CURT MILLER, MISSIONS PASTOR The Psalmist reminds us: Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. Psalm 77:13-14 To see the Lord at work is refreshing. To join him in that work is life-giving. As the pastoral liaison to the Board of Missions as well as the Evangelism and Culture Impact Committee, I count it a privilege to see how the Lord is using the people of College Church to steward resources and to make an impact for the sake of the gospel. It is an honor to work alongside a great staff and volunteer team in this effort. During this past season, our team prayed, planned and executed projects such as the new missions wall in the fireside area outside the Sanctuary, the fall Faith and Culture series and the hosting of a group of Ukrainian pastors to explore our pastoral residency program with the goal of launching their own such program. Other projects were less planned and more urgent such as the immediate response to the invasion of Ukraine the same week we hosted our new Ukrainian pastor friends. Prayer gatherings were quickly pulled together. A webpage for updates was created. An ongoing prayer group was formed. For both the planned and the unplanned, we marvel at the works of the Lord, and as we join in that work, our hearts are filled with joy. LOOKING BACK
Here’s a recap of the last year. LOCALLY
• The Evangelism and Culture Impact Committee administered financial support to five evangelists and three partner organizations. • The Sanctity of Life Task Force engaged the congregation with pro-life news and events and mobilized around 60 people who participated in the annual March for Life Chicago in January.
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CO L L E G E C H U R C H 2 02 2 ANNUAL R E PO RT
• Two book groups gathered last fall to discuss the book Confronting Injustice without Compromising the Truth by Thaddeus J. Williams. • You once again gave generously for the Outreach Community Center’s Christmas Store. • Parents, grandparents, teachers and school administrators joined us for a weekend Faith & Culture Seminar, “Faith, Freedom and Schools,” in partnership with National School Project (now Decision Point). • A number of Christianity Explored groups or individual meetings were launched in the past year, with some group participants coming to faith in Christ. GLOBALLY
• The Board of Missions administered financial support to 93 career missionary units*, six mid-term and three short-term units, 13 partner seminaries and 10 local and international organizations. God used you to channel both financial and non-financial support to over 40 countries. Our Missions & Community Outreach Guide lists supported evangelists, missionaries, seminaries and ministry partner organizations. * A unit is defined as a single individual, couple or family. • $54,334.78 was distributed to our missionaries for Missionary Christmas and $35,977.86 to support three Thanksgiving Eve Offering projects. • We partnered with the Immanuel Myanmar Church (IMC) to host Bible studies, to witness the baptism of several of their youth in our Sanctuary’s baptismal pool and for our monthly Multi-Nations Fellowship. College Church missionary Emmanuel Tahear helped plant IMC. • We partnered with the local Vietnamese church and the Burmese church for the International Thanksgiving Celebration.
