November 2008

A Letter from the Pastor

Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago we had a church cleanup day at which I made what I think is an important observation for the life and ministry of our congregation.

In the effort to beautify our facility members of our congregation were joined by Boy Scouts and their families, preschool families, and probably a few folks from the dog park community (these are people who bring their dogs to play off lease in our back field).

Some of these people have churches where they are active, but many do not. In our community a lot of people consider Foothill to be their church even if they don’t come to worship on Sunday.

That provides us with a bit of a challenge. We need to be exploring how we can minister to such people, to share the love of God with them when it isn’t Sunday morning. Eventually, I hope they will come to worship on Sunday, but in the mean time we have the opportunity to be a church for friends and neighbors who have yet to join our worshiping congregation.

So we have to be creative. For example, in September the Preschool put on a great dinner and fellowship event for Preschool families. We had a great turnout. In October we had a blessing of the animals back in the dog park. It was raining that day, but we had maybe ten dogs to bless anyway.

Let’s put our heads together and let’s think of more ways to reach out to our community. Were a great church with lots to share and we serve an awesome God whose grace and love are ours to communicate to the world around us.

This is good work!

Warmly,
Ben
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~The Life of a Seminary student {on internship} ~
-Maxine Millender

“God uses our difficulties to develop His Son’s likeness in us”

-unknown author

This month has been difficult and sometimes frustrating for all of us who are first year residents. The second year residents have been through these frustrating moments that we face and are helping us with it. We are still learning a BIG hospital’s culture, learning how to quickly get to a location to respond to a crisis or trauma within the specified amount of time, trying not to get lost in the tunnels or walkways, keeping stats on what we do, write a weekly reflection paper, write a verbatim and present it, write a reflection paper for the stats, weekly reading from two books, assist or officiate in weekly worship, attend reporting twice a day, and doing cold visits on assigned locations in addition to the many referrals from nurses and the emergency room.

We all take turns being the primary or back-up Chaplain and we work the extended shifts. The extended shifts start in the morning at 8:30 to 12M during the week and on weekends, we get to stop at 10:30 but are on call, if we are needed, which is why we stay in the sleep room. All of us have to also take turns working weekends because of the 24 our coverage and believe me, there are lots of hours. We are learning how to triage our calls, our visits, and education while trying to become a united team. We are also recalling and telling our stories about our lives, our original calls to ministry, and general things about our lives.

During this month, I have been with many families whose loved one or ones have died. I extend pastoral support, prayer, read scripture, sometimes sing, and show compassion. Sometimes I am quiet to have presence for the patient. I complete what is called the disposition of body form, spend time with patients who want a living will, called the MPOA (medical power of attorney), and get witnesses for them.

Each week we have a one on one (1 hour) with our CPE supervisor and send him the reflection paper prior to our meeting. We discuss many things such as how our week is going, how we are getting along with those on the team, what do you need help with, and is there anything bothering you that you can’t discuss in the team meeting time. We also have a weekly meeting with our clinical coordinator who is a staff Chaplain. Each of us are assigned a staff Chaplain to work with, guide/mentor us, and give us advice. The staff Chaplains can also ask to attend our verbatim presentation to give us advice to further help us. We have 100 hours of education each month so we really have to triage our work to get everything completed.

On Thursday (9/25) our education was taking a tour of the Women’s center which is called the Jones Tower. This tower has labor & delivery, neonatal, maternal assessment, surgery, breast feeding education, and support for mothers and their families. During the tour we were able to see many of the babies who are less than 4 pounds; they are in incubators. Part of our responsibility when we are paged is to bless the babies, baptize, handle deaths of babies, and support the families as they go through this ordeal. When the baby is born, we go and pray with the family to celebrate their lives and bless them.

This month has been difficult due to many deaths, withdrawals, many traumas in ER, miscarriages, strokes (levels 1,2,3); sicknesses that leave folks in comas, and many being told they have cancer. I have been on many code blue calls. When someone’s heart stops or gets to a certain percent, the alert is sent for code blue. A team of Doctors, nurses, techs, pharmacy, chaplains, and others rush to the bed to do whatever they have to do to save that person. In order to process what has happened this month and then let it go, I go to a movie each week. I found a theater that charges $5.00 before 6:00 pm and going helps release the hospital activities from my mind. When I was a hospice Chaplain, it was different because I had many deaths but most of my patients were DNR’s (do not resuscitate) but in the hospital setting, it is very different

In our resident office, we all have desks and a cabinet that we can lock, two computers to use, and a phone. We are trying to work together, have conversations, and become a team. On the surface it is easy to do but when you are in a room of people who are more than strangers now, we try not to have small talk but useful conversations to help each other. This is more difficult than it sounds. We all have different personalities, different ways we approach things, and of course, we all have opinions. I have learned quickly that I want to get a lot out of CPE so I am putting in a lot so that it benefits me. I was told that of the first year residents, I am the only one who would be considered for hire due to education, experience, and what they have seen so far. This was a wonderful compliment for me to hear this. It is not time for me because I still have to complete seminary, get my masters in social work, and get ordained into chaplaincy sometime in
the future, God willing.

I had started going to the gym but during this month, I probably went three times. Sometimes I
am so tired from the day and just don’t want to go down to the gym but I keep saying that I need to go even if it’s to sit in the sauna for relaxation.

I have been to church twice and will try a different church this Sunday (9/28); it’s about 15 minutes from the apartment. I would like to get involved and do some prison ministry as outreach but have to find a compatible church where I can attend frequently.

~to be continued~
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Fall Retreat Thanks
-Martha Belz

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

The Fall Retreat is behind us and I hope all who attended had as wonderful an experience as I did. And I hope more of you will be able to attend next year, the weekend of September 25th.

Stephen Dietrich did a terrific job leading us through discussions about reaching out to help others and how to best do that.

Ben Daniel led singing after meals, the campfire program, and Sunday morning worship.

Virginia Mignogna was our nurse, led morning watch Saturday and Sunday mornings, and brought some beautiful music to share.

Peg Nickl stepped in at the very last minute (the day of the retreat!) to lead the children’s program. Jerry Siegfried’s granddaughter, Darlene, and her friend, Malia agreed to pitch in and help at the retreat.

Peg was also tremendously helpful overseeing moneys and paperwork for the retreat.

Glenda Parmentier did so much and I could not have done this without her. She coordinated the shirt orders which included creating the design, coordinating the order of “sweat free” shirts, placed the orders and picked them up. She also was responsible for the cabin assignments, made the name bandanas, and signs for the cabins.

John Belz led the Friday night ice breaker and built the campfire with help from Mark and Matthew Isberg.

Jay Jordana coordinated the blessings before the meals.

Jim Withrow led the Saturday afternoon hike.

Bill Anderson and Kraig Williams provided music during worship Sunday morning..

Eileen Parks set up the children’s program and helped Peg at the retreat.

Jane Wallace, and Joy Horch provided support and help along the way.

Karen Withrow made a snack run Saturday afternoon and really outdid herself.

John Belz, Ray Mignogna, and Jerry Siegfried helped save the weekend with their handyman skills. Both Bobbi at the camp and all that were without hot water on Saturday morning really appreciated that. Bobbi even gave them awards at the closing of camp.

To everyone listed and those that helped that I’ve missed- THANK YOU SO MUCH! I could not have coordinated this without you.

Martha Belz
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Hope – Love – Education and a Future
- Virginia Mignogna

On October 12th, “Presbyterian HIV/AIDS Awareness Sunday”, I presented the Minute for Mission, advocating the organization Children of Grace, which provides hope, love, education and a future for orphaned children affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

I challenged the congregation to open their wallets and contribute to this worthy cause.

I am happy to report that a total of $463 in donations and pledges was received that day!

The $463 will be added to our Mission Committee’s designated $500 amount and sent to Children of Grace for the furtherance of their work.

If you missed out on your chance to support this 501(C) 3 Non-Profit Organization, you may still contribute either through our church, by making your check out to Foothill Presbyterian Church and note in the memo portion “Children of Grace” or you may send your donation directly to Children of Grace at 4456 Deer Ridge Road, Danville, CA 94506.Thank you for supporting this worthy cause.

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Clean It, Fix it, "Garden Party" Oct 18, 2008

There was a great turnout for the Fall All Church Work Day. The Cub and Boy Scouts were so helpful by sweeping pine needles and wheel-barrowing them to the Community Garden. The Community Gardeners were happy to see the needles to be used for mulch and along the main path.

Laurie and Al Schuler washed windows in the kitchen and East building and dusted the louvered doors in Room 8. Others who participated with various yard trimming and clean up were Ray Mignogna, Herb & Jan Miller, Lin Peng, John and Mark Isberg, Ben, Kate, Mimi and Nellie Daniel, John Belz, Udell Eby, Fred and Marilyn Kromrey, Dana Marino, Preschool teacher Davina and Teacher Ellen and five parents as well.

Tony Escamilla and his son Marc Escamilla were there too, trimming ivy on our west fence and Tom and Eileen Parks were on scene. Tom helping with trimming and dumping and Eileen working hard in the preschool sand box.

Thanks to Barbara Audrey who cleaned the office and entrance doors. The Scouts treated us all to lunch of hot dogs or hamburgers. Scout Dad, Kim, installed a new sink in the office bathroom.

Thank you, thank you to everyone who came.
Your Buildings and Grounds Committee.
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Preschool Fun in November

*Academics*
· The kids are learning about the
letters “E” “F” & numbers 5 & 6.

*Themes & Activities*

Jungle
11/3-11/7

· 11/3 Art: Binoculars
Sung: Little Hoot Owl
· 11/4 Letter *E* day
· 11/5 Number 5 day
· 11/6 Bring a jungle thing
· 11/7 Movie & share day

Pets
11/10-11/14

· 11/10 Art: Puppy Puppets
Poem: Dogs in the dirt
· 11/11 Letter *E* day
· 11/12 Number 5 day
· 11/13 Bring a picture of a pet animal
· 11/14 Movie & share day

Nursery Rhyme
11/17-11/21
· 11/17 Art: Mary Had A Little Lamb
Song: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
· 11/18 Letter *F* day
· 11/19 Number 6 day
· 11/20 Bring your favorite nursery rhyme
· 11/21 Movie & share day



Thanksgiving
11/24-11/28
· 11/24 Art: Thanksgiving Wreaths
Poem: We eat Turkey
· 11/25 Letter *F* day
· 11/26 Number 6 day



*Special Events*
Spaulding’s Donation
A portion of the donation will go towards a visit from the animals at YSI on Friday, November 7.





Scholastic Book Fair
Narthex
11/18-11/25
9:00am-5:30pm


Thanksgiving Potluck Lunch
Fellowship Hall
Tuesday, November 25
11:00am

Preschool Closed
Happy Thanksgiving
November 27 & 28

*Christian Poetry*

The Love of GOD
Thanksgiving

A day of reflection for blessings bestowed
A day spent with family and friends both new and old
A day of feasting, fellowship and fun
A day to give thanks for all God has done
This day has been celebrated year after year
By people of all cultures both far and near
It’s a day most people reflect on how they have been blessed
All the ways, the people and things that brought blessings are addressed
There’s turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce and lots of dessert to eat
Everyone fixing their plates, going for seconds while all diets cease
There’s lots of greeting, laughter and eating being done
While the men look at football, children play games and women’s conversation goes on and on
This is one of the greatest days looked forward to for the year
It brings people together in unity and makes hearts full of cheer
This day is set aside to give thanks for everything
This is the will of our Heavenly Father for everyday, not just for Thanksgivings
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The Semibreve
-Jay Jordana, Director of Music Ministries


THANKS MUCH… to Patty Potter, Darlene Ristrim, Bud Schmidt, and all the others who helped to make the William Kenville concert a success. Thanks also to all those who came. It was nice to see a lot of folks from the congregation come.

BACK-2-BACK
Hewlett-Packard Symphony Orchestra Friday, November 14, 7:30 PM Now on its 15th year, the HP Symphony Orchestra, directed by George Yefchak, will feature Borodin’s Polotsvian Dances, Chaminade’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Herb Gellis’ arrangement of Praetorius’ Praetorius Suite, Adam Kent’s arrangement of Holst’s Second Flute in F, and Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival.
Suggested Donation $10 per person
http://www.hpsymphony.org/

Celtic Rose
Sunday, November 16, 3:00 PM
Fill your senses with lilting melodies, elegant lute, guitar strings, and soulful harmonies of the Celtic and Renaissance music of ancient and modern times. Celtic Rose features Doris Williams on lute, recorder, and tin whistle, and Viola Garbarino on vocals, guitar and bodhran. Having received degrees from Oakland University of Rochester, MI, and Stanford University, CA in vocal music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Ms. Williams has performed with the California Bach Society, Philharmonia Baroque Chorus, and the San Francisco Choral Artists. Having an M.L.S. in Library Science, and an M.A. in Instructional Technology from San Jose State University, Ms. Garbarino has studied guitar, vocal harmony, and songwriting with Carol McComb. She writes original compositions for Celtic Rose, and performs with Mike Buczek’s rock-n-roll band Summer of Love.
Suggested Donation $10 per person
http://www.doriswilliams.com/

MUSIC SERIES BROCHURES
We have brand new brochures for Fall 2008! They’re hip, sassy, and snazzy. Best of all, they are letting churches and businesses all over know about our musical adventures. If you wanna check them out, or if would like to give one to someone, do take a look on the bulletin board in front of my office door, or in the Audiovisual library. They’re there waiting to be seen.

Thanks to Peg, Carol, Darlene and all the other folks who helped with brochure production. We made over 200 brochures for mailing. We would love your help with the next batch - Winter 2009. There’ll be a lot of folding, sealing, labeling that we’ll be doing for the next 200 and above.

Spread the word! Let’s keep our Music Series healthy and alive!

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The First Annual Blessing of the Animals
-Peg Nickl

The Feast Day of St. Francis opened with the first rain of the season, and as much as clear skies are wanted for an outdoor event, this rain was welcome. On the day that remembers the Patron Saint of the Environment this first rain, with its promise of green hills, did nothing to dampen spirits.

Ben led a small group of soggy dogs and their people in prayer that celebrated the value of all God’s creatures then blessed each of the fourteen dogs present. At the end of the service he was covered in muddy paw prints and dog kisses.

Following the blessing the people gathered in the courtyard to share a meal, while the dogs chased after balls and searched the backfield for muddy puddles to roll in. It was a wonderful event.

Thank you to everyone who came together on such short notice and made the first annual blessing of the animals such a success.

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Parish Concerns

A note from Sue LeValley

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers, cards, and phone calls during my surgery, chemo-therapy, and radiation therapy. With the help of God, family, and friends I am a survivor.

Sincerely,

Sue LeValley

Lectionary Readings
Available in the Presbyterian Planning Calendar

Saturday, November 1 All Saints Day
Revelations 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10,22
1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12

Sunday, November 2 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7,33-37
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23;1-12
Sunday, November 9 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 78:1-7
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Sunday, November 16 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30

Sunday, November 23 Christ the King Sunday
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100
Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46

Sunday, November 30 1st Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37





The Lord's Pantry Toy Collection
This year we are collecting toys for 2 year olds.
Our goal is to collect 20 boy toys and 20 girl toys.

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A letter from Mike and Nancy Haninger in Congo

October 18, 2008

Dear Friends, We wanted to share with you some stories of how you are making a direct and profound difference in the lives of people here in the Congo. In many cases, the difference is whether they live or die.

Kayaya Yshimbawu is alive today because of contributions from caring PC(USA) donors.

Kayaya Yshimbawu is 39 years old and has eight children. Earlier this week, one of our physicians, Dr. Jean Jaques Mulalu, was returning from our outpatient clinic in Kananga. As he was passing by the maternity of a nearby Catholic mission, he was urgently flagged down for help. They had a “pregnant woman in shock from bleeding.” Jean strapped this patient on his motorcycle and brought her to Good Shepherd Hospital in Tshikaji. She was suffering from what is called a placental abruption, where the placenta prematurely separates from the wall of the uterus, causing severe bleeding in pregnancy. She was in profound shock, having lost about 50 percent of her total blood volume. We needed to take her to surgery immediately and, fortunately, had two units of donor blood that we had not needed for another patient. We quickly began transfusing blood and transferred Kayaya immediately to the operating room.

All were aware that she had a very high chance of dying in surgery, but would
certainly die shortly without it. When we opened her abdomen, it was full of blood that did not have clots. This is due to a large clot having formed between the placenta and the interior wall of the uterus, which used up all of the body’s “clotting factors,” that is, substances that are necessary to coagulate blood. Her blood would no longer clot, and she was bleeding from everywhere. She needed clotting factors which, in the United States, all hospitals have readily available. Here in Congo, we have no such thing. What we can do is transfuse fresh donor blood with the clotting factors it contains.

But we had no fresh blood and no donors. Kayaya’s husband is a very small man, weighing only 90 pounds. Because of his size, he could only give half a unit of blood, and after doing so he went quickly into the village to look for other possible donors. He was able to find donors for his wife because we told him that the donors would be paid using charity funds that you, PC(USA) mission donors, have given. Five donors came forward. Two of the five had compatible blood. Nancy also donated her blood, and we were able to give Kayaya enough fresh blood with its clotting factors that she stopped bleeding shortly after we finished the surgery. She is alive, looking great, as you can see in her photo! Her husband is not a widower, and their eight children are not orphans thanks to your gifts.

Photo of a woman fully dressed lying on top of a bed.
Muambi Kabungo needed an operation for cervical cancer but didn't have the money to pay for it. Thanks to contributions from PC(USA) donors, she was able to have the operation.

Muambi Kabungo had cervical cancer that was advanced but still operable. She is a poor village woman with no money, but we performed the operation anyway, paying for her surgery, hospitalization, and for three units of blood with the gifts that you have provided to charity care. It costs about 30 dollars per unit to buy blood. Fortunately, she only needed one unit, and we kept the other two in reserve. (Those were the units we used initially for Kayaya in order to give her enough blood pressure to be able to operate her.) Today, Muambi is recuperating very nicely after a surgery that has a very good chance of curing her cancer.

Last December we told the story of Mujinga. Mujinga was admitted convulsing with eclampsia. She looked bad, but she did survive with a very large hospital bill. We asked for your help to pay her bill, and you responded with generosity beyond what was needed. The funds that remained have gone to very good use, including for Muambi and Kayaya, two women who are alive today thanks to your generosity and love.

There are many more stories such as these and many more patients who we cannot help without your generosity. We find a lot of reproductive cancer here, much of it beyond any possible treatment. But some cases are still treatable with surgery. Given that we are the only hospital where such surgery is possible, that makes us the only hope for these women. Good Shepherd Hospital receives some support from churches in the States, but mostly survives off of local receipts from a very poor population. Unless patients pay for their care, the hospital cannot afford to give that care. It breaks our hearts to have to tell patients that before we can schedule their surgery, they must pay what amounts to a down payment of about 110 dollars (the average annual family income in Congo), which is way out of reach of most patients, and they never return. The help that you give is their greatest hope. It literally means their lives.

We thank you for saving so many and ask you to help us save more.

Would that we could save them all!
Our love,
Mike and Nancy
Nancy and Mike Haninger Mission Co-workers, PCUSAGood Shepherd Hospital, Democratic Republic of the Congo Permanent mailing address:121 Summit Ridge RoadRocky Point, NC 28457
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/haningerm.htm