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Ministry Roundup: Covenanters Seek to Bless Their World
PAXTON, IL (July 2, 2004) - Linda Tammen of the Evangelical Covenant Church of
Paxton was named the local honoree of Wal-Mart's ninth annual Teacher of
the Year program.
A first grade teacher at Clara Peterson School in Paxton, Tammen was
nominated for her willingness to help the special needs students in her
class and her work to assist them into the school's educational
programming. As a result of her honor, Peterson School was given $1,000.
Tamman is now being considered for a statewide award.
Tammen is one of many Covenanters in who are making a difference in
their churches and communities throughout the Covenant. Here's a sample
of them, organized by the conference and regions they belong to:
CENTRAL
- South Bend, Indiana: Marcia McBride of the Evangelical Covenant
Church of South Bend was named the 2004 Teacher of the Year for the
Penn/Harris/Madison schools.
- Iron Mountain, Michigan: Minnie Nelson of First Covenant Church
celebrated her 100th birthday May 9.
- Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: More than 100 people from six Covenant
churches in the Chicago area attended the Hispanic Women's Retreat at
Covenant Harbor, June 11-13.
Gloria Rios spoke to the theme "Restoration, Promise of God," taken from
Ruth 4:15. The women presented "This Is Your Life" event for their
friend, Nancy Reed. Reed, the retiring coordinator of Hispanic church
relations for world mission, is moving to Spain with the husband Jerry
in September as a short-term missionary.
NORTH PACIFIC
- Port Orchard, Washington: Covenant Fellowship recently celebrated
its fifth anniversary with a spring banquet Saturday evening and a
special Sunday morning worship service, stated pastor David Rasmussen.
The church has met in a local school and found ways to minister to
teachers, administrators, and kids in and around Sidney Glen Elementary
School, sending cookies to teachers and providing practical seminars,
among other things. In June, the church hosted a service of baptism at a
local lake, along with a BBQ/potluck meal. The church also will host an
all-church retreat in July at an area camp and mission center off Puget
Sound.
NORTHWEST
- Mankato, Minnesota: The Evangelical Covenant Church of Mankato
hosted "The SonGames," a vacation Bible school with an Olympic theme,
from June 7-11 and had 130 participants and another 103 volunteer.
Meanwhile, 40 people have assisted on a quilt project for Alaska
Christian College that will provide 48 quilts for student's use. Sally
Trask of RiverCity Quilts and Susan Covey were leaders for the project.
- Rochester, Minnesota: Ken Olson of Rochester Covenant Church, a
Wycliffe Bible translator working in Dallas, recently spent two months
teaching in the Central African Republic at the Bangui Evangelical
School of Theology (known as FATEB). One of the courses Olson taught
introduced computer software used in translation work.
- Willmar, Minnesota: Shirley Portinga was named the 2004 Auxiliary
President-Elect of Rice Hospital Auxiliary. A former ward clerk on the
hospital's medical unit, Portinga was named by the Rice Hospital Board
of Directors. She has been active in volunteer work both at church (she
is chair of the worship commission) and at the local level (she was
director of the Central Minnesota Foster Grandparent Program) during
recent years.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
- Concord, California: Six representatives from Covenant congregations
joined Walter Contreras of the Pacific Southwest Conference at a
Hispanic leaders conference in Washington D.C. recently. The event
included a prayer breakfast that had U.S.
Department of Commerce Secretary Don Evans as guest speaker and senators
Joseph Lieberman and Hilary Clinton giving remarks. During one day,
approximately
300 pastors made 70 visits to Congressmen and women on Capitol Hill,
with current immigration policy reform a key topic of discussion.
- Oakland, California: First Covenant Church's recent newsletter
recognized the academic achievements of Patten University's Chung
Taylor, who earned a Dean's
Award for the most recent academic year.
SOUTHEAST
- Cary, North Carolina: Redeemer Covenant Church sent 22 people to
Mexico on a mission trip April 3-10 as groups worked in Monterrey and
Sabinas Hidalgo. The
theme of the trip was "Do It," said Bill Goodale, who wrote an article
on the trip for the church's newsletter. Workers helped with
construction projects at a Covenant church in Monterrey, scrubbing and
painting restrooms, scraping and sealing the church roof and doing
landscaping and renovating the pastor's apartment above the church.
Another group hosted a vacation Bible school for 85 children at the
church, sharing Bible parables, doing crafts, etc. Janet Hobble and
Kathy VanOsdell told a story about how believing in Jesus washes away
sins and the group taught the children worship songs during the week.
The group also led a similar program at another church nearby and more
than 200 attended. In Sabinas Hidalgo, Greg Burton and Jim Hobble led a
one-week basketball
camp. Assistance for the week was provided by Covenant-sponsored Merge
Ministries, based in McAllen,Texas. The work of the church's youth
leader, Mike Przybowski, was also integral to the effort.
ELSEWHERE
- Puebla, Mexico: Covenant missionaries Jerry and Vicky Love reported
that their church has been busy recently. On Mother's Day weekend, the
dads pit-barbecued two sheep - buying the animals in the market and
slaughtering and butchering them and then prepared the meat by cooking
it overnight before serving a tasty meal in honor of the women in the
congregation. There were 120 at the meal that day, from a normal
attendance of about 50, said the Loves in a recent email. "Pentecost
Sunday we initiated the baptism tank in our new facilities - it was
included when we poured the floor for the worship center - and that
Sunday we 'buried' eight new believers who were 'raised up to new life'
in Christ Jesus. One of them was Lulu, the mother of two children in our
Bible club. Because of their enthusiasm for the things of the Lord, she
began to attend Sunday events, participate in the life of the
congregation, and opened her apartment for a Bible study among the
mothers of our kids clubbers. Since her recent baptism she has been
proclaiming, 'I have joy--joy all the time! I used to be sad and crying!
Now I tell all my friends and I can't understand why everyone doesn't
believe in Jesus and get baptized! I'm not making up this joy. It just
keeps flooding through me!' " A picture of Lulu and others can be found
on the Internet under: http://pacto.org/photos/NewBelievers/.
The Loves ask prayer for the church, especially its leaders, and in the
spiritual renewal of people who used to be part of the congregation and
have drifted away. An upcoming baptism is part of that process. They
also ask for prayers so that the congregation
procures the necessary finances to finish remodeling work and final
payments for a building the church recently purchased.
To hear more about what Covenant adults are doing to bless their world,
check out www.covchurch.org. To send information about them, email
Covenant Communications at newsdesk@covchurch.org.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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