Dear friends,
Here in North America, as in other parts of the world where our brothers serve, summer has come to an end, and it was a full one. Apart from all the mission activities described in this issue we held our Servant of the Word Leadership Forum. Every four years we bring together a different subset of Servant of the Word leaders from all of our regions for four distinct purposes: (1) increasing our unity by brothers spending time with each other who would otherwise rarely see one another, (2) discussing and updating on another on relevant issues of our common life, formation, and mission, (3) consulting about significant questions or new directions, and (4) preparing for our Brotherhood Council, including the election of the next presiding elder, both of which will take place in August of 2018.
This year we brought together most of our Lifelong and Fully Committed brothers under 50 years of age to discuss three areas: (1) Discipling young men, (2) Leadership Formation, and (3) Community Building, all areas pertinent to our ongoing mission within the Sword of the Spirit. The event proved a great success and we expect significant fruit to come from it in the years to come.
The day after the Leadership Forum we celebrated the Lifelong Commitments of William Contreras from Ecuador and Paulo Machado from Brazil—both from nations not previously included in our ranks. We also received the Temporary Commitments of Adrian Menezes from India, Kenneth Carandang from the Philippines and Will Cannon from the USA.
Saturday, September 9, the brothers in Michigan hosted a dinner with our Alumni and their spouses. Men who had lived with us for a number of years before deciding to get married had a chance to reconnect with some of the brothers, and sometimes to introduce them for the first time to their spouses. A good evening which we hope to repeat in the next few years.
Enjoy reading this newsletter! Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our work. Thank you also for your very generous financial support. We are dependent upon both and if either were to end, we would not be able to continue the things you read about here.
Your brother in Christ,
Ken Noecker
