Avalon Connection

A
Publication
of
Avalon
Missionary
Church
January 2014
Volume 10, Issue 1
Avalon Connection
Inside this issue:
PK Ponders
2
I know most of us or perhaps all of us at one time in our lives have experienced the lights going
out, whether in our homes, or in a place of business, school or church. Some of you may have
experienced having your lights turned off because you forgot to pay your light bill, or just could
Avalon School
2
not afford to pay the bill on time. I have experienced my lights going out several times through
circumstances I had no control over. Usually a storm or an accident in the neighborhood causes it.
Upcoming Events
2
Then "out go the lights." Well, we know when the lights are out we are in darkness. We cannot see
a thing. If we are not familiar with the surroundings, we are not able to even feel our way around to
get to flash lights, candles, matches, or whatever we need. So it's a bad situation to be in --
Mission House
Update
3
DARKNESS.
Children’s Ministry
4
Now, when things are functioning properly, we go home, turn on the light switch and we have
light. We see everything. Sometimes things we don't want to see! Furniture needs dusting, floors
Student Ministry
5
need cleaning, and the list goes on. But it is still good to have light.
Monthly Calendar
6
Before we gave our lives to Christ we were lost in darkness. Someone had to come along with his
or her light shining bright, and tell us how to come out of darkness and into Christ's marvelous
light. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows me
Special Points of
Interest:
shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). Jesus paid the price for all of us
in full. He died on the cross and rose again. When we accept Christ in our lives our lights never
have to go out. No matter what circumstances come our way, we never have to worry about paying
13, 14, 20, 21, 27, & 28
Upward Practices
our bill on time. It's been paid in full forever.
18 & 25 Upward Games
Without lights you're walking around in darkness, trying to make it, or trying to find your way. But
13 Monday Night
Women’s Bible Study starts at 7pm
you need the light of Christ. No one living in darkness will ever find their way without it. Like the
11, 18, & 25 Saturday
Night Vibe at 6pm at
WC
(Ephesians 5:8).
18 Avalon Trivia Night
at 7:15pm after Vibe
our lights shine. When people treat you bad -- let
31 Youth Winter Retreat
to Camp Crosley
-- let your light shine. If money runs out -- let
SAVE THE DATE:
Souper Bowl Sundae at
the FLC on February 2,
after 2nd service
serve. Let us choose to serve Christ and let our
saying "there's a light at the end of the tunnel", Jesus is that light at the end of everyone's tunnel.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
No matter what problems arise, we can still let
your light shine. When sickness comes upon you
your light shine. We choose daily whom we will
lights shine BRIGHT!
Blessings, Nancy
Page 2
Avalon Connection
On the New Year’s holiday we often find ourselves reflecting back over what has happened during the past 365 days. We’re seeing
the list of top 10 (or 15 or 20 or 40, depending on how much media time or space needs to be filled) this or that of the past year – top
ten plays, top fifteen most read stories, etc. And while I haven’t compiled a list from my own life and ministry, I certainly have been
thinking back over what I’ve experienced personally over the past year. There have been some good moments. And there certainly
have been some challenges.
In the meantime, I’m mindful that over the past year the Lord has brought many wonderful blessings to us as a church family….
We received a grant from the Center for Congregations at the beginning of the year that enabled us to do a desperately needed
upgrade to the audio and video equipment in our West Campus Worship Center. A number of ministries make use of this
space, and now this new technology – Avalon Student Ministry, Vibe, the Hispanic Church that meets on our campus, our
two women’s Bible studies and more. We’ve seen some exciting developments with our newest worship experience we call Vibe, and I’m excited to see its continued development with the shift to Saturday evenings coming up this next weekend!
Our preschool enrollment topped 100 students, and all of these children – many of whom come from our community and don’t have any other church involvement – are learning about Christ and the difference that He can makes in our lives.
We saw a renewed commitment to outreach in our community with your involvement in our efforts in the neighborhoods around
Kettler Park and with events like our Trunk or Treat. It is difficult to overstate the significance of this. If the heart of Christ
is burdened for those who are not yet His followers (according to Luke’s gospel He came “to seek and to save that which is lost…”), then if we have Christ like hearts, that same burden should be expressing itself in how we live and do ministry.
We’ve seen fellow Avalonians travel to a number of different countries as a part of short term mission efforts – places like
Bulgaria, Haiti and Kenya. Their experiences have deepened their understanding of what it means to be a part of the Lord’s global mission while at the same time cultivating a corporate heart for mission in our church.
Many of you have given faithfully, consistently, generously and at times even sacrificially to support the ministries of Avalon.
While we haven’t seen our financial contributions reach levels we had anticipated and hoped for, I would never want that to overshadow the fact that I am deeply grateful for the ways that so many of you have given to support the effort. That shows
commitment! And we don’t take that for granted!
For me personally, the study and spiritual renewal break that our Leadership Council approved and endorsed was a time of great
refreshment for me, and a wonderful blessing toward the end of the year. As of June 1 st of this year I will have been in full time
ministry in the local church for two decades. The Lord has taught me so much during that time. I’ve celebrated special moments.
I’ve made mistakes. I’ve seen Christ work in ways that I never could have imagined. I want to express my appreciation to the Lord
and to my church for providing this time of refreshment at an important time in my ministry.
And as we look ahead, I’m mindful that the new year will bring some changes. Some of those changes we are anticipating. The
seasons will change. The cold and snow of winter will eventually yield to the sunshine and blossoms of spring (we hope!), and
eventually the heat and storms of summer. My oldest will graduate from high school and begin the collegiate chapter of his life. My
hair will likely grow a bit grayer. And those two things aren’t necessarily related. But I’m also aware that there are likely some
things that are unexpected. The longer I serve in ministry, the more aware I become about how life can change – sometimes
radically and suddenly. One can face that awareness with fear and anxiety, always wondering what could happen next. Or one can
step into the days ahead with a confidence that comes not from the circumstances that may unfold, but from the unchanging,
immutable God who is with us through them. Hebrews 13 reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” For that I’m deeply grateful.
I’m also thankful for your kindness and generosity expressed in the recent Christmas gift to our staff. It’s a privilege to serve in
partnership with you in the gospel! And it’s a blessing to receive your kind expressions of joy and generosity in this season. Many
blessings!
Page 3
December is going by very quickly. Our students have been busy making Christmas crafts and special gifts for love ones. The all dayPre-K class has been learning about “God Loves A Cheerful Giver.” They collected many items for the “Operation Christmas Child”,
and filled 8 shoe boxes. They were extremely excited to participate in this ministry. We also shared the good news of Jesus’ birth
during Chapel. We looked at all different kinds of presents, and saw that Jesus is the most important gift of all.
The preschoolers took to the stage and performed their Christmas program “Here We Come A Caroling.” The students did an amazing
job. Every year this turns out to be such a special event for the preschool families, and the FLC was overflowing with people this year.
What an amazing opportunity it was to share this ministry with so many people and to also have the chance to invite them to Avalon as
well.
On December 18th, the Ladies of the Wednesday morning Bible Study group performed a puppet show for our preschoolers. The
puppet show was “Mary Had A Little Lamb.” The students were amazed by the adorable puppets. Thank you so much ladies for sharing this ministry with our students.
Our students must have been good this year because we received a return visit from Santa Dean! It is such fun to see the dramatic
change in students from 2 years old to 5 years old. The 2’s are always hanging back and hesitant, while it’s hard to restrain the 5’s, who are ready to make their requests known and to become BFF’s as quickly as possible with Santa. A big THANK YOU again to Dean and Marvel Embrey for taking time from their day to bless our students with some holiday fun!
Happy New Year,
Shelley Randolph
Avalon Connection
Page 4
Our Upward basketball and cheerleading season starts Monday. We still need
folks who have a heart for reaching people for Jesus and are willing to serve,
by helping in a wide variety of ways:
Coaches and Assistant Coaches - you don’t have to be a basketball expert. Most Importantly, you need to care enough about these kids to want to help.
We’ll provide training. Setup and Cleanup Helpers—Every week we have to set up the basketball goals, bleachers and chairs, and then help to clean up
when it’s all done. Again, this doesn’t take a high level of expertise, just a heart that is willing to serve. Helping in the Concession Stand, greeting at the door, sorting uniforms and supplies, etc.
There are plenty of other ways we can get you involved. If you’re willing to serve and help us reach people in our community for
Christ, give Kathy Stewart a call at the office (747-1531).
The next round of Monday night women’s bible study will begin January 13th and will meet every other Monday night through April 7th. We’ll meet at 7pm at the West Campus Youth Worship Center. All women are invited. We’re going to do a study “Why Do you Believe That” by Mary Jo Sharp. As we discovered in the past studies, some of us are unsure about what we believe and why we believe that. This
study is designed to help you strengthen your own faith and be able to community
that faith more effectively with others. If your new year’s resolution is to let you “light shine” all year, this is a great way to help that light shine. The cost of books will be $20. If cost is a problem, just let us know
and we’ll work that out for you. If you have questions, please contact Leanne Koteskey at 434-1067 or [email protected].
Hope to see you there!
The Avalon Trivia Night is a Student Ministries fundraising experience, designed to
help students afford youth activities throughout the year. This is an all church event
and is designed for the church to support our youth. Purchase an entire table for your
friends or simply purchase one seat, and meet new people, as we come together to help
support our students’ annual activities. The cost is $50 for a 10-person table, or $5 per
person. We would be glad to hook you up with a team.
This event takes place at the Family Life Center on Saturday January 18th at 7:15 after the Saturday night vibe service.
The night will consist of 8 rounds of 10 questions each, pitting table verses table in a free-for all of random knowledge. The
categories will include: Fort Wayne Area Schools, Disney Movies, Tri-State Sports, Word-Ladder Fun, and Bible Trivia.
Please sign up by calling or emailing Bob Morton at 747-1531 or [email protected].
New Address:
Ramiro & Lupe Salvador
36 E. Via Plaza Nueva
Santa Fa, New Mexico 87507
260-615-2433
SAVE THE DATE: for Souper Bowl Sundae at the FLC
on Sunday, February 2 at noon
Page 5
Happy New Year, Avalon!
As I sit nestled inside one of your missionary houses (7111) watching the snow fall outside, I
am so grateful--our whole family is so grateful--for your generous hospitality to us.
We have come to know your church family to a small degree by living on your property
these past few months. But you likely don't know much about us. Here is our Thank You
Story.
We are the Cochran's: Ryan, Katie, Gloria, Joy, and Evangeline. After Ryan and I were married in Northwest Indiana in 2004, we moved straight to Vancouver, British Columbia where he began pastoring at a church in the
city, and I began graduate studies at Regent College. We thought we would be in Vancouver short-term, as long as my studies mandated. But we found ourselves
falling in love with the city and, especially, with our church family. We stayed in Vancouver for
nine years and had three beautiful, Canadian daughters there. We saw God provide for our every need--and much more--as we ministered, built life-long friendships, and began a family in those years.
With grateful hearts, we were satisfied by God's generous hand. And in our last two years there, we felt that God's hand would be
leading us back to Indiana. We didn't know quite when or where, but we were certain that we would follow God back here. And so it
happened that in the summer of 2013, Ryan was called as pastor of Broadway Christian Church in Fort Wayne.
Aside from his interview, Ryan and I had never been to Fort Wayne. But we began to grow excited about God's plan for our life and
ministry here. We left our church home in Vancouver in September and stayed with our families for a month. We had no idea where
we would live with our three small children once we arrived in Fort Wayne. But we were strangely unworried about that. We were
living in God's leading and knew He would provide a home. We quickly learned about Avalon and your missionary homes through
another pastor at Broadway. What a gift, truly, to speak to Nancy and learn that you had a house coming free in October--just when
we would be needing it!
After moving our family so many miles, it was a relief to land on Premiere Drive and know that we had a place to stay until we
found a home of our own. This house has been more than a blessing to us. It is easy to see how your church family has
thoughtfully, lovingly, and generously provided everything a family like ours, or a visiting missionary family, could need during a
stay here. Our girls have read voraciously through your extensive children's library here!
And so we thank God, who knows every need, who has a good plan for all of our lives. And we thank you
for being part of God's work in this city and in the world. He has blessed us through you. May you
continue to bear good fruit for God's wonderful kingdom. We have recently purchased a home on the north
side of town and plan to be moved in by May 2014.
With warm thanks,
Katie on behalf of the Cochran's
Hello from the Doron Family!
Over the past few months, while living at 7017 we have been trying to stay warm as we are
not used to cold weather! Also, we have continued to help our son, Josiah get settled into an
internship and find employment. The Lord has been answering prayers in this regard and he
now has an internship lined up for the next 6 months. He has been able to find some work
and has another interview coming up. We are also continuing to connect with our partners
and to seek the Lord’s direction for our future ministry. Phil completed the online song writing class he had been taking. We are looking forward to some
time with Pamela’s family over the next 6-7 weeks in Colorado.
Thank you for your prayers!
Phil and Pamela Doron
Avalon Connection
Page 6
It’s January, and many of us join in the custom of making some New Year’s Resolutions – commitments that we
feel will positively impact our lives in
the coming year. The blog post below
was recently shared with me (the
original can be found at http://
www.nathanrouse.org/2013/12/04/thecrime-happening-in-your-church/). For
those of us with kids, the action steps
below would make great Resolutions
… enjoy! The Crime Happening In Your
Church, by Nathan Rouse
“Last year my oldest son went through a phase where he refused to finish his
dinner and frankly his mother and I
were tired of trying to meet his every
whim. After going back and forth without any progress, I decided we would
only feed him once a week. It was risky
I know. As you can imagine the first
week his energy level dropped and he
wasn’t his normal energetic self. The good news however was every Sunday
I took him out to eat at a nice restaurant
and let someone else feed him. He was
able to fill up, but then it was back to
no food during the week.”
Let me stop here. Obviously, THE
ABOVE DID NOT TAKE PLACE.
However, it is happening spiritually
every week in homes around the world.
The Problem
Parents are outsourcing the complete
spiritual training of their children
out to church leadership and hoping
for the best. Most Moms and Dads
have bought the lie that a couple of
hours in Kid’s church will give their kids everything they need for their
spiritual growth. Wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, as a senior pastor accountability)
I couldn’t ask for a better Children’s Pastor than we have here at Radiant,
2. Pray with them. I say “with them” but her and the other Children’s because many parents make the
ministers around the world are limited
mistake of taking the lead and praying
in the amount of time they have to
every time they gather. Modeling is
invest in these children.
great, but allow your kids the
opportunity to pray as well.
Think about it. The average child
spends approximately 108 hours a
3. Teach them the Bible. That means
month in the school classroom during a
as parents we’re going to need to be school month. If a child is receiving no
reading the Bible to have something to
discipleship at home, but going to
share. If you get to a passage you don’t church every single week, he or she is
understand, do some study and/or ask
receiving 6 hours of spiritual equipping
someone a bit further along in their
a month. That child is absolutely
understanding. Read or allow your
spiritually malnourished. Yet, the
child to read a passage of scripture and
parents still wonder why their child
then talk about it. Draw out the
isn’t thriving spiritually.
principles you see and talk about how
they can be applied in our everyday
Check out two key scriptures that point
lives.
to our role as parents in equipping our
children spiritually:
4. Leave time for questions. Some of
the greatest teaching moments with my
Train up a child in the way he should
boys have been in their bottomless
go; even when he is old he will not
questions. Don’t get stressed by the depart from it. (Prov 22:6)
rabbit trails that lead to other topics. Go
with them. You’ll be amazed at where Fathers, do not provoke your children
they lead you. Embrace the journey.
to anger, but bring them up in the
discipline and instruction of the
No doubt your church leadership is a
Lord. (Eph 6:4)
gift to your family, but they should
never substitute the ongoing
As a Dad, I feel this role deeply. As
discipleship that God’s called you to in parents we’ve been given this precious your home.
gift of training our children up in the
Lord and our time to do that is fleeting.
Now, go find the joy of growing your
I hear frequently from parents that they
kids spiritually.
just don’t know what to teach them. Let me help alleviate this stress. If a child
Blessings,
can learn it, you can teach it. This does
not take a theologian.
Pastor Jeff Weldon
The Answer
Here are 4 Action Steps you can do
now to grow your kids spiritually in
your home:
1. Make a Plan. Start out by
committing to sit down with your kids
for a family devotion 3-4 times a week.
Don’t try to go for it every single day, life happens. Share that plan with your
family. (Going public helps with
Page 7
It is all eyes looking forward here in 2014, because we have too much coming quickly to look back too far. For example: This
upcoming Saturday, January 18th, we are hosting our second ever Avalon Trivia Night. Tables of 10 are $50, and that includes
a second table for you to fill for your own 10-person potluck. For more information, check out Avalon Missionary’s facebook page or contact me as soon as possible (260-602-4772). We need to get a few more teams signed up all together.
The second big event is part of the reason we are hosting the first. Funds raised from our Trivia Night are going to sponsor/fund
our Winter Retreat, happening from Friday, January 31st, to Sunday, February 2nd. Like last year, we are heading out to Camp
Crosley in North Webster, and like last year, we have tried to keep our costs at a minimum. We are offering our weekend
retreat for $85, which is substantially lower than weekend retreats typically run. If you or your child (grades 6-12) are wanting
to take on the Winter Retreat, contact me for a registration form. We need to get our numbers to the campground in the coming
days.
Lastly, we keep our eyes on the horizon for a big event for a few of our students. This year, we are hoping to trek to New York
City to pal up with Jeff Getz as a part of iServe: New York is Calling. We are taking signups now, as well as taking love
offerings to aide our students in their expenses. If you would like to help a student make this mission trip possible, contact me
and I can make that desire a reality.
We have a lot going on in 2014. I am excited to get going in ministry together.
Blessings, Pastor Bob
Come join the Trivia fun for 2014:
Saturday, January 18th at 7:15
Family Life Center
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
Regina Frederick Phyllis Brubaker Sharon Magginnes
Shirley Pitzer
Bob Wilson
Cora Peters
Megan West
5
Brandon Angel
Andrea Bauman
12
Lyle Augsburger
Shelby Johnson
Chuck Stewart
19
Nathan Smith
26
6
Sherry Blake
13
Amber
Stephenson
7
^Phil & Bonnie
Harris
^Don & Alice
Grimme
Sophie Cour
Bob Dove
14
^Neil & Delores
Shultz
^Mike & Frances
Brooks
Jonas Hubley
Derek Stewart
15
^Mike & Dana
Kirby
*John Coody
Wayne Hanks
Michael Lindley
Don Lindley
Bradley Miller
20
^ Bill & Sharon
Maginnes
*Marla Bettinger
Heather Lane
27
Michael Brooks
8
21
Don Nobles
Randy Drummond
Micah Hubley
Cody Leming
Jim Oglesbee
Jeff Scantlin
*Stephani
Clouser
Mike Kirby
Rose Rabbit
Eileen Stitzer
(99 this year)
11
*Jean Coody
16
17
18
23
24
25
Dorothy Hart
29
Kevin Gibson
10
^Wally &
Phyllis Hull
Andrew
Armstrong
Wally Hull
22
Drew Miller
Sarah Miller
28
9
4
30
Don Gerber
Carolyn Pillar
31
^Justin & Melanie
Holmes
Dayna Johnson
*Valli Yoder