January 2015
BE KILLING SIN OR SIN WILL KILL YOU
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in
you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry. On account of these the wrath of
God is coming. In these you too once
walked, when you were living in them. But
now you must put them all away: anger,
to encourage...to inspire...to inform...
BEACON
SAFE HARBOR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk
from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self
with its practices and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge
after the image of its creator. Here there is
not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:511).
The Apostle Paul exhorts us to set our
minds on things above and to remember
our identity in Christ if we want to become
like Christ. He exhorts us to “put to
death…what is earthly…” In the verses
above, he goes on to give us a general (not
exhaustive) list of what he is referring to as
“earthly.” Paul gives the strongest warning
to the Colossians (and to us) against these
sins, namely, “On account of these the
wrath of God is coming.” In other words,
an unchecked life of sin, a habitual life of sin
invites the wrath of God upon itself. As
one theologian has rightly said, habitual sinning is tantamount to “spiritual suicide.”
tells us though we have died with Christ and
have been raised with Him unto newness of
life, the old man still remains in us and seeks
to regain control of our lives. We must constantly be on our guard and fighting against
remaining sin. We are to “work out our
salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) and “be all the
more eager to make our calling and election
sure” (2 Peter 1:10) by putting to death the
old man so that the life of Christ might be
more clearly manifested in us. Praise be to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ for He has not left us to pursue
Christlikeness on our own and in our
strength. While verse 12 of Philippians 2
(and other passages like it) rightly urge us
to “work out our salvation with fear and
trembling,” verse 13 of the same chapter
reminds and encourages us that “it is God
who is at work in us both to will and to do
for His good pleasure.”
The call to pursue a Christ-like life demands
that we exercise utmost care and utter dependence on the Lord who alone is able to
supply us the spiritual resources that we
need to battle against sin in our lives. Praise
be to His Holy Name that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to
life and godliness, through the knowledge of
him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). We have the Holy
Spirit living within us and He will fight for
“Be killing sin, or it will kill you.” John Owen
us even as we fight with Him against the
“Be killing or it will be killing you,” John
flesh. As Paul writes in Galatians 5:16-17,
Owen writes in his book, The Mortification
we are to “walk by the Spirit, and you will
of Sin inspired by Romans 8:13 which
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the
reads, “For if you live according to the flesh
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and
you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to
the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,
death the deeds of the body, you will
for these are opposed to each other, to keep
live.” Even the quote attributed to Owen is
you from doing the things you want to do.”
borrowed from Luther’s preface to his commentary on Romans, and his friendly adWhile the battle against sin still rages, we
monition to his assistant Philip Melanchhave the confidence that in Christ our victothon. Owen and Luther lean on Paul who ry is sure for He has conquered the power
of sin through His sacrificial death on the cross for
us. Therefore, when we find ourselves to have fallen into
sin, we can run back to the Lord pleading for forgiveness
with a repentant heart with confidence not in ourselves, but
in the Lord Jesus Christ who is our “Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1).
Precious Pieces of the Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the
Romans:
This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while
not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy
himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the
soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too
much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes…
God judges what is in the depths of the heart. Therefore his
law also makes demands on the depths of the heart and
doesn't let the heart rest content in works; rather it punishes
as hypocrisy and lies all works done apart from the depths of
the heart. All human beings are called liars (Psalm 116), since
none of them keeps or can keep God's law from the depths
of the heart. Everyone finds inside himself an aversion to
good and a craving for evil. Where there is no free desire for
good, there the heart has not set itself on God's law. There
also sin is surely to be found and the deserved wrath of God,
whether a lot of good works and an honorable life appear
outwardly or not…
Outwardly you keep the law with works out of fear of punishment or love of gain. Likewise you do everything without
free desire and love of the law; you act out of aversion and
force. You'd rather act otherwise if the law didn't exist. It
follows, then, that you, in the depths of your heart, are an
enemy of the law. What do you mean, therefore, by teaching
another not to steal, when you, in the depths of your heart,
are a thief and would be one outwardly too, if you dared. (Of
course, outward work doesn't last long with such hypocrites.)
So then, you teach others but not yourself; you don't even
know what you are teaching. You've never understood the
law rightly. Furthermore, the law increases sin, as St. Paul
says in chapter 5. That is because a person becomes more
and more an enemy of the law the more it demands of him
what he can't possibly do…
In chapter 7 in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul portrays
himself as still a sinner, while in chapter 8 he says that, because of the incomplete gifts and because of the Spirit, there
is nothing damnable in those who are in Christ. Because our
flesh has not been killed, we are still sinners, but because we
believe in Christ and have the beginnings of the Spirit, God
so shows us his favor and mercy, that he neither notices nor
judges such sins. Rather he deals with us according to our
belief in Christ until sin is killed…
Faith is not that human illusion and dream that some people
think it is. When they hear and talk a lot about faith and yet
see that no moral improvement and no good works result
from it, they fall into error and say, "Faith is not enough. You
must do works if you want to be virtuous and get to heaven."
The result is that, when they hear the Gospel, they stumble
and make for themselves with their own powers a concept in
their hearts which says, "I believe." This concept they hold to
be true faith. But since it is a human fabrication and thought
and not an experience of the heart, it accomplishes nothing,
and there follows no improvement.
Faith is a work of God in us, which changes us and brings us
a new birth from God (cf. John 1). It kills the old Adam,
makes us completely different people in heart, mind, senses,
and all our powers, and brings the Holy Spirit with it. What a
living, creative, active powerful thing is faith! It is impossible
that faith ever stops doing good. Faith doesn't ask whether
good works are to be done, but, before it is asked, it has done
them. It is always active. Whoever doesn't do such works is
without faith; he gropes and searches about him for faith and
good works but doesn't know what faith or good works are.
Even so, he chatters on with a great many words about faith
and good works.
Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is
so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it.
This kind of trust in and knowledge of God's grace makes a
person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and
all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith.
Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without
coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer
everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown
him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from
faith as burning and shining from fire. Therefore be on guard
against your own false ideas and against the chatterers who
think they are clever enough to make judgments about faith
and good works but who are in reality the biggest fools. Ask
God to work faith in you; otherwise you will remain eternally
without faith, no matter what you try to do or fabricate…
The first duty of a preacher of the Gospel is, through his revealing of the law and of sin, to rebuke and to turn into sin
everything in life that does not have the Spirit and faith in
Christ as its base. Thereby he will lead people to a recognition of their miserable condition, and thus they will become
humble and yearn for help. This is what St Paul does. He
begins in chapter 1 by rebuking the gross sins and unbelief
which are in plain view, as were (and still are) the sins of the
pagans, who live without God’s grace. He says that, through
the Gospel, God is revealing his wrath from heaven upon all
mankind because of the godless and unjust lives they live.
SAFE HARBOR WEBSITE: If you would like to have a church related ministry, activity, or announcement placed on the church website
(www.safeharborpca.org), please sent the text and documents to: [email protected]. Begin the email subject line with "Safe Harbor"
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For, although they know and recognize day by day that
there is a God, yet human nature in itself, without grace, is
Pantry Items: Everything
so evil that it neither thanks nor honors God. This nature
blinds itself and continually falls into wickedness, even going so far as to commit idolatry and other horrible sins and
vices. It is unashamed of itself and leaves such things unpunished in others…
Safe Harbor has been reaching out to others locally for a
St. Paul shows how spirit and flesh struggle with each other long time in many different ways. The attached pictures are
in one person. He gives himself as an example, so that we from a recent day trip to thethChristian Community Center in
may learn how to kill sin in ourselves. He gives both spirit Baltimore, on December 20 . Jen Rommel organized this
and flesh the name "law," so that, just as it is in the nature trip which included food, games, and lots of fun was had by
of divine law to drive a person on and make demands of all who attended. Christian provided some lively entertainhim, so too the flesh drives and demands and rages against ment as usual and brought some his youth group.
the spirit and wants to have its own way. Likewise the spirit
drives and demands against the flesh and wants to have its
own way. This feud lasts in us for as long as we live, in one
person more, in another less, depending on whether spirit
or flesh is stronger. Yet the whole human being is both:
spirit and flesh. The human being fights with himself until
he becomes completely spiritual.
Our Haven Shelter opened up December 1st. Safe Harbor’s
first week (January 5th) started off great with some of Christian’s college youth group prepared the evening meal. They
made a Chinese dinner which was delicious. The week is
filled with volunteers from Safe Harbor preparing the meals,
covering a 6pm to 11:30 shift, or doing laundry. This is a
great way to get to know some of our church family by
In chapter 8, St. Paul comforts fighters such as these and working side by side at the shelter together. We will be covtells them that this flesh will not bring them condemnation. ering two more weeks this shelter season. So far the shelter
He goes on to show what the nature of flesh and spirit are. is averaging 3-5 people each night.
Spirit, he says, comes from Christ, who has given us his Ho- Bountiful Blessings is another way we reach out to others
ly Spirit; the Holy Spirit makes us spiritual and restrains the who have fallen on hard times by providing them with
flesh. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are God's children much needed household supplies, such as toilet paper cleanno matter how furiously sin may rage within us, so long as ers, soaps, paper towels and toothpaste. Stacie McGinnis is
we follow the Spirit and struggle against sin in order to kill the coordinator for this growing outreach.
it. Because nothing is so effective in deadening the flesh as
the cross and suffering, Paul comforts us in our suffering. The above mentioned local mission outreaches are just a
He says that the Spirit, [cf. previous note about the meaning few of the many that Faith with Feet is part of, by contribof "spirit."] love and all creatures will stand by us; the Spirit uting to helping those in need. If you would like to get inin us groans and all creatures long with us that we be freed volved in this ministry or attend the next meeting, contact
from the flesh and from sin. Thus we see that these three Sandy Wiscott or the church office.
chapters, 6, 7 and 8, all deal with the one work of faith,
which is to kill the old Adam and to constrain the flesh.
Maryland RUF requests by Chris Garriott
We find in this letter, then, the richest possible teaching
about what a Christian should know: the meaning of law,
Gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, justice, Christ, God,
good works, love, hope and the cross. We learn how we are
to act toward everyone, toward the virtuous and sinful, toward the strong and the weak, friend and foe, and toward
ourselves. Paul bases everything firmly on Scripture and
proves his points with examples from his own experience
and from the Prophets, so that nothing more could be desired. Therefore it seems that St. Paul, in writing this letter,
wanted to compose a summary of the whole of Christian
and evangelical teaching which would also be an introduction to the whole Old Testament. Without doubt, whoever
takes this letter to heart possesses the light and power of the
Old Testament. Therefore each and every Christian should
make this letter the habitual and constant object of his
study. God grant us his grace to do so. Amen.
Praise and prayer for a Maryland RUF couple (Adam &
Nora Smith) whom I had the privilege to officiate their
wedding this past weekend in Tennessee. Adam is stationed in the Navy in Norfolk and Nora will finish up
her last semester in spring and commute back and forth
each weekend. Pray for their adjustment to married life.
Praise for a good semester of outreach to freshman and
many new students connecting to our ministry. Pray for
new small group leaders and leadership potential. Please
pray for my intern Billy Jacobson as he seeks to raise
monthly support so he can return to campus and continue to work with me. Pray for our RUF mission trip to St.
Louis 1/10--16 working with New City Fellowship
(PCA), serving urban poor and the needs of the city with
this wonderful church. Please continue to pray for my
health as I navigate diet with celiac and Crohn's. Thankful for your prayers!
assigned to this task had experience in this particular
Sweat poured down my face as I trudged through the area either. We would lay down two or three rows of
what looked like perfectly acceptable bricks to us,
calf-deep muck. Most of it was mud well laced with
pig poop. A beam of steel rebar and concrete weigh- and then our contact’s assistant would appear out of
ing a hundred pounds pressed into the muscles along nowhere, lay a critical eye on what we had done, tell
my shoulders and neck. The jagged stone had rubbed us to do it again, and then disappear. He earned the
title of the “Guatemalan Ninja”.
me raw in more than a few places but there were
many more to carry, and the storm was moving in
In addition to the digging out of the path and the laying of brick on the path, there was the ever enjoyable
quickly.
task of transporting the bricks to where we were
There was still much work to be done.
working. The bricks were about a hundred yards
As I looked forward to see how the girls were faring down this muddy little hill and stacked up against the
with their burden I hit a pocket that enveloped almost side of the hill in an area we called the ”Pit”. Workmy entire leg. I instinctively pulled my leg out, for
ing in the “Pit” was a three-person job. One person in
fear of it sinking further underground, and the sodden the “Pit” carefully choosing which bricks to pass up
earth sucked the shoe off my foot.
so as to ensure that the right ones were taken so the
whole path didn’t collapse in on itself, another person
With a sigh and some not-missionary-appropriate
on the path to catch the brick and take it to the top of
language, I dropped the piling to the mud and
the hill, and yet another person to receive the brick
reached shoulder-deep into the mud to retrieve my
shoe. As my cheek almost touched the awful ground I and pass it to the people forming a chain of hands
down the road to the jobsite. It was wet, dirty, hot,
wondered silently to myself whether I was going to
and pretty unpleasant. But at the end of that week, we
make it past the first month.
had finished the path and even got to see how well it
When we got to Guatemala we were told that the con- drained the water away during a thunderstorm. We
tact we would be working with would be having us
were so excited! A wave of accomplishment and celework at a school doing some construction. We
bration washed over us. Not only because we finished
thought that there would be some light construction
the task given to us, but we wouldn’t have to look at
work and then possibly playing with kids. In fact, that that stinking path again. No more bricks and no more
is pretty much what the first day looked like. We
mud.
went and met our contact and his assistant, toured the
school, met the students and teachers, and then played Again. We were wrong.
games with the kids on their lunch break. I thought
Our next task took us to the future youth camp that
that if this is what the next few weeks were going to our contact wanted to build so that the children in the
look like, this month was going to be pretty easy.
area would have a safe environment to have fun and
We were quite wrong; That is not what the next few learn about the Bible. The truck dropped us off on the
side of the road, and we were told we would have to
weeks looked like.
walk to the rest of the way to the camp. The camp
The first week involved making the road entering the was about a quarter-mile walk through the nastiest,
school wider. The roads in the towns of Guatemala
deepest, stickiest, most loathsome thick mud that I
are all individually placed bricks that weigh around
have ever seen in my life. On top of that, our walking
20lbs apiece. We had to dig out the edges of the road path was also the local pig’s toilet.
and then level it flat before placing the bricks and
Once we got to the camp, all that we found were the
then making sure they were also flat or curved at a
certain angle to direct the flow of rainwater, depend- ruins of what was an old building, that was it. Apparing on what part of the road we were currently work- ently we were starting from scratch. Our job this
week was to help build a fence around the campsite. I
ing on.
don’t have much experience putting in fences but I
I’m not a mason or a bricklayer. I’ve had many jobs did install signs for a while when I was younger, so I
in my life, but neither of those particular professions knew the concept was essentially the same. Dig hole,
was in my repertoire. None of the people on the teams put post in hole, hole straight, fill in hold, hole and
Carrying Stones in the Mud—Luke Geldmacher
finished. This was what I thought we were going to
do, and I was alright with that. However, I did not
account for how they wanted the fence done.
loved me.
That was a seed of learning that God planted in my
heart that month that took a long time to grow and
First, because the country is so wet and wood was not get harvested. I couldn’t do it all by myself. And as
widely available, we would not be using wooden
much as I loved to take care of others by helping
posts but cement and rebar. These posts were bethem, I was depriving them of the opportunity to
tween six and ten-feet long and weighed at least 100 bless me by helping me. I was wringing myself dry
pounds each. We needed a lot of these posts; and
trying to do things to get people to like me when realsince the mud I previously mentioned was so thick,
ly they liked me already because of who I was, not
we would need to pick them up from the side of the because of what I did for them. I was so used to doing things for people it became an unhealthy pattern
road and walk them to the camp.
On top of that, they had larger posts they wanted put of behavior that left me tired and bitter about a lot of
into the ground to further steady and secure the fence. things. Thank God that’s not the case anymore. I still
These main posts were eight to twelve-feet long and love to help people, and I still love to do things for
weighed over 500 pounds each. It took us forever to them, but I’ve learned a few important lessons since
transport these massive posts. We usually had a team that first month:
of six people tie ropes around the main post and pull/
If you are doing something to win someone’s appush it to where we needed it in bursts of frantic
proval and then continuing to do things for
screaming and grunting. From the outside, it was
them to maintain that approval, you probably
probably hilarious to watch, but laughing tended to
shouldn’t desire that approval anyway. You
should only be looking for affirmation from
be the last thing on our minds.
God and not putting the burden of your selfThis went on all week. Digging holes in the mud to
worth on someone else’s shoulders.
place these massive posts and then occasionally havIt’s okay to say “No”. If you don’t want to do
ing the Guatemalan Ninja tell us we did it incorrectly
something, then don’t do it. If you do someand having us remove the post, re-dig the hole, and
thing for someone that is a sacrifice on your
start over. I don’t know how many cuts, scrapes,
part, then do it because you love them, not to
bruises, and other assorted injuries we incurred over
get anything in return or to get some kind of
that week. All I know is that I went home every night
point on the metaphysical scoreboard. If
tired, dirty, and sore and woke up every morning
someone gets offended that you don’t want to
tired, dirty, and sore. I was miserable most of the
do something, then that is something that they
time. I wasn’t even sure that I could finish up the first
need to work out; not you.
month, much less do ten more months.
Let people love you well. I love to help people to
I didn’t realize it at the time, but God was teaching
show them how much I care about them, but
me a lesson about relying too much on myself. I was
it’s just as important to let them love you well
stubborn about getting help from other people. I didby allowing them to do things for you. Don’t
n’t let people help me carry things, bandage me up,
keep track of where you stand in the favor
or assist me in any other way. I struggled and strugdepartment; just love each other well and it
gled to be strong and do as much heavy lifting; as I
won’t matter in the end.
could because that was what I knew and that was
I am not God. I can’t do everything. There are
where I got a lot of my personal affirmation. I was
limits to my strength, my patience, my intellithe strong man; and if I couldn’t do that, then what
gence, etc. Ask for help; from your friends,
was I?
your family, your brothers and sisters in
Christ, and most importantly from God. AlThank God the people around me were so patient and
ways remember Philippians 4:13 – I can do
loving with me that first month. I know that I was
all things through He who strengthens me.
surly and irritable, and when they tried to help me, I
That’s through Him, not through ourselves.
refused out of sheer stubbornness.
But they persisted in trying to help me because they
Looking back I had a lot more fun than when I was actually present in that month. We had lots of laughs
over the ridiculous things we were going through, we got to cut down trees with machetes, and we smashed
big rocks with sledgehammers. But most importantly, we got to go through this time of trial and tribulation
as a family. And we grew a lot closer as a result of it.
In every challenge, there is an opportunity.
To read more of Luke’s blogs, or to follow him on his apprenticeship with Adventures in Missions, please go
to his blog lukegeldmacher.theworldrace.org or email him for more information at [email protected].
NEWS FROM MEANGUERA….
Hi Everyone!
I hope you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I really miss it here. It is strange to have a day pass where no one here
does anything differently and yet I know my family and friends in the States are all celebrating.
We would like to thank you all for your donations for the Christmas baskets and meal. We are still about $20 short for
each basket of our $40 goal, so we appreciate all that has been coming in. If you are still interested in helping with
Christmas baskets, you can send checks to: Little Hands of Hope, Inc. P.O. Box 92, Riva, MD 21140 and just note
"Christmas" in the memo. You can also donate online: www.littlehandsofhope.org. Some people have asked, so I want
to make sure you all know that we are a registered 501(c)3 in the US and your donations are tax-deductible.
This month, we had a family come to visit with some brand new
items for our baskets! We are very thankful to them and to the
people who donated the items. Our visitors also gave us a jump
start by beginning the basket making process which truly takes a
long time and so we are grateful! The celebration for the kids is
scheduled for December 12th and we have a group of volunteers
called King's Castle coming to put on a bit of a show for the families. Please pray for this to be a time where Christ's love is clearly seen and felt. The children are already excited and keep asking
about the baskets.
Starting to fill the many baskets!
In other exciting news, we were able to purchased a used car!
This purchase is such a relief for me as the pickup that we have
been using is quite old and is difficult to drive. We can fit more
children in our new vehicle which makes our trips to the doctor
with our sick ones a lot easier! This machine can also climb these
mountains without much of a sweat. It is so much easier to drive
and has already made our life much more pleasant.
This year Lorena, Kenyi, Verenisse, Junior, and Josue graduated from kindergarten and Karen graduated from 9th
grade and will go on to high school. We are so excited for Karen to be continuing her education. It is a struggle for
children her age to go on to high school. The school in Meanguera always makes a big deal about graduation even for
kindergarten. There was a church service (yes, really!) and then a ceremony at the school. I felt special to be invited as
a guest of honor and help hand out diplomas during the ceremony. Unfortunately, Matia had to go to his own class that
day and was not able to be there. Please pray with us for the future of these little ones.
The church service, Dayana on the left escorting her cousin
Junior with his niece Kimberly.
and Tatiana on the right.
Karen and her Uncle Wil
I'm second from the end on the right at the table of honor, trying to
sing the long Salvadoran national anthem!
As usual, this year has been filled with lots of activity and there is lots to tell, but we will keep in touch. For now, if
you would like to try to meet with us or would like for us to share with a group of your friends when we are back in the
States, let us know. We will be there end of December to end of January. Please always keep us in your prayers as they
are the engine that keeps us running. Thank you so much for your love and support - no way we could do this without
you! Love, Becca
A percentage of your purchase made at Amazon can now go to Little Hands of Hope! Go
to www.littlehandsofhope.org and click on the Shop At Amazon link. A percentage of purchases made from this link
will go to help children in El Salvador at no additional cost to you Thank you for helping to change lives in El Salvador!
THE HAMELRYCKS
IN ZAMBIA
We’ve had a whirlwind of a few months! As most of you know, our oldest daughter, Gabrielle, married Jared Nies this
summer! It was such a blessing to us how family and friends rallied and made this beautiful wedding happen! The week
before the wedding Paul asked me to schedule him an appointment with the Urologist to check out a lump that he has
had for quite some time but that we were told by a Zambian doctor to not worry about. The Urologist sent him for an
ultra sound and said he needed surgery that week! So the Thursday before the wedding Paul had surgery! He missed
some of the festivities but he managed the most important thing, which was to walk Gabrielle down the aisle! We found
out a week after the wedding that it was indeed cancer. The day before we were to fly back to Zambia he had a cat scan
done to check if the cancer had spread anywhere else. It had not and so he was allowed to come back. He was very sick
from the barium and still in quite a lot of pain from the surgery so there was still some questions about whether or not
he could fly. Sitting was the most difficult thing and he was going to have to sit upright for…well, many hours…like 26
hrs not to mention long walks through the airports. It was a bit hectic but he made it! When we got back we slept and
slept…Paul did 12 hrs straight!
We jumped right into the huge Missions Conference 750+ people from all over the world. The whole family got a vicious stomach virus during that time and some aren’t over it still. It really knocked us down but we still managed to be
involved a bit during conference. Cole did some signing for the deaf who were at conference. We made new friends
from all over the globe and reunited with old ones!
Since Conference, we have been slowly trying to get back into our routine but with Mama being in bed with a bad
stomach virus for 6 days, straight it’s been slow going! Paul is preaching this month at Grace Church and at Covenant
Church although we had to cancel Covenant Church altogether because both families that run the church were too ill.
As some of you know, we are not sure where we are going to be living and ministering because the base where we live
might be sold. We want to evangelize the community and invite them to church but the problem is if we have to move
we would need to build a new church within walking distance of this community. We don’t want to grow the church
and then not have a church for the people. We really want to stay exactly where we are. It has been a source of uncertainty for us and would appreciate prayers for a solution.
Ann Rachel has taken on two more boys to homeschool. They are white Zimbabweans and come from a broken, nonChristian home. Their parents do not have enough money to send them to school and their step mother has a newborn
and another baby and her attempts to homeschool have been unsuccessful. The boys haven’t been in school for over a
year so as you can imagine it’s a bigger ministry than just teaching them math. Please pray for patience and endurance
for Ann Rachel and that this family may come to know the Lord.
We still have Dora, the Zambian young lady who is hoping to be a missionary in India, living with us as we guide and
disciple her through this process. The cultural differences and other differences have proved to make this a bigger challenge than first anticipated. Please pray for her heart and ours as we finish this. Both parties really want this to be a success but it is not easy. It has definitely been a learning process on both sides.
We have a short termer here for 3 months helping with different ministries like Hope Club and teaching at the Deaf
House but one of the things we have appreciated the most is her help in teaching writing to our children. If anyone else
is interested in helping with this after she leaves it would be greatly appreciated. It could be for any amount of time!
Feature child for this newsletter: Cole, 18, will need to leave us in May 2015 because he will be too old to stay on
Paul’s work permit. Cole is trying to make some decisions as to what he wants to do, school, work, where to live.
Please pray for him and us as we help guide him in this next step of his life. His interests lie in jewelry making, geology, government and running. He REALLY does not want to live where it is cold. Even in the Zambian heat he wears
long pants and flannel shirts but never shoes!
Paul is still preaching at two churches at times and managing the rentals, managing money for many ministry groups
(about 20). We are teaching an evangelism class on Monday nights, a general Bible Study class on Wednesday nights,
an elders’ training course on Saturdays. He then teaches a variety of courses throughout the year. He also is helping
Ann Rachel by teaching science, American government and Bible to our own children.
I know the economy is bad and jobs are scarce so every time we receive a support check we are filled with gratitude.
Our support varies every month so we really live by faith. This has really helped us have an understanding of what it
means to be dependent on the Lord. We honestly cherish your prayers. The encouragement and prayers we receive are
really the backbone to what we do here. In other words, we couldn’t do it without your help!
Until the rains come in mid-November, we have a special prayer request. Our bore hole (well) needs to last two more
months when the rains come. But now in mid-September, we are having pressure problems from our well because of the
low water table.
Paul & Ann Rachel
Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship—Hamelrycks
http://www.pefministry.org/Site/Hamelryck.html
100 5th St. Suite 330, Bristol, TN 37620 - 1-800-CALL-PEF
I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!!!!!!!
An old Christian tradition for New Years is a resolution
of good things. Maybe it is a commitment to read the Bible a little more faithfully or have a more structured time of
prayer or maybe it is to help your neighbor whoever he or she maybe. Don’t make an impossible commitment that is
not realistic. But think about what you can really do and then stick with it. Encourage others to join you and make
2015 a great year for “Doing the next right thing!”
We are making a transition in April next year to Bristol, TN. I have accepted a position as Chief Administration Officer
at PEF. We have missionaries all over the world and all over America doing many different works for the Kingdom.
Please join me for 2015 and partner with me as we labor to spread His Kingdom in a holistic and exciting way. This is
the church that we will be a part of in Bristol. We are super excited about this wonderful church family: Eastern
Heights Presbyterian Church http://www.ehpc.net/, EHPC, 431 Old Jonesboro Road, Bristol, TN 37620 – 423968-7135 Please pass this note around to your friends, Bible studies and family that would like to be a part of our ministry team.
Paul Hamelryck Zambian Num : 026-097-272-1935
[email protected]
6. Pray they will know when to push away from the
crowds to pray.
Ministry is time-consuming, and needs are ever before us.
Nevertheless, leaders must have time alone with God to be
1. Pray they will keep their eyes on God.
King Jehoshaphat faced three combined enemy armies, renewed for the work – just as Jesus did.
and he did not know what to do except to lock his eyes “But the news about Him spread even more, and large
crowds would come together.
on God. That’s the answer any time we have no clue
about next steps.
7. Pray they will walk worthy of their calling.
“For we are powerless before this vast number that comes If we pray more for church leaders today, it’s likely fewer
to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look will fall tomorrow. We must pray they walk in obedience
and bear fruit, just as Paul prayed for the Colossian believto You.” (2 Chron. 20:12, HCSB)
ers:
2. Pray they will not take a step apart from God’s lead- “we haven’t stopped praying for you . . . so that you may
Nine Ways to Pray for Church
Chuck Lawless
Leaders,
ing.
Moses prayed this prayer when God would send only an
angel to lead His people after their fiasco with the golden
calf. He would rather the people not start the journey if
God Himself were not leading them.
“If Your presence does not go,” Moses responded to Him,
“don’t make us go up from here.” (Exod. 33:15)
walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in
every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” (Col.
1:9-10)
8. Pray they will speak the gospel boldly. Paul wr ote
from a prison cell – his punishment for preaching the Word
– but still he sought prayer support to continue his evangelizing. If Paul needed such prayer, surely church leaders do
today.
3. Pray they will beware of relying on their own
“Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me
strength.
when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the
David, who knew the Lord is the one who fights for him (1 mystery of the gospel.” (Eph. 6:19)
Sam. 17:47), trusted in his own might when he took a census of the Hebrew armies. Recognizing his sin, he prayed a
9. Pray they will finish well.
prayer most leaders need to pray at some point:
Those church leaders who finish well PLAN to do so; that
“I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, beis, they choose from the beginning to stand against the
cause I’ve been very foolish, please take away Your servdevil and glorify God. Pray that your church leaders can
ant’s guilt.” (2 Sam 24:10)
one day echo these words of the Apostle Paul:
4. Pray they will be wise in leading God’s people.
When Solomon might have asked for much more, he instead asked God to give him a “listening heart” as he governed the people of God. All of us who lead congregations
need this wisdom.
”So give Y our servant an obedient heart to judge Y our
people and to discern between good and evil. For who is
able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kgs. 3:9)
5. Pray they will weep over the sin and failures of
God’s people.
In my experience, the best shepherds are those who genuinely grieve the spiritual brokenness of the people they
lead. Like Nehemiah when he heard about the damaged
walls of Jerusalem, they are themselves broken when they
see the results of spiritual decline.
“When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I
mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before
the God of heaven.” (Neh. 1:4)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I
have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7).
Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on
both Twitter and Facebook
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Pageant Kids Outreach
Thursday, December 18th.
The kids from the Christmas pageant took their show “on the road”, and performed the songs
for the residents of Heart Fields assisted living in Easton. We did not perform the whole
play, but with a reading between each song, telling the story, it helped bring the songs and
message to life for them. Doug Tribull , visitation leader, came along as well as lots parents.
This is one of two visits the pageant kids and Kids4Christ choir do each year.