In recent days I have had the privilege of visiting two Advent Christian Churches in the Appalachian Region. As I went, I shared the greetings of our Advent Christian family around the world. On March 29, I was in Maryland to speak at the 13th Anniversary of our Asian Indian Church. What a joy it was to participate in worship as Pastor Johnson Raju led 75 believers in praise to God. There was a woman in the service that day, attending for the first time, who road two buses, a train and a taxi cab to get to church. She left her home at 7 a.m. for a 10 a.m. service. The service was inspiring as the little children performed a special, and Pastor Raju's son blessed us with a beautiful song. The prayer time led by Pastor Raju was rich; I enjoyed the fellowship; and meal time after the service was awesome! Praise the Lord for this wonderful growing group of believers! I was very impressed to observe how regional Superintendent Marshall Tidwell interacted with this congregation. He was on a first-name basis with many of those attending, and he went out of his way to make newer members feel welcome. I'm so impressed with the superintendents in each of our regions.

HARBINGER BIBLE CONFERENCE
Harbinger Bible Conference will be holding their first of three weekend camp meetings on May 14 through May 17. The Spring Rally speaker will be Rev. David Nolan. Rev. Nolan has his master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling from Eastern Nazarene College, and he has been an Associate Pastor in Advent Christian Churches in Alton Bay and Meredith, N.H., and spoken in AC churches in Littleton, Northwood, Farmington, Portsmouth, New Bedford and Haverhill, Mass. He currently provides spiritual and emotional counseling in Alton Bay, N.H., and conducts seminars, workshops, and training for various church-related ministries.

The weekend begins with supper at 5 p.m. on Thursday, and continues through lunch on Sunday. There is no charge, and overnight housing is available. Please call Terry (207) 438-9667 to make a room or campsite reservation. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.liveforjesus.org/harbinger.htm or call Jeff Gilman (207) 438-9024. Click on this link to download our brochure: http://www.liveforjesus.org/harbinger/2009_Harbinger_Brochure.pdf

In Sam’s absence, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a brief history behind the development of the “Weekly IF Update.” The prayer emphasis was launched in the spring of 1998. Rev. David Ross, who was serving as the Executive Director of our denomination, posed the question, “What if Advent Christians around the world were to unite and agree in prayer for this one thing – Great Commission obedience?” In asking the question “what if,” recruitment for the IF (Intercessory Forces) Team began. A call went out for Advent Christians to commit to a time of prayer for Great Commission obedience. It was suggested that the time should be at noon on every Thursday. If our people around the world would adopt this practice, and, assuming we have Advent Christians in every time zone, we could, in Dave’s own words, “eventually establish a weekly round-the-world, round-the-clock prayer vigil!”