Vacation Bible School 2014

 Thanks for praying for us all week. Please come and join us Thursday night, July 31, at 8:00PM for our closing worship service.

You're invited!

Don't stop learning about God's AMAZING Grace! St. John Sunday School resumes Sunday, September 7. Join us for "Rally Sunday," September 14.

Gangway to Galilee

Melvin Neddermeyer & Kevin Clausen saw carpet rolls which will become docks along the harbor for this week's VBS. please pray for our leaders and students as they set sail on an Amazing Grace Adventure!

This Week @ St. John

• Mon-Sat 7/21-7/26 Pastor Merrill hosts 'Thy Strong Word' at 6:25am on KDSN
• Wed 7/23- 8:00pm Board of Elders Meeting
• Sun 7/27- 8:00am Bible Study
• 9:00am Worship
• 5:30pm VBS begins

VBS- If you can bake a pad of bars, cookies, or snacks for VBS, please sign up for a night to do so, in the church lobby. Thanks you. Be sure to call the office or Bethany to register your children, grandchildren, nieces & nephews, neighbor kids, or anyone PK-6th grade who'd like to come! See you next week!

Happy Campers

Area children; four from St. John, one from Ute & one fro Ricketts attended Concordia Cubs Week at Camp Okoboji with Pastor Merrill July 13-19, 2014. Thank you St. John members for your prayer and financial support.

Brodersen/ALS Volunteer Meeting

Julie Meseck

Dear Friends,

I am writing this letter on behalf of Aaron Brodersen and his family. We all know Aaron has been diagnosed with ALS. What most people don’t realize is there are an overwhelming number of tasks involved in caring for someone with this debilitating illness. His family has daily challenges as they take on responsibilities to care for Aaron while trying to maintain their own day to day lives. It is hard for most of us to realize that he now needs help for basic daily needs that seem so simple to all of us.

So many of us have thought to ourselves or said to them, “what can I do to help”. We can do so much. Together we can form a Care Connection team. This team is based on the book, Share the Care: How to Organize a Group to Care for Someone Who is Seriously Ill. I am organizing a group of volunteers, especially those who have asked what they can do to help. The family is so thankful for those who are already offering help and support. This is just a way to organize the helpers and let the family know when someone plans to help them. I sat down with them and made a list of easy tasks such as: making a meal, sitting with Aaron while Tani is at work, walking Buddy (their dog), helping with the cleaning and laundry. As you see there are tasks for everyone. I am in the process of setting up a web page where volunteers can sign up for tasks. The family will also have access to this to see who has already signed up for specific tasks.

By using Care Connection, volunteers can pick and choose what tasks they would like to help with. Nobody is asked to sign up for something they do not want to do. If we all pitch in with these small things, the Brodersen’s will notice a tremendous difference in their lives. If you can only help once a week or once a month, it will make a difference!

Please give this some thought. Right now I am gathering contact information including names, phone numbers and e-mail (if available) of those wanting to help. I am organizing a meeting on Wednesday, July 16th, at St John’s Lutheran Church in Charter Oak. It will be at 7PM in the fellowship hall. Aaron and Tani won’t be present at the meeting. It will be a time to learn about ALS and specifically what needs Aaron and his family have at this time. We will fill out individual data sheets that list what tasks you feel comfortable performing and when you are available. There will also be a needs list available for everyone to review.

Please feel free to contact me by phone, email or Facebook if you want to sign up as a volunteer or have any questions. No family should face ALS alone. Let’s show them what small town support can do!

Thank you for your time and consideration of this opportunity.

Julie Meseck
712-263-7579
ljmeseck@hotmail.com

Fall Bible Sale

Concordia Publishing House is having a Fall Bible Sale thru September 30. They have discounts up to 30%. There is a sign-up sheet in the church lobby. Find out more at http://www.cph.org

This Week @ St. John

• Sun 7/13-Sat 7/19 Pastor at Cub Week, Camp Okoboji
• Sat 7/19- 6:00pm Worship with Communion
• Sun 7/20- 8:00am Bible Study
• 9:00am Worship with Communion
• 7:00pm VBS Staff Meeting

Minutes; July 10, 2014 Voters Meeting

Click here to see the minutes of the Quarterly Voters Meeting, Thursday, July 10, 2014

This Week @ St. John

Missionary Mark Wolfram speaks to Bible class about teaching English and Bible classes at Concordia Lutheran school in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. Wolfram visited Sunday, July 6 with his wife Lucy & his parents.

•THRS 7/10- 7:30pm Voters Meeting

•FRI 7/11- 3:00pm IPTV's Dan Wardell in the Fellowship Hall, sponsored by the Charter Oak Public Library

•SUN 7/13-8:00am Bible Class

9:00am Worship

10:00am Finance Board Meeting

Vacation Bible School 2014

Registration is open for ages preschool – 6^th grade who will attend VBS from Sunday, July 27 to Thursday, July 31, 6-8:30 PM. Don’t miss the boat! Set sail with us to sing fun songs, do crazy crafts, eat yummy snacks, play awesome games, and more. Plus, you’ll learn all about Jesus our Savior and His amazing grace! Can’t wait to see you there! To register, call the church office at 678-3312 or Bethany at 269-5970.

Connect Children with God’s Eternal Good News at VBS: Every child needs to hear the Good News that Jesus their Savior calls us, teaches us, keeps us safe, saves us, and provides all we need by His amazing grace through faith. At Gangway to Galilee VBS, you will connect children with the most important message of their lifetime: the miraculous story of what Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. If you can help full or part time, we have many ways to be involved to suit your schedule and interests. We need helpers for the crafts department: Can you help by cutting and/or sorting materials prior to VBS or before the kiddos arrive each evening? We need on-sight helpers each evening too.  We also need food workers for helping to pack the sack lunches and then helpers for distributing the lunches and clean up each evening. Call Bethany at 269-5970 or e-mailbethany.mallory@gmail.com, for more information. Join us for an Amazing Grace Adventure!

VBS Meeting July 20 @ 7 PM in the church for site leaders and group leaders.  This is our opportunity to talk about the VBS plan for our children and make any last minute preparations.  Thank you!

Supplies needed for seaside decorations for VBS:  (to be returned to owner)  wicker laundry baskets, casting fish nets, palm trees, life preservers, life jackets.  Contact Bethany at 269-5790 if you can help.  Thank you for the cardboard tubes and pallets!

Free Will Donation will be collected each Sunday in July to help with expenses for VBS.  Thank you for your support!  Next week we will have a plan for the sack lunches for those who have asked to help with this aspect of the VBS ministry.