This Month's Issue

Story by Michele Joseph/ Photos by Norman Mitchell

Saundra Austin’s prayer life changed the day she got baptized in the late 1970s. On that day, she felt too sick to leave home. “I called my Bible worker,” says Austin, now prayer coordinator for the Allegheny East Conference (AEC). “She said to just go back and lay down, and we’ll pray for you.”

Hours passed, and each time a pastor or prayer warrior called, she still felt sick. However, no one gave up praying. By the time the baptism began later that day at AEC’s Dupont Park church in Washington, D.C., she was the first one in line to enter the pool.

Story by Michele Joseph

Sometimes it seems like you get answers to simple prayers [a parking space, things you need that are on sale]. Other times the things that mean the most to you seem to take the longest, only to find out later that He hasn’t been silent,” says Tamyra Horst, a departmental director for the Pennsylvania Conference whose many roles include Prayer Ministries. There were moments in Horst’s life when she was angry her prayers weren’t working for the people she loved, but she didn’t stop praying. “What else would I do?” she says.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

In the 2017-18 academic year, Columbia Union Conference pre-K through university-level schools reported a combined opening enrollment of 8,917 says Donovan Ross, the union’s vice president for education. Enrollment is up 90 students from last year, he adds.

Blog by Rob Vandeman

Psalm 146-150 provides a fitting conclusion to the book of Psalms. Like Psalms 146-149, Psalm 150 opens and closes with the exhortation to Praise the Lord (Hallelu Yah), the simplest of all the expressions of exuberant praise.

Roland Hill’s wife, Susie, was tired of hearing Hill complaining that there wasn’t a deep Christian book about success, so she encouraged the stewardship guru to write his own book.

Six months later, Hill, a pastor at Allegheny East Conference’s Maranatha church in Fredericksburg, Va., and Penuel church in Brandy Station, Va., noticed the prayer of Eliezer in Genesis 24:12—a prayer for success. His latest book, Success is Bigger Than Me, delves into all areas of success in Christian living.

The book includes an 8-week study guide designed to help readers ignite their lives and change their world, says Hill.