The Kerusso – December | 2022 Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Save the Date for our “Journey” Meetings in 2023 All of you are rightly focused on Advent and the celebration of Christ’s coming to earth. AND WHAT INCREDIBLE NEWS THAT IS. This also means that in a matter of days, we will be writing “2023” as we date things. Wow! We are all very excited for all that Christmas holds in store, and we pray that in your local churches literally thousands of men and women, boys and girls, will experience the incarnation in a glorious way this year as you all share the news. If you haven’t already planned your “Journey” attendance for 2023, we’d ask you to take a bit of time to place attendance at a District Session on your planning calendar. We are putting the pieces together for what should be a very exciting time. We’ve listened to your feedback, and are building in a little more fellowship time, and will be concluding on Friday nights instead of bridging into Saturday mornings. Maybe our highest anticipation is attached to a special time in each of the four sessions around the country that we are calling a “LEADERSHIP SUMMIT.” It will be a time for us to listen to YOU as we put together a plan for the next four years regarding Church Planting, Connectional Events, Leadership Development, and Ministerial Training in the EMC. We very much want to hear from you AND the wonderful lay leaders you serve with, so please bring them with you! From the list of locations and dates below, choose the place and time that best fits your schedule and budget. In addition to the Leadership Summit, there will be worship services and trainings in each location that we think you will find helpful in your ministry context. We hope to see you all in 2023!
EMC Journey Sessions 2023 Register 5 people for $180 and bring up to 3 more for free!
The Kerusso - December | 2022
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
Keeping in Touch with our Global Partners Submitted by, Revs. Bill & Lisa Walker, GBWM Co-Chairs The Name of the CFAN EMC Global Conference declares openly the heart passion of its leaders and members. “CFAN” means: “Christ For All Nations.” Uniquely named, CFAN is not limited to one country, such as Myanmar or Mexico.
Updates From Around The World EMC CFAN Global Conference
Conference Bishop (General Superintendent) Albert Budiaki lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and oversees churches and ministries in four countries: Canada, USA, France, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I recently interviewed him on Zoom via a translator. “Bishop,” as he is usually called, said the Conference is doing well, and they are focused on re-establishing themselves in this postCOVID era. Like Asia Pacific, some CFAN churches had great difficulty during the pandemic, and have still not recovered. Many churches around the world, including those of CFAN, have not regained pre-COVID levels of attendance, participation, and giving. As you might imagine, the logistics of communication and coordination between four countries presents some challenges. Bishop has established a system of reporting so that he can get consistent and accurate information from the pastors and churches under his care. Probably the most isolated EMC in CFAN is in Paris, France. They are a small group, and they don’t have any permanent place to meet. Property values are extremely high in Paris, and so is the cost of living. Pray for them in this. Constantly changing locations makes church growth difficult. In Canada, the Toronto, Ontario church also has no permanent place to meet, so they hold their services and prayer meetings in homes. CFAN Conference plans to use the Business as Mission (BAM) approach to support ministry in the DRC. Poverty is common and often extreme, and transportation is a great need. The CFAN conference hopes to purchase buses that can serve a dual purpose: give people rides to church on Sundays and move people for a fee during the week. This revenue will maintain the buses and provide income for local ministry, administered by the Conference leadership. BAM reduces the need for long term support by donors and builds the dignity of the local ministers by not having to ask for help. We do, however, need money up front to get started. $15,000 will purchase 1 bus. The more buses purchased, the better! They also want to start a BAM agricultural project. An initial investment of $16,000 will setup an agricultural business. This business is a ministry in that it provides food for people who may have a hard time getting any, showing compassion to the community by meeting a felt need and attracting people to the work of the EMC. It also provides income for local church ministry of evangelism, discipleship, and church training. If you want to give for the above-mentioned Business as Mission projects, it will be greatly appreciated and quickly implemented. Send to EMC HQ designated as “Buses for DRC” or “Agricultural Project DRC .” Feel free to contact us for fur ther infor mation. billwalkeremc@gmail.com or lisawalkeremc@gmail.com
The Kerusso - December | 2022
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Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
CFAN Global Conference con’t … The Board of World Missions is facilitating a plan to provide basic and intermediate training for lay church workers and ministerial candidates using a model that was developed in Asia Pacific Conference by the retired Rev. Dr. Jun Mateo. BOOT camp (Bible Outreach and Outlook Training) is a brief but fast and effective training to get people started in ministry and it lays an educational foundation that can be built upon later. Bible College and Seminary are wonderful, and we encourage these. However, such may not be the path for everyone. BOOT camp has proven very effective in Asia Pacific, and hopefully we can adapt it for CFAN. Please pray regularly for our brothers and sisters in the CFAN Global Conference. We welcome you to join us on Zoom Wednesday nights at 10pm Eastern, even if you can only join occasionally. If you cannot, please take time to pray, and include Canada, France, USA, and the DRC in your prayer list. Zoom meeting ID: 838 6265 4366, password: 596321.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
From your EMC Superintendents & HQ Staff