First Presbyterian Church, Las Cruces, NM July 2017

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1 First Presbyterian Church, Las Cruces, NM July 2017

2 Missionary Visit July 9 will be a special Sunday. On that day, we will have a visit from Doug Barron. Doug and his wife, Sherry, have been partially supported by our church for many years. A lot has happened since he last visited here in He and Sherry have a difficult field as they work with CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) at Camp Pendleton working with Marines as they learn about and recover from foreign deployments. Doug will have a very busy day as he tells tells us about the CRU organization, its multi-pronged operations, and of the difficulties of working with an organization such as the Marines. He will speak to the adult Sunday school class at 9 AM, give a short presentation at the regular church service, and an extended presentation in the library after the fellowship hour. There will be a lunch with the mission committee and anybody else who is interested afterwards. Contact Jean O Neill at or by at jarnotoneill@gmail.com if you want to be included in this event. Joel and Barbara Trudell Jean O'Neill Joel and Barbara Trudell are missionaries supported by our church who work with Wycliffe Bible Translators and Summer Institute of Linguistics. Joel evaluates use of the Bible in the native language in local churches. Barbara is concerned with both adult and child literacy and the use of the native language in schools. Taxes in Nairobi, Kenya, where they have lived many years, have recently gone up 300%! This makes it prohibitive for them to stay, and after much prayer and visiting South Africa, decided to move there. Shipping furniture 3,300 miles would be too expensive so they are selling all their possessions and starting over in their new home. They have leased a small apartment in a suburb of Cape Town, near SIL's Southern Africa Office. They plan to build an environment of literacy and acceptance of local languages so that the Scriptures can be readily used when they are progduced. Recently Barbara said, We re so thankful for the way the Lord is smoothing the way for our move to South Africa. We are finding buyers for our stuff, and making our way through the tortuous procedure of getting a South African work visa. (We now have FBI Criminal Reports! It feels just like NCIS.) Our departure date from Nairobi is 17 July. We still don t have all the funds needed to set up our little Cape Town apartment, but the Lord is faithful and we are not worried. If you would like to contribute to their move make your check to the church and put "for the Trudells" on it. These checks can be given any time in July and August. The Trudells will deeply appreciate any help. 2 Doug Barron in 2014

3 July

4 The Hymnal The article in this place was withdrawn at the last minute so a photograph of a coming article is substituted Book Club Erin Taylor This month the FPC book club discussed Ordinary Grace: A Novel, by William Kent Kruger. It is the story of one summer (1961) in the life of the narrator, Frank Drum when he was a child growing up with a Methodist pastor father in small town in Minnesota. It begins with the death of a boy in the town although that is not the only tragedy that summer. The book is a mystery with secrets revealed and a surprising murderer, but it is much more. In our discussion, we focused on two main 4

5 ideas coming from the story. The first is how focusing on what might have been can distract us from what is truly good about our life as it is. Contemplating the different directions our lives might have taken is not necessarily bad, but we need to see the grace in the life we have. The second idea is that our lives are filled with acts of ordinary grace, small things done for us and by us that display the loving grace of God. We connected this to what we had read in our book last month (Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith) about small ministries and in Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, where we had explored the connections between what we do every day and the sacred. Thinking about joining us? Try one book, one month. We meet on the fourth Thursday of the month in the parlor at 7 PM. Our books for both July and August are novels. Our July book is Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, a classic novel of New Mexico; August will be Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline. Do you have any suggestions for books? Feel free to let me know. If you have any questions about book club or need a ride please contact me, Erin Taylor, at rosasmommy@aol.com. In-Betweeners The usual monthly meeting of the In-Betweeners was held Friday, June 23. There was a catered dinner, which consisted of a wide selection of dinner salads and a variety of desserts. After dinner in Watkins Hall the group adjourned to the library to view a video. The library was used instead of the theater with its larger screen because the theater is In-Betweeners sort salads before dinner too small to accommodate the group of about 40. The video attempted to give the history of the Jews from the time of Solomon to the present. Of course, many details had to be left out, but it did give a good summary of the history with special emphasis on the difficulties faced by the people and the remarkable fact that they still are a coherent group despite individual differences, 5

6 Notes and Announcements Socks and Undies The Deacons will collect socks and undies beginning July 2 through July 30t They will be sent to The Gospel Rescue Mission clothing store which is requesting socks and underwear for students age 4 - adult. The girls prefer the low rise or bikini undies over briefs, and the boys prefer "boxers" over briefs. Socks may be colorful for the girls, and white or black for the boys. The Rescue Mission wishes to thank our congregation in advance for the continued support over the years. Boxes for the socks and undies will be at each entrance as well as one large box in the church office. Backpacks The Blessing of the Backpacks will take place August 13 during the worship service. The Deacons request backpacks and school supplies to put into them starting July 2. They will begin filling the backpacks for those in need in early August with distribution August 6 ( time to follow later). Boxes for backpacks and supplies will be at each entrance as well as a large box in the church office. Ice Cream Social The Congregational Life and Outreach Team will host an ice cream sundae event after church July 2. Come for ice cream and almost every topping you can imagine. Youth Garage Sale The youth garage sale will be held in Watkins Hall July 22 from 7 AM to 11 AM. Please bring any donations to the church. They will be stored in the S&L tutoring room in Reeves Hall until the sale. Come early. The Cover The cross on the cover belongs to Viki Edwards. Photographs provided by Alex Burr and Michelle Osborne First Presbyterian Church 200 East Boutz Road Las Cruces, NM Tel (575) linda@fpc.lc Web URL Rev. Dr. Norman Story, Pastor The The Lantern Lantern is a monthly is a monthly publication publication of First of First Pres- Presbyterian Church, Las Cruces, NM. NM. Articles and and photos, photos, preferably are in welcome, computer and readable will be used form at are the welcome, discretion will be of the used publisher. at the discretion For further of the information publisher. call For fur- and ther information send call (575) to linda@fpc.lc or send This, and to back aburr@aol.com. issues, are available on the Internet at lantern.qzxservices.com. Editor: Alex Burr Editor: Production: Alex Burr Linda Ramirez Production: Linda Ramirez 6

7 P FIRST E S B Y T E R I A N 200 E. Boutz Rd. Las Cruces, NM Garage Sale July 22 7 AM 11 AM Mission Vision Statement Statement for To be a To place emulate where the Christian work, the love word, is modeled and the way of Jesus Christ in ministering to the needs of members and preparing them for Christian outreach to people within and outside the Church of Jesus Christ. Mission Statement To be Our a place Vision where Christian Objectives love is modeled for through: are: 1. Understanding, celebrating, and sharing God s Word. To create spiritual leaders from within our congregation to recognize and minister to members in need. 2. Following obediently where God is leading us 3. Leading, nurturing, and serving our community for Christ To develop and maintain specific ways for members to reach out and draw the community into our fellowship. To create a God-centered atmosphere for worship that will attract and bind individuals, families and youth to our church. 7