Reports from PEN Newsletter July 2006
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A word from the PEN Executive Committee: I trust that you are feeling the presence of the Lord in your service for Him in these crucial days. If you are feeling like I am, you will agree that the days are long but what a joy to see the hand of God touching lives for all of eternity! Several of you have told me that you have witnessed more visible results in the past few months than in many years prior to this. Hallelujah! About a year ago, the PEN Exec Committee made a decision regarding our annual PEN eSchool. After a number of years of successful training events led directly by the PEN Network, we would begin to put more emphasis on connecting with partners who are already holding training events. This would allow the Network to move towards more collaborative evangelism projects. At the present time these collaborative events are in the formation stages and while we do not have a lot of details to share at the present time we can tell you of a great training opportunity that we are encouraging our PEN members to consider. This fall NGA is holding an Innovative Evangelism Conference in October in Portland, OR. The Proclamation Evangelism Network is partnering with NGA and we encourage you to use this as your 2006 PEN eSchool training event. It will be great opportunity to gain some valuable training, as well as great connections and encouragement. You can read more in the following report. You might want to also check out the PEN Directory site. A number of you have officially joined the network and are listed in the directory. Others of you will want to do so. If you wish to be included in this directory, please contact us thru pen@wheaton.edu so that we may be able to send you an application form or download the forms from the web through this link. May the hand of the Lord be strong through your service in His glorious name! Dallas Anderson NGA Innovative Evangelism Conference To register to the conference: visit http://www.NGATeam.org
click on "Conferences," " Innovative Evangelism Conference,"
and scroll down to Registration Information. You may also register online. Metro Maryland Festival Oriole Park at Camden Yards will heat up this summer when high-energy musical artists, 648 churches, and Franklin Graham come together for the Metro Maryland Festival, held Friday-Sunday, July 7-9. Evangelist Billy Graham is also planning to participate, health permitting. "When leaders in the community asked me to join them in bringing this event to Maryland, I wanted to come and tell anyone that feels desperate and without hope that we all have a chance for a new start in life," said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and president of the international relief organization Samaritan's Purse. "I know that Baltimore has also been on my father's heart and he too wants to encourage this area." (Courtesy: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, www.bgea.org.
For more information on Metro Maryland Festival, visit http://www.grahamfestival.org/baltimore/.
For general information on Billy Graham Crusades and Franklin Graham Festivals,
visit Group from Wheaton College and
BGC Staff Lead Dozens Nine Wheaton College students and four Wheaton College or BGC staff members
attended the April 21-23 Gulf Coast Franklin Graham Festival in
Mobile, Alabama. The group members led thirty people to faith in Christ
during the festival. For many of the students, it was their first time
acting as counselors at a major crusade. During the three-day festival
more than nine hundred people made a decision for Christ. More Wheaton
College students will participate in the upcoming Metro Maryland Festival
in July and Central Canada Franklin Graham Festival in October.
On Saturday, May 13 thousands of people were greeted on the Courthouse Square by clowns, puppets, extreme skaters, an array of inflatables and most of all by hundreds of local believers (who volunteered at the event from over 60 partnering churches). Throughout the day thousands attended the Festival seeing performances by such notable Christian artists as Michael English and Jaci Velasquez, as well as a line up featuring many up and coming Christians acts. Throughout the day, Keith Cook preached three powerful messages inviting the lost to come to Christ. Hundreds responded! Praise God for a wonderful Festival!! (Courtesy: Jimmy Earle, Keith Cook Evangelistic Association, On the Go Ministries. For more information on the Springfield Festival, please visit www.onthego.org.) Asian Advanced Institute Thanks so much for praying for us through our Second Asian Advanced Institute of Itinerant Evangelists. God has been at work preparing the hearts of each evangelist and making miraculous provisions so that many could attend. It has been such a blessing to have Tim Robnett (Director, Next Generation Alliance, Luis Palau Association) and Lon Allison (Billy Graham Association) come to share their hearts with our evangelists. God challenged each of us. A few admitted that they had got distracted from their calling as evangelists. As the Word was taught, their calling has been clarified. Many had not learned how to take the next step in their growth as evangelists. That is, adding a team, raising finances, starting a board, or networking with another evangelistic organizations etc. Seminars included Teaching God's Word on the spiritual gift of the evangelist,
how to train others, practical issues to do with evangelism, the content
of the Gospel, how to preach the Gospel, the role of the evangelist toward
spouse and family, and much more. (Courtesy: Kumar Abraham, Good News Evangelistic Assoc. For more information on upcoming events, please visit http://heralds.org/ or email kumar@heralds.org. Steve Wingfield Leads Relief Effort Steve Wingfield continues to serve as the Chairman of The Valley Responds, a local (Harrisonburg - Rockingham County, Virginia) organization formed to assist the adopted community of Long Beach, Mississippi to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Under Steve's leadership, the long-term relief effort has received over $205,000 in cash donations and has, in turn, distributed funds to a variety of organizations and agencies in the affected area. Steve helped negotiate the donation of modular homes to the stricken community. In addition, "in-kind" donations of other items such as vehicles, building materials, toys, school supplies, carpet, kitchen and homemaking essentials, large quantities of food, and much more have been made. Hundreds of volunteers from the Harrisonburg area have made the trip to Long Beach to make a physical difference in the rebuilding initiative. In addition, a local aviation company has donated thousands of miles of flights to the cause. The SWEA tent was set up in Long Beach last September to serve as a gymnasium, mess hall, and more as needed. (Courtesy: Greg Culbertson, Steve Wingfield Evangelistic
Association, Hogs Visit Florida
Federal Prison One of the Harley riders was Ken, from the Everglades chapter of Fellowship Riders, an OSL collaborator. He says the visit was a real eye-opener and an experience he will never forget. "We found ourselves in the midst of several hundred well-behaved, respectful inmates, eager to see the motorcycles and to share Christian fellowship." Said Ken, "Many conversations were initially about the bikes but turned to God. Quite a few guys that we talked with were already Christians, yet they still yearned to hear more. When it was over, we prayed with them and almost every one that caught our eye on their way out made it a point to thank us for being there and bringing the bikes in. You could tell, without a doubt, that they were truly sincere about this." Operation Starting Line, a collaboration of local volunteers and some
30 national faith-based organizations, offers ongoing program opportunities
to prisoners including life-skills training, Bible studies, and mentoring.
These programs are based on proven research showing that faith-based prison
programs have a significant impact in reducing the number of inmates who
will return to prison after their release. Since its inception on Easter
Sunday 2000, Operation Starting Line has conducted more than 3,000 in-prison
events that have reached inmates at more than 800 correctional facilities.
During the March Florida campaign over 6,400 men and women attended
OSL events with 2,300 either making a 1st time decision to accept Christ,
making a recommitment to Christ or signing up for on-going Bible correspondence
studies. Upcoming Notable Proclamation
Evangelism Events July 7-9, 2006 July 17-21, 2006 July 22-31, 2006 July 23-30, 2006 September 19-21, 2006 October 7-8, 2006 September 21-23, 2006 October 20-22,
2006 October 24-27, 2006 Steve Wingfield Evangelistic Association 2006 SWEA's first festival of the year took place from May 10-14 under the ministry tent in Jennersville, Pennsylvania. The Steve Wingfield Festival at Jennersville featured a diverse blend of musical styles over the five evenings. Artists Nicole C. Mullen, the Crabb Family, Tait, Hispanic favorites E. Trio de Hoy and crusade veteran Dennis Agajanian headlined the programs. Chester County and the surrounding area saw 170 of its people make decisions for Christ during the festival events. From June 21-25, the people of the Martinsburg, Pennsylvania area will experience Encounter Festival with Steve Wingfield on the grounds of North Bedford High School in Loysburg. The festival will feature musical guests Casting Pearls, the Brian McSee Praise Band, Carla Karst and John Schmid. Pray that God will prepare hearts and change lives as the Gospel is presented. During the Labor Day weekend, BeachFest will be held in Long Beach, Mississippi. Steve's involvement with The Valley Responds has inspired him to conduct an outreach of hope in the still devastated Gulf Coast town. Jars of Clay, Ricky Skaggs, and Nicole C. Mullen will headline the festival. This fall, the fourth outreach of the year will be SWEA's first festival held in a state capital. First State Fallfest in Dover, Delaware will be held at the Delaware State University Football Arena from October 6-8. (Courtesy: Greg Culbertson, Steve Wingfield Evangelistic Association. More information on ministry events can be accessed at www.stevewingfield.org, or you can contact the ministry at 1-800-729-2239.) BETTER TOGETHER!Extend The Impact Conference-Learn, See, Do! Thirteen individuals representing eight ministries converged at the Luis Palau Orlando Festival to submerge themselves into the workings of doing festival-style evangelism. In the mornings the group spent time reviewing a practical manual put together by NGA to learn more of the "How To's" of festival-style evangelism, while the rest of the day was spent visiting the different areas, seeing how things are done and engaging in personal evangelism by counseling decision-makers. The goal of Extend The Impact was primarily to build stronger relationships between ministries by doing evangelism together at a Palau festival and to give up and coming ministries a behind the scenes look at how the Palau team does evangelism. Our desire was to see these guys and girls take what they learned and grow their own ministries, plus connect them with other ministries that they could partner with. Looking back, that's exactly what has happened." Brad Butcher-Assistant Director, Next Generation Alliance, President-Passion 4 People International. ONGOING IMPACT Since Extend The Impact Orlando, six of the ministries that attended have found ways to partner together to do festival-style evangelism in cities like Ft. Lauderdale and Gainesville, Florida, Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Charleston, South Carolina. (Courtesy Carey Dow, Next Generation Alliance, Luis Palau Evangelistic Assoc. For more information or to register for our upcoming NGA conference, visit www.NGATeam.org, email nga@palau.org, or call 1-503-614-1526) National Conference On Christian Apologetics Attention evangelists and all outreach-minded Christians! People today need apologetics! The National Conference on Christian Apologetics will be held on November 10-11, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina. "Rarely-if ever-have so many renowned speakers and scholars gathered for one event!" This conference provides the opportunity for teens and adults to get equipped with seminars from world renowned leaders, including: Josh McDowell (Evidence That Demands A Verdict), Ravi Zacharias (Can Man Live Without God?), Lee Strobel (The Case For Christ), Mark Mittelberg (Becoming A Contagious Christian, host of many CCN telecasts), Erwin Lutzer (The Davinci Deception, pastor, Moody Church), Gary Habermas (Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?), Norman Geisler (prolific author, called "one of the greatest living defenders of the Christian faith"), and much more! Islam. The Davinci Code. The "Gospel of Judas." Wicca. Jehovah'sWitnesses. Homosexuality. New-Age mysticism. Secularism. Mormonism. Atheism. Pantheism. Agnosticism. Buddhism. Hinduism. Politically-correct universalism. Naturalism. Hedonism. Postmodernism. What do all of these things have in common? These beliefs and behaviors are competing for the hearts and minds of people. Those who have embraced these world-views live near, work alongside, go to school amongst, and interact with your students and group members. Such people who may be religious but lost, are souls that Jesus commanded His church to reach with the message of the Gospel. (Courtesy: Alex McFarland, Teen Apologetics Director, Focus On The Family. For more information, visit www.nationalapologeticsconference.com, or call (704) 847-5600 to register to discover how CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS empowers adults, college students, and teens to live their faith and, share confidently.) Need Ideas For Reaching Seekers
And Skeptics? The Da Vinci Code: Who is Jesus, really? Was he a mere mortal-as The
Da Vinci Code claims-or something more? Consider the evidence on this
controversial subject and decide for yourself. Please visit the following
website for information on the Da Vinci Code and other current issues:
http://amyfound.org/writing_resources/amy_internet_syndicate (Courtesy: Rusty Wright, For more information, visit www.probe.org/Rusty Website resources available free of charge. Please email RustyWright@aol.com for reprint permissions.) School of Discipleship Meeting Physical and Spiritual
Needs with Mind of Christ (Courtesy: Kumar Abraham, Good News Evangelistic Assoc. For more information on upcoming events, please visit http://heralds.org/ or email kumar@heralds.org. Be Ready to Answer Questions About
the Da Vinci Code Please remember the book is listed in the "FICTION" section
of the New York Times best seller list. That should tell us all we need
to know. It is a work of fiction disguised as a historical book, and nothing
more. Dimitri Severis, gave an interesting commentary when he said, "The
whole point of a novel is to create a scenario whereby the reader is addicted
to the story and becomes involved with it as well as enjoy it so much
that they "advertise" the book through word of mouth. In order
to do so, Dan Brown touched on a taboo subject, exaggerating on certain
aspects so as to intensify his views and claims through his Don't be afraid of the book, the Da Vinci Code, nor the movie staring
Tom Hanks. Take this as an opportunity to tell all your friends about
the real Jesus. Remember, some may argue with the historicity of these
so-called facts, but no one can argue with your personal testimony of
a changed life as the result of your inviting Jesus into your heart to
become your personal Savior! Boldly tell them how much Jesus loves them!
FUTURE PEN ARTICLES We will be correlating the data for the next PEN Newsletter. In order for events and articles to be included in the upcoming PEN Newsletter, we have set Tuesday, September 12th at 12:00 noon central time as the deadline. We will try to run as many articles as possible, but we can not guarantee that your article will be included in the upcoming PEN Newsletter as there are over 300 ministries participating in the PEN Network. In order for your ministry event to be included in the next PEN Newsletter, we will need to receive the following from you by the deadline. 1) Subject or Title Heading Below you will find a list of qualifications for data that will be included in the PEN Newsletter. 1) The PEN Newsletter will not include any information regarding Fund Raising for your ministry. This is not the role of this newsletter. 2) We will attempt to include brief articles from as many ministries as possible. Articles must be Evangelistic in nature. Most Evangelistic Projects, Training Opportunities, and Conferences will be listed in our upcoming events section of each newsletter. 3) All other information will be included only upon a space availability basis. We will rank importance according to PEN guidelines. 4) All correspondence must be done through emails. Please try not to call our office or fax your articles to us, as it will be more time consuming to retype information in for each of the newsletters. 5) The PEN Network and On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Evangelistic Association are not responsible for mistakes or miscommunications. 6) All articles received must have Subject/Title line, Brief Description
of Article, Information, Evangelistic Event, or Training Opportunity,
and Weblink to your ministry event or webpage that contains actual We look forward to working with you so that others may know how they can be more actively involved in your ministry. Again, please remember that we can not promise to enter an article on every ministry that submits information, but we will make an attempt to include as much information as we possibly can, yet keep the newsletter concise and informative as well. In order to list an Upcoming Evangelistic Article, Project, or Training Opportunity, please send your articles with your Subject or Title line, Brief Description, and Weblink to the following address: Laurie@onthego.org While On The Go Ministries / Keith Cook Evangelistic Association serve
as editors and producers of this electronic newsletter and materials,
the PEN Network maintains all rights and responsibilities for the PEN
PEN Newsletter Editor - Keith Cook, keithcook@onthego.org
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