What is it?
This is the annual conference for leaders of GMI family of churches. It is meant for Pastor’s, leader’s, youth leader’s & wives it will be in English.
WHERE & WHEN IS IT?
It starts from 4 pm of November 27 (Thursday) and ends by 2 pm of November, 2014 (Sunday). If you are likely to arrive early, then please keep us informed well in advance, so that we could arrange for lunch on Thursday Nov 27. We hope and pray that you will be present for the whole conference rather than just a part of it.
Venue: The venue is Global Ashirwad centre at Ghatkesar in Hyderabad. It is about an hour away from the Hyderabad railway station and about 1.5 hours away from the Hyderabad airport.
Type of Accommodation
It has dormitory type accommodation with 8 people to a room. The men & women will be accommodated separately (so Husbands and wivesneed to bring separate bags, just like last year). You will need to bring your own towels and toiletry kit (except those who are taking special rooms). It is a recently built modern building. And the place is quiet and surrounded by greenery. This time I am glad that we all will be staying in one building, unlike the earlier conferences. This time all the women will be housed on the first floor and all the men on the second floor thereby they will have access to two large blocks of toilets and bathrooms on each floor. We will be using the amphi theatre as well. They do have some playgrounds for games.
Special rooms: In addition there are 5 Deluxe rooms on the ground floor, and 22 Executive rooms on the top floor. All the 5 Deluxe rooms are booked, and about 12 of the Executive rooms are also booked.
Capacity: Last year there were 175 participants. And this year we are opening the door to all the Core group members and youths. The capacity of the conference centre is nearly 400, and the main hall also can accommodate 400 people. We have also booked another hall for some parallel sessions
Content: It will include a time for Praise and worship every day, time of intercessory prayer, updates from selected sectors, discussion of critical issues that we face, forging the vision for the next year as well as the vision for 2020. Lots of time for relationships over meals and in the rooms, two or three papers will be presented for discussion, and we may watch a video or two. We will also have communion. The atmosphere is relaxed and casual. At times we will interact in small homogeneous groups.
Speaker: The ministry will be shared by various Leaders. There will one separate session for women, and another separate session for the youth.
Train Booking: If you intend to come by train, then you may want to book your train tickets 60 days in advance. Hence this email sent to you well in advance. Book before September end.
Who could be invited, besides GMI Pastors(Leaders)& wives: You may want to consider bringing your Core group members. BUT in particular we would like you to bring your YOUNG people, who you believe have the potential for future. We did feel at the last year’s conference that GMI is aging and we need to invest into young people, otherwise we will cease to be “movement” and become a “monument”.
Staying outside of the premises: If you wish to stay with your relative / friend in Hyderabad and only attend the sessions, then even that is possible. But please note that this place is far away in one end of the city and is not easily commutable.
Kids ministry: Also we have made provision for children in the age group of 3 to 10 to be brought by the parents and we will have a separate team from the Hyderabad church to take care of them(Any helping hand from other churches are welcome).
Cost: For those staying in the dormitory, Rs.2500/- per head
For day scholars – Rs.1800/- per head (food & overhead cost)
For those in Deluxe rooms – Rs.7500/- for two people
For those staying in Executive rooms – Rs.10,500/- for two people
For kids age group 3 to 10 years – Rs.1000/- per child (stay & food)
This will cover the cost of stay and food from Thursday 4 pm Nov 27 till Sunday 2 pm Nov 30 (or part thereof), It also includes usage of the meeting hall and handouts. On one afternoon, we will be visiting a place called “Carmel” for a guided tour of a life size tabernacle besides other things.
The participants will have to bear their own travel expenses to come to (the conference Centre in) Hyderabad from their hometown. In case you are sending money in advance then please write a cheque in favour of “GMI – English Family Camp”. Alternatively, if you wish to pay at the camp site then please bring the money in CASH (and not in cheques).
Special need – Snorers: Last year there was a feedback that the snoring of some people disturbed others and they could not sleep. So those who snore, they have two choices – one is to buy from the chemist a special right angled clip, which can be put on the nose with the help of its self-adhesive band aid type tape that comes along with it. That clip ensures that the nasal passage is not restricted and the free flow of air prevents the snoring sound. This should be put on in the night before going to sleep and removed in the morning. Alternatively, we have reserved two dormitories for those who snore.
If you have any questions please let us know. So if you wish to attend, please could you inform us with your details like your full name, email IDs, church you represent, telephone numbers, etc.
Our contact details are:
Stanley Mehta / Or Santosh Johny
Gateway Ministries International,
175, S.B. Singh Road,
Opp Colaba P.O.
Mumbai – 400005
Stanley’s email ID is <esstan@gmail.com>
Santosh Johny’s email ID is <sansuebbc@gmail.com>