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Drawing by K. F. Dunker

2 Worship Schedule Worship Notes

3 Education Getting Involved

4 Student Ministry Committee Notes Youth Activities

5 International Ministry Take Note

6 Kebede Mission Kebede Budget

7 Anniversaries Birthdays Financial Report

After all of the excitement of the first Christmas was over, Luke tells us Mary “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” She treasured the angelic visitor who had set everything in motion. She treasured Joseph’s steadfast love for her as they made the jour-ney from Nazareth to Bethlehem. She treasured the time she spent with her relative, Elizabeth, and her own miraculous pregnancy. She treasured the shepherd’s visit and messages. As Mary went through times of struggle and sorrow or trials and troubles, she could always re-member what had happened and how God had blessed her. We sometimes struggle with what to do once the excitement of Christmas is over. The toys that were so new and shiny Christmas morning soon break or are discarded for newer toys. The meals together are finished, and the pile of dishes in the sink remains. Decorations are boxed up and put in the attic to wait for next year. People scatter again to their separate lives, leaving only memories behind. What are you treasuring in your heart after your Christmas holidays? Is it the time spent with family? Is it the way your child’s eyes lit up as they unwrapped the present they begged for all year? Is it the compli-ments on the way your house was decorated, or the way the meal

tasted? Is it the sound of a Christmas carol heard in a new way, or the fa-miliar notes of an old favorite? Or is it the joy in the children’s faces as they got dressed up as shepherds or angels and went up front? Or was it watching the glow of the candles as we sang “Silent Night” during the Christmas Eve service? Mary treasured all of these things in her heart. As she faced the challenges of the coming years, of fleeing to Egypt to escape the wrath of a murderous king, of raising a family, of watching her baby grow up and begin doing miracles, of watching her son crucified, she would treasure these things in her heart. She would remember the promises of the angels. She’d re-member the shepherds and the wise men. She’d remember Joseph and the manger. She’d treasure up the promises of God in her heart. Treasure up these things. Ponder them in your heart as the new year begins and life gets difficult again. Ponder them as the darkness of win-ter darkens your moods. Ponder them as life gets busy. Pause, reflect, and treasure in your heart how God has worked in your life. ~DRB

Treasure These Things

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Worship Schedule

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Music Groups Resume for Spring Semester

Now is a great time to join as these groups begin a new semester.

Bells and Chimes II will begin rehearsals Tuesday, January 15 at 6 PM in the organ loft. Contact Director John Anderson (oldogjohn@hotmail.com)

Memorial Bells will begin rehearsals Tuesday, January 15 at 7 PM in the Organ Loft. Contact director Jena Nahnsen (jnahnsen@iastate.edu).

Memorial Choir will begin rehearsals Thursday, January 17 at 7 PM in the Organ Loft. Contact Director, So-Yeoun Lee (devotion@iastate.edu)

Memorial Brass will begin rehearsals Thursday, January 17 at 8:15 PM in the Organ Loft. Contact Director, P.J. VanDerWeide (pjv@iastate.edu)

The spring semester starts a week later than usual this year, so we will have informal worship on Sunday, January 6th at 11 AM.

Worship NotesWorship NotesWorship NotesWorship Notes

January Worship

Schedule

Saturday, Jan. 5 5:00 PM Informal Worship (HC) Sunday, Jan. 6 8:30 AM Epiphany-Creative Worship 11:00 AM Epiphany-Creative Worship HC) Saturday, Jan. 12 5:00 PM Informal Worship (HC) Sunday, Jan. 13 8:30 AM Baptism of Jesus-Creative Worship (HC) 11:00 AM Baptism of Jesus-Creative Worship (HC) Saturday, Jan. 19 5:00 PM Informal Worship (HC) Sunday, Jan. 20 8:30 AM Divine Service 4 (HC) 11:00 AM Divine Service 4 (HC)

Saturday, Jan. 26 5 :00 PM Informal Worship (HC) Sunday, Jan. 27 8:30 AM Divine Service 1 11:00 AM Divine Service 1(HC)

The Memorial Messenger, published monthly [except August] Current Issue: January 2019, Volume 58, Issue 1 Online at: www.MemorialLutheranChurch.org/churchnews

Memorial Lutheran Church and Student Center, 2228 West Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50014-7185 Office Phone: 515-292-5005; Email: mlcamesia@aol.com

Mark Heilman, Pastor………………………………………...email: mkheilman@aol.com David Beagley, Associate Pastor ……………………………email: drbeagley@aol.com Richard N. Osslund, Pastor Emeritus……………………….email: rnosslund@aol.com Judy Newhouse, Coordinator of Int’l Ministry…………….email: ism.mlchurch@gmail.com Jeanne Noack, Administrative Asst.………………………….email: mlcsecretary@aol.com Lyle Groth, Director of Volunteers………cell: 515-451-0573; email: legroth1@gmail.com Kebede & Workitu, Agricultural Missionaries…………….email: kebedemt09@gmail.com Mail: Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Tabor Congregation, PO Box 49, Awasa, Ethiopia

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Men's Bible Class meets each Thursday at 1 PM. We encourage, especially retired men of our congregation, to join us in our study of the Scriptures...and a unique opportunity for men's fellowship. Women's Bible Break meets each Wednesday at 11:15 AM. We study the Word of God together with conversations about how that Word applies to us. If you are available on Wednesday mornings, we invite you to join us. There will be Sunday school every Sunday in the spring semester except for March 20 for spring break and April 21 for Easter Sunday. Adult Information Class : If you are interested in reviewing your Christian faith from an adult point of view or if you are not a Lutheran and would like to investigate the Lutheran understanding of the Christian faith, we will have an Adult Information Class for six weeks beginning January 16, 7-8 PM weekly on Wednesday evenings. Contact Pastor Mark for more information. Confirmation Classes will be held for grades 6-8 beginning January 9 at 5:15 PM. Our thanks to all who helped with the Sunday School Christmas Service on December 9, especially the teachers and music directors Connie Ringlee and Jeff and Denise Balvanz, and Norm Weitzel as sound tech. We thank Carol Weber for arranging for youth to share their musical talent before the service. If you would like a copy of the DVD of the service or of pictures taken by Ken Dunker, check with the church office.

We wish to thank those who helped with Project Compassion. The Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts were made by the 6th and 7th grade confirmation classes.

We thank all those who helped with the preparation, serving, and clean up for the Advent dinners.

Volunteer Opportunities Sunday School New teachers are needed for the new year. To be a teacher’s aide or substitute or to serve in the nursery, con-tact Pastor Mark.

International Nursery Volunteer in the nursery anytime, Monday-Wednesdays at 10 AM, beginning in January.

Service Volunteers Substitute as an Usher, Greeter, or Communion Assistant. We have a special need for ushers for Ash Wednesday, March 6 and Maundy Thursday, April 18. Contact Lyle.

Altar Guild Work with Altar Guild to prepare Holy Communion, contact Brenda Smith (mooncat1463@gmail.com)

Get involved with the International Ministry

Volunteers are needed to sit with internationals during the 11 AM service to help lead them through the wor-ship. Prayer chain: If you would like to be part of the prayer chain please share your email address. If you have a request, please email Lyle at legroth1@gmail.com

EducationEducationEducationEducation

Getting InvolvedGetting InvolvedGetting InvolvedGetting Involved

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The student activities committee held a scavenger hunt December 2nd. The four students who were the winners received gift cards from Casey’s. Students will be invited to the luncheon held on January 27th following the 11 AM service. This is good way to welcome new students and those who are returning for the new semester. Student Fellowship will resume January 16 at 8:30 PM in the student center. Our peer ministers for the spring semester will be installed January 13th. Plans are being made for a spring break student servant event the week of March 17. Contact Pastor Dave if you are interested.

The 6-8th graders, for their monthly activity on November 14 went bowling. The middle school youth had a Christ-mas party on December 19. They will meet for their next supper and activity on January 16. The 6th grade class made the gifts for the Christmas “Project Compas-sion” visits. The high youth group traveled to the Ronald McDonald house in Des Moines on November 18 to deliver donations. They sent the congregation Christmas postcards on December 2nd and had a Christmas party on December 16th. In the winter we hope to hold lock-ins for both groups. Elaina Soulek and Dan Voss, our youth directors, and student as-sistant, Luke Heilman are planning a youth lock-in for late January.

Youth ActivitiesYouth ActivitiesYouth ActivitiesYouth Activities

Student MinistryStudent MinistryStudent MinistryStudent Ministry

Summary of the December 11 Board of Directors Meeting

The board will be checking further into send-ing student Hannah Heit to Ethiopia to work with poultry projects with Kebede and Workitu. Funds could be taken from the unre-stricted endowment to support this. The pastors have been asked by Iowa District East to serve the vacancy at Trinity, State Cen-ter. This would be done in a similar manner as was done twice at Faith, Nevada, with one pas-tor missing the 8:30 AM service and Education hour to handle service at the vacant church. The board approved this. The board will select a congregation member in 2019 and one of the pastors to serve as our congregation’s voters for the presidium of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which meets for its triennial convention this summer. According to the updated constitution this elec-tion is done directly by the congregations and prior to the convention. Next meeting—January 8

Committee NotesCommittee NotesCommittee NotesCommittee Notes

International Student MinistryInternational Student MinistryInternational Student MinistryInternational Student Ministry

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Take NoteTake NoteTake NoteTake Note

We plan to hold a luncheon on Sunday, January 27 following the 11 AM service to welcome back students. Volunteers are needed to help with the meal, and we appreciate members attending the lunch to visit with the students.

Tentative Schedule for the new semester: Monday, 10:00 AM Basic Level—Weihua Zhu, Level 1/2 (Basic)—Bruce Calhoun Level 3/4 (Intermediate)—Pam Millen Advanced Level— Nursery—Amy Balvanz, Kong Keochai 11:15 AM Art Class—Cleo Lynch 1:00 PM Bible Study—Judy Newhouse Tuesday, 10:00 AM Basic Level—Weihua Zhu, Intro to American Literature—John Carlson English Lab—Kristi Carlson, Ken Dunker Nursery—Amy Balvanz, Kong Keochai 11:00 AM TOEFL—Ken Dunker 1:00 PM Bible Study—Judy Newhouse 2:00 PM Idioms Class—Judy Newhouse 6:00 PM Life in English—Judy Newhouse Wednesday, 10:00 AM Basic Level—Weihua Zhu Level1/2 (Basic)—Bruce Calhoun Level 3/4 (Intermediate)—Jewel Proctor Advance Level— Nursery—Amy Balvanz, Kong Keochai 11:15 AM Composition Class—David Heddendorf 1:30 PM Medical Terms—Linda Vogtlin Thursday, 9:00 AM Quilting (1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month) —Linda Vogtlin and Sally Hartman 11:00 AM TOEFL—Ken Dunker 2:00 PM Idioms Class—Judy Newhouse

Prayer Shawl Group meets on the 4th Monday of the month, (unless otherwise announced), in the Student Center at 7 PM. Yarn and projects are provided. If you have not learned how to knit or crochet we are very willing to teach you. Please join us for a fun evening!

Trinity Lutheran Church in State Center has been vacant since the death of Pastor Michael Maddick this fall. Several newly retired pastors have been handling the Sunday services, but some weekends the elders have read a sermon from the district president. Your pastors have been asked to fill the vacancy. In the past Memorial did serve vacancies twice at Faith, Nevada (which closed 15 years ago). This was done by the pas-tor who served as liturgist on a given Sunday missing the 8:30 AM service and the education hour. The pas-tors would share equally the vacancy duties. Trinity wants to call a candidate from the seminaries (as you did with your pastors) to hopefully be placed in late spring. There will also be dates such as confirmation Sunday May 5 when the people of Trinity know they need another pastor to conduct their services those mornings.

“Merry Christmas” is the message Kebede, our agricultural missionary in Ethiopia, and his family want to share with us. “Merry Christmas”—that may seem a little late to say in January, but in Ethiopia Christmas is celebrated on January 7. That is because in Ethiopia they use the old “Julian” calendar named after Julius Caesar, who established it in 46 BC. This was the calendar used by the early Chris-tian Church. In the 1500’s the western Roman Catholic church changed to the “Gregorian” calendar (named after Pope Gregory XIII). This corrected the old calendar which did not have leap year, so the seasons were not always in the same month. It is what we use today. But Protestants and Orthodox churches did not adopt this until later. In fact it wasn’t adopted in Greece until the 1920’s. During the wars against Napoleon in the early 1800’s a force of Austrians and Russians were fighting Napoleon’s French army and lost because they did not meet at the same time to fight. They forgot that the Russians will still using the old Julian Calendar. Ethiopia became Christian as Greek Orthodox missionaries went there in the 400’s. Four hundred

years later the Ethiopian Christians were cut off from the rest of the Christians by the Moslem invasions, so Ethiopia preserved the old calendar. They call Christmas “Genna” which comes from the Greek word for “birth” (“Merry Christmas in Greek is “Kala (Good) “Christou” (of Christ) “genna” (birth). They also preserve the 12 days of Christ-mas, but the 12th day, January 19 is not our “Epiphany,’ the coming of the Wisemen, but Jesus’ baptism, which we cele-brate the Sunday after the Ephipany. To the left we see a Christmas service conducted at the remote mission of Qer-say Ketema with a single light bulb. Again “Merry Christ-mas.”

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Kebede MissionKebede MissionKebede MissionKebede Mission

Next payment on March 1

Budget Amt. Collected Amt.

Salary, wires, & Work Program

Budget Amt. Collected Amt. OTHER NEEDS

45,790 45,532 Gidole Cong. Women’s Grp. Youth Grp. Hursa Outreach Seed Project

5,000 4,000 4,000 3,000 6,000

1127 1500 1500 2317 1100

Kebede Budget ReportKebede Budget ReportKebede Budget ReportKebede Budget Report

Hannah Heit is a freshman student in agriculture who during high school spent a summer working with the World Food Prize in Ethiopia. She specialized in poultry. She spent time in the capi-tal of Addis Abbaba, in the country south of there, and even traveled to Awassa where our friend Kebede lives. Hannah was introduced during the congregational meeting on December 2. The hope is that we can send Hannah to Ethiopia, perhaps this summer, to work with Kebede in developing poultry in the area. Kebede tells us that poultry is the concern of women, so it would work well for Hannah as a woman to work in that area. Also Kebede is very enthusiastic about women’s ministry and the role of his wife Workitu. Workitu is well known among the women in the communities, especially in the Arsi-Negele area where people speak her native language of Oromo. We are not aware of the cost of doing this, but we anticipate the bigger expenses will be Hannah’s transportation fees to and from Ethiopia and project expenses for the poultry.

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January 1 Ny Gatwas Nyakuoth Wei January 2 Amer Ater January 3 Ateyag Kear January 5 Ryan Meis January 6 Hudson Rutherford January 7 Workitu Gudisa Bayeta January 9 Lisa Clayberg James Sharkey January 10 Trevor Jensen

Kano Nakama Jim Peterson Fred Vogtlin

January 12 Marcy Main January 13 Kay Ahrens Kathryn Martinson January 14 Adhel Deng

Mariam Kebede Kathy Thompson Adam Voaklander

William Voaklander January 15 Brittney Rutherford January 16 John Erickson Lyle Hundertmark Rachel Jans Scott Junck

January 18 Kevin Jans Payton Stewart January 19 Hadley Hogenson Kathy Jurgens

Maegan Schoppe January 20 Melissa Sorenson January 23 Debra Freese Elliott Jans January 24 Pam Mishler Donna Neubauer Barb Royer January 25 Jean Hall January 26 Chelsee Hindman Blake Riese January 27 Chad Higgins January 28 Clara Damman Andrew Ferris Evan Neubauer January 29 Judy Dahlke Davis Paciorek January 30 Achol Lual January 31 Chris Petersen

As of December 23, 2018

Budgeted Amt. Received Expenses 488,361.00 503,596.00 Synod 46,154.00 22,970.00 Missions 7,116.00 00.00 Kebede 45,790.00 45,532.00 Totals $587,421.00 $572,098.00

To date, members and friends of Memorial Lutheran have donated

their Thrivent for Lutherans “Choice Dollars” in the amount of

$2,672.00 Thank you for your support.

4 Norm & Linda Weitzel 44 yrs. 8 Doug & Linda Ward 19 yrs.

11 Jack & Alissa Wignall 8 yrs. 13 Manuel & Enedelia Oyervidez 23 yrs.