What's Happening - Nov 28th to Dec 5th!

What a thought provoking sermon spoken this past Sunday by Ralph.  I always appreciate a message which springs from someone's life experience.  In this instance, though Ralph himself admits - is not a "puzzle person" himself, he's part of a family which is made up of many avid "puzzlers".   Looking through eyes of faith, Ralph (and I know Krista sees with the same eyes) began to draw some concrete parallels between a puzzle being made up of many peices and us as being parts of the body of Christ. 

He painted the picture of how each piece is equally important to the entire picture, how the outside pieces create the "framework" to help guide the rest of the pieces together, but also to ensure the center pieces have a border to hold them from straying, how there are "cornerstone" pieces, which could be visuals of the pillars of our church and how if just one piece of the puzzle, upon completion, is missing - why we don't rest until we find that piece, this vital piece to complete the picture.  Oh, and not to forget mentioning the very shape of each piece causes us to have to "interlock" - we need to not just know one another but we need to enter into each other's lives - to overlap! 

I'm sure each of us who looks through eyes of our faith can draw parallels to the world around us.  This is what the Lord wants, I believe, for us to have a "living" faith which is reflected in everything around us.  As you work with your hands this week, enjoy hearing or seeing something which impacts you - won't you tease out the "spiritual" significance in it?  I'd love to share your thoughts here! 

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PLEASE PRAY FOR:

Dale and Florence as they minister "down south" within the RVing community.  (We miss you!)

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Church Events:

Prayer at Kayes

Thursday's @ 10 a.m.

Kaye is one of our Pillars - a true prayer warrior!  Join Kaye and church family in prayer times at her home. 

Open Worship

Friday's @ 7 p.m.

Come join us for a time of open worship!  Bring a friend and find warmth and hope as OCC welcomes you to bring prayer requests forward.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS:

With the holiday season fast approaching there are many events at all of the churches in our area.  It is wonderful for us to support the other ministries in our town and surrounding region.  Here are the events I've been notified about:

Festive Tea

Friday, December 10th

1 - 3 p.m.

Little Brown Church

9063 87th St, Osoyoos

Festive Tea

Saturday, December 4th

1 - 3 p.m.

St Ann's Catholic Church

7610 87th St, Osoyoos

This is a free tea & also a fundraiser for Canadian Food for Children

Craft Fair

Saturday, December 4th

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Concordia Lutheran Church and School 

2800 South Main St, Penticton

Admission - $1

Short term babysitting available

Raffles

Concession

Our very own Leila Freeman will be holding a table at this fair - featuring some of her home preserves (I've tasted and delighted!) and her beautiful fragrant hand-made soaps.  Leila would love to see some familiar faces here :)

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You may be noticing some BIG physical changes to our building - some exciting things in the works!  Stay tuned for some exciting things to be happening

OCC Weekly Recap, Events, Encouragement and a GIFT!

What an exciting time at Osoyoos Christian Centre - funny how everything outdoors is edging toward a time of hibernation while inside things are heating up.

Our church family, and extended church family of Park Drive Church from Oliver connected with us to do a little sprucing (or on second thought I might say "cedar-ing") up around our building. A small bobcat arrived on Saturday, along with some helping hands and even though the temperatures had plummeted severely and there was a bitter wind blowing everyone pitched in to begin the arduous task of taking out some of the cedar trees outside as there have been some which were sickly (and eye-sores) Here are some of the photos of the action on the outside. Does'nt Pastor Bart (Park Drive) look like he's actually ENJOYING this machine?

And while the outside was being looked after, there was some 'elbow grease' being lavished on the inside! There really is something special when we labour together, we come together as a family. We accomplished much - but even with all that was done Sunday night - in the dark DARK cold night (we are talking - 10 c) if you were to drive by Osoyoos Christian Centre you would have been witness to a group of zealous, passionate, energetic men STILL working with the bobcat and the cedar trees! No kidding, now thats impressive.

Thank you to all who helped. We will schedule another Work Bee in the future - stay tuned!

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Thank you to the Away Team (Praise and Worship) from Park Drive who annointed us with music ministry. Its always amazing how the music they choose works to enhance the message delivered, even when they are unaware at the time they choose their songs. Pastor Joseph delivered another segment of "Chaos to Destiny"

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Shirley shared a word from the congregation how she has been aware of the thought that we are to LOVE DEEPLY - as in the following scripture:

I Peter 1:22

Now that you have purified yourselves

by obeying the truth

so that you have sincere love for each other

love one another deeply

from the heart.

As this is our women's blog this scripture resounded within me and I thought to share it with you who could not be with us to hear it. I liked how Shirley said we need to look at one another with eyes of love - eyes that are able to find the good in each other. In this same strain I came across this scripture, which if we love deeply, this is an action of that love:

Galatians 6:2 (RSV)

Bear one another's burdens.

This sort of love removes the judgement from our vision - often the judgement of familiarity, when we seem the same faces all of the time. We must gaurd ourselves from this. Which leads to this quote I found as well.

Do not think that love,

in order to be genuine,

has to be extraordinary.

What we need is to love without getting tired.

~ Mother Teresa

And as our church moves forward, Pastor Joseph reminded us, what would it matter if our church became a "big success" if we don't grow together as a family? This week, when you find yourself with a few free moments, why not reach out to your church family via phone, email etc?

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EVENTS:

Thursday Prayer at Kaye's

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Friday night Open Worship

Time: 7:30 p.m. @ OCC
Bring a friend!

And speaking of events, its always wonderful to support the other churches in our community! I was sent this announcement for a fund-raising event for the Baptist Church. Lets come out and support this worthwhile ministry"

Garage Sale

Osoyoos Baptist Church (downstairs)

6210 Hwy 97

November 26th (friday) and 27th (saturday)

Time: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

All proceeds to support the Community Christmas Dinner and Alfredo and Amalia Sommer's Ministry in Argentina.

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We need your BAKING!

Our church would like to be able to meet the needs of anyone who should come hungry to our door. What we need are tinned soups, tuna, salmon, dried soups and HOME MADE baking. When I say home made baking, it would be nice to have a few lasagnes in our freezer and things like cookies so that if we need to warm something up quickly its there. So, if you feel you would like to contribute it would be much appreciated!

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Lastly - I wanted to give something away here on our blog - a small way to say thank you to those of you who visit and support our blog. So, as one of my gifts is working with graphics, I've created this Christmas Ornament which you are free to use for whatever purpose you would like. I'm hoping it might suit some of your needs for PowerPoint Presentations etc. You are free to use it in any way you like but if you include it in a digital scrapbooking kit for resale or anything like that, I ask that you would give credit to me - Barb Derksen.

This ornament is a PNG file, meaning it has a transparent background. Just right click on the picture and choose "save as" It is aproximately 6 inches in size (I still don't think in metric) and is 300 dpi (dots per inch) - meaning its very high quality and can be easily resized.

Blessings ~

Barb Derksen behalf OCC Women

"Farewells" "Welcomes" and "In Rememberance"

Isabelle Lukacsic

What a privilege to take part in our rememberance of our dear sister Isabelle, today at Osoyoos Christian Centre. I can honestly say this was the most beautiful and "real" memorial service I've ever been part of.

Thank you to Nathan and Leila Freeman who had a very special bond with Isabelle. Leila knew Isabelle from the time she was 11 years old (Leila, not Isabelle) lots of history there! Later on, during a "challenge" with the youth group in our church, Leila chose Isabelle's name to be paired with - each teen pairing with a senior, to develop a relationship. Later on, Leila and Nathan married and together they both continued to invest in Isabelle's life. Thursdays were "Family Day" for Nathan, Leila and Isabelle no matter what. Today, Leila and Nathan contributed their insight and used their gifts to help us all honour the memory of Isabelle. Nathan played several songs with themes that Isabelle would have loved to have heard and Leila delivered an eloquent eulogy - she captured the true essence of Isabelle.

Thank you to Pastor Ralph Hargrave for Officiating and to Krista Hargrave, Betty Henniger, Dale and Florence Archibald for all their hard work to put together the luncheon afterward. Thank you to The Royal Canadian Legion Branch # 173 for representing Isabelle as well.

Thank you to Pastor Don Schneider and wife Shirley for being here, it was wonderful to see you at OCC again.

First, a few facts about Isabelle. Isabelle celebrated her 80th birthday this past January. She was with our church for MANY years - 40 plus years!

Isabelle must have observed so much over her faithful years to our congregation - our family. Everyone who attended today knew Isabelle as part of the church, she clung on through all the ups and downs and changes over time, some of those times must have been discouraging but she never wavered. This quality about her has been a true ministry to each of us women in our body.

There was a time of open sharing from the gathering and here were some of the words and thoughts shared - the more personal touches that we each enjoyed about Isabelle - the things that made her ... HER!

Isabelle often had "words" from the Lord. She always shared whenever she did - and many people concur that these words were "right on"

Isabelle loved to share scripture, and really dwelt in the Psalms. Again, when she shared it more than likely "fit" with the message spoken by our Pastor(s)

Isabelle was a dear friend to the widows!

She shared 40 years of sweet friendship with Kaye Harkness - thats a tremendous amount of time.

Isabelle was a prayer "warrior" She was not afraid to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, whether she was in church or on the street.

She was an encouragement to others and to other ministries in our community.

Isabelle was completely unique - forthright, she "spoke the truth"

She was faithful.

She had a great sense of humour.

She was independant.

She was "gruff" on the outside at times, but if you worked to get to know her you discovered a beautiful, warm, and very very generous person waiting to share friendship with you.

She was "proud" in that she did not want to be a burden on anyone.

She loved to join in church activities and you could count on her to be there.

She loved to open her home for church activities.

She was a good cook.

Isabelle was this, and so much more. We will miss Isabelle so very much but we celebrate that we can be confident that Isabelle is with her Lord and savior today. Thank you to Isabelle's family for sharing her with us over the years.

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Ralph and Krista Hargrave

We welcome Pastor Ralph Hargrave and Krista to our ministry. Ralph and Krista are also long-time members of OCC over the years with a small gap the past few years when they were away due to ministering to the needs of family members. We are so glad to have you back, and back on board! Ralph and Krista will be taking responsibility for home visitations and are also will be leading worship services at Mariposa Gardens, bringing ministry to the seniors.

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Farewell for a season to Dale and Florence Archibald who are vital, well respected and much loved in our OCC family. Dale has preached over the year - faithfully shared God's Good Word with us and we have benefitted from His obedience and annointing. Dale and Florence took ownership of the Mariposa Gardens ministry to date before passing the torch to Ralph and Krista. Besides these essential contributions, both Dale and Florence have provided so much more service to our church. They are always "helping hands" with all events. They are the first faces you will see when an event happens - I'm talking they are there when things need to be set up, and I've worked side by side with Dale, his shirt sleeves rolled right up, doing dishes! Florence is like a hummingbird in the background, swiftly and efficiently taking care of all things in the way of setting up and dishing out the food and taking the laundry home as well. And I've not even mentioned her Operation Shoeboxes ministry she is faithful to each year.

Dale and Florence will now follow the Canadian Geese south where they will pour their blessings into the ministry they've built up "across the line" in the warmer climes. They've grown quite an impressive little "RV ministry" and seen much fruit from this. We will truly miss you both. Thank you for everything you do, so selflessly. We will pray for your safe journey. We love you! Please send home reports 'from the road' for us to share here!

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REMINDERS!

Farewell Luncheon for Dale and Florence

Sunday, November 14th

Following morning services

Where: OCC

No need to bring anything but a hearty appetite! Come say goodbye to Dale and Florence for this season.

Work Bee
Saturday, November 2o 10:30 a.m.
Where: OCC

Don't wear your new clothes. Do bring a good attitude and elbow grease.

Prayer at Kaye's
EVERY Thursday morning 10:00 a.m.

Come, bring a prayer requests!

Upcoming Events

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Memorial for Isabelle Lukacsik

Date: Saturday, November 13th
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Where: Osoyoos Christian Centre, 42 Finch Crescent, Osoyoos
Phone: 250-495-2550
Info: There will be an informal luncheon following the service - welcome to bring a dish along!

Shoebox Deadline

All shoeboxes should be submitted this Sunday for Operation Shoebox. Please be sure to include the form and monies for each.

Date: Sunday, November 14th.

Church Work-Bee

This will be a time of prepping our Church and yard for the winter months. Bring Elbow-Grease!

Date: Saturday, November 20th @ 10:30 a.m.
Where: Osoyoos Christian Centre

There is Hope

credit:

created by Barb Derksen

one of the picture layers from a phtograph by mancity@sxc

Have you ever watched a ray of light break through dark clouds in the sky? Ever wondered what this phenomenon is called? I did, so I looked it up - there's an actual name for these rays. They are called Crepascular Rays. They stream through gaps in the clouds or between objects. Dark cloud areas seperate the bars of light between. The name Crepascular refers to the TIME these occur, a time called Crepascular hours - the time between around dawn and dusk, when the light/dark contrast is the highest. I am always drawn to these rays, pausing whenever I see them.

I think what thought forms in my mind is that the reason the rays make such a visual impact is that because the rest of the sky is dark and forboding, the small slivers of light which pour through and illuminate appear brilliant! Though they take up the least amount of the vista, they draw our full attention. They make me think of HOPE.

No matter how dark the world seems, no matter how alone you feel, Jesus is there - even when we cannot see him. When the clouds block out His light - but never forever. The goodness and light is merely biding its time. Sometimes, for me, a small ray of hope does more for me than an entire sky of sunshine.

Here's a small poem which I found in Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Chas E. Cowman, which is a good reminder for us:

God is above the clouds! - the darkest; most depressing;

The clouds of disappointment, burden, anguish, pain;

The clouds of long suspense; of tidings most distressing;

God is above the clouds! - and skies will smile again.

-by J. Danson Smith (from "Thou Remainest," London, England.)