Global Reach Updates

from The Global Advocate - September/Oct 2022

by Churches-of-God-General-Conference

New Life in an Old School

Thank you for partnering with our friends and fields in Global Reach. Your prayers and gifts help sustain and encourage them as they minister to communities and the downtrodden in their parts of the world. Please celebrate the following updates from some of the Global Reach fields. These updates are provided by various staff from the fields of ministry.

Dominican Republic

We regret to notify you that Pastor Brigida passed away earlier last month after suffering from an open wound in her stomach that would not heal. Latino Ministries and all the Latino churches are lamenting this loss. She lived a life for the Lord and spent her days church planting. Caleb and Christina were able to visit her quite frequently in the weeks leading up to her passing while also visiting with family and church members. Her vision and efforts have been honored in that the church continues on! This was her one concern. She knew death was approaching and was already preparing for the moment. She was at peace with this. The congregation recently purchased land with the help of Conference church donations and has since begun construction (pictured above). The base is complete and is able to support up to three levels. Praise the Lord for this!

Bangladesh

The Mission needs to replace their 17-yearold microbus at our Khanjanpur clinic. It is an invaluable tool necessary for the daily function of many ministry activities. The new vehicle will be a quality commercial passenger van built to operate in the extreme weather conditions and rugged roads of Bangladesh. The total cost is approximately $33,000. Donors have given about $11,000 so far, and we are praying to be able to raise the full amount by early October. We have been blessed by a generous donor who will match funds to help Bangladesh reach their goal of replacing this microbus. Please consider supporting the Bangladesh Mission by giving towards this microbus. Please give to GR2705-microbus. The Mission was recently able to provide bicycles to some of our pastors, which will help them cover more area as they minister.

USA Latino

Sanidad Divina Church (Divine Healing) is preparing leaders. Every Tuesday, they hold leadership classes in hopes that leaders will rise up and be sent out to begin a new work. The church also continues to explore an opportunity in Honduras through a local church member who travels to minister there. Sanidad Divina helps support the work in Honduras on a monthly basis. Caleb Acosta visited Honduras earlier this year and is planning a second visit for 2023. Caleb and Christina Acosta are currently in the process of visiting each of the Latino Ministry GR countries to see how things are going and to encourage them.

Southwest

The summer season has started strong! In early May, a team from Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland came out to continue working on the church’s roof. It was an incredibly windy week, but they worked hard and accomplished so much despite the wind. God is so good! Then, a team from Bethel University (IN) came to do health and education clinics at Gamerco and Hooghan Nizhoni. They also gave Gamerco’s playground a facelift and helped get Broken Arrow Bible Ranch (a local church camp) ready for the summer camping season. We have several more teams coming out this summer. One team is hosting a Summer Arts Program/VBS at Gamerco and another is hosting a VBS at Hooghan Nizhoni. A few teams are coming out to do work projects (fixing houses, updating the playgrounds at both churches, and much more). Please pray that as these teams do the work God has set out for them, they can use every opportunity to share Christ and bring people to know Him!

Argentina

An ACTS Team with seven participants traveled to Argentina from June 11-19. This is the first ACTS team to Argentina since the mission work began, and it was a good trip for the team and the Argentina field. Pray for the continued work in this specific mission field as it is the newest in Latino Ministries. Earlier this month, Pastor Maria retired from her full-time employment at the local police department. She is still very much involved with the work of the department in reaching out to the community. She meets with them once a week and will be hosting outreach opportunities alongside the police department for the work in Norberto de La Riestra. For this, she is recognized as the Community Liaison to the local police agency.

India

India Field Director Samir Singha and Bangladesh Field Director Dr. John Costa traveled to The US to be part of the 2022 CGGC Triennial conference. Pictured below they greet each other as they arrived at the airport in Washington DC. It was close to three years since they had opportunity to see each other. Samir has reported that the Child Development Center at our main Uluberia campus has officially reopened from lockdown on July 16. They have started back up with about 30 children (some new and some returning). They expect more children to return and many more new ones to join in the coming months. The children miss Charusheela who they affectionately referred to as “Madam.” They are enjoying being together and participating in their various studies and activities. Pray for parents to permit the children to return as fear from the pandemic subsides.