Grand Valley United Methodist Church
May 2023 Newsletter
In this newsletter:
1. From the Pastor
2. Mefor’s Letter
3. Memorial Service
4. Facelift
5. Birthdays
6. Calendar
7. Event Details
8. Church Reports
9. Just for Fun
From the Pastor….
Fishing with Grandpa
A grandfather and his six-year-old grandson went fishing together. It was the grandson’s first experience fishing. When he made his first casting attempt, his line became a tangled mess. Even grandpa had to struggle to straighten his grandson’s line out. When he finally handed the untangled line back to his grandson, he looked up to his grandpa and asked, “How come you’re the smartest man in the world?” Knowing his grandson’s dislike for spinach, he said, “When I was your age I ate a lot of spinach.” The little boy thought for a minute and then replied, “It ain’t worth it!”
As a Christian, if you want wholeness of life, there is a price to be paid. You’ve got to eat your spinach. Eating spiritual spinach will produce fruit of the Kingdom of God. Eat your spiritual spinach. It’s worth it!
Newsletter A. 23
Mutambara Mission Hospital
Cashel Road Nhedziwa, Chimanimani
Zimbabwe.
[email protected];[email protected]
Dear Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ,
Jesus Christ. of our Lord Grace and Peace of our Lord Christ be with all of us. We say Happy New Year to those of us we have not communicated with individually. There is this saying/faithful prayer among our people during the New Year’s celebration which says “that the proceeds of the outgoing year are not much, those of the incoming year/New Year shall be in multiples of the previous year”. That is our prayer this year for each one of us in the name
We thank you all for your support to our ministry both financially, and otherwise. Your support has been tremendous. Through your financial support we have been able to repair/ service some of the hospital’s vehicles, the ongoing furnishing of the theatre, ongoing fixtures in the laboratory. We shall get some pictures in the next Newsletter.
Sustainability of this free-feeding of the pregnant women is still a source of concern. As mentioned in the past, measures have been put in place to achieve sustainability. We shall review these measures with pictures in the next Newsletter as the clock continues to thick towards our retirement. Please continue to support us both financially and spiritually. The new policy of the GBGM for covenant relationships effective from this year is a maximum of three years. See the attached covenant relationship form. illness, the season, and the opportunity to meet with the children and grandchildren. Florence has been sick in the second half of 2022 necessitating seeking for treatment both in Zimbabwe and the United States. Treatment for us and especially for Florence extended into February. Florence is getting better with her treatment and has been scheduled for review in early June 2023. We returned to Zimbabwe late February and since then have been trying to adjust and stabilize with work. Thanks to God for protecting Zimbabwe from the recent cyclone Fredy which ravaged our neighbouring country, Malawi and Mozambique.
We give thanks to God for his mercies and favours on our family. Our Christmas and New Year celebrations were those of mixed feelings namely The support for the feeding of the pregnant women in the Waiting Mothers’ home by our friends from the Upper New York annual Conference and major part from the Norway UMC has been awesome.
With our grandchildren during the Christmas.
Whole family in Grand Rapids MI before departure. Happy reunion, thanks to God.
Pray Request:
1) For success in the sustainability projects for the provision of food for the pregnant women in the Mothers’ Shelter.
2) For complete recovery as we plan for the Doctor’s follow up appoint.
3) For God’s guidance during this transition period.
Florence Mefor, Advance # 13991Z, Emmanuel Mefor, Advance # 13390Z
Mutambara Mission Hospital Advance # 3022286.
Memorial Service for Carmen Litschewski
On Saturday, June 3rd, at 10:00 a.m. here at Grand Valley UMC, we will be holding a memorial service for Carmen Litschewski with a meal reception following the service. We invite all who knew her to attend.
The church is getting a facelift!
After our VBS in June, the church will be receiving a facelift in the form of new paint on the walls, new carpet on the floors and new baseboards! We will be using carpet tiles and the carpet will cover the entire floor except for the kitchen and servery. While it might be a little chaotic during the process – please prepare for a week or so – we can’t wait to see the changes!
May birthdays:
4 – Judy Beasley
4 – Tim Largent
10 – Shawn McElroy
16 – Bob Cutting
28 – Colt Smith
Our Seekers Class (Adult Sunday School) meets every Sunday morning at 8:30. We invite all to attend.
Join us for Bible Study every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall or at 6:30 p.m. in the Faith House. We hope you can join us.
Choir practices on Wednesday afternoons at 4:00. Bells are also now meeting. We are always looking for participants, so if you would like to join either of these wonderful musical groups, please contact the office at (970)285-9892 or by email: [email protected]
Prayer Partners meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 10:00. If you have anyone that you would like to add to the Prayer Partner list, please contact Bert Botkin at (970)216-8682.
Church Council Report
COUNCIL MUSINGS
The Council voted to have the sanctuary painted before the new carpet is installed. They selected the carpet tiles. It was suggested that we consider having a columbarium at the Church. Pictures of ones from other Churches were passed around to show us possible configurations. It is something to be considered for the future.
The Mefors will be retiring at the end of the year and the Council must decide if the Church wishes to make a one, two, or three-year missionary covenant. The Church will be assigned a new missionary to support.
Everyone felt that Easter week services and the Easter dinner went well.
VBS is June 12 -16 from 9-12.
Treasurer
FINANCIAL FRIVOLITIES
March was not as rosy as February, as giving was below where it had been anticipated. In addition, we paid our support to the Mefors in March, so expenses were up. However, because January and February were better than had been expected, our first quarter total income was $4,900 greater than had been anticipated at this point. Thank you.
Our expenses for the quarter were $500 less than we had anticipated, so the Church is $5,400 ahead of where we planned to be as of the end of March.
Cash-wise, the Church is a good position. There was $10,900 in the checking account at the end of March and $31,200 in our two money market accounts. We will be using some of the money market account for the carpeting of the Church, but that will probably be in two parts. There is currently $52,400 in the Capital Improvement account to cover the $20,000 cost of the carpet.
Some random facts you didn’t know you needed to know…..
– The scientific name for brain freeze is sphenopalatine gaglioneuralgia.
– The first U.S. town to be completely lit by electric streetlights was Wabash, Indiana, in 1880. It had a population of 320 at the time.
– Artist Ivan Albright was so meticulous, he often worked with a single-haired brush and would spend whole days working on 1 square inch of canvas.
– Honey is a better cough suppressant than over-the-counter cough suppressants.
– The average person will spend a total of 3,680 hours, or 153 days, searching for misplaced items. Keys, cellphones, sunglasses and paperwork top the list of commonly lost items.
– The McDonald’s in Sedona, Arizona, is the only one in the world with turquoise arches instead of golden ones. The turquoise coloration was thought to be a better fit for the reddish desert surroundings.
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Church Contact Information
PO Box 125
Parachute CO 81635
(970)285-9892
[email protected]
www.GrandValleyUMC.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesday – Friday
9:00 – noon