MainKids Camp Out 2016: Part 2

By Dolores Rader, Minister to Children

Camp Out is coming to a close and we are filled with sadness to leave our
friends and this beautiful, beautiful place! It has been such an amazing
camp filled with God’s presence at every turn. Here are a few highlights
from me and then highlights from the boys!

Since worship is our central theme to Camp Out, we have one worship
service each day we are here. On Tuesday, Rachel Moore was our preacher
for our midday service and the girls lead in every aspect of the service
from tolling the hour to singing “Little Lamb” as the offertory anthem to
praying, reading scripture, and ushering. On Wednesday, Suzann Herrmann
and the boys led the evening service at the water. Suzann preached on
looking up and finding God wherever we are. The boys sang Amazing Grace
and ended the service with a joyful “I’ll Fly Away”. As is our tradition,
on the morning we leave, we will have our final Camp Out worship service
outside at the giant cross here at Artesian Lakes. Anna Rader is our
preacher and the camp counselors lead in worship. All of our worship was
based in Psalm 92 this year.

We played at the playground, played capture the flag, hiked, swam, flew
down the slides into the lake, and shopped at the gift shop for candy and
souvenirs. In between all of the fun, we talked about and practiced
different disciplines for personal worship. Amanda Villasenor talked to
us about what the Bible says about personal time with the Lord and how
she practices journaling. We made our own journals and journaled
throughout camp. Emily Westerburg talked to us about the importance of
devotion time and how she and Mr. Trey do this together and separately.
We also talked about ways to ask for prayer from our friends and ways we
can pray when we can’t find the words and when we only want to share our
thoughts with God. We made teeny, tiny prayer boxes, lit candles, and
prayed for each other.

And now highlights from the boys:

I loved everything about this camp. My favorite parts though were playing
with my friends, swimming, free time, and seeing wildlife. –TrevorMcLaughlin

I love camp because we can have fun. My favorite part in camp is the
slides and seeing wildlife. -Ulysses Paredes

I liked naming the wildlife. That is my favorite thing. -Cody Sawyer

I love swimming with my friends and spending time with my friends. For
swimming, I love the slide! -William Fowler

My favorite thing here to do is Circle Time and free time. -Timothy Kutz

Quiet time is my favorite time at camp. -Marco Campos

My favorite part about MainKids Camp Out is hanging out with my church
friends. I love playing tag, swim, and do a bunch of other stuff. -Lee
Fowler

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MainKids Camp Out 2016

By Dolores Rader, Minister to Children

Our fourth and fifth graders are at a point in their lives when they are ready to exercise their gifts of leadership and to dig deeper into the practices of corporate and personal worship. Camp Out at Artesian Lakes is the perfect place to safely and boldly lean into these two ideas. Below is a sentence or two from each of the 9 4^th and 5^th grade girls on what their favorite aspect of Camp Out is, but before you read on to their favorites, let me briefly share some of my favorites.

I love that we bring high school youth to serve as the perfect role models to the children in how we lead with a servant’s heart. They work REALLY hard and at the same time swim and play games establishing relationships to ease the transition to the Youth Group, sing songs around a campfire introducing them to Youth music and traditions, and sit side by side in worship praising and praying together.

One of my other favorite elements of Camp Out is our tradition of “Circle Time”. Every child, youth and adult gets the opportunity to sit in the middle of a big circle surrounded by all the rest of us, where we each, one by one, sisters and brothers, boys and girls, best friends and new friends, offer a sincere blessing which begins “What I like about you is…”. It is a beautiful gift of affirmation to receive and a empowering gift to give. This tradition is life giving and life transforming.

I could on and on about all of my other aspects of Camp Out, but for now hear straight from the kids and counselors themselves…

 

My fav part of camp is riding the horses. It’s fun. #horses

Gillian Tinsley

I love to ride things mainly horses, and Lily G. Hot coco in my mouth is the best! J Playing games in circle time is great!

Isabella Campos

During camp, everyone has a secret helper. Their secret helper is extra nice to them and pushes them in the right direction.

Elaina Mays

The absolute best thing about camp out is the opportunity to watch each and every child be authentically and completely themselves! We have the BEST kids!!

Amanda Villasenor

I love the outside space at Artesian Lakes. Our house is huge, and I love how big our living room is. #lake

Lily Gribble

I loved the pool another favorite is the slide and finally the store the best of all the three!

Kiran Harper

One thing that I love about Camp Out is swimming. I also love the Gratitude Cafe. I also love circle time.

Lily Durden

The absolute best part of camp is quiet time when all my friends come in my room and we have a snack party and talk. It is nice being new to the church and getting to know everybody. I love circle time a lot. I also enjoy swimming.

Jessie Horton

One thing I like so far in camp is hanging with my friends. Another thing I like about camp so far is Gratitude Café. The last thing I like so far in camp is the swimming and the alligators.

Kayden Nickel

 

One of the many things I love about Main Kids Camp Out is Gratitude Café. First thing in the morning, everybody in the house gathers to make crazy drinks – topped with sprinkles and whipped cream, and talk about the many blessings for which we are grateful. Gratitude Café allows us to really reflect on the joys in our life, from tangible objects to our friendships and opportunities. This daily morning ritual fills our hearts with thanksgiving and prepares us for the day.

Anna Rader

My favorite things about Camp Out are:

-Swimming in the lake

-Circle time outside

-Free time

Rachel Kee

My favorite thing about Camp Out every summer is watching the development of every child’s leadership skills! I have especially loved so far this week seeing both the fourth and fifth graders be and grow into incredibly mature and thoughtful members of our church family, and I am so excited for the future of the youth group and the church in the hands of such open-minded and knowledgeable Christians. The respect and care for which each and every child treats their peers and counselors and their unrelenting curiosity and joy has made Camp Out this summer an unparalleled experience!

Elysa Tulek

Peru Mission Trip Summer 2016 Day 3

By Isabella Baar-Hill

As a member of the music and dance team on the mission trip to Peru, I teach the kids songs and dances to perform for their parents and friends at the end of the week. Breaking through the language barrier, we learned specific Spanish words that are often used in teaching music and dance. During our second full day in Peru at OSA, we presented the children with the theme of Cultural Exchange; we worked from American & Texan perspectives so the kids got a taste of our culture. During dance, we played many rounds of musical chairs (a game I’ve quickly learned they LOVE). We only played English music because that’s what we know and brought with us. While others led the game, I played and stopped the music, watching the kids from the side lines. I began to notice that the kids were quietly singing and humming along to our English songs, words they couldn’t have known. I realized these kids were subconsciously, and joyfully learning our culture in ways we had not planned.During the music classes, Carey took time to teach and translate words we could use in common enabling us to bond with them in a unique way. I was reminded of how excited the kids were two years ago when I came when they would ask how to say things in English and I’d attempt to teach them. This was a new and eye opening experience because I was accustomed to being their student, struggling to learn Spanish. Their willingness to overcome our foreign language and pronunciations with attitudes of joy is a gift I will carry home with me. Their openness to a new culture despite the struggle is inspiring. Every moment I spend with these kids who show such eagerness to learn despite failure, makes me strive more and more to be like them.

Isabella Baar-Hill completed her Junior Year at Houston Christian High School. She is the daughter of J Hill and Hillevi Baar.

How Can I Find God…Reflections by Greg Funderburk

One of my favorite things to do on summer vacation used to be hitting an amusement park. I loved the roller coasters that looped and corkscrewed and turned me upside down. The forces and the the velocity-charged changes in perspective was the attraction. However, my age and the accompanying fact that the function of my inner ear balance mechanism is apparently fossilizing keeps me from riding these coasters 5 or 6 times in a row like I used to growing up.

Nevertheless, I do still enjoy being turned upside down by a writer, theologian, dramatist, or artist who dramatically changes my perspective. As together we read through our summer congregational book, How Can I Find God, I wanted to point out the perspective-changing offering of Stanley Hauerwas which appears roughly half way through the book, on page 75 and 76. Hauerwas, is a Christian ethicist, author, and professor at the Divinity School of Duke University where our own Amy Grizzle-Kane studied with him. He turns the book’s central question around writing that “God is not easily found because we cannot ‘find’ that which is so near to us as our next breath…”

He asks if perhaps the better question therefore is, “What do I do now that God has found me?”

He goes on to teach that one can fully discover that God has already found them by seeking out a person who is an adept follower of Christ, writing that such apprenticeships are readily available by simply going and getting involved at a local church. So, even as you are away this summer, stay close to your church home and your co-followers of Christ. And if you are nearby this summer,  come to church, where you will discover how near God already is as you worship each Sunday. As Professor Hauerwas puts it, “…nothing can be more important than simply turning up and placing one’s self amidst people who are praying to and praising the One know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

Stay Close.

Holy Week 2014 – Devotion 4 – Annas

Jesus answered Annas, “Why do you ask me these questions?  Ask those witnesses who actually heard what I said to them.  They know what I said.” – John 18:21

In the early 1870s, Lawrence Murphy was the “boss” of Lincoln County, New Mexico.  Murphy owned the only bank and general store in the area.  Local residents despised Murphy, who charged excessive prices.  An enterprising English businessman, John Tunstall, opened a rival store in 1876.  Murphy, however, moved quickly to eliminate Tunstall as a threat to Murphy’s monopoly. On February 18, 1878, Tunstall was shot and killed.  The assassins were Murphy employees.  Tunstall’s death ignited the Lincoln County War, a series of bloody battles between Murphy’s gunmen and the Regulators, a group of former Tunstall employees that included William Bonney — “Billy the Kid.”

Annas was the Lawrence Murphy of his day.  He had formerly been the Jewish high priest, but the Romans had deposed him for carrying out illegal capital sentences.  Even so, the job remained in Annas’s family:  the new high priest was Annas’s son-in-law, Caiaphas.  And while Annas himself was no longer the high priest, he remained the “boss” of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, largely because he controlled the Temple markets.  When Jesus booted the moneychangers out of the Temple, Jesus’s actions hit Annas squarely in the pocketbook.  So, after Annas learned of Jesus’s arrest, Annas told the authorities, “Bring him to me.”

In the United States, a criminal defendant may invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions that might incriminate him.  Jewish law is a little different.  Under Jewish law, a prosecutor may not even ask a question that could incriminate a criminal defendant.  Annas, as the former high priest, was certainly aware of the requirements of Jewish law.  Yet, he did exactly what Jewish law forbids:  he asked Jesus to incriminate himself and his disciples.  Jesus reminded Annas of the requirements of Jewish law, effectively telling Annas:  “If you really want to know the truth, then go find witnesses.  You are not entitled to cross-examine me.”

We all must choose where we will store our treasures.  Annas and Lawrence Murphy chose to build for themselves empires on earth, seeking to terrorize or eliminate anyone who might dare to oppose them.  Less than a year after Murphy ordered Tunstall’s death, Murphy himself died of cancer.  Murphy’s empire on earth was useless to him after his death.  So too was Annas’s empire.  Jesus was not a rich man, he was not an influential politician, and he was not a “boss.”  He died as a common criminal.  But he is, and always has been, the King of Kings.  Our treasure is in him.  God’s empire is eternal.

Our Father in heaven, holy is your name!  May your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.  And may we always know that our treasure is in you, not in the things of this world.  Amen.

Meet Nely

Nely has a son, Ribaldo, in the Operacion San Andres’ secondary program. For work, Nely owns a little store inside of her house in Collique, where she sells all sorts of goodies including food, drinks, necessities, and office supplies. She has owned the store for about five years, but has just recently taken out a loan from her brother in order to grow her store. Just in the past couple of months she has been able to fill up her store with all that is shown in the picture. Nely got involved with OSA through a friend and is grateful for all that OSA has done for her son.

What does she need?
Since the growth of her business, Nely has lost control with the administration and organization of her inventory. She wants to learn how to administer her business so that she can see the profit she is making in order to care for her expenses, including paying back her loan to her brother and providing necessities for her family. Nely is a very hard worker and believes if she can do the basic organizing needed for her business, growth will occur. OSA is working to help her organize her store by showing her how to write down her inventory, find her profit, and invest back into her store so that it may grow.

How can we help?
Although Nely does not currently need any loans, encouragement for the hard work she is putting into her store is essential. Pray that she has the integrity and perseverance to continue to write down her inventory, find her revenues and expenses, and with discipline, find her profit. Nely is the only employee of her store, but to know that people around the world care for her and are working with her through prayer to grow her business could be one of the best ways to help grow her store. If you would like to send a letter through email to encourage Nely and remind her that she is not alone in working in her business, please send it to kabbring@operacionsanandres.org. OSA believes that this is the best way to maximize Nely’s talents and skills as a store owner. By encouraging her with prayer, you will be investing in the economic improvement of her family’s life.

My Break from the ‘Book

Guest blogger is South Main Member, Kaci Coble.  

I did what many thought I would never do – I took a break from Facebook. I’ve long been dubbed the ultimate Facebook junkie, literally initiating, rekindling, and maintaining countless friendships simply because of my activity on and love for the site. I’ve been a long time defender, champion of those who care to share, and have taken my fair share of beatings (figuratively, of course) in both personal and professional settings because of it.

All that being said, I recently recommitted my life to Christ. I grew up with a strong faith, following a mother that was devout and passionate. Like most of us, my late high school and college years took me further and further away from the discipline. I was blessed enough to find an incredible church home here in Houston as a young adult, and had yet again strayed away from my faith for various reasons over the last year or two.Through an interesting and seemingly painful situation at the time, a dear friend inspired me to get back to the church family I’d been missing so much. Changing my weekends from living for Saturday night to living for Sunday morning wasn’t an easy adjustment, especially for someone who loves to dance and loathes the alarm clock as much as I do – but it’s been nothing shy of amazing from that moment on.Reason I say all of that is, it’s what inspired me to take a break from Facebooking. I am in no way condemning the social media site or insinuating that it is evil or bad – I just think that like anything, there can be a very healthy and positive side, as well as a negative and consuming side. I wasn’t using Facebook for the negative, nor was I being impacted negatively directly – rather, it was the consuming aspect that motivated my break.At work, I sit behind two monitors. I also have an iPad and iPhone that are within arms reach. When I go outside during the day for a breath of fresh air and to give my eyes a break from the computer…I’m on Facebook on my phone. Stuck behind a train? Facebook. Waiting for a friend? Facebook. Unwinding in bed at night? Facebook. Laying out by myself? Facebook. Break at work? Facebook. The moment anything remotely comical or interesting happens? Facebook. I could go on, and on, and on.I decided to take a break because I realized I needed to declutter my life a little. We are all so overstimulated and overworked, and we constantly, both intentionally and unintentionally, fill our minds with thoughts and needs and desires and questions and wishes every second we’re awake. As I continue to grow in my relationship with God, I ask him for guidance and I ask a lot of questions.When is he supposed to answer my questions if I’m never quiet or still enough to listen?

Does that mean I need to set aside daily alone time to meditate and wait for him to speak? No. Does that mean I can’t have any distractions to hear the word of God? No. It simply means, for me, that I could very well reallocate even a small percentage of my time spent Facebooking to praying, reading scripture, and just being still in my mind with God.

I was almost certain I’d miss it like crazy and would give in a get on, though I trusted my will power not to. I have to say, with the exception of an impromptu work trip where my newsfeed would’ve kept me a little extra company, I haven’t really missed it at all, and quite frankly, it’s allowed me to acknowledge my dislike for the site.

That being said, it truly is a great way to keep in touch with both friends and family that no longer live nearby, and I love being connected to the extended circle of people I have things in common with and care about, and for that reason, I’m still pro-Facebook 🙂

I am not a fan of Facebook when it’s used maliciously. Using it as a medium to communicate to someone you’re not communicating with is destructive. Using your status updates and photos to try to get back at someone or make someone jealous is awful. Using it to judge other people and to talk about them is wrong. Using it to brag or boast is bad as well. These are all things I see all over my newsfeed daily, and here about at every turn, and those things will be blocked from my newsfeed and cleaned off my friend list.

I want to use my Facebook for a couple of things –

• To keep in touch with distant friends that either live too far to see regularly or travel a lot.
• To share with my family, my sisters, aunts, cousins, etc. what it is I’m up to so that we can continue to pick right up where we left off at holidays, birthdays, etc.
• To share in the joy of marriage and the beginning of families of friends that have become distant in proximity but not in heart.
• To connect with friends about sports, because quite frankly, aside from God, love, and good food – sports might very well be the best thing on earth.
• To minister to anyone and everyone in need, willing to listen, or interested in what He is doing in my life and what he can and wants to do in yours if you’ll let him.

The only time I’ve truly felt compelled to get on Facebook over the last week and a half was to share things from a Christian book I was reading or to post about the playoffs – that’s it. I moved my Facebook app to a folder and replaced it with a daily scripture app. Every time I felt the desire to look at my newsfeed, which habitually was very, very often, especially in the first few days – I would either pray or read scripture. I have continued to fill my eyes, mind, heart and soul with positive words of strength and guidance as I continue on my journey. I want to be a rock and a resource to those of you who need a friend in Christ. I want to be a light and inspiration to everyone I meet, and if you don’t have a church home, I encourage you to come to South Main Baptist Church. But ultimately, no matter where you live or what your religious preference, I hope to be an occasional reminder of love and positivity in your life. I too have been down my own bumpy path and am no better than anyone and the good Lord knows (literally) that I’ve sinned time and time again and need as much forgiveness as the next guy – but knowing that the grace and mercy that has been extended to me provides me with a new beginning each morning is the most heartwarming and joyous feeling. It is never too late, you are never too far gone, and you’ve done nothing too wrong for Him.This website has taken on so many different forms and purposes over the years, and right now, the craving that is fit for my stage of life is my faith. Grace and peace. Love and acceptance.I encourage you to consider how you prioritize and distribute your time. Make a little time for yourself. Make a little time for Him. He has created a future for you beyond your expectations, you just have to ask Him for it. Turn over your worries, cares, frustrations, anxieties and sins, and he will renew your spirit.Grace & Peace,

Kaci l. coble

Original post can be found here at Kaci’s Blog, the fit craving.

Sharing the Promise: The Maundy of Maundy Thursday

By Dr. Linda Brupbacher, an education professor at Houston Baptist University as well as a Bible study teacher and a newly ordained deacon at South Main Baptist Church. Linda is Hart’s wife, Lee and Lori’s mom, Lauren and Raymond’s mother-in-law and Will’s grandmother.

Most of us associate Thursday of Holy Week with the Lord’s Supper and Garden of Gethsemane events.  However, neither of these is the reason for the “Maundy” label.  “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the Latin phrase that is translated  “A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34).   After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He issued this new command (mandatum).

Walking dusty roads in sandals often resulted in really dirty feet.  The custom was to provide foot washing water and towels just inside the entryway to a home. If slaves were available, the slave with the very lowest status was assigned the foot-washing task.  Even among slaves, this was considered a lowly, undesirable chore.  However, that didn’t stop Jesus from washing the disciples’ feet.

Evidently the disciples didn’t wash their own feet as they entered the upper room–so sometime early that evening Jesus knelt and washed their feet.  Scripture offers no indication of prior conversation about the need for clean feet or discussion about who would or should do the foot washing.  Jesus simply noticed the need and acted to meet it.  It was an act of humility and service.  And, it clearly illustrated the new commandment:  love each other as I have loved you.

This commandment is so consistent with Jesus’ life and with His other teachings that its label as “new” seems somewhat surprising.  However, its content isn’t surprising at all.  Jesus consistently advocated and modeled loving people.

Loving one another is one of those things that sounds simple– but isn’t always easy.  Jesus cared, He noticed, and He acted—and we are expected to do likewise.  How to actually do this is one of the challenges of Maundy Thursday and of everyday as we attempt to more deeply share the promise.  Choosing whether or not to do this isn’t really presented as an option.

Heavenly Father,

Help us follow Jesus’ model of humility and service—of truly loving others.  Erase any self-centeredness, pride or fear that might keep us from doing this.  Help us notice the needs of others and act to help meet those needs.  Please give us humble, compassionate, servant hearts that compel us to live this commandment.   Amen.

SHARE: By Cliff Nickel

Cliff Nickel was born and raised at South Main Baptist Church. He is an active member at the church, currently serving on the Outreach Committee an helping with the Church Archives.

I was in the cradle roll here at South Main and grew up watching the love and support a church family gives. My parents were not only in a very supportive Sunday School class, but they were also part of another group that gave our family support—SMUT (South Main United Tenters).  This was a camping group of several families who went camping at least twice a year together.  While growing up I remember the support when I was in junior high when my mother, Sharon, had surgery and then again when I was in high school and we discovered she was diagnosed with MS. Our church family supported our family in many ways during these times.

As an adult I wondered if my family would have that same type of support.  After getting married my wife and I were members of the newlywed class with Larry and Lecia Carroll as the Sunday school teachers.  They gave us a nice blend of bible study and fellowship. My wife and I developed some wonderful relations from that group. One couple with whom we socialized frequently were John and Beth (Kaiser) Clark. One evening we were out and ran into two other couples who were in the next class up. These couples were Lloyd and Susan Culp and Gordan and Gail Musgrove. That is when the idea first came about.

Gail (Chandler) Musgrove grew up with her parents having a “Quarter club “ that met several times during the year for fellowship. Gordan thought it would be a great idea for us to start our own. We got together in December of 1994 and started our own “Quarter Club”.  We have been there for each other through the oldest Graham Musgrove’s marriage to the youngest Carleigh Nickel’s birth ; to moving of houses to the service of baptism;  through illness to deaths of parents and family members. The Pitschmann Family joined the group and we still meet through out the year.

Being an adult here at South Main, I have experienced the same love and support that my parents did through my Sunday school class and my “Quarter Club”. These are friendships that last a lifetime.

fresh faith. vintage church.

innerloopchurch.com

 

What could you learn in Bible Study?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the wise Michelangelo said, “I am STILL learning.”  No matter who you are, you can still learn a little more about the Holy Bible.  One of South Main’s best time is during our Bible Study on Wednesday nights.

For the remainder of the spring, we are studying the Gospel According to Mark.

Mark is the earliest Gospel; the first written account of the life and ministry of Jesus. It was written by John Mark, who was Simon Peter’s translator and is likely a summary of Peter’s preaching. John Mark’s mother was a house-church pastor in Jerusalem and his uncle was Barnabas, Paul’s missionary partner. So John Mark grew up in the church in Jerusalem, went on Mission with Paul and Barnabas, and was apprentice to Simon Peter. What an incredible vantage point for sharing the life of Jesus with the world.

Please join us at South Main Baptist Church in the Fellowship Hall on Wednesday evenings any time after 5:15 for supper. Prayer time runs from 6:15 until 6:30 and the Bible Study runs from 6:30 until 7:15. We hope to see you there.

fresh faith.  vintage church.

innerloopchurch.com