West Texas Missioner: September 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Belize Mission Trip Informational Meeting - with Tim and Kenny!

Hi Belize folks,

I wanted to make sure you all have heard that we are going back to Belize next March 5-12 for Spring Break. We will be having an informational meeting this coming Sunday, October 4, at 5:00 in Lynn Hall. Tim Tam and Kenny Logan from The Word at Work will be here to share with us at that time as well. So, if you are interested in going in March or if you’d just like to get to see Tim and Kenny, please come! Printed applications are available at the front office (and at the info meeting) and I have attached it [below] as well. Hope to see you all Sunday!

• CLICK HERE for a mission application (Adobe .pdf file)

Peace,

Walter

Walter Thompson
Associate Pastor of Mission and Evangelism
1st Presbyterian Church - Midland, Texas
(432) 684-7821

Fine Arts School at 1st Presbyterian-Midland now offers piano and organ lessons

The Fine Arts School at First Presbyterian Church of Midland is delighted to welcome Hyun Kyung Lee to our program as piano and organ instructor.

Beginning October 5, 2015 Hyun will teach individual piano lessons for ages 4-18 and organ lessons for adults. Students may register by using the FAS registration form, which can be found at our website, fpcmid.org under fine arts and music programs.

In addition to registering, students must schedule lesson times with Hyun directly by emailing her at hlee@fpcmid.org

• CLICK HERE for the Piano and Organ LESSON SCHEDULE

• CLICK HERE for the Piano and Organ REGISTRATION FORM

In the News ... "Street Preachers Arrested Outside St. Ann's Fair"

KWES Photo

• Say their arrest hasn't changed a thing

By Kalene O'Brien, Reporter
KWES-TV

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Four people arrested Saturday night in Midland outside of St. Ann's Fair are now speaking out about the incident. They claim they didn't break any laws.

The four people arrested call themselves 'street preachers'. They tell NewsWest 9 they were voicing their beliefs on a public sidewalk on the corner of Texas Avenue and N Street before they were taken away in handcuffs.

"We set up on a public sidewalk and began to preach and lift up our voice and we began using amplification and before long it caused a stir," said Clarence Davis, one of the street preachers who was arrested ...

• read the rest of this KWES report ...

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

On Doubt

As far as you (and I) are concerned I have no doubt that the fear you mention is simply a temptation of the devil, an effort to keep us away from God by despair. It is often the devil working through some defect in our health, and in extreme cases it needs a medical as well as a spiritual cure. So don’t listen to these fears and doubts any more than you would to any obviously impure or uncharitable thoughts. . . . Of course, like other evil temptations, they will not be silenced at once. You will think you have got rid of them and then they will come back again—and again. But, with all our temptations of all sorts, we must just endure this. Keep on, do your duty, say your prayers, make your communions, and take no notice of the tempter. He goes away in the end. Remember I John iii, 20 “If ( = though) our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart.”

• From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis
• Compiled in Words to Live By

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

The Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. How often have you wondered, where are the young adults in the PC(USA)? Wonder no longer. The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study is devoted to the theme of young adults in the church. Its stories, many told by young adults, lift up how Presbyterians of all ages are engaging and joining with Presbyterian young adults in reforming the church for Christ’s mission.

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 30, 2015

SALEM PRESBYTERY, NORTH CAROLINA - Salem Presbytery serves the community as a connectional church by working together in mission with youth and adults.

Beginning in the summer of 2012, pastors and educators from eight congregations in Alamance County began providing meaningful local mission experiences through three intensive — and fun! — days of service. Dubbed Mission Madness, the program brings youth and adults together for a variety of service opportunities ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Word from Uganda: "Baby Nagudi"

Missionary teacher Natalie Rolfe writes, "'When He calls me, I will answer ... I'll be somewhere working for my Lord.' My call was Mbale, Uganda and that is where I have returned to serve for another year. Specifically, I am teaching phonics at Lulwanda Children's Home, an orphanage and school for 90 kids." Natalie also keeps an online journal of her service at the weblog, When He calls me, I will answer ...

Baby Nagudi

" We just finished a great school holiday with the children that was filled with many different activities, events, and special classes. One of the weekly Wednesday events was to visit St. Kizito Babies Home with a group of Lulwanda children. It is always so sweet to see the LCH kids interacting with these little ones, especially some of the 'tougher' boys who surprise me how tender and intentional they are with the babies.

I had some children write 'articles' about some of the holiday events ..."

• read the rest of Natalie's post ...

• help raise funds for Natalie's mission ...

Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Hello Friends,

I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow (Wednesday, September 30) for our time of prayer in the gym conference room at 11:30, followed by lunch together.

What follows is the email I sent to our intercessors across the country this week. I thought that in addition to using this as a prayer guide for tomorrow, we could also use the cross covered in faces of children as a way to let the Holy Spirit lead our time of prayer tomorrow.

If you’ve been in Lynn Hall or at the Bridge the last couple of weeks, perhaps you’ve seen the cross. It’s covered in photos of children around the world, each in a situation for which they need prayer. It’s covered in the many things that break the Father’s heart for His children. But to me it also represents the fact that we can lay these burdens at the foot of the cross, trusting that His redemptive plan is always at work and His love and mercy and healing and hope will triumph.

I look forward to spending time in prayer and fellowship with you tomorrow.

Thank you for your continued passion for vulnerable children around the world. There are a lot of hurting and broken and dark places in this world, and I think as a church, we most look like Jesus when we show up in those places, lifting them up in prayer and extending our hands in love.

Blessings,

Carrie

If you have prayer requests about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to info@facesofchildren.net

In the News ... "Speaking Out: Happy Mind, Happy Life"

• Chondzin to speak at Unitarian Universalist Church of Midland, October 3rd

Kelsang Chondzin, Bodhichitta Kadampa Buddhist Center, Lubbock
Special to the Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - How is it that we make our life truly happy?

Happiness seems to come and go and be beyond our control. Positive events happen and they make us happy, but only for a short time. Sooner or later, negative events happen and we become unhappy. It seems to us that our happiness thus depends on outer circumstances.

This is definitely what we have been taught in our culture ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

Remember that, as I said, the right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.

• From Mere Christianity
• Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 29, 2015

PRESBYTERY OF THE PEAKS, VIRGINIA - Denise Pillow, hunger action enabler for the Presbytery of the Peaks, has long been our advocate for the work of FONDAMA, the Joining Hands initiative of the Presbyterian Hunger Program in Haiti. In 2014 she helped organize our presbytery’s first trip to meet with FONDAMA. Although she was not able to go, Denise gave of herself freely so that others could go to listen, learn, and wait ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Monday, September 28, 2015

From ChinaAid: "China Aid urges White House to confront Chinese President Xi"

The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.

Exclusive: Gao Zhisheng details torture, experiences in prison; China Aid urges White House to confront Chinese President Xi
Distributed by ChinaAid, September, 2015 ...

ASKU PROVINCE, XINJIANG, CHINA – In an exclusive interview, Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer who was released from jail on Aug. 7, 2014, provided insight into the horrific details of his imprisonment in China’s far western Xinjiang, including three instances of torture and life in a confinement cell ...

• more on this story from China Aid

In the News ... October is Clergy Appreciation Month

thrivingpastor.com Image

• Kick-off event Thursday, October 1, in downtown Midland

Staff Report
KOSA-TV

MIDLAND, TEXAS - October is national Clergy Appreciation Month.

To kick off this month of thanks, all Permian Basin clergy members are invited to come and mingle with one another as well as their friends and supporters on Thursday, October 1st from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. at Midland Towers at 223 Wall Street next to Cancun Grill.

Members of the clergy are always there for us, in good times and bad, and they do it selflessly.

So, this Downtown Midland event is a way of thanking them for all that they do for their congregations and communities and to give them our love and support.

A wonderful opportunity for PCUSA's ANTI-fossil fuel faction

AP Photo

• Energy alliance challenges: Live fossil fuel-free for a week

Mella McEwen, Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - To all those who call for eliminating all fossil fuel use to protect the environment, the Western Energy Alliance has a challenge: Live fossil fuel-free for a week.

The challenge is set for Monday through Friday.

“This started (because the) former keyboard player in the band I was in considers himself a very green environmentalist and he’s always ranting about fossil fuels,” Tim Wigley, president of the alliance, said by phone from his Denver office.

He said the challenge is for people to experience the lifestyle environmental groups have to offer ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

In the News ... "Book cites Biblical examples of prayer"

OA Photo by Edyta Blaszczyk

• "Prayer is a privilege, not something we’re entitled to.”

By Bob Campbell, Reporter
Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Author of a just-published book on prayer, the Rev. Dr. Landon Coleman says praying in a Biblically based fashion is more pleasing to God and thereby more effective.
The pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church at 2040 E. University Blvd. said his 207-page Rainer Publishing book, “Pray Better: Learning to Pray Biblically,” resulted from lessons he’d given at churches in Frankfort, Ky., and Kingfisher, Okla.

“We studied the prayers given by Moses, David and Paul and said, ‘Maybe we don’t pray much like them,” said Coleman, who has been at the church here since the spring of last year ...

• read the rest of this OA report ...

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

[Caspian] stood irresolute for a moment and then shouted out to the ship in general.

“Well, have your way. The quest is ended. We all return. Get the boat up again.”

“Sire,” said Reepicheep, “we do not all return. I, as I explained before—”

“Silence!” thundered Caspian. “I’ve been lessoned but I’ll not be baited. Will no one silence that Mouse?”

“Your Majesty promised,” said Reepicheep, “to be a good lord to the Talking Beasts of Narnia.”

“Talking beasts, yes,” said Caspian. “I said nothing about beasts that never stop talking.” And he flung down the ladder in a temper and went into the cabin, slamming the door.

But when the others rejoined him a little later they found him changed; he was white and there were tears in his eyes.

“It’s no good,” he said. “I might as well have behaved decently for all the good I did with my temper and swagger. Aslan has spoken to me. No—I don’t mean he was actually here. He wouldn’t fit into the cabin, for one thing. But that gold lion’s head on the wall came to life and spoke to me. It was terrible—his eyes. Not that he was at all rough with me—only a bit stern at first. But it was terrible all the same. And he said—he said—oh, I can’t bear it. The worst thing he could have said. You’re to go on—Reep and Edmund, and Lucy, and Eustace; and I’m to go back. Alone. And at once. And what is the good of anything?”

“Caspian, dear,” said Lucy. “You knew we’d have to go back to our own world sooner or later.”

“Yes,” said Caspian with a sob, “but this is sooner.”

• From The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Compiled in A Year with Aslan

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 28, 2015

PRESBYTERY OF NEW HOPE, NORTH CAROLINA - Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church has found that “God isn’t finished with us yet!” As a small, elderly congregation, we wondered if we had a future. Though some longed for the “good ol’ days” of the 1960s church, we were determined to think in new ways. We began to claim and welcome the socioeconomic and racial diversity of our neighborhood as an asset and a gift from God. Undergirded by prayer, we became intentional about renewal.

God began to surprise us ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

환영 합니다

Hyun Kyung Lee has a dream to build up the church with her musical talent, together with a desire to serve and to teach young children in order for all to know the love and greatness of God. It is a dream that has brought her to the far side of the world from the Korean city of Seoul where she was born and raised, to the American city of Midland, Texas where she will assume the duties of organist at First Presbyterian Church.

The announcement that Lee would be coming to Midland followed a months-long search to find a replacement for longtime organist Becca Sawyer, who left earlier this year to take a position at 1st Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth. That search began with a surprise ... a long list of applications from across the United States, with more than a few that emerged from that list as good candidates.

The search narrowed, and Lee moved up that ‘short list,’ due in part to her credentials as a musician, an educator and a valued contributor to worship.

She earned her Bachelor of Music Arts (majoring in Organ) from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea in 2003. At that point, she explains, she saw a need to broaden her grasp of music – its interpretation and its performance - through travel. She earned her Master of Music Arts degree (majoring in Organ, minoring in Harpsichord) at Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan in 2005. She is now a candidate for a Doctor of Music Arts degree (majoring in Organ, minoring in Sacred Music) at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

During that time, she has also developed an impressive resume in the profession of music as a pianist and accompanist at middle and high schools in Korea and the United States, as a music researcher, and as a pianist and organist for churches in Korea, Japan and the United States. Her most recent positions have been Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Denton, Texas, and Accompanist at John H. Guyer High School in Denton and Tom Harpool Middle School in nearby Lantana.

Lee is not be the first in her family to step up and contribute musical talent to worship ... “My family is working as church musicians in the Presbyterian church; my mother has played organ and piano over 40 years, my sister is working as pianist over 18 years, as well. I have been an organist and pianist since 1999.”

Christian faith – and sharing Christ’s love with others - is something else that runs in Lee’s family ... “Our family has long history of faith. I have grown up in the Presbyterian family, as a fourth-generation Presbyterian. My father and grandfather have served as an elder in the Presbyterian church, South Korea.” She also shares stories of even further back, and how difficult it was for those like her grandfather’s father, to be a Christian.

That determination has carried through the generations and across the ocean to Midland, Texas, where Lee is now preparing to settle into a new position and a new home with her husband Hyung Wook Lee, who is also a UNT alum, with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, with a special emphasis on Accounting.

Lee admits to being more than just a little excited by the opportunities that lie ahead, by the chance to spend more time with the exceptional organ at First Presbyterian-Midland, to contribute her skills and her energy to worship, to explore means for educating the next generation of keyboardists in the Tall City, and to embrace opportunities to share Christ’s love with the church and the community at-large.

For Lee, that would be a dream come true.

“I desire all aspects of lives to be lived to the glory of God and wish to be good follower under the Lordship of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing His love with others.”

Still time ... BARELY ... to hear Greg this morning

First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas welcomes to the pulpit, this Sunday ... TODAY, Dr. Greg Bartha, longtime FPC-M member and elder. Following his "retirement" in Midlanbd, Greg now lives and serves in eastern Uganda in the Cross Emergency Medical Clinic. Before returning to Uganda, he will go to Belize on a two-week mission trip, where he will be working with hospice care and outreach in Belize City.

Sunday, September 27 at 1st Presbyterian-Midland
Sanctuary: Dr. Greg Bartha, 8:15 and 11:00 a.m.
Scriptures: Isaiah 6:1-8 and Acts 9:10-16

WATCH 11:00 A.M. SANCTUARY WORSHIP LIVE AT WWW.FPCMID.ORG

In the News ... "West Texas bishop among those to welcome Pope Francis"

• This won’t be the first time Sis and Francis crossed paths

Trent Johnson, Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

SAN ANGELO, TEXAS - Pope Francis is a busy man. With his duty to provide guidance for Catholic leaders and his knack for speaking about world issues, he’s made waves in America since his papacy began in March 2013.

Pope Francis has taken his first steps on United States ground this week with a busy schedule that has led him through a tour of major cities including Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City ...

... Members of Catholic churches around the nation trekked to his various locations for events and festivities, and the chance see the pontiff up close.

Bishop Michael J. Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo accompanied by companions, will be the West Texas representative in the activities revolving around the pope’s U.S. visit ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

TO MR. N. FRIDAMA, who seems to have asked Lewis about the steps in his conversion to Christianity: On the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination.

15 February 1946

I was baptised in the Church of Ireland (same as Anglican). My parents were not notably pious but went regularly to church and took me. My mother died when I was a child.

My Christian faith was first undermined by the attitude taken towards Pagan religion in the notes of modern editors of Latin and Greek poets at school. They always assumed that the ancient religion was pure error: hence, in my mind, the obvious question ‘Why shouldn’t ours be equally false?’ A theosophical Matron at one school helped to break up my early beliefs, and after that a ‘Rationalist’ tutor to whom I went finished the job. I abandoned all belief in Christianity at about the age of 14, though I pretended to believe for fear of my elders. I thus went thro’ the ceremony of Confirmation in total hypocrisy. My beliefs continued to be agnostic, with fluctuation towards pantheism and various other sub-Christian beliefs, till I was about 29.

I was brought back (a.) By Philosophy. I still think [Bishop George] Berkeley’s proof for the existence of God is unanswerable. (b.) By increasing knowledge of medieval literature. It became harder and harder to think that all those great poets and philosophers were wrong. (c.) By the strong influence of 2 writers, the Presbyterian George MacDonald and the Roman Catholic, G.K. Chesterton. (d.) By argument with an Anthroposophist [Owen Barfield]. He failed to convert me to his own views (a kind of Gnosticism) but his attack on my own presuppositions smashed the ordinary pseudo-‘scientific’ world-picture forever.

On Calvinism. Both the statement that our final destination is already settled and the view that it still may be either Heaven or Hell, seem to me to imply the ultimate reality of Time, which I don’t believe in. The controversy is one I can’t join on either side for I think that in the real (Timeless) world it is meaningless. In great haste.

• From The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis
• Compiled in Yours, Jack

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 27, 2015

MINUTE FOR MISSION: EVANGELISM SUNDAY - One of the things I enjoy about my hobby of collecting books is all of the interesting people that I meet. I met Peter, a book dealer, a couple years ago and we became quick friends. Eventually he asked what I did, and I told him I worked for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and was a local church pastor before moving to Louisville. I immediately sensed a bit of discomfort and felt the walls begin to go up in our interactions ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

In the News ... "Church thanks Kim Davis via billboard"

MRT Photo by Tim Fischer

• "As a Christian, the foundations of my beliefs are the Bible.”

Trent Johnson, Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - On Monday, Kentucky’s Rowan County welcomed its county clerk, Kim Davis, back to work after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Following a five-day stint in jail, Davis continued to avoid contradicting her religious views on marriage, instead relying on a work-around allowing deputies to award altered licenses, according to CNN.

In Midland, at least one church has extended support toward Davis’ efforts ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

“This is the Boy,” said Aslan, looking, not at Digory, but at his councillors. “This is the Boy who did it.”

“Oh dear,” thought Digory, “what have I done now?”

“Son of Adam,” said the Lion. “There is an evil Witch abroad in my new land of Narnia. Tell these good Beasts how she came here.”

A dozen different things that he might say flashed through Digory’s mind, but he had the sense to say nothing except the exact truth.

“I brought her, Aslan,” he answered in a low voice.

“For what purpose?”

“I wanted to get her out of my own world back into her own. I thought I was taking her back to her own place.”

“How came she to be in your world, son of Adam?”

“By—by Magic.” The Lion said nothing and Digory knew that he had not told enough. “It was my Uncle, Aslan,” he said. “He sent us out of our own world by magic rings, at least I had to go because he sent Polly first, and then we met the Witch in a place called Charn and she just held on to us when—”

“You met the Witch?” said Aslan in a low voice which had the threat of a growl in it.

“She woke up,” said Digory wretchedly. And then, turning very white, “I mean, I woke her. Because I wanted to know what would happen if I struck a bell. Polly didn’t want to. It wasn’t her fault. I—I fought her. I know I shouldn’t have. I think I was a bit enchanted by the writing under the bell.”

“Do you?” asked Aslan; still speaking very low and deep.

“No,” said Digory. “I see now I wasn’t. I was only pretending.” There was a long pause. And Digory was thinking all the time, “I’ve spoiled everything. There’s no chance of getting anything for Mother now.”

When the Lion spoke again it was not to Digory.

“You see, friends,” he said, “that before the new, clean world I gave you is seven hours old, a force of evil has already entered it; waked and brought hither by this son of Adam.” The Beasts, even Strawberry, all turned their eyes on Digory till he felt that he wished the ground would swallow him up. “But do not be cast down,” said Aslan, still speaking to the Beasts. “Evil will come of that evil, but it is still a long way off, and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself. In the meantime, let us take such order that for many hundred years yet this shall be a merry land in a merry world. And as Adam’s race has done the harm, Adam’s race shall help to heal it.”

• From The Magician's Nephew
• Compiled in A Year with Aslan

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 26, 2015

NEWCASTLE PRESBYTERY, DELAWARE/MARYLAND - “Heineken!” That was the first thing my spouse and I heard from Daniel. We learned that he had a daughter and a girlfriend and that he had moved to Delaware the same month we did. We also found out that “anything church, I’ll show.” He spoke slowly, choosing his words with care. Daniel, you see, doesn’t speak English. And we speak as much Spanish as he speaks English.

Daniel had come to one of MarketPlace’s Theology on Tap sessions in downtown Wilmington. He didn’t say a word, and soon it was time to leave. People left. Daniel stayed ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Friday, September 25, 2015

From ServLife International: "Opened Eyes"

ServLife International is a movement defined by values of God’s kingdom, not programs built around human efforts and activities. The reign and rule of God should be made apparent to every person on the planet, despite their religion, race or socioeconomic status. We believe that issues of justice are inseparable from the good news that Jesus Christ came to proclaim. ServLife exists to take the gospel of Christ and the hope of a better, more just, world to the lives of people we touch. This happens through individual contributions of time, creativity, resources and dreams.

ServLife Photo

Opened Eyes

Traveling abroad creates separation from our context and comfort zone, allowing God to speak more clearly into our lives. Carter Bell, a teacher from Indianapolis, experienced this phenomenon first hand on the 2015 ServLife Teacher Training Trip to Nepal. “I think preparing to go on the trip really helped me become a better teacher as I prepared to help meet their needs. I was just very encouraged that not only was it a great opportunity for me but it was also a great opportunity for [the Nepali teachers]” Carter explains. New experiences, she says, are God’s way of growing us spiritually and stretching our awareness of other’s needs and the work He has for us to do ...

• CLICK HERE to read the rest of this post from ServLife

From Adam Nevins
Executive Director
ServLife International Inc.

Join Our Mission

ServLife International propels reconciliation and justice by building global community to plant churches, care for children and fight poverty. Compelled by the message, life and love of Jesus Christ, we seek to care for the spiritual, physical, social, and economic areas of life in northern India and Nepal. Learn more about our latest news, featured stories, and how to get involved at servlife.org


Support a Pastor Our church planters spread the love of Christ in some of the most difficult environments in the world. • Support Them ...	Sponsor a Child For only $30 per month you can help give a child food, education, care and, most importantly, hope. • Sponsor Now ...	Fight Poverty The HOPE Fund, our micro-finance program, provides start-up funds for a small business, paving a way out of poverty for families in need. • Learn More ...

ServLife International, Inc.
P.O. Box 20596
Indianapolis, IN 46220
USA

In the News ... "ChinaAid helps former judge gain political asylum, leave China"

AP/ChinaAid Photo of Bob Fu

• "Welcome Judge Li Jianfeng to a land that is free from persecution and fear."

Staff Report
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - A former Chinese judge is scheduled to arrive in Canada on Wednesday after serving 11 years in a prison for “subverting state power” after using his position as a judge to aid vulnerable groups and human rights advocates.

ChinaAid reports that soon after Li Jianfeng was released from prison, the Midland-based organization began to lead efforts to rescue Li from China, where he faced further reprisal for creating organizations he called “labor alliances.”

These “labor alliances” were support networks -- comprised of business owners, police, judges and human rights defenders -- that provided aid to socially vulnerable groups and human rights advocates using public and semi-public methods, according to a press release ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

On Depravity

This chapter will have been misunderstood if anyone describes it as a reinstatement of the doctrine of Total Depravity. I disbelieve that doctrine, partly on the logical ground that if our depravity were total we should not know ourselves to be depraved, and partly because experience shows us much goodness in human nature.

• From The Problem of Pain
• Compiled in Words to Live By

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 25, 2015

NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESBYTERY, WASHINGTON DC - ona Conversations is a new worshiping community dedicated to discovering where the Holy Spirit and culture are leading Christian communities in our day. It is space, around a meal table and in the public square, to probe justice, compassion, prophetic challenge, and radical Christianity. Iona Conversations takes the risk of experimenting seriously ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

In the News ... "Rents still are high, says Family Promise of Midland executive director"

MRT Photo

• Saturday event to provide resources for those who are homeless

Erin Stone, Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - As the school year begins and cooler weather is on its way, those who are homeless will face greater challenges. The Midland Homeless Coalition met Thursday to discuss what each respective organization has been working on in their effort to provide shelter for those in need.

We are seeing a reduction in rents, which is a big plus, but it’s still high,” said Tom Miller, executive director at Family Promise of Midland. “We’re seeing the job market sort of stabilize, but (also) a reduction of hourly wages. So you’ve got the rent prices beginning to come down but you’re not getting the hourly wages higher so people are still stuck in the middle” ...

• read the rest of this MRT report

C.S. Lewis Daily - Today's Reading

Presented by Bible Gateway

Today's Reading

We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker’s, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ: if we have repented these early sins we should remember the price of our forgiveness and be humble. As for the fact of a sin, is it probable that anything cancels it? All times are eternally present to God. Is it not at least possible that along some one line of His multi-dimensional eternity He sees you forever in the nursery pulling the wings off a fly, forever toadying, lying, and lusting as a schoolboy, forever in that moment of cowardice or insolence as a subaltern? It may be that salvation consists not in the cancelling of these eternal moments but in the perfected humanity that bears the shame forever, rejoicing in the occasion which it furnished to God’s compassion and glad that it should be common knowledge to the universe. Perhaps in that eternal moment St Peter—he will forgive me if I am wrong—forever denies his Master. If so, it would indeed be true that the joys of Heaven are for most of us, in our present condition, ‘an acquired taste’—and certain ways of life may render the taste impossible of acquisition. Perhaps the lost are those who dare not go to such a public place. Of course I do not know that this is true; but I think the possibility is worth keeping in mind.

• From The Problem of Pain
• Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

Today in the PC-USA Mission Yearbook

Today in the Mission Yearbook: September 24, 2015

MINUTE FOR MISSION: ACTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE - In 2009, Heeding God’s Call, a multifaith movement working at the grass roots to reduce the misuse of weapons across the United States, was launched. A key moment in the PC(USA)’s work to reduce gun violence was its adoption at the 219th General Assembly (2010) of Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call, a report calling for a “spiritual awakening” strategy to be led by the church and involve entire communities. Rev. Gradye Parsons, stated clerk of the General Assembly, mentions Heeding God’s Call in his introduction to the report, noting the efforts of faith-based groups in “local education and organizing efforts to prevent irresponsible gun sales at shops or gun shows” ...

• CLICK HERE to read more.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

WAW Wednesday: World Headquarters needs your help!

"The Word at Work is a ministry that mobilizes churches and individuals to answer God's call to minister to those in need," writes Rev. Tim Tam, Director of the Amarillo, Texas-based ministry. "Through our relationships, God reveals needs and opportunities for service. As we come along side the poor, new friendships develop and doors for ministry open. As we serve, God provides the resources to supply for the needs he reveals."

World Headquarters needs your help!

Good evening, friends,

The beauty of The Word at Work is that 100% of your contribution goes directly to the projects that you support in Belize. So you can see, first-hand, the impact that your gifts make in the lives of the community.

However, the staff and facilities of The Word at Work headquarters needs your consideration too. We strive for efficiency in everything we do. We still rely on funding from our partners and supporters to exist. Please help us keep the lights on and our staff paid. In-turn, they'll make sure that the projects that you support, continue well into the future.

• CLICK HERE to donate

TT (Tim Tam)
The Word at Work

ps: Our Ministry Associate team gathers school supplies, toys, and stuffed animals through out the year ... we've discovered blankets are an ongoing need as well, so please be saving them, too. Click here to learn more about becoming a TW@W Ministry Associate, or get in touch with Tim Hagen for more information!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Speaking from my own first-hand experience - working side-by-side with Tim, Kenny and our brothers and sisters in Belize - won't you give thoughtful, prayerful consideration to supporting the efforts of Tim, the Word At Work staff and their partners? Please please fill out this Commitment Card and return it to their office!

Also, remember that you can follow The Word At Work on their Facebook page!