News Volume 11.3—May 2008

Achievements &

Lasting Legacies

Greetings faithful friends, prayer warriors and supporters. Welcome to another ACCONZ newsletter. Please read. Please pray. Please be inspired to serve the Lord more fervently in whatever context this letter finds you.

ACCONZ 10th AGM

Our Annual General Meeting (Saturday morning, April 19) was a chance to look back over the year gone and to give God the glory for a whole bunch of good things that were achieved last year. These included:

The Thames Church of Christ 125th anniversary celebrations;
The baptism of Rachel Burge;
Our “Family Movie Night” celebrating Christian Screen’s 35 years of ministry and 20 years in the Pacific;
The opportunity for Garry Schäche and I to attend the Asia-Pacific Summit at Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines;
The opportunity I had to teach a two week long intensive course on church growth at the Oro Bible College;
That Jan McMechan was able to lead Rochelle to the Lord;
That the Thames Church was able to welcome Gavin and Alison McIntosh to Thames and to pray over them as they begin their ministry there;
That in the year to our AGM 2007/2008 we had two baptisms and one person confess their faith in Christ who is yet to be baptised;
One of the most exciting things to note was that we are having an impact not just in New Zealand but around the world. Praise God for that!

THAILAND TARGET ACHIEVED

Our fund-raising efforts for the Christian Mission of Ban Naratchakwai in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, have proved successful, praise the Lord. We have raised all of the NZ$3,850 needed so that this new Advent Christian mission can register officially with the Thai government and continue to operate. Thanks to all those who contributed!

John Middlewood says: "Thanks and Praise God for the believers in New Zealand for their support and their faith in God. New Tribes Missions has accepted us for another year, so we are preparing our documents to submit to the Thai Government and, God willing, we are hoping to have everything ready to submit within the next six months."

I never ceased to be amazed when I consider what can be achieved by a relatively small group of people who are dedicated to a cause. I reminded of that first generation of Christians who though they were badly outnumbered, and ministering in a hostile environment, they “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6 KJV).

We too are turning the world upside down for Jesus. Thank you for your participation.

LASTING LEGACY

Jan McMechan (who hosts our house church in Hamilton) shared a story with me that was so encouraging I asked her permission to share it with you.

She says, “I returned to one of my five Bible in Schools classes I teach this year. I was in a school where the class teacher had been converted through dear Rex a week before he died. I was singing with the class 'Our God is an awesome God' (This is a Maori class and they always sing it well!). As I was singing the teacher and the teacher aide started singing too with their arms raised in the air, both worshiping our Lord. Later, on speaking with them both, I found that the teacher had converted the teacher-aide only a few weeks before.”

Imagine what an encouragement this must have been to Jan. It was an encouragement and an inspiration to me also. I was reminded of what Scripture says of Abel: “And by faith he still speaks even though he is dead” (Hebrews 11:4). Each of those men and women of God mentioned in Hebrews 11, some well known, some hardly known at all, left behind them a legacy which has impacted and will continue to impact future generations. I want to do the same. More than anything I pray that each of us will leave behind us that same kind of legacy. I pray that what we do now will have a positive impact on future generations of believers and out in to eternity.

PLEASE PRAY WITH & FOR US:

Thank God for those who volunteered to serve for another year at our recent AGM and thank God for all the good things that we achieved through our ministry last year.
Thank God for the success of our fund-raising efforts for the Christian Mission of Ban Naratchakwai in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. Pray that God will bless all those who gave so generously toward the Thailand project.
Continue to pray for Gavin and Alison McIntosh in their ministry in Thames. Pray that we will be enabled to “turn the world upside down” for Jesus.
Thank God for the continuing legacy of Rex McMechan’s life, shown in soul’s that are still being won to the Lord. Pray that God will enable each of us to leave behind us a legacy that will make a difference for eternity.
Thank God for those that have been baptised and /or have given their hearts to the Lord this year through our ministry. Pray that each one will go on in the faith and grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray that others will be brought to the Lord as a result of our combined efforts in the year to come.