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By Ward Shope At the Session (elder) Retreat this last weekend, our facilitators referred to the leadership transition that occurred from Moses to Joshua. Imagine traveling for 40 years under a leader who regularly works miracles, resolves conflict, leads through difficulties, makes hard decisions and is patient beyond belief. And then, just as you are...

By George Caruso “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” – Exodus 20:9 Could you imagine our society if God set up a rhythm of six days’ rest and one day work? Of course we see just the opposite pattern established in creation. God is introduced to us in Scripture as a...

By Melanie Kauffman I have a distinct memory from a weekend retreat I attended as a junior-higher. Someone had set up a blackboard with two halves: “Things we want to talk about this weekend, ” and “Let’s not talk about this.” Naturally, someone wrote “sex” in big capital letters in the “not” half. The room...

By Jane Highley Last month, I attended a Harvest USA workshop called “Women Helping Women.” I knew that, as a youth group volunteer, I should attend. But I also had a few other reasons to go. But when I arrived to the packed room upstairs, I wondered why all these women were here. What were...

By Todd Hill “Great faith is the product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.” -Smith Wigglesworth On January 30th, thirteen of my Sr. High student leaders showed up to NLD for a full-day retreat from 9 am to 5:30 pm. As...

By Lisa Leahy We’ve been studying Esther in Women’s Bible Study. It’s been stunning to see God’s sovereign hand directing the lives of each person in the story, including a young adopted Jewish girl, her uncle and a pagan king. I wonder at how God’s power is so often with the weak, marginalized and powerless,...

By Sharon Brennan For Christmas break in my second year of college, I went home to spend the holidays with my parents. Shortly after New Year’s Day, we experienced a house fire. I knew they needed help, so instead of returning to college, I got a job. The biggest challenge for me was buying clothing...

By Ward Shope We are now about a year and a few months from Ron’s departure from New Life. The Search Committee is working hard to identify possible candidates for the lead pastor position. And we as a Session (the elders) are moving forward in thinking about what ways we need to adapt as we...

By Elise Elise is a member of our Sr. High Youth Group I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Senior High Winter Retreat for the first time this year. Jim Lovelady spoke over the weekend and I was able to take important lessons away from it all. He mainly spoke about how “We Are...

By Katie Ruby InterVarsity Christian Fellowship exposed me to many people in college who chose urban ministry. But I thought to myself, “That’s nice, but not my calling.” I guess you shouldn’t say that unless you’d like it to be your calling. Then one summer I served with InterVarsity in the inner city of Lancaster,...

By Lois Carr My shocking introduction to serving poor families in Kenya was by volunteering at a cramped three-room pre-school where I cleaned and dressed festering wounds and tried to stress the importance of hand-washing where there was no running water. Children infected with AIDS, burned by open cook fires or born with physical deformities...

By Zach Weik I was not sorry to say good-bye to January 2016.  January, generally speaking, can be a tough month.  Between the bitter cold, shortened daylight hours, and poorly performing hometown sports teams (looking at you, Eagles, Flyers, and Sixers), the post-holiday letdown can take its toll on my psyche.  This year’s January also...