Dear CTKers,
Occasionally something so important comes across your desk that you can't get it out of your mind. The first article in this month's CTKNews describes such a time for me. Flooding in Pakistan has destroyed the homes of thousands of Pakistanis, which is a tragedy in itself. But most important, our brothers and sisters of CTK Pakistan are living without clean water, shelter, or sanitation today. They will be sleeping in temporary shelters or under the stars tonight. They are grieving the tragic deaths of at least 2 children in their congregation. I pray you will be moved to action to help them.
Sincerely,
Director, CTK Network Resources |
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Flooding devastates CTKers in Pakistan
 Some of our brothers and sisters in Pakistan are suffering grievously from flooding and the destruction and disease that have followed. Although this seems to hardly have made a blip on the news here in America, there are millions of people in desperate conditions, including many who are members of CTK congregations in Pakistan.
One of the pastors of CTK Pakistan lost a daughter in the flooding, and at least one other little one from CTK Pakistan has succumbed to water-borne illness in the aftermath. As Pastor Shahbaz John describes it, the people are spending day and night under "open sky". The needs are desperate, and since they are Christian, the Muslim leadership is telling them to get help from their church and largely ignoring their needs as they try to bring relief to the millions affected by the flooding. (See pics sent by Pastor Shahbaz.)
Pastor Shahbaz asks that each worship center set aside time to pray for the great needs, and that we would send financial assistance to meet the desterate needs. I ask you to imagine looking into the eyes of your children as you wondered where your next meal would come from or where you would be staying after your home was destroyed. Please consider what you might live without to help these brothers and sisters in the Lord.
May we stand together with our brothers and sisters and little ones in Pakistan. If you would like to email Pastor Shahbaz, click HERE. Time is of the essence. Gifts can be made online at http://ctkonline.com/giving (select the fund "Worldwide" and the subfund "Pakistan"), mailed to CTK Network Resources at PO Box 765, Burlington WA 98233, or placed in your CTK offering with "CTK Pakistan" on the memo.
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CTK Port Orange (FL) off to a great start
Scott Kirschner and family | CTK's first worship center on the East Coast is off to a great start in Port Orange, Florida.
Pastor Scott Kirschner writes: Our first six weeks hosting Sunday worship services has been an awesome experience. I'm humbled by what God is doing here. We have seen new faces come to check us out and there is a buzz in the school where we meet about how well things are going. In fact, we have had a few school staff members come join us.
I'm so excited to share that we have had several trust Christ as Savior and we had our first beach baptism on August 29. I believe God is moving and our people are catching the vision for what an authentic Christian community can accomplish. We just finished our Deliberate Simplicity series and it was very well received. I believe the groundwork has been laid and our people are clear about who we are as a church and what we are all about. We are already on the move with our mission.
We have had as many as 70 people in attendance, and this has all been from word-of-mouth advertising. We recently sent out an invitation to about 7500 of our neighbors and we are excited to see who else will be joining us! |
CTK men in the Mount Vernon area encouraged to come to a Men's Conference at 
CTK Anacortes (WA) youth pastor Kevin Foss helped produce the movie "Wrong Way To Hope", which documents the true story of young cancer survivors on a kayaking expedition. Pastor Rusty Van Deusen states the film is an excellent "arrows out" opportunity and will engage believers and non-believers with it's important message. 