Singles Service Team Builds on Foundation

The International Singles Service Team is very thankful for Todd Asaad and the former committee for the foundation they laid with the first Singles Service Team. Because of their hard work we were able to start work on many different projects this year.

To see new singles ministries started with full-time staff to support them

It’s been encouraging to see new singles ministries starting all around the world and to see staff being added with the sole purpose of leading singles. Here are just a few of these churches and the men and women who started serving full-time with the singles in 2011: Boston Church with Larry and Kim Reed, Phoenix Church with Floyd and Tamara Grossett, Dallas Church with Adam and Bethany Smith, South Florida Church with Marcus and Amy Overstreet, Berlin Church with Christoph and Dasha Mueller and the list goes on.

To organize the International Singles Conference at the 2012 World Discipleship Summit

In 2008 we saw over 2,000 singles come from all around the world to our first International Singles Conference in Dallas. I wonder what God will do in 2012. We have over 40 classes set and the Smiths from Dallas came up with a great idea. Since we will work so hard to prepare our classes, what if each speaker turned their class into a chapter for our first ever book dedicated to the singles. It should be hot off the presses and available at the conference in San Antonio!

To get a singles website up and running and connected to Disciples Today –

We are very excited that we have raised the funds for the singles website starting in early 2012 to be tied into Disciples Today. We have added Marcus Overstreet from the South Florida Church to get this project off the ground. We are very appreciative for the work the Dallas Church has done in providing this over the years, from the time of the 1st Singles Conference in 2008!

To start the HOPE worldwide Single Corps – Haiti

God brought us to Haiti to help young children and families devastated by the earthquake and we loved it. We loved shoveling gravel and carrying rocks to build a road into the Village of Hope in Croix des Bouquets. We loved helping young boys develop healthy relationships with young women through an exercise called “Dating Jordyn”. We loved buying shoes for teenage boys just so they could go to school. We loved teaching young kids to speak English and build their self-confidence and esteem by sincere words of encouragement such as: “You are cool!” “You are great!” “You are strong!” “You are awesome!” It still feels great, even saying it now. It brings to mind these scriptures: “He who refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25) and “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). And the HOPE worldwide Singles Corps members were the doctors.

What is Singles Corps?

The HOPE worldwide Singles Corps served in Croix-des-Bouquets and Ganthier from October 22-29, 2011 with 51 single volunteers from nine different countries and 10 Haitians who came to work with the Christians and their families at the Village of Hope in Croix-des-Bouquets and the orphans in Ganthier. It was truly amazing! It was a dream come true for the International Singles Committee who have wanted to harness the great time, talent, and resources of singles within our family of churches around the world to help the poor.
The initial Singles Corps was held in Manila, Philippines during the 2010 International Singles Conference. This year we worked hard building a road in Croix-des-Bouquets to the Village of Hope for the construction trucks and vehicles. Despite the rains and we spent a lot of time with the Haiti church members and their families.

To date twenty-five houses have been built and 15 more are under construction. It is truly a miracle to see so many of our church families have their own houses. Over 170 volunteers have served in Haiti during 2011 to help those devastated by the 2010 earthquake and the orphans of
Haiti who have lost so much.

We hope and pray that next year, hundreds of singles from around the world will be able to join one of the Hope Single Corps!.

To become an international committee –

This is probably a bigger task than we imagined but God is faithful. Since most all of our singles ministries are led by non-full time leaders, it would take humility to maintain the unity that God has given us through the blood of Christ. It’s encouraging to see Wee Keong uniting the singles in the Far East and just this week having their first conference together in Bali. In Europe brothers like Stephan Paulitsch are pulling together the single leaders from the churches in Western and Central Europe with the help of Christoph and Dasha Mueller, planning for 2012 and setting up prayer and fasting times. In the Northeast United States, New England, New York and New Jersey singles came together for conferences, New Years Eve celebrations, etc as we imitate what other regions are already doing like the Southwest United States group.

Please continue to pray for the singles ministries around the world.

Singles Service Team:

• Europe/Middle East – Christoph Muller
• Africa – Werner Vos (South Africa), Chris Ogbonnaya (West Africa)
• Asia/Australia – Wee Keong
• India – Shaijus Philip
• Central America – Mario Espinoza
• South America — Lin Beatty
• Northeast US/Canada – Terry & Sue Folker, chairman
• Southeast US –Jeff Hickman
• Midwest US/Caribbean – Wilner Cornely
• Western US – Marco Pellizzeri
• HOPE – Mark Ottenweller
• Texas/Heartland – Todd Asaad
• Website – Marcus Overstreet