From Here to There
It's Almost May...do you have the new Upper Room devotional booklet? You can pick one up in Fellowship Hall on Mon-Wed-Fri mornings or we can mail it to you. Just email us or call 970-565-3002.
Church Mailing Address for gifts/tithes: PO Box 1016 Cortez CO 81321 Thank you for your commitment to seeing the church through these difficult times. You're the best!
Navajo Nation COVID Relief Project is underway. Today the first load of food and supplies was delivered to First UMC of Cortez. Our garage is now a food warehouse!
The only items we're having terrible difficulty locating are...you guessed it...hand sanitizer and toilet paper! We may have some toilet paper coming our way from friends in Salt Lake City--but it will arrive too late for the first delivery day on Saturday. None of the Four Corners area suppliers have any in stock to sell us. If you have any TP at home that you're willing to share, we would be very, very grateful to receive it by Friday, May 1st! We'll even buy it from you!
This project is making me realize just how spoiled we have been as Americans. We're used to being able to walk into a store (or order online), find exactly what we want, anytime we want. If we have to substitute a different brand for our "usual" brand, we consider that a hardship or a failing on the part of the store. I think it's important to remember than even though a few items are difficult to get these days--in general we have innumerable choices and availability for food and household goods. For most of us, we have more than what we need to survive--and I am truly grateful for that!
As I talk with people about the Navajo COVID Relief Project (started through the Mountain Sky Conference UMC), they are shocked to learn that many of our neighbors on the Navajo Nation live in "third world"-type conditions. How can anyone live without running water? they ask. How can this happen in the United States, richest country on earth? And all the while I'm thinking, "Well...how do I compress 500 years of Native American history into one concise answer?"
I guess the real question isn't "How did we get here?" but rather "How do we get from here to there?" There being a place where emergency needs are met during this COVID crisis...and then we have discussions with Native Grace folks about how we can help improve conditions overall. First we survive, then we figure out how to thrive--together. All the while, we reflect on what is truly important for our lives.
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. Why would people gain the whole world but lose their soul?
Prayer Requests: for Connie White (church custodian), back in ICU at Cortez hospital with drug-resistant pneumonia (not COVID). She is very weak and may still need to be placed on a ventilator; for Scott Sorensen and his father "Daddy Bill." Scott is suffering from stones in his pancreas, and his father is nearing the end of his life in Yuma, AZ; as always--for everyone putting their own health at risk so that we may be cared for in these difficult times; for Sharon Porter and the Stauffer family.
Peace and all good,
Pastor Jean
Church Mailing Address for gifts/tithes: PO Box 1016 Cortez CO 81321 Thank you for your commitment to seeing the church through these difficult times. You're the best!
Navajo Nation COVID Relief Project is underway. Today the first load of food and supplies was delivered to First UMC of Cortez. Our garage is now a food warehouse!
The only items we're having terrible difficulty locating are...you guessed it...hand sanitizer and toilet paper! We may have some toilet paper coming our way from friends in Salt Lake City--but it will arrive too late for the first delivery day on Saturday. None of the Four Corners area suppliers have any in stock to sell us. If you have any TP at home that you're willing to share, we would be very, very grateful to receive it by Friday, May 1st! We'll even buy it from you!
This project is making me realize just how spoiled we have been as Americans. We're used to being able to walk into a store (or order online), find exactly what we want, anytime we want. If we have to substitute a different brand for our "usual" brand, we consider that a hardship or a failing on the part of the store. I think it's important to remember than even though a few items are difficult to get these days--in general we have innumerable choices and availability for food and household goods. For most of us, we have more than what we need to survive--and I am truly grateful for that!
As I talk with people about the Navajo COVID Relief Project (started through the Mountain Sky Conference UMC), they are shocked to learn that many of our neighbors on the Navajo Nation live in "third world"-type conditions. How can anyone live without running water? they ask. How can this happen in the United States, richest country on earth? And all the while I'm thinking, "Well...how do I compress 500 years of Native American history into one concise answer?"
I guess the real question isn't "How did we get here?" but rather "How do we get from here to there?" There being a place where emergency needs are met during this COVID crisis...and then we have discussions with Native Grace folks about how we can help improve conditions overall. First we survive, then we figure out how to thrive--together. All the while, we reflect on what is truly important for our lives.
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. Why would people gain the whole world but lose their soul?
Prayer Requests: for Connie White (church custodian), back in ICU at Cortez hospital with drug-resistant pneumonia (not COVID). She is very weak and may still need to be placed on a ventilator; for Scott Sorensen and his father "Daddy Bill." Scott is suffering from stones in his pancreas, and his father is nearing the end of his life in Yuma, AZ; as always--for everyone putting their own health at risk so that we may be cared for in these difficult times; for Sharon Porter and the Stauffer family.
Peace and all good,
Pastor Jean
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