Many from our church family have pursued paths of vocational ministry via service in organizations other than our own denomination, the Christian & Missionary Alliance. Whenever we as a church affirm and financially support these ACAC members in their (non-Alliance) ministry calling, we refer to them as Gospel Messengers.  

ACAC Gospel Messengers serve the Lord Jesus locally, across the nation, and around the world, and many of our members provide personal financial and prayer support to one or more of these servants. However, it is our hope that this page will serve as a reminder to our whole church family to pray faithfully for all of our Gospel Messengers.

Also, we encourage all in the congregation to play a part in supporting our Gospel Messengers financially. A separate fund has been established, the Gospel Messenger Fund, to provide a convenient way for anyone at ACAC to designate a donation toward the collective support of the people noted below.     

David and Jean Andrianoff     Breakthrough Partners in Asia

          
David works with Breakthrough Partners, through which he connects, catalyzes, and coaches Christian groups in various parts of the world. Dave travels to Southeast Asia 3 to 4 times a year (depending on financial resources) to encourage and facilitate cooperation among Christian leaders. He works as a consultant to a variety of ministries. Some of these ministries include preserving the history of the mission and church in Laos and Vietman (where the first Protestant church was planted by C&MA missionaries in 1911.) He has also prepared lessons for churches in Asia to prepare for post-Communism.

Dave and Jean find great joy in supporting people in difficult-to-serve areas. They find one of their greatest challenges is reaching out to their community in Washington State, one of the most unchurched parts of the country.

Dave has a blog focused on prayer for this community at http://www.jefcopray.blogspot.com/. Jean is a part of a group of Christian women who share a love of writing. Their blog of weekly devotionals may be found at http://www.wordways.org/  
                                     

    Dr. Chuck and Amy Bemm   Kenya  World Gospel Mission at Tenwek Hospital 

Chuck and Ay work at Tenwek Hospital in Keny where Chuck serves as the pediatrician and Amy uses her nursing and social work skills. Chuck grew up in Wisconsin and Illinois.  He accepted the Lord Jesus as His Savior through Campus Crusade for Christ during college. Amy grew up outside Chicago and came to know Jesus as Her Savior after college when a friend invited her to church. After finishing his medical training Church and Amy came to Pittsburgh where Chuck worked at East Liberty Health Care Center. While attending ACAC, God confirmed their call to be missionaries and revealed to them that they were to serve at Tenwek Hospital, a mission hospital that serves as a referral and training facility for rural southwestern Kenya, where they have been serving since 2004.  The sign outside for the hosptial states; "We Treat Jesus Heals". 

Chuck also serves as director of intern training (first year post-schooling). His duties for the pediatric services cares for patients in the intensive care unit, the pediatric ward, the neonatal care unit, emergency department, child health and HIV clinics, and assiste in the resuscitation of ill newborns.

Amy helps teach the many missionary children at Tenwek (including her own) through the Tenwek homeschool coop. She also helps with social services in the hospital. As a family they visit and assist four local children's homes for orphans, vulnerable children and families in the community through small businesses, home building, cow purchasing, and crop production.  They also disciple Kenyan couples focusing on marriage and parenting, leading children's ministry at church, and fostering children who are orphaned or abandoned. in the coming year they are working on adopting 3 new children that the Lord has placed in their lives.

 Howard and Jan Biddulph  www.onemissionsociety.org 

      
We are back in th U.S. and minister here in Ft. Myers, FL.  But that has not stopped our involvment with both Colombia and Uruguay, where one of our daughters and her husband serve with OMS. 

Howard continues to serve as president of the board of the Bible Seminary of Colombia in Medelin. Howard and Jan travel together frequently to Colombia for ministry to the churches they planted.

Currently we are stateside working at New Hope Pres in Ft. Myers, while maintaining a status with OMS that allows us to minister in Colombia and in Uruguay. Both Jan and Howard accept speaking engagements, retreats, etc. in both Latin countries. God marvelously answered prayer for a president for the seminary. Elizabeth Sandek, a Colombian married to an American missionary. She was previously a professor, and is now president and is doing a great job in every way.

John and Lisa Hamilton, our kids in Uruguay, have a similar ministry among the professional class where John pastors Christ Church...a non-denominational church that draws lots of folks from many countries.

It is a privilege to continue to serve the Lord overseas where we have lived and worked and have valued relationsips with so many transformed people whom you will one day meet in heaven along with us.  Thanks for partnering with us.

Jan's father, Dr. Ken Frazier, was senior pastor for 28 years here at ACAC where she grew up.  Howard and Jan became OMS missionaries to Columbia where they lived and worked for 33 Years.

 HIS Disciples

                                                                                                                                                                                         HIS CALL: God first tugged on this disciple's heart with HIS call on his life to serve HIM in taking the gospel to those who had never heard it when he was in the eighth grade. God began to remove any previous desires, while placing him in situations where people kept talking about a call to take the message to cross-culturally unreached people. God kept pursuing him with this calling until he eventually surrendered. God lead him through a number of processes as to where he would serve over the next six years.

HER CALL: At the young age of 8 or 9 years this disciple received her call to serve when reading the bible one evening and the scripture verse Mathew 9, where Jesus states, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers ar few," literally jumped off the page and into her heart. Shortly after graduation she had an opportunity to visit the country which she now serves and knew that is where she was to be; where He wanted her to be. She said God took them on a wild ride teaching them to trust Him completely, and moved them permanently to their current place of ministry in the Middle East. 

They both serve lovingly in reaching out to "M" people by demonstrating and proclaiming the good news of their "Best Friend" in a land of nearly 30 million people who mostly have not had an opportunity to hear the good news.

 HIS Disciple

Before leaving for the mission field God established and fostered a deep desire within "HIS Disciple" to create meaningful relationships with Arab Muslims among unreached people groups. Now that he is doing this he is drawn towards missional activities aimed towards redefining popular, yet misconceived, notions of what it means to be a Christian.

Even though most people in his country have never met a Christian, many of them think Christians are lawless and immoral people. However, by doing the work of redefining the Chrisitan label through living a Christ centered incarnational lifestyle, he can present them with a more complete picture of who Jesus is and how He loves them. According to the parable of the sower, this is a soil-preparation type of ministry. He is passionate about removing the rocks from the fields so that someday the seeds of the gospel can take root in fertile soil.

He is currently working towards the establishment of an appropriately visible community of Christians in a city where indigenous Christians have not been present for over 1400 years. This project is called "The Lighthouse Vision". Someday he hopes to be able to invite ACAC members of all ages and backgrounds to be a part of this community for mid-term (3-24 months) time commitments.

Meghan   www.servantsasia.org

 Meghan works with the poor in a large city in Asia.

Meghan grew up in Marion, PA and started attending ACAC in 2006 at the invitation of a friend. Meghan began to sense ways in which her gifts and passions aligned with God's global mission while traveling overseas on several short term missions trips. Meghan loves to dance and after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, worked for Urban Impact Foundation for 3 years, overseeing their dance ministry. During that time, God increasingly opened her heart for the poor and marginalized, particularly those in South Asia.

Meghan and a team of 8 others arrived in their city of ministry in 2010 and are currently working to build relationships and to show the love of Jesus to those living in the poorest areas of this city. Their desire is that through holistic ministry, people will turn to Christ and His loving mercy, allowing for lasting change in these very poor communities.

Meghan finds great joy in being able to play and dance with children. She hopes one day to be able to integrateher love for dance into her ministry. For the moment, she and her team are working to develop ways to live sustainably and authentically in a desperately poor environment.

Chris Russell     www.gotonations.org 

Chris Russell serves as Children's Ministry Director for Go To Nations in Guatemala.

Chris grew up in Dormont. He felt called to be a missionary as a senior in high school. God continued to confirm that calling and prepare his heart in many ways, even as he spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher. During that time, Chris also began to attend ACAC where he was involved in YAM.

After arriving in Guatemala, Chris knew that he was where the Lord wanted him. Chris makes daily visits to local elementary schools and neighborhoods where he and his colleagues build relationships with children and their families.

In 2011 they were able to present the Gospel to approximately 4,000 children in the schools with 250 praying a prayer of salvation! Currently, the Friday afternoon activities are attended by an average of 250 children as well as many mothers. Chris finds great joy in seeing these children desire to hear the Gospel and accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. He desires to see them discipled and living out the Gospel message and is in the process of raising funds for a building project that will include a covered basketball court with a stage as well as areas for recreation and play. This will greatly inhance thw work of the ministry.

Even though there are challenges living in a violent neighborhood with many financial needs, God is doing great things through the ministry.  Additionally, Chris is occasionally involved in ministry to surrounding villages and also desires to become more grounded the the local church as well as develop friendships with people his own age.

Sandra Salomon    Colombia   
                      
I have been an International Worker with TEAM since 1975 and soon scheduled to retire. Nevetheless, if God permits, I would like to stay in COLOMBIA one or two more years to continue discipling and encouraging women in their ministry of being wives and mothers. The need is so great and God continually gives me women who desire to know Christ more and more. The challenge is also great in the midst of changing morals and cultural values in Colombia. I have a great privilege in sharing God's principles with these women and seeing how God draws them to Himself and changes their perspective of life into HIS. 

Sanra is currently still in Colombia teaching and discipling many women, from a lawyer, a financial advisor, to the all important positiion of wife and mother. She meets with these women throughout the week as they seek God to grow in their faith and love for Jesus.

Thanks so very much for your prayers and support these many, many, years.

&nbsp/>Christina Battisti                A.C.T. Intn'l      Artists in

Christian Testimony International  (CA) 

In 2006, Christina left a stable job with the Federal Government to pursue a career in mainstream entertainment as a film and television producer and actress/entertainer. She sold nearly evreything she had, packed a few suitcases, and flew to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket.

Starting over has been way harder than expected, but two passages of Scripture have been enormously helpful. First, being wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove is crucial in an industry openly hositle to Christians. Consequently, Chrisitina's ministry on a major studio lot was covert. Wherever she was, she prayed silently that God's unconditional love would be made known to the people. She declared inaudibly that the peace of Jesus would reign in the atmosphere where she worked. Tense, work-related crises dissolved when she spoke calm words of wisdom. She saw many miraculous answers to whispered prayers.

Second, Proverbs 18:16 is a guiding principle for her in Hollywood. To gain and audience with an influence over the greatest men and women in entertainment, Christina needs to nurture and develop the gifts God gave her. Excellence of craft is just as important as a solid Biblical foundation to reach those in this field of entertainment. She needs on-going training to hone these skills so she is prepared when God opens doors.

A.C.T.'S Mission Statement:  To unleash an army of artistic ministries and international workers spreading the Gospel throughout the world in creative and artistic ways, This growing army of artistic ministries and international workers evangelizes those outside the Christian faith, while it edifies those within the Church, through aritistic personnel, methods, and strategies.  

A.C.T.'S Vision Statement:  To  provide a non-profit interdenominational Church ministry structure that assists & sends out artistic workers and ministers who are pursuing their unique mission or ministry calling as it fits into the greater Kingdom work of the Historic New Testament Christian Church worldwide.

  Tom & Theresa Grosh    InterVarsity 

In 2006, Tom and Theresa stepped away from their work in Pittsburgh and moved 'home" to be near extended family in Lancaster, County. During the transition, Tom received a unique opportunity to regionally pioneer work among faculty at small liberal arts colleges/state universities, and nationally with the Emerging (i.e., young/new)Scholars Network (ESN). as part of ESN, Tom develops material, posts blogs at http://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/tomg , and organizes gatherings for members of the campus community seeking to be salt, light, and leaven in all aspects of their life.

Shortly after arriving, God opened an unexpected opportunity to partner with the Christian Medical Society (CMS-CMDA) at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.  CMS hosts a weekly lunch outreach (which serves - 50 students), 2 Bible studies, 2 prayer groups, a variety of campus outreaches, and 1 retreat a term.

While much of Theresa's time remains focused on caring for their home and children, she continues to enjoy opportunities to get to know students.

Tom's greatest joy in ministry is to provide encouragement and resources for those who have been disappointed and feel isolated in their walk in higher education (including budding health care professionals). 

Tom's greatest desire in ministry is to see students an faculty transformed by God's grace and to His glory. Tom and Theresa are awed and honored by the opportunity to annually commisson alumni into academic, medical, and missionary positions across the country and world.

Zachary Northen  Coalition for Christian Outreach

Zachary is a Resident Director and Campus Minister at Waynesburg University.

He grew up in the Pittsburgh area. He started attending ACAC while in grade school. Jess started attending when she was in high school. They met at ACAC's youth group and were married 2 years ago.

While attending Geneva College, Zac was influenced to enter ministry by professors who had previously worked for Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO). As a student, Zac knew the trials and tribulations of growing up, figuring his identity, and how to connect his faith with everything he did. He knew that "college students needed people who cared about them and would walk beside them.  To help them develop into faithful lover of God and restorers of His good creation.

This desire led to Zac ministering with CCO at Waynesburg University where he lives in a residence hall of 200 college age men. He disciples men one-on-one and holds outreach events for unbelievers.  He also coordinates Bible studies and discipleship series as well as ministers to campus groups as the Black Student Union advisor. Zac desires one day to become a campus chaplain.

The Northen's find joy in seeing students find their significance in Christ and then watching them love others the way that they have been loved. They desire to see students become more faithful, thoughtful lovers of God.

 Paul And Julia Van der Werf  www.gocorp.org   

Paul and Julia got married in February 2009 and are co-founders of GoCorps which assist new college graduates in finding areas for mid-term missionary service. They currently reside in the Washington, DC area. They are expecting their first child in April 2012.

Paul has a Business/Economics undergraduate degree and a Masters in Intercultural Studies. After college he did a one year mission in Amsterdam, Netherlands. There he realized that he was called to cross-cultural ministry and sharing the Gospel. He is a co-counder of GoCorp which partners with eight sending agencies. Together they work to create "mid-term" missions oppourunities in which new college graduates spend one to three years in missionary service.They have sent out 16 recent grads to unreached place in their first two years with the hopes to mobilize 40 more this year.

Julia (Harper) received a BA in elementary education. As an elementary school teacher, she established an after-school probram in a housing project in DC. Years later, she became its Executive Director, until she married Paul and joined him in CoCorps. Julia was very involved in student ministries as she grew up attending ACAC.

Nehemiah Brazil <nehemiah.brazil@urbanimpactpittsburgh.org>

One of the newest staff members at Urban Impact is Nehemiah Brazil. Coach Nehemiah grew up on the North Side.

Nehemiah attended CCAC.  He played basketball under Coach Bill Shay.  (Coach Shay has won more games than any men’s college basketball coach in western PA history.)  Nehemiah became their second leading scorer, made the All-American team, maintained high grades and won a scholarship to Kutztown University.  He played two more years at Kutztown and once again made the All-American team again.  He received a degree in secondary education. 

He was contracted to play on a team in France where he played for nine years.  In 1999, just before going to France, Nehemiah committed his life to Christ. During his first two years in France, he spent his free time reading the Bible and praying and grew in his walk with the Lord.  He often returned home to Pittsburgh for a vacation and noted a greater physical and spiritual decline in the neighborhood where he grew up.  God gave him a passion to pursue urban ministry: to reach urban youth with Christ’s message of true love and hope.

The Lord opened a door for him to pursue employment at Urban Impact.  He believes God can use him as a witness on the North Side, in his native community, where he grew up facing many of the same trials and temptations that urban youth are facing today.  He can be a testimony to them of how God gives you hope.

Charles Chapman Executive Director 412-302-1678   www.livingministry.org   

The L.I.V.I.N.G Ministry is a leading organization addressing poverty in Pittsburgh through a strategy that combines building personal relationships, meeting basic needs, offering tools for self-sufficiency, and providing opportunities for community involvement.  The ministry serves Pittsburgh's homeless and needy in the name of Christ. I was born and raised in Baltimore and always felt the Lord's calling to help neglected people. In the 7th grade, while on a missions trip to Washington, D.C., God birthed a passion within me to serve the homeless. On that trip, I engaged the homeless in soup kitchens and street evangelism.

For the past 8 years, God blessed me with talents and gifts to have a heart for people overlooked by society. The ministry started as an extension of Jesus Christ's love to the them, which now serves almost 1500 homeless every year by bringing a message of hope and love that help empower them to transform their lives. The reason I do this ministry is because I am compelled by the love I have for these people and because of the love that my Heavenly Father has so graciously lavished upon me. It is because of HIS love that I do anything. That love motivates me to serve.  THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE.  

   Ed and Tammy Glover  Urban Impact Foundation (Pittsburgh) 

   
Ed and Tammy Glover are the founders of Urban Impact Foundation. Ed serves as president. Tammy directs Urban Impat's Performing Arts Program.

Ed grew up in Ripley, NY. He accepted Christ, kneeling at second base at Three Rivers Stadium while trying out for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He returned to his hometown where he began to attend the church where Pastor Rock Dillaman was pastor. God spoke to Ed in a dream, telling him that he was to be a pastor. Initially Ed didn't want to follow those directions, but a year later God led him to study at Alliance Theological Seminary (ATS) in Nyack, NY.

After finishing his schooling, Ed moved to Pittsburgh where he became Youth Pastor at ACAC. During his early years here, he married Tammy, a pastor's daughter from Chico, CA who had also attended ATS. From this ministry grew their passion to reach out to urban youth seeking to change Pittsburgh's North Side "one person, one family, on block at a time" all starting with a child or a young person.

Urban Impact is currently seeing more depth and expansion in ministry than ever before. One new program is the Options program which seeks to help kids transition from UIF's ministry to fulfilling God's purpose and calling in their life. With all of this expansion come challenges of finding sufficiently called and equipped leaders to staff these ministries, as well as finances to support ongoing work.

 Paul and Kim Hassell    www.intervarsity.org

    
Paul is area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for the Western Allegheny area which includes schools north of Pittsburgh. He is also campus minister at Grove City College.

Paul grew up in Columbus,Ohio. Kim grew up in Pittsburgh. While attending Ohio State University, Paul planned to teach in public schools, but when invited to a one-year internship with InterVarsity, he realized that campus ministry was a viable option for a vocation. He initially made a three-year commitment, but now, 23 years later, sees how his gifts of teaching, training, and evangelism have been key to his ministry.

Paul loves having conversations with students and sharing the gospel. He also loves training students to do ministry and study the Bible. His greatest desire is to equip members of the body of Christ for ministry for their whole life.

Another desire is to start an intern program to train more graduates for ministry. He and Kim are praying that God would bring the right candidates for that program.

Kim ministers to her family and desires to raise her children be "missionaries" to  the Ambridge School District, where they attend school.

Kirstin Heyne

kirstin.heyne@uscm.org   www.pghcru.com  www.kirstinheyne.blogspot.com

Kirstin discovered a personal relaionsip with the Lord through Campus Cursade for Christ her freshman year at Indiana University of PA. Not only did she grow in the faith through involvement in Cru, she was challenged to step out in faith and saw God do incredible things. The Lord led me into campus ministry, where I have the privilege of helping students enter into a personal relationship with Christ, grow in their faith, and step out to make His name known.

The Pittsburgh Metro team's task is to build student-led spiritual movements on the thirty university compuses in the greater Pittsurgh area so that every one of the 118,000 students will know someone who truly follows Christ. The mission is to "Win" students to Christ, "Build" them up in their faith, and "Send" them out into the world prepared to walk with God, and have a fruitful ministry for a lifetime. There current focus is on building up the Cru movements at California University of PA, Carnegie Mellon, Point Park, and the University of Pittsburgh.

As one of the Missional Team Leaders, her current roles include setting direction, casting vision, gathering resources, and training and caring for staff. She also coaches student leaders and volunteers, leads a Bible study, and disciples students.

Jay and Candi Wilson   

    
Jay and Candi minister to college student athletes at Robert Morris University and University of Pittsburgh through Athletes in Action. 

Jay and Candi became involved with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) while in high school. They were both active in CCC while students at Ohio State University and while there felt God calling them together to full-time ministry.

The Wilson's moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 1989. Jay became the Athletes in Action (AIA) Pro Ministry Director, serving as the chaplain to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers (1989-2007) while Candi miistered to the wives/girlfriends. During that time Jay and Candi became active members of ACAC.

Currently, Jay is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director for Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of CRU (the new name of Campus Crusade for Christ), as well as the Campus Director at Robert Morris University. He also serves on the AIA National Team giving leadership and vision to the national campus ministry. Candi is also full-time with AIA and serves as the Associate Director at RMU and assists Jay in serving the regional staff.

Jay and Candi get their greatest joy from doing evangelism and discipleship and taking short-term missions trips with AIA teams. Jay also enjoys giving counsel and teaching the Word of God. While Candi has a heart for Scripture memory and prayer. All three of their kids attend SRU.

This is the link to their ministry www.give.ccci.org/give/0261300      

Charlie & Chrissie Mack   www.cmda.org  

Since the mid 70's Charlie and Chrissie were with the Campus Crusade for Christ and members of ACAC while in Pittsburgh for 4 years.

As of January 2011, they both changed organizations and are now working with Christian Medical and Dental Associations as Area Directors for Lansing and all of Western Michigan.

As Area Directors they provide direction, vision and leadership to galvanizing ministry among graduate students, doctors, and professors, toward fulling God's desire for medical people to have a deep and abiding impact for Christ on those with whom they come in contact. Missions trips, one on one contact, and group settings are the exciting ways they minister to people who are in an influential occupation. The preparation is intense and that doesn't necessarily slow down, it increases.

Their background and training has brought them to a place of depth as a team to reach people in the Medical realm.

Guy and Rebecca Wasko    www.trinitygraceeastvillage.com  

Guy was called to ministry at a young age and throughout life had encountered countless people, environments, and experiences that have confirmed the call to ministry; first in the area of youth and now as a church planter & lead pastor. He has a B.S. in Counseling, M.A. in Practical Theology and a Masters in Organizational Leadership. 

His vision for future ministry is to see his community continue in maturity and grow into a healthy and vibrant Parish Church in the East Village of Manhattan, New York; and that it mulitplies into other church plants!  After a one year training experience with Redeemer Presbyterian Church and Tim Keller, the project offically began and a new church was launched on April 10, 2011. This has been the most exhilarating and terrifying adventure of their lives. Everyday they're reminded of the grace and favor of the Father and HIs desire to renew all things.

Rebecca has a B.S. in Music Education. She was a middle school chorus teacher, but is now a stay at home mom.

guy@trinitygracechurch.com