1 By Ed Rutenkroger While coordinating flood relief in Windsor and the rest of Bertie County I discovered that conference calls were a major part of the process….a distraction from the work on the ground but part of the process. On a recent day, after a meeting with Emergency Management, a conference call with our Conference Disaster Recovery Coordinators (DRCs), and of course the daily visits to job sites to coordinate teams, I looked at my watch and it was 1:55. That meant yet another Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) conference call in five minutes and I had not eaten lunch. To be honest the VOAD calls had repeated much of the same information the last three days. I really wanted to skip that call, and had decided to do just that. But I heard a still small voice saying “You need to get on the call today”. And so, with absolutely no enthusiasm, I dialed in. Before long I was asked to give a Windsor update which I did noting among other things, “We still have many displaced families and we continue to work to find safe housing for them.” The call proceeded through many repetitious reports before a new participant from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation spoke up. “Interesting”, I thought, as the call continued. Shortly after the call ended my phone rang and it was a representa- tive of that foundation with a few questions. The next day Frank Chen the Washington DC regional representative of the Tzu Chi Foundation, called and asked if he could visit to plan a way to help some of our hard hit families. Of course, I agreed. And then, just as I was getting ready to get back to work, Frank asked in heavily accented English if we needed any tools to help with tear out. He said, “In addition to the Foundation, I work for Black and Decker/ Dewalt and I think I can get a few power tools if you need them”. I asked for a couple of reciprocating saws, thinking that was wishful thinking. On the following Friday Frank and two companions came to Windsor and presented 9 reciprocating saws, two dual drill kits, and one prototype 60 volt battery powered - Beacon District Shining Light A Monthly Mission Newsletter of the Beacon District United Methodist Church Vol. 4 - Issue 9 November / December 2016 Pg 1 - Listening to God in the Midst of Floor Recovery Pg 2 - Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Distributes Debit Cards, Blankets, and Hope to Flood Survivors - The Methodist Connection and the Connection Beyond the UMC Pg 3 - Listening to God in the Midst of Floor Recovery... cont. - The Methodist Connec- tion and the Connection Beyond the UMC... cont. - UMC #Giving Tuesday Pg 4 - A Message from Mary Zigbuo Pg 5 - The Interview - from Elizabeth Tyson - Thank you! Pg 6 - A message from Jeff Jenkins, District Lay Leader - A Message from Mary Zigbuo… cont. Pg 7 - A message from Gil Wise, Beacon DS For a calendar of events, important information and much, much, more we are on the web! beacondistrictnc.org Facebook: Beacon District UMC Email: [email protected]- arcle connued on page 3 Listening to God in the Midst of Flood Recovery
7
Embed
Shining Light - Beacon District Light-Beacon District A Monthly Mission Newsletter of the Beacon District United Methodist Church Vol. 4 -Issue 9 November / December 2016 Pg 1 - Listening
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1
By Ed Rutenkroger
While coordinating flood relief in Windsor
and the rest of Bertie County I discovered
that conference calls were a major part of the
process….a distraction from the work on the
ground but part of the process. On a recent
day, after a meeting with Emergency
Management, a conference call with our
Conference Disaster Recovery Coordinators
(DRCs), and of course the daily visits to job
sites to coordinate teams, I looked at my
watch and it was 1:55. That meant yet another
Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster
(VOAD) conference call in five minutes and I
had not eaten lunch. To be honest the VOAD
calls had repeated much of the same
information the last three days. I really
wanted to skip that call, and had decided to
do just that. But I heard a still small voice
saying “You need to get on the call today”.
And so, with absolutely no enthusiasm, I
dialed in.
Before long I was asked to give a Windsor
update which I did noting among other
things, “We still have many displaced
families and we continue to work to find safe
housing for them.” The call proceeded
through many repetitious reports before a
new participant from the Buddhist Tzu Chi
Foundation spoke up. “Interesting”, I thought,
as the call continued. Shortly after the call
ended my phone rang and it was a representa-
tive of that foundation with a few questions.
The next day Frank Chen the Washington DC
regional representative of the Tzu Chi
Foundation, called and asked if he could visit
to plan a way to help some of our hard hit
families. Of course, I agreed. And then, just
as I was getting ready to get back to work,
Frank asked in heavily accented English if we
needed any tools to help with tear out. He
said, “In addition to the Foundation, I work
for Black and Decker/ Dewalt and I think I
can get a few power tools if you need them”. I
asked for a couple of reciprocating saws,
thinking that was wishful thinking.
On the following Friday Frank and two
companions came to Windsor and presented 9
reciprocating saws, two dual drill kits, and
one prototype 60 volt battery powered
- Beacon District Shining Light A Monthly Mission Newsletter of the Beacon District United Methodist Church
Reap the Vision - Wash Tubs & Wooden Blocks Reap the vision is a monthly column in the Beacon District Mission Newsletter sharing how the Vision of the Church is being
walked out in our lives.
Generosity begins with God. It is God’s abundance that gives us the capability to be generous.
God so loved the world that God Gave…
We love because God first loved us…
My childhood is a gift of God’s generosity. I remember my grandmother giving my brother and me a bath in a wash
tub in the yard. I remember a garden every year that yielded fresh vegetables at every meal and a row of flowers that
my grandmother would plant in the area between the garden and the yard. There were hog killings in the winter and
fishing trips to the coast in the fall.
As a child I have no recollection of going to bed hungry. There was never a night that my brother and I were not
snuggled in a bed safe from the elements. And yet my childhood was not filled with things. Growing up on my
grandfather’s farm, I remember picking cotton, riding in the trailer that workers loaded with tobacco and gathering dried
corn to store in the corn crib to help feed my aunt’s chickens and our pigs. I remember going to the outhouse because
there was no running water in the house and watching my grandmother cook on a wood fired stove. We didn’t have
toys other than those we created with our own imagination.
In addition to farming, my grandfather was a carpenter. Granddaddy came home with blocks of wood that were the
scrap cuttings from homes he built for others. My brother and I would use these blocks of wood to push around on the
ground as imaginary cars. I still can feel the cool summer breeze underneath the pecan trees under the porch of the
smoke house where we loved to play. As I recollect these things, I am appreciative of the building blocks of my
childhood that gave me an appreciation for that which really mattered. I never knew the fragile financial life of my
family. I never knew why my parents and grandparents worked so many jobs. I never knew the desire to have more
things. We had everything that really mattered and celebrated these things as important and valuable.
The emphasis was not on the things we had rather on the family and love that we shared. We marked the seasons by the
smell of fresh turned earth in the spring and the smell of leaves burring in the fall. From Easter Sunrise services
celebrated at the edge of the church cemetery to play practices for the annual Children’s Christmas pageant in
December. All I had needed had been provided in abundance. The building blocks of generosity were set in my life
from a God of generosity. God had abundantly given. These blocks are LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, FAITH and
HOPE. I had freely received. Now my challenge is to live out of that generosity with a generosity that reflects the love
of God in Christ Jesus.
What we read in scripture is a reminder to us of what we need to be about as a people of Christ. Have fervent love for
one another.
1 Peter 4:8-11 The Message (MSG)
Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to
give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless - cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave
you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help.
That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and God will get all the credit as
the One mighty in everything - encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
This message is an excerpt from the Message the District Superintendent gave for Cluster Charge Conferences this
year.
Reap the Vision,
Gil Wise, District Superintendent
The Beacon District of the North Carolina Conference