Afraid?

— E. H. Hamilton, missionary to China On page 2 read the story behind this poem.

Afraid? Of what?To feel the spirit’s glad release?

To pass from pain to perfect peace:The strife and strain of life to cease?

Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?Afraid to see the Savior’s face,

To hear His welcome, and to traceThe glory gleam from wounds

of grace?Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?A flash—a crash—a pierced heart;

Darkness—Light—Oh, Heaven’s art!A wound of His a counterpart!

Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?To enter into Heaven’s rest,

And yet to serve the Master blestFrom service good to service best?

Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?To do by death what life could not:

Baptize with blood a stony plotTill souls shall blossom from the

spot?Afraid—of that?

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Dear ReadersRecently I talked with

a new widow who shared with me that fear was the greatest emotion she was dealing with each day. I thought for sure she would say grief, loneli-ness, and adapting to all the changes. But she said

FEAR. If you are dealing with this also, we pray that this special issue of CHERA Fellowship will minister to your need to be rid of the fear in your life.

God knew that we would have fear. So when He sent us His Word, He included help for fear. “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13). The words that stand out to me in this verse are – I AM – those words that Jesus also spoke in the Book of John:

• John 6:35 – I AM the bread of life.• John 8:12 – I AM the light of the world.• John 8:58 – Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I

say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”• John 10:9 – I AM the door.• John 10:11 – I AM the good shepherd.I love John 10:14: “I AM the good shepherd; and I

know My sheep, and am known by My own.” Jesus knows His sheep. He knows we have fear – just like real sheep do. They are easily scared by the slightest noise or strang-er. Jesus knows His sheep and He cares for each of us so that we do not have to fear. He, our GOOD SHEPHERD is more than enough for the fears that we can think of or realize in this world.

Take time to memorize Isaiah 41:13 and John 10:14, and when you feel fear, think fearful things or anticipate a fearful situation – quote them out loud with confidence in the Lord, your Good Shepherd.

— Miriam Lofquist, Editor

Vinson: Afraid? Of What?I was eight years old when one of my missionary

heroines, Betty Scott Stam, was beheaded by Chinese Communists, along with her husband. Her biography contained a poem which made a deep impression on me then, and an even deeper one years later when my hus-band Jim Elliot was speared to death in Equador. Here is the story of that poem:

In 1931 a missionary named John W. Vinson was itin-erating in North China when an army of bandits swooped down on the village where he was staying. They took him captive with about 150 Chinese to hold for ransom. The bandits offered Vinson freedom if he would write a letter to the government.

“Will you also free these Chinese prisoners?” Vinson asked.“Certainly not!” was the reply.

“Then I refuse to go free.”A little Chinese girl, later told of seeing a bandit point

a gun at Vinson’s head. “I’m going to kill you,” he said. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“No, I am not afraid,” was the calm reply. “If you kill me, I will go right to God.”

Another missionary, E. H. Hamilton, heard the sad news. For a few moments he sat silently, then, picking up his pen, wrote our cover poem in 15 minutes.

— Elisabeth Elliot. From The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter, copyright 1994, used with permission.

?Like a FishermanCast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

—1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Lord, like a fisherman, I cast my cares out to You, then reel them back in,

over and over again, sometimes not even giving You time to take

my troubles off the hook before I yank them back.

Give me faith, patience, to leave them alone, Let them sink down, way down deep into

Your heart of love.Let me lay down my rod,

Rest,Wait in peace.

— Catherine L’Herisson. Originally published in Windhover: A Journal of Christian Literature, vol. 15 April 2011

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Jesus’ disciple Peter often acted fearless. Yet in Luke 5:10 Jesus told him not to be afraid. Peter had worked all night and caught no fish. In his career as a fisherman, this was devastating. No doubt Peter was discouraged and exhausted. Then Jesus—

the newbie in town—came along and told him to go back and do it again.

What might Peter have been afraid of?1 – Fear of submitting. Why should he, a professional, surren-

der to a non-fisherman? If Jesus was wrong, Peter would end

up wasting even more time.

2 – Fear of failure: he would spend himself and still catch noth-

ing and look the fool.

3 – Fear of change: something new might happen apart from

Peter’s control.

4 – Fear of difficulty: Jesus told him to go to the deep. That

meant lots of rowing.

5 – Perhaps, fear of blessing: he did not deserve success.

How did Peter respond? First he informed Jesus (as if Jesus didn’t have all the information): “I’ve been fish-ing all night, and believe me, there’s nothing out there!” I imagine Jesus’ kind eyes holding Peter’s gaze, until Peter added the desired response, “Nevertheless, because You say so, I’ll do it.”

The result was a miracle catch of fish—probably enough to support them for a while as they followed Jesus.

As always, Jesus was discipling His men. This time His lesson was, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” Eventually Peter became quite successful in that mission.

As Jesus disciples us through various means, His goal is to make us more like Him, including His compassion for people. We must stay in fishing mode, seeking people we can help. Is it scary to follow Jesus? Indeed. We think we’d be more comfortable if we depended on what we can

see and feel. But trusting God dispels fear and helps us have Peter’s response: “they forsook all and followed Him” (Luke 5:11 NKJV).

This issue of CF deals with other scary circumstances to help you have victory over fear and worry as you pur-sue a life of loving God and others.

—Marcia Hornok, Managing Editor

Fear of Fishing?

Fear—that’s a tough one. No one wants to be afraid, and yet we all succumb to it at least occasionally. We fear because we believe we are in some sort of danger and won’t be able to handle it. Dangers such as losing our health, finances, or loved ones, of being rejected or dying, etc. cause us to fear.

When my husband died, I felt God’s strong presence as He carried me through the following months. My fears were pushed aside by the overwhelming grief I felt. As time went on and I could once again think normally, fears sur-faced. I feared losing my health and becoming a burden, of losing my ability to drive, or of making wrong decisions. I had fears about how I would provide for myself.

When thinking about the many things that could go wrong, I would succumb to fear, as the enemy loves me to do. I learned I had to change my focus and get my mind off my problems and onto the Lord, for God has not given us a spirit of fear.

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Focusing on Him caused me to remember all the good things. God is my provider. God is my comforter. As I seek Him, He will lead me in the right paths. He is always with me. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” If God is for me, who can be against me?

I’m not saying that I no longer have any fear or wor-ries. But now when I find myself in fear, I literally take a few deep breaths, stop and change my focus. I think about God’s attributes and the truths in His Word and cast my fears and burdens at His feet. I remind myself that when I fear, I am not following God with a whole heart. I have no reason to fear. He has always taken care of me, and I trust He always will.

— Nancy Snyder Craig died shortly after their 40th wedding anniversary in 2009.

Changing my Focus

Grief Brings Its Own FearsOne of the side effects of losing a loved one, is the fear

of suffering another loss. Some time after my husband’s death, the due date of my daughter and son-in-law’s baby approached. My fears soared. With the hospital located forty-five minutes away, what if they didn’t make it there in time? What if they drove through a winter white-out and crashed? Something could go horribly wrong....

Okay, this is irrational. This is crazy. This is grief. I tried talking myself down. Tried distracting myself. But dusting every nook in my entire house didn’t cut it for me. Too much time to think. My stomach knotted and exhaus-tion fell over me like a cloudburst. Everything seemed irrelevant in comparison to the safety of this birth.

God, help!

And, as He had done for my husband before his death, He did for me. I found peace.

This child of my child was born in the wee hours of a morning. They arrived at the hospital in plenty of time, during weather’s pause between a blizzard and an ice storm.

I swung over to a manic high—an additional side effect of grief and loss. But that’s another story.

— Sandi Elzinga Sandi is the author of GriefWalk: Hope Through The Dark Places, a blog for those who have lost a loved one. http://sand-ielzinga.wordpress.com.

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Q & AI’m afraid to ask for help because I don’t want to bother anyone. I know someone who expects others to do everything she asks for, and in my opinion she’s a moocher.

You may feel like you are imposing on people, but actually many of your friends are afraid of imposing on you! They want to help but don’t know what you need most. They say, “Call me if you need anything,” but you think they don’t really mean it. Others wait for you to ask.

So ask! “When you said I could call you if I needed help,

would that include cleaning leaves out of my gutters?”“I remember you offered to help me if I got in a bind,

so I was wondering if you could watch my kids while get a haircut and then spend an hour at the library?”

“I’m having a problem with my electricity, and I would really appreciate it if you could advise me on whether or not I need to call an electrician.”

Try to see it from their perspective—they want to be a blessing to you, so give them the opportunity to serve God by helping you. Perhaps you can make them cookies in appreciation. If you are asking for help with things that are beyond your strength, or finances, or your ability to learn how to do, you are not mooching.

— Ruth Anita Burkett Ruth’s husband Guyle died suddenly in 1993, after 22 years of marriage. Her four children, then ages 11, 13, 18, 20, have now blessed her with 11 grandchildren. Ruth’s dad, Dr. Leslie Madison, is a past President of IFCA International and also of Calvary Bible College.

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I Don’t Need to Fear

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

I think fear is an unaccredited power in grief. Suddenly we are grappling with the unknown, and because we are frail as creatures, we become fearful. Like the sheep we are compared to in Scripture, we are defense-less against twists of fate that thrust us into these dark places. Grief generates a kind of paranoia—a “waiting for the other shoe to drop”—a state of fear. That’s when God gently whispers down to us, “Do not fear; don’t be anx-ious. I am still here with you; I am still your God.”

When panic begins to rise, I can tell myself: I don’t need to fear—God is with me.

— Charlene Perkins with permission from 31 short Devotions on Grief. Used with permission.

Fear is a common emotion. We all have been afraid at different times in our lives. Kids are afraid of the dark or of getting lost. Adults are afraid of disease, surgery, accidents, hurricanes, and death. Psalm 27 suggests three things we should do when faced with fear.

In this psalm David showed that he had several rea-sons to be afraid. Evil men were advancing against him (v. 2), enemies were attacking him (v. 2), war might break out (v. 3), people were oppressing him (v. 11), he faced false witnesses who were threatening violence against him (v. 12). He had reason to be afraid. But was he? No, he affirmed his lack of fear by two questions in verse 1: “Whom shall I fear?” and “Of whom shall I be afraid?” And he stated in verse 3, “My heart will not fear.”

How could David not be afraid? In this psalm he gives three reasons. First, he tells us, when you are afraid, worship the Lord. That is to be our focus. We are to keep our eyes on Him, not on our circumstances. In the opening line David said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” And in that same verse he wrote, “The Lord is the stronghold of my life.” Light suggests well-being, joy, life, hope, good-ness, blessings, and encouragement. By contrast darkness conjures up ideas of evil, trouble, anxiety, fear, and sor-row. By saying that the Lord is his light David meant that God was the source of the many blessings he enjoyed in life. Burdens? Yes. But blessings too.

Then David affirmed that the Lord is his “salvation.” By this he meant that God is the means by which he could be delivered from physical or spiritual harm. As the “stronghold” of his life God was to David like a strong for-tified place, a place where he was protected.

In verse 4 David longed to do three things: (1) to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” that is, to enjoy God’s presence; (2) “to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord,” that is, to meditate on His good-ness, favor, and grace; and (3) “to seek him,” to inquire of Him. These three things are worship! And they are a great antidote to fear.

With these thoughts in mind the psalmist knew that when he faced trouble, God would keep him safe (v. 5). And as a result his head would be exalted (v. 6), that is, he

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would be victorious over his enemies. This would be cause for rejoicing and singing.

Second, David suggested that when we are afraid, we should walk with the Lord (vv. 7-12). In these verses David voiced many requests, which can be summarized in this way: he wanted God’s mercy (v. 7), God’s fellowship: “Do not hide your face from me” (vv.8-10), God’s guid-ance (v. 11), and God’s protection (v. 12). He was pray-ing, “Lord, I need your help. I can’t handle these prob-lems all by myself.”

Third, when we are afraid, we should wait on the Lord (vv. 13-14). Confident that he would see “the goodness of the Lord,” David concluded by saying twice in verse 14, “Wait for the Lord.” Waiting for God to work is not easy; we want action now. But we need to remember that God’s delays are not His denials. Several psalms encourage us to wait on the Lord. And verse 14 includes the encouraging words, “Be strong and take heart.”

Twelve times Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid.” One such verse is John 14:27, “Don’t let your heart be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

Amy Carmichael lived in India for 50 years as a mis-sionary. Early in her career there she suffered from an accident that made her bedfast. She had two plaques on a wall in her room. One said, “Fear not,” and the other said, “I know.”

Are you afraid? Then worship the Lord, walk with the Lord, and wait on the Lord.

— Dr. Roy B. Zuck After 54 years of marriage, Dottie went to be with the Lord in September 2008. Dr. Zuck likewise entered God’s presence on March 16, 2013, due to cancer. His ministry will continue through the many publications he wrote and edited.

God’s Answer to Fear

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FROM GOD’S WORDThat we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope (Romans 15:4).

Verse 1—fill in the blanks and give the meaning (see Dr. Zuck’s article):

The Lord is my _______________________________

and my _____________________________________

The Lord is the ________________________________

In light of that, whom should we fear? ______________

_________________________________________

Verses 2–3—name the forces that may come against us:

_________________________________________

List other things that may cause fear:

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

Verse 4—what one desire does the Lord want us to seek

every day? ____________________________________

Verse 5—what does God do during our times of trouble?

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Encourage yourself in the Lord from Psalm 27

Verse 6—what should be our response?

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

Verse 7, 9, and 11—list everything the psalmist prays for?

_________________________________________

Verse 8—how should we respond when God says, “Seek my face”?

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

Verse 10—what happens when we feel forsaken?

_________________________________________

_________________________________________

Verses 13–14—list everything we should do when we feel like despairing:

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

What three things (from Dr. Zuck’s article) banish our fears?

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Instead of asking God to take away our fear, we should ask Him to help us practice these three disciplines.

More verses about deliverance from fear:

Deuteronomy 31:6-8 Proverbs 29:25 Psalm 28:7-8 Isaiah 41:10 & 13 Psalm 31:23-24

Isaiah 44:8 Psalm 32:6-7 John 14:27 Psalm 34:4, 15 Romans 8:15, 35-39

Psalm 46:1-2 2 Timothy 1:7 Proverbs 3:24-26 Hebrews 13:5-6

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fully to the plan: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. I felt like I was eating all day long, which I was. In four months I reached the goal of losing 20 pounds and learned some good eating habits. I also joined a fellowship group at my church called “Dinner for Six,” which gave me an opportunity to pre-pare only one item—the main dish, a side dish, or a dessert.

Eating out with our senior group on Sundays after church is something I look forward to as well. Don and I ate out together often, but it’s different when you are a widow. Since I don’t enjoy cooking, I decided that eating out should not both-er my conscience, and I could enjoy eating out alone. I take a book with me and read while my order is being prepared.

Learning new skills can be scary, but my friends and family have encouraged me. Living alone is hard after 50 years of mar-riage, but it can be done by not being afraid to learn new skills.

— Marge Schlaegel After 50 years of marriage, Don died at the age of 71.

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In traditional marriages, usually the woman takes care of the cooking and the man takes care of the car. In our home, my husband understood automobile maintenance and he also loved to cook. When he died peacefully in his sleep in 2006, I suddenly discovered that I didn’t remember how to cook, and I had no knowledge of car care. My main interests centered on my part-time office job and teaching piano lessons.

Don had retired while I was still working, so for the last twenty years of our marriage, I became accustomed to arriving home from a piano lesson to find dinner on the table. When he died, I was suddenly faced with cooking for one and an auto-mobile that needed standard maintenance at regular intervals. My sons were helpful in teaching me about the car, although to this day, all I really expect is that it will start when I turn the key in the ignition. Cooking was another matter. I didn’t even know where my husband kept things in the kitchen.

I decided to lose some weight. A well-known diet sys-tem came to my rescue. It cost $10 a day, all the menus were planned, and the food came delivered to my door. I stuck faith-

Adjustment Skills

VICTORY OVER FEARWhat battle will be fought today?“The Lord is there to fight for you! He goes before you to fight for you.”He bears His child as a father would do.

You shall not fear as you face your test;The Lord your God, your way has blessed.On eagle’s wings He’ll lift you up;Nor let you drink the bitter cupOf pain and sorrow all alone,As long as God is on His throne.

So lift our eyes to God’s kind face,Seek His comfort, His healing grace.Whatever fighting must be done,

Remember that battle is already won.Walk at His side, don’t run ahead:We can’t lead, we must be led.

He’ll fight your battles as they appear;You are His child—you must not fear.He hears prayer and answers each one.We need to pray His will be done.So rest on His promise; trust in His Word.Victory is ours when God wields the sword.

— ShirLee Taylor, ShirLee’s husband Virgil died in 2009 after 59 years of marriage.

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Facing the DarknessIs it possible to feel sorrow for the rest of our lives and

yet to find joy at the same time? Is it possible to enter the darkness and still to live an ordinary, productive life? Loss requires that we live in a delicate tension. We must mourn, but we must also go on living. We might feel that the world has stopped, but grass keeps growing, bills continue to mount, houses get dirty, children need raising, jobs must be done, people must be cared for. …I learned to live and mourn simultaneously. After three years, I continue to live in that tension. But there is a significant difference now. The sorrow I feel has not disappeared, but it has been inte-grated into my life as a painful part of a healthy whole.

I cherish the memories of the four years I had with Diana Jane, the twenty years of marriage I enjoyed with Lynda, and the forty-one years I knew my mother. I lost precious relationships that I still long for with all my heart. Initially, my loss was so overwhelming that it was the dominant emotion—sometimes the only emotion—I had. I felt like I was staring at the stump of a huge tree that had been cut down in my backyard. That lonely stump kept reminding me of the beloved tree I had lost. Every time I looked out the window, all I could see was that stump. Eventually, I decided to do something about it.

I landscaped my backyard and kept the stump there, since it was both too big and too precious to remove. Instead of getting rid of it, I worked around it. I planted shrubs, trees, flowers, and grass. I laid out a brick pathway and built two benches. Then I watched everything grow.

Three years later, the stump remains, still reminding me of the beloved tree I lost. But the stump is surrounded by a beautiful garden of blooming flowers and growing trees and lush grass. Likewise, the sorrow [for my beloved three] remains, but I have tried to create a landscape around the loss so that what was once ugly is now an inte-gral part of the larger, lovely whole.

My own catastrophic loss thus taught me the incred-ible power of choice—to enter the darkness and to feel sorrow, as I did after the accident, even as I continued to work and to care for people, especially my children. I wanted to gain as much as I could from the loss without neglecting ordinary responsibilities. I wanted to integrate

my pain into my life in order to ease some of its sting. I wanted to learn wisdom and to grow in character.

Running from the darkness would only lead to greater darkness later on. I knew that my soul had the capacity to grow—to absorb evil and good, to die and live again, to suffer abandonment and find God. In choosing to face the night, I took my first steps toward the sunrise.

Choice is therefore the key. We can run from the dark-ness, or we can enter into the darkness and face the pain of loss. We can indulge ourselves in self-pity, or we can empathize with others and embrace their pain as our own. We can run away from sorrow and drown it in addictions, or we can learn to live with sorrow. We can nurse wounds of having been cheated in life, or we can be grateful and joyful, even though there seems to be little reason for it. We can return evil for evil, or we can overcome evil with good.

It is this power to choose—after much agony and struggle—that adds dignity to our humanity and gives us the ability to transcend our circumstances, thus releasing us from living as mere victims.

— Dr. Jerry Sittser, excerpted from A Grace Disguised, pp. 34, 50-52, 46. He recently released a follow-up book, A Grace Revealed: How God Redeems the Story of Your Life. You can purchase it through Amazon or at a local bookstore.

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Thru God’s Mail SlotI’ve been thinking about prayer lately, which is much

easier than actually praying. I’ve decided that prayer is like putting your hand through a mail slot. My conclusion was reached via our church’s final service before a merger. We had a sharing time recounting God’s grace over the last 30 years. Miriam shared about Reilly and their daughter when they first visited the church. After the service they had stepped outside, but their daughter, Melody, did not come out with them. By the time they realized that Melody was gone, the thick church doors were locked and could only be opened with a key. Reilly called through the mail slot in the large oak door, “Melody, are you in there?”

He put his ear up to the opening and heard the fright-ened voice of a four-year-old answer, “Yes, Daddy.” She moved toward the doors to hear her father tell her that the doors were locked, but her rescue would come as soon as they had the key.

Melody was comforted, but not enough. She found the mail slot and put her small hand through the opening.

Daddy held her hand as she waited in the dark for what seemed an eternity to a frightened little girl. Melody could not see anyone, but she knew her father was there and she was comforted.

Finally a church leader brought a key and turned the latch. Melody’s hand disappeared and out came the joy-ous prisoner.

It strikes me that prayer is like that hand slipped through a mail slot. The Father is there listening and comforting even when we do not see Him. Face to face with Jesus must wait, but the mail slot is always open for business.

— Dr. Garry Friesen. Taken from Lion Sightings in the Rose City, p. 70. Garry has taught the Bible Department at Multnomah Bible College for 37 years. Order his exciting book, about incidents of God at work, from www.createspace.com/3744930.

Hebrews 13:5-6 HCSBYour life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. Therefore, we may boldly say:

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

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Facing My FearsLarry had been gone six weeks. The auction was over

and our newly built home was for sale. The last of our adult children had left. Everything was quiet – too quiet. Now I was truly alone, and I didn’t like it! Would God’s strength, grace and comfort really be enough for me?

As night approached I felt uneasy. I had been alone before when Larry went on mission trips, but this was dif-ferent. He wouldn’t call. I couldn’t count the days antici-pating his return. By bedtime I was peering out windows, looking for intruders. How silly! We had lived in this safe neighborhood with friendly neighbors for more than a year. As I prayed and searched God’s Word, some verses stood out: “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sus-tained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people” (Psalm 3:5-6). “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). And Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” (NKJV). I did lie down peacefully and sleep that night and every night thereafter, thanking the Lord every morning for keeping me safe. Trust in God replaced my fears.

Other minor worries came and went with God’s help, but a much greater, long-lasting fear crept in to haunt me as months became years. It grew powerful as I realized my new financial state. Larry’s thriving building business was gone, and with it my home office job. Other job ideas never materialized, and health issues soon forced me to quit the cosmetic business I had hoped could sustain me financially. The auction had brought a pittance of what Larry thought it would should I be widowed. The house sold at a loss. How could our meager savings carry me through the rest of my life?

God promises to care for widows and the fatherless. I was both. Praying diligently, I went forward one step at a time, trusting in God. Sometimes He provided through my piano or organ music, but no steady income. He opened doors for ministries, but not for pay. I prayed for wisdom, continuing to tithe and give from whatever came in.

To my surprise, instead of providing a paying job, the Lord began to show me new ways to save. I had learned frugality while raising our six children, and now I remem-

bered that affordable used items can be as nice and useful as expensive new ones. For unaffordable services, I must swallow my pride and humbly ask for help. Health, dental and eye needs continue to arise. Last winter I needed a dif-ferent car. I must rely on God for every need.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says to lay up treasures in heaven not on earth. Instead of worrying, we are to seek first the things of God’s kingdom (not ours or the world’s), and God will provide our needs. And Malachi 3:8-10 shows clearly that tithing is no place to skimp!

Some months I don’t know how He does it, but God enables me to keep my bills paid. When large expenses arise and fear creeps in, I run to Him. Bible reading and prayer keep me mindful of God’s love and power and my dependence on Him. I must focus on the Lord, not on myself or the problems. “You [God] will keep him in per-fect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV).

Like every widow/widower, my life is totally changed, but God never changes. He faithfully cares for His children no matter what life holds. Eventually we will reap our final reward, living in His presence forevermore!

— Alice Zuiderveen Larry, age 58, died in 2000 after 30 years of marriage.

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SPRING 2013 - VOLUME 21 - NUMBER 2

Chera (Ker-ah) Fellowship is a quarterly publication of IFCA International.Chera is the Greek word translated widow in the New Testament.

Carol Gregory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Founder

Miriam Lofquist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor

Marcia Hornok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editor

Nila Rae Phelps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor Emeritus

Jim Connelly Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . Design and Layout

Email articles (to 1000 words) and poems to Marcia Hornok at kenmarh@comcast.net Please include your phone number.

Rates: Gift Subscription: $10.00 (4 issues). Go to www.ifca.org/cfsubscribe. Discounts for bulk orders. We encourage the distribution of CF in churches, senior centers, retirement homes, care facilities, mortuaries, and hospitals.

Chera Fellowship – IFCA InternationalPO Box 810Grandville, MI 49468Call (616) 531-1840Back issues at www.ifca.org/cfarchive

Widows and widowers receive CF free of charge for one year when they request it. We can do this because of donations (tax deductible) sent to IFCA International specifically for CF.

Thank you for participating in this ministry to people who have lost their mate.

A Better Place“We know that he/she is in a better place,” people often

say after a loved one dies, and it provides comfort. But how can we know we will depart to a better place? The Bible answers that decisively. It says, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:11-13 KJV).

The key to having eternal life is to have the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The best-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, tells us that the opposite of eternal life is perishing. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So how does the Bible say we can live eternally in a “better place” after we die? Simply by believing in God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. What does “believing in” Jesus mean? Many people believe He was a true prophet, good teacher, great example, or at least—a historical person. The Greek word for believing means to be persuaded of, place confidence in, to trust and rely upon, not mere credence.[1] When we believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life, we stop putting our faith in our own logic, our good behavior or charitable deeds, church membership, or in human religious leaders.

Jesus Christ promises eternal life to all who believe in Him by faith. Do you trust in Him alone? Then you will go to the Better Place.

—MKH

[1] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 116.