Category: OVCF News

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #249

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #249. Thanks for joining me this week. So much happened over the past week and I can’t wait to share some of it with you. I do hope your week has gone well so far and you are finding some time to relax and enjoy the beginning of your summer. Now if the weather will just cooperate…😊

I have to start out with something concerning last week’s MM. I listed the teachers from OVCF and made the comment that I checked, double checked, and triple checked to make sure I had everyone’s name. Yep, you guessed it…I forgot a name. I sent her a text apologizing for my mistake and she told me it was okay and didn’t matter. But to me it does. My apologies to Cristi Wood, a teacher at MCES.

YOUTH CORNER

After last week I had more information given to me about some of our young people so I want to catch up on that.

• • • Rusti O’Neal found herself on the all A’s Honor Roll at SES. To put that even more into perspective, she made the all A’s Honor Roll for the whole year! Along the way she found time to be the Patriot Paper Editor, Student Council Secretary, Flag Bearer and also was part of Lifeline (an organization at SES)
    • Her brother, Beau, made the A/B Honor Roll at SES.
    • Mia Rose Hess was a freshman at Cedarville University (Ohio) this past academic year. She made the Dean’s Honor List for Spring 2025. This award was for a 3.75 GPA or higher while taking a minimum of 12 credit hours.
    • Hilltop Campers this week: (Jr. High) Rusti O’Neal, Amelia Biggs, Charli Wood, Aubrey Mangia, CJ Wood, Cooper Wood and Tad Nicholson. (Jr. Wilderness) Deanna Cain. Please be praying for these young people.
    • Jo and I spent several evenings this past week at the sports complex (when it wasn’t raining) watching a number of our young people play ball (T-ball, baseball, and softball). I am not going to try to list all the kids whom we saw this past week. That is a disaster waiting to happen.😊However, the real troopers are the parents, some of whom are at the field every night of the week. The season is being extended due to so many rainouts, so they will at least be playing this week and next week. If you just want a nice diversion come to the sports complex and watch some ball. Games start at 6:00 on most fields. Look for Jo and me. We will most likely be there.

Congratulations to Keaton & Lily (Bault) Zufall! Keaton is Candi Provo’s son and Lily is Melvin & Rosie Bault’s granddaughter. They were married this past Saturday. I had the privilege of performing the wedding.

Please remember, the Change for Life fundraiser that benefits New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center is still ongoing. You can still pick up a baby bottle at the info table and fill it with your change, $, or check. The fundraiser goes until Father’s Day, June 15th. Please return your baby bottle to the info table by that date.

I have been writing about the 5th Annual Serving Owen County Together (SOCT) event coming up this month on June 21st. The rain date is June 28th. SOCT is an effort to help Owen County folks (especially those who have been struggling) with various clothing items, shoes, socks, toiletries, diapers, and a host of other items, even some furniture. All of it free to those who come. Here are some details that might assist you in your decision to help:

• • • 8-10am- Set Up
    • 10am-12pm- First shift
    • 12-3pm- Second shift
    • 3-4 pm- Tear down
    • Last year SOCT served over 1000 people and had over 100 volunteers.
    • There is a link to sign up to volunteer:
      https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D4DABAE29A2FC1-57095840-2025
    • I will be there to welcome people as the first point of contact. There are many different ways you can help. Take a moment to sign up or if you prefer just show up to volunteer.

Despite the rain (and construction site!), we have had volunteers who have kept our church lawn looking nice. Thanks so much to all of you who have taken the time to do so. Outside appearance is the very first thing someone notices when they drive by or pull into our driveway. An unkempt lawn tells observers we don’t care. Thanks for taking time to make our church grounds appealing and more welcoming! 😊

Have you been by to see the progress made on the building addition? The weather finally gave us a break this past week and they were able to pour the stem wall, do some excavating, and put down gravel for the foundation. Bobby Anderson and his crew also worked hard to get our plumbing roughed in! There is more to be done, but the next step is to begin excavating the new parking lot to the east. That is to begin early next week. When the money is available, the concrete pad will be poured and the building shell will be built to enclose it. We will have a better idea where we are after paying for the excavation and stone. It is exciting!!😊

On May 29th I wrote in my Living in the Shadow blog about an upcoming sermon on June 22nd. I issued a challenge in the blog to my readers. I’d like to ask you to read it and consider it as well. I will talk more about it next week in the MM. Here is the link:

My sermon this week is about that age-old question: “Why?” The Scripture I will be using is Job 21-42. I look forward to seeing you this week. Just know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #248

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #248, your source for all good things happening at OVCF. 😊 I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day celebration and along the way took some time to be grateful for the men and women who have served our country. Remembering them is one of the greatest ways to honor their service.

Many of you have asked how our trip to Ohio went. We left early Saturday morning because we found out Braden, our grandson, played a ball game at noon. The weather was great, even though the score didn’t quite turn out like we would have liked. I didn’t realize that it was the first time Tami has had a chance to see him play a high school baseball game. Then it hit me: she is always in class teaching while he is playing. I’m glad we were able to make it.

Graduation went well. Well…relatively well. There were over 400 students in his graduating class. Sadly, acoustics were horrible and it was really hard to hear many of the remarks the speakers made. Here is why we are button-popping grandparents and aunt: Braden graduated with academic highest honors (4.2 GPA)! He received several other honors: 2024 All OCC scholar athlete (football); 2nd team All OCC and 1st team All District (baseball); Gold Key, Keith Noble Jr. scholarship.

Okay… let’s move on to some other important things! 😁 I hope you have made plans to attend the OVCF family pitch-in tonight. I look forward to seeing you tonight at 6:00.

The New Beginnings Pregnancy Resource Center’s Change for Life fundraiser is happening now! There are baby bottles on the info table for you to take and fill with your change, $, or check and then return by June 15th (Father’s Day). All proceeds from Change for Life work to help the Center’s work to help families in our community.

YOUTH CORNER:

The end of the school year always brings a flurry of awards, the biggest, of course, being that students move up a grade. Here are some others:

• • • Draven Stahl was given the Top Cat Award for 2nd grade.
    • Tad Nicholson received 5 academic awards and was presented with the Best Defensive Player Award for the A-Team, due to his work behind the plate (He is a catcher for the baseball team)! I won’t say anything at all that his mom may have posted that on Facebook.

The VFW hosts the Illustrating America Art Contest for kids grades K-8. We had several who were winners in their age group.

• • • Grades K-2: First place was Alexander Chambers
    • Grades 3-5: First place was Sophia Kropack; second place was Deanna Cain; third place
      was Isabella Chambers
    • Grades 6-9: Second place was Eliza Chambers
    • In a separate category, Creative Patriotic Art, Brodie Sutton, a graduating senior, took first place at the local VFW level and fifth place as State of Indiana winner.

MORE SCHOOL RELATED NEWS:

• • • Kristine Mangia was honored for her 25 years to S-OCS as a teacher
    • Kim Floyd celebrates 5 years as a school nurse.

School is out for the summer so I thought it would be good to acknowledge and remind you to pray for those who were a focus of our weekly prayer list. A LIST OF ALL THE ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS WHO ARE PART OF THE OVCF FAMILY: Mary Beckwith, Matt Beckwith, Gabrielle Corder, Karen Fisher (bookkeeper), Heather Herrington (secretary), Kim Floyd (nurse), Tami Grandi, Hannah Morse, Cara King, Kristine Mangia, Angela Mayle (inclusion), Rachel Nicholson, Kris Samick (Admin) and Jenn Zigler (OVMS

counselor). Homeschool moms are Christine Chambers, Rebecca Chesser, Hope East, Jenny Hess, Michelle Lippert, Jeanna Srinivasan, and Shelly Sutton.

I checked, double checked, and triple checked this list so I hope I have not left anyone out. If I have please let me know and I will include you in next week’s MM.

Welcome to Kathy Wisley! This past Sunday, after studying the First Steps study with me a couple of weeks ago, she made the decision to be baptized. Kathy was baptized this past Sunday at the YMCA. It was a pleasure to baptize her with her family there to witness it.

In MM #245 I mentioned that we have hired Hannah Pendleton as a part-time Children’s Ministry Director. She is fitting into her role rather nicely and will be a big asset to our youth ministry as time moves on. What I failed to mention is that we have also hired Bob Kropack as a part-time maintenance man. Ever since Dick Hogan retired from that position, we have been without one. There have definitely been some things that needed to be taken care of. Bob will work when the need arises and he has already helped make a difference. Welcome, Bob!

A reminder to you about Serving Owen County Together scheduled for June 21st. A rain date (a definite possibility) is June 28th. We have taken part since its inception 4 years ago. It will be located at the front parking lot at OVMS/OVHS this year.

One last thing: have you had a chance to see the progress on the addition? They were finally able to get in and begin putting the stem wall forms together. Good weather will help us this week to see progress with that.

Sunday’s message is When All Seems Lost from Esther 6-Job 21. I look forward to seeing you then. Just know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #247

Hello everyone! Welcome to Midweek Message #247. Thanks for taking the time to read this edition. I toyed with not doing a MM this week but decided there was so much going on that it would be good to do one.

First on my mind is a big thank you to all who shared in Sunday’s celebration. Jo, Tami and I were able to watch the live stream (the whole first service and both graduate celebrations) and so we at least felt like we were here in a small way. Each week I am grateful for those who do the live stream faithfully and make it available for those who can’t be here to at least have a small taste of being part of the OVCF family. I commented on the YouTube channel since I don’t have Facebook, but I don’t know if I was doing something wrong (totally possible) or if no one wanted to say hi. 😁 Congratulations again to all our graduates. Here is a complete list of them for you:

• • • Elijah Clausman (homeschool)
    • Calvin Dean (OVHS)
    • Anna East (homeschool)
    • Jordan Mahon (OVHS)
    • Nolan Miller (homeschool)
    • Adriana Moreno (OVHS)
    • Mason Powell (BHSN)
    • Adam Samick (OVHS)Brodie Sutton (homeschool)

College

• • • Alec Akerson (IU)
    • Colby Beckwith (SMWC)
    • Tori Floyd (IU)
    • Travis Floyd (IU)

My prayer for all of you is found in Psalm 37:5- “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (NLT) I pray you will consult Him in all you, every step you take, and every move you make. I pray your future will be blessed by Him and you will bring honor and glory to Him in all things.

CHANGE FOR LIFE: NEW BEGINNINGS PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTER. We are collecting for NBPRC from now until Father’s Day. Please take a bottle on the info table, (fill it with your loose change, money or check) and return it by June 15. EVERYTHING given will support the Center’s work to help families in our community. We have been supporting this for many years and it has always been a good opportunity to help out one of the missions we support.

You are invited to attend Kathy Wisley’s baptism at the YMCA this coming Sunday at 12:45. Notice the time difference from previous times. The Y has been so gracious down through the years to allow us to use the  pool on Sundays before they open, but it sure will be nice to have our own place to baptize people in our new facility (when and if it stops raining). 😄

HAVE YOU REMEMBERED to put the next OVCF family pitch-in on your calendar? It is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28th at 6:00. Someone has suggested we call it “Chat-n-Chew.” That name is up for debate, but getting together for some fun, laughter, and good food is not. 😄

Years ago when Jo and I first came to OVCF, we used to have a weekend called Family Camp. It was at another campground and it was a time for many to unwind and just have some good fun. It has been several years (at least more than the 15 OVCF has been in this building) since there has been a family camp. Several of our folks want to revive that weekend and have chosen August 1-3 at Hilltop as an “end-of-the-summer-right-before-school-starts” opportunity for you to spend time winding down and enjoying your church family. There is more information in this week’s bulletin. Start now by marking your calendars.

For the past 4 years we have taken part in Serving Owen County Together. This is Year #5 and we have been asked to help volunteer again. I will have more in future MMs and we will also post more in the bulletin, but right now I’m going to ask you to put June 21st on your calendar. A rain date (which seems to be a real possibility these days) is June 28th. As I know more I will share it with you. I can tell you it will take place in the front parking lot of the OV high school/middle school. This is a great way to serve our community.

This Sunday I will continue the trek through the Bible using the Everyday Gospel Devotional. I’m going to cover a lot of ground this week by preaching from Ezra 1-Esther 5. The three main characters we will learn from are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Here is what you have to look forward to:

1. 1. 1. Ezra- the priest who brought a fresh start
      2. Nehemiah- the cupbearer who built a wall
      3. Esther- the queen who saved a nation

We will get a wonderful chance to see how God intervened in rebuilding a nation-spiritually and physically. I missed seeing you this past Sunday. I know vacations begin for many. For those who are here this week, I look forward to seeing you. For those traveling, be safe and please take a moment to check in on the live stream. Love you all.
Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #246

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #246. I hope all you ladies had a nice day Sunday. There is no denying the weather sure was beautiful! 80 degrees and sunny! I was such a good husband and Tami was such a good daughter we didn’t even ask Jo to fix lunch for us. 😁

A couple of big events happen this coming weekend.

• • • We will be gone for our grandson Braden’s graduation from high school this coming Sunday. We will be heading over Saturday and, Lord willing, be back Monday.
    • Pastor Ryan will be preaching this Sunday. His Scripture will be taken from the Everyday Gospel Devotional (just as mine have been all year). His Scripture will be 2 Chronicles 13-36. Please come prepared by reading the Scripture ahead of time.
    • Graduate Recognition Sunday is this Sunday. For those who may not have had a chance to see last week’s MM, I thought I would list them again for you:
      • • • Elijah Clausman
          • Anna East
          • Jordan Mahon
          • Nolan Miller
          • Mason Powell
          • Adam Samick
          • Brodie Sutton
          • Alec Akerson (college)
          • Tori Floyd (college)
          • Travis Floyd (college)

Congratulations to all of you. I will be disappointed to miss your recognition on Sunday but just know that I will be praying for all of you as you follow His leading in your life. I am excited to see what journey God leads you on in the future. I also hope wherever you go you will always remember there is a church in the small town of Spencer, IN that loves you and cares about you.

Several important items will be taking place on Sunday, the 25th.

• • • Several months ago someone asked me about putting in the MM about any upcoming baptisms. Here is one for you to mark your calendar for: Kathy Wisely will be baptized at the YMCA following morning worship at 12:30. You are invited to attend.
    • Adriana, Matt & Mary Beckwith’s foreign exchange student, will be spending her last Sunday with us before heading back to Spain. Not only would I like to introduce her to you, she also has something she would like to say. If you see her, let her know how nice it was to have her visit and that you hope she remembers OVCF was a church that welcomed her. Those who host foreign exchange students take on a big challenge as well. Sort of like temporarily fostering a child. I’m proud of Matt & Mary and their family for taking Adriana in and making the adjustments to host her. Their children, Kaedence, Akaydia, Kayliana, and Aksel are to be commended also.

YOUTH CORNER:

• • • Well, I messed up again (that is two for this year. I’ve hit my quota). In last week’s MM, I stated that Aubrey Mangia took 4th place in the 2400 meter. That was correct. I wrongly stated that was 8 times around the track. It is 6 times. Along with being technologically-challenged, I guess I am reading-challenged as well. Her father, Tom, said 6. I saw 8. Either way she did well. 😀
    • Jo and I were able to make it to the ball diamonds on Wednesday and saw a number of our younger ones play ball. Those we saw were Addi and Owen Hutchison (I owe him one since his game finished as we got there). We also saw Grace Chesser, Jordan Mangia and Brett Zigler. Calvin Keene was playing but we were unable to see him play.
      Parents! Please get me a schedule so we can watch your child play! Jo & I want to see as many as possible play ball!
    • I was able to make it to the high school track meet Thursday evening to watch some of our young athletes compete. The girl’s relay 4×800 with Alli Anderson took first place. Alli also took first place in the individual open 800. The girl’s relay team took 1st place in the 4×400 after I left.
    • I also saw Eli Wood throw the discus 80’. Good job, Eli! Keep up the hard work!!

It takes a lot of work to compete in high school sports (or middle school). I am impressed by
those who do the discipline of both competing and school work. I’m also excited to see so many
of our young ones playing ball and getting away from the screens. A big tip of the hat goes to
the parents (and grandparents) who make a point of getting their young ballplayers to and from
practice and games. I was texting with one of the parents last week about their schedules and it
made me tired just reading it. 😄

I KNOW YOU HAVE SURELY MARKED THE DATE! Wednesday, May 28th is the next pitch-in at 6:00. The online poll and word-of-mouth was highly in favor of continuing them through the summer so that is what we are planning to do. We have several ideas mulling around in our brains-one of them a cookout with sort of like a game night involving corn hole and other games. I know…maybe with all the dirt that will be piled around and a little water…nah better not suggest that one. 😄

As I write this it is Sunday afternoon and 80 degrees. The plan is to start building the stem wall for our addition tomorrow. The forecast says 70% chance of rain. Again, I ask Jerry Benton: are you sure we can’t build a dome over our church building and addition area? Sure would come in handy don’t you think? 😁 UPDATE: due to the weather and a repair to the new line REMC installed, the stem wall was delayed. Please pray for several dry days to facilitate the equipment and forms being able to be brought in and the wall to be poured.

Congrats are in order for Zach and Nicole Bell. Kane Jesse Bell was born on 5/8 and tipped the scales at 6# 9oz and was 19 3⁄4” long. Kane means “man” in Hawaiian, Zach’s heritage.

And on that high note I will close this MM. I will miss seeing you this Sunday but I trust you will have a meaningful time with Pastor Ryan. Love you much.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #245

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #245. I know some of you went to your inbox last Wednesday looking for the MM and were sorely disappointed. 😁 It didn’t go to your junk mail. Jo and I went to Ohio to see Braden play some high school baseball so I made plans not to publish one. Little did I know that the weather we had here in the early part of last week would hit there even worse, so we ended up cutting our visit short and came home Tuesday morning. But it was still too late to put a MM together so I stuck with my original decision. We did get to see him play Monday and get a couple of hits (they still lost), but it was reminiscent of a couple summers ago when every time we went the game was rained out. 🙁Hopefully, we will get to see him play some this summer before he starts college at Ohio State.

Since I’m writing about Braden, our next visit will be the weekend of May 17-19 when he will graduate from high school. His graduation is Sunday afternoon, the 18th, so Pastor Ryan will be preaching that Sunday. That is also Graduate Recognition Sunday in the second service. I’m sorry I am going to miss that day because I love to honor our students who have worked so hard, but Ryan and Diana have always done an excellent job of recognizing our graduates. Here is the list we have:

• • • Elijah Clausman (Homeschool)
    • Anna East (Homeschool)
    • Jordan Mahon (OVHS)
    • Nolan Miller (Homeschool)
    • Mason Powell (BHSN)
    • Adam Samick (OVHS)
    • Brodie Sutton (Homeschool)
    • Alec Akerson (Masters of Science in Teaching, Learning and Curriculum: STEM Track at IU)
    • Tori Floyd (Masters at IU School of Public Health)
    • Travis Floyd (IU-Jacobs School of Music)

Remember to pray for our educators of the week: Bonnie Richmond and Beth Sewell. They are
both counselors at OVHS.

YOUTH CORNER

• • • They did it again! The four young men (Walker LaGrange, Charlie Burkett, Dane Stahl, and Landrin Wolford ) on the OVMS track team continue making history. They broke the school record again for the 4×100 and the 4×400. Dane Stahl (Kim’s son) broke the school record for the 200 at 24.43. He now qualifies for the New Balance Nationals next month in Pennsylvania. Way to go, Dane and the other young men!
    • She did it again and excelled! Aubrey Mangia took part in the OVMS track meet this past Saturday. Here were her standings:
      • • 4th place in the 2400 meter (1.5 miles or 8 times around the track)
        • 2nd place in the Girls 800 meter
        • 6th place in Girls’ Long Jump
        • 1st place in the Girls’ 4×800 meter (along with Makynlie Hall, Layla VanHorn and Kenadi Collier)

I really enjoyed the East Tennessee presentation by the folks who went. I was so proud of them being servants. I’m honored to be the pastor of a church that likes to send people and makes it possible for that to happen. Your continued generosity for young people-whether it be for camp or some other venture-needs to be highlighted. A perfect example of that is at the moment, we have 26 campers registered for Hilltop camp. WOW!

Have you taken the time to look at the north end of our property? Not only is excavation done for the water management & drainage, there has been more “playing in the dirt” (i.e. progress) over the past couple of weeks. The electricity for the new building has been connected. Footers have been dug & poured and we are just waiting for clear weather to have the stem wall poured. Next will be putting down gravel for the future foundation! You can really begin to see the footprint of the new building! We plan to expand our parking by
adding to the east which will accommodate 50-75 more spots. Diana has been posting pictures of the progress on the church’s Facebook page. If you would like to see what is happening, come by and check it out! Jerry Benton, the contractor, tells us that he will lay the concrete pad when we are ready to put it under roof.

MONTHLY PITCH-IN! I was mistaken when I spoke at the last pitch-in. For some reason I was thinking it was May and it would be our last one. I was wrong (first time all year). 😁 We asked and several of you weighed in- all in favor of continuing our monthly pitch-ins! Many of you enjoy the time together for food and fellowship (we do, too!)! We will have our next pitch-in on Wednesday, May 28th at 6 PM.

A big, huge welcome to Hannah Pendleton! Hannah began her ministry with OVCF as our part- time Children’s Ministry Director this past Monday. We had a staff meeting and initiated her to Ryan’s use of Dry Bar Comedy videos that often keep us laughing. Then we made her all better by taking her to lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at El Ranchero. 😀Welcome, Hannah! We look forward to growing to love her even more as she helps us move forward and improve what we offer for our children’s church programs! Pastor Ryan will be mentoring her and helping her adjust.

Sunday is Mother’s Day. The sermon is entitled A Godly Woman! I’ve taken each day’s reading from Everyday Gospel and condensed it into an idea and then found women in the Bible who exhibit that quality. It will be a woman-honoring message. See you then and know you are loved.

Pastor Bill

MIDWEEK MESSAGE #244

Hello everyone and welcome to Midweek Message #244. Well…Easter 2025 is now history. And what a history it brings! We had a beautiful Sunday morning. Sunshine. Spring weather. Plenty of smiles and hugs all around. I saw little girls smile at me and when I got close play shy and hide. I saw little boys be…well…little boys. I heard the worship team do a tremendous job in leading us to worship. I heard the congregation raise the roof on the songs. I saw a great spirit of cooperation setting up before and tearing down after. Pastor Ryan had the shuttle system  working like a well-oiled machine. You should also know that Diana puts in a lot of extra work to make sure things go smoothly for us. Many thanks to all those who helped set things up (chairs, sound and live stream) and tear things down. And in case you are wondering, we set a new attendance record for our worship of any kind: 315. Abram Event Venue only has 300 chairs so that meant many folks gave up their seat so others could sit with family or at least find a seat. Thank you to those who did that. (I still wonder why no one wanted to sit up front with me). A super big thank you to Pastor Ryan who noticed the nursery was packed with little ones who were too big for that room and took them outside and played kickball, tag, and a whole bunch of other games.

I had someone ask about our addition, someone who was visiting for the first time and is moving here from Indy. I explained where it will be and what the capacity will be. They said they really enjoyed today and would be back. We also had someone who went to the church building and saw the cars and wondered where everyone was. They finally figured it out and came as I was finishing up. But they did say they would be back. I’m sure glad Tiffany Kropack was still greeting when they came.😄 Thanks to all of you who invited friends and family to join us. I hope they had a joyful experience.

Up to this point in the MM, everything I have written was done on Sunday afternoon. From this point on it is Monday. So here it is: Back to earth. 😄

This coming weekend, April 26-28 eight teenagers will be attending the Brown County Chrysalis  Flight. Those eight are Rogan Campbell, Abigail Clausman, Elijah Clausman, Caleb East, Rachel East, Kalissa Hamlin, Meilynn Hess and Nolan Miller. Some of you have been to a Chrysalis weekend or Emmaus Walk in the past. Ryan, Hope and Anna East are sponsoring many of these young people in this venture. If you would consider writing an agape’ letter of love and encouragement to any of these students that you know, it would be much appreciated. If you do, please return your letter to Ryan, Hope or Anna by this Friday the 25th so they will be
received on time. Candlelight is at Hilltop Christian Camp, and anyone who has attended Emmaus or Chrysalis is welcome to attend.

YOUTH NEWS

• • • Congratulations to Cecilia Arnold. This past week she was awarded the True Patriot Award for the third quarter of this school year. Grandma Melissa found out it was for being kind and respectful to her peers and teachers, being a good student, getting good grades, etc. She was nominated by her teacher. What an honor Cecilia!
    • The Jr. High track team is making history. Liam Bevington set the record for the 200 m. Walker LaGrange, Charlie Burkett, Dane Stahl (Kim’s son), and Landrin Wolford set the record in the 4×400. To top it off those same 4 young men set a record in the 4×100 as well. Congratulations to all of them!

Our time with our grandson, Braden, playing high school baseball is winding down. I’m not sure Jo will know what to do when she can’t watch him on her iPad as the games are live streamed. Oh, I know…she will have to talk to me. But I think she would prefer to watch him.😄 We have not been able to watch him play at all this spring. Our last time to watch him play high school baseball live is next Monday and Tuesday so we will be heading out after church next Sunday for Ohio. We will be back Wednesday in time for the pitch-in. (You didn’t expect me to miss that did you?) Our next time gone will be in May for his graduation. Would you please pray for a safe trip for us? Pastor Ryan and Diana will hold the fort down rather well. Because of being gone for the first part of the week, there will be no MM next week.

Because of what I just said, I’ll include our educator of the week for this Sunday and all next week in this edition of the MM. Our educator will be Jenn Zigler. Jenn graduated from Taylor University and received her Masters from Ball State. She has been a counselor at OVMS for 8 years. She has been married to Chris for 13 years and they have two sons, Winston (8) & Barrett (6). They love going to McCormick’s Creek Park to hike, picnic and walk the trails.

Last Monday evening the Building Team met with Jerry Benton, our contractor, to talk about the next stages of our expansion. I know some of you have asked so I thought I would give a quick rundown of our discussion points:

• • • Underground utilities are in and this past Wednesday our power was switched over to the new service cabinet. The new gas line will go in when the building is completed.
    • What is next? Top soil work is first, hopefully within the next 2 weeks. (This is the second week). Then gravel work, a stem wall (footer and wall) and rough grade work will be done. Dirt work, seed, and straw will quickly follow.
    • The pad will be poured when we are ready to enclose it. Jerry is hesitant to pour the pad and then have it sit in the sun for a long period of time.
    • Parking lot expansion will also be taking place. We are planning on 50-75 more parking spaces to the east of the current parking lot. We will be placing flags out soon for that work to be done.

When will all this be done? When it stops raining!😄And please keep in mind that we will proceed as we have the money.

My sermon this Sunday will be entitled Our God Reigns! from 2 Kings 1-19. The next Sunday will be Simple Words-Lifetime Lessons from 2 Kings 20-I Chronicles 17. I look forward to seeing you! And once again I say thanks for making Resurrection Sunday one to remember. I love you all.

Pastor Bill