A New Look and "Fellow-Shopping"

Hello Everyone!

Here's hoping the past two weeks have been good for you and that you are anticipating a wonderful Easter weekend with friends and family.

How do you like the new look of our blog? I'd love your feedback. You can either leave a comment by clicking the COMMENTS at the bottom of this post - or feel free to email me at occwomenonline@gmail.com

This is a brief post, but it will include Pastor Jussi's message and also a the beautiful worship song "holiness"

In the time since I last posted here Jussi and Leena have arrived and joined our church family. We are so very grateful for their leadership and fellowship - they've already been industrious and I see their touches on our church building and feel their warmth and welcoming within our group. They were fortunate to find temporary housing for now, but are still seeking a permanent home, cat friendly for this pretty fluffy little Ulla, who as you can see is helping with the daily bible reading.

As you can see, she really is an "inside" cat and so if you might hear of a reasonably priced rental it would be much appreciated if you could contact them.

Here is Pastor Jussi's message, preached Sunday, March 28th. Just click on the Play button to hear it.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

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A group of our church members went out for an outting to Penticton yesterday which we have dubbed a "Fellow-Shop" and it proved to be a wonderful way to get together. We are considering doing a local one in our own community and we hope to prompt some of our senior members to come along!

Here are a few photos of our day:

Leila arrived with Henna on her hands!

And she brought cup cakes too! Num!

Melanie, chatting to us in the back seat (we fit 7 people in the van!)

Anglela, waiting for the doors to open!

Our first stop was at a thrift store which rotates its stock twice a year, this being one of those times. We arrived a few minutes early and waited in line. Thankfully the sun was shining by the time we arrived.

Rose, asking "Does THIS suit me? The hat, the sweater?"

Ah, the basket overflows!

Leila, buying a coat for a friend - she's always thinking of others!

Not such a clear picture, but this is Cowboy, the dog, who thinks he's a hood ornament, or just sunning himself in the dash window. And I thought we might be able to see Ken in this picture - he was kind enough to drive us all there and back, even though he had to drive to Kelowna later. Thank you Ken, we really appreciated it.

And what would an outting be without good food - we ate at a Chinese Buffet before hitting a few other stores.

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PRAYER, PLEASE!

Dallas - Ken and Al's father who is receiving radiation in Kelowna.

Please let me know if you have a prayer request!

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EVENTS

Inter Church Service Easter Service -

Bring a friend - join all the churches in our area in Praising the Lord!

Date - Friday, April 2

Time - 10:30 a.m.

Place - Osoyoos Baptist Church (hwy 97)

Phone - 250-495-6591

Easter Dinner - All Welcome! At the Johnson's. The meat and potato dishes are provided, please bring whatever you would like to complement. For more information:

Date - Monday, April 5

Time - 2:30 p.m.

Place - 18 Larkspur

Phone - 250-495-5133 (Ken, Rose, Al)

Women's Prayer Group -

Hosted by Kaye - she's been praying over Osoyoos and with our women for over thirty years to date.

Date - Thursday, April 1

Time - 10:30

Place - Kaye's 7806 Gravenstein Drive

Phone - 250-495-6816

Women's Fellowship Meeting -

We are listening to the series from Midday Connection called "Friendships of Women" and are now on part 9. Bring a friend!

Date - Tuesday, April 5th

Time - 1:30

Place - 18 Larkspur Drive (Rose's)

Yard Sale -

There will be a yard sale at OCC - There are plenty of tables so if you would like to set one of your own up you're welcome. Nathan and Leila are going to China and so they are raising funds towards this and they welcome you to contribute :):)

Date - Tuesday, April 10 th

Time - To Be Announced

Place - Osoyoos Christian Centre

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And to leave you on a musical note - here's Miles and Leena leading in song with "Holiness" May you have a wonderful weekend!

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Helping Hands

My sincere apologies for not posting this past week - Miles and I were away. Also, I will not be adding content for following two weeks as well, but posts should resume after that.

At today's OCC Women's Meeting - held at Rose's place, we enjoyed a presentation by Vi on behalf of the Canadian Food for Children, Okanagan Division.

Click on picture to visit an information

page about the Canadian Food for Children

Vi gave us a background of this valuable ministry and her experience having served for the past ten years. She showed us many ways in which our women might assist in providing various items to help children in many countries. Many of the items are common sense and recyclable and we are encouraged to bundle them into "kits" - eg:

Hospital Boxes - sheets, towels, pillow cases, light blankets, bandages, laundry and hand soap.

Earthquake Barrels - Plastic for ground sheets, blankets, jackets, sweaters, candles and matches, soap, towels, dishes, candy.

Carpenter Kit - Work clothes for man, tape measures, hammers, hand saws, screwdrivers, squares, files and rasps, axes, chisels, wrenches, nails, screws, nuts and bolts, lumber.

So you can see that these "kits" vary from simple ones, to ones which might enable someone to start a business. What I appreciated is that so many of the items can be something you might recycle from your own household, pick up from yard sales or gather from friends and neighbours.

Hand Sewn Bag

Rehydration Kit - Salt, Sugar, Sippy-Cup, pkgs of sugar

Hand knitted baby items

We are encouraged to knit, sew - whatever we might have a talent for and can help with! Nice to have our hands busy.

As we already take part in the Shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse, we have experience in doing this sort of thing. This will complement this ministry for us - and enable us to gather more things that might get overlooked because they might not be "brand new". Also, we are able to visit the local warehouse for the Canadian Food for Children, Okanagan Division in Penticton for a tour and can volunteer there too.

This is a non-Governmental Organization. It is completely staffed by volunteers. They operate on donations from groups and individuals. They pay no salaries. They seldom have containers go astray, having strict red tape protocol and designated receivers in each country who are working with the people and who provide feedback letters and photographs.

"if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

Romans 12:18

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Welcome to Jussi and Leena, arriving to shepherd and join our flock very soon!

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Next Women's Meeting - Tuesday, March 23rd - mark it on your calendar.