What We Accomplished For 2012

This has been a year of great and impossible forward movement for us.

• God has come through, when we had no funds, to do camp for more than 90 children.

• God provided in an unexpected way for the tutoring program in Redwood City to reopen.

• God kept Verbo church open when the building inspector wanted to close it

• God used our move here to San Jose to jump start a tutoring program at a Korean church for Spanish youth.

• God connects us through our love, our faith, our sharing...but it is not all on our shoulders.

• We have learned the Loaves and Fish lesson. Our little is God's enough because He is going to send the blessing.

My prayer for you:

"May the God of the impossible be very real to you in 2013. May you not faint when you do not have enough in any area for any demand but may you rest trusting that God will take care of you, His beloved child. May you forgive and forget as much as possible knowing that you are forgiven.

May you expect from God, not man, for your every need and see His power as you reach out to share seeds of truth with those around you and serve children.

Joyce Dueker

Compassion In Our Hearts

It is raining hard. The skies are gray in sunny California. This is "winter" for us. And yet driving down the streets at night there are many Christmas lights up which bring cheer and comfort.

Families are gathering. Friends are communicating. And little evidences of more love show up. A woman "adopted" an older 90 year old woman as her mother and was buying her a colorful long sleeved polo "because she is always cold."

Compassion has to do with reaching out beyond our own circle to include and share with others. We as Americans have this heritage of caring for others because of the Christian base of loving others laid down here long, long ago.

We know in our heart of hearts, despite all the materialistic hype, that true satisfaction will only come when we forget ourselves and serve and care for others.

This kind of "other centered" living can only really come as we receive the gift of grace that came down to us in a small package called Jesus. Do you know him yet? Read his story in the gospel of Luke. Jesus is for real. If you want real life seek the one who came to seek and save lost sheep.

Never Alone

One afternoon this week I decided to stay in by a fire. There are always errands to run and one more business thing to care for but sometimes we need to stop.

We just need to pull the plug on action and go into quiet and let ourselves get still. As an hour went by I felt myself slowing down and a restoring process started. I prayed about some things that needed to be voiced in that quiet room. I recalled some "victories" that had been achieved.

I opened the Bible and reflected. Our strength does come from the Lord and like a cell phone needs to be plugged in for recharging, we need to plug ourselves into the presence of the Lord to get recharged for the next steps. No great things were achieved that afternoon.

I lingered.

I rested.

I read.

And as I look back on that afternoon I remember it with special sweetness because I was not alone. As we enter into this holy season may we not miss the moment when God comes to us

Kids Don't Forget

Our president, Patty Cardona and a group from Verbo church in Redwood City recently went to a homeless to give food and gifts. 

After this had been done has everyone was leaving two girls came up and one said. "We know you. We went to your church to camp." 

Kids never forget. One good thing like camp in the life of a child is a huge memory. Kids remember the fun. They remember the park and the food. They remember where they went.

Church becomes a "good place" not something they haven't experience. One girl a few summers ago was trying to tell me what her experience at Touchdown Camp had been: "This is FUN CHURCH" she said. She recognized the fun but she also knew there was much more in our program.

Let us not forget that what we plant we harvest in the church. It is time for all churches to open wide the doors to the community and especially we are to "remember the poor" as we have been instructed to do. Jesus said "the poor you always have with you." Let us get our hands dirty and our hearts filled as we reach out to the poor around us.

The Good Place

Our president, Patty Cardona and a group from Verbo church in Redwood City recently went to a homeless shelter to give food and gifts. After this had been done has everyone was leaving two girls came up and one said. "We know you. We went to your church to camp."

Kids Never Forget. 

One good thing like camp in the life of a child is a huge memory. Kids remember the fun. They remember the park and the food. They remember where they went. 

Church becomes a "good place" not something they haven't experience. One girl a few summers ago was trying to tell me what her experience at Touchdown Camp had been. "This is FUN CHURCH" she said. She recognised the fun but she also knew there was much more in our program.

Let us not forget that what we plant we harvest in the church. It is time for all churches to open wide the doors to the community and especially we are to "remember the poor" as we have been instructed to do.

Jesus said "the poor - you always have with you." Let us get our hands dirty and our hearts filled as we reach out to the poor around.