On September 18 the Executive Committee voted to invite Victor Jaeger to serve as the new Hispanic Coordinator and Indianapolis Central Hispanic church pastor. Pastor Jaeger has been serving the Fort Wayne First congregation the last four years and will be transitioning to his new role within the next few weeks. He has vast experience in the Spanish work as well as in evangelism, training, multicultural ministries, and church planting.
The committee also approved the formation of a Spanish Advisory Council for the conference. This group will consist of conference administration, the Hispanic and Evangelism Coordinators, Lake Union Multicultural Ministries Coordinator, and the Spanish pastors. The purpose of this Advisory Council is to review the work of the churches on a regular basis and to receive input on the future vision and strategy of the Spanish work here in Indiana.
Pastor Robb and Chris Long have accepted the invitation to serve as pastor of the Carmel church. Pastor Long has been the Evangelism and Discipleship Pastor for the St. Louis Central and Mid-Rivers churches in Missouri. He brings with him a wealth of experience in pastoring, evangelism, and church planting. The Executive Committee has also asked Pastor Long to serve as the Evangelism Coordinator for the conference. Harvey Kornegay has been serving as both the Ministerial Director and Evangelism Coordinator and will now be able to give greater focus to working with and helping our pastors in the field.
Dave Tenold is now pastor of the Southside and Martinsville churches.
Conference Evangelist Eric Freking reports that 77 guests were present for the opening night of the Unlock Revelation Seminar in Fort Wayne, with 45 guests still in attendance. In Martinsville, 23 people have made the decision for baptism, with 8 more expressing their desire to begin keeping the Sabbath. For the past two Sabbaths, 25 guests have been in attendance for the worship service. Dave Tenold, Martinsville pastor, continues to follow up with the potential new members and other interests from the series, and several baptisms are anticipated soon.
During an interview at Indiana Camp Meeting, Pastor John Bradshaw offered the following guidelines as we individually prepare for our state-wide reaping meetings in 2020:
Preparing for Personal Evangelism:
1 – Know your own heart. How are things with you and God? In order to share God’s truth with others, we need to live it in our own lives.
2 – Find ways to share that are manageable, and then build from there. Don’t bite off more than you are comfortable with.
3 – Identify opportunities that suit your skills and abilities. God will grow your confidence and your talents.
4 – Pray for divine appointments. It is imperative that we are proactive in our approach to meeting people. God is at work in peoples’ lives -- this is a joint effort.
5– Look at people you meet as potential citizens of heaven. God has people waiting to be reached by you, and He will bring about success.
6 – Evangelism will change your life. It’s the best motivator for our churches to grow and should be a natural way to live our lives.
Trainings and rallies are great ways to gain insight into how we can individually get started and be instrumental in the 2020 evangelism focus. There are two training cycles left before our 2020 meetings. If you haven’t yet, plan to attend and become an active member of the evangelism team in your local church. Your pastor needs you to use your abilities to strengthen and lend support to the reaping meetings and the follow-up in 2020.
Volunteer Pastor Mwaka Chambwa has said farewell to the Cicero SDA Church. His impact on the youth of the church and nearby Indiana Academy was invaluable, as he emphasized the importance of a vibrant personal walk with Jesus, discipleship, and using one’s spiritual gifts to their fullest. Pastor Chambwa is now attending Saba University medical school on the island of Saba in the Caribbean. He will be sorely missed, and his influence will continue in the lives of the young persons whom he mentored.
The Michigan City SDA Church members adopted the teachers and staff members of an elementary school located close to the church. On August 14 during the "Knapp Back to School Teacher Parent Night" the church made a delivery of 60 tote bags (one for each teacher, instructional assistant, and para-professional) at Knapp Elementary School in Michigan City. Each bag was filled with supplies such as bleach wipes, tissues, hand sanitizers, pens, pencils, erasers, index cards, highlighters, and much more, with a note from the church thanking them for their hard work and dedication. These items were collected from church members and church friends over the past two months.
In addition, they reached out on the Church's Facebook page and the following dialogue proceeded:
Jennifer DeMure Neal: The Knapp Elementary Staff is very grateful for the wonderful back-to-school bags you brought last night! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness!
Michigan City SDA Church: You are very welcome. We appreciate the dedication and instruction you all give the youth of this community.
Jennifer DeMure Neal: What a blessing to have such community support!
We also adopted the staff at the Door Prairie Seventh-day Adventist School and Day Care. On August 11 during our Sabbath service we presented seven full tote bags and a large amount of additional items and supplies to Patty Kruger, co-director of the Day Care.
Photos
Knapp 1: Starting from left George Chism, Maria Cooper, and Dean Cooper (members of the Michigan City SDA Church) waiting for the teachers to arrive and receive their gift bags of supplies.
Knapp 2, 3 and 4: Three different photos of teachers receiving gifts.
Hispanic Camp Meeting was held August 31-September 2 at Timber Ridge Camp with many persons in attendance. Six precious souls joined the kingdom of God through baptism.
Mark 4:26-29 New International Version (NIV) The Parable of the Growing Seed
“He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’”
Dearest Lord:
In this world, as we live and breathe and have our being through You, may we not forget to plant seeds of the hope of heaven and of Your gift of eternal life in the hearts and minds of our fellow man. Make us souls readied for harvest. May prayer requests be answered, hearts be mended, and Your love sustain us all. Help us plant the seeds, finish the work, and make us ready to go home, Father.
Amen.
The Center for Youth Evangelism (CYE) is hosting its annual Children's Leadership Conference &Pathfinder Leadership Training on October 12-13, on the campus of Andrews University. The theme for this year's conference is "Domino Effect - Empowering Children to Reach Children." The focus is to see God's children active and involved in the saving of souls. Additionally, a number of Pathfinder tracks will be offered, in preparation for the 2019 Chosen International Camporee, to be held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. A dynamic team of inspiring presenters from the North American Division (NAD) and the Lake Union will provide free NAD Certification in the following Children's Ministries courses:
Child Evangelism
Creative Arts
How to Reach Children
Adventurer Basic Staff Training
Pathfinder Basic Staff Training
Pathfinder Leadership Award
Master Guide Leadership Skills
For more details about registration, the schedule, and accommodations visit the CYE website at https://www.cye.org/ministries/clc. Admission to the 2018 Children's Leadership Conference is free; the deadline to register is September 30, 2018.
Oct. 12-13 Children’s Leadership Conference & Pathfinder Leadership Training-
Andrews University
IA Alumni Weekend
Oct. 19-22 School Fall Break
Oct. 20 Congregational Hymn Sing, Anderson SDA Church, James Wood,
Conductor
Oct. 26-28 Public Campus Ministry Retreat-TRC
Nov. 2-4 Pathfinder/Adv. Leadership Training-TRC
Nov. 17-18 Pathfinder Council Retreat-TRC
Nov. 30-Dec. 2 Journey to Bethlehem-Cicero
Jan. 7-9 Pastors’ Winter Retreat
3ABN STATION LAUNCHES IN MICHIGAN AND INDIANA Comcast customers in Indiana and Michigan can now watch Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN). The expanded coverage creates the potential to reach 1.2 million viewers, including the large metro cities of Detroit and Indianapolis. READ MORE
Hope for Life TV broadens its coverage with a return to WHMB Channel 40.1. Distributed on cable channels statewide and reaching a potential 1.5 million viewers, the broadcast airs on Tuesdays, 9:00-9:30 p.m., Fridays, 7:30-8:00 a.m., and Saturdays, 8:00-8:30 p.m. You can watch online at www.hfl.tv.
Lifestyle Magazine, a television talk show for mind, body, and soul, continues to air in Indianapolis and cable channels in Indiana on Sunday mornings at 6:00 a.m.
WYLJ, 107.5 FM, radio station in Terre Haute, continues to broadcast 3ABN programming along with the Indiana Conference Hope for the Heartland series. Podcasts are listed under Media on the conference website: www.indysda.org.
