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Women On Mission - September 2022

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Go Fund Me For A Van

The International Seafarer’s Center of Burns Harbor began its outreach in 1972. Marshal Bundren joined the work in 1974. Committed to his church and seafarers, Chaplain Marshal Bundren continued to pull alongside ships on the South shore of Lake Michigan in his 15-passenger rust bucket until December. That’s when things took a surprising turn. Reed Wilson, second officer aboard the M/V Burns Harbor, had watched the van as Bundren made rounds for years. “The thing was falling apart,” said Wilson, regarding the beat-up vehicle Bundren used. “It had 369,000 miles on it, one headlight, no brake lights, and was missing inside door panels. There was lots of rust. Bundren was afraid the starter might fail if he turned the engine off.”

Since 1974, Chaplain Bundren has served seafarers along the entire southern coast of Lake Michigan. When funding changes occurred in 2011, depriving the ministry of any denominational support, he continued the chaplaincy independently, just his hand-me-down Chevy with duct-taped windows and one room of borrowed office space provided by a stevedoring company on Burns Harbor. Two years ago, Bundren had to move out. The ministry on wheels then became his office, chapel, post office, and taxi for the more than 1,200 seafarers he cares for during a ten month season.

Wilson and Bundren crossed paths for more than 23 years. Bundren frequently transported Wilson from the ship to his pickup truck in the parking lot of a Burns Harbor steel mill. Wilson grew to feel strongly that his ministry van needed replacement. In early December 2018, Wilson set up a GoFundMe account: “Marshal’s Van.” The site was up the day after Christmas with an impressive response. “I was dumb-founded,” the mariner said. “On the first day, six grand came in!” Wilson used social media and word of mouth to spread the news of the account. The message went by radio as ships passed in the night. “I posted it on Facebook and friended every sailor I knew,” he said. Over $30,000 was raised within two weeks. “It was sort of a ‘pinch me and wake me up’ moment,” said the 67-year-old chaplain.

To pick up the new van, the pair traveled from Burns Harbor to Detroit where they overnighted at Wilson’s home. The next day, they continued to Findlay, Ohio where Wilson had located the best vehicle for the money. Marshal’s new 15-passenger Ford van is a huge step up for the mobile ministry. “It was amazing,’ said Bundren.

“It is important that seafarers have someone to help them navigate when in port,” Bundren says. Bundren’s goal is to help them fulfill the needs they have, whether it is shopping for a computer for a son in college or cosmetics for a wife. “I want to create the most positive experience they have while in the United States. Working with seafarers is my life,” said the single chaplain. I married a ministry. It has been my wife and my children for all these years. I share meals in the mess room and see many crew members weekly as they travel between the Port of Duluth/Superior and the southern shore of Lake Michigan. 

Oakhill has supported the ministry since 1991.

Women on Mission will meet Thursday, September 1st at 1:00 pm in the Grace classroom across from the Fellowship Hall. All ladies are invited to attend.

Posted by Women On Mission with

Spare Change - August 2022

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The theme for Kids Camp this year is Park It! It's based on the concept of abiding in Christ. So many times we get busy with life, and we forget to slow down and park it with Jesus. The key verse that we talked about is John 15:5 where Jesus uses the example of a vine to teach us about abiding.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Jesus explains our relationship to Himself as a fruit bearing vine, like grapes. When the branches are connected to the vine, they will grow strong and bear much fruit. If a branch becomes disconnected from the main vine then there is no way for it to bear fruit. It is the same with Christians, apart from Christ we can do nothing. We will not bear spiritual fruit if we are not connected to Jesus Christ.  To stay connected to Christ we must abide in Him.

Abide is not a word that we use in modern-day language very often; however, it is a very important spiritual concept. Abide means to remain in a place and dwell or live there. Think about your home, that is where you abide. When we translate this concept to our relationship with Jesus it means we must remain in Jesus. We cannot depart from Him and we cannot move past Him.  Everything the Christian does is marked by their relationship to Jesus. If we hope to bear spiritual fruit, we must remain in Him.

The Bible speaks about different types of spiritual fruits, some are internal and some are external. Growing in our faith as a disciple is bearing internal spiritual fruit. When we walk in the spirit, Galatians 5 tells us that we will bear the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These spiritual fruits are so important in how we relate to Jesus on a personal level and how we live out our faith.

External fruits are things like serving others, telling others about Jesus, using our resources for the Lord, etc. This is where we live out our faith in a very practical way. Both types of fruit are important for a Christian to bear. 

We must remember that we cannot bear either type of fruit apart from Jesus. Through the power of the gospel, we are saved into new life. That new life is only found in those that remain in Jesus Christ. This is why we think of Christianity as a relationship and not just a religion. We don't just follow a set of rules. Our Savior lives in us, and we live in Him.

The Kids' Camp pastor used the story of Mary and Martha found in John 10:38-42 as an example. Martha was the one who was distracted with serving and anxious about all that needed to be done. Mary was the one that was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His teaching. When Martha tries to get Jesus to rebuke Mary, He tells her that she is doing the necessary thing. 

Mary is abiding with Jesus; she is doing the spiritual thing before engaging in the practical. So many times we run past the spiritually important things in our lives and miss what Jesus wants to teach us. Abiding in Jesus means taking time to know Him. We do that through spending time in God's Word and in prayer.

I know that seems so simple, but it makes such a large difference in our lives. We are all so busy, but we must remember to spend time with Jesus. Martin Luther said, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." He knew how important it was to prioritize the spiritual things before everything else. 

The challenge to you today is to abide in Christ by remembering to put your relationship with Him first. The only way to see God work in your life is to focus on Jesus!  Will you seek to abide in Christ so you can bear much fruit for His glory?

Posted by Bryan Gotcher with

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