The "Word On The Move" is a collaborative effort by the newsletter team and supported by the members Word Enterprise Ministry. The goal is to represent Jesus while providing information, assistance and encouragement to our community and beyond.
Testimonies
Featured: Taisha Hendrickson’s story
Gratefulness for God’s Faithfulness
We must be grateful at all times in good and in bad, even when things may not seem to be going our way, God is still faithful. His faithfulness resonates not only in the big things but in the small. Having a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food in our mouths. We must always remember that these too are blessings, blessings that we do not deserve, but he continues to provide daily. Faithfulness. It’s knowing that even though things seem rough, we remain grateful because they can always be worse.
When you feel like you are the only one going through trial and tribulations and they seem too big for you to handle. Take a walk down skid row, talk a walk through the cancer patient floor in a hospital, take a walk through a homeless shelter or an addiction recovery home. These walks will put things in perspective for us. As Gods people we shouldn’t be asking why does this have to happen to me, or why am I going through this. The question should be, God what is it that you want for me to learn through this.
Needing to have to put this into practice in my own life, as I struggled for years trying to have a second child. God made the promise to me, but it needed to happen when he saw fit. The wait was hard, the false positives on the pregnancy test were heart wrenching, and the constant questions from friends and loved ones on what our plans were for a second child, were daunting. I too questioned God many times, and often gave up on the promise he made. It was at those times, that he always found a way to remind me of his faithfulness within the promise that he made to me. On February 4th, 2022 we welcomed our second babygirl into the world. And when looking back, I wasn’t ready all those years, certain things needed to happen in life before she came. His timing is always perfect. I am grateful for this teaching moment and for God remembering me enough that He chose me for this moment. My constant prayer was, “God, you could have chosen anyone else but you picked me, you picked my family. I may not understand why, but because my foundation is built on my trust in you and your faithfulness, I know that better days are coming.”
On the outside, what I experienced felt like a hardship or triaL, but now I know that it was God remembering me enough that He chose me to go through this valley, because on the other side was a blessing. Another blessing on top of the many that He has already bestowed upon me. So I am grateful for the many trials and tribulations. Thank you God, for your hand constantly being in my life.
2 Samuel 22:26 “To the faithful he shows that he is faithful...”; remaining faithful and being grateful for his Faithfulness to you goes hand in hand. There isn’t one without the other.
OPINION
Written by Leroy Hodge, Executive Pastor
THE GOSPEL REACHES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
As I walk down high street in Kensington, London I am reminded why I love to travel. Signs hanging in windows saying, "To Let."
What I read in books many years ago reminded me of a different culture. Their Subway is the Underground or Tube, their fries and chips, and two decker buses are everywhere.
I am taking their differences and appreciating it, reminding me that we are all different but the same. I sometimes wonder why some people don't like traveling. It is such an enjoyable way of learning. Geography, language, food, attitude and overall culture of the country and people.
To be stuck in an aluminum tube, called an airplane, for hours is not a cup of tea for some, neither is being on a boat for days, at times seeing nothing but water that stretches out forever.
When I travel, my sole purpose is for discovering and sampling what that place has to offer, that is unique and different from what I am accustomed to and secondly to allow my mind, if not my body, to unwind.
I am not there to change the way they cook, which side of the street they drive on or the way they dress. I am not there to correct them in pronunciation or dialect. Neither would I attempt to alter their choice of colors or what they eat or how they worship.
Jesus on the other hand sent His Apostles out with a message that was meant to change the culture and lifestyle of people everywhere.
These men had a new message, the good news, it was called the Gospel. These men were going to tell people that their Lord and master was Unique, He was Man and God. That He came down from Heaven and lived on earth for 33 years. Healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, He fed the hungry and saved the souls of the ungodly. He was crucified, died and rose from the dead and walked among us before ascending back up to Heaven.
Jesus told them to travel, and tell people everywhere the good news that He was the Christ and that believing in Him they will have eternal life.
Start at home He said, start locally, in Jerusalem, then travel to the rest of Judea, then regionally into Samaria and finally travel internationally to the rest of the world.
You will be hated, beaten and killed, but take this message to the world, That Jesus is the Christ!
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. Matt. 24:14
cULTURE
THE CASE FOR FATHERS
Written by Denise Morton
In May, we celebrate Mother's Day with great fanfare. Moms are lauded and applauded. The children make sure that she has breakfast in bed, gets flowers, gifts, and in some households she does not lift a finger. On the flip side of that, June comes and it is Father’s Day. Not much is happening on that day.
Many years ago, before cell phones, I heard it said (forgive me if there are any misrepresentations as I am going by memory) that “On Mother’s Day all circuits would be busy because everyone was trying to call their mom to wish her Happy Mother’s Day. On Father's Day there are thousands of collect calls.” Do you think much has changed? There are no more “all circuits busy” intercepts or even collect calls, but I am sure the moms’ phones are blowing up with all kinds of “Happy Mother’s Day” calls and emojis; father’s not so much.
As we celebrate Father’s Day 2022, what would that look like? There are so many fathers who will be loved and cherished, but what about those fathers who are not allowed to see their children, cannot be with their children, cannot even call or receive a call from them, through no fault of their own.
Historically, some men have fathered children, stayed around for a while and then disappeared leaving the mother to be the sole support for these children. These children have become, and are becoming, men and women not knowing who their fathers are.
Proverbs 20:7 - The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
I am sure many of us have heard of that famous celebrity who is, once again, becoming a father to multiple children with multiple women. One has to ask, what kind of relationship can this father have with all these children, seeing that they are all not under one roof? We have so many examples of fathers who are loving and caring and would walk on live coals for their children. Another famous celebrity dad, who recently passed, continually extolled the virtues of being a dad. He was a very proud girl dad.
Fathers are needed in the home. Statistics show the role a father plays in his children’s lives. In a recent article by Blue Ridge Counseling entitled, “The Effects of Fatherlessness on Children” the effects are alarming: youth suicides - 63 percent; homeless and runaway children - 90 percent; behavioral disorders - 85 percent; school drop outs - 71 percent. These are just some of the negative aspects of missing fathers. On the flip side, where fathers are present and involved in their children’s lives, 50 percent of children are less likely to repeat a grade in school; 70 percent are less likely to drop out of school.
Fatherlessness is not unique to one race or to one culture, it is happening everywhere.
Father Absence- According to the 2007 UNICEF report on the well-being of children in economically advanced nations, children in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. rank extremely low in regard to social and emotional well-being in particular. Many theories have been explored to explain the poor state of our nation’s’ children. However, a factor that has been largely ignored, particularly among child and family policymakers, is the prevalence and devastating effects of father absence in children’s lives.
As reported in an article entitled The Consequences of Fatherlessness, “Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens.” Some may say that these statistics are one-sided. I am sure that anyone reading this article can name several children who are homeless, runaway, failing school etc and yet they live (or used to live) in a two parent home. I would qualify that statement by saying to every rule there is an exception.
As parents we do not know what our children will do with their lives, or what they will become, but our prayers should be for God’s guidance and wisdom. I believe that most parents want their children to be upstanding citizens so that they can proudly stand back and say that’s mine with tears in their eyes (happy tears). Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Resources
The Holy Bible, KJV
blueridgecounseling.org/the-effects-of-fatherlessness-on-children
all4kids.org/news/blog/a-fathers-impact-on-child-development