Blog Posts by Dale Peak

Steve Terry Memorial Service – Monday, Oct. 22

Dear Friends,

Many of you have contacted the RBC office to ask when Steve’s memorial service will be held.  We have now finalized plans and wanted to let you know the details so you could plan accordingly.

Steve Terry Memorial Service
Monday, October 22
1:00 pm here at RBC
Reception to follow

Please be in prayer for Steve’s mom Jean, sister Lori and brothers Wayne and Brian as they grieve their loss (but heaven’s gain).  Steve’s immediate family is so very grateful for the unique ways many of you have shown kindness and love to him and for the outpouring of your prayers.

Puerto Rico Crisis Response – Collection at RBC on Oct. 22

Wilfredo and Glorimar Corps are long-time RBCers originally from the town of Aibonito, in the center of Puerto Rico.

As most of us are aware, Puerto Rico as recently been devastated by two hurricanes. When they visited Aibonito a week ago, Wilfredo and Glorimar were dismayed to discover both the extent of the damage and that much of the aid sent to Puerto Rico has not reached inland, where their town in located.  Many families there are hurting, as well as a large senior assisted-living facility that is unable to provide three meals a day to its residents.

Twenty-two years ago, Wilfredo and Glorimar planted Primera Iglesia Bautista de Aibonito (First Baptist Church of Aibonito) in their garage. The church continued to grow even after the Corps left Puerto Rico for the mainland United States. Today, we have the opportunity to partner with this church to bring much-needed aid and supplies to the people there. The church has procured a waiver from the Puerto Rican government that will allow us to send a large amount of supplies and aid without import taxes. Wilfredo and Glorimar will be on-hand in Puerto Rico to receive our shipment of donated items, transport them to Aibonito and deliver them personally to people in need.

On Sunday, October 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., we will have a truck parked in front of the main building on the traffic circle where you can drop off aid and supply items you see on the list below. The goal of this project is to provide some basic necessities to sustain the people of Aibonito for the next 30-90 days, the estimated time frame until power and basic utilities will be restored to the town.

Here is a list of what we need:

  • Power generators
  • Extension cords
  • Personal water filtration systems
  • Drinking water
  • Lamps (solar- and battery-powered)
  • Non-perishable food items (canned food or items that don’t need refrigeration and can last 60-90 days)
  • Powdered milk
  • Baby formula
  • Baby diapers
  • Batteries size D, AA, and AAA
  • Battery-operated fans
  • Mosquito nets
  • Mosquito repellent
  • Solar-powered chargers (for phones and other electronics)
  • Adult diapers
  • Tarps (any size, the bigger the better)
  • Power inverters
  • Towels
  • Bed sheets (all sizes)
  • Over-the-counter medication (Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, etc.)
  • Clothing (not heavy or winter as PR is tropical year around)
  • Personal hygiene items

Feel free to donate any of the items above in bulk as we are planning on a large container in which to ship them. 

Finally, if you order anything from Amazon, please consider using smile.amazon.com, where you’ll find the exact same shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to RBC’s Benevolent Fund. You use the same account on Amazon.com and AmazonSmile, so your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are the same. On your first visit to AmazonSmile, simply select Reston Bible Church as your charitable organization. The website will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make from then on will result in a donation.

We are looking forward to seeing how God will use the people of RBC to share Christ’s love with recent victims of natural disasters, first in Texas and now in Puerto Rico. Thank you for your willingness to help so many hurting people.

Texas Crisis Response Trip Planned for November

An opportunity has arisen to show the love of Christ to Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas.

Christian Fellowship Church and RBC are teaming up with Samaritan’s Purse to sponsor a trip to the Corpus Christi area (one of the hardest hit) on November 5-11. Samaritan’s Purse is providing meals, lodging and tools — all you need do is get there. We estimate the cost to be $475 per person, which includes airfare and ground transportation while there. We have reserved a block of 15 plane tickets that must be purchased by Wednesday, October 4, on a first-come, first-served basis. The tickets are non-refundable, and background checks are required. If you have other questions about this work trip, please contact Dale Peak at dalepeak@restonbible.org.

Participants must be 18 years of age to register. Participants 17 and under would only be allowed to participate if a parent or guardian was participating in the trip as well. Registrations will be on a first-come, first-served basis and space is very limited. Once registered, a link will be sent to each registrant to fill out the paperwork required by Samaritan’s Purse. You would not be considered officially registered until all paperwork is filled out completely. Please note that this is very appropriate, high-energy / low-skill work during the first phase of disaster response.

From Samaritan’s Purse

Thank you for partnering with Samaritan’s Purse as we minister to families whose homes were damaged during Hurricane Harvey. Far beyond the physical help you will extend to the homeowners, the spiritual and emotional support you offer to them is even more important. We hope your volunteer experience is rewarding and life-changing. Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph. Harvey remained a powerful storm and has brought torrential rain to Texas in the days that followed. Our response to this storm includes debris removal, roof tarping and mudouts.

This trip is now full! We’re checking into the possibility of adding additional people. If you’re still interested, click the button below to join the wait list.

Join Wait List

Download More Information

 

Prayer and Support for Texas and Florida

Please pray for the hope of Christ to reach theses devastated regions.

For those of you who have been here 10 years or longer, you probably remember our extensive involvement with disaster relief following Hurricane Katrina (sending a dozen work teams and a truckload of food and other supplies). At the moment, we ask that you pray, pray, pray for the victims and for an effective response that demonstrates God’s grace and love. Disasters like this often provide many opportunities for people to talk about Jesus Christ because of their joyful endurance, hopeful spirit, and works of love.

Here’s where we currently stand. As we did with Katrina, we are waiting until things settle down somewhat to determine our course of action. We certainly do not want to be in the way of early response teams, FEMA, etc. as they continue to rescue people and sort out needs. We also must find a church or churches in the area to partner with. We have learned from experience that this is the most effective way to extend our help from so far away. When it is safe for us to enter affected areas, we may once again send work crews to help clean up and repair. However, we need to wait until the danger has passed so as not to complicate the ongoing rescue operations. For example, many churches there are currently overwhelmed by acting as temporary shelters housing evacuees. They cannot accommodate work teams right now. Some hotels are reporting 10 or more people per room with little more than the clothes on their backs. So, as hard as it is, we must wait patiently for the right moment to be the most effective – remember, we sent our first team to Katrina (I was part of that team) six weeks after the storm.

If you feel led to do something now, there are options for you. If you want to go or give, we recommend contacting one or more of the following:

  • Samaritan’s Purse is currently on the scene assessing the damage. We have teamed with this organization in the past and have been richly blessed by it.
  • The American Red Cross is taking donations to help victims and asking people to donate much-needed blood at local drives.
  • World Vision is assembling Family Food Kits.
  • SPCA is helping families connect with lost pets.

Finally, if you have family members who have been severely affected by Harvey in the greater Houston area, or by Irma in Florida, please let us know. If and when we do send teams, we would love to start by rebuilding homes of your loved ones.

Please address your immediate questions to me at dalepeak@restonbible.org and continue to pray for Houston and Florida!

This post has been updated in response to the impact of Hurricane Irma in Florida.

Services Cancelled | Sunday, January 24

I wanted to let you know that all services and activities for tomorrow (Sunday, January 24, 2016) have been cancelled, including evening activities such as Awana, FPU and the Sr. High Dodgeball Tournament.

Since you’re snowed in this weekend, here are some ideas to take advantage of this time to draw close to the Lord, especially tomorrow since we cannot worship corporately.

    • Search our sermon archives and listen to one of your favorite messages from the past, or perhaps one you haven’t heard.
    • Explore the 10,000+ inspirational and educational videos available from rightnow.org.  You can instantly stream biblical teaching from over 150 leading Christian publishers and ministries. Their extensive library has Bible studies, conference sessions and a huge array of kid’s videos including Veggie Tales, 3-2-1 Penguins, Adventures in Odyssey and many others.  For more information, please click here.  If you don’t currently have a login for this incredible resource, request one here.  Operators (Jason VanDorsten) are standing by to take your request!

Finally, as you can imagine, your church still incurs operational expenses regardless of the weather.  If you are not already giving online, why not take this opportunity to see how easy it is to support the ministries of RBC.  You can give from within myRBC if you’re already logged in, or simply click here to be taken to our secure online giving page.

That’s all for now.  Stay safe and warm and drive carefully when you do venture out.  Have a blessed weekend.

Dale Peak
Administrator

Memorial Service for Oral Mizelle

IMG_0343After a long battle with liver disease, Oral Mizelle went home to be with his Lord early Tuesday morning.  His memorial service will be this Friday, November 20 at 2:00pm here at RBC.  There will be a small reception immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family may be made in the form of donations to the RBC Missions Fund, which supports our global missionaries and mission projects.  Letters of sympathy and encouragement to the family may be brought to the service or sent to:

The Mizelle Family
c/o Reston Bible Church
45650 Oakbrook Court
Dulles, VA 20166

Please be in prayer for Oral’s wife Laurie and children Elizabeth and Nathan as they grieve their loss and rejoice in heaven’s gain.

Memorial Service for Ellie Jenkins

elliejenkinsDear friends of the Jenkins family,

Here is information on the Viewing and Memorial Service honoring the life of Ellie Jenkins next week.

The viewing will be held on Sunday evening (Nov. 1) from 6:30 – 8:30pm at Blue Ridge Bible Church (770 S 20th Street, Purcellville, VA).

The Memorial Service will be on Monday (Nov. 2) at 10:00 am, also at Blue Ridge Bible Church.  It will be immediately followed by a graveside service at Ebenezer Cemetery in Bluemont (20421 Airmont Road, Bluemont, VA). After the graveside service, attendees are invited to return to Blue Ridge Bible Church for a luncheon reception.

In lieu of flowers, condolences to the family may be made in the form of donations to the Warren P. Jenkins Foundation supporting global missionaries and mission projects.  Donations and letters of sympathy & encouragement to the family may be brought to the service or sent to:

The Jenkins Family
c/o Reston Bible Church
45650 Oakbrook Court
Dulles, VA 20166

 

Memorial Blood Drive for Stephen Chiang

blood_drive_ccb

Our next drive this Sunday (May 11, 2014 from 8:00am – 1:00pm) is extra special because it is in memory of Stephen Chiang, a faithful RBC volunteer and blood donor for many years.  Stephen went home to be with the Lord last year at the early age of 34.  He also served faithfully at the Welcome Desk and in our Media Ministry for many years.  Stephen’s mother is planning to be there, so whether you donate or not, please feel free to drop by and wish her a happy Mother’s Day.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to give the gift of life to someone in need if you are able to give and will be in town that day.  If you’d like to sign up online, please click here for the online registration form.  We will have two bloodmobiles, so you should be in and out within around 30 minutes.

Currently, we only have 20 of our 105 slots filled, so there’s lots of room available, especially before 10:00am and after 11:00am.

One more note:  The most common reason people are not allowed to donate is due to an iron deficiency.  This can easily be remedied by eating a meal of iron-rich foods the night before the drive.  Here’s a list of such foods in case you struggle with this (click here to download a PDF.)

Hope to see you Sunday.  Have a very blessed week.

Dale Peak, Administrator