District Council & EQUIP Conference | Mark Dean, Superintendent
In April we gathered together at Cedar Valley Church for the 101st District Council and the annual EQUIP Conference. These were exciting days, with one of the many highlights being welcoming 108 newly credentialed ministers to our ministry family during Friday morning’s Celebration Service. It was a beautiful sight! Along with celebrating those who God has recently called into ministry, we honored those who have been ordained for fifty years and those who went to be with Lord this past year. I also had the privilege of sharing on “Perseverance.”
All main messages and breakouts from District Council and EQUIP were recorded and are available online, including messages from Pastor Mike Burnette on Thursday and Friday nights. Both evenings were powerful and I encourage you to find time to listen at mnaog.org/media.
Another highlight was during the Business Session on Thursday afternoon as the altar area was filled with AGWM missionaries and Missionary Associates, along with Nationally appointed US missionaries. What an amazing team of missionaries the Lord of the Harvest continues to call from our churches! We also celebrated record-breaking missions giving with $3.2 million of growth in 2021, for a total of $16.1 million given to AGWM areas giving during the last year. It is truly remarkable to watch and see what God is doing in and through Minnesota churches. Your leadership and passion to reach the lost in both Jerusalem and the ends of the earth, is making a huge difference.
We were also blessed to hear from missionary Mark Durene (scroll down to read the full update). We received an offering Thursday night toward the expansion of a thriving church in Northern Thailand called Liberty Church. Thank you for your generosity towards this incredible project. If your church would still like to participate, we would love to be able to include your gift. Mark Durene also extended an invitation to Minnesota Lead Pastors to travel to Thailand for a vision trip after Thanksgiving.
Thank you for your faith-filled ministry all across this great District. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we’ll reap a harvest, if we do not give up.” I look forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks at Lake Geneva Family Camp.
