By Wes Helbling

Bastrop, La. - Dennis Irby of Bastrop has joined an annual mission team to the South American country of Peru for eight years and counting. This year’s journey, from which he and two other members of the First Church of God in Bastrop recently returned, held a special surprise.

By Diane Davenport

I had a conversation the other day with a Maori woman who attends the local university where Dan Blanton and I are doing chaplaincy work. Not long after we met, she said, “I wonder if you’d pray for me. I’m trying to stop doing drugs.” In further conversation, it became evident that the drugs were interfering with her studies, her family, and especially her relationship with God. She said, “I’m just too ashamed. I want to fix things, but I don’t think God will accept me.”

Church of God Ministries accepted the resignation of Cayla Dyer as career missionary to Brazil, effective July 16, 2008.

Cayla has turned in her ministerial credentials to Indiana Ministries.

Please pray for the Lord's leading in Cayla’s life as she makes her career transition.

Click here to read more about about how IYC changed lives for Christ.

By David Farlow

Nigel Parker, director of financial planning and education for the Board of Pensions of the Church of God, has earned the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) professional designation from The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA. Individuals who earn a ChFC® are prepared to provide expert advice on a broad range of financial topics.

“I think it is important as I work within the world of finance to have a commitment to improving and increasing my knowledge and education,” said Parker.  “The Board of Pensions strives to provide our clients with the best possible advice and counsel.  This continued education is just one way I can enhance the skills that will serve the servants of the church.”

By Deborah Lilly

In the early 1970s, the General Assembly of the Church of God expressed concern over the lack of ongoing education for Church of God pastors. The assembly charged the Anderson University School of Theology to develop a program to meet the needs of working pastors. The seminary has done that and more. Creating the Center for Pastoral Studies, now the Center for Christian Leadership, the seminary has furthered the church’s ability to equip pastors and laypeople to be disciples for kingdom work and created a network through which believers can come together and study.

Over the years, T. Franklin Miller, Jerry Grubbs, and Jim Bradley have guided the program. By 2000, the program was running virtually on its own, offering pastors the same sort of courses it had for the past 18 years. It was in 2000 that SOT Dean David Sebastian, Vice President and Dean Carl Caldwell, and Vice President Sena Landey discussed whether or not the program had run its course or if it could be revived. They decided to ask David Neidert to step up as center director and refresh the program.

By Joy Mallouh

The tension was escalating in Lebanon in the month of March and April. The disagreement between political parties prevented the election of a president. It was obvious that these tensions would lead to a new civil war. It was like a nightmare when we woke up to the sounds of grenades, machine guns, and heavy artillery in the west side of Beirut. The fight spread out to the mountains like a blaze of fire, and people were soon seeking refuge in their shelters, which they hadn’t used for the past seventeen years.

Believers in the country met with disappointment on Sunday. All hope for peace in the country was shattered in few hours. We had not forgotten the awful years of war yet. We still suffered in our memory from the last attacks on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. How could we approach our loving God in such a time when we felt desperate and lonely?

By David Farlow

The International Youth Convention (IYC) of the Church of God impacted lives for Christ, July 14-17 in San Antonio. Inspirational conferences, service projects around the city, and times of worship were all purposefully designed to create moments for life-change. And lives were changed.

“IYC is all about life change and helping people making decisions that will affect their lives for eternity,” said Andy Stephenson, the convention’s lead organizer. “It is a place where people can hear from God.”