Northeast Vision

Northeast Vision
              July 2008

Hemisphere Church Outgrows Building – God Provides a Larger Place

Hemisphere Church, where Sunny Sunseri is pastor, has grown so well, they needed another place to worship and do ministry. After searching long and hard, God has provided a much larger place in a business plaza on Green Ridge St. in Scranton.

“With the 4 units we will have 3 to 4 rooms for kids and seating for 85-100 people for worship.

We continue to pray and it looks like this will be the best option,” Pastor Sunseri said. The owner, “Charlie” has been very helpful in the process. At the beginning he was at $2,200 a month for 2300 sq. ft. with excellent areas for parking; but was willing to come down to $1,800., and willing to allow mission groups to stay on site as they renovate the building.

Hemisphere Church, a church plant which intentionally is reaching out to multi-cultural families, was voted by the NEPBA at the Spring Banquet, to come under their watch care for at least two years. The church has already begun sending out their own by one of their members applying to a Southern Baptist Seminary for this Fall or Spring.

The growth of the church and the leasing of this building came just right for them regarding partnership mission groups. “The timing couldn’t be better as the Georgia Team and the NC (North Carolina) Team will be here the last 2 weeks in July,” Pastor Sunseri stated. Their plan is to knock out and move a wall, to have room to worship. Other rooms, which will be classrooms for their many children, will need to be cleaned; a big room will have carpet taken up and further renovation. They can build the way they want and it is already outfitted with heating and air conditioning. Sunny said, “We are looking at a 2 year lease and there is the possibility of expanding into other units as we need and as they are available. Charlie (the owner) said he would ask other tenants to move to another unit in one of his buildings, as we expand.”

Pastor Sunseri praised being connected with Southern Baptists. The kingdom view of reaching people for Jesus Christ is what draws us together to do more than one church can do alone. Pray for Hemisphere Church and the mission groups as they come to work and help grow the church. We praise God for all that He is doing at Hemisphere Church.

Susquehanna Valley Community Church Receives Great Benefits from Mission Team

             Pastor Dr. Don Zampogna shared that SVCC has really enjoyed the mission team from North Carolina coming to work and minister throughout the Berwick community the week of July 6-11.

A team of 45 people, adults and youth, came from eight different churches within Tar River Baptist Association where Dougald McLaurin is Associational Missionary. The group was basically divided into four teams. One team did the much needed renovation of the SVCC church basement. They sectioned off the room so the church could have adequate space for the necessary children’s classes. Another team did two Backyard Bible Club outreaches in Briar Creek community park and had a good turnout, especially from two trailers parks they had intentionally visited prior to the outreach.

Another team ministered by re-shingling a house for a family. The last team was the primary support team for the mission group. This team provided all the meals for the whole group.     Dr. Zampogna had found a community center which the entire group could use as their base of operation for meals and shelter.

Dr. Zampogna said, “Two children got saved as a result of the backyard Bible clubs and 25 families were visited by their servant evangelism team.” What a great impact this group had across Berwick that week.

NEPBA was also able to help SVCC put in a car pad at the parsonage to aid parking problems for years. Your giving to the association helps us be “A Helping Hand for Your Church”.   When we cooperate with each other, we can do together what one church cannot do alone. Thank God for your gifts to the NEPBA and our ministries together.

SVCC have themselves now been on two mission trips as a church. One last year was to help with the NOAH Project with the North American Mission Board in New Orleans. They helped the elderly Getty family, move out of a FEMA trailer and back into a house. The church even helped secure the funds to buy furniture they needed to live. This year they just returned from being on a mission trip to Norfolk, VA. What a great way to care for others and then receive it back when they got home with a mission group of their own. May such visionary, missionary leadership be the standard for our NEPBA churches; going and receiving the blessings God has through mission trips.