From Pastor Ronnie Collins

Here is some important information for you as you plan to attend the Holston Evangelism Conference. The Witness Team is meeting tomorrow (Thursday) in White Pine Tennessee to finalize plans and I hope to have more information posted here by late tomorrow night. Blessings and please help me pray for what I believe is a vision that God has given us for New Life and Excitement in Christ. This could start in Holston and Spread Far and Wide.

Ronnie

Feb 19-20 Holston Evangelism Conference – This event will be held at Cokesbury Center in Knoxville, TN. We welcome the Rev. Rudy Rasmus and Bishop James Swanson to lead us through this inspirational and motivating event. We will celebrate the past year’s theme and covenant to “Offer Them Christ” and to invite Holston to the next steps toward Pentecost 2010. Friday: Optional Mission Outreach (“Grace bags” to Knoxville Homeless) 3-5; Registration 5-7; Session I begins 7pm. Bishop Swanson will conclude the conference by 3pm on Saturday. 40 Days of Prayer and Preparation — beginning on Feb 23rd, we will encourage every congregation to pray,fast and ask God for a burden for the lost. Churches may organize specific prayer groups, teaching or preaching about prayer and fasting, or other creative Holston ways of preparation. The Witness Team will provide a 40 Day Prayer Guide which will be daily devotions written by lay and clergy members of our Conference. At this time we are working on the best delivery of these guides, but at the least we will be emailing copies to local church pastors and designated leaders for copying and distribution. The Witness Team is asking that every Pastor and Lay member who has a blog to add the daily devotional to your church and personal blogs. The cost will be $30 per person with a discount for groups of 7 or more. The cost includes lunch on Saturday.

Ronnie

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”

CZ Republic – [IMT Partner Johnson City District, Johnson City, TN] – Please pray for the previous and the new superintendent of the Czech District. This change will take place January 1, 2010. It will be a significant change after 20 years of service. The Czech UMC is small and fragile – churches are generally not welcomed by the atheistic society.  The role of the superintendent is challenging.

Slovakia

Sered and Trnava UMCs – [IMT Partners Cheviot UMC, Cincinnati, Ohio and First UMC, Keller, TX]  We ask for prayers for a public charity collection which will take place in Tesco and our churches will be doing it. We especially ask for prayers to have enough volunteers.  Also please pray for our Christmas service which will take place in a rented cultural house in cooperation with a few congregations. May we be the light for people in our towns!  Reverands Jan and Lubos Tagaj

Slavkovce UMC – [Needs an IMT partner] – Please pray for our youth.  They are quick to start new activities and eager in organizing them but they do not persevere.  We also continue to struggle with a lack of adult regular attendants who would be committed members also willing to financially support our ministry.  Rev. Jarmila Nagyova

Bratislava – mesto UMC – [IMT Partner University Park, Dallas, TX] -We ask for prayers for our evangelizational Christmas concert with handchimes and Christmas drama which will take place on December 19. Rev. Gabriella Kopas

Petrzalka UMC – [IMT Partner Memorial Drive UMC, Houston, TX] – We ask for prayers for unity of our congregation and for spiritual health.  We are trying to help a young mother with three children who will lose her lease soon; and if she does not find suitable accommodation for a price she can afford, she and her kids will end up in a crisis center. Please join us in prayers for this uneasy situation.   Rev. Branislav Schmogrovit

As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you. John 20:21

A missionary is one sent by Jesus Christ as He was sent by God.  The great dominant note is not the needs of men, but the command of Jesus.  The source of our inspiration in work for God is behind, not before.  The tendency today is to put the inspiration ahead, to sweep everything in front of us and bring it all out to our conception of success.  In the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, the Lord Jesus.  The ideal is to be true to Him, to carry out His enterprises.
Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked.  In missionary enterprise the great danger is that God’s call is effaced by the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus.  The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind falters and fails.  We forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary enterprise is not first the elevation of the people, nor the education of the people, nor their needs; but first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ — “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”
When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say — What wonderfully astute wisdom they had!  How perfectly they understood all God wanted!  The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all.  We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God’s wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.

Oswald Chambers

I am so excited to be on the mission trip to The Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child Distribution Center on December 15 to Charlotte NC.  This is something I have always wanted to do and when asked by a member of FUMC Hillsville if I would like to go, I jumped at the opportunity.  There is still room for more to sign up.  I am including a note and schedule from Patti Holderfield and if you would like to sign up, please contact her or myself and I will get the info to her.   It is going to be a great day packed with fun.

Janet

FUMC Operation Christmas Child Dates to Remember : Pray about How GOD would use YOU!

Please read this note from Patti Holderfield and let her know how you would like to help.

Nov. 16 thru Dec. 13        Filled Boxes may be placed in the Fellowship Hall Storage at Stage

Please visit Samaritan’s Purse on line to sign up for 1,000 hours of prayer

Dec. 6-                  *  First Charlotte Volunteers Orientation Meeting 5:00pm Upper Room
Must attend one of two meetings to complete Volunteer Registration
Dec. 9th                   Tweens (13 & up)  and Youth  will need to submit a permission slip to leaders
and have attended one of the two Volunteer Orientation Meetings to complete registration

Dec. 12                   Load your boxes for the 13th!!!!!

Dec. 13th                 FUMC Shoe Box Blessing Sunday 8:30 and 11:00
Gather in Fellowship Hall for “Parade for Jesus” prior to each service wagons, smiles, hands needed! Children of all ages

Dec. 13th                 Youth please bring all filled boxes from OOTB to 11:00 Worship
Dec. 13th               * Last Call for Charlotte Volunteers Orientation Meeting 5:00pm Upper Room
Dec. 15th              7a.m. -10:00pm   Mission Trip to Charlotte, N.C.-ITS HERE!

Big  Smiles, Comfy shoes and  layered clothing for the day!
7:00 Prayer Circle in Sanctuary
7:15 Depart for Charlotte, N.C.
8:30 Restroom Break , COFFEE!!!
9:30 Arrive at Charlotte , N.C.  Distribution Center
Unload church boxes(optional) and Orientation
10:00a.m.- 6pm Mission Work in Center
Work  activties discussed at Dec. 6 & 13  FUMC Sessions
10:00a.m.-6pm Prayer Chapel open
Noon-1:00pm Lunch-packed  or purchase
Youth departing Church and Pastor Ty bringing Tweens down-TBA
3:00-4:00pm Break
6:00 Group Picture Time, Souvineirs, Head to Cracker Barrell Dutch Treat
TBA if Youth/Tweens  can work a longer shift
10:00pm Estimated Arrival-need more carols to sing on the way home!

Thank you for reading,
It’s all ’bout the baby!
Patti

Ronnie Collins asked me to post this and we ask everyone to pray fo 3000 to be saved.  We have a BIG GOD and “Nothing” is to Big for Him.

50 “Golden Days” of Evangelism  40 Days of Prayer and Preparation

Click on the link above and see what it’s all about.

“A new well would make a great Christmas present.” — Rev. Boo Hankins

Did you realize this morning that you took a few steps to get clean water?

In the community surrounding Kupera United Methodist Church, people walk four miles to get water from a dirty stream. They carry it back to their homes — as much as they can carry at one time — in big yellow jugs.

Here in the United States, it’s possible to leave the shower running, turn on the bathroom faucet, and wash your clothes and dishes, all at once. Without ever feeling thirsty.

As Holston welcomes its eighth mission team back from Sudan, the Holston Conference Foundation is leading an effort to respond to the disparity — by raising money to dig 15 to 19 wells in south Sudan.

“Many people get sick and die because of the bad water,” the Rev. Boo Hankins said in a recent e-mail from Yei, Sudan. “Water is life, and Jesus is the Water of Life … A new well would make a great Christmas present.”

Hankins and his wife, the Rev. Phyllis Hankins, are Holston clergy overseeing mission work in Sudan through 2011.

At a cost of $10,000 per well, the Foundation is matching $1 for every $2 donated to bring water to south Sudan. Funds have already been donated to begin three or four new wells, according to Foundation Executive Director Roger Redding. The first well will be dug near Kupera UMC.

“We have established a fund to accept gifts of all sizes,” Redding said, “but individuals and churches may also be able to completely fund an individual well.”

A pleasing gift

On Saturday, Nov. 13, Holston’s latest mission team to Sudan will return at McGhee-Tyson Airport near Knoxville. According to Hankins’ e-mail, the 16-member team brought water filters to Sudan “to help out the children, sick and elderly until we can get the wells drilled.”

The team also visited future sites for the wells — Lutaya and Kupera — where people begged for clean water.

“All I could do was promise that we would pray for them, and if God provided the funds, we would help them,” Hankins said.

Read the complete story published in The Call

Acts 13:47 “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ “

1.  Kosice Mission Station, Slovakia  – [Needs an IMT partner] – We ask for prayers for the mission work in Kosice. We started Sunday services in this big town in eastern Slovakia and would like to plant a church here. Please pray that the mission worker Maria and others who are responsible find the right ways how to approach people and may the Holy Spirit prepare the hearts of those who will hear the gospel.

2.  Jablonne Mission Station, Czech Republic – [Needs an IMT partner] – We have almost finished replacing a roof of our church building and are grateful for that.  We pray for people who heard the good news during our summer services in the park, for new people who started to attend the church and for the children in the orphanage.  Rev. Jiri Simek

3.  Protivin UMC , Czech Republic – [IMT Partners First UMC, Brighton , Michigan and Sandbridge Community Chapel, Virginia Beach , VA ] – We pray for regular activities in the church – adult Bible study, women’s meetings, Sunday worships, and for preaching places in Tyn and Bechyne.  We are thankful for good cooperation with the municipal authorities and for the newly established ministry for children and youth.  Rev. Filip Jandovsky

4.  Tachov UMC, Czech Republic – [Needs an IMT partner] – Please pray for our town, for people who would come to the church, find God’s love and decide to follow Jesus, for the youth in the town and for their schools.  We prepare a Christmas program for the public – a worship service in the square.  Please pray for blessings.  Rev. Milan Mrazek

5.  Trebon UMC , Czech Republic – [IMT partners First UMC, Denton, TX and Monticello UMC, Monticello, IL] – Please pray with us for the people in our church – the youth, mother’s club, ill persons, as well as a reconstruction of the kitchen and utilities in the church house. We pray for the preaching place in Ceske Budejovice , for those who lost their jobs and for students of the Disciple Bible Study.  Rev. Richard Novak

What are you doing right now that requires faith? Are you comfortable or are you doing something that requires faith that God will bring you through?

Recently I posted this question on facebook.  I received a few comments, but that’s not why I posted it.  It was really to give us all something to think about.  The question came from a book I had been reading called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.  It was a really good book, and I recommend it to everyone.  You can view information and great videos at www.crazylovebook.com

That question really made me think.

Could I think of anything I am currently doing that required complete faith??

I believe that for the most part, I live a life of comfort… I only do what I have to and I don’t put myself in positions that may be uncomfortable.   Sure, there are circumstances where I must rely on faith, but am I doing it because I have no other option or am I putting myself in the position to rely on that faith?

I believe that God wants us to put ourselves in positions where we must rely on him.  He wants us to get out of our comfort zone and trust in him so completely that we will put ourselves in situations were we must rely on him to come through.  I have put myself in such positions before, but not as often as I should or not as deeply as I should.  When I was asked to start teaching the adult Sunday School class at church, it was completely God getting me through it.  There was no way that I could have lead the class it if I hadn’t had complete faith in God.  It was totally in his hands.  There are other circumstances in my life when I know God was in complete control or I would have never come through it.  But, I still ask myself and I encourage us all to look at our lives and decide if we are comfortable, or if we are really living by faith, letting God show us how he works and loves us.  If we deny ourselves being uncomfortable, then we are denying ourselves of a great blessing.  One of knowing the power and love of God.  I know I need to put myself in positions more often where I have nothing to fall back on but God.  God wants me (us) to rely on him, he wants to have a relationship with me (us).  What better way to do that than to get out of our comfort zone and take chances.  Whether it be in something we do that’s uncomfortable, or our careers, our finances(tithing), etc.  We MUST have complete faith and let God take over.  In Matthew 25, the parable of the Talents, God gave Talents to 3 men.  The first 2 probably got out of their comfort zone and traded the Talents and doubled what they were given.  The last one stayed in his comfort zone and dug a hole and buried his, maybe so no one could see or find it.  Is that what we do?  Do we bury our talents so that no one can see or find them?  Do we stay comfortable and never take any risks with the talents God gave us?  I’m guilty.  Ofcourse, I’d argue and say that God didn’t give me any talents, but could that be because I’ve not stepped out enough to find them.

Matthew 25: 29 says:  ²⁹ ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

I wonder how many talents I never used that have been taken away? How much more could I have helped myself and others to prosper if I had stepped out more?

Psalm 1:1-3 says:

¹ Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

If we spread our branches and step out of our comfort zones, fruit will come in season and the things we do will prosper.  We may never see the growth of our labor, but God never promised we would.  He only asks us to obey and put complete faith in Him.

My prayer is for us to get out of our comfort zones for God.  To use our known and unknown talents that they will be fruitful in every good work.  And that we give Thanks to God for all seen and unseen fruits.

Taken from the Nov. 8 email publication of The Call

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, sixteen church members departed McGhee-Tyson Airport for east Africa. The travelers comprise the 8th team sent by Holston Conference to Yei, Sudan. The Rev. Jeannie Higgins, Sudan Action Team leader, wrote the following prayer for supporters to pray here at home:

CREATOR OF ALL, Author of all living things,
Thank you for writing us into each other’s story.
Thank you for giving us hands and feet
To serve alongside and walk with our neighbors.
Thank for you challenging us to love you by loving your people.
Lord, your children hunger for you.
We hunger for your mercy and compassion.
We thirst for your hope and salvation.
Nurture emaciated spirits.

We need the Bread of Life to fuel our souls.
Your people hunger, Lord.
Hear the prayer of the mother whose breasts have run dry,
Who holds a sickly child,
Praying for the miracle that we will keep her breathing.
Hear the prayer of the father whose back is bent
From working long hours for small coins
So that he might feed at least one open mouth.
Give her strength. Give him hope.
Hear the prayer of the young child
Whose parents were stolen by death,
Who hungers for education and drams of a future
In a place where the ring of death’s bell is far too familiar.
Hear the prayer of the faithful who love you, God
And who love your people.
Keep them dreaming.  Keep them near.*

And God, we thank you that you are already at work in Sudan.
Thank you for your watchful care of our missionaries and all those who
work on Your behalf; those who proclaim the
Gospel there and everywhere.
For our team who has just departed, we thank you for safe travel, for good health,
for victories that they will experience because of the work of Your hand.
We await with joyful expectation the news of the great things You are doing through
this servant team. Thank you for the great privilege to see where you are
already at work in the world and inviting us to work with You.

In the powerful name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, we pray.  AMEN.

* From Like Breath and Water Praying with Africa by Ciona D. Rouse
Upper Room Books Copyright 2009