WEDNESDAY MAIL                                      October 24, 2007

 OFFER PRAYERS FOR WABASH VALLEY PRESBYTERY

God of comings and goings, we thank you for people you put in our paths who broaden our lives in your love. Especially we thank you for Shelly Gibson, for all the work she has done for us at Wabash Valley Presbytery, and her service to you through her work. We thank you for bringing us a new interim director to Geneva Center, Tom Root, and pray for your continued work through all those who work according to your purpose. Amen

Geneva Center Needs Your Help - NOW!

The Geneva Center Management Team is excited to announce that Tom Roots, the new Interim Director for the facility will be coming on board by the first of November. (Information about Tom will be forthcoming in the Management Team’s report) What is needed at this time is each church’s financial support to make the necessary ‘site house’ renovations where Tom and his family will live during their time of service.

These renovations are as follows:

There is no Geneva Center or Presbytery reserve that can be tapped for these necessary home improvements, so desperately needed for a home that has been neglected for many years.

Therefore, we asking as many local congregations as able to make a special gift to Geneva Center in the next two weeks – yes, that is right, within the next two weeks – in order that the bulk of these repairs may be completed prior to Tom’s arrival. Whether your contribution is large or small, each gift is a valuable resource to enhance the ministry of Geneva Center.

Just possibly Geneva Center is the best-kept secret of Wabash Valley Presbytery. It offers private meetings spaces in the Conference Center; overnight accommodations in cabins or the Conference Center; banquet facilities; retreats, conferences and workshops; a lake stocked for fishing or for one’s enjoyment of canoeing; and of course the extensive summer camp program for all ages from June through August. All on 250 beautifully wooded acres located just 5 miles north Rochester.

If your congregation is able to be of help at this time, send your gift marked “Geneva Center Home Site Improvements” to Geneva Center, 5288 N Old US Hwy 31, Rochester, IN 46975-7382, as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your generosity and faithfulness to the mission of our Presbytery through the ministry of Geneva Center.

Attached please find a photo of our new Interim Director and his family.   

COMMENTS

Please hit reply this week for any comments or questions to help us serve you better.  We are experiencing some technical difficulties and hopefully will be up and running again very soon.  Thank you!!

WEBSITE

As we are having some technical difficulties, our website is still up, just not updated with this weeks new info.  If you have any questions please call us at 1-800-235-5376 or email gladys@ourpresbytery.org.  

SHELLY’S BLURB

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing seems to be going right?  I am having one right now.  As I can not get into the website or publisher to do the Wednesday Mail, I do apologize for the inconvenience.  As this was my mistake, God has sent me help to try and fix the problem.  He has also sent me people who have been more than gracious to tell me that it is ok.  Mistakes happen (even though I feel horrible) and God is in control.  I appreciate those little pick me ups so much.  These are the times when we just have no choice but to trust the Lord and He will make things come out the way they are supposed to.  Many blessings to you all.  Shelly G.

“CREATING, CONNECTING, NURTURING”

Where is your Interim General Presbyter fulfilling our mission?

Rev. Ray Fancher’s Sunday schedule:  (Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise noted *)

October 28            9:30 a.m.               Calvary Presbyterian Church, Logansport

November 4                                       Not Available

November 11                                     Not Available

November 18                                     First Presbyterian Church, Huntington

November 25                                     Not Available

December 2                                       To Be Confirmed

December 9, 16, 23, 30                       Not Available

* Central Time Zone

To inquire or invite Rev. Fancher to your church, please feel free to contact Gladys—574-223-5678 or gladys@ourpresbytery.org.

SHARING OUR CARING

Good Friends,

With the upheaval in the natural order of things both here in Indiana and in California we know there are many people in distress and we keep them in our prayers. Especially we pray for the people of Nappanee, Indiana who were hit hard by a tornado. There were a couple of families belonging to the Presbyterian Church that were affected. Please see the description by Terry Tyler, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Nappanee and police chaplain. (To follow Sharing our Caring)

We mourn with the people of the Malibu Presbyterian Church upon the loss of their beautiful church building and pray for God’s calming presence to be with them in a difficult time. And for all those who lost homes in the fires in Southern California we pray for God’s blessings and loving care.

Please remember Bruce Haapalainen in your prayers as he has treatment for a back ailment. Bruce is co-pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Munster.

Shelly Gibson, receptionist for The Presbytery of Wabash Valley, has resigned to take a position as a church secretary. Her last day is October 31. We thank God for the years of service to God through the work with us. Keep Shelly in your prayers upon this change in her life.

Pray for Tom Roots, the new interim director of Geneva Center and his family, as they prepare to move to Rochester. See more about them in Wednesday email.

Pray for one another as we minister in the name of Jesus Christ,

David Smook, Pastor to Pastors

REPORT FROM TERY TYLER RE: NAPPANEE

I appreciate all of the inquiries regarding the situation in Nappanee.  This

is Monday morning and the first opportunity I have had to respond to them.

The tornado (upgraded now to an F4) hit Nappanee about 10:20 pm Thursday.

Becky and I headed immediately to our basement as soon as the sirens began

sounding.  By the time we got to the basement all electricity was off.  We

were down stairs for about 10 minutes.  At that point we did not really

understand what had just happened.  There was no damage done to our home or

the church building.  I told Becky that I was going down to the police

station just to check in with them.  I am the Nappanee Police Chaplain and I

knew that our officers would have been stationed on the perimeter of the

city during a tornado warning and I wanted to make sure they were all okay.

I arrived at the station at about 10:40pm Thursday and did not get home

until about 10:30 Friday night.  I was fortunate to be able to participate

in the command center set up at the station as all of the search and rescue

efforts, utility crews, Department of Emergency Management, other police

agencies, Red Cross, Salivation Army, emergency centers and a myriad of

other agencies and events were organized and put in place.  It was an

exhilarating process to participate in during those first 24 hours.

Several people in our congregation were directly impacted.  Two families

lost their homes (no injuries).  Two other families had business destroyed

or severely damaged.

The miraculous nature of this event would be obvious if you could see first

hand the devastation on approximately 250 homes and businesses and know that

no one was killed. This community is for the most part a Christian faith

based community and the response of those directly impacted and those

outside the devastation area reflects that faith.

The mayor asked me on Friday afternoon if I would organize a relief effort

with volunteers for Sunday morning beginning at 10:00.  Of course I agreed.

On Sunday morning we had 22 zones identified for volunteers to pick up

debris.  Most of those were in the city, but there were some in the rural

areas which included English as well as Amish families and farms.  We lined

up approximately 30 school busses to help us shuttle the people to and from

the zones.

People were told to be at the local high school by 10:00.  After registering

and sending out over 2,500 people on the busses we finally had to inform

approximately another 2,500 people that we were not going to be able to get

them to and from the work areas.  I was concerned that there might be some

angry people.  Many of them had come from long distances, and many northern

Indiana churches had canceled or changed their worship service to get people

to Nappanee.  At one point traffic coming in to Nappanee from the north was

backed up on SR 19 for 10 miles.  I do not know what the traffic was like

from other directions.

When I made the announcement and thanked the people for the patience,

kindness and generosity toward the people of Nappanee, they actually started

applauding and went away with a smile on their face.  Thank God for that

beautiful response.  There were some people (I would estimate about 500)

that instead of going home took themselves into some of the areas to help.

The work that was done by those in the field probably advanced our clean up

effort by at least 2 months, maybe more.  The stories that were coming back

regarding the work that was done is a real affirmation of the larger

Christian community.  I wish I had the time to share some of these stories

with you, but there is no time presently to do that.

The mayor has put me on a committee of eight people that met for the first

time Sunday night to begin coordinating the long tern recovery of the city.

We will be responsible for working with FEMA and the non-profit

organizations and relief agencies that will want to help.  It should take

about 10 months.  Please pray for us during this important time.

The mayor (Larry Thompson) was superb in his leadership of the city.  He is

a born again Christian and I know he would covet your prayers for his

leadership, physical and spiritual strength, and protection as he leads the

city through this time.

We are in need of emergency funds as we await help from FEMA and other

non-profit agencies.  If any of you can spare a little money for these life

situations that must be dealt with over the next week you could send it to

the First Presbyterian Church, PO Box 104, Nappanee 46550.

I will make sure that it gets into the hands of the people we are organizing

on Tuesday to handle this money in an effort to help relieve some of the

stress in the lives of some of our people.

Thanks for your concern.

Coram Deo, Terry

TREASURER POSITION

The Presbytery of Wabash Valley is seeking a part-time Treasurer.  We hope to nominate a person with a high level of integrity and commitment, written and verbal communication skills, computer skills, financial skills, and an ability to be adaptable, patient and work as part of a team.  For a position description and application form, please contact Jamie Miller, Chair of the Treasurer Search Committee, at jamie@sunnysidechurch.org or 574-287-1524.  Deadline for applications is October 29, 2007.

ALBAN WEEKLY

Alban weekly featured the Elkhart PC in one of its recent articles.  Please click HERE to read this interesting article.

INSTALLATIONS

The Presbytery of Wabash Valley

cordially invites you to the

 Installations of

Revs. Robert D.  and Lindsey N. Carnes

as Associate Pastors

First Presbyterian Church

333 W. Colfax Avenue, South Bend

Sunday, November 4, 2007

1:00 p.m. (eastern time zone)

Rev. Anna M. Parkinson

as Associate Pastor

First Presbyterian Church

215 East Lincoln Avenue, Goshen

Sunday, November 4, 2007

5:00 p.m. (eastern time zone)