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The Messenger EVANGELICAI MENNONITE MFNNONITF CONFERENCE CONFFRFNCF EVANGELICAL
VOI VOL.30 30 NO. NO. 1ft 18
OCT 93/Q9 OCT.23/92
Steifibcich Vouth hcifipily prepare food hcipipers in Denver. (Story on page 11}
"For I ujQs hungry and you gave me something to eot, I UJQS thirsty and you gove me something to drink, I UJQS Q stronger ond you invited rne in, r needed clothes, ond you clothed me, I UJQS sick Qhd you looked after me; I UJQS in prison and you come to visit me." (Mottheuj 25:^5,B)
2001: Will Mennonites Still Stand For Peace? By David Schroeder, from a sermon given at the 50th Anniversary Conference of conscientious objection, November 9, 1991, Portage Avenue Mennonile Brethren Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba Will Mennonites stand for peace in the future? I wish I could
simply say “yes” and leave it at that. I feel in my heart that the answer is “yes,” but I wish it could be a stronger “yes”! What it will be in the end depends on many things that have to do with being the people of God rather than a people of the world.
The attack of the powers of darkness on us as Christians Paul says that in the last analysis we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of darkness and evil (Eph. 6:12). The powers of darkness came to the Mennonites in the USSR 70 years ago in terms of a hostile government, in terms of overt persecution. The powers of darkness come to us today in terms of all the enticements this world has to offer, in terms of all the good things that we want for ourselves, and in terms of all the material benefits of our culture. These powers of darkness are aligned against us as individuals, against us as families, against us as a people of God, against us as a total human community, as well as against the cosmos in which we live. We need to look at the things that entice us in our own personal lives to stand less and less on the Gospel of peace. Individualism. This is the idea that every person has to look out for himself or herself. We are expected to pit ourselves against every one else to achieve our self-chosen goals in life. But this destroys trust and all sense of peoplehood! And without being a people, our faith will not survive. Apart from the community of faith, we will lose the virtues that make for peace. Materialism. We have come into considerable wealth. But the dis ease of consumerism has eaten deeply into our souls. The more we have the more we crave and the more we crave the more we have to make room for. These things are so precious to us that they have to be protected and guaranteed to remain ours. When a desire for security takes over, we are only one step away from reasoning that it is justified to have an army to protect what we have acquired. Professionalism. Every profession always has its own built-in ethic. This ethic need not necessarily be Christian. Almost always it is self-serving to the professions. As Christians we need to bring a Christian ethic into our professions, whether it is welcomed or not. To challenge the ethic of the profession from a Christian per spective may cause difficulties for the Christian. But if we don’t challenge the professions, we will lose our Christian integrity.
The attack of the powers of darkness on the community These are just a few of the ways in which we are assailed by the powers of darkness in the world. We are constantly enticed to leave the way of the cross and to follow the way of the world. But we ought to be even more concerned about the powers of systemic evil that are arraigned against the people of God — a systemic evil which seeks to erode our strengths as a Mennonite people. One of the targets of attack is the close-knit extended family, long a traditional Mennonite strength. But the industrial world gave us the nuclear family — the extended family did not suit the in dustrial world, which wanted a small family unit, where only one person was employed. The nuclear family is not a strong unit in society. When it stands alone, it will be forced to comply with the rest of society. It cannot oppose the whole culture on its own. A larger family and a church community are needed to sustain the Christian virtues required to stand against the darkness of our society. Another target is our care for one another. As Mennonites we used to use economic power to the advantage of others in the com
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munity. There were the Waisenamts for the widows and orphans. There were credit unions to help those who needed loans, which were often made without asking for interest. Implements were shared and there were barn-raising bees. But now economic power is used for ourselves; the Waisenamts are gone — we have state wel fare! The credit unions are still there, but now they serve the depo sitor more than the borrower. The free enterprise system serves those who have economic leverage and not necessarily the whole com munity. To use economic power for ourselves threatens the whole sense of a Christian community. It causes us to lose the virtues necessary for peace. A third target is our belief in peace. We now live in a culture in which the basic structures of society are adversarial in nature — the legal, political and economic systems are all basically adver sarial. To survive in this culture we have to learn to fight. But the more we learn how to fight, the less we know about true peace. Fighting each other is built right into the structure of things; you cannot escape it, it is everywhere; it is a systemic evil. How can we learn peace when conflict is built into the basic fabric of our society? A fourth target is our strong biblicism. We did not have a very explicit theology, yet we knew what we believed and handed this down from generation to generation. But today things are differ ent. We borrow theologies from many other denominations and movements. We borrow the theological language of others and often do not notice that it does not mesh with who we are as a people. We borrow the thinking of others and find ourselves arguing about the situations in which to use all available power and might to pro tect our own interests. We borrow from the fundamentalist tradi tions in America and begin to think of peace as an issue unrealated to the Gospel — as an appendage to the Gospel. If we are theo logically tossed to and fro, how can we then hold on to the peace witness? A fifth target is our belief in stewardship. As Mennonites, we have tried to be good stewards. We have tried to take care of the land entrusted to us. We have tried to think of the generations to follow us. We have tried to be good stewards of our time, talents and possessions. But by now we are thinking of ourselves as peo ple in charge and in command of things as though things depend entirely on us. We do this in business and education, and even in our congregations. But God does not ask us to replace Him on earth. God does not ask us to lord it over others. God asks us to serve others, to become servants of others! This was the way of peace, the way of God. How can we learn peace when we do not walk the way of peace? These are only some of the areas in which the powers of dark ness are attacking us through systemic evil — the evil that is in the very structure of society. We will walk the way society dictates if we do not overtly break with the structure of evil in our daily living. Through and in Christ it is possible to break with the structure of darkness and evil in this world. This is our only hope if we are to speak for peace in the world.
Can peace survive? That depends on several things. 1. It depends on whether we can grow in our understanding of peace. We need to grow in our understanding that peace is an integral part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ — it is not an add on. Peace is not something you can omit and still have the Gospel in all its fullness. The way in which Jesus responded to evil is the way in which God deals with evil in the world. Jesus did THE MESSENGER
not come with power and might and violence. Jesus offered his life for others. Jesus was provoked by those who did evil and sought his death, but Jesus did not respond with violence (1 Pet. 2:23; 2 Cor. 5:19). Evil was overcome by Jesus through his obedience to the will of God, even if it was to end in his own death. God’s way of dealing with sin and evil is through what is good, through love, forgiveness, self-sacrifice and mercy. This is the most powerful way of addressing evil in the world.
2. It depends on whether we will become a people of peace. It is not enough to have a few people speak for peace — all who are in Christ must have the peace of God in their hearts. The Church is to be a people demonstrating the way of peace. If we are in Christ, then all the virtues of God’s people will be manifested for all to see and experience; all the fruit of the Spirit will be manifested; the beatitudes will become incarnate in a community. 3. It depends on whether we will become peaceful persons. It is a question of who we are in Christ. It is a question of Christian character. If our being is in Christ, then our words and our deeds will express the same quality of love that Jesus expressed. It is not only a question of saying “no” to the draft and refusing to join the army, it is a question of being persons of peace in all our dealings with others whether friends or enemies. 4. It depends on whether we will learn to speak for justice. We need to learn to speak for those who are unjustly treated — the poor, the powerless and the defenceless, new immigrants. Native peo ples, abused women and children, anyone who is disadvantaged at home or abroad. 5. It depends on whether we will learn again to show love. We have almost forgotten how to show love for people. Each person minds his or her own business and leaves others well enough alone, it seems. It is easier for us to donate toward the poor than to show love. It is easier to preach to people than to show love. It is easier to condemn evil than it is to uphold the erring and to love them.
6. Finally, it depends on whether we will find a more adequate un derstanding of peace itself. We need to overcome an incipient dual ethic that says there are two separate norms, one for Chris tians and another for non-Christians. There is only one mes sage to proclaim — an invitation to all people to become part of God’s people. Our problem is that we are tempted to work out a separate ethic for the world, for the society we live in, and for the Church. To do that we need not only an ethic that the Church will accept but also an ethic stated in such a way that
we affix God onto a microscope slide under a distorted lens we observe bits and pieces of Him; our pinpoint vision fails to focus on the vastness of His personality
we, the church, are reflections of Him, cross sections of what He is we come together to form one whole body each making up for something another lacks
He cannot fit into our concepts but we can fit into His jcd society will hear it and accept it. But this results in a dual ethic. This leads to an ambiguous message to the world. What are they then to believe? What are we really saying? Can the world then choose which message to accept? This ambiguity goes back a long way in our heritage. It is al ready expressed in the Schleitheim Confession. The Confession speaks about the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. It sees the Church as being of God. It sees governments as being of God as well. God reigns through the Church where people will to do God’s will. God reigns over the world through the left hand of God — through the sword of governments. But this means that God has two different ways of dealing with evil — one that is in harmony with the character of God and the other that is not in harmony with God’s character. But this divides the godhead. God is one. God is not divided. The same will of God is the will of God for all people. This is what the world needs to know. People can choose a different way but they need to be told that it will lead to judgment rather than to life. People need to know what way they should take to have life. This is why we need to be a people who have made their com mitment to the way of peace, to the way of God.
Will peace survive past the year 2001? Yes! If we overcome our ambivalence about peace and declare that we want to remain true to Christ, if we declare that we are against war and against arms. We need to persuade ourselves again that the Gospel is God’s way to peace for all the world. This is also the call of God to us.
771 VISION CANADA
World Assembly Represents 100 Million Evangelicals Canadian evangelism strategies and ex pertise are respected world-wide, conclud ed a recent Canadian delegation to the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). WEF represents 100 million evangelicals from 68 countries. At the 9th General Assembly of WEF in Manila, Philippines, this past summer, nearly 400 church leaders gathered to cast a vision for the role of evangelicals worldwide. With a spirit of unity, they shared ex periences of growth and struggle and formed networks to continue building the OCTOBER 23, 1992
Kingdom of God. An example of that came from Dr. John Oliver Evans, Chairman of the Evangelical Fellowship of New Zealand. In a workshop gathering, Evans cited Vi sion 2CXX) Canada as a model New Zealand has decided to learn from. The Philippine Council of Evangelicals, with 8,000 member churches, shared of their relief and development work. Those projects have been credited with helping 35,000 impoverished families on an annual basis. In Singapore, a $21-million Korean Centre for World Mission has been built.
solely underwritten by a Korean business man and his wife. WEF decided to continue its extensive study into world trends of social, political, economic and environmental needs. While Dr. Don Moore of Vision 2000 Canada was impressed at how respected Canada’s evangelical efforts were, he con cluded we have much to learn from the world scene. “Per capita, there are 112 nations grow ing faster in terms of new Christians each year than we are,” said Moore. “They are growing at an average rate of eight percent, while we are at approximately three per cent. It’s flattering that they look at our models, but the reality is we need to get on with the task so we can report signifi cant growth.”
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Christian Education
Thank God for Teachers Marlene LeFever
David Mains, director of the radio pro gram Chapel of the Air, was on a Wednes day air flight. When he glanced over at his seat partner, he realized he was sitting next to one of four million volunteers who teach each Sunday. “1 watched this business man,” said David. “He underlined sen tences and circled paragraphs in the Sunday school quarterly for junior high stu dents. I was impressed — four days ahead in his preparation.” David started a conversation. “It’s good to see you gettting your lesson ready early.” “Oh, I’m all set for this Sunday,” he re plied. “This is for a week from Sunday.” David said, “I found myself praying, ‘Lord, multiply such people throughout this
Letters Need Understanding and Love I’d like to add one more letter to the ones printed in The Messenger over the last months. One thought ight ki keeps recurring to me since I read Helen IEidse’s letter to the editor during the summer. Fortunately, there are women who have had husbands, fathers and brothers who have treated them with dignity and respect. But we need to go beyond that! There are also women who have experienced seri ous abuse from their fathers, brothers and hus bands. These women are hurting very deeply. Sometimes this hurt is carried silently; some times it is squelched and denied and later it shows up in unhealthy forms; sometimes it comes out in anger. In any case, these wom en need our compassion; they need to feel they are heard and loved. The same, of course, is true for men. Some of them, too, have suffered serious abuse and are hurting very deeply. They, too, need to be heard, understood and loved. I have a hunch, and I could, of course, be wrong because it is, after all, just a hunch, but 1 wonder how many of the people who have sort of “drifted out” of our churches during the past five or ten yeaiirs are victims of abuse who were not heard or■ understood. I must admit that it is a scary hunch. Irma Janzen Winnipeg, Man.
land, important people in the cause of your Son, and thank you for the privilege of traveling next to such a man.’ ” It’s wonderful when a pcirent of four chil dren like David Mains takes time to thank God for those people who helped him and his wife teach their children. Perhaps it’s even more wonderful when children take time to thcink God for their teachers. “One Sunday my junior high students were totally, absolutely awful,” said teacher Dana Dann from Oblong, Illinois. “I’d had it. In the three-second lull between antics, 1 called on Richcird to pray. Class would soon be over, and 1 could resign.” But Richard’s prayer stopped the resig nation. “Decir Jesus,” he prayed. “1 know we haven’t shown it, but we do love you, and we really do appreciate Dana.” Dana said, “Richard was praying, but he was also apologizing to me. God and 1 decided that I could teach another week!” Thank God for Sunday school teachers.
Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund: Applications Invited Waterloo, Ont. — The administrative commit tee of the Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund in vites applications for study/work projects which further Epp’s vision for Mennonite and Brethren in Christ interaction with the larg er world. The committee annually distributes $2500 to support projects dealing with the history of minorities, peacemaking (particularly in the Middle East), Mennonite ecumenicity and the Christian faith. Preference is given to Mennonite and Brethren in Christ persons who are studying or working in Canada. Application forms are available from: The Administrative Committee, Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund, Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G6. All applications should be received by the administrative committee by November 15,1992. The award will be announced in February 1993. For fur ther information contact Chris Matsuda, (519) 885-0220, extension 265. — Conrad Grebel College
Courtesy of Dauid C. Cook Publishing Co.
'92 Holy Spirit ExpIo Revives Mammoth Crusades In Korea
Seoul — Over the last several years, church leaders in Korea speculated that the era of mammoth crusades may have passed. But they are changing their minds after the '92 Holy Spirit ExpIo Crusade. More than 1 mil lion people packed the Youido Plaza August 15 and 16 to pray for stability in Korean soci ety, reunification of the Korean peninsula, and spiritual awakening of the church. This turnout was achieved in spite of two unfavorable factors: the crusade dates includ ed the August 15 Korean national indepen dence day, and they fell during the Korean typhoon season. A 70 percent probability of rain was forecast. If the sun shone it would also be problematic, since it would be difficult for attenders to endure more than three hours under the intense sun. Many believers prayed for neither rain nor sunshine.For both crusade days the sky was overcast, but no rain materialized and a cool breeze prevailed! The crusade organizing committee super vised more than 500 preparatory small cru sades and had enlisted 20,000 supporting members. All Protestant denominations ir> Korea participated in this crusade, causing some church leaders to call this the begin ning of an era of singular emphasis on the* Holy Spirit. Information Exchange, World Evangelical Fellowship
Recovery of Hope Steinbach office now open
Recovery of Hope offers counselling to couples, families and individuals in Stein bach with counsellors;
Peter Froese, B.S.W., M. Divinity, Major in Pastoral Counselling Marie Rempel, B.S.W. Elvira Toews, R.N., B.S.W., M.M.F.Th. Initial appointments are made through our Winnipeg office at 1-477-HOPE.
CHRISTMAS MATERIAL (poems, stories, per sonal experiences, pictures) is needed for The Messenger. Items must be received by November 27.
CONTRIBUTORS: Elmer and Tina Barkman (Blumenort), who have served in Venezuela for many years, have transferred to an assignment in Canada, promoting missions in western Canada, under New Tribes Missions. Darnell Plett and his wife, Emily (Prairie Grove), are working with Inner City Alive, a ministry with inner city youth in Winnipeg. Eluira and Elmer Warkentin (Steinbach) moved to Toronto in July, where they have taken on the administrative responsibilities at the SIM head quarters. THANK YOU: To our team of church report ers and missionaries for your excellent report ing. Your articles are appreciated. May the Lord bless you!
COMING EVENTS
November 7 November 13 & 14 Christmas Craft Sale Annual Meeting Wpg. Menn. Elem. School October 30 - November 1 MCC Canada EMC Youth Leaders’ Retreat 250 Bedson Street Saskatoon, Sask. Winnipeg, Man. Camp Arnes Phone: (204) 261-6381 Phone: (204) 885-1032 Arnes, Man. December 5 November 12 Phone: (204)746-2424 Conference Council Meeting Annual Meeting November 1, 5:30 pm Camps With Meaning Banquet Canadian Council of Mennonite Ridgewood EMC Church and Brethren in Christ Moderators Steinbach, Man. Big M Centre . ...................... Saskatoon, Sask. Phone: (204) 326-6401 Morris, Man. Phone; (204) 261-6381 Phone: (204)896-1616
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THE MESSENGER is published every other week by The Evangelical Mennonite Conference Board of Church Ministries, Box 1268, Stein bach, Manitoba ROA 2A0. Second Class Mail; Registration Number 0591. Undelivered copies, change of address and new subscriptions should be mailed to the above address. The Messenger is a member of Meetinghouse. Editor: Menno Hamm.
THE MESSENGER
Missions CANADA
Am I My Brother’s Keeper? How Concerned Are We? In the account of Cain and Abel, we see that Abel’s offering was acceptable to God but Cain’s was not. Cain became very angry with his brother and killed him. When God asked him where his brother was, he said he did not know: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Obvi ously Cain was very wrong in what he did. God punished him se verely for killing his brother. The question that faces us is, how concerned are we for others? Are we concerned for them, or are they our responsiblility? A Guiaca Indian woman came to the missionary after she had be come a believer, and asked Joe how long he had been a Christian. After he replied, she said, “If you have known how to be saved for all these years, how come you did not come to tell us sooner?” Then she told the story of her mother and how she had died shortly be fore the Dawsons came to work in their village. She had gone into a Christless eternity without ever hearing about the love of God. Why had no one come in time to tell her mother? Today there are still many, many tribal people who have never had an opportunity to hear of the love of God. How concerned are we for them? Are we our brother’s keeper.
In Philippians chapter 2 we are told to have the same mind that Jesus had when He was here on earth. We know that He did not come for any personal gain but He came for others. He came so that others might have life and that they might have it more abun dantly. He lived His whole life for others and eventually went to the cross. He went through a great amount of suffering and agony but was willing to go all the way to the cross in obedience to the Father. He provided salvation for every person in this world. Christ obeyed and completed the task which the Father had given Him, for others. We, as His children, have been entrusted with the big responsibil ity of propagating the good news of what Christ has provided for us. God could have chosen many other ways of getting the Gospel message to the ends of the earth, but He has chosen us to do so. What an important responsibility, but what a privilege as well! We have been chosen to share with others the greatest gift that was ever given, the gift of eternal life. What an awesome responsibility! In 1 Cor. 4:1 we are told that we are the ministers of the myster ies of Christ. We are the ones who have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation. In verse 2 we are told that it is required in stewards that we be found faithful. May God help us to be faithful in sharing the message of salvation with those who have never heard. Yes, we are our brother’s keeper. Elmer Barkman
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Youth develop job skills in the ICYA shop.
Tools Needed Summer has come to an end. Life slows down, and much of nature sleeps. Our pace at Inner City Youth Alive also changes. The
camping season ends. Kent Dueck and I be come involved in giving reports, and our fo cus shifts from camping to the shop. The shop is a place where the youth involved develop job skills. This is one of the mediums we use to develop relationships through which we
Mission Grains . . Caaguazu, Paraguay The evangelistic crusade in the suburb of Empaladomi, October 15-19, was well attend ed. Around 300 people came out nightly. This is the area where EMC missionaries, Ken and Vai Zacharias and Chris and Revita Kroeker, have started a church-planting ministry.
Cuauhtemoc, Mexico Mary Loewen is training teachers at Camp 67 on Tuesday evenings, with eight students enrolled. That same evening she also teaches English to another 27 students. Mary is also involved in curriculum writing for the German schools.
Kamsack, Sask.
The Board of Missions has decided to turn the Kamsack native ministries over to North ern Canada Evangelical Mission. This ministry includes local church planting and a drop-in center in Kamsack. Frank and Mary Braun had to terminate their involvement here earlier this year. The NCEM will take over on January 1, 1993.
OCTOBER 23, 1992
Camping in summer is fun.
present Christ. One area of need we have at the shop is for tools. Many of the tools we are now using have been temporarily lent to us. We need the following: bandsaws, scroll saw, jig saw, radial arm saw, commercial table saw, portable air compressor, finish nailer and hoses, shaper, router, plunge router, drill press, ’A "or %” drill, cordless drill, edge sander, palm sanders, hand belt sander, jointer, C-clamps, hand tools. If you have some tools that you would like to donate, please contact me at 879-9589. Any donated tools will be independently as sessed and a receipt will be issued for that amount. Darnell Plett Darnell Plett and Kent Dueck are EMC mis sionaries working with Inner City Youth Alive. Kent is in charge of the Wilderness Camping Program and general administration. Darnell directs the job skills development program at the shop. Theg are both available for reports: Kent (775-0366) and Darnell (878-9589). PAGE 5
CANADA
Passports ... Visas ... Medicals ... Tickets ... Supporting Those on the Front Lines “Bruce Sinclair, call extension #10, there’s a call coming in from Bangladesh.” Everyone enjoys getting long distance calls but this one held some disappointing news: “We will be ar riving in Toronto on October 19 due to the government having cut back the quota for the number of SlMers being allowed to work in Bangladesh.” My mind focused on how this would now affect my work for the day. Medi cal and office appointments have to be made. 1 need to remember to mark it on the travel planner so that the Travel Coordinator knows when to pick them up at the airport. Now, what terminal was that? #1 or #3? “Visas have been granted for missionaries waiting to go to Sudan!” Jim, our Candidate Secretary, has a new fax in hand. That this was great news and an answer to prayer was written all over his face. Now what do I do??? I have to make sure that I type up an identifi cation letter so that customs officials know that these folks are under SIM sponsorship and that we take full responsibility for them.
TO VENEZUELA
Brenda Barkman (Blumenort) left for her assignment in Venezuela on October 11. She will be taking language studies and then be assigned to a tribal area. Please pray for Brenda.
Yes, their passports are in the file with extra photos. Good, now we have to book their flights. “What date was that, Bev? The travel agent says we can get tickets for October 30?” How those Sudanese folk have been waiting for their arrival! Oh, and I must make sure to let Gord know that the Sudan office needs a new drum for their Canon copier. The singing ends and Vic, our Secretary, leads us in a devotional from Haggai: “I will be with you.” What a comfort that is as we think of our 185 Canadian SlMers serving in 16 countries around the world and for me as 1 work in a support role here at home. News is shared for prayer during our half-hour devo tional each morning before we go to our offices. “The Mittons from Benin have a baby boy!” “Pray for the Greens in Charlotte (our U.S. and International Office) whose 19-yearold daughter was killed in a car accident.” “This is Marjorie’s last day at the office and she will be retiring” (how well 1 know because she’s been the one training me to take her job - how will 1 ever remember all the details?), and so the items for prayer and praise are shared and we divide into groups and pray. My mind again is drawn to my duties as Travel Depart ment secretary. 1 must make sure to record the birth, take note of the retiree and if that had been a death of a Canadian I would record that as well. Sharon is needed as a teacher in Ethio pia .. . Bill is on his way to help build a house for a Bible college teacher in Benin where his children serve with SIM . . . Judy and Sandy are going to Ghana to help at the Bible col lege . . . Carolyn is on her way to Peru to help with the hungry and the needy children on the streets ... Jo, at age 73, is on her way to Ethiopia and Sudan to do the audits, and so the list goes on. All of these folk needs visas! Thanks for that big yellow binder that be comes for me the book of knowledge for my
work of helping these people get to the coun tries where God is calling them to serve. Five years ago our family had come home from Nigeria for what we thought would be five years to get our two older children settled into Canada. Through various circumstances and the counsel of godly people, it seemed that God was now leading us to become involved in the Toronto office. My devotional readings had taken me to II Sam. 18, where David is desiring to go and help fight at the front lines. His advisors re plied that it would be better for them, and him, to stay at home and support them from the city. God used that to challenge me to be will ing to support the front line troops (mission aries on foreign soil) from the city of Toronto. Two months have passed since our move to Toronto. We have felt very weary at times; we have missed our friendly Manitobans, our son, our families and our home church, Stein bach EMC. So far we have survived the cul ture shock of living in a big city! We thank God for our home on a very quiet street. We thank you for your prayers for our family’s adjust ment. God has been answering your prayers. God has sustained us and given strength for each day’s challenges. Pray that our home team here at #10 Hun tingdale Blvd, of SIM’s Canadian Headquart ers could be an encouragement and blessing to the missionaries who are on the front lines or preparing to go out. Together we serve a great God whose kingdom is coming and we desire to see peoples from all nations bowing in praise and adoration before the Great White Throne. Elvira Warkentin
Messenger News FEEDING THE HUNGRY
Steinbach, Man.: Our young people made a contribution towards the family food crisis when they found themselves on a potato patch on September 25, picking potatoes. Through the generosity of a local potato farmer, they were permitted to pick up after the harvester. In all, they gleaned some 75 bags. Fifty of these went to Winnipeg Harvest, while some were distributed locally. Associate Pastor Mel Koop is on sabbati cal this fall and is spending time studying at Providence College. He also conducts a “Seek ers” Bible class at Pioneer Inn on Wednesday evenings. PAGE 6
Steinbach young people on potato field. To assist in transportation, our newly-hired church custodian, Adolf Koop, with his pick-up, was a real asset.
VJe are enjoying part of our new addition already. A smaller chapel on the street side is used for an adult Sunday school class. A
ramp into the main sanctuary, as well as the spacious foyer, is also in use. Daue Schellenberg THE MESSENGER
Tina Schlamp’s happy face represents the good time all of us had at church camp.
CHURCH CAMP ENJOYED
Grande Prairie, Alta.: The grass crunched under my feet as I stepped out of the cozy, warm holiday trailer and made my way across the frosty field that separated us from the wash house. It seemed that I was the first one up this chilly, first morning of church camp (August 27-29). In spite of a chilly start Saturday morning, we had a very beautiful and warm weekend. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the food, fun and fellowship. We were drawn together as a church through the various ac tivities that were planned. Church camp is just one of the growing experiences in our congre gation. Listen in as different people share from other areas of the church. Betty Brandt (reporter) YOUNG PEOPLE SENT OUT Pleasant Valley, Man.: Our church has had the special privilege of commissioning and sending out four young people for mission service. Terry Loewen has been in training with Emmanuel International since August 4 and will serve in Jamaica for a year after his training is done in November. Gerald Reimer left at the end of August for language studies at the RGBI in Texas. He is preparing for fu ture service in Latin America under the EMC Board of Missions. Carl Loewen left for the Philippines in early September to work with street children in Manila, with Action Interna tional Missions. At the end of September, Becky Eidse left for Honolulu, Hawaii, for dis cipleship training with Youth with a Mission before going to Asia for ministry there. V
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Carl Loewen
OCTOBER 23, 1992
Becky Eidse
Carissa Dueck is beautiful in this cap sleeve shirt and checked skirt with scooped pockets.
The little sweethearts in the Sunshine Patch Sunday school class at the Grande Prairie church.
We have started our first Sunday school in our church. A first is also our two- and threeyear-olds class, called Sunshine Patch. When I was led to accept the position as one of the teachers 1 was a little apprehensive. I thought it would be more like babysitting than teach ing; I was wrong. We have found the children to be very open and willing to learn. Granted, their attention span is very short, so we have to be well prepared and flexible. Our puppet friend, Willie, comes and helps us every week. Already God has blessed us and the chil dren. For this we thank Him. Laura Cooper
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Kim Rempel signing during praise and wor ship at the Pleasant Valley church.
We praise the Lord for dedicated youth who arc willing to give of themselves in serving others. The ladies’ fellowship was blessed by the testimony of Margaret Klassen of Riverside, who shared of God’s presence and leading dur ing difficult family tragedy. We enjoyed the lovely fall weather with a church family wiener roast and hayridc, and later listening to reports of summer Christian service. Marc Loewen showed slides and reported of God’s protection and personal spiritual lessons learned during the two months of Christian service in Costa Rica with Teen Missions. Hannah Loewen told us of blessings received as she taught DVBS with CSSM in the Clear Lake area. Marsha Loe wen shared of her experiences in teaching VBS in Woodlands. Jennifer Loewen report-
At our “Back to School Bash” we had a good time. The games were great. We had a fun fashion show. We modelled the latest back-to-school fashions. I loved the lunch and getting together with all my friends. Carissa Dueck (age 8) As our church family continues to grow, we’ve also felt an increasing need for organiz ing the women’s ministries and care coordi nation. We’ve already had a busy and exciting fall — sending out care packages, organizing ladies’ Bible studies, meal deliveries, baby showers and planning the upcoming women’s retreat. I rejoice in the Lord for these oppor tunities to share in serving and reaching out. Audrey Friesen
ed on blessings and answers to prayer on her tour to Portugal, Switzerland and Germany with the “One Accord” singing group. She also warmed our hearts by singing a few of the songs they did on tour. Renelda Bartel gave an interesting pictorial report on her study trip to Israel and Christian service in South Afri ca. May we be found faithful in doing God’s will on earth, as it is done in heaven. We appreciate the occasional visits of Reg, Kim and Charity Rempel to our worship serv ices, especially if Reg takes the opportunity to preach and share of their work with Deaf Ministries. Recent messages by our ministerial, “The One True God,” “God Only Wise,” and “God Unchanging,” have reminded us of the holy, awesome God we serve. Florence Loewen
Terry Loewen
Gerald Reimer
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Ryan Enns was pleased to be awarded first place for the boys' decorated bicycles, for his creative 'horse.'
YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD Calgary, Alta.: Every summer for two weeks in July something happens to the city of Calgary — it goes ‘western’ as the Calgary Stampede takes place. Employees everywhere don jeans, western shirts, boots and bandan nas. Pancake breakfasts take place every morning; there are fireworks every night. Each little community within the city docs some thing to celebrate, and Abbeydale was no ex ception. The call went out to participate in the local parade and pancake breakfast. And so the church family at Abbeydale Christian Fel lowship decided to participate wholeheartedly. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear as many of the children arrived at church to show off their decorated bicycles. Then adults, youth and children climbed onto the decorat ed float to portray ‘then’ and ‘now’ for our church. The past was portrayed through some of the unique clothing and the simple worship style that characterized Mennonites in the past. The present was portrayed exactly the way it is in our church — ordinary people praising God through chorus singing. Many
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FELLOWSHIP
J X-L_____________ * Jodee Reimer and Lorel Plett carry the ban ner for Abbeydale Christian Fellowship.
PAGE 8
others walked alongside the float and hand ed out friendly invitations to worship, with an explanation of our programs. The parade made its way to the community hall, where some of the church members helped serve at the community pancake breakfast before heading back to church for the worship service. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine be fore men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 6:14-16, NAS).
One thing can be said for sure — If there were residents of Abbeydale who were not aware of the church presence in their commu nity before, they now know of a group who is willing to get involved, have a lot of fun and have a message they are not afraid to share. May God help us as we live out this message wherever He places us. Lorraine Koop The Rest Haven Nursing Home of Steinbach is pleased to introduce ...
REST HAVEN MANOR a new, attractive and affordable non-profit Life-Lease housing project for those 55 years and over! 1 • unique life-lease concept requiring refundable tenant equity investments • ample amenity space, building and security features designed to support your retire ment lifestyle • fully appointed self-contained one- and two-bedroom units • full array of support services available from the attached nursing home • Spring '93 construction start Some government-subsidized units may be available to eligible tenants who cannot afford the life-lease units.
2
Maybe it would have been unsafe to hoist Ivy Gregory up on the float so we decorated her own 'float' and Bev Kavanagh helped power it.
Application and information packages available from the Rest Haven Nursing Home. 185 Friesen Ave. West in Steinbach, or by calling:
326-2206 Applications should be returned by November 13, 1992.
THE MESSENGER
YOUNG PEOPLE S RETREAT Kola, Man: This year the young people’s an nual camp retreat was held September 5-7. Instead of going to Camp Jubilee, which is where they’ve been going for the last several years, they went to Circle Square Ranch in Austin. The following Sunday, three of the young people shared some highlights of their weekend: Howdy, pardners! Our theme this year was western and the retreat was held at Circle Square Ranch. This was our first year at the Ranch and it was different from Camp Jubilee, but we still had chapel times and at least one highlight. At chapel time. Uncle Norm (Norman Koop) spoke to us on “Prayer.” During the four chapel times he spoke on “The Sovereignty of God,” “Methods of Prayer,” “Focus of Prayer” and “Lord, increase our faith.” For myself, when Uncle Norm talked about the sovereignty of God, it became more real to me. Sure, 1 knew that God is in control of everything and he wants the best for everyone, but now 1 have a picture in my mind when 1 think of sovereignty. He can see where 1 can’t and 1 can trust Him. It became more personal. On Saturday we had the opportunity to go horseback riding. 1 hadn’t gone before and 1 really wanted to. Boy, was it bumpy when the horse started trotting! The first time he trot ted, 1 felt as if 1 was in an automatic jumper and my feet felt as if they were going to go through the stirrups. But by the third or fourth time 1 knew what 1 was doing and thoroughly enjoyed it. To sum it up, I’d like to say that camp was wonderful, exciting and a great way to get to know my fellow young people. Suzanna Rempel
Camp was great! 1 think 1 can say it for the whole young people’s group - we ciU had a real ly great time! On the way there, we first stopped at MacDonald’s for lunch. Of course, that’s always a highlight! We have to stop at MacDonald’s! After that we went to the Spirit Sands in Carberry, where we went on a hike to the sand dunes; it was really beautiful. See ing God’s beautiful creation just makes us want to praise Him and thank Him for every thing He has done for us. After that we went to the camp. Through out the whole weekend we had different ac tivities and sports. A big relay, related to our western theme, took place on Sunday after noon. One of the things we had was a barrel race. One guy would crawl on the ground and someone would sit on top of him and then they’d do the banel racing. Another activity was milking balloons. That’s hard; 1 couldn’t do it! We also had a talent night. There w'ere many talents that 1 never knew about. On Friday night, Lyf Extreem, a group of guys from our church, sang for us. It was really good and very uplifting. We had a trail ride and even though 1 was inexperienced at rid ing a horse, it was lots of fun. Later, we en joyed a hayride. The food was really good too. The people OCTOBER 23, 1992
in charge of the camp made the food and also did the dishes for us, which was nice! The times with Norman Koop, our speak er, were really good as well. One of the things he encouraged us to do was to pray through the Scriptures. One thing he said that really stood out for me on the weekend was that we can’t win the world; we have to witness to just one person at a time. He encouraged us to pick one person this year, witness to him or her, and help this person to know the Lord. Thank you to all of you who thought of us and prayed for us. Thanks also to the execu tive, Adam and Nancy and Mr. and Mrs. Goertzen, for planning the weekend. It was really great! Wendy Friesen
1 really enjoyed camp this year too. 1 won’t share too many of the activities or how 1 en joyed them since 1 helped plan most of them. Naturally, I’d say they were great! Spiritual aspects: 1 really enjoyed Norman as a speaker. He had a lot of very practical advice to give and 1 think that’s one thing 1 real ly need at this point in my life. Probably the session on Sunday meant the most to me. It dealt with faith and obedience in our prayer life and how they go hand in hand. The pas sage he shared for that was Luke 17:5-10: The SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL
Portage la Prairie, Man.: In my last ar ticle to The Messenger 1 had a short report from our Sunday school superintendent, Myrna Buhr, on a new venture for the sum mer. She said, “We have only had two lessons but are sensing a real excitement as people come to Sunday school.” Following are some reports from the participants: 1 liked our Sunday school during the sum mer. 1 liked the crafts. The stories were good too. The people who were acting out the sto ry were sometimes funny! 1 got to act out once too. It was fun. My favourite Sunday was when we had about “The God Who Seeks.” The Bible verse was about “The Good Shepherd.’ — Lori Plett
In Sunday school over the summer months we had the opportunity of “Celebrating God’s Love” in a new and exciting way. In this busy and complicated world today we sometimes need to stop and reflect on God’s allencompassing love in a very simplistic and practical way. “Celebrating God’s Love” gave us that op portunity in a variety of ways through skits. Scripture reading and craft activities and challenged us to develop and share this love with those we met through the week. Since we all stayed together in one large class, we had the opportunity to share this love between families from the preschoolers to the seniors. We shared many laughs, discovered a mul titude of hidden talents both in acting and ar tistic ability, but most of all God’s great love was once again made very real to us, equip ping us to set forth in the fall season with a renewed joy to share this love with others. — Debbie Iverson
apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.’ He replied, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ’ “Be uprooted and planted in the sea and it will obey you.” ’Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ’ “Come along now and sit down to eat?" ’Would he not rather say, ’ “Pre pare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink”? ’Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ’ “We are unwor thy servants; we have only done our duty.” 1 could really apply that to my own life; so often 1 think it’s so great when I spend 10 or 15 minutes in prayer and 1 really expect God to be proud of me because 1 did this. It just really reminded me of how prayer is our duty as Christians; it’s not supposed to be some thing we do as an extra, but it’s supposed to be a daily part of our life. Our speaker also gave us devotional guides throughout the weekend that we used in our cabins. 1 think we all really benefitted from what he had to say. Darren Reimer Reporter: Florence Penner
Sunday school was exciting in our church this summer. We had some singing, a Bible lesson and an activity which we did in family groups. Everyone had a chance to get in volved. It was great having inter-generational lecuming. Instead of being split up into class es, everyone was together, and we were able to get to know one another better. Through the lessons, we all learned more about the different aspects of God’s love. — Robyn Goertzen
It was a unique experience to have three months of Sunday school classes in a com pletely different setting — all ages combined and with old and young involved. For the opening upstairs, someone read the assigned Bible lesson and, simultaneously, it was being dramatized, the actors having been solicited that morning. A good example is the Prodigal Son, which vividly depicted how he left home, the loose living and the return to his loving Father. After the opening we congregated upstairs — individual families to a table, plus visitors and/or seniors to complete the circle. The ac tivity for this lesson was making stained win dows — representing the Father’s great love, searching for the lost (all were absorbed in cut ting, colouring, pasting - interaction). In conclusion, one individucil in each group displayed the finished art work, explaining the interpretation. Well done! — Anne Klassen Lord, help us bring to mind each day The price of sin that Christ did pay. And may the blessings from above Remind us always of Your love.” — Daily Bread, D.J.D. — Catherine Epp
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I Commissioning service at the Rosenort Fel lowship Chapel for new deacon couples.
The young people's Denver group.
DEACON COUPLES COMMISSIONED Rosenort Fellowship (Man.): It was with some trepidation that we allowed 17 of our young people and six chaperons to leave for Denver during spring break. Being a long way from home in a different culture, far from the security of home, can be a risky venture. But God sometimes calls us to such risks, and we sent our children on their way. The results were well worth the effort and risk. The young people were exposed to the reality of a big city, its life, its attitude, it daily routine. They saw real poverty, real hopelessness, and real car ing. They will never be the same and we know the week impacted them for a lifetime. On May 24, our church was blessed when three new deacon couples, Harry and Audrey Brandt, Frank and Marianne Friesen and Herm and Eleanor Martens, were commis sioned for service. Each had appeared before the Conference Examination Committee and were commended to us for service. Harvey Plett, Conference Moderator, along with a church full of friends and visitors, officially ac knowledged that these couples would serve
Births KARLOWSKY — to Kirk and Rhonda Karlowsky of Brunkild, Man., a son, Ryan Michael, on Septem ber 30, 1992. KORNELSEN — to Brad and Colleen Komelsen of Rosenort, Man., a son, Anders Maclane, on June 30, 1992. NKKEL — to Paul and Londa Nikkei of Portage la Prairie, Man., a son, Colton Johnathon, on Septem ber 29, 1992. SIEMENS — to Keith and Geneva Siemens of Rocky Mountain House, Alta., a daughter, Shelby Rianne, on October 1, 1992. WOODS — to Allen and Sherryl Woods of Three Hills, Alta., a son, Matthew Allen, on September 25, 1992. FUNK — to Elwin and Tania Funk of Maryfield, Sask., twin sons, Dillon Reid and Justin Ty, on Au gust 29, 1992. SIEMENS — to Dan and Helen Siemens of Clair mont, Alta., twin daughters, Shana Renee and Danielle Terrice, on July 22, 1992. ESAU — to Lome and Shannon Esau of Winnipeg, Man., a son, Hayden Von, on July 17, 1992. BARKMAN — to Bill and Nettie Barkman of Stein bach, Man., a son, Adam Joseph, on October 3, 1992. PAGE 10
in the caring and leadership ministries of our church. We are blessed to have this calibre of leadership in our church. Summer is a time to enjoy God’s creation, and on June 7 our church service was held in La Barriere Park. The day started cloudy and cool but the rain held off and by noon it was quite comfortable. The afternoon was completed with games for the children and a fast-moving softball game for adults and young people. June 14 proved to be another day of bless ing when three of our young people, Reg, son of Art and Gladys Friesen; Ryan, son of Jer ry and Nancy Friesen; and Bonita, daughter of Reg and Marilyn Giesbrecht, were baptized. All three were welcomed into our fellowship and we pray God’s blessing on them as they continue their Christian walk together with us. From July 20-23, Ken Quiring, our youth pastor, along with a number of young people and adults, went to St. Jean to present a DVBS program for local residents. Attendance at regular sessions ran from 40-50 children
and adults, with a wrap-up concert and pro gram on Thursday night. This closing program included parents, as well as their children, and attendance swelled to between 80-90 people. All in all, the gospel was proclaimed, ministry was conducted, and friends were made. It was a good and rewarding experience for those who participated. For the second time, we changed the for mat of our summer Sunday services. Sunday school and church were combined, with groups of teachers taking responsibility for providing a portion of the service. This year’s theme was “The Fruit of the Spirit” and again we saw the creative talent of our teachers ex pressed in unique skits and presentations. We as a congregation were both blessed and challenged by the program. Michael Derksen
SITTLER — to Rick Sittier and Julene Fast Sittier of Elmira, Ont., a son, Thomas Paul, on October 6, 1992.
Weddings McDougall ■ KLASSEN: Douglas Hugh, son of Maurice and Shirley McDougall of B.C., was mar ried on September 12, 1992 to Christine Helen, daughter of Marvin and Helen Klassen of Portage la Prairie, Man. The wedding took place at the High way Tabernacle, with Karl Goertzen of Portage officiating. The couple is making their home in Whonnock, B.C. BRANDT - PLETT: Glenn, son of Wilmer and Rosella Brandt of Wawanesa, Man., and Bernice, daughter of Henry K. and the late Margaret Plett of Blumenort, Man., were married at the Blumenort E.M. Church on September 26,1992. Cliff Loewen of Blumenort officiated. The couple is residing in Blumenort. KEHLER - NEUFELD: Darren, son of Peter and Bettie Kehler of Blumenort, Man., and Sharon, daughter of John and Sarah Neufeld of Steinbach, Man., were married on August 22, 1992. The wed ding took place at the Blumenort EMC, with Dar ren Plett of Blumenort officiating. The couple is making their home in Steinbach.
Newest members of the Rosenort Fellow ship Chapel, with Pastor Michael Derksen. Left to right: Reg Friesen, Bonita Giesbrecht, Ryan Friesen.
I Walter Dueck preparing, for Mark Friesen, a meal contained in a garbage bag. To Mark and the audience’s surprise, the bag did in deed contain garbage carefully selected by Walter, who then ate it. It was a lesson on watching what we consume, particularly with our minds.
THE MESSENGER
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Revival We worshipped God at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Youth Outreach to the Destitute in Denver Denver was incredible! Within those moun tain limits, 30 Steinbach people left a part of themselves. As we stood on the EMC church parking lot in Steinbach at 5:00 in the morning on Au gust 14, we didn’t know what we were get ting ourselves into. We drove from 5:30 a.m. to 12 midnight to reach Grand Island, Nebras ka, where we stayed for the night at an Evan gelical Free Church. The next day was equally long; we drove all day (with some van trouble along the way) in order to reach the youth hostel in Estes Park, Colorado. Finally, we reached Colorado. We went up to Rocky Mountain National Park and mar velled at God’s creativity in constructing those massive mountains. We had a wonderful church service on the mountains, praising and worshipping. After some quick shopping, we headed to the Mile-high city. We arrived! We were eagerly welcomed at the First Mennonite Church in downtown Den ver. We retrieved our small mattresses and caught up on some much-needed sleep. Mon day started our week of work projects with DOOR: Denver Opportunity For Outreach and Reflection, an assocation with MCC. We were divided into six work teams. For the next five days we worked at a vari ety of places. We served supper to homeless people at the Catholic Worker soup kitchen, made lunch for men at the Salvation Army, played with homeless children at The Gather ing Place, played bingo with seniors, shovelled turkey manure for Habitat for Humanity, wa tered trees, painted houses, cleaned the church and much, much more. And, contrary to popular belief, we had a great time working! It’s amazing how easy
work becomes when you do it for those less fortunate. Working together for the Lord and with each other was a blast! As for our group, we were spiritually enlightened and grew in separably close. Seeing each other at the worst of times (6 a.m.), working together, eating together and having fun together brought us all very close. We had special sharing times and Bible studies, which helped bring us together. Even the problems that we ex perienced molded us together as a real family. What did we get out of the trip? Too much to ever imagine. God truly did His part in all
One of our crews filled in a trench at a Den ver housing project.
of our lives. We were exposed to harsh reali ty. We dealt with people who had nothing. We certainly came to appreciate everything we have. We had to rely on God for strength to get us through the week. And He did! We met a lot of wonderful people and were treated wonderfully. We will never forget our experience in Denver, and I praise God for al lowing me to go with such a wonderful group. Our God is an awesome God! Chrystie Kroeker Steinbach, Man.
SBC TRI-CONFERENCE LEADERSHIP SEMINAR Steinbach Bible College
March 11-13, 1993
Topic: “The Church and the Future’’ Speaker: Mr. Tom Sine, Seattle, Washington. Sine is a consultant and author. In his book Wild Hope he writes, “If we dont’t begin ... to anticipate both the new challenges and the new opportunities the 21st century brings us, we will quite literally be buried alive in the onrushing avalanche of change.” Target Group: Christian workers, students, ministers, deacons, and spouses. MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOWl
OCTOBER 23, 1992
It’s a pastor’s dream, a situation where all the people become completely involved in a revival, where they become commit ted enough to sign a document outlining a positive plan of action in response to the reading of the Word of God. We have a record of this in Nehemiah chapter ten. The Israelites had spent a week in read ing the Word, confession, celebration and worship. They responded with total aban donment to their new commitment. A convenant was written, signed by the leaders and embraced by the rest of the people. There are some key phrases in this chap ter that emphasize the fervency of this revival and indicate the reasons for its suc cess. “We promise” shows the seriousness of the decision by the people; they were treating it as a contract where there was no reneging. This was not a flippant, im pulsive promise, but one that developed as they heard the Word and worshipped the Lord. Second, the phrase, “we assume respon sibility,” indicates that they were taking the covenant personally and realized that they would be held accountable. As a group, they realized that any guilt lay nowhere else but had to be assumed very personally and dealt with very personally. In their promise to assume responsibility, they focussed es pecially on the house of God. They were very specific in agreeing to give money for the services, provide wood for the altar, bring the firstfruits of the crops to the tem ple, dedicate the firstborn to the Lord and contribute their tithe to the treasury. In fact, about 80 per cent of the text of the covenant describes this commitment to give of their material resources. Third, “As it is also written in the Law” provides the basis for the covenant. The revival that is a response to the preaching of the Word is one that can be genuine. It is when the Word is the anchor that the revival will be lasting and represent long term growth in the life of individuals. Many pastors long for this kind of whole hearted corporate response to the preach ing of the Scriptures. They pray for it. They wait for it. They’re waiting for you.
EMCup Hockey Tournament November 13, 14, 15
If interested, please contact Doug Friesen 257-1682
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From the Editor Worship: Getting Close to God FOLLOWING THE EMC ministerial meeting a few weeks ago, my thinking was stimulated to the study of worship. Although the theme of the meeting was “Theology of Joy,” wor ship was prominent as well. Worship is both something familiar and something mysterious and profound. What is worship? Worship is more an activity than an event. It is not the service we customarily have in our churches on Sunday mornings, although worship can and docs happen there. Simply put, worship means “giving worth to,” or placing a high value on something or someone. In that sense, a young man may “worship” his new sports car, the car of his drcams. Or a young lady may “worship” her fi ance, her pcrsoanl Prince Charming. The object of their “wor ship” occupies a prominent place in their thoughts and life. The object of Christian worship is God Himself. In worship we become preoccupied with God, so that other distractions, even our needs, fade as we commune with God. Jerry Pence says worship “is a divinc/human encounter in which God, taking the initiative, brings men and women into personal contact with Himself, prompting their responses of praise and service, and enabling them to live with hope in a fallen world” (The Preacher’s Magazine). In our thinking, worship is usually considered a congregational activity or event. And it is true that we gather together to wor ship God. But worship should be first of all a personal and pri vate activity. I, by myself, need to meet regularly with God, consider Him and respond to Him. At the second level, worship ought to be a family experience: husband with wife, parents with children. Parents have the responsibility to lead and train their children in worship. Chil dren are natural worshippers: Bible stories, watching the stars at night, or a walk in the woods can all be bridges to worship. At the third level is corporate or congregational worship. As the unified body of Christ, we commune with the Lord, lifting our hearts and voices in praise to Him. The components of the service ought to be planned and bathed in prayer to encourage and facilitate that sense of God’s presence. How we worship has a lot to do with our attitudes. There is a danger of being too flippant. In our efforts to make people com fortable with God, we emphasize the “buddy” concept. God is your friend, your pal, we say, which is not all wrong. We stress an easy access to God, symbolized by the veil in the temple be ing torn when Jesus Christ died. What we fail to mention is that the place we enter is still the “Holy of Holies,” the presence of a holy and awesome God. Another danger is that we become too secularized. Everything that is tangible, that can be touched or seen, becomes more valuable than the unseen. Worship becomes shallow and
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meaningless because it has little value in material terms. When Moses met God at the burning bush in the desert, he was instructed to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. In our worship we meet with the eternal God, and that commands our respect and reverence. However, we need not approach God in fear or terror, because an awareness of God’s love for us overcomes our dread of Him. Worship requires discipline and concentration. To consciously come into the presence of God, and to think only of Him and who He is, is not a simple thing. We are so easily distracted, our minds wander so quickly. But the calming, uplifting results of worshipping God are well worth the effort. Various aids can be used to focus our worship. The Bible is, of course, our primary resource. The Psalms, especially, provide patterns of worship. This became very significant to me during the worship sessions at a writers’ conference in Toronto a few years ago. Jane Hindlcy, without special lighting, costume or staging, simply but effectively recited passages of Scripture. We sensed that she was speaking to God and were drawn powerful ly with her into His presence. “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name," she began. “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my dis eases ...” (Psalm 103:1-3). 1 learned later that Jane had just come through a difficult battle with cancer. The experience obvi ously had drawn her closer to the Lord, enabling her to speak with such conviction. Songs and hymns are another aid to worship. Sometimes when 1 have trouble getting started in worship, 1 take the hymnbook and meditate on the words of one song. At other times, listening to a song on a tape or record helps my concentration. The Holy Spirit uses such means to focus my thinking. As 1 draw near to God, He draws near to me. Often we arc stirred into an encounter with God by means of a song in a particular setting. One of the most powerful ex periences for me came during the funeral of 19-ycar-old Doug, who had died suddenly and unexpectedly. At the service a group of his friends stood beside the coffin and began to sing, “Majesty, worship His majesty! Unto Jesus be glory, honour and praise ...” Instead of blaming God for the untimely death of their friend, these young people were offering praise to God in worship. They accepted His divine will and mysterious ways, trusting that in the end all will be well. Such worship experiences encourage us to maintain an ongo ing relationship with the Lord. They calm our inner turmoil and help us to better understand life and its events from His divine perspective. Menno Hamm
THE MESSENGER