Registration this WEEK

From Susane ~ PWOC President

May 2nd & Tues., May 4th are the LAST two dates to register and pay for the Spring Retreat. We will be collecting before & after all three services on Sunday and before & after PWOC Bible study on Tuesday morning (9-9:30 & 11:30-11:45). We would love to have you join us for a weekend of Savoring God's Presence. Please keep in mind that we do have scholarships available and you can email me at misawapwocprez@yahoo.com if you have questions about that or anything else.

You can download a registration form and  prayer calendars in the forms box to the left. Keep checking back and we'll soon have for directions. 

Your Donations Make a Difference

 

Every other month PWOC members, and their children, visit a local Senior Citizen Home to celebrate the birthdays of residents. YOUR DONATIONS bring smiles to many faces. Below are some items which our Nursing Home Ministry could currently use.We will collect every week in the month of May on Tuesday mornings during PWOC Bible study and every Sunday there will be a basket set out by the foyer pillar against the wall that will say "PWOC Nursing Home Donations".

•  Shampoo (Suave or V05)
• Lotion (small trial size is fine)
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Cotton Swabs (trial size)
• Ivory or Dove bar soap
• Shaving Cream
• Razors
• Socks (female and male)
• Combs
• Cookie or Brownie mixes
• Hand Towels (3 pack for $ 5)
• Small stuffed teddy bears

 

If you are interested in joining us we will visit the nursing home again Fri., June 25th at 3:30. The residents LOVE children. This is a great opportunity to try your Japanese language skills out with a very friendly audience.

 

 

 

 

We'd love to have you join us on our next visit.

Retreat Prayer Calendar ~ Week 2

We covet the prayers of all prayer warriors, regardless of age or gender, as we prepare for our upcoming retreat. A new calendar will be added each Wednesday.




REPENT

Thursday, April 29 – Wednesday, May 5

This week we will ask God to show us anything that might be standing in the way of full surrender to Him. If we want to hear Him clearly, we must repent of anything that is standing in the way of complete fellowship with Him. Use the selected Scriptures to help you get started.

Thursday, April 29 – Repent of idolatry
Ezekiel 14:6
Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

Friday, April 30 – Repent of worry
Luke 12:28
If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

Saturday, May 1 – Repent of fear
Luke 12:32
Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Sunday, May 2 – Repent of unforgiveness
Ephesians 4:32
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Monday, May 3 – Repent of any unclean speech
Ephesians 5:4
…neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Tuesday, May 4 – Repent of any place where your heart has been hardened toward the things of God
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Wednesday, May 5 – Repent of any other unconfessed sin (Ask the Lord to bring it to mind)
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you prefer the calendar as Word document you can print and place in your Bible, click the title in the form box on the left.

Retreat Prayer Calendar ~ Week 1

We covet the prayers of all prayer warriors, regardless of age or gender, as we prepare for our upcoming retreat. A new calendar will be added each Wednesday. If you would like to serve on the Retreat Prayer team, please contact Elizabeth Martin.

PRAISE
Thursday, April 22 – Wednesday, April 28
Please spend this week praising God for who He is. This will take some discipline, but try not to ask for anything. Just speak God’s goodness back to Him. Use the selected Scriptures to help get you started.


Thursday, April 22 – Praise God for His Righteousness
Psalm 45:6
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

Friday, April 23 – Praise God because He is holy
Revelation 4:8
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!

Saturday, April 24 – Praise God for His supremacy
Psalm 100
A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

Sunday, April 25 – Praise God for Jesus
Colossians 1:15-16
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Monday, April 26 – Praise God for guiding us to salvation
Psalm 25:8
Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

Tuesday, April 27 – Praise God for His provision
Psalm 36:5-9
Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Wednesday, April 28 – Praise God for his goodness
Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

God's Will?

By De'Etta Goecker

Do you ever wonder about God’s will for your life? Paul fills the end of I Thessalonians with bullet statements that give a clear glimpse into God’s will.

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thess 5:16-18

1. Rejoice always. Choose joy.

2. Pray without ceasing.

3. In everything give thanks.

There you have it. Three simple commands, nine little words to convey God’s will. Easy peasy? I don’t think so.

These are commands. God doesn’t command us to do something that we cannot do as we rely on His assistance. He also doesn’t command us to do things with a “wink”. He expects us to DO what he TELLS US TO DO. Really.

I’ve written about choosing joy numerous times. Learning to choose joy is HUGE for your spiritual well-being, for your happiness, for your growth in relationship with Jesus. If you feel you could use a bit of clarity or meditation on joy, feel free to read my thoughts here  and here.
Today our focus is “pray without ceasing”. I believe we are to have an attitude of prayer as we go about our day. My first response should be prayer: in times of profound joy, in times of anxiety, in times of loss. I turned to the confession page in my Tryst Journal (Devotional Journal) today. I realized that I had been anxious and fretting about a character issue in a person I am mentoring. I had NOT prayed about it as much as I should; instead I’d worried and fretted.

Prayer without ceasing realizes that God is in charge; not me. It adjusts my attitude and perspective.

May I suggest one way to begin to live a lifestyle of prayer is to find every day things and turn them into prayer prompts. It really works. I use red lights, improper use of turn signals and improper merging of others to call me to prayer. There may be better triggers for you.

I encourage you to pray about these short verses, to meditate on them and to see what God shows you.

This article shares some fantastic practical tips to unceasing prayer. Please do go read the short article, print it out and put it into practice.

Have a blessed week.

De'Etta can be reached at AsiaPresident@pwoc.org  or visit at Coffee With PWOC Asia.

Do You Have a (Faith) Training Partner?

By: Andrea Plotner

A few years back, while we were stationed in Europe, my husband ran a marathon in Venice (rough, huh?). His time was 3 hours and 19 minutes. Prior to that, he had run a marathon in Kansas City with a time of 3:31. Twelve minutes is a lot of time to shave off a race, even a marathon, so what made the difference? Well, in the second race he had a running partner. These two, similarly matched, trained together several times a week prior to the race – holding each other accountable to make their mileage goals, challenging each other to run faster, and building a solid friendship along the way.

The Christian life is like this. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says that two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. We are encouraged in God’s Word to think of our faith journey as a race, and this could include setting specific goals and surrounding ourselves with people who can help motivate, encourage and strengthen us (and this is one reason why church is important). How about you? Do you have a faith training partner, coach or mentor who will challenge you to meet your spiritual goals? Is there someone who comes to mind?

• I Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets a prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
• Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
• Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Excerpt from a Protestant Woman of the Chapel Newsletter- De'Etta

My family teases me for having "calendar issues". At any given time I will have at LEAST five calendars in use at my home....two on the fridge, one in the bedroom, a desk top one beside the computer and a PDA in my purse. In addition to these calendars, I'm teaching two students how to use calendars (great way to learn so many things) and those daily lesson plans x5 can look suspiciously like a weekly calendar. No doubt about it, I like a well-thought out PLAN, and I probably do have calendar issues.

Are you a "first of the month" type of person? Do you love tearing off the old calendar page? With one mighty rip of the page, 30 days of past accomplishments, frustrations and, yes, failures are crumpled and left behind in the trash can. We get to move on! We get to START A NEW MONTH; a month with somewhat clean spaces and boxes. We get to choose how to fill those spots. We are faced with 30 days full of possibilities! Think of the awesome opportunity and responsibility of "tearing off" a whole year of months! May I challenge you to consider how God would have you fill some of those boxes? Would PWOC play a part in any of your plans?
Starting a new year can cause us a certain amount of uncertainty as well as excitement. We aren't sure what lies ahead in the upcoming year. There may be successes, failures, moves, deployments, joys, births and more that are unexpected as of 31 December 2009. BUT GOD knows the plans He has for you! Isn't that an awesome assurance? One of my all-time favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11! "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Oh, I can never stop with ONE verse {grin})Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to ME, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find ME when you search for Me with all your heart (emphasis added) I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile." Jer. 29:11 - 14. Is your heart full of joy? Do you feel like you've been exiled? Regardless, the principle remains: God has a PLAN for you. It's a well-thought- out PLAN. It's a good PLAN, a PLAN for your welfare. God is not planning for your downfall - you can trust His PLAN - even if you can't see the purpose of all the details. God PLANS to give you a future and a hope!!!!

Dear Sister, you are not hopeless! Are you searching for God with all your heart? He will be found. You can trust His mercy to walk with you along each step of the New Year; you can trust His loving-kindness to guide you. You can trust His strength to sustain you through any unexpected twists you may discover on your path in 2010. God wants to give you a future and a hope. A very basic definition for the Hebrew word translated hope is an "eager expectation". Are their areas of your life that you are clutching close to yourself? Why not consider handing them over to God and letting Him give you instead an eager expectation for the upcoming year? Do you sense an eager expectation in your heart? It's God's PLAN for you to have hope. It's God's plan for you to have an eager expectation for the things He will teach you and the ways He will guide you in 2010. If you find that you have no hope, will you make it a priority to spend time with your LORD today and ask Him for that hope which He promises those who seek Him?
Over 25 years ago I began to ask God to display His mighty miracle- power to turn me into a Proverbs 31 woman. May I leave one more exhortation with you? Proverbs 31:25 "Strength and dignity are her clothing and she smiles at the future." In the quietness of your heart will you honestly evaluate if you are smiling at the future? If not, God stands ready to calm your heart and to give you the grace to smile at the future...to even eagerly expect great things from Him for this year. Journals are great tools - you may want to take some time to write out a prayer to the LORD about those "eager expectations" He is impressing on YOUR heart for the year 2010.
As for those calendar issues, could it be that I'm subconsciously trying to find more time in the month?