From The Pastor´s Desk

Dear friends and members of our Balboa Union Church

Words like multicultural, multireligious and integration are very modern today.
But is this a simple task? Is that even possible?
This Sunday we will hear a text from the letter to the Ephesians. Hard words are used:

»enmity, walls, strangers, to be excluded … «

These are still harsh realities for many people. The debates on these issues are often very polemical. Polemically – we hit a very important aspect. This word comes from the Greek language. Polemos means war.
Exactly about those issues speaks the Apostle: (Ephesians 2:16)
Christ reconcilied both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby.
As Christians we see the cross as a symbole of reconciliation. I respect other cultures and also other religions. But I would damage my faith in Christ, if I put all religious thoughts and believings together proclaiming that all is true. Our faith in Christ invites us to find peace in him, only in him. Then we´ll find many space for other things and we learn to see them as gifts.

Kind Regards
Reverend Roland

THIS SUNDAY AT BALBOA UNION CHURCH

Worship Service at 10 a.m. – ALL ARE WELCOME!

SPEAKER: Rev. Roland Schnell

Sunday School Teachers:  We will have activities for the children, but not Sunday school over the holiday period

Other News 

From Our Friend Francisco Chen

Please remember that tomorrow evening we will have a community event in the Church, which we would invite all of you to participate in, so that we can meet the wider community (as well as supporting this young man).

Missions

Tuesday, July 21st – 2.30 pm – AAAM Program

Please remember that at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday we will have all our AAAM Program participants coming to receive the food baskets.  If you would like to participate in this activity, please contact Leslie or Betsy to come help us!  Our group of Golden oldies would love to meet you!

Visit to Fundación Nueva Vida – home in Howard

On Thursday morning, July 16th, Leslie and Beth visited the Howard home for the elderly – Fundación Nueva Vida.  They were warmly received by the administrator – Antonieta de Montilla – who welcomed any assistance and support that Balboa Union Church can provide.  They are home to approximately 100 elderly people of various backgrounds – professors from Colon, school teachers from different sectors of town, including some 99 year-old English speaking residents.

We have been invited to visit them on Sunday, July 26th, after the service – simply to meet the residents and spend some time with them.  If someone would like to take cake or biscuits/cookies  these are always welcome.

With respect to donations, they are happy to receive any dontations that we can provide them, but use a lot of the following:

• Paper towel
• Serviettes
• Paper plates and plastic cups (they have these on hand for those days that they are under-staffed, so that they can quickly serve and clear the tables without having to worry about the dishes)
• Fresh fruit (papaya, watermelon, melon, bananas)

The type of help they would expect to receive from us on a Sunday would include:

• helping the residents walk back from the chapel (their service starts at 11:00 a.m.) to the dining room for lunch
• sitting with the residents through lunch to talk with them and get to know them
• walking the residents back to their rooms after lunch for their naps (just to make sure they made it safely).

This would be a big help to them, as there are 100 residents, it takes a while to accompany them all to their rooms.  All of the residents are mobile (they don’t have any that are severely handicapped), but they do need someone to keep an eye on them.

Pets and children are welcome also!  The residents love to meet children and enjoy their company.  The home already has 2 parrots (who will greet you upon arrival) and they also have adopted a stray 3-legged dog.

Enjoy this video of an event there in 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOoIufF7Oj0

“Good Deeds” Program

We are currently also looking at the possibility of assisting with the “Good Deeds” program in Casco Viejo, which is a special program for children and young people in Casco Viejo, where they are given tokens in exchange for good deeds that they do in the community (such as sweeping the streets, gardening in the parks, etc.).  These tokens are then exchangeable at the “Good Deeds stall”, which is a small “shop” in Casco Viejo where they Exchange their tokens for donated items – old bicycles, toys, videos, games and even food items.  We are currently helping with baby ítems (primarily formula and milk) as this was the most requested item required, and we contiue to support this store as part of the extension of our presence into the community.  We are also considering how we can better team with the volunteers in Casco Viejo, to provide educational programs and training for the mothers as well as the children.

Interested in Volunteering?

Please contact Betsy Moran to misiones@balboaunionchurch.org for more information regarding how you can become involved in our programs!