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Every five years, the Association of Military Christian Fellowships (AMCF) has a Quinquennial Council of the Presidential Bench (the President and 14 Regional Vice-Presidents [VPs]) to pray, plan ministry activities for the next five years and enjoy fellowship. In addition, the AMCF has historically organized a gathering of military Christians from around the world (Global Interaction or World Conference) every ten year, in conjunction with the QC.
The 2019 QC was hosted by ACCTS and held in Pennsylvania from October 6tn through October 11
th
. Staff members from the AMCF's three Principal Supporting Organizations (PSOs) ACCTS, MMI, and MSO also attended. Five new VPs were commissioned, and five outgoing VP's were thanked for their service and prayed over as they embark on new endeavors for the Lord.
In his opening remarks,
the president identified three goals for the 2019 Council:
1. Review AMCF work accomplished during the past five years through the VP reports;
2. Assess the goals set in 2014 and the progress made toward achieving them;
3. Pray about and discuss the way forward for the next five years.
After a summary of the After-Action Report from the 2014 QC each of the VPs updated the group on significant events within their regions since 2014, the major ministry challenges they faced, and prayer concerns for their regions.
Since 2014 the VPs have: 
- Made 42 country visits
- Held 31 Regional Conferences
- Hosted 22 PSO training events
- Helped start 16 new MCFs
- Hosted 13 Chaplain Training Courses
During this time, major challenges to effective AMCF ministry included:
- Political Instability inhibiting travel between countries
- Limited finances and other resources to support VP travel and regional conferences
- Government laws limiting religious practice
- Terrorism as a security consideration in planning regional events
- Balancing AMCF ministry with family life and outside employment
The VPs requested prayer for:
- God's leading and wisdom, discernment and strength in executing their 5-year plans
- Pacification and reconciliation in troubled areas
- That governments would ease restrictive practice of religion laws
- That chaplaincies would be established in nations without one.
- The implementation of Orthodox chaplaincies
Toward the end of the QC, the PSOs highlighted the support programs they offer to help support these needs, such as:
- Discipleship and leadership training
- Outreach to non-Protestant Christian faith communities
- Chaplain training
- English language camps
- Encouragement and mentorship visits
In his closing remarks, the President provided the following guidance for the next five years:
1. A Pray and Plan team with representatives from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the PSOs was formed to seek God's will for a conference in 2024.
2. The VPs were encouraged to use the Ministry Partner Development materials on the AMCF website as they work toward becoming financially self-sufficient. 3. The VPs were asked to make the "cluster system" (grouping 14 regions into 4 clusters - Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe - to facilitate ministry.) fully operational by establishing regular times of prayer, consultation and participation in one another's regional conferences.
More than the ministry reports, however, the VPs noted that the times of prayer and fellowship with one another were the high points of the gathering. One VP noted that the
"Quinquennial was a blessed time of praise and worship, fellowship and prayer."
Another commented,
"I left the conference encouraged and committed to the AMCF vision of becoming all one in Christ."
A former AMCF president summed it up this way:
"The five-day Quinquennial was a powerful manifestation of what God is doing all around the world to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the men and women of the uniformed services of all of the nations of the world
."
Pray that God will continue to guard, guide and inspire these faithful military Christian leaders as they minister among the military services of the world with the goal of enabling every military member to hear the Gospel and see it lived out by someone wearing the same uniform.
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