December 2020 Connections

Connections Proclaiming the GOSPEL

LOCAL & GLOBAL STORIES, NEWS AND EVENTS of COLLEGE CHURCH

“…confronted with the truth of the gospel through the witness of the Holy Spirit and these three men, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on November 12, 1982.”

See Great is Thy Faithfulness by Mark Papierski on page 14

DECEMBER 2020

Face to Face

Side by Side

Life Lessons

Joy Unspeakable

Reflections on Perspectives

Follow the Light

VIRGINIA HUGHES | 8

SUSAN ZIMMERMAN | 10

JOHN MELBY | 18

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

December Highlights

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Prayer Gatherings

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The Forgotten Virtue of Christian Unity | SENIOR PASTOR JOSH MOODY

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Joy Unspeakable | VIRGINIA HUGHES

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Reflection on Perspectives | SUSAN ZIMMERMAN

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Don't Let the COVID Grinch Steal Christmas | THE EVANGELISM COMMITTEE

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Great is Thy Faithfulness | MARK PAPIERSKI

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No Backseat Ministry | JEFF AND ANN VANDERMOLEN

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Forty Days for Life | SOHL TASK FORCE

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Follow the Light| JOHN MELBY

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Christmas Disgrace| LORRAINE TRIGGS

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Downsizing to Death | LELAND RYKEN

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The Best Thing that Ever Happened | JEFF KING

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Best Books 2020 | COLLEGE CHURCH LEADERSHIP

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Milestones

DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS Sunday Morning Services Visitors are welcome in any and all services, no registration required. Feel free to invite people to worship with us.

Join us at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:15 a.m.

Livestream broadcast is at 9:30 with a rebroadcast at 11:15.

You can watch it at college-church.org/livestream • Dec. 6: Nehemiah 9:1-38 | Confess • Dec. 13: Nehemiah 13:1-31 | When Things Fall Apart • Dec. 20: Luke 1:26-38 | What Mary Discovered • Dec. 27: Dan Hiben preaching, text to be determined Livestream Christmas Concert Series | Monday evenings at 7 p.m.

Dec. 7: Lessons & Carols Service with John Innes and H.E. Singley

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Lessons & Carols

Dec. 14: Chamber Music Concert featuring Corelli’s Christmas Concerto

with John Innes & H. E. Singley

Dec. 21: Glory in the Lowest: Lament and Hope on the Longest Night of the Year

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(Again, the Christmas concert series is Livestream only) Christmas Eve Services

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Luke 2:8-21| “What the Shepherds Discovered,” in the series, Discover Jesus This Christmas CHAMBER

In-person services at 5:30, 7 and 9 p.m. Livestream services at 7 and 9 p.m.

MUSIC

CONCERT

FEATURING

CORELLI’S CHRISTMAS CONCERTO

Registration for the 9:30, 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. services opens at noon on Tuesdays on our website or in our church family email. No registration required for the 8 a.m. service. You may also access the sign-up form here: college-church.formstack.com/forms/worship_signup

DEC 14 | 7 PM A LIVE-STREAM EVENT AT COLLEGE-CHURCH.ORG

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Children’s Ministries

Glory

• Sunday morning Bible school: all ages, registration required

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LAMENT AND HOPE ON THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

Middle School

• We are meeting in the Sanctuary through Tuesday, December 15 at 6:45 p.m. We will take a Christmas break after that until January 12. On Sunday mornings, plan to attend worship services with your family.

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High School • Sunday Night Live: All high school students are welcome! Sundays at 6:30 p.m., in Commons Gym. • Rooted Fellowship: Freshmen and Sophomores, Tuesday evenings from 6:45 to 8:15 p.m. in Commons Gym.

Adult Communities—in-person and Zoom options • Veritas: Saturday mornings 9:30 a.m. in Sanctuary. They will not meet Saturday, December 26, January 2 or 9 and resumes Saturday, January 16.

• Logos: Sunday mornings 9:30 a.m. in CL02. They will be taking their Christmas break December 20, 27 and January 3 and will resume January 10 as class members begin a study on how to interpret and understand the Bible.

• Joint Heirs: Sunday mornings 9:30 a.m. in Commons Gym. They will not gather on December 27 or January 3 and will resume on January 10 as the class continues its series in Psalms.

• Greek Class: Sunday mornings 9:30 a.m. in C101. They will not gather on December 27 or January 3.

• Forum 15: Sunday mornings 9:30 a.m. in C002 A&B. They will not be taking a break and begins its new series, “Adventure through 1 and 2 Peter” with David Fetzer.

• All Nations: Sunday mornings 9:30 a.m. in CL03. They will not meet December 27 or January 3 and will resume on January 10 as they continue their discussion on the sermon passages.

STARS • Sunday mornings—live Zoom class, 9-10 a.m.

• Wednesday music—live Zoom class, 7-8 p.m.

College Group For students in the Wheaton area after Thanksgiving break, here are some ways to continue to stay connected: • Bible Study: Gather with us for a weekly Bible study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Commons Hall.

• Worship Services: Meet with God’s people for gathered worship at one of our services (8, 9:30 , 10:15 and 11:15 a.m.)

Grace Groups for Mental Health Are you or a loved one dealing with anxiety or depression or other mental health challenge? Has this time of COVID quarantine heightened those feelings? Living Grace provides support for those living with mental health challenges, and Family Grace provides support for their loved ones. Our hope for Grace Groups is that individuals walk away from each meeting encouraged and equipped with practical tools to cultivate a healthy mind and heart. These groups continue to meet on Zoom on most second and fourth Mondays at 7 p.m., from the comfort and privacy of your home. For registration information, email Christy at gracegroups@college-church.org, or call the church at (630) 668-0878.

Men’s Ministries Men's Bible Study will meet December 2 and 9. We will break for the holiday season and will resume Wednesday, February 3 at 6:45 p.m. Look for more details in the January Connections about our spring study.

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Women’s Ministries • Registration is now open for Women’s Bible Study: On February 3, we’ll begin our study of Genesis 12-50 looking at the timeless story of Genesis which shows our Creator God, planning and revealing his salvation – a salvation which would eventually reach to the ends of the earth. Visit the Women’s Ministry webpage for a full description of our program offerings and registration information. Limited spaces available, so register today to reserve a place in one of our in-person or online small groups.

• Mom2Mom's Night Out Join us Monday, December 7 (7-8 p.m. in the Fireside Room) as we continue our discussion together on Courtney Reissig’s book Glory in the Ordinary (books provided). Haven’t come before? We’ll start with a recap and you can jump right into our discussion of chapter 3. We hope you’ll join us!

• Monthly Gathering on Saturday Dec 12, 9-10 a.m. | Commons What disciplines or practices promote growth in your relationship with Christ? This is our topic we’ll be exploring on Saturday mornings this year. Saturday morning, December 12 (9-10:30a.m.) we’ll be looking at spiritual practices that shape the follower of Christ and focusing this discussion on Bible intake – the preached Word, Bible reading and study, memorization and meditation.

We plan to meet in person but will shift to a virtual format if necessary.

Getting Married?

Because of the challenges of meeting during COVID, we will not be holding our Becoming One pre-marital class this year. However, we believe in the importance of Christian pre-marital counseling and want to provide that as needed. If that is you, please reach out to us at marriage@college-church.org so that we can assess the counseling that might be appropriate for your situation.

Prayer Gatherings Online & In Person Call the church office or email info@college-church.org for details on these prayer meetings.

Sunday Morning Prayer (Online) 8-8:40 a.m.

Led by Pastor Eric Channing

Hannah Prayer Fellowship

Monday Morning Prayer (In person) 6:15-7:15 a.m. in C104A. Led by Elder Rob Wolgemuth

Aaron-Hur Prayer Fellowship

Wednesday Night Prayer (Online) 7-8 p.m.

Led by the Missions Office • Dec. 2: Mid-term workers serving in the Middle East • Dec. 9: Charley & Cheryl Warner, serving in Ukraine • Dec. 16: Speaker in process • Prayer Meeting will not be held on December 23 & 30, and will resume on January 6.

Friday Lunch Prayer for the Persecuted Church (In person) 12-1 p.m. in C103.

Lydia Prayer Fellowship members and visitors will want to put the December 8 meeting on their calendars right away. The group will meet at the home of Sharon Weiss, 1887 Caxton at 9:15 a.m. Christy Knudsen, along with her family, serves as a missionary in Bolivia with SIM. She and her husband, Paul, are members of the Missionary Preparation Program and regular attenders of College Church.

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Abigail Prayer Fellowship Watch the weekly emails for updates on prayer fellowships.

Our prayer pulse email goes out every Monday. You can get prayer updates via that email. Sign up by clicking "Enews signup" on our website. If you already receive other emails from College Church, click "manage my preferences" at the bottom of any email and select prayer pulse to add yourself.

SIDE BY SIDE

The Forgotten Virtue of Christian Unity Senior Pastor Josh Moody Among Bible-believing Christians, “unity” has often had something of a bad rap. It often feels as if it is a somewhat soft, inadequate and weak ideal that is used by others (the non-Bible believing) to advocate for theological downgrade. It certainly can be used in that way. I remember a cartoon from the ministry of the late great Keith Green lampooning this wrong approach to Christian unity. In the cartoon there was a whole group of Christians trying to squeeze into a phone booth—remember those?—and as they did so, they were jettisoning “truth” and dumping extraneous doctrines into a garbage can outside.

But as much as unity, and appeals for unity, can be used to downgrade doctrine, the doctrine of unity itself must not be relegated into an insignificant matter. Take but two well-known texts that affirm the centrality of real Christian unity. Paul taught that we are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). And Jesus himself prayed, in his great prayer in John 17, that his followers “may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one” ( John 17:22-23). Unity matters, clearly.

And yet where is this idea of unity being propounded among Bible-believing Christians today? Instead, people are on their soapboxes, shouting from the rooftops their opinions about any number of deeply controversial issues—COVID-19, mask wearing, politics, etc.—as if it did not matter how many people they alienated along the way.

Brothers and sisters, is this how we should behave? Should we insist on our own way, to the detriment of others, and be incorrigible and not open to correction? Hear me clearly: I am not arguing for some minimalist version of Christianity where we all appear to agree about doctrine, but do not really agree, if truth be told. What I am arguing for is a spirit of unity in the bond of peace. I am arguing that how we talk about complicated matters of doctrine or policy matters. It matters deeply.

If we position our view on something as the only view, and consider anyone who doesn’t agree with us as a borderline idiot and questionably Christian at all, then in what sense are we eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit? We should never jettison truth or our consciences with regard to it. But nor should we jettison love. The two must go together—or else we are violating Paul’s other great injunction in that chapter four of Ephesians, that we are to be “speaking the truth in love.”

(Ephesians 4:15) I hear a lot of truth speaking these days—or what people think is truth speaking. The forgotten virtue of clearheaded reasoning is a subject for another article, but what I do not hear is compassionate truth speaking, loving truth speaking, humble truth speaking. I do not hear listening either; remember what James said, “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” ( James 1:19). That could well be an important memory verse for our angry, truth-as-a-weapon age. Brothers and sisters, let it not be so among us.

Visit the God Centered Life worldwide ministry of Pastor Josh Moody at godcenteredlife.org. Find daily sermons from Pastor Josh there plus daily devotionals. Sign up to receive them in your inbox. Listen to Pastor Josh daily on WMBI at 10 p.m. M-F and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. Your prayers and partnership with this ministry are greatly appreciated.

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FACE TO FACE

Joy Unspeakable Virginia Hughes

One snowy day, we were shoveling snow as a family in the back alley of our Indiana home where our car was stuck. Dad’s approach to life was always to get moving, go more and plan less. He was not one to waste time with the deliberation of planning every detail. Shoveling snow before driving? Such an obvious obstacle need not hold us back for long.

The old station wagon had easily started, which was a golden sign on a wintery Saturday morning. Dad backed out of the driveway and started driving up the alley. It was about thirty feet until the tires were spinning in place. Dad groaned, “The very enemy of our souls!” which had us kids giggling. Dad pretending to be at wit’s end was hilarious to us. He knew he had eight energetic children eager to dig a car out of the drifting snow.

We ran to the garage to retrieve snow shovels, buckets, gardening shovels, a scrap of carpet and anything to dig, scoop and throw the snow away from the car’s tires. As we worked, we sang, “I’ve been working on the railroad all the live-long day. . .“ Then Dad started a story which he had in endless supply due to the nature of his “Let’s get going,” work ethic in ministry, and all around colorful life. He often landed in predicaments which he called God’s Plan. “Say, did I ever tell you kids about the time we took that group of ministerial students up into Mountain Province?” Of course, he had, but we listened again to the story set in the Philippines, whose tropical heat would have brought a welcome melting to Indiana’s snow.

PREDICAMENTS AND GOD’S PLANS The Bible college where my parents were stationed overseas often took small groups of students into areas where a church could possibly be planted. Sometimes a request would arrive at the Bible college or students would suggest interest on behalf of their home provinces. These trips involved driving as far as a road would go, and then hiking up into remote areas and sometimes into the mountains. They carried straw sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water canteens, dried fish, cooked rice, bread and fruits. Generous families along the way would offer a stew or delicious rice cake wrapped in banana leaves. As the students and my parents walked through communities where there had been no prior contact, they would ask, “Are there any among you who will trust our one true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and be saved?” Sometimes heads would move side to side with a firm negative; other times, there was a hunger for God’s Word, and the gospel lessons and worship would begin.

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WHISTLING IN THE DARK The village they arrived at was not interested in talking about Jesus or starting a church today. Daylight was slipping away, and the group was told that tomorrow would be a better time to talk.

Bernito, an older teen from the village who spoke Ilocano and a little English, led the group to a schoolhouse and gave them bowls of kamotes (sweet potatoes) baked in the fire and rice to eat. They were informed it was against village rules to whistle after sundown. Well, that was hardly an issue since everyone was sleepy. Who would possibly want to whistle now, in the dark, when it was time to sleep?

However, being told not to do something sometimes mightily motivates the doing of that very thing.

A curtain was pulled across the center of the school room to give privacy between the girls’ side and the boys’ side. The students unrolled their straw mats and try as they might, no one fell asleep. It was chilly at night in Mountain Province and they tossed and turned. Thoughts of not being allowed to whistle lodged in their minds. “Why can’t we whistle?” they wondered.

While none of them had contemplated whistling up until now, their thoughts persisted, “What’s so bad about whistling after sundown? We are in an unknown place. Whistling right now would be very nice since a person cannot sleep.”

Thoughts about whistling thundered through their minds “We want to whistle, we want to whistle, we want to whistle!” Finally, Nita, one of the students, broke the restless silence by plaintively asking into the dark, “Ah, how can you bear not to whistle?”

Everyone began to laugh uproariously. To curtail the waves of laughter growing ever louder, they decided to softly sing.

DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AND BACK UP

They sang,

He worked and studied his way through the ministry program.

He married a fellow student, and Bernito and Letitia felt the Lord leading them to go back to Mountain Province to start a church. Bernito hoped to replace the superstitions of his upbringing with the gospel truths of Jesus. The church slowly grew. There were more chapters to the story, but Dad could see we were exhausted by our snow digging efforts. We tried to whistle into the cold.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.

Then someone began, Break thou the Bread of Life, dear Lord to me, as thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. Beyond the sacred page, I seek thee Lord, my spirit pants for thee, o Living Word.

Another voice began, There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the blood of the lamb.

Their voices joined. Forgetting it was night and all thoughts of not being able to whistle were as far from them as sleeping at that point.

SONGS IN THE LATE NIGHT The last song may have been too vigorous as shortly, Bernito appeared holding up a kerosene lantern. “Why are you making so much noise?” Dad apologized, “So sorry. We couldn’t sleep.”

Bernito sighed, “I told you not to whistle.” Dad smiled and shook his head, “We did not whistle. We were only singing.”

They stared at each other, and Bernito asked, “But why? Why must you sing?” Dad answered, “We sing to worship and praise God. We cannot sleep so we sing.” Quizzically Bernito asked, “Does God require this late-night singing?” Dad answered, “No, we are sorry to disturb you.” Bernito asked, “You like to sing more than sleep?” Dad shook his head “We would really like to sleep, but we cannot, so, we are singing God’s praises.” Bernito waited. Dad added, “God’s presence is our comfort.”

Their young host sighed and answered, “Please be still now, please,” and he walked away, only to reappear in the lantern’s light. “In the morning, and only in the day, will you teach us this beautiful, loud song you sing? But no noise now, please. Okay?

Okay?” Dad assured him the group would be still for the rest of the night. Bernito repeated, “No whistling, no singing, no noise.”

The next morning the group learned that the rule forbidding whistling after sundown stemmed from a superstition that whistling at night attracts wandering ghosts. It believed if you whistle while out walking around, a ghost may follow you home.

Bernito listened as the group taught the gospel story and all the songs they had sung the night before. Several months later, Bernito traveled down the mountains and found the Bible college, my parents and the Bible school students in the lowlands of Central Luzon.

It turned out to be too much snow and too much alley for us to dig the car out. We needed more help. Dad did not hesitate over the next step, which was to call a towing company. The tow truck driver arrived and pulled the station wagon out to the street. Dad paid him and asked if he could come in for coffee and home baked pie. Mom was usually pulling freshly baked pies out of the oven on Saturday mornings.

As Ron and Dad talked, Ron was asked where he planned to spend eternity and promptly invited to church and dinner at our house after church the next day. “Bring the whole family!”

Dad invited, and with a smile, promised to deliver a top-notch sermon, Lord willing. And what he didn’t deliver in the sermon, he promised Mom would make up for with the Sunday roast, mashed potatoes and all the trimmings. There would be more pie too, which brought a smile. Going forward, Dad considered the tow truck driver a friend, he prayed for Ron’s safety and his soul. He added him and his family to the “Potential Converts Prayer & Visit” list.

Gospel seeds may be planted near and far whether staying in or venturing out. Because though we haven’t seen Jesus, we love him; even though we haven’t seen him, we believe in him.

Knowing this fills us with joy unspeakable and full of glory that we must share.

Even on a cold, snowy day, seeds may be planted, but are best planted with our love and thanksgiving.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9)

About the Author | Virginia Hughes Virginia brings her creative gifts not only to her writing and storytelling, but also to her home and ministries. She and her husband, Roger, have three adult daughters and are members of College Church.

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SIDE BY SIDE

Reflection on Perspectives Susan Zimmerman I read a column by a woman in New York state who started reading War and Peace when she first went into lockdown and was sad when she finished it, because she thought the pandemic would be over by then.

To quote Ralph Winter, one of the editors of the Perspectives reader, “The Bible is not simply a bundle of divergent, unrelated stories . . . the Bible consists of a single drama: the entrance of the Kingdom.” –The Kingdom Strikes Back, Ralph D. Winter

I felt somewhat like that letdown reader when in May I completed the Perspectives class hosted by College Church (full name, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement), though I started the class in mid-January, before the pandemic and social distancing defined daily life. When the class switched from inperson to weekly Zoom sessions in mid-March, I thought, “Well, half the course is left. When we’re done in mid-May, perhaps life will be more normal.”

I’m sure this truth has been preached and taught to me many times, but for some reason, I never let it sink in. However, during Perspectives, I spent 15 weeks seeing that from Genesis to Revelation, Scripture brings us one story: God’s plan to redeem his fallen creation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The entire Bible is a mandate, to use a Perspectives’ keyword, for spreading the good news of the kingdom. For me, this understanding brings renewed motivation and eagerness to read all of Scripture and dwell on God’s singular plan to bless all the nations.

Of course, that didn’t happen. But as I reflect, the pandemic, while occasionally a disruptive backdrop, wasn’t a barrier to what God wanted me to learn and experience from the spring 2020 pandemic edition of the Perspectives class at College Church.

NOT AN ACADEMIC EXERCISE. Perspectives is a 15-week class designed to help everyday believers understand and respond to the vision of God’s global kingdom purpose. When I signed up, I got a really thick book to read, 768 pages to be exact. Not as long as War and Peace, but it can feel like it.

Plus, they also gave me a 182-page study guide.

The course covered a lot of ground in four major “perspectives” on global mission—biblical, historical, cultural, and then for the final four lessons, what the syllabus called “strategic,” but I think could be labeled “personal.” As in, what are you, Perspectives student, going to do now? Perspectives is not meant to be an academic exercise. It’s meant to be life altering.

Here is some of how I’m wrestling with that “What are you going to do now?” question.

THE BIBLE IS A LOT MORE THAN STORIES I grew up hearing and reading Bible stories. Not just in Sunday school, but at home where, once I could read, my parents gave me a story Bible. I especially loved the Old Testament stories of Israel’s kings, and literally read the cover off that book.

Bible stories are a wonderful teaching tool. But the first lesson of Perspectives told me we were moving well beyond storytelling.

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SPEAKING OF “NATIONS,” WHAT THEY ARE, AND AREN’T I had always understood the word “nations” to mean individual countries with defined borders. This was fine for middle school geography class, but it skewed my understanding of the Great Commission. When I read Jesus words in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” I thought that meant countries. Like India. China. Sudan. Albania. Ukraine. Ecuador.

Because that’s where missionaries go, right?

In Perspectives, I learned over and over (they really want you to get this), that the Greek word used in Scripture for “nations” is “ethne” or “peoples.” As Steven Hawthorne, another Perspectives editor explains, “When it [nations] is used with the Greek word meaning “all,” it should be given its most common meaning: an ethnic or cultural people group.” –Mandate on the Mountain, Steven C. Hawthorne Perspectives helped me recognize how “peoples” are talked about all through Scripture. In Abraham’s seed “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Messiah was prophesied to extend his kingdom over “all peoples, nations, and people of every language” (Dan. 7:14). And in what is the theme verse for Perspectives: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14) For me, this means the “nations” we are commanded to reach are not just “over there” but right here, at home, in DuPage County, in Wheaton, in my neighborhood. I don’t have any

Spring 2021 Perspectives Class Tuesdays January 19–May 11 | 6:30–9 p.m.

Highpoint Church, 1805 High Point Dr. Naperville, IL 60563 Register for the First Night Free at perspectives.org/wheatonperspectives Contact: Melissa Warner at wheatonperspectives@gmail.com COVID-19 Safety: The class plans to be in person and socially distanced with masks as able. Class will likely begin online and transition to in-person when safe to do so.

Perspectives is a 15-week class that will change the way you view the world around you. In it, you will have your eyes opened to the heart and purpose of God and how you can take part in his work all over the world, from the urban streets of America to the rainforest and deserts of distant lands. A fantastic array of pastors, theologians, international missiologists and mobilizers will challenge and inspire you to see just how big God is, and how much he desires that all might come to know him. Whether you are single, married, a student, a homemaker, a professional or retired, Perspectives will bless and challenge your life and direction.

A soft-spoken older man who had spent decades as a Bible translator of a language used by a remote tribe taught our third session. He shared a story about prayer:

to treat a young boy gravely injured in an accident. When the boy miraculously recovered, the people of that tribe began to accept this couple who had come to live among them. Much later, the couple received a letter from one of their supporters at home in the U.S. She had been awakened in the night by an overwhelming urge to pray for them, and she had done so. She wanted to know, had something unusual happened at that specific time? The missionaries checked the day and time their supporter had prayed.

It matched exactly the local time when the wife had been treating the injured child.

He and his wife had been working hard with little success to make the necessary breakthrough of acceptance by the local tribespeople that would enable them to begin the steps of language learning and alphabet creation that could eventually lead to a written Scripture in the people’s mother tongue. One day though, his wife, who was also a nurse, had the opportunity

If, as I learned at Perspectives, the 18th-century Moravian community in Saxony could hold a 100-year ‘round the clock prayer meeting that resulted in the sending out of at least 300 missionaries, how can I not commit to at least regular, if not daily, prayer for the missionaries I know and for the ongoing spread of God’s kingdom?

excuse not to be on mission, such as, I can’t leave tomorrow to serve in Slovakia. Perspectives changed my idea of “where” to “do missions.” I discovered that location is not the point when I’m on mission, rather it’s living a life for God’s global purpose, wherever I am.

THE CONVICTION TO PRAY

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In one of the five “personal reflections,” we were asked to write at intervals throughout the class, I wrote: “Many times in this class, I have been convicted and humbled by how little I pray, and how much more I should be praying for God to work here at home and globally. I have been challenged to understand and believe that prayer matters. Lord, teach me to pray, and build up the commitment in me to pray in faith that the Great Commission will be soon fulfilled.”

GOD IS STILL INTERESTED IN TRANSFORMING THE OBSTINATE It feels next to impossible to adequately describe the full impact Perspectives had on me. One of our instructors described taking Perspectives as “like going through a car wash,” and while I laughed at his comparison, I would agree! In four months, our class experienced an incredibly diverse array of excellent instructors, a comprehensive survey of Scripture and over 2,000 years of mission history, and a fascinating introduction in how to engage different cultures. We found out what a church plant looks like among a newly reached people group (HINT: very different from our Western idea of church). We learned that throughout the seasons of our Christian walk, we can all be goers, welcomers, senders and mobilizers. We also had the privilege of interacting with others in our class, students of all ages, from all walks of life and with different levels of involvement in global mission.

But if I must point to one lesson that sums up the basics of what I walked away with, it would be from an article we studied about the book of Jonah. Johannes Verkuyl, a Dutch missions professor and missionary to Indonesia who spent three years in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II, wrote about Jonah as “a lesson in educating a person to be a missionary.”

In his article, The Biblical Foundation for the Worldwide Mission Mandate, Verkuyl explains that “the greatest hurdle to overcome in discharging [ Jonah’s] missionary mandate was not the sailors, nor the fish, nor Nineveh’s king and citizenry, but rather Jonah himself—the recalcitrant and narrow-minded Church.”

Thus, Verkuyl concludes, “This is Jonah’s sin—the sin of a missionary whose heart is not in it.”

I ask myself, is my heart “in it”? Perspectives is not trying to turn everyone who takes it into a “traditional” missionary, although many who take the course are already doing that or planning to. Rather, Perspectives is encouraging all its students to become genuine world Christians, believers who seek to live a wholehearted life of purpose that does its part in fulfilling God’s global kingdom purpose. God will fulfill his purpose, but he has invited us—including me—to join him.

As Verkuyl says so eloquently in his article, “While he never forces any one of us, he tenderly asks us to put our whole heart and soul into the work of mission. God is still interested in transforming obstinate, irritable, depressive, peevish Jonahs into heralds of the Good News which brings freedom.”

“God, transform me.”

Now almost five months since completing Perspectives, I’m realizing that the “return to normal” I had initially hoped for in May (while I know is fervently, and understandably, longed for by all), is perhaps not the most important thing God has for me as the seasons turn into winter and the approach of Christmas.

Some of the things I had hoped to jump into, such as oneon-one ministry with refugees, seem more difficult with the ongoing pandemic. But God is working on my heart to find intentional ways to be involved. Scripture is more meaningful and precious, and my need for consistency in time with the Word is always before my eyes. As a small step towards more focused prayer, along with the prayer guides from College Church, I’ve subscribed to a global prayer digest which helps make those seemingly far off mission endeavors up front and personal. I’m in daily prayer for the mission field on my own doorstep, including, especially, my own very young grandchildren.

And above all, I’m thankful, thankful that I’ve learned that just as God initiated and sustained his plan to bless all nations throughout all time, he is continuing to do that right now, no matter what else is happening, even a pandemic and everything else that is bringing unrest to our souls. Because of that, I can look at the future with gladness and hope.

About the Author | Susan Zimmerman College Church member Susan Zimmerman is currently serving as a deaconess and Mom2Mom mentor. She is a wife and mom to two adult children and grandmother of two with a third grandchild arriving any day. She has worked in a variety of corporate and agency marketing communications positions along with doing freelance writing for mission and nonprofit organizations.

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LOCALLY SOURCED

Don’t Let the COVID Grinch Steal Christmas Insights from the Evangelism Committee Christmas is one of the best times of the year to proclaim the gospel. Many of our neighbors and co-workers are open to hearing about the real meaning of Christmas. Those born overseas, for example, international students, are especially interested in learning about our holidays. Their interest provides a wide-open door for the gospel.

But will COVID steal Christmas this year? Certainly, it makes people more reluctant to attend an in-person event. But there are also more people who are feeling lonely and depressed due to isolation and fear of the ongoing pandemic. A loving act done in Christ’s name can open hearts to a gospel-centered conversation.

LETTING NEIGHBORS KNOW YOU CARE We are encouraging everyone at College Church to make at least one phone call to a non-Christian friend or coworker to wish them a Merry Christmas and ask how you can pray for them. This simple act of reaching out will resonate more with many of our neighbors today than at former times.

Reaching out to a neighbor may sound scary, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be as simple as saying, “I’m just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas,” or “We can’t invite friends over for parties this year, so I wanted to call and wish you a Merry Christmas.”

Then, kindly ask how you can pray for them this Christmas season. After you are done with the call, make sure you do that step. Pray for their needs during your daily devotional time or with your family around a meal. After Christmas, call again to let them know you have been praying and ask them how they are doing. Following up is an important step that shows you listened and have been thinking about them.

This may open the door for a spiritual conversation now, or it may open the door to invite them to church with you at a later date. In the meantime, invite them to stay in touch with you and continue to pray for them.

BRINGING THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS There are many other ways to bring the hope of Christmas to your neighbors. Consider one of the following: • Send Christmas cards to people in your neighborhood with a hand-written note telling them you are thinking of them.

• Deliver a store-bought treat to your neighbors and include a gospel tract or a postcard advertising our livestream Christmas services. You can pick up both of these at the church office.

• As a family, go Christmas caroling in your neighborhood (with masks on). Be sure to stay at least six feet from the front door.

• Prayer-walk through your neighborhood. Ask God to open your neighbors’ hearts to the hope of Christmas.

• Offer to help with any physical needs you know of such as getting groceries or shoveling snow. The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated needs for many in our community.

Just as COVID didn’t steal our joy at Easter, it cannot steal our Christmas. However, many people around us will feel the negative effects of social isolation much more strongly this season and this year in particular. Don’t let COVID steal their Christmas. Through your simple act of making a phone call and offering a prayer, you can bring the hope of Christmas to your friends, neighbors and coworkers.

Lana’s Tears “The doctors said my dad is healthy!” Lana enthusiastically reported with tears of joy in her eyes. At the end of a virtual ESL class the week before, this young mother had also been in tears as she told me that she was afraid her father had cancer.

I offered to pray for her and her dad, and we had a long discussion about why Christians pray, to whom we pray and how God gives us peace in the midst of life’s darkest moments. Since that time, Lana has been participating weekly in Bible study and has told the ESL class that she thinks she will be a Christian one day. I have seen God answer prayer dramatically for those in need. Sometimes, as with Lana, it opens hearts, sometimes, hearts remain cold. Whether it results in deeper spiritual conversations or not, people have almost always responded positively when I have offered to pray for them.

–Robert Nordstrom

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I BELIEVE!

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

Mark Papierski

Many of you know me, Mark Papierski, former College Church missionary. Something you may not know about me, however, is that I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior through the outreach and preaching ministries of College Church. It is a privilege to share my story of God’s grace and how his Word, his people and his faithfulness have transformed my life and the lives of my family over the past 38 years.

I grew up in a loving family on the south side of Chicago. We attended a Roman Catholic Church every Sunday but no one in our family had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My motivation for doing good things was to please my parents, my teachers and God. I was convinced that I was going to heaven based on my good works and had even contemplated becoming a priest. However, I abandoned my Catholic faith when I left for college and was heavily influenced by my secular humanist roommate during my freshman year at the University of Illinois.

Fast forward to the fall of 1982. I was 27 years old and was the general manager of the Red Lobster restaurant when it was still located near the Fox Valley Mall. I was also an alcoholic and smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. While successful by the world’s definition, my life was a mess.

I first started attending College Church and Wheaton College chapel services through the invitation of a Wheaton College coed. She introduced me to her entire floor, and I became the focus of much attention and prayer over the next several months. She also introduced me to three men, who in turn, introduced me to Jesus Christ--Pastor Kent Hughes, C.S. Lewis and her dad.

Pastor Hughes had just started preaching through the Book of Romans. I had never been exposed to expository preaching before and became a believer between chapters seven and eight!

C.S. Lewis and his book, Mere Christianity, forced me to examine the claims of Christ and answer the question, “Is Jesus Christ a liar, a lunatic or the lord of the universe?” And finally, the college student’s dad asked me two questions that transformed my life:

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1. Have you come to the place in your spiritual life that you know for certain that if you died tonight, you would go to heaven?

2. If you were to die tonight and stand before God, and He asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven,” what would you say?

So, confronted with the truth of the gospel through the witness of the Holy Spirit and these three men, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on November 12, 1982. My life verse became Ephesians 2:8-10. After being saved by “grace through faith–not as a result of works,” my motivation for doing the “good works that God had prepared for me beforehand” changed from expecting or earning a reward to gratitude for what Christ had already done for me on the cross.

My initial call to missions came through my desire to share my newfound faith with my parents. I enrolled in Evangelism Explosion under the mentorship of Pastor Larry Fullerton and had the privilege of leading both of my parents to Christ over the

next several years. My dad accepted the Lord when he was 63 years old and read through the Living Bible three times before the Lord called him home. What’s so amazing about this is that Dad had a sixth-grade education, was legally blind in one eye, and to that point in his life, had never read a book through from cover to cover!

My life became a series of concentric circles patterned after Acts 1:8. I received power from the Holy Spirit to become his witness in my Jerusalem (my family), in all Judea (employee Bible studies at ServiceMaster) and Samaria (Billy Graham Counseling Center) and even to the remotest parts of the earth—Latin America, Haiti, Asia, Africa and Eurasia throughout our 27 years of ministry with Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global), Leadership Resources and Mission Eurasia (formerly Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries).

I could tell you many more stories of God’s grace, faithfulness and provision in our lives, but space limits me. But the encouragement here is that the Lord continues to be gracious and faithful. I was reminded of that in a very personal, tangible way just recently.

On the same day that I celebrated my 38th spiritual birthday, November 12, Marilyn and I welcomed Ethan James (our first

grandchild) into our family. Ethan is a Hebrew name that means “firm, enduring, strong and long-lived.” James is derived from the Hebrew name Jacob, which means “supplanter,” or one who follows. I learned that Psalm 89 is “A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite,” or Ethan’s Song. The first line of the psalm reads “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.”

Our prayer for our new grandson is that he too will be a firm, enduring, strong and long-lived follower of Jesus Christ and will experience the steadfast love of the Lord forever, while making known his faithfulness to all future generations!

May we all proclaim his faithfulness to future generations!

About the Author | Mark Papierski Mark served as a College Church missionary from 1990-2017. He loves spending time with family, working on scrap-wood projects in his workshop, reading and studying God's Word.

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GLOBAL VOICES

No Backseat Ministry Jeff and Ann VanDerMolen College Church missionaries Jeff and Ann VanDerMolen haven’t let ministry take a backseat during the pandemic.

We count it a privilege to be supported by you through your prayers, encouragement and finances as we serve in ministry in the Dominican Republic. This has been a challenging year for us in many ways, yet we have found God to be faithful in these challenges.

DOMINICAN SCHOOLING Ann’s first year as director of the ANIJA (a Spanish acronym for “helping the children of Jarabacoa”) school was impacted

by COVID. Teaching went virtual in March as the Dominican government took action with curfews and shutdowns to mitigate COVID. None of the ANIJA students have computers so our socalled online schooling was a mixture of homework packets sent home and connections with students on the parents’ phones. We were able to help over 100 families with food during this time and maintained good contact with most of our students.

This new school year is starting off virtually as well, and Ann has been working with her teachers in training to teach virtually.

While the DR public schools have yet to open, the ANIJA school has begun classes. Teachers are becoming proficient with technology and are doing a good job in connecting with their kids. We are unsure if the full school year will be virtual or if we will be able to have students on campus at some point next spring. Ann is doing an amazing job at the school in these challenging times!

CONSTRUCTION MINISTRY

Fall 2019, Gymnasium roof

Jeff’s life has changed dramatically since he left Kids Alive last fall. God has provided a lot of different and interesting ministry focuses for him. Jeff has helped oversee two major construction projects at the local Young Life camp. He has also worked as a volunteer consultant to complete the new dining hall and kitchen

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May 2019, Construction on the first floor

at the ANIJA and serves on two different ministry boards here in the DR. One of the most interesting opportunities has been serving as a board member for a new Christian university to be opened in the DR, most likely in 2021. All these opportunities have brought Jeff into contact with a new group of Dominicans which he has enjoyed.

PROJECT COMPLETED I ( Jeff) recently completed the construction of the final major project at the Kids Alive ANIJA School. We opened this new dining hall and kitchen a few weeks ago. While we don’t have kids back on campus yet due to COVID restrictions, we look forward to when we can use this new space with our kids (soon, we hope). Right now, we are feeding our teachers, who are on campus each day teaching virtually. As part of this project, the former dining hall and kitchen were converted into three classrooms so we gained a lot in capacity for cooking and feeding our kids as well as having better classroom capacity for the nearly 400 kids who attend the school.

College Church recently approved funds to put a well at this school. In Jarabacoa, it is common for the city water supply, which comes from local rivers, to be shut off after heavy rains due to the city water becoming muddy from rain runoff. When this happens, the water remains off for several days during which time the school’s water reserves (approximately 7,000 gallons) is used up and school needs to be cancelled until the city water is turned back on. Drilling a well on property will provide uninterrupted water supply and uninterrupted education to our students. This gift is a great encouragement to us and will better equip the school to minister to kids in more effective ways.

Ann and I are so thankful for your ongoing support for us in our ministry. Thank you for being part of our journey here in the Dominican Republic!

PE class enjoying the new court

Finished kitchen

Local Pro-Life Prayer Goes Monthly The Sanctity of Human Life Task Force invites you to pray and sing outside Planned Parenthood Aurora one Saturday a month from 1-2 p.m. in cooperation with 40 Days for Life.

What is 40 Days for Life? Peaceful prayer outside abortion facilities for the babies, clients, workers, our community and nation to end abortion locally through prayer, fasting and all-day peaceful prayer vigils outside of abortion businesses. 40 Days for Life's first coordinated campaign was in 2007 and has now expanded to 63 countries. Founders of 40 Days for Life are depicted in the movie, “Unplanned.� 40daysforlife.com/ Why pray in person? There is up to a 75 percent appointment cancellation rate when women see peaceful prayer outside an abortion facility.

Where? In Aurora. Waterleaf, an inviting Christian pregnancy resource center, was completed across the street from the abortion facility in fall 2019.

What can I expect? According to Sarah Lindquist, "We pray on Waterleaf's property across from Planned Parenthood.

There is plenty of room to socially distance. I like to have a folding chair and blanket with me. I also bring a peacefully oriented pro-life sign with me each time. Sometimes, people will drive by and yell a curse or give a rude gesture, but they have never been very close to me. Other times, they honk in approval. In the past few years, I've been going, nothing creepy or intense has happened. I do bring my children with me regularly. Parking is behind Auto Zone or by Mariano's."

When? Sarah guides prayer on one Saturday a month throughout the year. If you can't come this time, we hope you will join us soon or sign up to pray when you are available through Aurora's 40 Days for Life site (where you'll be able to see if others have signed up to pray). 40 Days for Life began a year-round prayer effort in Aurora in summer 2020. 40daysforlife.com/ aurora Visit college-church.org/sohl to sign up for the Sanctity of Human Life task force monthly emails to stay up to date with life related news and events. You can also find out more at facebook.com/40daysforlifeaurora

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LIFE LESSONS

Follow the Light John Melby At 16 years old, Russell Glazier, confined to a bed due to an illness, completed a correspondence course from the Moody Bible Institute. During that time of study, he decided to become a missionary in China. Russell did just that, serving the Lord in an opium drug-affected region of Nanking in Northern China early in World War II. Russell met Dorothea Luton soon after arriving. They became friends, were married and had four children all born in China while they both served as missionaries there. One of their children, Grace Bryer, is a member of College Church. Grace is a 1958 graduate of Wheaton College. This is a story about Grace and the Glazier family as missionaries in China.

THE MISSIONARY BEGINNING Five weeks after graduating from Moody, Russell was on a train leaving Chicago and beginning his journey to serve in northern China. Arriving in an area affected by opium and heroin, he witnessed the suffering from drug use. He knew then his ‘mission’ was to help the addicts know the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Soon, he became an administrator of a “hospital” bringing addicts to Jesus and curing them of their addictions.

While in China, Russell married Dorothea, a missionary he met in Shanghai. Dorothea had graduated from the Toronto Bible Institute and was also in China as a missionary. Eventually the Glazier family increased by four children. Their first child was Edward, followed by Eleanor, Gracie, and then Lois.

The children were, at times, separated from each other during Russell and Dorothea’s missionary work. This separation was due to the limited number of Christian English schools. In addition to his role as local missionary administrator of Nanking Hospital, Russell traveled in his teaching and evangelistic work.

Gracie was the Glaziers' third child and lived in China during her first five and a half years of life. For part of that time, she and her older siblings, Edward and Eleanor, were separated when they went off to the Chefoo school in a more northern region of China. She and her younger sister, Lois, were at home the time her dad was the administrator of the hospital. As a missionary family, at the time of war, life was a challenge for the Glazier family.

THE HOSPITAL As a mother, daily life for Dorothea became especially challenging. For example, the distance separating the addicts’ residence and the Glazier family home was only a small lawn.

Russell, Dorothea and the two girls, ages three and one, were

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near to recovering addicts, who were a generally rough group.

The proximity of family and addicts required a strong faith, especially by their mother, Dorothea.

from the local army officer in charge for the celebration to go on. To everyone’s surprise, the hospital gained approval to have the candle ceremony.

Dorothea, dedicated to her husband, her children and to the Lord’s will, prayed constantly. One prayer was for added security measures. Money for security needs would certainly help. Not long after one prayer period, a letter from the States arrived. They opened it, and it contained a money order for $70 from an unknown donor. That was a significant amount of money at the time, especially in American dollars.

Though small children were not normally allowed at such auspicious, solemn affairs, Grace was there. She clearly remembers the celebration to this day, even though she was only five and a half years old at the time. The addicts in hospital beds circled around a small Christmas tree in the middle of the room.

Doctors, nurses and staff were behind the beds holding lighted candles. Everyone sang the carol “Silent Night.”

There was no doubt in Dorothea’s and Russell’s minds that this money was an answer to their urgent prayers. God had provided for their need, as he did so often when the family was in China.

Silent night, holy night

In the addicts’ hospital, the only medicine was prayer, Scripture and faith to help bring the addicts off their drug dependence.

Following an action plan, learned from precious experience, became critical. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, when an addict committed to save him or herself, he or she walked to the bath house where the person received a clean up and fresh clothes. A friend or missionary assistant stayed with them during the drug withdrawal.

It was a cold turkey process. The pattern repeated in nearly all patients, was a deep physical distress during withdrawal.

Someone stayed with him or her and prayed and read Scriptures. Usually, the Scriptures centered on a story of the Lord's redemptive powers when he was on earth. Many times, the addicts became free from the drug curse and began their faith in Jesus. There was great rejoicing of God’s miraculous curing of the patients’ addiction.

Grace retells a story about a wealthy and educated lady in her 60s. She had been a long-term addict. When she arrived at the hospital, she was frail and sad. She committed to stopping her drug habit. The hospital staff, with the Holy Spirit, helped her recover. She became a believer in Jesus and his redemptive power.

This lady owned a hotel. After her recovery, she closed and cleaned it, and then prayed for it to again be a useful building.

Within a short period, Russell received word that a Christian seminary in another region had lost its building. They had no place to continue the school. Russell introduced the school officials to the lady. She sold the hotel to the Christian seminary group for $1. The seminary reopened at the new location, and the woman, a former drug addict now new creation, became filled with joy.

As a Christian hospital, one of the traditional customs was the annual Christmas candle celebration. The hospital staff carried candles and sang Christmas songs and then held a service in the chapel. During a time of war with the considerable tensions, few thought that the Christmas celebration was going to take place.

With dim hopes as time grew near, there was a sense of depression throughout the hospital. Russell asked permission

All is calm, all is bright 'Round yon virgin Mother and Child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight!

Glories stream from heaven afar; Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night Son of God, oh, love's pure light Radiant beams from Thy holy face With the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus, Lord at Thy birth Jesus, Lord at Thy birth Jesus, Lord at Thy birth After the Christmas celebration, patients and staff exchanged gifts. Young Gracie received one treasured gift. It was a wide, silk, chocolate brown ribbon. She remembers her mom arranging her curly blond hair with that ribbon. She also remembers how few possessions her missionary family had.

Even without many material belongings, her mom always tried to have a “pretty place,” Grace recalls, where items were tastefully and artfully arranged.

REPATRIATION After that Christmas celebration, the harsh realities of the war were prevalent. The Pearl Harbor attack occurred. Repatriation of foreigners in China was beginning. Two of the Glazier children were still in the northern region Chefoo Christian School. Local negotiations began by the authorities to complete final repatriation arrangements.

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In the meantime, the Glazier family gathered a few personal possessions. Huge army trucks drove up to the hospital entrance in Nanking to pick up the foreigners. Sometimes, parents and children became separated from each other.

That happened when Russell lost track of Gracie's hand while waiting in a crowd of missionaries and foreigners who were in a visa line. Fortunately, Gracie slipped away from the crowds and wandered into a general's office! Seeing her lost, he kindly took her hand, led her back to her father, and their passes were graciously submitted. How providential!

The American prisoners, loaded into the vehicles, said tearful goodbyes with their hospital Chinese friends. The truck convoy traveled to a railroad station in Shanghai, and the prisoners were placed in a temporary retention camp. Americans were arriving from different locations. Men, boys, women and girls were separated into groups. The conditions were often cold and rainy with constant mosquitos buzzing and biting. Families could not meet to pray or read scripture.

Russell went to the local authorities requesting that his two children in north China travel to join him at the camp. The response by the man in charge was a grunt and a dismissal of Russell from the room.

Then, a list of children’s names emerged in the camp. This list would have the names of those to be sent to the Shanghai camp. Edward and Eleanor names were not on the list. That night, Russell and Dorothea prayed fervently for God’s divine intervention. “Please God, may our children be included in that group of travelers.”

Again, Russell asked the authorities about his children. Again, the answer was the same. This time, the grunt and dismissal were given with a sarcastic grin.

Later that week, a group of children arrived from the coast.

Russell and Dorothea waited and watched anxiously. To their great joy, Edward and Eleanor were in the group! Evidently, a special message sent by the authorities to the Chefoo School allowed them to come. This was unusual. The occupiers were not known for fulfilling special requests.

Prayers answered! The missionaries knew, without a doubt, it was God who had intervened! The Glazier family became reunited and eventually were placed on the SS Gripsholm, a large ship used to transfer repatriates to America. They eventually arrived back in the States.

Russell’s words from a book he wrote: “This was a great strengthening to their faith, especially the faith of the children. We had many such answers to prayer during their childhood. It is a small wonder that two of them became missionaries in foreign lands and the other two were dedicated Christians serving the Lord in the Homeland in the places where God had placed them.”

(From the book, Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime by Russell and Dorothea Glazier, 1979) GRACE In this country and in her life, Grace has six children of her own and has lived, in addition to China, in Oregon, California and now Illinois. Grace met her husband while attending Wheaton College.

Before retiring as a teacher, she spent many years in various roles last teaching Special Education.

Grace often welcomes into her home visitors from many parts of the world. She now lives in an area with multicultural families and invites her neighbors, especially the children, into her home for food, visiting and sharing the Lord with them.

Grace has a simple and powerful prayer for all people during this Christmas season: “Follow the Light” of Jesus.

About the Author | John Melby John Melby is a member of College Church and enjoys the Men’s Bible Study. He volunteers for the facilities team and is an usher. John is retired from AT&T and Motorola and currently owns a home remodeling and repair business.

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HOLIDAY MUSING

Christmas Disgrace Lorraine Triggs

We three girls determinedly walked the six blocks to the Christmas tree lot. We were going to find the perfect tree like we did every Christmas. It was Christmas Eve and the pickings were slim. The tree lot was about to close for the season.

Cue the Hallmark movie. The beautiful young widow and her three charming daughters go to tree lot on Christmas Eve only to find that the last tree had just sold. Up steps the handsome, spiritually sensitive Christmas tree lot owner who just happens to have an eight-foot Balsam Fir and saves the day as snow falls softly from the crystal-clear night sky.

Back to my story.

Our father had died, and then, as if on cue, a week later, our cellar flooded after a storm. We three sisters waded down into the mess and pulled out boxes of Christmas ornaments. Mom had never celebrated Christmas before marrying Daddy. When she saw the damaged but rescued ornaments, we thought she would be happy.

But every ornament we saved was a painful reminder of love found and lost. Never mind. Save them we did.

So my sisters and I were headed to the tree lot against my mother’s wishes. She didn’t want a tree this Christmas, the first without her much-loved husband and our father. Her grief sat too close to the surface.

We were on our own. If we wanted the tree, then we would have to get it home and put it up ourselves.

When we got to the tree lot, we weren’t exactly charming to the owner as we went through the motions of finding the perfect tree. Too short, too scrawny, too crooked. Most of the trees looked pathetic as we repeatedly told the owner.

In a rush of Christmas charity or an overwhelming desire to get rid of us, the tree lot owner told us to hurry up, pick a tree and we could have it for free. Spurred on by his generosity, we quickly found the tree and sweetly asked if

he could tie twine around it so it would be easier to drag home. We could be charming when we wanted to.

The tree helped some, but that Christmas was closer to miserable than merry.

In his Advent devotional, Repeat the Sounding Joy, Christopher Ash writes about the disgrace of Elizabeth and Zechariah—the disgrace of childlessness. Ash writes that their disgrace is a “vivid example of the misery of living in a world under sin and the righteous judgment of God. Every sickness, every sadness, every disability is—in this sense— visible evidence that we live in a world under the righteous judgment of God.” Ash points out that we all are marked in some way with Elizabeth’s disgrace, and the “removal of this ‘disgrace’ is a sign of the kindness and mercy of God, as ‘dis-grace’ is swept away by grace.”

My mother’s marks of disgrace that year were widowhood, sorrow, little income, uncertainty. There was no Hallmark Christmas movie ending that year. Fortunately, my mother didn’t need the movie ending to Christmas. And she didn't stay there. In years to come, we shared the joy with redeemed friends and family and of rescued ornaments from the flood. (I still have a few.)

In retrospect, that first miserable Christmas was closer to grace and truth than we ever imagined.

Christmas came because the Savior had come. His grace had removed the biggest disgrace of sin. His grace would remove the disgrace of my mom’s poverty and sorrow, not with a Christmas windfall but with the Christmas affirmation that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” ( John 1:14) Miserable or merry, Christmas comes to us full of grace and truth, full of promise of salvation and righteousness, full of grace.

About the Author | Lorraine Triggs Before serving in Kindergarten Bible School on Sunday and answering the church phone during the week, Lorraine Triggs spent many years as a Sunday school and club curriculum editor, worked in communications for missions and ministries and did freelance editing for authors/ publishers. She doesn't really have anything against Hallmark Christmas movies.

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LIFE LESSONS

Downsizing to Death Leland Ryken

This article grew from a talk Dr. Ryken gave to the Joint Heirs adult community.

Last week before class Jeff Peltz came to me beaming as though he were offering me the deal of a lifetime. It turned out to be a request to share a devotional with the Joint Heirs Adult Community. I was totally taken aback and asked what I should talk about. The joint wisdom of Jeff and my wife was that I should talk about my current experience, so that is what I did.

Through the years, the word downsizing has been for me a lifeless, ho-hum word holding absolutely no existential terror.

Well, that was then and now is now. As 18th-century English author Samuel Johnson said, "Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."

empty my crawl space. At first, I could not even imagine that such a thing could be done. Then I invoked Harvey Chrouser's motto that "life is ninety percent attitude." Faced with my crawl space crisis, I adjusted my attitude, emptied my crawl space, and have been unable to use half of my garage ever since because it contains what I removed from my crawl space.

Mary and I are in the process of downsizing in preparation for a move to Windsor Park Manor early in the month. It has had the effect of concentrating our minds wonderfully.

So, my human wisdom that I offer to you, as I march to my metaphoric gallows, is the encouragement to make downsizing a state of mind over the long haul and not just a state of panic at the end. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might" (9:10). I am glad that I did that. Still: for the past two weeks I have taught Henry David Thoreau's book Walden to my home school class. At one point, Thoreau expresses his scorn for people's accumulation of possessions by exclaiming, "We no longer camp as for a night, but have settled down on earth and forgotten heaven." Perhaps I can offer the paradigm of downsizing as a perpetual process.

I will say something about what the process is like, a bit of human wisdom that I have acquired as the process has unfolded, and a spiritual principle that we all need to embrace.

For me, the process of downsizing and reaching the end of my public years has been a series of little deaths. This began already as I wrapped up my fulltime teaching career and was aware day by day that I would never teach this or that work of literature again, and never show an accompanying slide show again. In the past three months, virtually every morning as I have gone to school to work in my shared office, I have removed from my storage room at home three slide carousels, or three teaching notebooks, or ten files from my file cabinets, and pitched them into a dumpster outside of Blanchard Hall.

This past week my file cabinets and home desk of 45 years were hauled off by Junk King.

Junk King has become one of the heroes in my life. Through the years, when I have seen trucks with the words "Got Junk?" on the side, it has struck me as totally crass. I have also experienced it is an invasion of my privacy: it is no one's business to know if I have junk. But when I saw a red truck with the words "Junk King," and the image of a crown, I thought to myself, "This invites."

Each discard has been a little death—the termination of something of great value in itself but that has no further use for anyone. The most traumatic event to date was to learn that [a] I needed to have a radon mitigation system installed and [b] much worse, that a membrane needed to be placed over my entire crawl space floor and as part of that I needed to totally

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The human wisdom that I carry away from my accumulations and their discard is not that I was wrong to accumulate what I did, including my teaching and research materials, but that I should have monitored how much of everything I was accumulating. I have uncovered much that I did not know I owned. It was self-defeating not to keep tabs on what I owned.

The spiritual principle I have seen reinforced in recent years is the need for acceptance. Primarily for me at this stage of life it is acceptance of the temporality of human existence. Through the years I have quoted the following sentence in my classes, gleaned from a book titled The Restoration of Meaning to Contemporary Life: "There is something profoundly disquieting in the temporality of our existence." For poets, that statement is true.

I could compile a small anthology of poems that lament and protest and express anxiety about the passing of time and human mutability.

I submit that the temporality of existence should not be profoundly disquieting to a Christian. The world's most famous poem on the subject of time is the one found in Ecclesiastes 3, on the theme that there is a time for every matter under heaven. The poem is a catalog of opposites, and the pair that is closest to the experience of downsizing is the statement that there is "a time to keep, and a time to cast away."

I believe that the unstated theme of this poem on a time for everything is acceptance or resignation. We live in a time-

bound world. Instead of raging against it, we need to accept it as God's provision for human life.

In addition to accepting time, we need to accept death when it comes. It is probably 35 years ago that the adult Sunday school class at Bethel Presbyterian Church devoted a quarter to the subject of aging and death. One Sunday a hospital chaplain spoke, and he devoted one of his modules to outlining the stages of dying. The last stage is acceptance, and as a kind of side comment the speaker said that this moment of acceptance "can be a beautiful experience." That observation made in passing has stayed with me through the years. I have pondered what would make the acceptance of one's death a beautiful experience.

When my mother died and my sister and I pondered her comments about what she wanted at her funeral, we found that she not only shared her thoughts but, as was characteristic of her, also some of the thought process that she went through.

Again it was a specific statement that has stood out for me, as follows: "I asked myself, What is the most important thing in life? The forgiveness of sins." When I asked the funeral director what he thought about importing that verbatim into the obituary, he said that he thought it was great.

It is indeed great to trust in Jesus as our Savior from sin, and preeminently as we face our death.

About the Author | Leland Ryken College Church member Leland Ryken has served as an elder and an elementary Bible school teacher in Kids’ Harbor. He also has served as professor of English at Wheaton College for over 50 years.

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GLOBAL VOICES

The Best Thing that Ever Happened Jeff King “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 (ESV) “I just got my satellite dish a week ago, and I want to pray to receive Christ.”

Hormoz, the leader and host of an Iranian satellite TV ministry, sat in shock on the receiving end of the line.

The voice on the phone belonged to an obscure Muslim villager in Iran. It wasn’t rare for a Muslim Iranian to convert to Christianity after hearing the gospel from his Christian television program, but, making such a bold and illegal proclamation on air was a death-wish.

Iran’s Islamic government seeks to control every aspect of its citizens’ lives, from clothing and speech to internet access and religious affiliation. Swift and severe punishment quickly follows any perceived threat to the regime, especially involving the advancement of Christianity.

But in the age of internet and satellite TV the government is losing control.

In 1994, the government passed a law that banned the use and ownership of satellite dishes. Under the Iranian constitution, radio and television were to be “aligned with the course of perfection of the Islamic Revolution and served the promotion of Islamic culture, and to this end benefit from the health collision of different ideas and seriously avoid spreading and propagating destructive and anti-Islamic tenets” That didn’t stop rogue Christian broadcasters like Hormoz and others from blasting the gospel into Iran from space. One research center estimated that renegade TV stations like his reach 70% of Iranian households.

“Do you know who Jesus is?” Hormoz asked the man.

“Jesus is God.” The man answered.

“What? In one week, you came to understand that? It takes years for people to overcome that hurdle!” Hormoz exclaimed, amazed.

Jesus’s death and resurrection as the reincarnate God is the demarcation line between Christianity and Islam. Muslims consider Jesus to be merely a prophet of Allah. His deity is the biggest stumbling block for Muslims in coming to Christ.

“Jesus told me himself. I slept and he came to me in my dreams,” said the Iranian.

His nine-year-old son was dying of cancer and when he brought him home from the hospital to live out his last days on earth around family. He felt utterly forsaken by Islam and Allah, in whom he had believed.

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“Doctors couldn’t do anything, nor could praying to all the saints of Islam. I watched your program and got a little bit of hope. I went to take a shower, and in the shower, I just cried, ‘Jesus you have to save my son’s life. Jesus appeared to me and said, ‘It’s done, it’s done.’ Three months ago, our son was healed.”

That day, another Iranian joined the ranks of Jesus’s followers, knowing full well that that he would probably pay dearly for his decision.

Another man called into Hormoz’s program asking to receive Christ on air. He said, “I have sincerely followed Islam and for 30 years done everything that I could. Now I look at it objectively hasn’t done anything for my life, I don’t have peace. I look at the society after 30 years, and it is worse off now… [there is] more corruption, prostitution, and drug addiction. Islam doesn’t do anything for my society, so it’s not the way. I want to pray to receive Christ.”

This man is one of many Iranians who turned their backs on Islam once Iran’s Islamic Republic failed to bring the restoration to Iran that it promised.

THE APPEAL OF THE GOSPEL Today, Iran is a house built on shifting sand. Despite its immense oil wealth, it is an economic basket case. Its leaders steal oil revenues and use them for military outreach and influence, ultimately to encircle and destroy Israel.

Iran sits next door to Afghanistan, the world’s number-one producer of heroin. Much of that heroin flows through but also ends up in Iran, creating a nation of junkies who rely on crime and prostitution to feed their habits.

Islam has no answer to the pervasive hopelessness that stems from such a toxic culture.

Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy—and he has done a masterful job in Iran.

Imagine what happens when a nation of spiritually starving people encounters Jesus. They come to life for the first time and tell everyone!

Since then, the church has been systematically hunted, imprisoned, and tortured, by the Islamic Republic. That being said, you can imagine my surprise when Hormoz told me, “the best thing that ever happened to Iran was Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic” during our interview, years ago.

God is the antithesis of Satan. He comes to bring life and restoration. He brings the dead to life!

IRAN’S SECRET SPIRITUAL HISTORY

The gospel, blast throughout Iran via satellite TV. provided Iranians with a message of hope and peace. Phrases like “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” are so antithetical to the Islamic teachings that they stand out against the dark context of Islamic “an-eye-for-an-eye” culture. These snippets of Christianity seen on old, crackling televisions were enough to draw hundreds of thousands of Iranian souls into the fold.

Given more time they said, “Islam is the way, but we have the wrong leadership.”

A HUNTED CHURCH The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, singlehandedly created a living nightmare for Christians when he introduced Sharia law to Iran in 1979.

He promised to create a bright and shining Islamic city on a hill that would violently bring the whole world to Islam.

Over time, Muslim Iranians began to lose faith in their leadership. They said, “Iran is the way, but our leaders need time to work things out.”

Finally, after decades of decay, oppression, and corruption, they now say, “Islam is the problem.”

Through satellite waves and prophetic dreams, God is forging his way into Iran’s dark Islamic Republic, demonstrating his power over principalities and governments, rulers and authorities.

This is the secret story of Iran and why the gospel is converting so many in Iran.

About the Author | Jeff King Jeff King is the president of International Christian Concern (ICC). This article is reprinted with his permission. It is a devotional from his 40 Day Challenge of online devotionals. ICC is a primary source for our weekly prayer requests for our Friday prayer meeting for the persecuted church.

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BOOK CORNER

Best Books 2020

Becky Sandberg, board of missions

Jeremy Taylor, elder

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund

God and the Pandemic by N. T. Wright.

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isobel Wilkerson

This short book is easy to read in one or two sittings and gives great insight into the appropriate role of the church during a time of crisis. I was particularly struck

by Wright’s treatment of Acts 11, where the church in Antioch of Syria responds to the prophecy about an upcoming famine by collecting relief funds for the church in Jerusalem. Rather than looking for a scapegoat or making dire predictions about the end of the world, the church simply asked who would be most affected by the crisis and then decided to act in response.

How are we at College Church responding to COVID? Are we looking to point fingers?

Are we issuing doomsday proclamations?

Or are we identifying those in our community and beyond who are most adversely affected and then finding ways to lovingly show Christ to them? I hope those observing us can see by our actions and our attitudes how much we care for others.

Ben Panner, college pastor Enjoying God by Tim Chester Cheryce Berg, director of children’s ministries Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin Parenting by Paul David Tripp Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund Show Them Jesus by Jack Klumpenhower The Steward Leader by R. Scott Rodin Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton Curt Miller, missions pastor Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Diebler Rose Dan Hiben, middle school pastor A Merciful and Faithful High Priest: Studies in the Book of Hebrews by Martyn Lloyd-Jones I have been reading this set of Lloyd-Jones' sermons devotionally as I go through the book of Hebrews. It has been very encouraging, pushing me to live out the truths I'm reading.

Eric Channing, pastor of congregational care and family ministries The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer.

John Stott Biography, vol 1 by Timothy Dudley-Smith Leading Change by John P. Kotter

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Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon by Robert Kurson The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch Kat Haase, culture impact committee chair The Church and Its Vocation: Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology by Michael W. Goheen Evangelism in a Skeptical World by Sam Chan Lorraine Triggs, nominating committee Gentle and Lowly by Dane Orlund Ditto what Josh Stringer said, “right book at the right time for me.” And I read more fiction than non-fiction, so that’s an endorsement in itself.

Jon DeLew, board of missions

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

I really enjoyed Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard which is the historical account of Winston Churchill and his exploits during the Boer War.

Historical fiction (my true love when it

Josh Maurer, pastoral resident

Mark Bodett, board of missions

Can We Trust the Gospels? by Peter J. Williams

Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher

Josh Stringer, pastor of discipleship

This is a book written to Christians to

Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund Much of the impact of a book in a person’s life depends on the circumstances when he or she reads it. This was the right book at the right time for me.

The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson (four-book series).

The Care of Souls by Harold L. Senkbeil

comes to reading) about the women who created and made Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown.

prepare them for living under "soft" persecution.

Mary Nellessen, deaconess A book I enjoyed in 2020 is The Lucky Few by Heather Davis. It is an inspiring story of adoption, as Heather and her husband adopted three children—two that have Down syndrome and one whose heritage is Guatemalan-African American.

It is an encouragement to me as the mother of two daughters from China.

Check back in our January 2021 issue for more Best Books 2020.. Many of these titles are available at our online bookstore at 10ofthose.com/us/partners/collegechurch. Other gift ideas are there as well.

MILESTONES Marriages & Births

Condolences

• Rose Theodora Oslund was born to Zach and Olivia Oslund on November 16. Rose's maternal grandparents are Jon and Terri Penner and her paternal grandparents are Jeff and Alison Oslund.

• Pray for family and friends of Ellie Eklund, who passed away on November 19.

• Ethan James was born to Josh and Sarah Borowick on November 12. The family lives in Carol Stream. Ethan’s maternal first-time grandparents are Mark and Marilyn Papierski.

• Pray for Annette Strauch and family as they grieve the loss of Annette’s father, Richard (Dick) Pagels, who passed away on November 9.

• Owen Jeffrey Oslund was born to JJ and Michelle Oslund on October 9. Owen joins big stister Annika. His paternal grandparents are Jeff and Alson Oslund.

• Pray for Mary (Gregg) Quiggle and family as they grieve the loss of Mary's father, Terry Neff, on November 19.

• Pray for Vicki (Mark) Weeden and family as they grieve the loss of Vicki’s father, Dale Wilson, who passed away on November 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

332 E. Seminary, Wheaton, IL 60187 • Phone: (630) 668-0878 • www.college-church.org Connections is a monthly newsletter published for and about the people of College Church.

Send news items and suggestions to: connections@college-church.org.

Take advantage of events—some one-time, some ongoing—that are taking place around town this month. Also, keep Connections in mind to promote a community event to the College Church family. Send event information by the following dates to connections@college-church.org.

For the December issue: November 7 | For the January issue: December 7 | For the February issue: January 9 Our Pastors, Directors and Residents: Eric Channing, pastor of congregational care and family ministries | Cheryce Berg, director of children’s ministries | Julie Clemens, director of disability ministries | Erik Dewar, pastor of worship and music | Zach Fallon, senior high pastor | Dan Hiben, middle school pastor | Tim Hollinger, technology director | Diane Jordan, director of visitation and care | Howard Kern, facilities director | Josh Maurer, pastorial resident | Curt Miller, missions pastor | Josh Moody, senior pastor | Ben Panner, college pastor | Mindy Rynbrandt, director of women’s ministries | John Seward, executive pastor | Nancy Singer, director of administration and finance | Mike Solis, pastoral resident | Josh Stringer, pastor of discipleship | Wil Triggs, director of communications | Michael Walker, pastoral resident Our Council of Elders: David Bea | Howard Costley | Dave Gieser, vice chair | Randy Jahns| Heinrich Johnsen | Dan Lindquist | Josh Moody, senior pastor | Phil Nussbaum | Tom Nussbaum | Jeremy Taylor | Mark Taylor, chair | Tad Williams | Rob Wolgemuth, secretary

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