The answer to reaching the next generation for Christ isn’t better programs. During the two or three hours a week that the average family is at church, the church does a lot of great things. But, in order to be more effective, the church must make a shift in equipping parents to become the primary spiritual trainers in their own homes. Sadly, too many parents feel ill-equipped to teach and train their children spiritually.

We have “outsourced” the spiritual training of our children and the result is a lost generation. The Scriptures are very plain as to the family’s responsibility:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength and with all your soul. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

The church is here to provide support and guidance, but not to replace parental spiritual teaching.

Join us for a special worship service February 26. The service begins at 9:30 and will continue to 12:00noon in the Sanctuary and Gym. Children below the sixth grade will report to their regular nurseries, God’s Garden and POD/Kid’s Quest rooms. Students from the sixth grade up and all adults will go the Sanctuary or Gym at 9:30. After the service, a free lunch will be served in the Fellowship Hall.

Let’s experience this “Shift” together!

God Bless,
Randy

Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, student, single, divorced, remarried—whatever your home looks like—you’ll want to join us at 9:30am in the Sanctuary or the Christian Activities Center (CAC) for a special service unveiling the “Shift” Mt. Bethel will be making in the way we do ministry.

Please bring your middle school and high school students with you to the service. We also have a special program for your younger children. Please take them to the following locations for the entire service:

• 6 weeks to 2 years old: Nursery
• 2-year olds: Sunday school
• All Catechesis classes will meet
• 3’s( 3 by 9/1/2011) and 4’s: C101; C103; C104; C106 (near the Fellowship Hall)
• 5k, 1st and 2nd grades: F015 (Kid Quest)
• 3rd, 4th and 5th grades: B200 (The POD)

The Special Needs Ministry will meet in F-002.

A group of us went out to help unload the blankets. As we were making our way outside, I was introduced to another gentleman helping them; his name was Greg. When Eric opened the back of the truck, I saw that it was completely packed from top to bottom with hospital blankets. It took us several trips to unload these blankets, which ended up totaling 250. As we were thanking them, we learned that Eric and Myra were from Chamblee. Before I could ask how they heard about us, Eric said, “Greg told us about the wonderful things your church is doing with the homeless. He has visited your church a few times. You see, Greg used to be homeless, but now he’s off the streets and helping us out!” What a powerful moment!

Praise God for using this church to serve Him as we go “to the least and to the lost.”

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40

Rob Mickler
Director of Recreation

Angel Tree is a massive undertaking, and it works because of the commitment of many volunteers and the entire Mt. Bethel community. Thank you for being a part of this special ministry.

Stacy and Bill John

Executive Director Dale Champion (left) with guest speaker Jocelyn Dorsey, Director of Editorials and Community Affairs for WSB, and OK board member Bill Spell

Marcus and the other graduates, Terry and Shannon, related circumstances of growing up in foster care, with ever-changing adult role models or the lack of a father figure and resulting difficulties with trust in adults. Edwards and the other mentors like Frank Harris and Steve Gunning changed that for their young charges. Shannon spoke from his heart to the mentors and teens about his mentor Steve. “I know I can always trust him,” Shannon concluded, “I love him.”

The 22 foster teens, many decked out in coats and ties, and their mentors enjoyed dinner at the Paper Mill Grill in East Cobb and heard more about trust from guest speaker WSB-TV’s Jocelyn Dorsey, director of editorials and community affairs. Dorsey expanded on the concept of trust as one of the characteristics necessary for success.

The seven-time, Emmy award-winning journalist and first female African-American television anchor in Atlanta told the young people attending that trust is essential for moving forward with others. “Respecting others is very important; being an honorable person is very important,” she said, “but people have to trust you.” She said that you must make it clear to everyone that you will do what you say and you do that by following through with every task. “When people trust you,” she continued, “they will depend on you for the important things.”

Through volunteer mentor relationships, the program focuses on the importance of education and responsibility for foster and other special teens. The organization offers monthly workshop/programs, cultural field trips, service projects, and inspirational speakers in addition to the highly successful one-on-one mentor relationships.

Dale Champion, OK youth Terry with his mentor and Volunteer of the Year Award winner Frank Harris.

High school graduation is a significant accomplishment. “Less than 20% of foster children graduate from high school,” Executive Director Dale Champion said. “This year OK4Youth participants celebrated a 75% graduation rate with many pursuing higher education.” Preparation for the workforce is another objective of the program when higher education is not the young person’s choice.

“We are not as large as a Boys and Girls Club,” said Champion, “but the size of our organization has a lot to do with its success. The close-knit community we have built of some 25 mentors and our at-risk teens creates a kind of comfort zone for these kids.” Although the OK mentors include some women, most of them are men, adding an additional value to the lives of the youth, whose foster parent and group home staffs are often predominantly female.

The program partners with Mt. Bethel U.M.C., Cobb County Department of Family and Children Services, and Cobb County schools. For more information please contact Dale Champion at 678-641-1968, dchamp50@aol.com, or OK4Youth.org.

We proceeded with our gathering, and what was planned for the devotion was not what God wanted for this particular morning. Thank God we heard him say, “Luke 2 is not just the narrative you and the team are to use for the Christmas puppet show, but rather it is for each of you personally and specifically to read it and to study it and this is what I want you to spend time doing this first morning in Kenya.” Yes sir, and we did just that.

We opened God’s Word and begged the Holy Spirit to take over, to teach us fresh using the familiar. We spent some time reading, praying, discussing, and witnessing the familiar: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree…” transform into, “this is not just a ‘story.’ ” We were washed new in knowing that this is marked in history according to political rulers reigning, this is “Real.” We actually talked about how Mary did not have to be chosen by Joseph to go with him on this 80-mile journey to register for the census. We discussed the fact that the shepherds were poor, the lowest of society, and how they were out watching over the flocks that were more than likely the Temple flock – yes, the lambs that would be bought for a price by all who were coming to Bethlehem to be used as sacrificial lambs before they would go to the temple to seek God, and that the angel came to them first is so cool. We sat stunned and laughed a bit nervously, that the first thing the angel uttered to the shepherds was, “do not be afraid…” which we honestly admitted we would have been terrified! We shook our heads at the audacity of Christ, the Messiah, being placed in a feeding trough and that that would be the identifying factor for the shepherds – finding him in a manger was ridiculous, counter to any birth and subsequent placement of any ranking official or King!

Even so, in all of our reading, discussion, excitement, and pondering, I felt the entire room was most struck at the reality that verses six and the beginning portion of seven say this, “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.” We grappled with the enormity of these 20 some words. We uttered, “all of human history turns on this fact.” The weight of this proclamation, the grappling with, the stunning freshness of the Gospel being born struck us, seared our hearts, and caused us to bow in adoration to pray.

Just as I was struggling to find any words to speak into this moment, to give one more battle cry to the team of the truth that God doesn’t need us, but He invites us into His story to be used by Him, that we crossed an ocean out of love and obedience to our Lord and Savior, that we get to be a part of what God is doing, what a privelege and honor to be able to decrease, so He will increase and receive all glory and honor. Yes, I was struggling, big time, to wrap the majesty of the moment up and to not crush the Spirit but to get us going. When God orchestrated a choir of heavenly hosts, who happened to be the Kenyan staff from Heart Lodge guest house, who were assembled for their morning devotional 40 feet outside my room’s open doors, sing out, in breathtaking Kenyan accents, “O come let us adore Him, O come let US adore Him, O come let us adore him. Christ the Lord.”

We sat there unable to move or breath. We heard each other gasping and tearing up while we felt overtaken and undone by the presence of God, Emmanuel, God with us! He had done it, as only He can. He stunned us with His attention to detail, reminded us that we matter, and as we come and adore Him, He turns it to blessing us.

This is how our experience began, and our faithful God continued to stun us throughout our entire two-week experience in Kenya, with the fact that, yes, indeed, He was and is with us, and we are invited to participate in His story as we “come and adore Him.”

Adoring Him more today than even yesterday,
Gaylyn Kelly
Director of Young Adult and College Students Ministry

In an action packed, frenetic event on February 3, 2012 from 11:00am-1:00pm, Mt. Bethel Christian Academy middle school students will come together in service to meet this timed challenge. The assembly process combines rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix including 21 essential vitamins and minerals into small meal packages. These meal packages will then be shipped around the world to support school feeding programs and crisis relief. The food stores easily, transports quickly and has a shelf life of five years.

The Academy will be funding this program at a cost of $13,500. To offset the cost of purchasing the supplies and meal contents, all students, staff, and faculty have volunteered to fill mini M&M tubes with quarters. The FISH radio Fun Crew will be on site to offer encouragement and music for our students. Anyone wishing to witness this extraordinary event is welcome to view the action from the track in the CAC between 11:00am-1:00pm on February 3.

Jackie Grasty
Director of Advancement

But to the many other Mt. Bethel folks who donated books, moved books, or helped in so many other ways: we may never know your names or what you did, but the children of Athens will benefit from your generosity. Thank you. Two little words… so much meaning.

Read the rest of the article on the Books For Keeps blog.

Unfortunately though, there are more children who need our support. Mt. Bethel members have been sponsoring orphans living in the Hope for Today Alpha Home in Hyderabad, India for the last several years through BrightPoint for Children, a child sponsorship organization started in response to mission involvement at Mt. Bethel. The Alpha Homes were established by Peter and Esther Pereira as part of their role in compassion ministries in India. Peter and Esther have been to Mt. Bethel on several occasions, participated in our Global Outreach activities, and work with the International Leadership Institute (ILI).

In 1997, Peter and Esther were visiting a day center and felt the call of God to support three of these children housed there. Esther had always wanted to start a children’s home, but they did not have sufficient funds in their ministry. Esther began working with these children, who had no place to live and most were beggars in the streets (think Slumdog Millionaire). Then in March 1998, God blessed their labor with the birth of the Alpha Home. They started in a very humble thatched hut with 38 children. This hut was filled with joy as they began to receive Christ’s love in their new home. The ministry has been blessed by God, and they were able to build the current home in 1999. They have grown over the years and continue to get requests to take in more of the orphans and the extremely poor.

Mt. Bethel members Bridgett and Jim Cook are our ‘point persons’ for this orphanage. They have done an outstanding job of coordinating sponsors for these beautiful children. Most of these sponsors are Mt. Bethel members, but we still have 28 sponsorships for either Basic Needs or Education that need be filled. The dream of the Alpha Home is to give these children Christ’s love, an education and a chance to become good citizens of the world and witnesses for Christ. Your support of these children for $39 per month can help make that dream come true.

To sponsor a child in India, please visit us at brightpointforchildren.org.

About BrightPoint for Children:

Founded in 2007, BrightPoint for Children is a Christ-centered, child sponsorship organization that was started to help missionary teams stay connected with the children in the communities in which they have served. We team with our ministry partners and our sponsors to help children with their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, health care and adult care) as well as their education. We do this by customizing our programs based on the needs of the children and the guidance of our ministry partners. Ultimately though, we desire to connect each child with a lasting relationship with a sponsor. We are currently working in nine countries impacting the lives of over 5,500 children.

Please consider joining the 100+ Mt. Bethel families currently involved with BrightPoint.

Justin Brasuell
Co-founder
BrightPoint for Children