God is using Church of God Ministries in some powerful ways.

• Nearly 4,700 youth attended the International Youth Convention in Orlando, Florida this summer. Of that number, 550 expressed feeling a call to full-time vocational ministry.


• The North American Convention of the Church of God saw attendance slightly down from 2009, but online participation (watching live streaming video) set new records!


• 100+ ministry leaders, including area administrators, credentialling personnel, pastors, etc. attended the Credentials Congress just over a month ago. God moved in a mighty way.


• The CHOG Ministry Connector (chogministryconnector.com) was created this year and very practically assists churches needing pastors and pastors seeking churches.


• Disaster Relief continues in Haiti after the devastating earthquake: $755,000 has been donated so far to the effort and 140 homes have been constructed by more than 30 work teams from local churches across the country.


• SHAPE (Sustaining Health and Pastoral Excellence) are benefitting pastors and their families like never before. Eleven regions currently use this program and three more will be added soon.


• The Church of God Foundation is leaving a legacy on future ministry and disbursed funds to Church of God colleges and universities this summer.


• Focus 40, forty days of prayer and fasting leading up to Easter 2011 (March 16-April 24), will provide an opportunity for churches and invididuals to unite in transformative prayer and fasting. Let's see what God will do!

And there's so much more! Keep praying for Church of God Ministries and the entire Reformation Movement! God will bring transformation!

The picture shows the Korean Choir, which performed at Camp Meeting in 1994.

I've been working on an article about a mission trip that Spread the Word is planning for mid-October. Several members of the Youth Ministry Team and the Youth Network for the Church of God will be traveling to Paraguay. Paraguay has been a recipient of some of the funds generated by Spread the Word, an world-evangelism tool which started in 2002 at the Denver IYC. Spread the Word was begun to make IYC more than an event--something that would be a lifestyle, or in the words of Pastor Mark Shaner (of East Side Church of God in Anderson, Indiana), "a part of our DNA" of ministry. While youth ministry in the Church of God may have been focussed around the event that is IYC, youth leadership in the Church of God seeks to make national youth ministry lasting and continuous.

So, I got to thinking. If IYC can become more than an event, can NAC? If IYC is the epitomy of youth ministry in the Church of God (and it clearly is), then couldn't we assume that NAC is the epitomy of adult ministry in the Church of God? After all, NAC (Camp Meeting) seems to be the one, annual uniting symbol of the Church of God in North America. IYC wants to be more than just "event-oriented" and instead a lifestyle or part of our DNA. Couldn't NAC do the same thing? Couldn't the unity and the spiritual rejuvenation and the challenge to go and make disciples that we experience each year at NAC last throughout the year? Can we take it back to our local churches? Can we bring it into our communities and take it around the world?

While Church of God Ministries serves as the primary "ministry arm" for the General Assembly, could NAC--the people of the Church of God who attend this annual event--make a lasting impact on from the local level on up? Could NAC be a "brand," not in the negative sense, but as a symbol of unity within the Church of God and an organization that could keep encouraging the saints year-round?

Kid's Place is making an attempt at just this. Kid's Place director, Michelle Parker, and other Kid's Place national assistants, are attempting to bring Kid's Place programming to the local church. Why keep such a great thing at NAC? That's their big question, and it has already driven them to implement Kid's Place programming methods at one Vacation Bible School at the First Church of God in Meridian, Mississippi. Not only is Kid's Place of NAC goint out to where the people are, but also these ministers are touching the lives of at-risk youth.

So, why keep NAC at the event that is NAC in Anderson? Let's bring it back home with us each year. It may not be the complete answer to a declining NAC, but perhaps it would be a start in the positive direction!

The picture above shows Kid's Place away from Anderson--in Mississippi.