Steeplecock News Excerpts

November 2008

Archived Steeplecock News

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
As a reminder, our church is providing you with the unique opportunity to share Christ with a needy child by using a simple shoebox! Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, the Christian relief and evangelism ministry led by Franklin Graham. People across the country are filling shoeboxes with small toys, school supplies, and other gifts. Thanks to millions of caring people like you, this project is bringing joy and the hope found in Jesus Christ to hurting children in over 90 countries.

Please bring in your filled shoeboxes by November 16th. If you have any questions, please speak to The Rev. Deacon Allen Batchelder. Thank you for your support.

Stewardship Meeting
A luncheon was served at church on Saturday October 18, 2008. Stefanos Loisou, our church financial advisor spoke to the group on charitable giving concepts, planned giving and the many avenues to philanthropy.

Everyone present was amazed at the opportunities that are available for us to take advantage of. He explained the many ways that the church as well as family can benefit, many of the plans are tax free.

If anyone is interested in hearing Stef speak again, please speak with me. It could certainly be to your advantage and the church could also benefit.
Priscilla Thayer, Stewardship Chair

WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION
The date has been set for our annual Christmas Party. We will meet in Page Hall for dessert at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 5th. After refreshments we will conduct a short business meeting to set dates for our remaining activities for this year. There will be a collection taken for the Salvation Army for those that wish to contribute. A Christmas devotional will conclude the meeting. A gift exchange will conclude our meeting. Please spend between five and ten dollars for a gift to exchange.

Members of the Women's Association will be called to make their reservations. Any woman not on our membership list is cordially invited to attend our party. Please call Pauline Baril at 781-893-0697 or Lois Olson at 781-891-7710 to let us know you are coming. Also, anyone may bring a guest. When you make your reservation let us know an extra person will be accompanying you, and be sure she is aware of the gift exchange if she wishes to participate.

Mark your calendar now for December 5th, and we look forward to seeing you then.
Pauline Baril and Lois Olson

SAVE OUR SUMMER (SOS) A SUCCESS!
Eighteen people responded to the SOS - Save Our Summer Program bringing in $6,230 and with the $5,000 match, a GRAND TOTAL OF $11,230! Well done, good and faithful servants. Thank you one and all!
Allen Batchelder

SALVATION ARMY SUPPORT
We are asking everyone to bring in canned goods on Thanksgiving Sunday, November 23rd. These will be delivered to the Salvation Army on Myrtle Street in Waltham, for their food pantry and meals that are served to the needy on a daily basis. Let's give thanks by helping others!

Thanksgiving Dinner
Also, on November 23rd, the Thanksgiving Dinner will be held at church after the service, sponsored by Rosetta Williams and her team from Grace Christian Church.

Office Administrator Segment
Thought for the Month:
"Sometimes the things that are free are those which cost the most. "
Dr. Parker, Crosslites.com

Dates to Remember
Sunday, November 16th - Bring in filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Sunday, November 23rd - Thanksgiving dinner after church service given by Grace Christian Church -- AND -- Bring in canned goods for Salvation Army.
Friday, December 5th - Women's Association Christmas parry - 1:00 pm - Page Hall.

Thomas Times (Fall 2008)
Thank you for your partnership with us in service to Bibleless peoples. Here's what we've been up to recently.

MDOC(pronounced 'em-doc'). The Manager Development and Orientation Course prepares people with management backgrounds to work in a cross-cultural setting. Two weeks of this five-month program are given to Language and Culture Learning, an intensive version of what I (Paul) normally teach in eight week academic settings.

We had 16 participants and two teaching assistants. Among the participants were speakers of Chinese, North African French, and Tagalog. (I got to try out my TagaSog!)

MDOCers are fun to teach. The course is nonacademic; there is usually no grading. (Teachers needing credits from these 2 weeks can do so through an agreement we have with Seattle Pacific University.) Even so, participants know that they are about to head overseas. Consequently, they are much closer to going abroad than the typical student in the academic version of the course, so they're motivated to learn as much as possible, to challenge the presenter, to wrestle with ideas.

Church. Barbara and I speak French, Swahili, and Spanish to varying degrees. We actually serve in a church where on a given morning, we have to use all three! The church houses multiple congregations: Latino, Nigerian, African-American, and an Anglo congregation with a number of Swahili-speaking refugees from Burundi. I have preached there using Swahili summaries, and may branch into Spanish.

Barbara is taking Spanish at a community college over the internet. The class uses internet telephony and video, so she does it from home. Next summer, we are planning to do a one-month Spanish immersion somewhere in Latin America, so that we can both be at least conversational in the language.

At the GSAL library. Barbara is helping in preparation for a reaffirrnation of accreditation that will be decided in 2010. This is a critical time for this institution that prepares students for cross-cultural ministry. Much remains to be done. Corporate matching gifts. We just became aware that gifts made out to SIL rather than Wycliffe are acceptable to most corporations for matching. If your corporation does matching gifts, make the gift out to "SIL International, tax ID 75-1840827," and use the address "SIL International, PO Box 620122, Orlando FL 32862-0122."

Thank you for your prayers,
Paul and Barb

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Trinity Church
of Waltham