4200 Cary Street Road, Richmond, Virginia 23221  

(804) 359-6041  http://reveilleumc.org 

August 12, 2012 

Please prayerfully consider serving as a mentor for one hour a week to the many at-risk students at Swansboro Elementary School. The Micah Initiative will host a training session at Reveille on Tuesday, August 28 from 5:30-8:30 pm. This session will be geared specifically for mentoring at Swansboro Elementary. We ask all who have served in the past and all who are interested in serving as mentors to attend. If you are unable to attend August 28, other training opportunities are available.

A Change to Friends of the Homeless

Hot Meal for August

Thank you for your continued interest in and support of Friends of the Homeless. Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church will be closed on Thursday, August 23, so we will not be serving a hot meal that day. Our day campers (rising 3rd through 5th graders) prepared and served a meal at this location and the Southside location on Thursday, August 2. God used these day campers as his hands and feet as they spread the love of God to the ones they served.

Drivers Needed for Sunday Worship

Congregational Care is looking for drivers to help pick up some of our older adults at the Hermitage on Sunday mornings. Drivers leave the church at around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning for The Hermitage, pick up three to five people and drop them off in the circle in front of the sanctuary for the 11:00 am service. After worship, drivers pick up the same passengers in the circle and return them to The Hermitage.

Women of Spirit: 

Weekday Bible Study Group

Women of Spirit is an intergenerational group of women which meets on Wednesday mornings from 9:30-11:30 am during the school year to provide spiritual and social nourishment to one another as we strive to understand God's will. We welcome all women who yearn to deepen their faith.

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey    

This fall, beginning September 12, we will spend the first few weeks finishing Philip Yancey's book on prayer. This is not a study that requires that you have read the first part of the book to participate. In this book, Yancey explores questions such as "Why do answers to prayers seem so inconsistent?" and "Why does God sometimes seem close and sometimes seem far away?"

Christian Believer

This course is designed to answer the questions that arise out of our daily living and intersect with the doctrines and history of the Christian faith. The course will examine

the doctrines of the Christian faith, such as creation, the fall, evil, forgiveness, repentance and resurrection.

Christian Believer will be led by Drs. Jim and Jake Noland this fall. The 30-week class begins Sunday, September 16 at 5:00 pm. Register here.

Alpha Offered in Fall 2012

Alpha provides participants the opportunity to think about and discuss their faith in a friendly and relaxed setting over a 10-week course. Each evening begins with a meal followed by a video that will have you thinking about what the Christian faith means to you.

If you are interested in learning more about Alpha plan to come to the introductory dinner on Wednesday, August 29 at 6:00 pm in the fellowship hall.

The Alpha class begins Tuesday, September 11 with dinner at 6:00 pm. If you have questions, please email Alpha Coordinator Burdette Robinson or Rev. Carol Uzzle or call Carol at 359-6041, ext. 117.  

Register online for the introductory session and the course here.  

Immersion Bible Study: Romans

Worship Study to be Offered

Rev. Katie B. Anthony will facilitate the seven-week Worship class that begins Sunday, September 16 at 5:00 p.m. This course will explore the basic principles of worship, no matter what the style. The class will be using The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services, by Constance M. Cherry. Register here. 

Youth Group Kickoff and  

Ultimate Frisbee Tournament Coming Soon

Sport and band rehearsals are starting up. School supplies fill the store shelves. Summer is almost a fond memory. Don't despair, though, because the end of summer means youth group kick-off is right around the corner. On September 9, we will start the year with some outdoor fun. We begin with dinner at 5:30 pm (immediately after youth choir kicks off), followed by our traditional kick-off madness of games and activities. More details will be coming soon.

Middle Schoolers Make a Difference

In July 2012 Reveille sent two (Yes, two!) middle school teams to work with the  Jeremiah Project, a middle school mission camp that does home repair and improvements for the needy and elderly. Our first team of 25 (20 youth and 5 adults) spent a week in Winchester, Virginia and a second team of 22 (17 youth and 5 adults) worked in Romney, West Virginia. The following are some reflections from two youth who attended:

JP Makes Memories

     My week at Jeremiah Project in Romney, West Virginia was amazing! I feel that I became closer to God by helping the families. My work group had five other great people. With KayCraven as my group leader, I felt our group really went the extra mile to help the family. Our first day, we worked at a trailer park. Our job was to fix a wheelchair ramp and paint the outside of the home. At first, I was grumpy because we were in the heat working while wearing long jeans. As the day went on, I realized that I had a smile on my face the whole day because I was truly having fun. The woman we worked for watched us as we worked, commenting here and there. Her daughter had recently been in a car crash and her son had passed away of a heart problem. I respected her because she had such pride in her home. It was a pleasure to work with her.

   Not only did we work, but we also had some fun. The staff was so kind and really tried to make the week special. It felt like God was within each of them. Our worship leader, Karen, was [an] amazing speaker because I relate to everything she said. At each worksite, there were one or two staff members. The patience they had with us was a sign of God's love for me. We had "Affirmation Bags," where people could give us little notes. One of mine said, "God will always love you. Remember this and you will not fail." I will always remember that and my week at JP, because at first, I wasn't sure if a middle school student like me would be able to do mission work. Now I know that with God's help I can help others. The week really DID bring me closer to God in every way. I will certainly be going back to Jeremiah Project as a camper, and maybe someday, as a staffer.

 -Helen Boyd 

   Camp Jeremiah Project- Week 1 July 15^th -21^st

     Jeremiah Project was one of the highlights of my summer. I really had a great week at Winchester, and not only did I get to help others less fortunate than me, but I also was able to strengthen my relationship with God. At the beginning of the week, we were divided up into work teams. Most people on your team weren't from your church, so it was fun to make new friends. Every morning after breakfast, we would have a devotion to help us prepare and focus on the task for the day. Then once we arrived home at  camp and ate dinner, we would have a program. After singing songs, we would listen to a message from the leader of the Winchester JP, Sean.

     One of the most rewarding experiences I had was on the first day at the worksite. We drove to Mr. Mahns' house and met Mr. Mahns, sitting in a wheelchair on his porch. I  thought he was a little strange at first, but then he prayed with us, and I realized how much he needed the wheelchair ramp we were working on. Without that ramp, Mr. Mahns was unable to leave his house, and had to entirely rely on his wife to do everything for him. It turns out the ramp built earlier in the summer failed inspection. So another girl from our group and I began to remove some boards that were too short. We also started working on the handrails. After we took a lunch break, we had a devotional time. Our afternoon work mostly comprised of installing new boards and putting rocks under some of the boards that might touch the ground. Our work didn't really show, but Mr. Mahns still thanked us profusely and gave us plenty of ice popsicles on that very hot day. He was the nicest home owner we had all week, even though our work hardly showed.

     I'll never forget the great experiences I had at JP, from hanging outwith my buddies to painting houses. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to come back next year. As I said before, this camp taught me some important lessons about Christianity, God, and life.  

 -John Bullock 

What We Did In El Salvador

Nine youth, four adults, nine days, and nearly $27,000 - you must wonder what, exactly, our El Salvador team did with all those resources. To help provide a grasp, here are some excerpts from the team blog. They arrived in San Salvador on Saturday, after nearly a full day of travel by way of Miami. That afternoon the team visited a Methodist youth group, spent the night in the city with three other teams from the U.S., and on Sunday, drove the 2+ hours to Usulután, where they would stay and work. In the afternoon the team visited Santiago de Maria, a 200-family shantytown established as temporary housing in 2001 after a massive earthquake wiped out thousands of homes. Eleven years later, the folks continue to live in makeshift houses built of scrap metal and plastic they scrounged, supported by whatever wood they could find.

-Dwayne Stinson

We split into two groups, the first being Kirby, Grace, Lee, Daniel, Danielle, CJ, and Dwayne, and the second being me, Gracie, Chris and Nathaniel, Martha, and Jonathan.... As the ... group set forth into our first day of work, we saw five men holding machetes; on the side of the road (yeah no big deal). We walked on to our site and suddenly realized how awesome our work site was. It was in a much more rural area than the first group's house, so the lot was surrounded by a huge field with roaming cows and chickens. There was a fantastic amount of shade, and our masons were pretty cool guys. Even though they speak no English, they`re as friendly and as understanding as can be. Our job in a nut shell is to put two types of cements in between the cinder blocks that we haul over to the house (it`s harder than it sounds, I promise!). In the two days that we`ve worked, our ... group put up 7 (yeah 7) rows of cinder blocks!!! The feeling you get when you watch the walls of a house literally rise in front of you is unbelievable. I`ve never felt so accomplished....

-Caroline Crabtree

We are also all obsessed with the little boy, Emilio, who is the son of the homeowner who will be moving into our home. He is the smartest 5 year old I have ever met! He comes to the worksite around about 11 every day after he has school. He tells us stories and jokes which we are able to understand better because he speaks Spanish slower than the adults.

-Kirby Collett

The masons are constantly amused at the energy of our group and the many antics, so they have had many laughs all week. They made a point of learning our names and being sure to call us by name. Our homeowner has been wonderful to us. He has brought us fresh oranges (we think right off the tree) twice and watermelon a few times....  Our homeowner seems thrilled with his house, though he has expressed that in far more subtle ways than the cute 5-year-old at the other house who frequently tells that group, "My house makes me so happy." (Now that´s a sure way to melt your heart.) When we arrived at the house Mon. morning, there were 2 rows of blocks above the foundation.  When we left today, the entire outside was up to the roof line, and only 2 of the inside walls (which are maybe 6 blocks long) needed 1 row on one and 2  rows on the other.  The roof will be put on Mon., and they will paint the house and lay the tile floor Tues. & Wed.  To see that much progress in a week (in the extreme heat no less) is amazing, and our whole team is really excited to have accomplished that much.  

-Martha Hodges

It truly was an amazing trip. On August 15, two families will move into homes that, when the team arrived, had no walls and when they left were ready for roofing. Our youth did this, thanks to God's constant presence and to your vast support of prayers and donations. To read more, see the full blog here. 

During the week of July 30, Reveille was filled with children from Day Camp and Vacation Bible School (VBS). More than 120 VBS children got to know Ocho, the octopus, who helped them get ready for their exciting days in the different learning centers. The mission center became a hub for children to donate to our various outreach ministries. The children brought cleaning supplies for CARITAS (Congregations Around Richmond Involved To Assure Shelter) and school supplies and a daily offering for Swansboro Elementary School). The made trail mix and fruit salad for Richmond Friends of the Homeless as well as a frog handprint banner for Jacob Thompson, son of Keith and Susan Thompson, who continues to receive medical treatment in Minnesota. The Bible storyteller, music and crafts which focused on the scripture and key word for the day were also big hits!

Fifty-two children (rising third, fourth, and fifth graders) joined us for Day Camp. These campers sought to live out John Wesley's motto, "Do all the good you can..." and they did just that! They learned the importance of being God's light in the world and practiced different forms of prayer throughout the week. The day campers gleaned blueberries for the Society of St. Andrew, worked in the garden at Swansboro Elementary, mulched and weeded at Shalom Farms, fed those in need at two Friends of the Homeless locations and visited church members. On Thursday night they had a sleepover! Those who spent the night explored a prayer labyrinth. Those who wished walked the labyrinth slowly and knelt in prayer as they reached the center. It was a holy moment. This was the largest group of day campers Reveille has ever had. It was a wonderful week.

Last One This Year! Summer Book Review

Your last chance to attend a Reveille summer book review in 2012 is Wednesday, August 29. This month Lydia Netzer will be here to talk about her debut novel Shine, Shine, Shine. Lydia lives in Virginia with her husband and children, whom she homeschools. Apparently, she is also a guitar player and chief of the watermelon police!! Sounds like a person we all want to meet.

Shine, Shine, Shine is a "shocking, searing, breathless love story" about a modern family, that explores what it means to be human. Per Kelly Justice, owner of Fountain Bookstore, "I love this book. Everyone I know in the industry loves this book. You will love this book."   Sounds like it's too good to miss.

Refreshments begin at 10:30 a.m. in the welcome center, and the book review begins at 11:00 in the chapel. Child care is provided. Don't miss out on this last book review of the summer.

-      The Book Review Steering Committee

Welcome for New Bishop and Reveille Day

September 22-23, 2012

We are looking forward to two huge events coming to Reveille in September. On Saturday morning, September 22, Reveille will be the site of a welcome celebration for the new bishop of the Virginia Conference. We are honored that clergy and guests from throughout the Conference will be in our sanctuary on this date to welcome Bishop Young Jin Cho, who most recently was the Arlington District Superintendent.

On Sunday, September 23, we will celebrate Reveille Day with one combined worship service at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary and a catered lunch afterward. Be sure to mark your calendar for this annual day of worship and fellowship.

Joys and Concerns

SYMPATHY

The Reveille family extends Christian love and sympathy to the Reverend Charles Swadley and family on the passing of his mother, Edel Swadley, on August 2 in Hermiston, Oregon; and to Alva Haley and family on the passing of her sister, Alice Miles, on August 6.

WEDDING BELLS RANG

Congratulations to Jason Naramore and Becky Stratton, who were married August 4, 2012 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Issues and Deadlines for The Reveille Window

Shalom Farms Outreach Seeks New Members

Shalom Farms Church Outreach Committee is looking for new members to share the ministry of Shalom Farms with Richmond District churches. With a motto of "Get them to the farm!" this committee meets every other month. The next meeting is on Tuesday, August 28, 11:00 a.m. at Ginter Park United Methodist Church. To ask questions or to volunteer, please email email Natalie May.  

Local Arts for Little Hearts Benefit Concert

The Friends of Barnabas Foundation with their PROJECT LITTLE HEARTS is hosting the Local Arts for Little Hearts Benefit Concert at University of Richmond's Modlin Center on Sunday, September 16 at 4:00 p.m.  This evening of music will showcase a performance by singing virtuosos Anne O'Byrne, soprano, and Tracey Welborn, tenor, with renowned pianist Charles Staples and will feature popular arias and duets. Tickets are $36 and are available through the Modlin Center box office, 289-8980 or online at www.modlin.richmond.edu. All ticket proceeds benefit PROJECT LITTLE HEARTS and will help fund the cardiac surgery team that will travel to Honduras in late September to perform 25 life-giving, open-heart surgeries and 40 heart catheterizations on under-served children.