wceu: September 20, 2016

WCEU Newsletter 2016/3 is out!!

Read news from all over the world HERE (627 kB).

September 20, 2016, 12:50 h by Anna Visky.

asia: September 09, 2016

Flood in Assam

Mr. Kretofil Bhengra, General Secretary of CE in N.E. India, reported to CEiI, WCEU and relief organizations about floods in Assam and asked for help. He wrote that there are 5 villages in Sonitpur District and 3 villages in Lakhimpur District badly affected. About 1500 families in Sonitpur District and 1200 families in Lakhimpur District are suffering and need food and shelter. The houses are still under water and people are taking shelter temporarily at a school and at the road side. Government department is providing Rice, Dal and Salt only which are not sufficient according to the comments from the victims. Brother Bhengra visited the area on July 16th at Gohpur (Sonitpur Dist.)and on 17th July at Bhorolua (Lakhimpur Distr.). He found it will be great help if we raise funds to support these affected poor families. Some are Christians; CE members are also affected among the many from other religions. Kretofil Bhengra requests prayer for the affected people and donations to have means for helping them.

September 09, 2016, 10:16 h by Condensed by A. Rudolph.

auspac: September 09, 2016

The Quadrennial Pacific Regional CE Convention

The Quadrennial Pacific Regional CE Convention for 2016 was hosted by the Solomon Islands CE Union in the city of Honiara on Guadalcanal Island from the 7th – 11th July 2016. This event was a wonderful time of fellowship and much praise time with inspirational music as we shared with 4 delegates from Australia, 2 from Germany, 18 from American Samoa, 8 from Samoa, including 2 Australian based pastors, 72 from Rennell Island and another group from Malaita Island as well as several Honiara Church groups, including the Kukum church youth group. The evening attendance was about 250 and the SI Convention Committee is to be congratulated on their management of the whole program with most participants allocated to take part in leading, praying, taking the offering and participating with musical items, during the services. Ministers from each country presented their messages based on the theme ‘Go for God’ in ‘Fellowship, Loyalty, Service, Witness and Worship’, emphasising the CE principles. Bible men of God such as Joshua, Paul and David and the early NT church were identified as examples we can learn from as we in CE increase our commitment to being followers of Christ and a witness to the world of Christian Love and peace. When challenged by Rev Tim Laesanau to follow especially Paul’s willingness to preach the Gospel to the world, uniting mankind in the light of God, over 30 people stepped forward to promise they would serve the Lord in response to the challenge. Teaching sessions on CE practices were given by Past Vice President Joyce Spicer and Graham Spicer with samples of Australian Literature being keenly snapped up, as all seemed to want more information on the main points that made Francis Clark’s Christian Endeavour a workable and long lasting discipling program for the Church. In Honiara we once more experienced that special fellowship that comes with belonging to CE and the unity of the world’s CE members is a precious gift. A big thankyou to Pastor Derek and Roselyn Pongi, Rev Tim Laesanau, Rev Moses Omearo, Pastor Sethrick Mae and Pastor Jerrilim Laufilu who managed the Convention with help from others. The Regional Vice President, Rev. Faataape Lavatai’i has expressed a desire to invite the next Convention to his country of American Samoa in 2020 so we look forward to calling our CE countries to prepare for the next Regional event in 4 years time.

September 09, 2016, 09:46 h by Joyce Spicer, Australia.

europe: June 07, 2016

Meeting the Chanitzagans

Between February 27 - March 2, 2016, my wife and myself had the opportunity to meet the Chanitzagans – the Lebanese Endeavorers. Beyond personal, fraternal – and why not – presidential curiosity, the motive of this visit was to tighten relationship of World’s CE Union to CE in Lebanon. Meeting face to face – not only through Facebook – is a proper way to serve this purpose. We enjoyed the hospitality of the family of Rev. Raffi Messerlian and his wife, Kayane. CE in Lebanon is the youth work of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East (UAECNE). CE groups exist in the four congregations of AEC from Beirut and the one in Anjar.

Meeting with Pastor Sevag Trashian

On February 27, Saturday evening, around 25 Endeavorers of the four churches from Beirut met at the First AEC for prayer, along with four pastors from Armenia. This meeting was part of the 135th CE-Birthday celebrations. CE in Lebanon partnered in prayer with CE Hawaii. Christ’s promise, that our triple effort in prayer – asking, seeking and knocking (Mt 7:7) – will not remain unanswered, encouraged us in bringing our requests and our thanksgiving to the Throne of Grace. The February 28 Sunday service in the Burj Hammoud district of Beirut was a special one: an account was given about youth work. Lively songs, reports and the testimony of a teenager about how his faith was kindled and his life changed in the summer camp, made this event unforgettable. On Sunday afternoon we attended the fundraising banquet of CE in Lebanon. The cca. 200 participants – old and young –, who came from all over the country, were offered a nice meal, a cultural program, an opportunity to meet each other and also to donate in order to support the summer camps organized by CE Lebanon. Datev Basmajian, youth pastor of CE in Lebanon, toured us next day through the offices of the UAECNE, then through the KCHAG, the summer campsite of the CE in Lebanon. By God’s grace, the premises of the latter, which for more than a decade of civil war were occupied and severely damaged by military, could be claimed back. Except of some buildings, which still bear the marks of that sad period, the other ones were nicely renovated, and now serve for the advancing of God’s kingdom among young people. CE in Lebanon serves so far uninterruptedly by wars and enjoys freedom to serve together with the Church of which it is part. This movement gives faithful servants for church, education and other facets of the Lebanese society. Thanks to the hospitality of our Lebanese Armenian brothers and sisters, we’ve been taken to heights (mountain tops) and depths (Jeita Grotto), to land and see, to memorials of sad historical events (the Armenian Genocide) and sites which display God’s enjoyable work in the present (schools, social institutions) in a remarkable way. Chanitzagans showed an interest in tightening their relationship to the WCEU and to other national unions. Will they be interested in taking CE to the evangelical churches in Armenia also? Will CE in Syria survive the present situation? Questions to pray for, to think about, to work on. Let’s do so.

Armenian cross