Honoring Our Servicemen in PCNAK 2013

Vinu Joseph in Falujah Village in Iraq

It is a sign of our amalgamation into the American society that many of our young people now serve in the police departments of many cities and in the US military. It is our obligation as part of the American community to fulfill our civic duties. We have a God given obligation to pray for this country and seek its welfare. If this country is strong, our community will be strong. If this country goes down, we will go down with it.

Our next conference starts on July 4th, the Independence Day of USA. So we feel it is only suitable to start our conference with prayers for this nation. We will also take that opportunity to salute all of our young people who are currently serving in police, military, fire forces etc. If you are willing to put your life in harm's way to serve others, we should at least take time to appreciate your commitment, your dedication and sacrifice. By the way, Jesus explained the willingness to give up your life for another as the highest form of love.

Please send us the contact details of your friends or church members who is currently serving or has served in this capacity. Please send the info to pcnak2013@gmail.com.

We will directly send them the details of how we plan to honor them in the opening session of our conference. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

New Programs in PCNAK 2013

As we are coming to the end of 2012, we are reminded that there are only a few months left for PCNAK 2013 scheduled to take place in Hartford, CT from July 4 to 7 of next year. Despite the challenges we have faced this year, the conference has taken shape and most of the pieces of the puzzle are in place. Time has come to kick Registration into high gear and to find good hearted people in our community who will share the financial burden of this conference by becoming sponsors at various levels.

This year we have incorporated a number of innovative ideas into everything including sponsorship. We realize that the first generation of Malayali Pentecostals in North America is aging and many have already reached retirement. A large number is reaching retirement age. So the 'empty nest syndrome' we used to hear about from American parents is becoming a reality in our community also. The empty nest syndrome is the loneliness parents feel when all of their children move out from their home after education and marriage leaving just two aging parents in the house. America does not have extended families. It fosters only nuclear families. Many of our people who thought they could reverse this trend and can convince their married children to stay with them had to find out the hard way that it does not work. So many are left alone in huge homes, prompting at least some of them to dispose their dream homes and move into smaller facilities.

We have endeavored this year to gain a better understanding on where our community is now and plan and budget the conference based on it. We intentionally chose to leave out nostalgia and to embrace the hard truth. Thus, all the planning of this conference is based on the status and the needs of our nuclear families.

For example, until last year we designed our basic sponsorship package based on four people attending from a family. But the hard truth is that many of the attendees of the conference will be empty nesters. So we have divided our basic sponsorship package into two- $1000 for two people and $1500 for four people. We do not think it is fair to ask parents who attend the conference without children to pay for four people. You can click here to see various levels of sponsorship and register online.

One of the requests from our younger families has been to incorporate 'marriage enrichment sessions' into the conference. We have had similar sessions in the past. But in this conference it will be a couples only closed door session where they and the speakers can share things openly. We will have a qualified marriage therapist recommended by Focus on the Family leading this session.

We will have a special session for men taken by a qualified speaker who was recommended by Promise Keepers. There will be a special session for senior Citizens also.

A majority of our members are employed in the medical field. As we know, the medical landscape is changing drastically in the US and it will have serious ramifications to our community. So we plan to incorporate a special seminar for medical professionals to voice their concerns, better educate the medical professionals in our community and to provide a way for them to network with each other.

Each year we spend a lot of money to bring an American band to the conference. This year we will not do that. We want to promote our own young people and find out the best worship bands among us. So we will be conducting a 'Battle of the Bands.' Cash awards in the amounts of $2500, $1500 and $1000 will be given out to the top three bands, so that they can buy needed musical instruments. Many of our bands have produced their own CDs. We salute them. You can check them out soon in the media section of PCNAK Youth Website. Please contact our Youth Coordinator Ashish Jacob for more details.

We also plan to open our conference with prayers for America. This country is changing too fast for comfort. But this is our country now. This is the country of our progeny. As God told the O.T. Israelites through Jeremiah concerning Babylon, we must "seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer. 29:7 NIV). Many in our next generation have chosen to serve this nation in police, military, fire forces etc. They wear their uniforms proudly as Indian Americans. We as a community will publicly recognize them and honor them in the opening session of he conference, which happens to be on American Independence Day.

All of these programs were approved by the national committee that was held on September 9, 2012 at the conference site. As I pen this, our Secretary Br. Rajan Aryappallil is busy finishing up the first issue of the official publication for the conference.

Finally, a lot of people have asked me recently about the overall financial picture of the conference. According to our treasurer, Br. Joyce Mathews, we will break even with 2500 people attending the conference, if our folks show their support by taking the contracted rooms and meals packages. But we are ready to serve up to 5000 people.

Please show your support by registering early.

Prayer Line Going Strong

The national prayer line that we have opened up to pray for the upcoming PCNAK conference is going strong. Every Sunday night a number of people are joining us from across North America to pray together in this online chapel. I encourage all of you to join us and let us make this a prayer movement that will shake the foundations of hell. Jesus said, "this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Mat. 17:21).

If we have any obstacles in front of us, we must overcome them through prayer and fasting. That is our power source. And it will always work. "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." ( 2 Chro. 7:14).

So, do not be disheartened by anything. The mountains shall be moved. " 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' " (Zech. 4:7).

Join us on Sundays at 10 PM EST (9 CST) as our national prayer coordinator Pr. George Samkutty lead the prayers.

                          DIAL 1-312-340-6650
                          ACCESS CODE: 8228808

We invite both brothers and sisters to be part of this. It will continue every Sunday till June 30, 2013.

For the last 30 years, we have seen the faithfulness of God in PCNAK. We will see the same in the 31st conference also. All things are possible with God.

Join Us For Prayer

As announced earlier, the national prayer line for PCNAK 2013 is functional now. Every Sunday from 10 to 11 PM children of God are joining together to pray for the conference. Join with them using the following information.

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 1-312-340-6650

  ACCESS CODE:  8228808

Since the conference is a spiritual gathering,  the success of it depends only on one thing- the favor of God. It will come as we seek Him earnestly.

"They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed." (Ps. 22:5).

" "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him." ( 2 Chro. 16:9)

Join us in seeking His face!

Prayer Line Starting Tomorrow

At Canada conference, when the responsibility to do the 2013 PCNAK was given to us, I made only one promise- that I will stay on my knees until July 7, 2013 and trust in God for a successful conference. I have kept that promise since then. My family, my church members, the national committee, the local team  and many of our friends have joined me in this task. Now we want to open this up to the entire constituency of PCNAK.

Starting tomorrow, we are opening a national prayer line for PCNAK. Our national prayer coordinator and local prayer coordinator will lead the prayers. We invite you to join us using the telephone number and access code given below. The line will be open each Sunday from 10 - 11 PM (New York time).

             TELEPHONE NUMBER: 1-312-340-6650

             ACCESS CODE:                8228808

Please join us  each Sunday evening to pray for the next PCNAK conference. Your prayer support is vital to have a successful conference.

In other news, the online registration has begun. We invite you to go to PCNAK website and register online. Regular registration forms are ready and will be available from your state representatives soon.

We have a number of great men and women of God already committed as speakers. We are still waiting on a couple of others. As soon as it is taken care of, we will be publishing the names of all the main speakers.

Preparations for the conference is progressing at a normal pace. Yes, this year we have some unexpected obstacles to overcome. But that will not stop the hands of God.

With God, all things are possible.

Pastor Sunny Philip,
Convener, PCNAK 2013.

 

Why NY conference is in CT?

When the Keralite believers of the city of NY got together and asked me to lead a conference in NY, right away I had a few places in mind. One of my goals at that time was to do it right here in Long Island. I started negotiating with suitable locations right away.

My dream was to do it at Nassau Colesium. There is a Marriott Hotel at walking distance from it that had 800 rooms. So it looked very feasible - until we got into the details.

I found out to my surprise that the two locations were not enough to do the conference. The Marriott had a 1500 seat banquet hall, which would be great for the youth session. But , where would we do the children's sessions? Where would we do the dining?

And the price tag! The Colesium wanted about $100,000 just for space. Even then, we could only do the adult programs there.

So very reluctantly I started looking elsewhere. So many people had already told me not to do the conference in Rochester ( 7 hours from city) or in Syracuse ( 5 hours from city). Everyone wanted a place close to city.

That is how we ended up in Albany. It was not too far at 2.5 to 3 hrs from city. I knew they had an arena there. I had multiple meetings with the Albany County Convention Bureau. We saw a possibility there. The arena was bigger than what we needed. The floor alone could seat 2500 people with a big stage. The Crown Plaza (became Hilton later) had 400 rooms two blocks away. There were four other hotels around. The Crown Plaza had rooms for youth, children and dining. So it was a workable situation. I had pretty much finalized on Albany and said so in Canada.

But the Canada conference changed everything. It made the challenges of multiple locations very clear. Parents were always concerned about their children. Older believers were struggling with walking in the sun. Even with multiple vans and a very dedicated transportation team, people were complaining. Despite having very good meetings, in the end there were a lot of complaints.

Even before we returned from Canada, phone calls started coming. Every call had the same theme: Please do not put the conference where families are split and people have to walk a long distance from meeting place to dining hall. That is exactly what we were facing in Albany. I did not know a place where everything could be done under one roof at that time. So we decided to face the situation head on and do it in Albany anyway. I went to Albany with my wife to talk in detail about the menu etc. When we were leaving, our contact in the Albany Bureau accidentally told me that Hartford, CT is the only place where we could do everything under one roof. Since it was in CT, I did pay much attention to that remark.

The following week I was in Guyana for some meetings and I got an email from a believer in CT asking me about the conference and encouraging me. That is when I remembered the comment made by someone in Albany. When I googled Connecticut Convention Center, I was surprised by what I saw. A beautiful gorgeous facility with a hotel attached to it. When I looked at the details, I was more impressed. I realized that it was a facility where we can do all the sessions and dining in the same facility. When I reached home, I went and looked at it in person with a couple of other people. But it was in CT and the conference was supposed to be in NY.

So I decided to ask around. I asked many senior pastors in NY and around the nation for their feedback. Their reply was, the conference is given to NY and they have a right to select the best venue for the conference. We made a conference call with all the members of the National Committee and their opinion also was unanimous. Thus, we went back to look at details and start negotiations. Once we were sure of our selection, we decided to let the public know by posting it on the Facebook etc.

When we had the get together of national and local teams at the facility on September 9, every one of them were equally impressed. I am sure all of you will be too, when we get together for the 31st PCNAK on July 4, 2013.

BTW, the online registration is open now. Help us by doing early registration. We appreciate your cooperation. Together we will have a wonderful conference.

Let us be solution minded

As I start this blog, I am very much aware that at least some people will think this is self serving. I cannot help that. My goal is to open a window into my mind  and how it functions, which I hope to sell to all of you. We will find out shortly how good a salesperson I am.

After learning and teaching the Bible for over thirty years, I have no doubt in my mind that what the good book teaches us is to own up the issues, get right with God and man and move on. That is what I have always taught. That is what I still teach and practice.

In other words, our God is a solution minded God.

Fortunately, we live in a solution minded country. I love the American mindset. Whether it is Catrina or Apollo 13, their attitude is to find a solution for the problem. You may remember the famous saying by the guy with the white vest (Jim Crans) in the control room of Apollo 13. When the oxygen tank on Apollo 13 ruptured while going for a simple stir and the entire project was in jeopardy, the control room boss sternly said, "Let us work the problem, people. Let us not waste time by guessing." 


Remember the scene where all the engineers scrambled to find a way to use a square air filter to keep the carbon dioxide down and keep the astraunauts alive, while what they needed was a round filter? They succeeded, didn't they? Why? Because they were solution minded! And they brought three astraunauts home.

 

                 "View of Mission Control Center during the Apollo 13 oxygen cell failure" 

What if they had wasted their time guessing and finger pointing? The mission would have been a total loss.

Many other cultures would not have acted the same way. Some would have just prayed. Some would have had endless meetings, reports, press releases, blame games, finger pointing etc.etc.etc. Not Americans. They committed to 'work the problem.'

That is the attitude we need to have a successful conference next July. Let us accept the issues that happened. But that should not stop us from having a very good conference. 'Let's work the problems' and find solutions. It is certainly within our reach. We are a resourceful people. So many in our community are professionals, handling challenges and finding solutions daily. So how come when it come to spiritual issues or church matters, we capitulate and we act like we cannot do anything? That is a lie!

This is not the time for blame games and finger pointing which will take us nowhere. This is the time to put our hardhats on and 'work the problems' and find solutions. God will help us, if we are committed to do this in a way that will bring glory to God. The national team and the local team are. I invite you to come on board and share this attitude.

Nothing But The Truth

You have been hearing all kinds of news about PCNAK 2103. What is the truth?

The initial discussions to bring the conference to NY was done in 2010 with the intention of doing the conference in NY in 2012. In that meeting the IPC Pastors mentioned that since their Family Conference is taking place in 2012, we should not bring PCNAK to NY in 2012 and that if it is done in an year when there is not Family Conference, the IPC churches also will participate. It was unanimously agreed upon.

So the matter was taken up again in 2011 in NY and everyone agreed to bring the conference to NY in 2013 and Pastor Sunny Philip was elected unanimously to be the Convener. It was presented in PCNAK 21011 in Oklahoma City and was approved by the General Body of PCNAK.

Unfortunately, thereafter, some issues came up in Pastor Sunny Philip's church which naturally raised the question, "What do we do now?' A meeting was called on April 8 by the conveners of City Wide Fasting & Prayer Fellowship and that meeting after much discussions decided by a majority vote not to have the conference in NY in 2013. Pastor Sunny Philip mentioned in that meeting publicly that even though some have happened in his church, there was nothing in his personal life that will stop him from being the convener of PCNAK in 2103.

There were discussions in many cities about hosting the conference in 2013. But no city took a concrete decision to host the conference. Moreover, in many cities, the consensus was, "This conference was given to NY and Pastor Sunny Philip; so let them do it." Thus it came back to PCNAK 2012 General Body as an open question in Hamilton.

There was a very active discussion about PCNAK 2013 in that General Body. Many Senior Pastors from across USA voiced their opinions in favor of sending the conference back to NY. The body did recognize and respect the decision taken in NY on April 8. But the majority opinion was that the final say in this matter is PCNAK General Body. A vote was taken and with significant majority, the conference was sent back to NY with Pastor Sunny Philip as the Convener.

Since then, the National Committee under his leadership is making arrangements for a successful conference. Many things are done already. By the grace of God, we expect to have a dynamic, relevant, spiritual conference next year.

As I pen this, we are in the beautiful Marriott hotel in downtown Hartford for our National Committee meetings. Most of the members arrived last night and stayed in the hotel. Some are driving in this morning. Almost all of them will be here this morning and they will be joined by the local team from NY. We will let you know the decisions taken in this meeting.

'This is the Lord's doing and it has become marvelous in our sight.'

A Word About PCNAK 2013

It is with great delight that we start this official blog page of PCNAK 2013. You may hear all kinds of news about the conference from different sources. Please realize that if it does not come from us or from our authorized representatives, it is not official. Anything that is represented in those news releases, irrespective of where it appears, is not the official position of the conference or its leaders.

PCNAK will happen in New York area, as decided by the General Body of PCNAK in Hamilton. Myself or the other executives of PCNAK did to 'take' the conference in any way. The responsibility was 'given' to us by the General Body. We take this responsibility very seriously. We will not betray the confidence placed in us by the believers and Pastors across USA and Canada. The executives of the conference along with the National Committee are fully committed to see it through.

Preliminary arrangements are already made. The venue is the beautiful Connecticut Convention Center and the attached Marriott Hotel. All the sessions will be done under one roof.

Hartford is easily accessible from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Boston. New York city is less than two hours away.

We already have some speakers committed to the conference. We will be releasing their names once the list is completed.

Our Youth Coordinator Ashish Jacob is working very hard to have meaningful sessions for the young adults and the youths. There will be a dynamic children's ministry for the kids.

We are planning to incorporate many new programs in this conference. We will be giving out details about them in a timely fashion.

So get ready to join us on July 4, 2013 in Hartford, CT.

God bless.