The Orchard (in Oxford and Tupelo) will be partnering with The United Methodist Committee on Relief, which is already on the ground in Haiti working. UMCOR has established an account where every dollar given goes directly to Haitian Relief and the victims of this earthquake.

You can give online to UMCOR Haitian Relief at http://www.umc.org/haiti

We will also provide an opportunity to give to these efforts on Sunday morning, along with a special time of prayer. Instructions will be given during the service on how to go beyond your regular giving to reach out to Haiti.

Please pray for the Haitian People and its leaders. The need is great, but so is our God. Thank you for your commttment to branch out across the street and around the world.

I am so thankful for all that God has done in our church over the last year and all that He has in store for us in 2010!

IMPORTANT:

On December 6th, we will be having a very special Sunday with our neighbors at Burns United Methodist Church. Burn is a traditionally African-American congregation in Oxford and that morning we’ll join with them at their church for a blended service at 11AM. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a great new tradition. (Our Children’s Ministry will be combined there as well)

This Sunday we will be at the Powerhouse again at 10:30AM and will begin our look at the Christmas Story. You can get a head start by reading Mark 1.

We will still be having our night service at Rooster’s at 7pm for the next two weeks as well!

The James 1:27 podcast from last week is up on the website, along with more stories from both services and links for more ways to be involved in orphan care. Check it all out here.

Sunday, November 22nd - The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is cooking a Thanksgiving Meal for Senior Citizens and anyone else who needs a good, hot meal. This is this coming Sunday at the Stone Center from 11-4.

Volunteers needed for :

• Serving food that day
• They also need cooked turkey, cooked ham and desserts. They can bring desserts to the Stone Center on Sunday between 9 and 11.
• If interested in volunteering or cooking food, call Jennifer Milliner at 662-832-2117.

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 26th - OU Methodist Church is hosting a meal for the community from 11-1:30 in their Activity Center.

Volunteers needed for :

• serving food and clean up (11-1:30). You can volunteer for a while, but don’t have to stay the whole time.
• Desserts needed. Drop off desserts on Wednesday before Thanksgiving from 11-1
• Desserts need to be in disposable dish, and need to be non refrigerated
• If interested in volunteering, contact OU office 234-5278

Looking for some deeper next steps to take after Sunday’s sermon about intimacy with God? Some suggestions:

• Spend some time reading Psalm 139 as a followup to Psalm 46 from Sunday.
• The Way of the Heart – Henri Nouwen’s timeless book about intimacy with God. On Amazon.com here.
• Will Rambo is preaching about Sabbath at The Orchard Tupelo. Check out their podcast page by searching for The Orchard Tupelo in iTunes.

This week is the Operation Christmas Child DEADLINE. Please pack a box and bring it on Sunday.
It’s not too late to get involved. For more information, check out the OCC website.

We have redesigned our website and had to move the podcast page/feed in iTunes. Check out the new site and the new ‘listen” page for more details.

Community Outreach Thanksgiving Opportunities. There are several churches and other organizations who are serving our community next week, let’s join them! Check out below for all the details. Let us know if you have any questions.

Sunday, November 22nd - The Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is cooking a Thanksgiving Meal for Senior Citizens and anyone else who needs a good, hot meal. This is this coming Sunday at the Stone Center from 11-4.

Volunteers needed for :

• Serving food that day
• They also need cooked turkey, cooked ham and desserts. They can bring desserts to the Stone Center on Sunday between 9 and 11.
• If interested in volunteering or cooking food, call Jennifer Milliner at 662-832-2117.

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 26th - OU Methodist Church is hosting a meal for the community from 11-1:30 in their Activity Center.

Volunteers needed for :

• serving food and clean up (11-1:30). You can volunteer for a while, but don’t have to stay the whole time.
• Desserts needed. Drop off desserts on Wednesday before Thanksgiving from 11-1
• Desserts need to be in disposable dish, and need to be non refrigerated
• If interested in volunteering, contact OU office 234-5278

Operation Christmas Child is a great Holiday mission outreach that we’ve been able to be a part of for a few years now. OCC involves packing shoeboxes with gifts for children living in third world countries. It’s a way to share Christmas joy but also to help children hear the Gospel and get toiletries and other important products they need. Please make plans to pack a shoebox and bring it to the Powerhouse or to Rooster’s on November 22nd.

Follow this link to learn more about Operation Christmas Child:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/

We are restarting our Weekly Prayer Meeting. It will be at Noon on Tuesdays at the church office. This is a great time to pray for the church, for our friends and for each other. If you can make it to that meeting time, please join us. If you have prayer requests, please email them to me and know that you are being prayed for.

Also, we made a brief announcement yesterday about Operation Christmas Child. This is a great Holiday mission outreach that we’ve been able to be a part of for a few years now. OCC involves packing shoeboxes with gifts for children living in third world countries. It’s a way to share Christmas joy but also to help children hear the Gospel and get toiletries and other important products they need. Please make plans to pack a shoebox and bring it to the Powerhouse or to Rooster’s on November 22nd.

Follow this link to learn more about Operation Christmas Child:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/

Finally, our Youth Group will begin meeting during the 10:30am worship service at The Powerhouse. If you have a child who is in Jr. High or High School, we would love to have them be involved.