April 2020

Volume 44, Number 4

The Church

Corner

First Mennonite Church 427 West Fourth Halstead, KS 67056 www.firstmennonitehalstead.org Steve Wilcox, Pastor

Office Phone (316) 835-2282 Steve’s Cell (316)-322-5651 rskw13@gmail.com

Sunday School—9:30 a.m. Worship Service—10:45 a.m.

“We are a community of believers who follow Jesus Christ as we receive and

share God’s love.”

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We, of First Mennonite Church,

Valuing the convictions of our faith,

Endeavor to: Engage our members in ministry,

Expand community outreach,

Embrace new people, In the love of Christ.

A Modern Day Parable

In Luke 15, Jesus

tells three parables

about the precious

being lost and, at

great lengths, found

again. The kingdom

of heaven, he says, is

like that. But most of us don’t shepherd

sheep and wouldn’t fret over one lost coin.

A child, on the other hand …

In fall 2019, as night fell in northern

Minnesota, 6-year-old Ethan and his dog

wandered off. Family and police grew fran-

tic because the area consisted of fields,

woods and swamps. Authorities requested

assistance.

The kingdom of heaven, Jesus might

say, is like 600 volunteers searching dili-

gently in the dark for a child they didn’t

know. It’s like Steve Fines who, though also

a stranger to the boy, grabbed his compa-

ny’s pricy heat-seeking drone and worked

the camera for hours, until it detected Ethan

huddling with his dog, safe but cold. Yes,

the kingdom of heaven — indeed God — is

like people giving their all and refusing to

quit until the lost one is found.

“Never yet was a springtime, when

the buds forgot to bloom.”

—Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

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Camp Mennoscah

Watch the Camp Mennoscah website and

Facebook page for updates on events and

special happenings! There is a COVID-

19 link under the Camp Blog section on

the website. The Facebook page (no ac-

count needed!) can be reached from the

Camp Mennoscah webpage.

With attention to the safety of all, our

Retirees Retreat (scheduled for April 20-

22) has been cancelled. It has not been

determined if the retreat will be resched-

uled for a later date. Take a moment over

these next weeks, have a personal coffee

break, remember a story about Camp

Mennoscah, and know we are thinking of

you.

Men and Boys Retreat (previously

scheduled for April 3-5) at Camp Men-

noscah has been rescheduled to Septem-

ber 4-6, 2020!

The 2020 Camp Mennoscah tee shirt is

up to you! We're looking for three two

word phrases that represent the important

parts of Camp Mennoscah to you! The

best combination of phrases will become

our camp tee! One (generic) example

would be River play, Campfire songs,

Love all. Be creative! Send all your

stunning ideas to olivia.bartel@campm

ennoscah.org! (Or send a message to the

Camp Mennoscah Facebook page.)

Contact us or reply at 620-297-3290

or olivia.bartel@campmennoscah.org

We are living in a unique time

where things today are very different than

they were even a month ago. Few of these

changes would be listed as good changes.

A virus that is infecting hundreds of thou-

sands the world over, causing life for just

about everyone to be altered. Across the

world people are largely confined to their

homes, their movement restricted, the

places they can go limited. This is a

strange time. Churches have always

worked to overcome social isolation, to be

a refuge against loneliness, to bring com-

munities together. Now we must ask peo-

ple to keep apart, to not come to their

places of worship for a time. We have be-

come a people of isolation by necessity

entering into a kind of exile.

This isolation, however, does offer

a window into how God’s people have

dealt with exile before. For the Israelites

the temple was their central place of wor-

ship, it was hard to imagine worshiping

anywhere else. Then around 70 AD the

temple was destroyed and the people dis-

persed into neighboring lands. No longer

could things be the same; they were iso-

lated from all they had known.

‘How could we sing the Lord’s

song in a strange land?’ asks the Psalmist

(137:4). Our scriptures are filled with

many other examples of exile that can be

explored during this time for new insights

and encouragement in our own situation.

One encouraging thing we know

about the exile in the Old Testament is

that it was a time of profound spiritual

Thoughts about Exile The Magnitude of

God’s Love

It would be spectacular and amaz-

ing ... if some king’s son were to appear in

a beggar’s home to nurse him in his illness,

wash off his filth and do everything else

the beggar would have to do. Would this

not be a profound humility? Any spectator

or any beneficiary of this honor would feel

impelled to admit that he had seen or expe-

rienced something unusual and extraordi-

nary, something magnificent.

And yet the love of the Son of God

for us is of such magnitude that the greater

the filth and stench of our sins, the more he

befriends us, the more he cleanses us, re-

lieving us of all our misery and of the bur-

den of all our sins and placing them upon

his own back.

Whenever the devil declares: “You

are a sinner!” Christ interposes: “I will re-

verse the order; I will be a sinner, and you

are to go scotfree.” Who can thank our God

enough for this mercy?

—Martin Luther, Luther’s Works 22, 166-167

renewal. It was the time when God’s people

went back to their founding stories. It was

the time when much of the Old Testament as

we currently have it took final shape. When

eventually they returned to the Promised

Land, they lived differently. They left be-

hind the worship of idols and returned single

-heartedly to worship God, but in a different

way.

What ways will this isolation affect

us? When restrictions are lifted and we re-

turn to moving about more freely how might

we be different? My prayer for us as a con-

gregation during this time of exile is that we

can experience God’s word and presence in

new ways. That we can dream bold visions

for what coming back together might look

like at the end of this. How we may be

changed and challenged to follow God in

deeper ways!

Blessings and peace to you all in the

name of our Savior Jesus!

-Pastor Steve

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Treasurer’s News

Please don’t forget to send in your

offerings for the church needs and the pro-

jects we have chosen to support throughout

the year. The offering schedule for April is

listed above. Your offerings may be sent di-

rectly to James Nightingale (who does the

deposits to the bank and sends Larry Regier

the totals) at 2819 N. Spring Lake Rd., Burr-

ton, KS 67020. You may also place them in

James’ church mailbox or mail them to the

church.

Thank you for your faithful giving

especially during this very challenging time.

Your faithfulness and generosity is appreciat-

ed!

Church Announcements

1. The Neighbors Store is currently closed.

Commodities are given outside on Mon-

day’s. Receipt of donations will resume

when it is possible.

2. The deadline for the May newsletter is

April 27. 3. Offering schedule for April:

April 5: Church Budget

April 12: Western Distr ict Conference

April 19: Harvey Co. Health Ministry

April 26: MC USA

Prayer Meeting

The prayer group that meets on

Wednesday nights will continue to meet

through April for those interested, as long as

the group does not exceed 10 people. The

group will meet on April 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.

Praise God for the adoption good news

for Johnson & Leah! The judge denied

the writ and has closed the case. The

adoption is final! Leah & Johnson want

to convey their many thanks for all for

the prayers and financial help as they bat-

tled through. To God be the glory!

Pray for all who are sheltering-in-place

during the global pandemic. May each

one feel God’s presence and peace as we

each do our part to lesson the spread.

Continue to pray for the health and safety

of our health care workers and first re-

sponders as they work to care for those

affected by the virus.

Pray for this Lenten season that we will

examine where we need to repent and

find comfort and hope in the saving grace

of our Lord and Savior. Please feel free

to use the surrender calendars you were

given or you receive via email each day

during Lent.

VBS planning has begun. The dates may

change due to the pandemic. Be in pray-

er for those who are preparing.

See(k) First

On Facebook, I can “follow” as many

people as I want, viewing their messages,

photos and activities. But I can choose only

30 to “see first” — that is, to prioritize in my

news feed. As of this writing (Facebook

changes often), if my “see first” list is full

and I want to add someone new, I must

“unprioritize” someone else.

That leads me to ponder bigger mat-

ters: I often claim to follow Jesus, but what

might I need to “unprioritize” to make him

not just a priority but the priority in my life?

To what do I devote time and attention but

ought to let go to follow Christ more close-

ly? What activities, behaviors and values do

I need to not just bump from my “see first”

list but “unfollow” or “block” entirely? Per-

haps they are antithetical to discipleship or

simply take too much time away from pray-

er, Scripture and service.

This dilemma isn’t unique to the digi-

tal age. Facebook parlance is about what we

“see first,” but in Matthew 6:33 Jesus says,

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his right-

eousness” (ESV, italics added).

—Heidi Mann

Prayers & Praises

Easter Egg Drive-By

On Sunday, April 5, there will be a

Drive-by Easter egg scavenger hunt within

the city limits of Halstead! Eggs will be dis-

played in people's homes. All you need to do

is drive around, solve the clues, and see if

you can find all 22! Between 1-4 pm there

might even be familiar faces waiting to wave

at you! More information will be coming

soon!

Trusting the Shepherd… In The Glory of God’s Will (Back to the Bible Pub-

lishing), Elisabeth Elliot writes about watching sheep being dipped into antiseptic troughs. Alt-

hough this was done for their good, the sheep struggled mightily; dogs had to keep them in

place.

Certain life experiences made Elliot sympathetic to those sheep. “I couldn’t figure out

any reason for the treatment I was getting from the Shepherd I trusted,” she writes. “As I

watched the struggling sheep, I thought, ‘If only there was some way to explain to these poor

animals what was being done to them.’ Such knowledge is too wonderful for them. It is high.

They cannot attain it.” (See Psalm 139:6.)

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April Celebrations

1 Morgan Haury

3 Lu Siemens

3 Laryssa Stahl

4 Marilyn Mueller

5 Kristy Mueller

6 Marylin Balzer

7 Jim Sutcliffe

7 Cathleen Frost

10 (A) Kevin & Heather Finley

11 Sage Rose

13 Raquel Wilcox

14 Tom Koehn

14 (A) Jim & Joyce Koehn (64 yrs.)

16 Harley Mohler

16 Melissa Vogt

18 Eli Wilcox

18 David Friesen

19 Pauline Regier

19 (A) Richard & Robyn Schmidling

20 Alan Mueller

20 Joyce Rodenberg

21 Pamela Keller

21 Boyd Koehn

21 Amanda Keiser

21 Maeanna Regier

22 Matthew Regier

22 (A) Kenneth & Audra Black

23 Robert Yutzy

23 Jim Koehn

23 Dee Ann Lintz

24 (A) Steve & Raquel Wilcox

24 Elizabeth Robinson

24 Hannah Finley

24 Arnita Haury

25 (A) Bill & Betty Schowalter (51 yrs.)

25 (A) Dan & Wilma Mueller

26 Leon Schmidt

Interfaith Council

Backpack Project

The Halstead Interfaith Council

will again donate funds to the Halstead-

Bentley School District for school supplies

for low income families. Usually we make

our contributions at church during the

month of April. Since we are experiencing

unusual circumstances, we may make our

contributions in a different way. If you

would like to donate to this Interfaith pro-

ject, please write a check to the church,

and clearly designate that it is for Interfaith

School Supplies.

Please send the check to James

Nightingale, 2819 North Spring Lake

Road, Burrton, KS 67020. Or you may

place your check in James's mailbox at

church. All donations should be given to

James by April 26. These funds are very

much appreciated by our school district

and the families who receive this assis-

tance.

“Easter is a time when God

turned the inevitability of death

into the invincibility of life.”

—Craig D. Lounsbrough

What’s up at First Mennonite!

Sunday School Classes &

Spring Quarter Offering

The Nurture Ministry has chosen

Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) as our

spring quarter Sunday school mission offer-

ing project. The offerings are divided 40%

for the project and 60% for Sunday school

supplies.

During this time of separation the

Nurture Ministry invites you to mail your

donations to our treasurer, Kent Dick, at

8715 NW 36th Street, Halstead, KS 67056,

or you may place your offerings in Kent’s

church mailbox. Our children are still re-

ceiving their Sunday school lessons through

efforts of the Nurture Ministry with email,

Facebook and other avenues.

Thank you for your continued sup-

port of our Sunday school programs!

New Hymnals

We continue to receive

donations for our new hym-

nals, Voices Together, that will

be ready sometime this fall/

winter. If you’d like to pur-

chase a copy (or several) in honor or

memory of someone, please mail your do-

nations ($25 per book and check made out

to First Mennonite Church), to James

Nightingale, 2819 N. Spring Lake Rd.,

Burrton, KS 67020. Please remember to

indicate who the book is designated for.

27 (A) Elvin & Sue Conard (52 yrs.)

28 Mark Rodenberg

28 Robyn Schmidling

28 Katie Penner

30 (A) Bruce & Larisa Nightingale

A Love Explosion

“Mommy, if Jesus comes to live

inside my heart, will I explode?” One of

missionary Katie Davis’ adopted daughters

surprised her with that question as they

headed to the Nile River for some bap-

tisms.

Although Davis immediately re-

plied, “No!” she later realized: “That is ex-

actly what we should do if Jesus comes to

live inside our hearts. We will explode with

love, with compassion, with hurt for those

who are hurting, and with joy for those

who rejoice. We will explode with a desire

to be more, to be better, to be close to the

One who made us.”