FRANKFORD W.Va. (WVDN) – The Ladies of the Henning Church of God held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, August 5, in the church fellowship hall. Carole Spencer presided and Barb Seldomridge led in prayer. The ladies provided the following report.
Dyan Hefner brought us our devotion, “All that and a bag of chips,” with scripture reference Galatians 2:20. We use bag clips to keep our food fresh so it will taste good. We want it to be fresh and crisp and last longer. What can we do to preserve ourselves as Christians? Keep our lips sealed, pray, read the Bible, and live like Christ. CLIP stands for Christian Living Invites Preservation. Loving Christ keeps us fresh by freshening up the world in which we are living. Impact Christ in a positive way by making the world fresher. Living for Christ keeps us from getting stale. We do not want to be stale Christians. We need to be full of excitement and joy; however, at times, the outside may not show joy, but we have joy in our hearts. Everyone has life situations. In inviting for Christ, we need to keep out the harmful and bad stuff. Live for Christ daily. Preservation for Christ will make us last longer and be Christians longer. (Philippians 4:13 and Revelation 2:10) Let the Lord carry our burdens, be faithful unto death, and have Christ for eternity. The more we actively live for Christ will make us stronger and make us better. Living for Christ will help us keep our quality. When we buy food, we want to get the best food for the best price. We must live for him to preserve our quality of life. (John 13) We have an invisible quality seal on us like some foods have a quality seal. Love one another. Foods are vulnerable to the outside elements, and some foods travel far to get to the store. We need to preserve food. Our hearts are vulnerable to undesirable elements. We need to preserve ourselves by living for Christ and keeping our hearts in time with Christ. All that and a bag of chips. We need to be in the best and freshest shape and have great quality. We need to have Christ
living in and through us so we can be preserved and persevere.
Barb Seldomridge presented our missionary education report on Bernie and Akiko Barton. They are missionaries to Japan. They focus on
the Church of God’s outreach into the community. Bernie went to Japan in 1976. He and his late wife served there. Bernie and Akiko married in 2015.
Bernie serves in the outreach ministries in the Church of God and also serves in an administrative role at a school with 900 girls from 7th to 12th grades. The school was started in 1950 with funds from the Church of God. 90 percent of the students are not Christian, but are required to attend church near their home. Akiko is in the music ministry and English program. Two special needs of the church are the declining number of young people in churches and the declining number of pastors. They need to reach out to the younger generation in Japan. We also have the same need in the United States. All Christians need to pray for these needs.
Pauline Perkins read last month’s minutes.
Carole thanked everyone for their help with Bible school this year. It was very successful and a lot of fun. The group also discussed what we normally donate to and may make some changes. The group will serve the Maxwelton Ruritans on August 28. The group will have a yard and bake sale on Saturday, September 13, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The group will sell baked items along with hot dogs with all the toppings and many other items.
The next meeting will be held on September 9, and Cindy Fleshman dismissed in prayer.
Attending were: Alice Coff, Angie Scott, Barb Seldomridge, Beth Carpenter, Carole Spencer, Cari Nelson, Cindy Cross, Cindy Fleshman, Donna Scott, Dyan Hefner, Fran Spencer, Joan Vance, Marty Burns, Michelle Carpenter, Pauline Perkins, and Sue Hunt.
