June Newsletter 15Jun10 | 0
Our June newsletter is out! Read it here, or check it out in its original format at – http://eepurl.com/CZYh.
| Dear friends, As always, there is lots of news happening in the life of The Vine! First of all, The Vine has joined the Consp!re network. Consp!re is a magazine that is dedicated to building relationships and nurturing those looking to follow the Way of Jesus. Check out their website: http://conspiremagazine.org, and let us know if you are interested in receiving a copy! Secondly, we’re going to start doing monthly profiles of people involved with The Vine to offer a glimpse into the community that God is starting to create here. Read on for our first profile! We also have more articles for your thought and inspiration. As always, we love getting feedback from you. If you have questions about what we’re doing, if it inspires a thought, or if you’d like to make a comment, please let us know. Peace, Melissa Profile: Susan O’Hora
Sue lives in downtown Haverhill and works as a teacher in a neighboring town. Over the past year, she was leading a feeding for the homeless and financially distressed at a local faith-based organization called Somebody Cares New England where she met Farrah. Farrah invited her to come to the kick-off for The Vine and soon after, she joined one of our Life Groups held on Tuesday evenings. She has been a part of that group for seven months now. When Sue was asked what made her stick around at The Vine, she said: “I stick around because of the support and the love that I feel. I enjoy the spiritual activities and I look forward to the fellowship each week. The social activities have also been good way to get out in the community and meet new people.” In terms of how it has affected her faith, she commented: “Being a part of The Vine has helped me to understand that there are different ways we related to the Lord and yet we are still one because of our faith in God.” Sue said she would describe the community of The Vine as “a little wacky, that they are very real people with problems, who including myself, get a lot of love and support from being involved in the community which helps us to feel better about ourselves.” Being a part of this community, she shared that what excites her about it is “ getting together with people who I’ve come to know and to love and I’ve also really enjoyed the worship gathering once a month. I didn’t want the last service to end because I really felt the presence of the Lord and hearing other peoples difficulties, I felt compassion for them. When we had communion, I felt the love of God and connected to that experience.” She reflected on where she saw Jesus in the city of Haverhill: “I see Jesus in the people I know that are actively trying to help and the people who are in need. If I look and really take the time, I can see the good in people. Because God made them and loves them, there is something special about them so I try to find what it is.” If someone not involved with The Vine were to ask her about the community, she would say: “It has made a difference in my life and it’s great to be in community with people and not feel like you have to be by yourself. Just knowing that people aren’t judging you, that they care about you, and they’re there to help you with whatever needs you might have and in turn you can be there to help other people too.”
A Day at the Farm! by Susan O’Hora
After getting set with sunscreen and bug spray, Farrah led us in a devotion to reflect on the splendor of God and the beauty of His creation. Our hosts, Polly and Donnie took us down to the field where we would be hoeing weeds and planting tomato plants. As we weeded and planted, we got to know each other through our life stories . . . things that we learned through our hard times and perhaps by watching others through their hard times. Just as we uprooted those unwanted weeds, the Lord is removing the weeds from our lives and replacing them with fresh seeds of life. The sun was high over our heads and we realized it was time to quit. Some of us learned to plant seeds, some learned how to hoe and some learned how to plant. Our reward was a most delicious hot meal prepared by a neighbor and friend of Polly’s. It was completely organic and vegetarian. Yum! Taste and see that the Lord is good! We saw His goodness in the people we met and in working in the field. We delighted in the taste of the food and fellowship He provided! Martin Goes to Haiti A couple of months ago, as I was getting ready to close up the bus station for the night, a man asked me when the last bus to Bradford was. I told him that he had just missed the last bus for the day, and I watched as his spirit seemed to sink. I told him that I would be headed in his direction if he wanted a ride. He was overjoyed. While he waited for me to close up, he told me that his name was Martin and that he was a survivor of the Haiti earthquake. I gave Martin a ride home and my contact info in case he needed anything. I didn’t hear from him again…until yesterday. I was visiting the Drop In center like I tend to do on Wednesdays. Just before I left for the morning, I saw Martin in the corner talking to one of the social service workers. I went over to say hi and found out that Martin was trying to get back to Haiti. He had an airplane ticket, but the airline was charging him $60 for changing his flight date (which he was forced to do because of documentation red tape). If he couldn’t pay the $60 in the next two hours, he would lose his flight. The social worker was trying to argue with the airline, but she was not making any progress. I told them that there was some room in the Vine budget for blessing people, and I paid the $60 dollars. For those of you who support the Vine financially, you can know that this small financial gift has greatly blessed this man who has lost so much. I would also ask for prayers for Martin as he flies to Haiti on June 30. |
Upcoming Events! Saturday, June 19th - Worship Gathering 6 PM Dinner, 7 PM Worship 22 Fernwood Ave Haverhill, MA 01835 Saturday, June 26th Coming Soon… For more information about any of our events, check out our events page. Life Group Offerings Wednesday Evening Thursday Morning We’re always looking for more ways to offer life groups. Have an idea? E-mail us! Other Ongoing Oppportunities The Vision Interested in receiving our newsletter or being a part of our prayer team? Sign up! Find us on Facebook! |
