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"A friendly and caring church growing with God and community" April 2010 |
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Presbyterian Women in the News The PW Synod Gathering will be June 16-19 at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. The gathering theme will be "The Wonders of God’s Promise." There will be inspiring speakers and leaders - some from South Dakota: Kristi Holler, Sioux Falls singer/songwriter/pianist will be music leader; Phyllis Cole-Dai of Brookings, who went homeless during Lent in Columbus, Ohio and author of the book about this experience "The Emptiness of Our Hands", and Rev. Danelle McKinney of Flandreau will be leading workshops. Greg Mortenson’s mother will speak; Greg is author of "Three Cups of Tea", "Stones into Schools", "Listen to the Wind", and has been instrumental in building over 150 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. PWP Coordinating Team is offering twenty (20) $50 scholarships, available to anyone who would like to attend. Contact PWP Treasurer Janice Hight in writing to request your $50 Synod gathering scholarship. If you want to learn more about the next Horizons Bible study "Revelation" or mission projects, please plan to attend the Synod Gathering. It’s closer, costs less and is less crowded, but can be just as inspirational, as the Churchwide Gathering. I have attended this and found it to be inspirational and motivational. Please consider attending. --Margaret The 2010 PWP Spring Gathering will be Sat., April 24, at First Presbyterian Church in Miller, at 156 W. 1st Ave. Registration is from 9-9:30 a.m.; we’ll conclude about 2:30 p.m. Registration cost is $7 and will include snacks and lunch. Theme for the event will be "God Will Do Wonders Among You," PW’s theme for this triennium. We would like you to share the wonderful things you are doing in your PW. We will also learn about the Presbytery Mission Project, ‘Harvesting Faith,’ that is helping farmers in Africa.
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MOTHER’S DAY PROJECT Healthy Women Healthy Families Mother’s Day Project creates an opportunity to benefit a wide range of health projects for women and children in Africa as well as providing mosquito nets to aid in malaria prevention. Working together, PC(USA)’s International Health & Development office and Presbyterian Women are offering specially-designed Mother’s Day cards in exchange for a donation to the Healthy Women Healthy Families program. The Mother’s Day cards will be available at our church beginning Sunday, April 25, 2010. This is a simple but important mission activity that helps women in Africa care for their children and themselves as we honor our own mothers and other special women in our lives.
Celebrate the Gifts of
Women Sunday Every year a day is set aside to celebrate the many gifts that women have. That day is called Celebrate the Gifts Of Women Sunday and this year it was on March 7th. The day was observed at Oahe by having the women of the church take part in the worship service. Candy read a beautiful poem written by past member Jean Sundet. Jean has gone to be with her Lord but her gift of poetry lives on to awe and inspire those of us who knew her. In place of the choir singing Shirleen Fuggit and Ruth Smith shared their gift of music with us by playing a piano duet. It was a joy to sit and listen to the clear sparkling notes reverberate around the sanctuary in true praise to God. In his sermon Pastor John talked to us about Phoebe and Deborah who were two notable women of the Bible. Both before and through out the service various women from the congregation participated in ushering, taking the offering and willingly doing their part wherever it was needed. Oahe is indeed blessed to have so many talented and gifted women in our congregation. Women who are dedicated and devoted and who are willing to give of their time and talents and share their individual gifts with the rest of us.
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HURRICANE IKE – 18 Months Out I may stop writing about Ike after I finish a two year report in another six months because this hurricane continues to be all consuming. Ike passed through the Peninsula and imprisoned our memories. On this side of the grave, he will always be in our minds. Time may diminish his impact but it will take future generations to get the perspective of history on how our lives and community were affected and changed by his destructive fly-by. Things like houses, roads, and infra-structure are being replaced but the emotional debris is more difficult to remove since there are no landfills for tears, depression, or hopelessness. Ike not only brought the overpowering wind and the mother of all surges but he also left in his wake mental anguish that can’t be fixed like houses and streets. That’s because the inner damage doesn’t congregate where it can be seen. It hides in the crevices of the heart and mind and then on occasion, even when triggered by what seems to be unrelated to the hurricane, makes its presence known with feelings of anger, frustration, melancholy, listlessness, loneliness, separation and fear. Even worse, the psychological damage left in Ike’s swath isn’t covered by insurance – perhaps medical insurance in some cases that pays for counseling. However, most Peninsulians don’t have health insurance just like they didn’t have flood insurance. And, it isn’t in the nature of these residents or most human beings, to seek help with how they feel. They have an inner voice that says, “Buck up! Think positively! You’ll make it.” So, they end up carrying their burdens and muddling through. They fortify themselves, if they can, with positive thinking and remind themselves that they are strong and have survived other hurricanes -- and Ike so far. Some of the emotional wounds are still open. Some who lost everything are being asked by not-so-nice FEMA employees to move out of their trailers, or pay FEMA high priced rent they can’t afford or to buy the FEMA trailers with money they don’t have. That raises the question of when they are asked to leave what will happen if they have nowhere else to go. Others are still at cross purposes with the insurance companies and about 175 others are waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting to see if they qualify for the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), the new HUD money that was supposed to be available a long time ago but is just beginning to appear. These block grants are causing frustration. Everyone was encouraged to sign up but by now everyone knows there isn’t enough money to go around especially when $25 million was taken right off the top for administrative costs to organize and oversee the building of all the homes that qualify. That leaves $74 million for hundreds and hundreds of homes in Galveston County. Waiting for this money is like playing the lottery – from my perspective, the odds are against those who applied. If the average home gets $50,000 from this grant, there would only be money for only 158 homes. Over 175 residents from the Peninsula have applied, and there are hundreds more who applied throughout Galveston County. What if they don’t win the CDBG lottery and their application is rejected, then what? No home will be rebuilt? Sell the lot, eat the loss and never move back? Where do they go if they lived here before Ike and now can’t live here where they still have roots? For some, not qualifying for this grant may be the final blow dealt by Ike. I’ll finish this story in my two year report.
There are hungry people on the
Peninsula. Every Monday they come to the Community Center in
Crystal The driver, A.J., says the people who are in line at Crystal Beach are the most grateful of all the places he delivers. Families often wait in the cold and rain and as a result, it has become a place where the families who need help can gather and visit before the truck arrives. Burdens are shared, new friends emerge, and new acquaintances are found. Several have told me how much they enjoy visiting with people in the same predicament in which they find themselves – hungry, jobless, and for a few, homelessness. One very, positive result of Ike is the coming of the volunteers. Immediately after Ike we experienced the invasion of the teen-agers, college students and church groups who cleaned up the insides of hundreds of homes, maybe thousands. I have heard so many positive reports about them – not only cleaning out the mud and bleaching the mold but also picking up the scattered debris on the ground. A few even prayed with those whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Ike. After the initial onslaught of volunteers, fewer came. There were perhaps three reasons. First, more skilled workers were needed and there just weren’t enough of them available. Second, I think, was that those who suffered loss from Katrina still needed help and volunteers stayed to finish what they began several years before. Thirdly, there has been a shortage of money to fund the restoration of Ike-destroyed homes. Galveston County Restore and Rebuild, an Interfaith Organization, had a couple of million dollars but with the hundreds, probably thousands of homes needing restoration, their monies didn’t go far enough. Churches and their denominations have contributed thousands of dollars, but the totals from all gifts remain far less than that given to restore Katrina’s damage. Work crews bring their skills to help rebuild but not the cash to buy the lumber, wiring, plumbing and paint. They usually pay their own way to the Peninsula and cover the cost of their food and lodging at the Presbyterian Retreat Center in High Island, located at the northeast end of the Peninsula. They don’t come back in the evening to plush beds but settle for army cots after a day of volunteer work. Perhaps the greatest gift the volunteers bring is hope. Hope has its own special power. It is an encouragement just to see them working for us, standing beside us, and praying with us. Volunteers prop up our vision for better outcomes in the future, and by their work, they make our hope a reality. When they come, they are more than carpenters, electricians, plumbers and painters. They are God’s workers.They bring God’s love through their working hands, spoken words, listening ears and loving presence. They give us that needed hand up. They are among the real heroes of our continuing recovery on the Peninsula. My summary above is not the same one the Chamber of Commerce would write – although I am not opposed to what the Chamber sees as recovery. They have a different mission in this mess. I have been a member of Chambers for years all over the country. They all do such an excellent job of promoting their communities. With our local Chamber, I rejoice at the building of new homes, the planning of new developments, the arrival of new businesses, and the planning of our celebrations and festivals which go to the heart of what a community is and becomes. I have one further observation at this 18th month milepost and it may be the most important of all. It is the renovation of at least four damaged churches and the construction of two new church buildings that were completely destroyed by Ike. They symbolize the return of our community’s visual, spiritual foundation. Members across the Peninsula are returning to worship, being baptized, gathering for Bible studies and joining prayer groups. The church buildings are outward symbols pointing us to the great truth that neither individuals nor communities live by bread alone. Ike didn’t teach us that, but his wet and windy presence gave us a very strong reminder.
So, after 18 months, everything isn’t
hunky dory! Among all the work yet to be finished is the mitigation
of the pain and anger that Ike brought. I do know that if we keep
dealing with it, we will be emotionally and spiritually stronger for
going through this deep, dark, valley of water and wind. And if we
make it through the process, something unbelievable will occur. We
will see that many positive things happened because of Ike. That
will be an indicator that we have gone through the worst and there
is light at the end of the hurricane.
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Worship Committee at Oahe The worship committee’s focus is to provide for worship and to encourage the people to participate fully and regularly in it. We feel called by the Holy Spirit while overseeing the elements of worship services and all that it entails. It includes in part: the changing of the panels, music, special occasions, celebrating of the Sacraments, and the finding of worship assistants, greeters, treaters, and ushers. Members are Ruth Smith, Kate E. Nelson, Glenda Woodburn, Shirleen Fugitt, Meleta DeJong, Pastor John, and Margaret Ellefson. We are always accepting of anyone who would like to be a part of this committee. |
