IA Connection

connection Independent Assemblies

uniting ministries worldwide

Reaching

the

World

Philippines from the

Sept/Oct 2010 | Volume 2 Issue 3

calendar

October

World Missions Conference October 11-13, 2010 The Tabernacle Blackwell, OK Rev. Robert Johnson (580) 363-2734

November

Interstate Fellowship Meeting Monday, Novenber 8, 2010 Cyril Full Gospel Church Cyril, OK Rev. Donnie Miller (580) 464-2224

September

Interstate Fellowship Meeting Monday, September 13, 2010 Capitol Hill Full Gospel Church Moore, OK Rev. Jim Robertson (405) 793-7727 Arkansas Fellowship Meeting Tuesday, September 28, 2010 Danville, Arkansas Contact Rev. Charles Kendrick (501) 303-0831

www.independentassemblies.org 2 • connection

connection World September/October 2010

Harvest Sunday september12th Mission Offerings can be sent to: Independent Assemblies PO Box 1120 Lexington, OK 73051

Contents 2

Calendar

4

Accidental Pastors

5

Member Focus

6

Praise Moves

8

Reaching the World from the Philippines

11

Board Members

Independent Assemblies PO Box 1546 Ada, OK 74821 (580) 310-0222 Produced by Layers Media, Inc. www.layersmedia.com

connection • 3

by: Mindy Wood

Norman “Doc” and Betty Shuman had no intentions of becoming pastors but the Shumans know better than anyone that God is full of surprises and they’ll tell you when they reflect on 45 years in ministry that “Father knows best.”

Doc Shuman graduated from chiropractic school in 1955 but despite success became dissatisfied with the field and found himself working in the funeral business by the early sixties. It was then that they decided to allow a fellow believer to lead a prayer meeting every Thursday night in their large living room. The next thing they knew, they had a church to pastor.

“One night a local pastor showed up and found a bunch of his members there. The next day he wrote them all letters, kicking them out of his church. I found myself, a funeral director, suddenly a pastor. I had no intentions of following my father’s footsteps as a pastor and my wife said she’d never marry a pastor,” laughed Doc, “but we’ve been in ministry ever since!”

Several years later he served IA as a board member and continued to pastor in Antlers, Oklahoma for 25 years. God called them to pastor in Borger, Texas where they have remained for the last 22 years. In over 45 years of ministry, they’ve seen their fare share of trouble. Twelve years ago, Doc suddenly lost his eye sight.

“We were on our way back from John Keith’s funeral. The next morning I couldn’t see.” They stepped down from their church and traveled, preaching and living on what money God provided. It was a painful struggle and Doc said it was Betty who kept 4 • connection

Norman “Doc” and Betty Shuman

him going.“If it hadn’t been for my wife’s faith, her voice saying, ‘YOU WILL SEE!’ I wouldn’t have made it.”

For five years the condition was undiagnosed, completely baffling doctor after doctor until, “God brought a way for me to get my eyesight back when a doctor found the solution. My immune system had attacked my optic nerve.”

Their faith encouraged them through the years that he was blind and through the years until they saw their prodigal son return to Christ and minister to the lost. Today they pastor Borger Word of Life Church and discovered that God not only redeems man but a building too.

“We bought an old 12,000 square foot community center on two acres. It used to be a dance hall and a beer joint; one half is the worship center and we just turned the beer joint into a youth center,” said Doc. “We’re just ordinary pastors.”

The Shumans may be “accidental” pastors but when God steps into our lives and takes us on an unexpected journey in His Kingdom, we become anything but ordinary. Their lives are living proof that through the ups and downs, God manifests His strength and proves He is faithful to His promises when we choose to follow His “unexpected” plans for our lives.

Doc and Betty Shuman are IA members from Borger, TX.

by: Mindy Wood

Twenty five years ago when God called Jim Robertson and his wife Carol into ministry, he was a policeman with fourteen years on the Oklahoma City Police force. He could not have known what plans God had in store for him as a pastor and the impact they would have in mentoring and raising up ministers for the field at home and abroad.

It was an unexpected summons from the Lord that came three nights in a row at precisely 2:10 am. “The first night he laughed,” remembered Carol, “but by the third night he listened.” The couple’s former church had just lost their pastor and to their surprise ended up being the very place God wanted them to shepherd.

There was a hitch. Jim only had six years left before retirement. “We felt that God didn’t tell us to give that up. I quit my job so I could be available during the day and Jim continued with the department and started preaching.

The Lord helped us through it and we got our congregation built up,” said Carol.

Adding to those years of difficult bivocational ministry, the Robertsons lacked good mentorship. It was 1978 and they were young pastors. Jim vowed to leave behind material for future ministers and started a tape and CD ministry, in addition to transcribed sermons. “We had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Jim wanted to leave something behind as we went on to help younger ministers. They shouldn’t have to learn the hard way,” said Carol.

Soon Jim developed Ministers in Training School (MIT). With the help of several local pastors they taught five fifteen weeks sessions and graduated pastors, evangelists, teachers, missionaries and strong leaders all over the world. “Even though we don’t have MIT, we’re still mentoring. Sometimes when an independent work starts, they don’t have the finances or opportunity to prepare. We’re very pleased with the ministries that have been raised up.”

Jim and Carol Robertson Their efforts have been instrumental in building five churches in Mexico, the Philippines, and India. His passion for training other ministries earned him the title, ‘a pastor to pastors’ and continues to be a help and strength in reaching out to ministries. Their vision statement is “serving today for eternity tomorrow,” and live with the reality that “anything not done for eternity is eternally unproductive and unfruitful.”

Jim and Carol have been very involved with IA mission efforts, traveling internationally. They also enjoyed sharing the pulpit with founding President of IA, Pastor John Keith to meetings locally and throughout the country.

In spite of a difficult beginning, Carol said that IA was critical to their survival.

“When we moved to Moore, we turned to IA and it’s been a great connection for us.

Retirement wasn’t what God planned for us and what a tremendous and exciting journey God has lead us on these past 32 years!”

Jim and Carol Robertson are IA members from Moore, OK.

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Praise Moves

Laurette Willis

by: Mindy Wood

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Many Christians today are being swept into the New Age Movement through the subtle seduction of yoga.

Laurette Willis, former instructor and slave to Eastern mysticism, hopes to change that by educating believers concerning the dangers of yoga and offer them a biblical alternative for physical and spiritual health.

Yoga seems innocent enough but Willis knows better. “Hindus know yoga is more than just exercise; its part of their religion. Every posture is an offering to their 330 million gods. Yoga was designed to prepare the body for death for reincarnation. During these exercises students are encouraged to ‘empty’ their minds but the Bible teaches us the opposite: be transformed by renewing our minds with God’s Word.”

Laurette created PraiseMoves® in response to Satan’s perversion of exercise.

She doesn’t believe in “Christian Yoga” any more than she believes in “Christian Buddhism.” Rather, PraiseMoves is a Christ-centered alternative to yoga.

Strengthening stretches and moves are based on scriptures and some mirror the Hebrew alphabet. The Angel posture is linked to Psalm 91:11, “He shall give His angels charge concerning thee.”

Participants meditate on or recite scriptures for each move.

“Yoga is the ‘missionary arm’ of

Hinduism and New Age. It preaches a death message that ‘bliss and nirvana is the absence of feeling.’ I like to see PraiseMoves as preaching life abundantly! People are building strength and flexibility while nourishing their spirit and praising God. The foundation of PraiseMoves is God’s Word and the exercise is the ‘witty invention’ to get you into the Word and the Word in you.”

An IA member, Willis is an award-winning playwright, actor, educator, keynote speaker and a frequent guest on Christian television shows and at ministry conferences.

Her radical conversion to Christianity and journey in God’s plan for her life is inspiring.

As a child growing up on Long Island, Laurette and her mother began what appeared to be nothing more than exercises on a daily television program. Her mother began teaching yoga in her home and later they both attended an “ashram” (yoga retreat) in New York.

Lacking a true relationship with Christ and hungry for spiritual experiences, they were hooked.

Laurette studied under the most radical proponents and became an instructor. One day she found herself a slave to alcohol with an empty heart and a hopeless longing. “I took a long look at my life. My mother was an alcoholic who committed suicide. I realized I was going in that same direction but one April Fool’s Day I got saved. I went from being a fool for the world to a fool for Christ!”

As God transformed her life and brought her into a career in performing arts, education, business and ministry, the burden to bring the body of Christ a fitness program that didn’t produce compromise was heavy on her heart.

She sought God’s will and after much prayer, developed PraiseMoves. She began teaching classes in 2003 and today has published fitness books and PraiseMoves DVDs (Harvest House Publishers). There are over 100 instructors on four continents and two television programs reaching 250 million people globally, including

PraiseMoves Kids, as seen on TBN’s Smile of a Child Network and online at http://smileofachildtv. org every Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (CST).

She also created a fitness program for public and private schools called PowerMoves Kids that teaches character values through literature, quotations, and proverbs. Kids work off excess energy while experiencing group focus, discipline, and unity.

People who do PraiseMoves report weight loss, diminished pain from bulging discs and spurs, disappearance of panic attacks, eased fibromyalgia symptoms and increased strength and flexibility. More importantly to Willis, they share that God’s Word is changing their lives and making it easier to memorize Scripture.

“As Christians I believe we are to be leaders in every area, especially fitness. Satan is not a creator and just as we’ve redeemed music styles for worship, we can redeem healthy strengthening and stretching postures to glorify God. Our foundation scripture is 1 Cor. 6:20, ‘For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s.’ We can become fit witnesses for Christ.”

As one who literally moved in death through yoga, Laurette moves in God’s lifegiving power and works to see believers free from the deception that once stole her faith.

She is passionate about helping the body of Christ experience fitness in spirit, soul and body.

Laurette would like to help any IA pastor or congregation member interested in starting a fitness ministry at their church by offering 30% off the instructor training program. Email praisemoves@gmail.com and mention the Connection Magazine article.

To learn more about Laurette Willis’ ministry and PraiseMoves®, visit www. laurettewillis.com or www.praisemoves.com Laurette Willis is an IA Member from Tahlequah, OK. connection • 7

IA School of Ministry

by: Rev. Mickey Keith

Reaching the world from the philippines

In 1967, the Independent Assemblies was officially incorporated in OKC, OK. One of our primary purposes is to enable non-denominational churches and ministers to support world missions. Since that time, the Lord has honored our focus and today the fellowship’s influence is felt in many nations of the world. Members of this movement travel, give, pray and lead with passion and purpose. The goal of bringing closure to the Great Commission is seen in every ministry.

In 1983, Rev. Robert Johnson, Rev. Billy Coffman and Rev. Haskell Rycroft met to formulate an idea for a Bible School in the Philippines. Robert Johnson then took an exploratory trip to the Philippine Islands, and upon his return approached the Executive Board with the vision of 8 • connection

establishing a school on the island of Negros Oriental.

The first directors were Rev. Roy and Laverne Hinkle, and the school was named Asian Christian School of Ministry. The initial location was in a circular house in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. Soon, there were more applicants than could be accepted, and the next two years were great times of spiritual enrichment and blessing.

Then tragedies struck …The Hinkles were in Tulsa, Oklahoma on a furlough from the ASCM. They left an IA fellowship meeting one night, and were driving on the interstate to a local restaurant, when a drunk driver crossed into their lane. His vehicle collided with theirs; both Roy and Laverne Hinkle were killed instantly in what is one of the most

tragic events in our history.

Obviously, the students of the school and our entire fellowship were shocked.

Shortly after this, President John Keith sent Robert Johnson along with Sam Hinkle (the Hinkle’s son) to help restore order and assuage the fears of the Filipinos connected with the school. One former student, who was no longer living for Christ, claimed that she put a hex on the Hinkles and caused their death!

After a few months, Rev. Tom and Ruth Starkey became the new directors and ACSM again flourished with many national leaders graduating in the next three years.

Triumph was born out of Tragedy!!

Then In 1990, Rev. Tommy and Rita Hutchens were appointed to carry on this vital ministry, allowing the Starkey’s to return home.

After four fruitful years, Tommy and Rita resigned and leadership was turned over to a national leader, Rev. Bobby and Noemi Pino. The school was initially moved to their home town of Bias City, but in 2009, was relocated to Dumaguete City, where the sea port and airport are located.

This area is also home to 4 universities, and is more economical and accessible for the students and visiting ministers.

The current class will graduate in 2011, as the 25th graduating class of ACSM. There are currently 87 active pastoral ministries that were birthed out of the school. There are now churches and schools on neighboring islands, in villages, and in mountain locations as a result of the Independent Assemblies, Philippines.

Bobby Pino currently serves as President of this organization, giving oversight to more than the 87 ministries.

Covenant Life Church on the campus of ACSM numbers over 120 believers and is actively reaching out to the community through mercy and medical ministries.

The generous support of Independent Assemblies churches and ministers make this effort possible. Thank you for your faithful giving.

Pastor Bobby Pino - Well Drilling

Girls Dorm and Classroom

Boys Dorm

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I n d e p e n d e n t

A s s e m b l i e s

missions c o n f e r e n c e

2 0 1 0

Missions Displays Presentations Great Fellowship

October 11-13, 2010

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The tabernacle Blackwell, OK • (580) 363-2734

Executive Board Mickey Keith

President PO Box 1546 Ada, OK 74821 (580) 310-0222 mickey.keith@gmail.com www.life623.com

Dr. Ted Estes

Vice President PO Box 2248 Claremore, OK 74018 pastorted@lifechangerchurch.com www.lifechangerchurch.com

Ken Anderson

Secretary/Treasurer PO Box 1120 Lexington, OK 73051 (405) 527-6030 kda@valornet.com www.libertygospelok.org

Robert Johnson

Director of World Missions PO Box 978 Blackwell, OK 74631 (580) 363-2734 roj@clarionmissions.org www.clarionmissions.org

Jerry Edmon

Board Member PO Box 862 Elgin, TX 78621 (512) 281-5316 Jedmon1234@aol.com www.fwcelgin.com

Regional Representatives Southeast Oklahoma District Rev. Billy Hunter Antlers, OK (580) 298-2740 Southwest Oklahoma District Rev. Donnie Miller Cyril, OK (580) 464-2224 (580) 512-3657 Northeast Oklahoma District Rev. Mac Blackwell Locust Grove, OK (918) 479-6057 North Central Texas District Rev. Dr. Daniel Sue Kemp, TX (903) 498-4704 Southeast Texas District Rev. Herb Hawthorne Baytown, TX (281) 723-2278 South Central Texas District Rev. Jerry Edmon Elgin, TX (512) 281-5316 Midwest Regional District Rev. Mark Maynard Granite City, IL (618) 931-4106 Arkansas District Rev. Charles Kendrick Alexander, AR (501) 303-0831

connection • 11

World Harvest Sunday september12th

Independent Assemblies P.O. Box 1546 Ada, OK 74821