OCTOBER 2010 a letter from Chatter

Mmm. Breathe in the air. Halloween wasn’t just for the kids in our house, my mom would get into the spirit of costuming by combing our rooms every year for laundry left on the Smells like fall doesn’t it? I love the way fall smells like orange. floor, which she would then pin to her wool sweater and tease her hair to be- come “static cling.” (I’m still pretty sure this was just a ploy to get my sister and That’s right. Orange. Not the citrus orange; the color orange. As in the color of me to clean our rooms before going Trick-or-Treating.) pumpkin spice candles, crisp fallen leaves and the wrappers of the best Hallow- een candy ever: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups! While I loved creating my own costumes, there were times I would have given anything to buy a costume; especially the year Christine Thrasher bought a This time of year the air is filled with traces of orange. shimmery, green M&M costume with glittery, white tights … I was so jealous. There’s just something magical about this season for me. Maybe it’s the fact It was times like that when my mom would morph from “repurposing mom” that I love wearing costumes, or maybe I’m simply captivated by the way nature into “Sunday school director mom.” She’d sit me down on a stool in the kitchen, makes room for the new by repurposing the old (ex: fallen leaves turning into where aromas of simmering chili filled the air, to tell me about how Jesus was protective blankets for winter chills). the ultimate repurposer; how he came into my life and took the old me and not only gave me new life, but he also gave me a completely new purpose in my life. I’ve always been a fan of repurposing. I’m pretty sure I gleaned that skill from “God is in the business of repurposing,” she would say. my mom. Growing up, she was many things — hairdresser, Sunday school direc- tor, chauffeur, super mom, etc. — but most of all she was a master of giving old It may seem like a stretch — even for a mom lesson — but it always did the trick things new life. Especially when it came to Halloween. for me. I would proudly wear my inventive creations, knowing I was a walk- ing example of the transformation that could only come from my savior. It also Leftover meat and beans became our traditional “Spooky Chili,” old sheets changed the entire holiday for me. I began to look at Halloween as a time when and fence posts became ghostly yard decorations and anything around the God reveals his ability to transform his creations into anything he desires. house was up for grabs to make one-of-a-kind costumes. See, my mom was an adamant “make your own costume” kind of mom. It wasn’t that we couldn’t It’s been a lesson that has always stuck with me; which is partly why I continue afford store-bought costumes; we just came from a long line of “Most Original creating my own costumes, dragging my amazing, easy-going husband into the Costume” contest winners. We had a reputation to maintain. obsession with me.

While other kids strutted around in their fresh-from-the-package princess or All this to say, when the kid with the coffee grounds stuck to her face comes Spiderman costumes, my sister and I could be seen sporting costumes like the to your door this year on Halloween, toss in an extra Reese’s Peanut Butter monkeys from Wizard of Oz, made from an old fuzzy blankets and blue Jell-O to Cup in remembrance of the ultimate repurposer. Even if that kid is a twenty- hold our hair up straight; Stephan Spielberg, complete with a beard made from something editor of Chatter looking to get some free candy while on vacation in coffee grounds held in place with cold cream; Aunt Jemima, probably my most Dallas. unintentionally offensive costume ever; and, my personal favorite, “lady with a You’re never too old to Trick-or-Treat … right? tutu underneath her dress,” also not my finest moment, but my mom got a huge kick out of making me shake my tulle-stuffed fanny at every doorstep before grabbing any candy.

Stand-in Editor Extraordinaire Kristy Alpert

Art Direction, Design & Goodness Josh Wiese & Dennis Cheatham

Photography Visit Chatter online at chattermag.com. Trey Hill (Bible Commnities Update) Contact Chatter at [email protected].

The Big Cheese Chatter is a publication of Irving Bible Church | 2435 Kinwest Pkwy, Irving, TX 75063 Bill Buchanan (972) 560-4600 | irvingbible.org Bible Communities By the Numbers 20 Years Bible communities have been around 18–89 Range of ages represented in Bible communities 12 Number of communities offered at IBC 15–60 People in an average Bible community The Box is also the name of a 2009 thriller starring Cameron Diaz, In 2009 the average age to get James Marsden and Frank Langella. It was based on the 1970 short married in the United States was story “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, which was previously 25 for women and 27 for men. Chatter | 4 adapted into an episode of the 1980s incarnation of The Twilight Zone. A steady rain was beginning to fall, but that is not the reason we pulled the The saddest part of our week long marriage intensive is that most of what we car over onto the side of the road just outside of Austin that unusually warm would encounter could have been dealt with prior to our marriage. Why didn’t October. Cheryl, who had been driving, was now staring into my eyes waiting anyone ask these tough questions of us before we tied the knot? Where was for me to speak. I was shaking as I held the fine crafted wood box in my hand. the accountability of older more mature couples speaking in to our lives? We Could I really give her this gift? Was I insane? The thing I now held, so close to were certainly open and ready those fourteen years ago, but no one stepped handing over to her, would either be the end of our marriage or the beginning of forward: not our church, nor friends. It was as if everyone we knew carried something we had never experienced before. the philosophy that marriage is easily figured out. Experience is the only way to get through the complication of a lifelong commitment. Why do we spend We married young. I had just graduated college and we were both green to the four to ten years preparing for our careers in complicated educational systems ways of the world, let alone marriage. We were children of broken homes and no yet spend virtually no time preparing for marriage? And that marriage will, in one we knew had insisted we enter into any sort of pre-marriage counseling. As all probability, have infinitely greater consequences on us and others than our most people at our age, we were young and stupid enough to believe love alone careers. We realized something in the system was broken. If the church is a would carry the marriage for the next fifty years. Children came quickly and so community, preparing couples for marriage should be of primary concern. did my religious vocation. By the age of twenty-two I was the youth minister at a very unhealthy and destructive church of 8000. By thirty, I was let go from We spent the next five days in hours of intense sessions with three other my second dysfunctional church. In ten years of marriage we scarcely survived couples we did not know. A plethora of questions, discussions, time alone three life-threatening car accidents, two damaging churches, three miscar- with Cheryl, group therapy and play time. Our barriers fell quickly as we both riages, near poverty, unemployment and the pain that comes from two lifetimes realized that at this point we had nothing to lose. The most arresting detail of of unresolved hurts. our week was that we hardly spent any time talking about marriage. In fact, we never tried to “fix” anything. The week addressed how we were raised as Now in the third year of leading a start-up nonprofit, Wonder Voyage Missions, children, the way we communicated, our interpersonal hang-ups and a variety our long stagnant and unsettled issues burst to the surface. I came from a fam- of other issues that helped form us into the humans we grew up to be. As we ily who dealt with conflict by pretending all was well. It was a deadly unrealistic confronted our inner demons and the factors that led to our emotional and optimism. (If we pretend there are no problems they will eventually fade away.) spiritual make-up, we started to find a path to healing. Christ dealt with us as Cheryl’s family used volatile anger to deal with conflict. The first few years of individuals and we began to find a path of wholeness through his grace, provi- Wonder Voyage brought no money, odd jobs, a plethora of problems and a thin sion and transformation. As we became healthier, the potential for a healthy slice of hope. It is no wonder the stress of this new endeavor caused the mar- marriage grew exponentially. riage to eventually detonate. By the final hour of the week, most of the couples were engaged in a different By the fall of 2002, Cheryl and I had decided to separate. We had been two way than they had through the rest of their lives. Yet, Cheryl still had not com- strangers living under the same roof for nine months. The separation of long mitted to the marriage. Each person in the circle shared insights and moments weeks away from the family while I was on various mission trips did not help to of wonder they experienced throughout the week. There was a palpable joy that heal the marriage: we were about to enter the most painful season of our lives. filled the room. These couples would never be the same. Cheryl was the last to share. I sat, palms sweating, as I thought of the box. It had been a great week I stayed at the house with our three children while Cheryl moved to a weekly for us but we never talked about our future together so we could fully focus on rental apartment down the road. We traded the kids off on the weekends, went the process. I battened down the hatches of my heart, prepared for the worst. to school events as a couple and even ate together as a family twice a week. And She softly spoke of her week. It was rough beyond her comprehension but she we talked. We talked for hours and hours every week. We had nothing to lose discovered more about herself in the last six days than in the first 35 years of her and nothing to hide. All our years of pain, frustrations, hidden agendas, false life. Then she turned and looked into my eyes. I could feel my heart pounding in thoughts, unbridled anger; it all was laid out on the table. By the end of October my chest. Catching me off guard she spoke, “I want to come home … if you’ll take we ran out of words and we still had no resolution. We had one more step before me.” The words stuck in my throat. Stuttering, my response was unplanned. divorce. We took a week to join a marriage intensive retreat in Austin, Texas. “Forever?” She smiled and grabbed my hand. “Of course forever, silly man.” The This was the day we were to start the retreat. But now we sat on the side of kiss that followed could have been the end of any romantic movie. The room the highway as rain blurred the windshield and cars whipped past our ve- erupted in explosive handclaps. It was a surreal moment to say the least. hicle, throwing water onto the hood. Throughout our marriage I had collected It’s been almost eight years since that kiss. Cheryl and I now have the marriage wooden boxes from around the world for Cheryl. She had several from six dif- we always fantasized about during the first fourteen years of our marriage. ferent continents. Now I was handing her what might be her last box. “Cheryl, There are still moments in which the world is crumbling or personal tragedy this box represents everything we have had in our marriage. All our joys and pushes us to the limits of our emotions. We work harder now than ever to laughter; our adventures and hardships. They are all contained in this box. All communicate and take moments to rejoice in the gift of marriage. Marriage these years, I have held onto these memories and these moments. I now give is a lot tougher than anyone ever thinks and infinitely more precious than one them freely back to you. Whatever happens this week, I return your life to you. can imagine. If we decide to part ways I will let you go — no strings, no fight; Your life is back in your hands.” She sat staring at the box as tears rolled down her cheeks like And the box? The box is proudly displayed in our home, a testament to the rain rolling off the windshield. But she did not speak. She started the car and miracle of marriage. Though we have our ups and downs, our marriage has been headed to our hotel. what we always dreamed a marriage could be: a joining of two best friends. And the box continues to deepen as more memories fill it every day. Accepting the box was the defining moment of a week that opened a door I was uncertain about entering. I felt like Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar. The moment Cheryl accepted the box as a gift may have been the first time I truly ‘The Box’ is an excerpt from an upcoming book by Shawn Small in 2012 presently gave my marriage into the arms of God. The box was now hers. It represented titled Moments of Wonder. all our years together. Would they be the foundation to a future together or the final chapter of this season of our lives?

The city of Round Rock is just outside of Austin. It is named According to comedian Brian Regan, the plural of the word box is after a low water crossing point on the Chisholm Trail that “boxen.” Chatter laughed and then corrected his grammar. was marked by a rock. And you guessed it, it was round. It’s still there. Look it up. Chatter | 5 I was born Juana Emilia Urnizius in 1938 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Growing up with my two sisters, I always had a love of art. I would get lost in my sketches during classroom lectures while the other kids strained to pay atten- tion. When I was older I decided I wanted to be an artist, but my father didn’t approve; he believed being an artist was a career for only the rich and advised me to become a teacher.

Giving up the dream of becoming an artist, I went to school to become a teacher. Shortly after graduating, I married Fidel Matassa and we had three children, Sergio, Monica and Alex. In 1971 we immigrated to Texas as permanent resi- dents, hoping to give our children a better life in the States. We worked hard, raised our children and watched as they graduated, married and had children of their own. Our life was wonderful. I even began taking art classes and started painting everything God inspired me to put on canvas. God blessed my work as an artist, and I won many awards for my paintings — one award was given to me for perfecting a difficult technique I had never heard of before. My art became Portrait of an Artist my way of understanding God and forgetting about the world. The life and testimony of painter Emy Matassa In the winter of 2001 I suddenly experienced a strange pain in my back, but did not see a doctor right away. I was too busy preparing the final details of the mural in my daughter Monica’s nursery for her first child due in February. On January 24, 2002, Gabriela Faith Gregory entered the world in silence … she was stillborn. It was something no grandmother should ever have to see, or no mother for that matter. To help cope with my pain, I painted a picture of Gabri- ela sleeping in Jesus’ arms. This was the first tragedy in our family, but Chris and Monica accepted God’s will in such a way that my husband accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. All things work for the good of those who love him!

All things work for the good of those who love him? Two weeks later doctors found a tumor in my back and I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer. The doctors gave me three years to live. Imme- diately I started my chemotherapy treatments. The pain was unbearable; I was feeling lost and lonely because nothing and no one could help me. My husband began to read the Bible to me daily. In all things God works for the good of those who love him!

At this point I could not move from the pain and my body was destroyed. The explanation for this revealed itself in Jeremiah 18:4, “But the pot he was shap- ing from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” Right there I felt God, in his divine mercy, was reshaping me and making me better. In all things God works for the good of those who love him!

While waiting for my test results, I took a small piece of paper and started sketching. It took form as a smiling Jesus embracing a little girl (me) while she stood on his feet. I could see in the face I was drawing that he knew everything was okay. Moments after finishing the sketch, the nurse came in and said the tests were negative. I am now an eight year survivor in God’s hands.

The doctors call it a “plateau,” not remission, because cancer cells appear in all of the quarterly tests, but the numbers are stable and under control. I believe God can take this cancer totally away any time he chooses, but he does not do it because he loves me so much that he wants me to focus on him. He does not want me to be the same type of “Christian” I was BC (before cancer). It is hard to believe, but I thank God for keeping me in this situation.

I’ve noticed my paintings and artwork now more directly relate to Jesus. My artwork was a blessing all through my cancer, and it revealed to me more about my Jesus — his character, his love and compassion, and how he does miracles every day. Now I know “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Emy Matassa has extremely gifted hands as an artist, hairdresser, cook and seamstress. She is 72 and hopes to try working with clay in the near future.

The Emmy® Awards are given each 1971 was the year the Argentinean military dictatorship revealed year by the Academy of Television the location of Evita Perón’s body (which had been stolen from her Arts & Sciences Buenos Aires tomb during the 16-year ban of Peronism). Chatter | 6 A Very Literate Moment with Chatter We like to read. A lot. We’ll read anything really: books, blogs, magazines, cereal boxes and even the occasional newspaper (who are we kidding, we only subscribe for the comics). Being the ever-so-literate community that we are, we proudly bring you two great books for your potential perusal. Enjoy!

book book Bittersweet: The Church of Facebook: Thoughts on change, grace, and learning the hard way How the hyperconnected are redefining community 1 By Shauna Niequist (Zondervan, 2010) 2 By Jesse Rice (David C. Cook)

Why it’s on our radar: Why it’s on our radar: Shauna is coming to IBC in November on her national book tour, so we figured Christian nepotism. The author, Jesse Rice, is in a home group with your Chat- we should tell you a little about it before that time comes. ter stand-in editor extraordinaire in Portland, Ore.

What this chick thought: What this chick thought: Bittersweet is so much more than mere thoughts on change, grace and learning I’m not going to lie; I was a little embarrassed to purchase this book at the store the hard way, as the subtitle suggests. It is a wealth of wisdom from a woman because I felt like I was admitting my obsession with Facebook to the entire who has yet to emerge from a season of tough changes. staff. However, once I opened the book I was instantly humbled by its contents.

Even with its high wisdom content, Shauna’s writing is extremely relatable. The Church of Facebook gets to the bottom of why our species has thrived on While most of us appreciate and admire the lofty theological ruminations of Facebook in just five years. (It seems like it’s been around forever!) Rice jumps such contemporary spiritual giants as Rob Bell and Barbara Brown Taylor, I’ve into talking about our desire for authentic human connectedness; how our always felt they were a bit out of reach. For them, I stand back and take notes; creator instilled in us a desire for deep intimacy and how for years we have for Shauna, her words roll around in my head and heart like the advice of a close stifled this desire with work, school, material items, etc. Facebook entered our friend. I often found myself saying, “You too? I world and we’ve all been drawn to it like thought I was the only one!” flies to those awful bug-zappers. Our longing for intimacy has now been After my first read through ofBittersweet created virtually, so why wouldn’t we ob- (yes, I’ve already read it more than once … and sessively check Facebook for wall posts, I rarely read a book more than once) the first picture comments or pokes? Our innate words that came to mind were “honest, bor- desire is to be accepted and told we’re derline raw.” Her first book,Cold Tangerines, successful, intelligent and the hottest and calls our attention to the extraordinary in our funniest person in the world. (TMI ... is seemingly ordinary lives. Bittersweet shifts that just me?) We also need to know our our focus from life in the ordinary to life when lives are better than others, so we check it takes a sharp left and downright sucks. She that newsfeed like it’s going outta style! lets us into the frustration and fear she felt We look to see whose life is worse than when she and her husband stopped listening ours, and I’m pretty sure we go through to each other, into the heartbreak and isola- photos with judgmental eyes to lift our- tion she experienced during a miscarriage selves up. and into the loneliness and anxiety that came with an overcommitted life. We are let into the struggle right beside her, into Although Rice doesn’t bash Facebook the place that isn’t cleaned up and packaged with a pretty bow. Through it all by any means, he clearly communicates she learned that “if you can find it within yourself, in the wildest of seasons, just the fact that it has become a way of creating false intimacy. When was the last for a moment, to trust in the goodness of God, who made it all and holds it all time you honestly communicated with another person? Genuinely cared for together, you’ll find yourself drawn along to a whole new place, and there’s truly that person? And let’s get crazy here ... when was the last time you actually took nothing sweeter.” that virtual friend to the trendy-yogurt-place? Facebook has made it easy for us to create a faux summary of ourselves. We market ourselves as who we want Regardless of the season you find yourself in, you’ll close the pages ofBitter - people to believe we are, and manipulate how we’re really feeling. We may be sweet feeling a deeper sense of courage, hope and gratitude. constantly creating status updates, but do any of them actually reveal the state of our hearts? We live in a society that has emotional intimacy problems.

Aubrey Flores would rather hear nails on a chalkboard than open a potato chip Rice transitions to ways for conquering these intimacy problems in our society. bag — that crinkly sound makes her cringe … sometimes writhe. Now, I could tell you what he says, but then you’ll never read the book! And trust me, you want to read it! He is an excellent and engaging writer. My favorite part was how each section took you to another country/city, and this wanderlust ap- preciated the journey.

Natasha Saran has bungee jumped over the Nile, ridden a camel in Mombasa and bought a teapot full of ice cream in Sudan.

Small world moment: Shauna Niequist recently did Jesse Rice is very open about his love for a book signing at the church where Jesse Rice used pop music and the Twilight series; or maybe to be a worship pastor in Menlo Park, California. that was told to us in confidence… Chatter | 7 Community. Friendship. Relationship. Family. They all describe the same thing: a group of people walking through life together. It’s pos- sible to go it alone, but it’s not healthy, fun or what God designed for us. In John 17, when Jesus prayed we would be one as he and the Father are one, I think he made it clear he wants us to be there for each other as we lift each other up, speak words of truth and navigate the seemingly impossible situations of our lives. If you are looking for community and are ready to take the first step, please come and try one of the communities listed on the right. We call them “small groups on Sundays” because it’s a place for you to truly belong and meet others who desire to be on the journey with you. You don’t have to pre-register, read a book or get a blood test — just come as you are and start your own journey towards finding the relationships God has for you. Hope to see you soon! Blessings, Jen

One Gal’s Perspective Her mission: Attend all the Bible communities at IBC as a newcomer and live to tell the tale.

Even though I’ve been attending IBC for eight years, I really knew nothing One group that really changed my perception was Thrive; this group is for about the Bible communities. Going in, I really didn’t know what to expect, and, singles in their 30s and 40s. First of all, this group really knows how to have fun! honestly, I thought they all would be similar to Bible studies. Since I already As I sat and listened to their announcements, I was amazed at all they have go- attend a regular Bible study, I wondered what I would discover with these new ing on, from lunches to game nights and everything in between. I got the feeling communities (well, new to me at least!). there is always an opportunity to connect with this group. But besides the fun, I was truly inspired by the stories they shared during their small group time. The I decided to begin with Journey; which I felt was very fitting since I was on honesty and openness they had with each other was refreshing. One woman, a journey of sorts. I think I also picked this one to start because it’s open to who was relatively new to the group, commented that she felt so accepted and everyone — singles, couples, all ages — so I actually fit the profile and figured found this to be a safe place where people were genuine and willing to really I wouldn’t feel out of place. The funny thing is, I didn’t feel out of place in any reach out and share with each other. I witnessed her statement first-hand as I of the communities I visited, even when it was obvious I didn’t belong. Every sat and listened to the conversations around me. Another woman talked about group I visited along the way, whether it catered to singles, couples or to specific how hard it was after her divorce to even come into a class for “singles,” espe- age groups, made me feel welcome. (And that was even before they knew I was cially after she and her husband had been part of a couples’ community. But writing an article for Chatter!) once she took that first step, she was so glad she did because she found people who understood where she had been and what she had been through. She found Each group had its own identity and way of creating fellowship. While I was in acceptance and support. the Journey community, I found out it’s one of the oldest communities at IBC and some of its members have been a part of Journey since it started. Talk I began to see why being part of a community can really make a difference about walking through life together! Some of these folks have been together in your life. for 17 or 18 years, studying the Word and forming friendships that will last a lifetime; one woman described it as an extension of her family. It was I visited several more communities over the next couple of weeks and found after visiting that first class that I realized these Bible communities are so people connecting to each other, having fun with each other and just living life much more than Sunday school or Bible study, they really are a gathering together. There was an easy camaraderie in the groups and even the newbies of friends. This proved to be true as I continued my journey over the next felt comfortable and easily fit in. These people really seem to know each other; several weeks. they know each other’s families, they know each other’s struggles and they have shared in each other’s burdens.

Not only did Chatter inspire this writer to A Bible-community-inspired tale: If you ever take a journey with your join a Bible community, but we also take full girlfriends to the nexus of Central Park, stay on-track to head to the credit for inspiring Jackie Roese’s hair style. point where the great tree thrives so you can feel the synergy that Chatter | 8 You’re welcome Jackie comes from the renewing of the legacy builders at the crossroads. On Track – 10:45 a.m. – West C These Sunday morning gatherings offer relevant Bi- ble teaching, mutual encouragement and the chance for single parents to make some great new friends.

Crossroads – 10:45 a.m. – The Alcove Crossroads is a place where relationships and faith intersect. It’s a class designed for mid 20- to 30-something couples who are navigating through marriage, children and the complexities of life with God as their compass. Crossroads uses a small group format and engages in relevant, lively and thought-provoking Bible teaching.

Journey – 10:45 a.m. – Middle School Room The Journey class is a fellowship of believers and seekers who want to deepen their interpersonal relationships within IBC. Our informal and relaxed format is centered on Bible-oriented lessons with Synergy – 9 a.m. – Middle School Room table discussions. The environment is warm and A place where couples come together to hear friendly, and the experience will be enhanced by at the life-giving Word of God, to invest in relation- least six fellow attendees at your table. Sessions end ships and encounter the living God so they are with prayer concerns, and the class meets for lunch changed forever. at a nearby restaurant semi-monthly. People in Journey genuinely care for one another and truly be- The Tree – 9 a.m. – West D lieve that “two are better than one.” We have singles, The Tree is a community of young married and married couples and those with spouses who do engaged couples who are either in or are about to not attend church. If you want to meet others, enjoy begin the wonderful adventure of marriage. We stimulating discussions while deepening relation- laugh together, cry together and do our best to help ships with others on their personal journeys, we each other love our Lord, our spouses and the people invite you to join us as we journey this life together. God has placed in our lives. We are a network of friends who do life together both inside and outside Girlfriends – 10:45 a.m. – Commons Annex the classroom. We do this in small group settings in Girlfriends is a community dedicated to women an effort to encourage one another in our relation- who are solo on Sundays. Married or single, come One Gal’s Perspective ship with our spouses, our family, friends and, most and enjoy the caring environment that Girlfriends Her mission: Attend all the Bible communities importantly, our savior Jesus Christ. has to offer. This community is rich in relationships and has a heart to grow in Christ. The encouraging at IBC as a newcomer and live to tell the tale. Nexus – 9 a.m. – The Alcove atmosphere provides a unique environment of sup- Nexus is a community of singles wishing to make a port and growth. It is a place for study and discus- difference in the world. Our desire is to live a life sion and a place to develop genuine relationships. Not only are the communities a great place to of purpose for God while making friends who want connect with people, they also give you an op- to learn and serve together. The goal is authentic The Point – 6:45 p.m. – The Alcove portunity to serve. The Girlfriends community community where we can share our lives with The Point is a gathering of young adults, unified in adopted the Irving Care Center, an assisted living caring friends. a passionate pursuit of the living God. We are com- facility, where they visit residents, help spruce mitted to discovering truth and living it out in our up the grounds and provide support, love and Renew – 10:45 a.m. – The Training Center lives, our worship, our relationships and our service encouragement. Renew is a multi-generational gathering where sig- to others. Our heart’s desire is to love and serve the nificant relationships are shaped as we seek God’s one who set us free. I hear people talk all the time about feeling discon- purposes for our lives. It is a place where you will nected and lonely; that the church has gotten too feel welcome, supported, respected and cared for Central Park – 6:45 p.m. – Conference Room big and they don’t know anyone. Here’s an oppor- and have the chance to do the same for others. We Central Park is a young adult community of singles and marrieds. We seek to really build authentic tunity and a way to get connected; a way to make a believe God created us for community and we value the friendships we form with other IBCers. Come relationships that go deeper in each others’ lives as big church seem personal. I think there’s some- see our highly interactive style of Bible community we continue sharing our life stories and as we serve thing to these communities. Face it, life is just so that fits well with people of all ages and places in and follow Christ alongside each other. We value much better with people to share the journey. life. You may just want to stay. learning about God’s truths in scripture and living Of course, this is just one gal’s perspective; out our faith. Get ready to be welcomed, to be chal- Thrive – 10:45 a.m. – West D lenged and to have fun. take your own journey and visit some of the Thrive is a young-adult singles class where mean- communities to find out for yourself. You might ingful relationships are developed through study, Legacy Builders – 6:45 p.m. – Zone Jr. 7 be surprised. friendship and service. It’s a place where people We are a community for single or married people learn to pursue Christ’s best and join in the adven- of all ages. We are always learning how to apply ture of walking with him. In Thrive, singles estab- what the Bible says about everyday life. You will Peggy Norton grew up in a small community in lish connections, enjoy acceptance and encourage- experience great teaching, prayer and thought- Pennsylvania where everyone knew her name. ment and draw strength from God and one another. provoking discussion.

Got questions about Bible communities? Contact Community Pastor Jennifer Lefforge at [email protected]. Making There’s an episode of Dharma and Greg that speaks to the deep How to Woo and Win New Church Friends New things of my heart and a profound need of the American church. in Seven Easy Steps Yes, you read that sentence right: Dharma and Greg. 1. Meet someone while passing the peace, Friends… waiting in line at the Mo or attending a Bible In case you had better things to do in the nineties than watch community. second-rate sitcoms, here’s a summary: Greg is straight-laced and conservative. Dharma is a hippie; wild, passionate, reckless and 2. Meet their spouse. Point out something small carefree. Greg marries Dharma. Hilarity ensues. you have in common: “Oh! Opposable thumbs, huh? Nice. Me too!” Smile. In the only episode of that show I can remember, Dharma and 3. Run into them a second time at church and Greg are lamenting their loneliness. Their single friends have invite them to lunch after the service. dumped them and they don’t have any couple friends. They then meet a couple and it’s like love at first sight. They have so much 4. Observe a three-day cooling-off period. in common — he likes cars and baseball, so does Greg. She likes 5. Start working an angle to have them over for rock music and margaritas, so does Dharma. They like the same dinner. Some suggestions are: restaurants and the same movies. Piano music plays. Birds sing. • Sit at their table at Wednesday Everyone laughs in slow motion. evening meals in the Commons. • Be bold; call them up and invite But Dharma and Greg push too hard. They’re too eager, and their them to dinner. new friends stop calling. Eventually, Dharma and Greg spot them at a café with another couple. Shocked and betrayed, Dharma storms 6. Ask for a commitment, like a mention in into the restaurant and causes a scene. “How could you cheat on us their will. like this? I thought you were our friends! Who are these people?” 7. Apologize for overplaying it in Step 6 then It was a funny episode but only because my wife and I knew it too offer to make it up to them when you vacation well. We’ve been in that boat. Who hasn’t? together on a two-week cruise next month. You’ve already booked. They can’t say no. You meet someone interesting but then you zig when they zag. You I’ll admit our Seven Easy Steps may need some laugh at something that wasn’t a joke. Or your schedules just don’t tweaking, but the message is this: you have to be allow for the natural next step — that imaginary platonic courtship intentional. Deep and meaningful relationships where you say, “Hey Mark, it was really good to meet you and Missie are difficult and set against long odds. They are in line at Starbucks this morning. My wife and I were just on our opposed by our self-centered, self-sufficient, way to a Toadies concert and we happen to have an extra pair of alley-facing garage, drive-through, let-the-TV- tickets.” And they say, “No way! The Toadies played our wedding!” be-your-friend culture. They are opposed by our And a week later Mark calls to announce that Missie is pregnant work loads, our pace of life and our enemy who and they were wondering if the two of you would consider being the wants anything but iron sharpening iron. Friend- child’s godparents. ship, like anything else worth having, doesn’t just But alas, that only happens in sitcoms. happen. They require some work, some inconve- nience and some planning. It may be awkward, Hope is not lost. Since Dharma and Greg Episode 312 aired in 1999, but that’s what makes for great TV. my wife and I have experimented with many forms of couple court- ship and many new friendships. Some have failed fantastically, but others have grown into deep, meaningful and abiding couple-love. Ryan “Colonel” Sanders has a red guitar, three and not scaring Here are our tips.  chords and the truth. them away.

Mental Illness Seminar (a ministry for people who struggle with mental What: Mental Illness Seminar illness), this seminar is for anyone with a mental led by Tony Campbell An illness of the silent suffering illness, their family members, caretakers, friends from the Depression Connection When: For years mental illness has been a taboo topic in or even just those curious about how to respond to November 7, 2010 from 12:30–3:30 p.m. Where: the church. Oftentimes those who suffer with a someone with a mental illness. West C & D at IBC mental illness do so privately to avoid seeming “dif- It is a three hour crash course in what mental ill- For more information, contact Buzz Moody: ferent,” and those who don’t suffer from a mental ness is about and how to deal with it. Tony, who also [email protected]. illness struggle with the “right way” to talk to some- suffers from bipolar disorder, gets to the heart of one with one. things and includes experiences from his own life to On November 7, 2010, IBC is hosting a seminar that help increase understanding of these illnesses. Call will help clear up many of the misconceptions out the church or e-mail Buzz Moody at nami@irving- there about mental illness. Taught by Tony Camp- bible.org to sign up. There will also be a kiosk set up bell from the Depression Connection in Fort Worth the two Sundays before the seminar.

A certain member of the Chatter staff has seen the Toadies live on two seperate ocassions. Both were in the Chatter | 10 mid-90s. Neither were at a wedding. Water is Basic 5K Shoes with Soul

In the hushed early hours of a sleepy Saturday morning in There’s an old Rod Stewart album Dallas, the last sound you would expect to hear ripping through (and song), from way before he the silence is the sonorous rumbling of African drums. If you morphed into his current “crooner” dare venture out to the lushly shaded Katy Trail at 8 a.m. on phase, called “Every Picture Tells a October 9, 2010, that is exactly what you will hear. This would Story.” Well, with all due respect to be no bleary-eyed mirage, but the percussive music of the band the Mod, there are many other things African Rhythms, meant to move your feet into action — social that can tell a story far beyond the action, that is. obvious; for example … shoes.

The 4th annual Water is Basic 5K: Race for Clean Water is mov- Some of the most significant ing to a new location at the Katy Trail in Dallas, with pre- and events in life happen to us while post-race festivities for the whole family at Reverchon Park. we have our shoes on. We get If running is your passion, or you have ever been thirsty, this married, we graduate, we take event is for you! If you’re not into running solo, aim for the ul- our first pledge of citizenship, timate in group projects and gather 100 of your closest friends we show up for work on the and colleagues to run as a Maya Team. (In Arabic, “maya” first day of our first job … you means 100 and one Maya Team equals one well in Sudan.) Add get the picture. a little strength training to your run by taking on the Jerry Can Challenge, with or without a relay team. Forty-two pounds of But there’s also the Saturday water in a jerry can is the way Sudanese women and children you worked at Habitat for regularly carry water to their homes, and sometimes they have Humanity; the day you went to to trek as far as this race. Thankfully, you don’t have to boil it Houston Middle School to meet and drink it at the end, but it will definitely bring to light how your Lunch Buddy for the first our brothers and sisters have to struggle to survive on a daily time; that summer student mission basis in Sudan. trip to New Orleans. Then there are the boots that kept your feet warm delivering Thanksgiving You can make a difference. Whichever way you choose to run, baskets or the running shoes you wore for your first Basic 5K: African Rhythms will be drumming a beat to keep the energy- Race for Clean Water. levels high and your heart rate up. Registration is $30 per run- ner until October 7 and you can sign up at waterisbasic.org. Some significant times are more personal — i.e. the shoes you were wearing in the Comfort Zone while you held a little baby in your arms, the sandals on your feet when you walked down to light a red candle after asking Jesus into your heart or the sneakers you were wear- ing when you decided there is more to life than just “talking about it” and that you were going to commit to doing something with all you’ve been blessed with.

Just like pictures, shoes tell a story. We want to hear your story. That’s why we’re going to fill the open space above your head in the Town Square with a huge hanging “mobile” of shoes.

On average, every man, woman and child in America buys eight pairs of shoes a year. With 310,000,000 people, that translates into 2.48 billion pairs.

We’re asking for simply one pair of shoes from you.

Sandals, boots, sneakers, loafers, all kinds of shoes will serve as a tangible display of the many ways you are the hands and feet of Jesus. On the wall we’ll showcase some of those pairs and tell their stories so everyone will know how those specific shoes served.

So look in your closet or look under your bed to find thatone pair of shoes that tells your story. Bring them to church and look for the dropbox in the Town Square.

One more thing: this is going to be a big undertaking. There are cross pieces to build, hangers to hang, display shelving to put up … and a whole lot more. We would love for you to stretch your creative and/or construction muscles and join in on the fun.

If you’re interested in helping, or even think you might be interested but haven’t figured out how just yet, e-mail Rachael Currie at [email protected] or check out theshoes.irving- bible.org.

The path we chose and, in this case, the shoes we wear, tell the story of our walk with our Lord. Join us as we share these stories …

Bill Buchanan doesn’t wear flip flops — that little piece that goes between his big toe and the next one over just freaks him out.

Water is Basic recently drilled its After surgery for thyroid cancer in 200th well in Sudan. That is clean 2000, Rod Stewart had to re-learn water for 400,000 people. how to sing. Chatter | 11 This Month

Bible Communities Community Care Español IBCMen Communities on Sunday Hope for the Hurting Bilingual Ministry Ministry to Men

Girlfriends – 10:45 a.m. Griefshare Traducción del Servicio los First Watch The Commons Annex Tuesdays, 6:30–8 p.m. Domingos Fridays, 6:22 a.m., The Commons Girlfriends, Solo on Sunday, a Conference Room Traducción simultánea en el Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m., West C & D women’s Bible community for Griefshare is a caring group of Servicio de las 5 p.m. Escuchénlo women of any age or station in people who will walk alongside en la red: www.irvingbible.org. Se First Watch Xtra life who attend church alone will you through one of life’s most necesitan traductores. Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m., Training be getting ready to begin a study difficult experiences — you don’t Center on II Corinthians. We would love have to walk this journey alone. Sunday Service Translation Simultaneous translation available Annual IBCMen’s Golf to have you join us in our walk KidZone is available at kidzone. Tournament — Monday, with the Lord as we study, pray irvingbible.org for children birth during the 5 p.m. service. Spanish Translations online at www.irving- Oct. 25, 8 a.m. shotgun start and have fun together doing such to pre-K. Reservations must be See ad page 14. things as making earrings to sell made at least 48 hours prior to the bible.org. Translators needed. at our garage sale to raise money meetings. Contact Sharon at sha- ESL: (Ingles Como Segundo Visit men.irvingbible.org for info. for the parties and other services [email protected] for more Idioma) — AZ14 & 15 we provide at Irving Care Center, information. ¿Quiere aprender inglés? ¿Qui- a local nursing home. Local Partnerships ReEngage —Sundays, ere mejorar su inglés? ¡Ven a las Reaching the Community 6:45–8 p.m. — West C/D clases de inglés (ESL)! Join IBC’s new marriage ministry Practica en las cuatro destrezas: Children experience as we find ways to lectura, escritura, oral y auditiva. Tapestry Conference Infants Through 5th Grade reconnect with our spouses. Cada miércoles desde 6:30–8:30 Saturday, October 23 ReEngage is for all types of mar- p.m. Las clases empiezan 1 de Tapestry will host its annual adop- riages — those struggling, doing septiembre Para más información, tion and foster care conference on Special Needs Ministry okay or doing great and seeking contacte a Lauren Menge: esl@ Saturday, October 23, and it is not Needs SonShine Pals ways to grow. KidZone available irvingbible.org too late to register to attend. This Want to help a child realize the by online pre-registration at least all day conference offers great truth of Christ’s love for them? 48 hours in advance. Contact Jodi Estudio Biblico de Mujeres breakout sessions for virtually The Special Needs Ministry works Francis with questions at Martes 9:30 a 11:30am o 6:30 a everyone who is interested in or to help children who are uncom- [email protected]. 8:30 p.m. connected to adoption or foster fortable in a general classroom care. You can register online at Recovery at IBC — Thursdays, Acompañanos a estudiar y medi- setting by providing SonShine tapestryconference.org. Pals. SonShine Pals are volunteers 6:30 p.m. — The Commons tar en la palabra de Dios junto a (women, youth, elementary age, Perfectionism, pride, overeating, otras mujeres. Grace for the Wounded shopping, anger, control ... and Grace for the Wounded is a men, etc.) who have a heart to Women’s Bible Study you thought Recovery at IBC was confidential weekly small group help kids know Jesus. We have a Tuesday 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. or 6:30 just about drug, alcohol or sexual program for survivors of abuse waiting list full of children waiting to 8:30 p.m. addictions! in all forms. We cover issues like for a SonShine Pal; can you help? Join us as we study and meditate For more information contact Di- what the Bible says about abuse IBC Career Transition Ministry on God’s word with other women. ana at [email protected] and how surviving abuse has Wednesdays from 6:30–8 p.m. or fill out the volunteer application impacted us. The dynamics and Join the IBC Career Transition at servekids.irvingbible.org. impacts of abuse are universal and Ministry. We’ll walk with you and all are welcome. MyZone* enhance your job search skills. Explore MyZone is a safe environment for We meet Wednesdays and offer Learning Experiences for the Journey Women’s group starts at 6:30 p.m. kids with team building activities, an 8-week program to guide you Contact Bernadette (Bernie): (678) through a successful job search. life-application conversations, and Alpha 860–4575 Let us give you a view from the hir- high impact fun! Wednesdays from 6:30–8 p.m. ing side to assist you in preparing Men’s group starts at 6:30 p.m. in Training Center Wednesdays, 6:30–8:30 p.m. your resume, preparing for your Contact Paul: (214) 226–8234 th in the Zone, Grades K–5 next interview and much more. For Answering the Big more info, contact Lisa Ashbeck at Zone 6:30* Questions of Faith [email protected]. Zone 6:30 is a great way for your Sundays from 9–10:30 a.m. Resources in Training Center elementary age child to grow Stuff People Need deeper in their spiritual walk. Now Starts October 3 (5 sessions) is the time to take that next step Community Life Bible Reading and Reflection Citizenship Class — for your child and sign them up Saturday, October 2 Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m.­­­–8 for this dynamic small group Bible from 8 a.m.–12 p.m. Study that has a lifelong impact. p.m. Stitches of Faith — NEW Church History Become a U.S. Citizen! Join our th Who: K–5 grade LOCATION Tuesdays, 6:30 Saturday, October 2 “Path to Citizenship” in the Com- When: 6:15–8:30 p.m. every Tues- p.m.–8:30 p.m., Mosaic Café from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. mons Annex through December day staring September 14 We are working on squares for sol- 17, 2010. Class is open to all who Where: The Zone diers and have completed several Financial Peace University meet the minimum requirements Fee: $25 per child to cover the afghans for our military personnel. Wednesdays from 6:30–8:30 p.m. as established by the United cost of the study book and activi- Come join us and learn a new skill in Commons States Citizenship and Immigra- ties through the year. or technique. Questions? Contact Quest tion Service. No cost to attend; study material provided. Contact Register online at Wendy Vera at (214) 533-2781 or e- Saturday, October 2 [email protected] for zone630.irvingbible.org mail [email protected]. from 8 a.m.–2:30 p.m. more information. *For more info contact Melissa Volunteer at the Citizen Class Franke at [email protected]. Wednesdays from 6:30–8 p.m. Interested in leading others to

Chatter | 12 This Month

obtain the necessary knowledge Potluck Lunch Join the IBC College Ministry Budget Coaching in their preparation in becoming Sunday, October 17, from Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. in the Are you ready to get financially fit? a U.S. citizen? Join our team on noon–2 p.m. — Training Center Alcove (below the Mosaic Cafe at Want someone to help coach you Wednesday nights now through Bring your favorite dish! IBC). For more information, con- so you can take control of your December 17. No experience nec- tact [email protected]. finances God’s Way? For more info essary! Contact Michael Larson at Mustang Park Fall Carnival about getting a personal budget [email protected]. Friday, October 22 from 6–9 p.m. coach, contact budgetcoaching@ Carnival games, cakewalk, irvingbible.org, or Rob and Sara decorated pumpkin auction and 2435 Kinwest Parnell at parnellsbudgetcoach@ concessions! Wednesday Nights at IBC Seasoned Saints gmail.com or (972) 304–1783. Fall Festival in the Country For the Young at Heart (ages 55+) Hearing Assistance Saturday, October 30, noon–9 p.m. Hearing Assistance is available The Davids’ home in Ponder, Texas during all three worship services. Dinner and a Show — Thursday, Cook-out, pumpkin carving, kids’ You can stop by the Journey October 14 at 6 p.m. costume parade, games, sports, Lounge for instructions. Join us for dinner at Boston Mar- live music, bonfire, hayride and ket at 6 p.m. located at 5487 N. Job Transition Workshop — Support Group for Families more! Register online at single- MacArthur at Walnut Hill, followed Wednesdays, 6:30–8 p.m. with Children Who Have Special parents.irvingbible.org under the by a 7:30 p.m. show at Carpenter Get the inside scoop on resumes, Needs “Fall Festival” link. Hall. The Entertainment Center at networking, interviewing, job A Support Group for families who Carpenter Hall presents The Vocal Any questions? Contact Marsha at search and company research. have children with special needs Majority: Four-part a cappella (972) 560–4633 x586 or at mtrib- One week will be for open discus- meets the first Wednesday night harmony creates an extraordinary [email protected]. sion on other topics related to the of each month in the conference musical experience, featuring job search and unemployment room. Share resources, tips and barbershop favorites, jazz classics issues. Contact Lisa at 2435job- fellowship with other families who and Broadway pops! You won’t [email protected]. have some of the same challenges want to miss this! Student Ministries that you might. Be uplifted with Middle & High School ESL: English as a Second scripture, empowered with re- Potluck Lunch and Fellowship Language — Wednesdays, sources and comforted by know- Sunday, October 17 6:30–8:30 p.m. — AZ14 & 15 ing that you are not alone. For Commons Annex Sundays — 6:45–8 p.m. Do you want to learn English? Do more information, contact Diana Head to the Commons Annex, 6-8th grade meets in you want to improve your English? Blessing at dblessing@irvingbible. immediately following the second The Commmons Come to ESL classes! Practice org. morning service for a potluck all four skills: speaking, listening, th lunch and some great fellowship. 9-12 grade meets in reading and writing. For more Respite Care — Saturday, Bring a dish to share! the High School Room info, contact Lauren Menge: October 23, 2010 from 5:30– 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays [email protected]. To add or remove names from Respite Care provides a night out Join us each Wednesday to expe- the Seasoned Saints mailing Visit 2435kinwest.org for a list of for families each month by provid- rience The “W.” list, please e-mail bgroezinger@ other activities and ways to get ing supervision for children with verizon.net. Bring $3 for a delicious meal involved. special needs and their siblings and stay for fun, games, and while their caregivers have a few relationships. hours to themselves. Volunteers plan and facilitate this amazing Single-Parent Family Contact [email protected]. Miscellaneous ministry and space for the children Community and Resources A Little Bit of Everything . is limited by the number of volun- teers. There’s room for you! If you Family Picnic Volunteer Opportunity — IBC are looking for an excuse to be a We kid again and act wacky, play ball, Sunday, October 3, 2010 Ministry To Women Liaison to the Dalit Freedom Andy Brown Park Network hula hoop, build with Legos or Bring your sack lunch, water bottle IBC is involved with two schools in love on a baby doll, come spend and be ready for some fun! MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) the Kutch region of Gujarat, India a few hours out of your month October 21 from 7–8:30 p.m., that offer a subsidized education for some fabulous kids! Contact Mentoring Ministry for Kids in The Alcove to Dalit children. We are looking Diana at dblessing@irvingbible. Single-Parent Families for an IBC liaison with the Dalit org for more information. Event 1: Meet your mentor for Women’s Fall Bible Study — Freedom Network (DFN) dalitnet- dinner at 5:45 p.m. in The Com- “Sisterhood: From Alone to NICHE (North Irving Christian work.org. Education is given to Home Educators) Monthly mons.Games and sports after- Known” the children regardless of caste, wards until 8:15 p.m. Tuesdays 9:30–11:30 a.m. -or- Meeting, Thursday, October 21, creed, skin color or faith. If you 6:30–8:30 p.m. in The Commons 6:30–8:30 p.m. For more informa- have a passion for justice/educa- Event 2: Greet our Troops at tion or to register, go to irvingbi- Annual Family Pot Luck Dinner — DFW Airport with your mentor. tion and would like to explore Father Knows Best — Dad’s role in ble.org and click on the women’s serving as IBC’s liaison with the Meet at IBC at 10:15 a.m. on Sat- ministry tab. homeschooling. urday, October 23. Return to IBC DFN, please contact dprevilon@ at 12:45 p.m. New Mom’s Group: Square One irvingbible.org. Bring the whole gang to this fun family meal! Our guest speaker, Thursdays, 10 a.m.–Noon IBC Crop Night Kids’ Night Out “Fear For registration or more infor- Phil George, will share his walk Factor!”Saturday, October 16, October 15, 5–10 p.m. with the Lord as a home-school mation contact Sara Taylor at The Commons Annex 6–9 p.m. — The Zone [email protected]. dad of 5½ kids. This is sure to Come and hear the answer to the Bring your pictures, albums and be an evening to remember! question: Where is God when I tools and let’s crop. If you are new Register your children for KidZone am scared? Pizza, “Wildlife on to scrapbooking let us know and at kidzone.irvingbible.org before the Move,” games and crafts! Young Adults we will be happy to help get you Tuesday, October 19. For more started. Don’t hesitate to join us if Register online at singleparents. 20s and Early 30s information about NICHE visit irvingbible.org under KNO “Fear you are a card maker, paper craft- texasniche.com. Factor” link. Children under 5 will er or digital scrapper. For more attend KidZone. College Ministry — Tuesdays, info contact Nikki Heinemann at 7:30 p.m. — The Alcove [email protected]

Chatter | 13 the Hindu Christian Interface

This five week course will equip you to cross Mondays cultures more effectively with Hindus at work, in your neighborhood and around the world.

September 13 Class sessions will include lessons taught by Hindu background believers, Christians working to October 18 among Hindus around the world and other experts regarding Hinduism and Hindu culture. There will 6:30-8:30 p.m. also be short reading assignments, multimedia presentations, Biblical reflections, discussion in West D groups and devotional music. HCI Registration A registration fee of $85 ($20 discount for additional family members) includes the main reading text. You are invited to join us for food and fellowship on Monday, September 13 for a free introductory class to find out more about HCI. IBC Men’s Golf Tournament at Bear Creek East Monday, October 25, 8 a.m. shotgun start Format: 4 Man Scramble – 2 Man sign up Cost: $49/person includes hamburger lunch For more info, contact Kym Yeichner at [email protected].

IBC’s Unreached People Group Focus Learn More

Since 2000, IBC has focused on the Kutchi, an unreached people group. If you would like to learn more about this ministry in Northwest India and Eastern Kenya join us on Thursday, November 4 from 6:30–8 p.m. in the The Com- mons Annex. You will have the opportunity to hear from several IBC’ers who work in these areas. To RSVP, contact Anna at [email protected] October 15–17 • Father/Daughter Campout Hiking, S’mores, Campfires • Lake Murray State Park, Ardmore OK

When: Thursday, October 14, 7 p.m. Where: The Commons Book: Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist

Take a fabulous group of women. Add a really good book. Mix in some great conversation. Top it off with a sprinkling of chocolate and you get Chick Lit. Shauna’s second book, Bit- tersweet, was just as meaningful to us as her first, Cold Tangerines. One of our favorite lines: “When life is sweet, be thankful and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”

For Chick Lit en Español, contact Kitty Gordon at (972) 745–0600.

Cost: $60 for dads and $30 for daughters Registration: men.irvingbible.org and click on “special events” tab

Bittersweet Book Tour, with author, Shauna Niequist Friday, November 5, 7 p.m., in The Alcove

Join us for an intimate evening with the author of our October Chick Lit pick. We’ll enjoy coffee, chocolate and great conversation as we hear more of her story. Shauna Niequist will share her thoughts about friendship, loss and how we find God’s fingerprints in even the darkest sea- sons. Together we will hear stories about faith, family and the nourishment we receive when we gather around the table with people we THURSDAY, love. We’ll talk about the moments of loss that October 28 shape us forever and the ways God redeems the broken places in our lives.

We’ll be selling the book for $10 (cheaper than 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. $10 for dinner Amazon!). For more information, contact Au- brey Flores at [email protected]. RSVP at [email protected]. Sunday Schedule HOW DO I GIVE First Worship Service: 9 a.m. My Time, Talents & Skills My Resources Children’s Classes (all ages) The Basic 5K Needs You! Cars for Missionary Families Nexus (40+ singles), The Alcove Water is Basic is gearing up for the 4th annual 5K at Do you have an extra car to loan a missionary family The Tree (newly and nearly weds), West D our new location — the Katy Trail. We need 80 vol- on furlough? Contact the International Initiatives Synergy (30s and 40s couples), unteers to help out on race day, October 9. Send an Department ([email protected]). e-mail to [email protected] for more details. Middle School Room Online Giving Option Thanksgiving Baskets are Almost Here! If you would find it more convenient to donate to the Second Worship Service: 10:45 a.m. We’re gearing up for the holiday season with our ministries of Irving Bible Church online, please visit Children’s Classes (all ages) Thanksgiving baskets. Would you join us this year give.irvingbible.org. to help out our neighbors in need by providing Crossroads (mid 20s to mid 30s couples), Your Trash is Our Treasure The Alcove a Thanksgiving meal? Our goal this year is 2,000 baskets! Pick up a basket in the Town Square starting We want your trash, specifically your recyclables! On Track (single parents), West C October 31, fill them and return them no later than Beginning Sept. 26 we are accepting all recyclables: Journey (all welcome), Middle School Room November 22 around the baptismal. For more infor- paper, plastic, aluminum, cans, all old electronics and ink cartridges. Every Sunday, before and after all Girlfriends (solo on Sundays), mation and to find out about volunteer opportunities, contact Anna Martinez at [email protected]. three services, we will have a recycling station set up Commons Annex in the Northwest corner of the parking lot where you Renew (multi-generational), Training Center Vox Humana Choir can drive through and drop off all your recycling from Thrive (30s and 40s singles), West D We are back in action and are always looking for the week. There is no need to separate the different singers to join our community. No audition required. items … just throw them all in one bag in the trunk Third Worship Service: 5 p.m. We rehearse every Wednesday from 6:30-7:50 p.m. of your car and take 30 seconds to drive through Children’s Classes (all ages) in The Alcove. For more info contact Crystal Elwell, the station and have the crew help you unload it! All director, at [email protected]. proceeds that IBC receives from now until the end of Community Dinner: 6 p.m. the year will go to our Haiti relief effort. We hope this Needed: Men and Women for Mentoring will become a community wide recycling project, so Community Events: 6:45 p.m. Would you like to “stand in the gap” by mentoring if you would like to help build this project and spread a boy or a girl from an IBC single parent family? All it the word contact Anna at [email protected]. The Point (20s singles), The Alcove takes is a little time and a big heart. Contact Marsha Central Park (20s singles & couples), at (972) 560–4633 x586. Conferance Room Can You Run a Camera? Legacy Builders (all welcome), Zone Jr. 7 We need more volunteers to run cameras during Middle School, The Commons the Sunday services. Contact Jeff Taylor at jtaylor@ High School, Student Ministries Area irvingbible.org.

Also, check out the Needs Board in the Town Square to Sunday Community Meals find out how you can help meet the needs of others at IBC.

Join us in the Town Square for our community meal on Sundays at 6 p.m. Meals are $3 per person or $10 max./family. JOURNEY 10/3 Pizza and salad bar God invites us to a journey. A journey that leads to him and connects us to others. Individu- 10/10 Chicken fajitas, chips, salsa and salad bar ally, our journeys are unique, but we share common needs. The need to deepen our souls. 10/17 Fresh grilled hamburgers, The need for relationship. The need for mission and purpose. At IBC, we are all about pork & beans and salad bar helping each other on our journeys. We invite you to explore irvingbible.org for all kinds of 10/24 Grilled chicken, veggies and salad bar ways you can navigate your journey. 10/31 Baked potatoes with fixins’, scary chili and Trick-or-Treat salad bar Deepen the Soul If you’d like to serve on a Sunday night meal Faith isn’t just a one-time discovery but also a lifetime of moving toward God. team, contact Pat O’Reilly at (214) 289-6176 or Our souls are made to grow, not just in knowledge but in connection with God. [email protected]. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey you can go deeper. Find Relationship Wednesday Midweek Meals Since creation, God has said it is not good for man to be alone. We are designed to work together, play together, live together. It is essential that we are in rela- tionship with others on the journey. Each Wednesday night from 5–6:20 p.m., IBC pre- pares meals for anyone wanting a good, hot meal. Join the Mission PB&J sandwiches are also available. Cost is $3/meal To be full, a life must be engaged in the story of God restoring his creation and or $10 max./family. Just come by The Commons, and grab a plate! connecting people to himself. We have a responsibility to each other globally and locally in making a difference. 10/6 Pasta with meat sauce, hot bread sticks, salad and dessert 10/13 Chopped BBQ beef sandwiches, pickle spears, coleslaw, chips and dessert Journey Lounge Whether you’re searching for answers, are a new believer, or have been a follower of 10/20 Grilled chicken filet, scalloped potatoes, Christ for many years, we’re all on this journey together…a journey to deepen our soul, corn, salad, rolls and dessert to be in relationship and to serve with mission and purpose. 10/27 Enchiladas, tacos, refried beans, Sometimes it’s hard to navigate that path because we share common needs, but each chips, salsa and freshly baked cookies person’s journey is unique. So, we’ve created the Journey Lounge and staffed it with folks If you’d like to serve on a Wednesday night meal we call Journey Guides. They are there to help you with your unique journey. team, please e-mail [email protected]. The Journey Lounge is open before, during and after all three worship services on Sunday. It’s located in the Town Square across from the fountain — just look for the cool sofas, comfy chairs and smiling faces.

Chatter | 16 We’re all meant to grow, to be in relationship and to join the mission. The Journey Lounge is a place to start. Halloween is once again upon us. For the has the attention- and memory-spans of a gnat, these roots have been forgotten. It’s the supremely ill informed out there, Halloween At least until VH1 does I Love the 40s. For example, Halloween costume main- Great Punk’n is a quasi-holiday for which not even the stays like Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein and Elmo can all be traced to the government shuts down — a riddle, wrapped Abbot and Costello Meet [Insert Scary Demon Muppet Here] films. Today’s crop Charlie Brown in a bite-size Laffy Taffy®, inside a Milk of popular costumes — Freddy Krueger, hippies, presidents, assorted Kardashi- Dud®. In other words, nearly impenetrable ans, etc. — can all be traced to China. with standard-issue teeth. Or Teeth of Wisdom if you care to continue the meta- Bobbing for apples, which naturally seems to derive from some sort of Dark phor. Which you probably don’t. But that’s Ages harvest festival, is actually the invention of little-known Pennsylvania too bad, because I was going to mention how I, your humble scribe, can wield pharmacist J. Albert Pickwick. Hoping to popularize his patented Pickwick’s my Dentures of Discernment to gnaw through the knotty, carmel (not caramel) Pucker Purifier, Pickwick proselytized the produce procuring practice in enrobed history of Halloween. order to prompt the proliferation of cold sores and, therefore, the need for his product. Eww. Alas, by the time apple bobbing took hold across the land, Everything I know about Halloween I learned from the 1966 television classic government-mandated mind control chemicals fluoride had made the spread of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Of course, I also gleaned a few facts from unsightly facial viruses via rain barrel nothing but a painful, mockery-inducing Wikipedia, a half-dozen viewings of Ghostbusters in 1984, original Twilight memory. It’s science, people. Look it up. Zone episodes (though not the one where a pre-Kirk William Shatner sees a de- structive troll on the wing of an airplane), Magic 8 Ball key chains and my crazy Of course, the highlight of Halloween, as far as youths are concerned, is candy. uncle Art — who really isn’t crazy, but has been “getting too old for this” since he Which only proves the naivety of said youths. After all, 85–98 percent of any was 32. In other words: highly verifiable, trustworthy sources. candy haul consists of dubious treats the kid either doesn’t like (coconut- based), is allergic to (peanut-based), has never heard of before (Pistachio I understand the confusion surrounding Halloween, especially in the world of Nerbles®), or is confiscated by a parent (M&M’S®, 3 Musketeers® and Milky Christianity. While some of us see the day as nothing more than an excuse for Ways®, if you must know). Also, the old razor-blade-in-a-candy-apple story is children and children-of-all-ages to dress up as filthy, stinking, harmonica- nothing but a suburban legend. Not because Ol’ Lady Nincombopper didn’t toss wielding hobos, others view it as a gateway holiday into full-on Beelzebubian a few Gillettes into a batch of carmel (again, not caramel) coated McIntoshes, bacchanalianism. In fact, both sides are wrong. (But if blowin’ harmonica for but because no child has ever been able to remove the cling wrap from such Kit Kat® is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.) Halloween dates back not to the confections. And for those who have long wondered why candy corns don’t look Druids or Stonehenge, but to 1920s New Orleans. As many folks — including anything like Green Giant Niblets, you’ve been thinking about the wrong kind of Sunday school teachers — know, Halloween is also known as All Saints’ Eve. corns. Double eww. What most folks — especially Sunday School teachers — don’t know is that All Saints’ Eve was founded by famed trumpeter Louis Armstrong who, naturally, Hey, the truth can be frightening sometimes, folks. Especially as we approach wrote the holiday’s theme song. (Armstrong would go on to posthumously write Louis Armstrong’s All Saints’ Eve and Crawfish Hoedown. the theme songs to both The Facts of Life and Growing Pains.)

Similarly, many of today’s most beloved, treasured and other cliché-ridden tra- Jason Fox would really like a book or syndication deal but fears all he’ll get is a rock. ditions have evolved from pop culture. But, since the collective populous now

Begin blatantly obvious Idle Chatter disclaimer.

WARNING: Idle Chatter is a tongue-in-cheek look at mildly important topics facing Christianity today and possibly in the year 2354. This column may or may not contain truths that are profound or profoundly imagined by the author. In other words, it’s for amusement.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Idle Chatter.

In June 2006, blogger John Walkenbach set a world record by A well-known Chatter equation: writing 100 consecutive blog posts with alliterative titles. The title Twix™ > Skittles® of the 100th post was “Hundred Hackneyed Handwritten Headlines (honestly almost anything > Skittles®) Have Happened Here, Habitués Hail Historic Handiwork.” Chatter | 17 SPECIAL FOCUS Sold. Victimized. Abused. The Faces of American Sex Trafficking

On February 6, 2011, Dallas/Ft. Worth will host the th DID 45 annual Super Bowl. This event typically attracts mass amounts of excitement and hype leading up YOU to kick-off, there is, unfortunately, a seldom mentioned dark side. KNOW? The material on the following pages is explicit and WARNING disturbing, and may be inappropriate for some readers.

50,000 women and children were brought in to Phoenix during the 2008 Super Bowl for sexual purchase.

Cities that have executed a well-prepared awareness campaign prior to a Super Bowl event have more successfully prevented this horrendous crime of buying and selling people for the pleasure and profit of others? Little Shackles

They hauled her in front of the judge in ankle shackles. parading through her courtroom month after month — 14, 13, A criminal. A perpetrator. 12-years-old. She had the hard edge in her face of someone who had seen a lot on She peered into the face of this child standing in her big, foreboding the streets. Someone who had done whatever it took to survive. courtroom with the shackles rubbing her dry, bruised ankles. She faced the judge, knowing what was coming. Her pimp had Her tiny ankles. The ankles of a 10-year-old. prepared her. The john would walk free, he told her. You’ll go to jail. The system proved the pimps right again and again. A 10-year-old charged with prostitution. A 10-year-old pulled by police out of the car of a buyer. Judge Nina Hickson dared to see When the judge looked down, though, something different made her as a victim rather than a criminal. her stop. Her mind raced with the faces of one child after another

The I-10 corridor is the number one route for trafficking in the U.S.

When Athens hosted the Olympics, they did nothing to create awareness of the heightened trafficking and sexual exploitation that would surround the event. Their increase in trafficking went up by 95 percent and since that date their percentage of sexual exploitation has never come down to pre-2004 levels.

Chatter | 20 That was the start of Atlanta’s determi- nation to rescue child sex slaves as Judge Hickson challenged the prevailing mindset that these were bad kids doing bad things who had to be punished. After all, they were criminals for crying out loud, prevailing logic said.

Georgia replaced that prevailing logic with hard data, launching a multi-year tracking study in 2007 to determine the number of young girls being forced into prostitution. They hired independent research firm, Schapiro Group to use scientific probability methods to count adolescent girls being sold Showing of the Documentary Playground on the streets, through escort services, and via Internet service postings on Craigslist A $10 ticket will get you in for a private showing of the documentary and other websites. Playground on November 16, 2010 at The Kessler in Dallas at 7 p.m. (contact Sara Taylor at [email protected] for more info). Fast forward to first quarter 2010, with 13 rounds of quarterly data tucked under their About the film: Sexual exploitation of children is a belt, the number of girls sold in one month problem that we tend to relegate to back-alley brothels in was 492. Look out to 2013, and the projected developing countries, the province of a particularly inhu- number based on research-to-date jumps to man and invariably foreign, criminal element. Such is the 1,500 victims a month. initial premise of Libby Spears’ sensitive investigation into the topic. But she quickly concludes that very little “There are more girls harmed in one month thrives on this planet without American capital, and the in Georgia right now by sex trafficking than commercial child sex industry is certainly thriving. Spears are killed in automobile accidents in a full intelligently traces the epidemic to its disparate, and year,” says Kaffie McCullough, campaign decidedly domestic, roots—among them the way children director for A Future. Not a Past, which over- are educated about sex, and the problem of raising aware- sees the research. ness about a crime that inherently cannot be shown. Her cultural observations are couched in an ongoing mystery If you would like more information about story: the search for Michelle, an American girl lost to the underbelly of childhood Georgia’s research, contact deena@traf- sexual exploitation who has yet to resurface a decade later. fick911.org. Executive produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Steven Soderbergh, and Three other states have joined Georgia in punctuated with poignant animation by Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara, Play- collecting research. New York has 3,280 vic- ground illuminates a sinister industry of unrecognized pervasiveness. Spears has tims a month, Michigan has 120 a month and crafted a comprehensive revelation of an unknown epidemic, essential viewing for Minnesota has 102 victims a month. any parent or engaged citizen.

IBC is supporting the efforts of Traffick911 www.playgroundproject.com with awareness, volunteers and church col- laboration. For more information, visit For more information please contact Krista at [email protected]. www.traffick911.org or contact Krista at Be watching for more information for a private IBC showing of Playground. [email protected]. Warning:* This film contains graphic material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

On any given night Dallas alone has 1,000 teens on the streets.

Chatter | 21 Katie was fifteen years old the first time she ran After listening to her for a while, he simply said, “You don’t have anything to away from home. She grew up in a small town in worry about. I am going to take care of you and take you away from here.” He Tennessee, living with her mother and stepfather and continued to tell her how special she was, how pretty she was and how she a younger brother and sister. She attended high school, would not have to worry about anything anymore. It was the best thing Katie was on the cheerleading squad and led an otherwise normal life to everyone had heard in two years. She got into the car with the man, whose name was Her- that knew her. man, and they drove off, driving all through the night, all the while Herman was as nice as he could be to her. Katie felt she was being rescued from all the night- Katie had spent the last two years being sexually assaulted by her stepfather. mares with which she had been living. Finally, the next morning, Katie woke Her mother did not know about the abuse, nor did anyone else. Katie was terri- up and looked out the window and saw they were entering Texas. She smiled at fied of telling her mother about it, fearing she would not believe her, or worse, Herman, this was the farthest she had ever been from her small town and it felt hate her. Furthermore, her stepfather, Harold, threatened to throw her out of like all her problems were on the other side of the world. the house and to blame Katie if she ever told anyone about what he did to her. They stopped at a motel just off the interstate. Herman said he had to go take One day her school counselor called her into her office and asked if anything care of some business and he left her there alone with a woman whom he intro- was wrong, noting that her grades had been dropping. Katie started crying but duced as his girlfriend. Katie was so relieved to have a place to stay and she felt because of her fear she said that everything was fine at home. After that meet- safe for the first time. Katie stayed at the motel for a week, and Herman would ing, she was afraid she could neither go home nor go back to school because of bring his other girlfriends by the room to introduce them. All the while when- what her school counselor might find out. So Katie wandered around the town ever he saw Katie, Herman would tell her how pretty she was and how much he for a while. She did not go to any of her friends or anyone else she knew, because loved her. she was afraid they would ask her why she didn’t want to go home. She had no money, no food and no place to go. As it started to rain she eventually found The next week Herman took Katie shopping for new clothes. He picked out sev- herself at the bus station. eral outfits for her, all of them very revealing, including some shoes with six inch heels. Katie told Herman she did not like the clothes, and that she did not want Katie never made it home that day. to wear them, but Herman replied that she would wear the clothes whether she liked them or not because he was taking care of her now. This was the first time Within 24 hours of leaving school, while at the bus station sheltering from the that Herman had ever yelled at her, and Katie didn’t know what to think. rain, a man drove up in what Katie thought was the nicest car she had ever seen. He was well-dressed and came over with an umbrella to where she was sitting. That night, Herman told Katie she would need to help earn money for them so “What’s wrong; why are you crying?” he asked as he sat next to her. they could stay at the motel. He told Katie to put on the clothes he bought her, which she did not want to do. When she expressed how she felt, Herman began Katie could not tell him what was wrong, but the man put his arm around screaming at her, and told her she didn’t have anyone except him, and that she her and told her he would take her to get some food. They went to a fast food needed to help earn money. He pushed her against the wall and, for the first restaurant where he told her to order anything she wanted. While she was time, Katie was scared of him. eating, he asked her again what was wrong. This was the first time Katie could remember that someone had been so nice to her. Besides, she did not know Later that night, Katie was still in tears, and Herman told her he was sorry anyone in her life to whom she could tell the truth, and who would listen to her, about what had happened earlier, that it would never happen again and that he even buy her food. loved her. He told her they needed money and that it would really help if she

15 percent of Texas calls to the National Human Trafficking hotline come from DFW.

More calls to the National Human Trafficking hotline come from Texas than from any other state.

Chatter | 22 could only sleep with one of his friends. That night Katie was prostituted out, Katie stayed in jail that time for two days because Herman was out of town and becoming a victim of human trafficking as a sexually exploited child of 15. could not bail her out. After talking to Katie, the woman convinced her to enter a shelter in New York. While there, she met other girls who had been victims of Five months later Katie was still working on the streets. The first month she sexual exploitation. She attended support groups, went to therapy, continued her was gone, her stepfather claimed she was just being a brat and was probably education and began to see that there was possibly a way out of her former life. staying at a friend’s house. A missing persons report was finally filed by her mother, but by that time the police and her family had no idea where she was. One day she got a telephone call from Herman. He told her he loved her and that Katie worked six nights a week and she had to bring in at least $1,000 a night. they should be together. Katie started crying as Herman told her the people at On nights when she did not bring in enough money, or did not want to work, the shelter did not care about her, and that they would only put her back in jail. Herman would throw her against the wall, pull her hair and hit her. The shelter had an open door policy; so that night Katie left … her location is not known at this time. During those months, Katie never had more than a dollar on her. Herman would take all the money she earned. She never had enough money to buy food or even Katie and others like her share a similar story of manipulation and abuse at the take the bus. She was completely dependent upon Herman and his other girl- hands of their traffickers. Pimps operate throughout the U.S., moving from city friends for everything. She was never allowed to meet anyone else. to city to evade law enforcement. The girls are forced into a life of isolation and forced prostitution. Domestic human trafficking is more prevalent in the U.S. Every time the police seemed to be picking up more than the usual number of than international human trafficking and it exists in all cities and locations. girls for prostitution, Herman would move all his girls to another city, Katie These victims are not willing prostitutes. They are forced to give all their mon- never knew anyone in the cities she went, and sometimes she could not even ey to their pimps and live a life of abuse and poverty. Because of the continuous remember where she was. Katie did not know any other life at this point. She cycle of isolation and manipulation, it is difficult for them to break free. never considered running away from Herman. She could not go back to her par- ents’ house where her stepfather was. She could not go back to her hometown because of what people would think if they found out she had been a prostitute. She could not go to the police because they would arrest her and put her in jail. There is Hope Herman was the only person who seemed to care about her. There are many local organizations committed to fighting the crisis of sexual exploitation. For more information on human trafficking and Katie occasionally got arrested for prostitution but Herman always bailed her ways to get involved check out: out. She had a fake driver’s license, and she had a complete script memorized about who she was and where she came from. She would be fingerprinted, but New Friends New Life Alert Ministries without any other identification or records tying her to her former life, she was newfriendsnewlife.org Facebook: Alert Ministries never flagged as missing or underage. Traffick911 DFWTraffick Whenever police officers asked whether Herman was her pimp, Katie would say traffick911.org Facebook: DFWTraffick he was her boyfriend. One time when she was arrested, she spoke to a survivor Twitter: @DFWTraffick of the sex industry. She showed Katie pictures of a time when she was arrested, And, watch for ways IBC will be addressing the sex trafficking crisis in which included bruises on her body from when her pimp had beaten her. He future issues of Chatter. never hit her on the face so that she would always be appealing to “the johns.”

For information on ways you can get involved in slowing and preventing human trafficking during the 2011 Super Bowl, contact Krista at [email protected].

Chatter | 23 A group of “Survivors” brought Chatter along on a military tour at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. (L to R: Bruce Kanegai, Jimmy Swan, Earl Cole, Jonny Fairplay, Russell Swan, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Zach Perry, Tina Wesson, Big Tom, Ami Cusack, James Clement, Mikey B, Cirie Fields)

Chatter…you CAN take it with you. Send us your Chatter photos on location, and you may see yourself in an upcoming issue. E-mail us at [email protected].