One of the more profound scenes in

literature and drama comes from Victor

Hugo’s, Les Miserables. The convict Jean

Valjean is taken in by the Bishop, who

gives him a full meal and a warm bed.

Jean Valjean seizes the opportunity to steal

valuables from the Bishop in order to have

means to live. As Valjean is caught by the

authorities and brought back to the Bishop

for the stollen items to be identified and

Valjean convicted, the whole trajectory of

Valjean’s life is turned upside down as the

Bishop declares that what he had taken

were gifts and adds even the candlesticks

to Valjean’s collection.

So much can be drawn out of that power-

ful scene, but at the very least Victor Hugo,

paints a picture of the power of authentic

“gut-level”, Christ-like hospitality. Whether

Hugo had Hebrews 13:1, “do not forget to

show hospitality to strangers”, in mind

as he crafted that scene we can’t know,

but one thing is for sure, hospitality was

understood as a central practice of the

early Church. But like in all generations,

it is easy to forget and to neglect. Thus the

call “not to forget (or neglect) to show

hospitality”. Illustrations like the one in Les

Miserables are extreme but do guide us in

our understanding of what hospitably

looks like. Hospitality in the Greek means

literally, to “love the stranger”. There is

hardly a more powerful tool to put the

essence of the gospel on display than to

give wholeheartedly of ourselves to those

whom we don’t know (the stranger), all

the while knowing that there are no

strangers to God. Christ has welcomed us

and given himself for us in order to make a

way for us to live in

the very presence of

God with joy and not

in fear. With that as

a foundation of our

lives, a natural outflow of Christ’s

hospitality to us is that our lives would

also demonstrate that same characteris-

tic. Welcoming the stranger as Christ has

welcomed us.

What does this look like? There must

be 1000 different expressions of Chris-

tian hospitality. Hugo’s example is a

profound one, but certainly not the only

one. I wish I had numerous examples of

how this has been exemplified in my life,

but the truth is even as I write this, I find

hospitality lacking significantly. Thus the

necessity of this article. As a Pastor at

Brookdale Church, one of the first

questions I think of is “How am I (are

we) doing at welcoming people into the

life of Brookdale Church?” On a Sunday

morning who am I talking with, who am

I drinking coffee with? Am I aware of

those who are new or people that I do

not know? Sunday morning is an excel-

lent place to start. This week you will

be tempted to talk to the exact same

people you talk to every week. Raise

your eyes from the conversation you

are in and look for others, who you

might not know and seek to step into

their world. This will not happen by

accident —- so — Do not forget to

show hospitality!

"My husband left after he found out I was

pregnant with our 4th child"…"My husband died

of an infection and I have lost three children"…

"My husband died 4 years ago…we have been

informed that we must move from this property

in 10 days and we have no place to go." Those

were some of the overwhelming stories from our

home visits in Guatemala. These were by far the

most impactful part of the trip for me.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself

into. I have had the privilege of being on many

mission trips. Most of the trips that I have been

on have been on the other side of world jumping

12 time zones. They have also mostly been trips

where we have taught English. I did not know

what to expect heading down to Guatemala.

To sum up the trip, we built four

homes, distributed wheelchairs

to many who desperately

needed them and visited many

needy families. We landed in

Guatemala city on Saturday and

then got checked into our hotel. That afternoon,

we rested and watched the NFL playoffs:) The

next day we drove with our ministry partners from

Bethel Ministries 5-6 hrs into the mountains. In

Guatemala city the elevation is 5,000 feet and we

remained at 5,000 feet all week. Though it really

felt like we had "gone up into the mountains." I am

not sure that we experienced a straight portion of

roadway for the entire trip. We passed through a

region that was hot and dry and then arrived in the

Coban region which was cool and wet. We had

lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s each day with

some rain. That may sound warm here in St. Joe

but I was mostly cold having not brought proper

clothing.

The first day we did wheelchair distribution. Which

I thought would be people lining up and us giving

them wheelchairs. I was wrong. There is much

more to it. People have applied for wheelchairs and

they have been revamped and sent to them. Our

job was to further customize these chairs to be a

perfect fit. We would make sure each chair fit the

person as perfectly as we could. This often involved

cutting, drilling new slot holes and whatever else

was needed. Once we got their chair squared away

they met with a couple of local pastors who shared

the gospel with them.

That afternoon, we built our first house. These

houses took about four hours to build. The

concrete work had already been done so we were

just constructing the house. These houses were

simple metal structures yet provided a completely

new and healthier way of life for these families

complete with a rocket mass stove that vented

outside the house. The stove alone will prevent

many premature deaths for these people. We built

3 more houses on Tuesday, Wednesday and

Thursday. While the houses were being built, a few

of us would go on home visits.

Brookdale News is a

monthly publication of

Brookdale Church

203 South 31st Street

St. Joseph, MO 64501

Phone: 816-279-0983

Fax: 816-279-7684

Website:

www.brookdalechurch.com

Editor: Terri Lansbury

E-mail:

terri@brookdalechurch.com

What is happening in Children’s Ministry Sunday School? The students are learning the

truths of the Bible. PreK-5 grade are using the Truth78 curriculum. The vision of Truth78 is

that the next generations know, honor, and treasure God, setting their hope in Christ

alone, so that they will live as faithful disciples for the glory of God. Here is a little bit of

info on what each class is learning.

He Has Spoken By His Son - is our PreK-K curriculum that explores God's greatness by noting key themes

found chronologically throughout the New Testament.

The ABCs of God - This study on the greatness and worth of God uses the alphabet as a framework for

learning the attributes of God and other terms that describe His character is for our students in grades 1-2.

My Purpose Will Stand - This student on the Providence of God is for our 3-5 grade curriculum. Students will

learn that God is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, continually at work in His world.

In the home visits, we would visit families that had

been identified by local social workers. We would

sit down and hear their story (all in Español). A few

of us could understand a little and some would

translate for the rest of us. We would then give

them a 50lb bag of food (protein rice, milk powder,

etc) with a bible. We would then pray for them.

This was the most impactful part of the trip for me.

These families lived in hopeless situations and yet

they seemed to be filled with hope. More than

once they said that they had prayed and our visit

was evidence of God hearing their prayers. God had

met their needs for the next few weeks or so. I am

often trying to live 20-30 years in the future figuring

out how I will get bread in my retirement. Yet these

people were trusting God here and now. This really

struck me and has caused me to reevaluate some

of my perspectives on walking with God.

On Friday, we drove back to Guatemala City and

convinced Saul to take us to the Bethel Ministry HQ

and wheelchair shop. This was a highlight because

we were able to see all the work that had gone into

making our trip very smooth. I never knew so much

work would go into renovating and preparing the

wheelchairs for service. They also fabricate all of

the building materials at this same location.

We finished up the trip spending a day at Hope for

Tomorrow. Our primary purpose was to move dirt

and that is what we did…bucket by bucket. In the

afternoon, we went to the park with the kids and

purchased them ice cream.

I love engaging other cultures. It helps me to have

a proper perspective on God's world. Many times

you travel to a place like Guatemala and think

"Wow, we really have it so good back in the

states!" But do we? Our convenience and comfort

often prevent us from seeing the world (even our

own culture) through God's eyes. We become

distracted by the gifts and forget the giver. If you

get a chance to go on a mission trip to another

culture I encourage you to do so. Louie Giglion

once told a group of us that we needed to leave

the country at least once a year to maintain a

proper perspective.

I am thankful for this opportunity. Our team was

great. We laughed a lot and had a lot of fun serv-

ing together. It was a privilege to serve together

and to be the hands and feet of Jesus to his world.

In November 2009, we approached Pastor

Paul with the crazy idea to start a Zumba

ministry at Brookdale. We went to a Zumba

training in Iowa the day after Thanksgiving,

learned 15 dance routines during the month of

December, and held our first Brookdale Club

Zumba class on January 1, 2010. We had no

idea that we were just at the beginning of

what now has become a 10-year journey!!!

We have been blessed with over 3,000 men

and women of different ages, races, sizes,

fitness levels, and beliefs coming through our

doors and having a ball with us. Not going to

lie, we offer a quality fitness class where

people actually get amazing results. Students

report losing up to 100 pounds, feeling better,

and having more energy. But helping the

community to take care of their bodies is just

one of our missions.

The beauty of this ministry is the way that

the joy of exercise and dance brings all these

different people together into a church

building where we pray before every class.

We toss some Christian music into our mix

and Brookdale Club Zumba’s theme verse is

Romans 1:16 –

“I am not

ashamed of

the gospel

because it is

the power of

God for salva-

tion of every-

one who

believes.”

The verse is referenced on our hoodies, tank

tops, and t-shirts and we have had the oppor-

tunity to talk about the verse and how it

represents how we at Brookdale Club Zumba

want to be bold about the gospel in our lives.

What an amazing opportunity to build

meaningful friendships with believers and

non-believers. Our prayer before class usually

includes the request to help us be better

versions of ourselves when we leave the

building so that we can better serve Him.

Thirty-four percent of all money taken in for

the class goes directly back to Brookdale to

help with the upkeep of the SMC sound

system and with other needs of the church.

Outside of the hour-long workout class, we

have been able to develop and grow so many

of these friendships through lunch and dinner

dates, texts and phone calls, and other

Zumba events. Our favorite time to bond

with our class is when we do Zumba at the

Mustangs games. Our class dares to dance

together in front of thousands of people,

then sit together at the game. This offers

such a great opportunity to really get to

know the members of our class. We do it

every summer and it’s so much fun!

Zumba has offered many opportunities to

get out into the community. BCZ has

participated in the following local events:

Guinness Book of World Record largest

Zumba classes at MWSU, Pound Plunge,

Griffon Edge for incoming freshman at

MWSU, Zumba class at Trails West, Discover

Downtown Saint Joe events, Griffons basket-

ball game performance, Mustangs baseball

game performances, Zumba at the Civic

Arena, Blacklight classes, Zumba at the Color

Vibe 5K in Saint Joseph, Glow Zumba at Phil

Welch Stadium, Cosmic Zumba at the REC

center, fundraisers for various charity groups.

We are extremely grateful for the use of

the Student Ministry Center. Because of

Brookdale’s support, we have been able to

share the love of God through fitness and

friendship. The only thing we are missing is

more of YOU all in our classes! We invite you

to be part of our Zumba ministry to help share

the love of Christ. We know you will love this

fitness family!

1 - Ella Bryant

5 - Diana Haynes, Brenda Hewins, Don Weston

6 - Lisa Wyckoff

8 - Lydia Parmer

10 - Nichole Kammerer

11 - Bobby Larimore

14 - Sue Bolander

15 - Adam Dean, Gary Jahne, Janna Trulsson

17 - Tori Hudgens

18 - T.J. Larson, Collin Lemon

19 - Janey Holloway

20 - Janeen Burnham

22 - Earl Hadle, Debby Hanlan, Samuel Parmer,

Kaitlyn Swank

24 - Marta Green

25 - Will Austin, Ann Swank

26 - Kathy King

28 - Ed Brown, Aspen Parmer, Laura Weckerlin

29 - Sandy Zweerink

March

1 - Deb Birr

3 - Mike O-Donnell

5 - Amanda Comeau, Teresa Fetter

Dear Brookdale,

Thank you to everyone for supporting us as we foster children. We are very blessed. God is good.

—Valon and Evangeline Thompson

MIKE AND GAIL GOOLSBY have a long relationship with Brook-

dale Church. In addition to being active members, Mike served

on staff here for a while, and Gail started her counseling/life

coaching program here. Both were passionate about spreading

the gospel, and when they felt called to go to one of the hardest

places to serve, they went. Mike and Gail remained under our

care and support throughout their time in Afghanistan and when

they returned to their home in St. Joseph. Eventually, Mike was

called to seek ordination in the EPC, and then to serve on staff

at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, where they

continue to live and work for God’s kingdom.

Mike will preach at both services on February 9th, and between

services they will be in Fellowship Hall, where Gail will talk about

their years in Afghanistan and the book she has written about

the experience.

If you have a copy of the book (“Unveiled Truth”), bring it with

you so Gail can sign it! (She will also have some copies available

that day).

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This time of year the weather can play havoc on schedules

but we have managed to get some time with both the

Middle school and High School groups to kick off the new semester.. We are looking forward to

getting back into a routine and to see where God is taking us. We will have a couple of retreats and

events coming up so stay tune!