Sundays until April 10, 10:00 am, Room 307 or via Zoom

Dr. Ric Schwenk will lead the adult discussion class for four weeks. He will share how he and his wife, Caring, helped people in the tropical third-world with spiritual transformation. They also helped to improve agricultural production, called the Green Revolution. If you are interested in other parts of the world and how the UMC is making a difference there, the series is for you.

Week Four: Reaching Filipinos with Innovative Ministry

Ric & Caring Schwenk faced challenges as Methodist missionaries to impoverished and displaced Filipino communities in the Philippines. Those displaced by a volcano faced almost insurmountable challenges to find their footing in a post-Pinatubo Philippines. They needed spiritual, legal, and agricultural assistance to find their new path. Come interact with an expert, who – along with his wife – devised new delivery models and team-based approaches to respond to Aeta’s need. Hear what happened as Ric & Caring led their seminary students on weekend ministry to the displaced Aeta tribal groups on Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines.

Week Three: Reaching Asians with Innovative Ministry

Ric & Caring Schwenk faced challenges as Methodist missionaries to ‘unreachable’ (sometimes impoverished and displaced) Asian communities in both Malaysia and the Philippines. Logistical and bureaucratic challenges prevented many Asians from proper training and schooling. Many needed medical and legal assistance to rise above their circumstances. Come interact with an expert, who – along with his wife – devised customized delivery models to lead team-based approaches, responding to the felt needs of communities (e.g. tribal groups) in Southeast Asia. Hear what happened as Ric & Caring led their seminary students on weekend ministry to the displaced Aeta tribal groups on Luzon Island in the Philippine Islands.

Week Two: Animist Ibans & the Gospel Message

Ric Schwenk faced a challenge as a young pastor and agricultural teacher for longhouse-villages in Sarawak, Malaysia (SE Asia). Animist rice-growing Ibans lived fear-based lives circumscribed by omen birds. Come interact with an expert on the Ibans (Cornell PhD – Rural Development). Join us as we ask Ric what it was like to interact with those who encountered the Gospel message for the first time. Hear the story of Ibans who became Christian – also the 1949 ‘Christmas Miracle’ story that laid the groundwork for Ric’s work and that forever shaped Malaysia’s religious ecosystem.

Week One: Healthy Eating in the Bible (ESV)

Suggested Readings (as ranked by Biblical Scholars)

1 Corinthians 6:19-60
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

1 Corinthians 10:31
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all in the glory of God.”

Genesis 1:29
“And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.’”

1 Corinthians 9:27
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

3 John 1:2
“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul.”

1 Corinthians 3:16
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are in that temple.”

Romans 12:1
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Exodus 23:25
“You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.”

Daniel 1:8-20
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank…Then Daniel said to the chief steward ‘Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.’”