Alpha	Missions Information Guide
		Bryan Whitlock	Tall Timber Ranch

	* Alpha *
“What an awakening.  I heard things in Alpha that I’ve heard my whole life, but it was explained so differently and my understanding was much greater.  I didn’t realize what I had missed over all these years . . . Alpha made me reflect on my personal journey with Jesus.  I’m more aware of His presence in my life.”            - - Participant from BPC Alpha Course   Alpha is a dynamic, no-cost, 10-week “Christianity 101” course, providing a practical overview of the Christian faith.  Alpha includes dinner, a talk, and discussion groups.  Topics include “Who is Jesus?” “Why Did He Die?”, “How to Read the Bible” and more.
Benefits of Alpha: • dinner with no cooking or cleanup! • get to know God in a fresh way through lively teaching of Christian basics • ask any question - no question is too simple or too hostile • build friendships with others as you learn and grow together   6:00 p.m. Wednesday nights Dinner and child care included Contact the church office for dates of next series Come yourself or invite a friend!

* Missions Information Guide *

BIRCHWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH MISSIONS INFORMATION GUIDE   Our Vision and Mission: Birchwood’s Vision  (where we’re going): To be a community of God’s people through whom God is making seekers into believers and believers into disciples. Missions Committee Vision: As disciples, we seek to empower and equip our congregation to witness and serve people in a world that needs God in both spiritual and physical ways. We strive to strengthen the congregation’s enthusiasm and involvement in missions support throughout every aspect of church life. Birchwood’s Mission  (who we are): We are a gathering of those who are called out by God in and through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  We seek to witness to the love, acceptance, and forgiveness of God through Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture.  Indwelt by His Holy Spirit, we are called by God to live out our life together as a worshipping congregation, an equipping center, a healing community and a witnessing people. Missions Committee Mission: We are believers, guiding our congregation to embrace missions as a joyous privilege to participate in the coming of the kingdom of God.  We endeavor to build increased engagement in mission support through prayer, personal involvement, and financial support. Because we’ve been called to be a witnessing people, we grant priority to those missions and concerns - in which our church can be most involved - which will have the largest conversion-effect on seekers in the world and in our     community - which will have the largest disciple-making effect on our congregation Birchwood Short-Term Missions: Food for the Hungry:  Nabaj, Guatemala -- Food for the Hungry and Birchwood joined hands in partnership in 2003 by adopting the very small village of Kanaquil, consisting of about 100 families, located in the highlands of Guatemala.  Our adoption agreement means that we are committed to sending a team from Birchwood each year for five years to provide practical help in the form of sponsorships for children, short-term building projects connected with the local school, and Bible school for children.  In addition, we are in frequent communication with them, praying and encouraging them in their efforts to improve their lives and grow as Christians.  Birchwood families currently sponsor over 35 children from Kanaquil and a neighboring village through Food for the Hungry. Food for the Hungry’s goal is to train leaders, families and churches through their vision of community. Birchwood’s Guatemala teams consist of 12-14 people, with each team made up of equal numbers of repeaters and new members. Bethesda Mission: Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico -- A group of Birchwood youth traveled to the Ensenada area during the summer of 2003 to collaborate with a local church there to provide a Vacation Bible School for children within the church’s neighborhood.  In 2004 and 2005, multi-generational teams spent a week constructing a small medical clinic and several small houses.  During both years the group also conducted Vacation Bible School for local children and a variety of outreach programs.  We partner with Bethesda Mission and its director, Darrell Graham, who runs the facility where our group of 50 stays.  He has extended an invitation to Birchwood to work with the Mission as unofficial “partners in ministry” to the people of this poor area.  As this relationship with Bethesda Mission and the people of Ajusco grows, it is our hope to provide opportunities for young people and adults to participate actively in the task of sharing Christ cross-culturally. Local Missions:  Bethany Christian Services: Purpose:  A non-profit, pro-life Christian adoption and family services agency.  This agency finds adoptive families for infants born in the U.S. and other countries, and for children born with special placement needs.  Bethany also provides free, face-to-face counseling for women and couples faced with an unplanned pregnancy.  Their compassionate counselors give birthparents the life-giving option to make an adoptive plan to give their child a loving, stable home. Volunteer Opportunities: Be a Bethany prayer partner--praying daily for Bethany’s ministry needs; coordinate “Home Bank” program within congregation once or twice per year. Director/Contact: Connie Schmotzer, 733-6042                 www.bethany.org The Inn: Purpose:  An outreach mission to college students, both believers and seekers.  The ministry conducts Tuesday night worship and relationship-building programs with 300-350 students attending; sponsors mission trips, outdoor recreation trips, and local Christian service experiences. Volunteer Opportunities: Help prepare dinner for 20-25 student worship leaders and staff on Tuesday evenings (monthly or occasionally); lead Bible studies or special interest groups; step up for other individual “behind the scenes” work opportunities such as office work or grant-writing. Director/Contact: Jim Schmotzer, 733-7704                        www.theinnministries.org   Lighthouse Mission: Purpose:  A free crisis shelter for men, women, and children which also offers hot meals open to the public three times a day.  The Mission provides clients with personal needs items, clothing, and furniture; weekly medical clinic access; medications; travel vouchers; a long-term rehabilitation program; transitional housing; and food boxes. Volunteer Opportunities: Regular volunteers:  Serve hot meal(s) monthly; volunteer as a chapel service leader; donate to and serve in the clothing room and/or food pantry; provide GED tutoring, housekeeping services, Bible study; help with children’s activities, maintenance, reception, mailings, teaching (parenting, budgeting, anger control, health) and evangelism. Special Events/On Call volunteers:  Holiday food baskets; painting rooms, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc. At Home volunteers:  birthday cake and cookie baking, sewing repairs Contact: Pat Buchinski, 733-5120                        www.thelighthousemission.org Love, Inc: Purpose:  A ministry to coordinate with churches to help the poor. Activities include family budget counseling; helping families move; doing housekeeping for elderly with short-term disabilities; and repairing vehicles for those who have no other means of getting to work. Volunteer Opportunities: Be a budget counselor (training is provided); a child care provider for families in counseling; a fund raiser, phone volunteer, or board member. Director/Contact: Colleen Miller, 671-6201 North Puget Sound Presbytery: The mission function of the presbytery is to help and assist its member congregations grow for the sake of Jesus Christ.  The contributions of our church help support mission activity in our area including the Inn, Tall Timber Ranch, Neah Bay and Acme Churches, Synod Resource Center subscriptions for all presbytery congregations, Eagle Wings Ministries to the handicapped in Marysville, Skagit Hispanic Ministries, and others. www.teamtapestry.net/quickplace/npugetsound  Address:  1010 East Casino Road; Everett, WA  98203-6537 Toll-free:  (866) 355-0922 Tall Timber Ranch: Purpose:  Offers Christ-centered camping programs in connection with local churches. In unique outdoor settings, Tall Timber demonstrates Christ’s presence in daily life, prepares participants for local and worldwide service, provides solid Biblical teaching, and builds relationships that cut across barriers. Most of all, the camp provides Christian role models through its camp staff, spiritual leaders, and counselors.  Volunteer Opportunities: Take up your tools for construction, maintenance and repair work parties, especially over the Memorial Day weekend. Spaces for tents and RV parking are available; ample food will be provided. The fee is a free will offering for accommodations and meals. Tasks include cutting brush, washing windows and mattresses, painting, cutting fire wood, etc. Contact:  Judy Marcum, 380-4333                        www.talltimber.org University Christian Ministries – Derrick Scheid Derrick is a former BPC staff member now with University Christian Ministries at Western Washington University.  UCM Purpose:  To assist students in their desire to know and understand Jesus Christ and apply his teachings to their lives. Activities include a Friday night gathering for worship, instruction, and encouragement; small Bible study/support groups; and active service on campus.  UCM strives to reach, mentor, and send students at Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College each year. They want to reach both Christian and non-Christian students, draw them into our community for training and mentoring, then as they graduate send them into the world to be missionaries in their chosen career fields. Contact:  derrick@ucm-chialpha.com                        www.ucm-chialpha.com Whatcom County Pregnancy Center: Purpose:  An organization which provides choices for life to women, teens, and families.  Their “Relate” program educates and encourages teens towards a healthier lifestyle of waiting for sex until marriage forms a significant part of its ministry.  The Center has a team of medical professionals who volunteer to conduct the curriculum at area schools, as well as offering pregnancy tests and ultrasound screening for young women. Volunteer Opportunities:   You can serve as office assistant, newsletter support, pregnancy counselor and mentor (training required), curriculum organizer, support with solicitation and collection of donations, “Relate” speaker (training provided), assistant in “Baby and Me Shop.” Director/Contact: Jan Ruiter, 671-9057                        www.TheCenterCanHelp.com Young Life: Purpose: A non-denominational outreach ministry to high school and middle school students, introducing them to Jesus Christ and helping them to grow in their faith. The “lost sheep”  (Luke 15: 1-7) among this age group are the focus of the ministry. Young Life provides healthy, creative fun in weekly clubs, seasonal camping experiences, and daily outings with leaders. The goal is to get the youth involved with a local church congregation, and ultimately to commit their lives to Christ. Volunteer Opportunities:  Host and invite guests to a table at the annual banquet; be a member of a life support team to provide snacks, clean-up, and resources; participate in area-wide Young Life events (BBQ, banquet etc.); be on the Young Life Committee to help plan events and daily operations; make pies for the annual BBQ; participate in an adult camp; assist in the office. Contact: Jonathan Schultz, 676-8970                        Web sites:   www.younglife.org                 www.hillcrestchapel.com/missions/schultz World and National Missions: Ambassadors in Sports (AIS) -- Kelli Zlateff Kelli is a former BPC staff member called to ministry with AIS.  AIS strategy is to communicate the Gospel effectively, using soccer as the platform, through camps, clinics, teams, international tours, youth leagues, school programs and prison ministries. Staff missionaries, like Kelli, are skilled and experienced soccer players and can take advantage of the worldwide enthusiasm for the sport to build cross-cultural bridges and introduce people to Jesus Christ.  AIS now has offices in the UK, USA, Spain, South Africa and the Czech Republic. Contact:  kzlateff@hotmail.com      Tel.  440-519-0488                        Web site: www.aisint.org;   Chi Alpha Campus Ministries - Shelly Dayton:  Shelly is a former BPC member serving in campus ministry.  Purpose:  The goal of Chi Alpha campus ministries is to take the gospel, love of Christ and Christian community right to where the students are.  They focus on reaching students and equipping them for Christ, encouraging them to see the university campus as their mission field, and to reach out to and disciple their friends and classmates while at University.   Shelly herself came to know Christ through Chi Alpha as a student at Western Washington University. She is now a part of the missionary staff at Oregon State University.  Address: 820 SW 5th St., Corvallis, OR  97333-4414      shellydayton@hotmail.com Christian International Scholarship Foundation (CISF) – The purpose of CISF is to help fund doctoral-level theological education for Christian leaders from the emerging world who otherwise would be unable to afford the education.  These individuals then return to their home countries to provide Christian leadership as teachers and ministers to their people.  Birchwood Presbyterian Church established a scholarship in 2005 in the name of BPC’s former pastor, Tim Lann.  BPC’s monthly contributions are designated for the Lann Scholarship Fund. Web site: http://www.belairpres.org  Address: PMB-136, 825 S. Waukegan Road A8, Lake Forest, IL 60045-2665. Far East Broadcasting Company – FEBC broadcasts the gospel of Jesus Christ in 154 languages to reach areas where two-thirds of the world’s people live.  FEBC's mission is to develop radio programming and deliver it to listeners in Asia in such a way that they move toward Jesus Christ and into His Kingdom; that they know Him as Saviour, Lord, and King; follow His teaching; and live in obedience to Him as His servants and as members of a local body of believers. Web site:  http://www.febc.org  Address:  PO Box 1, La Mirada, CA 90637-0001; toll free:  (800) 523-3480. Mission to Unreached Peoples – Pam and Sunil Sardar - This broadly interdenominational agency focuses on unreached people groups.  Their mission is to obey the Great Commission of Jesus Christ by investing lives, gifts, resources, and vocational skills in God's work throughout Asia and Europe.  The Sardars work in India among the lower caste “untouchables,” using Sunil’s gift of evangelism and aiming for 2 million converts.  Web site: http://www.mup.org Pakistan Bible Correspondence School – This school provides Biblical courses, literature, complementary books, New and Old Testaments for Christians and seekers, and follow-up rallies, camps and personal visits.  Believing the Bible is the transforming Word of God, which works in peoples’ lives and changes individuals and societies, they desire to make available in Pakistan the saving message of the Gospel to those who don’t know it.  Many Muslims take their courses and find Christ. Web site: http://www.pcusa.org/pcusa/wmd/ep/eco/seasia/863302.htm Address:  Post Box 117, David Villa, Opp. G.T.S. Bus Depot, Faisalabad 38050, Pakistan. Pakistan Christian Recording Ministry (PCRM) – PCRM is an interdenominational ministry which reaches out to the peoples of Pakistan and neighboring countries through Bible-centered radio programs and cassettes.   In a 97% Muslim country with estimated literacy rate of only 25%, radio and cassettes are the only ways many of Pakistan's 140 millions can hear the Gospel. Since local medium-wave transmission is a monopoly of the government, PCRM's programs are transmitted on short-wave from the Seychelle Islands by FEBA Radio, a major Christian transmitting station.  Its cassette ministry produces music cassettes of hymns, psalms and songs in the three main languages, Urdu, Punjabi and Saraiki. The aims are to enrich the worship of the Church in Pakistan and to make the Gospel message available through music.  Cassettes of dramatized Bible stories, which include simple Bible teaching, are also produced and sold at low cost for use in evangelism and follow-up.  Web site: http://pakistan.kcm.co.kr/pcrm Sheldon Jackson College – Sheldon Jackson College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, is committed to serving the needs of Alaska’s Native community.  Located in Sitka, Alaska, the college is operated by an independent board of trustees and remains in historical covenant to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Web site: http://www.sheldonjackson.edu      Address:  801 Lincoln Street, Sitka, AK 99835 Whitworth College – Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Whitworth College in Spokane is a private, residential, liberal arts college.  Whitworth has as its mission to provide its diverse student body an “education of the mind and heart,” equipping its graduates to honor God, follow Christ, and serve humanity. This mission is carried out by a community of Christian scholars committed to excellent teaching and the integration of faith and learning. Web site: http://www.whitworth.edu    Address:  300 W. Hawthorne Road, Spokane, WA 99215 Wycliffe Bible Translators/Butlers – Wycliffe’s mission is to help the church make disciples of all nations through Bible translation.  More than 380 million people worldwide still need God’s word in their language.  Their vision is to see translation in progress among every language group that needs it by 2025.  Wycliffe staff members must raise their own financial support.  Dan and Barb Butler recently returned from serving in Kenya; Dan is now Wycliffe’s Vice President for Personnel. He is based in Dallas, TX, and travels to locations throughout the world to assist Wycliffe staff members to resolve challenging personnel issues. Web site: http://www.wycliffe.org Wycliffe Bible Translators/Larry and Linda Snydal – They are presently located at the Wycliffe recording studio in North Carolina.  Their task is matching audio and video portions of books of the New Testament in the heart languages of various groups in the Amazonas region of Brazil, where they formerly lived and worked.   Part of their work involves dubbing Brazilian Indian languages for copies of the Jesus film, which are then returned to the villages. E-mail: linda_snydal@sil.org   Address for contributions:  Wycliffe Bible Translators, PO Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862.

* Tall Timber Ranch *

2005 BPC Mission Activities at Tall Timber Ranch - Our Mission program at BPC includes giving to a fund at TTR for rebuilding the Ephrata cabin. The 40-year-old A-frame cabin is being converted to a straight-sided cabin by a very unusual, first-of-its kind conversion designed by Bellingham engineer, Chris Hamilton, and Oak Harbor architect, Terry LeDesky.
The construction boss, Rev. Jim Caulkins	The Birchwood contingent
The crew that stayed for the whole weekend	The two pictures in the row above this one orient you to where this picture is taken. When the siding on both ends of the A-frame was removed this was the discovery. Apparently chipmunks had stashed their findings between the studs. This was cram packed but some fell out when the siding was removed. Contents: mostly seeds plus a colorful assortment of M&Ms and goldfish crackers.
Archives of Past Activities -
BPC Mission Team at Tall Timber Ranch 2004