Snow Hill News Blog

Vacation Bible School - Sharing Jesus by Sharing the Story of God

We are having a great week with young people in our community. A number of people are taking photos. We will post some here soon.

Toni sent us a great video of Casa de los Angelito and the very young children living there at Casa Bernabe. We hope the young people attending here will make the connection that all people are special and we may show them God's care by helping care for them.

Thanks Toni for your commitment to our Triune God in the Name of Jesus as you help us connect what we believe with what we do.

Church as Missionary 2010: Session 2

Here is the second session with Caleb Crider today at 4pm discussion church and mission.

Learning Skills for the Church As Missionary - This Coming Weekend!

We have been inviting you to "Save the Dates" for our second edition of "Church As Missionary." We are emphasizing practical skills we may develop as a church as we self-identify as "missionary."

 

Caleb Crider will be with us to walk with us through some potential practices we may develop here at Snow Hill to more deeply connect with the "mission of God" around the world. Consider it an extension of our theme from January and for the year, Love is On the Move.

 

We will have our first session this Saturday from 4-6 p.m. We will host Caleb on Sunday with him participating in our worship service and then an afternoon and evening session.

 

We will discuss some of the following:

 

Learning a Foreign Language in Your Church

Planting a Church in another Country

Connecting with Skybridgers - people living abroad as missionaries without the support of a mission sending agency

Context - What do our surroundings tell us and how do we connect with the mission of God in our own setting (Redux from last year's event.)

 

Our hope is that we come away with some practical steps to move from a self-awareness of the church participating in the mission of God to other expressions of what that may look like beyond the many exciting local things we are currently involved in.

 

Make plans to attend as many of our sessions with Caleb as your are able.

Macie Interviews the Massons

Snow Hill "adopted" Jonathan and Kari Masson as associates in 2008. Our G.A's have developed a fun relationship with the young couple living in Lyon, France.

Exchanging mail, postcard and even "crepes," our young girls have learned about life and faith and living in the mission of God.

Last month Macie and Kristi shared the opportunity to chat with Jonathan and Kari via Skype. Using this new technology over the Internet and a "webcam," Macie asked questions and learned  of the plans the Massons have as well as what life is like in France via "video chat."

Continue to pray for Jonathan and Kari. They will be traveling to Senegal next month. Jonathan will complete his medical degree later this year. God has great plans for this couple and we are glad to be "partners."

Who knows, maybe one day we will travel to Senegal to help with a clinic or others needs we become aware of in our continued partnership with Jonathan and Kari.

What Is Your Story?

As a follow-up to their recent Justice Now, our youth produced a video in keeping with the theme - What's our Story?

Take a look -

Christ Our Life

Pastor Todd and Nathan have often made reference to Dallas Willard. One of the challenges Dr. Willard often gives is to memorize Colossians 3. We recently discovered this sermon by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. We would encourage you to take some time to listen and reflect on Dr. Keller's sermon on Colossians 3. You may listen by clicking here.

Thank You Bob!

Here is Pastor Todd's weekly email about our collective "Thank you" to Bob Johnson.

Time. It can get away from you. Sometimes we cannot find enough of it. Occasionally we have too much on our hands.
 
Jesus remarked to the disciples on one occasion he must be busy about his work while it was day - while the time was good. My friend Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research, recently commented, "One of the greatest sins in the church is we have made it ok to sit and do nothing and call yourself a Christ-follower." Much of what Jesus pointed toward and Ed noted pointedly concerns what we do with our time.
 
It is at this point one expects a pastor to suggest some are not spending enough time in church. Certainly I believe we have missed the point of "gathering." Rather than to get noticed for being in attendance, the writer of Hebrews suggested the "assembling" together is for mutual encouragement to love and good deeds. No one could argue this can be done "outside" of church. The question is never "can it", the issue to ask, "is it." Too often we have asked the question of necessity rather than the question of action. But, really that is not the point of considering what we do with our time.
 
You see, I think we will be scrutinized more for what we do "away" from church. Jesus' ministry was not "in" the Temple. Ed's point is not about volunteering for the next announced vacancy in the organizational chart. No, the matter is really about what are you doing with the time you have living in the reality of the Kingdom of God. Has your imagination caught hold of the mission of God in the world? Carrying on the work of Jesus may be done just as Jesus did it. Not with special nights dedicated to service, but with a life lived in service to those around them.

Congratulations Jonathan!

We received word here in the office that Jonathan passed his exams and is a "Fifth Year Med Student." Read "Final Year" medical student. You can read the story here.

Update: Community of Hope Free Medical Clinic

We launched the Community of Hope Free Medical Clinic three weeks ago. We saw seven patients. Our volunteers - from our doctor all the way down to our "runners" - did an outstanding job.

Our next open date is set for next week, July 8, from 7-9 p.m. Over time we hope to add other doctors to enable us to provide for more appointment times.

Tracking the Massons

We received an email from Jonathan that he and Kari had been sent their login information to take the Perspectives Course on World Missions! Their books are on their way. As a reminder of the dream God has given them read their recent post. (You may follow their journey by watching the sidebar for their updates.) Here is a clip.

The reason we made this appointment was to get a head start on the formalities for moving to Senegal and starting a clinic. After our experience moving to France, we knew that there would be a LOT of paperwork for visas, residency permits, taxes, renting a house, setting up utilities, opening bank accounts, plus starting a business in cooperation with the Minister of Health.

Here's what we found out: all of that can be done once we arrive. Because we will be bringing humanitarian aid and developing jobs, the government will make it as easy as possible for us to move and get established in Senegal.

Exciting news!