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Greetings
to you in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
I
thank and praise God for the privilege to serve Him. I thank Him for watching
over us all these years and helping us in growing both spiritually and in
numbers. Praise the Lord for His continued blessings. Our regular worship
services have been a great blessing to many. We are privileged to hear the word
of God through our honorary Pastors and guest Preachers.
Apart
from regular Sunday worship services, we had special services on Christmas, New
Year Eve (Watch Night Service), Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving,
Mothers Day and Fathers Day. On the scheduled Sundays, Sr. Honorary Pastor Rev.
Dr. David Ravinder and Honorary Pastor Rev. David Davis have shared the God’s
Word and spiritually encouraged us all through the year. We are also blessed to
hear the Word of God through many of the guest preachers from
India
and around
New Jersey
. The guest preachers for the year 2011 included the following eminent servants
of God: Rev. Gene Donahue, Bro. Prasanna Kumar Devarapalli, Dr. Augustine Pagolu,
Sis. Mary Rajasree, Bro. Vincent
Gurrala, Bro. Peter Samuel, Bro. Chris
Hale, Rev. Israel Suppogu, Bro. Philip Pedapalli, Dr. T. M. John, Dr. Jacob Puli,
Bro. Sunil Robert, Rev. Dr. Bhanumurthy Nainala, Rev. Timothy Kollabathula, Rev.
Dr. B. S. Moses Kumar, Rev. John Moses Doosi, Bishop Spurgeon Raju Pachigalla,
Rev. Dr. Samuel Mohanraj, Rev. Dr. John Wesley, Rev. John Francis Rayi, Bro.
Herford Urlica, Apo. Livingston Gadde, Bro. Ravi Prakash Runjala, Rev. Dr. Stephen Paul, Rev. Praveen
Kumar, Rev. Dr. Suneel Bhanu, Dr. Deva Raju Patta,
Bro. Santha
Rao Bhogi, Dr. Joe Madhu Payarda, Dr. Jessi Veena Payarda, Bro. Ratna Raju
Rapaka, Rev. Dr. Devasahayam Dandala, Rev. K. Kurian and Bro. Arjunarao Rapaka.
More
than 450 people including 125 Non Christians attended the
Christmas service. We want to
thank specially those who visited us from
Canada
,
California
,
Florida
,
North Carolina
,
Illinois
,
Michigan
,
Virginia
,
Maryland
,
Connecticut
,
Delaware
,
Pennsylvania
and
New York
states. Praise God for the grand
celebration! Thanks to Pastor Jim Miller and board of trustees of
First
Baptist
Church
, Metuchen for allowing us to celebrate Christmas in their facility. Thanks
to all the Volunteers who willingly came forward to make this event
grand success. Special thanks to Mr. Sam Rapaka for co-ordinating the
Christmas Feast arrangements and Mr. Louis Dundi and Mr. Ajay
Jammula for arranging the Church facility and also ensuring that the
facility is clean and tidy after the Christmas service.
Our
special meditation programs included the Cottage Prayer meetings during the 6
weeks of Lenten season. UECF
participated in
New Jersey
,
Virginia
and
Connecticut
annual family conferences.
Missions/
Outreach Ministry: UECF
goal and purpose is to participate in the great commission given by our Lord
Jesus in Mark 16:15 ‘Go ye into the all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature’. In 2011 we were able to reach out to unsaved and unreached
through witnessing, tract distribution and DVDs of Jesus film. In 2011 our
Lord has given an opportunity to have 4 special Gospel/ Revival meetings, and
some people accepted Christ as their personal Savior, we thank and praise the
Lord for this. So many people have been touched by UECF music ministry, so many
people testified that some of the songs have been encouraging to them and using
our songs in other ministries. We thank and praise God for our musicians and
singers. UECF is also fulfilling the mandate given in Acts Ch: 8
‘Ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem
and all Judea and in
Samaria
, and unto the uttermost part of the earth’. Based on the scripture Romans
1:16 ‘I am not ashamed of the
gospel’. UECF wants to do more things in Outreach. We thank and praise the
Lord for all those who have participated through giving, spending time and
sacrifices made.
UECF
is supporting missionaries who are doing missionary service for the spread of
the Gospel primarily in
India
where many people do not know Christ. UECF supported Emmaus Ministries, Rev.
Sama Sunder Saripalli, Good News Messengers, Saviors Heartbeat Ministries, Mrs.
Shasikala Vasanth, Bro. G. James Philip, Rev. Nakka Vivekananda, Gethsemane
Prayer Fellowship, AEL Revival Forum, Pastor Jarugumala Israel, Rev. GCR Arun
Rao, Bro. J. Prem Kumar, Pastor Tummala Daniel, Pastor N. Sudhakar Rao, Sharon
Grace Ministries, Bro. Sudheer Meriga, Bro. Joseph Dawson, Dr. Augustine Pagolu,
Youth Alive Ministries, Bro. Moshe Dayan, Lutheran Boarding Home, Paniel Church,
GTCF, Partners India International, Pastor. K. Abraham,
Christian
Congregation
Church
, Followers Christ Ministries, Rev. David Raju, Bro. Boaz Kommuru as part of
missions support. Also UECF supported Cancer hospital and other evangelists.
Thanks for your prayerful financial support. UECF participated in India Day
parade and distributed tracts and Jesus DVD movies and also reached many people
on
Oak Tree Rd
and visited and shared gospel to the old people in the nursing home on monthly
basis.
Music
Ministry: Praise time has
been a vital part of our Sunday Worship Services. We had the opportunity to sing
praises not only in English but also in the regional languages like Telugu and
Hindi. I thank and praise God for giving UECF an opportunity to reach millions
of people worldwide through our special programs in Aradana, Subhavartha and
Miraclenet TV channels. God has given UECF choir an opportunity to lead the
praise and worship in Virginia and
TTCA
,
CT
conferences. Thanks to the Praise
Team and to Mr. Samuel Sudhakar Chilaka, Mr. Josiah Srigiri, Mr. Nishanth
Dwaram, Ms. Yuko Unehara, Mrs. Suneela Ponnapalli for using God given musical
talents and Mr. Paul Gummadi, Mr. Ravi Kumar Patnam, Mr. Kiran
Devabattula, Mr. Clarence Ponnapalli, Mr. Joshua Shaik, Mr. Rakshan Pedamuthevi,
Mr. Anand Devi, Mr. Clement Myla, Mr. Samuel Rapaka, Mr. Ajai Jammula, Mr.
Prasad Mare, Mr. Manohar Pitta, Mrs. Satya Srigiri and Mr. Suresh Raju
Ponukumatala for Photography/ Videography support.
Sunday
School Ministry: We thank
the Lord for UECF Sunday School Children for participating in all special
occasions with their individual
talents, Dramas and group dances.
Thanks to Sunday School teaching staff Mrs. Emily Myla, Mr. Louis Dundi, Mrs.
Preethi Pilli, Mrs. Sunita Saripalli, Mrs. Karuna Dwaram, Mrs. Kavitha Shaik,
and Mrs. Sushma Pitta for encouraging children to exhibit their talents and
nurturing the children with the Word of God.
Junior
Bible Quiz(JBQ): -
JBQ is a children's ministry aimed at planting God's word deep into the hearts
and minds of children. It is a playful, yet competitive game that is playing
using point system featuring two team that play by buzzers. Based on a book that
has nearly 600 questions covering the many aspects of the Old and New Testament,
this quiz gives a total overview of Christian faith to a child. We started this
ministry in 2011 and we now have 7 children who represent UECF slingshots at the
East League. Playing against teams that have been in this league for more than 3
years our team did extremely well to win 4 and lose 3 in the first tournament,
and win 5 and lose 3 in the second tournament. The final round is scheduled for
February 4th. Based on the final performance there is a good chance that UECF
Slingshots will make it to the State finals where we play against even tougher
teams from all across NJ. Hannah Bolleddu came in the top five players in both
the rounds and there is a good chance she will finish at the top five at the end
of the league. Hannah Bolleddu, Williams Pitta, Betsy Rapaka, Ashley Rapaka, as
well as Ivan Yeddu, Likitha Kambham, Emmanuel Dhara have worked really hard
along with their parents to shine and show our fellowship in good light. We pray
that God will continue raising these gifted children in his word. Jason Pitta
& Aman Vuppula are being trained to become officials for next year. Thanks
to Mr. Sunil Robert and Mrs. Prafulla Vuppula for the initiating this program
and coaching our children.
Youth
Ministry:
UECF Youth Group activities are conducted regularly to both Middle School and
High School age groups( From ages 12 and up to 19 years). UECF Youth Ministry is
highly relational and conversation driven and is fully focused in preparing
youngsters of our congregation for deeper spiritual formation and faith
development and also in developing their gifts of music and appreciation for the
arts. UECF Youth Group enthusiastically participated in UECF's Thanksgiving,
Christmas and New Year Services bringing their inner talents through Singing,
Christmas Skits, Dancing and through playing Musical instruments. Please
remember UECF Youth Ministry as it continues to be the spiritual companions to
awake Youth to God's Presence. Thanks to Mr. Paul Joseph Gummadi for leading the
Youth group.
Married
Couple’s Ministry: The
Married Couple’s meeting usually held on the 4th Saturday of every month in
various homes that are pre-decided. Couples discussed and debated on various
topics that are very practical and tried to use the Bible as a guiding tool.
Thanks to Rev. Dr. David Ravinder & Mrs .Sarita Ravinder for leading this
ministry. Thanks to Mrs. Asha Chakravarthy and Mr. Kanthi Paul Rapaka for
coordinating.
Bible
Study:
UECF monthly Bible Study has been a blessing to many of the members. Thanks to
the efforts of Mr. Josiah Srigiri and Mrs. Satya Srigiri for taking lead
in conducting the Bible Study. In the topic of Biblical basis for
Evangelization, we have discussed various sub topics: Jesus is Gospel, Pre Fall
of Man, Origin and Manifestation of Sin in Humanity, Cross, Uniqueness of Jesus
and Complete Salvation, Benefits of Salvation. By God’s grace, this year 2012,
we wish to cover the topic ‘The Basic Bible Doctrines’ which will give us
great insight into the scriptures.
Christmas
Carols:
As we do every year, we participated in Carol rounds during the Christmas
season. In the year 2011, we had visited 53 families as part of our carol rounds
and received your prayerful gifts.
Picnic:
Last year, we had an Annual Family picnic at PossumtownPark. Rev. Dr. David
Ravinder shared the word of God during our picnic time. Many families have
actively participated in various items of the picnic.
Fellowship
Hour: Many
of our members have volunteered to host Fellowship Coffee hour after each Sunday
service while celebrating their Birthdays and anniversaries. I
thank all the congregation members for keeping the sanctuary and the fellowship
hall clean and neat after the usage.
Women’s
Prayer Fellowship: UECF
monthly Women’s Prayer Fellowship has been a blessing to many of the members.
Thanks to the encouragement of Mrs. Shanthi Bhaskar and Mrs. Udaya Pulipati,
Mrs. Grace Tsappidi, Mrs. Helen Patta and Mrs. Susan Bushi for leading
the fellowship and Mrs. Preethi Pilli for co-coordinating these prayer meetings.
Men’s
Prayer Fellowship: We
will be starting our UECF
monthly Men’s Prayer Fellowship in the new year on every 3rd
Friday.
UECF.NET:
The presence of UECF is known all over the world through this web site.
Many visitors have attended our worship services and testified that they came to
know about UECF through the website. Some such visitors started attending
regularly.
Many
guests have visited us and worshipped with us during regular Sunday worship and
other Special services. Mr. Joshua Shaik as a Stewardship Coordinator has
helped to reach out the visitors and ensured they signed the Guest Book with
their addresses, also thanks to Mr.
Nishanth Dwaram for arranging the Communion elements on Communion Sundays and
Mr. Anand Devi and Mr. Charles Praveen for auditing the UECF finances.
I
am thankful to the Executive Committee Mr. Samuel Sudhakar Chilaka(Vice
President), Mr. Ravi Rapaka(Treasurer) and Mr. Nishanth Dwaram(Secretary) for
providing their continual cooperation and support. I also thank the Board
of Trustees and Pastorate Committee, Coordinators and all the members of UECF
for their cooperation. I express my thanks to our Pastors Rev. Dr. David
Ravinder and Rev. David Davis for ministering to us. Thanks to Rev. Dr. Richard
Ruch, Rev. Peter and Board of Trustees of Reformed Church for their continued
support.
I
am extremely happy to inform you that the Lord has blessed UECF ministry with
wonderful messages by Pastors and other eminent Servants of God, Praise and
Worship, Offerings, Children activities and Bible Studies and Outreach and our
Lord’s name was glorified.
In
Him,
Joshua(Phani)
Pilli
22- Jan- 2012
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