Chicken Noodle Appreciation

It's about time we say thank you to all those who have supported us in our efforts to make Satanta a better place to live, work, and worship. So here's the plan:

Thank You Luncheon (Feb. 21) following church services (noonish)

Location: Satanta Community Building

Menu: Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, Texas sheet cake, tea and water.

We will invite our entire congregation as well as a few others who have aided our cause or worked in our church through one of our many programs. We'll send personal invitations to each of these people as the date approaches, and Ryan will send Trena the information for use on a PowerPoint slide.

We've already gathered the information on what we'll need for the meal as well:

7 large chickens
3 baking hens
10 (24 oz.) bags of Reames frozen noodles
6 gallons of green beans
150+ Rhodes frozen rolls, which Leanne will bake at the shop
Enough instant potatoes to serve 150 (We'll need to do some math there!)
Enough Texas sheetcake to serve 150 (Again, Leanne will cover this.)

We'll also need table paper and disposable plates, cups, napkins, flatware, etc.

Much of this will be ordered through our local store, but a few items will likely have to come from Sam's. Stephanie has agreed to do any Sam's shopping we need.

We'll iron out the rest of the details on Sunday.

Hope to see you there!

How to Help in Haiti

UMCOR Responds to the Earthquake in Haiti

Wed Jan 13, 6:53 pm ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A major earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti yesterday, causing widespread destruction. Millions of people are affected and thousands are feared dead. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the humanitarian relief agency for The United Methodist Church, has close ties with the Methodist Church in Haiti and is responding to the devastating earthquake with funding, material resources and prayers.

UMCOR executive, Melissa Crutchfield says, "We are working with our partners on the ground to provide immediate relief to the people in Haiti. UMCOR has worked in Haiti for many years. We anticipate that there will be years of rebuilding needed and are prepared to work with the people to help them through that process."

Working with partners, Action by Churches Together, Church World Service, Global Medic and the Methodist Church, UMCOR is channeling its resources to respond effectively to the people most in need.

In a statement to Global Ministries' staff, the General Secretary said, "Events such as these can challenge both our faith and sense of security. As a church we know that the heart of our ministry is continuing and extending Jesus Christ's ministry of outreaching love."

How to Help

There will be a great need for volunteers to help rebuild once the initial crisis has settled. At this time, it is not safe or possible for volunteers to go to Haiti. In order to frame a response that is consistent with the churches' needs, people wishing to volunteer should contact their jurisdictional United Methodist Volunteers in Mission coordinator to determine when and how to appropriately respond.

Gifts to support UMCOR's Haiti relief efforts can be made online at Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325. Checks can be placed in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church or mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087 with "Advance #418325" in the memo line. 100% of gifts will go to help the people of Haiti.

UMCOR Sager Brown is coordinating a shipment of health kits to provide individuals with basic necessities. Instructions for assembling and shipping health kits are available at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/health-kit/.

SOURCE United Methodist Communications

So We've Finished The Shack

Having finished The Shack, it's time to choose another book to study. One possibility is So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore. Here's a bit of information on it from Amazon:

Product Description

What would you do if you met someone you thought just might be one of Jesus original disciples still living in the 21st Century? That's Jake's dilemma as he meets a man who talks of Jesus as if he had known him, and whose way of living challenges everything Jake had previously known. So You Don t Want to Go To Church Anymore is Jake s compelling journal that chronicles thirteen conversations with his newfound friend over a four-year period and how those exchanges turn Jake's world upside-down. With his help, Jake faces his darkest fears, struggles through brutal circumstances and comes out on the other side in the joy and freedom he always dreamed was possible. If you're tired of just going through the motions of Christianity and want to mine the depths of what it really means to live deeply in Christ, you ll find Jake s story will give you hope for your own. This book probes the difficult questions and offers some far-reaching answers. It just might turn your world upside-down as well!

Any thoughts?

So the MAM Room is Clean . . .

The MAM room is clean . . . at least for the time being. Here are a few guidelines for the sorting of items that will (hopefully) keep it that way:

1. When opening a bag or box of items to sort through, remember that people who donate often do not take the time to sort out the items they’ve donated. This means that much of what you’ll find will need to be discarded. Consider the following when deciding whether or not to keep an item:

· The condition of an item is key. If it has holes or stains, throw it out. If it smells, throw it out. If it’s faded or torn, throw it out.

· Age is also a factor. If an item arrives in a time machine from 1976, it probably won’t be worn again in the 21^st century. Throw it out.

· Most people wear underwear, but we don’t recycle it. Throw it out.

· Most of the footwear we receive is beyond disgusting. If you wouldn’t wear those sandals yourself, throw them out.

· If an item is either extremely small or extremely large (like 4XL), chances are we won’t find a home for it. Throw it out.

· Pants are extremely difficult to give away. Keep only the very best of the best, which is a good general rule when working in the MAM room.

2. After sorting through the bag of donated items and following the guidelines above, it’s time to hang up the items you’ve decided to actually keep. Most of our items hang on racks. So here’s what to do next:

· Place the items on hangers.

· Mark them using our pricing gun with a date of expiration. We keep nothing more than a year. After that, we visit Goodwill.

· Sort the items by department. Yes, believe it or not, we have separate sections for most things: women’s long-sleeve tops, women’s short-sleeved tops, women’s sweaters, women’s dresses, women’s vests, etc. A simple tour of the room will reveal our system.

· Hang/place the items in their respective departments, and re-locate misplaced items that you come across.

· Return any empty hangers you find during this process to the hanger rack.

New Year, New Projects

The Christmas Angel Project went very well this year. Next year, however, there are a few things to remember in no particular order:

• We didn't use a tree in 2009. Will we want one next year?
  
• Rachel provided gift suggestions along with each angel.
• We may want to ask people for their phone numbers or email addresses so we can remind them of the deadline for purchasing the gifts.
  
• We won't be able to begin angel distribution at the 2010 UMW bazaar as it is slated for the first Wednesday in November 2010.
  
• We may wish to coordinate our giving with the distribution of food baskets next year.
  
• Rachel may try to organize her list both by family (according to color) and by geography to streamline the distribution process.
  
• No Santa was used this year, cutting the distribution from three hours to one.
  
• Buying Satanta sweatshirts/hoodies for the 7-12 angels worked well. We'll repeat this if possible for 2010. We paid full price for the hoodies this year, so we should continue to do so in the future. The bathrobe boxes worked well and were cheaper than gift bags.
  
• We have infant/toddler gifts leftover. No more will need to be purchased for 2010.
  
• The Sweet Shoppe went over really well, and these funds helped to fund extras like tissue paper for gift bags and whatnot.

Thank You Sunday

Next Sunday, January 3, 2010, Leanne will offer thank you sugar cookies to the congregation as a thank you for their support of our projects in 2009. We'll offer coffee as well.

Speaking of Thank You's

We are tentatively planning a thank you lunch for the congregation (see reason above) on February 21, 2010, at the community building to include non-members who have given us their support. The menu will include chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, relishes, and Texas sheet cake. More details to follow.


MAM Room

It's time to clean up and throw out old clothes. We plan to start the new room with a clean slate. Plan to meet on Wednesday, December 30 at 10:00 a.m. for a work morning with lunch to follow.

Grant

The grant project is already underway. The deadline for submission is January 8, 2010. Ardith Dunn will administer the funds, and the New Genesis class will pick the grant recipients. It would be nice to get some publicity (pics for the paper) when the grants are given. Giant checks anyone?

Garage Sale

The tentative idea is to postpone this project until the community-wide garage sale date--usually in June.

UMC Live

Anyone up for a spoof Methodism? Let's plan it out. Think April performance/dinner date.

Last-minute Angel Tree Preparations

All of the angels have been claimed, and we're hoping that all the gifts will be delivered on the 13th so that we can deliver them between church and the Christmas program.

Ryan has the sweatshirts we ordered from the SHS freshmen class, and he plans to shop for the last three angels for which money came in for as well as gift sacks, tissue, and toddler/baby gifts. These purchases will largely be covered by profit from our candy sales.

Please plan to help deliver the gifts if you are available on Sunday, December 13th at 1:00 p.m. It takes a lot of work to make Christmas a little brighter for the children in our community, but we get paid back in the smiles of the children who receive the gifts. Hope to see you there!

Christmas Delivery Date

December 13th @ 1:00 p.m.
Delivery of Christmas Angel Gifts