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A MESSAGE  FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Recently I had the privilege of speaking at Bethania Moravian Church. The subject was “Missions Within The Unity” and I combined our [Anne’s as well as my] impressions of The Unity Mission Conference 2001 in Herrnhut [Onward-Sept.2001] and our travels in 2003 to Europe to visit Moravian congregations [Onward—Nov.2003]. The theme of the Conference was “Come Over and Help Us” [Acts 16:6-10]. A concurrent meeting of the British and Continental Provinces, also in Herrnhut, resulted in the statement Our Mission Is On Our Doorstep. It seems to me that both the theme and that statement apply to us as well.

My conclusion is that we have a God given-golden opportunity to witness for Jesus Christ in our own neighborhoods as well as offer encouragement to the struggling congregations in Europe and the Baltic States.  However, in all humility, I must remind us that membership in North American churches has dropped by roughly ten thousand in the past twenty years.  Truly our mission is on our doorstep, and we need help as well. 

At the conclusion of the worship service, Pastor Wayne Byerly asked the congregation as they left to envision an inscription over the doors saying “You Are Now Entering The Mission Field”.  That in essence captures what I have been trying to say. 

We might even go a step further and envision that inscription over the outside of those doors.  After all, we might just have an opportunity to help someone exchange their corporate membership in The Body of Believers for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, we might help a person understand that when we pray for Islam, as we do in the liturgy for “Epiphany And Christian Witness” [Red Book], and in the Litany [MBW] we are not asking for God to prosper that religion but that He will “endow Islam with the knowledge of Thy truth”.   Let us go forth – into all  the world!  

Jack Geis

Thank You from Sister

Kay Rodgers - Jamaica

It is nothing short of a miracle that so many persons, so quickly & immediately, were galvanized into helping someone that they did not even know, and that the dugs I needed were transported across thousands of miles & delivered to my door!  Within 3-4 hrs. of receiving it, I was out of that excruciating pain that had kept me up for so many days & nights & the threat of admittance to the hospital.  The whole situation has been most humbling to me and has strengthened my faith in great measure. Please convey to those who made this miracle possible, my heartfelt gratitude. And to you I say, thank you, thank you, bless you, bless you!  Yours gratefully, Fay Rodgers

 The Nazareth Indian Tower

Just a short distance northwest of Nazareth on West High Street stands an interesting tower on the highest point in the area.  It was built in 1916 to replace the Old Graveyard that was the first burial place for the Moravian settlers in the area.  It needed to be upgraded.   During World War II it was used by spotters for enemy aircraft because it gave a wonderful vista of the Lehigh River valley where the important Bethlehem Steel plant was located.

A marble monument stands next to the tower and bears the names of the 67 Moravians buried there in the years from 1744 until the Nazareth Graveyard was started in the village about 1762.  There are a number of Moravian Indians in the place, including four Indian Children who had lived in the Whitefield House in those early years.  The beautiful isolated site with a magnificent view is a place where many people go for a quiet and peaceful time.

Through the years, its quiet location has led to numerous acts of vandalism, with much graffiti marring the simple beauty.  One of those who felt sad about this situation is a young boy scout who is going to refurbish it.  We are so happy that one of our youth has a sense of concern for a monument from so long ago.

Submitted by John H..Giesler