653 A Street
 Galt, California  95632 
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 WELCOME to the EPICENTER

       Sunday,  December 4
                              
                          Sunday School at 9:45 am

                Worship Services   8:30 and 11:00 am
 

 Special Guest:
 

  Dr. Fermin Whitaker 
             read Dr. Whitaker's blog: click here
 

 
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        6:00 pm     Adults: WORSHIP and THE WORD

                           Youth Group: with Ron Shindy
 

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    Home from Iraq in time for THANKSGIVING:
 Sgt. Andrew (A.J.) Meredith
 
 

We thank A. J. and Serena for their service
and sacrifice on behalf of us all.

     Coming to the Epicenter
               on Sunday, December 11th
                 at the 11:00 a.m. service

     Ed and Nancy Giddens

Missionaries Ed and Nancy (Hoff) Giddens are native Californians, educated at California Baptist College (now University), the University of Hawaii and Golden Gate Seminary.

                    They were appointed by our International Mission Board in 1980 to the East African country of Tanzania and have served faithfully ever since. Their work has included mission administration, worship and music training, women's ministries, literacy workshops and the writing and editing of Bible Study materials.

Currently Ed is serving as the music staff of Mount Meru University, an SBC entity, and Nancy is in charge of all theeducational extension work for men and women in Tanzania. Nancy and Ed will sing for us, too, in English and Swahili.

Ed grew up in Sacramento, where his father was the Director
of Missions for the association, and Nancy is the daugher of Cliff and Margie Hoff from our church.
 

WE PASSED OUR GOAL!
                                         Special Annual Offering:  $3,026.

 Don't MISS Mike McCall THIS Sunday at the Epicenter
"Let's fill the house!"

 What does a full house look like?

 The crowd gathered at the Epicenter to meet Elvis Presley's brother: Rick Stanley

Al Warren's Sunday School Class

First Baptist Church is blessed to have four pastors in our membership.  Pastor Al Warren is a gifted Bible teacher with many insights from his years of pastoring churches and managing a university book store.  Come join other "retired" folks (no age limit) in a study of the Lord's Prayer.
                   Sunday mornings              
                       9:45 a.m. Fellowship Hall

Free at Last with Deacons Tom Lane & Jim Fugate

This verse by verse study of the book of Romans focuses on two key elements in the Christian life; God's righteousness and man's freedom.  If you've ever wondered how you can be free (from guilt, sin, bad habits, etc.) and know the fullness of God's forgiving love you will want to join Tom & Jim.  Adults of any age welcome.
   (Sunday mornings 9:45 a.m. Choir Room)

BACK TO OUR HOMEPAGE

 The Epicenter is the current site of
 THE LIBERIA STONE
Private showings can be scheduled upon request
for appointment click here

 

     Francie Spinelli wrote a story about the first weekend of our landscaping project:

    click here
 for her story
  
 click on photo for large view
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news from:
Nancy and Ed
     in Tanzania
      
CLICK for background info


Nov. 22, 2005

Hello friends,

Thank you for your prayers during my last trip of the year, to Mwanza to teach in the Seminary Branch. It was a great trip with no car problems at all. I prayed very specifically that I would not have any flats and I didn't! God is good!

We had a good week of teaching. The women really enjoyed Sarah and Neema. Both did good jobs. We are very concerned about one of our students there, Rozamistica. She was not feeling well and told me her symptoms were a sore leg with pain going into her back and groin. But when she described things to Sarah, we are afraid it may be cancer in her female organs. This woman has 8 children and is very poor.

Her classmates have given her clothes and we have helped her before with medical needs for sick children. This time, they took up a collection for her to see the doctor as soon as she gets home and we teachers also contributed. I spoke to the local director and he will talk to her husband and see if she needs to come back to Mwanza to see a specialist.

Please pray for her. She had just a 4th grade education and has really struggled with her studies. But she has persevered and is so near the end. She is so thankful for the opportunity she has had to learn. It makes me so sad to think that she may have a life threatening illness.

We had a wonderful experience coming back across the Seringeti after teaching. The wildebeest had returned from Kenya and were just everywhere, with their friends the zebra and topi. We also saw lots of giraffe, several elephant, 7 lions and 3 cheetah. I did get a tiny bit lost during our trek, but because I had looked at a landmark before we went off road, we were able to find our way out of the plains and on to where we needed to go to get home. It was quite an adventure!

When we got home, I suggested that the girls take a bath in our long bathtub to relax their muscles after the long drive. Neither of them had ever had a bath before. (They take showers or a "bath in a bucket." No one has a bath tub available to them!) They were thrilled. It was really hilarious. They told me that while they were in the tub, they stopped and prayed to thank God for this wonderful experience that they never dreamed they would have! It was great.

On Sunday, Sarah left for Dar by bus and we took Neema to Moshi where she is working this week with our sewing project there. We worshipped with the Mt. Kilimanjaro Baptist Church and had a great service as we always do there.

I am so glad to have this week to work on my lesson plan for next week's branch teaching here and get my leader's meeting agenda planned. I also need to work on budget for the Branches for next year as well as enter grades for Mwanza men students. I don't get to rest, but at least I'm home! Also, I can also begin to look forward to our Christmas trip to California. So all is well!

Love,

Nancy and Ed

     **************

Hello Galt:

My trip to Tukuyu was good. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Ed was able to go with me because Thursday and Friday were Muslim holidays and he had no school. Actually it turned out that the holidays were Friday and Saturday, but the school had already announced the other days, so all went as planned. He drove all the way, which was a great relief. I was not so tired when I got there!

We picked up Sarah and her son Elisha, who is out of school waiting for the results of his grade 6 exam. He is 14.
Graduation went well.

Ed was able to lead the music, which made it better than usual. He and the others from the university had to leave right after graduation, as they needed to get back on Sunday so they could teach on Monday. They got home in good time on Sunday.

Our women's meeting began Sunday night and it went well. We left on Wednesday morning and drove a little over half way.

Neema is now with us, as she is going to Mwanza with us on Sunday. We dropped Elisha off in the town where his grandmother lives. He will be accompanying a young uncle who is an evangelist to another part of the country next week. He plays keyboard and helps him in other ways. It is good for him to be with a good male role model, after his disappointment with his father, whom he adored. He is quite serious and I think a little depressed. He doesn't smile much, but does enjoy conversation. The traumatic events which he went through have left a mark, however.

We are enjoying 2 days' rest and preparation before we leave for Mwanza on Sunday. It will be a long drive, but I wanted to rest at home rather than on the other end. I will be fine, as it is my last trip for the year and that makes is more bearable. We have just one week of teaching in Mwanza.

We had no car trouble at all on our trip, but a front tire was flat when we woke up this morning. Ed was able to take care of it before he left for school. We are thankful it happened after we got home!

My stomach problem is better. I was told by a doctor friend that it sometimes takes up to 2 weeks for the symptoms of a parasite to leave after treatment. So I will stick it out and if, after the 2 weeks have passed, I still have symptoms, I will have a proper test to see if I mis-diagnosed myself originally!

Ed did fine during our absence. He had plenty of food and it only rained on him one day as he walked to the bus. He had dinner one night with some volunteers who are here with a parachurch group, many of whom are from California and one couple who are former Tanzania missionaries. He enjoyed that. I will get to meet them tonight. We are looking forward to that!

Thank you for your prayers. All went well.

Pray for us on our next trip. We leave for Mwanza, across the Serengeti on Sunday and return next Saturday.

Love,

Nancy and Ed
Tanzania


Ed and Nancy Giddens are two among thousands of International Missionaries we support through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Nancy is the daughter of our good friends:
      Cliff and Margie Hoff

Click here to send Nancy and Ed a greeting. They plan to come from Tanzania to Galt for an official visit to the Epicenter in December, 2005.      
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We have had visitors from 82 nations:
          
  Are you the first from your nation?
        CLICK HERE to find out
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Rick Warren's little church has adopted Rwanda.
Would you take time
to look at what they're doing,then help us with our assignment to reach out to Liberia?

Click here for Saddleback's P.E.A.C.E. Plan


Click here: the P.E.A.C.E. Plan can be implemented
by your small group in Liberia.
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Click here for newest Epicenter blogger: Iona
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click below to hear Pastor Al's sermon from
      April 10, 2005:
             
 Rebuild the Walls: Part 1
 Rebuild the Walls: Part 2
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Free sermon download:

Dr. Clifford Hoff
            
You Can Be Sure: part 1
You Can Be Sure: part 2
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Current month: Greatest Hits
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Royal
   Oaks
 

May 3rd visit to our extended church at Royal Oaks. 

Click here to read the exciting account of our most recent visit.

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An Open Field
     Building
              Ideas

 We're Talking Vision

On April 10, 2005 we formed a vision committee as a result of the  Y2K5 Vision-Casting meeting held the previous week.

It was agreed that we should use the following guideline as the basis for moving forward in shared vision:

l. Establish a Long range committee representing all areas of church life and ministries.

2. Set priorities.  Try to determine urgent needs as well as desired areas for future development.

3. Study existing facilities to determine possible adjustments that would provide  immediate access for growing programs.

4. Develop a plan for incremental changes or additions to staff and volunteer leadership to meet program needs.

5. Establish a time-line for tentative schedule for steps to be taken.

6.Investigate building codes and financial requirements for "first step" projects.

7. Urge all members to pray earnestly for God's leading and for understanding of what His will is for this congregation.
 

Get in on the momentum!
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