June 17, 2009

Reconciliation Ministries Director Curtis May will be holding a seminar June 27-28 in Jacksonville, Florida. Continuing Education Units will be issued for the 2-day session. Everyone is invited, and there is no cost for the event. (For additional info, see ORM’s website www.ATimeToReconcile.org )

---

Jackson, Tennessee

Bridget Davis Chandler of our Living Way Christian Fellowship congregation in Jackson, TN writes:

This year on June 4, for the eighth year in a row, our small congregation of 40 arrived at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park to launch our annual Vacation Bible School Camp. We served 52 young people, including 10 preschool, 20 elementary and 22 teens, who enjoyed three days and nights of learning about and praising God. This year’s theme, Crocodile Dock, was all about fearless kids shining God’s light, and we encouraged them to bring that “light” with them and let it shine brightly in their own homes and communities.

---

UK

Our Cardiff congregation, also known as the Welcome Christian Fellowship, and our West Wales congregation have launched a bilingual website. This provides readers with a Welsh translation of selected English language articles and material. Check out the site at www.wcgwales.org.uk. This is an exciting development within our fellowship. Please pray that God will use this initiative to his glory.

From Rob and Fiona Jones:

For nine years Fiona and I have lived in the small village of Crossford, Fife, just north of Edinburgh. Crossford is a small village about two miles due west of Dunfermline, with a population of about 3000 people. It boasts a few shops, a scout hall, a play-park, a golf course, a post office, two hotels, and has the best-kept village hall in Fife. This old village dates back to medieval times and apparently gets its name from being the place where monks crossed over a stream when in pilgrimage between Dunfermline and Culross abbeys. It’s a village where strangers will stop and talk to you when you’re out for a walk in the spring sunshine, but interestingly, this pleasant old village stands out in stark contrast from the others in West Fife because it has no church of its own-no place for Christians to meet.

For the past five years Fiona has been closely involved in village life as the village newsletter editor. This has given her a place of trust in the community, and on the village community council. Recently, a door in Crossford has started to open, the door to the village hall, to be precise, and a weekly prayer meeting has started on Thursdays. When the friendly hallkeeper trustingly gave us our permanent set of keys, Fiona remarked, “I felt as if I’d been given the keys to the village!”

Once a month the Perth church make the journey down and fills out the hall a bit more as we meet for a short reading and exposition of Scripture, occasionally some live Christian music, and a time of sharing and prayer. We have ads in the local village newsletter (put in free as agreed by the local village council), in the local shop and now the post office. Small beginnings, but we hope that this Christian service to the village might one day grow into something bigger. Slowly, we hope that Crossford might develop a Christian heart; that the Cross might be put back into Crossford. Whether this outreach remains simply a place of weekly prayer, and the occasional church meeting when Perth and Edinburgh visit, or develops into something more, it will be in God’s good time and according to his plan. Please add your prayers to mine, that God might be glorified in this village. I know that those prayers will make a difference.

From Hector Barrero:

After four months of weekly classes on principles to happier marriages, 25 couples graduated on June 6. We worked in five small groups, and the results are impressive: one baptized, three couples that had been living together decided to marry officially in a civil ceremony, and four other couples are renewing their marriage vows. The official church wedding ceremony was held June 14 when Mike Swagerty visited the Bogota congregation.

We held a seminar to which we invited the graduated couples and some new ones to start the second round of classes for the second semester. Thirty-five couples attended. As we already have more trained people, we hope to have more small groups next semester.

We appreciate the support of pastors Gary Moore and Alvaro Palacio who sponsored this activity.

From Rod Matthews:

In mid March, our pastor in Vanuatu, William Davies, attended a week-long seminar on preaching conducted in the capital, Port Vila, by Langham Partnership International. Langham Partnership is an international ministry originally established by respected pastor, author and theologian, Dr. John Stott, which is especially geared to serving pastors and ministers in remote areas of the world. The Langham Preaching Program is headed by Dr. Jonathan Lamb, and the sessions in Vanuatu were arranged and largely sponsored by their Australian office. Wendy Toulmin, the Australian executive officer, wrote in the LP newsletter, “It was a tremendous privilege to be with 85 men and women – pastors, Bible college teachers, lay preachers, Sunday School teachers and church leaders representing 10 denominational groups and two parachurch organizations. They came from the six provinces of Vanuatu – the Pacific archipelago of 83 islands spread over an area of 860,000 sq km in the South Pacific Ocean.”

Please pray for pastor Peter Whitting, who is still recovering from his lung examination and biopsy, during which his lungs were deflated. Peter has some scar tissue and most likely the ongoing treatment will include a regimen of medication.

Cards may be sent to:
7413 Ricksway Rd
Pikesville, MD 21208-5720

---

Below is a message from Todd Woods, a member of the pastoral team at Living Faith Church in Davenport, Iowa, regarding his father, William (Bill) Woods:

Thanks to all who have been praying for my family through the trials of this past winter and spring. I have appreciated your notes and calls.

Dad passed away peacefully on June 15 after a prolonged struggle with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. II Timothy 4:6-8 describes Dad’s life and love for God’s church and all the members. He longed earnestly for Christ’s return and preached the gospel at every opportunity.

I am overwhelmed by the love shown to me and my family by all of you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cards may be sent to:
Iretha Woods
1817 Duggleby St
Davenport, IA 52803-3351

Remember that prayer is the battleground where we fight the good fight of faith. Let’s encourage everyone to join together in prayer, for we belong to Christ, and by the Spirit it is in Christ that we pray. Prayer and other spiritual activities help keep our hearts in tune with God and remind us of who we are in Christ. He is our all in all, and in him we are eternally beloved of the Father and blessed to share his good news with others.

Love from my family to yours,
Joseph Tkach

---