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CHRISTMAS BOXES
Dean Van Farowe, Pastor, Calvary Reformed Church
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I had one Christmas box left after the holidays. It's been sitting on my desk, waiting for when I had the time to go to a Westlake nursing home to visit Pearl, a great lady who's from our neighborhood, was a neighborhood activist, etc. She continues to be an activist, even in her nursing home, fighting with the resident group for changes there. She's wonderful.
Well, yesterday I had time and I brought her the box. It was an amazing gift: inside she found a watch, a Jerusalem cross from Jerusalem, purchased in Jerusalem. She had me put the cross on her. She also found a scarf and candy and toiletries. The smile just went on forever. She hadn't received anything for Christmas, and she was just beaming.
She wanted me to say Thanks, said it three or four times. She wished she could write something herself, but she can't see well enough.
So thanks! Thanks again for all the boxes this year. |
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BUILDING HOPE IN THE CITY
Jim Traxler
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| When I was still directing the Sanctuary Choir in 2003, I indicated to Marcia that I wanted to form a Genesis group within our choir, since her vision for the Genesis program was that it was not intended to be a Promise-only initiative. She said, “Great, I’ve got just the church that needs your help.” That began a partnership that continues to this day with a church that is quite a bit different from the other churches in the Genesis program. I think it would be interesting to explore those differences. more... |
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A HIGH FIVE FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
Sherri Ripcho
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What’s more of a blessing than watching two teens with special needs “high-five” each other when they see each other at a picnic for teens with special needs? Not much! States a BPC parent, “My other children go off to socialize with their peers, but since my child with special needs has reached their teen years, the “typical” age-level peers that used to socialize with my child have stopped hanging out. more...
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YOUR LABOR FOR THE LORD IS NOT IN VAIN
Mike Vonderau
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| Ministry is difficult. If we ever find that it comes easy, we must be doing something wrong. I can remember walking into my first Avon Lake football game five years ago as a brand new staff member with Young Life and being overwhelmed by the thousands of people that filled the football stadium because I didn’t know a single one of them. more... |
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KIDS CHURCH MISSION TO LIBERIA
Chris Faile
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| One of my favorites times during the Praise/Worship time was when Brother Paul (he’s like the director of 10+ Kids Churches running from church to church all over Liberia working 24/7 for the Lord) would say "Now let's just close our eyes and meditate on Jesus. Let's just wave to Jesus" then we begin to hear all these sweet voices just praying/talking to Jesus. So cool! more... |
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LIVING WATERS FOR THE WORLD
Cathy Nichols
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| “How will we know that the water is safe to drink?” asks the teacher in San Marcos. I am struck by the contrast of his earnest concern and how much we take for granted here in the USA. On my tenth mission trip with the BPC to Jacaltenango Guatemala I am part of the Living Waters for the World team. more... |
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GOD IS IN THE NUMBERS
Julie Jones
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| As many of you know, BPC has been supporting Habitat for Humanity locally for about 15 years. Each year that we support the local Habitat through our mission benevolence budget we have an agreement that 10% of that goes to Habitat International and specifically for the work of Habitat in Guatemala. more... |
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THE STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER
Dan McElwain
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| Christina asked to take home reading materials from the beginning of the reading program she is currently working through. She said she wanted to teach her younger sister the beginning of the phonics program. The next week, Christina brought in two sets of graded worksheets. more... |
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DOCTORS CONFUSED...
Dan McElwain
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| Shauna's grandpa has been ill for quite some time with cancer. Shauna has been reminding everyone who prays at school (morning, lunch, etc.) to pray for her grandpa, with such faithfulness her requests have become something of a rote pre-prayer routine. more... |
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ARE THESE KIDS EVEN GETTING IT?
Kelly Geiger
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Ever since we started Kids Church, we’ve done the ‘Giving Lesson’ talking about tithing and I’ve wondered, “Are they really getting it? Is any of this sinking in?” Well, I got my answer a couple of weeks ago.
As I pulled up to the church, one of my boys came running to the car waving a couple of dollars. more...
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TEACHABLE MOMENTS
A PowerZone Mom
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| I had a great teaching moment with my daughter. Someone in her class at school had been nasty to her. We talked about it and discussed the choices she had. We determined that praying for this child was the best option. We talked about compassion, more... |
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CHRISTMAS IN A SHOEBOX / KIDS CHURCH
Kim Moore
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| We had a full house on Saturday, the day of our annual Christmas Party - the day we handed out the Christmas Shoe Boxes. As usual, there were a few kids we had never seen before, but only about 4 out of approximately a hundred kids. And just as I had anticipated, there were a few kids who had only recently started coming to Kids Church in late November or early December, more... |
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THE TABO NEW TESTAMENT IN PNG
Tim Schlatter
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| For more than 20 years, Tim and Karen Schlatter have worked in Papua, New Guinea translating the New Testament into the Tabo language. This culminated in a joyous dedication celebration in October, 2006 with over 4,000 local guests as well as visitors from Canada, Australia, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and New Zealand. more... |
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GOD'S WORK AMONG OHIO COLLEGE STUDENTS
Oberlin Christian Fellowship
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During a recent weekend about 200 students, including 12 or so from Oberlin, were at a retreat center north of Columbus for "Garden State." We spent the weekend digging in to Genesis 2 and 3, learning about God's plan for the world, relationships and sexuality. It was a stellar weekend. We saw God at work transforming students in powerful ways. Seven students, including one from Oberlin, trusted Christ for the first time. Other students from Oberlin reported being freed from self-condemnation, sexual sins, and shame over parents' divorce. It was a powerful time. Thanks for praying.
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A LESSON IN LISTENING
Gail Tanner
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| Project Serve is a week long urban mission trip in which youth from suburban and urban churches come together for a week to participate in transforming a little corner of the city and their own personal lives. The youth and leaders live together at a local YMCA and have devotions and team time in the morning, do work projects in the city in the mid-morning until late afternoon, share in reflection time after the work, and have fun activities and worship every evening. God did miraculous things for these kids and IN these kids. more... |
