eNews from Ministerial and Member ServicesIssue 396

October 31, 2019

Personal From the President...

Dear fellow servants of God,

The Feast of Tabernacles 2019 was certainly a special event for all of us in the United Church of God. We are still compiling statistics from our 60 sites around the world and will report them to you as we get that information, but the positive personal reports that have come to me have been most gratifying and encouraging.

At our home office weekly Focus Meeting, Peter Eddington led a discussion with staff about our impressions of the sermons given at the various sites our staff attended. It was clear that there were many memorable, inspiring messages.

We were heartened to hear that my annual webcast sermon to all Feast sites was either able to be received live or played the next day at the vast majority of sites.

The most unsafe location for the Feast has been Haiti, where we discouraged visitors because of the civil unrest. Even our senior pastor for the Caribbean, Chuck Smith, had to change his plans and not attend, but the Feast did go on with a high attendance of 136. Chuck and Mary Smith have kept an informative blog about the status of Haiti at https://ucghaiti.blogspot.com/ with photos and videos. The latest posting is dated October 30, and Chuck reports:

"The FOT 2019 started relatively slow, but as civil unrest subsided somewhat they were able to hold services, and food was in abundance! Unfortunately, my phone stopped working about halfway through the Feast, so I could not communicate with deacon Joseph Jean after that. Up to that point, most were able to attend services, with a high attendance of 136."

Chuck Smith did, however, fly into Haiti for a day before the Feast to deliver critical supplies to our deacon Joseph Jean and his assistant Fanel. The details of this story are told at https://ucghaiti.blogspot.com/2019/10/civil-unrest-change-of-plans-but-gods.html

The other area that we had been concerned about, based on news reports, was Hong Kong. Our visitors who went there reported no incidents and the Feast proceeded without any difficulties. 

Bev and I were in Panama City Beach when tropical storm "Nestor" was headed right for us! Predictions were for elevated ocean surge and lots of rain on the day I was to give our webcast message. We prayed for the storm to divert. It did, and we walked to services in good weather conditions. We can praise and thank God for delivering our members from all of these threats.

Bev and I spent the first half of the Feast in Jamaica, where nearly 500 brethren were assembled. This was my first opportunity to meet our Jamaican brethren from the Kingston and Ocho Rios congregations. We appreciate their many years of faithfulness to God. While there, we had "Jamaica Day" in which the local brethren put on a special program of music and entertainment that we thoroughly enjoyed. The venue in Jamaica is conducive to families and it was so heartwarming to see so many families spending time together as described in Deuteronomy 14:26-27: "spend the money for whatever you desire--oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household" (ESV).

For the second half of the Feast, we traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida, which is our largest site with just over 1,000 people in attendance. This was another site focused on family. We all stayed at one hotel and interacted a lot with one another. As I reported last year, "Ed the Shuttle Driver" ferried many people from their lodging to the meeting hall. He again praised our assembly as the best one he has ever experienced. He wanted me to convey to all how much he appreciated the example that our brethren set that stands out so much from all other events they host, such as spring break and motorcycle gatherings.

Here are some other Feast sites of special interest.

Nick and Megan Lamoureux share their experiences at the Nkhwazi, Malawi, site on the border of Zambia and Mozambique at https://www.facebook.com/OutOfVermont/

More than 100 kept the Feast in remote Kalukanya, Zambia, 600 miles northeast of Lusaka. There is no air service to this area and visitors are rare. You can see their Feast as led by pastor Alfred Siame and his wife Edith at https://kubik.org/2019-festival-in-kalukanya-zambia/.

Ambassador Bible Center graduates helped with the Feast in Myanmar. Here is a description by International Advisor Aaron Dean:

"ABC graduates Aaron and Austin Jennings accepted an invitation to help with the Feast in Myanmar. The small isolated site in the delta region had no elders to serve them. It

required about a 9-hour drive to Myaungmya and an hour boat ride each way every day to the village of Sakhangyi where the Feast was held.

"The two young Australians were prepped by pastor Bill Bradford and were assigned two sermonettes and two sermons each. Davidson Lay Beh, son of deceased WCG elder Saw Lay Beh, who currently resides in Sheffield, United Kingdom, decided to return to his homeland to help them to have a Feast. He has been translating UCG sermons into the local language for a couple of years, including translation of the hymnal into Sanskrit, which can be seen in the film.

Aaron Jennings gives a sermon at the Feast of Tabernacles in Myanmar, with translation by Davidson Lay Beh.

"The brethren built their own temporary dwelling using bamboo and tree leaves for the shelter. A sand stage was made and covered with plastic tarps, as was the main floor. The PA system and electronic piano were battery-operated. Davidson translated as well as delivered some messages, performed special music and played the hymns for song services. He will be coming to Cincinnati for the Pastoral Development Program training in November.

"Aaron and Austin stayed in a small hotel in Myaungmya because foreigners are not allowed to spend the night in local villages. We have a number of small foreign sites that need help and we hope to allow opportunities like this for other qualified young adults and ABC graduates. Since many non-English sites use a phrase by phrase translation, speakers can view their notes while the interpreter translates the previous sentence or two, making it easier to keep on track with the message.

"The opportunity will allow them to pass on their experiences to other members as they serve in the future and appreciate how members live in other parts of the world. Here is a link to the video that Austin Jennings produced of their

adventure: https://youtu.be/AqGJQWpb0ak "

That's all the news for this week. Starting on Monday, the camp directors will come to the office for our annual United Youth Camps conference. Then, the following week, we will host 32 participants here for our 10-day Pastoral Development Program.

In Christ's service,

Victor Kubik

From Ministerial and Member Services...

Richard and Michelle Moulton

On October 5, 2019, Richard Moulton was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Michelle, serve in the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, congregation.

Clive Demont

On October 14, 2019, Clive Demont was ordained into the ministry. He serves in the East London/Port Elizabeth, South Africa, congregation.

Frank and Tina Reckerman

On October 21, 2019, Frank Reckerman was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Tina, serve in the Colombo, Sri Lanka, congregation.

Cephas and Patricia Chapamba

On October 26, 2019, Cephas Chapamba was ordained into the ministry. He and his wife, Patricia, serve in the Nkhwasi, Malawi, congregation.

Haiton and Sophie Thungula

On October 26, 2019, Haiton Thungula was ordained into the ministry. He serves in the Lilongwe, Malawi, congregation. 

Winter Camp Announcement

Pastors, please announce in your areas:

Winter Camp is coming up fast! We still have space for some campers, so if you are interested please get your application in soon. Camp runs from December 26 to January

1st. You can find all the information at http://uyc.ucg.org/camp/winter-camp. You can call or e-mail Aaron Creech if you have any questions: Aaron_Creech@ucg.org or 513-374-9392.

Hotel Space for the Winter Family Weekend in Cincinnati

The Comfort Suites on Kings Center Drive in Mason, Ohio, (about a quarter mile from Great Wolf Lodge) has set aside a block of 25 rooms for our members during Winter Family Weekend. The rate they are offering is $79 per night for the period of Friday Dec. 20 through Monday Dec 23 (with checkout on Tuesday morning). The rooms reserved are non-smoking with two queen size beds. The hotel has a pool and provides complimentary breakfast.

To book rooms at this rate, members must phone the hotel directly at (513) 336-9000 and say that they are with the United Church of God. Before booking a room, please be aware that if one must cancel a reservation, it must be done sooner than 15 days before the reserved date, or one night's stay will be charged to the credit card used for the reservation.

Accepting Good Works Proposals

Good Works is currently accepting proposals for projects for the first half of the 2020 calendar year! If you have a great idea, please run it by your local pastor, and with his approval please contact Lena VanAusdle at Lena_VanAusdle@ucg.org for more information. Deadline for proposals is November 30, 2019.

Call for WFW Presenters

The Winter Family Weekend in Cincinnati this year will take place December 20 through 24. As in previous years, we plan to offer educational seminars on the Sabbath of December 21. Our theme this year is "Our Great Creator." If you are interested in giving a presentation, please contact Frank Dunkle at frank_dunkle@ucg.org with your idea. Typical presentations last approximately 50 minutes, and may be directed toward general audiences or teens. Please note, however, that we are considering having a session consisting of a series of shorter presentations (10 or 12 minutes) following the model of the popular "TED Talks." That format may appeal to some presenters more than speaking for nearly an hour. Either way, we'll be happy to hear from you.

Inside United Podcast

Katherine Rowland - The Heart of Music

Katherine Rowland joins Victor Kubik to discuss her experience directing the Cincinnati choir and several festival choirs, the value of mentorship in music, and the part music plays in church and worship.https://www.ucg.org/inside-united-podcast/inside-united-podcast-138-katherine-rowland-the-heart-of-music

Listen to past episodes or read the transcripts:https://www.ucg.org/inside-united-podcast

100 million print advertisements to be inserted!

We are pleased to inform you that during the recent Holy Day season, phase one of a massive two-part print advertising campaign began. From October 6 through November 3, 2019, the United Church of God will have placed 30 million Beyond Today magazine and booklet (study guide) ads in households throughout the United States. Phase two of this effort will occur in January and February 2020, when an additional 70 million ads will be placed.

This huge advertising campaign in which coupons are placed in Sunday newspaper inserts, highlight two booklet ads--"The Book of Revelation Unveiled" and "Angels: God's Messengers and Spirit Army." These ads proved highly successful when measured against four other booklet ads during small volume tests that we conducted last year.

Since both ads generated excellent cost-per-response in those trials we are confident they will prove successful in the course of each phase of this rollout.

After people respond to our ads and receive their literature they will have the opportunity to learn from a variety of articles in Beyond Today magazine. Plus, by reading the booklets they will examine in great detail biblical information that they may have never before heard, seen or understood.

You may be asking why we selected October, January and February for this major campaign? By the time October rolls around many families, especially with children, have settled into a routine after summer vacations and yet it is prior to the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season of late November and into December. Also, January and February are generally colder months when many people spend more time indoors and therefore may take a bit more time reading their Sunday newspaper. The opportunity to maximize response is the overall reason why we selected these months for this particular major advertising effort.

Thank you in advance for your excellent, ongoing support and encouragement. We sincerely appreciate your prayers for the success of not only our print ad campaigns but for all the Church's numerous efforts to reach people around the world with the true knowledge about Jesus Christ and the coming Kingdom of God.

-- Peter Eddington and John LaBissoniere, Media and Communications Services