Voice of Hope

Missions News The High Cost of Leadership What if following Christ and leading God's people meant death threats, armed police escorts, and hiding in secret locations, separated from your family? Bishop Dorlean, national leader of Haiti, is experiencing this unthinkable set of circumstances. The soft-spoken overseer's deep passion and commitment to his people and the work of the Lord has certainly been tested in recent days. We received a prayer plea from Brother Dorlean on November 23rd through Bob Vital-herne, one of the linguists in the World Language Department. The details were chilling – some individual or a group of people was trying to kill him. He said that heavily armed people had been looking for him in his neighborhood. On Monday night [November 20th] he had to be escorted by heavily armed police officers to his house. Out of concern for his safety, they took him to another location to spend the night, away from his family. He remains in an undisclos...

Today, I met with several other overseers, and Dr. H.E. Cardin (Tomlinson Center) and Bishop Sam Clements discussing future plans for the educational needs of our ministry. At this meeting, I shared my vision of what I feel the Lord is leading me to, which will be a multi-faceted approach to miniderial development and education. We discussed (at length) the intensive that will be held at our campground on January 12-13, 2007 and some expressed interest in attending the intensive. I do hope you will begin making plans to tak part in the intensive, more information will follow. God bless.

Last night, Debra and I met with the Family Enrichment Board to discuss and pre-plan our marriage retreat scheduled for the last weekend of February. We are expecting it to be a great time of fellowship, worship and tips on marriage. I am so greatful to Brothers and Sisters Stone, Reid and Holt. I hope you will make plans to attend.

Celebration of Lights 11/21/2006 Everyone Welcome! November 25, 2006, 6:00 p.m. EST! Everyone is invited to a special Thanksgiving celebration and Christmas lighting program at the Fields of the Wood Park on November 25th at 6:00 P.M. Throughout the Christmas season the Park lights will be displayed each evening from dark until 10:00 p.m. EST. Fields of the Wood is located just 18 miles from Murphy, NC and 14 miles from Ducktown, TN on NC Hwy 294. For more information, contact: Church of God of Prophecy 3720 Keith Street PO Box 2910 Cleveland, TN 37320-2910 423.559.5100

Yesterday, I met with the State Trustees to conduct an inspection on the new church being constructed in Pulaski. I would like to say that Pastors David and Jeanie Malone have done a wonderful job of preparation and building of a new sanctuary. The building met, and exceeded my expectations, and the Church of God of Prophecy will have a beautiful facility there once the work is completed. If any of you can help with manual labor (hanging lights, etc.) please let me know that you are available and we can make the connection for you. God bless.

Dear Friends, The arrangements for John McClure, Jr. are as follows: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 Visitation from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 29, 2006 Visitation from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Funeral service will follow at 3:00 p.m. The visitation and funeral service will be held at Jim Rush Funeral Home. An graveside service will follow the funeral service at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Please continue to remember Valerie and her family in your prayers. Shaun McKinley | Administrative Liaison to the General Overseer ____________________________ Church of God of Prophecy International Offices P.O. Box 2910 Cleveland, TN 37320-2910 phone: 423.559.5209 fax: 423.559.5108 email: shaun@cogop.org web: http://www.cogop.org

This afternoon, Debra and I visited with Pastor Jerry Payne at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville. Jewell, J.J. and Julia were there as well. As many of you know, Jerry has been needing a liver transplant for some-time-now. I am asking you to join me in a special time of intercessory prayer for Pastor Jerry. He has labored faithfully in the Church of God of Prophecy many years, with the past 21 of those years at the local church in Grimsley...this is a precious family needing all of us to bind together for a physical touch in his body. I know that God will bless you as you share this burden.

This morning, Debra and I visited the church at Shiloh (between Smithville and Sparta on Hwy 70) and received a warm welcome from the pastor Bishop Arthur and Francis Murry. It was a beautiful drive with the warm, sunny day, and although the traffic was little heavy, it was an enjoyable trip. We enjoyed the worship, and the Lord met us there. Thank God for His blessings.

I am posting this email that I just received from the International Offices. Many of you will remember John McClure who passed away about 7-years-ago. This is his son... Dear Friends, Please be in prayer for Valerie Willis (formerly Valerie McClure), who served for many years at the International Offices, most recently as our switchboard operator. Valerie tragically lost her eldest son John McClure, Jr. in a car accident this weekend. I do not have many of the details, but John’s passing came early on Sunday morning, November 26, 2006. Please be in prayer for Valerie, Tim, Chris and their families as the deal with this sad loss. Arrangements have not yet been made, but I will send them to you once they are announced. Shaun McKinley | Administrative Liaison to the General Overseer ____________________________ Church of God of Prophecy International Offices P.O. Box 2910 Cleveland, TN 37320-2910 phone: 423.559.5209 fax: 423.559.5108 email: shaun@cogop.org web: http://www.cogop.org

I JUST RECEIVED THIS EMAIL FROM PASTOR MIKE JENNETTE, EMPOWERED MINISTRIES, DICKSON. Sister Hazel Guire fell and broke her hip two weeks ago. She is doing better and staying with her daughter Joan in Louisiana. If anyone wants to send her a card, she is at this address: Box 846 Loranger, LA 70446. She should leave the hospital this week. God Bless You All. Bro. Mike Jennette

All of us have something to be thankful for. We all have times that life seems to be overwhelming, and the natural reaction is to be negatively affected by the circumstances in our lives. But there is much to be thankful for. When counseling people who are going through difficult circumstances, I have often gave them the following instructions: 1. Get a piece of paper and a pencil. 2. Draw a line down the middle, from top to bottom, making two columns. 3. Label the left side blessings; Label the right side your problems. 4. Now fill in the columns, and see if your blessings outnumber your problems. I have done this before and found that my blessings always outnumber my problems every time. God is so good to us, and we can truly be thankful for all he has done.

Just wanted to share a picture of Reagan with all of you. God bless.

Dear Friends, I am pleased to announce that we have added a video presentation promoting the Institute of Children's Ministries to be conducted in Cleveland next May. This is a quality video that can be downloaded, or played streaming video in your church. Just go to the website http://tncogop.org and click on the ICM07 in the menu bar at the top. I do hope this will be helpful to you. God bless.

Again, I am posting a link to a great website for bible study and sermon preparation. This site is a site filled with Christian Classics from great authors. This area includes of lot of the study materials used by bible colleges and seminaries. I hope you will take advantage of each opportunity presented. Oh, by the way....I receive not compensation for these endorsements, they are only given as a resource to those who may be new to the internet. It always helps to have someone guide you. To go to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library click HERE or cut and paste the following address in your browser: http://www.ccel.org/

A few days ago, I mentioned the online version of Bible Pro, which I found extremely useful for bible study, regardless of what platform (PC, Mac, Linux) you use. After posting my findings about Bible Pro, Pastor Milton Gordon of Huntingdon, Tennessee shared with me that he uses the "Blue Letter Bible" program which is alson an online resource. I did not know about this before his post, but have found it filled with a tremendous amount of study materials, including audio and video features. You can find it by CLICKING HERE or going directly to the website at http://www.blueletterbible.org/ Thanks for the help Brother Gordon

Sharon Caruthers whose husband Vernon pastors at Campaign is currently in Baptist Hospital in Nashville. She has now been in the hospital for about 11 days. I visited with her and Vernon today at the hospitall and had prayer for her. She will be undergoing a serious surgery tomorrow. Will you please join me in praying for her and her family?

I just returned from visition Brother Everett Fulmer, who is currently hospitalized at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Brother Fulmer is a retired minister, and is well known throughout the state. He developed a kidney stone, and it created infection in his body. He is currently in critical condition, and I would appreciate you praying for him, and his children.

The 2006 summer has been very busy at Fields of the Wood. Our staff has been working hard to keep the Park presentable for all our guests. The gift shop and café have served hundreds of people with their gift-shopping needs and hunger pains. It has been an exciting experience to meet our visitors from across the U.S. as well as guests from Canada, Central America, South America and many other countries from around the world. We enjoyed a wonderful time in the Lord on Heritage Day Celebration commemorating June 13, 1903. Our General Overseer, Bishop F.S. Fisher Sr. was present and blessed everyone with his word of encouragement “Vision Now” – “Spirit Driven”. Peerless Road Pastor, Bishop Tim Coalter delivered an inspiring and uplifting message. We were also blessed to have Tennessee Harmony from Cleveland, TN lifting up the name of our Lord in song. Although it was a very ‘hot’ day, it was a glorious day. Various events this season have included gospel singings in observance of Memoria...

Today, Debra and I visited the church at Murfreesboro, under the able pastoral leadership of Verlin and Jean Thornton. It was also good to see our former State Overseer, Bishop Eugene and Juanita Weakley. There was a good crowd there, and at the conclusion of the service the local church honored Brother and Sister Thornton with a pastor's apprection moment, along with gifts and expressions of love from the congregation. We were so happy to be there for the special moment. We also were blessed to be with former members of our church (when we pastored Columbia), Jeff and Dinah Gibson. After the service, the church had their Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, dressing and all the trimmings. Thanks Brother and Sister Thornton and the congregation of Murfreesboro for such a warm welcome.

I am pleased to announce that Pastor Mike and Kathy Burton have agreed to serve as Tennessee State Youth Camp Coordinators. They will begin this appointment immediately. Pleae be sure to give them support as they begin this new ministry. Terry Bear will continue to serve as campground caretaker.

Several years ago, I switched from using PC based computers to Apple MacIntosh systems. I've been using my "mac" now for about four years. One of the things I've had difficulty with is find good bible-based software that will work on my "platform." Because many of our readers use "mac" computers as well, I wanted to share something I found today. THIS WILL WORK ON EITHER PC OR MAC because it is web-based. DISCLAIMER: I am receiving nothing for sharing this, just wanted to let you know abou a website I came across. As with anything on the internet, you have to be careful, but so far this has worked really good for me. You can find the software at: http://biblepro.bibleocean.com and you can either download it, order a CD or do as I do, use the free online version. This has great features and will help you. God bless.

A large group of Tennessee Youth gathered at Camp Hickory Hills this weekend to celebrate, worship and fellowship. Our State Youth Directors, Caleb Winstead, Joshua Lynn and Gigi Cummings did a great job of putting together a well-balanced, exciting program for everyone present. I've included some shots of the opening night events.

Here is a last minute reminder that the Tennessee Youth Retreat will be conducted at Camp Hickory Hills Friday (tomorrow) through Sunday. For more information, go to the Tennessee Youth Site by clicking here.

Thank God for another great Sunday of worship. We thank the Lord for over $1400.00 dollars being turned in to World Missions for the month of October. Brother Ntezimana James, Overseer of Uganda and Sudan will be needing this to help with new tires and other needs as he noted in an email. We are continuing to pray for this country. I received an email from him a few days ago. Here is part of the email. Hello Milton We just finished our Leadership Conference. It endend yesterday. The attendence was 700 pastors with many blessings. Thank you for your prayers. Getrudha , my wife has not yet gone through operation and seems God has done his operation. Please keep praying for her complete Milacle. I will be sending you june programme very soon so that you start praying about it. . . How is your wife and the Church. We are praying for you. Coming soon is Ladies Retreat which starts 22nd Nov.-26th.Pray for the move of the Spirit upon the ladies. I will get back to you this week but per now, l...

Pressure and Prayer in Belarus A spiritual battle has raged on multiple fronts for over two years. Our national overseer, Henadzi Kernazhytski (Gena), alerted us to the attacks on religious freedom, launched by the Belarussian authorities who sought to forcibly confiscate the property of the largest evangelical church in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus. The struggle escalated as the pastor of the New Life Church, Slava Goncharenko, sent out a call to Christians across Belarus and around the world to intercede for the reversal of the decision to take their church building. Our national leader, Pastor Gena, has been intimately involved with this effort to galvanize Christians around the world to pressure the Belarussian government to rescind this action and support freedom from the repression that affects all churches in the nation of Belarus. The church marshaled a cadre of intercessors and began a hunger strike and fast on October 5, 2006 with up to 150 people occupying the church...

Please help us pray for Sharon Caruthers, whose husband, Vernon serves as pastor of our church Campaign, Tennessee. About two-years-ago, she underwent a hip-replacement surgery. This past week, while reaching down to pick something up, she felt a "pop" in her hip. The surgical rod that was placed in her hip snapped. Sharon is in a tremendous amount of pain, and currently suffering greatly. She will undergoing surgery next week. In the meantime will you please help us pray for her. God bless you.

Bishop McKinley: Just a quick summary of some great things God is doing. We praise the Lord for the following blessings at Huntingdon over the past three weeks. One recently saved. Several healed and delivered. New Families attending services. Over $5000.00 in New Property indebtedness paid off. Over $600.00 offering for The Walker Family on Homecoming Day. A $3000.00 offering (above the payoff) given to the furtherance of the New Property Development. A great spirit of unity and revival moving in the local church. We give God praise and honor for all He is doing and than him. Milton Gordon, Pastor

Dear Pastors and Friends, Greetings in the name of Jesus, Our Fall Revival will be held this Friday, Saturday and Sunday with our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner to follow Sunday morning's service. Our Speaker will be: Brother Wayne Robertson of Clarksville. Friday Night October 17th. at 7:00 pm Saturday Night October 18th at 7:00 pm Sunday morning October 19th at 11:00 am, with Thanksgiving dinner to follow. Sunday Night October 19th at 6:30 pm East Nashville Church of God of Prophecy is located at 901 Strouse Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37206 For directions, please call 615-228-5354. Thank you.

Brother James Brown, spouse of one of our Tennessee ministers, Judy Brown was electrocuted today. The electricity went through one arm, through his chest and out the other arm. His arm is broken - also his shoulder and possibly some bones in his back. Scans are being done to detect any possible damage to his internal organs. He is presently in critical condition with extreme pain. Please prayer for Brother James and Sister Judy Brown, members at Clarksville

Dear Brother Mckinley, I just wanted to take a few minutes to write you and tell you how God blesses and give Him praise. About two or three months ago the lady that played the keyboard for us left to go to another church. This left us with no music at all. We begin to pray and ask God for help. I had talked to some people about recording piano music on disc for us but nothing had worked out. Praise God four weeks ago on a Sunday night my son and his wife and children walked in for the service. I had no idea they were coming, because they had not been coming. They have been here every service since and they are calling this their home church now. My son plays the guitar and also the piano some, and his wife plays the piano. She don't know the songs that we sing but she is learning them so she can play for us. My grandson also plays the harmonica and is learning to play the paino and guitar. My daughter-in-law played for us this morning in the service and also tonight. I give God...

Once again, Catherine Payne and here staff did an outstanding job ministering to the ladies in our part of the United States. The attendance was good, and the speakers and preachers ministered in the power of the Spirit. I am including just a few of the photos of the retreat at this time to give you a little more of the "flavor" of things. We got home late, and received a phone call that the interpreter for the hispanic ladies, Ana Sandiago was stranded at the airport. Debra and I went to the airport and picked her up, and got her a room close to the airport (here flight leaves really early tomorrow morning) and then we returned home. I have a meeting tomorrow, but after that, I will put all of the photos up on our state website so you can see all of them. If I'm not mistaken, I may have as many as 100. God bless you is my prayer.

The Regional Ladies Retreat at Lake Barkley began last evening and will continue through tomorrow. I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure. God bless.

Thank you for signing up to receive Connections, an e-newsletter from the Church of God of Prophecy International Offices. Here you will find the latest news and information on upcoming ministry events. We hope you enjoy all that you will read here. Send us your comments and thoughts by emailing connections@cogop.org. In this E-Mail. . . 1. 100 Days of Prayer Update 2. Mission News: Out of Court with Victory in Guinea Bissau 3. Youth Conference Cancellation: A Message from Youth Ministries Director Palma Hutchinson 4. January is Stewardship Emphasis Month 5. Tomlinson Center Online Begins Third Semester 6. News From North America 7. Transitions at the International Offices 8. Upcoming Events 9. To Unsubscribe 100 Days of Prayer Update In our Upper Room devotion at the International Offices a week ago we prayed for the leaders of the church all around the world. The Spirit entered that prayer time and quickened...

Dear Friends, I know that in the past few days my posts have not been as regular as I try to make them. I have been in a revival in Brooksville, Florida at the Church of God of Prophecy. Bishop Jerry and Sonja Wood hosted the revival, and we were blessed to have Bishop Elwood and Roberta Matthews with us in every service except one. The Florida State Overseer, Bishop Larry Dotson and his wife Frankie were able to attend one evening, and I had the opportunity to visit Bishop Dotson at his office in Orlando to discuss several church-related issues, since he serves as the Chairman of the International Finance and Stewardship Committee. We had six saved during the revival, and the pastor will be conducting a baptismal service, and will be receiving new members into the church there, as a result of the revival services. While I was away for the five services, I still stayed up on office work via the internet and telephone. I thank God for His wonderful grace, and for blessing us at the re...

Dear Brother McKinley, I wanted to take the time to write to you about the continued blessings that the Lord is pouring out upon Bellshire. You may recall that I wrote to you last week about Bell South's willingness to repair our driveways at the church. As of November 6, 2006 both driveways are repaired at no cost to the church. Praise the Lord! We also recently had our Kingdom Celebration with Keith Street Ministries and Pastor John A. Stone here at Bellshire. Let me just say that the Lord was in the house. We were so richly revived, renewed restored, and regenerated. The worship was extreme and powerful. Thepreaching and training was anointed of God. And the people of Keith Street were excellent. The highlight of our weekend was on Saturday night. One of our members steeped forward to stand in prayer for his friend who was in a coma at Vanderbilt and the family was going to remove life support the next day. Josh stood in for his friend and we prayed the pr...

Brother McKinley, The Lord definitely blessed us with a beautiful fall day on Sunday, October 29 as Sonbright Christian Center hosted our second Family Fall Fest. The temperature was around 70º and the fall colors were at full peak. We truly live in a beautiful area of this great state! This Family Fall Fest was one step in our renewed efforts to reach out to our families and the families in our community. We thank the Lord for more than 100 attending this special event. There was plenty of food, fun, and fellowship as we opened up our church and our hearts to minister the love of our Lord Jesus Christ in a warm, caring, non-threatening atmosphere. Most of the people who participated are unchurched families in our community. We all enjoyed the festivities of the day˜there were plenty of food and activities for the children, youth, and adults. We are thankful for the wonderful blessings the Lord is pouring out upon us here at Sonbright Christian Center, and we are committed to pressing ...

We are now only one week away from the Regional Ladies Retreat to be at Lake Barkley, Kentucky. Ladies from all over this region of North America gather for a time of fellowship, ministry and good times. I am sure that Catherine Payne, our International Ladies Ministries director and her staff have worked hard to put together a quality retreat, and the ladies who attend will be blessed. If you cannot attend, please join us in praying for the retreat.

To State Overseers and Regional/State Youth Directors: With the cancellation of the Pittsburgh youth conference, we want to encourage you to boost and promote CONNECT '07 Jan 19-21, 2007 in Gatlinburg, TN. It is sponsored by CCMN (College and Careers Ministries Network, a ministry of the COGOP) of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. We have confirmed participation response from Tennessee, Kentucky and our Southeast and Northeast Spanish Regions. CONNECT '07. is a week-end designed for college and career students and young adults. We are joining together as a force for the Kingdom of God! The poster for the event and more information are at www.ccmnetwork.org . We now have college youth, and career young adults from 7 states and 3 countries as members in the ministry. The intentions for our college youth focus is, to connect them with the ministry (CCMN), then connect them with a vibrant youth pastor or vibrant church where they are attending school. ...

I received this last night NOTICE of CANCELLTION YOUTH CONFERENCE 2007 Dear Friend, I have bad news. Due to a conflict of dates with another event here at the International Offices, I must CANCEL the YOUTH CONFERENCE scheduled for March 16-18, 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was an innocent oversight on my part which could negatively impact the other event scheduled for the same date. I (along with others) have worked very hard to find an alternate date and site, but with no success. I’m very sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this might cause. Love and blessings,  Palma Hutchinson Youth Ministry Director Youth Ministry Department Church of God or Prophecy P.O. Box 2910 3720 Keith Street NW Cleveland, Tennessee 37320-2910 423-559-5304 423-559-5302 - Fax www.youth.cogop.org