Covenant News

Michigan Mission Team Leads Newsletter Recap

JONESVILLE, VA (August 2, 2004) - The Evangelical Covenant Church of Whitehall, Michigan, sent a mission team to Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp and led a senior high camp from July 11-16 as the congregation continues its assistance to the camp. That story is one of many highlights found in a review of more than 250 local church newsletters received each month by Covenant Communications.

Bobbie Jo Misch served as the director for the one-week camp, which was attended by 34 high school and college students. Gerry and Josh Spofford directed the games/activities. Misch serves part-time as coordinator of ministries at the church and works as a teacher's aide at an alternative education high school.

Twenty-three individuals from the church traveled to Virginia last year to participate in a one-week family work camp in cooperation with Wallens Creek Covenant Church, a congregation located near the camp. The volunteers built a cabin and refurbished other buildings. The group met a relative of the person who previously owned the land upon which the camp was built. They learned about the history of the area and listened to folk songs.

"We were looking for a service project or mission trip that we could do as multi-generational families," said Misch, whose husband, Mike, served as a resource person for the week. "We were in contact with missionary Tom Halgren and he had spent time at the mission camp. We communicated with the camp and they told us that they had a project and we went down to Virginia over spring break (in 2003). Both trips were hugely positive and we felt we've built a good working relationship with the camp and with the people at Wallens Creek Covenant."

The Evangelical Covenant Church of Whitehall has participated in other mission trips in the past, including one to Honduras and others to Mexico (through Covenant-sponsored Merge Ministries). The church has an average attendance of more than 200 under pastor Terry Mattson.

Following are other activities gleaned from the newsletters, organized by conference and region.

CENTRAL

• South Bend, Indiana: The Evangelical Covenant Church of South Bend hosted a reception following its worship service on June 27 for pastor Kendall Dahlstrom and his wife, Nancy. The couple celebrated 20 years at the church on July 1.

EAST COAST

• East Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Community Covenant Church recently sent a contingent of people to Nome, Alaska, for a mission project to assist KICY radio station in construction efforts. Team members included Donna Wright, Tom Chiocca, Scott Dube, Jana Ballard, Dana Cheney, Lee and Rachael Stewart, Rob and Michelle MacNevin and Ernest and Ellie Anderson. KICY radio is a Covenant-supported media outlet in Nome that ministers primarily to individuals in Alaska and Western Russia.

GREAT LAKES

• Muskegon, Michigan: A group of more than three dozen individuals traveled to Alaska Christian College (ACC) for a mission work trip July 11-18. They volunteered in many different ways, ranging from construction of a new prayer chapel and a cafeteria/auditorium to landscaping, organizing books for the new library, computer database management, painting, cooking and harvesting lumber with their own on-site saw mill. Many felled trees were converted to materials that will be used in upcoming construction projects. Others helped assemble two gardens and a walking path and bench made of logs and timber taken from the grounds. Covenant Bookstore in Chicago donated 50 slightly damaged Covenant hymnals to help future Alaska church plants in worship.
• Liverpool, New York: A recent blood drive through Redeemer Covenant Church was a successful one as 51 people donated blood for a combined total of 51 pints. The Red Cross also helped enlist blood donors for the effort - 25 were members of the congregation, according to a church newsletter report. The blood donations could help as many as 138 people and some blood will also be used for research.
• Lyndhurst, Ohio: Bethany Covenant Church parishioners Stacey and Asher Littlefield, Luke and Lynn Converse, Dave and Cherie Pavlich, Jack and Gail Means, Lawrence Smira, Ron Arlesic, Pam Blything, Darlene Taylor and Pat McCubbin participated in a June 12 Habitat for Humanity Work Day.
• Russell, Pennsylvania: Scandia Covenant Church lent a hand to the Brighter City Summer Program (BCSP) that Covenant Congregational Church in Boston assists in their city. Scandia Covenant sent the group to the East Coast Conference-sponsored Seafarers Mission for part of a day before helping the two-week kids educational program. The closing program for BCSP occurred on July 16.

MIDSOUTH

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Parishioners from Life Church campuses gathered for "Life Stock," an annual all-church event at Frontier City Amusement Park on June 27. The event included a "Baptism Bash," where more than 150 people were baptized. A 16-team volleyball tournament occurred in the afternoon. An evening concert was led by Life Church's worship team members, including worship pastors from its four campuses, said Katie Moore, the church's marketing team leader. The annual event began four years ago as a community outreach event, said a church representative. "It's a global opportunity to combine all of our campuses," said Kevin Penry, Life Church's chief operations officer. "We probably had about 6,000 Life Church people at the park and it was a great chance for outreach because people attending the amusement park get to see things that make them curious." Life Church has around 12,000 individuals who worship regularly at campuses in Edmond, Oklahoma City, Stillwater and Tulsa. Plans are in place to plant another campus in Oklahoma City.

MIDWEST

Clyde, Kansas: Brantford Evangelical Covenant Church's Glenda Uhlrich was awarded a Child Development Associate credential in recognition of her outstanding work with young children, stated a recent newsletter article. The credential was awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition in Washington, D.C., which represents the early childhood profession. Uhlrich has been a longtime child care provider in her area.
• Lincoln, Nebraska: A Homebuilders small group and a men's Bible study group were among parishioners helping a family from the church whose house was recently damaged by a tornado.

NORTH PACIFIC

• Olympia, Washington: Armand Osterberg of Grace Community Covenant Church was one of four Thurston County volunteers receiving a "Call to Service Award" for giving more than 4,000 hours of service in the county.

NORTHWEST

• Mankato, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Mankato celebrated 115 years of ministry on July 25. The congregation has grown from a membership of 35 to more than 450, with around 600 members and friends attending worship service on an average Sunday.
• Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethlehem Covenant Church parishioners Bob and Linda Merriam, Grace Bergstrom and Paul Swanson left the Twin Cities for Taiwan on July 8 for a one-month mission experience. They taught English as part of outreach programs in Taiwanese Covenant congregations – a total of 17 from various Covenant churches were part of this effort. Other parishioners at Bethlehem Covenant have been busy in mission work, too. Carrie Johnson taught English in Zolotonosha, Ukraine, for two weeks this summer while Ashley Olson and Hannah Williams spent five weeks in Ireland teaching Vacation Bible School and doing street ministry through Royal Servants, a parachurch organization.
• Trimont, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Trimont celebrated 110 years of ministry with an all-church family event on July 4 following the worship service.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST

• Lemoore, California: Covenant military chaplain Mil Am Yi has been promoted to the rank of commander (05) in the U.S. Navy.
• Roseville, California: The Covenant's Department of Church Growth and Evangelism reported that Bayside Church did an "extreme house makeover" of a neighboring church facility in early July, sending a crew of people to assist in renovation work as an expression of Kingdom cooperation.
• Walnut Creek, California: Canto Nuevo (New Song) Iglesia and pastor Willy Franco prepared a Latin feast for Hillside Covenant Church parishioners following morning worship services on July 11, to thank them for a recent partnership that has allowed Canto Nuevo to use Hillside Covenant's facilities. Hillside Covenant – whose senior pastor is Jeff Reed - has also supported the Hispanic congregation financially. Franco's congregation recently celebrated their second anniversary as a church.

To keep abreast of activities in local Covenant churches, regularly visit this online Covenant news report at www.covchurch.org. To send information about Covenanters and events at Covenant churches to be considered for use in this online report, email information to Covenant Communications at newsdesk@covchurch.org or call 773-478-4676, extension 117.

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