Wed W2033 lunch Bible study, Thurs W2030 lunch talk, and more!

Dear PHCF,

Welcome back from Spring Break! Hope you are feeling much refreshed, with the (somewhat) more spring-like weather and some much-needed rest. Paul the apostle writes to the church in Ephesus: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:8-10). Praying that as you go about your day, you take heart that your salvation is by grace through faith - and that all the (wonderful, exciting, inspiring, everyday, hard) work you do comes from an overflow of God's spirit in you.

PHCF events this week: 

• Wednesday March 27, at 12:15pm in Room W2033, Teresa/Allyse will lead us in a study of The Prayer of Christ (John 17)
• Thursday March 28, at 12 noon in Room W2030, there will be a lunch talk on leisure and humanity hosted by our Catholic friends in the Thomistic Institute

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. Thomistic Institute talk - lunch provided (3/28, 12pm, W2030)  
5. Christian Global Health Conference 2019 - June 6-8, 2019  

1. Praises and prayers:

• Please pray for next academic year's incoming students (and staff/faculty), as folks consider next steps. Pray for God's leading and direction and provision, and for his divine placement of exactly the right people at exactly the right time for his good purposes.
• 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 country, 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 scheduleBelow 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 are 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.
4/3: The Betrayals of Christ: John 18:1-19:19
4/10: The Death of Christ: John 19:20-42
4/17: The Resurrection of Christ: John 20:1-29

*Lots of churches are doing Good Friday Service, and there is a Baltimore-wide Sunrise service at the Inner Harbor on Easter Sunday, and of course many Easter Sunday celebration services. Please contact us if you would like to be connected with a church!4/24: The Gospel of John: John 20:30-31
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.
• Some positions at Worldrelief (in downtown Baltimore, as well as around the US and abroad) are opening up, for those interested working in a cross-cultural faith-based organization.

4. Thomistic Institute talk - lunch provided (3/28, 12pm, W2030)This Thursday, March 28, 2019, at noon in SPH Room W2030, please join the Thomistic Institute for a talk given by Dr. Zena Hitz: Why Leisure is Necessary for Human Beings. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Kayla Iuliano at kaylai@jhu.edu

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