Many of us do not have friends or family living in Turkey and Syria. These two countries are far away from us. However, the events of these last few days made me feel very closely connected with the suffering people of these countries. From what we have heard so far the sudden earthquake killed close to twenty thousand people. Those who survived are devastated by the loss of their loved ones. Many of them lost their family members and their homes. This earthquake showed us once again how fragile this world is. We may be of different faiths, cultures and political systems, but the pain is the same for all of us. We have to learn to love, to support and to pray for each other. Politicians succeeded in dividing our world, but as God’s creation we need to learn how to stick together. Please, remember to pray for the suffering people of Turkey and Syria.
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The Widows Ministry had a wonderful event last Monday. Forty five ladies came together in the Fellowship hall of our church to eat, to talk and to encourage each other. I had the honor of speaking to the group about the power of God’s giving love. All the tables were nicely decorated with red and pink colors reminding us about the beauty of love. I wish I took a few more photos, but here is one:
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The Young at Heart group had their monthly lunch on January 31. Here is a brief update from Willis:
“We had 16 people at our luncheon today. I got some gift CDs and a book and the one thing that was requested for the future was witnessing tracks. Everybody thought that would be a really great gift to receive so we’ll pursue that. Thank you to the 16 people, we had a good time. Next month we are meeting at the Olive Garden just off of Gunbarrel”
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A big Sabbath is ahead of us. Our guest speaker from It Is Written, Jack Phillips, will preach two different sermons for our 9 AM and 11:30 worship services. You are invited to stay for Potluck after the second service.
An important practical seminar on friendship evangelism will take place right after potluck. I hope many of you will join the seminar and will benefit from it. Christ needs us as His disciples.
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This week our daughter Stacey, who lives in Arizona, is visiting us with her two precious sons. The photo below is just a glimpse of the great time we are having with all four of our daughters. (Not all grandchildren are in this picture.) I hope we’ll take a full family photo later this summer.
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Happy Sabbath. I plan on seeing you tomorrow.
pastor Peter
Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church 