Grace Brethren North American Missions is beginning a new era with a new executive director and a recently-reorganized board structure.

Larry Chamberlain will continue to lead the Grace Brethren Investment Foundation. Dr. Tim Boal, pastor of Penn Valley Grace Brethren Church in Telford, PA, has been named the new executive director of GBNAM, and a structure of parallel but linked boards has been created.

GBNAM will now operate from two locations, according to Boal, with some employees in Winona Lake, IN, and others in Telford, PA.

GBNAM staff will be moving out of their current office building on Kings Highway in Winona Lake into the Grace Brethren International Missions building. In the Winona Lake office, Linda Leonard will be Director of Human Resources, Kathy Allison will be Director of Communications, and Kurt Miller will continue as National Director of Church Planting.

The Pennsylvania office, housed in the Penn Valley church building, will include Boal as Executive Director, Randy Disert as Director of Finance, and a yet-to-be-named Development Director.

Boal intends to create a “Key Church Network,” he says, in which 7-12 locations will become regional church-planter and training centers. A larger presence in colleges and seminaries will be created in an effort to recruit more young church planters.

The disposition of the GBNAM building in Winona Lake has not yet been decided, Boal says, but it is likely it will be sold. “It’s our effort to cut overhead so more dollars get to the field,” he says.

For now, Boal will continue to pastor the Penn Valley church because of his conviction that the mission of church-planting belongs to the church. “I want to be a working pastor alongside others who are planting churches,” he says. “I invite other pastors to join me in this effort.” He says GBNAM also hopes to become more of a granting agency to help fund church planters. The goal, he says, is to be able to plant more churches than the Fellowship is losing by attrition, with the hope of doubling the number of churches by 2017.

He emphasized that GBNAM and GBIF, as sister organizations, are “very much committed to each other.” He indicated that GBNAM’s goal is to work effectively and efficiently in cooperation with all the local churches and national organizations of the Fellowship.

The amazing story about the resuscitation of a dying man in an Easter worship service (see Alaska Church Sees ‘Resurrection’ on Easter) could be an illustration of the Easter resurrection itself except that the restored man—like Lazarus of old—will ultimately die someday. That is different from Christ’s resurrection; He rose from the dead never to die again.

Why did He do that? The Bible is clear. He did it to pay the penalty for every individual’s sin. His resurrection is proof that the sin penalty has been paid, and God is satisfied. But how does that affect you personally?

According to the Bible, each of us must believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, and we must also confess Him as Lord. That means we have to acknowledge that we are sinners and accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior. It’s all by faith, “for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness” (Romans 10:9-10).

Do that today, using words something like these: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for my sin. I confess that I’m a sinner, and I ask you to become my Savior. Please take away my sin and give me the gift of eternal life as you have promised. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you need help understanding this marvelous truth, talk to someone at the church that provided this paper for you, or contact BMH at (574) 268-1122 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

By Ron Dorner
One of the blessings of being an obedient servant of the Lord is a long life. Many of us will live well into our eighties and perhaps nineties. Longevity brings some unique financial challenges and lifestyle decisions.

It is best to prepare financially as though you will live to be 100, but prepare spiritually as though you were going to live only a few more days. Unfortunately, we sometimes get it backwards.

Aging brings many unknowns. Will we be able to remain independent? Whom can we depend on to help make major decisions? Can I expect my children to assist me or take me into their home? Would I want to live with my children? What if I have no children, or outlive my children?

The earlier you start putting money aside for retirement, the more options you will have. The older we become, the harder it is for us to make major decisions. This should be a warning for those of us in our sixties and early seventies.

The older generation often has the mindset, “My choice is to stay in my own home or end up in a nursing home.” There are other options.

Grace Brethren have been blessed with a unique retirement solution, Grace Village Retirement Community in Winona Lake, IN. Four levels of retirement living are offered. For active retirees there are individual town homes and independent living apartments. For those needing more assistance, assisted–living apartments and nursing care are offered. With this broad range of services, the transition to levels of care during the senior years can be handled with less emotional stress. Friends and surroundings remain the same, and you have a compassionate Christian staff available to assist you.

The minimum age at Grace Village is 55. Nursing care fees are structured on a daily rate. Assisted-living is based on a monthly rate, while independent-living apartments and town homes offer three options: monthly rental or two life leases (refundable and non-refundable).

Grace Village is licensed by the state of Indiana and is certified by the Federal Government as a Medicare and Medicaid provider. Grace Village’s mission is “to enable older adults to live to their fullest potential in the security of a Christian community.”

If you are at the age where living arrangement decisions need to be made, give thought to Grace Village Retirement Community. Cynthia Pergrem, Director of Marketing and Sales, can be reached at (574) 372-6291.

Ron Dorner has worked in Grace Brethren financial and estate planning for more than 17 years. For more information, or to schedule a Financial Planning Seminar in your church, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

Events of general interest among Grace Brethren Churches. Details and registration information are available from sponsoring organizations or through www.fgbc.org.

May 7 – Grace College & Seminary Commencement
May 11-14 – PrimeTime (women’s ministry experience) at Urban Hope (CEN)
June 19-July 17 – MasterWorks Music Festival, Grace College
June 15-18 – “Driven” Conference for Twenty-Somethings, Kenyon College, OH (CEN)
June 18-25 – Grace Alumni Canadian Rockies Tour
June 26-July 2 – Great Canadian Adventure, Mississauga, ONT (GBNAM)
July 1-2 – Grace College & Seminary Summer Alumni Weekend
July 23-29 – Brethren National Youth Conference, Cedarville, OH (CEN)
July 31-August 5 – Equip05 Conference, Winona Lake, IN (FGBC)
August 7-13 – Explorer’s Week, Mississauga, ONT (GBNAM)
Oct. 14 – A Day Away, Columbus, OH (CEN)
Oct. 17-19 – Central Focus Retreat, Pokagon State Park, Angola, IN (FGBC)
Oct. 24-26 – East Focus Retreat, Sandy Cove, MD (FGBC)
Nov. 4-6 – Grace College & Seminary Homecoming

GBNAM = Grace Brethren North American Missions
CEN = CE National
FGBC = Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches

Well-known Christian illusionist and evangelist Andre Kole proved a popular draw for an outreach event sponsored by the Harrah, Washington, Grace Brethren Church at a nearby high school.

Kole, a world-famous illusionist who is affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ, was engaged by the Harrah church for an outreach event last November. The meeting was hosted at White Swan High School, about 10 miles to the west.

“We wanted to do something to bring the gospel to our community,” says Touhey. “Andre Kole was perfect. He presented a really first-class show, and you could see his heart for smaller communities—the show was family-oriented, very wholesome, and toward the end he gave a very straightforward, clear presentation of the gospel.”

Members of the Harrah church, which has a Sunday morning attendance of about 55, had prayed and worked for several months to bring off the event. They distributed response cards for people to fill out, and they received over 100 cards from people who indicated making a first-time decision for Christ. In addition, some 40-50 either wanted to know more, or were rededicating their lives to the Lord.

After the invitation, Kole concluded the program with his spectacular finishing act—making a ten-foot-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty disappear. Weighing several hundred pounds, constructed of wood, fiberglass, and steel, the statue disappears in slow motion--from the bottom up. David Copperfield has called Kole's Statue of Liberty creation "one of the most remarkable illusions ever attempted on stage, anywhere in the world." Adds Copperfield, "I don't know of anyone else who would attempt such a feat."

As a part of his elaborate stage production, Andre exposes some of the fraudulent and deceitful hoaxes that he has investigated, and reveals the truth behind transcendental levitation, dematerialization, the Bermuda Triangle mystery, the occult and communication with the dead.

Then he shares his findings from his investigation of the miracles of Christ and how the discovery that Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, changed the entire course of his life.

Members of the Harrah church distributed publicity and free tickets to the event. To enable a free-to-the-public evening, the total cost for publicity and for Kole’s company of six professionals was funded by the church.

Those who responded to Kole’s invitation were offered a free Bible, and each was sent a letter. In addition, about 40-50 of the decision cards were given to a missionary couple working with the Yakima people, who then invited respondents to a Christmas dinner.

Pastor Peter Touhey, who was born in Brooklyn and lived in New Jersey and New Hampshire before moving to the northwest to attend seminary in Portland, has been pastor of the Harrah church since August of 2002.

“The success of the event really encouraged our church,” Touhey said. “It’s very do-able, and Kole’s presentation of the gospel is biblical and clear.”

For more information on the Harrah event, contact Touhey at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (509) 848-2609. Booking and background information on Andre Kole is available at www.andrekole.org.