News from World Convention

Kiwilink has room for two people who will be based at the Khayelihle Children's Village and be involved in carpentry, plumbing, electrical, painting and hanging out with the kids.

There is also room for another two people who will travel to the rural areas and be involved in daily outreach meetings.

Plans include squeezing in a trip to Victoria Falls and the Hwange Game Park.

If this sounds like you, contact Chris Baigent at cbaigent@xtra.co.nz

ChristiaNet
October, 2010
Issue 88

Connecting Everywhere...Everyday

Sharing the Love That Unites

Romans 15:5-6

Make plans to attend. Registration details coming soon!

Visit
www.braziltour.com
and
www.southamerica.travel/WorldConvention2012/
for exciting tour ideas and information.

We Are All Immigrants
~Gary Holloway

God worked in amazingly powerful ways in my visit to Abilene Christian University, September 19-22. There Bill McDonald (former interim Director and current World Convention board member) and I made two presentations on World Convention at Summit, the ACU Bible lectures.

I saw God at work in many ways:

· In students working to spread the good news of Jesus by word and deed.

· In a powerful lesson from Rick Atchley, minister of the North Richland Hills Church of Christ. Rick challenged us to be pilgrims, not drifters, different from the culture but embedded in it. His stories of his church's service to their community were inspiring.

· In the touching poetry of Kathleen Norris, who challenged us to experience the light of God in the deepest darkness.

· In the bilingual singing of VOCES, a group from Ontario, California.

· In the numerous people who responded with praise, thanksgiving, and stories of their unity efforts while engaging us in our presentations on World Convention.

But the most moving experience was worshiping with the Minter Lane church and hearing their minister Albert Acosta unfold the many passages that call God's people "strangers," "aliens," "foreigners," or (Albert's insightful translation) "immigrants" (see Deuteronomy 29:11, Exodus 22:21, 23:9, Leviticus 25:23, 1 Chronicles 29:15, Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 11:13, James 1:1, 1 Peter 1:1, 2:11). Albert embodied his message of hospitality. If we are to be welcoming to immigrants (strangers, "the other"), then we must always remember that we are all immigrants that God has welcomed into his home.

So welcome to the ministry of World Convention. A ministry of immigrants to immigrants.

Seeing Jesus

What would it be like to see Jesus? We've all imagined what that would be like. Would he look like the illustrations in our Bibles? Would he look like the Jesus we have seen in movies? Or would his appearance, his words, and his manner all surprise us?

Christians believe that the eternal God became a human being who lived in a particular time and place, with a particular human face. Sometimes, if we are not careful, we let the Jesus of our imagination crowd out the real flesh-and-blood Jesus of the gospels.

World Convention is foremost a ministry of Christ. Since World Convention people like to travel, we are offering a tour of the Holy Land, June 6-15, 2011. This could be the trip of a lifetime, a trip where we see the places the flesh-and-blood Jesus walked and talked-Galilee, the Jordan River, and Jerusalem.

It is also an opportunity to see Jesus in the faces of his followers today. You will meet him in your fellow travelers, as well as encounter him in the Palestinian and Israeli believers that we meet.

So, broaden your world and your view of Jesus through World Convention. For more information on the tour, contact us at julia@worldconvention.org

or see http://www.harrywelton.com/travel/Tours_files/Jun%206,%202011%2010%20Day%20Israel%20with%20Options.pdf (we are working with Harry Welton travel on this tour).

The Women's Desk
Global Women Connecting
~ Julia Keith

My father served in the United States Air Force for 26 years. Every two to four years we moved from one area of the country to another. One four year assignment took us to North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Although we lived in each place as official residents with legal rights, I lived my first sixteen as a foreigner in a place my family had adopted as 'home.' I can't help wondering about the similarities of that experience to those of today's immigrants - a bit bewildered by the nuances of life in a new location, working to earn a living and maintain a family culture, seeking friendship with those who regarded us as 'different'.

Does it surprise you to know that immigration is a global issue? Not only is there movement among those looking for a better life, but there are students, teachers, business transferees, missionaries - virtually all walks of life who find themselves included in the immigrant population. I recently read the following article published at www.MinnPost.com, October 11, 2010 listing situation after situation in country after country where people regard foreigners with suspicion and justify their behavior as protecting their native rights. http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/2010/10/11/22241/global_doors_slam_shut_on_immigrants If we superimpose global immigration over the social issues confronting women, we find additional issues that impact immigrant women in unique ways; domestic violence within immigrant families, workers' rights and access to education.

How do we, as Christians, address these situations in the places we are calling home?

World Convention moved in March of this year. Office arrangements in our new home at Vine Street Christian Church include shared space with Celet Nkobe, pastor of the Congolese Disciples congregation, Nouvelle Alliance. We have a unique opportunity to share life experiences and prayers of understanding as we work alongside each other. Please, pray with us.

And, as you embody God's hospitality and divine welcome, I invite you to share your experience and insight with us.

Find Global Women Connecting on

Educating Disciples Women:
Empowerment Through Knowledge & Community

October 21 Registration Deadline

The phrase "knowledge is power" takes on new meaning as we experience 19th century Disciples of Christ women struggle for educational advancement.
In this online class we'll uncover the influences that drove the creation of new educational institutions for women, compare women's curriculum to those of the male academies, explore the relationships and friendships that developed and examine the blossoming empowerment of Disciples women in their churches and the world.

Participants will explore these topics through instruction in scrapbooking, geneology, oral history, researching local history and social media.
Log in to the online classroom every week to get new readings and activities. You do these at your own pace and choose whether or not to share with the rest of the class. Every Thursday evening, the entire class will come together online for instruction and discusssion.
There are no grades and no tests - just the pleasure of learning about this fascinating time in the life of Disciples of Christ.
Classes are led by Sara Harwell, Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Archivist for the Historical Society. Go to http://www.discipleshistory.org/online/education/default.htm to register.

Do You Have News?

Email us : office@worldconvention.org

Write us: PO Box 50998

Nashville, Tennessee 37205-0998

Call us: 615-298-1824