Covenant News

Musical Tribute Highlights Newsletters' Updates

TULSA, OK (May 23, 2003) - Kelly Ford, minister of music and worship for Redeemer Covenant Church in Tulsa, made national news by submitting a musical tribute to soldiers fighting in Iraq.

His CD submission, "The Last Full Measure of Devotion," (a song he recorded after hearing it on the Internet), was played on the Fox News television show "The O'Reilly Factor" on April 14. Television host Bill O'Reilly played the song in his "Back of the Book" segment as the television station showed pictures of those who had died in the war in Iraq.

"I got hired by a local company called Parker Drilling - they host a corporate event each year," Ford said in recalling how O'Reilly discovered the song. "Last summer, I had finished an album (a 10-song CD called "American Dream"), and they had me perform some of the music from the album for about 20 minutes. I sang that song as part of the set.

"Bill O'Reilly was the guest speaker at the corporate event and he told me that he wanted to play my song when the war was over," Ford continued. "Nine days later I was in a staff meeting (at Redeemer Covenant) when I got called and told O'Reilly would play my song that day. He (O'Reilly) plugged the song big-time . . . in the first 24 hours after the song aired we got 9,450 visitors to my web site. We've sold close to 1,000 CDs since then."

Ford, who has been minister of music and worship at Redeemer for seven years, enlisted with the Navy after high school and was stationed primarily in San Diego until his unit was sent to the coast of Iran in 1980. He recalled his experience as he recorded the song as a tribute to soldiers who had fought in previous wars. "When I recorded the song last summer there wasn't even a war on the horizon," Ford said.

After leaving the military in 1981, Ford studied voice at Oklahoma City University before eventually graduating from Oral Roberts University. Ford's vocal talents first became noticed nationally when he appeared on Star Search in 1992. He later performed with The Voices of Liberty at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center and now entertains at numerous corporate conventions, opening for such luminaries as George Bush, Lee Iacocca and Paul Harvey. You can find out more about Kelly Ford's patriotic music at www.kellyford.us

Ford is one of many Covenanters making the news. Here is a brief account of what others are doing throughout the world, compiled primarily from more than 220 church newsletters received each month by the Department of Communication. The information is grouped by conference and region.

CENTRAL

• Chicago, Illinois: Grace Evangelical Covenant Church parishioner and North Park Theological Seminary Prof. Jerry Reed has had his evangelism resource, The Discipleship Encounters, translated into 18 languages. The Discipleship Encounters is a collection of flexible outlines designed for spiritual conversations and encouragement in the Christian life. Though designed for new Christians, they can be used for mature Christians as well. Written first in Spanish and used in the early 1980's while Reed was a missionary in Mexico, the encounters were translated first into English, then Japanese and Korean. Other languages now include Burmese, Bulgarian, Chinese (Mandarin), Finnish, French (Congo), French (Parisian), Kikuyu (Kenya), Lingala (Congo), Paite (India), Russian, Swahili (Kenya), Swedish, Tagalog (Philippines), Tenyidie (Angami Naga-India), and Finnish. The English encounters can be found on www.discipleship.info and the Spanish on www.discipulado.info. Both are available from the Covenant Resource Center, 1-800-338-IDEA. Reed was a church-planting missionary in Ecuador for 10 years and in Mexico for 12. He was then called to the Engebretson Chair of Evangelism and Church Growth at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago where he has taught for the last 15 years.
• South Bend, Indiana: Scott Nelson of the Evangelical Covenant Church of South Bend recently participated as a cast member in the South Bend Civic Theatre's production of "Of Mice and Men."

MIDWEST

• Omaha, Nebraska: First Covenant Church's Dick and Pam Nystrom area headed to Losotho, South Africa, to begin a two-year Peace Corps assignment in June.

NORTHWEST

• Brooklyn Center, Minnesota: Sandy Layman, daughter of Brookdale Covenant Church parishioner Evie Bloom, was named to Minnesota State Governor Tim Pawlenty's cabinet as the commissioner to the Iron Range agency in the state.
• Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethlehem Covenant Church parishioner Ralph Anderson was celebrated as Lake Area Administrator of the Year for his work as Dean of Student Affairs at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. Meanwhile, Nancy Lindquist is traveling to Ireland and Wales for an ecumenical singing group, Good Samaritan Singers, that is performing for two weeks in various castles and cathedrals throughout both countries.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST

• Tucson, Arizona: Evangelical Covenant Church co-youth director Jai Atkielski and fellow parishioner Donna LaPorta helped coach the Henry Elementary School track and field team to first place in regional competition.
• Kingsburg, California: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Kingsburg participated in the Kingsburg Chamber of Commerce car show on April 26, sponsoring a free lemonade booth through its evangelism ministry. The team gave away 80 gallons of strawberry lemonade, along with outreach cards. A banner reading "Quench Your Thirst - FREE and Forever" was posted on the lemonade stand, said A. Dennis Rosales, evangelism ministry member with the church.
• Los Angeles, California: Newsong Community Covenant Church's new congregation in the Crenshaw area hosted its first weekly worship service May 4 under pastor Adam Edgerly. David Gibbons, senior pastor of Newsong Community Covenant's main campus in Irvine said, "It's been wonderful to see God unleash His glory in our church. We've had a season of incredible growth and commitment. Part of this expansion that we've seen at Newsong is the new Newsong Los Angeles site. Our grand opening service is probably several months away, but we've seen a consistent core of around 120 people these past two Sundays. These percolations of the ministry of Newsong in Los Angeles have been prayed about for almost two years. I'm delightfully encouraged how God has brought us so many people to lead this revolutionary movement of transformation! I know the best is yet to come."
• Pasadena, California: Dr. Kathleen Arai, an ordained pastor, and son, Geoffrey, were among a group from the Pasadena-based Christian Cross-Cultural Ministries who traveled to the Middle East in April for an outreach and evangelism opportunity at sites primarily in Israel and the West Bank. Geoffrey and another teen, Lina Morin, often use origami as a way to present the gospel message and they gave programs during the visit. Dr. Arai had an opportunity to speak and she gave interviews for High Adventure-Voice of Hope radio as well. She said that the four-person team was blessed by being in that area during Passover, even in the midst of a tense political situation in Palestine. Dr. Arai, the outreach director for the organization, stated that flying into the area was difficult due to the recent SARS epidemic and the war in Iraq. "When we finally arrived we had to get our anti-nerve gas injection kits and gas masks," she said adding, "We felt God's protection at all times. One really special time was in Bethlehem at the SOS Orphanage. Geoffrey and our team presented the Bible through Origami program. The people there were telling us how they hadn't been able to leave Bethlehem for over two years due to the closures and how they had been unable to see family in areas that are relevantly close, such as Ramallah." The group performed a biblical play at a Ghanaian church in a Red Light district in Tel Aviv and Arai stated, "Several people gave their lives to the Lord that night. I baptized in the Jordan River amidst two-to-three-foot catfish . . . the response was good - they love youth. The people are drawn to the zeal and passion for the Lord that the youth have, especially in contrast to the youth they see who are angry and hateful. One wonderful experience was a (Jewish) young man (a security guard) who watched us where we were staying for two days . . . He called our room one night and asked if all Christians were as happy as we are. We witnessed to him about why we are joyful and after an hour he accepted the Lord. Praise God!"
• Redwood City, California: Peninsula Covenant Church has made the most of its expanded sports ministry with a basketball program coordinated with its Peninsula Covenant Community Center and director Tim Sandquist. Upward Basketball, under Slim Wilton, Tim Lawson and Paul Phelan, had 33 teams play in leagues that included games on Fridays and Saturdays. The league (which drew Christians and non-Christians) had a strong spiritual dimension. Coaches led team devotionals at practice and volunteers from Peninsula Covenant shared stories of God's love during halftime of each game. At the league awards night, speaker Sid Newcomb presented the gospel message and 15 students committed their lives to Jesus Christ.

SOUTHEAST

• Apex, North Carolina: Redeemer Covenant Church is the proud owner of 7.85 acres of land after signing the necessary paperwork on May 1, said Southeast Conference Supt. Kurt Miericke. "There was some last minute drama, but God prevailed and the land was signed over to the church," Miericke reported in a recent email update to his conference churches. "This ends a six year search for property and now begins the drive to build a church facility."

ELSEWHERE

• Odawara, Japan: The first floor of the Odawara Christian Center has been completely remodeled in order to open a small coffee shop. One of the purposes of the coffee shop is to provide training and preparation for people undergoing treatment for mental illness to re-enter society. The coffee shop will also provide a place to build deeper relationships with people involved with other OCC ministries and with people in the community, said David Husby, Asia regional coordinator for the Department of World Mission of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The coffee shop is now open only two days a week for a few hours, but the long term plan is open the coffee shop four days a week for about six hours a day. This still leaves plenty of time for other ministries to take place in the beautiful new room. The ministry to provide temporary shelter to women who need a place to stay has also begun at OCC. One of the rooms on the second floor of OCC has been outfitted to provide comfortable temporary living quarters. There is a Covenant World Mission project to raise $7,500 to help pay for the remodeling and the operational expenses of this mini shelter. At present about $2,000 has been raised.
• Puebla, Mexico: Covenant missionaries Jerry and Vicky Love were encouraged by the presence of many kids for a recent Children's Day outreach event. They also received some needed help as they celebrated Easter in the community. Five members of a Sunday school class from Rolling Hills Covenant Church (Rolling Hills Estates, California), along with three other family members, helped the Loves coordinate Holy Week events in Puebla. They watched seven people get baptized on Easter Sunday. The Rolling Hills Covenant Church "Voyagers" Sunday school class is raising money to help buy land for the Puebla church, which will increase the church's ministry potential in the region. The Loves ask for prayer for continued building fund support and for indigenous pastoral leadership at the local church.

  To keep informed about what Covenanters are doing all over the world, regularly visit www.covchurch.org and this news report. To send information about Covenanters to Covenant Communications, call 773-907-8333 or email the department at newsdesk@covchurch.org.

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