How to Comment on This Blog

Hi, I am Charlene. Welcome to the Summer Reading Group. As we gear up to get started, everyone will need an identity in order to comment on this blog. There are any number of ways to get an identity, some more invasive and time consuming than others.

Several of us got together last night (Thursday, May 27th) and discussed the idea of having one, whole-group login I.D. so I looked into that this morning and it just isn't feasible. It would actually require more work and more explaining then what I am about to share.

First, if you already have ANY of the following accounts: Google (gmail); Live Journal; TypePad; AIM; OpenID; or WordPress, the user name and password for that account will work on this blog.



On the webpage below the comment box you will see a drop-down menu beside the words, "Comment as". Simply pick the ID you want to use and sign in as you would normally sign into your account. If you do not yet have one of those accounts, keep reading.

Of the five choices available, the fastest, easiest, least personally invasive way to get an account is to visit WordPress.com and create an account. The steps are quite simple:

1. Go to WordPress.com
2. Near the top, right-hand side of the page click the orange "sign-up now" tab.
3. Type in your "user name". This is the name we will see when you comment. My user name is Quilly.
4. Type in your password and confirm it. Make it easy to remember, you will have to use it often.
5. Type in your email address. WordPress will never send you spam. I have worked with them for years and use them on my professional website.
6. Check that you've read their fascinating terms of service.
7. Choose "just a user name please"
   
8. Click on the "next" button.

At this point, if you have a very common name, WordPress is going to tell you that it has already been taken. There is no way I could just sign in as Charlene. You may have to be creative. (For instance, I could be Char1ene -- using the number 1 in place of the L in my name.)

Once your name has been accepted you'll be taken to a screen that asks you to update your profile. Feel free to write as much or as little here as you wish. You may supply only your first and last initials if you wish, and fill-in the "about yourself" with the comment "Book study participant". You will be able to edit this section if you ever change your mind about what is written there.

Before you can save your profile, you will have to check your email and confirm your email address. After confirming your email and saving your profile, you will be lead to the log-in page. Go ahead and log in but you will just be taken back to the front page of WordPress. Don't worry about that. Just pop on over here and post your comment.

In the future when you wish to login, just come directly to the blog, choose the WordPress option and type in your user name. You will be prompted for your password.

If you can't seem to find the comment box, don't feel bad. It is a common problem. On this particular blog template the comment box is near the bottom of the post. In the screen shot below I have underlined the comment box in purple.


If you are having problems and need to talk to me personally, just click on my name -- Quilly -- it will take you to my profile where you will find my email address. Drop me a note. I check my email several times each day.

Relax and enjoy. It is easy once you get past the learning curve, and I'm here to help.

Charlene

Summer Reading Group Meets on May 27th

The Summer Reading Group (Courage & Calling) will meet for a study introduction on Thursday, May 27th at 6:30 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church Library. If you would like help with the "technology" part of this online group, please come and we will be happy to help you. Details of this group are posted on the Christian Women's Network web site as well as this blog.

Welcome to the Summer Reading Group

Courage and Calling
An On-line Summer Reading Project

Introduction

As Christians we are called to be part of what God is doing in the world here and now. But as we participate in God’s purposes in our time, we automatically become part of something much bigger than ourselves which spans all time and space – we become part of God’s plan for all humankind. “Yeah, right,” you say. “So how does that work on a daily basis for me?” The answer lies in an understanding of your life as VOCATION.

God has called you – first to Himself, to know and follow Him, but also to a specific purpose, a particular reason for being. According to Gordon Smith, the author of the book we will be reading together, this “Second Call,” defines our purpose or mission in life and is often termed vocation, from the Latin root meaning “calling” and it has implications for our work and occupation, but its ramifications reach far wider to include our giftedness and our weaknesses, who we are, and how we live with other people.

“Do I have a calling? And if I do, how do I live it out in the midst of all the challenges of my real life?”

These and other questions will be the focus of our on-line reading group for the summer. Come join us…who knows…it may change your life.

Procedures

Book. Each participant will be responsible to getting a copy of Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potential by Gordon T. Smith. This book is in print and available from on-line book sellers or by ordering locally.

On-Line Connection: Each week June 6 through August 29 Becce or Charlene will post thoughts about what we are reading and some questions for participants to think about, on our blog http://christianwomensnetworksji.blogspot.com (graciously loaned to us for the summer by Christian Women’s Network – San Juan). Participants will be invited to share their own insights and questions, respond to other’s posts and generally enjoy a simulating conversation around this amazing idea of being “called” by God and what it means for you.

Reading Schedule:

May 27 – 6:30 p.m. Face-to-Face meeting for study introduction and for anyone one wanting help with the “technology” part of participation in an on-line class.

June 7 – 19 (2 weeks) Introduction and Chapter 1 The Content of Our Lives & Work

June 21 – July 3 (2 weeks): Chapter 2 Seeking Congruence

July 5-10 (1 week): Chapter 3
Chapters in Our Lives

July 12-17 (1 week): Chapter 4
As Unto the Lord

July 19-24 (1 week): Chapter 5
Thinking Vocationally

July 26-31 (1 week): Chapter 6
Courage and Character

August 2-7 (1 week): Chapter 7
The Capacity to Learn

August 9-14 (1 week) Chapter 8
The Cross We Bear

August 16-21 (1 week) Chapter 9
Working With and Within Organizations

August 23-28 (1 week) Chapter 10
The Ordered Life

Sometime the last week of August or first week of September we will have another Face-to-face meeting to process our summer’s journey together.

How to Join and Maintain Contact with the Group

You can connect with the group through our blog either by clicking on the blog address here, bookmarking it as a favorite or subscribing to an RSS feed. You can subscribe to the RSS Feed for the blog and receive e-mail whenever a new post is made. You can do this by adding an RSS feed to your incoming mail. The RSS feed address is:

http://www.christianwomensnetworksji.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.

Instructions for adding an RSS Feed to Outlook 2007 or Internet Explorer, click here. Other e-mail software may also enable you to subscribe to an RSS Feed both on PC's and Macs.

If the RSS Feed does not work for you, you can simply bookmark the blog and visit it regularly.

Facilitators

Becce Bettridge - I love to read, garden, and hike…I am not so fond of church committee meetings, gossips, and liver. My greatest joy is sharing God’s Word with those who desire a closer and deeper walk with God, and I am very much looking forward to the conversations we will have this summer. My most recent adventure is taking me on a very old path…the path of spiritual formation. I am learning what it means to lay my entire life down before the Lord…challenging territory for all of us!


Charlene Amsden – I am a writer, a teacher, a talker, a story-teller. Like Becce I am not fond of church committee meetings or gossip, but do like liver and onions if it is cooked just so … yum. Right now I am in transition in my life and trying to come to terms with who I was and who I am now supposed to be. Wherever my prayer and study takes me I am certain there will be teaching as well as learning involved because both are my passions.

Oasis Africa Institute and Drs Gershon and Gladys Mwiti

Meet them in person Wednesday night, the 31st, at the Mullis Center at 7PM.

Gladys and Gershon are natives of Nairobi, Kenya. They received their advanced education in clinical psychology and leadership from Fuller Seminary here in the United States. They returned to Kenya and spent the last five years working in their fields of expertise.

Gladys operates a counseling and training center in Nairobi with outreach to neighboring countries. She has been responsible for the training of all high school teachers in Nairobi in how to deal with the trauma in students as the result of the post election violence in 2008. She has been retained by companies to work with their employees to deal with inflamed tribal issues as a result of the same violence. She is the head of the Psychology Association of Nairobi and on numerous committees worldwide that deal with trauma. Gladys brings an uncompromising Christian perspective to all her appearances. She appears frequently on Nairobi television dealing with trauma, abuse, and family issues.

We partnered with Oasis Africa last summer in the quilting project in the district of Mashaka. Gladys and Gershon had identified this desperately poor community without hope to be the focus of an empowerment project, beginning with the establishment of a school for the youngest children of this rural slum. Our own Kitty Sorgen and Jill Urbach took their skills and talents to Kenya to work with Oasis to teach 24 women caregivers how to quilt. The results of their training hang in many of our homes today. It is a project just entering the marketing stage of production with much work still to be done. A glimmer of hope is starting to burn in this dark area because of the expertise and obedience that Gladys and her staff and our volunteers have brought to bear in Jesus’ name. It has been exciting for our community to be a part of this wonderful effort.

Gershon meanwhile has been involved in leadership issues and training across Kenya. Gershon has a passionate love of his country. He has been appointed to be the chairman of the National Values Committee, a group charged with identifying the core values of the nation and bringing them forth into national awareness and influence. They will present their “Moral Vision for Kenya” at an all day conference on April 10th headed by the President of Kenya. Gershon is positioned in a powerful place of influence to fight corruption, crime, and injustice. Gershon’s life of integrity, dedication, and sacrifice uniquely qualify him to be used “for such a time as this”. Even with these responsibilities he has a heart for even the lowliest man in his nation. Gershon is dreaming of equipping poor rural men with basic hand tools to be used by small teams in construction projects to create jobs and build esteem.

Heading Home!

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm sitting at the airport in Nairobi waiting to board my flight to London. The Mwiti family dropped me off and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful the last few days at their beautiful home has been for me. Their lovely house is peaceful and serene, and the grounds are amazing. They have planted so much of God's creation, and their large garden blesses their table and many of their friends' as well. It has been the perfect place for rest and relaxation, and Gladys and Gershon, I'm so grateful for your generous hospitality.

The last few days I have seen the extremes of Nairobi, from the lovely and gracious Country Club, built in 1912 by the British, where Donna and Larry Donahoo took me to a delicious lunch, to the slums of Mathare, where I met the most amazing CTK pastors and saw their "mission field". 80% of those living in Nairobi live in one of the slums.

I leave here very excited to be home again, to see my house and sleep in my bed. I have missed all of you, and can't wait to see you again.
I have been so blessed to have so many caring people taking this journey with me. Your emails, messages and notes have been such a comfort for me, and I appreciated each and every one of them. Thanks too for all of you who gave to make this trip possible. Your gifts were not wasted.

I will be seeing you real soon. With love and a big hug to each of you, Kitty

The Slums of Nairobi

Pastors Austin, Denise and Denise have been called to serve the people in this area of Nairobi.

Christ the King Church in Nairobi

I was honored to meet three young pastors from CTK here in Nairobi. Austin Oyula (far right), Denise Oduor (middle) and Denise Onyango (left) are men with a heart and mission for the poorest of the poor, here. Check out the parking in front of the CTK Church.