Pastor’s Message by Pastor Bill Van Herk

Phone: 509-452-6138

E-mail: office@evreformedchurch.com

We’re On the Web www.evrchurch.org

EAST VALLEY REFORMED CHURCH 7203 Mieras Road, Yakima, Washington 98901

EVRC Newsletter

JULY 2015

Vacation Bible School is amazing.

As I am writing this right now we

have 120 or so children on the

grounds and about 90 helpers. It’s

just plain fun to have all this activity

going on in the church. I feel like

this is God’s gift to all of us, to the

community, to neighboring church-

es, and especially to our church.

I’ve been watching the people from

our church this week. Some of us

are getting old, sometimes we feel

too old to be doing this, but this

week is good for us. It puts smiles

on our faces and joy in our hearts. It

should be fun to serve Jesus and this

week it is. I am glad to be a part of

this church.

We gained a new member at church this week. Yesterday, (June 23) we baptized Ole Sundberg at the Good Samaritan Center. Ole has wanted to be baptized for a while. A few weeks ago we had a baptism service here at church and ever since then Ole has wanted to be baptized. It seemed like that would have to wait for a while because Ole fell down and broke his hip and was going to be in the Good Samaritan Center for at least a few weeks. Talking it over with the elders we agreed that it would be a good thing to go to Ole and baptize him. So we dug the old silver baptismal font out of the safe in the basement of the parsonage and went to the Good Samaritan Center to baptize Ole. All of our

present elders were able to be there, Wilma Van Herk was there, and Katherine Sundberg attended as well as her daughter-in-law and grand-daughter. It was a wonderful ser-vice and we all celebrated with pound cake afterwards. Ole men-tioned several times how glad he was to now be a part of our church. We are glad to have him. Ole would be encouraged and love to have you visit or send cards to him at the Good Samaritan facility.

On Saturday Wilma and I will be flying to Mexico for 4 weeks of lan-guage study. I’m a little bit scared. I’m scared because I’m not sure what we’re really getting in to. I’m afraid the pictures of the school and the apartment we are renting, that we viewed on the internet, might have been taken by a real estate agent. I’m afraid I won’t remember the word for bathroom when I need to. I’m also scared that I won’t be able to learn as much Spanish as we want to. (I’m also afraid that Wilma will show me up and be a much bet-ter student.) The last time I took a language in a summer program was in 1990. I had to take a 3 week in-tensive summer Greek class to pre-pare me for seminary. I underesti-mated how hard that would be. It was a lot of work and my brain was a lot more flexible then. My ad-vantage this time is that I’m not go-ing to have 4 children helping me learn. We appreciate your prayers this summer and hope to come back with a little bit of Spanish. As a matter of fact the first phrase I am going to learn is, “Where is the bathroom.” Just in case I need it. See you in August. Blessings, Pastor Bill

As Pastor Bill and Wilma head out to Mexico on their six week sabbatical to learn Spanish,

The following people will be preaching: Pastor Larry Meeks, Craig Hooper of Young Life.

John VanBelle and Ralaine Nickoloff

VITALITY REPORT By Elder Ken Faulkner

EVRC Newsletter

VITALITY REPORT

By: Elder Ken Faulkner

Commitment, courage, prayer, re-newal, involvement and concern. While enjoying a fabulous lunch from Joyce Tucker, we had time to reflect on all that we had heard and seen earlier. After some discussion we realized that the story of Gideon spoke to all of these themes better than any other story presented. Once we took a vote it was clear that Gid-eon was the story that our committee thought best targeted our spiritual place in time.

Gideon was an ordinary man when God asked him to lead his people against all odds against a much stronger and better trained foe. Gide-on of course felt overwhelmed with the prospect and did not feel at all equipped to handle the task but God assured him that he was with him and would help him defeat the Midi-anite army that was keeping Israel from prospering in the promised land. Gideon feels sure there is someone better able to handle this task and presents this argument to God, "O, Lord, how can I save Isra-el? Mine is a poor family in Manas-seh, and I am the least in my father's house."

And the Lord said to him: "Surely I will be with you, and I will help you drive out the Midianites." Like all of us, Gideon needs more reassurance so he tells God that if He causes a wool fleece to become wet in the morning while the ground remains dry he will know that God will help him. If you remember the story Gid-eon goes out in the morning and the fleece is soaking wet but the ground is dry. Wow! Gideon, however, is still timid and unsure, so he gives God the opposite challenge. Of course when Gideon checks in the morning the fleece is dry while the ground is wet, and he has the proof he asked for. God is seriously call-ing him to this challenge!

Then the Lord said to Gideon: "Your army is too large. If Israel should win the victory, they would say, 'we won it by our own might.' Send home all those who are afraid to fight." God needed Gideon to prove his commitment so the troops were reduced again and again until only 300 remained from the original 32,000. With God’s help the Midian-ites were destroyed or chased out of town and the people of Israel turn back to God and renewed their faith once again.

Like Gideon, God has a task for us to accomplish. He will equip us with everything we need to face the challenge He has for us. Our con-gregation has been reduced again and again but I know that God is with us and will renew us if we re-main faithful and committed to His service. Courage can be difficult to maintain when the army is thinning out but God is faithful and will re-main so if we pray for help as Gide-on did. As we continue to show love and concern for each other and our community, God will provide what we need when we need it. Boy, I hope my car isn’t all wet when I pull it out of the garage tomorrow……;-

Pastor Bill & Wilma’s

Small Group

By Rachael Faulkner

After spending two years thoroughly

dissecting the gospel of Mark, Pastor

Bill’s small group finally finished it

up this spring. Although it took

longer than planned, the bimonthly

discussions always brought up new

and interesting perspectives, giving

everyone a chance to see the Word

of God with new eyes. This was

partially due to the difference in age

groups; young adults, the middle-

aged, and seniors all met to share

their opinions on the story of Jesus.

Since there were people in so many

different walks of life, each person

brought a unique viewpoint to the

table. This often led to a snowball-

ing of ideas and thoughts until the

group was so far off topic that it fell

to Bill to reel everyone back in.

However, each tangent often led to

the discovery that Jesus and his dis-

ciples were all human, and therefore

somehow more relatable. This small

group gave each member the chance

to find the humanity beneath the

deity; that even though Jesus is the

son of God, that he was also the son

of man, a fact that is observed but

often swept under the rug. The

depth of this bible study gave each

of us the chance to connect and iden-

tify with the humanness of Jesus and

his disciples. Even though they were

God’s elite, they each had flaws and

shortcomings, which should be en-

couraging to us all.

(Sorry, no picture available)

When Janet Tadlock and I went

shopping at WalMart for all the

items needed to complete the

Teytum’s Gift project, I asked a

manager if there were any dis-

counts for VBS purchases. She

called their public relations office

and then was issued a $75 gift cer-

tificate. And, while in line to pay

for all the stuff (about $900, the

lady in front of me asked what I

was doing. I explained it to her

and she donated $20. God is good.

LaRue V.

SMALL GROUPS WALKING THRU THE BIBLE

Leader: John VanBelle

Twenty-seven years ago we began a Bible Study called, “Walking through the Bible”. Since that day in the Old Church, many of the partici-pants have gone on to Glory.From day one it has been a Bible study/ fellowship time. The only lesson plan is the Bible. No other books are used and there is no home work. The reason for this is so everyone feels welcome and each week’s lesson can be tailored to fit the participants. Some grew up in the church and oth-ers are new in the faith.

A few weeks ago Pastor Bill men-tioned the benefits of belonging to a small group. I encourage everyone to join a group, and if you cannot find one, start one yourself.

Our group will not meet during the months of June, July and August, but we will start up again the first Wednesday in September.

Jim Rice, before he passed away, renamed the Bible study, “Crawling through the Bible”. Some evenings we go through a chapter and other evenings we go through only a few verses, depending on the subject matter.

SMALL GROUPS – DEEP FRIENDSHIPS

By Georgia Smedema

Everyone needs friends. In fact,

Words of Hope states that there are 3

kinds of friends:

(1) A person who ministers to you and for whom you do not neces-sarily do anything in return.

(2) A peer relationship in which you share, build and minister to each other in a give and take relationship.

A relationship in which you minister to someone else and perhaps, in the process never receive anything from that per son in return.

I have been involved with a small group for several years, and can with all confidence say that we are a #2 group of friends. We have developed deep friendships, trust and the ability to hold each other accountable. Over the years some have left with great sorrow, and with joy we have added new friends. As most of you al-ready know, I have just finished treatment for cancer, thus feeling the

need (and guilt) for taking so long to write this article. My small group has prayed for me daily, made sure I had fresh eggs when that’s all I could eat, and available for all my families needs with just a phone call. No doubt, a very special group of people to me. This article is for all of you, to encourage you to start or join a small group. Small Groups can be as simple as asking a friend to join you once a week to Pray, do a Bible study or a Social activity. We have done all of the above. Our group meets on Wednesdays, we have a potluck dinner and have a video based Bible study (By the way there are a lot of small group studies al-ready at the Church). I do caution you, Small Groups do not just fall into place, relationships take time, effort and commitment. Thinking back years ago when our Church did 40 Days of Purpose, they stated that the perfect size for a small group was six, I am not sure about that (we have 9).

One thing I am sure of is that you will be forever blessed. Perhaps now is the perfect time for you to dig deep into true friendship.

VanBelle Small Group L to R: Esther V., Tina A.,

Lanette & George R., Donna C., Grace H., Dan &

Joyce T.

Smedema Small Group: Georgia & Butch S., Steve &

Judy W., Ralaine N., Mark & Ruth V.K. (not shown

Wilie & Brenda Reno

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY

EVRC Newsletter

By LaRue VanderSluis/Coordinator

Teytum’s Gifts was one of three

mission projects which were sup-

ported during Vacation Bible

School. Thanks to Jody Frank and

Janet Tadlock for their tremendous

help!

Following is the introduction given

to the boys and girls.

This little boy’s name is Teytum. I

want to tell you a little story about

him. His Mom and Dad could not

take care of him so he needed to go

to a “foster home”.

A foster home is a place where chil-

dren go, for a time, if their Mom &

Dad can’t take good care of them.

They are scared and sad when this

happens. That’s what happened to

Teytum. Sometimes it takes hours

or even all night to find a “new

home” for them. They do not bring

any of their own clothes or toys with

them.

That’s how you and I can help chil-

dren like Teytum. We will put to-

gether a box of things they need and

some things they can play with

while they are waiting for their fos-

ter family to pick them up. We will

each write a little letter to them let-

ting then know we care about them.

This box of things make them feel

like they are loved and that every-

thing will be ok.

Thanks to so many who participated

in this project, we were able to ex-

ceed our goal of 100 by 10. The

boys and girls wrote a personal letter

to a foster child to be put inside the

box. We were very impressed with

their compassion! They also colored

small gift boxes and put finger pup-

pets in them. On Thursday, they

picked out Beanie Babies (thanks

Lorrie Z. for contributing 185 of

these well-loved toys), cars, balls,

books, etc., to load in the box.

Thanks to those who contributed

financially (who do not want to be

recognized). WalMart in West Val-

ley contributed a $75 gift card. Dr.

Labberton donated 50 toothbrushes

and toothpaste combinations in gift

bags.

Thanks to our “sewers/knitters” who

provided hand made blankets (Tina

A.), stocking caps (Donna ) and the

many, many items which were left in

the Covenant room with no contribu-

tors name.

This project required a lot of people

to succeed. Was it worth it? Just

envisioning a child receiving a “gift”

during this sad and most frightening

time, makes it all worth it.. I’m sure

you agree. Blessings to all of you.

CHILD CARE ACHIEVES QRIS

STATUS

By LuAnn Crea

Reynalda and the staff of Crossroad

Kids CC have been working very

hard during the past few months

completing requirements to be rated

as a high quality early care provider

in our state. The following is taken

from a letter sent to Reynalda from

the Department of Early Learning,

“Congratulations! We are pleased to

recognize your commitment to pro-

vide quality early learning experi-

ences for the children in your

care. Your facility has achieved

Level 2 status in Early Achievers,

Washington State’s QRIS (Quality

Rating and Improvement System).

By completing all of the Level 2

requirements and activities, you

have demonstrated your commit-

ment to providing high-quality care

to children and families. You and

your staff should be proud of this

achievement.” We are proud of

you, Reynalda and staff – and are

looking forward to more news from

DEL as you continue working to-

wards the next quality level.

EVRC Newsletter OUTREACH MINISTRY—Elder Chuck Neubauer

PIE IN THE FACE FOR

MISSIONS

By LuAnn Crea

I have to say, as unpleasant as a pie

in the face sounds, the two I re-ceived on the last day of VBS was well worth it. You see, the kids

worked very hard all week collect-ing food for The Pantry and offer-

ings for Nepal Earthquake relief. They brought in 668 items of food

and nearly $2,000 for Nepal. I heard whispers throughout the week

hinting of something big the win-ning team would be doing on Fri-day, but mostly was kept in the

dark. So, on Friday when the kids were screaming my name to come

up front, I knew something was up. Would I be getting a prize? Then

when Wilma put the “bib” on me, I

thought maybe a lobster dinner? OH BOY! Afraid not – I was “pied” by

members of the winning teams – and as one volunteer put it “that was the kindest pie in the face she had

ever seen”. Thanks, guys for going easy with the pies! It was yummy,

too!

Everest VBS week was a BLAST – the kids and adults alike enjoyed

every aspect of the week, from the awesome music and skits by Wilma,

Nancy and Judy, to Bible Stories played out in fun ways by the Faulkner’s and Chelsea L, games

with Bobby, snacks served by Rita and crew while Chuck G. serenaded

on guitar with Mike W. on tambou-rine. In KidVid Station, Deb and

Meaghan introduced real kids with real challenges.

Kids in Service station found the kids filling gift boxes for foster chil-

dren through Teytum’s Gifts, earn-ing coins by reciting Bible verses and such, to be spent at the “store”

and discovering fun gizmos in Im-agination Station, thanks to LaRue,

Jody, Janet, Jeanne, Lanette, Idell and Joyce T.

The Crew Leaders this year were

OUTSTANDING! Thank you, eve-ryone who volunteered, all 94 of

you! I’ll end with a little story; One young girl came home from VBS proudly reciting her Bible verse to

her mom like this, “Everyone who believes in Him will have a turtle

life” – Delightful! My prayer is that the seeds planted in the hearts of the

136 children this week will take root and grow strong.

Pastor Bill’s Adult Sunday School class meets

each Sunday after fellowship time (11:00).

The season ended recently with a group

potluck at the Van Herk home.

This is a very fun group and much is learned.

These are just a few of the participants

(usually about 20 in the group).

TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: Terry Dunn, Pastor Bill,

Terry Crea

BOTTOM: Right to Left Jeannie Swallow, Tina

A. , Ferne Heath, Delores Gentry

We had 127 children, 98 crew lead-ers and support crew for a total of 225 involved in VBS.

The children brought in 668 food items for the pantry and $1946.82 for Nepal and boxed 110 Teytum's gift boxes.

Pastor Bill Van Herk

452-6138

Vice President

Elder Ken Faulkner 457-0664

Worship

Elder Mark VanKommer

248-7087

Deacon Dan Catron

Education

Elder Ken Faulkner 457-0664

Outreach

Elder Chuck Neubauer

457-1835

Fellowship

Deacon Ken Zeutenhorst

575-0922

Deacon Don Linder

969-0348

7/2 Eric & Nicole Bernard

7/3 Theresa Ingraham

7/4 Brad Nickoloff,

Sharon Hoksbergen

7/5 Robinson Anniv.

7/6 Doris Balholm

7/7 Jym & Pam Schuler

7/8 Christy (Sanderson) and

Lance Rowe Anniv.

7/9 Denise Schut,

Ken & Becky Mears

7/10 Christy Rowe

7/11 Troy Nickoloff

7/12 Michael Jones

7/13 Lance Rowe

7/14 Marcus & Mark V.K,

Minnie Brady, Judy Leinbach

7/17 Wilma V., Abby Merrill

7/19 Tiffany Bradley

7/21 Connie Faulkner

7/22 Opal Duffield 7/25 Cordella Sanders

7/26 Krueger Anniv

7/29 Rae Jones 7/30 Charity Bradley

12 Dick & Ruth H.

19 Tanya J. & Nancy Baum

26 Fern h., Delores G & Carol J.

AUGUST

2 Marilyn B & Nez King

9 Blair & Jaquie B.

16 Terry & Idell D

23 Judy L. & Bonnie M.

30 Willie & Brenda Reno

GREETERS

JULY

5 Bob & Bunny G

12 Terry & Idell/Grace & Delores

19Randy & Candy B. & Deb G.

26 Butch & Georgia S.

Ashlee & Wyatt C.

WELCOME DESK

JULY

5 Joyce W

12 Judy W

19 George R

26 Velma H.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 Pantry

Distribution 3-6 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

July 2015 Worship 9:30/Kidz Church 9:30

BIBLE READING SCHEDULE

JUNE 28 THROUGH FRIDAY, JULY 31

Sun. June 28 1 Samuel 31, Psalm 33, 2 Corinthians 2

Mon. June 29 2 Samuel 1, Psalm 34, 2 Corinthians 3

Tues. June 30 2 Samuel 2, Psalm 35, 2 Corinthians 4

Wed. July 1 2 Samuel 3, Psalm 36, 2 Corinthians 5

Thurs. July 2 2 Samuel 4, Psalm 37, 2 Corinthians 6

Fri. July 3 2 Samuel 5, Psalm 38, 2 Corinthians 7

Sat. July 4 2 Samuel 6, Psalm 39, 2 Corinthians 8

Sun. July 5 2 Samuel 7, Psalm 40, 2 Corinthians 9

Mon. July 6 2 Samuel 8, Psalm 41, 2 Corinthians 10

Tues. July 7 2 Samuel 9, Psalm 42, 2 Corinthians 11

Wed. July 8 2 Samuel 10, Psalm 43, 2 Corinthians 12

Thurs. July 9 2 Samuel 11, Psalm 44, 2 Corinthians 13

Fri. July 10 2 Samuel 12, Psalm 45, 1 Peter 1

Sat. July 11 2 Samuel 13, Psalm 46, 1 Peter 2

Sun. July 12 2 Samuel 14, Psalm 47, 1 Peter 3

Mon. July 13 2 Samuel 15, Psalm 48, 1 Peter 4

Tues. July 14 2 Samuel 16, Psalm 49, 1 Peter 5

Wed. July 15 2 Samuel 17, Psalm 50, 2 Peter 1

Thurs. July 16 2 Samuel 18, Psalm 52, 2 Peter 2

Fri. July 17 2 Samuel 19, Psalm 53, 2 Peter 3

Sat. July 18 2 Samuel 20, Psalm 53, John 1

Sun. July 19 2 Samuel 21, Psalm 54, John 2

Mon. July 20 2 Samuel 22, Psalm 55, John 3

Tues. July 21 2 Samuel 23, Psalm 56, John 4

Wed. July 22 2 Samuel 24, Psalm 56, John 5

Thurs. July 23 Isaiah 1, Psalm 57, John 6

Fri. July 24 Isaiah 2, Psalm 58, John 7

Sat. July 25 Isaiah 3, Psalm 59, John 8

Sun. July 26 Isaiah 4, Psalm 60, John 9

Mon. July 27 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13, 1 Corinthians 13 “How’s Your Love Life?”

Tues. July 28 Isaiah 5, Psalm 61, John 10

Wed. July 29 Isaiah 6, Psalm 62, John 11

Thurs. July 30 Isaiah 7, Psalm 63, John 12

Fri. July 31 Isaiah 8, Psalm 64, John 13

SUMMER TEEN TEACHING SCHEDULE 7/5/2015 Wesley Johnson & (LuAnn Crea)

BUCK DENVER asks WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? VOLUME 1 – PART 1

7/12/2015 Shelby & Morgan Baum (Idell/Nez)

BUCK DENVER asks WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? VOLUME 1 – PART 2

7/19/2015 Wyatt Catron (Judy Wright)

BUCK DENVER asks WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? VOLUME 2 – PART 1

7/26/2015 Rebecca Faulkner (Connie Faulkner)

BUCK DENVER asks WHAT’S IN THE BIBLE? VOLUME 2 – PART 2

SUMMER KIDZ

CHURCH

During July and August, teen helpers will lead Kidz Church using the DVD series, Buck Denver Asks…What’s in the Bible? From Genesis to David and Goliath, Jo-nah and the Whale, Jesus, Paul and more, these sto-ries bring the truths of God’s Word to life!