Get Ready to Pack 60,000 meals.!!!

Remember the fun last May 11? 

Phyllis, Dean and Joan may need some quantity control!!!

  

KIDS AGAINST HUNGER  will be back in Fellowship Hall and Tower Chapel to pack 60,000 meals in 10,000 packages placed in 277 boxes each weighing 33 pounds on 9 plus pallets.  
 

This will take place between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm on February 22, 2014.  We only need 300 volunteers for the day.   Sign ups will begin Sunday, January 26 in Fellowship Hall.  Don't miss this amazing opportunity to address hunger in our community, Guatemala and Sierra Leone.   

 

Everyone will have an opportunity to participate that day as we will also be collecting food items to be sorted and bagged for our local food pantry to help feed children who are home on Spring break in March.   Watch for details.    

 

The Mission Focus for the month of January is ECHO.   The focus on world hunger these first two months provides our mission team the opportunity to share some of the important facts that for the most part are not "personal" with us.   We ask that you make it personal...for it is very personal for the families who do not have the luxury of thinking "What do I want to eat this evening?"   Many ask the question, "Is there something to eat this evening?"  ECHO develops plants that grow in poor soil types and share these with subsistence farmers around the world to improve their nutrition and overall product crop production.  I do hope that you have been able to support this ministry through giving to the Mission Focus of the month.   

• 1 in 6 face hungry in America each day.
•  36% of the people served by Feed America had one person in the household employed. 
•  16 million children are living in food in-secure households.  During the school year they get at least one meal per day through the school lunch program.
• 1 in 8 world wide do not have enough daily nutrients.
• Every 10 seconds a child dies of hunger or hunger related disease.

ECHO works to help the hungry families produce enough food for themselves and to sell to others.   KIDS AGAINST HUNGER food packets help to feed families until they have the tools to feed themselves.   Both are needed.   Thanks for your support.  

A bit more about one of our Costa Rican "missionaries"

This is a continuation of the note send earlier.  She's not missed a beat as she re-entered her second home and is now with her second family.  


Today I helped out with the Sunday School conducted by one of our most able students here at UBL, Texia!   She is doing that SS alone now, since our missionary Becky* is no longer here.   How we miss her!  I may just step in there to fill a bit of that need each Sunday morning that I can, then worship  with a congregation that meets on Sunday afternoons here at UBL to have a worship community and praise and Scripture and Word experience too on Sunday mornings.  I'm thinking about this as a new way to "do church" for me this time around.
  I just finished today a translation of an important document from Spanish to English for the UBL Director, an application for scholarship funds for a student this year coming from the jungles of Peru to study here, also to do research among the indigenous of CR in the south of this country...VERY interesting application and project which this UBL as in mind for this year and the near future.
  I am needed much more frequently now to do translations actively with the short term mission groups coming to work here in UBL from the USA churches---also because of Becky's absence here now.  I just love all of that, of course!
  I will be offering a more formalized English class now announced by UBL to all staff, professors, and students each Monday and Wed. 4-5 p.m....free of charge to all, I supply leadership, teaching, and materials!! FUN!  We'll see how many and who will be coming!
  Yes, of course, I'm in the library again, but will also be side-by-side with students who are working on their theses.  In addition, Prof Jose Enrique will be giving me some outstanding theology and Bible articles written and published during the past 10 years by UBL that we will reproduce into English to make them available to Seminaries in USA and Canada.   Love to all, Margie

*Becky Harrell is now the missionary in residence in the Southwest Jurisdiction. She's missed at UBL but she is doing great work back in her home area of Texas.  You may remember Becky has visited our church family several times in the past.   She served as a missionary in Chile near where Lloyd and Margie served in the '60's.  Then Becky was moved to UBL where our mission team in 2010 visited.   Not even then did Margie ever think this was the place for her to serve but after Individual Volunteer training in Nashville, this volunteer opportunity was presented and the rest is history.   Happy volunteering Margie. 

Back in Costa Rica...

Margie has arrived safely in Costa Rica and is already entertaining in the apartment occupied by her and her friend Lois. You will find her in the middle of it all with a big smile.   She writes:

 Here we are in the apartment which I am sharing with Lois, sitting next to me, on our first Friday evening here...having a potluck dinner party with friends in our "UBL family" who are living here near to us from Puerto Rico, Panama,Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru.  Fun and delicious homemade food from these countries.  Love to you all,  Margie

ECHO - Mission offering for January

If you ever get to Fort Myers area of Florida (and who doesn't want to this winter), make time to visit the ECHO farms in North Fort Myers and take a tour of the Global farm and resarch area.   ECHO  empowers small-scale farmers to improve the yield for the land they have.  ECHO develops crops which increase the nutirients in the diet of the family as well as finds methods and equipment that are locally acceptable. 

ECHO helps create technology that is appropriate for the area in which it will be used.   When we visited there in 2010, Gene Albert (an old farmer boy) was very excited about McGuiver type equipment that they were using and perfecting.   Tractors are seldom seen in the countries we visit.  And if there is one, it doesn't work.  Usually the tractor is donated because for the giver, it is the only way to farm.  But as soon as a part fails, the tractor sits in the field as a reminder of a technology that wasn't appropriate for the setting.  

 

Our mission money for January will support the research, training and seed sharing that in the end helps our world make a dent in the number of people affected by hunger.  ECHO has an Indiana Methodist Connection. 

 Dick Dugger, Founding Board Member

ECHO was founded through the vision of Dick Dugger, who established its initial Board of Directors and its original mission. He has remained an active supporter of ECHO. Part of the story of ECHO follows:
Dick Dugger married his wife Jo during their final year of college at Iowa State University. In 1963, after gaining experience at several companies, Dick and a partner started Ristance Corp. , a business which manufactures electrical wire harness assemblies, plastic compounding and wire drawing. Dick and Jo joined a missions work team serving the youth of their church in 1973. On a trip to Haiti, their hearts were opened to the needs of local people. A Haitian minister took them to a mountain site where he wished to build a church. He expressed, “Here I can preach in the morning and the message would be echoed all day.” So, a new mission was born, and its name became ‘Educational Concerns for Haiti Organization’ (ECHO). 

The next door opened as the United Methodist District of Fort Myers offered use of a five-acre piece of property in North Fort Myers with a property lease of one dollar a year. The beginning purpose was for the training of Haitians in hydroponic sea water gardening and referred to as Seaponics. Following, additional doors opened, and Dick and the new ECHO Board were led through a series of events to meet Martin and Bonnie Price. Through their passion, dedication and talents, the Lord has guided this organization to the level of excellence we recognize today as ‘Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization.’

"It is especially gratifying and a blessing to look back on the History of ECHO and see how God has brought together and used the many talents of those who contribute with giving hearts. Board directors, interns, employees, volunteers and donors, all have blended their talents and financial gifts into a cohesive union that touches lives around the World. GOD IS SO GOOD."  (taken from the ECHO website)

 

We all love Heifer International which is working on hunger issues around animals. Incidentally Heifer International was also a vision from an Indiana born and raised  man,Dan West from the Goshen area.   He was not a Methodist but rather a member of the Church of the Brethren and attended Manchester College.    

Well, ECHO is this the plant version of Heifer International.   Please check the information about ECHO that is on the church's website. Thanks for your donation to another wonderful ministry that seeks ways to feed all the people of the world.    

Kids Against Hunger... hold the date

Another packing event is in the works.  Save the date..  February 22, 2014... we plan to have a morning crew and an afternoon crew.    Are you ready to put together 60,000 meals this time?  We'll need more volunteers than last year to reach our goal.  
So..

1. Mark your calendar    KAH   on February 22
2. Watch for details in the bulletin, on the church website, and the weekly e-news.
3. Come on February 22 either in the morning or the afternoon. 
4. Let Bonnie Albert know if you want to be part of the team that "makes it happen".  bonnie@albertmail.com   The team will be meeting several times to get all the ducks in order for another great day of working together.

A New Year- another great opportunity for sharing our blessings

As we enter into a New Year, we have been blessed once again by the beauty of God's creation.   For some the cold and snow are troublesome, for others it is a way of making a living or getting some extra funds for the week.   For me it is a source of awe.   Watching the birds come in and out of the blue spruce and seek food from the remaining berries on the mountain ash trees not to mention the cardinals and blue jays that decorate what is normally very drab trees this time of year.   So this morning I'm thankful for a warm place to be and a view that is breathtaking.

We will be traveling to East Lansing this morning to return two special young women to Michigan State.  We've had a great time.  They are so thankful for the connections they have made with our church family.   Give them another Sunday at church and they will be able to call many by name.

On another note...  Valparaiso 1st UMC has been very generous in giving this year through the Advance particularly on Giving Tuesday.   We had numerous donations made and ones that indicated their church was Valparaiso 1st, donated $1,275 toward Operation Classroom, Mission Guatemala, Latin America Bible University scholarships, Lost and Found Children of Dominican Republic, Loaves and Fishes, Africa University Student Needs fund, and Children of Abraham.

I've spoken to the people in New York several times in recent weeks.   One of the gentlemen indicated that the response to Giving Tuesday was overwhelming.   They had over $500,000 donated in the first 2 minutes of the 24 hour time period.  What a wonderful response for all the ministries under the heading of "ADVANCE SPECIAL" projects.   There were about 850 projects that received funds on this one day.   What a blessing for many!

 

In our new year, we are looking forward to another Kids Against Hunger Packing event.   The date February 22, 2014 is being reserved for our next event.  Please stay tuned for more details.  Margie Miller and Rebecca Rusnak will be heading back to Costa Rica on January 14.  It is quite possible that it is much warmer there than here!!!   The Sager Brown mission team will be departing near the end of January.   The team of volunteers to Midwest Mission Distribution Center are gathering team members  (Contact Mike Strayer if you are interested) for the 7th(?) year in a row.  And a new team of youth and adults are gearing up to go to Kentucky in July to volunteer with Appalachian Service Project.    

 

The National/International Mission team meets the 2nd Monday of each month.  There's always an empty chair for anyone wanting to join the group.   The meetings are exciting, fast paced, and inspiring.  Blessings abound.   2014 here we are.   Ready to serve. 

Thanks ... Such Radical Hospitality

Princess and Chiwimbo enjoy a new warm coat.

Two happy young women...They had just been given a coat ... both found in the dumpster outside Karen's apartment.   She liked the nice container they were in and was retrieving it for her use and noticed inside the container were two coats.   As a regular Shop worker, they for sure were destined for good use.   Karen took them home, washed them, and then had another thought.   With the weather turning colder again, she wondered about Chiwimbo and Princess and what they had to wear this winter in Michigan. 

Karen connected with the girls, they tried them on and both are enjoying a new warm coat for the season.

This is just another example of our radical hospitality that our church has shown these two young women.  The gathering at the Albert home was their first introduction to Valparaiso 1st UMC.  Chiwimbo was so excited to receive Christmas cards and when they also contained "notes" she was breathless.   

On Sunday after 2nd service, Princess received a Christmas card as well plus they were both greeted warmly by all those who came up to them and introduced themselves.   Immediately upon entering the house after church, Princess slipped quietly to her room to open her first Christmas card.   She came hustling out of the room with a big smile as she had received a "note" too.  
The newspaper was spread all over the kitchen table so Gene gave the girls all the sale advertisements.   For the next 30 minutes these girls shopped the newspaper.    Lots of giggling and dreaming.   And much of their dreams was not for themselves but for their family (quite extended).  

So thanks again Valparaiso 1st for extending that hand of hospitality... they loved being a visitor and their new tumbler.  I suspect these are visitors that will return.