Newsletter for March 17, 2019

The Bearing Fruit

March 17, 2019

Upcoming Events:

Mar 20 – Monthly Quilting, 10am

Apr 10  – Council Meeting, 5pm

Apr 24  – Spring Business Meeting, 7pm

Apr 27  – Spring Clean-Up, 9am

Washington Mennonite

▪ Offering for 3/10/19 - Regular offering: $1,916.00

▪ Mid-year Financial Report: Our church fiscal year was half over at the end of February. By this time, our Annual Blueprint donations should have totaled $62,500. However, our offerings have only reached $52955.11. Thank you for your generous donations so that we can continue to meet our financial obligations. Five Sundays in March will help! If you have questions, see Mary Lou Farmer.

▪ Quilters and comforter knotters: Please join us 10 a.m. Wed., March 20 to quilt or knot comforters at church. Lunch will be pizza so bring funds to cover the cost  or something to go with the meal. See you there!

SundaySucCrooked Creek Christian Camp

▪ Summer Camp Date change! Due to the number of snow days, we've shifted our 1st-2nd grade camp to June 14-15.  Registration for summer camp is now open, so make sure to get the early bird rate and sign-up NOW!

▪ Please save the date for our spring cleaning day at camp: April 27.  All are welcome.

▪ Sign-up for Crooked Creek Wild May 4, 2019, our annual Summer Camp Fund fundraiser which raises money for families who may not be able to afford the cost of camp. 

SundaySucIowa Mennonite School

▪ Visit Day/Bring-A-Friend Day | With the weather interfering with our last Visit Day, on March 19 we are combining our Bring-A-Friend Day with an additional Visit Day. If you are in 7th-11th grade, you are invited to attend. You can get more information and register at www.iowamennonite.org/visit

▪ Turkey Steak Supper | The IMS Alumni Association along with the TWP Optimists will host the annual Turkey Steak Supper at IMS on March 23. The menu of turkey, baked potato, salad, dinner roll, and pie & ice cream will be served from 4:30-7:00PM. A freewill donation will be taken at the gate. The IMS proceeds go towards student scholarships. Essentially by supporting this meal you are making IMS more affordable for students in our community! And after the meal, be sure to join Goshen College Art professor, Randy Horst as we celebrate his work in the IMS art gallery.

▪ Vans Needed | IMS is in need of (2) 7-9 passenger vans to use during the upcoming Service And Learning Term (formally Interterm). A receipt for 14 cents per mile driven in service of a charitable organization will be given to the donor.

▪ Peter Pan & Wendy | This spring IMS will be doing a full-scale drama production instead of the Children's Drama. Peter Pan & Wendy will be performed on May 4 & 5. Save the dates and look for tickets to be sold soon. 

Central Plains Conference

▪ Central Plains Mennonite Conference Prayer Request:   Pray for your sister churches in Nebraska: Beemer, Bellwood, Bethesda, First Mennonite of Lincoln, Milford, Salem in Shickley, Wood River, and the Omaha Chin Christian Church (who will be joining CPMC this summer at Annual Meeting).

Mennonite Agencies

▪ Mennonite Mission Network Prayer Request:  Do you know someone aged 15-22 who might benefit from Mennonite Mission Network’s Youth Venture programs in Benin, Indonesia, Japan or Peru? Pray for participants who want to build the global church through relationships with God’s people around the world.

Area Announcements

▪ J-POG (Just Peace Outreach Group) invites you to hear Megan Miller address the topic "Tearing Down Walls" after her participation in a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation to the Mexican border.  Join us at Washington Mennonite Church, 815 E. Polk Street, Washington, Iowa on Sunday, Tonight at 6 pm for a finger food potluck (please bring your own table service) and conversation, or at 7 pm for Megan's presentation.  For more information, contact Roger Farmer at 319-653-2547 or Jane Yoder-Short at wilmajane17@gmail.com. 

▪ Spring meeting of the Crowded Closet Association will be held Monday, March 18, 7 pm, at Crowded Closet (Pepperwood Plaza).  All volunteers and interested persons are invited to attend and learn of the latest happenings at the Closet.

▪  “How do I say that in PA Dutch?”  Mark Louden, a University of Wisconsin Professor of German and Religious studies will speak at the March 18, 7:00 p.m. meeting of the Iowa Mennonite Historical Society. Mark is a fluent speaker of PA Dutch. He regularly helps mediate understandings between PA Dutch and English speaking communities. The meeting will be at Kalona Mennonite Church.

▪ Join Crowded Closet Thrift Shop to dedicate our new shop with an open house and special service. Everyone is welcome Sunday, March 24, 3:00-5:00pm with dedication service at 4:00pm on the retail floor. Enter through Customer Entrance or Volunteer Entrance at new shop, 851 Hwy 6 E, Iowa City. Join us for fellowship, refreshments, shop tours, and celebration! 

▪ The semi-annual bluegrass community hymn sing at St. Michaels in Holbrook (7 miles south of the I-80 Amana exit) will be on Sunday, April 2, 2019, from 2 to 4 pm. Sing along with Kristie and Bob Black, Julie and Paul Roberts, and other fine area musicians. Free admission and song sheets are provided. Everyone is welcome for the full two hours or to come and go as needed.

▪ Bethel Church invites all women to Priscilla Shirer’s Going Beyond Simulcast on April 6, 2019.  The simulcast event begins with doors open at 8:00 AM and ends at 4:30 PM. Lunch and snacks will be included in registration. Registration is NOW OPEN!  You can register here - https://goo.gl/forms/2yFR3D1baNQMO4MT2 or call the church.  If you would like a registration form emailed to you, please send an email to the address below. Registration is FREE BUT REQUIRED and is open through March 31st.  We are offering t-shirts for purchase. These are on the registration form and will be available for pick-up the day of the event for $9.00. To find out more information about attending the Simulcast contact bethel.wayland@gmail.com or call 319.256.8531.

▪ Real Conversation about Migration in Your Community. Iowa Wesleyan University invites you to attend the 2019 Manning Lecture and Migration Forum on Sunday, April 7 at 1:30 pm in the Chapel Auditorium. Rev. Alexia Salvatierra will deliver the keynote address, “Faithful Responses to Migration.” The lecture will be followed by two workshop sessions including presenters from a wide range of groups involved with migration in Iowa: Mount Pleasant Chamber Alliance, the Iowa Department of Human Rights, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Justice for our Neighbors, IowaWINS, and many more! Free and open to the public. For more information joy.lapp@iw.edu or 319-385-6403, www.iw.edu/immigration.

▪Save The Date:  Parkview Home Fundraiser - Saturday, April 27, 2019 at Sugar Creek Mennonite Church, 6:30 PM. To "Continue Parkview Home's Mission." More information to follow soon.