Reach - January, 2010

Reach

EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS IN EVANGELISM

NATURAL CHURCH DEVELOPMENT MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN NORTH NSW

Natural Church Development (NCD) is beginning to have an impact on the health of the churches in North NSW. Pastor Aaron Jeffries says, “It was a wakeup call for us and in some ways it hit me very personally.” After the initial time of reflection, in an attempt to understand why “Empowering Leadership” was their lowest measure, the team at Toronto went to work improving their communication and leadership development. Bruce Thompson and Allan Bowditch, local elders at Toronto, took the responsibility for leading the process and the transformation in the church has been remarkable.

“God is doing great things. We have up to fifty youth in our little church and a regular flow of baptisms,” says Pastor Aaron Jefferies.

Toronto Church will resurvey with NCD in February to see how they can further improve the health of their congregation.

NEW EVANGELISTIC TEAM FOR CONFERENCE

One of the most successful evangelistic teams in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor Vadim and Helen Butov, will become permanent members of the North NSW team in 2010. Vadim is the president of the Volga Conference and in his early thirties has already baptised over ten thousand people.

Vadim’s wife Helen also serves the Church as a very successful Union Evangelist and will move to Australia with Vadim and their two sons in late January 2010. Vadim and Helen will pastor Avondale Memorial Church and Wyee Church. We look forward to the influence that their dedication to sharing the Gospel will bring to our Conference.

OUTREACH FUNDING FOR CONFERENCE $1 MILLION

One million dollars has been allocated to outreach in the North NSW Conference for 2010. That is right! One millions dollars will go toward reaching our communities

with the good news of Jesus. This is a significant investment and reflects a growing awakening that mission must be at the center of everything we do. Pastor John Lang, President of the North NSW Conference, says, “We want to put evangelism in its rightful place, at the heart of who we are and what we do.”

“The pain is intense but the possible gains are immense,” stated Mr Russell Halliday, CFO for the North NSW Conference.

North NSW Conference Evangelism News

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALIVE & WELL IN NNSW

A lot of hard work was done by churches in the North NSW Conference in 2009. I wish I had space to tell the story of each church in the Conference but here are a few highlights that we all praise God for as we look back at His leading last year.

Big Camp is returning to its evangelistic roots with over thirty baptisms happening at the beach during Big Camp in 2009.

Pastor Danny Milenkov and the team at Wauchope have had a great year. The youth held a public outreach at the local High School. James Higgins and David Brown did the preaching but were supported by the entire church. Danny has been hard at it as well running programs almost continuously at Camden and

Wauchope this year and seeing fourteen people join the church.

Pastor Wayne Krause and the team at Central Coast Community Church have also been blessed by God this year with sixteen precious souls following Christ in baptism. Pastor Krause says, “It is fantastic when you see church members realising their exciting roles as ministers in the church and see them reach out to their friends, share their faith with them, and then continue giving Bible studies that bring them to make a decision for baptism.”

Lismore Church, led by Paul Geelan, has also had a great year. With sixteen baptisms Lismore church has experienced explosive growth. “We can do better,” says Paul Geelan. “Next year we want

to see more won for Christ with a greater involvement of the church in mission.”

Avondale Memorial Church have had a fantastic year with Adrian Craig, Mike Faber and Uriah St Juste.

Alstonville, Erina, Kempsey and South Kempsey have been blessed by God.

The year 2010 is already shaping up to be a great year with Newcastle, Armidale, Ocean Shores, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Taree and many others planning to have a very full evangelistic year.

May God continue to pour out His Spirit on His church.

NEW RECORD NCD SCORE

A new record has been set for the highest Natural Church Development score in North NSW. Quirindi Church has scored 84.5 in September 2009. This score is significantly higher than the majority of churches in North NSW who tend to have scores in the thirties and forties.

While the church only has fourteen members, a high level of health exists in the congregation. The local minister, Mr David Fletcher, says, “The church members have a genuine love for each other, and church is a place of affirmation and encouragement.” The church is reaching out to the community with four new people attending.

ONE MAN’S SEARCH FOR GOD RESOURCES

In the July 09 Issue, we ran a feature Interview with Dr Pandit titled “One Man’s Search for God.” Reference was made to his book “Come Search With Me - Let’s Look for God.” This book has been reprinted in Australia. His lectures at Byron Bay Community Centre are also available on four DVDs.

These are excellent witnessing tools for friends and contacts who may be: Atheist, Agnostic, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, or Jewish. They are also very enlightening for Christians who are looking for information to give to the above believers.

Dr Pandit’s “Search” lasted for 20 years, with another 5 years to “put it all together”. The basic question and premise was; “Is there a God, if so, which of the major five world religions has the right one?

This information is available, at cost, from: Search Seminars Australia

31 Yallakool Drive

OCEAN SHORES NSW 2483

Phone: (02) 6619 1601 (VoIP Number)

E-mail: jmgosling@aapt.net.au

Costs are: Book “Come Search With Me” (224 pages) $16 plus postage & packing

4DVD set: Lectures at Byron Bay $24 plus postage & packing