October Charleston Boulevard Seventh-Day Adventist Church

1 Volume 5 Number 10 October Charleston Boulevard Seventh-day Adventist Church

Last Sabbath our Jewish brothers and sisters worshiping at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pitts- burgh experienced the situation that most believers in congregations worldwide fear, an active shooter. The shooter doesn’t deserve more attention so I only mention it to say that its worth considering what believers through history have had to face for the simple act of worshiping. As I reflect on the Pittsburgh event it seems as if there is a certain lack of surprise, for these shooter situations are becoming so prevalent. Furthermore, this act of cowardice reminds me of the challeng- es early Jewish Christians faced as they were persecuted for being both Jew and Christ followers. For the first century, Hebrew believer it was hard to be a serious committed Christian living in an unpredictable world of persecution, which came from both Jews and Romans. It was certainly not politically correct to be a Jewish Christian in the first century. How about today, is it becoming easier to stay the course believing in the creator God openly without fear of intolerance, animus, angst, ostracism, or even violent reactions? How you answer will depend greatly on your perception of perseverance. The principle of perseverance is pervasive in Biblical book titled Hebrews, which is an address to Jews experiencing persecution for believing in Christ. The author of this book understands the plight of the Jewish Christian has tempted them to give up and go back to traditional practices associated with Jewish temple theology. Reading statements like "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" we are reminded not to trust in our own faith, but rather the faithfulness of Christ to keep His word on our behalf.

The passage in Hebrews 10:23-25 succinctly states the Church has always struggled with things like doubt, hopelessness, mistrust, fear of the future and an overall lack of intestinal fortitude, but we are to remain faithful regardless of our feelings or circumstances. The righteousness of Christ on our behalf comes from faith not feeling. All of our insecurities can be overcome by meeting together, encouraging one another, and doing so habitually until Christ comes. Therefore, let us never stop meeting together, shooter or no shooter, persecution or peace, security or chaos. Christ will keep His word, and so as the day approaches, let us persevere in the covenant of His faithfulness to save us, for "In just a little while He who comes, will come and will not delay…we do not belong to those who shrink back and are de- stroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved" (Hebrews 10:36-39). Pastor Joel Klimkewicz 2

Campaign For Community (formerly known as Ingathering)

is here!!! We will begin November 10th, and will continue through the end of Decem- ber. We need kids, adults, ALL ages, to gather funds to provide aid to WV residents in need , and help send a kid to summer camp! Half of all funds we collect go to Moun- tainview Conference for disaster relief and other projects in all parts of West Virginia, while the other half stays right here in our church to serve the needs locally! We invite EVERYONE to participate. Ask how you can be involved, whether providing transpor- tation and supervision as we go door to door in the neighborhoods, or increase in your offerings. (Monetary donations should be marked “CFC”.)

Would you like to support our school, but you aren’t sure how? Well, we have Charleston Church come up with a “BAA School Supplies Wish List” that is just a bit different than the usual list! Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. They can be taken Sabbath Platform Coordinator directly to the school, or dropped off with Laura Hoffman at the church. If you Schedule would like information about “sponsoring” a stu- dent’s tuition, Contact Laura H. or Michael Koch. November Thank you for your support! 3 Tom Bailey • We would like to ask everyone to collect General Mills box tops for the school. Please turn them 10 Michael Koch in regularly and spread the word to your friends! 17 Bill Hoffman Due December 1 (For a for list of hundreds of 24 Gary Riley participating products, Go to www.boxtops4education.com ) NOVEMBER Birthdays Prayer Requests 4 April Woods Please remember each other in your prayers. There are many who are suffering physi- cally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. This month, let us lift up Laura Mallory 7 Jack Neal and family, Pastor Klimkewicz and family, Pastor Gustavo & Vanessa Parada, The 12 Annabella Luttrell Briggman family, the Hoffman family, Elaine Wright, Margaret Miller, Mildred Hinkley, 14 Karen Grigsby Orel Ferrell, Becky Wright, Pam Phannachitta, Linda Smith, Shelly Hairston, Bill Gibson, 15 Pat Callender April Woods, Karen Hoffman, Lillian Doran, Dawn Fields, Carol Turner, Demetria Prin- 17 Larry Murphy dle, Daniel Hosu, Wanda Nida, Karen Grigsby, Okie & Angie Richardson, Deanna Cole, 20 Bridget Luttrell Portia Gibson & baby Paxton, Paul Ferrell, Harry Gaynor, and Jeremiah Yeager, as well 25 Johnatan Marrufo as many, many others. 26 Jason Johnson

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, If you have a November birthday and thanksgivings be made for all people and your name is not here, please let Dawn Wadsworth know so we **If you have a prayer request or know someone you would like us all to remember in prayer, can update our information. please contact me by November 28th in order to be in the December issue.

The Messenger is a monthly publication of the Charleston and Ripley, West Virginia, Seventh-day Adventist churches. Editor—Dawn Wadsworth If you have questions, comments, or news items, you may contact me at (304) 356-9724, [email protected], on Facebook, or 577 Knapp St, St. Albans West Virginia 25177. 3

C O U R A G E By Elder Michael W. Koch

And Joshua said unto them, fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. Joshua 10:25. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24. Be of good C O U R A G E: Confronting the demons. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principali- ties, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- ness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12.

Overcoming the obstacles. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

Understanding the risks. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26.

Relying on God. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5.

Always believing. “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39.

Going the distance. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 2 Timothy 4:7.

Expecting the best. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:13.

Remember to honor US Military Veterans on Happy Veterans Day, November 11th, 2018. Thanksgiving November 22, 2018 4

The youth at the Boulevard SDA Church and the Boulevard Adventist Academy participated in the 5th Annual “Treats Not Tricks” Food Drive. The flyers were distributed October 27th and again on October 30th. We asked our community to place non-perishable items in bags and leave them on their porch on November 3rd. The Adventurer and Pathfinder Clubs, BAA students, and other children & volunteers in our church family will pick up the food items then sort & stack them into a “Tower of Thanks”. Each year, the tower has grown (See below). The food collected will be shared between the local West Side Food Bank and the Thanksgiving baskets that our church prepares and gives out. The Food Bank has appealed to our church for help and this is our opportunity to share food as Christ did when He fed the 5000. This food drive requires much labor and support, and we appreciate you, our church family, for donations as well as adult volunteers - that helped prepare flyers, chaperoned, and drove. An area will be available to drop off additional donations of non-perishable foods in the church lobby until mid November. Monetary donations should be marked “TNT Food Drive”. Stay tuned next month to see how much more we’ve grown!

2014 2015 2016 2017

We were asked to sing and preach Sabbath October 13th in Lewisburg, so we obliged. However, my bike is in the shop so we used cars to get there. The church said they wished they had known how good the singing and preaching was because they would have invited tons of people. That was a very nice compliment.

These are pics from concert/revival in Lewisburg. By Pastor Brotherman Hunt. BOULEVARD ADVENTIST ACADEMY 5

Grades K-8 ** Teacher Ashley - Briggman **Principal - Laura Hoffmann

In October, the students and staff were blessed with a rare opportunity to actually tour history! “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” has been taught to students across the country for generations to help them remember the Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus’s first expedition to the Americas. While he failed to find a direct route between Europe and Asia as intended, Columbus’ journey to the New World did lead to European coloni- zation and settlement, and opened the door for further European explora- tion. More than 500 years since his landing in the Caribbean, replicas of two of Columbus’ ships sail the waterways of the United States to educate people about the voyage. The ships docked at Charleston’s Haddad Riverfront Park, and were open for tours which BAA attended. What a wonderful way to explore history! (See pg. 8 for more BAA activities)

Hispanic Ministry Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día

Pastor Gustavo has been very busy these past months. Sabbath services have been well attended. Individual Bible studies continue to grow . If you have not been to a Sabbath service in the Spanish Church, I encourage you to join us, even if you don’t speak Spanish. Pr. Gustavo is more than happy to preach bilingual sermons! As we enter into this season of abundance and thanks, let us remember this is also a season of need. Please keep Pas- tor Gustavo and the Spanish church in your prayers as he serves the Lord, reaching out to the Hispanic community in Charleston, who are so hungry for Jesus. Ask how YOU can be a part of this very important ministry. Mountain View Conference Bulletin Board 6

Be a part of the MVC Prayer Tele-Conference Mondays 7:00am-8:00am Daily 7:00pm Call 1-605-475-4834 Access Code: 708693#

Prayer Call First Thursday of EACH month starting at 10 pm to 5 am eastern time. Phone 404-891-6338 Access Code 772937# (Prayer#) Join us any time during the night for as long as you wish. WOMEN’S MINISTRY

The weekend of October 5-7, a small group of 8 WINGS were blessed to attend the Mountain View Conference Women’s Retreat 2018 at Valley Vista. What a HUGE blessing to all those who were there! The entire weekend was focused on the theme of Freedom, with lots of activities for us all to enjoy while drawing closer to Jesus, and to each other! Our Special Guest Speaker was Vickie Griffin, who shared amazing Biblical truths with us about our health and our bodies and how we respond to a Bible-based lifestyle, including diet. While the camp was restricted to just women, the MVC Pathfinder Director Joel Steckler came in for a short time to bless all of us with a fantastic fire- works display! What a treat! Jessica Manatan led out with the mission project for this year, encouraging us all to collect kitchen and bathroom items to donate to newly housed formerly homeless West Virginians. The “stack” of collected items filled half the platform in the chapel, as each group of women unloaded the donations from each of their churches. As always, the kitchen staff did an outstanding job of not just providing nutritious & delicious meals, but serving it in such a lovely, professional, and delightful manner! There were scavenger hunts, games, guided walks, prayer ses- sions, and many other activities that allowed us to bind together with love. It was so wonderful to reconnect with old friends, new friends, and friends we hadn’t met yet! By Dawn Wadsworth Charleston River City Pathfinders/Adventurers Club 7

Early part of October had Pathfinders earning the Pizza Award as they completed a Pizza workbook, and planned a fundraising Pizza Night for family, friends & neigh- bors. Stay tuned for details next month, as Pizza Night takes place after the newslet- ter deadline! Sabbath Oct 27 was packed with activities for Pathfinders and Adven- turers, who were completely ambivalent about rain and cold. They handed out 300+ flyers for our canned food drive, and we're disappointed when we ran out. We cele- brated back at the Hoffman house with hot drinks and singing! Later the Adventurers listened while Pastor Ivanaudo gave an interesting story. The children finished their sewing craft award. Thank you Barry and Brenda Shilling!

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

GO! Tell It to the World! By Peggy J. Koch, Outreach Coordinator

William Miller (February 15, 1782 – December 20, 1849) was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-19th-century North American religious movement known as the Millerites. In 1803, Miller married Lucy Smith and moved to her nearby hometown of Poultney, where he took up farming. Sometime in his 20’s, Miller rejected his Baptist herit- age and became a Deist. In his biography, Miller records his conversion: "I became acquainted with the principal men in that village [Poultney, Vermont], who were professedly Deists; but they were good citizens, and of a moral and serious deportment. They put into my hands the works of Voltaire, [David] Hume, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, and other deistical writers." But God had other plans for William Miller. During the war of 1812, Miller saw his first action at the Battle of Plattsburgh, where vastly outnumbered American forces overcame the British. "The fort I was in was exposed to every shot. Bombs, rockets, and shrapnel shells fell as thick as hail- stones", he said. One of these many shots had exploded two feet from him, wounding three of his men and killing another, but Miller survived without a scratch. Miller came to view the outcome of this battle as miraculous, and therefore at odds with his deistic view of a distant God far removed from human affairs. He later wrote, "It seemed to me that the Supreme Being must have watched over the interests of this country in an especial manner, and delivered us from the hands of our enemies... So surprising a result, against such odds, did seem to me like the work of a mightier power than man." His war experience and other events led him to an in depth study of the Bible and he became convinced of the soon coming of Jesus Christ. Basing his calculations principally on Daniel 8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed", Miller assumed that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the Earth's purification by fire at Christ's Second Coming. Then, using the interpretive principle of the "day-year principle", Miller interpreted a day in prophecy to read not as a 24-hour period, but rather as a calendar year. (Continued, page 8) 8 GO! Tell It to the World! By Peggy J. Koch, Outreach Coordinator (Continued from page 7) Further, Miller became convinced that the 2,300 day period started in 457 BC with the decree to rebuild Jerusa- lem by Artaxerxes I of Persia. Simple calculation then revealed that this period would end about 1843. Miller records, "I was thus brought... to the solemn conclusion, that in about twenty-five years from that time 1818 all the affairs of our present state would be wound up." But, Miller was still very reluctant to share his conclusion with others. However, he kept hearing a voice in his head saying, “Go! Tell it to the world!” Finally, he gave in to the voice and a movement began that spread around the world. Of course, now we know that the date was correct but the event was amiss. To the disappointment of many, Christ did not return. After the failure of Mil- ler's expectations for October 22, 1844, the date became known as the Great Disappointment. Estimates of Mil- ler's followers vary between 50,000, and 500,000. Miller's legacy includes the Advent Christian Church with 61,000 members, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church with over 19 million members. Both these denomina- tions have a direct connection with the Millerites and the Great Disappointment of 1844.

Why am I telling you this?! Because we still have a message to share with a dying world. Jesus is coming soon! We may not know the day or the hour; but, we know that it is soon. So, Go! Tell it to the world!” Ezekiel 33:8-9 says, “When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” Our mission is found in Revelation 14:6-12. “Go! Tell it to the world!”

BAA ACTIVITIES (continued from page 5)

1. Thank you to Dr Jim Joseph, Mrs Hoffman's father, who spent part of his vacation helping out at the school, hanging the bird feeder and mounting the three new whiteboards. 2. Vex Robotics programming on recent trip to the Clay Center. 3. Academy Days at SVA 9

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