Mind Your Tongue

 

 I was rolling out pie crust the other day and had a flashback of myself as a pre-teen sitting in my neighbour's kitchen while she demonstrated the art of pasty making.  There were eight or ten of us, all members of a 4-H homemaking club.  The leader, my neighbour, was having trouble with the pie crust.  It kept tearing.  She was doing her best to instruct us girls on the finer points of pastry while trying to repair the holes that appeared in her pie crust.  A school chum sitting next to me snickered behind her hand and made rude comments.
    Our neighbour was a busy farm wife with hundreds of tasks awaiting her attention.  She received no monetary recompense for teaching a batch of smart-aleck school girls.  She didn't even have a child of her own to benefit from the 4-H club.  She deserved our gratitude, not our ridicule.
     The Bible is rife with  instructions to guard our speech. James 3:8, Matt 12: 36-37, Ephesians. 4:29. 1 Peter 3;10, Ps 34:13, to reference a few. 
       Malicious talk is ungodly, it is damaging to the community and it is hurtful to the victim.  What I realized, as I rolled out pie crust, some fifty years later, is that a nasty tongue is harmful to the speaker as well.  That incident has stuck in my mind all these years, and my memory of my school chum has been tarnished forever by her unkind words.  
      I remember telling my pal to hush lest she be heard.  I wish I had told her to hush because she was doing wrong. Col 3:16.

Little Golden Book

By Martha McCracken



 The other day in the grocery store, of all places, I spotted a book that I knew I had to have:

 Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book, by Diane E. Muldrow c. 2013

 Just looking at the cover illustration of a woman, dressed in a fifties era red dress, holding a wee puppy ("The Poky Little Puppy"! ) made me feel nostalgic for the days of childhood when life and its rules seemed a lot simpler.  Not easier, mind you, just not as complex as they may seem nowadays.

 So, I bought the book!  At $10.99 it seemed like a deal.  And it was. 

 As I paged through the book at home, I revelled in the calming and straightforward messages, the charming pictures of children, occasionally adults, and all manner of creatures from the animal  and animated kingdom, all culled from the Little Golden Books of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.  Many of you may remember Tootle the train engine,  The Three Bears, I am a Bunny, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, and others.

 And the captions are positive and life affirming:  Stay curious, use your imagination, break bread together, cultivate contentment, give thanks, let your children know you love them ...
 Sound familiar?

 I have read through this gem several times and shared it with friends, who also delighted in seeing old favourites again, and appreciating even more the life lessons learned when we were younger.  There has been a lot of laughter.

 As noted on page 16 of the book, under an illustration of a baby elephant floating on its back and spouting water, "The simplest things are often the most fun!"

 And yes, I did proudly print my name on the inside cover, proclaiming that

      This Little Golden Book belongs to
                       MARTHA


Ed. Note:  Thanks to Martha for sharing her Golden Gem.  We had a 72nd wedding anniversary at the church recently.  I expect Doris and Royce practised a few of the golden messages in their long and happy marriage.

Congratulations Royce and Doris, and thanks to Felicity for sharing her pictures.

Colouring Outside the Lines

by Alice Valdal

   I've had a bad week.  It started when I decided to update my author's webpage, using a program "they" said was the best.  I am not a techie but, armed with the assurance that the program would walk me through, I began.  I downloaded the files. I unzipped the files. I called my server and got an upgrade. I installed the files on my site, I clicked "view" and Voilà! -- it didn't work. The screen I was supposed to see, the one with all the instructions, didn't appear.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  But, I persevered, went to step 2.  That worked.  Step 3 worked, then at step 4 (of nine) the whole thing froze.  That little "loading" icon went around and around for hours but nothing happened.  I backed up, I reinstalled, I looked at the help menu, all to no avail . . . finally, defeated, I called my IT guy.  Four days later I'm still waiting for him to call back.
    So, I put the website chore aside and went on to another project, also on line.  When I tried to sign in, I was refused entry because, according to them,  I do not exist!
    By now my shoulders are higher than my ears and I walk away from the computer.  The pile of papers on my desk demands attention, so I sort and file and pick up my bank statement.  I always reconcile my statement with my bank book.  No problem. Not this week!  There are serious discrepancies and I can't find the error(s).
   The week is nearly over and I've been stymied at every turn.  Teeth gritted so tight my fillings are in danger, I walk outside . . . and dissolve into laughter.  The first thing to catch my eye is an Easter lily, blooming under a hydrangea bush.  It's a lovely sight, beautiful, eccentric, surprising, unique, and it stirs my soul to gratitude.

   In a world that wants to limit our conversations to 140 characters, insists that our pictures fall inside the lines and dictates how many letters we can have in our names, I am reminded that God's world has room for endless variety.
   In His marvellous creation a chameleon can change his colours, an Easter lily can bloom in July and He knows me by name, it is engraved in the palm of His hand.

   Praise God for the infinite variety of His Creation.  Praise Him for His boundless mercy.  Praise Him for His everlasting love.  Praise Him for the gift of an unexpected Easter lily.
   

Sponsor a Student

by Linda Cliff

House Upon the Rock Student Sponsorship

The Dominican Republic requires that all children attend school until grade eight.  Public schools are available; however, the government only provides a building and teacher; no materials, books, or even chalk.   There are some private schools in the area that provide a higher level of education and more opportunities for continuing on to university and obtaining a profession.  With a profession, a student can not only become self supporting, but, also support their aging parents and help their siblings.  A good education is one of the best ways to change the future of an entire family and help them to rise above poverty. 
   If you would like to help a child gain an education, you might consider sponsorship.  The cost varies from $20/month to over $100/month depending on the child, the school they wish to attend and the grade level.  Since your gift is for one particular child, you get to chose.

Before you make the important decision to sponsor a child, here is some important information that may help you.

1. Does the Ministry for House Upon the Rock issue tax receipts? 
• Yes.  All payments are made through MSC Canada who then issues a receipt.
2. Can you have your bank account debited each month or quarterly?
• Yes, MSC Canada can set this up.  You can also pay online, with cheque or set up the automatic debits

      3.    Once a child has been chose how long does it take till the process is completed?

      Usually, a sponsorship can be set up within two weeks.  The usual delay is waiting of the school to accept a new student.  Sponsorship starts in August but the registration fee would be due almost right away.

      4.  How do you let the Ministry know which child you have chosen?  

       Email works best but a phone call to Sharyn Branson would also work.

       5.  What are the next steps once you have your child?

Once it is confirmed that the family still wants sponsorship, and then the family has to register the student at the private school.  This requires submitting proper documentation ie transcript from previous school, immunization records, birth certificate, etc. Depending on the age of the student, the private school might require a placement exam to be written before accepting the student.  Once the student is accepted and registered then the sponsor is contacted and will be asked to send the registration fee as soon as possible.  The child or parents (depending on the age of the child) writes the sponsors a minimum of three times a year.  Once at the beginning of the school year, once around January/February and the third time is at the end of the school term and a copy of the final report card is included.  Parents  are also required to attend 3 yearly parent meetings with the Ministry.

If you are interested in this worthwhile initiative please contact the Ministry for House Upon the Rock (houseupontherock.net) or the office at SPPC 250 656- 2241 or speak to Linda.

Year of Mission

 

Watermelon sculpture

Saanich Peninsula Presbyterian Church has always supported mission work in one form or other.  Our annual budget includes a line dedicated to PWS&D.  Our Sunday School supports a foster child, we sponsor the warm toes project for Our Place and members of the congregation have donated hundreds and hundreds of items to the Compassionate Warehouse, just to name a few of our outreach endeavours.
  While all of those projects have continued quietly in the background, this year specific mission projects have been in the forefront of our collective conscience.  Just last month we had Rev. Joey Cho from Cedar Tree ministry speak to us about his work among First Nations in Cowichan.   Earlier in June, Rick Wismer brought us an update on the Blue Bus ministry.  But our biggest event this year has been the mission trip to the Dominican Republic.  
     Many individuals donated personally to this undertaking, but as a congregation we started fund-raising with a strawberry social last July.  We collected bottles all fall and winter, held a concert, gave a dinner and participated in an auction in support of our DR team.            We prayed for them, held a commissioning service for them and welcomed them back with grateful hearts on their return.  On Friday, June 26 there was a DR night with pot luck dinner and a final presentation from our team.  
    Max presented a slide show of the highlights of his trip.

   Then invited us all to sample the Dominican Republic dishes prepared for us.  Although our team ate a lot of white bread and peanut butter sandwiches while they were away, the dinner they laid on for us was much more interesting -- plantain casserole, potato salad made with beets and lots of fruit. 

    According the Max, the rule on the mission was to try everything so we all tried the exotic foods and found them very tasty.

 Linda Cliff gave an excellent presentation on how to sponsor a student in the DR.  It can be done, collectively or individually, there is tax receipt, and you choose the student you wish to support.  The amount of sponsorships varies from about $20.00/ month to over $100.00 depending on the student, the school they attend and their grade level.  See next week's blog for complete details. 

   The experience of being missionaries certainly had a profound effect on the individuals who went.  But what has it meant for us as a church?  How has this "year of mission" changed us?  

   I believe the massive effort put into fund-raising for a hands-on mission has drawn members of the congregation closer together. Common cause tends to bring focus.

   I believe the success of the mission has given our congregation courage.  The financial hurdles looked immense when we began, but they were met and surpassed ahead of schedule.  Next time we're handed a challenge we'll feel more confident in our ability to meet it.

  I believe our youth have shown themselves to be capable, responsible and committed to God's work in a way we've not witnessed before.  

  I believe the DR mission has opened us to new possibilities, encouraged us to think big and joined us in a unique way with other mission-minded Christians on the Peninsula and in the greater world.

   What about you?  Has the year of mission affected the way you think about SPPC?
  

The Picnic

The church picnic marks the end of the Sunday School for the summer.  And the end of the school year, means we have a graduation ceremony. Having reached the age of ten and been a faithful attender at Sunday School, Peter was the proud recipient of a Bible on Sunday morning.

Peter's presentation Bible

 Then it was off to the picnic.

And what's a picnic without races?

Losers and winners got wet.

Three legged race

Water balloon toss.

An impromptu race.

   Before we celebrate the end of school, it is usual to write an exam on the year's work.  Since this blog would never set an exam for anyone, I'm grateful to Rebekah and Benjamin for sharing their impressions of this year's work in the intermediate class.

This year we have worked on three different books.  We started the year by finishing a workbook on Jonah.  Once we had finished that, we moved onto a book called God, Up Close and Personal.  It is a book on writing journal entries and studying passages.  In this book we studied Philippians.  For the last part of the year, we have been doing a workbook on Esther and standing up against peer pressure.  I feel like I have learned a lot and will continue to use my knowledge of the Bible and what I learned throughout the summer.
                                                                      by Rebekah 

  At the beginning of the year we finished our work book on the book of Jonah.  After we had finished, we had a workbook called God, Up Close and

Personal In which we read Philippians and Ephesians and learned about the whole armour of God.  Later on in the year we started a workbook in which we are reading the book of Esther and learning what to do with peer pressures.                             by Benjamin

 There was a penalty for taking out Abigail.  Every race needs an unexpected obstacle.

 We had a great day.  My thanks to Rebekah and Benjamin and I hope all the Sunday School teachers and all the Sunday School students have a wonderful summer. 

The Big Blue Bus

We had a visit from Rick Wismer and his BIG Blue Bus last week. What an amazing story he has to tell.  He started with Youth for Christ ministry nearly 20 years ago and joined the Refuge bus ministry a couple of years after that.  The idea of a bus grew out of the need to go where the people are rather than wait for the people to come to us.   As the Great Commission says, we are to go to all nations. 
   Early in the bus ministry, workers found where kids hung around a street corner with nothing to do but get into trouble.  That's the corner where the Refuge bus showed up, offering a positive alternative.  Over time it became clear that the blue bus had a special ministry for First Nations youth.  Now, at the invitation of the band leaders, Rick takes his bus to Tseycum, Tsawout, the Esquimalt Nation, Scia’new (Beecher Bay) and T'Sou-ke. 

    We began with a formal presentation during the worship time. 

Rick told us about the programs the bus ministry offers, namely, sports, snacks, games and fellowship, always mindful of what the particular host band council has agreed to.

    Given the recent release of the Truth and Reconciliation Report, Rick's visit was a timely reminder of the strained relations between the church and Indigenous peoples.  On one reserve, the chief had a bad experience with the church, but another member of the council had a good experience.  At her instigation, the band council has invited Rick and his bus so that the children will have a "positive Interaction", but he's not to preach Christianity or tell Bible stories. It is a fine line to walk, but, as Rick says, God opens doors.

   For those who like bus statistics, the Big Blue Bus is on hydraulics so it can be raised or lowered just like city buses to allow ease of people getting off and on.  That feature is also useful going over bad roads.

 Inside there are thirty seats so Rick can take kids on a trip.  There is also space at the back for meeting and it's loaded with video games.  I don't know if any of the congregation took up the invitation to try them out.

    SPPC has been a long-time supporter of the Blue Bus.  Rick thanked us for our gifts and urged the congregation to continue to pray for his ministry, to donate and to volunteer as we are able.

   In our usual SPPC style, we ended the morning with lunch!