issue : February

This issue of the Report contains:

1. Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Writing Ills
2. A Plea for Understanding
3. Writing Contest Deadline Nears
4. Drama Now Team Set for India
5. Letters

Diagnosis and Treatment of Common Writing Ills
by Stanley Baldwin, M.D. (Message Doctor)

1. procrastinatus fatalis fatal delay
Symptoms: blank manuscript pages, sense of being unfulfilled
Treatment: apply daily dose of commitment (available by prescription only from the Great Physician). Note: condition is incurable but can be controlled with this prescription, followed religiously.
2. blintze stakeren blind staggers
Symptoms: confused, uncertain message with corresponding lack of response
Treatment: organize, outline, and focus writing so it sounds no uncertain message
3. tedium terminatus fatal boredom
Symptoms: disassociation from reality in writer; drowsiness, lethargy, empty staring, yawning, fidgeting, and indifference in reader
Treatment: apply variety of stimuli to provoke and maintain response; make sure the diet offered readers accords with readers' tastes
4. abilancia eccentricatus unbalanced, off center
Symptoms: writer shows arrogance, unreasonable rigidity, is inclined to intimidate the reader
Treatment: repent, pray, get counseling, cultivate at least one friend who disagrees with you
5. obstacular myopia nearsighted
Symptoms: inability to take a long range view; in early stages marked by over-confidence, leads to end stage despair
Treatment: regular heavy doses of faith-which is evidence of things not seen
6. acontactus culturus out of touch culturally
Symptoms: simplistic answers, judgmental attitudes, authoritative style
Treatment: mix with a variety of people; learn to listen with a view toward learning and not just rebuttal
7. feeblus enunciatus weak word usage
Symptoms: an uneasy feeling of mediocrity that resists diagnosis
Treatment: replace passive with active verbs, weak verbs with strong ones, general terms with specifics, bland words with colorful. Break long complex sentences into shorter, simpler ones. Keep paragraphs short. Vary sentence structure. Use dialog. Read your writing aloud to see if it flows well.
Your writing can grow ever more robust as you put these ills into your past by applying the prescribed treatment religiously, and by getting proper nutrition and exercise for the general health of your soul.

2. A Plea for Understanding
by Lora Brown Berhar
Author's note: I wrote this during a time when I was really "down." My son Ryan has a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy. His best friend's mom basically avoided us completely because she didn't know how to deal with Ryan; even told her son he could not play with Ryan for a while. It really broke my heart and both boys' hearts as well. I can still remember Ryan's friend crying one morning as his mom was telling him he could not play with Ryan and needed some time away from him for whatever reasons. I wrote this as a way to vent, and, of course, never showed her at all. But I hope now it might contribute to better understanding of the handicapped and their parents.
Editor's note: Lora is granddaughter of ICW director Stanley Baldwin

While your child is getting up from bed in the morning and taking a shower . . .
My little boy is calling for his mom or his dad to come in and help him up out of bed. To unhook him from his 3 machines and to bathe him. To dress him, toilet him, prepare his meal, brush his teeth and set him into his power chair.
While your child is running and getting into your van/car or truck . . .
My little boy is waiting patiently to have the door opened to the garage, then to have the door opened to our van and then to have someone strap his chair into the van and put his neck brace on him just so his poor head doesn't flop around during the drive.
While your child gets out of the car and runs into school or out to the playground . . .
My child waits patiently as we look and wait for a spot in the parking lot where there is room to unload a 300-pound wheelchair.
While your child walks to the classroom . . .
My little boy tries to find a pathway to maneuver his chair through the halls without hitting a child or a parent as they line the hallways and make it almost impossible for Ryan to get through.
While you are dropping off your child and saying, "Have a good day!"
I am saying to my child, "Please be careful to stay away from anyone who is sick, even if that means your best friend."
While your child runs outside to recess . . .
My little boy stays inside due to the cold temperatures that his body cannot handle, and hopes that someone will stay in to play with him too.
While your child runs playfully to PE class . . .
My child waits to see if what the teacher has planned for that day includes him.
While your child goes home from school and reads a book . . .
My child tries to find a book he can lift that isn't too heavy for him.
While your child eats dinner . . .
My child struggles to chew each bite. And then struggles some more to swallow that bite.
While your child goes to a birthday party . . .
My child sits at home, uninvited for whatever reasons. Too many stairs at the house, inaccessibility, parents afraid to handle or deal with the "disabled boy."
While your child eagerly awaits Christmas and the holiday season . . .
My little boy and his family wonder if he will spend Christmas in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital having repeated, painful attempts at starting an IV. Sometimes up to 8 tries
While your child coughs with a minor cold . . .
My child with the same cold, is admitted into the hospital suffering from collapsed lungs and pneumonia and holding onto life by a thread.
While you send your child to school coughing and sneezing . . .
My child is exposed to a cold that could possibly take his life.
While your child plays sports with his friends . . .
My child plays video games, the only thing he can do independent of anyone else. And the one thing he can feel good about that he did this on his own!
While your child runs to get into bed to be tucked in at night . . .
My child is breathing in his nightly medication through a nebulizer, having someone brush his teeth, getting a cough treatment, getting hooked up to a monitor and a feeding pump and a breathing machine.
While your child turns over at night, my child has to call his mom or dad as many as 10 times per night to come and turn him as his ear is causing extreme pain from all the pressure.
While your child is enjoying spring break . . .
My child is in an orthopedic surgeon's office waiting to hear the frightening news of when he will have major back surgery.
We don't ask for your pity, but do ask for your understanding, and we thank God for the many who make the burden lighter instead of heavier.

3. Writing Contest Deadline Nears
Seeking Spiritual Heroes: LITT-WORLD 2006 Writing Competition

"The church worldwide is filled with humble, yet exemplary, leaders whose stories will never be known . . .unless you or someone else write them," says Media Associates International President John Maust. MAI invites writers from around the globe to participate in its third LITT-WORLD writing competition.

Participants should submit a profile article of up to 1,500 words about a Christian leader or mentor who has impacted their life, illustrating what makes this person unique and significant. Articles should introduce readers to one of God's many behind-the-scenes spiritual heroes and help them feel like they know the person being portrayed. "Remember your leaders," wrote the author of Hebrews. "Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith."

Winners will be notified by June 30, 2006. First-place winners in each language will be offered a full LITT-WORLD 2006 conference scholarship, not including travel, valued at US$425 (£240). Winners unable to attend the conference will receive a cash award of $200 (£114). One honorable mention prize of $75 (£42) will be awarded in each language category.

LITT-WORLD is MAI's biennial global conference for Christian publishers, editors and writers. In 2006, LITT-WORLD heads to South America for the first time. More than 150 people from 30-plus countries are anticipated near Sno Paulo, Brazil, November 12-17, 2006.

For complete guidelines on the writing competition or LITT-WORLD conference information, visit www.littworld.org/LW2006.htm or email mailittworld@sbcglobal.net.

Action Points:
1. Work on your competition submission and send to MAI before April 1(after checking the complete guidelines).
2. Tell your friends and colleagues about the writing competition

4. Drama Now Team Set For India
March 23 to April 14 are the dates set for the Drama Now team of Chuck Neighbors and Steve Wilent to minister in Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), India. They will serve in collaboration with the Galilean Institute of Communications and ICW.
Dr. C.D. Jebasingh, Galilean Institute Director asks prayer as follows:
1. That the Lord brings the optimum number of participants to the programs. Every pastor in the cities of Chennai and Mumbai and the heads of Christian Institutions are contacted both by mail and some through personal contacts. Pray that the Lord touches their hearts to send or sponsor candidates that the Lord empowers with the tool of "Drama Now" for inward strengthening within the Church and its evangelism efforts.
2. That all the expenses are adequately met and to leave a residue as seed money for follow-up work and for future building up of the "Drama and Theater" training section of Galilean Institute of Communications.
3. That no natural, political or any other types of hazards interrupt the smooth functioning of the programs. (Chennai is known for occasional power cuts).
4. Pray for Jane, my wife (70) and me (76); we will be also traveling from Mumbai to Chennai and back and to some other towns prior to the workshop at Chennai

Chuck Neighbors asks for prayer for the team:
1. Our goal was to raise $5000 for this trip. As of this time we have raised $3800 of that (includes the $400 pledged by ICW). So another $1200 would make us fully funded for the trip. Please pray for that additional funding.
2. As with any cross-cultural experience, we are concerned that we be effective communicators. There are concerns both in teaching and performances that we would ask you to commit to prayer with us. We know what works for audiences in North America but will those same concepts translate well to our audiences in India? We think they will, but would ask God's wisdom on the decisions we make for both curriculum and presentation.
3. Having traveled some overseas, I am aware of the health concerns and also know what just a little bit of "Montezuma's Revenge" can do to affect your ability to perform. Pray that we remain healthy during our time in India.
4. I personally want this trip to impact my 15-year-old son, Liam, who will be traveling with us. This is a wonderful opportunity for him to experience another part of the world and have his eyes opened to how the rest of the world lives. I pray that it will be a life-changing experience for him!
5. Finally, please pray for my wife, Lorie, who will be anxious about me and her youngest being on the other side of the world. Pray for God's peace on her.
Editor's note: Tax-deductible gifts toward the expenses of this ministry may be sent to ICW, c/o Clackamas Bible Church, 15655 SE Johnson Road, Clackamas, OR 97015. Designate the gift's purpose on the memo line.
5. Letters
>From Maria Tolar:
Greetings, Stan -
I was touched by the tribute you wrote to Joe Ryan in the last issue of OCW. I did not know he had died, and I was sad to hear it. I was surprised to learn he was 85, as Joe seemed forever timeless.
I remember him well from our critique group meetings, both in the sunroom Joe would reserve in his apartment complex and those meetings in your home. I knew nothing of his background, of his remarkable work in the ministry, where he served in the pulpit and in executive positions with fine organizations. I knew nothing because, I'm sure, I was generally oblivious, but also because, as you said, he had retired to a new line of work and that is where his energies were concentrated. You mentioned his humbleness; I concur. That is the rarest of all gifts because it requires such discipline.
I found myself wishing I hadn't been quite so zealous in critiquing him, that I'd tempered my remarks with more grace and respect. So I am vastly relieved there was a happy ending -- I was delighted to learn he had realized his dream of being published. I am pleased for him - and for his readers.
I am sure Joe gave you great credit, Stan, in helping him learn the craft of writing. You've been an aider and an abettor in the best sense, a faithful mentor to many, generous with your time and considerable abilities. I know Joe thanked you for that, and so do I.
From Charlotte Kardokus:
I don't know if you remember me or not. I am an OCW member and served as the OCW newsletter editor a few years ago.
This past Friday, I took the afternoon off of work to attend a funeral and to also be with my husband, who had dental surgery. While running some errands late in the afternoon, I turned my car radio on. I have one particular radio station I usually listen to but I began to search for something different. I came upon KPDQ, which I listen to from time to time and decided to leave my radio tuned there.
As I pulled in to fill my tank with gas, I was so excited to hear the woman on the station say that after the break, she would be talking with Stanley Baldwin about his newest book.
I didn't even turn my radio off while I waited for my tank to fill. I didn't want to miss a minute of your interview because I always enjoy your sensitivity, humor, and honor for God when you speak. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview.
Although I haven't read your book yet (I'm 54 and dealing with my 75-year-old parents on various issues you mentioned), I plan to read it soon. Also, I edit and mostly write a newsletter for my church women's ministry and plan to review the book in the next newsletter and highly recommend it
Thanks for an unexpected afternoon blessing.

With those letters we close this issue of the Report, with thanks to Maria, to Charlotte, and to all who offer your support and encouragement. Until next time, keep writing.
Stanley Baldwin, Director

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