Volume 2, Issue 6
November, 2000

Yoked Together

Dear Saint,

We sincerely hope that this copy of The Sower finds you experiencing the abundant grace of God-His unmerited divine favor pouring forth into your life in countless ways. We pray that you are able to view your obstacles and struggles as opportunities for you to see the delivering hand of the Lord. And if you are waiting on deliverance, as we often are, we pray you are waiting with peace and a sense of gentle expectation. As it is written, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all" (Ps. 34:19).

We want to take this time to thank you for your prayers and financial support of our ministry. We continually praise God for His bountiful provision to us through your generosity and love. Every month we see the evidence of God's hand on our ministry, and His daily provision is often miraculous.

CES Family News

Speaking of His provision, we are now pretty well adjusted to our new office, and we are so thankful to have an abundance of space in which to do our work. We now do our work without disrupting each other in the process. The folks from whom we bought the place upgraded to a new phone system when they left and gave us their old one, so we now have an intercom system that enables us to communicate with each other without yelling or getting up and going to another room. This may seem like nothing much to those who consider this a normal part of office life, but we are praising God! We even have separate men's and women's bathrooms. Thanks again to Peter Drago of Rochester NY who put his hand of excellence on the painting, wallpapering and flooring.

One of our remaining projects is to get our library up and running. Since we acquired the library of The Way's Rome City campus this summer, we have been preoccupied with other priorities. But when we have it set up, we will have quite an assortment of biblical research books, as well as books on many topics related to Christian living. This will aid us in our research, and at some point we will be opening it up as a lending library for the local saints and visitors to the Home Office. Our friend and local believer Leesa Railsback is joyfully assuming the role of "CES Librarian."

In a marvelous example of the Body of Christ working together, Leesa and her husband Jerry Smith believed God and bought John Lynn's house in order to "keep it in the family" and enable us to continue to have a place to hold the Tuesday night fellowship and our bi-weekly Sunday morning fellowship. Thanks to Jerry and Leesa for listening to God and being a big blessing to the community of saints here in Indianapolis!

In other CES family news, our office manager Eleanor Branch moved to Denver, Colorado on November 18 to join her husband Michel. He had already been in Denver for a month working at a fitness club and preparing for Eleanor's arrival. We are sad to see them go, but we are confident that this move is in God's timing and will work out to be a great blessing for them.

Our paid staff now consists of Barbara Jones, Dottie Heman and Jeff Blackburn. In addition to them, we have been blessed with the volunteer efforts of other believers, especially Joe Ramon, Mike Cutuli and Dodie Laymon. Starting in January, Mike will begin helping us with our newsletters and The Contender. Many thanks to Joe Ramon, who after January 1 will no longer be helping us with The Contender and the layout of our books. Joe has been a huge help for many years and will be missed. We are praying that someone else with experience in Adobe PageMaker will be able to help us with our next major book, but that won't be for a couple of years at the rate we're going.

It was clear that our core constituency had been very burned by the misuse of spiritual authority, and we determined that we would win their trust by avoiding any possibility that we could structure a relationship with anyone that would require any commitment, mutual accountability or subordination to a system, structure, ministry, network, etc. All the language of our early forming documents reflects this determination:

"Our teachings point people to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives; CES materials are for each person's own use as he desires [notice there is nothing about community building or networking with others ]." "We encourage Christians to utilize these teachings in their local areas as they see fit; [CES  materials are] aids to local fellowships functioning independently as the Lord Jesus Christ directs them" [i.e., we will have no input in local matters ].

In practice, during the past 12 years, we have seen some problems develop from these strict limitations. One, few viable fellowships have grown up out of this soil. Many have tried and failed, due to a variety of reasons: lack of unity of purpose, personality issues, fear of leadership and/or structure, lack of outside support, introduction of unsound doctrine, etc. We continue to seek understanding as to what this reveals about the spiritual battle we are in and how we can be more effective against our Enemy who seeks to hinder and prevent the outreach of the Word of God. One of the greatest ways he does this is by obstructing the formation of healthy Christian communities.

Second, we have seen people hurt by immature and abusive leadership and found ourselves in a role of mediation and troubleshooting that was made awkward by the fact that we had promised not to meddle in the affairs of the local fellowship. We found that when things got dicey, people looked to us for leadership and solutions in crisis situations. By God's grace we were able to minister in these situations, but often this was too little too late after people had been hurt.

Third, we have heard more than a few times that "CES believers" are too often isolated in their relationships with others and seem to have a hard time fitting in with other Christian fellowships and ministries that might benefit them. They tend to be spiritual loners content to study the Word on their own and not really motivated to build Christian community. We don't totally agree that this is a fair generalization, but we have to consider if our focus on individual spiritual growth and fellowship independence has discouraged community building.

Fourth, we have been unclear about how to structure our work overseas, and how to support those leaders and ministers who have embraced our teaching and desire to align with us. In many such cases, we have been told that the ministers in these countries need to have a legally structured relationship with us in order to receive official permission to operate and travel freely in their countries as ministers of the Gospel. We need to be clearer on how we intend to structure our relationship with our brothers and sisters in foreign lands

We are therefore in prayer about how to bring greater wholeness to ourselves and those we serve world-wide, and have set aside this year to consider how we might do a better job of representing the heart of God and serving His people around the world. We solicit your prayers for us and the others who are yoking themselves together with us, considering CES to be their ministry as well as ours.

In this issue of The Sower, we attempt to fill you in further on the results of the 2000 Leadership Conference by giving you the descriptions of the Interim Committees. If you have a desire to participate in one of the committees you can let us know and we will let you know if there are any openings.

Questionnaire Click for printable PDF version

We are also including a questionnaire that we gave to the participants of the LC to help us in this transition phase of our ministry. If you would prayerfully and thoughtfully respond to this questionnaire we would certainly appreciate it. Even if you don't send it to us, you would personally profit from prayerfully answering at least #'s 1-3. The questionnaire addresses both your personal ministry and your relationship with CES.

1. What is your personal mission as a Christian minister? (i.e., what do you feel called to do in the Body of Christ? What ministry functions do you like to do or do best? What do others compliment you about?)

2. On a scale of 1-5, how well do you feel you are fulfilling it at the present time? (1. Not at all; 2. Occasionally; 3. somewhat; 4. Pretty well; 5. Very well). Please explain.

3. Where do you think you need most to improve as a Christian minister?

4. How do you envision your personal ministry ten years from now?

5. What is your perception of the mission and purpose of CES?

6. How well do you think we are fulfilling it?

7. What do you think we do best?

8. Where do we need most to improve?

9. How do you envision CES 10 years from now?

10. How would you suggest we get there?

11. Do you feel that you are an integral part of CES, so that you think of it as "your" ministry and when referring to it say "we" instead of "they"? If not, what would it take for you to feel that way?

12. On a scale of 1-5, how would you describe your feeling that your ministry has a place in the ministry of CES at the present time and in its present structure? (1. Not at all; 2. In minor ways only; 3. Occasional contributions; 4. I can make a needed contribution; 5. I am a vital part of this ministry). Please explain.

13. How could we serve you better? (e.g., more personal contact; other teaching materials; on what subjects?; help you to establish a fellowship in your home or local area?).

One of our current projects is to assemble a directory for those who want to have more opportunities to fellowship with and be edified by one another. We have historically been very protective of our mailing list so you would not be bothered by those who would want to "make merchandise of you."

But we have discovered that many would want to be included in a list of believers associated with CES so you could expand your opportunities for fellowship and mutual benefit. We are in the process of developing a questionnaire that will be posted on our website and sent to you by request, if you would like to be included in this directory. It will allow you to share with the others in the CES community of believers anything you think would be of benefit to you and others. For instance, you may have a unique skill or ability and be willing to help others in this category (midwife, brain surgeon, computer guru, horse-trainer, etc.). You may also want to give your email or real address and phone number to other believers so when they are in your area they could call you and drop in on you for fellowship.

Participation in this directory will be completely voluntary, and we plan to oversee it so that any potential problems with it can be avoided. If you have ideas or suggestions regarding this, please let us know.

They are composed of volunteers who have a desire to help us in areas that directly affect our future growth and influence. We have asked that volunteers commit to serve until the September meeting of the Leadership Team, and elect a chairperson who will be the liaison to the CES Board.

Except by special arrangement, every member of each committee should have the capacity to send and receive both email and attachments in order to facilitate communication between and among members.

Interim committees will stand until September 2001, when they will present their findings to a meeting of a proposed "CES Leadership Team." At that time the committee structure will be revised and committees reorganized and reduced in number.

If you desire to serve on a committee, we still have a few openings. Contact the Home Office for availability.

INFRASTRUCTURECOMMITTEES

Corporate Structure Committee

This committee will examine various possibilities for the legal restructuring of CES as a non-profit Indiana-based corporation and recommend to the existing Board their ideas for how CES could be structured to accomplish the following goals:

• Ensure that CES complies with the letter and the spirit of the laws of the land that govern non-profit charitable corporations.
• Protect against the possibility of hostile parties having opportunity to gain control of CES and alter, replace or delete CES teachings without the consent of the founders (John, John & Mark).
• Provide greater opportunity for our supporters and constituents to feel included in the scope of the ministry of CES by having a governing Board that is representative of a variety of ministries and perspectives.
• Empower more people to have real decision-making responsibility for the direction of the ministry and to help shoulder the work.
• Remove the stumbling-block for many distrustful ex-Way believers who feel that CES is legally structured in a manner identical to The Way, which proved to be an abusive system.
• Increase the credibility of the ministry by implementing a system of checks and balances that would involve increased accountability of Directors and Officers.
• This committee will contribute to the dialogue that the existing Board will be having throughout the year with the attorney retained by CES to assist in the restructuring process.

Network of Affiliated Fellowships

This committee will examine the idea of "affiliation" with CES and recommend to the Board a means of structuring the relationship between the local fellowships/churches and CES. It will thoroughly examine the possible structure of these relationships in light of the mutual benefit of both CES and the local fellowship. It will consider its recommendations in light of the following goals:

• Facilitate communication between and among sister and brother fellowships and CES for the maximum teamwork, combining of resources, learning from each other's mistakes and successes, etc. Preventing local fellowships from having to "reinvent the wheel," while protecting their local autonomy and self-government.
• Receive feedback from the local fellowships to CES regarding the effect of its teachings on the field.
• Seek a structure consistent with the family metaphor in Scripture that avoids an unbiblical hierarchical structure while maintaining true biblical oversight and accountability.
• Help local fellowships to operate within biblical guidelines for the conduct of leaders and members, and to advance healthy teaching.
• Unity in the Body of Christ: crisis intervention, mediation of disputes, problem-solving and grievance-handling in those situations where division threatens the local fellowship.
• Develop a relationship that is mutually beneficial to CES and the local fellowship.

This committee will also examine ways that CES can support local fellowships through satellite bookstores, local television and radio programming, advertising copy, outreach materials, etc.

Leadership Development

This committee will advise the Board concerning strategies and methods for raising up servant/leaders and to assist in the work of the ministry. It will also recommend a curriculum designed to bring maturity to those who respond to their call to serve in the Body of Christ.

It will also look into the issue of ordination and assist the Board in the review process for candidates for ordination, and help to establish biblical standards as well. It will also share the responsibility for prayer, promotion, planning and purchase of leadership training facilities in the U.S. and abroad.

It will also seek out from within the CES community those who have experience in secular leadership development and glean from them techniques and principles that can be applied to Christian leadership. This committee will also research the differences between secular and spiritual leadership, the terms "leader" and "servant," and other biblical distinctions that factor into a healthy view of spiritual leadership. It will also make recommendations to the Board concerning seminars, trainings and programs that could be sponsored and developed by CES to raise up the next generation of leaders.

Finance Committee

This committee will review ministry finances with a view to assisting the Board to develop a budget that wisely stewards our resources and plans for growth in staff, inventory, facilities, etc.

It will also assist in the dialogue the Board will have in the coming year with our attorney to establish a "compensation committee" to comply with the letter and the spirit of the law regarding the compensation of Directors and Officers of non-profit organizations. It will also research legal ways to reduce tax liability as well as help ensure compliance with tax laws.

This committee will review the existing Partnership Plan and make recommendations to the Board concerning it. It will also explore additional revenue sources like grants, endowments, estate giving, etc.

The committee will evaluate the possibility of joining financial accountability associations to increase credibility and accountability to donors.

This committee will consider how CES charitable giving should be distributed and to whom. This would include support for leaders in other countries.

This committee will also do occasional research on the best values on various products and services needed by the ministry to ensure the wisest stewardship of our resources.

Events & Facilities Committee

This committee would assist in scheduling, planning and executing CES sponsored events, including classes, camps and retreats and regional and international conferences. It would also assist in the spiritual decision-making process to schedule and plan events for special interest groups, including men, women, singles, married couples, teens, families, etc. It would also assist the Board by exploring and securing potential locations for CES events, negotiating with facilities for the best value, and developing guideline, policies and procedures for successful events. It would also share in the prayer, planning, promotion and purchase of facilities that would be owned and operated by CES.

New Video Class/Media Committee

This committee will assist the Board by making recommendations concerning the form, content and marketing of a multimedia "foundational class" to replace the audio seminar titled "Introduction to God's Heart." The committee will make their recommendations in light of the following goals:

• The class would require some commitment from the student in order to be able to lead him or her from rank atheist to a believer who speaks in tongues.
• The class would empower the motivated students with the tools to study, understand and apply the Bible for themselves.

The class would encourage the participation of the local community of believers in both the running of the class and the follow up and grafting in of the students into the family. Beyond that, this committee will look into the possibility of CES teachers and teaching getting a wider audience through radio, television, feature films, the internet, etc. It will research the costs of radio and TV time and make recommendations to the board for the form and content of CES programming. It will assist the Board by helping to develop short audio and video teaching programs for the public. It will assist in the prayer, promotion, planning and purchase of sound and video studios for producing quality programming. It will also seek out talented and experienced people working in the media who are familiar with and willing to help promote CES teachings.

This committee will also make recommendations concerning the use of the media for publicizing CES events, and help us with our public relations.

It will also seek ways that we could encourage filmmaking with Christian heart and biblical accuracy.

Research and Production Committee

This committee will assist in the design and development of a curriculum for students that empowers them to study and research God's Word for themselves. The goal of this curriculum would be to systematically advance students to be able to "correctly handle" the Word of God for themselves according to sound research principles. This committee will also assist in the production of tapes and seminars to help students understand and enjoy the Bible.

It will also assist the Board by recommending priorities for production of new books, seminars and other materials.

It will assist the Board by recommending qualifications for those serving on a CES research team, and by seeking out such qualified researchers from our existing network.

It will also consider the publication of a quarterly research journal, and look into the ways and means of introducing new research to the body of believers.

Technology Committee

This committee will assist the Board by reviewing current technological trends and making recommendations concerning products, services and technologies that would aid in the communicating of God's Word around the world. This committee will be particularly focused on the Internet and the development of the CES Website. They will also keep abreast of developments in the following technologies: video, DVD, CD and CDROM, global communications (cell phones that would work in third world countries). They will research and advise the Board concerning any other technology that could enhance our ability to teach God's Word effectively and minister to the needs of God's people.

OUTREACH SERVICES COMMITTEES

Marketing and Advertising Committee

This committee will advise the Board concerning how to market and advertise CES products and services through every available means. It will research the elements of business marketing plans and advise the Board accordingly. It will seek out those in the CES community who have experience and expertise in graphic art, copywriting and other aspects of marketing and advertising and seek to recruit them to employ their talents to help promote CES teachings and services.

Counseling Network Committee

This committee will examine the feasibility of and develop strategies to implement a CES counseling ministry. It will make recommendations and advise the Board on the following:

• Establishing qualifications for CES counselors
• Who in the CES community is presently qualified to counsel
• Training for would-be counselors, long term and short term â Developing a network of counselors, considering the legal, financial and practical ramifications for CES in creating and supporting such a network
• Ways to more effectively counsel victims of toxic Christian groups
• Develop a training for leaders and counselors revolving around "the fruit of the spirit"

Children's Ministry

This committee will consider and make recommendations to the Board with regard to ways that CES can help parents bring up their young children (up to age 12) "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." They will develop strategies, products and services for the following:

• Biblically accurate children's literature
• Parenting support and instruction â Preparing kids for and in public school
• Preparing kids for and in Christian schools
• Home schooling materials and curriculum

This committee will also oversee and make recommendations for children's activities at CES functions, assisting the Board with staffing and administrative decisions related to the care of children who are attending CES functions.

Youth Outreach Committee

This committee will assist the Board by recommending and developing strategies for reaching young people (ages 13-25) with God's Word. The committee will also give input and make recommendations to the Board concerning how to make existing CES materials more appealing to young people, as well as what materials could be produced in the future to reach a younger audience.

Arts and Music Committee

This committee will assist the Board in developing strategies to encourage Christian musicians, actors, artists, dancers, etc. who desire to communicate the truths of God's Word through their music and art. It will seek to network those within the CES community who are presently perfecting their crafts, and consider ways for them to exhibit and market their work for the benefit of themselves and the body of believers. The committee will also assist the Board in establishing performance standards for musicians and artists who seek to serve and participate in CES activities. It will also research the cost involved in producing praise and worship music with accurate and inspirational lyrics.

Minority Outreach

USA This committee will develop strategies for reaching minorities in the U.S. with God's Word. It will seek ways to educate CES believers to be more sensitive to minority cultures, especially regarding those things that affect and limit outreach to minorities. It will also recommend ways to root out residual racist or xenophobic attitudes among Christians and bring racial reconciliation. It will recommend to the Board ways to adapt CES teachings, tapes and literature to be more marketable to minority populations in the U.S.

Women's Ministries Committee

This committee will explore ways that CES teaching on women's roles in the Church can be expanded and developed to reach more women around the world. It will also assist in scheduling, planning and executing CES events specifically for women and their needs.

It will also examine ways to communicate the value of a balance between the masculine and feminine influences in the Church and CES. It will make recommendations to the Board concerning ways that women can be empowered to function in their ministries within the CES community. It would also educate men concerning women's priorities, male chauvinism (conscious and unconscious), and other issues affecting women having the confidence and opportunity to function in their ministries.

International Outreach and Translations Committee

This committee will assist in developing strategies for establishing work in other countries. This would include research and recommendations in the following areas:

• Evaluate current status of CES international work and make recommendations. Become acquainted with our experience of establishing "beachheads" of sound teaching in other countries, and the problems that we have encountered.
• Research the cultures of places we visit to help us understand anything that would assist us to communicate and minister effectively.
• Research the historical effectiveness of missionaries (also Peace Corps volunteers, etc.) and learn from their experience.
• Develop an oversight and support system that encourages self-government for indigenous leaders and enables us to most effectively help them further the Gospel in their countries.
• Coordinate the efforts of and provide support for those who are translating CES materials.

If you have been on our mailing list for a while, you have probably read our report about each trip. Perhaps you are one of those in the CES Network who is now a pen pal with an overseas Christian. Many here in the USA who are corresponding with an overseas saint have told us about specific blessings they have received from building such a friendship.

We are currently in contact with people in a number of countries where we have not yet been able to go, for example, India, and several countries in Africa. Sometimes it begins with only one person, and it often seems miraculous how they got our address. When we hear from someone in such an area, we usually begin by sending him some of our books and/or tapes, and asking him to let us know what he thinks of them. If the person gets back to us and is eager to hear more, we often send him a set of the "Truth or Tradition?" tapes, and encourage him to play them for as many people as he can. Our hope is that a nucleus of believers will stand together and we can then go to that country to share the Word with a larger group that they have assembled. When we do, we usually begin by teaching the material in "Truth or Tradition?" augmented by whatever else is appropriate based upon the needs of the people.

This is the basic pattern that we have followed to get into the Philippines, Haiti, Argentina and Africa, and the results have been very rewarding. In closing, I'd like to focus on Africa. Mark Graeser and I went to Tanzania and Kenya in January, 1998, teaching two leaders' seminars in each country. Since then, it appears that new doors have opened in both of those countries, and also in Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Nigeria, Malawi and the Republic of Congo, which was formerly known as Zaire. Zaire is where The Way International once had about 50,000 people affiliated to some degree, and we recently heard from a wonderful man there who Michael Branch knew in The Way Corps. It seems that he has done in his country something like what we have done here with CES, in maintaining a network of believers concerned with knowing and sharing the truth.

We have no doubt that the Lord wants us to make known the Gospel in Africa, and we are communicating with key people in the above countries in preparation for returning when God can open the door. What is required is money, as well as people who can take the time and who are able to teach the Word. We would estimate that the trip will be 3-4 weeks and will cost $20-30,000 (based upon us paying for the venue for each seminar as well as the room and board for the participants). Basically, we can have as many participants as we can pay for. There seems to be no shortage of people willing to, at least, come and listen. Based upon our past experience, we will win to the truth a significant percentage of those who attend.

Our plan is for me to go to Haiti February 11-18, and we are thinking about the Africa trip sometime in March or April, which I may also be leading. We wanted to inform you now so that you can pray for the success of these endeavors, and also consider investing in them financially and/or going along. The challenge is that we cannot really set any definite plans for Africa until we know that we have the money. Then we can tell them what their budget is, and plan accordingly. It is all a great deal of effort, but I think of the closing sessions of many seminars in the Philippines when people have shared what it meant to them to finally hear the true Word of God, often with tears of joy running down their faces. I think also about what they have done to teach others what they learned, and it is worth all the effort required to pull off one of these itineraries.

Thank you for praying for our International Outreach, and for considering helping with it in some way. If you would like to be on the Committee, just let me know.

Calendar Corner 2001 January 13 First Interim Committee Reports Due January 13-18 CES Board of Directors Meeting March 23-25 First CES Women's Conference Charlotte, NC April 6-8 Regional Conference Sacramento, CA May 23-27 5th Annual Singles Camp Camp Hope, NC * June 8-10 or 15-17 Regional Conference Indianapolis, IN June 30-July 6 Teen Camp Camp Hope NC * July 22-July 27 or July 29-August 3 Family Camp (Location in Midwest TBA) September 22-24 Leadership Team Meeting Indianapolis IN October 26-28 Regional Conference or Men's Conference NC * These dates are indefinite.

FALL FELLOWSHIP TAPES NOW AVAILABLE Nearly 200 saints assembled in beautiful western North Carolina for the Fall Fellowship last month, and their hearts were touched by both the Lord and their fellow believers. The theme of the weekend was: "The Hope: The Anchor of the Soul," and each teaching was connected to that subject. In Christianity today, the "one hope" that is to be the bottom line of each Christian's life has been incredibly muddied by the religious traditions of men to the point that few believers can truly anchor their hearts to it. Tapes of the teachings are available and we hope that you will order them. John Schoenheit opened with "A Scope of the Hope," an overview from Genesis to Revelation that is loaded with practical keys, interesting historical information and inspiring biblical truths. John shared how the idea of Christians living forever in "heaven" came about and why it is debilitating to the quality of a Christian life. On Saturday morning, Mike Steinberg from Charlotte, NC taught on eternal rewards, eloquently setting forth basic and practical biblical truths about the rewards that God says should motivate us to serve Him day by day. Then Carol Hall from Nashville, TN spoke about "Holiness in Hope." She emphasized how an understanding of our living hope can be the catalyst for a believer pursuing the purifying of his heart before the Lord. Saturday afternoon John Lynn's quite upbeat teaching was titled "YES!!!" - a reference to 2 Corinthians 1:20, which states that all the promises of God are "Yes!" in Jesus Christ. In regard to the hope, John showed why it is vital to distinguish which promises are specifically for the Church and which are for Israel. He pointed out how God's faithfulness to keep His promise to raise Jesus from the dead assures us that He will keep all His promises to us, now and in the future.

On Sunday morning, Carolyn Pais from Matthews, NC shared "The Big Picture." Her teaching was replete with humorous, down-to-earth incidents that obviously reached people's hearts. She talked about how to lay up treasures for the future, saying that our actions of today matter forever. Then John Schoenheit closed with an excellent presentation titled "Keeping a Clean Slate." He taught about God's example of forgiveness, and how important it is for us to follow suit, both in asking Him for forgiveness and in forgiving others. John focused on the book of Isaiah and showed its emphasis on hope and its specific promises about the future Kingdom. You can order these tapes for $25.

We will not be automatically renewing those Partners who are still currently on plans B, C, D or E. All of you should have received by now a letter letting you know that your plan will expire by the end of this year, and encouraging you to become a new plan Partner in January.

We are so thankful for the support we have received from all of our Partners. Because of you we have been able to grow and reach many more people with the Word of God. Thank you.ÿ

FELLOWSHIP NEWS

News from Argentina!
From October 3-13 I visited and taught in Argentina. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing. My primary hosts were Alejandro Marchesan and his wife Marisa, and they were simply wonderful to me. Alejandro, along with Hector Teme, and Pablo Romero head up The Ministry of Reconciliation, a ministry that parallels CES's beliefs and teachings and is doing a great work in Argentina. The Ministry of Reconciliation is doing wonderful things in Argentina. They have classes, books and tapes and are aggressively moving the Word. The leaders of MOR have thought a lot about leadership structure and have gone to the Word, to the Lord and used practical wisdom to put together leadership principles that are a blessing and effective. They are well organized, and have started to build a training center to teach their up-and-coming leadership and others interested in learning the Word. I will be going back to Argentina to teach Old Testament History in the future.

They are in contact with other Spanish-speaking people and fellowships in Chile, Venezuela, Spain, and Italy, and are working on Miami.

They have also started a teen training program, and I was blessed to get to teach at the very first teen camp that MOR has held. The teens were enthusiastic and serious about the Word and spiritual matters, and their numbers are growing fast. They will be a powerful spiritual force in Argentina in the coming years.

While I was there I was honored to be offered an ordination with MOR, which I accepted. I was very humbled to realize how deeply I had touched the people of Argentina both as a teacher and as a minister of Jesus Christ. One of the most exciting things about my visit to Argentina was a leaders' meeting held to inform me of their worldwide vision, which right now is being called "Christian Ministries Internationally United" or CMIU for short. The concept is to get leaders from ministries around the world with fairly similar views to begin to work together without losing their ministry's individual identity. A good mind picture of what we want to accomplish is a fleet of ships sailing together to a common point. They work together, but each ship is also an individual vessel.

The first international meeting of CMIU will be in March of 2001 and CES will be represented there.

I also had wonderful fellowship with Alex Oliver and his wife Lilian and their fellowship. Their fellowship is growing and prospering, and they are currently starting to translate One God, One Lord into Spanish. The trip to Argentina was a great blessing and I look forward to going back for the meeting of CMIU in the spring. What a blessing to know that the Lord is working powerfully to spread the truth to Spanish speaking people.

News from Alameda, CA
On November 12, Mark met with a small but enthusiastic group of believers in Alameda California at the home of Fran Gerson-Caponio. He was visiting his 86 year old mother in Northern California and was able to get out for one day and see some believers. He was blessed by the warm reception and open hearts to hear God's Word, and blessed to see that a strong local fellowship has risen up in the East Bay Area, his old stomping ground (he grew up in Oakland). He encouraged the saints there to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, because it is a spiritual battle that we are in. He warned them not to get complacent or discouraged, but to "fight the good fight of faith." Fran later emailed this thanks:

"Thanks again for coming to teach...everyone was blessed to hear you but also to see you face to face. It was a real treat and what a shot in the arm is was for all...yet for me it was more like a kick in the butt. Thanks I needed that! I have a real fondness for you and Karen Ann and what you both contribute to CES. I think you guys are great! Thanks for your service to the Church. You are in my prayers. Please pray for us in California." Much Love in Christ Frances Caponio-Gerson

BLTers Make Local News
Jane Bickel and Gary and Marianne Cochran of Fostoria, Ohio found a great way to attract some attention to their local fellowship, called "Open Arms Bible Fellowship." All three of them went on the CES Bible Lands Tour this past summer, and when they got home they contacted a local newspaper, the Fostoria Focus, to see if they would be interested in interviewing them about their trip. The paper sent a reporter named Leonard Skonecki, who wrote the following story about their trip to the "holy land." We thought you'd be blessed to read excerpts from the article, and to see how with a little imagination and gumption they put their fellowship on the local map:

The Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, the Temple Mount. They are names familiar to most of us from Bible study or Sunday school.

But for three Fostorians they have become more than names.
Marianne and Gary Cochran and Jane Bickel journeyed to the Holy Land recently. They walked where Jesus Christ walked 2000 years ago. They saw what He saw and the names became real. Marianne, Gary, and Jane joined 39 other travelers for a trip to Israel June 10-23. The trip was sponsored by Christian Educational Services of Indianapolis and took them to 61 sites.
"I wanted to go when they had it two years ago and didn't commit to going." said Jane, "but I said, I'm going on the next one. You understand so much more once you've been there."
"Everything becomes so much more alive from the perspective of the Bible," said Marianne. "Since we consider ourselves students of the Bible, that was reason enough to go."
Gary said the trip made the Bible come alive for him.
"The Bible was real to me before, but now I can say it made the Bible more real." he said. "I've been there now. It's a totally different experience when I read the Bible."
They saw sites that reach back to the dawn of the Christian tradition.
In 70 A.D., at the 900 foot mountain fortress of Masada, 1,000 Jewish rebels held out for nearly two years against 15,000 Romans.
"They had to carry all they needed up there to build the fortress," said Gary. "To be in the area where so many things happened, the spoken word just can't describe it."
They sailed the Sea of Galilee in a reproduction of the type of boat the Apostles fished in.
They visited Herodium where the Wise Men inquired about the birth of Jesus and the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, the spring at En Gedi where Daniel and his men escaped King Saul, and the Elah Valley where David fought Goliath.
The journey has added a new dimension to their faith.
"I went with the heart that I was going to let the Lord direct me." Said Jane. "I wanted to see the land. You can look at pictures of Jerusalem or the hills around Bethlehem or the Sea of Galilee, but when you actually see it with your own eyes-it's hard to put into words. It's seeing everything and touching everything and experiencing it."
Marianne agreed.
"This was a chance for me to learn a lot that I never knew that I never knew," she said. "Now I have this wonderful perspective of not only the issues that are hot today but why they're hot today…and when I open the Bible, every page has such new awareness.
The experience has also given them a sense of being closer to Christ.
Marianne recalled a song from years ago about someone who dreamed of walking where Jesus walked and seeing what Jesus saw.
"To see what He might have seen just gave me this huge lump in my throat."

FEEDBACK FORUM

Dear CES (Mark),
God Bless all of you! I really enjoyed the last bi-monthly tape on the new direction for CES. When I heard your heart, intentions and goals it helped me to know more specifics of what to pray for and feel personally closer to CES. I have been with CES from the beginning and for a lot of reasons (I could write pages) I believe you are listening to God, using biblical principles to grow and do what God's intention for CES is. It takes a great humbleness and meekness to say, "I can't do it all," to delegate, to hand over authority. These are Godly qualities. I continuously thank God that CES is a part of my life. JoAnne Hoffman, Atco NJ

Dear John L., John S. & Mark,
We attended the weekend in Charlotte and are we glad, thankful, excited, full of love since we did! This letter is to say "thank you" - a bigger thank you than we can express. It was so refreshing to hear the Word of God taught with insight and love. You all need to know how much you all mean to us. You are teaching and exhorting with accuracy and love-something that is hard to find out here! Thank you for all you do everyday to make books, tapes, meetings, newsletters etc. available. Our children loved the children's meetings (ages 3 & 7). We are praying for you all and are blessed to be supporting CES.
We are looking forward to more times together.

Thanks, Have a Blessed Day Larry & Pam Simon

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Age 16 and Up. No Children's Fellowship Provided Seating is limited to the first 100 Women. Contact guinevere4@juno.com for more information and to coordinate transportation from the airport. The hotel does not provide a shuttle but CES will come and pick you up.