The Apostle Sunday School Class will be sponsoring two scholarships for the youth of Wesley UMC this year.  Thanks to a very successful fall coffee tasting event, the class has been able to do two this year.  Scholarship application have been sent out to the youth of Wesley UMC, and we should be able to tell you about the winner very soon.

In His Service,

Raymond C. Province, M. Div.

The members of the Apostle Sunday School class are quite the Facebookers. So, we thought it was about time to create our own Fan Page on Facebook. Boom, done!  Here is the link to our Fan Page:

Apostle Sunday School Fan Page

The Wesley UMC mission blitz is going on all weekend. The Apostles Sunday School class is  joining the fun by doing a project at Camp Galilee today. One of the cabins is in bad need of repair before the camp season.  If you like doing short term mission projects, then I invite you to join us on Sundays at 9:30a.m. Wesley UMC on Republic Road in Springfield MO.

The Apostles Sunday School Class is still very active in the WOW (Wesley on “Wednesday Program).  Our class joins other Wesley members about once a month, to service dinner to all who come, and to help clean up. In many respects it is one of the most enjoyable tasks we do all year as a class. The fellowship is also good.  Enjoy some pics from a recent WOW  night.

The Apostles Sunday School class is participating in a church wide Lenten study, called One Month to Live. It is based on developing a plan, in 30 days, to be able to live a no-regrets life.  Kerry and Chris Shook are the authors of the study guide.

Pastor Bruce of Wesley United Methodist will be blogging on the devotionals each day, at the Pastor’s Pen on Blogger.com. Ray will also be sharing thoughts from our Sunday School class lessons on one month to live at A Higher Faith.com .  We have provided links to both.

The One Month curriculum is designed to help people come to grips with the fact that we all must die some day. How we choose to live life between now and the time of our death is the big deal. If you were now aware of the fact that you had only one month to life, what would you do with your life? If you are in the Springfield, MO area, we invite you to join us at Wesley UMC, on Republic Road, in Springfield MO.  We meet in Room 206 in the Adult Education Wing of the church every Sunday at 9:30a.m.

The Salvation Army recently sent us a letter of thanks for participating in the bell ringing project for the Tree of Lights campaign. The class took an entire Saturday shift during the Christmas season. It has become a new tradition for the class.

A thank you lunch is also being provided on Feb 5, 2010, at the Salvation Army headquarters. Jeff Grayless and John Rehani will be attending on behalf of the class. The Salvation Army met its goal again this year, and we wish them God’s blessing on their fine work in our community.

The Apostles’ Sunday School class is sponsoring part of the cost of Haley’s mission trip to India.  The trip requires her to raise approximately $3000 per month. Her initial visa is for 6 months.

The class has promised a minimum offering of $50 per month. The first Sunday of each month will be “Haley Sunday” and we will be taking up an offering on behalf of Haley, and sending it “The Crossing.” The Crossing is the mission organization she is with.

This is a report on the orphanage in Haiti that many of our classmates visited a couple of years ago. You can get more info on the orphanage at www.forhisgloryoutreach.org .

(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) On January 20, 2010, 133 orphans from the Maison des Enfants de Dieu (Children of the House of God) orphanage will begin the difficult process outlined by the U.S. Department of State for humanitarian parole and onward transportation to the United States. In accordance with instructions received from the State Department, as relayed by the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) at 8 p.m. today, orphans along with orphanage staff members have been instructed to arrive at the U.S. Embassy as early as possible on Wednesday morning. JCICS warned that no food, water or facilities would be available for the children while processing at the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince.

JCICS further relayed that orphanage requests to the U.S. Embassy for security and transportation for the children have been denied by the State Department. The U.S. ministry associated with this orphanage, For His Glory Adoption Outreach (FHG), was also asked to stop requesting security, transportation or even water at the orphanage location. Following discussions with staff and board members in Port-au-Prince, the difficult decision was made that all 133 children, including approximately 60 children under the age of 3, will begin early in the morning of January 20th to walk the over 2 kilometers to the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince. This decision was made due to the limited staff available and the increasingly dangerous security situation at the orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The staff will carry as much water, food and baby formula as possible with them for the orphans while processing at the U.S. Embassy. JCICS relayed that once processing is completed, the orphans will travel to the United States on “cargo jets to locations that are not often known until an hour or so before the flight leaves.”

Kim Harmon, President of FHG, acknowledged that “this arrangement is far from ideal for the safety and well-being of the children. We are calling to all who care about these precious children to pray earnestly for their safety tomorrow.”

FHG is a ministry to the people and children of Haiti. Our ministry is dedicated to fundraising and assisting the orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Haiti Emergency

Supporting emergency relief and development efforts

United Methodists have had a long-standing relationship with Haiti through the Methodist Church of Haiti. The strong ties between the Methodist Church of Haiti and The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) helped in facilitating the opening of the UMCOR Haiti field office in 2005. 100 percent of Advance gifts made will go to support relief and development efforts due to emergencies in Haiti.

100% percent of your donation will go to the disaster relief effort.

CLICK HERE to go to the UMCOR website and help today.

The Apostles’ Sunday School Class will be doing their mitten tree again this year, in the Wesley UMC Family Center. We will be decorating the tree with mitten, scarves, and hats.  The collected goods will be sent to the Women’s Crisis Shelter of Springfield, Missouri, to help with emergency needs.  Please consider adding to the collection this season.