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Announcements
We are blessed we can share our resources with the area's
needy. We can go even further by supporting the next mission
project. First, I want to share some staggering facts: each
year, six million children under the age of five die of hunger;
every twenty seconds someone dies of hunger; every 20 seconds!!
We can help eliminate this problem by participating in a project
with Foods Resource Bank, an interdenominational organization
which has a number of projects aimed at providing food and
funds in the poorest areas around the world. Foods Resource
Bank's goal is to engage the grassroots agricultural community,
along with individuals, churches and urban communities, to
grow solutions to hunger problems in our world. Starting in
mid-April, we will be partnering with Hebron UMC to help feed
the hungry worldwide. How will it work? Hebron UMC will recruit
local farmers to donate land and labor (planting, fertilizing
and harvesting). Chesterton UMC will literally provide "seed"
money. It costs about $300 to seed, fertilize and harvest
one acre. We have made a commitment to "seed" 15 acres - that's
$4500. Is that the end of our participation? No way! Come
harvest time, we are invited to come and celebrate the event
with our partner church - worship, a meal and. combine rides!!
After harvest, FRB takes the grain to the elevators, gets
the cash for it, and here is the best part - USAID, a government
agency, matches dollar-for-dollar the amount raised from the
sale of the crops! Last year Oxford UMC raised $29,000 from
23 acres!! For more information, please visit www.foodsresourcebank.com.
Plans for this fall include a Crop Walk, and you can contact
Phil Burke, as we are sure he will need volunteers. Do you
have a mission idea? Is God calling you in the middle of the
night to serve in some way? Please tell us about it!! The
committee meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month. Your committee
members include Phil and Faye Burke, Cathy and Jim Holsapple,
Joanne Boyer, Catherine Swenson, Paula Swenson,
John and Pam Cosman, Sue Keiser, and Florian
Steciuch..
Soup Kitchen
Jacob's Table continues to serve about 30 guests every Monday,
4:30-6 p.m. This ministry is blessed to have strong leadership
in Cathy Holsapple and Faye Burke, and a large group of volunteers.
They don't just serve a meal — they share God's love
with our guests, making them feel special and loved. Our guests
even celebrate their birthdays with our volunteers!
Transcarpathian
Methodist Churches — Ukraine
The Methodist church in Ukraine continues to prosper. Rev
Sergi Bogamaziuk reports that he continues to have over 100
in attendance every Sunday, at two services. Because of the
soup kitchen they run from the new fellowship hall, several
new cell groups have formed. He sends his warm greetings and
reminds us that we are always in their prayers, and they thankful
for the support of our church. The really big news, well,
two bits of news are - they have purchased a building and
several acres in a town called Perechin, about 25 miles north
of Uzhgorod. This will be the site of another Methodist church.
The cost to remodel and repair the building is $12,000, of
which $3000 has been contributed by the bishop's office of
the Russia/Ukraine region. Perechin is a city of about 30,000
residents. It is a poor town, with alcoholism rampant, and
people looking for an answer to their problems. Pastor Sergi
is heading up the effort to repair the building, making it
ready for the first-year pastor, Volodya Vuksta, which this
church has been supporting through seminary. He finishes seminary
this May, and we believe Perechin will be his first assignment.
If you want to help support this project, just mark "New Ukraine
EMC" on your envelope. We do not have a group traveling to
Ukraine this summer. However, we do not stop our support because
of this. Anyone interested in traveling to Ukraine this summer
can still do so, as a group from North Carolina is going there
late June. For more information please contact Florian Steciuch
at 219.789.0409. The other bit of good news? Rev. Sergi (and
his wife Esther) is making arrangements to come to the USA
this November. They will spend 2-3 weeks in Indiana. We continue
to support Woody Cunningham, a UMC member from South Carolina,
who works closely with Rev Sergi and his ministry to the street
children. Visit www.transcarpathia-emc.org
for more information on the ministry in Ukraine.
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