Welcome, ladies, to another edition of the Harvest women's newsletter. It is a pleasure to lead you and organize events and Bible studies for you to connect with other women, for the purpose of building each other up in the LORD, and for you to know the Saviour in a deeper and more intimate way as you grow up in him by studying his Word.

Women's Christmas Event   

A great success! Following the sorting out of food and tables, we had a wonderful time together celebrating the JOY of our LORD's coming to us wrapped in human flesh and dwelling among us. The tables had been decorated with care. Christine Ransom provided us with a great non-traditional look in pink and birch, while Michele Kapteyn's beautiful centrepiece could not go unnoticed. Diane Willis, your little glowing trees were treasures that you sent home with your guests and your table was exquisite. Sandra Greengrass and Bev Dugard, both your tables were most inviting and decorated with great favours, while Cathie Rathmann's table displayed attention to every detail and was very Christmasy while thoughtfully prepared. Gail Barber outdid herself with a beautiful gold and white table reminding me of the purity and kingship of Christ. Alice and Darlene's tables alike were thoughtfully prepared with love and were most beautiful. My table...well, I did show great spirit when voting for the best table. A big thank you to all the hostesses who worked hard at decorating and making their guests feel at home. All the tables were beautiful and unique!  

Joel Dugard provided us with beautiful background music as we fellowshipped around dinner followed by a rousing game of "Don't Forget The Lyrics" testing our skill in remembering some familiar and not so familiar Christmas carols. Then we settled in to become more serious as we listened to Trish Marrable recount to us Mary pondering "all these things" in her heart the night Christ was born. The room was hushed as we imagined Mary's thoughts on giving birth to the very Son of God. This was followed by giving worship and adoration to the one whose birth we were celebrating! The youth worship team led by Brandt Zieglar did an amazing job at leading us before his throne with praises and song. Thank you team!!! Our featured speaker was April Schrader, sharing with us some of her journey with the LORD. She reminded us that we all have this big hole that only God can fill. We all try to fill it in many other ways, but ultimately, only Christ can completely satisfy. Today April passionately loves, trusts in and shares Jesus! We were grateful to her for sharing her story with us and were reminded that we all have a story to share. We ended the evening by providing everyone with the opportunity to sign up for the Bible studies for the new year and were reminded that we need to know the Word and be in the Word faithfully.  

Thank you to all who made this evening possible! It was truly memorable.

Marilyn Shewfelt,

Women's Ministry Director