E M M A U S M E N N O N I T E C H U R C H

DECEMBER 2020 VOLUME 73 ISSUE 11

EMMAUS ECHOES James 1:17a - Every good and perfect gift is from above.

Jesus, the best gift of all

The Family Missions banquet “Treasure Hunt at Chalet” was held Monday evening, November the 2nd at church. As families came in the door, little ones were scurried off to the nursery/preschool class-rooms, grades K-8th to the hearth room, and everyone else

made their way to the fellowship hall where they were greeted with Treasure Box programs, and chips and salsa at the tables. Jim Pearce welcomed everyone, and before eating, Dave Barkman introduced a quiz for each table of figuring out some Japanese characters. The six tables that won enjoyed a prize of a candy bag.

While the adults were going through the food line to fill their plates, the children waited patiently for their turn and kept busy with various activities … A Missionary word search puzzle, coloring, and also playing a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” that Eileen used to give each of them a chance to pick an Origami Bird or Spin Top that the Barkmans craftily put together.

After enjoying a delicious meal of chicken taco bowls, strawberry whipped jello, and a mile high fudge brownie, everyone turned their chairs to the stage area set up on the west side and watched a video of Okutama Bible Chalet Camp (OBC). A cute skit performed by Mom (Eileen) and camp daughters (Evie, and Laurel) featured the campers coming home from camp and open-ing their bags with lots of “treasures” from camp, ending with a wad of tis-sues and Camper Evie telling how she cried realizing she had sinned, and finding the greatest treasure of all at camp … asking Jesus to be her Sav-ior. Dave, Eileen, Evie, and her children sang a camp song written by Miko Barkman that was very

popular at OBC. Dave shared “Delighting in the Treasure”, and finished with telling a story of “Jesus Gloves Me”, which was inscribed on the pens that everyone received at their tables.

Meanwhile, the children were dismissed after the camp singing to enjoy a treas-ure hunt in the church. The children were divided into 6 teams, and each team given a puzzle piece. This puzzle piece gave them a clue where to go in the church. At each location, once they completed what they were to do there, they were given another puzzle piece. After all six puzzle pieces were “found”, they fit to make a map of Japan and this gave the team admittance into the gym for the last event. The clues were: “Where are there pictures of missionaries in our church?” - Tim H. met them at the Mission wall and helped the children find where the missionaries were serving on a world map displayed. “Where are there stories about missionaries?” - Liz P. was waiting in the library and explained to them about finding biographies of missionaries among the books, shared a story of Jim Elliot, and how they could check them out. “Where are there letters from missionaries in our church?” - Lenissa B. was by the rack at the mailboxes and shared missionary letters with them and how they could be praying for them. “Where would a missionary meet with the church board?” - Dennis B. greeted them in the conference board room and had a crossword puzzle for them to fill out of “What does a Mis-sionary do?” “Where do missionaries speak in our church?” - Brenda H. was waiting for them by the pulpit in the sanctuary. The question was asked “What would a missionary say if they were stand-ing behind this pulpit?” The children listed many things - what they did, stories, prayer requests, giving their testimonies, and challenged the children that some day they may be speaking from there. (cont. on p. 3)

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Treasure Hunt at Chalet

(cont. from p. 2) At the gym, Eileen greeted them and told about using her treasure chest of money to try to buy ice cream at Braums, or go to a garage sale, but they wouldn’t take that money because it was Japanese money and worthless here. She challenged the children to treasure Jesus as the best treasure they ever possess, and to give themselves to God with open hands, asking Him what they can do to help share the greatest treasure of all. Each child was given a Japanese coin to take home.

The offering for the banquet was for two different projects … River rafts for the campers to enjoy rafting on the Tama River, and partial cost towards a new camp van. It was a tremendous blessing that over $12,000 was raised for these two projects. The camp staff in Japan will be extremely encouraged by the generosity of all those helping with this project! During the offering, we en-joyed watching a music video of Joel Barkman of himself x 4, playing different instruments to “All in All/I’d Rather Have Jesus.” If you would like to see it, ask for the link to the YouTube video. Thank you to all who made this most enjoyable evening possible. Our prayer is that this evening encourages you to pray for the Barkman’s ministry and to continually look for ways to be involved in sharing the greatest Treasure. The Missions Committee

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Another month, another muffin recipe for you! Add these lovely, spicy (and not too sweet) muffins to your holiday baking list for a festive breakfast treat. As always, let me know how you like them! - Bitty Wiebe

GINGERBREAD MUFFINS 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup molasses 2 2/3 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp ground cloves 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (don't use fat free here) 1/2 cup milk Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a muffin tin with muffin wrappers, or grease generously. (This makes approximately 16-18 muffins.) Mix together the melted butter, molasses, brown sugar, egg, yogurt, and milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices, and add gradually to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. Divide batter into prepared muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. Sprinkle over with coarse sugar (or granulated, if coarse isn't available) and bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Emmaus Cookbooks make great Christmas gifts. They are available in the office for $10.

Lenissa Sue Regier, daughter of Daryl and Shari, and Dennis Paul Busenitz were united in marriage on Sep-

tember 26th. Dr. Tim Mace officiated the wedding on the warm windy day on the lawn north of the Emmaus

Church. The bride’s attendants consisted of Polly Holcomb, sister of the bride. as the matron of honor, and

bridesmaids Alisha Busenitz, daughter of the groom, and Katrina Wollard, friend of the bride. The best man

was the groom’s son Todd Busenitz and the groom’s brothers Milton and Leroy Busentiz served as grooms-

men. The groom’s grandchildren and nieces and nephews of the bride completed the bridal party as flower

girls and ring bearers.

Ushers, Daren Busenitz, Brett Busenitz, Simon Pyle, Mario Regier, Lyle Wiebe, and Jerry Willhite seated the

guests at the tables in the picturesque setting created by Mary Wiebe and Phyllis Ranfeld. The ceremony con-

sisted of two solos, a meditation by Pastor Tim as well as traditional vows and rings. Rose Holcomb, niece of

the bride, sang “For the Beauty of the Earth” followed by Wes Ranfeld singing “How Deep the Father’s Love

for Us.”

The reception was served by the food’s committee. The meal consisted of pulled BBQ chicken, cheesy pota-

toes, green beans, rolls, and cupcakes.

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Del and I spent the third week of October in Texas. We traveled to Houston to visit Dave and Betty, Del's oldest brother and wife. We played scrabble, observed Dave's fall garden, and gathered eggs from his small brood of chickens. We enjoyed jumbo shrimp from the Gulf, salmon and clam chowder. We went to Kemah, a resort town on a channel coming up from the Gulf, and ate at a restaurant on the river, watching the leisure boats and a few ships. Over the weekend, we left for Longview to spend a few days with my sister, Gladys, and husband, Tom. They live in the country near Gilmer. Laughing, we played Farkle, then helped chore the four goats (their girls). We drove to New London, TX to tour a museum which displayed solely the true story of an elementary, middle, and high school that exploded because of a natural gas leak under the school during the years of the oil boom in 1937. A shop teacher plugged in an electric sander and that resulted in the tragic loss of 282 students and 12 teachers. It was called "the day the generation died." The museum dis-played stories of the kids and teachers who lost their lives as well as memorabilia. A condolence note from Adolf Hitler was on the bulletin board. After this incident, the government required an odorant be added to natural gas. Rather a sad afternoon. We had such a good break and enjoyed the time with Dave and Betty as well as Tom and Gladys. Del and Verna Unruh

FALL CONFERENCE - On the weekend of Oc-

tober 23-25, the Sunday Evening Committee hosted our fall conference. The focus this year was on parent-

ing, and our speakers were Hal and Melanie Young.

The Youngs traveled from North Carolina with their

three youngest children for this conference. They are

parents of eight children, the oldest six are boys, and

their ministry is called Raising Real Men.

Hal and Melanie shared practical parenting principles

and experiences from their own efforts to apply Bibli-

cal wisdom to family life. For most sessions of the conference, we enjoyed listening to a conversation be-

tween husband and wife, father and mother, discussing

practical topics relevant to many of our own families.

Friday evening the topic was raising real men. As par-

ents who have raised 6 boys into early manhood, the

Youngs told about the unique rewards and challenges

parenting sons presents. They talked about the impor-

tance of good heroes and clear goals to work toward,

helping them to see how their work contributes to a bigger picture. Hal and Melanie mentioned how to

deal with some of the temptations that our boys will

face, like lust, anger, laziness, and bickering. One im-

portant overarching truth is that we teach our children

right and wrong in order that they might see their need

and embrace our Savior.

Donuts and coffee began our time together on Satur-

day morning. The focus was on parenting children of

different ages. First the Youngs spoke about parenting preteens. They explained some very practical insights

into the emotions and challenges our children face in

this important time of their development. God’s design

for their growth into adults involves a surge of hor-

mones (up to 50x more than adult levels!) that pre-

cedes their physical changes from childhood to adult-hood. This can cause kids of this age to act in ways

that take their parents by surprise and cause difficulty

in training them. Forgetfulness, irresponsibility, and

strong emotions like anger may suddenly appear. One

insight I learned is that a child’s outburst of anger,

while not appropriate, is an opportunity for a parent to

listen and hear what is on our child’s heart more clearly than at other times.

Parenting preschoolers was the next focus. One thing that was helpful for me was the focus on using Bibli-

cal concepts in the discipline of our children. Ques-

tions such as “What did you do?”, “Was it wrong?”,

“What should you have done?”, and most importantly

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“Do you want to be forgiven?” (Rather than “Are you

sorry?”) give our children opportunity for proper con-

fession and seeking of forgiveness.

The Saturday evening session was called “Media

Proofing Your Kids.” Hal and Melanie said that Media can be a wonderful servant but a terrible master. They

spoke about precautions to take to guard our families

from the moral impurity readily available through the

internet. They also shared a helpful grid through which

to evaluate any form of media by evaluating the quality

of the art and the message contained. As an example they showed us how to discover and discuss the themes

communicated through a movie with our kids and

evaluate them from a Biblical worldview.

During the Sunday School hour the Youngs talked

about the importance of the transition from parenting

children to parenting adults. The change in relationship

from “benevolent dictator” of early parenting to

“trusted advisor” for later in life is the desired goal.

Later that morning Hal’s sermon focused on the legacy

our marriage leaves for our family. That legacy is the

example our marriage gives to our children. Our

“marriage toolbox” –how we live in the moments of marriage- will unconsciously become their toolbox in

their own relationships. He then focused on the funda-

mentals of a good marriage relationship, such as friend-

ship, godly handling of conflict, trust, faithfulness and

love.

In the final session Sunday evening Hal and Melanie

shared about the danger of parenting out of fear- fear

that we aren’t doing things the “right way,” or that our

children will walk away from the Lord. This kind of fear leads to over-controlling, outward behavior based

parenting. The alternative is parenting from our faith in

God, His Word, and His sovereignty. They spoke about

a helpful concept for repairing and building relation-

ships, especially during the teen years: learn to respond

appropriately to a young person’s bids for attention. Often these can be passing comments that we tend to

ignore, but when we show genuine interest in these bids

for attention, we learn the hearts of our children and

build a strong relationship.

If you missed any of these sessions and would like to

watch, most are available on our church Facebook

page. I recommend making the time to do so. I realize

often my need for all the help God can give me in par-

enting, and found this weekend to be helpful for me. - Carlen Busenitz

WE NEED POLLINATORS Pollinators help make our good food. They are always underviewed. If they all go, We will say, “Oh no!” Without them, people wouldn’t be a multitude. By Cody Entz, 2020; 3rd place in class

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Each year the Soil Conservation Office in Butler County has a contest for school age kids. Nita Newby has

the students in her class enter the poster or limerick contest. This year two from Emmaus took second and

third in the limerick contest. Below are their limericks.

POLLINATORS THAT POLLINATE All bees pollinate crops and fruit trees. Who makes honey? Honey bees! I love pollinators so! I don’t want them to go! Do keep the pollinators alive, please! By Haylie Regier, 2020; 2nd place class

Our Emmaus Church archive in the resource room is up and running, including old church documents, letters,

and books. One thing we could use more of are photos- so if you have any pictures of youth group, Sunday

School parties, VBS, etc. through the years we’d love to have a copy! See below.

WELCOMING BABY PEARCE

The hearth room was decorated with an outdoorsy décor and the air smelled of popcorn as ladies arrived at

Emmaus on the afternoon of November 15. They were gathered to help share in the excitement of Loren and

Ally Pearce’s baby expected to arrive any day. To start off the baby shower, Shelby Busenitz led the women in

playing a game where they had to come up with the baby name for certain animals. Marilyn Wiebe came up

with the most correct answers, earning the right to take home the bag of animal crackers. Then a question and

answer time was held with Grandma Amy Vogt and Grandma Liz Pearce. Several different questions were

asked such as “What was the hardest thing about becoming a mom” and “What is one thing that you learned

about yourself after becoming a mother?” We appreciate these two women sharing practical things from their

own years of being moms. After enjoying food, conversation, and the opening of presents, we are now eagerly

awaiting the news that “Baby Pearce” has arrived!

WESTERN DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

APRIL 9, 1985

NEW TO THE LIBRARY NOVEMBER 2020 CHILDREN'S BOOKS The Upside Down Day: Cul-de-Sac kids Pickle Pizza: Cul-de-Sac kids Good bye to Goodbyes: A true story about Jesus, Lazarus, and the Empty Tomb The Storm That Stopped: A true story about who Jesus really Is Jesus and the Lion's Den: A true story about how Daniel points us to Jesus The Friend Who Forgives: A true story about how Peter failed and Jesus forgave The One o'clock Miracle: A true story the words of Jesus One Small Donkey: A Christmas story for little ones I Prayed for You Christmas is Coming Locked in the Snow Jesus Came for Me Jesus Made Me and You Easter ABCs. The Stare Maker What Every Child Should Know About Prayer Jungle Doctor Fable Picture Books

Donkey Wisdom Sweet and Sour Hippo Monkey in a Lion's Den Reflections of Hippo The Cool Pool Monkey and the Eggs Crosses the Equator Famous Monkey Last Words

Family Read Aloud; Courageous World Changers: 50 stories of daring women of God. You really need to check out this section in the library, you will find wonderful books. Adults would enjoy these books too. ADULT DVDS Love Comes Softly Love's Enduring Promise Love's Unfolding Dream Holiday: On This Holy Night by Max Lucado

Hidden Christmas by Tim Keller ADULT BOOKS Biography: Shaken by Tim Tebow: fight to stay strong no matter what comes your way. Prophecy: The End Times in Chronological Order by Ron Rhodes A complete overview to understanding Bible Prophecy. Easy to read. Good reference book Commentary: The Gospel According to God by John MacArthur Rediscovering the most remarkable chapter in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53. Christian Living: Seeing Jesus from the East: A fresh look at history's most influential figure by Ravi Zacharias. Published in 2020, this is perhaps one of the last books Ravi wrote before he died. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever Dangerous Prayers: Because following Jesus was never meant to be safe by Craig Groeschel Outlive Your Life: you were made to make a difference by Max Lucado Embracing Grace: Settling the guilt that unsettles you by Daniel Brown. A refreshing look at how grace and law work together in our life. Social Issues: Born Again This Way by Rachel Gilson. A powerful book steeping in Scripture and filled with hard- won wisdom. Gilson addresses many pressing questions that same-sex-attracted Christians wrestle with. A testimony of how life is fulfilling and fruitful lived Jesus way. Crazy Girl, Good God: The story of who I was and who God has always been by Jackie Perry Gender: A conversation guide for parents and pastors by Brian Seagraves and Hunter Leavine

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CHILDREN'S DVDS God with Us: Voice of the Martyrs The Messengers: Voice of the Martyrs To Every Nation: Voice of the Martyrs These are excellent videos about how the Gospel of Jesus spread in the time of the early church and the time of Paul. It held my attention as an adult and gave a mental picture. Highly recommend. Alvera Odyssey videos:

The Knight Travelers A Fine Feathered Frenzy Star Quest Electric Christmas Someone to Watch Over Me A Trust in Time Baby Daze Escape from Forbidden Matrix Race to Freedom

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ENGAGEMENT

Lewis and Jenny Wiebe are excited to announce the engagement of their son, Micah, to Macie Condra, of Wichita. A summer wedding is being planned.

Congratulations!

RECENT GRADUATES: Brookelynn Entz (daughter of Ryan & Genia) graduated from K-State University Njema DeJong (daughter of James & Kyleen) graduated from John Brown University

Congratulations!

WILFERD THIESSEN’S LIFE - Wilferd's life began on March 27, 1932, the son of Jacob Edgar and Marie

(Wiebe) Thiessen in Newton, Kansas. He graduated from Berean Academy in 1950 and went on to graduate

from Grace Bible College in Omaha, Nebraska. He married Gladys Evelyn Kracht on June 15, 1954 in

Creighton, Nebraska. Wilferd and Gladys ministered all across Latin America from 1964-2010. He also taught

at Rio Grande Institute in Texas for 10 years. He was an evangelistic chalk artist and used his talent to share

the gospel. He enjoyed riding horses, playing the piano and wood carving.

His loving family includes his wife, Gladys of Whitewater; his sons and their wives, Randy and Connie Thies-

sen of Whitewater, Gary and Monica Thiessen of Burns, Kansas; daughter and her husband, LaVonna and Dr.

Greg Schmid of Phoenix, Arizona; 18 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Henry and Edgar Thiessen and a sister, Martha Thiessen.

Wilferd passed away peacefully on Friday, October 16, 2020 at the age of 88 years old.

YOUTH NEWS It was a cold and rainy afternoon when the youth group arrived at church. Not ideal weather for a hay-rack ride. Fortunately, the youth sponsors had a plan. We were having a hayrack ride and progressive sup-per. People grabbed hot chocolate or coffee before climbing into a stock trailer with hay inside. We then headed off to the first stop. Jim and Liz Pearce served us appetizers, Brad and Mary Wiebe served the entree, and Richard and Glenda fed us dessert. Needless to say, we all got back to church with stomachs very full of good food. When we got back to church Eben Busenitz gave a devotional about the passage in Numbers when Moses struck the rock and water came out. We then headed to the gym for a couple games of speed volley-ball before people started heading home.

SPELLING BEE Berean had their spelling bee for grades 3rd-8th. Garrett Friesen (Kevin and Krista) (3rd grade) won. Cody Entz (Tim and Tami) (4th grade) took 4th place. Congratulations to these two.

CROSS COUNTRY HONORS

Andrew Harder (Chuck and Jenn) was

selected to the all metro cross country

team. Lewis Wiebe was selected as the

all metro coach.

Congratulations!

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E M M A U S M E N N O N I T E C H U R C H

Editor………………...……..….…Debora Claassen

Youth Reporter…..........................Mackenzie Unruh

Staff Writers........................................................You

Layout/Circulation Editor………...Wanita Busenitz

Please send articles to: emmausechoes@gmail.com

THE QUILT IS FINISHED!

This year’s theme at our Willing Workers meetings has been “His

Workmanship … Created!” Just as we don’t see the whole pic-

ture of what God is creating and working through us, we don’t see

the full picture of a beautiful quilt until is completed … all the

many, many pieces sewed together, quilted, and finished … and

then we stand back and admire how it all works together. Some-

times the dark pieces, and those times we have to use the seam

ripper don’t look so pretty as we’re sewing. We could compare

those to “not so pretty” times in our lives, but God takes those

times and works them out for good for His purpose. We will see

THAT beautiful quilt when we arrive in Heaven!

Ladies in the church took their scraps and sewed them into

squares and after putting those all together, it was beautifully ma-

chine quilted by Carissa Wiebe. The quilt is on display for the

next two weeks in the foyer. Our desire is to sell it by taking si-

lent bids. If interested, please turn in that silent bid to the Church

Office in the next two weeks. This would make an awesome

Christmas gift for that someone special!

The donation for the sale of the quilt will be dis-

tributed as personal Christmas cash gifts to our

missionaries. They SO appreciate receiving these

cash gifts and use them for special items they are

needing. Thank you for blessing them!

Here is a picture of the beautiful quilting:

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

Well, this is the last issue of 2020. To be sure, it has been a dif-

ferent year and at times I wondered if we'd have much for the

Echoes since not many traveled for a bit. But all of you helped

me know about things that were happening and most everyone

was willing to write up events for me. Thank you so much. You

made the job go well so that I am not doing the usual year end

note. Instead, thanks to all of you and especially, Wanita, I am

carrying on for another year. I trust you will all continue to

write articles for me and let me know when something is going

on. We can't all do everything or be at everything but this way,

we can share our lives with each other. Debora Claassen

Queen size quilt (92x100)