Your world is awash in everything from diaper bags to baseball mitts to braces. So many responsibilitiesand so much depending on the choices you make. We can help you plan for tomorrow as you manage your God-given resources today. Ask us about:
• Life and health insurance
• College and retirement savings
• Values -based investing options
• Stewardship resources and workshops
For more information, call (800) 348-7468, or visit www.mma-online.org.
19 > "Don't forget about us"
21 > Bridging th e generation gap
22 > A miracle man
23 > M BMSI to host regional events
23 > Canadians open lead pastorate to women
26 > DR Congo holds long-awaited elections
27 > Beauty in suffering
28 > M CC calls for kits
6
CALL by Chuck Buller What if I wouldn't get mad?
"In Jesus' name, Amen" 33 PH ' LIP SIDE by Philip Wiebe
Dieting, lattes and A-Rod
FEATURES
10 TOGETHER IS BETTER by Randy Friesen
Climbing the world's tallest peaks can become an obsession. The climb is filled with danger and is best accomplished by working as a team-just ask the IS climbers who almost died in a recent attempt to climb Canada's Mt. Logan. What does their experience teach us about summiting the mountain of God's kingdom?
13 THE SURPRISE OF CHRIST by Lois Cheney
For those of us who are searching Christians each day can bring a new possibility. God is never predictable.
14 GO D IS FAITHFUL by Dale and Rachel Winter
Dale and Rachel Winter have spent almost three years waiting for a liver transplant for Dale. Over the years Dale's illness has taken a toll on his body and has affected his family and his faith. But through it all, the Winters cling to a God they have found to be faithful even when they falter.
16 FAITH IS A JOURNEY by Katie Funk Wiebe
Faith is a process of continual growth from that first simple commitment of reaching out to God to becoming more Christ-like as we age. So what does a lifelong journey of faith look like? How do I know if I'm growing?
> FiRST WORDS
(from the editorl
"HERE'S A CHURCH YOU SHOULD WRITE ABOUT IN THE Leader," Mission USA director Don Morris said several months ago. The scenario Don laid out was typical. A congregation hoping to better minister to its youth hires a youth pastor. The kids become more involved in the local church and the congregation's ministry to its community grows . But there is a twist. The congregation is first-generation Ethiopian and the youth pastor is Hispanic. So we asked newswriter Conlan Spangler to personally visit Ethiopian Christian Fellowship You can read his story about Robetto Parks on page 21.
When we first met Canadian Cindy Klassen five years ago , the Mennonite Brethren speed skater had claimed a bronze medal in the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Today she is a full-fledged sports celebrity having come home from the 2006 Turin Olympics as the most decorated Canadian Olympian ever (she now has six medals) and with the unofficial title of "woman of the Games." While it is not unusual for an athlete of Cindy's stature to promote various products, Cindy is using her celebrity status to be a voice for AIDS patients and their caregivers. The story of her trip to Africa on behalf of Mennonite Central Committee is told on page 27. You can view a clip of Cindy talking about her experience at MCC's AIDS Web site, www.aidscarenow.org.
Concern for their brothers and sisters in the Democratic Republic of Congo prompted delegates to the 2006 U.S. Conference convention to spend time in prayer for national elections to be held July 30 in a country that is home to more Mennonite Brethren than any country other than India. It was Congo's first free election in 40 years and Mennonites were among those actively involved in efforts to ensure a successful election process. While the exchange of power may yet lead to political violence, observers report that election day went smoothly (see story page 26).
Our news section opens with the haunting plea of a Mennonite Central Committee worker in Mississippi: "Don't forget about us." The "us" Lydia Weikel is talking about are the thousands of people living along the Gulf Coast who were affected by last year's hurricanes. Many people assume everything along the Gulf Coast is back to normal, says Lydia. 'l\nd it's really so very far from norma!." Her words convict me-it is so easy to forget. Lydia also offers a suggestion for how to help: pray Now that's something all of us can do.-CF
> QUOT ABLE
" It always scares me when people think so highly of Christian music, contemporary Christian music especially, because I know a lot of us and we don't know jack about anything Not that I don't want you to buy our records and come to our concerts. I sure do. But you should come for entertainment If you really want spiritual nourishment, you should go to church you should read the Scriptures." -Rich Mullins, composer of the now-classic :f\.wesome God" who was killed in a traffic accident nine years ago.
> UP & COMING
• Oct. 26-29-Central District Conference convention , Henderson, Neb.
• March 31 - April 3, 2007-National MB Youth Convention , An aheim, Calif
OCTOBER 2006 Vo lume 69 Number 10
Co nnie Faber EDITOR
Myra Hol mes ASSISTANT EDITOR
Elai ne Ewe rt GRAPHIC DESIGNER
MANDATE Th e Chris tian Leader IiSSN 000 9- 514 91is publi shed monthly by the U S Co nference of Mennonite Brethren Churches The Christia n Leader seek s to inform Mennonit e Brethren members and churches of the events, activities. deci sions an d iss ues of their denomination , and to instruct inspire and initiate dialogue so mem bers will asp i re to be faithful disciple s of Chri st as understood in the evangelicaVAnabapti st theological tradition
EDITORIAL POLICY The views expressed in this publi cation do not necessarily represe nt the po si t ion of the Christian Leader the U S Co nference Lead ers hip Board or the Menn onite Brethren Ch urch Sc ripture references are from New Internat io nal Version unless otherwise noted The editors invite freelance article submissions A SASE mu st accompany articles.
READER PARTICIPATION The editors invite read ers to share their thoughts and opinions on to pics relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church using letters to th e editor and Forum essays. Letters to the editor should be br ief - 300 words or less - and on one subject. Letters mu st be signed and include the writer's ci ty and state Letters will be edited for clarity appropriat eness and length Letters will be publi shed as space allows. unless marked - Not for publication ." Forum is open to members or attendees of Mennonite Brethren churches Essays should not exceed 800 words. and should include th e writer's name address. home church and occupatio n
COMMUNICATION All correspondence including change of addre ss, should be addressed to the Christ ian Leader. Box 220. Hillsboro KS 67063 Phone: 620 - 947 - 5543. Fax: 620 - 947 - 3266 E- mail : christianleaderfclusmb.org
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MEMBERSHIP The Christian Leader is a member of the Evangelical Pre ss Association and Meetinghouse. an association of Mennonite and Brethren in Chri st editors
POSTMASTER Send addre ss changes to the Christian Leader Box 220. Hillsboro KS 67063 Periodi cals po stage paid at Hillsboro, Kan sas
CONNIE FABER I {lilt"
DIVINE ELECTION ANO FREE CHOICE
While I respect Chuck Buller, our executive director, the article "Who does the choosing? " (August 2006 Conference Call) leaves a void for me . I do not agree that for most of our history Mennonite Brethren have viewed themselves as Armenian I certainly do not belong in the overall Armenian theological framework.
In my ministry timeline we have generally avoided aligning ourselves with either the Armenian or the hyper Calvinistic framework. Sometimes statements are made that do not really square with who we are I remember Harry Ironside, the inimitable Moody Church pastor and a Plymouth Brethren, who spoke of election thus : "God's invitation at salvation's door has boldly inscribed 'Whosoever will let him come' but once inside that marvelous door over the entry is inscribed, 'Chosen in him before the foundation of the world.'"
That is both divine election and free choice It is too simplistic to say that we view ourselves within the Armenian family for if one must align with one or the other, I would find myself in the Reformed family much more readily as the Armenian view easily lapses into humanism The tag names often simply declare a missing theological orientation based on biblical truths. I'm thankful that God elected me and gave me the grace to concur by choice.
Loyal A. Funk Arroyo Grande, Calif
THE OTHER SIDE OF GATES' GIFTS
The rest of the story regarding Bill Gates and Warren Buffet ("What does $30 billion look like," On the Journey, August 2006) is where the "pre-determined guidelines" take the money. According to other sources I have read a good chunk of that money will be given to Planned Parenthood. This certainly sends a mixed signal to me . How can these people give money on the one hand to help save the lives of children (I know for a fact that Gates has given generously to World Vision) while on the other, give money to an organization that does nothing more than take lives through abortion?
If you were to ask me, I would not
accept any amount that Gates or Buffet were to offer if I knew that they also gave to causes on the other side - the dark side if you will. I understand Rose Buschman's point, but I think she has used a bad example for our Christian community to consider worthy.
Craig Haley Shafter, Calif
RELATIO NAL FUNDING
MBMS International reported at the national conventions this summer (Canadian Conference convention report in the Aug. II, 2006 MB Herald) that the relational funding program is working well, and that the financial contributions are up by 15 percent although that policy has not been implemented This is certainly good news.
Relational funding is no doubt working for North American missionaries whose networks at home keep them on the field. But how does relational funding work for educational institutions in India and Africa? The MB Centenary Bible College in India, for example, has a current shortfall of $17,000 Faculty salaries are not paid. MBMSI has served notice that the current subsidy to this and other schools abroad will be reduced to zero in five years. Where is the network that will sustain these schools?
MBMSI sees its mission as church planting-a goal worthy of full support. But how will these church plants be shepherded if not by pastors from training centers like Centenary Bible College or Kikwit Bible School? What might be the results for the 90,000 Indian MBs who, later if not sooner, will be left without sound leadership if these schools flounder? Already one hears of congregations being co-opted by other church agencies, even cults.
Does one honor the labors and sacrifices of missionaries of a former time by ceasing to support that which nurtures the church? Without a doubt the apostle Paul focused on evangelism and church planting, but one has only to read the letters to TImothy and TItus to know that he took the long view and ensured both the supply of pastors and their training.
Besides, it is out of our schools that the national "missionaries" emerge. There is no argument but that nationals who know the language and culture are more effective church planters than "foreign" missionaries. Why should one strangle such a productive source for mission personnel? One shudders to think of the consequences if leadership training were severely curtailed even in the interest of church planting.
MBMSI will likely reply that church planting is its mandate. If so, then agencies other than MBMSI need to look after leadership training Even if one acknowledges some validity to that position, one has to ask whether a sound transition plan should not be in place before subsidies are terminated so that schools would not be left in the lurch
I am left wondering: From where will funds come to sustain schools that train pastors, evangelists, missionaries and leaders?
Elmer
A. Martens Fresno, Calif
What if I wouldn't get mad?
Here's your chance to be completely honest
What would you say if you knew I wouldn't get mad? Have you ever asked a spouse, staff member, child or colleague this question? Depending on the level of trust that already exists in the relationship , this question can invite some interesting conversation.
Jesus said through his friend John that perfect love casts out fear. At the heart of most miscommunication or misunderstanding is the fear of how people might react if
In spite of the communication challenges inherent in honest communication, truthfulness is one quality of New Testament Christianity that remains most appealing to me. The apostle Paul says it is the one thing that leads most directly to biblical maturity: " Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is,
Truth i" eternal ;.md sometimes co"tlv in the short run . It Jlway'i wins the hnt1c in the long rUll.
we choose to be completely honest Sometimes this fear is based on experience. When we have seen someone react defensively, in anger or with rejection it doesn't always seem worth it to try again. In spite of numerous biblical injunctions to speak directly to people about concerns or ctiticism, the fact is that communication is a two-way street.
Jesus also told parables about pearls and swine. I'm reminded of the old cliche that says the reason you don't mud-wrestle a pig is that you will both get dirty and only
Christ." This is a comprehensive promise. It is biblical truth presented in love that leads to maturity in "all things."
It's really quite simple. Satan is the father of lies Jesus is the truth No long-lasting change ever grows from a seedbed of deception Lies can broker short-term peace, half baked compromises and the survival of the firtest. Truth is eternal and sometimes costly in the short run It always wins the battle in the long run .
With this in mind I embarked on an interesting journey this fall . I am visiting some of our leading churches and asking theireadership team these questions : What would you like to say, if anything, to the Mennonite Brethren denomination? Is there a better way we can serve you? Is there a more effective way we can build community? Is there anything you have wanted to say but not been given the chance? Thankfully I can report that thus far I have not been invited to mud-wrestle. I have heard some interesting feedback that I will be reporting in this column throughout the year. Since most of you don't serve on a church leadership board it's only fair you be given a chance to participate If you have been dying to share your opinion about how a denomination can best serve the kingdom , please send your comments to Donna Sullivan at offices@usmb org She, in her gracious way, will forward those comments to me and our Leadership Board . Sadly. it is not in her job description to add love. Only the writer can do that. I really look forward to this dialogue
the pig will actually enjoy it Jesus figured out quickly that the Pharisees actually enjoyed arguments more than truth-filled applications. Hence. he chose the forbidden Jewish meat to illustrate just how he felt about that as a solution for finding a life. Sometimes this parable applies to people, agencies and even Christian institutions.
Reggie McNeal, the keynote speaker at our recent Pastors' Conference, reminded each pastor present that these are the most significant questions in postmodemity that they can ask of parishioners The deal is leaders will be much more likely to ask the question if love is the basis of both the question and the answer. Love is like the grease on the tracks of truth Take love away and there are a lot of noisy crashes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. In love the goal is that everyone is a winner. I know that sounds like Pollyanna, but then again that's what they said 2,000 years ago when Jesus hung on a cross dying for the sins of the world The God of truth is familar with rejection that results in salvation We should be so wise
Imports from DR Congo resume
Artisans are hopeful for their country's futu re
handmade copper star ornaments from the Democratic Republic of Congo appeared in Ten Thousand Villages tores in the U.S. last month, they are signs of hope and opportunity for artisans in this Central African country which has faced years of political and civil upheaval. The ornaments from artisan Nyembo Mbope's workshop near Kinshasa, the DRC capital city, represent Ten Thousand Village's first import from the DRC in more than three years
From 1997 to 2003, Ten Thousand Villages imported traditional masks, whimsical wire toys and hand-carved wood furniture from artisans working with Artisanat et Developpement in the DRe. In 2003 Ten Thousand Villages was forced to temporarily stop importing from Artisanat et Developpement as a result
of local trade barriers including corruption and lack of infrastructure.
While Ten Thousand Villages did not resume its imports from the DRC until 2006, Ten Thousand Villages buyers continued to work with the Mennonite Central Commitree offices in the DRC and Debo Botwas, director of Artisanat et Developpement, to build the artisans' capacity. With the support of Ten Thousand Villages and MCC, Botwas and the artisans he works with were able to export their first order to the U.S. marketplace in more than three years.
In light of the presidential and parliamentary elections held in the DRC in July, Ten Thousand Villages trade has resumed at an auspicious time for Congolese artisans who are optimistic about the future of their country. On a recent trip to Ten Thousand Villages headquarters in Akron, Pa., Botwas said, "What I am doing here is important. It is a whole generation (of artisans) that we can now help to move forward."
Ten Thousand Villages leads the fair trade movement with 60 years of experience, providing vital, fair income to more than lIO artisan groups in 32 countries.-MCC
MCC educates children about cluster bombs
Mennonite Central Committee, the relief, peace and service agency of North American Mennonite churches, is funding an effort to warn Lebanese children about the danger of unexploded cluster bombs that Israel dropped on their communities during its recent war with Hezbollah An MCC partner organization, The Philanthropic Association for Disable Care, is distributing educational board games to teach children how to recognize , report and avoid cluster bombs
Cluster bombs are small explosives carried by a larger container or shell fired from artillery or rocket launchers or dropped from planes. They often do not explode on contact and after a conflict has ended pose a great risk to civilians, particularly children and farmers Some cluster bombs are fist-sized, and others are as small as a size D battery or as long as a soda can
The United Nations reports that Israeli attacks left as many as 100,000 unexploded cluster bombs in rural and res -
idential areas of southern Lebanon Since the war ended, 13 people have been killed and 46 have been injured by accidentally detonating cluster bombs in Lebanon, according to the United Nations In most cases, the victims are children
MCC is contributing at least $22,000 to fund the educational project The plans include workshops and educational materials for volunteers who will raise awareness about cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance in their communities .
A five -person MCC assessment team was in Lebanon Aug 25-Sept. 2 to plan the next steps in M CC'said response. MCC has already committed $166,000, including $40,000 to provide emergency assistance to people fleeing the fighting .- M CC
Paraguay's first lady to address convention
Maria Gloria Penayo de Duarte, first lady of the Republic of Paraguay, will be the opening
night keynote speaker at the Mennonite Economic Development Associates annual Business as a Calling convention Nov. 2-5 in Tampa, Fla. Few Mennonites have reached as prominent a level of public service and witness as the wife of Paraguay's president. While assisting her husband's efforts to eradicate corruption and elevate their country's moral footing, she is also a tireless campaigner for the needy. Duarte, a founding member of the Raices MB Church in Asuncion, will
M
share a dynamic testimony of how her Christian faith informs her public role.
Other scheduled speakers include Nabil Samuel Abadir, director general of MEDA's partner organization in Egypt, the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services; global advertising magnate Keith Reinhard, chair emeritus of DDB Worldwide; and veteran sailors Linford and Janet Stutzman. In addition, 30 seminars will explore numerous dimensions of faithbusiness integration and business-oriented economic development.
The convention is the most visible public event of MEDA, a 2,500-member organ-
B schools listed among nation's best
U.S. News b' World Report has again ranked two MB-owned schools among the best in their respective categories. Tabor College, headquartered in Hillsboro, Kan., placed 50th in the rankings of "best comprehensive collegesbachelor's," institutions while Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, Calif., was designated 34th among "universities-master's" in U.S. News and
U'Iabor College
Christ-centered
Education World Report's 'i\merica's Best Colleges 2007" issue released in August.
Rankings are based on characteristics such as peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, financial resources and alumni giving, among others. For its rankings U.S. News divides each classification in four regions: North, South, Midwest and West, so the two MB schools are in noncompeting categories and regions.
"Tabor looks for a number of ways to ensure that it is achieving its vision of being a college of choice for students seeking a life-transforming, academically excellent, globally relevant, decidedly Christian education," says Lawrence Ressler, Tabor's vice president of academics and student development. 'The U.S. News rankings are very popular, and we are pleased to be among the top tier institutions."
FPU president D. Merrill Ewert says, "Our performance in U.S. News has been consistent for several years. We are happy to have this outside affirmation of our quality."
For more on the rankings, visit the U S. News Web site at www.usnews.com. Excerpts of the listings are in the printed August 28 edition of the magazine. The full rankings will be published in the annual guidebook, America's Best Colleges. - FPU, TC
ization whose dual thrust is to encourage a holistic Christian witness in business and to devise business-oriented solutions to poverty.
The official theme of the gathering is "Set the Pace" and is aimed at business and professional leaders who influence change and help others reach their God-given potential. 'We want to help members and visitors chart a purposeful course in a world of conflict, uncertainty and ethical collapse," says Howard Good, MEDA's vice-president of North American Operations. More information on the convention, including how to register online, is provided at www.businessasacalling.org.-MEDA
MBBS PARTNERS WITH CHURCHES TO OFFER COURSE
This summer MB Biblical Seminary and Columbia Bible College joined together with two Canadian churches to offer "Unlocking the Riches of John's Gospel," a credit course taught by MBBS professor Raymond Bystrom. This was the first time the two institutions had partnered with churches to offer a course. Church Based Leadership Training Okanagan, a partnership of Willow Park MB Church and Kelowna Gospel Fellowship, both in Kelowna, B.C., coordinated the six-week course.-MBBS
MMA SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED
Nicole Ediger of North Oak Community Church, Hays, Kan., was among 36 recipients of Mennonite Mutual Aid's College Scholarship, a program that encourages young people to explore the concept of biblical stewardship. To be considered for the awards, 88 students from across the country submitted essays on stewardship and how it impacts them today. Ediger plans to use the $500 scholarship toward tuition at John Brown University, Siloam Springs, Ark.-MMA
Like many kids, I pretended to be grown-up. Wearing high heels and old hats, my sister and I took our «babies" to church-a row of chairs and a radio preacher. We «cooked" mud drumsticks and mashed potatoes in an outdoor kitchen and invited Mom for dinner. With the neighbor kids, we set up elaborate farms in the sand pile, took turns being the doctor and patients and played store with a miniature cash register and empty food cans and boxes. Some day, I thought, I will really be a mom, manage a home and have a job, and then I will be a grown-up. Not long after graduating from college and securing my first job, I realized that I would never be all grown-up. Maturity was not a destination-it would be a journey. This month's feature articles remind us that faith is not the single act of claiming Christ as Savior. Faith 1S a Journey. Because this journey is not easy, it is best traveled with companions. Most importantly, it is a journey guided by the great I Am. And regardless of our age this journey begins with a question: Do I want to keep growing up?-
Connie Faber
Together is better
Reaching the summit of a mountain is a challenging task and a goal best accomplished by working together. The same can be said for summiting the mountain of God's kingdom.
I WAS GRIPPED BY A RECENT n<JRY IN ExPWRE MAGAZINE ABOUT A TEAM FROM VANCOUVER that almost died last year climbing Mt. Logan. Canada's highest peak. This story had all the components of those Mt Everest stories: a big peak, a big storm and climbers stranded near the top of the mountain
Check out Explore's description of Mt Logan : 'This massive mountain. guarded by a moat of vast. longtendrilled glaciers and sitting in the midst of the largest ice sheet outside the Antarctic and Greenland. looks more like a continent rising from a glacial sea than it does a mere peak With its huge buttresses rearing up to the legendary 20 kilometer-wide summit.plateau - itself home to 10 sub peaks over 18 000 feet- Logan has the largest footprint of any mountain on the planet."
The only way climbs like this make sense to armchair readers like me is the word "obsession." Summiting a mountain can become an obsession. I adtnit my drive to reach the summit of a number of mountains over the years has bordered on obsessive. My family can testhat mountains can bring out goal-directed behavior in me . So at some level I understand the need to climb the Mt. Logans of the world . .
As I was reading this story I thought about my love for God, his kingdom and his mission. Someone looking at this focus in my life might describe it as "obsessive." Summiting the mountain of God's kingdom has captured my entire life and the best of my energy and gifts. I picture God's mission as getting as many people as possible onto this climb. I think it's what Paul was talking about when he wrote, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14). That's an obsession. It's with these thoughts that I read the story of Linda Bily and Mt. Logan.
Linda and friends Liz and Manrico Sremin were climbing professionals with numerous high altitude climbs under their belts. They were attempting to summit Mt. Logan at the same time as the Notth Shore Rescue team, an eight-person group from Vancouver. A four-person French team was one day ahead on the trail. These three teams knew the challenges of climbing the 10,000 feet of vertical gain from base camp to the summit in potentially fickle weather and frequent high winds. They also knew they would be leaning on each other's experience in extreme conditions.
When I read about teams focused on a common goal I think about our missionaries and staff serving with the common purpose of "holistic church planting that transforms communities amongst the least reached." I think of teams in Chon Buri, New Delhi, Lisbon and other cities. I think of the missionaries' marriages that represent "team" at the most basic level. We're on a big climb and we need each other.
A storm blew in soon afrer these hikers were dropped off at base camp and they were tentbound for a week. Confinement to a small tent wasn't great for team dynamics. Tension built as the climbing schedule and plans were delayed. Using valuable satellite phone time, they called Vancouver for a weather forecast. The news wasn't great: a week of good weather followed by another storm. There probably was not enough time to summit and return to base camp. Linda's two teammates decided to abandon the climb and return to Vancouver.
What causes conflict in marriages and teams? We can count on storms of all kinds on the frontlines of missions that delay, distract and confine us. Our response to each other in these storms makes or breaks relationships. What's hard to understand is that we all approach these challenges differently. Some avoid communication, some deny conflict, others confront, some enjoy risk and others need predictable routines We all want or "need" certain things that form our expectations of others and ourselves. Exploring these often unspoken expectations and how they are affected by storms can keep martiages and teams together.
Linda decided to plead with the North Shore Rescue team to allow her to join them. The North Shore Rescue team vote had to be unanimous With one dissenting vote, the answer was no. Linda decided to catch up with the
friendly French team ahead of her on the trail. Their answer was "yes." Linda had a new team.
Linda and her new teammates finally reached the 20 kilometerplateau that is the last stage before the summit. A clear morning monvated them to attempt to cross the plateau and the summit in one day. The North Shore Rescue team was at the same place and half of their team opted for the summit attempt while the other half decided to climb it in two stages. Linda didn't reach the summit on that first attempt. Half of her team turned back, leaving her with no ropes on a challenging section of the route. Half of the North Shore Rescue team also decided to return to base camp. The concept of "team" was in conflict with the individual decisions people were making about what they could handle and the potential risks of upcoming weather. Once again "summiting" was a powerful motivator but at what cost?
Is summiting more important than our marriages or team health? Is summiting even possible if we lose our closest relationships? What role does our marriage and our team play in our understanding of God's mission?
Linda found herself attempting to summit the next day with Gord, one of the four members of the North Shore Rescue team that remained at the high camp. The three other remaining team members had also tried to summit the previous day and failed. They now decided to return to base camp. May 25 was a clear, calm day in the camp but a snow plume was blowing off a nearby peak. The weather was changing. Linda and Gord left with their gear. enough water and a satellite phone. The surrounding peaks and glaciers were amazing as Linda and Gord climbed toward Mt Logan's West Peak. The winds soon picked up, limiting their progress. The wind chill dropped to -60 C. Exhausted, they were forced to tum back.
The remaining three members of the North Shore Rescue team had a slow start that morning on their descent. The good weather and relatively easy route across the broad plateau gave no cause for worry. However the same winds that turned back Linda and Gord eventually blocked the progress of these other three All were forced to set up camp wherever they could. The extreme cold, howling wind and high altitude
Above: Mt. Logan has the largest footprint of any mountain in the world.
interfered with good communication and decision making. Visibility disappeared as the storm grew
The group of three set up camp at the edge of the plateau with little shelter from the wind. Even with 7 00 pounds of weight inside the tent, hurricane-like winds lifted it up. When the tent began ripping apart they had to abandon it and build a snow cave. Disoriented, one of the team members lost his mittens. The tent and gear flew off the cliff. They dug a snow shelter with a pot lid and one small ice pick. They desperately hung on to rocks to keep from blowing away.
It's amazing that the North Shore Rescue team needed rescuing themselves. I guess it's really not a lot different from
hand of God to intervene, rescue and restore. God's grace helps us in our weakness as we call out to him Prayer connects us with each other and the author of our climb. We will not survive on this climb without prayer. There are a network of intercessors who are "working the phones" at this moment for MBMS International missionaries and staff. We cannot survive without them.
Lots of thoughts go through my mind as I read stories like this. Is any climb worth that risk? What can we do to strengthen our relationships in the extreme conditions of frontline ministry? As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, ''Two are better than one; they have a better return on their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up . But pity the man who has no one to help him up" (Eccles. 4:9-10).
We all stumble and fall on this hike in various ways. I've often
Is summiting more important than our marriages or team he alth? Is summiting even possible if we lose our closest relationship s?
what happens to us on the frontlines of mission. As we invest in the lives of others we sometimes get so depleted, disoriented and depressed that we ourselves need rescuing I have recently been helping a frontline missionary in exactly that position We need each other. Together is better.
The climbing group in crisis made frantic radio calls for help. Linda and Gord, who were further up the mountain, picked up the calls, as did the rest of the team at base camp. At this altitude it was almost impossible for helicopters to operate. Canada did not have search and rescue aircraft available this far north. Gord used the satellite phone to call another North Shore Rescue staff member in Vancouver, who received the call as he was going into a news conference about another rescue attempt. The team's predicament became front page news across the country. The Alaska Air National Guard was called to send in a high altitude Llama helicopter. Twelve hours later a basket on a line was lowered to the injured team and the North Shore Rescue team members were ferried one at a time on a hair-raising 13,000 foot descent in -60 C weather. The satellite call had saved their lives. Linda and Gord waited out the storm and walked down to base camp the following day.
My first thought when I read, "satellite phone" was prayer. Prayer mobilizes resources that none of us have by ourselves. Prayer moves the
A hiker on Mt. Logan.
thought the reason that man should he pitied was that when he fell, no one knew about it. He had not walked alongside a friend closely enough who would know when he fell. It can happen to us in our marriages, team life and service. When you fall does anyone else know? Have you given anyone else permission to ask about your walk?
Daniel describes the kingdom of God as a rock not cut out by human hands that struck the statue representing the kingdoms of this world. That statue was smashed, "But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35). We are climbers on that mountain of God's kingdom and our mission is to call others to join us. The higher we go, the more challenging this climb becomes. We need each other to survive. Together is better.
Randy Friesen is the general director for MBMS International.
The surprise of Christ
People and things can be predictable-but not Christ
One thing I have never understood is how Christians have gotten the image of being dull, uninteresting and dedicated to lives devoid of all humor, excitement and adventure
The fun of being a Christian-and that is what it is - is awakening each morning with the possibility of a new step, a new enlightenment, a fresh facet of Christ burning in on us . People and things ly become pretty predictable, but Christ-never!
I've never fully empathized with those who learn their entire faith
Even in the regular church service, with the regular form and the regular content, one can't stifle the inventiveness of God. From out of static, Sunday-worn monotony leaps a phrase from a song, a line from the Scripture and the world-beat skips for us. on a few verses from the Bible or on carefully chosen, regularly meeting church groups and activities . Even in the regular church service, with the regular form and the regular content, one can't stifle the inventiveness of God . From out of static, Sunday-worn monotony leaps a phrase from a song, a line from the Scripture and the world-beat skips for us.
Often people talk about relying on Christ for the deeps of faith, hope and peace. I do too. But the most enchanting thing that I rely upon is his ability to see through the midst of my insufficiency and awkwardness, spot the moment that is right, and spring a new lock that flings open the door to a fresh vista .
Sometimes it comes when I'm alone. Sometimes when I'm listening to another. Sometimes at work. I've even wakened out of a sound sleep from a tap of Christ. Sometimes I see it; other times I hear it or feel it. Always it makes me smile.
It must be very dull not to be a searching Christian and never know the surprise of Christ.
Reprinted . 4ns Cheneyj book God Is No Fool is available f#irectly the publisher at www.unitedwriterspress.com and forordervia Amazon and booksellers nationwide.
1S faithful
The most important part of this family 's story, they say, is that God is with them
IT WAS GOOD NEWS FOR WHICH WE WERE totally unprepared.
"I can personally guarantee you that with a MELD score of nine we will not be calling you for a liver transplant in the next three months," the nurse transplant coordinator told us Jan. 3, 2006. The MELD score is a combination of how well the kidneys and liver function and how well blood is clotting.
Was it possible that God had healed Dale's body and that a liver transplant was no longer necessary? Even now, almost a year later, we really don't know if Dale is out of the woods. But we do know that God has been faithful and that healing is possible through the divine power of the awesome God we serve.
Dale had open-heart surgery in 1972 at the age of 15 This experience showed Dale that God loved him and gave Dale a sense of purpose in life. Since the heart surgery Dale had been blessed with good health. He worked construction, drove school bus, was a Mr. Mom, did daycare, volunteered as a firefighter and worked as a football official. We were married in 1983 and made our home in Hillsboro, Kan., where Dale grew up and Rachel attended college. Two children joined our family: David, now a high school sophomore, and Erin, now a sixth grader.
In September 2001, Dale was helped off the football field while officiating a game. He was taken to our local hospital and diagnosed with an A-fib-his heart was beating too fast. Dale continued to battle heart problems. The next summer a pacemaker/defibrillaltor was implanted in his chest. This gave his heart a regular rhythm and a higher energy level.
However, Dale continued to experience abdominal pain and in September a liver biopsy was done. The results were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha where the experts diagnosed Dale with primary bilary cirrhosis that would someday require a liver transplant. Dale's health continued to decline. He struggled with tiredness and fluid retention. His illness was progressing faster
than expected. Yet in February 2003 a specialist in Omaha determined that Dale was not sick enough yet for a liver transplant. Dale's health continued to decline and we were back in Omaha in September 2004.
During the liver transplant evaluation process, Dale's heart pressures were determined to be too high to survive a transplant. Dale went through a heart procedure to again correct the valve he had had operated on in 1972. This procedure was successful.
Through all of this our church, Parkview MB Church, has been supportive and caring. Our Sunday school class, small group and many others have faithfully supported and encouraged us and prayed for us. The church gives us a sense of family and continually asks about our situation. We do not feel alone.
Dale was officially put on the liver transplant list Dec I, 2004. His liver levels and other organ functions had finally reached the point that he was sick enough to qualify for a liver transplant. The doctor we were working with in Omaha assured us that as sick as Dale was, he would most likely receive a new liver within six months.
Unexpected news
Dec 24 we were getting ready to eat supper and go to the Christmas Eve program at church when the nurse plant coordinator called. They had Dale's new liver for him! We hastily packed and made some phone calls. We flew by private plane and arrived in Omaha by 8:30 p.m
Many people in churches in several states were praying for us that night. Family members gathered at the hospital to be with us. It was an exciting and scary time. It also saddened us that someone had lost a loved one in order for Dale to live.
Dale was run through a battery of tests and questions. His defibrillator was turned off. An echocardiogram was done. His heart pressure, they said, was too high for Dale to survive the liver transplant operation. The transplant was called off and we went back home Christmas Day.
Dale was furious with God. He was angry that the transplant was called off. Satan tried to tell him that God couldn't heal him because God didn't have the power to heal. Satan put many doubts in his mind Depression began to take a toll. The elders of the church were called, and they prayed with Dale and anointed him with oil.
Several weeks later we were back in Omaha for additional tests on Dale's heart. This time the cardiologist did not hear what the cardiologist on call Christmas Eve had heard. The echocardiogram did not show the high pressure that had been there Dec. 24. The heart cauterization showed Dale's heart could have survived the liver transplant operation. The doctors and the transplant team deliberated and finally reinstated
B Y D ALE AND
RACHEL WINTER
Dale for liver transplantation.
That was April I, 2005 April 17 we were in church when the nurse plant coordinator called our cell phone. She asked Dale to come to Omaha. A liver was coming in and the person ahead of Dale might not be able to receive it. They wanted Dale to be on standby. We again packed quickly and made some phone calls. Again, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ were praying for us
Wondering why
This time we drove to Omaha; we knew the transplant could be called off. The closer we got to Omaha the more confident we were that this was it. This time Dale would receive a new liver and begin the road to betrer health Thirty minutes from the hospital we got another call: the operation was called off. Dale was once again frustrated with God. What was God doing in all of this? What did God want us to learn?
Since Dale had been scheduled for a checkup, we stayed in Omaha At Dale's appointment we learned that the liver would have been Dale's, but a biopsy in Omaha showed that it was a bad liver. Nobody received that liver.
Over the next several months Dale was in and out of the hospital because of fluid retention Many people were faithfully praying for us We were given many words of encouragement. Our Sunday school class brought us meals once a week. Fundraisers were organized to help offset the cost of the expenses we were incurring.
Dale's poor health was not only destroying him physically but mentally and emotionally His behavior at home became more and more hurtful to Rachel, David and Erin. Dale was continually frustrated with God. We knew God would heal Dale-either with a transplant on earth or with
eternal healing in heaven . But it was still hard to understand why God wasn't answering our prayers . Dale sometimes prayed that God would either heal him or call him home
We had been seeing a Christian counselor as a couple and as a family Sometimes that was the only way that Rachel could survive The counselor confronted us with what was happening in our marriage and in our family Then came the day Rachel could no longer handle what was happening at home . In an e-mail to the counselor she poured out her feelings . What should she do? She was fighting to save her marriage and her family but everything continued to go downhill. The counselor's recommendation was that both Rachel and Dale consider taking medication for depression, a suggestion they had discussed before
We talked with our local doctor who also happens to be part of our church family. He knew what we had been through over the last year and listened as we described what was happening at home . He agreed that medication for depression would help both of us and he prescribed something for us Dale also went alone to see both our family doctor and the counselor to discuss what could be done .
It has not been an easy rode back. Dale is still on the transplant list so we live with uncertainty, wondering when the phone rings if this is "the call. " What Dale used to be able to do with ease has now become more difficult. It's hard for him to watch his family do the work that he used to be responsible for doing. Physical symptoms of sleeplessness, tiredness, jaundice, mental confusion and others ofren become overwhelming. Depression is a constant battle Yet we have seen a lot of progress in our marriage relationship and family life. The old Dale that we know and love is starting to come back.
God is faithful
We've also seen Dale's health improve Last November his heart valve was stretched again. Two months later, in January, his MELD score had dropped significantly-from 19 in October to nine in January. The transplant reevaluation last winter affirmed that his other organs were doing better as well. Although Dale may face open-heart surgery again if his valve closes we know that God will again be faithful. Currently, Dale's MELD score has risen again and tiredness and fatigue are everyday battles.
Last fall Dale shared his faith with other patients while he was in the hospital. He could share how God had been with us in the darkest of times. That God was there when we faltered. This is the most important part of our story God is faithful and we continue to believe that God knows what is best for us God is never too early or too late. We don't know the end of this story yet. Will Dale's health continue to decline and will he receive a transplant and healing here on earth? Will God choose to call him home and his healing will be in heaven? We don't know We do know that we have a wonderful church family, a caring community and a God who does not fail us. God is in control! Amen.
Dale and Rachel Winter first shared this testimony in their church newsletter. The Winters are members of Parkview MB Church in Hillsboro, Kan. , where Dale helps with Wednesday night meals and Rachel, who is an elementary school teacher, works with the AWANA program .
Dale and Rachel Winter with their children Erin and David. I
Does my faith story begin and end with my conversion? What does a lifelong journey of faith look like?
A POPUlAR STORY TOLD YEARS AGO IS OF A woman who, when asked to tell her faith story, brought out a written account of her conversion as a child and read it. Over the years the paper yellowed and grew ragged at the edges. One day when she wanted to read it to some friends she found that mice had shredded the paper for nesting material. She could find nothing to say.
Important as it was, her faith story started and ended with that one experience . Even today faith stories often stop at conversion instead of going on to describe how faith matures throughout life
In 1981 James W. Fowler researched faith development in many religions and concluded that people most often moved through stages of faith from the simple faith of a child to a more mature faith. He argued that even an atheist doesn't believe in a godless world in a split second. Faith, whether toward atheism or belief in God, is a journey.
In more recent years Christian scholars have applied Fowler's material to the Christian life, using passages like Hebrews 6:1-3. Here the writer admonishes the believers to leave behind nonessential forms and to not continually lay the foundation of repentance and faith in God. Once the foundation has been laid it's time to build the upper structure.
During the period when revival meerings were popular, some people repeatedly responded to the invitation to be converted, never knowing for sure whether this time their conversion would stick. Without an emphasis on discipleship,
repeatedly laying the foundation led to spiritual stagnation or even to withdrawing from the body of Christ, a process we called "backsliding."
In an earnest attempt to get people into the kingdom of God, we fail to recognize that faith is a journey. It is not a single act, although it begins with some discernible movement toward God. Faith is a process of continual growth from that first simple commirment of reaching out to God to becoming more Christlike as we age. As one woman said, 'Tm still searching, but not for God." Once having found God, she was leaving behind the milk diet of a child and reaching for solid food.
What does the faith journey look like? What stages does it involve? The following stages of faith are adapted from The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity (InterVarsity) in a chapter by John M. Dettoni. I am illustrating the stages with reflections on my own life.
Stage One
The first stage of faith is the simple, childlike faith that results from reaching out to God, however slight the movement This simple faith usually occurs between the ages of three and seven, but could also occur at age 30 or 70 Sometimes it's called "accepting Jesus into your heart," being born again or converted. For some thi s reaching may be more subtle, like the gentle rain of God's love washing over the soul again and again. Some devout Christians cannot point to an exact time when they were not a believer
In this stage, according to researchers, children accept what others say about God They are highly dependent on other people's thinking, like parents, teachers and pastors. They read the Bible
because they're told to and accept the biblical interpretations of others. There is no internalization of truth, only a gentle, accepting faith
At about the age of six or seven, at vacation Bible school, we were told to invite Jesus into our hearts One morning I rushed home and ran to the upstairs closet where Mother's nightgown usually hung . I buried my head in it and kept saying. "Come into my heart , Lord Jesus , come into my heart " Nothing happened, but I had done what I was told to do. I clung to that simple experience although I was never quite sure whether it was an accomplished act Later on, I found out that conversion as it was being taught at the time required not only a date and a place, but a Bible verse and great conviction of sin. I couldn't claim aU those details.
Stage Two
At this stage identifying with or belonging is important The stage often starts at age seven or eight and continues through adolescence. Teenagers often go through baptismal or membership classes because adults expect this of them Some conform to church conventions honestly but some because their peers are doing this. At this stage people never really step outside their own belief system to examine it. '''This is what my parents and the church expect of me" is a typical response.
I had never gone forward at a revival meeting. so when I was in my early teens I walked to the front at a revival meeting. heart pounding. knees trembling to answer the evangelist's intense repeated invitation to be saved But what about that other time when I had already asked Jesus into my heart? Was I a Christian at last?
It is important to remember that these stages of faith do not come automatically, one after another, any more than the stages of grief arrive in lockstep Sometimes a believer may be in several stages at the sam e time. Some people have the fond hope that the older they become, the stronger their faith will be Growth in faith does not necessarily follow life stages unless there is intentional movement forward.
After several long months of search for spiritual truth and purpose in life, a few words in Oswald Chambers ' My Urmost
for His Highest turn ed my life from ai mlessness to moving toward the goal of spiritual maturity Referring to th e Scripture, "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy," Chambers wrote that God 's one aim was to produce saints, not to be their personal messenger boy. I began studying the Bible on my own. I began probing difficult questions. My faith had moved to a new stage.
Some C hristians remain in these first stages of faith all their lives. They are always dependent on other's thinking. The pastor is always right. The King James Version is the only authentic version. The TV preacher has the only truth. Such people go to church, conferences and workshops for one reason only- to be reinforced in the beliefs of their childhood. As long as they have a Bible verse to prove their point, they are satisfied. They allow nothing to challenge their thinking and do not believe that there might be another side to the truth of the issue under discussion. Theological change threatens their security in Christ. The Bible reflects what they want it to say It is not a window into bigger, richer truths about the Christian life.
Stage Three
At this stage we learn to think about our own belief system and according to Fowler, we begin to synthesize our beliefs with those of the larger faith community Dettoni adds that persons take responsibility for their own spiritual growth and are not as dependent on others. They "maintain contact with their former primary authority source for general guidance rather than particular directions "
When I was about 19 or 20 I was elected youth leader in the Saskatoon MB Church. At that time the youth group was composed mainly of university or career young people. Within days a delegation of young brethren from the youth group informed me that the church council had determined it was not fitting for a female to lead a mixed group. I accepted their decision that this is what the Bible taught but years later circumstances challenged my thinking. Over a decade or more I slowly and cautiously and then more courageously examined the issue of the role of women in the church and society. I took responsibility for finding my way through differing biblical interpretations. God did not desert me.
Stage Four
Believers internalize what they are learning at this stage. They own their faith themselves. Their lives are being changed because they themselves are actively seeking to have the Holy Spirit change them. Giving patterns change. Ministry risks are less scary. Personal relationships have more integrity. Ambiguity in biblical interpretation is less threatening Decision making is less agonizing.
I have heard this stage referred to as the rationalization stage. Everything is questioned and analyzed. People become dissatisfied with shallow preaching and teaching, particularly platitudes repeated again and again like a clanging cymbal.
Sometimes at this stage of internalizing faith, it grows stronger.
Sometirnes it becomes nebulous. Sometimes it falls apart because of doubts and fears. Sometimes life crises bump us into the challenge of facing faith issues head on. Illness, death, rebellious children, an unexpected pregnancy, lost job, empty nest, divorce, retirement, financial failure-all force us into reconciling faith with life experiences. What now are true words? What aspects of the belief system we held dear over the years is chaff blowing in the wind?
In this stage we are consciously sorting, affirming, throwing aside, reducing faith to the essentials, to what is nonnegotiable. Will hope or despair prevail? Am I going to hang on to an unforgiving attitude or reach out in love? Can I trust God to carry me from this life to the next? E ach kernel of truth is intentionally owned
No experience pushed me as hard regarding my faith as the death of my husband. I was 38 years of age with four young children, living in a new country (the U.S.) with its strange customs and language usage. I was tested to the core of my being.
I was now responsible for myself and my four young children financially, emotionally and spiritually. I no longer had a preacher husband to hide behind. I timidly faced the question of why God hadn't healed my husband. I was am adrift in a sea of loneliness. I asked myself what the apostle James meant that pure religion was to look after orphans and widows in their distress. Should I reject my faith as unworkable in the face of real problems or trust God to help me find a way through the suffering? I recognized that if I chose not to face the challenge, I chose spiritual death.
Years later when in 1992 I was visiting in EI Salvador with a Mennonite Central Committee Learning Group during the civil war, we spoke briefly with a Catholic priest He was on his way to the back country to hide a man wanted by the military police. "Confusion is grace," he said. Confusion and bewilderment make room for rethinking life. His advice was to let puzzlements, even chaos, be the beginning of new growth. Years later I recognized I had chosen that path of accepting the suffering to learn God's lessons as I moved through the difficulties of single parenthood.
Stage Five
This stage is sometimes referred to as the sustaining of faith period. I like to think of it as the abiding in Christ stage. This is not the time to tread water but rather to transition into an important stage of faith maturity. Detroni speaks of it as "walking in the Spirit."
In my youth a popular teaching was that once a person accepted Christ all the temptations, sins and weaknesses of the old life disappeared. Believers were "a new creation," immune to past temptations and sins, especially smoking and drinking. I Corinthians 5:17 became the proof text for this teaching. I watched as new believers drifted away when they found their urges to indulge their obsessions had not disappeared. They judged the Gospel as being without power instead of recognizing that the initial step toward God as redeemer was the beginning of a long, challenging and rewarding journey toward growth in Christ.
At this stage people are "continually seeking God in and for all aspects of their lives." They no longer need mentors. "Categories and content of faith are filled, renewed, rearranged and revised as they read, study and meditate on Scripture and as the Holy Spirit interacts with their own hearts and minds .... They realize that they must strive mightily to present themselves as mature in Christ," writes Dettoni. Believers work at "working out their faith in fear and trembling " They deliberately stay on the journey Faith becomes simpler but surer.
Stage Six
Fowler adds a sixth stage that overlaps with Detroni's fifth stage when a person becomes a fully "actualized" person or a complete person. Few ever attain this stage, Fowler says. Yet mature Christians, like mature trees, bear fruit. In Galatians 5:22 Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit as being freedom in Christ, serving one another in love accompanied by the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That's the portrait of a mature Christian.
I sense that young Christians have the idea that all older adults automatically tum into highly spiritual persons who are "prayer warriors." Nothing happens automatically. What is not usually at issue in later life is faith. It is theresimple, strong, not always highly articulated Older adults know that God loves them as they are. More often these saints still struggle with issues of self-integrity and concern about their role as older adults in the faith community.
In the last stages, faith becomes childlike again, a simple and unaffected trust in the God-redeemer of youth, without doubts , despite the hurdles encountered along the way God is Christ redeems. The Spirit empowers. The fruit of maturity is evident in daily life.
Faith is a journey, not just a beginning.
Katie Funk Wiebe, professor emeritus of Tabor College, presently resides in WtChita , Kan She has written numerous articles and books including The Storekeeper's Daughter: A Memoir and Border Crossing: A Spiritual Journey. She was a columnistfortheChristianLeaderfor30years This article was adapted from several workshops she led in the spring of 2006.
Don .. t forget about us
Rebuilding continues one year after hurricanes devastate Gulf Coast
It's easy to forget. After all, more than a year has passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced. Aside from a few anniversary reports, the media has moved on to other stories, other crises.
But for residents of these storm-ravaged areas, the story is not about an anniversary. Their continuing story is one of survival, of response, rebuilding and restoration, says Scott Sundberg, director of communications for Mennonite Disaster Service.
That's why Mennonite agencies such as Mennonite Disaster Service, Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Economic Development Associates continue to pour human and financial resources into rebuilding the Gulf Coast both physically and spiritually. 'Though much of the press will go its way in a few days, MDS will still be working in the Gulf next year, the year after, however long our resources allow," says Jerry Klassen, MDS Gulf States coordinator.
Much has been accomplished in the past year. MDS, the disaster response agency for North American Mennonite churches, has sent over 4,000 volunteers for Katrina response to places such as Bayou La Batre, Ala ., New Orleans, Buras, Point Aux Chenes, Metairie, and New Iberia, La., Pass Christian and Gulfport, Miss., and Newton, Texas. Volunteers helped first with cleanup-as in Buras, La., where that meant gutting some 30 homes and bulldozing $0 to 100 morethen with rebuilding, which usually meant helping with roofing and various construction projects.
MCC's more than $2 million effort has included some $$24,000 for immediate assistance after the storms, outteach to evacuees and support of local work- :::;: ers in storm-affected areas, as well as an additional $820,000 in material aid. MCC is the relief, peace and service agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches.
But representatives of MDS and MCC say the need is still great. Reports of destroyed homes and demolished lives keep coming
MDS describes vast areas still in ruin: "Dozens or hundreds of FEMA trailers can be seen in most communities; what amounts to a looting checkpoint still exists near the town of Port Sulphur, La. Molds of various types and danger levels abound in homes made soggy by the waters. Trees, those still standing, look to have been pruned by an unskilled, unkind hand. Boats, be they pleasure craft or shrimp boats, sit strewn among trees, in parking lots and by the sides of roads."
MDS's Sundberg says, "By the looks of things, the storm could have hit just days ago."
Just as disheartening are stories of lives still in ruin. An extensive report by Mennonite Weekly Review tells stories of fishermen and shrimpers left with no boats, communities struggling to reconnect and churches learning to both receive and give help. Stories of a home destroyed not by Katrina but by miscommunication, a pastor whose faith was shaken after he lost everything to the
storms, a man who gets chills, remembering, when normal thunderstorms hit.
"People are hurting so much, it's incredible," says Blanca Mackay, an MCC hurricane response worker serving with her Anabaptist congregation, Amor Viviente, in Metairie, La. "But every little thing that you can do, it helps "
So the work continues.
Over the next two to three years, MCC will support long-term projects to participate with evacuees in their recovery and to work in collaboration with local churches and organizations in affected areas. MDS and MCC contin-
MEDA's "Back to Business" advisor Adele London stands in front of a business wrecked by last fall's hurricanes.
ue as partners in this effort, with MDS providing teams to rebuild homes while MCC supports local projects and workers, provides case management and works at underlying injustices-such as poverty, inequality and racism-that the storm brought to the surface.
M CC is also funding initiatives that reach into the heart of the devastation. This summer MCC gave a $30,000 grant to mobilize and enable urban, primarily African-American church youth to do short-term cleanup work in some of the worst-hit areas of New Orleans.
In Harahan, La., a New Orleans suburb, hurricane response worker Lawrence Velasquez continues efforts to reach out through Comunidad Cristiana Intemacional, where he serves as pastor. His work, like the work of Mackay at Amor Viviente, is determined much by needs that continue to arise, such as assistance with homeowner insurance benefits.
In Houston, where some 150,000 evacuees continue to live, a local MCC-supported hurricane response team has begun to do case management to help evacuees, many of them Spanish-speaking, become self-sufficient again. The work is being done through a $139,621 grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
MDS continues work on several Gulf Coast projects. The MDS Web site includes pleas for short-term and long-term volunteers for ongoing projects in Point Aux Chenes, La., New Iberia, La., and Pass Christian, Miss.
In addition MDS plans to open new projects in Buras, La , an area in the far south of Louisiana that was especially hard-hit. Drinking water still needs to be brought into Buras, and building supplies and groceries can only be obtained some 60 miles away. It might appear to an outsider that little has been done, which simply serves as a reminder that there is still much to do. MDS is putting into motion the necessary things to have projects in Buras, including developing its volunteer camp, preparing leadership and tackling significant case and paperwork challenges.
In New Orleans, MDS recently purchased an 8,ooo-square-foot building that will function as a long-term headquarters. The agency reports plans to start new projects in New Orleans in late fall or early winter.
To address economic ruin left by the storms, Mennonite Economic Development Associates and MDS have partnered to create a program called "Back to Business" that aims to revitalize businesses in the New Orleans area A year after Kattina, many businesses remain boarded up. Adele London, business advisor for Back to Business, hopes to revitalize the business core of six struggling neighborhoods by helping existing business owners get back on their feet and assisting prospective enttepreneurs who are starting a busines s Back to Business recently
held its first ttaining classes for fledgling enttepreneurs and plans to train a new set of students every two months. MEDA is an association of Christians in business and the professions committed to addressing human needs around the world through business-oriented economic development programs and to applying biblical teachings in the marketplace.
Both MDS and MCC say the biggest current need of residents in these hurricane-ravaged areas is not to be forgotten.
'The needs are really still so very great," says Lydia Weikel, an MCC worker in Meridian, Miss. "I know in the North, they don't hear so much anymore. They assume everything's back to normal. And it's really so very far from normal."
Weikel talks of the need for teams of volunteers to work in construction. What she asks for most, though, is prayer-for those impacted by Katrina, for those working with them and for those leading recovery efforts.
'We just really need your prayers, all of us," she says. "This is a long-term project. Don't forget us. Don't forget what's going on down here."
For more on hurricane recovery efforts, see the following Web sites: www.mds.mennonite.net. www.mcc.org, and www.mennoweekly.org.-by Myra Holmes from reports by MDS, MCC, MEDA andMWR
Top: Graffiti marks a house severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in Buras, La., in far southern Plaquemines Parish. Below: This is one of several houses built by MDS in Point Aux Chenes, La. Each house stands 12 feet off the ground. The panels were built in Ohio and shipped to Louisiana for quick assembly by MDS volunteers.
Bridging the generation gap
What brings a Hispanic pastor to an Ethiopian church?
I'm excited," says Roberto Parks, and he really is. He says so every few minutes. It has been six months since Parks relocated from Los Angeles to become the full-time youth pastor at Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, a Mennonite Brethren congregation in Sacramento, Calif., that worships in an unassuming white and blue building.
While the building has remained the same, in those months the church has grown with new ministries and increased attendance. Parks doesn't claim credit, of course, instead giving glory to God and citing the talents and hard work of those around him: the youth, senior pastor Tamirat Haile and other pastors in the region. Still, his role as a catalyst for these changes is hard to overlook .
"Everything that's happened in my life has been in preparation for where I am right now," Parks says. Parks previously worked as a counselor for at-risk teens at a Native American boarding school before becoming involved with Ethiopian churches in Los Angeles. Parks is not Ethiopian.
"I look typical Ethiopian," he says, 'but my background is Caribbean. I'm Hispanic." He began participating in a music ministry and spoke in Ethiopian communities across the U S. An accomplished poet and musician, Parks became established in the Ethiopian Christian community, including the Sacramento church where Parks often spent the holidays .
Tamirat Haile, senior pastor of the Sacramento church, is a musician himself, with a career spanning 20 years in his native Ethiopia. He recognized a difficulty connecting with the youth in his congregation : second and third generation Africans, born and raised in the U.S. ' They don't speak the language (of Ethiopia ), and they don't know the
culture," Haile says, "but they love the Lord." At the time, only one weekly service was offered at Ethiopian Christian Fellowship and it was in Amharic, Ethiopia's native tongue.
The elders of the church also had trouble engaging the youth and decided it was time to employ a full-time youth pastor-"a mediator," as Parks puts it, "someone to bridge the communication gaps and cultural gaps." Parks now facilitates this interaction. He also reaches out to members of other ethnicities in the area to build a truly multicultural community and church.
Now, in addition to the service in the native tongue, Parks leads a service in English. English services are rare among Ethiopian churches, according to Parks. Originally meant to encourage and enliven the youth, the service is now attended by teens, young adults, 30-somethings, couples and families.
'We don't just have young people," Parks says. 'This is not a youth ministry. It's a ministry, period." The entire service is run by Parks and the youth.
The English service is supplemented by a variety of new ministries. A Wednesday night Bible study immerses teens and college students in the
A paper quilt made by the youth of Roberto Parks' church following his recent illness is one of several gifts Parks keeps in his office.
A miracle man
....I'm a miracle, " says Pastor Roberto Parks On Easter Su nday 2006 , afte r preaching at two services, Parks fe lt fatigued with what he believed to be a li n gering cold Overthe - co unter medication did little to soo the his sy mptoms. That evening, Parks found himself hospitalized in the intensive care u n it of a local hospital.
" My blood su gar had gone to an unheard o f level," Parks says . Doctors treated his dangerously high blood sugar w ith different forms of insulin Parks later learned what he went through w o uld typically result in permanent liver damage, vision loss, paralysis or a coma
" It was a satanic attack, I believe, " Parks says . " What God was doing, the enemy was trying to attack and remove me ."
After leaving the hospital, Parks looked frail. "You could tell I had been through something, " he says He needed continued injections of two fonns of insulin.
For days , there was no evidence of change, and unable to read his Bible due to blurred vision (what he describes as "like a television set being out of focus " ), Parks says he " prayed like crazy " At each insulin injection, he prayed aloud : " I believe in medical science, I believe that this is sustaining me , but I believe that you are the God that healeth me ."
Three weeks later, Parks was off the insulin and had recovered without any pennanent damage One of his doctors told Parks he was lucky.
body LIFE
" On the contrary," Parks told him , "I'm blessed ." - CS
Word. On Fridays Parks opens his home to the youth as "a time to seek the Lord ' s face " Parks says, "We have worship. We have prayer. We have the Word." And on Saturdays what began as a practice time for the worship team has evolved into an "open mic," as Parks calls it. "People can come in, share a word, sing , celebrate their gifts," says Parks 'f\nd we're opening it up for people off the streets to come in and be blessed."
Attending different schools in the area, the youth are "strategically placed" to promote their activities, Parks says. "They will just bring it to people's attention , and when you see the exuberance, you get enticed, you get interested, you get curious. So we've had a lot of people come just on word of mouth alone," he says . Additionally, they distribute fliers at homes and parking lots, and e - mail updates to each other. One computersavvy youth is currently working on a Web site
Parks encourages the youth to celebrate their gifts, whatever they may be. In his office he points to a painting of an eagle by one of his youth. On a side table, there is an etching in smooth rock, another gift from a talented young man. On Parks' desk, a quilt of multicolored paper is covered in photographs and inscriptions of prayer and well wishes from the youth. They gave it to Parks during a recent illness
'They see me as a spiritual father, "
Considering car eer ministry?
Parks says Beyond his work as youth pastor, Parks counsels the youth and coordinates an improvised peer-counseling program among the teens
When Parks asks the youth how the new ministries affect them, their overwhelming response is that they "feel so free." Parks believes this freedom to share and lead in a different way of worship has inspired the creativity of the youth and has resulted in new connections and new directions, like the open mic night.
"God gets the glory, " Parks says. ' 'I'm just a vessel. Its only been six months and there's been tremendous growth " He credits an emphasis on prayer for the breakthroughs "I'm excited. We are being used to break strongholds and stereotypes because we are now aligned with different cultures and ethnicities, not just brown. Which is really cool." Parks and Haile hope to continue breaking stereotypes, encouraging more growth and diversity for their church by collaborating with other pastors and churches in the area.
" It's amazing what's happening," Parks says, "not just to (the church), but to me. Just as others have been impacted, I've been impacted I'm evolving. I'm being transformed Ministry is not just doing; ministry is becoming "
As for their own process of becoming, it seems Parks and Ethiopian Christian Fellowship in Sacramento are just getting started. - by Conlan Spangler, newswriter In ministry, and l ooking for more tools?
M BMSI to host regional events
Celebration Missions Night events begin this month
MBMS International, the global missions agency of North American Mennonite Brethren, has again scheduled a number of Celebration Missions Night events across North America as a way to inspire and connect with churches and individuals. 'i\t MBMSI we are often faced with opportunities of new mission frontiers, and our response is to pray and share with our MB community," says the MBMSI Web site "Celebration Missions Night allows us to share the direction we feel God is leading us."
Last year, the first for such regional gatherings, MBMSI scheduled a total of eight events across North America, with four in the U.S. According to Carlin Weinhauer, MBMSI team leader for mobilization and media, the response was encouraging. In the past year, MBMSI has seen an increase in contact with constituents, giving and potential mission workers. While CMN events can't take credit for the sum of these results, Weinhauer points out that the events are critical tools to "get the word out."
In part because of that positive response, MBMSI has scheduled even more events for 2006, with seven in key regional areas of the U.S. Celebration Missions Night events in the U.S. begin this month, with the first scheduled for Oct. 21 at Laurelglen Bible Church, Bakersfield, Calif., followed by Oct. 22 at Mountain View Community Church in Fresno, Calif. The Central District Conference's annual convention will open with a CMN event Oct. 26 at Henderson (Neb.) MB Church. Four more events are scheduled for November: Nov. 10 at Ebenfeld MB Church, Hillsboro, Kan., Nov. II at Wichita (Kan.) First MB Church, Nov. 12 at Enid (Okla.) MB Church, and Nov. 13 at Pine Acres Church, Weatherford, Okla.
Weinhauer describes the CMN events as "a church service with a missions focus." Each will include worship, a biblical challenge from Randy Friesen, general director of MBMSI, an offering and a focus on a particular global region. This year the focus will be on work in North Africa, with a video and guest speaker Samir Youssef, MBMSI worker in the Middle East.
'This is not just an information session; it's an opportunity to renew our commitment to missions and we invite you to participate with us in this higher calling." MBMSI says. Weinhauer says MBs should consider attending the CMN event nearest them to hear from a general director who is passionate about Christ, to learn about current missions work, to be challenged to engage in missions personally, to meet with "kindred minds" in their area and to have questions answered. For more information on CMN events, visit the MBMSI Web site: www.mbmsi.org.Myra Holmes
Canadians open lead pastorate to women
Decision blesses each church "in its own discernment"
The Canadian Conference of MB Churches opened the senior pastorate to women during Gathering 2006 held July 6-8 on the campus ofthe University of Calgary. The decision, which delegates approved with 77 percent support, marked a significant tum in a decades-long journey through the question of women and ministry in Canadian MB churches .
Delegates passed a resolution to 'bless each member church in its own discernment of Scripture, conviction and practice to call and affirm gifted men and women to serve in ministry and pastoral leadership." Previously, women were allowed to serve in all ministry
During the July Canadian Conference convention Ken Peters, chair of the Board of Faith and Life, leads a discussion about women in pastoral ministry
roles except lead pastor, a resolution adopted in 1999 by the General Conference, the binational U S and Canadian conference, and currently still upheld by the U S. Conference The divestiture of the General Conference in 2000 made practices of polity national conference matters.
The resolution was, in one person's words, «a motion of respect." It did not ask Canadian MBs to adopt a uniform theological stance on women in ministry leadership. "It is evident that individuals and congregations practice a diversity of convictions based on different interpretations of Scripture," the resolution stated. It asked that diversity of practice be accepted on this "non-confessional issue."
The decision followed a discemment process that began in 2003 after the Manitoba provincial conference requested that the national Board of Faith and Life revisit the question. The discernment process included a question in a conferencewide survey that prompted 274 written comments and the study conferences in five provinces. Complicating the Board of Faith and Life's task, said vice chair Ken Peters, was the fact that survey results showed Mennonite Brethren were "split right down the middle" on the issue.
While the decision, then, was something of a surprise, its announcement was greeted with silence and delegates quickly moved on to other business. It seems no one wanted a repeat of what happened in 1993 when the defeat of a similar motion at that year's General Conference assembly generated reactions of visible jubilation and sorrow as well as public comments that appeared to cast aspersions on the biblical commitment of those holding opposing interpretations.
Delegates to Gathering 2006 had three oppottunities to speak to the resolution: two Friday workshops that drew the highest attendance of all workshops and the plenary discussion before the vote Saturday Many spoke, often passionately, offering a variety of affirmations or concerns, but the conversation generally remained cordial and care-
ful. Many delegates who spoke expressed appreciation for the board's thorough work.
Several delegates expressed the wisdom of compromise they saw in the resolution and gave compelling pledges of their own committnent to trust God as well as one another. 'l\ll of us have to let go of something and receive something," said Connie Epp of Winnipeg.
Although the question of women in ministry leadership could have resulted in a one-issue convention, keynote speaker Danielle Strickland's message unexpectedly became the highlight for many. The young Salvation Army captain delivered a prophetic word during her keynote address Friday night, powerfully encapsulating the convention theme, "Let your kingdom come."
Other speakers included Bob Roberts, pastor of North Wood Church in Texas, Tim Geddert of MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif., and Marck Burch, senior pastor of Willow Park Church in Kelowna, BC. Between guest speakers, leaders of the conference's six strategic services presented overviews of their national ministries and invited delegates to dialogue and provide feedback in table groups
In a surprising announcement from the leadership development team, John Neufeld reported that the National Youth Convention will end after 34 years of existence. The Canadian Conference and MBMSI are now partnering to develop a new kind of event focused on leadership and evangelism training
In other business, delegates affirmed Manitoba and Saskatchewan as the last two provinces to receive funding for church planting efforts under Evangelism Canada's IO-year project; approved new operating bylaws for the national conference as well as MBMS International and MB ' Biblical Seminary; affirmed executive director David Wiebe for a second term; and approved a budget of $4.2 million for 2006-07. Gathering 2008 will be held in Montreal.- adapted from reports by Dora Dueck and Laura Kalmar of the MB Herald
The residents of Palm Village have contributed to family and community throughout their lives
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Find out about the options available for quality senior retirement living by calling to arrange a tour today.
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A
We welcome and appreciate your generous support of Mission USA.
Please send your donation to:
Mission USA U.S. Conference PO Box 220 Hillsboro, KS 67063
Note USI\' on the memo line
To see more.,. come to HIM.
Simple Multiplication
One of my desires as director of Mission USA is to see more and more of our people and churches adopt a multiplication mind-set That said, I am beginning to see more of our MB pastors and churches looking directly to the Bible for a definition of true success. It is not just how many people show up for worship on Sunday but how many are mobilized with an Acts 1:8 perspective of our world in obedience to the Great Commission of the Loro. These churches are passionately committed to building the Kingdom not just their kingdom! They get energized seeing spiritual babies, new Christians and new churches being birthed out of their churches and ministries. They're getting it. I like it when that happens.
Seventy-five new churches. That's how many new baby churches one denomination is planning on starting in the next five years in the dty of Houston alone! And they already have f:lX) existing churches in Houston. They realize this fact: New, baby churches are natural at reaching people and bringing in new, baby believers! In fact, and I've quoted this often, new churches are the most effective method of evangelism today. Studies show that more people come to know Christ through new churches than through any other meansof course it's through personal relationships within those new churches. To me it's obvious. We need many more new MB churches which will in turn reproduce more new churches and on and on and on!
I am so excited about our new emerging MB churches! Right now we're starting new churches in Denver, Edmond, Sioux Falls, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Mission USA is in partnership with the districts to help those projects thrive, grow and reach people. We're also assisting in the North Carolina District Conference for church growth.
Along with that excitement comes the reality that we are really needing the financial support of our MB friends. Please give generously to these projects. They will mean more people in heaven . We can even plant more churches if we have the funds available. You, my friends, are the difference-makers. I am certain of this:
Irs an investment in eternity!
DR Congo holds longawaited elections
Observers report election is calm and orderly
The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo voted fteely in national elections July 30 for the first time in more than 40 years The United Nations helped to conduct the elections in the wake of wars that devastated Congo ftom 1996 to 2002. The monumental effort involved 50,000 voting centers, hundreds of thousands of poll workers and tens of thousands of Congolese volunteers who observed the voting process to verify that it was conducted fairly.
Congo's national council of Protestant churches organized teams of election observers in the capital city and several other parts of the country. For the first time, Congolese Mennonite churches took an active role in electoral politics , fielding candidates and encouraging church members to vote. At the invitation of Congolese Mennonite churches, Mennonite Central Committee organized a group of 22 observers ftom Canada, England, Holland and the U S to assist in this effort
The international observers worked with Congolese observers at voting centers throughout Kinshasa. Despite fears of political violence, the scene was mostly calm and orderly. Schools were converted into voting centers, and people formed lines in schoolyards before going into classrooms to vote. The observers reported a few difficulties in the voting process, such as voting centers that opened late and six-page ballots with more than 800 parliamentary candidates to choose from. However, the observers' consensus was that the voting process appeared to run smoothly and without partisan interference.
"It was clear that a huge amount of planning and training of staff had gone into making sure that voting went ahead in an open and fair way," says Ian Harvey, an observer ftom Manchester, England.
It was the first multiparty election in Congo since Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965, ruling as a dictator for 32
years and renaming the country Zaire. When Congo's civil war officially ended in 2002, a transitional government was installed with former rebel leaders serving as vice presidents.
On the long-awaited election day, voters chose ftom among 33 presidential candidates and 9,650 parliamentary candidates . It was the first election for the vast majority of Congolese voters. Philomene Matondo, a 40-year-old Kinshasa woman , says she cast her first votes in the hope that Congo will become a more democratic country
"I want elected officials who will try to accomplish every promise that they make," Matondo says.
Congo's problems are enormous. Although it has many valuable natural resources, misrule and civil war have left the z Congolese people among the poorest in the world . Basic public services and inftastructure are severely lacking-no paved roads connect Congo's vast rural regions and schoolteachers and medical workers are paid next to nothing. Most Congolese families cannot afford to send their children to school, and in Congo's troubled eastern region disease and hunger kill one in four children before their fifth birthday.
Pascal Kulungu, a Mennonite Brethren candidate for parliament, says that his objective is to encourage the government to work for peace in eastern Congo, where militias continue to fight in the wake of the civil war. But Kulungu says that he and other Mennonite candidates lacked the money to pay for big political campaigns. Wealthier candidates distributed food, clothing, cash and other gifts to people at rallies "People have that culture of getting something ftom parliamentary candidates," Kulungu says. "It's tough."
There are about 194,000 Mennonites in Congo in three denominationsCommunity of Mennonite Brethren Churches in Congo, Evangelical Mennonite Community and Mennonite Community in Congo . - Tim Shenk for MCC Communications
This election worker in Kinshasa was among the thousands of poll workers who participated in the historic July elections in DR Congo.
Beauty in suffering
MB speed skater tours AIDS projects with MCC
Wat struck Olympic athlete Cindy Klassen most when she visited several Mennonite Central Committee sponsored HIV/AIDs projects in Nigeria and Ethiopia this summer was not the painful poverty or the suffering but rather the joy-filled hospitality, deep faith and "incredible hope" of a people who meet their challenges head-on.
"They are beautiful people inside and out," she says, her voice still tinged with awe weeks after her return. Klassen, a member of Mcivor MB Church in Winnipeg, won five speed skating medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics last February.
Klassen was impressed by the volunteers who care for people with AIDS. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, "one lady started a store to help people and adopted a child. Also, she was planning to marry a blind man who had AIDs so she could look after him and help him survive. She had so much faith in God and said she was not afraid to die since she'd go to heaven," says Klassen.
"She told us that wealthy people are often unhappy, but that she finds peace and happiness in God."
Klassen admits she did not know much about AIDS prior to her visit. "It was really encouraging for me to see that when people go on medication, they function and live quite normally.
"There was just so much hope. I hadn't anticipated that," says Klassen. "But now I can see how God is working in the midst of suffering."
Klassen tells of a man named Ezekiel who was tteated for AIDS at a clinic called Faith Alive Clinic. Ezekiel was "skin and bone" before he got the medication, says Klassen. "Now he looks so healthy. Like a football played" she says.
'1\nd he's helping others as well. Like one girl in the hospital who looked like she was on her deathbed. There was no fat on her anywhere. I thought, 'No way can she be helped: but Ezekiel had looked worse than that when he came and he figured if her throat infection cleared up so she could swallow the medication, there was hope for her.
"It's amazing what can happen. If you eat properly and get the medication, it can make so much of a difference. And people are excited about learning new trades and skills when they're offered support I could see the hand of God here," Klassen says.
While Klassen calls the trip a "learning opportunity" for herself, she did speak to classes of elementary school children. "Many of them drop out of school because of poverty. I told them it was important to stay in school. Also, I brought along some cards of me skating They knew about the Olympics."
Her trip also helped put many things in perspective, says Klassen. "I know how for-
tunate I am to live in Canada and participate in a sport that takes me all over the world when there are so many less fortunate people in the world just trying to survive," she says. "It helps me to remember that I shouldn't take anything for granted, but work as hard as I can at a gift that God has given me."
Klassen said she wants to support MCC because "it's kind of where my heart is. I'm Mennonite. I know it's a really good organization. So I jumped at the opportunity."
It helped also that Don Peters, MCC Canada executive director, who was her principal and teacher at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, invited her to consider this . Klassen admits that "it's strange, even weird, to get so much attention" as a new celebrity. 'Tm a shy, private person. So definitely it's a big change for me and a challenge. But this is God's will for my life right now."
Klassen is planning to compete in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, BC. "I couldn't miss it!" she says. "It's so special to go to the Olympics and then to have them in your own country with everyone cheering you on! I feel that's where God is leading me. I enjoy it so much."
And it helps to have people praying for you, she says. "Prayer is a big thing. Mcivor MB has supported me 100 percent. That's huge for me-having a community like that behind me. It makes me feel at peace when skating all over the world."
MCC has posted video clips of Klassen's trip on its AIDS Web site, aidscarenow.org.- by Leona Dueck Penner of Canadian Mennonite and distributed by Meetinghouse
Above: Cindy Klassen spends time with Kande Mancha and her grandson James in Nigeria. Mancha is raising five children left behind by the death of her two sons, who both died from AIDS. James receives support from MCC's Global Family program.
Top: Cindy Klassen meets Lami Ibrahim, a woman from Jos, Nigeria living with HIV. Her husband died of AIDS. Two of her four sons receive assistance from MCC's Global Family program through local partner Almanah Rescue Mission.
MCC calls for ' kits
Thousands of school kits needed this fall
Mennonite Central Committee needs thousands of school kits this fall to meet requests for shipments to countries including Jordan, Honduras and Nicaragua. Of all the material that MCC sends across the globe. school kits are the most pressing need. "It's the one piece where we're really quite short," says Dave Martin, material resources manager for MCC.
Some 26.000 kits have been sent to Jordan. and MCC is also sending kits to Haiti and Kazakstan . Honduras has requested some 14.000 school kits this fall. and Nicaragua has requested thousands of kits as well. This year. MCC has also shipped roughly 26.000 school kits to Iraq and 8,600 kits to Mghanistan. While supplies remain low. Martin said he's heard of many groups that are now working on school kits 'This is the season people get excited about putting school kits
together." Martin said. "Hopefully therell be a lot coming in "
From April 2005 through March 2006. MCC shipped 119.449 school kits to some 17 countries. Iraq received more than 26.000 school kits. and Honduras received more than 20,000. More than 13.000 kits were sent to Jordan and to Sudan. 'We're grateful for the generosity of people who put these together. " Martin said. 'This is one of our most-requested and most-appreciated items. We're so thankful when people come together to help us meet the needs "
Visit www.mcc.org for information on how to prepare a school kit, which includes notebooks. pencils. a ruler, eraser and colored pencils.-by Marla Pierson Lester for MCC Communications
At a school in Managua, Nicaragua, Murisela del Carmen clutches her new MCC school kit as a friend looks on.
8 -9
• Attend Classes
• Academic Fair with Professors
• Pizza Party
• Campus Tour
• Concert with CCM recording artist Jadon Lavik (Nov 5)
by Rose Buschman
A unique do" List
A book invites us to savor life before heaven
The title of the book caught my attention: IOI Things You Should Do Before Going To Heaven. '1\re you making the most of your life here on earth, savoring each moment of beauty, joy and love?" authors David Borden and Tom Winters ask on the cover. ''Try each suggestion. It could be the most meaningful fun youll have this side of eternity." I immediately decided this was one book I wanted to read.
One of the authors' suggestions is to bake bread from scratch. Well, I already do that, although I have modernized the methods my mother and grandmother used. Baking from scratch for me means
to be a kid. It can help you remember what mattered .. .who loved you and whom you loved in return," write Borden and Winters. I did just that several years ago . It was a beautiful day when I drove to a small town in British Columbia where I spent my early grade school years. I was surprised to see the house we lived in is still there. It has been added on to and refinished but the general outline is as I remember it. The little
The authors suggest th ;,lt we need to learn from children ;;md in order to do so we need to get dose to them. I
hav e three wondertul grand childr e n th;t I can learn hom.
dumping all the ingredients into my bread machine (it takes only two minutes) and then letting the machine do the work of mixing, kneading and rising. After an hour and a half the dough is ready for me to form into loaves, cinnamon rolls or even zwieback. After another half hour I pop my creations into the hot oven and minutes later they are done. The aroma of fresh baking is heavenly and well worth the effort. Fresh bread, cheese and maybe some cold cuts of meat with coffee and fruit is my idea of fine dining, especially for lunch. I will continue to do that!
Another idea that caught my attention was "give your heart away to a child." The authors suggest that we need to learn from children and in order to do so we need to get close to them. I have three wonderful grandchildren that I can learn from. This past weekend we visited them and had a delightful time together. I was determined to make a special effort to really listen to each child. The children sensed this and responded. Emily opened up with stories in a way she never has before. Katelyn came and gave me frequent hugs. Joshua said that we should come more often. I need to learn to listen to the long version of a story they tell. If I insist on the short version only, I am sending the message that what they are saying is not really all that important. But it is. Maybe 111 even learn something!
One suggestion, "go home again," has a special meaning for me. 'Visiting the place where you grew up can remind you of what it's like
shed where we stored our coal and wood was still there but was much smaller than I remembered. I carried many a bucket of coal or armload of wood from that shed to the kitchen stove. Mountain water in the small creek next to the road was still flowing over the gravel bed, but now a bridge had been built over it so cars could park in the yard next to the house We just had some planks over the creek and had to be careful that we didn't fall into the water.
I stood there that afternoon, savoring the beauty of the nearby mountains and the fresh air that I breathed. A flood of memories washed over me. I could see Mother and Dad carrying the building supplies for the house across the planks over that creek. They built our house themselves. I saw the floor plans of my dream house that I built in the sand box. We had an outhouse in the back for our family's use, but my sandbox house had an indoor bathroom. I felt the hot afternoon sun as we picked raspberries from our one cash crop. I asked Jesus to come into my heart in that berry patch! Visiting my childhood home was a very special experience.
The book also suggests that we need to take time to "Do absolutely nothing." The authors write, "Doing nothing is actually doing something . It is giving yourself permission to sit, relax and just be." When I am home I try to find pockets of time to do that. From one to three in the afternoon is "nap time." I don't answer the phone and avoid making any unnecessary appointments during those hours. It is my time to be. It is my time to rest, relax, clear my thoughts of clutter, to center down and be still It is a time I treasure and guard very carefully. There are many good suggestions in this book and I look forward to trying more of them.
··In Jesus' name, Amen"
What does it mean to pray "in Jesus' name"
QWhat is the significance of ending prayers with «in Jesus' name» and why do most pastors no longer conclude their prayers with that expression? (California)
AIn John 14:13-14 Jesus says: 't\nd I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Some have mistakenly assumed that ending their prayers with the expression "in Jesus' name" always guarantees receiving what is asked . That is in essence treating the words "in Jesus' name" as a magic formula and is certainly not what Jesus meant.
James L. Evans, a Baptist pastor, suggests that "in the name of" originally meant "in the spirit of" or "in the manner of." So praying in someone's name, in this case Jesus' name, means that we are saying the
kinds of things that person would want or say. With that in mind, praying "in Jesus' name" would mean that we are asking for things that are in keeping with Jesus'teaching. Our prayers would be, among other things, for the sick" hungry, imprisoned, the unsaved and even our enemies.
ing for God's glory is what is important not the words of the prayer.
There is something else that does disturb me in our public prayers In our worship services leaders move so quickly- from songs to prayer, or from the spoken word to prayer. or from reading the Word to prayer-that sometimes I don't know whether we are praying or just talking. For me there is a move toward casualness in prayer that violates something about a reverent attitude in prayer. I'm certain such praying can be defended. especially in a day when many believe that our relationship with God can be so chummy that we call him "Daddy" as Abba. for some, connotes the idea of Daddy
, r that in my prayers , which oltcn end with th e " in ksu,;' it 1S more habit thou gh tful con')ideratioll th;.11 I to pray only bc c.lL l "l c th e power is in Cod's han d ') . not minc o
Someone else has suggested that praying "in Jesus' name" means that we come in his stead. We come by his authority, not our own. David F. Reagan likens our coming to God "in Jesus' name" to David fighting Goliath "in the name of the Lord of Hosts." He was not coming in his own power or authority but in that which belonged to God alone.
Many or all of us who use this finishing expression in our prayers probably do not think of the kinds of meanings expressed in the previous paragraphs It would be well if we did I confess that in my prayers which often end with the words "in Jesus' name," it is more habit than thoughtful consideration that I am able to pray only because the power is in God's hands, not mine.
My personal conclusion is that there is nothing wrong with not ending our prayers with this expression. I recall someone who studied all the prayers found in the Bible discovering that none of them end with "in Jesus' name" - not even the Lord's Prayer in which Jesus taught us how to pray Genuinely pray-
Have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine. conference policy or other spiritual issue? Send your question to "Inquiring Minds ," clo Marvin Hein. 3036 East Magill Avenue, Fresno. CA 93710 or email Marvin at marvinhein @sbcglobal.net.
Obviously there are times of emergency when we spontaneously offer prayers to God. But especially in our public praying I was taught in college and seminary that we should approach God with deliberateness and care. Just as we would not enter into a president or king's office or throne room with little preparation or in haste so we are not to rush into God's presence
I sense this same lack of preparedness when it comes to the worship service itself. One recent Sunday when the organist in our church concluded the prelude. which I assume is intended to be preparation for worship the chattering of a half dozen people resounded in the sanctuary. It's good to be a friendly church, but there are times when we set aside our friendship with each other and become quiet and prepared to receive what God has for us. That demands some deliberate quiemess, at least for me. Some of the more liturgical churches may have something valuable for us to learn when they insist that the worship begins not when the first hymn is announced or the invocation is spoken but when they enter the sanctuary. I'm not asking for total silence immediately upon entrance. but I am pleading for a time of preparation as we come into God's presence.
BAPTISM/MEMBERSHIP
Yale, SO (Bethell-Audrey Wipf, Callie Palmquist, Samantha Kleinsasser, Cord Glanzer and Ryan Glanzer were baptized Sept. 10
Kingsburg, Calif,-Liviu and Desiree Amariei and John and Katie Hawkins were received as members Sept. 3
Wichita, Kan. (Flrstl-Twenty-eight people were baptized and received as members Aug. 27 : Thomas Boston, Trudy Brown, Blake Doerksen , Jordan Funk, Kylie Gilger, Taylor Heyen, Jason Hildebrandt, Hannah Jones, Jesse Kersten, Kaitlin Kliewer , Matt lautt, Chris Mason, Tammie Nelson, Susan Perkins, Jesse Schellenberg , Cody Schroeder, Mallory Schroeder, Matt Schroeder, Tanya Schroeder, Taryn Schroeder. Zach Spahr, Alex Tice, Bryan Unruh, Phillip Unruh, Allison Wall, Steph Ward, Ian Wohlgemuth and logan Zielke. Eleven more were received as members by testimony: Linda Jonker. leon Gamber, Nell Heyen, Rob Perkins, Brooke Mason, Pat Martin, Brad Majher, Gretchen Majher, Duane Jessup, laverne Jessup and Sharon Endicott
Bakersfield, Calif. (LaurelglenJ- Tim and Kim Fulenwider were baptized the weekend of Aug 19-20
Fresno, Calif. (Mountain ViewJ-Sharon De is, Jorge Escanuela, Jenny Henry and Cindy McGovern were baptized Aug. 13
Rapid City, SO (Bible FellowshipJ-Susan Ashmore, Courtney Earl, Shantelle Escott, Taylor Escott, Kathilee Harrell, Adam Heiberger, Cassidy Klynsma and Sarah Lichius were baptized Aug 6
Hays, Kan. (North OakJ-Spencer Greathouse, Brandon Purdy, Stacy Stremel and Amy Brungardt were baptized Aug 6 at Wilson lake Shelby Matlock, Travis Keller, Shelly Keller, Ben Keller, Janelle VanKooten, Whitney Adams and Laura Campbell were baptized July 16 Salem, Ore. (KingwoodJ-Madisen Wiebe was baptized Aug. 5 Elise Andersen, Ryan and Angela Kargel, Collin McNinch and Jordan and Tristan Ringhofer were received as members Aug 20 CELEBRATIONS
Tulsa, Okla. (The HeartJ-The church celebrated its fifth anniversary Sept. 10.
Littleton, Colo. (Belleview CommunityJ- The church recognized five years of ministry for R&R Retreats Sept. 10 The retreat ministry is under the umbrella of the church and has served over 1,000 women through small, Christ-centered retreats
Newland, NC (BeechbottomJ- The congregation dedicated a new fellowship hall July 30 . Jon Wiebe, president and CEO of MB Foundation and MB loan Fund, was the guest speaker for a dedica t ion ceremony , which followed regular morning worship and a noon meal.
FELLOWSHIP
Dinuba, Calif.- The church hosted a women 's luncheon in connection with the annual Dinuba Raisin Festival
Sept. 20 Marriage and family counselor Winnie Bartel was the guest speaker
Bakersfield, Calif. (LaurelglenJ-Men were invited to a fall kick off event Sept. 11. They watched a major-league football game on a big screen TV, ate pizza and held a number of contests
Reedley, Calif. - Singles age 30 - 50 were invited to a Sept. 10 potluck to ki ck off a new ministry to "solos " Activit ies included swimm ing , ping pong and basketball as well as an informational meeting
Ferndale, Wash. (Good NewsJ-Women participated in an "Adventure Walk" Aug 26. They rode a ferry to a nearby island where they walked around the island and had lunch
Buhler, Kan. - Church women organized a community-wide " Back to School" coffee Aug 17 for mothers whose children are return ing to school.
MINISTRY
Tulsa, Okla. (The HeartJ-The church recently sent out its first short-term missions team A group of eight adults helped with Hurricane Katrina cleanup in New Orleans - The church plans a major contact campaign this fall with mailers, handouts and advertising They hope to make 15,000 contacts in three months
Edmond, Okla. (Providence FellowshipJ- This church plant, under the leadership of Jason and Beth Gilbow, now has a core group approaching 90 people and expects to plan a launch Sunday this fall.
Centennial, Colo.-A new Mission USA church plant here has chosen a name for their congregation : Trailhead Church The group has begun meeting in homes, with a core group of about 40 people.
Visalia, Calif. (NeighborhoodJ- The church has adopted a local school as a way to serve their community and has provided the school with 273 backpacks filled with school supplies The church also hopes to help with a school carnival in October and to provide regular volunteers for the school library
San Jose, Calif. (Lincoln GlenJ- The drama team, under the direction of pastor larry Albright , offered three performances of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat " Aug 11 - 13
Salem, Ore. (KingwoodJ-An Aug 12 neighborhood BBQ hosted by the congregation drew 100 people, about half of which were community members
Edmond, Okla. (Memorial RoadJ- The church hosted a team of about 40 adults and youth from Mennonite Disaster Service Youth Squad July 23-29 The group worked to rebuild a home that was destroyed by wildfires Volunteers from the church provided coordination, made meals and helped on the job site
Sioux Falls, SO (Lincoln HillsJ - A team of six adults and two children traveled to Hidalgo , Mexico , for a short-term missions trip in early July
Phoenix, Ariz. (The RiverJ- This church plant has closed Pastor Mike Harrison resigned June 1
PROCLAMATION
Bakersfield, Calif. (Laurelglen Deaf ChurchJ-The church hosted a national conference Sept. 7-9 for those who work with deaf prisoners through National Deaf Prison Ministry Network The conference included a tour and worsh ip in a local prison with a large deaf population as well as various speakers and seminars. Pastor Jeff Jackson led devotional and worship times Members of the church provided transportation to and from hotels for conference attendees
ministry
While it's not uncommon among Mennonite Brethren congregations to arrange a meal or two for an individual or family facing a crisis, Memorial Road MB Church in Edmond, Okla , is testing an idea that takes such a ministry to the next leveL
When a family In the church recently faced a longterm health crisis, church member Pam Leslie took an idea she 'd seen in a magazine and ran with it She organized a group of about 10 women who spent a day " filling a freezer" for the family The group was able to prepare about 30 frozen meals or recipe starters (such as cooked meat for Simple casserolesJ in about three hours, which the family can use as needed A meeting with the family beforehand allowed them to tailor menus to individual preferences and needs
The church now hopes to expand on this idea with the purchase of a small freezer which will remain church property The freezer can either be kept at the church and stocked with ready-made meals for quick response to needs or transported to the home of a family with a long- term need
The fill- a-freezer approach is good stewardship of both time and financial resources, says Leslie It draws upon a broader base of volunteers, so that willing cooks in a small congregation aren't asked repeatedly to bring a meal And by watching sales and using smart shopping techniques, the meals can be made economically
Of course, the personal touch of a delM!red meal is a ministry, too Fill-a -freezer isn't intended to supplant personal contact, but to allow rest for those who find visitors exhausting as well as dignity to those who'd like some control over their own meals. Leslie points out that each situation will be eYaluated to determine the most loving approach
The church hopes that this new idea will give greater fiexibility as they meet the needs of thei r growing church family - 14H
CHURCH news
Gettysburg, SO IGrace Biblel-Mujahid-El-Masih, from Voice of the Martyrs, was the guest speaker Aug 13 He talked about the differences between Christianity and Islam, the question of salvation in Islam and persecution of Christians in Muslim countries, among other topics
Edmond, Okla. IMemorial Roadl-Rolando Mireles, returning missionary from Mexico and MBMS International liaison with the Latin American MB conference, was the guest speaker July 9.
TEACHING/NURTURE
V'ISaUa, Calif. INeighborhoodl-"Men 's Fraternity" met early Sept. 15 for breakfast burritos, a DVD presentation and discussion This new ministry seeks to help men grow spiritually
Bakersfield, Calif. ILaurelglenl-Volunteers staff "Puppy Club," a structured children's time each Wednesday morning during a women's Bible study.
WORKERS
Salem, Ore. IKingwoodl-Jordan Ringhofer was hired as youth pastor this summer
Buhler, Kan.-Daryle Baltzer is serving as interim preaching pastor.
Dinuba, Calif.-Jason Nichols began work Oct. 1 as associate pastor of community outreach
Wichita, Kan. IFirstl-Neil Bontrager has resigned as director of youth ministries, effective Aug 31.
Topeka, Kan. ICornerstone Community)- Terry Mcilvain is serving as interim pastor.
CoWnsvilIe, Okla. IDiscoYery Biblel-Mike Frantz began serving as pastor of outreach this summer. His wife is Marge.
Tulsa, Okla. IThe Heartl-Sarah Lindsay has begun a one-year internship in the area of children's ministry
Bakersfield, CaUf. IRosedale)-Jason Klopfenstein has been called as adult ministry pastor effective Aug. 15. The congregation had a prayer of dedication for Jason and his wife, Joy, during worship services Aug. 20.
Orland, Calif. ICountry Biblel-David Houchin has resigned as bivocational pastor after 20 years Aug. 27 was his final Sunday.
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Director of Alumni Relations: Tabor College seeks a Director of Alumni Relations to serve its nearly 10,000 alumni and be a liaison between the college and its constituency The Director of Alumni Relations and his/her staff implements programs to keep alumni informed about the college's vision and progress, promotes their involvement in the college, and mobilizes increased support for Tabor College and its Christ -centered mission. Additional information about the position can be found at www tabor edu/about/positions php Alumni encouraged to apply Please send letter of application and resume to: Jim Elliott, Vice President for Advancement, Tabor College, 400 S Jefferson St., Hillsboro, KS 67063 E-mail: jime((ltabor edu
WORSHIP
Papillion, Neb. IShadow Lake Communityl - The church added a third Sunday morning worship service beginning Sept. 10
Littleton, Colo. IBelleviewl-Services Sept. 3 focused on testimonies from short -term missions trip participants A team of 12 adults and children served in Mexico Aug. 12-19 The congregation held a "send-off" service Aug 20 for Jeff and Lianne Nikkel, who will be leading a church plant in Centennial. Colo Jeff formerly served as Belleview's pastor of student ministries and adult discipleship.
YOUTH
Buhler, Kan.-Youth offered childcare Sept. 23 and Oct. 28 for "date nights" for parents in the congregation This was a fund raiser for the youth
Gettysburg, SO IGrace Biblel - In lieu of a weeklong summer vacation Bible school, the church held an end-of-summer outreach carnival Aug. 26.
Enid, Okla.-Youth competed in a dodgeball tournament with another area church Aug 9
Harvey, NO-Youth led worship July 30 An offering helped defray the c.hurch's expenses for a student to participate in MB Biblical Seminary's Ministry Quest program in fall.
DEATHS
BULLER, WILLIAM IBILL), Enid, Okla., a member of Enid MB Church, was born Jan 11, 1913, to Peter and Maria Sperling Buller in Kremlin, Okla. , and died Aug. 12, 2006, at the age of 93. On Jan 17, 1937, he married Marine Pankratz, who survives He is also survived by one son, James and wife Beverly of Enid; one daughter, Loretta and husband Jerry Janzen of Enid, three granddaughters and five great-grandchildren
GRAUMANN, ROBERT, Hillsboro, Kan., a member of Hillsboro MB Church, was born March 22, 1918, to Ferdinand and Lydia Seibel Graumann near Harvey, ND, and died Aug. 27, 2006, at the age of 88. On June 21, 1942, he married Ruby Lucille Funk, who sur-
vives He is also survived by two daughters, Patricia and husband Al Neufeldt of Sisters, Ore ., and Judith and husband Allen Flick of Garland, Texas; four brothers, Marvin and wife Isolde of Harvey, ND, Glen of Reedley, Calif , Don and wife Marion of Hillsboro, and Roger and wife Elaine of Sun City, Ariz. ; two sisters, Rosella and husband Elroy Kessler of Kingsburg, Calif , and Carolee and husband Robert Duerksen of Wichita, Kan., four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
PETERS, FRANK D., Fresno, Calif , a member of College Community MB Church, Clovis, Calif., was born Sept. 2, 1910, to Dietrich D. and Elizabeth Wiebe Peters in Hamilton County, Kan., and died July 26, 2006, at the age of 95. On Aug. 26, 1934, he married Dorothy Kasper, who predeceased him April 1, 1975. He is survived by three sons, Alan and wife Jeanie of Fresno, Calif., Larry and wife Karen of Redding, Calif , and Keith and wife Debbie of Poway, Calif.; one daughter, Marilyn and husband Warren Atteberry of San Jose, Calif , 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
REGIER, HERMAN L, North Newton, Kan , a member of Koerner Heights MB Church, was bom Nov 7, 1926, to P.A. and Marie Regier in Henderson, Neb , and died July 30, 2006, at the age of 79 On April 10, 1950, he married Sarah Boehr, who survives. He is also survived by three sons, Leon and wife Marilyn of Grant, Neb., Dale and wife Teresa of Abbotsford, BC, and Larry and Kristi of Independence, Mo.; two daughters, Marilyn and husband Craig King of Hesston, Kan., and Karen and husband Terry Deaver of Augusta, Kan ; two brothers, Pete Regier and wife Rachel and Ivan Regier and wife Ann, all of Madrid, Neb; 19 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren
STELTING, ERMA, Hillsboro, Kan ., of Hillsboro MB Church, was born Jan. 16, 1916, to Emil and Bena Ratzlaff Weyand near Chinook, Mont., and died Sept. 4, 2006, at the age of 90 On May 5, 1940, she married Erwin Haefke. On Jan. 22, 1965, she married Carl Stelting who predeceased her Nov 27, 2005 She is survived by three sons, Roger Haefke, Charles Haefke and Duane Haefke, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren
C L ea r i n 9 H 0 USE
Project Manager: MB Foundation in Hillsboro, Kan , is looking for a Project Manager to join our stewardship team. The Project Manager will manage the day-to-day operations of the loan program, coordinate loan applications, monitor our loan portfolio, ensure proper loan documentation, support the certificate program, manage certificate registration and lead new product development. Send resume or inquiries to Jon C Wiebe, President and CEO, MB Foundation, PO Box 220, Hillsboro, KS 67063 . E-mail: jwiebelClmbfoundation com (1/21
Associate Pastor: Vinewood Community Church is a purpose-driven Mennonite Brethren-affiliated church of 300 plus in the California Central Valley community
of Lodi. We are seeking a full-time Associate Pastor who is comfortable serving in a multi-generational setting, while creatively reaching out to 21 st century parents and their children-emphasizing biblical instruction through family friendly worship services and activities. The ideal candidate will be a strong team player who is able to lead, recruit, and train volunteers and oversee a number of different ministries and initiatives If you are interested in further exploring this ministry opportunity, please send your resume to Lead Pastor Rod Suess rsuesslClvinewoodchurch.com or call Pastor Rod ICI (2091369 - 1069
Lead Pastor: The Buhler MB Church in Buhler, Kan. , is looking for a lead pastor to be part of our four person pastoral
team We are an active, healthy, 500member small town church that believes Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives Buhler MB is committed to being a sending church to the pastorate and missions and feels called to fulfill our Christ-centered purpose in the world Applicants should have an understanding and belief in Anabaptist theology, preferably with five years experience in a lead or associate pastor position in a multiple staff setting We are looking for a man with demonstrated gifts for leading, preaching, teaChing, caring, communicating, developing strong staff, and vision for the future Resumes may be sent to the Search Committee at Buhler M.B. Church, 415 N. West Street , Buhler, KS 67522 or e-mailed to infolClbuhlermb org (11/121
Dieting, lattes and A-Rod
When a good reputation is really bad and vice versa
Iwouldn't consider myself to be a serious sports fan, but I do watch the occasional game and try to keep up with the sporting news. So I'm generally aware of what's going on in the world of athletics.
Lately I've been intrigued with one of baseball's most famous stars, Alex Rodriquez. He started out with the Seattle Mariners but soon followed the money to Texas and then to the New York Yankees. Not surprisingly, Rodriquez (widely known as
of ads for new shows. It's astonishing how rude, uncreative and nauseating some ofthe new sitcoms sound. I guess it's not surprising. Though I used to enjoy watching a few TV comedies the craft has declined so much I doubt I've watched a sitcom in five years.
Not so bad: Diets. I admit to being a longtime detractor of diets. My contention, along with many experts, has been that one should practice healthy eating as a lifestyle rather than a special circumstance. I also admit that this view has often been my excuse not to diet, or more specifically, to avoid cutting back on various yummy confections. The last couple "A- Rod") is disliked in these parts for abandoning our Northwest team. Other fans around the nation are sore with him too for signing with the big-money Yankees. Sportswriters aren't enamored with A-Rod either, because his teams
C Reputation i" ;.1 j unny thing. Sometimes it \- hard to fathom why one player another condemned when bCh "how little diflerence hetween the two,
haven't won championships. Even New York fans get on his case and consider him overtated.
Yet here are A-Rod's statistics through early September this season: 31 home runs, 104 runs batted in and a .282 batting average. Pretty lousy, eh? Actually, most baseball players would love to have just one season like that in their careers. Yet Rodriquez is there with a month left to go. And it's typical for him. Last year he won his second Most Valuable Player award with 48 home runs, 139 runs batted in and a .321 batting average. Something tells me A-Rod isn't as bad as many people think.
Reputation is a funny thing. Sometimes it's hard to fathom why one player is adored and another condemned when facts show little difference between the two. Maybe it's just that tangled combination of personal feeling and conventional wisdom that can create a thorny hedge between perception and reality.
In the spirit of A-Rod, here are some other things I think may not be so bad and some that are probably not so good.
Not so bad: Movies. I finally figured out why I've had such an aversion to movies in recent years. It hasn't so much been the movies themselves (though there have been plenty of awful ones) but my inability to relax. It's hard for me to sit for two hours doing nothing. But this past summer I went to a couple of movies and viewed a few DVDs. And I enjoyed them. Either I'm finally learning to relax or am discovering a few decent movies to watch. Or a little of both
Not so good: Television comedies. I'm writing this as the TV season is statting so from my car radio on the way to work I'm hearing a lot
of months, though, I have been cutting back on calories and increasing the exercise. So I guess I'm sort of dieting. Not necessarily on purpose, I just feel better Maybe these diet thingies aren't so bad after all.
Not so good: Lattes. Among the tasty things I'm cutting back on are those severely addictive coffee drinks. This is harder for me than some of you non-latte drinkers might believe. But it's definitely healthier for both my waistline and my wallet.
Not so bad: Church denominations. From time to time I hear complaining about the abundance of church denominations out there and how poor a witness this apparent disunity is to the unchurched. I'm not sure I agree. I would contend that the coexistence of many denominations and independent congregations can be a positive testimony in modem culture. There are many expressions of worship and ministry, pointing to the same Lord. To me that gives more credibility to the Christian message than top-down uniformity and autocratic control that have always been fertile ground for misguided theology and abuse of human power.
Not so good: Local church disunity. On the other side of the coin, Christians can give a bad testimony when they demonstrate a lack of enthusiasm and cooperation on the local church level. Such disunity is one reason it's so hard these days to attract new members. If priorities demonstrated in churches-doing your own thing, getting your own needs met, being entertained-are barely different than the rest of culture, why bother going at all?
Over the hill?
When is growing old a matter of choice
Since my husband and I have birthdays just three weeks apart, I've said for several years now that someday when we tum SO we will throw ourselves a huge birthday party with a house full of family and friends, lots of food including cake and ice cream and appropriate party decorations for two "old" people. Last month when we celebrated David's 49th birthday I became alarmed. Our big party is next year! Do I really want to embrace being "over the hill"? After all, our kids are too young to have parents this old. Maybe we should just ignore the whole thing!
a path toward destruction (v. 19), focused on their own immediate needs and celebrating the things for which they should be ashamed
The path Paul recommends, and the one he follows, is a life of humble obe-
:..:=1 could have ignored every birthday for the lew years, but I would still be wearing hifocals, noticing new aches pain'> and sp. oning more hair. '- 01
I can refuse to acknowledge my next birthday, but I can't stop life's natural aging process. I could have ignored every birthday for the past few years, but I would still be wearing bifocals, noticing new aches and pains and sporting more gray hair. This month's feature articles remind us that unlike chronological age, our spiritual maturity does not automatically advance from year to year. Only if we work at it will our faith grow, will we become more Christlike. Katie Funk Wiebe cautions us to remember that when it comes to growing in our faith, "nothing happens automatically." Older adults do not automatically "tum into highly spiritual persons:: she writes in her article that begins on page 16.
Educators talk about lifelong learning, and that is how Katie challenges us to view our spiritual lives. "Faith is a process of continual growth from that first simple commitment of reaching out to God to becoming more Christlike as we age," she writes. Katie's summary of the six stages of faith development and her reflections on her own spiritual journey can help us understand to what degree our own faith has grown and become internalized.
While Katie does not elaborate on the definition of a mature Christian, she notes that Galatians 5:22 offers a portrait of a believer who is bearing fruit and that fruit is a sign of maturity. In a recent sermon, our pastor defined a mature believer in terms of his or her focus. He was preaching from Philippians 3, which in the New American Standard Bible is entitled, "The Goal of Life." As Paul does in other letters, he urges the Christians in Philippi to "walk according to the pattern you have in us" (3:17). Others are headed on
dience (2 :8) that conforms to the death of Christ (3:10). While the word " pattern" suggests uniformity, our pastor said this does not mean that Christians are to be identical in how we live. We
are rather to be identical in how we die-in the commitment to die to ourselves. The difference between a mature and immature Christ-follower is focus, said our pastor. An immature believer is self-focused while the mature believer lives with a focus on others.
When I behave like a mature Christian-when my life is characterized by the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5-1 will be outward rather than inward focused. I will look for opportunities to do things for others. I will put someone else's need before my own. I will think beyond my own immediate desires. Thinking of spiritual maturity in terms of a focus on others versus a focus on self is for me a very helpful definition. Because I usually know when I am behaving selfishly and I know that it is at home with my husband and children that I am most tempted to act selfishly. For me, that's where living out my faith is most challenging. In the privacy of my own home is where the "real" me most often comes out.
And that takes me back to the proposed 50th birthday bash. Even if my husband and I decide to entirely ignore the fact that it's our birthdays, our biological clocks will tick off another year. We don't consciously decide to grow another year older, it just happens. But we must consciously decide to mature in our faith. As we age in our faith we are never "over the hill. " -CF
Sta t eme nt of ownership, management and circuLation
Publication title: Christian leader Publication number: 0009-5419. FiLing date : 09122106. Issue frequency: monthLy Number of issues pubLished annuaLLy: 12. AnnuaL subscription price : $18 CompLete mailing address of known office of publication: 315 S. lincoLn, Box 220, HiLLsboro, KS 67063 CompLete maiLing address of headquarters or generaL business office of pubLisher: same FuLL names and compLete mailing address of publisher, editor and managing editor: Publisher: U.S. Conference of MB Churches, 315 S.lincoLn, Box 220, H iLLsboro, KS 67063; Editor: Connie Faber, 315 S. lincoLn, Box 220, HiLLsboro, KS 67063. Managing editor: none. Owner: U.S. Conference of MB Churches, 315 S lincoLn , Box 220, HiLLsboro , KS 67063. Known bondhoLders, mortgagees and other security hoLders owning or hoLding 1%or more of totaL amount of bonds, mortgages or other secu rities: none. Tax status has not changed during proceeding 12 months. Issue date for circuLation data: Sept. 2006. Extent and nature of circuLation: the first number represents the average number of copies of each issue during the proceeding 12 months, the number in parentheses is the number of copies of a singLe issue [Sept. 2006) pubLished nearest the fiLing date lal TotaL number of copies: 10,305 110,152) Ibl Paid/requested circuLation: 1) paid/requested outside county maiL subscript ions: 9,241 [9,116) 2) Paid in-county subscriptions: 604 (603) 3) SaLes through deaLers and carriers, street vendors, counter saLes and other non-USPS paid distribution: 0 (0) 4) Other classes maiLed through the USPS: 257 (258) l eI TotaL paid and/or requested circuLation : 10,10219,977) (dl Free distribution by maiL : 2 (3) leI Free distribution outside the maiL: 26 (22) If) TotaL free distribution: 28 (25) (g) TotaL distribution: 10,130 [10,002 11hl Copie s not distributed: 175 (150) iii TotaL : 10,305 [10,152) /j) Perce nt paid and/or requested circuLation : 99 72% [99.75 %1. I certify that aLL information furnished is true and compLet e I understand that anyone who furnishes faLse or misLeading information on this form or who omits materiaL or information requested on the form may be subject to criminaL sanctions and/or civiL sanctions. Signed: Connie Faber
ahout!Jou?
To learn more , contact OMI by phone at 604 859.6267, by email at dmi@mbmsi.org or on the web at www.mbmsi.org/visiVdmi
Introducing Some Tangible Evidence Of The Fact That INsMNa 1(ou
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The tangible nature is due to some very real benefits that are written into our tax code benefits designed to encourage philanthropy and reward those who take it seriously.
Through the CGA it is possible for you to make a gift to charity, increase your current income, and actually reduce taxes today and in the future.
The Charitable Gift Annuity is a legal contract that, based on your decision to transfer a specific asset to MB Foundation, guarantees to pay you an attractive annual income. Annuity rates are based on your age, with annuity payments as high as 11.3% for more senior persons. So, if you fund a CGA with appreciated stock that currently produces, say 3%, you'll enjoy a nice increase in income!
For details on how the CGA can work for you, call or write us today! All communication is confidential.
Mennonite Brethren Foundation 315 S. Lincoln, P.O. Box 220 Hillsboro, KS 67063
800 -551 - 1547
620-947 -3266 (fax) info @mbfoundation.com www.mbfoundation.com
