As we look forward to Encounter 2020 in Hawaii, we are again reminded of what a special time it is when the leaders of the Central Pacific District come together. We are excited to have President of the US Alliance, Dr. John Stumbo, as our main speaker. Enjoy the video below with a sneak peek of what Encounter 2020 has in store!

Hello, Leaders of the Central Pacific District.

You're receiving this video because you've signed up to go to the Encounter conference in Hawaii in February. I'm sending you this video because I get to be there and I've been asked to foreshadow some of what to expect when we all arrive.

Prayer is a two-way street. When we first learn to pray, it may seem as though we are the ones doing all the talking. As we grow in prayer, however, we learn to recognize God’s voice. When we speak with Him, He speaks to us. Learning to recognize the voice of God’s Spirit is critical to effective prayer. Jesus told his disciples: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). God activates our hearing receptors, so every born-again Christian can hear God’s voice. 

In November, a group of Hispanic pastors and leaders of the CPD, guided by Tim Agnello, made a visionary trip to the Island of Cuba.

We arrived in the province of Camaguey. Then, we visited several provinces in central Cuba. We had the pleasure of sharing time with the new President of Alliance Cuba, Liusbel Utrera. We were surprised by the love and desire the church in Cuba has to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the island, there are no evangelical church buildings, only Catholic. So our Alliance people can only meet in house-churches. These house-churches are also the homes of the pastors that have been adapted into churches. Some pastors have to sleep on the floor because there is limited space for them. It was amazing to see the humble dedication of these families. It is a Cuban law that dictates that the church must be carried out on a residential/house property.

Wayne Hoag is associate pastor of Sierra Bible Church in Truckee.  They came into the CPD the exact same day we did back in 1991.  We were coming from a different Alliance district, while he was coming into the Alliance - and we are so glad he did! 

-Ray Van Gilst

For many years, Eugene Peterson has been one of my primary mentors. I never personally met the man, though he and I did exchange some letters in the early 1990’s. The mentoring that I have received from him has come through his writings. First and foremost, Eugene Peterson was a pastor, his books resonated in my heart because he described what I was feeling, what I was experiencing, what I was seeing, he helped me face both the joys and the sorrows of pastoral ministry, he helped me not to quit.

When a group of God’s people consistently minister to the presence of Christ, we have discovered a remarkable pattern—the heavens thin out, and God begins to change the spiritual atmosphere in the region.

The heavens opened when Jesus was baptized, and when Stephen was martyred.  Similarly, God thins out the atmosphere and simultaneously manifests His presence more conspicuously over the region where God’s people minister the His presence. An open heaven is a spiritual atmosphere over a geographical region that is more conducive to the rapid advancement of Christ’s kingdom and, specifically, to supernatural activity.

Hang on—I’m about to stretch you.

Most of us are familiar with what it is to minister for God. I want to shift our focus a little bit from ministering for God to ministering to God, and, more specifically, to ministering to the presence of God.

Ministering to God is what one-third of all the angels do all the time. Think of it—hundreds of millions of angels were created for no other purpose than to minister to God. Their entire existence is to do nothing other than look at God’s presence and express admiration for him and His virtue. You may be thinking, Yeah, that’s fine for the angels, but I’m no angel! Fair enough, but you must admit, if God likes it enough to create millions of angels to minister to Him nonstop, He must like it a lot. And if He likes it that much, He might also like it when we do it too.

When God visits us, it is often messy, out-of-the-box, and unpredictable. One of the only predictable characteristics of the upper room is that it is unpredictable. We need to understand that our God is creative and unlike coaches in the National Football League who pace up and down the sidelines with their laminated play sheets, our God has an unlimited number of plays He can call. For this reason, we have learned at the beginning of every upper-room prayer gathering to ask God for His leadership and direction. He is much better at play-calling and upper-room leadership than we are, and He always leads us to receive.

Note from CPD President, Ray Van Gilst:

I recently shared about Wayne Hoag of Truckee, CA and his book - "One Another Project."  I have had a number of people now let us know that they are excited about getting a copy and utilizing it in ministry.  Even better than the book, the man behind the book is an enthusiastic part of the Central Pacific District and is available as needed in our churches and for our pastors.  I, for one, consider him to be a mentor and encouragement in what God has called me to.

But I'll let Wayne share his desire:

WOW, so excited to be giving you this latest update about our Guarajio Initiative in Mexico. As you know, we have been partnering with Alliance Mexico to engage this unreached people group.

Please read the update below from Tomas Bencomo, President of Alliance Mexico, and celebrate the miracles God is performing both physically and spiritually. How wonderful to be ON MISSION with Him as He is touching the hearts of this unreached tribe!

And please keep our Alliance Mexico team in your prayers!!

To the ends of the earth,

Tim Agnello

On Saturday, November 2, a group of 50 people who are part of the Central Pacific District completed a church planting training in the city of Woodland, CA.

For the first time in The Christian and Missionary Alliance’s history, we witness the largest group of Hispanics completing 42 classes over 100 hours of church planting training.