Fall means Back to School and once again, thanks to the generous contributions made by our congregation, students at Truscott Elementary will be prepared to hit the ground running with a lot of the supplies needed in the classroom.  On Friday afternoon August 12th, just before the first week of school, the first round of pencils, erasers, glue sticks, backpacks and much more were delivered to Truscott.  Principal Karen Hanford was delighted to receive the many boxes of school supplies.

For those of you who like to view the details, here are the totals for the school supply drive:

• 64  Backpacks
  
• 72  Pencil Boxes
  
• 12   Snack size Ziplock bags
  
• 21   Pencil Sharpeners
  
• 92   Large Erasers
  
• 173  Glue Sticks
  
• 166  Dry Erase Markers
  
• 26   Boxes of Colored Markers
  
• 51   Boxes of Pencils
  
• 24   Boxes of Colored Pencils
  
• 164  Highlighters
  
• 57   Scissors
  
• 4    Crayon boxes
  
• 4    Kleenex boxes

That next Monday, Pastor Lee and Phyllis Wehrle brought treats for the annual rite of passage known as "Tea and Tissues".  Children entering Kindergarten and their parents are invited to visit the school a day prior to the the official start of the school year.  As the children go off to visit their new campus, the parents are invited to stay back for some tea and snacks.  This gives parents a chance to ask questions, get to know each other, and possibly grab a tissue as the need arises (... and it certainly did arise!).  As opposed to the previous year, more parents resisted the urge to follow their children on the tour.  Both Lee and Phyllis felt the get together was a resounding success, but Phyllis hopes someone with a little background in Spanish might want to attend next year's event.

On a Saturday morning back in April, former church members Steve and Alene Burgert paid a visit to Coy Hall to recount their experiences as missionaries in Kenya and to thank us for our support of their mission. Through World Gospel Mission, an interdenominational Christian holiness missionary agency, Steve and Alene had been serving at Tenwek Hospital since 2009. Steve spoke about his time there employing his gastroenterology medical expertise to provide direct patient care, train Kenyan interns and residents and conduct research. He was eventually tapped to lead as Tenwek Hospital’s Medical Superintendent. Alene talked about her calling as pastor in charge of Tenwek’s School of Chaplaincy and her extracaricular activity resulting in the formation of the Correctional Ministry of Kenya. It was readily apparent that they cherished their time serving there and creating bonds with the Kenyan people.

Earlier this year, they made the decision to retire to care for Alene's parents at their home in a California town near Yosemite National Park. They plan to remain involved in service in retirement. Steve plans to return annually to Tenwek Hospital to provide medical care and training. Alene is considering joining a local hospice team as a chaplain. The Missions Committee, which is charged to establish and maintain covenant partnerships, resolved to continue their funding through the end of the year.

There are three such covenant partnerships funded at $2500 each per year that are overseen by the Missions Committee. Besides the Burgerts, there is Donna Chaat Pewo who was working with the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference (OIMC) and the Mefors, Emmanuel and Florence, who are in Mutambara, Zimbabwe serving as doctor and nurse-midwife respectively. Unlike the Burgerts, these missionaries are aligned with Global Ministries which is the worldwide mission, relief and development agency of The United Methodist Church. You can read more about our covenant partners and their accomplishments further on in this Mission Memo.

You may have noticed that Donna's service is referred to in the past tense. In 2020, Donna completed her missionary service with OIMC. The Missions Committee chose to continue funding the mission she had been supporting for now. In the coming months, the Missions Committee will be considering where to form new partnerships.

During their first years as missionaries, Steve and Alene were involved with ministries at and through the hospital that included medical and spiritual care. While Steve worked at the hospital, Alene taught in the chaplaincy program and facilitated prison ministry. Eventually, they both were asked to serve in leadership roles—Alene serving as the Kenya Area Team Leader and Steve as Tenwek Hospital’s Medical Superintendent.

They found that the greatest blessings of their time in Kenya were the close relationships that developed between national Kenyans and themselves. These relationships became valuable cross-cultural bridges especially during the challenges that they faced—seasons of civil unrest, the Sue Steury Building fire at Tenwek, and the COVID-19 pandemic, to name a few.

While Steve and Alene went to Kenya to “do” for the Lord, they look back now and see that God used their service to conform them more closely to the image of His Son. In Alene’s words, “My mission service impacted me much more than I impacted others. It was more about God transforming me through the relationships and circumstances encountered than about my influence on any project or ministry I became part of.”

Steve said that an important lesson he learned was that his investment in equipping and empowering Africans superseded anything that he personally did, since those individuals will provide growth and sustainability into the future, and they will become a greater long-term legacy to the glory of God.

In retirement, they do not plan to just sit on the sidelines. They want to be active participants in what God is doing where He has now called them. Steve plans on making annual trips back to Tenwek Hospital to provide medical care and training, as well as working one or two days a week at a local hospital near their home in California. He will continue serving on the board of the Friends of Tenwek charitable organization.

Alene is currently caring for her elderly parents and is considering an invitation to join a local hospice team as a chaplain. Meanwhile, she will be pursuing online studies in Biblical Hebrew.

Steve and Alene would like to express their deep gratitude to WGM for the excellent leadership, support, facilitation, and member care that they received during their years of service.

First Peter 4:10 conveys their hearts’ desire for themselves and for each follower of Christ: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (NIV). This is how Steve and Alene have sought to live and hope to continue living—serving their Lord and those around them.

References:

Burgert @ WGM

Heros of the Faith

Friends of Tenwek

A native of Abatete, Nigeria, Florence became a registered midwife following studies at the School of Midwifery in Awgu, Nigeria. She earned her nursing degree from the School of Nursing in Jos and spent 14 years nursing at the Evangel Hospital in Jos, which is in Nigeria’s Plateau State.

Florence served at the Chicuque Hospital in Mozambique from 1999 to 2003, and in her home country with the UMC Rural Health Program from 2003 until late 2006. Before her commissioning as a GBGM missionary, she served at Chicuque as a person in mission(PIM) through the GBGM’s Global Mission Partners program.

They have three children, Chukwuebuka, Osita Jude, and Anulika.

References:

Dr Emmanuel Mefor @ Global Ministries

Florence Mefor @ Global Ministries

United Methodist Insight

The ministry strives to win the trust of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, who have a skeptical view of Methodists. The Cheyenne and Arapaho remember that some 180 of their people, including many children, were massacred at Sand Creek, Colorado in 1864 by a territorial militia led by a Methodist preacher, an action for which the contemporary church has apologized. The United Methodist Church also contributed to a Sand Creek memorial.

References:

Missiology

OIMC

For additional information on Covenant Partnerships

Click the links below

Global Ministries - Covenant Relationships

Mountain Sky Conference - Missionaries

Mountain Sky Conference - News

In person trips are returning!

Are you mission trip curious? There will be an informational meeting to answer all your questions about next February's trip to Guatemala. First United Methodist Church, Loveland will be teaming with Longs Peak UMC to help with construction of a home for a deserving Guatemalan family. You can join the meeting online or, better yet, attend in-person at FUMC especially since lunch will be served!

West Coy Hall

Sunday, Sept 11th

12:30 pm

or join online at the link below

Zoom Link

For more information, visit our church website at

https://fumcloveland.com

Check the "Groups & Events" tab or download The Window

In the past we have donated quilts to Alternatives to Violence, the Johnstown Police Department, Palliative Care at Medical Center of the Rockies, Hospice, and a family who were experiencing life changing problems. We also spend one of our quilt days each year making pillowcases for Hospice. Last year we donated 60 cases, hopefully this year we’ll beat that record.

Our normal procedure is to make the quilt top, then take it to Susie Huschka where the top, padding, and back are professionally (and beautifully) machine quilted. When it returns, we add the binding and it’s ready for donation. We prefer this but the cost is $45.00-$55.00 and our budget allows just two quilts a month. I sometimes will do the machine quilting, but the finished quilt is not professionally and beautifully done. Did I mention we quilt, munch and talk?? That’s the beauty of this, we have a good time and have great results.

This busy group finishes more than two quilt tops a month and it became apparent and we needed different resources. Currently we have options for two new recipients, League of Northern Colorado Quilt Group and Hospice. If we donate to these, we only make the top and give it to a group to have it quilted and finished. We never see the finished project, and this is frustrating. Hopefully this will be a temporary situation. We will continue to finish and donate quilts as we have done in the past.

Most of the ladies bring their own machine however there are machines available here. We have outsiders in our group and it’s refreshing to see new faces. We’re always ready for more quilters, new or experienced doesn’t matter, all are welcome. We have several experienced quilters available to help and I don’t think there’s ever been a Saturday when we didn’t have a group meeting to decide colors, pattern, etc. Please think about spending time with us. Did I mention we quilt, munch and talk (not always in this order).

Kay Neckel