Father-Daughter Dance Recap
In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of (sigh) baseball.
It’s true. But before spring hits, February 14th peeps around a wintery corner and we find an affectionate group meandering the Children’s Ministry halls for the 2nd annual Father / Daughter Dance. This is my personal favorite event of the year for our little ladies who come with hair curled, cheeks blushed and a curtsey-worthy gown for a night of fun and conversation with their fathers or special date (who also dress the part in a suit and tie). The evening starts off with fathers tokening their young ladies with corsages and a formal photo shoot. From there, it’s delightful chaos as they spend their evening walking through a couple hundred helium balloons while visiting crafts rooms, eating desert, and finally, dancing the night away!
Yes, it’s meant to be fun and enjoyable (and I think it’s safe to say, it is!), but there is something much deeper at work on this special night. Gavin Long, an RBC dad who attended with his lovely ladies, shares from his perspective:
“The worlds of a father and his young daughter can sometimes be vastly different. Dads are battling in the marketplace, while their daughters are concerned about who likes them at school. Dads are anticipating March Madness, while his daughter is dreaming of a new dress. The Valentine’s Dance creates a common experience to let those two worlds converge. Dads are not always the best when it comes to expressing their feelings, but events like the Valentine’s Dance provide fathers with an environment to connect with their daughters in an intentional and intimate way. Simple events like this go a long way in bridging the potential divide between the worlds of fathers and daughters, providing us, as fathers, with a powerful, but accessible way of communicating love to our little girls. It is that experience of fatherly love that dramatically shapes how our girls think about themselves, their families and God throughout their lives.”
Last year, we received numerous responses back from dads telling us that this night was a springboard for them to initiate a deeper relationship with their girls. Praise the Lord! This year, I was able to see some of the benefits before the night even ended. You’ve got to love overhearing a 2nd grade daughter asking her dad, “I have three things I really like about you. Can I say more than one?”
International Connection’s Talk-a-Latte
Usually once per semester, International Connection (the English as a second language program at RBC) plans a “talk-a-latte” for both morning and evening sessions of classes. This is a time when all four class levels meet together for the last 30 minutes of the class time in the Clubhouse room to have coffee (hence the “latte” part) and snacks, then sit around tables in their class groups with teachers to engage in a particular topic of free discussion. The topic designated for February 14 -15 was “What do you think is the American (culture’s) view of love? What do you think is God’s view?”
After I briefly introduced the concept of Valentine’s Day, I asked them to pause and consider another point of view by watching a music video. We then watched Jason Gray’s video entitled “Remind Me Who I Am” in which many characters were shown holding signs that typified negative characteristics or characters, for example, “Anxious”, “Empty”, “I’m Angry”, “ Victim”, etc. But the crux of the song was that no matter what we think of ourselves or what others may think of us, in God’s eyes we are His “beloved”.
On our tables, in addition to sheets with the song’s lyrics, there was a list of the main vocabulary words written and defined in order to enhance understanding. For the ESL group, any time one can combine words with pictures or visuals of any kind, greater comprehension is achieved. And when one adds music, it adds yet another dimension of interest!
The five tables of students and teachers set about recapping the meaning of the video and song and the lingering question: What is God’s view of love? The word “beloved” is rarely used these days and took some time for the students to grasp – but again, the contrast to the other negative labels mentioned in the song was helpful for gaining understanding. Many of the students could relate to feeling under-valued, abused or “less-than” in this culture. Incidents of discrimination are regular occurrences to the immigrant population here in Northern Virginia. But it was the concept of being God’s “beloved” that surprised many of them. One Buddhist monk came to me and asked for clarification, “Does it mean greatly loved?” he asked. It does.
I closed the talk-a-latte sessions with a short devotional based on John 3:16 (which was made available to each student in his/her first language) and asked for those who are spiritually interested to continue the conversation with me or with their teachers. Both sessions provoked deeper questions than the usual classroom lesson plans even for the first-level students. Our prayer is that the questions will continue and that the Holy Spirit will bear fruit in our students’ lives.
The Simplicity of God’s Word
At BreakThru, our Junior High ministry here at Reston Bible Church, we provide simple journals for the Jr. Highers to use to spend time with God. The journals provide a reading plan, a couple of questions to get them to think about what they read, and some space to write out a prayer to God. This is nothing amazing in concept, but it has been incredible to see what God is doing through them. Just last week, I got an email from a mom telling me how her son uses the journal almost every day, and she has been amazed as she has seen God’s Word at work in her son’s life. This email isn’t unique, as I receive something similar at least once a month.
A lot of times I am tempted to think that if God’s Word isn’t properly “packaged” and turned into something that grabs a teen’s attention, they won’t get anything out of it. But that mindset is like caring more about the wrapping paper than the actual present. God’s Word is “living and active” and is powerful to change lives. We can get distracted by all the glitz of the latest Christian book or podcast sermon. But whether I am an 11 year-old boy or a seminary professor, the Bible speaks and transforms all who will listen.
Josh McDowell Audio from RE:NEW 2012
Thank you to everyone who attended our RE:NEW 2012 Conference featuring Josh McDowell. We pray the conference was fruitful for your growth in Christ.
Where’s the audio from the conference? Because of our contract with Josh’s ministry organization, we were only able to make the conference audio available for up to two weeks after the event.
You can find audio/video media and lots of other resources from Josh on his website, www.josh.org.
A Note From Marsha Mathews
Dear Ladies of RBC,
I’m writing to personally invite you to the Reston Bible Church annual Women’s Retreat at the Doubletree Hotel in Sterling. The retreat begins Friday, March 9, 2012 at 7 p.m. and ends at 11:00 am on Sunday, March 11, 2012. We’ll enjoy worshiping together, Biblical teaching, small groups plus time to just hang out and have fun.
I highly recommend that you stay at the hotel for the entire weekend so that you can enjoy the full retreat experience—being able to put away distractions, unplug and refocus. The rooms are beautifully decorated and equipped with either two queen beds or one king bed…and I’ve heard they’re really comfortable. But if you would prefer to sleep at home we do offer a “day only” option (you’ll be assigned a small group just like those staying at the hotel). Both options include three delicious meals on Saturday and Sunday breakfast and all the hotel amenities.
The retreat is for all ladies college age and above. If it’s your first retreat and you’re worried about not having a roommate, don’t let that keep you away. There are always other ladies looking for someone to room with. I’ve met some really great ladies that way. I’ve been to many retreats over the 20+ years I’ve attended RBC and have come away not only having met new women but also encouraged in my walk with God. I’ve enjoyed true Christian fellowship around God’s word and just plain old fun. Trust me…this is something you won’t want to miss.
The theme for this weekend is Ruler of My Heart and we’re excited to have Margaret Ashmore from Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas as our speaker. Margaret’s heart is to help women come to the understanding that the safest place to be on this earth is in the loving, shielding protection of submitting their lives to Jesus Christ. I trust that you’ll be blessed and challenged by what she’ll be sharing with us.
I’d also like to ask for your help. Volunteering to work on a retreat committee is one of the ways I was able to meet so many new people over the years. We have many ways you can be of service and I think you’ll really enjoy being a part of one of these teams. (You can indicate on the registration form where you’d like to serve.)
Prayer Team-will pray before and during the retreat. If you have a heart to cover all aspects of the retreat from planning through the final session, then we welcome you to join with other women with the same desire. There will be morning prayer sessions both Saturday and Sunday during the retreat.
- Registration Table: will check in women as they arrive at retreat. If you are organized and good with details, this is the job for you.
- Greeters: will welcome ladies to the retreat and into each session. This is a wonderful way to show hospitality, whether you’re an extrovert or just someone with a heart to make others feel welcome.
- Table Hostesses: will welcome ladies to their table at mealtimes and make sure everyone is included. If you have a desire to show Christ’s love and encourage other women here’s your opportunity.
To get more information and register go to www.restonbible.org/womensretreat. No matter your season in life I trust the weekend will prove to be worth your while. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.
God Bless!
Marsha Mathews
Director, Women’s Ministry
Food Pantry Update
We are excited to share an update on the Food Pantry ministry. After barely four months of operation, we have grown to serving over 250 families a week. These are families from within our body, from Guilford Elementary, from our surrounding community and beyond. We have approximately 30 volunteers faithfully serving our neighbors each week. Because of your continued generosity, we have been able to work out some purchasing agreements with a few local stores that help us to have enough of the items that are heavily requested available to those who need them.
It can be so easy to read about the Food Pantry or hear an occasional update but forget that this is a ministry to actual people. This story was recently shared by one of our Food Pantry volunteers:
It was toward the end of the Food Pantry time, and just one table of waiting people was left. An older lady, with torn and worn-out clothes, matted hair and no teeth, was having trouble filling out her form, so I sat down to help her to get through it. She began trying to tell me something and grabbed my arm while repeating the same indiscernible sentence. Since she had no teeth, I couldn’t even tell if she was speaking in English or Spanish. Perhaps seeing my confusion, she began to use gestures with the words to get her point across. She was pointing up at first and saying “God” and then touched her eye and then her mouth to indicate smiling. As I repeated the words she was trying to say, we got through the sentence, “God is watching us all at the Food Pantry and is smiling down from Heaven at what He sees as we feed the hungry.” Tears filled my eyes as I realized what she was saying, and the lady and I hugged as tears streamed down my face.
In the midst of all the confusion and busyness of serving over 130 families that day in the Pantry, this poor old lady’s words were a real high point and it seemed that the Lord was confirming his pleasure with this ministry.
Let me take this opportunity to once again thank you all for your faithful giving. If you would like to give monetarily to support the Food Pantry, you can do so online (click here to access online giving. When you get to screen where you enter an amount, be sure to select “Food Pantry” from the “to” drop-down menu.) You can also leave a check in an offering box (located in the lobby or at the rear of the sanctuary) with “Food Pantry” in the memo line.
If you would like to donate items to the Food Pantry, drop-off baskets are located in the foyer at the front entrance of RBC. Here is a “most wanted” list of items we need for the Food Pantry (click here to download).
If you would like to serve during the Food Pantry (open Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings), please email me. We have an ongoing need particularly for volunteers with Spanish language skills.
Please continue to pray for us as we show the love of Christ through this ministry.
Guilford Christmas Update
A team of 16 RBC volunteers led by Pastor Wayne Johnson spent Christmas Eve delivering gifts, food, clothes, cookies and stockings (while singing carols) to a number of large, underprivileged families from our “adopted” school. After their scheduled deliveries were complete, there were many presents left over. They asked that the Lord show them where to go and He did, in a big way! He lead them to an apartment complex nearby where they went from building to building. When they heard children, they knocked. Every time the door opened, they were met with smiles and grateful parents! Adults wept and children shrieked and giggled as they pulled out toys of all shapes and sizes. The children’s’ reactions were priceless! The love of the Lord Jesus Christ was so clearly communicated to these families.
Thanks to all who followed the leading of the Spirit and gave gifts, cookies, prayers, gift cards and love.
For more information on our partnership with Guilford Elementary and ways you can get involved, click here.
First Fruits: Beyond the Event
First Fruits took place on Nov. 19th, but the fruit extends far beyond this day and the delivery of groceries. We were all blessed in more ways that we could have asked or imagined. We had over 500 volunteers come out, spread over 27 teams that did more than 140 jobs on a beautiful Fall day, that raised funds for more than 90 families in need. Many of our First Fruits families are struggling with unemployment or underemployment, working multiple jobs to care for their families and still not covering their bills. More than 10 of our families may soon lose their homes. Many are also struggling with the loss of a spouse, divorce, major medical bills, and crippling disabilities. First Fruits is about providing encouragement to families in the midst of these struggles as the result of teams often literally expending themselves on their behalf.
Our teams were able to see the first fruits of their labor the same day by shopping and then visiting 31 of the families on the evening of Nov. 19th. The groceries (the small part of the First Fruits gift) together with Shoppers Food Warehouse gift cards provides as close to a month’s worth of groceries for each family as possible. Beyond the groceries, the teams were able to encourage and often pray with some of the families in the midst of some very tough times. One family of four shares a two-bedroom apartment with another family. The team leader has stayed in touch with the family and is putting together a Christmas gift. Another of our teams brought groceries and visited with an Iraq veteran and his family, who are working through the challenges of a brain injury. Team members have stayed in touch with the family, who has also now visited RBC several times. Another team visited a family about to lose their home to foreclosure – yet another reminder of how things that look great on the outside can mask the turmoil and pain taking place on the inside. I’m thankful that our team went beyond the exterior to pray with and minister to the family, encouraging them to not give up.
Thanks to the Lord’s blessing, First Fruits was also able to go beyond these 31 families to include another 60 families in need. One of these families was out of food, had been praying for help, and then received the grocery gift cards unexpectedly that day from a friend that attends the RBC Spanish church. She is still praising the Lord for his provision at just the right time. The wife of another First Fruits family had brain surgery, and after recovering from the surgery, she returned to work and was immediately laid off from her job. Her husband is also out of work. When they were given the First Fruit gift, the husband was thankful, speechless, and surprised that church teenagers would work to help those in need.
One story of a single mother is a further reminder of how important it is for us as the body of Christ to be looking up and caring for those God has placed in our lives. This mom was referred through a First Fruits captain that saw her need and reached out on her behalf. She had been a property manager, lost her job in the downturn, and is now doing a short sale on her home. Her story is still unfolding, but she sends thanks for the unexpected help from First Fruits that provided key encouragement over Thanksgiving at exactly the right time. She too has visited RBC a couple times.
There are many other stories still unfolding from First Fruits and how the RBC body is in motion looking out for neighbors, Shepherd Group members, family members, coworkers, or friends met through church, school, or a child’s sport’s team. Financial struggles cross all lines and neighborhoods. And, thankfully, the RBC body is reaching across these lines. I know there is more fruit to come.
Giving Thanks: Guilford Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanks to all who participated in the Guilford Elementary’s 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner last Monday, November. Whether you came and served, donated pies, or cooked turkeys, all of your efforts resulted in a fun family gathering as the Guilford families enjoyed a good ol’ American Thanksgiving dinner.
This was a real community gathering, with several organizations helping out. Teachers from the school, RBCers, and Little League volunteers all worked side by side to bless these families. For many of the families, this was their first taste of stuffing, which we learned has no Spanish word equivalent since it is not a food they eat in their countries. Maybe it’s a universal thing, but it appears that most kids don’t like stuffing. Also universal is the look of dislike and the shake of the head “no” – but all were polite and said “no thank you” if they didn’t care for any (although their faces were priceless!)
Hundreds of people came out for the dinner. The rain and long walk from where they parked on the ball field didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. Even though the line of people waiting for their turn for food wrapped around the building hallways, everyone was patient and excited for the feast to come. It reminded me of what the disciples must have felt like with the loaves and the fishes, for as many people as kept coming, there seemed to be more food as the evening progressed. And after all had been fed, the volunteers, at last, took a few minutes to sit down, rest and have some dinner as well.
Due to the abundance, the residents at the Embry Rucker Homeless Shelter in Reston also enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast.
Many thanks for all who helped to bless our neighbors.
– – –
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
– Matthew 35:34-40
Giving Thanks: Book Drive
When I came to work on Monday, in my mailbox I found a stack of thank-you notes from the children at Guilford. These notes were in response from our recent book drive, which provided over 2000 books to these kids, most of whom had no books of their own before the drive. When you give from your abundance, it is so humbling to be thanked. Some of the kids wrote that they wished they could come to our church (I wish that too!). One even wrote that we must have a good God and a great faith. This came from a first-grader, just because we gave him a couple of books.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16
When you come to services this weekend, we will have on display some of the thank-you notes that we have received from the students of Guilford. It seems appropriate on Thanksgiving weekend to share these sentiments with the congregation. Thank you for enriching these children’s lives by putting books in their hands. In the words of one student “Thank you. Really, I’m not kidding.”
If you weren’t able to bring in your books this fall, we will be having another book drive in the Spring. Hold on to those books, and keep your eye out for an announcement in March 2012.
