Nativity Notes

Congratulations

Congratulations to Ros Hall who has just completed two years of FOCUS. What is FOCUS? This is a program sponsored by The Commission on Ministry and the Office of Ministry Development of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. It's purpose is to encourage spiritual growth and development, discernment for ministry, both lay and ordained, and education in the Gospels, church history and theology for the people of this Diocese.

Who attends? Lay people in the Diocese who seek: spiritual growth; a deeper understanding of our faith; ministry discernment, lay or ordained; and a community setting for all the above.

FOCUS challenges you to listen to others; hear God's voice amidst the many voices which call to us; learn from those different from yourself; know yourself, your gifts and your calling. If you think this might be a program for you talk to Ros or Nancy John Langdon.

Golf Championship Revisited

Results of Nativity's Millennium Golf Championship were in the May issue of Tidings, but we neglected to list all those who contributed door prizes to the overall success. The tourney was a huge success with a full field of golfers and diners, but the door prizes were an integral part of the fun.

Golf club managers making contributions include Joe Mann of the host Rolling Green Golf Club, Tommy Zellers, Sunrise Golf Club, Gary Rehfeld, Peridia Golf and Country Club, Chad Stancil, Sarasota Golf Club, Dale Weidemiller, University Park Country Club and Jay Hosey, Calusa Lakes Golf Club.

Other contributors included Todd Read, Gerry and Millie Bennett, Phil and Nicki Coffaro, Bart Kafoed of Bart's Bayside Restaurant, Tommy and Pete Saulina, Sandra Campbell of South Trust Bank, Tonya McCraine of First Union Bank, Brian Murphy of Nation's Bank, Chris Schmidt, Charlene Hull, Don Ryan of A.J. Siris Products Corp., Tricia Muecke of Sarasota Coastal Credit Union and Bill Hatfield.

Bill and Marguerite were key people on the Tournament Committee along with Dick and Pat Berg. Our thanks to them for another successful tourney and everyone is looking forward to next year's edition.

More Congratulations

The "grand'' stork has flown over the Berg home again. Dick and Pat have a new grandson, their fifth grandchild. William Wesley Berg, all seven pounds and seven ounces of him, arrived at DeKaIb General Hospital in Atlanta on May 1 at 6.27 p.m. He and his parents, David and Emily, are doing well. "David is our oldest but the last to have a child," Dick said. Asked if he was going to send the youngster some golf balls or tees, Dick replied that he might send him a sleeve of tennis balls instead.  

Nativity Ministries

Marcia Simington reports that the Sonshine Ministry is on hold for the time being. "We're available to help out when needed, though," she added.

Jean White will be doing articles on various outreach ministries in future issues of Tidings  

Farewell but not Goodbye

To our Snow Angels who are leaving us for the summer: please remember to "check out" with the church office so that you don’t miss out on church mail during your absence. We are going to miss you.

Worship

Have you noticed? We are now reading our lessons from the New International Version of the Bible. This translation is the effort of over 100 scholars who worked directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Texts. Approved by the General Convention in 1978, this version is in contemporary language, which makes for easier reading and understanding. The lectors read from a new Bible recently purchased for the lectern.

Vacation Bible School

Our Vacation Bible School will be held from June 19 through June 23. The theme this year is "2000 Ark Avenue." Enrollment will be offered to all of our Nativity children first, and we will have a maximum of 35 children this year. The number of youngsters we take is limited by our capacity.

The age range is 3 to 8 years old. All members over 10 are invited to sign up as helpers. Parents should sign up younger ones for the school and older ones as helpers. Registration is scheduled to end June 4. Please turn in the form to Joanne Marino in the 3-year-old Sunday School classroom or to Elly in the Church Office.

VBS also need Adult Helpers. If you can assist, please call Joanne at 358-1112. You can sign up for a day or the whole week, but she needs many adults to make this VBS successful. Costs are $10 for the first child in a family and $5 for siblings. A snack and a T-shirt will be provided. 

New Graduates

Nativity has two high school graduates this year and both of them have been attending Southeast High. The graduation ceremony will be at the Bradenton Civic Center on Friday, June 2, beginning at 6 p.m. Sharon Simington, daughter of Bruce and Marcia Simington, has been a goalie on the girls' soccer team, a Cadet Captain with the Army JROTC unit and Commander of the unit’s Color Guard. She played four years of varsity softball at third base. Sharon will be attending the University of South Florida in August.

Jill Kow, daughter of Raymond and Susan Kow and granddaughter of Liz Stoner, attended Southeast as a ninth grader and then transferred to Alamo Heights High in San Antonio for her 10th and 11th grade years. At the Texas high school, she was on the Spurs dance-drill team and was a cheerleader. Jill has not decided on further education but will probably attend Manatee Community College.

Ray and Shirley Kimmens are proud to announce that their granddaughter, Christine Kimmens, who graduates from Palmetto High School on June 3, was the recipient of six scholarship awards, the Florida Bright Futures Merit Scholarship, the Manatee Retired Teachers Scholarship, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society Scholarship, the Edmund Memorial Fund Scholarship, the Abraham Educational Fund Scholarship and the Phi Delta Kappa Scholarship, at an Awards Ceremony on May 16 at Palmetto High School. Christine has been accepted into the Freshman Class of the University of South Florida, Tampa, with Dual Majors of Education and History. She will live in Ellenton with her mother, Sheila Kimmens, and commute to Tampa daily. While attending school, she will continue to work in a management role at Claire’s Boutique in the Prime Outlet Mall, Ellenton.  

Rich Runs Marathon

Our own Rich Cooper has been running different marathons over the past few years, and on Sunday, April 16, he ran in the London Marathon, the eighth time he has competed in that one. "I have competed in marathons from New York City to Dublin, but London was the one I wanted to do for the Millennium. There were 40,000 runners from all over the world."

Rich had perfect weather, but because of the large numbers of entries, he ran the marathon in a little more than four hours. It was his slowest time. "I’ve run the London race in three hours and 20 minutes, but I had a pulled hamstring before the race," Rich added. "Still, I finished it. In fact, I have finished every one that I have run in."

A former soccer player and coach, Rich like to run to stay fit and he trained hard for this event. "I ran over 750 miles in the last six months," he said. "But it paid off." Rich says that running the marathon is one of the best ways to see London. "We run past Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and all the stops on a sightseeing tour," he said. "And there were two million people cheering us along the way." One of those people cheering was Rich’s favorite fan, his wife Veronica. "She was able to go to different spots along the route," he said.  

A Letter From John Peachey

After leading YWAM Harpenden (England) for the last 10 years, my wife Suzi and I plan to take a team to a remote area on northern Tanzania to pioneer a secondary school for the Masai people. We will hold an orientation for the team in Harpenden in September and then leave for Africa.  

We have two teachers committed to come for 30 months, and a few young people wanting to join the team for up to a year. However, we are especially in need of a headmaster, an administrator and two more teachers. These are paid positions but at the local salary level.

The plan is to open the school in Jan. 2001 with 80 students, adding another group each year. Secondary education is in English, but the main languages are Masai and Swahili. 

The school will be a boarding school since most of the students will be a very long distance from home. Many of the students may be 18 to 22 years of age, but they have had no secondary education.

Volunteers need to be able to teach, but do not need secondary teacher qualifications. Two year (or longer) commitments are preferred and housing is provided. This is a pioneering location, deep in the heart of safari country. But this is not a YWAM operating location.

Anyone who knows someone who might be interested in this opportunity and would like more information about it should contact Father Jim or Karla Porter.

All Faith’s Food Bank

The food bank’s warehouse looks a little like Home Depot, but the big boxes piled on high shelves and being picked off and trundled about by fork-lifts aren’t full of hardware or building supplies. — they are full of non-perishable food, cereals, tuna, spaghetti sauce and pasta, rice and beans. Walk-in coolers and freezers contain meats, dairy products and frozen food.  

Visitors to the Cattleman Road warehouse on May 9 included the ECW, Father Jim and Dick Wernick. All were impressed with the scope of the project which collects and distributes 2 million pounds of food a year, about 100,000 meals a month, to agencies which serve cooked meals, to food pantries which furnish groceries to needy families, and to the "Kid’s Cafe" program to give sack lunches to children who might otherwise have no supper in the evening.

The staff uses modern techniques to track available foods, inform agencies and take their orders. Trucks deliver these supplies, pick up surplus food from supermarkets, delis, fast-food restaurants and pizzerias. (The pizza that you didn’t pick up is frozen and later used by the Salvation Army to feed the homeless.) The tricky part is when perishable foods, tomatoes, bananas, etc. have to be used before they go bad. Slightly spoiled foods are often picked up by farmers to feed their cows and pigs and they, in turn, donate pork chops, sausage and ground beef to the food bank. It is a way of utilizing foods that would otherwise be discarded in landfills.

What can we at Nativity do to help? Keep the gray barrel in the Narthex filled with staple foods and supplies. Give money, the Vestry and the ECW made cash donations last year, or volunteer. The Food Bank always needs people to sort canned goods, package snacks, make sandwiches for Kid’s Cafe or get out mailings. There is a plan afoot to send a car-load of volunteers from Nativity, one half day a month, when needed. Watch for a sign-up sheet.