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From Our Pastor
Hello Friends!
We are well into January 2017, and I have been thinking of the past year together. All of you have been a part of making 2016 such a great year for JUMC through your prayers, you presence, your gifts, and your service! You constantly show me how God is at work in our congregation.
We are making disciples with new studies and the resumption of adult Sunday School. We connect with God through worship and an active prayer chain. We continue our work providing food security through the Magic Garden and the Food Bank collection. We experimented with new ministries like the Legal Aid Clinic and Church Out of Church, helping people in our community. The Children’s Christmas Store is always a big hit (even with a foot of snow).
We continued our close association with UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) with an annual mission trip to the distribution center in Salt Lake City and providing 100 cleaning buckets. (We’re getting ready for our next round with preparing School Kits and the 2017 trip soon.)
Naturally, we cannot forget the completion of our new building, The PLACE. We are only beginning to realize the full potential of how we can fulfill our mission to our community. Already, we have hosted a wide range of events and classes. As we move forward we will continue to provide an accessible gathering space for wellness, education, and fellowship.
And, there is so much more that we’ll be doing all the time. People regularly come to me with ideas for new ministries. There are ways of doing church and serving God that no one has thought of yet. Let the Holy Spirit fill you and inspire you as we consider what’s next.
I feel so blessed to be the pastor of such a Spirit-filled church. I am excited about where God will lead us in 2017.
Peace & Joy,
Pastor Cherie
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Come Worship with Us Sunday Mornings
9:00 am Sunday School
10:00 am Worship
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Our Current Sermon Series ...
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Northwest Leadership Institute in Boise in March
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If you would like more information or are interested in attending with a group from Joseph UMC. Please, talk to Pastor Cherie, or contact her at 541-432-3102 or Pastor@JosephUMC.org.
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Ready to Study in Cambodia
By DAM TITHIAVAN
Ten-year-old Eang Eng eagerly opened the school bag he had just received at Lvea Primary School, located in a remote and impoverished district of central Cambodia. What he found inside made his eyes grow wide with excitement: notebooks, pens, pencils, a ruler, scissors, and more.
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![]() Like most children in rural Kampong Leaeng district beside the Tonle Sap River, Eang, a fifth grader, doesn’t take his education for granted. He knows the uncertainties of living in a flood plain, the challenges of living where roads are scarce, and, with nine siblings, he understands his farmer parents’ financial limitations.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) provided nearly 300 school kits to students of Eang’s school. They were among more than 16,490 kits distributed to Cambodian students this year through UMCOR partner International Relief and Development (IRD).
Eang’s classmate, Ban Ro, was equally enthusiastic when he peered inside his school kit. “My parents can’t afford all the daily expenses of my studies, like notebooks and school bags. I love the school kit very much. My family will be very proud when I show it to them.”
According to Cambodian government sources, in fiscal year 2015, 10.9 percent of primary school children in Kampong Leaeng District did not advance to the next grade and 5.36 percent dropped out of school, leaving the district literacy rate far below anticipated levels. Also, children skipped classes out of economic need or because their parents chose to migrate in search of work.
For these reasons, IRD targeted the distribution of UMCOR school kits among these vulnerable children who live in rural poverty. Each kit contained the necessary materials for a student to study for an entire year, enabling students not only to pursue their education but to do so at a lower cost to their parents.
UMCOR school kits are assembled by United Methodists and other people of good will, who gather the supplies, sew the schoolbags, and verify the contents at UMCOR relief-supply depots before shipping.
IRD delivered kits to students in 78 schools and one orphanage, all in Kampong Chhnang province. Lvea Primary School was one of the most remote. To reach it, you must travel first by ferry for two hours across the Tonle Sap River and then by motorcycle along mainly dirt roads. The long trip was clearly worthwhile.
Man Savart, a teacher, noted how happy the children looked as they waited anxiously for their turn to receive their kits. He said the kits were clearly a “way to motivate students to come to school confidently, without feeling shy because they do not have all the items they need for their studies.”
Savart added, “I am thankful for UMCOR, which is keen to help us reduce school drop-out rates and the repetition of classes in our school.”
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Please, join us this Sunday, January 29th after worship, as we put together School Kits for distribution by UMCOR.
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