Tuesday, July 31, 2018

August 2018 newsletter


House-to-House
 Family of Hope House Church                                         August 2018

From Utmost East To Utmost West    - Harvey Yoder

We were blessed recently having Hongyan and Bo Hu Zhou and daughters Emily and Eliana here for a visit.  Hongyan came to EMU as a visiting scholar from the Chongqing University of Medical Sciences in China in 2004, and became a part of our house church congregation through staying with one of our members, the late Rachel Stoltzfus.

Hongyan had become a believer through the influence of a US teacher of English at his University, and he and his wife Bo Hu, became very active in one of a growing number of house churches in Chongquing. After coming to the states, Hong Yan was granted religious asylum and immediately sought to bring his wife and their young daughter here to join him.

Bo Hu and Emily were welcomed into Rachel's home in 2006, and she and Emily, then a fourth grader, soon became a beloved part of our community and our living-room-size church family. In 2009 the three moved to California to be closer to Bo Hu's parents, and where Hongyan got a job in nursing, having just completed his nursing degree.

Bo Hu, then in her late thirties, and after having had several miscarriages, gave birth to their miracle child, Eliana, which means “The Lord has heard my prayer.”

Eliana will be in the fourth grade this fall, and Bo, having just earned an RN degree, will be finding full time work in nursing. Emily is completing her last year of college at UC Berkley, where she had a full tuition scholarship she earned, amazingly, by winning an art contest in Virginia as a new elementary student in her first year in the states. She hopes to enroll in dental school in the fall of 2019 after completing her senior year next spring.

Notes, Prayers and Praises
  • GUY AND MARGIE VLASITS hope to be moved to their new house by the end of this month. Their new address is 3399 Caverns Drive, Keezletown, VA 22832  
  • OUR CONTINUED PRAYERS for restored health for Bertha Swarr and for all of our friends at VMRC.
  • AUGUST BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Kent Palmer 8/10 and Gail Blackburn 8/30! Alma Jean and Harvey’s anniversary is 8/8 and James and Ruth Stauffer’s is 8/30.
  • JOSIAH DUMAS’s correct phone number is 571-577-0144.

August Lectionary Texts

5   2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Psalm 51:1-12 Ephesians 4:1-16  John 6:24-35
12  2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33  Psalm 130 1 Kings 19:4-8  Ephesians 4:25-5:2  John 6:35, 41-51
19 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 Psalm 111 Proverbs 9:1-6 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58
26  1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 84 Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 Ephesians 6:10-20  John 6:56-69

August services, worship at 4, meal at 6 pm (except 8/19)

5 Location: Park Place, second floor meeting room                   564-3716
Worship and sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: Paul Swarr                                                 (No evening meal)
12 Location: FLRC, 273 Newman Ave. (ground floor)               432-0531
Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger                                  
Bible Study: Lewis Overheat (each will bring their own brown bag lunch)
19 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 1260 Parkway Drive 269-6706
at 5 pm
Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                                    Carry-in Meal       
26 Location: Susan Campbell 1361 Lincolnshire Dr, 22802     564-1524
Worship and Sharing: Susan Campbell                                            
Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                     Carry-in Meal  

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

July 2018 newsletter


House-to-House
 Family of Hope House Church                                            July 2018

LOVE—It’s What Makes a Human Being A Human Being       
- Harvey Yoder

A child's "failure to thrive" and even survive can be the result not only of genetic or medical conditions, but to a lack of nurturing relationships with loving caregivers. To be loved, held, touched, embraced, and interacted with from infancy is vital to a child's healthy development, and to his or her ability to grow up being able to love and care for others.

In understaffed orphanages in war-ravaged Europe in the last century, children who were kept in cribs, where they may have been routinely fed and diapered but provided little else, grew up being unable to talk, walk or care for themselves, demonstrating that it takes loving interactions with human beings to produce thriving human beings. And many of these children simply died.

As we grow into adulthood, we continue to need God-given love in a network of caring relationships in order to maintain good emotional and physical health. In an age of communicating through texts and experiencing fewer than ever close bonds with others, I'm concerned about increased incidents of depression, anxiety disorders and even suicide.

Our local RISE congregation has as one of its mantras "Receive Love. Give Love. Repeat." That pretty much sums up what makes us healthy and happy children of God. Without it, we find ourselves seeking every substitute possible to fill up the hole in our soul, and then wonder why we are left with a sense of loneliness and despair.


Notes, Prayers and Praises
  • VIRGINIA MENNONITE CONFERENCE ASSEMBLY meets at the Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Virginia July 19-21.
  • OUR CONTINUED PRAYERS for Guy and Margie Vlasits as they get things ready to move into their new house near Keezletown.
  • JULY BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Lois Rivera-Wenger, July 30!

July Lectionary Texts
1   Lamentations 3:22-33, Psalm 30,  2 Corinthians 8:7-15, Mark 5:21-43
8  2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10, Psalm 48, Ezekiel 2:1-5,  2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13
15 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Psalm 24, Amos 7:7-15, Ephesians 1:3-14,    
            Mark 6:14-29
22  2 Samuel 7:1-14a, Psalm 89:20-37, Jeremiah 23:1-6, Ephesians     
            2:11-22, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
29  2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 145:10-18, Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:1-21

July services, worship at 4, meal at 6 pm
1 Location: Park Place, second floor meeting room                   564-3716
Worship and sharing: Lewis Overholt
Bible Study: Paul Swarr                                    light salad/fresh fruit meal
8 Location: Virginia Mennonite Conference Center                    432-0531
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder                                   
Bible Study: Clyde Kratz, VMC Executive Minister     (No evening meal)                                    
15 Location: Guy and Margie Vlasits 1260 Parkway Drive       269-6706
Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer
Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                                    Carry-in Meal       
22 Location: FLRC, 273 Newman Ave. (ground floor)               432-0531
Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder                                           
Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                     Carry-in Meal               
29 Location: FLRC, 273 Newman Ave. (ground floor)               432-0531
Worship and Sharing: Kent Palmer                                  
Bible Study: Elly Nelson                                                Finger Food Meal