Pennsylvania Conference

Story by Pennsylvania Conference Staff
 
The Pennsylvania Conference's CORE school of evangelism students recently traveled to Texas with Reach the World Next Door for their annual mission trip. They worked among the Chinese, Cambodian, Laotian, Afghan, and Hispanic refugee communities.
 
"Most of these people were refugees with huge needs and incredible stories. Some had just arrived a couple weeks prior to our arrival and had little food, clothing, or household things, like blankets or pillows. Some had no clue how to find English classes or be able to sign up for schooling. It was such a privilege to go to their homes and provide for their needs as much as we could," the CORE team writes in their newsletter.
 
The group provided children's programming, met families, repaired greenhouses where many refugees work. They worked with local churches and a new church plant in the center of the community. Students and staff taught health and mental health practices. Many shared their testimonies of how they met Jesus and distributed clothes and household items.
 
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Editorial by Gary Gibbs

After entering church leadership years ago, I realized something vital was missing in my spiritual life. The spark just wasn’t there. As I prayerfully considered this, God directed me to a principle of spiritual vitality from Ellen White: “Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted to others, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 47, author’s emphasis). In the busyness of administration, I had stopped personally sharing the gospel. The result was lukewarm faith.

I asked God to help me find others who were interested in studying the Bible. Within a week, He had led me to Al and Billie. We began studies that resulted in their baptisms—and to my faith reigniting. That’s when I discovered this dynamic reality—if each member reaches one person a year for Jesus, we will not only come alive spiritually, but we will double the number of people in our churches!

Joosung Kim, a member of the Impact Magabook Ministries team, displays his books alongside his new friend.

Story by Tamyra Horst

“Just like any other canvassing day, this day was no different, except for one thing,” shares Joosung Kim, a member of the Impact Magabook Ministries team who went door to door earlier this year. “Stairs! These were the most stairs I have climbed in my life in one day. ... So, you had to make the most of every single person you spoke to. At one door, I noticed a key that was still in the keyhole.”

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Editorial by Horacio Hernandez-Ble

This has been a historic year. We have seen the largest inflation increase in the past 40 years. We have also seen a decline of stock markets in the United States and the rest of the world. There is a lot of uncertainty in our world today. Despite it all, we have seen the faithfulness of our brothers and sisters here in Pennsylvania.

As of August 2022, God has blessed us with a 4.1 percent increase in our tithe over the previous year. We also reached our evangelism offering goal of $300,000 during camp meeting—even though it was a shorter camp meeting than most.