You have been given an extra 24 hours this year. That’s right, February 29…it’s leap year. Would you consider giving 29 minutes of your extra day to our missionaries?

Here’s What We Want To Try
Pick two missionaries that our church supports and pray for them for 29 minutes on February 29th. Does 29 minutes sound like a long time to pray? It’s not really!

Here Are Some Suggestions:

• Pray for each family member by name. If you pick the Hennings {Daniel, Meagan, Luke, Jade} and the Woods {Dirk, Elizabeth, Abigail} and pray just two minutes for each family member, that’s 14 minutes already.
• Spend 5 minutes praying for one missionary family’s finances. Pray for God to bless them in supernatural ways. Pray that their current supporters are faithful to give. Pray for new supporters. Pray for their homes and vehicles that they weather well and are not an expense for the missionaries. Pray that they would receive the additional finances they will need for their next scheduled trip back to the US. Now pray the same thing for your second missionary family. That’s 24 minutes so far.
• Spend 5 minutes praying for them in the Spirit. As you bring them before the Lord, let the Holy Spirit guide you how to pray for them. You’re already at 29 minutes, and there’s still more you can pray for!
• Other suggestions: Pray for favor in their dealings with their local governments and authorities. Pray for reliable ministry partners on the field. Pray for them to raise up local people to do the work of the ministry in their own country. Use the links below to read up on your missionary’s needs or contact them, let them know you’ll be praying for them and ask how you can pray.

Let Us Know Who You Are Praying For
After you pick your two missionaries, would you click here and fill out this simple form? It will help us track who’s getting prayed for, make sure all of our missionaries are covered and help us track how many minutes we as a church are praying for our missionaries on February 29th.

Pick Your Missionaries and Contact Them

• Danny & Judy Armstrong – Advancing Churches in Missions - email – Facebook Danny, Judy – web site
• Dave & Maxine Broom – Zimbabwe - email — web site
• Sandy Carter-Britnell {husband Jim}– Nicaragua – email – Facebook – web site
• Jim & Diane Clair – Uganda – email — web site
• Daniel Hammersley – Russia- email — Facebook — web site
• Daniel & Meagan Henning {Luke, Jade} – Nicaragua – email — Facebook Daniel, Meagan — web site
• Bob & Melissa Hill – Scotland – email — Facebook — web site
• Jason & Lina Kerr {Makayla} – USA, House of Prayer – email — Facebook Jason, Lina — web site
• Craig & Michelle Logan {Justin, Ashlyn} – Philippines – email — Facebook Craig, Michelle — web site
• Mark & Denise Ost – France – email – Facebook Mark, Denise
• Mike & Rena Reilly {Michael, Katie Rose} – Australia – email — web site
• Brad & Jan Thurston – Germany - email — Facebook Brad, Jan
• Roger & Linda West – Mexico – email — Facebook — web site
• Dirk & Elizabeth Wood {Abigail} – South Africa – email — Facebook Dirk, Abigail — web site

Totals To Date – 580 minutes

• Danny & Judy Armstrong – Advancing Churches in Missions - 4 people/families
• Dave & Maxine Broom – Zimbabwe - 1 person/family praying
• Sandy Carter-Britnell {husband Jim}– Nicaragua - 1 person/family praying
• Jim & Diane Clair – Uganda - 2 people/families praying
• Daniel Hammersley – Russia- 2 people/families praying
• Daniel & Meagan Henning {Luke, Jade} – Nicaragua – 9 people/families praying
• Bob & Melissa Hill – Scotland – 4 people/families praying
• Jason & Lina Kerr {Makayla} – USA, House of Prayer - 1 person/family praying
• Craig & Michelle Logan {Justin, Ashlyn} –
• Mark & Denise Ost – France - 2 people/families praying
• Mike & Rena Reilly {Michael, Katie Rose} – 4 people/families praying
• Brad & Jan Thurston – Germany - 1 person/family praying
• Roger & Linda West – Mexico – 4 people/families praying
• Dirk & Elizabeth Wood {Abigail} – South Africa – 5 people/families praying

Baby Bottles for Life

Please take a baby bottle today and begin filling it with coins or currency or you can write a check to the Arlington Mansfield Pregnancy Center.  Pease return the filled baby bottles on Sunday, February 12 . We ran out of bottles last week but we will have a new supply Sunday.  Please take as many as you would like to fill.

All the money collected goes directly to benefiting the Arlington/Mansfield Pregnancy Center.
In 2011 they accomplished:

4,823 Clients Seen

189 Salvations

668 Ultrasounds

$ 314,757 Maternity Clothes, Diapers and Baby Gifts to Clients and merchandise to Arlington Community Agencies

645 Confirmed Babies Born

The people who make the difference are not the ones with the credentials but the ones with the concern …  Max Lucado
Will YOU make a difference?

We cannot continue this without you and your support.  This is a practical but worthwhile way to be God’s hands outstretched in our community. Please remember the Food Pantry in your prayers and your giving.

You may use the link below to donate a bag of groceries ($30) to the Food Pantry.

We here at the Vine are praying for you and your family to experience God’s blessings and specifically for this coming year we are praying for Longevity, Peace and Prosperity.

May God bless you and may 2012 be a year full of the goodness of God.

If you’ve ever experienced doubts, temptations, inconsistencies, losses, or anguish over family problems,  join Beth Moore on an exciting and intimate journey to know King David, the man after God’s own heart.

Bible Study begins January 17 - 10:00am and 6:30pm 

David: Seeking a Heart Like His by Beth Moore

Sign up begins at The Connection January 1st or you can purchase your book/register using the link below. If you purchase your book and register online, you may pick up your book at church or the first day of Bible study.

Purchase Your Book/Register Online Here

Which study will you be attending?

10:00am 6:30pm

Will you need child care? (evening only)

No Yes

Your Name

What Should I Expect?
The ideal Connect Group is made up of 8-10 people who are “doing life together”. Connect Group leaders have a pastor’s heart to pray for their group and be there along with other group members in time of need, but their role would better be described as that of a facilitator.

When And Where?
More information about when/where we meet

It is a come and go communion anytime between 6-7pm.

So come and bring the whole family and remember Christ this Christmas holiday.

That’s why this year we have decided to focus on our neighbors and specifically our Food Pantry.  We are asking you  to pray about what you can give to this worthwhile ministry. Whether that be a one time gift, a commitment to give regularly or to serve in this ministry.

Join with us as we make this a Christmas season about others. You may use the link below to donate a bag of groceries to the Food Pantry.

FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
Join us at the Vine Fellowship on Saturday, November 19th at 10:00am for our annual Thanksgiving in a Bag give-away. We will be giving away a frozen turkey and a grocery bag with all the “fixin’s” for a Thanksgiving meal. We do this event each year in an effort to show God’s love in a practical way and to let our neighbors know that we care about their needs. We will giving away one meal per family and it will be first come, first served. BE SURE TO NOTE OUR NEW LOCATION!  Sometimes we meet at Deaver Park, but this year we’re hosting this event at the church located at 5229 Kelly Elliott Rd.

FOR OUR CHURCH MEMBERS
We are giving away the food YOU bring, so thanks for all your help. You can sign out a bag at The Connection in the foyer at church or you can donate $25 via PayPal here and we’ll go shopping for you. Here’s a list of what we’re packing in the bags.

Please be sure to SIGN UP where you will be helping. We need people to help hand out door hangers on November 12th at 9:00am. We also need help at the church on the 19th. You can sign up for where you’d like to help at The Connection. Remember, we will be meeting at the church at 9:00am on the 20th to set up and pray together.

If you would like to see what we are doing this year for thanksgiving click here.

History of Thanksgiving

Author: Mimi Rothschild

Giving thanks during harvest time is nothing new. Different nations and people groups from all over the world have been celebrating the harvest since the beginning of agriculture, as chronicled in the Old Testament. Today, we in the USA celebrate Thanksgiving, a time to give praise to the Lord for his mercy and love. Most people know that the first thanksgiving celebration had something to do with Pilgrims and Indians, but there’s much more to the story than that! For one thing, it didn’t look a thing like this Norman Rockwell painting. Let’s dig deeper and find out together about the storied history of Thanksgiving. You may be shocked by what you find!

Setting Sail for the New World

The Pilgrims were a group of Christians that desired to worship the Lord in the way they saw fit. They found the oppressive monarchy in England to be restrictive of their freedoms and first left for Holland. Believing the Dutch way of life to be contradictory to Biblical teaching, they then planned to set out for the New World. Meanwhile, the Separatists desired to leave England for very similar reasons. They desired to “separate” from the church in England and likewise set out for the New World. Together they struck a deal with a London stock company and organized a pilgrimage to what is now called North America. They boarded the Mayflower in 1620 and set sail for uncharted territory.

Landing on American Shores

Although the Pilgrims and Separatists set out for Virginia, they experienced strong winds and currents that eventually brought them to Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Upon landing, they dropped to their knees and gave thanks to the Lord for bringing them safely across the perilous Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, they were far from safe. The Pilgrims and Separatists had to weather the bitterly cold winter months. Unprepared for such drastically low temperatures, they lost almost half of their men that they had sailed with on the Mayflower. Fortunately, the Wampanoag helped the settlers throughout their first winter by offering provisions and guidance.

Meeting the Native Americans

Once winter had passed, the colonists worked hard to prepare enough food to get them through the next winter. God smiled upon the colonists and blessed them with a bountiful harvest. Wishing to thank the Lord for His provision, they feasted for three days. Ninety-one Wampanoag Indians joined the Pilgrims and Separatists for the feast. They celebrated together with a variety of activities like archery, axe throwing, and of course, feasting.

But, the feast was not the smorgasbord that we know today. The settlers most likely did not dine on turkey legs and certainly not warm pumpkin pie. We do know that they ate “fowl,” most likely something tougher and more sinewy than a plump turkey. The pilgrims didn’t live in log cabins or wear funny hats or buckles. They didn’t hunt with those curved blunderbusses either. These are all romantic images that have been sold to us by marketers and artists hoping to cash in on the Thanksgiving spirit. In fact, a lot of historians question that the Pilgrims even landed at the Plymouth Rock we normally associate with that famous landing!

Becoming a Nationally Recognized Holiday

Thanksgiving was not an annual event yet. In 1623, three years later, the settlers prayed during a devastating drought that the Lord would provide rain for their crops. When God answered their prayer with a full day of steady rain the next day, the colonists declared another day of thanksgiving. Twenty-three years later, Thanksgiving became a holiday when Edward Rawson, Charlestown, Massachusetts’s city council clerk, signed it into a holiday. A century later, George Washington suggested that America could celebrate a national day of thanksgiving. His colleagues thought it was a silly idea.

Yet another century later, Sara Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, petitioned lawmakers and politicians to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. After forty long years of petitioning, President Abraham Lincoln finally declared that the last Thursday of November would be a national day of thanksgiving.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/homeschooling-articles/history-of-thanksgiving-141256.html

About the Author

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling mother, writer, children’s rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of home education company Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of 28 years reside with their 8 children right outside Philadelphia, PA.

Rothschild launched Learning By Grace, Inc. because she believed that our nation’s public school system has failed parents and students. Learning By Grace, Inc. offers online education through a multimedia-rich curriculum to PreK-12 children across the country and throughout the world.

An accomplished author, Rothschild has written books regarding education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Feed consists of articles and essays dealing with alternative learning methods.

If you would like to see what we are doing this year for thanksgiving click here.