Notes & News, Thoughts & Views

Transcription

1 Notes & News, Thoughts & Views For ABCOPAD Churches from Regional Executive Pastor Rev. Frank Frischkorn Volume 28, Number 11 november 2016 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Psalm 22:3 (KJV) The power of that text from the King James Version is palpable, isn t it? God is One who takes up residence in our praises. In hearts that are truly thankful for all that He has done, He fills the room with His Presence. I receive an every morning entitled, Devotions Daily, which provides a devotional from a variety of Christian authors. This morning s devotion really hit home with the direction that I was sensing God wanted me to move in my reflections for this month s article, so allow me to share a piece of it with you. Sarah Young in her devotional Jesus Calling: Morning and Evening Devotional shared the following, speaking in the voice of God, she said: It is impossible to praise or thank Me too much. As it is written, I inhabit the praises of My people. Sometimes your adoration is a spontaneous overflow of Joy, in response to radiant beauty or rich blessings. At other times your praise is more disciplined and measured an act of your will. I dwell equally in both types of praise. Thankfulness, also, is a royal road to draw near Me. A thankful heart has plenty of room for Me. When you thank Me for the many pleasures I provide, you affirm that I am God, from whom all blessings flow. When adversity strikes and you thank Me anyway, your trust in My sovereignty is a showpiece in invisible realms. Fill up the spare moments of your life with praise and thanksgiving. This joyous discipline will help you live in the intimacy of My Presence. I have so many reasons to give thanks unto the LORD this day: My salvation in Jesus that infuses my todays and assures my tomorrows. The blessings of family that make me smile on a regular basis. The call that God has placed on my life the fact that I get to serve Him and declare the wonder of His Love... can it get any better than that?! The blessing of serving with such a godly group of women and men on this regional staff, all sharing a common heart for the Kingdom and a common vision of what the LORD has called us to be about here in ABCOPAD. A regional family of churches and leaders that trusts in God for His Plan for our life together and walks by faith even through the times of trial and struggle. Most recently, for how God moved with such power through our Biennial Leadership Conference the joy of fellowship with His People, the power of His Word as conveyed by Chris Hall and the wondrous praise and worship led by the Praise Team from F.B.C., Linesville, and the Choir from Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Altoona. As you gather for your Thanksgiving Feast this year, be sure to leave room at the table for our Living God by offering praise and adoration for the wondrous things that He has done, because as the Scriptures say, He does inhabit the praises of His People! With a heart overflowing with Thanksgiving, Frank American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 1

2 Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Johnson Regional Pastor with Congregations This is the time of the year when we gather with family and friends around tables loaded down with huge varieties and volumes of food, to give thanks for the many, many blessings in all of our lives. As I and the other regional pastors criss-cross our way weekly across our region, I am thankful especially at this time of the year, for the following that I see in our ABCOPAD churches: We have churches full of real people dealing with real problems who don t play church or take themselves too seriously. They present a real Savior who loves us just as we are. In a challenging world, it s good to know there are places to really worship and connect with a real God and real people! We have churches that are willing to take risks in order to reach more people for Jesus. They get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I read recently that there are three kinds of churches: Risk Takers, Care Takers, or Under Takers. Healthy, growing churches are risk takers, status quo churches are care takers, and dying churches are under takers. For these Risk Takers congregations, The Church has left their building because the members see themselves as their church wherever they are. We have churches that place high trust in, and have a high value of, their pastoral and lay leaders. All of us as humans are flawed. If the church is flawed, it is because we are flawed. We have blind spots, make mistakes and miscommunicate at times. However, these churches are patient, understanding and extend grace. These churches pray for their leaders. We have churches that are truly strategic stewards of what God has given them, and not just money. They see themselves as purveyors of the past, participants in the present, and casters of the future. They give to support ministry and missions here at home and abroad. They give proportionately and even sacrificially. They don t hoard nor hide resources. They release resources for the greatest impact. We have churches that could put a sign over their front doors that would read Constant Change Is Here To Stay. They embrace change. Not necessarily because they want to, but they realize they have to. They see change as a way for God to work in their individual and congregational lives in ways He has not before. They major on what should NEVER change, the message of the Gospel, but embrace the means by which that message gets out and gets across. These churches realize to resist change, is to resist God, who never changes (Hebrews 13:8) but constantly works in new ways (Isaiah 49:13). We have churches with godly leaders that provide our churches with a solid foundation for the present and future. The greatest resources God gives us are people. These churches have leaders who don t take their spirituality for granted but are constantly striving to know more of God, be more like Jesus, and be more filled with the Holy Spirit. These leaders are humble and take seriously their calling to leadership, not because no one else would do it but because they are called to do it. Just looking back over this list, needless to say, but I will say it anyways, WE ARE ONE BLESSED REGION for which I am thankful! American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 2

3 Rev. Mark Mahserjian-Smith Regional Pastor for Mission and Communication Matthew 18:19-20 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. 1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him. James 5:14-15 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. As disciples of Jesus we all recognize the importance of prayer. As Baptists, one of the pillars of our faith is the, Priesthood of the Believer. We believe every follower of Jesus has the ability to come before God s throne through prayer. Pray remains an integral part of our spiritual formation. In 1999, ABCOPAD launched its online prayer ministry. Using the ABCOPAD Directory, an distribution list was created for the express purpose of sharing prayer messages with our Regional family. Since its formation, thousands of messages have been sent out and tens of thousands of prayers have been prayed. The prayer ministry has adapted and changed over its almost 20 years of existence. Recently, we have seen a drop in the prayer messages being received. One regional staff member sent a message to all the Regional Pastors about a health crisis with one of our pastoral leaders. In the past, this pastor and his wife were active members of our prayer team. While members of our staff did not know about the emergency, I did because I follow this family on Facebook. Other people once active on our prayer ministry have moved to using a social media platform to both share prayer messages as well as pray for those requesting prayer. Starting in December, ABCOPAD will be moving to a social media platform for its prayer ministry. We will create an ABCOPAD Prayer Group on Facebook. We hope many of our prayer warriors will join the group. By moving to a social media platform, prayer messages will be multi-directional. People will be able to share prayer messages as well as pray for those who are seeking prayer. For those who are not on Facebook, a once-a-week message will be sent by Constant Contact passing along a summary of the prayer messages posted of social media. We hope this shift in our prayer ministry will better serve our Region. If you have questions, be sure to send them to me. Special thanks to all our prayer warriors who have faithfully prayed for the past nearly 20 years. God Bless, Mark American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 3

4 Rev. Dr. Kevin Walden Regional Pastor with Pastoral Leaders The Spiritual Leader as The Example of Generosity and Faithfulness 8 Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, How are we robbing you? In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse your whole nation because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the Lord Almighty. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:8-12 (NIV) Malachi is the last prophet recorded in the Old Testament, and he reminds Israel that they are to keep the commands and the covenant of the Lord. I remember the first time I heard this passage, and it struck me that I needed to try very hard to honor God with my life and be faithful in giving to the Lord s work. Early on in ministry, I wrote a couple of praise songs for some evangelistic services that our church held. One of those songs combines 1 Peter 2:9 with Malachi 3:7. The songs words are: Return to Me, and I ll return to you, says the Lord Return to Me, and I will to you. You are chosen People A royal priesthood A holy nation People belonging to God That you may declare the praises of Him Who brought you out of darkness into light Faithful giving is always on my mind. I learned to tithe early on in my walk with Jesus. That is, I learned that the least I could give was 10%. And to be clear, I learned that I was to give the first 10% (first fruits Deuteronomy 26). I also learned that 100% of what I have is God s not mine. I knew that as the Spiritual Leader and Pastor, I needed to be an example of faithful giving. I took these lessons into ministry and taught them to all the churches I served. I helped our congregations to not only think about these things for themselves as individuals, but we also applied these lessons to how we as a congregation gave toward our mission work. We started with a tithe (10%) to our common American Baptist work aiming that first tithe toward our United Mission offering, which we knew funded our regional ministries and beyond. We tithed to this offering monthly. Then we worked on becoming even more generous with our giving to other mission projects in our community, region and beyond. Our last congregation was so faithful in giving that they were honored with being in the top 10 mission giving congregations in the region per capita. Over the summer the regional staff has had many conversations with Pastoral Leaders in ABCOPAD. I was disappointed to learn that many are unaware of the primary funding source for the region, which is the United Mission offering. Because of declines in United Mission giving, regions developed regional offerings ours in known as Partners in Ministry many more pastors are somewhat aware of this offering. However, our churches do not give even to Partners in Ministry on consistent (monthly) basis. The Challenge: Spiritual Leaders be an example in faithful generous giving. Spiritual Leaders teach your congregation to be faithful and generous givers. Spiritual Leaders promote and know how to support your regional missionaries (ABCOPAD Leadership) Spiritual Leaders promote and know how to support missionaries beyond the local church and regional leadership. Spiritual Leaders be consistently aware of your congregation s current mission giving. You are on our hearts and minds and in our prayers! Kevin American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 4

5 ABCOPAD FOUNDATION - THE HARVEST ENDOWMENT ABCOPAD FOUNDATION Planting Today for God s Harvest Tomorrow DISCOVER ABCOPAD Events - Our first event was held in Dover, Delaware hosted by the Schallers. It was a wonderful time of sharing and fellowship. There were 8 friends present with Mark, Frank and myself. There was a sensitivity from all present for the genuine need to support the ministries/missions of ABCOPAD. Our next Discover ABCOPAD event is scheduled for December 6 at the Olive Branch Church in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. INVITE us, we ll come to your area. BIENNINAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE - What an inspirational time with our Region family! Dr. Chris Hall captured our attention and took us deeper in our relationship with Jesus. At the BLC event, we added several new donors to the ABCOPAD Foundation. We are so grateful for ALL our partners who commit to supporting ABCOPAD on a regular basis. DO YOU KNOW ~ A percentage of a congregation s giving to United Mission and America for Christ returns to ABCOPAD for support of our regional ministries. Gifts to Partners in Ministry (our region offering) support 100% the ministries/missions of ABCOPAD. All of these gifts go through your local church treasurer giving your church mission credit. ~ You can give as an individual donor through the ABCOPAD Foundation. Your gifts through the Foundation help us to build a faithful donor base of support for the ministry/mission of ABCOPAD. NO GIFT IS TOO SMALL. In this season of GIVING, would you give a gift to the ABCOPAD Foundation to support the ministries of ABCOPAD? GIFTS to ABCOPAD Foundation SHOULD BE OVER AND ABOVE ANY CURRENT GIFTS YOU GIVE TO PARTNERS IN MINISTRY Name: Address: City: State: Zip Code: Phone: Cell: I/WE Commit to Give: $25 $50 $100 $250 $500 Every: Month Quarter Annual Other PAYABLE TO: ABCOPAD Foundation; SEND TO: ABCOPAD Foundation; PO Box 431; Hatboro, PA For online giving: and select donations for instructions. OR Mobile: For More Information, Contact us at: ABCOPAD Foundation:...Sue MacDonald / suemac1973@gmail.com The ABCOPAD Foundation is in Partnership with the American Baptist Foundation. For information on planned giving, please visit THANK YOU for your partnership in supporting ABCOPAD Mission and Ministries!! American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 5

6 COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. The words of this familiar hymn remind us that as members of ABWM of PA/DE we have many things to be thankful for. I am going to list some of our blessings for you to ponder. In January, we launched THRIVE Groups in the region. These Bible study groups come together to encourage women through study and prayer. Our hope when we started was that five groups would form across the region. Praise the Lord! There are 21 groups coming together! Christy Meenley, our Spiritual Enrichment Coordinator has kept this part of the ministry THRIVING through her prayer life and efforts. THANK YOU Miss Christy. This year, after much prayer, thought and CO::LAB work, the board decided that our Student Loan program should be celebrated - but changed. Therefore, as of Dec. 31, 2016 we are out of the Student Loan business. We have taken the bountiful blessings in the Student Loan fund and are using them to bless others. At our conference in July, our treasurer Susan Mahserjian-Smith gave ABCOPAD a $20,000 grant, as well as $20,000 to the ABCOPAD Foundation. The remaining funds are going to be used to help with future conferences and our AB GIRLS ministry. Students who are currently borrowing money for school will be given the opportunity to borrow for the remainder of their 4-year college commitment also brought new faces to our board. Jen Rice from Muncy Baptist Church is our new Conference Coordinator. Paula Sommerfeldt is our new Mission and Service Coordinator from Olive Branch Church. Jodie Vasbinder from East Mahoning is our new Conference Registrar. We are also excited that Melanie Daul is now our contact person from Delaware Association. One of the big blessings this year was our Water of Blessings regional project. I want to thank Kim Griffith, our most recent Mission and Service Coordinator, for her part in getting that project up and going. We raised over $27,000 for AMOS (A Ministry of Sharing), a ministry in Nicaragua where missionaries David and Laura Parajón serve. Additionally, about 275 baby layettes were collected and will be sent by the end of the year to the Parajóns. Our Love Gift Coordinator Pam Hughes has been working hard encouraging giving to Love Gift. When you give to Love Gift, you are giving to ABCOPAD, ABWM of PA/DE and other ministries in the US. We are excited to report that through this year our giving for Love Gift is UP 16%!!! Keep that going, ladies! We were blessed this year to spend time with Joanna Weaver, the author of a few of the books we are using in our THRIVE Groups. She challenged our hearts at Conference. Our blessings are so numerous I cannot name them all. In conclusion, I want you to know that I count each of you reading this article as one of our blessings. We are THRIVING because we, the women of this region, have been given the opportunity to grow in the Lord in a new and exciting way! May God bless each of you! Apryl L Crownover-Glunt, President American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 6

7 Devotional Leader: Regional Pastor for Pastors Rev. Dr. Kevin Walden American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 7

8 News From our Associations Allegheny Mark Mahserjian-Smith had the great joy of leading the installation service for Pastor Dan Reigel, now the minister at the FBC, Johnsonburg. The sanctuary was full as many people came for the celebration. Following the service a delicious luncheon was serve. It was a great day of rejoicing as congregation and pastor dedicated their commitment to partnership before our Lord. Just a terrific day in the Lord. Central Union Frank Frischkorn, Melody and Kevin Walden, and many others participated in the beautiful installation service at Parkesburg for Rev. Mary Lewis. Dr. Dan MacDonald also shared in the service. Pastor Mary gave a great reflection about how not normal the Parkesburg church is... which was entirely complimentary and inspiring. It was a wonderful celebration for a wonderful leader and congregation. Frank Frischkorn, Eric Kraihanzel, and Kevin Walden spent a wonderful afternoon and early evening at Lower Providence at the Installation Service of Rev. Charles Guy Coats as their new pastor! According to the church leadership Pastor CG is the 36th pastor in the church s 205 year history! It was a service full of blessings and joys! CG and his wife Liz were overjoyed. Pastor Kadin Williams at Exton Community described himself as incredibly happy to announce that their grant application has been approved by American Baptist Home Mission Societies. The $2,000 grant will be used to train Jonathan Yohannan as a Christian Yoga Instructor through a certification program nearby. This will be followed, eventually, by a continuing education course through the yoga organization affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Centre Jeffrey Johnson participated in style in the 145th Anniversary celebration and annual Homecoming of Liberty, Blanchard (Rev. Chris Davis), in north central Pennsylvania. Jeff dressed in 1871 attire, the year the church was founded. The leadership presented him a basket of cards and gifts from the church as their Pastor Appreciation. Pastor Chris took their weekly Missions Moment to talk about their new Upward Basketball Ministry which the region helped to fund with a grant. Clarion FBC, Brookville (Rev. David P. Borger), is just one of many churches across the region who will be participating in the 2016 Operation Christmas Child. Delaware The first Discover ABCOPAD event took place in Dover Delaware at the home of Gene and Thelma Schaller. The event was led by ABCOPAD Foundation Director of Development Sue MacDonald and ABCOPAD Regional Executive Pastor Frank Frischkorn. This was our first Discover ABCOPAD event under Sue s leadership, designed to share the ABCOPAD ministry with partners in the Region. It was a very successful event with plenty of time for sharing and encouragement. Watch for a Discover ABCOPAD event coming to your area. Mark Mahserjian-Smith had opportunity to share at the worship service at Christ Memorial, Dover (Rev. Jeff Collins). There was so much ethnic diversity in the sanctuary and that was represented by the Praise team. It was wonderful seeing so many people from different cultures all gathered together to praise and worship out Lord. It truly was amazing. An awesome Sunday morning. Volunteers from FBC, Dover (Rev. Dan Taylor), participated in their annual Make a Difference Day this past October. They worked with the Milford Housing Development Corporation on one of their Home Repair Projects. Harrisburg West Shore, Camp Hill (Rev. Gary R. Bruland), welcomed Greg Kabakjian as its Associate Pastor. He earned his B.A. at Messiah College in Biblical and Religious studies with a concentration in Theology and a minor in Congregational Ministry. Greg is currently studying to receive his MDIV at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. His passion is studying, seeking, praying, living, and loving the Word of God so that Christ might be exalted and praised above all else. The FBC, Gettysburg (Rev. Carl G. Harris), has announced plans to host a 10-day trip to Israel, March 21-30, In just a few weeks, Colonial Park Community (Rev. Gary Firster) is teaming up with At The Cross Church of God in Christ and hosting an outreach to children in the Harrisburg area and the neighborhood. The program will be held at the church with a puppet ministry focused on Jesus by Barb and Friends out of State Line, PA. Refreshments, of course, are included. Monongahela The 184th gathering of the Monongahela Baptist Association was held last month. The theme for the association s meeting was Make the Bible Walk. Different presentations were made by associational leaders. A time of good food and good fellowship followed the gathering. Northumberland Thank heavens for our regional pastors! At Love Unlimited, Williamsport, the pastoral leadership has recently struggled with significant health issues. Pastor Willie Anderson is recovering from surgery and Co-pastor Dorothy Anderson ended up in the hospital with respiratory problems. Minister Curly Jet is recovering from orthopedic surgery. Not to worry! Mark Mahserjian-Smith had the honor supporting the church family by filling the pulpit. American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 8

9 Oil Creek Pleasant Community, Warren (Rev. Michael S. Poindexter), has been offering a fall seminar: Dave Ramsey s Financial Peace University. It s designed for those who wish to learn how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, save, budget and invest. Pittsburgh Recently, Jeffrey Johnson and his family spent the morning with the folks at Broad Street (Pastor Jay Freudenberg). He is an early 2000 s CLI graduate and has served this church for nearly eight years. Jeff met with key and core leaders of the church during the Sunday School hour to talk about its vision, its future, and its desire as a smaller church to have a bigger impact for Christ in their community. In October, the congregation of Franklin Park called George Palombo as their new pastor beginning January 9, They welcome George, his wife, Amanda, and twin sons Marco and Giovanni, 18 months old. Please keep the congregation in your prayers as they prepare for new leadership for our church. FBC, Monongahela (Mark Schollaert) raised enough money during their VBS, to pack 34 shoeboxes filled with wonderful toys, books, etc. for Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan s Purse. Reading Kevin Walden had the honor of joining Rev. Mardy von Harten for worship at Calvary, Allentown. Pastor Mardy gave a powerful message on Acts 9. The church also presented Mardy and his wife Peggy with gifts for Pastor Appreciation Sunday! Nice!!! was peaceful and my body renewed. I felt as if my prayer for strength and guidance was answered. James 5: 13-16; Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Ten Mile The Camp Carmel Baptist Camp Fall Gathering was held at the farm of Ralph and Rhonda Gatten south of Pittsburgh. Board members, summer staff, counselors, campers, supporters, and friends gathered for a time of great food, good fun, and wonderful fellowship which included a hayride, corn hole, lots of conversation and catching up, and of course a campfire to wrap up the day with a message by Pastor Gary Schneider of North Ten Mile. More than a dozen churches were represented at the gathering from both the Ten Mile and Monongahela Baptist Associations. Tioga The Tioga Baptist Association gathered together at the Middlebury Baptist Church (Pastor Stan Gill) this Sunday. Pastor Stan opened the meeting with an inspirational devotion followed by a time of praise and worship led by Pastor Stan and his wife Susan. Almost every congregation in the association was represented at the meeting. Congregational leaders shared some of the good things taking place in their churches. Judy Husted and Ben Nevin, with North Country Baptist Youth Ministries shared the important work taking place in this camping ministry. Other Items of Interest Don t forget to check out our website often at n For Sale XEROX WorkCentre 5335 COPIER $5,600. List Price: $8,100. Includes manuals and one unopened toner. No warranty or service agreement. Buyer is responsible for moving it. Contact Caryl Casey for more information at ccasey@abcopad.com or Biennial Freebies Several promotional items are left over from the Biennial. They are: I am n, Inspiring Stories of Christians Facing Islamic Extremists, by Voice of the Martyrs; Tabletalk (Aug 16 issue); What is the Relationship Between Church and State, by R.C. Sproul; Stewardship (Oct 16 issue) by Parish Publishing; Christianity Today (Oct 16 issue); and/or Outreach Magazine (Sept/Oct 16 issue) which also has a free, 6-month subscription/200+ copies). A varying number of each of these items are available, please call if you are interested. FOR THE BOUNTY OF OUR BLESSINGS, WE GIVE THANKS. Riverside Jeff Evans (New Hope Christian )(merger of Belmont and Middletown) would like to share another testimony of healing from their outreach ministry the Healing Rooms of Del. Co. A lady came for prayer for strength and guidance and was helped with the prayers she received. She wrote these words: felt afterward a feeling of lightness and the heavy feeling that I had was lifted. After being prayed for, my mind American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 9

10 Rev. Mark Mahserjian-Smith Regional Pastor for Mission and Communication Dear Friends, Perhaps your family is like mine, with opportunities to gather together becoming more and more rare. Over this past summer, my wife Susan and I had a chance to attend a family reunion in Upstate New York. We even were able to bring two of our adult children with us to the event. It was wonderful connecting with family members I have not seen in years as well as meeting some recent additions to our very large tribe. Holding babies I had only seen pictures of on Facebook and meeting distant cousins who had never been to a family reunion before brought a deep sense of joy to my heart. There was also a bit of mourning as the family grieved the recent death of my oldest uncle who went home to be with the Lord this past spring. Having missed many of these gatherings over the past several years the family reunion this summer was especially significant. In October, our regional family gathered together in Altoona, PA for the 2016 ABCOPAD Biennial Leadership Conference. During the event I realize how grateful I am for our Regional family. It was great being together to celebrate what God has been doing in our individual congregations as well as across our Region. I am so glad we had a opportunity to be together but I also recognize many were not able to attend. Please know how much we missed you. Whether we come together during times of celebration and rejoicing or situations of crisis, sadness or grief, it is good to know you are not alone. Having family with you can make all the difference. When you support Partners In Ministry you support our Regional Family. Your gifts make it possible for Regional Staff to be present during times of celebration or challenge. Your gifts help us keep associations healthy, congregations growing and clergy support groups vital and strong. As we move toward the close of 2016, I hope you will consider making an end of the year donation to ABCOPAD has been financially challenging for us and any contribution your church family can make would be great appreciated. Thank you for being a partner in ministry. Thank you for your gifts to PIM. Thank you for being a part of this family. Know how much we appreciate you. May God continue to bless you as we seek to serve Him. Mark Mahserjian-Smith December 2016 Deadline Items to be included in the Dec. issue of Notes & News need to arrive by 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 8. Please send all material to Denise Veselicky. Mail: ABCOPAD 159 N. Bellefield Ave. Pittsburgh, PA dveselicky@abcopad.com Phone: Fax: Thank you! Donna L. Schneff Designer deeschneff@gmail.com American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware page 10

11

12 American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware Pittsburgh Baptist Association 159 N. Bellefield Avenue Pittsburgh, PA Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Pittsburgh, PA Permit No. 379 Address Service Requested American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware and American Baptist Churches of New York State are Partnering Together on Water of Blessing Mission Service Trips to Nicaragua Mission Goal: To accompany AMOS in bringing clean water to rural communities in Nicaragua by supporting the Safe Water and Sanitation Program Cost: Estimated $1,800 Dates: April 21-30, 2017 and July 21-30, 2017 AMOS is a Christian non-profit organization that exists to improve the health of impoverished communities by working alongside them in health, education and development. For more information, please contact at dveselicky@abcopad.com / or visit