November 1     5:00p     Dinner for Donation

November 1     6:00p     Quarterly Business Meeting

November 15    4:00p     Leadership Community Meeting

November 15    6:00p     Grudem Study

November 16    7:00p     Women’s Book Discussion Group

November 17    6:30p     Youth Night of Thanks Potluck

November 20    6:00p     High School Girls Sleepover

November 20    6:00p     High School Guys Sleepover

November 25    7:00p     Thanksgiving Eve Service

November 28    1:00p     Christmas in the Village

November 29    1:30p     Christmas in the Village 

Time Change
Daylight Savings Time is November 1st.  Turn your clocks back one hour on October 31st.

QBM
Please be aware that our Quarterly Business Meeting will be held on Sunday, November 1st, at 6pm.  Subway sandwich dinner for donation at 5pm.

Christmas in the Village
We’ll be performing at the Village in Orange on November 28th at 1pm & 3pm, and on November 29th at 1:30pm & 3:30pm.

Operation Christmas Child...
brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoeboxes and the good news of God's love.  Filled with school supplies, toys, and personal items that are packed by caring people, these boxes help introduce children to Jesus Christ.  Visit www.samaritanspurse.org for more information.

All TACC adult fellowship classes are invited to participate.  Fill as many shoeboxes as you’d like.  Pick up an instructional brochure at the information table in the church lobby, in your Sunday school classroom or at the Children’s Ministries table.  You can turn in your shoebox to the Children’s Ministries table any time, on or before November 15.

Mexico Mission
There is a mission trip to Mexico November 13-15.  Women are needed to help in a children's ministry & sewing project.  Men needed to do construction.  Mary Beth Ramlo can take 4 women.  All must have passports.  Contact Lee or Mary Beth Ramlo if you are interested.

  

Grudem Study
Join us on Sunday, November 15th, at 6pm for a study on the Holy Spirit, Chapter 30.

Treasure Boxes
TACC deacons are offering a program to our church or anyone who could use some help in the food department.  Treasure Boxes are frozen boxes filled with meat, vegetables, side dishes, lunch meat, and more.  Treasure Boxes are delivered once a month and include 10 days of food for $31.00 ($30 per box and $1 delivery fee to the drop-off church).  The deacons will deliver them to TACC at 12:30pm on delivery day, which is usually the fourth Saturday.

This November you have two choices - a holiday meal box, including turkey and all the fixings, or the usual menu with various menu options.  November’s deadline is November 6th.  Pick-up day for your box is Saturday, November 21st, just in time for Thanksgiving.  If you wish to try a treasure box or if you know someone who is in need, contact Betsy Newman at 714-993-9397 or 714-637-3220 Ext. 257.  Make checks payable to Betsy Newman or TACC.  Visit www.thetreasurebox.org to see the regular and holiday menus.

Scrip
So, you’d rather have a Honeybaked Ham for Thanksgiving?  Don’t order one without first ordering scrip to pay for it.  I hear they also sell turkeys.

Starbucks and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf scrip are for sale to satisfy the java junkie. 

Seven of us have returned from a weeklong trip to India.  We visited villages with the gospel and many believed in Jesus.  This was the third trip in three years to the same people group.  These villagers have lived on the same plot of land for hundreds of years.  Many have never left the village.  Fifty-five year old men appear to be eighty years old.  It is a hard life – more akin to slavery than anything else.  These people have been exploited, forgotten, and many have never heard the name of Jesus.  Here are my initial observations. 

Our teams have born great fruit.  There are new believers.  There were over 500 men, women, and children at the Saturday celebration and discipleship meeting.  Most were from our efforts the last three years.  There are committed men following up on the new converts and churches are being planted.

There is much more to do.  There are thousands of villages that have never heard the name of Jesus.  God has called us to this task.  We should keep going.

The American dollar goes a long way.  $50.00 a month supports a full-time pastor.  The resources are not available in India to support this work.  We must support local, indigenous pastors in the villages we visit with the gospel.  We must keep giving.

Christianity is the only viable solution to the world’s problems.  Hinduism has not created a society of integrity, but one of corruption, deceit, poverty and a devaluing of human life.  Many in Southern  California  have an obsession  with  the  other  world’s religions or with  a  syncretistic (a  little of  every  religion –  the parts that you like – to form your own personal belief system) approach to spirituality.  One honest eye-opening trip to India, Afghanistan, or an Asian country of your choice will cure this obsession.

We should keep going.

We are blessed.  We must use this blessing to bless others.  Storing up treasures in heaven happens when we give and go to India.  Collaborating with indigenous peoples (those who live, know and have been raised in the villages of India) and taking our discipleship cues from them is the best strategy.  The Leadership Training Center is an excellent partner in this venture.

We come back from these trips with joy, tiredness and a renewed commitment to the gospel.  It is hard but good.  This kind of good only comes from this kind of toil.  We should continue.

Humility is the great opening for the gospel.  God has humbled them in their poverty but now many are rich in the gospel.  May God humble us also to understand the gospel with better clarity.

USA is a tough place to minister.  Wealth does not normally produce humility.

We had a great trip.  Thanks for giving and praying.  Maybe you should go next time; if not, God will need faithful supporters, prayers and givers.  Thanks.

It was so wonderful to get to know Florry Grisham better and to find out more about her life.  Florry was born in Santa Barbara and has 3 siblings.  Her father was born in Ireland and her mother in Scotland.  They both came to the United States and lived in Santa Barbara where they met and were married.  When her dad came to the United States he attended a Baptist church in Goleta, where he and his family continued to worship while living in Santa Barbara.  The pastor frequently came over for dinner.  During one of those visits Florry asked Jesus into her heart.  Her family moved to Orange when she was in the 10th grade, and she graduated from Orange High.  Her mother died of cancer when she was 16.  Her husband, Burley, was a neighbor, but she didn’t know him until he helped her one day when she was having car trouble.  They were married in 1957.  They have 4 children, 6 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.  She and her husband came to TACC in 1967.  They had previously been members of the Baptist church across from our church.  She had wanted her older daughter to attend Pioneer Girls and found out through a friend that TACC had such a program, and the rest is history.  One day, when  3 of their  grandchildren  were living  with  them, Florry was sick and could not take their 6 year old granddaughter, Shayna, to school, so her husband took on the task.  When crossing at Cambridge and Katella a car ran a red light and killed Burley.  Shayna was not hurt.  She has nothing but wonderful memories of Burley and their life together and knows that he is in the arms of God.  Last year, November 2008, Shayna was killed in a car accident.  Florry has seen a lot of pain in her life and yet she reflects nothing but Jesus’ love.  She and her husband were both very active members and Florry has been counting offering at the church for 24 years.

Women's Ministries

Save the date for A Candy Cane Christmas, "A Reminder of God's Sweet Love for Us", at Town & Country Manor on Saturday, December 12th, 11am.  Tickets go on sale the week after Church Camp.  Seating is Limited.  A service project will be part of the event.

Children's Ministries

Many thanks to all who helped make the Family Fall Festival a Fun Family aFFair!

Children’s Choir (kindergarten through 6th grade) will be participating in the Christmas program at The Village of Orange on November 28th & 29th.

Operation Christmas Child: All TACC children are invited to participate in this missions outreach.  Fill as many shoeboxes as you’d like.  Pick up a brochure at the Children’s Ministries table & start your shopping.  You can turn in your shoebox to the Children’s Ministries table any time, on or before November 15.

Announcement: Due to TACC church camp, there will NOT be any 9am Sunday School classes. 

Youth Ministries

“Night of Thanks" Potluck for Senior and Junior High on Tuesday, November 17th, from 6:30-8:30pm.

High School Girls Sleepover at the Koetsier’s on Friday, November 20th, at 6pm.

High School Guys Sleepover at the Brislawn’s on Friday, November 20th, at 6pm.  

Most of you know by now that the 2009 India Team has returned safely and in good health.  We want you to know that your support through prayer and giving allowed us to once again have an impact on a part of the world that, largely, has never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This year’s team consisted of Chuck Stevenson, Mary Beth Ramlo, Steve Hicks, Pastor Bob and the Meier’s: Sofia, Gary and Granden.  Each member brought an area of expertise that God used to further His Kingdom.

This year’s approach was somewhat different than in 2007 and 2008.  In those two years, our primary focus was door to door evangelism and church planting.  We did this in conjunction with e3 Partners, and the Leadership Training Center in Siliguri, India.  The results of these two trips were wonderful, with many hundreds hearing the gospel and responding to it, and several churches being started in the villages we visited.  We also commissioned pastors to shepherd these new believers.

In February of 2009, TACC sent a team of three, Chuck Stevenson, Rick Hicks and Steve Hicks, to Siliguri to conduct follow-up visits to the villages we had been to in the previous two years.  The goal was to see if there was tangible evidence that people who had believed the previous two years were sincere, if there were churches planted as a result of those campaigns, and if there was sufficient follow-up being done by LTC.  Finally, since part of our goal has been to adopt an “unreached people group”, we wanted to see if the Adivasi people group were a viable choice.  We found evidence that all of the things we hoped for were being accomplished.  It became clear that we could identify and adopt a people group to call our own, through the leading of God.  These are the Adivasi people in villages around Siliguri.  Adivasi literally means “original settlers.”

Together with the leaders at LTC, we came up with a “Roadmap to India”.  This roadmap spelled out our shared vision of taking the gospel to the Adivasi in and around Siliguri.  The roadmap was presented to the congregation upon the return of this group. 

In October, we returned to the villages near Siliguri with a new vision.  This year, in addition to four days of door to door evangelism, we also worked with a pastor from LTC to conduct children’s programs in the villages and at a new elementary school.  Further, we assisted in conducting a medical camp in which a doctor and nurses treated people of a local village.  While they  were waiting for their medication, our team presented the gospel to them.

Pastor Bob, after a week in Myanmar, met us in India and taught a group of young pastors and evangelists for two days.  He then joined the team in door to door evangelism.

Finally, we conducted discipleship training for the new believers.  This occurred on Saturday, October 17th, in the Merryview Tea Garden.  The event consisted of worship through singing, and a message from Pastor Bob on the church and discipleship.  After lunch, we broke into seven groups for discipleship training.  Each group was led by a member of our team, and each group consisted of 50-60 people.  We stressed four points: 1) The importance of knowing God’s word, 2) the need for prayer, 3) the blessings of fellowship, and 4) the obedience to Christ’s admonition to share the gospel with others.  We also stressed the commandment to love God with all our heart, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

We knew there were a lot of people at this event, but we were amazed when the pastor from LTC said that there were 350 children and 400 adults in attendance.  They also told us that 300 of the 400 adults were a direct result of our efforts the past three years. Praise God!

We thank the congregation of TACC for the support we received through your prayers and your generosity.  As a result of the door to door campaign, 308 people heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, with 274 people believing that God would forgive their sins, and change their hearts.  During the medical camp, 67 villagers were treated and 10 believed.  Your giving also made transportation and meals possible for the pastors at Bob’s teaching sessions, and for the discipleship training on the 17th.  We were able to provide funding for 3 bicycles to be used by the pastors, and some chairs to be purchased for a newly built church in one of the villages.  Lastly, we provided financing for an additional pastor in the new villages.

We believe that God blessed this trip as He has blessed the previous trips.  Continue to pray for the new believers, pray for our friends at LTC, and pray for the pastors and evangelists in the villages that they would remain faithful to their calling.  Pray also that TACC continues to heed God’s call to take the gospel to India.  - India Team 2009 -