Wed W2033 testimonies, Thurs W9514 John study, Thanksgiving celebration, and more!

Dear Public Health Christian Fellowship,

Sorry this email is coming so late tonight! Just wanted to share a song and a verse to meditate on this week -- may we be like Simon Peter, who when asked if he "want[ed] to go away as well", replied to Jesus: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68). Dear ones, praying that this week you seek first his kingdom and hold tight to Jesus as the only way, truth, and life, in the midst of pressures from school and work.

This week's events in the SPH:

• Wednesday 12:15pm, Room W2033. A time of testimony sharing and prayer.
• Thursday 12noon John Bible study, Room W9514. See point 3 below.
• Saturday 6pm Thanksgiving celebration, 3501 N Charles St. Join us for an outreach event on Nov 17, 6-9pm, at the University Baptist Church (across the street from Homewood campus). The program includes worship, dinner, Thanksgiving story, and dessert. Register here. (Whether or not you can come, please pray for this event - for outreach to those who don't know Jesus yet, and for connections as people plan for the holidays to spend quality time together.)

New PHCF whatsapp group: we've heard some interest in a whatsapp group for easier communication/support/sharing/prayer during the week outside of our meetings / beyond emails. Please email jhsph.phcf@gmail.com with your name and phone number if you're interested in joining.

If you have prayers, reflections, songs, or announcements you'd like to share with the rest of PHCF (or individual questions/comments for the PHCF leaders), please email jhsph.phcf@gmail.com!

Grace and peace,

Teresa - for PHCF
Helpful links: PHCF website | map/list of local churches

Other announcements:

1. Praises and prayers
2. Job and scholarship opportunities
3. John Study - Schedule for the rest of the year and Biblical Theology Study Questions
4. Faith, Health, and Medicine Certificate - 2019 Course series at St Mary's Ecumenical Institute  
5. CCIH Conference 2019 - June 6-8, 2019  

1. Praises and prayers:

• Pray for the persecuted church around the world. Pray for those enduring through natural disaster and famine. Pray for the leaders of the nations around the world, and of our state and city. Pray for midterm elections last week around the US, for the people of the US and for our elected leaders.
• Pray for Christian Faculty at the SPH as we start gathering for sharing and prayer on the last Tuesday of the month - contact Teresa for more details if interested in joining!
• Pray for new students as they settle down in Baltimore, start classes, and find spiritual community at the SPH and in local churches.
• Pray for our PHCF brothers and sisters who are currently afar for work/practicum/missions/dissertation research, for favor in their work and traveling mercies.
• Pray for our PHCF brothers and sisters who recently graduated (or are graduating soon), finishing their capstones/theses/dissertations, and/or who are seeking God's direction/calling for jobs and career. May we trust in God's plans more than our own, for his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts than our thoughts (Is 55:9)
• Pray for the leaders (and leaders-in-training, and advisors, and members) of the various ministries around Hopkins - for unity, wisdom, and a big vision for God's work on campus this academic year.

2. Job and scholarship opportunities

• For alumni - an epidemiology faculty position has opened at Wheaton College! Link Here for more information.
• Essay contest on the intersection of spirituality and public health, with cash prizes - due Jan 6, 2019. Details here and here. SPH students have won prizes in 2016 and 2017 :)

3. John Bible study

For the past few months, a few of us have been gathering together Tuesday afternoons to discuss the Gospel of John. I've put together a tentative schedule for what chapters and verses we'll be covering throughout the rest of the year. Please note the dates are indicative of the week we'll be meeting, not the specific day (which may change term-to-term). Also here is a document of biblical theology study questions that we'll be using to guide our discussion. Biblical theology is exactly what it sounds like - a way of studying the bible that focuses on understanding each passage, chapter, or book within the context of the overarching Biblical narrative.

Feel free to email me at traviswmroberts@gmail.com, or 202-468-4361 if you have any questions!

Best,
Travis Roberts

Schedule: (2nd term, meetings will be Thursdays at noon)
11/12: The Feast of Booths: John 7:1-52
11/26: The Son of Man: John 8:12-59
12/3: The Kindness of Christ: John 9:1-10:21
12/10: The Festival of Dedication: John 10:22-42
1/28: The Death of Lazarus: John 11:1-12:11
2/4: The King of Israel: John 12:12-50
2/11: The Way of Christ: John 13:1-14:31
2/18: The Hope of Christ: John 15:1-16:33
2/25: The Prayer of Christ: John 17:1-26
3/4: The Betrayals of Christ: John 18:1-19:19
3/25: The Death of Christ: John 19:20-42
4/1: The Resurrection of Christ: John 20:1-29
4/8: The Gospel of John: John 20:30-31

4. Faith, Health, and Medicine Certificate - 2019 Course series at St Mary's Ecumenical Institute
CONNECT is a 12-credit graduate theological certificate program for doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals; chaplains, pastors, and other ministers; and everyone concerned with the challenges of integrating faith and health. The CONNECT certificate program is cohort-based, with all enrolled students beginning together in January 2019. The certificate is organized as five sequential modules plus a practicum that together build understanding and competency (module descriptions can be found HERE). For more information, contact Patty Rath (410.864.4203).

5. CCIH Conference 2019 - June 6-8, 2019

The CCIH 2019 Conference will be held June 6-8 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Our theme is Called to Care: A Strong Community for Lasting Health. At our core, faith communities are called to care for themselves and those in need. Paul’s letter in Philippians 2:3-4 urges us to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

We will explore questions such as:

• How do we build capacity of local caring communities and organizations?
• How can faith-based organizations incorporate human-centered design? (Program design that considers the human perspective in all steps of development and problem solving.)
• Are faith-based programs themselves resilient and innovative?
• Are we working with other faith-based organizations, churches, government agencies, NGOs, and others to ensure our communities are self-sufficient?
• How are faith-based organizations integrating faith and work in the field?

Please read the full instructions below before beginning the submission process. Abstracts are due by December 22, 2018. Submission guidelines here. Submission site here.