edrington roger 1976 england

8/16/2019 Edrington Roger 1976 England

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R o g e r E d r i n g t o n , 5 9

C a m b r i d g e

S t .

C o v e n t r y C V ;

5 P I U

E n g l a n d r e p o r t s

t h r e e

b a p t i s m s

d u r i n g t h e R e s u : | ^ r e c t i

season

I

R o g e r p l a n s a f u r l o u g h t o U ^ A

s t a r t i n g

i n

S e p t e m b e r ,

' 7 6 -

H : j . s

f o r v 7 a r d i n g a g e n t i s : M r s . D e l b ^ r t E

( J o y c e ) G u f f e y , R . R , ^ - B o x

: { 7 6 ,

Butler MO

64730.

Gleanings

Type

within the l i n e s . I f s h o r t ,

lengthen

the next i n e that

number

of c har

a c t e r s .

If

long shorten the next i n e that number f

characters.

Do ot

hyphenate

words

on h i s

copy sheet.


2/13

lORIZONS

NO

TITLE:

ENGLAITD

COPYPAGE

/

PI

OTHER >

DATE

JOB

PAGE

P-

Six C h r i s t i a n ^

and

one

non-@tiristian ^

L

X L

liave

recently

completed a six-^eek c

T A t

study, Introduction to Franci^ S c h a i f f e o E ,

E

L

I

T

E

led by Roger Edrington, member of a

r 'team

ministry in

Cove ntry, Engl and.

6

Roger furnishe d the fol l owing reporti.

7

Using the

three major books (of

Schaeffer),

the

group

grappled with najor

issues confronting the disciplines of

I

theology,

art, music, philosophy, and

general

culture.

They

especially

emphasi

I

the

apologetic

in

an

e vangelistic

setting. Many confronted

these issues

I

for the first time. They felt that

j:hey

9

10

11

12

13

1 i |

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

2h

25

26

27

28

were

beginning

to

get

down to

the real

I

me at and depth of the gospel 'siimplications

I

of

meeting the attack that theiworld

i

and the devil

are

putting on us.

- -

I

Among othe r things,

the

experience

of

this study convinces

us that many

1

ordinary Christians really want to

1

go deeper

in growing as j g T Christians,

l O

Us

AVl^rti

ihe team

c o n d u c t e d / ^ - ;

C^rr-vA

.

^the-TO-ird

yoaau

Twenty-three

childr

1

attended the four day

camp-

Fmr the

first time

this

year, mission lesson

1

were

part

of the program.

Some of

I

the

campers e xpresse d an intere st in

zed

P

I

C

A

S

K

E

T

C

H

Type

w i t h i n t h e l i n e s . I f s h o r t , l e n g t h e n t h e next

i n e

t h a t number of

h a r

a c t e r s . I f long,

shorten the

next i n e

that

number of c h a r a c t e r s . Do not

hyphenate

words

on

this copy

sheet.


3/13


4/13

. .

e p o r t

r

om

t e a m m i n i s t r y c h a l l e n g i n g

M.

y post-Chrlstlan

nation w i t h the claims of Christ

Vol. 4

No.

1 S e p t e m b e r 1976

Janet Balnea

Debbie Davis

Bev Mulline

202 Klngfield Rd.

C o v e n t r y CV6 5PL

Kids

Steve &Lee late

69 Huntingdon Bd.

Coventry CV5 6PT

Roger

Edrington

59 Cambridge St .

Coventry CVl

5HU

He was

s i t t i n g

o n t h e

ground,

i n

t h e

middle

of

a

cow

field-cum-campground. His

d i n n e r p l a t e was on his h ead l ike a hat,

his Japanese chopst icks(a surprise gift to

all

the

kids during one

of

the mission

talks)

in his

hands and he

was

beating away

m e r r i l y

on his 'drum' --

an

o l d

dr i e d c ow

p i l e i

L i t t l e

7 year

old

Paul was o n e of 23

children f r o m our Sunday

School

sharing

with us three nights

and

four days

of

camping.

Kids never cease to amaze me. We

had

many 'types'

o f kids and s o m e o f t h e be

h a vi o r p r o b l e m s

we

faced I r e m e m b e r

from

my own

f o r m e r c am p

days. However, that

didn't seem to

h e l p m e h a n d l e t h e m i

We ran into some of the oldest pranks

i n camp

h i s t o ry.

(One amazing

th in g about

kids is that their

camp

pranks never seem

t o ch ange.) One

n i g h t

we

had

an

outdoo r

toilet tent

d i s m a n t l e d wh i l e

o c cup i e d

a n d

a

few

attempted raids on the

gir]^s

and

boys tents

by the opposite sex. Our kids

have even reached camp romance stage.

But

since

the

kids

aren't from Christian homes

and n o n e are

yet

Christians themselves,

they have no real

r e a s o n

to l iv e

by

Christ

ian

moral standards.

T h e t h e m e f o r o u r c am p

was

'The King Is

Coming' on

which

our teachings and songs

were, for the most part, based.

Our t h i r d year

of

c a m p had o u r

first

missionary talks this year and the kids

loved it. Som e even e x p r e s s e d

a

real i n

terest in missions and yet have never made

a

personal committment to Christi

One

l i t t l e

girl,

w h o s e p a r e n t s h ave re

cently bec o m e

Crhistians, has

deve l o p e d a

un ique and be a ut i f u l f r i e n d s h i p

wit

God.

She showed me how to thank Him for all

t h i n g s f r o m Tuck

s h o p s

( t h e cantee n) t o

cow piles

-

"without them

there wouldn't

be any cows" and she loves

cows.

ROGER, EBBIE,JANET J . B . ) ,STEVE, EE,JAN, SEATED) EV

Jan (Kill ebrew)

Bowen

Top Flat

8 Norfolk

St.

Spon End

Coventry CVl 3BX

A m e r ic an C o r r e s p o nde n t s:

Mr. & Mrs. C. L.

Davis

1010 N. Monroe St,

Lincoln, II. 62656 U.S.A.

At

the end

of the

four days

we

had

seen

many joys and

yet

tears, fights, and hurts

as well. The thing which impressed me

most was

t h e

i m p o r t a n c e

and

difficulty

in

r eaching

t h e s e y oung

p e o p l e. The challe nge

is overwhelming but

we have

a Savior who

can accomplish the impossible

and

work

where

we

are

weakesti

Praise Him.

An

evaluation on this camp is difficult,

but I pray

that

our

King

is wo rki ng

in

t h e

lives of those

23

children.

Janet

r o m R e j e c t i o n t o R e p e n t a n c e

I

have

known

Marion Welton

for near

ly three years and during

that

time we

have

had

Bib le

studies

and

many discus

sions on

being

a

Christian.

About

two years

ago, Marion

became

very

interested

in

ac

cepting Jesus. When learning

of the

Truth

and

the

cost-of discipleship, Marion chose

not to

accept Jesus as

her

Lord and

Savior.

Our

friendship continued but

our

studies

and

d i s c u s s i o n s s t o p p e d . Sh e

avoided

t h e

subject of Christianity.

While

v i s i t i n g

Marion

o n e

day,

s h e

t o l d

m e of an experience she had had.

This

ex

perience convicted her

to

make a decision

about

her

life.

On

August

1st when

Marion

was baptized, her comments describe her

feelings, "It's

great,

I

feel so relieved,

I'm glad

i t ' s over."

It's

really

just

be

ginning

for Marion.

The pressure

is gone

and she can begin

to

start her

new life

with

Christ.

Jan

Editor's

note:

Her

8 ea r o ld says, "She's b e t t e r than

before. She used

to lose her

temper

but

now she doesn'ti" Jesus changes

EPISTLEPROM

ENGLAND

Lincoln Christian Church

204 N.McLean Street

Lincoln, IL 62656

Non r o f i t

Bulk Rate

U.S. Postage Paid

Lincol n, IL 626S6

Permit

#76


5/13

N o t

l o n e i n E u r o p e

Many thanks to

God

for

His

leading

me

to

Lugano

(Switzerland) Christian Service

Campi

The camp

has

been designed

to

bring

English

speaking people in Europe

together for ten

days of fellowship and learning.

I

c me

away

with much respect for

those

people

who

for the

first few

years see

no

visible results

because

they must learn

the

language

and

customs

of

a

foreign coun

try.

What

great patience,

and

diligence

these people develop Please keep them in

your

prayers;

Europe

is a

very difficult

field

in which to work.

Bev

A d d e d E x t r a s

Two new types of

meetings

were success

ful recently.

Full

Fellowship Sunday is

a goal for every

Sunday, but

on this day

we

made

a

special effort to get all our

members

and

friends together for the whole

day. A good

crowd

turned up

to enjoy

the

services,

pot-luck

lunch, sharing

and

re

creation. Another Sunday evening was

TESTIMONY EVENING.

Songs by request

were

mixed with testimony by eight different

Christians. Even a non-Christian

who

is

currently looking for truth rose

and

test

ified

that Jesus was speaking to her

through

the life and

witness

of

the

people

in our body.

e

have

begun new Tuesday home Bible

Studies.

There are four groups with pos

sibilities of 30-35

in

attendance. Isaiah,

Corinthians, the Prison

Epistles, and

Mat

thew

are the

topics.

W e change groups

and

books about

three

times

a

year.

USA T o u r

Roger will

be speaking concerning

our

work

in England

in these

places.

If you would

like to

come, please

contact

local people

for

arrangements.

AUGUST

Darlington, Indiana

2

29 a.m.

Clarence,

Missouri

p.m. Colchester, Illinois

SEPTEMBER

5 .m. Highview Christian Church

Washington, Illinois

6-7

Missions Emphasis W eek

Central Christian College

of Bible

Moberly, Missouri

9

illigan College Convocation

Johnson City, Tennesee

9

manuel School of Religion Chapel

Johnson

City,

Tennesee

18

Body of Christ

Indianapolis, Indiana

12 Colfax,

Indiana

16 Great Commission Festival

Lincoln Christian

College

Lincoln, Illinois

19

a.m. Bluff Creek Christian Church

Greenwood, Indiana

15

or

21

Lincoln Christian Seminary

Lincoln, Illinois

26 Adrian, Missouri

OCTOBER

3 .m. Central Christian Church

Charleston, Illinois

p.m.

South

Shores

Christian

Church

Decatur, Illinois

10 a.m. Nesconset Church of Christ

Nesconset, New York

W h e n R o g e r & e v L e a v e

As

I gaze towards

my

Father's

htfme,

With only a few shining stars in the sky,

I

think

of a

time

When like the stars.

Only a few shining hearts,

Raised themselves

towards

heaven

In

hopeful

prayer.

These prayers

were

not

forgotten

And

to

the

Father's

glory

Were answered

And

from what was a

few,

became

many.

And

like a flower,

Opening its petals to the morning sun,

W e raised

our heads

to the light.

And now the time has come,

For a part of that answered

prayer.

To

take their

spark

Of love

and

life

And set alight, a

dying

people.

In

Christ's

chosen

place.

And as I sit,

I

begin to

wonder;

W hat is it, to

part with a few

When

we

gain so many?

So little a price to

pay,

For so great a

debt.

Kim

Spencer

—Kim

is 17 years old

by

birth, 1% years

old by New Birth.

F a c i n g t h e I s s u e s

Six Christians and one

non-Christian

have

just finished

a

six week study, INTRO

DUCTION TO FRANCIS SCHAEFFER. Using the

three major

books

of

the

above author, the

group

grappled with

major issues confront

ing the disciplines

of theology, art,

music,

philosophy,

and

general culture. They es

pecially emphasized the apologetic in an

evangelistic setting.

Many

confronted these

issues

for the

first time

and

they felt that they were

be

ginning to get down to the

real

meat and

depth

of

the,

gospel's implications

of

meet

ing the attack that the world and the devil

are

putting on us. Roger, who

led

the group,

also gave them

essay topics

with apologet-

ical

relevance on

which

they may write.

Among other

things,

the experience of this

study

convinces us

that many

ordinary

Christians really want

to

go deeper in

growing

as a Christian. Ministers and el

ders should take this lesson to heart.

Roger

J A M

A sincere thank-you goes to the four

students from

Lincoln C hristian

College/

Seminary

and

Minnesota

Bible College who

l e d

J.A.M.

(^esus And

Me)

Week

for twenty

of our 5-8 year

olds.

From

11:00

a.m. -

3:00 p.m.

the children

were occupied with

Bible

classes,

singing, eating, playing,

and going to the park, zoo, and swimming.

The

"Mum"

of one of the boys said she'd

never seen that

kid

as happy

and

content

as he was that week. I always

appreciate

what

we

are

able to learn

about the

kids

by

being

with

them

for concentrated periods

of

time.

Another positive result is having

children attend who have never been

involved

in any of our other activities - new contacts

both in children

and their

parental

Debbie


6/13

P d c l i a r d

t

B o u r n e


7/13

Page

2

S _ E R V I 1 ^ _ I N

O C ^ r o B S R

October 3 ords Table; Fdchard Gable

Forrest

Spencer.

Hone

C o n i . i u n i o n ; Roy

Jones

Bob Larsh.

October

10

ords

Table:

Roy Jon es Richard

Hawthorne. Hone G o i - x i u n i o n : Forrest S pencer


8/13

PagQ

3

Church Frankfort Those

in

the

hospital

this

past

month

include Thelna

Hannell - mericana^ Edna

BoTwman-Americana,

Lav/rence BoT«man47itham,

Leonard

Bicker-

St. E, Nora G ardner-St. E, Ada Haughs-Home,

Donna Bowen-Home, Robert Winger- Home, Elaine

Chase-Home, Clifford Tucker-Cleveland Clinic.

Congradulation

to Bob and

Elaine

Chase

on

the

birth

of a daughter Amber

DeAnn

Chase bom Sept.

l5.

Lola

V/hitinger is now living at the Lafayette

Health

Care Center on Old Soldiers

Homo Road.

Edna Bowman

is

now living at

English Nursing Home-Lebanon

S p e c i a l

t h a n k s t o

• ^ o b

a n d P h y l l i s

B o o t s V i r h o

keptrmissionaiy Roger

Edrington dur ing his

.

visit

vfith us and Ed Gable

who

planned his

schedule Members of Coif x

Christian Church are invited to attend the

wedding of Michael Hawthorne and

Glenda

Platt

Oct.

17 at 2:30 A otal

of

39

of

us shared

in our

first church-wide retreat

at

H^ging

Rock

Camp on Sept. 17-18. Doug

Dickey hnd

Roger C allahan

lead us in

The

Family

of God and The

Family

of I5an . Thanks

to everyone who

assisted

and

especially Dick

Timmons

who fried

all

that sausage'.

Something special for Halloween

Oct.

31 in

our family hour service see

the

color movie

The Littlest Apostle

Thanks

to Dick and Sue Timmons, Steve Sheets

and

Chr is Spencer, Charles and L ois Nydegger

for

serving

as

greeters during

Sept.

Special

thanks

to

Sally

^Thite, Janet

VanMeter,

Barbara Hawthorne, Betty

Knox

and

Noim^ Funk^

for

doing

office v/ork in

Sept.

ITHAT

I

AV/ T UBLIC

GATHERING FOR

ENTERmiNl-lENT

... a

lady

who has

a nervous condition

which

will not

permit

her

to

go a-

round in a crowd.

... a man who

has a

bad

back which vrLll

not

permit him to

sit

on hard seats

in

worship.

... those who

cannot

drive at

night,

some

had others to bring them and

some actually

drove

themselves.

... spme who have been

indignant at

the

suggestion that

they

be regular

in

church attendance5 yet

they

had

season tickets

in

their possession.

I ave concluded that most people do

about

what they WANT

to do, and

when

they don't

want

to

attend church services,

they

fabr icate lies to cover

up

their unfaith

fulness. What, and who,

I

saw^

God saw

tool —Copied

VJHAT'S

LEFT

For years pieachers and other teachers

of

the

Christian

faith

have sought to help

people

identify

their

real

god by

a simple

suggestion. It is this. Imagine what you

had to choose between

any

two things you

have. Keep one. Threw

the

other away .

Then put something else V i r i t h v h a t

you

have

kept. Continue the process. Include not

just the material

things.

Include

your

loved ones,

your cherished idea.s, the in-

fluences in

your

life. Include the one

you think you are w orshipping as God. If

you

were stripped of

everything else, and

you

had

the choice,

what

v/ould be left?

That, in reality, is your god, no matter

what

you

say

you worship.

I f

the God revealed in the Scriptures

is

7/hat

is left

after

this denuding

pro

cess, all is

well.

If not,

one needs to

give

some serious thought

as to why

any

thing is more

important

than the

God

made

known through Christ and recorded for us in

the

Scriptures.

If

your God

is the

God

of the Scriptures

and

it

is therefore

true

that

nothing

is as

Jjnportant as He

is,

you woul^'t

really

have any trouble about some

basic

decisions

that seem to get

some

people really torn

up inside.

Consider how this applies to

a

person

who

claims

to have a God on whom he calls,

but who will not confess faith,

repent

of

his

sins,

be baptized into Chr ist,

and

live

the Christian life.

Consider how

this applies to the per

son

Y i T h o can't

afford to

give

anything

more

than an occasional amount less than

the cost

of a

meal in

one

of

the

better

restaurants


9/13

h

do

u s t l y

and

to

love mercy,and

to

walk

humbly

with thy God?

—Micah :8

SUNDAY

3

The Human

Delemma

9:30

Preaching From

Th e

Prophets-Ezekiel

6:30

*

World.Communion

1 0

Tapping Timo thys 9:3C

The Garbage Dump

6 e

Th e

People

of God

6:3C

17 The Christian and

Communion 9:30

Hawthorne

6 e

Platt 2:3C

Closed Highways,Detours,

and Interstates 6:30

Simhatn 1orah (Jewish)

24

Chuck

Kelly,

Guest Speaker

9:30

Woodland Heights Trip 2:3C

Why

I Am

Not

A Christian

Bertrand

Russell

6:30

Who

Am

I? 9:3C

Ladoga Home Meeti ng

2 : ? ^ ^

The Littlest Apostle 6:3C

Reiormalion

Day

Copyright 1976.Crown ational

Bureau

OCTOBEjR

19T

CHURCH

CALENDAR

OF

VEN

MONDAY

TUESDAY

4 nd. State Mens

Fellowship

Murot

Theater 7:30

Leave

Here 6:3C

Ycm

i | . . < u r

tjewisnt

7TSU

Elders

eacons

Memtership

'Committee

Thanksgiving

(Canada)

7:30

Columbus

Day'

12

Glenda Platt

Shower

7:30

18

Membership

' ommittee

7:3C

19

Dorcus Society

7:30

Fellowship Hall

25

Veterans'

Day*

26

LOOKING

AHEAD—

November

5—Thanksgiving

November 28—1st

Sunday

n Advent

Noveinber

28—Universal Bible

Sunday

WEDNESDAY

Ladles Auxili ary

1:30

Phyllis

Boots

13 14

20

21

27

Teacher Training

Class

7:30

28


10/13

HORIZONS

NO

yoo

COPY PAGE

TITLE;

i^KUlIMlrTUlN MIJNISTKY OPENS

77/^1 Roger Edrington,

a

member ofEa team

THER " L

I

2

evangelism

effort in England,

has

L'

i Ij

JOB

PAGE.

T

announced that a new ministry has now

I

T

TP

opened in Erdington, England, as prevjiousSy

K

T

H

en,

tie

7

5

9

20

21

22

23

2U

25

26

-

planned,

Roger gave the following

,

5 Brief

report in

the team's most,

recent

Y n e w s l e t t e r ,

We have

now

begun the

two ministries

I

as planned. Keeping

the

Coventry

i

impetus

going

are Steve Tate, Jan Bow

1

1

pebbie Davis,

and

Janet

Baines.i

In

t

rdington ministry, Bev Mullins

and Rbger

Edrington moved from

Coventry

tp join

I

J P e n n y Creasey straight

from t h e , U.S.A

I

^ a n d Michelle Wegwart, who has lived ih

5

England for

the past I6

years, ,

The

Erdington team

is

seekipg

$16

for a

loan (h o pe f u l l y

fr o m

t h e

U . S . A .)

to

purchase

what

seems to be

an,excellent

i

headquarters and

living

situatipn,

I

Your prayers are even more important

In this

early decision-making tme Bf

the new

ministry. We are trying to make

n o p r e c o n c e i v e d d e c i s i o n s ,

b u t

a r e

a l | L o w 6 n g

(jod's Spirit to

lead

us in a

completely

fresh

way, ,

A m e r i c a n c o r r e s p o n d e n t s for j b h e te^

jire Mr, and Mrs. C. L, Davis, IplO N,

28

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13/13

inrEEssioN—

E r d i n g t o n ,

B i r m i n g h a m ,

E n g l a n d . A f t e r

seven weeks of being

in

the

U.S.A. a n d

o v e r

40 speaking

se ssions.

D u r i n g

my

w h i r l w i n d s p e a k i n g a n d

visit

i n g t o u r o f t h e U . S . A . ,

I

s p o k e

t o

s e v e r a l

t h o u s a n d p e o p l e

a b o u t o u r

w o r k h e r e a n d ^

c h a l l e n g e d t h e m

to

g r e a t e r d e p t h

of disci-

p l e s h i p . S h o u l d I

h a v e b e e n i n

o n e

p l a c e

longer,

1

probably would

have

felt

the ne

cessity

t o

speak to

s o m e of

the problems

in

t h e

American church

as

a whole.

In E n g l a n d t h e c h u r c h might

b e

a c c u s e d

of sterility; in Ame rica superficiality

seems

m o r e t o

t h e

problem. England

s e e m s

t o

s u f f er s t i l l bi r t h s , i n fan t i ci d e ,

a n d baby

battering. In both place s, adult

level

maturity_^ Christ is not a s

obvious

as w o u l d s e e m n e c e s sar y

for vital,

meaning

ful Bodies of Christ.

English Christians strive to get

people

t o co m e t o their mainly o l d , co l d , b u i l d

ings. Americ an Christ ians

strive

t o ge t

people

to

come to their

new,

plush, climate

co n t r ol l e d b u i l di n gs . Eng lish Christians

risk being so far b ehind c u l t ure that t h e y

d o not present

Christ to this

generation.

American Christians

r i s k

being so caught

u p

in

t h e c u l t u r e that

they fail t o

pr e

s e n t t h e pure gospel

of

J es u s C h r is t

t o

this generation. Ame ricans

c o u l d

be so

comfortable t h a t

t h e y f o r g e t

t h e i r

nee d

for

the Comforter

American Christianity has

a

long way

to

gr o w. Bu t I s t i l l b e li e v e

t h a t the posi

tion in Britain

per

capita is even worse.

If I w e r e

cal l e d

t o

A m e r i c a ,

I

wo u l d s peak

t o t h e pr o b l e m s t h e r e . B u t since

I

am

c a l l e d t o

Eng land ,

I m u s t

concentrate main

l y o n h o w Go d wo u l d h av e

u s

wo r k h e r e .

I w i l l spar e y o u f u r t h er co m m en t

an d

l e t

yo u

g e t a bo u t your jo b.

THANK

YOU FOR

A

NICE VISIT AND GOOD FELLOWSHIP IN THE

U S A

Roger

W e h a v e n o w

begun t h e

two

ministri s

as

p l a n n e d . Keeping t h e Coventry

i m p e t u s

g o i n g are Steve Tate, Jan Bowen, Debbie

Davis,

and

Janet

Baines. In

the

Erdington

ministry,

Be v Mullins

and

Roger

Edrington

move

from

Coventry

to join Penny Creasey

s t r a i g h t

from t h e U.S.A. and Michelle Weg-

wart, who has lived in England for the

past sixteen years.

The Er d in g ton t e a m

is s e e k i n g 16,500

for

a

loan (hopef u ll y

f r o m t h e

U . S . A .) t o

purchase what seems

to be

an excellent

headquarters

an d

living situation.

Your prayers are

even

more

important

in t h i s

early

d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g t i m e of t h e

new ministry.

We are trying to

make

no

p r e c o n c e i v e d decisions, but a l l o w i n g Go d' s

Spirit to lead us in a

completely fresh

way

Hopefully

next

month

the

Epistle will

take a brand new format and include a

place for

reports

of

both ministries.

Watch for changes of

address for

your

correspondence with

us. This is

the

last

time the individual

Coventry

addresses

will

be listed, so mark

them

down please.

Roger

EWSSION

U p o n b e i n g a s s i g n e d t h e t a s k

o f

w r i t i n g

m y i m p r e s s i o n s

o f

E n g l a n d ,

I

w a s s t u m p e d .

H o w can

y o u

h a v e a just a n d r e a l i s t i c view

o f a p l a c e a f t e r o n l y t h r e e s h o r t w e e k s

and t h o s e we e k s ha vin g b een spent in one

place?

I wish I c ou l d report

a

great difference

s p i r i t ua l l y b e t w e e n t h e

a v e r a g e

U.S.

c i t i

zen and the comparable British citizen.

Bot h c o u n t r i es co nsi d er t h e m s e l v es

t o

b e

Christian nations (whatever that may mean).

I w i s h I

c o u l d w r i t e t h a t

I

h a v e s e e n

more 'adult' book

stores,

more young people

on drugs, more drunkards, more television

programs unfit for family viewing, or more

p e o p l e

i n v o l v e d w i t h t h e o c c u l t than I v e

ever seen at home . I can't. In t h e

thr^e

short

weeks,

I

have

seen little difference

in

t h e

'sinfulness'

of

t h e s e

t w o

co u n t r i es .

Instead,

I've found t h e difference

t o

be in t h e

C h u r c h o f C h r i s t i t s e l f -

Please

kee p in

m i n d

that my h o m e

is

in t h e B i b l e

Belt' of t h e

U.S.

I' v e a l wa ys b e e n

su r

ro u n d e d

b y active

c h u r c h e s . I

ca m e first

t o

t h e

H i l l f ie l d s C h r u c h o f C h r i s t an d

found

a

growing group

of

young Christians,

deeply in love with Jesus. I've h a d on e

o c cas i o n

t o v i s i t w i t h some people

f r o m

ano t h er C h u r c h of

C h r i s t t h a t

realizes

t hat

i t i s

d y i n g

and

in

n e e d

of

e n co u ra g e m en t

and

guidance, th at c ongregation

being

Erdington t o whi ch I wil l

be going

in a

f ew d ays. I have also

had

opportunity t o

attend a national rally o f t h e

C h u r c h e s o f

C hrist.

There I

m e t

people t alking about

union and

baptism

rather

than of

Jesus and

His power

t o change

lives.

It

w a s s o m e w h a t

frightening to

n o t i c e

the similarities

of

countries.

So many

things have infl u enc ed and changed the

people, a n d

the

p e o p l e have influenced a n d

c h a n g e d t h e c h u r c h .

What

wil l

happen to t h e Christian

C h u r c h

e s and C h u r c h e s o f C h r i s t in

t h e

U . S . w i t h

in th e next 30 years? Will t h e y

be in f l u

e n c e d and s i d e t r ac k e d b y i r re l e v a n t s i d e

issues or will their cause always remain

t o t e l l

t h e s t or y

of

God

changing

t h e

l i v e s

of men an d

women

and the

destiny

of nations

t h r o u g h J es u s?

O h , t h a t

w e

m i g h t

b e on e in

J e s u s , b u t f i r s t w o n i n Je s us.

Penny

C a u g h t b e t w e e n

t w o

c u l t u r e s

- half A m e r i

can, half British - I

find

myself wonde ring

w h a t c o u r s e

my m i n i st r y w i l l

t ak e

as

a

part

of

t h e

n e w E r d i n g t o n t e a m .

T h e r e are

man y

untapped, untou c h ed

lives

for

Christ

w h o

m e e t , for one purpose or another, rig ht here

in

o u r Erdi n g t o n c h u r c h b u i l di n g.

We have

b o t h a y o u t h c l u b

and

a m o t h er - t o d d l er group

which

have

no Christian focus -

they

look

like hopeful springboards for our minstry.

Pray w i t h

m e t h a t

I

can

cr oss br i d g es f o r

our

Lord h ere,

t ha t I can

u s e m y

acquired

'Britishness' to

p e n e t r at e f o r

Jesus.

Michelle

viw>yMGT7j;

SandUt

A

n e w postal r e g u l a t i o n r e q u i r e s t h a t

pay 25c for e a c h Epis t l e re t u r n e d

b e

c a u s e

oi a

wrong address,

so

please

s e n d

your nev/ address to the American

Corres

pondents (address on

frontj

before

you

move. Help us to be good stewards

edrington roger 1976 england

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