2023 January Tapestry

The First

Baptist Church of Redlands

TAPESTRY

Jan 2023 Issue No.1

Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2

Ready for a New Year

A

Message from Pastor Shawn

Is that a question? Is it a statement of fact? Is it a goal?

For me it is all of the above. The answer is that I am definitely ready for 2022 to be in the history books. There were a lot of great things that went on this past year. We had some amazing people on staff this year, some of them working temporarily and others that have joined the staff, hopefully, for a long time! All have contributed to the life and ministry of our church in so many ways. We have had people within our church family step up and take on ministry through teaching and leading, music and worship, and all sorts of service. We have welcomed new people into our church family and we have watched our young people grow and share in new ways in the life of our church. I know that I could go on. But there were some real challenges this past year. The transition in staff was not always easy. In some ways, we have had a difficult time planning ahead and working on new things.

Am I ready for a new year? Not all the ducks are in a row, as yet, but we are working on it. I am excited to be having a staff retreat during the second week of January. We will be doing some team building and we will be doing some strategic planning. We will look over all of the data that has come in through the focus groups and interest groups and begin to figure out where everything needs to go. There have also been some things that have been in

the back of my mind, waiting for the right people and the right timing to explore, and I am excited to be able to put some of those things on the table. Please pray for us as we meet as a staff, that it will be the beginning of some new things that will help us to grow as a congregation and as an instrument in the hands of God.

Finally, to be ready for a new year is definitely a goal. The envisioning process that we have done over the last couple of years has already had an impact on the new year. It has significantly influenced our choices in staff. We are already working on educational activities to help us to become more welcoming to more people and to have our words and actions match our hearts. We are planning an all-church retreat at Catalina Island and other opportunities for service near and far. And we are dreaming about ways that we can impact our local community more directly. All this must be steeped in prayer and a posture of listening, to God and each other.

Are you ready for the New Year? Let us enter this new year with thanksgiving for what God is doing in our lives, for God’s presence and guidance, for what God has in store. No matter what happens–and things WILL happen that we don’t anticipate–the message of Christmas has been Emmanuel, God with us. Let us walk in the reality of God’s presence in our lives each day of this New Year!

Happy New Year!

Pastor Shawn

COVER MINISTRY

1 A Message from Pastor Shawn: “Ready for a New Year”

2 Staff and Contents

3 Sara Tharpe: “Ministry Updates“

STAFF

Rev. Dr. Shawn Zambrows Senior Pastor

Glenn Molina Associate Pastor of Arts in Worship and Community Life

Sara Swift Tharpe Associate Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Community Life

Angel Florence Church Administrator

Stephen Stark Senior Maintenance Custodian

MISSION

5 Worldwide Prayer Concerns: India, Zambia, Nicaragua

6 Submitted by Gregg Sneller, by Moise Joseph and Deliris Carrion-Joseph: “TJ Border Ministries”

8 Kay Kallander and Gregg Sneller: “International Ministries Projects”

NEWS

10 Church News 11 January Calendar

Sally Rehfeldt Organist

Isa Terrell Communications Specialist Rhiannon Fisher Youth Director

Abby Kishimoto Children’s Ministry Associate

Jared Sumners Intern for Young Adult Ministry

The Tapestry is published monthly by The First Baptist Church of Redlands, 51 West Olive Avenue, Redlands, CA 92373.

All material for the Tapestry should be typed and emailed no later than the 15th of each month to tapestry@fbcredlands.org.

If you would like to be added or removed from the Tapestry mailing list, please email tapestry@fbcredlands.org. Current and previous Tapestry issues are available in digital format at issuu.com/fbcr.

Contact us: admin@fbcredlands.org 909-793-3289 www.fbcredlands.org

Office Hours

Monday - Thursday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Ministry Updates

by Sara Swift Tharpe

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2023!! Thank you for so warmly welcoming me and my family to FBCR. I am excited to begin a brand new year in ministry with you. See below what we have in store to kick off 2023 and be on the lookout for more information and further updates as we go!

Blessings, Pastor Sara Children’s

Sundays

Ministry

Beginning January 8th

Nursery Care

9:00 - 11:30 AM

God’s Kids (Kinder - 2nd grade) 9:00-11:30 AM

We will continue to dive into our Deep Blue curriculum and explore the Bible through story, art, and movement. Snacks and additional activities offered during worship.

Junior Disciples (3rd-5th grade)

9:00 AM

Music with God’s Kids will be followed by Sunday School. JD teachers will be sharing their new curriculum beginning January 8th.

10:15 AM Worship* (Children’s worship bulletins offered)

*Stay tuned for more information about worship alternatives for JD’s beginning in February!

Wednesday Nights

Compassion in Action

Beginning January 11th

5:30 PM

Let’s imagine and learn together what it means to show compassion to others and to love like God through music, art, story, and ACTION.

Special Events

Be on the lookout for information about a Family Fellowship event in February. It’s going to be YUMMY!

Youth Ministry Sundays

Sunday School

9:00 AM

Come take a deeper look at the Bible with Pastor Sara and Brad, when and where it was created, what was happening in the world at that time, and ask some of the hard questions.

BYF

11:45 AM - 2:00 PM

Special Events

Youth & Families Meet n’ Greet

Sunday, January 8th

11:30 AM

Grab a snack from the Fellowship Time and join us in the Youth Room to share all about the Youth program – hopes, dreams, what you love, where we can improve

Youth Winter Retreat @ Camp Cedar Crest

January 27th - 29th

Final deadline for registration and payment is Friday, January 13th. Please see Rhiannon for more details.

Youth Christmas Lock-in Fun

Adult Ministry Sundays

Beginning January 8th

9:00 AM

The Lectionary Learning Community

The Heritage Room

A community of learners exploring the lectionary passages for the week

The Agape Class

Judson Hall

This class will be reading and discussing Diana Butler Bass’s book. “Christianity After Religion” beginning in January. Books are available for $20.

Wednesday Nights

Beginning January 8th 9:00 AM

Drive Through the Bible

The Heritage Room

Led by Bert Meelker & Kathy Alexander

A Study of the Book of Ephesians

David’s Corner

Led by Pastor Shawn

Topical Book Study

“Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate” by Justin Lee Judson Hall

Led by Pastor Sara

Worldwide Prayer Concerns

“But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.”

Hebrews 10:32-33

International Christian Concerns

Pray for a group of Christians who were arrested in the state of Uttar Pradesh when a wedding reception was raided by police. A pastor was hosting a reception for his daughter and her new husband, and was joined by other pastors for the celebration. The authorities burst in, claiming that the gathering was a conversion program and ignoring their pleas to the contrary, and arrested the nine pastors and the new couple for violating the state’s anti-conversion law. Pray for Christians in this region who are suffering under this unjust law and fear that any gathering may be targeted by the government. Pray for them to remain strong in their faith and for God to deliver them from this oppression.

IndIA ZAMbIA

World Vision

Praise God for the work that World Vision is doing in Zambia to transform people’s lives through helping families learn to care for livestock. The recent World Vision magazine shared the story of how Vivienne and her family saw their lives transformed by the gift of goats. Six years ago, Vivienne and her husband Martin were struggling to survive, earning less than a dollar a week by doing odd jobs and struggling to feed their seven children. In addition, her children were not able to afford to go to school. But in 2018 ,World Vision invited her to participate in a goat-rearing program. Her family was one of 60 in the local community that was given 5 goats, along with training to know how to raise them and keep them healthy. Her children immediately benefitted from being able to drink the goats’ milk and in less than a year, her flock had grown to a total of 8. In 2019, she and Martin were able to sell a few goats and begin growing crops, using the manure as fertilizer. At the end of 2019, with her goat herd up to 23, she was able to give 5 goats to a woman in her community who had been recently widowed so that she could provide for her family. By 2020, Vivienne and Martin were growing vegetables for their family table as well as maize and groundnuts, which they were able to sell to Zambia’s Food Reserve Agency. She learned more about how to manage money through a savings group and now has a herd of 15 cows, 70 goats, and 43 chickens. And she is now able to afford to send her four younger children to school! In just a few years, this family has gone from skipping meals due to lack of food to being able to share out of their abundance. Praise God for the work of World Vision in this community as it acts as the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing God’s transforming hope into the lives of those who need it most.

nICArAgUA

Pray for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua which is facing a worrisome trend of restrictions and repression from the government of President Daniel Ortega. Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who has protested the government’s silencing of political opponents and limiting of civil rights, was arrested and jailed in August. In the past year there have been about a dozen other priests who have also been arrested. In March 2022, the Vatican’s diplomatic envoy to Nicaragua was expelled and over the summer a number of Catholic television and radio stations were shut down. In December, a procession that was planned to celebrate the Immaculate Conception was canceled by the National Police. Many of these crackdowns are part of a larger effort by the government to limit dissent towards President Ortega’s regime. Even the US State Department has recognized Nicaragua as a violator of religious freedom. Pray for all Christians in Nicaragua to be able to worship freely and work for justice without being arrested. Pray that God’s Holy Spirit would be ministering to those in prison, filling them with hope and peace despite their situation.

- Jonathan Peske

If you have information to share about the persecuted church or news from the mission field, please share it with Jonathan Peske.

RealClearPolitics.com

TJ border Ministries

by IM Global Servants - Moise Joseph and Deliris Carrion- Joseph

Migrant Ministries

This year we joined efforts with a Catholic Vocational School for migrants. They have the building we dreamed of, but it was difficult for them to recruit students. Since June, Moise has being promoting the school and recruiting students in the Haitian churches and shelters we serve. Every Saturday, Moise transports 16 Haitians students that come from different Tijuana neighborhoods.

We are now in the process of searching for a suitable place to establish a multi-use community center for Haitian migrants.

This is a BIG dream!

The center will served as a place to worship God in their own tradition, something that is difficult to do when they are sharing facilities with local churches. There they will receive Orientation about Mexican immigration, Psychological, and Occupational Therapy along with other services they may need while they are in this part of their journey.

deborah’s House

We have served a total of 23 families during the last 10 months. Eight families lived in Deborah’s house for more than 6 months, one family for 18 months. They received spiritual, medical, psychological, and legal help. During the month of June seven of those families returned to their families, far away from their oppressors. We have also served migrant women coming from El Salvador, Guatemala and Ecuador. Seven families legally crossed to the USA to follow the asylum process.

Words of Thanks

We want to express our deepest gratitude to our ABC family, and loving donors for your faithful support towards our ministries. Thanks for your prayers, words of support, and offerings. Thank you for the visits and many donations we have received from your churches. Your companionship and love keep us believing we are in the place God wanted us to be. When we returned to Tijuana, the Evergreen Baptist Church of Los Angeles gave us a 15 passenger van. The van has been a blessing without words to describe. It has served as transportation for school, church, hospital, the crossings of many donations for Deborah’s House and the Migrant’s ministries and even as wedding limousine. GOD IS AWESOME!

HAPPY J A n UA rY b I r TH d AYS TO...

1 Milton Baidya 1 Jacob Molina 1 Lori Powell 2 Olivia (Vivi) Molina 2 Sam Zureick 3 Rhys Jones 5 Joseph DeRoulhac 5 Carolyn Sullivan 6 Dori Dominguez 6 Seth Medlin 7 Janie Mendoza 9 Taylor Herron 9 Joyce Smith 10 Judy Miller 10 Riley Miller

Nina Zureick

Natalie Olson

Brian Wolfe 16 Craig Baker 16 Mike Freire 16 Michael Harmon 22 Aidan Huynh

Sanjeet Mann 24 Johnie Nottingham 26 Cathy Zander 28 Mark Estey 29 Elise Huynh

Wedne S d AY dI nner Men U

January 11

Chicken and Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Veggies; Carrot Cake for dessert.

January 18

Penne Pasta with sausage, Roasted Veggies; Cobbler for dessert.

January 25

Oved Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese, Veggies; Lemon Cake for dessert.

Submissions for the Tapestry should be sent to tapestry@fbcredlands.org by the 15th of each month.

P OI n S e TTIA d ed ICATIO n S

Debbie Crowley in memory of Pam Daniel and Marge Emrick

Martha Hone-Warren in memory of Cherylin Hedrick

Sandy Pickett in memory of Rev Norvall, Jean Pickett, & Opal Pickett

Tom Kirkpatrick in memory of Marilyn Kirkpartrick

The Bakers in memory of Albert Baker

The Bakers in memory of Jack and Doris East

The Bakers in memory of Mike Coleman

Cathy Zander in memory of Paul Zandr

Cathy Zander in memory of Linda Richardson

Cathy Zander in memory of Bob More

The Craw Family in memory of Jim and LaRita Craw

The Craw Family in memory of Speed and Sue Ferris

Peske Family in memory of Paula Keen

Martha Hone-Warren in memory of Harriet and Ralph Hone

Amy DeDoes in memory of Paul Zander

Kronberg Family in memory of Bjorn Nordberg

~

Paige and Sanjeet Mann in honor of Judy and Harold Fujisue

The Bakers in honor of Allie and John Baker

The Miller Family in honor of Jean Miller

Pray for Selflessness Friday

8 a.m. Walking for the Health of It

Pray for Forgiving Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

7 p.m. Commission Meetings

5:30 p.m. Gatherings 6:30 p.m. Dinner 7:15 p.m. Choir Practice Young Adult Gathering

Pray for Nicaragua Saturday

6:30 p.m. The Corner Booth on Zoom 6:30 p.m. The Corner Booth on Zoom 6:30 p.m. The Corner Booth on Zoom 6:30 p.m. The Corner Booth on Zoom Monday

9:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes 10:15 a.m. Worship in-person: Sanctuary and Livestreamed 11:45 a.m. BYF

Pray for Wisdom

9:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes 10:15 a.m. Worship in-person: Sanctuary and Livestreamed 11:45 a.m. BYF

9:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes 10:15 a.m. Worship in-person: Sanctuary and Livestreamed 11:30 a.m. Diaconate, Boardrm 11:45 a.m. BYF

Pray for Fellowship

9:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes 10:15 a.m. Worship in-person: Sanctuary and Livestreamed 11:45 a.m. BYF Annual Meeting

9:00 a.m. Sunday School Classes 10:15 a.m. Worship in-person: Sanctuary and Livestreamed 11:45 a.m. BYFNew Year’s Day -

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