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Michigan Mission Team Leads Newsletter Recap
JONESVILLE, VA (August 2, 2004) - The Evangelical Covenant Church of
Whitehall, Michigan, sent a mission team to Covenant Mountain Mission
Bible Camp and led a senior high camp from July 11-16 as the
congregation continues its assistance to the camp. That story is one of
many highlights found in a review of more than 250 local church
newsletters received each month by Covenant Communications.
Bobbie Jo Misch served as the director for the one-week camp, which was
attended by 34 high school and college students. Gerry and Josh Spofford
directed the games/activities. Misch serves part-time as coordinator of
ministries at the church and works as a teacher's aide at an alternative
education high school.
Twenty-three individuals from the church traveled to Virginia last year
to participate in a one-week family work camp in cooperation with
Wallens Creek Covenant Church, a congregation located near the camp. The
volunteers built a cabin and refurbished other buildings. The group met
a relative of the person who previously owned the land upon which the
camp was built. They learned about the history of the area and listened
to folk
songs.
"We were looking for a service project or mission trip that we could do
as multi-generational families," said Misch, whose husband, Mike, served
as a resource person
for the week. "We were in contact with missionary Tom Halgren and he had
spent time at the mission camp. We communicated with the camp and they
told us that they had a project and we went down to Virginia over spring
break (in 2003). Both trips were hugely positive and we felt we've built
a good working relationship with the camp and with the people at Wallens
Creek Covenant."
The Evangelical Covenant Church of Whitehall has participated in other
mission trips in the past, including one to Honduras and others to
Mexico (through Covenant-sponsored Merge Ministries). The church has an
average attendance of more than 200 under pastor
Terry Mattson.
Following are other activities gleaned from the newsletters, organized
by conference and region.
CENTRAL
- South Bend, Indiana: The Evangelical Covenant Church of South Bend
hosted a reception following its worship service on June 27 for pastor
Kendall Dahlstrom and his wife, Nancy. The couple celebrated 20 years at
the church on July 1.
EAST COAST
- East Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Community Covenant Church recently
sent a contingent of people to Nome, Alaska, for a mission project to
assist KICY radio
station in construction efforts. Team members included Donna Wright, Tom
Chiocca, Scott Dube, Jana Ballard, Dana Cheney, Lee and Rachael Stewart,
Rob and
Michelle MacNevin and Ernest and Ellie Anderson. KICY radio is a
Covenant-supported media outlet in Nome that ministers primarily to
individuals in Alaska and Western Russia.
GREAT LAKES
- Muskegon, Michigan: A group of more than three dozen individuals
traveled to Alaska Christian College (ACC) for a mission work trip July
11-18. They volunteered in many different ways, ranging from
construction of a new prayer chapel and a cafeteria/auditorium to
landscaping, organizing books for the new library, computer database
management, painting, cooking and harvesting lumber with their own
on-site saw mill. Many felled trees were converted to materials that
will be used in upcoming construction projects. Others helped assemble
two gardens and a walking path and bench made of logs and timber taken
from the grounds. Covenant Bookstore in Chicago donated 50 slightly
damaged Covenant hymnals to help future Alaska church plants in worship.
- Liverpool, New York: A recent blood drive through Redeemer Covenant
Church was a successful one as 51 people donated blood for a combined
total of 51 pints. The Red Cross also helped enlist blood donors for the
effort - 25 were members of the congregation, according to a church
newsletter report. The blood donations could help as many as 138 people
and some blood will also be used for research.
- Lyndhurst, Ohio: Bethany Covenant Church parishioners Stacey and
Asher Littlefield, Luke and Lynn Converse, Dave and Cherie Pavlich, Jack
and Gail Means, Lawrence Smira, Ron Arlesic, Pam Blything, Darlene
Taylor and Pat McCubbin participated in a June 12 Habitat for Humanity
Work Day.
- Russell, Pennsylvania: Scandia Covenant Church lent a hand to the
Brighter City Summer Program (BCSP) that Covenant Congregational Church
in Boston assists in
their city. Scandia Covenant sent the group to the East Coast
Conference-sponsored Seafarers Mission for part of a day before helping
the two-week kids educational program. The closing program for BCSP
occurred on July 16.
MIDSOUTH
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Parishioners from Life Church campuses
gathered for "Life Stock," an annual all-church event at Frontier City
Amusement Park on June 27. The event included a "Baptism Bash," where
more than 150 people were baptized. A 16-team volleyball tournament
occurred in the afternoon. An evening concert was led by Life Church's
worship team members, including worship pastors from its four campuses,
said Katie Moore, the church's marketing team leader. The annual event
began four years ago as a community outreach event, said a church
representative. "It's a global opportunity to combine all of our
campuses," said Kevin Penry, Life Church's chief operations officer. "We
probably had about 6,000 Life Church people at the park and it was a
great chance for outreach because people attending the amusement park
get to see things that make them curious." Life Church has around 12,000
individuals who worship regularly at campuses in Edmond, Oklahoma City,
Stillwater and Tulsa. Plans are in place to plant another campus in
Oklahoma City.
MIDWEST
Clyde, Kansas: Brantford Evangelical Covenant Church's Glenda Uhlrich
was awarded a Child Development Associate credential in recognition of
her outstanding work with young children, stated a recent newsletter
article. The credential was awarded by the Council for Professional
Recognition in Washington, D.C., which represents the early childhood
profession. Uhlrich has been a longtime child care provider in her area.
- Lincoln, Nebraska: A Homebuilders small group and a men's Bible
study group were among parishioners helping a family from the church
whose house was recently damaged by a tornado.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Olympia, Washington: Armand Osterberg of Grace Community Covenant
Church was one of four Thurston County volunteers receiving a "Call to
Service Award" for giving more than 4,000 hours of service in the county.
NORTHWEST
- Mankato, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Mankato
celebrated 115 years of ministry on July 25. The congregation has grown
from a membership of 35 to more than 450, with around 600 members and
friends attending worship service on an average Sunday.
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethlehem Covenant Church parishioners Bob
and Linda Merriam, Grace Bergstrom and Paul Swanson left the Twin Cities
for Taiwan on July 8 for a one-month mission experience. They taught
English as part of outreach programs in Taiwanese Covenant congregations
– a total of 17 from various Covenant churches were part of this effort.
Other parishioners at Bethlehem Covenant have been busy in
mission work, too. Carrie Johnson taught English in Zolotonosha,
Ukraine, for two weeks this summer while Ashley Olson and Hannah
Williams spent five weeks in Ireland teaching Vacation Bible School and
doing street ministry through Royal Servants, a parachurch organization.
- Trimont, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Trimont
celebrated 110 years of ministry with an all-church family event on July
4 following the worship service.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Lemoore, California: Covenant military chaplain Mil Am Yi has been
promoted to the rank of commander (05) in the U.S. Navy.
- Roseville, California: The Covenant's Department of Church Growth
and Evangelism reported that Bayside Church did an "extreme house
makeover" of a
neighboring church facility in early July, sending a crew of people to
assist in renovation work as an expression of Kingdom cooperation.
- Walnut Creek, California: Canto Nuevo (New Song) Iglesia and pastor
Willy Franco prepared a Latin feast for Hillside Covenant Church
parishioners following morning worship services on July 11, to thank
them for a recent partnership that has allowed Canto Nuevo to use
Hillside Covenant's facilities. Hillside Covenant
– whose senior pastor is Jeff Reed - has also supported the Hispanic
congregation financially. Franco's congregation recently celebrated
their second anniversary as a church.
To keep abreast of activities in local Covenant churches, regularly
visit this online Covenant news report at www.covchurch.org. To send
information about
Covenanters and events at Covenant churches to be considered for use in
this online report, email information to Covenant Communications at
newsdesk@covchurch.org or
call 773-478-4676, extension 117.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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