FIRST PRESS. April 2018 Making disciples of Jesus Christ who go to make disciples of others.

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1 April 2018 Making disciples of Jesus Christ who go to make disciples of others. The New York Times has called Elon Musk "arguably the most successful and important entrepreneur in the world." It's an easy case to make: He's probably the only person who has started four different billion-dollar companies: PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, and Solar City. But at his core, Musk is not a businessman or entrepreneur. He's an engineer, inventor and, as he puts it, "technologist." In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Musk was asked the following: Do you believe in God? I try to let the weight of evidence determine my opinion. Do you have a spiritual practice? Not really. I believe in science. What do you think happens when you die? I think you cease to exist. I hope I'm wrong in a positive way. But most likely, you're just gone. To think that the sum total of who we are is defined solely by the objective, tangible world is a fatalistic way of understanding reality, isn t it? Are we only flesh and bones? Or, is there something that animates our physical body that not only is the essence of who we are, but lives on after we die? Fortunately, Scripture gives a resounding Yes answer to the latter question. Our hope is that after we die, our spirit goes to heaven where we are reunited with our Heavenly Father. Then, upon Jesus return, our spirit will be reunited with our physical, resurrected and glorified body like that of Jesus. The resurrection is what we celebrate at Easter. This assured hope is guaranteed as a result of Jesus resurrection from the dead. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Wouldn t Elon Mush greatly benefit from this assured hope? Keep the faith, Pastor Tony FIRST PRESS

2 Is hope tangible? Have you heard of Compassion International? PAGE 2 For just a moment, imagine a world where hope is tangible. Imagine you can see it, smell it, taste it, hold it in your hand. If you could measure your hope for your future, would it be pocket-sized? Imagine tucking hope into your back pocket or your purse and pulling it out when you need it. Or maybe your hope is bigger. Maybe your hope could take up half your garage. How precious would this thing called hope be? Would we trade for hope on the stock market? Would billion-dollar industries be built on the buying and selling of hope? What if you wanted to share some of your hope? Could you break off a piece and give it to someone who doesn t have any? Wouldn t that be amazing? Fortunately, Compassion International s ministry offers hope that is indeed tangible to the world s poorest. It may not be registered in global trade markets, but it is priceless to those who need it most, and the stories are repeated every day across the world among sponsored children. Sponsors give hope to their kids in the form of letters of encouragement, prayers and monthly support that allow their children to attend the Compassion child development centers at their local churches. But if hope is tangible, it is also fragile. Like any possession, it can be lost, misplaced or even stolen. That s why Compassion s help is so crucial. Hope comes in the form of after-school tutoring, or health care for a sick child whose family can t afford to visit the doctor. Hope comes with school uniforms, full tummies and a safe place to play. Compassion International is a collector of hope. Through nearly 7,000 churches in 25 countries around the world, they partner with sponsors and churches to bring hope where it is most scarce and those churches take this precious material and personally deliver it to 1.8 million boys and girls every week. Sponsors make a precious, lasting difference in the life of a child they sponsor. Tangible hope doesn t have to be something we only dream of. To give hope to the hopeless, all you d have to do is share some of yours. Compassion Sunday is soon approaching please consider sponsoring a child and giving hope to that child. When you give hope to a child in need, your hope for the future increases too!!! Saturday April 7th 8:30am $5.00 Men s Breakfast Dave Prewitt will be speaking on the topic Finding Our Identity in Jesus Come join us for fun activities and a hearty breakfast

3 PAGE 3 Reminder! Deacons hope you can bring some non-perishable food on April 1 to feed those in our community who are in need. Most of CA and Hanford has seen a large increase in homelessness in their communities. To address this issue, Hanford organized Kings County s first homeless rescue ministry called the Kings Gospel Mission (KGM). Pastor Tony was so impressed by the mission that he agreed to serve on their Governing Board. In the First Press a few months ago, Pastor Tony shared with us the mission of the KGM. Residents of KGM participate in a program called New Song Academy which helps men with vocational and life skills while sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Men who graduate from the New Song Academy are helped and encouraged to become a productive member of society. KGM recently opened a Thrift Store at 7 th and Irwin Streets in Hanford. They also operate Kings Cornerstone Recycling center at th Street #C in Armona. Please note that no paper is accepted. The purpose of KGM is to help men who are homeless, drug-addicted, or otherwise hurting to heal themselves from these issues. KGM believes these problems come from broken relationships to God, society, and self. Through healing these relationships, it is hoped the person will become a productive member of the community. Their website provides better specifics on how they accomplish this. How has First Presbyterian Church (FPC) helped? 1. The KGM home has beds for 12 men but it does not have a functional kitchen. FPC has allowed KGM to use our kitchen over the winter to prepare their meals. They take the finished meals back to the home for consumption. 2. The Mission Committee and Deacons have both added the KGM to their list of donor supported local ministries. As such, funds are regularly sent to support KGM. 3. The money raised on Souper Bowl Sunday is used to support local ministries. This year $628 was received and sent to KGM. 4. Over the past few months, Deacons has donated $3,000 specifically for building a functional kitchen at the home. 5. Some of the monthly donations of clothes and food items at FPC are taken to KGM for their residents at the home or to sell at the Thrift Store. How can FPC help? 1. Through ongoing financial support help with the KGM mission. 2. By FPC members sharing time and talents to address their needs. Some of these needs have been coordinated with Laundry Love and free haircuts. 3. Items, new or used, may be donated at the KGM Thrift Store or Armona center. 4. Recyclable items can be returned for money at the Armona location. If you would like to get personally involved with KGM, please contact Pastor Tony or KGM at their website: kingsgospelmission.org (phone ).

4 PAGE 4 From the April Musician of the Month is Joe Dykes Joe was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and next lived in Rochester, New York. Joe actually grew up all over the world! In 1959 his Music family moved to Manila (Philippines) for six years and then spent four years in Annandale, Virginia then it was back to Manila Department where he graduated from high school and spent more time studying classical guitar. From there it was onward to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts for a year. The family lived in Manassas, Virginia and Joe then worked in retail. As per orders, they then went to Beirut, Lebanon. After the evacuation, they went to Athens, Greece and then back to Virginia. (In case you are wondering, Joe s dad worked for the government). Joe worked in menswear until he turned 30, the last five years also playing in a club band with his brother Bill. He was also teaching guitar privately. Joe studied music at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in the mid-1980 s. Joe moved to Lemoore in the Fall of 1993 and played many places while his guitar lesson business grew. Joe accompanied The First Christian Church for about six months then some time later became employed by The Visalia United Methodist Church. Finding he loved the work, that temp job lasted seventeen years. He had asked God to put the right woman in my face and very soon met Shelly. They ran off to Las Vegas after knowing each other a few weeks and it will be nineteen years of marriage with his best friend in April. A friend saw an ad on Indeed.com about a Church (Ours) wanting a guitarist. He has happily served here for a year and a half, meeting many people with sincere hearts. I look forward to each week. We are so privileged to have a musician of Joe s caliber playing guitar for second service. He s also been singing in Choir in the first service. He is just one great guy and we all love him! God abundantly answered our prayers! Jolly 1 s & 2 s Our next event is scheduled for April 26 th at Gozen Restaurant in Visalia. We will leave our church parking lot at 10:30. Please let Janet or your caller know by April 18 th if you wish to attend. We need to arrange transportation and make a reservation with the restaurant. Women s Society (Agape) Join us for Agape on April 12 th at 1:00pm. Our program will be presented by Shirley Ramm. There are only 2 meetings left till we break for summer. We would love to have many of you in attendance.

5 Vacation Bible School 2018 PAGE 5 The summer is quickly approaching and for many children that means Vacation Bible School (VBS) is approaching as well. This year we are excited to offer Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus with the Christian Reformed Church. Children will discover Jesus presence in their every day lives, with daily bible points such as When you struggle Jesus rescues! and When you feel powerless Jesus rescues! These points will be reinforced with Bible stories such as Peter and John heal a lame man in Jesus name and Martha s worrying and complaints. The music for this year is exceptional - a great blend of original songs that appeal to young listeners (title theme is Never Let Go of Me ) and contemporary Christian songs (Rend Collective s My Lighthouse and Ryan Stevenson s Eye of the Storm ). The Christian Reformed Church will be hosting VBS June While it will be sad not to see the church dressed up for VBS this year, the Christian Ed Team and I feel this is the best use of our volunteers and resources. We will still need volunteers to assist in several areas - daily group leaders and nursery workers, and set-up and takedown. Our kiddos will also have priority registration. Nursery care and preschool program is provided for 3 and 4 year children of volunteers. Rowena Curiel and I will be working closely with CRC s VBS director Sarah Zonneveld. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us! Until next time! Annie Wrigley anniewrigley@gmail.com Inquirers Class Saturday, April 21 th 8am to Noon in the Church Office This class is for anyone interested in finding out more about the church: Our beliefs; Our philosophy of ministry; What it means to be a follower of Jesus; What it means to be Presbyterian; How you can get involved. Membership is not required to participate. Please RSVP to Pastor Tony or the office, Did you know? There are several ways to volunteer in the Children s Ministry WITHOUT working with children? Birthday Cards - send provided birthday cards to children from our church! (postage, addresses, and stickers included) Children s Binders - removed colored pages, sharpen pencils, replace coloring pages. Bulletin Board - updated the Children s Ministry bulletin board in the main hallway three to four times a year (think seasonally) If you d like more information contact Jaime at jaime.christoph@gmail.com or

6 PAGE 6 Sunday Mornings 9am in the Refuge Youth Lounge and Wednesday Evenings Memory Verse: So encourage one another up and build each other up 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Rock Our Community April 21 9am-11am Join us for a morning of fun and fellowship! We will be painting rocks that you will then be able to place around our community to bless others! We will also learn a little about God s creation and how we can help take care of it! Please RSVP to the church office or to Jaime by April 18 so that we can make sure to have enough supplies.

7 2018 EPC Askings PAGE 7 The EPC Per-Member Askings for 2018 are the same as last year for a total of $38 per member. The $38.00 per member Askings provides $23 towards the EPC General Assembly (GA) while $15 goes to the EPC Pacific Presbytery region. The Per Member Askings are voluntary and the primary source of funding for both the GA & Pacific Region s budgets. Our Session wants to support the EPC and has committed to funding our 117 members for a total amount of $4,446. Last year we calculated our Askings on 118 members which was a total amount of $4,484. We had 52 members who donated $2,488 or 55.5% of the expense towards the Askings, leaving $1,996 paid from our operating expense to support EPC s GA and region. Our goal this year is to raise 100% of the Askings which will again help reduce our operating budget expenses for the year. These Askings support: 1. The mission & service of the EPC to pursue God s vision to make a difference for Christ, the Gospel and the Kingdom of God in our communities, our country and the world; 2. The leadership which funds the committees, boards and special committees enabling them to pro-actively respond to the opportunities & challenges facing our growing denomination; 3. The ministry of the office of GA which serves, resources, connects and encourages EPC leaders, churches and presbyteries. EPC is focusing this year on 4 strategic opportunities: 1) global movement, 2) transformation (church revitalization), 3) multiplication (church planting), and 4) effective biblical leadership. These exciting kingdom developments could not occur without your prayer and financial support. The Finance Ministry Team Compassion Sunday April 22 nd April 29 Freedom park Following second service Same prices as Body Life

8 FP O Box 1185 Hanford, CA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED First Presbyterian Church Worship Center: 340 N. Irwin St. Church Office: 415 N. Redington St. Mail: P. O. Box 1185, Hanford, CA (559) FAX (559) STAFF: Tony Winterowd Tom & Margie Fritz Janice Mills Jaime Christoph Renee Loewen Annette Rajskup Gail Forsythe Nancy Roller Pastor Music Directors Music Ministries Director of Youth & Children s Ministries Child Care Coordinator Office Manager Bookkeeper Custodian Send staff s to staff first name@fpchanford.org send prayer requests or other information to office@fpchanford.org Non-Profit Org U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 88 Hanford, California April Birthdays & *Anniversaries 1 John Weisser 4 Julie Prewitt 6 * Mr & Mrs Thom Snyder 8 Pat Solero 11 Jaime Christoph, Elaine Kelly, Joshua Kinter 13 Dorothy Crass 15 Teri Hernandez 19 Tyler Uhlik 23 Kate Welborn 25 Allison Burch, Caleb Larson, Dwayne Wibeto, * Mr & Mrs Eddie Azevedo 26 Michael Kinney, Teresa Voyles 28 Devin Gonzalez 29 Chris Burch, Ernie Kerr, Evelyn Radza 30 Caryn Larson, * Mr & Mrs Martin Keast Please contact the office with any updates, additions or corrections. We don t want to miss anyone or list your special date incorrectly. s..