Bill Hurley Memorial Service
We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and sympathy from so many who knew and loved our dear friend and co-laborer, Bill Hurley. A memorial service to celebrate his life was held at Reston Bible Church on Tuesday, August 18 at 10:30am EDT.
For our extended missionary staff, friends and missions agencies here in the U.S. and around the globe who are not able to attend the service, we provided a live video stream of Bill’s memorial service on this page. We will archive that video here for those who were unable to attend.
In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family may be made in the form of donations to the Reston Bible Church Missions Fund (To give online, click here to go to our secure online giving page – Select “Missions Fund” in the Choose Designation dropdown menu). Letters of sympathy and encouragement to the family may be sent to:
The Hurley Family
c/o Reston Bible Church
45650 Oakbrook Court
Dulles, VA 20166
TRIBUTE TO WILLARD JEREMIAH HURLEY
Impact—yes, that’s the word, though many other words could be chosen to pay tribute to Bill. I think impact is most appropriate. Webster says it means to come into forcible contact with another object. Bill was the force, and those around him were the objects. Impact is usually accompanied by noise and commotion. But with Bill it was different. It was a quiet force with a penetrating edge. It was more surgical and came with carefully-measured truth. Be assured it was direct, and you never had to second-guess what Bill was getting at – after all, he had been a police officer for thirty years. The truth was often sprinkled with humor, but it was never ambiguous, and as the years unfolded, his words became truth mixed with ever-increasing grace.
I think we call that wisdom—yes, that’s the word, though many others could be chosen. Webster says it is the gathering of knowledge and insight. I think wisdom is the proper application of knowledge, which in turn has impact on the lives of those who receive it. Bill was a great dispenser of wisdom. Many of us inquired of Bill when difficult times would come or when confusion reigned. He was often the go-to guy when we needed clear thinking untainted with bias. Remember, Bill saw life through a black and white lens. He didn’t let political correctness get in his way. He let truth be his navigator, and grey was not his favorite color. You did the right thing even if it was hard.
I think we call that integrity—yes, that’s the word, though many others could be chosen. Webster says it means sound or incorruptible. I have often seen the word as encompassing the whole character of a person. This was Bill every step of the way. He was honest, humble, courageous, humorous and godly. He kept a clear conscience and always admitted when he was wrong. Bill’s integrity has helped landscape the lives of his great family and those he called his friends. You couldn’t be around him long before you realized he was a man of uncompromising character. He could hardly talk about the difficult times missionaries were going through without getting choked up. He was tough, but tender.
I think we call that compassion—yes that’s the word, though many others could be chosen. Compassion is to feel what others feel. It is the ability to step into their shoes. Bill did that better than anyone I know. He would drive long distances to surprise a young candidate going through their first day of missionary training. Why? Because he had compassion and wanted to encourage them to stay the course. For thirty-five years he lead our missions committee in the distribution of over forty million dollars to places many of us have never even heard of. Talk about leadership.
Leadership—yes that’s the word, though many others could be chosen. Leadership is that quality that encourages others to follow. Those of us that knew Bill wanted to follow him. He had a unique way of looking at life and could see what most of us were blinded to. I loved this man as all of us did. I will miss him dearly because he had such an impact on all of us, yes that’s the word… Impact.
Pastor Mike Minter
on behalf of
the Police Fraternity,
the body of Reston Bible Church,
& our Missionary Families
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…
– Philippians 3:20
Kids Camp 2015 Recap
Jesus is calling us to move beyond the beach and into the waves, to a place of adventure, purpose, and true joy! “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – Jesus (John 10:10b)
Kids Camp 2015, “Surf’s Up,” has come and gone. This year’s camp was a huge success with roughly 400 children and volunteers in attendance over the five days. The children of the church were challenged in their faith and their walk with Jesus, while many children from the surrounding community got to hear the gospel message presented through music, drama, and Bible teaching, perhaps for the first time. We were blessed with the positive feedback that came in from parents and children alike. Here is a little sampling:
“The kids were coming home from an afternoon summer camp and they practically ran to the car each day in order to not be late to RBC!”
“My heart leapt when my son, who never wants to lead prayer at home, asked if he could pray after coming home from Kids Camp.”
“Our son came home after the second day of camp and asked us to pray with him to receive Jesus’ gift of salvation and eternal life.”
To go along with our theme, “Surf’s Up,” the children were encouraged to bring an offering toward Christian Surfers International (www.christiansurfers.com) and enthusiastically responded. Those funds will be going toward a children’s outreach in Panama this summer through Christian Surfers. These are the moments that make the long hours and hard work of volunteers and staff alike more than worth it.
We are so very thankful for all that God did in and through Kids Camp 2015, “Surf’s Up,” and are already looking forward to next summer! We are also so thankful to the volunteers without whom Kids Camp would be quite impossible. Thank you for answering the call to raise up a generation that knows Christ and makes Him known.
CLICK HERE FOR STOKED TV’S DAILY SURF REPORT VIDEOS! Fresh from Kids Camp 2015, Surfjan Stevens and Keanu Reefs bring news, weather, beach conditions and more on Stoked TV’s Daily Surf Report!
about kids camp
RBC Kids Camp is a week-long day camp open to all children entering the 1st grade through the 6th grade* and takes place the last week of June. Through quality Bible teaching, art, drama, music, and a ton of awesome games, Kids Camp (formerly VBS) is a unique opportunity for children to begin or grow in their relationship with Jesus and to learn to share their hope and joy with others. Check out www.restonbible.org/kidscamp for more info.
*There is a Kids Camp program for nursery, pre-K, and rising kindergarteners which is open to children of Kids Camp volunteer staff only.
Kids Camp 2015: Daily Surf Report
Fresh from Kids Camp 2015, Surfjan Stevens and Keanu Reefs bring news, weather, beach conditions and more on Stoked TV’s Daily Surf Report!
Investing in the Teens of RBC
My name is Bob Shull and I am the Senior High Youth Pastor here at Reston Bible Church. I am so thankful for the investment that RBC has made in the youth of our area for almost 40 years now. I am actually one of the fruits of the Youth Ministry here – having become a Christian when I was a Junior at Herndon High School (back in the “Remember the Titans” era) through the ministry of Dave Wentzel, RBC’s first Youth Pastor. Since that time, many things have changed (hair & clothing styles, the cost of gas, technology, to mention a few) since then in our society and in our church. RBC however has continued to focus the time and energies of our Youth Staff on encouraging our families with teens, teaching and equipping our students, and working with our students in reaching out to their friends. We follow the goal of the church as a whole to “Know Christ and make Him known” – both in a big group and small group setting. We also have a long tradition of taking and extended time with our teens in the Word of God at our Winter Retreat and Summer Camp. We give teens an opportunity to be involved in the ministry by using their gifts in worship, drama, teaching, and in the one anothers. We are blessed to have a facility that allows us to do bigger outreaches and events like “First Fruits” and our “Bring It” Talent Competition that impact our community. We have also been blessed to go with teens on over seas mission trips to places like England, Trinidad, Croatia, Brazil, Bolivia and to stateside locations like PawPaw, West VA, Chicago, Maysville SC, St. Louis Mo., and many more. It is on these trips that our teens have had to put their faith to the test and have seen God meet them there. What never ceases to amaze and motivate me is the ability of our teens to still believe and obey God in both little and big ways. Older adults can learn from them in this!
One of the greatest gifts that God has and continues to give the Youth Ministry are many volunteers He has led to join us in investing in our teens and their families and building the Kingdom of God. It is an understatement to say that working with teens is very “relational”. Just like all adults, teens are looking for a place to “belong”, a place to wrestle out what they believe, a safe place share their thoughts and doubts and grow in their faith in God. Doing this requires us to have men and women of all ages, gifting, and personalities who have a clear love for God, a love for His word, and a willingness to love and work with teens. Could God be nudging you to consider stepping out to join us?
The Youth Ministry is hosting a “Youth Ministry Preview and Training Event;” it will be on Sunday May 31st, 2015. It is designed to help anyone who wants to learn more about the youth ministry and is evaluating how he or she can serve at Reston Bible Church. Our hope is everyone attending will get the answers they need to make that decision. We will meet at 10:30am in the front classroom of the Youth Building. Aaron Osborne and Lee Banton will give the group an overview on the who, what, and why of the Youth Ministry. It will briefly cover what we do and the strategy behind it. We will then have the group join and observe the Sunday Morning Meeting – either in the Senior High (called GAP) or the Junior High (called Break Thru). This runs from 11am to 12:15pm. Afterwards the group will have lunch and the training aspect of the event. We will first cover the volunteer process; how someone becomes involved in the youth ministry. We will next cover what the volunteer roles are that we need in the Youth Ministry. We actually need not only relational people, but also those who are gifted administratively, and with specific talents – in music, drama, video, multimedia, etc. We will then go over what we see as being the “essentials” of youth ministry. There is not one type of person who can do youth ministry. However there are some essentials every volunteer needs to have and be growing in. Finally, we will talk about of the “keys” or wisdom that volunteers need to know to be effective in working with teens. It is not about just “hanging” out with teens – it’s helping them to individually learn how to follow Jesus in their lives.
If this sounds like something you want to explore, I would invite you to use this link to register for the “Youth Ministry Preview and Training Event.” You can go to this link: www.restonbible.org/youthpreview
Coming to this event does not mean you are committing to join the Youth Ministry Volunteer staff. However it will allow you to hear, see, and experience what Youth Ministry at RBC looks like and be able to make an informed choice on applying to volunteer with us. It is our goal to identify those who want to join us and begin working with them over the summer to be ready by the fall. If you have any questions or want any other information, please contact Lee Banton at leebanton@restonbible.org
Sincerely,
Bob Shull, Sr. High Youth Pastor
From the Field: Haiti Family Mission Update
Over Spring Break, a team of 21 parents and Jr. High students flew to Pignon, Haiti to serve with RBC-supported national pastor, Francois Romelus (featured here in a previous From the Field). While adults from RBC had visited before, it was the first trip that included students, and it was amazing to see the way the Lord used them.
Pastor Francois runs an orphanage of 50+ children, and it was such a blessing to see the ways that our students could play and interact with them, despite the language barrier. Our students were really able to open up the children there and practically show the love of Christ. On top of playing games of soccer, teaching them to skateboard, braiding hair, and hanging out, we also had several special opportunities with them.
We set up Easter Egg hunt with them and talked with them about the resurrection of Christ. We treated them to s’mores cooked over an open fire, after which everyone licked clean their sticky fingers. We had English classes as they taught us some Creole. And we took the oldest ~20 students to a beach a few hours away. Most of them had never been to the ocean and didn’t know how to swim. It was a treat for them, and a blessing to have fun with them.
We also had the blessing of helping the local church run a VBS-style children’s program. While it was a bit chaotic at times with almost 400 children who couldn’t speak English, it was an amazing blessing to serve the community. Our theme for the week was “Mwen Se Trésor Bondye” or “I am a Treasure of God’s”.
We had a great opportunity to play and do crafts with the children and act out Bible stories, as the national pastors taught God’s Word. At the end of each day, each the church provided a meal of rice, beans, and a little chicken for the children, and it was humbling to see how so little meant so much to them. Please pray for the children to understand that they are God’s Treasure.
Finally, we were blessed with many opportunities to connect with and encourage the local church. Eric Smith, the chairman of RBC’s elders, taught a marriage class. We were able to hear the testimonies of and pray for all of the national pastors and elders of the church in Pignon. Please continue to pray for them as they face many hardships and persecution to lead the church.
Thank you to the many who prayed for this team. We definitely saw the answers to many of your prayers. Please continue to pray for Pastor Francois’ children and their futures, as there are very few career opportunities for them.
**Thanks to all who attended the team review on Wednesday, 4/29 in the Jr. High Room. Please continue to pray for Pastor Francois and the ministry there.
From the Field: Pignon, Haiti
Pastor Francois Romelus and his wife, Madou, have humbly and faithfully led a church in Pignon, Haiti, since 1982. They have a church of over 200 people, run the local elementary school, and care for a large number of widows and about 50 orphans. They were in northern Virginia the weekend of February 22nd, when services were cancelled due to inclement weather. He recorded the following message to Reston Bible Church:
A team of 21 parents and Jr. High students are going to work with their ministry over Spring Break (March 26-April 3). The team will be running a VBS style camp for several hundred neighborhood children, trying to show God’s love for the orphans, and caring for the local church. God is doing much through the ministry there, and we want to be an encouragement to them.
Please pray for:
- The church in Pignon, that their faith in and dependence on the Lord would continue to deepen in the midst of many challenging circumstances.
- Pastor Francois and his wife Madou, that they would be encouraged in the Lord.
- The RBC team, that we would be a blessing and encouragement to the church in Pignon. Specifically, that we would be able to communicate to the children how much God treasures and values them.
Many people have asked about ways to help care for the orphans in Haiti. You can check out an Amazon.com wish list for them by clicking here. There you will find items that will be a blessing to them. You can purchase them off Amazon.com or elsewhere, and drop them off at Aaron Osborne’s office at RBC by Wednesday, March 18th, and we will deliver them. If you have any questions, please contact aaronosborne@restonbible.org.
Bill Plowden Memorial Service
VISITATION & SERVICE | On Tuesday, March 3rd visitation and a memorial service for Bill Plowden will be held at Reston Bible Church. The visitation is from 2:30-3:30pm and the service will begin at 4:00pm. A reception will follow at the church.
MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS | Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Bill Plowden to the Plowden Family Fund at Fundrazr.com (http://fnd.us/c/3iF3b) to support the children’s college fund. Letters for the girls about Bill can be sent to theplowdengirls@gmail.com.
FROM THE FAMILY | We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of the many friends and family who have walked with us throughout this journey. The Lord has used your prayers and support to sustain us in every possible way. We would also like to thank all of the wonderful staff of Massachusetts General Hospital who have cared for Bill over the past 18 months. A special thank you to our RBC family for your loving support and for helping us to plan Bill’s Celebration of Life.
Fun, Fun, Fun at Family Fun Night
Over the upcoming Spring Break, a missions team (led by Mike Meyers and Jason Goetz) will jet down to Brazil to help host a Vacation Bible School program for up to 200 children of the Terena Indian Tribe. On Friday February 20, the RBC Family-Quest Brazil team hosted a Family Fun Night at Reston Bible Church as a team-building exercise.
About 230 people (55 families!) came out despite record cold temperatures to play games, make crafts, watch movies, and devour pizza, popcorn, and ice cream. The mission team had its first chance to work together on a project, and it was wonderful to hear our younger volunteers ask (after having served for 5 hours), “Is there anything else I can do?” We were also happy to hear people say, “When are you doing this again?”
Special thanks to:
– The Don’s Pizza for giving us a great deal on our dinner
– Our volunteers who served alongside of us even though they are not going on the trip
– Our church family for coming out to support us. We hope you had FUN!
If you would like to support the team’s mission financially you can do so by clicking HERE (this link will take you to the Open Arms Worldwide website) and then following the instructions at the top of the page.
You can also support the team by eating out at The Jukebox Diner (46900 Community Plaza, Sterling VA, 20164) on Sunday, March 8th. For the whole day, (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) you can leave your receipt in the jar at the register and 10% of your bill goes to support our mission team!
Event Update: Daddy-Daughter Dance
This year was the 5th Annual Daddy-Daughter Valentine’s Dance, and it was a huge hit once again! I had the privilege of serving at the event for the 4th year in a row. Needless to say, I am richly blessed by this event each year, so that is why I keep coming back to serve!
This year’s theme was “Paint the Town Red” and the painting theme was incorporated throughout the church. In addition to a large paintbrush in the lobby, there were paint cans hanging above the tables in the Clubhouse where red plastic flowed out and onto the tables. There were even dipped pretzel sticks that looked like paintbrushes!
The evening began for the girls with a special dinner date with their dad. Afterwards, they arrived at the church to receive their corsage and to get their portraits taken with their dad. Both dads and girls were all dressed-up for the evening. The girls had obviously spent time carefully picking out their lovely, sparkling, flowing dresses especially for this evening. They were absolutely stunning with their hair styled and make-up done (some of them better than I can accomplish, I might add!). Afterwards, they enjoyed an evening of crafts, ice cream sundaes and dancing. The evening finished off with a talk about the “Grand Finale of Creation” – the girls themselves. What an excellent ending to the evening where these girls were being celebrated! The second grand finale was a shower of red balloons falling from the ceiling of the sanctuary, which the girls absolutely loved!
While all of the dresses, decorations, crafts and desserts were amazing, the REAL focus of the evening was daddy-daughter relationships. This dance provides an opportunity for dads to be intentional about spending one-on-one time with their daughters, which is something that can be hard to do in the hustle and bustle of life. I especially loved watching the girls posing for pictures with their dads. I was able to look through the pictures at the end of the evening and tears filled my eyes. What a wonderful keepsake for the girls to remember this evening with their dad, where they felt cherished and connected with their father. I know the girls will remember this time fondly.
Not only was this evening important for the special relationship between dads and their daughters, but it also has implications for the girls’ future. A friend of mine posted something on Facebook that I think directly relates to this. She said that when she was younger, her Daddy gave her a strand of pearls and told her that she, like the pearls, was beautifully refined and worthy of being treasured. Now in college, she was wearing the strand of pearls while on a date with a man who truly treasured her. She said she was thankful for her dad who set the standard for how she should be loved. I love how the Daddy-Daughter Valentine’s Dance provides a place where this teaching can begin. Here, fathers can teach their daughters what it looks like to be cherished and loved, setting a precedent for the rest of their lives. It is truly a special event!
-Angela Caldwell, event volunteer
From the Field: Where’s the Ban-yay-ro?
Twenty-two members of Reston Bible Church, led by Mike Meyers and Jason Goetz, are preparing to jet down to Brazil over spring break to help host a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for up to 200 children of the Terena Indian Tribe. The mixture of parents and kids from 5th grade and up met for the second time last week to get to know each other, learn important words like ban-yay-ro (bathroom), and figure out how to make this VBS absolutely amazing.
A few numbers from the meeting:
7 pizzas consumed
2 cups (of water) spilled
5 sentences learned in Portuguese
2 worship songs sung
5 craft projects picked
And a zillion other details discussed
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR FAMILY MISSION TO BRAZIL? Join us for Family Fun Night on February 20 from 6pm to 10pm as we play games, eat, and have a bonfire on Mount Minter. Where else can you go for dinner, friends, and hours of fun for just $10 and get to hear about our mission to Brazil? Hope to see you there!
