Craft/Games Night

Last Friday night the Sunday School hosted a crafts/games/fellowship night.  Here one of our students creates a Christmas angel which the pastoral care committee will distribute over the Christmas season.



Of course, every project needs
a supervisor.

                             

And some crafty ladies.










 

If scissors and glue guns weren't your forte, there were games. Puzzles

And, of course, food!

If you missed the fun, we're doing it
all again on Dec. 2. 7:00 pm

Here's an update from Nepal.

We are continuing to have a marvelous adventure.   Our days start at about 0800 with an illy coffee in the lounge then breakfast and then off to explore.  We have found that hiring a driver is the  best way to get around, that way they can take us to the site, then wait for us and then take us right home.   We have visited the 3 Durbar squares which are the sites of the previous royal palaces. The one we saw today had some buildings dating from 745 AD.   Many temples in each one and they do look very similar.   We also went to the Monkey temple,(Swayambhunath) -- it is a Buddhist temple and there were lots of worshipers today also many monkeys.

Because we have so much luggage we are driving[instead of flying] to Bharatpur a trip  of 147 km which will take us about 4 plus hours.  The roads are rough in places so we have to go slow!!  Hopefully the weather will be clear as yet we have been unable to even see the hills that surround Kathmandu because of the smog.

Ed. Note;  Received the following a couple of days later. Our trip to the hospital in Bharatpur was unbelieveable. The distance was from Victoria to Naniamo and it took 5 hours.   The first hour of the trip we traveled 21 Km in wall to wall traffic, buses of all sizes, huge trucks, not transports just very large dump truck types and of course motor bikes weaving in and out sometimes with 3 people on them.  Often children and even infants strapped to their mothers.  The road is narrow and often washed away by the rains.  We had an angel looking after us as a large truck full of rice straw nearly toppled on us.  Thank you for your prayers!  We arrived safe and sound to a gracious welcome.  The staff have done everything for us  -- going so far as to install a heater so we can have warm showers.  So far we do not know how to make it work so hopefully tomorrow we will have it up and running. We each have our own room, a toilet and a squat, and electricity.  We feel blessed. We have met the people at the Christian church and had tea with them.   We hope to deliver some of our supplies to the community to them on Sat.  They have a wonderful Guest House as well,  so any of you can come next time!!

Sunday   Went to church today. It was amazing.  We were asked to give our witness. Must say I had tears in my eyes. The whole congregation has an open prayer time where everyone prays out loud at the same time.  I am sure the heavens are alive with the sounds of praise.

Mission: At home and Away

There are several mission projects to report on this month at SPPC.  The first is our "warm toes" program.  This is the time when we buy warm socks, stuff them with necessities like toothpaste and shampoo and bring them to the church where they are dedicated to God's work on earth.  We then donate them to Our Place in Victoria for distribution.  With winter coming on, the need for warm toes among the clients of Our Place is great.

Another mission that SPPC supports is the Refuge Bus, often referred to as The Blue Bus.  One Sunday morning this month, we heard from Rick Wismer, who runs the program.  The bus ministry focusses on outreach to First Nations communities on lower Vancouver Island.  Two communities Pauquachin and Tseycum are close to SPPC.  Rick reported on some success stories and some needs.  The most pressing need is a new bus.  The old double decker has reached the end of the road, so to speak, and he has his eyes on a new coach-style bus that would better suit the needs for this ministry.  He also took the opportunity to thank SPPC for the volunteers who come on board the bus and especially for the cookies.  Thousands and thousands of cookies are produced every year by members of SPPC and donated to the Refuge Bus for snacks.  

Finally, one of our members is embarked on a mission of her own.  Linda Cliff is in Nepal as part of a hospice team.  They will be there for six weeks, to teach staff at a hospice in rural Nepal.  I had a letter from her shortly after she'd arrived in Kathmandu.  "We arrived safe and sound with excellent flights on Korean Air.   Everything was on time, the service was excellent and the flights did not seem as long as expected. The first leg to Incheon , Korea was 12 hours and the second to Kathmandu was 8 hours.  The stopover in Korea made the trip doable.

The ride from the airport to our hotel was overwheming!  Dogs,cows, people, cars, motorbikes, horns blaring, all on the road at the same time, all seeming to go in different directions and us in a sketchy van traveling right down the middle of the road.  Our driver took us the back way so we saw much poverty and the road is what we would have called a trail.  It was a relief to arrive at the hotel which is an oasis of calm in a very busy, noisy and wonderful city.

So far we have explored the Thamel district where the hotel is.  Lots of shopping and amazing sites.  Feel safe and as long as you realize that when a car or motorbike sounds the horn you better step out of the way it is easy to get around.   Yesterday we went on a tour with a driver and a guide.  We went to Bhartapur and saw this ancient temple town and the real third world life style.  It is just the end of harvest so they are drying their rice in the town squares, so everywhere are these great mounds of rice they are getting ready to store.  We also drove into the country and saw the people preparing their fields for the next crop which is potatoes.  Terraced lands, worked by hand, makes me embarassed to say I work in my garden.  I play: they work.

Today we are off to Hospice Nepal and to wander around.  Have loved the food, many places to eat, both western and ethnic food.  We go to bed early and get up with the sun.  It is wonderful."

 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 ESV

Ikea Trip

by Michael Denton

and Janet Smith

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho,

It’s off to IKEA we go,

On a BC Ferry

And a chartered bus,

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho!

Thanks to Janet Smith, a large group of 38 people gathered at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to board the 09:00 departure of the Spirit of British Columbia, heading for Tsawwassen.  Once at Tsawwassen, a chartered bus picked up the group and took them to IKEA where I’m sure they all “shopped ‘till they dropped.” 

The group returned on the 17:00 (5pm) sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, with large yellow and blue bags in hand! The shopping was heavy but the purses were lighter at the end of it all.

International Stage Lines were great, we needed 47 to fill the bus. At one point we were going to cancel as we only had 36 people signed up to go but ISL gave us the 47 seater coach for the price of the 28 seater which made it all possible. So, thanks to Carla in the office of ISL for working with us on the trip and to Peter, our driver for his good service.
It was fun!

Things to Think On

by Alice Valdal

A recent tv show introduced me to the phenomenon of "snark blogs."  These bits of cyber nastiness have grown at an astounding rate.  They are a recognized sub-set of the blogosphere. The term "snark blog" has its own definition in the urban dictionary.  While these postings may be intended to be funny, they mostly come off as spiteful.  They seem to have no purpose other than to build the self-esteem of the bloggers by hurting and humiliating their chosen victims.  Sadly, these blogs often develop a large readership.

     I have a friend who has experienced a great deal of stress over the past year.  All of our visits were punctuated with tales of failing parents, ghastly renovations, job uncertainty, parenting difficulties.  She suffered sleeplessness, stomach upset and hives.  Life seemed a continual downward spiral.  Then, at our last visit, she was relaxed, smiling and comfortable.  What happened?  She had made a conscious decision to stop thinking about her troubles and focus on gratitude.  She'd started keeping a gratitude journal, and her life was transformed.  She still has job uncertainty and troublesome parents  but these negative issues no longer ruled her life.
My friend had learned the lesson of Philipians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  

Gratitude, the perfect antidote for snark.

    .

Thanksgiving

by Alice Valdal

On Thanksgiving Sunday, the sanctuary was decorated with the fruits of harvest.  Squash, corn, pumpkin, pickles, apples and tomatoes, homemade bread, grapes and peppers.  We sang "Come Ye Thankful People, Come."  And who wouldn't be thankful at such a time, the table groaning under the weight of crops safely gathered in.

A few days later, we gathered in that place again.  This time, for a funeral, a very different occasion.  And yet, there was thanksgiving there too.  Gratitude for a life well-lived, for love realized and for the glorious homecoming of a sister.

Gratitude for Jesus, who promised "in my father's house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also."

Two different services, two different moods, but through them both, the thread of thanksgiving to God from His people.

We Have a New Organ

by Michael Denton

The Wurlitzer 3 manual ‘church’ organ is a magnificent instrument.  All sounding stops have been digitally reproduced and very closely resemble a pipe organ.

Each manual, Swell, Great and Choir (from top to bottom) has 12 speaking stops, and the Pedal section also has 12 stops.  In addition to the 48 ‘speaking stops’ the organ has Chimes on the Swell manual.

The organ sounds are described as “Principal” (Diapasons), “Flutes,” “Strings,” and “Reeds.”  The Chimes form the Percussion sounds (equivalent to ‘ranks of pipes’ on a pipe organ.)

Each manual can be coupled to one of the other two by way of “Couplers.”  These “Couplers” are operated either by thumb tabs below the manuals, or by toe pistons above the pedal board.  The organ also has 6 sets of ‘pre-sets’ for each manual, and 6 ‘general pre-sets’ which will operate the entire organ.  There are six sets of memory bank for the ‘general pre-sets’ allowing different organists to select and retain their own preferred registration (the use of different stops in combination.)

And last but by no means least, the organ is equipped with three expression pedals – one for each manual – which can be operated individually or in a combined fashion.  There’s also one “Crescendo” pedal which will “pull out the stops” as it’s pressed down and a “Tutti” button and toe-piston which will immediately bring on the “Full Organ.)

The organ is capable of providing excellent ‘colour tones’ with very quiet stops being used for those quiet reflective moments, building up to a much fuller and richer (and louder) sound overall.  All this technology is supported by 8 speakers; 6 general ‘rank’ speakers and two sub-woofers.  It has a lot of power!

As a matter of interest, the organ at its current volume level is probably no more than 20% of its maximum capacity.  If I were to “open up” the speakers to full volume, we just might interfere with landing aircraft!  Certainly we’d have to replace the roof of the church as we would literally “raise the roof.”   

As your Director of Music and organist, I am still experimenting with various combinations of sound.  I trust you will bear with me during the ‘learning curve’ of operating this magnificent instrument. 

I’m extremely grateful to Session for their foresight in purchasing this instrument.  It will hopefully last us many years and provide an enhanced sound to our worship services.  I wish to particularly thank Rev. Irwin Cunningham, Mrs. Jean Strong and Mr. Mark Johansson for their part in coming to scout out the instrument.  I would also like to thank all those generous people who have contributed to the Organ Fund over the past years which has made this acquisition possible.

If I’m playing it too loudly (even at its 20% capacity) I’m sure I’ll hear about it.  But when commenting, please also reflect on those quieter moments when the organ is played very quietly and gently!

In his dedication of the new organ, Rev. Irwin also thanked the Milne family, who gave the gift of music to SPPC  with their donation of our first organ.  It has served the congregation faithfully for twenty years.  We hope to pass on that gift to another congregation.

In all things...

by Alice Valdal

This year, wherever two or three gardeners are gathered together the talk inevitable turns to the disappointing yields this year.  The litany of complaint is loud and long.  Miserable spring, cold July, no bees, marauding deer, slugs, no sun.  I complain with the best of them, often leading the chorus.  Here it is, the end of summer and my tomatoes are still green.

In previous years, my plum tree has yielded bushels of fruit.  This year, I've got a niggardly offering that won't full one ice cream bucket.  I was ready to write off the garden as a complete failure, and then I found the blackberries. 

The bushes are laden, the berries sweet and juicy and huge!  Best of all they require little effort to grow and maintain.  I can't help considering the blackberry bushes along the roadsides as an example of God's grace.  We label them "noxious weed."  We cut them down, plough them under, trample them over.  We strip them of fruit and hack at the vines, then turn our backs and ignore them.  Yet, year after year, the blackberries shower the ungrateful with abundance, fruit fit for kings, there for the taking, no questions asked, no one excluded.


When I look at the failures and successes in my garden, I am reminded of Paul's message to the Thessalonians, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.