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We
are grateful to an Omnipotent God who continues to
bless! It is because of His Goodness, Grace and Mercy
that this report is submitted on this Annual General
Body meeting.
During
the last general body meeting held on
23rd June 2002
, the then President, Mr. Ajay Damarapu announced to
discontinue his services as President and later sent his
resignation to the Executive Council through mail.
The
UECF board met on
27th October, 2002
to discuss the resignation of the president. Per UECF
constitution, the Board requested the Vice-President to
resume the responsibilities of the President. After a
prayerful consideration, I accepted to be the
Acting-President until the General Body elects next
President.
By
the grace of Almighty and with the cooperation of the
board members, elders and the congregation, we were able
to perform various activities to glorify God during this
year. It’s my pleasure to give a brief account of
activities and accomplishments.
Firstly,
in order to bring more people to UECF, flyers were made
and invitations were sent inviting the community to
participate in Thanksgiving and Christmas Services.
Thanksgiving
Service was held on
24th November 2002
and was well attended. Apart from UECF choir, Telugu
Christian Fellowship Choir and Hosanna Singers also
presented special music. The congregation donated items
for auction. Praise God for the receivables on that day.
From
6th December to
22nd December 2002
, Christmas Carolers visited 36 houses. All the families
have graciously welcomed the Carolers and cheerfully
offered their contributions. A total of $2000.00 was
received during the Carol visits. Praise God for guiding
us in the snowy season and protecting us from the winter
chilly winds while caroling. Thank Mr. Louis Dundi for
help in providing the route maps.
We
rejoiced in the Lord by celebrating Christmas on 25th
December in a grand manner. It was a joyful occasion to
see One Hundred and Forty people including children
participating in the Christmas celebration and
glorifying God. The Christmas Service was followed by
Christmas lunch partially sponsored by some of our
members.
With
the encouragement we received from the turn-outs on
Christmas, we wanted to welcome the New Year in God’s
presence with Communion. For the first time in the
five-year history of UECF, we had a Watch Night Service
on New Year eve. 77 people including children gathered
to worship on 31st night.
I
am delighted to inform you that we received a total of
more than six thousand dollars in Thanksgiving, Carol
visiting, Christmas and Watch-Night Services.
Group
Bible studies were conducted on the second Fridays of
every month. Laypersons had a wonderful opportunity to
lead on different Books of Old Testament. Thanks to Mrs.
Udaya Pulipati for her efforts in leading and
coordinating the Bible Study activities.
Sunday
School was conducted regularly to both beginners and
other age groups ( up to 12 years
) during the Service. Appreciate the services of all the
Sunday School teachers for taking pains in nurturing
children in the Lord. Sunday School children along with
the teachers shared their love by visiting homeless
women and kids at
Amandla
Crossing, an organization which homes needy women and
kids.
We
had the opportunity to participate and rejoice in the
combined Easter Sunrise Service at the
United
Methodist
Church
,
Berkely
Heights
. Also, our members have actively participated in Good
Friday Service, Telugu Conference and Annual banquet of
National Association of Asian Indian Christians (NAAIC).
Lenten
Cottage Prayer meetings were held during Lent season (
from
7th March 2003
to
11th April 2003
) at some of
our members’ homes. I thank all the families for
opening their doors. And also
thank those families who have shared their love by
contributing the canned food to Somerset Community food
bank.
I
am pleased to inform you that as part of our missions
support, we have assisted the organizations such as
Project Christ International (PCI) and Kids Club in
Andhra Pradesh
,
India
.
Mothers day
was observed on
11th May 2003
. It was a spectacular event to see 19 mothers being
honored by their sons and daughters. Thank the UECF men
folk for preparing a delicious meal in honor of the
mothers.
Pastor
Sunil Balasundaram had served as one of our honorary
pastors for four and a half years. In appreciation of
his services rendered to us, we bid him a grand farewell
last week. Thank all the members who have generously
contributed towards his gift check of $1400.00.
In
mid December 2002, we were informed by the pastor of the
host church, Rev. Tom Saunders that the facility will
not be available to UECF from beginning of April 2003.
The reason given was the
church
of
Nazarene
wanted to expand the time and usage of the facility for
their growing needs.
The
Board met on 22nd December2002 to discuss the
possibilities at other churches located within 5 mile
radius of the Church of the Nazarene. Pastor Ravinder
suggested the New Dover United Methodist Church (NDUMC)
and the Board unanimously authorized him to talk to the
Pastor of NDUMC. Pastor Ravinder held the initial
discussions with Pastor Bob Costello and later the
Boards of UECF and NDUMC met at NDUMC on 26th
of January 2003.
The
other facilities considered for relocation were the
churches at Metuchen,
Woodbridge
,
Christ
United
Methodist
Church
,
Piscataway
and Edison Wesley church. After a prayerful
consideration, the Board felt that NDUMC will be best
suited to our needs with its strategic location. Pastor
David Ravinder’s efforts in finding this facility and
negotiating for a reasonable rent are highly
appreciated.
Consequently,
we had our first worship service at NDUMC on 2nd
of March 2003. Rev Bob Costello, the Pastor of NDUMC and
Mrs. Tonya Burleigh, the Trustee President of NDUMC
welcomed the UECF congregation. Their kindness and
hospitality were very much acknowledged.
We
do express our profound thanks to our Sr. Hon. Pastor,
Rev. Dr. David Ravinder for his powerful messages on
Communion Sundays and also on various special occasions
like Christmas, Watch Night Service and Cottage Prayer
meetings. I am grateful for his continued guidance.
Our thanks are also due to our Hon. Pastors, Rev.
Sunil Balasundaram and Rev. Steve Nash for their
inspiring messages. Apart
from our designated Pastors, we are blessed to hear the
word of God in our regular worship services from the
guest preachers including Rev. Ananth Kumar, Rev. K.
Azaraiah, Dr. Gurunatham Moodey, Bro. Rajan Matthews,
Bro. S. Samraj and Bro. John Madhukar Bushi. Gospel
Singers like Bro Bhanu Murthy, Mrs Mahitha Charles of
Aradhana Gospel Music Ministries visited us and were
encouraged. Mr. Sushil Bhujbal’s help in providing
music in our regular worship services is greatly
appreciated.
Praise
the Lord for Internet presence! Web pages on our website
www.uecf.net
continue to be informative and current.
We receive a positive feedback concerning the web
pages constructed and maintained by web-master Mr. Phani
Pilli and we are thankful for his efforts. It’s very
encouraging for everyone to have a pictorial account of
various events on our website. This also serves as a
massive public relations campaign. Surfers from all over
the world are regularly logging on to our website to
hear Gospel music and to go to various useful links
provided on the website. Some times, this generates a
heavy traffic and we need to see the possibility of
increasing the bandwidth.
I
thank all the congregation members for hosting the
fellowship hour after each worship service. This really
helped in bringing cohesion among the members and get to
know about our visitors. Our members continued to Praise
God for their blessings on their birthdays,
anniversaries and baby-showers. We also had a
wonderful experience going on a UECF family picnic to
Johnson
Park
in last August and we are looking forward to have
another one soon.
Praise
the Lord!
Respectfully,
SYAM
PILLI
6/1/2003
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