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Bishop Wilber Sites, Jr., was hospitalized January 3 with congestive heart failure. He sent this note yesterday: “I have been home now for a week. My doctor says that recovery will be very slow. However, I can praise God for the progress that is being made. Thanks to all the staff for their prayers. I continue to pray for you as you prepare for the National Conference.”
Jeff Kline, Macau
A few months ago as we were looking for new direction here in Macau, we felt that God gave us our answer. Though we had never stepped into the doors at TIS, we felt God was directing in this direction by putting two youth in our church that attend there.
From that moment on, God continued to place people from TIS into our lives; two Christian teachers and a Christian Vice Principal! Then we realized we knew four other Christian kids from TIS and started conversations with them about starting a new outreach ministry at their school. All of them seemed to be excited and ready to reach their friends.
That’s when Saturday nights with TIS kids began. So for the past 3 months we have invited kids into our home. We have anywhere from 3-15 kids a week. So Saturday nights are a time to hang-out, play sports, eat and talk.
That is the first part of our new ministry. The second part is an on-campus ministry we hope to start in the near future. We plan to visit the school once a week to hold a Club, a one-hour event where we play ice-breaker games, talk about a teen-relevant topic, and share what God thinks about that topic.
From these two ministries comes the third: small groups.
The fourth part of this ministry is big events held with the help of Living Stone Church. And since five is one more than four, the fifth part is student leadership where we get together on Thursday mornings early to pray for and talk about ways to better tell their friends about Christ.
Through these five ministries to TIS kids, we hope to introduce them to a loving God who desires to have a personal relationship with them, connect them with other Christians in Macau, bring them into a local church, and show them just how good and life-changing a life with Jesus is!
Please pray for us as we start-up this new ministry. Please pray for the staff and administration at TIS. Please pray for the students at TIS.
Imagine This LLC in Grand Ledge, Mich., held its second annual Kid’s Shop for Christmas on Saturday, December 13, from 1-4 p.m. The local paper covered the event both before and after, and the congregation distributed flyers (download a copy) during the town’s Christmas parade. The idea was to help financially-burdened families by underwriting and providing quality gift items that children could buy for family members. This enabled children to enter into the true meaning of Christmas–giving–while preserving the family’s budget.
Here are some elements of Kid’s Shop.
Kid’s Shop was held the same day Grand Ledge’s downtown businesses held a special shopping day for adults. Coupons were available so parents could go shopping at local downtown businesses while their children were doing Kid’s Shop.
About 140 children attended. They selected from gifts geared for siblings, parents, grandparents, and others. Donations from local enabled them to keep the cost down.
Some other holiday activities at Imagine This:
When I became pastor of Devonshire UB church (Harrisburg, Pa.) in 1988, I laid out my six-month plan for preaching. A couple ladies approached me.
“We don’t think you’re being led by the Spirit.”
“Oh?” I said. “Help me understand why you think that.”
“How can you be led by the Holy Spirit if you’re planning things out six months in advance?”
I asked them, “When did God lay out the plan of salvation? It was before the foundation of the world. He created this plan, then Jesus came 2000 years later and implemented it.
“If God can plan 2000 years in advance, are you saying he can’t lead me to know what to preach about six months from now?”
To them, being led by the Spirit was flying by the seat of your pants.
Donna Hollopeter called from Sierra Leone, where she is part of a medical mission trip at Mattru Hospital. They held their second medical clinic today. Darlene Burkett, who took the call, wrote the following:
“Donna said they had a ‘terrific experience’ today! They were way out in the bush and saw at least 150 patients and accomplished very much! They’ll be back in Mattru tomorrow, then out to the bush again Thursday. Keep them in your prayers. The generator is still not operating, so that is a big request.”
Ron Ramsey, Bishop
This is from the Sillly file. Hey, it’s Saturday.
The “Noise Offering” is an interesting fundraiser for some of the upgrades at Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone. Once a month, some churches take up the Noise Offering. People drop their loose change into a metal container of some kind–a coffee can, pie tin, cake pan–anything that makes a noise. The idea is “Change cane make a change at Mattru.”
Want to join this effort? Just contact Global Ministries.
