Monday, March 28, 2011

Thirsty Thursday, March 24, 2011

Dear People,

There are time when God opens the heavens and sends us a blessing. This happened to me today. Let me share it with you:
As some of you know, our conference superintendent, Jerome Nelson had a kidney removed a little over a year ago due to cancer. Everything went well and the doctors gave him a clean bill of health. However, this past year his other kidney wasn't functioning as it should and he was looking at the possibility of dialysis if his kidney didn't respond. This is something he didn't want to go through and he was praying for a miracle - that is, God would heal his kidney or something else would happen. His only alternative was a kidney transplant. We as a conference ministerium were informed of this matter at the Midwinter Conf. in late January, and the ministerium prayed for him, laying hands on him. 

Well, approx. a week after the midwinter conference, in a surprise move, Jerome had a kidney transplant. The doctors found a suitable donor and they proceeded with the surgery. Everything went well for Jerome and he is progressing well. However, what people didn't know was that it was Debbie Griffith that was Jerome's donor. Debbie is the Central Conference director of mission and outreach. Talk about a selfless act and having a servant's heart.

When we spoke today, she said, "I just knew I had to do it. It's something that Jesus would do and calls us to do." WOW! Isn't that great stuff!!! What an inspiration.

However, while she is recovering very well, her work load has piled up especially with the Central Conference Annual Meeting coming up at the end of April. (We know what that's like!). So to give her more time to rest, re-cooperate, and get her feet back on the ground, we are postponing our leadership/teacher training seminar to Sat. April 9th. The time will be: 8:30-9:00 a.m. - coffee, tea, refreshments, etc. 9:00-10:30 - DISC survey. (This is a great thing to go through); 10:30-12:30 - Teacher Training. So if you're a teacher, Small group leader, or desire to become on in the future, I ask you to set the date on your calendar and come out. I truly believe you will be blessed and inspired.

So, how's the "Similac to Outback" reading going? I know it's easy to start strong but get bogged down as time goes on. If you have floundered, don't worry. Just continue where we are and read on! For the next two Sunday's we are going to go through Jeremiah. Here’s the deal with Jeremiah – it is a tough book to tackle because it is a bunch of history, biography, prophecy and poetry that follows no chronological order or any sort of intuitive organizational structure. Then there are all these weird action sermons, like Jeremiah making pottery and then destroying pottery and then burying loincloths and wearing yokes and other interesting stuff. It’s 52 chapters covering about 40 years and we can’t really tell what’s going on when and where and how, but there is one undeniable message. God wants our hearts so desperately that He will go to ridiculous extremes to win them. He wants our hearts because that is what He is about. So what we see going on in the Book of Jeremiah is all this stuff that revolves around our heart and God’s purpose for us. If you haven't read Jeremiah, try it - and see God's love for you!!!

This week as we pray, continue to lift up the Tsunami victims in Japan. There was also another 6.8 earthquake today in NE Myanmar. Pray for the people in that region. Also remember to praise God for great things He is doing. The Nicaragua people gave a great report last week. Tim and Ann Carlson, along with Gayle Ewen are back from Ecuador. We are planning to hear what happened there this Sunday. It's also Lent - a time to reflect and ponder on our life and relationship with God.

Have a blessed day!!!

Pastor Tom


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