the Stembridge Family website

Joyful Times

David Stembridge — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:15:16 +0000

It has been a great Thanksgiving, and we are looking for to the weeks ahead, as Chelsea will be back for Christmas break from Belhaven, and we have many, many jobs that pretty much all point to the true meaning of the Christmas Season. It is noce to have jobs that take us places, as we don’t get out aside from them too often. One of the pitfalls of being self-employed I guess!

We were able to visit with my Dad Roer Stembridge, and Betty, and also my brother Jim and his wife Heidi, and even Heather! Mike my youngest brother was a little under the weather, so we did mss him, and Ed and Beth, Chad and Tyler too far away to break away for Thanksgiving. We’ll see them all at Christmas.

Summer of Purpose!

David Stembridge — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:53:16 +0000

This summer should be a great one, filled with 2 big mission trips, one to the Savannah Baptist Center with families from our church, and the other back to Kiev to run another ESL camp with Open hearts Church with Pastor Sergey Bochko and his wife Natasha. Many of the students we worked with last year will be back; plus many new students, and working adults.

Oh, we also have a new catamaran that a friend from church gave us. Can’t wait to get her up and running!

We’ll post some more updates. Lorretta and I are both on facebook, please look us up!

Somethings happenin’ in Ukraine!

David Stembridge — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:37:21 +0000

Late last year, we heard about the call for the team that would travel to Ukraine to work with a young; but growing church. We both immediately sensed God’s calling to be a part of the team. Over the next months, the rest of the team stepped forward, and we begin preparing. I had never taught ESL before; but was eager to learn, and knew much would involve the personal relationships built with the students. I also began building a relationship with my friend Sergey. He started sharing a little more about the church, and also started sending us photos. He was very interested in seeing photos of us as well, so the church could be praying for us as we prepared. It was exciting to be part of such a close knit group, with so many diverse backgrounds! We really grew close. It was so wonderful to be studying 2 Thessalonians, learning about the marks of a great church, while seeing this playing out in Kiev, at Open Hearts Church.

We heard many stories before arriving; one of the first was about Sveta, who accepted Christ at the ESL camp a couple years ago, and had been transformed by the the Gospel!

Sveta – accepted Christ at a previous ESL Camp (picture by Olga Dovgan)

In the Ukraine, many young people that embrace anything outside the Orthodox (state) Church are looked upon as taking part of a cult. Sveta was one of these students that God was using to reach her family, and many people who didn’t know or understand Biblical Christianity. Later we would meet student after student that had experienced this. It was a joy for all of our team get to know Sveta during our week at camp. She was so eager to serve, and had such a Christ-like demeanor. She was abiding in God’s Word!

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

The church in Voronkov, where the camp was hosted.

Voronkov was the village that that the camp was located in, and about 45 minutes southeast of Kiev. The terrain was much like rural Georgia, with field after field, and few mountains. It was green and beautiful. We passed a very long sunflower field on the way in.

Sergey and his wonderfully vibrant wife natasha had really worked hard with the details we knew little about. The had prepared all sorts of activities to get the students excited about the week. There were fun icebreakers led by Niva, wife of Day Wysong, and wonderful praise music mornings and evenings. There were daily excerise times, and the students were even given a short nap time. It was really about building relationships, and showing the love of Christ to those who had never experienced it.

David teaching with Debi Cockerham (picture by Bradley Atkins)

As we worked through the week’s lessons, using the 7 wonders of the world as a precursor to the 8th wonder…. which was each of us, created by a Great God, we had many opportunities to answer questions about our faith.

There were 2 university students named Andrey and Igor that came to what they thought would be a music festival. They found out just before the camp…. that it was a Christian language camp; but came anyway. While they felt a little like outsiders initially, towards the end of the week, they were experiencing something I believe that neither had experienced, the love of Christ. They asked questions, debated, and keep being involved, and having fun.

Igor and Andrey doing some good reggie at the campfire

The last night, Andrey let me wear his “magic hat” and asked me about my views, and let me share my testimony with him. Many seeds were planted, and I believe many of these young people’s faith, as well as many on our team (including myself)

Lorretta and Olya, a young lady who was baptized just a couple months ago, after embracing Christianity

As for Lorretta and I, it was a busy; but beautiful week, and we were both ready to sign up for next year before the end of the week! In the meantime, we will hone in our skills while working with the new hispanic ministry at our church, preparing to do ESL this autumn. There’s also great opportunities to keep in touch and encourage (and be encouraged by) our new dear friends thanks to the internet!

Ukraine Bound!

David Stembridge — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:03:07 +0000

On Thursday morning, the 9th of July, Lorretta, myself and an additional team of 8 will head to Kiev, Ukraine to lead an ESL Camp with 10 members of the Open Hearts Church in Kiev, and 30 Kiev University Students. The name of the ESL camp 2009 will be the 8th wonder (of the world). Each day (topic and lessons) will be based upon the 7 wonders of the world. the 8th wonder will be – “You are God’s wonder (miracle)”

The Ukraine is one of the many places that was “untouched by the reformation, and people there live with no real knowledge of what True Christianity really is. We hope that through our actions, and friendships, we will have opportunities to share the “hope that lies within us”

Sergey and Natasha Bochko lead the Open Hearts Church, and have been doing much of the ground work for us in the Ukraine. We however, have had the “exciting” task of preparing for the week long curriculum!

So, please keep us in prayer, we’ll have a camera, and hope to shoot some footage; but the real goal is sharing the Light of the World!

Springtime in the Southland!

David Stembridge — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:28:16 +0000

I for one am thankful that flowers are popping up, and there’s much more activity with the birds in the morning. We can finally sit on our front porch again, and thank God for a beautiful new day!

more top come…

Letting Go

David Stembridge — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:32:19 +0000

I shared this in conjunction with a devotion I gave last weekend at the Upward Games.
What do you think?

Letting Go by Susan Bunts Wachtel

So much of life
Is learning to let go

Letting go of people
Who will leave long before I’m ready to say goodbye

Letting go of expectations
Of how I think someone should act

Letting go of my will
Accepting God’s will for my life

Letting go of a dream
Without letting go of hope

Letting go of sorrows
Putting my hope and trust in God

Letting go of my way
Choosing to put others first

Letting go of my sin
Remembering I am dead to sin and alive to Christ

Letting go of bitterness and hurt
Applying the healing balm of forgiveness

Letting go of envy
Filled with gratitude for what the Lord has given me

Letting go of hatred
Walking in love

Letting go of the past
Living in the present

Letting go of taking the easy way
Willing to endure for that which is of eternal value

Letting go of fear
Taking courage in the Lord’s presence

Letting go of failure
Believing that God will redeem my past

Letting go demands for deliverance on my schedule
Instead praying for the grace to endure

Letting go of faithlessness
Asking and believing God for the impossible

Letting go of my timetable
Trusting God and His perfecting timing

Letting go of ”Why God?”
Asking “What will You do through this Lord?”

Susan Bunts Wachtel
January 27, 2009

Resolved!

David Stembridge — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:53:02 +0000

As the new year begins, I have been thinking about resolutions, and the fact that I really haven’t been that interested in declaring any, for many, many years. I just finished reading “The Holiness of God”, by RC Sproul, and was re-introduced to Jonathon Edwards, who has written some incredibly powerful sermons, one of which is “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Jonathon was a colonial American Congregational preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans, and also was one to write down resolutions in a diary. He viewed these resolutions as a place for him to stand, and a compass top guide him as he made his way out.
As I read through some of his resolutions, I was almost embarrassed at the thought of what my resolutions would be, He was quite serious about his relationship with God. Read some of these, and see what I mean:

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’ s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence…

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

14. Resolved, never to do any thing out of revenge.

33. Resolved, to do always, what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.

Advent Season

David Stembridge — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:26:30 +0000

This has been a most unusual Christmas season in many years. While we decorated with many lights, and even got a live “dead” tree…. we have been celebrating the advent season like we never did before. Foe faithful Christ-followers, the season of advent is a time of layered realizations, and unfolding, on so many levels that sometimes cross time and space.
We have been reading Jotham’s Journeys by Arnold Ytreeide in the evenings, Ian has been the main listener, but everyone has caught enough glimpses of the powerful ly exciting tale of young Jotham and his journey to Christ. We too live in a time that there has been much revealed through the ages; yet many don’t look at the truth behind what we see and hear. Christmas has become a word that means very little. This has been a season with a different focus for Lorretta and I, perhaps because it seems closer than ever to a time that Christ will return. Each Sunday, our Pastor, Al Wright has been teaching about what happened as people had encounters with the Christ child. It has really been a very unique look at how the different people, and angels of course reacted after seeing Christ.

Hunting Days

David Stembridge — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:56:31 +0000

Dylan and I have been involved with archery for the past 3 years. We have really enjoyed the competition, and fun that goes along with it. Actually, Dylan does the competition, I coach.

This is the first year we have ever gone hunting with our bows. There’s actually a lot to it, for newbies like us. We had to make sure our bows were in good shape, get some broadheads, which are the arrow tips used for hunting, and learn all about tree stands. Good for me, my Dad gave me a tree stand that he had gotten to do some limbing; but because of his bad knee had to give that up. Dylan and I both quickly ot aqquainted to putting on safety harnesses, and climbing in a tree, then pulling our bow up with us using a rope.

After the 2nd or 3rd time, we began to realize some patterns for the deer. There are places they seem to concentrate in, and trails they use. The trick is finding the best place to put a stand, and getting in position a couplee hours before sunset, or an hour before sunrise, then quietly waiting…

We have found that they start wondeing out just after sunset before it gets pitch dark. So far we haven’t had a good shot; but we will continue, even into the rifle season. Dylan’s mama wants us to get that freezer filled up!

Bird Dog Breakaway

David Stembridge — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:08:29 +0000

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”

This past weekend, Ian got to run his very first race. We volunteered to give out water at the first annual Bird Dog Breakaway race, sponsored by our local Center for New Beginnings, and after the main event, they had several categories for children, and Ian was asked if he wanted to run, and readily agreed!

He came in 3rd place – even wearing blue jeans! It was a fun event for everyone, and the second biggest fundraiser the center has had.