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"...your father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:8 Other message
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Angel Co-Op Newsletter
Dear Sister,
It's Spring, it's Winter, no, it's
Spring.....possibly! Ya hafta live in Saskatchewan to appreciate this
dilemma fully! Ah, my dear, what would we do without the variety of the
elements.... however would I start the Newsletter?
What if all Women went on
Strike?
I receive a tiresome little email
blurb sheet that I usually delete before reading, but today I opened it
because of the interesting subject line. I'm glad I did! I can direct
you to a very interesting site (instead of forwarding the email I
received-- that would result in you getting this spam daily yourself!).
Not only does The Comfort Queen's website give details on ideas for a
very pleasant and reviving one-woman retreat, "International Women's
Rest Day", but there are other pages about comfort, retreat, self
esteem, body image, etc.
Bully for You!
My first day in Grade one I went outside
into the school yard for my first recess. A Grade two girl, the big
sister of one of my (more than 40) classmates, took a stick and drew a
large circle around me. She called all the other nearby kids to show
them what she had done. I have no recollection beyond that-- did she
taunt me? Did she forbid others from entering the circle? Did a
teacher or another student intervene? I don't remember any of those
details, but I do remember how I felt: bewildered, ashamed, afraid,
helpless. That was pretty much the extent of my being bullied in the
school yard. It hurts my heart to think about the long term bullying
that many children experience.
Last night I attended, along with a
couple of hundred others, a stirring presentation by Barbara
Coloroso, author of "Kids are Worth It" and "The Bully,
The Bullied, and the Bystander". My husband, bless his heart,
didn't want to sit for a half-hour prior to the show, so he went home
and got the book so that I could get it autographed afterwards.
I loved the diversity of the audience:
there were teachers, parents across the whole age-range spectrum,
childcare workers, individuals, social workers, entire families, people
I have worked with, lots of Adlerian parenting facilitators, and at
least four moms from Mount Royal Seventh-day Adventist Church. I also
ran into the mom of my younger son's grade-school friend, Denny. A
couple of years ago she lost her younger son, so we had a wordless hug.
As for Denny, he's now set to do a locum in gastro-intestinal surgery
and is engaged to a lovely young woman with her Ph.D. in microbiology.
I know that Denny, like my kids, was a target of bullies at various
times in his youth. Barbara Coloroso gave many instances of children
who were bullied, some of whom learned to overcome the pain and shame
and grow into assertive, successful adults, and some who took their
unbearable pain and killed themselves and others (like the Littleton,
Colorado Columbine shooters.)
You will want to read Barbara's
book to find out how you can empower and encourage your children to
avoid being part of the bullying cycle. Most touching for me is
Barbara's challenge to each parent to encourage our children to speak
out when they see someone else being bullied.... that this courage is
truly to mark of someone with integrity and compassion. Have you
modeled a stance for justice for your children? for the children in
your Sabbath School class? Think about it. And, think about the
importance of teaching your children to think.... Barbara's book will
give you some good ideas in how to do that! See the review at
tagnet.org/angelco-op/bookreviews/The%20Bully%20Etc.html
Here are a couple of other websites worth
checking out:
Order Barbara's book through
Amazon.ca on this page (click on the logo for Amazon.ca in the left
frame), save 15% off the retail price, and help women and children in
the Thai-Burma displaced persons' camps!
Thank you!
Create Circles of Caring
Barbara Coloroso autographed my book with
the edict, "Cynthia, create circles of caring." I looked at all those
c's and thought, hmmm, maybe this is a piece of the vision statement for
my life that I have been missing!
In last week's newsletter I referred to
the ministry newsletter "TOGETHER AGAIN...a network of friends reaching
friends who leave church." If you are being called to be part of this
particular 'circle of caring' (i.e., ministry), you will benefit from
reading Side by Side: A Handbook. Here is the reprint, with
permission, of the review of that book as originally published in Vol.
11, No. 1, January 2004's TOGETHER AGAIN Newsletter: ( it is also posted
on the Angel Co-op website)
SIDE-BY-SIDE: A HANDBOOK
Reaching People Who Are Taking
A Break
Focus on Jesus' example
while disciple making
As Jesus rose toward heaven, He
directed His believers to "make disciples of all nations." Evangelism
is not complete until people are nurtured to maturity in Jesus. Much
has been written about this process over the centuries.
The idea for Side by Side
originated in September 1999 during the First International
Consultation on Discipleship in Eastbourne, England. Approximately
450 delegates from 50 nations listened to speakers such as Ravi
Zacharias, Stuart and Jill Briscoe, John Stott, and James Houston, and
discussed issues related to disciple-making.
John Stott summed up a major concern
when he said, "In many parts of the world, the church is growing in
leaps and bounds, yet throughout the church superficiality is
everywhere. That is the paradox: growth without depth." To provide
an overview of the best concepts of disciple-making, general editors
Steve and Lois Rabley have collected excerpts from respected Christian
writers such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Frances Shaeffer, Henri Nouwen,
Tony Campolo, C.S. Lewis, Rebecca Manley Pippert, and Gordon
MacDonald, to mention only a few.
Organized by key subjects, the broad
range of topics is arranged in easy-to-read articles and sidebars.
This handbook provides insights that will be useful both for
individuals and groups that seek to build faith. For instance, the
section titled "Working with Flawed, Fallen People" examines the
"conviction that the 12 men Jesus chose were flawed and fallen
creatures," as demonstrated by Peter's three denials of Jesus just
before the crucifixion and when "all the disciples deserted him
[Jesus] and fled" (Matthew 26:26).
Stories about tax collectors and
shepherds take on new meaning when one reads, "Jesus' deep love for
sinners was a source of constant curiosity among His disciples and
cause of continual criticism from Jewish leaders."
In "The Gentleness of Grace," Michael
Yaconelli, cofounder of Youth Specialities, shares his realization of
what God's grace means to him. "I want to introduce a new
sociobiological category: failers. That is, people who fail on a
regular basis. People like me... That bothers a lot of people. Over
the years, they have expressed their displeasure with my failings.
Some have abandoned me. Some have even written me out of the kingdom.
After observing that "practicing
failers seem to be an embarrassment to today's upwardly mobile
Christians," Yaconnelli writes that when failers come to their senses,
"we do not expect a group of accusers and theology monitors. We do
not expect to jump through hoops to prove we're repentant. No. We
expect a party. That is what Christians do with failers. We are
irresponsible just like Jesus. We do more than instruct, we
surprise. We do more than pray, we party. We do more than correct,
we dance. And we do more than love, we celebrate. Just like Jesus."
People who are serious about
reconnecting with those who are taking a break from church will
benefit from this handbook. Readers will also better understand how
to create programs that will feed people who seek to reconnect with
our Lord.
Reprinted with permission from the
Together Again newsletter for January 2004, published by the Center
for Creative Ministry,
www.creativeministry.org/
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