In Need for Diapers
Pastor Randy,
I would like to request a need from The Pregnancy & Family Help Center to the Vista Hills Church family, we have been receiving calls from Mothers in need of Diapers. We will accept any brand names, also Costco and Sam’s have some in boxes, or if they want to donate funds we will go and buy them too.
Thank You & GOD Bless You,
Julie Luna
PFHC
FREE Pre-Natal Nutrition Education Classes
Pastor Randy,
Can you send this attachment to the family church of Vista Hills Church e-mails, if anyone has an interest on these Free Virtual Prenatal Nutritional Classes.
I had a very good conversation with the coordinator of this program and she will be hopefully join our team to continue offering these and other classes to benefit our community.
If you have any questions, you can contact me.
Thank You,
Julie Luna
PFHC
VHC Pro-Life Ministry Update from Julie Luna
Pastor Randy,
I want to give you an update on what is going on with our PFHC, we have had more calls than ever during this COVID 19 time, I have received many calls from ladies wanting sonograms, and have to turn them away for not having this service, it would be wonderful to find a tech person to help do sonograms at the center.
We have provided many ladies with baby clothing, toys, diapers, etc.
We have provided some pregnancy tests. Some ladies are not too happy with the results and some are very happy. But, every lady has been told the gospel of Jesus Christ and provided a Bible and material to read. If you remember I told you we had a lady that accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. Praise the Lord for that.
We are currently working on a project, calling back all the ladies that have used our services and asking them questions, like how are you doing? How can we help you? How is your baby? Etc.
I would like to continue expanding our services online. I was wondering if we can have a website for our services or we can merge our information with the church website. Maybe a Facebook page, etc.
Now that I am available, I have so many ideas and suggestions to start working on internet services but I DO need help with this project. I am clueless when it comes to social media and Facebook.
One more special note, through this ministry we have built great relationships with many ladies while giving them hope.
I know the LORD is going to bring us more servants to help me (us) with this ministry.
Thank You,
Julie Luna
PFHC
Church News - 11/05/2020
Dear Church Family,
- Wednesday evening activities will resume next Wednesday, Nov 11th, with all our 6:15 Bible Studies and the end-of-evening gathering in the sanctuary at 7:15.
- The school has suspended in-person teaching until after the Thanksgiving break.
- We are watching the numbers of active cases in the city. We will make a decision next week on whether or not to have our Thanksgiving banquet. Right now it is not looking good.
- Brenda's need for the transfer-bench has been met.
Please be careful out there. We are trying very hard to protect our worship service. So far, none of the churches in town or in Las Cruces have been hotspots. The top three places people contracting Covid in El Paso are:
- Visiting stores 37%
- Eating at restaurants 22.5%
- Traveling to Mexico 19%
With these numbers in mind, Grace and I are staying home as much as possible. Grace stocked up earlier so that we could avoid the stores and restaurants until this wave of Covid cases subsides. We want to reduce the risk of contracting it so that we can continue to gather in-person to worship with you. We believe the church is essential not only to believers but also to those who may not yet know Christ but are looking for hope and answers in these difficult times. Please join us in protecting our gatherings by making wise decisions.
Following are some things we are doing and you can do to help protect our services and those who attend
- Pray continuously for God's protection of His church
- Our entire building is treated quarterly with a product called MicroSure that physically rather than chemically kills the virus.
- Our ventilation system is also treated.
- The same product is provided in a hand sanitizer solution at the entrance to the sanctuary.
- The seating directly in front of the sound system is reserved for those who wear masks and social distance during our services.
- Do not attend if you have symptoms. We will not be asking at the door. We expect each person to do their part by staying home if they are having symptoms, have been tested positive, or are waiting on the results of a Covid test.
- And finally, Pray continuously for God's protection of His church
Thank you for your cooperation. Thank you for your prayers.
Your Servant,
Randy
County Closures
Dear Church Family,
I know these are confusing times as our county, city, and state leaders are sending different signals and different mandates about whether we are to be opened or closed. On top of that, we also need to look at the record-breaking Covid hospitalization numbers and consider how we, as a church, can best serve our community in response to this spike in Covid cases. Some feel the best way to be of service is to stay home until the hospitalization numbers come down. I can respect that conclusion. It certainly has some validity to it. Some of our health care experts and our County Judge hold to that strategy as well.
However, there is another strategy proposed by our Mayor, Governor, World Health Organization, and our President. They propose, and some even mandate that the county began opening and must stay open in order to best deal with this disease. It seems counter-intuitive to me but after listening to their reasoning I can respect this strategy as well.
In the final analysis, however, the decision on whether or not the church will be open and whether or not each individual attends resides with us. Let us deal with the church first. It will remain open for the following reasons:
- The city, county, and state governments have declared churches to be essential to the community. If those who govern us are stating they need us, how can we refuse them? Doctors and nurses do not fail to man their posts and we shall not fail to man ours either.
- When I asked Mitch Taylor for his thoughts, he stated it beautifully like this, "Well Pastor, in my opinion, churches should always be open. If there were ever a time people need the church it is now. The church brings a message of hope. If the church closes, where will the hope be."
Now to the individual's decision on whether or not to attend, I would counsel each of you in the following manner:
- If you have tested positive or if you have come into contact with someone who has tested positive and you have not yet been tested negative or if you are not feeling well or have a fever, do not come close to other people and especially do not come into our church building. If you are in need of ministering, one of us will come to you.
- If you believe in your heart of heart the church's and states' position of remaining open is wrong, keeping in mind the possibility of both being wrong, and that their opening violates God's will, you should not attend.
- If you have an underlying condition that puts you at a higher risk of death or serious injury should you contract Covid, or if your contracting Covid might put someone you are caring for who has an underlying condition at risk. and in your heart of hearts, you believe God would have you stay away as an act of good stewardship, then you should not attend.
- If none of the above applies to you, then I would encourage you to come to worship together as usual so that our society might continue to benefit from a fully functioning Spirit-filled church.
Following are some additional church policies:
- Masks are optional. Each individual should inform themselves and then decide on whether or not they will mask.
- If someone is wearing a mask, please respect their health decisions and maintain your social distance from them.
- Please frequently use the hand sanitizers provided.
- Whatever decision individuals make about attending or masking must be respected in truth by all others. Each one of us is a priest of our own bodies and consciences. Let love and respect win the day at Vista Hills.
Following is our church schedule
- Sunday School Small Groups as usual
- Sunday Morning Worship as usual
- Spanish Service as usual
- Sunday Evening Study Group as usual
- 6:00 pm Evening Prayer Meetings Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday as usual
- Wednesday Evening Activities closes for one more week and then to be announced after review.
- Thursday Morning Ladies Bible Study as usual.
Finally, we are aware there are many circumstances that could not be covered in such a brief email. Please call me or one of the other elders if you have any questions, concerns, or would like some input into your decision-making process. We stand ready to assist.
And, I as always remain
Your Servant,
Randy Smith
Personal Blog (edit: Vlog)
Dear Church Family,
For some time, my wife has been fussing at me to begin writing or in some way saving the things I reflect upon in my daily devotions. I will frequently share with her what the Lord is teaching me about Himself. She, albeit obviously biased, believes those things should be shared with others. My sons have also talked to me about starting a blog with some of these things I am learning. I have decided to acquiesce so that I can have some peace here at home. Below is a link to my first blog. It comes from my quiet time with Him this morning. If you like it, I believe you can subscribe so that you will receive a notification whenever I post the next one. If you do not know how to subscribe, ask a teenager because neither do I.
Feel free to forward or share these or whatever folks are doing with blogs these days. Also, please pray God will use them to bless someone in their personal growth in the Lord.
Your Servant
Randy
Giving Thanks!
Dear Church Family,
While the world has been struggling with COVID, riots, and fires, here at Vista Hills we have been soaked from above with His blessings. We have been able to meet and worship and fellowship regularly while so many others could not attend their churches. God has protected us all from the virus even while some of our neighbors have fallen ill. We have a new school opened in our facilities while the public schools remain closed or are operating at a minimum occupancy. Rather than being adversely affected by the national economic downturn, most of us have been able to remain employed and many have seen their personal finances improved. The increases in our weekly offerings have made it possible for us to purchase a good working church truck. We were also able to convert our west wing to refrigerated air and give our staff pay raises. In my opinion, we have truly been enjoying a season of blessings.
Our sister ministry, New Life Christian Academy, has also been experiencing a season of blessing. They would like to use the upcoming holiday season to give God thanks. They are calling the next few months the Giving Thanks Season. they have invited us to join them. Following is a rough outline of what they are planning and how we can attend, enjoy and help out: These will not be activities of outreaches or open to the public. This will just be a season of resting, playing, and worshipping our God in giving thanks for all He has done. We will get back to outreach ministries after this time of rest.
- October 31 Giving Thanks Kick-Off Festival - The school will host a safe night of games and treats for all their school children, parents, and faculty. Vista Hills Members are invited to be their special guests. We are also invited to participate in setting up our own games and ways to distribute treats. See our Associate Pastor Jon Rutkowski if you would like to help.
- Nov 20th Giving Thanks Banquet - All the ham and turkeys we could ever eat have already been donated for this event. All the school families and Vista Hills Church families are invited. It will be a dinner and a show event. Please let me know if you could help cook one of the turkeys or hams at your home for the banquet.
- Christmas program by the NLCA drama ministry. Stay tuned for details.
- We would like to make sure all our school kids have the school supplies they need. For some parents who have more than one child in school, this can be a financial challenge. I have a list of school supplies each student is required to have. The church has purchased backpacks in which to put those supplies. The teachers know which children are struggling to come up with supplies. I would like to invite you to purchase a set of supplies that can then be put in the backpack as a Christmas gift to one of these families. You might like to add an encouraging note of love and support to the students or to the parents. You might also like to let them know who you are and that you are praying for them.
Please plan on being a part of this Giving Thanks holiday season. You have all been invited to help in each of these events. Just get in touch with me, Todd or Jon.
Your Servant
Randy
Prayer Meeting Schedule
Dear Church Family,
The Thursday evening prayer meeting that Mitch leads is being moved to Saturday evening for the duration of the high school football season. It will still be at 6:00 pm.
Your Servant
Randy
Scholarship
Dear Church Family,
I understand that some would like to participate in putting a kid through our new school but may not be able to afford a full tuition. Our finance committee is setting up a scholarship fund where your partial tuition payments can be combined with others to make a full scholarship. If you are wanting to be a part of this, just designate your contribution with the words School or Tuition. The finance committee will see that it gets to the right place.
Your servant
Randy
Clean Up On Aisle Four!
Dear Church Family,
Because of COVID and other things God is doing in our city, we have new people visiting and considering joining our congregation. Here are the general comments I hear from them.
- I love the worship service
- I think this is the church God is leading me to.
- I just wish the people here would talk to me.
Ouch!. That is a little hard for me to accept about us but sadly it is true. I have observed it myself.
Now if you are thinking, "Huh. We need to do a better job at this. I wonder who is failing here." It is probably you. You see, we don't have people designated as greeters like other churches because I want to avoid as much hypocrisy as possible. I don't want to give people the impression we are friendly if we indeed are not.
Now I can see we are very friendly to the people we know. There are big hellos and smiles and hugs and laughter and "good to see ya's" to our friends. But nothing for the stranger. That can actually make it worse for a visitor. It intensifies the feeling of being an outsider. This can not stand as it is now. We need to clean this up in His House Immediately.
What if Jesus sends an angel in disguise to see if someone will say hello? I wouldn't want to be in the church that got a bad report from that Angel. I wonder if that is how the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelations got started.
So, here is what I intend to implement to try to fix it.
- Every member of our church is hereby promoted to the office of official Vista Hills Greeter.
- Training.
- On Sunday, look around the sanctuary to see if there is someone there you don't know.
- Walk up to just outside six feet of that person with a smile and say, "Hi. My name is _________. What is your name? Well, it is nice to meet you Bob. Welcome to Vista Hills. Would you like to sit with us?
- They probably won't sit with you but at least they will have been asked.
- Inspection- I will be coming to you to ask you to introduce me to any people I don't recognize. I want to make absolutely sure I get to meet any angel God sends to our worship service. Please be ready with their name to say something like, "Bob this is our pastor. He wanted to meet you."
Let's all get a mop and clean this up, please. We need to be in truth a place that is welcoming to strangers. We are not that place at this moment. Again, if you think I am talking to someone else I am not. You are the one I have in mind. And I remain, as always,
Your Servant
Randy
Even More Fresh Produce!
Dear Church Family,
We received 36 boxes of produce today. Please let me know how many boxes you would like for yourself or your neighbors so I can save one for you. I need to know by 7 Pm please.
Your Servant
Randy
More Fresh Produce
Dear Church Family,
We received another shipment of produce. This week it looks fresher. Please let me know how many boxes you can take for yourself and for your neighbors today or tomorrow.
Your Servant
Randy