Dear Friends:
Do you ever feel like you’d like to hit the “fast forward” button of life until you get beyond the challenges of the present? If so, you have a lot of company. These are stressful days for all of us, and when we’re stressed, we need support from people who care about us. As Paul put it: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).
We want to remind you that there is a group of people in our church—the Stephen Ministers—who have been trained to stand by you and support you through any kind of struggle. And they are pledged to confidentiality in this ministry. Normally, they meet with you in person. We’re not doing that during this pandemic, but Stephen Ministers are available who will, until we return to normalcy, support you by telephone, face time, zoom, or e-mail. If you would like to have a Stephen Minister, please contact Pastor Mofid (mofid@rbcpc.org).
A number of our members have lost a loved one during this past year. If you have, you can find help at our church’s GriefShare group. Our GriefShare support group is led by trained Stephen Ministers in our church who understand what you are going through, having experienced similar losses themselves. They want to help you recover from your loss and look forward to rebuilding your life.
This year we are teaming up with Rick Warren’s Saddleback church to offer an expanded, online GriefShare program using the Zoom Video Conferencing tool. This 13-week program starts on Monday February 1st, at 7:00 PM. You are welcome to join the 13-week series at any time. To enroll contact: Carol Kasser (ckasser@yahoo.com), or Sally Welty at.swelty@san.rr.com. Resources are available to help you learn and use Zoom.
Continue to pray for one another and for our nation and our world. And may the grace of our loving Father continue to adorn your lives and give you His peace.
Blessings
Jeanette and Bob Lauer