Dauner News Update January 2009
2009 Prayer Meeting for Unity
For the second consecutive year, the Marseilles church organized, jointly with the leaders of several neighborhood catholic parishes, an evening of prayer, Scripture reading and singing in the context of the worldwide Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme, They Will be One in Your Hand, was taken from the vision of The Two Sticks in Ezekiel 37. Once again we had a good attendance, representing around ten catholic parishes and Protestant groups. The hosting parish church is located just two blocks from where Prisca and I live.
This year the organizing committee decided to include a sermon, which they asked me to present. It was a great opportunity to reach an audience that we normally do not have access to, especially since it included some twenty priests and nuns.
As a result of this meeting, a family of five from the neighborhood visited our Sunday services yesterday. They seemed enthusiastic about the welcome they received and about the various Bible classes and activities for the three children. Another lady at the meeting asked to inscribe her children in our Bible Camp.
Dauners to Speak at Pepperdine Bible Lectures
Justin and I have been invited to present classes and a luncheon speech at the Pepperdine University 66th Annual Bible Lectures, May 5-8. Here is the schedule of our talks:
Wednesday, May 6
12:00 p.m. Luncheon Program
World Christian Broadcasting
Hahn Fireside Room
2:00 p. m.
Multiplying Loaves and Walking on Water
(A European Reading of Two Messianic Signs in the Wilderness) — Max
CAC 204
Friday, May 8
2:00 p.m.
Since God Knows Everything, Why Pray?
(A Reminder of Our Calling to Pray Without Ceasing) — Justin
AC 244
We are also scheduled to teach on Sunday, May 3 at the Sierra Madre Church of Christ, which has graciously accepted to cover our airfare to Los Angeles.
Church News
• One of our members of North African origin is presently in his home country (accompanying a native missionary from a para-church organization) on an evangelistic tour. This is a dangerous activity, since it is illegal to distribute Bibles and proselytize in that part of the world. The official crackdown on evangelistic activity, however, has not stopped the rapid growth of the Christian faith.
• A five-member family from the neighborhood has been attending our mid-week Bible class/prayer meeting since the beginning of the year. The children are active in Club Cool, and the father has requested to receive teaching with a view to receiving baptism.
• Marseilles is a very cosmopolitan town, a port city with large communities from all over the Mediterranean world. Fuveau Chapel reflects that ethnic and cultural diversity and draws strength from it. That does not mean there are no tensions or no attitudes to be corrected. (See the difficulties that the early church encountered in its effort to incorporate Jew and gentile into the same body.) As we have seen lately, patience and forgiveness are important weapons in the arsenal of peace; there are still long-held prejudices to be overcome here and there. Integrating a good-size minority of North Africans into a French congregation succeeds only rarely, and we can thank God for the harmony that reigns in the Marseilles church family.
A long-time friend of ours, Jerry Myers, never tires of encouraging people with the words, “Do not grow weary in well-doing!” Perhaps that is the biggest trial of all: holding on to the very end. I have been often strengthened in my resolve by Jerry’s words and can think of no better grace, no better blessing to close this letter. May God grant that you not grow weary in well-doing!
Max and Prisca Dauner