hively happenings

Who’s Serving on Commissions?

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COMMISSION

Ron Sawatzky, Moderator Sueann VonGunten, Chairperson

Richard Miller, Moderator Elect Amanda Fast

Annie Mohr Joyce Frey

Chris Habegger Winifred Saner

Brenda Summers

Rob Burdette

Winifred Saner, Recording Sec.

STEWARDSHIP COMMISSION

Marlyn Fast, Chairperson

Larry Underwood

Virgil Claassen

Marilyn Klassen

WORSHIP COMMISSION

Leroy Saner, Chairperson

Joe Kotva

Sara Klassen

LaVonne Goossen Sawatzky

Rich Preheim

DEACON'S COUNCIL

Chris Habegger

Eileen Martin

Margaret Sawatsky

WITNESS AND CARING COMMISSION

Cheryl Miller, Chairperson

Louise Claassen

Rosalie Grove

Carol Kotva

TRUSTEES

Larry Underwood, Chairperson

Mark Claassen

Sunday School Offering

By Amanda Fast

The children’s Sunday School departmentcompleted a mission bank project for France in August. Every Sunday the children take an offering during the singing time. A total of $127.80 was collected and sent to the mission workers, Neil and Janie Blough, for books and Bibles for the Paris Mennonite Centre. Janie Blough says, “Many years ago people in France rejected Christianity because they thought they knew what it was and didn’t want any part of it. Now many people don’t even know what it is, so telling the Jesus story is very important.”

Our new project beginning with this quarter will be learning about the Sherrill family who are missionaries in Sapporo, Japan. The Sherrills, Mike and Teresa, have three children: Isaiah (9), Jeremiah (7), and Sophia (4). Their grandmother, Juanita Thompson is also living with them in Japan. The offerings collected will go to buy children’s books, Bibles, Sunday School materials, and Veggie Tales videos in Japanese for them to share the light of Christ with their friends. The Sherrills work with children and adults at Shiroishi Mennonite Christian Church in Sapporo.

CROP WALK

By Rosalie Grove

There’s something new this year for the CROP Walk which will be held Sunday, October 4. There is no longer a 10K (6.3 mile) walk. The choices are either a 5K or a 1K walk. The 1K walk is two times around Island Park. The 5K walk would incorporate the River Walk which is a lovely walk.

This is a great way to raise funds to help the hungry both locally and throughout the world. To sign up and get your sponsor envelopes, see Rosalie Grove. Registration begins at 1:00 p.m. and the walk begins at 2:00 p.m.

Tuition Assistance Program

The 2009-2010 school year has begun. This year there are seven young people from our church attending the Mennonite institutions of Goshen College, Hesston College, Eastern Mennonite University, AMBS, and Bethany Christian High School that receive aid from our tuition assistance program.

At Goshen College:

Sae-Chan Lee – Senior

Sae-Jin Lee – Senior

At Hesston College:

Steffen Sommers – 3^rd yr. Nursing

At Eastern Mennonite University:

Simone Sommers – Sophomore

At AMBS:

Matt Tschetter – Peace Studies

Takanori Inoue

Bethany Christian High School:

Sara Klassen – Senior

The fall payments for the matching funds were sent out last month. Although there was enough money in the Tuition Assistance Fund to cover the fall payments, at present there is a projected shortfall of approximately $2,000 for the winter payment that is due January 1. Hopefully this goal can be reached.

Let’s remember the Scholarship program in our giving.

The Tuition Assistance Committee:

Leanne Farmwald

Brent Graber

Amanda Fast

A pastor friend put sanitary hot-air hand dryers in the restrooms of his church. But after two weeks, he removed them.

“I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine, but one day when he went into a restroom, he saw a sign above the dryer that said, ‘For a sample of this week’s sermon, push the button.’ ”

SONGFEST

Join in for a time to hymn singing and music on Sunday, October 11, at 7:30. This SONGFEST is sponsored by the Elkhart Mennonite churches of which there are 10 and this year it will be hosted by Prairie Street Mennonite Church. Five churches, including Hively Avenue Mennonite Church, have been asked to participate with the program this year, and the other five will participate next time. Each of the five churches will be in charge of a segment of the program. Please mark this date on your calendar and come join in the fellowship and enjoy music together.

From the Preschool

Laughter, joy, some tears, and excitement fill the halls and playground of the church once again as the Preschool and kindergarten programs are underway. The enrollment is now up to 70 with a waiting list. Teachers are busy helping each child adjust to another year of learning new skills and making social adjustments. The Kindergarten class is planning a trip to the Kercher apple orchard in the future and will also attend a fire safety program soon. Scholarship support from the church has been appreciated. Pray for a good year for the students and remember the director and the teachers as the work with these young lives.

Getting to Know Thomas Radloff

Graduating from Concord High School this past spring was a young man named Thomas Radloff. All of his educational years were spent in the Elkhart school system where he began as a first grader at Monger school and then on to the Concord schools. Thomas lives with his mother Connie Radloff on Benham Avenue in Elkhart. He was joined in thefamily with a younger brother Austin. We have appreciated his dedication to Hively Avenue Mennonite Church in helping with the audio sound system on Sunday mornings and in the past months he has taken the job of setting up the chairs for the Sunday morning worship. He has actively participated in the youth class over his years at church. Marlyn and Amanda Fast, his grandparents have given him much support and encouragement in his life.

At the present time Thomas is working for Good Earth, an environmental garden center that raises vegetables for a local market on CR 18. Thomas is looking to continue his education at Indiana University in South Bend come the next semester. He would like to pursue secondary education as a career. While in high school Thomas enjoyed wrestling and soccer. He has enjoyed family trips to visit relatives in Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota and has visited in other states as well. He recalls a special trip to Bahamas. We wish Thomas much success as he moves on to new avenues of education and work. Thanks Thomas for being a part of Hively Avenue Mennonite Church.

Church sign seen in England:

Adam blamed Eve.

Eve blamed the snake

and the snake didn’t

have a leg to stand on.

Church Supports ESL

Several individuals from Hively Avenue Mennonite Church have committed themselves to assist with the English as a Second Language program held at the Prairie Street Mennonite Church on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Classes are full and began September 1 and will continue through November 19. Representatives from Eighth Street Mennonite Church, the Unitarian Universalist Church and 2 Mennonite Voluntary Service workers are also involved in this important service. Teaching classes are Sueann VonGunten, Amanda Fast and Rosalie Grove. Dick and JoAnn Gundy are helping with child care and supervising children up to grade 5. They are working with limited space and need additional help.

Youth Activities

On August 9 Sueann VonGunten and Megan Whitacre accompanied 6 young people to the Indiana Dunes State Park. They had a great time climbing sand dunes and getting plenty of exercise. On September 20 they have another event planned in which they hope to invite the Prairie Street youth to join them for a night of games and fun activities.

Hilary Scarsella to Speak at Hively

On Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. Hilary Scarsella will speak about her experience with Christian Peace Maker Teams (CPT) in northern Iraq. She recently returned from her 2^nd assignment with CPT. She is eager to share about her experience of working with Kurdish families who have been displaced and are living in tent camps due to bombing across the borders Iraq shares with Iran and Turkey. Hilary and her family attended Hively when she was a youngster and we’re glad to welcome her back. The evening is sponsored by Mennonite Women and the Witness and Caring Commission. Refreshments will be served.

Personally Speaking Items

Alden & Doris Bohn are traveling this week visiting their daughter Trish and family in Burton, Ohio and attending Doris' 60th high school reunion in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. Three weeks ago they returned from a trip to California by train where they visited son Karl and family for two weeks. This was their first train trip to the west coast and they thoroughly enjoyed it.

The first weekend in June, Tom and Joyce Frey volunteered at the State Special Olympic Games in Terre Haute. They were the venue captains for awards for track and field. It was the 40th anniversary of Special Olympics in Indiana. In July they were in Las Vegas for a convention. They golfed in a golf benefit that raised over $300,000 for the Civitan International Research Center. The CIRC is on the campus of the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Research is done in developmental disabilities and other brain disorders. The beginning of August they drove to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba to visit their son and family on the Long Plains reservation. While there, they were able to go to their tribal Pow-Wow.

Walter and Margaret Sawatsky spent some time this summer with children and grandchildren at Lake Michigan and LaPorte. They also made a trip to Winnipeg to visit family.

Mark, Melody, Lara and Rachelle Claassen enjoyed a time in Cincinnati with Mark’s sister, Vicki and family last weekend. They celebrated birthdays of cousins Lara and Jenna and spent time at the zoo and various children’s museums in the area.

Peace.” It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

— Author unknown, transmitted by

Mark Anderson

A Paraguay Report

By Patty Burdette

A highlight of my work with Mennonite Women USA this summer was my trip to the Mennonite World Conference and the Latin American Women’s Theologians Congress that met a few days before the Mennonite World Conference. The Indigenous Gathering that followed the Mennonite World Conference in which I was part of the North American Indigenous Delegation was also an exceptional learning experience. I am grateful to Mennonite Women USA for having had this extraordinary opportunity.

In Paraguay, I met with the African Anabaptist Women Theologians to bring greetings from Mennonite Women USA officially and to formally end the Mennonite Women USA Sister-Link with them. Each of the seven women was paired with a theologian in the US to correspond about personal and theological issues. I talked to the African Anabaptist Women Theologians about the International Women’s Fund scholarships MW USA provides to women each year for theological education and gave scholarship forms to the women along with copies of the January/February 2009 issue of timbrel which featured the story on the ordination of Rebecca Osiro, an African Anabaptist Women Theologian, International Women’s Fellowship scholarship recipient, and first women to be ordained in Kenya. The women each expressed great thanks for all that Mennonite Women USA has done for them.

At the Mennonite World Conference I attended workshops by Sylvia Shirk Charles about the African Anabaptist Women Theologians Sister-Link, Elizabeth Soto Albrecht about family violence, Latin American World Theologians on the gathering and reflections of the previous week, and other workshops by women theologians.

One special highlight of the trip to the World Conference in Paraguay was the July 18 Tea, based on a similar event during the previous Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabwe, financed by Mennonite Women USA and hosted

by the Latin American Women Theologians for the African Anabaptist Women Theologians and donors for travel for both the Latin American Women Theologians and the African Anabaptist Women Theologians. About 100 women attended, and it was a joyous occasion for all of us. Sandra Campos, the impetus behind the Latin American Women

Theologians movement and International Women’s Fellowship recipient, hand-made cards for the participants which had a message representative of the feelings of the Latin American Women Theologians and African Anabaptist Women Theologians I spoke to directly. It said: We want to express our gratitude; first, for the support that you have given us by believing in this project of reflection; secondly, for the efforts you have made to increase our funds with your financial gifts; and thirdly, for your prayers. We hope to see you represented and enjoy with us the miracle the Lord is allowing us to realize. May the prayer that you weave, be like nets that extend to reach many other women. (Translation by Linda Shelly).

Following the conference, I was part of the North American Indigenous Delegation visiting indigenous communities and churches in both Paraguay and Argentina. We also visited one Mennonite colony in Paraguay. This was an interesting learning experience.

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Friends always answer when you call, reach out and help you when you fall; They strengthen you in times of stress and add much to your happiness.”

— William Arthur Ward