From the Pastor's Desk - may you have restful vacations!

As I sit and type this, it is an absolutely beautiful day outside. Of course – and I know some would disagree with me on this – it is made even better by the option to come and sit in a nice air-conditioned office for a while as well. There’s another reminder of summer’s imminent arrival as well: the middle schoolers won’t be marching past the church doors at 2:45 pm for much longer; it’s almost vacation time.

Everyone does “vacation” a little differently. For some, it’s travelling to somewhere new. For others, it’s a trip to go see relatives. It may involve camping, or theme parks, or sitting by the pool. But for all who go on a vacation this summer, just a word of advice – please take a little time to relax in the midst of it all.

I know. Isn’t relaxing the whole point of going on a vacation? Already some of you are laughing to yourselves because you know better. Vacations can sometimes be anything but relaxing – the driving or flying, the hurry to cram all kinds of important and memorable activities into a few days, and the hassles that can come from the people along on the journey (“Are we there yet?”)…

Yet it is so often when we have slowed down, when we relax, that we can hear God speaking to us, that we can be attentive to the presence of God around us. When we are not busy, not distracted, that’s when we slow down enough to consider who and where we really are. And that can be profoundly disturbing. (In fact, it’s one reason we keep ourselves so frantically busy.)

At the same time, it is when God often chooses to speak into our lives, to help us take stock of how things are really going, to consider where God is leading us, and whom God is calling us to become – and also (and this is important too) to be able to be still enough to face ourselves and still hear God saying “My child, I love you.” May we never be so busy, in our work or in our vacationing, that we miss hearing God’s transforming and redeeming love spoken into our lives.

Blessings on the journey, this summer and always,
Pastor Brian

PS: For those of you online, I wanted to share a few sites (blogs) that I’ve found thought-provoking and encouraging. You may not agree with everything you read (that’s a good thing), but that, too, is part of how we grow!

Jesus Creed, by Scott McKnight:http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed
Internet Monk, currently written by “Chaplain Mike” and others: http://www.internetmonk.com
Dom Miller’s blog: http://donmilleris.com

Are there others that you find encouraging (and challenging!) to faith and life? Please share!

Missionary Profile: Ann & Bruce Borquist (Brazil)

Ann and Bruce Borquist serve as missionaries of International Ministries ABCUSA in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in partnership with JAMI, the international mission agency of the National Baptist Convention of Brazil. The Borquists equip Brazilian missionaries to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in countries around the world, including unreached people groups in Brazil.

Based at JAMI's missionary training center in Belo Horizonte, they serve as teachers and pastoral counselors training new missionaries in the areas of cross-cultural ministry skills, Christian community and economic development, and English language for mission.

Ann and Bruce are excited to be part of the growing response of "majority world" churches to the Great Commission, as these churches increasingly send and support their own missionaries. In addition to their ministry in Brazil, they share with American Baptist congregations what they learn from our Brazilian Baptist partners. In this way, we they live out Paul's command to "encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" (1 Thess. 5:11).

The Borquists served as American Baptist missionaries in the Philippines from 1987-1996, supporting ministries of Christian leadership development, church strengthening, and community and economic development.

Language used in Ministry: Brazilian Portuguese

Sunday School Update

What a great Sunday school season we had here at Memorial Baptist Church! For the children and youth classes, our numbers remained the same throughout the season. The children’s class members are Adrienne, Erin, Hailey, Kelly, and Nate. This class is taught by a team of teachers, each teaching one Sunday each month: Carol Mueller, Dan and Tammie Hanks, Jean Schneider, and Laurel McKee. Pastor Brian plays his guitar, sings, talks, and prays with the children at the beginning of each session.

The youth class, taught by Pat Olson, consists of Taylor, Spencer, Casey, Tailor, and Molly.

Delicious snacks for the children’s class and youth class were provided by Jean Hermann, Louann Fauska, Mary Hobbs, and Harriet Cornelius.

The adult class has been led by various people, including Kathy Bonde, Gabrielle Hastings, John Overzet, Cal and Christine Popp, and Jane Wendt.

Various people staffed the nursery during worship services.

Thanks to each person who was in involved in these educational experiences in any way. Please remember to do some Bible study on your own this summer.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in the fall. The children’s class will continue the journey through the Bible. The focus of the youth class and that of the adult class will be announced at a later time.

If you are not yet involved in any of our classes, plan now to join us in the fall. There are many opportunities for teaching and learning! Also, be alert for others you might invite to join us.
Please pray for all of our teachers and students throughout the summer. Thank you!

Caroline Overzet
Education Ministry Team Coordinator

“At the Risk of Being Taken…”

A few days ago we had a great discussion at the Men’s Lunch gathering. The focus was the tension between helping others and trying to minimize abuse. If we are too worried about getting taken advantage of, we often pass up opportunities to meet genuine need. If we don’t pay attention to it at all, some will abuse the generosity offered.

One of the things I walked away with is the sense of how easy it is to create barriers between those who are trying to help and those who are being served.
Barriers are often created unintentionally; most of the time people really do want to make a difference and help others. Yet consider how attitudes and approaches can sometimes harm the very good we try to achieve:

If we perceive ourselves as the “heroes” out to save the “poor/messed up/addicted/lost”, we create a barrier of superiority. We can unintentionally convey the idea that those we seek to help are inferior to us, and quite fortunate that we deign to offer some of our time and resources to help. The relationship is a one-way street that promotes inferiority and dependency on the part of the one served, and tends to minimize the help and grace we have received in our own lives, and which we still need!

If we are afraid that people are just out to get all they can from us, we can create a barrier of suspicion. And there are people who do just that. Quite a few are running successful corporations. Others have turned to it as a survival skill. We’ve all been taken advantage of at times. But if we let it turn us bitter and suspicious, we will find ourselves projecting hostility and suspicion toward all people we seek to help – and then wonder why we receive hostility and suspicion back.

We could talk about other “bricks in the wall”, but instead, let’s turn to examine Jesus’ approach to caring for others. Jesus above all has what we all need – and what did he do?

• Jesus came alongside us and shared in our experiences, understood our challenges (incarnation).
• Jesus called disciples from among those He came to save. He didn’t just give hand-outs or even “hand-up’s”, but He called people to help and serve each other in God’s name, giving them dignity and purpose.
• Jesus was willing to risk Himself for others, and called His disciples to value showing love and mercy over their own “rights” (Matthew 5:38-42). Paul calls on believers to rather be willing to be wronged (1 Cor. 6:7) than to cause nonbelievers to think that Christians are just like everyone else.
• Jesus crossed social, political, even religious boundaries in his mission and his message.

How can we examine not just our methods but our attitudes in serving others so that we care for others like Jesus did?
Pastor Brian

Sunday School Update

Within the next few weeks, we will be blessed with the very special sharing time during worship that we’ve been anticipating: a puppet show by the youth Sunday school class, with Pat Olson as teacher. On the same day, Bibles will be presented to the students in that class who have not yet received them from the church. In March, the members of the youth class will continue their pursuit of what it means to be a part of the community of God’s people.

During the month of March, the children’s class will take another break from the Old Testament to study Easter and its significance to their lives. Our key verse will be The angel said to the women, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.“ (Matthew 28:5-6)

The adult class, taught by Kathy Bonde, will continue studying Network by Bruce Bugbee and Don Cousins. In doing so, each person is challenged to discover his/her spiritual gifts; personal style, and God-given passion for serving in the body of Christ. Thanks to all who completed surveys for the members of the class; it’s a great aid in the discovery process.

Although the 2009-2010 Sunday school season is marching right along, it’s never too late to have more people join any of our classes: children’s class, youth class, and adult class. Please continue to pray for all who are involved in the various classes. Thank you.
Caroline Overzet

Haiti Missionary Profile: Steve & Nancy James

With Haiti in the news following the severe earthquake, this month we feature our missionaries Nancy and Dr. Steve James who serve in Haiti. Based in the north in Cap Haitien, they do medical work in different clinics in Haiti under the sponsorship of the Haitian Baptist Convention. They are jointly appointed missionaries, in partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Languages used in ministry are French and Haitian Creole.

Since the earthquake, however, Steve and our Haitian partners are providing medical care and relief supplies at the quake epicenter, southwest of Port-au-Prince, while Nancy remains in Cap Haitien maintaining communications.

Steve says of the conditions in Haiti, “While providing acute trauma care to earthquake victims near the epicenter, I was receiving increasing information from my Haitian partners that the health centers in the north were swelling with earthquake victims who had left Port-au-Prince seeking refuge with family and friends in the north.

“As surviving Haitian doctors and nurses were increasingly returning to work in the destroyed clinics in many places, and with critically ill patients being transferred to hospitals in the north and in the context of a relocated population possibly straining health care institutions’ capacity to meet the increased volume of patients, I felt I needed to try to assess the medical needs of the north.”

Once there, he found the health centers had swelled in patient volume, in some cases to 6 times their normal size. The needs of the health centers will likely remain greater than the pre-earthquake needs as the Port-au-Prince relocated population will likely stay in the north for many months if not years to come.

Steve continues: “Despite these clinics being very poor and struggling to keep supplies on their shelves, they all had made the decision to offer free care and free medicines to the patients that were coming each day, at a financial sacrifice for the love of Jesus to the poor and needy. Our Haitian brothers and sisters reaching out sacrificially to their people in need inspired us deeply.”
After a short stay in the north, Steve returned to the earthquake area to continue his work there of helping in networking with relief groups working and providing food and medical supplies where needed.

Please continue to keep the people of Haiti, the missionaries, and other relief workers in your prayers. Thank you.

HAITI UPDATE
(Received from International Ministries February 18)
• Dr. Steve James and our Haitian partners are providing medical care and relief supplies at the quake epicenter, southwest of Port-au-Prince, while Nancy James, in Cap Haitien, is maintaining communications.
• Kristy Engel, Ketly and Vital Pierre and Madeline Flores-López are our missionaries in the Dominican Republic. Kristy and the Pierres have traveled across the border into Haiti to administer 3 clinics and lead a 30-person medical team. Madeline has remained in the DR to provide medical care to victims being brought to Santo Domingo.
• International Ministries administrative staff, missionaries, and partners are developing a three-year plan for recovery and rebuilding phases.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
• Pray with the president of the Haitian Baptist Convention for the members of the 12 churches in the epicenter and their 15,000 members who are directly in the disaster zone.
• Make hygiene and/or baby kits and send them to Church world Service. Instructions are at www.churchworldservice.org
• Donate on the website or by check: Make offering check payable to Memorial Baptist Church; in the memo section write: OGHS – Haiti Relief. Or make check payable to OGHS – Haiti Earthquake Relief and mail to International Ministries, PO Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
• There will be volunteer work teams in recovery and rebuilding phases. Check with Pastor Brian for details as they become available.

Dr. Steve James, one of our missionaries in Haiti, is “impressed with the international response to the disaster.” Let’s not let him and the people of Haiti down!

And Who is My Neighbor?

Most of us are familiar with e-mail chain letters, the kind that say “if you pass this on to everyone on your mailing list, then Bill Gates will buy you a laptop,” or “God will answer a special prayer,” or, my personal favorite: “if you really love Jesus, you’ll send this to everyone you know…” For the record, I’m definitely not ashamed to say that I love Jesus – I’m just not a big fan of those kind of emails.
I’ve started to see things like this crop up on Facebook, some kind of statement followed by: “If you agree, post this as your status.” Often it’s something benign, like “if you love your mom and aren’t afraid to say it, put this as your status today.”

Yesterday I started to see a more disturbing facet of this. I started to see people who were posting variations on this theme: “Shame on America for taking all this time and effort to help the people in Haiti while we have people who are hungry and sick and without jobs in our own country.”

There is a level at which I can understand this. Lots of people have lost their jobs. Many have lost homes. Many are struggling to make ends meet. And there are homeless in our country. There are hungry children in our country. There are many people without access to adequate healthcare. There are people who fit these categories in our own community, more than we might be comfortable acknowledging.
And so the post that so disturbed me contains an uncomfortable truth – we are incredibly generous in times of crisis, but we struggle to do right by our neighbors in situations of ongoing need.

But as a follower of Jesus, we cannot so narrow down the concept of neighbor to mean those who are in my city or nation or of my ethnicity or family. Jesus didn’t. He got people angry by insisting that even our enemies are also our neighbors whom we should love (in action, not in mushy sentiment).

So what do we do with that? Do we neglect the poor at home to care for the poor abroad? We might say that we only have so much to go around, so we cannot do everything. Yet money is not always the answer. If we are to do right by our neighbors near and far, we have to do a better job of working to create better conditions, of protesting injustice and getting our hands dirty in the messy and complicated situations that produce oppression across the world. What if Christians were more vocal about genocide in Africa, more active in encouraging parents as they take responsibility for their children’s education, even – dare I say it – demanding that our government move beyond partisan games on both sides of the aisle and really work to find just solutions for health care?

I am not talking about the church becoming a political tool, but for God’s people to earnestly, humbly, lovingly work for the good of all our neighbors. Sometimes that will be close to home, sometimes the need will call to us from far away. There will be crises that demand our immediate attention. But when the cameras are turned off, and the reporters fly home, the needs will still be there. And I believe wholeheartedly that it will be to God’s glory when the churches will not have forgotten, and will still be extending a helping hand up to our brothers and sisters.

Missionary Profile: Drs. Rick & Anna Gutierrez

In describing work with the South African Indians and Zulus, Rick says: “Jesus often used agricultural metaphors in his parables. Jesus cares that we are well fed by his Word as well as nutrition. His miracles included feeding thousands with bread and fish. In our health and evangelism efforts, providing a means for people to feed themselves with healthy and easily grown plants has been a long-term interest. Fourteen months ago we planted five cuttings of chaya. Two of the cuttings took, and this last week we potted 32 cuttings from our original chaya plant."

“Chaya, also called Mayan Spinach or Tree Spinach, grows to about 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It has been used since ancient times by the Mayan people of the Yucatan Peninsula, and remains a major green used in cooking there today. This pest-resistant, disease-resistant, and drought-resistant perennial shrub is easy to grow and will produce food for years. As we promote this highly nutritious plant among our mission partners, we will need to teach people how to grow and use it. For this reason, we are making a video as well as collaborating with a Zulu pastor who is an agricultural student for work among the Zulu people."

“Fresh, healthy greens are often lacking in the diets of poor people, especially those who do not have land or lack basic knowledge in nutrition and gardening skills. Nutritionally, chaya is about twice as excellent as spinach! Here in Southern Africa, people with HIV/AIDS, heart and artery disease, diabetes and malnutrition could all benefit from this easy to grow plant. Increased self-reliance for both local church missions and those people who adopt this plant could be dually achieved through this initiative.”

Rick and Anita ask for our prayers that the following goals could be reached by one year from now:
• Chaya plants are safely established will all our mission partners in both rural and urban settings.
• The video will be completed and will motivate people to grow and use this plant.
• Zulu orphan children and caregivers will gain exposure to chaya use and cultivation, and we will establish plantings with at least ten percent of the households we become involved with.
• Our mission partners and Bethel Health Builders will be able to promote this nutritional plant as part of their feeding ministries.

Where the Journey Ends

Star slung high

in the East,

your light burns

bright down through

the ages,

across the pages

of the Word.

Guide us

as you led

the magi long ago

towards epiphany;

this place

where the

Infant-Redeemer

lays.

- G.A. Scheinoha

Sunday School Update

After focusing on the birth of Jesus in the New Testament in December, the children’s Sunday school class will return to stories in the Old Testament. The featured story for January will be that of Daniel in the lion’s den, as found in Daniel 6:1-28. The key verse will be “Reverence the God of Daniel for he is the living God and he endures forever” (Daniel 6:26b) which is part of the decree of King Darius.

The youth class will continue focusing on the Bible and its relevance in our lives. The students are working on memorizing the names of the books of the Bible. This will aid them in finding passages of scripture. We look forward to seeing a puppet show the class will be staging, perhaps this winter or spring, with puppets they created recently.

The January the adult class will study The Law of Liberty by T. M. Moore. It is an introduction to the Law of God and how it works to enable us to enjoy full and abundant life in Jesus Christ. The discussions will be led by various members of the class.

If you are not already participating in one of our Sunday school classes, please consider joining us. It could be a great way for you to start off the New Year! Please continue to pray for all who are involved in our classes. Thank you!

Caroline Overzet, Sunday School Superintendent

Missionary Profile: Dwight and Kari Davidson

American Baptists have a rich mission history in Japan. Since 1873, our churches have supported missionaries engaged in education, evangelism, church planting and leadership development.

Dwight and Kari Davidson have served since 2001 in Yokohama with the Japan Baptist Union. Dwight teaches Christianity and English at and serves as a chaplain at the school, which has an enrollment of around 12,000 students. Kari is involved in the community and in organizing volunteering work among women.

Dwight serves at Kanto Gakuin University, which has an enrollment of around 12,000 students, as the Director of Religious Activities at the College of Humanities. In this capacity, he helps organize chapel activities, volunteer and relief activities, student groups, exchange trips, and special events at the university in partnership with four other college chaplains. In addition to speaking in chapel, he teaches classes in Christianity and English at two different colleges of the university, directs "The Fellowship," a campus student group, and co-directs the "Sigma Society," a student volunteer group which focuses on international exchange activities and development work among Thai ethnic minority groups.

Outside of school, Dwight leads a weekly Bible study at Kanto Gakuin Church, a congregation of the Japan Baptist Union which meets right on the campus of Kanto Gakuin University. He also helps a number of area church leaders of other denominations make connections with college students through various small groups.

Kari regularly volunteers at one of the Kanto Gakuin preschools, teaching English through skits, games, dancing, and songs. In 2006, she started a weekly English conversation group with some women she met through Yokohama International School. Through this program, native English-speaking women volunteer to teach conversational English to a group of women from various countries. The women who attend the classes make a donation in lieu of a lesson fee. So far, money donated by the group has gone to support The Asian Rural Institute in Saitama Prefecture, Japan and The House of Blessing, a daycare for Thai ethnic minority children living in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Please pray for Dwight and Kari and their three children as they continue to serve in Japan.

Reflections

“So this is Christmas,
and what have you done?
Another year over,
and a new one just begun.”

These words from John Lennon’s song seem oddly appropriate as we enter into that time between the celebration of Christmas and the turning of the new year. Deep down, our culture recognizes that the meaning of Christmas is not in things purchased or received, but in compassion, in sharing, in peace. For Christians, it is deeper still, not just a “feeling” or value to celebrate once a year, but that true peace comes to us because of the gift of Jesus – the sign of God’s love and mercy.

Yet, in those days between Christmas and New Year’s, it is well to look back and ask: What has it truly meant to us? What have we done with the gift God has given us? What will that mean for the year to come?

Some of those reflections will be glad – remembering with joy times when we have felt particularly close to Go,; times when we have done the right thing, times where we saw God at work around us.

Some of the memories may give us pause – opportunities missed, words spoken that should not have been, times that we took God for granted.

As we think of what we have done with this year we’d been given, what will make “the new one just begun” any brighter?

Will it be by resolving to do better, as so many will do? Will we, in the cynicism of experience, resolve to make no resolutions for fear that we will not keep them?
Or is it possible that the way we truly grow is when we continue on the journey of humbly walking with God, worrying less about the year to come than seeking God’s strength for today, doing our best to obey moment by moment?

The gift of Christmas, Immanuel – God with us – is of course, not just for Christmas. May this new year be a blessing to you and those around you, as we journey in the strength of God.

Blessings for the road,
Pastor Brian

From the Pastor’s Desk: “By Such a Cloud of Witnesses”

Last month I talked about All Hallow’s Eve (Hallowe’en). Since I’m not quite ready to let go of October yet, I thought perhaps it would be appropriate to lift up a day that is as close to October as you can get, November 1: All Saints’ Day.

It is a day that we as Christians (particularly of the Baptist tribe) might do well to reflect on a bit more than we are accustomed to.

One can read all about the historical origins of All Saints’ Day – how it was first observed in 609 AD as a feast to Mary and the Martyrs, and how it is now (in a different way) observed in the Catholic, Orthodox and some Protestant traditions – but the important point to me is that the date calls us to remember our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone before us into God’s kingdom.

In Hebrews chapter 11, the author lists heroes of the Old Testament, whose lives and stories of faithfulness ought to encourage us in our own journey, summarized in the beginning of chapter 12:“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that it set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Though we do not see these heroes of the faith, or our own brothers and sisters in Christ who have died and gone ahead of us; we are still surrounded by them, cheering for us like a crowd would cheer for a beloved athlete, encouraging us to stay focused on Jesus who calls us onward to complete our own race.

It is a reminder that our stories and our lives are all connected, that we should allow ourselves to be taught by the story and examples of those who have gone before us in faith, both in their triumphs and in their stumbling. It is a reminder that the whole of their lives was not just measured by their own accomplishments, but by God’s grace and love present in their story. It is a reminder that we too, in remembering them, and in remembering God’s promises, may be encouraged to run our own race with perseverance, knowing that one day, we too will cross the finish line to join the crowd cheering on the next generations. May the stories of our lives become an encouragement to others by the grace of God.

Missionary Profile: Bill & Ann Clemmer

Ann and Bill Clemmer serve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bill is involved with the team that responds to victims of war crisis as well as epidemic disease outbreaks that occur often. Common cyclic epidemics in that area of the world include cholera, typhoid, monkey pox, measles, and Ebola. The team is currently responding to a recent deadly Ebola outbreak that has already claimed many lives. The program has brought both "the word and hand of God" to populations devastated by a conflict which is estimated to have claimed over four million lives in the past five years.

Disease carries with it a stigma that, unfortunately, keeps many away from helping to meet the needs of the infected. The Clemmers (as well as other missionaries) work to meet those needs, body and soul, and fight the battles against curable and, presently, incurable diseases in developing countries.

Ann teaches high school at The American School of Kinshasa (TASOK), where missionary and other expatriate children attend. Additionally, she continues to work with women's groups Vanga and a Christian based hospice group providing home care to victims of HIV/AIDS. She still finds time to home school one of their four children. She has previously served on an international accreditation board which evaluates and accredits similar schools on the African continent.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US and has an estimated population of 62,660,551. The capital is Kinshasa. Both French and English are official languages. The Clemmers use French and Kituba in their ministry.

Ann and Bill have this message for us: “Our ministry in Congo is to serve the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the sick, and even the disfigured. How true it is that those who are poor and persecuted praise God the loudest, ‘from whom all blessings come’ …while we with worldly blessings cling to the extrinsic things of life and risk forgetting the depth of His love and the many blessings of His presence.”

Please pray for the Clemmers as they face mission challenges including recovery from civil war and continuing conflicts with rebel groups, leadership training, evangelization of less reached groups, and holistic ministries.

From Fear to Awe

October is an interesting time of year. It usually includes some of my favorite things in the year: the trees turning to brilliant yellows and oranges, caramel apples, campfires on a cool evening, shuffling through leaves on the Crop Walk. And I like the harmless side of All Hallow’s Eve: little kids dressed up in costumes, marching up and down the street with parents in tow, all excited at this marvelous day where they get to go around and get candy from all over the place. It can be a lot of fun.

There is another side to it, of course that goes back to pre-Christian celebrations of the Celts and the Romans. It’s an aspect of Hallow’een that is based on fear. Not the kind of “fear” one gets from watching a campy old Frankenstein movie, but a true fear of the unknown. Fear of death. Fear of the spirits. Fear of the future. All three were especially on the minds of ancient peoples this time of year, and many of the traditions of Halloween are a way to deal with fear.

Fear is not an uncommon reaction to the unknown in Scripture either. The disciples were afraid when a storm came up and threatened to capsize the boat – they didn’t know if they would survive the storm. Isaiah was afraid when he realized that he was in the presence of the Lord. Isaac was afraid to live in a foreign country, where he was unsure how he and his wife would be treated. Mary was afraid when an angel came to bring a message to her. Fear happens. But in the Bible, over and over we hear the message of God come: “do not be afraid” – in other words, let go of your fear, for you are in the presence of God.

But wait – aren’t we supposed to fear God? Psalm 111:10 says that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Perhaps it would be better if we understood Godly fear to be true awe and reverence – to recognize with our whole being that God is not only far bigger, far more than we can imagine, but utterly beyond our control or manipulation. We are not in charge – and that’s a humbling thing to realize. And it would be, should be, true fear inducing, to find ourselves on the opposite side of God’s intentions and purposes.

At the same time, God is good. At the same time, God pours out his love for us. And as we are reminded in 1 John 4:18, “perfect love drives out fear.” It frees us to be in awe of God, but not crushed. We can face this life without being dominated by fear of the unknown, because if God is for us, who can be against us?

Fear can be a tool to manipulate people, to sway emotion and bypass reason. The climate of fear in our country and our world concerns me. I believe that this is a time for people of faith in Christ to speak clarity, reason and love into the midst of fearful rhetoric, into financial uncertainty, into a climate of worry about the future. For we have a hope to share.

Pastor Brian

Missionary Profile: Annie & Jeff Dieselberg (Thailand)

This month we feature Annie and Jeff Dieselberg, who serve in Bangkok, Thailand, a bustling metropolis of more than 10 million people. Thailand, about the size of Texas, has an estimated population of almost 62 million people. It is located in Southeast Asia, surrounded by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Gulf of Thailand. Buddhism is the state religion; Islam is another major religion. Only .5 % of the people are Christian.

Annie and Jeff serve at NightLight Foundation and NightLight Design Co. Ltd. NightLight is an international organization committed to addressing the complex issues surrounding trafficking and prostitution by catalyzing individual and community transformation. NightLight's vision is to offer intervention to sexually exploited women and children, to enable them to discover their dignity, and to provide a program of holistic transformation, empowering them to live and work in their community.

NightLight's mission is to build relationships and provide hope, intervention, rescue, and assistance to women and children exploited in the sex industry by offering alternative employment through the registered jewelry business NightLight Design, Co. Ltd., as well as vocational opportunities, life-skills training, and physical, emotional, and spiritual development to women seeking freedom from sexual exploitation. NightLight builds support networks internationally to intervene and assist women, men, and children whose lives are negatively impacted by the sex industry. Annie is the founder and CEO of NightLight. In addition to administration, Annie facilitates the outreach in the red-light area, and leads in the prayer and deliverance ministry at NightLight. As an advocate for NightLight and the issues of women exploited in the sex industry, Annie also does a lot of networking and speaking.

Jeff serves as chaplain to both NightLight Design Co. Ltd and NightLight Foundation. Jeff also serves as Senior Pastor of NightLight’s church plant, Song Sawang Church (translated Send the Light). Song Sawang is a new church start that began May 2008, mostly with new converts from NightLight. Now, however, these women who are members of the church are reaching out to family, friends, and strangers, bringing more growth and diversity to the church. In addition, Jeff teaches urban transformation at three local seminaries to encourage aspiring pastors and Christian workers to understand and engage in what God is doing in Bangkok and the cities of the world.

Please pray for the Dieslebergs and their work.

- Caroline Overzet

Flu Season Guidelines

The flu season has started and it’s time to get ready! The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that everyone get the seasonal flu vaccine (available through your doctor or the county health department) and that those who are high risk also get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available.

People who should get the H1N1 vaccine include: pregnant women, those who come in contact with infants younger than 6 months old, health care personnel, everyone ages 6 months to 24 years old, and people ages 25-64 who have health conditions associated with higher risk of complications from flu.

Those infected with the H1N1 flu virus may be able to infect others from one day before showing symptoms to a week after getting sick. Flu viruses are spread through coughing and sneezing. You can reduce your chances of getting the virus by washing your hands often with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (60% or higher).

If you become sick with flu-like symptoms (fever of more than 100°F and either sore throat or cough), minimize the risk of spreading the virus to others by staying home until you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. Pastoral care can still be provided over the phone. Additional information can be found at the CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/flu/ -Michelle Doro