The Olive Branch
Hyde Park Mennonite Fellowship Newsletter
December 2007 Edition
Leadership Team Report
Summary Report
Issues that LT has discussed
over the past month include:
·
Directory LT has
collected several interest sheets and information is being entered so the
update can be created.
·
Gift Discernment
Process LT
spent time discussing the process for encouraging persons to serve on
committees and in various positions in the church. A sign-up/check-off list was
placed on the back counter for persons to add and change how they would like to
serve.
·
Youth Group &
Sunday School The
new approach with the teens Sunday School seems to be going well. We are
looking for another space for the youth to meet for Sunday School. Future
discussions will include the age group to be included in the youth group.
·
Sanctuary/Homeless
Shelter LT met with persons from the Sanctuary and from
Corpus Christi to discuss their needs. Ernie has been in touch with the
Sanctuary volunteers as to how the church can continue to support them and
volunteer.
·
Adult Education DC will select a book to study and notify the
congregation. Linda is preparing a draft letter to the editor that the Adult Ed
group has initiated.
·
New Janitor A new janitor was hired and seems to be working
out very well. She cleans the church on Saturday mornings. Thank you to Vashti
for the referral.
·
Lindas Sabbatical - Linda
has accumulated 5 months for sabbatical time. LT is in discussion with Linda
about what is best for the congregation and for Linda.
·
PNMC Local Committee Two volunteers are needed from Hyde Park to
serve on the local arrangements committee for hosting PNMC annual meetings next
June.
·
Nominations for
Leadership Team - These will be postponed until Spring to
avoid confusion in the gift discernment process happening now. DC and Charlie
have agreed to extend their service until spring.
Next LT meetings:
Dec 3 and 17, 5:30 PM
Leadership Team DC Whitenack, Charlie Honsinger, Ernie Bachman,
Joyce Bowman, Linda Nafziger-Meiser
December
Birthdays
9 Jaydn Summervill
10 Lee Honsinger
12 Will Hatab
16 Frieda Nafziger-Meiser
16 Brenda Yoder
20 Gregg Lewis
25 Ellen Mering
2nd Sunday Soup December 9
Host Joyce
Bowman
Vegetables Mary
Whitenack
Bread Joyce
Bowman
Cleanup Everyone
Christmas Crafts Day
December 9
Christmas crafts day is scheduled for December 9th
after 2nd Sunday Soup meal. We'll be making things to send to Puerto
Asis and things to decorate our worship space for Advent.
Please save and bring in the following
items:
For ornaments
for Puerto Asis and for your home:
* Juice lids
and bottoms from concentrates.
* Pictures that
would fit (school picture, pet
picture, nice
pretty picture)
For luminaries to go in the windows at
church:
* Cans (8 oz like
tomato sauce)
For luminaries to decorate your own home with:
*
Cans of whatever size you'd like.
Bring them in ahead of time so they can be
filled with water & frozen.
Christmas
Eve Service Dec. 24, 6:30 PM
Our annual
candle light Christmas service will be held on Monday here at the church.
Planning Ahead
.
Quilt Meeting with
Pauline Aguilar
Wednesday, February
13, 2008
6:30 PM 9:00 PM
Plan now to meet with
Pauline from West Coast Mennonite Central Committee as we prepare quilts and
items for the Idaho relief sale in May.
Winter Camp
February 22-24
Plan now to attend the
Winter Camp at Camp Ida-Haven. This is a fun event for the whole family. More
details to come.
Next Idaho Relief Sale
May 17, 2008
The relief sale board
is already in full swing planning for the next relief sale. It will be held on
the campus at Northwest Nazarene University at the Johnson Sports Center. The
board has changed its name to Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival to better
communicate our mission to the public.
Items needed: crocheted pot scrubbers. These sell well at the sale. If you know
how to make them and have a pattern and where to find the material, please let
Terri Oesch know.
Also we
are soliciting funds ($10 - $20) from each
family in the sponsoring churches to build up a fund that will pay for
our expenses each year. Our goal is to have all the money from the day of the
sale be given to MCC. Right now we need to retain money from the sale proceeds
in order to pay for expenses for the next year. We welcome your contributions
of cash or checks (payable to Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale) which can be given
to Terri or Craig Oesch. Note that this contribution is independent of other
contributions that you may give.
PNMC Annual Meetings
June 22-24
Hyde Park, Evergreen
Heights, and Emmaus churches will be hosting the annual meetings of Pacific
Northwest Mennonite Conference on June 27-29. The meetings will be held on the
campus of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa and will include activities
for the whole family. Nelson Kraybill, present of Associated Mennonite Biblical
Seminary, is the guest speaker. See attached flyer for more information.
Mennonite World Conference
July 14-19, 2009 in
Asuncion, Paraguay
The next Mennonite World Conference
will be held in Asuncion, Paraguay. It will include Assembly Gathered, Global
Youth Summit, Global Church Village, tours, and special activities for children
and youth. Assembly Gathered will be held in a Pentecostal facility that is
being built to accommodate 10,000 persons. Each day will include worship, songs
from around the world, prayer, Bible study, eating together, playing, and
visiting. There are about 32,000 baptized Mennonites in Paraguay. Registration
forms will be available April 2008. For those from North America, it is
estimated that $2,500 - $3,000 will cover the costs of travel, registration,
food, lodging, and some local touring. For more information you can go to their
website at www.mwc-cmm.org. Flyer is also
attached.
Tracking
Volunteers at the Church
Please record
your name and hours whenever you volunteer at the church. There is a log on the
back door of the sanctuary as well as in the kitchen. Thank you for your help
with this.
Treasure Valley Youth Group
Happenings Mark Your Calendar
All youth are invited to attend and participate in
the upcoming events. Terri & Craig Oesch provide leadership and input for
these meetings.
December 5, 7
PM Cookie
Decorating Event at the church. Cookies will be sold as a youth fundraiser.
December 12,
7 PM Youth
Christmas Party at the Bachmans. Everyone is asked to bring a small gift to
share for the gift exchange.
January (date
TBD) Quilt
tying to prepare a quilt for the Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival.
Quotes to Ponder
from November Worship
May we look upon our treasure,
the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try to discover whether the
seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions. John
Woolman (1774; Quaker activist and thinker who refused to wear dyed
clothing because the dyes were made
with slave labor)
I believe that God will give us all the strength we need
to help us to resist in all times of distress. But we are never given this in
advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on God alone. Dietrich Bonheoffer
I thank you God for this most
amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream
of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is
yes. E.E.
Cummings
You will find something more in woods than in books.
Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters
[school teachers]. St. Bernard
When will our consciences grow
so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?
--Eleanor
Roosevelt
Budget/Giving
Report
For
Fiscal Year End 9/30/07
Last
Year Previous
Year
10/1/06
9/30/07............ 10/1/05
9/30/06
Actual
Giving for General Fund............ $98,726.63.......................... $93,422.55
Average weekly
giving .......................... $1,898.59............................ $1,796.59
Percentage income
achieved YTD toward approved giving budget... 114.79%
Percentage of budget year completed YTD........................................ 100%
For this Fiscal
Year Beginning 10/1/07 9/30/08
This
Year Last
Year
10/1/07
11/30/07.......... 10/1/06
11/30/06
Actual
Giving for General Fund............ $14,396.50.......................... $14,488.02
Average weekly
giving .......................... $1,799.56............................ $1,609.78
Percentage income
achieved YTD toward approved giving budget... 15.63%
Percentage of budget year completed YTD........................................ 15.38%
Special
Giving for Monthly Mission Focus
November Ten Thousand Villages.................................................................... $400
December Zambia Project................................................................................ $1,340
January Pacific Northwest Mennonite
Conference....................................... $400
February Corpus Christi House...................................................................... $750
March Columbia Sister Church,
Justapaz................................................... $1,725
April Youth Fund..................................................................................... $863
May Mennonite Church USA.................................................................. $75
June Congregant Emergency Fund.......................................................... $150
July Mission Travel Fund....................................................................... $450
August Corpus Christi House,
$100
TOTAL............. $625
Sister Church,
$500, Mission Travel $25
September Mennonite Central Committee........................................................ $150
TOTAL
SPECIAL MISSIONS GIVING FOR 2006-07.......................................... $6,928
October
2007 Zambia Tuition Assistance............................................................. $90
November
Ten Thousand Villages.................................................................... $175
December Sister Church
Colombia Sister Church Mission Project
December is our month to specifically
learn about, pray for, and support our Sister Church in Colombia. This last
year we had the privilege of having Jeanet and Angel visit Boise for a couple
weeks. It was a great opportunity for many of us to meet them face-to-face for the first time.
Jeanet and Angel and
the Church of God in Puerto Asis have a ministry for children who have lost
parents to the violence in Colombia.
This ministry is called the Arms of Mercy Foundation. There have been difficulties over the years
in finding a suitable and secure long-term location for the Foundation. In response, the Church has begun
construction of a new facility. Labor
is donated, but money is needed
to buy materials. This month's donation for our Sister Church will be to help buy
materials for the construction of the new building and provide other supplies
or services needed to re-locate the Foundation.
Your help is greatly appreciated. Also, please pray for the success of the
Foundation, the safety and well being of the children, and the health and
energy of the Foundation staff.
Children
at
Arms
of Mercy
Foundation
Puerto
Asis, Columbia
Angel
carrying children on his motorcycle
Caregiver
in the Arms of Mercy Foundation
Church Calendar
December 3.............. Leadership Team meeting,
5:30 PM
December 9.............. 2nd Sunday Soup
Christmas
Crafts in the afternoon
December 17............ Leadership Team meeting,
5:30 PM
December 24............ Christmas Eve Candlelight
Service, 6:30 7:30 PM
Recipe Sharing If you have a favorite
recipe you would like to share, please share it with Kathy to include in a
future issue of the Olive Branch.
Below is a recipe
from Beth Landis, found in Light & Tasty magazine (Dec/Jan 2007
issue)
Sweet Potato Crisp
4 medium sweet
potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cubed (or 1 29 oz can of yams)
1 pkg 8 oz fat
free cream cheese (4 oz is pretty good too)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 medium apples,
peeled, and quartered
1 c fresh or
frozen cranberries (or 1 c of cranberry gel with whole cranberries from can)
1/2 c all purpose
flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/2 c quick
cooking oats
1/2 c packed brown
sugar (or Splenda brown sugar)
3 tbsp cold butter
1/4 c chopped
pecans
In a large mixing
bowl, beat the sweet potatoes, cream cheese and cinnamon until smooth.
Spread evenly into an 11 X 7 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking
spray. Place apples and cranberries in a food processor; cover and
process until chopped. Spread over the sweet potato mixture.
In a small bowl,
combine the flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture
resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over
filling. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes or until topping is
golden brown and fruit is tender.
Heat leftovers in
microwave before serving.
