Be sure to check the CCM CALENDAR
for future events!
EXCELLENT RESOURCE FOR SMALL GROUP PRAISE & WORSHIP: I would
like to recommend "The Contemporary Worship Kit" that is available
from WholeHearted Worship for any small groups wanting to begin a Contemporary
Praise & Worship service. I believe the cost is only $75 and includes 4 CD's
with over 100 well known worship songs, a companion songbook and 15 word sheets.
If you don't need the entire kit, you can purchase items individually or
purchase split-track CD's or tapes. They also have Power Point slides available.
You can order this on their website which is: www.wholeheartedworship.com.
CCM Mailing List: If you would like to be added to the CCM mailing
list, please contact Cindy Ford at: ccmford@bellsouth.net
Weekly Prayer List: If you are a prayer warrior or intercessor or want
to commit to pray for others, please contact Linda Barrett at lindabarrett@email.axs4u.net
to receive the weekly prayer list.
Looking for something inexpensive to do for the Labor Day weekend for the
whole family that will bring you closer together and closer to Jesus? Then come
to the CCM Retreat at the Saints Grove Campground in Glencoe, Oklahoma, on
Auguust 29-31, 2003! The theme for this retreat is "My Grace is Sufficient
for You" and the cost is $20/person or $50/family. To register or for more
information, contact Steve Hatfield at 918/749-1672 or hatfield@myexcel.com
CCM CELEBRATION 2003 - BRUSH CREEK CAMPGROUNDS, ILLINOIS
The first word that comes to mind when reflecting on the CCM Celebration
which was held June 27-July 3, 2003 is "WOW"! This year's attendance
was a record 270 people registered and there were over 300 present on certain
days. It was wonderful to share with so many who travelled from all over North
America for this event----including all the new people who came for their very
first CCM experience. We were tremendously blessed with good weather right up
until the last day, when the normal hot & humid summer weather returned to
Central Illinois---thank you, Jesus! But the best news is that a record number
of persons were baptized at two baptism services during the week----6 at the
first one and 7 at the second one for a total of 13 new committed followers of
Jesus Christ!
Apostle Linda Booth shared with the adults in her daily class, preached and
took part in administrations and confirmations----and even K.P.! She is not one
to miss out on any experience. Larry Tyree brought pictures and information to
share about the Community of Christ "around the world"in an afternoon
class. Evangelist Paul Lucero shared a weeklong class on "Becoming a
Prophetic People" and also preached one evening. Other adult teachers were:
Eddie & Jane Faircloth, Kandys Bleil, Bev Morrow, Dave & Cindy Ford, and
Marilyn Slauter. Bill Carlile came from Modesto, California to be the
"Youth Pastor" for the week.
Derek Sanders and Diann Rockwood did a fantastic job as Co-Directors and Bill
Howard was our Camp Pastor-----but there were so many more who volunteered to
make this event a success! A Gospel Choir and a dance team from Kansas City (
"R.E.A.C.H." and "Serenity") brought inspirational ministry
one night and a concert band, "Madison Greene" also performed during
the week. There were two healing services scheduled and many were touched by the
healing power of Jesus Christ. One morning we all experienced a powerful spirit
of reconciliation and true "Healing of the Body of Christ", which was
the theme for the week.
The mornings began early with the "Prayer Intercessors" (led by
Linda McDonald) meeting before breakfast to pray over the camp followed by the
morning Praise/Testimony services. 
Camilies (Camp Families) met every day in
their small groups to share and pray and sing together and "new
communities" were formed as a result. Many thanks to Marilyn Myers and all
the Camily Group leaders for helping to insure that each person had a chance to
touch and be touched.
The CCM Praise Team, led by Judi Auman and Ben Spalding, brought us into the
presence of the Lord at each Praise/Worship Service with the help of Scott
Jewell, who ran the sound equipment for the week. One of the highlights was the
Tuesday night "Youth Service", led by Bill Carlile and Marcia Vlasnik
and all the Jr. & Sr. High youth. We had the privilege of hearing one of our
youth (Misha Barbour) and one of our young adults (Chad Hensley) bring the
"spoken word" to us during the evening services and were ministered to
greatly. Kandys Bleil created the most beautiful banners to display each day's
theme, all of which were auctioned off at the end of the week. You can now see
them if you visit the Cartersville, Georgia Community of Christ congregation.
Shara Barbour planned young adult activities and campfires for Celebration this
year. Rhonda Phares (camp photographer) and her crew successfully captured most
of the week's events on film and video and are producing a "Celebration
Memory CD" for purchase.
Amy Jewel headed up the children's classes and activities and had many
dedicated teachers and volunteers share their gifts and talents with the
children. Children and adults also participated in the Talent Show one
afternoon, in which the highlight was 9 year old Steven Hensley
"burping" the alphabet. Scott Sederquist, our dedicated lifeguard,
carefully protected the swimmers during the week. The food was wonderful, with a
wide variety of delicious salads every day to choose from in addition to the hot
food-----many thanks to Linda Smith and her cooking crew. They had quite a
challenge with such a large group to feed and satisfy! David Ford kept
everything running smoothly all week with many volunteers in his role as
"Operations Manager".
We hope that you will come and join us for next year's CCM Celebration at
Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, from June 26-July 2, 2004!
CANADIAN CCM CELEBRATION 2003 REPORT
If anyone has ever been a director for camp they realize that in any ministry
the trust you have to have is in the Lord. My husband Dan and I were the
directors for last year's Canadian Celebration and that event went well and the
Lord truly blessed us. This year, however, I knew it was going to be different.
I kept trying to put guest ministry in place, but nothing seemed to work out.
The Lord kept telling me it would be a camp of servanthood and that the guest
ministry would consist of the body feeding the body. I heard this over and over
but still kept trying to come up with my own agenda. Well, the Lord eventually
won, and for that I'm grateful.
All who came truly were servants and everything fell into place. We were
blessed with a wonderful curriculum for Kids church, talented people used their
gifts and we had amazing adult classes on the Book of Mormon, Healing and the
Purpose Driven Life. We used the first evening to talk about the expectations we
had from the Lord to bless us that week and the last day we went over the
expectations and were amazed at how much we truly can expect from the Lord.
The theme for camp was "In His Presence" and the daily themes were
"Love God" and "Love One Another". We truly felt the
presence of the Lord that week. We prayed for miracles and the Lord showed us
miracles of healing and miracles of reconciliation. My testimony is that I
prayed for my family to be there, and on Wednesday, our son Kevin and our
grandson showed up even though they could only stay for the day. I know that a
seed was planted in their lives and we praise the Lord for that. My sister and
her family came and my niece Kylee has a wonderful testimony of healing to
share. We were also blessed to have my two sister-in-laws come for a few days.
I guess what I learned the most was to have faith that the Lord does hear my
prayers and to wait and trust him and let him work things out. I was
concerned--- not worried, right up to a month before camp because we didn't have
any cooks. In faith, we just kept saying< "O.K Lord--- anyday--- please!
And of course he came through. We were blessed by our cook and her family. Our
cook, Norma, had pain in her legs and was having an awful time when our camp
Pastor, Bev, asked all the children to come into the dining hall and they all
put their hands on her and prayed. She shared later that the pain left and she
was blessed by the faith of the children and the love of the Lord. One evening
we heard that a tornado was expected to touch down. We were already in the
sanctuary so I just got on my knees and asked the Lord to protect us. He told me
to gather all the people into the sanctuary, and so we did. We began to sing
praise music and before long the storm passed us by, no rain or anything came
close to us. Once again, the Lord showed us one of His miracles.
We praise the Lord for the wonderful experience of being directors. We
learned so much and to tell you the truth, I really didn't think that we could
do it!
We had never organized anything like a camp before, but we also
believed in the scripture that says, "I can do all things through Christ
who gives me strength". He did, and we were blessed and so were others.
With prayer and fasting and the Lord on your side, "All things are
possible"! We thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to serve Him.
--Dan & Kathy DeCaluwe
TESTIMONY OF FAITH, TRUST, LOVE & GRACE
First I would like to express my thanks to everyone who lifted me up in
prayer for this ordeal that we have just gone through. Prayer is a mighty thing
when we believe and trust in God.
This testimony begins with a phone call to my heart doctor, telling her that
I was feeling fatigued with a heaviness and discomfort in my chest. The Dr. said
that I had just described three symptoms of a heart attack and that I should go
to the emergency room and get checked out. I did as instructed and was expecting
to be tested given an EKG and when it showed nothing, like the 30 other times
over the years, sent back home. This time, much to my surprise, they decided to
admit me to the hospital, even though the EKG again showed nothing,
I spent a day talking to doctors and decided that the only way to find out
what was wrong with the heart, was to go ahead and have the heart cath done.
They scheduled the cath for the next day and found that I had two completely
blocked arteries and a third that was about 25 % blocked in two places. After
reviewing the films from the catheterization, the doctors gave me just 3
options: Do nothing and take my chances. Have an angioplasty done on the one
partially occluded artery, or do a bypass on the partially occluded. They also
told me that the angioplasty would give me about 4-6 years before it might clog
up again because of being a diabetic, whose arteries are narrower that the
nondiabetics. Both Betty and I could tell that they really did not want to do
the angioplasty because i was a high risk, so they brought in a heart surgeon
who sat down with Betty and I and just told us that I was a very high risk and
that he was the only one in his team that would even attempt the surgery.
He told us that because of my obesity, diabetes and sleep apnea that was a
very high risk for this procedure. I also have lymphedema in the legs and that
precluded him from using any veins from the legs, because it would be taking
diseased veins from the legs and attaching them to the heart and that I would
not make it out of the hospital. So he told us that he could only do a single
bypass.
We decided to trust in God and go ahead with the surgery, even though it did
not look good for the outcome. They scheduled the surgery for Friday, two days
from then. They came in on Friday at 4:00 am and took blood for the workup on
the surgery and then the doctor came in at about 6:30 and told us that my white
cell count was up and that it would not be a good idea to do the procedure until
it was normal. So they postponed the surgery until Monday, leaving Betty and my
two sons and I to stew over what was happening to us at this time in our lives.
I went through every emotion that a man can go through, from fear to anger,
to confusion, to confidence. Then my faith took over and we just prayed to our
God and intrusted my life into His loving hands. I also did what everyone in
this situation should do, I planned a funeral service and said everything to my
wife and sons that I felt led to say. I let my sons know that I loved them and
that I was proud of both of them as sons and husbands and fathers. I also told
Betty how much I loved her and appreciated all the things that she was doing and
all the things that she had done for my and our family over our 40 years of
marriage. Before the day was over Betty and I held each other and had a good
cleansing cry and shared our love and faith and trust in each other and in our
Lord Jesus.
Sunday night as I lay waiting to fall asleep, I kept praying and singing
praises and telling God how much I loved Him and trusted Him and I kept getting
calmer and calmer until I was able to sleep. I'm sure the nurses must have
though that I was nuts to hear me singing at this time in my life.
I don' t remember much about the next two days except for being taken down to
the operating room at 5:00 am. When I came out of the fog on Tuesday I remember
looking around and then thanking God for His Grace and love and mercy.
Betty told me on Thursday that the surgeon had taken her aside right before
he went into the OR and told her that there was a chance that I would not make
it off the table.
This same dr. came out three hours later with a big smile on his face and
hugged Betty and told her that he had found enough mammary veins in my chest
that he was able to do all three bypasses and he was pleased with my prognosis.
It is a month to the day at the writing of this testimony and I have an
infection in the incision but it is responding well to the antibiotics that I am
on and I will soon be able to start the cardiac rehab.
I stand as a living testimony of the love and grace and healing of a God that
loves us and wants nothing but the best for those who love Him and trust in Him.
I am looking forward to doing what God has called me to do and that is to keep
praising Him and leading others in praising Him and in sharing my testimony with
all who will listen. I hope that my testimony will encourage all who read it to
trust in God and put yourself in His hand and He will see you through. Because
He loves you and wants nothing but the best for you and your families. May God
continue to bless us all as we continue to serve Him and our brothers and
sisters in His name.
--Mick Stettler
