Vol.051.November.2008
Dr.
John H. Calhoun, District Superintendent, E-mail: jcalhoun@norcal.org
Northern
Editor: Kay
Clark, E-mail: kay@norcal.org, 925-680-0538
(District office)
Web
page: http://www.norcal.org
Contents
Pages 1-2 Dr. John Calhoun, New Centennial
Pages 2-6 Updates
on Churches and Pastors
Pages 7-9
Sunday School Ministries International – “TWO” Special Awards Presented
to NorCal SSMI
Pages 9-10
Nazarene Missions International
Page 10
Christmas Banquet on Dec. 5th at 6:30 p.m.,
Dr. John H. Calhoun, D.S.
New Centennial
We now enter the next centennial of
our church. We are writing history for
someone to read in the future. For those
of us with small children in our lives, we can possibly say we know who they
are that will celebrate in 2108, if the Lord tarries.
Let it be our prayer and endeavor to
insure they will speak of the church they inherit as one that stayed true to
mission, vision and core values given us by The Christ in the Gospel of His Kingdom. As we are indebted to our forebears for their
honorable way of following the Master, may we pay on that debt by passing on
this legacy of the past 100 years.
New Baby Nazarene at
Rebekah Jane Lillie, born to Pastor Curtis and Jane on August 26th. She was one once short of weighing 9
lbs.! She is one fortunate little baby,
because I heard she has about 60 “aunts” and “uncles” in the youth group! Oh…lots of baby-sitters!
HAVE YOU EVER EXPERIENCED
A MIRACLE?
For years the church had talked about starting a
library. Books had been donated and you
could find bags and boxes of books hidden in dusty places throughout the
church. No one bothered them – and they
were quite content in their resting places.
Then the miracle began to take root…….no, the books didn’t take life and
arrange themselves by Dewey decimal system on the shelves. But, people became interested in their value
and tenderly began to dust them off and put the boxes in one location. Yes, these precious items that had directed
and stabilized people through hard times in life – entertained them in times of
recovery – created memories with children – were once again recognized for
their inner beauty.
So what do
we do with them now? Does anyone want to
take on the responsibility of organizing them and making them available? No one offered – so they continued to be
stifled, and choked in their cramped situation.
This is where the miracle began to bloom back in 1993. The miracle began to produce fruit with the
most unlikely person. I had been church
pianist for over 25 years, did not read for pleasure –and certainly did not
know anything about a library. But when
I was asked to consider opening a library, God began to stir in my heart and I
felt a concern for safe reading and video items for children….a place where
parents wouldn’t have to be worry about what their child would bring home. Also, people on a fixed income could ‘freely’
find enjoyment in books, music or viewing.
After enrolling in a library class at DVC the excitement began to
grow. People began to donate money in
memory of loved ones. Other interested
people offered to help and we were on our way to step out for God. There is no greater joy than to know you are
where God can use you. What a miracle –
to think that an ordinary person could do a ‘remarkable thing’.
God has
truly blessed this ministry. We now have
over 4,900 books, 1,000+ VHS & DVD, 900+ CD’s & Audio. We weekly check out 50 to 74 items and are
encouraged by the stories people tell about how they are growing spiritually,
reading good books during sleepless nights or teens listening to Christian Rap
etc. It is my privilege to pray that
every book, every item in the library will be used by God. Can you think of anything more
rewarding?
Maybe God
is doing a ‘remarkable thing’ or a miracle in your life…I’m sure He would love
to do that.
You can
access us on your computer: http://library.concordnaz.org.
Recipient of a miracle, Virgie Br
REVS.
ANDY AND RICAREDA VALENZUELA
SPECIAL FAREWELL SERVICE - SUNDAY OCT. 26TH
This
beautiful couple has served the Lord for over 50 + years! They can retire and enjoy their children and
grand children in-between their preaching, and serving the Lord in many varied
activities! They are really not
retiring…but continue to keep going as someone said “like the energizer
bunny”! They both have so much energy it
is stimulating to watch them. They are
the kindest, most thoughtful couple, and they will be missed by many.
It was
an emotional service with Pastor Andy and Pastor Ricareda speaking. Dr. John Calhoun, District Superintendent gave
a message and thanked the Valenzuela’s for their many years of dedicated
service.
They
officially started the church 14 years ago.
They were so happy to be able to celebrate the 14th Anniversary with
Nazarene friends and family. May our
Lord continue to bless this loving couple.
REV.
JOVEN LAROYA - THE NEW PASTOR
Rev.
Joven Laroya and his wife Imelda were welcomed by the congregation on Oct. 26th. Rev. Laroya has served as pastor for the
Filipino congregation at The Point in
All that
were present celebrated the
Pastor
David and Lori Kincaid
New
Start -
On October 5, 2008 the
The first meeting of
This church will target
the people in the 
woman has been on my prayer list for a very long time, she is
not involved with a church, and has never been a member of one”, David
continues, “this is the people that God has called Lori and I to minister to,
good people with little time that have never had a church home”. As this is written the worship times will be
Saturday evenings for group service and another time throughout the week for
in-depth study.
As any new work, they ask
that you keep them in prayer. Rev.
NEW
START – SAN RAMON CHRIST COMMUNITY INDONESIAN CHURCH
REV. HENGKIE TJAHJADI
It's true
we just start a new ministry in San Ramon.
What we are doing is actually using the "cell" group
principal. We have average of about
70-80 adults in
I will be
pastoring this congregation. Since the
service is an evening service, there is no time conflict with the
The last
three weeks we have had an average of 28 adults and 6 children. Please pray for us, we are trying hard to
reach new Indonesian families. Other
than Sunday service we are going to start prayer meeting every Thursday
night. We really need it, to give us
more spirit and passion to look for the lost and to be creative.
NEW
PASTOR – REV. GARY BALL
We “welcome” Pastor Gary Ball and his
wife, Susannah, and their beautiful daughter, Flora (pictured below) back to
the
The
Two
years ago Gary and Susannah adopted Flora from
REV. KIJOON YUN – is leaving to carry on his ministry at the South West
Oklahoma District. He pastored the
REV. SEONG MIN OH will take on the responsibility as pastor at the
REV.
MYEONG MO KIM
We appreciate Dr. John Calhoun’s ministry and prayer at our
30th anniversary celebration.
This is the
children’s choir singing praises!
“PRAISE” REPORT FROM
CHAPLAIN,
MAJOR, USAF, ABNER VALENZUELA
I wanted to share a
“praise” that happened to my family in early October. My 6 year old son, Deo, accidentally fell out
of our second story window. It was a
height of about 10-12 feet. He fell on a
grassy area and did not sustain any broken bones or major injuries. We thank God for his protection!
His classmates,
teacher and some folks at the church now call him the “miracle boy!”
Chaplain, Major Abner Valenzuela
(stationed at
Northern
California District churches received high honors this past month during the
annual SDMI Conference. Pastor
First, "District
Growth in Youth Ministries."
Second, and most significant,
"Leading District in “Overall Growth” in Sunday School."
"It
was an honor to stand up for Northern California District."
"This
is the first time any district has ever won two awards." said Kathy Lewis, Communication Coordinator for Sunday
School & Discipleship Ministries International. Wouldn't it be great if next year we won all
four awards adding Children's Sunday School Growth Award and Adult Sunday
School Growth Award?
All of our
churches are to be commended for their dedication to Sunday School, Small
Groups and Age Group ministries. Let's
make it our goal to do it again.
DISCIPLESHIP DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
Dr. Woodie
Stevens, Denominational SDMI Director has asked our district to help develop
new tools for discipleship in the coming months. Our district SDMI chairman,
If you are
interested in being a part of the Discipleship Development team, contact
New to
NorCal District SDMI
In the
coming months you will begin to see and hear of new things and new ideas from
your district SDMI chairman and council:
§
SDMI Resource Website
Development
§
Automated Reporting of
Attendance.
§
Attendance Reports and
Celebrations.
§
A place to highlight and
celebrate teachers and leaders in your Sunday School program.
§
A place to download
program and resource materials for your classes and teachers.
§
Discipleship program
materials and information.
§
Discipleship Program
Resources and Modular Delivery Development.
§
Broadening of District
Children's Ministries and Support of local church's ministries to children and
their families.
§
Building an absolute
passion and priority for a Summer Camping program, 2009.
§
Encouraging Children's Quizzing
into the regular program of the church.
§
§
Development of new
district events designed towards children's evangelism.
§
District SDMI Celebration
Dinner at District Assembly, May 7, 2009
§
District SDMI Training and
Mentoring for local churches and leaders.
§
Celebrating Sunday
School, Small Groups, Ministries and Discipleship
If you have
a effective ministry or an individual who is serving above the "call of
duty" submit a story that we can include in the newsletter. You can e-mail the story to kay@norcal.org
or cvnazpaz@norcal.org .
George
Barna Report on Evangelism's Effectiveness by Age Group
Probability
of accepting Christ, segmented by age
- Nearly half (43%) of all
Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching
the age of 13 (2004)
- Two out of three born again
Christians (64%) accept Jesus Christ as their savior before their 18th
birthday. (2004)
- One out of eight born again
people (13%) made their profession of faith while 18 to 21 years old.
(2004)
See
Website at: http://www.barna.org
:80/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=18
International Day of Prayer for the
Persecuted Church
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Will you pray for those that are willing to give their
lives for Jesus?
This is
a difficult concept for most Americans to understand, but some of our Christian
brothers and sisters are enduring persecution daily for their faith in our Lord
and Savior. Pray that the Lord will give
them peace and protection as they serve HIM.
Work and Witness Team Heads
to
Northern
California has a work and witness team headed to
Thanksgiving
an Intentional Time
Set Aside to Give Thanks to the
Lord
Thanksgiving
is an American tradition many enjoy! For
some the mention of this holiday brings memories of family, shopping, turkey or
pumpkin pie. On Sunday, November 23rd,
let’s remember global missions as you are given the opportunity to give in the
Thanksgiving offering. We have
missionaries serving in 151 countries, speaking, giving, sharing God’s Word,
and love to those that need to know that Jesus died for their sins. Share from your
heart the blessings the Lord has given to you this year.
Million Hours of Prayer
A
million hours of prayer for General Assembly.
All Nazarenes have been asked to pray forty two seconds a day for a
total of two hours before June. Are you
wondering about how you can specifically pray?
Here are three suggestions for one to pray about.
- Pray that the travel plans will
go smoothly for the 5, 000 or so delegates that will be involved with the
General Assembly as well as the Conventions for Sunday School, Missions,
and Youth.
- There will be delegates that
will travel from around the world, travel visas will be necessary and
sometimes challenging to get. Pray
for the paperwork and those that give the permission for our delegates to
be able to come, and pray that it will be done in God’s timing.
- Pray for the General
Superintendents and the General Secretary as they prepare for the services
and the changes that will be voted upon by the delegates.
The Northern California District Advisory Board Members
cordially invite pastors and spouses, associates and spouses, and retired
elders and spouses to spend an evening with Dr. John and Jan Calhoun. Let’s show our appreciation by attending!
When: Friday, December 5th
Where:
Host
Pastor: Dr. P. T. Mammen
Time: $6:30 p.m.
Cost: $22 per person or $44 per couple