Sermon Doodle April 21, 2013

IT'S BEEN A WHILE. I've been soooo swamped with working on shows (creating one, directing two, playing bass [yikes!] for another), it's just been INSANE. I am now down to one show to be panicked about. So here's today's epistle.

God has trendy glasses, don'tcha think?

Sermon Doodle 3-3-13

HEEERE IT IS--today's sermon! It's not every Sunday one gets to play with drawing leeches!

Sermon Doodle Feb 17, 2013

WE HAVE A NEW PASTOR for a while--Matt Gravelle. Here was his first sermon of this stint as our temporary help!

Two sermon doodles for the price of one

 WITH OUR PASTOR Ian Prichard in the hospital recovering from a terrible skiing accident (there's a reason I've never gone skiing...), it seemed almost disloyal to take and publish sermon notes... but then I thought maybe he'd like to see them. So... here are today's and last week's--all in one post!

Help Kenyan Kids Take Exams (They want to! Really!)

Even a small donation will make a big difference!

ONE OF THE SPONSORS from Australia wrote this; I could not have said it better myself! 

"Another plea for a couple dollars for "my" Kenyan children.

I know everyone's giving budget is stretched to the limit, but I'm hoping you can spare another $2 or $3 for a worthy cause.

For the past six years I've been involved with what is now called Plant-a-book International (formerly called Kenya Kids in Need) charity. I'm currently paying for the education and lodging for two teenage orphans who live at Galilee School in Sowete-Kayole slums of Nairobi, and for the education of three other students who live in the slums nearby. The school is the creation of a man who was a sponsored child himself.

The school has developed to the point where in 2009 the first graduating high school class took their final high school exams. (Every student passed!)
But while primary education is free in Kenya, secondary education is not. At Galilee, the neediest and orphan students mostly have overseas sponsors, for the rest, where most slum families live on $1 USD a day, it is a struggle to keep students at school and not contributing to the family income.

The Kenyan government charges $85 USD each for the students to take their final exams, and Plant-a-book International is trying to provide for as many students as possible to take the exams. (The headmaster also raises money from local businesses and slum families.) The time for payment is drawing near, and it would be tragic if these hopeful students were not able to sit their final exams.

These kids work so hard to do well...they have to share textbooks, they have no electricity to study at night, so they come to school at 6am to work; they form study groups and work together on Saturdays to help each other through the curriculum, and their courses are so much harder than Aussie ones...EVERY student has to do the equivalent of extension maths, for example, and they all study Shakespeare in English, which is usually their second or third language.

Having the high school certificate makes a huge difference to employment prospects for these students. The top 10% are eligible for a uni scholarship. Even a poor pass opens the possibility of an office job rather than being a maid or a street seller, thus breaking the poverty cycle for whole families.

If you can spare a couple of dollars you can use the PayPal donation button at http://www.plantabook.org You'll be donating in US dollars, which are close to parity with $AUS at present.

Think of the karma! Thanks for reading."

Reconditioning Humanity

FROM THE "I wish I had thought of this" files... Check out this website: www.reconditioninghumanity.com. This is so great! 

The Idea: You get cards from them and leave them or give them with a Random Act of Kindness. The card asks the recipient to "pay it forward"--but there is also a number on the card that can be tracked through their website. . . Assuming people actually log in and report on their card, you could watch your little act of kindness grow and multiply!

I ordered three cards for Bob & Lilia & me. 

Go to their website! Order some cards (they're free)! Pass it on! 

Sermon Doodle Jan 6, 2013

IT WAS INTERESTING to me that today I started reading My Descent into Death on the recommendation of a friend. Fascinating book (one of those "near-death experience" stories, but this one started out badly!), and in the book, the author is told--in Heaven, no less!--the same two points that Ian preached on today: Know yourself, and know what you're about!
(Embarrassing challenge: Find my misspelling!)