Focus

on Faith

Newsinandaround

FaithLutheranChurch

Insidethisissue

From the Parish Nurse ................ 2

M & M’s at Faith ......................... 3

Birthdays .................................... 4

Good Food Box ........................... 4

Upcoming Events........................ 5

Neighborhood Hot Lunch ........... 5

Shared Ministry Update ............. 6

Kid’s Korner ................................ 7

The Last Word ............................ 8

FromthePastor’sStudy

10tothepowerof200tothepowerof10.Itisimpossibleto

writethisnumberdown;notevenhightechcomputerscould.

Therewouldbemore0stothenumberthanatomsintheuni-

verse;trytoimaginethat!

An Australian physicist came up with this theore0cal number. His

name is Paul Davies. He wanted to find out how many chances it

would take to move from the big bang to the genesis of human life:

10 to the power of 200 to the power of 10; more chances than the

number of atoms in the universe.

This is no proof for the existence of God. Nobody can proof God’s

existence nor do we need to. But considering the truly remarkable

discovery of Paul Davies it would be quite unreasonable to flat out

deny God. As a ma;er of fact, many physicists through their scien-

0fic work have come to believe, that our universe is indeed imbued

with a great crea0ve force.

Looking at the sky, the stars and the

moon, taking a look at nature and

the renewal of life at this 0me of the

year can fill us with awe and make

us see with the eyes of faith: There

is an incredibly crea0ve and loving

will behind this. The Bible says: “But

you, our God are gracious and true, pa0ent and ordering all things in

mercy.” (Book of Wisdom of Salomon 15:1).

What a wonderful and encouraging thought. We do not live by

chance. Our lives have a purpose and meaning. Each one of us is

loved. Each one of us is needed.

Peace

Pastors Daniela and Thomas

Summer2016

Volume18,Issue3

FromtheParishNurse

2

Bugs and Bites

In North America there are very few types of insects that carry poison or venom. There are none whose venom is

dangerous. However it is possible for an insect bite to cause an allergic reac0on that can range from mild to severe.

West Nile virus • passed on by the bite of mosquitoes. The mosquito is infected by feeding on the

blood of infected birds. The first Canadian confirmed case of West Nile virus was in

Ontario in 2002.

symptoms range from:

1) very mild flu-like symptoms, fever, headaches and body aches, to

2) severe symptoms requiring emergency medical care: severe headaches, high

fever, s0ff neck, nausea, difficulty swallowing, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, lack of co-ordina0on, muscle

weakness

Bee and wasp Stings • these are immediately obvious. Sharp pain is followed by a burning sensa0on that soon re-

solves into an annoying itch bee s0ngers are barbed and usually remain in the skin. The bee tears

the s0nger and the a;ached poison sac out of its abdomen killing itself in its haste to get away.

• Wasps and hornets do not have barbs on their s0ngers and can a;ack repeatedly.

Treatment - remove the s0nger as soon as possible by scraping the skin with a thin dull edge

e.g. credit card.. - do not squeeze the sac as venom could be introduced into the

wound.

- wash the affected area with soap and water and apply an icepack.

apply a paste of baking soda to help relieve itching and inflamma0on.

Ticks and Lyme Disease Lyme disease is caused by the bite of a deer 0ck that carries a parasite capable of causing disease in humans.

People who have been bi;en by the 0ck may not no0ce symptoms right away. However it is important that

people with Lyme disease be diagnosed fairly quickly as most people respond well to an0bio0cs.

Ticks are arachnids (members of the spider family) not insects. They cause

no symptoms while they are bi0ng. One needs to examine their skin every

night. Serious complica0ons of 0ck bites, like Lyme disease, occur aHer the

0ck has been a;ached for at least 24 hours.

Black legged 0cks have become very prevalent in the Hamilton Wentworth

area for the past several years. They are very small and hard to see, and are

found low to the ground, on tall grasses or on shrubs

Symptoms of Lyme disease

• a serious illness

• fa0gue, fever, headaches and skin rash

• 0ck bites resemble a “bull’s eye – a red bite mark surrounded by rings of red swollen skin.

• if leH untreated Lyme disease symptoms can progress to cardiac symptoms, such as palpita0ons, arthri0c symp-

toms, extreme fa0gue, general weakness, and symptoms affec0ng the central nervous system brain or heart.

TheM&M’sAtFaith

What’s Happening!.....

Prayer Shawl Mee�ng

The next Prayer shawl gath-

erings is Tuesday June 14th,

from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. Join us

for a 0me of reflec0on and

fellowship. The mee0ngs will

discon0nue for the summer

months and resume again

Tuesday, September 13th.

Rummage Sale

Mark Saturday, August 27th

from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Gently used items can be

brought to the church

star0ng August 1st and be

place in the area designated

for rummage sale items. We

will need some volunteers

from the congrega0on to

help out with the set up and

clean up. If you are willing to

help, please call Gail Bennie

at 519-573-1258.

Next Mee�ng

Please watch the bulle0n for

no0ce of our next mee0ng.

Will probably take place

some0me in June..

Bibles and Bagels

The women meet the week-

end of June 24-25 for a re-

treat weekend. If you wish to

join them contact Pastor

Daniela for details.

Preventative measures • wear pants and long sleeved shirts

• pull socks over pant legs when walking through the grass

• use insect repellent containing DEET or Icardin

• wear light coloured clothes so 0cks are easily visible

• conduct a “full body” search for 0cks for yourself, your children and

your pets.

What to do if you spot a tick • remove the 0ck immediately with fine-0pped tweezers – grasp the

0ck close to the skin; use a steady mo0on pull the 0ck away from

the skin gently but firmly. Save the 0ck alive, if pos-

sible, in a bo;le or jar with a screw cap lid and take

it to your health provider for tes0ng

• do not squeeze the body of the insect as this may

accidentally let Lyme disease bacteria into your

body.

• Do not put anything on the 0ck or try to burn it as this may also lead

to the 0ck releasing bacteria into the bite are.

• Clean the area with soap and water.

Complications of tick bites – tick paralysis

A 0ck may hang on and suck blood for as long as 4 days becoming fa;er

in the process. AHer 2 days, some species start producing new chemi-

cals in their saliva that temporarily shut down the human nervous sys-

tem. This is called ‘0ck paralysis’ and is different from Lyme disease.

Symptoms of tick paralysis • muscle weakness, poor coordina0on, or paralysis spreading up-

wards towards the head form the site of the bite. This usually

clears once the 0ck is removed.

Zika Virus infection Zika Virus is a mosquito born virus discovered in 1947in the Zika forest

of Uganda It has become prevalent in the world over the past 6 months.

It was discovered in Central and South America in early 2016. There

have been some cases iden0fied in Canada. People usually don not get

sick enough to go to the doctor , and they very rarely die of Zika. Zika

virus during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect – microcephaly

(a small brain not fully developed) as well as other severe brain defects.

Submitted by Bonnie Hofer, Parish Nurse

References: Research study - Hamilton Medical Advisory, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Health Canada, Public Health Ontario

3

BirthdaySundayBBQ—June12thJoinusafterserviceforaBirthdayBBQ

lunch—hamburgersandhotdogswithallthe

*ixings.And,ofcourse,birthdaycakeforthe

June,JulyandAugustBirthdays.

Afreewillofferingforlunchwillbetakenand

proceedswillgotowardsthe60thAnniver-

saryFund.Seeyouthere!

HAPPYBIRTHDAY

Celebra�ng in June…

June 3 Bryan Beerbaum

June 7 Hannah Fast

June 7 Enesia Malapela

June 9 RamraQe Sawh

June 11 Gertrude Taunton

June 12 Michael Grant

June 17 Cathy Calvin

June 18 Armin Paul

June 18 Anne Zwick

June 29 Jack Anweiler

June 30 Errin Dawson

Celebra�ng in July…

July 2 Jan Malapela

July 6 Kirsten Paul

July 7 Lindsay Tilson

July 7 Pastor Harold Brill

July 9 Elsie Zwick

July 9 Jack Ma;ys

July 16 Bonnie Hofer

July 19 Eleanor Beerbaum

July 21 Lebuwang Malapela

July 22 Lauren Ahlang

Celebra�ng in August…

August 3 David Weegar

August 8 Don Bennie

August 8 Joan Brill

August 22 Janice Malapela

August 31 Edmund Hofer

We wish all of the above a VERY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and God’s

Blessings for many, many more!

4

RememberinyourprayersthesemembersofFaith:

Alice Bauman Ray Bekiaris Pastor Dechert

Harold Farwell Mabel Gregory Mary Lemp

Elaine Lymburner Herta Turnevicius Orell Se;erlund

Rudolph Jaundoo Ka0e Kildau-Bock Vic & Norma Braybrook

Evy Ahlang

“Bless our sick today so that they may bear their illness and restore them quickly to

health. Bless those who have grown old in your service and give them courage and

strength in their faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who

lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen”

We also remember our refugee families, Zahra (mother), Amal, Jihan, Juhianah

(daughters) Akram (son), Mohamed (oldest son) and Miriam and Nadia and Sarah

(daughters) and pray that they are safe where they are now and God grant them safe

passage to Canada, and to Hamilton soon.

GoodFoodBoxProgram

Faith Lutheran, in partnership with The Anglican Church of the Na0vity, operate the

Bartonville Good Food Box as an Outreach Ministry. It operates from September to

June each year.

We provide a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables at a great price of $15/box.

The fruit and vegetables are picked up that morning from the Ontario Food Terminal

and delivered to Faith for distribu0on.

Currently we are subsidizing 10 boxes a month to people on ODSP. This means that

we need dona0ons of at least $30/month to cover this cost.

We also give fresh fruits and vegetables to the local food banks. Over the past 11

months we have given an average of 17 boxes per month. To be able to con0nue

providing fresh fruit and vegetables to the food banks we need $255.00 per month in

dona0ons.

During the past year the program has

been recipient of dona0ons from the La-

dies Group at both churches, a local Ma-

sonic Lodge, offerings collected at Special

services and several individuals with the

church and community.

Please prayerfully consider dona�ng to this much needed cause so that we can con-

�nue to provide to those less fortunate then ourselves.

If you would like more informa0on please contact Gail, at Faith or Laura, at The

Church of the Na0vity.

The GOOD FOOD BOX resumes Tuesday, September 6th.

Calendar Dates of upcoming events related to our Church and Community

June 6 Joint Planning Commi;ee Mee0ng

June 7 Good Food Box

June 12 Birthday Sunday – a BBQ aHer worship

June 14 Prayer Shawl – 1:30 –3 pm

June 18 A German aHernoon at St. John’s– 2 pm

June 20 All Commi;ee Mee0ng at St. John’s

June 21 LW Annual Ou0ng —St. John’s

June 24 Bibles and Bagels retreat – Friday to Sunday

June 26 Joint worship at St. John’s – NO service at Faith

July 31 Joint worship at St. John’s – NO service at Faith

Aug 27 Rummage Sale at Faith

Week of Sept 4 confirma0on classes begin

Sept 6 Good Food Box

Sept 13 Prayer Shawl 1:30 –3 pm

Sept 17 A German aHernoon at St. John’s– 2 pm

Sept 18 Rally Sunday—Faith—BBQ Lunch

Sept 24 Men’s breakfast – St. John’s – 8:30 am

5

UpcomingEvents–atFaithandintheCommunity Pa

r�cip

ate

in y

ou

r Ch

urch

Life

New! New! New! New! Friday NibblesFriday NibblesFriday NibblesFriday Nibbles It’s summer so let’s have fun!It’s summer so let’s have fun!It’s summer so let’s have fun!It’s summer so let’s have fun!

June 10, 2016-6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Faith Parish Hall Featuring Fun Tacos, juice , tea, coffee

TOPIC: FUN FOOD NIBBLES

Join us also on July 8th and August 12th for more Friday night Fun!

Neigbourhood Community Hot LunchNeigbourhood Community Hot LunchNeigbourhood Community Hot LunchNeigbourhood Community Hot Lunch

June 29, 2016—11:30 am to 12:30 pm

$5.00 donation BBQ Sausages, Potato Wedges, salad, dessert, tea, coffee

TOPIC: Urban farming and Community Gardening.

Join us also on July 27th and August 24th

Sponsored by Seniors Connect NetworkSponsored by Seniors Connect NetworkSponsored by Seniors Connect NetworkSponsored by Seniors Connect Network

6

We are looking for…..

A four drawer file cabinet for the

church office. The current one

was irreparably damaged during a

recent break-in. If you have a

gently used one (preferably locka-

ble) and no longer need to use it,

please speak to Gail Bennie or call

her at 905-573-1258 and arrange-

ments can be made to come and

pick it up and bring it to the

church.

Shared Ministry We are five months into the Shared Ministry with St. John’s Lutheran Church and it’s amazing what has been happen-

ing so far.

In January our two churches started their partnership as a simple sharing of the pastoral team of Daniela and Thomas

Mertz. However this arrangement is quickly evolving into a true shared ministry. New friendships have been formed.

Members of St. John’s have a;ended a number of our events and Faith members have joined “Bibles and Bagels” and

the Men’s Breakfast for their mee0ngs.

Faith and St. John’s now work together in a Joint Planning Commi;ee and a Joint Refugee Commi;ee. In April both

councils, including Pastors Mertz and Zhang gathered for a retreat to acknowledge this exci0ng and promising devel-

opment and to discuss ways to help us further deepen our rela0on-ship. There are good things in the works. Both

councils and all pastors encourage several joint services spread out over the course of the year. The services will be

held at St. John’s and Faith. Faith asked that joint summer worship be held at St. John’s as their church has no air con-

di0oning.

Dona0ons received on these occasions will go to the church of the donor’s membership. Please come out for our first

two joint services June 26 and July 31 at St. John’s. There will be no services at Faith on those days.

St. John’s Invites you to a

“German A:ernoon” Saturday, June 18

Worship at 2:00 pm

As always at this event, we will be speaking German, allowing us to chat in

the old language or brush up on our language skills. The aHernoon will start

with a German ser-vice and will be followed by a “Kaffeeklatsch”. We will

have a presenta0on on Albert Schweiteitzer and Heide will lead us in singing

our favourite German folk tunes. Please invite your German speaking

friends and neighbours along! Parking ($1.50) is available behind the church.

If you plan to a>end, please call the church office at

905-527-6611

SomeSummerActivitiesforyoutodo!

JoinusforSundaySchooleachSundayat

10:30a.m.Ages5-12.Sundayschoolre-

sumesinSeptember.

Rise Early

Rise early when the summer darkness s0ll enwraps the trees.

Walk into the dark forest with only your a;en0ve heart.

Gaze toward the east, take a deep breath, and wait.

AHer a short while you will see God carrying a lantern through the forest,

Bits of light bobbing up and down, in and out, higher and higher,

the light climbs, spilling over into the spaces between the leaves

and on into the world beyond the forest.

Then the beau0ful darkness hands you over to the light,.

It slips away reverently into the bark of the tree trunks, into the black

earth,

Into all those other countries

that wait for its return.

Life your face to the daystar

now.

Experience the coming of

dawn.

Bathed in morning light,

pray that the lanterns of

your life move gently this day

into all those places where

light is needed.

Macrina Wiederkehr

TheLastWord

PastorsThomasand

PastorDanielaMertz

HonoraryPastor:

TheRev.CharlesDechert

OUR VISION

Faith Lutheran Church is the

heart of a spiritual, healthy,

and vibrant community. All

are welcome

OUR MISSION

The mission of Faith Luther-

an Church is to provide an

inclusive Christ-centered

home serving the needs of

our environment, the spiritu-

al growth, physical health,

and well-being of

our neighbour and ourselves.

Focus on FAITH is published under the auspices

of the Church Council. The Pastors, editor and

Chair of Council serve as the editorial board.

Submissions will be edited for clarity, posi#vism,

adherence to our mission statement, cons#tu-

#on and the love of Christ as revealed in the

Holy Scriptures. Please make all submissions to

calvin1980@bell.net.

Deadline for the Fall Edi#on is August 28, 2016.