June 9, 2007 - Email Newsletter
Posted by Doug on June 9th, 2007 filed in Email Newsletter
Hey all,
Orioles vs Diamondbacks - $25 Money Due on June 10, Game on June 16
So far, I have received no interest in the baseball game. Does anybody want to go? If you do, you to let me know and get me your money by this coming Sunday June 10th.
June 12 - Team 2Tues6 6:00pm
There is a church wide Team 2Tues6 planning meeting. This is where you can get involved with other areas in the church. There will be no iFit devotional on this Tuesday, but you’re still encouraged to join us for 2Tues6.
June 19 - Weekly Devotional at 7:00pm
There will be a devotional on Tuesday, June 19 in the Cornerstone worship center. There will be a short discussion and then the rest of the time will be spent planning for the 3rd quarter events. If there is something you want iFit to do as a group, bring it up at either 2Tues6 or this devotional. Things like camping, cookout, game nights, etc. We will be making the schedule for the next 3 months, July - Sep.
June 26 - Weekly Devotional at 7:00pm
There will be a devotional on Tuesday, June 26 in the Cornerstone worship center.
Prayer Requests
Here are some of the things that are on the hearts and minds of the iFit members. Please keep one another in your thoughts and prayers.
- Cheryl’s Grandmother Josephine and Grandfather - grandmother is in serious medical condition and may not leave the hospital. Pray for the whole family as they go through this hard time.
Cornerstone’s Dominican Republic Fundraiser
Santa Rosa, a squatters community near the city of Bani in the Dominican Republic, is an area in extreme poverty where the water situation is pretty bad. There is a single river that supplies water to the area, but this water has become polluted because of the massive population using it. People are now pretty much required to buy bottled water at a high price for drinking, bathing, cooking, etc, often at the expense of buying suitable food. To make matters worse, the “purified water” sold is often just the dirty river water. There is a piece of property next to Pastor Esdras’ church in the DR where they can drill for a water well and use a purifier to clean the water. The purpose of the fundraiser is to help build a water well, complete with a purifier, for the community. This will not only supply clean water for the community of 12,000, but they can sell it for a quarter of what others are selling it for and generate a profit to help their ministry to become more self sufficient. Simply put: An invitation for clean water as channel for an invitation to living water.
This past Sunday Bruce taught on the parable of the talents in Mathew 25: 14-30 and concluded the message by interviewing our guest, Pastor Esdras. The church then did something crazy. We gave out an offering. Yes, that’s right! We did not take up an offering, we gave out an offering. We distributed 75 twenty-dollar bills from our church mission money (that is $1500 for the mathematically challenged), and individuals and families took the challenge. In the next three weeks we are finding creative ways to invest the $20 and see if we can multiply this seed money to raise enough for a well and water purifier for Pastor Esdras’s church.
The rules are simple!
1. Don’t simply add your own money to the $20—this is about engaging. True servant hood engages people. Being personally involved is a way for you to engage with people around you on behalf of the people of Santa Rosa.
2. Use moral methods. No shady deals, please! Like gambling, selling immoral things, etc.
ON SUNDAY, JUNE 24, WE WILL COLLECT THE MONEY THAT HAS BEEN MULTIPLIED IN A SPECIAL OFFERING.
We also are hoping to collect stories from people who invested the money, telling us how God did cool things in response to their risk-taking. We even want to hear the stories of people who lost money taking risks! Remember, the parable is about our willingness to take risks for God, not about the final results.
If you weren’t at church last Sunday, can you still participate in this fund raising event? YOU BET! However, the church has run out of $20 bills. But you can grab a $20 from your own wallet and call it “God’s Money” and then participate in an engaging fund raising event.
iFit and the DR Fundraiser
It was discussed briefly at this past Tuesday’s devotional about doing a group iFit fundraiser thing for the DR stuff in the above bullet. However, nothing was finalized or planned. So, it looks like everyone is on their own for the time being.
Why didn’t Noah go fishing? …. He only had two worms.