More Shirley Stories

Being Native American, Shirley is allotted subsistence provisions from the sea - seals and the like. She reports that seal meat is good, but sea lion is delicious. The government taught the island people that salting and freezing meat was a good way to preserve it. However, Shirley has a better idea, and she is teaching it to the island, "canning." I need to interject that she feels cans are wasteful because they can only be used once and then thrown away. However, jars can be used and reused. So shouldn't it really be called "jarring?"

Here is something that you need to know. It takes thirteen (13) quart jars to can (jar) an entire seal, and that includes the heart, liver, and kidneys. Why the kidneys, you ask? Shirley says that several million English can't be wrong. Also, our St. Paul lady wastes nothing.

The tribal council has now purchased two new canners (for jarring) that can be checked out for preserving meat, and I suppose other foods, for the winter months.

We recently shipped out some provisions for Shirley, included was a packet of paper for her studies. A friend of Shirley's son has taken her study notes on Genesis, the four Gospels, and Acts to China to be used as text materials from which to teach. So, they must be pretty good. Shirley doesn't have a computer; she thinks they are addictive, and they waste too much time - which is what she would think I'm doing right now.

Way to go Shirley M.

An Amazing Lady

Shirley lives and pastors on St. Paul Island, by herself. Though few venture into her church, she is an amazingly active witness to the island, an island that is 386 miles from land. She is a native American lady, who is a retired nurse, living a subsistence life style while ministering to a predominately orthodox community. This would be a difficult task for any Evangelical, let alone a pentecostal one. Isolated far out in the Pacific, Shirley often calls to see if I'm doing alright. Those calls never last less than an hour, and I always feel better about life when we hang up.

Shirley recently entered an 8.2 mile foot race on St. Paul. At the conclusion of every mile, men of the community would bring her a chair to rest on. Then at the completion of every two miles they would bring her the community bus that contains a bathroom facility, just in case she needed it. When all the race participants had finished the course, except for Shirley, they sent the bus to pick her up. Though she didn't actually finish the entire 8.2 miles, they couldn't hold up the end-of-race barbecue any longer. However, when she made her appearance, the barbecue crowd cheered and whistled for her. Most people would not consider Shirley to be young anymore, but she did finish first in her age bracket - - she was the only one in her age bracket! Next year the race officials said that she could start early, get a head start, so they don't have to hold up the barbecue .

We should all be more like Shirley.

Positioning Ourselves - 21st Century

No technology will ever replace the call of God. The printing press won't, the radio won't, the television won't, and the Internet won't. They are useful tools, but that is just what they are - tools. The bottom line will always be men and women, called of God, disciplining and mentoring those who heard the Holy Spirits' call and made salvation decisions.

In one ten year period the Assemblies of God recorded 5,339,144 salvation decisions for Christ. However, Sunday attendance only increased by 221,790, which is a 4.2% retention rate. We are getting decisions but they are not translating them into any real Kingdom growth. Our objective needs to be Kingdom growth!

So, our purpose is to focus on those who made decisions for Christ, so that they are not lost. Biblical perspectives need to be taught. The Church needs to reproduce itself. Each achievement needs to be recognized and celebrated in a meaningful way. The District, as well, needs to work at developing church leadership. A seamless system of education where anyone can enter the Christian Leadership Development system. Much of this is already being done, some needs work.

Once the personnel issues are addressed we need to consider how we do Kingdom business. It takes money, skill, and technology, to develop a geographic location like Alaska on a limited number of personnel. It needs to be understood that all segments of this district are in the ministry, and are expected to produce something. Therefore, the attitudes on how we do business need to be changed. Paul became all things to all men - so must we.

If we need to fiance, then develop finances and help develop the Kingdom. If we need to be builders, then develop or discover those skills and help build the Kingdom. If technology is needed, develop technological solutions and help provide the needed technology. Our limitations are often self-imposed.

There is no one single simple solution. The answer is a series of intentional decisions, that build one upon the other, then when placed side by side, they will present a picture of measurable achievement.