Moses' Basket Connect 4 - Respite night for foster families

Moses' Basket will host our last Connect 4 (respite for foster families) on Saturday, Sept . 22, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Foster families are registered for this event, and we cannot do it without our faithful volunteers. Email mosesbasket@pearorchard.org to volunteer or register a foster family. This is a wonderful way for us to reach out to the community and serve foster families. The Moses' Basket team continues to be thankful for all the ways you have partnered with us. Thank you to everyone who donated baby items, gifts for Ukrainian orphans, and mone y to the ministry during VBS!   

Join us for Wednesday Night Ministries, starting up tonight!

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There are opportunities for all ages on Wednesday nights! Dinner is served in the cafeteria from 5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. followed by classes which start at 6:30 pm. Dinner cost is $5/person, $15 max per family. To register, please visit our Wednesday Night Ministries page.

Women will meet in the parlor for the Philippians Bible Study using Melissa Kruger's book, In All Things from 6:15-7:30 pm. Register by e-mailing thaynes@pearorchard.org.

Men will study the book The Shepherd Leader at Home by Timothy Witmer.

Sonbeams Adult Bible Study - A special needs Bible Study led by the Sonbeams team will also meet Wednesday evenings. View the flyer for details

Margaret Sprow will lead the Sanctuary Choir rehearsal from 6:30-7:30 in room 138 in the Education Building. If you're interested in joining choir, email margaret@pearorchard.org, or come to rehearsal tonight! 

Youth Bible studies (Rendezvous) for 7th – 12th graders meets in the Multi-Purpose building.

Children’s Catechism Class – Children 4 years to 6th grade will be taught the truths from Catechism questions, which meets in the Multi-Purpose building from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Nursery: For our youngest, a nursery is offered for infants-3 years old. To register, please visit our Wednesday Night Ministries page.

Pastor Carl will be teaching an Inquirers' Class which will begin on September 19 in Room 127. Please call Jan Duran in the church office and let her know if you plan to attend and if you will have childcare needs.

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Team Access

Attention, all 5th-12th graders! We would love to have you join Sonbeam's Team Access. Team Access is the youth branch of the disability ministry. Current members must fill out a new application. Applications are available in the foyer of sanctuary and in youth building and should be turned in by September 2. Please contact Ford or Nicole Franklin for more information. Nicole’s number is 713-906-7247.

Wednesday Night Ministries begin August 29!

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There are opportunities for all ages on Wednesday nights! Dinner is served in the cafeteria from 5:30 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. followed by classes which start at 6:30 pm. Dinner cost is $5/person, $15 max per family. To register, please visit our Wednesday Night Ministries page.

Women will meet in the parlor for the Philippians Bible Study using Melissa Kruger's book, In All Things from 6:15-7:30 pm. Register by e-mailing thaynes@pearorchard.org.

Men will study the book The Shepherd Leader at Home by Timothy Witmer.

Sonbeams Adult Bible Study - A special needs Bible Study led by the Sonbeams team will also meet Wednesday evenings. View the flyer for details

Youth Bible studies (Rendezvous) for 7th – 12th graders meets in the Multi-Purpose building.

Children’s Catechism Class – Children 4 years to 6th grade will be taught the truths from Catechism questions, which meets in the Multi-Purpose building from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Nursery: For our youngest, a nursery is offered for infants-3 years old. To register, please visit our Wednesday Night Ministries page.

Circles

Tabitha Circle will meet this Tuesday, August 14 at 10:00 a.m. in the home of Tammie Haynes (414 Berkshire Drive, Ridgeland; 601 - 966 - 6547) . Ruth Circle will also meet this Tuesday, August 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the home of Maggie Ethridge (701 Madeira Court , Madison; 601 - 668 - 5812). Those attending should let Amy Hatchett know by emailing to amy@hatchettfamily.net.

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Ladies' Luncheon

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We will have our annual fall luncheon on next Sunday, August 19, from 12 noon until 2:00 p.m. in the Multi - Purpose Building. Please join us for fellowship, food, and a time to hear about opportunities for spiritual growth and ways to serve our church body and the community.       

Mission First VBS

On June 11 - 14, a group from POPC will once again be going to Mission First (which now includes Neighborhood Christian Center) to host a Vacation Bible School. The VBS will offer Bible lessons, crafts, music, and recreation, as well as opportunities to build lasting relationships with the children and staff and volunteers at Mission First. VBS will be fr om 12:00 - 3:00 p.m. each day. If you are interested in being a part of this team, donating money for snacks, or have questions, please contact Susan McCullouch (susanbmcc@gmail.com) or Frances Wilson (flcwilson4@gmail.com).     

Missions Monday: Center for Pregnancy Choices

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POPC supports Center for Pregnancy Choices! The Center for Pregnancy Choices provides a variety of free and confidential services including pregnancy tests, information about abortion and alternatives, pregnancy & fetal development information, free limited sonograms, maternity and baby clothes, classes on fertility appreciation, parenting education, post-abortion counseling, and support groups.

Please keep Center for Pregnancy Choices in your prayers!

Installation service for Dean/reception for the Williams family Sunday night, May 27

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Next Sunday evening, May 27, We will host an installation service overseen by the Presbytery of the Mississippi Valley during evening worship, to officially install Pastor Dean as our Associate Pastor. The time will be at our normal 6:00 p.m. hour in the sanctuary. Please join your church body for this exceedingly important time in the life of our church. Immediately following the service, we will hold a dessert reception in the Multi-Purpose Building for Dean and Dorothy. We will be showering them with gift cards at the reception! We are asking that you bring a gift card or two to area stores and restaurants which they may use at their leisure as they settle in to MS. If you are not able to be present that night you may drop off your gift with any staff member or with Jan in the church office.   

 

Your mission teams need your support!

In less than a month, POPC will be sending out two mission teams: 26 youth and chaperones will be traveling to the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington, and 13 adults and youth will be traveling to Trujillo, Peru. Please be praying for the Lord to work in and through these teams. They also need you to send them financially: the Peru team has raised approximately $15,000 of the $30,000 needed, and the Yakama team has raised approximately $21,000 of the $34,000 needed. If you would like to support either of these teams and their work, please do so in the next two weeks. If you have already contributed toward these trips, thank you for your generosity! Our confidence is that Jesus is building His church around the globe, and as we go to make disciples at home and abroad, we go in His strength and provision. What a privilege for each one of us to participate in His mission, working for the joy of the lost and the found!

Missions Monday: RUF

POPC supports Reformed University Fellowship. More than just a ministry on the university campus, RUF seeks to be a ministry for the university. Campus ministers strive to serve in this unique stage of a student’s life in the world they live in, exploring together how the Lordship of Christ informs every area of life. POPC supports RUF on the campuses of Ole Miss, MSU, USM, JSU, Delta State, Belhaven and MC.

Campus Ministers:
Ole Miss: Brian Sorgenfrei
MSU: Elliott Everitt
USM: Ben Shaw
JSU: Cyril Chavis, Tre and Karlin Brooks (interns)
Delta State: Ro Taylor
Belhaven University: Seth Starkey
Mississippi College: Jeff Jordan

Please keep this wonderful ministry in your prayers!

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Missions Monday: Mid-South Church Planting Network

The Mid-South Church Planting Network is a group of PCA churches in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and west Tennessee that have come together to see new churches started for the glory of the God. Their desire is to see churches planted that are enamored with King Jesus in all they say and do. They believe that church planting is the most effective way to reach those who do not know the hope and promise of the Gospel. They know there are key areas throughout the Mid-South where PCA churches are needed. They also want see mutli-ethnic and African-America churches birthed, which simply reflects the beauty that is the throne room of Heaven.

Let's pray for the Mid-South Church Planting Network! 

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Missions Festival Report

Thanks be to God who went before us to prepare the way so that the Missions Festival was such a tremendous blessing to our congregation and to our Missions and Ministry Partners! Thank you to all who planned, executed, hosted and participated in numerous ways to make this a special week in the life of Christ’s church at POPC. We got off to a fairly good start on our Direct Member Giving Goal of $136,177 as we have received 64 pledges for $78,631 so far. Keep praying about how God would use you to plant the seeds of His love and grace. Will you be one of God’s senders?

Thank you, Martie!

Thanks be to the Lord for how generously He has gifted Martie Kwasny and used her as a minister in my personal life and as a faithful servant to our congregation. For the past twelve years, the Lord has used Martie and the rest of the Kwasny clan (and there are enough of them to qualify as a “clan”) at Pear Orchard to establish His Kingdom by, among many other things, spreading His Gospel of love to the marginalized and oft forgotten community of those affected by disability. Through her passionate efforts in founding and leading the Sonbeams Ministry, the Gospel has been made accessible for many, who because of physical or mental barriers, rarely have the opportunity to be immersed in corporate worship or the community of believers. I would be seriously remiss if I stepped into this role without properly recognizing her dedication to establishing and nurturing the Sonbeams Ministry at Pear Orchard.

Michael Beates, author of Disability and the Gospel said the following: We live in a culture that avoids, rejects, and hides weakness and brokenness. Disability reminds us of what we wish (and try desperately) to deny—that we are all disabled in some sense, whether it is spiritual, emotional, relational, or physical. Our friends who live with outward physical disability cannot hide their brokenness as easily or as successfully as the “normal” population. I tell people that the gift my daughter brings to the church is her presence. Her simply being among God’s people reminds us that before God we are all deeply and profoundly needy people and God’s grace is rich for us when we embrace this truth. This is her gift to the church.

Martie truly gets this, and the Lord has made it her mission to spread this understanding in the church. She understands what a gift these families, touched by disability, are for the church, and what a gift the church should be for them. I’m certain at times she felt like Mt. Everest was in front of her. Disability ministry can be disheartening, exhausting, discouraging, and isolating. Yet she persevered. The Lord used Martie to build Sonbeams from the ground up, which was no simple feat. Starting from a need being presented 12 years ago by an elder who had a child with special needs, Sonbeams has matured into a robust ministry that now provides many respite events a year, a VBS serving adults and inclusion children, a system that ensures all are hearing the Word of God on Sundays, a Wednesday night bible study, Christmas deliveries to our families touched by disability, and many other opportunities. Please join me in thanking Martie for her 12 years of dedication to establishing this ministry and her continued service to the Kingdom as the full-time Director of Joni and Friends Jackson.

Morgan Vitart, Sonbeams Director

Missions Monday: Arklie Hooten, MNA Disaster Response and Short Term Missions Director

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Missions Monday: Pray for our missionary of the week, Arklie Hooten, MNA Disaster Response and Short Term Missions Director. Arklie and his wife Katherine live in Elizabethton, TN and worship at Memorial PCA where he currently serves as a Ruling Elder. He has been leading the ministry of MNA Disaster Response since 2005, overseeing the growth and development of staffing, volunteer training and mobilization, a DR warehouse, and the Sheds of Hope project.

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Missions Monday: Pray for our Missionaries, Wes & Jami Baker (Peru Mission)

Missions Monday: Pray for our missionaries, Wes and Jami Baker (Peru Mission). Wes and Jami are from small towns near San Antonio, Texas. Wes and Jami have been on the field since the beginning of 2000 and they have seven children. Wes is the team leader in Trujillo, Pastor at Iglesia Cristo Rey, and professor of New Testament and Systematics at the Areopago Cristiano.

Please mark your calendars now for our annual Missions Festival: Sunday, February 11, through Sunday, February 18

Please mark your calendars now for our annual Missions Festival - Sunday, February 11, through Sunday, February 18. Mr. Les Newsom (RUF Area Coordinator for AR, west TN, MS, and AL), Dr. David Strain (Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson), and Dr. Elias Madeiros will be our guest preachers. More information to come!