News > North America

Cincinnati UBF, US
April7, 2014

“AND NOW WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”

Key Verse: Acts 22:15-16a “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for?”

2013 Annual Review

In 2013 God appeared in many ways to our ministry in Cincinnati. The summary can be that he is Immanuel—God with us, as we learn in Matthew 1:23: “‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”

First, messages. We have been studying the gospel of Luke on Sundays. Each week the messages are diligently prepared by Andre Atkinson, Jonas Chen, Bonnie Stewart, Jiyong Atkinson, Hannah Hong, Caleb Kim, Morgan Miller and even Justin Spencer, who is attending medical school in Toledo. So we have had God’s word and God’s blessing in true abundance in 2013, and have been able to use this time to raise messengers. God has been with us in his word.

Second, student ministry. This past year we began to have a separate student worship service, and Andre Atkinson has been a steward of the worship service and the student ministry. Besides Andre the worship service is attended by Jiyong Atkinson, Bonnie Stewart, Hannah Hong, Sarah Miller, and the new students to begin in the fall ministry, Veronica Smith and Jesse Kreuzmann. They have a prayer topic to increase to twelve by the end of the school year, and to be registered officially as a group on campus at the University of Cincinnati. God has been with us in our student ministry.

Third, regional worship. In 2013 we practiced having a monthly regional worship service on the first Sunday of each month. This included the ministries from Lexington, Asbury, Campbellsburg, Louisville (Kentucky) as well as New Albany (Indiana). We met in a rotation that included Lexington, Asbury, New Albany and Cincinnati. Each month we all wrote and shared our understandings and testimonies of one book of the Bible. This has enabled our ministries to be united in the word of God, even if we are not in the same city or can’t meet together so often. It not only has given our ministries a chance to be with each other regularly, it has demonstrated that God is with our ministries for his glory, and he is with us in his word.

Fourth, Dr. John and Grace Doty. There were many things that happened in 2013 that revealed God and his presence with us, but none was as dramatic as the healing hand of the Lord. In fact Jonas Chen had to have exploratory surgery because of internal bleeding in his intestines, which the doctors could not identify. Now he is doing better. David Miller learned that he had diabetes, but his condition also returned to normal. But the best witness of God who is with us was in the healing of Dr. John Doty. In the summer of 2012 Dr. John was diagnosed with a rare heart condition that caused his heart muscle to deteriorate until it stopped beating on its own. He had to have an artificial pump implanted, and doctors were 98% certain that he would require a heart transplant. But over the course of 2013 an amazing thing happened: Dr. John Doty’s heart improved and kept improving, until to everyone’s amazement it functioned as normal. Medically that never happens. He is only the second person in the state to have his artificial heart explanted instead of transplanted. It was the witness of Immanuel God, but not the only one in their family. Grace Doty suffered a great deal, she became like a nurse for Dr. John Doty, at the same time taking care of students like Mary Cho and Mary Martin. Immanuel God revealed in the past year this even more amazing transformation, the production of life in Dr. John and Grace Doty, in the place of their weakness and helplessness. They testify the truth of Immanuel—God with us—in their many sufferings, not just with Dr. John’s heart, but also being used to bear Jesus—the same Jesus who bears them—to others like Mary Cho, even Mary Martin. This Jesus is truly Immanuel. He is God with us, who bears our sins in order to save us from our sins. He was crucified by us, and there produces life in us. And through him alone God appears as the one who is with us. This is the summary of what God showed us in Cincinnati this year. We are given Jesus as our Immanuel—God with us.

2014 Vision and Strategy

For 2014 we pray to be used as witnesses of Jesus according to his call to each of us. Because of God’s clear demonstration that he is with us as Immanuel, we can repent our procrastination to pursue his call with many excuses. We can boldly claim his forgiveness of our sins because of his gospel. And we can live with vision to live up to our calling. Acts 22:15-16a says, “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for?” Indeed, God has blessed us with his undeniable presence in 2013. Indeed, “What are you waiting for?” It is time to experience this blessing in 2014, the blessing of living up to our calling as witnesses of Jesus.

Prayer Topics:
● We pray to grow the student ministry to 12 in 2014
● We pray to be registered as an official student group at UC
● We pray to be good stewards for the South Central region
● We pray to live as witnesses of Jesus today

One Word: “What are you waiting for?”

David Miller