May prayers

This month Crescent Hill church will pray with and for:

-On Sunday, May 1, and during the week thereafter: El Buen Samaritano church in El Estor’s Nuevo Amanacer neighborhood, and members, deacons, and elders.

-On Sunday, May 8, and during the week thereafter: Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery Executive Committee, President Pablo Sacul, and other officers.

-On Sunday, May 15, and during the week thereafter: On Sunday, February 6, and during the week thereafter: Estoreño Presbytery Presbyterian Women organization, President Maria Coc Tial, and other officers.

- On Sunday, May 22, and during the week thereafter: Estoreño Presbytery youth and young adult organization, President Roderico Sacul Tiul, and other officers.

- On Sunday, May 29, and during the week thereafter: Peniel church in Boqueron, Pastor Pablo Sacul, and members, deacons, and elders.

Thursday conversation

Two Crescent Hill folks spoke with Amanda (pictured above in Flores in northern Guatemala) in Guatemala on the Thursday after Easter. Amanda confirmed that she has talked once with Pastor Gerardo and that it should not be necessary for the Guatemalans to obtain new national IDs in order to obtain passports. She laid out the following schedule:

-the Guatemalan mission team members will travel to Guatemala City in May, when they will meet up with Amanda and then visit a government building to obtain passports

-In early June Amanda will visit Kentuckiana, and the church will supply her with letters from the church, the presbytery, and the PC(USA) at the time, one for each of the five mission team members, with names, dates of the trip, and signatures

-After Amanda returns, the mission team members will go online and apply for visas to the United States. They will need photos, Guatemalan passport numbers, access to the letters, and some additional information. They should be able to get appointments within a month.

-In early August the mission team members will again meet up with Amanda in Guatemala City and go to a U.S. government building, where they will apply for their visas. They will find out whether they will get visas that day.

-Immediately thereafter the church buy plane tickets for them.

-Hopefully, the mission team will visit Kentuckiana from Friday, October 7 through Saturday, October 15.

-Perry

La ultima vez?

Wednesday was to be the last night for the four-week Spanish-langage Bible study at James Lees - taking up one of the two nights usually reserved for English as a foreign language classes. The group met for two hours each Wednesday and read passages from the Gospel According to John, with additional analysis from a Spanish-language Presbyterian Women "Horizons" Bible study. Phil, Carlos, Tricia, and - this past Wednesday - Jen and Jennifer (pictured above) - helped lead the discussions. Wednesday there were ten there, including three EFL students, and Jennifer did - for the first time in Spanish - a version of the dramatic reading about/by the Samaritan woman at the well that she did at Crescent Hill, in English, as the sermon a couple of months ago. Earlier in the month Tricia had the group role play two stories from John, Mary Magdalene washing Jesus' feet and Jesus washing his disciples' feet. The group decided to continue meeting, but on the Saturdays between the every-two-weeks Spanish-language worship service and meal at James Lees. The group will start back at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, at James Lees, with Carlos leading a discussion about the story of the wedding at Cana, featured in lesson #2 of the PW resource. The worship group had a Eastern Eve gathering this past weekend and will meet next at 7:00 p.m. on Derby night (Saturday, May 7).

-- Perry

EFL starting up again

The joint James Lees-Covenant Community-Crescent Hill English as a foreign language teaching ministry's seven-week May-June 2011 term will get underway (at James Lees) on Derby Monday (May 2). A slightly different group of Crescent Hill folks will help teach classes (with CCC head teacher Dirk - pictured above with his dog Oberon in the James Lees/CCC kitchen)- again in charge). Crescent Hill will again be responsible for food both nights on the weeks of May 2, May 23, and June 6 and for children's activities throughout. Meanwhile, the every-two-weeks Spanish-language worship (at James Lees) and Sunday morning Spanish-language Bible study (of Joshua) (at Crescent Hill) both continue (along with the reimagining 1714 Frankfort Avenue discussions, which continued Tuesday night), while the Wednesday evening Spanish-language Bible study (of John) will wrap up this Wednesday night, with Crescent Hill's Jennifer doing a Spanish-language version of her message/dramatization from earlier this spring at Crescent Hill.

Immigration lunch

Julia Thorne (pictured above), a Lexington (KY) lawyer and Presbterian Church (U.S.A.) expert on immigration, will speak at the Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall after worship Sunday (May 1) (at approximately 12:30 p.m.) as part of the monthly Food for Thought series. Let Bruce or Lora know if you can bring soup or salad.

Sunday afternoon

This Sunday several Crescent Hill folks met with James Lees and Covenant Community reps to plan for food preparation for the May-June term of the English as a foreign language teaching ministry. Crescent Hill volunteers will cover Derby week, the last full week of May, and the first full week of June and will help James Lees and Covenant Community, especially with set up and clean up, as needed, especially helping Covenant Community on Wednesday, May 11. James Lees’ Pastor Phil also showed several attending changes to the James Lees/Covenant Community kitchen, which had been renovated over the weekend partly to try to identify the source of a water leak on the east side of the kitchen (pictured above).

Later that afternoon Crescent Hill and James Lees folks were among those who attended an American Civil Liberties Union forum on immigration issues. Louisville lawyer Becca O’Neill (in the middle of the panel pictured below) pointed out that, in spite of the defeat of many of the Arizona-style bills proposed in Kentucky and other states, in Kentuckiana and elsewhere, law enforcement authorities have already been implementing many provisions and helping cause overcrowding in the metro Louisville jail.

--- Perry

Gathering graphics