WAHIAWA UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
Our new officers for 2008 will be attending District Officers Training meeting on January 19, and will be installed on United Methodist Women's Sunday, January 27, during the church service that day. The women will also be helping with the church service as our "wedding gift" to Pastor Fran. The new officers are:
- President: Carolyn Steuer
- Vice-President: Benita George
- Secretary: Doris Lee
- Treasurer: Hanne LaRue
- Mission Coordinators:
- Spiritual Growth: Maxine Wheeler
- Social Action: Sheila Beckham
- Education and Interpretation: Shirley Kimata
- Membership-Nuture-Outreach: Ellen Wakabayashi
- Communication Coordinator: Shaureen Kurch
- Program Resources: Hisako Arinaga
- Nominations: Edna Pascua
We have many activities already planned, starting with a Christmas Salad Luncheon on Saturday, December 8, from noon to 2 pm at the home of Sheila Beckham. We can meet at the church at 11:45 and carpool if you aren't sure of the location. Gifts will be brought to support elderly women through Project Dona. These should be new items and suggestions are being given by the Outreach Committee with a list posted in the narthex of the church. Other suggestions are items such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand lotion, etc. that could be packaged together in a Christmas basket. After the collection of items, the UMW is being asked to work with the Outreach Committee in wrapping and delivering the gifts.
On Saturday, January 12, at the church from 11 am to 1 pm, the UMW is teaming up with the Outreach Committee and UMM as we hold a wedding shower for Pastor Fran and Walter Killough, who are getting married at our church on Saturday, January 26. This wedding shower is for all to attend, men and women and youth. It will be a group gift of currency of any denomination (no checks) placed into a calabash with all signing a group card, which will be presented to the happy couple. There will be special decorations and favors by the Outreach Committee, a light lunch and cake by the UMW, with the men helping with the table set up and clean-up. We will all be putting our heads together to make this a festive, fun day for all. Mark your calendars and come!
WIN (WOMEN IN NEED)
Women In Need is a Family Resource Center offering free parenting classes to women ages 18 and older. Classes (each limited to 12 students) are free to the community, and welcome people referred by CPS (Child Protective Services) and Court Mandated referrals.
They have successfully offered classes for over 10 years in the Waianae area, and are expanding to Wahiawa and the North Shore. Their office is at 66-434 D, Kamehameha Highway, Hale'iva, HI 96712. You can contact them at that office or call 637-HELP (4357).
WIN has contracted with Wahiawa UMC to begin classes in the Library starting the end of October. Classes will be Tues, Wed & Thurs., 10:00 - 11:30am and 1 - 2:30pm, and will be taught by Toni Avrett.
If you know of anyone who would benefit from these classes, please have them contact WIN.
GRIEFSHARE PROGRAM
The Grace Moore Kimata Center will present the GriefShare Sessions starting on August 7, 2007, in the Youth Room from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. The series will run for 13 weeks and cover the following subjects:
- 1: When Your Dreams Fall Apart
- 2: Seasons of Grief
- 3: Emotions of Grief, Part 1
- 4: Emotions of Grief, Part 2
- 5: When Your Spouse Dies
- 6: Your Family and Grief
- 7: Where is God?
- 8: Your Greatest Resource
- 9: Stuck in Grief or Moving On?
- 10: Growing Through Grief
- 11: Grief Recovery Tool Kit
- 12: God's Spiritual Hospital
- 13: Longing for Heaven
The sessions are non-threatening and can help anyone who has suffered a loss of a loved one. Discussions are held in strict confidence. Those who are interested in successfully traveling the journey from mourning to joy, or those who merely want to increase their awareness of the grief and recovery process, are welcome to participate. There will be no charge for the text or the course. To sign up for the GriefShare course, please contact Jim Higa (232-3992) or Paul Misaka (621-5236).
WAHIAWA PRESCHOOL
The congregation is invited to the Wahiawa Preschool Christmas Program on Friday, December 14, at 10 am. The children will be presenting songs for their parents and our seniors from Aged to Perfection. This will be followed with a family craft time and lunch. There may be some of the children whose parents are unable to attend due to other commitments, so we can easily "hanai" extra church members so that each child will have a special adult to be with during their Christmas craft time. Our Director, Miss Taryn, shares that ALL are welcome and values the support that our church members give to our preschool.
For further information and rates, call Director Taryn at 621-6214 or visit our website at www.wahiawapreschoolumc.org .
Taryn Halmos-Andres, Director, Wahiawa UMC Preschool
SUNDAY ALOHA RECEPTION
After every Sunday worship service, we have an Aloha Reception. It is a wonderful opportunity to greet newcomers and to renew friendships. Receive a cool drink and a bite to eat and observe the smiles and fellowship taking place.
Your participation as a host for the Aloha Reception is a great way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or any special occasion. Please look at the sign-up poster located in the narthex and fill in that open space with your name and the special occasion. Sign up early so you can get as close as possible to the date of that special occasion that you wish to celebrate.
You can host the Aloha Reception with a partner or if you want us to find a partner for you, please let us know and we will do that. If you are able to donate refreshments and choose to not host the Aloha Reception, please contact us.
A special Mahalo goes out to everyone who has donated refreshments or hosted the Aloha Reception. The Aloha Reception is an extension of the Wahiawa United Methodist Church Ohana's Aloha to visitors and regular church attendees.
Thank you very much,
June Higa
623-4941
LITERARY GROUP
The Literary Group met at the parsonage on November 9, 2007. On January 18 we will be hosted by Bob Lormand.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years -- from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding. It is a story of two women from two different generations, whose lives intertwine. It shows the horrible conditions for women during the time of the Taliban, yet how these women managed to survive and develop a close friendship. I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who wants to become aware of the conditions of Afghanistan where we have our military serving. 5*****
Language Police by Diane Ravitch. Before any material can be used in school readers and text books, it must be vetted by a bias and sensitivity committee. An anthology used in Tennessee schools changed "By God" to " By gum!" and "My God!" to "You don't mean it." California rejected a reading book because The Little Engine That Could was male.
The author maintains that America's students are compelled to read insipid texts that have censored and bowdlerized, issued by publishers who willingly cut controversial material from their books -- to sell books in big states. Sadly, data show that these efforts to sanitize language do not advance learning or bolster test scores, the very reason given for banning allegedly insensitive words and topics. 4***
The Rainmaker by John Grisham. A young lawyer just out of law school and just passed the bar exam takes on an insurance company. He is representing a young man's family. The young man died of leukemia and the insurance company denied payment for a necessary bone marrow transplant. The jury awards the family 50 million dollars of which the lawyer gets a third. However, the insurance company declares bankruptcy. In the meantime, a young married lady he loves has a very abusive husband and wants a divorce. The young lawyer represents her. They got her apartment to get her things when the abusive husband appears and begins to go after them. He is drunk and soon the young man gets a bat and kills him. The young lady takes the blame and goes to jail. The couple is threatened by the deceased's family and the young lawyer produces lots of cases of abusiveness and the judge drops the charges. The couple leave the city of Memphis and settle in a college town where she goes to college and he applies to teach at a high school and swears he will never enter a court again. 4****
Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber. Four very different women meet every week for breakfast, to talk, to share the truths they've discovered about their lives; to tell their stories, recount their sorrows, and their joys; to offer each other encouragement and unstinting support. A time to think about lives lived, choices made, and a time for friends. 3***
Night of Many Dreams by Gail Tsukiyama. This is a powerful story about two sisters coming of age in Hong Kong, beginning just before WWII. When the war threatens their comfortable life in H.K. they escape with their family to Macau. After the war and return to H.K., the older sister hopes for a traditional marriage and children until her passion for movies gives her a promise of a different life. The younger one, Emma, is inspired by her independent aunt and goes to college in San Francisco and the challenge of life in America. But, through times of great happiness and sorrow, the sisters learn that their complicated lives, tying each other and to the other members of their close-knit family, are a source of strength as they pursue their separate lives. 4****
The Sunroom by Beverly Lewis. A feel good book, comparable with Tuesdays with Morrie. A twelve year old girl pianist learns of her mother's critical illness. Hospital rules forbid children to visit, so the sunroom becomes the only visual contact with her beloved mother. 4****
The Gift by Nora Roberts. Three beautiful love stories, just right to get you into the Christmas spirit: Home for Christmas -- After years abroad, a reporter returns home determined to win back the girl he left behind. All I Want for Christmas -- Identical twins wanted only one gift for Christmas: a new mom. Gabriel's Angel -- All he wanted was solitude, but after rescuing a woman in a snow storm he couldn't turn her away, for she brought him the gift of passion, life, hope ... if he had the courage to reach for it. 3***
My Mother's Lovers by Christopher Hope. It seemed to Kathleen Healy Africa was empty and all of it belonged to her. An aviator, big game hunter, and knitting devotee, she would land her plane wherever and whenever she chose. She once boxed 3 rounds with Ernest Hemmingway in a Kenyan gym. Her lovers came from all over the world. When she dies her only son, Alexander, returns to Johannesburg to distribute her legacy. All of the things show Kathleen's sense of humor. Alex delivers a cache of firearms to a former apartheid enforcer who now resides in a rest home and must hide the arms under his bed. She gives her knitting needles to Bamadodi, the Rain Queen. Alex inherits the house and a gardener who is an exile. He then meets Cindy September and confronts his capacity for love. 4****
Play Dead by David Rosenfelt. Andy Carpenter loves golden retrievers, especially Tara, his own dog. When he successfully appeals another golden's death sentence in a New Jersey courtroom, Andy discovers that Reggie, the dog he saved, is connected to a murder that took place 5 years before. As he struggles to free an innocent man, he discovers a chain of impersonations and murder which places him at extraordinary risk. 3***
The Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee. In London in 1711, the rich young offspring of the city's most fashionable families fill their days with masquerade balls and illicit affairs. Arabelle Fermore, beautiful and vain, and Robert, Lord Petre, the 7th Baron of Insgatestone begin their pursuit of pleasure. Alexander Pope, sickly and nearly penniless yet uncommonly witty and ambitious, is allowed entrance into high society. He is a ruthless observer. All he needs is one poem grand enough to catapult him to fame and fortune. In the aftermath of Arabelle and Robert's affair, Pope discovers the idea for a daring poem -- The Rape of the Lock. 4****
The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown. The story is narrated by Alice, a redheaded tomboy and motherless girl who is loved and protected by her 5 older brothers and father, a professor of Shakespeare. On Memorial Day, at her 10th birthday party in the garden of her Vermont home, Alice meets to people unlike any she has known before. Theo is a mixed-race New York City kid visiting his white grandparents for the summer. Kenneth is a world famous artist with AIDS who has come home to convalesce with his middle aged sister. Alice and Theo form an instant bond and almost as quickly find themselves drawn into Kenneth's orbit. When the children begin a daily routine of reading aloud to the artist, who is losing his eyesight, they discover the journals of Lewis and Clark. They decide to embark on their own wilderness adventure: they plan and secretly build a "rope walk" all summer long through the woods for Kenneth. 4****
Dead Heat by Dick Francis. Max Moreton is a rising culinary star. His Newmarket Restaurant, Hey Net, is a popular restaurant with very high acclaim. He is serving dinner at one of Britain's famed 2,000 guineas stake where the diners are present for a horse racing event. However, at one of these events the guests all suffer severe food poisoning. His kitchen is shattered and his reputation takes a hit. To meet another obligation on an exclusive lunch for forty in a glass-fronted private boxes at the 2,000 guineas stake a bomb blast rips the private boxes killing some of Max's trusted staff and many of the guests. When he finds multiple misfortune is occurring to him personally, he realizes his life is being threatened so he begins an intensive search for his attackers.
Molecules of Emotion. The author finds in her research the curious awareness of emotion attached to cells with T-four receptors. Paptites attaches to different places affecting the whole body. She says for helpful living live heathfully and holistically or treat the whole body. 4****
