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Methodist Web Sites for Youth

There’s a= lot of good stuff on the Internet for young people, provided with expertis= e by the national offices of the United Methodist Church. For young people and the families who read thi= s article – and have access to a computer and an online connection &#= 8211; it is all as close as your keyboard.= We invite you to give it a try.

The General Boa= rd of Discipleship of the UMC has a Web site at www.gbod.org. Click on Res= ources for Youth. You’l= l see info about the Youth 2007 Conference. O= ver 6200 youth and their leaders from around the United Methodist Connectio= n gathered in Greensboro, NC July-11-15 this year for worship and fellowshi= p. It’s over now, but t= ake a look at www.youth2007.org. The next big one is 20= 11. There are many good point= s on gbod.org/youth, so look around.

There was a com= petition at the Conference for a new youth interactive Web site that would = invite teen seekers into the life of the United Methodist Church. The one that won by teen vote was www.= orangefloat.org.

The main UMC = site is www.umc.org, but the best youth stuff is noted above. It has a “find a church” searc= h tool.

Sandra Hunter= (Sandra@hillsboroumc.org) and Pastor Gwen would like to hear your comments= about these Internet resources. Discuss them with your friends too!

Spirituality Center

Traveling companions<= /span> – Have= you ever noticed how pleasant it is to share a trip with someone who treas= ures your company? The same is true for our journey through life with Chris= t. Yet our lives become so busy, and we don’t make the time to just b= e with people, the way our grandparents would just sit on the porch with th= eir friends. Deep Listening is our invit= ation to you to come to the porch for a while. On Tuesday, November 6^th, at 7 p.m. we will take= the time to settle into comfy chairs, say a prayer, and then listen to one= another. No interruptions. No judgments. No one giving helpful suggestions= about how to fix things. Just listening to one another in the love of Chri= st, trusting the Holy Spirit to move among us and give each heart the comfo= rt, encouragement, and peace it needs. Deep Listening will be held the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. = in the Arcade (upstairs).

Learning to listen to= God – Tuesday, November 13, at 7 p.m. in the Fireside Room. Not only do o= ur busy lives prevent us from listening to one another, but we also forget = to take time to sit in friendly, comfortable relationship with the One who = loves us most. Centering Prayer is a simple way to learn to listen for the = loving guidance of God. Come join us for a time of this quiet prayer on the= 2^nd Tuesday of every mont= h. After our p= rayer time, we will listen to CDs based on the inspirational book, <= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;language:EN; mso-ansi-language:EN'>And There Was Light, by Jacques Lusseyran, the story of ho= w a blind boy discovered the brilliant light of God within himself.<= span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;language:EN;mso-ansi-language:= EN'> If you have any questions, please call V= ivian Hiestand at 503-706-2201.

Family Bridge

The number of homeless children enrolle= d in Oregon schools has increased alarmingly for the third straight year. More than 15,000 student= s have been identified as homeless enough to fill more than 200 schoo= l buses. That is a 37 percent increase since the 2004-2005 school year.

= Family Bridge director Annie Heart is so appreciative o= f "our host churches and the volunteers who provide dinner and a safe = place for our children to sleep at night." She believes that because w= e open our doors and hearts, children who would be homeless without Family = Bridge have a chance to succeed in school."

= She cited a 14-year-old boy currently in Family Bridge = who lives with an almost impossible schedule. He attends school daily, play= s on the football team and then goes to a church after practice for dinner = and a place to sleep with his mother and baby brother. Every morning he goes from the church to the Fami= ly Bridge Day House at 7 to shower and change clothes before going to schoo= l. Although this may seem lik= e an impossible routine, the alternative may be sleeping in a tent or car o= r worse.

= In October, there were more than 30 homeless families w= ith children on the waiting list for shelter in our county. Meanwhile, we are helping Family Bridge kids= stay in school.

Outreach News-

Christmas Assistance = program

&= nbsp; Th= e Outreach Committee put a lot of thought this year into doing something di= fferent from past years programs of delivering food and gifts. We decided t= o let the church body participate more in determining who we touch in need = and to get more personal in their giving and assistance. Assistance will still consist of food, but depe= ndent on the recipients’ needs we can go above and beyond the simple = food basket. Please review th= e enclosed application and give serious thought to those in your circle tha= t may be a candidate for our church’s assistance this holiday season.= We will be collecting these applications up to and including Sunday Novemb= er 11^{th. Either drop=
the application off at the church office (or basket in the Narthex) or mai=
l in by the 11^{th. Once we collect the applications we wil=
l tailor plans on how to support the recipients’ needs and start the =
process of personalizing the family assistance package in the Thanksgiving =
timeframe, with deliveries just prior to Christmas. Stay tuned for further developments.}}

Undies Sundies

Don= ’t forget to collect up undies for the undie collection basket. These= new underwear items will be distributed to Monika’s House and Hillsb= oro Family Resource Center at JB Thomas.

Wit= h the colder whether on its way think about cleaning out those old coats, j= ackets and sweaters/sweatshirts in your closet and donating them to Hillsbo= ro Family Resource Center. A dresser in the Fellowship Hall will be availab= le in the coming weeks to accept donations of clothing as well.
Wil= liam Temple House-West, based in the Episcopal Church on 3^{rd and Lincoln,=
continuously is in need of foodstuffs for their weekly food pantry. Posted=
on the Outreach bulletin board is always a listing of their current needs.=
Please consider helping them out with food donations or becoming a WTH-W p=
antry volunteer Tuesday’s 4:00PM-7:00PM.}

= ; Any questions about Outreach in general pl= ease contact Bruce Pederson (503)681-0968 or bruce.pederson@verizon.net.

Volunteers Needed (continued from front page)

the loaded hand-trucks inside. We also need some baggers to pack foo= d into grocery bags. The bagg= ers work at table height and don't lift heavy items. The A Team is industrious but they work fast and vo= lunteer from 9 a.m. to about 10 or 10:30.

B)&nbs= p; The B Team is a couple of folks who could volunteer from 10 a.m. = to 1 p.m., guiding clients to the tables of food and maybe helping some put= the food bags into their shopping cart or their car. This is slower paced but needs sociable volunteers= .

C)&nbs= p; The C Team is same as above, but would work as substitutes for th= e 1-4 p.m. shift, when the regulars can't come.

D)&nbs= p; We presently have a good group of drivers who pick up bags of foo= d for five to ten clients and drive a delivery route. But we need substitutes sometimes. It's like Meals on Wheels. We have 4 routes: North First Avenue/central Hillsboro; SE Maple Street, in= cluding the Maples Apartments; East Hillsboro/West Beaverton (mostly condos= in new areas); and a North Plains/ Cornelius route. Some of the apartments are upstairs. It's much easier to have two folks deliveri= ng on the D Team so one can watch for street names and addresses, and both = can carry the food to an apartment.

E)&nbs= p; Last is the E Team, maybe two or three folks (or teenagers) who c= an stop by the church about 3:30 or 3:45 p.m. and help put things away: stack empty boxes on the stage, = put away the ramp (using the hand-truck), and wheel a grocery cart outside = our church building and through an access door from the parking lot. The work is a little industrious bu= t it's done in a half hour.

I hope yo= u can identify a niche for yourself on one of these work teams, even if it'= s as a substitute. I can guar= antee you'll have friendly co-workers and the time will fly. Please call Bev Aldrich if you're intereste= d 503-648-9393.