new danville newsletter - New Danville Mennonite Church

NEW DANVILLE NEWSLETTER
New Danville Mennonite Church, Volume 27 - Issue 8, August 2013
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Sewing Circle
Lois Garber
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Five women met on Wednesday, July 3 and completed
seven comforters. We learned we are not too set in our
ways to do something different. Mim Leaman suggested
we knot comforters along the length rather than width as
we have done all these years. Therefore we did not need
to roll as often. We are not rolling on the floor but rolling
the comforter!! Join us on the first Wednesday of the
month and see the rolling procedure.
We All Have A Story
By Christa Mylin
My first experience with the larger Mennonite Church was at the 2013 Mennonite Church USA (MC USA)
convention in Phoenix, Arizona during the first week of July. Here are some highlights and insights from my
time in Phoenix:
1. Worship - It was a beautiful experience to have musicians from all over the United States, of various
musical preferences, ethnic backgrounds and church experiences. They sang an array of songs, leading us
in a cappella hymns and acoustic choruses and bilingual rock songs. Thank God for the diversity of
musical creativity and gifts.
2. Seminars — Though I did not get to attend many seminars because I was involved in delegate sessions
several hours a day, I did especially enjoy a seminar on biblical storytelling. The presenters shared stories
from the Bible from memory and then we discussed the texts. Instead of teaching us how to "memorize"
the scripture, they focused on "internalizing" the text. Rote memorization of scripture will hold no
meaning for our lives, but internalizing the text and making it part of our daily way of life will not only
help us remember the scripture, but will also change our lives.
Mealtimes - Though I am a decided introvert and prefer quiet times to myself for refreshment (which I
had), I also enjoy meeting new people. Sitting at a table with a few strangers gave me a chance to make
new friends, to share a little about myself and to hear stories of other people's lives and church situations.
4. BorderLinks Trip — This was an additional learning experience offered by MC USA. Since we were so
close to the Arizona/Mexico border and we were focusing on immigration, the convention planners
offered learning tours through a local organization known as BorderLinks. I had the opportunity to travel
into Mexico and hear stories of how US policies affect the people in the border towns. We prayed
together and sang together. I also met a retired Arizona couple who spends hours each week trying to
clean up the desert and searching for dehydrated migrants so that they don't die in the desert. Other people
in different groups spent time with deported migrant workers, many of whom came from countries further
south in Central America. They talked with US lawyers, Border Patrol officers and many others. It was
an eye-opening experience that helped me realize that all of us living in the United States have different
stories. We all came to this country for different reasons, at different times and in different ways, but we
all are or were immigrants at some point. Therefore, it is important to try to understand each other now
and to remember that no matter our nationality, we are all citizens of God's kingdom.
Thank you for allowing me to represent the New Danville Mennonite congregation at the 2013 MC USA
convention. It was a pleasure to be able to learn so much from others and a privilege to share about our
congregation with them. I made sure that your voice was heard, and I hope that, through me, you have heard
the voices of those I met. Thank you.
page 1
Bits and
Pieces
• Victoria Brody is the
cover artist for this
month's newsletter.
• Larry and Janet Hess
recently had a two-week
trip to Alaska.
• Ken and Mary Catherine
Bowman, Janice Charles,
Jay Garber, and Larry
Hess were volunteers at
Millersville International
House to do corn for
freezing.
^TH-p'&fr'ug^' /K?«
o^T —
SLAVERY:
FOR OR AGAINST?
Something intrinsically unique about the Bible is its ability to
lay out the ideals that God wants for his world and yet at the
same time show how to live despite the fact that the ideal is
not a current reality. Case in point, read the following passage
from First Timothy chapter six:
All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their
masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our
teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing
masters should not show them disrespect just because they are
fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better
because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and
are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.
At first glance you may get the impression that the Bible
condones slavery. This is far from the truth. The Bible clearly
values people as equal:
Prayer
Quotes
Martha Thomas
"PRAYER isn't a time to
give orders, but to report
for duty."
(Daily Bread)
"PRAY without ceasing.
If we seek God in the
minutes, we shall find
Him in the hours."
(Daily Bread)
PRAYER is not
accomplishment but
relationship, one of
intimacy, and trust
between the Creator and
the children of the
earth."
(S.S. lesson)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
What Paul does in his letter to Timothy is give instructions to
Christians on how to live regardless of the situation that they
are experiencing. What good would it be to give advice for
living in a Utopian world that does not exist? Rather Paul
gives us instructions on how to conduct ourselves to be like
Christ in the midst of an imperfect world. This is what makes
the Bible so valuable for daily living. Its truths can be applied
to any situation or circumstance because while God has
promised us a Utopia in the future (heaven), what he is looking
for on this earth is a changed heart, not necessarily a changed
circumstance. This present world will never be perfect. The
Bible is clear on that. What will change is the hearts of those
who discover their Creator through Christ, and rise, not always
above their circumstances, but through them, growing
character in line with their savior.
Your situation may not be perfect, but your attitude can be.
Get in touch with your God and live in a way that is not reliant
on circumstances. When you do this, you'll truly understand
what faith is all about.
-Pastor Robert Brody
page 2
A Day with Carl Hess
6:00 am. The alarm goes off, awakening me to a new day. Today is Wednesday so I get ready for work
right away as I go in to work at the Lancaster Mennonite Conference office early. I pick up the morning
newspaper from the driveway (yep, it is still warm and muggy outside) and flip through the headlines as I
eat breakfast. Nancy does not have to go in to work 'till 8 so I say good-bye to her as a wakeup alarm.
7:00 am. No one else is at work yet, but that is the plan. Although my official title is Financial
Administrator, I also take care of the office computer network and other office machines. I check the
computer server for new security updates and reboot it. Since this process takes everyone offline it goes
better when no one else is in. Most weeks everything is back up in fifteen minutes. Occasionally though,
it can take an hour or more, but that usually is only once every couple of months when every company
decides to provide updates at the same time. Last week when I opened my office door I was greeted with
a beeping sound from the server. That always means trouble.
A quick check showed that a hard drive had chosen this time to die. Ten years ago that would have meant
several days of return to paper and pen as the hard drive was replaced and the programs all reinstalled.
Now it was barely a hiccup as the second drive (an exact image of the dead one) automatically took over
and kept everything going. Some advances in technology are truly useful.
8:00 am. The office lights up as the other staff arrive for work. This week the other staff are Laura
Livengood and Brinton Rutherford. Keith Weaver, Joanne Dietzel and Jon Heinly are at the MC USA
Convention. James Martin is on vacation. The office Xerox printers need a monthly report sent in to
Xerox on the 4th. That is a holiday so I give a quick check on the print totals. I decide to do it one day
early rather than one day late. With so many out of the office this week it is a good time to do updates to
their desk workstation computers
11:00 am. Five computers are now updated. Mine was one of those so now I get to other work as the
other work computers will have to be done when their user is not in the office. I received the minutes
from the secretary of the Conference Finance Committee and review them before sending them out to the
committee members. Closing out the finances for June and completing and distributing the monthly
financial reports uses up the rest of the morning.
12:45 pm. Lunch time. I have a packed lunch and read some of the day's newspaper as I eat. When it is
not so hot I usually finish the hour with a walk outside. On hot days like this the newspaper gets a more
thorough reading.
2:00 pm. Brinton brings a problem with Conference Facebook page not displaying the news feed
properly on our website. I spent some time searching Facebook and Google to see if this was a new
unannounced change by Facebook that we needed to adapt to. I did not find anything to correct the
problem but set it aside to come back to after the 4thof July.
3:00 pm. The rest of the day 1 spend entering data into the new access program to make it easier for the
staff contacting churches to have up-to-date information they could easily access.
5:00 pm. I head home and after a quick change mow the yard. With lots of rain the grass grows very well
even in !hot! weather. A cool shower feels good before supper.
6:30 pm. I eat supper with Nancy followed by a three-mile walk along the Mill Creek in the relative cool
of the evening. We get to watch the sunset as we near home again.
10:30 pm. Lights out.
page 3
FRASER VALLEY GLEANERS-Saving Throw-Aways to Feed the Hungry
Submitted by Lowell and Lois Shank Gerber
What an opportunity we had! We were invited by our friend John Schmid (remember his singing at
NDMC?) to join him on a Sail and Sing cruise to Alaska where he was one of the singers. As we planned
our trip, we asked ourselves if there would be a SOOP experience for us while we are already in the
Northwest. SOOP, Service Opportunities for Older Persons, is a program under Mennonite Mission
Network, of Mennonite Church USA. We checked online for something in British Columbia since Lowell
had pastored there about 25 years ago. We found Fraser Valley Gleaners, Abbotsford, British Columbia.
As we learned more about it, we were so impressed with the work of the gleaners. Forty percent of food
is sent to the landfill because of spots, irregularities or sometimes just excess produce! And we could save
this good food to process into nutritious soup for the hungry. What was better than that?!
So after our Alaska trip, we went to B.C. to Fraser Valley Gleaners (FVG). We spent mornings for two
weeks in June cutting out bad spots from large quantities of peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, etc., visiting with
coworkers as we worked. Forty to eighty volunteers showed up to work daily, retired people and
families, as well as youth groups. One 80 year-old comes five days a week to volunteer. Many people
come one day each week to help. Once a week we helped assemble the dried soup, so we participated in
the entire process from fresh veggies to the final soup mix. It felt like such a worthwhile project! We
wish there would be many more such places to use food that otherwise would be thrown away, to help
feed the hungry. In June FVG sent 1,000,000 meals to North Korea with MCC assisting in the contacts.
In 2012, FVG sent 12 million soup meals to feed the hungry around the world.
Fraser Valley Gleaners Society -was established in 1999 in BC, and was initiated in the Fraser Valley by a
small group of Christian believers who understood the incredible potential for locally-available produce
to produce food for the hungry of the world. The Gleaners take vegetables that would have normally been
wasted and turn them into soup mixes.
May of 2001, a partnership with Mennonite Central Committee of BC was created to help fulfill the
mission of The Gleaners.
As a registered Canadian charity, FVG is both volunteer-run and donor-driven. On a daily basis,
volunteers from many walks of life give of their time and energy to slice, dice, scrape, and mix the
product.
Fresh and frozen vegetable produce and apples are donated by a committed and growing set of produce
partners. FVG operating costs are completely covered by the generous donation of financial partners
made up of individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Volunteers are always welcome to come
and help for a day, a week, or a month.
FVG Soup Mix and FVG Apple Snacks are distributed throughout the developing world. In recent years
their product has made its way to over 40 countries. In order to ensure that each bag of soup mix is
distributed into the hands of those in greatest need, they work with a variety of distribution networks including reputable relief and development agencies, individual missionaries, and short-term outreach
teams. Regardless of the distribution partnership, the process begins with a completed application form
received and approved by FVG. (from Fraser Valley Gleaners' website)
page 4
August 2013
Sunday
4
$£
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Friday
Thursday
1
Saturday
3
2
i
Elvin Harnish
5
6
7
8
10
9
: 10:00-12:00
Toy Library
6:00 Young adult
Bible study meal
11
12
13
7:00 Ministry team
meeting
14
Nancy Hess
15
18
19
20
17
16
7:00 Young adult
Bible study
Christa Mylin
Carl Hess
21
22
23
24
7:00 Young adult
Bible study
7:00 Prayer Meeting
Trent Hess
Magdalena Hess
Daniel Brody
26
25
27
28
7:00 Young adult
Bible study
Ashley Warfel
Jeremiah McCutcheon
29
30
31