Greetings from Mexico City, Chicago and Los Angeles! A little more than a week after the historic 2016 Global Leadership Conference on REVOLUTION, Elena & I flew to preach and teach in Mexico City! God has been moving so powerfully in this great congregation, as already in the first eight months of this year the Spirit has multiplied this incredible church from 59 to 117 disciples with nearly 200 in attendance on Sundays! Then it was off to Chicago to encourage this revitalized and now forcefully advancing congregation! On Sunday with 137 disciples, God blessed them with an attendance of 268! So touching was that we were enthusiastically greeted by 70 disciples at each of their respective airports with the song, We Love You With The Love Of The Lord! The only difference was that in Mexico City they sang to us in Elena’s heart language – Spanish!

70 fired up Mexico City Disciples gather to greet the
McKeans by singing
in Spanish We Love
You With The Love Of The Lord!


70 enthusiastic Chicago Disciples warmly
greet Kip & Elena with the SoldOut
Movement Welcome!
Then after returning “home” to LA for four days, on Saturday afternoon August 27th, our dear brother and sister Ron & Tracy Harding baptized their youngest and 16 year old son Dylan into Christ at Dockweiler Beach! Sharing at the baptism were teen disciples from several regions in the City of Angels Church who were in Dylan’s studies: Joshua Lopez (Southland), Yamin Leyton (South), Luke Chiappetta (Central), and Jordan Swann (Ventura), who Dylan has known since he was six years old when the LA Remnant Group was initiated in 2006!

After 16 years of prayer, God answers Ron &
Tracy Harding with the baptism of their
beloved son Dylan!




The brothers rejoice with the angels in Heaven
as Dylan enters the Kingdom of Light!
In all about 75 people were at Dylan’s baptism and amazingly almost 1,000 people from around the world watched his baptism live! And to God be all the glory!
BREAKING NEWS
RD Baker – Lead Evangelist of Dubai: Good morning from Dubai, United Arab Emirates! What an amazing two days it has been since April & I arrived in this great city!!! We had our first historical meeting with all nine missionaries for dinner on the night of our arrival! It was so heartwarming to see everyone including June Picardo of Chennai, India and Gina Dela Peña of Manila, Philippines for the very first time! In an answer to many prayers, God opened the door for Gina to reach Dubai the very same day we did! We symbolically shared a wonderful Arabic meal together while enjoying a robust conversation getting to know each other!

The first gathering of the entire Dubai Mission Team
was just three days ago in Dubai!
Amazingly, we also had two visitors – Ana from Albania and Liliana from Cameroon who already have become friends with our Mission Team! Afterwards, we went outside of the restaurant, and as a group circled arm-in-arm for our first prayer! (Muslims cannot pray in a circle so this is quite interesting to the locals!) Yesterday, we also met together at the breathtaking Dubai Mall where we shared our faith freely gathering several phone numbers with whom we will diligently follow up! That night, April & I had a fantastic evening with our beloved George from Kenya, as well as Joh Jey and his talented musician friend Harish from Sri Lanka!

The Dubai Mall is located on Mohammed Bin Rashid
Boulevard which is decorated by lovely palms
and lights and offers the best view to the
tallest building in the world –
the Burj Khalifa!
We are looking forward to our Inaugural Service on Friday, September 23rd! There is much to do, there is work on every hand as we aim to reach the almost five million souls here in Dubai and Abu Dhabi!
Marley Depew of Tampa: Greetings from the Tampa Bay Mission Team! Most of us moved to the Tampa Area just before the 2016 GLC!Tampa Bay includes St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tampa – a metro population of over five million!

The Tampa Bay Metro Area covers eight
counties and has a population of over
five million people!
Remarkably, since the Tampa Bay Mission Team of 16 – led by Anthony & Elizabeth Eckels – arrived, God has given us three baptisms including two students from the University of South Florida (USF) – Bienta and Christiana! The USF Marshall Student Center is our Lecture Hall of Tyrannus where we have daily Bible discussions. Amazingly, USF has an enrollment of almost 50,000 students!

Christiana (center left) and Bienta (center right)
are two of the reasons why the Spirit is
planting the church in the
Tampa Bay Area!
Please be praying for the Tampa Bay ICC Inaugural Service on September 11th at 10AM! Invite all your friends and family to join us at this momentous event at the Holiday Inn, 700 North Westshore Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33609! Please contact Anthony or Elizabeth Eckels (832-739-0756) if you have any friends or family you would like for us to contact and invite!

Pray for the Tampa Bay ICC Inaugural Service
on September 11th!
Joe Willis – Lead Evangelist of Sydney: Praise God as through His grace we had a record attendance at this Sunday’s International Dayas 43 disciples had 103 in attendance! (This was with only six children!) Also, the Spirit added three wonderful baptisms!


The Sydney Church set their attendance record of
103 at their International Day!
What has been the main difference in our impact on this atheistic nation from earlier in the year compared to this past month? The 2016 Global Leadership Conference – REVOLUTION! Alfredo Anuch at the Church Builders Workshop shared that in Santiago, he held every Staff Meeting on campus, as well as having all the Campus Bible Talks not meet just once a week but multiple times like Paul did in Ephesus! (Acts 19:8-10)



Spiritual twins: Berek – Sydney’s first Samoan
Sister – and Jacob from Chang’an,
China’s ancient capital! 


Scotty and Berek – both Samoan – are ready to
go on the New Zealand Mission Team
that is to be planted in 2018!
So imitating these radical examples, we now have every Campus Bible Talk meeting on every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for nightly evangelism and on Saturday when the campuses are empty, we have “street evangelism” for all Sydney disciples from 12PM to 4PM! Pray for us to be continuously bold because of the cross!
Mark Garrido – the new Lead Evangelist of Hilo: Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii! “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! AMEN!” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Mark & Keri Garrido have initiated a REVOLUTION
on the Big Island of Hawaii!
With much research and prayer, the Big Island hosted their first tagging session ever!!! When we first arrived on the Big Island in June, Keri & I were told by the disciples that it was illegal to tag here in Hilo. I immediately thought to myself, “How can this be?” After getting lots of advice and spending time looking over the laws and regulations, Keri & I decided it was time to “commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3) After two hours of tagging wearing safety vests and carrying fishing nets, the Big Island disciples of Hilo and Kona received over $700! Let’s just say the disciples were BLOWN AWAY!!!! This was an amazing victory for GOD!!!

In only two hours of tagging, God blesses the
Hilo Disciples with over $700!
Continue to pray for us as we strive to raise money to blow out our Special Missions to take the Gospel “into all the world!” (Mark16:15)
Micky Ngungu of Kinshasa: Greetings from your brothers and sisters in the Democratic Republic of Congo! We are grateful for the souls that God keeps adding to His Kingdom! In Kinshasa, there was a humongous joy when the waters of baptism were stirred again on Saturday with six baptisms – Gabriel, Julia, Mbo, Fils, Nadège and Renaud! Pray for us as we pray for you! Famille jusqu’à la fin! (Family to the end!)

Praise God for the six souls that were baptized on
Saturday in the Congo River!
The McKeans August Missionary Journey
This Missionary Journey was relatively short, as we traveled to just two cities: Mexico City – a thriving metropolis of 21 million, and Chicago – the third largest city in America and home to 10 million lost souls!

Mexico is composed of 31 states with a population
of 113 million! Mexico City is located in the
heart of this great nation and has
a population of 21 million!
Upon our arrival in Mexico City on Thursday, August 11th, Elena & I spent time with the gallant and gifted leaders of this amazing congregation – Carlos & Lucy Mejia!

Though Anthony, Ezequiel and Isaac were not able
to attend the 2016 GLC, the Mexico City Disciples
that did participate brought the REVOLUTION
back to Mexico!
Then on a balmy Friday evening on the top of their current church facility, the Mexico City Church hosted a Fiesta De Bienvenida (Welcoming Party)! This magnificent occasion included a Book Signing Reception and a tasty Mexican Banquet that were held in honor of Elena and her book: ELEVATE – Jesus’ Global Revolution For Women!

The invitation to the Fiesta De Bienvenida!

The Mexico City Sisters lovingly prepared…

Guisado de Nopales (Sauteed Hot Dogs
with Cactus)…


And the very tasty Alambre (a Stew of
Beef and Vegetables)!




What a fellowship, what a joy divine…
Elena’s book was the first book published by the newly founded SoldOut Press International – whose headquarters are in Mexico City! Since it was published not only in English but Spanish also, all of the Mexico City sisters and many of the brothers were so fired up for Elena sign in Spanish their Spanish translation books! Elena’s book (English and Spanish) can be purchased at https://squareup.com/store/sold-out-press-international?t=merchant-fb.



Elena graciously signed the Spanish translation of
ELEVATE in Spanish – her heart language!
This three hour fellowship time afforded us the opportunity to really get to know many of the brothers and sisters as well as about 25 visiting from our former fellowship that came to greet us! A steady stream of remnant disciples have joined the Mexico City ICC, and these remnant (“veteran”) disciples have added so much maturity and leadership! Indeed, four couples served as Sector Leaders in Mexico City in our former fellowship, Gilberto Briones led the Guadalajara (Mexico) ICOC, and Leonel & Cristina Torres served as Super Region Leaders in Mexico City and later led the Monterrey (Mexico) ICOC – growing it from 500 to 1,000 disciples in just four years!

Santos & Diana were very effective Sector Leaders
in our former fellowship!

Guillermo Huesca (left), Gilberto Briones – a former
Evangelist, and Hector Gomez – another former
Evangelist – all give a thumbs up to
the new movement!

Anthony & Alejandra are Venezuelan Nationals
who will prayerfully will be appointed
by the Mejias in 2017!
Sadly, the evening of our arrival, Satan viciously struck as the Torres heard from the doctors that their youngest child Diego (14 years old) had fainted because he had germ cell cancer which produced a large tumor over his lungs. We prayed and fasted on Saturday and the Lord heard our prayers as Diego is receiving chemo and is now doing better!

The entire movement is praying for the Torres
Familia – Cristina, Diego, Leonel and Kenya!
On Saturday at 5PM, I delivered a message on The History Of The Mainline Churches Of Christ, The International Churches Of Christ, And The International Christian Churches – God’s new SoldOut Discipling Movement! This was a three hour presentation as Carlos Mejia translated for me! Afterward so many wanted to sit down and talk about their questions and how to become members of the movement!


Miguel Limon leading the singing before the
presentation of LA HISTORIA DE LOS
MOVIMIENTOS! The Teen Ministry
views this historic event
from the balcony!


The fellowship after this presentation was electric!
Sunday Church was glorious as nearly 200 were in attendance! The remainder of that day and in fact the next three days were spent with several remnant disciples that had questions particularly about why the ICOC returned to a more Mainline Church of Christ theology.

The Mejias give a rousing Welcome!

Hector Gomez – the Editor for SoldOut Press
International – and his lovely wife Adriana
share a heartfelt Communion!


Leonel Torres delivered a powerful
Contribution Message despite his
son Diego’s fragile health!


The zealous Mexico City Campus Brothers!

Elena with Myrna (the Women’s Campus & Teen
Leader), Elida (the Shepherdess), and Lucy
(the Women’s Ministry Leader)!
On Tuesday evening, to thank Carlos & Lucy for all of their efforts to publish and distribute ELEVATE, Elena & I took them out for a dinner celebration!

Best of friends – Kip & Elena and Carlos & Lucy!

Indeed it was a memorable evening as Kip, Elena,
Lucy & Carlos enjoyed Cricket Tacos!
So many prayers are needed for our sister church in Mexico City, as Lord willing and potentially very excitingly, Victor & Sonia of Las Vegas will be joining the Mexico City Staff next month! Please pray fervently as well for Diego Torres’ complete recovery and for the plans that are presently being made to officially establish remnant groups in Guadalajara and Monterrey!
On Thursday, August 18th, we flew the short four hour flight from Mexico City to Chicago! After being so enthusiastically greeted by the Chicago disciples, Elena & I were both greatly comforted as the Chicago Church has gone through some difficult years. Many of these challenges were the result of sending huge groups of disciples to plant the San Francisco Bay Church, as well as to strengthen the New York City and LA Churches! Yet, with the coming of 15 zealous leaders from the Southland Region on the LA Supplemental Mission Team – led by the indomitable Cory & Jee Blackwell – and the coming of the powerful Shepherding Couple – Roger & Kama Parlour – from Boston, the Chicago Church has been completely transformed and revived! In our minds, this 141 sold-out member congregation is now one of the movement’s strongest churches as they are averaging – since the Supplement Mission Team arrived in June – three additions a week!

The new Chicago ICC logo represents the
vision to evangelize the Midwest USA
and the Middle East!

God’s chosen couples for evangelizing the Middle
East – Cory & Jee Blackwell (right) and
RD & April Baker!

Roger Parlour greatly strengthened the Chicago
Church upon his return as one
of the Shepherds!
Friday, we spent the entire day with Cory & Jee – the Middle East World Sector Leaders! What a refreshment they were to Elena & me as they had so many plans in place to not only evangelize Chicago, but the Midwest USA and the Middle East as well! It was awesome to visit with Cory’s mom Wazirah as she is visiting Cory for the month after the GLC! Wazirah is such a courageous and wise sister, as she has overcome so much in coming out of the Muslim faith and being baptized in 1999, as well as in sustaining her faith as our former fellowship crumbled through internal strife and the return to Mainline Church of Christ theology!

Cory and his incredible mom – Wazirah!
Saturday morning, Cory and I drove to the shores of Lake Michigan and watched the gorgeous sunrise as the rays of the sun flickered across the waters! We then had a two hour prayer walk; it would have been a bit less but we were so intensely praying that we passed the path that would take us back to his car!

Cory and Kip’s view from the Southside
of Chicago at sunrise!
Following, we met Miguel Mendez at President Obama’s favorite breakfast restaurant – Valois Café! The Chicago Church is divided into four regions – Downtown led by Pat & Sparkle Boea, South led by the Blackwells, the West led by the Parlours, and the North led dynamically by Miguel!


Miguel Mendez was appointed an Evangelist
by Cory at the 2016 GLC!
Then we had an incredible fellowship with the new Shepherding Couples-in-Training: Theo & Leslie Dawson, Chris & Larato Wooden, and Lalo & Lupe Palacios!

Chicago’s newly appointed Shepherding Couples:
the Palacios, the Dawsons and the Woodens!
That evening was our “last supper” with RD & April Baker, who would fly to the Middle East after church the next day! With the Blackwells in Chicago, this great church becomes the “headquarters” for the Middle East World Sector, and with the Bakers planting the SoldOut Movement’s first church in the Middle East in Dubai, that congregation will be the pillar church for the entire Middle East!

The “Last Supper” for the Bakers before
leaving for Dubai!
Sunday was beyond incredible! The singing was soooooo amazing particularly the solos by Amber and Iesha! Elena shared a very heartwarming Communion and the Bakers gave an inspirational Contribution Charge!

The transformed Chicago International
Christian Church!

Kip affectionately introduces Elena to
share for Communion!


Elena encouraged the Chicago Church with her
genuine warmth and kindness!
My sermon was simply entitled, FOOLS FOR CHRIST! My three points were: THE THEOLOGY OF A FOOL; THE TESTIMONY OF A FOOL;and THE TREASURE OF A FOOL! On my first illustration I shared about how April’s decision to go to the Middle East seemed so “foolish” to her family as she has a very tenuous heart condition. In December 2015, the doctor’s found that her heart was only functioning at 19%! She was operated on in January and now her heart is at 40%… April believes this incredible miracle was made possible because of the prayers of so many and her husband RD who takes such good care of her! During the last year, her mother has persecuted her by talking with April’s doctors and even Cory to stop her from going! To close the service, the Congregational Shepherds laid their hands on RD & April and prayed over them, thus calling on the Spirit to send them to Dubai to have an incredible harvest!

Kip delivers the sermon – FOOLS FOR CHRIST!
Amazingly, this same Sunday in LA’s East Region as the Dubai Send Off Service in Chicago, April’s mom Robin was restored to the Lord! Interestingly, Robin was touched by April’s radical faith very similarly to Jesus’ mom Mary! Early in Jesus’ ministry, Mary thought that Jesus was“out of His mind!” However, Mary became a disciple after Jesus’ radical death on the cross! (Mark 3:21; Acts 1:14)

Robin in LA shares her restoration by phone
with her daughter April in Chicago!
So encouraging as well, a talented “Kingdom Kid” was baptized – John Droblas! Ginger Droblas has now seen all three of her children baptized into Christ! Also, Kendra Smith and Lenard & Tanggie Moody placed membership directly from the ICOC!


John feels “the peace that passes understanding”
after he enters the Kingdom!
On Monday morning, Elena flew back to LA, but Cory had asked me to do the Staff Meeting on Tuesday morning and then fly back home! And I’m so glad I stayed that extra day as Monday was a day I’ll never forget! After dropping off Elena at the airport, Cory drove me to Evanston which is about 15 miles north of Downtown Chicago. We drove around the neighborhood where he went to high school and graduated in 1981! Cory shared so many humorous as well as sobering stories about growing up! After an hour or so, we stopped by the home of Cory’s father so that I could meet Mr. Blackwell for the first time. His father is now 80 years old! When we first arrived, Cory said, “Bro, you better wait in the car because presently my dad is really mad at me for confronting him about being a Jehovah’s Witness a few weeks ago. I’ll see if he wants to see you.” Well ten minutes later Cory returned to the car and said, “My dad said to come on in.”
So the three of us were sitting in chairs on the front porch and I could still sense that Cory’s dad was quite upset. So I simply said, “Mr. Blackwell, I brought a gift to you. It is the book that my wife recently wrote and I think you’ll enjoy the picture on page 76 of Cory with one of your granddaughters!” Mr. Blackwell said, “Which one?” I answered, “Avrie” and showed him the picture! I told Mr. Blackwell that the picture was the day that Avrie was presented as the Valedictorian at her high school graduation!

For this picture on page 76 of ELEVATE, Elena wrote
the following caption, “One of our closest friends –
Cory Blackwell, a former NBA player – and his
daughter Avrie celebrating that she was
Valedictorian of her High School!”
Then I preceded to show Mr. Blackwell the other pictures. With a very changed demeanor and a big smile, Mr. Blackwell then stated, “I am going to read this book from cover to cover!” At that point, Mary – his wife of 38 years (but not Cory’s mom) – joined us on the porch and saw Elena’s book. She picked it up and read the title Jesus’ Global Revolution For Women and she said to me, “This is your wife, right?” I said, “Yes!” She said, “I must read this book!” Then Mr. Blackwell feigning being mad said to her, “No you won’t woman! I’m reading it and then you can read it!” And we all laughed!
As Cory and I walked away from the house, I turned around and saw Mr. Blackwell sitting alone on the porch beginning to read ELEVATE! Well, this is exactly what Elena and I had prayed for… that this book would inspire the Movement, gather the remnant, and open the hearts of non-Christians to becoming sold-out disciples of Jesus!

Cory Blackwell was a High School All American
at Crane High School and received a full
scholarship to the University of
Wisconsin where he became
a Big 10 star!
Then Cory and I drove another 20 miles north to Libertyville to see the town where I graduated from high school in 1971! So many memories flooded my mind!

The McKean Family home when Kip was in
sixth and seventh grade!

So many memories flooded Kip’s mind as he strolled
with Cory around the Libertyville High School
campus where Kip graduated in 1971!

One senior year memory… Kip is number 86
and played “split end” (wide receiver) and
“defensive half-back” (corner back)!
As we walked around my old elementary, junior high and high schools, we were both in awe of the different worlds from which we had come! Yet, our Sovereign God brought us together in 1991 in LA, and Cory and I initiated the Cross and Switchblade Ministry where our hearts were forever bonded by our love for God, His mission and His people… And the rest is history!

Loyal partners in the Gospel – Cory and Kip in 1993!
HEADLINE NEWS
“200 For The Lord!”
This GNE, we will hear updates from all the congregations that may go over 200 disciples by this December 31st! Of course, LA is at about 900 disciples and their goal is “1,000 for the Lord!” Presently, the Kinshasa Remnant Group has around 200 members, but the reconstruction – where the cost is counted with every member – will not take place until early 2017 so they most likely will officially start at that time with under 200 disciples. As well, God initiated the SoldOut Movement in the nation of Haiti with the baptism of the former Mainline Church of Christ Preacher Alexis Turgeau at the 2013 GLC! As of today, the Spirit has multiplied this faithful brother into 256 disciples, yet these incredible brothers and sisters are spread out in five congregations. Therefore, our five sister churches that share the prayer goal of 200 disciples by the end of the year are: Santiago – 149, NYC – 165, São Paulo – 168, Chennai – 172, and Manila – 192!

Tim Kernan (red shirt) leads the largest congregation
in the movement – the City of Angels ICC! This is
his “Fight Club” through which he helps train
future Evangelists to grow the
LA Church to thousands!
 
Alfredo Anuch – Lead Evangelist of Santiago: Greetings from Santiago de Chile – “the ends of the earth!” Without a doubt the GLC REVOLUTION was an unforgettable event! Thank you City of Angels Church for everything you did for God and His saints! Here in Santiago, we are very grateful for every soul God has been adding to His church. We have prayed for God, the Lord of the harvest, to bring more workers… So far, God has added 51 new souls this year to His church in Santiago: 39 baptisms, 7 restorations and 5 placed memberships!

Alfredo & Alejandra Anuch were converted through
the Santiago Campus Ministry and as Chilean
Nationals have a tremendous vision for
the sensational Santiago Church!
One of these precious additions was Benjamin! He was baptized in February of this year after being a member of the Mainline Church of Christ for almost 20 years! Due to autonomy, that church ended up teaching false doctrines here in Santiago. When Benjamin saw the truth, he understood that he had to be baptized again as a disciple and started being a worker for God! God has used him powerfully in his first five months, since he has been fruitful five times!

Having been taught the truth about salvation,
Benjamin is motivated by God’s grace “to
win as many as possible!”
Without a doubt, God has shown His power here in the Campus Ministry! To be very open, it was an emotional challenge for Ale & me to go back onto the campus so many years after having graduated and now with three beautiful children, as well! However, we have seen God be so compassionate by using us to bring to Him more and more young souls! In August, God brought three new souls into the Campus Ministry: Michael, Victor and Claudia were baptized!!! So from 9 students to almost 30 in one year, this cannot be the work of men!

The Anuchs have established a dynamic ministry at
the Universidad Católica de Santiago which
is rated the number one campus in Latin
America alongside USP in Sã
o Paulo!
Although the nation of Venezuela is going through rough times, God has worked in the hearts of the Venezuelans that have been coming to Chile! Now in the Santiago Church, there are 11 Venezuelans that have made the decision to be disciples and be baptized! The last of them was this Sunday! Jennifer, who studied theology, started looking for a church when she arrived in our country. She found us on Facebook; visited on a Sunday; and after studying the Bible for two weeks Jennifer was baptized! Especially amidst suffering, our God works!

God is building the Caracas Mission Team, as
Jennifer is the eleventh Venezuelan National
in the Santiago Church!
So, since the beginning of the year, the 149 disciples in Santiago have a dream: “200 for the Lord!” And the God who can do much more than we can think of or imagine, can do it! To Him be the glory!
Luke Speckman – Lead Evangelist of New York City: Greetings from the “Disciples that never sleep!” Since returning from the amazing 2016 GLC, we have taken the REVOLUTION into the whole congregation, focusing on “Radicalization”! Two weeks ago, we met in Philadelphia and had a combined Staff Meeting with the Washington DC Church! Last week, we met in Albany (the capital of the State of New York) for a combined Staff Meeting with the Syracuse Church! This week, we met in Hartford (the capital of the State of Connecticut) for a combined Staff Meeting with the Boston Church! All of these cities are a just a three hour drive from NYC! God has used these outings to give our leadership group a vision for the surrounding area that we need to evangelize between us and the next closest church, thus motivating us to work all the harder in our local ministries!

The combined Staff Meetings of the NYC and DC
Churches met in Philadelphia just a stone’s
throw from the “Rocky Steps!”


The following week, the Staffs of the NYC and
Syracuse Churches met in the capital city
of the State of New York – Albany!


This week, the NYC and Boston Combined Staff
Meeting met halfway in Hartford, Connecticut!
This week, we (the Speckmans, Shelbracks, and Shepherds) devoted our schedules to having individual meetings with the most vulnerable disciples or those who might need a little more powerful discipling by having “Life Talks” with them. We set up about 45 appointments for the week! Each Life Talk would include the need-to-be strengthened disciple, Jay Shelbrack, a Shepherd, the House Church Leader, the Bible Talk Leader and me. Essentially, we would just have a great d-time with them! Our wives did the same with the women. We are all totally exhausted but we instantly see the added vibrancy in the church that only discipling brings!

Aaron & Sharmayne Viscichini are the
charismatic NYC Campus
Ministry Leaders!
To close out this week, we had a record attendance of over 300 at ourBring Your Neighbor Day, lunch together, and open mic after service! Also, we were able to collect the first 30% of our Fall Missions today, as well as collect an extra $5,000 as a gift to send the Torres Family in Mexico City to help support them as their son Diego is undergoing cancer treatment!

The International Choir of the NYC Church “brought
the house down” at the record setting BYND!
Since the Supplemental Mission Team’s arrival in June, God has blessed us with an average of two baptisms a week! Last Sunday was especially inspiring as we had a Columbia student (Ivy League) baptized, a teen Kingdom Kid baptized (we just started the Teen Ministry a month ago when we arrived from LA), and a place membership directly from the ICOC! As for the brother who placed membership, he was visiting from the Dominican Republic and found our church. After studying the Bible, he realized that he had to be a part of a church devoted to world evangelism and so he decided that he had to stay in NYC and not go back home! So he moved into a brothers household and is now working in NYC! It was very interesting doing the Bible studies because his first language is Creole; his second language is Spanish; and his third language is English. Since I do not speak Creole or Spanish, I had to have at least one translator of both languages present to make sure we were communicating clearly! I have never done a study in three languages before, but it was an incredible experience!

Luke Speckman – the new Lead Evangelist
in NYC – is indeed “fighting
the good fight!”
Today, I put the prayer goal before the church to go from our current 165 members to 200 by the end of the year! Everyone responded joyfully that they would pitch in and work towards this goal! Please keep the church in New York City in your prayers!
Raul Moreno – Lead Evangelist of São Paulo: “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10) Greetings! The Lord is good to us here! We have 168 disciples in the Sao Paulo Church and we want to give all the glory to God! Last week, we had three additions! God gave us two baptisms from the number one ranked college in all of Central and South America – the University of São Paulo! Both baptisms were men: Jaques, who is majoring in Geography, and Luis, who is studying Chemistry!

Jaques is baptized through the Spirit acting upon
the zealous prayers and the tireless efforts
of the USP Campus Ministry!

The fruitful USP Campus Leaders Danilo & Carol
are the Rio Mission Team Leaders!
For our third addition, we had the privilege of restoring Nestaria (79 years old), who is the mother of our dear brother Greg!

Greg and his wife Carla restored his mother
Nestaria to the Lord this week!
Lastly, we also had the honor of receiving Adam Zepeda! (Thank you LA!!!) He loves it here and has already led a couple of Bible Talks in “Portunhol” which is a mixture of Spanish (Español) and Portuguese! “Portunhol” is not a language, but it might as well be! It was for me as a Spanish-speaker until after three months when my Portuguese became somewhat intelligible!

The São Paulo Church very warmly received Adam
Zepeda, as he will serve as the South Region
Leader and an Associate Professor
at ICCM-São Paulo!
Lastly, please pray for our Women’s Day which will be this coming Sunday!

Pray for the São Paulo Women’s Day this Saturday!
Debs Rajan – Women’s Ministry Leader of Chennai: Greetings from the Tamilians! “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” (Psalm 112:1-2) This month, the disciples in Chennai truly experienced a powerful example of an upright generation!

The courageous Chennai International Christian
Church at a picnic in Guindy Park!

The Marrieds brought extra food and gladly
shared with the Singles and Campus
during the picnic!
Yassa Green, our dynamic intern, reached out to Ruth and studied the Bible with her. Yassa had to travel 45 minutes by train, then ride a bus for 20 minutes, and walk for another 10 minutes to reach Ruth’s place to study with her! Ruth, deeply convicted by Yassa’s love and dedication, was baptized! She then brought her brother Naveen Raj, who is doing his Bachelor’s in Commerce, to church and he was convicted of his sins and was baptized!

Like her Bible namesake, Ruth (center back
row) is fiercely loyal to the Lord!
Their parents, James & Priscilla were amazed to see their children’s transformation and dedication to the Lord, especially when it came to travelling such a long distance to attend church and be with the fellowship. However, James wanted them to go to a nearby church instead. Then Naveen shared vulnerably about his sins to his father, and how the disciples and the Bible helped him repent. James was amazed at his son’s openness and decided to come to church. Once James & Priscilla came to church, they started studying the Bible immediately! Last Sunday, James was baptized, and this Sunday Priscilla made Jesus the Lord of her life!

Ruth’s entire family is now in the Lord – her
brother Naveen, her father James, and
her dear mother Priscilla!
The Lord has blessed us with 31 additions (29 baptisms and 2 restorations) in last 60 days! The Chennai Church is at 172 as of this month! We focused on UNIFYING the church by having great fun times together, picnics in the park, and having each Bible Talk get their picture taken. Next, SOLIDIFYING the church, where each month we read one book of the Bible together, and share every day what we have learned from the Scriptures. I really appreciate my husband Raja who makes Quiet Times Series, lessons and devotions from these books for the disciples to have a deeper understanding of God’s Word! Finally, we see the Church MULTIPLYING as disciples continue to be made at an ever-increasing rate!

Akilan!

Sandhya!

Akilan, Sandhya and Kenny are just three of
the baptisms from the multiplying
Chennai Campus Ministry!
Every House Church Leader has a goal to baptize and raise up other leaders! It is amazing to see many couples rising up to be Shepherds of the flock as well! The Lord is really moving in India!
Kyle Bartholomew – Lead Evangelist of Metro Manila: Greetings from the Philippines! Upon arriving in Manila after the incredible GLCand a visit to our two churches in Hawaii, Joan & I looked forward to sharing everything we learned from our trip and the plans we made to help move the church forward to do “even greater things!” (John 14:12)

Kyle & Joan Bartholomew have planted all three
churches in their Pacific Rim World Sector:
Honolulu, Hilo and Manila!
Since our Inaugural Service on June 7, 2015 just 15 months ago with 9 disciples on the Mission Team and 49 in the Remnant Group, God has added to our number 213 additions – 167 baptisms, 36 restorations and 10 place memberships from our former fellowship! This incredible growth has not come without complications, as it is always a challenge to keep the standards high for discipleship and fellowship as you absorb a large number of people. This challenge, however, is one that the church embraced as we prayed and came up with a plan!

EJ (right) baptized his younger brothers
Jasper and Kenneth (middle)!
Inspired by the LA Church, the whole Metro Manila Church kicked into high gear as we put our plans into action! Within a week, each member had “Life Talks” where we made sure that each disciple was strengthened in their convictions, had a discipleship partner with regular d-times, and was an active member of a Bible Talk!

Gina Dela Peña – the original Manila Remnant Group
member and now a Women’s Ministry Leader –
was sent out by the Spirit to join the
Dubai Mission Team!
On August 21st, we had our Bible Talk Expo where each of the 29 Bible Talks stood before the congregation and presented their Bible Talk’s name, goals and area of evangelization. Some groups shared as instructed, while others went beyond by chanting, rapping and disco dancing! However, despite the lighthearted and good-natured fun, it was very clear that each group took the task set before them seriously, as many Bible Talks made it their prayer goal to double by the end of the year, while the others took it further by praying to triple or even quadruple by their growth!

Ryan and Rose (center) lead one of the most fruitful
Bible Talks called Genesis!

Mackasey and Lou (center) joyfully lead the
Jubilant Squad Bible Talk!

The Radical Mommas Bible Talk has a goal of
reaching out to other single moms!
Immediately following the Bible
Talk Expo, they baptized Jet
(second from the left)!
At our Sunday Service today, God has indeed blessed our efforts with five additions – three baptisms and two restorations! With that, we now have a total membership of 192 solid, radical and totally sold-out disciples! Be praying for us as we aim to smash the “200 for the Lord” barrier in the next few weeks! And to God be the glory!
So excitingly, other congregations that we need to pray for God to grow to over 200 in membership in 2017 are: Lagos – 43 (One week ago on Sunday, August 21st, God gave them 6 baptisms and 2 place memberships from the ICOC!), Washington DC – 112, Mexico City – 117, San Francisco – 118, Abidjan – 140, Chicago – 141, and London – 150!


The newly planted Lagos ICC was blessed by
God with six baptisms last week!
FAMILY NEWS
Johannesburg: “When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.” (Genesis 25:24) God signaled a new beginning in our remnant group with the birth of twins! Just a couple of years ago, there were two powerful baptisms in London – the twins Jeanette and Ridge Yeboah-Mensah! After reaching out to their sister Anita here in Johannesburg (all three sisters are South African by birth), Anita studied the Bible and was baptized in the beginning of this year! As a single mum disciple, Anita has been so resilient during pregnancy! On the morning of Thursday July 21st, our beloved sister Anita gave birth to twins via emergency C-section! Though Joëlle (girl) and Rozario (boy) were born at 34 weeks, they were able to come home with Anita only three days later! Thank you for all your prayers for the Johannesburg Family!

The twins: Joëlle the beautiful daughter (left) and
Rozario the handsome son (right)!
Kona: Another incredible miracle was the uniting of Alex & Rufel Aehegma! On the weekend of August 20th, all the disciples from Hilo drove two hours across the Big Island to Kona, as well as some disciples from Honolulu flew in to encourage our brother and sister as they united as one! It was an incredible ceremony as many of their family members were moved by the love and hospitality of the disciples. Alex’s father stated, “I have never had so much fun at a wedding in my life!”

Congratulations to the striking
newlyweds – Alex & Rufel!
The next day we all had an incredible congregational church service in Kona! There was so much fire in the room that many of the disciples stated, “This service feels like a mini GLC!” We had an incredible treat as we had Evan & Kelly Bartholomew in town and Evan preached an incredible lesson!
Chennai: Congratulations to Emmanuel & Pallavi as they are now married in the Lord!

Congratulations to our dear brother and
sister – Emmanuel & Pallavi!
Los Angeles – West: Curtis & Brittney Wilson were married in Christ on August 14th! Brittney is Dacosta Collymore’s sister and he invited her out to the West Region Actor’s Workshop led by Chris & Sonja Chloupek! Curtis & Brittney immediately started studying and were baptized on July 17th! They have a beautiful son Hendrix, who is now two years old. So touching was their wedding ceremony presided by Chris Chloupek!


Congratulations to Curtis, Brittney
and Hendrix!
Inland Empire Region: Our newest addition is Chloe Marie McGee – the second daughter of Jared & Rachel McGee, the IE Region Leaders! Chloe is “super healthy” and was born August 15th and was 21 inches and 8lbs. and 11oz!

Priscilla McGee is so thrilled to help Mommy
with her new little sister Chloe Marie!
Orange County: “An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning will not be blessed in the end.” (Proverbs 20:21 NAS) It was so encouraging to see the Holy Spirit unify through marriage Jason McNeil & Aurora Luna on August 21st! Both have been faithful disciples in Los Angeles for many years. What’s so moving is their faith in God knowing that He had a plan for each one of them and that they did not need to rush anything but wait for His timing to bring them together! All of us in the OC Region are so proud of Jason’s & Aurora’s desire to please God by trusting in Him and not turning to the world for a spouse! We pray that all single disciples will follow the McNeil’s example and do the same!

Jason & Aurora McNeil were faithful to God
in never doubting that He had a plan and
now a purpose for them!
Ventura Region: Congratulations to Andy & Denise Talavera on the birth of Sadie Ruby-Lynn Talavera on August 24th!

After Sadie came out of ICU because of
difficulty breathing, Denise holds
Sadie for the first time!

Sadie is now happily at home with
Daddy & Mommy!
San Francisco: “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers!” (Malachi 4:6) One of the prophetic signs of the Kingdom is that families will be united together in Christ! Today we witnessed the fulfillment of this astounding prophecy come true as Jason Ochs was restored to the family of God! Jason’s parents – Gary & Cyndee – are dear friends of the McKeans and serve valiantly as our Shepherding Couple in the San Francisco Church! It melted the hearts of everyone in the congregation this morning to see Jason and his parents untied once again in the Lord! Here is the link to the video of Jason’s restoration:https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=147015522409750&id=100013039096651.

For Jason, the guiding light back to Jesus was
his parents – Gary & Cyndee Ochs!
EDITORIAL
What Can One Woman Do?
Dearest Brothers and Sisters: Through the centuries, the question has been asked, “What can one woman do?” Deborah, Rahab and Esther answered by faith and saved God’s beloved people and forever changed the course of human events! Come Friday, September 2, 2016, my beloved wife Elena has been graced by God to celebrate her 61st Birthday! So on Sunday night, we celebrated Elena’s Birthday with a dinner at her favorite Indian restaurant with our dearest of friends Nick & Denise Bordieri, Tony & Therese Untalan, and Tim & Lianne Kernan. During the sharing time, Therese Untalan shared that the sisters in the OC Region who are in the Mature Class are studying ELEVATE on Wednesdays! And therefore come this Wednesday, emulating the gorgeous ELEVATE cover picture by Mike Purdy, all the sisters are taking a group picture in their white blouses to show that God through the Scriptures and examples of faith in the book will ELEVATE their faith, hope and love to change the world!

Elena’s cover photo in a white blouse has
inspired sisters to wear white blouses
symbolizing their desire to ELEVATE
their faith, hope and love to
change the world!
One very touching review of Elena’s book was shared with us by Maria Franklin of Syracuse: Elevate is a treasure for our generation and the generations to come! Through reading the book, I am enthralled to know Jesus more deeply as my “Rabboni” and grow in my new role as a Women’s Ministry Leader. Elena captivates me with her deep love for God and people. Her humility emanates through the book as she openly shares her life, her shortfalls and her victories that all undoubtedly give glory to God! After reading this I am amazed to see the ministry of Jesus specifically including the women, that I erroneously overlooked in the past! I am inspired by this revelation through Elena’s insightful teaching. In reading Elevate, I am called higher in my surrender, sacrifice for Jesus’ mission and in my fruitfulness, as it was incredibly inspiring to read countless stories of personal fruitfulness in the McKeans’ lives through different opportunities presented. I encourage all to add this timeless piece to their library and gift it to anyone they hold dear!


Elena is so very grateful for the Mejias and the Gomezes
in founding SoldOut Press International and the
countless hours of love poured
into publishing ELEVATE!
Interestingly, on her own initiative, Prisca Scheidecker of Paris sent to Carlos Mejia the first pass of ELEVATE in French! And though our Paris Church is relatively small, we have over 500 African French speakers! So plans are in the making for less expensive paperback versions in English, Spanish and French to be sold in third world nations! Indeed, throughout this arduous process of publishing ELEVATE, I have become all the more humbled to be married to Elena, and come this December 11th, we will celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary!

On December 11, 1976 – almost 40 years ago –
Kip & Elena prepared to leave for their
honeymoon… and a lifetime of
adventures for the Lord!
“What can one woman do?” Remembering that Elena was healed of bone cancer by the Lord in 2014, I stand in awe of our God that this ground-breaking book – illustrated by the astonishing life of my awesome wife, best friend and closest partner in the Gospel – is revivingJesus’ Global Revolution For Women among our sisters AND our brothers around the world in THIS generation! And to God be all the glory!
We are family… into eternity,
Kip