Brian LaLonde and Stan Mathay. and Eagle Scout) will become the head of Kairos Fellowship,

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1 Brian LaLonde and Stan Mathay Kairos Fellowship Changes The Kairos office has made some changes to the leadership structure of Kairos Fellowship that will make the ministry more effec ve, stable, and be er able to grow over the long term. A er six years with Stan Mathay running the program, Brian LaLonde (a Servant of the Word, and Eagle Scout) will become the head of Kairos Fellowship, with Stan con nuing to lead trips. Kairos hopes to widen the scope of the Fellowship to include trips for a broader range of boys and young men. In doing so, it hopes to serve more young men, making a bigger impact on the youth of the Sword of the Spirit, and opening the door to run trips for boys and men outside the Sword of the Spirit. They have already run a few trips for high school and college students, in addi on to the normal summer trips for junior high boys. New Rules of Love, Sex, and Dating This winter, the University Chris an Outreaches at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Michigan State University (MSU) presented the New Rules of Love, Sex and Da ng, a four part series originally developed by Andy Stanley, senior pastor at North Point Community Church. The talks expand upon Biblical truth in the area of rela onships and sexual morality in a way that is accessible to Chris ans and non Chris ans alike. Noel Delgadillo (le ), Mission Director at GVSU, exclaims that this is the most evangelis c series we ve ever done as a chapter. He con nues to say, The series had two aims, reaching out to new people who poten ally have never heard the gospel, and giving veteran students the opportunity to prac ce following up and welcoming these new students. Both campus outreaches experienced a large increase in a endance. MSU welcomed between more students each week during the dura on of the four talks. One GVSU student proclaims, This is the best series I ve heard from UCO! The content allowed me to invite anyone.

2 Triumph of the Cross, Maryland Triumph of the Cross (TCC) celebrated its annual covenant commitment gathering in January. We are grateful to the Lord that seven new brothers and sisters made their first commitment to the community. Now, TCC has 45 members par cipa ng in our life. During the gathering, we recounted how faithful the Lord has been throughout our history, thanked Him for making us part of the Sword of the Spirit bulwark, and prayed for greater Chris an Unity. The Lord has sent us a good number of post college age people. We now have thirty young professionals who are members or friends, so we have organized TCC Young Professionals. TCC Young Professionals has two events per month: a dinner a er our gathering in a community family s home, and a second event planned by the leadership team. Our goal is to create an environment that is hospitable and gives witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. Flash Mob Dance City on the Hill, Los Angeles The City on the Hill Community in Los Angeles celebrated its 21 st anniversary as a community in October. To prepare spiritually for this event, members were given daily reflec ons and prayers culled from the different prophecies received during the community s 21 year faith journey. The day of celebra on started with a Thanksgiving Mass and con nued with a community assembly. The assembly included the tradi onal Parade of Banners that recalled with gra tude the prophecies and significant events of the past 21 years, the installa on of a permanent coordinator, the public acceptance of the covenant of ten brothers and sisters, and a flash mob dance by the members as part of the entertainment. It was another enjoyable and memorable anniversary celebra on. TCC Young Professionals One With God, Toronto, Canada In January, One With God Community had a visit from Jerry Munk, head of the NAR Community Building Team and Marty Buganski, the community s Missionary Coordinator. The visit included mee ngs with community leaders and a Lord s Day. Jerry and Marty also a ended the Community Assembly (photo above by Jonathan Leyesa). 2 Community Development Meeting In February, about 90 leaders of communi es in the North American Region met in Lansing, Michigan, for the every other year Community Development Mee ng. The mee ng covered a number of issues important to communi es in region: praying over people for deliverance, issues rela ng to courtship, married women and work outside the home, and goals for youth at different ages. With this mee ng, the region ins tuted a new pa ern of invi ng affiliate and underway communi es to par cipate. These groups had special communitybuilding, break out sessions where they heard presenta ons on the revised status change criteria, women in community leadership, and establishing a rela onship with the missionary coordinator. The community building sessions ended with an enjoyable, free flowing discussion about building a Chris an community.

3 The Power of an Invitation In March of 2014, a Word of Life member invited his Anglican pastor to join him on a community men s retreat. Deeply moved and inspired by the event, the pastor decided he wanted something more for his church. He approached Dave Hughes, senior coordinator for the Word of Life, who suggested a one day seminar be offered to church members. Dave pulled together a team of several couples and singles; he also invited a coordinator from The Word of God community to co lead the event and to bring a team to assist as well. The seminar was called Fan to a Flame. It started with breakfast, included lunch, and concluded with a Lord s Day celebra on and dinner. The result was truly a day of grace and anoin ng. The event was remarkable for a number of reasons: About fi y church members a ended. All of them were faithful churchgoers who simply wanted more in their walk with the Lord. We were humbled by the privilege of sharing our lives with and praying over such faithful people. It is easy to take for granted the rich life that we have. The experience recalled our own me so many years ago when we were first prayed over for the bap sm in the Holy Spirit. There was genuine sense of fraternity and respect with our brethren from The Word of God. Praying side by side with them reminded us of how much we have in common and, like the a endees, how much we long for more of what God has for us. And it started with a simple invita on. Seattle, Washington "He will assemble the sca ered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth." (Isaiah 11:12) The Lord has been blowing a new Spirit in Sea le during the past year. We have heard the call and joined together following the Lord to form and grow a Sword of the Spirit community. He has gathered us from a variety of communi es: the United States, Honduras, Lebanon, and Mexico. The Lord's bulwark has been growing in Sea le. We are the Sea le Sword of the Spirit Community! We are a community of young families and singles. Our community life has been growing as well as our outreach work. Through the variety of outreach events, retreats and prayer gatherings, we have been mee ng and receiving new families and singles. Included among those events was a picnic last August, a Life in the Spirit seminar in October and many Lord's Day evenings. Take a look at the picture below of our Lord's Day in February. We have also been reaching out to our local churches and have established many important rela onships. We have an upcoming Life in the Spirit Seminar in March, and already have some candidates for that weekend and expect more to come to the seminar. Please pray for us as we pray for all of you. Sea le is beau ful we encourage you to come and visit us! 3 Daughters of Hope For the past eight years a group of women, members of the People of Hope Community over 70 years of age, have been gathering seven mes a year to share their lives, prayers, friendship, and sisterhood. They encourage one another in holy pursuits and welcome others to their evangelis c events. Every gathering, whether serious or playful, engenders gra tude and awe at the blessings of living the Chris an life over many years. Photo: Daughters of Hope Christmas Celebra on 2014.

4 Women Mission Directors Meet The Kairos Women Mission Directors had the privilege of mee ng in Tampa, Florida, in January. An accommoda ng schedule le me to make connec ons, establish new friendships, and find support for the busy work that we all do back in our home UCO and SPO chapters. Many of the women felt that the Lord wanted to use the me to refresh. Sure enough, one of the first things that was said at the conference is that you cannot be a channel of the Lord s grace and love unless you have a reservoir from which to draw. The Lord Himself filled our reservoirs though individual and corporate mes of prayer, sharing, prayer ministry, and talks from various mission directors. The solar therapy didn t hurt either! The women also heard a talk from Mike Shaughnessy called Standing Together: Upholding Our Unity. That definitely gave us renewed vision for the calling of our Kairos work. Mike s focus on sharing common terminology, events, culture, pastoral approaches, spirituality, and government made the women leaders of our various chapters feel they we are on the same page and working towards the same goals. Worship Leaders Session at Elm Street Studios 2015 Legacy Conference In January, 130 young professionals made the snowy trek to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the 2015 Legacy Conference. The group was a wide representa on of our Sword of the Spirit family with a endees coming from 27 different ci es and 4 different regions of the Sword of the Spirit. This year s Legacy Conference focused on what community and mission mean to the current young professional genera on. We heard from Mike Shaughnessy, who gave a talk covering founda onal prophe c words we have received from the Lord throughout the history of the Sword of the Spirit and what the significance of those prophecies are for us. On Saturday evening, Ryan O Hara spoke on radical discipleship and maintaining a vision for mission for the rest of our lives. These talks were followed by a powerful me of worship Saturday evening and sharings Sunday morning. Kairos Worship Leaders Weekend Kairos hosted its 4th annual Worship Leaders Weekend in February in Lansing, Michigan. This conference draws worship environment leaders from all Kairos outreaches around North America SPO, UCO, Brotherhood of Hope, high school youth groups, and young professionals. The goals of the weekend are to give those who lead, assist, and influence our worship environments, prac cal and spiritual training for their roles. A group of par cipants took a field trip to Elm Street Studios to record one of our newer worship songs. Besides the normal Kairos staff crew, our special guests speakers were Dan Kea ng, a Servant of the Word from Lansing, MI, and Abe Gross, from Community of Christ the Redeemer and Saint Paul s Outreach in Minnesota. If you want to send people to next year s worship leaders conference, contact: mollykilpat@gmail.com 4

5 UCO Missions Taking Time to Listen to the Lord This year University Chris an Outreach (also known as UCO Missions) is taking me to listen to the Lord for our mission and growth. Many of our staff have sensed in the last few years that we re on the cusp of significant changes. Our growth has been steadily pu ng pressure on how we operate, communicate, and develop regionally. As a result, we are taking a year to step back from a few of our normal regional ac vi es to listen more ac vely and purposefully to the Lord. Here is a quick summary and reflec on from Brendan Murray, one of our mission directors in Maryland on a recent weeklong event we had with our UCO senior staff in the region. In mid December, 17 UCO Mission Directors gathered at a lake house in Brighton, MI for five days of seeking the Lord together. UCO has grown significantly over the past five years with new chapters in places like Vancouver, Maryland and North Florida. We ve also seen significant growth in some of our more established chapters. Our me together was a chance to press the pause bu on, build unity among one another, and most of all, and seek the Lord together. Each morning, we took significant me to pray and listen, both corporately and individually. The a ernoons and evenings were mes to do some strategic planning and build rela onships with one another. We heard the Lord quite clearly. He wants to give us greater unity as an organiza on, He wants to equip us to take in more of the lost, He wants each of us to lean into the par cular gi ing He has given us. Finally, as we con nue to grow, we need to rely on Him for the resources. I came away incredibly encouraged for the work God is doing through UCO. Personally, I heard quite clearly an invita on from the Lord to remain in this work. I couldn t be more grateful. I have been able to see firsthand over the past four years the establishment of a new UCO chapter at University of Maryland. It has been amazing to see God provide in abundance for this new chapter. I am looking forward to the addi onal doors on campuses the Lord opens for us on in the coming years! Thank you for your support and prayers! Nico Angleys and Rosemary Thornton, UCO Execu ve Directors. Photos above: UCO Mission Directors in the Fall of

6 Family of Faith, NJ The Family of Faith held its Community Conference last January. We took as our theme: I am the Lord Your God, Come Follow Me and live. The day long event included talks on our way of life and the sufficiency of grace. We had group discussions and presenta ons of various community related ma ers. The conference also provided a great me for fellowship and support for one another. Last February, we held our annual Children s Day of Dedica on. It was an opportunity for parents to renew their commitment to the Lord to raise their children in the ways of God and for the whole community to support one another in this responsibility. By praying over our children, we signified our uncondi onal love and responsibility for them. The joyous event included a video and slide show of the community s children expressing what they appreciate most in community and what they learned from it. The children and youth presented an ac on dance number. The community hosted a men s conference last February. The theme was Profile of a Man of God. This was based on the SOS booklet of the same tle. It aimed at helping Chris an men grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and men of God by focusing on the different major areas of responsibili es in a Chris an man s life and how men can improve and grow in handling these responsibili es. The conference included talks and workshops (provided by brothers from the People of Hope Community in New Jersey), group discussions, praying for one another and fellowship. Some brothers from the House of the Lord Community in Washington D.C. and several guests also a ended this grace filled event. Photo, right : the men s conference. Families for Christ, Vancouver BC June brought a change in leadership for Families for Christ Community. Bernard de Mesa was installed as the new Senior Coordinator. He assumed the role from Jimmy Mamonluk who has relessly served as Senior Coordinator for many years. Bernard has been a member of the community since Last May 2014, Dan Kea ng came to visit our community here in Vancouver, Bri sh Columbia. He gave a talk on Chris an Unity and Ecumenism during our conference. The conference was well a ended and the a endees le with a be er understanding of ecumenism and ecumenical courtesy. Reignited in Pittsburgh The crosshairs of the Holy Spirit s bow are centered on the Greater Pi sburgh region. Recently, the People of God served Franklin Graham s Fes val of Hope, an event in which more than 200 churches par cipated (photo above). In addi on, we hosted the annual Catholic Charisma c Leaders and Ministries Conference, which over 500 people a ended. These inspiring events were quite moving and God honoring. 6

7 People of Hope Coordinator s Retreat At three degrees above zero and 50 miles from home, two days at the deeply frozen and snow swept Atlan c shore chilled the flesh and commanded a en on we might have given to lesser pursuits. Fr. Philip Merdinger, BH, led twenty leaders of the People of Hope on an unusually personal explora on of the mystery and awareness of the Father s love for each of us. To a man, our shared reflec ons were deeply moving and personally challenging. We were encouraged to consider rhythm and movement of the Father s voice as He speaks to us in prayer and our life s work and voca ons. Considerable reflec on was given to those lesser places in our character where the Father might enter our hearts and surprise us with His presence. The retreat sessions were not a restatement of Chris an truths and principles as one might expect. Truths became secondary to the Truth Himself, the source of our life as He and His Son dwell within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Top row: Tom Appert, Marty Buganski, Gregory Floyd, Gary Montemurno, Dave Touhill, Fred Bunsa, Brian Murray, John Quense, Fr. Philip Merdinger, Frank Guido; bo om row: Paul Quense, Mark Can ne, Philip Quense, Jon Touhill, Fran Gallic, Tim Margio a, James Dill, Mike Temple The Family Worship book has been out of print for several years. A new edi on is now available from taborpub.com: $ Simplified format, double wire bound for lay flat convenience and durability. Format for daily prayer with a Psalm sequence. Lord's Day Celebra on with prayers to open and close the day. Prayers and celebra ons for major feasts, including a Chris an Passover service. Spirit of Christ, Jacksonville, FL We have a name! Since the incep on of our community, we have been known as the Jacksonville Prayer Mee ng or JPM for short. We wanted a name that would be er reflect our personality and the iden ty that God has been developing within us. It wasn't easy. In fact, one of our members said that it was harder than naming his children! But a er two rounds of praying and vo ng, praise God, we have our new name: Spirit of Christ Community. Our hear elt prayer is that the Lord would visit his people with a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that by demonstra ng his power and love, he would draw all people to himself. Completely new! A li le booklet that answers common ques ons about charisma c worship and why someone should ask for the gi of tongues. Priced so they can be given away to guests. Available from taborpub.com: 30 booklets for $10. 7

8 Just over twenty years ago, Dave O Connor and Stan Mathay moved to Detroit at the promp ng of God to teach in the inner city. A er a year of teaching, Dave and Stan were looking for how they could work with their students and other Detroit youth in a more inten onal way outside of the classroom walls. In 1995, Stan envisioned the idea of college men embracing the call to live household life together in the city of Detroit while working with youth during the summer, and YouthWorks Detroit was born. This year, we are celebra ng our 20th anniversary. Over the past twenty years, we have seen God s faithfulness and transforming love in the lives of Detroit youth, young people from the Sword of the Spirit who come to serve in the city, and in the lives of those of us who have made Detroit our home. God has touched thousands of lives through this work he began here twenty years ago. Over 300 young people from the Sword of the Spirit have encountered Jesus here through our Detroit Summer Outreach internship program. Thousands of Detroit youth have heard the good news preached through our retreats with Cornerstone Schools and elsewhere. We ve hired nearly 250 youth through our StreetTeam Leadership program. Over 300 Detroit young people have engaged in academic, art, and leadership based training through Bezalel Project. Many have con nued a erwards with our youth group and StreetTeam, and have returned later as Bezalel Project volunteers, Detroit Summer Outreach interns, and even as staff. Most importantly, many of our youth are building long term rela onships among us in the Sword of the Spirit and growing as disciples of Jesus. Many Sword of the Spirit youth who are alumni of our programs have caught the vision for a missionary life following Jesus and for our life in community, and have taken up a mantle of leadership among us. Many among our Detroit youth are a ending college, and some are connec ng with our university work through Kairos. Some are becoming missionaries through our UCO outreaches in North America and around the world. We honor our Lord Jesus for his provision for us over these twenty years, and express our deepest gra tude to him and to our brothers and sisters who have supported this work with their prayer, me, friendship, and finances. To honor God s faithfulness, YouthWorks Detroit will be hos ng a celebra on event: it will be held Saturday, May 2, from 6 8 p.m. in Detroit. If interested in a ending, contact: youthworks.detroit@gmail.com 8 The Sword of the Spirit is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and strengthening Chris an people (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox) through ac ve evangeliza on and by forming Chris an communi es. In our youth outreach and community building work, we encourage men and women to give their lives fully to Jesus Christ, prac ce daily Chris an discipleship, and to zealously proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. The Sword of the Spirit is supported by charitable contribu ons. Your support is welcome! Contribu ons to The Sword of the Spirit are tax deduc ble in the United States. Jerry Munk, Newsle er Editor 2015 by The Sword of the Spirit 4828 S. Hagadorn Road East Lansing, Michigan Telephone: (517)