Celebrating Generosity: Community Blood Drive
Celebrating Generosity: Face Mask Donation to INOVA
Steve Terry Memorial Service – Monday, Oct. 22
Dear Friends,
Many of you have contacted the RBC office to ask when Steve’s memorial service will be held. We have now finalized plans and wanted to let you know the details so you could plan accordingly.
Steve Terry Memorial Service
Monday, October 22
1:00 pm here at RBC
Reception to follow
Please be in prayer for Steve’s mom Jean, sister Lori and brothers Wayne and Brian as they grieve their loss (but heaven’s gain). Steve’s immediate family is so very grateful for the unique ways many of you have shown kindness and love to him and for the outpouring of your prayers.
Puerto Rico Crisis Response – Collection at RBC on Oct. 22
Wilfredo and Glorimar Corps are long-time RBCers originally from the town of Aibonito, in the center of Puerto Rico.
As most of us are aware, Puerto Rico as recently been devastated by two hurricanes. When they visited Aibonito a week ago, Wilfredo and Glorimar were dismayed to discover both the extent of the damage and that much of the aid sent to Puerto Rico has not reached inland, where their town in located. Many families there are hurting, as well as a large senior assisted-living facility that is unable to provide three meals a day to its residents.
Twenty-two years ago, Wilfredo and Glorimar planted Primera Iglesia Bautista de Aibonito (First Baptist Church of Aibonito) in their garage. The church continued to grow even after the Corps left Puerto Rico for the mainland United States. Today, we have the opportunity to partner with this church to bring much-needed aid and supplies to the people there. The church has procured a waiver from the Puerto Rican government that will allow us to send a large amount of supplies and aid without import taxes. Wilfredo and Glorimar will be on-hand in Puerto Rico to receive our shipment of donated items, transport them to Aibonito and deliver them personally to people in need.
On Sunday, October 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., we will have a truck parked in front of the main building on the traffic circle where you can drop off aid and supply items you see on the list below. The goal of this project is to provide some basic necessities to sustain the people of Aibonito for the next 30-90 days, the estimated time frame until power and basic utilities will be restored to the town.
Here is a list of what we need:
- Power generators
- Extension cords
- Personal water filtration systems
- Drinking water
- Lamps (solar- and battery-powered)
- Non-perishable food items (canned food or items that don’t need refrigeration and can last 60-90 days)
- Powdered milk
- Baby formula
- Baby diapers
- Batteries size D, AA, and AAA
- Battery-operated fans
- Mosquito nets
- Mosquito repellent
- Solar-powered chargers (for phones and other electronics)
- Adult diapers
- Tarps (any size, the bigger the better)
- Power inverters
- Towels
- Bed sheets (all sizes)
- Over-the-counter medication (Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, etc.)
- Clothing (not heavy or winter as PR is tropical year around)
- Personal hygiene items
Feel free to donate any of the items above in bulk as we are planning on a large container in which to ship them.
Finally, if you order anything from Amazon, please consider using smile.amazon.com, where you’ll find the exact same shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to RBC’s Benevolent Fund. You use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile, so your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are the same. On your first visit to AmazonSmile, simply select Reston Bible Church as your charitable organization. The website will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make from then on will result in a donation.
We are looking forward to seeing how God will use the people of RBC to share Christ’s love with recent victims of natural disasters, first in Texas and now in Puerto Rico. Thank you for your willingness to help so many hurting people.
Texas Crisis Response Trip Planned for November
An opportunity has arisen to show the love of Christ to Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas.
Christian Fellowship Church and RBC are teaming up with Samaritan’s Purse to sponsor a trip to the Corpus Christi area (one of the hardest hit) on November 5-11. Samaritan’s Purse is providing meals, lodging and tools — all you need do is get there. We estimate the cost to be $475 per person, which includes airfare and ground transportation while there. We have reserved a block of 15 plane tickets that must be purchased by Wednesday, October 4, on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets are non-refundable, and background checks are required. If you have other questions about this work trip, please contact Dale Peak at dalepeak@restonbible.org.
Participants must be 18 years of age to register. Participants 17 and under would only be allowed to participate if a parent or guardian was participating in the trip as well. Registrations will be on a first-come, first-served basis and space is very limited. Once registered, a link will be sent to each registrant to fill out the paperwork required by Samaritan’s Purse. You would not be considered officially registered until all paperwork is filled out completely. Please note that this is very appropriate, high-energy / low-skill work during the first phase of disaster response.
From Samaritan’s Purse
Thank you for partnering with Samaritan’s Purse as we minister to families whose homes were damaged during Hurricane Harvey. Far beyond the physical help you will extend to the homeowners, the spiritual and emotional support you offer to them is even more important. We hope your volunteer experience is rewarding and life-changing. Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph. Harvey remained a powerful storm and has brought torrential rain to Texas in the days that followed. Our response to this storm includes debris removal, roof tarping and mudouts.
Prayer and Support for Texas and Florida
Please pray for the hope of Christ to reach theses devastated regions.
For those of you who have been here 10 years or longer, you probably remember our extensive involvement with disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina (sending a dozen work teams and a truckload of food and other supplies). At the moment, we ask that you pray, pray, pray for the victims and for an effective response that demonstrates God’s grace and love. Disasters like this often provide many opportunities for people to talk about Jesus Christ because of their joyful endurance, hopeful spirit, and works of love.
Here’s where we currently stand. As we did with Katrina, we are waiting until things settle down somewhat to determine our course of action. We certainly do not want to be in the way of early response teams, FEMA, etc. as they continue to rescue people and sort out needs. We also must find a church or churches in the area to partner with. We have learned from experience that this is the most effective way to extend our help from so far away. When it is safe for us to enter affected areas, we may once again send work crews to help clean up and repair. However, we need to wait until the danger has passed so as not to complicate the ongoing rescue operations. For example, many churches there are currently overwhelmed by acting as temporary shelters housing evacuees. They cannot accommodate work teams right now. Some hotels are reporting 10 or more people per room with little more than the clothes on their backs. So, as hard as it is, we must wait patiently for the right moment to be the most effective – remember, we sent our first team to Katrina (I was part of that team) six weeks after the storm.
If you feel led to do something now, there are options for you. If you want to go or give, we recommend contacting one or more of the following:
- Samaritan’s Purse is currently on the scene assessing the damage. We have teamed with this organization in the past and have been richly blessed by it.
- The American Red Cross is taking donations to help victims and asking people to donate much-needed blood at local drives.
- World Vision is assembling Family Food Kits.
- SPCA is helping families connect with lost pets.
Finally, if you have family members who have been severely affected by Harvey in the greater Houston area, or by Irma in Florida, please let us know. If and when we do send teams, we would love to start by rebuilding homes of your loved ones.
Please address your immediate questions to me at dalepeak@restonbible.org and continue to pray for Houston and Florida!
This post has been updated in response to the impact of Hurricane Irma in Florida.
Services Cancelled | Sunday, January 24
I wanted to let you know that all services and activities for tomorrow (Sunday, January 24, 2016) have been cancelled, including evening activities such as Awana, FPU and the Sr. High Dodgeball Tournament.
Since you’re snowed in this weekend, here are some ideas to take advantage of this time to draw close to the Lord, especially tomorrow since we cannot worship corporately.
- Search our sermon archives and listen to one of your favorite messages from the past, or perhaps one you haven’t heard.
- Explore the 10,000+ inspirational and educational videos available from rightnow.org. You can instantly stream biblical teaching from over 150 leading Christian publishers and ministries. Their extensive library has Bible studies, conference sessions and a huge array of kid’s videos including Veggie Tales, 3-2-1 Penguins, Adventures in Odyssey and many others. For more information, please click here. If you don’t currently have a login for this incredible resource, request one here. Operators (Jason VanDorsten) are standing by to take your request!
Finally, as you can imagine, your church still incurs operational expenses regardless of the weather. If you are not already giving online, why not take this opportunity to see how easy it is to support the ministries of RBC. You can give from within myRBC if you’re already logged in, or simply click here to be taken to our secure online giving page.
That’s all for now. Stay safe and warm and drive carefully when you do venture out. Have a blessed weekend.
Dale Peak
Administrator
Memorial Service for Oral Mizelle
After a long battle with liver disease, Oral Mizelle went home to be with his Lord early Tuesday morning. His memorial service will be this Friday, November 20 at 2:00pm here at RBC. There will be a small reception immediately following the service.
In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family may be made in the form of donations to the RBC Missions Fund, which supports our global missionaries and mission projects. Letters of sympathy and encouragement to the family may be brought to the service or sent to:
The Mizelle Family
c/o Reston Bible Church
45650 Oakbrook Court
Dulles, VA 20166
Please be in prayer for Oral’s wife Laurie and children Elizabeth and Nathan as they grieve their loss and rejoice in heaven’s gain.
Memorial Service for Ellie Jenkins
Dear friends of the Jenkins family,
Here is information on the Viewing and Memorial Service honoring the life of Ellie Jenkins next week.
The viewing will be held on Sunday evening (Nov. 1) from 6:30 – 8:30pm at Blue Ridge Bible Church (770 S 20th Street, Purcellville, VA).
The Memorial Service will be on Monday (Nov. 2) at 10:00 am, also at Blue Ridge Bible Church. It will be immediately followed by a graveside service at Ebenezer Cemetery in Bluemont (20421 Airmont Road, Bluemont, VA). After the graveside service, attendees are invited to return to Blue Ridge Bible Church for a luncheon reception.
In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family may be made in the form of donations to the Warren P. Jenkins Foundation supporting global missionaries and mission projects. Donations and letters of sympathy & encouragement to the family may be brought to the service or sent to:
The Jenkins Family
c/o Reston Bible Church
45650 Oakbrook Court
Dulles, VA 20166
Memorial Blood Drive for Stephen Chiang
Our next drive this Sunday (May 11, 2014 from 8:00am – 1:00pm) is extra special because it is in memory of Stephen Chiang, a faithful RBC volunteer and blood donor for many years. Stephen went home to be with the Lord last year at the early age of 34. He also served faithfully at the Welcome Desk and in our Media Ministry for many years. Stephen’s mother is planning to be there, so whether you donate or not, please feel free to drop by and wish her a happy Mother’s Day.
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to give the gift of life to someone in need if you are able to give and will be in town that day. If you’d like to sign up online, please click here for the online registration form. We will have two bloodmobiles, so you should be in and out within around 30 minutes.
Currently, we only have 20 of our 105 slots filled, so there’s lots of room available, especially before 10:00am and after 11:00am.
One more note: The most common reason people are not allowed to donate is due to an iron deficiency. This can easily be remedied by eating a meal of iron-rich foods the night before the drive. Here’s a list of such foods in case you struggle with this (click here to download a PDF.)
Hope to see you Sunday. Have a very blessed week.
Dale Peak, Administrator
Conversations Volunteer Needs
Conversations starts on Monday and we hope you are planning to bring your friends, co-workers & neighbors to this year’s production. Plenty of invitation cards will be available this weekend, so please grab a few when you are at services this Sunday.
We still need many volunteers to help make this event a success. Our greatest needs are:
- CHILDCARE: We need 25 more people willing to work in childcare so the parents can go enjoy the show. You can work one evening or multiple evenings. A background check is required if this is your first time serving with our Children’s Ministry. To serve, e-mail Joan Lastova. Please indicate what evening(s) you are available to serve, and what age group you prefer working with (nursery, preschool, grade school).
- BAKERS: We need 40 more people who would each be willing to bake 8 dozen cookies or brownies. All goodies are to be delivered to the church by noon on your appointed drop-off day. You can deliver your goodies to the church on your way to work if necessary – we will have a table outside the main doors. If you are delivering after 8:00 am, please drop off your goodies on the tables set up just inside the Lobby doors. You may also drop off the night before (for example if you are serving in the Coffee Shop on Monday and your day to bake is Tuesday, you can bring your baked goods Monday night. To sign up to bake, click here.
- MEALS FOR CAST AND CREW: Most of our Conversations cast and tech crew come directly from work to serve. Please consider blessing these volunteers by signing up to provide one or more food items for meals during Conversations week. To help, please click here and choose the date that is most convenient for you and to see the list of food items needed. You will be contacted with additional information as to when and where to drop off your food items.
That’s it. With your help, next week will richly bless many thousands of people by clearly sharing the good news of the gospel in a creative & contemporary way. To God be the honor and glory!
Dale Peak
Administrator
Finance & Stewardship Classes at RBC
I want start off by wishing you a happy new year. I also want to tell you about some new classes you might be interested in.
First, Dave Ramsey has come out with a new teen version of FPU known as Generation Change, which is an all-new suite of Bible studies designed to lead teens to a better understanding of God, themselves and their money—and how it all works together. In the three different teaching series, students are equipped with biblical principles to BE who God created them to be, DO more with their money, and GO out into the world ready to write their story. Lesson videos with Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze, along with engaging hands-on activities, will bring new biblical and financial truths to this generation.
The class will be held concurrently with the normal version of FPU starting next Sunday (January 12). Both will be held in the Youth Building from 4:30-6:30 pm. Due to the room used for the class, it is limited to 20 participants. Click here for more information, including a short video, and click here to register your teen for the class. Cost is $30.
Next, if you would like to attend FPU again as a refresher, you are invited to attend the class starting next Sunday. Remember, as an alumnus you can attend at no charge. Click here to register.
Finally, some of you have expressed interest in taking a Crown Financial Biblical Study class. This course is an in-depth Bible study for those who want to spend 3-4 hours a week deep in the Word to learn more about biblical stewardship. This class will be held during the first service (9:00-10:45 am) in Room 220 starting next Sunday, January 12. It runs for 11 weeks. Click here for more information, including a short video, and click here to register for the class. Cost is $45 and scholarships are available.
I hope your new year is off to a great start and that you will prayerfully consider taking advantage of one or more of these excellent training opportunities. Please contact me if you have any questions. Have a very blessed new year.
Stephen Chiang Memorial
Stephen Chiang, who had attended RBC for many years and faithfully served the congregation he loved so dearly went home to be with his Lord last weekend. The service for Stephen will be on Saturday at 11:00 am at Money & King Funeral Home, 171 Maple Ave W, Vienna, VA. They will be hosting family visitation at 10:00am, and will follow the memorial with a short graveside service. The family would love to have anyone who knew Stephen attend the service.
Stephen served the RBC body by volunteering every chance he could, including at the Welcome Desk and with the Media Ministry in the sound booth. He was also a dedicated blood donor and member of the ForWord young adults ministry.
Please be in prayer for Stephen’s family during this difficult time. Also please pray for Pastor Wayne Johnson as he shares the hope of the gospel that only Christ can offer, and the assurance that Stephen had through his salvation.
If you know of anyone who might like to attend, please feel free to share the service details with them.
myRBC: Choosing a Profile Picture
As part of a committed effort to enhance churchwide communications, RBC utilizes myRBC (formerly called Church Community Builder, or CCB). MyRBC is an online web-based tool that is modeled after popular social networking sites. This secure, online system allows regular attendees to easily interact with each other and enables more effective communication to and from church staff, volunteers, and leadership. MyRBC gives you access to discussion forums, event calendars, a pictorial directory of RBCers and allows secure online giving.
If you consider RBC your church home, we encourage you to sign up, update your profile, upload a profile picture, and utilize the many benefits of CCB.
If you are not a member of the RBC Online Community, but would like to sign up, please click here to request a login. You will be taken to an online form where you can fill out some basic information about yourself. We will enter your information into our secure database and send your login info to you as quickly as possible.
If you have any questions about giving online or the RBC online community, please contact Dale Peak, RBC Administrator or call our offices at 703-404-5010.
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VIDEO CREDIT: We shamelessly stole this idea from Lakeland Community Church in MO. Thanks, LCC!
youtube.com/watch?v=BrjrQw_WZXI
MUSIC CREDIT: The Cantina Theme composed by John Williams, performed by Charles Laurita.
youtube.com/watch?v=34dzDqC2Mns
An Update on the Herring Family
Ralph Herring, who had a very long connection with Reston Bible Church, went to be with the Lord on April 12 at Winchester Medical Center.
Ralph’s connection to our church began in June of 1978 when John Woodall (an RBC pastor at the time) and his father were stopping by homes in the Reston area and talking to them about the gospel. They stopped by the home of Ralph and Ruth Herring, and over the course of a couple of meetings, they shared the gospel and saw them both come to Christ along with their son Steve.
Soon afterwards, Ruth was diagnosed with cancer and Ralph retired from his electrical contracting business to care for her. Ralph and Ruth came to love RBC and both decided that Ralph would also begin helping RBC build our first church home on North Shore Drive in Reston. This was a very selfless decision for them both, knowing it would take a great deal of Ralph’s time and effort.

This sketch is of our North Shore campus in Reston. The Lord used Ralph and his family in an instrumental way to provide this facility for our church.
Ralph was instrumental in designing, funding, and in finding ways to cut costs that allowed the building to be completed. The building process started in the fall of 1982, Ruth went to be with the Lord in October of 1983, and the church building was finished in June of 1984. The fellowship hall was dedicated in recognition of the faith and sacrifice from both Ruth and Ralph and was named “Herring Hall.”
Ralph continued to be an active and driving force within Reston Bible for many years after that. He took on the role of adviser to the leadership at RBC and worked as well with the early efforts to relocate RBC, which eventually led to us now being on our current property.Ralph married Beverly Shull and they relocated to Winchester in the mid 1990s. Ralph and Bev have attended Fellowship Bible Church in Winchester since then. His son Steve and his wife Jacki attend RBC as do his stepson, Bob Shull and his wife Leisa. Ralph also has two stepdaughters, 17 grand children, and 4 great grand children.
A viewing for Ralph Herring will be on Monday, April 15, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Omps South Chapel, 1260 Front Royal Pike in Winchester. The Celebration service for Ralph Herring will be on Tuesday April 16 at 11:00 am at the same location. The burial and reception will follow. Details can be found and regards given at Ompsfuneralhome.com. Any memorial contributions may be made in Ralph Herring’s name to the Fellowship Bible Mission Fund, 3217 Middle Road, Winchester, VA 22602.