World Missions Ministries Announces 2023 Antioch Grant Awards

- World Missions Ministries Communications Office

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. ­­– World Missions Ministries has awarded six Antioch Grants for 2023 totaling a record-setting amount of $350,000.

The six awards are being allocated as follows:

1. Seville, Spain: $75,000 was awarded to finalize the purchase of Seville property.
2. Nitza City, Japan: $100,000 was awarded to purchase a building for Christian Life Center.
3. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: $41,000 was awarded to complete the construction of the Conference Ministry Center.
4. Puerto Maidonado, Peru: $48,500 was awarded to purchase four hectares for a Training Center/Church.
5. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: $45,500 was awarded to complete the construction of Worship Centre.
6. Mexicali, Mexico: $40,000 was awarded to complete the construction of Berea Church/Holmes Bible College Annex.

Beginning in 2014 WMM strategically emphasized the priority of Antioch Grants as part of its departmental budget and Global Outreach (GO) emphasis. Executive Director Bishop J. Talmadge Gardner wrote of the grants’ impact to this year’s recipients saying, “To date, the response from our donors has been positive in that they are able to see their ministry resources leaving an indelible imprint on the fabric of a country.”

This year, that indelible imprint is being left on six different countries thanks to the generous hearts of all who partnered with WMM and the Global Outreach Offering in 2022.

Director of Global Outreach Dr. Terry Tramel, said, “For most of the past several years, $200,000 has been designated for Antioch Projects/Grants. However, this year, because of the generosity of the IPHC family and others, a total of $1, 935,000 was given in the Global Outreach Offering. This far eclipsed the previous record total by over $320,000. Because of this response, WMM was able to award $350,000 for Antioch Grants for this year to projects in six different locations around the globe. We say, ‘To God be the glory – great things He has done.’”

WMM believes each location to receive an Antioch Grant is making great strides in reaching the lost and establishing ministry works.

Due to the Antioch Grant in Spain, the property in Seville will no longer be a rented space, but in March will be fully purchased by IPHC Spain without debt or bank loans. This is not only the location of a dynamic IPHC church (which when planted was the first evangelic and Pentecostal church in the neighborhood), but it also hosts a School of Missions and Church Planting, has planted a daughter church in one of the least evangelized provinces in Spain, and is said by the Mediterranean Regional Director Linwood Berry to be, “a regional church of reference with influence throughout the eight provinces of Andalucia (the largest autonomous region of Spain).”

The story in Japan begins in 1975 when missionaries founded Christian Life Center (CLC). Three years ago, legal processes began for CLC to acquire legal status as a religious organization. All paperwork has officially been approved except for one: ownership of real property. After having rented a building for a number of years, because of the Antioch Grant, CLC now has the opportunity to purchase the building. Most importantly, for the first time, the IPHC will have legal status as a religious organization in Japan.

Missionaries to Peru David and Ceci Hodges will be using the Antioch Grant to purchase four hectares of land in the Amazon Rainforest. As the Hodges have recognized a desire within the nationals for stronger education for their leadership and to establish a permanent ministry presence, the property will provide the opportunity for a church and for a ministry and missions training center. Incredibly, the Appalachian Conference Missions Department, under the leadership of Larry Meadors, has raised over $30,000 to build a church on the property, and is in an effort to raise a total of $50,000, with the remainder to go toward the construction of a training center. The Appalachian Conference has scheduled a construction and children’s ministry team to help see the project through in August 2023. According to the Hodges, the fields along the Amazon River are ripe for harvest, and they are ready to establish a permanent ministry presence.

In the Dominican Republic, the newly elected conference members in 2022 are eager to finish the Conference Ministry Center. Initial construction began on the center in 2015 but progress in the years proceeding proved challenging as health, economic, and COVID restrictions all followed. When ground was first broken for this property, it was believed to be a location of great vision and projected for future development. Now, a major road system has been completed providing quick access to the property and increasing the property value of the eight-acre campground. While the long-term goal is for the property to continue to grow as more space is needed for training and meetings, this year’s Antioch Grant will aid in completing the first floor, sealing the roof, installing the bathrooms, doors, windows, tile flooring, and electrical wiring and other smaller items. Caribbean and West Indies Interim Regional Director Steve Cofer said, “When finished, the building will be a tremendous blessing for the national church and a beautiful building representing the Dominican Republic Conference.”

Planning began for a building to act as the IPHC Headquarters in Ethiopia in 2018. At the end of 2019, construction started, and then came to a halt with the onset of 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Currently, with the overall structure completed along with the entirety of the ground floor, the building is used by the church. However, according to Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Director Ron Wooten, the Antioch Grant will provide the funding for the remaining finishing touches such as flooring, painting, and other essential elements of the Worship Centre to be completed, and for the property to be used not only by the church but for conferences and training; and ultimately as the Ethiopia IPHC National Offices.

Funds given to Mexicali, Mexico will allow the completion of the construction of a property to be used as a Conference Ministry Center. In addition, this building will be used to host Holmes Bible College, and, according to Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Ron Roy, will be used as a training location for present leadership in the Gulf of Mexico.

Antioch Grants, and the undeniable blessing they serve to WMM missionaries, projects, and national leaders around the world, are possible through WMM because of the partnership through the generosity and prayer of all participating churches and individuals in the Global Outreach Offering.

World Missions honors the churches that gave over $20,000 to the Global Outreach Offering; helping to make 2022 a record-setting year. In 2021, only seven churches fell into the over $20,000 giving category. In 2022, Bishop Gardner challenged 20 churches to meet that goal. Because of the generosity of the following 20 churches, and the generosity of all who share in the GO Offering, World Missions continues to increase ministry efforts.

Over $20,000 GO Offering Giving Churches:

1. Living Hope Church Pastor Keith and Lana Gilliam - $40,000 (Cornerstone)
2. Fountain of Life Church Bishop Hans and Dana Hess - $36,014 (Redemption Ministries)
3. Kinston First Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Brian and Wendy Rogers - $32,142 (North Carolina)
4. New Covenant Pentecostal Holiness Church Dr. Becky Jones - $30,000 (South Carolina)
5. Word of Life Pentecostal Holiness Church Bishop Stan and Kathy Reynolds - $29,000 (Pacific West)
6. Lake City Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Tim and Amie Nail - $26,000 (South Carolina)
7. Bethel Life Church Pastor Kent and Denise Bell - $23,500 (River of Life)
8. Northview Harvest Church Pastor Tim and Kim Hodge - $22,110 (South Carolina)
9. El Tabernaculo Pastor Harinaldo and Zoraida Hernandez - $21,834 (Sonshine)
10. Benson Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Mark and Lynn Fields - $21,279 (North Carolina)
11. Landmark Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Justin and Sarah Blankenship - $21,078 (Heartland)
12. Barrineau Church Dr. Bobby and Laura Floyd - $21,010 (South Carolina)
13. Living Word Church Dr. Brad and Whitney Davis - $20,577 (Cornerstone)
14. Greenville First Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Michael and Leslie Bartlett - $20,120 (North Carolina)
15. Upward Fellowship Pastor Anthony and Alexa Craver - $20,070 (Cornerstone)
16. Trinity Fellowship Pastor Tommy and Candi Vass - $20,050 (Appalachian)
17. Harbor of Hope Church Pastor Craig and Sonja Reed - $20,000 (Appalachian)
18. Stanley Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Danny and Sharran Penny - $20,000 (Cornerstone)
19. Swansonville Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor Mike and Judy Hearp - $20,000 (Cornerstone)
20. Trinity Worship Center Pastor Darrell and Debbie Cox - $20,000 (Cornerstone)

To give to the Global Outreach Offering in 2023, visit give.iphc.org/project/global-outreach-offering .