St. John 100 Anniversary Kick-Off

Sunday September 23rd 



Rally Day Picnic 

Hymn Sing and Ice Cream Social 2012



Father-Sons Trip 2012

On Friday, July 13, 14 fathers, sons and grandsons traveled to the Wisconsin Dells for the second Father-Son Retreat.

We had several new fathers and sons on the trip with a good number of ones that went on the first Father-Son Trip too.

            On Friday, all the fathers and sons drove up to the lodge that we were staying in and got settled in. We spent Friday swimming at the pool, getting everyone’s fishing licenses and playing games at the house like Ladder Golf and Bag Toss.

For supper we went to Paul Bunyan’s where we enjoyed fish, chicken, spaghetti and

much more. We ended the night with Bible Study and planning for the next day.

            Once everyone had breakfast on Saturday we all piled into our cars and headed out to Mirror Lake to go fishing, canoeing and kayaking. Unfortunately, even with great weather only a few of us caught any fish and we threw them all back. The two biggest catches were by Terry Noel who caught a 14’ largemouth bass and Dan Schaefer who caught a 14’ small mouth bass.

            After fishing we headed back to the house where some rested and relaxed in the houses but most headed back to the pool for a while. That evening the fathers and sons enjoyed Pastor’s World Famous Spaghetti for dinner.

That evening they once again played games outside and ended the night by watching the movie “Courageous.”

            On Sunday, everyone rose early to go to church. Once church was over we headed out to Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park. 

Everyone had a blast there especially doing the Go-Karts and being in the wave pools. By the end of the day though many of us were sun burnt and had very sore feet from the hot sidewalk and being thrown around by the waves.

            That night we grilled out for our final meal and had hamburgers, hot dogs and brats. Following dinner we had a bag tournament before heading inside for the final Bible study of the trip.

            The next morning everyone enjoyed Dan Schaefer’s Mountain Man Breakfast. After breakfast though it was time to clean up the houses, pack up the cars, say our goodbyes and head home.

            All the fathers and sons had a blast on the trip and look forward to the next one.



ST JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH

TO HOST A MISSION SUNDAY

JUNE 24, 2012

Reverend Nicholas Salifu from Ghana, West Africa will be with us on June 24th.  He will be preaching a sermon and then will lead our adult bible study with a slide presentation of his work in Africa.  Nicholas graduated from the LCMS St. Louis Seminary receiving his Master of Divinity Study in November 2010.

Nicholas also was with us on June 13, 2010.

Nicholas was born in 1960 in a small town called Ziako, near Bawku in the Upper East Region of Ghana. He is married to Cynthia and they are blessed with five kids (three girls and two boys). They are all in Ghana.

He was one of the very few children who went to school. After his secondary school education in Bawku, he travelled to Tema, a port city in the south to find a job. He was employed in the Food Specialities Ghana Limited (now Nestles). It was in Tema that he became a Christian through an LCMS missionary by name of Rev. Wally Schmidt. He baptized and confirmed Nicholas. He also enrolled in the first Theological Education by Extension class organized by Pastor Schmidt.  In the church he held various positions such as youth secretary, vice chairman and secretary of the church council.

Educationally, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ghana in the Study of Religions and Sociology. He went to the Lutheran Seminary in Nigeria in 1990 where he was trained as an evangelist. He has studied under Ghana Institute of Linguistics literacy and translation (Wycliffe organization) where he learned translation skills.

He has been involved in church planting and more than 20 churches have been planted using lay leaders that he has trained. They have more than 3000 members, most of whom are women and youth and children.

He has been involved in translation of materials for the church. Quite recently, the translation of Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanations has been completed and printed. He has helped in the translation of a story book “A child’s Garden of Bible Stories”.

He has helped start four schools during his pastoral ministry. For instance, the Ziako School in his hometown began as a Day Nursery in 1993 and has grown into a Junior High School with a total enrollment of more than 600 students.

Nicholas was ordained on August 14, 2011. His main duties include:  nurturing Kusasi Lutheran Christians to continue reaching out to their non-Christian communities with the Word of God; training more church leaders, establishing 300 churches in communities that have no churches.

Please come and join us at St. John’s for our Mission Sunday.  Services are at 9:15 a.m. with Bible Study at 10:30 a.m. Nicholas will have a power point presentation showing his work in Ghana.

Children’s Christmas Program

            What do you get when you combine 12 angels, six shepherds, 11 carolers, lots of kids, and a bearded Joseph? You get this year Children’s Christmas Program.

            This year’s theme was the 12 twelve days of Christmas but it wasn’t the song your use to singing.

            The program included kids from preschool age to high school age along with several adults taking on minor roles. This year because of the theme, the program was something totally new than what it has been previous years.

            When asked what her favorite part of the program was Amanda Klinkenberg said, “It all turned out really great. I liked the sixth day of Christmas because I think

the angels telling the shepherds the news is a very important part of the story that sometimes gets eclipsed by the sweet little baby part. I also like the tenth day and the ten words of wisdom; those little kids did awesome! It was also fun to see all the great costumes.” Amanda also commented, “I knew it would be special all along because it was a special program to me since it was from my childhood. Instead of just ‘special’, it ended up being wonderful, too!”

            Finally Amanda had this to say about directing the program. “I thought it was going to be difficult and it did turn out to be difficult – and a fun challenge too. But, I was so thankful for the sincere support of so many people in the congregation. It was a big undertaking for the Board of Education and we hope all the children were as excited as we

were to share the Christmas story this year!”

            For those of you who were not able to attend the program here are the 12 Days of Christmas.

           

Twelve angels praising,

Eleven Christians Singing,

Ten Words of Wisdom,

Nine Gifts from Heaven,

Eight doors a-slamming,

Seven star a-shinning,

Six Shepherds Shouting,

Five candles bright,

Four prophets bold,

Three fine kings,

Two parents proud,

And a Baby in Bethlehem