Eastern Regional Association April 2024 Newsletter

Pastor Spotlight

Pastor Jeff Polland



Pastor Jeff Polland began serving the Oxford Advent Christian Church in Oxford, ME as pastor in February 2024 after having served as their interim pastor for 11 months. Previously, he had served OACC for about 8 years as an elder. Pastor Jeff lives in Otisfield, his hometown, with his wife Bobbie of 35 years. Their adult son lives in Alaska, so they are entertained and kept busy at home by their two hounds. Jeff has been working as a self-employed electrician for over 20 years but plans to shut his company down this fall so that more time is available for the OACC ministry and his church family. With the guidance and encouragement of Rev. John Soucy as his

mentor, Jeff is currently working towards being accepted as a licensed credentialed minister of the Maine AC conference.

God has been busy at OACC this year and has blessed us beyond measure, as well. With the

help of many others such as our prayer leader/coordinator and team of prayer leaders, OACC

soldiers on in its quest and vision to become a “prayer-saturated” church. We have been

inspired by numerous books in this endeavor such as The Prayer Saturated Church by Cheryl

Sacks, Fresh Wind-Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, Prayer-The Great Adventure by David Jerimiah,

and many others including the truths and wisdom found in God’s Word! (Psalm 40:1-3,I Thess.

5:16-18, Philippians 4:6, & James 5:16) Pastor Jim Cymbala states this in “Fresh Wind – Fresh Fire”: “If we call upon the Lord, He has promised in His Word to answer, to bring the unsaved to Himself, to pour out His Spirit among us. If we don’t call upon the Lord, He has promised nothing, nothing at all.” I’ll conclude with this prayer from The Prayers of Chuck R. Swindoll that emphasizes the importance of prayer:

“Father in heaven, we call upon You today. We know that You are the Giver of all good

things…and that You never change like the shifting shadows. We believe that Your heart is

moved when Your people pray. So remind us, our Father, as we bow before You, that there is

nothing more important we can do when facing situations that are beyond us…than to pray.

We remember that prayer forces us to wait, and we must learn to wait patiently for

Your timing. Prayer quiets our hearts before You. The chaos subsides and life seems to settle

down around us as we pray. Prayer clears our vision, Father, as we think about our lives, as we

ponder where we’re going, and as we pursue Your will. May we walk with You in such a way

that our obedience is revealed through deeds that honor Your name…even when that means

doing the hard things You want us to do.



For those who are in a difficult strait, under pressure, up against a wall, facing a test –

perhaps the greatest in their lives – we ask that You remind them that the saint who advances

on his knees never retreats. Help them remember that You are still at Your footstool…with only

a knee’s distance between the two of you.

May we all become people who pray. May we also learn to leave the burden with You,

rather than pick it up and carry it with us after claiming that we’re trusting You. Right now,

Lord, take the burden. We cast it upon You, knowing that You’re better able to handle it than

we ever will be. We ask that this time of prayer might make a difference in the balance of this

day…which we commit to You now, in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

At Alton Bay Christian Conference Center

Sponsored by the Eastern Regional Association and the

Maranatha Advent Christian Conference

May 7-9, 2024



Speakers: Chris Date of Rethinking Hell

Justin Nash, Executive Director for ACGC

Registration closes April 29th

Refuge Church Update

Greetings, Refuge Supporters!

The last year has been a wild ride. Over one year ago we began meeting in our Oxford, MA home with about 12 other people. These gatherings included a meal, prayers, and introductory lessons through Scripture. Most of these 12 people were non-Christians or those generally interested in Jesus but lacked significant experience or knowledge of Jesus or the Church.

In the Summer of 2023, we prayerfully decided to move to Sturbridge, MA, and sell our house in Oxford. We purchased a farm that Robin’s family has had for several decades. The Provisional Elders and I decided to focus on the Sturbridge area, so I got fully involved in everything I could in our new town. I joined the American Legion, became a regular at many local establishments, and networked using our farm to make connections throughout the area. God has been faithful with countless opportunities to serve and share about Jesus. At the same time, we continued to attend Oak Hill Bible Church in Oxford.

Over the last few months, both pastors of Oak Hill Bible Church resigned, and the church subsequently asked me to serve as their Interim Pastor until they can call a new pastor. The Provisional Elders and I decided that this role could benefit Oak Hill, myself, and our Refuge mission. Therefore, I accepted this position in March of 2024.

What does this look like? I work 30 hours a week for Oak Hill and 20 hours for MTI, and I continue to share the Gospel and make connections in Sturbridge. The mission hasn’t changed and neither has my focus on evangelism in Sturbridge with the intent of planting a church in my community. The only things that have changed include spending my available time pastoring the saints of Oak Hill and no longer receiving a paycheck from Refuge. Otherwise, nothing has changed.

I share these changes with you for several reasons. First, you have been a prayer warrior and financially supported us. We desire full transparency, and I recognize that I needed more consistent communication, which you deserve. I am genuinely sorry for that. Secondly, I want to give you the opportunity to suspend or redirect your financial support. If, for some reason, Refuge were no longer to continue, all money given to support this mission work would revert to the ACGC church planting fund. I pray that God continues to raise up leaders to serve our established churches and future church plants and place these burdens on more wonderful supporters like yourselves.

At this time, we intend to continue the work of evangelism in Sturbridge and the Lord willing, plant a church or churches. My personal desire is to see the nations know Christ and enjoy him forever.

Yours in Christ,

Erik Reynolds

Refuge Church

News from ACGC

New WHFMS Coordinator

We are saddened that Beth Larkin will be stepping away from her role here at ACGC at the end of July. Beth has been an integral part of the team since November 2008. She began serving in our missions department, later moving to the department of nurture before taking over as coordinator of women’s ministries in 2017. We are so thankful the Lord has allowed Beth to be a part of our work here for the last 15 years or more. Please pray for Beth, her husband, Matt, and daughter, Mallory as they transition to other ministry roles. We will miss Beth, her humble servant’s heart and her excellent work.

While Beth’s departure is sad to us, we are excited to announce that Mrs. Faye Richards will be stepping into the role. Faye is the wife of Rev. David Richards and mom to Emily, age 12. For many years she has been a faithful member of Shiloh Advent Christian Church where she leads music each Sunday and is very active in their WHFMS local. She works as the school librarian for Carmel Christian School in Matthews, North Carolina. Faye will join the WHFMS national board for their annual meeting in July. She is looking forward to this new role and is excited about the opportunity to serve our WHFMS groups. Please be in prayer for Faye, David and Emily as she begins this new job.

ACGC International Missions Update

India – March 31st we received notification from the Indian government that our Mission’s application for renewal of the FCRA was denied. This is very serious, as it appears we will no longer be able to send funds to support our ministries in India. Yet, we are trusting our sovereign Lord in this. Please pray for the Lord’s direction as we seek all possible options and alternatives.

Update 4/11 - Please continue to pray for our Mission staff and International Missions leaders as we look for options in the wake of the government’s denial of the FCRA application. Our auditor is currently exploring what viable options (if any) we may have. Pray for patience and discernment from the Lord in this process.

ACGC sends out a weekly International Missions Prayer List. If you would like to receive this list, please go to the ACGC website to sign up.

Click the image above to read the most recent prayer points.

If you have information concerning the summer events/schedule of any of our AC Camps in the Easter Region and would like this added to our website and upcoming newsletters please send a link or copy of the schedule to the ERA secretary at acerasecretary@gmail.com

Scholarship Opportunities

DuBois Scholarship - Sponsored by the Maine State Conference, amount awarded depends on number of applicants and funds available; This scholarship is given in loving memory of Rev. Wendell DuBois, Tammy DuBois and Virgene Hughes. It is designed to assist those seeking a call to vocational ministry in achieving their academic goals. The application needs to be postmarked by August 31 to be considered. The scholarship monies will be disbursed during the 2nd semester of the academic year.

Berkshire Christian College Scholarship Fund - Scholarship amount varies depending on the program of study. The purpose and description of the scholarship is:

• Seminary education in partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary at four campuses - two in Mass., one in Fla., one in NC. (www.gordonconwell.edu) Advent Christian students receive up to a 50% tuition reduction. (Additional scholarship assistance may also be available.)
• Theological formation through the Ministry Training Institute (MTI). Students enrolled in MTI are eligible for scholarships through Berkshire Christian.

Castle Hill Scholarship Fund - The Castle Hill Advent Christian Church closed its doors in December of 2019 due to declining numbers and the difficulty of finding pastoral leadership. Through a generous donation, a Ministry Scholarship will be established in their name. It is their desire that this ministry scholarship be established to help fund individuals who are seeking vocational ministry training either from a ministry training program within the Advent Christian constituency, or if a person chooses to seek to prepare for vocational ministry outside of the Advent Christian constituency, the Christian institution must be accredited.

Applicants are required to fill out the application and have all of the required information turned in to the Superintendent’s Office by September 15th in order to be considered by the Eastern Regional Board of Directors. The Board will present scholarships to qualified applicants by dividing $2000 dollars among them per year. If only one applicant applies, the cap for an individual scholarship is $1000 dollars made out to the school of their choosing.

Eastern Regional Association

P.O. Box 214 Winchester, NH 03470

Phone: 603-332-1412