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Showing posts from August, 2023

CREATIVE CHAPLAINCY

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  I had the privilege recently of meeting Elijah Schewe, a Law Enforcement Chaplain with the Regular Baptist Chaplaincy. He has been commissioned by Grace Baptist Church of Mankato, Minnesota, where a long-time friend Larry Johnson is the pastor. Elijah raises support for the Bibles Born for Battlefields missions project. “ Bibles Born for Battlefields is a first responder-focused mission with the goal of reaching those in law enforcement, military, and first responders with a Bible that is durable and rugged and able to take the kind of abuse this field is known for,” says Elijah.   The Bibles are distributed directly to first responders and law enforcement centers. “As a law enforcement chaplain my duty is to help officers, ambulance staff, fire fighters and other first responders cope with the traumatic nature of the job,” Elijah told me. “To help them with what they have seen and had to deal with, the Word of God is the only way to truly effectively manage the emotions that

CREATIVE LITURGIES

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  Missionary Seth Grotzke ministers in Spain near the route of the Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St. James. Upwards of 200,000 people make the pilgrimage each year along with hikers, cyclers, and organized tour groups. Walking alongside the pilgrims on the Way offers the Grotzkes many opportunities to make friends and share the Gospel. One day a new friend who opened up to Seth about some difficulties in life said, “I want to pray, I just don’t know how.” That conversation became the impetus for a short volume of prayers called Liturgies for the Pilgrim , as well as two other short books. The liturgies include such fascinating titles as “A liturgy for when the mountain seems so tall,” and “A Liturgy for when I realize I have been walking for miles in bitterness.” Offering the book as a gift to a fellow pilgrim leads to deep conversations and spiritual encounters. “The idea for the resource came at first from my own need,” writes Seth. “There have been times