Maundy Thursday, April 17th
Movie Title and starting time TBA
Good Friday Service, April 18th
1 p.m. “The Torn Veil”
Easter Sunday, April 20th
Sunrise Service, 7 am
Breakfast 7:30 am;
morning services, 8:45 & 11 am.
Heather Karls recently traveled to Ukraine with other staff at MDI (Missions Development Interna-tional) to help mission friends build a prayer tent in the middle of the “action” to provide food, tea and prayer support for battle-weary protesters as they took a stand for freedom.
Shortly after arriving, Heather’s team heard the pro-test had turned from peaceful to deadly. They could see a large wall of black smoke building in the sky and hear explosions and gunshots from their apart-ment. During the 96 hours they stayed in Ukraine, more than 60 people were killed, grocery stores were running out of food, gas stations ran out of gas, ATMs were no longer working and rumors said that roads were blocked leading to the airport. Heather’s team was told by a friend that “I can no longer tell you that you are safe in Ukraine.” At that point, they decided their safety was a greater distraction than any help they could provide. They flew to Spain the next day after being stopped by one roadblock on the way to the airport.
Prepare for Easter. There is a memorial tribute video (Fallen Heroes) online that shows candles and pictures of those who died during that week’s fighting. In the midst of the candles lays a copy of the Gospel of John that those at the prayer tent had distributed during the past three months. It clearly looked worn and it’s obvi-ous the spine was broken and well used. It is not known whether the owner of that book survived the week, but it is very possible this person had given his life to Christ in the midst of the struggle.
Condensed from Marti Scudder’s trip report
Video mentioned can be seen at:
http://mdiweblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/fallen-heroes.html
I work for a non-profit organization, CETUSA, that pro-motes global peace & understanding through student exchange. I am currently the U.P. manager, but will be transferring my territory to lower Michigan in July. I will be hiring local coordinators, to work as a liaison between international students, host families & local high schools. If you are interested in supplemental income and have a desire to bring the world closer together; or if you would be willing to open up your home to an international teen-ager, please let me know. Our hosts range from widows, to empty-nesters, to families of young children, who want to expose their family to another culture. I will be in lower Michigan the week of March 31 to conduct interviews and visit host family homes.
Jill Lindenberg,
Dear (Ames) members and friends, Our family would like to thank you for helping in the roll of lead-ing Jean Love, my sister, into the ministry when she first went to Ames Church many years ago. Your part in introducing Jean to the needs of working with youth in Christian ministry was the starting point in hearing God’s call on her life. Jean appreciated the people at Ames for all they did to help guide her and encour-age her in the direction of ministry. God bless you! –Kathy Carey and family Rev. Jean Love was a former member of Ames who was a youth counselor here before attending and graduating from As-bury Theological Seminary in 1984. Jean served in several UM churches in Michigan before her death in 2013.
Cindy Brown, World Missions Coordi-nator, is asking you to financially sup-port the United Methodist campaign Imagine No Malaria during Lent. Brightly colored bags will be available for you to pick up on Sunday, March 2 to begin filling with your loose change or extra dollars from Sunday, March 9 through Palm Sunday, April 13. Bags will be available throughout Lent in case you fill one up and need another. On Palm Sunday, bring your bags back for a special offering which will support the fight against Malaria.
In addition to your financial support, join with others in increasing your knowledge about Malaria by following the “60 seconds” suggested weekly study, to the right.
For deeper study and prayer, join with Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey’s “Journey to Life,” a 40-day devotional delivered to your email address. The
beautiful devotions are authored by lay and clergy leaders in Michigan. Regis-ter for these daily devotionals by going to Detroitannualconference.org
Click on the No More Malaria link on the left side and then click on the “Journey to Life” link on the bottom of the page.
You will notice that many of the articles this month have to do with a variety of missions. Why do we promote local and foreign missions reports?
Because we want to encourage you to stand with those who serve on the front line as they feed, pray and lead people to Christ, whether it’s in Saginaw or in the Ukraine. You stand with them through your prayers, offerings and even serving with them. You stand with them when you get involved at Ames.
5–Supporting local missions by helping with the yearly Neighborhood Summer Fest or the Thanksgiving Dinner.
6–Supporting the body of Christ by join-ing the Ames Member Care team.
7–Becoming a leader by seeking and studying under a current leader in an area that speaks to your heart.
8–Undergirding the heart of Ames by joining the Prayer Intecessors.
Where will you stand?
My name is Michael Cornish and I am truly blessed to have grown up as a part of the body of Christ at Ames; the foundation that was laid in me while I was growing up has served me well in college.
I am serving my church community (New Life - EMU) as a small group Bible study leader. I am also a tech director and oversee the sound, lights and slides during the worship service.
This summer I have the opportunity to serve as an intern with Great Commission Ministries, the missions organization that trains and equips New Life’s staff. The internship program I will be a part of is designed to develop leaders of leaders. I will work in Ann Arbor and help with New Life’s Leadership Training (LT) program, which draws students from EMU, University of Michigan, Wayne State and others. LT is a time for participants to grow and learn more effectively how to live out the Great Commission. I participated last summer and it was a life changing experience for me. I have been able to apply what I learned throughout this past year, and the sense of community that developed has been one of, if not the best, experiences I have had. There is also an optional week long mission trip to El Salvadore the week before the internship officially starts that I plan to attend. In order for GCM to cover the costs of the internship and the mission trip, I am required to raise 100% of my financial support. The total cost is $8,976. By prayerfully and financially partnering with GCM, you would enable me to actively serve as a leader in the lives of other college students, as well as attend this week-long mission trip. I am asking you to consider giving a one time gift in the range of $100-$1,000. Would you prayerfully consider giving to meet this need? I hope to complete my financial support responsibilities by Friday, April 25. If God is leading you to give a financial give of any amount, you can make a check out to Ames Church and put my name in the memo line. The church will mail a check to Great Commission Ministries on my behalf. Thank You. I look forward to positively impacting future leaders in the name of Christ.
-Michael-
Are you always scrambling to fill out a check be-fore the ushers pass the plate down your row? Do you forget your envelope every other Sunday? There is a way to give faithfully to Ames Church each week or month without having to prepare the envelope each time.
Electronic giving is an automatic transfer pro-gram which allows you to make contributions without writ-ing checks. It saves time. It helps the church stabilize its budget when you contribute this way.
It’s easy. Pick up an authorization form (located on the usher’s table), fill it out and mail or bring it io the church office along with a voided/canceled check. Then I input your information into a secure site and your author-ized contributions are electronically transferred directly from your checking or savings account to the church’s account. You state directly on the form how much you want to contribute and how often. There is no cost for you and you can cancel or change it at any time by notifying the church office.
If you have further questions regarding electronic giving, please call the office at 754-6373.
Revolution Student Ministries at Ames had it’s 4th annual 30 Hour Famine to raise money to feed hungry people and to raise awareness of the problem of hun-ger. It is also an opportunity for participants to better understand what it’s like to be hungry by going more than 30 hours without eating.
This year’s event included plenty of fun games and outings, including an SVSU basketball game and sled-ding/skating at Hoyt Park, as well as thought provoking moments such as working as a team to build a card-board dwelling, mimic what it might be lick to have nu-tritional/hunger related issues for 30 minutes straight, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my neighborhood.
We also had a pop can drive as well as the pancake breakfast in between services on Sunday morn-ing. Donations of pop cans continue to come in, but the initial fundraising total from the weekend of events was $742.00! Praise the Lord! The fundraising total will be split evenly between the Saginaw City Rescue Mission and World Vision, both of which regularly feed the hungry, meet other basic needs, and share the good news of Jesus Christ! Thank you Ames for your support!
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