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"I will rejoice in doing them good..." Jeremiah 32:41 NIV
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Angel Co-Op Newsletter
Dear Sisters in Christ,
Last night I attended what has become Saskatoon's
annual "International Women's Day Dinner" put on by the
Saskatoon Women's Community Coalition (a group of women, individuals,
and from agencies serving women).
http://members.shaw/swcc It is always a blessing for me to enjoy a
night dining out in a fine hotel with close female friends, clients,
colleagues, and other women from various communities within our larger
community. The Hon. Deb Higgins, Saskatchewan's Minister for the Status
of Women, included a whack of history surrounding International Women's
Day in her welcoming remarks. You might be interested in reading about
it at this Aussie site:
http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/stevens/contents.htm
And, Happy Women's Day! (March 8th).
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Megan, my gifted techie-angel,
recently lost her paternal grandfather. Please remember Megan in your
prayers, as well as her Mom, Ruby, who continues to be the chief care
giver for her husband, Tom, who continues to recover his strength
following a liver transplant.
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Congratulations to Carla Mae Ashby
who wrote to say that she has been asked to take on the Women's
Ministries leadership in her home church in Perth, Ontario. Besides the
annual retreats, what form does Women's Ministries take in your church?
Carla is looking for ideas!
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My daughter-friend Thinh Thinh Kyi
came back from the World Youth Conference in Thailand really
fired up to serve the displaced Karen youth and families that she was
told about by Pastor Jimmy Shwe. You can read about the displaced Karen
people (Thinh Thinh was one) in the
TESTIMONIALS section
about Thinh Thinh, or in several sites on the Internet.
Pastor Jimmy is a young Karen SDA minister who is
based in Bangkok, Thailand, but who regularly goes out to a displaced
persons' camp on the border of Thailand-Myanmar. There he has organized
a bit of a school for the kids, and does what he can to bring the love
of Jesus into their lives. His dream is to be able to find sponsors to
build a bamboo school and other simple facilities, provide teachers and
books, medicine, and food to these poorest of poor families. The
children in this camp generally go to work in the fields of Burmese
farms during the day and return to the camp to sleep at night. Pictures
show that they have health conditions that follow malnutrition (some
pretty horrific outer ear/skin diseases, for example). Pastor Jimmy has
estimated that for a little over $5,000 USD he can provide food and
school supplies for 25 students, wages and food for 3 teachers and their
families, a bamboo structure for a school and a cafeteria, and medical
supplies. Our Saskatchewan Women's Retreat (see Calendar page) will be
taking up an offering for this project. If you are interested in being
part of this ministry, let me know by emailing me and I will give you
more information.
I am excited to report that 7th
Element, an excellent acappella group in Florida, have
expressed an interest in contributing proceeds from their concerts to
this project. Hear some of their music at
http://www.7thelement.com/
I praise God for the way he can use souls all over
the globe to work together to meet needs! Please keep this project in
your prayers!
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MoRe AbOuT the KaReN PeOpLe: Last
Sunday, February 29th, Mavis Olesen graciously shared
with a small group of us the video that she and her husband, Jim, made
following their successful educational endeavor in the border camp of
internally displaced Karen peoples. Mavis and Jim were sponsored by the
Mennonite Central Committee to train Karen teachers in updated teaching
methods so that these teachers can train others. Thinh Thinh brought
along a couple of young Karen men from the University as well as her
Karen woman friend, Naw Moo. We think that we will perhaps establish a
sister group of "Friends of Burma" to the one that exists in Regina,
ministering chiefly to the ethnic Karen and Chin families in that city.
Mavis also came to my workplace
on Tuesday at lunchtime and gave an excellent presentation about living
and working with adults with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. You might
want to read about the book that she and her son wrote at http://www.geocities.com/adoption_dallas_mavis/
(Mavis is one of my Ministries Mentors).
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Saskatoon Central's Health Ministries
leader, Carol Henry, is gearing us up for a number of
health-focused events. Carol (soon to be Dr. Carol) is a Professor in
the Nutrition Department at the University of Saskatchewan. She has
degrees from Andrews University and Loma Linda. Little wonder, then,
that this accomplished woman is able to round up the likes of
Dr. Allan Handysides,
Director of Health Ministries for
the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as a keynote
speaker at a Health Symposium in Saskatoon April
17 and 18. (Read Dr. Handysides' response to HIV/AIDS at
http://www.adventist.org/news/data/2001/09/1002044410/index.html.en )
The Health Symposium will also feature U of
Saskatchewan Physiology Professor Emeritus, Dr. K. Prasad,
speaking about "Lifestyle Solutions to Cardiovascular
Diseases".
This splendid ministries outreach is a kick-off to
training a team for the Coronary Health Improvement Program,
CHIP, which will be offered in Saskatoon in the fall. I will
keep you updated. Please note that
HealthVideos.tv
is the #1 source for health videos.
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Well, I sure am ready for the 10th Annual Women's
Ministries Retreat here in Saskatoon!
WM Events Calendar And I
know that Vera Wiebe, our WM Leader in Saskatchewan, is
probably looking forward to the post-retreat hiatus. Vera is another
one of my Ministries Mentors (along with Carol, Barb, Elli, Mavis, Pat,
Donna, and others). Vera is a very modest person so I won't go into
detail about all the ways that I know that she serves God, but I do know
that, besides keeping this Reatreat planning on target, she has also
volunteered to drive a couple of hundred miles with a much-appreciative
mom to pick up her kids one frosty winter night. I know that she has
made more than one trip out-of-province to care for her elderly Auntie.
And lots of other stuff. May God bless you, dear friend!
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Do you have trips you dream of taking, events you
would like to take in, but like me, can't afford (time-wise and, of
course, financially)? Sometimes life seems unbelievably rich, doesn't
it? I had the privilege of supervising Christina, a
social work student a couple of years ago who is now working in a clinic
in England (and her mom is an Adventist sister, Deanna Leason).
Deanna is going to go to England in the early summer, I believe. Wish I
could fit in her suitcase (okay, her really-huge-trunk...lol)! If it
were not for other possible travel goals (i.e., the Philippines), I
would definitely plan a trip to England for the Fall. I would visit
Christina and she would take me around to see some of the sights and
shows, and then I would go to this conference:
MEN, WOMEN AND THE CHURCH: A BIBLICAL APPROACH TO RELATIONSHIPS
September 3-5, 2004 in Durham, England
Dreams!! Instead I will go to see an evening of curling at the Briar tomorrow night with Ed, who won't take "no" for an answer (I suggested all sorts of other folks who would be better curling spectator companions). I'm sure I'll enjoy it... Till next time, have a good read (see what Joelle has to say about weight loss in JUST JOELLE, and read a couple of recent book reviews in the BOOK REVIEWS site). God bless you! In Christ, Cynthia
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