GroshLink

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. -- Colossians 4:2

A brief post to invite you to prayerfully review the 2012 May Prayer Calendar (PDF) and carry it with you through the month (sharing with others who desire to partner in this Kingdom work).

Praise God for his continued blessing upon the work to which we have been called. In our last prayer calendar we asked for prayers to address an estimated a gap of $15,000 to be supplied through the gifts of the people of God. We have received some gifts and commitments to address this concern. Look for a letter coming soon with more specifics.

Note: The above picture is of the PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA Spring Retreat (4/27-28). More pictures are available here. In case you're wondering, the pictures are posted in chronological order with the newest ones at the bottom of the page. There are some great pictures of our little ones toward the bottom of the page :)

In addition to laboring on campus, PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA reaches out in mission in the local community and in focused international projects. This year the Spring Break Missions Project was in the sugar cane fields of the Dominican Republic (Hato Mayor) serving not only those from the DR, but also a number of Haitians. The team included 3 physicians, 1 nurse practitioner, 1 nurse, 20 medical students, 1 nursing student, 2 anatomy graduate students, 1 premedical student. This is the second of two videos, if you missed the first go to Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey -- DR Spring Break Missions Project. To God be the glory!

PS. A special thank-you to the many who pray, invest, encourage, and participate in these labors to enable them to flourish to the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom. To financially support our work, visit https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh.

PPS. The other two videos from the annual PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA (4/14) are posted at Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey! and Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey! Part II.

In addition to laboring on campus, PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA reaches out in mission in the local community and in focused international projects. This year the Spring Break Missions Project was in the sugar cane fields of the Dominican Republic (Hato Mayor) serving not only those from the DR, but also a number of Haitians. The team included 3 physicians, 1 nurse practitioner, 1 nurse, 20 medical students, 1 nursing student, 2 anatomy graduate students, 1 premedical student. To God be the glory!

PS. A special thank-you to the many who pray, invest, encourage, and participate in these labors to enable them to flourish to the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom. To financially support our work, visit https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh.

PPS. The other two videos from the annual PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA Celebration Banquet (4/14) are posted at Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey! and Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey! Part II.

In addition to testimony of God's work on campus, students shared several powerful slide show videos at the annual PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA Celebration Banquet (4/14). I found these videos a striking reminder of the call to offer all of one's gifts, time, energy, vocation, being, to God AND God alone. Part I in this series is posted at Celebrating God's Work at PSU-Hershey! The Dominican Republic Spring Break Missions Project shows start running tomorrow. To God be the glory for his amazing work!

Pray for CMS today as we gather for our lunch lecture, leadership team mtg, and Bible studies.

• Ms. Kathy Zubik from Susquehanna Valley Prenancy Services (SVPS) will be presenting. Last week two women shared from SVPS. The one related her story of Christ's healing through the ministry of SVPS over a decade after her abortion. To God be the glory!
• The new leadership team is getting their feet wet. Pray for a smooth transition, particularly as they prepare for the spring retreat next weekend (the speaker will be a recent alumnus in a local practice) and various year end gatherings including a commissioning of graduating students.
• Bible Studies: Men are studying Romans. The women are studying the Gospel of John. Note: The couples Bible study meets Monday evenings and are beginning a study of Ecclesiastes.

PS. A special thank-you to the many who pray, invest, encourage, and participate in these labors to enable them to flourish to the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom. To financially support our work, visit https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh.

On Saturday at the annual PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA Celebration Banquet, the students shared several powerful slide show videos -- a striking reminder of God's call to serve the whole campus, that every square inch is His! This first one starts with National Catfish Day at our house. Consider this a teaser, come back for Part II tomorrow :)

PS. A special thank-you to the many who pray, invest, encourage, and participate in these labors to enable them to flourish to the glory of God and the advance of his kingdom. To financially support our work, visit https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -- Psalm 139:13-16

Please take time to prayerfully review the April 2012 Prayer Calendar (PDF), the piece contains a number of updates, pictures, and upcoming event announcements. With regard to finances, we ask you to prayerfully consider a fiscal year end gift to close an estimated gap of $15,000 in a nearly $100,000 ministry budget (year ends on June 30).

Note: If you have not already done such, please drop us a line/call with a sense of your 2012 anticipated giving. We trust in the Lord's provision through the people of God. Note: At present we've received $63,083.83 and face an operating shortfall of -$11,408.

A few quick items before I head to PSU-Hershey to meet with the outgoing Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA President to debrief 2011-2012 and to prayerfully offer up CMS to the Lord's leading in 2012-2013 (below is the picture of the current and incoming leadership teams meeting together as 'the baton is passed').

First, the psalmist's words in Psalm 139-13-16 will be the focus of my final paper for OT 532 Historical & Poetic Books w/Professor David A. Dorsey. Earlier today I shared words inspired by this text, reassuring a young woman that despite all her struggles, she has been fearfully and wonderfully made. She is not a mistake. God has a deep care for her and a purpose/direction for her life, including the love of family/friends. Look for future posts (here and at ESN Blog) not only on this text, but also material stemming from:

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At last week's InterVarsity Christian Fellowship Gradute & Faculty Team Meetings for the Northeast region, we gave significant attention to Randy Newman's* Questioning Evangelism -- Thank-you Paula! You may remember, in Fall 2006 I co-taught an adult elective at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church based upon his material, for more read Questioning Evangelism and Christ of Christmas.

Below's a quote from Questioning Evangelism

“… maybe our world has changed so significantly that we need to rethink evangelism . . . I’m calling Christians to use questions in the venture of evangelism.” Christians need three skills in evangelism: declaring, defending and dialoguing the gospel. “The third skill – and this where Questioning Evangelism fits in – is built upon the foundations of declaring and defending the gospel.  . . . Often neglected, difficult to master, but absolutely essential, this skill of giving and taking – asking questions and bouncing ideas back and forth – might be just what our postmodern audience needs.” (13, 14, 15)

Newman's Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well is on the self and I look forward to reading it after the end of this term :) An excerpt from the newer book is posted at here.

At Tuesday's PSU-Hershey CMS/CMDA lunch lecture, Dr. Pauline Bridgeman shared a powerful and deeply personal message regarding the challenge of being a medical missionary family with CURE in Honduras AND the call to follow Christ alone no matter the danger. To learn more about the Medical Missions work of Jay & Pauline Bridgeman visit Why do you do what you do? - Medical Missionaries (Groshlink) and the Cure blog.

In the evening one student missed Bible study to share the gospel with another student. We prayed not only for this conversation, but also for a number of other relationships, including a crosscultural evangelistic Bible study (Note: keeping this intentionally vague). Pray for God's insight and grace in the next step of these various labors for the Kingdom of God.

*Randy Newman is a Teaching Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute. He has been with the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ since 1980 and currently serves with Faculty Commons, their ministry to university professors. He ministers on campuses and elsewhere in our nation's capital to students, professors and policy-shapers. He is an honors graduate from Temple University and has a Masters of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he is also engaged in doctoral studies. Randy is a Jewish Believer in Jesus and is the former editor of The Messiah-On-Campus Bulletin. He lives in Annandale, Virginia together with his wife Pam. He is the author of numerous articles and the books Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People's Hearts the Way Jesus Did and Corner Conversations: Engaging Dialogues about God and Life, both published by Kregel Publicatios, and Bringing the Gospel Home: Witnessing to Family Members, Close Friends, and Others Who Know You Well, forthcoming from Crossway. -- http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/blog/2011/07/why-i-read-c-s-lewis-2/.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. -- Psalm 23:1-3

Amen!

We rejoice in your prayers for the preparations for the A Night with the Inklings. Theresa wrote on Facebook:

"Great evening last night, learning about the Inklings from David C. Downing, http://www.facebook.com/lookingfortheking, and hearing about the medical students' trip to Dominican Republic. Overwhelmed by the mix of people that support Thomas's ministry!"

I responded:

"Amen! We've found ourselves home and encouraged in our calling in ways I never dreamed possible. God is about a new work among those seeking after him with "head, heart, & hands!" What a joy to be part of the work in South Central PA and beyond (as it ripples out through alumni, missions, web posts. . . .). To God be the glory!"

We rejoice in God's provision through the people of God for this work. As I shared last night, our annual $100,000 budget (which is like running a small business with copier, computer, book purchases, travel, insturance) is in His hands. If you are able to help us address our current $7,000 shortfall, we would be very appreciative.

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Above is a picture of me introducing Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University, for his Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church adult elective presentation on Why do people understand the Bible so differently & what should we do about it? (2/19/2012). Scot's visit was in partnership with InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network in South Central PA. Check back for more photos from the day's activities -- thank-you Nancy!

Note: Scot's 2/19/2012 sermon on The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited is available here (free download or stream).

Update (3/10/2012, 1:15 pm): Don't miss BOGO Scot McKnight books on sale---buy one, get one free from Byron at Hearts & Minds Books! Sale good through 3/14.

I just spent most of a week with Tom, visiting six university campuses and one public library. He did a great job organizing the week. It was an honor to be part of his ministry. I appreciate Tom's humility, service, persistence, and work to serve the gospel -- and especially grad students and faculty. This is a vital place for faith to be alive and engaged. Thank you for supporting Tom in his ministry. — Kent Annan, InterVarsity Press author, co-founder Haiti Partners. 

Tom Grosh is undoubtedly the most connected person I have met in Central PA! His desire to share his network of friends who believe in education has benefited my organization as I am sure countless others. Thank you, Tom for your heart for ministry through the world of education and desire to see us all working together for the kingdom of God! -- Kristen Hertzog, Executive Director of Haitian Connection Network.

To God be the glory!

Update (3/10/2012, 1 PM): Mark your calendar for Sunday, October 21. Kent will be back in the fall as part of the Christian Scholar Series. He'll also be part of a Brethren in Church Pastoral Enrichment Day (10/23) and pre-Urbana Student Missions Conference 2012 area event. More information coming. 

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Please take time to prayerfully review the March 2012 Prayer Calendar (PDF), the piece contains a lot of updates, pictures, and upcoming event announcements.

Quick reminder to those in South Central PA:

3/15 A Night with the Inklings: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship dessert & Christian Scholars gathering

David C. Downing, R. W. Schlosser Professor of English at Elizabethtown College & author of several books on C.S. Lewis

Topic: The interaction between the fiction of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien AND the fruit/value of conversation among Christian Scholars.

Doors open at 6:30 pm. Program begins at 7 pm.
Acorn Farms, 3141 Mount Joy Rd, Mount Joy, PA

RSVP by 3/8 via email (intervarsitychristianscholars at yahoo dot com) or http://www.facebook.com/events/321636134514894/.

Downing To Speak At InterVarsity Gathering (Elizabethtown-Mount Joy/Mount Joy-Elizabethtown Merchandiser. 3/7/2012). The above picture runs on the front page banner with this caption included in the text of the announcement: Author David C. Downing signed one of his books for Ellen Grosh during a program at the Elizabethtown Public Library in 2011. Downing will speak at an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship event on Thursday, March 15.

Last Friday I had opportunity to have dinner with and hear Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, speak on The Book Nobody Read: A Closer Look at the Book that Moved the World as part of the The Central Pennsylvania Forum for Religion and Science and the Center for Public Humanities. In addition to connecting with some faculty friends and a first year who grew up at the local congregation of which I'm a member, I had opportunity to meet

Paul Nisly, retired Professor of English at Messiah College. His specialty is Southern literature, particularly William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. As well as being an academic, Paul also serves as a Mennonite bishop. 

In response to my sharing about labors at Penn State Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA and Elizabethtown Public Library, Paul shared some of the story about his daughter's death in a tractor trailer accident four months after her college graduation and at the beginning of her practice of the discipline of nursing. I am currently reading his book Sweeping Up the Heart: A Father's Lament for His Daughter (Good Books, 1992) with tears in my eyes. The application of literature in the daily life issues and concerns raised by the loss of his daughter is both raw and rich.

Looking forward to getting to know Paul better and exploring the possibility of having him share from Sweeping Up the Heart at PSU-Hershey and Elizabethtown Public Library.

More on Owen Gingerich's amazing story and research coming . . . 

Note: If you're in South Central PA, please RSVP for 3/15, A Night with the Inklings: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship dessert & Christian Scholars gathering before proceeding further. On Monday, I chatted with David C. Downing and I'm even more excited than before about exploring:

1. the interaction between the fiction of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien
2. the fruit/value of conversation among Christian scholars.

Back to the Spring 2012 Christian Critical Thinking Series at Elizabethtown Public Library (Series bookmark, Series Poster).

Thrill of the Chaste: Tracing the Ancestry of the Amish Romance Novel

 Thursday, April 26, 6:30 pm (More)

The 2/13-16 After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken tour with Kent Annan, co-director of Haiti Partners, has concluded.

Wow! What a joy to serve the Lord through visiting

• 5 college campuses: Franklin & Marshall (undergrad large group), Messiah (Chapel, Student Dinner, Alternative Chapel), PSU-Harrisburg (undergrad-faculty brown bag lunch), PSU-Hershey Medical Center (Christian Medical Society/CMDA lunch lecture), York (undergrad group dinner, large group)
• Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church: informal conversation over dinner and then in the hall with the guys during choir
• Evangelical Theological Seminary: brown bag lunch discussion. A first :)

A brief ESN blog post by Kent Annan is up, I encourage you to take moment to enjoy a "glimpse" of what gives him focus as he speaks on campus. Lots of pictures posted on the Central PA Christian Scholars Network Facebook page, more "in process."

Interview of Edvard Guilloteau by Kent Annan in Haiti after the earthquake, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6he1pXPizbk.

A reminder that Helping Haiti is tonight. If you're in the area, please join us. If you're further away, join us in prayer, particularly for

• The safe travel and focused presentation of Kent Annan, author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners. Kent will share some of his walk with God as he serves in Haiti (After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken. InterVarsity Press. 2011).
• Representatives from partner organizations to network with participants
  • Haiti Connections (Coordinated by Mennonite Central Committee East Coast) 
  • Haitian Connection Network
  • Thriving Villages International 
• Conversation to lead to next steps beyond the evening, including future opportunities with Kent throughout the week.
  • Tuesday: Messiah College (morning Chapel, evening presentation), Penn State Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA
  • Wednesday: Penn State Harrisburg (brown bag lunch as part of C.S. Lewis Seminary), F&M (evening InterVarsity large group)
  • Thursday: Evangelical (brown bag lunch), York College (evening InterVarsity large group). 

Yes, copies of is books will be available at his presentations. If you have interest in an After Shock discussion group, let me know. For more information on Kent's February 13-16 visit to South Central PA go to the Library Event Page and/or the Facebook Event Page.

Yesterday via Facebook I read a good report from Tony Blair, President, Evangelical Seminary,

"Evangelical Seminary won re-accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools this week! That's the second group in one week who have looked at us very, very closely and liked what they've seen. It is good to enjoy the affirmation of our peers, and to hear others say what we already know... that what we're doing is good. Very good."

Praise God! As some of you know I've started taking classes at Evangelical. Yes, I'm once again enjoying the opportunity to be an official student at a very good school. To God be the glory!

PS. On Thursday Evangelical Seminary will be host an 11:30 am campus brown bag lunch with Kent Annan, author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners. For more information click here. What a joy to have this opportunity to partner in the work of the Kingdom of God!

Today Theresa shares at the Penn State Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA's noon lunch lecture What is her focus? Her journey with God through the various health care concerns of our family beginning with the loss of Elise Faith, journeying through my own and Eden's. Pray for her preparation and clarity in presenation. Note: The format will be an interview by CMS' team leader. Also pray for me as I provide 'the table of plenty.'

PS. The other week a friend passed along You Oh God Are A Refuge (New worship song)" -- a song which was a great encouragement to her during chemo treatment. I commend the song to you as the Lord walks with and carries you through difficult times. He is your refuge -- your only hope! If He is your rock, you will not be shaken. As you may guess the song also comes to mind with respect to our February 13 - 16 "Helping Haiti" series with Kent Annan, author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What a joy to serve the Lord "One More Day!" God is providing for and multiplying His work on the local and national scene. We rejoice in having you on the team, interceding for and standing with us not only the labors in South Central PA with CMDA and Christian Scholars, but also nationally as part of the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). You are a great encouragement during a stretching time.

A few points to highlight . . .

1. The February prayer calendar is available here.
2. For an overview of my most recent ESN Blog series, based on Amy Sherman's Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good (InterVarsity Press. 2011), click here.
3. As we enter the leadership selection process for PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA, I implore you to join me in prayer for the challenges faced by campus ministries across the nation (e.g., 1/31 Vanderbilt Town Mtg, article, Youtube, Tom's ESN blog post Prayerful consideration & Discussion: Vanderbilt Town Mtg).
4. Next week Tuesday at PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA, Theresa and I will provide lunch in partnership with friends from our local assembly.
   1. During the presentation time, Jade (CMS/CMDA team leader) will interview Theresa regarding her journey/response to the loss of Elise Faith, my health concerns (cancer, seizures, fainting spells), and Eden's brain bleed/resultant developmental delays.
   2. If you have wisdom you would consider important to impart to budding health care professionals, please drop us a line not only for this event but also our regular interactions with the CMS/CMDA community and those beyond. . . . e.g., I'm once again rounding up a group of Messiah College alum at PSU-Hershey to share with pre-health care professionals associated with Messiah College's MedAware. Date: 2/10. Hoping for the opportunity for a return visit to Grove City College (our alma mater) later in the spring.
5. Kent Annan's Helping Haiti presentation (Monday, February 13, Elizabethtown Public Library, 6 pm) received front page coverage in the Elizabethtown-Mount Joy Merchandiser. To read, click here. To God be the glory! Kent Annan is the author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners. February 13-16, Kent will share from After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken with students on campuses in South Central PA. To learn more, visit our Facebook event page and the PA Libraries event page.
6. Below is Rachel's response to one of the ESN Blog posts by Richard Hughes on Why Christians Must Embrace the Life of the Mind. What a privilege it's been to partner with Richard, who is the Distinguished Professor of Religion and Director of the Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania AND author of The Vocation of a Christian Scholar: How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind (Eerdmans, 2005).

Thank you for this. I read the final bolded section and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. The difficulty of translating the pedantries of my academic discipline into feeding the hungry or healing the sick has always bothered me. Thank you for the reminder not to put the cart before the horse – that love is the basic characteristic of Christ-like service, and that it’s much harder to love someone well if you don’t know the truths that have shaped them into who they are.

Additional opportunities for those in South Central PA . . .

• please consider joining our local assembly (maybe just for lunch addressing Universalism) on Sunday, February 19, to hear Scot McKnight, a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus, AND Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University, Chicago, IL, speak as part of the Christian Scholar Series, http://www.etownbic.org/mcknight.
  • Sermon: The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited (Sermon part of 8:30am and 11:00am worship services)
  • Sunday school elective: Blue Parakeet: Why do people understand the Bible so differently? (10am - 10:45am)
  • Lunch discussion: Facing the Challenge of Universalism in the church and the academy (12:30 - 1:30 am). RSVP via email.
• please join us on March 15 for A Night with the Inklings: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship dessert & Christian Scholars gathering
  • David C. Downing, R. W. Schlosser Professor of English at Elizabethtown College & author of several books on C.S. Lewis, will speak on the interaction between the fiction of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien AND the fruit/value of conversation among Christian Scholars.
  • Doors open at 6:30 pm. Program begins at 7 pm.
  • Acorn Farms, Mount Joy, PA
  • RSVP via email or phone.

Day-by-Day by His Grace,

Tom Grosh IV, Groshlink
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
Graduate & Faculty Ministry in Central PA
Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) Associate Staff for PSU-Hershey Medical Center Christian Medical Society (CMS)
Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) Blogger, http://blog.emergingscholars.org/author/tomg/
To support visit https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate/to/Tom_Grosh

Our Mission: "To establish and advance at colleges and universities witnessing communities that follow Jesus"

Our Vision: "To see students and faculty transformed. Campuses renewed. World changers developed."

Front Page Elizabethtown-Mount Joy Merchandiser coverage of upcoming Helping Haiti gathering (2/13, Elizabethtown Public Library, 6 pm), click here. To God be the glory!

If you're in South Central PA, I hope you can invite a friend and join us for the evening. Whether or not you're able to join us, I invite you to participate through 

To God be the glory & the advance of His Kingdom!

Prayer requests for upcomong lunch lecture preparations:

1. 1/31: Lunch details to come together for serving food and spreading the word about our guest speaker Steve Noblett, the executive director for Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF).  
   • CCHF (http://www.cchf.org/) is a network of Christian physicians and other health professionals committed to living out the gospel through healthcare among the poor.  There are over 300 Christian clinics located in medically underserved areas across the United States in the CCHF family.  Many of those offer rotations and clinical experiences where students and residents not only learn the unique challenges of working with complex medical and cultural issues, but also get to see how providers are integrating faith and spiritual care into clinical primary care settings. CMDA has a close relationship with CCHF, and considers CCHF to be its primary domestic missions partner.
   • Steve is a regular speaker at the Global Health Missions Conference, and various CMDA conferences and events.  Steve lives in Memphis with his wife, Victoria, where they have worked for over 20 years with urban teens in severely under-resourced communities.
2. 2/7: Lunch details to come together with Wenger Meats as Theresa and I will serve food with some friends from Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church.  
   • During the presentation time, Theresa will be interviewed by the PSU-Hershey CMS Chapter President regarding her reflections on health care and recommendations for future health care providers based upon her experiences with our family (loss of Elise Faith, my cancer/seizures, Eden's developmental delays). 
   • As you may have seen on Theresa's wall, she's asking for suggestions, so if you have material which you think should receive emphasis, drop her a note and/or post on her wall.Thank-you to those who have already responded to Theresa's request on her FB wall. Just taking the opportunity to spread the net out a little wider :)
3. 2/14: Lunch details to come together as one of the physician couples who serve as informal advisors will partner with their local congregation in providing lunch. 
   • Kent Annan, author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners, will speak on After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken. For more on his visit to South Central PA visit 2/13: Helping Haiti/After Shock (6 pm, Elizabethtown Public Library). . . .

On February 13 at 6 pm, Helping Haiti kicks off at Elizabethtown Public Library. Helping Haiti is a South Central PA grassroots networking event involving a group of people with a heart for Haiti and representatives of several local organizations with work in Haiti:

• Haiti Connections (Coordinated by Mennonite Central Committee East Coast) 
• Haiti Connection Network
• PSU-Hershey Center for Global Health 

The gathering was inspired by Kent Annan, author of two InterVarsity Press books and co-founder of Haiti Partners. Kent will join us for the evening and share some of his story, recently published in After Shock: Searching for Honest Faith When Your World Is Shaken. Afterward he will take questions and sign books, his other InterVarsity Press title being Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle. When the library closes at 8 pm, some of us will walk over to Folklore Coffee for further conversation :) Please share the word . . . 

• "Helping Haiti"/"After Shock" 1/4 page invitation
• "Helping Haiti"/"After Shock" 8.5 x 11 poster

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"How an Abortion Saved the Lives of Many." Thank-you to my friend who shared this powerful testimony/story via G+.* Be sure to watch the short video (http://vimeo.com/34880363) and read the article. To God be the glory! 

Pray for PSU-Hershey Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA as we prepare to host Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Service, http://www.svps.org/, later in the term. 

*Jenefer Igarashi is married to Geoff the Great and a homeschool momsie to six kids They've been homeschooling since 1995. She's socially awkward, somewhat unorganized and continually fails, but is saved and redeemed by the Sovereign Grace of God through Christ. 

Today, Eden's receiving a replacement of her ear tubes. Pray for a smooth surgery/recovery. We look for forward to the improvement of her hearing, leading to an improvement in communication.

As I'm caring for our youngest during Eden's procedure, I'll miss the launch of this term's PSU-Harrisburg C.S. Lewis Seminar.  But I can pray for the noon gathering. Take a few minutes to join me to pray for the members to reconnect, recap previous chapters of N.T. Wright's Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, complete Chapter 7, and most importantly walk away with richer understanding of/actual with with Jesus the Christ.

PS. If you're unfamiliar with the work of N.T. Wright (former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world’s leading Bible scholars who is now serving as the Chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at University of St. Andrews’s School of Divinity) and desire to learn more about his writing/perspective, I encourage you to check out Believing and Belonging (excerpt from Simply Christian) and Georgetown University Veritas Forum Presentation (10/20/2006). I had the privilege of attending this Veritas Forum at which N.T. Wright spoke, my notes are posted on this blog at Simply Christian.

Updated: 1/18/2012, 8:56 AM.

2011 CMDA Northeast Winter Retreat    

In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." -- Isaiah 25:9

Tonight Theresa and I head out to Sandy Cove, MD, for CMDA's Northeast Winter Retreat. We can't wait for the opportunity to hang out with student as they worship God and grow in their "call to care."

Pray for 

• Safe travel for delegates from across the Northeast.
• Growth in depth of relationship with students from PSU-Hershey and physician friends from the area who will join us as we hangout over meals and consider God's word in small groups. Opportunities for significant networking and encouragement in larger circles . . . 

South Central PA Delegates (2011 Winter Retreat)

• My preparation/leading of Saturday morning prayer. My focus will be upon the Bridgemans in Honduras, see Why do you do what you do? - Medical Missionaries.

• Clarity in teaching by Drs. Paul and Susan Lim, The Christian Life: Called to Pursue Soul-Satisfying Joy: A medical couple reflects on their missionary experience in Ethiopia. 
  

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  • In 2008, Paul and Susan along with their two children, Justin and Karis, moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to help CURE International start and run a new Christian mission hospital specializing in pediatric disabilities.  Paul, a plastic/reconstructive surgeon, was the Medical Director, and Susan was the Consultant Pediatrician for the hospital, two of only three first world trained pediatricians in the entire country of 85 million people. They had a passion for reaching unreached people groups with the Gospel and integrated their medical work with this passion.  After two and a half years, just as they began to see the first fruits, they unexpectedly needed to relocate back to the US, ending up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where they were graciously welcomed back by their sending church, Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis.  Paul is currently working as a pediatric plastic surgeon with Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He is also an Assistant Professor of the University of Minnesota, being part of the teaching faculty for the plastic surgery residency.  Susan is not currently working as a pediatrician but is busy taking care of her family and home in their sudden and tumultuous transition that is still not even a year old.
• Wisdom in next steps and application of what is learned (including sharing core truths/principles/stories with friends) with on campus accountability.