FORT DES MOINES CHURCH OF CHRIST Love God Love People Serve Everyone WWW.GODSFORT.ORG Office: 515-285-1254 Fort Connections Service Times: Sunday School 9 AM Worship 10 AM Mike Demastus June 2017 On Tuesday, May 16 th, during my program of Faith Works Live, I interviewed Sue Thayer. Sue is a resident of Storm Lake, IA. She became the manager of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake. She worked in that capacity for 17 years. Part of her reasoning with doing what she did was that the Storm Lake clinic did not perform abortions. So her main focus was on sex education and pregnancy testing. But that all changed for her. Two significant events occurred that began to gnaw at her conscience and her role as the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic. The first was the horrible story that occurred in Storm Lake where a baby was found dead in a recycle bin. The local law enforcement investigated and went to area medical clinics to find out who had been pregnant recently. Planned Parenthood took a stand and refused to give up their records. They went on a fundraising/media campaign lying about the ramifications and details concerning this particular request from law enforcement. Sue knew they were lying and even asked her district head why they were. She was told to not worry about it. The second was when Sue was informed that ALL Iowa Planned Parenthood clinics would begin performing Webcam Abortions. If you are unfamiliar with what this is, it is where a woman sits in a room with a computer screen and a doctor on the computer screen instructs her to take abortion pills. They are then sent home with no medical oversight to have a miscarriage on their own. It is an unethical, dangerous practice. And it was the straw that broke the camel s back for Sue. During this whole time, Sue had been listening to Christian talk radio (Interesting, huh?). She had set up a radio in her office at her clinic and would even listen to Christian speakers teach against abortion and what God s Holy Word says about rescuing those being led away to slaughter. So Sue, overwhelmed by the knowledge that Planned Parenthood was so focused on money from potential abortions that the ethics of the matter were never considered, could no longer stay. She made a call to the Iowa Right to Life. She informed them of the new Webcam Abortions that were coming to every Planned Parenthood clinic. This was something they were unleashing under the radar. The public had no knowledge of this. (As an aside, you should know that none other than Warren Buffet from Omaha paid for every Planned Parenthood in Iowa to be set up to perform Webcam Abortions.) Sue left her position. She began telling her story. She was also introduced to a prolife effort called 40 Days of Life. She helped to organize this in the Storm Lake area and she ended up going to pray out in front of the clinic that she was the director of. She said it was the hardest thing she had ever done. But her efforts in prayer and courage paid off. Within a couple months of the 40 Days of Life campaign, the Storm Lake Planned Parenthood clinic closed. I was so impressed with Sue and her story. Her courage to step out and trust God and to recognize the evil practice of abortion for what it is was inspiring. The world needs more Sue Thayers. We need more people who will obey God even when the personal cost is great. And if you haven t started listening to Faith Works Live yet, you need to. I love the opportunity to hear amazing stories like Sue s. Tune in every weekday at 4PM on 99.3 FM The Truth. To remove your name from our mailing list, please notify us by e-mail secretary@godsfort.org or call 515-285-1254. 1
Missions Ministry Update By Mary Rowedder The mission of Shiloh Christian Children's Ranch is to provide Christian homes for abused, neglected, and other children; to meet the spiritual, emotional, social, and physical needs of each child. They are funded by gifts from caring people like you. The families of the children placed at Shiloh are not charged any fee to be placed there. The ministry of Shiloh now includes a total of six homes for the children with two relief homes, plus an onsite school at the Kahoka, MO site. Please come to Sunday School, on June 4th at 9:00, to hear from Jim Thomas about the work they are doing for troubled children. Rachel Demastus shared Agape Pregnancy Center s outreach and programs with The Fort! Thanks to your support, Deanna won the prize for TOP WALKER at Ruth Harbor s Walk For Life Event! She and Nate won 2 nights in a hotel! She raised over $1,000! Great job DEANNA! Agape s Basement 2550 MLK Jr. Pkwy June 10th 9-2 June 23rd 9-5 June 24th 9-2 Agape Pregnancy Center uses ultrasound technology to save lives. Over 60% of the abortion minded women, who come into Agape,save their babies lives after they see their child on the ultrasound. Agape s ultrasound machine was purchased used and is starting to wear down. A new, basic machine will cost between $20,000 and $25,000. We at Personhood Fort Des Moines believe so strongly that Agape needs a new machine, that we have produced a video that we will share with other churches and with Christian businesses in the Des Moines metro to try and raise the money that is needed. Here at The Fort we will be having a baby bottle drive from May-August. We want you to pick up a baby bottle on the information table, fill it with change, bring it back and grab another bottle and start the process all over again. Our goal is to collect $1,000.00 worth of change. If we can get 25 churches, Christian businesses, and individuals to donate $1,000.00, we will get Agape their new machine! PFD will meet on Monday, June 5th at 6:30 PM! We will be blessed to have Informed Choices come and speak to us for 30 minutes and we will then watch the second video from the series Life is Best. We will have a time of discussion afterwards. We will meet until 8:00. Mark it on your calendar and make plans NOW to attend! We are going to have a Prayer Meeting on the first Sunday of every month at 8:00 am throughout 2017. We will be praying for our Country and our elected officials, our Church and the ministries and missions we support, and the Families of The Fort. Our meeting will be Sunday, June 4th at 8:00 am in the CIA room. 2
Fort Facts Total Income for March: $19,627.13 Total Expenses for March:$13,592.76 Scripture Memorization for June Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. CIA will continue throughout the summer. Justin and Lindsay will be out of town from June 6th-15th however. The adults, Kingdom Kids and JAM are taking a break from Wednesday evening activities for the summer. But we will have special activities for the kids so that they can fellowship and stay connected. *JAM will be meeting at Ashley Star Park on Monday, June 19th at 10:00 am. Snacks and water will be provided! *Lindsay and Shannon are having a special Bible Study for the CIA girls, discussing what the Bible says about Purity. We will meet on Wednesday June 21st and June 28th at 11:00 at the Demastus house! Lunch will be provided! The children (JAM and Kingdom Kids age) who come to Sunday School, will be combined for the summer months of June, July and August. They will meet in the CIA room and watch a 3-2-1 Penguins video, have a snack, color a picture and play a game. Natalie will be their teacher in the months of June and August and Miranda and Sara will teach in July! The kids will have a great time and learn many valuable Scriptural lessons from the silly Penguins. Kirk and Ashley Bates are wanting to adopt another child. Unbelievably, the cost is HUGE! Because of the cost, the Bates are having a rummage sale at the church on June 10th. If you have anything that you could contribute to the sale, please see Kirk or Ashley. Please also mark your calendar for June 10th and stop by the church from 9-5. Adult Sunday School will be starting a new video series, on June 11th, by Tony Evans entitled the Names of God! This is a fantastic series by one of Shannon s favorite preachers! You won t want to miss this opportunity for growth! Our next VBS Meeting will be June 1st at 6:00! Please make plans NOW to attend! VBS is July 28th-30th! Mark your calendars NOW! 3
Birthdays Anniversaries: Hunter Abel 6-2 Kevin and Mary Rowedder 6-6 Levi DeYoung 6-3 Nathan and Melissa Shanks 6-9 Sue Keller 6-3 Terry and Bev Heuton 6-10 Floyd Fluharty 6-5 Shawn and Lori Kinman 6-15 Luther Abel 6-6 Jacob Demastus 6-6 Deb Leahy 6-9 Cameron Ohnemus 6-13 Benjamin Hoodjer 6-18 Peyton Ohnemus 6-19 *If your birthday or anniversary was forgotten, please send an email to secretary@godsfort.org.* Special Dates to Remember 6/1 VBS Meeting @6 6/4 Prayer Meeting @8 6/4 Shiloh Mission 6/5 Personhood Meeting @6:30 6/8 Elder/Deacon Meeting @6 6/10 Rummage 6/11 New Sunday School curriculum 6/11 Board Meeting 6/19 JAM at Star Park @10 6/21 CIA girls lunch @11 6/28 CIA girls lunch @11 Server Schedule 06/04/17 06/11/17 06/18/17 06/25/17 Greeters Kirk/Ashley Cameron/ Shannah Teressa Nate/Deanna Scripture Celeste Kirk Charity Natalie Praise Team Mary/1 Nate/3 Abel's/1 DVD/2 Meditation George Richard Miles Jim Server Roy Miles Hunter Forrest Closing Prayer Lonnie Jim Richard Matt Stewardship George/Richard Terry/Lonnie Bruce/Kirk Jacob/Nate 2 Nursery Cameron/ Shannah LeAnn/Miranda Forrest/Emily Steph/Carter Junior Church Lindsay 1:11 Ashley 1:12 No Jr. Church Shan 1:13 Prep Roy/Celeste Roy/Celeste Roy/Celeste Roy/Celeste to the Sick Jim Miles Nate 1 Lonnie Security Nate 1/Justin/ Jacob Richard/Nate 2/ Forrest Mike/Doug/Jim Miles/Kevin/ Shawn Welcome Wagon Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy Mowing in June: 6/2 Miles 6/9 Austin 6/16 Jacob 6/23 Nate/Melissa 6/30 Bill 4
June 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 VBS Meeting @6 2 3 4 Prayer Meeting @8 Shiloh Mission 11 Tony Evans during Sunday School Board Meeting 5 Personhood Meeting @6:30 18 19 JAM at Star Park @10 6 7 No CIA 12 13 14 No CIA 20 21 CIA girls lunch @11 CIA @6 8 Elders/Deacons Meeting @6 9 10 Rummage 15 16 17 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 CIA girls lunch @11 CIA @6 29 30 5