Iowa Baptist Conference
eNewsletter |
|
|
|
Dear Friends,
This eNewsletter comes to you from the
district office of the Iowa Baptist
Conference... keeping pastors and
leaders informed of activities across
the state... and opportunities and
resources available through the IBC &
the BGC.
|
|
JIM MEAD
UPDATE - #6 |
|
Gift Wrapping... by
Skip Hansen
Gift Wrapping--that's what WE are
all doing these days.
Yesterday... two little school girls
(ages 10 and 7) visited their daddy in
the hospital. With tears in his eyes
Jim Mead reached out... and wrapped
both his arms as far as he could around
his two precious daughters... pulled
them in as close as possible... and told
them how much he loved them... and how
glad he was to still be here with
them!
Now THAT's gift-wrapping
at its finest... the best gift-wrapping
going on anywhere in the IBC right now,
I'd guess!
Jim's able to coordinate his eyes to
read. Able to talk. Not able to
write. Able to walk with a walker.
Blood pressure under control.
Personality undaunted!--stole a
cookie... and got out of bed without
permission. They've strapped an alarm
system on him! Big deal?
The hospital staff told Laura, "This
is all everyone is talking about
all around the hospital!" The
neurologist reported that the amount of
brain tissue removed leaves its victims
fastened upright to sit in a chair...
and drooling. "But clearly," she added,
"Someone is watching out for you. And
we know who that is!"
Jim is still Loving Jesus: "What do you
want me to learn God?" The Voice: "I
want you to know me better."
Jim and family are hoping/praying for
him to be relocated for rehab to the
Knoxville VA Hospital, (six blocks from
home,) before Christmas! Still needs to
pass the liquids-swallow test! Keep
Praying! And when you are wrapping your
gifts... maybe think about Jim!
|
|
|
|
aNEWthing!
NEXT STEPS |
|
|
Just to Let You Know... by
Skip Hansen, Director of Transition
 The
office at the Iowa Baptist Conference seems very
quiet these days. I guess I'm not surprised.
Pastors and peoples across the state are making
all their preparations for Christmas, special
programs, family visits and school holidays! On
top of that... the deep COLD weather and deep
cold snow has slowed everyone down a bit!
We've discovered this is all true for all our
brothers and sisters to the north (up Minnesota
way) as well! Imagine that!
As a result... most of our inter-district
exploratory conversations and communications are
"on hold" until after the holiday season. I'm
expecting
 that
once January kicks in... so will the tempo of
our creative discovery together.
As God brings us to your mind... please keep us
in your prayers. There are many people involved
in both states, and much work to be
accomplished. There has been such a warm
embrace since the process was launched. We
already are anticipating an equally warm
response as together we discover the details of
what NEWthing God is
preparing for us in the future. It won't be
quiet then!
Just wanted you to know.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Skip
|
|
THE STORY OF A KING |
|
And...
the Story Goes On...
by Roger Sutton, Director,
Pine Lake Camp
 "How
should a king come?" In a manger? In a
stable? Son of a virgin? What? How can
that be?
How should a king live? In a carpenter's
shop? Wandering the country with a band of
miss-matched fisherman and tax
collectors...preaching, teaching, healing?
On a young donkey?
How should a king die? On a cross between
two thieves? For something not worthy of
death? Instead of a murderer? Instead of
me?
Why should a king die? Only for crimes, for
sure... not to pay the price for the sins of
another man, a man not even born yet, me!
It doesn't make much sense, at least not in
our frail humanity. But then consider how
much human sense there is in much of what
God has done since creation... a complex
creation, earth, universe and all from
nothing. Living breathing man... from the
dust and His breath... woman, from the rib
of the man. Destruction of the whole earth,
save one man, his family and a collection of
animals on a relatively tiny boat, all
things considered.
The stories, no... His story... goes on.
Because He, God, seeks a relationship with
us... up close and personal... every moment,
every day. He made the world we live in,
placed us in it, and offers us salvation and
an abundant life. He even offers us the
ability and the desire to have relationships
with others in our human race. He wants us
to learn how He loves them and how He wants
us to love them because we know His love.
God has used His creation to bring us
together, to grow our relationship with Him
and one another. I thank God for the Iowa
Baptist Conference and Pine Lake Christian
Camp and how He has used them to bring us
together, to make us stronger. As God
continues to lead us personally and
corporately, I pray that we will be allowed
to enjoy more of God's impossible work in us
and through us.
May we never forget the works of God...
large and small... and be amazed!
Have a very blessed Christmas.
Roger
|
|
CHRISTMAS BLESSING
from UKRAINE |
|
|
A Christian Perspective in the Midst of
these Troubling Times
by Pastor Peter Bevz,
Chernigov, Ukraine
 We
wish you a Blessed Christmas! May all the glory be
given to God and peace of God dwell in your hearts
and in your family! "Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing..." (Romans
15:13) at Christmas and throughout the New 2009
Year!
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not,
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:10-14).
With every coming year life seems to become
more fussy and bustling. People seem to have
more problems, bad incurable diseases and much
affliction and sorrow etc. Jesus is with us in
these times of unrest. He is with those who are
born of Him and whose hearts absolutely trust in
Him. Just before ascending to His Father, Jesus
left us a wonderful promise - "I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
As the children of God, we must not react
out of fear especially now in the light of the
most recent economic events that have caused
such a stir throughout the world.
Let us be encouraged by the good news of
great joy by reading the Scripture rather than
bad news of the media. Jesus spoke to His
followers about times of great difficulty. His
advice to them was "And when these things begin
to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth near" (Luke
21:28).
This is a time for the body of Christ to
hold onto our faith and trust the Lord and His
ways. This is a time to bring the lost the good
news of great joy in Jesus, the Savior and the
Lord. This is a time to rejoice in Him more than
ever. And the sinners will see our joy in this
time of trouble and - will trust in the Lord and
accept Him.
May abundant blessings of the Lord be with
you at this Christmas and in 2009 year.
With love in Christ,
Peter and Tamara Bevz & Family
Tolstogo Street, 108, Chernigov, 14014,
Ukraine
P.S. The Mission Baptist Church in Chernigov
and the Chernigov Christian Mission "Charity and
Spiritual Rebirth" extend their sincere
Christmas greetings to your Church!
|
|
COMING HOME FOR GOD! |
|
|
First Baptist's New Pastor
Excited to Return to Place He Found the Lord!
by Mary Loden,
Forest City Summit, December 18, 2008; Photo
by Bob Fenske (Reprinted by permission)
 Eric
Weaver has traveled full circle in his journey
with God, coming to know Him as a freshman at
Waldorf College in 1992 to recently accepting
the position as senior pastor at First Baptist
Church in Forest City.
"We're excited to come back, our roots are
here," Weaver said referring to the Midwest,
where both he and his wife, Katharine, were born
and raised. And especially to Forest City, the
place where he gave his life to God.
Weaver, 35, doesn't look like the typical
pastor. Dressed casually in jeans and a
button-down shirt he more closely resembles some
of the church youth he shares a close affinity
with.
After Waldorf, he found a job working at
Okoboji Bible Camp in Spirit Lake where he met
Katie, who was also a counselor. "Working with
the youth at camp I thought I wanted to do some
kind of youth ministry," he said. "I still
loved baseball so I thought I could coach and
minister to families through coaching."
That thought led Eric and Katie, who married
in 1997, to the University of Northern Iowa in
Katie's hometown of Cedar Falls, where they both
obtained degrees in elementary education.
While attending UNI, Weaver said he was also
working part-time at a church in Cedar Falls
[Prairie Lakes], which caused him to rethink his
career path.
"As that church grew my interest in ministry
grew as well," Weaver said and he began
exploring the idea of attending seminary.
Weaver attended the Denver Seminary and
graduated in 2007. During that time, he was on
staff at a non-denominational church and
eventually became the associate minister.
In May, Katie found an interesting job
posting on the Internet - First Baptist Church
in Forest City was looking for a senior pastor.
That began several months of dialog and
interviews to see how well the fit between
Weaver and First Baptist would be. And late
last month, the Weavers made the trek back to
the Midwest. Eric and Katie and their four
children - Anna, 8; Elijah, 6; Emilie, 3; and
Claire, 5 weeks - are excited to be in Forest
City.
"We're here because we feel the Lord has a
home for us in Forest City," he said. "We're
not here to job hunt or be close to family.
We're really excited and thankful to be here."
|
|
MINISTRY CHALLENGES |
|
Misunderstanding Impacts Ukraine Youth
Ministry
by Roman
Bevz, Youth Pastor, Chernigov, Ukraine
A
couple weeks ago we visited a school in Zhukotki
village. We played some games, sang songs and
then I shared a message. I told kids a story
from one children's movie about a girl who came
to the hospital to visit her friend. When she
saw him there he was wearing a necklace with a
cross on it. She talked to him for a while and
then she said, "You know, Jesus is not on the
cross anymore, he is alive".
We talked about friendship that day, and Jesus'
act on the cross was the best illustration of
friendship, (as Jesus even said to His disciples
,"I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's business.
Instead, I have called you friends, for
everything that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you" John 15, 15). Showing His
love, Jesus died for us as our friend, so that
everyone who believes in Him can receive
forgiveness of sins. After the class we said
good bye and left.
A week later I got a phone call at about 9 pm
from a principal of this school. She said:
"Roman, tell me honestly, what exactly did you
tell the kids?" I said, the theme was
'friendship'... I told her a few things that I
shared with kids...
And then she explained me what the problem was.
One of the kids understood the 'cross story'
wrong. And when this girl came home she told her
parents that she is not going to wear a necklace
with a cross anymore because we said that it's
not good and even more - it is prohibited! So
the parent wrote a petition/ complaint to the
police office and the District Department of
Education asking to check all this, as we teach
kids wrong things.
We could not teach this because even our
(Baptist) Christians wear crosses as well! It
was just misunderstanding!
A few days later three representatives from
District Department of Education came to this
school and met with a principal. She didn't lose
her job and she wasn't punished... but this
situation affected the work with other schools.
Principals from all schools of Chernigov
District have a common meeting once a week in
Chernigov City. At one of these meetings they
all were warned, "Watch these Baptists when they
come to your school!"
Last week and this week when I called to schools
to schedule the trips two principals have
already postponed the visits. One of these
schools will receive us maybe next week, and the
other one only in January or February of 2009.
I would be very thankful to you if you keep us
in your prayers. They don't tell us not to come
to the schools yet, but it can possibly happen
in the near future. Once again, we all know that
the Satan doesn't sleep and this is his job to
stop God's work among the unsaved people. Let's
all remember that our God is always awake and He
hears our prayers!
Psalms 145:18 "The LORD is near to all who call
on him, to all who call on him in truth".
May god abundantly bless you!
With prayer,
Roman Bevz
|
|
WEBSITE COMMUNICATION |
|
|
Don't forget to
check the IBC Website
for the latest updates regarding
process and progress...
As
we seek God's direction for
"aNEWthing!'
|
|
CALENDAR OF EVENTS |
|
 Looking
Ahead...
-
January 17 - IBC Board of Overseers -
Meeting at Pine Lake
-
January 16-18 - Sr High Winter Retreat
-
January 24-26 - Juniors Winter Retreat
-
February 6-8 - Jr High Winter Retreat
-
February 3 - IBC Board of Overseers - Ph
Conf
-
March 7 - IBC Board of Overseers - Meeting
at Pine Lake
-
March 27-28 - Quad-Cities Christians
Writers' Conference - Eldridge (Go to www.qccwc.com
for details)
-
March 27-29 - IBC Scrapbooking Weekend -
PLCC
-
April 7 - IBC Board of Overseers - Ph Conf
-
April 18 - IBC Prayer Summit - PLCC
-
April 31-May 1 - IBC State-wide LEAD Team
Meeting (Union Park, D.M.)
-
May 1-2 - IBC Annual Meeting (Union Park,
D.M.)
-
May 22-25 - Memorial Day Family Retreat
Weekend
-
June 14-19 - Juniors Camp
-
June 21-26 - Sixers Camp
-
June 21-26 - Centershot Archery Camp
-
June 28-July1 - Base Camp
-
July 3-5 - 4th of July Family Retreat
Weekend
-
July 5-10 - Jr High Camp
-
July 12-17 - Sr High Camp
-
September 18-20 - IBC Men's Retreat
-
September 25-27 - IBC Women's Retreat
|
|
MINISTRY
RESOURCES |
|
|
Following are brief summaries of
some GREAT ministry tools.
You can check out additional
resources at the IBC website in
regard to:
-
RETOOL KIT
is a BGC resource
designed to help churches become
all that God wants for them. It
is not a program... it is a
pathway... guided by a trained
Mobilization Coach who helps the
church discover and develop
healthy leaders, a biblical
community, and a clear vision
for the future.
-
 One
of the the end results is a
clearer vision for ministry,
along with a three year future
plan. Additional outcomes are
the changing of the church's
DNA, spiritual growth, (both
personally and corporately),
stronger community, and more
effective Kingdom impact.
For more information, contact
Pastor Jeff Scherer,
IBC Director of Mobilization
at: 319-290-6874 or
jeffscherer6@msn.com
-
SHALOM HOUSE is
a pastoral retreat center in New
London, WI
 -
facilitated by Pinnacle
Ministries and providing a
comfortable, safe place for rest,
refreshment and renewal for those in
ministry - based on the philosophy
that the health of our
churches, and ultimately our
communities, rests in the strength
and refreshment of our pastors.
Pinnacle Ministries
offers three levels of services...
from just "hanging out" to
professional counseling services.
Shalom House can
also be utilized for church
board and leadership retreats,
church staff training, missionaries
and their families, and pastoral
sabbaticals.
If your pastor doesn't know about
Shalom, please tell him or her about
it - better yet, send them
for a refreshing, relaxing break to
recharge their batteries for future
ministry!
For more information, go to:
www.theshalomhouse.org
-
QUIET WATERS MINISTRIES -
offers a FREE,
24 hour a day, 7 days a week,
confidential phone consulting
resource for BGC pastors and home
assignment missionaries called
CARELINE -
funded jointly by IBC & BGC
 Call
866.526.2222 to be
put in touch with a licensed doctor
or master's level counselor from
Quiet Waters Ministries
to talk about EITHER
personal OR congregational
matters.
Services are available for up to 3 hrs
of assessment and consultation via
telephone per isolated incident per
year.
All communication with the
denomination, regarding these
services is consistent with
confidentiality laws and
requirements, and with BGC's
policies and guidelines.
For more information about
Quiet Waters, go to:
www.qwaters.org
-
BGC CORNERSTONE FUND
is a ministry
of the Baptist General Conference
with a mission
 to
extend BGC ministries - by providing
loans for building/remodeling
projects within our conference
churches and ministry centers.
Our ministry is possible because of
the support of our investors, who
receive competitive rates compared
to like term investments and have
the satisfaction of knowing that
their investment is being used to
help expand ministries of the BGC.
For more information, go to:
www.bgccornerstonefund.org
-
CHRISTIAN LIBRARY
INTERNATIONAL
is a Raleigh, NC, based ministry
that distributes
 used
Christian books (fiction and
non-fiction), Christian music tapes,
Sermon tapes, CDs, DVDs, video
tapes, bible study materials, and
tracts to prisons, shelters and
international missions free of
charge.
What a
great way to "recycle" those dust
collecting books! For more
information, to to:
www.cli-nc.org
-
CHERISH CENTER
is a ministry of Shepherd's
Fold - providing housing,
counseling, nurturing, training, and
spiritual guidance to young ladies
experiencing the crisis of an
unplanned pregnancy. They have the
capacity to care for six girls at a
time for a period of 3-6 months.
And because they are supported by
individuals and churches, they have
the freedom to make Christ central
in the home and in the training.
The Executive Director, Jan
Turner, is a member of the
Milford Baptist Church
and is also their worship
director. She has seen this project
through the from the very beginnings
- property purchase, building
construction and equipping, and
staffing. In their first year of
operation they served eight girls.
Shepherd's Fold
Ministries, Inc., is a
local, interdenominational,
non-profit corporation working
to provide a home and a
hope for young mothers in
need, located in northwest
Iowa.
|
|
 IOWA
BAPTIST CONFERENCE
Magnifying God by Mobilizing &
Multiplying a Growing Family of Healthy Churches! |
|
|
