Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prayer Retreat Held At Smithpeter Home

by Janet Toland

The Women of the Church of God (WCG) held its local prayer retreat at the home of Shirley Smithpeters on September 13.

The ladies enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by the hostess, which was followed by a discussion entitled, "Valuing God's Creation." The lesson was written by Laura Shallenburger, the speaker at the State WCG convention last May. The lesson focused on three aspects, reflecting on God's creation, Adoration of Creation, and our Stewardship responsibilities.

The group learned several interesting facts about some of God's creatures.

In the Arctic and Antarctic waters swims an almost invisible fish. It can live in the frozen waters by the special properties of its blood. A special component acts as an antifreeze to keep its blood flowing and the blood has no hemoglobin or red color. Thus, the fish is practically transparent.

The "common" duck, geese or swan on its annual trek south can fly at up to 50 miles per hour and often flies 1,000 miles before making its first rest stop.

Polar bears can also navigate quite well. When humans distrub the natural habitat of the polar bear by tranquilizing, trapping and then releasing it 300 or more miles away from its original home, the bear usually finds its way back. This may sound like no special feat, but the territory the bear must cover consists of ice drifts that never remain the same, hold no landmarks and emit few odors.

Bears and birds have nothing over the unique salmon who can live in the Pacific Ocean for years before they're drawn to return to the streams of their birth.

One last amazing fact about polar bears: unlike other animals these bears do not show up on aerial infrared photos. In 1979 an U.S. Army researcher discovered why. Polar bears aren't white at all, but are transparent.

Under intense microscopic imaging their hairs are hollow tubes, without color. This allows them to act like minature fiber-optic tubes, trapping the warmth of the ultraviolet rays and funnelling them back into the bear's body.

Meanwhile, the bear's fur provides such flawless insulatin that its otter temperature stays basically the same temperature as its surrounding. This explains why polar bears do not show up on infrared photos. Fiber-optics was created by God at the beginning of time and only discovered, not developed, by technological researchers.

A state prayer retreat for the Arkansas WCG will be held October 3 and 4 at Snow Springs Campground in Hot Springs.