[ag-news] AG NEWS #1786: March 5, 2010

Title: [ag-news] AG NEWS #1786: March 5, 2010

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AG-NEWS: Friday, March 05, 2010 
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**AG World Missions and Convoy of Hope provide relief in Chile

More than 700 people have died and at least 500,000 are without
housing as result of earthquake in Chile. Though aftershocks
are continuing to cause further destruction and hinder recovery
efforts, AGWM and Convoy of Hope are working to provide food
and clean water to earthquake victims. 


**National Prayer Center -- God answers prayer!

Since its creation in 1994, AG National Prayer Center has
received millions of prayer requests. Director of NPC
encourages people to "set aside" pride and ask for God's help
-- provides small sample of recently answered prayers. More
information about NPC found at http://prayer.ag.org.


**AG Theological Seminary offering forum to local/world audience

Assemblies of God Theological Seminary offering a live audio
feed of forum presented in cooperation with National
Association of Evangelicals on Friday, March 12. Forum topic is
"Respecting Sex and Reducing Abortion — What Can Christian
Leaders Really Do?" Audio file to also be archived and made
available following forum. Listen to forum live beginning at 9
a.m. (Central) at http://www.agts.edu/more/naeforumagn.


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AG Marriage Encounter opens brand new locale

Greg and D'awn (Elder) Ledgerwood, Sidney, Montana, are hosting
an AG Marriage Encounter weekend in Dickinson, North Dakota,
March 19-21. Mark and Becky Rhoades, national admin couple for
AGME, confirm that space is limited. "Initial plans for the new
locale were made when Greg and D'awn drove the 1,187 miles from
Sidney to Springfield, Missouri, to experience a fall weekend.
The final details were just now worked out," says Mark Rhoades.

To register go to http://www.agme.org or call 800.366.2104  
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**AG WORLD MISSIONS AND CONVOY OF HOPE PROVIDE RELIEF IN CHILE

More than 700 people have died and at least 500,000 are without
housing as a result of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake and tsunami that
struck the South American country of Chile early last Saturday,
ravaging a stretch of Chile's Pacific coast.

Though aftershocks are continuing to cause further destruction to
the country and hinder recovery efforts, Assemblies of God World
Missions/Convoy of Hope teams are working to provide food and clean
water to earthquake victims.

"This devastating earthquake, so close in time to the Haiti disaster,
has presented special challenges," says Randy Hurst, communications
director for AG World Missions. "But our missionaries and Convoy of
Hope personnel immediately jumped into action."

Convoy of Hope members Nick Wiersma and David Edson traveled with AG
missionaries Mike Files and Steve and Rhonda Wilson in Chile.
Missionary Steve Wilson is directing the assessment team, which
arrived in Santiago, the nation's capital, on Wednesday.

In the city of Concepción, people are without essential services and
are looting supermarkets for food and water. Some coastal villages
were completely destroyed. The Chileans have wasted no time when it
comes to reconstruction of their cities.

"Food and supplies have been purchased in country, in the city of
Tecumo, and the relief team is on its way to Concepción to help
those in need," says Kary Kingsland, Convoy of Hope vice president
for disaster response. Equipped with Sawyer water filters, the team
was able to purchase buckets for use with the filters and is working
to provide clean drinking water as soon as possible.

"Traveling in the country for the relief assessment team has been
difficult," Hurst continues, "but the team is doing everything they
can."

While driving through the country, the team has been taking major
detours due to collapsed bridges and poor surface roads. Also, to
combat looting, the Chilean government has issued a countrywide
curfew that has severely limited travel. Chilean citizens and all
other individuals are only allowed to be outside their homes from
12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thankfully, the relief team has been granted
a military exemption to this curfew.

Some 20,000 believers attend 746 Assemblies of God churches and
preaching points across the nation of Chile. "The relief team will
be assessing these churches as quickly as possible," reports
Kingsland, "and are also scheduled to meet with Pastor Padro,
district superintendent, to discuss product distribution methods."

Roberto Ruz, general superintendent of the Chile fellowship, reports
that he has been unable to contact AG pastors in Concepción area,
but all AG pastors and their families in the primary earthquake area
are reported safe.

To help with relief efforts in Chile, donations can be sent to:
AGWM/COH Disaster Relief Chile 410946-8 (68), 1445 N. Boonville
Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802-1894.

--Becca Hodge, AG News

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**NATIONAL PRAYER CENTER -- GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! 

Since its creation in 1994, the Assemblies of God National Prayer
Center (NPC) has received millions of calls, e-mails requesting
prayer, and requests submitted to http://prayer.ag.org. Many of 
those requests have been prayed over by volunteers working the
1-800-4-PRAYER call line and by others serving on the Intercessory
Prayer Network who receive requests that come to the Web site, via
e-mail, the phones and other means.

However, John Maempa, director of the NPC, believes there are still
many people who are missing out on the power of prayer in their
lives — either too timid to share their needs with others or trying
to somehow solve their own problems.

"Frequently, prayer is a last resort for people — not until they’re
truly broken and desperate do they turn to God," says Maempa. "Of
course, God can perform a miracle at any time for anyone, but I
believe that until we set aside our pride and ask for His help, it
may be a sign that we're not ready to receive His help."

Despite the untold numbers who have yet to ask for God's help,
Maempa says that answers to prayer are regularly reported to the
National Prayer Center. "When people pray, God's hears their
requests," Maempa states. "Every week we receive notes or calls from
people telling us how God met their needs."

James Meredith, assistant director of the National Prayer Center,
gathered a few of the recent "praise reports" received by the NPC.
"Testimonies of God's faithfulness do so much to encourage others'
faith," Meredith says. "In fact, answers to prayer are often what
helps close the gap for those who are struggling with making a
commitment to Christ."

Recent answers to prayer received at the NPC include:

* Rebecca requested prayer for an unborn baby boy who was losing
weight in the womb and diagnosed with a partially missing brain.
After prayer, he was born normally and in good health.

* Nora was told by doctors that she may have cancer. After prayer,
test results were clear. She praises God for grace and protection.

* JP was told he had 72 hours to live. After prayer, he has made a
recovery. Hospice has left, and he is now back to walking, eating
and doing farm work.

* Olivia received a report from the doctor that the leukemia she
suffers from is almost completely gone from her body.

* Emery had a test showing a large mass on her kidney. After prayer,
the mass is gone.

* Stephanie praises God that her mother and stepfather accepted
Christ last week.

* Darlene had severe disfiguration of her skin caused by a virus.
After two weeks of prayer by prayer partners, every strange bump and
lump has cleared — to the amazement of doctors, who had said plastic
surgery was the only solution.

* Lundyn was hospitalized with leukemia. After prayer, doctors can
find no sign of the disease, and have no medical explanation for the
change. Her family is rejoicing in God’s power and mercy.

* Mary was suffering severely with a back problem. While watching
the Sunday morning service of her home AG church, she was instantly
healed.

* Mark secured a job after a year and a half of unemployment.

"It's inspiring to see God working in so many miraculous ways,"
Meredith says, "but even as I gathered these answers to prayer, I
wondered how many answers we haven't heard about."

"I can't emphasize it enough — nothing is too hard for God," Maempa
says. "I encourage those who have any kind of need to turn to God in
confidence. His answer may not always be instantaneous or the one
expected, but going through any hardship with God by our side is so
much better than going through it on our own."

To submit a prayer request, see http://prayer.ag.org or call
1-800-4-PRAYER.

--Dan Van Veen

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**AG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OFFERING FORUM TO LOCAL/WORLD AUDIENCE

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) will hold their board
of directors meeting in Springfield, Missouri, at the Assemblies of
God national offices on March 10-11.  In addition, the NAE, through
a desire to partner with educational institutions to present
educational forums, will partner with AG Theological Seminary (AGTS)
to present the first of these forums.

This initial forum, entitled, "Respecting Sex and Reducing
Abortions—What Can Christian Leaders Really Do?" will be held at
AGTS in Springfield on Friday, March 12, from 9-11:30 a.m.
(Central). The event is free and open to the public. In addition,
AGTS will offer a free, live audio feed of the forum online at
http://www.agts.edu/more/naeforumagn. Also, following the live
event, the forum audio file will be posted online at the same link
for individuals to access at their convenience.

The keynote speaker for this event will be Dr. Dennis Hollinger,
president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton,
Massachusetts. Dr. Hollinger is author of a critically acclaimed new
book entitled, "The Meaning of Sex: Christian Ethics and the Moral
Life."

Following Hollinger's presentation, he will be joined by a panel of
leaders including Joe Fuiten, pastor of Cedar Park Church in
Bothell, Washington. Fuiten's church provides leadership for
creative responses to the abortion issue in the Seattle area. Also
on the panel will be Cindi Boston who serves as director of the
Pregnancy Care Center in Springfield. Her advocacy and leadership in
compassionate response to this issue is well-known in the area.

For more information about this event, call 417-268-1000. To learn
more about AGTS, see its Web site at http://www.AGTS.edu.

--Elizabeth Danalds

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