It was about four years ago when I realized there was more work to be done. It was a normal day of work followed by a stop at the local YMCA for a little exercise before heading home for the evening. I was following my regular routine when I saw a young girl walk by me. Something about her caught my eye that day. I have been working in Girls\u2019 Ministries for about twenty years, but that day, I saw an emptiness in her eyes that really bothered me. Sometimes, when we see people in need, we may go through our list of all the things that we are doing already for the Kingdom. I\u2019m sure you have a list similar to mine, but are we touching everyone that God has placed in our reach?<\/p>\n
On this particular day, I realized that I was not doing enough. This young girl was probably doing her daily routine just like I was doing mine. How many days had our paths crossed but our eyes had never met? Did this young girl know that she was made in the image of God? Did she know that her life has a beautiful purpose? This really bothered me. I was sure she wasn\u2019t alone, there were others like her. How could our community help them? How could I help them?<\/p>\n
Acts 2:42-47 talks about how the early church ministered to their community. There is a lot we can learn from them. In reading these verses, there were some keywords (from the NLT version) that jumped out at me: devoted themselves to fellowship, sharing everything, worshiped together, sharing meals, great joy, generously, and enjoying goodwill. It sounds like the early church was onto something great! First of all, they devoted themselves to teaching<\/strong>. We should always be willing to learn.<\/p>\n They devoted themselves to fellowship and to the sharing of meals and prayer<\/strong>. I hope that we will make spending time with family and friends a priority and pray for them as well.<\/p>\n They shared everything they had<\/strong>. In a world where we are told to get all you can, we need to be reminded that we are to help others who are in need. The early church made sacrifices to take care of others in their community.<\/p>\n They worshiped together in the Temple.<\/b> In a culture where you never have to leave your home to hear a sermon, it\u2019s wonderful when believers actually get together and worship together! \u201cThey worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord\u2019s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity\u2014all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved\u201d (Acts 2:46-47 NLT).<\/p>\n Again, there is so much we can learn from the early church! They spent time with the people in their community, they made sacrifices and helped others, they shared meals, and just did life together.<\/p>\n The young girl that caught my eye that day is the inspiration that started a Community Girls\u2019 Day in my hometown four years ago, and it\u2019s been held every year since then. That first year the girls heard the message that they were fearfully and wonderfully made. They were told that each of them has a special God-given purpose and that God has given them dreams to fulfill. The girls were challenged to never let anyone take those dreams from them!<\/p>\n Community Girls\u2019 Day is a special day that our local Girls\u2019 Ministries at South Henderson P. H. Church sets aside each year to love on the girls in our community, share in a good hot meal and just do life together. I\u2019m thankful for a wonderful group of volunteers that share in this vision! We don\u2019t have to know all the answers to life\u2019s questions or have a ton of money in the bank; we just need to share the love of Jesus. We never know what happens in their lives from day to day, but on this day, they are our special guests. We make sure there is no doubt that they are somebody special. I\u2019m thankful that God will allow all of us to love on His children! I pray that we will all use the example of the early church to make our communities a better place.<\/p>\n *Pam Rooker serves as the conference Girls\u2019 Ministries director for the Cornerstone Conference. She and her husband Scott attend the South Henderson P.H. Church, where she also serves as the local Girls\u2019 Ministries coordinator. Pam is a loving mother and grandmother and loves to travel the world on missions trips.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,27],"tags":[1076,1051,251,1077,1045,1075],"class_list":{"0":"post-4732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"category-girls-ministries-childrens-ministries","9":"tag-girls-day","10":"tag-iphc-discipleship-ministries","11":"tag-girls-ministries","12":"tag-pam-rooker","13":"tag-strong-in-fellowship","14":"tag-the-birth-of-our-community-girls-day","15":"entry"},"title_es":"El nacimiento del d\u00eda de las ni\u00f1as de nuestra comunidad","content_es":"El nacimiento del d\u00eda de las ni\u00f1as de nuestra comunidad por Pam Rooker Hace unos cuatro a\u00f1os, cuando me di cuenta de que hab\u00eda m\u00e1s trabajo por hacer. Era un d\u00eda normal de trabajo seguido de una parada en el YMCA local para hacer un poco de ejercicio antes de ir a casa por la noche. Estaba siguiendo mi rutina habitual cuando vi a una ni\u00f1a caminando a mi lado. Algo sobre ella me llam\u00f3 la atenci\u00f3n ese d\u00eda. He estado trabajando en el Ministerio de las Ni\u00f1as durante unos veinte a\u00f1os, pero ese d\u00eda vi un vac\u00edo en sus ojos que realmente me molest\u00f3. A veces, cuando vemos personas necesitadas, podemos revisar nuestra lista de todas las cosas que ya estamos haciendo para el Reino. Estoy seguro de que tienes una lista similar a la m\u00eda, pero \u00bfestamos tocando a todos los que Dios ha puesto a nuestro alcance? En este d\u00eda en particular, me di cuenta de que no estaba haciendo lo suficiente. Esta joven probablemente estaba haciendo su rutina diaria al igual que yo la m\u00eda. \u00bfCu\u00e1ntos d\u00edas se cruzaron nuestros caminos pero nuestros ojos nunca se encontraron? \u00bfEsta ni\u00f1a supo que fue hecha a imagen de Dios? \u00bfSab\u00eda ella que su vida tiene un hermoso prop\u00f3sito? Esto realmente me molest\u00f3. Estaba segura de que no estaba sola, hab\u00eda otros como ella. \u00bfC\u00f3mo podr\u00eda ayudarles nuestra comunidad? \u00bfC\u00f3mo podr\u00eda ayudarles? Hechos 2: 42-47 habla sobre c\u00f3mo la iglesia primitiva ministraba a su comunidad. Hay mucho que podemos aprender de ellos. Al leer estos versos, hubo algunas palabras clave (de la versi\u00f3n NLT) que saltaron sobre m\u00ed: se dedicaron a la comuni\u00f3n, compartieron todo, adoraron juntos, compartieron comidas, gozaron generosamente y disfrutaron de buena voluntad. \u00a1Parece que la iglesia primitiva estaba en algo grande! En primer lugar, se dedicaron a la ense\u00f1anza<\/strong> . Siempre debemos estar dispuestos a aprender. Se dedicaron a la comuni\u00f3n y al compartir las comidas y la oraci\u00f3n<\/strong> . Espero que hagamos una prioridad el pasar tiempo con la familia y los amigos y oremos por ellos tambi\u00e9n. Compartieron todo lo que ten\u00edan<\/strong> . En un mundo en el que se nos dice que obtengamos todo lo que pueda, debemos recordar que debemos ayudar a otros que lo necesitan. La iglesia primitiva hizo sacrificios para cuidar de otros en su comunidad. Ellos adoraban juntos en el templo.<\/b> En una cultura donde nunca tienes que salir de tu casa para escuchar un serm\u00f3n, \u00a1es maravilloso cuando los creyentes realmente se re\u00fanen y adoran juntos! \u201cEllos adoraban juntos en el Templo todos los d\u00edas, se reun\u00edan en hogares para la Cena del Se\u00f1or y compart\u00edan sus comidas con gran alegr\u00eda y generosidad, a la vez que alababan a Dios y disfrutaban la buena voluntad de todas las personas. Y cada d\u00eda el Se\u00f1or a\u00f1adi\u00f3 a su comuni\u00f3n a los que estaban siendo salvos \u201d(Hechos 2: 46-47 NTV). De nuevo, \u00a1hay tanto que podemos aprender de la iglesia primitiva! Pasaron tiempo con la gente de su comunidad, hicieron sacrificios y ayudaron a otros, compartieron comidas y simplemente hicieron la vida juntos. La ni\u00f1a que me llam\u00f3 la atenci\u00f3n ese d\u00eda es la inspiraci\u00f3n que inici\u00f3 el D\u00eda de las ni\u00f1as de la comunidad en mi ciudad natal hace cuatro a\u00f1os, y se lleva a cabo todos los a\u00f1os desde entonces. Ese primer a\u00f1o, las chicas escucharon el mensaje de que fueron hechas con temor y maravillosamente. Se les dijo que cada uno de ellos tiene un prop\u00f3sito especial dado por Dios y que Dios les ha dado sue\u00f1os que cumplir. \u00a1Las chicas fueron desafiadas a nunca dejar que nadie les quitara esos sue\u00f1os! El D\u00eda de las Ni\u00f1as de la Comunidad es un d\u00eda especial que nuestro Ministerio de Ni\u00f1as local en la Iglesia de PH de South Henderson reserva cada a\u00f1o para amar a las ni\u00f1as de nuestra comunidad, compartir una buena comida caliente y simplemente hacer la vida juntos. \u00a1Estoy agradecido por un maravilloso grupo de voluntarios que comparten esta visi\u00f3n! No tenemos que saber todas las respuestas a las preguntas de la vida o tener un mont\u00f3n de dinero en el banco; Solo necesitamos compartir el amor de Jes\u00fas. Nunca sabemos lo que pasa en sus vidas d\u00eda a d\u00eda, pero en este d\u00eda, son nuestros invitados especiales. Nos aseguramos de que no haya duda de que son alguien especial. \u00a1Estoy agradecido de que Dios nos permita a todos amar a sus hijos! Rezo para que todos usemos el ejemplo de la iglesia primitiva para hacer de nuestras comunidades un lugar mejor. * Pam Rooker se desempe\u00f1a como la directora del ministerio de ni\u00f1as de la conferencia para la Conferencia de piedra angular. Ella y su esposo Scott asisten a la iglesia de South Henderson PH Church, donde tambi\u00e9n se desempe\u00f1a como coordinadora local del Ministerio de Ni\u00f1as. Pam es una madre y abuela amorosa y le encanta viajar por el mundo en viajes misioneros.","author_name":"Pam Rooker","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/GM-Q2.2-Article-Graphic.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-1ek","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}