April 4      8:00a     All-Church Workday

April 10    7:00p     Good Friday Service

April 12    7:00a     Daybreak Service

April 12    8:00a     Continental Breakfast

April 12    9:00a     Easter Sunday Worship Service

April 18    9:00a     Women’s Ministries “Amazing Freedom” Event

April 19    4:00p     Leadership Community Meeting

April 19    6:00p     Grudem Study 

Easter Lilies
Easter is right around the corner and you have an opportunity to help decorate the sanctuary.  Purchase an Easter lily in honor or in memory of a loved one.  After the 2nd service on Easter, you may take your lily home with you.  Sign up at the Flower Cart or in Sunday School.

Easter Schedule
Easter Sunday on April 12th will include a Daybreak Service at 7am, Continental Breakfast at 8am and Worship Service at 9am.  There will be no second hour classes.  We’ll also be holding a Good Friday Service on April 10th at 7pm.

Roll Up Your Sleeves!
We’ll be having an all-church workday on Saturday, April 4th, from 8am—noon.  Contact Dave Arneson or Lynn Bjorklund for more information.

Grudem Study
On Sunday, April 19th, at 6pm, Pastor Bob will be teaching and leading a discussion on "Sin".  Please read Grudem chapters 23-24.

Church Directory Pics
If you did not get a picture taken for our new church directory and you would still like to, please contact Nanette Overby at the church office as soon as possible to make arrangements.

TAPS
Are you looking for an alternative to crowded, impacted public schools?  Taft Partner School (high school and junior high) might be your answer.  We promote academic success, small classroom sizes, and personal attention to students.  Parents are involved in monthly parent meetings and have access to lesson plans and grades to provide student/parent accountability.  You can have all the benefits of private Christian school, at a price you can afford.  No child left behind means something at Partner School.  Contact Gini Braley or Betsy Newman at 714-637-3220 ext 257, taftpartnerschool.com.                             

Meet Pradip Ayer, our guest speaker for the Second Missions Sunday on March 29th.  You can contact him at pradip@firstevan.org.

Pradip came to the US from India in 1972, and became a disciple of Jesus at the University of Tennessee through the ministry of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.  After graduating with a degree in chemistry and chemical engineering, he moved to California to work as a chemist.  In early 1979, he moved to Memphis and started attending the First Evangelical Church of Memphis (First Evan).  While under the discipleship of Pastor Earle Stevens he heard the challenge of world missions, and in September 1980 he joined Operation Mobilization.  In 1982 Pradip met Judith, a Malaysian of Chinese descent from a Buddhist family - the eleventh child of thirteen.  Her father chose to send her to a Methodist mission school where she became a believer in Christ at the age of 13.  Pradip & Judith served as missionaries in India, Europe and SE Asia for 20 years before returning to the US in 2000.  They have two sons – Jason and Joshua.

Pradip loves reading, studying and teaching, cross cultural communication, Bible study, strategic planning, and helping to resolve complex missiological issues faced on the mission field.  He especially enjoys teaching cross culturally.  He has a MA
degree in Missions from Columbia Int. University.

*Life verse: “Behold what manner of love the father has given unto us that we should be called children of God.” (1 John 3:1a)
*Favorite foods: After traveling to 25 countries and living in 12
cities in 4 countries, he loves food - period.
*Favorite movie: “Lagan” (Hindi) – An excellent story of cultural conflict in India during the British Raj.  Watch this movie with English sub-titles and learn about India and cricket.  “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World” – just laugh and laugh.
*Hobbies/pastime/interest: Sports.  Even with his aching body he loves to play all racket sports – tennis, badminton, table tennis.  He also loves outdoor camping and fishing and watching American football (GO VOLS) and Indian cricket.  He gets the most thrills out of traveling to exotic and hard places to teach and learn about God’s work.
*Ambition: To write a book on missions and discipleship.  To meet with Christians from every country before he goes to heaven.
*What do I read: Theology, Missiology, Historical fiction, Church History and the early Church Fathers.  His favorite magazine is “Christian History” and his favorite books of the Bible to read and teach are Genesis, Jeremiah, John & Acts.
*People are surprised to know: The Ayers collectively speak seven languages, with English being the third language for both.  Their sons are half Indian and half Chinese, representing more than 50% of the world’s people.  Judith and Pradip both rode motorcycles and scooters in India.
*Best counsel/advise received: “If you cannot trust God for $10, you cannot trust Him for $1,000” (Earle Stevens).  “Do not be the Holy Spirit in another’s life” (Earle Stevens).  “God chooses what we go through and we chose how we go through it” (Tom Hale). 

Women's Ministries

Easter Lilies: Easter is right around the corner and once again you have an opportunity to help decorate the sanctuary.  Purchase an Easter lily in honor or memory of a loved one.  After the 2nd service on Easter, you may take your lily home with you.  Sign up at the Flower Cart or in Sunday School.

April Event: Women's Ministries presents “Amazing Freedom” featuring some of our favorite speakers from the "Women of Faith" seminars.  Join us on April 18th for this special day.  The program will start at 9:00am and end at 2pm.  The cost is $7 per person.  Continental breakfast and luncheon are included.  Sign up at the Flower Cart. 

Mark Williams, of Dynamic Church Planting International, reports that on February 3 – 6 they had their annual Global Vision Event in Oceanside, CA.  They thanked the Lord for bringing together leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Southwest Latin America, Australia, America, and Yousef Sarkes from Cairo, Egypt who is growing into a DCPI leadership role in the Arab speaking world.

As the group reviewed the goals they understood the Lord had laid before them for the year 2008, they rejoiced to see that the goals had not only been met, but even exceeded.  They wanted to train 5,500 leaders, and trained 6,808 in 30 countries.  They opened 12 new nations with DCPI training.  They wanted to certify 425 Certified Trainers and actually certified 665.  They wanted to empower 23 Master Trainers and empowered 23.  They wanted to recruit 80 Dynamic Associates (organizers and trainers) and recruited 171.  They are praising the Lord for this work that is being done to prepare individual indigenous Christians in various cultures to successfully lay the groundwork for continuing the ministry of proclaiming the gospel message to their own people groups.

The report we received from Rick, Chuck and Steve as they returned from India encourages us to believe that we have found a people group that we may consistently interact with and motivate for continued growth in evangelism and discipleship.  Come to the Missions table to receive updates and to learn how you can play an active part in upholding our Christian brothers and sisters in India.

Shaun and Maria Sheahan, with Rama de Olivo Ministries, give us many needs to be upholding in prayer and to help support financially.  “On a local level of life where we live everyday we are learning to better love those that Jesus puts in our path to love; like teen girls in Tijuana jails, home groups in the states, African genocide survivors, relationships that we mentor, teens that we teach the Kingdom of God to, Mexican students that we support through school, students on tour that we speak to about Jesus, American teens we mentor as we minister to Asian teens, our Mexican community, the home for boys in Tijuana, and people in our town and church.  The biggest priority to us is our own family – Jeremy (17), Kaory (16) and Josh (15).  Maria and I joyfully struggle to keep afloat.  We have taken hits because of the economy that make it difficult, but while support is down and we have simplified our already simple lifestyle, we are filled with awe at how God allows us to be used in His Kingdom calling during such a time as this.  There is cause for hope – His hope! We won’t give up or grow weary.”

It is good to often be reminded that “the word of the Lord stands forever” and be renewed in our appreciation for the strong commitment each of the missionary families which we support demonstrates.  We owe them nothing less than daily intercession on their behalf before the throne of grace.