Praying For Faith With Beni & Dave Campbell

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Welcome to Transformed Under the Pepper Tree.

transforming them into the image of Jesus Christ by the power of his Spirit!

Some information about specific events on campus will be found within these pages, but each month

Rather than programs or events, there will be stories about changed lives.

It is exciting to hear what God is doing in the lives of people!

northern-most point of what was to become the site for First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena and

into relationship with Christ in significant ways under the shade of that old pepper tree.

May it continue to flourish as people experience the transforming power of Christ. Blessings, B.

.. A Story from Linda Talbert Transformed Daily With Jessica Hong Getting Plugged In A Story from

2 Welcome to Transformed Under the Pepper Tree. In this monthly magazine, you will read stories of how God is changing people s lives at PazNaz, transforming them into the image of Jesus Christ by the power of his Spirit! You might be asking, Where can I find information about a specific PazNaz event? Some information about specific events on campus will be found within these pages, but each month Transformed will be focused on relating stories about what PazNaz is really all about. Rather than programs or events, there will be stories about changed lives. People coming in contact with the Savior. People exploring what it means to become a follower of him. It is exciting to hear what God is doing in the lives of people! Years ago, Pastor Earl Lee and a group of staff members gathered around a pepper tree located on the northern-most point of what was to become the site for First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena and dreamed and prayed that God would provide a place where more people could find power for living through Jesus. What began then has been going on for over thirty years as men and women, boys and girls have come into relationship with Christ in significant ways under the shade of that old pepper tree. The mission of the church hasn t changed. May it continue to flourish as people experience the transforming power of Christ. Blessings, B. Scott Anderson Executive Pastor Praying For Faith With Beni & Dave Campbell Hello, My Name Is... A Story from Linda Talbert Transformed Daily With Jessica Hong Getting Plugged In A Story from Charissa Morrison Transformed is a magazine publication of First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena (PazNaz). It is designed to highlight the Church s stories of personal transformation. For a complete overview of PazNaz, beliefs, and ministries, please visit the website TRANSFORMED Issue #7 October 2011 The Magazine of PazNaz 3700 East Sierra Madre Boulevard Pasadena, California Fax: PazNaz

3 Fall Festival Candy Donations! Your candy donations are needed to make this year s Fall Festival a success! Please drop off your individually wrapped candy donations at the church office or in the marked baskets on the patio on Sunday mornings. 3

a young couple that we knew had a terrible decision to make. They found out they were going to have a baby. They were not ready for that responsibility.

Dave and I were shocked with this decision! We talked to them about other alternatives for that new life, but they were set on their decision. I cried. I begged.

4 a young couple that we knew had a terrible decision to make. They found out they were going to have a baby. They were not ready for that responsibility. They didn t have good jobs or a place to live, so their future was not very promising. They decided that the best thing to do was to terminate the pregnancy. Dave and I were shocked with this decision! We talked to them about other alternatives for that new life, but they were set on their decision. I cried. I begged. I even told them that 53 years ago I tried to make the same choice, but for the grace of God, my big sister convinced me not to do it. Praise God! My blessing is my baby (now grown up), my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren. Dave and I told the young couple that we could help them in any way we could. We suggested that we could take care of their new baby every weekend so that they could have time for themselves. During the time that this couple was going through this difficult decision, Dave and I were going on a vacation. Before we left, we got in touch with our family and Christian friends, asking for prayers. After about two weeks, we got an saying, Don t worry anymore. This couple has decided to have the baby. Wow! This was an answer to our prayers. So I started ing again, telling the good news, and thanking all our friends and family for their prayers. In April 2005, the precious little girl was born. We ll call her Faith. We were already in love with her. She was and is a great blessing in our lives. When we talk about her, our lives are revived. Dave and I had told the young couple that we could help them take care of their new baby girl every weekend, and they agreed. We started to take baby Faith to PazNaz with us, and as any baby, she was beautiful and everyone couldn t help loving her! Every caregiver was friendly and caring. And if we didn t bring baby Faith on a Sunday, the people of PazNaz would ask about her. One day when I was reading the Sunday worship folder, Pastor Eleanor was asking for volunteers to help in Early Childhood. I said to Dave, If somebody else can take care of little Faith, why can t we do the same? We both started volunteering in Early Childhood, I was in the Preschool Class and Dave was a greeter at the check-in kiosk. Six years later, I am still helping. I enjoy working with the children. Faith and her parents moved to Northern California in That was the most painful time that we have ever gone through. We never knew that to love so much would also hurt so much! But we have wonderful memories and lots of pictures, and thinking about Faith makes us both happy and sad. The beautiful and blessed part is that this young couple is now a happy family. They have good jobs and Faith is now a big six-year-old with a handsome baby brother. God is so good. - Beni Campbell 4 PazNaz

6 A t the beginning of 2011, all seemed right with the Talbert family. I had been fortunate to have enjoyed a very fulfilling career, was still teaching part time at Point Loma Nazarene University in Arcadia, active in our church and the Salvation Army, and greatly enjoying my retirement. Much of my free time revolved around golf and my grandchildren. The only blip on the horizon was an ongoing blood platelet problem known by the initials MDS. A long story short, on January 24, I received a call from my hematologist informing me that my condition had evolved into acute mylogenous leukemia, and that I was to report to one of the three hospital options of my choosing. City of Hope was the hospital of choice, and I was admitted there on January 26 to begin a stay that would last over five months. God was quick to give me a phrase as I was consoling my mother-in-law 6 PazNaz

that I had never uttered before, Nanny, the greatest comfort is that God knows my name.

Isaiah 43:1-3 along with Psalm 91:14-16 became God s promises for me on my journey. I have taken the liberty of inserting my name: I have summoned you by name, Linda, you are mine.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God.

The medical care I received from beginning to end was top notch. There were some very lonely and sobering times during my hospital stay.

7 that I had never uttered before, Nanny, the greatest comfort is that God knows my name. This verse is in the Bible, and on two different occasions within the first three days of diagnosis, two good friends told me that God had given this passage to them for me! Isaiah 43:1-3 along with Psalm 91:14-16 became God s promises for me on my journey. I have taken the liberty of inserting my name: I have summoned you by name, Linda, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God. To say that my family s life was turned upside down is somewhat of an understatement. Five months in a hospital room with a life threatening disease really focuses the mind on what is important. The medical care I received from beginning to end was top notch. There were some very lonely and sobering times during my hospital stay. First, the doctors had a very difficult time getting the 60% leukemic cells in my bone marrow low enough to do a bone marrow transplant. Two major chemotherapy efforts did not lower the leukemic cells at all. We had begun looking into alternative methods. The doctors suggested a clinical trial that would have brought me home to take a chemo pill daily, which was very appealing to us. I did not qualify for that trial, which was very disappointing. We realize now that God had other plans. I was started immediately on my third round of chemo. I will never forget May 4, when Dr. Stein came in and said he had good news for us my leukemic cells were at zero percent! I believed then and I believe now that God uses doctors and medical science in wonderful ways, and the three factors in giving me my miracle on May 4 were the combination of God, doctors, and medical science. Second, no one in my family was a match in terms of being a bone marrow transplant donor. Shortly after entering the hospital, they began looking for a donor for me. A willing twenty-year-old male was a perfect match and agreed to donate his marrow. He came in immediately, it was frozen, and my new bone marrow was just waiting. God knew from the beginning that I would need this particular bone marrow. I will forever be indebted to my donor. I will be able to meet him April 2012 at City of Hope s donor celebration! I am now recuperating at home. There is still a very long way to go. I would like to share a few thoughts and observations with you I always knew that if and when I became seriously ill, I would be greatly sustained by Christian music. That turned out to be even truer than I thought. At times, it is hard for me to understand why I have been privileged to arrive where I am today. I know all healing is temporary, but it is important and precious just the same. The prayers, cards, visits, and general support of friends and family were invaluable. No one can be ill for you but to be seriously ill and lonely would be almost too much to bear. My husband, Gary, and I have always believed that when serious trials come to a believing Christian, the question is not, Why me? The question is Why not me? We still believe it, but I had to put that strongly held belief into action every day. God seemed to give us some precepts to sustain and encourage us: God knows my name Relentlessly positive One day at a time One of these days I could easily write a book, or at least a very long article, about how God has sustained our family during these times. One of the great ways God has and is sustaining us is through the prayers, caring, and actions of you. I know more than ever that life is precious and that I don t want to leave the party until I am forced to do so. Although I know my words are completely inadequate, please know that you have my profound thanks for everything you have done. I am looking forward to returning to church and choir with great anticipation. - Linda Talbert 7

8 Every so often you come across a student that will pull your emotions in different directions as you walk with them through life. As their story unfolds before you, you can t help but be drawn into their hurts, successes, failures, and dreams. Yet, more often than not, you cling to a hope for that student; that when Jesus takes hold of their life, everything will change for that student and the generations of people that know him/her. One of those students for me happens to be Jessica Hong, a recent graduate from PazNaz Student Ministries. You can t help but be drawn to her because when you walk into the room, she is the loudest and happiest person there. I remember a conversation three years ago 8 PazNaz she and I had on the first day of a mission trip. It was late the night before we began an intense week of ministry to the poor of Toronto, Canada. As she began to unpack her story for me, something every youth pastor dreams of earning the right to hear, she expressed her skepticism about Jesus. She began to share about her personal life and how that affected her understanding of Jesus. She went on to say she watched my wife and I as we spoke about the same Jesus and the message our lives spoke about, and she wasn t sure what to believe. I merely challenged her to give her life away over the next seven days and watch how Jesus revealed himself to her. This was only the beginning.

During the course of the next year, she lived a pretty typical teenage life with typical teenage issues and successes.

I knew this experience could feed into what she already experienced the previous summer and experienced in pieces throughout her school year. She applied, and off we went.

This experience forced her to a place of invitation, an invitation to pursue Jesus with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. One particular story from Guatemala sticks in my mind.

It s thrilling to see them wrestle with Jesus in ways that invite them into a transformation they never dreamed possible. I merely asked them, So what are you going to do about it?

9 During the course of the next year, she lived a pretty typical teenage life with typical teenage issues and successes. We then introduced our next mission trip to Guatemala that would not only include youth, but all ages. I pushed her to apply. I knew this experience could feed into what she already experienced the previous summer and experienced in pieces throughout her school year. She applied, and off we went. During that trip she came face to face with a deep sense of poverty, her own wealth, her own personal struggles, and a God that deeply loves the people in Guatemala, the USA, and her. This experience forced her to a place of invitation, an invitation to pursue Jesus with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. One particular story from Guatemala sticks in my mind. She and another student pulled me aside one night and needed to talk. They were able to express their deep emotions from the experiences they were having. It s thrilling to see them wrestle with Jesus in ways that invite them into a transformation they never dreamed possible. I merely asked them, So what are you going to do about it? The end of the conversation proved to be a great starting point. They asked me to walk with them during their senior year of high school and disciple them. Who can say no to that? We met weekly for a majority of their senior year and talked about the deep, daily struggle of what it means to be a follower of Jesus in everyday life. Jessica began to listen to her peers, listen to her heart, and to look at the world through a lens that was very different from that of the previous year of her life. Jessica began to ask what it meant for her to love people in places where she was criticized, categorized, and sometimes pushed aside merely because she wanted to be consumed by a life of love. I wish I could say this was a cakewalk for her. I wish I could say she just powered through and everything was easy. I even wish I could say she passed with flying colors, but she d admit, there really isn t anything easy about following Jesus with all you are. Jessica would even tell you she s blown it several times, but the pursuit of her heart and new practices of her journey with Jesus is forming a Christian DNA within her that looks more and more like Jesus himself. The next year you couldn t keep her away from going on another trip to Nicaragua. She didn t care how much it cost. She only cared about going, seeing Jesus, and helping others on the trip see him too. We had another hard conversation on that trip together. It was so great to remind her of the conversation we d had a few years prior where she d confessed her skepticism about Jesus. What a joy to tell her I didn t even know that girl anymore. We began to walk in our dialogue through the stories and ways in which I d seen Jesus become more a part of her than ever. Sometimes we need others in our lives to speak truthfully about the ways they have seen Jesus at work changing us. Sometimes we even doubt ourselves about how God is at work within us. To hear someone say you are a reflection of Jesus can be more life giving than you can imagine. It s important to key in on something crucial here. Jessica took a risk. She took action in the midst of her own skepticism. She did things and went places that weren t all that safe to her at first. It s more often than not in the places of fear and places of discomfort where Jesus reveals himself. Just a few weeks ago, Jessica began a new journey at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School where she dreams of using her talents in baking for the Kingdom of God. After that, she wants to pursue a degree in some form of sociology or counseling where she can come alongside troubled teens. She s been sending me text messages recently about the poor and hungry she sees on the streets outside of the culinary school. It s great to hear how she takes the time to look them in the eyes, give them dignity, offer her presence, and share that same happy demeanor we all love around here at PazNaz. A few years ago, I m not even sure she would have heard their cries on the streets. To be honest, in a few years, I wouldn t be surprised to hear that Jessica is pursuing a life that doesn t make a whole lot of sense to other people around her. You may just find her in another country or perhaps a bakery in a broken part of town being her typical loud self with a smile that could change any person s day. Everyone should get to know this girl who is being transformed daily in ways that remind us that the hope of Jesus is making a difference in life-giving ways. - Pastor Keegan Lenker 9

10 10 PazNaz

11 Charissa took her passion for music to Mount Vernon Nazarene University to study Music and Worship. She enjoyed studying music and religion, seeking every chance to fine tune her craft. While at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, God blessed me with opportunities that furthered my passion for worship through leading chapel praise team and traveling on the Music and Ministry team for MVNU. After graduating from MVNU, Charissa took a position at a small church in Roanoke, Virginia. During her time in Virginia, she began to feel compelled to further her calling. I knew I was not adequately pursuing the call and passion that God had placed in my life, but I was unsure of where to go from there. After a chance encounter with a friend, Courtney Foltz, at General Assembly, Charissa and her husband Shawn packed up their car and drove across country to attend Fuller. Her talent and service continues to be furthered by her educational experience. Charissa is studying for her master s degree in Theology and Ministry with an emphasis in Worship, Theology, and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary. I am really passionate about making the worship service a worship experience where people come and participate and encounter the living God! I feel the Arts are an important part of that because we serve a Creator God; so what better way to glorify him than through creative outlets such as painting, sculpture, poetry, music and the list could go on! This is my call and my passion creative and transforming worship that enables us to go and better serve our communities and the world! Charissa and Shawn connected to PazNaz through her friendship with Courtney Foltz. She became connected to the twenty 30 community by way of leading worship. I got involved with leading worship for the Saturday evening service and also playing acoustic guitar on Sunday mornings. Now, heading into the fall, I am beginning my internship here at PazNaz, and I'm excited for the days ahead and what God is going to do! Despite her short time with PazNaz and the twenty 30 community, Charissa has already begun to see how it has shaped her life. I have met some wonderful people who are excited about community with each other, but also serving Christ and others. I know more shaping will come as things take off this fall through the worship and time together. As a part of Charissa s internship, she will be leading the twenty 30 community Worship Gathering in September. I hope it can be an enriching time for this community. I want them to be able to come and encounter God and participate in worship through music and the creative arts. I hope it not only revitalizes their relationship with Christ, but also with each other. The twenty 30 community is a relatively new ministry here at PazNaz. I'm really excited about the relationships that will be built through this ministry. I think this is true with most people, but especially this age group, we thrive on relationship and authentic community. Sometimes the most spiritual moments you can have are in conversation around the table with friends. This ministry is going to give space for that, whether it is conversation during bible study, a get together at a pizza joint, or in our time together at the worship nights. - Pastor Joe Halbert 11

12 ,

Why an Intergenerational Community? Why a Mission Trip Together? From Pastor Keegan Lenker

Why an Intergenerational Community? Why a Mission Trip Together? From Pastor Keegan Lenker Welcome to Transformed Under the Pepper Tree. In this monthly magazine, you will read stories of how God is changing people s lives at PazNaz, transforming them into the image of Jesus Christ by the power