New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung from New Braunfels, Texas • Page 8

8A a Herald-Zeitung Friday, April 11,1997 Church Life To talk with Managing Editor Micah Boyd about Church Life, call 625-9144, ext. 220. Church Life Scent of India lingers long after trip Looking out the'window, a river slithers over the countryside like a smooth green snake sunning in the rocks. I'm going home. Thirty-six hours in airplanes is long enough for anyone's taste.

1 left India a day and a half ago after being in Punjab for more than a week. Punjab borders Pakistan and is just south of Nepal and the Himalayan Mountains. It is the land of the Sikh, a solemn and hospitable clan who's sacred city of Amistar hosts the beautiful Golden Temple. It is a land of smells and spices. No where on Earth is the variety of spices greater.

Your senses are highlighted with the spice of Indian life instantly and constantly. Always changing, every new town sends your senses whirling. India is a land like no other. It is more like a confederation of 25 separate nations than one nation and 25 states. More than 3,200 different languages and dialects are spoken! The Tower of Babel is alive and well in India.

Every state has different dress, customs, food, language and culture. It is impossible to take all in. I was in India to visit the indigenous churches connected to India Gospel Outreach. Indigenous Dennis Gallaher means "home grown" by the way. The churches are all pastored by highly-trained Indian pastors, not American missionaries.

I spoke at their leadership conference, the first of its kind in the state of Punjab, and also in large outdoor evangelistic meetings in the city. And what was my impression? I was humbled by the total dedication and commitment of the Indian believers. We in the West don't have a clue as to what it means to be Christian in other parts of the world. Let me tell you about some of the people I met. Pastor Timothius Behl is a former colonel in the Indian Armed Forces.

He was a devout Hindu before several miraculous interventions in 1979. After his conversion, he went to Bible College and then was sent to Himachal Pradesh with his new bride to begin the first Christian church within hundreds of miles. Because they were Christians, no on would rent them a home, so they lived in an 8- by-10-foot hovel with a 5-foot ceiling for several years. Each day they would go door to door praying for the sick. Ten years later, a thriving church has begun.

Pastor John Raj an was beaten last September by Hindu extremists for being a Christian. He prayed and asked the Lord for souls to be saved on the very spot where he was beaten. Last Thursday, a church was dedicated at that place and many of the villagers are coming to Christ. Kenneth is one of the worship leaders in the churches. Two months ago, he was attacked by 25 Hindu's while leading worship and severely beaten.

He is a Hindu convert and at 29 years of age he has suffered for the gospel more than I will in my life. The joy of the Lord flows through him like few I have ever seen. Time and again, I would hear stories of extreme persecution inflicted on these Indian brothers and sisters. When they come to Christ, they are rejected and persecuted for their faith. Being a Christian means real commitment, not feel-good sermons on prosperity and self-love.

The persecution serves to steel their faith and strengthen their love. It was like living in the Book of Acts for a short senson. But there is still nothing like coming home. It is remarkably warming to hear the customs agent say "welcome home" for the first time. This trip took me farther and longer then I have ever been from Jan.

In 20 years of marriage I have never been away this long. Only two more hours and I'll see her for the first time in 10 days. And now my thoughts are marked with the love of people 10 time-zones away. Halfway around the world but close in heart are names and faces that have become lovingly familiar. Yes.

It is really great to be home. Yet the scent of India has saturated my soul. (Dennis Gallaher is pastor of Freedom Fellowship Church in New Braunfels.) Religion Briefs Unity Center sponsoring healing meetings Unity Center of Practical Christianity will sponsor two special healing meetings with Joseph Wolpert at 1 p.m. April 26 and 2 p.m. April 27, 16870 N.

Hwy. 123, San Marcos. Wolpert has appeared in "Stories of Miracles" on The Learning Channel. For more information call 3925199. (Submitted by Unity Center of Practical Christianity) St.

Paul's PLAYGROUP seeks new members St. Paul Lutheran Church PLAYGROUP is looking for new people. Moms and pre-schoolers are invited to join in the activities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m each Wednesday. group does crafts, has a snack and other fun For more information call Kershin Reiharz at 625-6655.

(Submitted by St. Paul Lutheran Church) St. John's plans golden anniversary celebration St. John's Episcopal Church will be celebrating its 50th anniversary April 20. Following the 10 a.m.

church service, there will be a "This is Your Life St. John" program. Former priests, the Rev. Hubert Palmer, the Rev. Bob Creasy and the Rev.

Ron Thomson will be guest speakers. A luncheon on the church grounds will follow. (Submitted by St. John's Episcopal Church) leader. Anatoly Nichociovich Lashinski's visit comes about a year after Gen.

Alexander Lebed then Yeltsin's choice for national security director characterized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as "mold and filth which have come to destroy the state." Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a Mormon, says Lashinski's visit demonstrates a significant change from last summer's harsh exchange of political rhetoric. Lashinski attended the church's general conference meetings. The Mormon Church issued a statement saying it was confident Lebed's comments were based on a misunderstanding of the church's role and activities in Russia, where the church was officially recognized by the government in 1991. March for Jesus: The power of Unity Faithful flock to see Virgin on highway signs SPOKANE, Wash.

(AP) A Roman Catholic bishop is withholding judgment on whether believers claiming to see a miraculous vision on Yakima Valley highway signs are actually observing the Virgin Mary or just a chemical pattern on metal. "The church understandably always proceeds with caution when it may seem that there is a miraculous manifestation of any kind," Bishop Carlos A. Sevilla of Yakima said in a news release. The state Department of Transportation says the signs are chemically coated to prevent oxidation and that may account for the visions. The visions of the Virgin Mary have drawn thousands of people to a sign outside Sunnyside and others in the Yakima Valley, creating traffic safety concerns.

Another sighting attracted hundreds to a sign in Moses Lake, about 100 miles northeast of Yakima. Both the Yakima Valley and Moses Lake have large populations of Hispanics, many of them immigrants from Mexico. A rainbow emanating from the sign inspired many to say prayers, light candles and sing hymns in Spanish. Russian official visits Utah as guest Mormon Church SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Russian President Boris Yeltsin's adviser on church relations is visiting Utah as a guest of the Mormon Church, which was outraged earlier by comments from another Russian New auxiliary; bishop says the honor is PITTSBURGH (AP) When the Most Rev. David Zubik learned he had been made an auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh's Roman Catholic diocese, he says, "It was totally awesome." "I felt God's presence in a very special way," Zubik said.

Zubik, 47, was named to the post in an ordination ceremony at St. Paul Cathedral. The Vatican's apostolic pro-nuncio to the United States, the Most Rev. Agostino Cacciavillan, read a letter from Pope John Paul II announcing the appointment. Zubik, who was ordained a priest in 1975, is vicar general and general secretary for the diocese.

As one of the city's two auxiliary bishops, he will assist Bishop Donald Wuerl with liturgical duties and other tasks. ByTIMJUDKINS Special to the Herald-Zeitung If the Billy Graham crusade did anything, it brought churches together for one definite purpose. It successfully asked the churches of metropolitan San Antonio (New Braunfels included) to lay aside the issues that divide us and focus on the one issue that unifies us: the person of Jesus Christ. Every church arguably exists to communicate to people of any age, gender, race and socio-economic status that Jesus is more than a cause, he is a living Person who is intensely interested in each of us. Ironically (and perhapi God's design) the unified Christian community was able to witness in four days of the crusade what few individual churches witness in decades! Results apparently come more from unity than from diversity.

Several churches in New Braunfels are attempting to organize another unified effort for the cause of Jesus Christ. It has been two years since this community engaged in a "March for Jesus." The purpose of this event is to simply and peaceably promote the life and leadership of the risen Savior. This is the same Savior whose life we celebrated on the highest and'holiest of all Christian calendar dates: Easter. It intentionally avoids promoting any particular church or denomination. This is the kind of event, much like the Billy Graham crusade, in which the entire Christian community of New Braunfels should participate.

I serve on the organizational committee and as we meet each week to plan and strategize for the "March for Jesus" on May 17, I am both excited and grieved. Excited because we still have the privilege and opportunity; to freely express; beliefs in both pubHc and A 'city of churches' may end free parking for churchgoers W1LKINSBURG, Pa. (AP) Once famed as a "city of churches," the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg may yank the welcome mat out from under worshipers looking for a free parking place. Some members of the borough's parking authority, citing falling revenues and rising costs, want to end the community's tradition of letting Sunday morning churchgoers park free in city lots. Many residents and church officials object to the proposed change.

The Wilkinsburg Ministerial Association argues that free parking brings benefits city officials may not have considered. "The people who are involved in the churches here are also involved in the 'Meals on youth programs and other things that happen during the week," says Robert Wilson, the association's president. The parking authority plans to decide in two weeks whether to end the free-parking privileges. Local church opens 6 Kids Day Out' pre-school program An exciting new ministry to families with young children will begin soon at New Braunfels Presbyterian Church, as the new "Kids' Day Out" pre-school program is introduced. Registration is now open to the public for the program that will be held at New Braunfels Presbyterian Church this fall.

Classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m Tuesdays and Thursdays from September through May for children ages 6 months through 4 years. Suzy Suzy Wilkinson Wilkinson will serve as director of this innovative new program. She is a long-time member of this local Presbyterian congregation, the mother of two boys, and has eight years of experience as a teacher. "We will provide a safe and stimulating program which will promote and encourage children to grow in their social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual development, while supplementing and enhancing parental nurturing," Wilkinson said.

Classes will be held on the New Braunfels Presbyterian Church campus, located at 373 Howard across from Seele Elementary School. Pre-registration is now being accepted and will continue until classes are full. For more information, call the church office at 625-5141. (Submitted by New Braunfels Presbyterian Church.) The city of New Braunfels grants us permission to congregate on a Saturday and publicly celebrate our life in Jesus and to pray for the continued success and godliness of our city. We will begin at a catholic church, parade past a protestant church, past city hall and the police department before ending near the plaza.

Prayer will ascend all along the way as will songs of celebration and praise. All of this generates excitement in me as I would hope it would in all true believers of Jesus. I am grieved because we still find in some churches a lack of enthusiasm and desire to share in this experience. Can there be any thing that could be more powerful than declaring to the community (not to mention each other!) our unity in promoting the life and leadership of Jesus? Imagine the possibilities of evangelistic impact if unbelievers and people working; together to show Jesus' life and love to them rather than fighting over them for attendance and membership. What if one unbeliever observed this display of unity and accepted Jesus' forgiveness and leadership in his or her life? Would it really matter which church they chose to attend if they knew that all of us were more interested in the condition of their soul than in whose pew they might occupy? I hope that the Christians of this community will rally themselves and their respective churches behind this worthy effort.

You can contact your pastor or me if you would like more information. May our enthusiasm and unity be a sweet sacrifice of praise to God the Father and Jesus His Son. But may it also generate encouragement among the churches and express the reality of Jesus to our community. (The Rev. Tim Judkins is associate minister at First Protestant Church in New Braunfels.) A Believed IMAUU.

Unitarian Universalist, a religious group. Are you looking for a group: people are encouraged to be inquisitive and open-minded "Open to learning and sharing with people of different backgrounds? Religions? Call 629-4262 for information. A Musical Drama Presented By First Baptist Church 733 Cross Street New Braunfels, Texas April 12, 13, 15 16 7:00 p.m. For preferred early seating FREE tickets are available at the church office. (210) 625-9124 Doors open to ticket holders at 6:30 all others at 6:50.