November 2014

 

Hello ministry friends!

I hope you are feeling thankful this month and looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I love that we have a national holiday to pause and thank God for all things.  Our church is getting ready to host members of the larger community on November 22 with a free turkey dinner as an outreach event. We’re offering tracts like the one pictured, a pilgrim million-dollar bill with a gospel message on the back (from TractPlanet.com). There weren’t any dollars during the time of the pilgrims, but it looks authentic anyway!

From Camp Joy looking at the old Berea SDB Church

 
In mid-October I enjoyed the Appalachian Association’s Fall Women’s Retreat at Camp Joy in Berea, WV.  To share what I’ve been up to, I took the display boards I’d made for General Conference featuring the SDB church plants in North America as well as photos from the two churches I’ve served so far (Arizona and Maryland). I made new friends as we fellowshipped during meals and worshipped together. 

  During lesson time we looked at ways to overcome some of the emotions that can derail us from living for Christ in victory, leading to some deep discussions.  One major highlight was hearing a woman with a Catholic background share how glad she was that she accepted an invitation to come because the contrast between her church experience and our group of women who live for Jesus was enormous. She wanted what we had and clearly had a spiritual awakening that weekend.

 

I had a birthday in early November and was happy to receive two books from my son, Paul, that I’d been wanting to read.  Have you heard of “Radical” by David Platt?  His second book is “Radical Together” about the church taking up the mission of Jesus together.  The author, a pastor, challenges us to abandon the typical American dream in favor of living all out for Jesus. The Church has tended to embrace the values of our changing culture, becoming more materialistic and self-centered, without realizing we’re living contrary to the teachings of Jesus to deny self, take up our crosses and follow Him on His mission. My sending church in Boulder (Colorado) has a Sabbath School class studying “Radical.” I recommend these books!

Just before my birthday week, my sister, JoAnne Kandel, and I took a weekend road trip to Illinois to visit and help our oldest sister, Susan.  A bit of SDB trivia and history for you – we were known in our teen years at Conference as the four Burdick girls.  I’m number three and Jo is number four.  The second one, Mary Ellen, lives in Colorado. We are descendants of Robert Burdick of Rhode Island who was a son-in-law of Samuel Hubbard, a founder of the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America in 1671. Our father (also a Robert) hailed from Milton, WI, and that was the church of my childhood.  So, we were happy to worship at the Milton SDB church on November 1st and visit with friends and some of my ministry partners over lunch.  It’s a blessing to learn from the things “The Connecting Church” has done in recent years to reach out in Milton and add to the number of citizens in God’s Kingdom.

Side windows in the Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church

A recent answer to prayer has been the addition of three more monthly supporters, and a few one-time donors too.  God promises to provide for His servants in His timing, and I’m so thankful.  Please continue to pray for God to add to this team of partners in the ministry of SDB church planting.  I’m at about 2/3 of full monthly support.  New customers for Xango wellness products are helping a little as well.  You may want to consider buying a Christmas gift of Xango mangosteen juice or hand lotion or other items, and that’s another way to support my ministry work.  View products at www.MyMangosteen.com/Luke638, and contact me at (720) 320-3418 or on Facebook.

There is something I’ve been thinking about lately. Life can be tough. For some people I know, just trusting God to get through another day is all they can do. As believers we rightly cling to the promises of Scripture that God is our defender and never forsakes us. What I wonder is whether we tend to get stuck in “Help me, God” mode instead of asking, “How can I help You today, God?”  I saw this post recently on social media: “Walk with me, Father, until my journey is through.” What about, “Father, l will follow You until my journey is through”?

When you see these, try turning them around for another perspective.

·      From “God’s got my back” to “God’s got me.”  (Phil. 1:21)

·      From “God has plans for me” (how we like to interpret Jer. 29:11) to “God has a place for me to serve in what He is doing in this city.”  (Col. 3:24)

·      From “Jesus lives in my heart” to “I belong to Jesus; heart, soul and mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

·      From “I can count on Jesus” to “Jesus can count on me.” (Luke 14:26-33)

A final thought, from the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 16:13-14.  “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Patty

Autumn mountain view in central Pennsylvania

October 2014

Hello ministry partners!

What a treat to be in western Maryland when the trees are putting on their autumn colors!  The weather has remained warm so we’ve been able to do outdoor evangelism in a number of locations.   (Click on any of these photos to enlarge.)

Pastor Ron Higson, left, Brian Raines, right

The Frostburg Block Party was held on an evening in September to introduce university students to local businesses and churches.  We (Pastor Ron, Brian and I) had people at our table almost non-stop for 3 hours.  Many took Bibles and gospel tracts, and two people prayed to receive Christ that night, praise the Lord!

  

 

It struck me recently that we purposely use humor to reach out to people, through our brain teaser question about Moses and some of the tracts we use, like the Giant $100 bills.  It seems to help people warm up to us and break the ice as we start a conversation.  Besides that, we have the joy of the Lord and we like to share it!  (A thank-you to Ray Comfort for the humorous ideas.)

Keeping the table supplied with good quality gospel tracts is somewhat challenging for our small church budget.  If God nudges you to make a donation for this table ministry, you can mail a check to Full Gospel SDB Church, 14407 Hazen Rd NE, Cumberland MD 21502.  Many thanks.
 

 

A wonderful answer to prayer was a donation of 200 Bibles for our table ministry!  I’d met a local Baptist pastor while attending a Blue Grass music concert at their church.  I told him the kind of outreach we were doing and that we were hoping to partner with other churches to bless our community.  When he came by our booth at the county fair he mentioned they had received a large donation of Bibles and couldn’t use them all.  So, I went and picked up boxes of KJV, NIV, and KJV Large Print Bibles. I’m so thankful we have these to hand out.  Just think what it means for people to encounter the Living God in the pages of Scripture!

 

God surprised me with an unexpected blessing in finding friends to ride bikes with.  Monica Davis is a local small businesswoman who hosts monthly networking meetings, where I met her in August.  She and her husband ride frequently, so I join them once a week to ride the GAP rail trail (Great Allegheny Passage).  The longest ride so far was 20 miles, and I’m getting stronger all the time.  They are also believers in Jesus.

Sandi Clark and I have been working the ministry table at the downtown Farmer’s Market for the past 4 weeks, ending this week.  Sandi is an answer to prayer (not very many in our church are free weekdays).  She is normally a shy person but felt God asking her to serve in this way.  She’s been surprised to find she likes this work, even though she had fears at first.  I told her, God is more concerned with your AVAILABILITY than your ABILITY.  If we show up, He will do the heavy lifting.  As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”

I’ve included some pictures of school children who were excited to get the giant $100 bills (gospel message on the back) and a homeless man who appreciated the large print Bible.  Here are some highlights from the Farmer’s Market ministry:

• Three teenage boys took the $100 bill tracts as well as the “2^nd Greatest Lie” booklet (www.MarkCahill.org) and I later learned that one of them professes to be a Wiccan.  May God save him from that deception.

• I met the director of the local branch of Teen Challenge and hope to partner with them in some way in the future.  He was very glad to see us out on the street sharing Christ.

•   A man told me he was a theologian and it seemed we were like-minded until he began recommending the Gnostic gospels and explained how Jesus was created by God but was not actually God.  He wasn’t open to new information but, if we pray for him, he may see the truth.

• An older man in a wheelchair told us he has survived a stroke, a kidney transplant and 5 occurrences of cancer, and he still wakes up each day thanking God for life.  I asked if he reads the Bible daily and he said he has trouble seeing the small print. He was excited to receive a large print Bible.
• 
  A 19-year-old man told me he was raised in a Christian home but after studying world religions in college he became an agnostic.  He talked a lot about all he learned and said most Christians don’t know the pagan origins of major holidays, as if that would undermine their faith as it had his.  Pray God breaks through his confidence in his intellect.

• This is the best answer I’ve heard yet when I ask people, “What do you call someone who tells lies?”  “A prevaricator.”

What better place to plant gospel seeds than an October Farm Festival?  The Higson Farm has been hosting a fall festival for the past 18 years, giving hayrides and selling hundreds of pumpkins.  We set up the ministry table and kept busy passing out tracts, Bibles and water from 10:00 to 6:00. 

One lady told me she was an active Christian and also a Yoga instructor, but she never looked into the religious side of it.  She took the tract on “The Lords of Yoga” to learn how yoga got started in Hinduism.  If you know any Christian who does yoga for exercise and stress-reduction, you might point them to this website:  http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Yoga.html.  I realize yoga is not likely to derail a solid Christian but it's wise to be informed.

Karen Higson, Brian Raines, Patty Petersen

Please pray for us to discern God’s direction for outreach ministries in the colder months when we are limited in having a table outdoors.  The local mall is open to us coming as Christmas carolers but not with the table.  Wal-Mart might let us set up at their entrance on non-rainy days, and there might be a need for ministry at one of the local prisons.  Some of these are out of my comfort zone, but I know Who goes before me.  Being small we can’t stretch in too many directions, and yet we know God wants us to be sowers of the seed no matter how small.

Just a quick mention of the nursing home monthly ministry our church has been doing since long before I came.  Pastor Ron and Karen provide a message, and lead a worship time of hymn singing.  The residents are special people with stories to tell of their families and past experiences.  We love them and encourage them to pray, read the Bible and trust in Jesus every moment.  Jesus said we are to visit the sick, for “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40).

In early September my daughter, Ana, came to visit and we took a quick 3 days to tour Washington, DC.  Staying at an international youth hostel turned out to be a great experience (and was the lowest budget option for lodging close to the major sights).  What an education to visit the nation’s Capitol, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the national monuments and some of the Smithsonian museums!  On the way out of town we stopped at the National Cathedral (an Episcopal church) and ooo-ed and ahhh-ed at the architecture.  It’s a bit heavy on the icons for a Baptist, but we did enjoy the tour and walking through long arched hallways.  I enjoyed all the sightseeing but am especially thankful for the time with Ana.

Thank you for the prayer support and financial support.  I’m still working on increasing my income through donors and Xango customers.  Please check out the website at www.mymangosteen.com/luke638 and send questions.

I’m also happy to send you my two-page recommended food list.  So many diseases can be addressed through changing what we eat and drink, back toward the whole foods God made to fit the needs of the bodies He designed.  I just watched the movie Fed Up (2014, Katie Couric) and I highly recommend it (got it from the library). Good news if we will heed it.

Stay well friends, until the next time!