From the Editor s Desk

Transcription

1 Volume : 2 October/December Year : 2018/ From the Editor s Desk This is what the Lord says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:16,18-19 The year is over, finished and past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. We cannot rest on the great distance it has brought us. Tomorrow dawns another day, a new opportunity, and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord our God. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment on our journey there. Let us learn from our mistakes this past year, but do not dwell on them. Do not rest on the accomplishments of last year, but use them to further our work in the Lord. Let us work together knowing that God is always with us and share the Joy, Peace and Love everywhere we go. Inside this Issue Editorial Pg. 1 Christian Emphasis Pg. 2 Special Projects & Club Activities Pg. 3 Visit of Halvosen Family Pg. 4 Projects during December Pg. 5 & 6 Interclub Activities Pg. 7 YMCA Liaison Pg. 8 Club Day Out Pg. 8 & 9 Aid for Flood Victims Pg. 10 Sometimes, Pride gets in our way of God. We feel a sense of accomplishment in the things we do, but we must realize that it is God who work through us and we cannot boast about our achievements. So let us go forward taking each new day with the promise of God who is our refuge and strength and do our duty with True Christian Spirit. Trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding. Just believe him and seek him and do not fear for your lives. Be patient and hold his hand and he will bring you to a wonderful life that we never expect. - YL Suranganie Francis -

2 Christian Emphasis During Jesus time on earth, He loved using profound parables to teach important lessons. There s currently a modern day parable circulating across the Internet in which a wealthy father takes his son to a poor farm in the country with the intention of teaching his son to value their wealth. But to his surprise, his son s eye-opening response to this exercise turns the tables completely! Wealthy Dad Gets A Lesson From His Son On What It Really Means To Be Rich One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country for the sole purpose of showing his son how it was to be poor. They spent a few days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. After their return from the trip, the father asked his son how he liked the trip. "It was great, Dad," the son replied. "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah," said the son. So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "It showed me just how poor we really are." Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have. What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a child to remind us what's important.

3 Special Projects & Club Activities We undertook to reconstruct the house of a Fisher Family (Asela & Kanchana) who lives in Koralawella, Moratuwa by the beach and partly financed by Elizabeth & Margrethe Halvorsen from Norway amounting to Rs.150,000/-. The house was completed at a total cost of Rs.400,000/= donated by YL Suranganie, her sister Melani and nephew Gihan Cooray. Above : Fisherman s house & family ( Asela & Kanchana )before construction Above : House Under Construction

4 Completed House - Total cost Rs.400,000/- (Rs.150,000/- funded by Elizabeth & Margrethe of Norway) Visit of Halvosen Family from Norway Margarthe Halvosen, of Norway, her father PRD Egil Odd and Mother Alice of Arendhal Club visited Blessings Child Care Centre, Moratuwa on 5th November to ascertain the progress the Centre has made with the donations they have chanelled through our club. Pictured below are their visit to Blessings Child Centre and how they have been welcomed by children. They donated some pre-school equipment, toys and sweets during this visit. Halvosen family hosted IPRD Prasantha, Mnt.Sharmalee, RD Ranarajah, Mnt.Mystica, RDE Godfrey, RS Suranganie and Y's Ling Dulari to dinner on arrival. The said members in turn hosted them for dinner at Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo.

5 Projects during the month of December Our Club had been very active in the month of December starting with their Bargain Sale for the Needy people on 08 th Dec. at YMCA Moratuwa. They have arranged few Christmas Parties for the Bethany Home for Street children on 16 th Dec., Blessings Child Centre at Indibedda on 21 st Dec. and for Sarvodaya Childrens Home, Lunawa on 23 rd Dec Above - Photos of Bargain Sale for Needy People on 08 th Dec.2018 Christmas Party for Bethany Home on 16 th Dec Donation of School Bags for the children of Bethany Home and Dry Rations for the Home at a total cost of Rs.28,000/-.

6 Christmas Party for Blessings Child Centre on 21 st Dec pairs of Shoes have been donated to the children of Blessings Child Centre (a day care cenre for children of Single Parents) in Indibedda and Dry Rations to 35 families of the children. We also donated a second hand sewing machine to this Centre for the vocational training of mothers. This project was totally financed by Elizabeth & Margrethe from Norway for Rs.120,000/-. Sarvodaya Children s Home, Lunawa on 23 rd Dec Dinner was provided to the children and a Radio for their use at a total cost of Rs.8,000/-.

7 Interclub activities a) Most of our members attended the Mahanuwara Club Fund Raiser of Sing Along on 10th Nov It was an enjoyable evening with singing and dancing. b) Ten of our members attended the 40 th Anniversary celebrations of Wellawatte Club on 17 th Nov c) 07 of our members attended the 88 th Charter Anniversary of Colombo Club on 03 rd Dec Above - Members enjoying at the Sing Along in Mahanuwara

8 YMCA Activities Some of our members participated at the World Week of Prayer Service held on 12 th Nov. at the YWCA, Moratuwa. Members took part in singing Carols at the YMCA Carol Service held in Moratuwa on 13 th Dec A Day Out by Club members and their families The members had a Day Out in Vinrich Hotel, Madapatha, Piliyandala on 20 th Nov. by the Bolgoda River. In appreciation of the hard work done by our members in attending most of the Club and Regional activities and raising funds for community service projects, it was decided to sponsor the trip by the Club. It was a fun filled day with games and all the members participated with their families and we had a lovely day. On behalf of the Club I would like to thank YM Lilanthi Gibson for all her efforts and planning a lovely day out for the members. Thank you Lilanthi.

9 On

10 Aid to Flood Victims in Northern Province On 29 th Dec Young Moratuwa club donated 22 boxes of used clothes and miscellaneous items to SALT Organization to distribute among Flood Victims in the Northern part of Sri Lanka. This has been sent to Mullativu on 2 nd Jan by SALT Organization.