DW/CWF UP-COMING EVENTS

April 2 – DWF General Meeting, Jo Ann Seamans, Program: Marilyn Knott, guest speaker, "Hunger in Oklahoma"; Priscilla Group, Hostess.
April 3,4 – Spring Rummage Sale, Ruth Sturgeon & Joyce Hesser, Co-Chairs, food provided M-F for workers by CW/DWF individual groups.
April 12 or 19 – Claremore FCC or Fairview FCC, respectively; reservations required 2 weeks in advance, $15 each lunch & materials.
April 16 - Individual CW/DWF Group meetings
April 22 – Central Area Meeting, 9:30-1:00 P.M., FCC, Midwest City, 11950 E. Reno.
April 25 – CWU Friendship Luncheon, First Presbyterian Church, Stillwater, Hostess group. List of needed patron items available.
April 24-26 – General Assembly, Harvard Ave Christian Church, Tulsa.
April 26 – ODW Luncheon, Regional Assembly, Nimitz Middle School.
April 30 – 5th Wednesday CW/DWF Work Day.

May 7 – CW/DWF May Luncheon and Book Review, "Stranger and Traveler: The Life of Theodora Dix, American Reformer", Carol Headrick, reviewer. Tickets now on sale @ $5 each. See your DWF group members.

Our Mission Statement: As daughters of God, inspired by scripture and informed by heritage and history, we believe that God calls us to be an intentionally inclusive community, empowering all Disciples women to be full partners in the life of the church.
We intend to be an organization where every woman is valued, nurtured and encouraged to use her gifts for the whole body of Christ, one that ministers to, with, for and by all women, and one that is anti-racist and pro-reconciling.
   (From the Disciples Home Missions)

A NOTE FROM THE SWO FCC DW/CWF PRESIDENT

April 1-30th, 2008

Friday March 7, Church Women United of Stillwater participated in the 88th celebration of World Day of Prayer here at FCC. It was snowing like mad about 12:20 when I was unloading stuff from our Vibe, but had stopped by 1:30. The Salem Lutheran women did a fine job on the program and our ladies outdid themselves as hostesses to the 40 ladies that braved the weather. My sincere “Thank You” to our FCC ladies, to Jeanette, and to Daniel for manning (no pun intended!) the sound and video system.

Now, the calendar says it is supposed to be spring! Our last frost is supposed to be April 15, for those planting gardens. Our oldest son, living in north-central Texas just across the Red River, said they had 10 inches of snow on the ground on the 7th. The son in Logan, Utah, sent us photos of the snow-fall in an e-mail and also said that there was a moose across the street from their house that had come down out of the mountains for something to eat, and had to be darted and taken back out of town! I am ready for spring! Think the moose was, too!

"In the bulb there is a flower, in the seed, an apple tree,
in cocoons, a hidden promise; butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There's a song in every silence, seeking word and melody,
there's a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see."

   "In the Bulb There Is a Flower", Natalie Sleeth, 1986, Chalice Hymnal, p. 638.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE

I want to share with you information about Church World Service which came to me via e-mail through Leola at the church office today, because CW/DWF regularly supports the baby, health, and school kits program throughout the whole year, and in October the Blanket Sundays, as part of our service projects with Julia Bollinger and Elizabeth Rogers.

From: Connie Tilton [mailto:CTilton@churchworldservice.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 2:49 PM
Subject: Church World Service Kits/Blankets

Hi, Folks:  Here are a few statistics for CWS Kits and blankets shipped during 2007. These numbers reflect actual shipments of Kits and blankets which originated from the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD, or the Ferncliff Center in Little Rock, AR. These figures do not reflect the transfers of funds to provide blankets or Kits.

Bring a smile to the faces of mothers and children around the world by providing safe water, nutritious food, and adequate health care. We invite your congregation to have a Mothers Day Tools & Blanket Event. We provide all materials you will need to organize this event. Just hit reply to place your order.
   Thanks - Connie Tilton, Program Assistant
   Great Plains Region, Church World Service
   5833 SW 29th St, Suite B
   Topeka, KS 66614
For information on Church World Service Programs or CROP Walks in the Great Plains Region, call 1-888-297-2767, or e-mail: ctilton@churchworldservice.org
CROP = Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty

CW/DWF women also support local service projects; a list which includes Judith Karman Hospice, Mission of Hope, Mobile Meals, Youth Shelter, Oklahoma Christian Camp, Special Olympics Food, as well as our own FCC Children and Youth Programs, and the budgeted dollar figures are found in the DWF handbook on page 11.

Besides our general offering giving and Armchair Bazaar, much of the funding for these projects is generated from our fall and spring rummage sales. Note that our Spring Sale is going on right now, this first week of April.

In addition, we will be supporting Church Women United Ecumenical Projects (Payne County Community Health Services, Stillwater Domestic Violence needs, Payne County Youth Services needs) during April at the CWU Friendship Luncheon.

FYI:  An excellent book so very pertinent to helping find solutions for our times deserves recommendation: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, Penguin Books, 2007 - a New York Times Bestseller and The Kiriyama Prize Winner, Book and CD available in the Stillwater Public Library.
   "Thrilling ... proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." – Tom Brokaw
Three Cups of Tea is beautifully written. It is also a critically important book at this time in history. "The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit." — Ahmed Rashid

"Laced with drama, danger, romance, and good deeds, Mortenson's story serves as a reminder of the power of a good idea and the strength inherent in one person's passionate determination to persevere against enormous obstacles." — Christian Science Monitor

Greg Mortenson is the director of the Central Asia Institute. A former mountaineer and military veteran, he spends several months each year building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He lives in Montana with his wife and two children.  David Oliver Relin is a globe-trotting journalist who has won more than forty national awards for his writing and editing. A former teaching/writing fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is a frequent contributor to Parade and Skiing Magazine. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Prayer of an African Girl

O great Chief;  light a candle within my heart that I may see what is therein and sweep the rubbish from your dwelling place.
   Anonymous, Chalice Hymnal

Blessings.
Joy Evans, President 2007/2008