from the pastor

April 21, 2002

It is a few minutes before 7 a.m. and still raining. I feel related to this rain. Some of it has been dripping off my jacket all night. I was out walking when it began around midnight. I heard its patter on the window as I went to bed. Its accompanying sharp thunder woke me during the night. And rolling thunder in the distance lulled me back to sleep. And as the alarm clock sounded this morning, my first awareness of the new day was that the rain was still present. As I look outdoors for my first sights of the morning, I notice the earth flourishing in this rain. The grass stands taller and greener. The trees sway as if they are wiggling in ticklishness from the cold raindrops. And the spring flowers have become more robust through the night. The God of creation has greeted us this alive spring morning.

We received word from Chicago on Friday that Lisa Searing gave birth to Emma Gail a few minutes before 2 p.m. that day. Emma weighed 9 pounds. Todd reports that everyone is doing fine. Because Lisa delivered C-section, she and the baby will remain in Chicago for another day or so. This has been an exciting year to be in our church with the number of babies who are being born.

Jill King called earlier this morning to report that she took Ali to the hospital last night. In this time of stress in their lives, we are eager to surround them with our prayers and love.

One of my meetings this past week was with Marcia Burns to work on plans for the youth mission trip. We are now in the process of registering youth who wish to participate. Any youth who have completed 8^th grade are welcome to register. We will leave early on the morning of July 20 (Saturday) and return the evening of July 28 (Sunday). The location of our work will be around Whiteville, North Carolina. This is a section of North Carolina that is located in a swamp and the people are very poor. The area was damaged several years ago by hurricane Floyd and many of the people have lacked funds to repair the damages to their homes. The United Methodist church has been coordinating work crews from around the country to visit short term to repair some homes and build some new housing. The cost to go on the trip includes a $50 non-refundable registration fee plus each person’s share of the cost of travel, food, and lodging. The church has funds available to help defray some of those costs. And the youth group will provide opportunities for the youth to earn the rest of the money needed. We will be about an hour away from the Atlantic Ocean, and some of our time off will be spent in recreation there. If you know of someone interested in going–or someone who would benefit from going, please see me. We are still in need of one or two more adults who know something about construction and repairs. A critical element to the success of these youth mission trips is adults who can work and teach the kids on the construction sites. Final details regarding budget, transportation, and recreation for the trip await completion of our registration. We hope to have everyone who wants to go registered by May 20.

Be sure to check out our church’s new website at www.urbanagrace.com. Gordy Wilson is our webmaster and has done a great job. Something new everyday!

–Mike