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Have you heard about Sola Gratia Farm?

Click here to learn more.

Sola Gratia Farm is a community-based farm enterprise dedicated to producing locally-grown, high-quality, natural produce. Responding to the Gospel, the Farm is committed to helping those who lack adequate food resources by donating ten percent of its produce to support regional hunger programs. The Farm promotes healthy lifestyles and community building through education, service and outreach programs.

Click here to read a recent article in The News-Gazette about Sola Gratia Farm.

YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO HELP FEED HUNGRY FAMILIES

Your help to families in need of food in our community has always been a great success. Your response to our STM Food Pantry Weekends, and your continued help week after week to provide food is a generous way to help people, who are in need of supplying their family with food to eat. Here are some items that we can use at this time: spaghetti noodles, canned or bottled juices, saltine crackers, canned peas or carrots, applesauce, corn muffin mix, Hamburger Helper, cereal, canned peaches or pears, fruit cocktail, and tuna. If you have any questions about STM food pantry, or would like to join us in the food deliveries, we can always use more help. It only takes a couple of hours about every six weeks. Call Richard or Kay King for more information. Thank you!

RELIGION AND LITERATURE

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton “Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear.” The most famous and important novel in South Africa's history, Alan Paton's novel about a black man's country under white man's law is a work of great beauty. It is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son, Absalom, set against the background of a land and a people divided by racial injustice. Remarkable for its lyricism, Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic work of love and hope, courage and endurance. We will meet at 7 pm in the Augsburg Room on April 20th. Please call Jesse with any questions.

CROP WALK

CROP walk will be held on April 22nd - we will meet at University Place Christian Church at 1:45. CROP stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. CROP walks happen all over the U.S. and help to support the overall ministry of Church World Service (CWS), especially grassroots, hunger-fighting development efforts. CROP walks help to provide food and water, as well as resources that empower people to meet their own needs. Our local CROP walk has chosen to return 25 percent of the funds raised to local non-profit food providers. Jesse Helton will be the St. Matthew coordinator this year, but you can always ask Pastor Setterlund or Ann Rasmus about the CROP walk too. Please look for us after services throughout April to sign up to be a walker or supporter. This is a great event for families and children of all ages. Please email Jesse with any questions.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT CROSSTRAINING THIS WEEK?

Veggie Tales Night Veggie Buffet, Salad, Pears Pasta with Marinara Sauce, Carrot Cake, Milk & Water

Suggested donation

$2.00 per person

THE STEPHENS’ FAMILY IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

Seth and Deb Stevens need our help to “build” their family… Seth and Deb are trying to adopt a baby through Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. However, there is a lot of work to be done before they can bring a baby home. As some of you may know, adoption is a very costly adventure. We would like to help Deb & Seth with some of their expenses to “build their family”. They are organizing a church-wide

RUMMAGE SALE

Saturday, April 21, 2012

How can you help? You can do a little SPRING CLEANING and donate any items (clothing, furniture, knick-knacks, books, etc.) that you no longer need. You can drop off your items at the church or Seth & Deb can arrange to pick up your donated items from your house. For more information, please call Deb or the church office at 367-1189.

Calling all Saint Matthew runners and cheerleaders!

It’s almost time again for the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon! Who’s excited?! I am, and I’ll tell you why! This year I am using my feet (running the “mini I challenge: 5k on Friday/10k on Saturday) to help run our high school youth to our National Youth Gathering in New Orleans in July! Want to join with me? You can!

I am going to ask all race participants in our congregation to use their run to help raise money towards our New Orleans fund. All you have to do is get people to pledge towards your run (it can be whatever run/walk you want to do!).

You can do this in a few different ways:

1) Have people pledge a flat dollar amount towards your entire run or

2) pledge so many dollars per mile. At the end of the race all racers will turn-in your pledge dollars to St. Matthew to our Youth Scholarship Fund, where the dollars raised will go toward our trip!

For those of you who are not running, you can still participate by

1) pledging money toward a runner/runners,

2) cheering for us on race day,

3) praying for all of us who are participating.

I know we have a good number of runners in our church, so I am hoping we can really get some great participation! If you plan to run, please gather pledges and turn them in no later than Sunday, May 6th.