Greater Grace Annual 2013-14

ANNUAL 2013-14 A Publication Of Greater Grace World Outreach; A Worldwide Local Church gg_annual13.indd 1

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PASTOR THOMAS SCHALLER BIO A pastor and missionary for more than 30 years, Pastor Schaller led the establishment of thriving churches and Bible schools in Finland in 1975 and Hungary in 1990. In April 2005, he was named Presiding Elder and Overseeing Pastor of Greater Grace Church in Baltimore, the home base church for Greater Grace World Outreach.

Pastor Schaller’s deep, thoughtprovoking messages have made him a much-in-demand speaker at conferences throughout the world. He is a man of the Book and maintains a tremendous schedule of preaching and teaching at Greater Grace Church and at Maryland Bible College and Seminary. During the course of his ministry, Pastor Schaller has also spent several years as the Missions Director for GGWO in Massachusetts and Maryland.

A leader by example, Pastor Schaller can be found on outreaches, at prayer meetings, and at “rap” sessions that go on at all hours on the GGWO campus and in homes and restaurants throughout the Baltimore area.

He and his wife, Lisa, reside in Baltimore and are the parents of two daughters, Amy and Bethany, and two sons, Justin and Kyle. They also have six grandchildren. They all live in Maryland and participate in the ministry of Greater Grace Church in Baltimore.

MOVING FORWARD Healthy churches though exposed to a sick culture plant churches internationally.

At one time, young people from the U.S. went out in large numbers to the mission field. This was known as the Student Volunteer Movement, which started in 1886 at the Mount Herman Conference in Massachusetts. More than 20,000 students went over a 30-year period of time to bring the Gospel to parts of the world.

Today, times have changed but the need for young people to respond to God’s call remains the same and many are looking for it. The local church must be healthy; it is the tool God has ordained for making disciples.

I have a few recommendations for a healthy church to stay in shape: Stay balanced – by all means stay light on light issues and fervent in the important things.

Embrace the grace as revealed in the Finished Work.

Make disciples – realize that teaching people quietness, prayer, and godly communication is critical. Enjoy Body life. Warn people of the perils of luxury, selfishness, unreality, games, slothfulness, immorality. Be persuasive.

Stay current in missions – Read and pray about missions, listen to messages on missions, and invite missionaries to share their vision. Plan a mission trip with your young people.

Young people need to realize we are serious about our mission.

Stay on point with young people -- Young people should seek to evangelize the world with the Gospel because it is essential. “It is God’s best kept secret.” Teach holy abandonment.

Stay connected with the Greater Grace family – ”Brethren in unity ... there God has commanded the blessing” (Psalm 133:1-3).

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2 ENTRYWAY Entryway project aims to define Greater Grace’s place in the community

ART OF FORGETTING 4 THE Pastor Carl H. Stevens Jr. HOUR BANQUET 6 GRACE Special guest Dr. Ben Carson delivers hopefull message for todays Christian

9 APOLOGETICS Philippe Seradji PLAY 10 EASTER The Easter play has become trademark for the church’s ministry in the city of Baltimore

12 NEPAL The amazing story of a Indu Neupane MAP 14 WORLD The vision of Greater Grace Worls Outreach

16 HAITI Pastor Bill Cannon’s mission to the torn nation 20 CUBA Stan Collins on his first visit to Cuba 21 ZIMBABWE Pastor Renaldo Brown sets his sights on a new African adventure in the country of Zimbabwe

22 MISSIONS Pastor Scibelli shares Greater Grace’s emphasis on missions 26 CAMBODIA Words of life are taking root in the nation of Cambodia 27 GGIS A look into Greater Grace International School in Budapest Hungary

28 CALENDAR What is happening when gg_annual13.indd 1

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY ISTVAN PIRGER

ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING Gates are given a very important role in scripture. They represent the entrance to a city, the place of access and openness. They also are places where discussions happen, relationships are formed, and the life of the city meets.

Early in 2012, the leaders of Greater Grace Church in Baltimore put their hearts, hands, and resources to building a new “gate” for the church. In February 2012, STH Design Associates and Baldwin Building Consultants were contracted to design a New Entryway. Four months later, the talented hand of Joe Zucker picked up pencil and brush to create a rendering of what our redesigned entrance would look like. The rendering was featured on the cover of last year’s Greater Grace Annual. At Convention 2012, Pastor Schaller and the church leaders led the charge on a fundraising effort that would provide $175,000 toward the project. With the monies received over the summer, the church Trustees launched the construction phase of the project.

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We saw God in the details. We are so blessed to see Him at work in the practical life of the church. He and His skilled workers did so many wonderful things to convert the lines on the architect’s drawings into the edifice we see today. He gave us favor with city officials, wisdom to select the right architects and contractors, ingenuity in design and construction, and safety to the men who did the work.

GGWO Baltimore is so grateful to God and the many who gave; some much, others little; some money, others time and expertise. After six months of design, two months of permitting and six months of construction, we walk in and out of the church under a new gable roof, bell tower, and cross.

The design is simple, practical and strong. Th is new entrance “gate” serves the community as a symbol of the openness of our church and of Jesus Christ’s invitation to whosoever will come. As the bells in the tower toll before each church service, the call goes out to all those within earshot of the plaza to come and hear the greatest news ever heard. For Greater Grace people, the “gate” serves as a shelter from the elements and is a place of discussion, relationship building -- a pavilion under which to share the life of Christ with each other.

Psalm 100:1 tells us to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.”

Th is is God’s will for each of us as we come under the new gable roof overshadowed by the cross into His church at Greater Grace World Outreach in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pastor Brian Lange

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THE ART OF FORGETTING Identity crises are real things for people.

People just really long to know who they are

Identity crises are real things for people. People just really long to know who they are. It’s bad to have an identity that is tied to any relationship. When something happens to the relationship, then the identity is stricken and paralyzed. Identities that are not resting in a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ are very open to difficulty. Attachments and extensions seem to help some with their identities, but these things lack any true connections to what is real. Many people may come around a person who is handsome and much accepted. Yet, that identity is on very shaky ground. Those good looks and good feelings are sure to go someday.

Our identities really must come through the love of God. We must recognize every day what His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension mean to us. Jesus Christ speaks to each of us and says, “I love you, I will heal your strokes and your wounds, and I will restore you to good spiritual health.”

I want to understand why the Bible says that Jesus Christ came to heal the brokenhearted. In Ezekiel, the Lord had words for the prophets who did speak words of healing to the people of God. We have to have healing ministries. And I am not talking about ministries such as Pastor Carl H. Stevens Jr.

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we see on television. I am talking about ministries in which the Word is preached and the hearer is healed through the deep

sense of the word. The things that have pierced and hurt you can be healed. It is a promise from heaven. The strokes that linger in your unconscious mind can be erased as you receive the love of God and the Word in power.

These lingering troubles are dangerous and we all need to let God do deep works inside of us to heal these things.

Perhaps, you have recognized that something isn’t quite right in your heart. At times, you fly off the handle. You find that you cannot govern your behavior.

Your decisions just veer the wrong way.

Your self image is fractured, cracked in some place. Therefore, your responses are sometimes out of order at best. At their worst, these responses can just be down-

IN THESE PLACES HEALING COMES THROUGH LOVE calling unto the deep.

In these places, healing comes through love. In these places, healing comes because of compassion. In these places, healing comes because there is real care being given. Notes are sent.

Calls are made. Letters are written. People are met right where they are.

There is a thief. Satan wants to rob and kill and destroy. But Jesus Christ came to give us life. We can have abundant lives. He forgives us totally and completely. The eternal life that He gives us is a life that has no beginning and no ending.

God gives us precious lives that can be filled with the Holy Spirit. By His grace, we don’t have to remember so many of the bad things that were done to us. I heard one country preacher say that some people need to fi x their “forgetters.”

The Lord can do that and really only He can make you a forgetter in the good

LET GOD HAVE THE LOST AREAS OF YOUR LIFE right violent.

Let God have the lost areas of your life. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He came to seek and to save the lost. Let Him heal you. Let draw back that lost part of your self. He doesn’t want you to be in constant occupation with some

ABOUT THE AUTHOR PASTOR CARL H. STEVENS JR. After becoming a believer at the age of 23, Carl H. Stevens Jr. dedicated himself to learning about Jesus and to the study and the ministry of the Bible.

A farm boy born in West Sumner, Maine, in 1929, and raised by his widowed mother from the age of 3, Pastor Stevens approached Bible study and Christianity the way he approached everything in life – with intensity and concentration. His prayerful habits to study and to evangelize and his careful, intense sermons helped Pastor Stevens develop thriving churches in Maine, Massachusetts, and Maryland. He also helped pioneer the concept of Christian talk radio. He spent more than 40 years answering Bible questions and counseling over the airwaves of North America

bad habit that’s plagued you for years. He will give you victory over those psychosomatic details that are trapped in your unconscious mind. He can break your bondage to certain sins that are really the outworking of past wounds.

Yes, certain things are the result of just plain wrong decisions. Things can happen and things can be said because we hang around with the wrong crowd – the worldly crowd, the gossipy crowd.

Jesus Christ has come to deliver us from all of these kinds of problems.

Don’t be trapped in the game of blaming yourself and keeping yourself in chains.

Let God release you. Hear His Word and be free. He came that we might have life more abundant.

God’s healing will penetrate into the three parts of your mind – the conscious, the subconscious, and the unconscious.

In the area of volition, the Lord can train you to reign with Him and make right choices that line up with His Word.

He can heal you right now and He can keep you healed. These are the words that the wounded need to hear. Hear them and let God make you whole and complete and well.

and throughout the world via short wave and the Internet.

Pastor Stevens, who passed into eternity in June 2008, also emphasized the need to be part of a local church where Christians could find encouragement and fellowship. In each of his churches, Pastor Stevens quickly established Bible colleges. His conviction was that if people can receive a constant and consistent diet of the Word of God and a categorical conception of Bible doctrine, then they would be equipped for life.

Pastor Stevens took God’s call to evangelism personally and could be found on the streets of Baltimore nearly every week that he was in town. He would go to doors of city homes with a smile and a tract ready tell others of the love of Christ.

This call to evangelism took on a worldwide scope in Pastor’s heart early in his ministry and his churches sent out their first missionaries in 1975. The Greater Grace World Outreach now has more than 500 affiliated churches in nearly 70 countries.

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Radio is all about voices, and there many of them. The voice with the certain sound, however, is the voice that gets a hearing. For more than four decades, the Grace Hour, the radio outreach of Greater Grace, has sent out a sound that catches ears.

“Our sound has been the sound of Truth,” said Pastor John Love, the host of the Grace Hour. “It’s the sound of Bible authority. We answer the questions we get with the Scriptures -- we don’t make things up – and people respond.”

Listeners from Maryland to Massachusetts and from Louisiana to Nevada to Canada have been tuning in faithfully. And with the advent of Internet web-casting, the Grace Hour now Dr. Ben Carson signs a copyaudience. of his book, “America the Beautiful” for captures a worldwide Flora during a special meet and great session.

WhatSimmons draws them?

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GRACE HOUR BANQUET WITH SPECIAL GUEST DR. BEN CARSON “HE SPENT 27 MINUTES INSTRUCTING MANY, INCLUDING OUR PRESIDENT, ON HOW TO HELP AMERICA OUT OF ITS PRESENT PREDICAMENT”

Dr. Benjamin Carson has enjoyed a remarkable career as a pediatric neurosurgeon. He spent his professional life fi xing children’s brains at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital. To some, this experience qualifies him uniquely to address the problems of modern day America.

For sure, the 61-year-old native of inner city Detroit is an example of the can-do spirit that built the United States into the nation that’s become the envy of all nations. His life story is told in the movie “Gifted Hands,” which details his single mother’s determination to help her sons grow up and out of poverty.

In May, listeners and supporters of the Grace Hour radio show got to hear Dr. Carson tell his story in person. More than 350 were in attendance for the program’s annual fund-raising banquet at the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel in Towson, Md. About 100 others watched a live-streamed video feed of the event at the Greater Grace Church chapel.

Dr. Carson’s address capped a grand evening that also featured the music and ministry of WRBS’s Tracey Tiernan, one of the morning voices for 95.1 Shine FM, Baltimore’s top Christian radio station.

“We appreciate Dr. Carson for his steadfast spirit and unwavering convictions,” said Pastor Tom Schaller of Greater Grace in introducing the doctor. “He spent 27 minutes instructing many, including our President, on how to help America out of its present predicament.”

The “27 minutes” Pastor Schaller referred to came at the National Prayer Breakfast, at which Dr. Carson presented his ideas on taxation and health care reform, a pair of hotly debated political issues. That speech, made with President Barrack Obama seated right beside the podium, became a YouTube sensation and sparked the creation of “Dr. Carson for President” Facebook pages.

Virtually overnight, the surgeon was transformed into a political phenomenon and he also became the target of a steady stream of criticism. He was lauded for his courage to suggest that “God’s way -- the tithe, a 10th” might be a fair formula for the U.S. tax code. Others, on the other hand, chided him for spoiling the “apolitical spirit” of the prayer breakfast.

None of it bothered Dr. Carson. In fact, at the Grace Hour Banquet, he made it clear that “speaking up” is what he stands for. One of the primary problems he recognizes is the timidity of people to express themselves.

“I don’t believe that expressing your opinion, regardless of who’s there, is being rude,” said Dr. Carson in an interview after the prayer breakfast. “And it’s a shame that we’ve reached a level in our country where we think that you don’t have the right to put your opinion out there.”

Th is was the gist of Dr. Carson’s words delivered at the banquet

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Carson proved to be an amazing event in all ways. It reached its goals in fund-raising and in attracting radio listeners who were not connected to Greater Grace. More than a third of the audience were newcomers to a GGWO event.

“In terms of what we were trying to accomplish, this was a smashing success,” said Grace Hour host Pastor John Love. “We helped the Grace Hour fi nancially and we really connected the program to many people in the Baltimore area who really haven’t paid attention to us. Dr. Carson’s noto“IN TERMS OF WHAT WE riety wasn’t something we planned WERE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH It happened after we had a THIS WAS A SMASHING SUCCESS” on. commitment from him. It just added a different feel to our evening.”

Here is how Dr. Carson spelled it out: D r . Carson’s message and manner, “T is Talent: Our Creator has endowed all of us not just with the ability to sing, and the banquet program as a whole, touched dance or throw a ball, but with intellectual people. Many left changed by the meeting that night. talent. Start getting in touch with that part “I left there knowing that God can do of you that is intellectual and develop that, and think of careers that will allow you to use anything He wants with me,” wrote Annette Harvey of Baltimore. “He could send me that.

“H is Honesty: If you lead a clean and anywhere He wants, He can use me as the honest life, you don’t put skeletons in the woman He created me to be. All I have to do closet. If you put skeletons in the closet, they is get out of the way! I marvel at the simple, yet profound fact that God can turn anyone defi nitely will come back just when you don’t of us into a renowned whoever we are person. want to see them and ruin your life.

“I is Insight: It comes from people who ... He can use the gifts and personalities that have already gone where you’re trying to go. He lovingly put inside each of us, to serve Learn from their triumphs and their mis- Him, and be a loving example of Christ’s love and how we really and truly are new creatures takes.

“N is for Nice: If you’re nice to people, in Christ.” then once they get over the suspicion of why you’re being nice, they will be nice to you.

“K is Knowledge: It makes you into a more valuable person. The more knowledge you have, the more people need you. It’s an interesting phenomenon, but when people need you, they pay you, so you’ll be OK in life.

“B stands for Books: They are the mechanism for obtaining knowledge, as opposed to television -- turn that off.

“I is In-Depth Learning: Learn for the sake of knowledge and understanding, rather than for the sake of impressing people or taking a test.

“And G stands for God: Never get too big for Him.” The Grace Hour Banquet with Dr. Ben gathering, a group decidedly in his corner.

His easy and humorous style delighted the audience that gave him a standing ovation.

After telling a few stories related to his upbringing, Dr. Carson concluded by expounding his philosophy of living with an acrostic sequence related to THINK BIG -the name of his scholarship foundation and title of one of his books. The letters, he said, correspond to qualities we should cultivate in our lives.

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APOLOGETICS

PHILIPPIANS 1:16B : ”KNOWING THAT I AM SET FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL.”

Paul is using two important words in this verse that will help us answer the question “Can I be an apologist?” These two words are “set” and “defense.” The first is keimai in Greek and is most of the time translated by “lying.” It is not a common term in the New Testament, we only find it 24 times. The term does have much of an active meaning. That is quite important to apologetics as we will see.

The other (defense) is apologia, from which we have our word “apologetic,” it simply means a “defense.” In his ministry, Paul often used apologetics as an evangelistic tool. Actually, the word apologia is found only eight times in the New Testament and seven times it is used

by Paul (two recorded as part of his speeches in Acts and five in his epistles). Paul is indeed appointed for the defense of the Gospel, but are we? All of us? The eighth and last mention of the term apologia is found in 1 Peter 3:15, a very “apologetic” verse. You will actually find it in almost every book on the topic! For many people, apologetics is a matter of specialists and since, in our very atheistic context, a strong apologetic is needed to face the opposition to our Faith, many Christians are reluctant to evangelize because they fell inadequate.

Unfortunately, this idea comes from apologetics or apologists themselves. A quick reading of the verse will teach us that, to paraphrase Paul in 2 Timothy 4:5, we all can do the work of an apologist!

Peter is writing to believers struggling with persecution. This is what he tells them: “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” The verse can be divided, for the sake of its study in four small parts. Peter tells us to (1) sanctify Christ, (2) to be “ready,” (3) to give an account for our hope and (4) to do it with meekness.

(1) We all wonder if we are up to the task that God has called us to do. This is why Peter is starting with the proper foundation: it is about Him, not about us ! Christ is Lord and

that means that he leads and guides me. Do I have to worry about being capable ? In 2 Peter 1:3, the same apostle states that “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” We have all provided by God, through His divine power, to be able to live the Gospel and, through this life, be an apologist ! As Paul said in Galatians 5:16: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” I do not think of “not carrying out the desire of the flesh.” I first walk in the spirit THEN the desires of my flesh are taken care of. Keimai (lying) is important here for our third point. In Philippians 1:17, the verb is in the middle voice. It means that Paul is just there. As Christians, we need to be there, that is available and in rest. The “success” of my witnessing does not depend on me.

I’m not a salesperson!

(2) It is nevertheless true, that there needs to be some training, some specializing when it comes to Apologetics. This is where Bible College and church attendance come in. What is relevant for today? Well, just like yesterday, the Gospel is. I need to be in the Body of Christ to have my life transformed, I need to study His Word to have the answers from God and I need the specific training that Bible College can provide for me, in many areas, Apologetics included !

(3) We are asked to give an account for our hope. This section of the verse is at the heart of what we’re saying here. Notice what Peter is saying, reading the verse following his logic leads to this: First we are under persecution or opposition, we react as living epistles (2 Corinthians 3:3), our lives trigger questions from the unbeliever. We answer by explaining (giving an account for) the reasons for the hope within us. The word “account” is translated from the Greek term logos. This gives us a hint of what our response should be. We lean on God’s Word (logos) to provide for the content of our response. Paul says in 1 Corinthians

1:18-19: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

It is because of our testimony that people will ask questions. They will want to know how we can explain the hope we have in a hopeless situation. No mention of special intelligence or capacity is made here.

(4) Our attitude as a Christian and our lived out life raise questions from the unbeliever. This will have to be seen also in the way we respond to the questions raised. Too many times, when one knows some Apologetics, the discussion turns into a argument-winning contest. By doing this, I may (or may not!) win the argument, but I may very well, by being perceived as arrogant lose an opportunity to show Christ again as He was seen under persecution.

So what is Peter telling us? That to do apologetics, we just need to live out the Gospel. To live out the Gospel, we just need to sanctify Christ as Lord in our thoughts and He will produce the change. That change will be seen as we become living epistles which, in contrast of the emptiness of the unbelieving life, will raise the questions.

Do I have to be concerned by the world getting darker? Not really. Our brothers to whom Peter writes were in a dark world also.

As the old song goes, “The Darker the Night, the Brighter the Light Shines.” We are, all of us, set or appointed for the defense of the Gospel. In different capacities, maybe, but all of us are called to live out the Gospel and be a witness in this world not despite the opposition, but because of the opposition. We are indeed set for the defense of the Gospel!

Philippe Seradji

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EASTER David Ryan stood covered in blood and closed his eyes fast. The flood came next -buckets of water rained down on him. The soaking left David dripping into an inflatable kiddie pool and wading through what appeared to be an ankle-deep puddle of tomato soup.

The blood was the theatrical kind, thankfully. And, the bath was a necessary nightly experience for David as he transitioned from crucified Christ to gentle Healer, forceful Rabbi, and faithful Friend in fi lling the role of Jesus in “Do You Believe in Him?” -Greater Grace Church’s annual Easter play.

During a series of five performances running the last week of March, David, along with more than 150 others, put Jesus and His Gospel ministry in front of audiences from around the Baltimore area. The drama’s central storyline involved a young skeptic, Amos, who grew up knowing Jesus as the carpenter’s son in Nazareth. Th rough the drama, this character, played by Justin Grabowski, watched, listened, and questioned the reality of Christ and His ministry. (No spoiler here.

Want to know how it all turned out? Order the DVD from the Book Cafe at Greater Grace Church.)

“Th roughout the practices and the production, all of us involved felt a tremendous sense of like-mindedness and unity,” David said. “There was such fellowship and brokenness. In some of the scenes, myself and the

other actors were just trying to keep it together. The intensity of the moments was strong.

You are performing and really you are just trying not to break down and cry.”

The Easter play at Greater Grace has grown into something of a trademark for the church’s ministry in the city of Baltimore.

Many an outreach encounter on the streets is distinguished by someone exclaiming, “I know your church -- you’re the church with the Easter play. The whole town knows and loves those plays.”

The vision for this season of theater was born in the early 1990s, shortly after a travelling drama troupe visited Greater Grace. The production featured vignettes challenging people to face their eternal destinies. Pastor Carl H. Stevens, the late founder of Greater Grace, was happy with the results of these performances -- hundreds came forward to make decisions for Christ -- but he and church leaders sought a more historical and Gospel-centered presentation. The Greater Grace production featured a volunteer cast and crew and was combined with a massive promotional outreach effort that included ticket blitzes, door-to-door canvassing, media ads, and bus pickups.

As for the play itself, things related to the ministry of Jesus -- His words, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, etc. -- were made focal points of the scripts, which have also touched on issues and questions related to

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PLAY ordinary living. Th is reality made the casting the humanness of Christ.” of Jesus one of the crucial decisions related to His entrances to the scenes, however, was process. Taking on the challenge of portray- where Carolynn found David particularly ing the Perfect Son of God is not one entered powerful. “He had the unique ability to show into lightly. up on stage unnoticed,” she said, “and, then, “In my heart, I had such a heaviness -- upon opening his mouth, draw an anointing that’s the word that I would use,” David said to the words of the Bible with his delivery.” of taking on the demanding role. “A very clear “Do You Believe in Him?” scriptwriter picture grew in my heart Dan Dunbar understood and mind of how personal, “YOU ARE what David Ryan faced betintimate, compassionate, PERFORMING ter than most. Dan has been and sharp Jesus was -- He AND REALLY YOU cast as Jesus in previous addressed one person this Grace productions.

ARE JUST TRYING Greater way and addressed another “What I discovered while NOT TO BREAK person that way.” playing Jesus is that I had Carolynn Peters, who DOWN AND CRY.” to allow myself to express gained experience in the who Christ is in me,” Dan New York theater scene while living in Brookexplained. “That was my advice to David lyn, was director for that original production this year. I told him that Jesus was a living, that played to packed houses for more than breathing man, just like him, and that Jesus a week. She has been along for the ride on enjoyed life, loved people, and had both great nearly every spring production since then -- a compassion and a sense of humor - just like total of 16 by her count. he, David Ryan does. What made David’s “Many Jesuses I’ve directed,” said Caro- performance so effective was that he showed lynn, “each a different manifestation of the us all who Christ is in him.”

Lord’s character, each has represented a part Playing Jesus does create some interesting of Christ’s personality if you will.” moments for an actor. The after-crucifi xion She found David’s response to the task as spectacle is one of them. “A whole team is uniquely “intimate.” dedicated to taking me from dead Jesus to liv“Never familiar,” Carolynn said in de- ing Jesus,” David said. The play opened with scribing his preparation and performance, the Via Dolorosa and Golgotha scenes, dur“but fi nding deep meaning, creativity, and ing which audiences saw Jesus (David) stumhumor in his delivery of his lines. Off stage, ble down the church aisle, get nailed to His David was loving people and seeking God for Cross, and then die between a pair of thieves.

A series of five performances running the last week of March, put Jesus and His Gospel ministry in front of 4400 people from around the Baltimore area.

From there, Jesus was carried off stage to a room crowded with makeup artists. In under 5 minutes, David’s battered, bleeding appearance was washed away.

Another remarkable encounter came after one of the performances. An 11-year-old boy who had come forward during the closing invitation carried his new Bible to David.

The boy wanted his Bible autographed.

“Without thinking so much, I said, ‘Sure, man,’ and grabbed the Bible,” said David with a laugh. “Then, I stopped. How was I going to sign this. ‘Wait. You just want me to sign my name?’ “ Th at’s not what this new believer had in mind. “’You can sign it Jesus,’ he said,” David continued. “So I just went for it and wrote it right there -- Jesus Christ. Not sure what to think about that.”

For David, the cross scene stands as the one that most affected him.

“It’s just amazing, very intense,” David said with tears. “The Cross, that’s the reality.

It is not a magnified, Hollywood love scene.

It was gruesome, intense, brutal, and lonely.

Th inking on that overwhelmed me. How lonely that moment must have been for Him. It makes me very thankful for what God did.”

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Indu Neupane is the wife of Pastor Rajan Neupane

This is her story

Nepal is a Hindu country. It was officially declared a Hindu nation by decree of our ancient kings and as a result the caste system is still very strong in my country. I was fortunate to be born into a family of the Brahman- the highest- caste. What this meant is that people always deferred to us in public. We were always treated with a lot of respect. Lower castes were never allowed in our home and we would never eat a meal or associate with members of a lower caste. All family and business relationships are dependent upon our place in the caste system. So, in 1995 when my husband Rajan became a Christian I was very angry with him. His family cut off all support and relationship with us and our three children. They said, “You are dead to us! Get out of our home; you are no longer our son!” We left with absolutely nothing. No blankets, no dishes; just a few clothes. We were allowed to live in a very old one room house. Our neighbors called us Christian slurs

They threw us out of the old house and cut us off from all family food.

They called us horrible names and never allowed us in the big family house. “You are unclean! You are out-of-caste!” (Worse than being in the lowest untouchable caste.) I thank God that my brother allowed me to see my children and occasionally gave us a bag of rice. My sister gave me her old clothes. Rajan sometimes had work as an accountant for a Christian school and earned $25 a month. The children were now old enough to go to school and my brother had married and had children of his own, So he told us he could afford to keep only one of my children, Ira, the oldest. What to do for the other two; Irada, 8 and Iraj, 7? One Christian brother told us he knew of a school that would

like, “Cow eaters!” Th is is a big insult because in Hinduism cows are considered sacred. We had no food unless someone in the family took pity on us and gave us something from the family garden. Eventually my children, ages 4,3,2 went to live at my brother’s house.

take them. It was very far away, in the southern border of Nepal with India. What he didn’t tell us at the time was that the school was really an orphanage and that to have our children accepted, he had said that Rajan and I were dead. I did not see them again for three years.

For three years I was so angry with my husband. Why did he change religions and why did our family have to suffer so much? Every night while I slept, he laid his hand on my head and prayed for me to receive Jesus. One night I heard a loving voice calling me, “My daughter.” I felt like Pure Love was wrapping His arms around me and calling me “daughter.” It was so real. Th at day I went to church for the fi rst time. The Holy Spirit was alive in me and I was worshiping God, praising God, and I knew absolutely that this was the True God!

Someone at the school gave them money to come home for a holiday. Irada was now 11 and Iraj was 10. They traveled alone several days by bus to reach us. One night, half asleep, Iraj went outside the bus to relieve himself. He almost stepped right off the side of the mountain.

The bus driver caught him by the hair and saved his life! When I saw the children, I was shocked. They were dirty, thin and scabby and it was obvious they were not receiving good care. To receive proper care, we should pay bribes, but we had no money to help them. They asked me, “Mommy, why do we have to live in an orphanage and tell people that you and Daddy are dead?” They were with us only 15 days

After I became a believer, the family increased their opposition.

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and it broke my heart to send them back. But, there they had food and education more than I could give them. My children lived in this orphanage for eight years.

Mark 10:29-31 “Assuredly, I say unto you, there is no

MY CHILDREN LIVED IN THIS ORPHANAGE FOR EIGHT YEARS

mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the

Rajan was very discouraged in his Christian life and was considering going abroad for work like many men in Nepal. We had left our former fellowship and a year of work abroad would give us enough money to reunite our family and start our own fellowship.

We prayed for God to lead us and He began to reveal that He had another plan. Rajan met Pastor Karl Silva from Mumbai, who encouraged us in the faith and gave us tapes from Pastor Stevens. Rajan began to grow rapidly in his walk with God. Another turn of events happened about that same time. Rajan’s father got cancer and our relationship with his family began to heal. We were called back to the big family house and told that his father wanted only me to care for him at the hospital. I lived at the hospital and cared for his daily needs for over a year. Rajan and I prayed often at his bedside. I loved him very much, but he never forgave Rajan nor accepted Christ. After he died, Rajan refused to mourn according to Hindu traditions. He should shave his head, wear white clothing, and fast for 13 days. The whole neighborhood was talking about him! They said that he was dishonoring his father. A crowd gathered outside our room and was shouting that we must leave the village! We held to each other and prayed. My mother-in-law came and spoke to the crowd. She defended us for the fi rst time.

She told them that I had loved our father very much and took care of him for a whole year in

one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions- and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” the hospital. “Rajan doesn’t have to do these Hindu things- they have done enough already!” My husband’s brothers and our uncles defended us, too. They said, “They have only loved us. They have only done good to us. We don’t care what religion they choose.” They invited us back to live in the family house.

Th is was sometime in 2003.

Irada was 16 and Iraj was 15. All five of us lived together for three years in that small apartment and continued to pray that we could be united with Rajan’s family. In 2010 the family invited us again to come back to our family home. Slowly, God is restoring our relationships with our natural families. We continue to pray for their salvation.

Rajan was leading a small fellowship. T hrough these years prayer was what susBut, there were still problems with the family. tained us. God heard and answered our Our friends from church could not visit us many prayers. God has blessed our family. in the big house because of these awful caste The sound Biblical doctrine that we received problems. Some family members still refused through Greater Grace has helped us to know to speak with us. Pastor Melvin moved to that God was always with us. God is for us.

Kathmandu from Mumbai and Rajan started Today we have a healthy, loving family and a taking Bible College classes. We moved to a beautiful church full of brothers and sisters in small room again and RaGGWO worldIN 2007 OUR FAMILY Christ. jan attended Bible College wide is our new family. for three years. I prayed WAS REUNITED! everyday for my children to come home. Finally, after fi nishing Bible College, Pastor Thanks to Pam Greaves for interviewing Indu Rajan was ordained and Pastor Karl gave us Neupane for this story. enough support to rent a small apartment.

In 2007 our family was reunited! Ira was 17,

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Greenland

Norw Iceland

United Kingdom

C a n a d a

Denma Netherland

Ireland

Bel.

Franc Portugal

Spain

United States

AT L A N T I C

Morocco Algeria

The Bahamas

Mexico

Tropic of Cancer Cuba Jamaica Belize Honduras

Dom. Rep.

Mauritania

Puerto Rico

Mali

Haiti Cape Verde Senegal

Guatemala El Salvador

PA C I F I C

Western Sahara (Occupied by Morocco)

Gambia

Nicaragua

Guinea Bissau

Costa Rica

Venezuela

Guyana Suriname French Guiana

Panama

Guinea

Sierra Leone

Burkina Faso Benin

Cote d'Ivoire

Ghana Togo

Liberia

Colombia

Equatorial Sao TomeR& Princ

Equator Ecuador Peru Brazil

OCEAN Bolivia

Tropic of Capricorn

Paraguay

Chile

OCEAN

Uruguay Argentina

Antarctic Circle

A n

GREATER GRACE CHURCHES THROUGHOUT

THE WORLD 69 COUNTRIES 17 U.S. STATES 568 CHURCHES

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WORLD

Sweden

Finland

Norway

R Denmark Netherlands.

Bel.

u

s

s

i

a

Lithuania

Belarus

Germany Poland Czech Austria Austria

Switz.

France Italy

Ukraine Moldova

Hungary

Kazakhstan

Romania

Croatia

Mongolia

Serbia

Albania

Uzbekistan

Georgia

Bulgaria

Albania

Kyrgyzstan

Azerb.

n

Cyprus Lebanon Israel

Tunisia o

N. Korea

Turkmenistan

Turkey Greece

Tajikistan

S. Korea

Syria

C h i n a

Iran

Iraq

Japan

Afghanistan

Jordan

Algeria

Pakistan

Kuwait

Nepal

PA C I F I C

Bhutan

Libya Qatar

Egypt

Tropic of Cancer

U.A.E.

Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh

India Mali

Burma

Sudan

Philippines

Cambodia Dijbouti

Nigeria

Sri Lanka

Ethiopia hana Togo

Vietnam

Thailand

Yemen

Eritrea

Chad na Faso Benin

Laos

Oman

Niger

Cameroon

Somalia

Central African Republic

Brunei

Malaysia

quatorial Guinea meR& Principe

Uganda Uganda Gabon

Equator

Kenya

Rwanda

Dem. Rep. of Congo

Congo

Equator

INDIAN

OCEAN

Burundi

I

Tanzania

n

d

o

n

e

s

i

a

Papua New Guinea

Solomon Islands

East Timor

N

Angola Zambia

Vanuatu Namibia

Fiji

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

Tropic of Capricorn

Botswana

Madagascar

Lesotho

A u s t r a l i a

Swaziland

South Africa

OCEAN

New Zealand

0

1000 Km

A n t a r c t i c a

THE COUNTRIES / • Albania–2 • Argentina–2 • Austria–1 • Azerbaijan–3 • Belize–1 • Brazil–2 • Benin–2 • Botswana 1 • Burkina Faso–15 • Canada–2 • Chile–2 • China–9 • Congo–6 • Costa Rica–1 • Cuba–1 • Czech Republic–1 • Ecuador–3 • Finland–9 • France–3 • Gabon–1 • Germany–3 • Ghana–38 • Guyana–1 • Haiti–8 • Hungary–12 • India–85 • Ireland–1 • Israel–1 • Italy–1 • Ivory Coast–33 • Kazakhstan–1 • Kenya–12 • Kyrgyzstan–3 • Liberia–26 •Lithuania–1 • Malawi–1 • Malaysia –1 • Mali –1 • Mexico–3 • Moldova–2 • Mozambique–1 • Nepal–25 • Niger–1 • Pakistan–7 • Peru–7 • Philippines–69 • Poland–6 • Puerto Rico–1 • Romania–4 • Russia–8 • Rwanda–1 • Somalia–1 • South Africa–2 •

South Korea–2 • South Sudan–2 • Sweden–2 • Switzerland–1 • Tajikistan–1 • Tanzania–2 • Thailand–4 • Togo–15 • Turkey–1 • Turkmenistan–2 • Uganda–38 • Ukraine–6 • United Kingdom–3 • United States of America–48 • Uzbekistan–1 • Zambia–8 USA / Alaska–1 • Connecticut–2 • Florida–3 • Illinois–1 • Indiana–1 • Kentucky–1 • Louisiana–1 • Maine–3 • Maryland–8 • Massachusetts–4 • New Hampshire–2 • Nevada–1 • New Jersey–1 • New

York–6 • Ohio–2 • Pennsylvania–9 • Tennessee–1 • Virginia–1 As of June 2013

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HAITI At times, Pastor Bill Cannon really caught wind of the aroma of Hell.

His home in Haiti sat 200 feet from a community dump in St. Marc, a city of nearly 200,000 in the northern part of the island nation. With no municipal garbage collection available in the neighborhood, the residents trudged to this spot with their cans and bags full of trash.

Dogs, goats, pigs and other animals swarmed over this grubby smorgasbord, picking clean any edible remnant. The rest of the refuse was set afi re and tended to by a crew of men with rakes and shovels. Th is created “a perpetual burning,” according to Pastor Cannon. And, he took to calling the place “Gehenna” -- a real, fiery dump near Jerusalem during Jesus’s days on earth and a word the Lord used to describe the eternal place reserved for the unsaved. On many days, the breeze carried the smoke from “Gehenna” right into the Cannons’ home.

The smell, though bothersome, served to remind Pastor Cannon of the mission God gave him for Haiti. He and his wife, Cheryl, dedicated themselves to sharing the Gospel and keeping people from the fi res of Gehenna.

Pastor Cannon died while at work in this mission. Last February, in Haiti, an asthma-related attack resulted in this fervent pastor being carried home to Heaven. His days in St. Marc and other areas of the nation were times of much sowing in preparing a harvest field for a rich reaping.

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Haiti forms the western third of the Carib- the nation in January 2010. The temblor killed bean island of Hispaniola, the eastern part is the more than 300,000 and left 1.5 million homeDominican Republic. Columbus sailed the ocean less as it damaged more than 50 percent of the blue in 1492 and wound up here. The Spanish set- nation’s homes and buildings. It has been labeled tlers who followed him led to the near decimation the worst quake to strike the region in 200 years. of the native population through the introducThe troubles opened a door to the hearts of tion of European diseases such as smallpox and the people. In a blog post from September 2011, other colonial practices. In 1697, Spain ceded Pastor Cannon wrote the following: Haiti to France, which imported a number of “Living here in Haiti. How true the words African slaves to work the sugar fields and har- of Jesus, ‘the poor you shall have with you alvest the forests. Soon, ways.’ Sure there Haiti became one of “YOU GO QUICKLY TO YOUR are the scam artthe richest areas in NEARLY EMPTY CUPBOARD ists, or those who the Caribbean and tell you a story AND GATHER WHATEVER YOU will led French Emperor with the hopes of Napoleon to envision CAN FIND SO THAT THAT getting something a slave-training oper- FAMILY CAN HAVE SOMETHING from you. But then ation that would prethere are those who TO EAT TONIGHT.” pare workers for the don’t ask you for fields in Mississippi River delta surrounding New anything. And you know them for a little while Orleans and Louisiana. The island’s prosper- and you might ask them, ‘Do you have food in ity and Napoleon’s designs were upended when your house? Have you eaten?’ And they have an the nearly 500,000 slaves in the nation revolted embarrassed look on their face and they say, ‘But against French rule and declared independence in I know you don’t have very much either. I can’t 1804. Since then, the nation has endured a series ask you for anything.’ And you go quickly to your of government upheavals that have left it among nearly empty cupboard and gather whatever you the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere. can fi nd so that that family can have something The Cannons carried a very different vi- to eat tonight.” sion when they took residence in Haiti in the Pastor Steven Scibelli, Missions Director for Spring of 2011. They had paid visits to the island Greater Grace, visited Haiti in April and saw the throughout 2010 after it had been hammered fruit of the Cannons’ ministry fi rsthand. A Bible by a series of natural disasters. Four hurricanes College graduation ceremony celebrated 27 men swamped Haiti through 2008 and then came the who fi nished their course of studies. There now 7.0 magnitude earthquake that violently shook are eight GGWO affi liate churches operating in

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Haiti with a total of 1,300 attending services.

“I saw in these people a love for Bill Cannon,” Pastor Scibelli said during a service following his return. “These people embraced him and I sensed an incredible embracing of the message of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ. It’s just an example of what a person can do with confidence in God. One Book, one man and, the result, many churches. We could have 50 [churches] there one day soon.”

Since the passing of Pastor Cannon, Pastor Julian Matthew has been making regular visits to Haiti to teach intensified Bible College sessions and to guide leaders and believers in their transitions.

“My sleep pattern has changed,” Pastor Matthew explained. “I am constantly thinking of and praying for the Haitian youth and families seeking opportunities for better lives/futures.”

In another blogpost, Pastor Cannon revealed the content of his heart as missionary.

Its words speak as a testament to his work and a challenge to all of us who believe that God commissions us to go after the Lost: “Over the years I’ve shared this experience I’ve had with many, and I don’t want to be redundant. It concerns a verse the Lord shared with me that has become a life-verse.

Actually the Lord spoke this verse to me twice in my life in a unique an unusual way (Now God speaks to us daily by His Word and Spirit. I can’t explain how these two times were unique and unusual, just that they were.) The fi rst time was in Lenox, MA. The second time was in Haines City, FL, with the span of years between the two. The verse is Matthew 25:40: ‘Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these My brethren you did it to Me.’ Over the years I’ve related these verses to nursing home ministry and hospital visitation. ‘I was sick and you visited Me.’ And to prison ministry.

‘I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Now in Haiti I can relate it to this: ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed me.’ (Just as it also relates to the hungry and homeless in the U.S. or any country).”

The Cannon Code: I do believe -- I must believe -- in the ultimate triumph of God’s Kingdom over all that opposes it and is contrary to it, no matter what it presently looks like by sight (Daniel 2:44, Revelations 11:15).

I do believe -- I must believe -- in the success of Christ’s mission in the world, outlined 4,000 years ago in God’s promise to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations would be blessed, and that Abraham would have many spiritual children, Jew and Gentile alike, through faith in Christ (Genesis 12:3, Genesis 15:5,6, Galatians 3:6-9, Isaiah 49:4-6).

I do believe -- I must believe -- in the power of the Word of God to transform a persons life (Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 19:7, Jeremiah 23:29).

I do believe -- I must believe -- that wherever we go, bearing precious seed, we will find, (He will lead us to) a Rebekah, a Zacchaeus, a women at the well, a Nicodemus, a Mary Magdalene, an Andrew, a Simon Peter, a Lydia (Psalm 126:6, Luke 19:10, Genesis 24:27, John 4:6, Acts 16:14).

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TALES FROM Pastor Stan Collins

CUBA / On the bus ride from the Holguin Airport to our hotel on Cuba’s northeastern coast, we passed a billboard with a depiction of the iconic Ernesto “Che” Guevara and the following words (my translation): “We yearn to live as you died, so that we may live as you live.” As we continued our ride on the highway to Guardalavaca (literal translation: ‘Guard the Cow’), I thought for a long while about the intended meaning of the slogan for the people there. It struck me that the assertion was superb, if only the Person of Jesus Christ were the object. Those words – so empty when spoken in reference to any man – are so full of meaning and authority when Jesus becomes our life.

I’m grateful to Pastor Peter Sheff and the Abundant Grace Church of Searsmont, Maine, for their faith-vision to establish a Greater Grace affi liated church in Cuba and for encouraging me to accompany five of them on this trip. They have been investing in the life of a man who lives the way Jesus died, not doing his will, but his Father’s. I met him the following morning, and as we spent our days together, it was clear that Pastor Edit is a man of God for Cuba, a testimony that Jesus still lives, because he (Edit) lives as He (Jesus) lives!

the mercy, the heart of God. He needed to affiliate with one of the denominations accepted by the government in order to avoid being shut down, and so he did. Although the denominational leadership loved his growing church body, they weren’t so happy with the proclamation of the eternal security of the believer that came from his pulpit. This finally led to him being disowned by that denomination, and he now runs the risk of persecution from the government, as he is continuing to conduct services, preaching the Word that he has been taught. When Pastor Sheff asked him if he would consider looking to affiliate with another currently accepted ministry, Pastor Edit replied, “You’re (GGWO) the ones who taught me the message of grace and the finished work of Jesus Christ so clearly from the Bible. I’ll run the risk of government interference because I don’t want someone telling me we must preach a different gospel.”

I wish to express to the GGWO churches worldwide the deep gratitude that Pastor Edit holds for the prayers of all the saints. I wish you could have seen his eyes when I told him that we are sending a laptop computer with 43 Bible College courses in Spanish, numer-

ous booklets by Pastor Stevens and many other resources. He should have gotten it in March of 2013. I wish I had a way to effectively express the brokenness I felt as I watched Edit and seven or eight of his disciples in a men’s meeting carefully writing down the names of all of the Latin American GGWO pastors, their wives and the names of the countries where they are ministering. You would have thought they were scribes tasked with the preservation of the Holy Scriptures.

Some closing thoughts: • It would be a miracle if GGWO were to be recognized as an accepted Christian ministry in Cuba, but we believe that God still does those.

• The government of Cuba has announced that Cubans can now apply for visas to travel to a number of countries (although not yet to the USA). Pray that Pastor Edit would be able to come to Lima, Peru for conferences and events.

• Pastor Edit is amazing, but Cuba is right now white for the message we bring. Pray for laborers. I long to see Peruvians preaching in Cuba.

He heard and believed the Gospel message when Pastor Brad Gray and other Greater Grace missionaries visited the island in May of 1998. When Pastor Sheff ocean-baptized him in November of that same year, Edit apparently felt that was enough to run with, so he started a Church in his home two days later, preaching the same grace message that filled his own heart. I can still see the candid smile brightening his face as he told me, “Pastor Stan, I’ve never taught another message except grace because you guys [the GGWO pastors who visited] spent so many hours showing me in the Scriptures that there is no other way for the Christian to live!”

His Church grew rapidly, as people heard an unfamiliar, but very welcome message about the greatness, the gentleness, the care,

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ABROAD

WORLD

Pastor Renaldo Brown

AFRICA/ Pastor Renaldo Brown is man of vision and this makes him a man in motion.

Thinking on the love of God does this to him, and it’s these moments of thinking that move his heart for the people of Africa, a continent that has been his focus for much of the past 15 years. A heart that’s moved in the missionary call beats in a body that rarely stays still for very long. The white harvest fields draw men like this. This coming fall, Pastor Brown will set his sights on a new African adventure in the country of Zimbabwe.

“God never ceases to amaze me,” Pastor Brown said in a recent message at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. “How He can love, when He can love, where He can love.

His faithfulness to love is the thing fires us up.”

Zimbabwe will be Pastor Brown’s fourth African station. He first reached the continent in 1998 joining the Uganda team then led by Pastor Duane George. Later, after his graduation from Maryland Bible College and Seminary, he spent three years in South Africa. Since 2004, he has served in Zambia, on the southeast side of Africa. He has guided the development of the work in that nation with the help of Pastor Adam Speedy, a South African native, Pastor Chris Arman, now in Malawi, and Jediah and Sarah Tanguay. This has resulted in the establishment of eight Greater Grace affiliate churches there.

“Engaging God is the most important thing in life,” Pastor Brown said. “Spiritual fervency is necessary to live in the call of God. When you go after God, you always face people -- it’s what He does with you.”

Pastor Brown grew up in Baltimore and his family first became part of the Greater Grace ministry when he was 16 years old. He was active in youth activities and sports events for a while. His sister, Latasha, left the city and moved to Springfield, Mass., where she attended the Christian school there headed then

by GGWO Missions Director Pastor Steven Scibelli.

Pastor Renaldo? “I just disappeared for about a decade,” he explained. “Went from job to job. You know, just living my life.”

After holding a series of jobs here and there

around the Washington area, Pastor Brown made his way back to Baltimore and to Bible College. He committed himself to learning the Word of God and developing a vision for his life. He made his way through Bible College by working the overnight shift at Kinko’s copy center. During his freshman year, he came in contact with Pastor Scibelli and so began his connection with Africa.

“You get into one of those international faith fields and God does something unique,” Pastor Brown said. “The winter in your heart becomes spring and there are up-shoots and growth.”

Up-shoots and growth are two words that describe what has happened in Zambia over the past nine years. This nation was no stranger to the ministry of the Gospel and it has proven to be a fertile place for the message of grace and the finished work. Missionary and explorer David Livingstone of Scotland traveled down the Zambezi River to Zambia in becoming the first European to cross the central portion of Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. He discovered Victoria Falls, known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, or the “smoke that thunders,” to tribes in the region near the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. There is town named for Livingstone and his heart is buried in a monument located near the Falls.

From a base in the capital of Lusaka, the work in Zambia has steadily grown and national pastors are leading the Greater Grace churches in the nation.

Back in Baltimore, Pastor Brown, his wife, Charity, and daughter, Linda, are enjoying a season at home base in Baltimore for the next step in their call -- establishing a work in Zimbabwe. God has prepared the way for this missionary through a set of circumstances that have left the people seeking for answers and purpose.

Zimbabwe, once known as Africa’s bread basket for its fertile fields, has endured a decade of hyperinflation, political upheaval, and government land confiscations. Its longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe, and his political organization continue to hold power as he nears the age of 90.

“It’s the right place because of one word

-- God,” Pastor Brown explained. “If I pursue God, He will take me where I am supposed to go, whether it is to Sunday school or to Katmandu. The problem is that most of us become timid, even though we possess His gifts and calling.”

One secret to success for any missionary is obvious to Pastor Brown.

“Our home connections make all the difference,” he said. “Convention -- can’t live without it; can’t do what I do without it. You come back a little wobbly, a little dilapidated and you enter a warehouse of love and the gracious spirit of the Body of Christ refreshes and stirs you.”

Pastor Brown has warning for those who casually wander through their days at convention.

“You could be ambushed,” he said. “You never know when the Spirit of God is going get you. You like the booths. You came for the chicken and wind up with a vision for Turkey.”

Pastor Renaldo Brown and his family in Zambia

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MISSIONS The question of missions is crucial when it comes to the local church. Like all, we are called to do in the church, mission’s purpose is to glorify God. Doesn’t evangelism, winning the lost and making disciples glorify God, too ? God is glorified in mission work. Our churches are called to be involved in missions. Many para-church organizations and mission boards are doing missions and God does use them in His permissive will, but we are convinced that this is primarily the role of the local church.

Evangelism is to be done in the local church, missions is to be sent from the local church and disciples are to be made in and by the local church.

Pastor Steven Scibelli

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USA

We clearly see, in Acts 13:1-4, that Paul was sent by his local church : “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.” As they were “sent off ” by the church in verse 3, verse 4 tells us that they were sent by the Holy Spirit. The two sending elements are connected.

Often, churches miss the missions emphasis. Too many churches are deficient when it comes to missions. What are the important elements that need to be present in a church to be able to reproduce and multiply ?

Four Building Blocks In Exodus 25, Moses is told, in verse 9 : “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” And, in verse 40, “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” God gave Moses clear defi nition of how he wanted the Tabernacle to be built. He also gave us, in His word, patterns for us to implement and see His blessing on mission work.

The pattern we have, in the New Testament for a healthy church is four-fold. There are four building blocks. We need to have the following: (1) the Word of God; (2) prayer; (3) Body life, and (4) soul-winning. Ancient and recent history has shown that whenever Christians did “according to the pattern,” churches reproduced and multiplied; disciples were made.

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1. The Word of God - Acts 6:1-7: “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

Th is proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

The Apostles were facing a particular demand of service, they responding by suggesting the appointments of deacons. What was the reason ? Why is it important ? So that the Apostles would not neglect the ministry of the Word. They understood, by the Holy Spirit, the importance of the Word for the advancement of the Gospel. The number of disciples was already increasing as we read in verse 1, but the dedication of the Apostles to the Word of God, as we learn in verse 7, made the numbers increase rapidly. Most churches preach the Word, at least all Biblebelieving churches do. The issue here goes deeper. Giving a major place to the Word in our church is more that Sunday preaching.

Some pastors struggle with church growth and also having their church involved in missions. How much of the Word is in our church ? Do we have mid-week services ? Do we make room for question and answer sessions in our churches ? Do we think Bible College in our churches? Bible College is the wheel that makes it happen. Bible College provides us the ability and the venue to train others. Without the Word, nothing can really happen. In Romans 10:17, Paul writes,

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith is an important part of making mission work a reality.

The Word of God preached produces faith in the believer. In Acts 6:7, we read that the Word of God “spread.” The Greek word is auxano, it means to “increase.” More place was given to the Word in the early church and this brought the growing number of souls being saved and disciples being made.

2. Prayer -- In verse 4 of Acts 6, we also see that the Apostles gave their attention to prayer. The Apostles said, “We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” Prayer, was also an important factor of the “rapidly” increasing number of disciples in the early church. Prayer is important, we know this, but how important is it really to us? How much time do we personally give to prayer ? How much time is dedicated to prayer in our church schedule ? In our team or staff schedule? How many of the things that we do for God prevent us from praying with God ?

3. Body Life -- The Body of Christ is where we are encouraged and build up. Th is is also where we meet examples that are set up for us to follow. Body life is more than just attending a church; it is an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the members in particular of His Body. It is a very misunderstood concept in Christianity today. In many places in the books of Acts (2:41-47; 11:19-26; 13:1-4; 16:1-5), we see the ministry of the Body of Christ in the spiritual activity of mission. The book of Ephesians clearly teaches the mission purpose of the gifts to the church; the wisdom, the armor, and the Great Commission are given to the Church. Ephesians 1 and 3 talk about the “mystery” that has been made known, but unfortunately not received many times by the churches. We need to understand that Body life is the motivation for spiritual growth in the individual lives and for discipleship.

will do on the mission field is related to what we do in our home church. Soul-winning is an important part of the life of the disciple.

A man or a women that is not soul-winning will never be involved in mission work. A church that is not a soul-winning church will not be involved in mission either.

A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF GRACE AND THE FINISHED WORK IS IMPORTANT A clear understanding of Grace and the Finished Work is important in our local churches. If we don’t have these fundamental keys, we will not have a clear understanding and balance of these buildings blocks.

Grace is not a mere attribute of God, Grace is His very nature, His very character. In John 1:14, we read that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” God is full of grace and truth! He has fi nished the work. We enter “by Grace, through faith. ... in good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). We can trust that “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

4. Soul-winning -- We have been taught over the years in our ministry that what we

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Mission work You may ask: How can I be involved in missions ? How can my church be involved in evangelism and mission? In my classes, I tell the students that we need to do three things as we consider the work of missions : Target, locate, and operate !

1. Target -- Th is is having a mission vision. Beginning about two decades ago, some of us made targeting trips to Africa.

On one particular trip, we traveled to 18 cities in six diff erent countries on a 21-day journey. Th is is what I mean by targeting.

We need to be on the move with God and see where He would lead us. We need to be led

by His Spirit. Sometime the leading of the Holy Spirit will be done as we “target.”

earlier. We reproduce what we have learned and what fi rst motivated us to be involved in missions. We preach the Word, have a prayer life, live Body life, and go out soul-winning.

We reproduce what we have seen. The new church will too develop the same “pattern.”

The Body life will start with the life among the mission team members. It is a guarantee, a church that follows the biblical pattern will reproduce and multiply again. When we left Ghana in the 1990s, there were seven churches; now, in 2013, there are 38. When we left Uganda, there were three churches; now there are 35 !

You may think that your church is too small to be involved in missions. Pastor Carl

2. Locate -- Once we are led by God WHEN WE LEFT GHANA IN and have targeted a place, we simply THE 1990s THERE WERE SEVEN move in faith. We move with a team.

CHURCHES; NOW, IN 2013 When we locate to a new country or a THERE ARE 38 city, we must be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It may be the right country, Stevens, Greater Grace’s founding pastor, but is it the right city? Is it the right part of fi rst spoke of sending teams to the “utterthe city? Where are the most open areas ? most parts” of the world in front of a congregation with 10 to 15 people. He had a 3. Operate -- We simply work in the vision and faith in God for the vision ! You “pattern that has be shown to us.” We imple- can target. Take little trips in your Jerusament the four building blocks we mentioned lem, then in your Judea and Samaria. Visit

mission fields in the uttermost parts of the world. Th is is a great way to expose your people to missions, maybe they will go and make your church a sending church! You can talk about missions and bring in missionaries to promote missions. Believe God! Let’s give room to the Word of God. Let’s believe God for a Bible Colleges in our local churches. It will provide a great setting to raise up disciples who will be trained to go.

Maybe your churches can be fi nancially involved, too. As a pastor, I always thought that our churches should give to missions.

In our churches, we always purposed to give from 10 to 20 percent of fi nances to missions. We need to put our money where God’s heart is! I remember in Ghana, our church was giving 10 percent of the off erings to mission work. We felt led by God to bring our participation to 25 percent and we did this by faith. The off ering increased 500 percent shortly thereafter!

With the right emphasis, our ministry who had 287 affi liated churches in 2005, have 568 churches in 2013 ! Th is is an average of 35 churches planted every year. Let’s believe God for disciples and church. Let’s believe God for the spreading of the Gospel though missions. Let’s target, locate, and operate ! Let’s give room to the Word of God in our lives and our churches. Let’s ask God in prayer in our closets and together. Let’s build each other up in the Body of Christ, and let’s go out and purpose to preach the Gospel to a lost and dying world !

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CAMBODIA / Words of life are taking root in a place long known for death -- the nation of Cambodia.

Pastors Gary Groenewold and Steve DeVries spent eight days there in March and found a people ready and willing to hear and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their report is that the land is free and open with great liberty to speak of the things of God. During their time, these pastors actively sought national pastors, spoke in churches, and cultivated relationships with students in dorm meeting and university Bible studies.

“To me, this place is like the Africa of Southeast Asia,” said Pastor Groenewold, who has served in Kenya and made several visits to other parts of Africa. “There is real, deep-seated poverty, but a real willingness to listen to the words of Christ.”

Killing fields -- those are the words that come to the minds of most when they hear any mention of Cambodia. The people in this country tasted death in a massive and hideous way. In 1975, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge party began its ruthless rule. Their stated purpose was to establish a completely self-sufficient, farm-based, peasant dominated society.

Khmer leaders trusted no one and needed no one. Through a calculated pattern of execution, the Khmer Rouge put to death nearly 2 million of the nation’s 8 million residents from 1975 to 1979. Anyone thought to have connections to former governments and foreign governments was killed. Eventually, intellectuals and professionals -- doctors, professors, lawyers, business owners, etc. -- were targeted. More than 20,000 mass graves have been documented through a Yale University-sponsored program.

“Pol Pot basically established brutal personality cult,” Pastor Groenewold said. “He had the military dominated by Khmer Rouge and recruited the youth. His youth regime set children against their parents and separated families. The children were murdering the adults in the name of this man’s ambition.”

Since 2005, Cambodia has undergone something of radical transformation. After a period of interference by communist Vietnam, the nation officially returned to kingdom status. The constitutional monarchy is figuratively headed by King Norodom Sihamoni and effectively managed by what has evolved into a multi-party parliamentary democracy.

The horror of the killing season has left Cambodians with big needs and many questions. Prior to the Khmer reign, the nation’s prominent religion was Buddhism. They found that this belief system provided little comfort and security in the face of their suffering.

“On our trip we met survivors and their offspring; we heard and read stories of almost unimaginable terror and death,” Pastor DeVries said. “But we also witnessed a tenderness and hunger in the hearts of people wanting life. At the main university in Phnom Penh we shared the Good News of Christ with students and four received Him. This is a very ripe harvest field.”

Some Cambodians survived the extermination program because regime officials simply found them useful. So it was for the parents of one believer, Tree. His father was a fine barber and his mother a great cook. They worked long hours, but they were kept alive.

“It really boggles the western mind to think of what these people had to do to make it,” Pastor Groenewold explained. “This manner of treatment seems so outrageous to us. Yet, it may be the real reason people are so receptive the Gospel now.”

Tree is 25 years old and representative of many of the Cambodian believers encountered

by Pastors Groenewold and DeVries. God is

dhism,” Pastor Groenewold said. “The students know that the answers of Buddha are not satisfying to them.”

Greater Grace’s mission to Cambodia began in the 1990s through a team based in Vietnam. Michael Walsh, GGWO pastor in Bangkok, Thailand, maintained a pattern of investment with the contacts established in Phnom Pehn, the capital city.

One of those contacts is Bora. This man was a university student, the hope of his family, when he turned to Christ and decided to enter the ministry. He now has a church of about 80 faithful people. Bora established a bag-making factory to employ those who could find work nowhere else -- the disabled and women rescued from sex industries of pornography and prostitution. Later, he opened an orphanage.

There are many others ready to be part of Gospel movement.

“The openness is there,” said Pastor Groenewold, who is planning another Cambodia trip this summer. “The pastors we visited just so longed for encouragement, to know that someone was ready to help them and was praying for them and their people.”

Pastor Groenewold views Cambodia as a potential South Korea, which had a Christian population of 2 percent in 1945 and is now nearly 70 percent Christian.

“The location is perfect for our work,” Pastor Groenewold explained. “There is easy access for believers and leaders from India, China, Philippines, Thailand -- all of these places could help us harvest in this field.

“Our finished work message touches people.”

Said Pastor DeVries, “Please pray for us as we return in August with a team of soul winners from Korea. Please pray “PEOPLE ARE SO EASILY PULLED FROM THEIR BUDDHISM,” for laborers to go with hearts filled with measureless love to declare the blood moving among the university students who that was sown that the fields of death may be have no loyalties to old religious patterns. transformed into living fields.”

“People are so easily pulled from their Bud-

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Three Latin words. Three significant words in the minds of Disciplina. those who oversee operations at the Greater Grace InterRespectus. national School in Budapest, Hungary. These words stand out prominently in the context of the school’s logo. The meanings of these words serve to define and guide GGIS in its mission.

Mores, related to morium, refers to ways, conduct, character, morals.

Disciplina is interpreted to mean teaching and instruction.

Respectus speaks of regard and consideration and also looking again, or looking at the past.

On the GGIS logo, the Latin terms frame a lion’s head stately positioned with a fixed gaze.

The symbol serves to represent an institution dedicated to developing student identities full of content, direction, and honor.

“Our emphasis on morality, discipline and respect is derived from the biblical, Christ-centered principles that serve as the foundation of our school,” said Pastor Barry Quirk, GGIS’s director. “We strive not to simply impart academic skills and knowledge to our students, but the wisdom and noble character required for good decision making and healthy relationships.”

Established in 1991, GGIS began by serving the needs of missionary children who accompanied their parents to Hungary following the fall of the communist/socialist governments that dominated Eastern Europe. Through the early 1990s, Budapest experienced an influx of international entrepreneurs, diplomats, and workers. A number of these families discovered GGIS and, combined with the official 1994 recognition from the Hungarian Ministry of

Mores.

Education, the school’s enrollment swelled.

What was it about GGIS that appealed to parents and their children?

“It is like a family, and the teachers are like parents – we feel very comfortable and cozy being here,” said Chinese senior Yuhao Ji. “Not only do they teach their lessons but they teach us life lessons.”

It was the unique and functional classroom culture that fused a family-oriented atmosphere with a rigorous academic structure. The school’s emphasis on getting students ready for the next level has attracted interest across all cultures -- children representing more than 30 nationalities and 10 religions have attended GGIS. Its graduates have landed in the world’s finest colleges and universities.

“Teachers are not only teaching, but they are leading us to God and how to live, showing us the right path, giving us advice,” said senior Dora Szucs, a Hungarian. “It is a big family, everybody knows each other – when you walk in the halls you know everyone around you.”

The keys? Mores. Disciplina. Respectus.

Conduct and character form a moral foundation in children. These things help make them receptive to teaching and instruction.

As they receive, the students learn to regard others -- teachers included -- with honor and gain insight from sitting under a rigorous classic curriculum that includes Math, Language, and Science, but also Literature, History, and, of course, Latin.

The commitment to Latin instruction may strike some as strange, thinking of it as largely unspoken language in these days. However, Latin studies provide students with skills and understanding critical to speaking and writing skills. English and the Romance languages of French, Italian, and Spanish feature a variety of

words with Latin roots.

“Capacity building is an exciting and rewarding task, and yet the true work of it is accomplished by the teachers themselves,” said GGIS principal Pastor Rick Knight. “As we create a fruitful environment for teaching and learning, our teachers’ capacities for their work increase.”

Throughout its 21 years, GGIS has maintained a missionary mindset. No surprise considering that the school’s director, Pastor Quirk, has served on fields as diverse at Indonesia and Austria since entering Bible College in 1984.

More than 275 missionary pastors and workers have served in some capacity at the school “There was a day when great men of faith like Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone would sacrifice life and limb to reach people from far off areas of the globe and go to places like China and Africa to reach people with the Gospel,” Pastor Quirk said. “Here, at GGIS, we have been afforded that opportunity on a daily basis! We have the incredible opportunity of teaching the Bible and Christ centered education in classrooms with students from as many as 30 different nations all coming to us and all seated in one very precious school building.”

Principal Knight explained what a student should have once he leaves GGIS. “A GGIS student will understand the basic meaning of the Gospel, and will have a good understanding of the Bible. He or she is academically prepared, confident, responsible, and has respect for others. They will become equipped to make a difference in society.”

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2013 2014

EVENTS CALENDAR

Conferences and seminars are one way Greater Grace people stay connected to each other and to the Home church in Baltimore.

Greater Grace Baltimore has named certain conferences as "International" and others as "regional". These conferences are scattered among the 5 continents so that all of our churches worldwide have the opportunity to be with a Baltimore leader and other local churches to experience, in a limited way, the big Greater Grace picture. Though there are many local conferences and seminars held throughout the world by Greater Grace churches, this list is limited to those conferences to which Greater Grace Baltimore is committed to provide a Baltimore pastor as the conference speaker. More conferences and seminars can be found at ggwo.org/missions or on the many local church websites.

JULY 30-Aug 03 East Asia Conference Seoul, S. Korea

AUGUST 19-25 Camp Life Youth Conference 19MBC&S & Fall20 Registration

OCTOBER 19

Women’s Seminar Baltimore, MD

NOVEMBER 29-Dec 01 UK Conference

GREATER GRACE ANNUAL

Latimer, England

JANUARY 13-14 MBC&S Spring Registration 16-19 West Africa Conference Ashaiman, Ghana

FEBRUARY 07-08 Marriage Getaway Ellicott City, MD

MARCH 11-14 Eurocon International Conference Budapest, Hungary

MAY 14-18 LamCon Lima, Peru

23-24 Grace Hour Banquet & MBC&S Graduation

JUNE 23-28 GGWO International Convention

The Greater Grace Annual is a publication of Greater Grace World Outreach.

Editor / Pastor Steve Andrulonis Designer / Brian Lange Typesetting / Susan May Print Oversight / Bruce May Project Coordinator / Pastor Brian Lange Greater Grace World Outreach is a Bible-centered ministry that encourages individuals and families in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We preach the Gospel and the whole counsel of God from a Finished Work perspective. We are a Christ-centered church that believes and practices the cardinal doctrines of the faith.

Our mission is to propagate the Gospel of Jesus Christ locally, nationally, and internationally; to teach, in word and deed, those within our sphere of influence; and to practice and promote a Christian lifestyle.

Established in Baltimore in 1987, GGWO has been training men and women in the ministry of the Gospel ever since and reaches out to places in the city and around Maryland. Affi liated congregations are located in the Dundalk and Hampden neighborhoods of Baltimore and in the towns of Westminster, Silver Spring, and Havre de Grace.

GGWO Baltimore also serves as home base to a network of affi liate churches throughout the U.S. and the world. Our primary resources for assisting these self-governing and self-sustaining congregations are Maryland Bible College and Seminary and the Grace Hour talk radio program. MBCS offers a strong Bible Studies curriculum with an emphasis on leadership development and church-planting skills; it features an experienced, available, and capable faculty. The Grace Hour broadcasts daily from its studios in Baltimore and reaches thousands every day over the airwaves and through the Internet.

GGWO Senior Pastor/Presiding Elder Thomas Schaller Elders Steven Scibelli Vice Chairman John Love Secretary Bruce Wright John Hadley Glen Cannon Kim Shibley Sr. Robert Colban Gary Groenewold Chris Moore Mark Minichiello

Trustees Robert Colban, Chairman Michael Williams, Vice-Chairman Peter Taggart, Secretary Jomy Antony Brian Lange

Call 410-483-3700 / Visit www.ggwo.org

Baltimore, MD

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GREATER GRACE IS HERE TO SERVE YOU MARYLAND BIBLE COLLEGE AND SEMINARY Whether your spiritual needs are to train to be a missionary or to simply get to know the Bible more, we believe MBC&S is the place for you! Our method of classroom learning combined with practical training through utilizing your gifts, is the Biblical model and will be the best possible preparation for whatever path God leads you to.

Appy to MBC&S online / www.mbcs.edu

GREATER GRACE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Greater Grace Christian Academy is a church-based K through 12 private school offering a Christ-centered curriculum taught by Spirit-filled teachers in a safe, supportive, small-school environment.

Learn more about GGCA / www.ggca.org

GRACE HOUR One of Christian broadcasting’s longest running interactive talk shows. Each weekday listeners participate on the air with host Pastor John Love and others in lively discussions. Bible questions are answered and important spiritual themes are explored during the hour-long broadcast.

Listen live / www.gracehour.org

GRACE MEDIA EVENTS Live coverage of several conferences and special events throughout the year.

Watch and listen live / www.ggwo.org

CAFE/BOOKSTORE Books Published by GGWO on sale at the Cafe/Bookstore.

Thinking With God / Daily Devotional by Pastor Carl H. Stevens The Bible Speaks from the Throne / Daily Devotional by Pastor Carl H. Stevens Field Days / A Journal of the Church Plant in Budapest by Pastor Thomas Schaller Doctrine Monthly / Monthly Booklets by Pastor Carl H. Stevens and Thomas Schaller Greater Grace Annual / The Annual Magazine of GGWO

GREATER GRACE WORLD OUTREACH The ggwo.org website provides you with a one stop source for all anyone needs to know about Greater Grace. gg_annual13.indd 29

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our online community

Connect to Greater Grace Church ourCHURCH is the Greater Grace online community which empowers people to C.O.N.N.E.C.T: Communication - communicate with people in your groups Ownership - own your own profile and update your contact information Needs - see the needs of the church and opportunities to volunteer New Connections - join new ministry and recreational groups Events - see at a glance church wide events and happenings Convenience - simple to use and web based Trust - your information is secure and privacy respected

Not a Member? - join by going to ggwo. org and clicking on the “ourCHURCH link

Already a Member? - go to your profile and update to make sure all your info is correct and your communication settings are right

Pastor Schaller’s books are now available on Amazon.com Search for Pastor Thomas P. Schaller’s books on Amazon.com in both paper and Kindle formats

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