The Southview Sentinel January 2015

Welcome to The Southview Sentinel, a bi-monthly newsletter designed to keep you informed about recent events,

updated about current happenings, and prepared for future plans.

A Biblical Foundation?

Let us be sure that our Christian

foundation is strong. Husbands and

wives—do you pray together?

Christians—do you read God’s word

daily? Youth—are you seeking God’s

will and glory in everything that you

say and do? Are we each willing to give

up our habits and hobbies if God has

better things for us?

There are sincere Christians who can

easily read a “Christian fiction” book

every week, but do not read the Bible

every day. There are many sincere

Christians who can tell you what they

believe, but have no idea where (or if)

those beliefs can be found in the

Scriptures. How can you be sure that

you are raising your children Biblically

or that you have a Christian marriage or

holy life or Biblical morality if you do

not know what the Bible says about

these things?

Jesus told the Sadducees, “You are

wrong, because you know neither the

Scriptures nor the power of

God” (Matthew 22:29). The book of

Isaiah says, “Seek out of the book of the

Lord, and read” (Isaiah 34:16).

You Christians look after a document

(the Bible) containing enough dynamite

to blow all civilization to pieces, turn

the world upside down and bring peace

to a battle-torn

planet. But you

treat it as though it

is nothing more

than a piece of

literature.―

Mahatma Gandhi

George Muller

had read the Bible through 100 times by

the age of 71. By the time of his death,

about 22 years later, he had read it

through another 100 times.

Do you have no time for God?

George Muller wrote:

Friends often say, “I have so much to

do, so many people to see, I cannot find

time for Scripture study.” Perhaps

there are not many who have more to

do than I. For more than half a century

I have never known one day when I had

not more business than I could get

through. For forty years I have had

annually about thirty thousand letters,

and most of these passed through my

own hands. I have nine assistants

always at work corresponding in

German, French, English, Danish,

Italian, Russian, and other languages.

Then as pastor of a church with twelve

hundred believers, great has been my

care. Besides, I have had charge of five

immense orphanages; also, at my

publishing depot, the printing and

circulating of millions of tracts, books

and Bibles. But I have always made it a

rule never to begin work till I have had

a good season with God. The vigor of

our spiritual life will be in exact

proportion to the place held by the

Word in our life and thoughts.

Robert Murray McCheyne died at the

early age of 30, and yet

had by then read the

Bible through 100

times.

Jonathan Goforth,

missionary to China,

had read the Bible

through over 70 times.

Martin Luther read the Bible through

twice every year.

Catherine Booth had read the entire

Bible through eight times by the age of

twelve.

The primary purpose of reading the

Bible is not to know the Bible but to

know God. James Merritt

Ignorance of the Scriptures is

ignorance of Christ. Jerome

We should be better Christians if we

were more alone, waiting upon God,

and gathering through meditation on

His Word spiritual strength for labour

in his service. We ought to muse upon

the things of God, because we thus get

the real nutriment out of them. . . . Why

is it that some Christians, although they

hear many sermons, make but slow

advances in the divine life? Because

they neglect their closets, and do not

thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

No one ever said at the end of his

days; I have read my BIBLE too much, I

have thought of God too much,

I have prayed too much, I have been

too careful with my soul. J. C. Ryle

My friend, if you are too busy to read the Bible every day, you are busier than Almighty God ever intended any human being should be, and you had better let some things go, and take time to read the Bible. D. L. Moody

We have had many people join our Southview family during the past few years, and it is not always to get to know

everyone; therefore, we hope this section will help you get to know some of the people whom you may not know.

The Stuarts began attending

Southview in 1965.

Ron and Jan Stuart will be

celebrating their 50th

wedding anniversary in

March 2015. They have 5

d a u g h t e r s a n d 8

grandchildren. Ron is retired

from Loudonville/Perrysville

schools and presently working

part-time for Steel Plate Akron/

Atlanta. Jan will be closing her

medical billing company June 2015

and retiring.

Jan accepted Christ at the age of 13 at

an SMM meeting. She has been

involved in EE outreach,

pastoral care and

children's ministries

(teaching and leading

children's choir) and

has taken many

m i s s i o n t r i p s .

Currently she is

serving as coordinator

a n d t e a c h e r f o r

Southview's K-6 children's

ministries, which includes Sunday

School and BLAST.

Ron accepted Christ at the age of 24

under the ministry of Southview Pastor

Mason Cooper. He has served on the

elder board, maintenance, building

grounds, pastoral care, youth leader,

teaching children thru adults and taken

many mission trips. Currently he is

serving in teaching your children

grades K-6.

Things you may not know about

them:

Ron has a race car. Jan reads 3+

books a week. They enjoy fishing on

Lake Erie and were both born in

Ashland. Children have played an

important part in their lives, having

been foster parents and now they

frequently volunteer in their daughter's

2nd grade classroom.

Mary Jones was born

in 1784 in Wales. Her

father told her Bible

stories, and she longed

to read the Bible. Her

family was too poor to

afford a Bible (as most

families in Wales were),

and Mary could not

read. A farmer’s wife—

two miles away—told

Mary that when she learned to read, she

could come to their house and read their

Bible. When a neighborhood school opened,

Mary attended and learned how to read by

the age of ten. She then walked the two

miles to the neighbor’s house and began to

read their Bible, memorizing entire chapters

at a time. Every Saturday from then on, she

walked the two miles just to read the Bible.

During the next six years, Mary saved

money by doing jobs for neighbors. Mary

was now around 16 years old. She heard that

Pastor Charles in the town of Bala—about

25 miles away, had some Bibles for sale. She

took her money and walked the 25 miles—

barefoot—so that she did not ruin her one

pair of shoes. When she found the pastor, he

told her that he had sold most of the Bibles,

the remaining few had been promised to

others, and that the Welsh Bible Society that

had printed them had no plans to print more.

He heard her story, and gave her his last

copy—that he had reserved for someone

else. Her story inspired many, and, with the

help of Pastor Charles, the British and

Foreign Bible Society was soon formed to

help meet the need to provide more Bibles.

The Bible meant much to Mary Jones. What

does it mean to you?

Getting to Know You

Ron and Jan Stuart

Middle of the Week

Mary Jones and Her Bible

The next issue of The

Southview Sentinel is being

planned (March 2015). It

should cover the months of

March, April, and early May.

If you have comments, ideas,

thoughts, questions, or

upcoming events that you

would like to have considered

for the next issue, please put

them in writing (either a note,

letter, email, etc.) and give

them to Paul Miller, put them

in his box, or email him at

veritas3@zoominternet.net.

Please have the information to

him by Sunday, February

15. This includes SMM, GBB,

pastors,

youth,

Sunday

school,

etc.

Plan Ahead—

Feb. 15 deadline In addition to the youth group, SMM, and

GBB, Southview also has Wednesday

evening events for adults—so JOIN US! If

you can, meet at 5:45 p.m. to eat together,

followed by a brief time of congregational

prayer. Then, when it is not Titus 2 night, we

have a few options from 6:45-7:45: a time of

teaching and discussion with Pastor Russ

Enzor, current event discussion with Pastor

Mark Abel, and prayer and discussion with

Paul Miller. Ask us if you need more

information. We want to see you there!

SMM Girls

During the Christmas season, the

young girls acted out the birth of

Jesus from Luke 2. We had Mary,

Joseph, 2 angels, and 2

shepherds.

Also, the entire SMM group

traveled to Kingston of Ashland

on December 17 and caroled

though the halls. During that time we met some residents in their

activity room for a sing-along with more Christmas songs.

If you have a young girl who would like to join us for SMM on

Wednesday evenings, please see one of us for more details.

Christy Miller, Julie

Hillman, Karen

Kauffman,

Heather Russell, and

Jodie Dravenstott

A True Partner in Christ By Jan Stuart

Upon contact from Connie Boyd,

Partners in Christ's chairperson for

sponsorship, I was pleased to

accept her invitation to

attend the graduation of

our oldest sponsored

student, Thania

Mercedes, on

October 24th at

Fountain of Life

School. This trip

changed my

view of

sponsorship. Sponsoring a

child is a means to a joyous end. These

16 graduates were overjoyed as they

came together in a church filled with

family, friends, teachers, and Partners in

Christ board members. The proud,

smiling graduates felt successful as they

accepted their diplomas and looked

forward to the next chapter of their lives.

As this beautiful mature young lady

walked toward me with tears in her eyes

to receive her diploma, my heart was

filled with joy to be able to share that

moment with her.

Ten years ago, Thania Mercedes and her

brother, Josue, came into our lives,

followed four years later by her sister,

Dania, three years after that,

her brother Danniel, and the

next year, Denis. Through

Partners In Christ and

the wonder of

Facebook, we

correspond with all

of these children

and their

families. As they

share their lives with

us, they become a part

of our family. When we

visit the school, there is also

a visit to their home in

the village of Juan

Tomas, where we are

warmly welcomed

with hugs and words

of gratitude from the

children and their

parents. The day after

graduation we spent

together in Santo Domingo

going to a park and then to a Mall for

pizza and other activities, including

batting cages. Sunday we worshiped

together at their church. Yes, we are one

in Christ Jesus.

Thank you Partners

In Christ for making

this possible.

Speaking to other

sponsors, when your

child becomes a

graduate, I

encourage you to

plan to attend this

special occasion. Our Lord is using you

as a tool to help your child succeed in

life. Celebrate with them! The gratitude

of Thania, her parents, and siblings was

heart-warming. Nothing compares to

sharing the love of Jesus.

In Christ,

Jan Stuart

I had mentioned in my article

about encouraging other

sponsors to attend graduation

and about using Facebook. I am

hoping they pick up on the

suggestion to use Facebook. I hear

from my children at least 1-2 times a

week. Danniel just sent me a picture he'd

drawn of me...haha! You notice I didn't

attach that! So cute. They are just so

willing to share their lives. —-Jan

Thania and Family

On Sunday,

December 14 and

again during the

Christmas Eve

service, Acting

Up demonstrated

their puppet

skills, and were

enjoyed by both children and adults.

Thank you to all those involved and for all you do at

Southview and throughout the community!

Acting Up

Thania and Jan

The youth group has had an exciting

couple of months. We recently finished

our in depth Sunday morning study of

Genesis, and we have moved into

Exodus in our four-year journey

through the Bible. The goal is to give

students a solid Biblical foundation

upon which they can depend for the

rest of their lives.

Wednesday nights have changed

slightly over the past few months. We

continue to participate in the Titus 2

evenings. It has been a great time of

fellowship and learning from fellow

brothers and sisters in Christ.

The other Wednesdays we usually

open in a time of prayer, followed by what we call,

“Whatever Wednesday,” during which the students raise a

question about their daily lives or a current event about

which they may have a question. We take a Biblical

perspective toward this issue and discuss possible

solutions. Next is a specific topical study into which we

take a deeper look. These topics range from secular music

to seasonal topics. For instance, in December we started

with the Biblical birth of Christ and have traced Christmas

to what we celebrate today. Then our night is finished

with some sort of active activity.

Special events over the recent past include the return of

Turkey Bowl

and

Southview’s

1st Amazing

Grace

scavenger

hunt. Turkey

Bowl is a

football

game—flag football

this year—and was held on November 30th. Even though

the football was

not of the

highest quality,

it was a very

fun time and

we were very

thankful to

escape without

any serious

injuries!

On Saturday,

December 13th, we held our first “Amazing Race” style

scavenger hunt which we entitled Southview’s Amazing

Grace. We would like to thank all the participants and

those who opened their homes to

the youth and those who drove, as

it would not have been possible

without you! This was a great

time of fellowship and many great

memories were made. Just don’t

ask Ruth Abel if she wants any

more milk!

Youth Group By Mike Barr

Turkey Bowl

Making evergreen decorations at Rich and

Elaine Hess’ house.

Nativity Scene at Bob and Marilyn

Glenn’s home.