Change For Chicks!

THANK YOU to all the children of GCPC! Our preschoolers through fifth graders have been collecting "change for chicks" all year to make a donation to Heifer International.  We collected over $160 and were able to purchase 9 FLOCKS OF CHICKS!!!  A flock of chicks can help families add nourishing, life-sustaining eggs to their inadequate diets. The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer International helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients' commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

Earth Day at Grace Covenant: June 2

Mark your calendars for Grace Covenant's Earth Day celebration on June 2! Please contact Susan Presson at 4pressons@gmail.com if you would like to be involved in planning or volunteering at this family-friendly event!

Guatemala Partnership Events and Updates

Event on May 17
The next Gathering of representatives of partner churches will be Friday, May 17 at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church. A light supper will be served at 6 p.m. with the meeting at 6:30 p.m. If you would like “a place at the table” for supper, please email Ellen Dozier, ellendozier@hotmail.com, no later than Tuesday, May 15. If you can bring a salad, bread, dessert or drinks, to accompany our traditional rice and beans for the meal, please let Ellen know as soon as possible. This Gathering will give members of the Leadership Team an opportunity to update everyone on latest developments in the areas of Education, Church to Church, Health, PW and Trips.

Health Promotion at Jerusalem Church

Jerusalem Church's health promoters Sister Edelmira de Galindo and Brother Gerson Villagran sent an illustrated report on their work in 2012.  During the Sunday school hour, they gave talks on “The importance of caring for our bodies” and “The importance of eating fruits and vegetables”, which included a meal paid for by Grace Covenant funds and prepared by Sister Aida de Xom.  She showed the children how to prepare vitamin-laden hibiscus tea and nourishing chicken-vegetable soup; then they ate together what they had prepared.  The report includes photos of weighing children, giving children parasite medicine, speaking with parents about giving vitamins to their children.

Upcoming Events and Visits: 

Trinity PC, Hendersonville will host a program Friday, May 3rd at 6:30. This is a program on Education in Guatemala as done by CEIPA, Centro Ecuménico de Integración Pastoral. CEIPA is an educational program for street children in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. A covered dish dinner will be held at 5:30. All are invited and welcome. Please RSVP by Wednesday to the Secretary at Trinty. 828-692-6114 if you plan to attend the dinner.

Several churches in our presbytery have organized trips to Guatemala this summer. Please be in prayer for those who travel and sisters and brothers in Guatemala who receive visitors.  If you would like to send correspondence to our partner Jerusalem church in Guatemala, contact the persons listed below.
• June 4-11 is Presbytery delegation trip. Barbara Hosbein and Randall Boggs are leaders of this trip and participants are from Dallas, Banner Elk and Crossnore churches. Contact Barbara, bandb@skybest.com or Randall, rbtoo@juno.com, if you have correspondence to send with them.
• June 25-July 3 Black Mountain Presbyterian Church will be in Guatemala to visit with their partners at Eben Ezer Church in San Antonio, Suchitepéquez. Contact Berry French, berry@bmpcnc.org to send letters.
• July 22- 30 Waldensian Presbyterian Church will be in Guatemala to visit with their partners at Nuevo Jerusalén in Sintaná, Sur Occidente. Contact Kevin Frederick, pastor@waldensianpresbyterian.org to send letters.
• August 3 – 11 Education Study trip. More details later. 

Art From the Heart Auction Was a Huge Success!

Thanks to all the many volunteers, shoppers and donors who made the auction on April 14 a great success.  Your combined effort raised a total of $7,767.00, all of which will go to Haiti to help people there become more self sufficient: able to provide health care in their community or able to earn a living creating art. 

You can learn more about this grass roots, community-to-community effort at the Healing Art Missions web site: http://healingartmissions.org/

The cost of running the Centre de Santé Communautaire de Dumay and the other projects in Haiti is about $13,000 per month.  You can still make a donation to this work by sending a check to Grace Covenant with Healing Art Missions in the memo line or you can donate directly at this link:http://healingartmissions.org/Support.php

- Bill and Nancy Gettys

Presbyterian Women's Sunday: April 28

GCPC's Presbyterian Women will participate in the worship services this date, provide refreshments after both worship services, and collect the annual offering which combines the fall Thank Offering and the spring Birthday Offering. The Thank Offering benefits people and organization both here and abroad. For example, it's helped cultivate gardens to support a Backpack Feeding Program in NC, while expanding newborn and maternity facilities in Malawi. The Birthday Offering's recipient this year is Westminster Neighborhood Ministries in Indianapolis, a highly successful outreach program for families, adults and children living in rank poverty.  Our gifts will help design, enhance, and implement life skills programs for these people. Our combined offering will be divided evenly between these two powerful ministries. Look for envelopes in the pews or use the QR code on the back of the bulletin.

Aimee Wallis Buchanan Day(s) of Service

In honor of Aimee's birthday (April 12), Bill Buchanan has asked that those who'd like to remember her do so by providing some act of service or hospitality in her honor over the weekend. Many events are posted on the Facebook page for this event, and a group of Grace Covenant families will be doing a cleanup and popsicle giveaway at Reed Creek Greenway from 1 to 3 on Saturday, April 13. Feel free to join us!

Earth Day Event at Pritchard Park: Sunday, April 21, 7 - 8 PM

Interfaith gathering of congregations from Western North Carolina. Please join people of faith from across WNC as we: Celebrate God's gift of creation; Share our gratitude and appreciation for earth; Grieve for the damage we are causing to creation and our neighbors; Reflect on our responsibility to our children and future generations; Resolve to bring our hope and faith into action. Program to include music & reflections from local faith leaders, and is sponsored by Western North Carolina Green Congregations. To learn more, visit: 

https://www.facebook.com/WNCALLIANCE