Moments An e-newsletter of the North American Baptist Conference Women s Ministry March/April 2015 What s Inside? 2 Share Your Blessings Project for May to June 2015 2 Flavourings 2 Triennial 2015 3 Finding where God is at work 4 Please don t interrupt me 5 Meet Jen Hatmaker 5 Contact information career change OVERDRAWN RELOCATION ILLNESS BY JEAN EWING I really do not enjoy interruptions! In fact, if I am deeply involved in a conversation, reading a good book, or working on a project, any interruption causes a certain amount of visible irritation. The Lord admonishes me that my behavior is certainly not fitting.who would have thought that two churches merging would cause an interruption in my life. I probably would not have been nearly as affected by this event, except that one of the churches was my beloved Bethel in Getzville, where my husband, David, and I had served as pastor/wife for 17 years. Yes, the attendance had been declining. Yes, the giving was down, and yes, we only visited periodically LIFE...INTERRUPTED OLD AGE injustice FLAT TIRE finances INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT renovations FINANCIAL LOSS UNEMPLOYMENT graduation Life Interrupted NATURAL DISASTER FLOOD POVERTY hurricanes OVERDRAWN church renovations sick kids aging MISSION TRIP parent CAREER CHANGE children DEATH JOB LOSS cancer new house because we were visiting churches in the Eastern Association as regional minister/wife. It all began with an informal dialogue between the Well, a more contemporary group of believers, and our pastor. In early spring a formal agreement was reached and the two became one. Soon the young group was filling the building and the Are you placing more importance on your own desires than on my purposes for you and my Kingdom? Here is an opportunity for you to participate in a Kingdom purpose. campus with their desire to be a missional church. So why was this an interruption for me? Because my whole way of doing and being church was being challenged. I soon needed an app on my iphone to understand the new lingo. Sunday morning services became gatherings. The sanctuary was now the worship center. Members HEALTH new pastor FLAT TIRE social media phone call CARE GIVING were now partners and sermons were called conversations. On top of that, walls came down and the building space was reconfigured. chairs in the worship center. A sturdy sound loft was added for the new technology equipment. My heart cried out, I can t understand the changes, Lord. The theoretical missional movement becoming a reality. My life was once again interrupted when God asked, Are you placing more importance on your own desires than on my purposes for you and my Kingdom? Here is an opportunity for you to participate in a Kingdom purpose. He was offering me an opportunity to partner with Him, speaking to me through Isaiah 43:19, See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? This annoying interruption had really been a divine intervention helping me to rejoice in His plan and join Him on mission.
Flavorings... Share Your Blessing Project May to July BY KAREN BIEBER-GUILLORY The bench is gone, and my new project is Seven. I recently read Jen Hatmaker s Seven and was challenged to find my own intentional interruptions. For the next few editions, this section of our e-java will be focused on challenges that will interrupt our lives if you so desire to join us. I would love to hear from you! Challenge #1: Invite seven of your neighbors, coworkers, fellow gym members, or unchurched youth group mothers to a tea/coffee gathering at your home or church, or meet at McDonald s. Share love and let the Holy Spirit lead you! The NAB Women s Leadership Team will soon be sending promotional information for our spring Share Your Blessing project. We have chosen to support First Gift Ministry an outreach ministry begun eight years ago by the women of Bethany Baptist Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. First Gift makes monthly visits to the drug-addicted or imprisoned women who voluntarily go to Fir Ward in Vancouver to deliver their babies. The women of Bethany take baskets of items for the new babies. Included in the basket is a copy of the DVD The Magdalena Story, which tells the women of God s love for them, and that they are chosen by Him. During the visits the women spend time talking to the new mothers, holding the new babies, and doing activities. Time is spent quietly praying for the women and encouraging them. More information will come to your church in April. Join the efforts of the women of Bethany through your prayers and through giving. All women are encouraged to attend a special luncheon at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. With a program centered on the theme Life Interrupted, you ll explore, as women, how God stops your self-planned journeys and inserts His transformative power into His Spirit-guided directions. Enjoy connecting with new and old friends. You can anticipate times of joy, laughter, care, and learning. Hear how other women throughout the conference are living missionally being sent by God and relating to their neighbors and communities in refreshing ways. The NAB Women s Ministry Leadership Team will host and inspire you with news about new opportunities for women within NAB churches. 2 March/April 2015 e-java Moments
Finding Where God is at Work BY AMBER DOWD This year we are exploring the theme of God interrupting our complacent Christianity. I don t know about you, but it s easy for me to think that it s God s job to do the interrupting. And if He doesn t, then we can take it as permission to let life roll on by. But is this really the case? Could it be that God expects us to take some initiative on the matter? Sometimes self-induced interruptions are in order to break through our monotony. And one means by which we can do this is through acts of service. My friend Emily is a great example of this. Emily is one of those people who won t sit around waiting for God to miraculously interrupt her life. Rather, she says no to complacency by engaging in meaningful activities and letting God work in the details as they unfold. She does this by actively seeking out opportunities to serve. And she includes her children in her acts of service. Through her example, I have been encouraged to take initiative in this way as well. Emily s journey with service began four years ago when she wanted to become involved locally in a mission organization. She found that the local food bank was within walking distance of her home. Taking the initiative, she dropped in one Monday morning to help and was immediately tasked with sorting dairy products. Her children (ages 6 and 8) began to participate by helping drop off donations. Through her involvement she discovered a local farm that runs a gleaning program. Now their family regularly harvests produce. In addition, she and her husband help with our church s welcome team. Her children stay by her side, greeting people as they walk through the door. No matter what she is doing, her children are always eager to help. Emily realized her children really enjoyed serving. Emily decided, why not give them name tags and make them actual members of the welcome team? She then began to explore more areas of service for her children, where they were contributing on their own, without Emily and her husband. At a meeting another woman at the church asked the children to help her set up the preschool room for Sunday service while they waited for their mom. That one event turned into a weekly service project, and the children now serve alongside another adult who is also mentoring them. They always look forward to this time, and it is exciting to consider what this experience is planting in their hearts. What began as a seemingly small, self-induced interruption in Emily s week has blossomed into a beautiful example of discipleship of her children through service. She didn t let excuses, like having children at home, stop her from stepping out. She inspires me to hand my time and my children to God. I hope you ll find inspiration in her story as well. We would also love to hear your stories. How has God interrupted your everyday life? Have you ever made a self-induced interruption? What about service with children or service as a platform for discipleship? A great way we can grow in this journey is through sharing what God has done among us! Interruptions...we all experience them Some are brief and quickly pass, only to alter our paths temporarily. Some change the course of our lives forever. Dancing with Max: A Mother and Son Who Broke Free is the true story of a beautiful, talented young lady who had a brilliant career and a blissful marriage. Then she gave birth to a lovely baby boy who was diagnosed with autism. Her life was totally interrupted. Emily Colson, daughter of Charles Colson, creatively tells the story of the struggles and blessings of raising Max as a single mother. Her faith, her friends, and her family have encouraged, reinforced, and sustained her through the years. Emily s brutally honest story made me laugh and cry. Undoubtedly Dancing with Max is one of the best books I have ever read. (Any mother who has a child with special needs, particularly autism, will be cheered on by Emily & Max s story!) e-java Moments March/April 2015 3
Please don t interrupt me... BY TONY DUNAWAY How often are we frustrated or stressed when our well-planned daily agendas get interrupted? How often do we fail to pursue God s purposes simply because of inconvenient timing, or because we have a better plan? We don t say we are frustrated or pursuing our own purposes (not out loud, of course), but that is exactly what our decisions and actions demonstrate. I will be the first to admit that I do not often receive interruptions well. I am a master of checklists and my Outlook calendar. And yet some of my greatest life experiences and lessons have come as a result of God interrupting my plans and setting me on a different path. One significant redirection in my life came in 1999 when, in the midst of my quiet routine as a CPA in Northern California, God presented an opportunity to serve internationally with the Cameroon Baptist Convention. Throughout the journey of learning of the opportunity through my local church (Sunrise Community Church in CA), taking initial steps to explore if God was really in this pursuit, and sharing plans with family and friends, God in His kind and loving manner said time and again, follow me. Trust me with the unknown. My life has not been the same since. I ended up serving four wonderful and challenging years in Cameroon, followed by ten years in the NAB International Office. And then it happened again! Another interruption. In 2010 a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti, and NAB churches generously provided funds for relief and rebuilding efforts. In my role as disaster response coordinator with NAB, I traveled to Haiti to identify partners through whom relief funds could best be distributed. While there I met two incredible guys already working in orphan care in Haiti. NAB assisted with the rebuilding of an orphanage, among other things. Johnny Ramantanin and I stayed in touch, became great friends, and over the next couple of years traveled together serving orphans in Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Haiti. Additionally, I had opportunities to visit orphan ministries in India and Kenya. Little by little God was shaping and preparing my heart to serve in a compassion-based ministry....some of my greatest life experiences and lessons have come as a result of God interrupting my plans and setting me on a different path. In June 2014 I received a call from Gary Schneider, Founder and CEO of a Dallas-based ministry called Every Orphan s Hope. Through the process of hearing Gary s heart and his response to God s call to care for orphans in Zambia, and through sharing with him my desire to serve in a role which would allow more time in the field, God graciously confirmed His plan for us to partner in ministry. A significant piece of my heart was still in Africa since my years of service in Cameroon, so I knew God was now fulfilling the desire of my heart to serve again in Africa. Tony Dunaway with the children of one of our My Father s House Orphan Homes in Lusaka. Tony Dunaway with house mothers (we call them mamas) from our homes in Chongwe, Zambia. I joined the ministry of Every Orphan s Hope in October 2014, traveled to Zambia for the second time in December 2014, and have quickly fallen in love with the children and mamas we are called to serve. I believe the best is yet to come as we plan to build ten new orphan homes, working with local churches to create new families as we bring orphaned children and widows together in our My Father s House Orphan Homes. Please pray for EOH (www.everyorphan.org) as we raise orphan children to life in Christ. Is there a life interruption to which you need to respond? 4 March/April 2015 e-java Moments
Meet Jen Hatmaker, Author of Interrupted Your church/women s ministry may order 1 FREE copy of INTERRUPTED Please contact Heather Senges at hsenges@telus.net Jen Hatmaker grew up in Kansas, where her parents served in full-time ministry for over 25 years. She attended Oklahoma Baptist University, where she met and married Brandon. After graduation they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where Brandon was on the staff of Southern Hills Baptist Church and Jen taught sixth grade. In 2000 they moved to Austin, Texas. It was at the Lake Hills Church that Jen began serving in Women s Ministry, an experience that sent her career into an unlikely and certainly unexpected direction. As an outgrowth of her ministry, she wrote A Modern Girl s Guide to Bible Study: A Refreshingly Unique Way to Look at God s Word. Jen wrote Tune In, Road Trip, Make Over, and Girl Talk in the Modern Girl s Bible Study Series. During this time she traveled with Women of Faith as a motivational speaker. In 2008, the Hatmakers began to focus on the issue of worldwide poverty. She and Brandon planted a church (Austin New Church) in an economically and ethnically diverse area of Austin, Texas. It was shortly after this that Jen wrote Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity. They pioneered in connecting churches to local and global non-profits for the individual and social renewal of Austin and beyond. Jen and Brandon have five children, including two who were adopted from Ethiopia. She loves a handful of really important things : Jesus, her home and family, people, and writing. Check out Jen s blog and find out more about her ministry at www.jenhatmaker.com. Jen will be a part of the farewell tour of Women of Faith this year. Middle School Teaching Opportunity in Ikoma City, Japan Kansai Christian School is in need of a 5-6th grade classroom teacher for the coming school year, September, 2015 - June 2016. KCS is a K-12 missionary school that serves missionary families and expatriate families. The school is located in Ikoma City, approximately 1 1/2 hours from Osaka. More information about the school can be found at www. kansaichristianschool.com. If interested contact Paul Ewing, Japan field director, at pemedicus@yahoo.com CONNECT WITH US North American Baptist Conference 1219 Pleasant Grove Blvd. Roseville, CA 95678 wm.nabc@gmail.com www.nabconference.org