Note from Valerie: Although this came to through the e-mail as an unknown author - I know exactly where it came from. This is from Max Lucado’s book “When Christ Comes.” I remember reading it. Goose bumps were raised on my skin and tears of joy filled my eyes as in my mind - I could see it. Read this and let your mind see it..............and know that His promise is true.
You are in your car driving home. Thoughts wander to the game you want to see or meal you want to eat, when suddenly a sound unlike any you've ever heard fills the air. The sound is high above you. A trumpet? A choir? A choir of trumpets? You don't know, but you want to know.
So you pull over, get out of your car, and look up. As you do, you see you aren't the only curious one. The roadside has become a parking lot. Car doors are open, and people are staring at the sky. Shoppers are racing out of the grocery store. The Little League baseball game across the street has come to a halt. Players and parents are searching the clouds. And what they see, and what you see, has never before been seen.
As if the sky were a curtain, the drapes of the atmosphere part. A brilliant light spills onto the earth. There are no shadows. None. From whence came the light begins to tumble a river of color spiking crystals of every hue ever seen and a million more never seen. Riding on the flow is an endless fleet of angels. They pass through the curtains one myriad at a time, until they occupy every square inch of the sky.
North.
South.
East.
West.
Thousands of silvery wings rise and fall in unison, and over the sound of the trumpets, you can hear the cherubim and seraphim chanting, Holy, holy, holy. The final flank of angels is followed by twenty-four silver-bearded elders and a multitude of souls who join the angels in worship.
Presently the movement stops and the trumpets are silent,leaving only the triumphant triplet: Holy, holy, holy. Between each word is a pause.With each word, a profound reverence. You hear your voice join in the chorus. You don't know why you say the words, but you know you must. Suddenly, the heavens are quiet. All is quiet. The angel's turn, you turn, the entire world turns and there He is. Jesus.
Through waves of light you see the silhouetted figure of Christ the King. He is atop a great stallion, and the stallion is atop a billowing cloud. He opens his mouth, and you are surrounded by his declaration: I am the Alpha and the Omega.
The angels bow their heads. The elders remove their crowns. And before you is a Figure so consuming that you know, instantly you know: Nothing else matters. Forget stock markets and school reports. Sales meetings and football games. Nothing is newsworthy. All that mattered, matters no more....
for Christ has come.
Is it not true that when we have God we have everything?-St. Peter Julian Eymard
A friend from Emmaus, Bill Walsh, is headed to Montana to help his son. Like me, Bill is a recovering addict, freed by the grace and mercy of our LORD Jesus. Unfortunately his son has not yet found that freedom – and has gotten himself in some serious trouble.
Kathryn Aycock is almost done with her radiation treatments. She has, however, suffered a radiation burn, and is physically drained from the treatments.
Lorna Sabattini is having some problems after her oral surgery – it appears that a nerve was nicked and she has no feeling in parts of her mouth.
Chris Torres is requesting prayer for her friend Barb who just left on a mission trip to the Sudan – a very volatile part of the world – particularly for Americans right now.
At my last visit to my diabetes doc I asked if she could write my prescriptions so that I could get a six week supply for Nigeria. She could not and suggested that, because Blue Cross was fairly inflexible in these situations, I just buy the meds I needed. I cannot even imagine the cost of that! I called my good friend, Dennis (health insurance broker for CCLS), who called Blue Cross and explained what I am doing. Blue Cross waived all sorts of rules & regs and the bottom line is that they will shortly be sending me three months worth of my meds! I love the way that Father is handling my trip.
Larry Mead has an aggressive form of cancer. They operated on him and think they got it all – but it will come back. He is currently over at San Joaquin rehab.
Our Kelli Hastings has been going to USC in LA for the past month – trying to get her health issues resolved. She has uterine polyps that may be cancerous. Reading one of Kelli’s e-mails is like reading one of the Psalms – they start out describing some painful and exhausting situations – but end with a declaration of complete faith in God.
Please pray for my friend & sister from work, Monica and her husband. Her husband recently had a heart episode.
Diane Clapp has been transferred to the Spencer Recovery Center, 1316 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92657. Please send her a card or a note telling her that you are praying for her – it would do her a world of good.
We continue to pray for: Ron & Evie Dangaran; Matthew & Lisa; Jim Sullivan, Charles and his mission trip to India, Remo & Susan Paul, Nola Ambler, Bianca & Stephanie, Tony McDonald, Ellen Burton, Walt Couch, and Michael Ferris.
Pray for our missionaries – Judy, Faye & Miisaw with New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Yvonne Deel in Belize, Bounkham & Khamla in Laos, Laurie Bethall in Prague, Meghan Dineen in Mexico, Biana in Nigeria, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Pray for our pastors our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church. Don't forget your prayer challenge of two minutes a day praying for unity within the Body and that we all are given opportunities to witness for Christ.
Abba,
We are glad that You know what is in our hearts because that means that You know the praise and love that is too great for us to express. I wish that unbelievers could be in my skin for just a couple of hours as You work in my life with this Nigeria trip. If they could see Your provision for me time and time and time again then every human being would be on their knees before You in awe – as I am.
Great Healer, we lift Kathryn, Lorna, Larry, Kelli, Diane, and Moni’s husband before You and pray, Father, that You will touch them with Your mercy and grace. Heal them spiritually and physically.
Jehovah Shalom, God of Peace, be with Bill as he travels to help his son. The situation is horrible and I cannot begin to imagine how desperate Bill feels. He needs You so much right now – thank You for already being there with him.
We pray for those who continue to be on our prayer chain, each of them facing challenges. Help them to cling ever more closely to You as You continue to work in their lives.
Holy Spirit, we pray for Barb and for all of Your missionaries who serve You. Many of them serve in areas of extreme danger. Help them to find Your peace within. Provide for all of them.
We pray, LORD Jesus, for the Church that You died for. Help us to be one in Your spirit, to be one in You. Help us to keep foremost in our minds and hearts that lost people matter to You. You don’t sweat the differences between our denominations – You don’t even care why we have them. You don’t worry about the church finances, or if the preacher wore a tie, or who did what to who. Your focus, Your heart is on the lost. They are Your priority – help us to make them our priority. Help our hearts to seek out our friends and family – give us the words of gentleness and truth that will bring them to You. Forgive us for the pettiness that surrounds us and help us to burn with Your fire.
Holy, Holy, Holy, LORD God Almighty Who was and is and is to come. There is none above You, there is none below You, there is none beside You, there is none like You, for You are God of Eternity. This is the song we already sing and will sing for eternity.
Valerie Rae Hanneman
Genesis 3:10 “He (Adam) said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid." (The Message)
John 21:7 “Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Master!" When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea.” (The Message)
My stepfather was a stern disciplinarian. He firmly believed in the proverb “Spare the rod – spoil the child.” He was determined that none of his children – well at least not his stepchildren – were ever going to be spoiled. His discipline, usually administered with a 2” wide leather belt, was harsh and intended to make a lasting impression on our rear ends as well as our minds. I remember one occasion when my brother, Donald, and I had done something wrong. I don’t remember what we had done but we knew that when our stepfather came home we were gonna get it good. We must have been fairly young because our solution to the problem was that we decided to hide from him. The side yard of our house where we kept our garbage cans and where the air conditioning unit was seemed to be the perfect place to hide. He would NEVER think to look for us there! About a half an hour before he got home we snuck into our hiding place and crouched down low between the air conditioner and the fence. We heard him come home, but we didn’t come out. After what seemed like hours (but probably wasn’t) we finally emerged from our hiding place, hungry, sore, bickering with each other. He had never come looking for us, never called our names, so our hope was that he had forgotten about us. He hadn’t – he was just waiting for us to come in. We were punished twice that night – once for whatever we had done – once for trying to hide. My inability to sit at my school desk for the next few days made sure that I understood I was never to hide from him.
Adam and Eve tried to hide from their Father. They had done something wrong. God had only asked one thing of them, don’t eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so of course, that’s what they did. And now they’re crouched behind some Garden of Eden equivalent to an air conditioning unit, hiding from God, hiding from His punishment. My stepfather may or may not have known where we were. He didn’t see any need to come looking for us, he knew we had to come out eventually and he would be waiting. God knew exactly where His children were hiding. He not only knew what bushes they were crouched in the middle of, He knew the number of the leaves that they thought were hiding them. He also knew that they would have to come out eventually, but He wasn’t waiting. His love for them compelled Him to call out to them, “Where are you?” He looked for them, He couldn’t wait until they decided to come out.
The perfect relationship between God and His creation was broken - the punishment would be the punishment promised - death. But not Adam’s death and not Eve’s death - not on that day. Instead God took the skins of animals to cover their nakedness. Innocent animals died to cover their sin and restore the relationship with God.
The blood of animals was an imperfect covering for Adam and Eve’s sin but within the imperfect sacrifice for our sins was the promise of the perfect sacrifice. Even as God covered their nakedness with animal skins, even as He told them that they would have to leave the Garden, even as He told them that they would suffer physical death, He gave them the Promise. “There is One coming, He will crush the head of the serpent. Your chains of sin will be gone, you will be free. His mercy will reign forever and that mercy will be poured out on you.”
Jesus was and is and always will be that perfect sacrifice. History - which is His Story - is divided in two. Before Jesus it was the law that reigned, it was the need for imperfect animal sacrifice to atone for sins, it was coming before God in fear and trembling with the blood of sacrifice on your hands - knowing that it wasn’t enough, that every year you would have to come again. When Jesus died for our sins, when He rose in victory over the grave, then the law took back seat and mercy stepped in. The barrier between a perfect God and an imperfect creation was torn in two and we are invited into a personal relationship with a loving God. No more animal sacrifices to temporarily cover sin and fulfil the law are needed, the perfect sacrifice has come, our sins are permanently washed away and mercy reigns. No more approaching Him with fear and trembling as we hide on our side of the veil, we are invited to boldly come into His presence to worship, to dance, to sing, to live forever.
Peter had sinned grievously, he betrayed Jesus, he denied Him three times. He was deserving of punishment for his sin. But when he realized that it was Jesus who stood on the shore he threw on his clothes, leapt over the side of the boat and started swimming for Jesus. I bet he never took his eyes off of Jesus as he fought the water to get to Jesus. He knew that he would find mercy and forgiveness at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus’ joy, as Peter threw himself from the boat to get to Him, must have vibrated throughout eternity. He had sorrowed at Adam and Eve’s fear of Him as they hid from Him, He had had to search for them. Jesus did not have to search for Peter, Peter wasn’t hiding from Him, Peter was getting to Him just as fast as he possibly could. Jesus knew that Peter knew that forgiveness and restoration - not punishment - was found in Jesus.
Jesus offers us the same mercy, forgiveness and restoration today. We just have to come to Him.
LORD Jesus, You have shown me mercy, You have forgiven me, You have restored me to a personal and loving relationship with You. I am so thankful for what You have done for me. My prayer is that others will come to know You as I know You.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-ministry of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org or irishred63@comcast.net
Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God and he is instantly free...-A.W. Tozer
It is with a bit of sadness that I report to you that the doors have closed for Matthew and Lisa to go back to Nigeria. They were unable to qualify for the type of visa that they needed. They are a little bummed out - but are the first to recognize that God has something else in mind for them. God has already done a mighty work through them - it will be exciting to watch how they are used next.
Ron Dangaran had surgery this week and they found that he was riddled with cancer spores. Barring a miracle, Ron will be gong home within the next six months. So how do we pray? We all know that Father could grant this miracle with one hand tied behind His back. But what is best? I have known Ron for eleven years – he, his wife, Eve and the Myers’ were my first Sonday School teachers. I believe that Ron’s prayer is that Father’s purpose be fulfilled and that God is glorified in Ron’s earthly life and in his eternal life.
Larry Mead became disorientated in services on Sonday and when he was taken to the hospital they discovered a tumor in his brain. His prognosis is very good. They operated on him yesterday – but I do not know what the outcome was.
Diane Clapp is over at St. Agnes with stomach problems. She has been there a couple of weeks now. Last I heard she is being allowed soft foods – which isn’t quite the same as solid food – but it is at least an improvement over liquid food!
We continue to pray for: Jim Sullivan, the Gates family, Charles and his mission trip to India, Remo & Susan Paul, Nola Ambler, Bianca & Stephanie, Tony McDonald, Ellen Burton, Walt Couch, and Michael Ferris.
Pray for our missionaries – Judy, Faye & Miisaw with New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Yvonne Deel in Belize, Bounkham & Khamla in Laos, Laurie Bethall in Prague, Meghan Dineen in Mexico, Biana in Nigeria, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Pray for our pastors our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church. Don't forget your prayer challenge of two minutes a day praying for unity within the Body and that we all are given opportunities to witness for Christ.
All glory, praise and honor be unto the name of our God, for You, LORD, are worthy of our praise.
Father, we are disappointed that Matthew and Lisa will not be returning to Nigeria, but even in our disappointment we praise Your Name because we know that You will continue to use them and continue to work through them in powerful ways. We glorify Your name.
Abba, we both know the selfish prayer that I would say for Ron – give us a miracle. But my heart speaks the truth to me and so, Abba, I pray that You do in Ron’s life what brings You the most glory. Ron is a man after Your own heart, he has followed close beside You for his whole life and nothing can take Ron from Your hand.
We lift up Larry before Your throne of Grace and pray the same for him, work in his life in a way that brings You the most glory.
LORD Jesus, gather Evie and Ann close to Your mighty heart as they travel this road with their husbands. Grant them the peace that passes all understanding for their hope is in You – and You will not let them down.
Spirit of Life, we pray in agreement for our sister, Diane, and ask that You touch her and speed her recovery.
Holy Spirit, we lift up in prayer those who are on our prayer chain, many of them with long-term health challenges. We pray that Your comfort and power be upon them.
LORD Jesus, pour Your blessing down upon Your Church. Help us to truly be united in love and to be as one as You and Father are one. Help us to remember that we are one body serving one Holy Triune God. Holy Spirit, too many times we think that evangelism means that we bring our friends to church and the pastor takes it from there. Help us to know that the evangelism that You want from us is that we bring our friends to You and You take it from there. Help us to bring our friends to You in prayer first, and then give us the words to say that will bring them to You. Father, set our hearts on fire for the lost – break our hearts for them as Your heart breaks for them. Burn brightly in us so that we cannot wait for tomorrow to tell them about You, but we are compelled to tell them today. Let every thought of our heart, every word we speak and every action we take be directed at bringing the lost to You. Father God, help us to be a force to be reckoned with in our community – help us to be known for our love for each other, our love for our community but most of all – our love for You. We do not want to do social work – we want to do Kingdom work. Bless our fellowship with the Holy Spirit’s fire.
You are all we need. We love You today, we love You forever.
The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His Grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was "impossible to carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his Grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!" "So you think it is useless?" the old man said. "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out." That is the work of God in our lives to change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.
Author Unknown - from the Internet
Dear Family & Friends,
Greetings from Nigeria! Yes, you read that correctly. I recently returned to Faith Alive in Jos, Nigeria.
During the five months I was back in the United States, I was blessed to be able to spend some extended time in Georgia, Montana, and California visiting my children, grandchildren, and friends. My, how quickly grandchildren grow! Sophia and Marin are very active, talkative, normal, rather opinionated two year olds, and so much fun to play with. Simone is almost one year old and is walking around trying to keep up with big sister, Sophia. What a joy it was to be grandma for a while, although 10 degrees below zero in Montana was just a bit too cold for me!
I would like to thank all of my family and friends for continuing to encourage, support, and pray for me over these past months. God has graciously provided the resources for me to return to Faith Alive through the Faith Alive Foundation, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland. I will be serving for the next two years as the Hospital Administrator and Deputy Executive Officer of the Faith Alive Foundation in Nigeria. My primary responsibilities will include coordination of the development and implementation of improved policies, systems, and procedures to meet the service needs of a rapidly expanding client population, as well as the coordination of the completion of the furnishings and equipping of the new hospital building as resources become available for the in-patient ward, labor and delivery unit, and surgery theater.
During the next two years there will be many ways that you can continue to be involved in the work at Faith Alive. First, your prayers for all of us at Faith Alive are a vital part of everything that we do here. Second, I would like to provide an open invitation to each of you to come and see the work that God is doing at Faith Alive, or to come and volunteer your service alongside the dedicated members of the Faith Alive team. Finally, there will be a variety of projects that you may want to provide financial donations towards. You may contact me at any time via email at bgrogg@gmail.com and I will be happy to provide more information or facilitate your visit. Future newsletters will provide information about how you can continue to be a part of the Faith Alive team, in person or through your prayers or financial contributions.
This past two weeks has been another bitter-sweet period of my life as I have said goodbye to my family and friends and am already missing all of you, but am also rejoicing to be back in Nigeria with my Faith Alive family. I feel doubly blessed to have such a wonderful extended family in both the USA and Nigeria.
May God watch over each of you and bless you with his love and peace.
Sincerely,
Biana Grogg
CLEANING RASCAL’S CAGE
Valerie Rae Hanneman
May 19, 2007
Deuteronomy 13:4 (MSG) “You are to follow only GOD, your God, hold Him in deep reverence, keep His commandments, listen obediently to what He says, serve Him—hold on to Him for dear life!”
The family has a new pet – Rascal. Rascal is from the rodent family but he is way too cute to be considered a “glorified rat”. Rascal requires a lot of upkeep. It is important that he is out of his cage several times a day for exercise and because he is a social animal. By nature, he’s a clean animal, so his cage must be kept clean, particularly the litter box. His digestive system is delicate so we have to be careful what we feed him and he is on a regimen of vitamins to make sure that the inner works don’t get clogged up by hairballs. He is more work that any animal I have had but when he puts his little paws on my face and nuzzles my chin, I get all gooey inside and I know that he is worth the effort. When we first got Rascal Fawn and Steven fought over who got to take him out to play, who got to give him his treats, his vitamins, and who was going to take Rascal with them when they moved out. But they never fought over who was going to clean that cage. They wouldn’t do it. As they argued, I just smiled and cleaned the cage. Time has passed and the “new” has rubbed off Rascal. Fawn & Steven still take him out to play – but often I have to remind them to do so. I feed him his vitamins, his treats, change his water, replace his food and I am still cleaning out his cage. It is not that my children love Rascal any less- it is just that their love is best demonstrated in the “fun stuff.”
When you think of Care Fresno Kids Klub – who do you think of? Nine out of ten of you are going to say that you think of me, Valerie. The reason that you think of me is because I am the most visible person in the ministry. I’ve been with the ministry for ten years and for all these years I am the one who is usually up in front of the church talking about Kids Klub, I am the one that you see all the neighborhood kids hanging around, and during these past months I have had the unbelievable and awesome privilege of baptizing nine of our kids. If somebody has a problem with one of our kids I am the person that they come to. There is no doubt that I get all the “fun stuff” – the recognition - for this ministry.
But I am not the only one involved in this ministry. I am blessed to be surrounded by an incredible team of people in Kids Klub. Jim Sullivan leads the teams of cooks who come in every week and make dinner for our kids. Frieda Kennedy does all the shopping for our Kids Store. Norm Baird will rearrange his schedule at the drop of a hat to drive the bus for Kids Klub. Rosemary, Gramma, Kim, Lisa, Debbie, Shawn and Mikki are parents that show up faithfully to help keep attendance records up and chaos levels down. I have a whole crew of students who show up to help. And then there is Char Cole. Char has been involved with Kid Klub for several years but I bet I could count on my fingers the people in our church who know that. You see, Char “cleans the cage” for Kids Klub. Just as Rascal’s health and well being depends on me doing the not-so-fun but absolutely vital job of cleaning out his cage, the health and well being of Kids Klub depends on Char being there to do the not-so-fun but absolutely vital work of Kids Klub. Char’s work is the foundation of Kids Klub. She does the mailings, copies the flyers, sends out the cards, does the Reading Klub, cooks, shops, and still finds the time and energy to stand at my shoulder and support me when I am tired or stressed or just plain at the end of my rope. I cannot imagine how I’d function in Kids Klub without Char there with me.
For me, Char is the epitome of a servant’s heart. She doesn’t do Kids Klub for the recognition; she get’s very little of that. Char doesn’t do it because she get’s to do the fun stuff; cause she does very little of that. Char does it because she loves and serves Jesus first and foremost, and she loves those kids and she loves me. And that is a servant’s heart, to do what is vital in a ministry and to do it with love, expecting nothing.
I clean Rascal’s cage because I love him enough to do the not-so-fun work. And Rascal shows his love for me when he grabs one of my fingers, or he nuzzles my chin or any of the other ways that he shows me affection. He rewards me for my service to him.
Jesus is going to reward Char and me for our service to Him through Kids Klub. Now I don’t think that He is going to nuzzle our chins – although He can if He wants to. I don’t know what the reward is going to be. But His promise is that those who have been faithful in much will receive much. I am fully confident that Char is going to receive much from Jesus for her service to Him through Kids Klub and I think she gets much more of a reward than I do – because she deserves it. Char cleans the cage.
Some of us are called to be the visible part of a ministry. Jesus absolutely called me to the leadership of Kids Klub – to be the visible face of this ministry. I do it because I love Jesus and want to serve Him. And I do it because I love those kids and want them to know Jesus as vibrantly as I do.
Some of us are called to be the invisible part of a ministry. I know that Jesus absolutely called Char to stand beside me in Kids Klub in a place that does not receive a lot of recognition but is the foundation of the ministry. Char does it for the same reasons I do.
To those called to be the visible part of a ministry – bless your hearts – go for it! To those called to be the invisible part of a ministry – sometimes it may seem that nobody knows what you do or appreciates how hard you serve in your ministry. Jesus knows and He appreciates you more than you can possible know. You are the foundation that Jesus is building His Kingdom on. Your rewards on earth may not be much, but your rewards in Heaven are going to blow your mind! Best of all, you will get to lay those rewards at Jesus’ feet and hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant!” How cool it that?
LORD Jesus, I want to thank You for Char and for all those who clean the cage for the ministries they are in. They are the true royalty of Your kingdom. Bless them LORD, and when they get weary or wonder if what they do makes a difference show them how vital their service is.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministry of Fresno First at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does. Simone Weil
Betty Arnold’s biopsy proved to be benign! Praise You Father!
Remo Paul with Reaching Hand Society is home and completely recovered!
On Monday, following a short battle with pneumonia and other complications, Kristen Gates passed onto Father’s loving arms and has found the peace that only He can give. Her Celebration of Life will be held this Friday – May 18th – at 11:00 am. Please keep Pastor Dan & Edie Gates in prayer during this difficult time.
Last week Jim Sullivan had his knee replaced. The reports that I have had is that his recovery is nothing short of amazing.
This Saturday Care Fresno Kids Klub will have our annual family picnic at the church. Huge water fight involved – so please keep us in prayer! Particularly since this is a wonderful opportunity to meet the parents of our kids.
Biana is back in Nigeria! She is tired from the travel but glad to be at Faith Alive again. Please pray that Matthew, Lisa and Nathan Watson will soon be cleared to go as well. My trip to Nigeria becomes more real to me every day. My tickets arrived in the mail, my arms are bruised from the multitude of shots to protect me from stuff that I didn’t know existed, and my funding is almost completely in place. I leave Fresno on July 18th and am back home on August 31st. Please keep me in prayer, ‘cause now that it is really real to me – I am getting a little bit nervous.
We continue to pray for: Colene McDonough & family, Holly Hedrick, Erlene Nickell, Charles and his mission trip to India, Remo & Susan Paul, Nola Ambler, Bianca & Stephanie, Tony McDonald, Ellen Burton, Walt Couch, and Michael Ferris.
Pray for our missionaries – Biana in Nigeria, Judy, Faye & Miisaw with New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Yvonne Deel in Belize, Bounkham & Khamla in Laos, Laurie Bethall in Prague, Meghan Dineen in Mexico, Matthew, Lisa & Nathan (Soon to be back) in Nigeria, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Pray for our pastors our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church. I am issuing a prayer “challenge” on behalf of our fellowship and for the fellowships represented by other subscribers to the e-Ministry. I am challenging you to spend two minutes a day in specific prayer for your church. Jesus said that the world would know us because of our love for one another. Pray first for the unity of our local congregation and for the unity of the Eternal Worldwide Church. Jesus said that the fields are white to harvest – but the laborers are few, and He said GO! Pray that we will focus on evangelism – reaching our neighborhood, our community and our world in Jesus’ name. I know that there are many other issues that face our community of faith but I am convinced that if we focus on unity as the Church and on reaching the world – the rest of it will fall into place and we will not be able to hold the blessings that God will pour down on us. Remember that unity and evangelism is the business of the church and the business of the individual member of the church. So that is my prayer challenge – I’ve already started adding two more minutes a day – will you join me in prayer? Will you join me in action?
Jehovah Shalom, God of our Peace,
I love the Sonshine times with You, when we dance with the joy of a life well lived in Your presence. I love the stormy times too (although I love those best when they are over). I love them because in the middle of the storm when I am getting buffeted from every direction You assure me that You are with me, You hold me tightly to keep me safe, You calm the storm of fear within me. It is at these times – when I have nothing to hold onto but You, that I learn that I need nothing to hold onto but You. You have never failed us and You never will.
We praise You for the great news on Remo, Betty and Jim and ask that You continue to be with them.
Comforter, hold on to Dan, Edie and the family as they grieve the passing of Kristen. Remind them that she is with You and that she is at peace.
LORD God, open the door for the Watson’s to go back to Nigeria and complete the work that You have set before them.
Abba, Daddy, I am so excited about going to Nigeria to serve You, but it is a little scary too. I trust You so I’m jumping out of the boat and I am walking to You.
We lift up the names and situations that are on our prayer chain and we release them to Your sovereignty.
Holy Spirit, be with the missionaries that serve You around the world, protect them and restore them.
LORD Jesus, we pray for the unity of Your Church. Denomination is not Your word, it is a word we use. Help us to forget about the differences that divide us and to focus on what unites us – You and Your gift of Life. We pray that You will give us opportunities as the eternal Church, as the local congregation and as individuals to share our faith with the world. Give us the courage to speak, give us the words to say, help us to live lives that reflect the words we say.
You are our Great and Glorious God, there is none above You, there is none like You, there is none worthy as You are worthy of our praise. We praise You, Lord with the beat of our hearts, with the thoughts of our mind, with the songs on our lips and with the actions of our body. You are everything.
That said, to all those persons who have received emails from me or news from me by means of Val:
What a joy it is to have heard from some of you and even seen many of you at church! I am back in Fresno visiting and will be here for just about one more month.
I would love to visit with you and let you all know what has been going on in my life the past months that I've been in Mexico and also especially let you know of the calling for these next 2 years, and those to come. I look forward to sharing a few things about the time of schooling, amazing adventures of our outreach/mission trip within 3 states of Mexico, including time in the Sierra Madre Mtns., and the great need and call to youth in Mexico City and surrounding areas.
I will be doing this a couple of ways: there are certain individuals who will be hosting "get-togethers" coming up at times during the first weeks of June, where folks can come and fellowship and hear what's going on with the ministry; I will give a short presentation of sorts, including pictures and stories; I hope you will be able to attend one event and celebrate with me at the wonderfulness of God and how he continues to move...
If you are interested in attending one of these get-togethers, I would love to get you the information; would you please email me so I can do just that?
Thank you all,
God keep and guide you in every step,
Meghan Dineen
(Youth With a Mission, Missionary)
NOTE FROM VALERIE: Happy Mother’s Day to the most incredible women that I have been blessed to know.
Being a MOM....
We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking
a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."
But that is not what I meant at all.
I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her.
I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.
I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she
will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every
house fire will haunt her.
That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the
primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's
hesitation.
I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.
She m ight arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell.
She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather
than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of
independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.
Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about
herself.
That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring,
but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.
My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks.
I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child.
I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.
I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.
I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time.
I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts
My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the
table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this
most wonderful of callings.
In chemistry, He turned water to wine.
In biology, He was born without the normal conception;
In physics, He disapproved the law of gravity when He ascended into heaven;
In economics, He disapproved the law of diminishing return by feeding 5000 men with two fishes & 5 loaves of bread;
In medicine, He cured the sick and the blind without administering a single dose of drugs,
In history, He is the beginning and the end;
In government, He said that he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace;
In religion, He said no one comes to the Father except through him;
So. Who is He? He is Jesus!
Join me and let's celebrate him; He is worthy.
Remain in God and seek his face always. Amen!
In God I've found everything!
The Greatest Man in History
Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
He had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us!
- Author Unknown – received as an anonymous e-mail
Valerie Rae Hanneman
Psalm 12:5 (NIV)"Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them."
Steven’s best friend in kindergarten through third grade was Andrew. Those two boys were always together. They played soccer together, T-ball, everything. Andrew was the sweetest little boy, gentle, loving, a great smile. And Andrew was developmentally disabled. That he was attending Cole elementary was a testament to how hard his parents worked with him. I was so proud of my son that he would look past what Andrew was on the outside to see the wonderful little boy on the inside. Most of the rest of the kids at the school were okay with Andrew, but there are always a few – aren’t there always – who take pleasure in picking on a weaker child. One boy in particular was just the bane of Andrew’s existence. He was constantly calling Andrew names meant to hurt him, constantly shoving at Andrew. Steven was always telling me about how the teacher would try to stop this boy from picking on Andrew, but the teacher couldn’t be there every second. I could only advise him to try and keep Andrew away from that bully. But still, the boy would pick, pick, pick. Then I got a phone call from the school. Steven had been in a fight! (My Steven? A fight? No way!) I got to the school and discovered that it had indeed been Steven but it hadn’t really been a fight - it was sort of one sided. My son had had enough of the bully and had warned him to stay away from Andrew - or else. The bully came after Andrew again, calling him names, and my son “or else’ed” him. With one punch, my son decked him flat and, of course, the bully went hysterical. They were both sent to the Principal’s office where the bully was suspended for three days and my son was assigned to one after-school detention (the principal knew what had been going on). I am going to tell you the truth that although I do not advocate school yard violence I have never been more proud of my son than when he took “last resort” steps to protect Andrew.
Andrew had a lot more in common with Steven than I have in common with God. In fact, an amoeba has more in common with Albert Einstein than I have in common with God. But just as Steven recognized Andrew’s weaknesses and looked past them to want Andrew as his friend, God looks past my weaknesses to want me as His friend. Can you believe that? I am a friend of God! How cool is that?
But there is a bully in my schoolyard. satan roams my schoolyard, the earth, seeking whom he might devour. And he likes to pick on me. And worst of all - he knows exactly where my weaknesses are and that is where he aims his painful darts. And he shoves at me too. If I am headed a certain direction, he puts roadblocks up, he manipulates the circumstances around me. He does anything he can to impede me. If I am doing something positive for the Kingdom of God then I can count on satan coming for me. I take a weird sort of satisfaction when I am under satan’s attack because I figure I must be doing something right to tick him off enough for him to come at me. In spite of the weird sort of satisfaction, I can get weary and heart-sore if satan continues to pick, pick, sick and shove, shove, shove. I can’t fight back against him by myself. I am too weak to defend myself from him. I don’t even know how to stand against satan by myself. I might as well be a piece of chaff in a tornado.
The good news is - rather the great news is - I don’t have to stand against this bully by myself. Just as there is a bully on my playground, there is a Friend Who champions my cause, Who stands beside me in the playground. My best friend is God and He loves me. I can stand firm while satan’s picking on me because I know that there is going to come a point when I get too weary and heart-sore and my Friend will say “enough is enough” and He is going to “or else” satan in His own God-like way. Because I cannot fight back by myself, my Friend fights for me. When I am too weak, my Friend is still strong. When I don’t know how, my Friend says, “It’s a done deal”
His promise is that He will never leave us nor forsake us. There will never be an iota of time when He does not stand beside us. When we come under attack by the bully, our Friend is ready to defend us. And satan is always going to lose.
When the bully came back to school he came swaggering up to Andrew, intending to take up where he left off. Steven stepped between them before the boy had a chance to open his mouth and explained what was going to happen if he ever came near or said another word to Andrew. I believe the word “hospital” figured into the conversation. That boy believed Steven was serious (for good reason) and never came near Andrew again. Andrew never had problems with that bully again.
There is a day coming when satan will come swaggering up to us and God is going to step in and say a final “enough is enough.” On that day God is not going to use the word “hospital.” He is going to have in His hand the keys to the bottomless pit and that is where satan is going to go. he will never come near us again and we will never have problems with satan again. That is also God’s promise to us.
When satan comes to bully you, hold fast to God, depend on Him and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that satan’s downfall is coming - and we always win.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministry of Fresno First Baptist at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Check out our blog at www.fresnofirst.org - it is under the resources tab.
Note from Valerie – This update is being sent out in two parts – the first being the note from Remo & Dr. Iris – the second will be the report of what Reaching Hand has been doing.
Greetings in Jesus' Name.
After the last email with the details of me being in the hospital with cerebral malarial and a acute case of follicular tonsillitis, I received a flood of calls and emails. Thank you for your prayers and concern. I am currently out of the hospital and am at my best of health. It is great to be back again in action. I just returned back to Hyderabad after being away for 13 days in Dehradun working on the Annual IMA National Leadership conference.
Please find below a short note from mummy and this month's newsletter written by Mr. Sopon Hembrom.
With prayers
Remo
-------------------------------
My Dear Prayer Partners,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Thank you very much for your constant prayer and financial support.
The word from the Lord for me for the past month has been from Ps. 46: 10 and 11 - " Be Still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations and I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of Hosts is with us and the God of Jacob is my refuge."
To stay still when every thing around you is not going the way you want is not easy. Only God can help us in this area and when we submit to His word then He will be with us in a very special way and be our refuge. Try this out and may our Awesome God be with you to take charge of every situation in your and my life.
This month report is written by Mr Sopan Hembrom, he is a convert from the Santhali Tribe. He lost both his Parents to tuberculosis when he was very young and his sister could educate him only up to Std 7 in the IMS mission school. He has many talents from God and one of which is, he can fix almost anything that breaks down! He is the best X-ray technician in the district . All Santalli's have flat nose so he saw to it that he married a girl from Andhra - Shanti, who was not educated but had a very sharp nose and sharp features- But now he says God's plans were different as all his 4 children have flat nose and got his feature! God has enabled Shanti to read and write and is now involved in Village ministry along with Mrs. Minoti Soren. They go to the villages by Scooty mobike. It is awesome to note how God transforms people when they commit to do His work.
With Love and Prayers,
Iris.
Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian. -Andrew Murray
Biana saw her doctor this past Wednesday and there is still a little problem with a kidney stone. They hope to fix it today and then she will hopefully get clearance to leave for Nigeria. If she gets that clearance, she will be leaving this upcoming Sonday.
I applied for my passport on April 18th. I had it expedited and was told that even expedited it would take four to six weeks - most likely the six weeks. It arrived on April 30th - 12 DAYS after I applied for it. I think Father is serious about me going to Nigeria.
This is an update from Eve Dangaran: "Ron will have a new Cat Scan on May 4 and the results will be given to us on May 10th. We will know then how his pancreatic cancerous tumor has responded to treatments. We eagerly await the 10th and pray for a miracle of God. Ron is weak, walks now with a walker most of the time. He is eating a little this week, but still not enough. His bowels are very irregular too. He feels full and then things begin to back up in his stomach. This week he had only one vomiting spell. He is still on home intravenous feeding at night. Hard to see my strong, vital, handsome husband like this now. I never imagined how difficult this world and journey of cancer is. So many meds, procedures, treatments, etc. Of course the doctors could never tell you in the beginning what exactly is ahead because it is too hard and you would be scared out of your head at the prospects. I am tired and low at times - the 24/7 caregiver for Ron. Somehow we keep going. We have Jesus on our side and that is everything. We know He has the victory forever. One good thing is that dear Ron did not lose his beautiful head of hair - which we marvel at. God's blessing for sure."
Betty Arnold is having a biopsy on her breast. Her previous biopsies have proven to be benign - lets pray that this habit keeps going!
Colene McDonough's mom, Thelma, has gone home to Jesus. Please keep Colene & the family in prayer.
Holly Hedrick is at St. Agnes with heart problems. Tests are being run to narrow down the problem.
Erlene Nickell is also at St. Agnes in critical care. They are running tests on her as well. Please keep Earlene, her husband & children in prayer.
We continue to pray for: Charles and his mission trip to India, Remo & Susan Paul, Barbara Kansler, Nola Ambler, Bianca & Stephanie, Tony McDonald, Ellen Burton, Walt Couch, and Michael Ferris.
Pray for our missionaries – Biana in Nigeria, Judy, Faye & Miisaw with New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Yvonne Deel in Belize, Bounkham & Khamla in Laos, Laurie Bethall in Prague, Meghan Dineen in Mexico, Matthew, Lisa & Nathan in Nigeria, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Pray for our pastors our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church.
Pray that we recognize opportunities to share our faith with others.
Father God,
You have shown us wonders; You have allowed us to reach beyond what we dreamed it was possible to reach, through Your power we have done so much. But none of what we have seen, reached for or done compares to this time when, in the quietness of our heart, we seek You. We reach for You in worship, You reach for us with love.
Father, continue to be with Biana during this very frustrating time for her. Restore her to health so she can go back to Nigeria. We lift up Ron & Evie before You, LORD Jesus, and ask for Your mercy upon them both as they walk this path. Thank You for the strength of their witness for You. We also pray for Betty Arnold and ask that the results from this biopsy are benign. With hearts of praise for You, we call out on behalf of Colene & her family as they mourn the passing of Thelma. We praise You, LORD, because we know that Thelma is with You, and she is dancing. Holy One, Erlene & Holly are over at St. Agnes undergoing tests. Let the tests revel the problem and restore them to full health.
We continue to pray for those who remain on our prayer chain. We thank You for what You have done and for what You are continuing to do in each of these situations.
We pray for our missionaries, our pastors our leaders and our ministries that You continue to provide and guide.
But most of all, Jesus, we pray for Your Church. Your prayer was that we be one as You and Father are One. Help us to focus on what we have in common – You and Your gift of eternity – help us to be one in Your love and one in Your service. Help us to work together to reach a lost and dying world. Help us to disregard what makes us different, what has divided us into denominations – what keeps us from obedience to Your will.
We pray for our country LORD, we grieve at her rush to remove You from everything, including our hearts. We humble ourselves before You and ask forgiveness for our land and that You bring healing to her. We pray for our leaders – that they will remember that we are supposed to be a land of “by the people of the people and for the people.” We pray of our brave military men and women and ask that You grant them peace.
You are God who fills eternity, You are God Who glory fills the temple, You are God Whose power shakes the foundation of the earth. Best of all, You are God Who loves us. We love You, LORD God.
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved!
In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes" But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help" She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help
After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.
Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."
Thought for the day and every day thereafter?
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.
He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you. The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.
Author Unknown (received from e-mail)
Colossians 1:15-20 (The Message)
Christ Holds It All Together
We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, He organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—He is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of His death, His blood that poured down from the cross.
Note from Valerie: How we praise You, Jesus, for all that You have done for us.