Cloud Nine, Medical Missions and Camps

Sunday morning, Sherry and I had the privilege of worshiping at our home church, Fishers Waterline Church, with Pastor John & Danielle Freed yesterday morning. Waterline welcomed special guest Ericka Andersen, author of Leaving Cloud Nine (Thomas Nelson, 2018). Ericka and her family attend Waterline and took this opportunity to share their testimony of God’s healing and transformation from a life of poverty, trauma and mental illness.
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We were joined for the service by church planters Rochelle & Travis Jenkins (Circle City Wesleyan Church) along with a university student on their team, and John & Heather Miller (Way City Church) with their two children. After the service, we had a great time connecting over lunch and hearing stories from their church planting adventures. John & Heather welcomed 14 people for a vision chat at their home last week with another 10 that are interested but couldn’t make that meeting. Please pray for our planters and pass along connections you may have in the Speedway community.
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Last evening, I was blessed to hear Dr. B. (name not disclosed for security purposes) as the guest missionary speaker at Anderson Lone Oak Wesleyan Church. He and his wife are being used by God in powerful ways in China in a creative and anointed ministry training medical professionals. They are focusing on developing a model that is sustainable and reproducible with the end goal of equipping missionaries to be sent out from China to bless other nations.
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​This was also the Sunday that Pastor Bill & Susan Thompson completed their ministry appointment at Lone Oak Wesleyan. The Thompsons have been a blessing to the church since arriving there in 2006. We pray that God will bless them in their next chapter and that God will direct the search committee as they seek a new pastor.

Last Monday was an office catch-up day after conference. Our office team held our staff meeting in Marion on Tuesday. Wednesday, I was in Lafayette with the opportunity to catch up with Pastor Alan Downing and then toured “The Branch” (Schuyler Avenue’s new name) with Pastor Logan Patriquin. The team at The Branch are working diligently to implement the Maximizing Impact plan they adopted and it was encouraging to see their progress.
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Thursday, I participated in Jon Wiest’s discipleship cohort as they welcomed special guest Dr. David Drury for a thoughtful discussion on essential ecclesiology. Thursday evening, I was in South Bend to meet with Pastor Greg Holmes and the LBA at Sonlight Fellowship as they consider pathways to partnership with Rev. Terry & Lennaire Vaughn’s church planting project, The Bridge. Pray with them as they explore this possibility.

Friday, Sherry and I drove to Grand Rapids to participate in the ordination of Joel Jeffery Gorveatte, our youngest son. Sherry’s father, Rev. Bob Wilkerson, joined us for the quick trip and led in a special prayer of consecration. Joel and Christie, his wife, serve on staff with Rev. Jon Allen at Journey Church in Caledonia, MI. Joel was part of the worship band there as a junior high student and now leads the worship ministry.
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​Our office is closed this week with staff on vacation and the July 4th holiday. Next week, I’ll be in California for the first step in a training process for our district to be able to offer LifePlan, a follow-up component of our StratOp initiative that we began with Tony Morgan’s UnStuck Group.

Crossroads Children’s Camp 2018 includes: Carnival * Escape Room * Great Worship * Daily Bible Time * Awesome Chapels * Laser Tag * Splash House
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Register at: https://fairmountcamp.breezechms.com/form/3248ec61

And then, Family Camp 2018 is July 22-29 with the theme of Re:Calibrate. This year’s camp features Rev. Brenda Young and Dr. Dave Smith as evangelists, Pastor Jordan Rife leading worship, and other venues led by Zach Coffin, District Youth Pastors, Jessi & Aaron Kipfer, and Lori & Layne Maki. Enjoy the Bible Study in our venues each morning, Activities, Crafts, and Afterglows each weekday, and then seek Revival every night!
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​These leadership teams have been praying and working diligently. There’s still time to bring your team and take full advantage of these life-changing opportunities.

Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,
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Mark Gorveatte
Crossroads District Superintendent