Mighty Wind United Methodist Church

The Breeze
Mighty Wind United Methodist Church
4th Q, 2012

FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP
Caring for what God has given us
by Louanne Woody

When you hear the word “stewardship”, you may immediately think about money. But stewardship is about much more than money. As Christians, we have been instructed by God in Genesis to be a people charged with caring for God’s property. When we joined Mighty Wind UMC, we were asked to be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and uphold it by our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.

The upcoming stewardship campaign is Mighty Wind’s effort to equip each of us with the tools and opportunities to be better caretakers of all that God has provided for us. During the campaign, we’ll be asked to prayerfully consider how we can faithfully participate in the ministry of Mighty Wind UMC through our prayers, our presence, our gifts (both monetary and spiritual), our service, and our witness.

The emphasis on stewardship will take place during the season of Thanksgiving; the campaign will run from Sunday, November 4th, though Sunday, November 18th, culminating with a time of commitment. The focus on stewardship will include testimonies by church members, small group discussions, and Sunday sermons by Pastor Elizabeth.

Please be in prayer concerning how you can increase your commitment to Christ’s ministries through Mighty Wind United Methodist Church.

Walk Against Addiction
by Brenda Thacker

The 3rd Annual Walk Against Addiction will take place this year on Saturday, September 29th. Once again it will be held in the First Flight High School parking lot. The Walk provides a non- judgmental atmosphere where addiction can be openly discussed. The Mighty Wind family will provide hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill after the walk in addition to baked goods contributed by the ladies of Mighty Wind United Methodist Church.

The knowledge and awareness that addiction is a disease just might help an addict ask for help. If he or she is in an environment where they know they are not alone and will not be judged, they won’t feel the shame so often accompanied by this debilitating disease. This awareness is the main reason for our Walk Against Addiction.

If, by this Walk, we could save a potential (or active) addict and his or her family, friends, and loved ones, the terrible pain caused by this condition, then our goal has been achieved. Many hearts have been broken due to this deadly disease. Please join us in our walk as we fight to save the lives of addicts. They are not bad people—they’re just sick.
Anyone wishing to participate in the Walk, or to learn more about community resources available to addicts and their families, please contact Brenda Thacker at Thackerbrenda@hotmail.com or find her on Facebook.

WoW Support Group
Beginning September 27th
by Louanne Woody

If you (or someone you know) is mourning the death of a spouse, you understand that it is a loss that brings about many changes in your life. You’ve lost your companion and confidante; your daily routine has changed; your friendships may have changed; you may wonder if you’re up to the challenge of moving forward with your life.

The goal of Widows or Widowers (WoW), sponsored by Mighty Wind UMC, is to provide Christian love, support, and encouragement to those persons who are grieving for a deceased spouse. WoW is open to all who feel they could benefit from positive, uplifting support as they grieve. Meetings will include a short devotion, along with discussion of selected topics from Kenneth C. Haugk’s Journeying through Grief.

The first meeting will be at the Kill Devil Hills Library on Thursday, September 27, at 6:30 p.m. with subsequent meetings on October 25, November 20, and December 18. WoW members will determine the schedule, length, and format of future meetings.

Louanne Woody, widowed for 5 years, will lead the group meetings. If you would like further information, please contact Louanne at 252-267-5737 or louwoody@mindspring.com

Mighty Wind Zephyrs
by Dianna Liverman

What or who are the “Zephyrs?” Webster’s defines zephyr as a gentle west wind; so in keeping with the “wind” theme, Children’s Church is being renamed Mighty Wind Zephyrs.
The Zephyrs are children aged 3-9 years old. We meet every Sunday except for 5th Sundays, as this is our special service Sunday. Kids 10 years or older are invited to join the adults in the worship service.
The co-leaders of the Zephyrs are Dianna Liverman and Lisa Brickhouse. We consider it our privilege to join with families and their children as the children participate in our program and other events throughout the year. We are delighted to offer a safe and caring learning environment where every child is respected, valued, and known by name.
The purpose of the Zephyrs is:
• To witness the love of God and to nurture respect for the church
• Offer rich learning experiences that encourage wholesome habits
• To help each child experience and actualize Christian principles
The Zephyrs mission is: “to transform the lives of children by fostering a personal and firm relationship with Jesus. They will gain an understanding of God’s word by study of the Holy Scriptures; enabling them to go out and change the world.”
The Zephyrs group has closely followed Pastor Elizabeth’s sermon series. The children have thus far memorized the following verses which went along with their lessons:
Matthew 21:9 Luke 24:6 John 20:27 Genesis 24:14 Genesis 37:1-4 Acts 2:4 Exodus 3:5 Matthew 5:10 Psalm 85:8 Psalm 31:14 Genesis 1:1
We are hoping to put into place some family oriented activities where the fostering of family time and friendships can grow. The Zephyrs will be encouraged to invite friends and families to join in these events. Be on the look-out for a “Back To School” event we hope to have in the upcoming weeks. We will let you know the details very soon. Keep an eye out in the Bulletin, the Website and the church’s Facebook page.
We would like to thank the following ladies and men who have graciously stepped up or will be stepping up to help out over the summer when the need has or will arise: Susan Saulsbury, Brooke Naser, Jane Enberg, Jane Mosely, Wayne Liverman and Jimmie Brickhouse. We appreciate all you do.
We hope to begin having Vacation Bible School again, beginning the summer of 2013-God willing. There will be many opportunities for you to use your spiritual gifts with this group, and we look forward to working with you. Do keep the teachers and children of the Zephyrs in your prayers.

“Enquiring Minds Want to Know…”
by Julie Gartman

It is easy to look around us and see evil. This last decade has exploded with thousands of episodes of “Forensic Files,” “Law and Order SVU,” “CSI,” and most recently, the addition of entire networks, like ID, dedicated to the criminal mind. We have been bombarded with evidence of the existence of evil in this world, where terms like “psychopath,” “pedophile,” and “serial killer,” have become household words. Join us this Sunday, October 7th, as Pastor Elizabeth Tyson explores answers to the question, “What about the existence of evil?”
Want to learn more? At Mighty Wind UMC, we are not afraid to tackle this difficult issue and more as the sermon series, “Christianity and the Big Questions,” continues with real life answers to today’s tough questions.
Join us each Sunday in October at First Flight Middle School beginning at 10:00 a.m. “Come as you are and leave a little closer to God.”
Christianity and the Big Questions: A Sermon Series
by Pastor Elizabeth Tyson  September 9: If God is a loving God, why do people suffer?  September 16: How can modern science and the miracles in the Bible co-exist?  September 23: Who needs the Church? It’s got a history of hypocrites and injustice.  October 7: What about the existence of evil?  October 14: Is Christianity the only way? Skeptics and doubters….  October 21: Does God matter? Christianity’s a crutch, right?

Pastor’s Corner
by Pastor Elizabeth Tyson

I really like the slogan “Life is Good” we see on all those t-shirts and hats. Life is good. And yet, sometimes life doesn’t seem so good. Bad things do happen to good people. Then what? How do we handle the bad stuff? What keeps you or your friends or family members from faith? Unspeakable evil? Unanswered prayers? Science that contradicts the Bible? Religion gone wrong? Bad things happening to good people? These are some of the topics that will be addressed in our sermon series on “Life’s Tough Questions.”
This is an especially good opportunity to invite folks you know who are skeptics and seekers. Even people of deep faith, people who have had a relationship with God for many, many years, have doubts….and that’s human! As we are about “Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” let’s be praying for 2 or 3 people we know who might want to hear these tough questions discussed.

See you Sunday! Elizabeth  ”Nothing affects how we live more than what we believe about death.”  C.S.Lewis

Blessing of the Animals
by Pastor Elizabeth Tyson  Our 5th Sunday worship service, September 30th, will include a blessing of the animals. Our pets and animals in our care are special companions in this life, and we know that they are part of God’s good creation. Proverbs 12:10 reminds us that, “Good people take care of their animals.” We invite you and your friends and neighbors to bring along leashed pets for this special service. Water will be provided for both pets and owners!  Vespers in the Duck Chapel on the Sound  Saturday evening, November 10th at 5pm, we will hold our semi-annual OBX race weekend service at the Chapel on the Sound, behind Duck UMC. We worship on Saturdays twice a year at different locations, when the marathon and half-marathon course closes access to the middle school. We’ve timed this service for the sunset, so it should be extra nice!

How to Plant Your Garden

For the garden of your daily living, plant 3 rows of peas………….Peace of mind, Peace of heart, and Peace of soul.
Plant 4 rows of squash……………squash gossip, squash indifference, squash grumbling, and squash selfishness.
Plant 4 rows of lettuce…….lettuce be faithful, lettuce be kind, lettuce be patient, lettuce really love one another, lettuce really love one another.
No garden is complete without turnips………….turnip for meetings, turnip for service, turnip to help one another.
To conclude our garden we must have thyme ……. thyme for each other, thyme for family, thyme for friends.

Want to be the center of God’s universe?
by Mary Kitchen

God’s world is full of patterns, from the Divine Proportion, to the Fibonacci sequence; symmetry in nature is all around us. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that God’s word is also full of symmetry. Take a look at some of these interesting facts from the Bible.
• The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117, while the longest is Psalm 119.

• The chapter in the center of the Bible is Psalm 118.

• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after Psalm 118.

• When you add 594 + 594 you get 1188. The center verse in the Bible is Psalm 118:8

• Psalm 118:8 says something significant about God’s perfect will for our lives.

So, the next time someone says they would like to find God’s perfect will for their lives, or that they want to be in the center of God’s will, just send them to the center of His Word!

God Sightings
-Mark Saulsbury

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8, NIV)

What is a God Sighting? A God Sighting is simply seeing God at work in our lives. Some call them “God Winks”, “God Smiles” or “Glory Sightings”. Whatever we choose to call them, they are real and they are all around us. A God Sighting can occur in something notable as locating a lost screw for a ceiling fan (Richard R.) or two old friends reuniting and getting married after both lost their spouses to cancer ( a really nice OBX wedding according to Penny P.).

From Brenda Thacker: “4th day of Outer Banks Bootcamp, on the beach, look out over the ocean (yeah, that’s our gym) and watch the sun rise through the clouds at 5:48 am; look down at the ocean and see 3 dolphins jumping waves; look toward the sound and see a rainbow, now that my friend is a God Sighting!”

Thanks Brenda. Some of the most beautiful God Sightings occur through nature. Many of you have seen God’s wonders in the form of dolphin sightings, whale sightings, songbirds (especially in the morning) and other animals. A friend of ours found wonder in the sight of a horse trotting. Someone else commented on the marvelous ocean. She told of God’s miracle, the ocean, which provides for wonders of sight, sound, and smell.

Here’s a couple of what I like to call “Good Health” winks from God. One of my co-workers, Pat, told me how God recently worked a blessing in her life. Pat’s mother was diagnosed with a tumor near her spine. When she was to begin treatment, the mass had disappeared! Another friend at work has a sister who just had back surgery to repair a disc and fractured vertebrae. The disc surgery went well but the fracture had already healed! Lots of prayers were answered for these two ladies.

I experienced a wonderful Glory Sighting in the form of Larry and Jewell Ramey. While gathering information for the newsletter, they shared some excellent reference material with me. This is where I discovered the phrase “God Winks”!

Here’s another sighting told to me recently. A friend of ours recently lost his dad. He was 93 years old and a lifelong atheist. Over the years his family and friends had tried and failed to help him find salvation. Several weeks ago, while lying in bed in a nursing home, his son quietly asked him if he could read the Bible to him. He said “Yea sure, but only read to me, no discussions.” By the time his son read to John 10, his father said to pass him the Bible so he could read it himself. Two weeks later our friend’s dad passed away after having accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Let’s all take a moment to pray that God will wink at us once in a while. I would like to hear about more God Sightings. Send me your sightings at saulsburys53@gmail.com.

Love Thy Neighbor…
by Ed Kitchen

When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus replied, “To love God with your whole heart and your whole mind and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
We at Mighty Wind live those words through service to our neighbors in need. We feed the hungry by our support to the Beach Food Pantry. We collect food and deliver it to the BFP every month as well as provide workers to distribute food at the BFP. We prepare and serve food at Ruthie’s Kitchen, an ecumenical community outreach program that feeds the hungry of the Outer Banks. We reach out to those with substance abuse issues through The Walk Against Addiction. Special needs children are served through “The Buddy Walk” and “Surfing for Autism.” Our members volunteer at the Disaster Center in Manteo that provides material support to victims of disasters. We participate in Samaritan’s Purse to bring Christmas goodies to children that might not otherwise receive Christmas gifts. There are many outlets at Mighty Wind to serve our neighbors in need. Perhaps you have knowledge of a particular need that needs fulfilling. Let’s take care of it together. Christianity involves action. Let’s live it together serving others the way we are called.
Key Contacts:
Walk Against Addiction: Brenda Thacker
Samaritan’s Purse: Brook Naser
Relay for Life: Julie Walker
Beach Food Pantry: Paige Sillies
Ruthie’s Kitchen: Jimmie Brickhouse
Disaster Center: Nelda Wescott and Jewel Ramey
Surfing for Autism: Julie Gartman and Jimmie Brickhouse

The Mighty Wind Hurricanes
Service through softball…
by Eric Pritchard

The Mighty Wind Hurricanes’ softball season ended with a record of 7 wins and 6 losses. This marks our first ever winning season! But that’s if you are keeping score solely by the game’s standards. If you add fellowship, outreach, and worship opportunities to the score keeping process, I think our record would be more like 13-0! But scores, records and trophies matter little to God. Win or lose, all that matters is that everything we do results in His glory.
I am extremely proud of the Christian athletes that have played the role of disciple on the softball field. Through individual displays of performance and grace, the Hurricanes showed what an honor it is to play a part on team Jesus.
Each year it is an honor to be the coach of the league’s favorite team. Although this year’s season just ended, I already look forward to next year and hope to see everyone return to further our reach into the community in areas previously void of Christian presence.
A special thanks to all the fans that helped cheer from the stands! We really appreciate the support. See you next year!

Road Report
by Will Shields

I have a good truck. It has the potential to travel great distances, has all the creature comforts, and is mechanically ready to go. However, if I don’t put my truck in gear, it goes nowhere. Yep, it just sits there. Mighty Wind United Methodist Church makes a great metaphor to my truck. If we, the congregation, don’t put our faith “in gear,” our church won’t move forward. The communication project and this first quarterly newsletter is an example of a congregation ‘in gear.” We have traveled a long way in a short amount of time. Our journey, however, has just begun.
At the risk of missing someone, I am going to try to thank all of the folks that helped get our church “in gear.” Here is a big thank you and a “shout out” to the folks that have put their faith to work.

• First, Pastor Elizabeth overachieved and wrote a couple of articles for The Breeze, helped nail down the advertisement that is going to be hitting the street in the North Beach Sun, and sifted through a lot of changes on our web page.
• Wayne Liverman has helped with the webpage and updated our listing in the Sentinel and the Coastland Times.
• Ed and Mary Kitchen were the dynamic duo and handled every aspect of the direct mail post card drop that will occur very soon. Additionally, Mary wrote an article for The Breeze on little known facts from the bible and Ed wrote an article on Mighty Wind’s outreach efforts.
• How about Louanne Woody? She has started a support group for widows and widowers and wrote an article on her effort. She also wrote an article on our stewardship campaign.
• Karen Shields and Pam Folker have led our effort to advertise Elizabeth’s sermon series on Beach 104 and 99.1. Also, you will see our advertisement on The Outer Banks Voice, the most visited on-line news source for the Outer Banks and visitors.
• Mark Saulsbury has been our “on the ground reporter” collecting and writing an article on Glory Sightings.
• Brenda Thacker has been very involved in many aspects of the communication project. She was the point person with The North Beach Sun and she wrote a great article on her efforts with the Walk for Addiction. As church treasurer she walks softly and carriers a big stick, keeping everything in budget…….actually, under budget!
• Dianna Liverman is making a huge contribution by reporting Children’s Church activities to the newsletter.
• Bobbye Workman has put together all the important 4th Quarter dates. This will be included in the newsletter for easy reference.
• Last on the list, but BIG in giving, Julie Gartman has made a huge contribution as Editor and writer for The Breeze. Julie has been a major force in moving the newsletter forward.
Each of us should discover our own personal ministry. The incubator groups have learned that to be successful a church must, “Discover the need, and then allow lay persons to volunteer to meet that need.” We need to stay “in gear” and move the church forward. The above projects are just the beginning of our forward progress.
What can you do to help us? “Ministry that is not based on a need will become mundane, routine, and boring.” Mighty Wind United Methodist Church has many on-going ministries that we take for granted. Think about it, who bakes the bread for communion? Who puts the road signs out each week? Who unpacks and repacks the “church in a box” trailer each week? Who prints the bulletins? Who grows and arranges the flowers each week? Each of these ministries provides the sustaining power of Mighty Wind.
Mighty Wind has many, many needs that could become your personal ministry. Why not step up and feel the joy of being involved in your personal ministry.

Submissions to “The Breeze”

“The Breeze” is published quarterly to keep members and friends of the Mighty Wind United Methodist Church informed of our programs and people. The deadline for the first quarter newsletter is December 1st. Articles received after this deadline may be submitted to Will Shields (obxwill@gmail.com) or Julie Gartman (julielynngartman@yahoo.com). We strongly encourage each member to submit ALL information that the congregation should know. Birthdays, anniversaries, etc. will be included in the next issue. Remember, if we don’t know it, we can’t print it!!!

MIGHTY WIND COMMITTEES 2012
Pastor, Elizabeth Tyson

Lay Leader, Wayne Liverman

Lay Leader Annual Conference, Wayne Liverman

Church Council
Dianna Liverman, Chair

Jimmy Brickhouse, PPRC Chair

Wayne Liverman, Lay Leader

Will Shields, Finance Chair

Eric Prichard, Trustees Chair

Brenda Thacker, Treasurer

Louanne Woody, Stewardship Chair

PPRC
Elizabeth Tyson, Pastor

Jimmy Brickhouse, Chair