First Day of Water Instalation

Today Ed, Steve, and Zach worked on the hookup to the building.  They are getting ready for the heavy work tomorrow.  You can see pics right HERE.

Water installation for FREE

Great news yesterday.  The company that was going to give us a bid on installing water came in with a bid of NOTHING.  They said they could do it PRO BONO if we waited until November 1, after their paid work was done for the year.  That's like getting a $30,00 to $50,000 check for us and can free up more funds for electrical and mechanical.  Great news. And greatly to be praised is our God.

World Communion Sunday -- October 4th, 2009

Information from UMCGIVING.ORG

Purpose

• “World Communion Sunday calls the Church to be the catholic inclusive church.” (Par. 263.3, The Book of Discipline 2008)
• Gifts provide college scholarships for racial- and ethnic-minority students in the United States and for international students.

History

In 1940 the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America established World-wide Communion Sunday—originally a Presbyterian observance—as a global, interdenominational event. Prompted by the impact of World War II, the Methodist Church received an offering on this Sunday for the Fellowship of Suffering and Service. It aided the work of the Methodist Committee on Overseas Relief (now the United Methodist Committee on Relief), the Commission on Chaplains and the Commission on Camp Activities. In 1971, The United Methodist Church changed the name of the observance to World Communion Sunday and redistributed the offering to support the Crusade Scholarship Program (begun in 1944), the Ethnic Minority Scholarship Program and the Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries. In 1980, Chaplains and Related Ministries was moved to World Service funding, but the World Communion Sunday offering continued to assist racial- and ethnic-minority persons pursuing various avenues of ministry. The 2008 General Conference changed the name of Crusade Scholars to World Communion Scholars.

Recipients

• World Communion Scholarships, related to the General Board of Global Ministries—50 percent of the offering. These are for international and U.S. (racial- and ethnic-minority) graduate students. At least half of the annual amount goes to ministries beyond the United States.
• Ethnic Scholarship Program, affiliated with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) —35 percent. This benefits undergraduate students.
• Ethnic In-Service Training Program, GBHEM. Racial– and ethnic–minority persons seeking second careers in church-related vocations receive these scholarships.

Receipts

The 2008 offering totaled $1,028,865, an average only 13 cents per U.S. member.

Day of Service -- About 90 hours of community service

On Sunday, September 20th we had another DAY OF SERVICE where we didn't have a worship service but did service projects around town.  See all the pictures here.  Here's what we did...

• Baked cookies
• Distributed cookies
• Painted cubbies at Little Bears Playhouse
• Painted a bathroom and a work room at Challenge Alaska and scraped their deck
• Collected and cut wood to distribute to a family in need
• Provided childcare for the children of our workers
• Played Scrabble with a shut-in from our church.

All in all, we put in about 90 hours of community service and our work seemed to be greatly appreciated by those whose lives we touched.  It is hoped and prayed that persons in our community were able to see the love of God in what we did.  "Little things, done with great love, can change the world."

Painters of the World, Unite!

Or...at least get your painting gear together and "unite" with one another on Sunday to paint at Little Bears Playhouse and at Challenge Alaska.  Little Bears Playhouse has two cubbies that need painting.  We primed them in April weren't able to put the paint on them because of a lack of time.  However, we should be able to get to them this Sunday.  It's a job that will take 3 or four people just a an hour or two.  Having a paint sprayer would definitely help.

We'll also be painting over at Challenge Alaska.  If the weather holds we'll be able to paint their deck.  Regardless of the weather, we have a couple of bathrooms that need painting and we'll be able to get to.

So, why are we doing this?  Here's another Scripture verse for you.  It's Galatians 5:13-14 (NLT).

 ¹³ For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. ¹⁴ For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”