God answered prayer! Our entire team met weekly for over a month before the Gala for prayer, planning, updating, and encouragement.  Board members invited many guests and helped with planning, and one member took the event photos you see here.

Staff members all helped with various aspects of the evening, under the leadership of Patty Sullivan who coordinated the event.

We were concerned about the lower than usual number of guests signed up as the date approached, but prayed that God would be glorified and the evening would be a blessing to those who came.

From all we experienced and heard from others, it is evident that God answered. We made every effort to get an on-time start, and even with a shorter than optimal set up time everything was ready to go right on the dot.

We were thrilled that table hosts and guests took their commitments seriously and almost all of the people who had registered were actually there! And thanks to a few additional guests, every place was filled. That was a specific prayer request and God answered decisively.

The program went very well. Everyone loved the performance of the Switzerland Dance School team! Even some problems with the rented stage did not phase the girls who dealt with the conditions that couldn’t be changed like the professionals (and servants) they are.

They did an amazing job of demonstrating how effective this kind of approach is in ministry with their performance that included samples of pieces they used last year with Proclaim in Peru.

The dance team’s involvement and other aspects of Proclaim’s ministry were well communicated by Proclaim Co-director John Bowers, Dance Company Director Stacey Dumdei, and Proclaim Latin America Ministry Coordinator Kim Peterson. And an excellent video production by Russ and Marj Speiser explained the satellite broadcast ministry into North Africa and the Middle East that they head.

Many of the guests had seen the Chinese orchestra Proclaim brought to the US in March to perform at university and cultural events, including 3 venues in Jacksonville. We were excited to be able to share followup stories indicating changes spiritually in a couple of their members since their time here.

As for contributions . . . besides all the other profitable aspects of the evening, we were blessed to receive financial gifts and pledges greater than the amount that we received last year when we had a significantly higher attendance.

We trust that God is continuing to use the Gala in people’s lives. And please continue to pray for additional finances for Proclaim as ministry opportunities abound. If you are able to add to the funds for these ministries, you can donate at the secure link below:

DONATE ONLINE

Photos by Jeff Westcott Photography

Christmas marks a beginning. The dawn of redemption. The commencement of the life of the Savior. The opening of the door to the Kingdom. The first coming which guarantees the second. The beginning of the end of the reign of death, pain sorrow and fear. It is the starting blocks for the race of enduring faith. Christmas is the opening movement to the great opus that leads to a cross, an empty grave, a triumphant return, a throne, a shining city and eternal joy.

Remember this as you “put away” Christmas. The birth is a start, not the finish – savor the promise of things to come.

John Bowers – Co-director

That’s what John Denver would have been singing if he had been at the Proclaim! International Gathering on the Mediterranean coast of Spain at the end of November!

The surroundings were stunning as far as the eye could see. What a setting for singing the glory of the God of all creation. And with a mission full of gifted and devoted musicians we were led into heartfelt praise and worship daily.

Tim Lusk from Jacksonville, a fellow missionary and kindred spirit, challenged and encouraged us from the word each day to unity in Christ with family and our mission community. And he and his wife Allison blessed all of us simply by their presence and interaction with us during the week.

There were 33 of us from 6 countries where Proclaim has ministry. One of the goals of our time together is catching up on the latest developments in colleagues’ ministries, in scheduled reporting times or just around the dinner table or a cup of coffee. One of the satisfying and very practical outcomes of that is seeing our community members find ways to work together and contribute to each others’ ministries.

Of course there is always time left free for just spending time together. These people have too much fun!

 CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE GATHERING

Proclaim!’s Kim Peterson regularly takes the lead on local fishing expeditions for kingdom catch. He tells about one recent outing that was particularly challenging but invigorating!:

Our pastor’s Sunday message came from I Peter 3:13-16 — how to respond to intimidators. It turned out to be a fantastic heads up prelude to that day’s fishing expedition.

As I listened to it I had a strong sense that I would soon be living it on the street. My wife Jeanne and I both had the same feeling in our spirit about what was about to unfold — Blessed opposition! And did it ever come. As if it were wonderfully choreographed. (I am convinced it was.) The morning message outline played out in real time during our 2 hour outreach foray in Hemming Plaza. Thankfully we had both made sure that Jesus was firmly sanctified, enthroned as Lord as we headed out to offer the dark world God’s marvelous light.

The first hour was smooth, just like we all hope things will be when we make efforts in Jesus’ name. People applauded and thanked us. As we played and shared, Steve and Susan Schneider spoke extensively with people one on one. We were enjoying that luscious, velvety, almost cozy sensation that feels so nice and does little good for strength and vitality of soul. God had more in mind for us and for the glory of the One who suffered all for us and for the Father’s glory.

Soon, as we continued speaking the gospel to the crowd sitting all around us, a teenager skate boarded right in front of my face and muttered, “Hail Satan” as he passed. “Finally! It has begun,” I said to myself. “Here we go Jeanne. Did you hear that?” We were both ready for action and poised to love with words of truth and hearts of compassion. At the morning service we had been alerted to God’s design for our day. How cool is that?

The teen rode by again, spewing the same nonsense but this time louder. One of his friends walked over to our sign, “No God. No life. Know God. Know life” and jeered, making a mocking gesture to his other 8 or so buddies. When the song we were singing concluded we engaged the guys directly and challenged their alleged allegiance to Satan. The subsequent interchange was heated, with gross insults coming continuously from them. We kept our composure reverent and God-trusting and our behavior gentle, not bombarding as we lifted up our Lord.

The whole bunch of them then planted themselves directly in front of us, dancing derisively and going to great effort to get us to “fold.” We, on the other hand felt increasingly more and more secure and confident in the face of their shameful display. It was as if Peter were standing there with us nodding affirmingly, smiling knowingly and pointing to the words he’d penned for such occasions. At that point I thanked the teens for staying and for coming in close to hear the words that they needed to transform their hungry and lost souls.

A few minutes later, another person in the audience approached the young men and said something to them. In the next moments they were gone. We thanked God they had come and were able to see and hear what we pray will one day liberate them and save them from destruction. God is powerful and present. The enemy is desperate and deceiving. God’s Word keeps our spiritual eyes clear and wide open to the realities that surround us; the things that really matter.

It is exciting! Nothing like it.

Proclaim! Jacksonville recently provided an opportunity for garage and attic contents to be transformed into kingdom treasure. Our huge garage sale was timely in helping raise much needed funds for our ministry. And some nice donated items supplied the need for furnishings in our new Proclaim office.

When our staff met the following week and began relating stories of our experiences and others we had heard about – we were thrilled that, as usual, the funds raised were only the beginning of the blessings God poured out. So many served and sacrificed joyfully to make it successful. And we were able to encourage other local ministries by sharing helpful resources.

We were intentionally focusing on ways we could minister to our shoppers– not only materially, but spiritually. Click here to see stories of how that happened.

Thanks to God for providing and multiplying the treasure!

Branko Kovačević, director of Ima Nade (Proclaim!-Croatia) tells about their church choir being invited recently to sing in the annual celebration of their city’s rich heritage. It was an unexpected honor that a small evangelical church would receive such an invitation from a staunchly Catholic city.

Interestingly, Čakovec is known as the “City of the Zrinskis,”  a noble family of reformers who ruled that region in the 16th century and brought the truth of God to Croatia. So it was appropriate that the choir sang at the foot of the Zrinski castle during the celebration. Clearly, God is still opening doors in Croatia so that his children will proclaim his message and share his word with others.

Following the concert Bibles were freely distributed to those who attended the concert. Praise God that after almost 500 years the believers of the Baptist Church in Mačkovec are following in the footsteps of the reformers, publicly praising God and sharing his word with all who would receive it.

From our Proclaim team that has returned from a busy and productive tour in Belarus:

We taught many music/audio classes on drums, bass, guitar, voice, music engineering/ production, and songwriting. We judged a Battle of the Bands and spent time critiquing any band who wanted to know how they could improve.

We also served in various small groups, worked on improvement of facilities, and introduced an addiction recovery program to serve the body and the community. It was a good time of connecting more folks in the area to our friends in Brest, Belarus.

We look forward to featuring the ministry in Belarus and the band Salvation at our fund raising Gala in Jacksonville April 13.

See the Proclaim website for more information and how to be involved in that event.

A visual montage of the 2012 Tour to Croatia…

Check out the rest of our videos HERE

Croatia Tour 2012 from Proclaim! International on Vimeo.