Welcome

My favorite story in the New Testament is in the Book of Acts. Don't get me wrong, I love the Gospels and the many rich and various texts throughout the Bible, but I find this one story in Acts as the foundation of who I am in Christ Jesus. Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch is a story that always finds its way back into my soul. Phillip and the Ethiopian are much like any of us, and they are moved by the Holy Spirit; they are both open to relationship and to change.

The story involves two people's faith journeys. One is lead by the Holy Spirit to journey to a road, and another is led by the Holy Spirit to read scriptures that he doesn't understand aloud in the desert. I have been both of these people. Sometimes I have gone to places I have never been, and I have also been lost in the scriptures and pondering them aloud only to find a listener willing to help with the interpretation. On those occasions God has always been faithful, and the relationship
is always blessed.

The story in Acts is a story of action and results. It is a story that is miraculous with a missing
verse so human and yet so divine because one is Baptized and another transported through time
and space. It is a story of mission and a witness of faith and grace. I am called as your pastor to
challenge each of you to mission and be witnesses of faith and grace in relationship to God and
each other. To allow your story to intertwine with the Biblical story and also with the stories we
know and don't know. The year 2012 is the year by which St. James needs to be accessible to
seeking a journey of faith to another country as our mission story continues to develop.

I have the great blessing of getting to know people who journey just on a word from the Holy
Spirit. So often I find excuses not to journey or to get to know people who have journeyed by
faith, and the scripture that finds its rest in my soul is a scripture where action happens after
sleeping occurs. So often I forget to wake up, and then God pulls me up out of my slumber and
gets me to see something new. Look up Acts Chapter 8 and read the story. Think/pray what story
in the Bible always comes back to you and how you honor that story or dishonor that story. Even
if it is a story that sticks in your craw, I challenge you to make peace with the story and allow God
to lead you on a great journey in the year 2012.

Abraham Gayetaye is a pastor in Sioux Falls and also in Liberia. It is my hope that after Pastor
Abraham returns to the United States after going back to Africa, he might challenge us to visit his
homeland and allow ourselves to find our faith stories not only in South Dakota but also in Africa,
India, and wherever God might use us.

Shadrach and Gladys Peters are both on our prayer lists. They need beds for their hostel. The
building is built, but it lacks desks and chairs and beds. I could envision a group going to Africa,
India, New Orleans, all in the same year. What do you believe God can do for you and for this
church in the year 2012?

God's blessings on your journey of faith,
Pastor Jeff M. Otterman

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