HOPE United Methodist Church of Pocahontas County

306 2nd Ave NW, PO Box 116, Pocahontas, IA 50574 Phone: 712-335-3663

Website: Hopeumcia.org Facebook: Hope UMC - Pocahontas, Havelock & Plover

Hope Happenings

Leadership Votes to Continue with Zoom Worship in July

Last Thursday, June 11, our Leadership Team met for our regular monthly meeting. Much discussion was held about when to meet “in-person” again for worship. Safety protocols passed out at the last meeting were discussed. The still climbing numbers of Covid cases in our county and surrounding counties were discussed. Zoom worship, Facebook, and website postings, as well as internet availability were discussed. All sides of the issue were examined. Leadership has decided that we will re-examine when to resume in-person worship at our July 9 meeting. This was not an easy decision but was the consensus of all attending the meeting. Leadership is anxiously planning the steps we need to take to safely worship together as a church family soon.

Small Groups

Small groups will be allowed to meet in the church on a limited basis and must be scheduled through

the Pastor. Fellowship Hall must be used, masks worn, and other appropriate safety measures ob-

served. Only Fellowship Hall will be used as it is most easily sanitized and you may not necessarily get

your requested time to allow for proper cleaning as we try to keep everyone safe.

Remember Your Offering

Thank you to all who have been faithful in giving to our church during the pandemic. Checks may be

mailed to the church at PO Box 116, Pocahontas IA 50574.

Why does it matter?

One would have to be living in total hibernation now to not know about the racial unrest, protests, and riots taking place across our land. It would be easy, but naïve, to say that race does not really apply to me or our little corner of the world. But that would not be true because race matters in our lives every day. We may not notice it much if we are of the majority race in an area. But if we become a part of the minority in an area, we soon realize that it does make a difference. This was recently made apparent to me as a right-hand dominant individual that has an injured right wrist. The more I try to do with my left hand, the more I realize that life is stacked against the lefties in our world. I tried to pour water into our coffee maker and found out that it is designed to fill easily if you pour with your right hand which I have done thoughtlessly for years. But to pour the water in with one’s left hand requires navigating an obstacle course of tubes and plastic appendages not to mention the overflow hole that keeps one from overfilling the contraption. Left handers would go through a great deal more effort to keep from having a pool of water on their kitchen counter. Then the coffee maker died, and we went shopping for another. I use the term we loosely because Ed was there mostly to carry for me because of the injury. He was rather annoyed with me as I flipped open the water reservoir on each to see how easily they could be filled. I read boxes and scanned features. Finally, we (actually I) made a choice and we took it home. Ed made the coffee the next morning and commented on how much he liked the new coffee maker. Ed makes the coffee at our house 90% of the time and is left-handed. Henri Nouwen is a pastor, counselor, and renown Christian author. He once wrote, “If you know you are the Beloved, you can live with an enormous amount of success and an enormous amount of failure without losing your identity. Because your identity is that

you are the Beloved…“ Right-handed people are treated as “the beloved” in the world. White people are treated as “the beloved” where they are in the majority. Our way of life is ordered in such a way that white people are predisposed to success while minorities struggle to achieve success. Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Let’s work to make the world a place where every individual has an equal opportunity to succeed whether they are right or left-handed and regardless of the color of their skin.

Pastor Kris Frank

UMW June Notes

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in

darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 NIV

June 18- UMW Noon Luncheon– Cancelled

June 30- Mission Today reports due

Library books featured in July We have a number of beautifully illustrated children’s books by Max Lucado:

Just in Case You Ever Wonder

All You Ever Need

Because I Love You

If Only I Had a Green Nose

Just The Way You Are

With You All The Way

You Are Mine

You Are Special

These books will be available for checkout in the Book Nook during July, along with the selections from

March through June.

Why is bible study important in our everyday life?

It is the power of the Lord. It helps us know God. It's God's manual for us. It renews your mind. It gives us wisdom (Proverbs). It lifts our spirit. It is never out of date.

It will reorder your values, and direct your path. It will renew your obedience.

John Bunyan wrote, "This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep

you from this book."

2020-2021 COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

As this scholarship season wraps up for us, we wanted to take time to give some much needed recognition to the students that received these scholarships. The Iowa United Methodist Foundation proudly announces that for the 2020-2021 school year, there was $163,010.00 awarded among 34 students who are attending college or seminary this fall. This is one of our favorite times of the year because we get to financially support some very deserving people for the upcoming school year and it is with great pleasure that we announce the recipients of these scholarships:

The Foundation would also like to say a very special thank you to all of our generous donors. Our scholarship program would not be possible without them. Their passion for higher education and donations have made our scholarship program reach above and beyond what we could have hoped for. These scholarships will help to relieve the financial burden of student debt that comes with obtaining a higher education and are helping pave the way for our future successful leaders and pastors. If you are interested in setting up your own scholarship fund either through a tax-savvy gift or in your will, check out our free anonymous gift planning tool at https://iumf.giftlegacy.com/. You can also contact the Foundation at 515-974-8927 or info@iumf.org for more information.

Montana Allyn Grace Decious Priscilla Joel Matthew Schubert

Brady Barrett Nathaniel Ferguson Jocelyn Johnson Ana Schurr

Emma Bock Zachary Hein Connor Junkins Dean Showers

Wren Bohr/Latcham Gabrielle Henderson Christopher Keller Lucas Sigler

Brandon Campbell Marissa Hernandez Ethan Kober Caitlin Smith

Megan Carlson Ryley Hoffman Karlin McGarvey Callie Yeakel

Olivia Collins David Hollingsworth Bailee Mergen Hunter Yearington

Jonathan Cox Rachel Hollingsworth Bailey Peterson

Colbee Cunningham Lauren Horn Ashley Rockhold

UMW Annual Nut Sale Plans are underway for the UMW annual nut sale for October

10, 2020. The sale will look a little different this year – no

morning coffee, no noon lunch – and the nuts will all be sold

by pre-order only. This means that you can pre-order one bag

or more of any kind of nuts that we are selling. There is no

minimum order. The pre-sales will happen during July and

August with August 31 as the deadline to order nuts. On the

date of the sale, orders will be sacked and ready to be picked up in the Fellowship Hall.

Below is a listing of the nuts available this year and price per bag or case. Please email your

order to Linda Ferguson at dlferguson@q.com . Payment will be due when the nuts are

picked-up.

Kind of nut Price/case Price/bag

Pecan halves $132.00 $11.00

Pecan pieces $132.00 $11.00

Light walnuts $132.00 $11.00

Black walnuts $132.00 $11.00

Cashews $132.00 $11.00

Almonds $132.00 $11.00

Mix nuts $132.00 $11.00

Heart healthy nut mix $132.00 $11.00

Trail Mix $120.00 $10.00

Almond cranberry granola $108.00 $9.00

Chocolate covered cashews $144.00 $12.00

Chocolate covered pecans $144.00 $12.00

Chocolate covered cranberries $120.00 $10.00