A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

Checklists

T aking a vacation on a motorcycle might not sound like much fun to some people, but the

picture of a long, winding road through the wild west has been pulling on me for a long

time. So when the opportunity came to ride with the Christian Motorcycle Association to the

Black Hills of South Dakota, I jumped at the invitation.

With little experience at long-distance touring, I’ve been preoccupied with what to pack.

I’m not sure how to pack for heat and cold, rain or sun, riding and walking and all the

variations that we will encounter. With the checklist of necessities growing, the saddlebags on

the bike are looking pretty small! In addition, there will be preparations for getting the bike ready so there

aren’t any mechanical surprises in the middle of nowhere. A good checklist is critical to getting the most

out of this vacation.

Checklists have also come up in other circumstances these days. I have found myself in discussions related

to the passing of loved ones into eternity. Some of these losses have been expected while others are tragic

and unexpected.

No matter the circumstances, they always involve a checklist. For example, in a recent conversation I

wondered aloud what the spiritual condition of the person was. The response was a checklist that included

church involvement, community presence and being a nice person. Our usual checklist at the end of life.

We all use checklists to guide our lives. It is not simply an end of life appraisal process, but an on-going

review process. But my fear is that we come to a final review of our lives and realize that we have been

using the wrong checklist. That first morning in eternity is not the place to discover that my checklist

doesn’t line up with God’s checklist! It would be like using a Martha Stewart catalogue to plan my

motorcycle trip – it just wouldn’t be of much use on a lonely stretch of road in South Dakota.

God’s checklist is radically different than ours. His is based on grace. It’s based on His work not ours. It

aligns with His identity and not our self-image. His checklist has more to do with faith and trust than on any

good works we can offer up. Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16-17 and Romans 8:1 are examples of God’s truth

and checklist bullet points. We do well to take these with us on this road called life. With His Truth as our

checklist, our lives will become a seamless passage between our present reality and God’s

eternal life.

Looking ahead to the fall season of ministry, I’m excited for what we have planned. The reason for the

enthusiasm is that we are passionate about helping as many as we can to base their lives on the things that

matter most to God. For our kids, our marriages, our lives and the lives of those all around us, we want to

see everyone working off of God’s checklist!

Pastor Mike will be on vacation during August. Please call the church office with any needs you may have.

By Pastor Mike Sindelar

P A G E 2

W ow, summer has been going by so quickly. Even though it is

taboo to talk about school approaching, we are nearly half

way there. There have been many exciting things planned for the

summer, and still more come. My first youth outing, where I had the

opportunity to facilitate, was a blessing. I took a trip with seven

young men from Valley along with Andi Custer’s gang from

Oakwood Community Church of Waconia, to Noah’s Ark Water Park

in Wisconsin Dells. It was a great time of building friendships

between all the guys that came along. God truly blessed us on this

trip. There was supposed to be a 60% chance of rain in Wisconsin

Dells during the time we were going to be there. Through much

prayer and God’s blessing the downpour of rain we drove through

to get there stayed 60 miles away from us. There was not a drop

before we camped, while we were camping, or at the park. The day

at the park was filled with sun, fun, and shenanigans. Although the

90+ degree weather gave most quite the sunburn. Thank you to Jan

Schmit for her prayers that the rain would stay at bay, and to the

Horner’s for sacrificially allowing us to use their van to travel there.

Sunday CruX nights have been going very well also. We have on

average about 12-15 people each night, which is very good during

the summer, knowing that many people are busy during these fun

months. As a group, we have been taking our time going through

2 Peter chapter 1, which highlights the importance of Christ and His

“precious and very great promises”. On July 8th, we focused on

verses 5-7. Our faith is only in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and how

no amount of work we can do can save us, although we are called to

supplement to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control,

perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. The next

verse continues, “ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing,

they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge

of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Fearfully though, if you lack these

qualities, Peter states that we risk forgetting we are even cleansed

from sins. Jesus is Savior and Lord in our lives, and through growing

in these areas Christ is Lord in our life even more.

At the end of July, a group of us headed north to Camp of the

Master. The camp was started by our very own Pete Tornquist’s

Uncle “Shell” years ago. We studied through the book of Acts

looking at different characters like Stephen, Paul, and Barnabas.

Pastor Mike and Pete’s Dad wonderfully contributed to the bible

studies. The whole weekend was Olympic themed and filled with

competitions ranging from minnow racing, to volleyball, to even

treading water with a rock on the forehead. The camp staff was

immensely generous with their portions of food, and it tasted

extremely delicious. By the end no one wanted to leave and all were

agreeing that they wanted to come back next year. Even some of

the seniors said the same. Overall it was a great trip, and the staff

commented many times on how amazing the group of students we

had are. Here is a little testimony from Joel Larson.

“The weekend of June 28, I went to Camp of the Master. It was a

blast and definitely a great way to end my trips with the youth

group in my senior year. We went through the book of Acts over the

weekend and Ananias's story really challenged me for starting a new

chapter in my life. To actually be able to listen to where God wants

me no matter where I am or what God is asking me to do-I will go.

For me, it’s heading off to plumbing school in St Cloud, but God

could be pulling me somewhere else right before I get out or right

before I have a job. This is what God has been putting in my heart

over my weekend at Camp of the Master.”

happenings

by Jared Carpentier, Interim Youth Director

By Linda Stone

P A G E 3

I am overjoyed to be able to share that the Jesus film, Magdalena and the Story of Jesus for

Children, three films that we have been working on translating, are completed and being

distributed in the country this very moment!

While technically not a miracle, it sure feels like it to me! This project has taken 3+ years to complete, but I am happy to say we have great

films to use as resources in help exposure the 40 million Firelands* people of the world to the life of Jesus! Magdalena is the story of Jesus

seen through the eyes Mary of Magdalene. The strategic nature of this film is that is speaks specifically to women in Muslim cultures.

The Jesus Film Ministry office tells me that the Firelands* has a reputation of being one of the most challenging countries to work in. Yet,

the Lord is Victor! Please stop for a minute, shout “Hallelujah” and do a little dance in thanksgiving! This is seriously worth celebrating!

This last month, I was able to travel to visit some national friends from the Firelands*

where I served. This dear couple helped with the translation/recording of the three films.

Their story is featured in the Voice of the Martyrs April 2012 issue.

Nearly two years ago, they were forced to seek religious asylum outside their country. With

their two children in tow, they left with only a couple suitcases, not sure when they would

see their families again, trusting the Lord to provide for them. After a night in a hotel, they

walked into a police station, surrendered their passports, and explained the threats they

had received for their ministry.

After six weeks in temporary housing, they were moved to semi-permanent refugee housing, essentially a two room tenement with a

shared kitchen and bathroom stacked upon other refugees from various countries. Connecting with a small Turkish fellowship, they have

picked up household items to furnish this apartment. Living on a very small refugee stipend, they are facing potentially a 5-year process in

the court system to get residency. Yet they are at peace.

It is interesting to think that while leaving their homeland never crossed their minds until they were forced out, the Lord is now using them

to reach people from all over the Muslim world. They have asked me to get them multi-languages copies of the three films to use among

other refugees. They long to worship again in their native language and are asking God to use them to establish a Firelands* fellowship.

Perhaps even launch an internet Christian radio station to help reach their people with the Gospel globally. I am asking the Lord how I can

help resource them.

During our time together, they asked me for nothing, put on a wonderful spread of national food, prayed over me and put a song in my

heart as I drove off. I left wondering if I would receive someone as well if the tables were turned.

Supported by your gifts to the Missions Outreach Fund, Linda Stone reaches out to Muslims in the Turkish world.

She is currently stateside, planning to go back to the Firelands* this fall.

*For security reasons we have referred to the country where Linda serves, as Firelands.

by Linda Stone, VEFC Missionary

P A G E 4

O n July 22-26, seventy-seven children came through the

doors each evening ready to have fun at VBS! Each evening

began with us singing and dancing like crazy people to the music

of Go Fish, and praising Jesus while doing it. Then the four groups

of children (called the Cymbals, Drums, Guitars and Keyboards)

spent the next two hours playing games, making crafts, learning

about Bible translation in Africa for the Lughulu people, eating

delicious snacks and learning about God’s greatness, authority,

providence, power and love. The evening ended with more danc-

ing and singing. The gospel message was clearly shared on

Wednesday night and the children given an opportunity to re-

spond to that message. I do not know of any specific decisions for

Christ, but I do know that God’s Word will not return void. Seeds

were planted this week that will be watered and tended by us or

others, but God will give the increase.

Out of the 77 children that came this week, only 27 of them were

Valley kids. Fifty children were from other churches and sur-

rounding communities. There were a few children here who do

not attend church on a regular basis. Several children came be-

cause they were invited by members of Valley. A few came be-

cause of the sign on the corner. The postcards, emails and Face-

book advertising were effective in letting people know about our

program. But, ultimately, they were here because God wanted

them here.

Our mission’s project for the week was collecting money to send

to OneVerse.org to help them translate the Bible into the Lughulu

language for the Lughulu people. This tribe of 800,000 from the

mountainous region of Tanzania will have the New Testament in

their own language by the end of this year. It will take another 5

or 6 years to finish the Old Testament. The children were so very

by Mary Lou Menning, VBS Coordinator

generous and we collected $338, enough to translate 13 verses. We

even found out that the verses we helped to translate were 1 Chroni-

cles 12:24-36. Look it up!

We tried some new things this year at VBS. A Parent Night was held

on Monday evening. Parents were invited to stay for the evening

and be a part of VBS. Pastor Mike and Jan spoke to them for a while

and then they joined the 4th- 6th graders downstairs during their craft

time to help make sandwiches for a ministry called 363days. This

Twin Cities ministry distributes sandwiches made by volunteers to

the homeless through various shelters and food shelves. The kids

and the parents made 150 sandwiches in about 15 minutes. IT WAS

AWESOME! Another service project for the week included deco-

rating placemats, birthday cards and lunch bags for Meals on

Wheels. One 6-year old boy told Connie Phillips to make sure that

his bag he was decorating got an extra big sandwich in it. We also

wrote messages and drew pictures on pieces of cardboard that will

attached to pallets of food that Feed My Starving Children will be

sending to either Zimbabwe or North Korea.

What can I say about our amazing volunteers? Fifty-nine volunteers

gave unselfishly of themselves, their time and their energy to make

VBS happen. They worked tirelessly in their respective areas, making

this one of the best, most well-run programs ever. THANK YOU just

seems so inadequate when it comes to trying to express how grateful

I am for their help and participation. VBS would NOT have happened

without them. If you volunteered or donated supplies or prayed for

us, THANK YOU. To God alone be the glory, great things HE has

done!

P A G E 5

A s the truck turned to go west on Highway 212 last week, we

said good-bye to 150 of our church chairs. They were headed

to Rock Haven Church, an Evangelical Free Church in Granite Falls.

Their departure for a new season of ‘chair ministry’ opens the door

for a new season in our ministry facility here at Valley Free.

As a first step in our renovation process, we plan to receive our or-

der of new chairs during the first week of September. On September

9th, for the Great Valley Get Together, we’ll have a worship center

full of new chairs!

As our planning currently stands, we plan to begin the renovation of

the bathrooms in September. Following that will come the renova-

tion of the worship center and foyer in October and November. The

fall should be a time of renewal in our facility that will be exciting

for all of us to watch.

As the project unfolds this fall, there will be opportunities for you to

help with various work projects. Get your work gloves ready!

What can you do now? It is important that we all complete our fi-

nancial commitments to the Light on the Hill campaign. As you make

your contributions between now and the early fall season, we will

be able to complete the work.

Let us rejoice in this much needed upgrade to our facilities! May it

lead to more families joining us in worship of our Lord Jesus!

I t all starts on September 9th with The Great Valley Get-

Together. It will be a day marked by great worship in the Lord’s

presence, catching up with friends, good food and lots of fun for

the kids. It will be an enthusiastic start to what is shaping up to be

full year of growing in Christ in every way.

So what is scheduled for the fall?

A focus for three Sundays on Worship, Grow, Serve and the

practical ways that you can flourish in faith and family here at

Valley

A three-week series on God’s Definition of Marriage – a timely

topic for Minnesota this fall

A seven-week disciple-

ship series called r12.

This series will help us

all to grow deeper in our spirituality using Romans 12 as our

guide. This series will include involvement by the whole church

from preaching to LifeGroups to youth to Sunday School.

Sunday School for adults, students and children will begin on

Sunday, September 16th.

LifeGroups

Men’s Bible Study

Women’s Bible Study

Crux Student Ministry

New Worship Schedule for Fall Season

New possibilities for families are coming your way this fall as we

add another worship service to Sunday morning.

9:00 to 10:15 - Worship, Sunday School for all ages, Nursery 10:30 to 11:45—Worship, Children’s Church, Nursery Both worship services will be identical in style and format.

Together with our building renovation this fall, this new schedule

will give Valley Free a new look with more worship options for

our community.

It will also provide us with more opportunities for ministry as we

seek additional volunteers to welcome our visitors and to care for

their children.

P A G E 6

by Pastor Mike Sindelar

by Pastor Mike Sindelar

P A G E 7

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Salvation Army through donations to their truck and also financially. Cash donations totaling $731.32 were sent to them for future ministry! Praise God!

by Pastor Mike Sindelar

P A G E 8

Kid’s Corner By Jan Schmit

MacLaurinCSF Furniture Giveaway Your gently used furniture can bless international students at the Uni-versity of Minnesota! These students arrive from all over the world and have no furnishings for their homes. MacLaurinCSF can begin a relation-ship with these students by distributing your donated items on

Saturday, September 1, 11am-5pm.

We are asking partner churches to collect furniture during the week of August 26th and deliver it to us.

When: Saturday, September 1, 8am-11am.

Where: MacLaurinCSF Study Center

1337 Cleveland Avenue N., St. Paul, 55108.

Useful Items:

Beds / Mattresses, Sofas, Chairs, Loveseats, Desks, Tables & Chairs, Chests of drawers / dressers, Microwave Ovens, Kitchen Utensils, Lamps, Bookshelves

We Do Not Accept:

Clothing (we can accept winter coats, hats, and gloves), Hide-a-beds, TV’s, Electronics, 4-Drawer filing cabinets

We are also in need of people to help move and deliver furniture on September 1. If you have a truck or trailer, or just a willingness to help out, we need you! We’ll provide lunch for our volunteers.

For more information, questions, or to volunteer, please contact Brad Dewing at dewing@maclaurin.org or 612-378-1935.

N ow that we're enjoying this beautiful summer

weather it's hard to believe that it's time to kick into gear for fall and Sunday morning programming at

Valley. But in just a few weeks we will be excited to begin another year of Children's Sunday School with our Valley

kids. September 16 will be our start date. Valley's S.S. program begins with children who reach the age of two

before the school year starts and goes through the fifth

grade. Nursery is also available on Sunday mornings for children under the age of two. Our mission in children's

ministries at Valley is to show God's love to our kids and serve as vital partners with parents to teach biblical

truths to our children so they may know, follow and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

Kids. . .we hope you're excited about starting another

great year of Sunday School! What an awesome privilege we have of meeting together each week, with special

friends and teachers, to study God's word and come to understand all of the wonderful plans and promises He

has for our lives! Parents------registration forms can be picked up in the foyer or can be done online through the

Valley Free website-----one form per family. Please

complete your registration by September 1 so we can determine our staffing and be prepared to greet your

children.

There are always opportunities to be involved in this

ministry as a teacher or substitute teacher. Teaching our children is at the heart of God's great commission

and a work that is of eternal importance! Please

contact Audrey Bentson (952-448-4697) if you are interested in receiving more information about this

important ministry to children.

By Audrey Bentson, Sunday School Coordinator

Doing Good Together is a nonprofit organization established in

2004 and based out of Minneapolis that inspires and helps fami-

lies volunteer. DGT believes that when parents and grandpar-

ents engage in community service with their children and grand-

children, they pass on the spirit of giving, strengthen their fami-

lies, and create a new generation of humanitarians that will pos-

itively impact their communities now and in the future.

Whether you have five minutes or five hours to give, whether

you have an infant or a teen, whether you are doing well or

working hard to get by — your family can make a contribution.

And in the process, you’ll be teaching your children that giving

back is a natural part of growing up.

By working side-by-side with schools, parent groups, faith

groups, businesses and other organizations, Doing Good Togeth-

er makes the volunteer process accessible and easy so families

can participate together. Explore their website to learn how they

can help your family make a difference.

http://www.doinggoodtogether.org/

W 1 9:30 AM LADIES SUMMER BIBLE STUDY

TH 2 7:00 PM 7:00 PM

WORSHIP TEAM REHEARSAL CRUX NIGHT ON THE LARSON FARM

SU 5 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE—Tim Johnson CRUX

M 6 7:00 PM MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

TU 7 7:00 PM BEAUTY FOR ASHES DIVORCE CARE

W 8 9:30 AM LADIES SUMMER BIBLE STUDY

TH 9 7:00 PM WORSHIP TEAM REHEARSAL

SA 11 7:30 AM MEN’S MONTHLY BREAKFAST

SU 12 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE—Bryan Bademan CRUX

M 13 7:00 PM MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

TU 14 7:00 PM BEAUTY FOR ASHES DIVORCE CARE

W 15 9:30 AM LADIES SUMMER BIBLE STUDY

TH 16 7:00 PM WORSHIP TEAM REHEARSAL

SU 19 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE—Dustin Veldkamp CRUX

M 20 7:00 PM MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

TU 21 7:00 PM BEAUTY FOR ASHES DIVORCE CARE

W 22 9:30 AM 12:30 pm

LADIES SUMMER BIBLE STUDY WHITE CROSS PLANNING MEETING

TH 23 7:00 PM WORSHIP TEAM REHEARSAL

S 26 9:00 AM 6:00 PM

WORSHIP SERVICE CRUX

M 27 7:00 PM MEN’S BIBLE STUDY

T 28 7:00 PM BEAUTY FOR ASHES DIVORCE CARE

TH 30 7:00 PM WORSHIP TEAM REHEARSAL

See bulletins for weekly updates/changes to this calendar

P A G E 9

M y wonderful husband Dan and I will

celebrate 26 years of marriage this

September. We have two grown sons, James

(23) and Sean (18). James is currently seeking

employment in his field of Chemistry, having

recently graduated from Minnesota State

University - Moorhead, and Sean has just

made us empty nesters by heading to Moody

Bible Institute in Spokane, Washington, for his

freshman year. He will be majoring in Biblical Exposition. Dan and I are

blessed by the lives of our sons, and amazed at how God has molded

and shaped them to become strong in their Christian faith. Now, Dan

and I are looking forward to becoming "just the two of us" again, and

discovering what the Lord has in store in this new chapter of our

marriage.

Our family first came to Valley in March 2007. That was the Sunday

when the band "Heart of the City" was here to lead worship. Never

having heard of this band before, we were pleasantly surprised at the

quality of the worship leaders and decided to come back the following

week for a second look. Although the worship leaders on that Sunday

differed in style, decibel intensity and numbers from the previous

Sunday, this team proved just as inspired, and we knew we had found

our new church home. God also impressed upon us the spiritual

maturity of many couples, the emphasis on missions and the kindness

of Pastor Dave Sletten. The adult Sunday school classes met our thirst

to grow and fellowship with other Christians our age, and the young

youth pastor (Mr. "Skins" Peterson) was passionate about the spiritual

growth of young people that we felt confident of God's leading our

whole family to VEFC.

I have been involved in several ministries at Valley, but mostly

teaching both adults and children. I have taught the LifeKeys class,

which is the study of how God has uniquely designed each one of us to

fit into His plan, at Valley as well as other venues. Lately, God has me

teaching Sunday School for the 4th and 5th graders, which has been

loads of fun. This age group is on the verge of adolescence, still young

enough to pretend, but old enough to be asking serious questions

about how to apply Bible lessons to their lives. I am excited to be

team teaching with this fall with Lisa Nkhata.

If you like to travel, explore our metropolitan area’s museums, zoos

and theaters, learn about what God is doing in our city, and delve into

the mind of God over coffee, please call me. I'd love to get to know

you better.

952-448-6144

Fax: 952-448-5119

office@valleyfree.org

150 Engler Blvd

Chaska, MN 55318

August means SCHOOL SUPPLIES SALES!

CHECK OUT THE SALES each week and pick up items

you can include in your shoebox come November...such as markers, pencils, sharpeners, colored pencils, small notebooks,

scissors, glue sticks (not liquid glue).

SAVING MONEY means you can put together

an EXTRA BOX! Questions? Contact Candace Wisely at candace.wisely@visi.com

or 952-401-7994.