NOVEMBER 2009

“Mobilizing Families for God’s Kingdom Worldwide”

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Thought you'd enjoy our recent photo. We're lovin' being grandparents, and having the three little girls nearby.:-)

Photo taken on our family vacation in May at Emerald Isle, NC.  Our third granddaughter, Bethany, was born to Josh & Kerin on September 5th!

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are so grateful for our family, our family heritage, and you and many others who encourage and support us in our ministry to families, as a family. Every family is unique, in their own way!I got a note from a friend recently who had heard my introduction to a talk I gave at a Men’s Conference in Clarksburg, MD. My friend wrote, “Five generations in Clarksburg. That’s pretty unusual these days.”

I thought I would share with you the introduction my friend heard, as I invited men to our particular seminar session, and a summary of the message two of my sons and I shared that day. Since this conference was in the (formerly) rural community where I grew up, I began with this:

“BEALLS OF CLARKSBURG”

“Welcome to Clarksburg, Maryland! My name is Bernie Beall, and I was born and raised here in Clarksburg, as was my father, and my father’s father, and his father & grandfather, going back 5 generations. To the glory of God, our family knows of the Christian testimony of each of those fathers and grandfathers. My wife and I have given a lot of thought to what it means to pass on your faith in Christ from generation to generation. We have four children ourselves, and this fall our third grandchild was born. For 23 years, as full-time staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, we were certainly committed to a lifestyle of evangelism and discipleship on campus, with other peoples children, but the greater challenge was learning about evangelism and discipleship under our own roof, in our own home. In 2006, Josh McDowell wrote a book entitled, "The Last Christian Generation. "Josh wrote, ‘Various denominational leaders have confessed to me that between 69% and 94% of their young people are leaving the traditional church after high school.’ Also in 2006, my family and I launched a new local ministry called:Great Commission Families. I’m here today with two of my sons to lead a seminar entitled, ‘Leading Your Family to Minister Together.’ Our subtitle is, ‘The Missing Ingredient That’s Producing a Missing Generation.’ Join us in Room 202, at 2:00!”

OUR FAMILY AND MINISTRY VISION

Here’s a summary of the big idea we shared: When children see their parents, especially their father, take steps of faith in Christ, it will mark those children for Jesus in a way almost nothing else will. For most Christian father’s, taking the initiative evangelistically with others is a step of faith. That’s why the core of our ministry is creating family-friendly evangelistic outings where parents, especially fathers, can step out in faith evangelistically, with their children right there with them.

In the session, I shared lots of scripture, including Genesis 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:4-7; Psalm 78:1-7; Proverbs 22:6; Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 1:16-17; John 5:18-19; Acts 16:31-34; Ephesians 6:4 and Revelation 5:9.

Aaron shared some of his own story of how growing up in our home, both seeing and being involved in ministry with us as a family, has been foundational in forming his own faith in the Lord. Daniel, as he often does, shared Scripture from memory (Matthew 5:1-16) and was a great encouragement to all the men there.

Again this Thanksgiving, we give thanks for our unique family and our family heritage. It has been such a delight to watch Josh and Kerin begin to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We hope you enjoy the above photo of our families. It was taken on our vacation together in May, before Bethany was born. She joined our growing ‘tribe’ on September 5th!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and may God
greatly bless you and your unique family,
In Christ,
Bernie & Linda Beall and Family

Great Commission Families
35 Jeffrey Lane, Brunswick, MD 21758
(H) 301-834-7448  (C) 703-975-6719
bernie@gcfamilies.org
www.gcfamilies.org