Andacht zum Monatsspruch im September

Urlaub von Pastorin Hofmann

Sondersammlung

Preparing for this year’s Summer Camp for School Children was really exciting and challenging. Under no circumstances did we want to be a baby-sitting program. Our foremost goals were: to keep the children safe, to keep them active, to ensure that they have fun and learn and grow in this process. I think that we are achieving this. With the 15 government sponsored spaces for school children, we knew there would be a larger Day Camp group this summer.  Our average daily attendance is between 11- 14 children, as children go on vacation, or do not participate during all ten weeks. Our daily schedule looks something like this: Children arrive after 7:00 a.m., they have breakfast and play-time in the Church basement. By about 10 o’clock, all children are here, and we either go on a trip, do sports activities or, on hot days, the favourite activity is swimming, of course. Lunch may be taken along or we return to the Church at noon. After lunch, we may go to the library, to a park and play sports, work on special projects, like building little wooden boats with the wood pieces we have received from Lakeshore Lumber. Children have two snacks, one mid-morning, one in the afternoon. Pick-up time by parents is before 6:00 p.m.. However, the days we are on trips far outnumber those that we stay at the day care. We took part in a reading program at the local library (children received recognition for every book they read), and also made good use of library books for researching plants, bugs etc.. There was the trip to Centennial Park with a visit to the exotic greenhouses, trips to other parks like Marie Curtis and Humber Bay with nature walks, collecting wild flowers, driftwood, rocks and pebbles for arts and crafts and to create our own games; a trip to City Hall, comparing the new City Hall to the Old one; to the Home Depot, to our local Assembly Hall with a tour of the art exhibition. As we do everywhere, we draw the children into conversations, encourage them to observe. So we looked at each picture individually and let them express what they saw and felt. We went to Centre Island, and, of course, the ferry ride was something very special; to the historic Fire Hall on Queen Street and local Fire Hall; to a concert at City Hall, where the children wanted to visit a street person whom they had met a year ago, he has several huge rats. And there he was, remembering us because of our special T-shirts! It was the children’s idea to give him $10.00. We had invited people to speak to the children: a dentist who checked the nursery children’s teeth and who spoke to the school children about dental hygiene; someone from Team Wellness gave the children a 2-hour workshop called the Junior Rescuer. By the way, the little boy who saved his neighbours life when something got stuck in her throat had taken that same course. Apart from the reading program, there are many worthwhile programs offered at the library. Our children are welcomed there as everywhere else, because of their interest in everything – and because of their behaviour. Our librarian keeps us up to date on what is happening there. We have taken part in science and nature talks, bingo, and the one of special interest to us was a workshop on acting, given by three actors. Our children were fascinated – they were taught how to project their voices when speaking very loud – of course, that was no problem and lots of fun! Because of their enthusiasm and behaviour, only our group received a special invitation and tickets to the Shakespeare play “As you like it”, in High Park. There was much excitement, of course, and as for every outing, I tried to prepare them really well for this event. Yet, when the first actor started to speak, one of our boys said somewhat horrified: “Is he ok, is he sick, he talks funny.” I had apparently not been specific enough about Shakespearean language. I was very proud of our children, though we sat in the hot sun, taking refreshment breaks now and then in the shade; they enjoyed the play and paid attention to it.  So, it was our group again who received a special favour: an invitation to a Pizza lunch! Children are often involved in planning activities, lunches and snacks. The whole group goes shopping at Red and White and prepares lunch. They have had their first lessons in entrepreneurship, too. They prepare the afternoon snack for the nursery children once a week and “sell” their wares for paper money. They found out how important planning and advertising are in a venture like this. We have many discussions with the children, not only about what they saw and learned on the trips, but also about things that happen within the group, about difficulties and what we can do to make things better. We talk about the differences in people, about rules and regulations, about getting along with others. After an unpleasant incident, for instance, children were asked to write down answers to: ”Why I have to behave at day care.” It was actually amazing what they wrote and how much insight they have. They know that abiding by rules keeps them and the others safe, they have more fun and feel better because we are able to go to all these interesting places. The consensus among the school-age children is: they like to be with us, and among parents: they are glad their children are with us, because in their view, our centre is the best.

Marilyn Richardson-Furse

Summer Wishes from the Sunday School

Another year of Sunday school is quickly coming to a close. We have studied 5 different bible stories from the book God Feeds Us and we’ve had a lot of fun.

In the story Jesus Feeds 5,000 we learned about how Jesus made enough fishes and loaves to feed 5,000 people and we made fish cookies to feed the congregation at Thanksgiving.

In the story Jacob and Esau we learned how God gives blessings and we made a new altar cloth covered in our blessings. We also played furry tag and that was a lot of fun.

In the story Manna from Heaven we learned how God took care of the Israelites in the desert and we made a desert box with people and tents and manna and quail eggs. We also made a tent with pictures of the story.

In the story Peter and Cornelius we learned about understanding and sharing with people who are different from us and we recreated all of the characters from the story with wood and plasticine.

In the story Elijah and the Widow we learned how God takes care of people who believe in him and we acted out the different parts of the story in charades and a giant board game. 

When we weren’t learning bible stories we were singing songs, saying prayers, making window paintings, and mother’s day gifts and Easter baskets and doing plays and going swimming and…

And now we need a rest!

There will be no Sunday school through July and August but we’ll be back the first Sunday after Labour Day with new bible stories, songs, prayers, poems and activities. Many thanks to the congregation for your good wishes and generous donations.

The Sunday school families and friends making a splash at Norseman pool on a cold winter day 2004.

Das Sommer Camp war in diesem Jahr wirklich außergewöhnlich gut besucht. Knapp über 40 Kinder und Jugendliche und insgesamt 20 Erwachsene sind mitgefahren. Es scheint so, als sei das Camp als Urlaub für die ganze Familie wieder entdeckt worden. Großeltern bringen ihre Enkel, Eltern genießen die Zeit mit ihren Kinder in herrlicher Umgebung. Das ist genau das, was wir uns wünschen. Weit weg von allem anderen hat man endlich mal Zeit, sich zu unterhalten und sich noch besser kennen zu lernen. Kinder bringen ihre Freundinnen und Freunde mit, was ein gutes Zeichen ist. Die Woche ist immer schnell vorbei. Viele Aktivitäten finden statt. Neben den Vorbereitungen für die Mahlzeiten, nehmen die Kinder und Jugendlichen (und manchmal auch die Erwachsenen) an ‚Bible Studies‘ teil. In diesem Jahr haben wir die Jona Geschichte gehört und anhand etlicher Aktionen auch erlebt. Es ist schon interessant, daß eine so bekannte Geschichte einem so viel neue Erkenntnisse bringt. Wer nicht dabei war, kann sich vermutlich nur schwer vorstellen, warum bei den Bibelsketchen, die nicht nur die Kinder, sogar auch eine Gruppe Erwachsener auf der Basis der Geschichte spielten, ein Truthahn auftauchte oder Jona von der Polizei gestoppt wurde als er vor Gott floh. - Sport, Basteln, Ausflüge zu einem Strand, an dem man Kajaks und Paddelboote ausprobieren konnte, ein Besuch bei einer Gärtnerei, Schwimmen, Kanufahren, Kangaroo-Court, Lagerfeuer... – es kommt nie Langeweile auf. Vor allem die kleineren Camper fielen manchmal todmüde, aber wohl auch zufrieden ins Bett. Die Mahlzeiten waren reichlich und gut, auch das hat einige, die lange nicht mehr im Camp waren, überrascht. Man rechnet ja vielleicht mit dem Schlimmsten und freut sich über einen abwechslungsreichen Speiseplan, mit gesundem und leckerem Essen. Es ist schön, wenn man sich um das Zubereiten der Mahlzeiten keine Gedanken machen muß. In diesem Jahr hatten wir mehr als genug Anfragen von Jugendlichen, die als Betreuer mitfahren wollten. Die Betreuer haben uns bei der Durchführung des Camps ganz prima unterstützt. Es war außerdem möglich Leute zum Camp mitzunehmen, die sich ganz sicher einen Urlaub oder eine Freizeit anderswo nicht leisten könnten. Zum Camp kann jeder mitkommen. Dan Sommerfeld hatte wieder einmal alles gut durchgeplant. Für alle seine Mühe und gewissenhafte Planung rund um das Camp danken wir ihm recht herzlich. Abgesehen von einer Buspanne auf dem Hinweg ist alles gut gegangen. Jeder hat versprochen, im nächsten Jahr wieder dabei zu sein. Wie wäre es: Haben Sie nicht auch Lust mitzukommen?

As a church council, we wish to get your assistance in helping to prepare our church for the 50^th Anniversary!  To start we are having a “Clean House” day on Saturday, September 25, 2004.  A poster of items that need to be done will be placed in the downstairs hall for people to sign up.  PLEASE put your name in any area that you feel you can help out!  Additional ideas or suggestions on jobs to do are always appreciated.  Remember that if you offer and idea, we need your help as well!  We’ll repeat this process in the late winter! It’s a family event!  Bring the kids and they’ll enjoy helping as well!

Date:                   Saturday, September 25, 2004
Time:                  9 am – 3 pm (12-1 lunch)
Place:                 In the downstairs hall
Purpose:             To help organize and clean the WHOLE church!   
Supplies:             We’ll provide the cleaning materials!

Bring your lunch and we’ll break for group time at about 12.  Beverages provided!  Can you offer a dessert maybe??? Looking forward to a joint day together!
Contacts for questions are Church Council members:
Heidi Jonuschies @ (416) 278-4972 and Brenda Wilson @ (905) 454-3197 or srwfisher@hotmail.com

...findet am Donnerstag, den 23. September um bereits 19.00 Uhr (!) in der St. Georgskirche in Downtown Toronto (Collegestreet/Bathurst).bei Pastorin Katharina Moeller statt.  

Bitte merken Sie sich schon einmal den 3. Oktober vor. Dann ist nämlich Erntedankfest, das wir wieder mit einem gemeinsamen Gottesdienst und anschließendem Mittagessen begehen werden. Das genaue Programm erwartet Sie im nächsten Gemeindebrief!

Seit einiger Zeit treffen sich Gemeindeglieder, die Querflöte oder Flöte spielen, zum gemeinsamen Musizieren. Daraus entstand die Idee, sich regelmäßig zu reffen. Als Termin bot sich der zweite Sonntag im Monat nach dem Deutschen Gottesdienst an. Jeder ist herzlich eingeladen, dort mitzumachen. Vielleicht ist es möglich auch andere Instrumente, wie Klarinette, mit einzubeziehen. Wer Noten hat, kann sie mitbringen. Das erste Treffen ist am Sonntag, den 12. September!

Tanya Arndt und Roman John Dobrowolsky

Rita Maria Evelyn Barbier und Peter Vladimir Bauman

Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele und was in mir ist, seinen Heiligen Namen.
Psalm 103, 1

Cassandra Ella Wex

Des Menschen Herz erdenkt sich seinen Weg, aber der Herr allein lenkt seinen Schritt.
Sprüche 16, 9

Wie Sie wissen halten unsere Pastoren bislang jeden Freitag um 11.00 Uhr die  Radioandacht auf dem Sender Ciao Radio, AM 530. Leider hat sich aufgrund mangelnder Unterstützung des Senders das Programm von Helmut Gschoesser auf den Sonntag reduziert. Deshalb wird von nun nicht mehr Freitags, sondern Sonntags um 9.30 Uhr die Andacht zu hören sein! – Wir finden dies schade, es ist aber die einzige Möglichkeit auch weiterhin Menschen das Evangelium in die Häuser zu bringen. Übrigens: Uns kostet das Programm monatlich etwa $ 250. Gelegentlich haben wir um Spenden gebeten, bislang aber nur eine einzige Spende über 50 Dollar erhalten. Vielleicht könnten Sie das Programm, wenn Sie es selbst gerne hören, in Ihre Gaben einbeziehen?

Missionskreis
jeden Mittwochmorgen ab 9.30 Uhr, außer am 08.09.!
Radioandacht
jeden Freitag, 11.00 Uhr, Radiosender Ciao, AM 530
Kirchenchor
jeden Freitag,19.30 Uhr, Kirche.
Kirchenvorstand
Mittwoch,08. September, 19.00 Uhr, Kirche.
Frauenkreis
Mittwoch, 08. September, 19.00 Uhr, Kirche.
Flötenensemble
Sonntag, 12. September, nach dem Deutschen Gottesdienst, Kirche
Literaturkreis
Dienstag, 14. September, 16.00 Uhr, Pfarrhaus!
Senior Care/Senior Residence–Komitee
Dienstag 14. September, 19.00 Uhr, Kirche.
Besuchsdienstkreis
Mittwoch, 15. September, 19.00 Uhr, Kirche.
Board of Directors vom Kindergarten
Dienstag, 21. September, 18.00 Uhr, Kirche.
Bibelgesprächskreis
Mittwoch, 21. September, 19.30 Uhr, Kirche.
Kontaktkreis der deutschen-luth. Gemeinden
Donnerstag, 23. September, 19.00 Uhr, St. Georgskirche.
Seniorenkreis
Mittwoch, 29. September, 13.30 Uhr, Kirche.

Das letzte Wort

Der Pessimist sieht eine Gefahr in jeder Chance.
Der Optimist sieht in jeder Gefahr eine Chance.
(Winston Churchill)