Our FPC Family at Home: Steve Doty and Susan Vergeront
Check out these short videos to see what Steve and Pastor Susan are doing to stay busy in quarantine
Steve is reading good books, FaceTiming with grandkids and even getting out to do some gardening at FPC!
Pastor Susan is using her time at home to go through boxes of photos. She’s enjoying the memories they inspire and looking forward to sharing photos to future generations.
I praise the Lord for keeping me on track; giving me ideas for things to do. I pray that everybody finds something that is fun and engrossing to work on while we’re confined.
Susan Vergaront
What are YOU doing at home?
We want to see what’s going on at your house! Please send us pictures or video links so our church family can feel connected when we can’t physically be together. Send your photos, links of your 1-2 minute video, or stories to communications@myfpc.org so we can share it in an upcoming Connector. Let’s be intentional about Living Faith Together!
GOOD NEWS: The work of the church keeps moving forward
Although our building is temporarily closed and the Sunday worship services are only available online due to the world situation, it is significant that the diverse work of First Presbyterian Church is not missing a beat.
Thanks to the wonders of modern day technology, the Session continues to meet regularly and all Ministry Teams are conducting business as usual. As always, the pastors and members of our talented professional staff are diligently working, remotely, on behalf of the congregation.
More good news — as the church remains operational, most members are keeping up with their pledges for 2020 by automatic deductions or sending in checks. At what is a difficult time for everyone, it is genuinely appreciated that making these contributions is a priority for so many members. It is vital that this continue so that it will not be necessary for FPC to borrow in order meet its on-going financial commitments.
Thank you for keeping the church in your priorities, as we all work with an ever stronger faith, to get through these tough times.
Harry Argue
FPC Stewardship Elder
Sunday School at Home
Families are enjoying the lesson content and crafts that are available each week in the Children’s Ministry Google Classroom. Make sure that you and your kids are taking advantage of this great resource!
FPC Mission Work Updates:
Porchlight
FPC last prepared and dropped off a meal at Porchlight on March 26th. It was decided to cancel Network 56 involvement in preparing and delivering the food. Big thanks to, Bernie & Sheryll Gehrmann who prepared and dropped off that meal to Porchlight!
The men Porchlight serves have been moved to a temporary shelter. Those with symptoms and others that are high-risk are housed in hotels. Porchlight continues to serve approx. 80-100 men each night. Food Fight is catering breakfast and supper. They have lost 4 fulltime shelter workers to health and exposure issues and are down to a small dedicated group who are working overtime every week.
Porchlight is reporting that their greatest need is cash donations. Porchlight will be paying an extra $200,000 in payroll for the emergency shelter over the next six months. They are also spending thousands of dollars on personal protective equipment for employees and volunteers.
Another way to can help is to purchase items off the donation wish list and ship them them to the administration office:
Attn: Porchlight
306 N Brooks St
Madison, WI 53715
Bethel Mission Trip to Kigoma, Tanzania
On March 17, just days before the Bethel team would travel to Kigoma, Tanzania for the March 23-27 mission, airplane flights were cancelled. While disappointing to the Bethel team and people in Tanzania organizing our trip, had they left a week before, they might still be stuck in rural Tanzania. God’s hand in the mission, for sure!
The purpose of the trip Tanzania is to use the Bethel series to train 250 Tanzanian pastors so that they can grow in their understanding of the Word of God and then teach the Bethel Series in their churches. FPC generously provided scholarships for 40 these African pastors to attend the training. The trip and the seminar is now planned to take place in the fall 2020.
There is a benefit to delaying the mission trip and training. By using the extra time to train the Kenyan and Tanzanian leaders in the Teacher’s version of the Bethel Series, the pastors could participate in leading some lessons in the fall. Pastor Jeff Quinto says:
…with the seminar in September or October, 2020, we could have some of the African leaders who take the online course teach some of the lessons. Although Dr. Jeff Bowen and I will teach most of the Old Testament lessons, we will coach and mentor the new African teachers as they teach. This way, we will begin to have local, African Bethel Series teachers to continue teaching without us.
I believe this is God’s plan for the Bethel Series in Africa with Africans teaching Africans. This is the way our teaching has evolved in China where the Bethel Series is taught in secret by local teachers today.
Keep this mission in your prayers as they stay connected electronically with the African church leaders and prepare them for the training this coming fall.
For more information, contact Pastor Jeff Quinto at: jeff@bethelseries.org
Waunakee Food Pantry
Watch this quick video of an FPC family showing how easy it is to drop off a donation at the Waunakee Food Pantry! Due to the cancelation of the two major Spring food drives, they are in desperate need of donations.
Here’s a list of items that are in lowest supply but have high demand: toilet paper, paper towels, side dishes – rice and pasta, boxed potatoes, boxed dinners, ketchup, jello/pudding, spaghetti sauce, and laundry detergent.
Donations can be made at the box outside the Food Pantry at 806 S Division St and there is now a donation box at the Waunakee Piggly Wiggly. Or contact Lynda Bennin at 608-849-8656 or email blbennin@tds.net to set up other donation drop off options.
SOAR Academy – Kenya
FPC’s funding for SOAR arrived just before the quarantine shut down. The Mission Board spoke with the school director, James, to develop an updated plan for the funds. The focus was partially shifted to feeding members in the community who did not have a food source. Help had to be completed very discreetly to avoid attention from what the school director described as “robbers and thugs.” Food was delivered directly to hungry people. Seeds were purchased and the school paid community members to plant crops. The donated money was also used to purchase cloth to sew masks. FPC is truly part of saving lives in the community surrounding Soar Academy!
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