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Top stories for the week of June 12, 2015
Philippine Nazarene College elects new president Philippine Nazarene College announced the election of Marcos Eugenio as its new president, effective June 1. Eugenio is still overwhelmed with the recent announcement. “I did not dream of becoming president,” he said. Eugenio remembers when he applied for a teaching position at PNC back in 1999. At the time, a theology professor told him, “Why are you applying for a teaching position? Apply for presidency!” PNC has always been a home to Eugenio. He is an alumnus of the college (formerly Luzon Nazarene Bible College), where he finished a degree in theology. He also worked there as an instructor in Bible and theology for eight years. His passion for education and discipleship became more evident in his chosen ministries. He served as a pastor at three churches and took the role of a teacher when he became an instructor at PNC and a part-‐time assistant professor at University of Eastern Pangasinan and World Citi College Aeronautical & Technological College. In 2012, Eugenio began serving at the Church of the Nazarene's Philippine Field Office as the field education coordinator for a program called Philippine Theological Education by Extension for Nazarenes. As education coordinator, he represented the Philippine Field in the Regional Course of Study Advisory Committee in 2013, where the goal was to develop the regional Sourcebook on Ordination and establish validation procedures for the ministerial educational programs in the region. He was also appointed district superintendent for Southern Tagalog in 2013. He brought significant changes to the district, strengthening district fellowship, reorganizing district auxiliaries, and realigning local and district activities. He developed leaders, sending pastors to workshops and training seminars to improve and modernize their methods of running their respective churches. Eugenio empowered other pastors by reviving the zone system led by coordinators, functioning as “little D.S.s.” He continued to challenge local pastors to create and focus on continuous discipleship programs, not just one-‐time events that have little or no opportunity of follow-‐through. He started the very first camp meeting, which focuses on passion for God and the Church and for redemption of lost souls. Workshops included Integrity, Nazarene Integrity, Nazarene Identity, Youth, and Worship. While serving as Southern Tagalog D.S., Eugenio was the chairman of the Board of Trustees at PNC in 2014. To combine these responsibilities to effectively serve the church, he promoted Ministry Exposure to PNC students, a project that he spearheaded this year. The project aims to have PNC students be more involved in their local churches and other district churches during their summer break. Pastoral ministry students were assigned to churches without a resident pastor, and education students were grouped to teach from one church to another. Eugenio's official term as district superintendent ends in January 2016; however, due to his new responsibility at PNC, he will step down as D.S. by the end of June. His successor as D.S. is expected to be named soon. "I consider my election as president of PNC as a great privilege, twinned with enormous responsibility," Eugenio said. "Imagine leading an institution with the vision of being 'an outstanding educational center of various Christian ministries' and to produce pastors, teachers, and Christian leaders, who will, in turn, make Christlike disciples in all nations! I admit, it is overwhelming and scary! But I trust the Lord, and I pray that my previous ministry and leadership experiences would be of help to the college. "I am thankful to the Board of Trustees, Rev. Stephen Gualberto, Dr. Melvin Rigsby, Mark Louw, and the Board of General Superintendents for their trust and confidence in me. Above all, I give God all the glory!" Mark is married to Jasmin, who is also serving in the Philippine Field Office. They have two children, Josiah Kent and Maeve Lane. -‐-‐Church of the Nazarene Asia-‐Pacific Region Retired missionary Bob Ashley remembered Robert “Bob” Ashley, 88, passed away June 3. Bob and his late wife, Ina, served as missionaries in Belize and St. Lucia for 28 years and were directors at Casa Robles Nazarene Missionary Retirement Center in California for many years. At age 17, Bob left high school and enlisted in U.S. Maritime Service to flee God's call to be a missionary. Bob served in the Merchant Marines from 1944 to 1946, at the end and after World War II. One of his assignments was aboard the U.S. Lane Victory as a cook and baker. He served in the Pacific war near the Philippines as the ship delivered munitions to the area. For his service, he received the Atlantic War Zone Ribbon, the Pacific War Ribbon, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. Duty on the Merchant Marine ships was extremely dangerous. According to records, the Merchant Marines suffered the highest casualty rate of any of the services. A total of 1,554 ships were sunk and more than 9,500 men were lost during combat. During one of his post-‐war voyages, Bob met Paul Haines, a Pilgrim Holiness preacher returning to China as a missionary after the war ended. Bob recalls that during this trip, Haines became aware of Bob's calling to be a missionary. They would have long talks on the deck and Bob explained he had been called to be a missionary himself, but did not feel equipped for this task. Haines countered all his excuses and reminded him of Jonah fleeing from Nineveh. The last thing Haines said to Bob as he climbed down a rope ladder in the port of Shanghai, China, was: "Mind the Lord." After the war, Bob returned home to marry Ina Lou Mielke. Prior to his wartime service, Ina had been called to be a missionary and had turned Bob down for marriage because he was not. Now with God's plan compete, they were married in 1947 and prepared to follow the Lord's call to the foreign mission field. Bob and Ina both attended Pasadena Nazarene College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) and were eventually commissioned to foreign mission service from June 1954 through June 1982 (28 years). Bob kept meticulous records of his time in the field and listed the following "tangible results" of following God's leading: • Teacher/director, Fitkin Memorial Bible College • Acting principal, Nazarene High School •
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Mission treasurer, Belize District District superintendent, Belize District Mission director, Belize District District superintendent, Windward Islands Pioneer Area/District Mission director, Windward Island-‐Trinidad-‐Barbados Districts Pastor, San Ignacio-‐Roaring Creek-‐Esperanza Mission, Belize Pastor, Castries, St. Lucia Started 11 churches in Belize, St. Vincent, St, Lucia, Grenada Organized nine churches in Belize, St. Vincent, St, Lucia, Grenada Constructed 13 churches in Belize, St. Vincent, St. Lucia Constructed six schools and building in Belize Constructed the Holland Memorial Clinic in Belize Constructed seven homes, parsonages, and mission houses Remodeled five buildings, including a mission house, Bible college classroom/chapel, high school, church, and offices After returning to the U.S., Bob and Ina were appointed by World Mission Division Director L. Guy Nees to direct Casa Robles Nazarene Missionary Retirement Center in Temple City, California, in 1984. Bob was re-‐appointed to this position by the General Board in 1990 and served in this capacity until his retirement in 1992 after 38 years of faithful missionary service. -‐-‐Global Mission Dare to dream: Creating a culture of risk-‐taking Pioneering and risk-‐taking were the themes of the Dare to Dream conference held for pastors and lay leaders across the United Kingdom 29-‐31 May at the campus of Nazarene Theological College-‐Manchester. The conference was a cooperative effort of the British Isles North and South districts, Momentum UK, and NTC-‐Manchester. Through a series of speakers, guided discussions in small groups, prayer, worship, and visits to innovative ministries, the 110 attendees wrestled with how to be pioneers and embrace risk in ministry when overall attendance of U.K. churches has plateaued. “For quite some time there’s been a sense that the Nazarene church needs to be reinvigorated in the U.K., and part of that is helping people think about what it means to take risks and dream big dreams and have strong, godly vision,” said Deirdre Brower Latz, NTC-‐Manchester principal. The U.K. church has been involved in missional sending and pioneering to other parts of the world over the decades. Sometime around the 1950s, the church domestically became more settled, organized, and structured, which “mitigated that apostolic, pioneering spirit which happens in an organization in the first two generations and needs to be rediscovered,” said Trevor Hutton, director of Momentum UK. The conference explored the theology of risk-‐taking, studying how God takes risks and how people in the Bible put their faith in God when taking risks. The group also examined case studies of churches that are engaged in pioneering and innovative ministry within the U.K. Philip McAlister, superintendent for the British Isles North District, was excited about the potential for the conference to open up the church to trying new things and setting its young leaders loose to be creative and experimental. “We have ‘centers of excitement,’ that’s how I would describe them, where really good things are happening,” he said. “Some of our churches are doing some really innovative work, partnering with like-‐minded people in their communities. Out of those centers of excitement, there is a growing number of young people that really want to engage and want to commit their lives to making a difference. Historically in the British Isles, we have had seasons of this happen before and the church has never ever capitalized on what the Lord has been doing with young people and as a consequence …we lost some of our finest young people. We have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on what God is doing in the lives of young people.” McAlister said he hoped conference participants would leave the weekend with a fresh enthusiasm and a belief that all things are possible, as well as to know they are going to be listened to by district leadership. Hutton added that he wanted the conference to help the districts identify catalytic people and create opportunities for further development in training, as well as cross-‐fertilize between the two districts. The series of speakers — some Nazarene and some from other denominations or organizations — shared stories of real experience with innovative ministries taking chances and dreaming large. “It’s OK to fail. It’s OK to make a mess of things. It’s OK if things don’t always go right. That’s part of the missional experiment,” said speaker Martin Robinson, author and principal of ForMission, a mission training college. Attendees gathered several times into different corners of the campus to discuss prepared questions based on the speakers’ presentations, such as “Pioneers work on the edge. What does the edge look like for you?” “I’m not going to go out and do steam punk ministry tomorrow, but maybe with job seekers,” said a woman in answer to the question, referring to one speaker’s example of a missionary working among people from the steam punk subculture. The discussion groups were key to helping Kat Wood, associate pastor of Ashton Church of the Nazarene, British Isles South District, in processing the ideas she was hearing. “The question I was asking myself, ‘What are the risks God is asking me to take in my ministry, maybe with relationships that need to develop more? Is there something God wants me to do in the community?’” “I’m risk-‐averse; I sail close to shore,” said Ruth Clarkson, a participant from the Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Perth, British Isles North District. “Living on the edge is not going to be something nice for me, but we’re not called to be comfortable. It’s challenging us and we don’t know what it looks like. We feel God is trying to tell us something.” David Montgomery, superintendent of the British Isles South District, said the time is now to encourage churches to take risks. “We felt that we needed to do something new, something different, and just where our churches were at the time, we felt it was a good thing to cause them to dream somewhat as to what could be. If we’re not moving forward, we’re either standing still or going back, and so we need to be moving forward, and that usually takes an element of risk.” -‐-‐Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region Near-‐record 4 Nazarene players chosen in MLB draft Major League Baseball held its annual First-‐Year Player Draft this week and four players from Nazarene schools were chosen — the most since a record five were taken in 2009. Clayton Brandt (MidAmerica Nazarene University), Josh Altmann (Olivet Nazarene University), Hunter Newman (Trevecca Nazarene University), and Jake Reppert (Northwest Nazarene University) join the list of at least 66 others as MLB draftees from Nazarene schools since the draft started in 1965. Brandt, a senior shortstop at MNU from Stewardson, Illinois, was taken by the Washington Nationals in the 19th round. In 57 games this spring, the Pioneer leadoff man hit .417 with a nation-‐best 81 runs, MNU-‐record 86 hits, 19 doubles, six triples, seven homers, 43 RBIs, a .670 slugging percentage, a .492 on base percentage, a 1.162 OPS, and an MNU-‐record 41 steals. He is currently on the roster for the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. (Click here for more on Brandt from MNU) “I saw my name pop up on the draft board,” Brandt told mnusports.com. “It was so surreal. I had to do a double-‐take to make sure. It was a type of excitement that I can't explain. I just prayed to the Lord and thanked Him for this and said ‘Your plan is what I want’ and just sat at my locker and smiled. I immediately told my parents and grandparents.” (For more on Brandt, click here.) Altmann, a junior infielder at Olivet from Homer Glen, Illinois, was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 22nd round (648 overall). He batted a team-‐leading .432 this season and was named to the CCAC All-‐Conference First Team for a second time. Altmann started all 50 games and played all four infield positions. He had 67 hits (led team) and 15 doubles, two triples, and six homeruns (led team). He also had 23 walks (led team), 16 HBP (led team), 49 runs (led team), 104 total bases (led team), 36 RBIs (led team), and 23 stolen bases (led team). He finished with a .671 slugging percentage (led team) and .535 OBP (led team), and had 195 putouts (led team) with a .962 fielding percentage. “Right now, I am at a loss for words,” Altmann said in an Olivet Athletics story. “This moment has been a dream come true for me since I started playing the game. Moving forward from here, I look to continue with the hard work and run with this opportunity. I don’t lose focus that there is still a ways to go in the organization, but I am going to put in the work.” (For more on Altmann, click here.) Newman, a junior third baseman at Trevecca from Chapmansboro, Tennessee, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round with the 671st pick. He is a Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-‐
American. The Goodpasture Christian School product made the second team and added this honor to a laundry list of accolades from various organizations this season. He is a third-‐team member of the 2015 Daktronics All-‐American team, making him the first Trevecca or Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-‐
MAC) player to make that team. Two organizations, the ABCA/Rawlings and Daktronics, named him their 2015 Midwest Player of the Year. He is the 2015 G-‐MAC Player of the Year, a G-‐MAC first team all-‐conference selection, a ABCA/Rawlings Midwest Region first team honoree, a Daktronics Midwest Region first teamer, and honored as a NCBWA Midwest Region first team member. Newman hit .451 and led the Trojans and the G-‐MAC in batting average, home runs (18), runs batted in (77), slugging percentage (.877), on-‐base percentage (.558), total bases (171), walks (39) and tied for the lead in hit by pitches (13). His 18 home runs were 11th best in Division II. “It was the most amazing phone call I've ever gotten,” Newman told tnutrojans.com. “I owe so much to coach (Ryan) Schmalz, coach (Nachion) Moore, coach (Luke) Brown, coach (Mark) Rayburn, and coach (Brad) Coon. I wouldn't have this chance if it wasn't for them working with me on and off the field. I want to thank God so much for giving me this opportunity! I'm going to miss playing with all of my boys at Trevecca, but they are going to do great things next year and I can't wait to watch how they do!" (For more on Newman, click here.) Reppert, a pitcher at NNU from Monroe, Washington, was taken by the Philadelphia Philiies in the 27th round, 804th overall. The 6-‐foot-‐5 lefty, who earned honorable mention All-‐GNAC honors and was named to the GNAC All-‐
Academic Team this past year, set a single-‐season NNU record for complete-‐
game shutouts (2) and finished with 111 innings, striking out 101 batters, compiling a 4.86 ERA, and limiting opposing batters to a .288 batting average. "It's absolutely a dream come true and a moment I will never forget," Reppert said in a story from NNU Athletics. He graduated with a degree in Communication: Public Relations last month and helped NNU's baseball team to its first postseason berth since 1992. (For more on Reppert, click here.) This year marks the first time a player from a Nazarene school was drafted since 2013, when the Cleveland Indians took Olivet pitcher Ben Heller in the 22nd round, and the most since 2009 (five). Five Nazarene MLB draftees have made the major leagues: Mike Ekstrom (Point Loma Nazarene University, with San Diego Padres in 2008), Marty McLeary (Mount Vernon Nazarene University, with Padres in 2004), Tim Belcher (drafted twice out of MVNU, with Los Angeles Dodgers in 1987), Marty Decker (PLNU, with Padres in 1983), and Mike Overy (Olivet, with California Angels in 1976). Others, such as current Oakland A’s infielder/outfielder and former Olivet Tiger Ben Zobrist, played at a Nazarene school but were drafted out of another university after transferring. For every Nazarene MLB draftee, see baseball-‐reference.com. In Memoriam The following is a weekly listing of Nazarene ministers and leaders who recently went home to be with the Lord. Notices were received June 8-‐12, 2015. Virginia Allen, 91, of Wheelersburg, Ohio, passed away May 31. She was the widow of retired minister Robert Allen, who served in Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Alabama. Robert Allen passed away in 2008. Lewis Fannin, 84, of Gaffney, South Carolina, passed away June 6. He was a retired minister, serving in Ohio and North Carolina. He is survived by his wife, Lille Fannin. Marilynn (Smoker) Ferrell, 79, of Lima, Ohio, passed away June 6. She was the widow of retired minister Robert Ferrell, who served in Kansas and Ohio. Robert Ferrell passed away in 2014. Betty Martin, 82, of Glenpool, Oklahoma, passed away June 6. She was the wife of retired minister Donald Martin, who served in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Florida. Jerry Sudduth, 64, of Grove City, Ohio, passed away June 6. He was a minister, previously serving in West Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, and Missouri. He is survived by his wife, Ruth Sudduth. Willis Walker, 99, of Yakima, Washington, passed away June 4. He was a retired minister, serving in Idaho and Washington. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice Walker, in 1982. -‐-‐Compiled by NCN News