| Connecting People and Churches of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches | Friday, May 18 2012 |
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(There is a companion E.P.I.C. program for young people in grades 6 and 7, according to Pastor Bud Olszewski, pastor of the Rittman Grace Brethren Church, who has also chaired the Rittman Released Time Bible Committee), “We have a lot of students who have never heard of the Bible, who don’t know what a Bible looks like, or who don’t know what ‘chapter and verse’ means,” she says. A retired teacher and a member of the Rittman church, Barbara served as volunteer coordinator during the first three years of the program. “This is huge in that she secured all the people who make it work,” says Pastor Bud. “Barb is so positive and persuasive and has really built the stability and the personality of the program.” In fact, Barbara stressed that the travel time between the school and church was as important as the time in the classroom. She tells the volunteers that it most exciting “that you are going to give a child sole attention for five minutes during that walk time. “A lot of our students in Rittman never have that time with an adult,” she acknowledges. Each week, nearly 300 students make the trek across the street for the classes, according to Barbara. At the same time, the volunteers are becoming acquainted with the young people and learning how they can better pray for them. “Our church has learned more and more about the children in Rittman,” she stresses, “because we’ll bring to them the concerns that we have as part of their prayer time. And they are very excited about being involved in the children.” Barbara says the program is a success because of the support of district administration. When coupled with the involvement of area churches and volunteers, “these partners working together have meant so much to our children in Rittman,” she concludes.
More stories of people in Grace Brethren churches: Heartbroken -- Chris Springer
Powerful Prayer -- Earl Goodman
Following The Call -- Shane and Cheryl Edwards
Following God's Leading -- Cami Berkey
Tool Time -- Butch Owens
Joining the Family Reunion -- Roger Fry
Language Lessons -- Vicki Johnson
A Tongue-and-Groove Match -- Laura and Einer Teng
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Events of general interest among Grace Brethren churches. Details and registration information are available from the sponsoring organizations or at fgbc.org. March 19-21 – South Focus Retreat, Haines City, Fla. (FGBC) CE = CE National (cenational.org)
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Where Are They Now? 1987 – 25 years ago Paul and Louise Klawitter and Mark and Joy Sims were approved for service with Grace Brethren International Missions in France. Now, both couples continue ministry in France. Paul is the regional director for Europe, and Mark is also assuming responsibility for Grace Seminary’s D.Min program in Africa. Grace Brethren International Missions (now Encompass World Partners) named Tom Julien as executive director. Now retired, Tom continues with special assignments for the mission and as a member of the leadership team of the Winona Lake, Ind., Grace Brethren Church. Lester Pifer, retired leader of Grace Brethren Home Missions, was planting a church in Bradenton, Fla. Now, he serves as a pastor to seniors at the Grace Bethren Church of Columbus, Ohio. 1982 – 30 years ago 1977 – 35 years ago
The Columbus, Ohio, GBC launched a new church in Grove City with Quentin Matthes as pastor. He is active now at Grace Village and in overseas ministry trips. The April issue of The Brethren Missionary Herald noted that the Bellflower Brethren Church dedicated its new worship center. Currently, Tom Hocking is the pastor. 1972 – 40 years ago
1967 – 45 years ago
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The couple had been involved in an evangelical ethnic Chinese church that was a 25 minute drive from their current home. It was the only church Einer had known since he was a baby, and Laura joined him there when they married in 2000. But they knew their life was now in the Vancouver suburb where Einer has taught elementary school for the last 15 years and they are raising their two children. One summer Sunday they decided to attend the “movie theater” church, the one they’d seen advertised on a leaflet that came in their mail. “It’s right here in the community,” says Einer. “We walked there in 30 minutes on the first day.” It wasn’t that they were looking for a new church. They just knew that God was nudging them to something different. As they began to attend Community of Hope Church, a Grace Brethren congregation which meets in the Strawberry Hills Cinema, they continued to seek guidance. “We were praying that God would show a lot of affirmation,” Laura recalls. She also remembers the sense of peace and confirmation they both felt in receiving an answer that was “very overwhelming.” On the flip side, the leadership of Community of Hope had been praying for established, mature Christians to become involved in the ministry that was attracting many new believers. “I don’t know about mature,” says Laura. “How can you call yourself mature? Experienced?” she adds with a smile. In the two and one-half years since the family has attended Community of Hope, they have immersed themselves in ministry. They coordinate hospitality ministries, she’s running the church website, he’s serving on the finance committee, and they’ve both been involved in the children’s ministries. “I think that God providing this new church family was an extreme answer to our prayers,” says Laura, adding that it feels “weird” to know someone was praying for them. “I would just attribute it to God matching, tongue and groove. You know it’s of God when it’s clearly not of your own doing.”
More stories of people in Grace Brethren churches: Heartbroken -- Chris Springer
Powerful Prayer -- Earl Goodman
Following The Call -- Shane and Cheryl Edwards
Following God's Leading -- Cami Berkey
Tool Time -- Butch Owens
Joining the Family Reunion -- Roger Fry
Language Lessons -- Vicki Johnson
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The following news briefs are from January, February, and March issues of the Brethren Missionary Herald and FGBC World magazines. 2007 – 5 years ago
1992 – 20 years ago
1987 – 25 years ago
1982 – 30 years ago
1967 – 45 years ago
1962 – 50 years ago
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Events of general interest among Grace Brethren churches in 2012. Details and registration information are available from the sponsoring organizations or at fgbc.org. January 9-11 – GO2 Ministries Circles of Grace Prayer Summit, Orlando, Fla. (GO2) CE = CE National (cenational.org)
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Vicki Johnson has spent her career teaching English as a second language to immigrants in Southern California. “I love my job,” says the member of the Bellflower, Calif., Brethren Church (Tom Hocking, pastor). “I go to work to relax,” she adds. “I’m there for my students.” She’s had a heart for internationals since her days as a student at California State University, Long Beach, where she earned a degree in language and composition and helped begin the International Student Ministry at the Long Beach, Calif., Grace Brethren Church, where she then attended. (She went on to earn a master’s degree in linguistics.) Today, she teaches four days a week for the Long Beach school system, leading classes of 10 students at a time in basic literacy concepts. She also knows many who grace her classroom need to know about Jesus. Still, she is quick to emphasize, “I am not paid to proselytize.” Outside the classroom, she and her husband, Guy, a literacy coach for Los Angeles Unified School District, invite her students to their home during the Christmas holidays. “For many of them, it is the first time they see inside an American home,” she says. The evening includes a presentation of the Gospel. “We’ve become friends with a few of [them],” she adds, “and have seen them come to know Christ.” Last year, several women asked her to help them learn to knit. So they began to gather every Friday morning at a coffee shop in Cerritos to work on various projects. “We have a great time,” Vicki says. It has become a mix of Korean and Chinese women, with a few American Caucasians. The focus of their meeting is to learn English, but she also wants to use the time as outreach. She encourages most English-speaking women who ask to participate to seek knitting lessons at a local yarn shop. “I don’t want it to get too big,” she admits. She’s cautiously begun to initiate spiritual conversations with the ladies, knowing that the exchange will be better received once a friendship is established. “Some of the Korean women are Christians,” she notes. This native Californian’s heart continues to beat for the disadvantaged and dispossessed that come from around the world to seek a better life in the U.S. “I think these people are the most overlooked in cities,” she says. “[Most] people just don’t see them.”
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