Individuals and congregations from across the movement continue to respond to the critical need for funds to support the disaster relief and recovery operations in Haiti. Thus far, $234,600 has been donated to the disaster relief fund. The true scope of the devastation for those associated with the Church of God in Haiti has yet to be learned, but a second assessment team is scheduled to go to the country in mid-February and will deliver additional funds to support the relief and recovery effort.

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Students' stories of life-change are incredible. Only you can keep the indie movie and movement alive.

Nationwide audiences continue to love To Save A Life. Teens are responding and pouring out their stories. (Read them here.) Many are asking for help. Many are reaching out to their peers to offer hope and love. And lives are changing.

By Sam Collins

I once had an acquaintance who insisted that he was in perfect sync with God’s Spirit. Apparently, he had his own GPS (Godly Positioning System). Each syllable out of his mouth was first beamed into his brain by the Almighty. Everything he supported or opposed was fully synchronized with a plotline the Creator had charted back before the serpent was peddling Fruit Roll-Ups in the Garden of Eden. He was convinced that if you disagreed with him, you weren’t just quibbling with a mere mortal; you were loosening the lug nuts on the wheels of the chariot of God.

By Jael Tang

For Gary and Gwen, the key to effective ministry lies in building long-lasting relationships. When they first started praying about cross-cultural ministry, they made a commitment that wherever they were sent, they would stay for ten years. The couple, initially reluctant about the move to Guam, have now called the little island in the Pacific home for the last 23 years.

Gary did not grow up in a Christian home—his first experience with church involved people inviting him over to dinner. Years later, after various experiences with missions trips, he finally answered the call to ministry and started attending Alberta Bible Institute (now known as Gardner College) where he met Gwen.

The Disaster Relief committee of Church of God Ministries (CGM) received an initial report from Phil Murphy about the scope of damages and devastation in Haiti on January 12, 2010. Murphy, who traveled to Haiti to deliver the first $10,000 in disaster relief funds from CGM also conducted an assessment of the earthquakes’ affect on Church of God congregations and other ministry works on the island nation. International relief organizations estimate the death toll at over 150,000 with upwards of half a million people displaced and without shelter. In answering the call for assistance, CGM has received more than $53,000 in disaster relief donations from individuals and congregations.

By Bill Ellis

Sunday afternoon December 7, 1941, Dad told me that the nation of Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, called it “a day of infamy.” It was hard for me to understand that evil then and now. There were two other infamous days in America. On March 6, 1857, the United States Supreme Court ruled, “that black people are not legal ‘persons’ according to the United States Constitution.” I remember the ruling on January 22, 1973, by the Supreme Court that was just as wrong-headed and ungodly. On that day the Supreme Court, according to Dr. John and Barbara Willke in their book, Abortion Questions and Answers, also ruled, “That unborn humans were not legal ‘persons’ according to the U. S. Constitution.” Black people, thank God, have received their freedom and full rights.

By Brian Harrell

What does a retired pastor do after serving God’s people and God’s church for forty-three years? This pastor takes on a new congregation by becoming the mayor of his town. He moves from a staff of four people to a staff of eighty. He takes on an $11 million budget. He trades his church of 220 for a town of 5,500.

Larry Collins is the new mayor of Ontario, Ohio. He was pastor at the First Church of God in Mansfield, Ohio, for twenty years. In 2006, he retired from the church and was seeking God’s direction about how he would spend his retirement years. He thought it would be in the usual way; interim assignments and pulpit supply.

As of Thursday, January 21, 2010, over $16,000 had been received and processed by Church of God Ministries to support the disaster relief effort in Haiti. More donations are anticipated as congregations from across North American and around the world are responding to the devastation caused by the earthquake that shook the small island nation last week. Many ministry organizations associated with the Church of God with work in Haiti are mobilizing.
 

Church of God Ministries received word this morning from Phil and Lonnie Murphy (founders of House of Blessings in Haiti) that as Phil was returning to the United States from Haiti, the three Haitian children accompanying him were taken by the immigration authorities to a holding center in Miami. These are the children of Tania and Francky Desir, the directors of the House of Blessings. Phil was part of a team sent by CGM to deliver the first distribution of disaster relief funds and to help assess the situation following last week’s earthquake.

Church of God Ministries (CGM) welcomes Rev. Ryan Chapman as the new coordinator for credentialing services. In this position, Ryan will provide assistance to the state and area administrators in all matters relating to the credentialing of ministers. He will also oversee the movement’s process for linking searching pastors with congregations seeking ministers. Ryan began his new assignment with CGM on January 4, 2010.