clintongrace.org - Grace Brethren Christian Church
Missionaries
Missionaries
Roy and Holly Angle (GBIM – Ireland )
The Angle’s live in Dublin and have two children, Koleman and Avery. They minister with GBIM in contact making and discipleship and on the SALT leadership training initiative.
Bobby and Hillary Baden (Chistar – Japan )
Bobby and Hillary continue to work with the Japanese community in Winnipeg while Hillary attends classes at Providence College. They ask that …you continue to pray for those hurting in Japan which was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami a few months ago; …our friend Kyoka as she spends a month at home in the disaster area of Japan; and, …that Hillary would be strengthened to finish school well, and we would have wisdom regarding immigration. The Baden’s write: “Praise God” for new financial support. He is our Great Provider. We now need just over $1400 per month.”
Bill and Judi Bianco (Awana Ministries)
Bill and Judi serve as Awana missionaries ministering in the Maryland , Northern Virginia, and District of Columbia areas. They live in Bowie , Maryland and have two teenage sons, Nick and Noah. Their Hope is that all children and youth throughout our region and the world will come to know, love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Their Vision is to be a strategic partner with churches and ministries in our region in a global effort to ensure the opportunity for all children and youth to be evangelized and discipled in Christ. Their Mission is to work with our ministry partners in our region in creating and disseminating integrated programs, tools and training that equip leaders to evangelize and disciple children and youth for Christ. Their support continues to be short. Please pray with them that God will help them raise their support level and that they will reach necessary goals.
George and Norine Carnevale (Wycliffe Associates)
George continues to serve as missionary construction superintendent, planning and building structures for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Dallas , Texas . Norine helps with the Welcome Desk staff which provides a vast resource of information for members and anyone who arrives at the Center. George and Norine ask that we pray for the family as they prepare for their youngest son’s wedding in late May; also, George’s very busy work schedule; Norine, at the Welcome Desk, as she learns a new data base software, that the Computer Department has developed to control the Center personnel information; their health and keeping their priorities straight and leaning on the Everlasting Arms during this very busy time.
Cord and April Cochran (Christian Discipleship Center – Cortez , Colorado)
Our mission has now expanded and is being blessed by the Lord. We are receiving two groups of Native American men and one group of ladies per year for the drug and alcohol recovery discipleship program. It has been our blessing by the Lord to serve such a wonderful people group. We continue in teaching and counseling the Word to these men and women, providing hope that only the Lord can give. This session, we have six men who seem to be meeting the challenges they face with a determination from the Spirit of God. We ask that you please continue to lift the students and the staff here so that God may be honored and glorified. Thank you so much for your love, prayers, and support. We love and miss you all. Your brothers and sisters in Christ, Cord, April, Delton, and Emma.
Wayne & Gina Hannah (Grace Brethren International Missions - Central Asia )
Wayne serves as Central Asia Regional Director leading and developing Team Asia missionaries and GBIM’s vision for Asia . The Hannah’s ask that we pray throughout the year that spiritual leaders in Asia will continue in vibrant walks with God and personal godliness in the midst of their busy lives and ministries; that the many false religions in Asia will crumble in the path of the movement of the Holy Spirit; and that the team of leaders will remain totally unified as they work together to plan and dream of what God can do in Asia.
Tim & Ginger Hock (Grace Brethren International Missions - Central Africa)
The Hocks continue their work in Bangui , Central African Republic where Tim is responsible for maintenance on vehicles and buildings and is involved with the Bayaka Pygmy work. Ginger is the Team Leader of Project Hope and Charite's Hand-in-Hand Project for orphan schools. In August of this year, after experiencing abdominal pains, Tim was medically evacuated to Nairobi for a thorough medical evaluation. He was treated and recently returned to Bangui . Tim and Ginger ask prayer for Tim's health, Ten Bayaka Pygmy couples attending the Mbaiki Bible Institute who are planning to become pastors/evangelists, and The 18 Hand-in Hand orphan schools and the new coordinator.
Jason and Christy Holt (C.E. National – Urban Hope Training Center – Philadelphia
The purpose of the Training Center is to reach the urban family through youth and children and to train believers in cross-cultural urban ministry. Jason serves as Director of Church Development. Please pray for Community Church at Urban Hope; the house churches that meet weekly to help connect spiritually with others who are part of our church; their continued ability to witness to their neighbors and other families in the community; for those who are struggling to maintain their faith in Christ because of overwhelming circumstances; and for Jason and Christy as they manage their time between family (two sons, Samuel and Micah), work and ministry.
Paul & Louise Klawitter (Grace Brethren International Missions – France)
Paul serves as GBIM Europe Director based in Dijon , France . His ministry includes providing holistic vision, gift-based shepherding and facilitating systems for their teammates. He and Louise Praise the Lord for protection and provision over the past five months. During this time they have traveled over 20,000 miles all without accident or incident seeking an increase in funding for their work. Please pray that they will see an increase in giving, and that God will provide them with additional European full-time workers. Goto http://gbimeurope.blogspot.com to learn more about this ministry.
Jonathan & Dorothy Luethy (Christar - Japan)
John and Dorothy work as church planters with Christar. Their ministry involves giving leadership, discipling believers, and teaching the Bible to unbelievers. They are presently in Hirao, Japan. The Leuthy’s ask that we pray: for a young man named Takahire, that God will open up the high school of his choice and help him follow through on his commitment to resume Bible study and to move him to call upon the Lord for salvation; that Shinichi (boyhood friend of their son Joe) would continue to devour the Word, and would sense and follow God’s leading concerning future employment; that the spiritual blindness will be lifted from the eyes of the new Bible study students that have recently blessed the church planting team.
Tom and Olena Merchant (Missionary Athletes International – Ukraine )
The Merchants continue their ministry in Bible studies and evangelism within the scope of sports – primarily soccer. An overview of their extremely busy schedule includes: Christian soccer camps for more than 80 orphan and Nadia boys; International Sports Ministry Leadership Training; Christian soccer camp with Grace Brethren for 60 boys and girls; and a Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference and camp. They ask for prayer: that their family will reflect God’s mighty kindness and love to all; that Tom and Olena will be able to live Godly lives and be Godly parents, and that Michelle and Melody will grow in wisdom and stature and in favor of God and man; that their “Growing Kids God’s Way” classes will be helpful; and, that Tom’s work at Nadia and Djerelo will impact the lives of many boys and they will grow into honorable and faithful men of God.
Our Mission: To communicate the message of Jesus Christ through the environment of soccer.>
We accomplish this by: doing sports ministry, training in sports ministry, and deploying sports ministers as a resource to the body of Christ. Beautiful Feet using the Beautiful Game to share a Beautiful Message. Located near Rivne, Ukraine. Partnering with local churches and missions, most directly, with the Mission “Hope to the People” (Rivne) and the church “Source of Life” (Zdolbuniv). Key partners: Sasha Gonchar (Hope to the People); Sasha Kalinskii (Source of Life church); Igor Solodenko (Alpha & Omega-Dnipropetrovsk); Andrei Petrenko and Dima<(Alpha & Omega-Shostka).
The Christian Football Club “Hope” (Nadia), is a rather successful club, influencing roughly 70 boys and young men each week and led by Sasha Gonchar. Training sessions and games occur 3-5 times per week. Bible lessons are always a part of every meeting. Most of these athletes are from non-Christian homes, many from broken families. All players, who have been in or around the club for any given amount of time, have, at least, a basic understanding of sin, salvation and God’s love. Many, who have been active in the club for a long time, have embraced Christ and made Him the central figure of their soccer, if not their life. This club has also been able to generate interest in soccer ministry amongst other local churches and has developed a Christian Football League. Competition and fellowship are important ingredients for maintaining an atmosphere conducive to sharing the Gospel in realistic and tangible ways. The work of God’s hand (or foot) is apparent in the Christian Football Club “Nadia”!
Alpha & Omega (A&O) is a Christian Student Society with two locations: Dnipropetrovsk (DP) and Shostka (about 11 and 9 hours away from our home). Both locations have talented and dedicated individuals investing their time and energy into soccer ministry. In DP, A&O became city champions this past season – and that’s no small achievement! Igor Solodenko and Oleg Dudnik continue to teach and guide a team of high-level amateurs, providing a place where players can be real, honest, open and under the influence of Christ-centered friends. In Shoska, Andrei Petrenko, Dima Kiselyov and another friend, Zhenya, are coaching three separate teams of children and influencing a large percentage of the sports community in the city. Andrei had the opportunity to study in a great sports-ministry school this past summer (for 3 months in South Africa and, Lord willing, is making a growing impact on Shostka and beyond.
Here in Zdolbuniv, we have completed the construction of a mini-soccer field and our prayer is that God will use this field and make it a “church location”, especially on Mondays through Saturdays. We are using this field to attract people, gather them, influence them, teach them and lead them to Christ. It is a place where true Christianity can be seen and tested, taught and practiced. We’re hoping that various churches will be interested in using this facility for their ministries, as well. Teams, clubs, fellowship, tournaments, camps and other outreaches are expected on this field, in our own backyard. Not only do we hope that this field will be useful in serving our local churches, we also pray that the community will benefit from our resources, as well.
One local Baptist church, “House of the Gospel”, runs a Christian preschool. Olena and Tom have become active participants in this particular ministry. Both are teachers (Music and English) twice a week for half-days. Melody attends this preschool. Michelle has graduated from it. Michelle is now in second grade in a small school that specializes in English. The method of teaching English is actually an American-Christian program (PACE). Naturally, this school is a mission field for our family.
While trying our best to be faithful servants of God, there are always more opportunities and activities that we could/should be involved in. Balancing family priority and other ministry is always a tough tightrope to walk on. Being salt of the earth and light of the earth (representing Christ in all that we do) is always an honor and a challenge. Raising our children into Christ-like maturity is a constant effort, joy, burden, and responsibility.
Find out more about the Merchants’ ministry at www.faithfulfeet.shutterfly.com.
Julie Miller Gospel Further Fellowship
Julie Miller and her late husband, Doug, served for thirty years in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, as church-planters. Julie, an R.N., also was highly involved in medical work and training village medical workers. She officially retired from GFF in 2008, but is actively involved in ministry to ladies, especially single women.
Richard & Sara Patterson (Scripture Union)
The Patterson’s share the gospel with children, develop parenting seminars and training seminars for pastors, Christian teachers and Christian Education leaders. Sara also enjoys a part-time “retirement” teaching job in a church preschool. They ask for prayer for Richard’s daily work (that he can do everything well to the glory of God), their health and continued growth in faith and obedience to the Lord.
Chaplain James and Sarah Penn (Good News Jail and Prison Ministry)
Chaplain James and Sarah minister at the Prince George’s County Correctional Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. As the senior Chaplain, James continues his responsibilities of coordinating religious programming and training volunteers from partner churches. The theme for this year is based upon the three C’s of Character, Conduct, and Commitment. Please pray for the Penn’s and the Chaplain’s staff as they continue the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with inmates at the Correctional Center.
Jim & Barbara Pitts (Children’s Haven of Morocco )
The Pitts recently announced that Chris Hunsicker, presently Interim Director, came to the Haven in 2005 and has been named the next Director. His wife Alma will work in the office taking care of all of the financial affairs. Please pray for the Hunsicker’s in their new roles of responsibility. Jim and Barbara are presently on furlough in the U.S. and will return to Morocco doing what they call “Friendship Evangelism”. Jim will also serve as president of the registered association (NGO) that serves as an umbrella to cover the work of the Children’s Haven.
Tim and Barbara Ross (Pioneers)
It has now been five years since the Ross’ returned from Kyrgyzstan to work in the home office in Florida. Tim serves in the IT department which has proven to be very rewarding and a great fit for the talents the Lord has given him. This office exists to help mobilize new missionaries and to train, support and care for the 1000 plus Pioneers-USA missionaries currently serving in 78 countries. Please pray for: the IT Team; the Candidate Orientation Program for new missionaries and the Edge program that helps college students discover their part in the great commission; for Kyrgyzstan which severely restricts the practice or religion; and for Tim, Barb, Caitlyn and Trent and their ministry with Pioneers.
James and Elizabeth Schaefer (U.S. Army Chaplain – Ft. Bragg , North Carolina )
Greetings to our beloved Church family! As the Spring schedule gets into full swing, we are excited about the open doors that God has given to us in the mission field here at Fort Bragg, NC. One area of ministry is counseling. EVERY day Soldiers or family members come to James for counseling. Counseling is definitely one of the main areas of his ministry. Thank you for praying for wisdom for James as he counsels, and that these Soldiers will come to Christ and see HIM begin to work in their lives! Another area of ministry is mentoring younger Soldiers for the Lord. Many have shown an interest as they come to Bible Study on Sunday morning, and then James meets individually with them during the week. It's been great to see them grow in the Lord, get along better with their wives, and begin to truly seek the Lord for wisdom in their daily lives. Recently, one has even begun to explore becoming a Chaplain in the future!
We are thanking the Lord for good medical reports for Elizabeth again this Spring. She has been cancer-free for a number of years now. One of her favorite verses is Psalm 23:6, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..." We know God is blessing us with His goodness and certainly His mercy as her health continues to be stable.
James & Elizabeth Schaefer
Regarding our kids: One special note of praise: Son-in-law, Adam, recently led their church praise and worship time (he has a wonderful singing voice)! And a prayer request: We are praying for our son, Tom, as he should be changing job assignments soon, still in the same location, but to a different position. Thank you for praying for his smooth transition. This new job is an answer to prayer for him.
Prayer for upcoming events: We are praying that details will work out for us to attend GBC National Conference this summer in Ohio. Perhaps we will see some of you! Also in the works is planning & praying regarding a new Bible study, hopefully launching by June, at another Chapel here on Ft. Bragg.
Retreat for deploying Soldiers
We are so grateful to our home church for your faithful prayer support, and we know God has led us, given wisdom, given open doors to share the Gospel, and strength to do so - all because of your prayer. It truly encourages our hearts to be knit together with yours for the furtherance of the Gospel - all for His glory! Amen!
Find out more about our ministry at:
http://www.eaglecommission.org/our-chaplains/james-schaefer/
Chris & Beth Steiner (Word of Life – Taiwan )
Chris, Beth, and little Jonathan welcomed Nathan Christopher to the family on September 22. They were blessed over the summer with 20 students at the School of Youth Ministry in English (SYME). The Steiner’s praise God for his provision for the air conditioning project, financial needs this summer and safe and quick delivery of their son Nathan. They ask for prayer for: Health for the whole family, wisdom as they counsel their students, visa work that may require travel to Hong Kong , Graduation Day for the students, and for Beth as she transitions more into the home and out of SYME.
Walt and Pat Stuart (CrossWorld)
The Stuarts’ write “The devastation and suffering in Haiti tore our hearts in two. Immediately we were thrown into action at the Jimani Hospital on the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti with nurses and doctors asking for help. Carine Toussaint, Haitian and director of missions at the Westerly Road Church in Princeton , NJ was a vital member of our Crisis Intervention Team. She was a joy to work with. Our days were filled with “debriefing” fellow CW Missionaries and STEP Seminary Personnel. We also had the privilege of training some 250 Haitian Pastors and Leaders on “Debriefing and Trauma,” as well as, training 40+ young men and women in “How to Debrief Traumatized Children.” We are proud of our CrossWorld colleagues in Haiti . They are facing horrendous and life changing situations on a daily basis….Pray for Bruce and Cindy, Dave and Phyllis, Rich and Carol; as well as Roger, Duane, Tom, Jenny, Ginger, Dennis and Susie, and others, including Haitian Leaders at the STEP Seminary; Wawa and Josette and Jacques and Frances, all who are doing their “Utmost for His Highest.”
Nate & Heather Wolf (Sent, Inc. – Tanzania , Africa )
The Wolf’s minister to the Datooga people in Tanzania . Through the TRUTH Center project, people are led to Christ, baptized, and taught the truth of God’s word. Both Nate and Heather came down with Malaria during the holiday but after being extremely ill they have both recovered. They have been praying for the Land Officer to visit the village of Basotu to approve the sale of some property that has been selected for their ministry headquarters. Praise the Lord! On Tuesday of this week the Basotu Baptist Church (the church Nate and Heather started) purchased the land. Nate writes “This was a wonderful day in the history of our church because now we have the ability to begin building a permanent structure for worship! It also gives our church an amazing boost in credibility since so many people have doubts that this church is here to stay. We were trying to buy two parcels of land to join them together for adequate space for ministry. However, the owner of the larger piece decided to raise the price at the last minute. We went ahead and bought the smaller plot which is good because that it where we wanted to build the church building anyway. Please pray that God would open the door to add the other plot if that is His will.” Please also continue to pray for the Wolf family (Nate, Heather, Hayden and Titus) as they minister in Tanzania.