The group, considered by many to be a cult, reportedly has been in ‘chaos’ since its top leader stepped down
The only thing that seems certain about the controversial International Church of Christ (ICOC) is that the organization is in a state of flux.

A recent leadership change and a widely circulated letter by a British leader critical of the group’s practices are provoking speculation about the organization’s direction and future.

The ICOC, founded in 1979 and also known as the Boston Church of Christ, is considered by many to be a cult. Claiming more than 100,000 members, the ICOC has been banned on at least 40 college campuses. Attention has been focused on the group’s aggressive recruiting practices and its insistence that followers be baptized and discipled by the ICOC. Former members claim the group teaches they are the only ones going to heaven.

However, after the group’s founder Kip McKean stepped down from his leadership position late last year to address self-described “character sins,” a leader from one cult watchdog group described the ICOC as being in “a state of chaos.”

“Nobody is stepping into a clear leadership position,” said James Walker, president of the Watchman Fellowship. “They really haven’t replaced the leadership position that Kip held. They are like a ship without a rudder and are hemorrhaging people.”

ICOC spokesman Al Baird disagreed, telling Charisma the church is a “movement in progress” and that the facts don’t bear out Walker’s statement. “We’re going through transition, not chaos,” he said. “We’re growing, not dwindling.”

Baird described the change as a “maturing of the movement from a one-person to a consensus-style leadership” and “a move in the right direction” toward its stated goal of trying to restore New Testament Christianity. Baird said the feedback he has received overall about the changes has been positive.

The Boston Globe reported that McKean’s resignation came as a result of his daughter’s decision to leave the church. He was forced to resign because of his rule that leaders must step down if their children leave the ministry. He said in 2000 “that when a teen falls away [from the church] … there are some sinful dynamics in that family,” the Globe said.

In addition to McKean’s resignation, a 39-page letter written in February by Henry Kriete, a current leader in the London Church of Christ, and addressed primarily to the leaders of the ICOC, is being widely discussed. The letter has been circulated on the Internet and calls for ICOC leaders to repent and renounce their abusive practices and aberrant teachings.

Michelle Campbell, director and co-founder of REVEAL, an organization aimed at helping former ICOC members, said Kriete’s letter is “very much like that of the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. There was inappropriate behavior and disorder, and he wrote to them in hopes of turning their hearts toward the will of God rather than on the will of man.”

However, Walker said while it could be a genuine attempt to change the legalism in the church, the problem of the movement’s message of salvation by works has yet to be dealt with. But the letter “shows something big is happening,” he said. “Whether it’s for better or worse I don’t know, but I’m optimistic.”

Activist Dave Anderson, founder of www.rightcyberup.org, a Web site
providing recovery information for those affected by the ICOC, said the church’s leadership has apparently become decentralized. “Local leaders seem to have the ability to chart the course,” he told Charisma. “Some are making changes, and some are standing fast, but it’s really hard to say what they’re doing. They’ve lost uniformity.”

Prior to McKean’s resignation he had taken a one-year sabbatical, which according to a November 2001 statement was to address “serious shortcomings in our marriage and family.” McKean is currently on staff at the 9,000-member Los Angeles International Church of Christ.
Jeremy Reynalds

Travel the Road hopes to attract young adults to missionary journeys through ‘reality TV with a purpose’
With the world’s largest Christian TV network as their platform, two 20-something Californians are hoping to attract young adults to venture into the mission field with their “reality TV with a purpose.”

Travel the Road (TTR), which premiered in May on Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), chronicles the extreme expeditions of Timothy Scott and William Decker, who backpacked for 18 months across 40,000 miles and 25 countries, including many that are hostile to the gospel, such as Cambodia, Laos, Ethiopia and China.

Billed as a pioneer of Christian programming that is “like no other show,” the 12-episode series is set in exotic National Geographic locations with Survivor cinematography, combined with the drama of Fear Factor and the excitement of Amazing Race.

But unlike those reality TV programs, TTR’s theme is the Great Commission, as Scott and Decker–with nothing more than their Bibles, passports, pocket money, the clothes on their backs and a video camera–sought to share Jesus with unreached people groups, despite the lack of local contacts and translators.

During their sojourn from September 2000 to February 2002, which entailed travel via trains, boat, bus and a gasoline tanker, the pair filmed their physical and emotional trials, and logistical difficulties. But they also showed accounts of salvation, healing and deliverance from demonic spirits.

“The Scripture says, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel.’ They’ve taken that literally, showing us ministry in action by praying and laying hands on the sick, and ministering to the lost,” said Paul Crouch Jr., TBN’s vice president of program development. “They’re taking the words of Christ and so graphically illustrating it for today’s generation.”

Phil Smethurst is the founder of Overland Missions, a Port Canaveral, Fla.-based ministry that takes young adults on extreme expeditions. He said Scott and Decker–whom he has known for two years–have “a genuine heart for missions.”

“When … on the mission field, they are more concerned with the souls of the people than the actual video production,” said Smethurst, 35. “Many times they lose their best footage because it’s not appropriate for the villagers. … Our vision dovetails real well with their vision. This ministry is definitely birthed of God.”

But Scott and Decker, who live in Hermosa Beach, Calif., took contrasting paths in becoming a modern version of the apostle Paul and Barnabas.

A former intern for Paine Webber, Scott planned to become a stockbroker in 1998 after receiving degrees in biblical studies and business administration from Vision Christian Bible College in Denver. But during a weeklong mission trip to the Czech Republic, Scott–who was 19 at the time–says God burdened him to go overseas and preach the gospel.

Scott, now 25, was good friends with Decker, 29, a professional photographer who attended a Denver art college with Scott’s brother, Mike. Although he wasn’t a Christian at the time, Decker, who was 24 then, accepted Scott’s invitation in 1998 to travel overseas because he was “looking for a change.”

As the pair made their way from New Guinea to Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia, Decker says he saw the Lord “undeniably” working through Scott as he prayed and witnessed to people. Scott eventually led him to the Lord in Bangkok, Thailand.

“From then on, the Lord really moved in my life,” said Decker, who attends several Los Angeles-area charismatic churches with Scott.

After the two came back to the United States in 1999, Decker and Scott launched a TTR Web site to share photographs and accounts of their journey. On their next trip in 2000 they brought a video camera to record their travels.

“Our purpose or plan was never to take a camera to shoot a television series,” said Scott, whose brother, Mike, serves as TTR’s producer. “Our first focus was to minister the gospel.”

Highlights of their adventures included camping out in Ethiopia with lions outside their tent; ministering to a family in the Himalayas; preaching to thousands in Burundi, where hundreds responded to an altar call; and praying for a Korean woman who was healed of altitude sickness in Tibet.

“We both realized that the power of the gospel is sharper than any two-edged sword,” Scott said. “The biggest thing we realized is people everywhere are looking for a union with God.”

After editing 300 hours of footage to seven hours for the series, the duo will hit the road again by September. They say they’ll be gone for at least two years, with scheduled visits to northern China, Mongolia, Siberia and eastern Russia. As with previous journeys, the pair–who receive support from donors–expect their upcoming journey to cost about $12,000 each.
Eric Tiansay

Pastor Marty Harris says his innovative outreach is an “emergency room” for people who have fallen through the cracks
A church for the homeless in Southern California and an outreach shelter to the same in New Mexico are setting examples for ministries to follow and inspiring others to respond to Jesus’ command to help the helpless.

Marty Harris, a psychologist and associate provost at a Christian university in Orange County, Calif., pastors one of the few churches in America whose congregation is mostly homeless.

“I had no experience in this type of thing,” said Harris, who leads the Vineyard Homeless Church in Santa Ana. “I used to be afraid of homeless people. My mom taught me to walk on the other side of the street if you saw one. Now some of my best friends are schizophrenic and homeless. Experiencing a friendship with people like that has changed my world.”

The church often meets outdoors in front of the county courthouse or in a Presbyterian church’s fellowship hall. Ministry teams set up tables and prepare food, and one team goes out to round up a congregation. When the parishioners are gathered—a regular group of more than 100 street people—they worship together, hear a sermon, eat a hot meal and enjoy fellowship.

As much as he can, Harris offers practical help with struggles such as criminal behavior, promiscuity, prostitution and drugs. About a third who attend are truly homeless. Another third are temporarily homeless, and the rest come from nearby apartments.

“Some are actively psychotic before and after services, but not during,” Harris said. “They won’t eat our food because they think it’s full of snakes. They will be hearing voices and yelling, then sit quietly through the service and help clean up. It’s their time with God.”

Harris earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and studied at Cornell University. Helping the homeless was the last thing on his mind when he accepted a professorship at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif. Then he was invited to speak at the church and “fell in love with the people.” He became their pastor four years ago.

For those in homeless ministry, the costs are great, but the benefits are greater. In Albuquerque, N.M., Jeremy Reynalds runs a homeless shelter for men, women and their families. Joy Junction serves as many as 6,000 people a year at its 52-acre campus and is the largest homeless shelter in the state.

“They provide an invaluable service to the city, county and state, all at no expense to the taxpayer,” said Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez in a letter of praise.

A typical stay at Joy Junction can be two to three months, and residents are required to attend Bible studies and participate in other activities essential to reintegration into mainstream society.

“I never had any idea that I would spend my life helping homeless families,” Reynalds said. “While providing meals and a place to stay are obviously an essential part of what we do, the most important thing we do is present Jesus to these folk who come to us for help.”

Back in Santa Ana, Calif., Harris’ homeless church is supported mainly from his own income, with insurance and food as the main expenses. He brings students and fellow faculty members to Sunday services.

“Many [students] are surprised by the number of homeless in Orange County and the prevalence of mental illness,” Harris said. “They realize how much they have and are grateful. Some even find their … calling in the homeless church.”

There are many reasons for people becoming homeless, Harris said. They may have serious physical ailments, drug addictions or a poor work ethic. Many are mentally ill.

Harris’ approach to helping the homeless is as complex as their histories. Some can be transitioned into mainstream society. Others benefit from finding their families or getting care for mental illness. But others seem to defy assistance.

“You can’t force someone to seek medication, and sometimes they are unwanted by their families,” Harris said. “Sometimes you resolve that this is their quality of life and this is how they’ll worship. Maybe my role is not to make them better but to give them a chance to worship and connect with people.

“My hope and dream, of course, is never to have a homeless church—to come and nobody’s there. Our church is not the ideal. It’s the emergency room.”
Joel Kilpatrick

Participation in an annual prayer campaign called ‘Objectif France’ has more than doubled in the last four years
After four years of organized prayer effort, French Christians are seeing their nation of 60 million people change before their eyes. “Many things are changing in the spiritual realms of our country,” prayer campaign coordinator Jacky Minard said, “and we are hearing many testimonies of a new openness to evangelism.”

The “Objectif France” movement–dubbed France 2003 this year–has steadily gained momentum among churches and prayer groups since its initiation in 2000. In a nation where fewer than 1 percent of the population are Christian, the prayer effort has doubled, growing from 700 churches and prayer groups participating to more than 1,500.

Central to the campaign is a comprehensive prayer guide. Written by the movement’s organizers and other French Christian leaders, the guide rallies churches and prayer groups around a common theme each year, inspiring prayer for France. To promote informed intercession, each guide contains historical and
current information with prayer focuses for each of the 40 days.

The 2003 prayer guide, Shine Your Light On Our Nation, featured six sections covering France’s spiritual outlook, the church, public life, the Francophone world, society and prayer for cities.

Some 4,600 prayer guides in the French language were sold this year, an increase of more than 30 percent over 2002, Minard said. A free English version of the guide is accessible online at www.lafrance2003.org.

Throughout the annual campaign, which occurs the 40 days before Easter, churches and prayer groups encourage members to pray individually and to attend corporate prayer gatherings. “We have everything from Protestant Reformed churches to evangelical churches to charismatic Catholic prayer groups involved,” Minard said. “The campaign is becoming well-known throughout the French church.”

The 2002 campaign focused on the transformation of French society–specifically for repentance of France’s transgressions against its African colonies, reforms in the educational system and the reversal of government corruption.

Organizers have documented a number of answered prayers since then:

* In March 2003 French President Jacques Chirac made a historic visit to the former French colony of Algeria and expressed a desire for reconciliation.

*In 2002, a French minister of education asked his cabinet to reintroduce a religious studies curriculum for French schools after a 27-year vacuum of religious studies in the educational system.

* Perhaps most encouraging, after a 20-year hold on the government by the left-wing majority, the right wing took the National Assembly last year.

“With a Catholic-Christian heritage in the right wing you could say there is some fear of God there,” Minard said.

Since the 2002 elections, France has experienced a major transformation in the way the government views religion, specifically Christianity, Minard added. Before then, the government looked upon evangelical churches with the same suspicion as religious sects.

“Officials here recognize the failure of ‘republican’ values to change behavior and feel that only religion can give us a moral base,” Minard said. “They think the only religion that can really bring development is Christianity and that the most dynamic Christian churches are evangelical.”

For John Beynon, a British missionary with World Horizons who conceived the idea for the prayer campaign, these are signs of the power of prayer. “When you get the majority of the body of Christ in a nation to fast and pray, God answers, and it starts to change the country,” he said.

Beynon and Minard hope to see more changes such as these resulting from this campaign, which they plan to continue through 2005. Beynon said: “We want to keep praying until there has been a total national transformation.”
Jeff Slaughter in Lille, France

Ron Phillips says his Fresh Oil ministerial fellowship is growing as the movement gains reluctant acceptance
Southern Baptist affiliates of a charismatic network of churches known as Fresh Oil represent just 1 percent of the denomination’s 43,000 congregations. But Fresh Oil’s leader says there is a grudging acceptance developing within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Ron Phillips acknowledges that many Baptists frown on spiritual gifts, and some state conventions remain hostile to charismatics. However, because the denomination supports local church autonomy, many think if a congregation supports mission work that it should be left alone, he explained.

Regardless of where fellow Baptists stand, Fresh Oil members are no longer concerned with debating the issue. “In Tennessee there is openness and acceptance, not disagreement,” said Phillips, pastor of Central Baptist Church in suburban Chattanooga, Tenn. “But we’re past rubbing each other’s wounds. We’re moving on to missions.”

Now five years old, the network has cooperated with both the SBC and independent agencies to help build five churches overseas. Attendees at March’s annual conference donated $30,000 to overseas missions.

With his services aired weekly on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Phillips’ outspoken nature rankles cessationists within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Yet they can’t get upset with his church’s annual gifts of nearly $200,000 to regional and national SBC causes.

Central Baptist supports the convention because it agrees with its evangelistic spirit. And despite disapproval of charismatic gifts by the convention’s domestic mission agency, the scene is different overseas.

“At least half the international mission force operates in the power of the Spirit,” Phillips said. “They can’t work without it. I’ve been on the field and seen evidence of it.”

Some of the 450 Baptist pastors (an overwhelming majority of the group’s 500 affiliated ministers) who identify with Fresh Oil report mixed reactions to their stance.

Dwain Miller of Second Baptist Church in El Dorado, Ark., said no state or regional official has ever complained about his emphasis on the fullness of the Spirit. Nor is his embrace of the movement as controversial as it was five years ago.

“I preach in a lot of fundamental churches, and we agree to disagree,” Miller said. “Fresh Oil is a fellowship of hungry and thirsty people who are tired of the same old thing.”

The annual conference gives laypersons a chance to see what a church looks like where the glory of God is present, he added.

At this year’s meeting, a member of his church–who previously had a vision of God’s glory flowing into Second Baptist–interceded for Miller. In addition to having a similar vision, he sensed that April 27 represented a key turning point.

The evening of April 27, a traditional Sunday evening service ran for three hours as numerous people confessed and repented of wrongdoing, the pastor said.

“It’s an old-fashioned spiritual awakening and revival,” said Miller, who has seen record numbers accept Christ this year. “I see God pouring out His glory.”

Two other SBC pastors who departed for nondenominational churches say they now feel much freer to move in the Spirit. Dwain Kitchens’ views on the Holy Spirit changed after his son’s radical conversion in Teen Challenge. The following year the pastor encountered the Spirit at a Jim Cymbala conference in Tampa.

Although only a small contingent at his church in Florida resisted his openness to spiritual gifts, last year Kitchens moved to Cathedral in the Pines in Beaumont, Texas.

“I was 46 and wanted to go out and flap my wings a little bit,” the pastor said. “I knew that would cause trouble. Most guys my age and younger would say the gifts are valid, but they aren’t embracing it. I knew some pastors who were, but they were certainly in the minority.”

An Alabama pastor who left the SBC in 1999 sees many Baptists driving up to an hour to attend his charismatic church, which draws more than 1,100 worshipers a week. Eddie Lawrence of Faith Tabernacle in Florence, Ala., thinks they are drawn by God’s presence.

“What I see happening is spearheaded by worship,” Lawrence said. “This seems to be what God is using to bring breakthrough. As people experience the Spirit of God and feel the Father’s presence, there’s nothing that can replace that.”

Regardless of opposition within the SBC, John Kilpatrick senses a mighty move of the Spirit in Fresh Oil. The pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God, home of the world-renowned Pensacola Revival, Kilpatrick was one of several charismatic speakers at the March meetings.

When he spoke, many people hit the floor, crying and asking God for forgiveness. Kilpatrick said whenever he talks about God’s presence, the Holy Spirit invariably comes.

“I don’t know enough about the background of Southern Baptists to gauge the hunger,” Kilpatrick said. “I only know when I was there, it felt a lot like Brownsville.”
Ken Walker

Pentecostal missionaries in Uganda began the ministry to help children orphaned by AIDS and war
With exotic African rhythms sounding in the background, 11-year-old Benon Kalinimi smiled, sang and danced as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Had he not told his testimony, the audience at First United Methodist Church in Phoenix likely would never have thought the young Ugandan had been orphaned or that his future once looked bleak.

After both of his parents died of AIDS, Benon ended up among Uganda’s estimated 1.1 million orphaned children, and was forced to hustle daily searching for food in the streets of the capital city, Kampala. That was before he encountered Watoto Child Care Ministries.

Today he and 17 other children, ages 6 to 13, are traveling throughout the United States spreading a message of joy and hope through song and dance as part of the Watoto Children’s Choir. With a newfound faith in Christ, Benon told the audience at a recent Concert of Hope that he wants to become a doctor “to provide free health care to the poor people in Uganda.” He credits his involvement with the choir as a major turning point in his young life.

“This experience changes their lives like you cannot believe,” said Timothy Skinner, who co-wrote all of the songs for the choir with his brother, James. “Kids who were introverted, shy and lacked self-confidence learn to work together, get to see the world and [gain] a sense of achievement.”

The ministry was founded in 1991 by Skinner’s parents, Canadian missionaries Gary and Marilyn Skinner, to care for the thousands of Ugandan children orphaned by AIDS and civil war. Today it has bases in the United States, Canada and England, and since 1994 has been sending the choir around the world to minister free of charge, using a blend of contemporary gospel, African rhythm and dance. The children audition to be in the choir and are allowed to participate in only one tour.

Timothy Skinner, who is the choir coordinator, said the tour helps to increase awareness about the AIDS crisis in Uganda and raise money for the Watoto (translated “the children”) ministry through love offerings during concerts.

Calling Watoto a “spiritual discipleship program,” Skinner said the 40 children selected each year for the choir go through a four-month training period during which they learn English, dance choreography, social etiquette and teamwork. When on tour, the children participate in daily Bible studies.

Though the choir now has a robust schedule, its first U.S. tour was a step of faith. After traveling to the United States, Gary Skinner–who moved from Toronto in 1983 to plant 8,000-member Kampala Pentecostal Church, which is affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada–purchased a used bus and literally booked the tour out of the yellow pages.

Today there are enough invitations to support two choirs,with one touring the United States and another in Australia. The choirs spend six months on the road at a cost of $50,000 each. Sales of T-shirts, CDs, videos and jewelry, along with offerings and sponsorships, fund the tours. When the tour is completed, the children return to Watoto’s children’s villages and remain under the direction of the ministry.

Watoto raises money to build single-family homes for the orphans. So far, 60 homes, at a cost of roughly $10,000 each, have been built in three villages. Each house accommodates eight children and a housemother, who looks after the children.

Nearly 1,500 children receive care through the ministry, though the Skinners hope to one day help as many as 30,000. Future plans include building a secondary school, technical training college, retreat center and children’s camp.

“Our goal is to equip these precious children with the essential moral values and life skills,” Gary Skinner said. “That will enable them to make a significant and lasting impact on the future of their country.”
Bruce Goolsby in Phoenix

---

For more information about Watoto Child Care Ministries, write to P.O. Box 1320, Lutz, FL 33548-1320, call (813) 948-4343, or visit www.watoto.com.

Kidnapped by Muslim militants in the Philippines, the widowed survivor says Christians ‘need to show we care’
An American missionary whose husband died in a gun battle ending the couple’s yearlong ordeal as hostages of Islamic extremists says that only God’s love can stem the rising tide of religious violence in the world.

“We need to find ways to defuse the raging resentment and hatred that fuels ‘holy war’ and introduce a God who does more than demand rituals–He truly loves us,” Gracia Burnham has urged.

“They need to know what it feels like to be forgiven. They need us [Christians] to show we care,” she wrote in In the Presence of My Enemies, recently released by Tyndale House Publishers.

The 309-page book tells the story of the New Tribes Missions (NTM) workers’ harrowing experiences in the Philippine jungle, after they were abducted by members of the Abu Sayyaf, a group with links to Osama bin Laden.

Missionary pilot Martin Burnham died June 7, 2002, when he was accidentally shot by Filipino troops attempting a rescue. Gracia Burnham was wounded in the thigh, but recovered and is now back in the United States, where she is raising the couple’s three children.

“People in today’s world will not pay attention to Christians because we can explain our theology in crystal-clear terms,” she wrote. “They will not esteem us because we give to charity or maintain a positive outlook on life. What will impress them is genuine love in our hearts.”

Burnham tells how her 43-year-old pilot husband was a tower of strength as they endured sickness, danger and hunger–at one stage reduced to eating leaves. They were caught in more than a dozen firefights between their abductors and would-be rescuers, but he encouraged her to continue to trust God, as she struggled with depression and doubt.

“I hope nobody calls me a hero because I know the facts about the bitterness that blazed in my heart that year,” she admitted in her book. “I still have lots of maturing to do. … We all have pockets of darkness inside ourselves. Recognizing how much I carry inside of me was one of the most difficult parts of my entire ordeal.”

In her account, Burnham–who was featured in several major network TV interviews in May–recalled how her husband shared his faith with some of the guerillas. She revealed that in one of his journal entries near the end of their captivity he wrote: “I really feel like I’m going to die here. … God, please give us strength for the journey.”

Although she knew she was supposed to forgive her captors “the truth is that I often hated them,” she wrote. “I despised them not only for snatching me away from my family … but also for forcing me to see a side of myself I didn’t like.”

Burnham said that she later came to accept that what happened was “no one’s fault except that of sinful human beings, the kind we came to the Philippines to help.” She said that she refused to let what happened “dampen my joy or detract from the love that God means to flourish in my heart.”

She wrote: “Some people in America want me to be offended and angry and bitter with the [U.S.] government for not doing this or that [to secure our release]. Others want me to be depressed and morose–the poor, whimpering widow. I can’t be either of those.”

Burnham–who has launched a foundation in her husband’s name to raise money for mission aviation and tribal mission projects–says she wrote the book to “honor the legacy of a wise and godly man who kept me going, trail after trail, gun battle after gun battle,” and resolves to “keep living in the embrace of God’s gladness and love for as long as He gives me breath.”

Although NTM refused to give in to ransom demands, some of the couple’s relatives arranged a $300,000 payment–though it did not result in the pair’s release.

The Burnhams’ ordeal was not the first time that the Sanford, Fla.-based organization–which focuses on missionary efforts among tribal groups–became the focus of a worldwide prayer campaign.

Three NTM workers were abducted by armed guerillas in Panama in 1993, sparking an eight-year effort to learn of their fate. It was not until two years ago that mission leaders were able to confirm that the men had been killed in 1996, shot by their abductors during a Colombian military raid.
Andy Butcher

Ministries in Missouri and Michigan offer healing prayer and medical care at unique new outreach facilities

Churches in Kansas City, Mo., and Lansing, Mich., have opened health and healing centers to treat body and soul.

World Revival Church, home of the Smithton Outpouring, celebrated its seventh year by opening the House of Hope and Healing, a lodge-style retreat where people suffering from illness can relax and receive healing prayer.

“It’s a place of dignity and understanding, and it’s free and open 24 hours a day,” pastor Steve Gray said. “It’s about helping people get free of the circumstances or diseases that hold them hostage. We counterbalance the clinical feeling you get in a doctor’s office with an atmosphere of warmth, where people can experience the healing power of God.”

The house is the next step for this revival church, which seven years ago experienced a move of the Holy Spirit that has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors. The church moved to Kansas City in 2000 and is adding community service to its mission.

“Our church was transformed by the power of God, but I’ve always had in mind the sick, hurting, frightened people in our community,” Gray said. “They get an X-ray or a bad diagnosis and ask, ‘Where do I go now?’ We want to be the place they come to.

“This is a season of teaming up with our neighbors to make this city a better place. … Yes, our revival services are still exciting and life-changing, but we have to take what’s in our hearts and bring it to the community. There are times to blow in with the power of God, but there are also times to build bridges.”

In Lansing, the multimillion-dollar Gilead Healing Center has a similar approach. “We want greater Lansing to be the healthiest, happiest place on Earth,” said Dave Williams, pastor of 4,000-member Mount Hope Church Assembly of God.

The healing center has a two-pronged method: One half of the large facility is given to prayer, counseling and casting out demons. The other side is a medical center with $2 million in medical and dental equipment, and a full-time doctor.

“The center is not a substitute for regular medical care, but a supplement to it,” Williams said. “It provides a faith-filled atmosphere to encourage healing in the entire man.”

Mount Hope launched Gilead in part because of a rash of adverse drug reactions that resulted in several deaths in their church. “I thought, there’s got to be a way to keep God’s people healthy,” Williams said. “So many ministers don’t believe it’s God’s will to heal anymore. You can’t minister in faith like that.”

The church studied the ministries of Kathryn Kuhlman, Aimee Semple McPherson, Maria Woodworth Etter and John G. Lake, who pioneered the concept of healing rooms.

“The first approach is always ministering in prayer and faith,” Williams said. “The second approach is alternative medicine and natural therapies that are gentler to people than some of the medications that can cause more harm than good. The third approach is conventional medical care.”

The clinic offers free workshops on exercise, nutrition and divine healing. Doctors and nurses volunteer, and one doctor will have her practice on site. There are healing and counseling rooms, nine medical examination rooms, an X-ray room and a fully equipped dental room.

In Kansas City, the House of Hope and Healing overlooks a wooded hillside on the church’s forested spread of land. An impressive lobby opens up to a 38-foot limestone fireplace and a cozy sitting room with pine cabinets. Living room-style prayer rooms ring the lobby.

At the grand opening, the church hosted hundreds of guests, a state senator and former Kansas City mayor, a city councilman and the chaplain from a local hospital. Soon after the ceremony, the house was already in use as a woman prayed with two volunteers.

Gray and Williams are convinced God wants to heal people through prayer and practical lifestyle changes. “Healing happens when God and man work together to make people better, which is why we’re adding lifestyle ministries here–cholesterol screenings and fitness instruction,” Gray said.

But the main ingredient at both places is hope in the power and love of God. “Healing, helping power is here,” Gray said. “And everyone is invited to come and experience it.”
Joel Kilpatrick in Kansas City, Mo.

The death of his son in a DUI accident led David Mallory to double his efforts to reach alcoholics
When a drunken driver slammed into a group of teens standing alongside a central Florida highway after their church bus broke down, David Mallory experienced one of the darkest days of his life.

His 16-year-old son, Joshua, along with three other teens and a chaperone from his church, was killed in the collision, leaving Mallory to question his life’s work.

Pastor of First Assembly of God in Naples, Fla., Mallory wondered whether or not his son would be alive if not for his two ministries–a bus ministry for children and an outreach to drug addicts and alcoholics. “It was as though a voice said to me: ‘You fool. If it weren’t for the combination of the two ministries, Joshua would still be alive,'” Mallory said.

But Mallory said he shook the voice from his head by remembering what he and his wife, Becky, did when they got married. On their knees, the couple dedicated their lives to the glory of God. Mallory said the lyrics to “I Surrender All” came to mind, and he realized God was asking him if he meant those words when he sang them at his wedding.

So instead of being hardened by the irony in his son’s death, Mallory increased his efforts to reach addicts with the forgiving, healing power of Jesus Christ.

A decade later, he is building a $100 million, 70-acre community in east Naples dedicated to helping rehabilitate people with drug and alcohol addictions. The facility will have 1,100 beds for addicts, the homeless and unwed mothers, and another 600 apartments for retired ministers and missionaries.

Developing a ministry to addicts has not come without a struggle. Mallory has had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with federal wetland permits. He’s spent thousands of dollars to meet county zoning and development codes. And the church must repay $1.2 million they received from a man later convicted of swindling investors out of millions.

But Mallory is convinced of the importance of the Campus of Care, which currently can house up to 40 recovering addicts in modular homes. He knows God can change lives; he sees success stories every day.

Antony Diehl, 40, drank so much he was on the verge of death before turning to the campus for help. “Now I feel whole,” Diehl said, adding that he wants to become a missionary when he completes the program. “So I can go on and help others.”

Literally hundreds of testimonies have emerged from Mallory’s work. By the time the buildings are completed, the facility will house the Life Academy, a live-in drug and alcohol rehabilitation program; Neighborhood House, a homeless shelter; Alpha House for those in transition; and MUM’s, the Ministry to Unwed Mothers.

The ministry’s effectiveness has caught the attention of people in high places. Local judges often offer convicted drug and alcohol offenders the option of going to jail or to Mallory’s Campus of Care. There is a waiting list for the recovery program, which has an 80 percent success rate for those who complete it. But Mallory needs millions of dollars more to bring the vision into full fruition.

“There are so many that desperately need the programs offered, we [need financial partners] to make the completed facility a reality,” he said.

The man convicted of killing Joshua and the four others is serving five life sentences and has become a Christian since the incident, Mallory said. He wrote Mallory and his wife a letter, saying that when he gets to heaven he will thank Joshua. Had he died that night, the man wrote, he would have spent eternity separated from God.

Mallory wonders aloud about the value people place on restoring works of art. His restoration work is on people. “These are lives,” he said. “The greatest work of art is a man’s soul.”
Denise Zoldan in Naples, Fla.

The following reports were released during the last month by Charisma News Service. Go to our Web site at www.charismanews.com to subscribe to the free weekday service or to access full-length versions of each day’s stories. The site also includes a search engine so you can access archived news.

GROUP ISSUES ‘REBUKE’ ON ANTI-MUSLIM REMARKS
Pledging to heal rifts with Muslims that threaten missionary work overseas, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) condemned remarks by some high-profile Christian leaders that disparaged Islam. In a meeting convened May 7 with the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative Christian group, the NAE said the derisive comments endangered Christians working in the Muslim world, strained already tense interfaith relations and fed the perception that the war on terrorism is a Christian crusade against Islam, the Associated Press reported. NAE president Ted Haggard suggested holding a meeting with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines, who all criticized Islam or Muhammad last year.

BAPTIZING GAYS GETS CHURCH EXPELLED>
McGill Baptist Church in Concord, N.C., was expelled from the Cabarrus Baptist Association for baptizing two gay men in April, The Charlotte Observer reported. Pastor Steve Ayers said many in the congregation knew the couple was gay when the baptism took place and that it was held because it’s not up to him or the church to decide who deserves salvation. But Randy Wadford, missions director for the association, said baptism is only for those who agree to repent of their sins. In a letter to the church, the group said: “To allow individuals into the membership of a local church without evidence or testimony of true repentance is to condone the old lifestyle.”

PARENTS UNINVOLVED IN KIDS’ SPIRITUAL TRAINING
According to a May 6 study released by the Barna Research Group, 85 percent of parents with children under 13 believe they have the primary responsibility for teaching their children about religious beliefs and spiritual issues. But related research revealed that a majority of parents do not spend any time during a typical week discussing spiritual matters or studying religious materials with their children. The survey of 1,010 adults found that although about two out of three parents of children under 12 attend religious services at least once a month and generally take their children with them, most are willing to let their church provide all of their youngsters’ spiritual training.

‘CHRISTIAN’ AIDS BOOKLET PULLED
Florida health officials have pulled a Christian-themed AIDS brochure because the American Civil Liberties Union complained that the state-funded materials contained biblical messages. The 16-page booklet titled A Christian Response to AIDS included pictures of Jesus, quotes from the Scriptures and referred people to Bible passages, the Associated Press reported. The pamphlet had been in circulation for about a decade, and was used in several states. It was yanked from circulation in April after the state health department’s lawyers reviewed the material. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed a bill May 1 that promotes abstinence in fighting AIDS worldwide and protects religious groups from being forced to distribute condoms.

Singer Jaci Velasquez Defends Film Role

Jaci Velasquez defended her involvement in a movie that upset some fans for its racy content. “To put your minds at rest, no I haven’t left my personal faith in God, and I don’t ever intend to,” she said in a message at her Web site. Velasquez posted the comment after eyebrows were raised over her Hollywood debut in Chasing Papi. Released April 18, the film features the singer as one of three women–in one scene wearing skimpy underwear–involved with the same man. The movie is rated PG “for mild sensuality and language” and opened to lukewarm reviews.

Groups Decry Hiring of ‘Radical Feminist’

Pro-family Christian groups urged supporters to refuse to back the Young Women’s Christian Association after the group hired well-known feminist Patricia Ireland as its leader. They say the former president of the National Organization for Women is not a role model of whom most parents would approve. American Family Association chairman Don Wildmon said Ireland would “incorporate her left-wing values into the mission.”

Bryn Jones Dies

Bryn Jones, 63, a well-respected charismatic leader with an apostolic ministry based in England, died of unknown reasons May 1 during a ministry trip to the San Diego area. Jones founded Coventry-based Covenant Ministries International (CMI), which has several U.S. congregations and works with churches in Africa. Jones was editor of Restoration magazine, a prophetic publication published by CMI. Born in Aberdare, Wales, Jones is survived by his wife, Edna, and four grown children.

---

If you have a news tip for Charisma News Service, e-mail us at [email protected].