pratt mark lynn 1983 japan

8/20/2019 Pratt Mark Lynn 1983 Japan

1/14

CAMPUS

MINISTRY

—ENTRAL

JAPAN CHRISTIAN MISSION

—

ARK AND LYNN FRATT

YNN JRATT

CAMPUS

MINISTRY

ADDRESS

34o-5 Negishi

Machida City-

Tokyo 19^» Japan

Ph. 0427-91-4600

Dear friends,

FORWARDING

ADDRESS

Rick

Lydia Coyle

;5357 Tallahassee

Cincinnati,

OH

45259

Ph. 51>385-9247

F i m L O U G H A D D R E S S

• ^ 4

7 q

c/o Hubert Lushy

Rt.1

Williamstown,

KY

41097

Ph.

606-824-5552

Volume

27,

February I985

:

w - ^ 5

i j . *

1̂ ^

We are enjoying

this semester at K.C.C.

Since

the I

two classes I teach are in the

missions

depart-

ment,

I

naturally meet the students who

are

most

i n t e r e s t e d

i n

m i s s i o n s .

T h e i r z e a l

i s

i n s p i r i n g . ^ 1

A n d ^ I ^ l i k e h a v i n g

t h e

c h ^ c e

t o u r g e ^ t h e m

o n

i n

A l m o s t e v e r y S u n ^ a ^ ^ h a s

b e e n

b u s y . S i n c e w e l a s t

lynn's health continues to improve. However, she still is not

up to even

a "normal"

schedule—much

less

the

rigors

and

stress of

life

in Japan.

We

have

been

strictly wcu-ned

not to return too soon or the results could be disastrous. Our hope is to go back

to

Japan

this summer; but we

must

plan

one

day at

a

time.

I

realize now

that

we

were

on the road

to

insfiuiity with

our

previous daily routine.

Drastic

changes

will need

to be made

to

carve

our

schedule down to "workable." PRAY

for

my strength and wisdom.


2/14

Meanwhile,

back in

Japan

.

Penny

Boggs continues to hold the

fort for

us. Penny,

a

K.C.C, graduate, is a new m issionary

to Japan, We

were content just to have Penny

house-sit, because

we

knew she'd be busy

ad

justing

to

life

in

Japan and going

to

language

school. But,

on

top

of this, she agreed

to

teach some

of

our

English and

English-Bible cl asses as well as

help with Sunday duties.

One of

the

high school girls wrote to us

in

English: "Don't worry. We

are

having

church

service exactly every Sunday," Who could

ask for

more than that

Penny isn't sure what her future plans are. But she'll probably stay in

Machida

where

we

are, at

least

till she finishes language school,

I'm

sure Penny would appreciate cards

and

notes of encouragement,

€

f

Mr. Hasumi (back left) operates a

tutoring school

for

English at his

home.

He

invited Penny

(next to Mr, H.)

to

meet

his students. Mr, Hasumi

has attended

Bible

classes for years;

but

he has never made

a decision.

EEIAY FOR MR, HASUMX,

Penny loves

Christmas, She

admits going

wild

with decorations,

baking, and

programs. Pictured are

some of our

Machida

church members

and visitors at

the Christmas

sukiyaki

party.

People often ask

us:

"How do you like

it

over th^re?" To put this question

in

a light

and purely physic al aspect, here

are

the

kids'

responses. Karis: In Tokyo

I can

ride

my

bike

to lots of parks that are close by. And in America I have snow to play

in,

Cason:

Japan is better cause

at

McDonald's you

can

get Egg McMuffin

any

time of the day. But in

America we can have steak and roast beef sometimes,

Clinton.

In

Japan

I can see Grandma

and Grandpa

Pratt.

In America

I

can

see

Granny and

Papa Lusby,

To us the question is kind of like the q uestion, "Have you stopped beating your wife?"

It

cannot be answered

in

a word or

two. If

we were simply

choosing

a place

in

which

to

live

comfortably, we'd stay right here in the good

ol'

U.S.A» (And

so

would

most people who've


3/14

CMPUS MINISTRY—

entral Japan

Christian Mission—ARK

AND LYNN

PRATT

^ 8

3 8 3

CAi4PUS

MINISTRY

AlJDKi:;SS

3^0-^ Negishi

Machida City

Tokyo 19 4,

Japan

Pho

0427-91-4600

Volume

27,

May I983

Dear friends,

FORWARDING

ADDRjlSS

Rick Lydia Coyle

3357 Tallahassee

Cincinnati,

OH

45239

Pho 513-385-9247

PRAY FOR your mission

worki

ENCOURAGE

your

mission

workJ

FINANCE your mission

work

We

are glad to

have been

able to

report

to you in

the

Stat es during this furlough, but

we're

growing

more and more

"eager to

preach the gospel also to" those who are

in Tokyo.

Since the February newsletter w e have finished up our speaking engagements by presenting

the

work

to: St. Louis

Church

of Christ,

St.

Louis, MICH; Westlawn Church of Christ,

Shepherd,

MICH;

Utica Church

of

Christ, Utica,

OH;

Hi

Point

Church of Christ, Belle-

fontaine, OH; Plainville Christian Church, Plainville, IN; Dean Ave. Christian Church,

Terre

Haute, IN;

Mandarin Christian Church, Jacksonville,

FL; Penn Line

Church of

Christ,

Pierpont, OH; Conneautville Church of Christ, Conneautville, PA; Church of Christ,

Buchanan,

MICH; Southview Church

of

Christ,

South Bend, IN; Macomb

Christian

Church,

Sterling

Hts., MICH;

Greiner

Ave. Church of

Christ, Detroit, MICH; Attica

Christian

Church,

Attica, IN;

Seerley

Creek Christian Church, Indianapolis, IN; Plainfield Christian

Church, Plainfield, IN; Church of Christ, Harrison, OH; Southeast Christian Church, Louis

ville, KY; Countryside Christian Church, Wichita, KS. This brings our total speaking

stats

for

the entire furlough to

45

churches or groups

and

12,860

miles.

I finished up my teaching at Kentucky

Christian

College wi th good grades received by

all,

but the most education

received

by me Out of my 11 students, 2 re definitely

planning on mission

work.

3 thers have internships coming

up.

We had

a

Japanese meal

for both

classes.

They enjoyed eating the delicious

sukiyaki

with chopsticks; but

getting

the mugicha (wheat

tea)

down

seemed

to

require

a little

more

determination

mn


4/14

together

(and hopefully make some progress)

and at the

same

time keep

lots

of

spaces

for

rest,

relaxation, and recuperationo Then after one year we can begin adding back on to

ease up to a "normal" work

load.

The

prayers

and

concern

of

many

have been a vital

help

to

us

this year. Thanks so much.

.

I

received

a gift from some of my students in ill ~

J a p a n . I t w a s a s w e a t s h i r t

o n w h i c h

t h e y

h a d

r l | l

drawn my

picture and the

words "Machida

Church 4 |

^

p e r s o n ' s s h i r t

h a d h i s

o w n

p i c t u r e o n i t .

j j f c ^

T h e n I got t h i s p h o t o

of

M a r i k o , S a t o r i , a n d

^

Marl.

While I'm

pleased

with the idea of

^

advertizing for the church, X feel somewhat \

like a

cult

leader

with all my little

^

Other

notes

from

Japan:

** Dad

reports

that 4 ^ 5

Obirin

college students

signed

up for the

Bible

seminar

which

began in April. 1 will take over

this

class when we return. _

** Penny, our house-sitter,

is

experiencing the headaches

that

come with yen/dollar

business.

She

wrote: "I made

a mistake figuring the

money

that would

be left

over

from the check you sent .... nstead

of the

fire insurance being. scratch

that, I

Just realized that

I

made

a

mistake thinking that I had made a mistake.

Actually, the only mistake

I

made today

was

getting

out

of bed."

Hang

in

there, Penny

**

Mariko Terada,

9th grader and

new

Christian, ordered

2,000 tracts whi ch

she plans

to

hand out herself.

MATTERS FOR PRAYER

Thank

Him:

...for the

interest

in Christianity

shown

by Obirin students

who

signed

up

for the seminar.

...for

providing helpers who worked

with

the Machida Church in our

absence.

...that we have funds to purchase

our

return

tickets.

Ask Him:

..Jfor a teacher for

Karis

and

Cason.

We have

ordered

correspondence

school

books, but don't have a

teacher yet.

,..to lead Mr. Hasumi

and

Satori.

Both need to

make

a

decision.

Sincerely

yours—and

His

Campus Ministry—CJCM

Jenna Houp

6704

Bristol Oaks

Ct

Louisville

KY

40299


5/14


6/14

C X j t

struggle

is^.... against the spiritual

forces

of

evil—

Eph. 6:12

Penny wasn't in her

new apartment

a

month when she

was visited by a

Jehovah's

Witness. Penny

referred

the girl to Lynn

who considers the Witnesses

as part of her

ministry.

They have

set

a

day to

talk.

Coming home from

downtown T o i k y o

one

day

weran into

one

of the Family of Love

(formerly the

Children

of God), He wanted

us

to

nake a "Christian donation" and

accept some of

Father David's

literature.

We

talked with him and left our name card.

Lynn

said later,

"I

hate not

having

any

tracts

with

me. The

irony

of it is

that

we

managed

to

lug seme root

beer

from down

town (can't buy it

locally),

but I

adn't

put any tracts in my

purse—^too cumbersome "

Our third S unday back Mr. Omura visited.

This-young

man has

-attented-

our

church-and—

Lad's. We considered him a believer though

he

had not made

a ormal decision

and his

attendance

was

sporadic.

Much to our dis

may he announced that he would not be com

ing any more

because he'd

joined

the

Soka

Gakkai, a

zealous

evangelistic Buddhist

sect. Mr.

Omura is

deaf and the S.G. has

premised to

heal

him.

Your Father knows what you

need

—t 6:8

Karis and Cason begin

school

Aug. 20.

They'll study upstairs

in

the meeting

room

each morning. Their teacher is Christi

Ward who is in the military at Zama Army

Base. She read the

notice which

the

chaplain

had posted for

us. We didn't

]mow we had a

teacher

till

we were

on

our way back to

Japan.

But we did know 1) that God knew

what we needed and

2)

hat

many

were praying

about

this. Thanks

to

you all.

Penny will

be helping us part-time whil e

she continues in language school. So we

expect the whole place to

be

buzzing with

everyone w orking on various jobs

and

proj cts.

Continue to pray that the Lord will

p2?ovide

the

needs

we still have. In order

to

keep our schedule limited

(which we

must do

for

health

reasons""

thi^first

year) we are not picking

up

part of

the

Obinin classes and also

an

English

class

at a company. We have dropped

the

ciasses

we felt

were

the

least

likely

possibilities

for

e v a n g e l i s m .

We believe

l i i i s is what

God would want

us

to

do.

But

t d i i s

decision

represents

a cut

in our yearly income of

$3300. Income

is down but

expenses

are up

, ith Christi's weekly teaching fee of $80.

'Although this is

expensive,

it is 1/3

the

cost of sending the kids to the base

I school.

nat

we

ma>

Christ

—'

3claim the

'

' t r :

_ a**®

f

Sincerely yours

•e are having

12-20

attending

every

Sunday.

•ellowship Hour (English

Bible

class

for

high

school

and

college

age)

begins

again

this week.

•

our

of our

girls

are eager to start

a

Sunday school. Planning is in progress.

•he chur


7/14

N

MISSIONS IJPMTE SEPTEMBER

1 ,

1983

In

the J-une Moody Monthly there

was an article "by Kent Hughes entitled "The Grace

of

Giving." The ideas

in

this Update

are from

that article.

Paul,

in

teaching

the

Corinthians how

they

should

be

giving,

pointed out

the Mac

edonians and

said "We

want you to know about the grace that has been given our

friends."

(2 Cor.

8:l) This

was

exactly right.

God*s grace

is

poured out

on us,

so that we can in turn pour it out on

others.

We usually think of

giving

as a required

10

percent, but

a

careful study of the

Old

Testament reveals

that

much

more is required. The first

tithe was called

"the

Lord's tithe." (Lev. 27:30)

and

went

to

support the full-time ministry of the

Lev-

ites. It was not optional.

The second

tithe,

called,

"the

festival tithe"

(Deut.

12:10-11) was

another 1C^ ,

also

required,

to be

shared

with the family and others for a

huge

celebration at

Jerusalem.

The "poor tithe"

was

required once every three

years,

and

was

also

compulsory.

That is

2 0 9 ^

each

year, and 3 0 9 ^ each third

year.

But that was not all. Lev. 1 9 ^ 9*

10 and

Nehemiah 10:31,

32 speak of other

requirements.

Whew

Surely

the man who gave all this was giving heavily,

pleasing

God totally

Not quite. Exodus

25:2

speaks

of "VOLUNTAEY giving,

unrelated

to the

compulsory

giving we've already

talked about.

Here

a

person has

a

choice.

"Tell the sons of

Israel

to raise a contribution." This

is the

Lord, telling Itoses how

to

get

the

money needed to build

the

tabernacle. This

is

grace giving. Something required

only

by

the

heart of the giver. Something that

is

a PRIVILEGE.

Now

Paul

surely

had

taught the Corinthians what was

REQUIRED. In 2

Corinthians

8

he

is

trying

to teach them

the GRACE

of

giving,

giving

from

the

heart,

something

not required.

How

wonderful that he has the Macedonians to use as an object

les

son. The people

of

Macedonia were poor. The kind

of

poor we

know

nothing

about.

Mr.

Hughes

says "The Macedonians were so poor that a depression would

have

been

welcome."

Yet these people gave,

and gave,

and

gave.

Paul did not beg them

for

money. Just the opposite.

They

begged Paul for

the

privilege of giving Paul

tells

of

this

in

2 Cor. 8:3,U- "Por I testify that according

to

their ability,

and

beyond

their ability, they gave

of

their

own accord,

begging us with much

en

treaty for the favor of participation

in

the support of the saints." Giving was

a

PRIVIEBGE, and these wise pe ople at

Macedonia,

so terribly poor,

knew

it.

They

gave with

joy and

enthusiasm,

and

God has recorded this

about

them.

In

telling

the Corinthians

about

this,

Paul

writes that he has

urged

Titus to

"complete in

you this

gracious

work."

The

Corinthians have grown

in

other ways.

They have manifested many

gifts. But Paul

does not want them to miss the blessing

the Macedonians have, wants them to

come

to maturity in giving.

You

and I will only grow to maturity when oxa giving

is what it should be.

To

quote Mr.

Hughes,

"Jesus can

have

our

money

and not

our

hearts, but He cannot

have


8/14

i>tiiltpr

I

3

l

3

S i ^ d a v

M o n d a y

T u e s d a y

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

THREE SIGHIFIGAHT EVENTS EOR THIS MONTE OP SEPTEMBER

1) Launching

of

our n ew

HOME

PELLOWSHIP

GROUP

MINISTRY

- Sunday, t he 11th - morning

dedicated t o

that "l aunching effort "

- Sunday, t he 18th - more details

-

first meeting s held that week

2) Dr. & Mrs, David Grubts

here

on the l l + t h

and

l^th - IMPORTANT EVENT

3) 2 n d A n n u a l M A I N T E N A N C E O P M E M B E E I S H I P t h r u s t - S u n d a y , t h e 2 5 t h

1

2

FAMILY CAMP

a

begins Friday

closes Labor

3

; Rook Lake

evening

- - -

)ay

at noon

^

t

our 1 0 : 3 0 W o r s h i p H o u r

-

Hear this message

-

"Empty

Lamps

Empty

Future '

(We

encourage

you

t o

go

t o

Rock Lake -BUT our

p.m.

FAMILY HOUR will

meet )

5

6

lders

eeting

7PM

i

r

9

9

10

TEACHERS

SEMINAR

with

College

Press

"Rep" today

9:00

-11:30

11

10:30 Sermon Topic -

"Shepherding -Three Criti

cal Questions "

(a

sermon

i n duet b y

Kent

and Hank)

NEW SEASON for Family Hour

12

s

13

DR. & MRS.

DATO

speaking

to

LADIES MISSION

ARY in

afternooi

Key Leaders

7sOC

1?

) GRUBBS HERE

Addressing

en

tire

congrega-

i

tion at

7:00

)

this evening.

16

17

18

"The

Second

Most I m p o r t -

tant Church In The World

that

is

our

A.M. sermon

New Adult Classes Begin

To

day Ou r

new

H O M E FELLOV/SiL

C U at 6:30

19

F

GROUPS meet

f(

20

)r the

first

tim

21

5

this week Wi

22

.1

you be a

p a r t

23

of this

ministr

2 l |

j r ?

25

S p e c ia l

Emphasis This

Sunday

MAINTENANCE OF MEMBERSHIP

A.M. Sermon Topic - Look

ing For The

7000 "

26

27

28

RETIREES^

DINNER

at

noon

29

30


9/14

CAMPUS

MINISTRY ENTRAL JAPAN

CHRISTIAN

MISSION --

MARK

AND LYNN

PRATT

Japan Address:

340-5 Negishi

Machida City

Tokyo 194, JAPAN

Ph, 0427-91-4600

Forwarding Address:

Rick

&

Lydia Coyle

3357

Tallahassee

Cincinnati,

OH

45239

Ph.

513-385-9247

JAN 2 , 0

Volume 27 November 1983

Dear friends,

Before

the

last

newsletter

ever got off

the

press, two items had become "wrong" news:

1.

The kids' teacher we wrote about is

no

longer

with us.

After things didn't

work

out.

Penny and

Lynn did the best they could

while looking

and

praying for another

teacher

We found her Marty Miller from Zama Army

Base

has h a d

teaching experience. She could

get

much

better-paying

work on

base,

but

de

cided to opt for the Christian service job

instead. Marty brings extra teaching aids

from

h o m e

and i n

g e n e r a l

goes above and

beyond the call

of

duty.

PRAYERS

OF THANKS

FOR MARTY.

{fOTCS

Off JAPAff

2. We

wrote of Mr. Omura who

joined

the

Soka

Gakkai Buddhist

group because they prom

ised to heal

his deafness. He has since de

cided the

S.G.

i s

not for him,

and

has, i n h i s

B a s i l s

i i l - i

.9

jL'

iMHUBni,

vH

aiP'aiHvJ

J a p a n

i s

crowded, make no mistake about it.

C a n

you

picture this: I n

our

Machida

City

train

station area

there

are 4 McDonald's

w i t h i n

walking distance of each other; and

a l l

4

are virtually busy all the

time.

On

the

other h and, because Japan is referred

to

as a

crowded and

small country,

people often

don't realize its actual

size.

The 4 main is

lands of

J a p a n

stretch for about

1300

miles.

Our missionaries are scattered

all across

that

area

(and also

into

Okinawa).

So,

while

some

of the missionaries get together fairly

often,

others do not see each

other for years at

a

time.


10/14

We're happy to report that Karis is

practi

cing

with

the local girls'

volleyball

team

3

times a

week

now.

Cason

joined the soccer team

which practices twice a week.

Joining

these

sports

clubs

helps

the kids get in a "phys ed"

time

that

they'd

be getting if

they

were i n

public school. Also

they

get to meet new

friends

and mix with the community children

more.

n

i» K

Soccer*

For the past several Mondays I have been at'

tending a counseling seminar

at

the

Lutheran

Seminary campus. At

the end

I w i l l

h a v e

p a r

ticipated

i n

about

40

hours of lectures b y

professionals, ca se

studies, and discussion,

designed to h e l p ministers cope

w i t h

problems

they

meet

i n counseling.

This course has al

ready

proved

to

be a

valuable

tool

for

me

in

my

ministry.

It has

also

been helpful

to

me

personally.

This fall marked the ICQ year anniver

sary

of our Christian churches/Churches of

Christ missionaries

in

Japan. Charles

Garst, the first of those missionaries,

is

buried in

downtown

Tokyo. On

a rainy

Sunday

afternoon

about

50 of

us

gathered

(first at

the cemetery,

then

at a nearby meeting hall)

to honor the occasion.

You may

never

have heard

of Garst or

of

most of the

missionaries who followed him.

~

But their message

and

ours today centers

around Jesus Christ, whose birth

v ^ e

cele

brate at this

time

of

year.

As we enter the second century

of

Japan

missions, we look

forward

to

our continued

partnership

with you.

Sincerely yours — nd His,

Our Missionaries

in Japan have written

a

book

of

devotions.

We believe

you'll

find

Gleam

of

Dawn--Light

of Day

to

be

both

inspi

rational and enjoyable. Cost: $6.30 (includ

ing postage). Order from Mission

Services.

Canpus

M i n i s t r y

—

JO^

Jenra.

Houp

8704

Bristol Oaks Ct.

Louisville, KY

40299

Nonprofit Org.

U.S.

Postage

PAID


11/14

MISSIONS TJPMTE November

1 ,

1983

In

September, Ir.

David Gtobbs spent two days in St. Louis, helping to lay the

groundwork for

our

work with and throu^

Mike and

Janice Richards. Dr. Grubbs

works in Zimbabwe, Africa, in

medical mission work. He first

went

to the field

as

a teacher

and

evangelist,

felt

a

trong

need for doctors, and came home

to

retrain. God reinforced his conviction that he

should

do this by raising up

churches

which

supported

b - t m

f c h r o u g h

pre—med and med

school,

both

unasked.

The

churches came to h - t m with

the

offM?. He was put on

staff,

and

his

needs

w^e

met so that

he

did not have to go into debt.

Not all churches

were

so foresighted. Vhile he was

still in Africa,

as soon as

he

informed

his

supporters

of his

intentions regarding

further

education,

his

major

supporting church

dropped him

immediately, six months before

he came

home.

Dr. Grubbs* reaction to

this

is that the congregation which does

not

rise to

such a challenge

is the

loser. If one congregation

is not

useful, God wil l

find

another.

He

says directly to

us,

regarding Mike and Janice,

"If

you

don't take

this opportunity,

you will be the l oser."

Dr. Grubbs feels that four years

of

support

for

Mike now is

both

brief

and

in

expensive

in

the long

run. In

the Third

World,

preaching

is

different

from our

slow

methods

of t i r y i n g to reach out

to new

people. There,

a

doctor simply waits

his congregation comes to

him,

asking to hear. Medicine is

an

expression

of

God's

love and care, and people want

to-know w h j ' '

the

missionary

shows_.love

and caring. This is not the way of the pagan world. They fear; they do not

love.

If

a

missionary cares

that 9000

people

a

day die

of

starvation

in

Africa,

if

he cares that

UO^

of

all

A f j r i c a n s die before the age of

Sf

Africans want to

know why. It

is

then easy to tell them of God's love.

Preparation for the harvest was mentioned

by Dr.

Grubbs,

along with

a book

by

Don Richardson called Eternity

in

Their Hearts. Zimbabwe was

ministered

to for

29

years

before

the

first

convert.

If

the rate

of evangelism continues as it

is now, by the

year 2000, over

90%

of

the people

of

Zimbabwe

will claim to be

believers. The point is, it doesn't matter whether

Mike

is

in

on

the

prepara

tion or the harvest, as long

as

he is in the place of God's choosing. Both

preparation and harvest are

part

of God's plan.

The

effort is what

matters.

On Thursday, September

19»

Orubbs conducted an exciting

question-answ^ period. Some of this

material

was most

stimulating.

Por

example.

Dr.

Grubbs

wasankedto

illustrate

how

medicine

was facilitated missions work. He answered

that

historically

the strongest works have been from

medical

missions.

Following are two examples.

Li

Zsiire,

Africa,

at

this

moment,

people are

begging for missionaries. The one

stipulation

is that

th^e

MOST

BE

MEDICAL WORK along with whatever else the

missionaries

choose to do. The Africans

are

offering hospitals , road crews,

and many

oth^

things, if the

missionaries

will only come

and

care

for

their


12/14

November

198B

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

B r o . M c A d a m s l a b o r s i n R E V T V A l i ^ E P O B ] ? a l l t h i l s w e e k a t C o l d w a

^ e r , MI

-He co-vets our prayers

V/E*'VE HAB SIX WEEKS 01" HOME EBUOWSHIP

GgtOIlP

MEETINGS

ND

WE

ABE EXCITED

BY

WHAT

WE^VE

SEEN AND

EXHERIENOED

JOIN

- R n - . T i f t n R R

MEIBT

at 7P*m*

YOUTH

MHaSTBY

meets

at 7 «ni

MEN'S

PBAYEB

BBEAKFAST t

"Daniels"

6 .]

610:30

a.m.

sermon topi c

-

"Where Are The Nine?"

HAE:VEST

dinner

-at

12:30

A

"carry-in" dinner with

a

Thanksgi-ylng

emphasis

10

11

MEN'S PRAYER

BBEAKFA^

t

"Daniels"

6a.m

A D D If l?

MINISTRIES

RETREAT

13 0:30 a.m.

sermon

topic.-

"In E v e ry th i n g G i v e Thanks"

Start yonr day with Bible

School-at

9s30

a.m.

1 1 +

15

17

LADIES

MISSIONARY

18

MEN'S

PRAYER

BREAKFAST t

"Daniels"6

a.m

19

MISSIONS

COMMITTEE

RMREAT


13/14

MISSIONS

O P I I A T E

December 1, I983

Here

are some more

of the

questions

and

answers generated

b y Dr# David Gruhbs*

visit

with us

in

September.

QUESTION:

What should we

be doing

for Mike and

Janice?

ANSWER:

1. Whenever

we

talk to

them,

or write,

let them

know

that we want

to know

and meet their

needs. Keep

telling them this.

2. Encourage

them. Medical school is tough

spiritually.

It is

hard

on

marriages. Help the

family

and the marriage. Provide funds for vacations,

nights out,

etc.

3.

Leain of the

need

in

the world

for the gospel. Learn how

many

people

there are,

who*s

reaching them, and who's unreached.

Reevaluate

if

we're

fulfilling God's priority role—the saving

witness

of

God in the world.

V/e're

really

about

SALVATION,

U . Be

Joyful

that

God has

given us

the opportunity

to

help prepare

one of

His

servants.

5. Don't focus

on the

servant, but

on

the

WORK.

Humans are vessels

of

clay.

We

must

not focus on the

vessel.

We'll be disappointed if we

do.

It's

scary to

let

someone help you, for fear you'll disappoint someone.

Be

proud

of Mike for being

willing

to be

helped.

Don't scrutinize

him. Love

the man,

but honor and

glorify the

God

who

is

providing the m an.

QUESTION:

Is

everyone treated alike,

even

if

they

don't respond

to the

gospel?

ANSWER:

Yes.

Medicine is

not a

tool, not

a

manipulator. V 7 e

do

not manipulate

people to make them believe,

nor

do we shout at them for

ignorance.

QUESTION:

How do

non-Christians

respond

after

medical or

educational

care?

ANSWER:

A

long-forgotten patient

may take the

missionary

house-to-house, in

viting his friends over for the evening. He wil l feed the missionary. Then

150 people

may

hear

the

gospel,

all because a man received

medical care.

(Hank p o i n t e d out that Africans are less s u s p i c i o u s and

m o r e

grateful than

Americans.

Where an American might sue if

his

life is not as

good

as new,

an

African is grateful for any improvement.)

QUESTION:

Have you seen any

Africans

come for training to do work

themselves?

Al^WER:

Our

school is all African. Our church is

all

African. Our hospital

is

nearly all African.

One

of our

boys is now

a PhD, soon to

be MD,

and

we

have offered to let him

head

up the

hospital.

We

would Just

work

with

him.

He may,

however,

be

too

big for

us.

He may do

more

good teaching in the

university, or something like

that.

Fifteen

to 19

Africans

have ome to the

U.S.

for

training.

Three hold

PhD's. ALL returned to

Africa.

Hank summarized his feelings thus far about sending Mike to Medical school and


14/14

DECEMBER

1983

R t m r i a v Monday uesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

HOME

FELLOWSHIP GROUPS

WILL MEET: Hov. 29

-

Dec.

1

Call

the chm?ch

for

information.

Dec. 6 -

Dec.

8

T o p i c : K e e p i n g t h e B o d y

( C h u r c h )

D e c .

13

- D e c . 1 5

Well - One-Anothering"

1

Home Fellowshii

Retreat

at Rod

Christmas

Bible

Story

9:30

-

11:30

3

Group Leaders

:

Lake

^9:30 a . m . E E S T O R A T I O H

HISTORY" class for all

adu lts

-

egins today

10:30

SERMON

-

Before

He

Gave Gifts

He

Took Captives"

5

Choir Practice

7 p.m.

6

Elders Meet

7 p.m.

7

8

9

Christmas

Bible

Story

9:30- 11:30

10

' • ' ' 1 0 : 3 0

SERMON

-

Shepherds

Servants,

And

Submiss ion "

AT 6:30 p.m.-ANNUAL MEETIN G

Appointments

of New Elders

and Deacons

-

98U Budget

12

Choir

Practice

7 p.m.

13

1U

15

16

Christmas

Bible

Story

9:30

-11:30

17

1

^ ® A t

o u r 1 0 : 3 0 W O R S H I P

HOUR

-

Our Christmas

Cantata

followed by

a

gospe l invi

tation

ANNUAL CHELDREN'S

CHRISTMAS

PROOIAM 6:30 p . m.

19

20

21

Deacons Meet

7 p.m.

22

23

25lO:00 - 10:30

Something

special for

the

whole

family

Worship

Hour at

10:30

TAKE IN THE WHOLE MORNING

NO EVENING SERVICE

HAVE A SPECIAL FAMILY DAY

26

27

28

29

30

31

pratt mark lynn 1983 japan

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