the evening provided a beautiful “Christ- massy” setting. Groupings of deciduous trees that had been spray painted silver and gold and strung with mini-lights stood around the perimeter of the gym. Large posters (4´x 6´) of winter scenes highlighted with lights decorated the walls. Justyn Reese and the Russ Rosen Band presented “Christmas Tales.” Teir presentation was the Christmas story told by Justyn Reese wearing his many hats and using various accents to portray different characters of the Christmas story (i.e., the innkeeper, the census taker, the shepherds, etc.). Tis was interspersed with carols and songs which the audience was welcome to sing along with. “Christmas Tales” took us through every emotion, from tears to laughter, and presented the gospel in such a unique manner. It was an excellent evening! We hope to have this group back in 2017 with hopes that our congregation will be eager to invite their unchurched friends. Te feature game at our family fun


night on Jan. 22 was EXTREME Bingo (see photo on page to leſt). Each table was provided a Bingo card the size of four poster boards. Players wrote in their own numbers on the cards and the Bingo calling began. Once a winner had been declared for the straight line, the object was for each table to achieve a cross (+), or an ex (x) or a box around the outside of the card. Play got kind of tense when four or five tables were all waiting for the number sixty to be called to win the game and the last box of Tim Hortons® Timbits®. It was a fun game involving everyone. Brenda Jansen, Correspondent


Crosspoint Bible Church Omaha and Bennington, Nebraska Don Pahl and Gary Krehbiel, Pastors An Open House was held Feb. 5, inviting


the Crosspoint family into our new nursery, foyer, and office facilities. Planning is under- way for an exterior canopy to provide shelter from Nebraska’s weather when dropping off passengers. Our new sermon series, “Dawn of Re- deeming Grace,” studies in Leviticus, began


on January 8. Te series will highlight the holiness of God and the magnitude of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. Our annual Hearts for the Harvest event


is planned for the weekend of March 3-5. Mission teams are preparing for a mission service trip to Guatemala the end of April and another youth trip to Trinidad in June. Provided by church staff


Langham Evangelical Bible Church Langham, Saskatchewan Greg Guarnett, Senior Pastor Justin Epp, Associate Pastor With our Annual Meeting only days away,


our thoughts have been on God’s faithfulness to our congregation over the past year. He has added some new families and children to our church and we are encouraged! Sunday, Dec. 18 was an intentional


time of celebrating Christmas through a “Church Family Gathering” in the gym. All families were encouraged to participate in the worship service in some way, resulting in numerous musical, poetic and scripted numbers. Worship was followed by a potluck dinner, table games and cookie decorating for the kids. It was a day spent together developing relationships just like at a regular family gathering! God loves relationships, but he also cares


that we have a warm building in the winter. We are thankful that when our furnaces began to fail from old age, he gave wisdom in how to replace them in a fairly cost-effective manner. To encourage and strengthen our congre-


gation in prayer, a room has been repainted and refurnished to serve as a dedicated Prayer Room. May this be a quiet, peaceful place to bring our cares and concerns to the Lord. Marilyn Friesen, Correspondent


Countryside Bible Church Meade, Kansas Charles Finster, Pastor Rachel Ediger was the special speaker


at our ladies Candlelight Dessert on Dec 4. Rachel’s husband, Ken, who grew up in our church, serves as pastor at North Oak Church


Fellowship Focus, March/April 2017 21


in Hays, Kan. Te elders and families served the senior


citizens of the church at a dinner on Dec. 11. Our church gathered supplies for the


Meade Food Bank in December to help needy people in the community. Te baptismal service and soup lunch


originally set for Jan. 15 had to be postponed for two weeks due to a severe ice storm. Te many broken tree limbs and power lines had long-term effects for us. Countryside will have a Family Retreat


in Woodward, Okla., March 17-19. Allen Cagle, pastor of Sunrise Community Church in Atlantic Beach, Fla., will be the featured speaker. Baptisms: Six in January New Members: Nine in January


Vita Bible Church Vita, Manitoba Jonathan Coutts, Pastor Matt Verhoog was the guest speaker at


the annual Christmas banquet for adults on Dec. 3. His challenge was to make time for fun during the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Te church basement was a busy place just


before Christmas. Members from the church and community joined forces to pack ham- pers for the Vita Cheer Board to distribute to families in our community. Te air was tingling with excitement on


Dec. 18 when the Sunday School presented the Christmas program. One highlight was a shadow play depicting the story of the cobbler who was watching for Jesus. He discovered that ministering to the needs of people is like helping Jesus. Another highlight was the group of enthusiastic bell ringers who sang “Come on Ring those Bells.” Te ladies are looking forward to a “Paint


Night” with the residents of Shady Oaks (Vita’s assisted living facility). New members: One in November Denise Klassen, Correspondent


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