Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Storm Relief


This photo is what is left of Krispy Kreme in Tusacloosa. Behind it were homes and apartments that were completely leveled.

The Spiritual Retreat was postponed (we sincerely hope to be able to reschedule with our speaker) due to the tornadoes that ripped through much of our area.

In an effort to keep Warrior Presbytery informed of needs and ways to help, I am posting the websites of the two Tuscaloosa churches. Trinity and Riverwood will be hosting teams from MNA's Disaster Response for the foreseeable future. These teams will come in and will be here until there is no further need. Obviously there will be much help needed throughout the days, weeks, and months to come.

Please check these websites often as they will contain the most up to date information concerning needs and the relief effort. If you know of other organizations helping in other areas, please leave a comment or email warriorpreswic@gmail.com and pass that information along. We want to be able to help in the best possible ways.

The obvious need that all of the stricken areas has is prayer from God's people. Prayer for strength, stamina, peace, patience, are especially needed.

Websites:
Trinity Presbyterian Church--Tuscaloosa

Riverwood Presbyterian Church Relief--Tuscaloosa

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Get Ready!!

The Warrior PresWIC Spiritual Retreat is fast approaching!

Please make your plans to attend.

When: April 30 at 9:00 a.m.

Where: First Presbyterian Church, Demopolis

Service Project: Please bring canned goods/non-perishables to be donated to the Demopolis Food Bank.

Speaker: Donna Evans

Donna is a free lance writer from Birmingham. She will be speaking on The Wise Woman's Bucket List--a study of Proverbs.

This promises to be a wonderful morning of fellowship, learning, and, of course, a delicious lunch.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Prayer Request

We have received word that Judy Pratt, who hold the PresWIC Missions position, had a stroke over the weekend. Please be in prayer for Judy, her family, and her doctors. This is the last email that I received concerning her condition:

Judy has a blood clot to the brain that the meds that they have given her has not dissolved . We pray that the blood clot to her brain will dissolve. Also, the doctors are concerned the next 48-72 hrs. about swelling to the brain, which may cause the clot to move. We pray that her brain does not swell. The blood clot is on the right side of her brain, so her left side is the side involved.

Emily Bowman, Centreville WIC Pres.





Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Agape Puppet Ministry

One of the ministries that we supported in 2010 through an offering is The Agape Puppet Ministry.

We learned on Saturday at the Annual Meeting that they have been in the Middle East. Following are a series of emails concerning their departure from this unstable part of the world. Please take the time to read these and pray for this ministry.

Email #1

Dear Friends,

Please pray for Linda, Padraig and Jared. The country where they have been
ministering is experiencing a great deal of unrest and, after consultation
with local believers, they have decided to leave now before the situation
becomes more unstable. Please pray right now as they are traveling to the
airport to fly out. Pray for a safe and swift journey for Linda and the team
as well as for the many seeds of the Gospel that were planted and the many
Muslim children who expressed a desire to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior.

In Christ,

Pastor Travis Hutchinson
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Agape Puppets


Email #2

Join us in praising the Lord and continue in prayer for Linda Summer and the
Agape Puppets team. They have made it safely out of the area of unrest and
are remaining for a while at an evangelical seminary until later today, when
they journey to the airport to leave the country. Pray for their continued
safety and traveling mercies, as you also lift up the believers in the area.

Pastor Travis Hutchinson


Email #3

Dearest friends,

We are on schedule to leave the Middle East. We leave from the airport
tonight at 11:30 and our faithful friend Mohammed will take us. God gave us
grace in getting through the troubled areas last night. Today, those same
roads are impassible. Afain, God showed us great mercy. The unrest is
spreading but not a problem where we are. We are only 3 people but this
country is full of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for your family
here and ask God to restore peace to this nation. Always remember... It is
the Father always in charge.

In Jesus,
Linda Jared and Padraig


Email #4

Dearest Friends,
Enjoy this report from yesterday.

NEAR THE BORDER

Today, Monday, we travelled for an hour to reach a village near the
border of a country that is very unfriendly to Christians. This country is
also not friendly to Americans. When we arrived, we set up, but we never did
the show. There had been a problem in the school between a Muslim student
and a Christian teacher. The village is totally Muslim and the staff at the
school are from a Christian tradition.
Our plan was to share with the children, but God's plan was for us to
share with the principal, a politically connected teacher, and her husband,
a pharmacist. They are all from a Christian tradition that teaches their
people to believe that they can be good enough for God. They have survived
as a small number in the Muslim world because they have refused to anger
their Muslim neighbors. Simply put, we could do the program as long as we
did not talk about Jesus.

Pastor Shaddi does not compromise . I love this about him! He told them
that if we do not talk about Jesus, there is nothing to say. I agree with
him. Since we would not compromise, we were not able to do the show as we
had planned. God had made another plan.

For about an hour, we met with these friends. Johnny and FuFu are 2
precious believers in Pastor Shaddi's church. Today, they went with us and
Johnny shared with the politically connected teacher. At first it was a
little loud, but Johnny quickly softened his voice. Lovingly, he told her
the truth of the Gospel. When she said that she was afraid to speak Jesus'
name, he told her the story of the first martyr, Stephen. Then I shared my
testimony and she looked as though she would cry. God was softening her
heart.

All of them listened with their hearts. Before, we left, we prayed for
the principal and his situation. His countenance changed. The lady teacher
came to Shaddi and said, "I am with you to the death."

Please pray for this village of 8,000 Suni Muslims who live in desperate
darkness. The children are from poor homes, but they suffer from a greater
poverty. They do not know Jesus. The principal has agreed to let our new
puppet tea, return when things are calmer. This is why it is so important to
train and equip nationals. Pray for God to hold open this door for them.
Pray for the 3 adults who heard the Gospel so clearly and sweetly today to
hold to Jesus without compromise.

In Jesus,
Linda for Padraig and Jared
If you would like to receive email updates from Agape Puppets, you can send a email requesting that you be added to their list to: Msummer05@gmail.com.

These emails allow you to follow the puppet team and know how to better pray for them.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Puddle Jumpers


Do you need to search for some gently used clothing for the little ones and children in your life?

If so, make plans to attend Puddle Jumpers at First Presbyterian Church in Demopolis Saturday, October 16 from 9:00 - 4:00.

At last report, there were over 30 consignors so there is sure to be much to choose from!

A portion of the proceeds will go to the Children's Ministry.

Be sure to come out and have a look around!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Agape Puppet Ministry

Here is the You Tube link for the Agape Puppet Ministry.

This clip was played at the Spiritual Retreat.

The Agape Puppet Ministry is the recipient of Warrior PresWIC's Send the Light offering. This offering is due on October 15. Please prayerfully consider what you can give.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Spiritual Retreat 2010

On September 18, the ladies of Warrior PresWic gathered in Aliceville at the beautiful First Presbyterian Church.

Kathy Cheely was with us for the morning. She talked about Hospitality 101. What a treasure of ideas and encouragement!

Here is short summary of the information that Kathy shared with us. Elaine Carr wrote this for Demopolis' newsletter.

Hospitality 101

50+ ladies from Warrior Pres-Wic met on Saturday, September 28, 2010 to hear Kathy Cheely, our sister from Briarwood Presbyterian in Birmingham
speak on hospitality. Through Kathy’s enthusiasm, passion, and obvious talent for hospitality, we were encouraged, challenged, (and
yes, even convicted) to develop our calling to offer hospitality in the name of Jesus.
Hospitality is a biblical mandate and the Greek word for hospitality means “the love of strangers.” We are told that the strangers among us are
to be beloved. We are called to love those who are difficult, not those who are easy.
Basic Principles of hospitality:
• We don’t all have to practice it the same way
• It is not a “spiritual gift!” It’s a learned behavior, a discipline. There are those however, who have the natural talent for it and the rest of us
have to develop it through deliberate, intentional practice
• If we are NOT having people into our homes, we are sinning by not enabling our husbands (the spiritual heads of our homes) to be hospitable
(a scriptural mandate).
Hospitality is NOT limited to our homes, however

Barriers to Hospitality:
• Closed groups (too busy maintaining our own circles of friendship)
• Suspicious of new people/fear that people will be ‘high maintenance’ and require much of us
• Inability to manage our time (make a plan and stick to it!)
• Fear that we cannot do it in modesty (feeling that we have to go all out – we don’t!)
• Lack of serious focus (slow down and enjoy having company!)
• Lack of communication skills (practice!)
• Homes too luxurious for guests (put up things that might get broken or damaged when company is present)
• No history of familial hospitality (it’s a discipline you CAN learn!)
Differences between entertaining and being hospitable:

Entertaining
1. Seeks to impress
2. Things before people
3. Presents an ideal
4. Look please, & admire
5. Looks for repayment
6. “What a wonderful home!”

Hospitality
1. Seeks to serve
2. People before things
3. Allows others to see our humanness
4. What is mine is yours
5. Expects no reward
6. “Thank you for having me! God is in
this home!”

Specific instructions from God’s Word:
• Col. 3:12b – Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering
• II Tim. 1:7 – Have not a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind
• I Peter 4:9- Be hospitable without grumbling
• Luke 10: 7b – Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality

Creative hospitality:
• Take food to co-workers for lunch, eat with them
• Don’t allow taking goodies to people negate our responsibilities to them in other ways
• Babysit for families with small children or “adopt one or two children to do special things with in order to free up parents
• Arrange flowers for a friend who is having a special event
• Have a picnic with someone
• Entertain internationals (college students, adults, families)
• Help others to be giving (provide someone with baked goodies to give away to others at Christmas)
Come on now……..think of 10 more ways you can creatively offer “hospitality” to strangers…………and in so doing they become your friend
(and who knows……..you may get the honor and privilege of inviting them into God’s forever family!) What a joy!

Just before lunch, door prizes were given! Two of the door prizes were plates with the following poem:

From A Plate by Kathy Cheely

If you were just to look at me,
I think a plate is all you'd see;

A waste of space 'cause I don't match,
But I'm hoping a vision you will catch.

To give me away with something more;
There are oodles of ideas galore.

What about a cake for guests entertained,
Or a dessert for a study where the Word is explained,

A new neighbor on the block,
Someone racing the clock,

A friend confined to bed,
A family trying to get ahead?

You get the idea, it's not about you.
I've done my part, now what will you do?