PACK IT!!!

Kids Around the World, the missions organization, not only puts playgrounds in third world countries, but also partners with another organization (Feed My Starving Children), to provide nutritious rice packets to the children and people of those countries, as well. This week, on Saturday, November 3, at the Bridge, we are "packing!" In an assembly-line fashion, our church people will line up to fill as many bags as we can, in four hours, with rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins, and added chicken seasonings; then vacuum-seal them, to send over to Thailand and beyond. Each packet costs $1.32. One of these bags will feed one child for six days. All that has to be done is add water and cook over a heated stove. The pictures on the back of the package are very self-explanatory for a child or an adult, and the food inside is super nutritious AND life-saving. Paul, our Kids Around the World liason, challenged the people of the church to just eat this rice packet ONLY for an entire day. Many of the people who tried it couldn't do it, which shows just how entitled we have really become in America. Although I didn't get to participate in this task, because I was out of town helping my mom after her surgery, I am going to do my best to do it for a day before leaving on our Thailand trip. We will see!!! If you ever want to donate to a worthy cause, this actually works, because instead of sending the money to an organization, you are actually sending a real, live package of food to a child! Contact Kids Around the World or Feed My Starving Children to see what you can do to get involved!!! (www.kidsaroundtheworld.com[/email:]mobilepackinfo@fmsc.org/)

Oct. 21, 2012 1240 Hours For today’s Thailand meeting, we were supposed to bring red Solo cups that revealed something about who we are. On the outside of my cup was a picture of a vortex, which is basically the state of my life at this time, with a request for God to fill my empty cup during this new journey. Eric brought along another empty cup and asked each of us to write one weakness on the outside of it in black Sharpie. Then, he read a couple of passages from II Corinthians and reminded us of the apostle, Paul(II Corinthians 12:8-10—“8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.),and how he asked God to take away his weakness, and how the Lord never removed it from him. When he read from the second passage, II Corinthians 4:7-12, Eric told us that these would be our theme verses for our Thailand mission trip. They are as follows: "7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." What came next was an object lesson, before which Eric read each one of our weaknesses from the cup where we had penned them. You can notate them in the pictures below, and at the end of this blog, I have listed them alphabetically (Since I am a fourth grade teacher!). He then asked us if we believed that this flimsy plastic cup could hold his weight. All of us but Matt didn’t think so, and of course, Eric and Carrie, who were in on the secret. So he held up the cup and said something to the effect of, “Look at what a motley crew we are! In order for God to be able to use us in spite of our weaknesses, we have to allow Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit,” upon which he poured sand into the cup and filled it to overflowing. Then, he literally stood on it, and short of causing a few wrinkles in its sides, it actually held his weight! But, Eric went further and asked our leader from the missions organization, “Kids Around the World,” Paul (Whose 60th birthday it was today), to stand on the cup. Without any more visible damage, it held Paul’s weight, as well. Lesson learned. God can use any of us, as long as we, His children, surrender all to Him, and it is through our weaknesses that He shines His light through us in the brightest fashion. Here are the weaknesses of The Bridge Bible Church Thailand Team 1: 1. Being alone 2. Being right 3. Confidence 4. Faith 5. Fear 6. Fear of Region 7. Finances 8. Hurt Back 9. Pride 10. Public Speaking 11. Sarcasm 12. Shy 13. Spelling 14. One was an "unknown," as the cup got too squished!

Dear Bridge Bible Family and Friends, Yesterday, my best friend, Tina, sent me this Daily Bread entry. It is what I have been asking God to give me in my life, and I wanted to share it with you! In His Love, Denise Trone Quaking Aspens October 1, 2012 Our Daily Bread is hosted by Les Lamborn READ: Philippians 4:6-9 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. —2 Thessalonians 3:16 While I was visiting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, two trees caught my attention. Though the leaves on the surrounding trees were not moving, the leaves of these trees were fluttering with just the slightest hint of a breeze. I pointed them out to my wife, and she told me they were called quaking aspens. I was struck by the visual effect of those shaking leaves. While all the other trees appeared calm and steady, the quaking aspen leaves shook, even with only the faintest breeze. Sometimes I feel like a quaking aspen. People around me seem to be moving through life without issues or concerns, apparently steady and secure, while even the slightest issue can unsettle my heart. I see others and marvel at their calm and wonder why my own life can so easily be filled with turbulence. Thankfully, the Scriptures remind me that genuine, steadying calm can be found in the presence of God. Paul wrote, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thess. 3:16). Not only does God offer peace, He Himself is the Lord of peace. When we enter the disturbing, unsettling seasons of life, it is good to know that real peace is available in the God of all peace. —Bill Crowder Prince of Peace, teach me to find in You the calming power of Your presence. Strengthen me today with Your peace, and grant me the stability I need in this turmoil-filled world. Amen. Peace is more than the absence of conflict; peace is the presence of God.

After spending a couple of weeks helping my mother after her full shoulder replacement surgery, I was greeted to this beautiful sunset, as I was nearly home from an eight hour drive between Phoenix, AZ and Tehachapi, CA, or as my children so lovingly call it, "T-town." It made me thankful for my home there, my family and friends, and for my family at Bridge Bible Church, but mostly for my Savior. I have received a few encouraging emails from all of you about your prayers for my mother and also encouraging words for our upcoming missions trip. God is surely going before us, and He will guide us in His way, because He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. This last year,I have seen His wonderful and loving hand guiding my life as never before, and I am excited for the journey He has set before us! Godspeed to you all. In His Love, Denise