WARNING - May Contain Spoilers

At this time tomorrow we should be somewhere over the Atlantic – so this is our final communication (until we find someplace with internet…)
All packed now with messages complete for Missions Retreat. Here is the theme and ‘titles’:

THERE IS NO HOLINESS BUT SOCIAL HOLINESS - John Wesley

Thursday: What's Buried in the Tent? Joshua 7
Friday: And They'll Know We are Christians – By our Unity Ephesians 4:1 - 16
Saturday: And They'll Know We are Christians – By our Purity Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2
EASTER a.m.: Because He Lives - We Live Also 1 Corinthians 15: 1-20
Sunday p.m.: Pushing Out Leaves Mark 11: 12-20

Incredible congregation here at Camden Wesleyan, with support in every way imaginable. Have been asked for several weeks now, “What else do you need? What can we do?”
I say, “Just keep on loving God and loving one another – keep taking care of each other – live lives worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!”

Nice Wristband…

And so, our church family’s missionaries to Africa, Jody and Jerry Manwaring, send this cool thank you gift in a thank you card after a visit here to our church in Camden (NY).
I think it is so cool that I decide that I’ll read the thank you card to the congregation while wearing the wristband. What a great way to remember to pray for Africa and for our missionaries – yes? You look down at your wrist to check the time and – “oh, it is time again to pray for Africa”.
I guess I should have read the card thoroughly first, because as I am reading it aloud to the congregation, I come to the part about the gift and the Manwarings say they hope we will enjoy the enclosed…bookmark?
You mean, it’s not a…wristband?
Well, if laughter truly is good medicine, then anyone in the congregation sick that morning was healed.
Undaunted, I kept sporting it until one day the end loop finally popped loose. Then one of our incredible seamstresses at church sewed the “bookmark” onto a piece of black elastic and with a pinch if Velcro on each end. It’s still a wristband to me, and it’s still one of the ways that helps me remember to pray – for Africa.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE VERSE?

That was the question posed to us via e-mail by organizers as preparations are made for a special gathering at the Missions Retreat in Zambia on Easter weekend. Not sure what it will be used for there, but for us the verse selection was easy:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 7 & 8

It was easy, because this has been the most common verse to come to mind throughout our Christian lives through everything from buying our first house to sitting alongside the hospital bed of a loved one. Carol has been cancer free for more than 30 years after being given by doctors six months to live. This was the internalized Word from God that helped us maintain an eternal perspective at times when it appeared the cancer might have returned.
Paul was aware of our temptation to worry, or he would not have addressed it. And he was not writing these verses from an ivory tower. He was writing these verses from prison.
As we prepare this final week for travel, here is what we know God guarantees. Not a trip necessarily without incident. Not without surprises. Not without challenges. What He promises His people is peace. Peace that passes all human imagination.

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:4 – For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.

Thank you for your continued prayers - prayer partners.

MEET the HELVIES

Mike & Cindy Helvie have served as Global Partners career missionaries since 1994. Mike sensed a call to missions when he was 19, and Cindy at age 11. They were assigned to minister in Zambia in 2008, and in a few days, Carol and I get to meet them.
Following the Missionary Retreat at the front end of our journey, the Helvies are scheduled to take us to Zimba Mission Hospital. The 106-bed hospital is located some 60 miles north of Victoria Falls and provides general medicene, pediatrics, surgery and OB-GYN. Carol and I will take photographs at the hospital for a new brochure.
Tentative plans also include taking photographs at a Bible College to help promote that institution along with a student scholarship program. We may also try our hand at helping to create a video postcard for the Helvies for their use at the end of their term. Intriguing to us is a project the Lord has laid on Cindy’s heart entitled, Brave Women in Zambia.
Pray that God will guide all of us to engage in those projects He has ordained.
If you would like to learn more about the Helvies or the Manwarings or any of our Global Partners missionaries in Africa or around the world visit http://www.wesleyan.org/gp/

What in the World will we be doing in Zambia?

We first met Jerry and Jody Manwaring a number of years ago at our home church in Camden, New York. Little did we know then that we would one day be joining them in the field. (That is Jerry and Jody pictured behind several gals from our congregation).

It was on their most recent trip home and visit to our church when we were having lunch after the service that Jerry overheard me say to another aspiring missionary – “Carol and I submitted our names to World Hope several years ago to serve as photographers and journalists, but we never heard back from them.” Jerry jumped in on the conversation at that point and said, “Are you serious?” I could tell he was being serious, and in fear and trembling I said… “Yes.” (In hindsight, I wondered if my reply sounded more like a question than a statement.) Jerry then revealed one of his and Jody’s assignments while in the States was to search for a couple who might replace another retiring couple who had done photography and reporting for the church in Africa. A short time later, Jerry and Jody and Carol and I were sitting in our home with the sole purpose of exploring the possibility. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What will Carol and I be doing on this preliminary trip to Zambia?

A general description was provided by Jerry when we were introduced via correspondence to national church leadership. What follows is part of that message:

“Gary and Carol VanRiper recently received final release for ministry in Africa. As GP [Global Partners] Africa Area Correspondents the VanRipers will visit Wesleyan work around Africa gathering material to create articles, AV presentations, and the like to enlighten and inspire the North American Church… Gary and Carol will be under the direction of the GP Africa Area Office. They will be coming to Africa for short periods of time to visit targeted Wesleyan works then returning to North America where they will prepare promotional materials. The time they have to dedicate to Africa will be limited as Gary continues his responsibilities as Senior Pastor of the Camden Wesleyan Church.”

From the moment the word was released we were officially approved by Global Partners, the outpouring of warm welcomes via e-mails and the mobilization of what struck us to be a very special family within the Family of God working together to make sure we were smoothly transitioned, was at once amazing and humbling. We look forward to this adventure with this special team of authentic believers and with Him, discovering what those good works are which He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.