Service Project This Saturday (Aug 22)

As we've announced previously, the Watershed service project for August is coming up this Saturday, August 22nd. We are going to be helping Pastor Jim and the Neighborhood Church in a project to collect food for the Salvation Army. Fliers will be sent out to about 800 homes this week, and we will be picking up the food items on Saturday. We will be organizing 16 teams to cover about 50 homes each.

If you can participate, please plan to arrive at Neighborhood Church (our usual Watershed meeting spot) at 10:30am this Saturday. We will be done with collecting food by around noon. Then, we will meet back at the church for a BBQ where we will eat (obviously) and mingle with the neighbors. The BBQ will last until 2pm.

If you have any special talents (e.g. balloon animals, face painting) those would be cool to share at the BBQ as well.

If you have questions or if you plan to attend, please leave a comment below. If you are a member of the Watershed Facebook group, you might see an invite from there as well about this project.

July Service Project (Sat, Jul 11)

In keeping with our summer schedule, we will not have a Watershed worship gathering this coming Thursday. Instead, we will be doing a service project on Saturday, July 11th.

We will be meeting at the Neighborhood Church (formerly Maranatha) at 8:30 am. From there, we will carpool across town to help a lady with some touchup painting on her house and some yard work. (For those of you who were around last summer, we're not expecting this project to take nearly as long as our painting project last year. :-) )

Please plan to come if you can. Bring some gloves for yard work and wear paint-worthy clothing. If you need more information, leave a comment below and we will be in touch.

Healing the Heartland Fliers -- Update

For those of you who are helping out with flier distribution today, you probably noticed that it's raining outside. Our plan is to still meet at Taylor (yes, in 25 minutes!). We will form teams of two or so and assign a location for each team; then the team can get together later this weekend when convenient (and when it's not raining) and distribute the fliers. So still come if you can!

Healing the Heartland

Watershed is partnering with Serve the City and other area organizations to serve our community at the "Healing the Heartland" festival coming up Jun 12 - 14. We will be helping primarily with the Friday night BBQ at Taylor School (720 7th Ave SW in Cedar Rapids).

Watershed will be helping out in two separate events. The first will be on Saturday, June 6th. We will meet at Taylor School at 9:45am and deliver fliers in the Taylor neighborhood. We should be done with this activity by 11:30am.

The second event is the BBQ itself on Friday, Jun 12th. We will be helping at Taylor from 4:00pm - 9:00pm. Our areas of service will include cooking, serving food, and just mingling with others there. If you're not able to stay for the full time, feel free to sign up for whatever part you can be there.

We also have two specific requests for the event on Jun 12th: we need someone with a pickup truck to pick up our food and supplies at River of Life at 3:45pm and bring them to Taylor. We also need someone to be the DJ for the evening -- someone with a good selection of uplifting music and who likes putting together inspiring playlists.

We are looking for as many volunteers as possible for both of these activities. If you can help, please sign up by contacting Joe Clark. Thanks!

*Friday Update* Service Project: August 14th

Fri Update: About 10-15 people made it out to Springville and, somewhat surprisingly, we were able to do a good amount of cleaning and put a first coat on about half of the shed. We will need to put another coat on, as well as paint the other half. The plan is to meet at Maranatha at 8:30am on Saturday, and head out to Springville and work on it until it's done. If you're able to join us, that would be great. Thanks!

Thu Update: The radar is showing rain for this evening (Aug 14), but we're going to try our luck. We may not get to paint, but we'll do some more prep work at least (power-washing, etc). We may not stay as long as planned though, so if you were planning to come late you should still call Joe (431-9495) and see what's up.

Check back again tomorrow (Friday) to see if we'll be painting on Saturday!

Next Thursday (August 14th) is our next service project! This month, we're going to be going out to Chris Thompson's parents' house to do some painting and possibly housework. His parents are older and not in the best of health, so this is a good way to help them out and minister to them.

We will primarily be painting a shed, but before painting we'll need to power wash the shed to erase some chalky film deposit. In order allow as much time as possible, we'll be meeting at Maranatha at 5pm, however if you can't make it that early, you can meet us "on location" whenever you're available -- we'll be there till 8:30 or 9pm probably.

After it gets too dark to work (or when we get our task done), we will hang out for a while and enjoy some smores. :-)

Here's a link to directions from Maranatha Bible Church. And here's a satellite view of the yard -- the shed is the larger building northeast of the house.

Saturday Serving Project Update

As you may have guessed, the rain and flooding has forced us to cancel the painting project schedule for this Saturday. However, we are planning to do flood relief work instead, so we will still meet at Maranatha at 8:30 am. We will have details for you then. Since circumstances are changing rapidly it is hard to plan very far in advance.

If you are unable to make it to Maranatha tomorrow morning but are still interested in meeting us somewhere to help, or if you have any other questions, please give John a call @ 319.431.0083.

Another serving opportunity - Sandbagging

Since this is a "serving" week in the summer schedule, this seems appropriate to post...

Want to help your community and neighbors?  Make sandbags!  They are doing them 24 hrs. a day all week.  For more info (like where to go), see to KCRG's website.

No Watershed on Thurs (June 12), Service Project on Sat (June 14)

We will not be gathering this Thursday (June 12th) but will be having a service project on Saturday the 14th instead. We will meet at Maranatha Bible Church at 8:30am to receive instructions and then drive to our location, and work til 4pm.

We are partnering with an organization called Brighten and several area churches to help paint and repair the outside of several homes in the Wellington Heights neighborhood. We will specifically be scraping and painting the 2nd story of one home. We will be working on ladders and scaffolding, but for those who aren't a big fan of heights, we will have work on lower levels for you as well. All you need to bring is some old clothes that you don't mind getting dirty and stained with paint. All the other stuff we need will be supplied to us. I've been told the old paint we are scraping off is lead-based, so I will provide some face masks for us to use.

We hope to see as many of you out there as possible, so please consider serving the people in our community alongside other young adults.

Camp Courageous Pineapple Sale

We Need You!

Are you familiar with camp courageous of Iowa?!? If not, please visit their website. It is a wonderful, nonprofit, organization that provides weekend respite care and week long retreats for people with disabilities. The camp and its volunteers are an inspiration and the joy the campers get from attending the camp is truly incredible.

Every year the camp holds pineapple sales leading up to their annual pineapple gala, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Cedar Rapids. On Friday august 10 and Saturday august 11, volunteers will be selling pineapples at area Hy-Vees (Cedar Rapids, Marion, Coralville and Iowa City). Money handling skills are not required, as the pineapples are purchased through Hy-Vee, and all proceeds go directly to Camp Courageous! All you need is a smile, a friendly attitude, and a desire to serve! Volunteers are need to cover in 2 hour time blocks (minimum) in groups of 2-3 per store, from 4-7 on Friday and 10-6 on Saturday. The pineapple displays will be put together by Hy-Vee, all you have to do is show up and smile!

The following weekend (Saturday August 19) is the Pineapple Gala, held at the Crowne Plaza. Details about the tickets can be found on the website. There is a silent auction for some wonderful options, a dinner, followed by a live auction. Tables of ten can be purchased, or individual dinners can also be purchased. All proceeds go directly to Camp Courageous, including dinner prices and all money raised by the auctions. This would be a great social event for some outrageously awesome fun!

These are both great opportunities for individuals, friends,and families of any size! If you are interested in any of the above opportunities, please contact John or Nichole as soon as possible. This is a great chance to be a part of our community, and help raise money for a truly honorable cause.

What: Camp Courageous Pineapple Sales
Delmonte Gold Large Pineapples for $4.00
When: Friday August 10, 2007 4-7 PM
Saturday August 11, 2007 10AM-4PM
Where: Area Hy-Vee Stores including-
Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Iowa City, and Marion

Since you're reading this, I know you're interested in helping. Please contact Nichole or myself to sign up for a specific location and time.

John - kngdmwarrior@hotmail.com

Nichole - aquathlete13@yahoo.com (319-431-5332)

Four Oaks Service Project

If you are the kind of person who loves playing with kids and getting involved in the community, we have an opportunity for you. We recently found out about a Mexican-themed event hosted by Four Oaks for underprivilidged and hurting children. They are looking for volunteers to help with games (pin the tail on the donkey, bean bag toss and more), serving food, helping with crafts, and just playing with the kids. Erin just spoke last Thursday about giving of our time and energy by helping out with children. They love it when we play with them because they just think we're cool!


Date: Sunday, May 20
Time: 11:30 - 3:00 *
Place: Smith Center (map)

*The event starts at noon, but volunteers need to arrive at 11:30 to receive instructions.

I realize the event is this Sunday, and the last thing we want to do is pull you away from your normal Sunday church service. So if you would normally be attending church at this time, please don't skip church to do this instead. But if you attend an early morning or evening service at your church, and are interested in participating, please let us know!

If you are interested, please contact Joe with your name and birth date at joeclark@joeclarkia.net ASAP, as Four Oaks needs to know how many volunteers are coming for planning purposes.

Paul Rivera Frias: A Life Transformed!

I just received this email from CURE International, so I thought I would share with everyone so you can see just how your donations are helping!

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Passion07 challenged you to “do something now” to actively live your life for Christ. You took that challenge to heart. Your partnership with CURE is not just doing “something”, it is doing incredible things. It is changing lives. The following story of a child who was healed by a Passion07 sponsored surgery is proof of that.
Paul Rivera Frias will never have to grow up with the stigma of being disabled. He probably won’t even remember going through treatment for his disability. The chubby, little two-year-old is fortunate, he was able to get help early on in his life so that he won’t ever experience the trials that other individuals with disabilities in the Dominican Republic endure. Paul has you to thank for that. It was through your commitments at Passion07 that Paul was able to avoid the heartache and difficulties of being disabled in the developing world.
Born with scoliosis, Paul was referred to CURE for surgery by a hospital near his hometown of Los Alcarrizos, a remote village 30 minutes north of Santo Domingo. The surgery to strengthen his spine was a success. He soon will be able to crawl, and eventually walk, like other toddlers. Although, Paul may never realize or understand the transformation he received at CURE, his mother, Maria Frias, is more than aware of the profound affect his surgery had on his life. “We now have the hope that he is going to grow just as any normal person,” says Maria. For such a little guy, his family already has high hopes for his future. “Our biggest hope is that he could study and become a good professional,” Maria says with a smile. Maria and Paul Frias already attend church with the rest of their family, but say that their faith has grown through their experience at CURE.

Thank you,
CURE International

Technical Difficulties

For those of you that gave to CURE International, I thank you again! However, it has come to my attention that some of you might not have saw a confirmation page after you submitted your donation online. There might have been some technical problems with the laptop, specifically the one on the right side (Windows computer).

So, if you did not receive a confirmation page, I would suggest keeping an eye on your credit card account to see if anything posts in the next couple days, if not you can use the link posted in the previous blog that I posted earlier.

Thanks so much!

CURE International Total

I am so overwhelmed by the generous giving of everyone last night at the Maundy Thursday worship service. I am so excited to tell you that we raised $1861.25 last night! That includes the cash and the online donations! Thank you all so much for helping out! Lindsay and I are so excited about it!!!

If you were not able to attend last night and still want to give here are 3 ways:
#1. let me know via email (amyarp@gmail.com),
#2. or you can give by clicking on Sponsor Me! on the left side of this page: http://www.curenetcomm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=363&srcid=362&frsid=45
#3. or at watershed next week.

Thank you all again so much!
Amy

Thursday Serving Opportunities

We could use some happy-hearted servants in the following areas:

1) Childcare: A huge thank you to those of you who stepped up last month to help with childcare. We are still in need of 2 to 4 more childcare workers. We currently have a team of workers, and would like to keep a full team so that people serve once every 6 weeks. If you would enjoy playing with infants to 7 year olds, then please talk Erin Harlan. It's a great way to help the single moms and married-with-children couples in our midst!

2) Greetings Central: If you enjoy meeting people and making others feel comfortable, then we would love to have your help. We are hoping to put together a small team that will rotate serving at Greetings Central. It’s super easy and super fun, plus you get to meet lots of new people at our Thursday Gatherings. Talk with Amber Schouten if interested.

3) Worship Team: If you like to sing or play an instrument and have a desire to lead people in worshipping God through song, talk with Steve Adolphs.

Podcasters Wanted!

For quite a while, we've been recording the message from Watershed's Thursday night gatherings and posting the MP3s to the "Listen" page. We've even started podcasting. But we've done all that kind of on the side, with various people (mostly Erin) chipping in some time to edit MP3s, update the listen page, get the podcast feed set up, and so on.

We want to make sure that if someone can't make it to a Thursday night gathering, they can still hear the message. It's not a huge time commitment, but it's something that needs to be done regularly. Ideally, we'll have a team of at least two podcasters, so one person won't have to do all the work.

Do you want to serve the Watershed community as a podcaster? Do you want to know more? Talk to Matt, Erin, or Steve, or leave a comment here. (Updated to allow comments - sorry about that!)