From our Future Intern - Liliana Stahlberg

Grace and peace to you from God and our Lord Jesus Christ! I am Liliana Stahlberg your new intern. We have not met yet but you already know quite a lot about me from your pastor and from Bev Berry, the chair of my internship committee.

When I first met with Bev Berry and found out that she was going to visit Romania, my country of origin, we both thought that God works in mysterious ways. I understood she started a campaign to collect different items and money to take to Liliana’s shelter in Bucharest. So, I am going to use this opportunity to tell you a little more about myself and Liliana’s shelter which is actually called St. Macrina ‘s Center for Street Children and Youth (please, check Centrul Sfanta Macrina out at www.macrina.ro )

This whole project started in 1991 soon after the fall of dictatorship when many young children ran away from state orphanages where they were abused. They filled the streets of large cities, especially the capital Bucharest. At that time I was working for the Ecumenical Association of Churches in Romania-AIDRom, an agency set up by the World Council of Churches in cooperation with historical churches in Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the German Lutheran Church and the Hungarian Reformed Church. One of my dreams became to involve churches in helping these children both on a short and a long-term basis. In the following years I was involved in developing and training teams of street workers and designing a comprehensive program for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the street children who were coming to our door for food, shelter and health care. In 1993 I spent four months in Denver, working as an intern with Urban Peak (a shelter for homeless youth) and taking a class at DU in Financial Management of Non Profit Organizations. I got back home and inspired by all the things I had learned at Urban Peak and the Denver University I started a fundraising effort which led to AIDRom buying a house that would become a faith-based shelter for the homeless kids roaming the streets of Bucharest. As I am telling this story I realize that it sounds as if everything went smoothly and everybody helped. The truth is that there have been many obstacles on the way, many people who opposed the project (because they thought if we could not help all the street children then we should not help any), many sleepless nights and an ulcer caused by stress.

But all is well that ends well. I was the director of this project until December 2000 when I came to the USA . It had been my dream also to develop this program and leave it in the hands of the church. I have chosen my follower, a young pastor with many gifts and a heart for children, Gabriel Cazacu, who is the Executive Director to this day. He has continued to develop the institution and to add programs for young men and women. You can find all this additional information on the website.

You can see I have a passion for the serving dimension of the Christian church. But I also have a passion for family and children. My husband, Wolfgang is the pastor at Messiah Community Church in Denver. I have three biological children (Nico, Sidonia, and Andrew) and two adopted ones (Alina and Michael) Three of them live here in the USA and two are back in Romania where they work and study. Bev is going to meet Sidonia who is a veterinarian in Bucharest.

I also have a little granddaughter, Rebecca who lives with her parents in Stapleton. She is the apple of my eye and I can never spend enough time with her. You will get to meet her as well as her mom and dad, Nico and John. I have many other stories to tell you and I hope to hear many stories from you as we work together in the coming year! God’s blessings on you and your ministry!

Liliana

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Pastor Mark's response to some of the questions and comments you posted on Reformation Sunday

“Why do churches have stained glass windows?”

Response: Ruth and I were recently in Prague and worshipped at St. Vitus Cathedral there. That church had some of the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen. Many visitors to Bethlehem comment on our beautiful stained glass windows. They are meant to be art and to make the sanctuary a beautiful place.

But they also serve a very practical function. When the great cathedrals were built in Europe, many of the worshippers were illiterate. The windows contained the great stories of the faith that those congregants could now “read”. There is a holy message in every window. As I walked around the sanctuary and narthex and looked at the windows here at Bethlehem, it was clear to me that a lot of thought went into them as well. They also contain many holy messages. Have you taken the time to “read” them? It may be a way to further enhance your worship.

“How can we forgive ourselves even though we know that we are saved?”

Response: I am always amazed at how often forgiveness occurs in the Bible. The Old Testament reads like a record that skips. God’s people sin, there are consequences, God forgives them, they repent, and they seem to forget and sin again. And that sequence repeats and repeats itself. And God keeps forgiving them.

Jesus is constantly talking about forgiveness. He encourages us to forgive 70 times 7 times. It is a key petition in the prayer he teaches his disciples. Many of his parables have a theme of forgiveness. And of course his death on the cross was the strongest message of all about forgiveness. In our worship, forgiveness is central. We begin the service with the Confession. The high point of the service is Communion, the meal of forgiveness.

So it is clear that forgiveness is a central message of the Kingdom. We are forgiven and saved by God’s unconditional grace and love.

And yet so many believers have such a hard time forgiving themselves. We feel guilty about what we have done in the past. We have such a hard time changing our sinful behaviors. And we keep finding new ways to sin.

I guess that is why we need to keep hearing this message of forgiveness. Paul talks a lot about sanctification. The best definition I have heard of that theological word is “turning a pig’s ear into a silk purse.” The Holy Spirit keeps working on us, helping us to take God’s grace to heart. And little by little that forgiveness does sink in and we are changed, transformed into the people God created us to be.

We are sinner and saint at the same time. Sin will always be a part of our lives. But so will God, always forgiving our sinfulness. That is why church and worship is so important to me. I need to keep hearing that message that I am forgiven. I need that meal of forgiveness. Worship opens my heart up to the work of the Spirit.

Please know that your ideas are listened to. Your suggestions make this a stronger church.