"Disorder sparks crackdown"

Here's a link to a story--from yesterday's Edmonton Journal--that concerns Hope Mission. (Click here)

Regarding the state of our inner-city, the term "disorder," is used. Well, nothing too much out to the ordinary there really...but you may be interested to know that, "In an effort to crackdown on the "disorder," for at least the next two weeks officers will be reassigned to boost police presence in Boyle-McCauley."

Starbucks Log: Earth Day

It’s Earth Day! Now if we could only see the good earth it would certainly help work up a conscious appreciation. Currently, our slice of earth is covered by great sheaves of snow…snow that’s still coming down at a cruel slant. (Did you need me to tell you this?)

But one thing that did help was my morning coffee. Since I normally dispense with paper in favour of porcelain, or in Starbuckian parlance, a-for-here-cup, I got it free–in honour of Earth Day. So if you get a chance, take a few minutes off, head to Starbuck’s (where they’re doing their part), order your coffee to-stay and enjoy a free cup…and think about the lovely earth under all that snow.

Hope Mission Church

Hope Mission Church is well into its second year of service. Pastor and Chaplain Alan Pysar, Chaplain Norm Weatherly, Darryl Tymchuk and a team made up of guys from our Breakout, continue this labour of Christian love. Every Sunday they offer that love in worship, through word, drama, music, and prayer to our inner-city.

Please keep Hope Mission Church in your thoughts and prayers.

HU/PD

Welcome to the my human understanding/personal development class.


Class has now ended.

Meet and Greet

For those who couldn't get to our meet and greet just the other day, here's a thumbnail:

Holly our new receptionist, "flipped" houses (she does credit her dad for helping with the renovations) and put herself through college. She likes reading thought provoking socio-psychological non-fiction. (She counts the Bible at top of the list.) As a result, she has a library of self-help books. Not that she needs them mind you...she just has them.

You might be interested to know that Karen Nelson, our Women's Shelter Manager, before entering her vocation in nursing, was a trucker. (She used to haul boats from Florida.) Her calling makes sense: Truck stops are hotbeds of psychological intrigue and are there own kind of clinic, come shelter. Don't you think?

Lindy Dowhaniuk, Hope's Kitchen Supervisor, has been to India, Malaysia, and Thailand more often than she's been to Calgary. (Sounds like the right decision and direction.) As well, she left home at 14 and put herself through High School and post-secondary education. It paid off, she reads Dostoevsky.

Tambra Britner (Volunteer Coordinator) spent four years in Africa (primarily Malawi) caring for impoverished kids and children with AIDS. She was a co-founder of Benny's Hope, the mission/foundation through which this ministry was offered. Her own variegated history was a trajectory into ministry and social care work.

Hope Mission welcomes all these amazing women!

How to be The Perfect Wife

CONGRATULATIONS to Natalie Amyotte and her FIANCE Ryan! Natalie celebrated her birthday two weeks ago and for her gift, Ryan took her snowboarding to Jasper last weekend. While they were riding, Ryan stopped on the side of the mountain and proposed!
(I sure hope I got the story right!)

Here are some helpful tips from from Helen B. Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood, published by Pacific Press in 1965. The course was designed to teach women how to be happy in marriage.

GET YOUR WORK DONE
Plan your tasks with an eye on the clock. Finish or interrupt them an hour before he is expected. Your anguished cry, "Are you home already?" is not exactly a warm welcome.

HAVE DINNER READY
Plan ahead, even the night before to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

PREPARE YOURSELF
Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. This will also make you happy to see him instead of too tired to care. Turn off the worry and be glad to be alive and grateful for the man who is going to walk in. While you are resting you can be thinking about your Fascinating Womanhood assignment and all you can do to make him happy and give his spirits a lift. When you arise, take care of your appearance. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

CLEAR AWAY THE CLUTTER
Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. in a bucket or wastebasket and put them in the back bedroom for sorting later. Then run a dustcloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order and it will give you a lift too. Having the house in order is another way of letting him know that you care and have planned for this homecoming.

PREPARE THE CHILDREN
Take just a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small) comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them look the part.

MINIMIZE ALL NOISE
Especially give heed to this if your husband has to join rush hour traffic. At the time of his arrival eliminate noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet at the time of their father's arrival. Let them be a little noisy beforehand to get it out of their system.

BE HAPPY TO SEE HIM
Greet him with a warm smile and act glad to see him. Tell him that it is good to have him home. This may make his day worthwhile. If there is any romance left in you, he needs it now.
SOME DON'TS
Don't greet him with problems and complaints. Solve the problems you can before he gets home and save those you must discuss with him until later in the evening.
Also, don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as a minor problem when compared with what he might have gone through that day.
Don't allow the children to rush at him with problems or requests. Allow them to briefly greet their father but save demands for later.

MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE
Have him lean back into a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to massage his neck and shoulders and take off his shoes. Don't insist on this however. Turn on music if it is one of his pleasures. Speak in a soft, soothing, pleasant voice. Allow him to relax - to unwind.

LISTEN TO HIM
You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first, then he will be a more responsive listener later.

MAKE THE EVENING HIS
Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and to relax. If he is cross or irritable, never fight back. Again, try to understand his world of strain.

THE GOAL
Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. Then add to this the application of all the principles of Fascinating Womanhood and your husband will want to come home. He will rather be with you than with anyone else in the world and will spend whatever time he can possibly spare with you. Try living all of these rules for his homecoming and see what happens. This is the way to bring a man home to your side, not by pressure, persuasion or moral obligation.
http://users.rcn.com/bendesky/about/cbta/50swoman.html

Sandwiches! Sandwiches! Sandwiches!

Thank you St. Jerome School! Staff and students prepared 200 bagged lunches equipped with a sandwich, fruit, granola bar and juice bar for our clients. The students also decorated the brown paper bags with an array of colour and warm phrases of hope.

Not only is their hard work appreciated by the men and women who will receive these bags, but our staff especially appreciate all your hard work.