Posts

Vicki Gatchell Feb 21, 2024

Disciplemaking in America’s Rural Churches

If you are a rural church pastor, you may be wonder, “Can my church successfully grow generations of disciplemakers?”  The question is understandable. Often, disciplemaking strategies are geared toward churches in urban settings where diversity and population density are significant factors in planning. While conversations regarding the urban church are vital, the rural church faces its own unique challenges (and some advantages) in making disciples.  The term “rural church” does not simply apply to properties hewn from the edges of Midwest corn fields. It refers to churches situated in any community with fewer than 2,500 persons. One in seven Americans…

Vicki Gatchell Mar 31, 2016

A Return to Eastern Europe

Following is an update on my friend Laura’s trip to Eastern Europe. She begins her journey home tomorrow. There is a great need in Poland for English teachers who will share the gospel and their lives as well. From Laura: Wow, is Poland ever different from 27 years ago! Back then everything in Eastern Europe came in varying shades of gray. Cars and buses were dingy and dirty, apartment buildings were gray and in disrepair, and peoples clothes were even old and worn. Their faces matched the gloom around them. But now it’s quite the colorful place. The buildings have been refaced and…

Vicki Gatchell Mar 23, 2016

Bible Smuggler!

If you’re at least 40 years old, you remember the cold war, the iron curtain, and the communist regimes that dominated Eastern Europe from World War II until they successively collapsed during the late 1980s and early 1990s. If you attended church in the 70s and 80s you may also have heard Bible-smuggling stories from behind the iron curtain where the Scriptures had been outlawed.  Transporting contraband such as Bibles and Christian literature across national borders could result in arrest and imprisonment. Nevertheless, thousands and thousands of Bibles and other literature were illegally smuggled through borders and joyously received by the people of Eastern Europe. My…

Vicki Gatchell Dec 24, 2015

Unexpected Gifts -The Christmas Brooch

When I was a little girl, I looked forward to the Christmas bazaar my church hosted each fall. There were many enjoyable things at the bazaar, but I dreamt of the taste of the glass candy sold in the sweet shop and of Mildred Ringer’s divinity treats.  Christmas crafts adorned the church in almost any media, all for sale, and just in time for Christmas.  At the far end of the hall was the white elephant room.  Scattered on the tables were the most interesting pretty things, and oh, the jewelry! How I loved the white elephant room! Through a child’s eyes, it was…

Vicki Gatchell Dec 20, 2015

Unexpected Gifts

Recently I was given the privilege of sharing with the junior high youth group at Central Ministries.  They are a great bunch of kids and they were attentive and fun! Because the youth group has been talking about unexpected gifts, I told the story of one of my most memorable unexpected gifts. It was Christmas Eve in my small-town Presbyterian church and service had just concluded.  Always the best-attended service of the year, Christmas Eve had filled my head and my heart with all the carols of my sixteen-or-so years.  As I reached to grab my coat I spotted Ed, my Sunday school…

Vicki Gatchell Dec 5, 2015

When You’re Weak

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25 Our church is presenting a drive-through nativity this weekend for the Fort Wayne community. Last night 380 cars drove through scenes that progressed from the modern-day hustle and bustle of the Christmas season back to the hustle and bustle of Bethlehem in the first century.  There, amongst the activity of the Jewish people and a census by the Roman government, a miracle took place and God the Son, Jesus, entered the world. Many times when we think of the…

Vicki Gatchell Nov 26, 2015

I am Rich!

I am rich. I’m overwhelmingly rich, but I’m not talking about a bank account or houses or stuff. I’m not even talking about the fact that I live in one of the most wealthy nations on earth where we have more material wealth than 99% of all people in the world. Those things describe many Americans. I’ve been blessed with a supportive husband of 25 years and with four wonderful daughters. These favorite people of mine have made me laugh, cry, throw a fit, and have melted my heart. I am rich in knowing them as my own. I have a wonderful…

Vicki Gatchell Nov 21, 2015

O Come, Let’s Sing (Reposted from Fruitfulsteps 1/12/15)

JANUARY 12, 2015 BY VICKIGATCHELL Oh Come, Let’s Sing Ohio’s praise… IN HONOR OF THE BUCKEYES PLAYING IN THE FIRST-EVER NATIONAL TITLE GAME OF THE NCAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFF ERA, I POST THIS ROUGH DRAFT.  A TRIBUTE TO THE GREATEST TEAM IN SPORTS.  O-H…   I’ll never forget my first Ohio State-Michigan game. I was a freshman at OSU sitting in Block O, the student section directly behind the goal post in the closed end of Ohio Stadium.  That was a few years ago, but it remains engrained in my mind.  It was a cold Saturday in November, smack in the middle of a…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 28, 2015

Close to His Heart

10See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.                                                                                       Isaiah 40 What a great discussion we had last Friday…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 21, 2015

Indescribable

I have been studying Gripped by the Greatness of God (James MacDonald) along with many (80-100?) other women from Central Ministries. One of the assignments this week was to go outside to enjoy God’s creation. Yes please! Today was a perfect fall day. There was a gentle breeze and the drying leaves crackled beneath my feet.  I scared up a deer, and I watched a hawk circling in the sky.  I climbed  20 feet into the hunter’s treestand and felt the old shagbark hickory (one I have known since I was a young girl) swaying in the wind.  I love that my…

Vicki Gatchell Oct 20, 2015

Finishing Strong

Tonight I am writing a salute to a lady I met recently though my work. Phyllis (not her real name) is in her eighties and  confused at times.  However, as is often the case, she is not confused about the Scriptures.  I have seen this time and again. Whether people with dementia, or the mentally disabled, or the head injured, they all carry a soul within that is able to spiritually discern what some minds cannot –or cannot anymore– comprehend.  It is really a beautiful thing. Phyllis was reading her Bible as I approached and she was eager to tell me what she had just…