Why Go On A Mission Trip?

Why go? Why go to Mexico, Malawi, Appalachia, or North Carolina? There’s plenty of problems right here in Orange. All true. There are problems here and in every corner of the globe.

In Mark, we are told to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” We all have different gifts, thanks be to God, and are called to do different work for Him. A mission can be across the world or around your block…God knows where He wants you and it’s up to you to figure out where that is.

OPC members are very involved in local missions. Just look at the person next to you on Sunday morning, or at Wednesday evening choir practice, or at any OPC meeting, and chances are good that person is involved with a local mission. Local missions are encouraged and valued, and at the same time, Mission & Outreach wanted to provide an opportunity for some who are called to work and serve outside this community. Working outside your own community can provide blessings in abundance.

Talk to anyone in our church who has gone on a mission trip, and you will hear positive things about the experience. Jim will tell you that it increased his awareness about the needs of others. Fedie will tell you that every morning before “work”, her group put on the full armor of God. What an experience! Talk to Fred or Ted and ask them what they learned about themselves on their mission trips. And ask any of them what they brought back from those mission experiences. How did it touch the life they lead here and the mission work they do locally?

A mission trip can stretch you and it can change your life. You will meet people of faith from other parts of the country or the world. When you go with an open heart, you will learn about another way of doing things, and other ways of loving and serving our God. You will bring those new found insights home…home to your church family and your community.

A mission trip is an opportunity to serve God’s people where they are…and they are everywhere. God’s people are here in Orange and they are also in North Carolina and Appalachia, Malawi and Mexico.
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Hebrance Scholarship

The Joseph A. Hebrance Scholarship was established by the family of Mr. Hebrance (who died in 1985) to provide financial assistance for deserving students in the church family who are continuing their education after high school, either in college or trade school.

Applicants should submit a one-page typed essay which includes the following:

• A description of your future educational plans.
• A description of your activities within the community.
• A description of how the church and church family influenced your life and goals.

Please send this essay to the church office no later than April 1, 2006. If you have any questions, please contact Marc Hogan at 672-0276. .

THE PASTOR'S CORNER

Dear Friends,

March 1st marks the beginning of the season of Lent. This portion of the liturgical year is meant to be a time of reflection and preparation for Easter.

During the six weeks of Lent (beginning March 8), the Orange County Ministerial Association will be hosting mid-week Lenten services every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. This brief service will be held each week at Trinity United Methodist Church on Main Street. A different pastor from the community will lead worship on each occasion. (I will be the worship leader on March 29th.) A light lunch will also be served.

I invite you to make this mid-week service a part of your Lenten observance.

In Christ,
Beth

EXPENSES:

Pastor Nominating Committee: Latest Update

Your PNC has been hard at work after a short break in Dec. The Church Information Form (CIF) has been approved by our session and presbytery; and has now been sent on to Louisville. (A copy of the CIF will also be posted in the narthex.) While we were waiting for the first names to be sent for our consideration, we had more training by Carson Rhyne. He helped us with suggestions for conducting the interview process and what to expect as we go forward.

The committee also is working on questions and procedures to carry out our interviews in a standardized way for comparison’s sake.

We request your help in the form of prayers for God to guide us as we meet on Monday nights 7:30- 9:00.

Wanted…Needed

...A few good volunteers, men or women, who would like to make a new friend and help that friend become a good homeowner. Rapidan Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers to work on the Family Support Committee.

After being accepted as a partner family by the Habitat Board, the Family Support Committee takes over. They become the primary contact between the family and the Board. They become a friend, and you become their advocate as they go through the home-buying process.

Family Support also helps organize homeownership education classes, helps families meet their sweat equity requirements, and Family Support volunteers are simply “there” for families to call when they have questions. Do you need to have all the answers? Absolutely not! The key thing is your ability to talk with a mom or dad, and to hear their worries and their concerns. Think of it as being a big brother or big sister (the good kind)—a listening ear, a guiding hand, a loving heart.

If that’s you, then please consider joining the Family Support Committee. Call Melissa Murphy (672-1340 or melissakahn@yahoo.com) and offer your gifts to this ministry of support.

HSupporting Mission During Lent

In the church’s liturgical year, we are about to begin the Lenten season, a time of reflection, discipline and preparation which reminds us of Christ’s 40 days spent in the wilderness before he began his ministry. Likewise, the Mission Trip team is also embarking on a time of prayer and reflection in preparation for service in Emerald Isle, NC in June.

Lent is often a time when individuals give up some activity (watching TV) or a luxury (chocolate) or a vice (eating ice cream in bed). This sacrifice helps remind Christians of the temptations Jesus faced in the desert and His strength to overcome them.

The Mission team invites you to engage in a special Lenten activity this year. Think about those activities or luxuries or vices that you could do without. Pray for strength to withstand the temptation to give in. For every time that you go without or when you falter and give in, place a donation in the boxes provided for you after church on the 26th and in the narthex subsequent Sundays. Each household is encouraged to pick up a “Fish Box.” Think about this as a chance to support the 2006 Mission Trip and build your own spiritual resolve.

Your participation in this Lenten exercise has the potential to truly change lives – those of children and families in North Carolina and yours.

We’d love to hear some of the ways you are approaching this Lenten activity. Let us know. Lynne Clements (672 -1120) or Carole Sue Graves (672 – 4192).

Notes From The Church Office

Some quick notes to help keep everyone updated and organized:

1. Please do not put any cash on the church office desk. It should be put in an envelope and put in Karen’s mailbox; or it can be given to Gail Chapman; or to the tellers on Sunday morning. Everything you have for the church office should be put in Karen’s mailbox and not on her desk.
2. If you need reimbursement for expenses you have paid, or have a receipt or bill to turn into the office, please fill out a “Check Request Form”. Attach any receipts to the form and leave it in Karen’s mailbox. The forms are in the blue rack, top tray, next to the mailboxes in the office.
3. Committee chairs are requested to keep a record of their expenses. Any request for reimbursements or payments must be accompanied by a “Check Request Form”. This gives us a way to reconcile information during the year with the computer’s information and to make sure all of our bills are paid. Thank you!!

January Session Highlight

• Elected Marc Hogan Clerk for 2006
• Elected Gail Chapman Church Treasurer for 2006
• Approved the 2005 Annual Statistical Report
• Approved the Church Information Form to send to Presbytery to begin the active pastor search.
• Granted the Property committee permission to make short-term renovations on the Willis House in preparation of a new renter.
• Heard more options on the future of the Willis Property.
• Approved the baptism of Liam McLeod on Sunday, February 19.
• Elected commissioners to the Presbytery meetings in February and June.
• Granted the pastor permission to negotiate with the Boys' and Girls' Club of Orange for the temporary use of our Fellowship Hall during the asbestos removal at their current building.

Winifred Higgins

Linda Hogan