1 Peter 5:1-4

Peter describes elders as shepherds of the flock, a word picture that is purposeful. Shepherds watch, guard, guide, and feed the flock. They lead the sheep from the front by example; they don’t drive the sheep from behind with a whip. Ask God to help Calvary’s elders heed Peter’s exhortations as they shepherd the flock. Pray for them by name: Nick DonVito, John Gilbert, Mark Newport, Bob Schraeder, and Dave Tebay. Pray also for courage and tenacity; serving as an elder is not for the faint of heart! Addressing error or sin in a person’s life is often met with denial, argument, and accusations of harshness. Making difficult decisions for the church invariably means some people will angrily disagree. All the while, the elders know themselves to be fallible men, capable of error, but trusting God for wisdom. Let’s be faithful in praying for our five elders.

Pray also for the flock – we sheep the elders keep watch over. Suppose a shepherd pulls one of his sheep away from a patch of tasty but poisonous weeds or snatches it back from the edge of a precipice. Would a sensible sheep say to the shepherd, “What I eat and where I step is none of your business!”? Before the Lord, ask: Do I accept being called a sheep? How would I respond if Calvary’s elders challenged what I’m consuming or what I’m doing? Ask God to help all of us in the flock accept the structure the Chief Shepherd has set up for the good of the church.

Worshiping among us on Sunday mornings are young men who may serve as elders at Calvary or elsewhere in the future. Right now they are in their formative years, gaining experience from, and being tested by, the events and challenges of life. Pray for young men, asking the Lord to grow them in wisdom and maturity, to mold them so that they are fit to serve as elders later in life.

Calvary Family

The Calvary family includes Pastor Tomasz and Kamilla Chylka and their church in Pszczyna, Poland.
Last Thursday, we heard from Tomasz that his church had been asked to help care for 60 orphans from Odessa, Ukraine, and their accompanying adults. The plan was to house the children, aged 4 to 14, at the Ruptawa Christian center, a retreat and summer camp facility 20 miles from Pszczyna. Tomasz asked us to pray for these Ukrainian children, for safe travel and swift processing at the border. By Friday, the children had crossed the border into Poland, but there was no provision for transportation to Ruptawa. Tomasz quickly organized cars to pick them up. On Saturday, Tomasz sent news that the children were finally safe at Ruptawa, and we learned more details of their harrowing escape from Odessa.

Thank God for the partnership He has forged between Pastor Tomasz and Calvary. What a tremendous blessing it has turned out to be for these young Ukrainian refugees! Tomasz and his congregation are the “boots on the ground,” caring for the children – something we can’t do from afar. But we have the financial resources to buy what they need – something Tomasz and his small congregation do not have. Thank God for the trust He has cultivated between us over the last 12 years or so through regular communication and visits back and forth. That trust enables us to wire significant sums of money to the Pszczyna church without hesitation.

Please pray for these children, who must be exhausted and traumatized. Pray that they will understand that God sees them, knows what’s going on in their world, and loves them deeply. Pray for our Polish friends as they minister to the children, for the ability to communicate with them, for wisdom in making decisions, and for strength to carry a heavy load of work for an indefinite period of time.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert