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ewsletter for this monthFebruary 2004
| WALNUT CREEK
MENNONITE CHURCH 2619 CR 144, Sugarcreek, OH 44681 P. O. Box 182, Walnut Creek, OH 44687 852-2560 |
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Volume XXII No. 2 February 2004 I Corinthians 13:1-8a If I speak in the tongues’ of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing! If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing! Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always, trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails! LOOKING AHEAD Church Activities
UPCOMING EVENTS
Laurelville Activities
Central Christian Activities
Amigo Centre Activities info@amigocentre.org or (269) 651-2811
NOAH PRODUCTION
Thank You's!!!
Dear Friends: We are so thankful for the very generous gift you gave to the building fund of Dayspring Christian Fellowship. May you be blessed as you’ve blessed us by helping us become a lighthouse for Christ. The Building Committee Thank you to all men who came to work on the Habitat for Humanity house. Your kindness was greatly appreciated. My family and I really thank you all for the work! We want to thank our church family for the prayers, cards, gifts, calls, and visits while Raymond was in the hospital, nursing home, and at home. A special thanks to Ross for his visits and his words of encouragement. God bless each one of you. The beautiful floral arrangement from the church and planter from the Ladies Fellowship class are much appreciated. We received them as lovely tokens of your love and friendship to our family in this time of loss of Alvin. Thanks so much for caring. We ask for your prayers as we move through the days and weeks ahead. We are most grateful to each of you, our church family, for the generous support of cards, calls, visits, food, and prayers during the past illnesses and deaths of sister, Mary Yoder and brother, Alvin Troyer and my recent auto accident. It was hard to experience the wide range of emotions such as these generated, but again, God was with us and carried us along. We thank you for your help! Thank you for your prayers, cards, and to Ross for his visits at the hospital and nursing home. It meant so much to Roy. Also thank you for the beautiful basket of flowers and to the food committee for the delicious meal served at the funeral. Thanks to the MYF for cleaning up our leaves in the fall. Thank you so much for all the effort your congregation has put into making Souper Thursday a success! We appreciate so much the donation of turkeys over the holidays and the paper products (1448 rolls of toilet paper) have also been a huge blessing to the people that come for food. There are several people from your congregation who have come to help on Souper Thursday day and you have been a blessing to work with. May God richly bless you for all you have done! A Word From Dustin
Living in the Light “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV study Bible) When we look to Matthew 5:14-16 we find ourselves directly in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount with Jesus beginning to teach his disciples on the mountainside. By truly letting our light shine, we are telling the story that Christians are supposed to tell. But how do we get to that point? I’ve divided the way we can share our stories into three main ideas First, it is important to know our stories. Now, this doesn’t just mean that we have the important parts of our personal conversion story in place. Along with our personal story we have to concentrate on the Bible and know our history and heritage. If we simply know what concerns us each personally, the story that we tell lacks depth. Frankly, the story of Christ in our lives is much bigger than just us. We must do the work to know our stories better. This can come from many different sources - from family heritage or by simply reading the Bible more. Whatever route we take, we need to always be moving forward. Secondly, we must live our stories. By living our stories I mean that we must back up what we proclaim with our mouth. There is a quote that strikes me particularly when thinking about living out our stories. It is Brennan Manning saying something like this - “the single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who claim it with their lips and deny it with their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Are we living the hymns we sing on Sunday? Are we letting ourselves really be shook up by the words that we read in our devotional? Are we doing our devotional at all? Striving to follow and obey God in every area of our life. It’s the striving for excellence in our lives that matters. People see even when we don’t know we are being watched. Finally, the basic and best part of stories - telling them! Once we have gotten to know our stories and begin to live them out, we should tell our stories with great frequency and excitement. As the Bible text says, do people light a lamp and hide it under a bowl? No! People take out their stories for all to see. One interesting thing I learned from Beau Hummel the other week is that the bowl or bushel (as in some translations) has a significant meaning. This meaning can be found in that these were tools used for work, not only inside the house but outside as well. This verse takes on a new impact for me in that our light is supposed to shine wherever we go, not only in our home life. By telling the story to everyone we meet, people will know that we are Christians. I hope we can all see how important stories are, and can learn from the stories of others as well as our own. One thing I always have to remind myself of is that you learn from listening not talking. Many times I’m not quiet long enough to really hear anything. The same is true for us in our relationship with God. We all need to become better listeners and talk just a little bit less - then our stories and lives will grow. CAMPING WITH THE JR. MYF
Written & submitted by Marilyn Yoder From 2003 - 2004......And now a brand new year! To start it out right, let God come near. There are those who would rather have beer, fireworks and spirits for cheer, but by whose hand do we have another year? Resolve to be joyful, helpful and blessed, Helping your neighbors, strangers, the rest, Being content, thankful, and calm, Resolving to give of your alms. A new year - celebrate this..... The past, present, and future. Make changes where needed, Fears and woes conceded To the all powerful One above. Be glad - a new year! The eraser God provides To give our slate a clean swipe. So give your smiles, yours hands, your feet, To those around you that you meet. If you take these resolutions And make them your own. You’ll have the happiest new year You’ve ever known. Happy New Year to all of you....God bless Marilyn Drew and Mary Ellen Robinson Missionaries in Mongolia Glory to God in the highest - Luke 2:14 - Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace - He has been all of these things and more to us in the past year. Our cabin at the Reforestation site has been completed and we are looking forward to beginning a new work there next spring. Likely we will be up there much of the time from April to October and remain in Uliastai, the provincial capital, during the winter months. We have been in Ulaanbaatar for two months and it has been a nice break for all of us, but we are ready to go back to Uliastai. Drew and myself have had some language study during this time. It is always good to see friends and fellow JCS’ers while in UB. Caleb, Sophie and Leah also have enjoyed their time with other English speaking children. Caleb will be six in January. He has demonstrated sensitivity to spiritual things and has indicated that he would like to have Jesus living in his heart. He is learning to read and is doing well with adding and subtraction. Caleb imitates his daddy in almost all things! His favorite things to do include playing with cars and trucks, crazy 8 cards, legos and ride his “dirt rider” (a glorified tricycle with fat tires) in the dirt. Sophie turned four in October. She is the little lady of the house. She wants to wear a dress every day and loves to talk! When she colors a picture there is usually not much on it because she wants it to say “nice”! Sophie enjoys playing with her dolls, dishes, legos, and riding her tricycle. Leah just turned three in November and is a typical three year old. She has a pleasing personality, works hard to keep up with the other two and is pretty tough! She will play outside for hours with Caleb and come in completely filthy from head to toe! She also does enjoy playing dolls and dishes with Sophie so she is flexible. She loves to be held and to give hugs. When she colors, she scribbles, and the more colors on top of each other, the better! A special thank you to those who write letters and send cards to us personally - they are greatly appreciated. We have lived in Northeast Brazil three years working with the two churches and Jubilee Sunday School material. It feels like a miracle from God that the Jubilee primary quarterlies have been adapted, translated and used in our churches all year. In 2004 we will complete 38 years with Mennonite Missions. We will be in Ohio from July 10 - Nov. 15 then will settle in Brasilia for the next phase called retirement. Betty will continue working with Jubilee SS material. Region III has asked Otis to teach theological courses. Living in Brasilia presents numerous opportunities to hostess, tour guide, and enjoy friends. We will miss the invigorating contact with the MCC team, the two most Anabaptist churches in Brazil and Justice Bridge group as well as the colorful spirit of the Northeastern peoples and beautiful ocean beaches. From More with Less Cookbook (page 130) Meal served Wednesday evening, Jan. 20 Cook 1 cup rice or have ready 3 cups of *leftover rice *rice is best when cooked a day ahead or is leftover Heat 4 Tablespoons cooking oil in large skillet Add: 1/4-1/2 lb. any cooked or raw meat, cut into thin strips (I used canned chicken on Wednesday night) 3 cloves garlic minced (I use garlic powder) 1 large onion, coarsely chopped (can also used minced onion) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1 tsp sugar 1 Tablespoon soy sauce Stir-fry until meat is tender and hot (about 1-2 minutes) Add: 3 cups cooked rice and stir fry 5 minutes longer Add: 1 cup leftover or frozen vegetables such as peas, green beans, or carrots (I used California Blend and brocolli stir fry). Stir well into rice/meat mixture. Just before serving, add: 2 beaten eggs Over medium heat, stir carefully through rice until eggs are cooked.
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