~Mexigram - June 2011 from Missionary T. Wynn Drost

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From the email desk of Missionary T. Wynn Drost - General Superintendent UPC of Mexico

 

    FOUR CATHOLIC PRIESTS BAPTIZED! Among the many wonderful things that God is doing in Mexico, we've had four Catholic priests  baptized in the Name of Jesus in the last couple of years. Two of them were Bishops in the Catholic Church. Pictured are: Rev Martín González, Vice President of the UPC of Mexico (he has baptized two of the ex-priests); ex-catholic Bishop Ernesto Blanco (baptized in early May 2011, recently), ex-catholic Bishop Roberto Piñeiro (baptized in October 2010), and Brother T.W.Drost

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    Each one of these ex-priests is becoming a powerful testimony, traveling to different Churches to give their testimony. Many are being baptized and filled with the HG in their services. All four of them, have not only been baptized in Jesus' Name, but all of them have also received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Recently (two weeks ago) we had Brother Piñeiro preaching and giving his testimony in the local Church that I Pastor in Mexico City and, that Sunday, there were 15 baptized and 13 received the Holy Spirit.

    When they preach at a Church, they start speaking dressed as a priest and, as they give their testimony, they progressively take their robes off, explaining what the various pieces represent. They end up putting a suit coat on, saying that, now they don't need those robes, for they are free, and today they are Ministers of the true and genuine Gospel! In fact, they have become passionate about the One-God message and baptism in Jesus' Name!

    Brother Ramón Casillas, who was the first ex-priest to be baptized, in March of 2009, is a Licensed Minister with the UPC of Mexico. He started a Church in the center of the city of Zamora, Michoacán, and is doing VERY well, running over 100 in their regular services. He also started a Christian Re-Hab Center for alcoholics and drug addicts. He presently has 37 men and young men, ex-alcoholics and druggies, some of them, picked up from the very streets of Zamora. Brother Casillas is doing a tremendous job with these. I was recently visiting him, and was VERY impressed.

    Pictured above: Brother Ramón Casillas leading the service in the Church he started in Zamora.

    Pictured below: the group of ex-alcoholics and drug addicts doing a drama presentation in the service. Very impressive!

    If someone feels lead to help in Brother Ramón Casillas' ministry and efforts to reach the hopeless, please contact us.

    2011 NATIONAL CONVENTION. The UPC of Mexico has its National Convention every two years, with Zonal (Regional) Conventions during the alternate years. This year our National Convention 2011 will be in the Sports Palace (Palacio De Los Deportes) in Mexico City, July 29-31, 2011. We will have over 15,000 in attendance, and our goal is to see over 1,500 receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Yes we can, and will! Why not plan to come and be part of revival? Check us out at: www.ipumex.net.

    Please pray for continued revival in Mexico!

    Thank you.

Bro. T.W. Drost - General Superintendent UPC of Mexico
www.ipumex.net 55-5519 0783

~Memorial Day 2011 - "Never Forget, Ever Honor"

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Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

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This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.  ~Elmer Davis

Remember -freedom is not free!

~Featured Missionary and Country of the Week - Prince and Suzana Mathiasz/India, Sri Lanka

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Prince and Suzana Mathiasz
Region(s): Europe/Middle East - International
Field(s): India / Sri Lanka
Poster: download PDF
Website: click here to visit

Bio: Prince Mathiasz, a Sri Lankan national, is the product of missionary work. He was baptized in Jesus’ name and filled with the Holy Ghost while studying engineering in Stuttgart, West Germany. After his studies, he and his Yugoslavian-born wife, Suzana, who is conversant in several languages, moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They received their appointment to Sri Lanka in October 1982. He superintends the work in Sri Lanka, pastors the headquarters church, which he founded in Colombo, and is engaged in ministerial training. The UPC of Sri Lanka is growing in spite of the political and social unrest. The Mathiaszes were instrumental in helping Compassion Services International’s SMART team direct relief efforts following the devastating tsunami in 2004. Their daughter Natasha returned to Sri Lanka to oversee distribution of supplies and construction projects. In 1991 Prince and Suzana Mathiasz’s appointment was expanded to include ministry in Eastern Europe.

India

Republic of India/Bharat
Area Coordinator: Stanley K. Scism
Superintendent/President: 
Population: 1121800000
Area: 1,269,340 sq. mi.
Capital: New Delhi
Languages: Hindi (official), English (official), Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi (all recognized by the constitution)
Religions: Hindu, 81%; Muslim, 13%; Christian, 2%; Sikh, 2%; other, 2%
 

The Republic of India occupies most of the Indian subcontinent and borders Pakistan on the west, Afghanistan, China, Nepal, and Bhutan on the north, and Myanmar on the east. Bangladesh forms an enclave in Northeast India. India’s population exceeds that of Africa and Latin America combined, and grows by 18 million per year. At this rate, India will become the world’s most populous nation by 2040. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikkhism all began in India, and India contains more Muslims than any other nation except Indonesia. The caste system, under which people are socially classified at birth, is an important facet of Hinduism and dominates Indian life. Even though the 1950 constitution abolished the lowest caste, known as untouchables, caste conflicts remain a serious problem. Saffronization, in which Indian identity is pegged to Hinduism and people of other faiths are persecuted and denied civil rights, grows in India and has the sympathy of the present central government. Economically, India often seems like two separate countries: village India, supported by primitive agriculture, where 40% of the people live below the poverty level; and urban India, one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the world. Although the traditional textile industry is still important, the emphasis is now on heavy industry, producing iron and steel, machine tools, transportation equipment, and chemicals, and the recent high technology boom. “Mother” Dorothy McCarthy, who founded the Bharosa Ghar Mission, was the first Oneness missionary to India and arrived in 1909. However, the E. L. Scisms, who arrived in 1949, laid the foundation for the United Pentecostal Church of India. The Indian church is now divided into two units: The United Pentecostal Church of India and the United Pentecostal Church of Northeast India.

PDF Download 

Sri Lanka

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Area Coordinator: 
Superintendent/President: J. Prince Mathiasz
Population: 19900000
Area: 25,332 sq. mi.
Capital: Colombo
Languages: Sinhala (official), Tamil, English
Religions: Buddhism, 69%; Hindu,15%; Christian, 8%; Islam, 8%
 

A pear-shaped island, Sri Lanka lies southeast of India. Formerly known as Ceylon, it became an independent republic within the British Commonwealth in 1948. The name was changed to Sri Lanka, meaning “resplendent island” on May 22, 1972. Since the 1980s tension between the Sinhalese and Tamil separatists has repeatedly erupted in violence. On December 26, 2004, a tremendously powerful tsunami ravaged 12 Asian nations. About 38,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka. Compassion Services International’s SMART team was one of the first foreign relief agencies to arrive on the scene to dispense emergency aid and hope. James and Margaret Burns, the first UPC missionaries to Ceylon, arrived in 1949. Then for many years the nation forbade foreign missionaries to reside on the island. In 1983, however, J. Prince Mathiasz, a Sri Lankan national living in Canada, returned to the island to begin his first missionary term. The Sinhalese church now numbers 3,004 constituents, 54 licensed ministers, and 68 churches and preaching points.

Please continue to PRAY for all our missionary families around the world!

~Praise Report from Gary and Kristi Landaw - Trinidad/Tobago

Praise Report from Gary and Kristi Landaw Serving Jesus in Puerto Rico, Trinidad/Tobago Spring 2011 Greetings to you our precious Partners and Friends. We thank God  for you daily and today wanted to share some good things that God  is doing where we labor for him.  Rejoice with us .    It was great to have Bro and Sis David  Norris with us for a night of teaching.   At the moment we are basing out of Aguas Buenas as we continue to work to reach out to cities that have no churches Some of the ladies from the church in Trinidad  went over to Tobago for the weekend for a time  of refreshing.  God blessed and four were  baptized in Jesus Name and two received the  Holy Ghost.  We are thankful to God for restoring  health and that Kristi was able to teach all three days/nights.    We really need your prayers.   Starting churches in a country that  has churches of many denominations on every corner is a  challenge.  Pray with us that God gives us favor with the people  and leads us to hungry souls.  We appreciate your prayer support. Gary and Kristi Landaw galandaw@aol.com 787-993-1540

Missionaries with UPCI | 8855 Dunn Road | Hazelwood | MO | 63042

~Western District FMD - New Leadership

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Bro. Donald O' Keefe, former missionary to Africa; specifically to the country of Sierra Leone, pastor of the UPC of Bay Point,CA and our District Foreign Missions Director for the last eight years did not allow his name to be considered again for this position at our District Conference. We give honor to this great man of God for his faithful years of service to God and to this district for the cause of Missions. It has been my privilege to serve with him for the last year and a half; he is a man with a great burden for the lost and a deep love for missions and the missionary. Bro. O' Keefe is a man who exemplifies Christian character and conduct, values, honesty and integrity; a man who is esteemed and respected by his brethren.  Bro. O' Keefe, thank you for serving the Western District in this capacity. We love you!


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Bro. Michael Hanks, pastor of the UPC of Ceres, CA was elected to serve in the position of Foreign Missions Director in the Western District. Bro. Hanks has served the Foreign Missions board as Director of Region One for several years. At the time of his election he was presbyter of Section four in the Central Valley and is giving up that position to serve as Director of the Western District Foreign Missions Department. I have known Bro. Hanks for a number of years and we served together on the FM board for approximately one year. He has the work of God at heart, loves missions and will do a great job in his new responsibility. Bro. Hanks - Welcome aboard as the new Director! We love you and are looking forward to a long and prosperous working relationship for the greatest CAUSE on earth - Missions!

Please join me in extending our appreciation and gratitude to Bro. Donald O' Keefe for his untiring years of faithful service to the Foreign Missions Department.

Also, join me in welcoming Bro. Michael Hanks as the newly elected Director of the Foreign Missions Department. We pray God's blessings upon you!

You may send your expressions of gratitude to Bro. O' Keefe at the following e-mail address - dhokeefe@sbcglobal.net...

And you may welcome Bro. Hanks at mwhanks@sbcglobal.net.

Many thanks to all of you for your kindness and thoughtfulness to each of these brethren and to our department. It is much appreciated.

Jerry E. Powell/WD Foreign Missions Department Promotion Director

Don Demyan - Director, Region One
Richard Grandquist - Director, Region Two
John Thomas - Secretary/Director, Region Three
Morgan Underwood, Honorary Director

~And Away We Go!

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AIMers Doug and Nannette Elkins leaving for Latvia 

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, but the light has begun to shine at the end of the tunnel! We had been unable to schedule an exact departure date due to a couple of items that were still in front of us. Thankfully, those were resolved last week, and we are on track to leave May 24th for the next phase of Faith Journey! We are truly excited to be counting down the days until we board the plane for Latvia. There is still much to be done before we leave, so we ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers that all will be accomplished in a timely fashion.

We have been blessed since our relocation back to Bloomington, IN to be able to minister in some awesome churches in the area, and we still have a couple of engagements before we leave. A heartfelt thanks to all of you that have been such a blessing to us during this term of our fund-raising travels.

Doug & Nannette

Website...

Bookmark our website so that you can keep up with all the details of our Journey. Once we are on location, we will be posting pictures and blog entries to keep all of you in touch.

Support...

We are still in need of additional partners to help us reach our budget goal. Please see our support page for details on how you can become an important part of the team!

**Note! I was not ask to post this on behalf of the Elkins family. 

Bro. and Sister Elkins are still in need of support and if you would like to help them please access their website above for instructions. It would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Jerry E.  Powell

~Suriname News Flash #3 - April 2011

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Suriname News Flash

April 2011
Hello!  We hope you and your family are well.  Here are a few events from April.

April 2
Ministers in Training meeting in Paramaribo.

April 7
Trip to Nieuw Nickerie to check on church property. Still awaiting approval to finalize purchase.

April 8
Youth activity in capital city.

April 10
One person received the Holy Ghost and one person baptized in Paramaribo.

April 15-17
Ladies retreats in central and western regions, with Sister Lynn Lamont, guest speaker from Trinidad.  Fifty-six people were in attendance and three received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

April 24
Monthly Bible school class at the central prison.

April 27-28
Annual regional leadership meeting.


Thank you for praying for our family and for the church in Suriname.

The Rhoads Family
Missionaries to Suriname