It has been a privilege and joy to meet regularly for Bible study, fellowship and service activities. We are particularly grateful to Pastors Fraser Pearce and Joshua Pfeiffer who faithfully led our Bible studies each month. Vicar Peter Noble also led three studies and shared both his spiritual journey and his excitement about his call to study for the pastoral ministry at ALC.
A number of guest speakers gave us food for thought and broadened our horizons: Charia You spoke about her work in training people as teachers and leaders in Cambodian Children’s Ministry; Pastor Andrew Ruddell raised our awareness of environmental issues with a presentation of his earlier work as a glaciologist in Antarctica; social worker, Jan Obery, gave us helpful insights into her work with the dying; Pastor Matt Anker, assistant to the Bishop of the LCA and head of the LCAIM, enlarged on the remarkable mission partnerships of the LCA; and we viewed a Kairos YouTube session conducted by Pastor Josh Pfeiffer with Leonie Scriven who has fostered over 62 very young babies.
Our 2019 AGM brought some changes to our Executive. President, Helen Hassold, resigned as president and Grace Bock as secretary. We give thanks to God for their years of dedicated leadership and service. They were replaced by Jenni van Wageningen and Vivienne Rush as co-presidents and Elizabeth Buck as secretary.
Our first meeting for 2020 was an extended Bible study led by Pastor Joshua, followed by a fruit supper and fellowship.
In March we had a particularly interesting and entertaining evening as Timothy Pietsch, manager of Wontok Place, described his recent experiences in PNG and showed photos and videos of his three weeks in the country.
Another highlight was the Harvest Thanksgiving display in the sanctuary, arranged by some of our talented members.
We grieve that the program planned for the remainder of this year has fallen aside due to the corona virus. May our Heavenly Father keep us all in his care until we can once again meet around his Word and enjoy the much-needed fellowship that our guild provides.
Jenni van Wageningen, Co-President