A donated backpack + your time = a huge gift

 

We are wrapping up our Karen backpack drive this weekend! Please return all backpacks filled with school supplies to Five Oaks by Sunday, July 30. (Yes, you may bring them to our baptism service on Sunday!) Attached are the lists for supplies needed in both the elementary and the high school aged backpacks. Thank you for your generosity for these Karen children. Many of these kids have only recently arrived in the US and cannot afford to purchase school supplies for their kids in the midst of all the other new expenses they've incurred.

What's even better than knowing you helped some "new kids" feel welcomed with a filled backpack?  Seeing the joy on their faces as they receive these backpacks. You can share this experience by volunteering, alongside the Bryant small group, to help with Karen VBS on August 6-8, 6:30-8 pm each night. This is a low-key, relationship-focused serving opportunity, one that requires no VBS-leading experience.  We'd love your help with things as simple as talking to community members while their kids are participating, helping distribute treats, kicking a soccer ball with youth, or helping kids with crafts and games. The Karen community loves this event and looks forward to our return every year. All ages and families are welcome to help! Interested? Please contact Kristen Bryant, bryantkristen@hotmail.com. 

Weekend of July 15+16

Celebrating Baptism -- Baptism is the outward expression of our inward decision to follow Jesus. In baptism we identify with Jesus, and we identify with the church. As a community of people who follow Jesus, celebrating baptism is a part of how we celebrate following him together. Join us at Five Oaks on July 30, at 10 am in our backyard to celebrate those taking the step of baptism.

Missionary Highlight: Zimmermans

You've heard about and possibly met international students. Here is a story that shows the impact we can have for the kingdom when we engage them.

It's also interesting to note that our missions weekend speaker, after speaking to us, returned to his home country to speak to a church that was formed by believers who had become Christians while studying in or working in the United States and then returned to their home country to share the gospel.

Kevin Johnson
Impact Director

To contact Russ & Di Zimmerman, email them at rzimmerman@bridgesinternational.com.

Acorn Café Celebrations!

We have such outstanding volunteers here at Five Oaks, that I love when we can take the opportunity to acknowledge them.

Today I’m taking a moment to celebrate Peg Benson, who was our Acorn Café Team Leader for the past SIX years, and Tammy & Gene Sheldon, who have taken over that role this summer.

I’m so grateful for Peg and her family, who have faithfully (and literally!) SERVED our congregation in this position. Peg has shown all of her volunteers and our church family what it means to be a true servant. Her kindness, smile, and listening ear have made the Acorn Café a great place to serve at Five Oaks! We’re thankful that even though Peg won’t leading the Acorn Team any longer, you’ll still see her around, as she has taken on a bigger role with our church staff. Thank you, Peg!

I’m also excited to introduce you to our new Acorn Café leaders – Tammy & Gene Sheldon! They’ve both been fixtures at Acorn Café for a while, so you have likely seen them there. Tammy will be our main leader, our point person for the volunteers, and Gene will handle the training of our new volunteers. They both bring great experience and wonderful enthusiasm for heading up the Acorn Café – the social hub of the church! Welcome, Tammy & Gene - We’re so glad to have you take on this role!

When you see any of these three around, take a minute to say Hi, and thank them for their dedication to Five Oaks!

Until next time…

Pam Hawley
Associate Director of Connections

Intentionally...

As parents, we often times have dreams for our kids that will help propel them towards success in life and we only have a very few, short, 18 years to do so. As I have one who just graduated, the hope that I have done this whole parenting gig well is on a continuous roll in my head. I have dreamt of great things for her, big dreams that only God could accomplish through her.  We need to help our kids dream. We need to teach them to dream big and give them opportunity to let them watch God show up in their life. 

Questions that I try to keep in the forefront of my mind, as a children's ministry director, are;  do we, as a church, dream big for our young people? Are we intentionally paying attention to the young people of our church? Are we prioritizing their faith journey inside the walls of our church so they can take the gospel outside to the world around them? Are we allowing God to use us to accomplish His work in their lives?

As we have been studying the life of David through the Gospel Project, I have been taking as many quick moments as I can to take in the activity of our classrooms down in the children's wing. A few weekends ago, I stood outside the lively 2's and 3's classroom and listened as our amazing teachers shared the story of David with the kids. They had a large picture of David and and even larger picture of Goliath hanging on the wall as they told the story with such life that  held these precious little ones attention and excitement. The dreams that I have had for this ministry were coming to life through these volunteers, as it does with many others, and the power of the word of God was alive in the eyes of these young ones. This couple was allowing God to use them to accomplish His work in their young lives.  

I am so thankful for our volunteers that show up week after week for the kids of Five Oaks. They bring the story of God to life in the eyes and hearts of these young ones that will help them create God sized dreams. They intentionally pay attention to these young lives and I couldn't be more grateful. 

As the world around our kids becomes a bigger space, let's, as a church, pray bigger prayers for them, show up in bigger ways for them and help them dream God-sized dreams so that they can watch God show up for them.  Let's continue to be intentional in their lives just as God is in ours.