Happy New Year!

I hope each of you

had a wonderful

Christmas holiday,

celebrated with

family and friends! And I pray

each of you have a blessed and

healthy 2013.

If your Sunday School Dept.

uses the Randall House Classic

Curriculum, no doubt your Adult

Class enjoyed the January 6th

lesson on “True Prosperity”

from Psalm 37. This Psalm

teaches us to “fret not because

of evil doers and to not envy

workers of iniquity.” We are

taught to ”trust, do good, de-

light, commit and to wait for

the Lord.” This lesson thrilled

my heart and has stirred my

soul.

You may have gone through a

very rough time in 2012. Per-

haps you struggled financially,

or had personal or family ill-

ness, or heartache and pain

caused by others, You may

have suffered grief from the

loss of a loved one. You may be

a faithful servant of the Lord

and whatever you have gone

through may not seem fair. But,

hold on, things will change!

I encourage you to read and re-

read Psalm 37. We can rest

assured that we can trust God.

Just look back at all the times

He has proven Himself. Isn’t He

worthy of our complete trust?

As we think about changes for

the new year, let’s commit our

entire being to the Lord. That

means He chooses what is best

for us, and we wait upon Him

because His time is the right

time.

Stand still, and let God move!

That means sometimes we

need to “stop talking and listen

for that still small voice’.

I want to be submissive and

have holy patience! Please pray

for me, and I will pray for you.

God bless each of you,

Sherry

President’s Corner!

Michigan State Women Active for Christ

Michigan State

WAC Executive

Board:

Officers:

President:

Sherry McBroom

Vice President:

Katy Taylor

Sec’y/Treas:

Angela McGinnis

Ass’t Sec’y/Treas:

Pauline Penix

Field Worker:

Rosemary Fairchild

Ass’t Field Worker:

Mary Jo Houck

Members at Large:

Fellowship District

Donna Riley

Liberty District

Joyce Kincaid

West MI District

Geraldine Muncy

Wolverine District

Susan Newton

NEWSLETTER January/February 2013 Michigan State WAC

Inside this issue:

President’s Corner 1

Remembering Sandy

Hook

1

Board Planning 1

WNAC Update 2

From the Johnson’s 3

Anderson Update 4

Update from the Riggs 5

Isaacs/Battle Creek 6

Rouge Event Update 7

Board Planning Cont. 7

year for 2013, from April 1 -

December 31.

Propose a MI WAC

(statewide) cookbook to be

sold by local WAC’s/ladies

to raise money for the 2015

Convention. Details forth-

coming. If approved, we will

need 200 recipes, and will

ask for your help.

Present alternative annual (Continued on page 7)

presented to the ladies for ap-

proval at the April meeting.

They are:

Proposed revisions to the

MI WAC Constitution and

By-Laws to further mirror

the WNAC Constitution and

By-Laws approved in July at

the National Convention.

The revisions will be sent

out in advance of the meet-

ing for review.

Proposed change in MI

WAC fiscal year end to

December 31st. This will

coincide with WNAC and

our MI WAC officer chang-

es. If approved this will

mean a short reporting

Editor:

Sherry McBroom

North Warren FWB

slmcbroom@comcast.net

On December 1st, most of the

Executive Board met to begin

planning the State meeting and

the annual retreat. In addition,

there were some other items

covered.

For the State Meeting, which

will be held Saturday, April

20th at Heritage FWB, the

theme “Christ In You” was se-

lected. The devotion will be

presented by Betty Michalski

from Heritage, but we are still

in the process of confirming

our guest speaker. That will

be shared in the next newslet-

ter.

Several recommendations will

New Board Starts Planning!

For Our Children

Father, hear us, we are praying,

Hear the words our

hearts are saying;

We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the

powers of evil,

From the secret, hidden peril;

Father, hear us for our children.

From the whirlpool that

would suck them,

From the treacherous

quicksand, pluck them;

Father, hear us for our children.

From the word-ling’s

hollow gladness,

From the sting of

faithless sadness,

Father, Father,

keep our children.

Through life’s troubles

waters steer them;

Through life’s bitter

battle cheer them;

Father, Father, be

Thou near them.

Read the language of

our longing,

Read the wordless

pleadings thronging,

Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,

Lead them Home at eventide.

—Amy Carmichael

Remembering

Sandy Hook

Page 2 Michigan State WAC

WNAC

P.O. Box 5002

Antioch, TN

37011-5002

www.wnac.org

We appreciate

WNAC for all

they do for

FWB women

and missions.

Thank you!

MI WAC

Newsletter Now on State

Association website:

www.mifwb.com

Look for the news-

letter tab, then click

on categories and

find the WAC tab. Happy New Year from WNAC

A NEW YEAR’S PRAYER Dear Lord as I humbly come unto you And the passing year I sit and review, I want to thank you and give you glory and praise For giving me grace and strength for all those days. I have faced times when I wanted to give up, But how could I do that when blessings overflowed my cup? I read my notations on every month of this past year, In spite of any difficulties, You gave me memories dear. I enjoyed being part of a church with friends so fine, It’s wonderful to have a church family that I call mine. I thank you, Lord, for accomplishments and goals met, I find comfort and hope You’re not done with me yet. So as a new year begins with challenges to face, Lord I’m going to need some more strength and grace. Help me to be the best that I can be, Guide me lest I walk ahead of Thee. Help me lift my feeble hands in prayer, dear Lord, Help my eyes spend more time in your Word Help me take time to listen as I read, Nurture me as on your Word I feed. Touch my stammering lips so I will speak Words of hope for the struggling and weak. Lord, take and use me, each and every part. Help others see I have You living in my heart. —Sue Winchester

Women Nationally Active for Christ

D ear M ich i gan la d i es ,

This morning we went to the

airport to put Nana and Papa

(George and Mary Johnson) on

a plane to return to the States

from their visit during Christ-

mas. We enjoyed having them

here with us and made the

most of each day we were to-

gether. While they were here,

we. . .

. . .oohed and awed as they

emptied their suitcases of

Bisquick, Crisco, Little Debbie

cakes, peanut butter, Cinna-

mon Toast Crunch, and a

mound of other American good-

ies.

. . .watched some of our family

videos of the kids when they

were little. (And we might have

even shed a tear as we realized

how little they once were.)

. . .opened Christmas gifts from

them and other family mem-

bers who sent them along. (Yes,

Santa’s sleigh this year had a

jet engine, wings, and flight

attendants!)

. . .worshipped together in the

Alpedrete Church each Sun-

day. Even though the songs

and message were in Spanish,

the Holy Spirit allowed them to

join hearts with the believers

here.

. . .stuffed down twelve grapes

on the twelve “dongs” of the

clock on New Year’s Eve. (And

as we rang in the new year, Tim

and I also celebrated 18 years

of being married!)

. . .hosted a Pastors' Apprecia-

tion meal for our Spanish pas-

tors and listened as Tim's Dad

give a brief word to the pastors

from his perspective as a pas-

tor in the States.

. . .traveled to Barcelona, Spain,

for a couple of days of sight-

see ing and re laxa t ion .

. . .ate biscuits and gravy sever-

al times for breakfast and also

indulged in some yummy chick-

en and dumplings. (Your

mouths are probably watering

as you read th is ! )

. . .left our shoes out under the

tree to wait for the Three Kings

to bring us some treats on the

morning of January 6th.

. . .laughed as Tim’s Dad re-

ceived a bag of coal in his

Greetings from Spain—Tim and Kristi Johnson

Page 3 Michigan State WAC Free Will

Baptist

International

Missions

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 5002

Antioch, TN 37011-

5002

Phone

(615) 760-6123

www.fwbgo.com

Tim and Kristi

Johnson tjohnson@fwbgo.com

Please pray for our

Missionaries

shoes. (Don’t worry...it was just

coal “candy”, and we know that

it wasn’t because he’s been

bad this year!)

. . .waved goodbye as they got

back on a plane to head home,

with hearts full of memories

and eyes filled with tears.

These days flew by way too

quickly, but we are looking for-

ward to all that 2013 has in

store for the ministry here in

Spain.

Happy New Year!

Kristi Johnson

Missionary to Spain

Tim’s parents (George and Mary Johnson) visited us during the holidays.

From December 20th e-mail

update:

Dear Friends and Ministry Part-

ners,

“Give me money,” the chief’s

son said. About fifteen people

had gathered around the chief

in November as Verlin came to

give greetings with the local

pastor. Verlin responded that

he had not come to simply give

money that would disappear

when used. He had come to

explain God’s ways, including

how He develops wealth, at the

church. God’s gifts do not end.

They do not ‘run out,’ except

when disobedience negates

them.

While not much could be quick-

ly shared in a single greeting,

what if Verlin shared infor-

mation to prevent worms, de-

crease the incidence of malar-

ia, cancer, and so save money?

Would he like to hear? Would

they all? Yes! The chief’s son

ran to get the leaves, a pot and

a machete. In less than twenty

minutes, Verlin demonstrated

God’s provision by means of

the papaya plant, a source of

blessing with many health ben-

efits. Believers now have in-

creased support from that chief

to share a changed under-

standing of God’s ways to bring

enduring change, rather than

Scriptures being used to en-

force dependent, poverty en-

trenching beliefs.

The established Free Will Bap-

tist church started helping build

latrines three months ago. Now

two cell groups gather to hear

God’s Word outside the church.

A second pastor follows the

pattern in the area, gaining

access to share the gospel in

neighboring villages by helping

the communities meet their

own needs with what they have

already received of God. Both

pastors received training at the

Community Health Evangelism

(CHE) seminar you helped pro-

vide in May. They use the book

we make available during visits

written by Dan Fountain, a now

retired Christian missionary

doctor, with practical ways to

transform willing communities.

December 14, Verlin visited the

fruition of a new church planted

less than an hour’s drive from

the FWB church in Tanda. He

there witnessed the inaugura-

tion of a Christian NGO to fight

AIDS, born by the cooperation

of a local government nurse

and the data entry worker we

use. They both confess Christ

and together they integrated

many principles learned from

CHE during planning. Both at-

tended May’s training of train-

ers. After delaying 4 hours for

the sous-préfet (government

leader comparable to a county

commissioner), a special meal

of monkey meat was served.

The crowd of 130+ decreased

to about 100 persons. Various

public leaders spoke. The delay

for the sous-préfet was worth it

as his fervor and passion in-

fused confidence in the project.

Verlin shared God’s plan that

one man join one woman for

life, with no exception except

death, and our need to live in

the light of His Word. Muslim

leaders received the message

so well that some even attend-

ed the evangelistic film presen-

tation that night. More than

250 souls attended the over-

night meeting for which the

Tanda FWB church provided

the means. Pray with us that as

this local nurse begins screen-

ing villagers for AIDS, many

people will also hear and re-

spond to the gospel. The sous-

préfet is enthusiastic and ready

to spread the ideas to other

communities under his watch

care. Since the physical conflict

here in 2010, Cote d’Ivoire is

now believed to have the high-

est AIDS population percentage

in West Africa.

Pray also in support of a pastor

who one year ago responded to

the call to begin a church in the

center of the country. He began

the work separately from being

From the Andersons— Cote d’Ivoire

Page 4 Michigan State WAC

Verlin and Debbie

Anderson vanderson@fwbgo.com

Who is the King

of the Jungle?

Please remember to

pray for Debbie’s

requests!

assigned the task, a ‘no-no’

here for many reasons. Howev-

er, some are coming to see the

merit of his effort. Pray for Ivori-

an church leadership to bal-

ance well the needs of provid-

ing for spontaneous and

planned church planting. Both

happen when Church Planting

Movements are born.

The tax crisis of our rented

house was resolved through

much persistence and prayer.

We anticipate being in our

Bondoukou home by mid-

January! You can read that

story via the December AWA

Flash Update link of the blog

archive above in the right pan-

el, or by PDF: Anderson AWA

Flash Update 12_12_11.pdf.

On return home, Corbin and

Debbie hope to quickly start an

English class using the Bible as

the text with some of Corbin’s

friends, as planned before we

left. This is our youngest son’s

last 6 months in Africa. Pray

with us that Corbin’s time fin-

ishing here will be blessed with

many good memories and a

continued open heart to serve

the Lord wherever and in what-

ever capacity He chooses.

In our world torn with sins like

the heartbreaking slaughter of

innocents, both in Africa and in

the USA, what a solemn oppor-

tunity we have to share the

Lord Jesus Christ whose similar

experience resounds this

Christmas season. Romans

15:13 summarizes our prayer

for you and for us: “Now the

God of hope fill you with all joy

and peace in believing, that ye

may abound in hope, through

the power of the Holy Ghost.”

May we together share in Spirit

a truly Merry Christmas and Joy-

filled New Year in the prepara-

tion for His second coming.

Gratefully partnering with you,

Verlin, Debbie, and Corbin

Received via e-mail on Novem-

ber 14, 2012!

Incredible still!

“I will give thanks to Thee, for I

am fearfully and wonderfully

made.

Wonderful are Thy works, And

my soul knows it very well.”

(Psalm 139:14)

May we introduce you to our

grand-daughter:

Bleuenn* Riggs

God sent her to us November

14, 2012 at 10:10 am (4 am in

Michigan)

in St. Nazaire, France

Proud parents are Daniel &

Gwennaëlle Riggs

Proud grandparents are Steve

& Becky Riggs and Bernard &

Pascale Aubry

*Good luck pronouncing this

Breton name that means "little

flower". Try and say: "bluh - N"

It's something like that but

s o u n d s b e a u t i f u l i n

French! And she is indeed ab-

solutely beautiful!

Congratulations to you all! She

is beautiful indeed!

From e-mail received January

2, 2013

Dear Friends,

The New Year is here, and

along with it comes all the tradi-

tional customs and greetings

we enjoy in France. Here in

France it is generally consid-

ered bad luck or just plain rude

to wish someone "Bonne An-

née" (essentially the equivalent

of Happy New Year) or to give

your "Meilleurs Voeux" (best

wishes) before January 1. The

French generally don't send out

Christmas cards, but instead

send out New Year's cards to

express their "Meilleurs Voeux"

to all their friends and fami-

ly. In every town in France over

the course of the next few days

there will be official ceremonies

where local Mayors will express

their "Meilleurs Voeux" to their

communities for the New

Year. Among the wishes sin-

cerely expressed, there is al-

most always the wish that the

New Year will bring "bonne

santé" (good health), and this

wish will frequently be accom-

panied by the comment;

"Because after all, good health

is the most important thing of

all".

Good health, to be sure, is im-

portant. And we do sincerely

wish for each of you, and for

our many friends in France,

that 2013 may bring you good

health and many other bless-

ings as well. But is good health

really the most important thing

of all? If it is, then to be honest

we have no business being in

France. Along with the U.S.,

France has one of the best

health care systems in the

world. But the Gospel teaches

us that our physical condition,

though important, is not nearly

as important as our spiritual

condition. I look around me,

and it seems like lots of people

Update from the Riggs in France

Page 5 Michigan State WAC Free Will

Baptists

National

Home

Missions

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 5002

Antioch, TN 37011-

5002

Phone

Toll Free:

(877) 767-7674

(615) 731-6812

www.homemissions.net

Praise God

from whom all

blessings flow!

have got it made. Sometimes it

strikes me that they actually

seem healthier and even happi-

er than some Christians I

know. But what about the con-

dition of their eternal souls?

The Apostle John expressed it

this way to those he loved; "I

pray that all may go well with

you and that you may be in

good health, as it goes well with

your soul" (3 John 2, NIV). That

is our prayer for you this year

as well. And please pray with

us, that in 2013, many in

France will consider not just

their physical and material con-

dition, but even more so, the

condition of their soul.

Bonne Année et Meilleurs

Voeux!

Steve & Becky Riggs

France

Steve and Becky

Riggs sriggs@fwbgo.com

State Meeting

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Heritage Free Will Baptist

12670 Pardee Rd.

Taylor, MI

Bring your provision closet

items, packed and ready to go!

Bring Used books!

Several important items of

business to be voted on!

Provision Closet needs list can be found on WNAC website!

Let us know what you are doing to help fill the closet.

T o p a H o i h H i b e

praised! Ministry partners this

is not a typo. It is the first Bur-

mese dialect- Zomi Chin word I

learned, Jesus the Lord. We

have been blessed to hear

these words in prayer and

praise in Chin language ser-

vices and in prayer in English

as a second language classes.

Our partnership with the Bur-

mese people started with their

interest in joining with a local

community church that would

be willing to allow them to have

a Chin language service.

After prayer and several trans-

lated meetings they came to

meet in our building on Sunday

afternoons. As the months

passed and we learned more

about each other we found out

that this congregation was not

looking for an oasis to remind

them of their homeland, but

simply a place to worship and

learn about God in a language

the understood. There are

several dialects in Burma and

Chin is only one of them.

In Battle Creek today all of the

dialects are represented and

the Chin speaking group did not

have a church home. They had

been meeting in homes since

they arrived in Battle Creek.

There were approximately 75 in

all worshiping faithfully these in

home meetings. The children

and young adults who had been

exposed to our public schools

spoke English fairly well, but

the parents and elders were

barely functional in English,

often only speaking enough to

work in factories and manual

labor settings.

So when we offered English as

a second language classes they

were well attended from the

first class. We have seen a

significant change in the level

of understanding and English

speech in the Chin speaking

congregation. One of the great

parts of this whole process has

been getting to know our Bur-

mese brothers and sisters

through language partners in

class. Many of our American

congregation members have

come out and spent their Friday

evenings talking about how to

find the bathroom and asking

about their favorite food (they

love Mc Chicken sandwiches,

which they called M-C Chicken

until they met our American

partners.) All the fun aside my

favorite part of class is when

they get to present their favor-

ite Bible verses in English. No

matter how many times I hear it

I am always impressed with the

fact that they often don’t get

jokes and can’t pronounce the

word “weather,” but they dili-

gently study the Word of God

until they can recite it perfectly

and passionately.

Friends, I have told you all of

this to introduce to you the

amazing group of people that in

the near future will be a tre-

mendous permanent addition

to our church family. A few

weeks ago Jeff and their organi-

zational leader sat down in

English and talked about how

our two congregations could

become one. Soon there will

be no more Chin speaking con-

gregation and English Congre-

gation, but one congregation

working together to reach Bat-

tle Creek for Christ.

Our American congregation is

also doing well! We are seeing

growth in all age groups and

people are making decisions

for Christ regularly. I could tell

you about how after almost 7

years we have a music ministry

team (that is tremendously

talented) or that our teen group

is exploding learning and serv-

ing together or that we are see-

ing young people who were

once in our youth programs

answering the call into ministry,

but all of that would take pages

From the Isaacs: Battle Creek

Page 6 Michigan State WAC

Praising God for all

His blessings!

We love all of our

Missionaries!

Jeff and Charissa

Isaacs pastorjeffisaacs@yahoo.com

Go ye therefore, and

teach all nations,

baptizing them in the

name of the Father,

and of the Son and

of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to

observe all things

whatsoever I have

commanded you;

and, lo, I am with you

always, even unto

the end of the world.

Amen.

Matthew 28:19 & 20

and pages. So for now, pray

with us as we merge these two

groups of Christians.

Thank you for all of your pray-

ers and support.

Jeff and Charissa Isaacs

Feet Washing Service!

Christmas Tree Chin-English!

Presidents Day! Feb. 18th

I was privileged to attend the

first annual Craft/Vendor and

Bake sale event at Rouge FWB

on Saturday, November 17th.

There were many vendors and

crafters. It was fun and I en-

joyed spending time talking

with the ladies. I spent more

money on Christmas gifts and

was so happy it was going for a

good cause. I had a hot dog,

chips and pop for lunch, and

everyone was working hard

when I left. Great job ladies!

—Sherry

The following is from President,

Angela McGinnis.

Thank you so much for support-

ing our first annual craft/

vendor and bake sale. We had

a wonderful day and many of us

walked away with great pur-

chases, as well as some extra

cash from turning in some old

jewelry to our Cash for Gold

representative. We made a net

profit of $973.75. This includ-

ed table rentals, food purchas-

es and some donations from a

few vendors themselves.

It was a very successful day

and for our first year we had to

admit that we did a pretty good

job. However, there is always

much room for improvement

and we will be working on that

for next year!

Our goal for this fundraiser was

to split it between our local

WAC general fund and the state

project. After paying our tithes

to the church and splitting it

between the two, we raised

$438.18 for the state project.

Rouge FWB WAC Craft/Vendor and Bake Sale Event!

Page 7 Michigan State WAC

If you like spinach pie,

you will love these!

Just chop fresh spin-

ach and mix feta and

shredded mozzarella

cheese, (about 1/2

cup of each) in a

bowl. Place small

spoonfuls on the wide

end of a crescent roll

and then roll up.

Place on greased

cookie sheet and

bake at 350 degrees

for about 12 minutes,

or until golden brown.

This was on pinterest

and I have had them

a couple of times.

Great appetizer.

—Sherry

WAC Local/District

Officers

Are you ready for our

WAC fiscal year end?

Annual Reports will be

due, and we need to get

them in by the first week

of the month to enable

our Secretary to report at

the state meeting!

Attention:

What does your Local

or District WAC have

planned! Please share

the dates of your

events and then

provide us with an

update on the success!

We can support each

other if we know what

is going on in advance!

retreat venues for your review

and vote.

The annual retreat was dis-

cussed and the following was

decided. The theme will be

“Who’s the King of the Jungle?”

(Get your animal print outfits

out ladies, and you can wear a

hat too!)

Debbie Anderson, Missionary to

Cote d’Ivoire will be stateside

and has agreed to be our guest

speaker. She will use the

theme passage selected:

Psalm 24.

Kim Slater will lead the Thurs-

day night prayer room, and we

look forward to a great start to

the retreat.

There will be some changes to

the Friday morning format

based on survey responses and

we will have only two seminars:

The Wisdom of Solomon, by

Elsie Anderson, Central FWB

and The Forgiveness of David,

with the speaker to be an-

nounced after confirmation.

The third seminar this year, will

be replaced with worship music

as requested by many.

Our prayer room attendance

was disappointingly low last

year so we have reduced the

number from 10 to 6. They are:

Pastors/Ministers Wives

Newly Married

Golden Girls (50 yrs. Up)

Middlers ( under 50)

The Prayer Closet

Teen Scene

The retreat will be in Perrysburg

again this year. We hope to

have some other options for

you to choose from, and you will

vote on those. Future newslet-

ters will talk further on this

issue. Stay tuned!

We are looking forward to an-

other retreat filled with bless-

ings. Start planning now to

attend. We don’t want you to

miss it, and we don’t want to

miss YOU!

Board Planning Continued

Pray for our Nation!