Editorial - Autumn 2009 Bristo Magazine

This issue of the Magazine has been an unusually long time in coming. My apologies for that! Maybe it’s appropriate though, since the theme for this issue is Firstfruits.

Fruit, wine and vegetables all take time to mature or ripen before they are really good quality and ready to eat or drink. An unripe, immature fruit or vegetable may be hard compared with the luscious, juicy ripe state. It may even be harmful or poisonous whereas when ripe it is good to eat.

Christian lives also take time to ripen and mature. For fruit, vegetables and wine, just the right amounts of rain and sunshine are both needed. Apparently this year’s French wine vintages are going to be the best for over 60 years because there has been just the right amount of rain and sun. Similarly we need the right amount of ‘Son-shine’ from Jesus and the right amount of the Spirit’s refreshing ‘rain’.

May you know the firstfruits of the Spirit this autumn.

Robert Mill

FROM THE PASTOR

Dear Family,

This edition, our theme is ‘Firstfruits’. There’s an apple tree in the back garden of the manse, the house we live in. It’s just outside my mum’s room, and she gets a lot of pleasure watching birds come to eat the fruit, now that they are ripe. This year the crop is the biggest I’ve seen. And one thing that’s impressed me is that, despite the seasonal winds pushing and pulling the branches, most of the fruit stays in position, ripening all the time.

And it makes me think how the Bible talks of Christian disciples being the firstfruit of the Kingdom of God. The big passage on this is Romans 8. So when I think of the apple tree and the lives of Christians, I see a few things in common.

First of all, how long it takes to ripen! Not just a single season or a few short months. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Sun, rain, wind. Our Christian lives are like this. Being a Christian is about being on a journey. It’s about movement, not just a moment. Jesus told us to go and make disciples, not simply invite people to decide to believe. That involves us changing, as well as others coming to change among us. Growing. Maturing. Ripening. Which one of us can claim to be fully ripened yet? It’s a journey that continues until the Lord plucks us from this life.

Secondly, why do apples stay on the tree? Because they need the energy and to be fed from the tree. And this is why we need church. If we are cut off prematurely, we stop growing. Become stunted. And drop off to rot.

But thirdly - how lovely and tasty is a ripened apple! It’s worth waiting for. For all to enjoy. So this is my prayer for you, my friend: may God continue to ripen and mature you on the branch. May you survive the seasons and the storms. And may the fragrance of your fruitfulness in your continued maturing be a blessing to all who come to taste you as a firstfruit of the Kingdom of God.

In His love,
Jim

David Nemeshegyi

I turned 32 this year. Both Agnes and I were brought up in Baptist families in Hungary. This background had its advantages and disadvantages at the time but retrospectively we think the former far outweighed the latter. I was the second child in the family and had four sisters and three brothers. We lived in Fót, a small town just outside Budapest. Agi is from Kondoros which is in the south-eastern part of Hungary.

We went to the local Baptist church. With a membership of around 70, it was a relatively small congregation, with a characteristic combination of small town values and a fairly conservative Baptist setting. In this church I was baptised at the age of 14. I was blessed to have a youth pastor who constantly challenged us by his personal example to gain a deeper understanding of God and the Bible and to apply this in our everyday lives.

My previous experience:
After high school I trained as a nurse at college. In 1999, the last year of my studies I felt a strong attraction towards ministry, mainly by the influence of the life and example of my aforementioned youth pastor. However, I haven’t gone straight to seminary but decided to do national service - which was compulsory back then. In those days there were two options: you either joined the army and did the military training or you worked for a charity agency. Joining the army provided an excellent opportunity to witness in a non-Christian environment and proved to be a useful experience. In 2000 I started my training at the Baptist seminary in Budapest. Beside classes we had placements in churches each year, where we were involved in youth work, visiting the sick and preaching. More recently, I worked as a care assistant in Newark, Nottinghamshire whilst studying part-time at IBTS in Prague.

Why we have come to Bristo Baptist and what we would like to be involved in:
Margaret (died 1093), mother of King David I of Scotland, was of Hungarian origin and a friend of mine in Newark suggested that upon arrival in Edinburgh I should reclaim the throne for Hungary. On a more serious note, I got to know the work of Bristo Baptist Church through Jim Purves whom I met in Prague. Agnes and I felt drawn to Bristo because of the conscious effort people make here to understand what God is calling them to in His Kingdom. We want to be fellow seekers of this vision, by fellowship, study and participation. If I was asked to mention one area of church work I am especially interested in, it would be the ministry towards the elderly. This attraction comes mainly from a sermon I heard in April 1999 in my church, based on Leviticus 19: 32. I believe it is very important to uphold this divine instruction, with the full weight of authority of the Lord behind it, to treat the aged population with respect and dignity. I need not speak about how timely this ancient legislation is in our society.

Hobbies:
Both Agi and I like to walk in the countryside, to marvel about the beauty of the created world. In addition to that, football is a long-standing passion of mine. Here in Scotland many will remember the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden Park between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. That night a magnificent display from Ferenc Puskás secured the fifth European title for the Spanish side. Puskás was also the leader of the Magical Magyars, feared all over the world in the early fifties. Along with many Hungarians I still wait for the resurrection of those glory days.

David Nemeshegyi

Pedro González

My name is Pedro Gonzalez. I am 23 years old; I was born and grew up in a farm in the middle of the mountains in the south of Argentina, in El Bolsón, a little town on the border with Chile.

I come from a big family; we are 11 children, 6 boys and five girls. They are not Christians, but have very good values: I grew up seeing my Mom helping poor people, I lived among the poor. I was a poor child, but with one big difference, I was educated for my family. I never liked this kind of life, living around the suffering, I always wanted a different life. But that was not possible, because I started to participate in a Christian community, I have to confess that it was for a girl. But that was the first step toward Jesus life. And when I started to read about Him, my life changed! My paradigm changed, my outlook of the life changed; it changed for the Jesus paradigm, the same of my Mom has; love your neighbour as yourself. It was there when I could understand my Mom, and love the life that I had. A real life, dedicated to God’s kingdom and his justice.

The last year I realised that I belong to my home town, and I want to spend the rest of my life serving God there. Trying to help the poor to get education, as I got it.

Today I am in Edinburgh trying to still grow up in the God kingdom ethics, and trying to help Bristo Baptist Church in the extension of that kingdom.
Pedro González

TREASURER’S REPORT

It doesn’t seem like it’s been many weeks since I last had to write a magazine article. It’s now right in the middle of the year, and it’s fairly difficult to know what to say. At the best of times it’s very difficult to make money sound interesting, depressing maybe as yet again Banking starts to hit the headlines .... particularly difficult now as our church savings aren’t bringing in very much interest (if any at all!).

Our agreed budget means we need to have an average weekly income of about £1100. We’re currently averaging around £920 per week including hall rental. Our expenditure is fairly much to target. We’ve slightly overspent on building repairs; from past experience when dealing with an older building it is very difficult to accurately estimate for any repair work, and one piece of work tends to lead to another piece of work. We’re over budget by about £1000; however, all the work we planned to do has been done, and we’ve under spent on other areas of our budget so the overall impact is not too bad. Many of you will notice the work that’s been done in the sanctuary. We’re trying to make all work done cost neutral. The refurbishment work is being paid for through the sale of pews and benches.

If anyone has any questions on our budget / expenditure please ask me, or drop me an email and I can give you any more details. I don’t really want to fill the magazine with pages of numbers, just to give a general idea of where we are and how we’re doing.

In the next few weeks we’ll be announcing our Christmas appeal. Our aim is to send £3500 to Lom to support their winter soup kitchen. For the last two years we’ve managed to successfully raise this sum of money ... and we hope to manage to do the same again this year. We’ve had visitors from Lom this year and our contacts there are very special to us (see p. 15). I will be sending out the appeal letter soon—meanwhile please pray about what you can give sacrificially to this.

Paul Watson

CHURCH BARBECUE—VOGRIE COUNTRY PARK

Twenty-eight of us met for a barbecue at Vogrie Country Park, near Pathhead, Midlothian on 19th September. The barbecue site we had booked was in the middle of a small wood (which made David very happy) and had an adjacent field for ball games as well as a shelter, just in case!
We all had a great afternoon relaxing, playing football, chatting and exploring the park. It was great to meet some new people from the International Club as well as catch up with others we had not seen for a while.

Linda Watson

HEALING TESTIMONY

This year I started doing a Christian Counselling Course at Waverley Abbey (see the front cover for a picture of its grounds) and as a result have had to have some personal counselling. My father died when I was two and my mother when I was six and then my sister and I were raised by my aunt and uncle - two completely different environments - the first very loving and affirming - the second more critical and undemonstrative.
Through the counselling I became aware of just what a big impact my father’s death had on me. I had always felt relatively untouched by their deaths but now realise how I came to shut down emotionally and have always kept people at a distance.
This year the Lord has healed me of a lot from my past but at CLAN He went much deeper. The first night Kenny Borthwick spoke about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being empowered as a result. I began to wonder if I had been “baptised” or just “filled” so the next day started praying for it. On Monday morning as we started to worship I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me and the Lord say “This is your baptism of the Holy Spirit. Your father gave you to me before he died. I have always held you in my arms and have always loved you. I have always been your Father.” Then I felt warmth around my heart and the love of God fill me and wave after wave of His love wash over me. It was a deeply moving experience that has changed me and I now realise how I had been keeping God at a distance too.
I knew in my head that He loves me but now I feel it in my heart. As a worship leader I have sung the songs about love for many years but now I totally get what they are about - the words have so much more meaning and emotional impact.
After being filled with God’s love I felt Him say that I was being empowered to preach healing into His church. I already am a lay preacher (on the Baptist Union list) but my heart goes out to all those who are broken and holding back from receiving what God has for them in Christ through the Holy Spirit. I work as a LighterLife Counsellor, which is secular, but very healing for those with weight problems. I see how our past affects us and how many people turn to food or drink (or other things) as a coping strategy and Christians are not exempt from this. I sense the Lord is calling me to those in the church so they are better placed to reach out to others. I long to see the church become freed from its past to be the expression of God’s love and compassion in this land. But I believe that before we can “go”, first we must “come” to the Lord to receive some measure of healing ourselves on our journey with Him.
Andrea Mill

CHRISTIAN WORKER STUDY PROGRAMME

The Christian Worker programme is run by the Baptist Union of Scotland.
The Christian Worker certificate is achieved by following a 2 year structured programme and an optional third year of study can be undertaken to obtain the Christian Worker Diploma.
I completed the Christian Worker Certificate in 2001 and then took some time out before completing the Diploma year in 2005. Since last year I’ve been involved in helping to plan the course.
I originally enrolled on the course because I felt the need for some more structured Bible study than I’d been managing on my own! I really enjoyed doing the course and meeting other students at the study days. I’d be happy to talk to anyone who’d like to know more about this. Basic details for the course starting in October are as follows:
Year 1: October 2009 – June 2010
The programme commenced this year with a study day on 10th October in Dedridge Baptist Church. In each of the two years a second study day takes place in the spring to enable students to meet and discuss with the tutors and each other what has been studied throughout the winter.
All home assignments are completed by early summer each year. Preparing for the assignments involves reading from the Bible and set books and manuals, supplied as part of the course.
The cost for the first year of the course is £110, which can be paid in instalments throughout the year. Course fees include all set texts.
Approximately five hours a week are needed to do the course, although this will vary depending on the individual. If you have not studied for a while a little extra time might be needed to get up to speed.
For further details or course application forms contact George Petrie (01506 856274, george@gmpetrie.plus.com) or talk to me (0131 669 8156, jonahhams@btinternet.com)
Linda Watson

THANKS FROM LOM

Dear Brothers and Sisters
We, the church board of the Baptist Church in Lom, are writing this letter to thank you for all you have done for us and our ministry during the years of partnership. As we wrote two months ago we’ve been facing some serious financial problems but thank the Lord, He used our brothers and sisters from the partnership churches in Clevedon and Beuford to help us manage the situation. Hope you all are doing well and have your needs met.
We also want to thank you for the financial support for the soup kitchen for poor people that we do every year. It starts in November but as it takes almost a month for the money to get to our bank account we would like to ask you to send it a bit earlier so we may have about two weeks to organize our work before Nov. 1st. (talking about shopping some things in advance).
Thank you very much. May the Lord bless you abundantly and keep you close to His heart.
Blessings,
Bethlehem Baptist Church - Lom

BETHANY SPONSORED WALK

The Bethany Christian Trust website said, “Come and join us on Bethany’s sponsored walk around beautiful Loch Leven at Kinross. Loch Leven is a Scottish National Heritage site boasting incredible scenery and a treasure-trove of wildlife in its natural setting. Make a difference in the lives of homeless people and enjoy a stunning day out at the same time.” So on Saturday September 12th, about 14 people from Bristo Baptist Church did. The Watson and Gladwin families plus Pedro tackled the 4.5 mile walk while the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely 11.5 mile stroll.

It was an amazingly beautiful day and there were apparently over 200 people out supporting the walk, while dozens of hang glider and paraglider enthusiasts observed us from above the local hill – even the sun paid us a visit! I was left wishing I had brought some sun cream (balding heads and plus 20 degrees sunshine don’t mix well!). Yet ultimately I felt glad that I was able to do something, anything, that could support the invaluable work of Bethany among the homeless and marginalised in Edinburgh.

As a church we support Bethany in many ways – hosting the winter night shelter, providing clothes, soup and helping hands for the Care Van, donating Christmas presents – yet one visit to their website, reveals so many more ways in which we could help and reminds us of the reasons why. Beneath the surface of our affluent, ‘well-to-do’ city, there is a lot of need and many hurting people. Please keep Bethany in your prayers, and visit http://www.bethanychristiantrust.com/ to see what you can do to help.
Who knows, maybe you could join us on next year’s sponsored walk!
Matt Baines

TRANSFORMATION

I am sad
I feel hurt
And lonely
I withdraw
I surround myself with a cocoon
of smiles and words that say
I’m fine – keep your distance

I lie on my bed
I read my Bible
And pray
I am surrounded by a cocoon
of the Father’s love
I tell Him how I feel
And cry
I feel waves of merciful love wash over me
I feel safe

I rise up
A smiling butterfly
Ready to face the world
To love and be loved
To give and receive
To hurt and to heal
Safe knowing the Father’s arms of love
Are always waiting to pick me up
And transform me

Andrea Mill