The "Berachah" in

the name of the Berachah Bible Church comes from II Chronicles: 20-26

in the Old Testament and means "blessing."

The church celebrates its 30th

year and has been a blessing both not only in the community in which it

serves but also throughout the world.

As usual, members of the congregation

are going in all directions this summer both on a local basis and around

the world.

Several of the youth will be

conducting backyard Bible studies all during July. Specially trained,

they will visit various host homes to which neighborhood children have

been invited and will spend a week at each place teaching Bible stories.

One member has been in China

since last summer and will return soon. She has been teaching English,

mindful of the fact that she cannot act as a missionary. However, if a

student should ask a question about religion, she is allowed to answer.

One can either teach English in a school or stand in the center of town

at a "talking place."

Two men from the church have

left this week for China and will be gone until the end of the month.

Not to be outdone, Dr. Howard

E. Dial and his wife, Beth, traveled last fall to Kazakstan where he taught

for a month in a seminary. This November they will head for Romania to

do the same.

Dial serves as senior pastor

and has been with the church since its inception. He has seen it grow

from a few interested families in 1970 to nearly 300 members.

A youth pastor has recently

been added the Rev. Bryan Ryan, his wife, Carla, and three children. He

has organized a number of visits to summer camps where children can enjoy

new fellowship as well as participate in evangelism.

A number of the men and their

sons and grandsons are looking forward to a retreat at Shocco Springs,

Ala. They will be fishing, canoeing and just enjoy being together.

One couple, the Rev. Frank

and Carol Pass, is about to head to Siberia for a teaching assignment.

They will be there from September through next May, come home for the

summer and head back the next September. He is a recent graduate from

seminary and grew up in Fayette County.

Dial ran his 28th Peachtree

Road Race this past Wednesday. He estimates that he has run over 30,000

miles in his lifetime and feels that it keeps both his body and his mind

fit to continue serving the church that is a "blessing." Running

with him is Bill Thorn, a coach at Landmark Christian School, who has

run in all of them.

"I'm thankful for a lot

of things," he said, "and one of them is our opportunity to

serve our multicultural community. It is most gratifying to minister to

a diverse congregation and we learn from each other."

Worship services are at 9:30

a.m. and Sunday School is at 11:15 a.m. Sunday evening worship is at 6.

The church is at 310 Corinth

Road and can be reached at 770-461-2466.

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