God Is Moving All Around The World!

The following emails are only a small portion of what we have received over the past few months from around the world. We are deeply grateful for the untold hours of service by our cyber-evangelists: Jeremy Ciaramella, Ron Harding, Rob Onekea and Andrew Smellie. We also greatly appreciate all of our web-deacons, who assist in language translation as well as building and maintaining UpSideDown21 (www.upsidedown21.org), the City of Angels Church webpages (www.caicc.net), and all of our congregational websites in the SoldOut Discipling Movement! KM

Shirly, Malar and Debbie rejoice during the baptism of Catherine (second from left)!

“Paul reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles… When the brothers in Jerusalem heard this, they praised God!” Acts 21:19-20

INDIA – Raja Rajan
Sonia, as a teenager, used to babysit [Debbie and my] children in New Delhi. Sonia got into a relationship, but her relationship broke and the police had to get involved to rescue her. Upon hearing this, she was beaten up by her family members. Sonia had lost all hope. She took 70 sleeping tablets one evening and went to bed. It was a miracle that Sonia survived… Debbie was in touch with Sonia over the phone. None of her family members wanted her. She decided to move to Chennai to be with us for a few months. She came here on October 2, 2008. We studied the Bible with her. Sonia got baptized on November 2, 2008 and continues to stay with us!

Debbie and Sonia were going for their regular follow-ups, when they met a woman on the stairs – her name was Uma. Uma was married and had two young sons. Her in-laws were “Christians” and since she was a Hindu, she was rejected by them. Uma decided to accept “Christianity” and changed her name to Catherine. Her mother-in-law still treated her like a servant. Almost every day, she had to hear screams and shouts from her mother-in-law… Since she was not much of a help in the [family business], her mother-in-law wanted to get rid of her. So her son, Catherine’s husband, poured kerosene (gas) to light her up. Catherine somehow managed to escape to her parent’s place. After a few weeks, her parents refused to keep her and dropped her back at her husband’s place. Her husband tried to kill her again, but this time she left town. Catherine came to Chennai and after selling her gold chain had some money to live on. She got herself into a hostel and managed to find a job. It was a few months later, when Debbie and Sonia met Catherine.

Catherine came to church, studied the Bible and was baptized into Christ! Other good news: we have started a Corporate Bible Talk in the heart of Chennai and a brother Jinu Thomas, the Vice President of a Christian Political Party, has been restored! Please be praying for the SoldOut Movement churches in India – Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, as well as the 24 sold-out disciples in the Chennai Christian Church! Thanks to our sister churches in Chicago, Hilo and Syracuse who are supporting Debbie and me to be able to serve God in the full-time ministry! We are working hard and giving our best!

Larry & Christy Wilson place membership from San Francisco!

AUSTRALIA
Thank-you so much for your Luke Series Sermons! I’ve been listening to them on my ipod, trying to get spiritually back on track. For the last four years I’ve been struggling with everything. I joined the Melbourne Church of Christ in 1991 and was part of the original Fiji Mission Team. I was the first to get kicked out of the country for sharing my faith, which was after someone baptized the son of an immigration official… In the meantime, I got treatment for bipolar which is a mental illness. I’ve lost my mother to cancer, my eldest brother took his life, and my other brother was missing for six years as a drug addict… The [churches in Australia] have fallen asleep. There are few to no new members at church, and everybody seems to be comfortable. The preaching is lackluster and the spirit subdued. Would you consider sending a mission team to Melbourne? I need to be held accountable in a church that really cares about my spiritual
life. Australia needs fired-up committed Christians!!! I’m turning 40 next year and I am unmarried. I’ve got nothing to live for, but being with Jesus. God is good, Amen. Kip, please get back to me.

The East Region celebrates Danny Carillo’s baptism!

MEXICO

Good day! I´m from Mexico City, and I just read about your new movement! Until I read about it, I had lost all hope for my family to become disciples… Many things happened in my church and some of them are very strange. Can you tell me what happened? I have so many questions, because where I am at in Mexico it is spiritually dead. I have read that God’s new movement will plant a church in Mexico City in 2011. Can you send a mission team any sooner?

TEXAS – Kris and Tiffany Taylor
We are grateful for God’s church and we owe a lot of people here for their help and support. However, in my heart for a long time I have been angry, bitter and rebellious towards God. I lost faith, hope and love towards this whole church thing and life in general. I’ve been critical toward the lukewarmness within the ministry, but I myself was looking at everybody else’s sin and not my own. About two weeks ago, I decided to take a good inventory of myself and I realized it’s not about me and my wants and needs, but about Jesus being my Lord. In a nutshell, I set out to be different and started sharing the good news with some of my friends about my vision about evangelizing the world starting with having ministries in every town in Texas. Somehow you came up in conversation and I was told “Kip looks for people who are disillusioned like you to plant churches.” I went to what deceivingly was called, “your website” – www.kipmckean.com and read some more negative things about you. Yet I also listened to a Chris Broom sermon, read one of his articles and then read your profile on your official website – www.kipmckean.org. These things changed my heart around to believe. I had stayed home from church that Sunday, because I was sick, though my wife attended. When she came home, I told her that I am not coming to church anymore and that I am joining Kip’s ministry in evangelizing the world! For the last week, I have been listening to your sermons. I am amazed at the clarity you bring to evangelism from Mark, Luke and Acts. I can’t stop listening to the sermons; they strengthen my convictions and it feels like I’m seeing the Word for the first time! My heart has never been this eager! (Editor’s Note: Chris and Tiffany visited the City of Angels Church at the end of December. After participating in our worship service and after much prayer, they moved to Los Angeles to join us this first week of February! KM)

NORWAY

I am a part of the church in Oslo, Norway. I would like to thank you so much for the studies on the City of Angels Church website with the audio alternative for the First Principles Series. It has helped me a lot lately as I am studying the Bible with two women here. It has helped me to come back to a stronger conviction and also a conviction of calling others to follow Jesus. Thanks ever so much!

KANSAS

I am a former member of the Wichita Church of Christ in Kansas and was part of the ICOC for many years… I recently heard through Delphi Forums (where I found your email as well) that you are having Mike Patterson move to your congregation. I felt I should warn you about some things that are dangerous about this young man. He is very persuasive… Sadly, the Wichita congregation I was part of was never the same since he moved and took all the campus leaders with him [to Portland], because of his teaching. He has a very strong personality, that can even convince adults and I worry about the mentality he puts in people, that if you are not for him you are against him. I have followed some of his sermons since he has been in Phoenix and I don’t think anything has changed. This link I found has you on it as well as Mike Patterson, and I hope you’re concerned that you are being grouped with this teaching… (Editor’s Note: Hebrews 10:32 challenges us, “Remember after you receive the light… sometimes you are publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.” We are not only honored to be standing “side by side” with Mike, but our dear brother will be moving to the City of Angels Church in August, to become the leader of the new South Region centered in Long Beach! KM)

Dave Swann and Tony Arana

WASHINGTON

I listen to your sermons regularly and watch very closely what happens in LA. It is safe to say that I have personally experienced a weakening of my spirituality as time has gone by and I have reached a point where I feel that if I don’t get urgent and get some help that I’m going to die. I feel like I have gone from a man that knows his place in the world with purpose and vigor to a man that’s just barely hanging on. Whose fault is that? Mine. Ultimately I claim full responsibility for my own salvation and walk and I have to own that. I’m ashamed of it, deeply… My wife and I had another long talk about all things spiritual and she asked me what I needed in order for me to do well. I had to think about that a bit and then it dawned on me. I need to be surrounded with like-minded men. When I joined the church in the 80’s, I joined a body of believers that were devoted to certain things and you know what they are. Most importantly, discipleship, loving accountability, a constant higher calling, being told from time to time that I needed to “repent.” Herein lies the problem. Since the “big crash” it seems that the churches that I have been a part of have slowly made a departure from these practices. I also know that this doesn’t surprise you. I have made several efforts to help create these dynamics, but it just seems to fall on deaf ears. Having said all this, I’ve known you long enough to know what you would say. A.) Move to another city where there is a discipling church. B.) Start one. Either option would be extremely hard for my family due to several reasons. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

GEORGIA – Perry and Linda Tipton
Dear Kip and Elena, We just wanted to take some time to let you know all the ways we are grateful for your leadership. We’re grateful that you are able to forgive others (especially those who call themselves disciples) who have slandered and persecuted you. Without forgiveness the Lord of the

Harvest would not be blessing the movement under your leadership the way that it is now being blessed. We’re grateful for the online ministry of the City of Angels Church that explains what happened… We were then able to put the pieces together why the former churches of the ICOC were hurting in so many ways because of autonomy. We’re grateful that you are willing to go into battle and start from “ground zero”… We’re grateful that you return phone calls. Not calling or returning phone calls is something here that has been referred to as a “common disease.” We’re grateful that you don’t use the word “busy.” We’re grateful for the unity in the new movement. We’re grateful for your perseverance. Kip and Elena, we love you as our father and mother of faith in Christ!

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Lola Lof
I want to thank all of you for your prayers concerning our Second Anniversary Service! We saw God’s hand on that celebration! We were blessed with 234 people in attendance! If 50 disciples in Kinshasa can do this, it’s clear that God is working in His church! Another good news is the restoration of our brother Bruno! His wife has felt the need to be restored too! Also at the end of the day, many people who heard the sermon “Life to the Full” were impacted and expressed the need to study the Bible. My great joy is that some brothers and sisters who got weak in faith are now fired up and ready to start studying the Bible with the visitors who came to the service. WOW! God is really awesome!