnessed the hawk clutching one of their own! You may ask yourself why did the mynah bird fly off on its own? Well… Maybe it was arrogance? (Kyle shared during his restoration that the core sin that took him out was arrogance!) Maybe it was stupidity? Or maybe the mynah bird was just seeking a thrill?

 
Almost immediately after all the birds were screeching, four of the mynah birds came out of the tree and hit the hawk in rapid succession! Now you may be thinking, ‘Why didn’t more mynah birds come to the rescue?’ Well… Maybe they thought that the bird that flew out on its own was getting what he deserved? Or perhaps they were just cowardly? Anyway, after the four birds hit the hawk, the hawk dropped the one mynah bird and the mynah bird flew to safety back with the flock in the tree. I believe the church is a family and for me, I can never give up on family. Let me just say, Kyle is not the only one who has struggled and went away on his own. Don’t look down on your brothers and sisters that stray like the one mynah bird, but with love and courage – no matter the price – go after them. Be true family! That’s all I’ve got to say!” Then Jay went back into the audience and sat down.

 
After this amazing parable, I was supposed to preach and I did! That said, I believe the most memorable sermon that day was the Mynah Bird Parable delivered so eloquently by Jay Bartholomew! Since the Easter Church Service was held in an outdoor facility, it was relatively easy to have a picnic feast and an Easter Egg Hunt! Most of us left after a few hours so encouraged and with a bit of a sunburn!

 
On Tuesday night, April 3rd, Elena & I were given a SoldOut Movement Greeting by the Manila Disciples!

 
On Wednesday, we had lunch with the dynamic new leaders of the Metro Manila International Christian Church (MMICC) – Richie & Elizabeth McDonnell! Over lunch, we discussed the incredible healing that had taken place in the MMICC over the three months that the McDonnells had led the church. We also overviewed the program for the 2018 Pacific Rim Missions Conference (PRMC) entitled STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! All of the titles for the sermons and lessons came from the Book of Joshua!  

 
That evening at 7:00PM, was the opening of the Prayer War Room and the Speakers Dinner! At the dinner, all of us who attended from outside of the Philippines were very impressed with all of the Filipino Leaders!

 
On Thursday morning was the Leadership Workshop from 9:00AM – 11:30AM! All the way from LA, Tim & Lianne Kernan – the World Sector Leaders for the Pac Rim – delivered a stirring Welcome and Ronnie Gonzalez – one of the MMICC Shepherds – gave a moving Prayer!

 
Jason Dimitry – the Lead Evangelist of the San Francisco Bay Church – gave an amazing speech entitled, GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN! In Jason’s opening remarks, he shared that he lived in Daly City, which is called in San Francisco because so many Filipinos live there – “Little Manila!” So Jason said that he felt quite at home in “Big Manila!” As Jason preached about Caleb having the vigor to take the mountain in his old age, Jason recalled his father’s words to him, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”

 
Following came the COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP SERMONETTES: Courageous Preaching by Princeton & Joy George of Las Vegas, Courageous Hard Work by Ricky & Coleen Challinor of LA, Courageous Discipling by the newly engaged couple Sean O’Connor & Krystal Legarda of LA, Courage For Nationals To Save Their People by Marc & Maika Carbonell of Manila, Courage On Campus by Zach & Ariel Shields of Manila, Courageous Marriages by John & Emma Causey of LA, Courageous Prayer Life by Joel Parlour of Seattle, and Courage In Finances by Tim Kernan!

 
Thursday evening was the First General Session of the PRMC! After incredible singing, Richie & Elizabeth gave the Welcome and EJ Duldulao opened with a Prayer!

Then came the glorious Flag Ceremony where all the flags of the Pacific Rim Countries were represented!

Then Elena & I shared GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

Following was a Special Dance Presentation!

 
The main speech for the evening was enthusiastically delivered by John Causey on the theme, AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD! In John’s speech, he shared about ceramic bowls that cracked in Japan. The cracked bowls are far more valuable than ones that are not! Why? Because the Japanese glue together the cracked bowls with gold! He went on to share that all of us have “cracks” in our lives and through the gold of discipling, we can become everything God wants us to be!
 

 
On Friday morning, the Challinors gave a rousing Welcome for the Second General Session!

The main speech was powerfully preached by Richie and entitled, GET THESE PEOPLE READY! Richie’s amazing lesson had three simple points: 1) Ready To Do Anything, 2) Ready To Go Anywhere, and 3) Ready To Give Up Everything! He had us in tears when he read a poem by his beloved wife Elizabeth that encapsulated these points!

 
In the afternoon, from 2:00PM – 4:30PM were the Men’s and Women’s Programs emceed respectively by Ronnie Gonzalez and Elena!
 

The initial sermon of each program was entitled EVERY PLACE YOU SET YOUR FOOT! They were delivered respectively by Ricky Challinor and Elizabeth McDonnell!

Thrilling short charges followed the opening main speeches: Setting Your Foot In Integrity, Setting Your Foot In Purity, Setting Your Foot In Life-Skills, and Setting Your Foot In The Light!

The second major speech was given by John Malnegro and Lianne Kernan on THE WALLS OF JERICHO!
 

After the main speeches, short charges were given on Marching By Faith, Marching By Conviction, Marching By Leading, and Marching By Loving!
 

 
That evening was the Third General Session – The Kingdom Banquet! Nimrod & Vis Malnegro – a Shepherding Couple for the MMICC – presented the Welcome and Oliver Lapeña gave the Prayer! Following was an incredible Dance Presentation!
 

 
I had the privilege to deliver the message of the hour, HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU?

Although we were a bit tired, all of us went to our rooms with great expectations for Saturday’s MERCY Day!

 
All of the International Delegates for the PRMC were taken from the Hotel Jen to the Don Bosco School, while the Filipino Delegates easily found their way to the MERCY Day site!

Two hours before we arrived, 173 children of squatters were treated by doctors and dentists sponsored by MERCY!
 

Co-directing this event with Manila’s MERCY Director Ronnie Gonzalez was Sister Helen, who is the leader of the Laura Vicuña Foundation.

 
The program was filled with games, singing, dancing and lots of fun!
 

 
The Sunday Worship Service and Final General Session was incredible with 346 in attendance!

JC Jose and Rosas Sobrino – the East Region Leaders of the MMICC – were given the honor to share for Communion!

Nimrod & Vis Malnegro gave a convicting message on Contribution where they shared on the Scripture, “Get your provisions ready!” They told “their story” about moving from the Davao Remnant Group to Manila! Although it was difficult, in doing this both of their sons Michael and Lance became disciples!

 
Then, Dr. Tim Kernan gave perhaps his best message to date entitled, BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! Tim was hilarious as he told us about the movie The Dark Tower! In the movie, the last gunslinger defeats the man in black. The gunslinger played by Idris Elba makes the statement, “I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind. I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.” Tim admonished us to always “remember the face of our Father!”

 
To close the service were 3 moving restorations – Lorenz, Rachel and Janien – and 1 baptism, Estella the mother of Alba Guitierrez!

 
We closed out the service arm-in-arm singing at the top of our voices my favorite Kingdom song, Great Among The Nations! Incredibly, since January 14th when the MMICC had their first 2 baptisms of the year and 187 disciples in their membership, God has blessed this amazing church with 59 additions – 38 baptisms, 10 restorations and 11 place memberships! They now have 235 sold-out disciples! And to God be the glory!

 
On Thursday, April 12th, Elena & I flew to Hong Kong! However, our plane was quite late and so we arrived after midnight! Nonetheless, all but one of the then 11 member church was there greeting us with big smiles and singing, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord!
 

 
Friday night, Elena & I met with the Hong Kong Church Leaders – Chi Leong and Alicia Winthein! It was a tremendous time of sharing about their efforts at Hong Kong University and the Polytechnic University!

 
On Saturday, we had lunch with the brothers – Dean, Cain, Aaron and Matthew!

Following this marvelous time, Chi and Alicia asked Elena & me to study with a young Chinese woman who had wrestled with witchcraft and sorcery. Only 24 years old, Victoria “Ria” Li was very vulnerable and humble despite being a beautiful actress, model and singer! After several hours of Bible Study, Ria decided to be baptized the next day on Sunday!

 
On Saturday evening, Elena & I had dinner with the sisters – Shaineh, Jess, Themis, Kandice and Daisy! All of them were so fired up that Ria was getting baptized the next day!

 
On Sunday morning, we woke up to rain! Even at noontime when Chi picked us up in a taxi to go to the baptism, it was still raining!

However, when all the disciples had gathered at Kowloon Park (essentially Hong Kong Central Park), Ria appeared and the rain stopped! We gathered in a circle and all of us shared something encouraging about Ria’s conversion! I will never forget when our brother Cain shared. He cried while he said that he did not believe that most of his friends in his homeland of Taiwan would ever become Christians, because they were involved in witchcraft. Then he added, “Ria, your conversion has given me hope for all of them!”

 
Since we had a little bit of time before the worship service, Elena wanted to stay awake and so we headed to Starbucks!

Church in Hong Kong is at 4:00PM and amazingly, with 12 disciples in the church and Elena & me, God blessed us with 37 in attendance! Truly the “fields are ripe for harvest!” (John 4:35)

 
On Tuesday morning, April 17th, Elena flew home to Los Angeles as her doctors have urged her not to travel as much as me because travel increases stress and stress can cause her health problems to return. Also that morning, I flew on to Chennai, India for the 2018 South Asia Missions Conference (SAMC)! Because of a long layover in Singapore, I did not arrive into Chennai until after 10:00PM! Amazingly, when I came out of the terminal, over 100 Indian Disciples sang, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord and they greeted me with hugs for about an hour!

 
On Wednesday morning, I gathered with Raja & Debs Rajan – the former Chennai Church Leaders and the New Delhi Mission Team Leaders, Luke & Brandyn Speckman – the New York City Church Leaders and the Overseeing Ministry Couple for South Asia, and Matt & Helen Sullivan – the Miami Church Leaders and the SAGES World Sector Leaders, to go over the SAMC Program!

 
At noontime was the Shepherd’s Luncheon where we were able to meet several of the stronger and more mature couples in the Chennai, Bangalore and soon-to-be New Delhi Churches!

 
After an afternoon of fellowship, we celebrated the Speakers Dinner!

 
On Thursday morning, we got ready to go on the Historical Tour where we visited the Monuments of Mahabalipuram, which are located about 60 km (37 miles) south of Chennai.

Fascinatingly, all of these Hindu Monuments were hewed out of giant rocks! This sculptural legacy was left behind by King Mahendravarman I (580 – 630 AD) and his son King Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668 AD).

That evening at 7:30PM, we gathered for the Bible Talk Leaders Workshop! After a warm Welcome by Raja & Debs, I was honored to present GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!  
 

 
After this was a Special Dance Performance by Yassa Green! She performed the extremely difficult Bharatnatyam Dance, which is the State Dance of Tamil Nadu where Chennai is located!

 
Then Luke delivered an amazing sermon, KEEP ON SPEAKING AND NOT BE SILENT!

 
On Friday morning, April 20th, all of us were ready at 6:30AM to go to the MERCY Event, which was held at Chengalpet Leprosy Colony! After two short charges by Nick Bordieri – the World Sector Leader for MERCY – and myself, the International Delegates were broken into 6 groups.

Each group had an Indian couple in charge with other Indian Disciples to help us out with translation. As well, we had several packets of clothes to distribute to each one of the lepers. Amazingly, leprosy can be completely cured with a series of shots that have a total cost of only $150 USD! In visiting one leper who is a 48 year old woman and had been in the Leprosy Colony for 6 years, she shared with my group, “I prayed today would be a great day.” I responded, “God has answered your prayers!” Our visit with the lepers lifted their spirits and changed our lives!

 
After spending 2 hours at the Leprosy Colony, we came back to shower and then went for a South Indian Lunch at Hotel Saravana Bhavan, where we ate on banana leaf plates only using our fingers!

Then we were off to St. Thomas Mount to see where the Apostle Thomas was martyred in 72 AD. We ended our “St. Thomas Tour” where he humbly lived in a cave!

 
On Saturday, the First General Session began at 9:00AM! The singing was off the charts! Luke & Brandyn gave a great Welcome and Prayer! Nick gave a short charge about MERCY Projects around the world!

Then we witnessed a Special Indian States Dance! 6 of the 29 States of India were represented: the Bollywood Dance of Maharashtra, the Fisherman’s Dance of Goa, the Sampalpuri Dance of Bihar, the Mohini Attam Dance of Kerala, the Kashmiri Dance of Jammu, and the Garba Dance of Gujarat!

 
At 9:45AM, Raja spoke on BY WHAT POWER AND WHAT NAME? He shared in his message about his Hindu background where over time he became an atheist. After a life of partying and immorality, Raja called his life “a total mess.” One Saturday night after a party, he was so distraught that he hit his bedroom wall several times crying out in tears, “God are you there?” A short time later, he was met by disciples and was baptized! After his baptism, Raja’s father beat him and threw him out of his house along with his clothes. God has raised up a great prophet for India from this miraculous conversion!

 
Another highlight followed Raja’s lesson when Prathap & Maggie Stevenson were appointed Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader in the Kingdom of God! They now lead the mighty Chennai Church!

 
From 11:00AM – 1:00PM were the Men’s and Women’s Programs! The first message of both sessions was delivered respectively by Jay Shelbrack of New York City and Helen Sullivan titled, SAVE YOURSELF FROM THIS CORRUPT GENERATION!

Following were short charges on different characters in the Book of Acts!

The second main message for both programs was entitled, CHANGING THE CUSTOMS! From the buzz in the fellowship, Prathrap and Debs did a terrific job on this topic!

 
The Second General Session was from 3:00PM – 4:30PM! We were divided into 2 groups: Group 1 – Campus and Group 2 – Singles and Marrieds! In the Campus Session, Mike & Chenelle Patterson of Boston taught the class, THE LORD ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER DAILY.

For the Singles and Marrieds Session, Luke & Brandyn had this same topic!
 

 
Sunday was the Final General Session where 347 gathered to worship God!

 
Communion was the goodbye to the Chennai Church from the Rajans and the Gonas, who served nobly as one of the Chennai Shepherding Couples but now were leaving on the New Delhi Mission Team!

 
Contribution was admirably done by Michael & Sharon Kirchner – the World Sector Leader Admin Couple!

During the collection of the Contribution, the New Delhi Remnant Group sang in Hindi, Jesus Comes Into My Heart!

 
Then I was privileged to give the keynote address, UNSTOPPABLE!

 
Following, we had 9 baptisms – Ravi, Cathy, Manjula, Viju, Yokesh, Sylvester, Srinivas, Monica – a Delhi baptism, and Dipshi – a very talented screenwriter of Bollywood!

 
Then came the moment we were all waiting for, The New Delhi Mission Team Send-Off! Amazingly, 38 fired up disciples were on the team and 18 remnant group disciples were waiting for them to come to New Delhi! Encouragingly, 14 of the 18 came to the SAMC!

The entire conference went to our knees as Ted Green – one of two SAGES World Sector Shepherds in Miami – and Thomas Vijayan – one of the Chennai Shepherds – led the prayer to send out the New Delhi Mission Team!

 
Our closing song was Prayer For Boldness! Immediately after Prayer For Boldness which Vignesh led, Vignesh – a former Hindu and intern for Delhi – dropped to his knees and asked Scarlett – a former Muslim named Ussain – and asked her to marry him! She said, “Yes!”

Following, all of the Indian Brothers and Sisters broke out in a jubilant dance! Earnest & Shannon Baker of New York City – former professional dancers – led the International Delegates to follow suit!

 
Following all the celebrations, we enjoyed a scrumptious Indian Lunch!

 
That Sunday night, I boarded a plane to fly to Frankfurt and then on to Paris for the final stop of this missionary journey! I was so looking forward to seeing Anthony & Cassidy Olmos as well as preaching to the Paris Church! I finally arrived late Monday afternoon!

The three of us had a delightful dinner on Tuesday night!

 
During dinner, Cassidy shared about the two Women’s Day Events that she has spoken at this year – Stockholm and Paris! Amazingly, in Paris, Cassidy spoke in French for the entire program including her speech! God blessed both churches as both exceeded their attendance goals! In Stockholm, with 8 women disciples, they had an attendance of 22! The Paris Church with 14 women disciples had an incredible attendance of 53!

 
At the Wednesday night Midweek, I was able to encourage the church which has grown from 14 when the 4 person Paris Supplemental Mission Team arrived from London in October to now 26 sold-out disciples!

 
Because of unseen circumstances, I cut my visit short and left on Thursday morning. Praise God, I arrived home to see my beloved wife of 41 years Elena feeling much better! And to God be all the glory!
 
FAMILY NEWS
Boston: Arthur Hughes was able to baptize his younger brother Bobby into Christ on April 9th! Arthur shared with tear-filled eyes from John 1:40-42 where Andrew had brought his brother Simon to meet Jesus! It has been his Kingdom dream to baptize someone in his family!

 
Denver: We are so happy for Adrian Garcia-Zataray & Lidia Barrios who were married on April 21, 2018! Both Adrian & Lidia are truly a son and daughter to Dustin & Amanda Miller, and Dustin was honored to marry them!

 
New York City: Since the last Good News Email, the New York City Church has witnessed a wedding and an engagement! Angel & Jocelyn Santiago were married on March 24th! Jocelyn had been a single mom until the wedding! It is so incredible to see God bring fathers to the fatherless in His Kingdom!

 
Also, after 3 years of dating, Gerald Gayle & Danielle Jamison were finally engaged! We look forward to their wedding! 

 
Alan Moncayo was baptized in Boston a few years ago. He fell away and then was married. So touching was that on the day Alan was restored, he baptized his wife Judy!

 
Paris: At the end of March, we celebrated the first wedding of the year! It was incredibly powerful to see the union of Landry & Christelle Mokwa! They dated in world and had a son, but because they wanted a clear conscience they broke up to put God first! And after one year of pure dating, they became united under God at their wedding! This momentous occasion gave us 150 visitors to hear the Word of God preached!

 
New Delhi: John (the Baptist) & Salma are engaged and now lead the Teen Ministry in the New Delhi International Christian Church!

 
Bangalore: Christy & Maria, the leaders of the Bangalore Church, were blessed with Lydia Brielle Christopher!

 
Portland: God has been working in a powerful way to bring families to ​Christ! After months of prayer, on March 11th, we witnessed our sister Daniela’s son Aaron get baptized into Christ!

 
Then on Resurrection Sunday, after receiving much persecution from his physical family, our campus ​brother William was able to baptize his ​mother ​Olga! William’s father then joined them in Christ as he was baptized last Sunday where he shared, “I am so glad that my son has now become my father in the faith!”​

​
Lastly, three weeks ago a man told his daughter, “We need to start getting closer to God and go to church once more.” She responded, “Dad, I need to do homework, so can we go to Starbucks?” Little did they know that Rich Hardy and the Starbucks Ministry was going to be there having Bible Talk! The daughter, a teen named Vania, was baptized at our Women’s Day Event, and on Sunday, her father Javier, who is a pilot, shared in tears that he was finally able to face the challenges of forgiveness after years of holding bitterness! God’s grace is abounding in Portland!

 
Mirebalais (Haiti): Congratulations to Emmanuel & Beltude Pierre on their wedding!

 
Moscow: As in every family, a wedding is always a great event and the whole church in Moscow is looking forward to the next one! At the Women’s Conference, during the lesson, music played as well as the sound of a helicopter, and Rezo Davitadze came out in black glasses as agent 007 and offered Sasha Korotova, our dear sister, to be his wife, adding that, “Resistance is useless!” Afterward, everyone congratulated Rezo & Sasha! Then Aliona finished her lesson saying that in the church, we build pure dating relationships in Christ and that’s the blessing of God for us and the power of Bible teaching! This touched the hearts of all the women guests!

 
Manila: Rey & Nina Hayag gave birth to an 8 lbs. and 15 inch baby boy, Marc Hercules, on April 4th! We are confident that he will live up to the noble heroism of his namesake!

Miami: So exciting for the whole Miami Church are the engagements of two awesome couples: Will Nelson & Tatyana Brutus as well as Zach Shahan & Lauren Hammers!

Eugene: Congratulations to Brian & Joaly Carr – the dynamic Eugene Church Leaders – on the birth of Sahalie Rae!

Los Angeles – AMS Region: Congratulations to Adam Zepeda & Lauren Ona – the AMS Region Leaders – on their engagement which was on Lauren’s birthday – a very lucky Friday, April 13th!

 
West Region: Congratulations to Marvell Holder & Alexys Hall who were engaged on April 14th! Excitingly, they are on the Milwaukee Mission Team as Milwaukee is Marvell’s hometown!

 
Antelope Valley (AV) Region: Leilani Aguilar was added to God’s family! She is the daughter of Jason & Monique Aguilar and sister of Conner Aguilar! The Aguilar Family now has 4 of 7 faithful disciples, who are all full of joy! Of note in 2013, at the young age of 10, Leilani was the one to encourage her family to start attending church! Leilani is an incredible addition to our growing Teen Ministry!

 
Sirena Rubio was baptized by Samantha Massman and her physical sister Jasmine Diaz! Sirena is 14 years old, and was so fired up to get right with God, that she spent the entire week of spring break in back to back Bible studies! With her baptism, this spreads the Teen Ministry to high schools in both Lancaster and Palmdale!

 
Ronnie Martinez is an incredible and humble young man! He is a cousin to the Aguirre/Carrillo Family, who now have 8 members who are disciples in the AV Region! But as God would have it, he was actually met and invited out to church by his coworker Matthew Fajardo, a disciple in our Singles Ministry! After showing up to service, realizing that this is the same church so many in his family are a part of, he eagerly desired to study the Bible! After a few weeks, Ronnie became our brother in Christ!

 
Josh Massman is 15 years old and was born and raised in the Kingdom! The fight and perseverance of his physical family (9 of which are disciples, making Josh the 10th), have proven to be influential in his decision to make Jesus Lord! He has overcome so much to become a disciple! Josh calls all of us higher, as since studying the Bible, he has been having consistent 5:00AM quiet times and is on his knees every morning praying to God! He is such a powerful addition to the AV Teen Ministry!

Coachella Valley (CV) Region: At our Women’s Day in the CV Region, on March 11th, after 4 long years of prayer, Laura Miranda was baptized! Laura was reached out to by one of the original CV Mission Team members, Monique Carrasco. Laura brought her sister Dasey to the very first church service in the Valley. Dasey went on to become a disciple, while Laura fled. After much prayer and fasting, and to God’s glory, Laura was baptized and is now united with her physical sister, Dasey!

 
Orange County (OC) Region: Sarah and Christina have been solid sisters in the Orange County Region for some time. When they were originally reached out to, their little sister Angelica was with them (age 11 at the time). Now after being faithful for 4 years, Sarah and Christina helped start the Teen Ministry in the LIFE Sector of the OC Region and their little sister Angelica started to study the Bible! After transforming her life and being made into a disciple, Angelica was baptized as their sister in Christ on March 3rd! Since then she has already been fruitful and baptized her best friend from high school, Azalea on April 13th!

 
The following is a special note from Shay Sears of Dallas about her mother Debbie Vloet’s baptism in the OC Region of LA: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-6) I am so grateful to be a part of a worldwide movement because as we “grow,” not only are more souls being saved, but the hope for our physical families “grow” as well! 

 
Growing up my mother and I had a saying that we would express daily before she dropped me off at school. I would say, “I love you,” and she would say, “How much?” Then I would finish out with “All the way to Heaven!” Eleven years ago, while in college at Cal State Fullerton in Orange County, I was reached out to and asked to study the Bible. After three weeks of studying, Tracy Harding baptized me into Christ! Although I rejoiced in the treasure of having a relationship with God, my heart was tinged with a hint of sadness when I looked at my Mom and knew that I could not at that moment say, “All the way to Heaven.” That day a fervent, “impossible prayer” began for my Mom’s soul. She was less than “fired up” with my decision as she printed and read every persecution article she could get her hands on, and even had some “spicy talks” with the Hardings and the McKeans!

 
Over the years, I watched my Mom go through some very challenging trials in her life that brought her to her knees and opened her heart to see her need for God. I am beyond grateful for the many women like Lynda Moreno, Sharon Kirchner, Connie Underhill, Loidy Frenzley, Elena McKean and so many more who have “watered” the seed that was planted in her heart. A special thank you to Judy Harding, Therese Untalan and Tracy Harding who studied the Bible with her. Truly it was God who made her love and faith “grow” and just last week, my sister Lori and I were able to fly from Dallas to LA and surprise my Mom by emerging from the Harding’s room during the sharing! 

Shortly after the sharing, Lori and I baptized Mom into Christ! I have always admired my Mom’s strength, but today what makes her beautiful is her vulnerability and her willingness to show her weaknesses so that God can be her strength!

Now as sisters in Christ, I can say with confidence “Mom, I love you! How much? All the way to Heaven!”
 
LOCAL LA NEWS
Greetings from sunny Los Angeles, California! God is moving powerfully in the City of Angels Church as He has blessed us with 123 baptisms in the first 119 days of 2018, bringing this congregation to its largest membership yet of 976 members! We are praying fervently for “1,000 for the Lord” before the end of July!

 
I’m also excited to share with you what God did with the Women’s Days here in Los Angeles: 521 sisters had 1,426 women in attendance, as well as a whopping 12 baptisms at the actual Women’s Days! I am so grateful for my lovely wife Lianne, to Megan Matthews and to all the amazing sisters who worked so hard to make this Women’s Day an incredible success! 

God is truly “doing a new thing” here in CR! (Isaiah 43:19) We just started 12 Week Sessions of CR in each of the 5 groups here in LA! Lord willing, we will have 40 graduates by July 31, 2018!

 
The congregation here in Los Angeles is working eagerly to raise missions to support our dear brothers and sisters who are planting and building churches around the world and here in the United States! By the grace of God as a church, we are at 59% of our goal! I want to especially commend the faith and hard work of the Central Region led by the inspirational Mike & Brittany Underhill, who have surpassed 100% of their missions goal a month early!

 
Two very creative projects to raise money for missions are Smokey Joe’s Café led by Jay Causey, and the Reach Short Film Festival hosted by the AMS Region and inspired by Josiah & Kristin Smith!

 
Please pray for us as we are in step to blow out our Missions Goal by Sunday, May 20th!
 
Not only are we giving money for missions, but from the Ventura Region led by the hard-working Curtis & Morgan Valdez, we sent out one of our best, Alicia Winthein, to Hong Kong, China at the end of March! Interestingly, when you give to God, then God gives back even more, as the Spirit has blessed the Ventura Region recently with 3 Chinese campus baptisms – Craig, Adele, and Jetta! 

Another highlight in the month of March in the awesome Ventura Region was the baptism of Johnathan Franklin! Johnathon was reached out to in 2013 while he was playing football for UCLA where he broke 4 rushing records while playing there! He lost touch with the disciples, but went on to be drafted into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers! He played only 11 games when he had a career ending injury.

Through finding his identity due to career change, Johnathan reached out to Micheal Peterson in the Metro Heights Region. He soon studied the Bible in the Ventura Region due to living in Oxnard, California and came to the knowledge of the truth to become a disciple and get baptized! After baptism, Johnathan was so excited to make disciples that he asked the HR Department of the Los Angeles Rams – where is an Executive Spokesperson – to start a Bible Talk and they said “Yes!”

 
The City of Angels Church Family is very excited to host all of you in just 3 and-a-half months at the 2018 Global Leadership Conference – EMPOWERED!
 
EDITORIAL
Divorce And Remarriage In The Philippines
On Sunday, April 8th, at the Pacific Rim Missions Conference, I addressed the Filipino Brothers and Sisters on the issue of Divorce and Remarriage. The following is the transcription of my announcement of our historic decision:

Good morning family! I want to address an issue that for the most part we have been silent on for a few decades. I want to deal with divorce and remarriage. The Philippines at this time is the last of several Catholic nations where divorce is still illegal. Interestingly enough, the first so-called Catholic nation to strike down this law was Italy in 1974. The most recent one was Chile in 2004.
 
Now, it is important for us to understand a couple of definitions. First of all, divorce recognizes that a marriage existed but is now over. Annulment says there never was a marriage. In the Philippines, one can receive an annulment for congenital flaws or mental illness. Therefore, to receive an annulment, in gist, most people would be lying to say there was no marriage, and usually, the stated reason for the annulment is also a lie. As well, the cost can be up to $5,000 USD. Now some Filipinos go outside the Philippines and get a divorce. However, if you are a Filipino citizen and you return to the Philippines, the divorce is deemed illegal. Interestingly enough, the Philippines House of Representatives have been wrestling with this issue over the last few weeks. As a matter of fact, it passed a divorce bill fairly overwhelmingly. However, an article on March 5th stated that it will not pass the Philippines Senate. The Senate Minority Leader, Franklin Drilon, said emphatically “no” to divorce. However, he did add, “Perhaps we can reform our current laws on annulment to make it less tedious and less expensive to attain.” But let me just remind you, an annulment takes a lie, and that means totally denying marriage vows that were made before God.
 
So, I have been very conflicted in my conscience. I have been uncomfortable in my conscience as I see the existing law that divorce is illegal to be something that stops people from coming into the Kingdom. If we really apply the Scriptures, and say a person quote, “Is no longer living with their first wife,” but quote, “they have a second marriage,” then we would have to say that you need to separate because that is immorality. Or we would have to look past it and condone what in actuality is immorality. If we demand a separation in keeping with the Scriptures, it could be a separation not only of husband and wife, but even children. Again, this is quite a conundrum. Therefore, what are we to do as God’s holy church? Elena & I have prayed for the last several months and we met with the World Sector Leaders in Brazil at the end of January to consider this question, because we see it as blocking people from coming into the Kingdom of God, as well as making people liars that are in the Kingdom of God. We also had a meeting two days ago, where I met with John & Anna Malnegro, Richie & Elizabeth McDonnell, Tim & Lianne Kernan, John & Emma Causey, and Elena to once again discuss divorce, annulment and remarriage in the Philippines.

 
It is true that Romans 13 states that we must submit to governing authorities, and yet we must also remember Acts 5:29, where Peter and all the Apostles respond, “We must obey God, rather than men.” In 1986, the Discipling Movement at that time out of Boston, made a decision, to not obey the laws of the land in South Africa. In South Africa at that time, apartheid – separation between blacks and whites – was the law of the land. We were even told by Mainline Churches of Christ to send a black mission team and a white mission team. I ardently said, “No!” We sent a racially mixed team of brothers and sisters (half-white and half-black) to Johannesburg, South Africa going against the law, because we must obey God rather than men! Even in the New Movement, about a year ago in Russia, they passed a law that said, “You are not allowed to share your faith. You can have any conviction you want, but you are not allowed to share your faith.” In the Moscow Church the very next day, we preached that every disciple is commanded to preach the Word and to share their faith! We must obey God, rather than men! Are you with me here?
 
We need to understand that it is true in the book of Malachi that God hates divorce. Even beyond hate, it breaks His heart. And yet, there are two reasons that the Scriptures give for divorce in the New Testament. The first is by Jesus in Matthew 19:8-9, “Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness and marries another woman, commits adultery.'” Jesus says the first reason for divorce is adultery. Now unbeknownst to some disciples, there is a second reason. This one is given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:14-15, “For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife. And the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband, otherwise, your children would be unclean. But as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so, a believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances. God has called us to live in peace.” So, Jesus teaches quite clearly that adultery is a Biblical reason for divorce. Paul teaches that abandonment is a Biblical reason for divorce. Therefore, with the heart to see as many as possible coming into the Kingdom of God and with the heart to keep our fellowship pure of lying and deceit, going forward, the International Christian Churches in the Philippines will issue a Certificate of Divorce that will be retroactive to the date of the separation of said disciple. It will say on the certificate, that we are granting this divorce in the eyes of God, but it will also state, that in the Republic of the Philippines, it is not legally recognized.
 
Let me address a couple of issues. To be married in the Philippines there must be a Justice of the Peace or Certified Individual to conduct the wedding. We will still abide by the law of the land that Filipinos must be 21 years old in order to be married. Now we did have a situation come up last year where a young couple was married. One was 21 years old and the other was 20. Some have questioned the validity of this particular wedding. Now I want to speak to it. It did indeed break “Filipino law,” but it was done in the eyes of God and witnessed by the church, so this couple is married. But in order to do what is right in the eyes of God and the eyes of man so far as we can, this coming week, that couple is getting their civil ceremony done. Amen? I also want to remind you of the mindset that we have in all of our churches around the world. The fact that there is a wedding done by a Justice of the Peace is in most nations. So recently, Elena & I were able to participate in a wedding of two individuals that we love very much and that is now Kolbe & Rebecca Gray. Now in England, the only marriage that is recognized is a Civil Wedding. So, Kolbe & Rebecca went to get married on a Wednesday in a Civil Ceremony. However, they were not married in this case by me, as their chosen presiding minister for their “church wedding” until Sunday. And if they would have touched each other in a sexual way, we would have looked down on that because we recognize that it is God and His church that sanctify the wedding of two disciples. Are you with me right here? Therefore, I do not think it to be unreasonable that the church, being the hands of God, once more says, “Now you are married.” So, the church can also say, “Now you are divorced.” And so, I pray that you will get your hearts behind this.
 
There may be some of you that can be helped. The church will absolutely recognize an annulment as being legal and there will be no further necessary things to be done. On the other hand, there may be some in the audience that have quote been, “married a second time, sort of, but not really.” You need to come to either Richie McDonnell if you are here in Manila, or if you are in Cebu, please see John Malnegro. Talk to them and share about your situation. We will sit down with you and write for you a Certificate of Divorce going back to your separation from your previous spouse. Then of course we’ll decide how to move forward in your case. Remember, our goal is for everybody to have a clear and good conscience. We don’t want to make the lack of being able to attain a divorce a huge roadblock for people coming into the Kingdom. There are Biblical reasons for breaking up: adultery and abandonment. And once more, as God’s church, we must obey the laws of the land, but when they are in contradiction to the Bible and the Bible does teach there are two reasons for divorce – adultery and abandonment – then we must obey God rather than man. Thank you very much.

 
Dearest SoldOut Movement Family,
EMPOWERED is the incredible theme of the 2018 Global Leadership Conference! Indeed, the Spirit working through God’s great people will empower us to take the Gospel into all nations in this generation even when human laws defy God’s Word! So with The Glory Song ringing in our ears, let us all continue to pray and fast to see “the world evangelized in our day!” And to God be all the glory!
We are family… by God’s amazing grace,
Kip