[belated post 2] Wed lunch 12:15pm W2033 guest speaker Matthew Whong, and other announcements

Dear Public Health Christian Fellowship,

Good morning! You probably know Psalm 42:1, As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. But when was the last time you reflected on the rest of Psalm 42, as the psalmist writes out his struggles: a deep thirst for God, tears and sorrow, questions and doubts and memories and feeling forgotten by God. And yet, he says, my soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you (v6) and finally Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (v11). Dear ones, praying for you that whatever you're going through today (questions about what-next for classes or group projects or theses job searching or grant applications), that you can embrace the full expanse of emotion that God has made us humans capable of with all its highs and lows, but also that your heart stays rooted on Jesus, the rock of your salvation. (A song for reflection and meditation.)

PHCF events this week:

• Wednesday lunch meeting: Room W2033, 12:15pm - guest speaker Matthew Whong will share his testimony, including his experience escaping North Korea as a refugee, serving as Presbyterian minister in Virginia and missionary in Sao Paulo, interpreting for Billy Graham in Brazil. Come for encouragement and a time of sharing and prayer! Dessert will be provided.

PHCF whatsapp group: we've created a whatsapp group for easier communication/support/sharing/prayer during the week outside of our meetings. Please email jhsph.phcf@gmail.com with your name and phone number if you're interested in joining. (You'll need to have Whatsapp downloaded onto your phone too.)

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. Spring PHCF schedule
3. Job opportunity
4. ALPHA course - RSVP by today (Feb 5)
5. Ethnos Baltimore Conference (Justice as Mission) - March 23, 2019
6. Christian Global Health 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 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. Spring PHCF schedule

Below is a tentative schedule for PHCF for the rest of the year - mixing together the John Bible Study, prayer, and some guest speakers (suggestions welcome!). 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. 

2/13: The Way of Christ: John 13:1-14:31

2/20: Interfaith event hosted by the Humanities Center

2/27: The Hope of Christ: John 15:1-16:33
3/6: The Prayer of Christ: John 17:1-26

3/13: Prayer meeting
3/27: The Betrayals of Christ: John 18:1-19:19
4/3: The Death of Christ: John 19:20-42
4/10: The Resurrection of Christ: John 20:1-29
4/17: The Gospel of John: John 20:30-31

4/24: Guest speaker

5/1: The Gospel of John: John 21:1-25

5/8: End of the year celebration!

3. Job opportunity

Wheaton College seeking an assistant professor in epidemiology - Note: while the position reads to be focused on epidemiology, we are searching broadly in public health

4. ALPHA course - RSVP by Feb 5 (today)Alpha is a space to explore life’s big questions, to say what you think and to hear other people’s points of view. It is a series of interactive sessions exploring the Christian faith, run over eleven weeks starting 2/19. We meet on Tuesday nights (6:30pm) at Saint Moses Church for dinner then listen to a talk which looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. No charge, no pressure. Everyone is welcome. RSVP today: 725-307-5691. More details here: https://www.saintmos.org/alpha/

4. Ethnos Baltimore Conference - March 23, 2019

Join the fourth annual Ethnos conference - Sat March 23, 9am-4pm, at Central Presbyterian Church (7308 York Rd, Towson, MD). This year's theme is Justice as Mission: At its heart, the Ethnos Conference has always been about the mission of God. As God’s people follow Jesus into the world, how does the pursuit, proclamation, and expression of justice equip and empower the Church to represent God to a broken world? Eugene Cho, Nikki Lerner, and many other dynamic speakers will guide us through the hopeful pursuit of God’s justice in the ministry of reconciliation. Read more details and register here. ($25 registration fee)

5. Christian Global Health Conference Conference 2019 - June 6-8, 2019

The Christian Connections for International Health conference will be held June 6-8, 2019 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. It's a unique opportunity for students to meet and network with global health professionals from across the globe. Our theme is Called to Care: A Strong Community for Lasting Health. Promo video here. 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 are faith-based organizations integrating faith and work in the field?
• How do we build capacity of local caring communities and organizations?
• How can faith-based organizations incorporate 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?