What a great and wonderful day God gave us on Sunday, September 13, 2009 for our Celebration Sunday. There are so many people to thank: from planning to setup, decorations, serving, clean up, for our entertainment with Ben DeLos Monteras, Randy Nelson and Lynn Janken. Thank you one and all, you helped to make the day a great success.

We raised $284.00 from the free will offering to be used for missionary wives Christmas and birthday gifts. The offering will be used for gifts for Erika Clauson – Mexico, Karen Groot – Thailand, Pia Restrepo – Spain, and Barbara Boca Swanson – Belgium. Thank you everyone from your board: Ann-Helen Anderson, Mary Doucette, Lois Janken, Candi Tepke, and Barbara Agnello. We were also very thankful that Nils and Erika Clauson and their two sons were able to share the afternoon with us - along with some of the joys of their ministry.

We have many things planned for the fall, starting with the making of blankets for the moms at Leland House. Our first date is Friday, October 16, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the Chapel at church. Our second date is Wednesday, October 21, 2009 after Bible Study. Supplies needed are: dressmaking scissors, straight pins, and rulers – the Board will supply the fleece for the blankets from the monies raised from Priceless Treasures sale, which was $1079.00. We need to make 20 blankets.

Our second, ongoing project is Christmas gifts for the children at Leland House – this is our fifth year. At present we have 16 teenagers, to whom we give $20.00 giftcards, and 27 younger children in need of gifts in the $20 price range. We have been told a new baby is due at any time and another family is moving in sometime this fall, so we could have up to 50 children. The Christmas tree with the nametags, (with ages and names of the children) along with the list to sign up on will be available at church. Please look for it, and watch for further announcements. (Please take the Christmas tree nametag of your choice after you sign up)

A brief reminder: Triennial XIII in Washington, DC on July 22 – 25, 2010, is open now for early registration. Details can be found on the table outside Ginny’s office.

Once again, thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement - and please pray for Women Ministries here at Edgebrook Covenant Church.

It was back at the May 13th meeting of the trustee board that Pastor Greg shared with the trustees that he had been contacted by Aaron Johnson, the pastor at Resurrection Covenant Church, about a potential partnership. Pastor Aaron was looking for other Covenant churches who would be interested in planting community gardens to produce vegetables that could be used in making meals for ResCov’s warming center.

The warming center also serves as a cooling center in the summer months and provides a warm meal for those in need in the Lakeview neighborhood every Friday evening from 4 – 8 p.m. On the third Friday of each month, a community meal is served where anyone from ResCov’s congregation, or from the community at large, can come and share a meal. The trustees agreed that this was a wonderful way to serve the people of our city and plans for our own garden got underway.

About 1½ weeks after that trustee board meeting, soil was being turned in what was once the Doucette’s garden behind the annex. At our all-church work day on May 30th, vegetables were planted. The following week, a small fence was erected around the main garden area in hopes of keeping out the bunnies. As we planted, we prayed that God would richly bless our small plot of earth so it would bear forth abundant food to help feed those in need. We planted cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, peas, beans, summer squash, and a variety of herbs. All of the vegetables, with the exception of the peas and beans and one pepper plant (which, in spite of the fence, provided some excellent dinners for the neighborhood bunnies), have grown and are bearing loads of goodness for ResCov’s warming center. Our prayers have certainly been answered!

The first week in August, we provided our first harvest. In addition to the vegetables, some of the zucchinis were so large that we turned them into zucchini bread and zucchini-carrot muffins to provide finished products which were enjoyed at one of the Friday night meals. Excess produce is sold at ResCov’s Harvest Table following their Sunday services. Money raised at the Harvest Table is used to offset the expense of providing the Friday night meals.

Working in the garden certainly provides another level of service to and closeness with God and an opportunity to connect more fully with our larger community which we would like to invite others to share. We got a late start this year, so had to do things in a hurry, but next year we will be gardening again.

We will be meeting early in 2010 (most likely the February timeframe) with our contacts at ResCov (Ryan Brown and Angie Alvarado-Ecker) to discuss plans for next year and to learn more about organic gardening. If you would like to be involved, please contact Anita Hohenstein at 773-763-6888 or by e-mail at ahohen@sbcglobal.net. We would also like to thank Wayne Schimpf, Jen Reed, Charlotte Mesimore, and Sarah Henry for their help with this year’s garden.

To read more about ResCov’s warming center and their Just Food program, visit their website at www.rescov.org.

On Sunday, October 4 we will have the privilege of welcoming a number of new members to our church community. Here is a brief introduction to each of them:

Madeleine Baer is a sophmore at Maine South High School in Park Ridge. She grew up in our church, and was the first infant Pastor Greg baptized here at Edgebrook some 15 years ago! She is the only daughter of Chris and Andrea and she has three brothers (Colin, Blake and Christian), two dogs and a cat in her family. Mady enjoys soccer and volleyball and plays both viola and piano. She also enjoys singing in various musical groups at Maine South.

Julia Bakken is a senior at Maine South High School. She also grew up at Edgebrook, the middle daughter of Keith and Laurie Bakken (she has an older sister Dezi and a younger brother Tommy and one beloved dog in her family). For many years, Julia played both on her school and on club (traveling) volleyball teams. She enjoys using her musical gifts in a variety of settings, including performing in several different musical groups at Maine South.

Michael Austin Doucette lives in Montgomery, Illinois where he attends high school as a sophomore. The youngest child of Mary and Michael Doucette, his older brother (Peter) and sister (Ashley) are away at college (at Northern Illinois and Easter Illinois respectively). Michael enjoys hanging out with his many friends, playing piano and running. He is close to achieving his Eagle Scout from Troop 957 at Edgebrook Lutheran Church. Mike’s Eagle Scout project was the renovation and new landscaping of our church’s courtyard!

Chris and Leah Edquist were married just over two years ago and make their home in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago. Leah is a RN in the Pediatric / Cardiac Intensive Care Unit of Children’s Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Chris is the men’s assistant head basketball coach and women’s head golf coach at North Park University. They both enjoy sports (Leah is a HUGH Vikings and Twins fan!) trying new foods and spending time with family and friends. They also enjoy children and working in Edgebrook’s Vacation Bible School.

Brad and Sarah Henry live in the annex next to the church. Sarah, of course, is our youth minister and Brad enjoys sharing that ministry with her. Sarah is a full time student at North Park Theological Seminary and Brad works full time (as Operation Services Coordinator of Academics at DeVry University) and attends graduate school part time. In addition to their love for youth and youth ministry, they both enjoy being outdoors, biking, working on music and writing. They share their home with their cat, Seth.

Jason and Alaina Mach also live in the North Park neighborhood and have been in our church for almost two years. Alaina is a special education teacher in the Chicago Public School system and Jason is completing his Masters of Divinity studies at North Park Theological Seminary. They enjoy reading, taking walks and biking and running together. Jason also has a weakness for certain video games! Jason teaches our Wednesday Women’s’ Bible Class.

Bonnie Nelson grew up at Edgebrook Covenant and lives in Roselle, Illinois where she is a sophomore at Lake Park High School. A gifted musician, she enjoys playing piano, viola and saxophone, as well as singing. She shares responsibility for running the sound during worship with her brother Jason.

Jason Nelson, Bonnie’s older brother also grew up in our church and is a senior at Lake Park High School. He too is a gifted musician and plays the piano and trumpet. He also enjoys singing and acting, which he has done in a variety of school performances. He likes tinkering with all manner of electronics, playing video games and fishing and hunting with his father Randy.

Anthony “Tony” Ranieri has always been a part of our church family since his birth. He was baptized and confirmed here, like his cousin, Mike Doucette. He is the youngest child (and only son) of John and Debbie Ranieri. Tony has two older sisters away at college: Stephanie (at Bradley University) and Nikki (at Ferris State University). On a free afternoon, you might find Tony hanging out with friends, playing basketball or playing video games. He also enjoys drama and performing in school productions at his high school, Rolling Meadows High School.

Devyn Chambers Johnson lives in the North Park neighborhood with her husband Ryan Chambers Johnson. She works for Loyola University in the Academic Affairs department and does pastoral ministry in a variety of settings (Devyn received her Masters of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary). She LOVES Vacation Bible School and worked in our craft site with our VBS this past summer. Ryan, Devyn’s husband is co-pastor at Grace Evangelical Covenant Church.

We welcome each of these new members with joy to their new identities as members in our church fellowship!

Dear friends,

We are praising God for the arrival of Kevin and Ramona Dutton (yes, Peter and Ruthie Dutton's kids) who have come down to Bangkok for a couple of months to partner with the Abundant Life Center. They bring many gifts and abilities to our team and most of all, huge hearts that want to learn, come alongside, ask questions and love our church.

We are grateful for God's leading and we ask you to pray with us as we prepare this month for our October children's outreach (to be led by the Duttons), as well as our first "return to the village" trip next month as well!

Please pray for our college students who are struggling with going to school full-time and working part-time. Pray for focus on their studies as well as hearts encouraged by God's Spirit to keep on going when they feel like giving up.

Thanks for loving us -- We are grateful for you!
The Groots all

Abundant Life Center (ALC) Church -- worshipping together through the Bible and songs of the faith that reach the hearts of the Issaan people…making Jesus alive and real in a form that opens the doors to questions, interaction and with the good fruit of belief in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Abundant Life Center Retreat -- an opportunity for our church members to bring family in from the provinces, relax, play, embrace our Thai culture, worship God together, breathe in the peace within His creation and fellowship with others.

ALC Crafts -- creating a workplace that has Jesus as the center, we have cell group meetings twice a week, teach a skill and provide a job for 6 women, sewing purses and bags that are sold in churches and bazaars to support the ministries of the Abundant Life Center.

ALC Children’s Ministry -- In 2008 we started having a children’s program for the kids in our community during the school holidays. The women in the sewing department help lead this program of ESL, music and art for kids 5-16 years old. Each session ends with a program where parents are invited to see what the kids did and learned during “ALC Summer”! ALC Outreach -- Every year we do a big Christmas Party for our community. Two other ministries from Surin and Ubon come down to join us. We open the doors wide, have games, share the Christmas story through drama and music, and everyone has the opportunity to be part of our program through song and dance. This year we are planning trips to go back to our church member’s village to reconnect with families and bring the love of Christ “back home”.

ALC Education Program -- We have been involved in a government education program since our days at the old center. We have expanded this to now provide for English classes, as well as college scholarships for those who would like to serve God in the future. We currently have 3 women taking college courses for future children’s ministry, 2 going into town for English classes and 2 women finishing their high school diplomas. We also have a volunteer coming in weekly to teach ESL to the women in the sewing department.

We continue to be in prayer as we plan our move to La Coruña, Spain as missionaries in early 2010. Thank you to those who faithfully pray for and financially support us. Much has happened since our last update! In June, we experienced a two-week missionary orientation with the Evangelical Covenant Church. It was a powerful time of fellowship and learning with new fellow missionaries who will serve around the world.

June 25 was a special day. We were commissioned at the Annual Meeting of the Covenant Church in Portland, Oregon. Some of our family attended the meeting, and the rest of our entire (and very large!) extended family watched the service online from across the country. What a gift to feel the prayers of family and friends around the world. People surrounded and laid hands on us as we were equipped and sent into missionary service. We felt a powerful sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place.

This summer we also spent time in Washington state at our church of membership, Kent Covenant, and traveled many weekends continuing to build relationships and support.

Steve returned to North Park Seminary for his last semester of classes this fall. His internship at the Vida Nueva church in La Coruña fulfills his Master of Divinity and Master of Nonprofit Management requirements. Rebecca ended both her hospice nursing and piano teaching jobs, and will work at a local hospital until we leave Chicago. While difficult to let go of our life here, we feel true peace as God calls us forward.

Thanks to a generous gift of air miles from a supporter, we are thrilled and grateful to be able to visit our team in La Coruña, Spain from October 8-19! We look forward to meeting the people and country we now love deeply. We can't wait to share stories with you when we return from this trip.

We hope to move to La Coruña by February 2010. Through God's amazing provision, 42% of our needed funds have already been pledged! As you know, we must raise 100% of our funds for the next two years (approximately $126,000). We may leave once 80% support is pledged. Thank you to family, friends, and churches that have already partnered with us. We pray for the remaining 58% to come in quickly, and ask for your regular prayer and financial support. If 60 people commit support at $50 a month, or 30 people commit $100 a month, our goal will be reached!

Thank you for your love, sacrifice, and prayers! It is a joy to share this journey with you. If you have questions, please contact us:

Steve and Rebecca Vreeman Hoden
5301 N. Christiana Ave, #1,
Chicago, IL 60625
     (through December 2009)
Email: steve-rebecca.hoden@covchurch.org
Phone: (773)-463-2360
Blog: http://blogs.covchurch.org/hoden

For Financial Gifts*
Please make checks payable to “Evangelical Covenant Church”. Include “Steven & Rebecca Hoden STM” on the memo line. They may be sent to:
Department of World Mission,
Evangelical Covenant Church
5101 N. Francisco Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
     *All financial gifts are tax deductible

Dear Edgebrook family,

After a long week of saying goodbye to many good friends and coworkers in Monterrey and preparing our home for others to live in it for a year, we made the 1600 mile drive to Wisconsin.

We will be participating in Covenant Mission's orientation for missionaries returning to the US. We look forward to connecting with other missionaries from around the world and hearing their stories as we share what God is doing where we are.

And we’re coming to visit Edgebrook on Sunday, September 13, 2009! We can’t wait to visit with all of you and share how God has been working in our lives and the lives of those we have been serving. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Blessings,
Erika & Nils

My new best secret on learning a foreign language: get your hair cut and colored by someone else who also is learning that language! You should know this about me….it takes a while for me to warm up to get the courage to go and get my hair cut. But these were desperate times in Belgium: my hair was way too long, way too gray, and I didn’t want to pay the usual fees at a hair salon. So when an Iranian friend heard how much I paid for a cut and color (her facial expression was priceless!) she quickly offered that my next cut should be done by her friend.

Part of this adventure was my pre hair salon trip to the drugstore to purchase the necessary products. Someone should have been there to take a photo of my husband Steve, holding up boxes of highlighting solution to see if the color was close enough. In the back of my mind, I did begin to wonder what I was getting myself into, but alas, it would be worth it in light of the money saved and the chance to spend more time with my friend!

We were the blind leading the blind to get there, as my friend is used to having her husband take her there so she doesn’t pay attention to directions. We managed to get ourselves there when she mentioned that we needed to follow tram line #15. After a traditional cup of tea and some nuts, we headed to the bathroom to start our afternoon together. (Did I forget to mention that this is happening in the other women’s house?) The haircut went quickly, now it was time to do the highlights.

It turns out that Multi Tone 7 wasn’t perhaps the best product, but would do for today. “Next time when you come” says my hair stylist….whew, I’m encouraged because she’s offering that there will be a next time. And here’s where the gift of language – in this case Dutch – would have been most helpful! I don’t know the word for “highlights”, but she being a hairstylist, she understood what I was asking. Let the fun begin!

As we left an hour later, after another round of tea and nuts and conversation, I realized that my hair had been “highlighted” by the darker color that was meant for coloring all the hair. I was going home with the highlight color in my purse. It was a good belly laugh at that moment.

But in the end, what was hugely more important than whatever my hair looked like, was the contact made with this woman and her family. And, lest I forget the best part yet, her husband was so full of questions about Jesus and what I believe about God. This couple had been friends with another American couple and had been introduced to Jesus and the Baptist church. He wanted to know more about the Jesus that we talk about and whom we serve. He was very keen to get a chance to talk with Steve, and the couple’s parting words to me were “please come again and visit, and don’t wait until you need a haircut!”

I was a happy camper when I returned home to Ekeren, despite the parking ticket that was the special finishing touch to a day full of adventure!

But life here in Belgium is full of more than just an afternoon spent getting my hair colored! This summer has been a busy mix of hosting a team of 4 women who came from the US to minister at the refugee centers, VBS where 41 kids went to the Crocodile Dock and learned that they don’t need to be afraid because God is with us….fear not! It has been a rich season of one on one visits with women and their kids, whether at their homes as people are getting permission to leave the residential centers, or out and about in local parks. The weather has been especially good this summer, so families have been grateful for a chance to get in a car and get away from the center where life doesn’t change much from day to day!

Pray with us…..

Blessings from Belgium,
Barb Swanson