Vol. 1 Issue 11 November 2018 Journey News A publication of Journey Church of Clinton, Iowa I Am Thankful God is good to me. I am grateful. Not that I measure up to God s commands in the Bible, which say, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20). However, I am thankful. I am thankful for (in no particular order) The four seasons My wife My children My parents who surrounded me with prayer, the Bible, and the gospel of Jesus Our dog (arf!) The colors of autumn The gift of health Forgiveness of sins through Jesus The promise of eternal life Journey Church The Central District of the Evangelical Free Church of America our district Godly people who have influenced me over the years Fishing The beauties and wonders of the outdoors BY SENIOR PASTOR TOM LOYOLA A cup of fresh-brewed hot tea with my bowl of cereal (yum!) Food Good stories The privilege of preaching Your support and encouragement The ocean Music The staff I get to work with daily The many, many volunteers at Journey Church who do the work of ministry God s leading into the Journey Vision My siblings The Bible what a treasure! Snow (what?! Yes, snow) Jesus The love of God The indwelling Holy Spirit Beauty Laughter Smiles Conversations with Sue Ann The blessing of education The unflagging personal support of our elders The Body of Christ global The five senses Indoor plumbing Clean water Thank you, God! IN THIS ISSUE I Am Thankful Calendar Thanksgiving Program & Dinner Thank You Celebrate Our Church Family Awana: O.C.C. Thanksgiving Baskets Reminder! M&Ms 50 & Up! Favorite Things Party Bio of Ray & Kay Baker Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Day of Prayer... CALENDAR Nov. 4 Nov. 10 Nov. 15 Nov. 18 Nov. 22 Nov. 23 Nov. 30 Page 1 Page 1 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5 Church Family Lunch Annual Business Meeting Daylight Savings Ends Outreach Training M&Ms Thanksgiving Program & Dinner Thanksgiving, Office Closed Office Closed DK Favorite Things Party Dec. 16 Children Singing in Service Dec. 23 Christmas Sunday, No Life Groups Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Closed Christmas Eve Service Dec. 25 Christmas Day Closed Merry Christmas! Dec. to be continued in the next issue.
Thanksgiving Program Dinner Awana OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD SHOEBOXES NIGHT NOVEMBER 7! Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Night is November 7 this year! On November 7, Awana will put together shoe boxes to help share the gospel with children around the world. A shoebox can mean so much to a child who has so little. Thank You FROM JOE & DONNA HAAN We would like to thank our church family for all the cards, personal greetings, as well as Facebook messages received as we celebrated our 60 th Anniversary. We enjoyed each one and it greatly blessed us. CELEBRATE OUR CHURCH FAMILY: The Deaconesses are once again putting together gifts to bless some folks in our congregation with provisions to enjoy a bountiful meal this Thanksgiving. You can be a part of this blessing by placing your financial gift in an offering envelope marked Thanksgiving Baskets. Contributions can be made through November 11, 2018. Happy Birthday! 1 Tammy Giddings 2 Marvin Brown 4 Henry Langrehr Matthew Hinrichsen Sue Brown Tom McCormick 5 Barb Raab Norma Jones 8 Liliana Traverse 10 Samuel Sheets 13 Jim Kramer 14 Ernie Struve 15 Chris Von Holten 18 Lynn Wiese 20 Jim Tietjens 21 Meg Hinrichsen Pat Danielson 22 Christine Johnson Joe Duval 23 Dave Schneider Taylor Clark 24 David Livingston 26 Kathy Tompkins 27 Tyler Clark 29 Kevin Hansen 30 Dorothy Obright Happy Anniversary! 8 Joe & Marcia Duval 9 Dave & Carolyn Livingston 24 Pete & Meg Hinrichsen REMINDER! The church building is closed for Thanksgiving November 22 & 23. There will also be no church activities that Wednesday night.
M&Ms 50 &Up! BY AURILLA STORMES & CORRINE SHEETS BY JACKIE HAAS FOR DAUGHTERS OF THE KING Favorite Things Party M&Ms, our Mature & Motivated group of those 50 & up, meets November 15 at 11:30 am in the Fellowship Hall to enjoy good food and fellowship! This month, different soups are provided so you are welcome to bring a dish to pass that would complement a nice warm bowl of soup! Sometimes there is special corn bread from Patty and usually there is cheese, crackers, etc. Hope to see you there! What do you think of when you hear (or read) the phrase my favorite things? Do you now have Julie Andrews singing in your head about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens? Or maybe like me, you re thinking about the good pens that you hide in your desk drawer so no one else uses them. Over time, we all hone in on certain things that we like better than others. For our next Daughters of the King event, we are going to have a Favorite Things Party to share some of our favorite things with one another and kick off the Christmas season. On Friday, November 30 all ladies high school age and older are invited to come to the fellowship hall from 6:30-8:30 pm. This is how a Favorite Things Party works: each person attending brings three different items with them that are their favorite of something. For example, you could bring your favorite kind of gum, lip gloss, and tea. The spending limit per item is to be no more than $5. As ladies arrive, each person gets to put their name into a basket three times. Then each person gets to share their items. When it is your turn to share, you tell the group about each item you brought, why you like it, how much it cost, and where you bought it. Then you will draw a name out of the basket to see who takes your item home. The purpose of this kind of party is to share your favorite things with someone else for them to enjoy and to get to take home someone else s favorite things to try. You may also see items that you may want to take note of for gift giving ideas as Christmas approaches. As long as your item is $5 or less, it may be from a variety of categories: health/ beauty, office supply, Bible study aid, food, drink (please do not bring alcoholic beverages), home décor, clothing, cleaning supplies, etc. Additionally, if you would like to, you may participate in the optional Christmas cookie exchange. If you would like to bring one dozen (or more) of your favorite Christmas cookie or treat, then you can take home treats from the varieties that other people bring. It will be a fun night of sharing for women of all ages. Start thinking about what your favorites are and bring them to share on Friday, November 30 from 6:30-8:30 pm.
Page 4 MISSIONS Bio of Ray & Kay Baker BY WENDY YODER FROM THE MISSIONS LEAD TEAM IN COLLABORATION WITH RAY & KAY BAKER Ray & Kay Baker are missionaries our Church currently support on a monthly basis. They serve through Greater Europe mission and their home-base is Sweden. The work they both do there is described very well in our missionary booklet. Since I am related to them - Kay is Daryl Yoder's sister - I was asked to find out some personal information about them. So I got some very good responses from both Ray & Kay that are presented in this article. First, they describe what prompted each of them to go into missions and what they have done through the years. The last paragraph is Ray's description of their courtship. Ray's first cross-cultural mission experience was in helping reach refugees from Cuba and El Salvador in Richmond through TEFL classes and Spanish-language worship services when he was in college. In 1985 Ray moved to Iceland, where he was involved for four years in university student evangelism at the University of Iceland (and finished a degree in Philology in the process). In 1990 Ray moved to the woods of western Sweden and began teaching at the Nordic Bible Institute. When that school closed down in 1992, Ray was not able to get a visa to remain in Sweden and moved to France, where he taught at the bilingual European Bible Institute just outside of Paris. The whole time he was in France he was homesick for Sweden and started attending the Swedish Church in Paris. in 1996 the Lord opened the doors for Ray to move back to Sweden to teach at CredoAkademin in Stockholm, a ministry where he served for more than 20 years. And yes - Ray does speak all those languages. And many more! He has read the entire New Testament in 11 languages and is currently working on Greek! Ray earned his doctorate in Systematic Theology in 2014. Kay's first cross-cultural mission experience was teaching missionary children in Spain the summer of 1985. That laid the ground work for her return to Europe to teach at Vienna Christian School from 1988-1993. She helped start SHARE Education Services and moved to Budapest in 1994. She moved to Stockholm in 1997 after she married Ray Baker...because the commute would be too great from Budapest. She continues to work with SHARE today. She also has leadership responsibilities within Greater Europe Mission. After being on the mission field for four years, Ray met Kay Yoder at Greater Europe Mission's annual conference in Holland. There were no immediate sparks. Back then someone joked that Kay would marry Ray, but she said, "That will never happen." Their first date was in Paris, which only added to Ray's natural irresistibility. After only six dates in five countries, Ray and Kay were married June 21, 1997. Kay is by far the best thing that ever happened in Ray's life (except salvation - he has to say that since he is a missionary). They say that opposites attract and this is undoubtedly true for Kay and Ray. The thing that unites them, however, is their love for the Lord and vision for the world. Ray and Kay will be at our church for both Life Groups and the church worship service November 11. Ray will be preaching the sermon and Kay will be presenting the Moments for Missions.
Page 5 MONTH Oct 14 - Nov 11 Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes BY JOAN LOGAN FOR THE MISSIONS LEAD TEAM The Missions Lead Team is still promoting the Samaritan s Purse Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. The shoeboxes and How to Pack Your Shoebox pamphlets are available in the lobby. The filled boxes need to be returned by Sunday, November 11. A $9 donation is critical to cover shipping and other project costs. You can put money in the envelope included in the pamphlet and place it inside the shoebox OR you can give online through Follow You Box and discover the destination of your shoebox. The following is taken from the October 2017 newsletter of Samaritan's Purse: Right now, churches and families are filling millions of shoeboxes with fun toys, school supplies, and other gifts. Local churches and Christian partners around the world hand out these gifts at festive events where the entire community is invited and everyone has a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel. Along with each shoebox, every boy and girl is offered a booklet that tells the story of Jesus in their local language. Through many of the same churches, millions of children will enroll in The Greatest Journey discipleship and evangelism course. We pray that these children will give their hearts to Jesus, share their faith with family and friends, and grow up to become Christian leaders. In that way, God can use shoebox gifts to transform entire communities. As one pastor in Tanzania told us, "Africa has a lot of problems like corruption. Through Operation Christmas Child, we can have a new generation that fears God and honors the Word of God. We can realize a generation of children who can't be silent about their faith." The Voice of the Martyrs and the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church BY JOAN LOGAN FOR THE MISSIONS LEAD TEAM Sunday, November 4 is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). The Voice of the Martyrs, a missions organization dedicated to serving and helping persecuted families worldwide, highlights this day with a call for Christians to pray for brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who face persecution, torture, imprisonment, and death. It has been reported that there are more Christians being persecuted in the world today than at any other period in history. The help The Voice of the Martyrs provides to families of Christian martyrs is in the form of job training for widows/mothers, schooling, medical, and moving the family to a safer place if necessary. The Voice of the Martyrs is not a recipient of Journey Church's Missions budget; however, there are people within our church who do support them financially. Our intent is to make you aware of the International Day of Prayer for the Prosecuted Church and ask that you pray for those experiencing persecution to remain faithful.
Forming followers of Jesus who impact their world 563-243-4164 Fax: 563-243-0255 www.journeyclinton.org Volume 1, November 2018 Issue 11 Journey News A publication of Journey Church of Clinton, Iowa