● ISSUE 167

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

KALAMAZOO

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

80 by April As this year was about to begin, I felt God leading us to a challenge: 80 by April. I want to update you on how we are doing in reaching these goals.

1. 80 people reading Encountering Jesus Today: Revolution and Resurrection. We’ve already sur-passed this goal with 85 people involved, plus at least 10 additional books have been purchased for families and friends.

2. $80,000 in total income by April 30. We’re doing better on this than I had imagined, with $24,108 received through February 5. We haven’t balanced the budget, but the deficit through February 5 was only $703 compared to a projected deficit of more than $5,000 for that period.

3. 80 people in worship throughout March and April. We’ve had as many as 15 children in wor-ship the past few Sundays, but our total worship attendance has been averaging in the low to mid 60s, almost exactly the same as last year.

There is neither a prize for reaching our goals, nor a penalty for failing to do so. How we do, though, will tell us a lot about our future. We know we can’t continue long with the operating deficits we’ve had for the past number of years. Reaching our “80 by April” goals would tell us we are moving in the right direction; failing to do so would be a clear indication it is time for major changes. Here are some things you can do to help us move forward during March and April:

Invite someone to a worship service. The nine weeks of March and April, including Palm Sun-day (April 9) and Easter (April 16), will continue our focus on the life of Jesus, with special em-phasis on how he modeled the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Invite someone to Sunday School. From March 5 through April 30, we will be having Sunday School for all ages at 9:30 a.m. each week. Children’s classes will be led by Sara Kozminske, Matthew Kurzava and Sara Pierre. Jason Ciluffo will teach an adult class, and Pastor Dave will lead a group focused on how the fruit of the Spirit relates to effective parenting of young chil-dren.

Invite someone to encounter Jesus. It isn’t too late to give a copy of my book to a friend, with the invitation to connect (or reconnect) with Jesus throughout Lent. Facebook groups are avail-able for those who would like to participate online. Contact me for details.

Pastor Dave Nichols 248-990-7444 pastor@fbckazoo.org

Welcome to The Belfry, First Baptist's bi-monthly newsletter.

Contributions to The Belfry can be submitted by calling the church office at (269) 345-2195, filling out a submission form and leaving it in the church office, or emailing to office@fbckazoo.org. Deadlines for The Belfry and the Sunday bulletin: The Sunday bulletin deadline is every Wednesday at 12 pm; it’s printed that afternoon. The Belfry is published the first & third Wednesday of every month. The deadline for submission is 12 pm Wednesday, one week prior to publication.

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ASSISTANT PASTOR WELCOME: Dr. Sanchita Kisku is an ordained minister from India. Currently she is working as a chaplain resident at Bronson Methodist Hos-pital. Sanchita is a third-generation Christian from India. It was her grandfather, Lukias Kisku, who first accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior and became Christian through the Christian Mission work. Both her parents, Cyril Kisku and Aloka Das, brought her up in the church. The love for the Lord and passion to serve the people are the gifts that she has inherited from the family. Sanchita personally received the Lord, Jesus Christ, as her personal savior in the Christian mission high school. During her volunteering work with Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (run by Mother Teresa), Sanchita received God’s call for her life through serving those who are broken, weak, vulnerable and marginalized.

To fulfill her call for mission, she joined the seminary in India and received her Bachelor of Divinity de-gree. On June 2007, she came to United States for her higher theological education and able to earn Doctor of Philosophy in Missiology from Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 2014. After teach-ing Mission and Evangelism for a couple of years, Sanchita finally found her primary missional passion through the ministry of Chaplaincy. She first started the chaplaincy program with Rush Medical Universi-ty at Chicago, later she had a year of residency pro-gram with Palmetto Health at Columbia, South Caro-

lina. The passion to integrate the academic learnings with the practical ministry of pas-toral care brought her to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kala-mazoo for Chaplain Supervisory Education. It is through this ministry Sanchita is currently serving vulnerable people who are religiously, ethnically and traditionally diverse with the love of Christ by providing pastoral care at the bedside. Sanchita is very thankful to find a home church in FBC Kalamazoo. It is a warm, welcoming community of faith along with loving people who embraced her beside all the differences and accepted her with love in the church family. This quickly made her choose to become an official member of the church.

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Starting March 5 at 9:30 a.m.

Jason Ciluffo will be with us throughout most

of March and April, bringing his unique mix of

solid scholarship and open teaching style.

Please note this will come before worship,

not after fellowship time as in the past.

No one has all the answers when it comes

to being a good parent, but sharing our

experiences can lead to new insights.

Pastor Dave will provide leadership for this

group.

It’s wonderful to see the growing group of

children we’ve been having in worship

these last few weeks! Sara Kozminske,

Matthew Kurzava, Sara Pierre and Abby

Long will provide leadership for preschool

and school-aged children. Older children

will then go to the worship service, while

younger children have an extended time in

the classroom with additional crafts, stories

and play.

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For those who remember Ardith Richards…

We send our condolences to the family and friends of

Ardith Richards.

Ardith Kay Richards, age 67 of Al-bion passed away Friday, January 13, 2017 at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. She was the daughter of Wayne and Verl (Mason) Sanderson. She married William Richards in Kalamazoo on July 5, 1969 and he survives.

This picture (currently hanging in the Clough Room) was given to First Baptist Church by the Muslim com-munity at Western Michigan Universi-ty in appreciation of shared potlucks and Crop Walk activities.

RETIRED MINISTERS AND MISSION-ARIES OFFERING (RMMO) - The Re-tired Ministers and Missionaries Offer-ing (RMMO) is sometimes referred to as the "Thank You" offering. It is one of the special American Baptist missions offerings taken each year at First Bap-tist. An offering for many years of American Baptist service, RMMO pro-vides assistance to those retired minis-ters and missionaries facing financial hardship. Thank you for your contribu-tions of $966.00 towards RMMO in No-vember, January and February.

The weekly spring cleaning continues….

FOR SALE - Underwood and Un-derwood 1901 Antique Wooden Stereopticon and 31 slides. For-merly owned by Maynard and Gene Conrad. Minimum bid $56. Going to auction on eBay if no bids. Speak to Pastor Dave if you are interest-ed in this item!

Jason Ciluffo will be back to lead adult Bible study for the Lenten season. He will start on March 5, then continue March 12 and 19th at the new time: 9:30 am. Watch for more on Jason’s schedule and the Lenten season activities!

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The fourth All Ears Radio Theatre performance is this weekend:

Chase Marlow: U.S. Marshal, 6 pm in the FBC sanctuary.

Chase Marlow has to bring in a local rancher accused of injuring a local cowhand. The rancher insists that Chase should let him go because the man was responsible for his family being hurt. However, it isn’t up to the Marshal to determine guilt or innocence. His job is to bring him in, no matter what!

All performances are FREE (or donation). Treat yourself

to a fun and free downtown experience!

Next time: Steeple Chased (March 4)

What happens each year when church members don’t know where to store an item: a box, a

flag, some wood, many banners, a box of fabric, old bulletins, locker-style cabinets, and little-kid

chairs? In this building, it goes on the 4th floor. After decades of storage, the 4th floor be-

comes a “warehouse” of things. New problem: someone wants to use the 4th floor. Wow! Some

cleaning and organizing needs to occur! For the past month and likely for the next two months,

this elimination and cleaning will occur. Thank you to Joyce Standish, Lori Lewis, Dave Nichols

and Cal Mastin for hauling trash down four floors and out the door to the trailer on February 2,

and to the Crouch boys, and others who have been hauling, cleaning, and sorting since then.

Thank you, Sue Webster, for sorting, wrapping and labeling banners. Pictured below, right, is a

banner she made.

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March

2 Betsy Start Isabella Van Dis 9 Somporn James Mary Jo McBride 11 Kathryn VanderMyde 12 Michelle Jackson- Long 13 Kate Webster 14 Mark Thompson Hannah McQuitty- Marsh 16 Abbigale Van Dis 23 Susan Steinman 29 Chris Webster 30 Barbara Mathis 31 Clare Start

March

16 – John & Marcy Mein

Thanks, Andy Van Dis, for providing these daily devotions to our Face-

book group! It is a great comfort to be greeted by these words each

morning. If you would like to be added to our group, just see Andy!

Great words from Pastor Dave’s sermon on Febru-ary 5: When life seems overwhelming,, remem-

ber this thought….

“Someone will pray for

you. You just let God love

you!”

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Joan Reames Park Village Pines #123

2920 Crystal Lane Kalamazoo, MI 49009

Margaret Shinar 4549 Malvern Rd.

Durham, NC 27707

Marilyn Grady 7749 Currier Dr. #101

Portage, MI 49002

Lilia Chen 1400 N. Drake Rd.

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

Madeline Williams 1400 N. Drake Rd.

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

Health Concerns -Kay Weakley, upcoming surgery -Gejji Family: Raghe, Candy, and grandson Michael. -Susan Van Dis, recovery from hip surgery -Helen Like, back issues, continuing proce-

dures and recuperation -Liz, friend of Michelle Jackson-Long,

Lyme disease Cancer -Dan Crouch -Richard Like, continuing treatments -Lynn, Tom and Kate Webster's sister-in-

law -Reagan, 5-yr.old, Traci Foley’s friend -Sunshine Dolph, Robert’s friend (student’s

parent)

-Whitney, Pat Hernandez’ husband, responding well to treatments, which

are ongoing -Tamara Days, Dan White’s niece Other Concerns -Pray for Rev. Sanchita Kisku’s current,

challenging visa situation -Karrie Crawford Joys -Exploring another exciting possibility for

an educational support class in this building

—FEBRUARY 16 (Thurs.) -- Men’s Breakfast Gathering, Poor Richard’s Café (Mills & Crosstown), 8:30 am. Join them. They meet the 3rd Thursday morning each month. —FEBRUARY 18 (Sat.) -- All Ears Radio Theatre, 6 pm, FBC Sanctuary, Chase Marlow: U.S. Marshal. —FEBRUARY 22 (Wed.) -- Bible study in the Clough Room, 11 am. Join with Pas-tor Dave as he discusses the upcoming Sunday scriptures each week. —FEBRUARY 25 (Sat.) -- University Chorale Winter Concert (under the direction of Kim Adams), FBC Sanctuary, 8 pm. —MARCH 1 (Wed.) -- Ash Wednesday —MARCH 7 (Tues.) -- The Evening Ladies’ Bible study group will meet at Susan Benston’s office building, 3608 South Burdick Street Professional Offices, 5:30 pm...Please bring a salad bar item and your own beverage. Pizza will be provided. —MISSION STATEMENT: “To pledge our lives to Christ and covenant with each other to demonstrate as disciples: His spirit through worship, witness, and ministry to the needs of the people of this church and the community. We invite and welcome all to be includ-ed within our fellowship.”