This Newsletter is produced by the Communication department of the London Seventh-day Adventist Church

Date Speaker/Facilitator Event/Theme Time

4 Alex Golovenko Three dimensions of God’s Love 7 pm

7 Alex Golovenko Empowering Leadership of Christ 11 am

7 Clarence Schilt (DVD) Relationships Enhancement seminar part 1 2 pm

11 Alex Golovenko Rejoicing Love for your happiness 7 pm

14 Alex Golovenko Loving Relationships—Church of Ephesus 11 am

14 Clarence Schilt (DVD) Relationships Enhancement seminar part 1 2 pm

18 Alex Golovenko Reconciling Love for harmonious living 7 pm

21 Alex Golovenko Effective Church—more than survival 11 am

25 Alex Golovenko Enduring Love for eternity 7 pm

28 Allan Chichester Gospel’s High Calling—ordination service 11 am

Schedule of events and speakers for January 2012 London Seventh-day Adventist Church

805 Shelborne Street, London, ON

January 2012 Volume 8 Issue 1

Coronary Health Improvement Program

is coming in March

nightly sessions run from 7 to 9 pm

February 27 Monday – Miracles, Medicines and Mirages February 28 Tuesday – Portrait of a Killer & Stalking the Killer February 29 Wednesday – Eat More Weigh Less March 1 Thursday – Going up in Smoke & Magic of Fibre

March 4, Sunday - Nutrition workshop 2:00 to 6:00 PM Diabetes & Hypertension 6:00 to 8:00 PM March 6, Tuesday – 5:30 PM Nutrition workshop, Cholesterol Control @ 7 March 7, Wednesday – Fats in the Fire March 8, Thursday – Fit at any Age

March 12, Monday – Osteoporosis March 15, Thursday – Lifestyle & Health/Disease Reversal

March 19, Monday – Optimal Diet review & Diet and Cancer March 20, Tuesday – Adaptability March 21, Wednesday – Forgiveness & Building Self Worth

March 31, Testimonies Sabbath at 11 AM April 1, Sunday - Graduation

http://www.jci3.org/

THIRD

World Youth

Prayer Congress March 7-11, 2012

Greensboro, North Carolina

Visit the website to learn more about speakers.

Ask your pastor about details

Christian Hospitality by Ardis Stenbakken

So what is hospitality? Showing

off your treasures as King Hezekiah did

(2 Kings 20:12-18)? Or is it to entertain

angels unawares (Heb. 13:2)? Or might

it be a way to reach out to share Jesus’ love, to make

others comfortable, to gain new friends, and yes, to even

enjoy yourself.

I know, we get busy and think we don’t have the

time to prepare “company” food, or our house is not

fancy enough (or even clean enough), but I have found

that those things really don’t matter. Sharing peanut but-

ter sandwiches can be a wonderful hospitality. Actually,

hospitality doesn’t even require food, but often does, so

you can always invite people you want to know, or who

need to know Jesus, over for nothing more fancy than hot

chocolate and graham crackers! If you can’t entertain at

home, go to a restaurant, have a picnic in the park, or get

friends or your Sabbath school class together and serve

soup and sandwiches in the church fellowship hall. Be

creative—that is what good hospitality is all about.

It is important that every church have some plan for

seeing that visitors have a Sabbath dinner. The plan can

vary according to the church and the resources, but there

needs to be a plan! And it is important that new members

be invited to homes to learn healthy vegetarian cooking

and how to keep the Sabbath. Then beyond that getting

together with friends (old friends and those you have just

met) is such fun and can be such a strengthening of the

bonds of love that Jesus has already shared with us. Bon

appétit! Ardis is the retired GC Women's Ministries Director happily living

in Colorado. She loves family, friends, and the grace of Jesus Christ.

A new Facebook page for Adventist songwriters, poets and artists to network and be affirmed has been launched by Pacific Union Conference Church Support

Services. If you are an Adventist songwriter, poet or artist living in the North American Divi-

sion, "Inspire" wants to connect with you. Whether your creative efforts are considered profes-

sional or amateur, you have unique gifts that can uplift your faith community and the world.

We want to learn more about your gifts and affirm your efforts to glorify God through the crea-

tive gifts he has given you. You may join:

http://www.facebook.com/visit.inspire

REACH - Strategy for our church Returning from the year end North-American regional meeting of church leaders elder Edwards was addressing the

directors of the conference at the start of their weekly strategic planning session at the church headquarters in Oshawa

with this challenge: “For too long, both at the conference and local church levels we have simply busied ourselves

with well-intentioned programmes without making any significant and long-lasting impact on our communities. We

have not planned for long-term outcomes. We have approached our mission with a „hit or miss‟ attitude, and unfortu-

nately, we have often missed.”

REACH offers us an amazing opportunity to bring about a radical change in the life of our church membership and

on our communities. REACH is the acronym for the North American Division’s new evangelism strategy. It high-

lights five areas: Revival and Transformation,

Education for Discipleship,

Alignment within the Church,

Community Outreach and Evangelism

Healthy Leadership and Management.

Each conference and local church is challenged and encouraged to embrace REACH and establish

big and audacious goals. It is anticipated that these goals will direct the work of both the conference

and local church. The process requires a lot of hard work that some may find daunting, but the result

will more than justify the effort.

Directors of ministry teams are encouraged to establish clear and measurable goals with their teams, share these

with other leaders. Prayer and seeking God’s guidance is the foundation of all our work, and we are confident that as

we embrace this way of thinking and operating, we will see the hand of God performing a mighty work in our lives

and across this great province.

Dr.Mansfield Edwards, president of Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Churches

State of Our Church Envisioning 2012 and beyond

May the Grace of God continue to change us all and transform us from glory to glory by God’s Spirit!

Early December we had taken the survey of our church life. Thirty one people of all ages turned in their answers, and now we got the results. I am excited to see significant improvements in many areas as compared with the previous years.

The comparison I am using is only for the past 7 years as we had measured objectively the eight qualities of church health.

At the end of 2011 we are highest than we ever been in Gift-based involvement in minis-tries by volunteers. Our out-reach programs are catering to more needs—real Evangeliving! Our Inspiring Worship is giving more experience, growth and par-ticipation for people. Our struc-tures are improving in effective-ness, planning, organization and cooperation. These four areas are above average as compared with other churches.

The loving relationships among our members are the highest we have seen in the past 7 years! Congratulations! The Holy Spirit is producing His fruit in our lives. We are not perfect, we may be still below average, below “health” line, but we are growing!

The most urgent need today is care groups, developing the com-munity among us through groups where people would be sup-ported, mentored, and held ac-countable. Call it what you may: house churches, interest groups, extended neighborhood family -

we need to invest more into de-veloping community among us. This will strengthen our leader-ship, and advance relationships even more!

Year 2012 for our church will be the year of becoming a church where every believer is cared for, nurtured spiritually, supported, resourced and equipped through network of groups, house churches, and ministry teams.

Growth is predestined by God’s calling and election. I have no doubt in my mind that God will take us further than we envision!

One Year Challenge Our leadership team had invited every member to participate in One Year Experiment for our revival. The great Commission of Christ was ex-

pressed in five practical steps—Pray for entire world, Read the entire Bible, Sacrifice your luxury, Discover people from another culture, Mentor a disciple for Christ.

We had started praying for the world in October, and continue providing information and prayer resources—monthly calendar on the last page of Newsletter, weekly blogs in bulletins, video-prayers before worship at church. Pray for the World Harvest.

Some started reading the Bible daily in October, others are making their resolutions to start in the new year. Reading the Bible through is best by reading simultaneously both, books of the Old and the New Testaments. Read Gospels in the morning and Prophets in the evening. For January you read first 20 chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (1-20), all of Genesis (50 chapters) and 26 chapters of Exodus. Keep up monthly and in 2012 you will read the entire Bible, from cover to cover, perhaps for the first time in your life! For families with children—reading Bible together is great for Family Worship time! Invest time into reading the Bible with your child and you will see how your relationships will flourish, how your child will improve at school and in social interactions!

Have you decided what luxury you will sacrifice to bless less fortunate? Put your cable TV on hold for a month and purchase a book for another child with money saved, put your cable on hold for a few months and sponsor a child for Christian education. You know what you indulge in—maybe it is Tim Hortons addiction, or Rogers DVD rent, or …..Sacrifice, and learn the blessing of giving!

Is there a person at work, at school or in your neighbourhood whose culture is different than yours? Are you considering to spend time with them to learn more about their world perspectives? Go eat out together, help them with house work, show interest in their hobbies, just go for a walk and talk—expand your connections with the world around you, and you will grow!

Have you chosen someone to mentor? Someone to invest your skills, knowledge, experience for empowerment? Each One Reach One is the most effective method of evangelism. It’s the one Jesus used, mingling with people and empowering them!

Walk with us toward Revival and Transformation!

Country Population Adventists Prayer needs & challenges faced by people

1 Djibouti 879,053 NONE! 55% of people unreached, Islamist influence is dominant, Western military bases.

2 Dominica 66,515 6,600 Predominantly Catholic population, nominal faith, slow increasing evangelical church

3 Dominican Republic 10,225,482 252,703 Spiritualist santeria and voodoo are claiming more people, nominal Catholicism

4 Ecuador 13,774,909 37,967 Economic injustice, deep-seated corruption, entrenched social elite, Catholic dominance

5 El Salvador 6,194,126 200,296 Repentance and reconciliation after 12 years of civil war, healing from violence and hate

6 Equatorial Guinea 693,385 2,426 Majority Catholic, now open to evangelicals through oil boom attracting Western workers

7

Egypt 84,474,427 747

Christian church endured 1000 years of persecution, called “Church of Martyrs”

8 Islamized Arabic tribes are majority of population with no acceptance of the Gospel

9 Upper Egypt, Nubian region bordering Sudan, and Gypsies to receive the Gospel

10 Eritrea 5,223,994 526 Peace with Ethiopia, restoration of economy, youth leaving the country, food resources

11 Estonia 1,339,459 1,632 Freed from communism there is lack of moral values in grips of secularism and pluralism

12 Faeroe Islands 50,152 62 Revival is needed among nominal Christians, autonomy from Denmark is sought

13

Ethiopia 84,975,606 178,480

Amhara, Tigrinya, Oromo, Somali and Afar tribes to avoid ethnic fragmentation

14 Peace from fighting with Eritrea and Somalia, economic recovery from droughts

15 Animistic tribes to receive the Gospel, to open up to missionaries

16 Falkland Islands 3,038 NONE! 740 islands of which only 2 are consistently inhabited, conflict between UK & Argentina

17 Federated Micronesia 111,101 1,159 600 islands of mostly evangelical believers, nominalism and cronyism in leadership

18 Fiji 854,098 28,241 Conflict between native Fijians (Christians) and Indian workers prevents later conversion

19 Finland 5,345,826 5,064 Humanism, secularism and materialism have stronghold on people. Revival is needed.

20

France 62,636,580 12,649

Preserving Christian heritage minimizing past conflicts between Catholics & Protestants

21 Influx of Arab Muslim migrants and workers to sustain the economy lacks integration

22 Asian Buddhists and Hindu immigrants to experience positive Christian witness

23 French Guiana 231,313 2,308 former penal colony, currently multicultural place with decaying morals and economy

24 French Polynesia 272,394 4,905 118 islands, Tahiti was known as the centre for Missionaries, today is mostly secular

25 Gabon 1,501,266 3,603 Exploitation of women and children, impoverished economic and social infrastructures

26 Gambia 1,750,732 1,262 Pray for continued freedom of Christian witness in this Islam dominated country

27 Georgia 4,219,191 407 end to Russian belligerence, democratic liberty, restoration from August 2008 war

28

Germany 82,056,775 35265

Preserving and reviving Christian heritage amidst influx of Muslim and Buddhist migrants

29 Post-war exodus from organized Christianity led to the lowest % in church involvement

30 Remnants of Nazi tyranny, Marxist ideology, and humanism still isolate & alienate people

31 Evangelization of eastern Germany, and areas not affected by the Reformation past

We had been praying since October for countries of the

world. 56 countries had been prayed, where 32% of world

population lives. This month we will pray for 22 coun-

tries, including two areas with no Adventist presence.

Some of you would be praying for you own home

countries. Others would intercede for countries they may

have never been to, or even heard of. Yet, remember that

Prayer Changes Everything. In the process of learning

about needs and problems of people around the world you

yourself will be changed.

This is the intent of our One Year Challenge—to be

changed and to become agents of Change in this world.

Pray in faith with expectations, and be attentive, when

the Holy Spirit may invite you to go beyond prayer and get

more involved in the Mission. Your Prayer interferes with

the disorder of this world!