PNC NEWSLETTER Volume 4, Issue 1 January 2014

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1 PNC NEWSLETTER Volume 4, Issue 1 January 2014 Dear Pilgrim Nazarene Church family and friends, Greetings again from north central Texas! Already 2014 has proven to be a year that will pass quickly. Things are happening, and God is working. Personally, I believe that God is going to do wonderful things for us this year. The darker this old world gets, the anticipation of the return of Christ grows. Today is our day to spread the glorious Gospel and show the love of Jesus in every way possible. Pastors, fan the revival flames. Sunday School teachers, instruct and teach under the anointing. Fathers and mothers, build a wall of prayer around your children. Young people, read your Bibles daily and listen closely to the voice of God; He is faithful to lead you in all truth. Senior saints, don t lay down your armor too soon, God still has a purpose and a job for you. This are great days! Let it be said that we were found faithful when He comes! Many of you may have heard, but this past Monday, January 27 th, Sis. Shirley Fogleman, of our Cape Girardeau church, began her journey to the land of her calling, Papua New Guinea. Sis. Shirley Fogleman has served for the past five years as our Helping Hands Director, working closely with the Foreign Missions Secretary and the missionaries. Upon hearing of her soon departure, I polled the PNC General Board, and they unanimously agreed that we should support Sis. Fogleman with our prayers and finances. She wrote me this note after she received the check from the Pilgrim Nazarene Church. This morning in church I was read a beautiful letter from you and handed a check for $ It made me cry. It was another confirmation from God that He is leading me back to Papua New Guinea. When I began this pursuit I asked Him to shut the door tight if I was not to go. Instead, He s thrown the doors wide! I went through the process of applying for a work permit. I thought that it would stop me, but Bro. Timothy and Bro. Mek told me it was a miracle it happened so quickly. Then I thought I d be on a vegetarian diet over there because of lack of funds, but generous people have been stepping forward to support me. I suppose the Lord is trying to say, Shirley, quit being so negative because I m your Papa God who wants to take care of you! Praise His Name!! So here is a heartfelt thank you for this display of financial, emotional and spiritual support. Sis. Fogleman will be publishing an e-newsletter. If you are interested in receiving it, please send her an requesting it. Her address is shirley8247@gmail.com. Let us surround her with our love and cover her with our prayers as she ministers in Papua New Guinea. Sis. Shirley Fogleman speaking at Camp Recommendation for Evangelist Larry W. Pettit, Evangelist with the Pilgrim Nazarene Church, is now filling his Spring and Fall revival slate for 2014 and beyond. He is available for 3, 5, 7, or 10 day meetings. He will also hold (Topical Meetings); meaning desired meeting is dedicated to a certain topic, topics; Christ, Prayer, Sanctification, Holiness, Carnality, and the Second Coming of Christ. Phone or lpetes@att.net. Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 1

2 News from Churches Dallas, TX - Pedro Anaya, pastor The first month the year 2014 has been full of blessings from God. We recently had a family join our congregation and have had many visiting. The youth in our church are always ready to testify to what the Lord has done in their lives. Kids even at the ages of eight give thanks to God and testify how He is moving in their lives. We can feel God s presence in every service and we hope that this year will be the year where we finally find our own place of worship. We hope that God blesses your congregation as well. Keep us in your prayers as we will the same. May God bless each of you. Duncan, OK - Mike Covington, pastor Greetings again from Duncan PNC. It's been a while since we reported. Most of you know that our daughter-in-law passed away unexpectedly several weeks ago. We have been in shock but God has helped us all so much. Darren (our son) and his two little girls are slowly trying to adjust to not having Mommy. Please keep them in your prayers. Also her family has taken this very hard and I know they would appreciate prayer. We have been so thrilled and grateful to have Jimmy and LaFreda Roundtree attending our services faithfully for several months now. Jimmy gave his heart to the Lord at the revival in Sherman and God is helping them in a marvelous way. We praise the Lord for this answer to prayer. J.R Roundtree, Jimmy's dad who many of you knew, went to be with the Lord several months ago but he had prayed for them faithfully for many years. I'm convinced that he can see them from Heaven and is rejoicing with us. Our next revival will be March with Bro. Bill Carpenter. You are all cordially invited to come join us. Thank you all so much for your prayers and may Jesus be very near to each of you in the coming year. Cape Girardeau, MO Troy Truitt, pastor As we successfully enter the second month of this new year, we pray that each of you are doing well and have upheld your New Year s resolutions for the first 31 days of For us here at Trinity Grace Chapel, this last month has not been a typical slow winter month. Yes, the extreme cold is still holding us in its frigid grasp (as we are sure it is doing all of you) but many things have appeared on our calendar of events. On Friday, January 10 th, we finally had our Christmas dinner! It had previously been delayed due to recent inclement weather. It became a belated Christmas and New Year s celebration/kick off dinner. Delicious fried chicken was catered in, while church members brought sides, drinks, and of course loads of desserts. In all, we had a great time filling our bellies and fellowshipping with our church family. Monday, January 13 th, there was a memorial service held at the church for Marsha Brown. Marsha had passed away the week before. She was the mother of a group of our Youth Night kids, Shyann, Tyneshia, Tacorra, and Ricky. Please keep them and their friends and family members in your prayers as they continue to struggle with their loss. January 26 th marked the last Sunday that Shirley Fogleman was with us. She left this month to begin her missionary work in Papua New Guinea. We are all sad to see her leave, but are thankful that this door has been opened for her. Please keep her in your prayers, that God will be with her and protect her, and that she may minister to and reach many of the lost souls in New Guinea. Until next time, Jasper, AL - David Fogleman, pastor Greetings from Jasper, Alabama. We are thankful to God from whom all blessings flow! In the month of December, we had a Christmas music program presented by Sis. Kathy Zink (pianist) and Sis. Brenda (violinist). We had several visitors present for this including several from a nearby holiness church. Let us be faithful in Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 2

3 November - December 2013 Financial Report India General General Foreign Youth Preacher s Church %'s Total Camp Funds Missions Camp Meeting Totals Cabot Cape Girardeau Dallas Duncan Durant Greensburg Indianapolis Jasper Leakesville Mission Millersburg Mission Mt. Pleasant Muncie Osage Hills Pell City Pleasant Grove Sherman Westlake Whitehouse Winchester Totals Please send your percentages and other offerings to Bro. Mike Covington, 655 West Cherokee Road, Duncan, OK, Pastors: Please encourage your people to remember to pay their Camp pledges. Please pass this newsletter to your people and submit news by the 15 of the month. Thank you for promoting the needs of the general church! Pledge Reminders!!!! Superintendent Support Monthly pledges India Pastors Support Monthly pledges of $55 Camp Pledges Due by June 30th Foreign Missions Tour Pledges Please remember to pay these! Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 3

4 Mount Pleasant, IA - William Carpenter, pastor Well, we had a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas season. How much sweeter the birth of our Lord grows to us as the years go by. The pastor & wife got to spend time with their children and grandchildren and so appreciated the generosity of their church people once again. We hope y'all are staying warm in the "deep freeze" our nation has become. We heard it was going to be a hard winter, and I think we heard right. We are enjoying the Lord's presence in our services and in our hearts, but every once in a while we have to whisper "Even so come, Lord Jesus." Now is not the time to let up or give up. We would ask you again to pray for Mary Tortat. She had a stroke in April, as you may remember. When we got back from our Christmas trip, she was in the hospital with pneumonia. After 13 days there, the doctor told her and Frank that he couldn't do anything more for her, sent her back to the nursing home and asked them to make her as comfortable as possible. There is some fluid on her lungs that they can't seem to get drained off. She has lived a long and fruitful life - Tuesday, January 21st was be her 90th birthday - but she is such a blessing to us that we don't want to let her go. We pray that God's will be done, though. (Editor s note: Sis. Mary Tortat was a sweet saint. She was taken to her heavenly home shortly after this report was received. Our prayers and sympathy go out to Bro. Frank Tortat and the Mt. Pleasant PNC family. SRS) Sherman, TX Steve Snodgrass, pastor It is a general truism that most pastors want their church to be stable but not stagnate; "on the move" but not moving out. The Sherman Pilgrim Nazarene Church is a stable church, and far from stagnate! It is a church "on the move" and for some that means traveling. We've been blessed with visitors from afar - it seems like every family has recently been visited by relatives! Sister Meek had family visit, which has also been a blessing to Bro. David and Sis. Patsy. Actually, just about every family (including the Moores and the Stoltzfus) has had visitors since the Christmas Holiday season began. Bradley Barker has stopped by when visiting his grandparents, the Whisenhunt s. It was especially nice to see Aaron Griggs, who recently visited from his mission field in Mexico. Each visitor has been a blessing in a special way. Some families have gone traveling and brought back interesting stories of exciting journeys and delightful visits. We have also had visitors from the community; some from time-to-time, and some nearly all the time. We're doing our best to keep the welcome warm and wrap them in as much love as we can. The Christmas program was one opportunity that the whole church could participate in; on the other hand "Ladies Night Out" is a project that is limited to about half of the congregation. The men gather at CiCi's Pizza and take care of the other half! Bro. Snodgrass is helping us better tune for the work of the church. There have been projects assigned and improvements in every area, from facilities management to missions president. Most importantly is the preservation of a cardinal theme - this is God's work, and we most sincerely desire His presence and guidance in every activity. It is wonderful to worship with people who want to glorify God in every way. One event that most recently took place was the passing of Sister Doris Meek. Her life was a testimony of victorious living and joyous service. She was a mentor for many, a friend to all and a mother worthy of the title. The beautiful funeral service was touching, but glorious in the celebration of a life well lived. Our love and prayers remain for the family as they continue to live out Sister Meek's legacy. Looking forward, we are anticipating a great moving of God during the upcoming Preachers Meeting with Bro. Larry Roberts. Hopefully, you can attend every service! Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 4

5 Whitehouse, TX Dennis Cable, pastor We enjoyed a good Revival with Dr. Robert England in November. We are glad Sis. England could also be with us. We praise the Lord for some good altar services and God's help and presence. Several of our people are either out of work or need better jobs. We are praying that God will provide. A new record attendance was achieved on December 15th with 55 attending the morning service and children's Christmas program. We welcome Emma Caroline Mullins to our congregation! Mark and Chari Mullins are the proud adoptive parents. Grandparents are Mark and Mary Mullins and Jackie and Sonia Carpenter. Sonia Carpenter broke her leg but is getting around reasonably well. A new boys' Sunday School class will begin January 5th. They will be learning how to become Christian men. Rev. and Mrs. Hugh Wade, Clara Palacios' parents, were here for Christmas. Bro. Wade pastors the Evangelical Wesleyan Church in Corazol, Belize, Central America. He preached a good message for us on December 29th in the morning service. God is helping us but we need more of His help. We are praying for conviction on needy hearts. God is still on the throne! Bro. Bryan Shields is an elder with PNC and he recently took a trip to Haiti. I asked that he share his experience with us. - SRS This past October, while attending the jubilee celebration of Rev. Michael Persaud s ministry, I was blessed with an invitation to accompany Rev. Joe Persaud on a trip to Haiti, to speak at a ministers conference. I immediately began to pray and ask God s direction in the matter. Shortly before the tickets were to be purchased, God supplied the finances needed! Praise the Lord! December 11th, I flew to New York, NY, spending the night with Joe s great family (wife Reene; sons John, Jeremy, and Joel). Early the next morning, Joe, Jeremy, and I headed for JFK and Haiti! Following a 3-hour, 27-min. flight, we were safely in Port-au-Prince. We were met at the airport by Bishop Serge Coulanges and his driver. Services started Thursday, 6:30 pm. The theme for the conference was Come Boldly to the Throne of God, Isaiah 4:16. Bro. Joe preached under the anointing, and God blessed and encouraged those who had gathered from all over Haiti. Friday morning, Bro. Joe spoke again. Following the morning service, we traveled to a contact where we picked up solar lanterns for the pastors and solar lighting kits for a school of over 600 students. The lanterns are a real blessing. We found that most homes only have candles for lighting. Even after this length of time has passed since the earthquake, things are still very desperate in Haiti. Saturday morning, we took time to carefully check out the hospital that was damaged by the earthquake. The top two floors (which collapsed) have been removed and the remaining surface sealed. What is left to do is restore power then plaster, spackle, prime and paint. Bro. Joe and I are working together on this project. With the Lord s help and others, we are raising $15, to solarize the lighting and power and $2, for the wall and ceiling repairs. Restoring this medical facility will have a tremendous impact on the desperate conditions of many displaced children and families in this community. Please help us pray that we meet our target of one year or less to raise these funds. God blessed with His presence and power each time we met. Sunday morning was a special time of worship broadcast live nationally with over 1,500 in attendance and over 800 receiving communion. Several choirs sang, a number of the pastors exhorted, the congregation sang as only they could. Bro. Joe brought the keynote address. He and his message were so anointed; it was amazing to see the power of God at work. Sunday night, I was privileged to preach again. The Lord blessed as I challenged them to trust in a God that would never leave them nor forsake them, but walk by their side step-by-step, wherever they were led by God to go. The glory of God fell on us as we praised and worshiped the true and living God!! It blessed my heart to see those who had so little, lost so much and who had grieved so deeply, get a glimpse of God and Heaven s reward. While walking back to our room Sunday night, we unanimously agreed that this had been a wonderfully blessed and glory-filled day. I thank Joe Persaud for the invitation to accompany him on this trip and the Lord for making it possible. I have been enriched. - BRS Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 5

News from India! With boundless excitement in my heart my greetings are to your goodselves in His ever amazing name.

Community Christmas on 23rd December 2013 Evening. Our joy has no measure in such a way the Christmas was conducted in a grand square.

Widows receiving their sarees Pastors, Orphans, widows and all of our connected ones gathered in time and started praising the Lord on

The main guest was Union Finance Minister, Government of India.

from the Heart, But with Wisdom. The all seasons Blankets respectively to the Pastors were given. Widows were benefited with Sarees.

6 News from India! With boundless excitement in my heart my greetings are to your goodselves in His ever amazing name. May the Lord be richly praised as His blessings are involved which are beyond human count and favored in every aspect to celebrate Community Christmas on 23rd December 2013 Evening. Our joy has no measure in such a way the Christmas was conducted in a grand square. Your kind financial help enabled us to do all these for His glory. Widows receiving their sarees Pastors, Orphans, widows and all of our connected ones gathered in time and started praising the Lord on account of His humble birth. The honorable invited guests arrived and shared their remarkable greetings to the audience. The main guest was Union Finance Minister, Government of India. Children receiving their new clothes Pilgrim Nazarene Church 2014 Preacher s Meeting February 19 21, 2014 Sherman, Texas PNC Ministering from the Heart, But with Wisdom. The all seasons Blankets respectively to the Pastors were given. Widows were benefited with Sarees. Orphans were blessed with new dresses. The excitement of the Occasion has been measureless as boundless grace of the Lord involved all through. Orphans presented a pageant on the birth of our Lord followed by a Christmas feast to entire gathering. Johnpaul Pinapati, Tenali, India Rev. Larry Roberts Pilgrim s Progress Report Page 6

PNC NEWSLETTER. Volume 2, Issue 7 July, 2012

PNC NEWSLETTER. Volume 2, Issue 7 July, 2012 PNC NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Issue 7 July, 2012 Dear Pilgrim Nazarene Church family, In just a few short days we will be together at Camp in Dickson, TN. Our camp registrar, Sis. Carmelita Turner has informed