Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Leave it up to a kid brother to be a kidder.
A few Saturdays ago, when I was about to convene an organized flood relief effort and dispatch volunteers to various homes in Cherokee, my brother Genniser called me from Florida.
“Let me get this straight,” he said. “Three years ago you all had a flood and tornado hit the town. Last year you had a fire. Then you had a drought. And this year you had an even bigger flood.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, sheepishly.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THAT CHURCH?” he snapped.
I have to admit that these last three years have had their fair share of challenges for this congregation and this town, but I am delighted to share some good news with you:
FLOOD RECOVERY COMPLETED
Thanks to a push of volunteers last week, including some groups from out of town (Mitchellville UMC outside Des Moines and Buena Vista University in Storm Lake), we have now addressed all of the flood damaged homes given to us from City Hall. We are therefore announcing an end to organized volunteer flood relief days.
Since the flash flood that devastated Cherokee four weeks ago yesterday, we have sent a total of 84 volunteers (a majority of them from this church) out into the community to work nearly 700 hours of service to people who were unable to help themselves. They performed a variety of jobs, including mucking out basements, scooping mud, power washing, shoveling yard debris, hauling wet carpet, cutting fallen trees, preparing meals, and offering comforting words to grief stricken residents. Now, all of those jobs are completed (except for one ongoing project, which you can read about below) and there are many people to thank. Specifically, I’d like to acknowledge the following folks in our church (in alphabetical order) for the way they put God’s love into action in such tangible ways:
Dave and Linda Appleby
Laura Benson
JoAnn and John Bieber
Hannah Burkhart
Linda Burkhart
Mary Jo Carnine
Linda Christensen
Grace and Madelyn deVega
Connie Hankens,
Louis and Sheree Hausmann
Sherry Held
Missy and Carson Jenness
Sally Knoben
Shelley and Larry Lenz
Marlin and Sherry Lode
Mary Jo Poggenklass
Betty Point
Diane and Jake Rochleau
Kirk, Nolan, and Ben Sampson
Craig and Monica Schmidt
Melissa and Kenny Schlenger and kids
Zack Taylor
Tasha and Cole Timmerman
Joe Vannatta
Dawson Voge
Loren Woltman.
Naturally, we don’t offer ourselves to the community for recognition; we do it because our commitment to Christ and the mission of this church compels us to do so. Nevertheless, you all can know that people in this town have taken notice of the difference you have made. Many residents have told me that though they have spent years away from organized religion, they want to start attending worship at St. Paul’s. (I even saw some of them in church last Sunday.) Some of the volunteers who joined us in our efforts have also started coming to St. Paul’s. And just yesterday, Don Eikmeyer, the city administrator, told me that he wants to publicly recognize our efforts at the next city council meeting in July.
You all have been a living embodiment, and fulfillment, of Jesus’ command to “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” So, in answer to my loving brother, the question is not what I am doing to this church.
Look at what God is doing through this church.
Grace and Peace,
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org
FIRE RECOVERY MEETING TONIGHT
We encourage you to come to an important information and feedback meeting at the church tonight at 6:30 in the sanctuary. You will hear the latest developments in the reconstruction of our kitchen and dining hall, and you will have an opportunity to give the Trustees and the Building Committee your feedback on some critical decisions before us.
DRYWALL HELP NEEDED
The one outstanding job related to flood recovery involves the installation of drywall at the home of Bob and Sandy Kirschner, whose home just north of town had to be stripped down to the studs since flood waters rose into their main floor. The amazing duo of Greg and Marie Conklin with Neighbors Across the Land will be returning on July 5-6 to install new drywall, and they are looking for anyone to come help. If you are interested, let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment