Vol.

9, Issue 11 November 2008

A Simple Prayer of Thanksgiving

By: Helen Steiner Rice

I come not to ask, to plead or implore You,

I just come to tell You how much I adore You,
For the kneel in Your Presence makes me feel blest
For I know that Your know all my needs best…
And it fills me with joy just to linger with You
As my soul You replenish and my heart You renew,
For prayer is much more than just asking for things-
It’s the peace and contentment that quietness brings…
So than You again for Your mercy and love
And for making me heir to YOUR KINGDOM ABOVE!

More information
on page 9

In this Issue:

Thanks-giving for…...……..3
Youth News………………..4
I want you………………….9
Church @ Work…………..10
 One of our fondest dreams came true back in
August when we traveled to Ecuador and Ga-
lapagos Islands. You will remember that
Charles Darwin went to the Galapagos to
study the wildlife there and accepted the theory of evolution. Of course
that's not the reason we went----we wanted to see if it was true that all
the animals are not afraid of humans. We were excited to not only see
the animals that live there, but to get up close enough to touch them. But
touching is forbidden! Getting off the trails is forbidden! Taking food of
any kind onto the islands is forbidden! Everything is well monitored by
the guides that escort you everyday on and off the islands. Even though
we knew the rules were specific and enforced, we still wanted to go.

And what an unusual place it is! There are about 14 islands that make
up the group, and we got to visit 6 of them. There are many types of
birds that inhabit the islands, as well as iguanas, sea lions, giant tor-
toises, some non-poisonous snakes (which we are thankful we never saw),
and at least two types of small lizards. But the one animal that intrigued
us was the Blue-footed Booby----a bird about the size of a duck, but with
a very pointed beak, and yes, very blue feet ! We had read about
them, seen a few pictures of them, but had never seen one anywhere. It
was nesting time on the islands, and they build their nests right on the
ground, or sand. Some were incubating their eggs, while other's chicks
had already hatched and waiting for their parents to bring fish back for
a meal. When the babies hatch they're covered with stark white down,
and no, their feet are not blue yet---they're white. We were told their
feet turn blue as they mature. What a sight to see! Nests all over
the place with very noisy chicks calling for their parents! We'd never seen
anything like it, nor will we......Or, will we?

We were reminded that someday, in the earth made new, "the wolf shall
dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the goat, the calf and
the young lion and the fatling together...the cow and the bear shall
graze...they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord."(Isa. 11:6-9). Seeing the
animals on the Galapagos Islands makes us long for the day described
by Isaiah centuries ago! Looking forward to that glorious day, Pastor
and Sharon Webb

Page 2 The Church Courier

 Thanks-giving for a Miracle
by Martha Getlinger
Some of you know already the
miracle of healing that the Lord
provided for my sister, Elaine,
but I think it is important for the
strengthening of my own faith
as well as others to share when
we have had an experience that
can lead to growth in our faith.
In August, I received a call from
my sister stating that she had
been to her doctor and they had
done an EKG and found block-
age that may cause damage to
the back of her heart. She was
scheduled for a stress test and
another EKG. Afterwards, she
called again to say that she had
failed the stress test and the
EKG again showed blockage
and the doctor had scheduled
her for a heart catherization. Her
doctor had shown the results to
a cardiologist and they both felt
this was the next step and that
she would probably need a stent,
but more likely by-pass surgery.
So she agreed. She was afraid,
as anyone would be, and con-
cerned for her son Dylan, a 14-
year old, if something would
happen to her. I assured her,
saying I would come and be
with her and that I would be
Vol. 9, Issue 11
praying for her and ask my
church family to pray for her.
On September 18th, the day of
the catherization, we went to the
hospital at 6 am for preliminary
blood work and chest x-ray and
another EKG. The technician
mentioned that this EKG looked
pretty good. When it was
shown to the doctor, he agreed,
but felt they needed to continue
with the catherization based on
the previous tests.
She was taken for the catheriza-
tion at 3:30 PM and brought
back in exactly 25 minutes.
Nothing was done – the catheri-
zation showed no blockage! My
immediate thought was, “Praise
the Lord for answered prayer!”
and I said to her, “Elaine, the
Lord did a miracle
for you!”
Page 3
 Youth Events

November 8, School Vespers and

Game Night
November 15, Pathfinder
Bake-Potato
By David Hecht Supper Fundraiser
November 22, Youth 13 and
Up fun evening at Celebration
Station

Do you know this Youth?

This is Ashley Howard. She is 13

years old. She goes to Adventist
Christian School and is in 7th
grade. She likes to draw, read ,
and play softball and soccer. She
is very talented and can play a lot
of instruments like the guitar,
piano, flute, base, and the ma-
rimba.

When Ashley gets older she wants to become a Doc-

tor. Ashley was born in Springfield, Missouri. Now
she lives in Land-o-Lakes with her Dad and Mom
(Terry and Seon-young Howard) and with her younger
sister (Brittany Howard) and their dog (Jack).

Page 4 The Church Courier

 PIXIE PIN-UPS
DO YOU KNOW ME?

If you think you know this church member,

submit your guess to us, either by phone or
email.

First 3 correct responses will receive a prize!

You can submit your baby pix by email or di-

rectly to us. Photos can be black and white or
color and will be promptly returned. For more
information please contact us.
You would never
know his hair was
October baby was baby was: Jim Schryer once so dark...
Clue: He loves Florida and the outdoors.
Our winners were: Nobody guessed.

Thanks for participating!

Think about it… “Blessing

and glory
If the only prayer you said and wisdom,
in your entire life was Thanksgiv-
“thank you,” that would
suffice. Meister Eckhardt ing and
honor and
I have a great need for
Christ; I have a great Christ
power and
f o r m y n e e d . might, Be to
—Count Zinzendorf
our God for-
Bread for myself is a mate- ever and
rial question, but bread for ever.
my neighbor is a spiritual
one. Amen.”
A man grows in grace as he Revelation 7:12
grows in gratitude.
Vol. 9, Issue 11 Page 5
Cont. from page 3
By Martha Getlinger
Then something strange hap-
pened and it is important
that I share this part.
In my mind, a thought
came to me, all in a
matter of seconds.
(‘Was this a mira-
cle? What if the
first two tests were
a fluke, the stress
test was a mistake,
the doctor and the
cardiologist were
mistaken. Let’s be
logical about this!)
Why would that thought
have even come into my mind?
The body of evidence to indi-
cate there was blockage was
great and I feel the doctor was
prudent and right to continue. I
felt sad to think I would doubt
God so quickly after just prais-
ing Him so sincerely.
After reflecting on it, I don’t
think it was truly my thought,
but Satan’s. I think this happens
to us many times when we
can’t fully comprehend
a situation. I be-
lieve this was Satan
trying to steal the
glory from God
regarding this
miracle or at
least to make me
have doubts.
Many t i me s
wonderful things
happen and we
think to credit God
and then so quickly
we think or someone
else will say, “That was just a
coincidence!” Don’t believe it –
this is how God works, how the
Holy Spirit impresses us with
thoughts or actions to do. Just
believe and pray for stronger
faith to believe more!

Five purposes of prayer

1. Praise and adoration: responding to the glory and grandeur

of God.
2. Thanksgiving: acknowledging the Giver of all good gifts.
3. Confession: admitting our failures and asking for pardon.
4. Petition: asking God to take care of us.
5. Intercession: asking God to help others.

Page 6 The Church Courier

Vol. 9, Issue 11 Page 7
 Cranberry-Sweet Potato Quick Bread
This makes a lovely gift wrapped in colorful cellophane and decorated with rib-
bon. Yield 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cooking spray
3/4 cup no-sugar-added canned
mashed sweet potato
3/4 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup chopped cranberries
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well
in the center of the mixture. Combine sweet potato, egg substitute, orange
juice, and margarine in a bowl; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until moist.
Fold in cranberries.

Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle al-
monds over batter. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in pan for
10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan. Let cool completely.

Gifts of Hearing and Smelling

My granddaughter received a watch and per-
fume for her birthday. Melissa was so excited she pes-
tered everyone all day to look at her watch and smell her
perfume. At dinner her mother said, "Honey, I know
you're proud of your gifts, but please don't mention them
while we eat."

All through dinner Melissa sat silently although she sniffed

audibly at times and often raised her wrist to listen to her
watch. As the meal came to an end, she blurted out, "I'm not
supposed to mention it, but if anyone hears anything or smells
anything, it's me." 

Page 8 The Church Courier

Adventist Christian School
Pre K Art Exhibition
People everywhere are looking for
turkeys this time of a year. But
our Pre Ks are on a mission, the
mission to save the turkeys this
Fall!

Parents and students working together have put

a wonderful and very creative Fall Exhibition,
we named Turkey in Disguise.

Come and visit your Church School

during the week of November 18-21,
and vote for your favorite.

REMEMBER TO SET YOUR

CLOCKS BACK!
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND

I WANT YOU!!!
By Juan Rivera

Your church website, www.nprsda.org,

needs your help! We are in need of pic-
tures. If you have pictures of church
activities then we want to talk to you!

We also need to keep our website up-

dated so if any of the pages: youth, path-
finder, adventurer, ministries, etc., need
to be updated, please contact us at webministry@nprsda.org.

Vol. 9, Issue 11 Page 9

 BIG OPPORTUNITY!!!

We are looking for people that want to help our School but a
the same time want to help themselves. If you are a business
owner or if you posses some talent and want others to know,
I have good news for you.

In order to help with the cost of our school Yearbook we are

providing advertisings in our Yearbook. Different members
participated and benefited last year. If you want more infor-
mation please contact our Church Office, School Office (727
842-8919), or Omayra Rivera. Reserve your space today!

VESPERS

November 1 - Christie
Rodriquez and Family

November 8 - School Vespers,

Health lecture featuring Dr. game night following
Terry Howard.
November 15 - "Heart To
When: Sunday, Nov. 2nd Heart" concert.
Time: 10:00 AM-Noon
November 22 - Stan and Mar-
Here at Church, lunch in- tha Getlinger
cluded.
November 29 - NO Vespers
program.
For more information con-
tact our Health and Temper-
Happy Thanksgiving.
ance Leader, Ann Holland.
Count your blessings!

Page 10 The Church Courier

I read the other day in the
newspaper about a storm named
Omar, that was moving through the Caribbean.

The "special" thing about that storm was that it was the first
time that a storm moves north east towards the Caribbean Is-
lands. They weren't waiting for a storm to hit them from that
direction. Though Omar was a category 3 storm it didn't do a
lot of damages. People had time to get ready.

Sometimes we know exactly what is going to happen when we

get into a situation, we have a plan, we prepare ourselves for
it, we get ready. The problem is that sometimes we are not
expecting the consequences of that situation to come from an-
other direction. We are not expecting the "storm" to hit us from
the opposite way. So what is there for us to do? We better BE
ready, everyday, all the time. One thing is to loose our car,
house, or money, even when we are not expecting that to hap-
pen, than to loose our souls even when we were thinking we
were ready. Are you ready yet? Alex Ortiz

This newsletter is published monthly by the NPR SDA Church. If you

have any comments to make about the newsletter, wish to make a
donation, or wish to submit an article, please send it to the church
or to us.
Contact Us
Alexander Ortiz Omayra Rivera
727-365-2892 727-372-0052

nprcourier07@gmail.com

NPR Seventh-day Adventist Church

6424 Trouble Creek Road
New Port Richey, FL 34653
727-848-4567
Visit us on the web: www.nprsda.org/newsletter

Vol. 9, Issue 11 Page 11

 New Port Richey
Seventh–day Adventist Church
6424 Trouble Creek Road
New Port Richey, FL 34653