Waterborn

Against the background of Newfoundland's early years, Black Water Bo tells the turbulent love story of Lucky and Helen whose relationship seems doomed from the start. An action-driven tale of adventure, passion and family secrets, Fara Spence's second novel reveals the cost of discovering what really matters in life and death.

What does the church look like if we take the ministry of the baptized the priesthood of all believers seriously? How are congregations transformed when the church supports and affirms the ministry of all the baptized, particularly in small congregations without the means to hire a seminary-trained pastor? And what ecclesial structures and educational models need to emerge in the next decades to assist these small congregations in the recovery of baptismal living and their own vitality? Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook and Fredrica Harris Thompsett explore these questons as well as the variety of ways people in small congregations many with no more than fifty members are living out their baptism and the impact their actions are having on their congregations, judicatories, and communities, and the institutions that educate clergy. The authors argue that just because a community cannot pay a seminary-trained minister, a growing problem in remote regions, it does not mean that there is no ministry there. It does mean that we need to look at ministry and the church in a more expansive way. The stories of the congregations revealed in this book serve to inspire us about what is possible when we live intentionally as the reconciling presence of the body of Christ in the world. They also educate us about what will be needed in the years to come to lift up still more small congregations for their work in the larger community.

When the Holy Spirit reveled to the author, Ernest Martin, a veterinarian with a medical background, that the spiritual birth was identical to the physical birth, this revelation became a life-changing experience. People are always asking and seeking miracles. What is a greater miracle than a sperm uniting with an ovum (egg) and becoming a living cell with the potential to develop into a human being? That living cell (zygote) does not have any resemblance to a fetus. From the process of fertilization to the growth process, it is all programmed in the zygote to divide and multiply and to eventually liken to its mother or dad or a combination of both. Just like when we receive Jesus as our Savior, we become a whole spiritual being in the image of God. We don't look or act much like Jesus at this stage. We look more like the zygote, but we are complete in Jesus. If we desire the sincere milk of the Word and then progress to the meat of the Word, we will grow up into the full stature of Jesus. This process is so well-defined in the physical birth process that we can see how we grow as we spend time in the Word that we may eventually look and act like Jesus Christ. What a miracle and life-changing event to understand the growth process ordained and carried out by God Almighty.

Meili, a young peasant woman born in the remote heart of China, is married to Kongzi, a village school teacher, and a distant descendant of Confucius. They have a daughter, but desperate for a son to carry on his illustrious family line, Kongzi gets Meili pregnant again without waiting for official permission. When family planning officers storm the village to arrest violators of the population control policy, mother, father and daughter escape to the Yangtze River and begin a fugitive life. For years they drift south through the poisoned waterways and ruined landscapes of China, picking up work as they go along, scavenging for necessities and flying from police detection. As Meili’s body continues to be invaded by her husband and assaulted by the state, she fights to regain control of her fate and that of her unborn child.

This first book to focus on the important and topical effect of light on polymeric materials reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the topic, building a bridge between polymer chemistry and physics, photochemistry and photophysics, and materials science. Written by one experienced author, a consistent approach is maintained throughout, covering such applications as nonlinear optical materials, core materials for optical waveguides, photoresists in the production of computer chips, photoswitches and optical memories. Advanced reading for polymer, physical and organic chemists, manufacturers of optoelectronic devices, chemical engineers, and materials scientists.