SALT SHAKER May 2018 Covenant Church of Easton Monthly Newsletter

Be Active Que hermosa es la palabra de Dios, nos fortalece y nos da vida. Empecé a congregarme en Easton Covenant Church aproximadamente 6 años atrás, habiendo nacido en otro país y teniendo el inglés como segundo idioma, mis frustraciones para co-municarme era muchas, por lo general las personas latinas encuentran una iglesia latina para con-gregarse; Pero dios tenía otros planes para mi y los planes de Dios nadie lo destruye. Realmente que buscamos cuando vamos a la iglesia, orar, sentir la presencia de Dios, compartir, sentirnos aceptados, actividades, o sólo satisfacer la necesidad de tener

a donde ir? Para mi, lo mas im-portante es solidificar nuestras rela-ción personal con nuestro creador. Mi adaptación fue muy difícil al principio porque el medio de no ser aceptada, y de ser rechazada in-vadian mi mente. Cuando hay miedo hay debilidad, dos armas que el enemigo usa en contra de nues-tras vidas. La vergüenza de no poder ex-presarme correctamente, detenían de me todo deseo de compartir, llegue a pensar que este no era el

lugar de adoración para mi. Me conformaba mira-do los actividades de lejos, siempre evadiendo in-tegrarme, y teniendo siempre una excusa cuando alguien me pedía hacerlo. Un día compartí con mi hija el deseo de abandonar la iglesia y su respuesta retumbó en mis oídos. Ella dijo “Madre involu-crate, se parte de la iglesia, be active.” Eso era precisamente lo que necesitaba escuchar! Cambie

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Be Active How beautiful is the Word of God, it strengthens us and gives us life. I started to attend Easton Covenant Church about 6 years ago. Being born in Colombia, and English being my second lan-guage, I was not able to express myself to my greatest ability. Due to the language barrier pre-sent, my frustrations, and insecurities began to fester within me. Typically a person congregates at a church in their native tongue, but God had other plans for me, and the plans of God are not destroyable. What do we really look for when we go to church? To pray, feel the presence of God, to share and feel accepted, or to just satisfy the need of having somewhere to go? For me, the most important thing is to solidify our personal relationship with our Creator. However, the fear of not being accepted by those around me, affected my path on fortifying my relationship with God. When you allow fear to take a complete hold of you, it becomes a weapon that the enemy can use against our lives. The shame of not being able to ex-press myself properly blocked my desire to partici-pate, which led me to believe that this may not be the place of worship for me. I looked at activities from afar, and always had an excuse when some-one asked for my involvement. One day I shared with my daughter my thoughts of leaving the church, and her response echoed in my ears. She said "Mami get involved, be a part of the church,

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really try and be active." That was precisely what I needed to hear! I began to change my attitude and pushed away the fear from my spiritual life. In order to do that I took part in activities that became the essen-tial development of my spiritual maturity, and I also joined biblical studies where we learn to analyze and share our need to grow as Christians. I started to speak, no longer caring about the grammatical mis-takes I made. At the same time I met and listened to wonderful people who had a lot of desire to help, peo-ple who were always there giving their best. Allowing myself to open up helped me come to the realization that we all go through difficult circumstances in our lives, and prayer and mutual support make a positive difference in someone’s life. I approached people with a lot of spiritual ma-turity who have taught and affirmed my Christian commit-ment, learning from their dedi-cation and effort, but above all from the love and desire that flows from their hearts. This was exactly how it had to be, to be active and receptive. I started reading Christian books, reading the Bible daily became something I could not miss, I asked for discernment, and for hunger and thirst of the Word of God. I asked God to help me to pray more and criticize less, and to help when my time allowed it with love and dedication. Yes! God had plans for me, He makes everything perfect, we just have to believe in Him, strengthen our faith, and med-itate on His Word day and night. The rest will come. Yes, I feel different from six years ago, and I got it here at Easton Covenant Church, that's why God brought me here!

Angelica Hernandez Translated by: Kimberly Navas and Sarah Hernandez

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Be Active

de actitud y rechace el miedo de mi vida espiritual, tome parte en actividades que hacen parte esen-cial en el desarrollo y madurez espiritual de cada ser humano en la iglesia, me integre en estudios bíblicos donde aprendemos, analizamos, y compar-timos nuestra necesidad de crecer como Cris-tianos. Empecé a hablar no importando mis er-rores, al mismo tiempo conocía y escuchaba per-sonas maravillosas, con mucho deseo de ayudar, personas que siempre están ahí dando el mejor! Al mismo tiempo empecé a darme cuenta que todos pasamos por circunstancias difíciles en nuestras

vidas, y la oración y el apoyo mutuo hacen la diferencia. Me acerque a personas con mucha madurez espiritual que me han enseñado y afirmado mi com-promiso cristiano, aprendiendo de su dedicación y esfuerzo, pero sobre todo del amor y deseo que fluyen de sus cora-zones. Esto era exactamente que tenía que ser, ser activa y recepti-va. Empecé a leer libros Cris-tianos, a leer la biblia como algo que no podía faltar diariamente

en mi vida, mi pan espiritual, pedir discernimiento, a tener hambre y sed de la palabra de Dios, a orar más y criticar menos, a ayudar cuando mi tiempo lo permitía con amor y entrega. Si! Dios tenía planes para mi, el todo lo hace perfecto, solamente tenemos que creer en el, afianzar nuestra fe, a meditar en su palabra día y noche. Lo demas ven-dra. Si, me siento diferente de hace seis años atrás, y lo he conseguido aquí en Easton Covenant Church, por esto Dios me trajo aquí!

Angelica Hernandez Translated by: Kimberly Navas and Sarah Hernandez

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Be Active

“Allowing myself to open up helped me come to the realization that we all go through difficult circumstances in our lives, and prayer and mutual support make a positive difference in someone’s life.” “Al mismo tiempo empecé a darme cuenta que todos pasamos por circun-stancias difíciles en nuestras vidas, y la oración y el apoyo mutuo hacen la diferencia. “

Birthdays & Anniversaries

5/1 Cheryll Pittera Alexa Meachen 5/3 Siena Hernandez 5/4 Sofia Estrada 5/5 Nolan Gilmore 5/6 Julia Morin Karen Sheridan 5/7 Brett Gibbs 5/8 Katrina Hatfield Ben Grumet 5/11 Matthew Blair 5/12 Pat Swanson Mike Testa Sarah Ambrose 5/15 Mindy Hatfield 5/16 Graham Gilmore 5/22 Wivan Sundman 5/23 Isobel McEwan 5/24 Mike Pavia 5/29 Austin Bachelder 5/30 Steve Domyan MAY 4 ♥Bill & Christine Austin♥ MAY 6 ♥Alan & Joan Bjork♥ ♥Pete & Nancy McDonald♥ MAY 11 ♥Mark & Laura Svenson♥ MAY 15 ♥Arne & Linda Gustavson♥ MAY 25 ♥Andy & Lucia Zager♥ MAY 27 ♥Rob & Debbie Packnick♥

Refugee Family Set to Arrive In early May, after a year of preparation and fundraising, Easton ACTS is excited to announce that we are welcoming a refugee family from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)! DRC is a vast country with immense economic resources that unfortunately has been plagued with massive violence and war claiming up to six million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition. Now’s your chance to demon-strate God’s love and help this family transition to a new life in America! Please pray Easton ACTS can secure solid employment for the father, excellent doctors to care for them, and a quick grasp of English for the entire family. Also, please keep the Easton ACTS Steering Committee and volunteers in your prayers – we are ready and willing, but have limited experience in refugee resettlement.

Volunteer opportunities include: Transportation and Hospitality, including providing rides to various

appointments, showing the family how to use the bank, library, gro-cery stores, the bus system, etc.

English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring and general school tutoring for the children

Childcare/Babysitting

Resume and interview assistance

And much more!

We are also looking for employment opportunities for the Father that require limited English and can provide steady work to support his fam-ily. If you’d like to help with transportation/rides contact Craig Carlson or Bob Merritt for more information. If you think you’d like to help in oth-er ways, please contact Amy Zima or Stephanie Wirth for more infor-mation and ideas on how you can get involved. Transportation Craig Carlson: 203.676.7661 or pastorcraig46@gmail.com Bob Merritt: 203.924.1914 or rmerritt605@att.net Easton ACTS Co-Chairs Amy Zima: 203.418.0629 or amylanezima@gmail.com Stephanie Wirth: 203.260.2608 or swctsteph@gmail.com

Treasurer’s Report The financial results of the General Operating Fund for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were as follows:

INCOME: Offering Receipts $144,801 Investment & Other Income 529 Total Income $145,330 EXPENSES $142,725 Excess of Income over Expenses $2,605

First quarter Offering Receipts were virtually equal to the financial projection for the period, but were about $7,000 below 2017. This decrease was all due to one more Sunday in 2017 than this year. This is a timing difference since each year eventually has 52 Sundays.

Expenses in total were almost $4,000 below expecta-tions, mainly due to savings nearly across all minis-tries, most notably the Personnel Ministry. The ex-ception was electricity spending which is running 29% higher than expected, due to colder than normal

weather. Fortunately, snow plowing bills are a little less than expected, but who knows how long that will last with the weird weather we have been having!

In my report two months ago — I skipped last month due to some vacation time — it was noted the Mort-gage Fund contributions were unexpectedly high. This same trend has continued in the intervening two months. Once the most recent payment is recorded, the mortgage balance should be under $280,000. Your generous contributions to this Fund will bear real fruit when the mortgage balance is eliminated and we can begin addressing other mission priorities. It was just yesterday that we held a nearly all-day DREAM Again workshop where we started down the road to addressing our Church priorities over the next couple of years. It would be wonderful if we see the day within the next couple of years that we are debt free. If that is one of your dreams, please con-sider helping to make it a reality without diminishing your support of the General Operating Fund.

As always, thank you for your continued generosity.

Bob Fiscus, Treasurer

Secret Pal Brunch—Saturday, May 5 at 10am

The Annual Secret Pal Brunch is a fun time to fellowship, eat some delicious food together and where Secret Pals will be revealed. Senders and receivers are encouraged to attend. Secret Pal “Senders” should bring a gift worth no more than $15 for their Pal. If you cannot attend, please drop off your gift at the church ahead of time, so your Pal won’t be left out. Please RSVP to Mindy Hatfield by April 30th. Anyone interested in participating in the Secret Pal Ministry, or for more information, please contact Mindy Hatfield (203.650.2424 or mininct@sbcglobal.net).

Camp Squanto

Do your kids have summer plans yet? It’s not too late to register for Camp Squan-to at Pilgrim Pines in New Hampshire. Follow the link below to find out more in-formation or to register:

www.pilgrimpines.org/how-to-register/

Pathfinders (entering grades 2-3) June 27-30

Trailblazers (entering grades 4-6) July 1-7 OR July 8-14 John Schneider Camp Fund John Schneider was a young man who attended Cove-nant and died in a tragic drowning accident. A camp fund was set up in his honor for scholarships for young people to attend camp, be-cause that was where John received the Lord. Ever since, this fund has helped many students to experi-ence the wonderful ministry at Camp Squanto in New Hampshire. If you would like to offer your support for one of our student’s to attend camp this summer, visit the online giving web-site:

www.covchurchgiving.com/c-225-covenant-church-easton-ct.aspx Your support is greatly appreciated!

Welcome Kristine Lackowski! Covenant Church of Easton welcomes our Director of Children's Ministry, Kristine Lackowski! Kristine has been part of the Covenant staff since July 2017, and we are thrilled to remove the title of "Interim" from her position. Join us in praying for Kristine and the ministry God has planned for her, the children and their families at Covenant. A big THANK YOU to the Search Committee for their time and commit-ment over the past year — Paula Keegan (Chair), Luiza Estrada, Joyce Fiscus, Sena Povinelli, Bill Croasmun (Council Chair) and Pastor Cary. Friends Night Out End of Year Party Our last Friends Night Out for the school year will be held on Tuesday, May 15 and we’ll be having an End of Year Party! Please let Kristine know if you would like to bring a dessert or beverage for the celebration.

Staff Luncheon for Teachers and Assistants Sunday, May 20 A luncheon to show our appreciation for all teachers and assistants who volunteer in Children’s Ministry will take place following the 2nd Worship Service on Sunday, May 20. You have blessed our families at Covenant with your time during the school year and now it’s YOUR turn to be blessed! Please RSVP via email to Kristine (kristine@coveaston.org) so we can plan accordingly.

Vacation Bible School Needs Volunteers! July 30—August 3 Please consider joining us, during this amazing week while we learn how to be Rescued by Jesus! A Staff Meeting for adult volunteers will be held on Sunday, June 3 at 12 noon; lunch will be pro-vided. There will also be a Junior Helper Meeting for volunteers entering grades 7-12 at 10am in the Junior Worship Room; donuts will be served! Please let Kristine know if you are interested in volunteering and whether you will be attending the meeting.

OASIS — Senior Night We’ll celebrate and bless our High School Seniors at our final night of Youth Group for the school year on Wednesday, June 6th.

JHAMS All kids currently in 5th grade are invited to join us for JHAMS on Thursday, May 24th to get to know the new friends they’ll be attending youth group with in the Fall.

Our final JHAMS meeting for the school year will be Thursday, June 7th. That night we’ll be celebrating and honoring our gradu-ating 8th graders who will be moving on to High School and attend-ing OASIS in the Fall!

FOUNDATIONS Our 2-year Foundations program (which covers the Old and New Testament) will celebrate their graduation on Sunday, June 10.

CHiC UPDATE Please pray for our youth and leaders (physically, spiritually and emotionally) as we make final preparations for our journey down to the University of Tennessee this July.

STAY-TUNED **Stay-tuned for upcoming details about a Bible study at Pastor Debbie’s home this summer!**

INFORMATION For questions or more details about our Youth Ministry programs, information can be found by visiting the Church website www.coveaston.org or by contacting Pastor Debbie directly on her cell 203.668.5350 or by emailing debbie@coveaston.org. An email goes out to all youth/families each week with details about our topic for the week and upcoming events. Let Debbie know if you’d like to be included.

Youth Ministry Schedule OASIS (High School) Wednesdays, 6:30-9:00pm

JHAMS (Middle School) Thursdays, 7:00-8:30pm

CROSSFIT (Youth Bible study) Sundays, 9:00-10:00am

ALL High School youth (and Founda-tion graduates in 8th grade) are invit-ed to join us for CROSSFIT. Our last class for the school year will be Sun-day, May 20th.

Loving God is...

NEW MEMBERS INFORMATION CLASS

If you are interested in becoming a member of Covenant Church of Easton or want more information about the church, Pastor Cary will lead a class on Sunday, May 6th. Please contact the Church Office if you plan to attend.

BAPTISM

If you are being called to be baptized or want more information about baptism, please speak with Pastor Cary. A Baptism is sched-uled to be held during the Worship Services on Sun-day, May 20.

May Food Pantry Needs

Suggested donations for the Food Pantry at Sum-merfield United Methodist Church in Bridgeport for May include:

Rice, Beans

CLEANING SUPPLIES Laundry & Dish Soap

Sponges, Garbage Bags

Windex, Ajax, etc. Look for the Sign Up in the Welcome Center!

Day of Fasting & Prayer

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

Join together on Friday, May 4th in a day-long fast followed by an evening of prayer focused on seeking God’s face for the revival of individuals, the congre-gation, the community around us, and beyond. Prayer done in community and in conjunction with fasting leads to the heavens and earth being moved as God responds to His people. We will seek together the Holy Spirit’s assis-tance in the expansion of God’s Kingdom, as strongholds of the enemy are broken, and renewal is brought to the Body of Christ and all with whom He comes in contact.

WHEN: Friday, May 4 at 7:00pm WHERE: Bob & Kim Rieger’s home, 23 Larkspur Drive in Trumbull WHO: Anyone passionate about seeking God is invited to attend WHAT: Day-long corporate fast, prayer and worship, potluck after CONTACT: Colby Putnam (colby.putnam@intervarsity.org)

National Day of Prayer The National Day of Prayer, Thursday, May 3rd, will be hosted at Covenant Church from 6:30-7:30 pm in the Church Chapel with our JHAMS students also participating. We will focus on the needs of the Easton Community and the arrival of our Refugee family; as well as, pray special prayers of protection for our families, with emphasis on adolescents & teens. We will also pray for Easton’s Seniors and the men and women of the Armed Forces serving our na-tion. There will be time set aside for participants to share the concerns of their hearts. This is a non-denominational event; everyone is invited!

PLACE STAMP HERE

Loving God, Growing Together, Serving Others

1 Sport Hill Road Easton, CT 06612 203.371.8335 www.coveaston.org