Standing Together: Global Gathering Coming June 2013
By Doris Dale
A few weeks ago, my pastor made the following comments: “Friendship with God is available to all—open to all. When our story is woven with God’s , we cannot know how far it will go!” Little did I know that when I attended the first World Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa, in 1983 that my world was to change and be expanded many times over. Today I share with my eleven grandchildren the fact that there is hardly a place in this wonderful world where I could not go and call a friend.
In the Church of God Ministries building a few weeks ago, I was informed of two longtime friends who were visiting from Brazil; I immediately made my way and received warm hugs from Mario and Natalia Hort. They shared with me how God was at work in their extensive ministries. And about a month ago, a call came from retired missionaries Sydney and Jean Johnson inviting me to share lunch with two very dear friends from Meghalaya, India—Amos and Semper Moore. Brother Amos indicated they had been in the States for their son’s wedding and could not return home without seeing their friends in Anderson, Indiana.
In the last several weeks, I have joined in prayer for my dear friends Leaderwell and Rivulet Pohsngap as Riv has struggled with a serious illness. The global Church of God wept together as news came of the death of my dear brother Franco Santonocito, a giant in the faith and a leader of the church in Italy. When I speak with my brother Rainer Klinner and his wife Monica, I am always encouraged by his enthusiasm and commitment to ministry in Germany as well as many places in Asia. One of my treasures is a beautiful dress from my dear brother Edward Nkansah, serving the church in Ghana, West Africa. Just a few weeks ago, word came from Jamaica that my precious sister Claire Gayle was celebrating her hundredth birthday, many of those years given to the ministry to women and the expanding of the Church of God in Jamaica.
So, you see my life has been expanded beyond my belief because my life with God has been woven with so many dear brothers and sisters. And I have only named a few. My joy at global friendship goes on and on, well beyond the space here. Many of you reading this can add your name to the list where God has blessed our lives with global friendship.
Next year, June 22–25, 2013, here in Anderson, Indiana, you will have opportunity to continue, or begin, your journey of global friendships. “Standing Together…Being the Body of Christ” will be the theme around which three major worship experiences, one plenary session, and one planned opportunity to connect with global friends will be offered each day. There will be many other opportunities to form friendships—over a bit of food shared, a prayer time together, a conversation about your family, how God is at work in your community, and where he is leading us as the Church of God in the coming decade.
Don’t be left out! Register in the big white tent today! A minimal amount of $15 registration will assure you this rich opportunity to interact with your unique and beautiful global family.
