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The Open DoorPublished monthly by and for the members and friends of
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From the Minister |
From the Parish Nurse |
Session Committee Articles |
Session Meeting Highlights |
Notes of Appreciation |
Notes of Sympathy |
Prayer Calendar |
Remember to Pray for These |
Memorial Gifts |
Birthdays |
Youth News |
Special Needs |
Monthly News |
Thoughts to Ponder |
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Greetings in this wonderful Tennessee Spring in May! The bushes and the trees look beautiful, don’t they? Have you noticed our white azaleas and our flower beds? I can’t lie, I’m glad warmer weather is coming. With the blessing of warmer weather comes some bane, however. I’m speaking of the return of the mosquitoes and the West Nile virus (WNV) they carry.
Since its arrival in New York City in 1999 through the end of 2002, the virus has infected 4,042 people in 40 states (including Tennessee). Though most cases of this mosquito-borne disease are mild, some patients, including the elderly, the chronically ill, and others with weak immune systems, are at risk of developing encephalitis or meningitis. There have been 272 WNV-related deaths in the United States reports RN magazine.
WNV is an arbovirus, that is, a virus carried by mosquitoes and ticks. It was first identified in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda.. Since then it has been carried by sick birds or mosquitoes coming into the U.S. The main route of human infection is through the bite of an infected mosquito. However, there have been reports from the CDC of transmission through infected blood donations and organ transplants. Nonetheless, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the benefits of receiving needed transfusions or transplants outweigh the potential risk for WNV infection.
The incubation period for WNV infection is estimated to be three to fourteen days. Symptoms generally last three to six days, with one symptom-fatigue-possible lasting longer. In most cases, the infection is mild with a quick recovery. This “mild infection” is called West Nile fever. Regular WNV symptoms include a sudden onset of fever accompanied by symptoms such as malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, headache, myalgia (diffuse muscle pain), rash, and swelling of the lymph nodes. In only one out of 150 cases of WNV, the virus crosses the blood-brain barrier and causes encephalitis. Anytime there is stiffness in the neck, change of level of consciousness (lethargy, confusion) and rapid change in ability to move your muscles, the nervous system is involved and this is a more serious condition needing immediate hospitalization.
There are lab tests to assist with the WNV diagnosis : blood cell counts, blood chemistry (looking for low sodium), presence of the IgM antibody found in cerebral spinal fluid, presence of white blood cells in the cerebral spinal fluid, elevated protein and glucose levels. MRI of the brain will also show changes that will help in diagnosis.
There is not specific treatment for WNV, except to treat the symptoms.
So, everyone needs to use mosquito prevention techniques- including the safe use of insect repellent- to avoid being bitten. Remember to overturn bird baths in warm weather and drain any standing, still water where mosquitoes can breed.
Remember to take good care of yourself, you are God’s children.
To your good health ......... Deb
Just a reminder...
Our Bethel medial equipment closet has some things you might find useful! Hopefully, you won’t have need of any of these items, however, accidents (and surgeries) do happen.....We have wheeled and stationery walkers, a wheelchair, toilet seat riser, bedside commode, a “reacher”, an immobililizer, quad canes and a single cane, as well as adult and child crutches. Just call Debbie Hyder if you need any of these at 376-6340.
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[A reminder that session meetings are open for members to attend unless the session goes into executive session; the minutes of the session are are available, by appointment, for review in the church office] |
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| 1. | Heard that our presbytery is setting up Disaster Response Network of 15-20 people across the presbytery; volunteers from Bethel are welcome; reply to Bethel ASAP |
| 2. | Average worship attendance for March: 115 |
| 3. | Studied chapter 10 of the Form of Government of the Book of Order and Roberts Rule of Order |
| 4. | Received word that Bethel has received a bequest of $2000.00 from the estate of Ellen Hale; referred this to Stewardship and Finance Committee |
| 5. | Discussed reasons for the low participation in the Service on Saturdays program for Lent |
| 6. | Heard a report about recognizing folks who have been members at Bethel for 50 years or more on June 1 |
New Web Site
Bethel's NEW Web Site!new address:
www.bethelpcusa.org
On May 1 Bethel's brand new, completely redesigned web site opens, with more color, lots of photographs, easier reading, and more complete information about our church.Please visit the site at its new address, add the address to your favorites' list, and check the site often. Pass the word to all your friends.As you view the site, look for ways that we can make the site more useful both to members & friends and to those who have not yet discovered us but may be looking for a church just like Bethel.If you notice something missing that should be on the site, or see entries that need updating, have ideas for format or content, or just want to comment, e-mail our web editor HERE. If something on our new site doesn't work the way you think it should, e-mail our technical support HERE. We will strive to keep the site current and hope that it will become your one-stop source for anything and everything about Bethel.
Thanks to all who've contributed information thus far, to Becca Dailey who will provide us with youth news, to Carol Brown who is collecting interviews, to Carolyn Matthews who will serve as editor, to Alf Rybka for the photographs that are used throughout the site, and to Dan McDowell who created the site, redesigned it, and who continues to work magic on the web for Bethel.
YOU are the heart of www.bethelpcusa.org!
Help us make your new web site even better. On the homepage, click on the mountain scene and explore the feature: "East Tennessee Points of Interest." You'll see a potpourri of things to see and do in our area. Is YOUR favorite place or activity there? If it's missing, we'll add it. If your favorite IS there, give us a one-liner for a soon-to-be added section, "Our Members' Favorite Places." Example: Marc Banker recommends the view from atop Mount LeConte. "Awesome!" E-mail your "one-liner" to the web editor at editor@bethelpcusa.org or bring it into the church office. Watch the newsletter for more ways that you can help us personalize your Bethel website.
DINNER-ON-THE-GROUNDS
A Dinner-on-the-Grounds is being planned for Sunday, June 1st. Plan to stay after church and join in celebration of Bethel’s 185th Anniversary. Please bring picnic-style pot-luck foods that do not require heating, due to limited kitchen and oven space. Drinks will be provided; bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.
On April 25th. seven Bethel women traveled to Knoxville for our presbytery’s 2003 Annual Gathering of Presbyterian Women. We were privileged to hear keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, Moderator of the 214th General Assembly, PCUSA. The Rev. Wendy Neff preached the afternoon sermon, which included the sacrament of communion. The business meeting included the treasurer’s report, committee reports, a minute for mission on Mission Haven (a Synod-wide PW mission project that houses missionaries on return leave), election of officers, and installation of PW’s enablers including Melanie Sherrod for Cluster 1. Contact Edith Miles, Bethel’s PW moderator, for more information and/or for a copy of the Jerusalem Sabeel Document: “Principles for a Just Peace in Palestine-Israel.” The document includes website references and elder contacts for the five Presbyterian churches in Iraq.
The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 214th General Assembly, was born April 13, 1944 in Kuffer-Yassif, Galilee, Israel. He came to the United States to study for the ministry in 1966 and became a US citizen in1981. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary (Chicago), a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary (Atlanta), and a B.A. from Southeastern College, Lakeland Florida. He is a member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta and was on the mission staff at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta from 1980-2001. Dr. Abu-Akel directs the National Christmas International House Program in 32 cities, a mission program that places international students in homes across the county for 7 – 10 days during the Christmas holidays. This program has offered _ million international students, from 150 nations, the opportunity to experience the miracle of free travel and free self-expression, a condition that is rare in many countries.
Dr. Abu-Akel spoke of three important influences in his faith journey. First was his foundation from his home/mother /church/community in Galilee, especially his mother who was a strong Greek Orthodox Christian and instilled in him the love of the Word, especially the Psalms which he and his brother memorized. Dr. Abu-Akel remembers vividly the last time he saw his mother, when he was four years old and his father took him and his brothers and sisters to a refugee resettlement camp, leaving his mother behind, waving from the roof. They returned four days later to find his mother dead, four (of what would later be 400) Palestinian villages destroyed. Second, he spoke of two Scottish Presbyterian missionaries who came to his village and from whom he learned English as well as Bible study and prayer. Third was his life in his 800-year-old church and his call to the ministry, which necessitated his journey to the USA since there were no Christian seminaries in Palestine.
In Galilee, for thirty-five years, Dr. Abu-Akel lived just blocks from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, but could travel there seldom and never without a special permit, an injustice that haunts his family, and all Palestinian Christians, to this day. Awareness of Arab Christianity is weak, he said, reminding the gathering that there are fifteen million Christians in the middle east, three quarters of a million Christians in Iraq alone, that the Christian church in Palestine is older than any church in the world, that there are many, many Palestinian and Arab Christians, mostly in Egypt.
Dr. Abu-Akel spoke with authority on the Palestinian-Israeli issue as a question of justice due after 35 years of Israeli occupation, and of the necessity of learning to live in a global village. “If there is to be peace in the Middle East, face to face, one on one, the Palestinian must look his Israeli brother in the eye and say, ‘You took my home, my land, my church, but I forgive you.’ And the Israeli must look his Palestinian brother in the eye and say, ‘My power and my security depend upon your power and your security.’ Coexistence is the only formula for peace.”
Dr. Abu-Akel gave four challenges to today’s Presbyterian Church: We must focus on spiritual renewal and recover a love of the Word and the disciplines of Bible study and prayer. We must find unity in the midst of our diversity by focusing on the main issue: the cross and the power of the resurrection. Each church should adopt one local mission project and one global mission project so that each church member can be helped to be intimately involved in mission work: “God heals us all if we are involved in mission.” Finally, we must learn again the gift of hospitality: if every member brought just one new person into discipleship, we could revolutionize PCUSA and begin to truly share our faith.
Dr. Abu-Akel challenged PCUSA elders to reclaim their responsibility to help people know the Word, citing the tremendous growth of the church in Africa, and elsewhere. This growth is due mainly to elders who take responsibility for teaching and preaching in churches without pastors. In Kenya alone, there are more Presbyterians than in the entire U.S.A
God's Vision -- Our Calling is the theme of the 2003 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, July 9 - 13.
Ask yourself: How are you called? To what you are called? How do you discern the call? How do you respond to the call? The gathering's activities of Bible study, workshops, music, art, and creative projects will help you find the answers to these questions. Resource exhibits and the Presbyterian Women's business session are also a part of the gathering.
Cost for the full session is $270 when you register before May 15th. Reduced rates are available for weekend and one day attendance. Special hotel rates are available at downtown Louisville hotels; prices range from $75 to $124 per room, per night double occupancy (plus tax). Reservations must be made through the Convention Housing Bureau in order to receive the special rates.
Dolores Sandmel, (423) 334-2860, is interested in attending the gathering and would like interested women to call her so that group travel and attendance can be planned. Further information is available at the web site http://www.pcusa.org/pwgathering/ or from Dolores.
Chili, anyone?
Our friends at the John Knox Center invite us to taste their chili on May 17 at the courthouse lawn in Kingston when they will participate in the chili cook-off during festivities that day.
One of the avenues of international mission that Bethel has been supporting over the past few years is Grace School in the East African country of Kenya. The school is operated by Monica and Reverend Samuel Wambugu, with whom Bethel became acquainted several years ago when Samuel was studying at the University of Tennessee. Samuel preached here a time or two. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church of Kenya. Our support to the school has been primarily financial, with approximately $2500 being donated over the course of the past five years or so. Most recently, the Mission Outreach Committee (MOC) authorized a gift of $500 in February, and Samuel reported to our disbursements treasurer that it had been received and was being put to good use.
Grace school is a private educational organization for primary school age children. The problems of larger Africa, such as AIDS, poverty, famine, civil strife, and violence, are not foreign to Kenya or the school, and the majority of the students of the school are orphans. Thus, in order to accomplish its educational objectives, the school provides for the food and clothing needs for its 70 pupils. MOC receives regular communication from the Wambugu’s, often accompanied by photos of the sparse school facilities occupied by smiling children. The most recent news letter contained a financial report for the 3-month quarter beginning 2003, indicating the school’s income was about $10,000 (US) for the period, with a slightly larger sum of expenditures.
Kenya is a country of 30 million people. The average annual income in US$ is $360. Life expectancy is 48 years. Those who keep up with African affairs may remember that Kenya recently elected a new president, ending the hold on that office by one political party for four decades and by one man for 24 years. In a dose of irony, the new government’s free primary education for all Kenyans has actual had a negative effect on the private Grace School, bleeding away the more financially able students and leaving the destitute orphans.
Contemplating the school, our congregation’s involvement with it, and our other local and larger-area missions, one can be struck by a progression of images: (the generosity of our past financial giving; the separation of miles, circumstances, or lifestyles between us and those involved;) our own relative immunity from so many of the traumas of the larger world; the abundance of our own material lifestyles; and finally the common humanity we share with our brother and sisters in spite of our own relative bliss and their suffering. We must engage and assist at least some of them with financial support and in other ways as well.
Our congregation continues to search for its vision. Many suggest that vision look beyond the horizons of our own church family towards the less fortunate, and of course it should be so. The remaining questions will be harder to satisfy. How hard will we look? Will we see other paths to service to those in need beyond those already established here? Will the sights and sounds of our mission vision be so captivating that all of us, not just the same tried and true workhorses, are compelled to take part? Given the depth and breadth of suffering in the world, will we be able to concentrate on a few of the needs so as to make a measurable difference?
Joe Coen, Mission Outreach Committee
Mission Outreach Report for May
Missions are alive and well at Bethel! In April, we have sent donations to:
$150.00 to Morgan-Scott project for a new water heater
$150.00 to Heifer International
$250.00 to Young Life Mission in Venezuela
$250.00 to Jubilee Center in Tuy Valley, Venezuela
$250.00 to Second Harvest Food Bank
$221.31 to Casa de Sara Hunger Fun in Bolivia
Submitted by: Debbie Hyder, Mission Outreach chairperson
From the Evangelism Committee
Three members from our committee attended an exciting and fun-filled Presbytery conference hosted by Eastminster PCUSA entitled "The Magnetic Church." Andy Weeks, an Anglican lay evangelist, helped participants see their churches through the eyes of newcomers. Andy gave us inspiration, practical advice and encouragement for doing evangelism in our churches. From Andy's book, Welcome! Tools and Techniques for New Member Ministry (Washington, DC: Alban, 2001 rpt.): "Many leaders in the field of evangelism believe that one of the most powerful vehicles in new member ministry is that of storytelling. Telling our stories to others is far more gracious and effective than simply telling people what we want them to know and do. Yet, for storytelling to be effective, it must be a two-way dialogue of telling and listening. . . The more I reveal about my personal spiritual vulnerability and growth, the easier it becomes for you to tell me where you are, the course you have traveled, and maybe where you want to go. But my telling my story will not help you unless I also have the patience and genuine interest to really listen to your story...You will discover new power in your story each time you tell it, and you will be strengthened and enlightened by the stories you hear. This, in turn, produces an ever-widening circle of growth.."
Thanks to Karen and Jim Schall for hosting the wonderful (only slightly wet!) hike on their mountain backyard in Morgan County, to Pat and Jerry Harvey for their continuing involvement in planning this summer’s mission trip (see article in this newsletter), and to all of you who participated in the youth auction as a fundraiser for this trip. Thanks to Scott McGill for helping with the bake-in Good Friday night – the youth donated $262.50 to the one Great Hour of Sharing offering from the bake sale proceeds. Plans, under Pat Harvey’s leadership, are underway for this year’s Youth Sunday on May 18. We hope that all the youth will plan to be involved!
YOUTH SUNDAY
YOUTH SUNDAY will be May 18th. Please keep the Youth in your prayers as they prepare to lead Bethel in Worship!
The Youth are planning a White Elephant Sale on May 24th. We would ask you to bring your items to the Fellowship Hall on set up day (May 23rd) beginning at 9:00 a.m.! If you have any items you need help with - please contact Pat Harvey. The sale will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday May 24th. This is your chance to clean out that attic or basement that you've been wanting to clean up! Thank you in advance for your generous support of our Youth!
PRAY FOR
YOUTH FROM
BETHEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
AS THEY SERVE
CHRIST ON THE
MISSION FIELD
IN IDAHO
JULY 19 - 29
2003
Come follow me,
and I will make you fishers of men…”
Mark 1: 17
Pacific Northwest Cross Connection is a Christian summer outreach ministry for youth and adults, located to serve Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Combining a camping ministry with service, it provides mission outreach opportunities to youth and adults. The ministry conducts hands-on mission work in the area surrounding its base camp for those in need by building porches, wheel chair ramps, painting, and completing other sometimes not so small projects. Evenings in camp are reserved for fun, sharing and traditional camp activities.
Operating from beautiful Twinlow Camp, in Rathdrum, ID, Pacific Northwest Cross Connection provides its campers a fantastic outdoors experience while experiencing the joy of Christian service. Mission groups learn to share their faith with those they serve while strengthening Christ centered relationships within their mission team.
A vital part of the PNCC ministry is fellowship. Every evening, after a hard day’s work, worships are planned for the campers. Fellowship and worship oftentimes involve singing, games, skits, etc. Campers are given an opportunity to have fun, while growing closer to the Lord – and each other. The result at the end of the week is a strong Christian community, bonded by faith, love, with Christ at the center.
Each camp week ends with a campfire and commitment service. That week’s newly formed Christian community of youth and adults spend time in sharing meaningful moments from the week, worship, take communion together, and then consider what it means to commit their lives to Christ, striving to live a life of mission and servanthood.
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
James 2: 26
Notes of Appreciation
Dear Pastor ,
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. It was really a blessing to come across your website while surfing on the internet. The message on the web really touched me and I felt encouraged in the Lord. Well am pastor Alex Wabwile Wafula married to Florence. God has given us a church and we have 150 members and still believing God for the increase. Please do pray with us that God may also use us in a great way. We just wish that you should one time come and teach the people of God about the word for we are really touched just by reading about you.
May God reachly bless you.
Yours brother in the Lord, Pastor Alex Wabwile
Dear Friends, This is to acknowledge receipt of your generous gift of $30 to Roane County HABITAT FOR HUMANITY in memory of Cleyon Newcome. Since 1992 our affiliate has built 20 basic, decent and affordable houses for over 100 individuals who previously were living in inadequate, unsafe and unhealthy housing. Construction on house #30 will begin soon, and House #31 will be built this fall. We are all grateful that you chose to remember your friend this way. Sincerely, Jane DeVall, Treasurer
THANK YOU so much for your generous gift to Second Harvest. We are very grateful to you for your support of our world to feed people in our community. Thanks Again! Elaine Machiela, Executive Director
RELAY FOR LIFE
Thanks to Bethel for your support of $313.00 raised for American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
A THANK YOU NOTE FROM A PRISON INMATE SOON TO BE RELEASED
Dear Mr. & Miss Dick, My name is James Allen—.
I would very much like to thank you for the clothes and just being there for me. I thank you and God bless. Your little friend, James ..... Thank you very much, James.
April 11, 2003
GREETINGS FROM SUNSET GAP
We thank you so much for the soup labels you donated. Please never forget that our programs exist because of folks like you.
We have installed heating and air conditioning in the dorm and have just finished remodeling the bathrooms there. Our work camps began last month. We are already booked for almost every week this spring and summer and have been out looking at more work sites. We always look forward to meeting all the that come our way and really appreciate the work the do in our community.
Thanks again for your loving support of our mission. We couldn't do it without you. God bless you!
Gratefully, Jonathan Pflug, Director
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Someone once wrote a letter to the local newspaper that said, “Ministers seem to feel their sermons are very important, so they spend a great deal of time preparing them. I’ve been attending church regularly for over 30 years, and I’ve probably heard about 1,500 sermons. The awful truth is that I can’t remember a single one! I wonder if a minister’s time might be better spent on something else.”
That Sunday, a minister read the letter to his congregation and said he’d be interested in any replies the congregation might wish to send to him.
The following Sunday, the minister reported that he’d received many responses, most of them expressions of indignation aimed at the anonymous letter writer. He thanked the church members for the responses but said he was most thankful for one in particular, which he then read to the gathering.
“I have been married for 30 years. During that time, I have eaten well over 32,000 meals — mostly my wife’s cooking — but I can’t remember the menu of a single meal. Of course I can recall some of my favorite dishes, but not the menus. And yet, I received the nourishment from every single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.”
A SAFE HAVEN
Don’t ride in automobiles; they cause 20 percent of all fatal accidents. Don’t stay at home; 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home. Don’t walk on the street or the sidewalk; 14 percent of all accidents happen to pedestrians. Don’t travel by air, rail or water; 16 percent of all accidents happen on these.
However, only 0.001 percent of all deaths reported occur in worship services. Therefore, the safest place for you to be is in church. Sunday school is also relatively safe.
4 - DEBBIE HYDER 376-1685
Mabel Bradford 11 Jon Rybka |
18 - NANCY KING376-9951
Wanda Carter 25 Fred & Willie Mae Meers |
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