The Voice Newsletter
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Volume 20Number 5 _December 2012
President’s Corner
The temperature began to drop and then a light mist started up but nothing would damper the spirit of the Lakeland GBC that Friday night in downtown Warsaw. A canopy was in place for just such a contingency. The hot chocolate was ready and the ladies had gathered the Thursday before and taped directions to our church on over 650 candy bars and candy canes that our church people had generously donated. Many shoppers stopped by for the free hot chocolate and candy. We had a beautifully done sign made by a young couple from our church. We enjoyed our fellowship together and the many opportunities to talk about Christ. Some ladies noticed the long lines waiting to see the Santa Claus. They took candy over and passed them out to the young families. If we had planned it this would be our most cherished target group. A man came to us insisting we take a donation so he could encourage us for the good work we were doing telling of Christ. It helped us buy more hot chocolate later that night. A pastor and wife of a large church were impressed by the enthusiasm and grace of how the word was going forth and that from a small church. It challenged them. Our church has a mind to do it the next time in February when even larger crowds are expected. Who knew witnessing for Christ could be so much fun. That Sunday night we heard testimonies of the wonderful opportunities to share the gospel. We all marveled at how God had moved in our hearts and used our various gifts and talents to have an effective outreach. A Culture of Evangelism, our conference theme, can be played out in a thousand ways among God’s people. Pastor Russ Simpson
Pastorless Churches: Pray for pastorless churches in Leon IA, Pickerington OH, ParkersburgWV, Ozark MI, AleppoPA, Saratoga SpringsNY, and Mill Run GBC in Westernport MD.
Fellowship Websites: If any church would like to have its website added to the Fellowship website; please send that information to Pastor Ethan Kallberg at
2013 Annual CGBCI Fellowship Conference: It’s not too early to start planning for the CGBCI 2013 Annual Conference. The dates are June 28-July 3, 2013, and it will be held at the AntiochianVillage, Ligonier PA. Room rates will be $68.00 plus tax. Reservations may be made by calling 724-238-3677 (be sure to mention that it is for the Conservative Grace Brethren Conference).
Update on Pastor Chip Jones: He has had a defibrillator implanted and should be recovering at home. Please keep him and Peggy in your prayers.
New Addresses, phone, and new email addresses:
Pastor Bryan Maley’s new address is 13698 84th St SE; Alto MI 49302. Calvary GBC’s new email address is:
Pastor George & Judy Horner’s new address is 50081 St. Rte. 681; Reedsville, OH45772
Dan & Cindy Pierce’s new address is: 613 Mitchell Ave; Mount Joy, PA 17552. Their new phone is:
(717) 855-2063
News From the Fellowship Churches
Sterling GBC, SterlingOH, Pastor Jim Rose: The Lord has been good to us here at Sterling this month, as He always is. Our children’s Christmas program was a success and had many visitors. The children's program is going well. This last Wednesday we had 2 teen girls accept Christ. Pastor Jim did a lesson on why Jesus came to the earth to begin with and shared the gospel. The youth program is doingwell and the Olympians are aswell. The preschoolers were in the Christmas program as well and were so adorable. The White Elephant Christmas party was fun with a lot of laughter and gift exchanges. Everyone was in good spirits. We praise God for that. Prayer Requests: Continued spiritual growth and for the Lord to send those to us He wants to be with us, as well as those we invite to worship with us here. Health for our Senior Saints. God bless and we wish you a Merry Christmas.
Calvary GBC, Alto MI, Pastor Bryan Maley: It has been a while since any correspondence from us here at Calvary. October and November have been very exciting here and it doesn’t look like December is going to let us down. In October we had for the first time ever a community wide hog roast and music fest. We had several from our congregation perform on stage glorifying God in the gifts He has given them. Ashley Hulbert, Jasmine Peters, Katie Peters, Nicole Seeley, Verle Stahl, Nancy Kinsman, Aubrey Maley, and Camden Maley. We even had an impromptu men’s group sing. Pete VanStee volunteered to stay up all night and help keep Pastor Bryan awake and guard the pig! We had over 130 people that showed up. The very next week we had our first annual Trunk-or-Treat. The rain and cold temperatures forced us inside. However it turned out to be a blessing. We had many comments about how nice it was for visitors to come in out of the cold. We had games, served hotdogs and, of course, passed out candy. Along with all of that we had tracts and two men in our church (Verle Stahl and ArlenBrooks) passed out pumpkin orange New Testaments from Gideon's. We had over 100 hundred kids come through with around 30 of them being from our church. In November we had a Community Thanksgiving. We were a little unsure of how to plan since this was the first time we had ever tried it. It was a great success -- we had 47 people join us. Several were from the community and some from our church. We had all of the fixings with a few leftovers! We are excited about next year. We are very excited about December and celebrating the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.
Missions News
Cameroon, Africa: Salomon and Roger are safely back in Cameroon after their investigative trip to Uganda.The airline lost Pastor Salomon's bag but said it was in Nairobi now and they hope to send it to him. Pastor Salomon said he was glad they lost his bag as it allowed him to meet the director of the airport in Yaounde and they are planning to have a Bible study together. Pastor Keith Merriman actually spoke to the director since Salomon was able to give him five Bibles for his family. The director allowed Salomon to use his phone and call Pastor Keith so that the director could thank the Americans who made it possible for the gift of the Bibles!! [thanks to those who have been sending Bible funds!]Pastor Salomon also said he made a contact while on the plane with a man from Pakistan. Pray that this might develop into another open door. It was a grueling trip for Salomon and Roger but they are very excited about the ministry in Uganda and said they plan to send us a full report and pictures by the end of the week. Pray that these brothers will get some rest for a few days. On another note, We have been in contact with a family in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that wants us to help plant a new conservative Grace Brethren church in that capital and largest city of Congo. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we pursue this open door the Lord has given us.
India: An Urgent Call to Action for the Ministry in India We are behind in our targeted financial goal for the ministry in India for the next quarterby $4,085.00. In other words, we need $4,085.00 to reach our mutually agreed upon goal for the church planters by December 31st. This comes on the heels of our shortfall from last quarter of about $2,000.00. I have spoken to Brother Paul about this and we agreed to commit it to prayer. We also discussed ways that the church planters could generate income in ways similar to some of our pastors here in the U.S. who are working and pastoring. This Christmas season, consider a gift to the church planting ministry on behalf of someone you love. Give them a card with a note that says you gave a certain amount of money to the church planting ministry in India on their behalf (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). We would be amiss not to thank the many who give regularly and generously. We appreciate so much your commitment and heart for the outreach in India. -Pastor Ike Graham
Phoenix Metro Jewish ministry, PhoenixAZ; Pastor Jeff Kran: Even as I sat down to prepare this update we were visited by two Jehovah witnesses; they were unprepared to hear the arguments for the tri-unity of God from a Hebrew perspective. I successfully argued that if one takes seriously the verses about Jesus' being the one through whom the world was made that one either ends up with two deities or one deity and at least two persons. I stated that although I'm a firm believer in the oneness of God I have no problem with the God who is three dimensional in His personhood. I stated that while I don't fully understand the mystery of God 's oneness as manifested in the Trinity, any God that I can fully understand would have my IQ and would be too stupid to worship. Therefore, I expect that there will be things about God that I can not fully comprehend. I was excited to have the recent opportunity to do pulpit supply in a messianic congregation, this provided me with the opportunity to preach in a culturally more Jewish setting while blessing the believing remnant of my people. Meanwhile I've been able to get on Arizona State University campus at least once; Isaiah 53 booklets were indeed passed out to students whom I am sure do not yet know the Lord. Beyond this, the regular Bible studies are going well. Ronnie, a friend of the couple that I am meeting with, has Jewish relatives that she would desire to reach with the gospel and is interested in finding out more about how to reach Jewish people with the good news of Messiah Jesus. All in all it is been a blessed and productive six months here in Arizona as we get up and running. Please pray for the opportunity to distribute some booklets in terms of open air evangelism and getting onto some different college campuses in the area.
Remember the reason for the
Merry Christmasseason. Jesus Christ, our
Lord & Savior
“THE VOICE NEWSLETTER” is the communication tool of the Conservative GBCI. News or mailing updates should be sent to Connie Marsh at or at 2376 Shadowbrook Dr, Peru IN 46970, or phone: 765-472-3847, by the 20th of each month.