Easter Happenings:

We are taking orders for Easter flowers with a deadline for orders Sunday, March 21.   Six-inch pots @ $6.99 are available in Easter lilies (4-5 blooms), Tulips (6 blooms), Hyacinths (4 blooms).  Put your order and payment in an envelope marked “Easter Flowers” in the offering plate.  If you have any questions, see  Sandy Holderread. 

A reminder to parents that the children will be carrying palms on Sunday, March 28.  Please have your children meet in the library upon arriving at church.  They will enter the sanctuary with the palms at the beginning of worship.    

      Love Feast with Feet Washing  Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m.

Sunrise Service – April 4, 7:00 a.m.

Our Easter Sunday Sunrise Service will be held at 7:00 a.m. 

Easter Breakfast Follows Sunrise Service at 7:30 a.m. we will gather in the fellowship hall to share an Easter breakfast together.  The Young Adult Sunday School class will provide the meal.

PRAYER REQUESTS: Please pray for: Camp Mack Staff, Counselors & Summer Staff

Quiet Place Quote: “Prayer is like love. Words pour at first. Then we are more silent and can communicate in monosyllables. The soul converses with God with a single loving glance.” Carlo Carretto.

How to get involved in the disaster effort in Haiti:

http://www.brethren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=serve_brethren_disaster_ministries_HaitiEarthquake

• Donate. Contribute online to the effort in Haiti through the website listed above. To donate by mail, make the check payable to Emergency Disaster Fund, designated for the Haiti Earthquake, and mail to Church of the Brethren,
  1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
• Pray. Visit this special webpage to post your ‘Prayers for Haiti.’ Prayers will be shared with Brethren in Haiti.
• Assemble Kits. Gift of the Heart Hygiene Kits and Baby Care Kits are in large demand. The kits should be sent to the Brethren Service Center,
  P.O. Box 188, New Windsor, MD 21776. For instructions to make the kits, go to www.churchworldservice.org/kits
• Avoid collecting unneeded goods. Emergency supplies, food and water will be purchased in bulk by the responding agencies. Cash donations are most helpful at this time.

Prayer Concerns       

Eric Kandlestorfer     Cindy Voight     Chris & Rachel Shoue

Mason Jackson         Vic Geesaman                           

DannyBeem            RodneyHathaway                                          

Colombia City CoB- Rhonda Krause family     

Ongoing Concerns/Shut-ins

Earthquake victims in Haiti, Myrtle Abbiehl, Pearl Aldrich, Ruby Banks, Jim Borton, Josephine Davis, Jacob Felgenhauer, Evelyn Folk, Raymond Naragon, Iva Pommert, Mary Swihart, Johnny Whitmer, Unrest around the world, Economic situation and those without work, Those awaiting test results, Those struggling with marital problems, Working of the Spirit in the life of the North Liberty Church

Brethren in Mission around the world 

In Nigeria, Haiti, and many other places, we “go into all the world” to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and serve brothers and sisters in need.  Over the next 6 months a place where the Church of the Brethren serves will be highlighted.  

HAITI 

The Church of the Brethren Mission in Haiti began a few years ago, led by Haitian Brethren living in the United States. The first Brethren were baptized in Haiti in May 2003.

Now, just five years later, there are five active Church of the Brethren congregations in Haiti and 10 more preaching points. Ten ministry candidates are ready for licensing in 2009, and one Haitian Brethren member has graduated from seminary. One congregation has established a school, with another hoping to open a new school. In September 2008, the New Covenant School was established in St. Louis du Nord for pre-school through third grade, with sponsorship from First Church of the Brethren in Miami, Fla.

The Church of the Brethren holds an annual theological training in Haiti to assist with leadership development for the new mission. The church’s Ministry Office also will be supporting licensing of Haitian ministers.

In addition, the Church of the Brethren responded energetically to the devastation caused last fall when hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike caused major devastation in an already impoverished country. A major longterm disaster recovery project in Haiti began, with leadership from Brethren Disaster Ministries.  Brethren Disaster Ministries is currently responding to the devastating 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010.

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN WINTER 2010 PRAYER CALENDAR

MARCH PRAYER FOCUS: EDUCATION

Week of March 7: Remember all the teachers in your community, and those who have had an impact in your life. Offer God a word of thanks for them, and perhaps seek out some of them to tell them "thank you," too.

Week of March 14: Pray for the six Brethren colleges and Bethany Theological Seminary, institutions of learning that encourage intellectual exploration with a faith lens.  Pray for the faculty, staff, students, and administrators.

Week of March 21: Praise God for the work of Brethren Press, and all those who develop and write curriculum that fosters faith development in Sunday school classes and other opportunities for Christian education.

Week of March 28: Spend some quiet time with God, and listen for what God's Spirit may still be trying to teach you as you continue along the journey of faith.

*FAIR TRADE COFFEE PROJECT*

Nearly a half-year into the Fair Trade Coffee Project, the church family has enjoyed over fifty bags of coffee and donated an additional $112.35.  These extra funds have been forwarded, in the church’s name, to the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Fund.  100% of our donation is used to support CRS development and market-building grants that foster and sustain the talents of artisans and farmers overseas.  Thank you for your continued support of this project!

Rick Klinedinst