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Network For Pilgrims is "Creating a loving community on the web."

Welcome to our Christian community!

"Sit still, my dear one! Just sit calmly still!
The One who loves thee best, 
who plans thy way,
Has not forgotten thy great need today!
And if he waits, `tis sure he waits to prove
To thee, his tender child, 
his heart's deep love...."
J. Danson Smith

Snowy Virginia Woods

Tell me Your Story 

"Everyone has a story...." 

We are putting together a collection of true stories that Christians tell about their experiences in the world. We would like for you to share one or more of your stories with us. We hope to publish a book to inspire others. All stories will be published anonymously, so we are asking each person to select a Bible name for the contributor of their story.

We have already begun to collect stories. We hope you enjoy and grow spiritually from the stories we are offering you today. God bless you.

Learning and Loyalty
A Story from Sudan

Learn the language of your enemy. 
(my father told me this)

From Stephen 
(a Bible penname for this grown-up child)

  I was a child in a Christian family in Southern Sudan, which was an area governed by Islamic Arabs of Northern Sudan. The regime in Northern Sudan was very strong at that time—when I was a child of six. I have some vivid memories of my early schooling during those days.
   Although we grew up speaking the language of our village, we were forced to learn Arabic and use only this language in our school. Our parents had learned English, for the English had ruled our land until 1956. 
   When I complained that I didn’t want to learn Arabic because it was the language of our oppressors, my father told me, “Learn the language of your enemy.” As I grew up I found that he meant more than just learning the Arabic language.
   It was the government policy for all children to study Islam during the school day in the classroom because the country was about 85% Muslim, and all of the village authorities and members of the government were Muslim. The school officials, however, allowed those of us who were not Islamic to study under our pastor, who would come to our school every morning to teach us Christianity. He would bring a large picture of Jesus, and we would gather under a tree in the school yard to learn our lessons about Christian beliefs.
   There were a small number of us, but it was always interesting.  I often looked out the window during the classroom Islamic training to see the picture of Jesus which the pastor held aloft for us.
   However, although we were permitted to study Christianity while the Islamic children were studying their religion, we were frequently punished for not knowing what they had been taught. We were responsible for all the memory verses from the Koran and religious information that the master was teaching the children about Islam while we were outside studying Christian beliefs and learning the Bible. If we did not know the answers, we were given lashes. Read the rest of the story...

Before Her Time
A Story from our Past

“My times are in your hand.” Psalm 31:15

From Hepzibah (a Bible penname for the contributor)

 The time of giving birth to a child is one of the most dangerous events faced by the mother and the infant— especially on the prairie over a hundred years ago.
   It is safest and healthiest time for a child to remain in the womb for nine months—or a little more. But this tiny infant’s mother was very weak, and she had been ill for many months. She was faint and everyone feared for her as she suffered during the last trimester of her first pregnancy.  A doctor was not available in this little village on the wild prairie, but the relatives who had gathered around this very weak young mother realized that the baby was not likely to survive such an early birth, so they prayed fervently for the mother’s life. When they prayed, “my times are in your hand,” they were asking God to preserve the life of the mother beyond this birth. They had no confidence in the baby’s hope for survival and steeled themselves for losing her.
   Late at night, after many exhausting hours, the tiny baby was delivered—a little girl whom no one bothered to name or even look at with tenderness. She was so very small—more like a doll, really. She was bundled into an old blanket piece and quickly handed to the 12-year-old cousin who wanted to help but hadn’t the skills. 
   What happened to this child? Read more
Click here to read more stories.


Summer mountain snow: Utah

Click here for more inspirational thoughts.   

More articles for the pilgrims who visit this web site are found on the "Articles for Inspiration" pages. These include the following topics:

Romance and Relationships
 
Intimacy and Personal Growth
   
Inspirational
   
Spiritual
     
Health
 
Seasonal

Pilgrim Journal:  Special Messages Created for You!

Called to Fail for God

  "What do we make of our failures?

by Roger Paynter

    I want to suggest today that we are called to be stewards of our failures and mistakes, more than being consumed with the fact that we made them in the first place.
   The issue is not our innocence, it’s not even our guilt. The issue with which we must deal, indeed, with which we do deal, is not innocence or guilt…but rather:  What we do with our mistakes and how we manage our failures. What do we make of our failures?
 It’s pretty hard not to hear the word “steward” and immediately associate it with the church stewardship campaign. We “rightly” remind ourselves that the way we manage our money in God’s eyes is critical to our growth in faith, and we are to be stewards of what we have been given. Likewise, we are also reminded about being stewards of our gifts and stewards of our time.  All true!
   But I think the Bible insists on a much broader usage…I think the Bible insists that we are stewards of all of life itself, every part of life, every experience of life, every dimension of life. That life is “on loan” and we are appointed to be “caretakers” of this life that we have been given…even more…I think scripture suggests that HOW we manage this gift of life is the very critical basis on the issue of how we will be judged or how we are being judged.
   So, did you get a little “chill” when I used the word “judged”? It’s not one we use around here very often! Maybe that’s too bad because it’s a word that is filled with all kinds of negative images of course. We think of that Final Day when we are called to stand before the High Court of the Almighty to answer for all of our sins of every day.
   But I think Judgment Day is a bit of a “caricature”…I think, instead, that judgment IS an important concept, but I think it is used more in scripture as a word that means “discernment.”


Winter in Virginia. Click here for more delightful images of nature's beauty.

Called to Fail for God, cont'd

   The judgment of God is more like a series of quizzes or a “course in wisdom” than it is a “one-shot”, “make it or break it” exam, in which you either get into graduate school or you don’t. As John Claypool once wrote, it’s more like the judging that’s done at a flower show than a “penalty” image that is rendered in a court room. Judgment in scripture happens consequentially, sequentially, and not so much finally.
   I repeat:  we are called to be stewards of our failures and mistakes, more than being consumed with the fact that we made them in the first place.
   The judgment is, “What do we do with what has happened to us?” That’s the process of discernment for growth. If the Bible understands stewardship as involving all of life, then surely we are to be stewards of our mistakes and failures as well.
   Even more, I want to suggest that those mistakes and failures can be sacramental for us. That is, rather than something to be hidden or denied or repressed or “covered up” or lied about…they can become instead “vehicles of grace”, which is what a sacrament is…a means by which we encounter the graciousness of God.
   Click here to read the rest of this message on being a steward of our failures: Called to Fail for God

 

God's Covenant Series

“We know that all things 
work together for good 
for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” 

Romans 8:28

Part 3: God's gift of Faithfulness

“The Chair: You can Trust God”

by Bonnie Meadows

We are Called to Trust God

  God deserves and expects trust and praise in acknowledgement of his character. Throughout the Bible God tells us that we are very special to him: Exodus, Psalms, Isaiah, Romans. 
  God talks to us in many ways to explain that we are God’s treasure and God wants a special, personal relationship—like a loving father and his child—with each of us.
  Our memory verse today reminds us that we know that all things work together for good in God’s world. God is in charge of this world, and even though really bad things happen in it. We can trust God absolutely. So we are called to learn to trust God.
  Memory Verse (above): Romans 8:28

   We are told to trust God and we are given many examples of God’s goodness. Many writers of scripture —throughout many, many thousands of years—tell us about God’s loving deeds to preserve his precious people. We read a list of some of those deeds in Psalm 136 today.
   We are told again, and again—in many different ways—that “God’s steadfast love endures forever.” We are given story after story about God’s goodness —not only to the beloved chosen people—whom we have now joined by adoption, but also to other people who do not yet know God. The Bible story I’m telling you today is the scariest story I know from the Bible.
      EXAMPLE: Bible Story—
  
The book of Second Kings tells us that there was once a little family in ancient Israel who had a little daughter. She was bright, and she trusted God. She was probably a lovely little girl and quick to do her work. 
   But a tragic thing happened—the most terrifying thing I can think of as a parent. An army of pagan people invaded her country and took her away with them to their own country. But God was with her, and God used her in his plan to bless a man and others who did not know the loving God of the universe. The little girl loved and trusted God.
   As it happened, she became the servant of the captain of the whole army. He was a very skilled soldier and leader, but he had leprosy—a terrible skin disease for which they had no cure. He was in despair, but the little girl told him about the prophet in her country who could heal him of his dreadful disease, and the Bible goes on to tell us of his healing and his turn to serve God.
      Click here to read the complete message.

 

Christ Covenant International Church

~Christ Covenant International Church is a Christian church in cyberspace serving an international community of believers who come together in your home to worship the Holy God~ 

   Our virtual church has begun meeting together this month. Click on the church name above to read our Mission Statement and membership information.

  We do not look like the church pictured above because we meet where you are. We encourage you to share your worship experience with others near you. You may use the sermons and worship information we provide in your homes and fellowships. If you would like to become a member of this church, see below or click here.

   New sermons will be published on this web site each week. Click here to read the  Sermon of the Week

Our ocean of connection from the Maine coast

 

Mission Statement


Teaching Christ’s commandments and serving with love in our homes, our relationships, our communities, our nations, and our world.

Statement of Faith

   The three persons of the Trinitarian God are living in a way that is not governed by time: Almighty Creator God eternal, Jesus Christ—who existed before humans came into being and walked on earth in the first century, named for his presence—and the Holy Spirit—who proceeds from these and interweaves their being.  I cannot imagine life without God’s presence. God is never and cannot be restricted by gender or other human traits. These three are one and are witnessed in Holy Scripture, on which we continue to rely for revelation. Through human time and every day God lives and guides, hears and responds to all who lift their voices for help. God is almighty, forgiving, faithful, and works constantly with created beings in justice and love.
   God created a way to demonstrate those traits by becoming incarnate and “tenting” among humans in the form of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was—in some way that humans cannot understand—fully human and fully divine... 
   The Holy Spirit moves among us today, teaching, witnessing, guiding, and comforting. The Holy Spirit sustains and guides the church, providing leadership and assurance. We read and proclaim the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit provides the community with insights.

  Click here for the complete statement of faith for our Christian leaders.

 

 When you have been blessed by this ministry, make a donation to help further our ministry and bless others.

 

Become a Member Today!

  Join the Christ Covenant International Ministries and become a member of our cyber church. Read our membership vows, and make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. Click here for more information about joining our church.

 As children of God we are all privileged to participate in mission and ministry in the name of our Lord. This web site is a public ministry of the Christ Covenant International Ministries. We have discovered that several thousand people from all over the world are coming to this website each month for nurture and ministry.

Visit the Network4Pilgrims Humor page.

Pilgrim Journal

You might also like to read Bonnie's Ministry adventures. Click here to read more from her spiritual journal.

 

Christmas Dawn in Iowa

"In returning and rest shall be your salvation;
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength." 
Isaiah 30:15

  

  Sudanese Christian Fellowship of Las Vegas meets in a home for Bible Study

World Christians 
in America 

Immigrant Christians are God's gift to America 
for spiritual renewal.

   All across America, and indeed throughout Europe and in other places around the world, there are fellowships of Christians meeting together to celebrate God's grace to them and to worship their creator.

   On our Multicultural page you will find some pictures and stories of people from various fellowships. Please share your stories and pictures so that we can let others know about groups where fellow Christians  might come to worship.

   Tell your friends about this web site, too, so that we can nurture one another. We will be providing a sermon in English each week for your fellowship to use in worship. Use the sermons and worship plans we provide to enhance your worship experience if you wish. If you need a worship leader, let us know. Let us share information with one another so that we can grow strong in faith and service to our Lord.

    We will also be providing leadership training materials and other information through this web site that will help you and your congregation prepare for Christian ministry. Let us know what you need.

    Our future hope is to create a foundation to help provide pastors and training  for the Christian fellowships we discover. You can donate financially to this foundation now.

For more information, click here

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Bridge in Winter

Click here for more images.

Abigail's Special Story

Would you like to send a free electronic celebration card to someone special? 
Go to www.dayspring.com

 

Welcome to Network for Pilgrims!

 We have been looking forward to your visit. At this site you will find plenty of ideas on how to live a happier life and develop your potential to its fullest. We feature articles and information on several inspiring topics. There are resources and links to other sites for activities where you live. Click the beautiful picture at the top of the page to visit a Quiet Corner where you can always come to rest. (Do you have any suggestions?)  Enjoy your visit, we are glad you came by!

  
Bonnie Meadows, Director of Network for Pilgrims 
and Christ Covenant International Ministries

Bonnie Meadows is the penname for our director. She graduated recently from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and is prepared to become a pastor. She is now in her hometown in Texas, awaiting a call from a church somewhere in America. Her writing often appears on this web site. To read her updates for friends, use the Journal button at the top of the page or click here.

 

Note to speakers: The articles that appear on this web site are gifts from the writers. Do not use any part of the articles, humor or stories without the author's written permission. You may contact them through this web site. A web site filled with ideas for speakers is www.desperatepreachers.com     

 

Send us your thoughts or a picture  so we can post it on this site. We would be interested in publishing something you have written on this site.

 

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Network 4 Pilgrims/Christ Covenant Int'l Ministries
"Inspiring personal transformation since 1995"
Bonnie Meadows, Director
6800 Westgate Blvd. #132-105  Austin, Texas 78745
email: bonnietexas at hotmail.com
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