Hilton Hotel – Universal Studios

Sean Stafford, Baptized!

The fifth biannual World Missions Jubilee will be held at the beautiful Hilton Hotel in Universal City – Los Angeles! There will be a Global Leadership Conference on Wednesday August 4th; registration will be $20. Thursday evening, August 5th will be the opening session of the Jubilee. The seminar will conclude at 1PM on Sunday August 8th. The registration cost for both students and adults is $90 ($95 at the door). Registration will begin on March 1st. You may register through the mail (2010 WMJ, 536 Sheldon Street, El Segundo, CA. 90245) or online at www.CAICC.net. The rooms at the Hilton Hotel are only $129/night for the first 100 rooms. After the first 100, the price will be $169/night. Conveniently, once at the hotel, no transportation is necessary as all Jubilee events are at the Hilton. This incredible facility is located adjacent to both “City Walk,” with about 40 restaurants, as well as the Universal Studios Theme Park. Saturday, the Jubilee schedule will conclude at noon to allow all participates to enjoy a time of fun and fellowship at Universal Studios Theme Park. If you have any questions contact the Jubilee Directors: Andrew Smellie at 315-415-3213 or Rob Onekea at 213-300-3190. Come and bring your whole family to this historic occasion! And to God be the glory!

Kip McKean

Susan Sharing

Mission Team: Syracuse International Christian Church

Susan’s Conversion Story

Dear Disciples,

I am an example of God’s kindness and great love for a creature. He made me 74 years ago. I have wondered through life as a confused and disobedient child and now as an older lady. But God has saw fit to call me to the fold of His sheep; gently and lovingly to be His after all this time. He could have allowed me to be run over by the cars that brushed past me because I was slow and they were in a hurry. But patiently, he called me. On occasions I ran toward Him but most of the time I ran from him because it seemed to take too much patience for my temperament.

Coming from the Water

Jesus died in body to save sinners like me. So I will die in body to my sinful nature. God raised him up to show how I too can be resurrected with a new Spirit.

George Mak sharing in front of the Syracuse International Christian Church congregation, this past Sunday.

George Mak became a disciple almost ten years ago when his sister and brother-in-law, Andy and Marta Graham, who were part of the original mission team that came to Syracuse to plant the church in 1993, invited him to move to Syracuse after losing his job in Atlanta, Georgia. With the rental truck still parked in the driveway, he walked into his first ever Bible Talk that same day he moved! After initially responding to the Scriptures and making a radical life change, including breaking up with his girlfriend of twenty years, George saw God bless that repentance with his girlfriend, Kathy Hanam, moving to Syracuse, getting baptized and their getting to date as disciples!

However, amidst the spiritual turbulence of the post-Kriete years and the weakening of one-another relationships, George and Kathy drifted and both allowed the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of sin to steal their joy to the point of them falling away inside the church. Miraculously, Kathy recently had a change of heart after God disciplined her after a series of hardships, including illness, depression and losing her job. Her radical repentance led to her getting restored to the church this past November 8th during our International Campus Sunday, as God moved her heart through the sisters valiant and continual truthfulness and love, and as Roger and Kama Parlour from our sister church in Chicago preached and taught their hearts out all weekend about marriage and discipleship! This inspiring spiritual turn-a-round not only breathed faith into the Syracuse church as a whole, but it cut her long-time friend, George Mak’s heart, as he realized that he would never be able to love Kathy the way she deserved him to, if he wasn’t willing to seek God again with his whole heart.

Kathy standing before the Church, during the International Campus Sunday.

But perhaps the most encouraging part of this whole story is how God is blessing these two disciples more than they could ever ask or imagine–because yesterday, George Mak . . . restored disciple . . . asked Kathy Hanam . . .restored disciple . . . to be his wife!! Truly, all of heaven will be rejoicing THIS FRIDAY as these two young souls become one before our very eyes and inside God’s very own heart . . . His bride . . . His church!

Psalm 103:2-5 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Sincerely Fired Up By His Love
Christopher Adams

Addition to our Teen Ministry, Eric Myers!

In the Syracuse International Christian Church, we’ve been studying the book of Hebrews, and learning about some of the life of the 1st Century disciples. This has been a unifying experience for the church, bringing to our eyes the fullness of what it means to truly walk as the disciples in the first century did, as well as thinking as the first century disciples did. The inspiring charge to the first century disciples in Hebrews 4:16 is perfectly suited for those who follow Christ today:

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Certainly this Scripture is incredibly comforting, as we understand God wants us to draw near to have an incredibly intimate relationship with Him. Regardless of how we may feel (especially during times of testing), God is in no way a harsh dictator ordering us around for His own good. Despite His amazing grace, God’s Word still teaches us that He is, in fact, sitting in full authority on that throne with Jesus at his right hand. And all throughout history, HOW men have approached enthroned kings have led both to their demise and to their glory. God wants us to trust his desire to help us, as well as His way to help us through Jesus; this complete entrusting of our hearts to God can lead to unrivaled confidence in our lives. Why wouldn’t we be confident? For if God is for us, who can be against us?!

Recently we welcomed a very special disciple into the Syracuse International Christian Church family. God brought a certain young man, Eric Myers, half-way around the world from Liberia, Africa to find the Kingdom treasure. Although his family fled civil-war in their native Liberia to seek safety and freedom in neighboring Ghana, it was there that Eric got caught up in a trap of sin and rebellion as he “ran the streets” uncontrollably. His grandmother, Johnetta Johnson, offered in the fall of 2008 to bring him into their home in Syracuse, New York with the expectation that he would learn to be respectful and obedient to the rules of her house. Fortunately, Johnetta’s household is filled with those striving to live out God’s standard in their lives, and Eric began to blossom, visiting church, reading the bible and praying regularly.

After studying the Bible seriously for several months, Eric made a decision too few teens are making these days, to give God complete control of his life. I was personally inspired as he wrestled with disappointment and pain not only resulting from his own sin, but also as consequences from those in his family who had sinned against him. His relationships began to transform as he forgave others from his heart in the true spirit of Matthew 18:35! Eric has already shared his faith with many of his friends at Nottingham, so pray that God will raise up incredible partners in the gospel for him, so that we can build powerful teen ministries in key high schools across Central New York!

Then more and more families will be encouraged to approach the throne of God’s grace with CONFIDENCE!