The Joyful Servant California Nevada Hawaii District Volume VIII, Issue 2

Transcription

1 The Joyful Servant California Nevada Hawaii District Volume VIII, Issue 2 President s Message Fall 2014 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephisians 6:13-18 Wow, what a great time we had at the LWML CNH Convention in Sacramento! Our theme was Stand Firm. Stand Victorious based on Ephesians 6: The music, Bible study and fellowship were awesome. We elected new officers and selected 21 Mission Grants which will be funded in the biennium, as God wills. We heard 2 sermons and a Bible study involving the armor of God. Our Bible Study Leader Donna Pyle reminded us that we do not need to worry about the helmet hair caused by God s helmet of salvation because God s armor is not visible; however, it is effective in protecting us from the flaming darts of the devil, as long as we put it on each day. After we get home from the LWML CNH Convention, we may find ourselves looking around for the next big thing in our lives. As we heard from Shelley Moeller, LWML Vice President of Gospel Outreach, The Time is NOW. You may ask Time for what? The Time is NOW to share our story with our LWML sisters and others in our lives. We need to tell what LWML means to us, how it has impacted our lives and why we are part of the LWML. You will hear more about The Time is NOW as this year goes by. To be involved in sharing your LWML story click here or go to the LWML website at and click on the The Time is NOW logo just below the header. Take the Time is NOW pledge and join your LWML sisters in celebrating the LWML. In This Issue President s Message Page 1 Human Care Page 2 Gospel Outreach Page 3 LWML CNH Convention News Page 4 Parliamentarian TIDBITS Page 4 Servant Resources Page 5 The Committee for Young Women Page 5 Christian Life Page 6 Greetings from your Treasurer Page 8 News from the Zones Page 9 In September, our Executive Committee and Standing Committees will meet to plan for the next two years. In our planning we will focus on these three areas from the LWML biennium. (continued on page 2) 1

2 President s Message (continued from page 1) Nurturing Faith in Christ We are committed to helping every woman find personal opportunities in her daily life and in her congregation to be nurtured in faith in Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to discover her unique gifts and value in God s family. Making Our Mission Meaningful We challenge and equip women of all ages, stages, ethnicities, and experiences to make a meaningful difference in the lives of hurting, helpless, and unbelieving people at home and throughout the world. Sharing Encouragement We believe that women value the friendship, support, and encouragement from other women and strive to offer warm, welcoming opportunities for women to grow in faith and relationships as sisters in Christ. Each of us can make a difference in someone else s life. I pray that God will direct you each day as you live for Him. Joyful in Jesus, Lynnette Campbell LWML CNH President Serve the Lord with Gladness Psalm 100:2 Human Care Greetings to my dear LWML sisters, I pray that you are all enjoying some happy and hopefully relaxing times with family and friends this summer. We were able to get all of our children and grandchildren together in June an absolutely thrilling and also exhausting time! Unfortunately there are many families around the world who are not able to enjoy these special times together. There have been some very disturbing events in the news recently stories of Christians being hunted down, terrorized and sometimes killed because they refused to denounce Christianity. Christian persecution is a very strong reality in our world today and it seems to be intensifying. It makes me think of my confirmation vow in which I promised to endure everything including death rather than deny Jesus as my Savior. It is hard to imagine having to be in that situation and I sometimes wonder if I would be strong enough to withstand torture and even death for the cause of Christ. Praise God we don t have to deal with this in our country it is so easy to take our religious freedom for granted. Romans 8:35-39 is an amazing section of Scripture that is very reassuring about God s ever-present love. Verse 35 says: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Verses put to rest any fears we may have about present or future difficulties we may have to face: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us never forget those who are enduring suffering for their Christian faith. We need to pray for them daily as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Your sister in Christ, Sherry Bell Vice President of Human Care 2

3 Gospel Outreach GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD Grant update!!! We have funded and paid grants: Water Filters for Kenyan Communities; Outreach in Public Schools for Bible Clubs during Lunch and After School; Outreach to Chico State/Butte College Students; Bibles for the Unchurched, Impoverished Children, Teens and Adults of Kaneohe, Hawaii. PRIASE GOD. We are currently working on #5 Joy of Harvest Ministries Mission To The Southeast Asian Community in NorCal. We have about $2,000 to go. Anyone wanting grant posters can Diane Conrad and I will them to you. Here is a mission outreach project for your societies to participate in. Lutheran World Relief is having a Quilts and Kits ingathering. Check the website for more info. There is a choice of 3 drop-off sites this year: Lutheran World Relief (LWR) Northern California Ingathering October 2014 Marge Johanson Key Leader (volunteer) LWR Northern California Ingathering Morgan Hill, CA margejohanson@charter.net ( is preferred) Redding Ingathering: Pre-arranged drop off October , you must make arrangements ahead of time with Sandy Weatherford. Location is St. James Lutheran Church, 2500 Shasta View Drive, Redding, CA. The church office is not always staffed, so please contact Sandy to set up a time to meet her. Cell: ; swxford@yahoo.com Antioch Ingathering: Saturday, October 11, 2014 from 9am-1pm. Location is St. John s Lutheran Church, 1360 East Tregallas Road, Antioch, CA. No RSVP is necessary. margejohanson@charter.net Morgan Hill Ingathering: Saturday, October 18, 2014 from 9am-1pm. Location is Advent Lutheran Church, Murphy Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA. No RSVP is necessary. margejohanson@charter.net Coming up in the next few months, for your reference, LWR is preparing shipments to Tanzania (8 mixed containers one of the largest shipments they do each year) and Thailand (6 containers of mostly Quilts and some Baby Care Kits another of their largest shipments). Other, smaller shipments are in the works for Jordan, Burkina Faso, Serbia and Syria. In His Service Diane Conrad Vice President of Gospel Outreach JOYFULL GIVING GO GO GO MITES Go Learn... Go Serve... Go Share 3

4 LWML CNH Convention News Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing steadfastly in prayer. Romans 12:12 I encourage you to mark this date on your calendar: April 15-17, 2016 This is the date of the 2016 LWML CNH Convention at the Holiday Inn in Visalia, CA. It will be earlier than you are used to so be sure to mark off this date. We have some exciting plans for you and you won t want to miss it. This convention will not be business as usual as we are going to change a few things that have been done in the past while keeping some of the familiar and loved items on the agenda. President Lynnette and I toured the facilities and are very excited. We will have the entire hotel available to us and everything is in close proximity to your hotel rooms. The hotel staff is very accommodating and is looking forward to serving us. You should be ready to have an enjoyable, relaxing and inspirational weekend. There will be some surprises that I am unable to share with this newsletter but will be released in future communications. So shine your spurs, dust off your cowgirl hat and prepare to have a rip-roaring good time with us in Visalia. Charlene Garrett Vice President of Convention Planning Parliamentarian TIDBITS But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. I Corinthians 14:40 1. To make a motion at a meeting begin with I move. 2. At a meeting, the Minutes of the previous meeting are handled differently than the Treasurer s Report. a. The Minutes of the previous meeting are to be approved as read, written or corrected. b. The Treasurer s Report is presented and opened for questions, then the President declares the report will be filed. (There is no vote.) 3. At all times there should be only one main motion on the floor. 4. Discussions or debates on the motion before the assembly are to be directed to the president or the chair. 5. When the committee report is presented, the action items of that committee should be handled at that time. 6. Advance copies of the minutes and other reports allow the participants to be prepared and can result in a shorter meeting. 7. The president is to always call for a negative vote even when the vote seems to be unanimous for the motion. 8. A tie vote means the motion is defeated. The president is not required to break a tie vote. 9. Announcements can be made after new business. 10. The latest Robert s Rules of Order Newly Revised is now the 11 th edition as of September This is now the edition that is to be used for meetings. Donna Herzog Parliamentarian 4

5 Servant Resources Three committees comprise the Servant Resources Department: Structure This committee not only reviews the society and zone bylaws, but also makes recommendations for changes to the district bylaws. Another role of this committee is to assist with questions about how meetings are conducted. The Structure Committee is going to be hard at work this biennium on your behalf. If it has been a while since you have updated your society or zone bylaws, now is the time to take a look at them. Please submit your bylaws to me, Cheryl Hamil, vp_resources@lwmlcnh.org. Leader Development This committee assists members with ways to not only help you be a leader, but also to learn ways to revitalize your group. Do you ever make the statement, There s just not enough time!? Then this new LWML resource is for you: Time Management - Manage Yourself, Not Your Time It is available for download at the LWML website. Here is the link: Committee on Young Women This committee provides resources for young women (focusing on the age group of 18-35) and also gives ideas and helps for ways to encourage women in this age group to be involved with LWML. Cheryl Hamil Vice President of Servant Resources The Committee on Young Women Did you know? At the 2014 LWML CNH Convention in Sacramento, we had 12 (TWELVE!) YWRs. These young women were chosen by their zones to learn more about LWML and share their gifts and ideas with our District. From our Committee on Young Women (CYW) Members: Mary Culpepper: I have been part of LWML since 2008 when I was invited to serve as a Young Woman Representative (YWR) at the LWML CNH Convention. I love and appreciate the passion LWMLers have for our Lord. It is amazing to see what God can accomplish through our mites year after year. Through this committee, I hope to help other young women learn about how we can support our LC-MS through the LWML. It is a privilege and honor to be able to represent the young women of our district in this capacity. Over the next biennium we hope to reach more young women through regional events and even virtual Bible studies! Stay tuned for more information soon! I encourage you to learn more about LWML through the women at your church and get involved at whatever level you feel most comfortable with! 5 (continued on page 6)

6 The Committee on Young Women (continued from page 5) Mary Williams: I got involved with LWML when I was asked to be a Young Woman Representative for Zone 10. I had heard about LWML but thought it was just for the older ladies. I was so amazed at the experience I had meeting so many women who just love to serve and be in fellowship and worship with others. I then got to experience LWML at the national level. It was such an experience to see women from all over the United States and women from many of the countries the LWML has supported. Hearing the stories of how the little mites add up and the amazing things they do all over the world really makes me excited for the things that could happen. I wanted to be a part of this committee because I want other young women to experience the same wow's that I have. Sandy Conroy: I m Sandy, and I'm passionate about young women growing in their relationship with the One that loves them the most! It's a passion I've had since college, not just because my daughters are now 24 and 23! I love connecting people and ideas, and am excited to join the Committee for Young Women. Yes. Yes. I know. It's supposed to be the Committee on Young Women, but that sounds like I'm studying them under a microscope, not joining them as an encourager and a woman with experience". Life experience, that is. I don't have much LWML experience under my belt (as I'd always thought my grandma was the original founder of LWML, and that it was for ladies with many more years of "experience" than me). On my 50th birthday, however, I decided to give myself a gift and joined LWML, jumping in with both feet. I am loving it, and hope to get younger gals more involved now, and not wait until they re 50! ;) I can be reached at: sandy.conroy@yahoo.com or on my cell Yes, I'm on FB and Pinterest, and have a blog, Righteous Rags (bringing flannel to flow for women in 3rd world countries)! Christian Life WOW!! Spend a bit of time watching TV and you quickly discover how bleak and hopeless the world is. Wars between people with opposing beliefs, people being tortured, imprisoned, and even murdered for their beliefs. There are plagues, riots, governments of the world arguing, floods The list of hopeless situations that is plaguing our world goes on and on, BUT there is HOPE for anyone and everyone in a hopeless world. H O P E H- Our eternal hope is Heaven. O- People must have the Opportunity to hear God s Word. P- Peace is the result of accepting the message of God s Word. E- Eternal Life is the ultimate prize the Christian will receive. H- Heaven Our Savior s gift to sinful man. O- Opportunity To share God s love is our command. P- Peace Our Savior s gift that will always withstand. E- Eternal Life Our Savior s gift, our true homeland. (continued on page 7) 6

7 Christian Life (continued from page 6) H- The Lord has promised us eternal happiness in our Heavenly Home. O- May we never deny anyone the Opportunity to hear the message of John 3:16- For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life. P- We have Peace with the Lord through His death on the cross. E- Eternal Life is ours through faith in Jesus Christ. H- Heaven is our home which was bought and paid for by our Lord Jesus Christ. O- The Opportunity to hear and Obey God s Word requires sacrifice but offers GREAT HOPE. P- Perfect Peace is found in God s Word. E- Eternal peace is with our Father in Heaven. H- Heaven is our promise. O- We should all take every Opportunity to tell others the Gospel of Christ. P- Peace is freely given to all who believe. E- Eternal Life is a free gift from God through Jesus Christ. H- Heaven is our Home. O- Our witness gives the Holy Spirit Opportunity to Open the hearts and minds of those hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. P- God Promises His People Perfect Peace that Passes all understanding. E- All who believe and are baptized will have Eternal Life because of the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. - Author unknown* I pray that each of you daily live in the HOPE that is given to us all through Jesus Christ as you Serve the Lord with Gladness in all you say and do. P.S. Reminder! There are some great resources available through both LWML and CPH for personal and group studies about HOPE such as Our Hope and Future and The God of All Comfort - 8 Lessons about Hope in Christ by Donna Pyle, Bible Study Leader at the recent 2014 LWML CNH Convention. *H O P E- was modified from a devotion found amongst a collection of devotions and Bible studies found in Zone 8 archives. If anyone knows the author please contact Vickie Schmidt or President Lynnette Campbell so that the author can be acknowledged. Thank You!! Vickie Schmidt Vice President of Christian Life 7

8 Greetings from Your Treasurer It is hard to believe that the LWML CNH Convention May 2-4 in Sacramento, CA is now part of our history. What a joy it was to Stand Firm and Stand Victorious with the women of LWML CNH. The worship, Bible study, speakers, singing and fellowship were so uplifting. We left the convention equipped with the full armor of God! As your treasurer, it is my pleasure to report some of the financial data from convention. Your prayerful giving is a blessing to many! I want to thank Jean Orsborn, Charlene Garrett, and Chris Roman for giving of their time to help count your generous offerings. Their service made my job much easier! The Friday evening worship offering, $2,193.51, was designated for the Steinbeck Memorial Scholarship Fund for scholarships to children of missionaries. The Saturday afternoon offering, $2,022.77, was designated for the Rubin Memorial Fund for student aid to those pursuing a career as full time church workers. Also on Saturday, Pastor Newton launched the traditional Mite Challenge. Our LWML men and women stuffed the Mite Boxes with $1, (including $ in coin that the money counters diligently counted and rolled)! The Sunday worship offering, $2,987.15, was designated for Mission Grants, 75% for LWML CHN Mission Grants and 25% for national LWML Mission Grants. The Saturday morning Pledge Walk generated $2, for the Building Generations Ministry, a San Diego/Tijuana Lutheran Hour Ministry. At convention we selected the LWML CNH Mission Grants for the biennium. The Mission Grant goal was set at $125, As of July 31, 2014, Mission Grants 1-4 have been paid ($18,700.00), and we have $18, available for #5. (Grant #5 is for $20, ) In August $4, was sent from our Rubin Memorial Fund to CNH LCMS District Student Aid to assist with the many scholarships they will grant this year to our future pastors, teachers and DCE s. This fall LWML CNH will also grant several $ scholarships from the Steinbeck Memorial Scholarship Fund to children of missionaries to assist with college expenses. Please continue to remember the Rubin and Steinbeck funds in the giving plans of your societies and zones. LWML CNH is now ready to receive your mites electronically via Joyful Response! This is a free electronic mite giving opportunity for individuals and societies of the LWML, offered by Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF). You can set up recurring transactions from your checking or savings account (does not have to be a LCEF account) for monthly giving. The postage you save means more for mites! Registration forms were included in your 2014 LWML CNH Convention packet. You can contact LWML CNH Financial Secretary Kathy Richardson for additional forms at calsgirlkathy@gmail.com. Serving the Lord with gladness, Cherylene Brueckner Treasurer 8

9 NEWS from the Zones Zone 3 News Our Zone 3 Fall Rally is at St. Peter Lutheran Church, 2400 Oxford Way, Lodi CA on Saturday, October 18, Join us for coffee and goodies at 9:30 a.m. The program begins at 10:00 a.m. The theme is "The Time Is Now!" and the speaker is the Rev. Dr. Robert Newton on the Widow's Mite. Men and women are encouraged to attend. The cost of registration is $13.00 pre-registration or $15.00 at the door. An ingathering will be collected for the Sacramento St. Project which is a youth project assisting the Salvation Army in feeding the homeless in the area and distributing hygiene items. The offering will be divided for the Sacramento St. Project and our LWML CNH mites. Pre-registration should be sent in by October 15th. Election of President and Treasurer will be held for a two year term, 2015 budget approved and Societies will submit their $40 annual travel/postage fee to the Zone treasurer. Submitted by: Jan Sorge, Zone 3 President Zone 7 News The women of Zone 7 met for our Spring Rally, Saturday, March 29, at First Lutheran in Concord. Plans changed from what we reported in the spring Joyful Servant, but change can be good! Under the theme, Shield of Faith: A love story that will last a life time despite our physical limitations, we were touched and blessed by our speaker, Diana McFarling of Stonecroft Ministries. She shared with us how she found victory over life s circumstances as she lives with Multiple Sclerosis, and how she came to find peace despite the reality of life in a wheel chair. DCE Intern Jacob Herold from First Lutheran led us in Bible Study. Pastor Jedidiah Maschke and Pastor Bill Chu led us in worship. Diana joined us at the communion rail in her wheel chair. Borrowing from the upcoming LWML CNH convention theme we collected items for Defenders of Freedom and Sacramento Violence Intervention Program as our ingathering. The women of First Lutheran treated us to a wonderful lunch to close our rally. The Zone 7 Fall Rally will be Saturday, October 18, at Grace Lutheran Church in Pittsburg. The theme is Jesus Calling Us to Mend. Our speaker from Teen Challenge in Concord will share with us their healing ministry to teens and women with drug issues. We will also have an ingathering of Lutheran World Relief sewing kits. Several of the societies in Zone 7 shared recent and upcoming activities: Grace, Pittsburg ladies were joined by Operation Creekside in May at their gathering to honor their veterans. They are hoping to make this an annual event. They have veterans ranging in age from 50 to 93! They are planning events for the coming year under the theme Jesus calling us to, with each month having a different ending for the phrase. The Women of Holy Cross, Concord hosted a Getting to Know You event in April. They learned some interesting facts about their ladies during a game of Truth or Lie. In May they sponsored an Everyone s Birthday party potluck for the congregation. Planning meetings in July and August have them ready to launch the fall activities with a Mugs and Muffins gathering after church in early October. Blessings! Submitted by: Cherylene Brueckner, Zone 7 VP Servant Resources (continued on page 10) 9

10 NEWS from the Zones (continued from page 9) Zone 8 News Women of six of the Zone 8 congregations gathered at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mountain View, CA, on Saturday, March 15 th for our annual Day of Prayer. The hosting of this event by the women of St. Paul and Pastor Aaron Smith was much appreciated as there is currently no active LWML group in the congregation. After time for meeting, greeting, and eating we gathered in the sanctuary to follow an order for group and individual prayer suggested in our prayer guide bulletin. Section topics for our prayers included: 1. Prayer for the Faithful; 2. Prayer for the Family; 3. Prayer for the Church; 4. Prayers for Healing, the suffering, the distressed and the vulnerable; and 5. Prayers for the LWML Each section included a responsive reading from Scripture, joint prayer spoken together and ample time for individual prayer based on specific suggestions listed in our bulletin. Those who wished to have Pastor Smith or his wife, Ellen, pray with them on a specific topic were asked to kneel with them at the communion rail in the front of the church. Soft meditative music was played on the piano by St. Paul s pianist and a couple of the sections were interspersed with the singing of a familiar Christian hymn. The morning was truly a time devoted to speaking with our Lord and hearing His Word, minus the distractions that we all face in our home environment. We discovered that a couple of hours seemed a short time to bring our requests to the Lord in prayer and to praise and thank Him for our many blessings. Zone 8 Spring Rally Hosted by Our Savior, Pacifica, CA on March 29, 2014 On a rainy Saturday on March 29, at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Pacifica, CA, the women from Zone 8 gathered for our Spring Rally. There were 26 women and two pastors from Zone congregations stretching from Mtn. View in the south to First Lutheran in S. San Francisco to the north. After fellowship and refreshments, Rev. Daniel Kistler led an opening devotion followed by a very informative, fascinating presentation given by Rev. Stewart Crown about his trip in January to the country of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The purpose of his trip was to strengthen Lutheran Pastoral Education in West Africa by providing educational classes in Theology taught by qualified pastors from the United States. These visits and and advanced and beginning classes in theology for the native pastors of West Africa have been organized and supported under the leadership of Rev. Steven Hein of Colorado Springs, Colorado, since the 1980 s through the mission outreach of Lutheran Pastoral Education. Christian (Lutheran) pastors of Sierra Leone must support themselves in their ministry as the congregations are too poor to pay a salary. These men have their own farms and means of support and must absent themselves from their families and means of support to attend these classes, but do so enthusiastically so they can learn how to be Pastors of the Word in their parts of West Africa. Pastor Crown talked about his impressions of the capital city of Freetown where the group met in Javouhey House ; a building named after a Catholic nun in a Catholic Retreat Center, and were housed in small rooms at the same location. 10 (continued on page 11)

11 Zone 8 News (continued from page 10) In addition to packing and bringing in their own supplies and books for their teaching, the visiting pastors must prepare for their visit by taking anti-malaria drugs and due to the increased chances of contracting this disease in the inland areas of the county. The Instruction is held in the coastal city of Freetown. He told of the primitive conditions with regard to water supply, garbage disposal and transportation in this city of over 300,000 people. Sierra Leone is considered one of the most poverty stricken nations of the world. The pastors of Sierra Leone and neighboring Gambia and Liberia are extremely dedicated and crave fellowship with the church in other places of the world. They strongly desire to be further educated in how to preach of Christ to their people. Pastor Crown spoke of two things he learned : 1. The Church of God is bigger than the LCMS. It is world-wide. True believers are present in these very poor, underdeveloped countries and these missionaries desire stronger connections with other believers. They pray fervently and show much dedication and endurance. 2. We of the United States are truly blessed. A question we must ask is, How will the church in Sierra Leone survive after Pastor Hein reduces his activity and leadership in bringing teachers of theology to these men? Ways to support this mission are being planned. Among ideas are the making of bricks to sell to support churches and pastors or packaging pure drinking water in bags for sale. The Lutheran Pastoral Education Project headed by Rev. Hein will accept donations for this ministry sent to Shepherd of the Springs Lutheran Church, 6755 Earl Drive, Suite 100, Colorado Springs, CO Visit the Facebook page Lutheran Pastoral Education in West Africa. A brief business meeting of the Zone 8 was conducted by Zone 8 President, Barbara Guevara, following the BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) with (delicious) dessert provided by the Our Savior LWML. Two Young Women Representatives from Grace Lutheran in San Mateo will be sponsored and financially supported by Zone 8 when they attend the LWML CNH Convention in Sacramento in May. The women present were encouraged to discuss the upcoming Proposed Mission Grant list within their congregations and inform our Zone President, Barbara Guevara, of the top seven grants by 4/15. This will facilitate Barbara s vote at the Convention. The Fall Rally of Zone 8 LWML will be held at First Lutheran in S. San Francisco in October. Submitted by: Marilyn Taddey, Zone 8 Society President Zone 13 News Our Fall Rally is October 4, 2014 at Hope Lutheran Church in Fortuna. Our theme is "Mature Like An Adult Philippians 3:15a "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things" SERVING OTHERS. We hope to have a speaker from an Adult Facility and ingathering of something that they need for the facility. Our Zone continues to meet and tie quilts for Lutheran World Relief. We hope in some small way we can help national LWML reach their goal of 500,000 quilts before the next LWML Convention. We will be taking the quilts to Redding after the Rally on October 15, Submitted by: Beverly Hansen Givens, LWML CNH Zone 13 President 11

12 Zone 11 News Deadline for registration is September 1,

13 Zone 12 News Zone 12 s Spring Rally was held two weeks after our LWML CNH Convention Stand Firm. Stand Victorious. The rally was hosted on May 17 th by the ladies of First Lutheran Church in Yuba City and our Rally theme was The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. - Nahum 1:7 Our Bible study and guest speaker were reminders of the Convention objectives: In faith, I stand humble in the Lord, victorious in His Work, firm in prayer, fearless in my witnessing, courageous in the world. Pastor Mike Franckowiak led our Bible study and we learned that the word refuge is an Old Testament word and is used most in Psalms. In the New Testament, Christ is our refuge; not the cities of sanctuary or mountains of the Old Testament. Our guest speaker was Meredith Curry, Founder of Restoration Railroad mobilizing people, restoring lives, abolishing slavery. Their mission is to unite our community into a continuum of care for victims of human trafficking and exploitation through prevention, intervention, aftercare and integration. I think most of us were shocked that we were not aware of what goes on in our communities and the various types of slavery that occur through force, fraud and coercion. There are two quotes that the group holds to: I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. -Harriet Tubman You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know. -William Wilberforce Meredith and her volunteers hold firm in prayer, fearless in their witnessing and courageous in the world. What an example of following God s call. Two offerings for the day went to Restoration Railroad and Mites. Following a delicious lunch and time of fellowship, we were pleased to have Lynnette Campbell, newly elected president of the LWML CNH, share her story and involvement with the LWML and how she answered the call to be our president. We are looking forward to her leadership and our growth as LWMLers. Delegates and other convention attendees shared their favorite moments from convention. A Zone-wide Mission Festival Day is scheduled for Saturday, August 16, to be held at Redeemer Lutheran in Chico. Guest speaker is LWML CNH President Lynnette Campbell who will share with us about her Most Ministries Short Term Mission Trips. The theme is Lift High the Cross -..if anyone serves, he should do it with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:11b. The day will start with Bible study and we will also hear about mission grants within our Zone and abroad. Submitted by: Kathy Richardson, Zone 12 President Hello all! I m Angelina Ortiz your new News Editor. I graduated from Concordia Irvine in May of 2013 with a degree in Communication and Marketing. I m blessed to have found employment right after graduation, not only in my desired field but at my home church, Bethany Lutheran in Menlo Park. In my spare time I love to travel and spend time with my friends and family. I m looking forward to getting to know all of you and to be part of the LWML team. The next publication date for The Joyful Servant is December 1, Please submit articles by November 10 to Linda Bradley ~ lindab@bethany-mp.org 13