By 2 pm on Sept. 20, seven ladies had arrived at the Hall for the regular monthly meeting (rescheduled from the 6th). It was good to be back to work after being in recess for July and August. President Lynn Lancaster presided.
Devotion, led by Reta Robertson, opened the meeting. “Serve the Lord with... Gladness” was the focus with selected verses of scripture from throughout the Bible. Hospitality, sacrifice, faithfulness, gladness, giving, and consecration are just a few of the many ways we can serve the Lord. We should serve with all we have. Prayer closed the worship.
The agenda and minutes were reviewed and passed as amended.
The Morogoro Women’s Training Centre is the UCW outreach focus during their 50th anniversary year in 2012. Funds will be raised to support the Centre. Lynn shared highlights of the purpose and work of the Centre.
Fourteen years ago we were introduced to Carmen Cusalacsacan, a young lady from the Philippines who was preparing to be a missionary. Currently she is in Canada on furlough from her work in Mexico, and will be visiting Ashcroft in around Oct. 27-29.
Zion UCW has assisted her financially over the years and the members look forward to seeing her again. There will be an open presentation by Carmen on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 pm in Zion’s Hall (401 Bancroft St.). She welcomes all to hear her story, view her pictures, and meet with her.
Further details will follow in the next article (after our October meeting). Posters will be placed in high profile areas in Ashcroft and Cache Creek with details of the planned evening.
During correspondence time, we heard of the work and needs at First United Church Mission in Vancouver. They are updating their kitchen and we agreed to send a monetary donation for this project.
First United Mission is an outreach place for the street and homeless people. They help these less fortunate people in many ways (food, beds, showers, clothing needs, toiletry items, etc.).
Currently, there is a great need for socks (for men and women), men’s underwear, prescription medication containers (for single use of soap, shampoo, etc.) We are opening this request to the area and welcome your contributions to the cause. Our focus is thick socks and prescription bottles at this time.
Reports were heard from the various officers - Sunshine, Publicity, Archives, Outreach, and Treasurer.
Zion hosted Soup’s On at St. Alban’s on Sept. 30. We have donated Thanksgiving cards to the Jackson House residents at the Ashcroft Hospital for their personal use.
Campbell Soup labels and other Campbell product labels continue to be collected. A reminder to please be sure the name “Campbell” and the UPC bar code are both intact and complete or the label cannot be counted. Sadly, too many labels are received with one or the other torn and have to be discarded.
Used postage stamps from around the world are also still being gathered. These are donated to Christian schools across Canada who do not receive any funds from the government for extras such as field trip or valuable equipment to enhance the education process.
At this point we paused in our meeting for tasty refreshments provided by Lynn and Jacklin. We socialized while enjoying our tea and goodies.
The Inter-Church Christmas Bazaar will be held Sat., Dec. 3 with the ladies of St. Alban’s Anglican Church providing the venue as well as hosting the event. More details will be provided closer to the date. Watch for posters on display in November.
A copy of the 2012 church calendar was available for viewing and orders taken. Further orders will be received until the end of the month.
Our next meeting is set for Oct. 4; back to our regular first Tuesday of the month schedule.
Reta Robertson