Winckles Family Update

Sunday Morning in Albion, Michigan

We started off our Winter 2012 speaking engagements with a visit to the Albion Free Methodist Church in Albion, Michigan. We've known Pastor Bob Bolton and his wife for over 35 years, back from our days in Monroe. The visit brought up memories of Monroe in other ways as well, as the physical building is almost identical to the Monroe Free Methodist Church. Both were designed by Unified Church Structures in the 1960's!

Pastor Bob and Pastor Al

It was nice to be able to reconnect with our friends and supporters in Albion, and to meet their new assistant pastor, Allen Henson, in a different context. We had known Allen previously when he had been serving at the Pulaski Free Methodist Church.

We shared the new and improved version of our 2011/2012 Tree of Life presentation with the congregation. One of the things that we are trying to do is to help our partners churches see that missional living is an important aspect of not only our ministry, but of theirs as well.

 

Back in the USA for 2 months

We arrived back in the USA on Tuesday, beginning a two-month home assignment. We'll be traveling throughout Southern Michigan and Ohio, meeting with partners and visiting partner Free Methodist churches. Our current schedule is as follows:

January 29: Albion, Michigan 
February 5: Spring Arbor, Michigan (pm)
February 12: Battle Creek, Michigan
February 19: Jamestown, North Dakota
February 26: Columbus, Ohio
March 4: Chelsea, Michigan
March 11: Cincinnati, Ohio
March 18: Open
March 20: Return to Hungary 

We look forward to reconnecting with many of you over the next few weeks.

A Visit to Johannesburg

Two weeks ago Larry traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa to attend a Community Church Planting conference held at the OMS South Africa offices in Roodepoort (a suburb of Johannesburg). 

He arrived early for the conference, and had one free day for sightseeing. Larry and Josh Fajardo (our colleague from Spain) made arrangements to tour the black township of Soweto and to visit the local Lion Park. Soweto stands for South Western Township, and is the principle residential area for black South Africans in Johannesburg. The area was originally developed for temporary living quarters for black miners, but soon squatter villages sprang up. It was the site of many protests, strikes, and other political actions over the years, including the infamous Soweto Uprising of 1976. Both Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu were residents of Soweto, Bishop Tutu still lives there. Their two homes were located only two blocks apart, and the road connecting them is know known as the Nobel Laureate Walk. This is the same area where the Soweto Uprising occurred.

Their guide has lived in Soweto all of his life. At the time of the Soweto Uprising he was seven years old. On the day of the uprising one of his older teen-aged brothers was killed and two others were arrested. They spent the following 18 years in prison. In spite of all these hardships, our guide presented a hopeful picture for the future of his own family and the future of South Africa.

They concluded their visit to Soweto by touring the Hector Pieterson Museum, created to commemorate the horrific events of the summer of 1976, and named after a thirteen-year-old boy who was among the first to be killed.

In the afternoon they were handed over to a different guide, a white man from Zimbabwe, who took them to the Lion Park. He introduced himself as being a “when-was,” meaning that he was from Zimbabwe when it was Rhodesia. His perspective on the current situation in South Africa was rather more pessimistic than that of our morning guide’s. He had nothing good to say about the situation in Zimbabwe, and felt that South Africa was heading in the same direction. 

The Lion Park contained free ranging ostriches, zebra, springbok, gembok, giraffes, and black wildebeest. In separate enclosure were groups of lions, cheetahs, wild dogs, jackals, hyenas, and meerkats. It was a nice way to get a taste of the African wildlife without going to one of the large game parks.

The Community Church Planting Seminar began on Saturday morning at the OMS South Africa Office. Participants in the seminar came from the USA, Jordan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Spain, Hungary, and of course, South Africa. The principle presenter was Bruce Bennett, the Director of OMS South Africa.  He was assisted with some presentations by Warren Melnick and Theo Burakeye.

The Community Church Planting (CCP) model is based on seven undergirding biblical principles, or cornerstones.

1. Vision
2. Call
3. Faith
4. Faithfulness
5. Exhortation / Encouragement
6. Hospitality / Love for Strangers
7. Planning / Administration

Over the course of the three days of the conference each of these cornerstones was developed in detail.

CCP is a training center-based model of church planting. A trainer is sent out to establish a training center, recruits 15 students to come to the center, and then sends the trained students back to their villages to start churches. Training while in ministry is the underlying philosophy of the program. The students gather to study and go out to put what they have learned into practice. This cycle of study and practice is repeated frequently during the prescribed 40-month process. In addition, the “student pastors” find three other people who they will also train, staying at least one step ahead of them in the process.

Following the conference Larry was able to visit the Apartheid Museum before going to the airport for his return flight. Of special interest was the exhibit on the life of Nelson Mandela.  

 

Joint Baptism Service

Today we held a baptism service jointly with OMS (One Mission Society), at the OMS center in the 14th District of Budapest. Our two fellowships joined together to celebrate the work of God in the lives of Ildikó (from our congregation) and Fanni (from OMS). Sándor (pastor of the OMS church) and Péter (our assistant pastor) led the service. Péter preached the baptism message. Both women shared their testimonies of conversion and faith prior to their baptism. It was a wonderful time of celebration!

As an added bonus Ildikó's daughter, Petra, was able to view the entire service from California by means of Skype and share in her mother's joy. 

We hope this is the first of many joint services and celebrations between member organizations of the Hungarian Wesleyan Alliance!

 

Epiphany - Christus Mansionem Benedicat

20 + C + M + B + 12

The custom of "chalking the door" on 12th Night, or Epiphany, with the above notation is still practiced throughout Europe in many observant Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran homes. The first and last numerals signify the year (2012) and the three letters stand alternately for Christus Mansionem Benedicat ("Christ Bless this Home" in Latin) or for the three traditional names of the Wise Men (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar). The chalking is part of a house blessing, seeking God's protection and blessing for all who enter it in the new year.

If you do an Internet search for "Epiphany house blessing" you will find a number of liturgies. The one we like is from the Church of the Beloved, which can be found here. This liturgy concludes with the following prayer:

"O God, you once used a star to show to all the world that Jesus is your Son. May the light of that star that once guided wise men to his birth, now guide us to recognize him in the epiphanies of the daily experiences of our lives.  As we go about our work, our study, our play, keep us in its light and in your love.  May all who enter here find your gracious hospitality, for Christ has come to dwell in this house and in these hearts."

Starting the New Year Right

As is our custom here in Budapest, on the first Sunday of each new year we hold a John Wesley Covenant Renewal Service. This service dates back to 1755 when John Wesley entreated his congregation to join  "in a covenant to serve God with all our heart and with all our soul." 

In the service we are reminded of our condition as sinners and of our need to reaffirm our covenant relationship with God. We pledge to serve Him will all that we are and all that we possess. The service concludes with Communion.

You can find many versions of this service on the Internet. Below are links to a few of them.

For various versions from the Wesley Center Online click here.

For a version in modern English from the Sherwood, Michigan Free Methodist Church click here.

For a version nicely formatted to print in booklet style, from the Zephyrhills, Florida Wesleyan Church click here.

For the Hungarian version that we use click here.