| April 9, 2010
Volume 156, Number 49
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| Sabbath’s mandate is simple: Do no work
 Jadon and Asa Toalson enjoy a day at the park during their family's Sabbath. Leaders in the Southwest Texas Conference say Sabbath rest looks different to everyone who practices it.
observes day of rest does it differently
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
“He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.”
Abraham Heschel
The Sabbath: Its Meaning for the Modern Man
It looks different for everyone, its interpretations as numerous as the people who practice it.
But all Sabbaths have one thing in common: rest.
Sabbath is “not working”—and for him, that means not mowing the lawn or doing the dishes or even thinking about his upcoming sermon, said the Rev. Scott Heare, pastor of Riverside Community, Spring Branch.
“The TV is off, the living room is full of kids, and maybe for the first time that week, we’re all spending time together,” Heare said. “We don’t cook a large meal but eat things that are leftover-ish. Sometimes we watch a movie together, sometimes we play a game.”
His family begins their Sabbath at sundown Friday, and it continues until sundown Saturday, Heare said.
They’re still working through exactly what it looks like for them as a family, he added. Right now, the big debate is whether watching a sports game is considered a Sabbath activity.
“We’re seeking the Biblical Sabbath, assuming God has got a good idea,” Heare said. “We’re having to process through cultural issues, but we’re going to do this over time. God gives us plenty of grace.”
For the Rev. Rusty Freeman, conference director of youth ministries, and his family, Sabbath looks like going on trips that employ the “Sabbath mentality” (“time together or with the Lord,” Freeman said) or reading or having lunch together.
Sometimes he takes his Sabbath with his family, sometimes he does it alone, he said.
“The older our kids get, the harder it is (to take a Sabbath with them),” Freeman said. “I do Sabbath best on my own.”
He begins his Sabbath by spending quiet time with God in the morning through exercise—usually running—and reading the Bible and journaling.
No work allowed
The Rev. Tina Carter, pastor of Parker Lane UMC, Austin, said there’s no mandate for how someone should spend their Sabbath—outside of the fact that one should do no work on the Sabbath.
Her commitment to a day of rest began in seminary, she said.
“I knew what I needed to read for seminary, but I didn’t read it on the Sabbath,” she said. “I knew there were chores that needed to be done, but I didn’t do the chores on the Sabbath. I didn’t do anything that would qualify as productive work.”
Instead, she would play with her girls or sit quietly and pray.
Over the years, Carter said, her Sabbath has evolved. Now it means praying in the morning and asking God what is on their agenda for the day. Because she’s had practice praying that prayer, she said, her heart and head have gotten into the habit of really listening.
Some days, she spends time on facebook, if that’s where God is leading her.
“I’m spending time on facebook mostly to read what other people are posting,” Carter said. “If a congregation member does a popup window with me on the Sabbath, sometimes I answer and sometimes I don’t. I don’t ever answer my phone on Sabbath because that’s work. I don’t write sermons.
“My favorite thing to do is to take a really long walk and listen to what God is saying. A lot of times that means I am praying for people and things I don’t know much about or laying in my big chair on the edge of sleeping. It’s taken years of practice to be able to sit still for a long time. It’s not something that comes to us naturally. It’s taken years to dismiss from my mind that I’m just being lazy. This is me being faithful.”
Carter said not everyone will observe the Sabbath on the same day every week, in exactly the same way.
Some of her former congregation members at The Rock UMC, Cedar Park, observed Sabbath by watching movies with their families and finding where God was talking to them through the movies. Some of them had days with God that included a bunch of reading or walking or climbing.
Some of the men in her church considered their Sabbath setting up for the Sunday worship service because it wasn’t work for them.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to sit still,” she said. “If you’re worrying about what the day looks like, then you haven’t captured the Sabbath yet.”
Her Sabbath even looks different than her husband’s Sabbath, Carter said.
 Jarrod and Sarah Patton spend their Sabbath walking, letting their daugher, Rachael, play in the park and hanging out together.
Brandon Shook, youth minister at Cedar Creek UMC, said Sabbath is “a day spent doing the things you love to do when you are relaxing.” It could be staying at home and reading a book, going to the mall and shopping, heading to the ball park to watch a game or “casting lures for one’s favorite type of fish at a local fishing hole,” he said.
For him and his wife, it looks a lot like “taking the dogs for a walk around the ranch we rent property on, or vegging out and watching movies or getting caught up on our favorite TV shows or going into Austin to enjoy what the city has to offer.”
“I like doing things that take me away from my everyday reality,” Shook said. “My favorite way of doing this is to go out into the wilderness. It may be just a simple hike, or I may be in the woods hunting or fishing for some of my favorite quarry. I really connect best with the Lord when I am out there. Then it’s just one-on-one time.”
Shook said he doesn’t take the same day every week as his Sabbath. He tries to plan with his family every week.
Amy Howell, youth minister at First UMC, Pflugerville, said Sabbath rest is a time “to intentionally connect with God and fill your soul.”
She generally spends a Sabbath resting and cooking, which she loves to do. She takes one day Sabbath weekly, and generally it’s the same day every week, but not always.
Kayla Murray, youth minister at First UMC, Lampasas, said Sabbath rest, for her, includes time at home and with her family, “doing things that are fun and that help one to relax and refresh.”
Her time is usually spent doing one of three things: going home to spend time with her parents, traveling about 70 miles to spend time with college friends or spending time at her house by herself.
“Depending on how the week has been, sometimes I need family time to relax and refresh, sometimes I need alone time and sometimes I need to have fun with some friends,” Murray said.
She tries to have at least one day a week for her Sabbath rest, Murray said. Sometimes it might turn into two half-days or she doesn’t get to take a Sabbath one week so she takes a couple days of Sabbath the following week.
“Youth ministry is a crazy schedule that changes often, so it really varies from week to week,” Murray said.
She rarely takes the same day as her Sabbath every week.
Families grow closer
Shook said Sabbath rest offers a great time for families to bond.
“It’s a time where all of us get to be in one place and we are not being pulled in all of the directions we are normally being pulled,” he said. “The biggest benefit is all of us being in one place just enjoying each other in our own special family community. It’s a time when all of us can build our ties as a family without all the distractions that the world offers us.”
Heare said when his family is invested and purposed in taking a Sabbath, not making excuses, they see the “identity of our family being shaped.”
“We see God’s presence in our house,” he said. “We don’t feel so stressed about the things we cannot control. We know each other. The moments you want to have with your children and your wife arrive unplanned when you decide to live in peace.
“There are also battles that happen on Sabbath. We’re not good at it when we’re just not used to it.”
Changes in the church
Freeman said he could see church members being more attentive to God and others if people began observing a weekly Sabbath rest.
“We would learn to listen more, not take our selves and our work so seriously and refocus our energies on the things that matter the most,” Freeman said. “Our productivity really doesn’t impress God, nor does it often change the world for the Gospel’s sake. It does make us busy and ragged.”
“Sabbath is one of the Big Ten (commandments),” Murray said. “Anytime we are walking in obedience, that has to be a good thing. I think we would all be a little bit healthier, happier and better if we all observed the Sabbath.”
“People would be closer to God and, therefore, hearing and following his call in new ways” if people consistently practice the Sabbath, Howell said.
Shook said he thinks the church would have a “healthier environment” all around.
“Instead of weary and tired people, we would see some vibrant growth inside the walls of our churches,” he said. “That would make it an attractive place to be for those who are on the outside of the walls. Also, I’m sure that most of us would have more of an appreciation of this beautiful and glorious world that the Lord has created for us to live in and take care of.
“You definitely would see a dynamic change between what the world looks like now and what it would look like if the Sabbath became part of our spiritual discipline.”
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| What can we learn as the San Antonio Area?
It has been less than a year since, as our new Episcopal leader, Bishop Jim Dorff stood before us at annual conference and called on us to create a “culture of growth” in the San Antonio Area. To move toward that objective he initiated the Bishop’s Commission on Area Shared Ministry, to improve the coordination and communication between the Southwest Texas Conference and the Rio Grande Conference.
One of the things that impressed the jurisdictional delegations from Southwest Texas and Rio Grande back in 2008 when we were considering various candidates for the episcopacy was the genuineness of the interest in the whole San Antonio Area that this man who would become our bishop expressed to us. His efforts, ever since he was assigned here, have pushed the leadership of both conferences, both lay and clergy members, to match his enthusiasm for we ALL can become working together.
The Commission he created has now met four times, most recently on March 27, and the camaraderie among the 20 members after this time spent together is impressive. It was not much of a surprise to me to discover the similarity of the issues facing all the churches in the two conferences, as well as the near-duplication of trends in membership/attendance. What isn’t duplicated is the zeal for improvement of the administrative apparatus at the conference level, where, in my opinion, Rio Grande is miles ahead of not only our conference but most of the conferences I am familiar with in the United States.
Since 2004, the RGC has used a “Common Table” format to run its ministry at the conference level and has created Cooperative Ministry Teams (CMTs), or clusters of local congregations located near each other, to magnify their resources by working together in ministry. They have shaved down the number of boards and commissions to just two, the Common Table for all ministry-related general church relations and the Financial Resources Table for money-related general church relations.
The report from Able Vega, the Rio Grande Conference director, reflected a growing vitality in their ministry, due in large part to the efficiency of the administrative apparatus now in place. Their Common Table has 29 members, 15 of whom are representatives sent by the CMTs. The Financial Resources Table has 12 members, similar to our Council on Finance and Administration, but with authority over Pensions and Equitable Salaries as well.
The fact that the Rio Grande Conference is somewhat smaller in size than are we has something to do with the agile arrangement they have been able to create; however, I believe there is much there that we can learn from, in terms of paring down our administrative structure and becoming more efficient. The Board of Laity has been discussing just such a concern and expects to bring a proposal to the floor of annual conference in 2011 about that. In the meantime, I urge you to watch our brothers and sisters in the Rio Grande Conference, as they “Rethink Church!”
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| The hope of the whole world lies within each of us
I am powerless. I am not strong. I am a sinner utterly lost without a Savior. I have absolutely nothing that I can accomplish on my own. A total loss without God. I fail. I fall. I fumble opportunities. I destroy relationships. I am nothing. I am hopeless.
Yet, with Christ, I am something. With the power of the resurrected Lord I find meaning. I rest in a generous orthodoxy. I believe in Jesus, the perfection of the Scriptures, the inspiration they have from God, the Wesleyan Spirit of personal holiness. I am not alone.
For even in the depth of my failures, I know Christ is with me. Not a Christ I have created, made up, or modernized. Not only a Jesus of history, but a Christ of today who lives and reigns with the Father in Heaven. And I know that I exist because He lives.
And through this I find hope.
I find hope for The United Methodist Church. A church which remains the Bride of Christ even through a loss of members. Even through inner battles and turmoil. Even through a shift of focus, which has reduced and closed many churches. I find hope. I find hope in the fact that as a seventh-generation United Methodist pastor, as one who has been a member of four out of the five annual conferences in Texas, as one who has been birthed in the Church, my hope lies in the God of today not the glory of the past.
I have hope through Jesus people will continue to find grace. Through accepting Christ people will find abundant and eternal life. Through a God who saves we will both become not only his hands and feet but also his messengers to propagate the Great Commission as well as the feeding of the hungry. I have hope in the Lamb’s Book of Life –that through God’s grace, my name might be written upon its pages.
I am powerless to act, to move, to live, to succeed, to conduct a decent camp, to inspire a group of students. I am nothing without Christ Jesus. The reality of God’s presence is with me, and it is with you. It’s the only hope we have for revival. The only hope we have for a future. Christ in us—the hope of glory.
So make known the power, Church. Make known the power, students. Make known the power that lives within you. The Bible, God’s holy Word. Read it, live it, know it, consume it with your lips, that you too might find hope—not in the entombed Jesus but in the Resurrected Christ. Find hope, Church, and then tell someone else about it. For the hope of the world lies with you.
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| The United Methodist Church to launch
$75 million malaria initiative April 25
 Kaltouma Zakaria Moussa relaxes beneath a new mosquito net provided by the Nothing But Nets campaign at her home in a camp near Goz Beida, Chad.
A free concert and celebration are set to take place in Austin on the south steps of the State Capitol from 2-5 p.m.
Christian rock band Jars of Clay will headline the festivities, which are open to the public. The event will also feature local music, family activities and food from local restaurants.
“We are very excited to have Jars of Clay help us kick-off Imagine No Malaria,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. “Austin is well-known as the capital of Texas, but on April 25, it will be the capital of our fight against malaria.”
Local bands slated to perform include the Huston Tillotson choir and Graham Wilkinson and the Underground Township.
Ruth Riley, center for the San Antonio Silver Stars and a spokesperson for Nothing But Nets, will be speaking during the afternoon.
On the Capitol lawn/Colorado Street, local churches will have booths including a VIP tent for Impact 100 members, an UMCOR health kit station, a Wesley Nurses station, a venue for selling T-shirts and a donation station.
Face painting, rock wall climbing, inflatables, a bubble pond and a pipe cleaner mosquito creation table will also be offered for children.
Austin is located in the Southwest Texas Annual Conference, which served as the pilot project for Imagine No Malaria, leading up to the formal program launch.
“Our entire annual conference embraced the opportunity to lead the way by supporting Imagine No Malaria,” said Bishop Jim Dorff, bishop of the Southwest Texas Conference. “We are excited to showcase this initiative to the Austin community and to the entire denomination.”
During the Austin event, Austin District confirmands will receive their crosses and be confirmed by Dorff on the steps of the Capitol.
The entire celebration will be broadcast live via streaming video on the Imagine No Malaria Web site, www.ImagineNoMalaria.org.
Imagine No Malaria is a ministry of the people of The United Methodist Church to eliminate death and suffering from malaria in Africa by 2015. With a goal of raising $75 million to improve health infrastructure and empower a sustainable victory over the disease, Imagine No Malaria is offers an opportunity to rethink how Methodists can reach beyond the church, opening doors to those who need it most.
Austin District to host
sleep out event for malaria
The Austin District will be hosting a Sleep Out to Stamp Out Malaria April 24 at Faith UMC, Austin as a precursor to World Malaria Day.
The Rolling Road Show, which is part of the Alamo Draft House, will be showing “When the Night Comes,” a documentary about malaria, in the church’s parking lot. People can begin arriving at 8 p.m., and the movie will begin at 9 p.m. Participants will receive free popcorn and drinks for the show.
Live entertainment will follow the show.
Those who want to stay the night will set up camp on the church lawn and parking lot, sleeping under homemade bed nets. In the morning, breakfast will be provided.
Church groups have been asked to create the bed nets the students will be sleeping under during the event.
The event is free, but if students donate $20 at the event, they will receive a T-shirt.
Heather Chestnut, a college student in the Wesley Foundation at the University of Texas-Austin is helping to coordinate the event.
For more information, contact the Austin District at (512) 444-1983.
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| San Antonio District news Showers of blessing, More like Noah’s Flood
There shall be showers of blessing;
This is the promise of love.
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
Daniel W. Whittle, 1840-1901
Words cannot express my appreciation; nor can simple memory recall all the specifics; but, simply put, on the afternoon of March 21, I was awash in the abundant hospitality and gracious outpouring of the congregations of the San Antonio District. When the congregations of this District install a District Superintendent, it is done like no District in which I have ever served.
I was expecting a nominal celebration of appointment and I could have imagined some of the symbols of the office that might be presented – but even what could have been cursory, liturgical gifts became very personal – some hand-embroidered, all hand-delivered; some sewn, others thrown; all pointing to our mutual connectional ministry to the entire world under the Lordship of Christ!
And then came even more showers – well, more like Noah’s flood – as almost 50 congregations brought additional gifts – not symbols of the Superintendency, but mementoes of mission and ministry – historical plates and pictures; fresh produce in a soup kettle; candy in a flower vase; peanut brittle in a bag and a jar and preserves in a basket; pictures and collages of ministries and mission; personally designed or chosen crosses; living plants from flowering pots to a 6’ oak tree; a huge picnic basket; a hand-knitted prayer shawl and a special arrangement, created specifically for this occasion by Douglas R. Boyer, of the great old spiritual/folksong, Wayfaring Stranger, performed by the music ministry of St. Andrew’s; and a great variety of coffee mugs and T-shirts. The San Antonio District is full of creativity and hospitality! I was awash with gifts and it took me two days to haul the abundance of gifts back to the District office!
There are certainly too many to thank in this space, nor can I imagine I would recall everyone. However, there are some that I do recall. Thanks to Mike Cave, the St. Andrew’s office staff, Kathy Kafora and the lay leaders of our District for designing and preparing the worship service. A special thanks, to the St. Paul choir and to St. Andrew’s magnificent hand bell choir - Plangentes Dei, the percussionists - James Martinez, Paul Theiss and Caleb Hoffmann and Karla Hamelin - cellist, for the special music. Thanks, to Travis Park and their staff for hosting all of us – and providing the sanctuary, organ and chancel presence as well as the parking expense for the parking garage. Thanks to Kathy Kafora, Patty Chebultz and their assistants for boxing the gifts for transport. Thanks to Kathy and Terry in the District Office for unpacking and displaying the gifts throughout my office. Thanks to the ladies of UMW who provided the refreshments for the reception. Thanks to those who helped serve Communion, providing a beautiful visual of our diversity. And thanks be to God!
I am honored and humbled to be your District Superintendent. As I said in my sermon, the San Antonio District has a long tradition of doing things right. I only pray that together we can continue that tradition and in our own way, improve upon it, by doing things right…better. I thank God for each of you; for the visuals of your hospitality; and for the ministry and mission we share. Thanks be to God!
PS: No, I have not gotten on the skate board – nor have I any intention of doing so!
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District Celebration
The ministry of the laity is a large and important part of the work of the Kingdom. On March 13, the San Antonio District came together to celebrate and to recognize those special ministries and persons who set the example of what it means to be a witness in the world. Seeking to recognize and encourage the ministry of the laity within our district, seven individuals and two groups were recognized. The District Superintendent’s New Ventures in Ministry Award went to Joe and Peggy Gonzales of Alamo UMC, and to the Wrestle Thy Neighbor Ministry of LaVernia, UMC (Small Church category and Large Church category, respectively.) The District Superintendent’s Youth Ventures in Ministry Award went, in a tie decision, to Nick Bosell of Christ UMC-Stockdale, and to the United Methodist Youth Fellowship at Alamo UMC for the Small Church category. Ryan and Sara Hill of LaVernia UMC were honored in the Large Church category. Established in honor and memory of a great Christian servant within our district, the Ted Caravantes Christian Service Award was given by Peggy Caravantes to Walt Gowan, of Universal City UMC. Recognizing outstanding ministry efforts in the overall life of the church and community, the Bishop’s Exemplar Award was given by Bishop Jim Dorff to Kathleen Hurren of Coker UMC.
A time of praise, led by the new Floresville UMC Youth Praise Band was followed by District Superintendent Carl Rohlfs’ benediction, encouraging each person to go into the world, daring to make a difference in the name of Christ.
75th Upper Room Celebration
Please make plans to join in the 75th Anniversary Celebration of The Upper Room at Travis Park UMC on April 10-11. As part the yearlong anniversary celebration, A Closer Walk with God, a day apart for prayer and spiritual formation will be held April 10 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Travis Park UMC. This day features 11 workshops designed for personal renewal and church revitalization. The workshops will be led by key church leaders. Complete details and registration information can be found at www.upperroom.org/75 or at www.travispark.org.
On April 11 at 11, Bishop Dorff will be preaching at the Celebration Worship, joined by other leaders.
Victoria District news Rip is Living Alone! Part three of three
In the last chapter the Rev. Hayes told us about the things RIP missed while he was sleeping. Now Rev. Hayes tells us about Tomorrow. “I am no longer a person of the sixties or any cultural context. I am a person of God and that transcends all of the ISMS (racism, sexism, elitism and /or other isms)”.
I am banking that there will be other issues in the 21st Century just as pedantic as racism and elitism. But I want to make a positive change for the benefit of now and later. Rip Van Winkel is European, African, Native American, and other. If I showed you tomorrow I would show you the vision of the world in which Rip came back to with the exclusion of need. If we are serious about tomorrow and want to see God’s Kingdom on earth, then we need to wake up and become proactive rather than reactive AND STOP MAJORING IN MINOR THINGS! (HEAR FROM MARY O. BENEDICT). If we are serious about tomorrow and want to see the New Heaven and the new earth, then we need to embody the means of Grace.
If we are serious about tomorrow and would like not to wake up in a world that is not ecologically sound without air to breath or water to drink, then we need to take our faith and move into the world proclaiming both the name and THE ACTIONS OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED! If we are serious about tomorrow then we need to tell how Jesus healed people: from psychoses, from neuroses, from demon possession. How Jesus: fed people, gave them sight, gave people the ability to walk, provided livelihoods, reached and received PEOPLE related THEM to God and nurtured the best in all of us and sent our transformed selves back into the world to CONSTRUCT A TOMORROW THAT NONE OF US SHOULD BE FEARFUL ABOUT….
Jesus created the Malls of Heaven where credit cards are not accepted and cash is not allowed; but everything is free and delivered postage paid on a cross at Calvary on a hill called Golgotha. Tomorrow is a place where there is nothing that is grotesque for it is the kingdom of God.
Tomorrow is a place where there is no need for plastic surgeons for the wrinkles of age and the smoothness of youth are both accepted and venerated. Tomorrow is a place where there will be no need for government interventions, state militia, black panthers, Ku Klux Klan’s, oozes, street sweepers, guns of any kind, knives, or words that cut and make people bleed. Tomorrow is a place where there are gates to the city but the gates are never closed. Tomorrow is a place where creativity is a gift given and used and the one God that sits on a throne and the elders praise God and worship God all the day long.
Tomorrow we will be sanctified through grace and we will be perfected. Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring with the Harmonies of liberty let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us; sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.
Victoria District happenings
Flatonia UMC “Rethink Church” Celebration
Flatonia UMC’s “Men on a Mission” celebrated the final cleanup of the refurbishing efforts at the 128 year old Richardson Brown Chapel United Methodist Church in Hallettsville as their way to “Rethink Church”. Richardson Brown Chapel UMC, established in 1882, is part of the Victoria District. They seek to share their gifts and talents beyond the walls of their own church. Often churches look inward when it comes to the dispensing of gifts, resources, and energy, but this group of men seeks to make their church and faith more of an ‘action’ word.
The Richardson Brown Chapel project was begun in the spring of 2009 with the volunteers working in record breaking heat and finalized their cleanup in some of the record breaking winter cold on January 30th. The on-site coordinator for Richardson Chapel is Pr. Elroy Johnson, a former member who resides in Hallettsville and now pastors Henson UMC and Evans Chapel UMC, both in the Victoria District. The ladies of the Richardson Brown Chapel showed their appreciation for their newly remodeled parish hall with updated kitchen and bathroom by preparing a celebration lunch for the workers.
Pr. Rob Clopton of Flatonia UMC, along with member and resident Professional Architect Michael Branecky, engaged their fellow “Men on a Mission” members to embrace this project. These men have been volunteering their time since they organized FUMC Men on a Mission in 2007. “Men on a Mission” encourages all of us to “Rethink Church” and they will begin a new project between Waelder and Gonzales soon. Anyone interested in being part of this volunteer group may contact Flatonia UMC at 361-865-2622.
NOMADS Put Down Roots in Seadrift
A nomad can be defined as a person moving from place to place without a fixed domicile. And perhaps this could be an apt definition for George and Terry Lair, retirees who have spent the past seven years living in their RV as they traveled throughout the United States. They call themselves mission volunteers or NOMADS because they work through a special program of the United Methodist Church known as NOMADS On a Mission Active in Divine Service. Their journeys have taken them to many work sites at churches, shelters and homes to do projects such as building, repairing, painting, etc.
Two weeks ago the Lairs were joined by two other couples, Tom and Sue Hill, and Dan and Virgie Brown, as they drove their three RVs into Seadrift and purposefully set down their roots for a three-week stay which they hope will grow the fruits of the spirit of Christ in Seadrift.
So, two weeks ago these six retired people set to work making needed repairs and painting at the Seadrift Methodist parsonage. Then last Monday they took on the fellowship hall at the church by painting its walls, cleaning and moving items and laying new wood floors. They will finish their final 3rd week with similar jobs at both the parsonage and the church.
The results of their work in Seadrift are absolutely beautiful and inspiring to the eye, making the spirits of the Seadrift people glad and thankful. The joy of the Christian spirit that was brought to Seadrift FUMC by the NOMADS will live on for years because it is God’s love in action to his people. Surely the NOMADS’ Journey of Hope will be passed on from one encouraged spirit to another.
NOMADS is a mission outreach ministry of United Methodists and is specific to individuals and couples with RVs wishing to be involved in Christian service. They are funded through membership dues and contributions from churches and individuals. For more information about the program, contact NOMADS at 1-866-466-6237 or E-mail at director@nomadsumc.org. A Web site is www.nomadsumc.org.
As they pull up their healthy roots, we wish the nomads happy travel back to their respective homes and their churches where they also serve and enjoy such things as grandchildren, quilting and sewing, bazaars, Bible study, serving on committees or being a NOMAD board member.
Austin District news When turbulence tells the truth
I flew to the valley recently to visit my mother. It was one of those extremely windy days we have had this spring. As we slowed for our decent into the Harlingen area, the buffeting winds began to ‘win’ and the plane’s wings, and its passengers, began to rock and roil. Instinctively I closed my magazine, placed my hands in my lap, began to breathe slowly and deeply and think calm thoughts. I am not afraid of death, although not ready to try it out just yet, and I always remind myself in these situations that my life is a gift AND there ain’t nothing I can do about this difficult landing. Just then, from the front of the plane a young boy’s voice rang out, “this is the best plane ride EVER!” That was the second memorable ‘reverse mentoring’ experience I’ve had lately that brought wisdom and joy into a moment that was clearly trending in another direction.
Sisters and brothers, we are in the landing path now for Imagine No Malaria. Touchdown is not until April 25 when we gather at the State Capitol to let our light shine to the whole denomination and to the Central Texas community and to the whole wide world. We are not yet ‘slowing’ for this descent, but we can see the runway from here!
There have been moments on this trip when my stomach lurched for sure and I felt the need to fold my hands and breathe. Yet, thanks be to God, somehow the ‘inner child’ of the District pastors and leaders who embraced the challenge of the ride have consistently lifted their voices above the drone of the straining ‘engine.’
Yes, this is the greatest ride ever…flying ahead of the formation in eradicating malaria in sub-saharan Africa. Yes, we are rethinking church. Stories continue to come in of congregations energized by the size and significance of this challenge. Yes, we have inspired the INM executive team and now we seek to inspire 8 million more. Strap in, friends. The Pilot has the destination clearly in sight.
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