September 24, 2017: Bill & Pam Wakefield accept a commemorative bowl in honor of Nassau Presbyterian Church’s ongoing support of Send Hunger Packing Princeton.
Last month, at the annual fundraiser for SHUPP (Send Hunger Packing Princeton), Nassau was presented with a beautiful bowl and thanked for our ongoing support, generosity, and kindness.
Almost 420 kids in Princeton Public Schools, equating to 2 in each classroom are eligible for free and reduced price lunches on school days. Until SHUPP these kids could and did get pretty hungry on weekends and holidays. Through a collaborative effort coordinated by Princeton Human Services Commission, Mercer Street Friends and the Princeton School District. a group of committed volunteers pack and distribute weekend food backpacks to children in the Princeton schools and at the Princeton Nursery School. To date, SHUPP has distributed almost 100,000 meals! That translates into a lot of healthier, rested, brighter and happier children.
Thank you Nassau members, your generous monthly hunger donations are helping to make this happen.
Westminster Conservatory at Nassau
Thursday, November 16
On Thursday, November 16 at 12:15 p.m. the series Westminster Conservatory at Nassau will present flutist Barbara Highton Williams and pianist Ikumi Hiraiwa in recital. Both performers are members of the Westminster Conservatory teaching faculty. The recital will take place in the Niles Chapel and is open to the public free of charge.
The program on November 16 is entitled “Colors of Minor,” and comprises J.S. Bach’s Sonata in B Minor, BWV 1030 for flute and piano, Ferruccio Busoni’s Albumblatt: Andantino, and Sonate by Melanie Bonis.
Westminster Conservatory at Nassau recitals will resume on January 18, 2018 with a performance by Timothy Urban, baritone, and Kathy Shanklin, piano.
The New School for Music Study
Sunday, November 19
Join us Sunday, November 19, at 2:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary for an afternoon of dance music in a New School for Music Study faculty piano recital. This recital will feature Baroque dance suites by Bach, music from Puerto Rico and the Greek Isles, and everything in between. Proceeds from the recital will benefit Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s relief work in Puerto Rico.co.
Inviting all Nassau friends to Arm In Arm’s 2017 Fall Benefit
PEOPLE, POVERTY, AND THE POWER TO OVERCOME
Wednesday, November 15
Cherry Valley Country Club, Skillman
Come on out for a great evening in support of a great cause as we continue to work together to help families in Mercer County in need of food, housing and job support. 100% of proceeds will support Arm In Arm in our mission and programs that serve more than 5,000 local families every year.
6:30 pm Cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception
7:30 pm A compelling conversation featuring distinguished panelists:
Johannes Haushofer, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
The Rev. Karen Hernandez-Granzen, Pastor of Trenton’s Westminster Presbyterian Church and 2017 Community Partner-in-Residence at Princeton University’s PACE Center for Civic Engagement
Marygrace Billek, MSSW, Director of Mercer County Department of Human Services
Panel moderator: Landon Jones, author and former managing editor of People magazine
8:30 pm Coffee and dessert
RSVP by November 6 by calling 609-396-9355, ext. 15, or by reserving online at www.arminarm.org/donate
Challenge abounds at home and in countries around the world. This month, we invite you to celebrate the small miracles of education empowered by our partners in Trenton and in Burma/Myanmar, and the joy of even basic medical care offered in Malawi by our own Dr. Barbara Edwards, and her new VIP friends. Join us – the need is great and the work force could use some new and renewed support.
As always, we welcome your questions, suggestions, and support as we seek to deepen our commitments beyond the Nassau Church community.
For the Mission & Outreach Committee,
Joyce MacKichan Walker, staff
Mission Partnership Quarterly Email Newsletter
Updates and events from our local and global mission partners. Four issues annually. Sign up to receive these updates in your email.
Wondering how you can get involved with our newest mission partner? Please contact Loretta Wells, .
This Sunday, October 29, come to the Assembly Room at 12:15 p.m. to hear Barbara Edwards speak about her trip to Malawai (picture above) this past May with Villages in Partnership’s medical mission group.
Hear how twenty-four Americans worked with local Malawians to create four pop-up medical clinics that served over five thousand people in three days. Barbara Edwards is a general internist with a private practice at The University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. She is also the Medical Director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Center, which serves over 8000 patients, many uninsured or underinsured. Edwards worked in Liberia, West Africa, in 1988 as a medical student and has always wanted to return to work in Africa. “When Steve Heinzel-Nelson came to speak at Nassau about Villages in Partnership, I knew God was calling me to serve.”.
Interested in visiting Westminster’s 11 AM worship and meeting our partners? Contact Patti Daley, .
Memories of Princeton University’s 14th Community Action Week at Westminster Presbyterian Church
By Ashley Hodges, Class of 2021, Princeton University
On September 6, 2017, Trenton students tackled their first day and experienced the jitters of returning back-to-school marking the end of their summer vacation. While the schoolyards once again became populated with young, bright minds and positive souls, Westminster Presbyterian Church organized community-based events that involved Princeton students in a positive interaction with the Trenton community. With the help of the students, WPC planned and participated in activities that supported the children and parents of Trenton. The Princeton students, young adults who come from all over the United States and as far as the United Kingdom and Turkey, enjoyed working with WPC and immersing themselves within the Trenton community. Holly Cunningham, a first year at the university, noted that she and her group “were eager to give the students of Trenton a chance to get excited to start the new school year.”
Events such as a back-to-school backpack drive and carnival helped benefit both the community of Trenton while allowing the Princeton students to be involved in community service activities through an annual program called Community Action. For the past 14 years, Princeton’s Community Action has partnered with WPC while making the effort to ensure that each years’ events are better than the last. Prior to the planned events, the Princeton students were prompted by WPC to go out into the Trenton community and encourage the residents of the church’s surrounding neighborhoods to attend the back-to-school backpack drive and carnival. This year, the backpack drive provided over two hundred and eight backpacks and school supplies to students in the Trenton area. Over one hundred of these backpacks were donated by Nassau. All the backpacks were filled with an array of school supplies. With donation of $1,000 from Nassau, Get SET was able to purchase much needed scientific and algebraic calculators.
The recipients of the backpacks are children of all races from Westminster, Get SET After School Program, Sprout State University, School of the Arts (K thru 12), Howard’s Healthy Choices After School and Summer Camp, and Beracah Apostalic Church; a Hispanic/Latino immigrant church.
The back-to-school carnival brought together over 200 children and parents who enjoyed various festivities such as face painting, circus acts, games, candy, and prizes. These events were coordinated by WPC and the Princeton students and made a positive impact on Trenton’s residents who expressed great gratitude for the church’s involvement within the community.
At the end of it all, the students of Princeton and Trenton were able to exchange aspects of kindness, thankfulness and service. With the help of WPC, the students of Trenton will returned to the classroom prepared and ready to go to tackle the new year while the Princeton students will recall the lasting experiences they shared within the unique Trenton community.
Your ideas for making this a vital partnership are welcome. For more information, contact Sue Jennings, .
The Cetana board has been distressed by recent events in Myanmar/Burma. The persecution and violence conducted by the military against the Rohingya in Rakhine State constitute an enormous step backwards for the country. In view of this setback, Cetana intends to redouble its efforts to advance educational opportunities for Myanmar youth. We continue to believe that education is crucial for political, economic, and humanitarian progress.The project in Kanpetlet in Chin State, where Nassau Church has provided significant financial support, is going ahead as planned. Metta Partners, Cetana’s partner in this venture, will be on the ground again in January visiting the schools and talking to the teachers before the ESL volunteer supported by Nassau Church, Janet Powers, returns to the village in April to conduct teacher training.
In January Cetana’s flagship learning center in Yangon will welcome Martha Spector, a volunteer who will conduct business English training classes. These classes are very helpful for students who want to find jobs in the developing economy in Myanmar. Martha is a retired lawyer and business executive with an MBA. She has spent time in Southeast Asia. As a native speaker with business skills, she will be able to make a major contribution to Cetana’s course offerings.
Cetana has also benefited from an award from the DeBoer Foundation, which enabled Khoo Kyaw San, the Cetana executive director at the learning center in Yangon, to participate in a fellowship program for mid-career professionals in not-for-profit organizations. The program gave Khoo Kyaw San valuable training in strategic planning, leadership, and fundraising, as well as an opportunity to network with other NGOs.
Finally, Lois Young, a Nassau Church member, will be leading the trip to Myanmar/Burma in January. The group will travel to Yangon, Bagan, one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites, Kalaw, the site of an elephant sanctuary and forest recovery project, and Inle Lake. During the tour participants will have an opportunity in Yangon to see Cetana’s work firsthand. Last minute spots may be available, if you are interested, contact Sue Jennings.
In November we dig into challenging issues of mental health, refugees, international politics, and peace between people of different faiths.
Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.
For a look at Adult Education offerings through December, download the brochure: Adult Education Nov Dec 2017 (pdf).
Dealing with Depression and Suicide
Larry Alphs
November 5
Depression and suicide are common mental disorders that have an impact on our ability to function. They severely impact those living with these disorders and their families and friends. Globally, more than 300 million of God’s people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability. Explore new insights into understanding and managing these diseases.
Larry Alphs currently works for Janssen Pharmaceuticals and serves as co-moderator of adult education at Nassau. He is a psychiatrist and neuropharmacologist by training. For the past twenty-five years he has worked as a clinical scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, doing Phase I-IV work in a variety of disorders including schizophrenia, suicidality, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and traumatic brain injury.
Ongoing through May 13
In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians
George Hunsinger
9:15 AM
Maclean House
Class will be held on: November 12 & December 3, break for the Holidays and resume on January 7 (no class January 14)
George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).
November 5, 12, 19; December 3
A Romp through the Bible (Fall: Old Testament)
William R. (Bill) Phillippe
9:30 AM
Niles Chapel
True to the definition of romp, “to play boisterously,” Phillippe will move participants quickly through the 39 books of the Old Testament and do it with a style he believes the writers would approve, even if the some biblical interpreters might not. One reviewer of Phillippe’s book says, “Phillippe’s work will be seen by some as blithe and brash. That’s the best part. He takes us on a tour of what and where and why the Bible happened, and by peeling off the dusty old trappings he brings to light an enchanted story about people, and a God, we’d like to know better.” Copies of the book will be provided free to the first 12 participants.
William R. (Bill) Phillippe, upon retirement, chose to move to Princeton primarily so he could worship and engage at Nassau Presbyterian Church. He is a retired Presbyterian minister and author of A Romp through the Bible, and most recently, The Pastor’s Diary. Bill has served a number of churches as pastor, was a Synod Executive for 10 years, and has served as Acting Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council.
Classes in Niles Chapel are not recorded.
Refugees Matter
Deborah Amos
November 12
Deborah Amos of NPR will bring us an update on current refugee resettlement developments, with a focus on the Canadian scene. Deborah is taking a Princeton University class to the province of Manitoba to report on Canada’s private resettlement program, where individual Canadian families sponsor a refugee family until they get established.
Deborah Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News with reports heard on “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “Weekend Edition.”
China’s Rise and U.S. Security Interests in Asia
Tom Christensen
November 19
How does the growth of China’s economic, military, and political power pose challenges and opportunities for the United States and its Asian allies and security partners? Explore the response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons development and China’s maritime disputes with its neighbors.
Thomas J. Christensen is William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War and Director of the China and the World Program at Princeton University. At Princeton he is also faculty director of the Masters of Public Policy Program and the Truman Scholars Program. From 2006-2008 he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with responsibility for relations with China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. His research and teaching focus on China’s foreign relations, the international relations of East Asia, and international security. His most recent book, The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power (W.W. Norton, 2015) was an editors’ choice at the New York Times Book Review and was selected as “Book of the Week” on CNN”s Fareed Zakaria GPS. Before arriving at Princeton in 2003, Professor Christensen taught at Cornell University and MIT. He received his B.A. with honors in History from Haverford College, M.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and as co-editor of the International History and Politics series at Princeton University Press. He is currently the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Nancy B. Tucker and Warren I. Cohen Book Series on the United States in Asia at Columbia University Press. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Schwarzman Scholars Program. Professor Christensen is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Non-Resident Senior Scholar at the Brookings Institution. In 2002 he was presented with a Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of State.
This class was not recorded.
Muslims and Christians Working Together in Peacemaking
David Shenk
November 26
In a world where complex conflicts sometimes divide Muslins and Christians and where mutual suspicion can build walls, come and hear several stories of partnerships and meaningful dialogue between Muslims and Christians committed to peacemaking. The goal is to build bridges of loving and respectful connection between Christians and Muslims, while faithfully confessing Christ.
David Shenk spent much of his life as a Mennonite missionary among Muslims in Somalia, Kenya, and the US. He was born in Tanzania to frontier missionary parents. He now continues to travel and teach worldwide about Christian/Muslim dialogue. A prolific writer, his most popular book, originally published in 1980, is A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue by Badru Kateregga and David W. Shenk.
The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.
Calling Thespians of All Ages for Christmas Pageant
Sign up now if you are interested in being part of this year’s Christmas Pageant cast and crew! The Pageant will be Sunday, December 17, at 4:00 pm, and rehearsals are on Sundays, 12:15–2:00 pm, beginning November 12.
Roles are open for all ages including those singing in youth choirs. Download the Christmas Pageant Interest Form (pdf) or pick one up from the literature rack outside the Main Office. Leave your completed form in the Registration box in the office by Nov. 5.
Nassau 2017 Pageant Schedule:
Sunday, October 29 – 12:15 – 1:30 pm auditions
Sunday, November 5 – 12:15 – 1:30 pm, auditions
Sunday, November 12 – 12:15 – 2:00 pm, rehearsal
Sunday, November 19 – 12:15 pm – 2:00 pm, rehearsal
Sunday, December 3 – 12:15 – 2:00 pm, rehearsal (*same weekend as Lake Champion HS retreat, we know we’ll lose some high schoolers)
Sunday, December 10 – 12:15 – 2:00 pm, rehearsal
Saturday, December 16 – 9:00 am – 12 pm, Dress rehearsal
Sunday, December 17 – 4:00 – 5pm, Pageant Performance
Put Lake Champion on your calendar for Friday, December 1, to Sunday, December 3.
Lake Champion Winter Weekend 2014
We will have a Winter Weekend that will warm our hearts for the year to come. Giant Swings, Ice Slides, and a royal Polar Bear Plunge. After a big semester it will be great to cut loose. Fee is $150 per person and includes transportation, lodging, and meals. Scholarships are available. Pick up a copy of the registration form from the literature rack or download it from the website. The registration deadline is Sunday, November 5.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, protesting the sale of indulgences. “Here I stand, may God help me, Amen.” Help us celebrate 500 years of reformation by exploring aspects of the reformation and its effect on art and literature.
Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.
For a look at Adult Education offerings through October, download the brochure: AE Sep-Oct 2017 (pdf).
Art and the Reformation
Holly Borham
October 1
The “image question” was a central one in the Reformation. When Martin Luther and John Calvin critiqued altars, relics, pilgrimages and visual opulence, they struck at the heart of Catholic practice and its system of sacred economy. To what exactly were these reformers objecting, and how did their followers interpret their statements about religious imagery? Did Luther and Calvin free us from superstition, did they unleash ugly, destructive tendencies, or did they invent “art” as we know it today – an aesthetic object which we contemplate, rather than worship? Explore these provocative questions by looking carefully at texts, paintings, prints and sculptures from the sixteenth century in order to evaluate the Reformation’s impact on the arts.
Holly Borham is a PhD candidate in Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. Her research examines art commissioned by Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic patrons in Germany at the turn of the seventeenth century.
Ongoing through May 13
In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians
George Hunsinger
9:15 AM
Maclean House
George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).
The 95 Theses – What Are They?
Miles Hopgood
October 8
Come hear about “what started it all,” the document that Martin Luther wrote and attached to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, challenging Catholic doctrine, specifically, the practice of selling ‘indulgences’ to wash away sins. This document started a movement that, ultimately, became the foundation for the Protestant Reformation.
Miles Spencer Hopgood is a PhD Candidate in History & Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary. His current research centers on Martin Luther’s interpretation of the Bible, particularly his engagement with the Old Testament. Further interests include medieval and early modern Jewish-Christian relations as well as the modern ecumenical movement. His dissertation focuses on “How Luther Regards Moses: The Lectures on Deuteronomy.”
Selling the Reformation: Media and the Making of Religious Revolution
Alastair Bellany
October 15
Martin Luther was the first heretic of a new media age — the age of the printing press — and the exploitation of media, both new and old, played a crucial role in the dissemination of Protestant theology and polemic. This class explores two case studies of the role of the media in the early Reformation. The first focuses on the use of (sometimes obscene) printed graphic satire by Lutheran propagandists in Germany. The second explores the 1530’s multimedia campaign mounted by Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, to convince English audiences of the legitimacy of the new royal supremacy over the Church and to defend the regime’s incremental evangelical reforms of religious life and practice.
Alastair Bellany is Professor of History at Rutgers University, and works on the political and cultural history of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Britain. He is the author most recently of The Murder of King James I, co-written with Thomas Cogswell, and published by Yale University Press.
Children’s Health in Malawi
Mphatso Nguluwe
12:15 p.m., Assembly Room
Bagels and coffee provided
Mphatso Nguluwe, International Peacemaker from Malawi, will offer us a picture of her work for the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has implemented initiatives for increasing the quality of life for children living with HIV and preventing parent-to-child transmission of HIV. She also promotes gender equity and equality for boys and girls, works to prevent child trafficking, and serves as a researcher in community development work.
Mphatso Nguluwe serves as Director of the Livingstonia Synod Aids Programme for the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian. She is a founding member of an initiative aimed at eliminating the cultural practices which put girls at risk of multiple abuses as well as HIV infection. She holds degrees in Midwifery from Queens University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in Nursing Education, Administration and Community Nursing Science from the Medical University of Southern Africa.
The Reformation Debates: Who? What? Where?
Miles Hopgood
October 22
Explore debates between Martin Luther and John Eck, and their respective allies, to understand just how significant a challenge Martin Luther was posing to contest years of Catholic teaching. Heidelberg, and Leipzig, Germany, set the stage for what proved to be a dramatic series of confrontations of perspective on: 1) law and the gospel, 2) the fallibility of humankind, and 3) Jesus as sole Head of the Church.
Miles Spencer Hopgood is a PhD Candidate in History & Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary. His current research centers on Martin Luther’s interpretation of the Bible, particularly his engagement with the Old Testament. Further interests include medieval and early modern Jewish-Christian relations as well as the modern ecumenical movement. His dissertation focuses on “How Luther Regards Moses: The Lectures on Deuteronomy.”
Reformation Influence on 16th- and 17th-Century Literature
Russ Leo
October 29
Examine the poet George Herbert’s collection The Temple, a magnificent artistic achievement that reveals the impact of the Reformation on English letters. We will pay particular attention to Herbert’s depictions of Christ through which he attempts to unite diverse congregations in an age marked by division and religious war.
Russ Leo, originally from Rochester, New York, received his PhD from the Program in Literature at Duke University where he studied Reformation poetics and their impact across seventeenth century Europe. Leo came to Princeton University in 2009–first, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Society of Fellows and, after 2012, as an Assistant Professor in the English Department.
Medical Mission Malawi: Saving Lives with Villages in Partnership
Barbara Edwards
12:15 p.m., Assembly Room
Bagels and coffee provided
Barbara Edwards will speak about her trip to Malawi in May with Villages in Partnership’s medical mission group. Hear how twenty-four Americans worked with local Malawians to create four pop-up medical clinics that served over five thousand people in three days.
Barbara Edwards is a general internist with a private practice at The University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. She is also the Medical
Director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Center, which serves over 8000 patients, many uninsured or underinsured. Edwards worked in Liberia, West Africa, in 1988 as a medical student and has always wanted to return to work in Africa. “When Steve Heinzel-Nelson came to speak at Nassau about Villages in Partnership, I knew God was calling me to serve.”
The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.
Joanne Yang, a Middlesex county resident since 1960, specializes in landscape painting and calligraphy using the traditional technique of a brush dipped in black ink and colored pigments. Her subject matter includes sweeping landscapes of mountains, trees, rivers, and waterfalls to more serene and intimate paintings of flowers, birds, and fish.
The October art show in the Conference Room begins on October 1 with a chance to meet the artist the following Sunday, October 8, between morning services and at an afternoon reception from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Joanne provides individual art instruction to both adults and children and conducts art workshops and presentations to schools and local communities. She was a past president of Hsin-Ruey Art Association and is a current member of the Asia Art Society in America and the New Jersey Chinese Culture and Art Association.
NorthBay Middle School Week [June 29th-July 3, 2017]:
For the second year in a row, Nassau Middle Schoolers returned for “One Amazing Week” at NorthBay Adventure Camp on the Chesapeake Bay, near North East, MD. The week, run and hosted by Young Life, was a non-stop 4 days with live music, super funny skits and high energy activities such as sailing, a ropes course, swimming, kayaking, gaga ball, dodge ball, & scavenger hunts. Throughout the week the 13 youth and 3 chaperones were challenged by camp speaker Alberto to view our lives as made by God for a relationship with God. Like a glove that is made for a hand, our lives are made to be filled by Christ’s love and guidance. We also heard from fellow teens about their “Real Life” experiences of friends, family, & faith. Through conversations and activities with Mark Edwards, Kelsey Lambright & Austin Vernon, our kids were encouraged to take their faith seriously and to live it out in the community of the church and beyond.
Appalachian Service Project, Trade, TN [July 9-15, 2017]:
For our fourth year in a row (5th total) Nassau joined ASP to repair low-income homes in central Appalachia. This year we were in Trade, Tennessee, near Boone, NC. This trip continues to grow and we brought 39 people in five teams to work on a wide variety of roofs, floors, siding, foundations, and remodels. The Trade Community Center where we stayed proved to be a lovely home for the mild-temperature week and we all enjoyed the simple evening communal life of walks, frisbee, talks, and cards. Through the graciousness of Nassau Missions Committee, giving at Youth Sunday, youth fundraising (Super Bowl Sunday & Communiversity), and a special event hosted by the Wakefields, NPC was able to donate $5000 directly to ASP to help support their material cost, thus enabling more families to have work done on their homes.
Camino de Santiago, Spain [July 22-Aug. 6, 2017]
For the first time a group of twenty from Nassau walked nearly 200 miles along this medieval pilgrimage route in Northern Spain (aka “The Way of St. James”). For 11 consecutive days we walked, lived, ate, and prayed together amidst the beautiful scenery and hospitable culture of Galicia, from Astoria to Santiago. The group matched a slow reading of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount with Taize songs, quiet times, and group conversation to guide our minds and souls as we journeyed from village to village and albergue to albergue. The joys of the trip included the intergenerational nature, the familial elements, the overall simplicity, and the life absorbing task of simply walking together under God’s fine graces. Participants shared their experiences in Nassau Worship on August 27th. Sermons are here: Going Out and Coming In
