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

A Sweet Success

Our Sweet Shop's first sale was a success! We sold 27 bags and 10 tins of peanut brittle from Ryan's mom and six more small boxes of the chocolate-topped variety from Granny Zelma. Plus, we sold nearly all of Nicole's first round of caramels. Keep those candies, pies, cakes, cookies, jams and jellies, and whatever else you can think of coming!

We added to that $60 more to the Christmas fund to purchase Satanta hoodies for those children on our angel tree who are in 7th-12th grade.

We also sold the last three extra copies of The Shack we had on hand. If you are done with your copy, please bring it to class so that we can sell it, too. At $10 each we break even AND pass on a very good book!

All this selling meant that we took in well over $200, some of which Ryan will use to purchase gifts for toddlers and babies with siblings on our angel tree list. He is also kicking around the idea of using the leftover "Satanta United Methodist Church" mugs to give to parents when we distribute the gifts. It would be fairly easy to fill them with candy or simply place hot chocolate mix in them.

In other news, we got word this week from Trena that we have received a $1,000 donation from a church member who wishes to support our work. Nothing has been decided yet, but we are prayerfully considering using these funds to make four $250 literacy grants available to teachers in our school district. Your feedback on this matter is welcome!

Darlene Lucas, who is heading up our church's Christmas food distribution this year, inquired about whether we wanted to coordinate our gift giving with theirs. Unfortunately, they have set the date for food distribution on December 17, which is a bit late for us. Karen suggested that we go earlier in the week, perhaps even on the weekend prior to school being out. Again, we need your feedback as delivering 60 gifts can take a lot of time . . . especially with Santa along for the ride.

Last but not least, there was some discussion of a class bowling party at Sublette. This could be really fun, but a date will need to be set as soon as possible. Any thoughts?

Angel Tree Ornaments

Christmas is quickly approaching, and the 21^st Time Class is busy getting ready for the holiday season. We appreciate all the support from the church and feel truly blessed to be part of such a giving community. This yearly project would not be successful without the help of all of you. We know how hard it can be to find Christmas gifts for our kids, and this year we hope you will find it easier. We have made a few of the following changes:

For the jr./sr. high students we are asking for a donation of $20.00 to cover the cost of a Satanta sweatshirt. Our class has provided other items that will go with the sweatshirt. The jr./sr. high students ornaments will have their number and letter and “Donation” will be written on those ornaments.

The grade school students will have a white paper attached to their ornament with a list of toys/games/crafts, etc. that are appropriate for their age. The items are on this list are all under $15.00. Along with the list is written information with sizes and ideas for that particular child. These are just suggestions; do not feel that you have to purchase some of these from the list.

Once you have selected your ornament, please write your name by the number and letter of the ornament on the sheet of paper by the clip board adjacent to the tree.

Most importantly, when you bring your gift, PLEASE have your ornament and a gift sack. If you selected an ornament with a donation, bring the ornament and a gift sack. The gifts will need to be brought to the church no later than Sunday December 13.

We appreciate all your support!

21^st Time Sunday School Class

The Shack Discussion

Here are some things to think about from the first section of The Shack. Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting on this post.

Why do you think the author describes Mack as someone you probably wouldn't notice in a crowd?

Many people find the first section of the book painful to read. Was it painful for you? Do you think it is necessary for this section to be so painful for the rest of the book to work?

How would you describe your relationship with God? How do you picture God?

Would you have accepted the invitation to the shack?

Thank You

We received this thank you note from Ron Levan at the high school:

To everyone at the Methodist Church:

I want to thank you for the very generous donation of the baritone for our music department. It's truly a pleasure to live and work in a community that is so supportive of its schools and of the arts. Thanks again!

Ron Levan, Principal

Anyone for Homemade Peanut Brittle?

It's official: Ryan's mom will have 10 recipes of peanut brittle ready to sell by November 22. On subsequent Sundays, we'll have even more treats lined up. Leanne and Mendy will be offering toffee, Rachel will be making her delicious quick breads, Nicole will offer up her caramels, and that's just to name a few of the goodies that we'll have on hand.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Special thanks to the Satanta Kayettes for donating items gathered during their annual Trick-or-Treat-So-Others-Can-Eat food drive!

Speaking of food . . . Don't forget that we'll need lots of goodies for the sweet shop beginning Nov. 22 and continuing with Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13, and Dec. 20. We'll sell these items in the narthex before Sunday worship with all proceeds going to fund our Christmas angel project, which Rachel has all ready to go for the UMW Bazaar on November 18. We have 53 local children on our list, and we'll need to shop for siblings who haven't reached school age yet as well.

If you missed Sunday, then you also missed getting your first reading assignment for The Shack. To be up on the discussion next Sunday, you'll need to read the foreword and the first five chapters. Some class members plan to listen to the book on audio tape as an alternative to this assignment. It's available as an Ipod download for $5.00. Additional copies are on the way, so if you missed the first hand-out, you can catch the second!

21st Time Sweet Shop

Just in time for the holidays, the 21st Time Sunday School Class introduces . . .

The 21st Time Sweet Shop

On each of the five Sundays preceding Christmas, those in attendance at the Satanta United Methodist Church will be given the opportunity to purchase goodies including (but certainly not limited to) peanut brittle, homemade caramels, fudge, chocolate-dipped peanuts, toffee, cakes, cookies, and pies. Each item will be handsomely packaged and perfect for gift-giving, and all proceeds will go to support community projects such the Satanta United Methodist Angel Tree.

Plan to shop for goodies on Nov. 22nd and 29th, Dec. 6th, 13th, and 20th.

AUCTION SUCCESS

$1,200 raised

Baritone donation complete

Christmas project underway

UPDATED AUCTION LIST

(not actual van)

Black and White Photocopy Machine
Computer Monitors (15)
2001 Ford Windstar Mini-van
Table
Kitchen shelving
Chair sleeper
End tables (2)
Antique Dresser
Recliner
Vintage Stepstool (turquoise)
Cots (2)
Grinder
Short-legged table
Speakers
Antique library table
full bed with mattress, box spring, headboard, and rails
Dresser with matching chest of drawers
Sewing machine in cabinet
Large-screen TV in swiveling console
Pine end table
Large fan
Coffee table
Small dry erase board
Portable music stands (2)
Antique sewing machine cabinet
Dell laptop
Microwave
Treadmill
Nordic Track
Complete bedroom set with dresser, mirror, nightstand, and bed
2-drawer oak filing cabinet
Oak lamps (2)
Glass-top coffee table with stand
Vacuum cleaner
Big screen TV in cabinet

Notes for Sunday, October 18, 2009

The auction date is drawing near!

Tell your friends and neighbors that we'll be at the Community Building from 10:00 to noon on Saturday, October 24 with lots of great items going to the highest bidder. Brent communicate with all of us this week regarding when he wants to begin moving items into position. Plan to be flexible because there is still corn to be cut. Thursday or Friday evening will be the most likely candidates.

We've also moved the cookie baking date to Thursday, October 22 at 4:00 p.m. at Three Tiers. We'll sell these cookies at Harvest Fest with proceeds going to fund our baritone project. With Juanita's tamale sales, we under $400!

As for other projects . . .

Rachel is working closely with the secretaries in each building in our school district to gather names for our Christmas angel tree. We plan to have this tree up and ready by the bazaar, which is on November 18 this year.

Because we'll need some funds for our annual Christmas gift giving, we've also decided to have a 21st Time Sweet Shop in the narthex the five Sundays before Christmas: Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13, and Dec. 20. Karen's mother, Agnes, has begun gathering containers for us to sell our goodies in. More details to follow . . .

Finally, we discussed beginning a new book study for the winter. Agnes is checking into seeing whether Trinity Lutheran Church in Hays would be willing to loan us their copies. Here's the product description from amazon to give you a hint of what's to come:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

Items for Auction (October 24)

End tables (2)
Antique Dresser
Recliner
Vintage Stepstool (turquoise)
Cots (2)
Grinder
Short-legged table
Speakers
Antique library table
full bed with mattress, box spring, headboard, and rails
Dresser with matching chest of drawers
Sewing machine in cabinet
Large-screen TV in swiveling console
Pine end table
Large fan
Coffee table
Small dry erase board
Portable music stands (2)
Antique sewing machine cabinet
Dell laptop
Microwave
Treadmill
Nordic Track
Complete bedroom set with dresser, mirror, nightstand, and bed
2-drawer oak filing cabinet
Oak lamps (2)
Glass-top coffee table with stand
Vacuum cleaner
Big screen TV in cabinet

Notes from Sunday, September 27, 2009

Attendance at our Love and Logic Parenting classes is lower than we had anticipated, but those who attended indicated that the classes were very good. Stephanie will check with the participants to ensure that each individual/couple is/are able to afford the $15 book.

The buy-a-baritone project is going well; in fact, with donations from the tamale sale at the high school and further contributions from members of the SUMC congregation, we have surpassed the $1,000 mark. Trena reported that Norma has been depositing these funds into our account, so Rachel will have to take care of writing the check when the first bill comes due. At this point, we plan to write that first check for the total amount donated up to that point so that we can avoid interest charges.

Plans for the large-item auction continue to be made. Brent (and Stephanie) continue to work on securing an auctioneer for the Oct. 24th event. Here is a list of items that have been donated thus far:

antique library table
36" console TV
maple end table
Dell laptop
microwave
non-motorized treadmill
2000 Ford Windstar.

Ryan will touch base with Jim Shearman concerning the items he has offered to donate. He and Pat are back from the tour of Italy.

Don't forget! We also plan to sell Leanne's chocolate chip cookie sandwiches at Harvestfest. Leanne has suggested that we meet at the shop on Oct. 2o for a baking party. We'll need to nail down the specifics as that time comes.

Rachel was not in class due to having two grandparents in the hospital. She will keep us updated on the Christmas angel project and the DISCO dinner, and we will keep her and her family in our prayers.

Finally, in preparation for the UMW general conference, which is to be held at our church, we've finally cleaned up our Sunday school classroom room. Note to self: the Easter eggs are in the shed. We still have a bit of work to do, particularly in the MAM room.

So here's the plan: Tuesday (Sept. 29) we will meet at 5:00 to clear the rubble. Julie Smith has offered to lend hand, we've invited Kelvin and Donna, and we could use your help, too! This meeting will be followed up by a Wednesday (Sept. 30) grocery run (meet at the store at 4:00) to re-stock the food pantry with non-perishable items. Again, we could use all the help we can get!

Notes from Sunday, September 13, 2009

The large item auction/van fundraiser is well underway.

• Karen will continue to announce at church that we are looking for donations of large items and, will, perhaps run a community note in the paper.
  
• Ryan will coordinate our efforts with Jim Shearman.
• Brent will finalize our plans for the location and get us an auctioneer.
  
• Jennifer will take care of a sale bill and contact the paper about the cost of advertising the event.
  

In conjunction with the large-item auction, Leanne will debut her Cookies for Cause (or whatever name she develops), selling chocolate chip sandwich cookies at $2.00 each/six for $10 with proceeds going to fund our work . . . probably the baritone. Leanne has suggested a baking party on Oct. 2o. More details to follow.

As of today (9/15) we have received about $600 for the baritone we purchased for our needy 8th grader. Juanita Lau is organizing a tamale sale ($18 per dozen) with proceeds to go to the project. Order by the end of this week by emailing Juanita at jlau@usd507.org or calling the high school at 649-2611. Delivery will be sometime next week--Wednesday or Thursday depending on how large the order is.

Stacey and Stephanie are confident that we have enough parents interested in our parenting classes to make them work. They will take care of the first meeting (Sunday, the 20th) and let the rest of us know what is needed: childcare, translators, snacks, etc. Each participant/couple will be asked to pay $10 to cover the cost of the book, but we will pay for those who could not otherwise afford to attend.

Stephanie is also working on Russell Child Development's annual Christmas fundraiser, and we opted to donate $100 toward the cause as a thank you for the projects we have accomplished via Smart Start.

Stephanie and Mendy also reported that we had between 45 and 50 kids at Faithweaver Friends on Wednesday, so volunteers and MORE FOOD are needed to make that project a continued success.

Rachel then reported that she would like to get our annual angel tree project underway before she has to have surgery. Rachel reminded us that we discussed some changes after Christmas last year that we should adopt for this year's go-round: provide a size chart and a list of toys appropriate for specific age groups; purchase extra toys for toddlers that we may not know about when Santa arrives, etc. Rachel will report to us on specifics of this project over the next few Sundays.

Rachel also reported that she and Matt are feeding the youth group at their house on October 14 should the class wish to join in; everyone agreed that a meal from Sam's consisting of lasagna, garlic bread, and corn--with pudding for dessert--would be appropriate. Rachel will sort out who is donating what when we have time to discuss the details.

Finally, the all-church clean-up day is Oct. 3, and some of us should probably volunteer to be on hand to clean our Sunday school room up and organize MAM once more. Ryan plans to be there and has recruited Julie Smith to help.

There's always lots to do, but it certainly feels good doing it!

Notes from Sunday, September 6

It is official: the large-item auction is set for October 24, 2009 and will be held in conjunction with Harvestfest. The start time will be 10:00 a.m., and we will NOT plan on providing breakfast or lunch as food items will be available at the community building.

In order for this to happen, a few things will need to be done:

1. Brent will need to contact Chuck Lozar about the possibility of using his parking lot as a location and will contact/find an auctioneer.

2. Ryan will contact Jim Shearman about the items he will be donating and will inform him of the date change. Jim has also volunteered to help us round up items around town.

3. Karen will take care of creating a PowerPoint slide for church asking for donations.

4. Jennifer will take care of the sale bill and will contact Rolf at the paper to see what we can do as far as placing the sale bill in the paper as an ad or an insert.

5. Leanne will be in charge of directing a chocolate-chip cookie sandwich sale at Harvestfest. More details to follow.

We also discussed a few other projects that we are involved in.

We are now the proud owners of a $1500 baritone, which was purchased to keep a needy 7th grader in band. This means that we'll need to come up with $60 a month for the next two and half years. In order to make this happen, Rachel has cancelled our $38.00 a month commitment to sponsor a child overseas, and we may have to begin other fundraising efforts as well.

Ryan suggested that we could sell baked goods in the narthex in much the same way Kelvin sells his garden produce to raise funds for the food pantry. Leanne's sandwich cookies could be sold with the same project in mind. "Cookies for change" seems to fit somehow. We also received pledges from two members of our congregation that will cover three months of instrument payments, and the feeling is that there is more to come.

A similar project we are engaged in involves making sure the freshmen homecoming attendant has the items she'll need for the coronation ceremony. Nicole has offered shoes, and Mendy will cover the jewelry. Karen will touch base with the young woman and see what help she needs.

In other news, Ryan and Jennifer will shop for groceries for the food pantry on Labor Day, and Rachel has signed up to feed the youth on Wednesday, October 14. If our class would like to pitch and help, we could make this a group project. Stephanie and Stacey are moving forward on the Love and Logic parenting classes, which begin on September 20.

See you all next Sunday!

Notes from Sunday, Augsut 23, 2009

Love and Logic Parenting Classes

Thus far we have had no response to our Love and Logic parenting classes advertising. Ryan will email Rolf at the paper to take care of the discrepancy in the time of the class, and Stacey will create a note to send home from the grade school in an attempt to get things moving,

We will plan on hosting the first class on Sept. 13 and using it to determine whether or not the classes will continue.

Large-item Auction

After some discussion, we decided to have the auction run in conjunction with Harvestfest on Oct. 24. Beginning at 10:00 a.m we will auction off large items with the goal of generating funds for our van project. Here's what needs to be done in preparation for this event:

• Karen will create sale bill.
• Mendy and Brent will work on getting an auctioneer.
• Ryan will create a PowerPoint slide calling for donations.
• Ryan will inform Jim Shearman of the date change and ask for his help on picking up items around town.
• Brent will talk to Chuck Lozar and the city about utilizing the lot across the street from the community building and possibly roping off the street for the event.
  
• NO FOOD will be needed as we will encourage attendees to eat at Harvestfest.

Shoe Project Complete and New Projects Underway

With a little luck and a lot of shopping by Brandee and Leanne, we have successfully purchased and will have distributed 79 pairs of shoes before school starts. A few parents did not show up at the giveaway on Sunday, but between delivering some to homes directly and leaving some for Trena to distribute, the task will soon be done. Rachel is taking care of exchanges and buying the last pairs we've gotten requests for in Liberal Monday night. Trena will hold these for pick-up during regular church office hours. Pioneer Electric has expressed some interest in helping us fund this project retroactively. Please pray this becomes a reality.

In addition to the shoes, we've also helped a number of families with school supplies as the New Convenant Church did not undertake this project. This is something else we should take into consideration for the future.

With school starting again on Thursday, Rachel thought it might be nice to send a card of support from Satanta United Methodist to each teacher, administator, para, and secretary in our district along with a small gift such as a pen or a pack of post-it notes. She will work on this project this week with support from Ryan with the goal of delivering the notes on Thursday.

Stacey and Stephanie have finalized preparations for the Love and Logic Parenting classes. Here are the details if anyone asks:

• Course consists of five, two-hour classes
• Classes meet each Sunday between 4:30 and 6:30 at SUMC in the sanctuary.
• Enrollement is $10 per person, which includes a book
• Stacey is taking RSVPs for enrollment

We also spoke with Kelvin regarding our concept (thanks Jim Shearman) of a large-item auction. Pastor Kelvin suggested Oct. 10 as a good (unbooked) Saturday for an auction and a luncheon. Brent and Leanne may have a conflict on this date, but they are checking their schedules. OCt. 24 was also suggested, but Harvestfest is already scheduled for that date. Once we have a date set, arrangements will need to be made, among them asking for large-item donations from the congregation. We will also need a sale bill and an auctioneer. It has been suggested that we ask the New Genesis class to help with the luncheon.

This will give us LOTS to talk about next Sunday, so it's good thing we let our books go! Hope to see you there!

Ryan

Notes from Sunday, August 2, 2009

Faithweaver Friends (Mendy, Stephanie)

Mendy has spoken with Kelvin, and he indicated that he'd like to see Faithweavers begin on August 26. We'll need to line up volunteers to make this happen. Stacey suggested that Mendy contact the Pleasant Prairie youth pastor and his wife (Charity and Jay) to see if they might be able to help this year. Ryan suggested that Mendy ask Shirley McDonald to ask Penny Thacker and Chrystal Taylor if they would interested in helping again this year. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask for other volunteers via the church newsletter and a general announcement the next couple of Sundays. Arranging for volunteers to bring snacks will also need to be done, probably my means of a sign-up sheet to be passed around on a clipboard during Sunday service.

Love and Logic (Stephanie, Stacey, Mendy)

The dates for the Love and Logic Parenting Classes are Sept. 13 to Oct. 11 (4:30-6:30). Stephanie is working on an information letter to be distributed via the school with enrollment information in both English and Spanish. This note will also include a section that offers enrollment scholarships for those who might not otherwise be able to attend. The cost for regular enrollment, by the way, is $15 for a single and $25 for a couple, which includes the book that will be used in the class. Hopefully, Juanita will be willing to translate this letter, which will also be distributed via Parents and Teachers and Brandee's pre-school. We also plan to post information around town--the post office, the library, and the grocery store for sure. Ryan will write a newspaper article in addition to this advertising.

We have decided that free childcare for children of all ages will be needed for this program. Mendy suggested that the Chrysalis circle might be willing to take on this task. We will need to speak with Lana Clawson about this idea.

It is likely that there will also be a need for translators at the classes themselves. Stacey suggested that we ask Josie, Gloria, and Angie for their help and offer them free enrollment in return. If necessary, we could also simply pay them for their services. They will need to be contacted.

Shoes (Ryan, Karen, Leanne, Brandee)

Most of the details for the shoe project have been outlined in an older post. However, some new items always come up in discussion. Stacey, for instance, volunteered to help with the purchase of the shoes, which Leanne and Brandee will be in charge of. She also suggested that if we have unused funds that we use them for the purchase of school supplies and backpacks. This, again, would involve Wal-mart.

Auction (Brent)

Jim Shearman inquired after church if we had thought anymore about the large-item auction. He was instructed that Brent is to be the point person on this one with the first decision being the date of our event. The fall might be a good time as we are booked right now.

Irons in the Fire

The shoe project is nearly upon us! Here's the plan (at least as of now):

The forms, which will be available in both English and Spanish (perhaps one language on one side and one on the another), will be distributed at the grade school during the two days of enrollment on August 5th and 6th. The deadline on these forms will be August 7 @ noon, and Nancy Lambert will be the one to whom the forms are to go.

Prior to the church office closing for the week (maybe even on August 6) Leanne (and most likely Brandee) will secure a blank check from Trena and any other documentation needed to make our shoe purchase tax exempt. Leanne and/or Brandee will take care of getting the forms from Nancy and tallying the total number of shoes we'll need. Then it will be off to Wal-mart where we must remember to utilize the $25 gift card that the Liberal Wal-mart has donated--Leanne plans to pick it up this coming Saturday after she sets up a cake there.
Hopefully, enough class members will be in church on Sunday to help organize the shoes by family and place them labeled plastic sacks for distribution on Sunday the 16th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Other continuing projects include the food pantry, which Ryan and Karen stocked this month using the grocery store's ShurFine sale, and the clothes closet, which needs another going through before we begin marking the items therein with an expiration date. Additionally, we'll all need to pitch in and help Stacey and Stephanie get our Love and Logic parenting class for the fall up and off the ground, and then there's the large-item auction that Brent has begun basic preparations on. A date for that event needs to be set.

With all this going on, Ryan has opted not to call the Emmaus to inquire about volunteer opportunities as it seems we have more than enough to keep us busy right here at home. Perhaps when summer's over, we will all land in one place at the same time, and we talk face-to-face. What a novel concept!

Recipes from 9 X 13 Fundraiser

Poppy Seed Chicken
(serves 6+)

3 lbs. chicken, cooked and but into bite-sized pieces (1# cooked= slightly more than 3 cups)
(Can be cooked with a little poultry seasoning, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and onion.)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups sour cream (or more--a 12 or 14 oz. container works well)

1 TBSP poppy seeds

1 1/2 pkgs. of Ritz crackers, crushed combined with
1 stick butter, melted

Place chicken, sour cream, and poppy seeds and spread evenly over chicken. (It has a strange, lumpy consistency when mixed, but it will smooth out when baked. Don't panic.)

Cover with buttered cracker crumbs

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until bubbly.


Scalloped Corn

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 14.75 ounce can of cream corn
4 oz. of American cheese (or Velveeta) finely cut up
2/3 cup milk
10 saltine crackers, coarsely crushed
2 oz. (3 T.) diced green chile peppers
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

In a bowl, mix eggs, corn, cheese, milk crackers, chile peppers, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Transfer to a greased 1 1/2 quart dish or a 9 X 13 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Soles to Souls Fundraiser a Huge Success

(article submitted to the paper)

Church attendance was down at Satanta United Methodist as wheat harvest drew to a close, families departed for vacation, and the temperatures hit the 100+ mark. Generosity, however, was at a high point as the church's 21st Time class prepared a served a meal meant to pay homage to the much beloved 9 X 13 pan. The benefit luncheon, meant to help fund the class's soles to souls shoe project, netted the class more than $1,500, which will be used to purchase tennis shoes for needy children at Satanta Elementary. Bilingual enrollment forms for the program will be made availabe at Satanta Elementary during the regular enrollment process, and shoes will be distributed before the beginning of the next school year.

The class's next project involves bringing Love and Logic Parenting classes to Satanta via Russell Child Development beginning in the fall of this year. Further information will be available at the start date for the program draws near.

Sunday Lunch

The July Sunday lunch project is underway. Leanne and Karen have made test batches of the scalloped corn and poppy seed chicken, which were both delicious, and the date of preparation has been set. Plan to meet at the church this coming Friday at 7:00 p.m. to put the meal together. Don't worry about ingredients. What we can't get at our local store, Leanne will get at Sam's this week in Garden City.

On Sunday we will be accepting freewill donations for the lunch, which will be advertised in the paper this week, and is all over facebook thanks to Pastor Kelvin. All proceeds will go to fund our shoe project, which we are calling "soles for souls." Karen has begun the groundwork for this project by sending letters asking for financial support to many businesses in the area, creating a form that parents can use to sign up for the program, and by creating advertising fliers to seek donations from individuals.

The good news is that we've already gotten a $100 donation for the project from a member of our congregation. Ryan will send a thank you note to this individual inviting her to enjoy lunch on us on Sunday.

MAM Room Conquered . . . at least for now

With more than just a little help from Ryan and Karen, Leanne, Brandee, Mendy, Rachel, and Kelvin, the MAM room clothing has been organized (again.) At least for now, men's, women's, and children's are all in "departments," which are divided into sections. Plus, the food pantry has been re-stocked. Our next move is to put expiration dates on each item of clothing so that anyting that doesn't move in six months is either donated to Goodwill or discarded. We hope that this will serve to keep our merchandise volume relatively low.

We are still moving forward on the 9X13 luncheon, so we need to solidify plans for food prep and table set-up. Rachel suggested July 10 (which a Friday). We'll need to discuss this further.

Finally, Jim Shearman has approached our group with a new fundraising possibility. He might be interested in donating several large items (furniture, mostly) for an auction, which would serve to fund our soles for souls shoe campaign. This has real potential and needs further development.

Summer Projects

The MAM room needs work (again). We need to spend the remainder of the $400 that was recently donated to our cause (about $250), and we need to make another attempt at organizing the clothing closet. We will meet to do this on Monday, June 29, at 10:00 a.m. We will then "divide and conquer" with half of us working on the clothing closet, and half of us shopping at the grocery store.

During this time period, we can continue to discuss our plans for our July benefit luncheon on July 12. At this time, we are planning on the theme "Celebrating the 9X13: The Pan that Can." We're thinking of serving poppy seed chicken over a bed of rice, scalloped corn, tossed salad, hot roll, chocolate pudding cake, orange Jell-o salad, coffee, tea, and water.

Funds generated by this project will help to fund our back-to-school shoe project, which Karen plans to work on in the near future. At this point, the soles to souls project will focus on giving $15-shoe vouchers to needy children who reside in our school district. This project will require funds from our bank account, donations from corporate sponsors, and individual donations from church members who wish to "adopt a soul."

The MAM Room that Ate Satanta

We thought we had the recent deluge of donations under control. We'd even sorted all the appliqued denim vests and organized all the holiday sweaters. Then it happened. More trash bags full of donations. Our room runneth over.

This means that we'll need another afternoon to sort and organize these new items. Plus, the unclaimed lost-and-items from the grade school need to be picked up, washed, and placed at the church. The plan is to pick a day next week to get this done. Any suggestions?

Also, Trena let us know today that $400 has been donated to the food pantry. Brandee and Ryan should be able to spend that at Satanta Grocery without much trouble. The need for food increases in the summer with all those kids home to feed! Coupled with the clothing and household items that have been pouring in, we will make a huge impact on the lives of those we serve.

The Quest to Organize the MAM Room

It took hours, but Ryan, Brandee, Leanne, Donna, and Kelvin were able to find the floor of the MAM room this week. It takes a brave soul to pick through not-so-gently used underwear, but success felt good enough to warrant a post-trip-to-the-dump snow cone run.

The workday also yielded a brilliant idea from Brandee: Why not date the items that come in? No, we're not going to take orange polyester suits out to dinner, but we will begin placing an arrival date on each and every item that comes into our possession. After six months, these articles will leave us for that great laundry basket in the sky. The plan is to do this with a marking gun that I plan to purchase off ebay.

This, of course, will mean another workday in the clothes closet sometime next week or the week after, but it actually was fun . . . really, it was.

Call me if we want in on the MAM experience!

Ryan

We have some work to do

We will meet at the church Tuesday at 1. Karen will watch kids at her house.

Summer Projects

We will NOT be returning to our books. We'd like to round them all up and send them to another church.

We're still planning on a playground celebration party to be held in the park, perhaps sometime in July. Stephanie is looking at dates. It was suggested at church this morning that we invite extra guests to this event as part of the Methodist church's new rethink church campaign.

Karen is in the process of sending out letters in regard to our shoe project. Further details on this project will need to be finalized.

Stacey has made arrangement with Carol Trout to present Love and Logic parenting classes this fall beginning on Sept. 20 and running through Oct. 18 (Sundays from 4:30-6:30). Books will cost $15, so scholarships are something that we might consider. Childcare will also likely be needed. We can discuss further in class.

Brandee and Ryan have restocked the food pantry, but someone still needs to speak with Sharon at the store about the possibility of having a food pantry cart (or box) at Satanta grocery.

Speaking of MAM, we plan on meeting this Tuesday at 1:00 to organize the clothing closet. Bring hangers if you have them! Karen will post pictures later of the mountain of donations we received from the Pleasant Prairie Church of God Youth group.

Finally, we've been tossing around the idea of having another benefit luncheon at church (possibly in support of our shoe project). Brent suggested that we nail down a date; the Plogers indicated that July would be better for them, so we opted for July 12. The theme (more details to follow) will be a celebration of the beloved 9 X 13, the pan that can.

There's always a lot to do, but it's always fun with this group of people!

Today's reading assignment

Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors? http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/igniting-misery/

We have a playground!

Thank you to everyone who made it possible.

Wednesday, May 6

We are invited to eat supper with DISCO at 6:30 p.m. They are cooking for everyone who cooked for them.

May 2 Discussion

We continued to discuss our shoe project. Karen wrote a letter that can be tweaked for different businesses. We will ask for gift cards, vouchers, or cash, depending on the business. We could make a shoe bulletin board for the church so people can take a shoe to sponsor a voucher. We will see if the school will let us put a note in the enrollment folder. The vouchers will be made available to everyone. They will return a form to the church and pick up the shoes/voucher later.

For the parenting class, we discussed having the end time of one of the classes coincide with our hay ride and hot dog roast to encourage attendance.

We decided we're done with our book. We will try to supplement our project planning with magazine and Internet articles.

Garage sale pics

Today's reading assignment

On parenting: http://www.newsweek.com/id/194576

Sunday, April 26

The garage sale was a tremendous success. We raised over $850, which we used to restock the MAM food pantry. We'll get some pictures posted soon.

We're making plans for Love and Logic Parent Training next fall. We're going to contact Carol Trout to find out what dates work for her. We discussed promoting the classes at the FOKS Open House, which is tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of the ice cream social. We can also ask Marceil to help us promote the classes to her PAT families. We're going to look into some grants to help fund the books.

We discussed ways to sponsor our Soul to Sole shoe project. We're going to look into some corporate donors. Karen volunteered to write letters.

We made a contribution to Troop 142 for Matthew Lower's backpack project.

Today's reading assignment

On giving: http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/2009/04/may-i-have-your-attention-please/

Got stuff?

If you have items you would like to donate to the garage sale, you can

• leave them in the Fellowship Hall
• leave them in the 21st Time classroom
• leave them in the parsonage garage
• contact Ryan (3416) or Brent (2203) to arrange a pick-up.

Proceeds from the garage sale go the support Mexican American Ministries.

Plans for this week

Wednesday

Meet at the church after Faithweaver Friends to organize items for the garage sale. Rachel is going to see if the NHS girls can help that day.

Friday

Meet at the church at 4:30 to finish organizing. We might order pizza or something.

Saturday morning

Meet at the church around 8:00. We'll have breakfast and finish up whatever isn't done yet. You can bring something to share for breakfast, but we'll have plenty of food, so don't stress about bringing anything. Julie will watch kids. Monet, Melissa, and Cameron will run a concession stand.

What we're planning for the future

Love and Logic Classes

Stephanie reported that Carol Trout, the social worker for RCDC, has been trained in Love and Logic and is willing to teach classes. The material takes five two-hour classes to cover. The book for the class costs $15, or $25 for a couple to share a book. We talked about offering this instead of the Parenting Fair we discussed earlier.

Things we're thinking about:

• Seeing if we can get a Smart Start grant to subsidize the cost of books
• Offering childcare
• Offering snacks
• Looking for Spanish interpreters (Juanita, Josie, and Gloria were mentioned.) We talked about offering to pay them. Perhaps if they took turns it wouldn't be such a burden.

Shoe Project: "Help Us Put a Soul in Shoes"

We discussed providing Payless shoe vouchers to the school. When kids enroll, if they need shoes for gym, they could get a voucher. Brandee is going to see if Payless would be willing to offer any discounts. We also need to make sure the school is okay with this. We'd like to have this ready by enrollment time next fall.

Garage Sale Update

We plan to pick up large items in the afternoon on Sunday, April 19.

Julie has volunteered to watch the children of Sunday School class members during the garage sale on April 25. Thanks, Julie!

DISCO Dinner

Our food...

was so good...

everyone....

ate it...

right up!

More pics

Kelvin has pictures posted on the church website, too.

Easter Egg Hunt Pics

The weather outside was frightful, but the Easter egg hunt was still delightful. Princess Trena was our only casualty. What happened? This is what happens when face painters go wild.

Easter Egg Discussion

The Easter Egg Hunt was a great success (despite the wind)! As with everything we do, we have ideas for how we can do it better next year. Here's what we discussed:

• Forget about Bunny Money. Just stuff the eggs with small prizes--candy, stickers, tattoos, quarters, bubbles, etc.
• We can have a few bigger prizes. We can put special tokens in the eggs to be exchanged for those specific prizes (like we did with the three big baskets).
• Not having the kids shop means we won't have to worry about decorating cookies. It was fun, but not necessary.
• We can ask the DISCO kids to help stuff the eggs next year. We planned to do that this year, but we wound up stuffing the eggs ourselves.
• We can ask another Sunday School class to help us, too.
  

An interesting blog

http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/

Easter Egg Update

Thanks to everyone whose generous donations helped us purchase prizes for the Easter Egg Hunt, which is next Sunday, April 5.

We got most of the eggs stuffed with stickers and bunny money this morning. Stacey took home the rest to finish stuffing.

We will get everything set up next Sunday. The DISCO kids will help us hide eggs and manage the hunt. We might send someone to bring back lunch from the restaurant so we can just stay at the church to get things ready.

What does this say about us?

According to this article, pastors who work in communities smaller than 75,000 are "in the sticks." Are we in the twigs, then?

3-22-09 Discussion

Chris and Phillip keep making progress on the playground equipment. It looks great!

Stephanie needs volunteers to help with the children's health fair on April 4 from 8-11 a.m. at the high school.

Kelvin has volunteered his garage for garage sale storage. Tell people not to take their garage sale things to the MAM room, as they will disappear. (That is, the garage sale items will disappear, not the people who bring them in.)

Easter Egg Hunt Update

We received $160 in donations for prizes today. Rachel will take care of purchasing additional prizes.

We decided to run three separate prize tables, one for each age group.

Leanne and Karen will frost the sugar cookies with white frosting so the kids will just decorate them with sprinkles and candy. Nicole will purchase sprinkles and candy. Mendy also has sprinkles to donate.

Parenting Fair?

Our book chapter this week was about helping people become self-reliant. This brought us back to our earlier discussion of bringing in speakers. We discussed the possibility of a Parenting Fair. We could bring in some speakers (Nikki Stoddard and Carol Trout were mentioned) and serve some food, since food always brings people in. We could also do something (booths?) to help people become aware of the resources available in our community (Russell Childhood, PAT, Colvin Learning Center, MAM Dental Clinic, free vision checks, etc.) . Stephanie said we could apply for Smart Start grants, but that many people would probably speak for free. We need to decide if we want to pursue this and what our timeline would be.

Small is beautiful?

Check out this link:

http://doroteos2.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/the-next-niche-market/#more-370

3-8-09 Sunday School Discussion

DISCO Dinner

We decided to serve the DISCO kids a pasta bar on April 15.






Here is a list of who is bringing what:

Leanne: meat sauce
Karen: Alfredo sauce
Brandee: spaghetti
Rachel: bread and vegetable (broccoli?)
Stacey: salad
Nicole: monster cookies

Other discussions

The Easter Egg Hunt is in good shape. Rachel ordered prizes from Oriental Trading. We also received a donation to help off-set the cost of prizes.

Karen shared an article from Newsweek by Peter Singer about the psychology of giving.

We briefly discussed the garage sale.

DISCO Dinner

We have volunteered to serve a meal to the DISCO kids on Wednesday, April 15, so start thinking about menu possibilities. I (Karen) think make-your-own pizza would be fun. We could buy the dough from Sam's Club, or we could get frozen bread dough from the grocery store.

The playground equipment is coming right along! Thanks to all of our volunteers (free and coerced)! Thanks also to Stacey and Stephanie for their work applying for the grant, and to all of our donors who made it possible for us to get the grant. We also appreciate the support and cooperation of the City of Satanta and the Recreation Commission.

3-1-09 Sunday School Discussion

Easter Egg Hunt

Stephanie got three boxes of Easter Eggs. Brandee will try to find one or two more when she goes to Dodge. We asked the church for prize donations. Rachel will also look at Dollar Tree for prizes. We can spend about $100-$150 on prizes.

We will have James or the city block off the streets around the park so we don't have to worry about kids running into the street.

We discussed the use of the MAM food pantry. We're giving away about 100 cans of food per week, which reflects the need in our community. Eventually, we would like to empower those we are helping in other ways. We talked about the possibility of a series of guest speakers. For example, we could invite a doctor to speak about immunizations and child health; a dentist to speak about dental health; someone from the bank to speak about financial management; someone to speak about parenting. It would be important to invite Spanish speakers.

Sunday School Discussion 2-22-09

Easter Egg Hunt update: Stacey saw 250 Easter eggs for $8 at Wal-mart. She didn't buy them because she didn't know if Rachel had ordered them already. Stephanie is going to Liberal today; she will see if the price is the same there, and if so, she will pick up four packages.

We discussed Chapter 6 today. This chapter suggests that service and evangelism are both possible at the same time, that the salvation of those we serve should be our ultimate, but not ulterior, motive.

We discussed our personal discomfort with overt evangelism. None of us present today (Stacey, Karen, Stephanie, Blake, Nicole, Rachel) were raised in churches with a strong emphasis on converting the unconverted. We would feel uncomfortable if someone tried to convert us, and it might actually push us away from a church. We worry about offending those who have beliefs different from our own.

Rachel shared a discussion she'd had in one of her classes about the role a teacher's religion should play in the classroom. Since we are all educators, we shared our thoughts on the role of religion in the classroom. We believe it's important to respect the beliefs of everyone in our classes, even if we don't agree with them. Although we feel it's important to model Christian behavior, we don't think it's appropriate to discuss our beliefs in the classroom. We believe it's important not to push our beliefs on others.

We discussed the diagram on page 44 of the book. We decided that we are externally focused in terms of service, but internally focused in terms of sharing the word. We like the quote from St. Francis of Assisi: "Preach the Christ at all times and when necessary use words."

Some books Karen thinks we might find interesting:

unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons




Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Politics, and Morality by Adam Hamilton

Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity by Adam Hamilton