Joys
We give thanks for a successful Hunger Walk event yesterday. We have learned from Tom that our goal of raising $500 was met, benefitting the Emergency Food Network of Pierce County. Let us continue to remember those among our community to are food insecure, understanding it as part of our faith to live out the value that food is something one should never had to earn - it is a gift from God to be shared with EVERYONE until all have had their fill, no questions asked.
We are preparing to participate in the 2023 Relay for Life event which will take place next month, June 10th. During the prayer time and throughout the service for the next several weeks, we invite you to help decorate some of the luminaries scattered on the prayer stations around the sanctuary which will adorn the track on the day of the event, each in memory of loved ones we have known whose lives have been cut short by cancer. Feel free to write those in your memory's names, draw on the bags things that remind of them or their legacies in the world, remember that each of us are connected and that it is only in our working together that we are able to to the most good of the most people - cancer affects us all, so let us remember our part in working together to find a cure.
Concerns
We continue praying for:
Jeanette Sanchez-Izenman
Charlene Housman
Alison Unterreiner
Mel Peabody's partner, Bear
Rachel Morford
And for our homebound friends, Helen Bosley, Harry and Margaret Lobberegt, Jane Nelson, Marylu and Joseph Mills and Jim and Kay Thompson and Lenora Cook.
Among our local and global community concerns:
We pray for peace in Sudan
We pray for our neighbors experiencing homelessness, in Tacoma and around the world. We pray for a fire to be lit underneath us all, from each of us, all the way to our legislators and lawmakers, that we would find the issue of homelessness to be OUR issue, and that we would continue to work together to help and treat ALL our neighbors as if they were God in the flesh.
For our Global Ministries partners, this week in Zambia, including the Theological Education by Extension in Zambia (TEEZ) has long companionship with the Disciples and UCC through Global Ministries. Through this partnership, TEEZ can engage local churches in mission, evangelism, and sustainable development. The partnership has continued to grow from time to time. Some examples of how this partnership is transforming people and making a difference in their lives are the BETTER Church and WISE Green Church Initiative.
Using BETTER (Building Excellent Transformation Theological Education Resilience) in church and society, TEEZ, with the support of the Global Ministries, can equip pastors and spouses with training in financial inclusion, economic empowerment, and sustainable development. This transforms pastors’ economic status and allows them to plan for retirement. Some trained pastors can invest in housing and agriculture initiatives to sustain their families while serving in Church.
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If you'd like to share a prayer joy or concern, please contact Pastor Doug at doug@fcctacoma.org or by calling the church office. Please indicate whether your prayer is to be shared publicly, or if you'd like it to be kept private.
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