The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Evangelism Minister Opening
- Sanctuary Renovations
- Hurricane Dolly
- Disciples Regional Assembly
- “Paper Retriever” Recycling
Changes
- DCC Education Department News
- From The TechnoManor
- Men’s Bible Study
- Music Notes
- Children’s Sunday school
- Church Bowling League
Updated Prayer Requests
- Prayers for the displaced residents affected by
Hurricane Dolly last week.
- Rev. Lain Jiang is in
- Mary McGee, wife of Bobby Overstreet’s friend, passed away on July
30.
- Grant Story, son of Rev. David and Paula Story, was paralyzed from the neck
down in a car accident. Current
prognosis is not good.
- Pat Brown is having her heart monitored.
- Milena Bond, granddaughter of Mary & Gary Carroll, will not need surgery to help her
digestive system after all.
- Stacy Bell is awaiting results of a stress test she had on August
5.
- Nick Bell will have his wisdom teeth extracted on August 12.
The prayer
requests in The Link each week are recent updates. A list of ongoing prayer
requests appears in our worship bulletin each Sunday.
The
remodeling of the chancel and the choir loft is about finished. But the concern for the care of the church
building never ends. Every church
building is a tool; and that tool, to be effective, must be cared for. It is a symbol for what we are doing next
week with
That’s
what we aim for: changed lives. All too
often we get caught up in maintenance instead
of mission. Whenever we see meeting the budget as our
emphasis, that is maintenance; when the budget is seen as our way of
building/promoting the
Next week
our building will be filled with noise and activity. Our church will be filled with spirit! That’s what we do.
Creekwood
Christian Church in Flower Mound has a job opening for an evangelism director. The position does not require the candidate
to be an ordained minister or have seminary training and is 30 hours per
week. For more information, contact the
church at 972-539-2660 or bstrong@creekwood.org. Or you can contact Jan in the DCC office for
more details.
PLEASE
NOTE: The sanctuary is under
construction! The chancel area is being
reconstructed and will be in disarray for a couple of weeks. The Property Ministries asks that you have
patience, because it will be so good when it is done. You’re going to like the way it looks. We guarantee it!
Hurricane Dolly
by
Filiberto Periera
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries
We had extensive damage to four
buildings---Main Office, Annex Office, Kitchen/Dining Hall, and the Casa
Compassion home. We were blessed that no one was injured as three people
stayed on campus during the storm-Les, Connie, and David, SWGSM support
volunteers and staff.
As of Saturday afternoon, July 26, SWGSM was still waiting, after 4 days, on
electricity and internet to be restored. Cell phones do work, and the
campus does have water. Clean up began on Thursday, July 24, with
assistance from volunteers who came to pick up shingles, remove broken fences,
and assist with getting the roofs covered with tarps in case of further
weather. Shingles were ordered for the roofs. On Friday, July 25,
the refugees, who are living at the church, came out with Feliberto and helped
clean up the area by picking up limbs, shingles, and taking down the hurricane
window boards. In addition, Feliberto's office was completely destroyed,
and all helped to remove the debris from the ceiling and attic.
As you drive down San Ramon towards the
Bayview campus, it looks like you are driving through a war zone. Trees
and palms line the road and still more are being piled on the sides of the
road. The soft dirt road ruts are being packed down and dried as the
breezes have returned. Twisted and splintered 2 foot diameter trunk trees
are everywhere on the road. It is humbling to view what the strength of
Category 2 hurricane winds can do while carrying 15+ inches of rain.
An assessment of the damage has been taken and many photos can
explain the damage for the insurance company. Roofs on the office,
kitchen, and house will need to be replaced. All the other buildings lost
some shingles which can be replaced and tarred into place. In the office,
kitchen, and house, there was also interior damage. Feliberto's office
ceiling completely collapsed and damaged his furniture. The ceiling in
Miriam's office fell down on her computer, printer, and desk which will need to
be replaced. The house had significant water damage. Some of
the house furniture will need to be replaced. The kitchen had the screen doors
blown off. There was also major roof and bathroom sheetrock ceiling
damage in the kitchen and shower areas. Minor damage was found on the
other buildings. The new storage/education building did have the ceiling
area above the rice blown down due to the winds coming through the side vents.
There was no damage in the education/computer side of the new
building. However, rain was blown under the doors into both sections with
about an inch of rain covering the floors. Trees and bushes will need to
be cut down and removed from the
As of Sunday, July 27, early evening, the electrical crews connected SWGSM
buildings to the world of light. What a joy for the survivors! The
air conditioning, hot water, and all the appliances worked to finish the clean
up job toward Monday's continuation of repair.
The shingles were delivered, July 28, Monday, mid-morning, and we'll begin
repairs to the office. The office is open with one phone line, no working
internet. Time, donations,
volunteers, and prayers would help SWGSM repair and continue as a mission
station.
God bless you all for the love,
prayers, and assistance in advance!
The 2008 Regional Assembly for the Christian Church in the
Southwest will take place October 17-19 at University Christian Church and TCU
in
“Paper Retriever” Recycling Changes
The church
office has received notice that effective immediately, cardboard and phone
books will no longer be accepted in the Abitibi bins in the church parking
lot. Signs will be put on the bins
indicating these changes shortly.
Abitibi studies show that accepting cardboard and phone books are
negatively impacting their ability to keep the “Paper Retriever” program free
to schools and non-profit organizations, hence the necessary change. If you have been using these bins for
recycling cardboard and/or phone books, please discontinue doing so.
DCC Education Department News
by
Youth News
- DCC VBS –
n
TOMORROW NIGHT! The youth lock-in, including a crew meeting and VBS decorating, begins
at 7 pm Friday, August 8.
n
All
youth volunteers should plan on being at DCC Monday, August 11 at 8:15 am for the start of VBS!
n
VBS takes place August 11 – 15 from
9:30 am – 12:30 pm.
- B-T-S Pool & Dinner Party – All youth are invited to the Knoll’s home on Friday, August 22 at 5 pm for a
back-to-school pool party.
- Monday, August 25 – First day of classes at
P.I.S.D.!
- Saturday, August 30 – Six Flags
Over Texas Experience starting at 11 am.
Adult News
n A Christian Men’s Fellowship group is being organized. Contact Mark Mueller for more information.
From The TechnoManor
by Dave Gillen
Uh oh,
still nothing in my Inbox. Here’s
something I was asked in a casual conversation, though
What
does PDF mean?
You might see
these three letters: P – D
– F on a Web site or in an email
message when it comes to some kind of document or form.
“PDF” is
an acronym standing for Portable Document
Format.
This
format, or computer file layout, describes in minute detail how a paper
document looks. A file using this format
can then be viewed on a number of different computers (i.e., Windows PCs, Apple
Macs, and Linux computers) or printed.
What you see is nearly identical to the original paper document.
A PDF file
can be sent to different people, using different types of computers, and they
will all see a document the same way.
A PDF file
is also a good electronic substitute for a paper document.
This
Portable Document Format was created by Adobe Systems Incorporated about 15 years
ago. Adobe is a large corporation
specializing in software for precise graphics.
You create
PDF files using Adobe Acrobat. You have to pay for Adobe Acrobat. It’s not cheap. I bought the standard version in 2005 for
$222.00. There are cheaper “knock-offs”
that will create a basic PDF file. In
fact, many retail products (e.g., Intuit’s Quicken and TurboTax) can create PDF
files when you try to print reports from those programs.
Typically,
you will not need to buy Adobe Acrobat, unless you are in the business of
creating documents or specialized forms that other people use.
Viewing
PDF files is different…and free! You
view (or read) PDF files using the free Adobe
Reader. Older versions were called
Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe changed the
name over the last few years, making the word Acrobat imply the tool to create a PDF file.
Most
computers come with Adobe Reader installed.
How do you know if you have Adobe Reader? Well, a quick test is to visit the church’s
Web site (www.dccplano.com) and click
the link 2008 – 2009 Calendar on the
home page (yes, this is the BBPS calendar, but we’re just testing PDF files
here). If you can read the calendar, you
have Adobe Reader installed.
If it’s
not on your computer, or if you want a newer version, visit www.adobe.com.
Click on the Downloads link
near the top of the home page.
I just
looked at Adobe’s web site and Adobe Reader is now at version 9. Does this matter? No. One
of the benefits of PDF files is they can be read by newer versions of Adobe
Reader. You only need to download a new
version if:
·
A
PDF file you’re reading suggests it would be a good idea for a certain feature
·
You
learn of important security fixes to Adobe Reader.
Otherwise, don’t worry about getting new versions of Adobe
Reader.
“Security
fixes?” I hear you say.
Yup. Like all software, Adobe Reader has
bugs. There are scoundrels on the
Internet who craft PDF files taking advantage of those bugs. Adobe fixes the bugs and makes these fixes
available as updates. Sometimes Adobe
Reader will ask you about checking for updates.
I used to be annoyed by this, but now I give Reader permission to
check. You can initiate this update
check from within Adobe Reader by clicking Help
then Updates. Follow the prompts from there.
I hope
this dispels some of the mystery of PDF.
Got a
computer, email, Web, or related question?
Tap out an email message to me at:
I’ll
attempt to answer one each week in
Men’s Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
Music Notes
by Laura Young
Music
Director
Trading
Spaces: Musical Edition
This week, including Sunday, Laura will be at FCC leading
kids in VBS music. In exchange, they are
giving us loads of incredible decorations and supplies for DCC's Power Lab VBS
next week. In my absence, FCC is also
lending us Ty Young to do the hymns and special music at DCC August 10th. Have a great Sunday and I will see you next
week!
Thank you to Ean Sullivan for providing our special music
two weeks ago, and to Galen Clark for his violin solo last week. I also was thrilled to see hear Mark
Mueller's guitar in the mix and hope we hear more in the future!
Chancel
choir resumes on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Our first
Sunday to sing will be Sept. 7th. New members are welcome. We have members as
young as middle school up through senior adults. Music reading is not required (but don't be
surprised if you find it easy to learn as we go). If you can carry a tune in a bucket, as the
old saying goes, and you love to sing for the Lord, we have a place for you. We will all be fitted for robes that night, as
all of the robes and stoles have been cleaned and pressed during our break.
Handbells
will meet seasonally, beginning in plenty of time for Christmas. For planning purposes, please let me know if
you would like to participate in bell choir.
Children's
and youth choirs will also meet seasonally. Please let
me know if you have a child or grandchild who would enjoy singing with us!
Please let
me know of upcoming school and local concerts that you would like included in
the Link.
Laura
Young, Music Director, 972-744-9941
Children’s Sunday School
ALL
PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, AND KIDS!!
A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS FOR
PRE-K
THROUGH 5TH GRADERS MEET,
AT
9:30 A.M. SUNDAY MORNINGS
ALL
KIDS
BIBLE
STORIES, ACTIVITIES, FUN, MAKING NEW FRIENDS
= LOTS OF LEARNING AND GROWING!
For more information contact pharbaugh@verizon.net
Church Bowling League
The
In order to follow Jesus and worship God, we will serve our neighbors. We will
minister to our fellow Christians. We will live and tell the good news of Jesus
Christ in all we do.
Disciples Christian Church Staff
Diane & Galen Clark, Co-Transitional Pastors
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Dave Gillen, Webmaster frenchygrey@gmail.com
Carly Geibler, Nursery Attendant
email: theoffice@dccplano.com
phone: 972-398-2240