Newsletter for May 22, 2016

The Bearing Fruit

May 22, 2016

Upcoming Events:

June 3-4 – Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale

June 16-19 – CPMC Annual Meeting

Our Church

▪ Offering for 5/15/16: $2,845.27 (regular); $1000 (kitchen pledges paid); $171 (Saturday Kitchen); $100 (carpet fund)

▪ There will be a women’s Bible Study this summer on Monday mornings at 7:30 beginning June 20^th.  They will be studying “Children of the Day” by Beth Moore.  The study comes from 1^st & 2^nd Thessalonians.  If you would like to join, please let Becky Widmer know TODAY so that she can order study guides for all attending.

▪ Remember to save your change (or bills, large and small) for MyCoinsCount, a special offering that we’ll be taking each week between now and the end of May.  This years MyCC project is wells in Lebanon for Lebanese people and Syrian refugees.  Let’s try to beat our congregations’s MyCC total from last year, $816.86!

Iowa MCC Relief Sale

▪ Attention MCC Alumni!  MCC is celebrating you and your service with MCC with a free gift at the Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale.  Just stop by the MCC booth, fill out a sticker, wear it proudly and then go redeem the coupon for a free

Menno Tea drink!  Enjoy the sale, connect with fellows MCC alumni and thank you for your support of MCC!

▪ The Activities Barn is being re-vamped this year!  Rebecca Beachy Miller and Candi Schmieder have been working hard at finding new activities that not only interest children but adults too!  Some of the activities will include story time, craft time (Treasures from Trash), photo booth, duck race, bouncy house, international games and comforter knotting.  We need your help!

      Here is a list of item needed for the crafts:

                Plastic Grocery Bags

                Tin Cans – labels removed & cleaned

                Plastic Pop Bottles – 20/24oz, 1/2L, labels removed & cleaned

                Yarn – any kind/any color

        You can bring these items to church

We will need people to work shifts.  Middle-schoolers and up can help fun activities.  If you are interested in helping, please contact Rebecca Beachy Miller.  You can also visit the Relief Sale website at http://www.iamccrelief sale.org/volunteering.html and sign up through SignUpGenius.  Thank you for your support!

▪ We still need many helping hands at the Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale to spread peace and relief around the world through MCC.  Go to iamccreliefsale.org/volunteering and click on the sign up button to see the volunteer opportunities.  Your support enables our sale to raise funds for Mennonite Central Committee’s global mission of relief, development and peace-building in the name of Christ. 

Iowa Mennonite School

▪ IMS’s Spring Music Concert will take place this afternoon at 3:00pm in the school’s Celebration Hall.  The concert will feature both choirs, the Chamber Singers, Symphonic Band, showcasing a variety of music.  All are under the directions of Josh Tyson; admission is free, with a free-will offering at intermission.

▪ IMS’ 69^th annual graduation exercises will take place next weekend in Celebration Hall.  The Baccalaureate service will be at 6pm on Saturday, May 28, and will feature student addresses by Timothy Bender and Jenna Boller, and also an address by Diane Zaerr Brenneman (“Things to Keep & Things to Leave Behind”).  On Sunday, May 29, seventeen seniors will receive their diplomas.  Frank Yoder, 1969 IMS graduate and author of Opening a Window to the World, will deliver the keynote address entitled “Becoming an Adult.”  All are invited to attend the Commencement ceremony, also at 6pm. 

Central Plains Conference

▪ The Sower Prayer Request:  Pray for God’s healing, for courage and strength for Conference Minister Tim Detweiler as he fights cancer.  This week will be the fourth week off five weeks of radiation treatments.

Mennonite Agencies

▪ Crowded Closet Thrift Shop is having a Founder’s Tea for those staff and volunteers from 1978-1988, the first decade of Crowded Closet, on June 9^th, 10am at Pleasantview Home in Kalona.  For more information see the flier on the bulletin board by the mailboxes in the foyer.

▪ For an update on the earthquake situation in Ecuador see a letter on the bulletin board by the mailboxes in the foyer.

  

▪ Youth Venture is still accepting applications for the July 15-25 Los Angeles team!  Partner with Mountain View Mennonite Church and ReconciliAsian as they minister to their community through vacation Bible school, a peace center, and other various services.  Ages 14-22 can apply by June 15 at MennoniteMission.net/Serve, or email ArloaB @MennoniteMission.net for inquiries. 

▪ Mennonite Voluntary Service is accepting application for the 2016-2017 year!  Opportunities to serve and live in community with others are still open in a variety of placements and locations, including teaching in Puerto Rico.  Ages 20+ can apply at MennoniteMission.net/Serve, or email NeilR@MennoniteMission.net for inquiries.

▪ MC USA Announcement:  Spread the Peace grant stories.  Check out this blog series highlighting stories from congregations across MC USA who received Spread the Peace grants in 2015 from the Peace and Justice Support Network (PJSN – a partnership of MMN and MC USA).  Each of these congregations is working creatively to spread peace in their community.  Mennoniteusa.org/tag/spread-the-peace

▪ Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request:  The Bolivia Mennonite Church is beginning the implementation of a five-year plan to increase the impact of their ministry.  Pray for them as they find new energy to reach their communities with Jesus’ love.  Pray also for MMN as they partner with brothers and sisters in Bolivia.