׉?ׁB!בCטHHu׉׉ 7cassandra://w3wy2HTULlYd5re0g9yamFGK-e_KPRdiw6OvFjN-aFQK `$t׉ 7cassandra://q2A26Qm9paV3VSvxAgbVoR60cgwpGwspUAsM6sWsIxAe`׉ 7cassandra://d6fKHpE3xzKkompQwEDy-zub0KKfbR5LJwAJpPn1qx4&`׉ 7cassandra://ZMvqNH3xNC9_ugbLsExAaEMLW5q6VAqGKMMbh0CYsns^h͠_);ۮmIelטHu׈U׈E_);ۮmIeb׉EWesley United Methodist Church August 2020 Newsletter What’s inside: A note from Pastor Zeke 200K More Reasons Recipe: Ravioli Lasagna ׉ 7cassandra://d6fKHpE3xzKkompQwEDy-zub0KKfbR5LJwAJpPn1qx4&`_);ۮmIec_);ۮmIebבCטHu׉׉ 7cassandra://Mkl-jikVklWt2DxhmW1H0Oom00jEWL-XAYyukXbuQvM۶`$t׉ 7cassandra://CvBtb-VqaQ300Lw59K4AI0QJ6NfVbjRPrxSI4sCq0aw͜`׉ 7cassandra://1KiVGfT0-auCrewwIbQCiAMLeoEFfR_hRp2krER9Wzs)B`׉ 7cassandra://VPW_mEvt03M8_3bMnxO14Rizppz_xJYpWN6TGgI5ftI$=͠_);ۮmIeoטHHu׉׉ 7cassandra://EhK9GLp59klHk6dP9uIIEEcWOioB_6z8MICFAiiF7nc`$t׉ 7cassandra://FUY0u-D2N2NlMvU-lZU4u-GhrAGoHFdspA_-vmv0yQ0n-`׉ 7cassandra://WthB7sTxw_X2X6vxw_BO4PhwuCDEsrTsw3WnMia4Qdg!`׉ 7cassandra://NcLmQ88jCFKO4Vl530qEfJeeC6k1v9FyF6iYxDa6Gk4{͠_);ۮmIep׉E From Pastor Zeke Page 1 From the Desk of Pastor Zeke “And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” - Matthew 6:27 So how are you doing? Really… how are you doing? We are seven months into this pandemic and it would do us well to do a little self-inventory. Are you okay? Life can be so hard and difficult. Our current reality hasn’t made any of life’s challenges easier. If anything, it has only exacerbated things. Our Christian heritage is one paved with struggle and triumph. The Bible is chalked full of stories about God’s people and their struggles. In many ways, reading these stories can bring us hope in our current reality. Yes life is hard but also God is with us in this challenging time. I think this scripture from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is exactly what we need to remember daily. Our future rests in the love of an all-powerful God. We must remember that perfect love casts out all fear. Much of our anxieties are well-placed but can be overcome through our faith in God working through the Holy Spirit inside each of us. In faith, we experience a peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray for that peace within my life and within each of your lives. Surrender to faith and your fears will lose its ultimate power over you. I was speaking with my dad the other day and he was telling me how ready he was that things would just go back to the way they were before Covid-19. I too wish this so very much. So many things I took for granted that are now gone. The reality is that things are different for the unforeseeable future but the people of faith are resilient and tenacious when challenges present themselves. Never underestimate the power of God nor the power of God working through people of faith. I am so overjoyed that we have begun in-person worship again. It has been so good to be in worship in-person with at least some of you. I have missed everyone so much. This comes with some real anxieties and risk. Our Relaunch Team has done our very best to make worship as safe as it can possibly be. I am so thankful for their preparatory work. For those of our church family that cannot rejoin us in in-person worship yet, we will continue to stream worship using Facebook Live. Please be in prayer for our church and for the health of its members. Hang in there and may your worries be replaced with the powerful peace of God. Keep the Faith Strong, Zeke Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://1KiVGfT0-auCrewwIbQCiAMLeoEFfR_hRp2krER9Wzs)B`_);ۮmIed׉EAMusic Ministry Page 3 Greetings!!! Greetings Wesley UMC Family . . . It was really good to get back to some sense of normalcy this past Sunday with our first in-house worship in some time. It seems a bit odd, the way that we are having to do things, but I truly believe that we are doing what is necessary to keep our members safe. I know that everyone who has been helping with organizing our worship has been very intentional on keeping both the health and spiritual needs of our congregation in mind as we continue forward. I want to say especially to my choir and bell ringers that I miss you all! It seems like a month of Sundays since we have been in rehearsal together, but I also know that we will be back to making music together soon. Yours in Christ, Shane Sanderson WELCOME BACK!! We had a great first service back August 2nd. We were so glad to see everyone that was able to attend. For those not quite ready, hopefully we will see you soon. Until then, you can watch the live stream on the Wesley Facebook page every Sunday morning at 9:30. Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://WthB7sTxw_X2X6vxw_BO4PhwuCDEsrTsw3WnMia4Qdg!`_);ۮmIee_);ۮmIedבCטHu׉׉ 7cassandra://P-pb9JF8mBivUMXieQRW5Nisva_VlXe7XOlXWms97vgSF`$t׉ 7cassandra://WNtTR4dQQnilLZO4dVmQbjPlojCuTsXO8SDMguyQ80c͔`׉ 7cassandra://2XqDMf480eCXROA1HN-WmOWomKHvJDtiTEGhJVSDPlU$_`׉ 7cassandra://AvwTEXrmd2VffmJAunBAwAZtOsQU6lVo7E9Wu5sRVUIT8͠_);ۮmIerטHHu׉׉ 7cassandra://K5VL5dRx40IhJG4HnwTlay2mmhBALuHPCXDsNFLqw3wv@`$t׉ 7cassandra://Z0DIQxPZRUCIg6krQw8RX4Q2o0jvaYM4zqOJK3G3CHU͕(`׉ 7cassandra://wD4kHHwqtO3R5ZOMO4VEwlBpU0IHq42MYEJU05i75fw$`׉ 7cassandra://AVkabojLwkr6kX64UATU7OjZYM79QSV5T1qTPtatmq0d͠_);ۮmIesנ_);ۮmIeṵO9ׁHhttp://arumc.org/ourׁ ׁ Ј׉E200K More Reasons Page 4 1 in 4 kids in Arkansas are food insecure. They do not know where their next meal will come from. In 2014, Annual Conference voted to fight childhood hunger in Arkansas. Over the past 6 years, we have seen the number of food insecure children in Arkansas drop from 200,000 to 162,270. 86% or 540 churches have or are providing food to hungry children and their families, and 200,000 Reasons has distributed more than $200,000 in small grant awards to help support congregations in their feeding ministries. Feeding ministries allow families to spend their limited income on other necessities like rent and utilities. However, the relief is temporary in so many cases. More needs to be done to significantly move the needle on childhood hunger. We are asking the Annual Conference to approve an expansion and extension of the work we have begun. As 200,000 More Reasons, we are asking churches to add poverty alleviation strategies to their ministries with hungry children. Specifically, we will focus on literacy and promoting healthy, stable families as means of hope and assistance for families to move out of poverty. The main objectives to the 200K More Reasons mission are: Nutrition: 200,000 More Reasons will continue fighting childhood hunger through the 5 Action Areas – Feed, Provide, Garden, Teach & Public Witness. Literacy: 200,000 More Reasons will provide literacy support so that every child in food insecure homes can read at grade level. Stability: 200,000 More Reasons will offer ministries to the adults in the lives of food insecure children that promote a healthy and stable family life. The work Wesley and Cavanaugh has done helping food insecure children in our community is monumental and there is still so much more we can do. For more information about the 200K More Reasons initiative and for ideas, ministries and resources, visit: http://arumc.org/our-ministries/200k-more-reasons/ Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://2XqDMf480eCXROA1HN-WmOWomKHvJDtiTEGhJVSDPlU$_`_);ۮmIef׉E Missions Update Page 5 Blessing Box: It is our best guess that around 20 people a day either visit or are “blessed” by our Blessing Box. Ways you can help: • Pick up a few extra items next time you are at the store and place them in the Blessing Box. • Take a box of food from the Wesley Food Room and place items in the Blessing Box at your convenience. If this is something you would be interested in contact Carrie or Zeke. Community Garden: As many of you know, Wesley worked in conjunction with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and Carnall Elementary to place a Community Garden on the grounds of Carnall Elementary. Last winter we harvested over 1,000 pounds of turnips which were distributed to students and families of Carnall and placed in Blessing Boxes around Fort Smith. In May we planted a 1/2 acre of sweet potatoes which will be ready to harvest in September. Harvesting Event information to come. Wesley UMC Newsletter Backpack Program: With school beginning in just a few weeks, we will also be restarting our backpack program which supplies weekend food items to food insecure children at Carnall and Cavanaugh Elementary schools. We do not have a start date to begin yet, however, bagging will take place Wednesday evenings at Cavanaugh UMC. Bagging typically only takes about 30 minutes if we can have 5-10 people bagging. Ways you can help: • Help bag items. • Deliver bags each week to one of the schools. Farmers Market Produce Pickup: Unfortunately due to COVID-19 we decided to not begin our Farmers Market Produce mission this summer. Our hope is that we will be able to pick it back up next year as it does provide fresh produce to those who normally would not receive any. Ways you can help now: • Grab some fresh produce next time you are at the grocery store and place it in the Blessing Box. • If you have a little extra produce from your own garden, consider placing some in the Blessing Box. The best vegetables to donate are: tomatoes, squash, okra, zucchini, potatoes, onion, carrots, cucumbers August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://wD4kHHwqtO3R5ZOMO4VEwlBpU0IHq42MYEJU05i75fw$`_);ۮmIeg_);ۮmIefבCטHu׉׉ 7cassandra://Tydho3RPoJluNWLs2xt323sktj4IRaHTnEnkoX7xEew`$t׉ 7cassandra://JuIl6E5l_SArTKSmeDCt2_uBTDYjd6-e-HiyMACj4iI]`׉ 7cassandra://4qhM2ItTgZGPNVI1O-Q2MnvKsSZrmv0H33nRxuguhMw`׉ 7cassandra://ieo9ZqOlc6bTiXL09g5fmtFGDrIPDukvFhTqyxztUlAq͠_)<ۮmIevטHHu׉׉ 7cassandra://0d1_zzHygQ-W0WkNVYg-C2qp9hO7TfwZdpd0jVzBozAw`$t׉ 7cassandra://40onBZ2TjD69CH6VZLoKiBfLN2DHanBZELJx8t_KatE\d`׉ 7cassandra://MwRplJu21iB44pm9EHYJNEgoPT8tH0TYVeNFczJIfYM`׉ 7cassandra://ZTGxirU759uwU3bJPpXVgWMGoULCa6N5huE8gQg_G1kͳ$H͠_)<ۮmIewנ_)<ۮmIe{ށP9ׁH'https://riverviewhopecampus.org/donate/ׁ ׁ Јנ_)<ۮmIez5`>9ׁH$http://fschildrensshelter.org/donateׁ ׁ Јנ_)<ۮmIe|9ׁH mailto:carrielynn12983@gmail.comׁ ׁ Ј׉EBack to School Needs Page 2 Here are a couple of immediate ways to help others in our community. 9 kids need back to school items! Your donation of $400 covers the costs of: 2 pairs of shoes for $100, 5 pairs of pants for $150, 5 shirts for $150, socks, underwear, accessories for $100 ... Monetary donations help the Children’s Shelter to gift their kids with shoes and clothes that FIT. FIT their bodies, FIT their personalities & help them FIT in at school! … You can donate directly at https:// fschildrensshelter.org/donate-to-the-cesfoundation/ Wesley UMC Newsletter Riverview Hope Campus has a list of some much needed food items: • Eggs • Canned Fruit • Canned Veggies • Canned Beans • Ranch Dressing • Drink Mixes • Coffee • Ketchup • Mustard • Relish • Cereal • Chicken Broth • Pasta • Mayo Monetary donations are always welcome. You can make an online donation at https://riverviewhopecampus.org/donate/ August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://4qhM2ItTgZGPNVI1O-Q2MnvKsSZrmv0H33nRxuguhMw`_);ۮmIeh׉ERecipe: Ravioli Lasagna Page 6 We have some amazing cooks at Wesley. Since we are missing potlucks and all those delicious dishes, we thought why not share those recipes in the monthly newsletters. With school starting in a few weeks, let’s start with a quick and easy, week night dinner. Ravioli Lasagna Ingredients: 1 - 25oz bag of frozen cheese ravioli Shredded mozzarella cheese 1 - 45oz jar of spaghetti sauce 1 lb Italian sausage 1 - 5oz package of pepperoni Step 1 - Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Cook ravioli to package directions and brown Italian sausage. Step 2 - Place 1 layer of cooked ravioli in the bottom of baking dish, spread a layer of spaghetti sauce on top of ravioli, place all the Italian sausage on top of sauce, add a layer of mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of ravioli and spaghetti sauce, then add a layer of pepperonis and top with mozzarella cheese. Step 3 - Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbling. If you would like to submit a recipe for next months newsletter you can email it to Carrie Miller at carrielynn12983@gmail.com Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://MwRplJu21iB44pm9EHYJNEgoPT8tH0TYVeNFczJIfYM`_);ۮmIei_);ۮmIehבCטHu׉׉ 7cassandra://ppVwPcUq1bgEIzbE6mNAy9oMvG_NU8qJEaQYdbFNBB0q`$t׉ 7cassandra://Wcw6zq3sSJl9DpoPwzMiYlYE1aQ7whda7Vhc2FZxYAQP`׉ 7cassandra://deoM3FhbNRX_ZCSiROEiq7ZX6FPelKm0ooJ12tt-nkI`׉ 7cassandra://Zc47t5H26pQqNSKGz5jQBcRdQynN8wKDY7PRXQF1fuYd͠_)<ۮmIe}נ_)<ۮmIe;9ׁHmailto:Wesleyumcfs@yahoo.comׁ ׁ Јנ_)<ۮmIe5;9ׁH mailto:carrielynn12983@gmail.comׁ ׁ Ј׉EaThe Wesley UMC Newsletter goes out at the first of each month. If there is anything you would like submitted in the newsletter, please send the information to Carrie Miller (carrielynn12983@gmail.com) or the church office at Wesleyumcfs@yahoo.com. Wesley United Methodist Church 2200 Phoenix Ave., Fort Smith, AR 72901 Wesley UMC Newsletter August 2020 ׉ 7cassandra://deoM3FhbNRX_ZCSiROEiq7ZX6FPelKm0ooJ12tt-nkI`_);ۮmIej׈E_);ۮmIek_);ۮmIej,August 2020 Newsletter_)8USw