Volume I

October 17, 2011

Issue 5

Chapter and Verse

News, Announcements and Updates for Friendship House Teachers

Special Issue on Upcoming events

Please announce (and remind appropriately) at your classes this week the following upcoming events taking place at our partner parishes: Friday, October 21 at 5:30 pm Martin Luther Chapel is hosting a Homecoming Gathering and MSU Parade this Friday. Enjoy food, fun and fellowship with other MSU students, grad students, International students, Visiting Scholars and MSU alums. Family and friends are welcome! Food is served promptly at 5:30 pm and is gone by 6:00 pm when the MSU parade starts, passing right by the Chapel (444 S. Abbot, East Lansing, MI 48823). There is no charge for the hot dog, chili and apple cider meal but bring snacks to share if you like. This year s parade theme is Go Green, Go White. Any Internationals, family and friends who wish to attend should contact Rich who will arrange and communicate a plan for Friendship House attendees to meet up together if there is enough interest. Many thanks to Martin Luther Chapel for making this opportunity available!

Our Savior Lutheran Church has reserved a theater at Celebration Cinema for a private showing of the movie Courageous on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 10:00 am. For this private showing, students and others who are interested will be able to buy tickets at the Celebration Cinema for $5.00 each. Celebration Cinema is located at 200 East Edgewood Boulevard, Lansing, MI (517) 393-7469. Courageous is an acclaimed film about four law enforcement officers who, though focused and confident about their work, face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood. While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God ... and to their children? If you have students who are interested in seeing this wonderful, affordable film, please have them contact Rich with their name, email and phone and transportation from Friendship House will be arranged and communicated to them. Thanks, Mary Lou for this great idea! Friday, November 4 at 6:30 pm Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (7000 West Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917) is hosting its annual Harvest Dinner for the International Students, Visiting Scholars and their families of Friendship House on Friday, November 4 at 6:30 pm. We have a sign-up sheet at Friendship House for this great event which is already starting to fill up. Please be sure your students know this event is done especially for them and their families. Sign-up is needed for Good Shepherd to know how many to expect for and for us to know how many vehicles are needed for transportation. A sumptuous meal featuring many dishes from our Michigan harvest is

Saturday, October 22 at 10:00 am

served. After the meal, the Pastor of Good Shepherd leads a tour of the sanctuary where he explains the many items and depictions found in most Christian church worship spaces. Students and family members will be returned to Friendship House at approximately 8:00 pm. Thank you, Good Shepherd Lutheran! Sunday, November 6 at 9:45 am St. Luke Lutheran Church in Haslett (5589 Van Atta Road Haslett, MI 48840) is holding a ministry fair on Sunday, November 6 at 9:45 am until 10:45 am. Many Christian ministries, including Friendship House, will be on hand to inform and enlist members of this large-and-still-growing congregation to participate in their respective programs. Rich has asked 3 of our International students to join him that morning in helping tell the Friendship House story to people that morning. We are thankful to St. Luke Lutheran for inviting Friendship House to this important ministry event!

Sunday, December 4 at 4:00 PM

Elaine Endahl s Music & English Conversation Class is spear-heading a trip to the celebrated Boarshead Festival Concert at Concordia University/Ann Arbor on Sunday December 4 at 4:00 pm. This annual event has been running since 1978 and is presented in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity at Concordia. Students, faculty and staff come together to enact medieval Christmas traditions and the story of Christ's birth in this moving musical spectacle. It is a stunning performance and tickets are sold out almost as soon as they are available. A donor purchased a block of tickets for use by our International students and their families. Students and their guests will be charged $5 per ticket. Transportation to and from Ann Arbor from Friendship House will be arranged. Ticket availability will be handled on a first-come-first-served basis in order to be fair. There is a sign-up sheet at Friendship House. Thanks, Elaine for this great idea!

Sunday, December 4 at 4:15 PM

In case you have students who will remain in East Lansing on this date, they have an outstanding alternative in a Christmas Festival Concert at Martin Luther Chapel on Sunday December 4 at 4:15 pm. This new Chapel event will be a free festival of music celebrating the upcoming Christmas season. Holiday music selections will be performed by the seasonal choir accompanied by an orchestra comprised of musicians involved in the ministry at Martin Luther Chapel. Also performing will be the Wednesday ON FIRE praise band (very talented MSU students). If you have students who are interested in seeing this joyous concert, please have them contact Rich or see the sign-up sheet at Friendship House. Thank you to Martin Luther Chapel for making this concert available to our students!

Verse for the Week

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 1:2-3)

May God richly bless your day!