WITNESS: May 1, 2013

WITNESS Vol. XXIII, No. 2

Pa r k C i t i e s P r e s by t e r i a n C h u r c h

MAY 2013

(Presbyterian Church in America)

Students serve in Austin see page 10

“And to Him was given dominion and glory and a Kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

—Daniel 7:14 Finding hope and healing in sorrow 2

God made both the seeing eye and the hearing ear 4

Vivaldi concert highlights youth choirs

Art as an expression of worship 3

A journey of struggle and redemption to the Cliburn 6

Students drop the “project” to minister and learn 9

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Hearts and flowers for our senior adults New PCPC missionaries

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A new vision for your home 12

Despairing and wounded And in need of hope and healing That was the state of many in our church family as we gathered Sunday afternoon, February 17.

Men and women filled the Fellowship Hall, bringing their grieving, questioning hearts after experiencing the deaths of loved ones over the previous two months, capped off by the shock of Harriet Deison’s suicide just after Christmas. How does the Gospel bring hope and healing to such devastating losses?

Every death of someone we love brings us to the very foundation of our faith in God; yet a suicide, especially of a pastor’s wife (Pete Deison’s), a woman who has walked with God, shared her faith, and led Bible studies—how does that happen? Was she depressed before it happened? What kind of help did she have? Were her friends and family aware of her extreme pain?

Where was God in all of this? How is Pete handling this? And, on a personal level, if this could happen to Harriet, what about me? Sometimes I get depressed. These and many other questions were on the minds of many in our church family.

Just after Harriet’s memorial service, women began to call and say, “We have to do something to encourage people. So many are hurt and confused by this suicide.” The urgency in their voices was apparent, their maternal hearts reeling with both fear and compassion for what women were discussing and questioning. When we took these issues and our ideas to “fix” the problem to Mark Davis, he wisely responded, “We need to pray first, and seek God’s wisdom.”

The result was a gathering of people in the chapel in late January to pray. Of all the prayer gatherings 2

I’ve been a part of in my life, this one was my favorite. Hearts were crying out to God, humbly seeking His face, “Lord, please bring us healing, and please show us how to comfort one another.”

God clearly answered our prayers for direction soon afterwards. The decision was made to first gather our church members together to see how they were doing and offer an opportunity to hear directly from Pete. He tearfully told us of Harriet’s 35-year struggle with depression and the many ways God has been answering prayers for him and his family’s comfort.

Next, we gave people opportunities to ask questions to a panel consisting of Elizabeth Ritz (a Christian counselor), Elizabeth Robinson, and David Newman. Mark Davis moderated the discussion as question after question was addressed regarding mental illness, depression, and how to live in encouraging, biblical fellowship with one another. Each shared honestly, but none more poignant than Mark, who told his own history of struggling with anxiety and panic attacks. He said, “And do you know what I do when I feel that level of fear coming back again? I talk to that dear friend on the end, David Newman.

He reminds me of what is true and points me to the Lord.”

So many of us need to know the hope and healing of Christ where we grieve and suffer. I believe God’s will for us as a church family is to resist our normal reflexes of hiding and protecting our wounds and in some ways thinking, “Good, that event is over. Life is busy, let’s move on.” But that would be such a waste of these painful events.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

—Romans 8:37-39

God’s ways are to take every pain, every grief, and every disappointment that comes into our lives and transform it into something so powerfully hopeful that God is glorified beyond what we can ever imagine. We must continue living our lives together as a church family, being honest with one another, pointing one another to the hope that doesn’t disappoint us, and praying with and for each other.

What do we do next in this pursuit of Gospel hope and healing? Be a part of a small group where you can learn God’s Word and deeply fellowship with one another. Many are offered currently in Sunday school communities and Bible studies. Watch for news regarding two summer studies for women, one on childhood sex abuse and the other on basic wrestling with wanting to be happy. The PCPC Counseling Ministry is also available to guide you (214-224-2693 or counseling@ pcpc.org).

—Kari Stainback MAY 2013 • PCPC WITNESS

Seeing the Potter’s hands at work

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We met in college when he was throwing pots and she was interested in creative activities. Throughout life together our work has taken us to many places around the world where we have seen art and met artists.

When we travel we invariably seek out museums, galleries, art shows, and concerts where we see and hear new things. We have collected art and have produced art works for those closest to us. Art has been a constant presence, and it has enriched us as Christians.

Les and Jeanne Wyatt Shortly after we relocated our home to Dallas in 2010, we went to an exhibition and sale at the Creative Arts Center to see some original work produced by local artists. A large ceramic pot that had an inscription from the Psalms captured our interest. The potter told us that he had made the piece to be entered into a juried show based upon a biblical theme at PCPC. That really captured our interest to learn that a local church would invite participation by producing artists who were not necessarily members, but who sought to praise God through their work.

Later we saw an ad in the newspaper about the PCPC art exhibit and decided that we would come see the show on a Sunday morning. Quite by chance we arrived early enough to attend our first-ever worship service in a Presbyterian church. We saw the exhibit after the service and realized that the worship experience was continued through the images we saw and themes we recognized, which greatly impressed us. But we felt drawn to reenter the Sanctuary to repeat the earlier service: same hymns, same sermon, and same wonderful feeling to be where people gathered to exuberantly worship the Lord and to proudly (and loudly) praise Him. We had found our place for worship in addition to seeing the art exhibit.

Since then, we have continued our association with PCPC and have come to enjoy and appreciate the activities and events of the Art+Spirit Committee. We have happily experienced our introduction to the culture of Presbyterian worship and beliefs, we have found a very special Bible class, we have met some wonderful friends in the congregation, and we have brought our families to join the worship services which we have found to be so important in our lives. We have found a group of believers at PCPC we would like to include in our journey with the Lord.

In a real way, our lifelong experiences in the arts have heightened our awareness of the values of creativity and the human spirit. We acknowledge that these are gifts of God, originally given to us as creatures in His image. PCPC supports, conserves, and promotes

PCPC WITNESS • MAY 2013

2013 PCPC ARTS FESTIVAL

All visual artists are encouraged to submit up to two works.

Rules and details are at at www.pcpcartsfestival.com.

Registration begins August 1.

Show dates are November 8–17.

Themes are based on Micah 6:8: 1. Live justly 2. Love mercy 3. Walk humbly with your God. Cash Awards are given for Best of Theme and Viewers’ Choice.

If you would like to serve on the Visual Arts Committee or have questions about the Festival, contact lawan.glasscock@pcpc.org or 214-224-2739. the intrinsic importance of the arts in our lives through the programs we share in music, visual arts, written materials, and frequent exchanges of creative thought and expression.

PCPC is remarkable for its recognition of performance and exhibition of the arts as important ways to express our worship of the Lord.

When we came to Dallas we were not sure what brought us here. We have come to realize that we were led here because our faith would be built up in this place with these people who appreciate the arts. To reflect back on our introduction to PCPC through a piece of pottery for the annual art show, we recall Isaiah’s observation that we are the clay, God is the Potter, and we are all the work of His hand.

—Jeanne and Les Wyatt 3

Visual artists:

Finding our right place in a left-brain world “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.”

—Proverbs 20:12

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Scientists have long known that a neurological Mason-Dixon Line cleaves our brains into two regions—the left and right hemispheres. Thanks to advances in medicine, researchers have begun to identify more precisely how the two sides divide responsibilities. It appears that the left hemisphere handles sequence,

Sedrick Huckaby

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literalness, and analysis. The right hemisphere takes care of context (the big picture), emotional expression, and synthesis. Of course, this is to simplify a very complex theory. It is not always so clear-cut. It is important to remember that in healthy people the two brain hemispheres are well-connected. It is also important to remember that Christ used the imagery of the body to visually explain the Church’s relationship with Him. Finding a healthy balance of right-brain/left-brain is an essential task both in our own lives and in the church. In a culture where people prefer one type of thinking over the other, it is easy to dismiss the other hemisphere. This dismissal is the culture which visual artists struggle within the American Protestant church and seek to find their right place while being accepted by the left-brain crowd. Though right-brain thinking (non-verbal) is often regarded as more “creative,” there is no right or wrong; it is merely two different ways of thinking and communicating. For it was Christ who addressed both our hemispheres when He said “Let those who have ears hear, and those that have eyes see.” Christ did not say that one was better—only that understanding the message (verbal or visual) was the key.

Because we at PCPC believe that Christ was sent for both right-brain and left-brain people, a ministry was begun recently to embrace those visual thinkers in our community. Art+Spirit arose from PCPC’s Arts Festival as a way of continuing a creative exploration of dialogue regarding our emotional, intellectual, and spiritual knowledge of the scriptures through which we deepen our artistic expressions in order to encourage God’s Kingdom, to find our right place with other like-minded individuals. A life in the arts can be a difficult one that is filled with challenges and opportunity. How we handle them profoundly affects us. This group examines what it means to exist as an artist and a person of faith. Because artists look at the big picture, they serve society by mirroring and interpreting the world, possessing an ability to look at the familiar and discern the exquisite, observe the tragMAY 2013 • PCPC WITNESS

Baylor University road-trippers

Makoto Bruce Fujimura Herman

ic and grasp the beauty. Art educates, compels thought, moves people to action, and challenges the mundane. We believers have an obligation to use our brains (no matter the preferred side) and realize that the responsibility of artists obliges them to hone their gifts, cultivating them to the fullest spiritual extent for the glory of God. All of God’s gifts are precious no matter where they reside in our cranium. Our Art+Spirit meetings for 2013 were filled with fantastic opportunities to do such things.

Lawan Glasscock and Roger Feldman

January • Art+Spirit took a road trip to Baylor University

for a one-day conference focused on T. S. Eliot’s work, “Four Quartets,” one of the greatest poems of the 20th century. A group of 25 right-brainers braved the snow-frosted road south to enjoy the specially commissioned paintings by artists Makoto Fujimura and Bruce Herman along with a premier work by composer Christopher Theofanidis.

February • Art+Spirit had an exceptional evening with visual artist Sedrick Huckaby, who has always sought

to make paintings that have the ability to elevate one’s thinking—art that holds a quiet dialogue to slowly reveal deeper understandings. Sedrick pointed out that the initial attraction for many people to art is a well-rendered image, which can be experienced at a moment’s glance, but that is only the beginning. To be taken higher, one must climb.

One way is to speak to the nonverbal side of the person with an intensive visual language. It is a strange thing to speak from one’s heart without knowing the exact words to verbalize the experience. In visual art, a phenomenon happens by articulating the abstract and formal elements into something that verbal languages cannot explain. If paintings are successful, they will not only appeal to the viewer’s intellect, but to the deeper being in us that lies beyond words. Artists’ language is more closely in tune with their soul than the language of their tongue. For many, the act of painting is not just a means to a product; it is also a meditative process of communication. Thus, it is with the visual language that some choose to speak about the most pressing issues of life.

March • Art+Spirit welcomed sculptor Roger Feldman from Seattle Pacific University. Roger came to Christ at age 16

through his involvement with Young Life and even then began searching for ways to integrate his art into his strong faith. While pursuing a master’s at Fuller Seminary, Roger’s professors recognized his God-given artistic talent and encouraged him to “keep making art” in addition to his assignments. He did well academically but his heart wasn’t in it. After being introduced to serious Christians who were also serious artists, Roger decided that he was called to do God’s work through a visual-experiential language of sculpture. Roger looks through theological glasses to understand the world through a Christian worldview and creates work that speaks to our lives.

PCPC 2013 Logo Contest Winner: Artist Robert Opel designed our award-winning logo for the 2013 season (see page 3) based on Micah 6:8. Upon accepting the award, Robert stated “God has all kinds of ways of answering our prayers and our dreams and our hopes. I asked Him to use me to bless others with my talent. He knows us like no one else does. I can’t play basketball or football well at all; I can’t make music like others; but I can draw, so that is what I like to do most... I’m grateful and happy that PCPC gives us artists a forum to learn together, share together, and create.”

—Lawan Glasscock

PCPC WITNESS • MAY 2013

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Colin : Tell us how the Lord worked in your early Christian life to grow you in grace.

Alex: I became a Christian when I was five while coming home from a piano lesson with Lois Nielson. I was concerned about hell, primarily. I told my mom I wanted to become a believer, to which she replied, “Why don’t we pray with your father tonight?” That seemed a bit risky to me, and I didn’t want to put it off. I prayed in the car with my mom then and there while we were still driving!

than in the Bible Belt?

A: You are a cultural minority there, and there are many unbelievers in academia, and also in conservatory and arts settings, who don’t have a lot of relationships that are more than skin deep with believers.

Redeemed

C: How did you seek to develop relationships with them?

A: That question actually shows one of the differences... you can’t avoid these relationships. You’d have to leave Boston or New York to avoid them... they are all around. I can’t think of a single aspect of my faith that wasn’t challenged on some level—not because of the questions that they asked, but just because of being in that environment. I questioned my own beliefs. I struggled with that all knowledge is based on faith. To atheism during my studies quite a lot. It claim epistemological authority based was very appealing to me—its pretense of on facts is self-contradictory. What really knowledge on the helped me during this time was a small surface is very group at Christ the King PCA during my se“My obedience is not a gift to Him, but appealing. They nior year—six or seven couples who were see a great deal each brilliant and learned in their own rather Christ’s obedience is a gift to me.” of harm that the way. What was so impressive to me was church has caused how non-dogmatic their approach was to Another big event in my journey with in social issues, families, and the psycholtheir questions. This was one of the few Christ was moving to Boston [to attend ogy of our nation. They see a great deal of times I had come across people who were the New England Conservatory]. I was superficiality in the church. honestly seeking truth, without allowing faced with a lot of questions about my faith. What does my faith mean in an “I struggled with atheism during my studies quite increasingly pluralistic society? How does a Christian artist interact with the culture? a lot. It was very appealing to me—its pretense of I had to deal with a lot of culture shock. knowledge on the surface is very appealing.”

Very few people in Boston go to church.

Lots of challenges and paradigm shifts entered my thinking. I had to ask, “Why am With my very limited study of Christian their opinions to color their search for I a Christian?” Am I a Christian because of apologetics, I was way behind in being truth. They sought to understand God’s my demographics (white, male, Texan) or able to argue my case. In a way, unbelievWord and how it applied to the hard because the True God called me by grace? ers can be more sincere than believers. questions we all face, because they didn’t They have an advantage in the way they have all the answers. It gave me release to C: As you lived in Boston and subsequentcare for the poor and the way that they not have to be an expert in all fields. I am ly in New York City, in what ways was it are fully committed to their beliefs. What a musician, not a philosopher. different living as a Christian there rather kept me from atheism is the realization C: That must have been some piano lesson!

A: You have no idea! I always had a sense that God was near, and my parents played big a role in my spiritual journey. In seventh grade, I went into a deep depression that I can’t explain. We looked at everything, from checking my thyroid to deep spiritual introspection. Then I came across J.I. Packer’s Knowing God. It really changed my understanding of who God is.

I had been seeing my relationship to God in terms of what I could do. Packer’s book helped me to see Him in terms of who He is, His attributes, and how He is complete in Himself. It’s so far beyond me! What can my obedience to God give Him beyond what He already has in Himself? My obedience is not a gift to Him, but rather Christ’s obedience is a gift to me. My obedience is not something I can hold over God’s head, but if I am obedient, it’s only because of His grace. In turn, I am the one blessed by this.

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MAY 2013 • PCPC WITNESS

performing PCPC’s Senior Director of Music, Colin Howland, recently interviewed Dr. Alex McDonald, who is one of 30 people, including eight Americans, chosen to compete in the fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition being held May 24-June 9 in Ft. Worth. Alex grew up attending PCPC and studied piano with our own Lois Nielson. He received his undergraduate degree from the New England Conservatory and both master’s and doctoral degrees from The Julliard School.

Don’t miss your opportunity to enjoy his performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at the upcoming PCPC concert

A: It showed me a great deal of my need and emptiness.

It was harder to keep my Christian to-do list and priorities when the most important part of my life had fallen apart. For example, there were a lot of sins that I had never even struggled with when I was successful in my work. I did become a lot more mindful of my sin as well. I wouldn’t say that I became more sinful, but latent sin had now found an environment in which to express itself.

C: How did God bring you through this?

A: (Laughter) Still bringing! One moment still sticks out in my mind. Once I discovered that my Christianity was mostly defined in terms of what I did not do, I began to realize how little I loved God. Once I realized how little I loved God, I realized how unlovable I am. And that’s when I realized how truly lost I was.

&

Beethoven Mozart Sunday, May 19, 7:00 pm.*

eternal life.” I realized that if God’s grace could cover every sin, it could also cover a legalist—it could also cover a Pharisee.

C: How does that experience, those difficult days, inform how you are approaching the Van Cliburn competition?

A: After I got injured, the easiest thing for me to do was to run from the competition world so I could minimize my encounters with what I had lost. But I realized that that was not allowing God’s redeeming work to redeem my performing. I was just running from it, taking the easy way out.

I’m still trying to understand this; I haven’t codified the answer to it. The best way to answer this is from Philippians, where Paul says that he has learned to be content whether in plenty and in want, and I would add, in the nebulous in between, where the desire to want something has been reawakened. The old desires to perform are back. It’s definitely only through Christ’s strength where such a thing would be possible. Mark Davis’s sermon on fellowship freed me. He talked about associations. Don’t love the world, so that the world can make you happy. Don’t use the world to find your happiness, but you should love the world as God did.

The question is not how do I justify my existence through the Cliburn competition, but rather how do I love others as an artist in a world that badly needs beauty.

How can I be more engaged in culture for their benefit since I already have redemption through faith? The Cliburn can add

C: It was also in Boston that you had your injury.

A: I never realized how much I found my identity through success in music. Being a successful musician had been (and in some ways still is, if I’m honest), the way I could enter a room with “Once I discovered that my Christianity was mostly defined in confidence and look someone else in the eye. When I first got terms of what I did not do, I began to realize how little I loved tendonitis, it was a repetitive God. Once I realized how little I loved God, I realized how stress injury in my arm. It took unlovable I am. And that’s when I realized how truly lost I was.” me several years to emotionally connect with my injury. It was my American version of the Japanese C: Was there a particular portion of scripnothing to this. To which I add only, “Help trend of hikikomori (a Japanese term ture that helped during this time? my unbelief.” describing a state or condition of acute A: It’s the passage where Paul said (I The schedule of performances at the social withdrawal, especially among Tim 1:14-16), “And the grace of our Lord Cliburn is determined by drawing, so go adolescents or young adults). But because overflowed for me with the faith and love to www.cliburn.org/cliburn-competition I couldn’t practice eight hours a day, the that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustclose to the date to see when Alex will extra time allowed for setting the foundaworthy and deserving of full acceptance, be playing. But you can hear him right at tion for several important friendships over that Christ Jesus came into the world to PCPC before the competion. Don’t miss it! the following years. A lot of those friends save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. are still some of my closest friends. It was *the PCPC Chancel Choir and orchestra will something God knew that I needed. It was But I received mercy for this reason, that perform Mozart’s Solemn Vespers K.339, in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might very necessary and very healing. and Dr. McDonald will perform Beethoven’s display His perfect patience as an example Piano Concerto No. 4. to those who were to believe in Him for C: How did this grow you in grace?

The concert is free.

PCPC WITNESS • MAY 2013

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practicing our faith

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What a glorious evening of joyful praise and thanksgiving unfolded in our Sanctuary on Sunday, March 3, as our Covenant Choir and High School Ensemble presented Antonio Vivaldi’s classic sacred work, Gloria. From the opening measures of “glory to God in the highest” to the concluding “with the Holy Spirit,” the rich texts of this 300-year-old choral masterpiece came alive in the voices of middle school and high school singers and the adult ensemble that joined with them. Singing, including that of soloists Claire Dillahunty and Deborah Waterman, was beautifully enriched by the accompaniment of an excellent chamber orchestra conducted by Colin Howland. The diverse sounds of congregational singing, organ pieces performed

by J. Marty Cope, and choir anthems by well-known, contemporary British composers John Rutter and Bob Chilcott offered more expressions of praise to our great God. Added to the beauty of the evening was a responsive audience, some of whom had intentionally practiced “hospitality missions” by inviting not-yet-believers to come with them to our church. Many were praying that the biblical truths expressed through music that night might offer a context

with heart and voice

for gospel conversations. Why do people sing? Why do God’s people sing?

Singing is God’s design, God created us to sing, God delights in our singing His words back to Him. Consider these words from Colin Howland’s concert program notes: The Bible speaks of singing not just as a source of entertainment or even an art form, but as an essential component of the Christian life; Colossians 3:16 makes the point for us: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

munity who first came to our church not for a worship service but for a concert? As you practice “hospitality missions” you might consider bringing the not-yet-believers you know to a concert. Your next opportunity?

Concert doors will be open again on Sunday evening, May 19. May we be faithfully zealous as we continue to go out into the highways and byways to bring them in until that day when all people from all nations proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

—Lynda Fray Lynda Fray, Director of the Covenant Choir and High School Ensemble

Singing is a way of practicing the Christian faith; Singing helps us give expression to the faith in God that He Himself has given us; Singing is one of the few things we do in this life that we will also do for eternity; Singing that we participate in now prepares us for life in heaven.

Did you know that there are those who are in our PCPC worshiping com-

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MAY 2013 PCPC WITNESS MAY 2013 • • PCPC WITNESS FEBRUARY 2013 • PCPC WITNESS

AUSTIN SERVICE PROJECT

Top, (l to r): Christi Krikorian, Hannah Vandermeer, Liv Powers, Campbell Rolfe, Jacki Pedigo, Lily Kibler, Kendall Hines, Tatiana Parker

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In March, PCPC took 37 high school and middle school students down to Austin for a week of service projects for the youth’s annual Austin City Project. The students were able to serve a number of pregnancy resource centers, homeless shelters, retirement homes, and everything in between.

Throughout the trip, many students were asked to reflect on what they thought service meant to them amidst the many projects in which they themselves were involved. Here are a few of their answers:

What does service mean to you?

Liv Powers (7th grade): I think everyone needs a little help, and everyone appreciates feeling loved, so serving to me is being able to do these things that Christ so often does for us.

Ty Burke (Freshman): I think that service means going to

Left, Wills Mackay, Mike Haberkorn, Becket Holmgren, Hudson Neuhoff other people and helping those out who are less fortunate than you and sharing the Word with them.

Patrick Walker (7th grade): I think serving others not only benefits yourself, but other people as well.

They can teach you valuable lessons in learning to spread the Word to everyone else.

Grant Shurtz (freshman): Quite simply service means helping others when you get and expect nothing in return.

Lizzy Seay (Sophomore) I loved the time we spent almost every night swinging outside and talking. It was great to discuss what we experienced that day and how we saw the Lord working.

This trip serves as a way for students to serve others, but always as a way to build relationships On Sunday morning,

PCPC WITNESS • MAY 2013

our group went to Church under the Bridge, a homeless congregation in Austin. There many of our students fearlessly shared kind words and related to people who looked and lived quite differently than we do. It was encouraging from to witness such boldness and eagerness to connect with them. They treated them as equals. A student made the statement after leaving that afternoon that their needs might be more visual than ours, but we all are needy for grace. Amen!

Our trip was built around service, but we also had a bunch of fun while doing it! From playing basketball to canoeing in Barton Springs, we enjoyed our time outdoors and together! It was a fun experience seeing students in our ministry who might not know one another befriend each other on this trip. The trip was overall a fabulous thumbs-up! We cannot wait for Austin City Project 2014!

—Grayson Baird and Carl Sullivan 9

The

Left, (l to r) Peggy Bennett, Rosemary Thornton Below left, Charles Morris, Cub Culbertson Below center, hearts and flowers—the centerpieces Below right, Mary Ann Edney

Rest of the

Story Senior Adults enjoy Valentine luncheon

To the group of 80 senior adults on Valentine’s Day, Paul Harvey and his spellbinding stories were very much alive and well. Gathering together over a spectacular meal provided by Festive Kitchen, PCPC’s own Nella Phillips captivated the audience with wonderful stories that were humorous, entertaining, and thought provoking. And she, of course, concluded each story with Harvey’s famous tag line, “And that is the rest of the story.”

Above, (l to r) Kay Gray, Jean and Fred Fraley Right, Nella Phillips dressed as Paul Harvey

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Now you need to hear “the rest of the story.” Nella Phillips’ wonderful impersonation of Paul Harvey was only part of what made this a special Valentine’s Day celebration. As the crowd grew in size, so did the volume of chatter and laughter. It was seemingly infectious as everyone was engaged in lively conversations, either standing up or sitting at the round tables in the Oak Lawn West meeting room. The laughter, chatter, and just plain fun is a common occurrence at the monthly gathering of seniors. Yes, the seniors at PCPC know how to have fun. They know how to enjoy each other, and they know how to make first-time attenders feel very welcome. That, my friends, is “the rest of the story.” Join us next month. You will be glad you did!

—Pat Hobin MAY 2013• •PCPC PCPC WITNESS MAY 2013 WITNESS

Hudson (7), Annalise (4), Jenny and Tim Martin

Meet the Martins PCPC’s newest missionaries to Japan

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ach step in the history of the Martin family seems to involve far away places and long distances. Jenny was born to Korean parents in West Germany and immigrated to the U.S. when she was only one, while Tim was born in Independence, Missouri.

Jenny’s family moved to Carrollton when she was ten and Tim’s to Houston when he was just six.

Jenny graduated from Baylor, earned an MS at UT-Dallas and worked as a speech language pathologist in Lewisville ISD. Tim graduated from Rice and served as a nuclear submarine officer on active duty and later in the reserves.

Jenny’s interest in missions started as a teenager shortly after she became the first person in her family to become a believer. A church youth trip to the International Museum of Cultures in Duncanville was particularly impactful. Short-term mission trips to Honduras, Papua New Guinea, and Japan solidified her sense of calling.

On the other hand, Tim was not interested in a missionary career before college. But through his college years, God softened his heart as he saw classmates, especially Chinese friends, come to faith and learned how God was working in spectacular ways in China. He majored in Chinese history and took Japanese “to try something different.” Through his ROTC commitment, he served in the Navy as a submarine officer, often filling the role of chaplain on board ship. He has been to the North Pole twice and to Japan several times, including one three-year period when he worked full-time at the Yokosuka naval base.

It was during that time when Tim and Jenny met. Jenny was serving as a missionary in west Tokyo and was invited to join some friends for a young adult fellowship in another area two hours away by train. There, in God’s providence, Tim was co-leader of the group. Being a naval officer, he acted decisively to get to know Jenny. They began dating, God lit the flame of love, and they later married in Dallas.

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Their preparation continued at Dallas Theological Seminary where Tim earned a ThM in cross-cultural ministry and Jenny earned a MA in biblical studies (MABS).

Through their training, experience, and walk with the Lord, God has set Christ’s love for Japan in their hearts.

Shockingly, few Japanese know a believer or have ever heard the Gospel. Despite their 99% literacy rate, freedom of religion, and prosperity, the Japanese are the second largest unreached people group in the world.

They live in unspoken hopelessness, yearning for something more satisfying. But they don’t know where to turn.

Into this darkness, God has called Tim and Jenny to bring Gospel light, joining a team of missionaries (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and Japanese leaders who share the Good News and build up believers in healthy, reproducing churches. They are in the final stages of support-raising and hope to leave for Japan later this year.

—Dick Senzig 11

WITNESS

A vision for your home

Vol. XXIII, No. 2 • MAY 2013

Ladies’ night out

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Park Cities Presbyterian Church 4124 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75219 www . pcpc . org

Periodical Postage Paid at Dallas, Texas

witamy

benvenuto

yokoso

歡迎光臨

manava

grata

al o h a willkommen

salve yi n d e e

MERHBA

eyes

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BIENVENUE

sve i k t Karibu

L

John 4:35

ようこそいらっしゃいました。

bonvenon

On February 22, 100 women gathered to learn about biblical hospitality from Rev. Al LaCour while enjoying dinner and fellowship. Al talked about ways to minister to the Finally, Al challenged us with a question; nations here in Dallas by opening our homes to students WELCOMING THE NATIONS “How real is the Lord to you?” We believe in TO DALLAS Him, but are we participating in His plans? Al from all over the world. We were also encouraged by said, “When you make room for those who the testimonies of Tricia have no place, you will find your own place in Schoon and Carol West God’s plan.” God is larger than any of us can about their relationships imagine. However, if we spend our time only with international stuwith friends from work, school, and church, bienvenido dents. we limit our perception of His use for us. Al 歡迎 bem-vindo shared how his spiritual reality had changed verwelkom Al told us that 75% of the by opening his home to the students from b u n ve n i t hos geldiniz v i t a j t e thousands of international other countries. Through his relationships TERVETULOA c ro s e s o Добро пожаловать! students in the U.S. have with them, his world grew larger, as did his never been invited to an spiritual reality and his vision of God. IFT UP American home. I realized how blessed I have been My family in Japan once asked me, “Why do to have American friends you believe in a foreign god when we have who kindly opened their our own gods in Japan?” We know that He homes to me. They introduced me to American culture, is not a God for Americans only. It becomes more real to got to know me, and helped me feel welcomed in the comus when we have personal relationships with people from munity. They have included me as a part of their families other parts of the world. for special holidays when I miss my family the most. I was a foreigner alone here until I got married last year. If my As I listened to Al, I pictured the seeds we plant in the stufriends hadn’t invited me, I would have been one of the dents being taken back to their homes to bear fruit all over 75%. the world. We may not see the fruit while they are with us, but the One who makes things grow is with them. Let’s just plant the seeds! “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but The Lord commands us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. If we cannot go physically, we can bless the God has been making it grow.” (I Corinthians 3:6) world by making room for it in our homes. The many foreign students studying in Dallas want to get to know Amer- Through Internationicans. They might be future rulers or spiritual leaders in “When you make room for those al Campus positions to affect large numbers of people in their home who have no place, Connections, countries—even countries where Christian worship is not you will find your own place allowed. We could be sharing not only with the student PCPC’s new but with his or her family and friends back home. In Japan international in God’s plan.” —Al LaCour more than 95% of people have never heard the Gospel, student minbut my family heard it because an American first shared istry, we have with me. the opportunity to extend the Kingdom to the world right here in DalAl explained biblical hospitality that Genesis 18:1-15 illuslas! By befriending an international student and using that friendship as we are called to use all of our friendships—as trates. The word hospitality means “love for strangers.”

Biblical hospitality meets the guest’s needs and not those a vessel for the Gospel—we can serve Him where He has of the host. I sometimes become too anxious to invite peo- put us. What a blessing it is to be a part of His plans! ple over. I feel the need to be a perfect hostess. My hospitality tends to be focused more on me (to perform well as Contact Elizabeth Cunningham if you’re excited to begin a hostess and be a good cook, home decorator, and entershowing biblical hospitality to SMU international students tainer) than on the guests needs. What the guest wants, as (elizabeth.cunningham@pcpc.org or 214-224-2528). all of us desire, is love and acceptance.

—Mariko Kline