We wanted to share a desire that is stirring among our congregation – and that is one of becoming a foster parent, knowing their are hundreds of children in our area that are in need of sturdy, loving families.
Is God placing that call on your heart as well? If so, please let us know. We are pondering the need to host a foster family class at Cedar Hills and want to connect the families whom God is stirring.
Sunday, July 28 is Red Sand Sunday. Cedar Hills is partnering with the local nonprofit organization, Chains Interrupted, to bring awareness to the reality and dangers of human trafficking–even in our communities and will participate in the Red Sand Project.
Red Sand Rally & Family Safety Event
Jul 27, 2024, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Marion, 1048 7th Ave, Marion, IA 52302, USA
To help bring awareness to this dire situation, a special speaker from Chains Interrupted will be speaking in between services this Sunday, July 28 at 9:45am in the Teal Classroom to help us as a congregation be educated about trafficking and prevention among our youth. It is a big problem!
We will also have red sand available to take home for use on your driveways and sidewalks. The red sand is a great conversation starter to bring awareness to the problem of human trafficking.
MORE INFORMATION: https://redsandproject.org/
Did you know in 2021 Iowa was #3 in the nation for human trafficking? It is a bigger problem than many of us know or want to acknowledge.
49.6 million people were living in a human trafficking situation in 2021 – International Labor Organization
We are planning a weekend getaway for our August “Faith, Family & Fun” event. You can come for the weekend, or pick and choose which events you’d like to plug into.
BLANK PARK ZOO – Saturday, August 3
Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is open 9am-5pm. Our special group discounted price is $5 for children, 3-12 years old, and $10 for 13-year-olds through adults. To receive this discounted rate, please pay by Sunday, July 28. You can drop-off payment to Kathryn in the Nursery on Sunday, or pay Jennifer in the church office.
ADVENTURELAND AMUSEMENT PARK – Sunday, August 4
We don’t have discounted ticket rates for Adventure, so you’ll want to prchase tickets directly from Adventureland and look forward to joining other Cedar Hills families at the Park on Sunday. Click here for info.
The Open Hands Food Pantry will be closed Monday, July 8 due to a large event at the church. It will reopen for regular house Wednesday, July 10, 10am-12pm.
Cedar Hills connects many places, and a few of our ministries have connect in Facebook groups. Have you joined any yet?
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Colin Thornley served in ministry with Grace Community Church for over 25 years as in various roles such as: Youth Pastor, College Pastor and Pastor of Discipleship & Equipping. While serving at Grace, he continued to pursue training and ministry opportunities with Serge as a mentor and eventually a Sonship Coach. He was first introduced to Sonship and Serge mission’s organization in the fall 1993 when he experienced a ‘gosplosion’ as he listened to Jack Miller lecture and Drew Angus pressing the good news into the deepest parts of his heart. The gospel-centric paradigm shift that began there increasingly impacted his life and dependence on Jesus and His finished work. Colin’s passion for mentoring and equipping people who want to mentor others led him to begin assisting Serge in a minimally part-time capacity and finally to join the Serge Renewal Mentoring Team in January of 2020.
Ben Ingebretson is a leadership vitality/church planting consultant and has led widely with organizations, churches and denominations including the United Methodist Church, and the Reformed Church in America.
Tim Vink is the Director of Spiritual Leadership and Outreach in the Alliance of Reformed Churches. Through 35 years of evangelism, disciple-making, and helping diverse churches plant more reproducing churches, Tim has experienced the power of making Jesus our model for ministry today. Working with a multiplication mindset, embracing the fullness of the gospel of Jesus and New Testament patterns of Kingdom growth, and receiving all the help offered by the same Holy Spirit—the dynamic results have been life-giving for hundreds of new churches and tens of thousands of people.
Ron Fischer is the Network Leader & President, Board of Directors of the Upper Mississippi Valley Network. Ron serves the Alliance part-time as the Executive Assistant to the Board and as Pastor of Operations at Christ’s Family Church in Davenport, IA. He has served in churches for the last 20+ years in South Carolina, Florida and now Iowa.
BLUEBERRY BLITZ – Buy blueberries, support Lake View Camp!. Fresh from the farm in Michigan! Order forms are available at the Welcome Center and should be mailed with payment directly to Lake View or turned into the church office by June 23.
A Cedar Hills volunteer will drive to the Pella area to pick up all our church orders and bring them to the church for pickup on Sunday, June 30. (Please be sure to have someone available to pick up your blueberries on that day as we do not have ample storage for unclaimed orders.)
Lake View Camp is a ministry we support and send many our students and grandparents to throughout the summer. They also host camps for children who have a parent in prison (“Angel Tree” camps), which often means these students don’t have the financial means to pay for camp. We are so passionate about reaching out with the gospel to every student–fundraisers like these make it possible!
MATTHEW 25 TRANSFORM WEEK – Transform Wee brings together community volunteers to complete projects that homeowners aren’t able to do on their own. Register online and select: Cedar Hills Community Church to join the work group from our church and help others in our community!
No skills required; helpers can work one or more mornings or afternoons the week of Monday, June 24 through Friday, June 28. Register here
Cedar Hills’ Men’s Group and Journey Youth will both be participating this year.
MENTORS NEEDED
Cedar Camp (our re-envisioned VBS program) is quickly approaching. It will be three evenings, July 7-9.
Our vision is that every student would be assigned to a mentor with a 2-to-1 ratio. Adults of all ages are encouraged to become a mentor. We do all the work for you! It is a slow-paced environment, with plenty of accommodations for our more mature mentors. 🙂
Statistics show us that children who have adults of faith in their lives are less likely to leave the faith as a young adult. That person could be you!
Two information/training sessions are happening this month. If you are interested but need more information about what being a mentor means, you are encouraged to join a training session.
TRAINING SESSIONS
Please contact Cathy Poole to sign-up.