WEDNESDAY PM BIBLE CLASS

Nov. 18 — Joe Winnett

Nov. 25 — No classes Day before Thanksgiving

WITH SYMPATHY

“My sister, Phillis Prouty, lost her long battle with cancer at 5 PM on Wednesday evening. Thank you all for your prayers. The family, as well as Bill and I, appreciate them very much.” – Mary K. Flanary

We are expressing our love and sympathy, combined with our prayers, to Mary K. & Bill, and all the other members of the family of Phillis. May God bless everyone in this time of grief.

PANTRY & CLOTHING ROOM UPDATE

As many of you know, we had a very successful pantry and clothing room ministry prior to the Covid-19 epidemic. People were being helped and our members truly enjoyed the fellowship of working together to serve others. But about 8 months ago our world abruptly changed and we had to embrace new realities like masks and social distancing. We simply could not continue our pantry effort in the same way and still keep clients and workers safe.

Ever since the shutdown of the pantry work, many of us have been grieving over what we lost. It is only natural that we seek some way to restore the good work that has been lost, and for that reason many have been discussing what can be done. The elders believe many questions can be answered by sharing an information update with the brethren about the pantry’s future.

First, we must sadly announce that the Zollers have resigned from directing the pantry work. We are all deeply indebted to David and Sheri for the long hours they devoted to making the pantry work, but they have decided that it is time for them to step aside and have some family time again. New leadership for the pantry has been challenging to find, since it is nearly a full-time job. Someone must constantly inventory food supplies, determine what food is needed & what can be ordered, arrange for food pickups, file necessary paperwork, keep records, check records, check & record temperatures on the refrigeration units every other day…and all of this must be done 52 weeks a year without fail.

Secondly, many of our reliable workers are still isolating because of the pandemic and without people to sack groceries, check in clients and deliver the food all while socially distanced & masked, we simply cannot proceed.

Until these problems can be solved, it is our intention to operate as an “emergency” pantry. People seeking food will not be turned away, but they will be helped one at a time as the need arises. Please pray for God’s help and wisdom as we move forward. Our hope is that we can restore some version of our pantry work in the future as these problems are resolved.

The following is from the Welches in Cambodia. Please continue to pray for them and the opportunities to spread the Gospel there. For the elders, Ken D

Dearest family, In the everyday busyness of day-to-day life activities (and for us, all that goes along with developing a property and building a house in a foreign land) we remain eternally grateful for the great and mighty promises of our Lord. Furthermore, we are grateful for your encouragements, love and prayers. As we prepare for what’s ahead and moving into our new home we are super excited to see what’s next, how God will use us for future ministry opportunities and outreach. Over the years you have heard us sing praises to the Lord for blessing us with our three beautiful Cambodian daughters. This is one of the blessings we could have never anticipated. The Lord has used them in so many ways and we continue to enjoy watching them grow in their spiritual walk with Jesus. Oh how we love family!!!

The Cambodian culture has taught us so much about community and we are thankful for the blessings, opportunities and relationships we continue to make. Speaking of family, our three girls have been sharing and ministering to their brother, Vichei and sister, Sreymom (2 additional biological siblings who are married with children) on how God has been working in their lives—simply stated, just telling their story and His story. Oh how the love of Jesus has given our girls hope and peace! We have been praying for these family members and faithfully waiting for additional ways to minister to them with the love of Jesus.