To our Friends
During this Christmas season we are reminded of and celebrate the birth of a child. Jesus was God's invasion into our lives. Not only has He, personally, invaded our lives but through you He continues to do so. Thank you for staying with us and supporting us.
Quick apology--I ended up resending the Thanksgiving newsletter by mistake. Please forgive me. (Rick)
General Information
The Christmas decorations are in place. We are enjoying the beauty of the season (when it snows and doesn't rain). Christmas Day will be a little different for us. Jon and Rachel and their family will be with Jon's family for the holiday and join us before New Year's Day. Mark and Ginger and family will be with us for Christmas.
Brazil
Most of the news from Brazil these days is about the massive floods in the state of Santa Catarina. Tom Padley wrote us the following:
It's as bad as Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. in every respect. No one died in Luiz Herminio's church but three of the five pastors are homeless along with another estimated 85 thousand flooded from their homes. Hundreds and hundreds are dead or missing. All of Brazil has been sending truckloads of supplies, including the ARC and other area churches here. Billions of Reais (Brazilian currency) have been sent, but it may take years to clean up. People are starting to die of diseases already.
The MEVAM (Pastor Luiz Herminio's) church building was a little higher so now the whole church is working to house and feed over 40 families and Luiz has six families staying with him in his house which, fortunately, was not flooded out. They have served over 600 hot meals. Every radio and TV channel here in Brazil has raised food, clothing, water for drinking and bed cushions and of course a lot of money. You can see photos on www.mevam.org.br but the pictures, they say, do not fully portray the graveness of the flooding. Forty percent of the chicken and beef that are shipped from Brazil to Europe leave Itajaí. It was becoming a prosperous port for shipping a lot of Brazil's exports.
We have had prayer meetings here in Nova Lima and long and effective praying with tears for Itajaí and our churches there. We finally have had a breakthrough with the weather forecast calling for a couple of days of sunshine, praise God. If any of the churches in the U.S. want to help our brothers in Santa Catarina or especially Itajaí, ...
If you would like to send a contribution please send it to:
IAM
27301 Schady Rd.
Olmsted Twp., Ohio 44138
Put a note with it that it is for the DISASTER.
IAM is the Padley account under the ARC and contributions are tax deductible.
Joanne Writes
Thank you to all of you who take the time to read our newsletters - that in and of itself is a true blessing. I am once again amazed and grateful to our God for His gracious provision as Rick and I traveled to the East Coast late in November. We were able to fly to NH where we were met and hosted by our dear friends Dave and Ginger Wheat. Our first night of arrival included having dinner with a precious sister who was recently widowed and chose to donate her late husband's SUV to the ARC. What a tender hearted woman of God! That vehicle became our means of transportation as we continued on and completed our trip. Spending two nights with Dave and Ginger proved a great blessing as we caught up with each other about our families - especially our kids and grandkids. As we all grow older together, we find ourselves challenged by our Father and asking many of the same thought-provoking questions. As Dave and Ginger shared their lives and friends with us, we found our bonds getting even stronger. They are indeed among our special gifts!
As we left NH, we were able to meet Jim Olsen, a blessed brother, for lunch and rejoice with him in all that the Lord is doing in his life. What an incredible young man and faithful brother! We ended the day by arriving at Greg and Mary Ann Handel's home where we spent the next two nights. They are one incredible family!! Besides being our dear friends with whom we have shared much over the past years, they and their family are doing much to impact the kingdom work in their area!! We experienced much life and love with this family and are truly grateful. As we left Handel's we were able to breakfast with a faithful sister and friend, Debbie Knight from MA. We could have used a few days, but were grateful for the few hours we could spend with Debbie as we re-connected our lives face-to-face! It was great!!
We continued on in MA and the last two days found us in NJ hosted by one of my dearest friends, MaryAnne Dahmen and her husband Vinnie. Just living life with MaryAnne made life full and exciting. We have talked much over the phone, but to sit down face to face was indeed a gift - she is one of the ARC's most gifted woman leaders, and I get to call her friend. We were able to attend Lamb of God church on Sunday, and I was able to share in the women of the church's first "Sisterhood Meeting". The timing was truly a "God-thing". Our time also included the privilege of ministering with my friend on Sunday evening - not planned. Re-connecting with many of our dear brothers and sisters at Lamb of God was just plane fun!
Monday morning saw us leaving for home, arriving just in time to spend Thanksgiving with our own children and grandchildren in our new home! Thank you, Jesus!
Other News
Ireland: Garreth and Carla continue to serve in Dungannon. Currently expecting their first child in April they anticipate moving to a new home (which still has to be discovered) at about the same time. The ministry has found funding for a good part of 2009 and they celebrate that. The training staff still need to raise their funds, so keep them in your prayers.
Mexico: Mike and Becky Kuelker, in Tepic, MX (see their blog with all their info) During these last two months Mike and Becky have been delivering boxes of clothes and toys to the different churches. They are privileged to see the joy in the eyes of the children as they get their "Jesus Gift" that He has provided. In El Roble they delivered two boxes of clothes and over 50 handmade pillows for the children.
The TV Ministry is still going strong and can be viewed on YouTube in Spanish. They are in need of some new cameramen/women. ISOM ( International School of Ministry) has one school in session. They are looking forward to graduating nine newly trained pastors in March.
PUGA: An update on the Men's program.... Mike has been going out there every other Wednesday and is seeing much growth. As for the children...Becky has been working with them and is seeing some growth in numbers... but she is thinking it's because of the Pesos de Biblia (Bible Bucks) program. Becky has also helped the ladies re-establish a Coffee con Amigos ladies meeting once a month. Fellowship is the key to growth especially in a country where relationships are so natural!
PRISON Ministry: Mike has had a great impact not only on the prisoners but on the guards and even the administration of the prison. Every other week he goes in with Books and Bibles. Last week he told me that on Saturday (he is only allowed in on Wed.) when they had access to the pool that Pastor Nacho baptized five of the people that Mike has been teaching. The church inside the prison is up to about 35 faithful attendees.
Church Plants: Ekklesia, in Canton, OH. James and Tiffany are already having evening services with a full-house in their new space. They are seeing young people with no church background coming and being willing to talk. God give them wisdom.
Grace Christian Fellowship, Dayton, OH. I was with them the first weekend of December. What a great group, and they have experienced some growth. Because they minister among the poor, they are looking for some alternative funding sources. Greg's business has been a major contributor and is struggling in the new economic crisis. Pray for them all as they share God's Word in Dayton.
Turning Point Church in Findlay, OH. Steve and Kristi, Mike and Doreen, and Aaron and Shannon, the team, really have heart to reach their city. They had a great Christmas celebration on Dec 7. They are seeing some new peolple in their services. We look forward to being with them on December 21. Pray they continue to faithfully present the gospel.
Our Schedule
December
5-7 Rick in Dayton
14 Harvest Leaders at our home
21 We will be in Findlay, OH
22 DTS Planning meeting in Toledo
25 Celebrate the Incarnation
January
11 We will be in Findlay, OH
We walk into our future with great anticipation of what God is going to do--to us and through us..
May you know his love.
We love you and appreciate your prayers and support.
God Bless you.
Sincerely,
Rick and Joanne Widener
Alliance for Renewal Churches
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
November Newsletter
Dear Friends,
This is Thanksgiving month. Though we thank God for each of you all of the time, we are especially conscious of your graciousness and faithfulness to us this month. We understand that the economic situation has touched us all. Your prayers, along with your financial support, keep us going. Thank you! We pray that your Thanksgiving Day may be filled with cries of "thank you" to our Lord. The economy has made things tight for us, as it has for you. Just after buying a home everything collapses. Well, we trust God will bring us through. Please keep us and our finances on your prayer list as we do yours. Our prayers are that we could all prosper to bless the kingdom of God. These last two months we have had the lowest support of our 5 years in missions. As many of you already know, that does teach you to trust Him.
Tom and Kathy Padley continue to serve faithfully with many others who have come alongside of them. We continue to relate to some of the young leaders from Brazil. Washington T. has asked me to mentor him, in Portuguese. Eduardo has contacted us for some counsel on some church issues and desperately wants us to bring a projector down. Washington S. writes that his family is doing well, but they need a miracle to get back into their home which they began to remodel a year ago.
We are setting up our travel plans for 2009. Sometime in Feb/Mar Joanne and I will go down to work with one or two conferences and follow-up on the work there. In the fall I will return for two other conferences and about 4 weeks of follow-up.
Garreth and Carla continue to serve in Dungannon. They are expecting, and Carla has had some sickness. They have many ministries going out from Morph, their center. Suicide is a big issue there, and they have been given opportunities to bring the truth of the gospel into many lives. You can subscribe to Garreth's blog at http://constantlymorphing.blogspot.com.
Rick hopes to get some face to face time with Garreth and Carla in Ireland during 2009.
Art and Sandee Hackett continue to work in the north supporting and encouraging young Christians while planting a church in their backyard, literally. They had a number of teams throughout the summer join them in ministry.
Mike and Becky Kuelker are carrying Christmas packages to various villages. Seems early but you have to do it when you can in their area. They can often be prevented from getting places because of weather. Their daughter and grandson visited for two weeks bringing the abuelos (grandparents) much joy.
Ekklesia (church planters James and Tiffanie Furgeson) has moved into a new facility. They continue to press out what God has called them to and are filled with young people anxious to know more of Jesus.
Turning Point (church planters Steve and Krista Rumschlag, Aaron and team) have seen some new visitors join them in their services. They will be following up with them and continuing to pray for the city of Findlay.
Christ Community Fellowship (church planters Greg and Catherine Weis) is also seeing some new people joining them. Because of the area they are located in, finances are a critical issue right now and they would treasure your prayers.
There are a number of individuals we are working with (mentoring, pastoring, and/or coaching) in various areas. Our heart is to see these and many other young people become the leaders we need in order to take the church into the next era.
Joanne and I were able to attend the ARC conference in St. Paul, MN several weeks ago. What a blessing to interact with leaders of that city. Ned Berube, president of the ARC, led the conference in an interactive conference employing six scenes of leadership from the movie, GETTYSBURG. It was very well done. We were also hosted by Paul and Adrienne Volk in their home. We had hosted them in Brazil several times. We were also able to catch up with some other young people who had been to Brazil while we were living there.
Joanne Writes
Before I could write anything, I had to check my calendar to make sure of that which I was reporting. Although traveling can be challenging with my health issues, the experience has always been seasoned with His incredible grace and love. Attending the Conference in St.Paul, MN was so much more than just going to another conference. First of all, as Rick pointed out, Ned did a superb job in challenging leaders in today's church - it was "an experience" that was deeply impacting for me. His use of the film, "Gettysburg", was incredibly moving and brought home his points with passion. I was truly grateful to take part in this and to meet so many other leaders from the area - not just ARC pastors.
Being hosted by Paul and Adrienne Volk was truly a gift, since we had the opportunity to get to know them more when we hosted them while living in Brasil. Of course, spending some extended time with Adrienne - a dear friend - was an added bonus. The heart they have for the Asian people was truly inspiring as we learned, and experienced first hand, their love of this people. Having more time with Ned's wife, Sue, was also an incredible blessing. She, too, is a dear and treasured friend. We both had expectations of more time than we actually had, but life had its way of "taking over".
Ned and Sue's 6 children had a surprise 60th birthday party for them the Saturday night after the conference. Needless to say, it was wall to wall people - and Ned and Sue have a large home! Their eldest daughter, Renee, also miscarried during all of the goings- on which left Sue out of commission since being mother and grandmother took priority. Renee is certainly one incredible young lady who spear-headed so much of the surprise, was totally involved in the celebration, and then went into the hospital the morning after. The time, however, that we spent with Ned and Sue, both socially and business-wise was indeed memorable. Meeting the folk in their church and re-connecting with their team of teenagers who stayed with us in Brazil, made the visit to their church an extra gift. Other than the fact that we froze the whole time we were there, because of the weather change, our time in MN was more than I could have imagined.
I was blessed for the week in-between to recover and prepare for the Women's Retreat in Mansfield. Ending up in the ER was a bit more than I bargained for, but my situations with the doctors caring for me, lack of insurance, and help from the Cleveland Clinic, made that place the "best option" when I got sick. By Friday, November 7th, I was able to travel to Mansfield and be the main speaker for their women's retreat. Friday night and Saturday were two days filled with much love and grace from Father God! The sisters were indeed precious gifts, and His Holy Spirit definitely did His part as He moved mightily in our midst. Many hands contributed to the time we shared, and I got to benefit from it all. Renewing old friendships made the time even more rich.
Stopping to visit Ray Nethery who just had a triple by-pass surgery ended the time with a very tender blessing. Ray looked quite well - he was on his two week mark - Eunice was her ever gracious self, and everyone was grateful for his good recovery. Just being with the folk from Grace Fellowship was life-giving and an added blessing from the Father.
May our God surprise you this Thanksgiving by blessing you above and beyond what you could ask or imagine in the area that you need the most. You are indeed dearly loved!
Richard & Joanne Widener
Alliance for Renewal Churches
Contact Information
Rick and Joanne Widener
4063 Porter Rd.
Westlake, OH 44145
Phones
Rick's Cell: 440-360-0602
Joanne's Cell: 440-360-0603
Home: 440-281-9217
Fax
603-907-7928
E-mail
Rick - ricklw@attglobal.net
Joanne - jojow47@attglobal.net
Support Information
If you would like to financially support our work
please send your check to the following address.
Include a note (not on the check) that it is for the Wideners
ARC
365 Straub Rd. East
Mansfield, OH 44903
Unless noted, the office will send you our newsletter and a return envelope every month thereafter.
If you prefer to only recieve the email newsletter please let us know and we will make that change for you.
This is Thanksgiving month. Though we thank God for each of you all of the time, we are especially conscious of your graciousness and faithfulness to us this month. We understand that the economic situation has touched us all. Your prayers, along with your financial support, keep us going. Thank you! We pray that your Thanksgiving Day may be filled with cries of "thank you" to our Lord. The economy has made things tight for us, as it has for you. Just after buying a home everything collapses. Well, we trust God will bring us through. Please keep us and our finances on your prayer list as we do yours. Our prayers are that we could all prosper to bless the kingdom of God. These last two months we have had the lowest support of our 5 years in missions. As many of you already know, that does teach you to trust Him.
Tom and Kathy Padley continue to serve faithfully with many others who have come alongside of them. We continue to relate to some of the young leaders from Brazil. Washington T. has asked me to mentor him, in Portuguese. Eduardo has contacted us for some counsel on some church issues and desperately wants us to bring a projector down. Washington S. writes that his family is doing well, but they need a miracle to get back into their home which they began to remodel a year ago.
We are setting up our travel plans for 2009. Sometime in Feb/Mar Joanne and I will go down to work with one or two conferences and follow-up on the work there. In the fall I will return for two other conferences and about 4 weeks of follow-up.
Garreth and Carla continue to serve in Dungannon. They are expecting, and Carla has had some sickness. They have many ministries going out from Morph, their center. Suicide is a big issue there, and they have been given opportunities to bring the truth of the gospel into many lives. You can subscribe to Garreth's blog at http://constantlymorphing.blogspot.com.
Rick hopes to get some face to face time with Garreth and Carla in Ireland during 2009.
Art and Sandee Hackett continue to work in the north supporting and encouraging young Christians while planting a church in their backyard, literally. They had a number of teams throughout the summer join them in ministry.
Mike and Becky Kuelker are carrying Christmas packages to various villages. Seems early but you have to do it when you can in their area. They can often be prevented from getting places because of weather. Their daughter and grandson visited for two weeks bringing the abuelos (grandparents) much joy.
Ekklesia (church planters James and Tiffanie Furgeson) has moved into a new facility. They continue to press out what God has called them to and are filled with young people anxious to know more of Jesus.
Turning Point (church planters Steve and Krista Rumschlag, Aaron and team) have seen some new visitors join them in their services. They will be following up with them and continuing to pray for the city of Findlay.
Christ Community Fellowship (church planters Greg and Catherine Weis) is also seeing some new people joining them. Because of the area they are located in, finances are a critical issue right now and they would treasure your prayers.
There are a number of individuals we are working with (mentoring, pastoring, and/or coaching) in various areas. Our heart is to see these and many other young people become the leaders we need in order to take the church into the next era.
Joanne and I were able to attend the ARC conference in St. Paul, MN several weeks ago. What a blessing to interact with leaders of that city. Ned Berube, president of the ARC, led the conference in an interactive conference employing six scenes of leadership from the movie, GETTYSBURG. It was very well done. We were also hosted by Paul and Adrienne Volk in their home. We had hosted them in Brazil several times. We were also able to catch up with some other young people who had been to Brazil while we were living there.
Joanne Writes
Before I could write anything, I had to check my calendar to make sure of that which I was reporting. Although traveling can be challenging with my health issues, the experience has always been seasoned with His incredible grace and love. Attending the Conference in St.Paul, MN was so much more than just going to another conference. First of all, as Rick pointed out, Ned did a superb job in challenging leaders in today's church - it was "an experience" that was deeply impacting for me. His use of the film, "Gettysburg", was incredibly moving and brought home his points with passion. I was truly grateful to take part in this and to meet so many other leaders from the area - not just ARC pastors.
Being hosted by Paul and Adrienne Volk was truly a gift, since we had the opportunity to get to know them more when we hosted them while living in Brasil. Of course, spending some extended time with Adrienne - a dear friend - was an added bonus. The heart they have for the Asian people was truly inspiring as we learned, and experienced first hand, their love of this people. Having more time with Ned's wife, Sue, was also an incredible blessing. She, too, is a dear and treasured friend. We both had expectations of more time than we actually had, but life had its way of "taking over".
Ned and Sue's 6 children had a surprise 60th birthday party for them the Saturday night after the conference. Needless to say, it was wall to wall people - and Ned and Sue have a large home! Their eldest daughter, Renee, also miscarried during all of the goings- on which left Sue out of commission since being mother and grandmother took priority. Renee is certainly one incredible young lady who spear-headed so much of the surprise, was totally involved in the celebration, and then went into the hospital the morning after. The time, however, that we spent with Ned and Sue, both socially and business-wise was indeed memorable. Meeting the folk in their church and re-connecting with their team of teenagers who stayed with us in Brazil, made the visit to their church an extra gift. Other than the fact that we froze the whole time we were there, because of the weather change, our time in MN was more than I could have imagined.
I was blessed for the week in-between to recover and prepare for the Women's Retreat in Mansfield. Ending up in the ER was a bit more than I bargained for, but my situations with the doctors caring for me, lack of insurance, and help from the Cleveland Clinic, made that place the "best option" when I got sick. By Friday, November 7th, I was able to travel to Mansfield and be the main speaker for their women's retreat. Friday night and Saturday were two days filled with much love and grace from Father God! The sisters were indeed precious gifts, and His Holy Spirit definitely did His part as He moved mightily in our midst. Many hands contributed to the time we shared, and I got to benefit from it all. Renewing old friendships made the time even more rich.
Stopping to visit Ray Nethery who just had a triple by-pass surgery ended the time with a very tender blessing. Ray looked quite well - he was on his two week mark - Eunice was her ever gracious self, and everyone was grateful for his good recovery. Just being with the folk from Grace Fellowship was life-giving and an added blessing from the Father.
May our God surprise you this Thanksgiving by blessing you above and beyond what you could ask or imagine in the area that you need the most. You are indeed dearly loved!
Richard & Joanne Widener
Alliance for Renewal Churches
Contact Information
Rick and Joanne Widener
4063 Porter Rd.
Westlake, OH 44145
Phones
Rick's Cell: 440-360-0602
Joanne's Cell: 440-360-0603
Home: 440-281-9217
Fax
603-907-7928
Rick - ricklw@attglobal.net
Joanne - jojow47@attglobal.net
Support Information
If you would like to financially support our work
please send your check to the following address.
Include a note (not on the check) that it is for the Wideners
ARC
365 Straub Rd. East
Mansfield, OH 44903
Unless noted, the office will send you our newsletter and a return envelope every month thereafter.
If you prefer to only recieve the email newsletter please let us know and we will make that change for you.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Interesting
I haven't looked at this blog since I opened it. Today I noticed that it was titled NEVER ALONE! In January I don't think I understood what the title meant. At least I think I have a better understanding of it then ever before. I know that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are ALWAYS with me. WOW!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
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