Green Valley Community Church 411

Weekend Service 10/21

This weekend's service was very powerful, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. I attended service Saturday night and then came back on Sunday to help in the Compassion International tent and to make sure that Natailie sat in service to hear the message(which she loved). For those of you who were not there, Ken spoke on Missions. He talked about the mission trips we do as a group, the international missions we support and about the 700 children GVCC members sponsor through Compassion International.

Ken interviewed a spokesman from Compassion International by the name of George. George grew up in Africa and within the Compassion system. He told of his life and the difficulties of growing up in a third-world country. It was because of his sponsor and the Compassion program that George received life saving medical treatment, education and most importantly his faith in Christ. What I loved most about George's story was to hear what he is doing with his life now. He is attending college in Texas and plans on getting his masters in biology. The impressive part was that he plans on returning to Africa to help aid in the health of it's people. I walked out of service myself amazed and humbled by George's life story. A story that is not even over yet. All I kept thinking was if Natalie can become as wise as this man by his age than I will know that she is truly walking with Christ. If you were gone please make sure to get the CD. It is defently worth listing to!

Jim Copelad and his team took over the big tent out front with a different twist this time. Although Jim brought information on children who needed to be sponsored the main focus of the tent was to have sponsors write a letter to their child. Melissa Calvert and Renee Rehder were even there to take people's pictures so they could send a picture to their child. Everyone who stopped by the tent spoke about how moved they were by today's service. To hear George's story put into real life the effect $1 a day can make on someone else's life. Many people were appreciative of Jim and his team being there. The fact that we were not asking people to donate, but supporting them in keeping their connection with their child really impressed people.  If you know someone who wants to sponsor or if you want to get set up online so you can write your child more often go to www.compassion.com.

Children's Dedication

Children's Dedication is November 4th at 3:00pm. Every August we celebrate the many adults that get baptized at the river, and this November we celebrate families making the same type of commitment to support and raise a child in a Christ centered home. If you know someone who has a child from newborn to 12 years old encourage them to join this celebration. The registration forms are located at the Information Center.

If someone misses the November celebration they can still complete the registration form (this form will be used all year long for parents to register their children for the next dedication) and they will be contacted about the next dedication date. Talk to Tanya if you have more questions. Make sure to send up your prayers for the families and children on this special day.

Christmas Musical Tickets

Tickets are on sale now for this year's performance of "The Christmas Post". It's been interesting to see how the online ticket sales are going. I've seen orders come in from Laguna Hills, San Mateo and Sunnyvale. If you haven't bought your tickets I suggest you do so soon. With the way sells are going I hope to see the matinees and the Friday night shows sell out quickly. Don't forget to buy tickets for those friends/family that would not normaly come to GVCC. I always try to think of someone in the community that has helped GVCC in some way over the past year and buy them tickets. This could be a favorite bank teller, UPS delivery person, or someone from a county agency that you wish to introduce Christ to.

For anybody interested in buying tickets go to www.gvcconline.net. There is an ad button on the bottom of the screen that will take you to the page listing show dates and times. When someone orders their tickets online they have the option on how they want their tickets delivered. They can either have them mailed to them for $1.00 (trust me when I say this doesn't even cover Tara's time to process the orders plus the postage) or they can pick them up at the Box Office. Most people are just having them mailed to them. Tickets are also on sale before and after each service. Starting November 5th the Box Office will be open during normal office hours.

Don't forget that the Monday and Tuesday night shows are cancelled this year. By doing this Jouni was able to add on more weekend performances. I think this was a great idea. Not only does it open up show times that are more convenient for people in our community, but it also give our performers a well deserved break in their week.

If you know anyone who has a business that would like to sponsor this year's performance the forms are at the Information Center. Becky Laughlin is handling the sponsors; with Laura Todd designing the program. A business sponsor can receive their company information in the program, a side screen ad before each performance, their name on the poster and their company information on the website depending on sponsorship level. This is a great way for a business to reach people in our community.

Thanksgiving Drive

Well, can you believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner? Renee and the Food Closet have started their annual drive for all the fixings for a happy Thanksgiving dinner for those who can not afford it this year.

Donations: Between now and November 10^th members can pick up the complete shopping list at the Community Care tent on the weekends or at the Community Care display board in the front lobby. The Community Care truck will be in the parking lot during services on November 10^th & 11^th to accept the donations. We would really like to have the donations brought it on this weekend instead of earlier if possible. This way all the collection can be done at one time. The biggest need is turkeys. We seem to never have enough turkeys.

Shopping List: 8-10lb frozen turkey, 1 box/bag stuffing mix, 5lb potatoes, 2 cans green beans, 2 cans corn, 2 cans of yams, 2 cans black olives, 2 cans turkey gravy, 2 cans cranberry sauce, 1 apple or pumpkin pie.

People requesting food: The complete dinners will be given away on Saturday November17^th during our normal Saturday morning give away. If you have special request of people looking for food please direct them to Renee Rehder.

Other Needs: With all the turkeys that are bound to come in Renee is looking for extra freezer storage for about a week. After all the turkeys come in on the 10^th and 11^th the Food Closet will need a place to store the turkeys and keep them frozen until the give away on the 17^th. If you or someone else can help please let Renee know r.rehder@gvcconline.net x204.