Missionaries Sarah and Dan Chetti

Transcription

1 Volume 78, No. 6 A Publication of First Baptist Church Missionaries Sarah and Dan Chetti Portland, Oregon First Baptist Church, Portland has always had a heart for the global mission of the Church of Jesus Christ. Our personal relationships, prayer support and financial underwriting of global servants such as Lauran Bethell, Judy Sutterlin and Bruce and Ann Borquist have been defining characteristics of our congregational life. Recent visits from Dr. Tim & Kathy Rice and Kyle Williams have informed us and energized us. On Sunday, July 10 we will have the privilege of hosting two of God s most strategically placed servants in today s world, Dr. Daniel and Sarah Chetti. They have been, for a number of years, serving at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, Lebanon, literally at ground zero for the ethnic, religious and geopolitical conflicts that roil our world today. Beirut is a small country about three fourths the area of Connecticut on the Mediterranean, bordered on the south by Israel and on the east and north by Syria. The close proximity to these two neighbors has put Lebanon continually in the crossfire between the Israelis and the Shi a Muslim jihadist movement, Hezbollah, with the two lobbing missiles at one another literally right over the heads of the seminarians at the ABTS. In addition, the catastrophic warfare in Syria has flooded Lebanon with over a million Syrian refugees, increasing the nation s normal population by some 25% (By comparison, imagine some 75 million refugees inundating the United States). In addition, the complex mixture of Muslims, Christians (Melkite, Maronite, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant), Jews and Druze in Lebanon itself has created constant tension and 15 years of disastrous civil war ( ) in what has been, in peacetime, one of the Middle East s more prosperous nations. Some Christians here in the Continued on page 6

2 Sermon Schedule July 3 All Hands on Deck Psalm 30 ; Luke 10: 1 11 Communion Sunday July 10 Responding to our Muslim Neighbors (as Jesus and His Gospel Expect Us to) Romans 12: 9-21 Dr. Daniel Chetti preaching July 17 Mary. Martha and Sarah Genesis 18: 1 5 ; Luke 10: July 24 Rev. Margaret Marcuson at 8:45: Clinched Fists or Open Hands? Mark 1: Rev. Ed Stelle at 11:00: Asking, Giving and Receiving Malachi 3: 8-10 ; Matthew 7: 7 11 July 31 Bigger Barns Psalm 107: 1 9 ; Luke 12: (USPS ) is published eleven times a year (February December). Find us on the web: and Dr. David L. Wheeler Senior Pastor Ed Stelle Associate Pastor Peter Im Cambodian Ministries Chris Shade Associate Pastor Travis Hatton Music Director Keith Ponce Facilities and Events Manager Cathy Francis Business Administrator Jason Chastain Assistant Business Administrator Rebecca Christensen, Jonathan Storch Reception The next Trumpeter deadline is July 18, Please send articles to jchastain@fbc-portland.org Page 2 SUNDAY 8:45 Contemporary Service 10:00 Sunday School for all ages 11:00, Sanctuary Cambodian language, Rose Chapel Children s Church for ages 3 through 2nd Grade 5:00 & 7:00 pm: A Jesus Church: MONDAY SATURDAY 6:00 8:00 am: Eye Opener (AA meeting) MONDAY & THURSDAY 2:00 4:00 pm: Drop-In Center TUESDAY : Dinner And A Movie WEDNESDAY Dinner and Bible Study returns in September FRIDAY Office closed 6:00 pm: FOCUS Weekly Events SATURDAY 8:30 10:30 am: Cambodian Men s Fellowship Bible Study Volunteer Opportunity The Drop-In Center needs your help! Please consider volunteering for a while as a dishwasher while Terry is out with a broken hip. We need help from 10 am to 4 pm Mondays and Thursdays, but whatever time you can give would be greatly appreciated. This ministry provides free lunch to hundreds of people every month, and most of the work is done by our wonderful volunteers. If you can t wash dishes, but want to help anyway, come on down. There s always plenty to do. Thank you!

3 Cambodian Congregational News Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 During this quarter, active members of our Cambodian ministry have been involved in worship services with special music and fundraisers, both at FBC and in Springfield at Restoration Fellowship Church. Twenty-seven of us went to a fundraiser at Restoration Fellowship Church on Sunday, May 22. On our way to Springfield we stopped by at Rodney and Rina Myklak s house in Lebanon for lunch. After that great fellowship, we continued to the event. Once again we had a great time. The program had special music led by Rev. Steve Singleton, a wonderful dinner and a silent auction led by Lissa Davis. I would like to give thanks to our Cambodian members who provided food, donated funds, joined the event, and donated auction items as well. I also thank God for the participation of Emerald Bible Fellowship. It was a blessed event and trip. We are planning to have another fundraiser there in the future if the Lord is willing. We raised $1,060. Beyond the fundraising event that provided us a great spiritual fellowship at Lebanon and the church in Springfield, we are grateful to the Lord for this home mission reaching to serve one another as well as poor children in Cambodia. Our Cambodian ministry also took a trip to the Messiah Lutheran Church in Salem for Bruce Anderson s father s memorial service. He passed away June 7. We went on Father s Day Sunday after church. We still had time in the late afternoon for individual family Father s Day gatherings. Our God Is Good! We sent our condolences and were blessed to be with Bruce and Saveth Anderson for the service for their father. Please continue to pray daily for Shirley and me as we minister to our Cambodian fellowship here at FBC, and for our work with Cambodian Children Ministry. Also pray for our Cambodian summer ministry activities, such as our annual camping retreat at Ft. Stevens and our annual picnic with the Khmer Christians of the Pacific Northwest in Olympia WA. During the month of July and August we will not have a monthly potluck due to other ministry activities. This October s mission trip registration is still open. Please contact me if you would like to join us, at impeter@ccmnews.org. May you have a blessed summer! Pastor Peter Im Luca Ryan Enloe (born April 28, 2016). He was 7 lbs 10 oz., and 20.1 inches long. Proud parents are Robert and Kiriros Enloe. The grandparents are Mr. & Mrs. Engloe and Mr. & Mrs. Ren & Sim Rath. Page 3

4 Youth Ministry News Parade and FBC Open House For over 100 years, Portlanders and visitors have marveled at the floats, bands, and merriment of the Grand Floral Parade. FBC made its presence known this year with open doors, warm coffee, and nearly 500 balloons. Thanks to all who volunteered to help especially the youth and children of our church. Rev. Chris Shade Photography by A. Paul Newman Library Day Many do not know that FBC has a great little library just down the hall from the Rose Chapel. On Sunday, June 19th, we got together to honor that little corner of knowledge. We listed to honored history and read some cherished stories. We hope this will help get the library to be more visible and useful in the life of the congregation. Page 4

5 Family Fun Night We could not wait for Christmas to make some crafts, so we got together on Friday, June 17, for a Hawaiian-themed Fun Night. We decorated cookies, made sun visors, and created summertime scenes. Add face painting, a treasure hunt, mountains of spaghetti, ping pong, corn hole, basketball, and the most hula-tastic photo booth you have ever seen and you ll have some idea of why nearly 40 of us had such a blast. Photography by A. Paul Newman Page 5

6 Monica Brettscheider... 7/1 Kristin Keeney... 7/1 Serey Kong... 7/1 Joyce Olson... 7/1 Teresa Azares-Frometa...7/2 Sue Fenger...7/2 Virginia Martin...7/2 David Johnson...7/3 Sharon Baggett... 7/4 Denny Bishop... 7/4 Lana Nelson... 7/4 Alicia Wheelock... 7/5 Ted Bokemeier...7/6 Verl Boroughs...7/6 Julie Hamilton...7/6 Paul Newman...7/7 Elizabeth Khem... 7/8 Phil Bennett... 7/10 Monna Briggs... 7/11 Spencer Benfield... 7/12 Adriana Seelye... 7/12 Avery Carter... 7/13 BIRTHDAYS Jim Chellis... 7/13 Valerie Garrett... 7/13 Kate Terry... 7/14 Shirley Whiting... 7/14 Rom Neang... 7/15 Jill Benson... 7/16 Antoinette Preston... 7/16 Sherri Vasquez... 7/16 Ali Aschenbrenner... 7/17 Bertha Chambers... 7/17 Fredrik Eriksson... 7/17 Cheryl Hartup... 7/17 Tim McKevitt... 7/17 Julie Prentice... 7/18 Adriana Ionescu... 7/19 Lorie Tobias... 7/19 Joanne Bishop... 7/20 Jonathan Khem... 7/20 Tess Ratty... 7/20 Ardus Stevens... 7/20 Aaron Quillman... 7/22 Taralynn Strong... 7/23 Marian Boehr... 7/24 Neal Chartier... 7/24 Don Feely... 7/24 Sindia Martinez... 7/24 Arvandi Mulia... 7/24 Linda Pedro... 7/24 Byron Wilson... 7/24 Christiana Dearborn... 7/25 Kathryn McKevitt... 7/25 Pedro Mejias... 7/25 Eric Montgomery... 7/25 Danny Bang... 7/27 Gail Vonada... 7/27 Linda Harjo... 7/28 Bruce Rich... 7/28 Kim Hing... 7/29 Barbara Perez... 7/29 Bea Watson... 7/29 Diana Gutierrez... 7/30 Marsha Morasch... 7/31 Norma Sanchez... 7/31 Amy Schroeder... 7/31 Continued from page 1 United States express feelings of persecution and prejudice. Imagine living in Lebanon. How are Christ followers called to be faithful in this setting? Dan has taught History of Christianity and Historical Theology to ministry students; Sarah organized and directed the seminary library. Their students come from and return to Muslim majority countries all over the Middle East and North Africa, where evangelism, church planting and congregational life as we know them are often severely constrained, and yet believers are joyful and faithful as they live the Good News as salt and light in their settings. Currently Dan spends most of his time directing mission outreach in six Arab countries Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Sudan and Lebanon with seven Arab servant-leaders as partners. This Arab World Initiative (AWI) has received an enabling grant from a Godly lay person in Ohio. In the meantime, Sarah has developed a ministry, the Insaaf Center, to migrant domestic workers, who come to work in the homes of middle class Lebanese, often becoming vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment. Many of these women are Christians; indeed the largest group of Protestant worshipers Sunday by Sunday in Lebanon is composed of Amharic speaking maids from Ethiopia and Eritrea! We invite you to come meet Dan & Sarah Chetti here at FBC on Sunday, July 10, and be inspired and informed. You may also follow their ministry on the website of American Baptist International Ministries, or request information more directly from them, because much of their activity is of a very sensitive nature. On a personal note, many of us in Oregon know Dan Chetti s sister, Mercy Chetti Johnson long active on the national level with ABC International Ministries and her husband Rev. Steve Johnson, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church, Cottage Grove. And Dan s brother Dr. Samuel Chetti, longtime executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles, has been a dear friend and colleague of mine. Meet the Chetti s, an all star family in the service of Jesus Christ. Dr. David L. Wheeler Page 6

7 26 JULY 2016 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 9:00 am 10:00 am Sunday School :00 am 12:30 pm Cambodian potluck :00 pm CE Committee Mtg. 8 9 INDEPENDENCE DAY 10 8:45 am 10:00 am Sunday School :45 am 10:00 am Sunday School 12:30 pm All Church Picnic 18 Trumpeter content due 19 7:00 pm Diaconate Meeting Cambodian Congregation Camping :45 am 10:00 am Sunday School Trumpeter mailing 28 4: 15 pm Membership Faith and Witness Comm. Mtg Dates and times are subject to change. Please contact the FBC office to verify.

8 Periodicals Postage Paid at Portland, OR (USPS ) is published eleven times a year (February December), at First Baptist Church, Portland OR Periodicals postage paid at Portland, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to: 909 SW 11th Avenue Portland, OR ALL CHURCH PICNIC JULY 17, 2016 OAKS PARK AREA 14