Volume 30, Issue 12
The Friendly Persuader Clerk, Jeff Beals
Youth Pastor, Katy Palmer Editor, Candi McDonald www.westfieldfreindschurch.org
March 2012 How Does Your Garden Grow? Love God… Love Others… Make Disciples...
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
The first seed catalogue of the year came in January, its cover an old-fashioned illustration offering promises of all I can depend on in the seasons to come: succulent tomatoes, perfect sweet corn ears, juicy cantaloupe. Inside, vintage illustrations in glorious black and white depict not only the results but the seeds themselves—the story of gardening cause-and-effect, from a pile of homely little seed lima beans to massive bushes draped with countless new beans that would fill the storehouse to overflowing if I actually liked lima beans enough to plant them. The seeds always capture my attention. Since I planted my first bean seed in a milk carton in Miss Chandler’s secondgrade class, I have been amazed at how a seed just seems to know what to do. It doesn’t matter how you turn it when you put it in the soil; it grows up and transforms into the plant God told it to be. It doesn’t lose its way. It doesn’t become something it isn’t supposed to. And it doesn’t, I’m pretty sure, lose sleep concerning itself about its place in the universe. It just acknowledges God’s promise in Hebrews 13:5—"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you"—and carries on. God is there, and that is enough for the seed to do what must be done.
As logical as it might seem to embrace the metaphor that we are also seeds, destined to fulfill a grand plan and grow into whatever we are supposed to be, we contend with one Garden pest (yes, the pun is intended) that lima beans don’t—the challenging gift of free will. That gift carries with it so many options that we often forget that we shouldn’t try to choose all by ourselves. With so many possibilities in front of us, it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re really supposed to do, how we’re really supposed to do it, and who we’re really supposed to be. I don’t know whether it’s ignorance or arrogance that makes us complicate what is so simple for the seeds to accomplish, but we do so often seem to discover new ways to complicate the growth process. We get tangled in our own poor choices.
We fail to tend to what requires tending. And sometimes, because of all of that, we can end up withering on the vine. It certainly isn’t because God leaves us. He keeps His promise, even as we grow away from Him. But one of my very favorite parts about gardening is this: that growing-away process doesn’t have to be permanent or fatal. The right Gardener can fix it. God is still here, ready to untangle us, ready to tend to us. All we have to do is listen with something deeper than our wants and needs and follow those directions. That’s how the storehouse gets filled to overflowing…. Growing with you, Karla Farmer Stouse
IN THIS ISSUE Date Night Thank you
pg 2
Acquire the Fire info
pg 3
Quaker Haven Dates
pg 3
Karla Stouse mini-bio
pg 3
Mission Trips
pg 4
Risen Indeed
pg 5
The Friendly Persuader Clerk, Jeff Beals Youth Pastor, Katy Palmer Editor, Candi McDonald
Page 2
Date Night Thank You QUERY #1 Spiritual Growth Do you strive for the constant realization of God’s presence in your life? Are you obedient to the leading and sensitive to the timing of the Holy Spirit? Do you use prayer, meditaion, Bible study, other devotional literature and disciplines to grow and mature spiritually? How do you seek to be a faithful steward of your life and all that God has entrusted to you?
This Valentine’s season the WFC youth felt the love of many people by the wonderful help and attendance at our Date Night fundraiser. We had great kitchen helpers: Judi & Robbie Shuck, Katherine CarpenterStowers, and Becky Camire. We had great Levi S., Michael B., Micah P., & Loche D. youth leaders: Jessica Barker and Aaron Heinzman helping supervise. And we raised around $1000 to help the youth attend Acquire the Fire and summer trips. Thank you for blessing the youth of WFC with your love! Veronica & Jesse W., Ben H. & Annie S.
Grant D.
center insert: Levi H.
Mark Your Calendar Easter April 8th 8:00 am Sunrise Service
Taylor C., Allison O., Morgan D., Myriah R., Jessica T.
Meg & Joey E, Chris & Tracy R, Jackie & Dale H
Seated: Bailey S. & Faith C.
8:45 am Breakfast 9:30 am Sunday School 10:30 am Worship
If you have questions or concerns about WFC, as we search for a new pastor, please contact one of the following members of Ministry and Oversight: Cell Phone Cathi Barker 710-4729 Judy Aschliman 896-3596 Joe Edwards 508-4876 Duane Fortune (765) 516-0568 Steve McDonald 508-5138 Dave Weiss 946-8073
Email
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Volume 32, Issue 3
Page 3
Acquire the Fire 2012 March 9th and 10th WFC will send a group to the Acquire the Fire youth conference at Worthen Arena in Muncie, IN. Acquire The Fire is a 2727-hour, life transforming event built around bringing volume and clarity to God's voice in the lives of teenagers. There will be great worship bands, great videos and drama, and some great speakers. Pray for the WFC group as they go and join the thousands of young people who will give God 27 hours. Pray for relationships in the group to grow and for people to walk away from this event transformed. Philippians 3:8
2012 Quaker Haven Camps Junior High Camp (7th & 8th grades) - June 10-15
MARCH BIRTHDAYS 1 6
7 8 9 12 15 17 20
Beginners Camp (K—2nd grades) - June 15-17 Senior High I (9th—12th grades & 2012 grads) - June 17-22 Junior Camp (5th & 6th grades) - June 24-29
25
Karla Stouse Daniel Cain Connie Clark Judy Williams Charles Boyer Steve Roberts MacKenzie Shaffer Sarah Watkins Paul Baker Katherine Kendall Seth Hinshaw Bonnie Angell-Lingle Matthew McDonald George Jackson Jason Slaton Jason Obereiner Kristen Weiss Alexis Warren
Kids Camp (2nd—4th grades) - July 15-18 MARCH ANNIVERSARIES
Senior Camp II (9th—12th grades & 2012 grads) - July 29—August 3 Guest Contributor:
1
Since we don’t currently have a senior pastor to write the article for the front page of the Persuader, I thought it would be fun to hear from some of the people who share the pews with us.
26 Phil & Cathi Barker
This month I asked my good friend Karla Farmer Stouse. Karla grew up in Westfield Friends Church and she was one of the first people to welcome Steve & me when we first came to WFC. Karla and her husband Jeff live in the country near Arcadia, IN. She is a Senior Lecturer in English at IU Kokomo, and in January Karla received the Outstanding Educator award Jeff & Karla Stouse from IU Kokomo (IUK). Karla loves her students, loves to teach, and loves to travel. She founded the Innovation Symposium at IUK. (Innovateiuk.org) Students must be nominated to take part in this semester long program. The purpose of the class is to foster innovative thinking and apply it to issues facing our world, part of the class includes three weeks studying abroad in England. If you haven’t met Karla, take a moment and introduce yourself. Thanks Karla!
Candi McD
Paul & Malinda Baker
If we have missed your special day please notify the church office at 896-9233
Volume 32, Issue 3
Page 4
Missions Trips for 2012 & 2013 Have you been to Oklahoma? This is your chance! Jeff Beals will be taking a work team to Quivering Arrow Camp again this year.
June 17-20, 2012 This team will be getting the camp ground ready for Quivering Arrow camp the next week.
Kenya 2013!!! Begin praying now! At the February monthly meeting it was approved to take an overseas mission trip to Kenya in the summer of 2013. This trip will require a big commitment from WFC and the trip team members, both with finances and with prayers. So we ask you to begin to pray for this trip now. Pray for the logistics and the money to be worked out smoothly. Pray for the right people to hear God calling them to participate. Pray for clarity as the team forms and discerns what God will be calling us to do with our time in Kenya. An informational meeting will be held in the near future to provide some more information and allow for questions. Commitments to this trip will need to be made by Sept. 1st, 2012! Remember
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26
March 11th Daylight savings time begins
Volume 32, Issue 3
Page 5
Risen Indeed A Lenten Reading by Henri Nouwen Submitted by Katy Palmer For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 1 Cor. 15:3-6, 11
Easter vigil. The Lord is risen indeed. They shouted it in French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, and Arabic. There were bells, alleluias, smiles, laughter, and a deep sense that there is hope. This coming of handicapped people and their assistants was loudly proclaiming that Christ’s body did not remain in the tomb, but was raised to new life, and that our own bodies will join him in glory. While all this joy was filling the chapel, I saw that Nathan stood up with Philippe in his arms and left the church. Philippe’s body is severely distorted. He cannot speak, walk, dress, or feed himself and needs help every second of his waking hours. He had been lying in an assistant’s lap, quietly sleeping. But when the celebration became more lively he started to howl, an anguished howl coming from deep down in his being… When I saw Philippe in Nathan’s arms I suddenly realized what we were proclaiming on this Easter vigil. Philippe’s body is a body destined to a new life, a resurrected life. In his new body he will carry the signs of his suffering, just as Jesus carried the wounds of the crucifixion into his glory. And yet he will no longer be suffering, but will join the saints around the altar of the lamb. Still, the celebration of the resurrection of the body is also the celebration of the daily care given to the bodies of these handicapped men and women. Washing and feeding, pushing wheelchairs, carrying, kissing, and caressing—these are all ways in which these broken bodies are made ready for the moment of a new life. Not only their wounds but also the care given them will remain visible in the resurrection. It is a great and powerful mystery. Philippe’s poor distorted body will one day be buried and return to dust. But he will rise again on the day of the resurrection of the dead. He will rise from the grave with a new body and will show gloriously the pain he suffered and the love he received. It will not be just a body. It will be his body, a new body, a body that can be touched but is no longer subject to torture and destruction. His passion will be over. What a faith! What a hope! What a love! The body is not a prison to escape from, but a temple in which God already dwells, and in which God’s glory will be fully manifested on the day of resurrection. Easter season is a time of hope. There still is fear, there still is a painful awareness of sinfulness, but there also is light breaking through. Something new is happening, something that goes beyond the changing moods of our life. We can be joyful or sad, optimistic or pessimistic, tranquil or angry, but the solid stream of God’s presence moves deeper than the small waves of our minds and hearts. Easter brings the awareness that God is present even when his presence is not directly noticed. Easter brings good news that, although things seem to get worse in the world, the Evil One has already been overcome. Easter allows us to affirm that although God seems very distant and although we remain preoccupied with many little things, our Lord walks with us on the road and keeps explaining the Scriptures to us. Thus there are many rays of hope casting their light on our way through life. excerpt from “Show Me the Way; Daily Lenten Readings” pp. 176-179 by Henri Nouwen
