WHATS UP KNOX?

December 2013

From the desk of

As we get ready for Christmas, I would invite you to share in a great gift from God. It is prayer. Prayer allows us to be centred in our relationship with the One in whom we live and move and breathe. So, as we walk through the days of Advent to Christmas and a New Year, let us pray.

Here are some possibilities for your times of devotion: Write in a journal whats happening in your life, and offer your concerns to God. Read aloud a psalm and allow those words to be your prayer. (Psalms you can use include: 23, 46, 51, 100, 121, 139 and 150. And thats just for starters!) Take a verse or phrase from scripture, and say it again and again. For example: Psalm 46, verse 10: Be still, and know that I am God Be still and know that I am God Through repetition we memorize scripture and allow it to be in the centre of our thoughts. Go for a walk in the outdoors surrounded by trees and be mindful of life that is all about you. Listen. Watch. Breathe deeply. Be present to this moment. Read a daily devotion that shares a message that encourages you, and perhaps, share it with a friend or a partner. Sing a hymn or a song as a prayer to God.

One of my favourite prayers comes from the musical Godspell: Day by day, day by day, O dear Lord three things I pray. To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day.

Blessings to you and those in your care!

Mark Gedcke

Joan Holmes Susan Forbes Doug Puddy Chad Fink Ezra Bender Kristin Frank Darien Murray James Drake Ron Gray Madison Hicks Steve Wells

December 1 December 2 December 3 December 4 December 13 December 13 December 14 December 17 December 17 December 17 December 20

Noah Kipfer Noel deWeaver Wendy Wilhelm Philip Anwender Alexander Lynn Leslie Adam Parker Emily Harris Mike Weber Cora Wilhelm Melody Hicks Adam Wilhelm

December 23 December 25 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 30 December 30 December 30 December 31 December 31

Happy Anniversary to
Terry & Janelle Barton Dale & Lynn Bast Ken & Ethel Innes Ken & Sharon Malvern Mark & Anne Gedcke December 1 December 17 December 20 December 23 December 28

EVANGEL HALL
Evangel Hall is a downtown Toronto mission started 100 years ago by the Presbyterian Church. Its mission is to serve homeless and socially isolated people. Every day they serve 250 meals, find shelter for men and women, provide free clothing, showers, and laundry facilities. They also provide a health and dental clinic. Last year they provided free dental care worth more than $400,000 to impoverished people. The following stories show the work being done at Evangel Hall. The Drop-in program is a lifeline for many homeless people. Michal, a man with schizophrenia regularly comes to the Drop-in. He has lived on the streets for 25 years and rides the TTC all night long as his home. Hunched over from sleeping in a streetcar seat, he has not slept on a bed in years. With the support of Evangel Hall he was able to find a room to live in. After all these years of being homeless Michal was afraid to go to his new room alone. One of the Drop-in staff accompanied him she reported that the minute he laid down on his bed he fell asleep. Daniel, a young student in the Transit for Teens program was in desperate need of housing. She needed to escape an abusive and destructive family situation, but was very nervous about taking the stops to leave. A Youth Coordinator helped her through every stage of the process, helping her to locate an apartment, apply for Ontario Works to supplement her part time job and help her to cope with the difficult family dynamics that often lead to going back to the abuse. She has remained in school, attends the Homework Club, is refocused on her studies and is determined to pursue a postsecondary education. The work being done at Evangel Hall requires money to keep all of these programs going. Currently they are experiencing some financial difficulty and may have to cut programs. The Outreach Team has received a letter of request for financial support from churches. The Alley responded to this appeal with a $500.00 donation. At this time of year many make donations to charities instead of giving gifts. We would ask that you consider Evangel Hall when choosing a charity to support this year. Donations can be sent to Evangel Hall Mission 552 Adelaide Street West Toronto ON M5V 3W8

FROM THE ALLEY

Donations We are in need of mitts and gloves for adults and children. We could also use more winter boots. Good clean linens are always welcome. Costume jewellery is hard to keep in stock. Ladies after you get those wonderful jewels for Christmas check and see what you have that you will no longer be wearing and donate it to The Alley. We thank everyone for their continued support of The Alley with their donations.

Volunteers If you have time on your hands during the winter months let us know and we will find a job for you at The Alley. We thank all those who are there on a regular basis and those who help out when they can. We have welcomed Lynne MacDonald to our volunteer staff.

Profits The Alley board will be meeting in December to give out mission donations to various charities as well as our contribution to the church.

Holidays The Alley will be closed from December 23rd until January 8th. We find this is a good time to give our volunteers a break. If you can hold your donations during this time it would be appreciated.

OUTREACH TEAM NEWS

COMMUNITY MEALS Knox will host the community meal on Friday December 13. We thank everyone who generously donates food, money and their time to these meals.

SANTA CLAUS PARADE The Knox elves were busy on Sunday November 24th handing out hot chocolate at the parade. This has become a tradition that many parade watchers look forward to. We also hand out small cards with candy canes that provide information on our Christmas services.

KIDS CHRISTMAS SHOPPING The Knox department store was busier than Wal-mart on opening day on Saturday November 30th. 70 children visited our store to do their Christmas shopping for their families. We say a big THANK YOU to Anne Marie Pauli who did a super job of organizing and running the event along with the members of the Outreach Team. We had a great team of volunteers who helped the children shop and wrapped the gifts for them. Also thank you to everyone who donated items for gifts, gift bags or money. We also say a special thank you to the staff at Bedford Public School who donated many items for the sale.

PUT THIS DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR

GAMES NIGHT FRIDAY JANUARY 25TH 7:00 PM Bring your favourite games and a snack to share. A great way to beat the winter blahs!

KNOX YOUNG PEOPLE PURSUING POST SECONDARY EDUCATION Update

Andrew Barton - Andrew is enjoying his first year at Oswego State University in New York. The experience is a wonderful opportunity to live in another country and to meet new people from all over the US and Canada. He is taking business administration. The campus is situated right on Lake Ontario and is about 8,000 students with small class sizes. He is playing hockey for the Oswego State Lakers NCAA Mens hockey team. You can go to http://athletics.oswego.edu/roster.aspx?path=mhockey to read more. Jessica Barton Jessica loves attending school at Brock University in St. Catharines where she is studying Psychology. Church friend, Mary Rothwell, is not too far down the road at Niagara College and they have enjoyed getting together. Jessica has made many new friends and her 4 th floor dorm mates are very close. She has joined the Girls Intermediate Hockey team in St. Catharines to continue her love of the game. At the same time, she is thinking about a semester abroad for mission work after her wonderful experience in the Dominican Republic last year for the youth justice and poverty program that Knox helped to sponsor. Andrew Dougall Andrew is in his first year at Fanshawe College taking a two-year Broadcasting Television program. He is enjoying his field placement with Rogers Mobile London assisting with the coverage of the London Nationals hockey games. After his two year program, he is interested in continuing his studies in the Visual Effects and Editing for Contemporary Media graduate program. Tonny Albuquerque - Hello my name is Tonny Albuquerque. I am visiting from Pernambuco, Brazil. I live one hour and a half from the Atlantic Ocean. My city has a population of 30,000. I cant recall a time in Brazil that the temperature was under 24C. Brazil is very beautiful and warm. I love soccer and volleyball. Canada is amazing. I never knew of hockey until I came to Canada. Its hard but fun trying to learn how to skate. I have been skating about 6 times now. Snow is really interesting. The first time I saw it, I was in the class and I wanted to go play, but I could not. I made a snowman with Anne on November 30th. How do I describe Canada? COLD.you dont even know how many times I say that I am freezing - even ask my host family! Canada is perfect. It has polite people and amazingly different landscapes. I have been to Niagara Falls and Toronto, the Stratford Festival (Fiddler on the Roof), Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Lake Huron, the Drive-in movie theatre, to a dairy farm, for a ride on a combine, and in many hockey arenas. I look forward to tobogganing, Christmas, and more snow! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Feliz Natal e feliz ano novo! (Portuguese)

KNOX YOUNG PEOPLE PURSUING POST SECONDARY EDUCATION Update

(contd) DARIEN MURRAY daughter of Brian and Lisa Murray, granddaughter of Ruby Murray. Darien is in her third year at Queens University majoring in History. She is on the executive of the dance g roup at the university which is the largest group of Canadian Universities. She loves to dance and read and is currently working at the university at the copy store to make some extra spending money. PAYTON MURRAY daughter of Brian and Lisa Murray, granddaughter of Ruby Murray. Payton is in her first year in Kinesiology at the University of Windsor. She is enjoying her first year of university and loves playing hockey.

PHOTOS TAKEN BY SUE ORR ON HER MISSION TRIP

This boy was gathering his water...He could barely lift it so I tried...I struggled but we made it to the donkey.

A familiar plate was found at Gezaghns

Starting the morning boiling water so I can have my "shower" My Shower

Wouldn't this be nice in the country side in Dukem??

Thanks to the Sunday School at Knox for all the pencils!

November 25 - Back to Dukam to see friends and bring some gifts to the locals. I stayed 2 nights with Marta Shiferaw and her family. If all goes well Marta will come back to Canada and stay with us for 9 months. November 28, 2013 - Back home at Mimis...Spent the last 24hrs with Randy Taylor and had the most interesting and informative site visit yet. It was really an emotionally and spiritually draining experience.This is going to be a BIG project and will require BIG partners and donors. So much to think about... The village people also asked why I needed convincing...I don't need convincing but I need to figure out how to raise the funds. They have no concept of how much they are asking for or understand what needs to happen next. Plus I found out today that the closest river nearby is not only being polluted BUT being diverted to meet the factory needs...GRRRR November 29, 2013 ..direct from Sue Im in a hotel lobby waiting for a meeting and I have wifi for the first time in Ethiopia! Quick update as I heard Mark prayed for methings are going well..the weekend in the village was a real eye openerthe bugs saw me coming and Im sure they enjoyed a full buffet on my legs..Im grateful everyday for the conveniences we take for granted like real toilets, hot running water and power. The rest of the week was filled with positive meetings with drilling companies that we are looking for to write proposals for the Well. Today, Im extremely happy with a meeting I had with the Rotary Club in hopes of building a partnership with them and applying for grants. Building a Well here is not going to be cheap due to lack of building supplies, good roads and no power.

The people are very hopeful and their faith in God astounds me. I was brought to tears by the women who flung themselves at my feet when we purchased donkeys for them to help with water. For those that have so little they are full of JOY. The village girl (Marta) has a 75 percent chance of coming back with me.we will know for sure if her Visa comes thru on Dec 12th.please pray for her as she is so excited and hopeful of learning in Canada. God Bless..Sue November 30, 2013 - Thank-you to Beti who took the time to take me to the Orphanage... All of the Children were HIV positive and no parents to take care of them...They surprised me with singing and knew "If youre happy and you know it" and "This is the Day". December 1, 2013 - Had an awesome first day with Habitat for Humanity Canada's Global Village Program in Debra Berhann in Ethiopia... Struggling a bit with High altitude but every hour seems to get better. Today we moved dirt from a pile with manmade 2-person wheelbarrows that had tin in the middle. We were making the floor. So we had people shovelling into the tin...moving the dirt...spreading it even and then packing it down. Lunch was well done with rice, sauces and cabbage. Snacks were Tea and COFFEE and popcorn! If anyone is looking for a great learning experience, please add this to your bucket list! I tried to upload photos but no luck.

PRESENTATION TO OUR KNOX JAM LADY

A presentation was made to Mary Cooper thanking her on behalf of all of her happy customers for the wonderful jam she so willingly and lovingly makes to give to The Alley to sell. If you havent tried her jam well..you havent tasted anything like this in a very long time. Drop into The Alley and pick up a jar it is definitely worth your while. Thanks Mary.

SPECIAL SUNDAY
Please join us for worship on Sunday, December 15th. The children and youth will lead us with a Christmas Pageant and Play. Following worship, we will have a potluck lunch in the Banquet Hall. Please bring food to share. If you are able to bring your own plates and cutlery --- this helps with the cleanup after our meal.

HAPPENINGS IN 2013 IN OUR KNOX FAMILY

Baptisms:

Brooke Musgrave Caitlan Musgrave Adean Pottle Tschudi Cora Wilhelm

Welcoming New Members

Kaitlyn Berg Glenna Bullock Kevin Miller Joanne Musgrave Alicia Pitts Anne Rothwell Wendy Wilhelm Paulene Tiemens-Weber

Adherents:

Mike Weber (& son Noah)

Loss of our Members:

Muriel Gibb (March 24) Margaret McIntyre (April 10) Bruce MacAlpine (April 26) Glen Smart (July 7) Doris Card (September 5) Audrey Forbes (October 28)

FROM KATHYs DESK

An update from the office. The office is now open Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Hopefully, this will be better for everyone. I cant believe where the time has gone! Christmas is upon us and a time of worship, praise, family, friends and thankfulness for all we have in our lives. Doug and I (along with Kristy, Ian and Jackson) send our blessings to each of you and wish you the best of this Christmas Season.

Please note that the Christmas Hours for the office will be as follows: December 23 (closed) December 24 (9-1) December 25 January 1, 2014 Re-opening January 3, 2014

UPCOMING SPECIAL DATES/EVENTS AT KNOX

December 8 December 22 December 22 December 24 congregational meeting for the election of elders Practice for childrens concert (lunch will be provided for the children) Guest pianist Marlene Hundert (we are grateful for her leadership and her connection to our church as a sister of Dale Bast) Community meal (provided by Knox) Christmas Pageant and Drama we are blessed by the leadership of our children and youth in this worship service Potluck lunch to follow service; please bring a dish to share, plates and cutlery Worship service for the fourth Sunday in Advent. We will hear the story of Jesus birth from Matthew 1:18-25 The Wiebes Annual Christmas Concert here at Knox (7:00 p.m.) Childrens Christmas Service at 6:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Community Service at 7:30 p.m. (we will be led in our music and singing by both the choir and Praise Explosion) Guest Minister: Rev Merv Tubb Guest Organist: Michel Allard

December 13 December 15

December 29

Knoxys travels continue..He will have lots to share with us when he returns from Ethiopia..