Melinda Hemphill

From Death to Eternal Life

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, Seasonal teaching

Apr 132011

On February 17^th I attended an Ash Wednesday service at a local church to begin the season of Lent. The minister had burned the palm branches from the previous year, mixed them with water, and administered ashes on the worshipers’ foreheads with these words: “Turn away from sin, and be faithful to the Gospel.”

While not specified as a feast day in the Bible, the seasons of Lent and Easter are part of the historical Christian calendar. Our Aim 2 gives us freedom and guidance in teaching ladies the history and programs of the church along with Bible study.

Some Christians traditionally give up habits or drinks or foods during Lent; others focus on adding something to their observance. Working at an assisted living facility or a soup kitchen or homeless shelter – or helping other less fortunate people in the community – are ways to add acts of service to your Lenten activities.

The first two days of Lent this year were focused on my Dad’s last two days on this earth. After a yearlong battle with lung cancer, Mom and I were privileged to usher Dad into Glory on the evening of February 18^th. It is something that has changed me, and I hope that as I grieve in a healthy way, the change has been for the good.

I find it interesting – providential – that during a season of preparing my heart and mind to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that I have been in a period of intimate mourning. My focus during Lent this year has been death. As I witnessed those last struggling breaths, I thought about how Dad would see Jesus soon. I thought about what Jesus’ last day on earth was like. It wasn’t in the privacy and comfort of a home. It was public and controversial and bloody.

While our identity as Christians is all wrapped up in the Christ’s resurrection, this year I’ve been forced to consider the extent to which He went to seal and secure our eternal life, i.e. His physical departure from this earth. While His mother and friends watched. As they prayed and cried.

I’m sure they were changed as well. And what a glorious day it was when He came back from the dead!

I pray your Lenten season has been one of great reflection on Jesus. Look for blog entries that reflect that last week that Jesus walked on the earth – from His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem to the long road that carried Him to the old rugged cross. Come, be part of this journey that begins with death but ends in eternal life!

The Reason We Blog

Leadership Development, Real life stories

Feb 182011

By Melinda Hemphill

I began blogging in 2005 in order to stay in touch with family and friends, to practice some different writing styles, and honestly, because I’ve been an obsessive scrapbooker and journal-keeper for years. I guess it was just a natural progression to document the family’s activities and my thoughts about faith and life online instead of print.

Over the past few years, I’ve seen the blogging option for PWOCI develop from a print newsletter to an occasional option on a regional page on the website to the PWOCI blog that we now have on each week day. So why do we do it? Why do we write? I think it’s part of the makeup of our ministry to want to share with others.

Sharing with others out of our life experiences, out of our testimony of faith, out of our frustrations of our shared military lifestyle, out of a need to give back and possibly even educate.

The Communications Team from the past two years met at conference for an early morning breakfast, and the contributions of creative giftings permeated the room. Think about how these offerings can be involved in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) that Christ left us: web management, graphic design, print layout, blogs, social networking, video production, proofreading, editing, other forms of writing, administrative gifts, all trying to keep up with an everchanging level of technology. All of these can be used as part of God’s command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.

Comparing a significant era in history of the church to our communications situations today can be seen in the 2005 book, Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing Your World, by Hugh Hewitt (Nelson). And I quote, “The sixteenth and twenty-first centuries share a dramatic element in common – the birth of a revolution in communications technology. The cultural, political, and economic transformations that emerged out of the Reformation and have affected the course of Western civilization ever since were fueled in large part by the advent of an extraordinary device: the movable-type printing press…Gutenberg’s gift of the printed page was an invitation to new understanding and human liberty. As we set our feet firmly in the Information Age, an examination of the sixteenth century allows us to see how the power of publishing can change the world.”

The power of publishing can change the world. God has called us to go and tell.

That’s why we share the Good News with the nations and generations through this medium. That’s why we blog.

Advent Celebration using a Jesse Tree

Seasonal teaching

Dec 012010

In our celebration of Advent, one way to pass on our faith to our children is to make a Jesse Tree. The ornaments represent events in the Bible, all leading up to the birth of the Messiah. This is an instructional tool that is not just for children but also could be used in women’s Bible studies. My first exposure to the Jesse Tree was at the Fort Leonard Wood PWOC in 1993. I still have those handmade ornaments and the “script” we used to tell His Story.

The Jesse Tree is so named because of Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.” It is used to tell God’s story in the Old Testament and to connect Advent with the faithfulness of God across history. God is a covenantal God and always stays true to the promises He makes with His people, even when they are disobedient.

The long-awaited Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God Himself! Simeon proclaimed, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32 NASB) The Jesse Tree helps us tell the story of God’s sovereign plan to redeem His people for Himself, a plan He’s held true since the foundation of the world.

During this season of celebrating His first Advent (and preparation of His second Advent), use the Jesse Tree as a reminder of all God has done and will continue to do.

The Jesse Tree can be made of your choice of craft supplies – paper, cloth, on a small Christmas tree, or bulletin board. Have the freedom to be creative with it. As I’ve mentioned before in other posts, doing some reading or internet research will help in your discovery and promote ownership of this expression of faith. Ask the Lord to guide you as you learn more about His Word, His plan across the ages, and His greatest gift of love, His Only Son.

Click here for some sample items to include on your tree (persons, events, themes/scriptures and symbols).

(chart source: crivoice.org)

Sharing Christ with the NEXT generation

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, News & Announcements

Nov 242010

The Communications Team worked with a couple of professional companies, plus some inhouse photography and editing, to produce a magazine called PWOC Next. This first edition of PWOC Next is a way to share with the Megan and Michelle generation the identity and essence of Protestant Women of the Chapel.

Each conference attendee that came to Dallas received one copy to use as a reference and to share with a neighbor. More copies of this valuable publication may be printed off our website at http://www.pwoc.org/Magazine.html. Local and regional PWOCs can print these in an inexpensive way at their chapels or send them out to a professional printer. Please inquire at graphics@pwoc.org for professional files. Local PWOC presidents and chaplains (or regional) may also add their own greetings and messages on the back cover of the magazine as that will personalize their outreach approach.

A third way to receive this publicity project is to offer it digitally. Maybe you have seen other magazines or newspapers in digital form online. This will help us connect with the generation of women that receive their news and other information in this format on a regular basis.

Again, the purpose of this project has been outreach and evangelism from the start.

I also see it as a valuable tool for connecting with our chaplains, especially at the local level in our chapels and at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center, Fort Jackson, SC.

Please be in prayer about the distribution of PWOC Next and about those who will be drawn by God’s Spirit into our chapels and PWOC because someone invited them to attend worship and Bible study! Is that someone YOU?

When Someone Else Writes Your Song

Leadership Development, Testimonies

Oct 272010

I love music. I love to listen to music and sing music. I love praise and worship and anything that focuses my thoughts and heart motives on Christ. I have many favorites; they draw me closer to our Savior and Creator. They fill my heart with His love.

But with this song, it’s like someone else saw deep into my soul and wrote what I wanted to but didn’t. It’s by a group called downhere. I saw them in June of 2008 at Stone Mountain Park while attending AtlantaFest, and while struggling with something for a while (putting my name in for leadership selection for this board position), they sang a song that was like God saying, “Go For It.”

Have you ever had a life verse from Scripture or some kind of motto in your life that was more prominent than others? For most of my life, mine has been from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. I learned this verse when I was a young girl attending church and missions conferences, always in reference to giving our lives over to God and His work in the world.

The song includes some of these lyrics….

You reach for the deepest hope in me
And call out for the things of eternity.

That’s what God was doing. He had to dig deep into my relationship with Him to pull out something eternal. He was calling me into a God-sized assignment, something I couldn’t do in the flesh, but that was promising to bless many and reap something big. For Him.

Here I am, Lord send me
All of my life, I make an offering
Here I am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is part of Your plan
Here I am

This has been the chorus of my life….that whatever He has given me would be able to be returned as an offering unto Him. That He would call me, that I would answer. That He would continue to write His Name on my heart. That I would continue to acknowledge His work in my life and in my service.

These broken parts you redeem
Become the song that I can sing

He took a mess of a heart and still is recreating it in the image of His Son. He is just that loving and forgiving! I love how He uses our natural talents, learned skills and spiritual gifts for His purposes. Are you seeing that this message is not just about me but also about you? Yes, you! YOU have so much to offer the Body of Christ, and I encourage you to listen to God’s song over you. What is He saying? How is He calling? Look for the confirmations of His calling in Scripture, in prayer, in conversations with trusted godly people, and just maybe, you’ll hear Him singing His song to you at an outdoor music festival. I did.

Thanks for the opportunity to serve you in the area of Communications for these two years. It’s been an incredibly sanctifying journey.

Somehow my story is part of His plan.

Love,

Melinda

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 ESV

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The Communications – 3VP update is published on the fourth Wednesday of the month. For questions or comments please email communications@pwoc.org

Teaching, Developing and Involving Michelle

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday

Sep 292010

Last month we talked about a group of young women who we are spending our time and focus on within PWOC. Remember her? We’re calling her Megan.

Well, what happens a few years down the road, and Megan is now ready to give back to the Lord, pouring back into the ministry that has mentored her in God’s Word and meaningful relationships? Through the discipleship process of Lead, Teach, Develop and Involve, now we see Michelle coming into play.

Michelle is a young woman who has been recognized by the local Titus II or maybe the president or advisor as an emerging leader. She and her family have now moved a few times with the military. She volunteers. She asks questions. She seeks out those who can help her grow spiritually. Her kids are school-age, and she is realizing her giftings and talents can be used to help other women. Where is Michelle’s place in PWOC? In the chapels? In the communities?

Michelle is ready for local leadership and may be someone who’s identified as being on track for regional leadership, either on a board, a team or as a trainer. She seeks out some of the more seasoned women as mentors and is a quick learner. She wants to be discipled and will soon be ready to take other women through discipleship as well.

Michelle is ready to be used of God.

Does this sound like you? Or someone you’ve seen in your PWOC?

PWOC International loves to lead women to Christ.

But once she comes to Christ, there is a necessity for discipleship.

Michelle’s our gal. She’s ready to be taught the Word of God.

She’s ready to discover and develop her spiritual gifts, leadership styles, personality traits, even wants to know if she’s a Beaver, Otter, Lion or Golden Retriever! And she really wants to know what to do with all of those labels!

Michelle is ready. She’s ready to be involved in the work of her chapel because of the life, light and love of Christ poured into her through PWOC.

Are you Michelle?

Are you currently mentoring Michelle?

Let’s get on board with PWOC’s aims of progressive discipleship and train up the next generation of leaders within this ministry, to the Glory of God!

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The 3VP – Communications update is published on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Submit comments or suggestions to communications@pwoc.org

Ministering to Megan....

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday

Aug 252010

For over a year, I’ve been involved in something that will change the course of the PWOC ministry. Is changing the face of ministry as we know it.

It is an idea that we have a target group. A demographic. An actual person that we’re ministering to. And we’ve named her.

So these are some of the words that I shared with the PWOC local leaders in the Southeast Region on Friday night…

First of all, I read for them, Psalm 32. Read it. I read it in the ESV. I let them know they need to be right with God first. To know His love and forgiveness. Then to be sure their PWOCs are environments of that same forgiveness (thinking of the Lord’s Prayer….), to be places of deliverance for those in need…

And then I started asking the questions….and the meddlin’ began….

I want to introduce someone to you.

She’s about 23 or 24. Maybe you’ve seen her in the commissary or at the neighborhood playground.

Comes from a decent family – but very likely came from a broken home. Did well enough in high school to graduate and married soon after. She’s spent much of her (short) married life apart from her spouse. But not so much time apart. After all, they do have two kids. (I can say this. We have five…)

She finds herself alone sometimes and wonders what she’s doing on this base without him.

She has some friends, but everyone’s so focused on their own problems to really be concerned about hers.

She’s up late at night, probably surfing the net or collecting jewelry, farm animals or vegetables on Facebook games….or just trying to connect….trying to see if there’s anyone out there who might listen….

Her name is Megan.

Megan wants to know something.

She wants to know if what you say about this Jesus is real.

She wants to see it work.

She wants authenticity and simplicity yet is highly technical and receives her news and interaction with others online.

She wants to know if it’s worth it to bring her kids to a childcare room with people she doesn’t know.

She wants to know if it’s worth it to come to a building and drop off her kids and go to have coffee and muffins. Coffee and muffins? Really? She can do that at home.

Is it worth it to sit through a class on parenting or marriage or finances or deployment or worship (what was that one again?) or some guy named Matthew who writes about obscure ideas like being salt and light?

Yes, it is worth it! It’s worth it that she come to PWOC and find refreshment for her soul. It is worth it for us to pour into her life the very life of Jesus. It is our responsibility and privilege to SHINE the light of Christ. For Megan.

Here’s our challenge as leaders.

How important is it to you that she comes to your PWOC?

How important is it that she hears the Gospel of Christ?

That she sees real relationships? That she be loved unconditionally?

Please let your PWOCs be about reaching out to the unchurched.

Snacks and childcare do bring people in some people — and that is important.

But Megan’s generation wants real answers without the gimmicks.

What they really need is Jesus, even though they may not know that at the time.

Putting a face and a name on a generation of unchurched, hurting women has the potential to change the course of our Bible studies, our leadership training, our visual graphics and types of publicity, our purpose for “doing church.” I pray that this description of Megan will spread like wildfire – that it will cast vision in PWOC International and cause us to be intentional about ministering to those for whom Christ died.

(More questions or comments? Email me at communications@pwoc.org.)

Brokenness, Atrophy, and Healing

Real life stories

May 122010

On April 21, I was working in our kitchen and took a nasty fall. Our old landline phone was finally calling it quits. I had picked up a new phone and was setting up the cables and wireless router, plugging the whole thing in to the electricity source. In order to get to the socket behind the shelf in the kitchen, I had to move a plastic box we use for food storage. Typically, the box is on a shelf, but because I needed to move it to get to the electric socket, it was out in the open. I was up on a chair (don’t judge….), and while I was not unbalanced on the chair, as I was stepping out of it, I stepped onto the plastic box. My right foot went forward. The rest of me went flying backwards, breaking my left radius. While I was screaming, my daughter brought me an ice pack and called my mother-in-law.

A trip to the ER confirmed my fears. My left wrist was broken badly. A phone call to my own mother and a good dose of pain meds comforted me for a while, plus the visit of two friends from church and the prayers of many. I was set for surgery within a few days, and once surgery was complete, the pain in my left hand immediately reminded me of what our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, must’ve felt like in some small way when the nails were in his hands. He ministered to me in my pain; I connected with Him in His isolation.

A week after surgery I began physical therapy. I’m taking it slowly and am trusting that the methods of science and the providence of God will cause His will to be done in my life. And in my wrist. Please continue to pray for complete use. At least I can type with both hands, and that’s an answer to prayer! How can I keep up with blogs and facebook with just one hand?! LOL

My left arm felt like a bag of mush. The physical therapist mentioned that muscles will often atrophy within twenty-four hours of not being used. My mind automatically went into blogging mode, and I started thinking about how that applies to us spiritually.

What happens to us if we neglect God’s written Word for a day? A week? A month?

What happens to us if we do not come to Him in prayer?

What happens when we make a choice not to join ourselves to Him through the Lord’s Supper or make little of His words to us to be baptized?

What happens when we make poor choices in friends or lifestyle?

We atrophy. Just like the arm muscles after two weeks in a sling. Just like my left thumb that doesn’t want to cooperate with the rest of me.

And so we heal. My hand heals. Our hearts heal as we come back to the author and finisher of our faith, even Jesus Christ. Let Him heal you today of all that has been broken. Of all that has atrophied from a time of misuse and neglect. Of all that is in need of healing today. He is the Great Physician, our Jehovah Rapha!

“He is risen!”

Seasonal teaching

Apr 022010

Maybe you’ve heard these words as you attended a worship service on Easter Sunday. Maybe you haven’t heard them. What is everyone so excited about?

What should be our response to such an exclamation?

HE – Who? The events of Holy Week are ALL about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God. God the Son in human form. The promised Messiah that the Jews had been anticipating. The Lamb of God Who came to take away the sins of the world.

It’s Jesus!

On the Friday after the Lord’s Supper was instituted, people were still in Jerusalem since they’d been in town for the Passover celebration. The crowds were great in size. Jesus had been sentenced to death by the local and regional authorities plus encouraged in that decree by the people. “CRUCIFY HIM!! CRUCIFY HIM!!,” they yelled. Just a few days prior, other crowds had hailed Him as their king with “HOSANNAH!” What was the difference in just a few days?

IS – One of the names God calls Himself throughout history (recorded in Scripture) is “I AM.” It’s an ongoing statement of Who He Is. Was, is, always will be. Moses had asked what he should say when God had sent him with the commandments, and God simply answered, “I AM.” It’s a state-of-being kind of verb that can act as a time reference.

His Name is saying that He has always been. The Revelation of John (last book of the New Testament) says that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Those names are time references, too.

So we have HE and IS.

He is what?

John 19 includes the story of the beating and crucifixion of Jesus, including His final words, “It is finished.” Verse 30 finishes saying that “He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” But the story doesn’t end there!! If it did, our faith would mean nothing. Our lifestyle of having religious faith or spiritual acts would be meaningless. It would be like a score of other “world religions” that follow an earthly leader until his death, then it’s over without hope.

RISEN – John 20 tells us that Jesus appeared to His friends! Alive! He had risen from the grave! You can also read of this truth in Matthew 26:47-28:20; Mark 15:1–16:20; and Luke 22:54–24:52.

“HE IS RISEN!!”

“HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!”

We pray you know the love of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this Easter season and forever!!

Holy Thursday - Maundy Thursday

Seasonal teaching

Apr 012010

In the Jewish tradition, believers were to observe Passover each year. The remembrance was used to pass down the teaching that God had saved His people from the hand of the Egyptian Pharaoh during years of intense slavery. When the rulers would not let the Hebrew slaves free, there were ten plagues that God sent on the land to change their hearts. The final straw was the tenth plague – the plague of the firstborn. God’s instruction was that each household should put the blood of a lamb on the tops and sides of the doorframes to their homes. This blood was a sign that the Angel of Death would pass over their homes, saving their lives. Judgment of God will happen, but He made a way to be saved. (See Exodus 11 and 12 in the Old Testament.)

The same is true today. There is a phrase that is heard frequently in Christian circles – “put the blood of Jesus on the doorframes of your heart.” Have you heard of it? Have you done it? It’s the idea that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God has given His blood (His very life) for the atonement (forgiveness) of our sins. What a great thing to celebrate! This is accomplished not by anything we could do on our own but by putting our trust and faith in the work that Jesus did on the cross!

So the people back in the day of Jesus were coming to town to celebrate the Passover feast. Once in Jerusalem, they encountered a couple days full of Jesus’ teachings plus other dramatic events that eventually led to His trial and death. But prior to the death sentence that He received, He spent some time with His friends. His disciples. Those that He had poured His life, love and ministry into over the past three years.

This is the account of Jesus celebrating His last Passover with His friends.

Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 26, verses 26-30) says, “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many of forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Other events of Jesus’ last full day on earth can also be found in Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-23; and John 13:1-30.

So what makes this Thursday different than others? What does Maundy mean? Are you saying “Monday Thursday?” That doesn’t make sense…..no, it refers to the new mandate Christ gave His followers: Jesus’ words after He washed His disciple’s feet. He instructed them with a new commandment – to love one another as He loved them. A great way to celebrate this day and evening in commemoration of Christ’s last night before the crucifixion is to worship with other Christians and partake in the Lord’s Supper! What a great gift that Christ left to His people!

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