Newsletter for January 8, 2017

The Bearing Fruit

January 8, 2017

WMC Upcoming Events Sunday Jan 8th                   Monday Jan 9th Tuesday Jan 10th                      Wednesday Jan 11t Thursday Jan 12t Friday Jan 13th Saturday Jan 14th ▪ Centro Cristiano (2:30pm) ▪ MYF (5:00pm, at Amy’s) ▪ Ballet Class (3:30pm) ▪ Centro Cristiano (7pm) Birthday -       ▪ Sandy Buhrow Birthday -       ▪ Trevor Leyden Future Events ▪ Jan 8     –  MYF (5:00pm, at Amy’s) ▪ Jan 29   –  Service and Fellowship Evening (5:00pm, Fellowship Hall) ▪ Feb 6-Mar 10 – WMC Responsible for Meals on Wheels ▪ Feb 18  –  Saturday Kitchen (UP Church)

Washington Mennonite

▪ Offering for 1/1/17:  $1587 (regular); $20 (kitchen pledge)

▪ Family Photos -- Many of you have already had your picture taken for the bulletin board, if you have not, or if you'd like a picture retake, see Megan or Andrea after church the next few Sundays. We want a picture of EVERYONE for our wall! 

▪ January 29, 2017--5:00pm -- Washington Mennonite Service and Fellowship Evening — Join your church family on January 29 for a night filled with soup, finger foods, service, and fun! Like last year, we will do a variety of projects together including packing Valentine boxes for our college students, put together MCC kits (list coming soon), knot a comforter or two, and make Valentines!

▪ January 2017 -- College Student Boxes— Let's show our college students that we care! Bring trinkets, cards, non-perishable foods, etc. to send to our college students for Valentine's Day. Items are being collected in the colorful gift bags in the foyer labeled Jacayla, Tanner, and Justin

▪ If you’d like to sign-up to be a greeter for a month on Sunday mornings, see the sign-up sheet in the foyer or talk to Shelly Bruegge.

▪ “I would like to thank each of you for your prayers and kind words for my Grand-Daughter Megan. She is doing well, and works daily to gain strength and get ready for her next surgery. She maintains her great sense of humor, which helps all of us so much, especially Grandma.  She has no infection and is on a good diet plan, and is taking less insulin than she has in some time.  Thanks again for all your prayers and kind words of encouragement.”  - Lea

▪ On Saturday December 31^st New Year’s Eve day members from Washington Mennonite Church prepared and served a hot meal at the United Presbyterian Church Saturday Kitchen.  We served fifty one plates and made twenty two carry outs.  The number of persons served was lower than usual but the holiday weekend was probably a factor in the low count.  Guests enjoyed the New Year’s decorations at each table and also the frosted sugar cookies which made the dinner more festive.  Thank you to each person who helped with Saturday Kitchen whether it was preparing the meal, serving, decorating tables, welcoming the guests, doing dishes or donating food.  Our next Saturday Kitchen will be on Saturday February 18^th and that will be valentine week so we will look forward to celebrating valentine memories with the guests.  - Gloria Widmer, Sandy Buhrow and Phyllis Litwiller

Crooked Creek Christian Camp

▪ Make a Splash with Coins for Camp throughout the month of January with funds going towards pool upgrades. The first $1,500 is being matched $1 for $1. 

▪ THIS weekend is WinterFest January 13-15. Please sign up as soon as possible. Call the camp office with any questions.

Iowa Mennonite School

▪ THANK YOU As we begin 2017, IMS would like to thank you for your continued support. It costs over $10,500 to educate a child, something that tuition alone does not cover. It is the faithful giving of our community that allows us to continue serving our students. We are thankful to those that choose to include IMS in their giving plans, your generosity is truly appreciated. And we look forward to having many more partner with us as we make the future of IMS bright.

▪ Basketball Scrimmage - January 10 4th-6th grade girls can participate in basketball scrimmages during halftimes of our girls and boys varsity games. The girls halftime usually starts around 6:30PM.  Please contact the school office with any questions.

▪ Visit Day - January 16 8th grade and transfer students are invited to visit IMS for the day. You will get the chance to shadow a student, attend chapel, eat lunch and meet faculty and staff. This day will have a different format than the fall visit day so please come join us again and bring some friends. Parents are invited for a short time in the morning to have coffee with our administrative team and get your questions answered. For more information and to register to attend go to: www.iowamennonite.org/visit.

SundaySu

Central Plains Conference

▪ Central Plains Mennonite Conference Prayer Request: Please pray for God's guidance for the Pastoral Leadership Committee as they meet Saturday, January 14. Also, on this first Tuesday of the month, you are invited to fast and pray that God would make a way for the Max and Gloria Villatoro Family to be reunited.

Mennonite Agencies

▪ Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) Prayer Request:  Akiko Aratani and Ray Epp, long-term associates with Mennonite Mission Network in Japan, have asked SOOP for help at Menno Village, an agricultural initiative of Mennonite churches in Hokkaido. Pray for volunteers to help with building projects and with farm work while enjoying cultural experiences.

▪ Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) Prayer Request: Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana
Students in hybrid classes at AMBS are meeting on campus in Elkhart, Indiana, this coming week for the face-to-face portion of their classes. Give thanks for the relationships that are developing among students on campus, students from a distance and seminary faculty and staff members. Pray that God’s Spirit would guide them as they engage the Bible together.

Area Announcements

▪ With a new year comes new opportunities to volunteer at Ten Thousand Villages in Iowa City. With the store now being a successful permanent store, volunteers are needed to help assist customers every day. Contact Cassidy at iowacity(at)tenthousandvillages.com or 319519.2104 if you can help occasionally or on a regular basis. Your volunteer spirit provides a livelihood for artisans in 38 countries. Take a shopping trip to the Village store at 105 S Dubuque St, Iowa City.

▪ Help us celebrate 40 years of Marlin Miller’s service to the community as your family pharmacist at Miller’s Medicine Cabinet. There will be an open house at Kalona Mennonite Church on Sunday afternoon, January 8, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Customers, patients, friends and family are all welcome.

~The Miller Family

▪ Community Blood Drive   taking place Monday, January 9^th  from 2:30 – 7:30 pm at Kalona Mennonite Church in the Fellowship Hall. To donate contact Ed Yoder at 319-656-2283 or visit www.bloodcenterimpact.org.  

▪ J-POG (Just Peace Outreach Group) invites you to hear Sandra Stevens describe her work as an advocate for human rights in Iraqi-Kurdistan.  Sandra has returned from over a year in Kurdistan including the time when ISIS captured Mosul.  Join us on Sunday evening, January 15, 2017 at East Union Mennonite Church, 5615 Gable Avenue, Kalona, IA at 6:00 p.m. for a finger-foods potluck and conversation (please bring your own table service) or at 7 pm for Sandra's presentation and discussion.  For more information call Roger Farmer at 319.653.2547 or email Jane Yoder-Short at wilmajane17(at)gmail.com. 

▪ Plan to come to West Union Mennonite for the MYF Potato Bar Sunday, January 15. The funds raised support our youth as they participate in the Mennonite Church USA Convention, to be held July 4-8, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.